Trump: US patience with the North Korean regime 'is over'

President Donald Trump, speaking alongside South Korean President Moon Jae-in, declared Friday US patience with the North Korean regime "is over." "The era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed," Trump said in a statement from the Rose Garden. "And, frankly, that patience is over."
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/30/politics/trump-moon-jae-in-rose-garden/index.html?source=Snapzu

Homecoming Sequel Begins 'Minutes' After Avengers 4

It was previously reported that Spider-Man’s screentime in the upcoming Avengers: Infintiy War would be on par with how long he was in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, but we now have another update on the wallcrawler and the Phase 3 capper. Speaking with Fandom, producer Amy Pascal revealed that the upcoming Homecoming sequel will begin just minutes after the untitled Avengers 4.
Read more: http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/864029-homecoming-sequel-begins-minutes-after-avengers-4?source=Snapzu

NYT Finally Retracts Russia-gate Canard

A founding Russia-gate myth is that all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies agreed that Russia hacked into and distributed Democratic emails, a falsehood that The New York Times has belatedly retracted, reports Robert Parry.
Read more: https://consortiumnews.com/2017/06/29/nyt-finally-retracts-russia-gate-canard/?source=Snapzu

Big ideas, big titles and a big controller: the curious story behind the original Xbox

If Backwards Compatibility has taught me anything, it’s that diving back into the warm waters of nostalgia is still a beautifully fulfilling endeavour. Plus, I’m clearly partial to a cheap game or two. Scrolling through the timeline, I can find many a moment in the Xbox lineage that brings a reminiscent sigh of content from within. It can be easy to forget where these happy thoughts emanated from, what with the pixel-perfect visuals and world maps twice the size of Aruba that come as standard these days.
Read more: http://www.gamesradar.com/original-xbox-console-retrospective?source=Snapzu

Indiana mom sentenced to 130-years for smothering her 2 children

A judge has ordered an Indiana woman who confessed to fatally smothering her two children to undergo mental health treatment before she goes to prison. An Elkhart County judge ordered a 130-year sentence Thursday for 30-year-old Amber Pasztor of Fort Wayne. Pasztor admits to killing 7-year-old Lilliana Hernandez and 6-year-old Rene Pasztor. She pleaded guilty but mentally ill to two murder counts.
Read more: http://www.wdrb.com/story/35779710/indiana-mom-sentenced-to-130-years-for-smothering-her-2-children?source=Snapzu

Since no one is really working on Friday afternoons, some employers just say go home

Some workplaces have not only embraced the summer doldrums, they've turned those agonizingly slow Friday afternoons into a cheap perk dubbed the "summer Friday." A number of employers, acutely aware of the fact that workers are daydreaming of being anywhere but at the office, let them take the day off or leave early on Friday afternoons in an effort to boost morale and productivity.
Read more: http://www.kgw.com/news/nation-world/since-no-one-is-really-working-on-friday-afternoons-some-employers-just-say-go-home/453294449?source=Snapzu

The Rise of the Thought Leader

Writing in one of Mussolini’s prisons in the 1930s, the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci jotted down the fragments that would become his theory of intellectuals. New classes, like the European bourgeoisie after the Industrial Revolution, he proposed, brought with them their own set of thinkers, which he called “organic intellectuals”—theorists, technicians, and administrators, who became their “functionaries” in a new society.
Read more: https://newrepublic.com/article/143004/rise-thought-leader-how-superrich-funded-new-class-intellectual?source=Snapzu

1 in 5 L.A. community college students is homeless, survey finds

One in every 5 of the Los Angeles Community College District’s 230,000 students is homeless, and nearly two-thirds can’t afford to eat properly, according to a new survey commissioned by the system’s board of trustees. The study looked at students with unstable housing and ”food insecurity,” which is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as lacking enough to eat to sustain an active, healthy life.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-homeless-community-college-20170628-story.html?source=Snapzu

Venus Williams ‘at fault in fatal car crash’

VENUS Williams has broken her silence about the fatal car crash that killed a 78-year-old man in Florida. Police told TMZ Sports the tennis superstar was at fault for the accident, which occurred earlier this month. Speaking through her lawyer on Friday (AEST), the 37-year-old attempted to explain her side of the story.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/sport/sports-life/venus-williams-at-fault-in-fatal-car-crash-police-say/news-story/1c2325733912db48480698c64579ee99?source=Snapzu

