| What Dr. Fauci says when asked about Trump's crowded rallies Posted: 15 Oct 2020 07:01 AM PDT  The nation's top infectious disease expert remains concerned that large-scale gatherings like President Trump's campaign rallies will lead to more coronavirus outbreaks.
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| 'Fire! Fire! Fire!': A ship captain faces prosecution after a slaughter at sea Posted: 15 Oct 2020 02:04 PM PDT  The chilling case of the Ping Shin 101, which is still unfolding, shows the challenge of prosecuting crimes on the high seas.
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| Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was hospitalized for COVID-19, said he was 'wrong' not to wear a mask at the White House Posted: 15 Oct 2020 04:25 PM PDT  Christie encouraged others to "follow CDC guidelines in public no matter where you are and wear a mask to protect yourself and others."
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| Teacher beheaded in Paris suburb after showing cartoons of Prophet Mohammed to class Posted: 16 Oct 2020 09:42 AM PDT  A history teacher who showed his pupils cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in class was beheaded near his school in a Paris suburb on Friday by a suspected Islamist terrorist who shouted "Allahu Akbar", police said. Alerted by local residents, police confronted and shot dead a man armed with a kitchen knife and an air gun who refused to drop his weapons and surrender, and threatened them. Minutes later, officers found the body of the male teacher. A bomb disposal unit was called in to check whether the presumed assailant was wearing a suicide vest or belt. Witnesses told police they heard the assailant shouting "Allahu Akbar" ['God is the greatest' in Arabic], police sources said. The teacher had received death threats after giving a class on freedom of expression, during which he showed pupils the controversial cartoons, a police source said. The presumed killer was reported to be an 18-year-old Chechen, the sources said.
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| After living in a converted school bus for a year, a retiree is now $10,000 in debt and selling her schoolie — here's the one cost she didn't see coming Posted: 16 Oct 2020 11:31 AM PDT  Keri Gallioux said she had to sell her car, take out a loan, and max out her credit cards. It then took a toll on her emotional health.
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| 7 Chicago cops suspended for roles in chief's traffic stop Posted: 16 Oct 2020 12:46 PM PDT  Seven Chicago police officers have been suspended for their roles the night then-Superintendent Eddie Johnson was found asleep behind the wheel of his SUV after having several drinks at a bar, according to a report by the city's inspector general released Friday. Superintendent David Brown decided to suspend two probationary officers for one day each, two other officers for seven days, a sergeant for 14 days, a lieutenant for 21 days and a commander for 28 days, according to Inspector General Joseph Ferguson's report. Johnson has denied the allegations made by the former driver, Cynthia Donald.
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| Lindsey Graham accused of ‘committing a crime in plain sight’ for soliciting donations amid senate hearing Posted: 15 Oct 2020 07:09 AM PDT  Senate judiciary chairman seemingly calls for campaign donations during a break at Judge Amy Coney Barrett senate confirmation hearings
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| Cameron Peak Fire becomes largest wildfire in Colorado history, growing more than 20,000 acres in a day Posted: 14 Oct 2020 07:38 PM PDT  The Cameron Peak Fire on Wednesday surpassed another 2020 blaze, the Pine Gulch Fire, as the largest wildfire by acreage in Colorado history.
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| ‘I don’t owe Russia money,’ Trump says, while refusing to detail any foreign debts Posted: 15 Oct 2020 08:03 PM PDT  President Trump declined to release definitive information on his financial situation when asked at Thursday's town hall in Miami about leaked tax returns that appear to show he owes hundreds of millions of dollars.
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| Hunter Biden: FBI probing alleged emails for links to foreign intelligence operation, report says Posted: 16 Oct 2020 04:39 AM PDT  Expert warns emails should be treated as 'Trump campaign product'
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| Ford is upgrading the 2021 Transit to make it easier to convert into a camper van as the automaker moves to cash in on the RV boom Posted: 15 Oct 2020 05:38 AM PDT  Ford will be offering three camper van and two cargo delivery van packages that affect aspects like the drive, systems, interior, and exterior.
