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Wednesday 31 July 2019

Chicago shooting deaths: Outcry as anti-gun violence mothers shot dead while campaigning

July 31, 2019 No comments

Chicago shooting deaths: Outcry as anti-gun violence mothers shot dead while campaigningTwo women who campaigned against Chicago’s infamous gun violence, have themselves been shot and killed on a street corner where activists frequently stood to keep watch.The anti-gun violence group Mothers Against Senseless Killings (MASK), confirmed Chantell Grant and Andrea Stoudemire were killed after a blue SUV pulled up to the corner, and someone in the vehicle opened fired into the crowd.“People are tired of being afraid. We’re sick of being afraid. We live in these communities and then we somehow are penalised and punished for living here. If you’re poor, you’re poor,” said MASK founder Tamar Manasseh.“But when women are killed, it’s not their fault. It’s not because they made bad decisions. It’s not they’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.”Police said the two women were killed on Friday night in South Side neighbourhood of Englewood, where members of the group often stood watch.Mr Grant, 26, was mother to three young children. Ms Stoudemire, 35, had two children. They were among a total of 48 people shot in the city over the weekend, eight of them fatally.Chicago has a reputation for some of the deadliest and most persistent gun violence in the country, though it is not evenly distributed.Most occurs in the South Side, which has had a large African American population and which has long suffered from poverty, partly the result of hosing laws that long discriminated against minority communities.MASK was founded in 2015 and works to “interrupt violence and crime, and teach children to grow up as friends rather than enemies”.NNC News said there have been more than 1,190 shooting incidents in the city so far this year, and almost 1,530 shooting victims, according to police.Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi called the murders “senseless”. He added: “We have no evidence to suggest the women were the intended targets.”




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Woodstock 50 Officially Off - Variety

July 31, 2019 No comments

Woodstock 50 Officially Off  Variety

Woodstock 50 is officially off, multiple sources tell Variety. Vendors and stakeholders were notified this morning, July 31, that the beleaguered festival was not ...

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Jussie Smollett: Judge dismisses motions by 'Empire' actor's attorneys - WLS-TV

July 31, 2019 No comments

Jussie Smollett: Judge dismisses motions by 'Empire' actor's attorneys  WLS-TV

A Cook County judge dismissed Wednesday motions filed by Jussie Smollett's attorneys.

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UK PM Johnson faces first electoral test in vote for Welsh parliamentary seat

July 31, 2019 No comments

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson could see his working majority in parliament reduced to just one when voters in a rural Welsh parliamentary seat go to the polls on Thursday in his first electoral test as leader.


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Trump Allies See Personal Grudge, Not Political Strategy, in Twitter Attacks on Baltimore, Cummings - The Wall Street Journal

July 31, 2019 No comments

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Shelter-in-place issued for areas west of Exxon plant fire in Baytown and south of 330 - 12newsnow.com KBMT-KJAC

July 31, 2019 No comments

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Gilroy Shooting Raises Anxieties About Security At Outside Lands - SFist

July 31, 2019 No comments

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Baltimore murder rate worse than Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, driving asylum surge - Washington Examiner

July 31, 2019 No comments

Baltimore murder rate worse than Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, driving asylum surge  Washington Examiner

The Baltimore murder rate is higher than the three Central American nations driving the border surge by migrants seeking to flee crime and murder back home.



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Woodstock 50 festival canceled - CNN

July 31, 2019 No comments

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'We're in pain': Family remembers Keyla Salazar, teen killed in Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting

July 31, 2019 No comments

'We're in pain': Family remembers Keyla Salazar, teen killed in Gilroy Garlic Festival shootingFamily and friends held a vigil for Keyla Salazar Tuesday evening, lamenting how a mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival ended her life at 13.




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The 2 Canadian teen fugitives were searched at an alcohol checkpoint the day they were charged with murder, but authorities let them go

July 31, 2019 No comments

The 2 Canadian teen fugitives were searched at an alcohol checkpoint the day they were charged with murder, but authorities let them goTataskweyak Cree Nation checkpoint guards stopped the pair as they entered an alcohol free county, but let them pass after no contraband was found.




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Ancestry will let you search online for relatives who were displaced by the Holocaust

July 31, 2019 No comments

Ancestry will let you search online for relatives who were displaced by the HolocaustAncestry is digitizing millions of Holocaust persecution records and making them searchable online for free.




