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UK Embassy In Israel: William Hague Condemns Proposed Jerusalem Move https://digitalalaskanews.com/uk-embassy-in-israel-william-hague-condemns-proposed-jerusalem-move/ Former Conservative leader says move would align Truss government with Donald Trump and breach UN resolutions William Hague is the most senior Conservative figure to speak out against moving the embassy (AFP) Former British Foreign Secretary William Hague has sensationally stepped into the controversy of whether to move the UK’s Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, warning Liz Truss that to do so would align her government with Donald Trump. In a shock intervention that will have taken Downing Street by surprise, Hague, who is also a former Conservative Party leader, wrote in Tuesday’s Times newspaper: “Do not move the British embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.” Hague told Truss: “This would be a breach of UN security council resolutions by one of its permanent members, break a longstanding commitment to work for two states for Israelis and Palestinians, and align Britain in foreign affairs with Donald Trump and three small states rather than the whole of the rest of the world.” Former US President Donald Trump broke with international convention by moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem in 2018 – a move which was then condemned by the British government. Only three other UN member states have embassies in Jerusalem: Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Hague, now a member of the House of Lords, is by far the most senior Conservative figure to come out in opposition to relocating the embassy. He was the Conservative leader in opposition from 1997 until 2001 and served as foreign secretary between 2010 and 2015 in David Cameron’s Conservative-led coalition government. Massively respected figure Hague remains a massively respected figure, and his statement will encourage other Tories to follow suit, raising the prospect of another rebellion within the party against the crisis-hit Truss if she presses ahead with reviewing the location of the embassy. Truss, who became prime minister last month, first floated the possible move in a letter to the pro-Israel lobby group Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) during her Conservative leadership campaign over the summer. She then confirmed she was considering the plan in a meeting with Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly last month. At that point that embassy move looked like a done deal, especially since Middle East Eye understands that the review into the location of the embassy was carried out inside Downing Street rather than by the Foreign Office. UK embassy in Israel: Archbishop of Canterbury ‘concerned’ by possible move to Jerusalem Read More » However, opposition has grown in recent days. Both the Archbishop of Canterbury, the most senior cleric in the Church of England, and his Roman Catholic counterpart, the Archbishop of Westminster, have cautioned against the move. On Monday, Christian church leaders from 13 religious denominations in Jerusalem came together to warn against the move, stating that it would be a “further impediment to advancing the already moribund peace process”. Several Jewish groups and the Muslim Council of Britain have also opposed any move. But today’s statement from Hague is by far the most significant. It carries serious political weight, especially as MEE understands that a number of Tory MPs are likely to come out in support of the former leader. Hague gained immediate support from former Tory chair Sayeeda Warsi who tweeted in response that the embassy review was “effectively a Trump policy prompted by Conservative Friends of Israel and supported by the Board of Deputies”. Warsi added: “This approach damages the credibility of both organisations. It’s opposed by almost everyone else.” The Board of Deputies of British Jews describes itself as the “voice of the UK Jewish community”. Marie van der Zyl, the head of the Board of Deputies, last week told a CFI event at the Conservative Party conference that she was “really hopeful” the government would move the embassy to Jerusalem. Read More Here

Trump's PAC Spends Big On Paying His Legal Bills — While Leaving GOP Candidates In The Cold: Report https://digitalalaskanews.com/trumps-pac-spends-big-on-paying-his-legal-bills-while-leaving-gop-candidates-in-the-cold-report/ CONTINUE READING Show less Read More Here

NWA Letter To The Editor https://digitalalaskanews.com/nwa-letter-to-the-editor/ Burns’ film shows looming dangers Anyone who did not see the Ken Burns’ documentary “The U.S. and the Holocaust” on PBS a couple of weeks ago should find it online and watch it. There are many parallels between what was happening in America before we entered World War II and what is happening now in America. First, the way Hitler came to power in Germany was that the conservative party was losing popularity and saw Hitler as a chance to gain a victory over the Socialist Democrats for their party. They reasoned that once in office, he could be controlled and used by the party. Back in America, there was a growing animosity toward Jewish people. Many thought they were taking over their jobs. One of the more popular men who disliked Jewish people was Charles Lindbergh. He gave speeches that called for people to boycott Jewish businesses and pronounced that they were trying to get rid of Christianity altogether. But he wasn’t the only one. As Hitler grew stronger in Germany, many here in America were turning toward Nazism. There were Nazi speeches and rallies. This coupled with the fact that there was hardly anyone who wanted to join another war after having witnessed the horrors of World War I. Little did they know that the horrors were just beginning in Germany. Most of us know what followed that time period in Europe, but many don’t know the prejudice and politics going on here in America, and that is what Burns’ documentary focuses on. There are so many people who still believe Trump won the election (including the wife of a Supreme Court justice) and who listen attentively to his prejudiced rants. It is alarming to think they would support the man. It is also alarming that many have forgotten there was Russian interference in the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf mainly due to the egomaniac Putin. Now he has decided to take over Ukraine and allow his troops to kill civilians in ways that are similar to Hitler’s Gestapo. Politicians who support Trump need to see the documentary most of all. Evidently, they have not learned their history. They think their political party is right in putting Trump up on a pedestal so they can win an election. Then they think they can discard him. But it wasn’t that way for the conservative party in Germany, and it might not be that way here and now in America. Steven Trulock Fayetteville Read More Here

‘Breakdown’ Episode 14: Torpy And Murphy https://digitalalaskanews.com/breakdown-episode-14-torpy-and-murphy/ AJC columnists Bill Torpy and Patricia Murphy sit down to discuss the special purpose grand jury, and the Fulton DA office files two sensitive court filings. This is highlighted in Episode 14 of Breakdown’s ninth season: “The Trump Grand Jury.” The podcast is closely following a special purpose grand jury in Fulton County that is looking into alleged interference with the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. One court motion seeks to disqualify two lawyers representing 11 Republican fake electors who were among the 16 electors claiming Trump won Georgia, even though the victory had been certified and awarded to President Joe Biden. The other filing says the District Attorney’s Office is seeking search warrants based on “sensitive information acquired during the investigation.” Read More Here

Final Expected Trial Of Durham Investigation Returns Spotlight To Flawed Trump-Russia Dossier – KVIA https://digitalalaskanews.com/final-expected-trial-of-durham-investigation-returns-spotlight-to-flawed-trump-russia-dossier-kvia/ By Marshall Cohen, CNN The final expected trial of special counsel John Durham’s inquiry begins Tuesday and will focus on the infamous “Steele dossier,” which roiled US politics after the 2016 election, fueled the FBI probe of potential Trump-Russia collusion and continues to be cited by former President Donald Trump as proof of a grand conspiracy to destroy his political career. On trial is Igor Danchenko, a Russian expat who lives in the Washington, DC, area and has worked as a foreign policy analyst. He was the primary source of information for the dossier and is accused of lying in 2017 to FBI agents who were trying to corroborate the dossier. He pleaded not guilty. The charges against Danchenko are extremely narrow and pertain to alleged false statements he made about where he got the material that he passed to retired British spy Christopher Steele, who wrote the dossier. But in many ways, Durham and his prosecutors have used the Danchenko case as a vehicle to put the entire dossier on trial and expose serious flaws in Steele’s work. A Trump-era holdover, Durham was tapped in 2019 by then-Attorney General Bill Barr to “investigate the investigators,” and look for government misconduct in the Trump-Russia probe. Durham hasn’t delivered anything in three-plus years resembling the Watergate-level charges that Trump has repeatedly said are coming. He secured just one guilty plea from an FBI lawyer. Durham’s only other case, against a Hillary Clinton campaign attorney, ended with an acquittal. The Danchenko trial in Arlington, Virginia, is likely Durham’s final courtroom showdown. In the coming months, Durham is expected to finish his report, which will be submitted to Attorney General Merrick Garland for review. Garland has previously pledged to publicly release “as much as possible.” Rehashing 2016 election shenanigans On paper, the case revolves around Danchenko — an analyst who was best known for exposing that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely plagiarized much of his Ph.D. thesis, before he got caught up with the Steele dossier and Durham probe. But throughout the pre-trial proceedings, Durham has shadowboxed against Steele and the Democratic operatives linked to the dossier. Steele’s work was indirectly funded by the Clinton campaign: They paid a law firm, which hired an opposition research company, which hired Steele. In 2016, Steele and Danchenko quietly collected what they called “raw intelligence” on Trump’s ties to Russia. Steele put their findings into a series of memos, which he shared with some Clinton aides and reporters. Those memos, known as “the dossier,” became public in January 2017, when BuzzFeed News posted it online. The dossier contained unverified allegations about Trump’s connections to Russia, including his alleged business dealings, rumors of lurid trysts in Moscow and claims that his campaign collaborated with the Kremlin to win the 2016 election. Trump vehemently denied the claims, though Democratic partisans and some media figures latched onto hope that they were true. But the credibility of the dossier has steadily declined over time. The Justice Department inspector general revealed in a 2019 report that many of Steele’s claims were little more than gossip or speculation. Durham further undermined the dossier by highlighting the previously unknown involvement of some Democratic partisans. As recently as last month, Trump railed against the dossier at a rally in Ohio, where he singled out Danchenko by name and claimed Danchenko “fabricated” the “smears” in the dossier. But the Danchenko case isn’t nearly as sweeping as Trump described it — and Durham has never accused Danchenko or anyone of engaging in a conspiracy to undermine Trump. Danchenko’s alleged lies to the FBI Danchenko faces five felony charges of making a false statement to the FBI. Prosecutors claim Danchenko lied about two topics, both generally about his sourcing for dossier material. First, prosecutors say Danchenko falsely denied speaking with Democratic operative Charles Dolan in 2016 about anything that was in the dossier. They also allege Danchenko falsely told investigators on four separate occasions that he believed he got a phone call in 2016 from Belarusian-American businessman Sergei Millian. Millian has publicly stated that he never communicated with Danchenko. But Durham won’t have the benefit of putting Millian on the witness stand to make that denial in front of the jury. In a blow to prosecutors, Millian has refused to return to the US from overseas to testify. Prosecutors have argued that Danchenko’s alleged lies mattered because they obscured the truth about where some of the dossier material came from, while the FBI was trying to corroborate Steele’s work. In recent court filings, Danchenko’s lawyers have asserted that their client “truthfully answered the specific questions the FBI asked him” during his sit-downs with investigators in 2017. Narrow case, big implications There are some recent indications that Durham’s team is on wobbly ground as the federal trial kicks off in Alexandria, Virginia. Just two weeks ago, District Judge Anthony Trenga, who is presiding over the trial, barely allowed the case to proceed, calling it an “extremely close call,” after Danchenko argued that Durham’s evidence was too weak to sustain a false-statement charge. A Bush appointee, Trenga has also significantly narrowed the scope of the case that Durham can present to the jury. He recently blocked Durham from delving into the dossier’s infamous and unproven “pee tape” claims — that the Russians had blackmail on Trump, in the form of sexually explicit footage of him with women at the Ritz-Carlton Moscow hotel. Durham had argued that getting into this topic would help show Danchenko’s alleged pattern of misleading statements about the dossier. But Trenga said the material was off-limits for the trial. “The relevancy and probative value of the Ritz-Carlton allegations is questionable,” Trenga wrote in a ruling last week, saying that the connections between that material and Danchenko’s alleged lies are “highly attenuated” and would very likely create “confusion and unfair prejudice” with the jury. Murky intel underworld Danchenko has a complex relationship with the US government. He was a paid informant for the FBI from 2017 to 2020, according to court filings. But he was previously the subject of an FBI counterintelligence probe from 2009 to 2011 over his possible links to Russian agents. (The Justice Department never charged Danchenko in connection with that investigation.) The Justice Department watchdog report that came out in 2019 extensively referenced Danchenko, though only as Steele’s “primary sub-source.” That report unraveled many of the dossier’s key claims, and revealed that Danchenko told the FBI in 2017 that the information he gave to Steele was mostly “hearsay,” “just talk,” “word of mouth,” and came from “conversations he had with friends over beers.” His role as the primary source for Steele wasn’t publicly known until summer 2020. Egged on by Trump’s congressional allies, Barr released old FBI memos about the Danchenko interviews. His identity was redacted, but Internet sleuths connected the dots and outed Danchenko. One year later, in November 2021, Durham closed in on Danchenko. After Danchenko was charged, his lawyer at the time said the special counsel’s 39-page indictment “presents a false narrative designed to humiliate and slander a renowned expert in business intelligence.” Trump and his staunchest GOP supporters see Danchenko as a key player in a “deep state” plot to foment a false narrative about Trump’s Russia ties. Trump sued Danchenko, Steele and other political opponents, alleging a civil conspiracy, but a judge threw out that case last month. The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Read More Here

