| Trump's vaccine promises meet reality Posted: 29 Oct 2020 11:45 AM PDT  The president's optimistic claims that a vaccine for COVID-19 would be ready before the end of the year seem increasingly unlikely to be fulfilled.
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| Kyle Rittenhouse extradited to Wisconsin following terse ruling from Illinois judge accusing him of asking the court to 'ignore binding Illinois law' Posted: 30 Oct 2020 02:22 PM PDT  Rittenhouse, charged in Wisconsin with first-degree homicide over the shooting of three people at Kenosha protests, had been fighting his extradition.
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| FBI Investigating Hunter Biden for Money Laundering: Report Posted: 29 Oct 2020 03:23 PM PDT  The FBI opened an investigation into Hunter Biden and associates in 2019 on suspicion of money laundering, a Justice Department official told Sinclair Broadcasting.The criminal investigation is ongoing, the DOJ official said.The revelation comes after Tony Bobulinski, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, came forward with a trove of documents regarding the Biden family's dealings with now-defunct Chinese energy firm CEFC. While Joe Biden has denied that he has ever spoken with Hunter regarding the latter's overseas business dealings, Bobulinski claims the former vice president is lying.> EXCLUSIVE: Tony Bobulinski tells @WeAreSinclair he was questioned by six @FBI agents, with counsel present, for five hours on October 23, listing him as a "material witness" in an ongoing investigation focused on Hunter Biden and his associates. His cell phones were examined. pic.twitter.com/5lPzRTREJN> > -- James Rosen (@JamesRosenTV) October 29, 2020Additionally, Bobulinski told Sinclair that he was interviewed by FBI agents for five hours last Friday and was listed as a "material witness" for the agency.The interview "was a very cooperative deep dive into all the facts across that time period" during which Bobulinski conducted business with members of the Biden family, Bobulinski said.The New York Post reported earlier this month that it was given materials purportedly from Hunter Biden's laptop. While a subsequent Fox News report revealed that Hunter Biden's laptop was subpoenaed by the FBI in connection with a money laundering investigation, the Thursday report by Sinclair marks the first confirmation that Hunter Biden himself is the subject of an ongoing criminal probe.The Biden campaign has not denied the veracity of any of the materials revealed by the Post or Bobulinski. However, the campaign has stated that "Joe Biden has never even considered being involved in business with his family, nor in any overseas business whatsoever."
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| President Erdogan accused of fuelling the anger that led to French terror attacks Posted: 29 Oct 2020 08:35 AM PDT  The Turkish president's bellicose rhetoric towards France over the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed may have contributed to a climate of anger that led to the deadly terror attack in the city of Nice on Thursday, terrorism experts and EU politicians have said. A woman was decapitated, and two more people killed, in an attack in a church in Nice on Thursday that the city's mayor described as terrorism after the alleged perpetrator reportedly chanted "Alllahu akbar" as he was arrested. Terrorism experts believe the attack – alongside a stabbing at the French consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and an incident in Avignon where police killed a man brandishing a gun – were retaliation by extremists for France's hardening attitudes towards Muslims. French President Emmanuel Macron ordered a crackdown on Islamists this month, following the beheading of a teacher who showed his class caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, something many Muslims consider blasphemous and offensive. Turkish President Recep Tayipp Erdogan has led criticism in the Muslim world of Mr Macron, repeatedly saying he needed mental evaluation over his stance towards Islam.
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| Top U.S. officials were briefed on an active threat against Pentagon leaders, say five officials Posted: 29 Oct 2020 01:07 PM PDT  Some officials said the briefings suggested the threat may be potential retaliation for the U.S. military's killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
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| Body-camera footage released of Wallace killing; family says officers were improperly trained Posted: 30 Oct 2020 03:34 AM PDT  The footage from body-worn cameras that was taken as police responded to a call about Walter Wallace Jr. shows him emerging from a house with a knife as relatives shout at officers about his mental health condition, a lawyer for the man's family said Thursday.
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| Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman got served a lawsuit via WhatsApp. Court documents show that he received and read the message. Posted: 30 Oct 2020 01:03 AM PDT  The case, filed by former top security advisor Dr. Saad Al-Jabri alleges that bin Salman set a hit squad to assassinate him in Canada.
