- U.S.Michael WalshAfter watching, Keith Scott’s family calls for shooting videos to be released
The grief-stricken family of a Charlotte, N.C., man who died in a police-involved shooting was shown videos of this fateful encounter — and wants them released to the public. Keith Lamont Scott’s relatives and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department have painted two very different pictures of what happened leading up to his death on Tuesday. For the family, the videos demonstrate that Scott was not aggressive and posed no threat to the officer who took his life.
- U.S.The DriveMultimillionaire Gym Mogul Crashes Lamborghini Murciélago, Kills Uber Driver
J. Gerald Smith, an 82-year old Uber driver, died this week after a yellow Lamborghini Murciélago struck his Buick Enclave, which was sitting at a stop sign. Roger Wittenberns, the 60-year old multimillionaire health club mogul, was behind the wheel of the Murciélago at the time of the wreck. Mr. Smith was a retired real estate agent.
- U.S.Olivier KnoxObama vetoes 9/11 lawsuit bill, triggers override fight
President Obama speaks at a memorial ceremony at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2016. Risking an election-year public backlash, President Obama on Friday vetoed popular but controversial legislation allowing the relatives of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia in U.S. courts. Obama’s rejection of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) sets up what seems likely to be the first-ever successful congressional vote to override his veto.
- LifestyleThe DriveLexus’s New UX Concept Is Packed with Holographic Displays
When Lexus gave the world its first glimpse of the UX Concept a couple weeks back in advance of the car’s Paris Motor Show debut, we at The Drive were, well, less than wowed. The sole pic Lexus dropped—a rear three-quarter shot—revealed a two-box crossover that looked like a cross between the Ferrari GTC4Lusso and a Ford Raptor. It wasn’t ugly, but generally speaking, Lexus crossovers don’t do much for us.
WorldAFPSyria launches Aleppo push as truce plan floundersA defiant Syrian regime launched a new assault on rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Thursday as the United States and Russia failed to revive a floundering peace plan. US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov gathered two dozen international envoys at talks in New York to address the crisis. Kerry said he was ready to meet the Russians again on Friday to see if there are any means to revive the truce that failed this week, but diplomats were pessimistic.
U.S.Associated PressBeached boats, pink water as drought saps Great Salt LakeOn the southern shore of Utah's Great Salt Lake, more than 100 boats are sitting high and dry in a parking lot, unable to sail the shallow, drought-stricken sea. The lake, about 75 miles long (120 kilometers) and 30 miles wide (50 kilometers), is America's largest outside the Great Lakes. The state estimates that the Great Salt Lake's ecosystem has a $1.32 billion economic effect.
- LifestyleThe DriveHonda Civic Hatchback Pricing Announced and the Chevy Equinox Gets a Diesel Engine: The Evening Rush
The Evening Rush is your daily roundup of auto, gear, and lifestyle news, all in one place. The Honda Civic has always been affordable, but nowadays, it also packs enough niceties that it doesn't feel like a compromise. Case in point: the 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback is loaded to the gills with nice little features, yet it starts at just $20,535.
- WorldReutersNiger Delta Avengers claim first attack in energy hub since ceasefire
Nigerian militant group the Niger Delta Avengers said on Saturday it had carried out its first attack in the country's southern energy hub since it declared in August it was halting hostilities to pursue talks with the government. The Avengers, who want a greater share of the OPEC member's wealth to go to the Niger Delta where most crude is produced, said the attack was a "wake up call" for the government, which it accused of intimidating youths in the region since the ceasefire began. "While we were promised that the concerns of the Niger Delta will be addressed once a truce is declared, the activities of the government and her agents are not assuring enough, there has been no progress," the group said.
WorldAFPGoogle gets more time to answer EU charges: officialEU anti-trust authorities have granted US tech giant Google a few extra weeks to answer charges that it has abused its market dominance, an EU official told AFP on Friday. The Silicon Valley firm now has until October 13 to answer questions about its Google Shopping search engine, October 26 for its Adsense advertising business and October 31 for its Android mobile phone operating system. "In each of these cases, Google asked for additional time to review the documents in the case file," according to an official from the European Commission, the executive of the 28-nation union.
