| Service Workers To Rally Against Trump Immigration Policies Posted: 14 Oct 2017 08:22 AM PDT  The hospitality workers union Unite Here was tangling with Donald Trump long before he ever became president.
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| Iran: If U.S. Walks Away, the Nuclear Deal is Over Posted: 13 Oct 2017 03:13 AM PDT  NBC News' Ali Arouzi has early reaction from Iran to President Trump's decision to decertify the Iran nuclear deal.
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| Here's Why Some Black Women Aren't Here For #WomenBoycottTwitter Posted: 13 Oct 2017 12:05 PM PDT  When Twitter temporarily suspended actress Rose McGowan's account on Thursday (reportedly due to violating rules), some women on Twitter responded with a boycott.
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| New Orleans chief: Officer killed during struggle Posted: 13 Oct 2017 05:25 PM PDT  NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A New Orleans police officer was fatally shot Friday during a struggle after he and his patrol team left their cars to investigate something suspicious shortly after midnight. Other officers returned fire, wounding a suspect who eventually surrendered to a SWAT team, police said.
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| Nelly rape accuser wants to stop investigation because she believes 'the system is going to fail her' Posted: 14 Oct 2017 01:23 AM PDT  A woman who accused US rapper Nelly of sexual assault has asked police to stop their investigation, her lawyer has said. Lawyer Karen Koehler posted a letter on her website saying the woman "is telling Auburn Police Department and the King County Prosecutor's Office to put a halt on the investigation of Cornell Iral Haynes Jr", the real name of the rapper. It goes on to say she will not testify in criminal proceedings against him, saying the woman "wishes she had not called 911 because she believes the system is going to fail her" and she "wants this to end".
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| Freed Hostage Says Haqqani Kidnappers Killed His Infant Daughter Posted: 14 Oct 2017 07:58 AM PDT  Former hostage Joshua Boyle says the Haqqani network in Afghanistan killed his infant daughter and raped his American wife during the five years they were held in captivity
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| Stephen Colbert Puts A Sales Spin On Trump's Border Wall Prototypes Posted: 14 Oct 2017 08:16 AM PDT  Construction workers in California are building eight prototypes for walls that could eventually be used on the border between the United States and Mexico.
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| Swiss Alpine Pass Yields 4,000-Year-Old Bow, Arrows and Lunch Box Posted: 13 Oct 2017 03:39 AM PDT  Pieces of a 4,000-year-old bow, arrows and a wooden food container that belonged to a Bronze Age mountaineer have been found in a high alpine pass in Switzerland. The artifacts are among several items found in what appears to have been a rock shelter beside a glacier near the top of the nearly 8,800-foot (2,700 meters) Lötschberg Pass, or Lötschenpass, in the Bernese Alps. The bow and arrows, food box and other items are thought to have belonged to Bronze Age hunters or animal herders who took shelter beneath a large rock near the top of the pass around 4,000 years ago, said Regula Gubler, an archaeologist for the Canton of Bern government, which announced the finds this week.
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| Pakistan official details car chase that freed kidnapped U.S.-Canadian family Posted: 13 Oct 2017 06:07 AM PDT  By Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani troops shot out the tires of a vehicle carrying a kidnapped U.S.-Canadian couple and their children in a raid that led to the family's release after five years of being held hostage, a Pakistani security official said on Friday. U.S. drones were hovering near the northwestern Pakistani area where American Caitlan Campbell, her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle and their three children, all born in captivity, were freed, another security official said. Campbell and Boyle were held by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network after being kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan, and their rescue marked a rare positive note in often-fraught U.S.-Pakistan relations.
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| Officials Couldn't Believe How Botched Jared Kushner's Clearance Forms Were Posted: 13 Oct 2017 02:32 AM PDT  Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor, made so many omissions on the security clearance forms he submitted that the governmental body responsible for reviewing them is incredulous.
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| Boy's body found after 3 adults slain; manhunt underway Posted: 12 Oct 2017 07:56 PM PDT  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A 7-year-old boy was shot dead and his body apparently hidden in a home where three adults were found fatally shot and a fourth was stabbed, a sheriff said Thursday as a manhunt for the suspect focused on a wooded area near Ohio's southern tip.
