“How could it be averted?” Zarif and the current Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, have never spoken directly, according to Iran's mission at the United Nations. “Pompeo makes sure that every time he talks about Iran, he insults me,” Zarif said. “Why should I even answer his phone call?” The open rancor between the nations' two top diplomats underscores growing concern that the lack of any established channel for direct negotiation makes a military confrontation more likely in the event of a misunderstanding or a mishap, according to current and former U.S. officials, foreign diplomats, U.S. lawmakers and foreign policy experts.
Calling him the "embodiment of evil," a US judge on Friday sentenced a 21-year-old man to life in prison for murdering a couple in their home in order to kidnap their 13-year-old daughter. Jake Patterson pleaded guilty in March to first degree murder and kidnapping for shooting dead James and Denise Closs in their rural Wisconsin home last October. In handing down the maximum sentence of life without parole, Judge James Babler rejected defense attorneys' pleas for the possibility of parole in several decades' time.
Theresa May is set to announce a timetable for her resignation as U.K. prime minister, plunging British politics into turmoil and putting the fate of Brexit in doubt. May plans to quit as Tory leader with an election to choose her replacement beginning on June 10, according to people familiar with the matter. The result will shape the direction of Brexit and all options -- from leaving with no deal to canceling the divorce -- are now back on the table.
Congressional Democrats responded to a spate of state laws aimed at restricting abortion on Thursday by reintroducing the Women’s Health Protection Act.The measure wouldn’t merely prohibit states such as Georgia and Alabama from banning abortion early in pregnancy if Roe v. Wade were overturned. It would also invalidate most state laws limiting late-term abortion, including Pennsylvania’s 24-week limit, under which notorious abortionist Kermit Gosnell was convicted in 2013 for killing 21 infants in utero (in addition to his conviction for murdering three infants with scissors after they had been born). Indeed, it would wipe almost all state limits on abortion, including mandatory waiting period and ultrasound requirements, off the books.Essentially, congressional Democrats seek to take the standard for late-term abortion proposed earlier this year in Virginia — and shelved after the bill’s chief sponsor Kathy Tran acknowledged it would allow abortion through all nine months of pregnancy if a lone doctor asserted it was necessary for mental-health reasons — and impose it on every state that provides greater protection for unborn children late in pregnancy.The federal legislation would require states to permit abortion after an unborn child is viable (that is, old enough to survive outside the womb) if a single doctor asserts that an abortion is necessary to protect the mother’s “health.” The text of the bill explicitly instructs the courts to “liberally” interpret the legislation, and the bill “doesn’t distinguish” between physical and mental health, as its chief sponsor Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut has said.Earlier this week in the Capitol building, I asked Blumenthal why it should ever be legal for a physically healthy baby to be aborted when the mother is physically healthy.> National Review: Is there any reason abortion should ever be legal on a healthy fetus/healthy mother — physically [healthy], that is — after viability?> > Blumenthal: I’m not sure what you mean.> > NR: Is there any reason [late-term] abortion should be legal when the mother is physically healthy, and the fetus is physically healthy?> > Blumenthal: I’m really not going to deal with hypotheticals. We’re reintroducing the Women’s Health Protection Act.> > NR: That’s a real situation though. Is there any reason why that should be legal?> > Blumenthal: I’m not sure I even know what you mean.> > NR: At 23 weeks into pregnancy, should abortion ever be legal if the baby’s healthy and the mother is healthy?> > Blumenthal: You know, I just can’t engage in speculation.> > NR: I mean, there are studies that say that does happen.> > Blumenthal: Send me those studies and I’d be glad to comment.I sent Blumenthal’s office this 2013 study, conducted by professors at University of California at San Francisco, of women who got abortions later than 20 weeks into pregnancy. According to the study, “data suggest most women seeking later terminations are not doing so for reasons of fetal anomaly or life endangerment.” The study points, for example, to one “woman from Illinois discovered she was 23 weeks pregnant and had her abortion the same week.” Given ample time to comment, Blumenthal’s office has not replied.Every Senate Democrat running for president has endorsed the Women’s Health Protection Act. When Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren were asked this week if abortion should ever be illegal, both 2020 presidential candidates dodged the question. Booker told me he’d like to “codify Roe v. Wade,” but when I asked him if any abortion should ever be illegal, he went silent. “You’re a very good, dastardly good, guy,” Booker finally said with a smile when I asked him if his silence should be interpreted as a “no.” Warren simply stuck to her talking point that she wanted to make Roe v. Wade a federal statute when she was asked if any late-term abortion should ever be illegal.Here’s