| Intelligence whistleblowers face a dangerous path to Congress Posted: 20 Sep 2019 03:31 PM PDT  One of the most perplexing questions for outsiders about the Trump whistleblower is if the complaint was so urgent, why didn't the whistleblower go straight to Congress?
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| Bill de Blasio's net worth as he pulls out of 2020 presidential race Posted: 20 Sep 2019 01:24 PM PDT  New York Mayor de Blasio announced that he is officially dropping out of the 2020 presidential race -- here's a look at his current finances.
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| 'It's happening': Alien enthusiasts descend on Area 51 for a UFO party Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:41 AM PDT  An event that began as a Facebook joke is expected to attract several thousand people to a remote area of the Nevada desert over the next three days.
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| Campaigning Trudeau vows Canada assault rifle ban Posted: 20 Sep 2019 10:16 AM PDT  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, campaigning for re-election, vowed on Friday to ban assault rifles but fell short on handguns, saying only that he would help cities restrict pistols and revolvers in response to a spate of shootings. "You don't need military-grade assault weapons, ones designed to kill the largest amount of people in the shortest amount of time, to take down a deer," he told a news conference in Toronto. There have been 311 shootings in Canada's largest city so far this year, with gun violence having increased incrementally each year to almost triple the rate in 2014.
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| Sheriff: 1 officer dead, 1 injured in Louisiana shooting Posted: 20 Sep 2019 05:17 PM PDT  One police officer was fatally shot and another wounded Friday after a vehicle chase north of New Orleans, authorities said. Mandeville Police Chief Gerald Sticker confirmed one officer's death and the other's injury from gunfire in his community on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, near U.S. 190 and Louisiana Highway 22. Sticker said at a news conference that the wounded officer, who's being treated at Lakeview Regional Medical Center, is expected to survive.
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| AOC's first congressional endorsements reflect subtle shift away from outsider status Posted: 20 Sep 2019 02:00 AM PDT  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appears to be playing more of an insider game in some of her recent endorsements. But she's insisting her insurgency is focused on policy, not merely disruption.
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| Dozens detained in Kazakhstan at anti-China protests Posted: 21 Sep 2019 06:36 AM PDT  ALMATY/NUR-SULTAN (Reuters) - Police detained dozens in Kazakhstan's two largest cities on Saturday as they took part in the latest protest against China's influence in the Central Asian republic. Neighboring China is already one of Kazakhstan's largest investors and trade partners and a plan to relocate a number of Chinese plants and factories to the former Soviet republic has faced public opposition. The latest round of protests on Saturday was organized by supporters of Mukhtar Ablyazov, a fugitive banker living in France who has been the fiercest critic of Kazakhstan's first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.
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| 3 people have died as Tropical Depression Imelda strikes Texas with flash floods 'worse than Harvey' Posted: 20 Sep 2019 11:27 AM PDT  Tropical Depression Imelda may drop up to 35 inches of rain onto southeastern Texas, the same region devastated by Hurricane Harvey.
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| Could Bermuda feel effects from Jerry next week? Posted: 21 Sep 2019 03:08 AM PDT  While the worst of Jerry spared the northern Caribbean, forecasters believe the tropical storm will directly impact Bermuda next week.Jerry weakened from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm early Saturday morning while passing a few hundred miles to the north of the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Jerry is seen swirling north of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico Saturday afternoon. (GOES-EAST/NOAA) Although Jerry has been moving towards the west-northwest over the past few days, a cold front set to sweep off the East Coast of the United States on Monday will pull the tropical system northward early next week.While this northward turn will spare the United States from direct impacts, Jerry will still enhance the rough surf battering Florida's east coast through the weekend.Jerry's expected northward turn may put the storm on a collision course with Bermuda. "Jerry will pass close to or perhaps over Bermuda Tuesday or Tuesday night," AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said.Jerry is expected to regain Category 1 hurricane status by this time. A Category 1 hurricane has maximum sustained winds of 74-95 mph with higher gusts. "Bermuda can experience potentially dangerous winds, flooding rain, storm surge and rough surf as a result of Jerry," AccuWeather Meteorologist Mary Gilbert said."These impacts will be amplified if Jerry does ultimately pass right over the islands," she added.Just this past week, former Major Hurricane Humberto unleashed fierce winds as it passed just to the north of Bermuda.Bermuda's building codes require dwellings to withstand sustained wind speeds of 110 mph (177 km/h), which is the equivalent of a high-end Category 2 hurricane. A majority of properties are made of stone and mortar.As a result, structural damage is likely to be minimal with Jerry, even with its projected path very close to or over Bermuda.However, strong winds can toss around loose items like toys and cause them to become potentially deadly projectiles. Power outages and tree damage may also occur.Residents should make sure to secure or safely house any outdoor furniture, planters or decorative items ahead of Jerry's arrival.Waterspouts can occur within Jerry's rain bands.The rain and wind could hinder any continued recovery efforts from Humberto, according to Gilbert.Conditions will dramatically improve across Bermuda later Wednesday as Jerry gets swept northeastward.AccuWeather meteorologists will be closely monitoring any potential impacts Jerry may have on Atlantic Canada late next week.In the wake of Jerry, several other tropical disturbances are being closely monitored across the Atlantic basin.
