| Assad troops force Syrian rebels to retreat from key town Posted: 20 Aug 2019 12:54 PM PDT  Bashar al-Assad has vowed to recapture all of Syria as his forces made significant battlefield gains and drove rebel fighters out of a strategic town he once attacked with chemical weapons. Syrian regime troops pushed rebel forces from Khan Sheikhoun, a town where Assad's jets once dropped chemical weapons and killed nearly 100 people, prompting Donald Trump to launch retaliatory airstrikes in 2017. The town has been under rebel control since 2014 and its fall marks a victory for Assad as his troops attempt to conquer Idlib, the last opposition-held province in the northwest of Syria. Rebel forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist group linked to al-Qaeda, said they were retreating to an area south of the town but would continue fighting against the regime's advancing troops. Regime troops advanced into the outskirts of Khan Sheikhoun but had yet to fully occupy it. Speaking at a meeting with MPs from Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, Assad hailed his forces' progress. "The victories that were achieved prove the determination of the people and the army to defeat terrorists until the liberation of the last inch of Syrian territory," he said. He also accused Turkey and Western states of supporting jihadist groups in Syria. Tensions between Turkey and the Syrian regime have been rising sharply as Assad's forces drive into Idlib, where the Turkish military has 12 military outposts. Regime jets bombed near a Turkish military convoy on Monday, killing three civilians, according to Turkey's defence ministry. After eight years of civil war, the Idlib region on the border with Turkey is the last major stronghold of opposition Credit: AFP The fall of Khan Sheikhoun means that one of the Turkish military outposts is now effectively surrounded by regime forces. Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, said that his country would not withdraw from the outpost at Morek and warned the Syrian regime not to interfere with it. "We don't have an intention such as moving this elsewhere," Mr Cavusoglu said. "We will do whatever is necessary for the security of our own soldiers and observation posts." Turkey says it established the outposts to counter jihadist groups and help enforce a ceasefire it brokered alongside Russia. The Syrian regime says the outposts are a violation of Syrian sovereignty but has so far refrained from directly attacking them. However, as the regime advances further into Idlib the chances of a direct confrontation with Turkish forces seem to be rising. Assad's forces launched their offensive against Idlib in April but made relatively little progress until the last few weeks, when they have advanced rapidly with the support of withering airstrikes by Russian warplanes. Around 500 civilians have been killed since the offensive began, including more than 100 children, according to aid groups. A young girl named Jana was killed by Russian bombing on Tuesday, opposition activists said. The fighting has displaced over 500,000 people in southern Idlib and the northern of the neighbouring province of Hama. Khain Sheikhoun was seen as important symbol of opposition to Assad by rebel supporters "One of the revolution's castles is occupied by its destroyers," said one Syrian man in Idlib. Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, said the Islamic State (Isil) remains a threat in Syria and Iraq but has lost much of its ability to carry out centrally-planned attacks on the West. "There are places where ISIS is more powerful today than they were three or four years ago," Mr Pompeo told CBS. "But the caliphate is gone in their capacity to conduct external attacks, it's been made much more difficult," he said. The jihadist group was driven from its last territorial stronghold this year but continues to mount insurgency attacks in both Iraq and Syria.
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| Suspect in Utah student Mackenzie Lueck's death is charged in a second case Posted: 20 Aug 2019 12:01 PM PDT  The man suspected of killing University of Utah student Mackenzie Lueck was charged Tuesday with sexual abuse and kidnapping of another woman.
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| US court convicts far-right members over clashes with leftists Posted: 19 Aug 2019 02:46 PM PDT ![US court convicts far-right members over clashes with leftists]( "US court convicts far-right members over clashes with leftists") Two members of a far-right group were convicted Monday of brawling with anti-fascist demonstrators in New York, as tensions between white supremacists and leftists simmer in the United States. Maxwell Hare, 27, and John Kinsman, 39, members of the Proud Boys group, were found guilty of several counts of attempted assault and rioting by a Manhattan court. A jury decided the pair assaulted four members of Antifa, an anti-fascist group, who were protesting outside an event that Hare and Kinsman had attended on October 12 last year.