B.C. Liberal government loses confidence vote 44-42, sparking either NDP government or election

After 16 years and two months in power, the B.C. Liberals have lost the confidence of the legislature. A motion by NDP Leader John Horgan, which said "the present government does not have the confidence of this House," passed 44-42, with all NDP and Green members of the legislature voting in favour, and all Liberals voting against.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-liberals-fall-non-confidence-1.4185005?source=Snapzu

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams pleads guilty in his federal corruption trial

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams abruptly resigned his office and agreed to plead guilty Thursday in a surprise move that ended a federal bribery trial that had dragged messy details about his personal life into the open, and had cast a deepening shadow over the final days of his once-promising political career.
Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/philadelphia/philly-da-seth-williams-xxxxxxxx-20170629.html?source=Snapzu

Elon Musk's boring machine completes the first section of an LA tunnel

Elon Musk says his tunnel-boring endeavor has started digging underneath Los Angeles.
Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/29/elon-musks-boring-machine-completes-the-first-section-of-an-la-tunnel.html?source=Snapzu

Saudi Arabia is trying to turn Qatar into a vassal state

If Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman can rush into a hopeless war with the Houthis of Yemen, why shouldn’t he threaten the body politic of Qatar? By Robert Fisk.
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/saudi-arabia-al-jazeera-qatar-into-a-vassal-state-a7808936.html?source=Snapzu

The Trump Administration Can’t Stop China From Becoming an AI Superpower

Senior senator John Cornyn stood before an audience of wonks at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC, and warned that America’s openness to investors looking for new ideas in technologies like artificial intelligence was putting it in danger. “Most of what China wants to invest in these days is leading-edge US technology that’s a key to our future military capabilities,” he said. “Unless the trend line changes, we may one day see some of these technologies incorporated in China-made equipment that can be used against our country in the event, heaven forbid, of a military conflict.”
Read more: https://www.wired.com/story/america-china-ai-ascension/?source=Snapzu

Judge blocks California's high-capacity magazine ban

A federal judge on Thursday blocked a California law set to take effect Saturday that would have barred gun owners from possessing high-capacity ammunition magazines. The judge ruled that the ban approved by the Legislature and voters last year takes away gun owners’ Second Amendment rights and amounts to the government taking people’s private property without compensation.
Read more: https://apnews.com/9b92b4952e524027bbd7dd86c9545053?source=Snapzu

Japan wants to put a man on the moon

Japan plans to put a man on the moon around 2030, according to a new proposal by the government's Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. It is the first time JAXA has revealed an intention to send Japanese astronauts beyond the International Space Station, and it will mostly likely be part of an international mission, the agency said.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/29/asia/japan-moon-landing-jaxa/index.html?source=Snapzu

Sydney Opera House sails to light up every sunset with Indigenous art

The late Aboriginal artist Lin Onus hoped his art would create “some sort of bridge” between Indigenous and European cultures, yet it is unlikely he would have imagined his work flying across the sails of the Sydney Opera House every sunset. By Julie Power.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-opera-house-sails-to-light-up-every-sunset-with-indigenous-art-20170627-gwze06.html?source=Snapzu

British teenagers among world's most extreme internet users, report says

More than one in three British 15-year-olds are “extreme internet users” who spend at least six hours a day online – which is more than their counterparts in all the other 34 OECD countries apart from Chile, research has found. The report, by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) thinktank, says: “Over a third (37.3%) of UK 15-year-olds can be classed as ‘extreme internet users’ (6+ hours of use a day) – markedly higher than the average of OECD countries.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/30/british-teenagers-among-worlds-most-extreme-internet-users-report-says?source=Snapzu

House Committee Advances GOP Legislation Attacking National Forest Protections

The bill would devastate national forests by gutting endangered species protections, limiting public comment and environmental review and increase logging. By Brett Hart.
Read more: http://www.alternet.org/environment/house-committee-advances-legislation-attacking-national-forest-protections?source=Snapzu

Off-Grid Devices Draw Drinking Water from Dry Air

Sunlight-powered moisture-absorbing technologies are becoming economical. By Donna J. Nelson.
Read more: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/harvesting-clean-water-from-air/?source=Snapzu

