PoliticsYahoo NewsBiden's spotlight on son's addiction earns praise from advocates
Hunter Biden was not dishonorably discharged. Trump continued on to allege that Hunter was able to secure a position on the board of directors of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma, and also able to secure a loan from the Bank of China for the investment firm Devon Archer, only because of his father's political connections, a topic the president brings up frequently on the campaign trail. Biden ignored the charges and instead addressed the camera, speaking candidly about Hunter's struggle with addiction.
WorldThe Daily BeastVatican Accuses Team Trump of Trying to Exploit Pope Francis
ROME—U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is not having a very good Roman holiday. Instead, it was overshadowed by Italian headlines mocking Trump's debate debacle in Ohio Tuesday night, topped off by an icy cold shoulder from Pope Francis, who refused to meet Pompeo this time around. Pompeo instead headlined an event called, “Advancing and Defending International Religious Freedom through Diplomacy,” put on by U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Callista Gingrich in a socially distanced conference room at the posh Excelsior Hotel on the Via Veneto near the U.S. embassy.
U.S.INSIDERThe family of one of the officers who killed Breonna Taylor started an online fundraiser so he can retire early and focus on his 'safety'
Myles Cosgrove is one of the two Louisville police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor in March. This weekend, Cosgrove's family started an online fundraiser to raise $75,000 so he can buy out the rest of his service time and retire from the force early to "focus on the safety of his family." The family wrote in the campaign page that "it has recently become clear that it will be impossible for Myles to safely return to his position."
WorldAssociated PressDeath of Kuwait ruler Sheikh Sabah draws outpouring of grief
The death of Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the leader of Kuwait who earned a reputation as a seasoned diplomat and a rare ruler who could cross the region's political and sectarian divides, touched off an outpouring of grief from the Arab world Tuesday. As news of his death broke, condolence messages streamed in from across the region and from Western countries with longstanding ties to Kuwait, including the U.S. and Britain. As a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional body of Arab Gulf states, Kuwait has often charted its own course, pushing for diplomacy to resolve a bitter dispute between Qatar and other Arab states that continues to this day.
U.S.The Daily BeastAccused Gangster Charged With Ambush Shooting of L.A. Deputies
After a three-week manhunt, a Los Angeles man was arrested and charged Wednesday with attempting to murder two sheriff's deputies who were ambushed as they sat in their car. Deonte Lee Murray, 36, is facing two counts of attempted murder of a peace officer and possession of a firearm for allegedly walking up to the squad car parked outside a Metro station on Sept. 12 and opening fire, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said Wednesday. “They became victims of a violent crime for one reason: They wear a badge,” L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a press conference.
BusinessBusiness InsiderRep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked the SEC to investigate secretive data firm Palantir before it hit the stock exchange
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission asking for the agency to investigate the data-mining company Palantir ahead of its stock-market debut, which it made on Wednesday. Among the congresswoman's concerns is Palantir's longtime penchant for secrecy, which she wrote could hurt future investors. Other concerns listed are its domestic and foreign contracts, including with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, law-enforcement agencies, and foreign governments that "may present human rights risks."
PoliticsUSA TODAYFormer FBI Director James Comey defends Russia investigation, concedes on Carter Page
Former FBI Director James Comey, whose 2017 dismissal by President Donald Trump unleashed a broader investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia led by special counsel Robert Mueller, on Wednesday defended the inquiry that he initially helped launched as "essential." "Overall, I'm proud of the work," Comey told a Republican-led Senate panel investigating the government's early handling of the Russia investigation that shadowed much of Trump's presidency.
WorldAssociated PressRape and killing of Dalit woman shocks India, draws outrage
The gang rape and death of a woman from the lowest rung of India's caste system sparked outrage across the country on Wednesday, with several politicians and activists demanding justice and protesters rallying in the streets. The attack of the 19-year-old is the latest gruesome case of sexual violence against women to rile India, where reports of rape are hauntingly familiar. The victim, who belonged to the Dalit community, was raped by four men on Sept. 14 in the heartland state of Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district.
