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• Death of troubled officer whose gun wasn't taken away marks record number of suicides in NYPD

  A police officer's recent death has disturbingly highlighted the record number of suicides among members of the New York Police Department this year.

  
  

• PHOTOS: Rescued sea otter pups being named in a digital contest

  Heading into Sea Otter Awareness Week, people across the country will have a say in how two rescued southern sea otter pups at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium get names. The aquarium will host a digital naming contest focused on building affinity and understanding around sea otters and inspiring voters to also make their voices heard in support of conservation legislation and protections that are critical for vulnerable species.

  
  

• South Korea police say they may have found serial killer

  South Korean police said Thursday that they have found a suspect thought to be an infamous serial killer wanted for the slaying of nine women some 30 years ago. Senior police officer Ban Gi-soo said police have continued their investigation into the 1986-1991 slayings even after the statute of limitations expired 13 years ago in order to find the truth. Ban said the technological improvement of DNA analysis allowed authorities to extract DNA samples from evidence that wasn't possible at the time of the cases.

  
  

• Giuliani Admits He Asked Ukraine About Biden Seconds After Denying He Did in Insane CNN Interview

  Shortly after numerous outlets reported on Thursday night that the intelligence community’s whistleblower complaint about President Donald Trump involves Ukraine, Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani showed up on CNN for a largely incomprehensible interview that featured the former New York City mayor repeatedly contradicting himself while he tossed out personal insults at anchor Chris Cuomo.Giuliani, who has long been lobbying Ukraine to investigate Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 elections, immediately began arguing with Cuomo over the merits of a Ukrainian investigation into Biden and his son Hunter. (Back in May, Ukraine’s prosecutor general said there was no evidence that Biden or his son broke the law.)After the CNN host noted that Giuliani was obviously doing this for political purposes to serve his client—Democratic lawmakers are currently probing Giuliani’s efforts to get Ukraine to investigate Biden—Giuliani flip-flopped on his position within 30 seconds.“You’re saying that’s what Biden said to the Ukraine,” Cuomo responded to Giuliani’s claim that then-Vice President Biden bribed the Ukrainian president to squash an investigation into Hunter. “Did you ask the Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden?”“No, actually I didn’t,” Giuliani answered. “I asked Ukraine to investigate the allegations that there was interference in the election of 2016 by the Ukrainians for the benefit of Hillary Clinton.”“You never asked anything about Hunter Biden, you never asked anything about Joe Biden to the prosecutor?” Cuomo asked, prompting Giuliani to assert that he had only asked why the case into Hunter’s company was dismissed.“So you did ask Ukraine to look into Joe Biden,” Cuomo shot back.“Of course I did,” Giuliani exclaimed, causing a befuddled Cuomo to shout: “You just said you didn’t!”The rest of the 30-minute marathon went pretty much down this road. Giuliani, performing for an audience of one, used much of his time to take pointed personal shots at Cuomo, calling him a “sellout” while constantly evading the anchor’s questions.Despite repeatedly telling Giuliani they were getting nowhere in the segment and expressing his frustration over the former mayor’s tactics, Cuomo allowed the interview to go on and on and on. Even when they were supposedly wrapping it up, the two continued to go at each other for what seemed an eternity.“You are not fair and impartial,” Giuliani seethed after telling Cuomo he’d never give him documents that prove his allegations against Biden because the CNN host is “the enemy.”“You are totally biased and your network is a creature of a Democratic National Committee,” Giuliani added.“I’m embarrassed,” Cuomo responded. “I’m embarrassed for you. Have a good night.”Shortly after his battle with Cuomo and another (much friendlier) interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham, Giuliani took to Twitter to essentially admit that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Biden.“A President telling a Pres-elect of a well known corrupt country he better investigate corruption that affects US is doing his job,” he tweeted. “Maybe if Obama did that the Biden Family wouldn’t have bilked millions from Ukraine and billions from China; being covered up by a Corrupt Media.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  
  

• A lawyer forced out of the CIA's watchdog office is representing the Trump whistleblower

  An attorney who left the CIA in 2014 after facing professional retaliation for trying to work with intelligence community whistleblowers is now representing the U.S. official who reportedly filed a complaint alleging wrongdoing by President Trump.

  
  

• How Iran Would Unleash an 'All Out War': Lots of Missiles

  If Trump decides to strike here is how Tehran could respond.

