Over one hundred ISIS soldiers have reportedly escaped prisons in Syria. Now security officials around the world need to work together to protect their borders in order to stop the next possible terrorist attack, experts say. Interested in ISIS? Add ISIS as an interest to stay up to date on the latest ISIS news, video, and analysis from ABC News. ISIS Add Interest Earlier this month, security at Syrian detention camps in al-Hol -- where thousands of ISIS soldiers were held -- weakened as Turkey invaded. As the Turkish Kurds fought the Syrian Kurds, who were guarding the jails, supporters of the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi attacked the camps and set ISIS prisoners free. "The concern is not with the thousands who were taken off the battlefield and put into prison, it's with the ones they don't know about that they are concerned about ... That threat has been consistent and constant," said Darrell M. Blocker, a former senior Deputy Director of CIA’s Counterterrorist Center and an ABC News contributor. On Wednesday, U.S. Syria Envoy James Jeffrey told Congress that they "do not know" where the prisoners are. As President Trump announced withdrawing thousands of U.S. troops from the region, security experts said that leaving Syria -- a breeding ground for ISIS -- makes the U.S. vulnerable to possible attacks.(MORE: US Syria envoy: Over 100 ISIS fighters escaped, reports of Turkish war crimes since US withdrawal) "Withdrawing forces from Syria could impact our national security in two ways: First, If the security situation in Syria deteriorates, the instability will allow for the reemergence of terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaida -- groups that want to attack the U.S., said John Cohen, a former senior Homeland Security official and an ABC News contributor. "Second, the U.S. will have to rely on countries like Iran, Syria, Russia and Turkey, to prevent attacks against the U.S. and simply put, protecting the U.S. will not be their priority.” Blocker said ISIS fighters have been returning to their hometowns after undergoing training for years. "If ISIS fighters return to their countries of origin they could represent a significant threat to countries across the European Union as well as the U.S.," said Cohen. "I am confident the EU is doing whatever they can to protect their countries, I suspect the U.S. and Homeland Security are doing the same."(MORE: What's in Trump's Syria 'ceasefire' with Turkey, what's not, and what comes next: Analysis) Blocker and Cohen said they hope an attack is not imminent, but intelligence and security officials should be acting like one is planned. "They'll probably go home get integrated into their routines and then plan for the next caliphate," said Blocker. Cohen said in order to stop potential terrorist from traveling to the U.S. from Europe, the U.S. must work closely with its European allies. During the Obama administration, American and European intelligence organizations shared information to identify potential terrorist and stop attacks. But, "it's unclear whether that same information sharing is happening today," said Cohen. "When we first were concerned about potential ISIS fighters returning back to the U.S., a comprehensive operational program was put in place that included CIA, the national counterterrorism center, FBI and others that solely focused on where to and how to identify potential ISIS fighters who traveled back to West," said Cohen.(MORE: US, Turkey reach agreement on Syria, but differ over whether it's a ceasefire or pause in operations) Cohen does not know if similar efforts are happening under the Trump administration, but hopes that similar programs are underway. On Sunday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the current administration is committed to preventing a reemergence of the Islamic State and to continue to be vigilant in Syria. "Security, stability in the Middle East has increased because of the work we've done," he said. "I'm very confident that this administration's efforts to crush ISIS will continue."

The news: 50 attorneys general from US states and territories have launched a joint review into Google’s advertising and search practices to assess whether the tech behemoth has abused its dominance to stifle competition. The review, which could later cover other bits of the company’s business, will be led by Ken Paxton, a Republican who’s the attorney general of Texas. Other tech giants are attracting attention from states, too: last week several of them launched an antitrust inquiry into Facebook, which will be led by New York’s attorney general.Piling on: The new investigations underline the bipartisan nature of concerns about the influence Big Tech wields over huge swaths of the economy, and in particular over how information is found and consumed. They come on top of moves by federal regulators to put tech firms under an antitrust microscope: the US Department of Justice (DoJ) has launched a wide-ranging review of the “GAFA” four—Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple.What lies ahead: The reviews are likely to dig into various alleged antitrust abuses, from Google favoring its own services over those of rivals in its search results to Facebook and Amazon snapping up potential rivals before they can pose a threat to the giants’ dominance (see our explainer for more details). Don’t expect any quick results, though: the legal wrangling could last years, and all the companies will roll out armies of highly paid lawyers and lobbyists.The Microsoft precedent: If the tech firms are found to have violated antitrust rules, penalties could range from fines to court orders that force them to divest entire businesses. At the very least, the legal battles will be a massive distraction for top management. When the DoJ launched a landmark antitrust case against Microsoft in the 1990s, the company ultimately managed to avoid being broken up. However, the bruising legal battle made it far more cautious—and that allowed startups in emerging areas like online search to flourish. Ironically, Google was one of the young companies that prospered as a result. Now it’s the one in the legal line of fire.

Apple will announce its earnings for the second quarter tomorrow, and many investors will be looking for strong growth in the company’s services business, which includes Apple Music, iCloud, and Apple Pay.Some believe that Apple could report $9.2 billion in services revenue, a 27% increase over last year’s June-ending quarter.Apple is one of a handful of tech companies (along with Amazon and Microsoft) that has a chance of achieving a $1 trillion valuation. Reaching that milestone in the near future, however, would require a stellar earnings report tomorrow. And the company’s best chance of such a coup is through a big increase in services revenue.If services represent Apple’s future, then iPhones represent the company’s present. Before the March quarterly earnings report, anxieties were running high that Apple’s flagship phone, the iPhone X, wasn’t selling well–possibly because of the device’s $1,000-plus price tag. Then the results came out, and they told a very different story. Apple sold 52.2 million iPhones during the quarter, beating analyst expectations of 52 million. The Average Selling Price (ASP) of the phones suggested that a healthy amount of the sales came from the iPhone X.The second quarter is a seasonally soft quarter for iPhone sales, and analysts are expecting Apple to sell about 42 million phones. The results could say a lot about the staying power of the X, given the fact that it’s been widely reported that Apple is expected to announce three new phones in September, some of which will be similar to the iPhone X but have a lower selling price.Overall, Apple has become a more predictable company in the past year or so. The company said last quarter that it expected revenues of between $51.5 billion and $53.5 billion. Thomson Reuters analysts expect a result right in the middle of the guidance range, at $52.3 billion. Apple reported $44.5 billion in revenues in last year’s second quarter.Above Avalon analysts Neil Cybart points out in a recent research note that Apple’s stock has seen a marked decline in volatility over the past three months, meaning there’s less disagreement on the future performance and value of the company. From April to June, Apple’s overall trading volume was down 20% versus January to March, Cybart says. “Despite the lack of volatility, Apple shares are up a strong 13% since 2018 earnings (S&P 500 is up 6% during the same time period),” the analyst writes.Nor do most Apple analysts, Cybart included, seem anxious about the possibility that Donald Trump’s brewing trade war with China could negatively impact iPhone sales, despite media reports worrying about the contrary. “The ‘China versus U.S. trade war’ headlines that have been plastered on CNBC seemingly every other day have amounted to nothing more than noise,” Cybart says.Some other interesting storylines: Will the iPad continue its hopeful sales numbers from the past two quarters (Apple sold 9.1 million of them last quarter)? Will we hear evidence that the Apple Watch is continuing to grow (Apple doesn’t yet break out Watch sales from its “Other Devices” category)? Cybart believes Apple will sell 3.8 million Watches in the quarter (up 40% year over year). Will Apple continue to report growth in its Mac business? It reported sales of 4.1 million of the machines in the March-ending quarter, a 2% increase from the year-earlier quarter. We’ll have the news and commentary when Apple announces its Q3 earnings after the bell tomorrow (Tuesday).

