US singles out Iran, readies response to Saudi oil attacks

The United States readied its response Monday to the "unprecedented" attack on Saudi oil facilities as President Donald Trump said Iran was likely to blame, fanning new fears of conflict in the Gulf region. Trump said he was ready to help key ally Saudi Arabia after the weekend drone attacks, which triggered a record leap in global oil prices, but would await a "definitive" determination on who was responsible. "We have a lot of options," the US leader told reporters, saying there was no rush to react and that talks with allies would come first.

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  U.S. shale seen unlikely to quickly replace barrels lost in attack on Saudi facilities

  Reuters
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  Attack on Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure 'may have been an overstep': expert on Iran

  Yahoo Finance

B-2 Spirit: The Stealth Bomber Trump Could Send to Strike Iran

Key Point: Conventional or nuclear, the B-2 Spirit can handle almost any precision attack mission in any environment imaginable, located at practically any point on Earth The B-2 Spirit is one of three strategic heavy bombers in U.S. Air Force service. Originally conceived to infiltrate the Soviet air-defense network and attack targets with nuclear weapons, over the decades its mission has grown to include conventional precision attack. The B-2 is the most advanced bomber in U.S. service, and the only one of three types that still carries nuclear gravity bombs.

'A war zone': Propane explosion kills firefighter, injures 8 others, levels building in Maine

A firefighter was killed and eight people were injured Monday when a powerful propane explosion destroyed a new building in Farmington, Maine. Fire crews were responding to a call reporting the smell of gas in the building, which was evacuated, Farmington Town Selectman Scott Landry said. The blast had such force that only debris remained from the two-story building, which housed a nonprofit group called LEAP that serves people with cognitive and intellectual disabilities.

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  Deadly Maine explosion levels building

  CBS News Videos
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  Propane explosion in Maine kills firefighter, injures 6 others

  Yahoo News Video

Kamala Harris had a 'Trump strategy': Brazile on third Democratic debate

The Powerhouse Roundtable analyzes the third Democratic debate and discusses the week's politics on "This Week."

Half of the 147 tigers rescued from Thai temple have died

More than half the tigers rescued three years ago from a Buddhist temple in Thailand where they served as a popular tourist attraction have died of disease, wildlife officials said Monday. The tigers were vulnerable to illness because of inbreeding, leading to laryngeal paralysis causing respiratory failure, said national parks official Patarapol Maneeorn. Eighty-six of 147 rescued tigers kept at government-run wildlife sanctuaries have died.

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  Over half of the tigers rescued from Thailand tourist attraction have died

  The Independent
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  Thai 'Tiger Temple' blames government for deaths of rescued tigers

  The Telegraph

Best Bar Tools for Your Home Bar

Be sure to stock up. From Popular Mechanics

More than half of teens say they're 'afraid' and 'angry' about climate change — and 1 in 4 of them are doing something about it

According to a new poll by the Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation, 57% of US teenagers are afraid of climate change when asked how climate change made them feel. But in the same survey, 54% of teens also responded that they were motivated and 52% said they were angry. One in four has already taken action in the form of a school walk-out, protest, or by reaching out to a government official, according to the poll.

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  A climate change curriculum to empower the climate strike generation

  The Conversation
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  CBS News Poll: Most Americans say climate change should be addressed now

  CBS News Videos

Rep. Ilhan Omar defends her controversial World Trade Center remarks: '9/11 was an attack on all Americans'

It was an attack on all of us, and I certainly could not understand the weight of the pain that the families of the victims of 9/11 must feel, but I think it's important for us to make sure that we are not forgetting the aftermath of 9/11,” she added. Many Americans found themselves now having their civil rights stripped from them, and so what I was speaking to was that as a Muslim, not only was I suffering as an American who was attacked on that day, but the next day I woke up as my fellow Americans were now treating me as suspect.

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  Weapons used in Saudi attacks 'came from Iran', says coalition

  AFP
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  Trump, top officials meet on how to respond to attack on Saudi oil facility blamed on Iran

  ABC News

Threat Assessment High: The Attack on Saudi Arabia's Oil Supply Signals a New Danger

A brazen attack on key Saudi Arabian oil facilities on September 14 marks an escalation in the drone wars that have tormented the kingdom over the past few months. The attack struck Abqaiq's large Aramco oil-processing facility and another site at the Khurais oil field. This is the third round of long-range drone or cruise-missile attacks that have struck Saudi Arabia since May. They come in the context of rising tensions between the United States and Iran, as well as Israel and Hezbollah.

