se NASA confirms it’s working with Tom Cruise (and SpaceX?) to make a movie on space station By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Mon, 04 May 2020 21:32:29 -0400 NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has confirmed in a tweet that the space agency is working with movie star Tom Cruise on a project that involves shooting a film on the International Space Station. Deadline Hollywood reported on Monday that a space movie project involving NASA and SpaceX is in the works, but that "no studio is in the mix at this stage." Bridenstine followed up with a tweet saying that NASA was "excited" to be working with Cruise, and explaining that "we need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make NASA's ambitious plans a… Read More Full Article
se Study spotlights the Allen Institute’s latest 3-D reference atlas of the mouse brain By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 00:19:40 -0400 The third time's the charm for the Allen Institute for Brain Science's 3-D atlas of the mouse brain. Version 3 of the atlas, known as the Allen Mouse Brain Common Coordinate Framework or CCFv3, is the subject of a research paper published today in the journal Cell. It builds on a partial brain map that focused on the mouse cortex and was released in 2016. Previous versions of the atlas were rendered with lower-resolution 3-D maps. The latest high-resolution maps are fine enough to pinpoint the locations of individual brain cells — which is crucial for interpreting datasets that contain thousands… Read More Full Article
se Astronomers found the closest black hole to Earth — and there could be millions more like it By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 19:30:00 -0400 Scientists usually find black holes by detecting X-rays they emit as they devour nearby stars. But this one was quietly hidden 1,000 light-years away. Full Article
se Restoration work inside Pompeii's House of Lovers – in pictures By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-02-18T18:15:00Z The ancient Roman city’s House of the Lovers has reopened to the public 40 years after it was severely damaged in 1980 by an earthquake Pompeii’s House of Lovers reopens to public Continue reading... Full Article Archaeology Italy News photography Photography World news Culture
se No 10 scientific advisers warned of black market in fake coronavirus test results By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-05T10:18:05Z Sage told widespread use of antibody tests could lead to criminal behaviour, papers revealCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageDowning Street’s scientific advisers feared people might intentionally seek to contract coronavirus and that a black market in fake test results could emerge if employers allowed workers to return only when they had a positive antibody test.The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, known as Sage, was warned last month by its behavioural psychology subgroup that the widespread introduction of antibody tests could lead to a range of potentially dangerous and even criminal “negative behavioural responses” if not handled well. Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak Health Infectious diseases Science Society UK news
se Heathrow to carry out temperature checks on passengers By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-06T16:16:47Z Airport’s boss says global standard for screening is crucial to restoring confidenceCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageHeathrow will start using thermal cameras to carry out temperature checks on passengers within the next fortnight, as it called for common health screening standards around the world for air travellers.The UK’s busiest airport said it would trial thermal cameras capable of monitoring the temperature of people in the immigration halls, initially in Terminal 2. Continue reading... Full Article Airline industry Heathrow airport Air transport Transport UK news Coronavirus outbreak Business Environment World news
se Widower seeks class-action lawsuit against N.S. gunman's estate By www.cbc.ca Published On :: Thu, 7 May 2020 22:10:06 EDT A man whose wife was killed in the April mass shooting in Nova Scotia is the plaintiff named in a proposed class-action lawsuit against the estate of the deceased gunman, denturist Gabriel Wortman. Full Article News/Canada/Nova Scotia
se Wild horse stuck in muddy bog is alive and kicking thanks to some determined rescuers By www.cbc.ca Published On :: Fri, 8 May 2020 14:42:35 EDT A young wild horse likely wouldn't have survived the night if a group of animal lovers hadn't stumbled across the filly struggling — and failing — to drag itself out of a two-metre deep mud hole. Full Article News/Canada/Calgary
se Man used a semi-automatic, tactical-style shotgun in confrontation with RCMP, ASIRT says By www.cbc.ca Published On :: Fri, 8 May 2020 20:10:54 EDT Alberta's police watchdog have released new details about an armed confrontation that left one person dead and a police officer seriously injured. Full Article News/Canada/Edmonton
se Families separated by the pandemic yearn for personal contact on Mother's Day By www.cbc.ca Published On :: Sat, 9 May 2020 04:00:00 EDT The mother of a newborn wants to see her own mother cuddle the baby, while adult children must rely on virtual connections with their elderly mother. COVID-19 proves challenging physically and emotionally for many this Mother's Day. Full Article News/Canada/Saskatchewan
