Trump denies he betrayed the Kurds: 'We never gave a commitment'

Under fire from critics who have accused him of betraying the Kurds who fought alongside U.S. forces against ISIS in northern Syria, President Trump defended his decision Monday to pull troops from the region. We're working with the Kurds,” Trump told reporters ahead of a Cabinet meeting at the White House. We have a good relationship with the Kurds, but we never agreed to, you know, protect the Kurds.

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  Sen. Marco Rubio on President Trump pulling US troops out of Syria and the G-7 out of Florida

  FOX News Videos
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  Last U.S. Base in Syria ‘Is Everything Wrong With Trump’s War’

  The Daily Beast

Buttigieg, surging in Iowa, has a plan to win it all. Here it is.

Reminder: There are 105 days until the Iowa caucuses and 379 days until the 2020 election. It happened to Kamala Harris during the summer. Now it's starting to happen to South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who was widely proclaimed one of the “winners” of last week's Democratic primary debate in Westerville, Ohio.

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  Pete Buttigieg gets a boost in Iowa after several months of stagnating polls

  Business Insider
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  Pete Buttigieg, surging in Iowa, has a plan to win it all

  Yahoo News Video

WikiLeaks founder Assange appears confused at extradition hearing

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeared confused at a London court hearing on Monday, struggling to recall his name and age in his first public appearance in months as he sought to fight extradition to the United States. Assange, 48, who spent seven years holed up in Ecuador's embassy before he was dragged out in April, faces 18 counts in the United States including conspiring to hack government computers and violating an espionage law. He could spend decades in prison if convicted.

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  ‘I can’t think properly’: Assange fights back tears and struggles to say own name as he appears in court over US extradition

  The Independent
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  Wikileaks founder Julian Assange loses bid to delay hearing

  Associated Press

Three people hospitalised by chemical leak on board American Airlines plane

Three people have been hospitalised after a cleaning product leaked on an American Airlines flight forcing it to make an emergency landing in Dublin. The plane was less than an hour into its flight from London Heathrow to Philadelphia when two crew members fell unconscious due to the powerful smell. Several passengers complained of burning eyes and skin irritation and one traveller was also taken to hospital in Ireland.

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  American Airlines flight diverted after 'chemical spillage' leaves two crew members unconscious

  Yahoo News UK
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  A chemical spill on an American Airlines flight knocked 2 crew members out and forced the plane into an emergency landing

  Business Insider

Trump 'like a squirrel caught in traffic' during Pentagon meeting: Aide

In President Trump's first full briefing at the Defense Department, he requested a grand "Victory Day" parade with "vehicles and tanks on Main Street" and down Pennsylvania Avenue, like the "amazing" parade he'd just witnessed in France, Guy Snodgrass, a top aide to then-Defense Secretary James Mattis, recounts in his new book, "Holding the Line." "The Fourth of July is too hot," Trump added.

The U.S. Army Has Big Plans to Smash Enemy Drones in a War

Defenders under drone attack from medium and large drones need to recognize that the attacking platform can be poised to launch missiles or find targets for long-range ground based missiles, air assets or even approaching forces. Modern technology enables drones to use high-resolution sensors and targeting systems to both find and attack targets at very long ranges, thus compounding the threat. Drones can increasingly operate with less and less human intervention and be programmed to enter enemy airspace, crossing into well-defended areas with decreased risk.

View Photos of the 2020 GMC Acadia AT4

GMC's revised Acadia AT4 mid-size SUV benefits more from the lineup's updates than it does from its rugged visage. From Car and Driver

Trump blames Constitution's ‘phony Emoluments Clause’ for G-7 debacle

President Trump on Monday defended the initial decision to host next year's G-7 summit at his golf resort near Miami, dismissing concerns that he would have personally profited from the event and deriding “this phony Emoluments Clause” in the Constitution. On Saturday, Trump abruptly reversed the plan — announced just two days earlier by his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney — to hold the next Group of Seven world leaders' meeting at Trump National Doral. “I would have given it for nothing,” Trump said before a Cabinet meeting Monday.

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  Donald Trump’s Doral Drama

  HuffPost
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  Republicans Run For Cover After Trump's G-7 Doral Announcement

  CBSTV Videos

Presidential hopeful Warren rallies with Chicago teachers as strike enters fourth day

Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, rallied with striking Chicago teachers on Tuesday, expressing support for the union's demands as the country's third-largest school system entered a fourth day of canceled classes. Warren, a Massachusetts senator and former teacher, joined a crowd of hundreds of teachers and parents outside an elementary school to back the Chicago teachers' demands for more resources, and promised to boost funding for U.S. public schools if elected president in 2020. "I'm here to stand with every one of the people who stand for our children every day," Warren said to thunderous applause and cheers.

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  Chicago Mayor Urges Teachers Union To End Strike Before Reaching Deal

  HuffPost
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  Teacher strike at Passages Charter School in Edgewater on North Side begins Tuesday

  WLS – Chicago

Lebanon's Hezbollah under rare street pressure

When mass anti-government protests engulfed Lebanon, a taboo was broken as strongholds of the Shiite Hezbollah movement saw rare demonstrations criticising the party and revered leader Hassan Nasrallah. This shattered the myth of absolute acquiesence among Hezbollah's popular base, baffling even those who hail from the movement's strongholds. "No one ever expected that in any of these areas in south Lebanon we would hear a single word against Nasrallah," or Amal Movement leader Nabih Berri, said Sara, a 32-year-old activist who participated in protests in the southern city of Nabatiyeh.