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| Two same-sex couples in military marry in first for Taiwan Posted: 29 Oct 2020 09:24 PM PDT  Two lesbian couples tied the knot in a mass wedding held by Taiwan's military on Friday in a historic celebration with their peers. Taiwan is the only place in Asia to have legalized same-sex marriage, with more than 4,000 such couples marrying since the legislation passed in May 2019. The mass wedding with 188 couples was the first time same-sex couples have been wed and celebrated at a military ceremony.
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| 2020 polls: Can Trump pull another 2016 upset? The data says no chance Posted: 29 Oct 2020 08:59 AM PDT  The blue wave is coming - if you believe the polls
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| Philadelphia police say they rescued a lost child. His family says they actually ripped him from his mother's car. Posted: 30 Oct 2020 10:34 AM PDT  During recent protests over the police killing of Walter Wallace Jr. in Philadelphia, the U.S.'s largest police union posted what looked like a sympathetic photo. A Philadelphia police office held a Black toddler, with a caption purporting he was found "walking around barefoot in an area that was experiencing complete lawlessness," the National Fraternal Order of Police's Facebook post said.But lawyer's for the boy's family say that's not what happened. Rickia Young was driving with her toddler son to pick up her 16-year-old nephew when she accidentally drove into an area where police and protesters were facing off. She tried to turn around, but police surrounded the car, smashed its windows, and threw Young and her nephew onto the street, her lawyers tell The Washington Post. The officers then pulled the toddler from the seat, video of the incident shows.> The attacked on this boy and his mother were caught on video. @ryanjreilly has done a good job of pointing out this lie by @GLFOP https://t.co/kJ4QcrXegc> > — Riley H. Ross III (@AttorneyRoss) October 30, 2020Police soon detained Young, but she had to be taken to the hospital before she could be processed because she was bleeding from her head after police threw her to the ground. Young's nephew was also injured, and the toddler was hit in the head. Young was split from her son for hours before she was released without charges. Her family found the boy in his car seat in the back of a police car, broken glass from the car's windows still in the seat, the Post describes.The whole scene was caught on video by AApril Rice, who told the Philadelphia Inquirer watching what happened was "surreal" and "traumatic." The National Fraternal Order of Police has since deleted the post. Philadelphia police still haven't told the Young family where to find the car, along with her son's hearing aids and other belongings inside.More stories from theweek.com How to make an election crisis 64 things President Trump has said about women Republicans are on the verge of a spectacular upside-down achievement
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| The flu shot lasts for about 6 months: Here's when it starts working and why it may get less effective as time goes on Posted: 30 Oct 2020 11:07 AM PDT  The flu shot is effective for about six months. You should get it in October so it lasts through March and covers you through flu season.
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| Michigan Senate candidate John James is proof all skinfolk ain’t kinfolk Posted: 29 Oct 2020 06:00 AM PDT  OPINION: James is fashioning himself as a moderate who believes in bipartisanship. The problem is when it comes to the party of Trump, you can't play it both sides. John James is a Black man who has a shot at becoming the next U.S. Senator from the great state of Michigan.
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| Man falls through New York City pavement into 'rat-filled chasm' Posted: 30 Oct 2020 02:10 AM PDT  A man was trapped in a hole teeming with rats for half an hour after a New York City pavement collapsed from under him last Saturday. Leonard Shoulders dropped almost 15 feet into the sinkhole and was unable to cry for help out of fear the rats would get in his mouth. "Rats crawling on him. He can't move. He just… it was so bad," the victim's brother Greg White told NBC News. "He didn't wanna yell 'cause he was afraid there was gonna be rats going inside his mouth." Mr Shoulders plunged more than 12 feet into the vault, breaking his arm and leg, when the ground gave way beneath him while he waited for a bus in the Bronx. "He went down feet first," Mr White added. "He was just standing and the sidewalk just — It was like a suction. Like a sinkhole. He just went down."
