Statewide death toll hits 63 withmore than 630 people unaccounted for as search continues for remains
The toll in the deadliest wildfires in recent California history climbed to 59 [Josh Edelson/AFP]
At least 63 are now dead in the US' deadliest wildfire in a century as officials announced they have a missing persons list with 631 names on it in an ever-evolving accounting.
The nearly 570 square kilometre blaze in northern California was 40 percent contained, the state fire agency said on Thursday, and firefighters succeeded in slowing the flames' advance towards populated areas.
More than 450 searchers were assigned to look for remains in Paradise, which was all but destroyed on November, and in outlying areas such as Magalia, a forested town of about 11,000. Many of the missing were elderly and from Magalia.
"If this town does recover, it's going to take many, many years," said Johnny Pohmagevich, an 18-year Magalia resident who lives up the road from many burned homes.
Police drove around town, searching for those still in their homes and checking if they needed food and water.
Rescue workers sift through rubble in search of human remains at a burned property in Paradise, California [Josh Edelson/Al Jazeera]
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said Wednesday night that 130 people were missing. His office later released a list of 300 people who were unaccounted for.
Honea said the number of missing had more than doubled on Thursday as investigators went back and checked emergency calls made when the fire broke out a week ago.
"I want you to understand that the chaos we were dealing with was extraordinary," he told journalists, in explaining the staggering new number.
Honea said he believes there are people on the list who fled the blaze and don't realize they were reported missing. He said authorities were making the list public so people could see if they're on it, and let authorities know they are safe.
At the other end of the state, crews continued to battle wildfires in southern California, including a blaze of more than 396 square km that destroyed over 500 structures in Malibu and nearby communities. At least three deaths were reported.
Homes destroyed
Officials in Northern California put the number of homes lost there at nearly 8,800, and the sheriff said the task of recovering remains had become so vast that his office brought in 287 more searchers Wednesday, including National Guard troops. The search crews used 22 cadaver dogs.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke joined California's Governor Jerry Brown on a visit to Paradise on Wednesday, saying it was the worst fire devastation he had ever seen.
"Now is not the time to point fingers," Zinke said. "There are lots of reasons these catastrophic fires are happening."
Paradise, California was almost completely destroyed [Josh Edelson/AFP]
The governor said officials would need to learn how to better prevent fires from becoming so deadly.
It will take years to rebuild, if people decide that's what should be done, said Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "The infrastructure is basically a total rebuild at this point," he said.
Israeli forces shoot dead seven Palestinians and wound hundreds more as protests near Gaza border continue.
or a second week, thousands of Palestinians are protesting along the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip, as part of the Great March of Return movement.
Israeli forces have killed 26 Palestinians during the past week, including 17 on the first Friday of protest, and wounded more than 1,600 others.
Here are all the latest updates on Friday's protests:
Yahya Sinwar: Gaza will 'stand tall' in the face of the occupation
Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has made a rare public appearance at a protest near the city of Khan Younis.
Freed in a 2011 prisoner swap with Israel after more than 20 years in jail, Sinwar told the crowd that Gaza would "stand tall" in the face of Israeli occupation.
"The plot of starvation and siege have failed to incite the Palestinian people against the resistance [Hamas].
"Gaza will not starve and will not abandon its national objective.
"Our people came out to tell the world that Gaza is free and that we will stand tall and resist the Israeli occupation."
Local media: Seven killed by Israeli forces
The Palestinian Safa Press Agency is reporting that the death toll has risen to seven, with Sidqi Abu Outewi, a 45-year-old from Nuseirat, and Mohammed Hajj Saleh, a 33-year-old from Rafah, joining the growing list of fatalities.
Fifth Palestinian killed, health ministry says
The Palestinian ministry of health says the death toll has risen to five, with 20-year-old Ibrahim Al-Ourr killed.
Palestinian Ministry of Health: 780 wounded
Health officials in Gaza said that at least 780 protesters have been wounded, including seven women and 31 children.
Fourth Palestinian killed, health ministry says
The Palestinian ministry of health said that a 16-year-old boy has been killed by Israeli forces.
The teenager, Hussein Madi, was dead on arrival after he was taken to Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, the ministry added.
Journalist: 28 wounded protesters in intensive care unit
Hosam Salem, a photographer at the scene in the southern Gaza Strip, told Al Jazeera that there are currently 28 protesters in the intensive care unit at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.
Salem witnessed his colleague Yaser Murtaja, a 30-year-old journalist with a local media outlet, drop to the ground after he was shot by Israeli forces in the stomach.
"Yaser was filming with his camera next to me when we heard the sound of gunfire," Salem said. "He just fell on the ground and said, 'I've been shot, I've been shot'."
"He needed eight units of blood," Salem continued. "The hospital moved him from the operations room to the ICU where his situation remains critical."
Another journalist, Ibrahim Zanoun, was shot in the arm while covering the protests in Jabaliya, nothern Gaza.
Health officials: Two killed, 250 injured
The Palestinian Ministry of Health says protester Majdi Ramadan Shbat has been killed east of Gaza City by Israeli forces.
The number of those wounded has risen to at least 250, according to the ministry.
Shbat's death brings the total number of protesters killed on Friday to three, after Thaer Rab'a, who was shot by Israeli forces during the March 30 demonstrations, succumbed to his wounds earlier in the day.
Protesters 'defiant' amid growing tension
A Palestinian woman and man stand behind burning tyres in Khuza'a near the border in southern Gaza Strip [Hosam Salem/Al Jazeera]
The former president is said to be 'livid' about the accusations
Barack Obama is reportedly "furious" about Donald Trump's allegation that he ordered the placing of wiretaps in Trump Tower ahead of the presidential election.