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| Iran Warns U.S. Against Seizing Oil Tanker Headed to Greece Posted: 19 Aug 2019 09:58 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Iran warned the U.S. against apprehending a supertanker carrying the Middle East country's oil and said it couldn't be clear on the ship's ultimate destination, leaving the fate of the vessel uncertain as it sailed into the Mediterranean Sea from Gibraltar, where it had been detained.The tanker, formerly called the Grace 1 and re-named the Adrian Darya 1, was signaling Kalamata, Greece -- at least for now -- with an arrival date of Aug. 26, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg at 5:25 p.m. London time. It had previously been showing an arrival date of Aug. 25.The vessel left Gibraltar Sunday night after being detained there since early July, when British forces seized it on suspicion of carrying oil to Syria in violation of European sanctions. The U.S., which has sanctions against Iran, is seeking to prevent anyone from doing business with the ship.Iranian Crude Tanker Leaves Gibraltar Waters: What Happens Next?U.S. sanctions mean Iran cannot be "very transparent" about the destination of the tanker, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said at a press conference in Helsinki. He said the U.S. is trying to "bully others from purchasing our oil" and that he hopes the release of the vessel will de-escalate tensions in the Persian Gulf.A spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.The incident is one of several in recent months that have strained relations between Iran and the West, following the U.S. reinstatement of sanctions on the Islamic Republic last year. Iran has maintained that the ship's original detention on July 4 was unlawful. The Persian Gulf state continues to hold a U.K.-flagged tanker, the Stena Impero. Aggression in the region has threatened shipping in recent months in the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most critical waterway for oil supplies."The U.S. surely can't seize the Iranian tanker and, if it does, it would pose a threat to international maritime security," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said. Iran warned the U.S. via "diplomatic channels," including Switzerland, against interfering with the tanker, in international waters, Mousavi said at a news conference in Tehran. Swiss diplomats serve as interlocutors between the U.S. and Iran.Destination UnclearIt's not known where the Iranian vessel is ultimately headed. Greek authorities haven't received formal notification that the vessel intends to head to a port in the country, according to a spokesman for Greece's coast guard. Kalamata's port usually serves pleasure craft like sailboats and cruise ships, data compiled by Bloomberg show.The waters off Kalamata could be a possible location for ship-to-ship cargo transfers, according to two vessel brokers without specific information about the tanker's plans. A ship's destination is entered manually into its Automatic Identification System and is picked up by vessel-tracking. The destinations can be altered multiple times on the same journey.Gibraltar rejected an attempt by the U.S. to block the Iranian supertanker, saying that EU regulations don't allow it to seek a court order to detain the vessel.U.S. ComplaintA complaint unsealed in Washington stated that "Oil Tanker 'Grace 1,' all petroleum aboard it and $995,000 are subject to forfeiture," according to a Justice Department statement. The statement alleges a "scheme to unlawfully access the U.S. financial system to support illicit shipments" of oil from Iran to Syria in violation of U.S. sanctions, money laundering and terrorism statutes.Gibraltar last week released the vessel, after the government said Iran had provided assurances that the ship would not sail to a destination sanctioned by the EU. In response, the U.S. said it was gravely disappointed with Britain, and it warned that ports, banks and anyone else who does business with the vessel or its crew might be subject to sanctions, according to two administration officials.(Updates vessel's estimated arrival date in second paragraph, request for comment in fifth. An earlier version of this story included an incorrect spelling for a port official in Kalamata, Greece.)\--With assistance from Serene Cheong, Anthony DiPaola, Alex Longley, Julian Lee, Paul Tugwell, Kati Pohjanpalo and Nick Wadhams.To contact the reporters on this story: Brian Wingfield in London at bwingfield3@bloomberg.net;Arsalan Shahla in Tehran at ashahla@bloomberg.net;Verity Ratcliffe in Dubai at vratcliffe1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaric Nightingale at anightingal1@bloomberg.net, Brian Wingfield, Rachel GrahamFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Germany takes back four Islamic State children from Syria Posted: 20 Aug 2019 02:55 AM PDT |
| Chevy Baits Ford Mustang Owners with Special Camaro Discount Posted: 19 Aug 2019 07:15 AM PDT  It's a good try, but Ford's still ahead on sales and has an offer of its own.