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| Striking images reveal wineries devastated by wildfires Posted: 13 Oct 2017 06:10 PM PDT  Remarkable photos reveal how badly California's wineries have been damaged in wildfires that have burned tens of thousands of acres of wine country since Sunday. SEE ALSO: How California's firestorm spread so mind-bogglingly fast: From 'Diablo' winds to climate trends Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa, California is just one of the dozens of wineries that was ravaged by the massive fires. In the midst of the blaze, a large plastic wine container melted, releasing a boiling pool of wine, according to SF Gate. "I saw a pool of wine, and it was flowing lightly down the hill, and as I got close to it, I noticed that it was bubbling," photographer Josh Edelson told the news outlet. "At first, I didn't understand it, but then it dawned on me that the ground was hot, and the wine was boiling with all that stuff smoldering around it." Edelson captured pictures of the haunting scene at Paradise Ridge on Tuesday. A pool of wine boils beneath debris from the fire at Paradise Ridge Winery.Image: JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images A melted wine container leaks wine onto the ground at Paradise Ridge Winery.Image: JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images Charred fermentation tanks drip wine at a destroyed Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa.Image: JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty ImagesParadise Ridge Winery owner Sonia Byck-Barwick told CNN the property is completely burned, and all of the grapes they had picked for the season have been lost. Byck-Barwick said she hopes to keep the business alive in the face of destruction by using a small building on the property as a tasting room for visitors. Many other wineries have experienced varying degrees of damage, and at least a dozen have been completely destroyed, according to The Mercury Times. Wine grapes are destroyed by the Tubbs Fire on October 11, 2017 in Kenwood, California.Image: EZRA SHAW/Getty Images The gutted remains of Paradise Ridge winery. #sonomafire #wine. Owner says he will rebuild. pic.twitter.com/ubhofqQAIC — Bill Swindell (@BillSwindell) October 9, 2017 Signorelli winery is gone pic.twitter.com/rOHpqGNMn2 — Karin Oconnell (@KarinO39) October 9, 2017 A mother hen and her (well-camouflaged) chicks scratch and peck for food in the burned earth at a Calistoga-area winery. pic.twitter.com/E441QZgENt — Trevor Hughes (@TrevorHughes) October 11, 2017 Melted wine bottles are among the remains of the Signorello Estate Winery in Napa, California.Image: JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty ImagesFans of the wineries expressed their concern on Twitter. This is where @aprilolanoff and I got married. I hope everyone is safe. https://t.co/ViJB7u5ejN — drew olanoff (@yoda) October 9, 2017 My wife & I were married there just a few weeks ago. That's extremely sad news. Such a happy, beautiful place. — Derek Gathright (@derek) October 9, 2017 The fires in Northern California have destroyed at least 5,700 homes and businesses, and have displaced 90,000 people as of Friday afternoon, according to the Associated Press. At least 35 people have died, making these fires the deadliest and most destructive in the state's history. The two deadliest fires — the Tubbs and Atlas fires in Napa and Sonoma Counties — moved quickly through wine country due to strong winds, making it difficult for firefighters to contain them. WATCH: California wildfire victims returning to their destroyed homes is absolutely heart-wrenching
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| Ford Offers Fix to Prevent Possible Explorer Carbon Monoxide Leaks Posted: 14 Oct 2017 08:40 AM PDT  Ford said it would offer a limited-time-only free repair for about 1.4 million SUVs after a wave of public concern about Ford Explorer carbon monoxide leaks. The company made the announcement Oct...