  
  

• View Photos of Porsche's 911 RSR in Coke Livery

  
  

• Women’s March Dismisses New Board Member amid Backlash over Statements Comparing ISIS to U.S. Military

  Zahra Billoo, who joined the board of the Women's March just several days ago, announced on her Twitter feed Thursday morning that she has been voted off the board.Billoo has a history of controversial statements on Twitter, in which she has compared the U.S. and Israeli militaries to ISIS and Nazis, once even asserting that the FBI recruits "mentally ill" people to join ISIS.The Women's March has not released a statement explaining the justification for her dismissal as of this writing.However, Billoo asserted in a tweet thread that she was voted out as a result of an "Islamophobic smear campaign led by the usual antagonists, who have long targeted me, my colleagues, and anyone else who dares speak out in defense of Palestinian human rights and the right to self determination."Addressing the controversy over her tweets, she wrote "In looking at the tweets in question, I acknowledge that I wrote passionately. While I may have phrased some of my content differently today, I stand by my words."> In looking at the tweets in question, I acknowledge that I wrote passionately. While I may have phrased some of my content differently today, I stand by my words. 15/> > -- Zahra Billoo (@ZahraBilloo) September 19, 2019Billoo stated on Facebook in 2017 that she would not go to see the movie "Wonder Woman" because of the participation of actress Gal Gadot, who served in the Israeli Defense Forces. She justified her stance by saying she would similarly not see a movie in which the lead actress was proud of being a member of ISIS, al-Qaeda, or the U.S. military.In a 2014 post on Twitter, Billoo said she was opposed to "all terrorism, including all that regularly committed by the US military and Al Qaeda, the Israeli Defense Forces and ISIS.”Billoo and other new members were hired to replace three former Women's March leaders dogged by allegations of anti-Semitism. Two of these members, Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour, have drawn fire for their support of Louis Farrakhan, the anti-Semitic leader of the Nation of Islam.

  
  

• Earth to 2020 Democrats. The Syrian civil war was not caused by climate change.

  This is a sad excuse for real discussion on climate change and international conflict, two very separate issues.

  
  

• All the National Coffee Day deals and freebies you should take advantage of

  National Coffee Day takes place on Sept. 29 and luckily for customers, there are tons of deals and even free cups of coffee to be had.

  
  

• Man who allegedly changed adopted daughter's age then abandoned her turns himself in

  An Indiana couple has been charged with neglect after allegedly changing their daughter's age from 11 to 22, moving to Canada and leaving her behind.

  
  

• State sending troopers to help fight St. Louis crime

  Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is sending highway patrol troopers and other state workers to St. Louis as part of an effort to fight the surge of violent crime that has included the killings of more than a dozen children in the region so far this year. Parson said the total cost of the state's commitment, including the 25 state employees who will work in the St. Louis region, is up to $4 million. "This is about targeting violent criminals and getting them off the street," Parson said at a news conference in St. Louis.

  
  

• Dozens of people charged for illegally distributing millions of opioid pills

  Dozens of people - including six doctors and seven pharmacists - have been charged with fraud for illegally distributing more than 6 million opioid pills.Some of the pills were obtained using counterfeit prescription pads, and the stolen identities of legitimate doctors, prosecutors say.

  
  

• Guatemala joins ranks of cocaine producers as plantations and labs emerge

  Guatemala is no longer just a transit point for traffickers seeking to smuggle cocaine north towards the United States, authorities said on Thursday after security officials discovered several coca plantations and processing laboratories. The finds underscored concerns that cocaine production is moving beyond Andean nations, where the leaf has traditionally been grown, and closer to its main market, the United States. The discoveries of coca plantations and laboratories in different locations prompted Interior Minister Enrique Degenhart to admit Guatemala was now a cocaine-producing nation.

  
  

• US drone strike 'kills 30 Afghan farmers'

  A U.S. drone strike intended to hit an Islamic State (Isil) hideout in Afghanistan killed at least 30 civilians resting after a day’s labor in the fields, officials said on Thursday. The attack on Wednesday night also injured another 40 people after accidentally targeting farmers and laborers who had just finished collecting pine nuts at Wazir Tangi in eastern Nangarhar province, three Afghan officials told Reuters. “The workers had lit a bonfire and were sitting together when a drone targeted them,” tribal elder Malik Rahat Gul told Reuters by telephone from Wazir Tangi. Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry and a senior U.S official in Kabul confirmed the drone strike, but did not share details of civilian casualties. Taliban control in Afghanistan “U.S. forces conducted a drone strike against Da’esh (Isil) terrorists in Nangarhar,” said Colonel Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. “We are aware of allegations of the death of non-combatants and are working with local officials to determine the facts.” About 14,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, training and advising Afghan security forces and conducting counter-insurgency operations against Isil  and the Taliban movement. Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the provincial governor of Nangarhar, said at least nine bodies had been collected from the site. Haidar Khan, who owns the pine nut fields, said about 150 workers were there for harvesting, with some still missing as well as the confirmed dead and injured. Jihadist Isil fighters first appeared in Afghanistan in 2014 and have since made inroads in the east and north where they are battling the government, U.S. forces and the Taliban. The exact number of IS fighters is difficult to calculate because they frequently switch allegiances, but the U.S. military estimates there are about 2,000. There was no word from Isil on the attack. There has been no let-up in assaults by Taliban and Isil as Afghanistan prepares for a presidential election this month. In a separate incident, at least 20 people died in a suicide truck bomb attack on Thursday carried out by the Taliban in the southern province of Zabul. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in fighting across Afghanistan after the collapse of U.S.-Taliban peace talks this month. The Taliban has warned U.S. President Donald Trump will regret his decision to abruptly call off talks that could have led to a political settlement to end the 18-year-old war. The United Nations says nearly 4,000 civilians were killed or wounded in the first half of the year. That included a big increase in casualties inflicted by government and U.S.-led foreign forces.