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| China could ‘render US military bases useless’ within hours of conflict in Asia, report says Posted: 20 Aug 2019 03:41 AM PDT  China's military could use missiles to overwhelm American military bases in Asia within hours, a think tank has warned.The US defence strategy in the Indo-Pacific is "in the throes of an unprecedented crisis", according to a report from the United States Studies Center, at the University of Sydney in Australia.
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| Joe Biden gets defensive about crowd size in Iowa Posted: 20 Aug 2019 03:46 PM PDT  Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden rejects comparisons to rivals' campaign events, claims he is drawing crowds 'bigger than anybody' in Iowa.
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| El Paso mass shooting widower receives free vehicle after his is wrecked Posted: 20 Aug 2019 04:08 PM PDT  Vanessa Kondow, who works for a towing company, said in an Aug. 18 social media post that Antonio Basco's vehicle was stolen and wrecked Aug. 17.
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| Boycott the Oven With These Summer Slow Cooker Recipes Posted: 20 Aug 2019 02:38 PM PDT |
| Spain sends navy to save migrants as Italian justice intervenes Posted: 20 Aug 2019 01:52 PM PDT  Spain on Tuesday deployed a naval patrol boat to pick up migrants on a charity rescue boat that has been stranded off Italy's Lampedusa island for days after numerous people jumped overboard in a desperate bid to swim ashore. Prosecutor Luigi Patronaggio also ordered the Open Arms charity vessel preventatively seized after inspecting the Spanish boat on which migrants have spent 19 days and "given the difficult situation on board", a judicial source said. Against the backdrop of a major political crisis in Italy, Patronaggio intervened as part of his probe into alleged kidnapping and refusing to obey orders targeting far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.
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| Pompeo warns of 'new turmoil' if U.N. arms embargo on Iran lifted in 2020 Posted: 20 Aug 2019 01:09 PM PDT ![Pompeo warns of 'new turmoil' if U.N. arms embargo on Iran lifted in 2020]( "Pompeo warns of 'new turmoil' if U.N. arms embargo on Iran lifted in 2020") U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushed the international community on Tuesday to work out how to stop Iran from being "unshackled to create new turmoil" when a United Nations arms embargo on the country and a travel ban on the head of Iran's elite Quds Force expire in October 2020. Speaking at a U.N. Security Council meeting on Middle East peace and security challenges, Pompeo called for greater cooperation in the region to produce "fresh thinking to solve old problems," citing problems including the Libyan and Syrian conflicts and a rift between several Gulf states and Qatar.
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| CNN Pundit’s Bodyguard Charged with Assault after Removing Reporter Covering Her Speech Posted: 20 Aug 2019 09:59 AM PDT  CNN pundit April Ryan's security guard has been charged with assault after he forcibly removed a local New Jersey reporter from an event at which Ryan was delivering a speech.Charlie Kravotil, editor of New Brunswick Today, claims that Ryan's bodyguard, 30-year-old Joel Morris, approached him during Ryan's speech at The Heldrich Hotel on August 3 and stole his camera after he refused to stop filming.A video of the incident shows Kravotil, who secured press credentials for the event, following Morris into the lobby of the hotel to retrieve his camera. After the local journalist reclaimed his camera, Morris grabbed his arm, placed it behind his back, and shoved him out of the hotel.Morris has been charged with harassment, assault, and theft in connection with the incident.Kravotil says he was invited to the event and was allowed to film for roughly two hours before Ryan took the stage to deliver a speech, at which point Morris stole his camera but allowed other people in the room to continue filming. He called on Ryan to apologize for the incident in a Monday tweet."She's been silent about the unacceptable and illegal behavior of her bodyguard, Joel Morris, and we are still waiting for her comment on this unfortunate incident," Kravotil said in a video posted to Twitter. "Maybe now that there are criminal charges, we might hear something from her. I hope, sincerely, that she does comment and I hope she does condemn this. This is unacceptable. . . . In our country, we have freedom of the press."Ryan is a vociferous critic of President Trump and routinely disparages him for his rhetorical attacks on the press, even authoring a book on the subject last year entitled Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House.