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| Death toll rises in Vietnam after Typhoon Molave triggers widespread flooding, landslides Posted: 29 Oct 2020 11:50 AM PDT  After forging a path of destruction over the northern and central Philippines and strengthening over the South China Sea, Typhoon Molave brought its deadly impacts to Vietnam from Wednesday into Thursday, inflicting more damage in a country that has been battered by numerous landfalling tropical systems since the beginning of the month. As of Thursday evening, local time, the death toll has risen to 35 and at least 50 people are still missing, according to state media. The death toll is expected to rise in the coming days as search and rescue missions continue and communications with more remote villages are restored. Soldiers and villagers dig through mud after a landslide swamps a village in Phuoc Loc district, Quang Nam province, Vietnam, on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. Three separated landslides triggered by Typhoon Molave killed over a dozen villagers and left dozens more missing in the province as rescuers scramble to recover more victims. (Lai Minh Dong/VNA via AP) A dozen of those killed by the typhoon were sailors of two fishing vessels that sank while trying to seek shelter from the powerful typhoon. According to VnExpress International, the vessels sank near the province of Binh Dinh on Tuesday night. While strong winds from Molave created treacherous conditions across the western South China Sea, heavy rainfall caused deadly landslides across central provinces. CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP Military officers, who were put on standby by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ahead of Molave's arrival, scrambled to three villages where three separate landslides were responsible for killing at least 19 people and are suspected of burying more than 40 others in thick mud and debris, The Associated Press reported. Homes and roadways in parts of Tra Van village, Tra Leng village and Phuoc Loc district were buried under the landslides. Officers used bulldozers and excavators to help clear gain access to the affected areas and begin rescuing victims, The AP said. Four more residents were killed in Quang Nam province, a tourist draw for an ancient town and Hindu temples, by falling trees and collapsed houses, The AP reported. More than 130 people have been killed in the central Vietnam province since the beginning of October following the tumultuous weather pattern that has brought a relentless series of tropical storms and typhoons. Typhoon Molave is the fourth named tropical system to make landfall over Vietnam this month, and officials are calling this the strongest storm to hit the country in the last 20 years, The Associated Press reported. Molave made landfall just prior to midday Wednesday, local time, according to VnExpress International, unloading torrential rain and damaging winds across the typhoon-weary nation. At landfall, the typhoon had the equivalent strength of a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale in the Atlantic and East Pacific basins. Molave lost some wind intensity just prior to landfall after spending some time with the equivalent strength of a Category 3 major hurricane. Ahead of the storm, officials were preparing to evacuate 1.3 million residents along the coast of central Vietnam, according to Reuters. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also urged provinces in the typhoon's path to prepare by bringing boats ashore. This satellite image shows Typhoon Molave closing in on the Vietnam coast on Wednesday morning, local time. (CIRA/RAMMB) Molave is the fourth named tropical system to make landfall over Vietnam since Oct. 11, according to AccuWeather Lead International Meteorologist Jason Nicholls. It is also the country's sixth landfalling storm this year. Fierce winds were already beginning to whip ahead of Molave's landfall, with a local news agency reporting nearly 82,000 customers had lost power in the province of Phú Yên by Wednesday morning, local time. As of Wednesday evening, local time, Molave had lost enough wind intensity that it was designated a tropical storm over western Vietnam. Molave first developed into a tropical depression to the east of the Philippines late last week and was given the name Quinta by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. Molave is the name used by the Japanese Meteorological Agency for the part of the basin that falls under the agency's purview. Residents wearing masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus wade through a flooded road from Typhoon Molave in Pampanga province, northern Philippines, on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020. The fast-moving typhoon has forced thousands of villagers to flee to safety in provinces. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) The storm quickly strengthened into a typhoon with sustained winds of 120 km/h (75 mph) before making its first landfall over San Miguel, Philippines, on Sunday evening, local time. This is equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane in the Atlantic and East Pacific tropical basins. Widespread rainfall totals of 100-200 mm (4-8 inches) were reported in the northern and central Philippines. More than 120,000 people have been displaced by the storm, and at least eight are missing. As of Friday morning, local time, the typhoon is being blamed for at least 22 deaths in the Philippines. As recovery efforts continue, all eyes will be on the strengthening Typhoon Goni, also known as Rolly in the Philippines. Residents impacted by Molave in the Philippines are likely to face impacts from Goni this weekend. Goni could go on to bring more tropical downpours and gusty winds to Vietnam next week. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| Jerry Falwell Jr. is suing Liberty University after his forced resignation over sex scandal Posted: 29 Oct 2020 01:14 PM PDT  The former president was ousted earlier this year and now hints he was victim of political retribution.
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| Tony Chung: Hong Kong activist detained near US consulate charged Posted: 29 Oct 2020 10:32 AM PDT  Tony Chung was detained as he reportedly planned to claim asylum at the US consulate.
