latest news headlines for today backlinks

  latest news headlines for today 
 backlinks

The idea of raising taxes on anyone, even the obscenely wealthy who can most afford it, has been politically taboo for years, thanks to the dominance of junk ideas like "trickle-down economics." But apparently, outside of the world of pundits, politicians, and the super-rich, it's not that appalling a notion. Ever since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reminded people that the top tax bracket in this country used to be as high as 70 percent for decades—a period during which there was still economic growth and rich people—more and more polls are showing that Americans across the political spectrum are in favor of returning to that norm.

It turns out that even Fox News can't find a way to hijack those numbers. The network's own polls, conducted at the end of January, found a staggering 70 percent of respondents supported raising taxes on annual income over $10 million. In fact, 65 percent were down for raising taxes on those making over $1 million per year.
Related Video: Does The Top 10 Percent Already Pay Their 'Fair Share' In Taxes?
 On Tuesday, a pair of baffled anchors referred to this trend as a movement "against capitalism." It is a dubious assertion, because by that definition the U.S. has only been a capitalist country since the 1980s, when Reagan knocked the top tax rate even lower and conservatives convinced enough legislators that "a rising tide lifts all boats" was a substitute for economic policy. But in their efforts to find an explanation for why so many people are turned off by unfettered, unregulated, and unaccountable capitalism, they turn to Charles Payne of Fox News Business. His explanation: Schools have brainwashed kids with lessons about "fairness.

In Payne's view, these deluded kids who were taught that fairness was important are now all grown up and voting. The counterargument—that the generation that grew up in the worst economic recession in decades, that is saddled with crippling student debt on a previously unheard-of scale, and that faces dramatically less economic opportunity than their parents would have a very natural and understandable aversion to policies that let the already rich hoard even more money—seems not to have occurred to him.

Blaming the abstract concept of "fairness" may seem like a reach, but it's not unprecedented in right-wing media. In last year's Mr. Rogers documentary, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Fox News makes an unexpected cameo in a segment about conservative backlash to Rogers' show, when anchors complained that Rogers' recurring theme that "everyone is special" was inconsistent with American ideals that hold that people have to earn their value. If Fox News sees this kind of thinking—that "fairness" corrupts children's brains and kids are only worth as much as someone is willing to pay them—as the happy byproduct of capitalism, maybe they should be less surprised that young people are over it.

Facebook hits two billion users

More than a quarter of the world's population now uses Facebook every month, the social network says.

"As of this morning, the Facebook community is now officially two billion people," founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg posted.
The milestone comes just 13 years after the network was founded by Mr Zuckerberg when he was at Harvard.
He famously dropped out of the university after launching the global social-networking website.
The internet giant announced it had one billion monthly users in October 2012, meaning it has doubled the number of its users in just under five years.

Advertisement

The firm's continuing growth will confound critics who have long predicted that the social network's growth would slow down as rivals such as Snapchat stole its users.
Earlier this year, Facebook warned that growth in advertising revenues would slow down.
Nonetheless, Mr Zuckerberg's ambitions remain huge.
He told USA Today the firm had not made "much fanfare" about hitting the two billion figure because "we still haven't connected everyone".
"What we really care about is being able to connect everyone," he said.
The firm's rapid growth has put pressure on its ability to moderate violent and illegal content posted on its site.
The most recent high profile incident involved a man in the US posting a video of himself to the site, showing him shooting and killing an elderly man.
Last month Facebook said it was hiring 3,000 extra people to moderate content on its site.

Italy forced to bail out two more banks for 5.2bn euros

Italy's government is bailing out two banks in the Venice region at a cost of 5.2bn euros (£4.6bn; $5.8bn).

The move comes two days after the European Central Bank warned that Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca were failing or likely to fail.
The banks' "good" assets will be taken on by Intesa Sanpaolo banking group.
Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said the rescue was needed to protect savers and ensure "the good health of our banking system".
The two banks' branches and employees will be part of Intesa by Monday morning in a move designed to avoid a potential run on deposits that could have spread to other Italian banks.

Advertisement

Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said Rome would also offer guarantees of up to 12bn euros for potential losses to Intesa from bad and risky loans.
"Those who criticise us should say what a better alternative would have been. I can't see it," he told a press conference on Sunday.
Rome's plan has been approved by the European Commission and avoids a bailout under potentially tougher European rules.
The EC's competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, said allowing Italy to use state aid would "avoid an economic disturbance in the Veneto region".
She added: "These measures will also remove 18bn euros in non-performing loans from the Italian banking sector and contribute to its consolidation."
Intesa, Italy's biggest retail bank, has paid a symbolic one euro for the two banks' good assets.
"Without Intesa Sanpaolo's offer - the only significant one submitted at the auction held by the government - the crisis of the two banks would have had a serious impact on the whole Italian banking system," financial analysts at Messina said.
The failure of the two Venetian banks could result in as many as 4,000 job losses, La Repubblica newspaper reported.

