NewsYahoo NewsIn the marquee Texas Senate race, Cruz and O'Rourke take to the debate stage
Sen. Ted Cruz, left, and Rep. Beto O’Rourke. After months of back and forth, including nitpicking over the timing, location and even the type of furniture, Republican Ted Cruz will finally meet his Democratic challenger, Beto O’Rourke, on the debate stage Friday in Texas’s surprisingly close Senate race. The one-hour debate, set to begin at 7 p.m. ET at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, is the first of three scheduled forums over the next two weeks between Cruz and O’Rourke, a matchup that has garnered national attention pitting one of the country’s best known tea party conservatives against a fiercely liberal three-term congressman who has charisma, celebrity supporters and ample funding — but whose fate will probably be decided largely by how unhappy Texas voters are with President Trump.
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Sexual Assault Groups Stop Work With Senators Over Treatment Of Christine Blasey Ford
For two years, a task force of national sexual assault and domestic violence groups has been working behind the scenes with the Senate Judiciary Committee to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, which expires this year. Now the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence is suspending negotiations with the committee over its treatment of Christine Blasey Ford, the psychology professor who says Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teens. In the days since Blasey came forward with her claims, a number of prominent Republicans have lined up behind Kavanaugh.
- PoliticsHuffPost
DOJ Convinces Trump To Back Off Declassifying Secret Russia Probe Documents, For Now
WASHINGTON ― The Justice Department has succeeded, for the moment, in convincing President Donald Trump to hold off on declassifying secret documents related to the ongoing criminal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The White House said earlier this week that Trump had ordered the Justice Department to immediately declassify certain previously redacted portions of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act application regarding Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser who was monitored by the government during the 2016 campaign. Releasing the classified documents would have marked an extraordinary intervention into the Russia investigation, which has been led by special counsel Robert Mueller since May 2017.
WorldAFPMay says EU response to UK Brexit plan 'unacceptable'
British Prime Minister Theresa May said Friday the European Union's abrupt dismissal this week of her Brexit plan was unacceptable, as she conceded negotiations were "at an impasse". "We now need to hear from the EU what the real issues are and what their alternative is so that we can discuss them. European leaders refused to give ground to May at a summit in Salzburg on Thursday, warning that her proposals for future economic ties based on a UK-EU free-trade area only for goods would "not work".
ScienceAssociated PressJapan space rovers lowered to asteroid to collect data
A Japanese spacecraft released two small rovers on an asteroid on Friday in a mission that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system. The Japan Space Exploration Agency said the two Minerva-II-1 rovers were lowered from the unmanned spacecraft Hayabusa2 to the asteroid Ryugu. JAXA said confirmation of the robots' safe touchdown has to wait until it receives data from them on Saturday.
- LifestyleHuffPost
Yes, Yandy Really Made A 'Sexy' 'Handmaid's Tale' Halloween Costume
Yandy, a women’s clothing store that without fail produces laughably “sexy” Halloween costumes each year, has outdone itself this season. “Every year at Halloween I think ‘You know who’s horrible? Every year at Halloween I think "You know who's horrible?
- NewsReuters
Duke shuts natgas plant due to Florence floods, coal ash leak feared
Duke also said it cannot rule out the possibility that coal ash from another plant is flowing into nearby waters. Water breached the cooling lake dam at Duke's 625-megawatt natural gas L.V. Sutton plant, causing the company to shut the plant. Hurricane Florence brought several feet of rain to parts of North Carolina over a period of days, and the historic level of storm flooding is not expected to subside until next week.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Survivor found two days after Tanzania shipwreck after shutting himself in ferry engine room
On Friday, President John Magufuli ordered the arrest of those responsible for the sinking. "The ferry overturned very fast and covered us," survivor Charles Ngarima told Reuters. Another survivor, Jennifer Idhoze, blamed the ferry had capsized because it was overloaded.
WorldAFPFear and fanfare as Hong Kong launches China rail link
A new high-speed rail link between Hong Kong and mainland China launched Sunday, a multi-billion-dollar project that critics say gives away part of the city's territory to an increasingly assertive Beijing. Chinese security have been stationed in semi-autonomous Hong Kong for the first time at the harbourfront West Kowloon rail terminus, as part of a new "special port area" that is subject to mainland law. Despite critics' fears over passenger safety in the mainland zones, hundreds gathered at the terminus, with the first train leaving for the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen at 7:00 am (2300 GMT Saturday).
EntertainmentReutersU.S. preparing 'actions' in coming days against Venezuela: Pompeo to Fox News
The United States is preparing a "series of actions" in the coming days to increase pressure on the Venezuelan government, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News on Friday. "You'll see in the coming days a series of actions that continue to increase the pressure level against the Venezuelan leadership folks, who are working directly against the best interest of the Venezuelan people," Pompeo said. "We're determined to ensure that the Venezuelan people get their say." He did not give further details on the nature of the planned actions.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Defense of Kavanaugh turns to theory of evil look-alike before collapsing under ridicule
The defense of Judge Brett Kavanaugh took a soap opera turn this week when allies of the Supreme Court nominee suggested a look-alike had committed the sexual assault of which Kavanaugh has been accused. Ed Whelan, president of the Ethics & Public Policy Center think tank and former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, spent much of the week hinting that he could disprove Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations that Kavanaugh had drunkenly assaulted her at a party when the two were teenagers. On Twitter, Whelan said there was “compelling evidence” and predicted Democrats would be apologizing to Kavanaugh.
