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2020 Vision Monday: Polls show a 17-point swing toward impeaching Trump, which could drag down his reelection bid

A rapid 17-point shift means a majority of Americans may soon support impeachment, or, taking margin of error into account, might already. And that’s terrible news for Trump.

What's causing record rates of STDs?

After decades of decline, rates of certain STDs have spiked to record levels, according to the CDC. What's causing the increase?

Booze run from behind bars: Inmates escape from Texas federal prison, return with whiskey

The men left the prison grounds and cut through a neighboring ranch before getting caught by authorities.

The U.S. Military Has a Lot of Firepower in the Middle East to Deter Iran

In response to Iran’s actions, the U.S. has deployed 14,000 additional troops to the region since May. In addition to the most recent deployments, as Esper noted, this includes airborne early warning aircraft squadrons, maritime patrol aircraft squadrons, B-52 bombers, an amphibious transport dock, unmanned aircraft, engineering personnel, and the Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (CSG).

School suspends girls, says rape-awareness note was bullying

A 15-year-old girl was suspended for bullying after trying to draw attention to what she believed was an unaddressed problem of sexual assaults involving students at her high school. Aela Mansmann, a 15-year-old sophomore at Cape Elizabeth High School outside Portland, has been at odds with Cape Elizabeth Schools for a month after posting a note in a bathroom that said: "There's a rapist in our school and you know who it is." She and two other students who left similar notes were ordered suspended. The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine is taking on Mansmann's case and calling on federal court to stop her suspension.

Jeep Gladiator Gets Even More Rugged as a Military-Spec Vehicle

Jeep and AM General could re-enlist with the U.S. Army as soon as next year.

Turkey slams 'dirty deal' between Syria's Assad and Kurdish forces

Turkey dismissed global opposition to its military operation in Syria on Tuesday and slammed a "dirty deal" between President Bashar al-Assad's regime and Kurdish forces as US troops began their withdrawal from the battle zone. Turkey's operation against Kurdish militants in Syria, launched a week ago, has been widely criticised by the international community, with the US, a NATO ally, slapping sanctions on Ankara. "We will continue to combat all terrorist groups, including Daesh (the Islamic State group), whether or not the world agrees to support our efforts," Fahrettin Altun, communications director at the Turkish presidency, told AFP.

'Defiant message' as North Korea's Kim rides white horse on sacred mountain

Aides to Kim Jong Un are convinced the North Korean leader plans "a great operation", state media said on Wednesday in a report that included lavish descriptions and images of the leader riding a white horse up North Korea's most sacred mountain. In the photos released by state news agency KCNA, Kim is seen riding alone on a large white horse through snowy fields and woods on Mt Paektu, the spiritual homeland of the Kim dynasty. “His march on horseback in Mt Paektu is a great event of weighty importance in the history of the Korean revolution,” KCNA said.

Court Ruling Extends Vote Protest of Philippine Marcos’ Son

(Bloomberg) -- The Philippines’ top court on Tuesday decided to release the initial results of the vice-presidential vote recount, which the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ son said will delay his chance to assume the post.Former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he is “frustrated” by the court’s decision not to resolve his election protest against Vice President Leni Robredo victory in the 2016 polls. Robredo is already halfway through her six-year term.The court instead decided to make public the result of the recount covering three provinces that will serve as basis for any further action on Marcos’ challenge. It also asked the two camps to comment on Marcos’ plea to nullify votes in three other provinces due to supposed irregularities in the 2016 elections.“The proper vice president -- myself -- is being robbed of years of service,” Marcos said in a televised interview. President Rodrigo Duterte, who has faced questions on his health, has repeatedly said Marcos is his preferred successor if he had to leave office before his single term expires in 2022.Robredo, leader of the opposition party, said she welcomes the court decision, as she urged the court to already junk Marcos’ protest. “The mere fact that this has been dragging on for so long only provides Marcos a platform for his lies,” she said in a separate televised briefing.(Updates with comments from Marcos and Robredo from fourth paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Andreo Calonzo in Manila at acalonzo1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecilia Yap at cyap19@bloomberg.net, Muneeza NaqviFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Woman will spend 60 years in prison for first-degree murder of boyfriend

A woman who poured gasoline on the couch where her sleeping boyfriend lay and then shut the door after seeing him jump up and yell "hot, hot" will spend 60 years in prison for first-degree murder.