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Escape bids by rebel princesses throw spotlight on UAE rights

July 31, 2019 No comments

Escape bids by rebel princesses throw spotlight on UAE rightsPrincess Haya, who is battling her husband Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al-Maktoum in a UK court, is the third princess who has sought to escape the Gulf emirate in recent years. Activists say the attempts by Haya and two of Sheikh Mohammed's daughters to escape the United Arab Emirates (UAE) throw a harsh spotlight on the country's rights record, even as it tries to present a glitzy and modern image to the West. In 2000, Sheikha Shamsa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum tried to escape the family's entourage during a holiday in England, but was reportedly picked up two months later and forcibly returned to Dubai.




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Marianne Williamson explains the need for slavery reparations: 'A debt that is owed'

July 31, 2019 No comments

Marianne Williamson explains the need for slavery reparations: 'A debt that is owed'The self-help author helped herself Tuesday with a stirring answer on the question of slavery reparations.




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Israel approves hundreds of Palestinian homes in West Bank amid reports of US peace plan rollout

July 31, 2019 No comments

Israel approves hundreds of Palestinian homes in West Bank amid reports of US peace plan rolloutIsrael has made an unusual move to approve hundreds of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank amid reports the US is preparing to roll out its long-awaited peace plan.  Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, granted permits for 700 Palestinian houses but tried to appease his Right-wing base by also approving 6,000 housing units for Jewish settlers.   Israel rarely grants building permits to Palestinians and the move was seen as a potential concession to the White House, which is trying to convince Palestinians and Arab states to back its peace initiative.   Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law and top aide on Israeli-Palestinian issues, is expected in Jerusalem this week to discuss the plan with Mr Netanyahu.   The plan remains secret but Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Mr Trump intends to unveil it at a summit with Arab leaders at Camp David in the coming weeks. A White House official denied that planning for a summit was underway and said Mr Kushner’s team would report back after their trip to Israeli and Arab states before deciding their next move. “No summit has currently been planned,” the official said.  The US unveiled the less controversial economic side of the plan at a conference in Bahrain in June but has not given a timeline for releasing the political side of the plan.  Mr Trump enjoys the pageantry of high-profile international meetings and Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, has often been the site of peace talks between Israel and its neighbours. Expectations for Mr Trump’s peace effort are low. The Palestinians have preemptively rejected the plan, arguing that Mr Trump is heavily biased towards Israel and is not an honest broker.   David Friedman, the US ambassador to Israel, signaled that the White House opposed the idea of an independent Palestinian state, which has long been a demand of both Palestinians and America’s Arab allies.     Mr Friedman instead endorsed Mr Netanyahu’s position that the Palestinians can be granted autonomy but not a state of their own.   “We believe in Palestinian autonomy,” he told CNN. ”We believe that autonomy should be extended up until the point where it interferes with Israeli security."




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Follow the law, get pulled over: Why a police plan to 'ticket' drivers backfired in Arizona

July 31, 2019 No comments

Follow the law, get pulled over: Why a police plan to 'ticket' drivers backfired in ArizonaTempe Police Department started a "Positive Ticketing Campaign" initiative to hand out Circle K drink coupons for following traffic laws.




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House Dems Near 50 Percent Support for Impeachment Inquiry

July 31, 2019 No comments

House Dems Near 50 Percent Support for Impeachment InquiryA group of five Democratic representatives called on leadership to begin an impeachment inquiry against President Trump Tuesday night, bringing the total number of House Democrats in support of impeachment to 116, just two votes short of reaching the 50 percent threshold.Democratic Representatives Jennifer Wexton of Virginia, Grace Meng and Eliot Engel of New York, Jason Crow of Wisconsin, and Judy Chu of California joined a growing cohort of House Democrats clamoring for an impeachment inquiry in the face of a reluctant leadership wary of the move's potential electoral consequences for the more moderate members of their caucus.Engel, a moderate member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, argued that former special counsel Robert Mueller's testimony last week “provided ample evidence that the president committed obstruction of justice.”“The president abused the power of his office in an effort to stymie a legitimate investigation into his campaign’s involvement with Russia,” Engel said.Meng, meanwhile, struck a more cautious tone, presenting the requested impeachment inquiry as an opportunity to “uncover the truth, and to obtain critical supporting evidence like the grand jury materials and witness testimonies.”Pelosi was unmoved on the question of impeachment following Mueller's testimony, telling reporters she still preferred to continue the many ongoing oversight investigations into the president, and allow the pending legal challenges against the administration to be resolved, before opening an impeachment inquiry.Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler, who has reportedly privately pressured Pelosi to begin impeachment proceedings, conceded that Trump “richly deserves impeachment” following Mueller's testimony, but questioned whether it was politically pragmatic.“But that’s not the question,” he told reporters. “The question is, can we develop enough evidence to put before the American people?”The mounting support for impeachment comes as the first ads, produced by the liberal advocacy group Need to Impeach and featuring Mueller's testimony to make the case for impeachment, aired across the country.“As much as this president and his administration attempt to cover up the facts, with this ad we are ensuring that Americans hear the facts directly from Mueller,” Nathaly Arriola, executive director of Need to Impeach, said in a Tuesday statement.