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3D-Printed Gun Creator Cody Wilson Arrested In Taiwan After Sexual Assault Charge
Cody Wilson ― 3D-printed gun creator, neo-Nazi funder and sexual assault suspect ― jetted to Taiwan after finding out that police in Austin, Texas, were after him. The revelation that he had left the country led to a tense and confusing few days in which it was unclear whether police could get to him, since Taiwan doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the U.S. The document was canceled by the American Institute, the de facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan.
- PoliticsTime
Early Voting Begins as Midterms Season Enters Its Final Phase
Much of the political world is consumed with a battle over a Supreme Court nominee, an expanding international trade war and President Donald Trump’s social media posts. While Election Day 2018 is technically Nov. 6, Minnesota law allows in-person voting to begin Friday — a full 46 days early — making it the first battleground state to begin casting actual votes in the broader fight for control of Congress. South Dakota also opens early voting on Friday, and four more states follow in the next six days, including key states including New Jersey and Missouri.
NewsAssociated PressGuatemalan gets 16 years in crash that killed Colts player
A man from Guatemala living illegally in the U.S. was sentenced Friday to the maximum of 16 years in prison for a drunken-driving crash that killed Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and his Uber driver. A Marion County judge sentenced Manuel Orrego-Savala after hearing emotional testimony from Jackson's mother and the widow of Jeffrey Monroe, the 54-year-old driver Jackson had hired from the ride-sharing service the night of the deadly February crash. Orrego-Savala, 37, pleaded guilty in July to two counts of operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content of .15 or more, causing death.
- CelebrityHuffPost
Justin Theroux Opens Up On Split From Jennifer Aniston
Justin Theroux has publicly spoken about his separation from Jennifer Aniston for the first time in an interview with The New York Times.The actor described the breakup as “heartbreaking” in the sense “that the friendship would not be the same, as far
- U.S.ABC News Videos
Family, friends hold a vigil for murdered jogger
Police have not determined a motive for the man who murdered a D.C. tech executive, but said he tested positive for cocaine and had a history of mental illness. ABC News' Janai Norman reports.
- WorldYahoo News Photo Staff
Gunmen attack military parade in Ahvaz, Iran
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused U.S.-backed Gulf Arab states of carrying out a shooting attack on a military parade that killed 25 people, almost half of them members of the country’s elite Revolutionary Guards.Khamenei ordered security
- NewsAccuWeather
Floodwaters continue to rise on portions of Carolina rivers even a full week after Florence's arrival
While crests will continue to work downstream along the major rivers in the eastern part of the Carolinas into next week, some unprotected areas may stay flooded until the end of September or early October. Wilmington, North Carolina, and some other communities near the coast are bracing for another surge of high water this weekend. Levels along the Cape Fear River at Wilmington may approach record levels.
BusinessReutersPayPal ends business dealings with Alex Jones's Infowars
(Reuters) - Payments processor PayPal Holdings Inc said on Friday it decided to end its business relationship with popular U.S. conspiracy theorist Alex Jones's Infowars website after finding instances of hate speech and discriminatory content on the
- NewsAOL.com
Photos of the week: 9/14 - 9/21
Florence was downgraded to a tropical storm this week, but still caused widespread devastation across the Carolinas and Virginia. At least 40 people have been killed in the storm, including a 1-year-old boy who was swept out of his mother's arms. President
NewsAFPThree babies stabbed at New York childcare center
Three newborn babies and two adults were stabbed during a pre-dawn attack at a suspected illegal childcare center in New York on Friday, allegedly carried out by a female employee, police said. One woman suffered multiple stab wounds to the torso, while a man received a stab wound to the leg.
- NewsThe Independent
Puerto Rico mayor blames Donald Trump for soaring Hurricane Maria death count: ‘It’s a historic failing’
Puerto Rico's mayor of San Juan has sharpened her attacks against Donald Trump, blaming his administration for "structural negligence" that led to thousands of deaths in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Carmen Yulín Cruz said the president was responsible for the federal government’s slow response to the deadly hurricane estimated to have killed nearly 3,000 people, during an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper on the one-year anniversary of the storm. "This is President Trump’s Katrina," the mayor said, referring to the catastrophic hurricane that struck the US in August 2005.
- NewsAssociated Press
The Latest: Prison term for crash that killed Colts player
A man from Guatemala living illegally in the U.S. has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for a drunken-driving crash that killed Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson and his Uber driver. A Marion County judge sentenced Manuel Orrego-Savala to the maximum possible sentence Friday under his plea agreement. The 37-year-old had pleaded guilty in July to two counts of operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .15 or more, causing death.
- U.S.Yahoo News Photo Staff
'Hotep' — community action in East New York
East New York, a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of Brooklyn, has battled poverty since the 1950s. In April 2018, I began documenting grassroots community action in response to the social problems associated with poverty — from street crime and drug addiction to gun violence. In this series, which is part of a long-term urban project I started in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in 2012, I have been following the efforts of a local organization called ManUp Inc. Members use the Egyptian word “hotep,” which means “to be at peace,” to greet people in their community.
WorldAFPMay faces new Brexit resistance in Northern Ireland
British Prime Minister Theresa May's renewed pledge to deliver Brexit without dividing the UK was met with contradictory ultimatums Friday from Northern Ireland's unionist and nationalist parties. May returned from a bruising EU summit in Salzburg to deliver an impassioned televised address in which she blamed Brussels for the impasse and demanded "respect" for the UK. "It is something I will never agree to -- indeed, in my judgement it is something no British prime minister would ever agree to," she said.