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| This asylum-seeker was wrongfully deported. ICE admits it was a mistake. Posted: 16 Oct 2020 02:32 PM PDT  "The law is very, very clear that they cannot deport someone in the middle of their immigration court proceedings," the 29-year-old man's attorney said.
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| South African white farmers and rival black protesters face off outside court hearing over farm murder case Posted: 16 Oct 2020 05:04 AM PDT  White South African farmers and rival Black protesters hurled abuse and threats at each other on Friday ahead of a court hearing in a murder case that has exposed still simmering racial tensions 26 years after the end of apartheid. The killing of Brendan Horner, a white man whose body was found tied to a pole at his farm in Free State province, sparked riots at the start of this month, and prompted President Cyril Ramaphosa to make a statement urging South Africans to "resist attempts... to mobilise communities along racial lines". The farmers, who accuse the government of failing to protect them from violent crime, arrived in pick-up trucks ahead of the court hearing in the central town of Senekal for Horner's two suspected killers. The farmers mostly wore khaki shirts and shorts, a few wore military outfits, and at least one was armed. A group on motorbikes sporting long beards drove through Senekal, a trading town surrounded by dry, hilly countryside, some waving flags with crosses on. "We are getting tired now of all the farm murders," said Geoffrey Marais, 30, a livestock trader from Delmas, where a woman was strangled to death two weeks ago. "Enough is enough. They (the government) must start to prioritise these crimes."
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| The South Dakota attorney general who hit a man with his car told a 911 dispatcher 'it could be' a deer, call recording shows Posted: 16 Oct 2020 09:55 AM PDT  South Dakota released the audio of a 911 call and a toxicology report as part of an investigation into the state attorney general's fatal car crash.
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| Former Chicago police superintendent accused of sexual assault Posted: 15 Oct 2020 07:01 PM PDT  The lawsuit accuses Johnson, who was the highest ranking member of the department at the time, of "shockingly violent, abusive, and harassing conduct."
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| Trump advisers dish that campaign manager Bill Stepien seems convinced they're not going to win Posted: 16 Oct 2020 11:15 AM PDT  Dismal polls and poor debate performances are predictably not playing well within President Trump's campaign — but campaign manager Bill Stepien is reportedly not doing much to change that.Stepien's weekly pep talks encourage staffers to look away from "perennially horrible public polls" and find ways they can "win the week," staffers tell Axios. But behind the scenes, Stepien seems "darkly pessimistic," discouraging other staffers who talk to him, they tell Axios.Stepien is reportedly fond of comparing the campaign to a plane flying through turbulence, saying "It's our job to safely land the plane." To some staffers, that sounds like Stepien is "deeply, perhaps irretrievably pessimistic about the state of the race," Axios reports. "It's not a great feeling when you get the sense the campaign manager doesn't deep down think we're going to win," one campaign source said. But even some advisers who are "paid to believe" in Trump's victory tell Axios that Stepien is right.But Stepien countered that characterization to Axios, saying "our campaign data presents a clear pathway to 270 for the president that provides me more confidence than ever in President Trump's re-election." Insiders say it's more like "several" optional paths to victory — something that's indicative of hope for some, and of indecision for others. Those critics say Stepien has been afraid to make decisions that could upset Trump, leading to "half-assed" ad buys and other weak steps to shore up a victory, sources tell Axios.More stories from theweek.com Why this libertarian is voting for Biden The town halls weren't a debate — but Trump still won Is America ready for a boring president?
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| Biden slams Trump for failing to condemn would-be kidnapping plot on Michigan governor: ‘Sort of behaviour you’d expect from Isis’ Posted: 16 Oct 2020 01:51 PM PDT  At a speech in Michigan billed as remarks about the Affordable Care Act, Joe Biden paid tribute to Governor Gretchen Whitmer, following the recent discovery of the plot to kidnap her. "There is not a better governor in the United States of America than Gretchen Whitmer," he said.