The former US leader was said to be "livid" after his
successor accused him of being a "bad, or sick, guy", while failing to
provide any evidence his Democratic predecessor had ordered a
surveillance operation.
While Mr Obama has kept a relatively low profile since leaving office, aides told The Wall Street Journal that
Mr Trump's accusation - which he made without producing any evidence to
back up his claim - has crossed a boundary because it questioned the
former leader's integrity and that of the office of president
It follows a string of tweets from Mr Trump over the
weekend, that accused the then-President of wiretapping his New York
office in 2016.
"Terrible!" he said. "Just found out that Obama had my
'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found.
This is McCarthyism!"
He added: "Is it legal for a sitting President to be 'wire
tapping' a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court
earlier. A new low!"
Mr Obama's spokesman, Kevin Lewis, flatly denied the suggestion that anything underhand had taken place.
"A cardinal rule of the Obama administration was that no
White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation
led by the Department of Justice," he said.
"As part of that practice, neither President Obama nor any White House
official ever ordered surveillance on any US citizen. Any suggestion
otherwise is simply false."
Mr Trump flung another accusation at Obama earlier this week, tweeting:
"122 vicious prisoners, released by the Obama Administration from
[Guantanamo Bay], have returned to the battlefield. Just another
terrible decision!"
That claim has been proven false. 113 of the so-called
'vicious prisoners' released from extrajudicial detention were set free
by President George Bush, and only nine (or six per cent) by the Obama
administration.
Mr Trump's camp was quick to fire back at claims these
tweets were unbecoming. "Trump's people think Obama is at war with
them," the media baron and Trump ally Christopher Ruddy told The WSJ.
"This president has been under siege since Day One from both
the press and Obama loyalists and he’s reacting to it. I don’t think
there’s any doubt that Obama loyalists inside the administration and
outside are giving Donald Trump a lot of grief and a lot of problems."
'The savings ratio has fallen very substantially, back to the sort of level that we saw very early on in the financial crisis'
Britain’s economy is being kept afloat by an “unsustainable”
spending binge last seen just before the crash, the Treasury watchdog
has warned.
The independent Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR)
highlighted the danger of the ‘savings ratio’ going “negative for the
first time since the middle of 2008”.
It means people are spending beyond their means on credit
cards and by dipping into their savings, to cope with an incomes
squeeze.
The last time there was a negative ratio was in the early
part of 2008 – which was followed by the financial crisis and the
deepest recession since the Second World War.
At a post-Budget briefing, the OBR also highlighted the
economic pain ahead with disposable income per person forecast to fall
by 0.7 per cent in 2017.
That meant households were poised to go further into debt – a
total set to reach 153 per cent of disposable income by 2022, up from
149 per cent on the OBR’s forecast in November.
Meanwhile, the Resolution Foundation think-tank said the
average person would have £900 less in their pocket or purse in 2021
than was forecast a year ago.
On the plunging savings ratio, Sir Charles Bean, a member of
the OBR’s budget responsibility committee, said: “The important thing
is that that is not sustainable.”
He added: “The savings ratio has fallen very substantially,
back to the sort of level that we saw very early on in the financial
crisis.
“The financing of that has been partly by some consumers taking out more debt - we have seen credit relatively strong recently.
“Equally, there have been some households which have been running down their savings.”
Only higher productivity and wage growth – neither of which
are anticipated – could allow the spending binge to be sustained, Sir
Charles said.
The OBR also dismissed Theresa May’s lingering promise to
reduce net migration to “tens of thousands” in the next five years,
despite Brexit.
Around 525,000 foreign workers would account for the vast
majority of the 700,000 predicted rise in employment to 2021-22, as
“inward migrants are disproportionately of working age”.
And the watchdog warned the Government was “not on course”
to meet its flagship target to balance the books as early as possible
after 2020.
The Budget deficit was likely to be as high as one per cent
in 2021-22, even before the impact of an ageing population and rising
healthcare costs.
Although borrowing this year would be £16.7bn lower than
originally forecast, at £51.7bn, this was largely due to one-off factors
rather than an improved economic performance.
With no change in “long-term growth potential”, higher than
expected growth in 2017 – at two per cent - simply meant lower growth in
the years to follow, as “spare capacity is used up”.
On Brexit, the OBR said there was still no “meaningful
basis” on which to judge the impact – despite the Prime Minister vowing
to pull out of the EU’s single market and customs union.
But it did forecast “a lower trade intensity of UK economic
activity” for the next decade, as Britain strove to negotiate new
trading arrangements after withdrawal.
The Chancellor has broken the Conservatives’ manifesto pledge not to raise National Insurance contributions after increasing the headline rate of the tax for some workers in his Budget.
Independent white van traders and freelancers are likely to be worst
hit by the policy, which will raise the tax rate twice in the next two
years ahead of Brexit.
The 2015 Conservative election manifesto repeatedly pledged that “we
will not raise VAT, National Insurance contributions or Income Tax” .
On another page the document stated that “we can commit to no increases in VAT, Income Tax or National Insurance. Tax rises on working people would harm our economy, reduce living standards and cost jobs”.
At the time Labour described the pledge as a “last-minute gimmick”.
