Amarillo

Four more deaths on traffic-jammed Everest

A traffic jam of climbers in the Everest "death zone" was blamed for two of four new deaths reported Friday, heightening concerns that the drive for profits is trumping safety on the world's highest peak. Nepal has issued a record 381 permits costing $11,000 each for the current spring climbing season, bringing in much-needed money for the impoverished Himalayan country. The four latest deaths reported on Friday, taking the toll from a deadly week on the overcrowded peak to eight, include two Indians and a Nepali on the Nepal side and an Austrian on the way down on the northern Tibetan side, officials and expedition organisers said.

Pentagon mulling U.S. military request to send 5,000 troops to Middle East: officials

Tehran and Washington have this month been escalating rhetoric against each other, following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to try to cut Iran's oil exports to zero and beef up the U.S. military presence in the Gulf in response to what he said were Iranian threats. The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the request had been made by U.S. Central Command, but added that it was not clear whether the Pentagon would approve the request. The Pentagon regularly receives - and declines - requests for additional resources from U.S. combatant commands throughout the world.

The Real Green New Deal Doesn’t Belong to AOC

Climate change has long been a disaster in the making, but until recently the American public tended to treat it as an afterthought. The Green New Deal brought climate change front and center, and made Americans think about big bold solutions instead of technical tweaks and half measures. The think tank Data for Progress has a plan that actually predates Ocasio-Cortez’s, but which goes into much greater detail about how to combat climate change both at home and abroad.

Serial con artist arrested after scamming woman he met on Match.com out of $85,000

A serial con artist was arrested Wednesday after allegedly scamming a Georgiawoman he met on Match

Republicans encourage nationwide support for Alabama abortion ban, document reveals

A document containing approved Republican talking points regarding Alabama’s near-total abortion ban has been uncovered.The ban is set to go into effect in 2020 and multiple members of the state legislature have said that overturning Roe v Wade is the intention of the ban.Entitled “Messaging in the Minority,” the document was produced on Wednesday by the Republican Study Committee, a caucus of House Republicans, and obtained by Vice News. It offers “messaging guidance” on the GOP’s anti-abortion platform, and is labelled as “strictly OFF-THE-RECORD.” Vice News did not say how the document was obtained.The document instructs Republicans to insist that abortion is "murder," and "traumatic" for the person undergoing the operation. The document does not offer statistics, sources, or seemingly any research or resources at all to back its claims. It appears to offer a guideline to talk around comparatively moderate Republicans, who have called the ban extreme. Randall Marshall, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, told The Independent that the organisation will file a lawsuit against the ban, alongside Planned Parenthood, soon. He expects the case to take at least three years, based on past experiences, but stressed that abortion would remain legal in Alabama for now.Mr Marshall has been with the ACLU of Alabama for six years, and says that since his first week, "at least one if not two" abortion access cases have been on their books at all times. The difference between previous tactics and now, he says, is the bluntness of the bans.“For years, these same folks who offered up this bill came up with restrictions and they said, it's all about women's health,” Mr Marshall said. “This now lays bear the lie that they've been telling for years now. This isn't about women’s health at all; this is about controlling choices.”Non-legislative groups are also pushing for stricter laws. NPR was given access to a letter written by a coalition of anti-abortion groups led by Students for Life. The letter asks Republican leadership to "reconsider decades-old talking points" regarding rape and incest, in hopes of backing laws like Alabama’s.Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins, who is herself not a student, told NPR that she thinks now is the time to “start having the conversation.”Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, a senior staff attorney at ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, told The Independent that polling suggests otherwise. “These extreme bans are actually really totally out of touch with what Americans feel these days,” Miss Kolbi-Molinas said of the 14 bans restricting access to abortion currently sweeping the nation. “Polling shows us that the majority of Americans think abortion should be safe, legal, and supported.”Still, with support from the highest offices trickling down, there’s a strong determination on the right to back near-total abortion bans, even when they ignore women’s health, physically and emotionally, entirely. On the left, no matching strategy of unification on abortion access has emerged. The Democrats have not responded to a request for comment on when or if such a plan might take shape.

Lawmaker's censure sought after comments about Trump Jr.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers abruptly adjourned after one lawmaker called for the censure of another over comments that included calling the president's son "evidently retarded."