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  3 Texas Oil Stocks Poised to Gain from Saudi Cuts

  TipRanks
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  Saudi oil attack could impact U.S. gas prices

  CBS News Videos

Iran seizes new boat near vital oil shipping lane

Iran has seized a boat suspected of being used to smuggle fuel and arrested its 11 crew members near a vital oil shipping lane, state television reported on Monday. A naval patrol of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intercepted the vessel carrying 250,000 litres of fuel near the Strait of Hormuz, state TV's website said, citing a commander of the force. "This boat was sailing from Bandar Lengeh towards United Arab Emirates waters before it was seized 20 miles (32 kilometres) east of Greater Tunb island," Brigadier General Ali Ozmayi was quoted as saying.

'A serial killer off the streets': Florida man charged in woman's death linked to slayings of three others

A man linked to the deaths of at least four women dating back more than a decade has been arrested in Florida, authorities announced Monday. Robert Hayes, 37, was arrested Sunday on first-degree murder charges for the 2016 death of Rachel Bey, Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at a news conference. "We have been able to take what we believe was a serial killer off the streets, and had we not done this we're pretty sure that he would have killed again," Bradshaw said.

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  Suspected Florida Serial Killer Linked to Murders of Four Women: Authorities

  The Daily Beast
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  Suspected serial killer arrested after 14 years

  ABC News Videos

China signals veto in standoff with U.S. over Afghan U.N. mission: diplomats

China and the United States are deadlocked over a U.N. resolution to extend a mission in Afghanistan, with Beijing signaling it will cast a veto because there is no reference to its Belt and Road project, diplomats said on Monday. A planned vote on Monday by the 15-member Security Council to renew the U.N. mission, known as UNAMA, was delayed to Tuesday to allow for more negotiations. The mission's mandate expires on Tuesday.

New Zealand’s Ardern Under Scrutiny After Botched Sexual Assault Allegation

Ardern has been forced to apologize to the woman and take control of an investigation into the allegations, including that she was attacked and groped by a Labour Party staffer in early 2018. Since then, Labour Party President Nigel Haworth and the man at the center of the allegations, who worked in parliament and hasn't been identified, have both resigned. “There are no excuses for the handling of the complaints by the Labour Party, and I will offer none,” Ardern said at a post-cabinet press conference in Wellington on Monday, a week after the sexual assault allegation was detailed by website The Spinoff.

Agency could keep Three Mile Island nuclear debris in Idaho

The partially melted reactor core from the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history could remain in Idaho for another 20 years if regulators finalize a license extension sought by the U.S. Energy Department, officials said Monday. The core from Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania partially melted in 1979, an event that changed the way Americans view nuclear technology. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has determined there would be no significant impact from extending the license to store the core at the 890-square-mile (2,305-square-kilometer) site that includes Idaho National Laboratory.

Muslim American New Jersey Mayor Says CBP Wrongfully Detained Him for Almost 3 Hours

The Muslim American mayor of a New Jersey town accused U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officials at New York's JFK airport of “flat out profiling”, wrongfully detaining him and asking him if “he knew any terrorists” at a press conference earlier this week. Mohamed Khairullah, who has been mayor of Prospect Park, N.J., for more than a decade, said in a video posted to his Facebook page last month that CBP agents detained him and his family for almost three hours in early August after he returned home from a vacation in Turkey. The CBP also allegedly took his phone away despite his objections, Khairullah said, adding that it took him almost two weeks to get the device back.

US soldier killed in Afghanistan after failed peace talks

A US Special Forces soldier was killed in Afghanistan on Monday morning, according to a statement from Department of Defence officials. The soldier is the 17th American service member to die during combat operations in 2019, already marking this year's death toll as the highest since 2014. Though details have yet to be officially released, an anonymous Pentagon source told Newsweek that the service man “was wounded by small arms fire while on an operation in the Sayyidabad District of Wardak province”, and died later during surgery.

