Russia scrambles fighter jets to escort U.S. strategic bombers over Black Sea

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia scrambled two Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets to escort a pair of U.S. B-1B strategic bombers over the Black Sea, Russia's defence ministry said on Wednesday, an incident that coincided with a visit to the region by the U.S. secretary of defense. The supersonic U.S. Cold war-era planes were originally designed to carry nuclear bombs and missiles but now carry conventional payloads. "Russian fighter crews identified the aerial targets as two U.S. Air Force supersonic strategic B-1B bombers, accompanied by two KC-135 refuelling planes, and escorted them over the waters of the Black Sea," the defence ministry said in a statement accompanied by video footage of the U.S. aircraft in flight.

Trump was slammed for cozying up to Putin, but Biden handed him a greater gift by waiving sanctions on a gas pipeline that could destabilize Europe

Then-President Donald Trump had loudly opposed Nord Stream 2, fearing it would give Russia greater economic and political leverage over Europe. He imposed sanctions on the project in December 2019 and, a year later, Congress approved another series of harsh sanctions on the company building the pipeline and on Matthias Warnig, its CEO and an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. President Joe Biden seemed just as keen to stop the project when he inherited those sanctions in January, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken promising in March to keep looking for ways to stop it.

Jen Psaki's Response To Peter Doocy's Question Leaves Him Momentarily Speechless

Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy seems to pride himself on asking hard-hitting questions of White House press secretary Jen Psaki. However, on Tuesday, Psaki was the one who asked a question that left Doocy momentarily speechless. It happened when Doocy asked about the possibility of “tons” of police officers and members of the military quitting to avoid COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

Watch vehicles go flying in terrifying train crash with car hauler

The video above captures what happened after a semi truck carrying a load of vehicles got itself high-centered on a railroad crossing Friday near Thackerville, Okla. An Amtrak train hits the incapacitated truck at speed in one of the most spectacular crashes we can recall, sending the truckload of vehicles flying and crumpling the car trailer. Worse, five people aboard the Amtrak were injured and were transported to a hospital, according to Love County firefighters, though the injuries were non-critical. In the video, you can see someone jumping up and down in a vain attempt to warn the train.

A 10-year-old Black girl was arrested at school in Hawaii after allegedly drawing a photo of her bully, ACLU says

The girl was handcuffed and taken into custody with her mom present, according to an ACLU Hawaii letter obtained by the outlet. The ACLU is calling on local officials to change their policies and compensate the girl's family. A Black 10-year-old girl was arrested at school in Oahu, Hawaii, after making a sketch of another student that allegedly made a parent "very upset."

‘No other like it in Texas.’ Massive ranch goes on sale for eye-popping $200M price tag

Nearly 80,000 acres of West Texas ranchland with historic roots have hit the market at a whopping $200 million price tag. Five months ago, the Dallas-based real estate broker Icon Global Group announced that the owners of the Turkey Track Ranch, near Borger in the Texas Panhandle, were planning to sell the property after 120 years of family stewardship. Capital Farm Credit appraised the site and will finance the upcoming sale process, according to a Wednesday announcement.

Cheryl Burke says she was drinking 7 days a week before getting sober in 2018: 'I was a functioning drunk'

Cheryl Burke is three years sober after years as a "functioning drunk." The Dancing With the Stars pro, 37, opened up about her addiction to Elizabeth Vargas on her Heart of the Matter podcast. Burke said childhood trauma led to a string of abusive relationships and later years of using alcohol to numb her feelings and cope with social anxiety.

America isn't running out of everything just because of a supply-chain crisis. America is running out of everything because Americans are buying so much stuff.

Disruptions in global supply chains have generated the phrase "everything shortage." Supply-chain professionals plan to alleviate the backlog container by container. Americans are buying everything they can get their hands on, and they'd be buying even more if it weren't for those pesky supply-chain snarls, the National Retail Federation said.

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  What’s causing America’s supply chain issues?

