| Trump Tower is rapidly becoming one of the least popular luxury apartment blocks for in New York City, Bloomberg News reports, with some owners being forced to sell their condos at more than 20 percent losses. In fact, most condo sales have led to a loss after adjusting for inflation, according to property records, at a time when just 0.23 percent of homes sold in the city over the past two years have lost money. “The name on the building became a problem,” said Michael Sklar, who sold a tower apartment at a loss last year. In the commercial section of the building, more than 42,000 square feet of office space is vacant even though it’s advertising rents that are well below the area’s average. Its overall occupancy rate has descended over the last seven years from 99 percent to 83 percent. And not only Trump Tower has been affected—rounds of golf are down at his course in New York state and a plan to launch a new mid-tier hotel chain across the country has come to nothing. |
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| Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan presented an updated plan to President Trump’s top national-security aides that potentially sends as many as 120,000 troops to the Middle East if Iran attacks U.S. forces or accelerates its work on nuclear weapons, The New York Times reports. National Security Adviser John Bolton ordered Shanahan to update the plan, which was presented at a meeting last week and does not call for a land invasion of Iran. Deploying the 120,000 troops was reportedly the “uppermost option” of the plan, and it was estimated to take “weeks or months” to execute. While the plan was presented, it is not clear if Trump was briefed on the plan’s details or if he would support it. Spokesmen for Shanahan and Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reportedly declined to comment. Garrett Marquis, a National Security Council spokesman, told the newspaper Monday the U.S. “does not seek war with Iran,” but said the administration would be “ready to defend U.S. personnel and interests in the region.” The troop figure—120,000—would “approach” the number deployed when the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, the Times reports. When Trump was asked if he wanted regime change Iran, he told reporters Monday that he’ll “see what happens” in the country. “If they do anything, it would be a very bad mistake,” he said. |
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| When it comes to your face, sunscreen that has been specially made to be non-comedogenic (non-pore-clogging) is good for any skin type, even sensitive skin. The EltaMD UV Clear Facial Sunscreen has a 4.3-star rating with over 3,500 reviews. It’s derived from a mineral-based formula with zinc-oxide, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid and lactic acid added to keep your skin happy. The lightweight, silky formula won’t clog your pores or leave you with that weird white cast that some zinc-oxide-based sunscreens tend to do. The oil-free nature of it helps keeps sensitive skin from reacting and the active skin care ingredients protect your face from the sun and can help calm skin that’s acne-prone or experiences rosacea. Plus, you can use your FSA card to save even more on it. 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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| Saudi Arabia rang alarm bells this week with claims that two of its oil tankers were “sabotaged” and sustained “significant damage”—but now questions are being asked after satellite images showed the vessels have no major visible damage. Details of the alleged tanker attacks—on two Saudi crafts, one Norwegian, and one Emirati—on Sunday are still hazy. One U.S. official told the AP that the U.S. military believes Iran or Iranian allies used explosives to blow holes in the ships. But the scale of the alleged sabotage is far from clear. Video showed one targeted Saudi tanker still afloat without any apparent damage, and satellite images provided to the AP showed no visible major damage from above. The suspicion that Iran was behind the alleged attacks has already stoked tensions in the Middle East and beyond. |
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| Attorney General William Barr assigned a federal prosecutor to examine the origins of the Russia investigation, The New York Times reports. John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, was reportedly tapped to look into how the probe—which culminated in the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report—started in the first place. President Trump has called for this investigation, claiming the probe was an “illegal takedown that failed” and proclaiming that “somebody’s going to be looking at the other side.” A spokesman for Durham and the Justice Department declined to comment. Durham has conducted special investigations for both sides of the aisle in years past. According to the Times, he looked into the FBI’s handling of informant Whitey Bulger in 1999 and investigated the CIA’s destruction of tapes showing the torture of terror suspects in 2005. Durham’s probe will be the third investigation into the Russia investigation’s origins, which Mueller claimed in his report was instigated on legitimate grounds. |
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| A secret White House plan to arrest thousands of migrant parents and children in 10 U.S. cities was thwarted by resistance from officials who have since been ousted, The Washington Post reports. The plan was reportedly pushed by senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller and was intended to be a show of force against families that had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border after President Trump’s “zero-tolerance” prosecution push in 2018. But then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and former top immigration enforcement official Ronald Vitiello put the brakes on it, expressing concerns that there wasn’t time to prepare immigration agents and that the public would have been outraged by the plan. The arrests were reportedly planned for New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles and as many 10,000 migrants were to be targeted. “There was concern that it was being hastily put together, would be ineffective, and might actually backfire by misdirecting resources away from critical border emergency-response operations,” one DHS official told the newspaper. |
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| A vulnerability in the WhatsApp messaging app let attackers install Israeli spyware onto iPhones and Android phones through its call function, The Financial Times reports. A source told the newspaper WhatsApp was working to fix the loophole as late as Sunday, and said it was too early in the company’s investigation to determine how many devices were affected. A fix was released by the app on Monday, and the company reportedly notified the Justice Department of the attack last week. “This attack has all the hallmarks of a private company known to work with governments to deliver spyware that reportedly takes over the functions of mobile phone operating systems,” the company said. The software involved was reportedly developed by Israeli company NSO Group, whose flagship product can turn on a “phone’s microphone and camera, trawl through emails and messages, and collect location data.” In a statement, NSO Group said its technology was “solely operated by intelligence and law-enforcement agencies” and it would not target any individuals or groups in its own right. Researchers previously concluded that NSO Group software was used to spy on Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s phone before he was murdered. |
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| A raging fire that caused considerable damage to the first and second floors of a Connecticut mosque was started on purpose, officials said. The Diyanet Mosque in New Haven was set on fire Sunday afternoon—no injuries were reported, but a man was inside the building as it went up in flames. Local authorities are now treating it as arson, with New Haven Fire Chief John Alston saying: “We’ve detected that there is intent in this fire... This was intentionally set.” Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said: “A hate-fueled attack on a religious institution—any religion—is disgusting and appalling. There is no place for it in our state or our nation.” No arrests have been made; a $2,500 reward for information is being offered. The building is unsafe for inhabitants—a particular blow during the holy month of Ramadan—but some artifacts were recovered. “In this time of their season of religious worship, our hearts go out to them,” said the fire chief. |
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| North Korea has called the U.S. seizure of its cargo ship last year an “unlawful robbery” and demanded that it be returned, the Associated Press reports. U.S. officials first detained the Wise Honest,which was reportedly used to transport banned coal exports, in April 2018 as the vessel headed toward Indonesia. On Saturday, the ship arrived in American Samoa, a U.S. territory in the south central Pacific. An unnamed foreign ministry spokesman accused the U.S. of violating the spirit of an agreement made between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during the 2018 Singapore summit, where both parties favored a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and vowed to work toward bilateral ties. Their second meeting in Hanoi in February deteriorated when neither could agree on sanctions relief and disarmament. |
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| A man has made the deepest ever dive by a human inside a submarine—only to make the troubling discovery of plastic trash resting on the ocean floor. Victor Vescovo, a retired naval officer who is now an investor, made the descent into the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench on Monday and traveled down 35,853 feet from the surface—52 feet lower than the previous record, which has been held since 1960. He found manmade material on the ocean floor that he believes to be plastic, though the object is now undergoing tests to confirm that. It was just the third time humans have managed to dive to the deepest point in the ocean on earth. Director James Cameron was the last to visit in 2012 in his submarine, reaching a depth of 35,787 feet. |
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