Anti-Bill O’Reilly Banner Flown Over New…

12:58 PM PDT 4/18/2017 by THR Staff The banner reads “Fox: #DropOReilly, The Sexual Predator.” Women’s rights group UltraViolet organized a protest in New York on Tuesday against Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly amid his sexual harassment controversy. The group is demanding the O’Reilly Factor host be fired from the network. The protest was held at Fox News headquarters in New York at 1:30 p.m. ET and video of the demonstration was streamed live on Facebook. A plane flew a banner that read “Fox: #DropOReilly, The Sexual Predator” over the city in the hours leading up to the protest. An UltraViolet rep told The Hollywood Reporter the plane would fly around the Statue of Liberty, by Battery Park, before flying up and…
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AP Explains: Behind the visa program…

NEW YORK — President Donald Trump is targeting a visa program cherished by tech companies for bringing in programmers and other specialized workers from other countries. Although these visas, known as H-1B, aren’t supposed to displace American workers, critics say the program mostly benefits consulting firms that let tech companies save money by contracting out their jobs to foreign workers. Trump signed an order Tuesday to direct the departments of Homeland Security, Justice, Labor and State to propose new rules to prevent immigration fraud and abuse. Those departments would also be asked to offer changes so that H-1B visas are awarded to the “most-skilled or highest-paid applicants.” Here’s a look at how the H-1B visa program works. ___ IS THIS…
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Too early to say if bookings…

A United Airlines Boeing 767-300 lands at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in August 2016. (Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special for USA TODAY)PHOENIX — United Airlines says it’s too early to tell if bookings have been impacted by the public relations fallout from a passenger being forcibly dragged off one of its flights a week ago.Corporate customers — airlines’ bread and butter because they travel frequently and pay top dollar to fly last minute — have expressed concern and asked questions about the incident on United Express Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville, but have been “largely supportive,” United President Scott Kirby said on the airline’s quarterly earnings conference call this morning.USA TODAY: United CEO calls passenger removal a watershed event”They want us to fix…
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Lyrid Meteor Shower peaks this weekend;…

Long-exposure of a meteor going through the constellation Orion during the Perseids meteor shower. Long-exposure of a meteor going through the constellation Orion during the Perseids meteor shower. NEW ORLEANS – Better weather heading through the back half of the week and into the weekend is great news for folks hoping to sneak a peak at the Lyrid meteor shower as it nears it peak on Saturday. The Lyrids will peak in the pre-dawn hours on Saturday morning, after 3 a.m. but before dawn, at around 15-20 meteors an hours. While this doesn’t seem like a lot, it does translate into a meteor around every three to five minutes. The Lyrids received their names because the meteors appear to be…
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Hounded By Budget And Technical Woes,…

Financial challenges are causing NASA to most likely postpone its first two exploration missions to Mars — EM-1 and EM-2. The impending delay was announced by the agency’s Office of Inspector General. NASA officials also state the agency’s plan to send astronauts to Mars has met technical difficulties as well. Initially scheduled for November 2018, the two launches of the Orion spacecraft aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) will probably have to wait a while longer, as NASA strives to overcome the hurdles of preparing for the intrepid journey to the red planet. EM-1 And EM-2 The first exploratory mission to Mars, EM-1, is currently set to send the Orion capsule — which will be unmanned during its first mission — into lunar orbit…
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Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2…

The Guardians are back, and they’re bringing a load of new merchandise with them. That includes a brand new collection of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 inspired offerings from Build-A-Bear Workshop, and Rocket Raccoon fans will want to pay attention. While Rocket is perhaps the best offering from the new set, that doesn’t mean there isn’t something for everyone. Far from it actually, as there will be a full line of Mega Minis available for Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket, and of course Groot. Each one retails for $10, and you will definitely want to add that Star-Lord to your collection. For fans of the more expensive fair, the full-size Rocket Raccoon is adorable and will retail for around $25.50. He comes…
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Trump to take first step toward…

President Trump on Tuesday will take what the White House is calling a “transitional step” toward a revamped immigration system, ordering a review of a visa program meant to attract skilled immigrant labor that administration officials say has been abused to the detriment of American workers.An executive order Trump is scheduled to sign during a visit to a Wisconsin manufacturer will direct federal agencies to review the H-1B visa program, which is widely used by the tech industry to bring workers in from other countries.The White House argues that the program has been “abused to the point of being rendered … inoperative,” as an official told reporters Monday, bringing in workers for positions where they earn less than the industry…
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BofA’s profit boosted by surge in…

Bank of America (BAC.N) reported a higher-than-expected jump in quarterly profit as bond trading surged and the lender earned more from advising on debt and equity offerings and deals.Wall Street banks have been vitalized by increased market activity prompted by the so-called “Trump trade”. Investors also changed their positions around the Brexit vote and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes, boosting trading revenue for the big U.S. banks.Customers also borrowed more as the economy expanded, though the pace of loan growth has slackened somewhat recently.”We saw good client activity in our balanced portfolio of businesses … The U.S. economy continues to show consumer and business optimism, and our results reflect that,” BofA Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said in a statement.The…
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EU’s Brexit plans ‘unchanged’ by snap…

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media captionWatch Theresa May’s full announcement, explaining her reasons for calling a snap electionThe European Union’s Brexit plans remain unchanged by Theresa May’s snap election announcement, the council representing EU leaders has said.The UK prime minister, who had promised not to call an election before 2020, said she planned to call a snap general election on 8 June. But European Council President Donald Tusk’s spokesman said the 27 other EU states would forge ahead as planned.”The UK elections do not change our EU27 plans,” Mr Tusk’s spokesman said.He added: “We expect to have the Brexit guidelines adopted by the European Council on 29 April and following that the Brexit negotiating directives ready on…
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Tesla Cuts Price Of Model S…

Cars Published on April 18th, 2017 | by James Ayre April 18th, 2017 by James Ayre  Tesla has dropped the price on the Model S 75 by $7,500 — to $69,500, from $77,000 — seemingly in anticipation of the end of federal tax credits in the US. What I mean by that is that Tesla is rapidly approaching the 200,000 electric vehicles sold mark, which will start the beginning of the phaseout of the federal tax credit (for the brand). Interestingly, accompanying the drop in price was a reduction in the number of options available, but also an increase in the equipment that comes standard with the model. So, Tesla is continuing to simplify its production as part of its transition to…
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