If the camera is the most important feature of any smartphone, then the most interesting aspect of Apple’s next iPhone might be a new camera feature called Smart Frame. According to Guilherme Rambo at 9to5Mac, the iPhone 11’s rumored triple-lens camera system will not only allow for wide-angle photography but will also let users edit a photo’s perspective or framing after the shot.Apple will reportedly accomplish this by capturing some imagery beyond the frame with the wide-angle lens and using software trickery for tilting and cropping. Rambo notes that Apple will automatically delete this extra imagery after a certain period of time “for privacy reasons.”Unfortunately, Smart Frame may only be available with the successors to last year’s iPhone XS and XS Max, as the rumor mill expects the iPhone 11’s XR equivalent to have a dual-lens camera system instead. But all three phones will reportedly have a new front-facing camera with support for slow-motion video. All three phones will also reportedly have the same Apple A13 chip and a new haptic feedback engine, and Rambo says they’ll all stick with Lightning ports, countering earlier rumors that Apple might switch to USB-C instead.A release date is still unclear, but Apple usually announces new iPhones in September.

By Updated Sept. 6, 2019 5:55 pm ET WASHINGTON—The Justice Department has launched an antitrust investigation into four auto makers that forged a deal with California on vehicle-emissions standards, escalating the conflict between the Trump administration and Sacramento over environmental regulations. Justice Department lawyers are seeking to determine whether Ford Motor Co., Honda Motor Co., BMW AG and Volkswagen AG broke federal competition law by agreeing with California to follow tailpipe-emissions standards beyond those proposed by the Trump administration,... To Read the Full Story Subscribe Sign In

Gary Kupferschmid managed to snag the autographs of five presidential candidates in just three hours at the Iowa State Fair this month, adding to a hefty collection that includes Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump – the last of whom got his vote in 2016.Now Mr. Kupferschmid is back in his hometown, standing on the dimly lit porch of the Port of Burlington as the Mississippi River flows by, waiting for a signature from the latest candidate to roll through.But Mayor Pete Buttigieg is hard to get to. He is mobbed everywhere he goes in Iowa. Supporters press in, standing almost nose to nose with him, waiting for their turn to exchange a few words.“I’m so nervous. You’re such a rock star,” gushes one woman. A man sporting a BOOT EDGE EDGE T-shirt that doubles as a pronunciation guide urges the mild-mannered mayor from South Bend, Indiana, to “do a Kamala Harris” in the next debate, referring to the California senator’s more combative approach. “Stand out!”In the middle of it all, a little girl looks up at the youngest of the presidential candidates and says: “I hope you get to be president.” Does Trump’s Navy SEAL pardon undermine military justice?“I hope so, too,” he responds, bending down toward her on a swing through more than half a dozen mostly rural counties after an appearance at the Iowa State Fair last week. All but one of those counties share a common characteristic: They voted in favor of Mr. Obama, but flipped to support Mr. Trump in 2016. Mr. Buttigieg, the gay Midwestern wunderkind, would like to woo them back. Christa Case Bryant/The Christian Science Monitor Gary Kupferschmid, who voted for Donald Trump in 2016, got Pete Buttigieg to sign his button in Burlington, Iowa. Mr. Buttigieg is trying to woo Trump voters in the southeastern part of the state. “We lost an election in ’16 because, I believe, we didn’t hear that very clear message from rural people,” says Democrat Patty Judge, a former lieutenant governor and secretary of agriculture for Iowa. “They thought that Donald Trump was change, was an opportunity for them – of course that was not true. They are going again to be looking for that opportunity and change.”She hasn’t endorsed a candidate yet, but calls Mr. Buttigieg’s new plan for rural America “very strong.” And indeed, he is positioning himself as a son of the heartland, who’s on a mission to reclaim quintessential American values like faith, freedom, and patriotism as not solely the province of the GOP. At the same time, he is deliberately redefining those values in progressive ways. He refers to Trump voters as “our friends,” and speaks of the pain of rural America and the importance of seeing it as part of the solution on everything from the economy to climate change.Since bursting out of the gate this spring with a flood of media attention after a town hall appearance went viral, Mr. Buttigieg has lately been polling in the single digits. But he has been highly successful on the fundraising front, which means he has the resources to lay the groundwork for a strong showing in the crucial Iowa caucuses six months from now. His campaign sees southeastern Iowa as especially fertile territory, says senior communications advisor Lis Smith. They are hoping to convert Trump voters like Mr. Kupferschmid. The message is essentially, “Look, Donald Trump talked a good game. He said he was going to go out there and fight for you, but he hasn’t,” says Ms. Smith, following the Buttigieg media mob at the state fair as he heads over to flip pork chops with the Iowa Pork Queen. “It’s not about saying that they’re complicit in a crime or that they’re horrible people for voting for him. It’s just saying, now is your chance and we will actually fight for you.”But first, he has to get on more people’s radar screens. Despite the intense cohort of fans who seem to follow him everywhere, plenty of Iowans still who have no idea who he is. As Mr. Buttigieg and his entourage stroll around the fairgrounds in Des Moines, they leave in their wake many puzzled expressions.“Who is that?” asks one onlooker.“Pete Buttigieg,” replies someone nearby.“And who is he?” asks a third, looking confused.“I have no clue who that is!” says a boy.“No clue,” agrees a woman next to him.“Go Trump!” yells someone else.From the bowels of the beer tent, someone recognizes him, yelling, “I got your book!” One supporter offers him half a plastic cup of beer. (An aide says no thanks; it’s only mid-afternoon.) Another insists on handing him a limp chocolate chip cookie. (A staffer discreetly throws it in the next trash can.) Pete Buttigieg campaign Harris Mayer of Iowa City is ecstatic after Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg agreed to ride the slide with him at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines on Aug. 13, 2019. Mr. Buttigieg, dressed in a white shirt and jeans, takes it all in stride, never seeming ruffled or impatient. No matter what the question – Antifa, Brexit, climate change, the Hong Kong protests, Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, tensions in Kashmir, or his favorite subject in grade school (English) – he delivers an articulate answer with almost machine-like precision.After traipsing all over the fairgrounds, he honors a promise made to a mother who asked him during the Q&A of his soapbox talk, “Will you ride the slide with my son?” “Of course I’ll ride the slide with your son!” he told her. “I don’t know what it means, but I’ll do it.”And he does, high-fiving the little boy at the bottom. Then, fortified by all manner of pork, he heads off to Trump country.Burlington, Iowa, has been dubbed the Backhoe Capital of the World, and when Shearer’s is making chocolate chip cookies, the whole city smells amazing. It boasts its own Minor League baseball team, the Burlington Bees, and was the hometown of conservationist Aldo Leopold and astronaut Jim Kelley. It features hilltop Victorian mansions that can be purchased for $225,000.But shootings are up and the population is down – the lowest it’s been in nearly a century. Employers complain that they can’t find good help. The rate of kids on free and reduced-price lunches has risen from just a few percent to more than 50% in the past few decades.Though Burlington itself narrowly supported Mrs. Clinton, the county as a whole went for Mr. Trump. Up the river in Muscatine, it’s a similar story. Mayor Diana Broderson, sitting in the front row of an outdoor house party waiting for Mr. Buttigieg to arrive, says she wants “someone that’s looking out for the common man.”Last time around, some supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders – upset that he had lost the nomination to Mrs. Clinton – backed Mr. Trump instead. “I’m hoping that everybody has learned that our party has to be united,” says Ms. Broderson. “A great number of people in our community agree that Trump is not the answer.”Kelcey Brackett, the Democratic chairman in Muscatine County, says he believes some Trump voters could go for Senator Sanders if he became the Democratic nominee. Other candidates, such as Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, could also win them over by setting a tone of bipartisanship. “I do think that’s important,” says Mr. Brackett, adding that there is also high enthusiasm for Mr. Buttigieg, who drew 225 people to the Muscatine house party on a weekday afternoon. “Otherwise the pendulum is just going to swing harder.”In the lush backyard, Mr. Buttigieg is introduced as being, among other things, Maltese-American, left-handed, and a didgeridoo player. As at nearly every campaign stop, he receives a standing ovation before he even opens his mouth. A Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar, “Mayor Pete” combines intellectual firepower with a folksy manner that elicits chuckles and cheers over even the driest topics.“Basically, I want to Marie Kondo the bureaucratic process,” he says, referring to the bestselling Japanese decluttering expert who has encouraged millions to empty their closets of anything that doesn’t “spark joy.” Christa Case Bryant/The Christian Science Monitor Dick Fenton, a retired John Deere machinist, came out to see Pete Buttigieg for the third time when he swung through Oskaloosa, Iowa, on Aug. 15, 2019, as part of a swing aimed at wooing Trump voters. “It’s going to be a rough row to hoe,” says Mr. Fenton, who moved to Iowa with his wife, Nancy, in the 1960s. “We grew up with Trump in New York and these people out here don’t know the half of it.” Tongue in cheek, he describes his own memoir, “Shortest Way Home,” featuring “a daring young mayor who has a vision for the future of his community.” “It’s sorta how we’re paying off the wedding bill, so I’d be very grateful if you’d pick one up,” says Mr. Buttigieg, who married his husband last summer, and carries household student debt in the six figures. Forbes recently ranked him as the poorest presidential candidate, with a net worth of $100,000. But he has 23 billionaires backing his campaign, the most of any candidate. He has 60 full-time staffers in Iowa.Campaign finance is “one of my favorites,” he says in response to a question, boiling the issue down to a simple equation: It’s not a democracy, he says, if dollars can outvote people. If Citizens United, the landmark 2010 Supreme Court decision, can’t be overturned, he adds, Congress should pass a constitutional amendment to “tune up our democracy.”And speaking of democracy, he suggests counting up all the votes in a presidential election and letting the person with the most win. With such seductive logic, he doesn’t need to even mention the Electoral College or get into a messy debate over how and why the framers of the Constitution sought to prevent America from devolving into a tyranny of the majority. Everyone is already cheering.But perhaps what most sets Mr. Buttigieg apart from the large Democratic field is the way he invokes values that have come to be seen as the province of conservatives.“I believe in American values that are not values that belong to one party – they’re values that belong to all of us, but that I also believe point in a very progressive direction when we take them seriously,” he tells a crowd in Ottumwa.Take liberty, he says. It’s not just about freedom from regulations or onerous taxes. It’s about freedom to choose how to live – freedom for women to choose (one of his biggest applause lines), to get quality health care, or to marry whomever you want, regardless of what a county clerk thinks.He and his supporters know such positions can be a hard sell in Iowa, where religious conservatives hold significant sway. “When I enthuse about you, people say, ‘America isn’t ready to elect a gay man president,’” a man tells Mr. Buttigieg at a campaign stop. Ireland has a gay prime minister and South Bend seems to have gotten over it, he continues. How can I convince them?Mr. Buttigieg responds by sharing his own decision to come out after serving as a Navy Reserves intelligence officer in Afghanistan and returning to his job as mayor. He won reelection several months later with 80% of the vote.“God does not belong to a political party,” he is fond of saying, adding that the Bible shouldn’t be used as a cudgel to tell people they don’t belong. He cites Scripture about feeding the hungry and caring for the stranger, and accuses the Trump administration of violating such tenets. He hopes, he tells the crowd in Muscatine, to make it “OK for those who are guided by faith to know that they don’t have to be pushed into the arms of the religious right – whose latest political decisions betray not only our values but also their own.” And what about those whose deeply held convictions – religious or otherwise – do differ from his? He would like to persuade them, he says, but acknowledges that, “I won’t convince everybody, and that’s OK.” He adds, however, “that people who think a lot about freedom – conservatives and libertarians – should pause at a moment like this ... and ask if this isn’t a chance for resetting the entire spectrum in a way that will make Americans better off.”Back in Burlington, as the last of some 500 attendees trickle out, someone with the Buttigieg campaign approaches Mr. Kupferschmid to return the baseball he had hoped Mayor Pete would sign. “Hi Gary, I apologize profusely,” says the young man. “That’s OK, it’s better than Kamala Harris,” says Mr. Kupferschmid, who at least got his “Pete Buttigieg for President” button signed. “And he seems more genuine.” Get the Monitor Stories you care about delivered to your inbox. He says, though, that with a lot of his money in the stock market, he’ll probably vote for Mr. Trump again next year if it keeps doing well. But he implies that calculus could still change.As he ambles into the warm summer night, he peers into a trash can and pulls out a Pete sign.