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| Kennedy cousin Skakel will not be retried in 1975 killing Posted: 29 Oct 2020 10:08 PM PDT  A prosecutor said Friday that Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel will not face a second trial in the 1975 killing of Martha Moxley, an announcement that came 45 years to the day after the teenager was bludgeoned to death in her wealthy Connecticut neighborhood. The decision ended a rollercoaster drama that included claims others could be the killer, alleged confessions by Skakel, several books based on the case and conflicting rulings by the Connecticut Supreme Court, which first upheld Skakel's murder conviction but later overturned it. Skakel, 15 at the time of Moxley's death and now 60, served more than 11 years in prison before being freed in 2013.
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| Las Vegas police charge driver after man pushed a cyclist to her death, fell out a minivan window, hit his head on a lamppost, and died at the scene Posted: 30 Oct 2020 08:15 AM PDT  Rodrigo Cruz, 22, was the driver of the minivan involved in the two deaths, the Las Vegas police said.
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| Facebook admits it 'improperly' blocked some political ads due to 'technical issues' as Joe Biden's campaign slams it for being 'wholly unprepared' Posted: 29 Oct 2020 08:18 PM PDT  Facebook said no ads were blocked "because of any partisan consideration," as Biden's camp accused the company of offering "no clarity" on the issue.
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| David Perdue: Georgia senator pulls out of final debate after 'brutal' takedown by Democrat goes viral Posted: 29 Oct 2020 11:25 PM PDT  Video of debate where Democrat Jon Ossoff calls Republican incumbent a 'crook' has been viewed more than 11m times on Twitter
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| Record-breaking GDP growth leaves U.S. economy in the same place as the height of the Great Recession Posted: 29 Oct 2020 08:27 AM PDT  America just posted its biggest annualized and single-quarter GDP growth of all time. It isn't that impressive.The U.S. GDP jumped at a 33.1 percent annualized rate in the third quarter, a growth of 7.4 percent from Q2, Commerce Department records released Thursday reveal. But as Gregory Daco, the chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, put it in a tweet, that growth is both "record-breaking and meaningless at the same time."It's true that the 7.4 percent GDP rise from Q2 to Q3 is a record. But it also comes after a record contraction from Q1 to Q2, and a total loss of 10.3 percent throughout 2020, so it doesn't even come close to making up what was lost amid the pandemic. In fact, the 3.5 percent total GDP shrinkage during 2020 "means we are still down almost as much as we were during the height of the Great Recession," tweets Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton.> Translation into % difference from pre-Covid> > US GDP -3.5% > \- consumer spend -3.3% > \- business investment -4.9% > \- residential invest +5.1% > \- exports -15.3% > \- imports -7.1% > \- federal gov spending +2.6% > \- state and local gov spending -1.9% pic.twitter.com/uLNPEnuUYF> > — Gregory Daco (@GregDaco) October 29, 2020Economist Justin Wolfers meanwhile debunked the 33.1 percent growth rate the entire Trump family was touting Thursday morning. Looking at annualized growth reveals how much bigger the economy would be if it "grew at this rate for the next three quarters," Wolfers tweeted. "But there's no chance that will happen, so the annualized rate answers a question no one is asking." And if that wasn't convincing enough, Wolfers had another way of looking at it. Kathryn Krawczyk> If you have a cranky uncle who insists that you focus on annualized rates, point out that the number of new covid cases in Q3 rose to be +87% higher than in Q2, which is an annualized rate of +1,123%.> > — Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) October 29, 2020More stories from theweek.com How to make an election crisis 64 things President Trump has said about women Republicans are on the verge of a spectacular upside-down achievement
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| 7.0 earthquake rocks Greece and Turkey Posted: 30 Oct 2020 05:17 AM PDT  A 7.0 earthquake was reported Friday off the Greek island of Samos, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
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| Five things to know about Moldova Posted: 29 Oct 2020 10:28 PM PDT  The ex-Soviet country of Moldova, which holds a presidential election on Sunday, is landlocked between EU member Romania, with which it shares a common language, and Ukraine.
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| The battle for Senate control looks more volatile than the presidential race Posted: 30 Oct 2020 06:13 AM PDT  First Read is your briefing from "Meet the Press" and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter.