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| Canadian hostage reveals captors murdered his daughter and raped his wife during Afghan kidnapping Posted: 14 Oct 2017 02:16 AM PDT  A US-Canadian couple freed in Pakistan this week almost five years after being kidnapped have returned to Canada where the husband revealed one of his children had been murdered and his wife had been raped by their captors. American Caitlan Coleman, 31, and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle, 34, were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network. Pakistani troops rescued the family in the northwest of the country, near the Afghan border, on Wednesday. The US has long accused Pakistan of failing to fight the Haqqani group. An emotional Mr Boyle speaks to the media following his family's dramatic rescue on Wednesday. Credit: REUTERS/Mark Blinch "The stupidity and the evil of the Haqqani network in the kidnapping of a pilgrim ... was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorising the murder of my infant daughter," Mr Boyle told reporters in a statement at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. "And the stupidity and evil of the subsequent rape of my wife, not as a lone action, but by one guard, but assisted by the captain of the guard and supervised by the commandant." He did not elaborate on what he meant by "pilgrim", or on the murder or rape. Ms Coleman, who is from Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, and their three children who were all born in captivity, were not at the news conference. Caitlin Coleman, Joshua Boyle and two of their children during their time in captivity Credit: Reuters "Obviously, it will be of incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home," Mr Boyle added. Mr Boyle said the Taliban, who he referred to by their official name - the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan - had carried out an investigation last year and conceded that the crimes against his family were perpetrated by the Haqqani network. Joshua Boyle at Pearson Toronto International Airport revealed his wife had been raped and his daughter murdered by their captors Credit: Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP He called on the Taliban "to provide my family with the justice we are owed". "God willing, this litany of stupidity will be the epitaph of the Haqqani network," he said. His statement came after Ms Coleman's parents revealed they were furious with their son-in-law for taking their pregnant daughter to Afghanistan. Patrick and Linda Boyle outside their home in Smith Falls, Ontario Credit: The Canadian Press via AP "Taking your pregnant wife to a very dangerous place, to me, and the kind of person I am, is unconscionable," Coleman's father, Jim, told ABC News. Linda Boyle said she had spoken to her son three times since his release. "I have not wiped the smile off of my face," she said. Mr Boyle revealed dramatic details of their rescue to his family in phone calls. The five of them were crammed into the boot of the kidnappers' car when a deadly shoot-out forced it to a halt. Five of the captors were shot dead by the Pakistani army and Mr Boyle suffered minor shrapnel wounds, he told his parents. An unknown number of the kidnappers, believed to be from the Taliban-allied Haqqani network, fled on foot. One of the three children was in poor health and had to be force-fed by their Pakistani rescuers, Mr Boyle told reporters. A still image from a militant video taken in 2013 showing Caitlan Coleman and her husband Joshua. Credit: Coleman family via AP "He knows who the people are and he wants to make sure that they're all prosecuted," said Ms Boyle. She added that her son views the Pakistani Army as "heroes" for securing the family's freedom. In a video posted by the Toronto Star, Mr Boyle's father Patrick expressed the couple's "profound thanks for the courageous Pakistani soldiers who risked their lives and got all five out safely in the rescue." Ms Boyle said she had yet to know the full horror endured by her son and daughter-in-law endured since they were kidnapped in early October 2012 when they crossed into Afghanistan during a backpacking trip through Central Asia. "They were held the entire time in an underground prison," Ms Boyle said that Josh told her during one of their phone calls on Thursday. The couple's two sons aged four and two were born during the couple's time in captivity. Mr Boyle helped deliver the second boy, said Ms Boyle. There is also a baby girl, who was either born two months ago – as Mr Boyle told his mother – or four months ago, as her Canadian passport reads. "But maybe when you're kept in an underground prison, you have no sense of time," said Ms Boyle. She said the reunited family would live together in their three-bedroom home in the Ottawa area. The operation to free the family has raised fresh questions about Pakistan's relationship with militant groups and whether any deal was done. North Americans held hostage by Taliban freed by Pakistan 01:11 Donald Trump's administration has increased pressure on the country's security forces to disavow groups such as the Haqqani network which it has used in the past to hold influence in neighbouring Afghanistan. Michael Kugelman, a South Asia specialist at the Woodrow Wilson Centre, said: "I don't think it's a coincidence that this hostage release was announced when you have a parade of top Trump administration officials in Islamabad to deliver strongly worded warnings to Pakistan." For his part, Mr Trump credited Pakistan for "working in conjunction" with the US government in securing the release of the Boyle-Coleman family. Ms Boyle said she was unsure "what role Canada played" in extricating her son and his young family from captivity. On Thursday morning, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland issued a statement in which she said that Canada "has been actively engaged" with the US, Afghan and Pakistani governments, but later told reporters that she was "not at liberty to describe the circumstances" of the family's release. "We were not on the inside of anything and were pretty much kept in the dark," said Ms Boyle.
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| Deadly truck bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia Posted: 14 Oct 2017 12:18 PM PDT ![Deadly truck bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia]( "Deadly truck bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia") A huge truck bomb explosion killed at least 20 people in Mogadishul, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they'd heard in years.
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| Another Trump Campaign Tie to Russia Exposed Posted: 13 Oct 2017 11:02 AM PDT  Rachel Maddow looks at the many ways that Donald Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort has been shown to be connected to Russian oligarchs and interests, including NBC News' discovery of an additional $26 million loan.
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| Hair Tips And Tricks That'll Help Your Locks Live Their Best Life Posted: 13 Oct 2017 12:29 PM PDT  We've gathered some of our favorite hair hacks to inspire your home beauty routine.