U.S.Yahoo News PhotoTerence Crutcher fatally shot by Tulsa, Okla., police officerTulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby turned herself in early Friday after being charged with first-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Terence Crutcher. Shelby was booked this morning at the Tulsa County Jail at around 1 a.m. local time and was released on a $50,000.00 bond about 20 minutes later. Shelby reacted “unreasonably by escalating the situation from a confrontation” with Crutcher, according to an affidavit by an investigator with the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office. Shelby became “emotionally involved” to the point that she overreacted, the affidavit states, adding that she was “not able to see any weapons or bulges indicating a weapon was present.” The Tulsa Police Department said it would make a determination on her employment status after an internal affairs review. Crutcher, 40, was killed Friday night after Shelby came across his SUV in the middle of a two-lane roadway while it was still running. Crutcher ignored dozens of commands Shelby gave him, according to Wood, and she shot him as he allegedly tried to reached his arm into the open driver’s side window. Another officer who perceived the same threat deployed his Taser at the same time Shelby fired her weapon, Wood said.
- BusinessThe DriveExploring the Remains of the Wyoming Company That Used WWII Bombers to Fight Wildfires
Hawkins & Powers got off the ground in the early ‘60s, snatching up planes and the retired crew necessary to keep them in the air. The company struggled on for a while, racking up debt to pay pilots and mechanics to keep their birds on the ground.
- U.S.Associated PressClinton postpones visit to Charlotte after mayor's request
Hillary Clinton said Friday that the police video of the fatal shooting of a black man by Charlotte police should be released immediately as she announced and then abruptly postponed plans to make a pre-debate visit to the embattled North Carolina city. Clinton wrote on Twitter that authorities in Charlotte should release the police video of the Keith Lamont Scott shooting “without delay.
- BusinessThe DriveThe 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Final Edition Is the End of an Era
Because good luck finding a new Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution on a dealership lot anywhere in the United States, since Mitsubishi pulled the plug on the Evo's production line back in August, as one of the final chapters of the company's two-decade realignment from "fun alternative Japanese carmaker" to "boring crossover-and-EV company." Hence this, the final version of the final car to carry on the performance legacy of the 3000GT, the Eclipse, and so forth. Don't think the Final Edition is one of those badges-and-floormats special editions, though. The Final Edition is the most potent stock Lancer Evolution ever to hit American streets, packing 303 horsepower and 305 lb-ft of torque.
- U.S.ABC News VideosPolice Remain Confident They Will Find Faith Hedgepeth's Killer: Part 6
Each year, Faith Hedgepeth's family holds a fundraiser and gives away two scholarships in her memory.
WorldReutersSyria announces new offensive, diplomats fail to renew truceBy Tom Perry and John Irish BEIRUT/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Syria announced a new offensive against rebel-held areas of Aleppo on Thursday while diplomats failed to find a way in New York to revive a U.S. and Russian-brokered ceasefire that collapsed this week. Warplanes mounted the heaviest air strikes in months against rebel-held districts of Syria's commercial hub and largest city, dealing a fresh blow to efforts to end Syrian civil war that has raged since 2011. Rebel officials and rescue workers said incendiary bombs were among the weapons that rained down on Aleppo.
TechnologyBGR NewsSamsung is X-raying Galaxy Note 7s to make sure they’re safeSamsung confirmed it has already replaced around half a million Galaxy Note 7 units in the US, but it's still only halfway there. Regulators ordered Samsung that Galaxy Note 7 replacement batteries go through x-ray testing before shipping, and that Samsung conducts additional quality testing going forward. According to Reuters, South Korea ordered Samsung to take additional measures to ensure that the batteries used in the Galaxy Note 7 are safe.