Stealth History: The F-35C Is Now Ready For War If the U.S. Navy Needs It

By 2025, the Navy's aircraft carrier-based air wings will consist of a mix of F-35C, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers electronic attack aircraft, E-2D Hawkeye battle management and control aircraft, MH-60R/S helicopters and Carrier Onboard Delivery logistics aircraft such as the Navy Osprey tiltrotor aircraft variant.As the F-35C becomes officially deemed “operational” and “ready for war," the Navy is adding weapons, sensors and software to the aircraft to expand its attack envelope --- and may even increase the F-35s ability to carry up to 6 air-to-air weapons in its internal weapons bay.Such a configuration, which would increase the stealth fighter’s internal weapons load by two missiles, has been designed and implemented by F-35-maker Lockheed Martin -- as an offering for the Air Force and Navy to consider.“Lockheed Martin has matured design concepts to integrate 6 air-to-air missiles within the internal weapons bays of the F-35A and F-35C variants,” Lockheed Martin spokesman Michael Friedman told Warrior in a written statement.While making a point to emphasize that any decision to increase the weapons capacity of the F-35 would of course need to come from the military services themselves, Lockheed engineers say the new “internally carried” firepower would massive increase attack options -- all while preserving the stealth configuration of the aircraft.

PHOTOS: Violent tornado rips through Missouri

A powerful tornado swept across Missouri, killing several people as it knocked down power lines and trees, smashed windows and left streets strewn with debris, officials said on Thursday.

Group seeks $100M for woman killed by US border agent

HOUSTON (AP) — Advocates demanded $100 million in damages Thursday on behalf of the family of a 20-year-old Guatemalan woman who was shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent last year.

Judge Unseals Records in Jussie Smollett Case

A Cook County judge Thursday ordered Jussie Smollett's criminal file to be unsealed, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

Trump Justice Department Crosses New Line, Charges Assange With Publishing U.S. Secrets

Daniel Leal-Olivas/GettyIn a stunning escalation of the Trump administration’s war on the press, the Justice Department has indicted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for revealing government secrets under the Espionage Act. It’s the first time a publisher has been charged under the World War I-era law.The indictment charges Assange with 16 counts of receiving or disclosing material leaked by then-Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2009 and 2010. The charges invoke broad provisions of the Espionage Act that make it a crime to disclose or retain any defense information knowing it “could be used to injure” the U.S. The act has no exception for reporters or publishers, but prior administrations have balked at invoking the law against journalists for fear of colliding with the First Amendment. The Justice Department immediately sought to draw a distinction between Assange and the press in a briefing for reporters announcing the new indictment.“The department takes seriously the role of journalists in our democracy and we thank you for it,” said John Demers, head of the department’s National Security Division. “It has not and never has been the department’s policy to target them for reporting. But Julian Assange is no journalist.” Demers cited WikiLeaks’ publication of the names of U.S. government sources, saying it endangered people in China, Iran, and Syria.WikiLeaks on Twitter called the prosecution “the end of national security journalism and the First Amendment.”Assange is currently serving an 11-month sentence in the U.K. for jumping bail in a Swedish rape investigation, while the U.S. pushes its request to extradite him to the United States on computer hacking charges revealed in April. He was kicked out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London that month after taking refuge there from authorities for seven years. The leaked documents comprised 250,000 State Department cables, 90,000 Army field reports from Afghanistan and 400,000 from Iraq, and 800 detainee assessment briefs from Guantanamo Bay. Assange released most of that material without redaction, and the new indictment claims that the U.S. sources identified in the leaks were put in harm’s way as a result. “By publishing these documents without redacting the human sources’ names or other identifying information, Assange created a grave and imminent risk that the innocent people he named would suffer serious physical harm and/or arbitrary detention,” the indictment alleges. He is also charged with two counts of conspiracy for allegedly working with Manning to violate the Espionage Act and the anti-hacking Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The FBI and federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia, first began investigating Assange in 2010 and amassed a wealth of internal WikiLeaks chats and documents from informants and subpoenas. But the Obama administration was reluctant to indict Assange. A former senior Justice Department official told The Daily Beast last month that the Trump administration saw Assange’s case as a way to pursue its war on leaks. “There was renewed interest under the new administration to revisit issues of what qualifies as the media and to look back at the Assange case,” said Mary McCord, who was acting head of DOJ’s National Security Division. Despite the barrage of leaks in the years following the Manning disclosures, there were signs as early as 2017 that the Justice Department was still focused on the leaks that first put WikiLeaks on the map. A witness at the grand jury proceedings that produced Thursday’s indictment told The Daily Beast that prosecutors were specifically probing Assange’s reluctance to redact his leaks for any reason.“They showed me chat logs in which I was arguing vehemently with him about releasing documents that would leave people vulnerable and put people’s lives at risk,” said David House, a former WikiLeaks volunteer, in an interview last March. “That was the only thing they put in front of my face that made me think, ‘This may be what they’re going after him for.’”No U.S. sources are known to have come to harm as a result of the leaks, likely in part because of a massive remediation effort launched in the weeks before Assange published the material. The indictment takes pains to distinguish WikiLeaks from conventional journalism outfits in other ways as well, quoting Assange’s own description of his site as an “intelligence agency of the people” and lingering on Assange’s chats with Manning in which he encouraged and guided the soldier in the leaking. It also claims Manning deliberately sought out military secrets that were listed on a “most wanted leaks” section on WikiLeaks’ website.None of this is strictly relevant to the Espionage Act. If the Justice Department included these details to make the Assange prosecution more palatable to journalists and free speech advocates, it’s not working.  “Any government use of the Espionage Act to criminalize the receipt and publication of classified information poses a dire threat to journalists,” said Bruce Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in a statement.  “This is an extraordinary escalation of the Trump administration’s attacks on journalism, and a direct assault on the First Amendment,” said the ACLU’s Ben Wizner. “It establishes a dangerous precedent that can be used to target all news organizations that hold the government accountable by publishing its secrets.”How Assange Could Beat the U.S. and Stay Out of JailRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