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| Senate Republicans Look to Subpoena Twitter, Facebook CEOs to Testify after Censorship of Hunter Biden Story Posted: 15 Oct 2020 09:18 AM PDT  Republican leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday called on the CEOs of Facebook and Twitter to testify before the committee and said they were prepared to issue subpoenas to compel testimony regarding their decisions to censor negative stories about Democrats.Senators Ted Cruz (R., Texas), Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) and Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) announced that the Committee would vote on a subpoena on Tuesday for Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to testify on Friday, October 23, according to Fox News."This is election interference and we're 19 days out from an election," Cruz said. "It has no precedent in the history of democracy. The Senate Judiciary Committee wants to know what the hell is going on."Hawley called on the committee to also subpoena Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.The Committee's concern comes after news that both social media platforms had worked to suppress a New York Post report based on emails which suggest the younger Biden may have made an introduction between his father, then- Vice President Joe Biden, and a Ukranian adviser to Burisma Holdings in 2015. The authenticity of the emails has not been confirmed.
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| A light shines on Nigerian corruption Posted: 16 Oct 2020 05:28 AM PDT |
| Kurdish-led authorities free hundreds of Islamic State militants jailed in northern Syria Posted: 16 Oct 2020 03:57 AM PDT  Kurdish-led authorities in northeast Syria have freed hundreds of imprisoned Islamic State militants, saying they have "no blood on their hands" and have repented joining the terrorist group. A first batch of 631 Syrian IS prisoners was released on Thursday, while 253 had their sentences halved, according to Syrian Democratic Council co-chair Amina Omar. The released were Syrian nationals accused of low-level membership in IS who were not thought to have been commanders or involved in attacks. "This includes those convicted of terror charges whose hands are not stained with the blood of Syrians," Ms Omar said at a press conference in the northeast city of Qamishli. Following the territorial defeat of IS last March, the western-backed Syrian Democratic Forces were left holding some 19,000 ISIS-affiliated men and boys in detention in some two dozen detention facilities spread across northeast Syria.
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| People are placing prank calls that lure cops to people's homes. One victim's family is still trying to hold police accountable nearly 3 years after his death. Posted: 15 Oct 2020 05:09 AM PDT  Andrew Finch died in December 2017, after being shot by a Wichita, Kansas, police officer during a swatting call.
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| This Keys man wanted to make conch salad. He’s off to jail Posted: 16 Oct 2020 11:32 AM PDT  This man's conch salad plans went awry.
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| Europe's COVID-19 outbreak is cascading out of control, and nations are slamming vast regions into lockdown again Posted: 16 Oct 2020 03:42 AM PDT  The UK, France, and Belgium are reporting case numbers that dwarf those from the spring. Paris and London have been put under new restrictions.
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| Record avalanche of early votes transforms the 2020 election Posted: 15 Oct 2020 09:27 PM PDT  More than 22 million Americans have already cast ballots in the 2020 election, a record-shattering avalanche of early votes driven both by Democratic enthusiasm and a pandemic that has transformed the way the nation votes. The 22.2 million ballots submitted as of Friday night represents 16% of all the votes cast in the 2016 presidential election, even as eight states are not yet reporting their totals and voters still have more than two weeks to cast ballots. Americans' rush to vote is leading election experts to predict that a record 150 million votes may be cast and turnout rates could be higher than in any presidential election since 1908.
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| ‘No one in Georgia cares about this QAnon business’: Kelly Loeffler accepts endorsement from controversial candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene Posted: 15 Oct 2020 03:08 PM PDT  'What impressed me with Kelly is I found out that she believes a lot of the same things that I believe'
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| Air Force Settles $25 Million Lawsuit for F-16 Strafing Run That Killed Contractor Posted: 16 Oct 2020 04:37 PM PDT |
| Harris suspends in-person events after campaign associates test positive for COVID-19 Posted: 15 Oct 2020 09:05 AM PDT  Vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris will suspend in-person events until Monday after two people associated with Joe Biden's campaign tested positive for coronavirus.
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| Mexico's former defence minister arrested on arrival in US over drugs charges Posted: 16 Oct 2020 03:28 AM PDT  Around 36,000 killed every year in Mexico in drug cartel-related homicides
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| Yellowstone winters are unforgiving. Here’s how rangers stock up for the cold ahead Posted: 16 Oct 2020 09:53 AM PDT  Would you travel two hours by snowmobile for groceries?
