According to aides who were present when Trump discussed the issue, but who choose to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, Trump said he was sick of Vance and wanted to fire him. “I wanted him to be my attack dog,” said Trump, “but he appears foolish on television. He dropped the college football trophy. He met with Pope Francis and the next day the pope died. Vance is toxic, and I don’t want him to come near me. He just doesn’t look as good on television as I thought he would.”   read more

Masilingi attended a UN conference on biodiversity in 1992 and was one of the representatives from smaller nations who accused the U.S. of blocking their proposals to protect the environment. He was brought into the government in 1998 as the minister for good governance, where he investigated corruption and fraud in government and business. Masilingi was named his country’s first ambassador to the Netherlands in 2013, where he served until assuming the post in Washington.   read more

Billionaires don't become billionaires by being passive about their interests. Peter Thiel has devoted his almost unlimited means to lawsuits that promise to shutter a news organization he doesn't like. His campaign is in keeping with the pledge his favored candidate for president, Donald Trump, made to ease barriers to lawsuits against journalists. It's the flip side of the media realm’s new coin. Many fellow billionaires gained control of news organizations by buying them or starting them.   read more

If they can successfully reanimate parts of the upper spinal cord, where the lower brain stem is located, there’s a possibility that they could kick start vital body functions such as breathing and heartbeats. "This represents the first trial of its kind and another step towards the eventual reversal of death in our lifetime," said Bioquark CEO Ira Pastor. Once they’ve been granted permission from the families, the researchers will treat their 20 clinically dead patients over a six-week period.   read more

The report found that many rape victims suffering from trauma were unfairly discharged for a “personality disorder” or other mental health condition that makes them ineligible for benefits. The consequences are far-reaching, impacting employment, child custody, health care, disability payments, burial rights – virtually all aspects of life. Such a discharge “has been correlated with high rates of suicide, homelessness, and imprisonment."   read more

The new law set off a debate over whether it was really needed to protect officers, or whether it was an effort to dilute the basic meaning of hate crimes and to undermine the movement protesting the use of force by the police. “Hate crimes law is based upon a history of discrimination against certain groups of people, and a bill like this just tries to water down that reality, because there is not a history of discrimination against police...” said NAACP's Ernest Johnson.   read more

Donald Trump wants to build another huge wall, this time to keep out the rising seas threatening his luxury golf resort in Ireland. He has called climate change a "con job" and a "hoax." But Trump Golf Links cites global warming in seeking a permit to build the nearly two-mile-long stone wall. "Donald Trump clearly cares more about the fate of his golf courses than the health of the millions of families already affected by the climate crisis," said the Sierra Club.   read more

In Connecticut, the Dept of Developmental Services is supposed to pass on alarming reports— those that might suggest abuse — to a state agency. But the federal investigation found that the oversight system failed at almost every level. A review of 152 “critical incidents” where residents came to harm found the state failed to follow up on 99% of incidents that should have raised “reasonable suspicions of abuse or neglect,” and that hospital staff failed to do so in all but one of 310 ER visits.   read more

Among those with incomes under $50,000, 58% say they feel more anxious than secure about the amount of savings they have for retirement. People with higher incomes appear less anxious, but still 40% of those with incomes of $100,000 or more worry whether their savings will be sufficient. Alison Cowen said she doesn't see any path for her to retire--ever. "I just don't have enough to live on for the rest of my life." The poll said a quarter of workers over 50 say they never plan to retire.   read more

The new regulations require advisers who charge commissions to sign a promise that they will act in the client's best interests, earn "reasonable" compensation and disclose information about fees and conflicts of interest. At stake are about $4.5 trillion in 401(k) accounts and more than $7 trillion in IRAs. Some brokers rip off investors by pushing them toward higher-cost investments like variable annuities or riskier options such as real estate investment trusts.   read more

Judge Marsha Berzon said that the Bureau of Land Management conducted no surveys to determine whether sage grouse were present at the project's proposed site during the winter months and relied on data from surveys conducted at lower elevations.. "A fundamental flaw infects this reasoning," Berzon said. "The inaccurate information and unsupported assumption materially impeded informed decision-making and public participation."   read more

While running Scotiabank’s operations in Belize, Andrews was involved in several charities benefiting the country’s children. In 2007, he was named Canada’s honorary consul in Belize. In 2014, Andrews was honored by Queen Elizabeth II as a Member of the British Empire (MBE) for his services to community and banking. His nephew, Patrick Jason Andrews, is also involved in the country’s politics but as a senator in the rival Peoples United Party, and was a television host.   read more

Stonehenge eroding under the forces of extreme weather. The city of Venice slowly collapsing into its canals. The gradual flooding of the Statue of Liberty. Images like these, familiar from Hollywood climate-catastrophe thrillers, were evoked by a report released Thursday. That report highlights 31 sites in 29 countries that have already felt some impact from climate change, including well-known tourist destinations like Easter Island and Yellowstone National Park.   read more

Federal laws will no longer include outdated and offensive terms used to describe minority groups. President Barack Obama signed a bill striking the several terms, including "Negro" and "Oriental" on Friday, the White House said. Those terms will be replaced with "African American" and "Asian American." The bill removing the terms passed the House in February and the Senate last week. No one in either chamber objected.   read more

The Texas candidate who claimed that President Obama was a gay prostitute and believes dinosaurs walked the Earth with humans lost her primary Tuesday. Among Bruner's posts was that Democrats killed John F. Kennedy, that climate change is a hoax concocted by Karl Marx, and that Obama's health care overhaul was an orchestrated plot to wipe 200 million people from the U.S. population. She also wrote that the flood from Noah's Ark destroyed the dinosaurs — not a meteor as "concocted" by atheists.   read more

"Although courts owe deference to agencies, we also recognize that, '[a]t some point, we must lean forward from the bench to let an agency know, in no uncertain terms, that enough is enough,'" Judge Ambro wrote. "For the Commission's stalled efforts to promote diversity in the broadcast industry, that time has come." The court said the FCC's delay in meeting its obligation was unreasonable. The court didn't guide the agency's decision, only stating that the rulemaking "must be completed."   read more

Çitaku was made Kosovo’s minister of European Integration in 2010 and worked on settling differences with Serbia. She also worked to improve women’s rights in her country and increase their role in government. In 2014, she came to the U.S. to be Kosovo’s consul general in New York. There, she worked to get Kosovo membership in the U.N. Despite her long career, Çitaku is as likely to show up in her country’s gossip magazines as newspapers because of her striking appearance.   read more