Across US, women have unequal access to abortion

While abortion is legal nationwide, Americans have unequal access to the procedure, depending on their location in the United States and how much they are able to spend. The disparities are great indeed, from the more than 150 abortion clinics available in the most populous state of California, to only one in states like Mississippi in the South or Missouri in the Midwest. State laws also vary widely on other matters like speed limits for drivers and marriage age requirements, but the Supreme Court has set a "minimum standard throughout the entire country," noted Meg Penrose, of the Texas A&M School of Law.

Dem. Rep. Accuses DHS Secretary of Choosing to Let Migrant Kids Die: ‘This Is Intentional’

Representative Lauren Underwood (D., Ill.) on Wednesday accused the acting Department of Homeland Security secretary of intentionally implementing border-security policies that would lead to the deaths of migrant children.During his appearance before the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday, Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan was asked to explain why five children have died in federal custody after being apprehended at the southern border since December.“These stories are appalling and yet they keep happening,” Underwood said, referring to the recent migrants deaths, as well as reports of inadequate housing and medical care for migrant children apprehended at the border. “Now Congress just provided half a billion dollars in February to address the humanitarian crisis at the border and will soon provide more. Why do these tragedies keep happening?”McAleenan, who succeeded Kirstjen Nielsen in April, responded that the resources provided by Congress are insufficient to address the record number of asylum seekers, many of whom are women and children, arriving at the border each day.“They're happening because the crisis is exceeding the resources provided. That's why we've asked for more and we've asked for more authority to prevent this crisis from happening in the first place and to prevent the children from being placed at risk,” he said.Underwood, a 32-year-old freshman lawmaker, dismissed McAleenan's claims, suggesting instead that he was implementing policies intended to result in the death of children.“People keep dying, sir. People keep dying. So, this is obviously more than a question of resources,” she said. “Congress has been more than willing to provide the resources and work with you to address the security and humanitarian concerns, but at this point, with five kids that have died, 5,000 separated from their families, I feel like — and the evidence is really clear — that this is intentional. It's a policy choice being made on purpose by this administration and it's cruel and inhumane."“That's an appalling accusation and our men and women fight hard to protect people in our custody every single day,” McAleenan responded.> The acting DHS secretary denies the accusation that migrant deaths are "intentional" policy. pic.twitter.com/7xiThg8IVY> > -- VICE News (@vicenews) May 22, 2019Republicans on the panel reacted forcefully to Underwood's assertion. The ranking Republican on the committee, Representative Mike Rogers (R., Mich.) called for a vote to strike her comments from the record. The vote passed 9-7.“You cannot impugn the character of the witness by stating that he intentionally murders children. That is completely inappropriate and her words should be taken down,” Rogers said during the hearing. “She was very explicit.”“It’s absolutely disheartening to see some radical Democrats stoop so low to say that the Acting DHS Secretary McAleenan is murdering children. McAleenan left the private sector to serve his country after the towers fell on 9/11. This is a sad day for America and the Democrat party,” Representative Mark Green (R., Tenn.) said in a statement provided to National Review.On Monday, 16-year-old Carlos Hernandez Vasquez became the fifth migrant child to die in federal custody in the last six months.Vasquez crossed into the U.S. without his parents and died of the flu at a Border Patrol station in Weslaco, Texas after spending a week in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CPB). His death has drawn scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers, who have pointed out that policy dictates he should have been transferred to the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) within 72 hours of his apprehension.“Make no mistake: This is a pattern of death. This is an epidemic of death by the Trump administration,” Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas told reporters during a press conference Tuesday. “As I mentioned, nobody had died for ten years. And in the last six months, you've had five deaths.”The Trump administration has for months urged Congress to provide resources for medical care and the construction of housing units that can accommodate the new asylum-seekers arriving at the southern border. The existing detention centers lack the capacity to handle the record influx and were built to accommodate the mostly single men who formerly comprised most of the illegal-migrant population.The administration has also urged Congress to reform the asylum system through legislation in order to limit the number of migrants who must be detained on U.S. soil while their claims are being adjudicated.