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Virginia black caucus, state Democrats boycott commemorative events over Trump's attendance - CNN

July 31, 2019 No comments

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California woman gives birth to two infants behind local business, resulting in the death of one: police - Fox News

July 31, 2019 No comments

California woman gives birth to two infants behind local business, resulting in the death of one: police  Fox News

A California woman is in custody after police say she abandoned two newborns behind a local business after appearing to give birth to them on the sidewalk, ...

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U.S. will extend sanctions waivers for Iran nuclear programs: Bolton

July 31, 2019 No comments

The United States will renew sanctions waivers for Iranian nuclear programs that allow Russia, China and European countries to continue their civilian nuclear cooperation with Tehran, White House national security adviser John Bolton said on Wednesday.


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North Korean missile tests didn't violate Kim pledge to Trump: Bolton

July 31, 2019 No comments

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said on Wednesday that Pyongyang's recent missile tests do not violate a pledge that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made to President Donald Trump, but he questioned when working-level talks on denuclearization would begin.


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South Korea detains North Korean man crossing the DMZ

July 31, 2019 No comments

The South Korean military detained a North Korean man who crossed the heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates the two countries, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JSC) said on Thursday.


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Taking Nasa's space buggies for a spin

July 31, 2019 No comments

BBC Click's Spencer Kelly takes a ride in some in some of Nasa's latest vehicles.

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Tuesday 30 July 2019

Inmates behind Brazil deadly prison riot transferred: official

July 30, 2019 No comments

Inmates behind Brazil deadly prison riot transferred: officialForty-six inmates involved in one of Brazil's deadliest prison riots were being transferred to other jails Tuesday, an official said. At least 57 people were killed on Monday when fighting broke out between rival drug gang factions in the Altamira Regional Recovery Centre in the northern state of Para. Sixteen were decapitated in the hours-long battle, but most died in a fire that engulfed part of the overcrowded facility that used converted shipping containers to house some of the inmates.




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How to Stop Iran’s Maritime Misadventures

July 30, 2019 No comments

How to Stop Iran’s Maritime Misadventures(Bloomberg Opinion) -- European nations, alarmed by Iran’s capture of a British oil tanker, are mounting a response to protect their commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf. The Royal Navy has started to escort British ships, and a plan for a European naval mission has been endorsed by Denmark, France and Italy.It’s a promising start. But effectively curbing Iran’s misbehavior and safeguarding ships in the region will require a more ambitious —and truly international — effort. Most important, it needs to involve the U.S. Navy.The Europeans are wary of combining their fleets with a nearby American operation for fear of being identified with President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran. France’s foreign minister says a separate effort is needed to reduce tensions and “create the conditions for inclusive regional talks on maritime security.”This is both naïve and shortsighted. A disjointed naval effort increases the likelihood of accidents and miscalculations. It might leave open gaps that could be exploited by the marauding speedboats of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. And it creates unnecessary quandaries for ship captains: If, say, an American tanker with British nationals aboard were attacked while under U.S. Navy protection, would the HMS Duncan not respond to a call for assistance, for fear its intentions might be misconstrued by the Iranian regime?QuicktakeThe World’s Oil FlashpointFar better to present a united front. By fully joining their resources, the Americans and Europeans would be better able to police sea lanes and respond to provocations. In fact, they should be working together to recruit other countries — India, for instance — into a unified coalition, akin to the multinational task force formed to counter Somali pirates a decade ago. That effort, first headed by the U.S., drastically reduced attacks, helped strengthen local navies and coast guards, and safeguarded commercial traffic and humanitarian missions.Mounting such a response in the Gulf may sound politically difficult. But Europe should remember that the capture of the British ship, the Stena Impero, had essentially nothing to do with the nuclear deal: It was retaliation for the British Navy’s seizure of a vessel carrying Iranian crude to Syria, in contravention of European Union sanctions. Iran should’ve contested the seizure through legal processes. Instead, it’s holding the British ship hostage and demanding as ransom the release of its own tanker — and the freedom to keep sending oil to Syria, in support of the dictator Bashar al-Assad.It’s yet another reminder of how Iran’s misconduct threatens the entire region, and part of a disturbing pattern. In recent weeks, the regime has attacked ships and oil installations, shot down an American drone, restarted its uranium enrichment program, and even test-fired a ballistic missile, all while refusing good-faith efforts at mediation. It’s lashing out in the hopes that it can intimidate the world into doing what it wants.The U.S. and Europe shouldn’t give in to this kind of aggression. They should instead be united in opposing it. The waters of the Persian Gulf would be a good place to start.—Editors: Bobby Ghosh, Timothy Lavin.To contact the senior editor responsible for Bloomberg Opinion’s editorials: David Shipley at davidshipley@bloomberg.net, .Editorials are written by the Bloomberg Opinion editorial board.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.