  
  

• How to make ratatouille, a vegetable dish that's both hearty and healthy

  This fall ratatouille recipe works perfectly as a side dish or a delicious vegetarian main. The different colored veggies looks great on the table, too.

  
  

• This Activist Invited ICE to a Community Meeting. Days Later They Arrested Him.

  Smith Collection/Gado/GettyWhen Houston immigration activist Roland Gramajo Reyes invited U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to a public meeting for people worried about being arrested due to their immigration status, he didn’t think he’d end up behind bars.He was wrong. Gramajo’s longtime advocacy on behalf of Houston’s immigrant and Latino communities, family, attorney, and allies said, make them seriously doubt that the timing of his apprehension was an accident.Now, Gramajo, 40, is caught in a tug-of-war between law enforcement agencies seeking to either deport him after 25 cumulative years in the United States, or to first incarcerate him for improper entry into the United States, a charge that could land him in prison.Handout“His bond was denied Monday by a federal judge, so he will remain in detention while his illegal reentry charges are resolved,” Raed Gonzalez, Gramajo’s attorney, told The Daily Beast. “We are trying to reopen his immigration case… Many hurdles await us, but we are trying our best.”Gramajo, a father of five and grandfather of two, was born in Retalhuleu, Guatemala in 1979, and first moved to Houston at age 15. Since then, he has made the improvement of the Guatemalan community and his adopted hometown his life’s mission.He founded the Centro Organizativo Guatemalteco, which raises funds for humanitarian causes in Guatemala, as well as the Southwest American Systems Chamber of Commerce, which helps minority children participate in sports and beauty pageants. After Hurricane Harvey devastated the city in 2017, he took weeks off work to organize community efforts in helping those affected by the storm’s flooding that caused an estimated $125 billion in damage. For his work, Gramajo has received commendations from a host of state and local organizations, including the Alief Independent School District, Houston Community College, the Golden Eagle Society, and the Houston City Council.Only days before his apprehension by ICE, Gramajo had organized a “know your rights” seminar for undocumented immigrants and their families in the city—the seminar to which he had invited immigration agents to participate. That invitation, Gramajo’s defenders believe, may have unintentionally goaded ICE into looking into Gramajo’s immigration status, a charge ICE has called “baseless.”“To be abundantly clear, ICE personnel did not attend this Immigration Forum in any capacity—official or unofficial,” the agency released in a statement last week, saying that Gramajo became a target after ICE received an anonymous tip about his status. “To portray him in one-sided media reports… as a victim of some ‘covert’ law enforcement operation is an insulting affront to public safety.”“We’re not gonna be able to comment any further on the anonymous tip” that led to Gramajo’s apprehension, ICE spokesperson Tim Oberle told The Daily Beast when asked about the timing of the tip that lead to his arrest, “because it’s anonymous, obviously.”At the heart of ICE’s deportation case is Gramajo’s 1998 guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of burglary of a vehicle, for which he was sentenced to 20 days in prison. Gramajo’s family told reporters in Houston that the charge was the result of a practical joke that he had played on a friend, the vehicle’s owner.After his plea, immigration authorities commenced deportation proceedings against Gramajo, culminating in his deportation to Guatemala in summer 2004. Gramajo returned months later to be with his family in Houston—including his wife and children—and has remained ever since.It’s that 2004 illegal entry for which Gramajo will stand trial. If he is found guilty, he could face a six-month prison sentence before his potential deportation.“My sons, they are texting me asking how is their father, and that’s what hurts the most,” Magaly Quicano, Gramajo’s wife, told reporters in Houston last week. “I’ve been praying, praying praying that he will win this immigration battle.”Gramajo’s defenders, who count members of Houston’s political establishment among their members, told The Daily Beast that the potential deportation of the father of five is disgraceful.“The prospect of deporting Mr. Gramajo is outrageous,” Mayor pro tem Ellen Cohen, a member of the Houston City Council, told The Daily Beast. Last year, the city council commended Gramajo as “dedicated to serving and inspiring the community,” and whose “qualities represent a true leader with an exceptional drive to improve the quality of life” throughout the city.“His so-called ‘crime’ of coming back to this country—his country—after his 2004 deportation is a result of unjust laws. If I were in his shoes, I would have tried to find a way back to my spouse and children too,” Cohen added, noting that she has called upon ICE to immediately release him. “He is an asset to Houston and there is no legitimate public safety-related reason to deport him again. If ICE’s concern is public safety, they should be focusing their limited resources on those who are bringing violence, drugs, and human trafficking in to our communities.”Houston City Council member Steve Le, who brought forth a successful proposal last year to name May 17, 2018 as “Roland Omar Gramajo Reyes Day” in the city, called Gramajo “a good person and community leader” whose presence in the city makes it a better place to live. “Our office appreciates everything he has done for the community and recognized him with a Mayoral Proclamation for his achievements,” Le told The Daily Beast. “We were surprised by his arrest and hope the court will take into account all the great contributions he has made when determining his sentencing. We look forward to a favorable outcome for his family and our community.”But after a judge denied his bond in a hearing on Monday, Gramajo will remain in federal detention until trial. Even if he wins his criminal case, his presence in the United States is far from assured—if deported, Gramajo will be barred from entering the United States for 20 years.“I don’t know what the verdict will be, but I leave everything in the hands of God and wait,” Quicano said tearfully. “No more.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  
  

