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Giving what was essentially President Donald Trump's first news conference in nearly six months on Thursday, the President reiterated threats to the North Korean government, while taking a softer tone on Russia.

The news conference took place from Trump's New Jersey resort, where he was meeting with military leaders about the threat North Korea poses.

Trump told reporters on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin did the United States a favor by expelling 775 diplomats and other staffers working on behalf of the United States in Russia.

I want to thank him because we're trying to cut down our payroll, and as far as I'm concerned I'm very thankful that he let go a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll, Trump said. There's no real reason for them to go back. I greatly appreciate the fact that we've been able to cut our payroll of the United States. We're going to save a lot of money.

Putin's decision was put enacted after the US Congress overwhelmingly supported legislation that would increase sanctions against Russia, and prohibit Trump from being able to lift the sanctions. Trump came out in opposition of the legislation.

The legislation was enacted due to US intelligence services finding that Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

The war of words between Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un continued on Thursday as Trump said that maybe his threats of'fire and fury' were not enough.

On Wednesday, the North Korean government said it is exploring a plot to fire missiles toward the coast of Guam. In response on Thursday, Trump said,"Maybe it wasn't tough enough," referring to his own comments from earlier in the week.

Trump would not rule out a preemptive strike against Un's government.

"We don't talk about that. We never do. I don't talk about it," Trump told reporters. "We'll see what happens."

Trump once again said accusations that his campaign colluded with Putin and the Russians were false, and that he simply won because he was the better candidate. Trump said that Russia would have prefered Hillary Clinton would have won. Trump claims that Clinton would have decreased the size and scope of the US military.

" I fought a smart battle," Trump said. "I didn't win because of Russia. Russia nothing to do with me winning. We had a great team and I guess I did a good job."

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Trump speaks on Russia, North Korea and Hillary Clinton - ABC15 Arizona

A group of City Council members wants to add some money for community service programs to Mayor Jean Stotherts proposed 2018 budget.

Theyve proposed four amendments to add money to such programs, plus a fifth amendment that would beef up the city clerks budget after the council approved some increases to the offices salary ranges.

The amendments would make less than $100,000 worth of changes to a $900 million city budget.

If the amendments are approved, the following programs budgets would increase:

The Metropolitan Area Planning Agency would receive an additional $10,000, for a total of $20,000.

MAPA executive director Greg Youell asked the council to increase its funding to $40,000.

Council President Ben Gray proposed the amendment.

The Police Athletics for Community Engagement would receive an additional $10,000, under an amendment proposed by Gray, Pete Festersen and Vinny Palermo.

Stothert had proposed funding of $25,000, up from $20,000 in 2017.

The ReConnect program, which provides job training and other services to young people transitioning from prison, would receive another $10,000 for a total of $55,000, under an amendment from Gray and Council Vice President Chris Jerram.

Gray and Jerram also want to add $20,000 for the Heartland Workforce Solutions job training program.

Council members had asked for about $1 million in funding; Stothert proposed $500,000, up from $440,000 in 2017.

All of the money would be moved from the mayors proposed allocation to citys reserve funds.

The council is scheduled to vote on the budget Aug. 22. Tuesday is the deadline for council members to submit amendments.

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Omaha City Council members look to boost funding for community service programs in Stothert's proposed budget - Omaha World-Herald

Benchmark Capital may have just given another Uber investor some legal ammo by filing a bombshell complaint against the company and its former CEO Travis Kalanick. Central to Benchmarks allegations that Kalanick committed fraud and breach of fiduciary duty is Alphabets self-driving lawsuit against Uber.

According to the complaint, Kalanick did not disclose to the board what he knew about Alphabets allegations of trade secret misappropriation before the board signed off on Ubers acquisition of self-driving startup Otto.

In sum, the Waymo lawsuit presents significant legal, financial, and reputational risks to Uber risks that could have been reduced or avoided if Kalanick had disclosed crucial facts about his own apparent knowledge at the time of the Otto acquisition, the complaint reads. Instead, as noted above, Kalanick repeatedly emphasized to [Bill] Gurley and others at the time that Ubers acquisition of Otto and employment of Levandowski who appears to have taken information from Waymo would be transformative for Ubers business.

The timing of Benchmarks complaint may prove to be material for Alphabet and its case as the company is scheduled to depose Benchmark partner and former Uber board member Bill Gurley at the end of the month. In deposing Gurley, as well as fellow board member Arianna Huffington, Alphabet is attempting to find out what the board knew about former Uber engineer Anthony Levandowskis alleged theft of important files.

Alphabet is claiming Levandowski stole 14,000 files from Alphabet before starting Otto, which Uber later acquired.

The complaint lays out in part what Gurley and the board knew and when, so it stands to reason that Alphabet will use it in its questioning of Gurley. The complaint further alleges that Kalanick tried to block the termination of Levandowski before he left, even after Alphabet sued the company. Alphabet has previously argued that Levandowskis continued employment at Uber signaled the company was okay with his alleged infractions.

Benchmarks complaint also brings up a document that has become a major point of contention in the Alphabet suit.