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'Passive aggression. It's a lifestyle': Ocasio-Cortez responds to a GOP congressional critic

July 30, 2019 No comments

'Passive aggression. It's a lifestyle': Ocasio-Cortez responds to a GOP congressional criticRep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., accused Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of having "deliberately misled the American people" about the treatment of migrants in detention.




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Motive for slayings at California festival still unclear two days later

July 30, 2019 No comments

Motive for slayings at California festival still unclear two days laterCalifornia police on Tuesday were still trying to determine why a teenager went on a shooting rampage over the weekend at a popular food festival south of San Jose, killing a 6-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl and a man in his 20s. The police have since obtained search warrants for a home in Gilroy associated with the suspect and the car they believe he drove to the festival, a decades-old annual event celebrating the produce farmed in the countryside of California's Santa Clara Valley.




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Pelosi, Schumer Stand Firm in Opposing Impeachment

July 30, 2019 No comments

Pelosi, Schumer Stand Firm in Opposing ImpeachmentSenator Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that he stands with House speaker Nancy Pelosi in opposition to impeachment proceedings despite pressure from the caucus to move forward.“I believe that . . . Speaker Pelosi is handling this appropriately,” Schumer said in reference to Pelosi's strategy of encouraging Democratic House committee chairmen to continue their probes into President Trump and his campaign but hold off on impeachment.After former special counsel Robert Mueller's testimony to Congress last week, Pelosi stated that the House does not yet have the evidence necessary to open an impeachment inquiry. “We will proceed when we have what we need to proceed,” she said. “Not one day sooner.”Meanwhile, two members of Senate Democratic leadership have come out in favor of proceeding with impeachment. Assistant Democratic Leader Patty Murray of Washington called for an impeachment inquiry “to determine whether the president’s actions necessitate impeachment,” and Senator Debbie Stabenow, the chair of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, on Monday said she agreed.Minorities of the Democratic caucuses in both chambers support spearheading the impeachment process. Only twelve Democratic senators say they back impeachment, while over 100 but still fewer than half of the 235 Democratic House members agree.Despite consistent demands to begin the impeachment process against Trump among some Democratic lawmakers and voters, the movement has been largely kept at bay thanks to Pelosi.“I’m not for impeachment,” the speaker said in March. “Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country."




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Water meant for Puerto Rican hurricane victims dumped on farmland

July 30, 2019 No comments

Water meant for Puerto Rican hurricane victims dumped on farmlandTens of thousands of water bottles destined for desperate Puerto Ricans after devastating back-to-back hurricanes slammed into the US island territory remain unopened on farmland almost two years later, emergency aid officials confirmed Monday. Aerial images captured by AFP show a sea of water bottles, packaged into massive bundles, heaped on what appears to be a private estate in the Higuillar neighborhood in Dorado, 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of San Juan. A spokesman for the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) confirmed it had provided the water bottles as part of relief efforts for Hurricane Maria, which occurred in September 2017.




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A 33-year-old woman who used to work for Amazon is the suspect in the massive Capital One hack — meet Paige Thompson

July 30, 2019 No comments

A 33-year-old woman who used to work for Amazon is the suspect in the massive Capital One hack — meet Paige ThompsonThompson is accused of stealing data from millions of Capital One customers, including Social Security numbers and linked bank accounts.