As Pacific Gas & Electric deliberately shut off power to homes and businesses to prevent wildfires, it has failed to communicate with California officials, given conflicting accounts about when the lights would go out and advised people to get information "the old-fashioned way, through calling on a landline." The behemoth power company is still struggling to get it right, weeks after it first started plunging millions of people into darkness to prevent strong winds from toppling its power lines and igniting fires. PG&E's widespread power outages have come in waves in October, sparking reprimands from state officials and growing anger as the blackouts stretch on for days in Northern California. Caught in the middle are millions of customers forced to endure without the needs of modern life. More than 500,000 people remained in the dark Wednesday, some since Saturday. "Northern California residents are exhausted. They're fried. And this is completely unacceptable," said state Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat who represents vast swaths of areas still in the dark. "Californians deserve better from this utility." Winds calmed down Wednesday, easing the dangerous fire conditions and allowing PG&E to shift its focus to getting the electricity back on. But the pain moved south, where several fires broke out amid howling winds in the Los Angeles area and forced evacuations. Utilities in Southern California have shut off power to 250,000 people. Two powerful windstorms have pounded Northern California in less than a week, prompting PG&E to shut off the lights three times in one week and four times this month. But its equipment still may have ignited a massive blaze in Sonoma County wine country that has destroyed 94 homes. PG&E faced crushing condemnation for its poor execution in the first widespread blackout Oct. 9 — its website failed, and customers couldn't get through by phone. People were confused about when and where the power would go out. Local governments complained about the lack of communication before the Oct. 9 outage and filed reports with regulators. In a response filed Wednesday with the Public Utilities Commission, PG&E acknowledged "various, and in some cases, extreme, shortcomings, including failure of the website, and coordination with state local and tribal governments" during the shut-off. But it said it has since updated its website "to provide helpful and useful information to the public." Many of its customers disagreed, saying it was difficult to get to a map of outages and find specifics on when the electricity would go off or come back on. "I woke up in the middle of the night and smelled smoke. I wanted to use my phone to find if fire was nearby, but the battery was out, and without electricity, I couldn't charge it," Judy Keene said Monday. The Berkeley resident said her old-fashioned phone didn't work either. "I thought our landline would work," Keene said. "That's the reason we had a landline." Mark Quinlan, PG&E's senior director of emergency preparedness and response, appeared stumped Tuesday night when asked how people should get information when the power is already out and many cellphone towers have stopped working. "People could get the information from a website through family," he suggested, "or they could just get it the old-fashioned way through calling on a landline." Fewer than half of U.S. households have a landline, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics. More than 70% of young adults and renters have only a cellphone, the data says. Local officials said information from PG&E has been slow and sometimes wrong or outdated, making it hard for them keep people informed. "Every time PG&E gives us information, we're really not certain whether it's accurate or not, or if that's what actually will happen," said Carmel Angelo, Mendocino County administrator. The entire county north of San Francisco lost power, and residents and officials were told it would come back after the first windstorm passed last week. PG&E said the second wind blast this week wouldn't force blackouts in its most populous areas, but they did, she said. In Marin County, north of San Francisco, PG&E responded to reports that it turned off power 15 hours earlier than it said it would Tuesday by blaming "operational constraints" because of fire and "a coordination error." Communication improved after the early October outage, but "there's still much left to be desired," said Laine Hendricks, a spokeswoman for Marin County, where residents have called wanting to know when their power would be back. "Residents are like, 'Why don't you know?'" Hendricks said. "It's a hard question to answer. Most of the time, local government should be able to answer those questions, but this is something that's out of our hands. We're just trying to remind them that we're in the same boat." Power has come back to most of the county, she said, but thousands are still in the dark. PG&E Corp. CEO Bill Johnson said the company will give a one-time credit to customers hit by the first blackout as a "recognition of things that we didn't do well." In a statement, the company implied the problems were solely related to its website and call center communications. It has not said how much it will pay. "I feel like when it eventually comes back on, people are going to be like, 'What day is it? Where are we? What is that bright light coming from our ceiling?'" said Madeleine Kelley Stewart, chef and innkeeper at the Kelley & Young Wine Garden Inn, which is in an area of Sonoma County wine country that's been in the dark since Saturday. "It's going to be like a bunch of Neanderthals poking at fire." ——— This story has been corrected to show the proper spelling of Laine Hendricks' name. ——— Cooper reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writer Jocelyn Gecker contributed.

