PoliticsReutersU.S. Democrats call for intelligence overhaul to counter China
U.S. House Democrats said on Wednesday U.S. intelligence agencies have failed to adapt to the growing threat posed by China and warned that the United States would not be able to compete with Beijing in the future without significant changes. A report released by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee - chaired by Democratic Representative Adam Schiff - called for a full review of intelligence gathering, saying that spy agencies as a whole had come to treat traditional intelligence missions as secondary to counter-terrorism. "The intelligence community has not moved with the necessary alacrity to reorient itself to the growing challenge from China across practically every domain," Schiff told Reuters.
WorldBBCHathras gang rape: India victim cremated 'without family's consent'
The family of a Dalit (formerly untouchable) woman who died after she was gang-raped has accused police officials of cremating her body without their permission. The 19-year-old was allegedly raped by four upper-caste men in Hathras district in northern India. Local journalist Abhishek Mathur, who witnessed the cremation from a distance, told the BBC that the police kept her family and media away from the funeral pyre.
PoliticsThe Daily Beast‘Fox & Friends’ Trashes Trump for Blowing the Debate Over White Supremacists
President Donald Trump might have choked on his Egg McMuffin on Wednesday when tuning into his favorite morning show. Fresh from an aggressive debate performance which his campaign chalked up as a victory before it had even happened, Trump most likely tuned into Fox & Friends expecting the kind of sycophantic flattery he's become accustomed to over the past four years. All three of the hosts—Brian Kilmeade, Steve Doocy, and Ainsley Earhardt—made clear how deflated they felt the morning after the debate.
WorldAssociated PressRape and killing of Dalit woman shocks India, draws outrage
The gang rape and death of a woman from the lowest rung of India's caste system sparked outrage across the country on Wednesday, with several politicians and activists demanding justice and protesters rallying in the streets. The attack of the 19-year-old is the latest gruesome case of sexual violence against women to rile India, where reports of rape are hauntingly familiar. The victim, who belonged to the Dalit community, was raped by four men on Sept. 14 in the heartland state of Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district.
U.S.USA TODAYBrake failure, 'egregious disregard for safety' caused NY limo crash that killed 20 people, NTSB says
A disastrous stretch limousine crash that killed 20 people was probably caused by an owner who showed an "egregious disregard for safety" by putting the vehicle on the road despite failing a state inspection that cited issues with the brake system, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The federal board met virtually Tuesday to finalize its report on the probable cause of the crash Oct. 6, 2018, in Schoharie, New York, which killed the driver, all 17 passengers and two bystanders. The limousine, owned by Prestige Limousine of Saratoga County, appeared to suffer brake failure and reached speeds of 100 mph as it descended a steep hill toward the "T" intersection of Routes 30 and 30A where the crash occurred, the NTSB found.
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Missing boater found 1,500 feet underwater in Lake Tahoe, officials say
The body of a boater who had been missing since mid-August was recovered more than 1,500 feet underwater in Lake Tahoe after a search that lasted over a month, officials said Monday. The City of South Lake Tahoe said it began a missing person investigation with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office on Aug. 10 after a boat 29-year-old Ryan Normolye rented washed ashore in Glenbrook, Nevada without him in it.
BusinessBusiness InsiderJapan Airlines will swap 'ladies and gentlemen' for gender-neutral terms on its in-flight announcements
Japan Airlines says that starting Thursday it will use gender-neutral terms for in-flight and airport announcements. It will swap "ladies and gentlemen" for gender-neutral phrases such as "passengers" and "everyone," it said. Air Canada and the British airline easyJet introduced similar policies in 2019.
PoliticsThe IndependentCountry star’s wife slams ‘idiot Trump’ after husband dies from virus ‘on his watch'
Tuesday night's presidential debate was baffling and frustrating for many viewers, as Donald Trump shouted over Democratic challenger Joe Biden, and both men chased each other down rabbit hole after rabbit hole. For Fiona Whelan Prine, the wife of beloved country and folk musician, singer and songwriter John Prine who died in April due to the coronavirus, watching Mr Trump boast about his leadership during the pandemic was more than she could bear. Mr Prine was in intensive care for 13 days before ultimately succumbing to the virus.