In the Chancellor’s speech on Wednesday afternoon Mr Hammond however
targeted self-employed workers with a hike in the rate of NI
contributions. Self-employed workers will see their rate rise from 9 per
cent to 10 per cent in 2018, with a further rise to 11 per cent in 2019
Treasury officials say 2.5 million people will be hit by £240 a year
by the NICS class 4 change. The number of people seeing a NICS rise in
April 2018 when it comes in will fall to 1.6 million because of the move
to abolish class 2 NICS previously announced JIC.
He justified the policy on the basis that differences in benefits
between employees and self-employed workers “have been very
substantially reduced” in recent years.
A Labour spokesperson said: "It is clear the Tories have broken their
manifesto promise in order to hit low and middle earners with the
sole-trader tax while continuing with tax giveaways for the super rich
and corporations."
A Government spokesperson tried to defend the policy by arguing that
the Government remained committed to its manifesto pledges and that
detail of the NICs rise had been set out in legislation after the
election.
Speaking after the Budget announcement David Gauke, the chief
secretary to the Treasury, defended the decision to break the manifesto
promise.
“I think we have got a situation where we’ve closed the gap in terms
of benefits entitlements, effectively eliminated it, that we have got a
growing situation with the costs and the sense that if we don’t take
action … we are placing an unfair burden on the 85 per cent of
employees,” he told after BBC News.
“I think if you look at our record as a Government over the course of
this period in time you’ll see it is a record where we are cutting
direct taxes … that when it comes to those direct taxes we are not
looking for more, but there is a very specific case and the more we look
at this the more we can see there is a problem that is going to build
up if we don’t take action on this.”
Bet, this time, you’re positive the exteriors for the 2nd season of the
AHS: Asylum were filmed in this creepy place. Nope. Wrong again! Danvers
State Hospital in Massachusetts has gone by many names; it’s been
variously known as the Danvers Insane Asylum, State Lunatic Hospital,
even Hell House on the Hill and other such lovely monikers. During its
heyday in the 20s and 30s there were controversies over its given out
the use of drugs, shock therapy and lobotomies – as a matter of fact, it
may have been the birthplace of lobotomy. Eventually, Danvers
transformed into unsanitary and equally dangerous place for both the
patients and staff. And since its closure it has fallen into a state of
despair and severe creepiness. Beware, as it’s one of the most violently
haunted asylums in the world.
2. Hotel del Salto — San Antonio del Tequendama, Colombia
No, it’s not the set of American Horror Story: Hotel, even though La
Casa del Salto del Tequendama does have a past twisted enough to shoot a
movie. It was built up in 1923 and named the Hotel del Santo in the
50s. Picturesque location alongside the Tequendama waterfalls in central
Colombia attracted many travelers. A few decades later the level of
river pollution caused the hotel’s abandonment. Recently it has been
changed into a museum, though. And still, the creepiest part remains the
same; many believe that this place is haunted since it was known during
its prime time as a site for numerous suicide cases.
3. Pripyat, Ukraine
An abandoned city, located in northern Ukraine, once bustled with almost
500,000 residents is now a radioactive ghost town over-run by nature.
In 1986, Pripyat became a ground zero for the deadliest nuclear disaster
in history when an ‘accident’ destroyed a reactor and caused deadly
radiation to spread throughout the city. The levels of radiation remain
too high for people to live there again though it’s safe for tourist to
visit. The city will stay abandoned forever, as that much radiation
won’t vanish for hundreds of years
4. House of the Bulgarian Communist Party — Mount Buzludzha, Bulgaria The Buzludzha monument or the ‘House-Monument of the Bulgarian Communist
Party’ used to be a wonder back in the day. Opened in 1981, it served
as a symbolic meeting point for the communist regime. But with the fall
of the Soviet Union in less than a decade later it went into disrepair;
now abandoned, this huge concrete building looks like an alien ship. The
extreme location of this otherworldly monument, on Mount Buzludzha,
puts it in the path of severe storms, ravaging winds and harsh winters.
The outer windows were the first to go, escorted by the most of the
metal-tiled roof, which is why the plans are being made to restore it.
5. Kolmanskop, Namibia
Kolmanskop is one of the most famous haunting ghost towns in the world.
It is located in the Namib Desert and was founded in the 1900s when
first diamond was found in the sand. Within a few years, hundreds of
German families set up homes here desperately seeking their fortune.
Year by year it has been turning into bustling oasis which had to be
abandoned to the wind and sand within just 50 years. Run-down buildings
are falling apart, and their insides are filled with sand from the
surrounding desert. The remains of Kolmanskop work as a magnet for ghost
hunters, which is why De Beers Company set a museum to keep the town in
somewhat decent shape and preserve the history of Kolmanskop.
6. Sanzhi UFO Houses, Taiwan
Other-worldly appearance and wacky architecture of these saucer-like
houses made them widely known as Sanzhi UFO houses the mysterious “ruins
of the future”. Sanzhi Pod City became abandoned two years after it was
built. This resort complex was built in 1978 in Taiwan. In 2 years due
to some investment issues and other financial losses, the project was
abandoned and left to the mercy of time. Sanzhi Pod City managed to find
its way onto various A-lists of eerie ghost towns though and even has
been used by MTV as a filming location.
7. Red Sands Sea Forts, the United Kingdom
These huge metal Maunsell gun towers were originally constructed in 1943
during the Second World War to protect Britain from the German Navy.
The bizarre-looking concrete monsters are named after Guy Maunsell, the
engineer that designed them. Some of the towers survived to this day
after they were decommissioned and left abandoned in the 50s. A few of
them are still standing out as sea, remarkable as ever. Even though
their lives weren’t rather long, these forts are outstanding relics of
2WW architectural history.
