Fun4U: October 2019

Thursday 31 October 2019

What Baghdadi’s Death Means for al Qaeda—and Why It Matters

SITE Intelligence GroupWith ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed one day and the group’s official spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir the next, there’s a giant hole in the pseudo-Caliphate structure of the so-called Islamic State. The group must now, by its strict religious tenets, find a new (supposed) descendant of the Prophet Muhammed to fill the role of Caliph. But the deaths of those two are equally consequential for al-Qaeda, the bitter rival of ISIS for leadership of global jihad. Al-Qaeda has spent the last six years branding the Caliphate as illegitimate, too extreme, and ultimately harmful. When ISIS declared the establishment of its so-called Caliphate spanning territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014, al-Qaeda and its affiliates unanimously rejected it. To this day, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri’s speeches rarely come without some critique of the “epidemic” put forth by ISIS.Trump Officials Had No Clue Where He Got ‘Whimpering’ Detail in His Baghdadi Raid AccountOddly, Baghdadi was killed in Idlib, a haven of al-Qaeda-linked fighters and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a Syrian Islamist faction led by Abu Muhammad al-Julani, a former al-Qaeda comrade who had become one of Baghdadi's most bitter foes. There has been some speculation Baghdadi was not just hiding out but trying to recruit from the ranks of his enemies.Neither al-Qaeda Central nor its affiliates have commented on Baghdadi’s death as yet, but within hours after the news broke, al-Qaeda ideologues and supporters already were celebrating the event and discussing what it will mean for the future of jihad. In chat groups online, al-Qaeda supporters voiced resentment after years of bitter strife with the group, and the scale of these responses illustrates just how much of a big deal and opportunity they see with Baghdadi’s death.“Based on his orders, thousands of the mujahideen were killed,” one post read.“How thrilled were they every time leaders from al-Qaeda were martyred?” read another.Some wished Baghdadi the ultimate condemnation: “May Allah send him to Hell.”Messages by others, however, particularly al-Qaeda-linked ideologues, balanced expressions of justice for the jihadi movement with restraint, making sure not to celebrate excessively the result of an operation by the United States.The tactful enthusiasm is calculated. Many ISIS fighters, much of its military infrastructure, many media officials, and supporters were pulled from al-Qaeda. Now, with ISIS’ “Caliph” dead and that Caliphate itself destroyed, al-Qaeda has been given its biggest opportunity yet to bring many of them back under its tent. SITE Intelligence GroupPerhaps the most profound instance of this outreach was a lengthy essay by “Adel Amin,” the pen name of a prominent ideologue linked to the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s branch in Somalia and most powerful affiliate. The message, disseminated widely across al-Qaeda-supporting channels and chat groups (many of which are also frequented by pro-ISIS users), demanded that ISIS supporters “return to the road of righteousness” after the Islamic State, in all of its excessive aggression and delusions of destiny, has proven itself a failure. Amin wrote:The situation here is not one in which to gloat. It is a situation for reminding and calling on those who remained in the ranks of al-Baghdadi, to reconsider… Indeed, we witnessed its back being broken, its leaders getting killed, and its banner falling, and we hope that we can witness whoever remains from its soldiers returning to righteousness.Statements by other ideologues and supporters voiced the same points. A statement by Sirajuddin Zurayqat, a former religious official in the now-defunct al-Qaeda-linked Brigades of Abdullah Azzam in Lebanon, urged: “Now [Baghdadi] is dead and there is not one from the Ummah grieving over him or giving condolences... Therefore, those who were deceived by him should reconsider before it is too late!”These messages echo the same calls heard from Zawahiri and al-Qaeda affiliates over the years calling on ISIS fighters to “repent” and leave the group. Yet despite these new circumstances, ISIS supporters will not easily be moved. Since the summer of 2016, the group’s followers have seen the loss of the major cities Mosul in Iraq and Raqqah in Syria as well as the death of revered ISIS figures like Omar Shishani, Abu Muhammad al-‘Adnani, and others. With the latest setbacks to its leadership, ISIS-linked accounts online already have poured out calls to stay steadfast and have even used Baghdadi’s death as a rallying point to carry out new attacks. Reinforcing this undeterred support is an ISIS military and media machine that has shown no sign of stopping in the last two days. While ISIS has not yet officially acknowledged the death of Baghdadi, it has continued reporting on day-to-day military activity across Iraq, Syria, and the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.ISIS' Yemen Province - AQAP Prisoners as Featured in the video “He Who Starts is More Unjust”SITE Intelligence GroupFurthermore, while al-Qaeda affiliates like the Shabaab serve as powerful representatives of the organization, al-Qaeda Central is weaker than it has ever been. These days, al-Qaeda Central’s role is largely symbolic, limited to leadership messages and other content while steering the big-picture ethos of the organization. Its attempts to bolster its image, already heavily weighed down by a less-than-charismatic leader in Zawahiri, were upended upon the death of Hamza bin Laden, the son of Osama, whom al-Qaeda likely was grooming for an eventual leadership position. These variables considered, al-Qaeda may not be the appealing alternative for jihadists that its supporters want it to seem. So, while some fighters might very well join the ranks of al-Qaeda affiliates in their region, we shouldn't expect to see any drastic migration from ISIS’ ranks into its rival’s.Despite any notions of good-riddance that al-Qaeda and its supporters attach to Baghdadi’s death, and for whatever number of defectors it may win over as a result of Baghdadi’s demise, ISIS is not going anywhere. The barriers between these terrorist organizations have only hardened over the years, fueling deadly clashes and jihadi PR wars. Baghdadi was not the sole barrier keeping ISIS members from joining al-Qaeda, and his death is unlikely to diminish existing disputes.How U.S. Commandos IDed a ‘Mutilated’ Baghdadi So QuicklyRead 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.