Two Words That Even an F-22 Doesn't Have the Power to Defeat

The small Raptor force is expensive to operate ($58,000 per flight hour, three times the cost of an F-16), but the fifth-generation stealth aircraft remain the U.S. military’s preferred weapon for countering the latest 4.5-generation jets like the Russian Su-35 or China’s J-20 stealth fighter and J-11D.The F-22 Raptor may be the most elusive fighter ever built. It has a radar-cross section the size of a marble, and if it gets into trouble, it can rocket away traveling up to two-and-a-half times the speed of sound—so fast that the friction from the air would melt its radar-absorbent coatings right off its airframe. But this October, the Air Force discovered that a Raptor with its wings clipped can’t evade the force of nature.(This first appeared late last year.)Tyndall Air Force Base, located on a coastal peninsula across from Panama City, Florida, is a sprawling twenty-nine thousand-acre complex which at the beginning of October housed fifty-five F-22 Raptors of the 325th Fighter Wing—nearly a third of all F-22s built, making it the primary center for Raptor pilot training. It also houses QF-16 jet fighter drones used for Full-Scale Aerial Target tests, T-38 supersonic jet trainers and Mitsubishi Mu-2 twin-engine utility planes used to train AWACS crews in airborne-early warning skills.

Narendra Modi Declares Victory in Indian Elections. Here's What to Know

What's at stake, who voted, key issues and more

Missouri: destructive tornado leaves three people dead and severe damage

Series of devastating storms led to multiple tornadoes, leaving people injured and trapped in homes as torrid weather pummels parts of midwest A large and violent tornado has left at least three people dead in Missouri as torrid weather continues to pummel parts of America’s midwest. A series of devastating storms hit the area on Wednesday night leading to multiple tornadoes. The region has already endured days of torrential rain and flooding. The National Weather Service confirmed that the deadly tornado moved over Missouri’s capital, Jefferson City, shortly before midnight. “Across the state, Missouri’s first responders once again responded quickly and with strong coordination as much of the state dealt with extremely dangerous conditions that left people injured, trapped in homes, and tragically led to the death of three people,” Governor Mike Parson said. Authorities said the three were killed in the Golden City area of Barton county, near Missouri’s south-west corner, as the severe weather moved in from Oklahoma, where rescuers struggled to pull people from high water. Kenneth Harris, 86, and his 83-year-old wife, Opal, were found dead about 200 yards from their home, and Betty Berg, 56, was killed and her husband, Mark, seriously injured when their mobile home was destroyed, authorities said. The tornado hit during a week that has seen several days of tornadoes and torrential rains in parts of the southern plains and midwest. No deaths were reported in the capital, but city police officials said about 20 people were rescued by emergency personnel as the tornado caused damage to multiple buildings. Emergency workers reported about two dozen injuries, Williams said, and around 100 people went to shelters. Hospitals reported treating injuries such as cuts and bruises. The weather service reported that a “confirmed, large and destructive tornado” was observed over Jefferson City at 11.43pm local time on Wednesday, moving north-east at 40mph . The capital city has a population of about 40,000 and is located about 130 miles west of St Louis. “It’s a chaotic situation right now,” said Lt David Williams of Jefferson City police. A car is trapped under the fallen metal roof of the Break Time gas station and convenience store in Jefferson City, Missouri. Photograph: David A Lieb/AP The tornado was described as a “wedge”, meaning it was wider than it was tall. According to reports it moved at 40mph at some points, and dispersed debris 13,000ft into the air, including overturning vehicles. The weather service said it had received 22 reports of tornadoes by late Wednesday; some could be duplicate reporting of the same twister. One tornado skirted just a few miles north of Joplin, Missouri, on the eighth anniversary of a catastrophic tornado that killed 161 people in the city. The tornado caused some damage in the town of Carl Junction, about four miles north of the Joplin airport, where several injuries were reported. Storms and torrential rains have ravaged the midwest, from Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. Authorities urged residents of several small towns in Oklahoma and Kansas to leave their homes as rivers and streams rose. Deaths from this week’s storms include a 74-year-old woman found early on Wednesday morning in Iowa. Officials there say she was killed by a possible tornado that damaged a farmstead in Adair county. Missouri authorities said heavy rain was a contributing factor in the deaths of two people in a traffic accident on Tuesday near Springfield. A fourth weather-related death may have occurred in Oklahoma, where the highway patrol said a woman apparently drowned after driving around a barricade on Tuesday near Perkins, about 45 miles north-east of Oklahoma City. The unidentified woman’s body was sent to the state medical examiner’s office to confirm the cause of death. Keli Cain, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma department of emergency management, said she was not yet listed as what would be the state’s first storm-related death. Catastrophic flooding in the area even swept some homes into a river. The Associated Press contributed reporting

