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WASHINGTON (AP) — Campaign money from shadowy sources is back this election. More than $4 million of it channeled to outside groups helping presidential candidates has come from unknown or masked donors.

Super political action committees, or super PACs, helping White House hopefuls like Marco Rubio and Hillary Clinton received big checks recently from obscure corporations or from nonprofits that don’t have to disclose their donors’ names.   Continue reading “Shadowy companies, big bucks: Election mystery money returns”

RT

Some Americans seem to be disconnected with historical reality, as a number of Hillary Clinton supporters signed a mock petition to approve 19th century socialist philosopher Karl Marx as “her choice” for vice president if she’s elected president.

Unaware of Marx’s critique of the capitalist system, which he viewed as a progressive historical stage that would eventually stagnate due to internal contradictions and be followed by socialism, San Diego residents had no problem endorsing him as a running mate for democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton.   Continue reading “Hillary Clinton supporters endorse 19th century socialist Karl Marx as her vice president”

RT

Two elderly metro passengers in Munich were attacked by a group of young men of Middle Eastern appearance last weekend as they tried to protect a woman from being sexually harassed. The alleged asylum seekers went berserk when the old men intervened.

The assault that took place on a train going from Sendlinger Tor station to the Munich city center terminal was recorded on a mobile phone by Munich citizen Tom Roth, who uploaded it to his Facebook page.   Continue reading “‘Migrants’ attack elderly Germans trying to protect woman from harassment on Munich train”

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PARIS (AP) — Drugmaker Sanofi Pasteur announced Tuesday it is launching an effort to research and develop a vaccine to prevent the Zika virus, after the World Health Organization declared a global emergency over its explosive spread across the Americas.

There is no treatment or vaccine for the mosquito-borne virus, which has been linked to birth defects and is in the same family of viruses as dengue. Sanofi made the first licensed dengue vaccine shot, licensed last year in Brazil after years of scientific struggle to develop one.   Continue reading “Drugmaker Sanofi Pasteur launches effort for Zika vaccine”

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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban suicide bombing against a bus carrying employees of Afghanistan’s biggest media company last month has shocked local journalists, who fear they are now in the cross hairs of an increasingly lethal insurgency.

Journalism has always been a dangerous line of work in Afghanistan, and reporters have long had to contend with threats and occasional attacks by various armed groups. But after Tolo TV, the most popular Afghan broadcaster, falsely accused the Taliban of mass rape in a report carried late last year, the insurgents declared war.   Continue reading “Afghan Taliban open new front in war with attacks on media”

RT

Over 150,000 US households were left without electricity as gusts of an El Nino-driven storm downed trees and power poles is Southern California. Gusts of wind up to 115mph were recorded, with locals taking to social media to share the aftermath.

The storm, accompanied by heavy rain, hit the west coast, causing massive outages and flooding on Sunday night.    Continue reading “150,000 homes without power, gusts up to 115mph as El Nino storm hits US southwest”

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BERLIN (AP) — The Latest on the huge influx of asylum-seekers to Europe (all times local):

4:20 p.m. In a protest that has gone viral online, Greek soccer players sat down on the field over the weekend to protest the growing death toll of refugees trying to reach the Greek islands from nearby Turkey.   Continue reading “The Latest: Greek soccer clubs protest refugee drownings”

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NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP) — For a generation and more, they were the persistent, often persecuted opposition. On Monday, Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party took a momentous step toward becoming Myanmar’s government.

Led for the first time by the National League for Democracy, parliament began a heady and historic session that will install the country’s first democratically elected government in more than 50 years.   Continue reading “Myanmar house begins new session dominated by Suu Kyi party”

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — As families of the lost Challenger astronauts gather with NASA to mark the space shuttle accident’s 30th anniversary, there’s a new voice to address the crowd.

June Scobee Rodgers — widow of Challenger commander Dick Scobee and longtime spokeswoman for the group — is passing the torch to daughter Kathie Scobee Fulgham. Fulgham — not Rodgers — will be on the stage for Thursday morning’s ceremony at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. And making a rare appearance in the audience will be schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe’s son, Scott, with his own family.   Continue reading “30 years since Challenger: New voice at astronauts’ memorial”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional probe finds that inadequate screening endangered migrant children in the government’s care.

Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio says the department of Health and Human Services was overwhelmed by children crossing the border and weakened its child protection policies, leaving the children vulnerable to human trafficking. Portman chairs a Senate subcommittee holding a hearing Thursday on weaknesses in the department’s placement of migrant children.   Continue reading “Senate probe faults gov’t for migrant child abuse”

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DENVER (AP) — Seeking a safe haven in Colorado’s legal marijuana marketplace, illegal drug traffickers are growing weed among the state’s sanctioned pot warehouses and farms, then covertly shipping it elsewhere and pocketing millions of dollars from the sale, according to law enforcement officials and court records consulted by The Associated Press.   Continue reading “Drug traffickers seek safe haven amid legal marijuana”

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — If you want to improve your sense of well-being, leave the Lower 48.

A new report ranking all 50 states based on residents’ sense of well-being puts Hawaii at No. 1, followed by Alaska, which held the top spot last year. Hawaii has been No. 1 in the poll five times since 2008.   Continue reading “Want to feel better? Move to Hawaii, Alaska”

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Benigno Aquino III gave a red-carpet welcome to Japan’s emperor Wednesday in a sign of blossoming ties between the two nations, both mired in territorial disputes with China, while further moving past painful memories of Japan’s World War II aggression.

Aquino and Emperor Akihito held talks at Manila’s Malacanang presidential palace, where Philippine and Japanese flags were displayed side by side and Filipino troops fired cannons in a traditional salute. Aquino later hosted a state banquet for Akihito, whose visit marks 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.   Continue reading “Philippine leader welcomes Japan’s emperor as ties blossom”

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BEIRUT (AP) — One of the main Syrian opposition blocs said Wednesday that it was unlikely to attend Geneva peace talks this week unless progress is made toward lifting sieges in the country and other conditions are met, adding that it was awaiting clarifications from the U.N. envoy.

The announcement cast further uncertainty on peace talks scheduled to begin in two days. Expectations are already low for any breakthroughs during talks that U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura has described as the start of a drawn-out process of consultation between various parties to the conflict, rather than actual peace negotiations.   Continue reading “Syrian opposition sets new conditions for peace talks”

RT

A police patrol of 10 officers was forced to flee a refugee center in Sweden after being surrounded by a mob of violent migrants. Law enforcement officials had arrived to relocate a 10-year-old boy after reports of his repeated rape at the facility.

One of the officers described what had happened in a police report obtained by the Vestmanlands Läns Tidning newspaper.   Continue reading “Police officers flee angry mob in Swedish refugee center through back door”

RT

A tunnel at a French nuclear waste storage facility under construction has collapsed, killing at least one person and injuring another, French media reported, citing rescue teams.

The incident happened on Tuesday afternoon in Bure, northeastern France, at an underground laboratory of the National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management (Andra), which didn’t immediately comment on the incident.   Continue reading “At least 1 killed in tunnel collapse at France’s planned nuclear waste storage site”

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GENEVA (AP) — Multiple bombings struck a government-run checkpoint in the central Syrian city of Homs on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people and wounding over a hundred amid intense political jockeying ahead of U.N.-backed peace talks scheduled to begin in Geneva on Friday.

The office of the U.N. envoy for Syria said it sent out invitations for the talks, but with just three days to go, the opposition is still undecided about whether it will attend, throwing diplomatic efforts into question.   Continue reading “Bombings kill 20 in Syria as peace talks invitations go out”

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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis met with the Iranian president Tuesday, joining in a cordial discussion which touched on the recent nuclear accord and Iran’s role in the region.

President Hassan Rouhani met first with Francis, privately for 40 minutes, and later with other officials. The Vatican in a statement said the conversation delved into the nuclear accord recently taking effect and “the important role that Iran was called to play” to combat terrorism along with other countries in the region.   Continue reading “Vatican says Iran now called on to combat terrorism.”

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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan policeman turned his weapon on fellow officers as they were sleeping in their quarters near a checkpoint in the country’s south, killing 10, a provincial spokesman said Tuesday.

The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the incident, the latest so-called “insider attack” involving a soldier or a policeman. The bodies were discovered at a checkpoint in Chinarto district on Tuesday, according to Dost Mohammad Nayab, the spokesman for the governor of Uruzgan province.   Continue reading “Afghan official: Policeman kills 10 other police in south”

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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Unusually cold weather in eastern Asia has been blamed for more than 65 deaths, disrupted transportation and brought the first snow to a subtropical city in southern China in almost 50 years. Here is a look at the worst cold weather to hit the region in years:

TAIWAN Temperatures in Taiwan’s capital of Taipei plunged to a 16-year low of 4 degrees Celsius (39 Fahrenheit), killing 57 mostly elderly people, according to government officials. The semi-official Focus Taiwan news website reported that 85 people had died because of the cold.   Continue reading “Cold snap hits east Asia, blamed for more than 65 deaths”