Four Takeaways From Ohio's US Senate Debate https://digitalalaskanews.com/four-takeaways-from-ohios-us-senate-debate/ By Dan Merica, CNN (CNN) — The debate between Democrat Tim Ryan and Republican J.D. Vance in Ohio’s closer-than-expected Senate contest began with a testy exchange on the economy and quickly devolved from there into a contentious — and at times personal — clash. This race was not a contest Republicans believed would require as much money and attention as it has, given the Republican tilt of the state, which former President Donald Trump comfortably carried twice. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the seat “Lean Republican,” while top-tier Senate campaigns in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Nevada are all still seen as more competitive. Still, Ryan’s bid to replace retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman has proven a strong match for an underfunded GOP nominee that Trump pulled through the primary. Monday night’s acrimony highlighted the urgency of the moment for both candidates. For Ryan, millions in ads will be spent against the congressman in the coming weeks, testing the so far relatively resilient Democratic campaign in a state that’s trending red. For Vance, the Republican has found his footing after a tough summer, leaning on the natural political lean of the state by accusing his Democratic opponent of faking his moderate bona fides. In a debate where neither candidate was afraid to directly go after his opponent — Ryan called Vance an “ass kisser,” while Vance compared Ryan to a toddler — it was clear both candidates felt they had ground to make up in the race with less than four weeks to go until Election Day. Here are four takeaways from Ohio’s first Senate debate: Abortion was a flash point Abortion has come to shape political campaigns across the country in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning national abortion protections, and the Ohio Senate contest has been no different. Ryan sought to cast himself as the moderate on the issue in Monday’s debate, saying he backed “going back to Roe v. Wade” and arguing for “some moderation on this issue.” He then turned the issue on Republicans, calling efforts to pass stricter abortion laws “the largest government overreach in the history of our lifetime.” Vance, who said he was “pro-life” but “always believed in reasonable exceptions,” responded by delivering one of his most scathing lines of the night, seemingly blaming Ryan for the rape of the 10-year-old Ohio girl who sought an abortion in neighboring Indiana by noting she was allegedly raped by an undocumented immigrant and that Ryan had voted against border wall funding. “If you had done your job, she would have never been raped in the first place,” Vance said, turning to Ryan. “Do your job on border security, don’t lecture me about opinions I don’t actually have.” Later in the debate, Ryan said he supported walls along the US-Mexico border where it made sense but not one wall from “sea to shining sea.” Ryan seeks distance from Democratic Party As he has done on the campaign trail and in paid ads, Ryan sought throughout the debate to tout his independent bona fides, noting how he broke from his own party and at times backed Trump on trade. “I think everybody is to blame,” Ryan said when asked if President Joe Biden is to blame for rising inflation. “Kamala Harris is absolutely wrong on that,” he added when asked if the vice president was correct when she said the border was secure. Ryan then used this argument to hammer his opponent, arguing that he “can’t stand up to anyone” because even after Trump said at a recent campaign rally that Vance was “kissing my ass” to get him to campaign for him, the Republican nominee didn’t stand up to the former President after he took his “dignity from him.” “He was called an ass kisser by the former President,” Ryan said, adding later, “Ohio needs an ass kicker, not an ass kisser.” Vance went with a timely response. After noting Halloween is close, he added, “Tim Ryan has put on a costume where he pretends to be reasonable moderate.” And the Republican did little to distance himself from Trump, his party’s standard bearer. When asked if Trump had done anything that concerns him, Vance urged letting “the criminal investigation play out” on the mishandling of classified documents stored at Mar-a-Lago and criticized the focus on past scandals around the former President. Vance paints Ryan as a creature of Washington Vance closed the debate by contrasting his personal choice two decades ago — to enlist in the Marines — with Ryan’s decision to successfully run for Congress. To Vance, the race between him and Ryan is a referendum on “failed leadership” in Washington, positioning that allows the Republican to carry himself as the political outsider and Ryan as the career politician. “He has been failing at his basic job for 20 years,” Vance said of Ryan, who was first elected to Congress in 2002. “Talks a big game but the record of accomplishment just isn’t there.” Although Ryan pushed back against this narrative — “I’m not going to apologize for spending 20 years slogging away to try to help one of the hardest economically hit regions of Ohio,” the Democrat said — Vance’s strategy was clear. “Ohioans deserve certain things from their federal leadership,” Vance said, capturing his entire electoral argument. “They deserve to go to the grocery store and be able to afford food without it breaking the bank. They deserve streets you can walk down safely. They deserve a country that has a border.” Wide gulf between candidates on foreign policy Some of the biggest differences of the night came on foreign policy. When asked how the United States should respond to the potential Russian use of nuclear weapons, Ryan said it would call for an “aggressive response” but added, “I don’t think we are at that point where (Russian President) Vladimir Putin will.” Ryan than tried to turn the issue on Vance, noting that the Republican once said he doesn’t “really care what happens to Ukraine.” “J.D. Vance would let Putin roll right through Ukraine,” Ryan said, noting the large Ukrainian population in Ohio. “J.D. Vance is weak on this.” Vance, however, did not shy away from those comments, saying, “The answer is that no one knows how we would respond,” and mocking Ryan for saying the use of nuclear weapons would call for an “aggressive response.” “What exactly does that mean? Does that mean we should be in a nuclear shooting war?” Vance said, accusing Ryan of being part of the “bipartisan foreign policy establishment.” The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Read More Here

Lebanon, Israel Agree Maritime Border Deal, Israel Says https://digitalalaskanews.com/lebanon-israel-agree-maritime-border-deal-israel-says/ People walk as Israeli navy boats are seen in the Mediterranean Sea as seen from Rosh Hanikra, close to the Lebanese border, northern Israel May 4, 2021. REUTERS/Ammar Awad U.S. envoy has been holding indirect contacts to seal deal Lebanon and Israel have history of conflict Deal would allow for energy exploration, ease source of tension BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Lebanon and Israel have reached a historic agreement demarcarting a disputed maritime border between them, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said on Tuesday. While limited in scope, a deal would mark a significant compromise between states with a history of war, opening the way for offshore energy exploration and easing a source of recent tensions between states. “This is a historic achievement that will strengthen Israel’s security, inject billions into Israel’s economy, and ensure the stability of our northern border,” Lapid said in a statement. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Lebanese President Michel said earlier that the terms of the final draft received from U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein satisfied Lebanon and he hoped the deal would be announced as soon as possible, the presidency said in a statement seen by Reuters. Israeli National Security Advisor Eyal Hulata earlier also gave a positive assessment: “All our demands were met, the changes that we asked for were corrected. We protected Israel’s security interests and are on our way to an historic agreement,” he said in a statement. Hochstein has been shuttling between the sides which have no diplomatic relations. The heavily armed, Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah has not commented on details of proposals throughout the indirect negotiations, but has said it would agree to the Lebanese government’s position. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whose group has fought numerous wars with Israel, has also repeatedly warned of an escalation if the deal does not secure Lebanon’s maritime rights. Nasrallah is due to make a address later on Tuesday. Earlier, Lebanese negotiator Elias Bou Saab told Reuters that if everything went well, Hochstein’s “efforts could imminently lead to a historic deal”. Lebanon felt the latest draft “takes into consideration all of Lebanon’s requirements and we believe that the other side should feel the same”, he said. While Israel has moved ahead with production and export, Lebanon’s efforts have been hamstrung by political dysfunction. A gas find would be a major boon for Lebanon, which has been mired in financial crisis since 2019. Eventually, such a discovery could fix Lebanon’s long-standing failure to produce adequate electricity for its population. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Timour Azhari and Laila Bassam in Beirut; Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Writing by Timour Azhari/Tom Perry and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Leslie Adler, Chris Reese, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Philippa Fletcher Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here

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Iran Protesters Shot By Police So Afraid To Go To Hospitals They https://digitalalaskanews.com/iran-protesters-shot-by-police-so-afraid-to-go-to-hospitals-they/ As Iranians’ anger at their theocratic leaders raged into a fourth week, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group said on Saturday the death toll had risen to at least 185, including at least 19 children. Some Iranians joining the protests have been killed instantly by security forces as they wage a massive crackdown to quell the upheaval, while others have died later from their injuries. Many Iranians wounded by the security forces amid the protests are too afraid to go to a hospital for treatment, because some protesters seeking medical help have been detained, according to several accounts shared with CBS News, from both inside and outside Iran. News reports have claimed that Iran’s morality police — the very force accused of torturing and killing 22-year-old Mahsa Amini almost a month ago, sparking the current unrest — are even using ambulances in the capital city of Tehran to transport injured protesters directly to police stations. Women lead anti-government protests in Iran, now in fourth week 02:23 “As soon as they enter the hospital, there are intelligence agents and members of Revolutionary Guards who record their names,” one doctor in Iran told CBS News on condition of anonymity. “We have seen cases when the injured patients have had surgery at hospitals and were later discharged and then arrested.” That is why, the doctor explained, many injured protesters stay home and appeal to physicians like him for help privately. He said he’s seen a wide range of wounds, from a wide range of weapons. Images shared with CSB News by Dr. Kayvan Mirhadi, chief of internal medicine at the Clifton Springs Hospital in New York, are typical of the photos he receives every day from Iranians wounded by Iranian security forces, showing everything from bullet and pellet wounds, to blunt force trauma.   Dr. Kayvan Mirhadi/Twitter/@_dr.kay_ “[The security forces] use a variety of weapons to suppress the people — from plastic to lead pellets to Kalashnikovs, even sniper fire,” the doctor told CBS News. “We had a case of someone who was shot but preferred to go blind rather than to be admitted to the hospital.” The physician said he and other medical professionals who’ve been treating injured protesters in secret have been threatened constantly by Iranian authorities, and some have been pressured to sign written pledges to refrain.  On Monday, a Kurdish group called the Hengaw Orgnanization for Human Rights reported that plainclothes security agents had severely beaten and detained an Iranian doctor for treating wounded protesters in Amini’s hometown of Saqqez. Despite the dangers, the doctor who spoke to CBS News said he was continuing his work, because many protesters attempt to treat themselves at home, “somehow,” out of fear of arrest if they go to a hospital. Other Iranian medical professionals who also did not want to be identified out of concern for their safety told CBS News they felt a duty to help the wounded. One was an Iranian nurse who said she treated two protesters whose skulls had been fractured. X-ray images provided to CBS News by health care workers inside Iran on October 11, 2022, amid nationwide anti-government protests, show a protester’s head and torso riddled with what appeared to be lead shotgun pellets.  CBS News “They were afraid to go to the hospital,” she said, adding that she had to tend to their wounds on the street, in the midst of the unrest, so she didn’t have time to sanitize their injuries properly. “There truly isn’t even a chance to observe basic principles,” said the nurse. “I don’t know how they’re doing… I’m still truly worried about them.” The risk of arrest to injured protesters is real, according to another Iranian nurse and emergency call operator. “We are required to report all gunshot cases to the police because all of the phone calls are recorded,” she said.  She described what happened when an ambulance was called to help one 14-year-old protester who was shot after school. “The police arrived… they took the boy away with the catheter still in his hand,” the nurse said. “Please let people know they shouldn’t call 115 [Iran’s emergency number] and instead go to trusted private clinics if their problem is not severe.” The desperation of wounded protesters who want to avoid hospitals is clear, said Dr. Kayvan Mirhadi, an Iranian American and chief of internal medicine at the Clifton Springs Hospital in New York. Mirhadi said he receives around 500 Instagram messages daily from wounded protesters in Iran, begging him for medical advice. “So, a person who is bleeding out of their leg from like, a gunshot wound, is just waiting for my response on the phone,” he told CBS News. “It’s just a horrible situation… because they’re so scared… They’re kind of just waiting for me to tell them what to do.” He said he first attempts to refer them to doctors he trusts in Iran, but if they fail to find one, he tries to walk them through the best home remedies he can recommend. Their injuries range from fractures and significant head injuries due to physical combat, to second- and third-degree burns from electric batons, as well as bullet and pellet wounds. Protests continue amid brutal crackdown in Iran 01:46 Those accounts correspond with what Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called an “excessive and lethal” use of force by Iranian authorities during the protests. Iran’s security forces use of shotguns and assault rifles on protesters is in breach international norms, Tara Sepehri Far, a senior Iran researcher at HRW, told CBS News. “The pattern points to those being killed by bullets, often in areas that is above their chest,” she said. “I have step-by-step kind of instructions on what to do with burns, with bullets,” said Mirhadi. He has also been posting treatment suggestions to his Instagram page, including how to treat gunshot wounds to the chest and eyes. A photo shared with CBS News by Iranian-American physician Dr. Kayvan Mirhadi, chief of internal medicine at the Clifton Springs Hospital in New York, shows what he said appeared to be a young woman with pellet wounds in her back sustained during Iranian authorities’ crackdown on ongoing protests. Dr. Kayvan Mirhadi/Twitter/@_dr.kay_ Mirhadi said he receives many photos like the one on the left, which he said appeared to show a teenage girl with numerous birdshot wounds to her back. He recommended that she use tweezers to pick out the pellets and then disinfect the wounds with Betadine, a topical antiseptic. “I never give recommendations on antibiotics through Instagram, but I had to, because this girl could get septic [shock] because she said, ‘There’s no way I’m going to the hospital with this. If I go, I’m going to prison,'” Mirhadi told CBS News. The New York doctor first gained a large social media following in Iran by providing medical advice on COVID-19. “I feel very responsible,” he added. “The things I do in a hospital with others and nurses, I’m doing on Instagram with a patient’s family, and hoping that somebody comes in and helps.” Another Iranian-American doctor, Dr. Kamiar Alaei, and his brother Dr. Arash Alaei, who is also in the U.S., have started remotely training medical professionals in Iran to formally document the injuries and deaths of protesters. Both of the brothers are former Iranian political prisoners. They were jailed after being accused of trying to foment a soft revolution through their work addressing HIV/AIDS in the country — a charge they both denied. Both men are also being inundated with pleas for help from injured protesters in Iran. “There are different kinds of injuries to different parts of the body, particularly the head and hands due to baton [strikes] and shotgun [pellets] at different parts of the body, mainly back and face,” Kamiar Alaei told CBS News, adding that he’d never seen anything like the “scale of injuries and the number of people who were shot, including underage people and girls” in Iran. “The regime aims to undermine the scale and significance of damages by reducing the [official] number of people who got killed, because they think all the injuries will not be detectable later,” he said. “We aim to document them to show the scale of the torture and the significance of physical and mental injuries… to make the regime accountable in front of international bodies.” Iranian authorities haven’t updated the death toll in weeks as their crackdown has continued. They stopped counting at 41. Mirhadi said he feels almost “hopeless,” because he can’t keep up with all the “SOS messages” he receives. He does, however, have a message for Iran’s rulers: “These are your people. You are hurting them for being out there to protest for their own rights. At least let the doctors treat them. Don’t take the ambulances to detention centers.” “These are very basic things,” he added. “It should be a basic human right to allow them to do that.” Mirhadi said he knew of a doctor in Iran who was arrested for helping protesters, and he hasn’t been able to find out what happened to him. In: Iran Protest Read More Here