Bailout fund

Sunday's rescue is the latest twist in the drive to fix the Italian banking system, which is saddled with bad loans worth about 350bn euros - a third of the eurozone's total bad debt.
In early June the European Commission and the Italian government agreed a state bailout for Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) that included big cost cuts, losses for some investors and a pay cap for its top executives.

Image copyright Getty Images

The agreement followed months of talks over the fate of the world's oldest bank and Italy's fourth-biggest lender - the worst performer in last year's European stress tests.
Monte dei Paschi was forced to ask for state aid in December 2016 to help cover a capital shortfall of 8.8bn euros after investors declined to put more funds into the troubled bank.
The same month Mr Gentiloni said his government had set up a 20bn euro fund - largely to bail out MPS.
Sunday's announcement comes less than a month after Spain's Banco Popular was rescued by Santander.
The European Central Bank said Banco Popular was "failing or likely to fail" due to its dwindling cash reserves.
The bank has struggled after billions in property investments turned sour.
The rescue will cost Santander about 7bn euros (£6.1bn).

usa news

usa

United Airlines changes policy after 'horrific' passenger ordeal

United Airlines is changing its policy on giving staff last-minute seats on full flights after a man was dragged screaming from an overbooked plane.

The airline said that in future crew members would be allocated seats at least an hour before departure.
It comes after passenger Dr David Dao lost two front teeth and suffered a broken nose when he was forcibly removed from a flight last Sunday.
United Airlines said the move was aimed at improving its customer services.
The incident involving Dr Dao caused outrage and widespread condemnation of the airline after shocking footage was shared and watched by millions of people online.
His daughter, Crystal Dao Pepper, later told a news conference in Chicago that the family had been "sickened" by what had happened.

Law enforcement officials dragged Dr Dao off a flight departing from Chicago for Louisville, Kentucky, because it was fully booked, and the airline wanted four passengers to make way for staff members.
The 69-year-old Vietnamese-American physician had refused to leave, saying he needed to go home to see his patients. He was then dragged down the aisle of the aircraft.
His lawyer later said that Dr Dao found the experience "more horrifying and harrowing than what he experienced when leaving Vietnam".

• United Airline's public relations disaster
• Why do airlines overbook?

The ordeal led to demonstrations at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and turned into a public relations disaster for United Airlines.

The situation escalated when a response from the airline's chief executive, Oscar Munoz, failed to mention any use of excessive force.
"This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologise for having to re-accommodate these customers," he said in a statement. He also said that Dr Dao was "disruptive and belligerent".
Days later Mr Munoz, who was facing calls to resign from online petitions that had received thousands of signatures, said he felt "shame and embarrassment" and vowed that it would never happen again.
The airline offered compensation to all customers on board last Sunday's United Flight 3411.

Cleveland Facebook Live killer hunted by police

Police in Cleveland are searching for a man who broadcast the fatal shooting of a "random" victim live on Facebook.

The suspect, Steve Stephens, later said in a separate video post that he had killed 13 people and was looking to kill more.
Cleveland police chief Calvin Williams confirmed one killing but said they did not know of any other victims.
Mr Williams said that "multiple forces" were looking for Mr Stephens, who "needs to turn himself in".
The victim has been identified by Cleveland police as 74-year-old Robert Goodwin.
"There is no need for any further bloodshed in this incident tonight," police chief Calvin Williams said at a news conference on Sunday.
"We need to bring this to a conclusion today," he said, adding: "We need to get Steve from the streets."

• Chicago man shot dead during Facebook live-stream
• French live-streaming suicide stirs social media fears

Mr Williams said that authorities had put out alerts "in the state of Ohio and beyond" over the "senseless" incident, and urged people not to approach the suspect, who he said was likely to remain armed and dangerous.
The Cleveland police department issued a photo of Mr Stephens on its website, describing him as a 6ft 1in (1.9m) tall black male of medium complexion.

