Hunter Biden to step down from Chinese board

Facing intense scrutiny from President Donald Trump and his Republican allies, Hunter Biden said Sunday he will step down from the board of directors of a Chinese-backed private equity firm at the end of the month as part of a pledge not to work on behalf of any foreign-owned companies should his father win the presidency. Biden, the 49-year-old son of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, revealed his plan in an internet post written by his attorney, George Mesires, who outlined a defense of the younger Biden's work in Ukraine and China, which has emerged as one of Trump's chief lines of attack against Hunter's father despite no proof of impropriety. "Hunter makes the following commitment: Under a Biden Administration, Hunter will readily comply with any and all guidelines or standards a President Biden may issue to address purported conflicts of interest, or the appearance of such conflicts, including any restrictions related to overseas business interests.

• 
  UPDATE 4-Hunter Biden disputes Trump attacks of his work, wades into impeachment fight

  Reuters
• 
  Will Hunter Biden testify before Congress?

  FOX News Videos

Hong Kong protesters and police clash, metro and shops targeted

Hong Kong pro-democracy activists and riot police clashed in chaotic scenes around the city on Sunday, with police in riot gear chasing protesters through crowds of lunchtime shoppers. Rallies in shopping malls on Hong Kong island and across the harbor in the Kowloon district began peacefully around midday with a few hundred people at each chanting "Free Hong Kong" and other slogans. A few hours later, black-clad activists took to the streets and began trashing shops and metro stations and erecting road blocks.

• 
  Multiple arrests in Hong Kong as "flashmob" protests hit pro-Bejing targets

  AFP
• 
  Hong Kong riot police clear barricade as tensions remain high in another weekend of protests

  Newsflare

Power returns to Northern California; firefighters gain on wildfires in SoCal

The lights were back on for more than 2 million Northern Californians on Sunday after strong winds fueling wildfire concerns prompted the state's biggest power utility to darken hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses. In Southern California, a few dozen customers were without power as firefighters slowly gained control over fires that killed two people, destroyed dozens of homes and forced 100,000 to evacuate. "Aggressive suppression efforts and favorable weather conditions (have) provided opportunities to make gains in obtaining full containment," the Los Angeles County Fire Department said in a statement.

• 
  Authorities: 3 deaths tied to Southern California wildfires

  Associated Press
• 
  Southern California blazes show signs of slowing

  AFP

Oil, Iran top agenda as Putin visits Saudi Arabia

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Saudi Arabia on Monday, where he is set to seal oil agreements as well as use his influence to defuse rising tensions in the Gulf. The meeting with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman comes following attacks on Saudi oil installations that Riyadh and the US have blamed on Iran, an ally of Moscow. Oil will be "the main topic of discussion" between the leaders, Russian political analyst Fydor Lukyanov said, as a deal between the 24 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is due to expire next spring.

• 
  Iranian official says oil tanker attack won't go unpunished

  Associated Press
• 
  Iran’s Expanded Missile Arsenal Presents Challenge for U.S., Saudi Arabia

  The Wall Street Journal

Latest: Southern California wildfire is now 33% contained

The Los Angeles County Fire Department says the wildfire in the San Fernando Valley is now 33% contained. The department says Saturday night that winds and temperatures have fallen to normal levels after the Santa Ana winds passed through the region. A man went into cardiac arrest and died at the scene of a wildfire that broke out late Thursday.

• 
  'Insane' Winds Push Saddleridge Fire Close to Fire Truck

  Storyful
• 
  Containment increases after deadly Saddleridge Fire leaves path of destruction across San Fernando Valley

  KABC – Los Angeles

BEHOLD: Is China's DF-26 Missile a Real Threat to U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers?

Key point: America has a range problem. Last year, Chinese state media reported that a new brigade of Beijing's most advanced intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) has been “activated. The newly commissioned brigade is armed with the Dong Feng-26 (DF-26) IRBM.