'Kanye West should not be president': Chris Hayes grapples with the demise of parties

MSNBC's Chris Hayes on what he would do if a Trump-like celebrity ever ran for president as a Democrat.

We found 85,000 cops who’ve been investigated for misconduct. Now you can read their records.

USA TODAY is leading a national effort to obtain and publish disciplinary and misconduct records for thousands of police officers.

Saudi Arabia: We are undergoing an unprecedented transformation

Jamal Khashoggi's death was an aberration that should not define us as a nation, writes Fahad Nazer, spokesperson for the Saudi Embassy.

Shooting kills 6 in Puerto Rico, leads to emergency meeting

Puerto Rico's governor called an emergency meeting Tuesday after six people were killed in a mass shooting in a San Juan housing project and gunfire left two people dead a day earlier in the island's north. A police statement said the violence left five men and one woman dead. The brazen murders led Gov. Wanda Vázquez to convene a gathering of her security team, led by public security chief Elmer Román and justice secretary Dennise Longo Quiñones.

Hiker Digs Up 1,000-Year-Old Iron Weapon

Climate change melted away the ancient arrowhead.

India blocks SMS services in Kashmir after trucker killed

Text messaging services were blocked in Indian Kashmir just hours after being restored when a truck driver was killed by suspected militants and his vehicle set ablaze, authorities said Tuesday. Separately, Indian officials said a 24-year-old woman died in the latest exchange of artillery fire with Pakistan over their de-facto border dividing the blood-soaked Himalayan region.

Texas policeman faces murder charges after killing black woman in her home

Atatiana Jefferson was killed on Saturday at about 2:30 a.m. when officer Aaron Dean fired a single shot through a window into her home as she cared for her 8-year-old nephew. Dean was responding to a call from a concerned neighbor who said Jefferson's door was open. "Aaron Dean was arrested by Fort Worth Police on Oct. 14.

Elizabeth Warren Resurrects ‘You Didn’t Build That’ Line That Dogged Obama

Win McNamee/GettySen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) made remarks in the Democratic debate Tuesday night that harked back to President Obama’s “You didn’t build that” line, which became fodder for Republican attacks in the 2012 presidential election. “Look, I don’t have a beef with billionaires,” Warren said at the debate, arguing for higher taxes on the ultra-wealthy. “My problem is, you made a fortune in America, you had a great idea, you got out there and worked for it, good for you, but you built that fortune in America, I guarantee you built it in part using workers all of us help pay to educate.” Warren’s debate argument was the latest iteration of a line she pioneered during her 2012 campaign for a Massachusetts Senate seat. But when Obama tried to use Warren’s messaging in his 2012 presidential re-election campaign, he phrased it less clearly, leaving an opening for GOP attack ads that took Obama’s remarks out of context and made it seem as if he was saying business owners “didn’t build” their companies. “If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help,” Obama said. “There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”Obama rival Mitt Romney soon brought up the “you didn’t build that” line in a speech, claiming that it was akin to saying that “Steve Jobs didn't build Apple.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Will Endorse Bernie Sanders’ 2020 Bid

(Bloomberg) -- Bernie Sanders secured two endorsements from high-profile Democratic freshmen -- New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar -- giving him a star-power boost for his rally in New York this weekend.Ocasio-Cortez will join the Vermont senator’s event on Saturday, according to Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir.“She will help us build the multiracial working class coalition we need to win and transform this country,” Shakir said of the congresswoman from the Bronx.The move by the first-term representative, who has become a celebrity among the left for her unabashedly left-wing policies and combative attitude, is a boost to Sanders’ campaign. He has fallen to third place in polling, overtaken by liberal rival Elizabeth Warren who is now tied with Joe Biden.This weekend’s ally will be Sanders’ first campaign event since he suffered a heart attack on Oct. 1.Corbin Trent, an Ocasio-Cortez aide, said: “We’re looking forward to Saturday.”Ocasio-Cortez was an organizer for the runner-up 2016 primary campaign of Sanders. Both call themselves democratic-socialists.Representative Omar, a close ally of Ocasio-Cortez, also endorsed Sanders on Tuesday night, saying he’s “leading a working class movement to defeat Donald Trump that transcends generation, ethnicity, and geography.”“I believe Bernie Sanders is the best candidate to take on Donald Trump in 2020,” Omar said in a statement.\--With assistance from Katia Dmitrieva.To contact the reporter on this story: Sahil Kapur in Washington at skapur39@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Anna Edgerton at aedgerton@bloomberg.net, Wendy BenjaminsonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Meet USS Barb: The Navy's Special World War II Submarine That Terrified Japan

It sank the most Japanese vessels by tonnage.