Trump News – Live: Cassidy Hutchinson ‘cooperating’ With Probe As Ex-President Claims Bill Clinton Lost Nuclear Codes https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-news-live-cassidy-hutchinson-cooperating-with-probe-as-ex-president-claims-bill-clinton-lost-nuclear-codes/ Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson is reportedly cooperating in an investigation into former president Donald Trump and his allies’ effort to overturn the 2020 election. Ms Hutchinson, who was a key witness during the hearing for the House Select Committee investigating the 6 January insurrection at Capitol Hill, is cooperating with the inquiry led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, CNN reported, citing sources. Meanwhile, Mr Trump defended keeping classified documents at his Florida resort by accusing former president George HW Bush of doing the same, saying the 41st president “took millions and millions of documents to a former bowling alley pieced together with what was then an old and broken Chinese restaurant”. Mr Trump’s comment drew a sharp response on Twitter from Bush’s son, Jeb Bush. “I am so confused,” he said: “My dad enjoyed a good Chinese meal and enjoyed the challenge of 7 10 split. What the heck is up with you?” Key points Cassidy Hutchinson is ‘cooperating’ with Atlanta judge’s probe of Trump Trump claims Bill Clinton ‘lost’ the nuclear codes Report: Trump lawyer Christina Bobb cooperating with Justice Department Donald Trump accuses George HW Bush of hiding classified documents FBI probing whether Trump stashed classified documents at his home Trump supporter throws beer can at comedian for voting for Biden 06:27 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar A Donald Trump supporter in New Jersey threw a can of beer at a comedian while she was performing over the weekend after discovering that she hadn’t voted for the former president in 2020. Ariel Elias shared a video clip of the viral incident on her personal Twitter account, which occurred on Saturday night when she was doing a set at Uncle Vinnie’s Comedy Club in Point Pleasant Beach. “To answer the most obvious question, yes, I did pick up what was left of the beer and chug it,” tweeted the New York City-based comedian, who describes herself in her online bio as a “Kentucky Jew”. Johanna Chisholm has more. Comedian who was attacked by Trump supporter mid-set has perfect clapback moment Ex-White House aide reportedly cooperating in Trump probe 06:08 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson is reportedly cooperating in an investigation into former president Donald Trump and his allies’ effort to overturn the 2020 election. Ms Hutchinson, who was a key witness during the hearing for the House Select Committee investigating the 6 January insurrection at Capitol Hill, is cooperating with the inquiry led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, CNN reported, citing sources. Marjorie Taylor Greene: From fringe to front row 06:00 , Oliver O’Connell Once shunned as a political pariah for her extremist rhetoric, the Georgia congresswoman who spent her first term in the House stripped of institutional power by Democrats is being celebrated by Republicans and welcomed into the GOP fold. If Republicans win the House majority in the November election, Greene is poised to become an influential player shaping the GOP agenda, an agitator with clout. Read more: From fringe to front row: Congresswoman Greene rises in GOP Donald Trump claims he ‘destroyed’ Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert 05:15 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar Donald Trump claimed that he’s behind the decreasing ratings of late-night programmes hosted by the likes of Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and Trevor Noah, and congratulated Greg Gutfeld, Fox News’ late-night host, for his recent viewing figures. “It was my great honour to have destroyed the ratings of Late Night ‘Comedy’ shows. There is nothing funny about the shows, the three hosts have very little talent,” Mr Trump wrote of the hosts of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Show, and The Daily Show. Mr Trump didn’t name the hosts or shows, but his post on his social media platform Truth Social was connected to a Fox News story featuring the three hosts. The former president’s mockery came shortly after Mr Noah announced his departure from Comedy Central to spend more time doing stand-up. Gustaf Kilander has more. Trump takes credit for a late night host’s success, claims he ‘destroyed’ Colbert Trump claims Bill Clinton ‘lost’ the nuclear codes in Truth Social post 04:16 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar Donald Trump claimed Bill Clinton lost the nuclear codes while in office as federal investigators continue to probe which White House materials the 45th president took to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. On Monday evening, Mr Trump reposted a statement on Truth Social from former Clinton military aide Robert “Buzz” Patterson, who wrote: “Just a reminder, but Bill Clinton actually LOST the nuclear codes during my tenure with him. We weren’t raided.” Mr Patterson, as well as former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Hugh Shelton, both claimed in books they wrote that the “biscuit,” an ID card used to access the “football,” an attache case carrying the nuclear codes, was misplaced during the Clinton administration, though the former claims the incident occured in 1998 and the latter in 2000. Josh Marcus reports. Donald Trump claims Bill Clinton ‘lost’ the nuclear codes Can Trump run again in 2024? 04:00 , Oliver O’Connell Donald Trump made history in becoming the first president in US history to be impeached twice by the House of Representatives. But while losing to Joe Biden in November 2020 may have dented the one-term president’s pride and fuelled 18-months of lies about rigged ballot boxes, it now seems almost certain that Mr Trump will run again for the White House in 2024. Graeme Massie takes a look at what, if anything, could stop him. Can Trump run again in the 2024 election? Poll: Trump foe Gretchen Whitmer on course for easy reelection victory 03:00 , Oliver O’Connell Democrats are on course to hold on to the governor’s mansion in Michigan as Tudor Dixon’s campaign is failing to pick up steam in the race’s crucial home stretch, a CBS New/YouGov poll finds. The poll, published on Sunday, shows Gretchen Whitmer six points ahead of her GOP opponent. It mirrors other polls of the race, including one from the GOP-aligned Trafalgar Group in late September which found the same gap between the candidates. Other recent surveys have even shown Ms Whitmer’s lead to be in the double digits as recently as late last month. John Bowden has the details. Gretchen Whitmer on course for easy reelection victory, poll finds Trump brags about his crowd size on January 6 02:00 , Oliver O’Connell Donald Trump boasted about the size of the crowd that gathered to hear him speak on January 6 during a campaign rally on Saturday night. “You know the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen? January 6. And you never hear that,” the former president told the rally in Minden, Nevada. “They were there largely to protest a corrupt and rigged and stolen election.” Bevan Hurley reports. Trump brags about his crowd size on January 6: ‘The biggest crowd I’ve ever seen’ JD Vance diverts debate question on abortion of Ohio rape victim, 10, by blaming ‘illegal’ migrant 01:45 , Josh Marcus Republican Senate candidate JD Vance diverted when he was asked in a debate on Monday evening about a ten-year-old who was raped in Ohio who sought an abortion and blamed illegal immigration for the girl being raped. Moderators asked Mr Vance and Representative Tim Ryan, the Democratic nominee, a story that made national headlines wherein a ten-year-old girl was raped and had to go to Indiana to seek an abortion. Ohio limits abortion after six weeks and at the time, Indiana had more lax abortion laws. “I have said repeatedly on the record, that I think that that girl should be able to get an abortion if she and her family soon choose to do so,” Mr Vance said. But Mr Vance diverted the question and focused on the person who allegedly committed the rape. Eric Garcia has the full story. Vance diverts question on abortion of Ohio rape victim, 10, blames ‘illegal’ migrant New Hampshire GOP candidate says women’s reproductive choices belong to lawmakers 01:15 , Oliver O’Connell A Republican Senate nominee told supporters that women’s reproductive choices belong to lawmakers at the state level. Don Bolduc, the GOP Senate candidate for New Hampshire, made the controversial remarks at a town hall on Wednesday in Auburn, the HuffPost first reported. Andrea Blanco reports. NH GOP Senate nominee says women’s reproductive choices ‘belong to state lawmakers’ Donald Trump claims Bill Clinton lost nuclear codes in office Tuesday 11 October 2022 00:53 , Josh Marcus As scrutiny continues to escalate over Donald Trump’s handling of top secret documents he took to Mar-a-Lago, the former president is hitting out at his predecessor Bill Clinton’s handling of sensitive materials. (Truth Social) On Monday evening, Mr Trump reposted a statement from former Clinton military aide Robert ‘Buzz’ Patterson, who wrote on Truth Social that, “Just a reminder, but Bill Clinton actually LOST the nuclear codes during my tenure with him. We weren’t raided.” Mr Patterson, as well as former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Hugh Shelton, both claimed that the “biscuit,” an ID card used to access the “football” briefcase containing the nuclear codes, was misplaced during the Clinton administration, though the former claims the incident occured in 1998 and the latter in 2000. The White House has not confirmed whether the codes were lost, and Mr Clinton has since declined to comment on media reports about the alleged loss of the codes. One key difference here between the Trump and Clinton scandals is that the federal government is investigating whether Mr Trump int...

‘Such A Joke’: Media ‘not Reporting The Truth’ To Americans About Biden’s Mental Decline https://digitalalaskanews.com/such-a-joke-media-not-reporting-the-truth-to-americans-about-bidens-mental-decline/ The mainstream media is “such a joke” and are not reporting the “truth” to Americans about US President Joe Biden’s mental decline, says The Hill columnist Kristin Tate. Ms Tate’s remarks come after former president Trump played a compilation video taking aim at Mr Biden and some of his recent gaffes at a rally in Mesa, Arizona. “I don’t know if I should laugh or cry, I mean, it is so embarrassing that this man is President of the United States and God bless Trump for showing these videos,” she told Sky News host Chris Kenny. “I will say I think that his latest gaffe asking for Jackie, this congresswoman who had passed away, did make the rounds across even the mainstream media, they couldn’t ignore it, it was such a bad gaffe.” Read More Here

Here's How Elon Musk Would Change Twitter, According To Experts https://digitalalaskanews.com/heres-how-elon-musk-would-change-twitter-according-to-experts/ After a monthslong saga cast Tesla CEO Elon Musk as suitor, critic and legal adversary of Twitter, the wealthiest person in the world appears poised to take ownership of the social media company. A renewed offer at Musk’s original asking price from April has prompted anticipation of massive changes on the platform under his leadership, which could take hold within days or weeks. The judge paused the acquisition case last week, giving the two sides an opportunity to reach a deal before October 28. Under a potential agreement, Musk would pay $54.20 a share or roughly $44 billion to purchase Twitter, he said last week. The acquisition would bring nearly immediate and dramatic changes to the platform, altering the user experience in a manner heartening for some and infuriating for others, experts told ABC News. In the long term, over a timeline of several years, Twitter could prove unrecognizable, carrying additional subscription fees but offering a slew of services that touch everything from person-to-person payments to travel reservations, they added. “The easy thing is buying Twitter; the hard thing is fixing it,” Dan Ives, a managing director of equity research at Wedbush, an investment firm, who closely follows the tech sector, told ABC News. Here’s how Twitter will change under Elon Musk, according to experts. A sign marks the location of Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, on April 27, 2022. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, FILE Relaxed content moderation rules In recent months, Elon Musk has emphasized his commitment to the principle of free speech, suggesting that Twitter should permit all speech that stops short of violating the law. “My preference is to hew close to the laws of countries in which Twitter operates,” he said in May. “If the citizens want something banned, then pass a law to do so, otherwise it should be allowed.” Currently, the platform imposes limits on a range of speech, including hate speech, targeted harassment and media that features graphic violence. The content policing rules will relax almost immediately, some analysts said. “There are some big changes that would be in the offing,” Bill Mann, a senior analyst at Motley Fool, told ABC News. “He wants to reduce their content moderation.” Sinan Aral, a venture capitalist and professor of management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said users should expect a more permissive approach to conservative views, including those expressed by former President Donald Trump. According to Aral, Trump would be “reinstated almost immediately” after a Musk acquisition, considering previous statements from Musk assuring the move. But Musk’s commitment to free speech would conflict with the company’s business strategy, which depends on advertising revenue tied to the number of users on the platform, said Ives, of Wedbush. The presence of offensive or hateful views on the platform could drive away many users, causing Musk to moderate his approach, Ives added. “Musk says ‘freedom of speech’ but if it becomes a cesspool on Twitter, that goes against the monetization of the platform,” Ives said. ‘Everything app’ Musk, who also runs space-flight company SpaceX, holds an ambitious long term vision for Twitter that extends far beyond its current function as a social media and messaging platform. Last week, he made a bold comment about his aspirations for the site: “Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app,” he said. The best example of what Musk means by an “everything app” is WeChat, a highly popular app in China that serves not only as a messaging and media-sharing platform but also a versatile tool in which users pay friends, purchase products and book reservations, among other uses, analysts said. “You could understand why any company would want this,” said Mann, of Motley Fool, citing platforms like Meta-owned Facebook and Snapchat that have pursued the all-in-one app strategy. He described Musk’s vision for person-to-person payment on the platform as “the holy grail for any app.” However, U.S.-based platforms face greater challenges than WeChat, including stiff competition on each of the functionalities that Musk would try to roll into one service, said Aral, of MIT. “There are numerous competitors that Twitter would have to fight through,” he said. Still, Aral described the goal as “not farfetched.” “There is historical precedent for that,” he added. Ives, of Wedbush, put the likelihood of success for the “everything app” at no more than 20%. “That will take years and a lot of challenges ahead,” Ives said. “Then again, there’s a reason he’s the richest person in the world. His back has been against the wall again and again, and he’s massively succeeded, as we see with Tesla and SpaceX.” Read More Here