Iraq declares end of caliphate after capture historic Mosul mosque

After eight months of grinding urban warfare, Iraqi government troops on Thursday captured the ruined mosque in Mosul from where Islamic State proclaimed its self-styled caliphate three years ago, the Iraqi military said. Iraqi authorities expect the long battle for Mosul to end in the coming days as the remaining Islamic State fighters are now bottled up in just a handful of neighborhoods of the Old City.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-mosul-idUSKBN19K0YZ?il=0?source=Snapzu

Boy, 5, saves brother from choking (video)

Oliver Bevans, who lives near Cheadle, Staffordshire, used first aid training taught at school to hit three-year-old brother Stanley on the back three times to dislodge a meatball that was choking him. The boys had been at their gran’s, who had left the room briefly when the incident unfolded.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/must_see/40430970/boy-5-saves-brother-from-choking-on-meatball?source=Snapzu

It’s Possible to Keep Schrodinger’s Cat Alive Without Ever Opening The Box

Just keep shaking it. Researchers have used an artificial atom to show it’s possible to keep Schrödinger’s cat alive indefinitely, but also accelerate its demise, all without needing to look inside its box. By Mike McRae. (June 19, 2017)
Read more: http://www.sciencealert.com/it-s-possible-to-keep-schroedinger-s-cat-alive-without-ever-opening-the-box?source=Snapzu

Pesticides damage survival of bee colonies, landmark study shows

The world’s largest ever field trial demonstrates widely used insecticides harm both honeybees and wild bees, increasing calls for a ban. By Damian Carrington.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/29/pesticides-damage-survival-of-bee-colonies-landmark-study-shows?source=Snapzu

Emmanuel Macron’s new tech visa will make France an unlikely laboratory for globalization

Emmanuel Macron wants France to become a country of startups, and not just for French founders. That’s why the newly elected president is talking up a new tech visa intended to make it easier for fast-growing companies to hire foreign talent and for entrepreneurs to set up shop in France.
Read more: https://qz.com/1016742/emmanuel-macrons-new-tech-visa-is-designed-to-make-france-more-friendly-for-startups-than-the-us-or-uk?source=Snapzu

The NRA finds new ways to stoke the fires of the culture war

As Mother Jones’ Kevin Drum noted, the NRA has clearly evolved from being an organization interested in the rights of gun owners, and become “a purveyor of wholesale culture war zealotry.” This video is powerful evidence of this: NRA members aren’t told to worry about legislation; they’re told to direct their fears at “comedy shows” and liberals who “terrorize the law-abiding.” At the root of NRA propaganda in recent years is an unhealthy dose of paranoia and cultural resentment, and the byproduct is bizarre videos like the one the group released this week.
Read more: http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-nra-finds-new-ways-stoke-the-fires-the-culture-war?cid=sm_fb_maddow?source=Snapzu

''Welfare Reform'' Is Pushing Women Into Unwaged Work -- It's Time to Change That

Welfare reform briefly became a hot topic on the campaign trail last year when Hillary Clinton was criticized for supporting the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, signed into law with great fanfare by President Bill Clinton, who famously declared that the law would "end welfare as we know it." The law did precisely that, turning the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program into the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant, which came along with stringent requirements for the people, most of them women, who received it. Since that time, extreme poverty has spiked in the country, and the sha
Read more: http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/41100-welfare-reform-is-pushing-women-into-unwaged-work-it-s-time-to-change-that?source=Snapzu

‘A great victory’: Ireland’s parliament bans onshore fracking

Ireland is to ban onshore fracking, making it one of a few countries to prohibit the gas extraction method in an effort to preserve the environment. The Petroleum and Other Minerals Development (Prohibition of Onshore Hydraulic Fracturing) Bill 2016 will be signed into law by President Michael D. Higgins, after it passed in the Seanad (Senate) on Wednesday, following its passing in the Dail (Parliament) in May.
Read more: https://www.rt.com/news/394513-ireland-bans-onshore-fracking/?source=Snapzu

Iran Confirms Death of ISIS Leader al-Baghdadi

An Iranian official has confirmed that the ISIS terrorist group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is ‘definitely’ dead. Representative of Iran’s Leader in IRGC Quds Force, Ali Shirazi, said on Thursday ‘the death of this terrorist [al-Baghdadi] is certain’. Last Thursday, Russia’s deputy foreign minister had declared that it is highly likely al-Baghdadi, the ISIS leader, was killed in a Russian airstrike near Raqqa, Syria, on May 28.
Read more: http://ifpnews.com/exclusive/iran-confirms-death-of-isis-leader-al-baghdadi/?source=Snapzu