  ABC News Videos
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  Supply chain issues impact local business

  KNXV - Phoenix Scripps

Facebook is reportedly changing its name because it wants to be known for its 'metaverse' focus

Facebook is planning to rebrand the company with a new name, The Verge reported Tuesday. The name change aims to recast Facebook as focused on building a "metaverse." Facebook could unveil the new name within the week, according to The Verge.

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  Facebook reportedly plans to change its name to focus on the metaverse

  TechCrunch
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  Facebook is reportedly changing its name

  Engadget

Woman jailed for throwing killer litter from 50th floor in CBD after tiff with boyfriend

After an argument with her boyfriend, a woman threw a speaker, a soundbar and a television set from her 50th-floor unit along Shenton Way. Lluen Saenz Maria Isabel, a 49-year-old Peruvian, was jailed for seven weeks on Tuesday (19 October), after she pleaded guilty to one count of committing a rash act which endangered the safety of others. Saenz, a teacher at the Canadian International School, was about to end their relationship last year when the man assaulted her.

White Texas Property Owner Avoids Arrest After Killing Moroccan Driver

The Caldwell County Sheriff's Office did not respond to a request for comment for this story beyond providing the incident report. Turner, who has not been charged with any crimes, also did not respond to a request for comment. Loved ones of Dghoughi told The Daily Beast they believed he got lost during his drive, and perhaps was attempting to look for cell service in the small city of 1,000, which Todd claimed was known to have terrible reception.

The Most Common Places COVID Is Spreading Right Now (And Where It's Not)

The types of places that carry the biggest risk for COVID-19 transmission have changed over time ― partly because experts have learned more about how the virus works and partly because the virus itself has changed. The delta variant is more than two times as contagious as previous strains, which has obvious implications for transmission. Throughout the pandemic, it's been pretty clear that restaurants and bars are sources of COVID-19 transmission, and recent evidence suggests that continues to be the case.

Democrats raise proposed IRS bank reporting threshold to $10,000 from $600

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Senior Democrats in Congress have agreed to raise their proposed tax reporting threshold for bank account inflows and outflows to $10,000 a year, with exemptions for wage income, from an earlier proposal of $600 that drew criticism for being too intrusive. U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden on Tuesday said the new $10,000 Internal Revenue Service reporting threshold, to be included in Democrats' sweeping "reconciliation" social spending and tax hike legislation, was chosen after consultations with the U.S. Treasury because it is a level frequently used in other bank reporting requirements.

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  Democrats pitch scaled-down U.S. bank tax reporting requirement

  Reuters
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  Democrats Scale Back Their IRS Bank Reporting Plan

  The Fiscal Times

Find The Venomous Critter In Georgia's Camouflage Challenge

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources found a cool way to engage with followers on its Facebook page Monday, challenging them to spot a camouflaged “venomous critter” in a photograph — and then identify the species for bonus points. “In Georgia, they can be found south of the Fall Line in the Coastal Plain,” the division wrote in the post. The correct answer is an eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus), the largest venomous snake in North America.

Woman reaches plea deal after daughter found dead amid filth

A 50-year-old Louisiana woman has accepted a 50-year sentence as part of a plea agreement in the death of her 25-year-old disabled daughter, who died dehydrated and in filth. Karen Johnson Harrison of the Plainview area pleaded guilty Monday to manslaughter and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder of Cyra Shantelle Marie Harrison, who had cerebral palsy, The Town Talk reported. The coroner's report described Cyra Harrison's death as homicide.

Trump Gets Taken To School After Botching Basic U.S. History In Latest Rant

New York City announced it was moving a statue of the Founding Father and nation's third president out of its City Council Chamber due to his history as a slaveholder. It's not yet clear where the statue will go, but Trump predictably threw a fit over Jefferson ... even if he's a little hazy on what, exactly, Jefferson did. Trump called him “a principal writer of the Constitution of the United States.”

