WorldAssociated PressGreat Wall of Lights: China’s sea power on Darwin’s doorstep
It's 3 a.m., and after five days plying through the high seas, the Ocean Warrior is surrounded by an atoll of blazing lights that overtakes the nighttime sky. It's the conservationists' first glimpse of the world's largest fishing fleet: an armada of nearly 300 Chinese vessels that have sailed halfway across the globe to lure the elusive Humboldt squid from the Pacific Ocean's inky depths. As Italian hip hop blares across the bridge, Marini furiously scribbles the electronic IDs of 37 fishing vessels that pop up as green triangles on the Ocean Warrior's radar onto a sheet of paper, before they disappear.
PoliticsSheKnowsThis Description of Ivanka Trump's Face After Talking With Dad Donald Trump on Jan. 6 Will Stay With You
While much has been written about Jan. 6 and Donald Trump's reaction while it was going down, Bob Woodward's new book, Peril, is giving readers more insight into what happened behind closed doors. The day was fraught with a lot of drama, and as we know, much of the burden of getting through to the president rested on Ivanka Trump's shoulders. When the insurrection took a dangerous turn on Capitol Hill, Executive Secretary and Chief of Staff of the United States National Security Council Keith Kellogg reached out to Ivanka to speak to her father to get the rioters to calm down.
PoliticsAxiosBiden's bet backfired on the largest social expansion in American history, some Democrats say
President Biden bit off too much, too fast in trying to ram through what would be the largest social expansion in American history, top Democrats privately say. Why it matters: At the time Biden proposed it, he had his mind set on a transformational accomplishment that would put him in the pantheon of FDR and JFK. Democrats, controlling two branches of government, saw a once-in-a-lifetime opening.
WorldAssociated PressTaliban official: Strict punishment, executions will return
One of the founders of the Taliban and the chief enforcer of its harsh interpretation of Islamic law when they last ruled Afghanistan said the hard-line movement will once again carry out executions and amputations of hands, though perhaps not in public. In an interview with The Associated Press, Mullah Nooruddin Turabi dismissed outrage over the Taliban's executions in the past, which sometimes took place in front of crowds at a stadium, and he warned the world against interfering with Afghanistan's new rulers. “Everyone criticized us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments,” Turabi told The Associated Press, speaking in Kabul.
ScienceMen's HealthThis Super Rugged Off-Road Camper Has a Surprisingly Luxe Interior
If you're of the opinion that all camping trailers look the same, you've obviously never seen a Bruder. The Australian-based company makes rugged military-like camping vehicles that can take on the toughest terrain in all seasons. In true Bruder fashion, the brand's newest model—the Bruder EXP-8 Off-Road Camper—is tough on the outside, but it's more like a luxury hotel on the inside.
U.S.HuffPostBrian Williams' Punchline On Anti-Vaxxers, Anti-Maskers Is A Showstopper
Brian Williams unleashed savage sign-off snark on his MSNBC news show Wednesday. Watch the video below. As he was closing out “The 11th Hour,” the host ran a clip from The Recount of anti-vaccine and anti-mask protesters sounding off at local board meetings.
BusinessAssociated PressCalifornia 1st to set quota limits for retailers like Amazon
California on Wednesday became the first state to bar mega-retailers from firing warehouse workers for missing quotas that interfere with bathroom and rest breaks under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that grew from Amazon's drive to speed goods to consumers more quickly. The measure also bars Amazon, the online retail giant, and similar companies from disciplining workers for following health and safety laws and allows employees to sue to suspend unsafe quotas or reverse retaliation. The bill applies to all warehouse distribution centers, though proponents were driven by Amazon's dominance.
U.S.INSIDERA Kroger cashier who tried to usher customers to safety said the gunman followed them as they ran for cover during mass shooting
Thirteen people were shot during a mass shooting in Collierville, Tennessee, on Thursday. One of the victims died in the shooting at a Kroger supermarket. A cashier told reporters the gunman followed her through the store as she tried to usher others to safety.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTrump accused Democrats of trying to distract from the Arizona audit results, seemingly unaware that they confirm Biden's victory
Trump on Thursday said Democrats were trying to distract from the release of the Arizona audit. Former President Donald Trump on Thursday angrily accused Democrats of seeking to distract from the release of the result of the controversial vote audit in Maricopa County, Arizona. In the statement late Thursday, Trump hit out at the House of Representatives commission investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol, which on Thursday subpoenaed several allies and aides of the president.
