All NEWS: December 2018

Monday, December 31, 2018

Gains, growing pains mark California’s 1st year of legal marijuana

Gains, growing pains mark California’s 1st year of legal marijuana

In a nation increasingly embracing legal cannabis, California stands out as the country’s biggest pot shop. Top-shelf marijuana, concentrates, balms and munchies are being produced and sold. Some companies are doing well, especially those with deep pockets that can handle the market’s twists and turns. But many are not.

Hannover airport closed for over four hours after car drives onto runway

The airport in the German city of Hannover was closed for over four hours after a car drove onto the runway. The unnamed driver has been arrested, and all flights were diverted from 3:30pm until 8pm. A police spokesman said a car with a Polish license plate managed to get on to the runway just after a plane had landed. “Officers from the Federal Police were able to stop the car and overwhelm the man,” said Hannover police, in a statement. The incident comes after the airport increased security over the Christmas period. Passengers inside Hannover airport wait for updates “The security areas are currently vacated, currently there is no clearance," police said, immediately after the incident. "Flight operations are currently suspended. The investigation continues.” Eurocontrol, the organisation responsible for air traffic management, said there were no flights due to land or take off until 8pm. “Zero rate applied for arrivals and departures due to an ongoing security issue on the airfield,” Eurocontrol said. “Delays are high.” Flights resumed at 8:06pm, the airport announced on its website.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2LEEa2u

Despite regime troops nearby, Syrians in Manbij still fear Turkey

Syrian forces have deployed around the city of Manbij at the request of the Kurds, but Abu Azeez Jaber still fears a US military withdrawal will see Turkish troops enter. Since 2016, the strategic northern city on the Turkish border has been controlled by an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters backed by the US-led coalition. On Friday, Syria's army announced it had sent troops to the region, after Kurdish forces said they had requested the regime's help.

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Putin tells Trump that Moscow is open for dialog

Russian President Vladimir Putin told President Trump in a letter on Sunday that Moscow was ready for dialogue on a "wide-ranging agenda," the Kremlin said

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2rZpzpl

Former independent counsel Ken Starr on Rudy Giuliani indicating Robert Mueller's investigation should be investigated

President Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani accused Mueller's office of destroying evidence by allowing text messages from Peter Strzok and Lisa Page to be erased.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2VgUB9D

Cyber-attack hits US newspaper deliveries: report

A malware attack that appears to have originated outside the US delayed the hardcopy distribution of several major newspapers, according to a report. The LA Times said Saturday that the attack, which was first assumed to have been a server outage, hit a computer network at Tribune Publishing which is connected to the production and printing process of multiple newspapers around the country. As a result, the delivery of the Saturday editions of the LA Times and San Diego Union Tribune were delayed.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2LFnQ1s

Fears of intimidation, violence as Bangladesh set to vote

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — As Bangladeshis get set to vote in Sunday's parliamentary elections, there are fears that violence and intimidation could keep many away from the polls, including two opposition candidates who said police had barricaded them inside their homes.

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Washington Parses Trump’s Wall Semantics in Search for Compromise

Trump’s demand for a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico actually refers to “steel slats” as well as the technology that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers have said they need to intercept the illegal flow of goods and people, according to Kellyanne Conway, a senior White House adviser. “It is a silly semantic argument because people who just want to say ‘wall, wall, wall’ want that to be a four-letter word,” Conway said on “Fox News Sunday,” one of two appearances on a day parts of the federal government are shut for a ninth day.

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Origin of virus that hobbled newspapers still unclear

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The origins of a suspected computer attack that disrupted the Los Angeles Times and Tribune Publishing newspapers remained unclear Sunday after causing delivery delays and being brought to the attention of federal investigators.