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| Friday's global strike was likely the largest climate rally ever Posted: 21 Sep 2019 01:36 PM PDT  The Global Climate Strike that encouraged kids to walk out of school could be the biggest climate rally ever. But estimates are still rolling in.
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| History buff finds ships that sank in 1878 in Lake Michigan Posted: 20 Sep 2019 06:41 PM PDT  A diver and maritime history buff has found two schooners that collided and sank into the cold depths of northern Lake Michigan more than 140 years ago. Bernie Hellstrom, of Boyne City, Michigan, said he was looking for shipwrecks about 10 years ago when a depth sounder on his boat noted a large obstruction about 200 feet (60 meters) down on the lake bottom near Beaver Island. "I've made hundreds of trips to Beaver Island and every trip I go out the sounder is on," he told The Associated Press on Friday.
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| George Conway says Trump should be impeached if he pressured Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden Posted: 20 Sep 2019 10:48 AM PDT  George Conway, who is married to senior White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, said Thursday that President Trump should be impeached and removed from office "without delay" if it turns out he pressured Ukraine to dig up dirt on political rival Joe Biden.
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| Could a Tax on Stock Trades Pay Off the Nation’s Student Debt? Posted: 20 Sep 2019 07:30 PM PDT  The 2020 Democratic candidates all have a plan to eliminate student debt.
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| Greek police arrest suspect in 1985 TWA aircraft hijacking Posted: 21 Sep 2019 04:16 AM PDT ![Greek police arrest suspect in 1985 TWA aircraft hijacking]( "Greek police arrest suspect in 1985 TWA aircraft hijacking") Greek police have arrested a 65-year-old Lebanese man suspected of involvement in the 1985 hijacking of a Trans World Airlines (TWA) plane in which a U.S. navy diver was killed. A Greek police official said on Saturday the suspect had disembarked from a cruise ship on the island of Mykonos on Thursday and that his name came up as being wanted by German authorities. The suspect was being held in a high-security prison until German authorities identify him as the person wanted, the source added.
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| UN welcomes Huthi offer to halt attacks on Saudi Arabia Posted: 21 Sep 2019 02:09 PM PDT  The United Nations envoy for Yemen welcomed Saturday an offer from the country's Huthi rebels to halt all attacks on Saudi Arabia, saying it could bring an end to years of bloody conflict. Implementation of the initiative by the Huthis "in good faith could send a powerful message of the will to end the war," Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said. The Iran-backed Huthis, which control the capital Sanaa and other parts of Yemen, have been fighting against a Saudi-led coalition which supports the country's internationally recognized government in a devastating five-year war.