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| Tourist arrested for hiding a loaded firearm at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom Posted: 29 Oct 2020 06:36 PM PDT  A 27-year-old woman has been arrested for hiding a loaded firearm at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, the Orange County Sheriff's Office confirmed.
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| Members of white supremacist group accused of intimating Mich. family Posted: 29 Oct 2020 11:52 AM PDT  Two members of a white supremacist group were arrested Thursday and accused of intimidating a Michigan family, authorities said.
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| A Florida man was scalped by a black panther after he paid $150 for an illegal 'full contact' experience at a backyard animal sanctuary Posted: 30 Oct 2020 08:45 AM PDT  Dwight Turner paid $150 to play with, take pictures, and rub the belly of a black panther at a private enclosure behind a house.
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| Rudy Giuliani wants Twitter CEO jailed over limitations on unverified Hunter Biden story Posted: 29 Oct 2020 04:59 PM PDT  'Maybe he's working for the Chinese,' former mayor baselessly claims
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| Gov. Ron DeSantis had trouble voting because someone had falsely submitted a change of address under his name Posted: 29 Oct 2020 09:30 AM PDT  Anthony Guevara, 20, was charged with altering a voter registration without consent and unauthorized access of a computer, in connection to the case.
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| The Government has agreed only three claims by families of deceased Windrush victims Posted: 29 Oct 2020 12:44 PM PDT  The Government has settled only three of the 71 claims by families of dead victims of the Windrush scandal, according to Home Office data. Around one in eight (12 per cent) of Windrush victims claiming compensation have received payouts, according to the official figures. Of 1,587 claims made to the scheme by the end of September, £1,619,291.42 had been paid out to 196 people, around 12 per cent of those who had applied. The data also showed 71 claims have been made for people who have already died, but only three have resulted in payments so far. Some 124 claims have been subject to an appeal over the decision made, while 81 eligible applicants were told they were not entitled to any money because their claims did not demonstrate that they had been adversely affected by the scandal. The fund has an estimated budget of at least £200 million. Previously, Home Secretary Priti Patel described the scheme as "complicated" and said she wanted to see payments "sped up". Earlier this year, Windrush campaigner Paulette Wilson (see below) died, aged 64, just weeks after delivering a petition to Downing Street calling for action to address the failings that led to the scandal and demanding swift compensation for victims.
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| Op-Ed: The immorality of sentencing a 15-year-old to prison forever Posted: 30 Oct 2020 04:00 AM PDT  The Supreme Court needs to state again that a child cannot be sentenced to life without parole unless a trial court determines that child is beyond rehabilitation.
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| Elizabeth Warren reportedly wants to be Biden's Treasury secretary Posted: 30 Oct 2020 08:22 AM PDT  Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is reportedly looking to make a big, structural career change.The former presidential candidate is ready to make her case to be Democratic nominee Joe Biden's Treasury secretary should he win next week, three Democratic officials who have spoken to her inner circle tell Politico; Two straightforwardly said "she wants it." A Warren Treasury would appeal to progressives who have been reluctant to support Biden, but also draw opposition from Wall Street leaders Warren would try to regulate.Warren certainly has the background to lead the Treasury. She's an expert on bankruptcy law, originated the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under former President Barack Obama, and made economic reform a big part of her 2020 campaign. And while she could keep advocating for these goals in the Senate, Warren allies tell Politico this is "a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to enact some of the 'big structural change' she talked about during the presidential primary." Warren also would like to "rectify what she thinks were mistakes in the Obama administration's response to the Great Recession," namely not reshaping the system as a whole, Politico adds.Biden's potential Cabinet has been in the works for months, with Politico reporting he wants to "assemble a center-left amalgamation of personnel designed to prioritize speed over ideology in responding to the coronavirus and the resulting economic ruin." Warren has long been viewed as a more progressive piece of that puzzle, though for now, her campaign says it's focused on the election that's just a few days away.More stories from theweek.com How to make an election crisis 64 things President Trump has said about women Republicans are on the verge of a spectacular upside-down achievement
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| Woman in labor refused to go to the hospital until she voted Posted: 30 Oct 2020 11:43 AM PDT  "It was an odd situation, but she wanted to vote and that was her right as an American citizen," a poll worker said.