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The Latest: Islamic State leader buried at sea, US says

The head of United States Central Command says Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was buried at sea after a weekend raid on his compound. Gen. Frank McKenzie told reporters Wednesday that al-Baghdadi died after he exploded a suicide vest just before U.S. troops were going to capture him. McKenzie says two children were killed in the explosion set off by the Islamic State leader.

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Disaster for Trump? What If the Philippines Became Russia's Ally?

How could that happen?

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Biden's communion denial highlights faith-politics conflict

A Roman Catholic priest's denial of communion to Joe Biden in South Carolina on Sunday illustrates the fine line presidential candidates must walk as they talk about their faiths: balancing religious values with a campaign that asks them to choose a side in polarizing moral debates. The awkward moment for Biden came during a weekend campaign swing through South Carolina, a pivotal firewall in his hopes to claim the Democratic presidential nomination. The former vice president on Sunday visited St. Anthony Catholic Church in Florence, a midsize city in the state's largely rural northeast.

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How to Eat Alone (and Like It)

By BY JESS MCHUGH from NYT Smarter Living https://ift.tt/31WLbCt

Georgia Plans to Purge 300,000 Names From Its Voter Rolls

By BY NICHOLAS CASEY from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2WrdJ5X

Stick to Sports? No Way. Deadspin Journalists Quit en Masse.

By BY MARC TRACY from NYT Business https://ift.tt/31YbsQz

Hundreds of U.S. Troops Leaving, and Also Arriving in, Syria

By BY ERIC SCHMITT AND HELENE COOPER from NYT World https://ift.tt/331hmlz

Iraq Prime Minister Pressed to Quit as Protests Clog Streets

By BY ALISSA J. RUBIN from NYT World https://ift.tt/2pqzoyQ

Ex-MLB star Josh Hamilton charged with assault of 14-year-old daughter

Former AL MVP arrested on felony charge of injury to a child
Hamilton, 38, turned himself Wednesday in Fort Worth, Texas

Former All-Star slugger Josh Hamilton has been charged with injury to a child after his 14-year-old daughter told his ex-wife that he’d struck her.

Hamilton, 38, turned himself Wednesday to the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth, Texas, and was released on $35,000 bond.

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Trump judicial nominee breaks down during Senate hearing

Lawrence VanDyke broke down when asked whether he was biased against LGBT people.

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Comedian Kevin Hart shares emotional video after crash

The US comedian shared the video of his recovery after a severe car accident in September.