Trump to visit France on Bastille Day

President Donald Trump will travel to France next month to attend the Bastille Day celebration in Paris and commemorate the 100th anniversary of the United States' entry into World War I, the White House said Wednesday. Trump accepted the invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron. The two leaders met for the first time during Trump's overseas trip in May, just weeks after Macron's election victory.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-accepts-invitation-visit-france-bastille-day/story?id=48327287?source=Snapzu

Robots are preparing to fill 200,000 vacant construction jobs

Automation has long been considered the harbinger of future unemployment, and experts have predicted that the widespread adoption of artificially intelligent (AI) software and smart machines could lead to thousands or even millions of people losing their jobs. However, that may not be the case in the construction industry. In fact, with a growing shortage in labor, it’s one sector that’s particularly well-suited for an automation takeover.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/automation-robots-fill-vacant-construction-jobs-2017-6?IR=T?source=Snapzu

NASA Invites Public to Celebrate 100 Years of Aerospace Breakthroughs

NASA invites the public to three days of discussion and storytelling with notable aerospace experts to mark the 100th anniversary of the agency’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Portions of the event will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.
Read more: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-invites-public-to-celebrate-100-years-of-aerospace-breakthroughs?source=Snapzu

Sony's Spider-Man Movies Happen in the "Same Reality" as the MCU

Ahead of the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming, a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios, FANDOM spoke to Sony boss Amy Pascal and Marvel chief Kevin Feige to try and clear up the confusion over exactly how Sony’s Marvel Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe are connected.
Read more: http://fandom.wikia.com/articles/exclusive-sonys-spider-man-movies-happen-in-the-same-reality-as-the-mcu?source=Snapzu

IBM had filmmakers teach its Watson AI how to make movies

IBM and the Tribeca Film Festival asked a small but prestigious group of artists and scientists to help make the Watson supercomputer a better storyteller.
Read more: https://thenextweb.com/artificial-intelligence/2017/06/29/ibm-watson-supercomputer-ai-film-story/#.tnw_V9YFe4Z0?source=Snapzu

"Microsoft" Scam Callers Arrested After Years of Terrorising the Technically Challenged

Those shameless scammers that cold-call people pretending to be from Microsoft and demanding money after walking users through supposed problems with their computers? They're going down, it seems, with four people arrested in the UK for enabling the rip-off.
Read more: http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2017/06/microsoft-scam-callers-arrested-after-years-of-terrorising-the-technically-challenged/?source=Snapzu

Trump's Russia lawyer faces conflict-of-interest questions over $296m Kushner deal

The lawyer privately advising Donald Trump on the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election is head of a law firm that was involved in the sale of a prestigious piece of New York real estate to Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law, in a deal that could fall under the spotlight of the same inquiry.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/29/donald-trump-russia-lawyer-marc-kasowitz-jared-kushner?source=Snapzu

Turkey jails more journalists than any other nation. Those in detention are all terrorists, Erdogan says.

Turkey has arrested about 150 journalists since last year's failed military coup against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The country is now the world's leading jailer of journalists. But as trials begin, Erdogan is insisting that none of these editors and reporters are being tried for their professional work. They're all terrorists, he says.
Read more: https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-06-28/turkey-jails-more-journalists-any-other-nation-those-detention-are-all-terrorists?source=Snapzu

ABC, meat producer settle in $1.9B 'pink slime' libel suit

ABC and a South Dakota meat producer announced a settlement Wednesday in a $1.9 billion lawsuit against the American network over its reports on a lean, finely textured beef product that critics dubbed "pink slime." The terms of the settlement are confidential. Dakota Dunes-based Beef...
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/abc-settlement-reached-pink-slime-defamation-lawsuit-48325389?source=Snapzu

‘F Is for Family’ Renewed for Season 3 at Netflix

The Netflix animated comedy series “F Is for Family” has been renewed for a third season. The series was created by Bill Burr and Michael Price. Burr tweeted the news on Wednesday saying, “Really happy to announce there will be a season 3 of FIFF. Thanks to everyone for watching! @netflix #FIsForFamily #gaumontTV”
Read more: https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/f-is-for-family-renewed-season-3-netflix-1202481426/?source=Snapzu

Every Single Building Tested After Grenfell Tower Has Failed Cladding Safety Checks

Jeremy Corbyn blamed austerity measures for a lack of building inspections that helped lead to the disastrous fire at the tower block in London.
Read more: https://www.buzzfeed.com/jimwaterson/every-single-building-tested-after-grenfell-tower-has?source=Snapzu

Who Stopped California's Single-Payer Plan?

