TV hosts charge Trump is unstable, accuse him of blackmail

Two television hosts attacked by U.S. President Donald Trump questioned the Republican leader’s mental health on Friday and accused him of trying to exert pressure on them over unfavorable coverage, calling it blackmail.

Trump drew a barrage of criticism on Thursday, including from his fellow Republicans, after he called Mika Brzezinski, a co-host of the MSNBC “Morning Joe” program, “low I.Q. Crazy Mika” and said she was “bleeding badly from a face-lift” when she visited his Mar-A-Lago estate around New Year’s Eve.

He referred to her co-host Joe Scarborough, a former Republican U.S. congressman, as “Psycho Joe.”

The two television anchors, who were on friendly terms with Trump early in the 2016 presidential campaign but have been critical of him since he took office, responded with a column in The Washington Post on Friday.

“This year, top White House staff members warned that the National Enquirer was planning to publish a negative article about us unless we begged the president to have the story spiked. We ignored their desperate pleas,” they wrote.

Scarborough added on the “Morning Joe” show on Friday that he received calls from three top administration officials asking the co-hosts to call Trump and apologize for their coverage of his administration. They told him that if he called and apologized, Trump would get the story killed, Scarborough said.

“The calls kept coming, and kept coming. And they were like ‘Call, you need to call. Please call. Come on, Joe. Just pick up the phone and call him,'” Scarborough said. “It’s blackmail.”

Source: TV hosts charge Trump is unstable, accuse him of blackmail | Reuters

Counter-terrorism police arrest two men in western Sydney

Two 19-year-old men have been arrested by the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team, which was also searching three properties in western Sydney.

Two men have been arrested by counter-terror police in western Sydney investigating firearms and drugs supply.

The 19-year-olds, from Merrylands and Toongabbie, were to be interviewed following their arrest in Auburn on Friday evening.

The NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team was also executing search warrants at two premises in Merrylands and another in Toongabie.

Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson said there was no current or impending threat to the community as part of the arrests.

Source: Counter-terrorism police arrest two men in western Sydney | SBS News

Trump again blasts MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ on Twitter: ‘low-rated’ show is ‘FAKE NEWS’

WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest developments involving President Donald Trump and MSNBC (all times local): 9:10 a.m. President Donald Trump is again blast

President Donald Trump is again blasting MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” saying on Twitter he watched the “low rated” show “for the first time in long time.” He calls the show, “FAKE NEWS.”

Trump says in a tweet that host Joe Scarborough called him “to stop a National Enquirer article. I said no!” He calls it a “Bad show.”

In a column posted on The Washington Post website, Scarborough and his co-host Mika Brzezinski say White House staff warned them the National Enquirer was planning to publish a negative article about them “unless we begged the president to have the story spiked. We ignored their desperate pleas.”

Trump on Thursday attacked the show’s hosts, saying host Brzezinski was “bleeding badly from a face-lift” in a December encounter.

___

9 a.m.

Kellyanne Conway says the president had the right to fight back against critics, but she isn’t endorsing his attack on the hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

Conway is a senior adviser to Trump. She said on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” ″I didn’t say I endorsed his attacks; I never said that. Bottom line, I endorse his ability to connect on social media with Americans.”

In a separate interview on Fox News, Conway said she’s “very pleased with how he treats women in the White House,” but notes that women in the public eye are often targets of vicious comments. She says: “I have kept my mouth shut on a never-ending assault based on my gender,” later adding, “But I’m here for a bigger purpose.”

Source: The Latest: Trump tweets back at ‘Morning Joe’

The NRA recruitment video that is even upsetting gun owners

The video has racked up millions of views.

“They use their media to assassinate real news,” the woman’s voice says scornfully. “They use their schools to teach children that their president is another Hitler. They use their movie stars and singers and comedy shows and award shows to repeat their narrative over and over again.”

It may sound like an excerpt from North Korean state television railing against the evil Americans and their corrupt democracy on the far side of the Pacific.