TOKYO (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) has secured pledges from Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and other investors of around $108 billion for a second Vision Fund aimed at investing in technology firms. The Japanese conglomerate itself plans to invest $38 billion in the fund, it said in a statement. Others set to join include Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (Foxconn) (2317.TW) - both investors in the first fund. Notable by their absence on the list of state and corporate backers were the sovereign wealth funds of the two countries which formed the cornerstone of its first fund: Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, as well as investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS.N). SoftBank said it was still talking to potential investors and that it expected the fund’s anticipated capital to grow. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Bloomberg in October his country was ready to commit a further $45 billion through its Public Investment Fund (PIF), adding: “Without the PIF, there will be no SoftBank Vision Fund”. Those close links later compelled Softbank founder and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son to defend the relationship after Saudi security personnel were accused of murdering Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist critical of the Saudi state. Discussions between Softbank and PIF were ongoing, but the Saudis would wait for a formal proposal before deciding whether to invest in the new fund, a source familiar with the matter said. A spokeswoman for Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala told Reuters it was still in the process of assessing a potential investment. The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reported Goldman Sachs would invest in the fund. The second fund’s investor base reflects diversification beyond the Middle East that provided most of the first $100 billion fund’s outside capital as SoftBank touts industry-beating returns, with joiners including cash rich Japanese financial institutions and a Kazakh sovereign wealth fund. “Those investing two years ago were investing in the vision, there was no proof the concept was going to succeed,” said Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Chris Lane. “Given the track record achieved over the last two years Vision Fund 2 has been substantially de-risked,” Lane said. SoftBank in May said the first fund had generated a 45% internal rate of return for investors in its common shares, or 29% when debt-like preferred shares are included - though the gains still exist mostly on paper. On Friday, it said other participants in the second fund will include the National Investment Corporation of National Bank of Kazakhstan, Standard Chartered Bank PLC (STAN.L), undisclosed parties from Taiwan and the fund’s own managers. FILE PHOTO: Japan's SoftBank Group Corp Chief Executive Masayoshi Son attends a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 5, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File PhotoThe new fund has broad backing from Japan’s financial industry including units of the three mega banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (8306.T), Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc (8316.T) and Mizuho Financial Group Inc (8411.T), SoftBank’s statement showed. It said Daiwa Securities Group Inc (8601.T), Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc (8750.T) and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc (8309.T) have also signed memoranda of understanding (MOU). The financial structure of the fund, how much each investor would contribute and whether they would provide debt or equity backing was not disclosed by Softbank. A spokeswoman for Standard Chartered, however, told Reuters the bank would take part in the fund as a debt investor. “The objective of the fund is to facilitate the continued acceleration of the AI revolution through investment in market-leading, tech-enabled growth companies,” SoftBank said in its statement. Masayoshi Son uses artificial intelligence (AI) as a catch-all term to characterise SoftBank’s investment portfolio, which features businesses as varied as ride-hailing and autonomous driving, insurance and healthcare. SoftBank has not provided concrete details on the kind of investments it is targeting, said a senior executive at one Japanese bank listed as a participant in the new fund. “The fund itself is of course attractive, but what matters is the overall balance of the portfolio,” the banker said, declining to be identified further. LATE-STAGE STARTUPS Friday's announcement was driven largely by Softbank's need to alert shareholders to its planned investment in the fund. SoftBank Group's shares ended the day up 1.1% in a 0.5% weaker Nikkei 225 .N225. The first Vision Fund launched two years ago with $60 billion in backing from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. It has already burned through much of its capital with investments in over 80 late-stage tech startups. Bets included Uber Technologies Inc (UBER.N) and WeWork parent The We Company in a spending spree that has reshaped the venture capital industry as SoftBank outguns less-capitalised rivals. “We’ve seen several startups start to beat their rivals and push them out of the market, mainly because - and only after - they receive investment and backing from SoftBank,” said one Hong Kong-based senior investor at a large venture capital firm. SoftBank did not provide details on how it would fund its $38 billion contribution to the new fund. With the conglomerate not needing to put up all the money at once, proceeds from the first Vision Fund can potentially be recycled, said analyst Dan Baker at Morningstar. FILE PHOTO: The logo of SoftBank Group Corp is displayed at the SoftBank World 2017 conference in Tokyo, Japan, July 20, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File PhotoSuch a strategy would rely on the first fund continuing to provide blistering returns, as it transitions beyond identifying and investing in promising startups to managing a portfolio of companies that are listed or heading toward public markets. “We believe this move should create a positive impression in as much as it confirms the substantial interest in the Vision Fund business and fund procurement capabilities,” UBS analyst Kei Takahashi said in a note to clients. Additional reporting by Takashi Umekawa and Chang-Ran Kim in Tokyo, Julie Zhu in Hong Kong, Iain Withers in London, Stanley Carvalho in Abu Dhabi and Saeed Azhar in Dubai; Editing by David Dolan, Christopher Cushing and Emelia Sithole-MatariseOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Leaked Signal messages from an online chat network around six-term Washington state Republican representative Matt Shea show new evidence of violent fantasies, surveillance of perceived adversaries, conspiracy thinking, Islamophobia and support for white nationalists.The messages from the chat group, exchanged between October 2017 and October 2018, show Shea’s network includes other serving, former and aspiring rightwing politicians from Idaho and Washington, alongside activists associated with militia groups, anti-environmental causes and pro-gun activism.They also show participants, including Shea, preparing for economic and societal collapse even as they campaign for the secession of eastern Washington from the remainder of the state.The messages provide a rare insight into the inner workings – and paranoia – of the so-called patriot movement, whose members have participated in standoffs with the federal government in Nevada and Oregon, and whose far-right beliefs have been controversially promoted by Shea.Lindsay Schubiner, a program director at the progressive Western States Center, said of the chats: “The chat messages reveal Shea acting more like a militia leader than an elected official. His conspiratorial and violent mindset are on full display. If it was not already clear, Shea has demonstrated that he is unfit for public office. Now it’s time for his colleagues in the Washington house of representatives to hold him accountable.”Shea is currently under investigation by the Washington state house after reporting on his activities by the Guardian and local media outlets.The group chat the messages appeared in was repeatedly described by participants as an “intel” channel for sharing information among a large group of Shea’s associates, including: Washington state representative Matt Shea, who posts in the chat under a frequently used online alias Verrumbellator. Two-term Idaho state representative Heather Scott. Former Spokane Valley councilman and Shea ally Mike Munch. Former Spokane Valley councilman and podcaster Caleb Collier. An account posting as “Marble”, attached to a phone number registered to Anne Byrd, who with husband Pastor Barry Byrd leads the secretive Marble Community church, headquartered in a compound in remote north-east Washington. Broadcaster and Shea lieutenant Jack Robertson, also known as John Jacob Schmidt. Patriot movement activist and Malheur standoff participant Anthony Bosworth. Bosworth runs a patriot movement group called Liberty For All, once ran for Yakima county sheriff, and was charged with assaulting his daughter in downtown Yakima. Also present in the chat were a number of rightwing activists, some from the region incorporating eastern Washington, north Idaho, and surrounding areas, which they have christened “the American Redoubt”. These activists included: Former Spokane county employee and retired air force officer John Christina. Former candidate for Washington commissioner of public lands Steve McLaughlin, who told the SPLC in 2016 that he was pulling back from involvement the patriot movement Jay Pounder, a former Shea confidant who leaked the chats to the Guardian. Shea and the other sitting legislator, Heather Scott, are members of the chat for its entire length, and both weigh in on a wide range of topics.The Guardian confirmed participants by cross-checking phone numbers in the chat with public phone records.Participants frequently expressed a belief civil war was coming.In particular, they were exercised by false rumors of an “antifa insurrection” on 4 November 2017, which circulated widely in far-right and conservative media throughout the previous month.During that month, the chat also circulated false news, unattributed memes and fabricated intelligence about the supposedly impending insurrection.The Guardian previously reported on the messages of a smaller chat involving members of this larger group, which was also planning for the supposed antifa uprising. That chat saw Bosworth and Robertson fantasizing about sadistic violence, and promoting surveillance and opposition research about local activists.At one point in late October 2017, the larger chat took an unattributed meme listing supposed “planned riots” in the region to be accurate.This led to chat members ventilating fantasies of a violent response.“Sometimes, ya just gotta go out and pick a fight with the philistines,” Robertson wrote on 29 October 2017. “Knock some heads. Bring back some foreskins. Lol!”Later that day, Jack Robertson wrote: “We could have a contest … see how many communists we could knock out, before getting knocked out or arrested!”Bosworth responded: “OK. Now this is starting to sound fun.”But there were no protests in the region, and only small ones in other parts of the country: peaceful events which had been planned by a group associated with the Revolutionary Communist party.Other events were taken as portents of civil war.In July 2018, when the Trump-backed congressional challenger Katie Arrington was badly injured in a car crash after ousting Mark Sanford in a primary, the chat took it as a sign of impending civil collapse.“Every day shows more and more we are sitting on the edge of civil war between two governmental factions. I don’t think we’re going to make six years before we see shots fired,” Bosworth remarked.Christina replied: “Agreed. Banana republic sums it up quite well. Never thought I would see it come to my country in my lifetime.”Islam – a frequent bugbear in Shea’s public speeches – is seen in dark hues by many members of the chat. Muslims and leftists are held to be working together to subvert the United States.Violent, paranoid reveries were aired about both groups by members of the chat.In December 2017, Robertson warned: “Expect acid throwing attacks. Low tech, low cost. Effective and brutal. Since the announcement of moving out embassy to Jerusalem, things are about to get sporty. Be vigilant when you travel to large metro areas.”In February 2018, after accepting as true faked photographs of the Parkland shooter Nicholas Cruz that depicted him as a leftist, the group ventilated more violent fantasies and conspiracy theories.“The communist bastards need to be shot,” Bosworth wrote.“Communist Islam,” Shea responded.In May 2018, Shea wrote: “Please remember tomorrow is the first day of Ramadan begins Tuesday/Wednesday. Higher likelihood of terror attacks.”Robertson days later wrote: “Wow. Ramadan began yesterday. Avoid crowds when possible, be vigilant, stay armed, and keep a combat rifle accessible when practical.”Leftists are equally feared and despised in the chats. In June 2018, the chat responded to news of the occupation of an Ice facility in Portland with more fantasies of violence and vigilantism.Bosworth said of potential police violence at the facility: “I don’t agree with federal agents clubbing them. I think they should let the people club the commies.”Robertson responded: “Agreed! Commies should get the baby seal treatment from the citizens.”Bosworth later added: “The American people need to stomp communism into the dust. They need to be hunted down and destroyed. It’s not the government’s job to do it. It is ours, the rightful heirs to liberty fought and won by our founders.”Requests for surveillance on perceived political opponents also permeate the chat, many coming from Shea.He asked whether a local conservative is a “friend or foe” and at one point Bosworth shared images of what appears to be the FBI file of a Shea critic.A central topic in the chats is the campaign to carve out a 51st state from eastern Washington, to be named Liberty state.The campaign for Liberty state has underpinned activism in the Shea network, but has also provoked fears among opponents who believe that proponents are seeking to implement a dominionist theocracy.At one point Bosworth asked if they can shake off federal and state control: “People need to know what the new state is going to look like. Is it going to operate without federal control? If so our first step would be to show the people of the new state that we can operate without Olympia’s control.”Later in the chat, McLaughlin offered a view of what a successful Liberty state movement would look like: “People standing up and applying the elements of power to undo lies, destroy the commie movement and taking political control. Elements of power are economic, diplomatic, information dominance and force.”Elsewhere, speaking of Liberty state opponents, Jack Robertson opined that “skull-stomping godless communists does have a very strong appeal”.Heather Scott replied: “Sounds like the name of a rock band.”Bosworth replied: “I’m all for Christians doing some skull stomping in defense of their faith.”Apart from direct participants, the chat sees the repeated dissemination of intelligence from outside sources. One source, described in the chat only as “G2”, frequently provided alarming updates on geopolitical events.His prognostications were of intense interest to the group, including Shea, and taken to indicate impending global catastrophe.Christina was the contact with G2, and would relay messages to the group.Members, including Shea, would solicit updates from G2 on international incidents. Solicitations of G2’s advice occur throughout the chats, and members treat him as an authoritative source.On 6 November 2017, Shea asked: “A lot coming out right now about DPRK [North Korea]. What is the status with G2?”A chance remark about a family death has allowed the Guardian to identify G2 as Ronald Jessee, Christina’s nephew, who runs a popular “open source intelligence” Twitter account called Intellipus.On Twitter, the Intellipus account has 48,000 followers. But according to his LinkedIn page, 42-year-old Jessee has never worked in any military or intelligence capacity, and his last listed employment was with an open-source intelligence startup which folded in 2018. Jessee says he is not and never has been a member of the chat group.The group engages in extended, and ultimately supportive conversation about James Allsup, a white nationalist, Charlottesville marcher and far-right personality who was excluded from the Washington State University College Republicans, and eventually the Spokane county GOP, for neo-Nazi associations.The group began discussing Allsup just days after the Daily Beast published a story about him being elected as a precinct committee officer for the local Republican party.After prolonged conversation in which Robertson, in particular, defended Allsup after local Republicans “threw this guy under the bus”, Shea proposed they contact Allsup. “Here’s my two cents. Anthony I think you should reach out to him and if he is legit (not racist or a plant) make an ally.”None of the named chat participants with the exception of Jay Pounder responded to the Guardian’s requests for comment. Sitting legislators Shea and Scott did not respond to detailed requests made by email.Pounder himself was an active participant in the chats and in Shea’s movement until late last year. “I was on board. I was a believer until I had a moment of conscience,” he said in a telephone conversation.Still a devout Christian, he said: “God got a hold of my heart and told me, no man, this isn’t the way it’s meant to be.”Shea remains under investigation by the Rampart Group, which was hired by the clerk of the Washington state house to “assess the level of threat of political violence posed by these individuals and groups” associated with Shea, following reporting in the Guardian and local outlets about secret chats and documents produced by Shea’s network. They are due to present their report on 1 December.• This article was amended on 20 November 2019 to add a response from Ronald Jessee to say that he is not a member of the chat group. Topics The far right US politics Republicans news