8. Mirny Diamond Mine – Eastern Siberia, Russia
The second largest excavated hole in the world- Mirny was made by
Stalin, who desperately wanted a more independent economy for the USSR.
It was the 1st and the largest diamond mine in the Soviet Union. The Mir
mine also known as Mirny mine is now inactive after 44 years of surface
operation. The mine is 1,722 ft deep and has a diameter of 3,900 ft. It
started to develop in 1957. Climate conditions were extremely harsh to
mine: 7 winter month of frozen ground vs. brief summer month of the
slush-turned ground. And yet Mir mine was producing 10,000,000 carats of
diamond/year in the 60s.
9. The Haunting New Bedford Orpheum -U.S.A.
Not only is April 15, 1912, a significant day because of the Auditorium
opening, but also it happened to be the day the Titanic sunk. It
functioned as the Orpheum for 47 years. This once-mighty theatre space
was used to entertain the immense audiences. Since the New Bedford
Orpheum closed its doors in 1959, part of the building became a
supermarket ant then a warehouse. Sadly today, it remains completely
abandoned, and still it never fails to impress, though.
10. Underwater Lost City Shicheng, China
Fifty-seven years ago, the Xin’an River Hydropower Station trapped the
1,300-year-old Chinese city of Shicheng (Lions City) under water. It was
named Lion City after 5 Lion Mountain risen largely behind it. It is
truly an astonishing sight. The city stands preserved from destructive
forces of erosion, like sun, wind and rain, beneath the Qiandao Lake, so
it were almost untouched and managed to stay in pretty good condition.
Archeologists call it a “virtual time capsule”, but if you wanna open
it, you’ll have to get some scuba gear.
In an 'extremely rare move' the Liberal Democrats will now vote against
the Brexit Bill at its third reading in the upper chamber
Peers in the House of Lords have voted down calls for a
second referendum on the terms of the final Brexit deal by an
overwhelming majority.
Rejecting the Liberal Democrat’s amendment to the
Government’s Brexit Bill, peers voted against a second referendum by 336
votes to 131 – a majority of 205.
In what the party describes as an “extremely rare move” in
the Lords, the Lib Dems will now vote against the Brexit Bill at the
third reading later on Tuesday.
Dick Newby, the party’s leader in the upper chamber, said
“it was only right that they [the people] are given a say on the final
deal”.
He continued: “Today the Government have confirmed that the
Brexit deal will be finalised behind closed doors in Westminster. This
is not accountable, this is not democracy, and that is why the Liberal
Democrats cannot support this Bill.
“Theresa May is driving Britain towards a hard Brexit which wasn’t on the ballot paper and which no one voted for.”
Labour's leader in the Lords, Baroness Smith of Basildon,
said her party could not support the amendment and would abstain in the
vote. She said there had been “no significant public demand for a second
referendum” and no significant shift in public opinion about leaving
the EU.
Lord Bridges, the Brexit minister, also dismissed the Lib
Dem amendment as “misguided in practice and in principle”, adding it was
abundantly clear that the referendum last year was a “once in a
generation decision”.
He added: "There was nothing on the ballot and no suggestion
from Parliament that there would have to be another referendum if the
UK were to vote to leave."
It comes after the Archbishop of Canterbury warned that
holding a second referendum on the final deal would add to the nation’s
division and “deepen the bitterness” exposed by the EU referendum last
year.
"I believe it would be both dangerous and unwise and wrong
to reduce the substance of the terms on which we exit the European Union
to the result of a binary yes-no choice taken last summer,” he added.
Brexit bill: Theresa May suffers second defeat in Lords as peers hand more power to MPs
Vote could put at risk PM's timetable to start talks on quitting the EU later this month
Theresa May has suffered a humiliating setback after the House of Lords approved a plan to give Parliament the final say over Brexit.
After a tetchy debate, peers voted by an overwhelming majority for
the proposal forcing Ms May to seek Parliament’s backing for any
withdrawal deal she agrees with the EU.
The change would also mean Ms May must win a future vote in
Parliament if she decides to see through her threat of potentially
pulling Britain out of the EU with no deal at all.
But the proposal was met with angry attacks from Brexiteers, with one
accusing other lords of seeking to tie the Prime Minister down “by her
hair, by her arms, by her legs”.
Labour, Liberal Democrat and crossbench lords joined forces with Tory
rebels to push through what has come to be called the “meaningful vote”
amendment to the Article 50 Bill, by 366 to 268 votes.
It is the second defeat the Lords
has inflicted on Ms May over the Brexit bill, giving her the power to
trigger Article 50 talks, after she and her ministers demanded it be
passed by Lords unamended.
The Labour-led amendment tabled with Lib Dem and crossbench support,
was backed by Tory grandee Lord Heseltine who said the UK is facing “the
most momentous peacetime decision of our time”.
He added: “This amendment secures in law the Government's commitment
... to ensure that Parliament is the ultimate custodian of our national
sovereignty.
“It ensures that Parliament has the critical role in determining the
future that we will bequeath to generations of young people.”
Up to now Ms May has only given a verbal assurance that Parliament
will have a vote on the terms that she agrees and has said that if MPs
and peers reject it, then the UK would still leave the EU with no deal
in place.
She also made clear in her Brexit speech at Lancaster House that if
she is not offered favourable terms by European leaders she will not be
afraid to leave with no deal.
Proposing the amendment Labour’s Baroness Hayter said the chamber had heard a “compelling case for a simple demand”.
She added: “The Prime Minister has said she will allow a vote in both
Houses ... but that to me is not a very firm commitment no matter how
sincerely it was given.”