ScienceBBCSpace station crew woken up to hunt for air leak
Astronauts were woken during the night to continue the hunt for an air leak on the International Space Station (ISS). This module contains life support equipment for the space station and also houses living quarters for two crew members. Nasa astronaut and station commander Chris Cassidy and Russian space agency (Roscosmos) cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner were instructed to move into the Russian segment to collect data at various locations in the Russian modules.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastThe Trump Campaign Is Quietly Purging Brad Parscale From Their Website
President Donald Trump's campaign still won't clarify the status of its erstwhile campaign manager Brad Parscale, who was taken into custody by police outside of his Florida home over the weekend. Since Tuesday, the campaign has removed a video of Parscale from the homepage of its “Army for Trump” election monitoring operation. It also deleted a page on the main campaign website featuring a video of Parscale and Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law and senior campaign adviser.
U.S.Associated PressSeagram's heir faces sentencing in branded sex slave case
A wealthy benefactor of Keith Raniere, the disgraced leader of a self-improvement group in upstate New York convicted of turning women into sex slaves who were branded with his initials, faces sentencing Wednesday in the federal conspiracy case. Seagram's liquor fortune heir Clare Bronfman is due to appear in federal court in Brooklyn. Bronfman, 41, admitted in a guilty plea last year that she harbored someone who was living in the U.S. illegally for unpaid “labor and services” and that she committed credit card fraud on behalf of Raniere, leader of the group called NXIVM.
PoliticsBBCUS election 2020: The night American democracy hit rock bottom
When the first televised debates were held in 1960, the world watched two young candidates, John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon, respectfully engage in an intelligent and elevated discussion. Mostly we remember those inaugural encounters for Nixon's flop-sweat and clumsily applied make-up. But in the midst of the Cold War, as the ideological battle raged between Washington and Moscow, the debates were seen as a thrilling advertisement for American democracy.
U.S.Miami HeraldMillions in fake Gucci, Louis Vuitton found in ‘office supplies’ boxes at LAX, feds say
Thousands of fake designer products were found at Los Angeles International Airport disguised as “Plastic Office Supplies,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. The products were worth nearly $5 million, CBP said in a Wednesday news release. Officials seized 7,170 sandals, handbags, wallets and scarves.
- PoliticsReuters
U.S. approves sale of jets and Patriot missiles to Switzerland
The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of two types of fighter jets and several Patriot missile systems to Switzerland as the country modernizes its military, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. On Sunday, voters of the neutral nation approved a referendum allowing the government to spend $6.46 billion on new jets as it seeks to replace its aging fleet of 30 F/A-18 Hornets, which will go out of service in 2030. The Swiss government plans to decide next year among the Eurofighter from Airbus, the Rafale from France's Dassault, Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet, or the Lockheed Martin F35-A. In a move that would ease the way for the export of either of the U.S. jets, the State Depart...
WorldAssociated Press25 years after UN women's meeting, equality remains distant
Ahead of Thursday's high-level meeting to commemorate the landmark 1995 U.N. women's conference in Beijing, the head of the U.N. agency charged with promoting gender equality lamented the “slow, terribly uneven” progress, “pushback” and even regression in reaching the goals in the 150-page platform adopted by the 189 nations that met in China's capital. While there has been progress since Beijing, U.N. Women's Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told The Associated Press on Tuesday that gains have been modest. What's more, she says, “there is also sometimes an exaggeration and an illusion of much bigger progress than there has been.
WorldBBCBabri mosque: India court acquits BJP leaders in demolition case
A court in India has acquitted top leaders of the governing BJP of any wrongdoing in the destruction by Hindu mobs of a historic mosque in 1992. Former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, and BJP leaders MM Joshi and Uma Bharti, had denied charges of inciting extremists to demolish the 16th Century Babri mosque in the town of Ayodhya. The demolition sparked violence that killed some 2,000 people.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderA look at Trump's most failed businesses, according to his tax records
Trump reported combined losses of $315.6 million on golf courses since 2000 in the tax records viewed by The New York Times. He has a total of 15 golf courses across the world, but just three of his European courses accounted for a fifth of that figure. Trump's three European courses, one in Ireland and two in Scotland, posted $63.3 million in losses.
- WorldReuters Videos
She escaped N.Korea, but 'raped' by South's spies
Lee, who we're only identifying by her last name to protect her identity, was raped by the man -- according to the defector and prosecutors. "I was mad at myself, I should have defended or fought with a knife, but I was just unable to fight back when they did that to me." She may not be alone.