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California officer's killing reignites sanctuary law fight

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The shooting death of a California police officer has reignited the debate over sanctuary laws, with a sheriff all but blaming the statewide immigration policy for the killing as he announced the arrest of a man living in the U.S. illegally.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2EU32C2

Afghan Taliban arrived in Tehran, started negotiations: foreign ministry

Taliban representatives from Afghanistan arrived in Tehran on Sunday and started peace negotiations with Iran, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said.

from Reuters: World News https://reut.rs/2TmeCde

With U.S. departure, Syria's Manbij braces for upheaval

U.S. forces have underpinned stability in Manbij since Islamic State's defeat here in 2016. Some 30 km (20 miles) from the Turkish border, it occupies a critical spot in the map of the Syrian conflict, near the junction of three separate blocks of territory that form spheres of Russian, Turkish and - for now - U.S. influence. While U.S. forces have yet to leave, the consequences of Trump's decision are already playing out in Manbij.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2GLTewv

California authorities seek motive in triple slaying

ORCUTT, Calif. (AP) — California authorities are trying to determine why a Central Coast man stabbed and beat his sister, mother and a third person to death in their home.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2BP0SR6

Bangladesh PM wins election landslide but opponents demand new vote

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was declared the landslide winner Monday of an election marred by deadly violence that the opposition slammed as "farcical" and rigged. Hasina's ruling Awami League party and its allies won 288 seats in the 300-seat parliament, with the main opposition securing only six seats, Election Commission secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed said. Hasina's government had mounted a crackdown on the opposition, an alliance led by the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), which urged the country's election commission to void the results.

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How F-22 and F-35 'DNA' Will Make the 'New' F-16 Viper a Real Killer

Here is all we know.

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Most popular Yahoo News photo galleries of 2018 — the countdown

Check back in because we’ll be counting down the top 10 until New Year’s Eve.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2Q0ry6d

Heads up: Israeli woman stumbles upon Roman busts

An Israeli woman walking near ancient ruins noticed a head sticking out of the ground, leading to the uncovering of two Roman-era busts, archaeologists said Sunday. The life-size sculptures, carved in limestone, were found in the northern city of Beit Shean earlier this month, with the Israel Antiquities Authority dating them to the late Roman period, some 1,700 years ago. The well-preserved busts are of men, one of them bearded, sculpted in the Oriental style that was becoming fashionable at the end of the Roman period, according to Eitan Klein, deputy head of the IAA's theft prevention unit.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2QXCpTZ

Egypt kills 40 'terrorists' in crackdown after Giza attack

Egyptian police killed 40 suspects in a crackdown on Saturday after a roadside bomb hit a tour bus claiming the lives of three Vietnamese holidaymakers and an Egyptian guide. Thirty alleged "terrorists" were killed in separate raids in Giza governorate, home to Egypt's famed pyramids and the scene of Friday's deadly bombing, while 10 others were killed in the restive North Sinai, the interior ministry said without directly linking them to the attack. A security source said the raids took place early Saturday morning, hours after Friday evening's roadside bombing which officials said hit a tour bus in the Al-Haram district near the Giza pyramids killing the three Vietnamese holidaymakers and their Egyptian guide.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2RoYJW6

The Economists, Military, Moralists & Politicians Running Brazil

(Bloomberg) -- Traditionally, Brazilian presidents offered ministerial positions to politicians in return for their parties’ support in Congress. But with politics-as-usual deeply discredited in the wake of successive corruption scandals, Jair Bolsonaro is trying a different tack. The new government consists of roughly four separate groups, only one of which is explicitly political.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2AxjC7Z

Sherman, T-34 and Cromwell: These Three Allied Tanks Won World War II

Allied tanks were engineered for mass production and to handle routine battlefield tasks well, rather than being over-engineered to survive the heaviest guns or penetrate the thickest armor.

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UK to spend over $130 million on ferries to cope with no-deal Brexit

Just three months before the United Kingdom is due to leave the world's largest bloc, the risk of a no-deal Brexit is rising -- the nightmare scenario for many businesses, which are now planning for an economic shock. To ease a potential backlog, the government has awarded three contracts to provide additional freight capacity on routes from English south-coast ports including Poole, Portsmouth and Plymouth.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2RngW69

Perris torture case: Home dubbed 'House of Horrors' up for auction

UP FOR AUCTION: The Riverside County home dubbed a house of horrors is on the auction block.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2EY5Xue

Bangladesh opposition calls for fresh election as Sheikh Hasina wins amid violence and vote-rigging claims