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| Kevin Hart Likely To File Lawsuit Against Company Who Built His Barracuda Posted: 21 Sep 2019 03:09 PM PDT  Hart along with the other two people involved in the crash are said to be armed with lawyers.Whenever anything happens to a celebrity, whether it's good, bad, major, or mundane, news circulates as fast as a dry Christmas tree going up in flames after being doused in gasoline. That's what happened with one of the biggest names in Hollywood today, Kevin Hart, when his insanely modified 1970 Plymouth Barracuda dubbed Menace was involved in a major accident on Labor Day weekend which left the classic in a pile of twisted metal.Now that actor/comedian Kevin Hart has been released from the hospital after sustaining three fractures to his spine that required back surgery, it is said that he is now in the process of preparing a lawsuit against Speedkore, the company who built his beastly 720-horsepower Plymouth Barracuda that was powered by a modern 6.4L Hemi V8 and topped with a Whipple supercharger. In addition, the driver, Jared S. Black, and the backseat passenger who sustained minor injuries, have also hired lawyers due to the lack of safety equipment in the car which is said to have a roll cage, airbags, and five-point harnesses. They believe the addition of these safety features would have prevented their injuries.According to TMZ, the big issue is that Speedkore should have refused the job to Hart even if he wanted the custom car to come without safety equipment. TMZ contacted 10 different custom car companies to see if they would still offer cars without safety equipment considering the Hart crash, and 8 out of 10 said that they still would.The California Highway Patrol is still investigating the crash but talks of changing the laws revolving around classic cars are already in the works. If this legislation is approved, that means that all cars, no matter how old, must have seatbelts or harnesses installed to be legal and road worthy. While safety is no doubt a priority, these classics have been around for decades without any of these features. Also, this means drilling holes into million-dollar Concours cars just to add tacky seatbelts that will hardly ever be used. Plus, it is not unheard of for these laws to trickle over to other states. So, if Kevin Hart, and the two others involved in the crash, file lawsuits against SpeedKore over safety equipment, what impact will that have on the impending changes on California laws regarding safety restraints in muscle cars? No doubt it would have a negative impact for classic car owners that are forced to drill into their beloved classic cars to add features they have never been equipped with.It was Labor Day weekend when Hart threw the keys to his powerful '70 Barracuda over to his friend, Jared Black. A female passenger crammed in the back, although, it is unsure where she was sitting due to a rear seat delete. They set off for Mulholland drive, an infamous road known as "The Snake" that is notorious for bad accidents. It features twists and turns with large drop-offs on each side. Black lost control of the car on Mulholland where it went down an embankment and crashed through a wooden fence. Both Hart and Black suffered back injuries, and the woman with them suffered minor injuries.One should know what could go wrong when toying with a car of that caliber. Knowing the raw power it possesses, and still getting rowdy with it anyway should not be a fault of the manufacturer, but the fault of those knowing and getting in anyway. Even the rear passenger got in knowing that there was no seat for her to occupy. Source: TMZ Read More... * Watch A 1970 Chevy Chevelle LS6 Barn Find * One-Up Your Buddies With This Monster 1972 Chevy C50
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| On Kavanaugh and the FBI, time to investigate the investigation: Sen. Whitehouse Posted: 20 Sep 2019 02:00 AM PDT  Why didn't the FBI pursue tip-line leads and interview witnesses? As a US attorney, I wouldn't have made charging decisions on such cursory work.
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| DHS contradicts Candace Owens on same day she testifies before Congress about white nationalism Posted: 20 Sep 2019 07:18 PM PDT  Conservative commentator Candace Owens said white nationalism is "just election rhetoric" on the same day DHS added violent white supremacist extremist to its list of priority threats.
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| Bill Maher Makes the Case for Joe Biden: He Is ‘Mildly Embarrassing’ But Not ‘Insane’ Like Trump Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:16 PM PDT  HBOHBO's Bill Maher ended his Friday night broadcast of Real Time by taking aim at Republicans and conservative pundits who defend President Donald Trump regardless of what he says and does, introducing a new concept: Catch-23.During his "New Rules" segment, Maher explained to his viewers that "Catch-22 meant if you claimed to be insane to get out of combat, it actually proved you were sane." On the other hand, "Catch-23 is if Donald Trump never makes you insane, you are insane!"Noting that Republicans love to toss around the term "Trump Derangement Syndrome" to brush aside criticism of the "Dear Leader" as nothing but liberals being "sore losers" who can't accept Trump is president, Maher admitted there was some of that on the left before asking: "Have you watched this man over the last four years?!"Playing a montage of Trump's most bizarre moments at his campaign rallies, the HBO star snarked that Republicans somehow came to the conclusion that this was "how a president behaves" before pointing out that conservatives were correct to say liberals haven't gotten over Trump.John Oliver Drags Joe Biden Over 'Record Player' Gaffe at Democratic DebateBill Maher Exposes Tomi Lahren on 'Real Time' "You're right. we haven't gotten over it, because no one should," he exclaimed.Maher went on to highlight the president taking North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Saudis at their words, adding that this is "what Trump Derangement Syndrome really is: pretending that all of this is perfectly acceptable behavior for an American president and defending the indefensible.""That's deranged," he quipped. "That's a syndrome. And it's coming from the right. It's like body odor: if you smell it all the time, it's probably you."This prompted the acerbic comic to make a case for supporting Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden even if he "rapidly declines and legit loses his mind," telling Republicans: "I am going to pretend 'nothing to see here,' just like you're doing now."Maher would go on to encourage Democrats to vote for Biden even if he devolves from the current "mildly embarrassing gaffe machine who mixes up stories and waits 'til he's onstage for his eyeball to explode and his dentures to fall out.""That guy would not be nearly broken and crazy enough to teach the Republicans the lesson they need to learn," he noted. "For this, I need Joe Biden to be full-on, forgot-to-wear-pants, crumbs-in-the-hair, screaming-at-the-toaster nuts!"Maher continued: "And when Republicans say, 'Wait a minute, how can you give unwavering support for someone who's clearly lost it?' I'll say, 'I don't know, you tell me.'"The veteran comedian told his audience that in private, they'll go ahead and admit that their guy is nuts, but publicly they'll be in full denial mode, pointing to Fox Business host Stuart Varney's assertion that Trump has never lied as a prime example of how to act.Rolling his eyes at Varney's obsequiousness, Maher said he wanted to see Biden do "every fucked-up thing a celebrity ever did"—such as wear a meat dress or interrupt Taylor Swift at an awards show—just so he could tell Republicans that Biden's "a different kind of president.""And after he plows the presidential limousine through a farmer's market, I'll say, 'Why so upset, Republicans? That's just Biden being Biden,'" Maher concluded.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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| Israel Could Not Survive Hamas' Missiles Without The Iron Dome Posted: 21 Sep 2019 01:30 AM PDT  Israel lives in a dangerous neighborhood.