• Russia detains shaman on mission to 'banish Putin'

  Russian police on Thursday said they had detained a Siberian shaman trekking towards Moscow on a mission to expel "demon" President Vladimir Putin, picking up a crowd of supporters on the way. Police in the eastern Siberian region of Buryatia told Interfax they had detained Alexander Gabyshev, the shaman, on a highway near Lake Baikal and would put him on a flight back to his home region where he is "wanted for committing a crime". Gabyshev's eccentric bid to walk from his home city of Yakutsk to Moscow, a distance of over 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles), has seen a group of followers join him on the way.

  
  

• Here's Why Russia Has Detained 161 North Korean Sailors

  Is a crisis brewing over illegal fishing?

  
  

• Judge resigns after sharing noose image with 'Make America Great Again' slogan on Facebook

  A New York town judge was forced off the bench after a written complaint said his post appeared 'to convey racial and/or political bias.'

  
  

• The Latest: Hurricane Jerry headed north of Leeward Islands

  Hurricane Jerry is on a forecast track heading north of the Leeward Islands and expected to pass well north of Puerto Rico by Saturday. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Jerry's eye was located at 8 p.m. EDT Thursday about 435 miles (700 kilometers) east of the northern Leeward Islands. The hurricane's top sustained winds are being clocked at 90 mph (150 kph) and the storm is moving west-northwest at 17 mph (28 kph).

  
  

• Makeup guru Bobbi Brown reveals her top six favorite products from Walmart

  If we're going to take beauty advice from anybody, it's going to be Bobbi Brown. 

  
  

• FedEx Pilot Detained in China for Item Found in Luggage

  (Bloomberg) -- A FedEx Corp. pilot was temporarily detained in Southeastern China after authorities found an item in his luggage prior to boarding a commercial flight, marking the delivery firm’s latest setback in the country.The pilot, who was held in the city of Guangzhou, was later released on bail and the company is working with relevant authorities to understand the facts better, Memphis-based FedEx said in an email. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t immediately reply to a faxed query.While FedEx didn’t provide details, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the pilot was a former U.S. Air Force colonel who was detained a week ago after he was found carrying nonmetallic pellets used in low-power replica air guns. Chinese authorities are alleging the pilot was illegally carrying ammunition and have started a criminal probe, according to the Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter.FedEx has been under particular scrutiny in recent months, after Huawei Technologies Co. said documents it asked to be shipped from Japan to China were diverted to the U.S. instead without authorization. In another incident, FedEx said it mistakenly rejected a package containing a Huawei phone being sent to the U.S. from the U.K., a claim China rebuffed. Separately, police in China’s Fujian province started an investigation into a package containing a gun delivered by FedEx to a company in China, state media reported in August. Chinese authorities also began probing FedEx on suspicion of illegally handling a package sent to Hong Kong containing knives, Xinhua News Agency reported in early September.The fracas over the Huawei packages has seen FedEx targeted in Chinese state media, with Beijing considering adding the company to a list of so-called unreliable entities it is drafting, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg in June. China Mulls FedEx Blacklisting After Huawei Delivery ErrorsAfter the U.S. slapped curbs on Huawei, China’s Commerce Ministry announced the creation of the list in late May to target firms that the government says damage the interests of domestic companies.\--With assistance from Thomas Black and Feifei Shen.To contact the reporter on this story: Young-Sam Cho in Hong Kong at ycho2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net, Emma O'BrienFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

  
  

• Air raid sirens tested across Saudi capital as country prepares for conflict escalation with Iran