se Victory Day: Belarus swaggers on parade as Russians leave Red Square deserted By www.theguardian.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T15:05:03Z In a tale of two cities, Moscow keeps its distance while in Minsk, thousands turn out for the traditional military spectacularCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIn any other year, hundreds of thousands of Russians would have marched with portraits of relatives who fought in the second world war in a memorial called the Immortal Regiment.But on Saturday, the images of Soviet veterans and their families floated past on Russian television, a public vigil adapted for the era of social isolation. Continue reading... Full Article Coronavirus outbreak Infectious diseases Russia Belarus Vladimir Putin Alexander Lukashenko Second world war
se US says Russia working with Syria to send mercenaries to Libyan war By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 11:23:14 -0400 The US believes Russia is working with Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, to send militia fighters and equipment to Libya, according to senior officials. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, US special envoy for Syria, Jim Jeffrey, said Libya’s increasingly shadowy battlefield could get even more complicated. “We know that, certainly, the Russians are working with Assad to transfer militia fighters, possibly third country, possibly Syrian, to Libya, as well as equipment,” he said. His comments came a day after a leaked UN report confirmed the presence of Russian and Syrian mercenaries operating in Libya in support of renegade military commander, Khalifa Haftar. The report revealed that Russian private military contractor, Wagner Group, has up to 1,200 mercenaries operating in Libya in support of General Haftar’s forces, which are already backed by the UAE, Russia and Egypt. The report, seen by Reuters, is one of the first indications of the scale of Wagner’s military operation in Libya’s messy battlefield, as well as the first time the UN has confirmed the presence of the shadowy Russian mercenaries. Since 2014, the oil-rich North African country has been split between areas controlled by the internationally recognised Government of National Accord in Tripoli and the northwest, and territory held by Gen Haftar’s eastern-based forces in Benghazi. For almost six years Gen Haftar’s forces have been at war with a coalition of militias from the west of the country who support the government in Tripoli. Turkey is the only military backer of the Tripoli government that is currently trying to stave off Haftar’s year-long offensive on the capital. The UAE and Egypt have long strengthened Haftar’s forces with military equipment, including aircraft and helicopters, while Moscow provided private contractor forces. As the conflict has drawn on and involvement has increasingly become the stage for a struggle for power in the region, diplomats say both Turkey and the UAE have deployed drones and the use of mercenaries has increased, now seemingly including forces from Russia and Syria. Libya has been mired in chaos since a 2011 NATO intervention helped topple Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, and its battlefields increasingly populated with foreign fighters in a shadow-war. Russian mercenaries were first reported fighting alongside General Haftar’s forces in Libya in 2018. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, however, insisted that those mercenaries do not represent the Russian government. Yet when General Haftar visited Moscow in 2018, Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman with long-standing ties to Mr Putin and suspected owner of Wagner, was seen in the footage of the meeting, sitting near the Russian defence minister. Russia, which also backs Assad’s government in Syria, has maintained a delicate balancing act in Libya, forging ties with both the UN-recognised government and with the rebel commander. But Moscow’s patience with General Haftar began to run out earlier this year when he and his entourage in January abruptly left the much-anticipated cease-fire talks in Moscow mediated by Russia and Turkey without signing the deal. Henry Wooster, deputy assistant secretary at State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs also expressed increasing concern over the ties between the Libyan commander and Syria’s president, who are both bitter enemies of Turkey and fighting Turkish-backed militant groups on their soil. “Haftar’s establishment of so-called diplomatic relations with the Assad regime...is very much a part of the piece of the question of Syrian mercenaries, at least on his side of the equation,” he said. While the leaked report also confirmed the presence of Syrian mercenaries in Libya fighting alongside Haftar’s forces, Pro-Turkish Syrians are also known to be fighting with the Tripoli government, against General Haftar. Full Article
se Smart Education And Learning Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Age, By Component, By Learning Mode, By End User, By Region And Segment Forecasts, 2020 - 2027 By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 11:30:00 -0400 Smart Education And Learning Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Age, By Component (Hardware, Software, Service), By Learning Mode, By End User, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2020 - 2027Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05891723/?utm_source=PRN The global smart education and learning market size is expected to reach USD 680.1 billion by 2027. The market is anticipated to witness a CAGR of 17.9% from 2020 to 2027. Demand for smart education and learning solutions is increasing among the growing population in corporate and academic sectors, owing to benefits such as improved education quality and easy access to educational content. Increasing adoption of consumer electronics, such as smartphones, e-readers, laptops, and e-learning applications, has altered conventional education methodology and has enhanced the efficiency of an