Monday, July 25, 2016

Sanders to urge Democratic unity at national convention



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Sanders to urge Democratic unity at national convention

Debbie Wasserman Schultz to resign as DNC chair after email scandal; Verizon to buy Yahoo; 12 dead in Germany music fest blast; man faces jail for recycling

Democratic national convention
Workers prepare the stage at the Democratic national convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Sunday. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Edward Helmore in New York


Democrats in turmoil; Sanders to appeal for unity

As Democrats gathered in Philadelphia for their convention, leaked emails showed party officials conspired against Senator Bernie Sanders during the presidential primary. The leak threatened to disrupt party unity and overshadow the appointment of Tim Kaine as Hillary Clinton's running mate, and forced the resignation of party chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Sanders called the episode an "outrage" and welcomed the resignation. However, he was still expected to appeal for unity tonight. The Clinton campaign claimed the release of 20,000 emails by Wikileaks was facilitated by Russia to help Donald Trump, whose campaign chair, Paul Manafort, called that notion "ridiculous". On the Republican side, new claims of anti-semitic leanings arose after Trump supporter and retired lieutenant general Michael Flynn retweeted an explicitly anti-semitic message. Flynn apologized.

Wasserman Schultz to resign as email scandal rocks Democrats

Yahoo sells to Verizon for $5bn

Verizon has confirmed it will buy Yahoo's core internet business for $4.83bn, ending a lengthy sale of the diminished web pioneer. The deal marks the end of Yahoo as an operating company, leaving it with a 15% stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba and a 35.5% interest in YahooJapan. Yahoo lost more than $440m in the past three months. Chief executive Marissa Mayer called the sale "an important step".

Yahoo to sell core web business to Verizon for nearly $5bn

Two dead, many injured outside Florida nightclub

Police said two were killed and as many as 17 injured on Sunday night, at Club Blu Bar and Grill in Fort Myers, which was reportedly hosting an event for teenagers. The shooting came a month after a massacre at a nightclub in Orlando, in which a gunman killed 49 and wounded 53 in the deadliest mass shooting in US history.

Florida shooting: two dead outside Fort Myers nightclub

German explosion injures 12

A 27-year-old Syrian man who had been denied asylum died in an explosion at a music festival in the German town of Ansbach. It is believed a device he was carrying exploded, although it was not clear if it was a suicide bombing or whether the man intended to plant the device: 12 people were injured. Germany is on edge after a shooting at a Munich shopping mall on Friday in which nine people died, and an axe attack on a train near Würzburg last Monday in which five were wounded.

Ansbach blast: Syrian asylum seeker kills himself and injures 12 in Germany

Russian athletes escape blanket Rio ban

The International Olympic Committee faced an unprecedented backlash from anti-doping groups and athletes after it decided not to impose a blanket ban on the Russian team competing in next month's Rio Games. Instead it ruled that 28 individual sports federations were free to decide the fate of the Russians on a case-by-case basis. Dick Pound, the former World Anti-Doping Agency president, claimed the decision "was zero tolerance for doping, unless it's Russia".

Russia's athletes escape blanket ban for Rio Olympics

The Washitaw: where Baton Rouge gunman found a home

Before he killed three police officers in Baton Rouge last week, Gavin Long claimed membership of a strange African American extremist movement: the Washitaw. They are sovereign citizens, with no central authority, sometimes at violent odds with police. Experts say more than 300,000 sovereign citizens now live in the US; the FBI calls them "a domestic terrorist movement". According to a 2014 survey of law enforcement agencies, they pose a larger threat to America than jihadi militants.

The Washitaw sovereign citizens: where the Baton Rouge gunman found a home

Trump's tax plan: good for the 1%

Donald Trump's three-bracket tax system looks appealingly simple, but it would only make the rich richer and the rest of America anything but great. The Republican nominee has claimed Americans are taxed higher than other nations – this is not only oversimplification, says Suzanne McGee, it is demonstrably false.

Trump tax plan would do little for the average American

Nevada divided over 'reverse Robin Hood' school program

Nevada's "school choice" program, scheduled to begin in January, is on hold pending a hearing in the state supreme court. A group of parents are suing to kill it, claiming it illegally relies on money reserved for public schools. The state received the lowest grade in the nation, a D, in Education Week's 2016 state report card because of poor school funding, poor student achievement and dismal chances of success. Critics of the school choice program say it will make a bad situation worse.

Nevada divided over landmark school voucher program as it heads to top court

New Zealand to exterminate invasive species by 2050

A radical pest extermination programme – which if successful would be a global first – aims to wipe out the introduced species of rats, stoats and possums nationwide in a mere 34 years. It is estimated that introduced species kill 25 million native New Zealand birds, including the ground-dwelling and flightless Kiwi, every year.

No more rats: New Zealand to exterminate all introduced predators

Colombia to face 'great dilemma'

Later this year, Colombians will accept or reject a peace deal between the government and Farc guerrillas to end more than half a century of war. But the deal presents a dilemma. Most Colombians who plan to vote say they would approve the accords, some analysts warn that widespread hostility to Farc could lead to a surprise outcome.

Colombia faces Brexit-style 'great dilemma'

Michigan man faces jail over 10,000 recycled bottles

Brian Everidge is accused of attempting to "return" more than 10,000 bottles from other states and now faces up to five years in prison on one felony count of beverage return of non-refundable bottles. The ploy – returning bottles purchased outside Michigan to capitalize on the refund – is illegal under the state's bottle deposit law. It also seems familiar to fans of Seinfeld.

Man faces prison after allegedly trying to deposit 10,000 bottles in Michigan

In case you missed it …

The Gucci murder

When Patrizia Reggiani married Maurizio Gucci, they became one of Italy's first celebrity power couples. But then he left her. In 1995 Reggiani had Gucci, the last of the family dynasty to run the luxury brand, murdered. Two years since her release from prison, a TV crew caught up with her. Asked why she did not kill her husband herself, she replied: "My eyesight is not so good. I didn't want to miss."

The Gucci wife and the hitman: fashion's darkest tale

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