WorldAssociated PressMyanmar political party chief arrested for prison escape
The leader of a party fielding the second highest number of candidates for Myanmar's November elections has been arrested after local media reported allegations of a shady past, including a prison escape and financial finagling. Despite the arrest of Kyaw Myint, another executive of his United Democratic Party said it will continue campaigning. Despite fielding 1,131 candidates for the Nov. 8 polls — second only to the ruling National League for Democracy party of Aung San Suu Kyi — the party has not won a single seat in the last two elections.
U.S.Time‘It Was a Purposeful Trap.’ NYPD Planned Attack and Mass Arrests of Protesters, Human Rights Group Says
The New York Times/Redux Dr. Mike Pappas was marching through the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx with hundreds of peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters on June 4 when he noticed a shift in behavior among the dozens of police officers who had been trailing them for the last hour. About 10 minutes before the start of an 8 p.m. citywide curfew, Pappas says a swarm of New York City police officers in riot gear rushed to form a wall at the end of the street.
WorldBBCColombian fishermen rescue 94 Haitian migrants adrift at sea
Colombian fishermen have rescued 94 Haitian migrants who were adrift on a motorboat in the Caribbean. The migrants said they were trying to reach Panama but were abandoned at sea by people smugglers when the boat's motor failed. The fishermen towed the boat to a Colombian port from where the navy took the migrants to the city of Turbo.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastLindsey Graham on Spreading Potential Russian Disinformation: It Doesn’t Matter If It’s True
Former Hillary Clinton aides, ex-intelligence officials and Senate Democrats are accusing Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe of laundering Russian disinformation before an election after Ratcliffe suggested Clinton attempted to manufacture a scandal about Russian interference in the 2016 election on behalf of President Trump. On Tuesday, Ratcliffe, a loyalist whom Trump placed atop U.S. intelligence in the spring, sent Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) a letter claiming that in late July 2016, U.S. intelligence acquired “insight” into a Russian intelligence analysis.
U.S.INSIDERThe family of one of the officers who killed Breonna Taylor started an online fundraiser so he can retire early and focus on his 'safety'
Myles Cosgrove is one of the two Louisville police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor in March. This weekend, Cosgrove's family started an online fundraiser to raise $75,000 so he can buy out the rest of his service time and retire from the force early to "focus on the safety of his family." The family wrote in the campaign page that "it has recently become clear that it will be impossible for Myles to safely return to his position."
U.S.USA TODAYIn California wine country, wildfire-fatigued residents weigh the unthinkable: Moving out
SANTA ROSA, California – Robert Hayden and his wife, Alla, have lived in the Spring Lake Village retirement community of Santa Rosa for 10 years and love its beautiful grounds almost as much as the plethora of interesting people they've met there – retired doctors, musicians, pilots, writers and executives. On Sunday, the Haydens were among the approximately 450 Village residents forced to leave their homes as the fast-moving Glass Fire approached. It was the second time in recent years they'd gone through that drill, after fleeing the October 2017 wine country fires that killed 22 people and destroyed 5,600 structures.
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Sri Lanka government decides to ban cattle slaughter
Sri Lanka's government announced Tuesday that it will ban cattle slaughter, saying it would help the dairy industry and thereby save money used to purchase imported milk powder. But an analyst said the decision was politically motivated to please the Buddhist majority and would harm dairy farmers. Cabinet ministers decided at a meeting Monday to immediately amend the Animal Act, the Cattle Slaughter Ordinance and other laws and regulations passed by local authorities regarding cattle slaughter, the government's information department said.
PoliticsThe WeekFox News' Brian Kilmeade says Trump blew 'the biggest layup in the history of debates'
President Trump at the first 2020 presidential debate blew "the biggest layup" in debate history, according to Fox News' Brian Kilmeade. The Fox & Friends host on Wednesday morning slammed Trump for not explicitly condemning white supremacists during Tuesday's presidential debate. When asked to do so by moderator Chris Wallace, Trump told the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, to "stand back and stand by."
U.S.Miami HeraldFlorida prisons, among nation’s deadliest, didn’t like ‘demanding’ watchdog. He’s gone
In addition to current secretary Inch and former secretary Julie Jones, the governor's inspector general interviewed various members of the department's top management. Many of them spoke of their disdain for Fernandez. Despite no finding of a fireable offense, Fernandez's employment ended on June 30 — nearly a month before the final report was issued.