individual to learn. Additionally, there are enormous opportunities for advancements in the market, owing to improved internet accessibility.Also, the COVID - 19 outbreak has emerged an opportunity for the market with an increasing number of states and countries closing educational institutes. For instance, over 90.0% of the world's students are not attending their schools due to this pandemic, as mentioned by UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization). Commonwealth of Learning (COL), an intergovernmental organization of The Commonwealth (Canada), has supported educational institutions and governments in building robust distance education solutions for quality e-learning practices. However, lack of awareness among end-users about the latest technologies and inadequate amount of resources for delivering quality education in developing regions is anticipated to hinder market growth.The simulation-based learning segment is anticipated to exhibit the highest CAGR because this mode enables corporate professional and educational institutions to create a realistic experience in a controlled environment.It also allows professionals and learners to practice, navigate, explore, and obtain more information through a virtual medium before they start working on real-life tasks.Growing awareness among people and the rising popularity of smart education are encouraging solution providers to invest in research and development for creating more reliable, better, and cost-effective solutions. Manufacturers are making substantial investments in developing new products for enhancing the user experience.Smart education and learning market report highlights:• Growing demand for smart educational practices can be accredited to factors, such as reducing expenses of online training, curbing geographic challenges in physically attending classes, and time constraints faced by aspirants• Increasing penetration of the Internet of Things (IoT), enhanced internet accessibility, and rapid adoption of mobile technology have encouraged users to adopt smart education and learning solutions• Innovative techniques, such as gamification, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), microlearning, and adaptive learning, which improve the overall educational process, are expected to drive the market over the projected period• North America accounted for the largest market share in 2019 owing to its large consumer base for e-learning methodsRead the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05891723/?utm_source=PRN About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Contact Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 Full Article
se VP Pence's press secretary tests positive for coronavirus By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 12:35:06 -0400 Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary has the coronavirus, the White House said Friday, making her the second person who works at the White House complex known to test positive for the virus this week. President Donald Trump, who publicly identified the affected Pence aide, said he was “not worried” about the virus spreading in the White House. Pence spokeswoman Katie Miller, who tested positive Friday, had been in recent contact with Pence but not with the president. Full Article
se Police drop investigation into Brexit campaigners accused of breaching spending rules By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 13:49:30 -0400 Police have dropped an investigation into two prominent Brexit campaigners accused of breaching spending rules during the referendum campaign. In 2018 the Electoral commission said that Alan Halsall, of Vote Leave, and Darren Grimes, founder of pro-Brexit youth group BeLeave, failed to declare a payment related to the campaign. The watchdog said that BeLeave "spent more than £675,000 with (Canadian data firm) Aggregate IQ under a common plan with Vote Leave". This spending took Vote Leave over its £7 million legal spending limit by almost £500,000. Vote Leave paid a £61,000 fine, but denied wrongdoing, while Mr Grimes won an appeal against his £20,000 fine in July. The Commission also referred the pair to the Metropolitan Police but on Friday it was revealed that the investigations had now been dropped. A spokesman for the Leave campaigners said: "The Metropolitan Police has written to Vote Leave board member Alan Halsall and BeLeave founder Darren Grimes to confirm that it will not be acting on allegations made against them by the Electoral Commission and various Remain campaigners. "This marks the end of a two-year ordeal for both individuals." Mr Grimes, 26, said the development called into question whether the Electoral Commission was "fit for purpose". He had insisted since the allegations were first made that he was "completely innocent" of making false declarations in relation to the £680,000 donation. In a statement, Mr Grimes, a former fashion student originally from County Durham, said: "The Metropolitan Police has found, after investigation and consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, that there is no case to be answered. "Once again the Electoral Commission has been found to be part of the mob, a quango out of control that isn't policing elections so much as punishing Leavers who have the temerity to win them. "My ordeal at the hands of the kangaroo court that is the Electoral Commission is now over, but questions must now be asked of whether that body is fit for purpose." Mr Halsall, the responsible person for Vote Leave, said he was "delighted to have been exonerated" and thanked the police for their "professional" investigation. "I was very disappointed that my colleagues at Vote Leave and myself were never given the opportunity of making our case in person to the Electoral Commission before being fined and reported to the police," he added. "It seems a rather unusual way of conducting an inquiry into such matters that only the so-called whistleblowers who made these allegations are interviewed by the regulator." A spokesman for the Met said an investigation into the Electoral Commission's allegations against Vote Leave and BeLeave, submitted on July 17 2018, was handed over in October to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). "On Tuesday, March 3 preliminary advice was received from the CPS," said the force spokesman. "This advice has now been duly considered and no further action will be taken." Full Article
