Wednesday, July 5, 2017

The photo that could rewrite history

 
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The Short List
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A step closer to solving one of America's most iconic mysteries

What happened to Amelia Earhart? It's a question that's captivated us since the famed aviator vanished 80 years ago while trying to fly around the world, and a new photo may have cracked the mystery wide open. There have been a number of theories about what happened, including that she ran out of fuel and crashed into the Pacific Ocean, that she died a castaway on the uninhabited island of Nikumaroro and that she was captured by the Japanese. A newly discovered photo in the U.S. National Archives lends further evidence to the last theory. The photo , obtained by the History Channel (which has an upcoming documentary on the mystery), shows a woman who appears to be Earhart and her co-pilot Fred Noonan sitting on a dock in the Marshall Islands after the crash. Shawn Henry, a former executive assistant director for the FBI who studied the photo, said, "This absolutely changes history."

Can you hear me now?

White House press secretary Sean Spicer is downright combative when pressed on tough issues like Russia and health care by Washington reporters. But he seems willing to field softball questions from (virtual) friendly faces asking about the White House's favorite topics like immigration and coal. For the past five months, Spicer has saved a few "Skype seats" at his press briefings for reporters from outside the Beltway. He took 32 video chat questions from small-town TV and radio hosts, and a USA TODAY analysis found that 72% of those questions just so happen to come from states that Trump won in the election — much friendlier turf than the "D.C. Swamp." 

Gasoline engines are so last year

Welcome to the electric car revolution! Volvo just announced that it's ditching gasoline engines. And after 2019, all its new or redesigned models will be electric or hybrid vehicles. This is a huge deal for the auto industry because Volvo is the first major automaker to join the brave new world of small companies like Tesla that produce only electric cars. Even though gas prices just hit a 12-year low, automakers might be saying goodbye to America's favorite fossil fuel. Volvo's end game is to reduce its carbon footprint and hopefully sell 1 million electric or hybrid cars by 2025. 

When the Declaration of Independence is a trigger

Declaration of Independence or liberal propaganda? It depends on who you ask (on Twitter). Honoring America's founding document on the Fourth of July seems innocent enough. But when NPR did just that , posting the document line-by-line in a series of tweets on Tuesday, Twitter users thought the words of our Founding Fathers were overtly political. People asked NPR if journalists there were drunk. They called the tweets propaganda. They saw the statements as an attack on President Trump and questioned why NPR was trying to start a revolution. For some users, it was a lesson in humility. 

North Korea: 'Hands off our nukes'

In case it wasn't clear, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will never put its weapons programs up for negotiations. The statement comes a day after North Korea successfully tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile. President Trump had declared earlier on Twitter that such a test "won't happen!" The president took out his frustration on China Wednesday, suggesting in a tweet that the U.S. might not want to work with Beijing anymore to curb escalating tensions with North Korea on its nuke program. "Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter," Trump said in one post before he headed overseas for his second foreign trip as president. "So much for China working with us — but we had to give it a try!"




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