WorldReutersFlooding devastates farms in parts of Sudan: U.N.
Record floods in Sudan have affected nearly one third of cultivated land and about 3 million people from agricultural households, worsening already acute levels of food insecurity, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said on Wednesday. The floods have added to hardship in Sudan, already struggling with an economic crisis and one of the world's highest rates of inflation when the coronavirus pandemic hit. About 2.2 million hectares of cropland has been flooded and 108,000 head of livestock lost, according to an FAO assessment.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderMike Pence reportedly overruled the CDC on extending a cruise ship ban to 2021, the latest example of the White House sidelining expert advice in the pandemic
Vice President Mike Pence stopped the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from extending a ban on cruise-ship journeys until 2021, Axios reported. Pence, who heads the White House coronavirus task force, told CDC Director Robert Redfield that extending the "no-sail order" to February 2021 was unfeasible, the report said. The news is the latest in a string of stories showing how the White House has sidelined scientific advice during the pandemic.
WorldAssociated PressDeath of Kuwait ruler Sheikh Sabah draws outpouring of grief
The death of Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the leader of Kuwait who earned a reputation as a seasoned diplomat and a rare ruler who could cross the region's political and sectarian divides, touched off an outpouring of grief from the Arab world Tuesday. As news of his death broke, condolence messages streamed in from across the region and from Western countries with longstanding ties to Kuwait, including the U.S. and Britain. As a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional body of Arab Gulf states, Kuwait has often charted its own course, pushing for diplomacy to resolve a bitter dispute between Qatar and other Arab states that continues to this day.
WorldThe TelegraphSonic boom heard in Paris and suburbs caused by fighter jet breaking sound barrier
A loud blast heard throughout Paris on Wednesday briefly caused panic as edgy residents feared a bombing five days after a terrorist attack outside the former offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. The noise was caused by a sonic boom as a military jet broke the speed of sound, police said. Pierre Duclos, who was in a café around the corner from the site of the attack on Friday when the explosion-like noise was heard, said: “Everyone looked at each other and a few people got up and went outside.
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FBI investigates land owned by missing Colorado mom's husband
The scent of human remains has been discovered on land owned by Barry Morphew, the husband of missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew, her brother told multiple media outlets on Monday.
U.S.Miami Herald‘It’s going to be on them’: Florida businesses have to adapt to no state COVID rules
Amanda Cachaldora and her family were sitting at a corner booth inside a Flanigan's restaurant in Hialeah Saturday afternoon when they noticed the indoor dining space started to fill up fast. A day earlier, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a sweeping order that lifted all state restrictions on businesses, including provisions that let some restaurants have full dining rooms again. The order was a continuation of DeSantis' long-running push to reopen the state's pandemic-battered economy, but the directive also unleashed confusion.
WorldReutersFrance and Turkey at odds as Karabakh fighting divides NATO allies
NATO allies France and Turkey traded angry recriminations on Wednesday as international tensions mounted over the fiercest clashes between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces since the mid-1990s. On the fourth day of fighting, Azerbaijan and the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh accused each other of shelling along the line of contact that divides them in the volatile South Caucasus. Dozens have been reported killed and hundreds wounded in fighting since Sunday that has spread far beyond the enclave's borders, threatening to spill over into all-out war between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
U.S.Associated PressSeagram's heir faces sentencing in branded sex slave case
A wealthy benefactor of Keith Raniere, the disgraced leader of a self-improvement group in upstate New York convicted of turning women into sex slaves who were branded with his initials, faces sentencing Wednesday in the federal conspiracy case. Seagram's liquor fortune heir Clare Bronfman is due to appear in federal court in Brooklyn. Bronfman, 41, admitted in a guilty plea last year that she harbored someone who was living in the U.S. illegally for unpaid “labor and services” and that she committed credit card fraud on behalf of Raniere, leader of the group called NXIVM.
“Enfranchising 16-year-olds would be good for them and good for our democracy.”
“At 16, most kids have little awareness of politics, civics, or American history.”
“Voting is habit forming...which underscores the importance of having as stable an environment as possible for the youngest voters.”
“Keeping the voting age at 18 is not a slap at 16-year-olds. It is recognition that an informed electorate is the best kind.”
“When young people’s participation lags badly, issues important to them receive short shrift in the public discourse.”