WorldReutersPompeo delivers warning to Italy over China's economic influence, 5G
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a warning to Italy over its economic relations with China on Wednesday, and described Chinese mobile telecoms technology as a threat to Italy's national security and the privacy of its citizens. "The foreign minister and I had a long conversation about the United States' concerns at the Chinese Communist Party trying to leverage its economic presence in Italy to serve its own strategic purposes," Pompeo told a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio.
U.S.Miami Herald‘It’s going to be on them’: Florida businesses have to adapt to no state COVID rules
Amanda Cachaldora and her family were sitting at a corner booth inside a Flanigan's restaurant in Hialeah Saturday afternoon when they noticed the indoor dining space started to fill up fast. A day earlier, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a sweeping order that lifted all state restrictions on businesses, including provisions that let some restaurants have full dining rooms again. The order was a continuation of DeSantis' long-running push to reopen the state's pandemic-battered economy, but the directive also unleashed confusion.
WorldAssociated PressSpain rebuffs Turkey's 'unilateral' gas search, backs Cyprus
Spain's foreign minister on Wednesday said her country rejects Turkey's unilateral search for energy reserves in the eastern Mediterranean, adding that such actions hinder a negotiated way out of a territorial dispute that has ratcheted up regional tensions. Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya expressed support for fellow European Union member Cyprus as Turkey continues to prospect for gas in waters where the Mediterranean island nation claims exclusive economic rights. We don't believe there is a unilateral solution to the problems of the eastern Mediterranean region,” Laya said after talks with Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides.
PoliticsBBCTrump ads push baseless Biden earpiece conspiracy
US President Donald Trump's re-election campaign is running hundreds of Facebook advertisements pushing an unfounded conspiracy theory that Joe Biden cheated during the first US presidential debate. The adverts show the Democratic Party challenger with an earpiece, and say that he refused to have his ears checked for devices prior to the debate. The Biden campaign rejected the claims.
WorldReutersGinseng piles up in Canada during pandemic despite Chinese demand
WINNIPEG, Manitoba/HONG KONG (Reuters) - The pandemic's crushing effect on international travel has grounded Canadian exports of ginseng, a root widely used in Asia to treat everything from the common cold to impotency, at a time when health is top of consumers' minds. Canada is the world's second-largest ginseng exporter after China, with most of its exports shipped to Hong Kong on their way to mainland China, Singapore and Taiwan. The pandemic has devastated the niche trade, however, in another example of the virus's disruption to the global food and agriculture supply chain.
WorldThe Daily BeastTech Army Set Up by Europe’s Last Dictator Turns on Its Creator
WARSAW, Poland—One of the rare successes chalked up by the regime of Europe's last dictator has been the establishment of a kind of East European Silicon Valley, which spawned a booming industry of Belarusian programmers and tech start-ups. The autocratic president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, now fears he has created a monster. Coders and software engineers, many of whom are linked to the state-sponsored Hi-Tech Park in Minsk, have formed a hacking collective called Cyber Partisans which is wreaking havoc as Lukashenko tries to quell a growing revolution.
EntertainmentINSIDERThe 'Black Panther' costume designer thought the superhero outfit didn't 'look all that great' — until Chadwick Boseman tried it on
"Black Panther" costume designer Ruth E. Carter told People that she didn't think the suit looked "all that great" until Chadwick Boseman tried it on — and then she thought it was "magic." Carter said she could see the "power of these superheroes" as soon as Boseman donned the suit for the first time: "I could see how they have an effect on people just because it's like they are a superhero." Carter, who won an Oscar for "Black Panther," also worked on 2017's "Marshall" with Boseman, and it was while shooting that film that she found out she had landed the superhero job.
“Staggered term limits would ensure that electoral winners shaped the Supreme Court, not the Grim Reaper.”
“Term limits undermine the primary function of the judiciary: preventing political majorities from trampling on others’ rights.”
“It would be one important way we could deescalate the stakes of American politics, and protect the system from total breakdown.”
“It would depoliticize the court and judicial selection, and thus promote the rule of law.”
“There are also transition problems...at some point the complications become more trouble than they’re worth.”