se Virus restrictions reimposed amid patchwork re-openings By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 14:36:21 -0400 As coronavirus-induced economic pain grew around the world, some U.S. states moved forward Friday with plans to reopen their economies, while European countries held muted commemorations to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II on the continent. Around the U.K., residents were encouraged to stand on their doorsteps and sing together while socially distanced to commemorate the Allies' victory over Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, South Korea, seen as a model for containing COVID-19, ordered nightclubs closed for a month and considered delaying a school restart after an uptick in coronavirus cases. Full Article
se Senate Fails To Override President Trump Veto Of Iran War Powers By www.newsy.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 16:54:00 -0400 The Senate failed to override President Trump's veto of legislation that would have prevented him from taking military action in Iran without congressional approval. On Thursday, the Senate voted 49-44 in favor of the override, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed for it to be approved. Both chambers of Congress passed the bipartisan resolution earlier this year. Full Article
se Senate Fails to Override Trump's Veto of Iran War Powers By www.newsy.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 16:54:00 -0400 The Senate failed to override President Trump's veto of legislation that would have prevented him from taking military action in Iran without congressional approval. On Thursday, the Senate voted 49-44 in favor of the override, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed for it to be approved. Both chambers of Congress passed the bipartisan resolution earlier this year. Full Article
se US blocks vote on UN's bid for global ceasefire over reference to WHO By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 17:07:56 -0400 Security council had spent weeks seeking resolution but Trump administration opposed mention of organizationThe US has blocked a vote on a UN security council resolution calling for a global ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic, because the Trump administration objected to an indirect reference to the World Health Organization.The security council has been wrangling for more than six weeks over the resolution, which was intended to demonstrate global support for the call for a ceasefire by the UN secretary general, António Guterres. The main source for the delay was the US refusal to endorse a resolution that urged support for the WHO’s operations during the coronavirus pandemic.Donald Trump has blamed the WHO for the pandemic, claiming (without any supporting evidence) that it withheld information in the early days of the outbreak.China insisted that the resolution should include mention and endorsement of the WHO.On Thursday night, French diplomats thought they had engineered a compromise in which the resolution would mention UN “specialized health agencies” (an indirect, if clear, reference to the WHO).The Russian mission signaled that it wanted a clause calling for the lifting of sanctions that affected the delivery of medical supplies, a reference to US punitive measures imposed on Iran and Venezuela. However, most security council diplomats believed Moscow would withdraw the objection or abstain in a vote rather than risk isolation as the sole veto on the ceasefire resolution.On Thursday night, it appeared that the compromise resolution had the support of the US mission, but on Friday morning, that position switched and the US “broke silence” on the resolution, raising objection to the phrase “specialist health agencies”, and blocking movement towards a vote.“We understood that there was an agreement on this thing but it seems that they changed their mind,” a western security council diplomat said.“Obviously they have changed their mind within the American system so that wording is still not good enough for them,” another diplomat close to the discussions said. “It might be that they just need a bit more time to settle it amongst themselves, or it might be that someone very high up has made a decision they don’t want it, and therefore it won’t happen. It is unclear at this moment, which one it is.”A spokesperson for the US mission at the UN suggested that if the resolution was to mention the work of the WHO, it would have to include critical language about how China and the WHO have handled the pandemic.“In our view, the council should either proceed with a resolution limited to support for a ceasefire, or a broadened resolution that fully addresses the need for renewed member state commitment to transparency and accountability in the context of Covid-19. Transparency and reliable data are essential to helping the world combat this ongoing pandemic, and the next one,” the spokesperson said.While the force of the resolution would be primarily symbolic, it would have been symbolism at a crucial moment. Since Guterres made his call for a global ceasefire, armed factions in more than a dozen countries had observed a temporary truce. The absence of a resolution from the world’s most powerful nations, however, undermines the secretary general’s clout in his efforts to maintain those fragile ceasefires.Talks will continue next week at the security council to explore whether some other way around the impasse can be found. Full Article