The amendment was also supported by Lord Pannick who worked on the
Supreme Court case which forced the Government to let Parliament vote on
triggering Article 50.
Addressing fellow peers, the crossbencher said: “It must be for
Parliament to decide whether to prefer no deal or the deal offered by
the EU.”
Lord Pannick added that the amendment would not delay notification of
withdrawal or commit the Government to adopt any specific approach in
the negotiations.
But Tory peer Lord Forsyth accused Lord Pannick of a “clever lawyer's
confection” and said the proposal was a “wrecking amendment”.
Lord Forsyth said: "This House is absolutely full of people who still
haven't come to terms with the results of the referendum, and this is a
clever lawyer's confection in order to reverse the results of the
referendum."
He went on: “These amendments are trying to tie down the Prime
Minister. Tie her down by her hair, by her arms, by her legs, in every
conceivable way in order to prevent her getting an agreement, and in
order to prevent us leaving the European Union.”
Following the vote Dick Newby, Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the
House of Lords, said: “The Government must be held accountable as
Theresa May drives the country towards a reckless hard Brexit.
“Theresa May has been offered a chance to think again, a chance to
support parliamentary democracy on the biggest issue of the day.”
Brexit Secretary David Davis vowed to reverse the change when the Bill returns to the Commons.
He said: “It is clear that some in the Lords would seek to frustrate
that process, and it is the Government's intention to ensure that does
not happen.
“We will now aim to overturn these amendments in the House of Commons.”
'He wasn't the president then. Just a racist, misogynistic, draft
dodging, "birther" conspiracist, p***y grabbing, bankruptcy machine': Warning, article contains strong language
Donald Trump
is a "racist" who asked a group of white golfers if they had "ever
f*cked a n****r", according to Hollywood superstar and vocal Trump
critic Don Cheadle.
Cheadle made the incendiary allegations during a lengthy back-and-forth on Twitter with supporters of the incumbent president.
The veteran Ocean's Eleven, Crash and Iron Man 2 star
was in the depths of a heated debate when one Trump fan accused him of
"Trump-hating way before treason" - a reference to the ongoing claims
that the New York tycoon won the 2016 election with Russian backing.
"Hated him since he asked my friend's father at a Doral
pro-am if he'd ever "f*cked a n****r..." Did it for me ...", Cheadle
replied. He was referring to a mixed professional and amateur golf
contest at Donald Trump's luxury resort in Doral, Miami.
He went on to claim the unnamed father was playing in a
foursome with the billionaire tycoon. The man in question could not be
named, Cheadle said, because his daughter was a celebrity.
"The Donald thought they were all 'like minded'," he continued. "Mistook their shock for disgust...
"He went on to clarify, "No, no, it's great!" and some more stuff before they just teed off in silence."
Asked why he had not mentioned this story during the
Presidential campaign, Cheadle said he didn't think it would have made
any difference.
"Many already know this to be in his nature. It's not
hidden. And those who can't see it, might never. The story would have
changed little," he wrote.
This was not the first Twitter tirade Cheadle has directed against the billionaire tycoon.
In 2016, he called the then-Presidential hopeful a "POS"
(piece of shit) who should "die in a grease fire" after he used the
shooting death of black woman Nykea Aldridge to claim "African-Americans
will VOTE TRUMP!"
Mr Trump has faced multiple accusations of racism: he was sued for allowing his organisations to discriminate against black tenants, and his casinos were fined for allowing wealthy white gamblers to send black employees from the table.
He has also allegedly said that "laziness is a trait in blacks", and accused Mexican migrants to the US of being "racist".
When a fan said they were shocked a public figure would make
such comments, Cheadle replied: "He wasn't the president then. Just a
racist, misogynistic, draft dodging, "birther" conspiracist, pussy
grabbing, bankruptcy machine..."
Cheadle and the White House press office have yet to respond to requests for comment.
A mini-Beirut and Baghdad has erupted in the
unlikeliest of places – a sprawl of warehouses in a little explored
corner of the capital oozing with amazing food
“I hope it will snow more so we can take some pictures,”
says Ayman Assi as he looks out towards the Grand Union Canal from his
restaurant in west London.
It’s a cold Saturday morning in February. An articulated
lorry is parked outside where grey, steel and concrete dominate as you’d
expect on a drab industrial estate.
Inside is another world: a spotless Mediterranean Mövenpick,
freshly made pastries filled with minced lamb, pizza-style discs topped
with cheese and thyme, menus where the pound sign comes after the
price, chefs drawing rows of bread out of the wall oven, the chicken and
lamb shawarmas rotating against a gentle heat that will have them
dripping by lunchtime.
Attached to the restaurant is the hookah, or shisha, lounge
which sits on the canal side – well-to-do women chill out with a smoke;
young men shoot the breeze as hardworking waiters scuttle to and fro
with tea, sweets and red hot coals.
It’s a head-turner for cyclists on the canal, the aroma of
apple tobacco blowing away the cosy scent of freshly baked biscuits from
the nearby McVitie’s factory.
Beit el Zaytoun
(or House of Olives) is the newest among a crop of Lebanese and Iraqi
restaurants and shisha joints that have popped up in the middle of
nowhere – at least in retail terms – over the past few years.
There is a rivalry but it’s amicable – this particular place
is probably the most ambitious of them all. Everything is branded; the
wooden serving boards and serviettes, all carry the logo.
And the voice of the iconic Lebanese singer Fairuz is omnipresent.
Beit opened three months ago and is teeming with trade.
