- PoliticsLiz GoodwinClinton: Trump ‘bragged’ about not paying taxes
“He actually bragged about gaming the system to get out of paying his fair share of taxes,” Clinton told the crowd of roughly 1,500 at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh. “I think there’s a strong possibility he hasn’t paid federal taxes a lot of years, and this is a man who goes around calling our military a disaster, who goes around criticizing every institution from health care to education, our vets,” Clinton said. During the debate, Clinton brought up that the last tax returns Trump turned over to the public — from the 1970s — show that he paid nothing in federal income tax for several years.
- U.S.Olivier KnoxDefying critics, Obama nominates Cuba ambassador
Secretary of State John Kerry, right, is greeted on the tarmac by Jeffrey DeLaurentis at José Martí International Airport in Havana, Aug. 14, 2015. Facing down congressional opponents of his historic outreach to Cuba, President Obama announced Tuesday that he has chosen highly respected career diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis to be the first U.S. ambassador to Havana in 55 years. DeLaurentis is currently the top official at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba.
- BusinessThe DriveHere's Our First Look at Mercedes-Benz's Futuristic Electric Concept Car
Automakers across the board are filling more and more of their lineups with utopian people-movers for the 21st Century, and Mercedes-Benz is no exception. To tease its new electric concept car before its full reveal at the Paris Motor Show this week, Mercedes-Benz released a short clip of the vehicle showing off a few details and hinting at other clues on the new car. Previously, The Drive reported on how Daimler, Mercedes-Benz's parent company, has been looking to start up its own electric car sub-brand to rival Tesla.
- U.S.Inside EditionTeacher Invited 2 Students to Her Home for Sex: Cops
A substitute teacher was arrested last week after police say she had sexual encounters with students she invited to her Georgia home. While Cherokee County Sheriff's Office officials said the students were at the age of consent for the state, it was 38-year-old Laura Rich's position of authority that makes her alleged deeds a crime. Rich is accused of starting a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old shortly after she began substitute teaching in early 2015, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jay Baker said.
WorldAFPTourists flee volcano at popular Indonesia hiking spotHundreds of tourists have fled a volcanic eruption at a popular Indonesian hiking destination, an official said Wednesday, expressing fears some may have stayed behind to document the natural wonder. Around 1,000 tourists, including about 600 foreigners, were believed to be in the area when Mount Barujari sent columns of ash and smoke shooting high into the sky over holiday island Lombok Tuesday, according to the official disaster agency. Barujari is a small cone within the crater of Mount Rinjani, Indonesia's second-highest volcano and a major attraction for foreign tourists visiting the archipelago.
- U.S.Yahoo News PhotoDeadly house explosion in the Bronx
A battalion chief who had been considered a rising star in the New York Fire Department was killed Tuesday when a row house exploded as he was supervising an evacuation following the report of a gas leak. Authorities are looking into whether the building
- U.S.Christian Science MonitorWhy did an Ohio cop drive a man 100 miles to his sister's funeral?
A man rushing to meet up with his family after the sudden death of his 15-year-old sister was shown some kindness from an Ohio state police officer who sympathized with him, offering to escort him on the 100-mile journey back home. “Everybody knows how much I dislike Cops but I am truly Greatful for this Guy,” Mark Ross wrote in a Facebook post Sunday. In a time when tensions between white police officers and the black community run high, the heartwarming story was a breath of fresh air for many, quickly becoming a viral Facebook post that was shared nearly 100,000 times as of Tuesday afternoon.
U.S.Reuters'Bridgegate' witness says Governor Christie knew of lane closuresBy Joseph Ax NEWARK, N.J. (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was aware of a politically motivated scheme to close lanes at the George Washington Bridge in 2013 as it was unfolding, a key prosecution witness testified on Tuesday at the criminal trial of two former Christie associates. David Wildstein, a former executive at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey who masterminded the plot, told jurors in Newark federal court that he and Bill Baroni, another Port Authority executive, discussed the lane closure with Christie before a memorial service marking the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks at the World Trade Center. The testimony marked the first specific evidence federal prosecutors have presented to back their contention that the Republican governor knew at the time about the scandal known as "Bridgegate," despite his repeated denials.
- WorldForeign Policy MagazineNew Philippine Leader Wants to Boot U.S. Commandos as ISIS Seeks a Foothold
If Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte makes good on his threats to turn away from his country’s 65-year-old alliance with the United States, the first casualty would likely be the U.S. military mission there, which has become a model for successful counterterrorism operations worldwide. After warning earlier this month that the U.S. military contingent of several hundred troops has to go, Duterte said Monday that his country’s alliance with Washington had reached “a point of no return” and on Wednesday he said an upcoming joint military exercise would be the last with the United States. The threat to push out the team of up to 100 U.S. Special Operations Forces, along with an additional 300 to 500 American conventional troops, comes as concerns mount in Washington and Southeast Asia about the Islamic State’s efforts to spread its tentacles in the region.
PoliticsAndrew RomanoDebate scorecard: How Clinton and Trump compared on six key presidential qualitiesYou could, if you were so inclined, distill Monday’s marquee clash between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton at Hofstra University to a single iconic incident: Trump sniffling several times per sentence, perhaps, or Clinton debuting a new dance move.
WorldAFPUS owes blacks reparations over slavery: UN experts"There has been no real commitment to reparations and to truth and reconciliation for people of African descent," the report said. Working group chairman Ricardo A. Sunga told reporters that the panel believed several models of reparations could work in the US context, including "elements of apology" and a form of "debt relief" to the descendants of enslaved people. "We are very troubled that these are on the rise," he added, without naming Trump specifically but calling on officials and "even candidates" to watch their words.