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| Trump administration considering abandoning tariffs as looming recession threatens to ruin 2020 re-election hopes Posted: 20 Aug 2019 03:31 AM PDT  Donald Trump could reportedly abandon some of his tariffs if the US threatens to go into recession, amid fears among Republicans a tanking economy would ruin the US president's 2020 re-election hopes.Despite insisting the "fundamentals" of the US economy remain solid, the White House is preparing options to bolster it in case it continues to slow, including by reversing tariffs and giving American workers a payroll tax cut, according to the New York Times.
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| Rep. Steve King wants media to apologize for reporting what he said about rape and incest Posted: 20 Aug 2019 07:50 AM PDT  King was arguing in favor of an abortion ban with no exceptions for pregnancies that resulted from rape or incest when he made the comment at an Iowa event last week.
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| 'Storm Area 51' event pushes rural Nevada county to declare emergency Posted: 20 Aug 2019 01:28 PM PDT !['Storm Area 51' event pushes rural Nevada county to declare emergency]( "'Storm Area 51' event pushes rural Nevada county to declare emergency") Lincoln County commissioner pre-signed an emergency declaration ahead of the "Storm Area 51" raid event that's drawn more than 2 million RSVPs.
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| Police Arrest Two Louisiana Men in 39-Year-Old Cold Case Murder of Teen Posted: 20 Aug 2019 01:53 PM PDT  Rapides Parish Sheriff's OfficeAfter nearly four decades, Louisiana police have charged two men they believe brutally raped and murdered an 18-year-old girl before disposing of her body in the woods.Leo Laird, 64, and Gary Haymon, 54, were both charged on Monday in the death of 18-year-old Donna Gayle Brazzell, according to the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office. The young woman's skeletal remains were found near Nichols Cemetery Road in 1980, but authorities were unable to identify them until last month.The Daring DNA Hunt That Cracked France's Gruesome Cold Case"These cases never, ever leave a policeman's mind," Officer William Earl Hilton, who was first assigned the case, told KBLA. "They prey on you all the time. Especially cases like this that you never solve."Authorities declined to elaborate on what evidence led to Laird and Haymon's arrest, but said "sufficient probable cause was established." Both men have been charged with first-degree murder, first-degree rape, and aggravated kidnapping.The mystery began on November 5, 1980, when the sheriff's office responded to a call about "skeletal remains found in a wooded area" near Nichols Cemetery Road. Working alongside Louisiana State University's Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons, investigators were able to determine that the remains, which were likely in the woods for at least two months, belonged to a female victim between the ages of 16 and 21. The lab also created a DNA profile and a facial sketch of the victim but were still unable to make a positive identification. In 2014, the sheriff's office "received information in reference to the case" that led them to name Laird and Haymon as suspects. It remains unclear what new evidence pointed to the two men.Vatican to Open Tombs in Hunt for Teen Missing for 30 YearsThe sketch of the victim proved key to cracking the case five years later, when a woman contacted authorities claiming the picture resembled her long lost granddaughter. After a DNA comparison last month, authorities confirmed the remains belonged to the woman's relative, Donna Gayle Brazzell.Laird, who would have been in his 20s at the time of the alleged murder, was arrested on August 14 and booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center. He is currently being held on a $1 million bold. Haymon is already serving a 49-year prison sentence for second-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery, and public bribery, authorities said. While he was originally set for release in 2047, authorities said arrangements "are in place to have Haymon booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center in reference to his new charges."Quadriplegic Charged in Cold-Case Murder of Bay Area MomRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Teens swept up in night raids in Kashmir clampdown Posted: 20 Aug 2019 06:55 AM PDT  Ali Mohammad Rah sat on the pavement outside a police station in Kashmir's main city of Srinagar on Tuesday, waiting to see his teenage sons, who were swept up in government raids overnight. Government sources say at least 4,000 people have been detained in Kashmir since India revoked the restive Himalayan region's autonomy on August 5 and imposed a massive security lockdown on the restive region. To try and stop the raids, residents in Srinagar's Soura area have erected barricades and dug trenches in roads that lead to their cluster of homes.