Putin Unleashes Deadly Strikes Across Ukraine After Crimea Bridge Blast https://digitalalaskanews.com/putin-unleashes-deadly-strikes-across-ukraine-after-crimea-bridge-blast/ After a series of humiliating battlefield setbacks that have piled pressure on Putin, the attacks were a sudden escalation that showed Moscow retained the capacity to terrorize Ukraine’s population, if not defeat its military. They shattered months of relative calm in Kyiv and other areas far from the front lines. At least six people were killed and 51 others were injured in the capital, the city’s military administration said. Across the country, at least 19 people were dead and 105 were others injured as of early Tuesday, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. NBC News has not verified the numbers. Russia used missiles and Iranian-built drones to target civilians and energy facilities throughout the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a recorded video. “They want panic and chaos. They want to destroy our energy system. They are hopeless,” he said. Critical infrastructure facilities were damaged in Kyiv and 12 regions of the country, Ukraine’s state emergency services said, with electricity supply partly disrupted in 15 regions. Significant internet outages were also reported across the country by the monitoring group NetBlocks. The blasts came hours after Putin first accused Ukraine of “terrorism” over the huge explosion that severely damaged the bridge connecting Russia and annexed Crimea on Saturday, dealing a strategic and symbolic blow to his campaign. Kyiv has not taken responsibility for the incident, which the Russians said killed at least three people and was caused by a truck bomb. A series of failures on the battlefield and the chaotic call-up of hundreds of thousands of military reservists have led to growing criticism of the Kremlin at home, with some prominent figures urging escalation to reverse the course of the conflict. Ukraine was braced for retribution, which soon arrived. NBC News heard a number of blasts in the center of Kyiv early Monday. Smoke rose off buildings, while images and videos verified by NBC News showed incinerated cars and a crater near a playground in a city park. Residents scrambled for shelter in underground subway stations, while air raid sirens sounded in other major cities across the country. Vitali Klitschko, Kyiv’s mayor, said the explosions occurred in the central distinct of Shevchenko, where several key government offices are. He later said that some of the city’s critical infrastructure was hit and that the threat of new strikes remained. Kyiv’s authorities also warned of possible power and water supply interruptions and urged people to charge their phones and stock up on water. Read More Here

Taiwan Stocks Down More Than 4% In Mixed Asia Trade As TSMC Plunges 8% https://digitalalaskanews.com/taiwan-stocks-down-more-than-4-in-mixed-asia-trade-as-tsmc-plunges-8/ Pedestrians cross a street in front of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, operated by Japan Exchange Group, in Tokyo, Japan. Toru Hanai | Bloomberg | Getty Images Shares in the Asia-Pacific were mixed on Tuesday, while Taiwan’s benchmark index fell 4.35% to 13,106.03 on its return to trade after a holiday, as investors weighed the impact of new U.S. rules on chipmaker TSMC. Japan and South Korea’s markets also resumed trading after a holiday on Monday. The Nikkei 225 fell 2.64% to 26,401.25 and the Topix lost 1.86% to 1,871.24. In South Korea, the Kospi fell 1.83% 2,192.07 and the Kosdaq shed 4.15% to 669.50. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 2% in the final hour of trade and the Hang Seng Tech index dropped 3.16%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gave up earlier gains to closed 0.34% lower at 6,645. Mainland China markets bucked the trend regionally, with the Shanghai Composite gaining 0.19% and the Shenzhen Component rising 0.529%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell around 2%. “Equities continue to sell off as the impact of tighter monetary policy spooks investors,” ANZ Research analysts wrote in a note Tuesday. Overnight on Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite closed at its lowest since July 2020, down 1.04% at 10,542.10, dragged lower by a slump in semiconductor stocks. The S&P 500 also slipped 0.75% to 3,612.39, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 93.91 points, or 0.32%, to close at 29,202.88. — CNBC’s Carmen Reinicke and Alex Harring contributed to this report. ‘Cash is king’ when financial assets are so volatile, strategist says Now is not a good time to own financial assets as stocks, fixed income and currencies have registered “extreme levels of volatility” this year, according to Mehvish Ayub, a senior investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors. “We typically tend to use a variety of asset classes for diversification purposes — and the issue that we’re faced with is, what do we own for diversification at the moment?” she said. Commodities and bonds are not options, she added. “That is why cash is king, we are still very defensive.” — Abigail Ng Japan may not intervene even if the yen weakens past levels seen in previous intervention Authorities in Japan may not step in even if the yen weakens past 145.89 — the level at which they intervened in September, according to Carol Kong, an economist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. She wrote in a note that Japanese officials have recently reiterated that “it is the speed of change rather than the level,” that will trigger intervention. The yen touched 145.86 against the dollar on Tuesday, but last changed hands at 145.65. However, Kong pointed out this week’s inflation data in the U.S. is a “key event risk.” If the consumer price index remains high, U.S. Treasury yields could jump and the dollar-yen could pop. “The BOJ may intervene to buy JPY if the sell-off is considered excessive. But we maintain any intervention-induced moves in USD/JPY will be unwound within a few weeks,” Kong said. Japan’s yen has weakened sharply as it keeps interest rates extremely low, while the U.S. Fed aggressively hikes rates. But authorities have signaled a willingness to stick with loose monetary policy. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told the Financial Times that the Bank of Japan should maintain its policy until wages rise. — Abigail Ng Japan may not intervene even if the yen weakens past levels seen in previous intervention Authorities in Japan may not step in even if the yen weakens past 145.89 — the level at which they intervened in September, according to Carol Kong, an economist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. She wrote in a note that Japanese officials have recently reiterated that “it is the speed of change rather than the level,” that will trigger intervention. The yen touched 145.86 against the dollar on Tuesday, but last changed hands at 145.65. However, Kong pointed out this week’s inflation data in the U.S. is a “key event risk.” If the consumer price index remains high, U.S. Treasury yields could jump and the dollar-yen could pop. “The BOJ may intervene to buy JPY if the sell-off is considered excessive. But we maintain any intervention-induced moves in USD/JPY will be unwound within a few weeks,” Kong said. Japan’s yen has weakened sharply as it keeps interest rates extremely low, while the U.S. Fed aggressively hikes rates. But authorities have signaled a willingness to stick with loose monetary policy. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told the Financial Times that the Bank of Japan should maintain its policy until wages rise. — Abigail Ng Japan’s current account surplus shrinks in August Japan’s current account surplus for August shrank to 58.9 billion yen ($404 million), data from the finance ministry showed. That’s a 96.1% plunge from the same period a year ago. Economists polled by Reuters expected a surplus of 121.8 billion yen in August. The current account surplus stood at 229 billion yen in July. Imports grew at a faster pace than exports, with the weaker yen causing import prices to surge. Read more here. — Abigail Ng CNBC Pro: Is it time to buy gold? Wall Street pros weigh in as prices fall Gold has come under pressure this year, with the dollar’s big gain weighing on gold prices.  Spot gold was trading down 1% at $1,676 per ounce Monday — near a 2.5-year low. So is now the time to buy? CNBC Pro asked several market watchers for their thoughts. Pro subscribers can read more here. — Zavier Ong Currency check: Australian dollar facing ‘perfect storm,’ Japanese yen close to intervention levels The Australian dollar has been facing “something of a perfect storm” since the start of the week, according to Rodrigo Catril, a currency strategist at the National Australia Bank. The currency, which is highly sensitive to China’s economic fortunes, has lost ground following China’s weak purchasing managers’ index data and new U.S. rules on chip exports to China. It last lost about 0.6% and is trading at $0.6266. China’s onshore and offshore yuan also weakened and last changed hands at 7.19 per dollar. Meanwhile, Japanese yen weakened against the U.S. dollar to trade at 145.70. That’s hovering close to this year’s low of 145.89 per dollar, which prompted intervention from authorities in September. The Japanese currency strengthened to 140-levels following the intervention, but has since largely weakened. — Abigail Ng CNBC Pro: China’s tech stocks are tumbling, but short sellers have a different sector in their sights Chinese tech stocks are down by 20% this year — but short sellers are targeting a different sector. Some $742 million of new bearish bets were placed on one Chinese sector in particular in the third quarter. That compares to a reduction of around $150 million in shorts on the tech sector. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here. — Ganesh Rao TSMC shares plunge 7% on U.S. export limits Market intelligence company TrendForce wrote that the U.S. rules will affect non-Chinese firms such as TSMC, Samsung and SK Hynix. “In the future, whether the situation is American factories no longer being able to export to the Chinese market or Chinese factories being unable to initiate projects and mass produce wafer starts, it will all have a negative impact on the future purchase order status of TSMC’s 7 [nanometer] and 5nm processes,” a press release on TrendForce’s website said. Samsung Electronics’ shares lost 3.9% and SK Hynix shed 3.5% at session lows. — Abigail Ng U.S. Treasury yields climb, 30-year hits highest level since 2013 The yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury note climbed as high at 3.941%, reaching its highest level in nine years. The 10-year yield rose to 3.963% and the 2-year yield inched higher to 4.318%. Rates fell earlier this month but started to rise again after positive economic data in the U.S. led investors to increase bets on further rate hikes by the Fed. Bond yields move inversely to prices and one basis point is equivalent to 0.01%. — Abigail Ng CNBC Pro: Wall Street is bullish on some corners of tech again, as Citi gives one stock 115% upside Some Wall Street banks have started making the case for buying into tech again, naming specific sectors they are bullish on. Citi and Morgan Stanley both said they have upgraded tech to overweight. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about the areas they are looking at and the global stocks to buy. — Weizhen Tan Read More Here

Taps Run Dry In Dhaka As Recurring Power Cuts Cripple Water Supply https://digitalalaskanews.com/taps-run-dry-in-dhaka-as-recurring-power-cuts-cripple-water-supply/ FE ONLINE DESK | Published: October 11, 2022 13:27:36 Water pumps lie idle during the hour-long power cuts, which now occur with greater frequency, disrupting life in much of the city For large parts of the day, life in much of Dhaka is punctuated by a string of power outages leaving residents faced with unrelenting heat and other hardships in the lurch, reports bdnews24.com. To make matters worse, the revival of the dreaded load-shedding regime, borne out of an escalating energy crisis globally, has had a crippling effect on the water supply to large swathes of the city, hampering daily chores such as cooking, cleaning and bathing Many pumps operated by the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, or WASA, and those in the residential and commercial buildings are rendered inoperative during the hour-long power cuts that now occur up to six times a day. All of WASA’s pumps are meant to run 24 hours a day, provided the power supply is uninterrupted. Even if there is water in the supply line, without electricity, it cannot be pumped up to the rooftop tanks. In some buildings, the owners also use pumps to draw water from the lines. WASA has deployed more than 900 water pumps across the city. But the pumps cannot operate without electricity, becoming inactive during power outages Frustrations have been running high over the situation across the city. On Sunday, aggrieved residents of Mohakhali took to the streets in protest against a worsening water crisis in their neighbourhood. Others have little choice but to soldier on as their complaints came to no avail. Through its Maintenance, Operation and Distribution System (MODS), WASA supplies water to different parts of the city, divided into 11 zones, using more than 900 pumps, including 60 kept as backups. Some pumps are accompanied by diesel-run backup electricity generators, but WASA could not provide their exact number. Abdullah Al Mamun, a landlord in South Donia, said the area is left without power for at least five hours every day.  “Our area was already facing a water crisis. Water comes to our area through a pump next to AK High School and College. But the pump stops whenever there’s a power cut as there is no generator. “As a result, the water does not enter the line. Again, even if the water comes into the line, it cannot be drawn if there is no electricity. We are in great misery.” A water crisis has been plaguing the capital’s Kaderabad housing area for quite some time now. Since the national grid failure plunged half of the nation into darkness for a significant period on Oct 4, power outages have intensified in the neighbourhood, and so has the water crisis, according to Moushumi Acharya, a resident. “The water supply stops for five to six hours a day. Water cannot be extracted without pulling it from the WASA line. As a result, the supply stops if the motor is not running. Even if we order water from WASA’s tankers during emergencies, that cannot be added to the reservoir because they [WASA workers] leave when there is a power outage.” ENERGY CRISIS BITES As the war in Ukraine sent the global oil market into a frenzy, the government reacted by raising the fuel prices by as much as 50 percent to relieve the increasing strain on the country’s foreign exchange reserves. Its impact has been far reaching, driving up living costs and disrupting public utilities such as gas and water services. An executive engineer of a MODS Zone at Dhaka WASA, asking not to be named, said water production decreased after the government resorted to the policy of load shedding in July to conserve energy.  “Many water pumps run on fuel oil-based generators during power cuts. The fuel price hike has also created a problem,” the WASA engineer said. Dhaka WASA’s Padma Jashaldia Water Treatment Plant boasts the capacity of producing 450 million litres per day, but it usually produces 300 million litres for zones 1, 2 and 6 of the agency in the capital. The plant does not yet have a generator, so it is shut down during outages, said an executive engineer, who also requested not to be named.  “Supply decreases during power cuts. The landlords who have extra pumps draw water from the lines, leaving nothing for those who don’t have extra pumps.” Read More Here