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| Last Home of 'Peanuts' Creator Charles Schulz Among Thousands Destroyed by Wildfires Posted: 13 Oct 2017 10:23 AM PDT  Schulz's 79-year-old widow was able to flee the property.
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| Teen Scares The Bejesus Out Of Neighbor With Her 'Creepy Window' Posted: 13 Oct 2017 02:15 PM PDT  It looked like something supernatural is happening in Kellie Burkhart's bedroom window.
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| Death toll from worst Vietnam floods in years rises to 54 Posted: 12 Oct 2017 09:20 PM PDT  At least 54 people died and 39 went missing as destructive floods battered northern and central Vietnam this week, the disaster prevention agency said on Friday. Vietnam is prone to destructive storms and flooding due to its long coastline. A typhoon wrecked havoc across central provinces just last month.
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| American family held hostage by militants in Pakistan were rescued after dramatic car chase Posted: 13 Oct 2017 12:02 PM PDT  New details have emerged of the dramatic rescue of a Canadian-American family held hostage by a Taliban-linked group for more than five years in Pakistan. The couple – US citizen Caitlan Campbell and Canadian Joshua Boyle – were captured five years ago by the Haqqani network while hiking in the mountains of Afghanistan. Ms Campbell was pregnant at the time, with the couple having three children while they were held hostage.
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| Evacuation deal for Isil fighters in Syria's Raqqa as city's capture nears Posted: 14 Oct 2017 11:42 AM PDT  A convoy will leave Syria's Raqqa on Saturday under an evacuation deal agreed as a US-backed force battles to seize Isil's last positions in the city. The US-led coalition said the deal for the evacuation would exclude foreign Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) fighters, but left unclear whether Syrian jihadists would be able to quit their one-time stronghold. The agreement, reached by local officials, comes after days of talks on a way for the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces to secure the last parts of the city while avoiding further civilian casualties. Earlier Saturday, the US-led coalition said around 100 Isil fighters had surrendered to the SDF in the past 24 hours, but again stressed that no foreign fighters would be allowed to escape the city. In neighbouring Deir Ezzor province meanwhile, Syria's army captured the Isil stronghold of Mayadeen, in the latest blow to the jihadists who are seeing their self-styled "caliphate" crumble. Raqqa was once the de facto Syrian capital of the jihadist group's "caliphate" and the city's loss would be a new blow for Isil, which has already been driven from its strongholds in Iraq including second city Mosul. In June, the US-backed SDF, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, broke into Raqqa, and since then they have captured around 90 percent of the city. 'Minimise civilian casualties' In recent days, talks had been under way on a deal to secure the last parts of Raqqa while protecting trapped civilians, some of them being used by Isil fighters as human shields. "The arrangement is designed to minimise civilian casualties and purportedly excludes foreign Daesh terrorists as people trapped in the city continue to flee the impending fall of Daesh's so-called capital," the coalition said, using the Arabic acronym for Isil. "People departing Raqqa under the arrangement are subject to search and screening by Syrian Democratic Forces," it added. A Raqqa official told AFP on Saturday that Syrian Isil members had surrendered overnight to the SDF, without specifying how many. Syrian women and children gather on the western front after fleeing the centre of Raqqa on October 12, 2017 Credit: AFP "They sent a message to the Raqqa Civil Council (RCC) and to the tribal mediators," the official said. "Those that surrendered are local, not foreigners - the foreigners have not handed themselves in yet," he said. An SDF military source told AFP that buses and trucks were waiting outside Raqa and would take the surrendered fighters further east to Deir Ezzor province, much of which remains under Isil control. Members of the RCC - a provisional administration for the city, set up by the SDF - had been working with tribal leaders throughout the week to try to secure safe passage for civilians. Up to 1,500 civilians have managed to flee the battle-ravaged city in the past week, according to the coalition. The United Nations estimates thousands more may still be trapped inside. US-led coalition strikes have dropped off at points in the past week, with its latest update reporting no air raids on Friday. City on verge of capture The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitor of the war, said all the Syrian Isil fighters in the city had left, but negotiations on the fate of 150 foreign jihadists were ongoing. "The foreign fighters are asking to leave in one group towards areas under Isil control in Deir Ezzor province," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman. The US-led coalition however insisted that "foreign fighters are not being allowed to leave Raqqa," and cautioned that it still expected "difficult fighting in the days ahead." The damage near the central hospital of the embattled northern Syrian city of Raqqa Credit: AFP "Daesh is on the verge of being finished in Raqa in the coming days," said Nuri Mahmud, a spokesman for the key Kurdish People's Protection Units that forms the SDF's backbone. Isil captured Raqqa in 2014, turning it into a byword for its outrageous abuses as well as a centre for the planning of attacks abroad. The jihadists are also under attack in their remaining territory in Deir Ezzor province, where Syria's Russian-backed army on Saturday captured the town of Mayadeen. The army and the SDF are fighting two separate campaigns in the province. In neighbouring Iraq, the jihadists now hold just a sliver of territory in the Euphrates River valley.
