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Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort sought a plea deal before his trial in Washington, DC, federal court next month, but talks stalled over issues raised by special counsel Robert Mueller, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.Manafort was found guilty last Tuesday in a separate trial in Virginia federal court on eight counts of financial crimes, including tax fraud, bank fraud and hiding foreign bank accounts. He faces a second set of criminal charges next month in Washington of failure to register his foreign lobbying and money laundering conspiracy.The talks between the defense and prosecutors occurred last week as the Virginia jury was deliberating, people familiar with the matter told the Journal. The newspaper said it was unclear what issues Mueller raised or what terms for a potential plea might have been proposed.Representatives for Manafort and Mueller declined to comment to the Journal.The second trial is scheduled to begin on September 17 and is also related to Manafort's political consulting work in Ukraine. Mueller's office has almost three times as many exhibits?it wants to show a jury as it did in the Virginia case, indicating how expansive Mueller's investigation of Manafort has been. 1298

For anyone who used to play with slot cars as a child, Sweden's new electrified road might bring back some memories.In the first of its kind, the Scandinavian country is trialling the world's first public road which allows electric vehicles to recharge while driving. Similar to a slot-car track, vehicles are able to connect to an electric rail that's embedded into the road.Sweden has a goal of achieving a completely fossil fuel free vehicle fleet by 2030, so this electrified road is part of several projects the Swedish Transport Administration has created to develop and test technologies that may be able to help the country reach its target.In this particular project, 'eRoadArlanda', electricity is transferred via a movable arm that attaches to the tracks built into the middle of the road. While the system is designed with the capacity to feed heavier vehicles such as trucks, it's also developed to work for cars and buses.When vehicles approach the track, a sensor from the car or truck detects the electrified rail and the movable arm lowers from underneath the vehicle and inserts into the rail. The arm has been designed to be flexible, providing the car, or truck, the freedom to move around the road without disconnecting."One of the most important issues of our time is the question of how to make fossil-free road transportation a reality," Hans S?ll, chairman of the eRoadArlanda says."We now have a solution that will make this possible, which is amazing. Sweden is at the cutting edge of this technology, which we now hope to introduce in other areas of the country and the world."The track stretches along two kilometers (1.2 miles) and has been installed on public road "893" just 30 minutes outside of Stockholm.The eRoad has many advantages, S?ll says. If implemented it will mean electric vehicle batteries can be smaller -- and therefore lighter -- because they won't need to retain as much charge, the vehicles will then be cheaper to manufacture and will ultimately be more sustainable.For a heavy truck to be 100% electric, he explains, it would need a battery that weighs 40 tonnes. But if technology like the eRoad was readily available, the truck's battery would be able to weigh as little as 600 kilograms.It would also fix a wider issue that many electric vehicle owners face: The worry and inconvenience of keeping vehicles charged."Today you're not 100% sure how far you can go with your battery but if you have a combination of electric roads you will feel a little bit more confident that you'll get where you want to go," S?ll says.The technology is also safe and adverse weather such as rain, snow and ice should not cause any major issues thanks to draining and usual maintenance. The electricity also isn't a risk to humans or animals."There's no electricity at the surface and the rail is only electrified if an actual authorized vehicle is passing, so if you don't have an electric vehicle that's authorized to use the electricity, the electricity will not be turned on at all -- it will not be on 24/7."There will also be plenty of signage around the area indicating the road is electrified and the system is equipped with safety circuits.S?ll says while the new project cost €6.4 million (.7 million) to develop, if it were more widely implemented across the country it would eventually work out less than €1 million (.2 million) per kilometer to build.That is, if the government decides to implement it nationally."The Government wants to test one or two additional technologies ... that will then be evaluated in two years or so, (and) after that they will pick out one of those technologies (that have been tested) to build a longer pilot stretch that will be between 20 and 40 kilometers," he says.For now, the eRoad will be used and trialled for two years by a truck carrying freight in order to determine how well the innovation works under various weather conditions and in conjunction with normal road traffic.The-CNN-Wire 3992

