Mainstream News

Federal case against Bundy supporters falls apart as jury refuses to convict

"In a stunning setback to federal prosecutors planning to try the Bundy family patriarch and two adult sons later this year, the jury acquitted Ricky Lovelien and Steven Stewart of all 10 charges, and delivered not-guilty findings on most charges against Scott Drexler and Eric Parker. More than 30 defendants' supporters in the courtroom broke into applause after Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro ordered Lovelien and Stewart freed immediately and set Wednesday morning hearings to decide if Parker and Drexler should remain jailed pending a government decision whether to seek a third trial."

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Investment firm VanEck calls bitcoin a ‘fad,’ then files for bitcoin ETF

"Money management firm VanEck is both skeptical of bitcoin and planning to sell a related investment product, illustrating a rising perception that the surge of interest in the digital currency creates a high-risk opportunity that may be too big to miss."

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U.S. May Bomb ISIS in the Philippines

"While President Trump has praised Duterte’s approach to combating drug addiction — namely, encouraging vigilantes to extrajudicially murder drug users by the thousands — Tillerson suggested that this policy was not good, but also irrelevant to the question of whether the U.S. should intervene against ISIS on Duterte’s behalf."

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How Donald Trump’s travel ban has hit Iran’s tourism renaissance

"For visitors the lure is the culture and history of a sophisticated civilisation, with no fewer than 19 Unesco heritage sites, which had been inaccessible for decades when Iran was shunned as a pariah state. Now the country is also viewed as safe in comparison with other states offering similar attractions in the region – Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, Libya – places which have become no-go areas due to the varying degrees of threats from terrorism or civil war. Mr Trump’s repeated threat to withdraw the US from the nuclear agreement, achieved through years of painstaking negotiations, is creating concern that Iran will be pushed back towards isolation."

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Donor sues GOP for fraud, racketeering after failed Obamacare repeal

"A retired attorney in Virginia Beach is so incensed that Republicans couldn’t repeal the Affordable Care Act that he’s suing to get political donations back, accusing the GOP of fraud and racketeering. Bob Heghmann, 70, filed a lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court, saying the national and Virginia Republican parties and some GOP leaders raised millions of dollars in campaign funds while knowing they weren’t going to be able to overturn the law also known as Obamacare." Continue reading →

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Governments threatening teens for cutting grass without a business license

"Teenagers have been threatened by officials and other lawn services to show their city issued license before cutting a person's lawn for extra summer cash. Cutting grass is often one of the first jobs many have in the summer. But a business license in Gardendale costs $110. And for a job, just for a couple of months, that can be a bit extreme." Continue reading →

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Government ‘Cyber Troops’ Manipulate Facebook, Twitter: Oxford Study

"Researchers found 29 countries using social media to shape opinion domestically or with foreign audiences. The tactics are deployed by authoritarian regimes, but also democratically-elected governments, the authors said." Continue reading →

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