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| Lacking Achievements, Trump Attacks Obama's Posted: 13 Oct 2017 11:30 AM PDT  With no significant legislative accomplishments to show for his time in office so far, Donald Trump shows only one motivation in office: the undo the accomplishments of President Barack Obama.
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| Rose McGowan Says Harvey Weinstein Raped Her Posted: 13 Oct 2017 11:54 AM PDT  Rose McGowan has now accused Harvey Weinstein of rape.
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| Ranking The Best Shows On Netflix You Can Stream Right Now Posted: 14 Oct 2017 04:59 AM PDT  Netflix has become that friend who just won't stop proposing outlandish new ideas.
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| The Latest: Couple who survived 6 days in Utah say Posted: 13 Oct 2017 04:16 PM PDT ![The Latest: Couple who survived 6 days in Utah say]( "The Latest: Couple who survived 6 days in Utah say") SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Latest on couple who survived six days in a remote part of southern Utah (all times local):
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| Philippine anti-narcotics chief warns of drugs war slowdown, police target assassins Posted: 12 Oct 2017 11:34 PM PDT  By Manuel Mogato MANILA (Reuters) - The head of the Philippines' anti-narcotics agency on Friday warned of a reduced intensity in the country's war on drugs after a removal of police from the campaign, which he hoped would only be temporary as his unit lacked manpower. Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Aaron Aquino said he had only a fraction of the personnel and budget of police, and hoped President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to make his agency responsible for all operations would not be lasting. "I hope this is just a temporary arrangement, we need the police." Amid unprecedented scrutiny of police conduct, the mercurial Duterte issued a memorandum on Tuesday ordering police to withdraw.
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| Mao or never: In Xi's China, a village clings to past Posted: 12 Oct 2017 11:10 PM PDT  Disneyland has "Main Street, USA", a monorail and Mickey Mouse. China's Nanjie village has "East is Red Square", red trams and Mao Zedong. While the Communist Party prepares to give a second term to its current supremo, Xi Jinping, at a major congress next week, Nanjie still clings firmly to Mao, while glossing over the turbulence and violence of his rule.
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| Say a big goodbye to the Mercedes-Benz G 500 4x4² Posted: 13 Oct 2017 07:38 AM PDT  October is your last chance to buy a piece of automotive history. Mercedes has confirmed that its limited-edition Mercedes-Benz G 500 4x4² is only set to stay in production until the end of this month and then the 422hp, V8-propelled $300,000 luxury off-roader and its ingenious portal axles will be no more. When it was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2015 as little more than an engineering concept, demand for the car was so overwhelming that Mercedes put the SUV, which stands over 2.2 meters tall, into very limited production the following year.
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| North Korea Threatens Guam Over Trump Tweets Posted: 13 Oct 2017 02:38 PM PDT  A researcher at North Korea's state-run Institute for American Studies is not happy about President Donald Trump's angry "letters" on Twitter.