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| Searchers find 59 bodies in Mexico mass graves, dig for more Posted: 29 Oct 2020 10:13 AM PDT  Search teams dug for more remains Thursday at a site in central Mexico where 59 bodies have already been found in clandestine graves over the past week in an area known as a cartel battleground. It was the largest such burial site found to date in Guanajuato, the state with the largest number of homicides in Mexico, though bigger clandestine burial sites have been excavated in other parts of the country. Especially striking about this discovery, but also a testament to the prevailing level of fear, is that the site is in the town of Salvatierra, not a desolate area out in the countryside.
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| Miami police officer used excessive force arresting paraplegic man, civilian panel says Posted: 30 Oct 2020 08:48 AM PDT  Almost a year after an internal review cleared several officers of any wrongdoing during the arrest of a Black paraplegic man who was dragged out of a patrol car, a police civilian oversight board has condemned the actions of five Miami police officers who took Trayon Fussell-Dumas into custody during a traffic stop.
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| 6 dead, millions powerless as Zeta roars across southern, eastern US Posted: 29 Oct 2020 12:33 PM PDT  Zeta, now downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, continued to lash portions of the southern and eastern U.S. Thursday with heavy rain and high winds.
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| Walmart removes guns and ammunition from shelves ahead of election amid fears of civil unrest Posted: 29 Oct 2020 10:25 PM PDT  Walmart says it will continue selling them if customers make a special request, however
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| Republican Sen. Mike Lee said fact-checking labels placed by social media companies are a form of censorship Posted: 29 Oct 2020 12:43 AM PDT  The comment was made in a Senate hearing where Republicans said Twitter, Facebook, and Google discriminate against conservatives on their platforms.
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| Man and dog have been best friends so long five dog species existed by end of Ice Age, study finds Posted: 29 Oct 2020 01:32 PM PDT  Man and dog have been best friends for so long that by the end of the Ice Age there were five different types of dog, new research has found. After molecular evidence showed all dogs are descended from the gray wolf, the new findings have shed more light on how different lineages of canine went on to develop. Diversity among dogs first developed while humans were still hunters and gatherers, according to a study conducted by the Francis Crick Institute at the University of Oxford. Dogs were domesticated around 15,000 years ago and spread across large parts of the world within 4,000 years, according to Dr Anders Bergström, a researcher at the Crick's ancient genomics laboratory and the lead author of the study. "We can see in the genomes that by at least 11,000 years ago, they had already started to diversity into distinct lineages and spread across large parts of the world," he told The Telegraph. "We don't really know how dogs were able to spread so quickly across the world, but by the end of the Ice Age dogs were already present throughout much of the northern hemisphere." He said it is still "a bit of a mystery" as to how dogs dispersed so rapidly without any large-scale human migrations, but they nonetheless developed different genetic profiles on different continents. The study also found that dogs have become less genetically diverse throughout Europe, with ancient European beasts having displayed much greater diversity than dogs today, although it is not yet understood how this process happened. Dr Bergström added that "there is a correlation" between the different histories of dogs and humans, although these occasionally diverged when humans migrated to different parts of the world without their four-legged friends in tow. "There is a correlation, so dogs would often follow humans as humans moved and migrated and mixed in different parts of the world," he said. The findings were published yesterday in the journal Science.
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| Air Force Moves Forward with Plan to Turn Giant Cargo Planes into Bomb Trucks Posted: 30 Oct 2020 11:34 AM PDT |
| Biden campaigns in Florida ahead of election Posted: 29 Oct 2020 05:03 PM PDT 
Joe Biden campaigned in Florida on Thursday.