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Whither Evangelical Purity Culture? Thoughts on the Legacy of a Lost Pastor

July 30, 2019 No comments

Whither Evangelical Purity Culture? Thoughts on the Legacy of a Lost PastorIf you don’t live in Evangelical-world, you probably missed this news. An influential Evangelical author and pastor named Joshua Harris announced on Saturday that he was in the process of “deconstruction.” His statement was clear. “By all the measurements I have for defining a Christian,” he said, “I am not a Christian.” He apologized to the LGBT community for not affirming gay marriage and for the ways that his writing and speaking “contributed to a culture of exclusion and bigotry.”For Christians, it’s a sad statement, but it’s also full of real integrity. Rather than try to jam Christianity into his evolving worldview, he respects orthodoxy by opting out.Harris burst into prominence as a young Christian with every author’s dream: a giant, influential first-book bestseller. It was called I Kissed Dating Goodbye, and it sold almost a million copies. If anything, however, the sales numbers understated its influence. It was part of the foundation of Evangelical “purity culture,” and it revolutionized parenting and dating for countless Christian parents and families.I remember it well. I was a youth pastor for a few memorable months at the height of the courtship craze. The year was 1998, I was a youth volunteer at a small church in Georgetown, Ky., when our youth pastor left. Until we could find a new youth pastor, I was in charge. I preached the youth service every week, I led the youth Sunday school, and I led the youth prayer groups. I was also a commercial litigator in a big law firm, and suddenly I had two full-time jobs. It was one of the best times of my life.But we also had a problem. The youth ministry had gone all-in on purity culture. The previous youth pastor had even declared “no date ’98,” placing a moratorium on every kid in the youth group: not even a single date for the entire year. When it came to relationships, it would be “courtship” (tersely defined as parental-supervised visits and outings) or nothing.This wasn’t wanton repression or cruelty. Many parents had entered adulthood wounded by past broken relationships. They regretted the mistakes of their youth and desperately wanted their kids to avoid similar heartbreak. Also — and this is crucial for understanding purity culture — they fervently believed in a specific earthly reward for their child’s youthful obedience. Courtship represented the best method of ensuring a healthy, sexually vibrant marriage to a faithful spouse.This is what writer Katelyn Beaty called the “sexual prosperity gospel,” an “if/then” transactional relationship with God that manufactures a series of promises from scripture and then creates a form of Christian entitlement and expectation. “I did what you asked, Lord, now may I see my reward?”Beaty’s critique is well taken, and it’s certainly true that purity culture built a series of (often wildly unrealistic) expectations about the marriage relationship that awaited kids who courted. But I think it did something even darker — in its effect (if not its intent), it reversed the gospel message, teaching Christian kids that they risked being defined by their sins, not by Christ.It worked like this — sexual sin stained young persons, even if Christ forgave them. They would walk into marriage diminished in some crucial ways. The white dress, fundamentally, was a lie. And the message wasn’t confined to sexuality. Did you drink? Did you smoke a joint? Each one of those things altered a person’s self-definition. They were no longer “pure.” They could never be “pure” again.All too many times, I saw the despair. A young person would come to me and say, “I screwed up.” They would really mean, “I’m ruined.” Their storybook dreams were dead. A 17-year-old with (God willing) 70 years of life ahead of him would approach me carrying the awful burden of thinking that he had defined his life forever. He was no longer — and never would be — the person he wanted to be.Sometimes the despair would trigger wild rebellion. If they’re “ruined,” then why should they care about obedience? There are two states of being — virgin or not, teetotaler or not — and if you’re not, then you might as well indulge yourself. Other times the despair would trigger constant, nagging guilt and regret. A girl would walk down the aisle to marry a man who loved God and loved her, and she’d feel a shadow on her soul.In point of fact, the gospel message rests first on bad news, then on indescribably good news. The bad news is simple: You were never “pure.” It’s not as if sex or drink or drugs represent the demarcation line between righteous and unrighteous. They are not and were never the “special” sins that created particularly acute separation from God. Yes, they could have profound earthly consequences, but they did not create unique spiritual separation.The indescribably good news is that from the moment of the confession of faith, believers are not defined by their sin. They’re not defined even by their own meager virtues. They’re defined by Christ. Moreover, they find that “for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” This does not by any stretch mean that past sin wasn’t sin — one of my best friends is an eleven-years-sober addict who did dreadful things during his worst days — but it does mean that their past now gives them a unique ability to reach suffering people. Their terrible stories and past pain have been redeemed, transformed into instruments of grace and mercy.One of my first acts as youth pastor was to lift the ban on dating. Ending legalism is not the same thing as sanctioning sin, and I have no idea if there was more or less extramarital sex as a result of the dating ban or the purity rings. But it was incumbent upon me — in the limited time that I had in leadership — to tell the truth, and the truth was that legalism is its own kind of sin. To create burdens where Christ did not is an act of arrogance. It’s deeply harmful. And, sadly, it’s a way of life in all too many Christian churches.Harris has famously repented of his past legalism, and that makes his departure from the faith particularly poignant. He helped define young people by their sin, and then he left. He separated from his wife, and he rejected Christianity itself. He is like an inadvertent arsonist, who flees the burning house rather than helping fight the fire he helped ignite. I’m sad to see him go. I’m sadder still to see the pain he caused when he was present.