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| Stacks of cash shown at trial of Sudan's toppled leader Bashir Posted: 21 Sep 2019 12:28 PM PDT  Stacks of cash piled high were shown as evidence on Saturday against ousted Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir at his trial on charges of possessing illicit foreign currency and corruption. Millions of euros and Sudanese pounds were found at Bashir's residence in April after he was overthrown and detained by the military following months of demonstrations against his rule. The court heard four defense witnesses on Saturday, including Abubakr Awad, who was minister of state for the presidency until Bashir's fall, before it was adjourned until next Saturday.
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| ‘House Hunters’ host Suzanne Whang dies at 56 after long battle with cancer Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:03 AM PDT  Suzanne Whang, who hosted HGTV's "House Hunters" for nearly a decade, died on Thursday after a long battle with breast cancer.
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| Colt to stop making AR-15 rifles, weapon of choice in US mass shootings Posted: 20 Sep 2019 10:53 AM PDT  Legendary US gun manufacturer Colt has said it will no longer produce the AR-15, blaming market forces rather than the semi-automatic rifle's role in some of the country's worst mass shootings. "Over the last few years, the market for modern sporting rifles has experienced significant excess manufacturing capacity," said the company's chief executive Dennis Veilleux in a statement released on Thursday. For that reason, "we believe there is adequate supply for modern sporting rifles for the foreseeable future," he said, noting that his firm would continue to make assault rifles for the US military and law enforcement agencies, as well as its world-famous revolvers.
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| At School, 'Everyone Vapes,' and Adults Are in Crisis Mode Posted: 21 Sep 2019 07:17 AM PDT  CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. -- In Alabama, a school removed the doors from bathroom stalls to stop students from sneaking inside to vape. In Colorado, a school decided to forfeit a school volleyball game after finding "widespread vaping" and other infractions by the team. And in Pennsylvania, at a school where administrators have tried installing sensors to detect vaping in bathrooms and locker rooms, students caught with vape devices face a $50 fine and a three-day suspension.At least 530 people have been sickened by mysterious lung illnesses related to using e-cigarettes with nicotine or vaping THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, and at least eight have died. That has sent high schools, the epicenters of youth vaping, racing to give teenagers a new, urgent message: Vaping can be deadly.Federal health officials have yet to pinpoint an exact cause of the recent illnesses, but the alarming pattern has put principals and teachers into crisis mode. They are holding assemblies to warn students about the dangers. They are getting creative with rules to make it harder for students to secretly vape in school bathrooms, hallways and even classrooms. They are trying to train parents and teachers on the wide array of vape devices, which look like pens or flash drives and which many adults do not even recognize.During an assembly at one suburban Chicago high school this week, hundreds of students, many dressed in school colors of orange and black in honor of homecoming, saw an X-ray image of a young man's lungs, cloudy and damaged, on an auditorium screen.He had recently been hospitalized after vaping and placed in a medically induced coma for a week, a substance-abuse consultant told the students from a stage."His lungs are now that of a 70-year -old. He's in his 20s," the consultant, Ashleigh Nowakowski, said. "Can you imagine how that's going to affect the rest of his life? He can't run. He can't play sports."The students watched solemnly. A few squirmed in their seats.Administrators at American high schools have long tried to warn students about the risks of vaping, which gained popularity several years ago as an alternative to cigarettes and works by heating liquid and turning it into vapor to be inhaled. But the outbreak of illnesses has brought new levels of urgency and attention to the issue. Students who had brushed off the warnings in the past, saying that vaping was relatively harmless, could no longer do so.After the assembly, at Crystal Lake Central High School, 45 miles northwest of Chicago, some students said they were skeptical that vaping was as dangerous as the presentation suggested.The students told of a high school ecosystem where vaping devices are easily obtained, and refill cartridges with THC oil, known as carts, are sold for $20 apiece. It is not uncommon, these students said, for seniors to sell vape pens to freshmen, eager to take up vaping.Opportunities to vape discreetly are everywhere, they said -- in an empty hallway, a bathroom stall or the back row of