Before Uber acquired Otto, the company commissioned security firm Stroz Friedberg to conduct a due diligence report to assess, among other things, whether any of the employees took files from Alphabet. Benchmark claims Kalanick did not disclose the findings of that report to the board or partner and former company board member Bill Gurley.

Alphabet has asked the court to compel Uber to produce the Stroz document as part of discovery. Uber has refused. Since Levandowski asserted his Fifth Amendment rights in the case, his as well as Ubers attorneys have argued that the document is privileged and should not be turned over to Alphabet.

The board has since seen the document and its clear Benchmark, at least, thinks it would have made a material difference on some of its decisions. Specifically, the complaint is seeking to reverse a 2016 decision that allowed Kalanick to create three additional seats on the board.

Upon information and belief, if the contents of Strozs interim findings and the Stroz Report had been disclosed to Benchmark at the time, they would have had a material impact on Benchmarks decision to authorize the creation of the three new Board seats and grant control over them to Kalanick, the complaint reads.

The two companies expect to hash out whether Uber has to produce the Stroz report in court again tomorrow. Its likely Alphabet will use Benchmarks complaint to bolster its argument to obtain the document.

As we have long said, there is significant and direct evidence that Uber is using stolen Waymo trade secrets, a Waymo spokesperson said in a statement. There is also significant evidence that Uber leadership knew about Levandowski's misconduct and, rather than do the right thing, tried to conceal it.

Uber declined to comment.

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Alphabet could use Benchmark's lawsuit against Uber in its own lawsuit against Uber - Recode

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Autocarinsurancebest.com has released a new blog post explaining how to buy more than the minimum required auto insurance.

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News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com

SOURCE Autocarinsurancebest.com

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Buying More Auto Insurance Than The Minimum Required - Markets Insider

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference to present the outcome of the G-20 summit, Hamburg, Germany, July 8, 2017.(photo byREUTERS/Axel Schmidt)

Author:Barin Kayaoglu Posted August 10, 2017

Turkey may have a new intelligence service. If so, it is probably illegal.

The daily newspaper Sozcu reported Aug. 9 that a new intelligence service has come into existence under PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdogan. Sozcu's Aug. 10 issue was dominated by the story, aptly headlined Shocking, Documented Allegation.

According to Sozcu, Bulent Tezcan, the vice chairman and speaker of the main opposition Republican Peoples Party, presented evidence at a press conference that a Presidential National Security Unit has begun operations under the presidency. Tezcan pointed out that under Turkish law, only the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), the national police force and the gendarmerie can collect intelligence, leavingthe new intelligence unit under Erdogan with nolegal standing.

Tezcan went further in his allegations and drew a chilling comparison. He argued that as Turkey transitions from a parliamentary system to an executive presidency in which the Prime Ministry will be abolished and the president will assume all executive power in 2019 it is following in the footsteps of Hitler, Mussolini, Salazar, Pinochet, Saddam and[Gadhafi], who had their own private intelligence organizations. Tezcan added, Other similar organizations are also being formedunder the dictator. It is of utmost importance to the rule of law and national security in Turkey that this matter be clarified.

Some may question the veracity of the story. After all, no bill came to the Turkish parliament to establish a new intelligence service or allocate a budget to it or place the MIT chief under the president (MIT directly reports to the prime minister). At any rate, Sozcu is known for usingcolorful and even offensive language against Erdogan and his party.

But even in Turkey'soppressive media environment, many news organizations reported on the new intelligence outfit. The TV stations CNN Turk and NTV gave extensive coverage to Tezcans allegations. Other respectable opposition websites also ran the story.

Former MIT employees are not dismissing it, either. One retired MIT analysttold Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, For the first time in Turkeys history, the presidency has access to the secret appropriations fund previously used by the Prime Ministry. The military, MITand police have often used these funds with the prime ministers approval and without any parliamentary oversight. As such, headded, Through 2019," when the Prime Ministry will be abolished and the executive presidency will come into full force, "such legal cover will be provided to actual practices.

A retired high-ranking MIT official who served several tours as station chief for the intelligence agencytold Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that there was a similar Ciller special group during the tenure of Prime Minister Tansu Ciller (1993-96). That group, he added, was used for political murder and special gains. The former official added, As the name of the new Presidential National Security Unit shows, unlike MIT, it is not national and is meant to serve the interests of one person.

So far, Erdogan has remained silent on the matter and the Turkish government has downplayed the claims. The Directorate-General for Public Security (the national police force) released a written statement Aug. 9 explainingthat a new unit did exist, but the name was just ashortened one fortheSection to Combat Crimes Against National Security operating under the Smuggling and Organized Crime Departmentof the Turkish police department.

Still, given the explosive nature of the story, the allegations regarding Erdogan running his own private intelligence outfit from his palace will continue to receive coverage. After all, the Turkish president has already been accused of creating his own private army.

Read More: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/08/erdogan-private-intelligence-service.html

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Turkish opposition claims Erdogan building private intelligence service - Al-Monitor