Soldier wounded during search for Bowe Bergdahl dies of his injuries

A US soldier shot in the head during the 2009 search for army deserter Bowe Bergdahl has died from his injuries. Army Master Sgt. Mark Allen died on Saturday at the age of 46, 10 years after being injured in the hunt for his missing comrade. He spent 21 years in the army and national guard, and retired in 2013 on receiving the Purple Heart. He had been unable to walk or speak since a sniper shot him in the head in July 2009 while he was looking for Bergdahl, who had walked off his base in Afghanistan and was held by the Taliban for five years.   At Bergdahl's trial, Allen's wife Shannon testified that it would take up to 90 minutes each morning to get her husband out of bed, showered, and dressed. She had to use a pulley system attached to the ceiling to move him. Shannon Allen, who testified during the trial of Bowe Bergdahl Mrs Allen did not learn about the circumstances surrounding her husband’s injuries until 2014, after former president Barack Obama negotiated Bergdahl’s release in a swap for five Taliban members detained at Guantanamo Bay. The Idaho-born soldier, now 33, was sentenced in January 2016 for desertion. During the trial he apologised to those injured. “I would like everyone who searched for me to know it was never my intention for anyone to be hurt, and I never expected that to happen,” he said. He was reduced in rank from sergeant to private, ordered to forfeit $1,000 in pay for 10 months, and given a dishonorable discharge. He did not serve any prison time. Mrs Allen broke the news on Facebook on Sunday. “I’m heartbroken to let you all know that my husband passed away peacefully yesterday morning, with his family by his side,” she said. “Over ten years ago, he sustained a severe head injury while serving in Afghanistan, which caused him lifelong health problems. "These past few months, he has faced some significant illnesses, and his body was finally ready to rest.”

Wildfires spread through parts of Lebanon, Syria

Wildfires spread through parts of Lebanon on Tuesday after forcing some residents to flee their homes in the middle of the night, while others were stuck inside as the flames reached villages south of Beirut, authorities said. There were no reports of fatalities from the fires — among the worst to hit Lebanon in years. Fire crews were overwhelmed by the flames in the Mount Lebanon region early Tuesday, forcing the Interior Ministry to send riot police with engines equipped with water cannons to help.

Brazil probes whether 'ghost ship' carrying Venezuelan oil involved in spill

A huge oil spill off Brazil's northeastern coast may have involved a "ghost ship" carrying Venezuelan oil in breach of US sanctions, an expert close to the probe into the disaster said Tuesday. Brazil has accused its South American neighbor of responsibility for the leakage that began in early September and affects a 2,000-kilometer (1,200-mile) stretch of the Atlantic coast -- charges Venezuela's state oil giant PDVSA denies. Describing the incident as "very complex and unprecedented," Brazil's navy says it is investigating "lots of hypotheses" for the cause of the massive spill, including a ship accident.

Russian troll freed in Belarus after arrest for US election tampering

Anna Bogacheva was detained and briefly threatened with extradition to the US after being named in Mueller reportRobert Mueller alleges that Anna Bogacheva and others posed as US citizens to set up social media accounts aimed at swaying the 2016 presidential vote. Photograph: Tom Brenner/ReutersA Russian national charged with attempting to meddle in the 2016 American presidential elections was briefly threatened with extradition to the United States after being arrested in Belarus, before she was was freed by local authorities. Anna Bogacheva was detained late on Monday evening by police at a hotel in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, while on holiday with her family, according to RIA Novosti, the Russian state news agency. Her lawyer said she had been detained under an international arrest warrant issued by the United States.Bogacheva was one of 13 Russians indicted last year by the US justice department after the investigation into election interference led by the special counsel Robert Mueller. Three Russian entities, including a notorious state-backed “troll farm” called the Internet Research Agency, were also indicted. Russia’s foreign ministry confirmed on Tuesday that Bogacheva had been arrested and said that it was providing consular assistance. But shortly after the foreign ministry statement, Russia’s embassy in Minsk announced that Bogacheva had been freed. A spokesman for Belarus’ general prosecutor’s office said that there were “no grounds” for her arrest or extradition to the United States. “She has been released,” the spokesman said, adding that Minsk would apply to have the international warrant for her arrest invalidated on the territory of Belarus. Mueller alleges that the St Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency’s employees, including Bogacheva, posed as US citizens to set up social media accounts aimed at swaying the 2016 presidential vote that brought Donald Trump to power, as well as sowing “discord” in the US political system. US investigators say the Internet Research Agency is controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a wealthy businessman known as “Putin’s chef” because his companies often provide catering services to the Kremlin. Prigozhin is also reported to provide mercenaries for Russia’s military operations in Syria, Ukraine and parts of Africa. Bogacheva is accused of working as a translator for the agency and overseeing its data analysis group. She and Alexander Krylova, another agency employee, travelled to the United States in June 2014 on what US investigators say was an intelligence gathering trip. Bogacheva’s arrest in Minsk briefly looked set to derail relations between Belarus and Russia. Viktor Vodolatsky, an MP from Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party, accused Belarus of a “betrayal” before news of her release broke.