a classroom where a teacher cannot possibly monitor every student's move. Older students said they tended to leave campus for lunch, vaping in their cars along the way."It's rare to find someone who doesn't do it," said Alexis Padilla, 16, a junior. "You can't go on social media without someone's videos of them doing it."Last week, the Trump administration said it planned to ban most flavored e-cigarettes and nicotine pods, an attempt to curtail use among teenagers. States tend to regulate e-cigarettes like other nicotine products, and laws vary from state to state. At least a dozen states have passed laws restricting sales of e-cigarettes to young people; in Illinois, Arkansas and other states, the legal age for purchasing nicotine products, including e-cigarettes, is 21. In Texas, minors can be fined for possessing e-cigarettes.But many teenagers sidestep the age restrictions by buying e-cigarettes online or from friends.In one group of the Crystal Lake students -- girls carrying patterned backpacks and wearing tattered Chuck Taylors -- three said they personally knew people who had become seriously ill after vaping.One friend who had vaped nicotine for two years using a Juul, the dominant seller in the market, was hospitalized with a respiratory lung defect, but has recovered, one student said. Another girl who vaped regularly suddenly couldn't breathe one day, the students said, and she now has to use an inhaler every four hours.Sophia Scarfe, a 17-year-old senior, said her parents routinely sent her news articles about the dangers of vaping. Many students have moved beyond vaping nicotine, she said, routinely using THC oils instead. "Vaping anything else other than nicotine is way more common," she said.Alcohol is still widely consumed among teenagers, they said. But "vaping is the big thing," said Nyanan Bey, 17, a senior.One student openly laughed when she heard a widely cited statistic from the 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey that estimated that 1 in 4 youths between the ages of 12 and 17 have tried vaping nicotine or THC at least once."Yeah, that's too low," she said. "Literally everyone vapes."Health officials suspect that vaping-related illnesses and deaths are underreported, and that doctors have only recently begun to connect vaping to mysterious lung ailments.And educators said they were beginning to grapple with the reality that a new generation of American teenagers, who would be loath to pick up cigarettes, are now addicted to nicotine through vaping.There is nothing out of the ordinary about the students at Crystal Lake Central, a school of 1,500 students, said Steve Greiner, student services coordinator."The kids in our school are like any other school," he said. "People are really starting to realize, 'Holy cow, this was seen as the answer to our prayers to get people off cigarettes.' Now it's turned into this."Administrators there have stationed teachers in the hallways between classes to deter vaping. Some have worried that Crystal Lake is only 30 miles from a town in Wisconsin where the police this month said they uncovered an illegal vape-pen factory that was producing 3,000 cartridges of THC-laced oil a day, with a distribution network that is believed to have been extensive.At a separate informational session for teachers in the auditorium after school on Wednesday, another substance-abuse consultant guided teachers through the world of teenage vaping. The numbers "710" -- which spell "oil" upside down -- are a code for vaping, the consultant explained. Vaping devices might be found in unlikely, out-of-view places -- inside the cord of a hoodie or dangling from a key chain. "Girls sew them into their jeans, next to the zipper," Dave Shutters, the dean of students, added.In Crystal Lake, the typical response to a student caught vaping is counseling and other efforts to provide information about the dangers. Some schools have tried vaping support groups.At Nerinx Hall, an all-girls Catholic school in the St. Louis area, students are planning a peer-driven "amnesty week," where they hope to make an "emotional appeal" to one another and offer a chance to dump vaping equipment at a secure drop-off location, said Meta Stephens, the senior class treasurer."We really want it to be no pressure: You will not get in trouble for this," said Stephens, 17, who is helping plan the event this fall. "We really just want to help you stop if you want to."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| Iran issues 'battlefield' warning and U.S. deploys troops Posted: 21 Sep 2019 08:10 AM PDT  Any country that attacks Iran will become the "main battlefield", the Revolutionary Guards warned Saturday after Washington ordered reinforcements to the Gulf following attacks on Saudi oil that it blames on Tehran.
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| Elizabeth Warren leads Iowa Poll for the first time, besting Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders Posted: 21 Sep 2019 05:27 PM PDT  Elizabeth Warren now holds a 2-point lead over former vice president Joe Biden.