• UPDATE 1-U.S. service member killed in Afghanistan

  Reuters
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  17th service member killed in Afghanistan this year, 1st since peace talks collapse

  ABC News

The U.S. Army's Next Generation of Super Weapons Are Coming

“We are developing an AI stack regarding how we pull together the sensors, computing layer and analytics to manage the data,” Col. Doug Matty, Army AI Task Force Deputy Director, told Warrior in an interview. New algorithms, AI-enabled computer processing and high-speed networking are all specific elements of work now underway with the Army's AI Task Force, an emerging Army effort to collaborate with industry and academia, find technology breakthroughs and develop new applications for AI, Matty explained. The Task Force is now working on prototyping systems for integration onto UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, Long-Range Precision Fires systems and the Army's emerging fleet of Next-Gen Combat Vehicles, he said.

Subterranean blaze: Indonesia struggles to douse underground fires

Human behaviour' - The culprit behind Indonesia's blazes is usually illegal fires set to clear land for the lucrative palm oil and pulpwood industries -- and the situation this year has been worsened by drier weather. Some of the most serious fires happen in carbon-rich peatlands -- topped with layers of decomposed plant material several metres thick -- which become highly combustible when they're drained of water to be converted into plantations. "The forest and peatland fires that occur every year are a crisis created by human behaviour," said Rusmadya Maharuddin, a forest campaigner at Greenpeace Indonesia.

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  Indonesia arrests nearly 200 over raging forest fires

  AFP
• Indonesia shuts schools as smoke from forest fires takes health toll

  Reuters

'Call of Duty' gamer Casey Viner solicited a fatal 'swatting' call. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison

A 19-year-old gamer who planned a hoax 911 call that resulted in a Kansas man's death was sentenced to 15 months in prison last week. Casey Viner had pleaded guilty to conspiracy in a case of "swatting," the practice of making false 911 calls to force police to respond with SWAT teams, after Wichita police fatally shot Andrew Finch in December 2017. The ruling comes after a federal judge in March sentenced fellow defendant Tyler Barriss to 20 years in prison.

Saudi Aramco attacks: What we know so far

Attacks on two sites at the heart of Saudi Arabia's oil industry shut down more than 5% of global supply, sent oil prices as much as 20% higher and prompted the United States to blame Iran despite Tehran's denials. Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group, which is battling a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, claimed responsibility for the attacks on Saturday on sites run by state-owned Saudi Aramco. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ruled out Yemeni involvement and accused Iran of leading the attacks.

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  Saudi officials considering delaying IPO after drone attack: WSJ

  Reuters
• The Saudi drone attack took out a known weak spot in the oil supply chain with a cheap, low-tech weapon that billions' worth of air defenses are powerless to stop

  Business Insider

Foxconn Billionaire Terry Gou Drops Taiwan Presidential Bid

Gou apologized to his supporters in a statement on Facebook Tuesday outlining his decision to withdraw from the race as an independent. After he quit the KMT last week, he had come under pressure from opposition leaders, including former President Ma Ying-jeou, to drop out of the race and support their nominee to help return the China-friendly party to power. “With this poor election climate and prevailing populism, I'm not willing to participate in this political farce, not only for my own personal and factional interests, but also because class struggle is tearing Taiwan apart,” Gou said in a video released Tuesday.

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  Former Foxconn chief abandons run for Taiwan presidency

  Associated Press
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  Ex-Foxconn chief Gou rules out Taiwan presidential bid

  AFP

Boy Scout leader sang naked in front of kids, and organization failed to investigate: Lawsuit

A Boy Scout leader who was accused of singing naked in front of several young boys was not investigated by his troop despite multiple complaints, according to NBC News. Michael Kelsey, who in 2016 was found guilty of first-degree sexual abuse for molesting two children in his Boy Scout troop, was accused of misconduct long before his conviction, according to a $320 million civil lawsuit filed in March 2017. The ongoing lawsuit — which has emerged with new information thanks to interviews with the plaintiffs by NBC News— details a number of troubling accusations against Kelsey, who was an assistant scoutmaster in Troop 95 of Fishkill, NY.