Exclusive: Trump lawyer Giuliani was paid $500,000 to consult on indicted associate's firm

President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, was paid $500,000 for work he did for a company co-founded by the Ukrainian-American businessman arrested last week on campaign finance charges, Giuliani told Reuters on Monday. The businessman, Lev Parnas, is a close associate of Giuliani and was involved in his effort to investigate Trump's political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, who is a leading contender for the 2020 Democratic Party nomination. Giuliani said Parnas' company, Boca Raton-based Fraud Guarantee, whose website says it aims to help clients "reduce and mitigate fraud", engaged Giuliani Partners, a management and security consulting firm, around August 2018.

Dutch police discover family locked away for years in isolated farmhouse

Dutch police acting on a tip-off discovered six young adult siblings who had apparently spent years locked away in a secret room in an isolated farmhouse "waiting for the end of time," local broadcasters reported on Tuesday.

China's Missiles Could be a New 21st Century Kamikaze Weapon

When most people think of a twenty-first-century successor to the kamikaze, they probably think of a suicide bomber. They might have it all wrong.

Russia assumes mantle of supreme power broker in Middle East as US retreats from Syria

Russia’s status as the undisputed power-broker in the Middle East was cemented as Vladimir Putin continued a triumphant tour of capitals traditionally allied to the US and Russian troops entered a hastily evacuated US base in Syria The Russian president, who spent Monday in Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, landed in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday morning. He was met at the airport by Abu Dhabi’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and fighter jets coloured the sky white blue and red, the colours of the Russian tricolour, as they traveled to the Royal palace.   Mr Putin presented the crown prince with an endangered gyrfalcon bred at a Russian breeding centre in Kyrgyzstan.  It is Mr Putin’s first visit to the UAE since 2007.  Russian and Syrian forces driving near Manbij on Tuesday morning Credit: OMAR SANADIKI/ REUTERS Part of the visit is about business. Russia’s sovereign wealth fund said a dozen agreements worth more than $1.3 billion were to be signed during the visit.  But the visit also underscores an attempt by Russia to strengthen ties with traditional US allies in the Middle East following Donald Trump’s decision last week to pull troops out of Syria.  The move leaves Moscow the decisive military power in Syria, and US allies, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, are likely to see friendship with Moscow as important if they are to contain regional rivals Iran and Turkey.  Kremlin has worked closely with Iran to prop-up Bashar Assad in Syria, leaving it with valuable diplomatic leverage on either side of the conflict between Tehran and Riyadh.  The shift in power has implications for conflicts in the wider region.  SyriaEasternEuphratesRussia|n PMC inside the US base in Manbij abandoned this morning. pic.twitter.com/II2FI68aBx— MrRevinsky (@Kyruer) October 15, 2019 Mr Putin said he and his opposite numbers were "intensively coordinating in the regional and international issues that are related to the situation in Syria, Libya, Yemen and the situation in the Arab Gulf.” A symbolic confirmation of Russia’s new role as regional power broker came when Russian forces entered a hastily abandoned US base in Syria.  The Russian take over of the base near the strategic town of Manbij was captured by Oleg Blokhin, a veteran war correspondent who has often embedded with the Russian army and private military contractors in Syria, who filmed himself exploring the base on Tuesday morning.  “Good morning everyone from Manbij!” he said in the video. “I’m standing in an American base. There were here just yesterday, and today it is us. Let’s have a look at how they lived here.” In a second video he played with raising and lowering the electronically-operated barrier at a base checkpoint. “It’s all in working order,” he remarked.  Vladimir Putin gave Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi an endangered Gyrfalcon, from a Russian breeding centre in Kyrgyzstan Credit:  Alexei Nikolsky/TASS The American-led coalition later confirmed it had abandoned the area as part of staged a “deliberate withdrawal” from northeast Syria.  “We are out of Manbij,” it said on Twitter.  The move puts Russian troops in a buffer zone between regime forces and Turkish-backed rebels. It is speculated that they may also assume a role separating Kurdish militias from Turkish forces.  Russian and Syrian regime forces moved into strategic border cities in northern Syria after the formerly US-allied Kurdish-led administration of the region struck a deal to halt Turkey’s offensive there. Under the agreement, troops loyal to the Assad government and backed by Russian forces are to secure the border with Turkey, allowing Damascus to regain control of a region it lost nearly ten years ago.  Such an outcome may satisfy Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who launched his offensive into Syria on Wednesday last week in a bid to crush the autonomous administration in the area run by the Kurdish YPG, which has links to the banned Turkish Kurdistan Workers Party.  However, in a sign of tensions with Turkey, Mr Putin’s Syria envoy said that Russia considered the Turkish military operation in northern Syria “unacceptable.” Asked whether the Kremlin had given Ankara a green light for the operation in advance, Alexander Lavrentiev said: "No. We had always urged Turkey to show restraint and always considered some kind of military operation on Syrian territory unacceptable."