There's a reasonable explanation why this mom saw a 'ghost baby' in her sleeping son's crib

What the "ghost baby" actually turned out to be has everyone laughing—her post on Facebook detailing the incident has been shared more than 290,000 times. It turns out my husband just forgot to put the mattress protector on when he changed the sheets. Turns out, there was no "ghost baby," but instead an image of a cute baby on the label of the mattress.

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  Mom freaked out by 'ghost baby' seen in bed with toddler son: 'I barely slept'

  Yahoo Now
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  Terrified mum spends night thinking a ghost is in cot with her baby - before discovering husband's mistake

  Yahoo Style UK

'Lost' Road Built by Christ's Executioner Unearthed

Archaeologists have unearthed a "lost" road in Jerusalem that was likely constructed by Pontius Pilate, the Roman who presided over the trial and execution of Jesus Christ. Archaeologists have unearthed a road that was likely built in 31 AD by Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect who oversaw the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The ornately constructed road in Jerusalem stretches for about 2,000 feet, and is approximately 26 feet wide, according to a study recently published in the Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University.

Gun control advocate: Pushing mandatory buybacks will hand victory to the NRA, again

He wanted not only to ban the sale of new assault weapons but also to impose a mandatory government buyback of the assault weapons already in private hands. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California support that idea as well.

This Is the Robot Tank Russia Used in Syria

Key point: Moscow's new tank was supposed to be a leap forward, but it has a lot of problems. In May 2018, the Russian military revealed it had combat-tested its Uran-9 robot tank in Syria. The diminutive remote-control tank is noted for its formidable gun and missile armament.

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  Meet the S-8OFP: The Anti-Tank Rocket Russia Has Tested in Syria

  The National Interest
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  These 5 Countries Might Want to Buy Russia's New Deadly Armata Tank

  The National Interest

View 2020 Nissan Titan XD Photos

The Cummins diesel is gone, but the V-8 engine gains power and torque, and the previously bland face gets a new look. From Car and Driver

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  2020 Nissan Titan and Titan XD PRO-4X Have Cool Red Nissan Badges and Accents

  Car and Driver
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  2020 Nissan Titan XD Has Stronger Bones and More Muscle

  Car and Driver

Pelosi releases 'fact sheet' revealing how Trump ‘betrayed oath of office’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi disseminated a “fact sheet” on Monday outlining how President Trump, in her words, “betrayed his oath of office, betrayed our national security and betrayed the integrity of our elections for his own personal political gain” in his dealings with the Ukrainian government.

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  Thomas D'Alesandro III, ex-Baltimore mayor and brother to Nancy Pelosi, dies at 90

  USA TODAY
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  Americans Deserve Better Than Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Drug Pricing Plan

  Time

U.S. proposes collecting DNA samples from detained immigrants

The Trump administration on Monday proposed taking DNA samples from immigrants detained by U.S. authorities, raising privacy concerns especially for asylum-seekers and minor offenders whose genetic information would go into an FBI database. The Justice Department said the proposed rule would be officially published on Tuesday and subject to 20 days of public comment. It represents the latest initiative by President Donald Trump's administration to reduce legal and illegal immigration, an issue central to his 2020 re-election campaign.

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  US plans to require DNA from asylum-seekers

  Associated Press Videos
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  Trump administration rolls out plan to expand DNA collection from migrants

  CBS News Videos

Philippine police recommend drug charges against ex-chief

Philippine police recommended graft and drug charges against its former chief on Monday over a new scandal that has put President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-narcotics crackdown under the spotlight. The police face allegations some officers are involved in the illegal drugs trade and that they had the protection of former chief Oscar Albayalde. It is the latest controversy to engulf the Philippine police force, which is waging a drug war launched by President Duterte in 2016.

Billionaire Isabel dos Santos Denies Wrongdoing at Sonangol

Isabel dos Santos, Africa's richest woman and the daughter of former Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, said she did nothing wrong when she was chairwoman of state-owned oil company Sonangol and called a probe into the transfer of millions of dollars from the Luanda-based firm “political vengeance. Angolan newspaper Novo Jornal reported on Oct. 18 that Angola's prosecuting authority started a criminal investigation into the transfer of $38 million from Sonangol authorized by dos Santos. Her successor at Sonangol, Carlos Saturnino, accused dos Santos last year of authorizing the transfer to a company in Dubai days after she was dismissed as chairwoman.

Blackouts possible again as fire danger looms in California

Less than two weeks after blacking out much of Northern California, the state's largest utility is warning that dangerous fire weather could prompt it to shut off power to about a half-million people. Pacific Gas & Electric began notifying customers Monday that it could begin precautionary shutoffs to parts of 16 counties as early as Wednesday, mostly in the Sierra foothills and to the north of the San Francisco Bay Area. Any blackouts would last at least 48 hours, the utility said.

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  A new round of PG&E power outages could put 500,000 Californians in the dark for days

  USA TODAY
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  San Jose to propose turning PG&E into giant customer-owned utility - WSJ

  Reuters