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| Britain 'extremely concerned' as Hong Kong consulate official detained in mainland China Posted: 20 Aug 2019 04:25 AM PDT  A British Consulate official has been detained in mainland China after urging his girlfriend to "pray for me" as he attempted to cross the border into Hong Kong. Simon Cheng Man-kit, a trade and investment officer at the Hong Kong consulate's Scottish Development International section, had travelled on August 8 to a business event in Shenzhen and was due to return the same day. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said the official had gone missing while returning from the city of 12.5 million that links Hong Kong to Southeast China. "We are extremely concerned by reports that a member of our team has been detained while returning to Hong Kong from Shenzhen. We are providing support to their family and seeking further information from authorities in Guangdong Province and Hong Kong," said an FCO spokesperson on Tuesday. The British embassy in Beijing confirmed to The Telegraph that the official had been detained in mainland China. His disappearance 10 days ago comes at a time of heightened tension between China and Western nations, including the UK, for their support of pro-democracy demonstrations which have now entered their eleventh week. According to Hong Kong media outlet HK01, Mr Cheng had crossed into the city via the heavily trafficked Lo Wu border crossing and planned to return the same day using the Express Rail link. The site published screenshots that evening from a telephone conversation between Mr Cheng, a Hong Kong permanent resident and his Taiwanese girlfriend, identified only as Ms Lee, in which she asks: "Where are you? Just let me know that you are safe." Hong Kong protests | Read more Mr Cheng responded: "Passing through. Pray for me," but did not answer two subsequent calls from his girlfriend. He has not been heard from since. The official, 28, grew up in Hong Kong and studied in Taiwan, Tokyo, Beijing and at the London School of Economics before returning to his home city where he took up a position at the consulate in 2017. It is unclear if he entered China on a diplomatic passport. According to his girlfriend, the British Consulate-General told Mr Cheng's family to report the case to the police. An officer at the mainland Chinese police station in Hong Kong's West Kowloon Terminus told HK01 that there were no arrests made on August 8 or 9. Ms Lee said that immigration authorities had told her on August 10 that Mr Cheng was under administrative detention in mainland China, but the reason and location of his detention were unknown. Administrative detention in the mainland can last for up to 15 days Protesters gather for a rally in Victoria Park in Hong Kong on Sunday Credit: AFP The immigration department told The Telegraph that it had promptly contacted the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong for clarification after being alerted by Mr Cheng's family. The department said it had "provided the family with proper advice and practical assistance" and would "maintain close contact" and follow up with them. His worried girlfriend, described as a financial entrepreneur, told HK01 he had "just started to give back to the community. He grew up in public housing and he used his abilities to get to where he is today." Mr Cheng's Facebook page displays multiple posts about work events relating to trade and investment and also a trip last year to Glasgow and Edinburgh. In a statement, Ms Lee urged the Chinese authorities to release her partner as soon as possible and to ensure his safety: "Simon's disappearance confirms a lot of the fears held by the global investment community about arbitrary detention in mainland China," she said. Screenshots of earlier messages between the couple revealed that Mr Cheng planned to delete call records and other apps from his phone before passing into Shenzhen. Fears are rising that authorities are checking phones of passengers to the mainland for any links to Hong Kong's ongoing protests. However, Ms Lee has denied any suggestion of a link to the ongoing anti-government protests in Hong Kong, which she said he did not attend or express a view on. hongkers Mr Cheng's sudden disappearance while on official duties comes after two Canadians - Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Michael Spavor, an entrepreneur - were detained in China last year during Beijing's diplomatic dispute with Ottawa over its arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. It is widely viewed that both men - who have been charged with spying – are being used as political pawns. It also comes as China steps up its use of exit bans against US citizens amid a bitter trade dispute with Washington. Meanwhile on Tuesday, Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's embattled Chief Executive, said she hoped the weekend's rallies, which passed without any violence, were the start of an effort to restore peace to the financial hub. Ms Lam pledged to talk to peaceful protesters and also to launch a fact-finding study to tackle complaints against the police. She revealed that Anthony Neoh, the Independent Police Complaints Council chief, had met with British officials who had "personally handled the Tottenham riots in England in 2011" and that the Hong Kong authorities planned to hire overseas experts to provide assistance.