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| Ethiopia says detains suspected Islamist militants planning attacks Posted: 21 Sep 2019 12:32 PM PDT ![Ethiopia says detains suspected Islamist militants planning attacks]( "Ethiopia says detains suspected Islamist militants planning attacks") Ethiopia said on Saturday it had arrested an unspecified number of Islamist militant members of the Somali group al Shabaab and Islamic State who were planning to carry out attacks in the country on various targets including hotels. Some of those arrested were carrying out intelligence work including photographing potential targets, the National Intelligence Security Services (NISS) said in a statement read out on state-affiliated broadcaster Fana. "The group was ... preparing to attack hotels, religious festivities gathering places and public areas in Addis Ababa," NISS said.
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| Rudy Giuliani melts down on live TV in bizarre Chris Cuomo interview Posted: 20 Sep 2019 08:06 AM PDT  Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York and personal attorney to President Trump, got into a shouting match with CNN's Chris Cuomo on Thursday night.
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| White supremacist who praised ‘psychedelic Nazis’ caught with stockpile of guns and LSD Posted: 21 Sep 2019 03:14 AM PDT  In a secret chat last November, according to court filings, two associates of a violent white supremacist group discussed whether drug use was in line with their political beliefs."Psychedelic Nazis . . . There's nothing more Aryan than entheogenic drug use," Andrew Thomasberg, 21, texted a friend, according to prosecutors, referencing plants that have psychedelic effects. But, he added, "Drug addiction is untermensch" – a Nazi term for people considered subhuman.
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| Europe Has Its Very Own Missile Defense System Posted: 20 Sep 2019 07:00 PM PDT  The Aster missile defense idea might end up being a victim of politics.
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| U.S. Plan to Add Mideast Troops After Attack Draws Pelosi Rebuke Posted: 21 Sep 2019 11:37 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. will send a "moderate" number of troops to the Middle East and additional missile defense capabilities to Saudi Arabia in response to last weekend's attack on oil facilities, top Pentagon officials said. The top Democrat in Congress said the actions are unacceptable.Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Friday that the decision came at the request of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and represented a "first step" in the U.S. response. He reiterated U.S. statements that evidence collected to date shows Iran was responsible for the attacks. The briefing by Esper and General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, followed a meeting of national security officials at the White House."Iran is waging a deliberate campaign to destabilize the Middle East," Esper told reporters at the Pentagon. He added that the U.S. has shown "great restraint" in responding so far, but called the strike on Saudi Aramco facilities on Saturday a "dramatic escalation."Esper and Dunford are still deciding on the specific number of troops and weapons systems but said the personnel deployment will be relatively small, not numbering in the thousands, and that more details would be forthcoming.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Saturday said the decision is an attempt by the administration to circumvent the will of Congress, which adopted resolutions to block arms sales to the Saudis and U.A.E. and condemn the Saudis for the "continued assault" on men, women and children."These unacceptable actions are cause for alarm," Pelosi said Saturday in a statement. "Americans are weary of war, and have no interest in entering another Middle East conflict, particularly on behalf of Saudi Arabia."In addition to the U.S. missile defense assistance, Esper said "we are calling on many other countries who all have these capabilities to do two things -- stand up and condemn these attacks" and also contribute equipment.U.S. and Saudi analyses of the attack have described the strike as complex, involving a mix of low-flying drones and cruise missiles coming from the north. The attack exposed glaring vulnerabilities in Saudi Arabia's defense capabilities despite having spent hundreds of billions of dollars on weaponry in recent years.Swarms of Drones"There's an international action led by the U.S. and in coordination with the Saudi kingdom to protect the navigation in the gulf and the Arabian sea," Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir said in a news conference in Riyadh on Saturday. This way "tankers and oil supplies are not subject to any complications from Iran," he said.Saudi Arabia has already taken delivery of Patriot-3 hit-to-kill missiles bought years ago to defend against cruise and ballistic missiles. The