| New York federal prosecutors are seeking interviews with Trump Organization executives, CNN reports Tuesday. It’s not clear exactly what information the prosecutors are seeking—but CNN notes that in the past few months, the attorney’s office has launched at least two probes into Trump-linked organizations. The first is the investigation into potential campaign-finance violations stemming from alleged hush-money payments to former fixer Michael Cohen; the second is a probe into possible financial abuses by the Trump inaugural committee. Just yesterday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reportedly subpoenaed all documents concerning the committee’s donors and vendors. CNN reports that the subpoena revealed that prosecutors are probing other possible crimes including conspiracy against the U.S., false statements, mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. |
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| Liam Neeson has broken his silence a day after an interview was published in which he admitted he wanted to murder a “black bastard” after someone close to him was raped. Appearing Tuesday on Good Morning America, the Northern Irish actor explained: “We were doing a press junket and the topic of the film is revenge, it’s a dark comedy too, and the lady journalist was asking me ‘How do you tap into that?’ and I remembered an incident nearly 40 years ago where a very dear friend of mine was brutally raped and I was out of the country, and when I came back she told me about it.” He went on: “After that there were some nights I went out deliberately into black areas in the city, looking to be set upon so that I could unleash physical violence ... I did it four, maybe four or five times until I caught myself and it really shocked me, this primal urge. It was shocking.” He claimed he would have reacted the same way if the rapist was white, saying: "If she had said an Irish or a Scot or a Brit or a Lithuanian I would ... have had the same effect.” Neeson added that he managed to get over his dark thoughts by seeking help through a priest and two good friends, and, he said: “Believe it or not, power-walking, two hours every day, to get rid of this.” View this cheat in a browser to see this embedded tweet. |
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| A Pennsylvania appeals court ruled Tuesday that convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky should be resentenced. The court denied his request for a new trial, but found that his mandatory minimum sentence on child sex-abuse charges was unconstitutional under a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. Sandusky, a former assistant football coach at Pennsylvania State University, was convicted on 45 of 48 counts in 2012 and sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison for molesting numerous adolescent and teenage boys in a scandal that rocked the Penn State community. Sandusky’s attorney Alexander Lindsay said he plans to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, and he is hopeful the justices will take up the case. “In doing so, the court has an opportunity to correct one of the most profound injustices in the history of American Jurisprudence,” he said in a statement. |
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| Rep. Steve King (R-IA) announced via Twitter on Tuesday that he is bringing Diamond, of “Diamond and Silk,” as his guest to the State of the Union address. King came under fire from Republicans and Democrats alike earlier this year for remarks he made in defense of white supremacy in a January New York Times profile. Diamond and Silk—real names née Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson—are conservative African-American vloggers and social-media personalities. The always-coordinated duo have been vocal supporters of President Donald Trump and are frequent guests on Fox News. The two recently launched their own commentary show on the channel’s new streaming service “Fox Nation.” View this cheat in a browser to see this embedded tweet. |
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| Valentine’s Day is creeping up, and if you’re already stressed out about what to get your partner, Eve’s Addiction may be able to ease that tension. Eve’s Addiction specializes in personalized gifts and jewelry that can be engraved with anything that’s meaningful to you. There’s something for everyone when it comes to custom gifts, like an engraved bracelet, birthstone necklaces, even the classic initial necklace (in many different styles). Eve’s Addiction is also aware that personal, meaningful gifts can sometimes get expensive, so they’re taking 30% off, plus throwing in free shipping on every order. You can get peace of mind that your gift will arrive promptly: most can be customized and shipped within 24 hours. If there’s someone in your life that you want to impress during the most romantic holiday of the year, get them a customized piece from Eve’s Addiction. 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. |
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| Human activity was affecting the climate long before the industrial revolution and global warming, a study to be published in the March edition of Quarternary Science Reviews asserts. After Europeans colonized the Americas in the 1500s and early 1600s and wiped out about 90 percent of the indigenous population, the earth went through a “Little Ice Age” that peaked in the 17th century and was partially caused by human activity. “It was a drastic change in the earth’s system,” Alexander Koch, the study’s lead author and a researcher at the University College London Department of Geography, told The New York Times. New vegetation that grew where humans used to live pulled additional carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere leading to a global cooling, hitting its peak in the 17th century, according to the report. Global temperatures dropped over one degree Fahrenheit and famines were common across Europe. Though volcanic activity and weaker solar rays also contributed to cooling, researchers estimate that human activity was about half of what caused the Little Ice Age. |
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| Pope Francis publicly acknowledged the scandal of priests and bishops sexually abusing nuns for the first time on Tuesday, and says he is committed to doing more to fight the problem. “Should we do something more? Yes. Is there the will? Yes,” Francis said to reporters while returning home from the United Arab Emirates. “It’s not that everyone does this, but there have been priests and bishops who have,” Francis added. “And I think that it’s continuing because it’s not like once you realize it that it stops. It continues. And for some time we’ve been working on it.” His comments come after new allegations of widespread abuse against nuns surfaced. Francis noted that Pope Benedict XVI had taken action against a France-based order after some nuns had been reduced to “sexual slavery” at the hands of the priests. In the past year, there have been reports of abused nuns in India, Africa, Europe, and South America—evidence that the problem is by no means limited to one region. The Catholic Church has been juggling numerous cases of sexual abuse of minors at the hands of priests in the United States and abroad. The pope’s acknowledgement of the religious sisters’ abuse supports the notion that adults can also be victims of abuse whenever there is an imbalance of power in a relationship. The pope has called a crisis summit on abuse from Feb. 21 to 25 to try to grapple with the systemic problem. |
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| Óscar Arias Sánchez, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and former president of Costa Rica, has been accused of sexually assaulting a psychiatrist and antinuclear activist four years ago, The New York Times reports. Alexandra Arce von Herold, a nuclear disarmament activist who often worked with the former president, said she was at Arias’ home in 2014 for work when he allegedly came up behind her, touched her breasts, and shoved his hands up her skirt, penetrating her with his fingers. Arce filed a criminal complaint with federal prosecutors on Monday and gave a statement under penalty of perjury asking them to charge Arias with sexual assault. Arias won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for brokering a plan to end civil wars in Central America, and remains one of the most powerful figures in Costa Rica. Arce told a number of people about the alleged assault, including colleagues and her brother, who said that for weeks afterward, “it was like she had PTSD. She didn’t feel safe.” |
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| An Uber driver who pleaded guilty in January to killing six people between picking up passengers was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without parole, according to the Associated Press. On Feb. 20, 2016, Jason Dalton killed four people in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel, and two more in the parking lot of a car dealership. Two other victims were shot, but survived. The Associated Press notes that Dalton allegedly told police after he was arrested that a “devil figure” inside the Uber app controlled him during the shootings—but as The Daily Beast noted previously, Dalton said during his trial that he had wanted to commit the shootings for “quite a while.” |
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| The cause of death for Colin Kroll, the co-founder and chief executive of HQ Trivia, has been determined to be a drug overdose, according to the final medical examiner’s report. The exact cause was listed as “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, fluoroisobutyryl fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine.” Kroll, 34, was found dead in his Lower Manhattan apartment in December. The technology developer co-founded popular apps Vine and HQ Trivia, after a tumultuous stint at Twitter, which ultimately bought Vine. HQ Trivia livestreams 15-minute trivia shows typically twice a day to tens of thousands of users. The app became a viral sensation last year, but has recently seen a drop off-in users. View this cheat in a browser to see this embedded tweet. |
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