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| 4 last wolves in Washington pack killed by state hunters Posted: 19 Aug 2019 11:04 AM PDT  The last four members of a wolf pack that preyed on cattle in a rural Washington state area bordering Canada have been killed by state hunters, prompting protests from environmental groups. The four wolves were part of a pack that originally had seven members and attacked cows, killing or wounding them 29 times since 2018 and nine times over the last month, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement last Friday. Agency director Kelly Susewind authorized the killings of the remaining pack members on July 31.
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| A Neutron Star Might Have Just Collided with a Black Hole Posted: 19 Aug 2019 06:00 AM PDT  Scientists are comparing the historic explosion to "the night before Christmas."
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| Top Democratic presidential candidates lead Trump in new Fox News poll Posted: 19 Aug 2019 04:34 PM PDT  President Trump takes issue with results of latest Fox News poll matching him against top Democratic presidential rivals.
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| I am Mexican American with no hyphen and no apologies – and am haunted by a history of hate. Posted: 19 Aug 2019 05:30 AM PDT  I didn't know how to write about the El Paso massacre because for two weeks I've been too angry at too many people.
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| UK says to skip most EU meetings from Sept 1: government Posted: 20 Aug 2019 07:34 AM PDT  British officials will stop attending most EU meetings from September 1 except for those on "matters of ongoing national interest" such as security, the government said on Tuesday. The Brexit ministry said in a statement that the time spent preparing for the meetings in Brussels would be better used in readying the country for leaving the European Union on October 31. "This decision reflects the fact that the UK's exit from the EU on 31 October is now very close and many of the discussions in EU meetings will be about the future of the union after the UK has left," the statement said.
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| Russia's new high-altitude drone just flew for the first time, and they want to arm it with one ton of bombs Posted: 20 Aug 2019 02:09 PM PDT  On Tuesday, the Russian Ministry of Defense shared video of a test flight for the Altius-U, a major step forward in its drone program.
