Iranian supertanker departing from Venezuela to transport heavy oil

An Iran-flagged supertanker on Saturday was about to set sail from Venezuelan waters carrying 2 million barrels of heavy crude provided by state-run oil firm PDVSA, according to documents seen by Reuters and vessel tracking services. The shipment is part of a deal agreed by PDVSA and its counterpart National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) that exchanges Iranian condensate for Venezuela's Merey crude. The swaps aim to ease an acute shortage of diluents that has cut Venezuela's oil output and exports, Reuters reported last month https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exclusive-under-us-sanctions-iran-venezuela-strike-oil-export-deal-sources-2021-09-25.

Short order: Some Hooters waitresses concerned about underwearlike new uniforms

While Hooters of America will showcase the tighter, shorter shorts at various locations, the Original Hooters will keep the older uniforms. Complaints of the tight shorts went viral on TikTok on various Hooters servers' accounts. "Love my job but don't love wearing undies to work," one Hooters employee said in a TikTok that has garnered more than 1.9 million "likes."

Black students in Georgia were suspended for planning a protest after white students waved a Confederate flag and allegedly used racial slurs

White students were captured on video waving a Confederate flag at a Georgia school and did not face disciplinary action from administrators, WGCL-TV reported. In response, students at Coosa High School planned a protest against racism. A group of Black students was suspended for organizing the demonstration, while the non-Black organizers weren't, students told the outlet.

Now 41, man who killed 4-year-old at age 13 granted parole

Eric M. Smith, who was 13 when he killed a 4-year-old boy with a rock in western New York, has been granted parole, corrections officials said on Saturday. Smith, now 41, appeared for the 11th time before the Board of Parole on October 5 and was granted release as early as Nov. 17, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said in an emailed statement. Smith was convicted of second-degree murder in 1994 for luring Derrick Robie into woods near the younger boy's home and striking his head with a rock.

Matt Hancock loses UN job just four days after his appointment

Matt Hancock has lost his new job at the United Nations just four days after being appointed, following outrage from figures who condemned the “jaw dropping” decision to appoint him as a special envoy for Covid recovery in Africa. The UN's Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) said his appointment was “not being taken forward,” following days of criticism. Mr Hancock, who resigned his job as Health Secretary in June after he was pictured on CCTV kissing an aide, told The Telegraph on Saturday: “I was honoured to be approached by the UN and appointed as Special Representative to the Economic Commission for Africa, to help drive forward an agenda of strengthening markets and bringing investment...

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  Matt Hancock United Nations job offer withdrawn

  The Independent
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  Ex-health minister, who resigned after he was caught on CCTV kissing an aide, lost his new UN role after only 3 days

  Business Insider

My girlfriend says I should tip in restaurants. I say waitstaff are just like construction and fast-food workers. Who’s right?

I don't understand why waitresses need to be tipped when they're like all other service staff, such as construction workers, cleaners, fast-food attendees, etc. I'm not expected to tip all other service staff, so why is she bothering me with tipping the waitress every single time we go to a restaurant? They are doing their job like everyone else. She keeps telling me it's the right thing to do — but why?

Jeffrey Epstein believed he could make a deal with prosecutors by revealing the secrets of Donald Trump or Bill Clinton, a new book says

Jeffrey Epstein believed he could make a deal with prosecutors by flipping on Trump or Clinton, a new book says. Steve Bannon reportedly told Epstein he feared him during Trump's campaign, as he thought he knew secrets. The claims are made in a new book by journalist Michael Wolff, who spent time with Epstein before he died.

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  Jeffrey Epstein Bragged Bill Barr was in Charge, Not Trump

  The Daily Beast
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  New lawsuit against Jeffrey Epstein’s estate says he trafficked Russian woman to US

  NY Daily News

How Sarah Baartman's hips went from a symbol of exploitation to a source of empowerment for Black women

The celebration of Sarah Baartman's features marks a departure from her historical image. Saartjie “Sarah” Baartman was an African woman who, in the early 1800s, was something of an international sensation of objectification. With celebrities like Beyoncé recognizing Baartman's contributions to the ideal Black female body – and with the curvaceous posteriors of Black women lauded on TV and celebrated on social media – I wanted to understand how this ideal is viewed by the very people it most directly effects: Black women.

'Lawless city?' Worry after Portland police don't stop chaos

A crowd of 100 people wreaked havoc in downtown Portland, Oregon, this week – smashing storefront windows, lighting dumpsters on fire and causing at least $500,000 in damage – but police officers didn't stop them. Portland Police Bureau officials say that's because of legislation passed by Oregon lawmakers this year, which restricts the tools they can use to confront people vandalizing buildings and causing mayhem. “The reason that we did not intervene goes back to what we talked about last month with House Bill 2928 and the restrictions placed on us in a crowd control environment,” KOIN reports that Portland Police Lt. Jake Jensen said in a neighborhood meeting Thursday.

Matthew Mindler, Former Child Star, Died By Suicide With $15 Amazon Product

Mindler bought the product for $15. The Lancaster County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed that he died from suicide by sodium nitrate toxicity. Sodium nitrate is used to preserve foods and kills by causing low blood pressure and limiting the flow of oxygen to the body.

SUV of Ohio mom, 2 kids missing since 2002 found in river

Search crews pulled from the Ohio River in Indiana an SUV that belonged to an Ohio mother missing since 2002 along with her two young children, authorities said Friday. Side sonar scan technology led divers to the 1997 Nissan Pathfinder Thursday near Aurora in southeastern Indiana, Indiana State Police said Friday in a news release. The vehicle was registered to Stephanie Van Nguyen, who in 2002 disappeared with her 4-year-old daughter, Kristina, and 3-year-old son, John.