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| North Dakota Mom’s Disappearance May Be Related to Love Triangle, Family Says Posted: 16 Oct 2020 12:50 PM PDT  North Dakota authorities are still searching for a 47-year-old mother who went missing nearly two weeks ago after leaving a small gathering on foot—and family members believe her disappearance may be tied to a love triangle.Anne Fitzsimonds, 47, walked away from the party at a farmstead in rural Petersburg—at least 26 miles away from her Inkster home—around 1:30 a.m on Oct. 4. She was wearing only a leather jacket, jeans, and cowboy boots, despite the frigid temperature, which dipped as low as 29 degrees."There was no reason for her to leave. Why she left nobody seems to be able to tell us," her older brother, George Niece, told the Grand Forks Herald, adding that the search over vast rural North Dakota has been "absolutely daunting." "Scary, so scary. On one hand, you want to find her, but on the other hand, you don't want to find her; you just want her home."Niece believes his sister's disappearance may be connected to her longtime battle with drug addiction and her recent infidelity in her 30-year marriage."In this case, there was a love triangle, I think, and I think there is drugs; that's going to be money. It doesn't look good," Niece told the Herald.Missing Tennessee Toddler Evelyn Boswell's Mom Changed Story 'Every Single Time': SheriffSince the news of his sister's disappearance, Niece has temporarily left his job in the Twin Cities to assist the Nelson County Sheriff's Department with their search—and is offering a $5,000 reward for helpful information related to the case. But the sheriff's department says that, at this point, their investigation is still considered a "missing persons" case.The sheriff's office added there have been two unconfirmed sightings of Fitzsimonds since Oct. 4: one at a gas station on Highway 2 in Michigan, North Dakota, and another two days later in Cando, about an hour away.Nelson County Sheriff Keith Olson told the Herald that while the mother-of-two had a habit of going away "for weeks at a time" she usually contacted someone. People at the party, which may have involved drugs, have also given authorities conflicting stories about the night, he added.On Thursday, several investigators conducted a massive search on the Petersburg farmstead, assisted by five cadaver dogs and Valley Water Rescue. Harsh winds, however, impeded their search, and investigators were unable to locate any evidence on the property."Police tracking and cadaver dogs searched the area around where Anne disappeared and nothing was found," Niece wrote on Facebook Thursday evening. "Still hoping that Anne...will be found soon."'Vanished Into Thin Air': Florida Mom Disappears After Withdrawing $20 From ATMAuthorities have finally tracked down Fitzsimonds' truck, which her new boyfriend had been reportedly using over the last week. The Grand Forks Herald also reports the boyfriend, referred to as "Brad" in Niece's Facebook posts, drove the white pick-up truck home the night the 47-year-old disappeared.The sheriff's department said investigators had trouble locating the vehicle because there were multiple names on its title—including the owner of the farmstead, who voluntarily gave up the car on Thursday evening."Yesterday the pickup that Anne bought from Connie that was titled as an 'OR' with both their names was impounded by the police," Niece wrote in a Friday Facebook post. "That's more than a week after she disappeared and both Brad, her fling, and Connie have been using it over the last week. This truck was back at the house Anne was last seen at, although apparently in Edinburg the night she disappeared."Niece, who described his little sister as a loving person, is also making sure his niece and nephew are taken care of during the "long road ahead when their Mom returns," he said on Facebook. In a GoFundMe page Niece set up for the children, he revealed they "were not regularly getting dental, medical, or schooling" and said the family's home is in need of some repairs."As we've searched for Anne and helped to refurbish the family home for the children, we realized that neither Valerie or John have the basics that many of us take for granted," the GoFundMe states. "The kids are amazing and literally anything given help them to grow into strong adults who can live and work in our Eastern North Dakota community."Read 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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| Michigan Republican linked to organizer of rally where militia allegedly plotted to kidnap Whitmer Posted: 16 Oct 2020 03:00 AM PDT  The rally drew numerous extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, the Boogaloo Bois and the alleged coup plotters
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| Thailand's king says country needs royalists as protesters defying ban for second day are met by water canons Posted: 16 Oct 2020 04:55 AM PDT  Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn said his country needs people who "love the monarchy" as he broke his silence on anti-royal protests rocking the capital of Bangkok. His pre-recorded comments were broadcast on state television as Thai police used water cannons, riot shields and batons to disperse thousands of protesters who defied a ban on protests for a second day. The king has made no direct comment on three months of protests that have called for curbs to his powers as well as for the removal of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former military ruler. He said "the country needs people who love the country and love the monarchy", adding: "All your experience and the things that you've done. You can teach the new generation of your experience. This will be greatly useful." Around 2,000 pro-democracy demonstrators had been chanting for the release of arrested activists and hurled obscenities at Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha in the city's main shopping mall district.
