RT

Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton received backlash after comparing Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 election to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The next day, she broke her toe and missed several interviews, but did not blame Russia

Speaking at the Southbank Centre’s London Literature Festival Sunday night, Clinton likened Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election to one of the worst tragedies in modern American history: the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Flight 93 in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001.   Continue reading “Book tour karma? Clinton compares ‘Russian meddling’ to 9/11, falls & breaks toe”

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BEIRUT (AP) — U.S.-backed Syrian forces liberated the city of Raqqa on Tuesday from Islamic State militants, a senior commander said, in a major defeat for the collapsing extremist group that had proclaimed it to be the capital of its “caliphate.”

Although clashes in Raqqa have ended, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces are in control, combing the city in northern Syria for land mines and searching for any IS sleeper cells, Brig. Gen. Talal Sillo told The Associated Press.   Continue reading “Syrian commander says Raqqa has been captured from militants”

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SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — As fire crews gain on wildfires burning for more than a week in Northern California’s wine country, new fires broke out in other parts of the state, including northeast of Los Angeles.

Fire fighters are battling a blaze that sprang up overnight in the southern Bay Area Santa Cruz mountains, prompting evacuation orders and threatening 100 homes. The fire has torched about 125 acres. At least one structure was destroyed, Rob Sherman, assistant chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, told KNTV news.  Continue reading “New fires break out in California as wine country fires dim”

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BOSTON (AP) — A new study inspired by Boston’s early experiments with self-driving cars finds that the technology could ease congestion, but might also lead to more cars on the road and further encourage urban sprawl.

The report, released Tuesday by the Boston Consulting Group and the World Economic Forum, is a mostly optimistic take on how autonomous vehicles could change cities. Three companies are now testing self-driving cars in Boston’s Seaport District. One of them, NuTonomy, has also partnered with ride-hailing service Lyft to research how passengers book and route a self-driving car.   Continue reading “Self-driving cars could ease traffic, but increase sprawl”

RT

Warsaw will withdraw from the International Monetary Fund’s precautionary Flexible Credit Line (FCL) worth billions of dollars, according to the country’s finance ministry.

“We are resigning from a $9.2 billion credit line from the IMF. The Polish economy is in such a good situation that we can do it,” the ministry quoted Finance Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Twitter.   Continue reading “Poland says no thanks to $9.2bn credit line from IMF”

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FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on the court-martial of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who walked off his post in Afghanistan (all times local): 11:20 a.m. A military prosecutor says he has made no agreement to limit punishment for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in return for the soldier’s guilty pleas to charges that he endangered comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan in 2009.

After Bergdahl entered guilty pleas to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, the prosecutor, Maj. Justin Oshana, told the judge that there’s no pretrial agreement between the two sides. The judge, Army Col. Judge Jeffery R. Nance, spent Monday morning asking Bergdahl questions to make sure he understands what he’s pleading guilty to, and that his offenses carry a maximum punishment of life in prison. The judge asked him one last time if he wanted to plead guilty, and Bergdahl replied, “yes.”   Continue reading “The Latest: Judge accepts Bergdahl’s guilty pleas”

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KIRKUK, Iraq (AP) — Kurdish forces were withdrawing from Kirkuk on Monday as Iraqi federal forces moved in to the disputed city and seized oil fields and other infrastructure amid soaring tensions over last month’s Kurdish vote for independence.

Kurdish officials accused the Iraqi army of carrying out a “major, multi-prong attack,” and reported heavy clashes on the city’s outskirts, but a spokesman for Iraq’s state-backed militias said they encountered little resistance.

By midday, federal forces had moved into several major oil fields north of the city, as well as its airport and an important military base, according to Iraqi commanders. Kurdish party headquarters inside Kirkuk had been abandoned.   Continue reading “Kurds withdraw as Iraqi forces push into disputed Kirkuk”

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NEW YORK (AP) — A New Jersey man was convicted Monday of planting two pressure-cooker bombs on New York City streets, including one that injured 30 people with a rain of shrapnel when it detonated in a bustling neighborhood on a weekend night last summer.

The verdict in Manhattan came after a two-week trial of 29-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahimi, an Afghanistan-born man living in Elizabeth. The charges, including using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a public place, carry a maximum punishment of life in prison.   Continue reading “New Jersey man convicted in New York bombing that injured 30”

RT

The US State Department confirmed the country is officially withdrawing from UNESCO, the UN’s cultural body it helped found in 1945, citing “anti-Israeli bias” and the need for reform. The move will take effect on December 31, the US announced.

“This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO,” the State Department said in a Thursday statement cited by Reuters.   Continue reading “US withdraws from UNESCO, cites ‘continuing anti-Israel bias’”

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Two newly filed lawsuits against the white nationalists and others who descended on Charlottesville during a summer rally aim to prevent the violent chaos that unfolded from happening again. One of the lawsuits was filed Thursday in Charlottesville Circuit Court on behalf of the city, local businesses and neighborhood associations. It accuses organizers of the August “Unite the Right” rally, leading figures in the white nationalist movement and their organizations, as well as private militia groups and their leaders, of violating Virginia law by organizing and acting as paramilitary units.