“People come from all over the place, Manchester, Birmingham,” says
Assi. “We don’t take bookings except Thursday night there is live
music.”
Around the corner in deepest warehouse land is a dimly lit
place called Al Banafsaj. High-end cars are parked along the road it
sits on at night. Dice roll inside on to boards, couples lounge on
sofas, dine at tables, smoke hookahs. It’s a Middle Eastern knees-down.
But no photos here, says the manager. “I’d have to ask everyone’s
permission.”
I’m surprised as the place is so vast, no one would notice but then this is the Middle East.
“They think you could be MI6, MI5,” says Radwan Issa, a veteran of the neighbourhood, only half-joking.
He runs the Al-Jabal bakery which opened in the mid-1990s
and recalls a time when his was the only Middle East catering operation
in the neighbourhood: such bakeries spawned today’s phenomenon of
outposts of Lebanon’s food empire on an industrial estate.
“People who come here want to get away from it all,” says Issa – it’s a home from home.
First it was him then one “small Iraqi place opened, one
Palestinian, one Lebanese” and in time the area was transformed into an
unlikely hub of restaurants and hubble-bubbles.
Yet it all largely remains under the radar of most of us: word of mouth has worked its magic largely in Arabic.
Three women chatting in English, two in chic headscarves, step out of a car on a grey afternoon. What are they doing here?
“Buying baklava from Patchi,” says one – the huge sweets maker up the road. And where have the travelled from? “Croydon.”
If you’re not from London that’s basically Bombay.
Around the corner is Abu-Afif, which also specialises in
pastries and has a kebab unit too. One customer, Ziad, loves its bread,
“perfected over centuries in Mesapotamia – they decided this shape is
the best for a kebab”.
Indeed, this ellipse with pointy ends does seem the perfect
smiley host for a stuffing of lean lamb shawarma or chicken – it’s a
filling sandwich for a mere £4.
Next door is Al Enam, an Iraqi-owned place that is always
jam-packed. Inside meaty skewers are flipped on a charcoal grill and
bow-tied waiters are rushed off their feet supplying dishes such as
“ghouzhi” – roast lambs neck or leg with rice – and fruit drinks to the
teetotal punters.
Barbar around the corner is one of the older places – step into this warehouse and it’s proper A Thousand and One Nights
oriental charm – but not for much longer. The HS2 project is going to
rip the neighbourhood apart, uprooting a number of businesses. “No one
knows what they will do,” says Mr Issa from Al-Jabal bakery.
For this is the only place where HS2 and Crossrail meet and
the Greater London Authority’s Old Oak and Park Royal Development
Corporation has plans.
Beit al Zaytoun’s Assi will be unaffected – in fact the
council’s given him use of the adjacent car wash. He even welcomes the
arrival of fresh competition. Maroush, the chain of around 20 Lebanese
outlets around London, is opening nearby. “The more the better,” he
says.
He’s invited me for an interview over breakfast but he is less
interested in talking than laying on a feast – and I’m not complaining.
Dish after dish arrives. It is insane. I want everyone to leave and for a
couple of hours to slowly eat everything and lick the plates.
Chunky halloumi dripping in olive oil, beautiful creamy humous (“we boil
our own chickpeas – not like in Turkish places where you go and they
buy from outside”), crispy Lebanese pizzas with thyme and cheese, and a
dish of scrambled egg and finely chopped grilled lamb.
The prices here are possibly one of the attractions –
starters are available from as low as £1.95. And then there is the
parking. Bustling Edgware Road is a viper pit of fines. Assi is keen for
his house of olives to be freestanding, Mediterranean style.
“Where else would we get this space,” he says. “I want this
to be like a house, not like a shop next-door, someone living upstairs.”
Assi adds: “I can’t wait for summer”. Then the operation
will extend to the roof and a moored canal boat he has sets his sights
on.
The 39-year-old, who lives in the rather posh neighbourhood
of Barnes in west London, has a regal air about him – this business
started off as a distraction from the “VIP-concierge” service that he
runs, supplying high-end vehicles (he’s a ‘super-car’ aficionado) to the
mega-wealthy. Even his hookah lounge here has a VIP section, separated
by its very own red-rope stand.
You wouldn’t guess it because Assi is far from flash – I
have to peer through his cuff to make out his Rolex. He has an
earthy, George Clooney charm about him. Hasan, one of his two main
chefs, arrives.
“When Mr Ayman first came to this neighbourhood, it was like a horror movie,” he says.
“Everyone though I was crazy opening here,” adds Assi.
I’m lost in a trance with all this amazing fresh and exotic
food from Beirut. Coming up for breath, I look out and notice it’s
snowing in Arabia
Some dog breeds always seem to be popular. For example, the Labrador retriever has topped the charts as the most popular breed in America for 25 consecutive years, with over 60,000 Labs registered in the U.S. in 2015. However, other breeds have become increasingly popular in recent years. That's why the data experts at PetBreeds, a pet research site powered by Graphiq, used registration data from the American Kennel Club to find the trendiest dogs on the market today.
For
a breed to make the ranking, it had to be more popular in 2015 than it
was in both 2014 and 2011.* Breeds are ranked from smallest to largest
rise in popularity from 2014 to 2015, with the trendiest breed taking
the top spot. In cases where multiple breeds rose the same amount,
breeds with a greater average puppy price were given higher rankings. If
the puppy prices are also the same, breeds were ordered alphabetically.