  Air raid sirens were tested across the Saudi Arabian capital on Thursday as the country prepared for a possible escalation with Iran, following a weekend attack on its oil fields raised the stakes in the conflict. Text messages were sent out to residents ahead of the 1pm tests in Riyadh and neighbouring provinces, which civil defence said was to ensure the sirens were “effective and ready.” The US and Saudi are considering their response to Saturday’s assault on key oil facilities which left the kingdom reeling. Asked whether military retaliation was being considered, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi’s ambassador to Germany, said "everything is on the table." Donald Trump, the US president, has struck a more cautious note, saying there were many options short of war with Iran. Saudi Defense Ministry spokesman Colonel Turki Al-Malik shows the remains of the missiles allegedly used in the attack against Aramco oil facility Credit:  STRINGER/EPA-EFE/REX He said there was “plenty of time to do some dastardly things . . . We’ll see what happens.” The Trump administration has reportedly been briefed on a number of possible options for retaliatory action against Iran, which is believed to be behind the assault, including a cyberattack or physical strike on Iranian oil facilities or Revolutionary Guard Corp assets. “The US stands with Saudi Arabia and supports its right to defend itself,” Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, tweeted from Jeddah following a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Mr Pompeo said the attack on the world’s largest oil processing plant and knocked out half of Saudi’s production, was "of a scale we've just not seen before". “The Iranian regime’s threatening behavior will not be tolerated,” he added. Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, said any US or Saudi military strike against Iran would result in "all-out war”. “‘Act of war’ or agitation for war?” he said in a tweet. “For their own sake, they should pray that they won’t get what they seek.” In an interview later with CNN, he said: "I am making a very serious statement that we don't want war; we don't want to engage in a military confrontation... But we won't blink to defend our territory.” Riyadh, which said it is still investigating the assault, on Wednesday displayed the remnants of 25 Iranian drones and missiles it said were used in the strike as undeniable evidence of Iranian aggression. Strikes against Saudi oil plants Lt Col Turki al-Maliki, a Saudi military spokesman, said the kingdom had recently intercepted 282 ballistic missiles and 258 UAVs or drones. The bulk of these are likely to have come from Yemen. The Iran-backed Yemeni Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, but Riyadh said the missiles had been fired from the north, not Yemen to the south. One working theory being considered by US intelligence is that the cruise missiles were launched from Iran and programmed to fly around the northern Persian Gulf through Iraqi air space instead of directly across the gulf where the US has much better surveillance. Such a hypothesis would explain how they were not picked up and intercepted by Saudi’s costly missile defence system. American military officials have visited the Aramco sites in Khurais and Abqaiq, eastern Saudi Arabia, to inspect and collect the debris for intelligence. The UN has also sent an international team of experts to Saudi to investigate. Residents in Riyadh told the Telegraph they were worried that the tense situation may spill over into war.  “We have had strikes on Saudi, even on Riyadh, before. But this feels different. The Houthis, we can deal with,” said Khaled, who did not wish to give his last name. “But Iran is another matter.”

  
  

• A 22-year-old from Minneapolis who is jailed in Syria says ISIS recruited him on Twitter

  Abdelhamid Al-Madioum, a naturalized US citizen, told CBS News his story from a prison in Syria, run by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

  
  

• Mechanic Accused of Sabotaging American Airlines Flight May Have Ties to Terrorism, Prosecutors Say

  Prosecutors said a mechanic accused of tampering with an American Airlines flight in Miami had terrorist sympathies.

  
  

• Netanyahu Lost. His Enemies Won. But Who Can Govern Israel?