how their colleague Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island responded to a question about elective abortions 23 weeks into pregnancy: “Most of these decisions should be made by doctors, and I don’t know many doctors who are into — what do the extremists call it — infanticide? Never met a doctor who’s for that — never once.”But doctors do perform elective late-term abortions. Dr. LeRoy Carhart was caught on tape saying he’d perform “purely elective” abortions up until 28 weeks into pregnancy. Another doctor named James Pendergraft has said he’d perform even later abortions under an “anxiety and stress” health exception. Dr. Cesare Santangelo said he would let an infant born alive at 24 weeks after an attempted abortion suffocate to death. Dr. Steve Brigham kept a freezer full of aborted babies, one as old as 36 weeks. Some infants born at 22 weeks grow up to be healthy children and adults.And of course there was Dr. Kermit Gosnell, who had likely murdered hundreds of infants born alive, in addition to the three murders for which there was enough evidence to convict him.What’s the moral difference between what Kermit Gosnell did to babies born alive and a legal abortion at 23 weeks? That’s a question Nancy Pelosi could not answer after Gosnell was convicted in 2013. Cecile Richards, then president of Planned Parenthood, defended late-term abortion when the child is suffering from a severe abnormality. But what about when the child and mother are physically healthy? Richards went silent.This isn’t a gotcha question. It’s a question about fundamental human rights. There are likely thousands of elective abortions performed later than 20 weeks into pregnancy each year. If leading Democrats and advocates of a right to abortion are unwilling or unable to defend a right to abort healthy infants late in pregnancy, then why are they so committed to maintaining America’s status as one of seven countries in the world that allows it?
Wild footage from a Spirit Airlines flight to Minneapolis, Minnesota, shows apassenger who began smoking mid-flight, breaking one of the cardinal rules ofair travel
Until recently, the most common compact .45 caliber handgun was of a type known as the Officer’s model. A derivative of the 1911A1 Government, in 2011 it was finally superseded by an even lighter pistol—the Glock 36. Chambered in .45 ACP and following the same winning formula as previous Glocks, the model 36 could be the best compact single stack .45 on the market today.The 1911 .45 caliber pistol, designed by John Moses Browning, was one of the most successful pistols of all time. Adopted by the U.S. Armed Forces in time for World War I, it served on through World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, and the waning years of the Cold War. The slab-sided, all-steel pistol was large, heavy, and imposing, but it was also durable and could last for decades. Colt’s Manufacturing subsequently developed and released a smaller and lighter version, the Colt Commander, but it failed to gain traction to replace the original 1911A1.
Bi-annually, Nordstrom slashes prices on some of its top sellers. And that time is right now. During the Half Yearly Sale, you can get up to 50% off all of the brands you know and love from Nordstrom, like Madewell, Ted Baker, Cole Haan, Thule, and more. It’s a smorgasbord of style, with up to half-off a ton of clothing, shoes, home goods, and more. The PAIGE Verdugo Crop Skinny Jeans are 50% off and is the perfect denim to wear through the spring and into the summer because it’s lightweight and a light wash. The Topman Triple Stitch Mac Coat is on sale for $72 (40% off) and is a stylish layer you’ll need when those thunderstorms inevitably roll in. We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that the famously stylish and comfortable Cole Haan ZeroGrand Stitch-lite Wingtip Oxford is on sale for under $100 (40% off). Or upgrade your everyday bag to the sleek, durable Madewell Abroad Tote Bag, made from leather with a zip-top closure that easily fits your laptop (and more), on sale for $119 (40% off). This sale only comes twice a year, so you should probably stock up while you can.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 head of Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah warned Saturday that a long-delayed US peace plan could see Palestinian refugees permanently settled in host countries across the region. Speaking days after the US announced a May conference in Bahrain to lay out economic aspects of its long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned of an "ominous deal aimed at eliminating the Palestinian cause". The right of return for more than 700,000 refugees who were expelled or fled during the creation of the State of Israel in the late 1940s -- and their millions of descendants -- is a key pillar of the Palestinian cause.
More than 120 climbers scaled Everest on Thursday, but some of them were caught in the crowd of people on the slopes, leading to exhaustion, dehydration and death, the officials said. Hiking officials say between five and ten climbers die on Mount Everest in an average climbing year. Two women from India were among those who died.
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced she will step down as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7, starting a process that will lead to a Conservative Party leadership contest and a new British prime minister who will lead the government during the Brexit process. Here are answers to some questions about what this means.