Ohio Senate Debate With Ryan, Vance Descends Into Attacks https://digitalalaskanews.com/ohio-senate-debate-with-ryan-vance-descends-into-attacks/ COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The first debate between Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan and Republican JD Vance descended quickly into attacks Monday, with the candidates for Ohio’s open U.S. Senate seat accusing each other of being responsible for job losses and putting party loyalty ahead of voters’ needs. Vance said Ryan had supported policies that led to a 10-year-old girl in Ohio being raped. Ryan said Vance had started a “fake nonprofit” to help people overcome addiction issues. The two accused each other of being beholden to their party, with Ryan echoing a comment from former President Donald Trump in calling Vance an “a— kisser” and Vance saying Ryan’s 100% voting record with President Joe Biden means he’s not the reasonable moderate he says he is. The face-off between Ryan, a 10-term congressman, and Vance, a venture capitalist and author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” for the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman was one of the most contentious debates of the general election season so far. The race is one of the most expensive and closely watched of the midterms, with Democrats viewing it as a possible pickup opportunity in November. Both candidates sought to tailor their messages to the working-class voters who could determine the election in an evening peppered with barbs and one-liners. Ryan sought to paint Vance as an extremist, someone who associates with “crazies” from his party who falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen, support national abortion restrictions and contributed to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. “You’re running around with Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, who wants to ban books. You’re running around with (Sen.) Lindsey Graham, who wants a national abortion ban. You’re running around with (Rep.) Marjorie Taylor Greene, who’s the absolute looniest politician in America,” Ryan said. Vance suggested Ryan’s focus on allegation of extremism was meant as a distraction from pocketbook issues important to voters, such as inflation and the price of groceries. “It’s close to Halloween and Tim Ryan has put on a costume where he pretends to be a reasonable moderate.” Had he been, Vance said, “Youngstown may not have lost 50,000 manufacturing jobs during your 20 years.” Ryan said: “I’m not gonna apologize for spending 20 years of my adult life slogging away to try to help one of the hardest economically hit regions of Ohio and dedicating my life to help that region come back. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, JD. You went off to California, you were drinking wine and eating cheese.” Vance countered that he left Ohio at 18 to join the Marines, and after working in Silicon Valley, he returned to Ohio to raise his family and start a business. During questioning about China, Ryan said Vance invested in China as a venture capitalist, the type of business move that exacerbated job losses in Ohio’s manufacturing base. “The problem we’re having now with inflation is our supply chains all went to China, and guys like him made a whole lot of money off that,” Ryan said. Vance said it is Democratic economic policies that have harmed manufacturing, saying, “They have completely gone to war against America’s energy sector.” He said he could not remember investing in China. On abortion, Vance did not answer whether he would support Graham’s proposed national ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Vance said he thinks different states would likely want different laws but “some minimum national standard is totally fine with me.” He called himself “pro-life” but said he has “always believed in reasonable exceptions.” Ryan said he supports codifying the abortion rights established in Roe v. Wade, which was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June. He said he opposes Ohio’s law banning most abortions after fetal cardiac activity has been detected, as early as six weeks into pregnancy, which was blocked Friday. Vance agreed with Ryan that a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim should not have had to leave the state for an abortion, but he said the fact the suspect was in the country illegally was a failure of weak border policies. “You voted so many times against the border wall funding, so many times for amnesty, Tim,” Vance said. “If you had done your job, she would have never been raped in the first place.” On foreign policy, the pair parted ways on what the U.S. response should be if Russian President Vladimir Putin were to launch nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Ryan said the U.S. should be prepared with a “swift and significant response,” while Vance countered that the United States needs a “foreign policy establishment that puts the interests of our citizens first.” Ryan responded: “If JD had his way, Putin would be through Ukraine at this point. He’d be going into Poland.” “If I had my way,” Vance retorted, “you’d put money at the southern border, Tim, instead of launching tons of money into Ukraine.” It echoed comments Vance had made in an interview before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying he didn’t ”really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another” because he wanted to see Biden focus on his own country’s border security. Vance said, however, that Taiwan was a “much different situation” than Ukraine because of its importance to U.S. national security. “The reason why Taiwan is different is because they make so many of our semiconductors, our computer chips. The entire modern economy would collapse without it,” Vance said. Ryan sought at points to put some distance between himself and his party, repeating his earlier comments that Biden shouldn’t run for a second term in 2024 and calling Vice President Kamala Harris “absolutely wrong” to say that the southern border was secure. “I’m not here to just get in a fight or just tiptoe the Democratic Party line,” Ryan said. “I’m here to speak the truth.” Ryan said Vance didn’t have the courage to stand up to people in his own party, noting that during an Ohio rally last month, Trump, who endorsed Vance, said, “JD is kissing my a—, he wants my support so (much).” Vance retorted: “I’m not going to take lessons on dignity and self-respect from a guy caught on video kissing up to Chuck Schumer and begging him for a promotion to his next job. That’s the kind of guy Tim Ryan is.” While the general election debate between Ryan and Vance was acrimonious, it didn’t lead to a near-physical altercation, as an Ohio GOP Senate debate back in March during the primary season did. Former state Treasurer Josh Mandel and investment banker Mike Gibbons found themselves face to face on the debate stage, shouting at each other, while Vance told the two to stop fighting. “Sit down. Come on,” Vance said, sitting in a row with the remaining candidates. “This is ridiculous.” At the end of Monday’s debate, Vance and Ryan shook hands. Read More Here

From 'Footballs' To 'Biscuits', The US' Top Secret Procedure Behind Launching Nuclear Strikes https://digitalalaskanews.com/from-footballs-to-biscuits-the-us-top-secret-procedure-behind-launching-nuclear-strikes/ Last Updated: October 11, 2022, 12:44 IST Washington US President Joe Biden. (Image: Reuters file) According to Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin is threatening the world with ‘Armageddon’ when he hints at using nuclear weapons against Ukraine Doomsday could start with a football — the so-called “nuclear football” as the attache case carried wherever the US president goes is popularly known. The rather awkwardly stuffed black bag doesn’t look like much, the only clue to its importance being that it never leaves the hand of a uniformed military aide. But inside are top secret codes and plans enabling a president to authorize nuclear strikes — and pick from a sort of menu of targets — anywhere in the world. In the White House, the president has his secure Situation Room, where he could order war and communicate with military leaders. But when President Joe Biden, for example, traveled to Puerto Rico, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Maryland within the space of a few days this November, he traveled, as he does everywhere, with his “football.” According to Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin is threatening the world with “Armageddon” when he hints at using nuclear weapons against Ukraine. The US riposte, if it happened, could be launched from the back of the Beast limousine. Or Air Force One. Or a secret bunker. Or really anywhere the “football” and the president were together. Biscuits The public has caught glimpses of the “football,” officially known as the Presidential Emergency Satchel, ever since one was photographed being carried behind John F. Kennedy at his seaside family home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, in 1963. Another accompanied Ronald Reagan right into Red Square during his summit with Mikhail Gorbachev in 1988. More discreet — and also bearing a deceptively innocuous nickname — is the other important element in triggering nuclear war: the “biscuit.” If the “football” houses the menu of war plans, the “biscuit” contains the codes, known as Gold Codes, by which the president can identify himself and make the order. About the size of credit cards, one of these is meant to be carried by the president at all times. Ultra-secret, ultra-secure they may be, but both items have had their share of misadventure. Bill Clinton was said to have mislaid his “biscuit,” while the one carried by Reagan was inadvertently dumped with his clothing in a plastic hospital bag when he was stripped for surgery after being shot in Washington in 1981. When Donald Trump’s mob of supporters invaded the Capitol on January 6, 2021, vice president Mike Pence had to flee to safety — along with a military aide holding the backup “football,” which also always accompanies the president’s successor. President decides The chain of command — legally speaking — could not be shorter. “The US president has sole authority to authorize the use of US nuclear weapons,” the Congressional Research Service states. The president does have to identify himself (with the “biscuit” codes) and he can, and presumably would, discuss options with the top brass. But even if presidents “seek counsel” from military staff, “those advisors are then required to transmit and implement the orders authorizing nuclear use,” the congressional analysis says. The order would pass through the ranks down to service members manning the switches in silos or submarines or in the air. In a memo to Congress in 2021, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Mark Milley, said that even he is not in the “chain of command” — only the “chain of communication.” Unless… The president has no big red button to push and whatever he orders still has to filter through several sets of human beings before becoming reality. US military personnel are required to disobey illegal orders and, as John Hyten, then the commander of the US Strategic Command (STRATCOM), said in 2017: “We think a lot about these things.” “If it’s illegal, guess what’s going to happen? I’m going to say, ‘Mr. President, that’s illegal.’ And guess what he’s going to do? He’s going to say, ‘What would be legal?’ And we’ll come up with options, with a mix of capabilities to respond to whatever the situation is, and that’s the way it works. It’s not that complicated.” In a more extreme situation, the cabinet could theoretically intervene to strip the president of his powers, by invoking the 25th amendment. That hasn’t happened, although there were numerous claims that high level discussions on the subject took place during the chaotic Trump presidency. More likely, though, is a far less dire shift in the chain of command for planned medical procedures. In this way, November 19, 2021, became a historic day: Biden underwent anaesthesia for a colonoscopy procedure and his vice president, Kamala Harris, became the first US woman to serve as commander in chief — for 85 minutes the keeper of the “biscuit” and “football.” Read the Latest News and Breaking News here Read More Here

Top Democrat Urges US Block On Weapons Sales To Riyadh – Iraqi News https://digitalalaskanews.com/top-democrat-urges-us-block-on-weapons-sales-to-riyadh-iraqi-news/ US Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) called for Washington to freeze cooperation with Saudi Arabia over its decision to ‘underwrite’ Russia’s war in Ukraine by slashing oil production Washington – A powerful US senator called Monday for Washington to freeze all cooperation with Saudi Arabia over its decision to “underwrite” Russia’s war in Ukraine by slashing oil production. Riyadh, Moscow and other top oil producers agreed last week to a deep cut in production to boost crude prices, in a move denounced by the United States as a concession to Moscow that would hurt the global economy. “There simply is no room to play both sides of this conflict — either you support the rest of the free world in trying to stop a war criminal from violently wiping off an entire country off of the map, or you support him,” Bob Menendez, who chairs the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia chose the latter in a terrible decision driven by economic self-interest.”  The 13-nation, Saudi-led OPEC cartel and its 10 allies headed by Russia agreed to reduce output by two million barrels a day from November —  raising fears that oil prices could soar. Saudi Arabia said OPEC’s priority was “to maintain a sustainable oil market” but its move drew a swift rebuke from the Washington, which is leading efforts to isolate major energy producer Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. “The United States must immediately freeze all aspects of our cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including any arms sales and security cooperation beyond what is absolutely necessary to defend US personnel and interests,” Menendez said. “As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I will not green-light any cooperation with Riyadh until the kingdom reassesses its position with respect to the war in Ukraine. Enough is enough.” An outspoken critic of Riyadh, Menendez has been at the forefront of the campaign to sanction Saudi royalty over the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, which US intelligence concluded was ordered by de facto leader Mohammed bin Salman. He is the latest in a string of lawmakers calling for a rethink on the US-Saudi relationship but is able to wield considerably more influence than most in his drive to impose increased scrutiny on arms sales. When former president Donald Trump issued an emergency declaration to bypass Congress in approving a weapons deal with Riyadh in 2019, Menendez jammed up the process by refusing to acknowledge the White House’s notification of the sale until he had received answers about his concerns about use of US-made weaponry in Yemen. “I am horrified by Russia’s depraved and desperate escalation against civilian infrastructure across Ukraine — including in Kyiv,” he said. “I pledge to use all means at my disposal to accelerate support for the people of Ukraine and to starve Russia’s war machine.”  Read More Here

Falling For Windsor This October https://digitalalaskanews.com/falling-for-windsor-this-october/ October 10, 2022, 9:06AM Updated 15 hours ago Hello to Fall. Wow, once again time is passing quickly. In a blink of an eye it’s gone from May to October. Those who are my friends or follow me on Facebook know that I was in Anchorage from mid-May to late September. One might wonder why I did this when clearly I LOVE Windsor. Anchorage is an amazing town and I have had the opportunity to be the General Manager of a small 15-room boutique Inn called The Copper Whale Inn. This small/woman/Alaskan-owned business is such a fantastic place and one of my Sonoma County friends who happened to be the area when I arrived said I am living the dream. It combines all my skills for tourism, hospitality and “chatting with strangers’ all in one place. The daylight hours are long and there’s a reason they call it the land of the midnight sun. There was a long time were sunset was not until 11:30 p.m. and I would be on the back deck watching the sunset while folks at home were already fast asleep Check it out copperwhale.com. With that said, I am a third-generation California gal, and for 61 years have called Northern CA my home. I am not expecting that to change. Anchorage is awesome and now I have a whole new AK family there, but Gayle (the best spouse ever), my friends and my three fur babies are here in Windsor. One additional perk of being the General Manager at CWI is that I can work remotely in the off-season. What brings me home are the people and events in Windsor (although I missed all but one summer concert), such as our Windsor Certified Farmers Market, Scare Crow days and our unique Charlie Brown Christmas Tree Grove. Community Shops (inside Raleys in Windsor) October 1: Candle Making Class @ The Community Shops (inside Raley’s) at 3pm. To reserve a seat, please email: hummingbirdherb@gmail.com. October 5: Grand Opening of Kindred Fair Trade @ The Community Shops!! October 8: Samples Sale @ The Community Shops from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Big discounts up to 75% off. October 3, 5, 10, 12, and 17: Self-defense classes for women & teens. Sign-up at: info@kenpoxena.com. Trick or Treat Trail The Town of Windsor is hosting its 3rd Annual Trick or Treat Trail on Saturday, Oct. 22, from noon to 4 p.m. at Keiser Park. Pre-registration is required to participate and details can be found online at https://www.townofwindsor.com/trickortreat. Call for Booth Hosts: For businesses, non-profit organizations, and community groups interested in hosting a treat booth, please contact Hilary Mercieca at hdunn@townofwindsor.com. Windsor Certified Farmers Market Pumpkin Festival Oct. 23 Windsor Dia de los Muertos, Saturday, Oct. 29, 4-9 p.m. (*start time may change), Windsor Town Green. Free, family friendly, a cultural celebration of the Latin American “Day of the Dead” honoring ancestors both recent and ancient. Free events include children’s sugar skull workshop and other art activities, Ballet Folklorico and Luther Burbank Youth Mariachi orchestra performances, traditional indigenous dance ceremonies, Lowrider Car Show, food and drink vendors. Details: www.diademuertoswindsor.org/2022events Charlie Brown Christmas Tree Grove: Dec. 1, 2022 – Jan. 1, 2023 The Charlie Brown Christmas Tree Grove is an annual holiday event located on the Windsor Town Green, the premier central gathering place for Windsor residents and visitors. The event highlights over 200 lighted individually decorated holiday trees lining the walkways of the Green. Students, families, groups and local businesses showcase their talents in design and decorating with their themed trees which draw thousands of visitors to Windsor for the Holidays. Our event runs throughout the month of December each year. https://www.people4parkswindsor.org/charlie-brown-christmas-tree-grove So there you have it! You now know What’s Up in Windsor. If you have Windsor activities you might like me to include in the November issue, please contact me before Oct. 13 at lorene@mac.com. Lorene Romero is a highly skilled travel consultant. She founded Sharp Tongued Consulting in 2008 to deliver the benefits only a travel CONSULTANT can offer, over those of a traditional AGENT. In addition to uncovering the best prices and making reservations, her approach is primarily focused on expert research and advice. With her home-based business, she is able to dedicate the quality time necessary to ensure that no client ever wastes a penny on a trip they won’t completely love. She is an expert on Alaska, Hawaii and European River Cruises but loves crafting the perfect dream vacation for nearly any destination. Until recently, Lorene was the Windsor Chamber of Commerce President and CEO. She was a Chamber member for 15 years and being on the Board of Directors for 10. During the COVID-19 pandemic she gave it her all to help support Windsor small businesses to remain open and help over 400 people and 50 Windsor businesses get vaccinated. She works tirelessly being as the Co-Vice President of the People4Parks Committee making magic Charlie Brown Christmas Grove. Lorene understand Windsor like the back of her hand and makes herself available to everyone to feel loved and welcomed. Over the years she was seen at the Windsor Certified Farmers Market “Donate Life” booth talking about the importance of organ donation (speaking as a Living Donor after donating her kidney to a stranger). She can be reached at lorene@mac.com. Read More Here