kingdom earlier this year finalized a long-sought after contract for Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Thaad missile interceptors designed to intercept ballistic missiles at higher altitudes. It's not known whether any Thaad batteries have been delivered."No single system is going to be able to defend against a threat like" the combination of systems launched against Saudi Arabia last week, Dunford said. "But a layered system of defensive capabilities would mitigate the risk of swarms of drones or other attacks that may come from Iran."U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, who has repeatedly said Iran was responsible for the attack, returned early Friday from a two-day trip to Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E., saying he wanted to begin building a coalition that would organize a response to Iran.During a news conference earlier Friday, President Donald Trump signaled he's trying to avoid a military conflict. Trump campaigned in 2016 on getting the U.S. out of Mideast conflicts and he's repeatedly criticized the second U.S. invasion of Iraq."I will say I think the sanctions work, and the military would work," Trump told reporters. "But that's a very severe form of winning."On Friday the Treasury Department announced it is sanctioning Iran's central bank and sovereign wealth fund, a move aimed at squelching any remaining trade the country conducts with Europe and Asia.The Blame GameIranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned that any U.S. or Saudi strike on his country in response to the attacks on the kingdom's critical oil facilities would lead to "all-out war.""I know that we didn't do it," Zarif told CNN. "I know that the Houthis made a statement that they did it."Zarif later said in a post on Twitter that it was "curious" the Saudis "retaliated" against Yemen when Iran was blamed for the attacks. "It is clear that even the Saudis themselves don't believe the fiction of Iranian involvement."Yemeni Shiite Houthi rebel leader Mahdi al-Mashat announced Friday the halt of drone and ballistic missile attacks on Saudi Arabia. He also called on the Saudi-led coalition to lift the blockade on the port of Hodeidah and reopen Sana'a International Airport."We judge other parties by their deeds and actions and not by their words," Saudi Arabia's Al-Jubeir said.\--With assistance from Dana El Baltaji, Donna Abu-Nasr and Salma El Wardany.To contact the reporters on this story: Tony Capaccio in Washington at acapaccio@bloomberg.net;Glen Carey in Washington at gcarey8@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Kevin WhitelawFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Hurricane Lorena makes landfall at Mexico's Los Cabos resort Posted: 20 Sep 2019 04:00 PM PDT  Lorena made landfall Friday as a Category 1 hurricane, lashing the turquoise waters of popular beach destination Los Cabos on Mexico's Baja California peninsula. "The eye of Hurricane Lorena is now passing over the coast of Los Cabos," Mexico's hurricane monitor, CONAGUA, wrote on Twitter.
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| Parachutists jump over Dutch heath to mark WWII operation Posted: 21 Sep 2019 06:16 AM PDT  Parachutes glowing gold and white against clear blue skies, hundreds of paratroopers floated to the ground in the eastern Netherlands on Saturday to mark the 75th anniversary of a daring but ultimately unsuccessful mission that Allied commanders hoped would bring a swift end to World War II. Operation Market Garden dropped nearly 35,000 paratroopers deep behind enemy lines in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands. After landing, the troops were to capture and secure key roads and bridges so Allied forces massed in Belgium could pour into Germany's industrial heartland.
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| At LGBTQ forum, Democratic candidates offer support, defend records Posted: 21 Sep 2019 08:37 AM PDT  Several candidates sought to emphasize their longstanding commitment to LGBTQ rights at the forum Friday night in Cedar Rapids.
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| Saudi Aramco has emerged from attacks 'stronger than ever': CEO Posted: 21 Sep 2019 12:03 AM PDT  Saudi Aramco has emerged from attacks on its oil facilities "stronger than ever", Chief Executive Amin Nasser told employees in a message, adding that full oil production would resume by the end of this month. "The fires that were intended to destroy Saudi Aramco had an unintended consequence: they galvanized 70,000 of us around a mission to rebound quickly and confidently, and Saudi Aramco has come out of this incident stronger than ever," Nasser said in the internal message, on the occasion of the Saudi national day, to be celebrated on Sept. 23. Six days after the assault, which hit at the heart of the Saudi energy industry and intensified a decades-long struggle with arch-rival Iran, the state oil giant Aramco invited reporters on Friday to observe the damage and the repair efforts.