  Jack Guez/AFP/GettyThe strangest episode of Israel’s raucous election—the second in six months—flickered by almost unnoticed, one clip among the 30 videos Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted to his YouTube channel in the final two days before Tuesday’s vote.Lush with images of sleek Israelis surfing off Tel Aviv beaches and sipping coffee and cocktails in a succession of inviting bars and cafés, it almost looked like a product of the tourism ministry—until the part where you see a woman’s toes peek beyond a blanket, reaching out to tease the toes of the man sharing the bed with her, and those manly toes turning away.“Right-wing voters have to wake up!” the caption blared. “On Tuesday, you have to go out to vote Likud, and bring family and friends!”The Likud is Netanyahu’s party, and the ad was meant as a counter-incentive. Netanyahu’s pitch can be summed up thus: Don’t sleep with your hot girlfriend. Don’t go to the beach. Don’t enjoy Tel Aviv’s great cafés. Go out and vote for me!If Netanyahu was concerned about voter fatigue, he needn’t have worried.Turnout was a few points higher than it was in the April 9 vote, despite fresh memories of the night six weeks later in which Netanyahu acknowledged he’d failed to form a coalition government and—instead of returning the mandate to Israel’s President, Reuven Rivlin—dissolved the parliament and sent Israel into second elections.On first glance it looks like Israelis returned a second inconclusive verdict, this time with gusto.The apparent draw between Netanyahu’s Likud and the main opposition party, Blue and White, led by former army chief of staff Benny Gantz—each claim about 33 seats out of the parliament’s 120—seems to indicate that Israelis have no idea what they want.On second glance, it is clear that Netanyahu, who has dominated Israeli politics for decades and has served as prime minister for the last 10 years, lost—if only because all of his perceived enemies won.Netanyahu ran his campaign as if he was besieged in a bunker, regularly taking aim at sham nemeses.He deemed Avigdor Lieberman, a hardline secular nationalist best known for advocating the death penalty for terrorists, “a leftist.”Lieberman, Netanyahu’s former defense minister, triggered both the elections of 2019, first by resigning in December 2018, and then by refusing in May to join a coalition beholden to the demands of ultra-orthodox Jewish parties.  Lieberman’s wager paid off, and he has come close to doubling the number of seats his party holds in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, to a projected eight or nine.Yohanan Plesner, the president of the Israel Democracy Institute, in Jerusalem, said “Lieberman is the ultimate kingmaker. Netanyahu does not have a government without Lieberman. Lieberman can really dictate the makeup, to a certain extent, of the next government.”Official elections results are expected on Sept. 25, after the certification of the ballot counts, which is conducted by hand.Netanyahu attacked the media from the start to the end of his campaign, complaining, in his 3 a.m. Wednesday not-concession speech delivered before a largely empty hall, that the press had forced him to contend with "the most difficult, the most biased campaign ever."But the press got it right this time, forecasting that he would be left without room to maneuver ahead of the Oct. 2 hearing at which his attorney general, who announced his intention to indict Netanyahu on a raft of corruption charges last February, will lay out the evidence against him. Netanyahu, Facing Indictments, Rains Scorn on His Political EnemiesSuch is Netanyahu’s predicament that on Wednesday, he canceled his participation in next week’s United Nations General Assembly, one of his favorite events of the year.Gantz vows to pursue peace with the Palestinians, to institute term limits, and, has unrelentingly promised his supporters that he will never join a government including Netanyahu while he remains a criminal suspect.This stance seems to rule out a possible government of national unity, in which Blue and White would sit together with the Likud.This electoral dead end is leading observers to envisage what was once unthinkable: a unity government in which Likud would be led by someone else.In the event the party, hungry to hold on to power, ousts Netanyahu as its leader, “a new chairman of the Likud might be able to form a government with Blue and White, and then we will probably witness an outcome of a rotation of the position of the Prime Minister between Mr. Gantz and whoever the Likud will elect,” Plesner says, predicting that Israel is “about to enter a period of political uncertainty.”Throughout his campaign, Netanyahu reserved his most vicious, most uncompromising, and finally most unhinged attacks for Israel’s Arab minority, 20 percent of the population and about 16 percent of the voting public, whose participation in the last vote sunk to an historic low. He accused Arab politicians of supporting terrorism. He accused his opponent, Gantz, a decorated general, of conspiring with Arab leaders to name them ministers.Netanyahu also accused Gantz of concealing the fact that Iran had hacked his phone, obtaining sleazy photographs proving sexual misbehavior—an accusation that appears to have been invented out of whole cloth.In the campaign’s frenzied final week, Netanyahu tried to rush through the Knesset a law allowing his party to hide cameras in Arab polling places—as it did, illegally, in April, causing an uproar. The bill failed. And he became the first head of government to be sanctioned by Facebook for hate speech, when his page sent out messages warning that “Arabs want to annihilate us all – women, children and men.”The Joint List, a majority-Arab party, that ran as several disparate factions in April, mobilized a major get-out-the-vote operation, apparently surging to 13 seats and becoming Israel’s third largest party, after the Likud and Blue and White.With an Arab, Joint List chairman Ayman Odeh, who exulted late Tuesday that “incitement didn’t work!” and a "leftist," Avigdor Lieberman, poised to play kingmakers, the election results constitute a Netanyahu nightmare.  “Netanyahu was defeated,” Ehud Olmert, a former prime minister and Likud elder, told The Daily Beast in an interview, “he lost, and as far as we can see, there is no feasible way he could form a new coalition.”But since it looks “doubtful that any possible coalition would achieve the support of 61 Knesset members,” Olmert said, “it is likely there will be another round of elections in early 2020.”For Israel to once again have a stable government, the only solution Olmert sees is another round of elections “very soon.”  But unlike Netanyahu’s opponents, who have spent the past year admonishing the public about the danger the prime minister poses to Israeli democracy, Olmert is sanguine.“The country’s democratic foundations are very stable,” he said, “and there is no real fear they are being undermined.” Not only that, he said, mentioning the political crisis in the United Kingdom, “the difficulty of ruling a state is not just an Israeli phenomenon… These are relatively common phenomena and Israel is no exception.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  
  

• Giant construction project takes shape in remote North Korea

  Like a scene from an epic film, thousands of workers swarm over the building sites of Samjiyon, a monumental construction project in the far reaches of North Korea ordered by leader Kim Jong Un. The plan involves nothing less than the rebuilding of the entire town of Samjiyon, the seat of a county that includes the supposed birthplace of Kim's father and predecessor Kim Jong Il, and Mount Paektu, the spiritual birthplace of the Korean nation. It encompasses a museum of revolutionary activities, a winter sports training complex, processing plants for blueberries and potatoes -- two of the area's most important crops -- a new railway line to Hyesan, and 10,000 apartments.

  
  

• Marianne Williamson wants a national mandatory service for people ages 18-26 to combat climate change

  At a presidential climate forum hosted by MSNBC, Marianne Williamson said Americans need a "World War II" level of mobilization against climate change.

  
  

• Three hunters mauled in grizzly bear attacks at Yellowstone: 'He was in their face before they even had chance to grab a gun'

  Three hunters were badly hurt in two separate grizzly bear attacks in Montana on the same day, state officials have said.All three suffered “moderate to severe” injuries after being mauled by a lone bear in the Gravelley Mountains on Monday, according to the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks agency.

  
  

• Trump: San Francisco to get environmental violation for homelessness

  President Trump said late Wednesday that his administration would issue a notice of environmental violation against the city of San Francisco because of what he described as its homelessness problem.