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| Hawaii reopens for tourism amid more masks, fewer leis Posted: 15 Oct 2020 08:40 PM PDT  The 14-day quarantines are over for those who can show a fresh negative COVID-19 test.
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| Lemur located after break-in at San Francisco Zoo Posted: 15 Oct 2020 09:03 PM PDT  A ring-tailed lemur stolen from the San Francisco Zoo has been found, police said Thursday. The 21-year-old male lemur named Maki was discovered missing shortly before the zoo opened to visitors on Wednesday. Maki was found to be in good health and was transported back to the zoo, San Francisco police said in a statement.
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| Fact check: Charges not dropped against Kenosha gunman Posted: 16 Oct 2020 04:00 AM PDT  The Wisconsin charges against Kyle RIttenhouse remain. Rittenhouse was never charged in Illinois.
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| Broward jail leaders fired after another mentally ill inmate gives birth in her cell, BSO says Posted: 15 Oct 2020 06:37 PM PDT  The Broward County Sheriff's office fired two top administrators after a woman who went into labor in her jail cell was not given medical care despite screams of pain.
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| Motel 6 drops ad agency after founder said pitch was 'too Black’ for the chain's 'white supremacist constituents’ Posted: 15 Oct 2020 10:04 AM PDT  The founder apologised for the comments but insists he does not tolerate racism
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| A COVID-19 outbreak struck a UK ballistic-missile sub after sailors broke isolation rules at a US Navy base Posted: 15 Oct 2020 08:07 AM PDT  More than 30 crew members of HMS Vigilant, one of four subs maintaining the UK's nuclear deterrence force, have tested positive for the virus.
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| Yahoo News/YouGov poll: Trump is actually doing worse with all white voters than in 2016 Posted: 15 Oct 2020 01:28 PM PDT  In the homestretch of the 2020 campaign, Trump not only appears to be performing worse than before among college-educated white women, he's also doing worse among white voters in general.
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| The town halls weren't a debate — but Trump still won Posted: 16 Oct 2020 09:49 AM PDT  I hope for the sake of the country that I was not the only person put out by the fact that there was no Thursday Night Football this week. It would be one thing if a previously scheduled game had been postponed thanks to the NFL's incoherent virus protocols, but this was the fault of a different set of suits.Rather than debate each other on Thursday evening, Donald Trump and Joe Biden spoke at separate "town hall" events, both of which began at 8:00 p.m. This was probably inevitable after the president was diagnosed with COVID-19. The whole thing put me in mind of one of those classic rock bands that breaks up after their last and worst record, forcing fans to decide whether they want to hear the aging singer with a supporting cast of flunkies or the talented lead guitarist who can't sing to save his life.Were the shows any good? I tried my best to take in both of them, but found after only a few minutes that tearing myself away from Trump and NBC's Savannah Guthrie to watch Biden tell George Stephanopoulos another dubious-sounding anecdote about his past was going to be difficult.The thing about Trump and Guthrie is that for most of the evening it really did sound like a debate despite the absence of the other candidate. Here was Trump finally doing what he should have done in his first exchange with Biden (can you believe it was really three weeks ago?): not interrupting, cracking jokes, pushing back against school closures and other lockdown measures, which has always been the single best wedge issue available to him in this campaign.He also reminded us that he is almost congenitally incapable of answering questions put to him, and not just by debate moderators. Asked by a young Republican woman about the consequences of overturning Roe v. Wade, he pivoted to saying that he had not given his Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett any instructions about how he expected her to rule on abortion or any other issue. Faced with another query from a GOP voter about DACA, he mumbled about the border wall.Meanwhile (I learned later) on ABC, Biden reiterated his support for fracking in