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| The Latest: Japan 'deeply concerned' about Hong Kong Posted: 20 Aug 2019 07:52 AM PDT |
| Woman Taking Over a Subway for Her Glamorous Selfie Photoshoot Is the Latest Example of Knowing One's Worth Posted: 20 Aug 2019 08:11 AM PDT  A hero and an icon
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| UPDATE 2-Blasts hit militia group position at Iraq's Balad air base - security sources Posted: 20 Aug 2019 10:17 AM PDT |
| Beto O’Rourke and Julian Castro’s Big Blue Dream for Flipping Texas in 2020 Posted: 20 Aug 2019 02:10 AM PDT  Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyBy Ross Ramsey, The Texas TribuneThe Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans—and engages with them—about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. The Texas politicians in the race for president—that's a way of skipping around Marianne Williamson for a minute—are rebooting.Beto O'Rourke, who owes his prominence to an unconventional U.S. Senate race last year, is flipping his by-the-book campaign for president into something more noticeable, something more like the race against Ted Cruz that attracted all the attention in the first place.Julián Castro, one of the Democratic Party's rising stars for the last several years, is struggling to win attention among the pack of candidates. He's fighting to clear the obstacles designed to winnow the field of candidates who'll appear in next month's debates in Texas, attacking President Donald Trump in a direct political ad: "As we saw in El Paso, Americans were killed because you stoked the fire of racists."The candidates are seeking the Democratic nomination to run against Trump, of course. They're also seeking to pull Texas voters into the fold by talking about national issues that have special resonance in a state with roughly as many Hispanic residents as Anglos, that shares a long border with Mexico and that is essential to any national Republican ticket.Part of the Democratic candidates' argument is that putting a Texan on the ticket could put Texas in play in 2020. And that if Texas is in play, the Republican Party's presidential candidate will be in real trouble.It's not all about those two, or about Williamson, who's from Texas but has spent her adulthood mostly outside of politics and mostly outside of the state. But their presence and last year's unexpected shift to the left in Texas' 2018 results highlights Democratic hopes and Republican concerns going into next year's election.Trump's campaign has focused on Texas, spending more on its Facebook ads here than in another state this summer. He spent more in the state than Castro and O'Rourke combined during the first half of the year, on ads with messages like this: "We have an INVASION! So we are BUILDING THE WALL to STOP IT. Dems will sue us. But we want a SAFE COUNTRY! It's CRITICAL that we STOP THE INVASION."If Texas is the cornerstone for a Republican win nationally, Trump wants to keep Republican voters stirred up—not to mention perking up donors in an important money state. His campaign is also aware that Trump didn't do as well as most of the Republicans running statewide in Texas in 2016, winning his race by 9 percentage points while the Republican average was 14.1 percentage points.But Castro and O'Rourke are running far behind the leaders seeking the Democratic nomination. O'Rourke has the poll and donor numbers to meet the threshold for the September debates in Houston, with more than 130,000 donors and support from at least 2 percent of the respondents in at least four qualifying polls.Castro has the donors, but he's one poll short of the target, battling for political oxygen like someone stuck under the ice in a frozen lake. He's running those attention-getting ads, confronting Trump after the racially motivated mass shooting in El Paso for the things the president said before and after that incident. "Innocent people were shot down because they look different from you. Because they look like me. They look like my family. Words have consequences. ¡Ya basta!"O'Rourke's remodeling has its roots in recent headlines. His hometown was the site of that shooting earlier this month. It's the locus of many of the debates about federal immigration and immigration enforcement policy—a spot chosen by Trump for one of his openly nativist political rallies earlier in the year.Think of it this way: The El Paso Democrat has a singular reason for remaking his campaign—that being that what he was doing wasn't working, and had turned the standard stories about him into critiques of what he was doing wrong and pre-death autopsies of how a seemingly promising campaign had vaporized.And he had policy issues that matched his passions and his geography and that—this is critical—put him in direct opposition to the incumbent he and all those other Democrats hope to unseat. That's true, as well, for Castro, the Hispanic former mayor of San Antonio and former U.S. secretary of housing and urban development, trying to break out as a first-time candidate for any office outside of Bexar County. He's pursuing issues central to his heritage, his home and the weaknesses of the incumbent.Both have method, motive, opportunity—and reboots rooted in Texas.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Demolition derby accident kills woman after car flies into crowd Posted: 20 Aug 2019 01:57 AM PDT  A woman was killed and seven other people injured when an out-of-control demolition derby car veered into spectators, it has been reported.The woman, believed to be a paramedic in her 30s, died after the crash in Deer Lodge, Montana, which happened during the final event of a tri-county fair on Sunday.
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| 'Ticking time bomb': Violence surges amid guard shortage, lockdown at Mississippi prison Posted: 20 Aug 2019 05:34 PM PDT  As a lockdown at this Mississippi prison enters its seventh month, violence is rampant. It's "not a sustainable situation," ACLU official says. Others agree.