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North Korean projectiles were ballistic missiles, flew about 250 km: South Korea

July 30, 2019 No comments

The unidentified projectiles launched by North Korea early on Wednesday were ballistic missiles that flew about 250 km (155 miles), South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.


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California has strict gun laws. Here's how the Gilroy gunman evaded them

July 30, 2019 No comments

California has strict gun laws. Here's how the Gilroy gunman evaded themUS lawmakers renew calls for federal gun reform after shooter purchased weapon legally in NevadaPolice officers escort people from Christmas Hill Park following the shooting. Photograph: Noah Berger/APCalifornia has some of the most stringent gun laws in the country, including a ban on the type of rifle that a shooter used to kill three and wound 15 at the garlic food festival in Gilroy on Sunday.But the gunman had legally purchased the “assault-type rifle”, in the style of an AK-47, from the neighboring state Nevada on 9 July before carrying it illegally over state lines into California, highlighting what some gun control advocates say is a loophole in the way laws operate, state by state.The suspect, 19, opened fire in the last hours of the three-day garlic festival, a beloved annual tradition that draws thousands of attendees of all ages. He injured 15 people and killed three – a six-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl and a man in his 20s – before being shot dead by police officers, who rushed him within a minute of bullets being heard.> Just days ago, a California judge upheld that state’s assault weapons ban. > > Yesterday, a murderer who acquired an assault weapon legally in Nevada shot more than a dozen people in Gilroy in less than one minute. THIS is why we need a national ban. NoRAhttps://t.co/CCVonmecqL> > — NoRA (@NoRA4USA) July 29, 2019The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence ranks California first in the nation for having the strongest gun laws.California raised the minimum age to purchase a rifle to 21 in 2018. And last week, a federal judge upheld California’s ban on owning, manufacturing or selling semiautomatic rifles and so-called “bullet buttons”, rifle attachments that allow shooters to reload more quickly. The state has banned semi-automatic weapons for 20 years. The bullet button ban dates from 2016.Nevada, on the other hand, is ranked 25th in the Giffords Center’s ranking.Big Mikes Gun and Ammo, the Nevada store where the gunman bought his weapon, said in a statement on its Facebook page that the shooter had bought the rifle off of the store’s internet page.“The reach of the California law ends at our border,” California’s attorney general, Xavier Becerra, told the San Francisco Chronicle, “and so we cannot control what other states do, and that’s what makes it so tough. We may have progressive gun laws, but if other states don’t match us, we have to rely on the ability to catch” the person.Several lawmakers have pointed at Sunday’s shooting to once again call for a federal law that would close this cross-state loophole.“The gun used by the Gilroy shooter was an AK-47 type assault rifle. This weapon is illegal to buy or possess in California, which appears to be why the shooter crossed into Nevada to buy the gun,” said Senator Dianne Feinstein in a statement. “The assault weapons ban legislation I introduced earlier this year would have prevented that sale from happening. It’s time for Congress to debate this bill and vote on it.”Feinstein continued: “There are other bills out there that deserve to see the light of day including bills to require comprehensive background checks, help establish extreme-risk laws, prohibit the purchase of high-capacity magazines and eliminate loopholes that allow prohibited individuals [to acquire] guns.”“This loss cannot be in vain,” tweeted the California congresswoman Jackie Speier early Monday.Speier is looking to close the gap, as one of 190 members of the House who co-sponsored a bill that would ban the import, sale, manufacturing or possession of semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices on the federal level.> I worked to pass the state law banning assault weapons in the 90’s. We need to buy back the ones still in people’s possession & throw the book at those who defy the law! We must also pass H.R. 1296, the Assault Weapons Ban, to ban military-style assault weapons across the U.S.> > — Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) July 29, 2019The California representative Eric Swalwell, who campaigned briefly for the Democratic 2020 presidential nomination and was the only one of two dozen candidates to focus his platform primarily on stronger gun control, was another one of the bill’s co-sponsors.> My heart breaks for all of our Bay Area neighbors who attended the GilroyGarlicFestival. We need gun reform and we need it now. EnoughIsEnough> > — Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) July 29, 2019Senator Kamala Harris, who represents California, has called for a renewal of a federal assault weapons ban as well. She has stated that should she be elected, she will give Congress 100 days to take legislative action on gun violence, and if lawmakers cannot reach a consensus, she will take executive action.> Simply horrific. I'm grateful to the first responders who are on the scene in Gilroy, and my thoughts are with that community tonight. Our country has a gun violence epidemic that we cannot tolerate. https://t.co/WqWNxGAQnA> > — Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 29, 2019The gun laws differ so vastly from state to state that a small California city located near the Nevada and Arizona borders voted this month to ask state legislators to allow gun owners from other states to carry registered firearms in the town.> Our thoughts are with the families of those lost last night in Gilroy, CA, as well as the survivors facing a tough road ahead. But thoughts are not enough — action must be taken to EndGunViolence. Every day the Senate refuses to act is a stain on the conscience of our nation.> > — Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) July 29, 2019