Explainer: China's rare earth supplies could be vital bargaining chip in U.S. trade war

Rare earth elements are used in a wide range of consumer products, from iPhones to electric car motors, as well as military jet engines, satellites and lasers. Rising tensions between the United States and China have sparked concerns that Beijing could use its dominant position as a supplier of rare earths for leverage in the trade war between the two global economic powers. WHAT ARE RARE EARTHS USED IN?

May to Announce Departure Date Friday, FT Says: Brexit Update

Key Developments:May will inform her advisers Friday morning of the day she plans to stand down, the FT reportedMay’s Brexit legislation isn’t listed for debate in the first week of June as promised, but the government says it still hopes to put it to Parliament that weekEU elections are under way. The prime minister will meet with her advisers at 10 a.m. to reveal her decision and will also meet Graham Brady, chairman of the rank and file 1922 Committee, it said. May appeared determined to re-write her Withdrawal Agreement Bill to make it palatable to her party when she met with Home Secretary Sajid Javid, according to a person familiar with the discussion.

Google unveils a fresh new look for Search on mobile devices

Google unveiled a new look and feel today for the way it presents Google Search results on mobile, and the update has been regarded in a few corners now as somewhat News Feed-like.It's easy to see why that's the case, as the search giant's changes include putting emphasis on a website name and favicon above the search results. Whereas the source of results had previously not been so clearly emphasized, which makes the new design for showing results feel a little like scrolling through a feed of posts from publishers and the like."With this new design, a website's branding can be front and center, helping you better understand where the information is coming from and what pages have what you're looking for," explains Google Senior Interaction Designer for Search Jamie Leach in a company blog post today. "The name of the website and its icon appear at the top of the results card to help anchor each result, so you can more easily scan the page of results and decide what to explore next."The post notes that the refreshed look for what's arguably Google's most important product will start showing up to users over the coming days. As part of the changes, Leach continues, when you search for a product or service and Google feels like it's got a relevant, "useful" ad that would be worth including in the results, you'll now see an ad label in bold at the top of a search results card. The web address will also be included, so you can quickly determine where the information you're seeing is coming from.The other important thing to note about the Google Search refresh on mobile is that this also lays the foundation for Google to add more action buttons and information previews to search results cards, with Google wanting you to be able to now do everything from buying movie tickets to playing podcasts right there from within the results. "Our goal with Search always has been to help people quickly and easily find the information that they're looking for," Leach says. "Over the years, the amount and format of information available on the web has changed drastically -- from the proliferation of images and video to the availability of 3D objects you can now view in AR." Which is why the company thought a "visual refresh" of Search on mobile would do a better job of helping people find the information they need and quickly determine where it came from.

Trump says US-China trade deal could include Huawei

President Donald Trump on Thursday for the first time linked a dispute over telecom giant Huawei, which he views as a threat to American security, with a deal to resolve the US-China trade war. "Huawei is something that is very dangerous," Trump told reporters at the White House. The two sides have hardened their stands over Huawei, with the US blacklisting the smartphone and telecommunications company over worries that China uses it as a tool for espionage, while Beijing has accused Washington of "bullying" the firm.