Trudeau appears at rally in bulletproof vest after unspecified ‘security threat’

Justin Trudeau donned a bulletproof vest to speak at an election rally on Saturday night after an unspecified security threat. Accompanied by a heavy security detail, the Canadian prime minister took to the stage 90 minutes late to deliver his speech to about 2,000 supporters ahead of the 21 October vote. The Liberal Party leader wore a suit jacket in place of his usual rolled-up sleeves and loosened tie, under which an armoured vest was noticeable in photos taken at the event.

• 
  Trudeau continues campaign after threats to his safety

  AFP
• 
  Canada's Trudeau vows to forge ahead with campaign after security threat

  Reuters

Black Woman, 28, Shot and Killed by Police Officer in Her Texas Home While Watching Her 8-Year-Old Nephew

A Fort Worth, Texas, police officer shot and killed Atatiana Koquice Jefferson, a 28-year-old black woman, through a bedroom window in Jefferson's own home early on Saturday. The officer, who the Fort Worth Police identified as a white man, responded at around 2:25 a.m. to a report that the front door of Jefferson's house had been left open, police said. In a body camera video released by the Fort Worth Police Department, the officer looks through an open door of the house, but is not recorded calling out to identify himself as a police officer.

• 
  Raw: Body camera footage captures moment Fort Worth police shoot woman inside her home

  USA TODAY
• Officer kills woman inside her Texas home after welfare call

  Associated Press

Girl scales replica of Trump’s 'un-climbable' border wall

An 18-foot replica of President Trump's border wall has been climbed in a matter of seconds by an 8-year-old girl and a man who returned for another attempt while juggling with one hand.

One killed as hotel under construction collapses in New Orleans

One person was killed and at least 18 injured in New Orleans on Saturday when part of a Hard Rock Hotel under construction collapsed, filling a street with wreckage and clouds of dust. Video of the collapse was widely shared on social media and the fire department posted photos of the aftermath showing crumpled floors and tangles of broken construction materials. Local media said three people were missing and emergency services were using rescue dogs and drones to search for any more victims.

• 
  2nd person dead in New Orleans building collapse

  WPVI – Philadelphia
• 
  2 dead, 20 injured after hotel collapses in New Orleans

  Yahoo News Video

Caravan of 2,000 migrants detained in southern Mexico

TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — Mexican officials broke up a caravan of around 2,000 migrants that had set out from southern Mexico Saturday in the hopes of reaching the United States, amid increasing difficulty obtaining permission to pass through Mexico. Many of the migrants who departed from Tapachula, Chiapas early in the morning had been held up in this city just north of Guatemala for weeks or months, awaiting residency or transit papers from Mexican authorities. "I want to pass through Mexico, I don't want to live here," said Amado Ramirez, a migrant from Honduras who said he had been living on the streets of Tapachula with his young children and wife, hoping for a transit visa from Mexican officials.

• 
  Hundreds of migrants corralled at detention center in Mexico

  Associated Press
• 
  Mexico military police halt migrant caravan on its way to U.S.

  Reuters

EU Seeks to Halt U.S. Tariffs Over Airbus Aid in Last-Gasp Plea

The European Union made a last-ditch appeal to the U.S. to refrain from triggering retaliatory tariffs over illegal subsidies to Airbus SE, warning of economic harm to both sides and repeating a call for a negotiated solution. European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told her U.S. counterpart, Robert Lighthizer, that his plan to hit $7.5 billion of EU goods ranging from planes to whiskey with duties would compel the EU to apply countermeasures in a parallel lawsuit over market-distorting aid to Boeing Co. U.S. levies would make a negotiated settlement harder to reach, she said.

• 
  U.S. Gets Final OK to Hit EU With $7.5 Billion Airbus Sanction

  Bloomberg
• 
  Trump puts squeeze on Spanish olive oil producers

  AFP

Meet the Massive Ordnance Penetrator: The Air Force's Newest Bunker Buster Bomb

Key point: The MOP bomb will increase the firepower and options of the Air Force. EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. The U.S. Air Force is asking the Boeing Co.to build additional Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker-busting super bombs under terms of a $70 million contract announced last week.