se Germany sees increased risk of hard Brexit if Britain refuses to extend deadline By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 22:00:00 -0400 Full Article
se Hard Brexit more likely because of coronavirus and lack of progress in talks, says German foreign minister By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 22:57:40 -0400 A hard Brexit is more likely due to the coronavirus crisis because Britain and the European Union have made so little progress in talks, Germany's foreign minister has said. Heiko Maas said that negotiations between Britain and the EU so far on the future trade relationship had yielded few gains with the UK disregarding the political declaration, which he said was "simply not on". Britain left the EU in January, and talks with the bloc are now focused on setting new trading terms from 2021, when London's status-quo transition period ends. However, the talks quickly hit an impasse when negotiations resumed last month, according to diplomats and officials. "It's worrying that Britain is moving further away from our jointly agreed political declaration on key issues in the negotiations," Mr Maas told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper. "It's simply not on, because the negotiations are a complete package as it's laid out in the political declaration." Mr Maas said there was currently neither common ground on how to shape a comprehensive trade deal or on whether to extend the negotiation period beyond the end of the year. "The British government is still refusing to extend the deadline," Mr Maas said. "If it stays that way, we will have to deal with Brexit in addition to the coronavirus at the turn of the year." Simon Coveney, Ireland's foreign minister, said on Friday that the coronavirus pandemic had made an already difficult timeline for a British-European Union trade deal "virtually impossible" and that it would make sense to seek more time. Full Article
se Coronavirus strikes staffers inside the White House By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 00:37:07 -0400 Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary has the coronavirus, the White House said, making her the second person who works at the White House complex known to test positive for the virus this week. President Donald Trump, who publicly identified the affected Pence aide, said he was “not worried” about the virus spreading in the White House. Pence spokeswoman Katie Miller, who tested positive Friday, had been in recent contact with Pence but not with the president. Full Article
se Iran reports more than 1,500 new virus cases By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 07:05:43 -0400 Iran warned Saturday that coronavirus infections were rising in the southwest despite falls in other regions, as it announced more than 1,500 new confirmed cases. "All provinces are showing a gradual drop in new infections... except for Khuzestan, where the situation is still concerning," health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in televised remarks. The health ministry stopped publishing provincial figures for the coronavirus last month. Full Article
se U.S. continues media battle with Beijing, limits Chinese journalists' visas By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 08:08:01 -0400 The back-and-forth continues.The Department of Homeland Security said Friday the United States will shorten the visa length for Chinese journalists working for non-American news outlets to 90 days. Previously, journalists with Chinese passports were granted open-ended visas. They can apply for extensions under the new rules, but renewed visas will also last just 90 days. The new limit won't apply to reporters from Hong Kong Macau, or to mainland Chinese citizens who hold green cards.It's the latest development in a media war between Washington and Beijing that has intensified during the coronavirus pandemic. American officials said the rules were meant to counterbalance the "suppression of independent journalism" in China, whose government expelled journalists from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post in March. Before that, the U.S. reduced the number of Chinese citizens employed by multiple state-controlled Chinese news organizations to work in the country. The New York Times notes the move wasn't unexpected; U.S. intelligence officials have long believed some journalists at Beijing-run outlets are spies, and the Trump administration has designated some Chinese news agencies foreign government functionaries.The heightened tensions between the world's two biggest powers didn't just show up in the media world Friday. U.S. lawmakers wrote to nearly 60 countries asking them to support Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization, a move that likely won't sit well with China. And Washington also blocked a United Nations security council resolution calling for a global ceasefire during the pandemic because it indirectly referenced the WHO, which the U.S. has blamed in conjunction with China for failing to suppress the outbreak.More stories from theweek.com Outed CIA agent Valerie Plame is running for Congress, and her launch video looks like a spy movie trailer 7 scathing cartoons about America's rush to reopen Trump says he couldn't have exposed WWII vets to COVID-19 because the wind was blowing the wrong way Full Article