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  Thomas Jefferson statue to be removed from New York City Council chamber

  Reuters
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  Thomas Jefferson Statue Sparks Debate

  ABC News Videos

An anti-vax doctor who's one of the biggest spreaders of COVID-19 disinformation says he doesn't lose sleep if his remarks cause death

Buttar, a licensed physician, told CNN: "If I'm wrong so be it," when asked if his claims could cause death. A physician spreading conspiracies theories and unsubstantiated medical claims about COVID-19 said, "If I'm wrong, so be it," during an interview with CNN on Tuesday. Dr. Rashid Buttar is a member of the "Disinformation Dozen," a group of anti-vaxxers responsible for almost two-thirds of COVID-19 misinformation, according to a 2021 report by the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate.

NYC woman faces 'Asian b*tches are ugly' tirade as restaurant's workers 'just stood there'

A woman is causing outrage after a viral TikTok video posted over the weekend shows her repeatedly shouting racial insults at an Asian woman outside of a New York City restaurant. The incident: In the beginning of the video, the original poster Denise Carino (@dennydoestiktok) is in the middle of clarifying what the woman had said to her. Carino writes that the woman's boyfriend was “egging her on” during her tirade.

Hog wanders into Texas roadway at night, causing fatal car crash, Texas officials say

Police in Texas say a hog caused a fatal car crash on Sunday night. According to the state Department of Public Safety, 24-year-old Aaron Lee, of Winona, was driving on a road in Smith County around 9:40 p.m. when he hit a hog that had wandered into the middle of the road, the Tyler Morning Telegraph reported. Lee lost control of his 2008 Lexus, swerved off the road and slammed into a tree, officials told KETK.

California congressional race could help tilt House control

What could be one of the most competitive House races in the country is taking shape in California's agriculture-rich Central Valley, where a Democratic assemblyman Monday became the latest candidate to announce a bid to oust Republican U.S. Rep. David Valadao. Democrats have 220 seats in the chamber and Republicans have 212, with three vacancies. Five-term Assemblyman Rudy Salas formally announced he is entering the race during a kickoff event in his hometown of Bakersfield, where he had been the first Latino to serve on the City Council.

Meghan McCain Recalls ‘Very Bizarre’ Call From Donald Trump After He Mocked Her Dad

Meghan McCain recalled a “very bizarre” 2017 phone call with Donald Trump during which the then-president claimed a report about him mocking her father's war injuries was “fake news,” and then-first lady Melania Trump jumped into the conversation to say they loved her. In an interview with DailyMailTV released Tuesday to promote her new memoir “Bad Republican,” the conservative former co-host of “The View” remembered receiving a voicemail from the White House saying Trump wanted to speak to her after she'd condemned his reported physical mocking of her dad, the now-late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), as “abhorrent.” “I lost my mind,'” McCain said.

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  Meghan McCain softens stance on Sarah Palin and says her dad’s campaign 'treated her really horribly’

  Yahoo TV
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  Meghan McCain is opening up about her struggles with severe postpartum anxiety – and how to recognize the symptoms

  Yahoo Life

A worker in Florida applied to 60 entry-level jobs in September and got one interview

Joey Holz decided to test their claims, submitting two applications a day in September. Holz got one interview, and his summary of the experiment went viral on multiple platforms. Joey Holz recalled first hearing complaints about a labor shortage last year when he called to donate convalescent plasma at a clinic near Fort Myers, Florida.

Retired pope hopes to soon join friends in 'the afterlife'

Retired Pope Benedict XVI has said he hopes to soon join a beloved professor friend in “the afterlife,” in a sign that the 94-year-old pontiff is not only accepting his eventual death but welcoming it. Benedict penned an Oct. 2 letter to a German priest, thanking him for letting him know of the passing of the Rev. Gerhard Winkler, a Cistercian priest and academic colleague of the former Joseph Ratzinger. “Of all my colleagues and friends he was the closest to me,” Benedict wrote, according to the letter reproduced in German media.