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“We’d raise our hands and be told, ‘Don’t be naysayers.’ We got strange comments,” one engineer claimed. “It seemed the ship had sailed. After that, if you ask questions, you’re accused of mutiny, so you put your head down and make it work. Good people tried to make it work. But you can’t violate the laws of physics. It’s a mechanical catastrophe.”

On Saturday, the State Department secured the release of Xiyue Wang, an American graduate student who was being held prisoner in Iran for the past three years. Wang had been conducting research in Iran as part of his doctoral thesis when he was arrested in 2016 and charged with spying for the United States government.  As part of the exchange, the U.S. released Masoud Soleimani, an Iranian scientist who had been arrested and convicted last year for violating U.S. trade sanctions against Iran. According to The New York Times, U.S. officials are calling Soleimani's release a low price to pay...

Five major websites often used for wedding planning have pledged to cut back on promoting and romanticizing weddings at former slave plantations. Pinterest, The Knot Worldwide — which owns The Knot and WeddingWire — and Brides announced Wednesday that they would make a variety of changes, including removing all references to plantations on their sites and prohibiting adjectives like “charming” to describe venues where many Americans’ ancestors were once enslaved, tortured and raped. And on Thursday, Zola said it would remove plantations from its venue listings. The developments, a number of which were reported by BuzzFeed News, came in response...

A lesbian mother changed her name and packed homemade banana bread before crossing the Channel in a dinghy to smuggle her children into Britain. Lauren Etchells, 33, triggered an international manhunt when she left her wife in Canada and took her son and daughter to start a new life with her 'sperm donor', who fathered one of them.

What I witnessed today while I was in line at the Chick-Fil-A located in the Magnolia Mall in Florence, SC is why I love this place. I had placed my order and was waiting for my drinks when an older gentleman walked up to the server next to mine. When the young man behind the counter asked for his order, the gentleman stuttered, then got a look of fear in his eyes. "I've forgotten why I'm here and what I was going to get." The young server reached past the register, patted this man on his arm and said, "That's...

video of interceptsOn 29 November, the IDF said that a rocket was fired from Gaza "at Israeli civilians", noting that it was the fourth launch that week. Following the attack, the IDF conducted a retaliatory air strike against a Hamas military post in Gaza. Air-raid sirens were activated in the Gaza Strip and Sderot on Saturday, according to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). The IDF said that three rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israel, noting that two of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome Aerial Defense System. ​Twitter users shared videos allegedly showing the moment...

Creators of the popular video “Baby Shark,” whose “doo doo doo” song was played at the World Series in October, are developing a version in Navajo. Pinkfong, a brand of the South Korea company SmartStudy, announced last week it is working with the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Arizona, to create a new version of the widely popular tune about a family of sharks. The company is seeking voice actors to portray the roles of Baby Shark, Mommy Shark, Daddy Shark, Grandma Shark, and Grandpa Shark. The “Baby Shark Dance” video has garnered more than 3.9 billion views on...

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said on Friday that the individual who opened fire at Naval Air Station Pensacola was a member of the Saudi military and that the attack "was an act of terrorism." The foreign national attacker killed at least three people and injured several others who were sent to a nearby hospital for treatment. Gaetz responded to the attack by calling for "extreme vetting" of those who are allowed into the United States and who train at U.S. military bases. "Major news organizations are now reporting the information that we began to learn earlier this morning that it...

CNN has updated its report that President Trump continues to use his personal cell phone to make calls, despite repeated concerns expressed by his staff that such phone calls leave the president vulnerable to surveillance by foreign governments.  In a tweet on Saturday, President Trump called upon "Fake News" CNN to retract the story that he describes as "totally false information and reporting." Trump also tweeted that he hasn't "had a personal cell phone for years" and only uses "government approved and issued phones."  Fake News @CNN is reporting that I am “still using personal cell phone for calls despite...

In October Cuba’s communist government said citizens could open bank accounts that receive dollars, yen, euros and other European currencies. They will be able to use the money to buy imported goods from new state-owned shops, called Tiendas Moneda Libremente Convertible (or convertible-currency shops), where prices are given in dollars. More than 70 are planned. This ends a ban on dollar transactions introduced in 2004.