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| Grim search for bodies begins as California wildfire death toll reaches 31 Posted: 12 Oct 2017 08:57 PM PDT  The death toll from raging California wildfires rose to 31 late on Thursday as body recovery teams used cadaver dogs to locate victims, making it the deadliest series of blazes in the state's history. The grim search began on Thursday for more dead in parts of California wine country devastated by the wildfires, resorting in some cases to serial numbers stamped on medical implants to identify remains that turned up in the charred ruins. Many of the flames still burned out of control, and the fires grew to more than 300 square miles (777 square kilometers), an area as large as New York City. Sonoma and Napa counties endured a fourth day of choking smoke while many residents fled to shelters or camped out on beaches to await word on their homes and loved ones. A forecast for gusty winds and dry air threatened to fan the fires. Some of the state's most historic tourist sites, including Sonoma city and Calistoga in Napa Valley, were ghost towns populated only by fire crews trying to stop the advancing infernos. Humans are to blame for wildfires getting worse - not just by climate change 02:32 Calistoga, known for wine tastings and hot springs, had dozens of firefighters staged at street corners. Ash rained down from the sky and a thick haze covered the ground. Mayor Chris Canning warned that the fires were drawing closer and all of the city's 5,000 residents needed to heed an evacuation order. "This is a mandatory evacuation. Your presence in Calistoga is not welcome if you are not a first responder," Mr Canning said during a news briefing, explaining that firefighters needed to focus on the blazes and had no time to save people. A few residents left behind cookies for fire crews with signs reading, "Please save our home!" A firefighter in the hills of Oakmont in Santa Rosa, California Credit: AP Robert Giordano, Sonoma County Sheriff, said officials were still investigating hundreds of reports of missing people and that recovery teams would begin conducting "targeted searches" for specific residents at their last known addresses. "We have found bodies almost completely intact, and we have found bodies that were nothing more than ash and bones," the sheriff said. Some remains have been identified using medical devices uncovered in the scorched heaps that were once homes. Metal implants, such as artificial hips, have ID numbers that helped put names to victims, he said. A helicopter drops water on a wildfire in Sonoma, California Credit: AP Firefighters had reported modest gains, but containment of the flames seemed nowhere in sight. "We are not out of this emergency. We are not even close to being out of this emergency," said Mark Ghilarducci, Emergency Operations Director. More than 8,000 firefighters were battling the blazes, and more manpower and equipment was pouring in from around the country and from as far away as Australia, officials said. Since igniting Sunday in spots across eight counties, the fires have transformed many neighborhoods into wastelands. At least 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed and an estimated 25,000 people forced to flee. Flames threaten to crest a hilltop near Sonoma Credit: AFP The wildfires continued to grow in size. A total count of 22 fires on Wednesday fell to 21 on Thursday because two large fires merged, said state Fire Chief Ken Pimlott. The challenge of fighting the fires was compounded by the need for more help and the growing fatigue of firefighters who have been working for days. "We have people that have been on that fire for three days who don't want to leave," said Cal Fire's deputy incident commander in Napa, Barry Biermann. "At some point, you hit a road block." Drone footage shows decimated California town 01:10 Fire officials were investigating whether downed power lines or other utility failures could have sparked the fires. It's unclear if downed lines and live wires resulted from the fires or started them, said Janet Upton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Hundreds of evacuees fled to beaches far to the north of the fires, some sleeping on the sand on the first night of the blazes. Since then, authorities have brought tents and sleeping bags and opened public buildings and restaurants to house people seeking refuge in the safety and clean air of the coastal community of Bodega Bay. Local charities and residents went to Costco to buy supplies for the fleeing families. California Highway Patrol Officer Quintin Shawk took relatives and other evacuees into his home and office, as did many others. Smoke obscures the San Francisco skyline Credit: AP "It's like a refugee camp," at his office, Shawk said. Community members fed breakfast to some 200 people on the beach alone, and Patricia Ginochio, who owns a restaurant, opened the eatery for 300 more to sleep, she said. The evacuees' arrival was heralded by a long line of headlights heading to beaches. "The kids were scared," Ginochio said, adding that temperatures by the beach drop dramatically at night. "They were shivering and freezing." Some lucky evacuees returned to find what they least expected. Anna Brooner was prepared to find rubble and ashes after fleeing Santa Rosa's devastated Coffey Park neighborhood. Then she got a call from a friend: "You're not going to believe this." Her home was one of only a handful still standing. "I swore when I left I was never coming back to this place," she said. "I feel so bad for all the other people. All of us came back thinking we had nothing left."
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| Do You Still Not Know What Fenty Means? Posted: 13 Oct 2017 01:35 PM PDT  She's the ball-gown-with-sneakers-wearing crooner of catchy tunes we all know and love.
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| Kidnapped, held 5 years, US-Canadian family free in Pakistan Posted: 13 Oct 2017 12:42 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Five years after they were seized by a terrorist network in the mountains of Afghanistan, an American woman, her Canadian husband and their children — all three born in captivity — are free after a dramatic rescue orchestrated by the U.S. and Pakistani governments, officials said Thursday.
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| Groom Reduced to Tears as He Sees Bride Walking Down the Aisle in Her Wedding Dress Posted: 14 Oct 2017 06:01 AM PDT  "I've never seen him cry like that," bride Ashleigh said.