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| 'Voters are fed up': will Arizona's suburbs abandon the party of Trump? Posted: 29 Oct 2020 11:15 PM PDT  The president won narrowly in Maricopa county in 2016. Polls show his support is draining – and fellow Republicans are at riskIn the agonizing days after the 2018 election, Christine Marsh, a Democratic candidate for state senate in a traditionally Republican suburban Phoenix district, watched her opponent's lead dwindle to a few hundred votes, with thousands of ballots left to be counted.In the end, just 267 votes separated them.Marsh lost. But the result was ominous for Republicans, in a corner of Phoenix's ever-expanding suburbs where Barry Goldwater, the long-serving Arizona senator and conservative icon, launched his presidential campaign in 1964 from the patio of his famed hilltop estate in Paradise Valley.series linker embedIn the decades since, population growth and shifting demographics have transformed the cultural, political and economic complexion of the region.And the election of Donald Trump has exacerbated these trends across the country, perhaps nowhere more dramatically than in diverse, fast-growing metropolitan areas like Phoenix, where the coalition of affluent, white suburban voters that once cemented Republican dominance is unraveling."We've seen a huge shift in my district, even in just the last two years," said Marsh, a high school English teacher who is challenging the Republican incumbent, Kate Brophy McGee, again this year. The district, which includes the prosperous Paradise Valley and parts of north central Phoenix, is now at the center of the political battle for Arizona's suburbs.Over the last four years, Republicans have watched their support collapse in suburbs across the country, as the president's divisive rhetoric and incendiary behavior alienates women, college graduates and independent voters. But as Trump continues to downplay the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic, even after more than 225,000 deaths nationwide and as cases continue to climb, his conduct is imperiling not only his own re-election campaign, but his entire party. 'Ground zero'The depth of Trump's problems with suburbanites is magnified in Maricopa county, one of the largest and most suburban counties in the nation, with a population of almost 4.5 million.In 2016, the suburbs helped deliver Trump's narrow victory here. But polling shows the president has lost significant ground with these voters, threatening his prospects in a state that has voted for a Democratic presidential candidate only once since 1952."If the president loses Arizona, it'll be largely because he lost Maricopa county – because he lost the suburbs," said Jeff Flake, the former Arizona senator and a conservative critic of the president who has endorsed his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden.The political dividing line in America now runs directly through suburbs like the ones around Phoenix, rare ground where Trump inspires both fierce loyalty and deep revulsion.Here, across desert sprawl of stuccoed housing developments and saguaro-scattered foothills, is "ground zero", said Mike Noble, the chief pollster at OH Predictive Insights in Phoenix. Not only are these voters poised to deliver a referendum on Trump next week, they will also be decisive in determining control of the US Congress and the state legislature.In his analysis of precincts that voted for Trump in 2016 yet backed the Democratic Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema two years later, the vast majority were in suburban parts of Maricopa county. Sinema, who cast herself as an "independent voice" willing to break with her party, became the first Democrat in 30 years to win a US Senate seat in the state, beating the Republican Martha McSally, who had tied her fate to the president."The big story of the last four years is the shift of white, college-educated independents and self-identified moderates," he said.Independents, or unaffiliated voters, make up roughly a third of Arizona's electorate. In 2016, they broke narrowly for Trump, but this year, polling suggests these voters are swinging heavily away from the president.According to an October Monmouth poll, independent voters in Arizona favor Biden by 21 percentage points. The survey also found that most of the state's independent voters believe McSally, who was appointed to fill the unexpired term of the late Republican senator John McCain after losing to Sinema in 2018, is too supportive of the president. She now faces an uphill battle to keep the seat, after months spent trailing her Democratic challenger, Mark Kelly.Unlike McSally, McGee – the Republican state senator who is trying to hold on to her seat in Phoenix – has carefully cultivated a reputation as a moderate, breaking with her party on legislation related to Medicare expansion and school vouchers.Yet like many Republicans running in increasingly formidable terrain, McGee faces strong national headwinds after four years of anti-Trump activism and resistance in the suburbs. Arizona's Red for Ed movement, which led to a week-long teacher walkout in 2018, galvanized parents and students alike and helped build support for Marsh who was the 2016 state teacher of the year.This year, education, compounded by the coronavirus, is a top priority for Arizonans, and, on this issue, voters favor Democrats. A ballot measure imposing a surtax on the highest earners to increase public education funding is poised for approval, with polling showing support from a majority of Democrats and independent voters."I really do think it's frustration," Marsh said. "Voters are really fed up with the lack of leadership and they realize that the only way we're going to change anything in Arizona is by changing the balance of power." 