Bangladesh's main opposition called for a fresh vote on Sunday as the country's prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, and her ruling Awami League were declared the winners of an election tainted by violence and vote-rigging allegations. At least 17 people were said to have been killed in election day clashes, while reports flowed in of alleged vote manipulation and people being blocked from entering polling stations by ruling party supporters. As Mrs Hasina's alliance sailed past the 151 seats needed to form a government and headed for a landslide third consecutive term, the country's main opposition leader called for the "farcical" election to be declared void. Kamal Hossain, head of the Jatiya Oikya Front (JOF), the largest opposition alliance, told a press conference in Dhaka that votes had been "rigged on a massive scale across the country". He urged Bangladesh's election commission to dismiss the result and call "fresh elections under a non-partisan caretaker government as soon as possible". Salahuddin Ahmed, a candidate for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the largest single party in the opposition alliance, was stabbed in Dhaka as the election unfolded Credit: Reuters Election Commission Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed finished delivering the results of the voting early on Monday. Ahmed said the ruling Awami League-led alliance won 288 seats while the JOF, led by former president H.M.Ershad, had 20 seats. An opposition alliance led by Mr Hossain had only seven and others got three out of 300 seats. The poll followed a campaign that had been marred by violence and a crackdown on freedom of speech. Human Rights Watch and other international groups had decried repressive measures which they said had created a climate of fear. Some 600,000 security personnel had been deployed for the election, while authorities ordered the shutdown of high speed internet to prevent the spread of "rumours" that might spark unrest. Vehicles in Dhaka burn after an opposition rally which ended with police using tear gas and batons after the election was announced Credit: AFP On Sunday, polling agents alleged that they had stayed away out of fear. Others claimed they had been beaten up and forced out of voting centres. Rumana Mahmood, a JOF candidate in Sirajganj, 68 miles northwest of Dhaka, claimed that 90 percent of her supporters had been prevented from voting for her. "In most cases they were not allowed to enter the voting centres. Police and the ruling Awami League party cadres blocked them,” she alleged to the Telegraph, claiming that supporters of the ruling party had stuffed ballot boxes in favour of the government. Supporters of Bangladesh Awami League march along a street as they take part in a rally ahead of December 30 general election vote Credit: MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP One 65-year-old woman in Ms Mahmood’s constituency claimed that the police had not allowed her to vote freely. "We were around 20 or 25 women from the same locality. The policemen at the gate of the centre said that he would allow us inside if we voted for the boat (symbol of the Awami League),” she said."In my locality there are hundreds of people who have not been allowed in any voting centre today." Bangladesh has become increasingly authoritarian under Mrs Hasina’s rule, moving closer towards a de-facto one-party state while Begum Khaleda Zia, her arch-rival, and leader of the largest opposition party, the Bangladesh National Party, serves a lengthy prison sentence on corruption charges.

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UK trade minister says '50-50' chance Brexit may be stopped: paper

Britain's trade minister Liam Fox said there is a "50-50" chance that Brexit may be stopped if parliament rejects the government's divorce deal with the European Union next month. "If we were not to vote for that, I'm not sure I would give it (Brexit) much more than 50-50," Fox, a leading supporter of leaving the EU, told the Sunday Times newspaper. With three months left until the United Kingdom is due to leave the EU on March 29, May's Brexit deal is floundering, opening up a range of possibilities from a Brexit without a trade deal to calling Brexit off.

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Bali's Agung volcano spews ash in fresh eruption

A volcano on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali erupted Sunday, belching ash high into the air and over nearby villages as officials warned tourists to keep clear of the area. Mount Agung has been erupting periodically since it rumbled back to life in 2017, when it grounded hundreds of flights and left 120,000 visitors stranded. "Residents near Mount Agung as well as climbers and tourists should not carry out any activity in the danger zone or within four-kilometre radius from the crater," the centre said in a statement.

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Ask the Captain: What airplanes did you fly in your career?

Prior to becoming an aviation safety consultant, and USA TODAY columnist, John Cox flew a wide variety of commercial airplanes.

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Gravely ill boy whose mother had to fight to visit from Yemen dies

A young boy whose mother had to fight for permission to visit him from Yemen as he lay gravely ill in a US hospital has died, a rights group said Saturday. Two-year-old Abdullah Hassan, who held American citizenship through his father, had been suffering from a rare genetic illness in its terminal phase. Despite her son's grave condition, Shaima Swileh had been repeatedly turned down when applying for a visa because of the travel restrictions ordered by President Donald Trump against six mostly Muslim majority countries including Yemen.