Los Angeles City Council President Resigns After Using Racist Language In Leaked Recording https://digitalalaskanews.com/los-angeles-city-council-president-resigns-after-using-racist-language-in-leaked-recording/ Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez resigned from her position Monday after she and two other councilmembers were recorded making racist remarks. The latest: Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera submitted his resignation on Monday night over his involvement in the racist conversation, per the Los Angeles Times. He quit at a meeting of the labor organization’s executive board, California Labor Federation head Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher told the New York Times. Driving the news: In a statement announcing her resignation, Martinez asked for forgiveness “from my colleagues and from the residents of this city that I love so much.” “In the end, it is not my apologies that matter most; it will be the actions I take from this day forward. I hope that you will give me the opportunity to make amends. Therefore, effective immediately I am resigning as President of the Los Angeles City Council,” the statement continued. The California and Los Angeles branches of the NAACP demanded late Sunday that Martinez and the others resign after the Los Angeles Times reported she called a Black child a monkey. The NAACP chapters also called on Councilmembers Gil Cedillo, Kevin de León and Herrera to step down for participating in a discussion with anti-Black and anti-Indigenous comments. Details: Martinez referred to a white councilmember’s child, who is Black, as “ese changuito,” or that little monkey, during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, according to the leaked audio of a nearly year-old conversation. Martinez also reportedly said that the councilor, Mike Bonin, handled his son as though he were an “accessory.” She also referred to Bonin as a “little b—h.” Herrera suggested that Bonin puts his young son out in public like a lawn jockey, the racist statues used to invoke the antebellum South. Martinez also is heard making fun of Indigenous people from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, who have migrated to Los Angeles. She referred to them as “short little dark people” and called them “ugly.” What they’re saying: “This kind of overt racism has no place in political discourse,” Rick L. Callender, president of the CA/HI State Conference of the NAACP, said in a statement. “We clearly know where your heart and mind are, and both of them are corroded with the rust of racism and hate.” Meanwhile, Los Angles Oaxacan chef, restaurateur, and Gold Award recipient Bricia Lopez joined in calls for resignations on social media. The words out of (Nury Martinez’s) mouth cut deep in the Oaxaca community of LA. I’ve dealt w my fair share of racism. But it’s ten times worse when it comes from a brown and woman. Girl, you gotta resign,” she tweeted. Zoom out: The secretly recorded conversation revolved around the councilors’ frustration that the growing Latino population wasn’t resulting in more Latino council districts and concerns Black leaders were keeping some Black-majority ones. Martinez, De León, and Herrera have issued statements of apology for their roles in the conversation. Cedillo told the Los Angeles Times he had no memory of the discussion. Of note: Protesters demonstrated outside of Martinez’s home and played portions of the audio recording on Sunday. Los Angeles police were later seen in a video shared on social media attempting to move the crowd away from her house. Further protests were organized for Monday, with images shared to social media showing demonstrations outside the home of de León. Editor’s note: This story has been updated with a statement from Martinez confirming her resignation and details of further protests. The headline has also been updated. Read More Here

S https://digitalalaskanews.com/s-8/ Choose your subscription Trial Try full digital access and see why over 1 million readers subscribe to the FT For 4 weeks receive unlimited Premium digital access to the FT’s trusted, award-winning business news Digital Be informed with the essential news and opinion MyFT – track the topics most important to you FT Weekend – full access to the weekend content Mobile & Tablet Apps – download to read on the go Gift Article – share up to 10 articles a month with family, friends and colleagues Print FT print edition delivered Monday – Saturday along with ePaper access Delivery to your home or office Monday to Saturday FT Weekend paper – a stimulating blend of news and lifestyle features ePaper access – the digital replica of the printed newspaper Team or Enterprise Premium FT.com access for multiple users, with integrations & admin tools Group Subscription Premium Digital access, plus: Convenient access for groups of users Integration with third party platforms and CRM systems Usage based pricing and volume discounts for multiple users Subscription management tools and usage reporting SAML-based single sign-on (SSO) Dedicated account and customer success teams Or, if you are already a subscriber Sign in Are you a student or a professor? Check if your university has an FT membership to read for free. Check my access Read More Here

Biden Promises Air Defence Systems For Ukraine After Attacks https://digitalalaskanews.com/biden-promises-air-defence-systems-for-ukraine-after-attacks/ Ukraine set to ask G7 leaders for more support after devastating Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities. Published On 11 Oct 202211 Oct 2022 US President Joe Biden has promised his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the United States will provide the country with advanced air systems after Russia launched missiles against multiple cities in Ukraine including the capital Kyiv. Biden made the pledge in a phone call with Zelenskyy ahead of an emergency meeting of the Group of Seven to discuss support for Ukraine and how to hold Russia “accountable” for the attacks, which killed at least 14 people. “President Biden pledged to continue providing Ukraine with the support needed to defend itself, including advanced air defense systems,” a White House statement on the phone call said. Biden also told Zelenskyy the US and its allies and partners would continue imposing costs on Russia, “holding Russia accountable for its war crimes and atrocities, and providing Ukraine with security, economic, and humanitarian assistance”, the White House said. Russia’s defence ministry said it had targeted “military command and communication facilities and energy infrastructure” in Monday’s attacks, but Ukraine accused Moscow of indiscriminately hitting civilian areas. Ukrainian authorities said Russia fired 84 missiles against 10 cities, with 56 of them neutralised by air defences. The Russian attacks followed an explosion on Saturday that damaged parts of the strategically-important Kerch bridge linking Russia with annexed Crimea. Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed the blast on Ukraine. “Russia is seeking to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences,” Justin Crump, chief executive of security consultancy Sibylline, told the BBC. “That’s something they have tried throughout the conflict, but never on this scale.” The US has provided security assistance to Ukraine worth more than $16.8bn since Russia invaded the country on February 24. Zelenskyy is due to speak to G7 leaders at the top of Tuesday’s virtual meeting, which is due to start at 12:00 GMT. Analysts say he is likely to ask for more surface-to-air missiles to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences. Tuesday’s G7 leaders’ discussion is the first since Kyiv began a counter-offensive in eastern and southern Ukraine in recent weeks that has seen it reclaim vast tracts of its territory from Russia. The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Liz Truss, who took over from Boris Johnson just over a month ago, will urge G7 leaders to remain resolute in their support for Ukraine, according to a statement from her office. Johnson was one of Kyiv’s most prominent backers. “The overwhelming international support for Ukraine’s struggle stands in stark opposition to the isolation of Russia on the international stage,” she will say. “Their bravery in the face of the most brutal acts of violence has earned the people of Ukraine global admiration. “Nobody wants peace more than Ukraine. And for our part, we must not waver one iota in our resolve to help them win it.” Source : Al Jazeera and news agencies Read More Here

Tim Ryan, JD Vance Face Off On Economy, Abortion, Politics In First Of Two Ohio US Senate Debates https://digitalalaskanews.com/tim-ryan-jd-vance-face-off-on-economy-abortion-politics-in-first-of-two-ohio-us-senate-debates/ Published October 11, 2022 at 12:50 AM EDT The candidates in Ohio’s close and expensive US Senate race in Ohio faced off on abortion, inflation, defense of Ukraine and Taiwan and other key issues in the first of two planned debates, this one in Cleveland. And while the candidates are courting voters in a state that went for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020, they sparred over questions about politics and the former president. Political observers have noted both Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Ryan have been sounding the same themes in this campaign as they chase voters in a state that picked Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. And in the first debate, they even dressed the same – both in blue suits, white shirts and red ties. Polls show most voters say the economy and inflation are their top issue. So it was the first question in the debate. Vance said federal spending is the problem. “Simultaneously they’ve borrowed and spent trillions of dollars that we just don’t have and that’s thrown fuel on the fire of the inflation problem and at the same time they’ve gone to war against America’s energy sector,” said Vance. Ryan said he supported the billions of spending in the infrastructure law and the CHIPS Act, which were both bipartisan, and the Inflation Reduction Act, which wasn’t. But he stopped short of defending President Biden when asked if he’s at fault for record-high inflation. “I think everybody’s to blame – I mean, we’re coming out of a pandemic. It’s a problem,” said Ryan. “The question is, are we going to sit around another ten years and point fingers? What I’ve been proposing is a significant tax cut for working people and small businesses.” Ryan and Vance did agree on keeping China tariffs in place. They agreed that Taiwan should be defended and a strong response in Ukraine was needed, but neither was specific on what that would be. But on social issues, they split sharply. Ryan said he wants a federal law guaranteeing the right to abortion, while Vance said he would be fine with a national standard such as a ban after 15 weeks. Ryan supports a federal bill to codify marriage equality. Vance said while same sex marriage is the law of the land, he’s opposed to the Respect for Marriage Act. “The problem with this legislation is it’s going to unleash a wave of litigation against our churches, our religious organizations, our mosques, our synagogues, everything – that’s why I don’t think it’s a great idea,” Vance said. While Vance said he wouldn’t apply a litmus test to potential US Supreme Court justices, Ryan said he would: “I will have a litmus test on Roe v Wade, I’ll have a litmus test on the same sex marriage, I’ll have a litmus test on birth control. We can’t keep going down this road of taking away rights.” And when the questions were about politics, the candidates sparred. Ryan confirmed he doesn’t want Biden to run again in 2024, and mentioned his support for some of former president Trump’s policies. But Ryan also criticized both Vance and Trump, referencing a crude comment Trump made about Vance at his rally in Youngstown last month. “We need leaders who have courage to take on their own party. And I’ve proven that and he was called an ass-kisser by the former president,” said Ryan. Vance came back with a seasonal reference to Halloween: “Tim Ryan has put on a costume where he pretends to be a reasonable moderate. But in fact – he said he stands up to his own party. The last two congresses, Tim, you voted for Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden 100%. You consistently toe the party line on every single issue.” Vance was asked about being endorsed by and campaigning with Trump, who’s facing multiple criminal investigations. Vance said he hasn’t seen anything to suggest Trump should be imprisoned but that the justice system should work that out – but also said he’s concerned about that at the federal level. “If you want to go after a former president, a likely – or possible future president or at least a future political candidate, you’ve got to tell the American people why. We have really corruption leadership at the Department of Justice and that’s a problem,” said Vance. Vance has repeated the false claim that the 2020 election featured widespread illegal voting. In this debate, Vance – who launched his campaign with the help of tech billionaire Peter Thiel – blamed Facebook and what he called Big Tech for threatening democracy. But Ryan said those who stormed the US Capitol on January 6 and deny the 2020 election results are threats. “This is the crowd that JD’s running around with – the election deniers, the extremists,” Ryan said. “That’s not Ohio.” But both candidates did say clearly that they will accept the results of the 2022 election. Vance and Ryan are scheduled to debate one more time, next Monday in Youngstown. Read More Here