Fashion can play a major role in making a breed more popular. The French bulldog, which both Lady Gaga and Reese Witherspoon own, has had a dramatic rise in popularity, from No. 18 in 2011 to No. 6 in 2015.
Another large influence on a breed’s popularity is the internet. The shiba inu — the No. 53 most popular dog in 2011 — has since jumped to No. 45 after the “doge” meme became an Internet phenomenon in 2013.
Want to see which breeds are becoming household names? Keep reading to find out.
Law enforcers acting in countries which oppose the company are ignored or 'tricked' by the app using geolocation data
Uber has been using a secret tool in countries across the world in order to avoid law enforcement authorities, it has been revealed.
Greyball, a tool which uses geolocation data, credit card
information and social media account data, has been used by the company
for years in order to identify and avoid officers aiming to catch
drivers out in cities where the discount cab firm is not permitted.
Rides hailed from a location near a city enforcement agent
suspected of launching a sting to specifically trap Uber drivers could
be ignored or cancelled using the app, The New York Times reported.
The tool allowed Uber to show law enforcement officers
images of “ghost” cars on the app or show that no cars were available
for use, the paper said.
Uber defended the programme, adding in a statement that the
company “denies ride requests to fraudulent users who are violating our
terms of service – whether that’s people aiming to physically harm
drivers, competitors looking to disrupt our operations, or opponents who
collude with officials on secret ‘stings’ meant to entrap drivers.”
A spokeswoman for Uber confirmed that Greyball was still in use, though on a much smaller scale than it once was.
She added the tool had in fact grown in use as part of
efforts to protect the group’s drivers from abuse as well as protect the
app from disruption by competitors. In some cases, she said, the tool
had been used where there were enforcement stings.
Uber has come under fire as of late, defending accusations of unfair working conditions and allegations of sexual harassment within the company and employee abuse.
Last week investors
attacked the company for failing to address its culture of "bullying",
"lack of diversity" and "harassment in every form".
On Friday, Uber’s best-known security researcher resigned
without stating any reasons why, leading to speculation over whether
there had been a link to the Greyball tool.
Rival company Alphabet has also accused Uber of stealing designs for technology for self-driving cars – a claim Uber has denied.
A spokesperson said Uber’s legal department had approved the
practice in locations where Uber was not overtly banned, and that
Uber's terms of use required riders use the ride hailing app for
personal, not commercial, reasons and to not cause “nuisance” to
drivers.
The program began under a different name in 2014, and is
still being used when drivers are under threat of arrest or other legal
punishment in some cities within 15 U.S. states without clear
ride-sharing laws, she said, adding that she did not know in which other
countries the system is being used. The New York Times reported that Uber had used the
tool to evade authorities in Boston, Paris and Las Vegas, and countries
includes Australia, China, Italy and South Korea.
US officials have expressed concern about Uber’s practices but stopped short of saying they will take action.
The White House has called for the US Congress to investigate President Donald Trump's claim Barack Obama ordered Trump Tower to be "wiretapped" during the US election.
In a series of tweets, White House press secretary Sean
Spicer called Mr Trump's allegation, for which he has provided no
evidence, "very troubling".
He said Mr Trump is requesting Congress examine whether
"executive investigative powers were abused" during the 2016 election
campaign, as part of an ongoing congressional probe into Russia's
influence on the election.
"Reports concerning potentially politically motivated
investigations immediately ahead of the 2016 election are very
troubling," Mr Spicer tweeted.
"President Trump is requesting that as part of their
investigation into Russian activity, the congressional intelligence
committees exercise their oversight authority to determine whether
executive branch investigative powers were abused in 2016."
He added: "Neither the White House nor the President will comment further until such oversight is conducted."
Over the weekend, Mr Trump called Mr Obama a "bad, or sick,
guy" after accusing him of ordered his offices in New York be wiretapped
during the US election.
"Terrible!" the President tweeted over the weekend. "Just
found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before
the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!"
Soon after he added: "Is it legal for a sitting President to
be 'wire tapping' a race for president prior to an election? Turned
down by court earlier. A new low!
"I'd bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the
fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior
to election!"
Despite the severity of his claim, Mr Trump did not provide
any evidence Mr Obama was responsible for surveillance at his property
and has not provided any since.
White House officials have reportedly said they have no idea where Mr Trump got his wiretapping claims from.
Two former senior US officials dismissed Mr Trump's
accusations out of hand as “just nonsense” and “just wrong”, with one
telling CNN categorically: “This did not happen”.
One White House official is reported to have “grimaced” when
he woke up and saw the President’s flurry of tweets, according to
Politico.
“It could have come from anywhere”, the official reportedly said, adding it was unlikely to have been an official source.
Mr Obama's spokesman denied the allegations, saying any suggestion he or his staff "ordered surveillance on any US citizen" was false.
Kevin Lewis added that a “cardinal rule” of the Obama
administration was that no White House official ever interfered in any
Justice Department investigations, which are supposed to be conducted
free of political influence.
“As part of that practice, neither Obama nor any White House
official ever ordered surveillance on any US citizen. Any suggestion
otherwise is false,” he said.
The statement did not address the possibility that a wiretap
of the Trump campaign could have been ordered by Justice Department
officials.
Under US law, a federal court would have to have found
probable cause that the target of the surveillance was an “agent of a
foreign power” in order to approve a warrant authorising electronic
surveillance.
James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence
in the Obama administration, said: "there was no such wiretap activity
mounted against the president, the president-elect at the time, as a
candidate or against his campaign."
He said as intelligence director he would have known about such an order, and added: "Absolutely, I can deny it."
