'Five Eyes' in the dark: Will Trump and Barr destroy trust in U.S. intelligence?

In the phone call at the center of the House impeachment inquiry, Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, and advanced several conspiracy theories that cast doubt on former special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The president also directly implicated Attorney General William Barr in the campaign. I would like you to do us a favor, though, because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it.

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  The key figures in the impeachment inquiry, and what they are saying to investigators

  Yahoo News
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  Pence, Giuliani will not cooperate in U.S. House impeachment inquiry

  Reuters

What's causing record rates of STDs?

The combined number of cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia in the U.S. reached an all-time high in 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 2.4 million cases of the three sexually transmitted diseases were reported last year, an increase of more than 100,000 from the previous year. Congenital syphilis led to 94 newborn deaths in 2018, the CDC said.

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  The Spread of Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Syphilis Is at an All-Time High, According to the CDC

  PopSugar
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  STD rates in Hawaii are the highest in 30 years, and officials blame dating apps

  INSIDER

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

Four inmates from a Texas federal prison were caught after they escaped and returned with whiskey and cellphones, officials said. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said investigators began conducting surveillance behind the Federal Prison Complex in Beaumont, Texas, about 90 miles east of Houston, after receiving reports that inmates were leaving to bring back contraband. The men, identified as Julian Lemus, 34, Robert Young, 45, Leo Martinez, 25, and Silvestre Rico, 35, were booked into the LaSalle Correctional Facility on charges of escape.

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

In response to continued threats from Iran and a request from Riyadh, the Pentagon announced Friday the deployment of additional U.S. forces to Saudi Arabia. Washington is seeking to strengthen U.S. combat power in the Middle East as a means to deter additional Iranian aggression and avoid a wider conflict. The deployment represents the latest U.S. response to the September 14 attacks on Saudi Arabia's Khurais oil field and Abqaiq oil-processing facility.

Pope's bodyguard resigns over new financial leaks scandal

The Vatican's latest scandal claimed its first victim Monday as Pope Francis' chief bodyguard resigned over the leak of a Vatican police flyer identifying five employees who were suspended as part of a financial investigation. The Vatican said its police chief, Domenico Giani, bore no responsibility for the leaked flyer but resigned to avoid disrupting the investigation and "out of love for the church and faithfulness" to the pope. Giani, a 20-year veteran of the Vatican's security services, has stood by Francis' side and jogged alongside his popemobile during hundreds of public appearances and foreign trips.

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  Pope Francis's main bodyguard resigns over a leak

  Yahoo News Video
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  Vatican security chief, papal bodyguard, steps down over leak

  Reuters

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.

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  Oil falls amid China trade concerns, China pork prices surge

  Yahoo Finance Video
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  China Slowdown Fears Intensify after Flurry of Weak Data

  Market Realist

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

AM General is known for turning the Humvee into the civilian Hummer, but now the company is teaming with Jeep to build a military-grade Jeep Gladiator. The Gladiator XMT (Extreme Military-Grade Truck) features massive off-road tires, two 4x4 systems, skid plates and tow hooks, and the doors and roof are removed. The XMT could go into production as soon as late 2020, but only if the U.S. Army places the order.

The US defense secretary gives US's strongest condemnation yet of Turkey's 'unacceptable incursion' in Syria

Defense Secretary Mark Esper issued the US's strongest condemnation of Turkey's military assault on Kurdish forces in northeast Syria on Monday, calling it an "unacceptable incursion" and "impulsive." "Due to Turkey's irresponsible actions, the risk to US forces in northeast Syria has reached an unacceptable level," Esper said. "We are also at risk of being engulfed in a broader conflict."

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  US troops face another close-call as Turkey pounds northern Syria

  ABC News Videos
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  Trump authorizes sanctions, demands cease-fire as Turkey drives deeper into Syria

  FOX News Videos

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.

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  Woman burned sleeping boyfriend to death by dousing sofa in petrol then shutting door when he shouted 'hot, hot'

  The Independent
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  Woman gets 60 years in boyfriend's burning death

  Associated Press

Rudy Giuliani refuses to comply with House Democrats' subpoena

President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani informed House Democrats on Tuesday that he will not comply with a subpoena for documents they sent him as part of an ongoing impeachment inquiry. “Mr. Giuliani will not participate because this appears to be an unconstitutional, baseless, and illegitimate 'impeachment inquiry,'” Jon Sale, Giuliani's attorney, wrote to the chairmen of the three House committees leading the effort. Giuliani provided Yahoo News with a copy of a letter.