  
  

• View Every Angle of the 2020 Zero SR/F Electric Motorcycle

  
  

• Single 25-year-old mother of 3 diagnosed with terminal cancer: 'I'm scared of leaving them behind'

  A single mother of three who had gone cancer-free for months has now been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

  
  

• Hong Kong cancels China national day fireworks amid protests

  An annual fireworks display in Hong Kong marking China's National Day on Oct. 1 was called off Wednesday as pro-democracy protests show no sign of ending. Major protests are expected on Oct. 1, which will be the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party-governed People's Republic of China. Hong Kong has experienced often-violent demonstrations all summer as many residents fear the Chinese government is eroding the rights and freedoms the semi-autonomous territory is supposed to have under a "one country, two systems" framework.

  
  

• Justin Trudeau says white 'privilege' blinded him to racism of blackface as he expresses 'deep regret'

  Justin Trudeau has refused to rule out the existence of more pictures of himself in blackface as he said white "privilege" had blinded him to the racism of the practice.  Three separate cases of Mr Trudeau wearing blackface have emerged in the last two days, shredding his reputation as a liberal poster boy a month before the Canadian elections. During a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Mr Trudeau said he "deeply regretted" the incidents, saying it was the sort of discrimination ethnic minorities "face on a regular basis". "I didn't see that from the layers of privilege that I have. And for that I am deeply sorry, and I apologise". He declined to be drawn on whether further photographs may emerge, saying "I am wary of being definitive about this because the recent pictures that came out I had not remembered." Mr Trudeau admitted he did not reveal the episodes to his Liberal Party during vetting processes when he ran for office, saying "I never talked about this. Quite frankly I was embarrassed". The Canadian leader's political turmoil began on Wednesday night, when Time magazine published a yearbook photograph of a 29-year-old Mr Trudeau wearing robes and a turban, his hands, face and neck coated with brown makeup. Then a teacher at West Point Grey Academy in Vancouver, Mr Trudeau was attending an Arabian nights themed gala dressed as Aladdin. In the few photos from the event, Mr Trudeau appears to be the only reveller wearing makeup. On Thursday morning, Global News released an undated, low resolution video of Mr Trudeau wearing blackface, raising his hands in the air and sticking out his tongue. The Liberal party confirmed it shortly afterwards. “Wearing brownface is an act of open mockery and racism. It was just as racist in 2001 as it is in 2019,” said opposition Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, adding that the prime minister is “not fit to govern”. Justin Trudeau, 29, wearing a turban and robe, with dark makeup on his hands, face and neck Credit: Time Magazine Addressing the media on his campaign plane on Wednesday, Mr Trudeau admitted he also “wore makeup” while performing Day-O by Harry Belafonte at a high school talent show, taking the number of incidents to three so far. “I’m p----d off at myself, I’m disappointed in myself,” Mr Trudeau said during his apology. The prime minister said he did not consider it racist at the time, but knows better now. Mr Trudeau dodged a question about whether he should resign, responding: “I think there are people who’ve made mistakes in this life and you make decisions based on what they actually do, what they did, and on a case-by-case basis, I think. I deeply regret that we, that I, did that, I should have known better but I didn’t.” Mr Trudeau is widely seen as a leading exponent of multiculturalism and diversity. Asked four years ago why he had nominated a gender-balanced cabinet, following his landslide election victory, Mr Trudeau famously responded: “Because it’s 2015.” BREAKING: A video — obtained exclusively by Global News — shows a third instance of Justin Trudeau in what appears to be racist makeup.cdnpolielxn43https://t.co/1WNWm9QPat— Globalnews.ca (@globalnews) 19 September 2019 “This is the Trudeau brand imploding,” said Stephanie Chouinard, professor of politics at Queen’s University, of the images. Popular support for Mr Trudeau has slumped this year following accusations he pressured his former attorney-general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to drop a criminal probe into engineering giant SNC-Lavalin. The company, which is accused of handing out bribes worth C$47.7m to Libyan officials between 2001 and 2011, employs more than 3,000 workers in Quebec, where Mr Trudeau's own electoral riding of Papineau lies. In August, independent ethics commissioner Mario Dion accused the prime minister of violating Canada's ethics laws, while the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has reportedly been in contact with Ms Wilson-Raybould - who was expelled from the Liberal caucus in April - to discuss the matter.  Heading into the October 21 election, Mr Trudeau is currently tied with Conservative Mr Scheer in the polls. With little public support for either candidate, the Liberal party has attempted to fight the election on social issues, accusing Mr Scheer of having archaic views on abortion and same-sex marriage and digging up dirt on conservative candidates. “Trudeau has not been shy about contrasting his party’s image with that of the conservative party,” said Ms Chouinard. Against that backdrop, many Canadians will see hypocrisy in Mr Trudeau’s blackface revelations. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologises for wearing brownface makeup in 2001 Credit: Reuters Jagmeet Singh, leader of the third-place NDP, called the image insulting. “It’s about every young person mocked for the colour of their skin,” tweeted Mr Singh, who himself wears a turban. West Point Grey Academy is one of several elite Vancouver private schools, catering to wealthy families in British Columbia, with annual fees of C$23,490. Exclusive. Sources have confirmed to me that this is THE picture of ⁦@JustinTrudeau⁩ in blackface from high school that he referenaced in his press conference. From the year book at Brebeuf college. cdnpoli He is singing Day Oh apparently. pic.twitter.com/ivBPoxbXi8— Evan Solomon (@EvanLSolomon) September 19, 2019 Profile | Justin Trudeau The gala Mr Trudeau attended – which also featured belly dancing, according to a 2001 school newsletter in 2001 – raised approximately $160,000 for the academy. Earlier this year across Canada’s southern border, Virginia governor Ralph Northam refused to resign after admitting he had worn blackface, following the release of a yearbook photo. The Liberal Party did not respond to The Telegraph’s request for comment.