WorldAssociated PressDad of 3 girls killed in New Zealand says he's forgiven wife
The father of three young girls who were killed last week in New Zealand said Thursday his precious angels had been ripped away from him in a loss he would carry for the rest of his life. Dickason wrote his thoughts in a letter that was read aloud by a reverend during a candlelight vigil that was attended by hundreds of people outside the family's home in the South Island town of Timaru. Lauren Dickason, 40, has been charged with murder in the deaths of her twin 2-year-old girls Maya and Karla, and their 6-year-old sister Liane, in a crime that has shocked New Zealand.
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverRaleigh neighborhood with racist link debates renaming itself. It hasn’t gone well.
Cameron Park residents have until Thursday evening to vote on whether to change their community name, which references the Cameron family, once one of the largest holders of enslaved people in North Carolina. The discussion has grown so heated the neighborhood email listserv was locked this weekend. “The last year has been really sad,” said Myrick Howard, a resident of 45 years.
- ScienceAFP Videographics
Portugal grape pickers do it in the buff
With early autumn temperatures in Portugal hovering around 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), a group of nudism enthusiasts don't even sport a vine leaf to cover their modesty as they go about their work in a vineyard 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Lisbon.
WorldAssociated PressWoman with Down syndrome loses UK abortion law challenge
A woman with Down syndrome lost a court challenge against the British government Thursday over a law allowing the abortion up until birth of a fetus with the condition. Heidi Crowter, 26, and two others took the Department of Health and Social Care to court, arguing that part of the Abortion Act is discriminatory and violates the European Convention on Human Rights. Abortions in England, Wales and Scotland are allowed up till 24 weeks of pregnancy.
U.S.The Daily Beast‘Daily Show’s’ Jordan Klepper Embarrasses Anti-Mask Parents
While Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) was leading an anti-mask protest outside of a recent school board meeting in Smithfield, North Carolina, The Daily Show's Jordan Klepper was in the crowd finding out why parents in the district were so up in arms about policies meant to keep them and their children safe. Entering “America's new thunderdome,” Klepper began by pointing out that these parents seem to think that “putting on a piece of cloth is just too much” to ask to stop the spread of COVID-19 in their community. For instance, one mother wearing an “I don't co-parent with the government” T-shirt told Klepper that “masks don't work” because her child started getting acne on his face when he was forced to wear one in school.
WorldFTW OutdoorsLeopard’s ‘stunning’ leap showcased in slow-motion video
A rescue leopard at South Africa's Harnas Wildlife Foundation is an impressive leaper, especially at mealtime. The accompanying footage, which has garnered millions of views over the past month, shows “Hellboy” leaping nearly 10 feet to catch a hunk of meat tossed over a fence by a caretaker. The footage reveals the power and grace exhibited by Hellboy – and possessed by all leopards – while taking flight and upon landing.
U.S.Associated PressWoman arrested on suspicion of starting California blaze
A woman has been arrested on suspicion of starting a Northern California wildfire that spread rapidly, burning homes and prompting evacuation orders Thursday in a rural community, authorities said. Workers at a nearby quarry reported seeing a woman acting strangely and trespassing in the area in Shasta County where the Fawn Fire was sparked Wednesday afternoon, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said in a statement. Later Wednesday, Alexandra Souverneva walked out of the brush near the fire line and approached firefighters and told them she was dehydrated and needed medical help, Cal Fire said.
U.S.INSIDERKroger employees found 'hiding in freezers' and rescued from roof after gunman shot 13 people in Tennessee
Police said people were hiding in freezers and rescued from the roof after a shooting at Kroger in Tennessee. At least one person was killed and a dozen others wounded Thursday after a gunman opened fire at Kroger's grocery store outside Memphis, Tennessee. "I've never seen anything like it," Colliersville Police Chief Dale Lane said at a press conference that aired on WREG, a local CBS affiliate.
PoliticsHuffPostMary Trump Pulls No Punches When Naming Her ‘Stupidest’ Relative
Mary Trump was asked “what the hell is going on” with her cousin, Donald Trump Jr., and didn't hold back. In this week's episode of the “UnPresidented” podcast, Donald Trump's niece described her cousin as “weak” and a suck-up who was ultimately “left in the dust” by his father, the former president. Trump Jr. is “like many other people in my family,” said Mary Trump, a psychologist who has become one of the fiercest critics of her uncle and his children.
