- WorldYahoo News
Will Barcelona secede from Spain? Catalan independence is up for a vote — and Russia is stirring the pot
Here in Spain’s second-largest city, long a magnet for American tourists, life on the surface appears as festive as ever, from the beach terraces laden with pitchers of sangria to the crowds browsing the kiosks on the pedestrian median of La Rambla, which almost immediately returned to normal after last month’s terror attack. But the tension brewing just below the surface of Catalonia, the wealthy northeast region of 7.5 million of which Barcelona is capital, burst into the open Wednesday morning with a series of raids by national police on the regional ministry of finance, leading to at least a dozen arrests of senior officials, followed by hours of flag-waving marches and demonstrations. At issue is a wave of Catalan nationalism culminating in a referendum on secession, scheduled for Oct. 1.
- WorldAOL.com
Aftermath photos of Mexico earthquake reveal devastating search conditions
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake brought central Mexico to its knees on Tuesday when it toppled buildings and left at least 226 dead -- and the photos emerging of the aftermath are devastating. The natural disaster originated about 100 miles southeast of Mexico City, and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto released a video late on Tuesday urging people to stay calm as search and clean-up missions continue. As the death toll rises, on-the-ground images from Mexico tell the story of chaos, loss and resilience.
- CelebrityHuffPost
Bill Cassidy Says Jimmy Kimmel 'Doesn't Understand' Health Care. Experts Say He Does.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Thursday continued feuding with late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel on Senate Republicans’ latest attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, complaining that Kimmel doesn’t understand the bill. “Yeah, so Jimmy doesn’t understand,” Cassidy, also a physician, said on “Fox and Friends,” after Kimmel excoriated him on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for the second night in a row. In a monologue on Tuesday that went viral, Kimmel went into a detailed explanation of Cassidy’s bill, which Senate Republicans aim to rush through a vote, possibly next week.
- NewsHuffPost
Virginian Charters Jet To Rescue 300 Pets Stranded On Virgin Islands After Irma
When Hurricane Maria took aim at the U.S. Virgin Islands last week, Sali Gear knew she had to move fast. Gear, the co-founder of Virginia Beach’s Island Dog Rescue, grew up in the islands. To make this happen, Gear initially aimed to fly 20 animals to the continental U.S. every day for one week, according to The Virginian-Pilot.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Presidential paranoia: Does Mueller have a mole in the White House?
President Trump has a long history of consorting with conspiracy theorists, including Alex Jones and Roger Stone. Michael D’Antonio, the author of Trump biographies “Never Enough” and “The Truth About Trump,” said the president has confessed to being a little paranoid and suggested this can help someone succeed in business. “I think Trump is temperamentally inclined toward conspiracy theories and, at the same time, disinclined to do the work of studying matters fully,” D’Antonio told Yahoo News.
- CelebrityHuffPost
Navy Hospital Staffers Removed After Sharing Disturbing Photos Of Newborns
“It’s outrageous, unacceptable, incredibly unprofessional, and cannot be tolerated,” the hospital said, without identifying the corpsmen by name. One video posted to Snapchat shows a woman holding up a newborn and forcing it to dance to rap music like a puppet, First Coast News reported. Attorney Sean Cronin, who has filed medical malpractice lawsuits against the Naval hospital in the past, told News 4 Jax that he was left “utterly shocked” by the content.
NewsAFPHurricane Maria left over 15 dead in Dominica: prime minister
Hurricane Maria left more than 15 people dead in hard-hit Dominica, the small Caribbean island's Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced on Thursday. The toll from Dominica brings the overall number of confirmed deaths caused by Hurricane Maria to 18, including two in Guadeloupe and one in Puerto Rico. "So far, we would have buried in excess of 15 people," Skerrit told a television network of Antigua and Barbuda, a neighboring country.