Image copyright Cleveland Police

Image caption Police issued a photo of the suspect

He is thought to be driving a white or cream-coloured SUV (sports utility vehicle).
Mr Williams said that the victim appeared to have been selected at random in what he described as a "senseless" murder.
He added that Mr Stephens "clearly has a problem" and urged him to come forward in order to "receive the help that he needs".
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is collaborating with local police as it investigates the incident, CNN reports.

The mayor of Cleveland, Frank Jackson, said that he wanted Mr Stephens to know that "he will eventually be caught".
It is not the first time that a fatal shooting has been captured on Facebook Live. Last June, a man was shot dead while live-streaming a video of himself on the streets of Chicago. In March, an unidentified man was shot 16 times while broadcasting live.
Facebook's live-streaming feature allows anyone to broadcast online in real time. It was launched in 2010 but has become more central to the social network's strategy in recent months.

Turkey referendum: Erdogan wins vote to expand presidential powers

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has narrowly won a referendum to expand presidential powers, which could keep him in office until 2029.

With 99.45% of ballots counted, the "Yes" campaign had won 51.37% and "No" 48.63%, and the electoral board called victory for "Yes".
Erdogan supporters say replacing the parliamentary system with an executive presidency will modernise the country.
Turkey's two main opposition parties said they would challenge the results.
The Republican People's Party (CHP) demanded a recount of 60% of votes. They criticised a decision to accept unstamped ballot papers as valid unless proven otherwise.
As jubilant Erdogan supporters rallied in the big cities, pots and pans were banged in Istanbul by opponents of the referendum, in a traditional form of protest.
Three people were shot dead near a polling station in the south-eastern province of Diyarbakir, reportedly during a dispute over how they were voting.
The European Commission called on the Turkish authorities in a statement to "seek the broadest possible national consensus" when implementing the constitutional reforms.

• Erdogan's Turkey: The full story

Turkey referendum: Key reactions

They are rejoicing into the night here outside the headquarters of the governing AK party (AKP), confident in the victory claimed by President Erdogan.
He and his government say more than 51% of voters have backed the constitutional reform but the opposition has cried foul, claiming massive irregularities over invalid votes and vowing to challenge the result at the supreme electoral board.
Mr Erdogan said the clear victory needed to be respected. In a typically rabble-rousing speech, he proposed another referendum on reinstating the death penalty, which would end Turkey's EU negotiations.
But this has not been the resounding win he wanted and doubts will linger over its legitimacy. It was hoped this vote might bring Turkey stability but that still seems some way off.

• Critics abroad fear Erdogan's reach

• The day a Turkish writer's life changed

Death penalty next?

"Today... Turkey has taken a historic decision," Mr Erdogan told a briefing at his official Istanbul residence, the Huber Palace. "With the people, we have realised the most important reform in our history."
He called on everyone to respect the outcome of the vote.
The president also said the country could hold a referendum on bringing back the death penalty.
He usually gives triumphant balcony speeches, the BBC's Mark Lowen notes, but this was a muted indoors address.
Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak admitted the "Yes" vote had been lower than expected.

What's in the new constitution?

The draft states that the next presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on 3 November 2019.
The president will have a five-year tenure, for a maximum of two terms.

• The president will be able to directly appoint top public officials, including ministers
• He will also be able to assign one or several vice-presidents
• The job of prime minister, currently held by Binali Yildirim, will be scrapped
• The president will have power to intervene in the judiciary, which Mr Erdogan has accused of being influenced by Fethullah Gulen, the Pennsylvania-based preacher he blames for the failed coup in July
• The president will decide whether or not impose a state of emergency

'French-style system'

Mr Erdogan says the changes are needed to address Turkey's security challenges nine months after an attempted coup, and to avoid the fragile coalition governments of the past.
The new system, he argues, will resemble those in France and the US and will bring calm in a time of turmoil marked by a Kurdish insurgency, Islamist militancy and conflict in neighbouring Syria, which has led to a huge refugee influx.
Critics of the changes fear the move will make the president's position too powerful, arguing that it amounts to one-man rule, without the checks and balances of other presidential systems such as those in France and the US.
They say his ability to retain ties to a political party - Mr Erdogan could resume leadership of the AKP he co-founded - will end any chance of impartiality.

CHP deputy leader Erdal Aksunger said he believed there had been irregularities in the count: "Many illegal acts are being carried out in favour of the 'Yes' campaign right now.
"There is the state on one side and people on the other. 'No' will win in the end. Everybody will see that."
The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) also challenged the vote.
Critics abroad fear Erdogan's reach
The day a Turkish writer's life changed

Emergency rule

Many Turks already fear growing authoritarianism in their country, where tens of thousands of people have been arrested, and at least 100,000 sacked or suspended from their jobs, since a coup attempt last July.
The campaign unfolded under a state of emergency imposed in the wake of the failed coup.