Evangelist and Christ for All Nations founder Reinhard Bonnke has died at the age of 79. In a statement, Bonnke's wife Anni said he had "passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family". Bonnke is also survived by his children Kai-Uwe, Gabrielle and Susie, and eight grandchildren. "Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, it is with sorrow that the Bonnke Family would like to announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, and grandfather, evangelist Reinhard Bonnke," she said. "He passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family, on December 7, 2019. For the past 60 years he has preached the glorious...

When Japanese bombers appeared in the skies over Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941, the U.S. military was completely unprepared for the devastating surprise attack, which dramatically altered the course of World War II, especially in the Pacific theater. But there were several key reasons for the bombing that, in hindsight, make it seem almost inevitable. Tensions Began During the Great Depression Before the Pearl Harbor attack, tensions between Japan and the United States had been mounting for the better part of a decade. The island nation of Japan, isolated from the rest of the world for...

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama have purchased a nearly 7,000-square-foot home on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts for $11.75 million, according to a report. The purchase price was recorded Wednesday with the local Registry of Deeds, the Vineyard Gazette reported. The Obamas paid about half the original asking price for the property when it first became available in 2015, the report said... The Obamas have entered some lucrative business deals since leaving the White House.

Full analysis of Video from Biden at Event shows there was previous reference to “ROACHES,” but Biden went there. “Former Vice President Joe Biden is refusing to explain what he meant when he used the term “Roaches” in a Video. Bizarre Behavior by Biden around every turn.

Ericsson Subsidiary Pleads Guilty to FCPA Violations Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson or the Company), a multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, has agreed to pay total penalties of more than $1 billion to resolve the government’s investigation into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) arising out of the Company’s scheme to make and improperly record tens of millions of dollars in improper payments around the world.  This includes a criminal penalty of over $520 million and approximately $540 million to be paid to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a related matter.  An Ericsson...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations said on Saturday that denuclearization is off the negotiating table with the United States and lengthy talks with Washington are not needed. Ambassador Kim Song’s comment appeared to go further than North Korea’s earlier warning that discussions related to its nuclear weapons program, the central focus of U.S. engagement with North Korea in the past two years, might have to be taken off the table given Washington’s refusal to offer concessions. Kim said in a statement that the “sustained and substantial dialogue” sought by the United States was a...

The Saudi student who fatally shot three people at a U.S. naval base in Florida hosted a dinner party earlier in the week where he and three others watched videos of mass shootings, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Saturday. One of the three students who attended the dinner party videotaped outside the building while the shooting was taking place at Naval Air Station Pensacola on Friday, said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity after being briefed by federal authorities. Two other Saudi students watched from a car, the official said. The official said 10...

President Donald J. Trump applauds the work of Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Wyden to lower prescription drug costs and further improve their bipartisan legislation, such as adding a provision to limit monthly out-of-pocket spending for seniors with chronic high costs. No President has done more to lower the cost of prescription drugs than President Trump, and this Bill would be another huge step forward for American families – for their health, their peace of mind, and their financial security. The White House calls on Congress to act now to give Americans the relief they need by sending bipartisan drug...

The economy added 266,000 jobs in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) monthly Employment Situation Report released today. The job totals for September and October were also revised upward, leading to a total increase of 41,000 additional jobs. The return of the striking GM workers boosted November payrolls, as well. Taking the average over the past 2 months, job growth has been 211,000 per month (netting out the impact of GM on each month’s numbers). This is an increase in the rate of job growth from earlier in 2019. November’s impressive gain greatly exceeded median market expectations...

Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit lifted two district court injunctions and held that the Trump Administration should be able to enforce a regulation implementing a statute passed by Congress that has declared for over a century that any alien who “is likely at any time to become a public charge is inadmissible.” The new regulation replaced guidance issued by the Clinton Administration in 1999 that had unduly narrowed the Federal statute. The Ninth Circuit has rightly recognized the Administration’s authority to adopt an interpretation of the “public charge” restriction more faithful to and consistent with the scope of the statute passed...