BusinessReutersGreenpeace boards ship in bid to halt delivery of UK-bound VW diesel cars
By Costas Pitas LONDON (Reuters) - Greenpeace activists boarded a ship arriving in Britain on Thursday to stop the delivery of more than 1,000 Volkswagen cars from Germany while others sought to immobilise vehicles at a port in anti-diesel protests. VW admitted cheating diesel emissions tests in 2015, triggering political and consumer pressure that has caused a slump in sales of diesel cars in major markets, with governments announcing plans to ban vehicles powered by conventional combustion engines. Greenpeace said its volunteers had boarded the ship in the Thames Estuary in an attempt to stop it unloading at the port of Sheerness in the southeast of England.
NewsAssociated PressNew fight in California water wars: How to update old system
In California's long-raging water wars, pitting north against south and farmer against city dweller, the one thing everybody agreed on Wednesday was that the outdated method of shipping water throughout the most populous state needs a serious upgrade. A group of influential California farmers shook up the debate a day earlier, backing out of Gov. Jerry Brown's $16 billion plan to build two massive water tunnels, re-engineering the delivery system. Westlands Water District in Fresno said it was too expensive and came with too few guarantees.
- WorldThe National Interest
How North Korea Could Start World War III: A War Between Russia and America
Ultimately, while American attempts to shoot-down a North Korean missile are unlikely to trigger an accidental nuclear war, it might not be good idea stress the Russian early warning system. The best option—time permitting—would be to forewarn Moscow of any attempt to shoot down a North Korean missile. If the United States decides to attempt to shoot down future North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests using the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, it is likely that Russia’s early warning system will not mistake the interceptors for a potential nuclear attack.
- WorldThe Independent
Amazon kayak murder: Leader of gang who killed British tourist Emma Kelty is 'shot dead'
The ringleader of a gang of pirates suspected of robbing and murdering a British kayaker in the Amazon has been killed, Brazilian police have said. Evanilson Gomes da Costa – a 24-year-old known as Baia – was one of seven gang members who police believe murdered Emma Kelty, a former headteacher from north London. Da Costa was shot twice in the early hours of Wednesday morning at his home in the remote town of Coari and later died in hospital, police said.
PoliticsYahoo NewsObama blasts 'aggravating' GOP plans to repeal Obamacare
Former President Barack Obama mocked Republicans in a speech on Wednesday for repeated efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, his signature health care law also known as Obamacare. “The legislation that we passed was full of things that still needed to be fixed,” Obama said at an event hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in New York City. GOP leaders on Capitol Hill made repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act the No. 1 priority following President Trump’s inauguration.
- NewsHuffPost
Black Cornell Student Allegedly 'Bloodied Up' In Racially Charged Attack
Less than two weeks after someone chanted “build a wall, build a wall” near the Latino Living Center on Cornell University’s campus, a white student was arrested after allegedly assaulting a black student in front of his home and yelling racial slurs at him. “I will not tell you this is not who we are, as the events of the past few weeks belie that,” wrote Cornell President Martha Pollack in a statement on Sunday. The black student, identified only as a Cornell junior and member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, told The Cornell Daily Sun he’d arrived home at 1 a.m. on Friday morning to find a group of strangers “shoving” his friends.
- WorldYahoo News Video
Russia warns US, says special forces helping Syrian troops
Russia on Thursday issued a stern warning to U.S. forces and their allies in Syria, saying it has deployed Russian special forces alongside Syrian government troops in the battle for the oil-rich Deir el-Zour province and that Moscow would retaliate if the Russians come under fire.
- NewsAOL.com
Tiffany Trump faces her father's political adversaries, Sally Yates and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in law school career
In Tiffany Trump's first few weeks at George Law, she's shared the campus with some of the president's most renowned critics -- Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates. Bader-Ginsburg, of whom the president once tweeted "her mind is shot" after she publicly labeled him a "faker" last year, was a surprise guest speaker at the college on Wednesday evening.
- NewsHuffPost
Linked By Their Choice To Become Single Mothers, Two Women Share Their Stories
Brenda Torres, a 34-year-old mom of one in Caldwell, Idaho, and Kriss Kokoefer, a 50-year-old mom of two in Oakland, California, always knew they wanted to be mothers. Brenda and Kriss are single moms by choice. Kriss adopted her two daughters, who are 9 and 5, from China.