Mr Erdogan assumed the presidency, meant to be a largely ceremonial position, in 2014 after more than a decade as prime minister.
Under his rule, the middle class has ballooned and infrastructure has been modernised, while religious Turks have been empowered.
Relations with the EU, meanwhile, have deteriorated. Mr Erdogan sparred bitterly with European governments who banned rallies by his ministers in their countries during the referendum campaign. He called the bans "Nazi acts".
Turkey's dominant president
The ultranationalists who could sway Erdogan

BBC Trending Easter pop star 'Egg Sheeran' a hit

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran appears to have some competition on his hands, by none other than his alter egg-o "Egg Sheeran".

The chart-topper has become a favourite in both school and workplace Easter-egg decorating competitions.
And people are sharing their creative takes on social media, some of whom were lucky enough to win first prize.
It doesn't stop there. Last year, a UK egg supplier revealed that its farmers played Ed Sheeran songs to their hens to help them lay more eggs.

A London-based company said "Egg Sheeran" was "certainly a strong contender" in their in-house competition.
Another featured him sporting longer hair among other competitors, including "Eggward Scissorhands" and "Eggy Trump".
"Egg Sheeran" also made an appearance at Easter egg hunts. One man found him hiding behind a statue and won himself tickets to a real-life Ed Sheeran concert.

Sweden attack: Uzbekistan 'warned West of IS link'

Uzbekistan says it warned the West that the man accused of carrying out last week's lorry attack in Stockholm was recruited by so-called Islamic State (IS) after leaving Uzbekistan in 2014.

The Uzbek Foreign Minister, Abdulaziz Kamilov, said information about Rakhmat Akilov had been "passed to one of our Western partners, so that the Swedish side could be informed".
It is rare for the Uzbek authorities to disclose such intelligence details.
Mr Akilov has confessed to the crime.
The Swedish security service says it can neither confirm nor deny receiving such information from Uzbekistan.
Mr Akilov, 39, left Uzbekistan for Sweden in 2014. He sought residency there, but in December 2016 he was told that he had four weeks to leave the country, police said.
He disappeared and, in February, was officially put on a wanted list.
Just hours after the attack last Friday he was arrested. At a court hearing he confessed to a "terrorist crime".
Four people were killed when a lorry was driven into a department store on one of Stockholm's busiest streets, Drottninggatan.

• Rakhmat Akilov: Who is the truck attack suspect?

• Eyewitnesses: Lorry was 'trying to hit people'

Mr Kamilov told a news conference that the suspect had "actively urged his compatriots to travel to Syria in order to fight for IS". Mr Akilov had used online messaging services, he said.

Earlier, an Uzbek security source quoted by the Reuters news agency said Mr Akilov himself had tried to travel to Syria in 2015 to fight for IS. However, he was stopped on the Turkey-Syria border and was sent back to Sweden.
No group has claimed to be behind the Stockholm attack.
Mr Akilov reportedly ran from the scene of the attack, still covered in blood and glass, and was arrested later in a northern suburb of Stockholm.
According to reports, he had left a wife and four children behind in Uzbekistan in order to earn money to send home.

Mother of all bombs: How powerful is US mega-weapon?

The US military has just dropped its largest conventional (that is non-nuclear) bomb for the first time in combat, on Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar.

The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB) - or, in military speak, Mother of All Bombs - was launched on Thursday.
The target was said to be a network of tunnels operated by the so-called Islamic State in Achin district.
As a non-nuclear weapon, use of the MOAB does not necessarily require approval by the US president 
It is a huge weapon - a 30ft (9m), 21,600lb (9,800kg), GPS-guided munition that is dropped from the cargo doors of an MC-130 transport plane and detonates shortly before it hits the ground.
The MOAB falls from the aircraft on a pallet, which is then tugged aside by a parachute allowing the weapon to glide down, stabilised and directed by four grid-like fins.
Its principal effect is a massive blast wave - said to stretch for a mile in every direction - created by 18,000lb of TNT.
The bomb's thin aluminium casing was designed specifically to maximise the blast radius.