Four people were killed and at least four injured at a Halloween party shooting at a Northern California home rented by a woman who falsely claimed she wanted the Airbnb so her asthmatic family members could escape wildfire smoke, police and a person with knowledge of the transaction said Friday. Gunshots were reported at about 10:45 p.m. Thursday at the large home in the wealthy San Francisco suburb of Orinda where more than 100 people had gathered, police said. The home, surrounded by trees and up a steep driveway, had been rented on Airbnb by a woman who told the owner her dozen family members needed a location with fresh air, the person with knowledge of the transaction told The Associated Press. Three people, all from the Bay Area, died at the scene and a fourth died at the hospital, authorities said. The Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office identified them Friday evening as 22-year-old Tiyon Farley of Antioch, 24-year-old Omar Taylor of Pittsburg, 23-year-old Ramon Hill Jr. and 29-year-old Javin County. Other people were wounded by gunshots or injured in the panic that followed, authorities said. A one-night rental on Halloween was suspicious enough that before agreeing to rent the home the owner reminded the renter that no parties were allowed, said the person, who was not authorized to publicly disclose the information and spoke only on condition of anonymity. The renter, whose name and hometown have not been disclosed, told the homeowner that her family members had asthma and needed a place to escape the smoky air. A giant wildfire burning in Sonoma County about 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of Orinda earlier in the week forced tens of thousands to evacuate and fouled the air over a wide area. Michael Wang, who owns the 4,000-square-foot (372-square-meter), four-bedroom house, said his wife reached out to the renter Thursday night after neighbors contacted them about the party. The renter said there were only a dozen people at the home. However, Wang said he could see more people on video from his doorbell camera. "We called the police. They were on the way to go there to stop them, but before we got there the neighbor already sent us a message saying there was a shooting," he told the San Francisco Chronicle in a phone interview. "When we arrived there, the police were already there." Two guns were found at the scene. Though no suspect was identified or arrested, Orinda Police Chief David Cook said at a news conference there is no ongoing threat to the public. "We don't have any reason to believe that they stayed in the area," Cook said. "We don't have any reason to believe that they were from Orinda." Cook did not address a possible motive or whether more than one person was involved in the shooting that made people run out of the house in terror. The party apparently was advertised on social media and one attendee said he was inside the main floor, enjoying the music and watching people dance, when he heard shots and people started running. The screaming seemed to last forever, said Devan, who asked that his last name not be used because he feared for his safety. "Everybody started running, scrambling," he said. "People were just collapsing and friends were helping friends. It was a scary situation and then as everyone is panicking and stuff, there were more shots." Devan shot a video posted to Instagram that showed a wounded man on the ground and a police officer standing over him and a woman saying she needs to go to the hospital "because my hand's been blown off." At one point, the camera is pointed at the house and a woman off camera is heard asking if someone is hurt. Shots then ring out from inside the home and people outside run. Another Halloween party, in a rural area east of Salt Lake City , also ended in violence and left two men dead. A 22-year-old man was fatally stabbed and a 23-year-old man was shot to death at the party near the town of Roosevelt where about 20 people were drinking, said Duchesne County Sheriff Travis Tucker. Police had no motive and had made no arrests. In Chicago, a 7-year-old girl out trick-or-treating in a bumblebee costume was shot in the neck by someone firing from across the street at a gang member. A juvenile identified as a person of interest in the shooting was taken into custody Friday. The girl was in critical but stable condition Friday. In Orinda on Friday, police tape surrounded the block where the house is located as people came to collect their cars and other belongings. One woman in tears told reporters the father of her child had been killed. She left before giving her name. Romond Reynolds picked up the car of his son, 24-year-old Armani Reynolds, who he said was left comatose by the shooting. "All I know is that he's a victim and was at the wrong place at the wrong time," Reynolds said, adding his son apparently learned about the party on the internet. Reynolds said he received a call at about 11 p.m. saying someone had driven his son to the hospital. Neighbor Shahram Saki, 61, said in a phone interview he heard loud music and then the sound of shots. When he opened his door, he saw dozens of people run out of the house and some hid in the bushes in his front yard. Others begged to go into his house. "They were screaming for help. I told them, 'You gotta get out of here,'" Saki said. "I was scared to death, anything could have happened." Saki said he signed a petition about a year ago to complain about renters at the home, who he said often parked their vehicles along the street and sometimes blocked his driveway. Orinda city documents show officials issued violations in March for exceeding the home's maximum occupancy and illegal parking. City Manager Steve Salomon said the homeowner had resolved previous complaints lodged in February over occupancy and noise and in July over overflowing trash. Orinda, with a population of about 20,000, requires short-term rental hosts to register with the city annually and pay an occupancy tax. The maximum occupancy is two people per bedroom plus three people not assigned to bedrooms. Salomon said the property was registered with the city as a short-term rental with a maximum occupancy of 13 people. Airbnb is "urgently investigating" what happened, spokesman Ben Breit said in an email. Airbnb has banned the renter from its platform and the home has been removed as a listing, he said. The home's Airbnb ad included prohibitions on smoking, marijuana use, weapons and parties, Breit added. The listing also said that quiet hours must be observed between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. because neighboring homes are close. The home last sold for $1.2 million in 2017 and rents for about $420 per night. ——— Dazio reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Janie Har in San Francisco and Brady McCombs in Salt Lake City contributed.

Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth Ann WarrenWarren receives endorsement from Illinois congresswoman ahead of Chicago rally Biden canvassers join Teamsters union Michael Bloomberg's billions can't save an unserious campaign MORE (D-Mass.) in an interview Wednesday knocked Goldman Sachs’s response over the alleged gender discrimination in its Apple Card algorithms. Warren jumped in on the criticism Goldman has been receiving this week as customers have claimed women were given lower credit limits because of their gender. The Massachusetts senator said in an interview with Bloomberg Wednesday that the onus falls on the company to fix it, not the consumers.“Yeah, great. So let’s just tell every woman in America, ‘You might have been discriminated against, on an unknown algorithm, it’s on you to telephone Goldman Sachs and tell them to straighten it out,’ ” Warren told Bloomberg. “Sorry guys, that’s not how it works.”The presidential candidate called on Goldman Sachs to publicly explain the design and impact of the algorithm that allegedly allowed for gender discrimination.“And if they can’t do it, then they need to pull it down,” she said. The New York Department of Financial Services told Reuters last week it launched an investigation into Goldman. The investigation comes after leaders in the tech industry, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, posted on social media about the unequal credit limits between men and women using Apple Card.“Goldman Sachs has not and will never make decisions based on factors like gender, race, age, sexual orientation or any other legally prohibited factors when determining credit worthiness,” a spokesman for the firm told Bloomberg. “For credit decisions we make, we can identify which factors from an individual’s credit report contribute to the outcome. We welcome a discussion of this topic with policymakers and regulators.”Goldman Sachs posted a statement on Twitter Monday saying the company may re-evaluate consumers’ credit lines if they contact the firm. We hear you #AppleCard pic.twitter.com/rPSjWNXhh9— GS Bank Support (@gsbanksupport) November 11, 2019The company announced Wednesday in response to the controversy that it will allow households to share accounts after some argued family members could get very different credit limits without this feature, according to Bloomberg.Debates have ensued over whether algorithms in consumer finance can inadvertently maintain race and gender bias, even without that data on consumers.