It doesn’t seek monetary damages but asks for a court order prohibiting “illegal paramilitary activity.” “Touted as an opportunity to protest the removal of a controversial Confederate statue, the event quickly escalated well beyond such constitutionally protected expression,” the lawsuit says. “Instead, private military forces transformed an idyllic college town into a virtual combat zone.”   Continue reading “New lawsuits aim to prevent more violence in Charlottesville”

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ISLAMABAD (AP) — An American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released after years of being held captive by a network with ties to the Taliban, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Thursday.

U.S. officials said Pakistan secured the release of Caitlan Coleman of Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, and her husband, Canadian Joshua Boyle, who were abducted five years ago while traveling in Afghanistan and had been held by the Haqqani network.   Continue reading “Family held captive by Taliban-linked group released”

RT

A Greek anarchist group stormed the Spanish embassy in Athens in support of Catalonian independence, hanging banners from the roof and throwing leaflets from the windows.

Embassy staff were forced to evacuate Wednesday morning as 19 demonstrators from the group, Rouvikonas, burst into the building on Dionysiou Areopagitou Street in the Makrigianni area.

Only a few diplomats remained inside, reports Reuters citing an embassy official.   Continue reading “Anarchists storm Spanish embassy in Athens”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — North Korea’s nuclear weapons development is spooking most Americans, and two-thirds of them say President Donald Trump’s war of words with the isolated nation’s leader is making the situation worse. Less than 1 in 10 thinks Trump’s comments are making it better.

Those are the findings of a poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, as tensions between the adversaries escalate and North Korea comes closer to its goal of having a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike the continental U.S.  Continue reading “AP-NORC Poll: Most say Trump making NKorea situation worse”

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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A Kenyan judge on Wednesday ruled that a minor opposition candidate can run for president in this month’s election, bringing fresh uncertainty a day after opposition leader Raila Odinga withdrew from the new vote ordered by the Supreme Court.

At the same time, lawmakers approved amendments to the electoral law that have been criticized by the opposition and Western diplomats. The amendments require the approval of President Uhuru Kenyatta, whose ruling party sought the changes after the Supreme Court nullified Kenyatta’s election in August and cited “irregularities.”  Continue reading “Kenya ruling brings new uncertainty to fresh election”

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MADRID (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy demanded Wednesday that the leader of Catalonia clarify whether he has declared the region’s independence, issuing a veiled threat that the central government could limit or rescind Catalan autonomy if he has.

Rajoy said Catalan president Carles Puigdemont’s response would be crucial in deciding “events over the coming days.” The prime minister’s remarks marked the first time that Rajoy has openly said that invoking a section of the Spanish Constitution that allows the government to assert control over regions would be the next step, if Catalan authorities don’t backtrack.   Continue reading “Spain’s PM demands clarity from Catalonia on independence”

RT

Radiation monitors have detected radioactive particles in the air across Europe, although the source remains a mystery.

Germany’s Office for Radiation Protection reported increased radioactivity in parts of Central and Western Europe over the last week. The heightened levels were detected at several trace measuring stations in Europe, and at six locations in Germany.   Continue reading “Mysterious spike in radioactive particles across Europe baffles scientists”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Just 1 in 5 Americans want to deport young immigrants brought to the United States as children and now here illegally, the focus of a politically fraught debate between the White House and Congress.

Americans also have largely negative opinions about President Trump’s signature immigration pledge to build a wall along the entire U.S.-Mexico border, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Just under half — 49 percent — oppose construction while 32 percent support it.   Continue reading “AP-NORC Poll: Most don’t want young immigrants deported”

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois is chasing a moving target as it tries to dig out of the nation’s worst budget crisis, and a review obtained by The Associated Press shows $7.5 billion worth of unpaid bills — as much as half the total — hadn’t been sent to the official who writes the checks by the end of June.

Although many of those IOUs have since been paid, a similar amount in unprocessed bills has replaced them in the last three months, Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s office said Monday. That’s in addition to $9 billion worth of checks that are at the office but being delayed because the state lacks the money to pay them.   Continue reading “Billions in Illinois bills not sent for payment”

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LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — A 19-year-old university student in West Texas was charged early Tuesday with capital murder of a peace officer in the fatal shooting of a police officer at the campus police station, where he was being questioned in a drug-related case, authorities said.

According to a Texas Tech University statement, campus police made a student welfare check Monday evening and, upon entering the room, found evidence of drugs and drug paraphernalia. Officers then took the suspect to the police station for a standard debriefing and to prepare to take him to the Lubbock County jail, Texas Tech police Chief Kyle Bonath said.   Continue reading “Texas student charged with murder in campus officer’s death”

RT

Ankara has issued a detention warrant for a second US consulate worker, according to media reports. It comes after Turkey’s justice minister urged the US to reverse its decision to suspend visas for Turkish citizens.

Turkish authorities announced, without giving a reason, that a second employee of the US consulate in Istanbul had been “invited” to the city’s chief prosecutor’s office to testify, AP reported.

Reports say the employee is a Turkish citizen, and the prosecutor’s office said his wife and child have also been detained for questioning.   Continue reading “Turkey issues detention warrant for 2nd US consulate worker”