WorldAssociated PressChina sends 24 fighter jets toward Taiwan in show of force
China sent 24 fighter jets toward Taiwan in a large display of force Thursday, after the self-governing island announced its intention to join an 11-nation Pacific trade group that China has also applied to join. China's People's Liberation Army flew fighter jets toward Taiwan twice on Thursday, once in the morning with 19 planes, and once in the afternoon with five more. Taiwan deployed air patrol forces in response to the Chinese jets and tracked them on its air defense systems, the island's Defense Ministry said in a statement.
- U.S.Fox News
Brian Laundrie argued in Wyoming restaurant hours before Gabby Petito vanished: eyewitnesses
FIRST ON FOX: One of the last times Gabby Petito was seen alive involved an explosive argument between Brian Laundrie and wait staff at a Jackson Hole restaurant, according to a New Orleans couple who said they witnessed the spat. "I have chills right now," Nina Celie Angelo told Fox News Digital Wednesday. "It's crazy because it wasn't just like we passed them on the street — it was a full blown incident."
U.S.The Daily Beast‘Mama, I Don’t Want to Die’: 20-Year-Old’s COVID Death the Latest Among Younger Victims
Health officials in Florida, Texas, and California have also reported seeing a trend in younger and younger people dying from the virus as the Delta variant continues to drive the fourth wave of the pandemic. Shepherd is far from the only twentysomething to have her life cut short by the virus this week. A 26-year-old Wisconsin police officer died from COVID-19 on Wednesday, just hours after his second child was welcomed into the world, according to Fond du Lac Police Chief Aaron Goldstein.
WorldReutersExclusive-Echoes, uncertainty as Afghan pilots await U.S. help in Tajikistan
A U.S.-trained Afghan pilot was talking to Reuters on a smuggled cellphone from Tajikistan, where he is being held, when something strange happened - his voice started looping, repeating everything he had just said, word for word. It also came amid growing feelings of impatience and uncertainty among the Afghan pilots and personnel who have been held by the government in Tajikistan since fleeing there on Aug. 15. There are 143 Afghans detained at a sanatorium in a mountainous, rural area outside of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, waiting and hoping for over a month for transfer by the United States.
U.S.NBC NewsChipotle customer pulls gun after being told location was closing early, police say
A customer became angry that a Philadelphia Chipotle was closing early, pulled a gun and demanded that “somebody better give me my food,” police said Wednesday. The terrifying confrontation unfolded just before 5 p.m. Saturday at the chain's location inside Roosevelt Mall on Cottman Avenue, Philadelphia police said in a statement. The store was closing its in-person service early because of staffing issues, but it told customers it would still take online orders, police said.
PoliticsPeopleWhen Biden Found Trump's Letter to Him in Oval Office, He 'Put It in His Pocket and Did Not Share' It: Book
On his first day in office, President Joe Biden had his predecessor on his mind: Some of the historic number of executive actions he took in the hours after being sworn in on Jan. 20 reversed policies put in place by Donald Trump. But when Biden found a letter from Trump in a drawer of the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office — in what appeared to be a rare acknowledgment by Trump of his defeat — the new commander-in-chief tucked it away and went right back to work, according to a new book. "He put it in his pocket and did not share it with his advisers," Bob Woodward and Robert Costa write in Peril, which was released Tuesday.
U.S.Associated PressBoy Scouts' bankruptcy creates rift with religious partners
Amid the Boy Scouts of America's complex bankruptcy case, there is worsening friction between the BSA and the major religious groups that help it run thousands of scout units. At issue: the churches' fears that an eventual settlement — while protecting the BSA from future sex-abuse lawsuits — could leave many churches unprotected. The Boy Scouts sought bankruptcy protection in February 2020 in an effort to halt individual lawsuits and create a huge compensation fund for thousands of men who say they were molested as youngsters by scoutmasters or other leaders.
“It wouldn’t take much of an annual wealth tax to rescue the retirement system.”
“Privatizing Social Security — or at least letting individuals opt-out so they can escape the sinking ship — would be a huge win.”
“Congress could save hundreds of billions of dollars by modestly paring back the benefit formula for future wealthy retirees.”
“Raising the retirement age reduces the number of beneficiaries, thereby reducing the costs of the program.”
“Social Security as we know it needs to be abolished and replaced with a better system.”