A coalition of 50 attorneys general will be investigating Google for potential violations of antitrust law, a step that could potentially lead to a broad legal challenge to the company’s market dominance.The investigation, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Racine (D), was announced on the steps of the Supreme Court building Monday afternoon after months of rumors about states seeking to turn up the pressure on Silicon Valley. The probe will focus on Google’s dominance in the online search and advertising markets."We have 50 attorneys general from across the nation who are involved in this investigation that we're leading from Texas," said Paxton. "This is a company that dominates all aspects of advertising on the internet and searching on the internet as they dominate the buyers' side, the sellers' side, the auction side and even the video side with YouTube," he said of Google."This investigation is not a lawsuit — this is an investigation to determine the facts, and right now we're looking at advertising," Paxton added. "But the facts will lead to where the facts lead."Paxton and Racine were joined at the announcement by attorneys general from Alaska, South Dakota, Indiana, Arkansas, Utah, Florida, Missouri, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana and Nebraska.The coalition includes 48 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. California and Alabama are the only two states not to join the investigation.The probe is in very its early stages, and the group said they weren't ready to discuss what kind of remedy they would pursue if they found that the internet search giant had violated competition laws.The state-led effort comes as Google and other tech companies like Facebook are facing multiple investigations at the federal level over whether they have violated the nation's antitrust laws. But many of Silicon Valley's critics have felt that federal law enforcers have been too hands-off with the tech industry's giants and see the states' investigation as a sign they're seeking to fill the void."I suspect it will spur on federal investigators who will see the states are moving and being active and who will feel compelled to do the same," Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), an outspoken critic of Facebook and Google and a former Missouri attorney general, said on a call with reporters on Monday.The group of attorneys general announcing the investigation Monday declined to criticize the federal government's efforts on antitrust and said they were looking forward to cooperating with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). But they also made it clear that they were planning to be more aggressive.When asked for comment, a Google spokesman pointed to a blog post published by Kent Walker, the company's chief legal officer, on Friday after it was revealed that the DOJ had sent Google requests for records."We have answered many questions on these issues over many years, in the United States as well as overseas, across many aspects of our business, so this is not new for us," Walker wrote. "The DOJ has asked us to provide information about these past investigations, and we expect state attorneys general will ask similar questions. We have always worked constructively with regulators and we will continue to do so."The state attorneys general sent their own records request to Google on Monday, which they said focused solely on advertising.Google is not the only company in state officials' crosshairs.A smaller group of attorneys general, led by Democrat Letitia James of New York, announced a similar probe of Facebook's market power on Friday. Facebook also revealed that it is facing an antitrust investigation from the FTC.The heightened regulatory scrutiny comes as Silicon Valley has lost favor among lawmakers in Washington following a string of privacy scandals and growing questions about whether they have suppressed their respective markets through monopoly power.Google is no stranger to antitrust scrutiny. The European Union has fined the company three times in recent years for violating its competition laws through its conduct in comparison shopping, online advertising and mobile operating systems.But Google has escaped any serious sanctions in its own country. The FTC closed an antitrust investigation into the company in 2013 without pressing charges over anticompetitive conduct, though agency staff had recommended it at the time.Multiple attorneys general, including Racine and Utah's Sean Reyes (R), have since asked the FTC to reopen the investigation, which focused on Google's search practices."They declined to reopen that investigation at the time that General Racine and I asked them to," Reyes said Monday. "The EU then issued fines and sanctions based on those very same complaints and concerns, and I’ll just leave it at that."Racine added that while they plan to cooperate with the federal agencies, the group won't settle for any course of action "that may fall short" of what the states think needs to be done.“We’re going to do what we think is right based on our investigation,” Racine said.Updated at 4:07 p.m.

The share of cryptocurrency jobs per millionhas risen 1,457% over the past four years, according to a study by job siteIndeed.com. VentureBeat reports:The report says that if you want a better chance at getting a job in this field you should be a programmer familiar with basic cryptography, P2P networks, and a language like C++, Java, Python, or JavaScript (along with certain soft crypto skills). To stand out, you should learn new blockchain development languages, like Hyperledger, Bitcoin Script, Ethereum's Solidity, the Ripple protocol, or even languages currently in development -- like Rholang.The top hirers are as follows: Deloitte, IBM, Accenture, Cisco, Collins Aerospace, Ernst & Young, Coinbase, Overstock, Ripple, Verizon, Circle, Kraken, ConsenSys, JP Morgan Chase, and Signature Bank.

California’s summer of deadly wildfires and dangerous heatwaves will soon be the new normal if nothing is done to stop climate change, a report released on Monday warns. City heatwaves could lead to two to three times as many deaths by 2050, the report says. By 2100, without a reduction in emissions, the state could see a 77% increase in the average area burned by wildfires. The report also warns of erosion of up to 67% of its famous coastline, up to an 8.8F (4.9C) rise in average maximum temperatures, and billions of dollars in damages.“These findings are profoundly serious and will continue to guide us as we confront the apocalyptic threat of irreversible climate change,” said the state’s governor, Jerry Brown, in a tweet about the report, the fourth statewide climate change assessment released since 2006.Rising temperaturescould lead to up to 11,300 additional deaths in 2050, the report says, and the overall number of days marked by extreme heat will “increase exponentially in many areas”.The effects of those extreme heat days will probably weigh most heavily on the state’s most vulnerable residents, including the more than 100,000 people who are homeless in California, many of whom live on the streets without reliable access to fans, air conditioners, or running water.“The 2006 heatwave killed over 600 people, resulted in 16,000 emergency department visits, and led to nearly $5.4bn in damages,” the assessment reports. “The human cost of these events is already immense, but research suggests that mortality risk for those 65 or older could increase tenfold by the 2090s because of climate change.”The California energy commission chairman, Robert Weisenmiller, said: “It really forces you to think through what do we do about the more elderly – the more endangered.” The commission was one of three agencies that published the report. “How do we protect them during these intense heat periods?”As researchers point out in a summary of the findings, cooling mechanisms such as air conditioners can help mitigate the effects of intense heatwaves, but increased electrical consumption can also drive up the emissions responsible for climate change in the first place. And the double threat of wildfires and increased energy consumption can endanger a power grid vital in a crisis.The “apocalyptic threat” the governor described would present itself in myriad ways in a state prone to extreme weather events like drought and wildfires, said Amir AghaKouchak, an associate professor at the University of California, Irvine, and a researcher who contributed to the assessment.As climate change progresses, AghaKouchak said, overall rainfall would probably remain the same, but it would come in the form of extreme storms followed by longer periods without rain.“There will be two consequences: one is more potentially extreme floods, and the other is problems with drought management.”Intense rainfall after a season of wildfires could also mean more landslides similar to the deadly mudslides in Santa Barbara earlier this year, AghaKouchak said. More rain coming in short bursts was likely to aggravate water management problems in a state already stricken by drought. And drought areas – including much of California – have been shown to warm faster than others, he said.The North Fork Mono tribe chairman, Hon Ron Goode, who also contributed to the assessment, said it was the first time the state’s native population had been included in the report, despite the fact that native Californians were among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.But before colonization, Goode said, the native population would not have been so vulnerable, because it was more mobile and could nimbly adapt to changes in the climate. “They knew how to move around and where to go and let something rest,” he said. “Now, it’s different. We’re locked into our reservations; rancherias; allotment lands. We can’t just run away – those are our lands and that’s it.”The report offers some suggestions of how to mitigate the disastrous effects it predicts, Weisenmiller said, from land use planning to reducing California’s greenhouse gas emissions, just under half of which come from transportation.“The good news is that it’s not ‘here’s the dire impact’, but ‘here’s some ways to mitigate the dire impacts’. It should give people some hope,” Weisenmiller said.But Goode said he was not sure whether to be hopeful. “I won’t say that I’m hopeful. I would like to feel hopeful, but I don’t see it happening right now,” he said. “I don’t see the politicians stumbling over themselves to make that change.” Topics Climate change California Natural disasters and extreme weather Wildfires news

While vacationing with friends in Buenos Aires last month, Alex Beene, a Tennessee government worker, said the topic of cryptocurrencies briefly came up during a dinner conversation.The 30-year-old from Nashville told them he had bought bitcoin and litecoin last fall but recently sold most of his holdings. The discussion quickly shifted to another subject.“Months...