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| Foreign trash 'like treasure' in Indonesia's plastics village Posted: 20 Aug 2019 02:47 AM PDT  Governments around the world are grappling with how to tackle the scourge of single-use plastic, but for the people of Bangun trash equals cash. Around two-thirds of the town's residents eke out a living sorting and selling discarded plastic bottles, wrappers and cups back to local companies, and after China blocked imports of foreign garbage early this year -- the pile is growing. "I have three kids -- all of them go to university," Keman, who goes by one name, proudly tells AFP as he stands in a field of ankle-deep trash.
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| The Latest: Philadelphia police commissioner resigning Posted: 20 Aug 2019 03:38 PM PDT  A Philadelphia official says the resignation of Police Commissioner Richard Ross is related to allegations made by a corporal and a patrol officer against several department employees. Deana Gamble is a spokeswoman for Mayor Jim Kenney. Kenney's announcement Tuesday referred to a sexual harassment prevention policy and efforts to prevent discrimination and harassment that were implemented a year ago.
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| It looks like the Russians are trying to hide the truth about that nuclear accident in Nyonoksa Posted: 19 Aug 2019 02:07 PM PDT  Evidence is mounting that Russia may be covering up a tragic nuclear accident after a mysterious blast killed seven at a military-weapons testing site.
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| For Trump, appeals to white fears about race may be a tougher sell in 2020: Reuters/Ipsos poll Posted: 19 Aug 2019 03:08 AM PDT  U.S. President Donald Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric and focus on the grievances of white voters helped him win the 2016 election. The analysis comes amid widespread criticism of Trump's racially charged comments about four minority women lawmakers and the fallout from a mass shooting of Hispanics in El Paso, Texas, that many Democratic presidential candidates swiftly blamed on the president's rhetoric. While Reuters did not measure anti-Hispanic biases in 2016, political scientists say that people who express them closely overlap with those who are biased against other racial minorities.
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| Ocasio-Cortez: The Electoral College Is a ‘Scam’ Posted: 20 Aug 2019 12:56 PM PDT  Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) on Monday called the U.S. Electoral College "a scam" that negatively affects minorities."We're coming to you live from the Electoral College," the New York Democrat said in a video on Instagram, which featured her driving along a sparsely populated highway in what appears to be a desert somewhere in the western part of the country. "Many votes here, as you can see. Very efficient way to choose leadership of the country. I mean I can't think of any other way, can you?"The freshman congresswoman went on to cite a New York magazine story titled, "Here's Every Defense of the Electoral College — and Why They're All Wrong.""Due to severe racial disparities in certain states, the Electoral College effectively weighs white voters over voters of color, as opposed to a 'one person, one vote' system where all our votes are counted equally," Ocasio-Cortez said. "Could you imagine if we had this kind of democracy-altering 'fairness' provision for literally any other group? If we weighed, for example, black and indigenous voters more because of unfairness?""Facts are facts America," said the 29-year-old progressive, who represents parts of the Bronx and Queens. "The Electoral College has to go."Several Democratic presidential candidates, including Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren and South Bend, Ind. mayor Pete Buttigieg, have also said they believe the Electoral College should be retired.The notion of ending the Electoral College has picked up steam lately in blue states. A number of states have joined the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would give the states' electoral votes to the candidate who wins the popular vote. But the agreement will not take effect until the electoral votes of participating states total 270.
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| Man pees in sink behind Starbucks counter and douses merchandise, Penn. cops say Posted: 19 Aug 2019 02:47 PM PDT  Pennsylvania police are looking for a man suspected of peeing in a Starbucks sink and onto merchandise in the store.
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| Phoenix police must now report whenever they point a gun at someone Posted: 20 Aug 2019 12:22 PM PDT  Chief Jeri Williams provided an update on Phoenix Police Department changes following a record number of police shootings in 2018.
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