Multiple arrests in Hong Kong as "flashmob" protests hit pro-Bejing targets

Riot police clashed with anti-government protesters across Hong Kong Sunday as masked activists vandalised businesses deemed sympathetic to Beijing in another weekend of chaos in the financial hub. Local television networks also broadcast footage of a man beaten bloody by protesters after they found a baton in his bag and suspected him of being an undercover officer. Police have increasingly posed as protesters, scoring some tactical successes and sparking widespread paranoia among frontline demonstrators.

• 
  Hong Kong 'silver-haired' sit-in, masked protesters rally against emergency laws

  Reuters Videos
• 
  Hong Kong riot police clear barricade as tensions remain high in another weekend of protests

  Newsflare

The Latest: Typhoon leaves up to 33 dead in Japan

Rescuers in Japan are continuing to help people in the aftermath of a ferocious typhoon, as the death toll from the storm climbed to as high as 33. The government's Fire and Disaster Management Agency, which tends to be conservative in its counts, said late Sunday that 14 people died and 11 were missing as a result of Typhoon Hagibis, while 187 suffered injuries. Japan's Kyodo News agency said 33 people died and 19 were missing.

• 
  Japan looks for missing as typhoon kills as many as 48

  Associated Press
• 
  Waves Crash Onto Highway as Typhoon Hagibis Makes Landfall in Japan

  Storyful

Harry Dunn: US woman allegedly involved in crash does not have diplomatic immunity, says Foreign Office

The US diplomat's wife allegedly involved in a crash which killed a teenager does not have diplomatic immunity, the Foreign Office has said. A letter, that appears to have been sent by foreign secretary Dominic Raab to Harry Dunn's parents, Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn, says: “The question remains when such immunity comes to an end, regardless of any waiver. “The UK government's position is that immunity, and therefore any question of waiver, is no longer relevant in Mrs Sacoolas' case, because she has returned home.

• 
  The wife of an American diplomat who collided with a British teen speaks out

  ABC News Videos
• 
  Late teen's family wants US diplomat's wife to lose immunity

  Associated Press

Prison officer jailed for relations with inmate

A married prison officer in the U.K. who had sex with an inmate in a cleaning closet during an 18-month affair has been jailed for a year as a result of his actions.

• 
  Prison officer jailed for having sex with inmate in a cleaning closet

  Yahoo News UK
• 
  Federal prison inmates escape and return with whiskey

  WLS – Chicago

Portland antifa activist killed in hit and run, police say

A Portland antifascist activist was killed in the early hours of Saturday in an apparent hit-and-run near Cider Riot, a cidery and taproom popular with the city's anarchist left that has been the scene of conflict with rightwing groups. According to the Portland Police Bureau, the car involved was fired upon and crashed into a nearby building. Police said in a statement that the 23-year-old victim, Sean D Kealiher, was taken to a local hospital by associates.

German police investigate bitcoin transfer to synagogue killer

German police are investigating a bitcoin transfer made to the far-Right extremist behind Wednesday's terror attack in Halle to determine if the man possessed a broader support network. German media outlet Spiegel reports that a transfer of 0.1 bitcoin – approximately €750 (£660) – was made to alleged attacker Stephan Balliet in the lead up to the attack. Police said the transfer came from an unknown source.

A Real Threat: Why Russia's Air Force Should Be Taken Seriously

Key point: Although behind America, Russia's air force is rapidly improving. When it comes to air power, it's no secret that the United States and the West have often held an edge over Russia. This dates at least as far back to World War II, when the United States and Britain were allied with Russia.

Syria’s Assad Sends Troops North as Turkish Offensive Escalates

Syrian government forces began fanning out in the northeast after striking a deal with Kurdish fighters abandoned by their U.S. allies to a Turkish military offensive -- a major shift that could see President Bashar al-Assad cement his impending victory in the country's long war. Syria's army deployed in Al Tabqa airbase and Ain Issa and was now stationed six kilometers away from the border with Turkey, according to Syria's Al Ekhbariyah TV, which showed footage of soldiers carrying Syrian flags being welcomed by local residents.

• 
  The Latest: Australia says Turkey to blame for IS escapes

  Associated Press
• 
  U.S. ‘Withdraws’ as Kurds Strike Deal to Let Assad’s Forces Into Region

  The Daily Beast