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| Suspect in slayings of boy, 3 adults arrested after manhunt Posted: 13 Oct 2017 11:04 AM PDT  The man suspected of fatally shooting a 7-year-old boy and three adults was arrested Friday as he walked along a southern Ohio road after a dayslong manhunt, a sheriff said.
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| 2018 Honda Accord 2.0T Automatic Posted: 13 Oct 2017 02:55 PM PDT  Zen simplicity with a side of sportiness.
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| Kurdish and Iraqi troops in Kirkuk standoff amid fears of new violence Posted: 13 Oct 2017 11:13 AM PDT  Kurdish and Iraqi government forces have squared off south of Kirkuk after rushing troops and armour to the oil-rich city two weeks after the country's Kurds voted for independence from Baghdad. Peshmerga forces massed about 20 miles from Kirkuk's southern limits on Friday after units loyal to the central government took positions on the city's approaches, prompting fears of fresh violence in one of the most bitterly contested corners of Iraq.
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| Melania Trump displays 'masculine' gesture upon greeting Trudeaus at White House, says body expert Posted: 13 Oct 2017 09:39 AM PDT  President Trump and Melania Trump hosted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife at the White House on Thursday, and one of the first lady's movements raised some eyebrows.
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| Yes, the Yellowstone volcano can wipe out humanity, but we'll have years of warning Posted: 13 Oct 2017 03:27 PM PDT  Sensational news headlines over the last couple days have promoted the idea that the formidable Yellowstone supervolcano "may blow sooner" and "could blow faster" than scientists previously thought. This makes it seem like Yellowstone is either threatening to erupt or might one day catastrophically explode with little warning, suffocating us frail humans under black, ashy skies. But even if this research is accurate, we'll still have decades of warning before an apocalyptic blast. SEE ALSO: Airbnb asks for hosts to open their homes to volcano evacuees in Bali In the the last 2 million years, Yellowstone geologists believe that the supervolcano has had three major eruptions that unleashed hundreds of cubic miles of ash into Earth's atmosphere. The source of these eruptions are enormous amounts of hot molten and semi-molten rock, or magma, which still sit under the park today. Scientists suspect that when enough pressure builds beneath the ground, Yellowstone will have another such major blast — although there's no current evidence of impending doom. At a recent volcanology conference, The New York Times reports that Arizona State graduate geology student Hannah Shamloo presented stirring new evidence that Yellowstone could show signs of an impending mega-eruption decades before a colossal blast, as opposed to thousands of years. This research is still being examined by geologists, and is not yet widely accepted research. Shamloo and her team spent weeks at the site of Yellowstone's most recent super-eruption, which blew some 640,000 years ago. They gathered rocky volcanic leftovers from the ancient eruption and specifically looked at the minuscule crystals embedded in the rock, which formed deep underground in magma long before the blast. In the outermost layers of the crystals they found telltale changes in the crystal's composition, meaning the crystals were suddenly exposed to different temperatures and pressures. An aerial view of Excelsior Geyser and Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park.Image: National Park ServiceThis revealed something significant: This volcanic rock began moving and shifting around the deep bowels of the subterranean supervolcano much more quickly than previously thought. But quickly in geologic time doesn't mean in a day, or a week. Most geologists assumed this process would take thousands of years. But it could be less, on the scale of decades. When Yellowstone experiences a mega-eruption, enormous amounts of magma must begin moving up towards the surface. This takes years and wreaks havoc on the world above, causing constant quaking and an extreme deformation of the land, including the abrupt formation of canyons. For comparison, when Mount St. Helens literally blew itself up in the 1980s, it dramatically spewed 0.3 cubic miles of volcanic ash into the sky. Based upon volcanic leftovers around the park, geologists believe that a Yellowstone super-eruption will send around 2,500 times more volcanic material into the atmosphere. In short, mobilizing such a massive eruption won't happen overnight, and it won't surprise us. What's more, Yellowstone National Park scientists have found no signs of an impending eruption, which could leave a colossal 40-mile wide depression in the ground, called a caldera. As the park website states: Since humanity first stumbled upon Yellowstone, it has been an active volcanic region, with steaming springs, shooting geysers, and thousands of mostly undetectable earthquakes happening each year. This is normal. But if masses of magma begin stirring up beneath the ground, we'll know something terrible is brewing. Yellowstone has the potential to destroy us. But it won't surprise us. WATCH: Exploring volcanoes with robots: a day in the life of Carolyn Parcheta
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| Myanmar’s Suu Kyi sets out aid plan to end Rohingya crisis Posted: 13 Oct 2017 09:25 AM PDT  Aung San Suu Kyi has set out plans for a new humanitarian project to enable Myanmar's Rakhine State to emerge as a peaceful and developed region, which a close adviser said showed her determination to fix the country's refugee crisis. Suu Kyi said in a televised address on Thursday evening that she would invite aid organizations, business leaders and civil society to take part in the initiative, which aims to defuse the violence that has caused 536,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee from Rakhine State to Bangladesh in the past two months. "What she's interested in is how to fix this, how to... give the civilian government, as opposed to the military, the power to deliver aid, reconciliation and rebuilding," said the adviser, who briefed reporters, by telephone, on condition of anonymity.