Toyota Yaris Recalled Because Airbags Might Not Deploy in a Crash

Toyota is recalling 43,221 of its 2015 to 2017 Yaris hatchbacks because faulty wiring might prevent side and curtain airbags from deploying in a crash, according to the National Highway Traffic S...

Rain, flooding expected in U.S. Southern Plains after deadly storms

Weather forecasters on Wednesday expected drenching rains to roll into the storm-ravaged U.S. southern and central states, where thunderstorms and tornadoes killed at least three people and triggered widespread flooding. More than 30 tornadoes struck a swath from Texas to Iowa since Monday, according to the National Weather Service, and residents in at least three Oklahoma riverfront communities were urged to evacuate due to flooding. One person was killed and another was injured when a tornado struck the rural town of Adair, Iowa, about 50 miles (80 km)west of Des Moines, at about 1:30 a.m. local time, the weather service said.

Teen arrested in attack on off-duty firefighter defending elderly couple on Upper East Side

The 17-year-old suspect told reporters that he was "defending his friend." He's charged with second-degree assault.

The 2020 Cadillac CT5-V Officially Debuts May 30

Could the 500-plus-hp Blackwing V-8 make its way under the hood of Cadillac's newest sports sedan?

Scouted: Brooklinen’s Luxe Sheets Are Some of the Best and Now They’re on Amazon

There haven’t been many moments where I’ve actually taken a second to appreciate what I was lying on in bed. That was until I decided to get myself Brooklinen sheets. I’m telling you, they’re worth the investment. And they’ve made it easier to add a set to your bedroom because they’re available on Amazon now.With two-day Prime Shipping, you can get a set of 100 percent long-staple cotton sheets that are luxurious but sturdy. With a 480-thread count, you can choose from six different colors to fit any bedroom style. Even without a wash, they’re incredibly soft. And even after multiple washes, they haven’t pilled at all. They also have a lifetime guarantee, which means if you somehow don’t like them (I won’t judge you that much), you can get a full refund. A full or queen set will run you $149 and a king or California king set is $169.Scouted is internet shopping with a pulse. Follow us on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter for even more recommendations and exclusive content. Please note that if you buy something featured in one of our posts, The Daily Beast may collect a share of sales.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

Modi plots course after landslide Indian election win

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met allies and former mentors Friday to plot a course for his second term after a landslide victory left the once-mighty Gandhi dynasty reeling. A considerable to-do list includes addressing India's lacklustre economic growth and reducing unemployment, as well as fixing a stricken agriculture sector on which 70 percent of households depend. Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 303 seats, its best ever score, giving it an even bigger majority than five years ago and defying predictions of a dip, final results confirmed Friday.

Trip bundling is growing: Here are 6 places you can plan a trip from start to finish

Trip bundling is becoming more popular as it saves time and often money.

The Latest: Trump says Lindh will be watched closely

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — The Latest on John Walker Lindh's release from prison (all times local):

The Latest: Tornadoes move through southwest Missouri towns

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Latest on storm damage in the Southern Plains and Midwest (all times local):

Trump antagonist Avenatti indicted for ripping off Stormy Daniels, extorting Nike

The Nike indictment concerns charges announced in March that Avenatti tried to extort more than $20 million from the athletic wear company by threatening to expose what he called its improper payments to recruits for college basketball teams it sponsored. Avenatti also faces dozens of charges in southern California, where prosecutors on April 11 accused him of stealing millions of dollars from clients to pay for personal and business expenses, and lying to the Internal Revenue Service and a Mississippi bank about his finances. If convicted on all charges, Avenatti could face more than 400 years in prison, but would likely face a lesser punishment.

The 2020 BMW X5 and X7 Get New M50i Performance Variants

Both SUVs pack 523 horsepower and are positioned above the existing 50i models.

Yemen's Houthis say they attacked Saudi's Najran airport by drone

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement on Thursday launched a drone attack on a Patriot missile battery in the airport of the Saudi city of Najran near the Yemeni border, the group's Al-Masirah TV said on Thursday. The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said the drone was intercepted and destroyed by the kingdom's air defenses. The Houthis, who ousted the Saudi-backed Yemeni president from power in the capital Sanaa in 2014, have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi in the past 10 days in a resurgence of tactics that had largely subsided since late last year amid United Nations-led peace efforts.