The "bunker-busting" bomb is designed to damage underground facilities and tunnels.
The weapon was developed for use in the Iraq war - at a reported cost of $16m (£13m) each - and was first tested in 2003, but never used in action - until now.
And yet, the MOAB is not the US military's heaviest non-nuclear bomb.
That distinction belongs to the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, an even bigger bunker-buster which weighs a colossal 30,000lb.
Russia has developed its own massive conventional bomb, nicknamed the Father Of All Bombs. The FOAB is a kind of fuel-air bomb, technically known as a thermobaric weapon.
Thermobaric bombs generally detonate in two stages: a small blast creates a cloud of explosive material which is then ignited, generating a devastating pressure wave.
A significant part of the effect of weapons like the MOAB is said to be psychological - to instil terror by the massive force of the blast.
Its development followed the use of similar weapons including the BLU-82 Daisy Cutter, a 15,000lb bomb designed in part to flatten a section of forest to carve out a helicopter landing pad.
The MOAB was developed by the Alabama-based aeronautics company Dynetics.

Never say never again: When celebrities eat their words

Charlie Simpson - Busted

There are some bands that will never get back together. Abba. The Jam. The Smiths. Then there are those that "will never get back together". Like The Stone Roses. And Busted.
The group that had eight top 10 hits in the 2000s, and sent many a teenage girl all aflutter, split in 2005 when frontman Charlie Simpson left.
Simpson told BBC Newsbeat "not in a million years" would they reform. But some 999,990 years before that date, Simpson announced they were getting back together after all.
Speaking at the time of their reunion in November 2015, Simpson said: "I reckon I said it 20 more times than that, privately and publicly, and I meant it every single time.
"But as I say, I have changed my mind, and that has been down to the circumstances changing. I never thought we would get to a point where we were in a studio writing music we all got behind creatively and that was a huge shock to me."
The band played UK arenas in 2016 with the aptly named Pigs Can Fly Tour.

Ricky Gervais - Golden Globes

When Ricky Gervais hosted the Golden Globe awards in 2010, offending half of Hollywood in the process, he told the relieved A-list audience: "It's OK folks, I won't be doing this again."
But he returned the following year, and again in 2012, before announcing very publicly he would not be back.
On his blog after the 2012 ceremony, the acerbic comic wrote: "I've told my agent to never let me be persuaded to do it again though. It's like a parachute jump. You can only really enjoy it in retrospect when you realise you didn't die and it was quite an amazing thing to do."
Four years later, he headed back. Employing a good old British turn of phrase, Gervais tweeted: "It's a good job I'm drunk. Otherwise the thought of hosting The Golden Globes again would seem like a real pain in the arse."

Election promises

What do Whoopi Goldberg, Miley Cyrus, Amy Schumer, Chloe Sevigny and Ne-Yo have in common?
They all should be living in Canada or Europe after vowing to leave the US if Donald Trump was elected President. But they're not.
Some hastily tweeted U-turns when Trump was elected, others went quiet and hoped nobody would remember.
Goldberg said "I'm not leaving the country I was born and raised in," while Schumer used social media to declare her pledge to move to Spain was merely a "joke".
Cyrus released an emotional video the morning after Trump's win saying she "accepted" the new president.
Samuel L Jackson, who had been succinct in his intentions, also backed out. "If that mother... becomes president, I'm moving my black ass to South Africa," he said.
He didn't.

Charlie Chaplin

In the early 1950s, Charlie Chaplin reportedly said he had "no further use for America" and "wouldn't go back there if Jesus Christ was President".
After a series of political controversies, personal scandals and falling audiences, he decided to hold the world premiere of Limelight in London, where the film was set, rather than the US, where he had settled.
Boarding the RMS Queen Elizabeth in New York in 1952, he received word that his re-entry permit had been revoked and he would have to be interviewed about his political views and moral behaviour if he wanted to return.
He said: "I have been the object of lies and propaganda by powerful reactionary groups who, by their influence and by the aid of America's yellow press, have created an unhealthy atmosphere in which liberal-minded individuals can be singled out and persecuted."
By 1972, feelings had softened on both sides and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences offered Chaplin an honorary Oscar.
Chaplin was given a 12-minute standing ovation, the longest in the Academy's history, as he accepted his award for "the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century".

James Bond

Daniel Craig famously said he would "rather slash my wrists" than reprise his role as 007 fifth time.
But The Sun reported last week he was "ready to do a final Bond".
It isn't confirmed, but the newspaper said film producer Barbara Broccoli had almost persuaded him to get back on board one last time.
Craig is regarded as one of the best Bonds of all time - and it seems the best Bonds are also the most fickle.
In 1983, Sean Connery returned to the role for the seventh and last time in Never Say Never Again, with the title being more than a subtle nod to Connery's reported remarks that he would "never again" play Bond.