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| 'Soldier of Allah' avoids terror charge due to Facebook settings Posted: 13 Oct 2017 01:05 PM PDT  A self-styled "Soldier of Allah" who threatened to blow up a hospital escaped terror charges because of his Facebook settings. Leroy McCarthy, 22, a Muslim convert, described murdered soldier Lee Rigby as a "white coward who invades countries and rapes people" and said he planned to leave the UK to "join my people's cause". However, he could not be charged under the Terrorism Act because his profile was set to private, meaning he was jailed for just 18 weeks. Muslim convert Leroy McCarthy, who also uses the name Abdullah Mahmood, escaped being charged with terrorism offences Credit: Ben Lack The case led to calls for the law to be changed. David TC Davies, Conservative MP for Monmouthshire, a former serving police officer, said: "I think this worrying case highlights why the law needs to be changed to be further tightened up to prevent terrorist sympathisers and people encouraging violent acts from spreading their hate-filled messages whatever their Facebook settings are. "He clearly intended to encourage and incite acts and should face the full force of the law to do so." McCarthy, from Barrow in Furness, Cumbria, who also uses the name Abdullah Mahmood, published a series of offensive, anti-semitic and homophobic posts on the social media site. In one post, he alluded to blowing up Furness General Hospital (FGH), and stated: "They wouldn't be able to evacuate all of FGH's patients in time before at least one of the three explosions." Another comment said "We are all martyrs of the Lord." Muslim convert Leroy McCarthy, who also uses the name Abdullah Mahmood, who has escaped being charged with terrorism offences Credit: Ben Lack McCarthy, who has 14 months left on licence after being released from custody in June after assaulting his partner, added: "14 months then it's passport and off to join my people's cause. I cannot wait to turn my back on the UK." He also posted: ""A few months left and all my brothers are free. All them months of planning and it will be like a belated bonfire night for all those involved." When he was arrested last Saturday, he asked police from the North West Counter Terrorism Unit what had happened to freedom of speech and said that "if he was going to bomb somewhere it would be the Trafford Centre". However, McCarthy's Facebook settings meant he avoided terrorism charges on a legal technicality. In order to charge an individual with encouraging terrorism, prosecutors must prove that the statement was intended to be seen by the public. McCarthy's profile was set to private, meaning the posts could only be seen by his 340 friends, so he could only be charged with an offence under the Communications Act. He pleaded guilty to publishing a message that was "grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character" when he appeared this week at Furness Magistrates Court. Leroy McCarthy, who also uses the name Abdullah Mahmood, described murdered soldier Lee Rigby as a "white coward who invades countries and rapes people." Credit: Ben Lack Maureen Fawcett, defending, said: "He accepts the postings would have been grossly offensive and upsetting, but they were taken out of context. "He had fallen out with his sister who works at the hospital. "He has also never been abroad on a lads' holiday and he wanted to leave the UK to get his life back on track." Ms Fawcett said: "He has pleaded guilty today and the officers who have been with him actually thanked him for how open and frank he has been. "He reverted to become a Muslim when he was released from prison in 2015 and he is more peaceful since then. He had taken about 20 Valium on the day he posted these. "He was homeless and struggling to get by." McCarthy was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a victim surcharge of £115.
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| A look at the family rescued from Taliban-linked captors Posted: 13 Oct 2017 12:54 AM PDT  After being held for over five years by a group with ties to the Taliban, an American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been rescued.
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| The Paradox Of Rebuking Harvey Weinstein But Collaborating With Other Alleged Abusers Posted: 13 Oct 2017 05:45 AM PDT  A significant fraction of Hollywood spent years ignoring or possibly covering up the chilling sexual assault allegations lodged against well-known producer Harvey Weinstein, fostering an infrastructure that discourages survivors from speaking out against men who hold positions of power.
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