China inflation surges as pork prices soar

China's consumer inflation accelerated at its fastest pace in almost six years in September as African swine fever sent pork prices soaring nearly 70 percent, official data showed Tuesday. Authorities have gone as far as tapping the nation's pork reserve to control prices of the staple meat, as the swine fever crisis could become a political and economic liability for the state. The consumer price index (CPI) -- a key gauge of retail inflation -- hit 3.0 percent last month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, up from 2.8 percent in August and the highest since since November 2013.

Jayme Closs: 1 year after abduction, I'm feeling stronger

The Wisconsin girl whose parents were fatally shot before she was kidnapped and held captive for 88 days before escaping from her abductor said she's feeling stronger every day and is thankful for the kindness and concern expressed to her from people all over the country in the year after the crime. Jayme Closs issued a statement Monday, a day before the one-year anniversary of the fatal shootings and abduction at her home near Barron in northwest Wisconsin. Closs said she is getting back to the activities she enjoys and loves hanging out with her friends.

Funeral prank by deceased grandfather leaves mourners laughing

A funeral prank that had a deceased grandfather talking from beyond the grave left mourners laughing.

Amazon Pledges $1 Million More in Heated Seattle Elections

(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. is reaching into its deep pockets in an effort to make Seattle more business-friendly, pledging an additional $1 million to a corporate-backed group ahead of next month’s contentious city council elections.The contribution disclosed on Tuesday brings Amazon’s donations this election cycle to the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce’s Civic Alliance for a Sound Economy (CASE) to $1.45 million, and likely cements the company’s status as the biggest spender in its hometown’s elections. The splurge marks a dramatic change for the e-commerce giant, which largely avoided city politics for most of its 25 years, even as it grew into Seattle’s largest employer and contributed to a boom that brought about rapidly rising housing costs, snarled traffic and a homelessness crisis.“We are contributing to this election because we care deeply about the future of Seattle,” Amazon spokesman Aaron Toso said in an emailed statement. “We believe it is critical that our hometown has a city council that is focused on pragmatic solutions to our shared challenges in transportation, homelessness, climate change and public safety.”Amazon’s relationship with city hall was a focus of heated debate last year around a proposed tax on large businesses to fund services for the homeless. The city council passed -- and then, under pressure from a business-backed repeal effort, rescinded -- the so-called head tax after Amazon paused construction planning on a piece of its corporate campus and threatened to back out of a lease for a major downtown skyscraper. Amazon would later confirm its intent to sublease that building anyway.Seven of Seattle’s nine city council seats are up for election this year.Socialist councilmember Kshama Sawant, who sought to link Amazon to the tax and has made calls to tax the company a fixture of her reelection campaign, faces a competitive race in the Nov. 5 general election. Egan Orion, a community leader from Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, is backed by CASE and individual contributions from more than a dozen Amazon executives.Amazon’s latest commitment makes the company the biggest spender so far this election cycle, according to CASE, topping the $855,000 spent by a group affiliated with the Service Employees International Union. mazon this year has also hosted and sponsored city council candidate forums, and contributed $400,000 to a campaign to defeat a ballot measure that would cut Washington state car-tab taxes at the expense of transportation projects.To contact the reporter on this story: Matt Day in Seattle at mday63@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Molly Schuetz, Robin AjelloFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Boris Johnson is reportedly very close to agreeing a Brexit deal with the EU

EU sources told Bloomberg that a deal could be concluded as early as Tuesday, with the UK set to agree a new compromise deal.