- U.S.Inside EditionPolice Chief Defends Pepper Spraying Handcuffed 15-Year-Old Girl, Releases Body-Cam Footage
Police in Maryland released body-camera footage of an officer pepper-spraying a handcuffed 15-year-old girl who they say refused to cooperate after her bike collided with a car, saying it was a last resort action to de-escalate a potentially dangerous situation. Officers with the Hagerstown Police Department responded to a reported collision involving a car and a bicycle at Randolph and N. Locust Streets at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday, where the driver of the car told police that a teenage girl hit his car and attempted to leave, refusing medical attention at the scene.
U.S.AFPObama set to veto 9/11 victims' bid to sue SaudisBarack Obama will on Friday veto legislation allowing 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia, risking public outrage and the first congressional override of his presidency. The White House confirmed Thursday that Obama would veto the legislation -- unanimously passed by Congress -- allowing 9/11 families to launch civil suits against Riyadh. "We believe this is a bad bill," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.
- LifestyleU.S.News & World ReportTarget Corporation Spikes Kid Shopping Carts Amid Store Chaos (TGT)
The kids are not all right, as far as Target Corporation (ticker: TGT) is concerned. Target recently ended a test of kid shopping carts in certain Target stores. The company stopped the test on the account of consumer social media complaints, detailing ankle and shin bruising in addition to having trouble keeping control of kids and their carts, reports the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
WorldAssociated PressLaos promises to phase out tiger farms: Conservation groupsLaos has promised to phase out farms that breed endangered tigers for their body parts, a positive step from a country believed to be a major hub of wildlife trafficking in Asia, conservation groups said Friday. The announcement by Laotian officials in South Africa came one day before the start of a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES. If implemented, the move could help to curb the illegal trade in tiger bones and other parts used in traditional medicine in areas of Asia, and protect the depleted population of tigers.
U.S.Associated PressMost Puerto Ricans face a second night without electricityMost Puerto Ricans faced another night of darkness Thursday as crews slowly restored electricity a day after a fire at a power plant caused the aging utility grid to fail and blacked out the entire island of 3.5 million people. Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said he hoped more than half would be reconnected by Friday morning, adding that public school classes were canceled on Friday. Garcia, who declared a state of emergency, expressed sympathy for people's frustrations over the outage, which comes amid a decade-long economic crunch that has worn down Puerto Ricans.
- U.S.Yahoo News PhotoProtests in Charlotte, Atlanta after release of police shooting video
Protests sparked up again in Charlotte and now in Atlanta, GA. The wife of Keith Scott released a video of the scene today which went viral and renewed the now 4 days of protests in downtown Charlotte over the shooting and killing of Keith Scott by Charlotte police officer Brentley Vinson.
- BusinessThe DriveHow We Broke The Electric and Autonomous Cannonball Run Records
Two days ago, Franz Aliquo, Warren "Mr. X" Ahner, and I announced that we broke both the electric and autonomous vehicle Cannonball Run records, covering 2,877 miles from Redondo Beach, California to the Red Ball Garage in 55 hours—97.7 percent of that time with Tesla’s Autopilot in operation. California is the finish line of the Western world. Regular gas cars don’t have a lot of room for improvement, but with electric and self-driving cars, the sky’s the limit.
WorldReutersDefying U.N., North Korea vows to strengthen nuclear capabilityBy David Brunnstrom UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea vowed on Friday to further strengthen its nuclear weapons capability, in spite of U.N. condemnation and sanctions, and said it would never abandon its deterrence while it was threatened by nuclear-armed states. In an address to the United Nations General Assembly, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho described his country's nuclear weapons as "a righteous self-defense measure" against "constant nuclear threats of the United States." "Going nuclear-armed is the policy of our state," he said. "As long as there exists a nuclear-weapon state in hostile relations with the DPRK, our national security and peace on the Korean peninsula can be defended only with reliable nuclear deterrence," he said, using the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
- HealthLiveScience.comA Look at Holiday Weight Gain in 3 Countries
Holiday weight gain isn't unique to the United States: A new analysis finds that people in Germany and Japan also pack on pounds during festive seasons. In the study, which was published today (Sept. 21) in the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers gave wireless digital scales to nearly 3,000 participants in Germany, Japan and the United States. People in all three countries gained weight, on average, around Christmas, according to the study.