Single payer in California faces a political obstacle, not an economic one. By Jason Rhode.
Read more: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/06/who-stopped-californias-single-payer-plan.html?source=Snapzu

FBI agent pleads not guilty to lying about shooting at rancher in Oregon standoff

An FBI agent pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of lying about firing two shots at Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, one of the leaders of the armed standoff at a wildlife refuge in Oregon last year. W. Joseph Astarita, stone-faced and wearing a dark-gray pinstriped suit, entered the plea in a two-minute arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Janice M. Stewart. Stewart ordered that he remain free pending trial.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-fbi-oregon-shooting-20170628-story.html?source=Snapzu

'Better Call Saul' Renewed for Fourth Season at AMC

The 'Breaking Bad' prequel will be back in 2018 with 10 new episodes. No surprise here: AMC has renewed Better Call Saul for a fourth season. The Breaking Bad prequel, produced by Sony Pictures Television, will return with 10 new episodes in 2018, the cable network announced Tuesday.
Read more: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/better-call-saul-renewed-fourth-season-at-amc-1017090?source=Snapzu

Mysterious stealth gaming startup Wonder announces $14 million in funding

Ah, another day, another stealth mobile gaming startup getting funded by Shakira. LA-based Wonder announced today that it has closed a Series A round of funding led by Grishin Robotics and TCL Communication Holdings Ltd.; Wonder announced they had raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding in July of last year, but we now know that they have raised about $14 million in funding to date.
Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/28/mysterious-stealth-gaming-startup-wonder-announces-14-million-in-funding/?ncid=rss?source=Snapzu

Qatar sanctions likely to become permanent: UAE

Sanctions imposed on Qatar this month are looking increasingly likely to become permanent as the deadline to meet a set of demands laid out by its Gulf neighbors fast approaches, according to the BBC. The small peninsular nation has been told it must stop funding terrorism — which it denies — downgrade ties with Iran, and shutdown its news organization Al Jazeera, or face permanent isolation.
Read more: http://www.arabnews.com/node/1121101/middle-east?source=Snapzu

Trump moves to withdraw US water protection

US President Donald Trump has taken action to reverse an Obama-era rule that protects water from pollution nationwide. The rule has been a thorn in the side of industry - now, it could be scrapped.
Read more: http://dw.com/en/trump-moves-to-withdraw-us-water-protection/a-39456451?source=Snapzu

Boaty McBoatface obtains 'unprecedented data' from its first voyage

A yellow submarine dubbed Boaty McBoatface has obtained "unprecedented data" from its first voyage exploring one of the deepest and coldest ocean regions on Earth, say scientists. The robotic submersible was given the name originally chosen last year for a new polar research ship by irreverent contestants in a public competition.
Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/28/boaty-mcboatface-obtains-unprecedented-data-first-voyage/?source=Snapzu

Woman fatally shoots boyfriend in YouTube stunt

A Minnesota woman killed her boyfriend Monday by shooting at a book he was holding over his chest, in a YouTube video stunt gone wrong.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/29/us/fatal-youtube-stunt/index.html?source=Snapzu

Stalin is still more popular than Putin with Russians

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin has been voted the most “outstanding” figure in Russia’s history, beating the country’s most beloved poet, Alexander Pushkin, and current Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/putin-behind-stalin-top-russias-most-outstanding-people-poll-629032?source=Snapzu

More than 30 nuclear experts inhale uranium after radiation alarms at a weapons site are switched off

Most were not told about it until months later, and other mishaps at the Nevada nuclear test site followed. By Patrick Malone, Peter Cary, R. Jeffrey Smith. Part Four of a series.
Read more: https://apps.publicintegrity.org/nuclear-negligence/inhaled-uranium/?source=Snapzu