'Suburban women, will you please like me?'Trump has attempted to woo back suburban voters by casting himself as the protector of a certain "suburban lifestyle dream" who would forestall an "invasion" of low-income housing and keep their neighborhoods safe from the "crime and chaos" of America's "dysfunctional cities".His appeals, intended to stoke the racist fears of white voters, conjures a decades-old image of suburbia that is completely detached from the racially diverse and economically prosperous communities growing around America's biggest cities. Polling suggests the entreaties have not worked.Unlike four years ago, Trump is trailing by significant margins among white women, a group that includes independents and moderate Republicans likely to be turned off by Trump's inflammatory speech."Suburban women, will you please like me?" Trump pleaded at a recent rally in Pennsylvania. "Please? Please!" Lisa James, a veteran Republican strategist in Phoenix, said a public safety message had the potential to resonate with conservative suburban women, who were upset by scenes of rioting and violence that occurred alongside largely peaceful protests against racism and police brutality this summer."These voters are concerned about the safety and security of their families and their communities," James said. "Events like that will lead many of them right back to the Republican party."The October Monmouth poll found that nearly 60% of Arizona voters, including a majority of voters in Maricopa county, worried "a lot" about the potential breakdown of law and order. The issue was more of a concern for voters than the coronavirus pandemic and other financial matters.However, it hasn't reshaped their opinion of the president. The same survey found that Arizonans preferred Biden over Trump, even though they trusted Trump more to maintain law and order.Other national polls show Trump's standing on the issue even more diminished, with voters saying Biden was better suited to handle crime and public safety. In a national Fox News survey released earlier this month, 58% of voters agreed that the way Trump talks about racial inequality and policing had lead to "an increase in acts of violence".In 2016, Karie Barrera said, she was an independent who cast her ballot for Hillary Clinton. Four years later, the recently retired educator said she was still not enthralled by the president. But she became increasingly alarmed after the Black Lives Matter protests led to calls for making school curriculums more inclusive."I don't like that you're going to mess with our real history," Barrera said.The president has claimed that schoolchildren are being taught a "twisted web of lies" about systemic racism in America and called for a return to "patriotic education". Barrera agrees: "You don't rewrite our history."Yet the very rhetoric that reassures Barrera is jeopardizing a coalition that once cemented Republican dominance in states like Arizona."The more that Trump's rhetoric is designed to appeal to a white, male, working-class set of voters, the more alienated these college-educated, right-leaning independents and Republicans start to feel," said Sarah Longwell, a Republican consultant who has spent the last several years studying suburban voters. 'This was personal'In 2016, women in Arizona narrowly favored Clinton over Trump. In the latest New York Times/Siena College poll of Arizona voters, Biden held a daunting 18-point lead among women in the state.From the outset, it was clear that many of the women Longwell convened in her focus groups didn't like Trump: they didn't like his tweets, his treatment of women, his conduct or his leadership style. But they took a chance on him in 2016 because they believed the alternative wasn't any better. These were often the voters who bolted first, helping Democrats retake the House in the 2018 midterm elections.Among those who didn't, Longwell said many have grappled with their discomfort over Trump's behavior and their allegiance to the Republican party. She said that despite the tumult of the last four years, little moved these women – until the pandemic arrived."Suddenly there was a shift," she said. "Voters started talking about the stakes being too high. They were suffering personal consequences, which is very different from an abstract foreign policy issue. This was personal."Longwell, who founded Republican Voters Against Trump, said the suburban shift away from the Republican party could be the beginning of a "meaningful political realignment" that will outlast Trump's presidency."It will depend who the Democrats are in the future and it will depend who the Republicans are in the future," she said. "But these voters have no interest in a Trumpy Republican party." 'Adiós Trump'In 2008 and 2012, Yasser Sanchez worked to elect John McCain and Mitt Romney to the White House. But this year, for the first time in his life, the lifelong Republican is voting for a Democratic presidential nominee – and has no qualms about it.Sanchez, an immigration lawyer in Mesa, a conservative Phoenix suburb with more than half a million residents, said he was appalled by Trump's conduct, his vilification of immigrants and his disdain for American institutions. But equally disappointing, Sanchez said, was the near-unwavering loyalty he received from Republican leaders."The Republican party used to stand for certain principles," he said. "Now it stands for defending whatever the president tweets that morning."The Trump presidency has forced Sanchez to reconsider his political identity. He isn't a Democrat, but he also doesn't see a place for himself in the party he had supported all his life.This year, Sanchez is doing everything he can to ensure Arizona elects Biden. He hosted a voter registration drive in the parking lot of his law firm and placed an "Adiós Trump" billboard along the busy Interstate 10 in Phoenix."For now, I'm comfortable being an independent," he said. "Unless there's a reckoning within the Republican party, I will not be going back."
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| ‘I’m getting my money!’ Florida shopper denied refund returns with a crowbar, cops say Posted: 30 Oct 2020 12:49 PM PDT  A Florida shopper wouldn't take no for an answer, and things got a little out of hand.
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