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Does the U.S. Navy Have Another Carrier-Killer Missile to Worry About?

Here comes the YJ-12.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2CHaAqg

Low mileage 1976 Subaru Brat sells for high dollar price

With only 2500 miles on the clock, this classic BRAT is in great condition and has just changed hands for more than $46,000

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2R2W4C7

Missouri man fatally shoots girlfriend, her kids, her mother

A St. Louis-area man shot to death his girlfriend, her two young children and her mother in the home they all shared, authorities said Saturday. He exchanged gunfire with officers as he fled and was captured several hours later in a convenience store, covered in blood and wounded.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2EYeeyr

Afghanistan to delay presidential election to July: election body

The announcement follows heavy criticism of October's chaotic parliamentary election, which saw problems ranging from roadside bomb attacks to malfunctioning biometric voter verification equipment, incomplete voter lists and huge delays at polling sites. The timing of the election has also been complicated by talks under way between U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and representatives of the Taliban aimed at launching a full peace process to end the war in Afghanistan. The election was originally scheduled for April 20 but Gula Jan Abdul Bade Sayad, chairman of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) said mounting problems had forced a delay.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2ApuaFZ

Anti-India protests erupt in Kashmir after 4 rebels killed

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Anti-India protests and clashes erupted in disputed Kashmir on Saturday after a gunbattle between militants and government forces killed four rebels, police and residents said.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2rZZ7ff

US winter storms kill seven: media

Parts of the United States were digging out Saturday from winter storms that media reports said led to at least seven deaths, while warmer regions braced for potential flooding during the New Year's travel period. As storm clouds moved east, they were set to bring heavy rain and probably flooding to the Gulf Coast, and both rain and freezing rain to New England. Flight tracker FlightAware reported more than 129 flight cancellations and 1,006 delays Saturday -- down from more than 500 cancelations and 5,700 delays on Friday -- as the winter storm hit north-central and Midwestern states with up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of snow.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2BKTLsY

Will General Motors resurrect the GMC Envoy? Trademark filing raises speculation SUV may be brought back.

General Motors has filed for a trademark on the name Envoy, raising speculation that it will resurrect the once popular GMC SUV.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2CIsMQt

Putin says Moscow is open for dialogue with the US in New Year letter to Trump

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump in a New Year letter on Sunday that Moscow was ready for dialogue on a "wide-ranging agenda", the Kremlin said following a series of failed attempts to hold a new summit. At the end of November, the US president abruptly cancelled a planned meeting with Mr Putin on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Argentina, citing tensions about Russian forces opening fire on Ukrainian navy boats and then seizing them. Mr Trump and Mr Putin also failed to hold a full-fledged meeting in Paris on the sidelines of the centenary commemoration of the Armistice. The two leaders held their one and only summit in Helsinki in July. "Vladimir Putin stressed that the (Russia - United States) relations are the most important factor for providing strategic stability and international security," a Kremlin statement said. "He confirmed that Russia is open for dialogue with the USA on the most wide-ranging agenda." Mr Putin also wished "well-being and prosperity to the British people" Credit: TASS / Barcroft Images Moscow has said one of the key issues it wanted to discuss with the United States is Washington's plans to withdraw from a Cold War era nuclear arms pact. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying that now it was up to the United States whether to hold a new meeting in 2019. "The issue should be addressed to Washington. Both our president and his representatives have said that we are ready for the talks when Washington is ready for it," TASS news agency quoted Mr Lavrov as saying in televised remarks. In a separate letter to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Mr Putin pledged continuation of aid to the Syrian government and people in the "fight against terrorism, in defence of state sovereignty and territorial integrity". Credit: TASS / Barcroft Images Mr Putin also sent New Year greetings to other world leaders including Theresa May and Shinzo Abe of Japan, as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping. Mr Putin wished "well-being and prosperity to the British people", the Kremlin said. Russia's embassy in London said on Friday Moscow and London had agreed to return some staff to their respective embassies after they expelled dozens of diplomats early this year. Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats over accusations the Kremlin was behind a nerve toxin attack in March on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury. Russia, which denies any involvement in the poisoning, sent home the same number of British embassy workers in retaliation.

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