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders went on ABC's This Week to call for a congressional investigation into allegations the Obama administration ordered the wiretaps.
However, Ms Sanders refused to say where Mr Trump got his information from or why he blamed the former president.
She told this week: "If they're going to investigate Russia ties, let's include this as part of it. That's what we're asking."
Ms Sanders would not elaborate on what the President meant,
saying his tweets speak for themselves. She also would not say exactly
where the President got his information.
Without being specific, Ms Sanders said Mr Trump is "going
off information that he's seen that has led him to believe that ... And
if it is, this is the greatest overreach and the greatest abuse of power
that I think we've ever seen and a huge attack on democracy itself."
The top House Democrat said it is "just ridiculous" for Mr
Trump to claim Mr Obama would ever have ordered any wiretap of an
American citizen.
Representative Nancy Pelosi said "we don't do that" and she called the charge a "smear."
Ms Pelosi told CNN's State of the Union that Mr Trump
is following the playbook of making something up, having the media
report it and then saying everybody is writing about it.
The California Democrat said it was a "tool of an
authoritarian" to always have people "talking about what you want them
to be talking about."
Shaun Walmsley has been on the run since 21 February Merseyside Police
Shaun Walmsley is currently on the run after two armed men overpowered
his guards during a hospital visit in Liverpool last month
Police hunting for a convicted murder on the loose in Liverpool have arrested four people in Dorset.
Armed officers arrested the four men during a swoop on a car
in the Canford Cliffs area of Poole on Friday at around 3:45pm but
Shaun Walmsley was not among them.
Eyewitnesses told the BBC they heard loud bangs and saw pink
smoke as police cars blocked the Vauxhall Corsa’s escape in Haven Road.
During the planned operation, officers fired tyre deflation rounds to stop the vehicle and arrested the four men.
No-one was injured and no other weapons were discharged.
Walmsley, 28, went on the run on 21 February after two men armed with a knife and a gun confronted prison officers guarding him at Aintree University Hospital during a visit from HMP Wilton.
He then fled the scene in a gold Volvo which was later found abandoned in the Fazakerley area of Liverpool.
Two men aged 24 and two aged 25, all from the Liverpool area, are being questioned on suspicion of assisting an offender.
Detective Chief Inspector Gavin Dudfield, of Dorset Police,
said: "Dorset Police responded to reports that a number of people
involved in the unlawful escape of Shaun Walmsley were travelling
through Dorset.
"This was a successful targeted operation and I would like to thank
all the officers involved, including our alliance colleagues at Devon
and Cornwall Police as well as Merseyside Police.
"I appreciate that due to the nature of the incident there may have
been some concerns in the local community, so I would like to thank the
public for their patience and understanding while these necessary
arrests were made."
Walmsley is currently serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 30 years for the murder of Anthony Duffy in May 2014.
Mr Duffy, 33, was lured to an address in Aintree and stabbed 28 times
by Walmsley and another man after they learnt he had planned to steal
their cannabis crop, the Liverpool Echo reported.
Merseyside Police are said to be working with forces overseas as part of their search for the killer.
Two men aged 25 and 27 and a 26-year-old woman, all from Norris
Green, Liverpool, had previously been arrested over the escape and they
were later released pending further inquiries. Additional reporting by PA
A television reporter takes a selfie in front of the pool and cabana
during a tour of the former home of Al Capone on March 18, 2015 in Miami
Beach, Florida
A new app promises to let people take selfies with anyone they like – including dead people or celebrities.
ELROIS, a South Korean company, only needs a 3D scan of any
person's face for its "With Me" app. Once it has one, it can 'resurrect'
that person – allowing them to react to what you say and move around,
as well as letting you take pictures with them.
The app has been explicitly created to allow people to
recreate the image and personality of someone who has passed away,
according to its creators. They said that it is a way of overcoming a
broken heart by interacting with a virtual recreation of their deceased
loved ones.
It does that by creating what it calls avatars of people.
Those are really 3D models that are animated and use technologies to
respond to conversation and move around.
The company is apparently happy to let users create avatars
of people that haven't necessarily given permission. “Avatars could be
your family, friends, or even celebrities!” its tagline reads. And they can then be used to do strange things. If you say
"I love you" to the virtual character, for instance, it will reply back
to say the same thing. It will also copy its users' movements.
It will even scan the face of a user, and look to see if
they look different or if their emotional state has changed. That way,
it will be able to tell if someone looks more sad than usual and attempt
to comfort them, its creators claim
The Buzludzha monument or the ‘House-Monument of the Bulgarian Communist
Party’ used to be a wonder back in the day. Opened in 1981, it served
as a symbolic meeting point for the communist regime. But with the fall
of the Soviet Union in less than a decade later it went into disrepair;
now abandoned, this huge concrete building looks like an alien ship. The
extreme location of this otherworldly monument, on Mount Buzludzha,
puts it in the path of severe storms, ravaging winds and harsh winters.
The outer windows were the first to go, escorted by the most of the
metal-tiled roof, which is why the plans are being made to restore it.
Fifty-seven years ago, the Xin’an River Hydropower Station trapped the
1,300-year-old Chinese city of Shicheng (Lions City) under water. It was
named Lion City after 5 Lion Mountain risen largely behind it. It is
truly an astonishing sight. The city stands preserved from destructive
forces of erosion, like sun, wind and rain, beneath the Qiandao Lake, so
it were almost untouched and managed to stay in pretty good condition.
Archeologists call it a “virtual time capsule”, but if you wanna open
it, you’ll have to get some scuba gear. 