an exchange with a voter from Pennsylvania, making the odd qualification that it should continue to be legal in the state so long as it did not increase the number of earthquakes. Later he made the lunatic assertion (totally ignored by the professional fact checkers) that he is personally responsible for making solar energy cheaper than coal and oil. (This must be why it accounts for a whopping 1 percent of all energy production in this country.)Biden's triangulation on the subject of fossil fuels was the sort of thing we have all come to expect, even as polls suggest a narrow majority of Pennsylvanians oppose fracking. I was more surprised by his declaration of support for "an 8-year-old child or a 10-year-old child [who] decides, 'You know, I decided I want to be transgender, that's what I think I'd like to be."In a recent poll by the conservative American Principles Project, voters in a number of states were asked whether children under the age of 18 should be able to undergo chemical or surgical sexual reassignment procedures; the response in Arizona (75 percent), Georgia (81 percent), Iowa (77 percent), Kentucky (84 percent), Michigan (79 percent), Montana (75 percent), North Carolina (84 percent), Pennsylvania (78 percent), Texas (81 percent), Wisconsin (77 percent) was overwhelmingly negative. Biden's assertion about prepubescent minors should but probably will not be the focal point of an eight-figure advertising campaign in every Midwestern swing state.Which of the men had a better evening? Television ratings are only preliminary, but it seems a pretty safe bet that Trump had the larger audience. Does this make him the winner? I think the answer is yes, and not just because viewership statistics are a longtime obsession of his. Four years later, we are still debating the reasons for his victory in 2016, but the simplest explanation is that his opponent agreed to make the election about him.He still enjoys this advantage.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.More stories from theweek.com Why this libertarian is voting for Biden Is America ready for a boring president?
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| Angela Merkel warns of potential 'disaster' as Germany records highest daily case total Posted: 15 Oct 2020 03:59 AM PDT  Angela Merkel is said to be deeply concerned that new coronavirus restrictions agreed by regional leaders do not go far enough and Germany may be heading for "disaster". The warning comes as Germany and Italy – two countries that appeared to have escaped the worst of the second wave – recorded their highest daily rise in infections since the start of the pandemic. Mrs Merkel put on a brave face for the cameras after German regional leaders stopped short of agreeing tough new measures she had proposed on Wednesday. But behind closed doors she reportedly lost her temper during marathon six-hour talks with the leaders of Germany's 16 states, telling them she was "not happy" and warning: "What you've agreed is not enough to avert disaster." Under Germany's federal system, the state governments have the final say over lockdown measures and Mrs Merkel is powerless to overrule them. Regional leaders agreed new restrictions for areas where the infection rate rises over safety limits, including an 11pm curfew for restaurants and pubs, a limit of 10 on gatherings and the mandatory use of face masks in crowded areas outdoors.
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| Sudanese businessman organises 'ice-breaker' Israel trip Posted: 15 Oct 2020 06:26 PM PDT  From his sprawling mansion in Sudan's capital Khartoum, complete with a grand facade of pillars copying Washington's White House, businessman Abu al-Qassem Bortoum speaks excitedly of his controversial plan.
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| Dutch king cuts short vacation in Greece after criticism Posted: 16 Oct 2020 12:26 PM PDT  The Netherlands' King Willem-Alexander and his wife cut short a vacation to Greece on Friday after coming under criticism for travelling during the coronavirus pandemic. "We see the reactions by people to reports in the media," Willem-Alexander and his wife Queen Maxima said in a statement published by the Royal House late on Friday. "This is unwise and incomprehensible," the ANP news agency quoted lawmaker Joost Sneller of the D-66 party, one of the coalition partners in Prime Minister Mark Rutte's governing coalition, as saying of the King's vacation.
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