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Death toll in Brazil prison massacre rises to 57 with over a dozen decapitated

July 30, 2019 No comments

Death toll in Brazil prison massacre rises to 57 with over a dozen decapitatedSAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A bloody clash between two prison gangs on Monday left at least 57 inmates dead with 16 of them decapitated, authorities in the state of Para said, the latest deadly clash as Brazil's government struggles to control the country's overcrowded jails. Prisoners belonging to the Comando Classe A gang set fire to a cell containing inmates from the rival Comando Vermelho, or Red Command, gang, Para's state government said in a statement. "It was a targeted act," state prison director Jarbas Vasconcelos said in the statement, adding there was no prior intelligence that suggested an attack would take place.




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Police investigate after man says he found baby in freezer

July 30, 2019 No comments

Police investigate after man says he found baby in freezerA St. Louis man says a box that had been in his mother's freezer for decades contained the mummified remains of a newborn baby, which he discovered while cleaning out her home after she died. Adam Smith told St. Louis media outlets that he opened the cardboard box Sunday expecting to find something like the top of his mother's first wedding cake or money because she never had a bank account. St. Louis police confirmed that they are investigating a "suspicious death" involving an "unknown infant" found inside the home and that autopsy results were pending.




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Andrew Yang's campaign blasted the DNC for not allowing him to use 2 polls from same source for fall Democratic debates

July 30, 2019 No comments

Andrew Yang's campaign blasted the DNC for not allowing him to use 2 polls from same source for fall Democratic debatesThe Yang campaign was unhappy the DNC only let them use either an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll or an NBC/SurveyMonkey poll but not both.




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'Stay inside and lock your doors': Tiny Canadian village on lockdown as teenage murder spree suspects spotted scavenging for food

