A delegation of Afghanistan’s Taliban has traveled to China for talks on the militant group’s peace negotiations with the US…
September 23, 2019
Commenting on the talks in Beijing, Shaheen wrote, “The Chinese special representative said the US-Taliban deal is a good framework for the peaceful solution of the Afghan issue and they support it.”
Citing Mullah Baradar, the Taliban delegation’s leader, Shaheen added that the Afghan group and Beijing had held dialog and reached a “comprehensive deal.”
“Now, if the US president cannot stay committed to his words and breaks his promise, then he is responsible for any kind of distraction and bloodshed in Afghanistan,” Baradar said, according to Shaheen...
Australia uses new technology that peeps through cars to catch drivers on phones and other illegal activities…
September 23, 2019
The government intends to roll out 45 Mobile Phone Detection Cameras across the state by December, he said. In fact, each unit contains two cameras. One camera photographs a car's registration plate and a second high-set lens looks down through the windscreen and can see what drivers are doing with their hands.
The units use artificial intelligence to exclude drivers who are not touching their phones. Photos that show suspected illegal behavior are referred for verification by human eyes before an infringement notice is sent to the vehicle's registered owner along with a 344 Australian dollar ($232) fine. Some cameras will be permanently fixed on roadsides and others will be placed on trailers and moved around the state...
Americans are behind in the race to save enough for retirement, but they’re finally doing something about it, a new survey shows…
September 23, 2019
Baby boomers are willing to scale back vacations. Generation Xers are poised to downsize homes. And millennials say they’ll hit downtown restaurants and clubs less often. Sixty-two percent of Americans say they need to catch up and build up their nest eggs, according to a survey of 1,015 adults last month by TD Ameritrade. Thirty-eight percent say they started saving and investing early. The survey, provided exclusively to USA TODAY, was conducted by Harris Poll.
Iran asks West to leave Persian Gulf as tensions heightened…
September 23, 2019
Iran’s president called Sunday on Western powers to leave the security of the Persian Gulf to regional nations led by Tehran, criticizing a new U.S.-led coalition patrolling the region’s waterways as nationwide parades showcased the Islamic Republic’s military arsenal. Hassan Rouhani separately promised to unveil a regional peace plan at this week’s upcoming high-level meetings at the United Nations, which comes amid heightened Mideast tensions following a series of attacks, including a missile-and-drone assault on Saudi Arabia’s oil industry.
Orwellian Nightmare: Six US Cities Make List Of Most Surveilled Places In The World…
September 23, 2019
...closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the US have increased from 33 million in 2012 to nearly 62 million in 2016 and could double or triple from there in the next five years. Both government and private sources operate these cameras in cities... Atlanta was the US city to make the top ten list, with 15.56 cameras per thousand residents. Cities in China dominated the top 10 ten, with 8/10 spots.
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The five other US cities on the top 50 most surveilled places in the world were all Democratic party bastions, including Chicago No. 13 with 13.06 cameras per thousand residents; Washington, DC, No. 28 with 5.61 cameras per thousand residents; San Francisco No. 38 with 3.07 cameras per thousand residents; San Diego No. 42 with 2.48 cameras per thousand residents, and Boston No. 46 with 2.23 cameras per thousand residents...Trump Tower Residents Lose $350K of Jewelry in Thefts…
September 23, 2019
Police say one woman who lives at the building on Fifth Avenue discovered she was missing $236,000 worth of jewelry on Sept. 9. The New York Post reported her collection of stolen goods included a Harry Winston diamond bracelet and a diamond-and-emerald necklace. A second woman who lives in the tower reported that she was missing $117,000 worth of jewelry, the NYPD said. Her missing possession was a Graff diamond bracelet valued at the full value reported by police, according to the Post.
The first theft happened at some point between June 21 and Sept. 9, according to police. The second theft happened between Sept. 4 and Sept. 10, police said.
It is not yet clear if the same thief or thieves carried out both thefts. The investigations into both incidents are ongoing, police said Sunday.
The Left Falling Apart: Ilhan Omar Knocks Joe Biden And Says It’s Now ‘Very Clear’ He’s Not The One…
September 23, 2019
“I think it has been very clear to many of the people who have been creating the kind of movement that is exciting generations, that we want somebody who really has a plan that is going to tackle a lot of the systematic challenges that we have, and he doesn’t.”...
Study: depression pill sertraline taken by millions ‘barely works’…
September 23, 2019
Scientists from University College London said they were "shocked" with the discovery, according to The Sun. The study, which is the biggest of its kind, is one of the first to consider the health implicatons of patients with mild to moderate depression, rather than severe cases... The pills were expected to have a changing effect on depressive symptoms such as poor concentration, insomnia and low mood, but the results were damning...
A New York Roman Catholic Diocese Filed for Bankruptcy Under the Weight of Sexual Misconduct Lawsuits. Will Others Follow?…
September 23, 2019
All eight of the state’s Roman Catholic dioceses face financial pressures as a result of the state’s new Child Victims Act, which temporarily set aside the usual statute of limitations for lawsuits to give victims of childhood sexual abuse a year to pursue even decades-old claims. More than 400 cases have been brought against the dioceses since Aug. 14, when the law’s one-year “look back” period for such suits began.
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Several dioceses in the state attempted to head off lawsuits in recent years by establishing independently run compensation programs that paid out tens of millions of dollars to victims, on the condition that they gave up their right to sue...California women arrested for impersonating IRS agents in $900K phone scam…
September 23, 2019
One of the victims received a “cold call” Sept. 4 from someone posing as an IRS agent who threatened to arrest him if he didn’t pay $2,200 in Target gift cards, The Fontana Police Department said Friday. The victim complied with the caller’s instructions and later alerted the cops. Investigators traced the gift cards to a Target in the Los Angeles area and used surveillance footage to identify two suspects, Ailing Lu, of Los Angeles, and Ji Hyun Lee, of Gardena, both 25. Detectives found about $900,000 worth of new electronics, gift cards and other items at two locations and in vehicles linked to the women.
Australian Government Commits to Join NASA in Lunar Exploration and Beyond…
September 23, 2019
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced his nation’s intention to join the United States’ Moon to Mars exploration approach, including NASA’s Artemis lunar program. The announcement took place at a ceremony Saturday at NASA Headquarters in Washington... The statement foresees potential Australian contributions in areas of mutual interest such as robotics, automation, and remote asset management – similar to that currently used by Australia in mining operations – and builds on a unique history of space cooperation between the U.S. and Australia that dates back to the Apollo era.