closeVideoABC uses footage shot in America to show warfare between Syria and TurkeyABC News aired the wrong footage during its coverage of a battle between Syria and Turkey. The battlefield images came from a gun range in Kentucky. The network has issued an apology.President Trump mocked ABC News during a joint media conference with Italian President Sergio Mattarella for falsely claiming footage from a Kentucky gun range was a battle between Syrian Kurds and Turkish forces.ABC News chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl asked the president if he regrets giving Turkish Recep Tayyip President Erdogan the “green light” to attack in Syria.“I didn’t give him the green light… when you ask a question like that, it’s very deceptive, Jon, it’s almost as deceptive as you showing all of the bombings taking place in Syria and it turned out the bombing that you showed on television took place in Kentucky,” Trump fired back. ABC aired footage on “World News Tonight” and “Good Morning America” that the network obtained from a source on Sunday night and Monday morning. ABC News framed it as battlefield video, when, in fact, it appears to be from a night gun demonstration at the Knob Creek Gun Range in West Point, Kentucky.WOMEN’S GROUP CALLS FOR DEMS TO PULL MSNBC DEBATE AMID ‘CULTURE OF SEXUAL ABUSE’ AT NBC NEWSThe footage first aired on Sunday's "World News Tonight" as anchor Tom Llamas claimed it showed a Turkish attack on a group of Kurdish civilians in a Syrian border town. The chyron beneath the video read: "CRISIS IN SYRIA. ISIS prisoners escape as death toll rises in attack."Trump told Karl that he wasn’t sure if ABC had apologized for the gaffe, calling it a “terrible thing.”“It was in Kentucky, it wasn’t in Syria, so I don’t know what you’re going to do about that,” Trump said. “I think ABC owes an apology.”ABC insiders have acknowledged that the footage was difficult to confirm so it was carefully described on air and billed as footage that “appeared” to show a Turkish attack on the border town of Tal Abyad.ABC addressed the error on Twitter Monday and issued a correction. The network said it regretted the error but didn’t apologize for the mistake. However, a network source told Fox News that ABC is continuing to investigate how this error happened and taking steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.ABC News declined further comment but provided Fox News with the statement it previously issued via social media.“We’ve taken down video that aired on ‘World News Tonight Sunday’ and ‘Good Morning America’ this morning that appeared to be from the Syrian border immediately after questions were raised about its accuracy. ABC News regrets the error,” the network said in the statement.

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela’s opposition will meet with representatives of President Nicolas Maduro’s government in Barbados for talks mediated by Norway, the parties involved said on Sunday, as part of efforts to resolve an ongoing political crisis. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro takes part in a military parade to celebrate the 208th anniversary of Venezuela's declaration of independence in Caracas, Venezuela July 5, 2019. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS Opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has been recognized as Venezuela’s rightful leader by more than 50 governments, has said any talks must lead to a sustained solution to the crisis and cannot be used by the Socialist Party to buy time. “The Venezuelan people, our allies and the world’s democracies recognize the need for a truly free and transparent electoral process that will allow us to surpass the crisis and built a productive future,” Guaido’s office said in a statement. Norway’s government in a statement said the talks would take place this week. Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez on Twitter posted the statement by Norway’s government. His office did not reply to a request for comment. Guaido in January invoked the constitution to assume a rival presidency after dismissing Maduro’s 2018 re-election as a fraud. He does not control state institutions, largely because the country’s military continues to back Maduro. As a stalemate was setting in by May, Guaido’s allies reluctantly agreed to hold talks in Oslo. Many in the opposition mistrust dialogue proceedings given that previous efforts ended without agreement and Maduro’s critics broadly saw them as a stalling tactic. Sources in June had told Reuters that opposition representatives were preparing another round of talks. Maduro on Friday defended the Norway-backed dialogue process, while Guaido the same day said there would never be a good moment to mediate “with kidnappers, human rights violators, and a dictatorship.” Reporting by Caracas newsroom, writing by Brian Ellsworth, editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Comments Related Extras Related Videos Video Transcript Transcript for Apple announces event In today's tech bike Apple's next big unveiling tech giants the media an invitation for march 20 at the bad it's being called Apple's biggest announcement. Of the year but there will be no iphones are ipads the company is expected to announce a streaming service to rival Netflix. I'm new rap claims to help conservatives find restaurants and businesses where they can feel except that wearing make America great again. Zack app is called 63 red safe thing uses yes or no question straight businesses similar to a Yelp review. Yes creator says it's designed to get politics out of local businesses. And happy thirtieth birthday world wide web. Google is marking the occasion with the special doodle today the Internet itself with a few decades older but the world wide web. Allow the display in the exchange of documents including pictures thirty years all don't check the comments what he done for us world wide web your tech sites. This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate. Apple CEO goofs on Trump's gaffe One day after President Donald Trump slipped up and called Apple CEO Tim Cook "Tim Apple," the tech executive had a bit of fun at the president's expense. Apple misses release window for AirPower It's unclear when and if Apple will offer the charging mat to consumers.

“We’re going to put some extra candles out there and anyone who wants to hang out with us, we’re going to hang out here with them,” said Marc Jensen, the general manager and sommelier. But he added, “It definitely handicaps us.”The restaurant had scheduled reservations for about 60 people on Sunday night and typically serves walk-ins as well, Mr. Jensen said as he prepared to put a note on the door alerting customers of the potential power outage. He said staff members were calling those who had made reservations to say they would still be served.Many of the restaurant’s guests, he added, are visitors to Plymouth, a city of about 1,000 known for its proximity to wineries. “There’s not a lot out here,” Mr. Jensen said. “If we can’t feed them, who is going to feed them?”At the GlenMorey Country House in Placerville, Calif., Tom and Alison Loeprich, the owners, were waiting to see whether the power would actually be cut off. They had been warned about an outage via calls and text messages.Ms. Loeprich said they had to turn one potential customer away. “There was someone who called an hour ago,” she said on Sunday evening. “Tom was like, ‘I got to tell you though, we might lose power.’”While no one else was staying at the bed-and-breakfast on Sunday night, customers were scheduled to arrive on Monday. “I’m starting to get anxious,” Ms. Loeprich said. “I’m downloading some Netflix shows just in case.”The National Weather Service has issued advisories warning of high winds in the Sierra Foothills on Sunday and Monday that could have gusts of up to 55 miles per hour. Weather officials have also issued a red flag warning, which signals “critical fire weather conditions.”

Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Ind., announced on Wednesday that he was entering the Democratic presidential primary, embarking on a long-shot campaign that may test the appeal of a youthful, Midwestern profile over more traditional qualifications for the presidency.In an email to potential supporters, Mr. Buttigieg (he pronounces it BOOT-edge-edge) said he was forming an exploratory committee and cast himself as a candidate of the future, stressing his generational identity and calling for policies “untethered to the politics of the past” on issues like climate and economic opportunity.“What will America look like in 2054, when I reach the age of the current president?” Mr. Buttigieg said. “How will we look back on 2020?”A veteran of the war in Afghanistan, Mr. Buttigieg was a consultant at McKinsey before entering politics.It is unclear whether a municipal executive who oversees a city of about 100,000 people can be a viable candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. While several other current or former mayors are considering campaigns, they all hail from iconic American cities like Los Angeles, New Orleans and New York, and have records of managing sprawling bureaucracies or navigating major crises. Mr. Buttigieg has a far more modest record to draw upon.Mr. Buttigieg began to draw national notice in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, delivering an essay, “A Letter from Flyover Country,” that counseled Democrats on how to recover from their defeats that year. Mr. Buttigieg ran unsuccessfully to chair the Democratic National Committee, withdrawing before the vote in the winter of 2017.He has traveled the country since then campaigning for fellow Democrats, drawing largely favorable media coverage and making little secret of his interest in higher office — and perhaps the highest office.“The Democratic Party matters more than ever, now that a hostile takeover of the Republican Party has brought to power a thin-skinned authoritarian who is not liberal, nor conservative, nor moderate,” Mr. Buttigieg wrote in his post-election essay, urging: “We need to be ready to put forward a better way.”Mr. Buttigieg, who is gay, also chided Democrats, after the 2016 election, for being overly focused on the presidency, at the expense of competing for important state and local offices.In a political irony, Mr. Buttigieg’s announcement on Wednesday reflects a similar calculus: he has been regarded as a potentially strong candidate for the governorship of Indiana, which is also on the ballot in 2020, but has opted for an underdog presidential campaign instead.