July 30, 2019 No comments

'Stay inside and lock your doors': Tiny Canadian village on lockdown as teenage murder spree suspects spotted scavenging for foodA massive police manhunt has been launched in a remote part of northern Canada for a pair of teenager double murder suspects.The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has been chasing Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, for weeks since the pair were connected to two separate killings in British Columbia earlier this month.The teenagers have been tracked in a series of stolen cars as they have travelled thousands of miles across Canada, from its Pacific coast in the west all to the way east to rural Manitoba.Police helicopters, a plane, drones, dog units and armed officers have flooded the area around York Landing, a small village in remote northern Manitoba, where a local indigenous neighbourhood watch group had spotted the duo.Officers tweeted residents in York Landing should stay inside and lock all their doors and windows while the heavy police presence searched their community.James Favel from the Bear Clan Patrol, the First Nations group which reported the sighting, said some of his volunteers spotted two young men who matched the description of Mr McLeod and Mr Schmegelsky.The pair immediately stood out in the small, close-knit village while scavenging for food near a dump and ran away as soon as they realised they had been seen, he added.RCMP units had already been searching the nearby town of Gillam and believe the pair have been cornered in this region of rural Manitoba.But the intense police presence was leaving its mark on the locals. “Up here, all the towns and communities, they look like ghost towns,” said Wade Taylor, another volunteer with the Bear Clan Patrol.“Like, everyone’s inside. There’s a high level of stress, anxiety and fearfulness because they’re being kept in their houses.“Some of the people, you can tell by their voice that they’re almost at the point of breaking down crying. You could say it’s traumatic.”The manhunt saga began on 12 July when Mr McLeod and Mr Schmegelsky, childhood friends, left their home in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island and travelled 1,500 miles north to Whitehorse, in the Yukon, to look for work.But on 15 July police discovered the bodies of a young couple near Liard Hot Springs, back in British Columbia and the RCMP has said the teenagers are suspects in the case and wanted for questioning.A few days later a burnt-out truck driven by the pair was discovered, along with the body of Leonard Dyck. Mr McLeod and Mr Schmegelsky have been charged with his murder and chased across Canada by the RCMP ever since.The duo are believed to be armed and the public has been warned not to approach them.The father of Mr Schmegelsky has told reporters he believes his son is on a “suicide mission” and expects him to eventually die in a confrontation with the police. “A normal child doesn’t travel across the country killing people,” he said. “A child in some very serious pain does.”




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Afghan soldier killed two US troops: official

July 30, 2019 No comments

Afghan soldier killed two US troops: officialAn Afghan soldier was responsible for the killing of two American troops a day earlier, an official told AFP Tuesday, in what appears to be the latest example of an insider attack. The US military on Monday said two of its troops had been killed in action in Afghanistan, but did not provide any additional details, pending notification of next of kin. Mohammad Qasam, a deputy police chief in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, said the attack took place at an Afghan army base during a visit by US forces.




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Joint Chiefs nominee denies assault allegations, enlists key support

July 30, 2019 No comments

Joint Chiefs nominee denies assault allegations, enlists key supportSen. Martha McSally — a retired Air Force pilot who revealed this year that she was raped by a superior officer — came out with a staunch defense of Air Force Gen. John Hyten.




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The president is right about Baltimore. Are Democrats really prepared to defend failure?

July 30, 2019 No comments

The president is right about Baltimore. Are Democrats really prepared to defend failure?Baltimore is one of the least livable, most dangerous cities in America. It's not racist to point that out.




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3 dead, including 2 children, and at least 12 hurt: What we know about Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting

July 30, 2019 No comments

3 dead, including 2 children, and at least 12 hurt: What we know about Gilroy Garlic Festival shootingA gunman opened fire at the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival on Sunday killing three people and injuring at least 12 others. Here's what we know.




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Ben Carson says President Trump would be happy to work with Elijah Cummings to bring relief to Baltimore

July 30, 2019 No comments

Ben Carson says President Trump would be happy to work with Elijah Cummings to bring relief to BaltimoreHUD Secretary Ben Carson praises Trump administration efforts to rehabilitate America's distressed areas.




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Huawei-Google device that was going to be sold in the U.S. is said to be canceled - PhoneArena

July 30, 2019 No comments

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Jameela Jamil Slams Piers Morgan, Calls Him the 'Thirstiest Bitch Alive' - TooFab

July 30, 2019 No comments

Jameela Jamil Slams Piers Morgan, Calls Him the 'Thirstiest Bitch Alive'  TooFab

"The Good Place" star fired back at the British journalist after he slammed her inclusion in the latest issue of British Vogue, which was guest-edited by Duchess ...



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Coroner Rules Cameron Boyce's Cause of Death Was Epilepsy - TMZ

July 30, 2019 No comments

Coroner Rules Cameron Boyce's Cause of Death Was Epilepsy  TMZ

Cameron Boyce suffered a sudden, unexpected death due to epilepsy.

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Jason Whitlock rips LeBron James, compares fame-chasing to cocaine - New York Post

July 30, 2019 No comments

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Monday 29 July 2019

MLB trade deadline rumors: Dodgers, Pirates haggling over Felipe Vazquez; Mets expected to trade Edwin Diaz - CBS Sports

July 29, 2019 No comments

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Chaos and fear in Libya's Mitiga airport after missiles halt air traffic

July 29, 2019 No comments

Missiles on Monday hit Tripoli's only functioning Mitiga airport which remained closed to air traffic, causing chaos and fear among passengers, witnesses said.


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