Probe inconclusive on gov.’s racist yearbook pic

An investigation ordered up by a Virginia medical school failed to determine whether Gov. Ralph Northam is in a 1984 yearbook photo of a man in blackface next to someone in a Ku Klux Klan hood. (May 22)

May stares at defeat in final Brexit gambit

British Prime Minister Theresa May stared at the prospect Thursday of her political career coming to an inglorious end after her final attempt to save her unpopular Brexit deal was met with condemnation in parliament and the resignation of a senior government figure. The beleaguered premier is in the last throes of a tumultuous rule focused all-but exclusively on guiding her fractured country out of the European Union.

Trump Storms Out of Infrastructure Talks with Dems after Pelosi Comments

President Trump stormed out of infrastructure talks with Democratic congressional leaders Wednesday, railing against House speaker Nancy Pelosi's claim that he is "engaged in a cover-up."“I don’t do cover ups,” the president told reporters in the White House Rose Garden. “I walked into the room and I told Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi, ‘I want to do infrastructure. I want to do it more than you want to do it. I’d be really good at that. That’s what I do. But you know what, you can’t do it under these circumstances.'""Get these phony investigations over with," Trump added. “I’ve said from the beginning that you probably can’t go down two tracks. You can go down the investigation track or you can go down the investment track."The president's ire was piqued by a meeting of the House Democratic caucus earlier Wednesday, in which members discussed the possibility of impeaching him.During the closed-door meeting, Pelosi reportedly clashed with rank-and-file members who are upping the pressure on her to begin impeachment proceedings against the president. She was said to have argued that most of the party is against impeachment, a divisive and cumbersome process, as well as a political risk for Democrats. But she emerged from the meeting with harsh words for the president."We believe the president of the United States is engaged in a cover-up," Pelosi said told reporters afterward. "We believe that no one is above the law, including the president of the United States."Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer accused Trump of planning the dramatic exit from the infrastructure meeting.“To watch what happened in the White House would make your draw drop,” Schumer said back on Capitol Hill. “It’s clear this was not a spontaneous move on the president’s part. It was planned.”

Kia unveils interior of upcoming small SUV

Just days after putting out the first sketches of the exterior of its upcoming small SUV, South-Korean automaker Kia has followed up by unveiling the interior. The standout feature of the interior sketch is unquestionably the wide and panoramic dash, which is home to a new infotainment and navigation system in the form of a 10.25-inch touch screen. Kia has also included adjustable mood lighting that changes the cabin lighting to suit user preferences.

Serial cyberstalker could avoid prison again under plea deal

Only hours before women marched through many U.S. cities in January, Christopher Cleary set off a manhunt when he posted a Facebook message threatening to kill "as many girls as I see" in retaliation for years of romantic rejection. Cleary, 27, called himself a virgin who never had a girlfriend, stoking fears of another deadly rampage by a man blaming women for his problems. When police tracked his cellphone and arrested the Colorado resident at a McDonald's restaurant in Provo, Utah, Cleary said he had been upset and wasn't thinking clearly.