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  Crews find car linked to 2002 missing family

  WCPO - Cincinnati Scripps
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  SUV pulled from the Ohio River could help solve 20-year-old mystery

  WLWT - Cincinnati

A priest tried to give the last rites to the murdered British MP who was a devout Catholic, but he was denied access because it was a crime scene, police says

Conservative MP Sir David Amess died after an attack at his Essex constituency surgery. Father Jeffrey Woolnough offered to administer the last rites to Sir David, who was stabbed multiple times. Essex Police, treating the murder as a terrorist incident, told Insider that the crime scene's integrity had to be preserved.

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  Sir David Amess: The ‘kind and dedicated’ Tory MP stabbed to death while meeting constituents

  Yahoo News UK
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  Murder of UK lawmaker declared a terrorist incident

  Reuters Videos

Kayleigh McEnany Attacks Jen Psaki With ‘Least Self-Aware Tweet Ever Written’

Donald Trump's former White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, was hammered for hypocrisy after attacking successor Jen Psaki on Twitter. McEnany on Thursday suggested Psaki, President Joe Biden's press secretary, violated the Hatch Act, which bans government employees from political campaigning, when she said: “We're going to do everything we can to help” Democratic Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe “and we believe in the agenda he's representing.” McEnany, however, was reminded of her own outrageous conflicts of interest, such as serving as White House press secretary at the same time she was a Trump 2020 campaign adviser.

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  Watchdog: Psaki violated ethics law by promoting McAuliffe

  Associated Press
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  Biden aide Psaki may have violated ethics law -watchdog

  Reuters

Puerto Rico ponders race amid surprising census results

The number of people in Puerto Rico who identified as “white” in the most recent census plummeted almost 80%, sparking a conversation about identity on an island breaking away from a past where race was not tracked and seldom debated in public. The drastic drop surprised many, and theories abound as the U.S. territory's 3.3 million people begin to reckon with racial identity. “Puerto Ricans themselves are understanding their whiteness comes with an asterisk,” said Yarimar Bonilla, a political anthropologist and director of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York.

The Workers Won’t Be Coming Back, Covid or Not. Here Are Theories on Where They Went.

More people are choosing not to work, confounding employers and economists and leading to worrisome labor shortages and supply chain problems. The September jobs report showed the slowest pace of hiring all year, a surprise decline in labor-force participation and a rise in wages. Whatever the explanation for the worsening labor shortage, it goes beyond temporary factors associated with the pandemic.

2022's Social Security Raise Could Come With This Sneaky Surprise

For those who are single, a provisional income under $25,000 means Social Security won't be taxed. But singles with a provisional income range of $25,000 to $34,000 risk taxes on up to 50% of their benefits. And those with a provisional income above $34,000 risk taxes on up to 85% of their benefits.

Truck driver convicted in Colorado pileup that killed 4

A truck driver accused of causing a fiery pileup that killed four people and injured six others on a Colorado highway has been convicted of vehicular homicide and other charges. Rogel Lazaro Aguilera Mederos, 25, was convicted by a Jefferson County jury on Friday in connection with the April 2019 crash on Interstate 70 west of Denver, The Denver Post reported. Aguilera Mederos testified that the brakes on his semitrailer failed before he plowed into vehicles that had slowed because of another wreck in the Denver suburb of Lakewood.

21 Common Historical "Facts" That Are Straight Up Just Not Facts At All...Like, They're Literally False

And he was not the only rider. After he reached Lexington, he was joined by William Dawes, who had arrived to deliver the same news. They met a doctor named Samuel Prescott on the way to Concord who decided to help them — he was the only one to actually finish the ride and reach Concord before fighting began.

Former officer and NASA exec found guilty of murdering neighbor after years of disputes over loud music and dog poop

Michael Hetle, accused of shooting his 24-year-old neighbor, has been found guilty of murder. Hetle shot Javon Prather seven times and threatened to shoot his wife, who looked on, as well. Since 2016, Hetle and Prather have had several disagreements about mundane things like loud music.

Arizona Senate's election review records again ruled public

A judge has rejected the Republican-controlled Arizona Senate's contention that it can withhold a raft of communications between its leaders and private contractors they hired to conduct an unprecedented review of the 2020 election results in the state's most populous county. The ruling released Thursday evening is the latest in a series of losses for the Senate stemming from its efforts to keep secret records showing how the review was conducted. A watchdog group called American Oversight had sued to compel their release and repeatedly won.

Donald Trump supporters baffled and divided over his claim that Republicans won't vote in 2022 or 2024

Donald Trump said his supporters would not vote in future elections unless the GOP backed election fraud claims. "Donald Trump is doing everything he can to hurt Republican chances in 2022," one wrote. Former President Donald Trump's supporters are divided over his comments that Republicans will not vote in the 2022 or 2024 elections unless the Republican Party backs his election fraud claims.

Lazy crane operators making $250,000 a year exacerbating port crisis, truckers say

In an aerial view, container ships and shipping containers are seen at the Port of Los Angeles on September 20, 2021 near Los Angeles, California. LONG BEACH, California — Crane operators who belong to a powerful union and earn up to $250,000 a year transferring containers from ships to trucks are worsening the supply chain crisis that threatens Christmas by goofing off on the job, frustrated truckers told the Washington Examiner. The finger-pointing at the busy Los Angeles County ports comes as scores of container ships are anchored off the California coast, waiting in some cases for weeks to unload their freight.