But these are the opening lines of a new recruitment video by the National Rifle Association of America that is headlined by conservative television host Dana Loesch. The Blaze personality and NRA spokeswoman doesn’t hold back, painting a stark picture of the U.S. political climate that some have interpreted as an ad designed to provoke fear, if not incite violence…

Source: The NRA recruitment video that is even upsetting gun owners – The Washington Post

Germany gay marriage approved by MPs in snap vote

Same-sex couples get full marital and adoption rights – but Angela Merkel votes against the change.

A clear majority of German MPs have voted to legalise same-sex marriage, days after Chancellor Angela Merkel dropped her opposition to a vote.

The reform grants couples now limited to civil unions full marital rights, and allows them to adopt children.

Mrs Merkel’s political opponents were strongly in favour. But the chancellor, who signalled her backing for a free vote only on Monday, voted against.

The bill was backed by 393 lawmakers, 226 voted against and four abstained.

The German legal code will now read: “Marriage is entered into for life by two people of different or the same sex”, AFP news agency reported.

Following Friday’s vote, Mrs Merkel said that for her marriage was between a man and a woman. But she said she hoped the passing of the bill would lead to more “social cohesion and peace”…

Source: Germany gay marriage approved by MPs in snap vote – BBC News

Grenfell Tower fireproof cladding was downgraded to save £293,000: leaked documents

Pressure to keep costs down during the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower appears to have driven the decision to use cheaper cladding on the block, an investigation has revealed.

Leaked documents including an “urgent nudge email” from housing bosses suggest aluminium panels with a flammable core were selected for the west London tower in the place of a fireproof zinc material to save nearly £300,000 – with reportedly little discussion of possible implications for residents’ safety.

An estimated 80 people died in the devastating fire on 14 June that detectives believe was started by a fridge-freezer unit before spreading to the 24-storey building’s “combustible” cladding, which subsequently failed safety tests…

Source: Grenfell Tower’s fireproof cladding was ‘downgraded to save £293,000’, show leaked documents | The Independent

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Eight films to watch in July

BBC Culture picks eight films coming out next month, including Marvel’s new Spider-Man reboot, the last in the Planet of the Apes trilogy and one of the best rom-coms in recent years…

MORE: BBC – Culture – Eight films to watch in July

Truckie’s near miss in storm ‘tornado’ | Perth Now

A TRUCK driver and his passenger have had a lucky escape this morning as trees came crashing down around them before one smashed through their cabin.

Dardanup Removals owner and truck driver Will White was travelling along Garvey Road in West Dardanup about 11am when a small storm swept through the area.

As Mr White turned onto Garvey Road on his way to a delivery, he saw what he described as “one of those scenes from a tornado movie”.

“As we came up to the corner, this squall started coming up,” Mr White said.

“It started to blow really heavy as I came around the corner and we just saw this canopy of trees and they started to lift.

“We pulled up and I looked in the rear-view mirror and could just see these trees coming down.”

He said all of a sudden there were about four thumps on his truck then a massive “bang” before one of the trees smashed through the cabin landing on the headrest of his passenger’s seat.

Mr White said he and his passenger were shaken but OK and lucky to walk away unscathed…

Source: Truckie’s near miss in storm ‘tornado’ | Perth Now

From Russia With Blood: 14 Hits On British Soil That The Police + Government Ignored

Lavish London mansions. A hand-painted Rolls-Royce. And eight dead friends. For the British fixer Scot Young, working for Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critic meant stunning perks – but also constant danger. His gruesome death is one of 14 that US spy agencies have linked to Russia – but the UK police shut down every last case. A bombshell cache of documents today reveals the full story of a ring of death on British soil that the government has ignored.

This is Part Two of a BuzzFeed News investigation.

Part One: Poison In The System
Part Three: The Man Who Knew Too Much
Part Four: The Secrets Of The Spy In The Bag

MORE From Russia With Blood: 14 Suspected Hits On British Soil That The Government Ignored

Caroline Wozniacki in Body Paint ahead of Wimbledon

Julie Bishop Charged Taxpayers More Than $3.5k To Go To Last Year’s AFL Grand Final

She’s spent more than $8,000 on AFL grand finals in three years.

Foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop charged taxpayers thousands of dollars to attend the AFL Grand Final last year on “official ministerial business”, expense reports reveal.

Last year Bishop spent over $3,500 attending the Western Bulldogs v Sydney Swans AFL Grand Final.

The deputy leader of the Liberal party was photographed at the official AFL Grand Final Breakfast, alongside prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, before watching the Western Bulldogs end its 62 year premiership drought from corporate seats gifted to her by the AFL Commission.

A Department of Finance report shows Bishop spent $1,946 on flights from Perth to Melbourne, $577.68 on a chauffeur driven car and claimed $442 in travel allowance for one night’s accommodation on Grand Final day. Taxpayers paid another $613.09 for a flight on to Canberra.

Bishop spent five nights in Melbourne that week, expensing $1598 for private cars and claiming $2210 total travel allowance.

Later that month, the minister charged taxpayers to attend two days of the Spring Racing Carnival in Melbourne as a guest of Suncorp, Emirates, Mumm and Lion.

A spokesperson for the foreign minister told BuzzFeed News she attended the 2016 Grand Final in an official capacity and spent the breakfast selling a group of Chinese businessmen on Australia as an investment destination.

“The Minister understands the Chinese delegation were guests of the AFL and there was no cost to the taxpayer for their hospitality,” the spokesperson said.

Source: Julie Bishop Charged Taxpayers More Than $3.5k To Go To Last Year’s AFL Grand Final

Saudi Arabia’s attempt to silence Al Jazeera is outrageous. China told UK to shut the BBC?

It is as if China ordered Britain to shut down the BBC

IRONY is not dead in the Middle East. In April Saudi Arabia, a land where women may not drive, or leave the country without the written permission of a male “guardian”, or appear in public without an all-enveloping cloak, was elected to the UN’s committee on women’s rights. Now that same monarchy, where the government censors everything from political dissent to risqué Rubens paintings, and where a pro-democracy blogger named Raif Badawi has been sentenced to 1,000 lashes and ten years in jail, is trying to shut down the only big, feisty broadcaster in the Arab world, Al Jazeera. This is an extraordinary, extraterritorial assault on free speech. It is as if China had ordered Britain to abolish the BBC.

Al Jazeera is based in Qatar, a tiny, wealthy Gulf state that the Saudis, Emiratis, Bahrainis and Egyptians are subjecting to a heavy-handed blockade. Qatar’s sins, in Saudi eyes, are manifold. It is friendly with Iran (though so are Oman and Dubai, which are not subject to the same strictures). It harbours dozens of people the Saudis do not like, including some with close links to groups affiliated to al-Qaeda. And it owns Al Jazeera.

Last week news leaked that Saudi Arabia is demanding the closure of Al Jazeera as part of the price for lifting the blockade. The Qataris have only a few more days to comply or face unspecified further action.

You can see why the Saudis would like Al Jazeera to go dark. Unlike other Middle Eastern broadcasters, which in place of news tend to emit a wearisome stream of unexamined government announcements and fawning footage of princes and presidents embracing each other, Al Jazeera, which was set up in 1996, tries to tell viewers what is actually going on. During the Arab spring of 2011 it offered a platform to the region’s protesters, including the Muslim Brotherhood, which went on to form a short-lived government in Egypt, and to challenge incumbent regimes in other states as well. Arab autocrats found this both alarming and infuriating.

Source: Saudi Arabia’s attempt to silence Al Jazeera is outrageous

Bachar Houli accepts his four-game AFL ban on appeal

Richmond defender Bachar Houli, in Melbourne, speaks after the AFL appeal board doubled his suspension after the tribunal initially imposed a two-match sanction for his hit on Carlton’s Jed Lamb…

Prior to the tribunal handing out its verdict on Tuesday, AFL legal counsel Andrew Woods had suggested a four-game ban was an appropriate sanction, while Sam Tovey, representing the club and Houli, had asked for a two-game suspension. Despite their finding of intentional conduct, the jury settled on two games, citing Houli’s exemplary character and record as an explanation of the relatively light sanction.