AP News Summary At 11:37 P.m. EDT https://digitalalaskanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-1137-p-m-edt/ Russia unleashes biggest attacks in Ukraine in months KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia has retaliated for an attack on a critical bridge it claimed was carried out by Ukraine, unleashing its most widespread attacks against Ukraine in months. The lethal barrage Monday against multiple cities smashed civilian targets. It killed at least 14 people, knocked out power and water, and shattered cars and buildings. Ukraine’s Emergency Service said nearly 100 people were wounded in the morning attacks — the biggest and broadest since the war’s early days. One Russian missile hit a playground in downtown Kyiv and another struck a university building. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attacks aimed to inflict the most damage on civilians. GOP makes push to weaken Democrats’ grip on Texas border HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) — Texas Democrats are embarking on another October blitz in pursuit of flipping America’s big red state. But Republicans are making an aggressive play to win races along Texas’ mostly Hispanic southern border in November’s midterms. The rare sight of contested races on the Texas border has widened cracks in an important Democratic stronghold after former President Donald Trump’s significant gains with Hispanic voters in the 2020 election. Republican Rep. Maya Flores’ victory in a special election this year reflected the shifting ground. She is running against Democrat Rep. Vicente Gonzalez. New Zealand proposes taxing cow burps, angering farmers WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s government is proposing a tax on the greenhouse gasses that farm animals make from burping and peeing as part of a plan to tackle climate change. The government says the farm levy would be a world first and that farmers should be able to recoup the cost by charging more for climate-friendly products. But farmers quickly condemned the plan. The liberal Labour government’s proposal Tuesday harks back to a similar but unsuccessful proposal made by a previous Labour government in 2003, when it proposed taxing farm animals for their methane emissions. California governor’s wife among accusers at Weinstein trial LOS ANGELES (AP) — The wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, is among the accusers of Harvey Weinstein who will testify at his rape and sexual assault trial that began Monday. An attorney for Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who is a documentary filmmaker and actor, says in a statement Monday that she “intends to testify at his trial in order to seek some measure of justice for survivors.” Jury selection began Monday in Los Angeles and is expected to last several days. Weinstein, who is already serving a 23-year sentence for a conviction in New York, is charged with 11 counts of rape and sexual assault. He has pleaded not guilty. Ohio Senate debate with Ryan, Vance descends into attacks COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The first debate between Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan and Republican JD Vance descended quickly into attacks. The candidates for Ohio’s open U.S. Senate seat accused each other Monday of being responsible for job losses and putting party loyalty ahead of voters’ needs. Vance said Ryan had supported policies as a congressman that led to a 10-year-old girl in Ohio being raped. Ryan said Vance had started a “fake nonprofit” to help people overcome addiction issues. The race between Ryan, a 10-term congressman, and Vance, a venture capitalist and author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” is one of the hardest fought and most closely watched of the midterms. 28 dead as Julia drenches Central America with rainfall GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Former hurricane Julia has dissipated, but is drenching Guatemala and El Salvador with rain after reemerging in the Pacific. Julia is believed to have directly or indirectly caused the deaths of 28 people. Julia hit Nicaragua’s central Caribbean coast as a hurricane on Sunday and survived the passage over Nicaragua’s mountainous terrain, becoming a tropical storm before it dissipated Monday. Its winds had dipped to 35 mph by Monday morning, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Fourteen people died in Guatemala, four in Honduras, nine in El Salvador and one in Nicaragua. United Methodists are breaking up in a slow-motion schism The United Methodist Church, long a mainstay of the American religious scene, is beginning to fracture. Hundreds of churches have already disaffiliated from the denomination this year, with hundreds more moving toward the exits. Many plan to join the newly created Global Methodist Church, formed by conservatives frustrated by continued defiance of denominational bans on same-sex marriages and the ordaining of openly LGBTQ pastors. So far the majority of congregations are staying, but several of the largest are planning to leave. The breakup comes amid mutual accusations of hardball tactics and spreading falsehoods. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene rises from GOP fringe to front WASHINGTON (AP) — Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene once was shunned as a political pariah for her extremist rhetoric. Now the Georgia Republican is being welcomed by House Republicans into the fold. Recently, Greene was front and center as Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy unveiled the House GOP’s midterm campaign agenda in Pennsylvania. She joined Donald Trump at a rally in Michigan. Greene spent her first term stripped of committee assignments by Democrats over her rhetoric. But if Republicans win the House majority in the November election, Greene is poised to become an influential player. She tells The Associated Press that impeaching President Joe Biden tops her agenda. Nobelist Annie Ernaux draws hundreds to New York bookstore NEW YORK (AP) — Since Annie Ernaux won the Nobel literature prize last week, the French author’s books have gained enough new admirers that many titles are out of stock on Amazon.com and at physical bookstores. But at Albertine Books on Manhattan’s Upper East, her appearance Monday night felt less like an introduction than a gathering of old friends, French and American alike. Hundreds gathered for an event billed “The Art of Capturing Life in Writing.” The 82-year-old Ernaux is known for such autobiographical works as “Simple Passion” and “Happening.” The crowd spilled over into an overflow room as she spoke about her career and writing process. Chiefs hold on for wild 30-29 victory over rival Raiders KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw four touchdown passes to Travis Kelce, the Chiefs overcame an early 17-point deficit along with a dubious roughing-the-passer penalty, and Kansas City extended its mastery of the Las Vegas Raiders, holding on for a 30-29 victory. The Raiders had a chance to march for the winning field goal, but a pass to Davante Adams that was ruled a catch was overturned by replay, which showed him stepping out of bounds. That brought up fourth down in the closing seconds, and Derek Carr’s final pass fell incomplete to allow Kansas City to hold on. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Read More Here

Poll: Majority In US See Relations With Adversaries Souring https://digitalalaskanews.com/poll-majority-in-us-see-relations-with-adversaries-souring/ WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. international outlook has undergone a major shift in recent years, a new poll shows, with a majority now expecting that U.S. relations with allies will stay the same or improve but that U.S. dealings with traditional adversaries like Russia and North Korea will only grow more hostile. Two years into the Biden administration, the assessments look much different from four years ago, at roughly the same point in the Trump administration. Now, 60% of U.S. adults say relations with adversaries will get worse, up from 26% four years ago, according to the poll from the Pearson Institute and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Just 21% say relationships with allies will deteriorate, down from 46% then. In general, 39% expect the country’s global standing to worsen, compared with 48% who said that in 2018. Crucially, the United States’ own sharply divided domestic politics influences views of the country’s standing abroad. “Those results really, clearly show that it’s hyperpartisanship” affecting how confidently or bleakly, respectively, Democrats and Republicans see the U.S. standing abroad, said Sheila Kohanteb, a political scientist and executive director of the Global Forum at the Chicago-based Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. In terms of the opinions that people in the U.S. are expressing on U.S. dealings abroad, the key factor is “political bloc sticking with political bloc,” Kohanteb said. FILE – President Joe Biden meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin, June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. Americans’ international outlook has undergone a major shift in recent years. That’s according to a new poll from the Pearson Institute and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. A majority now expect that U.S. relations with allies will stay the same or improve but that U.S. dealings with traditional adversaries like Russia and North Korea will only grow more hostile. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Patrick Semansky Four years ago, three-quarters of Democrats expected U.S. global standing to suffer. Now, roughly that same percentage see stability or improvement in the near future. By comparison, about 6 in 10 Republicans predicted improvements in 2018; now that same percentage expect the current administration to stumble. Other countries are “probably laughing at us, waiting for us to fall apart,” said Kristy Woodard, a 30-year-old Republican in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She said she saw the economy and U.S. leadership as suffering under President Joe Biden. “I don’t think we really have allies anymore because the United States is just a joke at this point,” Woodard said. But David Dvorin, a 49-year-old Democrat in Pittsburgh who works as a price specialist, said Biden was winning respect abroad by rallying international allies to respond to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. “The war in Ukraine has shown the leadership of the Biden administration, to be able to hold most of Europe together,” Dvorin said. Still, as Russia amps up its assault on Ukraine, tensions with China grow over Taiwan and other issues and the U.S. confronts North Korea and Iran over those countries’ nuclear programs, similar percentages of Republicans and Democrats say that relationships with adversaries will get worse in the next year. The Pearson Institute/AP-NORC poll also shows strong support for a U.S. foreign policy that protects women and minorities around the world — even though few people think the U.S. is doing a world-beating job of protecting those same interests at home. Majorities of U.S. adults said they see preventing discrimination against women and minorities around the world as an important U.S. foreign policy goal and that the U.S. government has significant responsibility for protecting the rights of those groups. And 78% of people in the United States believe the U.S. should withhold financial support from other countries that are failing to protect the rights of women and minority groups. However, only about 1 in 5 U.S. adults thinks the country is leading the world in safeguarding the rights of women and racial, ethnic and religious minorities, or LGBTQ people. Many think the U.S. is among several countries that are doing it well, but about a third say there are other countries doing better. Rick Reinesch, 61, of Austin, Texas, who works as a project manager for a consulting firm and describes himself as a Democratic-leaning political independent, calls safeguarding the freedoms of women and minorities abroad “essential” for the U.S. But the increasing Republican and Democratic divide at home means Americans’ performance on that point is a “mixed bag,” with rights deteriorating in states most influenced by former President Donald Trump’s dismissive outlook, he said. Chris Ormsby, 53, of Edmond, Oklahoma, an administrator in higher education who describes himself as a political independent, pointed to women’s rights in Iran, where women are spearheading weeks of protests triggered by government demands that women cover their hair, as among the rights issues playing out overseas. “Maybe we can take more proactive steps” abroad on that, Ormsby said. But “I think there’s other things to worry about, nuclear proliferation and things like that.” He called slowing climate change by moving the world away from fossil fuels a priority for U.S. policy abroad. That all makes for a strange split for those charged with shaping America’s policy on protections of human rights, Kohanteb, the Pearson Institute official, said. “American policy is not as adamant about protecting our own rights as Americans believe we should be doing abroad,” she said. ___ Dolby reported from New York. ___ The poll of 1,003 adults was conducted Sep. 9-12 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More Here

Four Takeaways From Ohio's US Senate Debate – KTVZ https://digitalalaskanews.com/four-takeaways-from-ohios-us-senate-debate-ktvz/ By Dan Merica, CNN The debate between Democrat Tim Ryan and Republican J.D. Vance in Ohio’s closer-than-expected Senate contest began with a testy exchange on the economy and quickly devolved from there into a contentious — and at times personal — clash. This race was not a contest Republicans believed would require as much money and attention as it has, given the Republican tilt of the state, which former President Donald Trump comfortably carried twice. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the seat “Lean Republican,” while top-tier Senate campaigns in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Nevada are all still seen as more competitive. Still, Ryan’s bid to replace retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman has proven a strong match for an underfunded GOP nominee that Trump pulled through the primary. Monday night’s acrimony highlighted the urgency of the moment for both candidates. For Ryan, millions in ads will be spent against the congressman in the coming weeks, testing the so far relatively resilient Democratic campaign in a state that’s trending red. For Vance, the Republican has found his footing after a tough summer, leaning on the natural political lean of the state by accusing his Democratic opponent of faking his moderate bona fides. In a debate where neither candidate was afraid to directly go after his opponent — Ryan called Vance an “ass kisser,” while Vance compared Ryan to a toddler — it was clear both candidates felt they had ground to make up in the race with less than four weeks to go until Election Day. Here are four takeaways from Ohio’s first Senate debate: Abortion was a flash point Abortion has come to shape political campaigns across the country in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning national abortion protections, and the Ohio Senate contest has been no different. Ryan sought to cast himself as the moderate on the issue in Monday’s debate, saying he backed “going back to Roe v. Wade” and arguing for “some moderation on this issue.” He then turned the issue on Republicans, calling efforts to pass stricter abortion laws “the largest government overreach in the history of our lifetime.” Vance, who said he was “pro-life” but “always believed in reasonable exceptions,” responded by delivering one of his most scathing lines of the night, seemingly blaming Ryan for the rape of the 10-year-old Ohio girl who sought an abortion in neighboring Indiana by noting she was allegedly raped by an undocumented immigrant and that Ryan had voted against border wall funding. “If you had done your job, she would have never been raped in the first place,” Vance said, turning to Ryan. “Do your job on border security, don’t lecture me about opinions I don’t actually have.” Later in the debate, Ryan said he supported walls along the US-Mexico border where it made sense but not one wall from “sea to shining sea.” Ryan seeks distance from Democratic Party As he has done on the campaign trail and in paid ads, Ryan sought throughout the debate to tout his independent bona fides, noting how he broke from his own party and at times backed Trump on trade. “I think everybody is to blame,” Ryan said when asked if President Joe Biden is to blame for rising inflation. “Kamala Harris is absolutely wrong on that,” he added when asked if the vice president was correct when she said the border was secure. Ryan then used this argument to hammer his opponent, arguing that he “can’t stand up to anyone” because even after Trump said at a recent campaign rally that Vance was “kissing my ass” to get him to campaign for him, the Republican nominee didn’t stand up to the former President after he took his “dignity from him.” “He was called an ass kisser by the former President,” Ryan said, adding later, “Ohio needs an ass kicker, not an ass kisser.” Vance went with a timely response. After noting Halloween is close, he added, “Tim Ryan has put on a costume where he pretends to be reasonable moderate.” And the Republican did little to distance himself from Trump, his party’s standard bearer. When asked if Trump had done anything that concerns him, Vance urged letting “the criminal investigation play out” on the mishandling of classified documents stored at Mar-a-Lago and criticized the focus on past scandals around the former President. Vance paints Ryan as a creature of Washington Vance closed the debate by contrasting his personal choice two decades ago — to enlist in the Marines — with Ryan’s decision to successfully run for Congress. To Vance, the race between him and Ryan is a referendum on “failed leadership” in Washington, positioning that allows the Republican to carry himself as the political outsider and Ryan as the career politician. “He has been failing at his basic job for 20 years,” Vance said of Ryan, who was first elected to Congress in 2002. “Talks a big game but the record of accomplishment just isn’t there.” Although Ryan pushed back against this narrative — “I’m not going to apologize for spending 20 years slogging away to try to help one of the hardest economically hit regions of Ohio,” the Democrat said — Vance’s strategy was clear. “Ohioans deserve certain things from their federal leadership,” Vance said, capturing his entire electoral argument. “They deserve to go to the grocery store and be able to afford food without it breaking the bank. They deserve streets you can walk down safely. They deserve a country that has a border.” Wide gulf between candidates on foreign policy Some of the biggest differences of the night came on foreign policy. When asked how the United States should respond to the potential Russian use of nuclear weapons, Ryan said it would call for an “aggressive response” but added, “I don’t think we are at that point where (Russian President) Vladimir Putin will.” Ryan than tried to turn the issue on Vance, noting that the Republican once said he doesn’t “really care what happens to Ukraine.” “J.D. Vance would let Putin roll right through Ukraine,” Ryan said, noting the large Ukrainian population in Ohio. “J.D. Vance is weak on this.” Vance, however, did not shy away from those comments, saying, “The answer is that no one knows how we would respond,” and mocking Ryan for saying the use of nuclear weapons would call for an “aggressive response.” “What exactly does that mean? Does that mean we should be in a nuclear shooting war?” Vance said, accusing Ryan of being part of the “bipartisan foreign policy establishment.” The-CNN-Wire & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. Read More Here

Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville Won’t Back Down From Comments That Reparations For Slavery Reward Criminals https://digitalalaskanews.com/alabama-sen-tommy-tuberville-wont-back-down-from-comments-that-reparations-for-slavery-reward-criminals/ Republican U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville from Alabama has refused to apologize for saying that Democrats want reparations for slavery because “they think the people that do the crime are owed that.” The right-wing GOP lawmaker has not responded to howls of outrage over the racist remark falsely equating Black people with criminals that he made Saturday at a raucous rally for former President Donald Trump in Nevada. “Tuberville’s comments are flat out ignorant, racist and utterly sickening,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement. “His words promote a centuries-old lie about Black people.” “This racist rant at a MAGA rant just cannot go uncalled out,” said former Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., who lost his reelection fight to Tuberville. “(I am) embarrassed for the state of Alabama.” “It’s a white nationalist appeal that harkens back to a really dark time in the United States, a really dark time in Alabama,’ Jones added. Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., denounced Tuberville for making “deeply white supremacist comments.” The Rev. Al Sharpton called Tuberville’s comments “patently racist,” as well as “offensive and insulting to all Americans, Black and white.” Tuberville, the former Auburn University football coach, made the outrageous claim at a Saturday evening campaign rally in Nevada featuring his political mentor Trump. Without offering any evidence, Tuberville accused Democrats of promoting crime to “control what you have” and punctuated his claim by branding calls for reparations “bulls–t.” “They want crime. They want crime because they want to take over what you got,” Tuberville bellowed at the crowd. “They want reparation because they think the people that do the crime are owed that.” Tuberville did not mention the controversy or dial back the attack in a tweet lauding the rally as a “fantastic night.” Alabama state Rep. Chris England, a former state Democratic chairman, said the remarks showed Tuberville’s true colors. “The bulls–t is that this guy is a United States senator in the first place,” England tweeted. Besides being offensive, Tuberville’s claims are demonstrably false. FBI data shows crime has slowed in the last year and most crimes are committed by whites. Moreover, Democrats have not backed reparations for Black Americans to compensate for years of unpaid slave labor by their ancestors, although progressives have pressured the party to do so. Reaction to Tuberville’s remarks was shockingly muted among Republicans, with no fellow GOP senators stepping up to denounce him. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a relative moderate who is locked in a tight reelection race in his Omaha-based seat, Sunday said the remarks were poorly worded. But he refused to condemn Tuberville’s rant. “That’s not the way I present things,” Bacon said on “Meet the Press” on NBC. “But got to be honest that we have a crime problem in our country.” ——— Read More Here

‘A National Security Issue’: Lara Trump Lambastes DOJ, Says Hunter Biden Probe Needs ‘Oversight’ https://digitalalaskanews.com/a-national-security-issue-lara-trump-lambastes-doj-says-hunter-biden-probe-needs-oversight/ Fox News contributor Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of former President Donald Trump, lambasted the Justice Department over the Hunter Biden investigation during a Monday night Fox News appearance. “Biden’s Department of Justice right now is doing everything possible to restore their reputation with the American people, to somehow justify the raid of a former president and possible political opponent’s home that was unprecedented, that was unnecessary,” Trump said. “I imagine the FBI comms team cooked up the idea where they said, wait a minute, now’s the time, we’re to go forward and possibly charge Hunter Biden with something like a slap on the wrist. If anybody did anything wrong, of course they should be held to account.” “If it was my dog Charlie, he’d probably be in jail too if he did half the things Hunter Biden has actually done,” Trump said. “If there’s anything we learn from Hunter’s laptop, it is that this is a guy who is in serious need of help. That aside Sean, you also can’t take for granted the timing of all this — the possible charges against Hunter Biden and the likely outcome of those charges.” (RELATED: ‘National Security Nightmare’: GOP Rep Says Hunter Biden Had An ‘Eric Swalwell Situation’) The FBI raided Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8, the Florida estate owned by Trump, to execute a search warrant for classified documents. WATCH: “We want to get to the bottom of what happened with 10% for the big guy. Hunter Biden, his uncle Jim, Joe, profiting to the tune of millions of dollars for their family on foreign business deals that utilized Joe Biden’s position pretty clearly in all of these deals,” Trump said. “The American people know the only way we can get to the bottom of this is to put Republicans back in charge of the house, Republicans back in charge of the Senate. We need some oversight on this. We need to know because it is a national security issue. That’s the bigger picture here.” FBI agents reportedly believe that there is sufficient evidence to file gun and tax charges against Hunter Biden, according to the Washington Post. Former Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi of Florida noted that family members had options to help a relative struggling with addiction, but also noted a special prosecutor was necessary. “It’s a matter of national security,” Bondi told Hannity. “It’s so important and yet they choose not to get a special prosecutor in this case.” “Legally, that’s an actual conflict,” Bondi added later. “Because as we know the U.S. Attorney reports to Merrick Garland, who reports to Joe Biden. Biden and his kids are now witnesses in any case against Hunter Biden. It’s really unbelievable, legally to me, that that has not been dealt with and there’s not a special prosecutor on the case.” Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org. Read More Here

Ukraine War: US Condemns 'brutal' Russian Strikes On Ukraine https://digitalalaskanews.com/ukraine-war-us-condemns-brutal-russian-strikes-on-ukraine/ Media caption, Watch: Ukraine’s day of missile strikes in a minute By Paul Adams in Kyiv and Elsa Maishman and Oliver Slow in London BBC News Russia has been widely condemned after bombarding cities across Ukraine, including launching missile strikes on the centre of Kyiv for the first time. The US said the “brutal” attacks had hit non-military targets, including a university and children’s playground, and promised ongoing military aid. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply shocked”. Vladimir Putin said the attacks were retaliation for Saturday’s explosion on a key bridge linking Russia to Crimea. Ukraine says 83 missiles were launched of which more than 43 were shot down. In a defiant video, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “Ukraine cannot be intimidated. It can only be more united.” The deadly barrage included strikes on the cities of Lviv, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia, and were some of the worst Ukraine has seen for months. At least 14 people were killed and scores more were injured, officials said. Several regions were left without electricity and water after missiles hit energy infrastructure. Residents in the capital Kyiv said Russia appeared to be targeting civilian areas which were busy with Monday morning commuters, including the children’s playground, university and the popular Taras Shevchenko park. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Monday’s strikes saw central Kyiv targeted for the first time Antonio Guterres described the strikes as “another unacceptable escalation of the war” for which civilians were paying the highest price. The EU said a war crime had been committed, while European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Russia stood for terror and brutality. US President Joe Biden was one of many foreign leaders to speak with President Zelensky, and he “pledged to continue providing Ukraine with the support needed to defend itself, including advanced air defence systems”, the White House said. Mr Biden said the attacks demonstrated “the utter brutality” of Putin’s “illegal war”. China and India, which have not condemned the war, called for a de-escalation. Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the UN, said his family had been in a residential area in Ukraine when it was attacked by the latest Russian missiles and they were unable to go to a bomb shelter. He said Russia had already killed some of his relatives, calling it “a terrorist state” that must be deterred in the strongest possible ways to prevent further atrocities. He added that Russia’s delegation to the UN left “a trail of blood” whenever it entered the General Assembly hall. The General Assembly is holding an emergency meeting following Russia’s latest attacks. Although the session was convened because of the Kremlin’s annexation of four partly-occupied Ukrainian regions following sham referendums, it has been overshadowed by this morning’s attacks. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Ihor Zhovkva speaking to the BBC’s Paul Adams Russian missiles began hitting targets across Ukraine around the morning rush hour on Monday, in the most widespread bombardment of the war. Ihor Zhovka, deputy head of President Zelensky’s office, said they were designed to sow panic. The strikes were more intense than had previously been seen, he told the BBC, and in some ways resembled the early days of the war. He added that this had not come as a surprise, and was a sign of things to come during the “very difficult” winter ahead. Russia’s President Putin said the attacks were in retaliation to Saturday’s explosion on the bridge linking the occupied Crimea peninsula to Russia which he blamed on Ukraine. Ukraine has not confirmed it was behind that strike. Mr Zhovka said he did not entirely believe that the Russian attacks were a retaliation, as Kyiv has been hit before. Mr Putin warned he was ready to authorise more “severe” attacks, while deputy head of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that “the first episode has been played. There will be others”. Meanwhile, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko – a close ally of President Putin – has agreed to deploy his forces to link up with Russian soldiers at Belarus’ border with Ukraine in response to what he said was a threat to his country from Kyiv. “We need to figure out what else needs to be done to strengthen the security of our state, given the rapidly changing environment,” he said according to comments carried in the state-run Belta news agency. Lukashenko, who held a one-on-one meeting with President Putin in St Petersburg, said he had been informed through unofficial channels of a “Crimean Bridge 2” being planned against Belarus, a reference to Saturday’s explosion on a key bridge linking Russia with Crimea. Without providing any evidence, he said: “Ukraine is not just contemplating, but planning strikes on the territory of Belarus,” adding that Kyiv was being “pushed by their patrons to unleash a war against Belarus” and Russia at the same time. “We saw it, we knew it, we created battalion tactical groups, we practiced the defence of the southern border, which we are doing now,” he said. Mr Lukashenko has become increasingly reliant on Russia for economic, political and military support in recent years, and Russian forces used Belarus as a base when it began its invasion of Ukraine in February. Read More Here

Stock Futures Are Little Changed After The Nasdaq Composite Closes At A 2-Year Low https://digitalalaskanews.com/stock-futures-are-little-changed-after-the-nasdaq-composite-closes-at-a-2-year-low/ Traders on the floor of the NYSE, Aug. 8, 2022. Source: NYSE U.S. stock futures were little changed on Monday night after the Nasdaq Composite closed at its lowest in two years during the regular session. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 20 points, or 0.07%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.13% and 0.21%, respectively. Stocks closed lower Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite falling 1% following a drop in semiconductor stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed nearly 94 points, or 0.3%, while the S&P 500 declined about 0.8%. Investors weighed comments from JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who warned that the U.S. would likely fall into a recession over the next “six to nine months,” and said the S&P 500 could fall another 20% depending on whether the Federal Reserve engineers a soft or a hard landing for the economy. Those remarks came at the start of a big week for third quarter bank earnings, and ahead of Wednesday’s producer price report, Thursday’s consumer price index report for September and Friday’s retail sales numbers, also for last month. Investor reaction is focused solely on how the Federal Reserve will react to the economy as it works to dampen inflation. “There’s always this idea of a Fed pivot coming right around the corner, and they’re just going to tighten their belts to bring inflation down without affecting the economy more broadly,” Dan Greenhaus, chief strategist and economist at Solus Alternative Asset Management, said Monday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.” “All of that was always hopes and dreams. And the most likely outcome was … what history shows always happens, which is the Fed tightens, they tighten too much, they cause an economic dislocation, the market goes down. Full stop,” he added. U.S. Treasury yields climb, 30-year hits highest level since 2013 The yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury note climbed as high at 3.941%, reaching its highest level in nine years. The 10-year yield rose to 3.963% and the 2-year yield inched higher to 4.318%. Rates fell earlier this month but started to rise again after positive economic data in the U.S. led investors to increase bets on further rate hikes by the Fed. Bond yields move inversely to prices and one basis point is equivalent to 0.01%. — Abigail Ng CNBC Pro: Wall Street is bullish on some corners of tech again, as Citi gives one stock 115% upside Some Wall Street banks have started making the case for buying into tech again, naming specific sectors they are bullish on. Citi and Morgan Stanley both said they have upgraded tech to overweight. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about the areas they are looking at and the global stocks to buy. — Weizhen Tan All sectors in the S&P 500 are more than 10% off their recent highs All 11 sectors in the S&P 500 closed more than 10% off their recent highs on Monday. Communication services is more than 41% lower than its 52-week high. Information technology, consumer discretionary, and real estate are all more than 33% off their recent highs. Financials and materials are down more than 23%, and industrials is more than 20% lower. — Chris Hayes, Sarah Min Kevin Simpson’s top stock picks include UPS, Qualcomm Kevin Simpson said his top stock picks include UPS and Qualcomm as he looks for names with strong dividend growth in a volatile market. The founder and CIO at Capital Wealth Planning said he has a 5% allocation to UPS, noting its healthy dividend yield of nearly 4%. “Over the past 10 years, they just continue to raise that dividend, and that’s our playbook,” Simpson said Monday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.” “If we can have stocks that turn a profit, they have an EBITDA, they return cash to shareholders, certainly in a time period like this, that type of methodology can work.” Simpson said he’s using the decline in semiconductor stocks to build a position in Qualcomm, which has a 2.6% dividend yield. Chip stocks slumped on Monday after the Biden administration announced new measures that would limit U.S. companies’ ability to sell advanced computing chips to China. The investor, who said he has a 14% cash allocation, said he expects “the next three to six months are going to provide ample opportunity to buy amazing names” as the Federal Reserve maintains a hawkish stance against inflation. — Sarah Min Stock futures open little changed U.S. stock futures were little changed on Monday night after the Nasdaq Composite closed at its lowest in two years during the regular session. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 14 points, or 0.05%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.06% and 0.09%, respectively. — Sarah Min Read More Here