- EntertainmentThe DriveThe Genesis G90 Lowballs Mercedes-Benz, Tweaks Lexus
Of course, Hyundai doesn’t actually have a doting mother. Then came the second-gen Hyundai Genesis sedan, surely the industry’s biggest surprise for 2015—and not only for its lavish features at a sub-$40,000 starting price. On its polished heels comes this Genesis G90.
WorldReutersTaiwan's third typhoon of the month kills at least four, injures hundredsBy J.R. Wu TAIPEI (Reuters) - The third typhoon to hit Taiwan this month killed at least four people and injured hundreds on Tuesday, knocking down trees and cutting power to millions. Major cities in Taiwan announced schools and offices would be shut for a second day on Wednesday as the island's weather authorities said that due to the large diameter of the typhoon, heavy rain and strong wind would not significantly abate until Wednesday afternoon. At least 329 people were injured and more than 14,000 evacuated, the government's Central Emergency Operation Center said late Tuesday.
HealthAFP Relax NewsOver 90% of world breathing bad air: WHONine out of 10 people globally are breathing poor quality air, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, calling for dramatic action against pollution that is blamed for more than six million deaths a year. New data in a report from the UN's global health body "is enough to make all of us extremely concerned," Maria Neira, the head of the WHO's department of public health and environment, told reporters. Poorer countries have much dirtier air than the developed world, according to the report, but pollution "affects practically all countries in the world and all parts of society", Neira said in a statement.
- SciencePopular MechanicsSpaceX Test Fires the Engine That Might Bring Humans to Mars
Just ahead of Elon Musk's big keynote address tomorrow on colonizing Mars, "Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species," SpaceX test fired the new engine that Musk hopes will lift the first astronauts to the red planet. The Raptor engine is SpaceX's first liquid methane and liquid oxygen fueled engine, unlike the family of Merlin engines that uses Rocket Propellant-1, or RP-1, a highly refined form of kerosene as well as liquid oxygen as a source of fuel.
- PoliticsABC News VideosTrump Sniffling during Debate Catches Social Media's Attention
A twitter account created specifically for Trump's sniffs quickly gained popularity.
U.S.AFPProtests after unarmed black man shot dead by US policeProtesters marched in a California town following the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man said to be mentally ill, as local officials urged calm and pledged a full investigation. The victim, identified as Ugandan refugee Alfred Olango, 30, was shot on Tuesday in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon after police received an emergency call about a man behaving erratically and walking in traffic. El Cajon police chief Jeff Davis said Olango had ignored repeated calls by responding officers to remove his hand from his pocket and one officer used a Taser against him while another fired his weapon when he turned and confronted them.
- WorldForeign Policy MagazineSitRep: Russia Implicated in Airline Shoot Down; U.S. Strike in Afghanistan Under Investigation
Russia shot down airliner. A Dutch-led investigation to be released Wednesday has concluded that a Russian surface-to-air missile system shot down a Malaysia Airlines plane over Ukraine two years ago, killing all 298 on board.
- PoliticsCaitlin DicksonNYPD fact-checks Donald Trump’s debate claims on crime
The first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton drew a plethora of fact checkers, poised and ready to scrutinize every statement uttered by either candidate Monday night. The New York Police Department, somewhat unexpectedly, joined the fact-checking fray. While on the topic of race relations, Trump reiterated his recent campaign trail declaration that black and Latino Americans “are living in hell” and that the solution is to expand New York’s “stop-and-frisk” policy, which has been curtailed in recent years. The controversial police tactic, ruled unconstitutional by a judge, was primarily used against black and Latino New Yorkers.
U.S.TribuneFirefighter Killed, Several Injured in Explosion at NYC HomeA firefighter was killed and at least six other people, including multiple NYPD officers, were injured during a gas explosion at a Bronx home that may have been acting as a meth lab, sources said Tuesday.
- BusinessThe DriveDJI's New Mavic Pro Drone Is Compact, Capable, and Can Fly Itself
With up to 27 minutes of flight time on a single charge, pilots can use the Mavic Pro's three-axis gimbal to take photos and record video from a stable aerial platform—making it ideal for aerial selfies or live-streaming video.
U.S.ReutersObama power plant rules face key test in courtThe centerpiece of President Barack Obama's climate change strategy faced a key test on Tuesday as conservative appeals court judges questioned whether his administration overstepped its legal authority under an air pollution law to make sweeping changes to the U.S. electric sector. Twenty-seven states led by coal-producer West Virginia and industry groups are challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan rules before 10 judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
- WorldReutersNo more trade in endangered pangolins, U.N. meeting decides
By Tanisha Heiberg JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The United Nations on Wednesday banned global trade in highly endangered pangolins, a scaly animal with the dubious distinction of being the world's most poached mammal. Member states of the U.N.'s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, known as CITES, voted to place the eight species of pangolin on the convention's "Appendix I," which prohibits any cross-border movement in the animals or their body parts for commercial purposes. Like other illicit wildlife commodity pipelines, such as elephant ivory and rhino horn, Africa is the main source of pangolin supply, while the demand comes from Asia.
- BusinessThe DriveThe Lamborghini Urus Has Turbos So It Can Go Dune Surfing
When the Lamborghini Urus hits the streets sometime in the next couple of years, it won’t just be the first SUV the company has made since the the carmaker’s first SUV since the LM002. It’ll also be the company’s first time using a turbocharged engine in a production car. “We will have a turbo—and for one reason.
- U.S.Popular MechanicsAnother F-35 Engine Catches Fire
The incident, involving an aircraft assigned to the 56h Fighter Wing, took place on September 23 at Mountain Home Air Force Base. A test pilot repeatedly flew a F-35 in a way the engine's titanium fan blades were heated to nearly double normal operating temperatures.