se Georgia man's death raises echoes of US racial terror legacy By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 08:29:17 -0400 Many people saw more than the last moments of Ahmaud Arbery's life when a video emerged this week of white men armed with guns confronting the black man, a struggle with punches thrown, three shots fired and Arbery collapsing dead. The Feb. 23 shooting in coastal Georgia is drawing comparisons to a much darker period of U.S. history — when extrajudicial killings of black people, almost exclusively at the hands of white male vigilantes, inflicted racial terror on African Americans. It frequently happened with law enforcement complicity or feigned ignorance. Full Article
se Putin pays a somber tribute to WWII dead as Russian coronavirus cases skyrocket By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 10:14:00 -0400 Cancellation of the ceremony was the second blow to Putin, who was forced to call off a referendum extending his time in power. Full Article
se Putin pays a somber tribute to WWII dead as Russian coronavirus cases skyrocket By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 10:14:00 -0400 Cancellation of the ceremony was the second blow to Putin, who was forced to call off a referendum extending his time in power. Full Article
se In Flynn Case, Barr Again Takes Aim at Mueller Inquiry By news.yahoo.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 10:41:58 -0400 WASHINGTON -- Shortly after admitting guilt to a federal judge in December 2017 for lying to the FBI, Michael Flynn issued a statement saying what he did was wrong, and "through my faith in God, I am working to set things right."It turns out that the only higher power that Flynn needed was Attorney General William Barr.Barr's extraordinary decision to drop the criminal case against Flynn shocked legal experts, won President Donald Trump's praise and prompted a career prosecutor to quit the case. It was the latest in Barr's steady effort to undo the results of the investigation by Robert Mueller, the special counsel. Barr has portrayed his effort as rectifying injustice, and the president more bluntly as an exercise in political payback.In his decisions and public comments over the past year, Barr has built an alternate narrative to the one that Mueller laid out in his voluminous report. Where the special counsel focused on Russia's expansive effort to interfere in the 2016 election, the Trump campaign's openness to it and the president's determination to impede the inquiry, Barr has focused instead on the investigators. He has suggested that they were unleashed by law enforcement and intelligence officials bent on bringing political harm to Trump.Barr has also mischaracterized the findings of the Mueller investigation, questioned why it began in the first place, used legal maneuvers to undo its courtroom successes and opened his own investigation by a hand-picked prosecutor that could bring criminal charges against former U.S. officials who played a part in setting the original inquiry into motion. Mueller and Barr, once close friends, have been like two students standing shoulder to shoulder at a blackboard: What one has diligently written down, the other has tried to steadily erase.In an interview Thursday with CBS News, Barr said he considered the Flynn case to be "part of a number of related acts -- and we're looking at the whole pattern of conduct." (The same day, Trump called it "just one piece of a very dishonest puzzle.")Recent disclosures about the FBI's handling of the Flynn case raise questions about why the bureau's leadership sent agents to interview Flynn without coordinating with top Justice Department officials, the latest in a series of revelations about FBI abuses in politically charged investigations in recent years. Barr, however, even suggested that a theory of the case embraced by Mueller and his team might have made them blind to the facts."One of the things you have to guard against, both as a prosecutor and I think as an investigator, is that if you get too wedded to a particular outcome and you're pursuing a particular agenda, you close your eyes to anything that sort of doesn't fit with your preconception," he said. "And I think that's probably the phenomenon we're looking at here."But when Mueller made his findings public, many criticized him for doing the opposite. His conclusions, especially about whether Trump had committed any obstruction of justice offenses by impeding the inquiry, were dense, burdened by legalese and appeared to reflect a tortured debate among the special counsel's team. They delivered no easy sound bite that the president's opponents could seize upon -- allowing Trump to distort the judgments by calling them a vindication of his behavior.The Mueller report "bends over backwards" to show that the special counsel's team considered all of the legal and political ramifications of investigating a sitting president, said Matthew J. Jacobs, a former federal prosecutor and now a partner at Vinson & Elkins."It gives the benefit of the doubt to the subject of the investigation that in any quote-unquote normal criminal case doesn't happen and wouldn't exist," said Jacobs, who once worked for Mueller at the U.S. attorney's office in San Francisco.Barr's decision to drop the charges against Flynn was "unlike anything I've seen before," Jacobs said, adding that he saw no evidence whatsoever "that Gen. Flynn was set up or entrapped."In an unsolicited memo he wrote to the White House while still a lawyer in private practice in 2018, Barr unspooled his thoughts about what he called a "fatally misconceived" obstruction of justice theory the special counsel was reportedly pursuing as part of his investigation. Trump named him attorney general months later, but during his confirmation hearing, he pledged not