  
  

• A family fleeing violence in El Salvador has been stuck at the US-Mexico border for 2 months — and Trump's new asylum rules may make it impossible for them to cross

  Trump's "asylum ban," recently affirmed by the Supreme Court, means that families fleeing violence may be stuck in Mexico indefinitely.

  
  

• One dead, five hurt in Washington, D.C. shooting: police

  Police have not apprehended a suspect as of late Thursday and do not know the motive for the shooting, said Metropolitan Police commander Stuart Emerman. "Detectives are interviewing witnesses and looking for camera footage," Emerman said. Of the five wounded victims of the shooting, two were considered critical and other injuries ranged from serious to minor, but all were expected to survive their injuries, he said.

  
  

• Russia Can't Stop Israel's F-35 Stealth Fighters

  Key point: The F-35 operates on another level that Russia's air defense cannot handle.

  
  

• Boris Johnson’s Brexit Gamble Might Take the U.K. Back to Square One

  Prime Minister Boris Johnson learned that he cannot leave the E.U. without a deal because of British Parliament, writes Ian Bremmer.

  
  

• Possible sighting of Loch Ness monster may back up scientists' theory

  Could the mystery of the Loch Ness monster finally be solved?

  
  

• Parents of Israeli held in Gaza plead for news, action five years on

  The parents of an Israeli man believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza since 2014 travelled to Geneva this week to demand international action to help bring him home. Avera Mengistu, a 33-year-old Israeli of Ethiopian descent, is depressed and suffering from mental problems since the death of his older brother when he crossed into Gaza five years ago. Israel's defence ministry determined he was being held by Hamas, but the Islamist movement governing Gaza has to date provided no information about his whereabouts or condition.

  
  

• Dascha Polanco dishes on her journey to body positivity

  Dascha Polanco, star of 'Orange is the New Black' and the upcoming musical 'In The Heights,' sat with AOL to share her struggles as a Latina in Hollywood.

  
  

• Every Photo of the New 2020 Honda CR-V

  
  

• Boy improving after Michigan buggy crash kills 3 siblings

  The condition of a Michigan boy who survived a horse-drawn buggy crash that killed his three siblings improved Thursday, a day after the tragedy that shocked the local Amish community. Henry Detweiler told the Lansing State Journal that the children — ages 6, 8, 10 and 13 — had finished school Wednesday and were headed to his blacksmith shop, less than 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) away, in Eaton County, southwest of the state capital. "I bawled all the way home," said Kevin Newton, who often drives for the Amish and knew the victims.

  
  

• Trump wants you to think he's racist so you won't notice he's corrupt and killing jobs

  'Who is the real racist, the person warning about illegal immigrants or the person saying that’s racist?' When that’s the debate, Donald Trump wins.

  
  

• Child porn found on phone of Pennsylvania state Sen. Mike Folmer, prosecutor says

  GOP state Sen. Mike Folmer of Pennsylvania was arrested Tuesday after images of child porn were found on his phone, the state’s attorney general said.

  
  

• Republicans Slam Democrats Uninterested in Spying Investigation

  Why don't they want to know?

  
  

• Drowning of U.S.-bound Honduran mother and son underscores plight of migrants

  TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras/MATAMOROS, Mexico Sept 19 (Reuters) - W hen Delia Hernandez, 44, bade farewell on Aug. 1 to Idalia Herrera, 27, and nearly two-year-old Iker Cordova, she dreamed her daughter and grandson were fleeing the arid fields of southern Honduras for a bright new life in the United States, she said. Instead, Herrera and Cordova drowned last week in the Rio Grande just shy of Brownsville, Texas, weeks into an anguished wait in the Mexican border city of Matamoros for an asylum hearing with U.S. authorities, migrants there and Herrera's grandmother said.

  
  

• ‘We are preparing for the worst’: Storm Area 51 event could be disaster, locals fear

  Local residents are "preparing for the worst" as fans of the viral Storm Area 51 Facebook event descend on a town near the secretive military base.The event could become a disaster as people struggle with the difficult conditions in Nevada without proper preparation, they have warned.

  
  

• Russian priests break silence on opposition crackdown

  Dozens of Orthodox priests took Russians by surprise this week to defend jailed anti-government protesters, breaking ranks with Church authorities who for years have aligned themselves with the Kremlin. Experts say the move is part of a quiet revolution in the powerful but opaque Russian Orthodox Church, with a generation of clerics increasingly willing to criticise their superiors. The sentences "look like they are (intended) to intimidate Russians," said the letter, which has so far been signed by 124 clerics.