Dropping Bombs: These Are the Best Bombers To Ever Fly

What do you think? What does history tells us?

Harry Dunn's parents turn down meeting with Anne Sacoolas as Trump intervenes to broker solution

Harry Dunn’s parents have turned down a surprise meeting with the American woman who killed their son as Donald Trump personally greeted them at the White House to broker a solution.  Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, parents of the 19 year-old, said that the US president had been warm and sympathetic towards them, but told them that the driver, Anne Sacoolas, would not leave America. The Dunn family said Mrs Sacoolas was also in the building when they spoke with Mr Trump and had offered to meet with them, but they declined. Mrs Sacoolas, the wife of an American diplomat, was driving her car on the wrong side of the road in Northamptonshire when she crashed into the teenager on Aug 27, killing him. Harry's parents had arrived in New York on Sunday to try and convince Mrs Sacoolas to return to the UK and face justice.  They were invited to a meeting at the White House on Tuesday evening and met with Mr Trump there. The Dunns said that while the president had been respectful and told them he would look at their case again, he also said the US position remained the same and that Mrs Sacoolas would not be returning to the UK.   Mr Dunn said they had chosen not to speak with Mrs Sacoolas at the White House, adding: "We weren't ready to meet her, it would have been too rushed. "Obviously we've just met the president and we never thought we'd get this far but I don't know whether we're any further along." He said Mr Trump was  "very graceful and spoke very well to us". "He listened to Charlotte very well - she spoke excellently to him and he was very understanding. "I genuinely do think he will look to resolve this in a way that will help us," he added. The parents of Harry Dunn arrives at Union Station in Washington Credit: AP Mrs Charles said: "When he (President Trump) held my hand, I gripped it a lot tighter and I was honest with him and just said, as I said a while ago, 'if it was your son you would be doing the same as us'. "He actually gripped my hand a little bit tighter and said 'yes I would be'. "And that's when he said he would try and look at this from a different angle." Mrs Charles said: "He seemed to understand that our grief has been locked in for seven weeks now on a case that should have been very, very clear-cut. "He understands, or he seems to understand, that that meeting (with Mrs Sarcoolas) needs to be with therapists and mediators in the room - not just her and us. "I wouldn't imagine that's even advisable for her, let alone us." Mrs Charles added: "I can only hope that he was sincere enough to consider doing that for us." Mrs Sacoolas has, through her lawyer, urged the family to "call off the media", the family's spokesman has said. Radd Seiger told the PA news agency that Mrs Sacoolas's lawyer, Amy Jeffress, had said the "media frenzy is not helpful" and that Mrs Sacoolas had received "abusive messages" over the case. Anne Sacoolas, who crashed into Harry Dunn on August 27 and then left the country Mr Seiger also said the apology from Mrs Sacoolas was "not worth the paper it was written on" and reiterated his view that the family's position on the suspect returning to the UK is non-negotiable and has been from the start. "I said before we go any further, it's important you understand that our position on Mrs Sacoolas returning to the UK is non-negotiable,” he said. Mrs Charles, ahead of the White House meeting, said: “We are grateful for the invitation, which we hope represents a positive development in our fight for justice." She said she hoped the meeting would help convince the US officials to send Mrs Sacoolas to the UK for questioning. “Friends tell each other the truth," she said.  "If Britain and America are friends then we believe there should be no possibility of a citizen of one country hiding from justice in another while falsely claiming a privilege such as diplomatic immunity.” Mr Dunn, asked at a New York press conference on Monday what he would say to Mr Trump, replied: “I would say to him as a man, as a father, see how it is. How could you let this happen? Surely you'd want that person to own up and take responsibility for their actions. That's all we want.” Harry Dunn was killed on August 27 by Anne Sacoolas, driving her car on the wrong side of the road It was unclear whether Ms Charles and Mr Dunn would be meeting Mr Trump while at the White House. The US president has previously addressed the controversy, calling Mr Dunn's death a "terrible accident" and confirmed his administration would seek to speak to Mrs Sacoolas. "The woman was driving on the wrong side of the road, and that can happen,” he said last week. "You know, those are the opposite roads, that happens. I won't say it ever happened to me, but it did. "So a young man was killed, the person that was driving the automobile has diplomatic immunity, we're going to speak to her very shortly and see if we can do something where they meet." As he was speaking he was holding a note, caught on camera, which confirmed the US would not send Mrs Sacoolas back to the UK for questioning. It read: "(If raised) Note, as Secretary Pompeo told Foreign Secretary Raab, that the spouse of the US government employee will not return to the United Kingdom."