For the second time in recent weeks, President Donald Trump sent well wishes to Ghislaine Maxwell ¡ª a known associate of Jeffrey Epstein, who is currently in jail awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges.In an interview with Axios, which aired on Monday evening, Trump was asked by reporter Jonathan Swan to clarify comments he made during a July 21 press briefing in which he sent well wishes to Maxwell.Trump said he "didn't know" about Maxwell's charges. He added that "her friend or boyfriend" ¡ª Epstein ¡ª "was killed or committed suicide in jail.""She's now in jail. Yeah, I wish her well," Trump said. "I'd wish a lot of people well. Good luck. Let them prove somebody was guilty." 702

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie issued a statement Friday saying he has asked not to be considered for the White House chief of staff job after meeting with President Donald Trump to discuss the role.Christie met with Trump on Thursday, but two sources familiar with the discussion said no offer had been made."It's an honor to have the President consider me as he looks to choose a new White House chief of staff. However, I've told the President that now is not the right time for me or my family to undertake this serious assignment," Christie said in a statement obtained by CNN but first reported by The New York Times."As a result, I have asked him to no longer to keep me in any of his considerations for this post," Christie added.The former governor was just the latest in a long string of people to discuss the chief of staff position with Trump.Earlier this week, one source close to the White House said that Christie was under consideration for the role. Christie's experience as a prosecutor is seen as a plus given the Mueller investigation and Democrats itching to investigate on the Hill.CNN has previously reported Christie has said he only wanted the role of attorney general and told friends he was offered the Department of Homeland Security secretary position, but did not want it. While chief of staff is not a Cabinet-level position, but it is the top staff role at the White House.There continues to be tension between Christie and the President's son-in-law and key adviser, Jared Kushner. As US Attorney in 2004, Christie prosecuted Kushner's father, Charles Kushner, for tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign contributions. Charles Kushner pleaded guilty and served two years in prison.If Christie is selected, Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, would both report directly to Christie under the existing staff structure.Though on the surface Christie and Kushner have a cordial working relationship, Trump understood that the notion of his son-in-law being OK with reporting to the man who put his father in jail is unlikely. Multiple sources say the Trump children will have the most influence on this decision.Earlier this year, Christie suggested that Trump's family working in the White House was an impediment to his presidency."The situation is made much worse by the fact that we have family members in the White House," Christie said on ABC's "This Week" in March. "In a normal situation, you might terminate a staff member for that reason. (It) becomes a lot more difficult if you're going to be sitting at Thanksgiving dinner with that person. And so, for Jared and for Ivanka and for all the other members of the family we were involved in one way or the other, I think everybody's got to focus on what's best for the President." 2822

Firefighters in western Colorado hope a winter storm could spell relief from a rash of wildfires that have spread throughout the state this week. But between now and Saturday evening, firefighters will face more warm temperatures and gusty weather, which could fuel the spread of the six major wildfires.Between Wednesday evening and Thursday evening, the East Troublesome Fire exploded in size from 20,000 acres to 170,000 acres ¡ª the second-largest in state history.A cold front slowed the spread of that fire on Thursday evening, but hundreds of evacuations remain in place in Grand and Larimer Counties. Rocky Mountain National Park also remains closed due to its proximity to the fire.As of 10:30 a.m. ET, the fire was burning 170,163 acres and was only 5% contained. It's just the latest in a historic wildfire season in the state that has seen the state's four largest wildfires of all time.The East Troublesome Fire is confirmed to have caused "minor" injuries to one firefighter thus far.After a slight warmup early Saturday, another cold front will dip into Colorado that evening and into Sunday morning, bringing a projected five inches of snow to much of the Denver metro area and higher amounts to the west and northwest.While heavy snowfall in the north-central mountains isn't guaranteed to put an end to the East Troublesome, Cameron Peak, Calwood, Lefthand Canyon, Middle and Williams Fork fires, the precipitation will surely give firefighters a spell of relief and allow crews to fight the fires more directly.Before Saturday's cold front, though, crews face more warm, dry weather in the mountains and gusty conditions ahead of the front. Winds could gust up to 50-70 mph along the Berthoud Pass and 20-25 along mountain valleys, creating critical fire conditions again, according to the National Weather Service.The conditions could create rapid fire growth, though the relative humidity should be better Saturday than we've seen this week.When the snow begins Saturday night, up to a foot could fall in some areas of the mountains, and the snow should stick around into Monday, according to the weather service.This story was originally published by Ryan Osborne on KMGH in Denver. 2212

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