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| As a foreign reporter visiting the US I was stunned by Trump's press conference Posted: 20 Sep 2019 05:26 AM PDT  Despite being subjected to a daily diet of Trump headlines, I was unprepared for the president's alarming incoherenceNot normal: Donald Trump addresses the press at Otay Mesa, California. Photograph: ReutersAs a regular news reader I thought I was across the eccentricities of the US president. Most mornings in Australia begin with news from America – the bid to buy Greenland, adjustments to a weather map hand-drawn with a Sharpie or another self-aggrandising tweet. Our headlines and news bulletins, like headlines and news bulletins everywhere, are full of Trump.As a political reporter for most of the last 30 years I have also endured many long and rambling political press conferences with Australian prime ministers and world leaders.But watching a full presidential Trump press conference while visiting the US this week I realised how much the reporting of Trump necessarily edits and parses his words, to force it into sequential paragraphs or impose meaning where it is difficult to detect.The press conference I tuned into by chance from my New York hotel room was held in Otay Mesa, California, and concerned a renovated section of the wall on the Mexican border.I joined as the president was explaining at length how powerful the concrete was. Very powerful, it turns out. It was unlike any wall ever built, incorporating the most advanced "concrete technology". It was so exceptional that would-be wall-builders from three unnamed countries had visited to learn from it.There were inner tubes in the wall that were also filled with concrete, poured in via funnels, and also "rebars" so the wall would withstand anyone attempting to cut through it with a blowtorch.The wall went very deep and could not be burrowed under. Prototypes had been tested by 20 "world-class mountain climbers – That's all they do, they love to climb mountains", who had been unable to scale it.It was also "wired, so that we will know if somebody is trying to break through", although one of the attending officials declined a presidential invitation to discuss this wiring further, saying, "Sir, there could be some merit in not discussing it", which the president said was a "very good answer".The wall was "amazing", "world class", "virtually impenetrable" and also "a good, strong rust colour" that could later be painted. It was designed to absorb heat, so it was "hot enough to fry an egg on". There were no eggs to hand, but the president did sign his name on it and spoke for so long the TV feed eventually cut away, promising to return if news was ever made.> In writing about this not-especially-important or unusual press conference I've run into what US reporters must encounter every dayHe did, at one point, concede that would-be immigrants, unable to scale, burrow, blow torch or risk being burned, could always walk around the incomplete structure, but that would require them walking a long way. This seemed to me to be an important point, but the monologue quickly returned to the concrete.In writing about this not-especially-important or unusual press conference I've run into what US reporters must encounter every day. I've edited skittering, half-finished sentences to present them in some kind of consequential order and repeated remarks that made little sense.In most circumstances, presenting information in as intelligible a form as possible is what we are trained for. But the shock I felt hearing half an hour of unfiltered meanderings from the president of the United States made me wonder whether the editing does our readers a disservice.I've read so many stories about his bluster and boasting and ill-founded attacks, I've listened to speeches and hours of analysis, and yet I was still taken back by just how disjointed and meandering the unedited president could sound. Here he was trying to land the message that he had delivered at least something towards one of his biggest campaign promises and sounding like a construction manager with some long-winded and badly improvised sales lines.I'd understood the dilemma of normalising Trump's ideas and policies – the racism, misogyny and demonisation of the free press. But watching just one press conference from Otay Mesa helped me understand how the process of reporting about this president can mask and normalise his full and alarming incoherence.• Lenore Taylor is the editor of Guardian Australia.
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| Meghan Markle's stylish Stuart Weitzman boots are almost 70 percent off -- and they're perfect for fall! Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:19 AM PDT  The duchess is known for a few signature looks when it comes to her royal style: a messy bun, a sleek pantsuit and her affinity for Stuart Weitzman heels.
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| The Best Pocket Knives to Keep on You Every Day Posted: 20 Sep 2019 09:35 AM PDT |
| Navy Orders Trial for Two in Hazing Death of Green Beret Logan Melgar Posted: 20 Sep 2019 02:33 PM PDT  Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/handoutA Navy SEAL and a Marine will be tried for the hazing death of Green Beret Logan Melgar, who was allegedly duct-taped and put in a chokehold by his military comrades in Mali two years ago.The Navy announced Friday that Marine Raider Gunnery Sgt. Mario Madera-Rodriguez, 34, and Navy Special Operations Chief Tony DeDolph, 40, were referred to a court-martial on murder and other charges that could land them with life sentences.An admiral made the decision after the evidence against the pair was laid out at a hearing in Norfolk, Virginia, last month, where two other military men who copped pleas took the stand against DeDolph and Madera-Rodriguez.According to testimony by Marine Staff Sgt. Kevin Maxwell and Chief Special Warfare Operator Adam Matthews, Melgar ditched the rest of the team on the way to a party at the French embassy—and they decided to get revenge by hazing him.In the dead of night, they used a sledgehammer to break into Melgar's room and then rushed him. DeDolph allegedly applied a choke hold while Matthews and Maxwell duct-taped Melgar's arms and legs. "The overall intent wasn't to hurt him," Matthews said.How a Green Beret's Hazing Led to Murder Charges for Elite TroopsProsecutors alleged that the group also planned to have a local man molest Melgar, but the admiral declined to add sexual misconduct charges to the court-martial.DeDolph's attorney, Phil Stackhouse, has argued the evidence does not support murder charges."Clearly what happened is a horrible, tragic accident," Stackhouse said. "Based on all the facts in this case, nobody went into that room to kill Staff Sgt. Melgar."Two Alleged Murderers of Green Beret Sgt. Logan Melgar Are Negotiating with ProsecutorsRead 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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