Marianne Williamson isn't on the debate stage but reminded people she's still running

"No, they’re not the only Democratic candidates for President of the United States," she tweeted as the debate started.

Mayor Pete’s Husband to Embark on European Fundraising Tour Hosted by Elite Allies

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s husband will head out on a three-day European tour to raise money for the campaign next week, according to NBC.Under U.S. campaign finance law, campaigns cannot raise money from foreign nationals, but can accept donations from American citizens or green-card holders abroad. Invitations reviewed by NBC are requiring potential donors to bring a copy of their passport or green card in order to be admitted.Chasten Buttigieg plans to make stops in London, Paris, and Geneva at events hosted by Buttigieg allies, including Hollywood screenwriters, corporate executives, and former Obama administration employees.In London, Chasten Buttigieg will attend a reception hosted by Eric Beinhocker, a professor at Oxford alumnus of consulting giant McKinsey & Company, where Pete Buttigieg also once worked. Beinhocker donated to Buttigieg’s mayoral campaign in 2010, according to records. Later that evening, Buttigieg will attend a cocktail party hosted by Dustin Lance Black, who won an Oscar for the 2008 film “Milk,” and called Buttigieg’s campaign “a message of hope” in May.Both events are being co-hosted by Kevin MacLellan, the chairman of global distribution and international at NBCUniversal, who hosted a July fundraiser for Buttigieg at his Los Angeles home with husband Brian Curran and LGBT celebrities Ellen DeGeneres and Sean Hayes.Chasten Buttigieg will then head to Paris for a reception and dinner with the national campaign’s investment chair, followed by a fundraiser a day later at the home of Charles Adams, former President Obama’s ambassador to Finland and a steady fundraiser for Buttigieg over the last few months.Buttigieg’s campaign announced a third-quarter fundraising number of $19.1 million in October, good for third overall among the Democratic field, but down from the $24.8 million raised in the second quarter.

GOP endorsement eludes indicted California congressman

In a sign of a turbulent campaign to come, indicted U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter failed to win the endorsement Monday of his local Republican Party after arguing that he is the best candidate for the job despite his approaching federal trial. Hunter faced significant odds of winning the two-third support he needed for the nod from the San Diego Republican Party, with several other GOP candidates dividing the vote, including former Rep. Darrell Issa. "I've got this seat," Hunter said, with three other candidates seated beside him.

States are cutting university budgets. Taxpayers aren't interested in funding campus kooks

University campuses have abandoned their central mission in their pursuit of utopia. The American public has had enough.

British paedophile who operated in Malaysia, Cambodia found dead in prison

One of Britain's most prolific child sex offenders, Richard Huckle, has died three years into a life sentence for abusing Malaysian and Cambodian children, Britain's Ministry of Justice said on Monday, with media saying he had been stabbed to death. Huckle, 33, who abused children and babies during a nine year period, was sentenced to life in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to 71 offences. Dubbed the country's worst paedophile by Britain's media, he was found stabbed to death in prison on Sunday after being attacked with a makeshift knife, the BBC reported.