Later on Tuesday, West Coast defender Will Schofield was unable to call upon a star cast of witnesses, but beat his charge of striking Melbourne’s Clayton Oliver in another contentious incident from last weekend’s action. Oliver was widely criticised for milking what appeared negligible contact from the Eagles star, though replays showed that he had indeed been struck to the jaw with a glancing blow before falling to the ground.

Criticism of the penalty applied in Houli’s case has been widespread, with former Port Adelaide star Kane Cornes and Collingwood premiership midfielder Mick McGuane among a chorus of dissenters following the verdict. “Houli knocks a player out behind the play with an elbow,” tweeted Cornes. “Toby Greene misses a spoil by 2cm. Both get two weeks. Yep.”

Source: Bachar Houli accepts his four-game AFL ban on appeal – video | Sport | The Guardian

Gary DeCarlo, Who Sang ‘Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye,’ Is Dead: VIDEO

Gary DeCarlo, who sang lead on the hit song “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye,” which topped the charts in 1969 and has lived on ever since as an indelible sports stadium taunt, died on Wednesday in a hospice facility in Branford, Conn. He was 75.

His wife, Annette, said the cause was metastatic cancer.

Mr. DeCarlo wrote and recorded “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” with two friends and fellow musicians, Dale Frashuer and Paul Leka. The song was originally intended as the B-side of one of several songs Mr. DeCarlo had recorded with Mr. Leka.

It began as two verses that the friends had written years before, with the opening lines: “He’ll never love you / The way that I love you / ’Cause if he did, no no, he wouldn’t / Make you cry.”)

The song became an earworm thanks to the addition of a repeating playground chant, “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye.”

https://youtu.be/HQOFm1gvhn4

 

Driver died, struck a kangaroo driving South Coast Hwy near Marbelup Rd

A 63yo driver has died after he struck a kangaroo while driving a truck on South Coast Hwy near Marbelup Rd. #9News https://t.co/domiAkazlq http://pic.twitter.com/PLSbhXCtJN

— Nine News Perth (@9NewsPerth) June 30, 2017

2 Killed in COAL Power Plant Explosion Florida: COAL is Unsafe PERIOD. [sic]

Two people were killed and four others were critically injured on Thursday afternoon in a reported explosion at a large coal power plant near Tampa, Fla., the authorities said.

Emergency workers responded around 4:20 p.m. to the Big Bend Power Station in Apollo Beach and found six people with severe burns at Unit 2, one of its four coal-fired units. Two people were declared dead at the scene, and the four others were taken to Tampa General Hospital with life-threatening injuries, the authorities said.

The workers, who included one plant employee and five contractors, suffered burns and other injuries, said Corey Dierdorff, a spokesman for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue. “They would be categorized as very severe,” Mr. Dierdorff said at a news conference.

A spokeswoman at Tampa General Hospital said about 7:30 p.m. that it would not immediately release the conditions of the four patients. Two people were taken there by air ambulance and the other two by ground

Officials with the Big Bend plant, which is operated by Tampa Electric, said the episode occurred while workers were conducting “routine maintenance” on a slag tank at the bottom of Unit 2’s boiler. The tank collects coal slag, a waste product formed after coal is burned, which is reused as an abrasive.

The New York Times

Australia to launch cyber attacks on overseas criminals following ransomware attacks

The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) had previously only used offensive cyber attacks to disrupt the activities of the Islamic State jihadi group.

An Australian intelligence agency will be given new powers to launch cyber attacks on criminal networks based overseas, the Turnbull Government has announced.

It comes in the wake of the recent WannaCry and Petya global ransomware attacks that affected computer systems around the world, including in Australia.

The ASD, which is in charge of the country’s digital intelligence, will be given expanded powers to target criminals overseas.

The agency had previously only used offensive cyber attacks to disrupt the activities of the Islamic State jihadi group.

“Our response to criminal cyber threats should not just be defensive. We must take the fight to the criminals,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told The Australian…

Source: Australia to launch cyber attacks on overseas criminals following ransomware attacks | SBS News