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  Reuters: Giuliani was paid $500,000 by indicted associate's firm

  Yahoo News Video
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  Rudy Giuliani asked Donald Trump to extradite cleric wanted by Turkish president, source says

  ABC News

Ukrainian captain expected to face charges over Danube boat disaster

Hungarian prosecutors are expected to charge the captain of a cruise ship that struck and sank a small tourist vessel on the River Danube, killing 28 mostly Korean tourists, after police finished their investigation, officials said on Tuesday. The tourist boat Mermaid, with 35 people on board, sank in seconds in May after the river cruiser hit it from behind under a bridge in the Hungarian capital during heavy rain, in the worst disaster on the Danube in more than half a century. Lawyers for the Ukrainian cruiser captain, identified by police as 64-year-old C. Yuriy from Odessa, who has been in custody since he was arrested after the incident, have said he is devastated but did nothing wrong.

View Photos of Our Sports Sedan Battle Between the Dodge Charger and Kia Stinger GT

America's leading (and only) V-8 muscle sedan takes on Korea's upstart rear-drive hatchback in a battle of power versus poise. From Car and Driver

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

At least 85,000 law enforcement officers across the USA have been investigated or disciplined for misconduct over the past decade, an investigation by USA TODAY Network found. Despite their role as public servants, the men and women who swear an oath to keep communities safe can generally avoid public scrutiny for their misdeeds. The records of their misconduct are filed away, rarely seen by anyone outside their departments.

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.

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. Three people -- a father and his two children aged 10 and 11 -- were killed in a Pakistani district next to the Line of Control after mortar shells hit their homes, officials said on Tuesday.

Court Ruling Extends Vote Protest of Philippine Marcos’ Son

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.

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

Hordaland County, home of the Store Ishaug mountain where the blade was uncovered, announced the discovery. "In the nice weather in mid-September I went for a walk and discovered with one arrow point just beside a snowflake," he said on the county's website. Store Ishaug, which has an elevation of 4,869 feet, isn't a typical hot spot for ancient artifacts.

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.

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  Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Saudi Arabia on Monday for the first time in over a decade

  Yahoo News Video
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  Russia's Putin seeks to enhance ties to US-allied UAE

  Associated Press

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.

• Malaysians robbed of justice by jail death of British pedophile Huckle: child group

  Reuters
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  Prolific British pedophile Richard Huckle found dead in prison cell

  Coconuts KL

Atheists, Secular Groups Up in Arms Over State Department Boosting Pompeo’s ‘Christian Leader’ Speech

The U.S. Constitution protects the separation of church and state—but evidently not church and State Department, which came under fire for promoting a “Being a Christian Leader” speech Monday on its website. The speech, delivered by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a meeting of American Association of Christian Counselors on Friday, saw Pompeo discuss the influence of his faith on his work as a U.S. official. On Monday, the State Department shared the speech at the top of its website, ahead of more pressing department issues, like U.S. involvement in Turkey's invasion of Syria.

Florida girl, 1, dies in hot car, the 50th death of 2019, according to one national tracker

The death of a 1-year-old girl in Florida on Monday marked the 50th case of a child dying in a hot car this year, according to the national tracker KidsandCars.org. Police in Tampa found the girl unconscious in her parent's Jeep after they called 911 at 6:30 pm. WFTS-TV reported.

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  After Twin Ga. Sisters Die in Hot Car, Caretaker Is Charged With Murder

  People
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  Child hot car deaths on pace to break U.S. record, group says

  CBS News

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

However, a week before the battleships began lobbing their massive shells, a legendary U.S. submarine toting a rocket launcher began its own campaign of coastal terror that foretold the future of naval warfare—and also engaged in the only Allied ground-combat operation on Japanese home-island soil. Submarines still made use of deck guns during World War II, most of them ranging between three and five inches in caliber. These were used to finish off unarmed merchant ships or sink smaller vessels that could evade torpedoes—but also were occasionally directed to bombard coastal targets, such as in early-war Japanese raids on the coasts of California and Australia.

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.