Scouted: Shop the Best Memorial Day Deals on Apparel, Home Goods, Tech and More

It’s Memorial Day, which means summer is unofficially here. And that means a ton of retailers are having a sale on everything you could possibly need. We're rounding up some of the best, so you can bookmark it and come back when your boss isn't looking at your screen. There's everything from furniture from Burrow, to discounted tech on Amazon. It's a free-for-all of discounts, so it wouldn't hurt even just to look. HomeNomad Leather Sectional, $2236 from Burrow, Evee Rug, $198 from Lulu and Georgia, Staub Steam Griddle, $120 from Sur la TableSave 20% on all design packages at Modsy: Use code MEMORIALTake up to 60% off select luxury bedding, sheets and home décor from Crane + CanopyUp to 20% off sitewide from Burrow: Use code SUMMER19Get a free monogrammed terrycloth robe with $250+ purchases from Riley Home25% off full price products from Outdoor Fellows: Use code SUMMERFUNUp to 25% off furniture, lighting, rugs, and more at Lulu and Georgia: Use code GOOD to get 15% off order of $300 and up. Use code BETTER to get 20% off order of $600 and up. Use code BEST to get 25% off orders of $900 and up. Up to 45% off outdoor and indoor cookware at Sur La Table: Up to 20% off BBQ cookware, up to 45% off KitchenAid products, and up to 45% off cast iron cookware from Staub, Le Cresuset, Lodge, and more. Up to 30% off top-rated grills at Lowe’sUp to 30% off patio and home goods from Target TechEcho Wall Clock, $25 on Amazon, Refurbished Play:1, $119 from Sonos, Presidio Inked iPhone Case, $31 from SpecksEcho Wall Clock, $25 on AmazonTP-Link AC1750 Smart WiFi Router, $57 on AmazonUp to 40% off computers, TVs, headphones and more from Walmart30% off phone cases and accessories from SpecksSave $79 when you buy a Google Nest Hub and Nest Hello doorbell from Lowe’s Save up to $150 on certified refurbished Sonos products from Sonoseero Home WiFi System, $119 on AmazonSave on Philips Hue Smart Lights for every room on AmazonWithings / Nokia | Body+ Smart Body Composition Wi-Fi Digital Scale, $79 on AmazonSamsung 55" Class LED NU6900 Series 2160p Smart 4K UHD TV with HDR, $400 from Best BuyLG 65" Class LED UK6090PUA Series 2160p Smart 4K UHD TV with HDR, $450 from Best BuyApple MacBook Air 13.3" 8GB Memory 128GB Flash Storage Space Gray, $950 from Best BuyApple MacBook Air 13.3" 8GB Memory 256GB Flash Storage Silver, $1150 from Best BuyApple iPad with Wi-Fi 32GB Space Gray, $280 from Best BuyApple iPad with Wi-Fi 128GB Space Gray, $330 from Best BuyApple iPad with Wi-Fi + Cellular 32GB Space Gray, $410 from Best Buy Apple iPad with Wi-Fi + Cellular 128GB Space Gray, $460 from Best Buy Apparel and AccessoriesMen's Cresta Hiking Shorts, $4 from L.L.Bean, Women's Scoop V Tee, $19 from Richer Poorer, 7/8 Compression Legging, $24 from Danskin25% off summer-ready bathing suits, shoes, accessories and more from ban.do20% off sitewide from GREATS: Use code SUNNY20Up to 50% off almost everything from Gap: Use code WARMUP40% off your entire purchase from Perry Ellis40% off sitewide from DanskinUp to $200 off custom suitcases at ROAM: Use code MEM200 to get $100 off orders up to $600, $150 off orders between $600 and $1,000, and $200 off orders over $1,000.20% off your entire purchase from L.L.Bean: Use code SUMMERExtra 30% off outlet items from Under Armour: Use code MAY3025% off select styles from Columbia25% off plus free shipping from PrAna25% off sitewide from Skagen: Use code SALE2525% off sitewide on gifts, apparel, and more from Vida: Use code 3DAYGETAWAYUp to 50% off apparel and gear from REI: Members can save 20% on one eligible item with code ANNV19.Take an extra 25% off sale items from Clarks: Use code EXTRA25Up to 50% off select apparel and gear from Backcountry50% off everything from Eddie Bauer: Use code TRAIL50Up to 50% off men’s and women’s apparel, home goods, and more from NordstromExtra 10-20% off select items from Macy's: Use code MEMDAYUp to 40% off select styles from Shopbop 40% off plus extra 30% off sale items from Kenneth ColeGet an extra 20% off sale items at Richer Poorer: Use code MEMORIAL20 to get the discount on men’s and women’s sale items. Get 20% off all lenses at Lensabl: Use code MDW at checkout to get the discount.Scouted is internet shopping with a pulse. Follow us on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter for even more recommendations and exclusive content. Please note that if you buy something featured in one of our posts, The Daily Beast may collect a share of sales.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

The Audi TT Is Getting Replaced by an "Emotive" Electric Car

The new model will sit in the same price range as the current TT.

India's Modi begins talks for new cabinet after big election win

Official data from the Election Commission showed Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party had won 296 of the 542 seats up for grabs and was ahead in seven more, up from the 282 it won in 2014. The BJP would have the first back-to-back majority in the lower house of parliament for a single party since 1984. After a rancorous and a polarizing election campaign, the focus shifts back to an economy that is slowing, even as the U.S.-China trade war rages and global oil prices tick higher.

Chip designer ARM halts work with Huawei after U.S. ban

Huawei, in common with Apple Inc and chipmakers such as Qualcomm, uses ARM blueprints to design the processors that power its smartphones. "ARM is complying with the latest restrictions set forth by the U.S. government and is having ongoing conversations with the appropriate U.S. government agencies to ensure we remain compliant," an ARM spokesman said in a statement. "ARM values its relationship with our longtime partner HiSilicon (Huawei's chip arm) and we are hopeful for a swift resolution on this matter." Huawei said it valued its close relationships with its partners, but it recognized the pressure some of them are under "as a result of politically motivated decisions".