to interfere with the work of Mueller and his team.Barr drew criticism for the way he characterized Mueller's findings last year in a four-page letter that -- for weeks -- served as the public's only picture of Mueller's 22-month investigation. Mueller privately wrote to the attorney general, saying he had mischaracterized the findings -- a letter Barr described as "snitty" -- and over time, Barr has repeatedly tried to emphasize the harm done to the investigative targets of the FBI and the special counsel's office.Barr's handling of the Mueller findings prompted a stinging rebuke in March from a Republican-appointed federal judge, who said the attorney general put forward a "distorted" and "misleading" account of the findings and lacked credibility on the topic.Barr has long insisted that he works independently of the White House, and in February, he said that Trump's public comments about the Justice Department sometimes made it "impossible" for him to do his job. Those comments came after Barr and other top department officials intervened to try to reduce a prison sentence in another case brought during the Mueller investigation: That of Roger Stone, a longtime friend of the president's who was convicted of lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstruction of justice in a bid to thwart a congressional inquiry that threatened Trump.The president has made it clear both to aides and foreign officials that he sees Barr as a crucial ally in the grinding battle against his perceived enemies. Last July, the day after Mueller's congressional testimony seemed to lower the curtain on a more than two-year drama that had imperiled the Trump presidency, Trump was on the phone with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine asking him to assist the attorney general in an investigation "to get to the bottom of" how the Russia investigation began."As you saw yesterday, that whole nonsense ended with a very poor performance by a man named Robert Mueller," the president said. The requests to Zelenskiy helped form the basis of an impeachment case against Trump in the ensuing months.Weeks after that phone call, Barr was on a plane to Rome with John Durham -- the prosecutor leading the Justice Department's investigation into the origins of the Russia investigation -- to seek evidence from Italian officials that might bolster a conspiracy theory long held by Trump: That American intelligence and law enforcement officials plotted with American allies to try to prevent him from winning the presidency in 2016.They did not appear to find any evidence. It remains uncertain, however, what Durham will find over his investigation, expected to finish sometime this year, and what effect it will have on the legacy of the Mueller investigation.The president, of course, has not waited to pass judgment. He has long publicly complained that the Flynn case was a product of a cabal of former officials conspiring against him, and he seems certain to promote its collapse as he ramps up his campaign for reelectionOn Thursday, the day the Justice Department dropped the criminal charges against Flynn -- the first top White House official to have been ensnared in the Russia investigation -- Trump was on the phone with President Vladimir Putin of Russia to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.Trump boasted that the call came at an opportune time. Things are "coming in line showing what a hoax this whole investigation was -- it was a total disgrace.""I wouldn't be surprised," he said he told Putin, "if you see a lot of things happen over the next number of weeks."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company Full Article
se Ajit Pai uses bad data to claim ISPs are deploying broadband to everyone By arstechnica.com Published On :: Mon, 27 Apr 2020 19:48:28 +0000 Pai’s “baffling” report ignores broadband gaps and high prices, Democrats say. Full Article Biz & IT Policy ajit pai broadband FCC
se Comcast waives data cap until at least June 30 in response to pandemic By arstechnica.com Published On :: Mon, 27 Apr 2020 21:54:33 +0000 Comcast hasn't enforced data cap since March 13 because of pandemic. Full Article Biz & IT Comcast data cap pandemic
se Hacker buys old Tesla parts on eBay, finds them full of user data By arstechnica.com Published On :: Tue, 05 May 2020 22:58:09 +0000 Data can be retrieved even after owners perform a factory reset, researcher says. Full Article Biz & IT Cars hacking infotainment systems media control units personal information privacy Tesla
se Caddy offers TLS, HTTPS, and more in one dependency-free Go Web server By arstechnica.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 12:56:05 +0000 We put Caddy 2.0.0 head to head against a ranking heavyweight, Apache 2.4.41. Full Article Biz & IT Tech Apache caddy Ubuntu webserver
se Wink smart hub users get one week’s notice to pay up or lose access By arstechnica.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 16:31:32 +0000 Devices will stop working for users who don't want to pay the new monthly fee. Full Article Biz & IT Policy internet of shit Internet of things smart home smart home hubs wink
se Canada focuses on mitigating COVID-19, placing virus origin search on backburner By globalnews.ca Published On :: Mon, 04 May 2020 22:11:39 +0000 It will be important to one day learn the true origin story of the global pandemic to defend against similar outbreaks in the future, Health Minister Patty Hajdu acknowledged Monday. Full Article Canada Health Politics Science World Coronavirus coronavirus origin story Coronavirus Origins COVID-19 Donald Trump Fox News how did the coronavirus start Justin Trudeau mystery coronavirus origin Patty Hajdu theresa tam