- LifestyleYahoo News Photo Staff
Breathtaking shots of king penguins marching in golden sunrise
Wildlife photographer Wim van den Heever, 45, visited the Falkland Islands this year to shoot pictures and scout the area for future tours. Wim’s breathtaking images show a small group of king penguins before they head out to sea at sunrise. Wim said: “The sunrise created beautiful vibrant colors and amazing reflections.
- LifestyleHuffPost
21 Slow Cooker Recipes That'll Inspire You To Pull Out The Crock Pot
People who own a slow cooker know that this kitchen appliance is truly great. No other appliance can cook you dinner while you’re at work, and reward you with the sweet smell of a delicious meal when you walk through the door.And that’s not all. This
NewsReutersStorm Maria brings fear, pain and shock to Puerto Ricans
By Dave Graham and Robin Respaut SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - Miguel Cruz awoke to the descent of Hurricane Maria on his home on Wednesday morning when the massive storm peeled off most of the roof, sent his belongings flying in all directions, but left intact an icon of Jesus hanging above his bed. Cruz was one of thousands of Puerto Ricans picking through the wreckage left by Maria after the hurricane devastated basic services on the debt-laden U.S. territory, pitching most of its 3.4 million residents into darkness as night fell. Crashing into Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, Maria flipped the tops off buildings, knocked out phones and electricity across the island and turned low-lying roads into swollen rivers awash with debris.
- WorldYahoo News Photo Staff
Catalan nationalists protest in Barcelona
Thousands of people supporting a contested referendum to split Catalonia from Spain took to Barcelona’s streets amid an intensifying government crackdown on the independence vote that included the arrests of a dozen regional officials Wednesday and the seizure of 10 million ballot papers. The arrests — the first involving Catalan officials since the campaign to hold an independence vote began in earnest in 2011 — prompted a pro-independence coalition of Catalan political parties and civic organizations to say casting a ballot was as much about dignity as whether to break away from Spain. Regional government officials, including Catalonia’s president, so far have vowed to ignore a Constitutional Court order to suspend the Oct. 1 referendum while judges assess its legality.
- NewsTime
Powerball Winner Charged With Repeatedly Sexually Assaulting a Child
A New Jersey man who won nearly a $340 million jackpot in the Powerball lottery four years ago has been charged with sexually assaulting a minor over the course of three years, prosecutors said. Pedro Quezada, a 49-year-old based in Wayne Township, is facing two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, two counts of second-degree sexual assault and one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said Wednesday, according to NJ.com. In 2013, Quezada won $338 million in one of the largest Powerball payouts in the state’s history.
- NewsHuffPost
Man Shot Dead By Oklahoma City Cop Was Deaf (UPDATED)
An Oklahoma City police officer shot and killed a deaf man who was holding a metal pipe on Tuesday night, authorities said. According to police spokesman Capt. Bo Mathews, neighbors told Sgt. Chris Barnes that 35-year-old Magdiel Sanchez could not hear his commands. “He can't hear you!” – what witnesses yelled to police before an officer shot and killed a deaf man in Oklahoma City.
WorldAFPMacron says Iran nuclear deal no longer enough
France's President Emmanuel Macron declared Wednesday that the Iran nuclear deal is no longer a sufficient safeguard against the growing power that Tehran wields in its region. Macron was speaking in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, while ministers from Iran the six world powers that signed the accord met to discuss it.
- ScienceAOL.com
Cassini captured mysterious 'glitch' on Saturn's rings before death dive
Peggy lives along the edge of Saturn and is an anomaly from which researchers have been unable to unearth the source. The bizarre disturbance was first noticed in 2013 by London researcher Carl Murray, who named it after his mother-in-law after making the discovery on her birthday.
- EntertainmentHuffPost
Preet Bharara, US Attorney Fired By Trump, Joins CNN As Contributor
Politico’s Michael Calderone reported Preet Bharara, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York whom Trump fired in March, joined the cable news network as a senior legal analyst. The network also signed a deal with Walter M. Shaub Jr., the former director of the Office of Government Ethics, who resigned in July. Shaub, who battled the Trump administration for months, told CBS News that there’s “an appearance” that Trump’s businesses are profiting from him occupying the presidency.