China Threatens to Retaliate If U.S. Enacts Hong Kong Bill

(Bloomberg) -- China threatened unspecified “strong countermeasures” if the U.S. Congress enacts legislation supporting Hong Kong protesters, in a sign of the deepening strain between the world’s two largest economies as they attempt to seal a trade deal.China’s foreign ministry issued the warning Wednesday after the U.S. House passed a package of measures backing a pro-democracy movement that has rocked the former British colony for more than four months. Among them was the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which subjects the city’s special U.S. trading status to annual reviews and provides for sanctions against officials deemed responsible for undermining its “fundamental freedoms and autonomy.”While the legislation must also pass the U.S. Senate and be signed by President Donald Trump to become law, it already has strong bipartisan support in the Republican-run upper chamber. The Hong Kong measures was passed by the Democrat-controlled House by unanimous voice votes Tuesday.Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang warned American lawmakers to stop meddling in China’s internal affairs “before falling off the edge of the cliff,” without specifying how it would retaliate. The House action “fully exposes the shocking hypocrisy of some in the U.S. on human rights and democracy and their malicious intention to undermine Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability to contain China’s development,” Geng said.The threat dented investor appetite for risk, with S&P 500 Index futures slipping 0.2%. The offshore yuan also dropped as much as 0.3% to 7.1049 against the dollar after the statement.Both Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have so far prevented the international uproar over Hong Kong from scuttling their trade talks. The two sides went ahead with negotiations and reached some broad agreements last week, even though the House vote was widely expected at the time.“I don’t think this will undermine the prospect of signing a partial deal next month,” said Wang Huiyao, an adviser to China’s cabinet and founder of the Center for China and Globalization in Beijing. “The Hong Kong bill is not a done deal and there is still room for redemption.”A spokesman for the Hong Kong government “expressed regret” over the House action, which came hours before Chief Executive Carrie Lam was slated to deliver her annual policy address. Earlier this week, tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Hong Kong’s central district urging the legislation’s passage as sign of international support, many of them waving American flags.U.S. lawmakers have embraced the Hong Kong protesters’ cause as the yearlong trade war fuels American support for pushing back against China, and they have hosted some of the city’s activists on Capitol Hill in recent weeks. The National Basketball Association’s struggle to manage Chinese backlash against a Houston Rockets executive’s support for the movement has only focused wider attention on the debate.On Tuesday, the House passed H.Res. 543, a resolution reaffirming the relationship between the U.S. and Hong Kong, condemning Chinese interference in the region and voicing support for protesters. Lawmakers also passed the Protect Hong Kong Act, H.R. 4270, which would halt the export to Hong Kong of crowd-control devices such as tear gas and rubber bullets.Representative Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican and a sponsor of the main Hong Kong bill, predicted that the Senate would pass the legislation and dismissed the threats from Beijing.“Retaliation, that’s all they ever talk,” Smith told Bloomberg TV. “They try to browbeat and cower people, countries, presidents, prime ministers and the like all over in order to get them to back off. We believe that human rights are so elemental, and so in need of protection. And that’s why the students and the young people are out in the streets in Hong Kong virtually every day.”In addition, the House adopted a resolution by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel of New York and the panel’s top Republican, Michael McCaul of Texas, urging Canada to start U.S. extradition proceedings against Huawei Technologies Co. executive Meng Wanzhou. The resolution, H.Res. 521, also calls for the release of two Canadians detained in China and due process for a third sentenced to death for drug smuggling.Republican Senators Rick Scott of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri visited Hong Kong over the two-week congressional recess that ended Tuesday. Hawley met with local pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong and got into a back-and-forth with Lam over whether Hong Kong is a becoming a “police state.”The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ local branch in the city issued a separate statement warning the U.S. against “playing the Hong Kong card.” “They are lifting the stone only to drop it on their own feet,” it said.David Zweig, an emeritus professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and director of Transnational China Consulting Ltd., noted that the U.S. legislation stopped short of altering the Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992, which provides the city’s special trading status. So both the bill and any Chinese retaliation would have limited impact.“China needs to posture with a retaliation of some kind,” Zweig said. “But this is really a secondary issue as long as they keep the Hong Kong Policy Act intact. The House could have gone much further with the Hong Kong Policy Act. And they didn’t.”\--With assistance from Li Liu, Sofia Horta e Costa, Tan Hwee Ann and Anna Edgerton.To contact the reporters on this story: Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.net;Daniel Flatley in Washington at dflatley1@bloomberg.net;Dandan Li in Beijing at dli395@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, ;Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, John HarneyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

What Did America Offer North Korea at Working-Level Talks? One Report Claims To Know.

And it makes absolutely no sense at all.

A 75-year-old cruise ship passenger jumped overboard a Carnival-owned ship between Portugal and Spain (CCL)

A Costa Cruises representative said the woman "voluntarily" jumped from the balcony in her cabin on the Costa Pacifica ship.