se Focus on COVID-19 has disrupted funding for regular health research, scientists fear By globalnews.ca Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 02:47:36 +0000 The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) put off its regular $275-million competition this spring to focus on delivering federal grants related to the novel coronavirus. Full Article Canada Health Science Canada Coronavirus Canadian Institutes of Health Research CIHR Coronavirus Coronavirus Cases Coronavirus In Canada coronavirus news coronavirus update COVID-19 covid-19 canada covid-19 news health care funding Health Funding
se Green energy surpasses coal as top power source during coronavirus lockdowns By globalnews.ca Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 19:53:23 +0000 The slowing economy due to COVID-19 has allowed solar, wind and hydro power to overtake coal-fired power. Full Article Science Trending Coal Coronavirus Coronavirus Good News coronavirus in the usa coronavirus news Coronavirus Updates Coronavirus US COVID-19 Green Energy Pollution Renewable Energy
se South Korea experts say ‘reinfected’ coronavirus cases appear to be false positives By globalnews.ca Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 05:44:04 +0000 In some cases, the tests may detect old particles of the virus, which may no longer pose a significant threat to the patient or others, scientists say. Full Article Health Science World Coronavirus Coronavirus Cases coronavirus false positives coronavirus news coronavirus reinfected Coronavirus reinfection coronavirus South Korea coronavirus update COVID-19 covid-19 news South Korea south korea coronavirus
se VDI as a Service is better than VDI By gigaom.com Published On :: Tue, 28 Apr 2020 17:43:31 +0000 Last week, I attended Cloud Field Day 7 and some sessions with VMware, they spoke about the service and product ecosystem they… Full Article Blog Cloud Cloud Field Day Data Management VDI VDIaaS VMWare
se Marketplaces Are Changing the Way We Do Enterprise IT By gigaom.com Published On :: Thu, 30 Apr 2020 16:07:27 +0000 In one of my latest reports (Key Criteria for Evaluating Unstructured Data Management), one of the key criteria was the availability of… Full Article Blog CFD7 Cloud OpenShift TFDx VMware Cloud AWS
se Global Boom, Pandemic, Crash: Is History Just Repeating Itself? (in Analysis) By feeds.feedblitz.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 19:39:00Z If Peter Turchin is right, we face the end of a 300-year cycle, as did previous far-flung empires. Related StoriesLet’s Debunk the Myth Living More Densely Breeds Disease (in Analysis)Now Would Be a Good Time to Get to Know the Ancient Stoics (in Analysis)The Other Virus Test: Who’s a True Leader? (in Analysis) Full Article
se Here’s How BC Plans to Clear Surgical Backlog Caused by COVID-19 (in News) By feeds.feedblitz.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 20:55:00Z Some 30,000 patients added to waitlist as hospital beds held open for possible pandemic surge. Related StoriesBC Lifts the Veil on Easing Restrictions (in News)BC Is Winning the Battle, but Tough Prevention Measures Will Remain (in News)Disabled People Fear Being Denied Care in Worst Case Pandemic Scenarios (in News) Full Article
se Police Watchdog Wants Answers on VPD’s Response to Lord Byng Racist Video (in News) By feeds.feedblitz.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 22:01:00Z Police complaints commissioner raises questions about explanation for not recommending criminal charges. Related StoriesVancouver School Trustee’s Anti-Hate Motion Headed for Full Board Vote (in News)Black Activists Taking Vancouver School Board to Human Rights Court (in News)Did Lord Byng, School District Follow Threat Assessment Rules after Racist Video? (in News) Full Article
se Coronavirus: Researchers 'a few weeks away' from concluding clinical trials of treatment By www.independent.co.uk Published On :: 2020-04-13T15:28:38Z Australian scientists also working to evaluate extent of immunity to virus among public Full Article
se Flamingos form lasting friendships and 'choose to hang out' with each other, scientists learn By www.independent.co.uk Published On :: 2020-04-14T13:19:00Z 'It seems - like humans - flamingos form social bonds for a variety of reasons,' researcher says Full Article
se Deadly disease killing olive trees 'could cost over £20bn' across Europe By www.independent.co.uk Published On :: 2020-04-14T12:29:00Z Disease, spread by spittlebugs, capable of infecting over 300 plant species Full Article
se Exercise may directly protect against liver cancer, study suggests By www.independent.co.uk Published On :: 2020-04-14T18:32:12Z Experiment in mice indicates exercise provides high level of protection from cancer, even among those with diabetes and obesity Full Article
se Major new breakthrough could help reveal origin of the universe, scientists say By www.independent.co.uk Published On :: 2020-04-15T12:24:00Z Scientists have made a major breakthrough that could help us understand the origin of our universe, they say. Full Article
se Coronavirus: Nasa using 50s-style 3D glasses to control Curiosity rover on Mars while team is working from home By www.independent.co.uk Published On :: 2020-04-15T17:49:08Z The remote working stakes have just gone up a notch Full Article
se Coronavirus app could help stop spread of covid-19 – but many people will need to use it, Oxford experts say By www.independent.co.uk Published On :: 2020-04-16T15:48:00Z Widespread and quick use would be key to battling spread of virus, study says Full Article
se Coronavirus: Areas with worse air pollution have 'significantly higher' death rates, study shows By www.independent.co.uk Published On :: 2020-04-20T14:53:52Z Latest study on nitrogen dioxide reinforces earlier research linking air pollutants and Covid-19 deaths Full Article