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Breastfeeding suites increasing in popularity in the US

Private breastfeeding spaces are increasing in the US, including in train stations and supermarkets.

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US House overwhelmingly votes to recognize Armenian genocide

Resolution comes at delicate time in US-Turkey relationship, shortly after House votes to impose sanctionsPeople take part in a torchlight procession as they mark the 104th anniversary of the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman forces, Yerevan, Armenia. Photograph: Karen Minasyan/AFP/Getty ImagesThe US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to recognize the Armenian genocide of a century ago, stepping into a fraught historical debate at a particularly tense moment for the US-Turkey relationship.The House voted 405-11 in favor of the resolution, which is not legally binding, to formally recognize the systematic killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire in 1915, modern-day Turkey, as a “genocide”.Earlier on Tuesday, the House voted 403 to 16 to impose sanctions on Turkey, in a striking rebuke of Donald Trump after he pulled American forces from northern Syria following a phone call with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, paving the way for Turkey’s assault on Kurdish-held areas in northern Syria.The Turkish government has long denied the term genocide to describe the slaughter and has waged a lobbying campaign in the US and around the world to discourage the use of that word in reference to the killings.Many countries and nearly all US states officially recognize the killings as genocide. But the US Congress has resisted pressure in recent years by activists out of a desire not to inflame tensions with a Nato ally. Support for a resolution grew, particularly among Democrats, after Trump enabled the Turkish offensive against the Kurdish groups.The US had previously allied with Syrian Kurdish forces against militants of the Islamic State group. The Turkish offensive left scores of Kurdish fighters and civilians dead and displaced hundreds of thousands more.“If we ignore history, then we are destined to witness the mistakes of the past be repeated,” the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said, urging support for the resolution on Tuesday. “Recent attacks by the Turkish military against the Kurdish people are a stark reminder of the danger in our own time.”The California Democrat Adam Schiff, a sponsor of the resolution, said in a statement: “The House declared that it will no longer be party to the cause of genocide denial. This is a vote I have fought for 19 years to make possible, and one that tens of thousands of my Armenian American constituents have worked, struggled, and prayed for decades to see.”The vote on the bipartisan resolution came on the heels of House passage of economic sanctions against Turkey.There is a bipartisan resolution in the Senate but it is unclear if the chamber will bring the measure to the floor.In a statement, the Turkish foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, condemned the move, which he called “a meaningless political step” and an “attempt to rewrite history”.“The US Administration and politicians as well as the American people are best placed to consider the damages this resolution seeking to disrupt Turkey-US ties does and will inflict upon the US interests at an extremely fragile time in terms of the international and regional security,” the statement said, adding: “Undoubtedly, this resolution will negatively affect the image of the US before the public opinion of Turkey as it also brings the dignity of the US House of Representatives into disrepute.”But on Capitol Hill, the resolution’s passage was celebrated. California congresswoman Anna Eshoo, who is Armenian American, said she had been “waiting for this moment” since she was first elected to Congress more than a quarter-century ago. “This resolution not only honors and commemorates my ancestors who perished but all those who were lost in the first genocide of the 20th century,” she said.

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A California couple who was forced to evacuate their home and winery share what it's really like to endure the wildfires engulfing the state

California's Sonoma wine country dealt with destructive wildfires in 2017. Here's how one winery is dealing with 2019's Kincade Fire.

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John Bolton: Former national security adviser 'summoned to testify in Trump impeachment probe'

House impeachment investigators have invited John Bolton, a former national security adviser to Donald Trump, to testify before Congress next week, according to reports.Mr Bolton was reportedly called on by House investigators to give evidence for their impeachment inquiry into Mr Trump surrounding the president’s dealings with Ukraine.

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Texas police officer shot his own son, thinking he was a home intruder, police say

The incident occurred Saturday evening when the off-duty Dallas police officer returned home and thought someone might be inside, DeSoto police said.

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Why are California's wildfires different this year?

Destructive wildfires have ripped through California, threatening homes and famous landmarks, and forcing power outages that have plunged millions into darkness. Everything from climate change to corporate negligence has been blamed for the chaos, which has seen hundreds of thousands evacuated, and hundreds of structures destroyed. The 20 worst California wildfires on record all destroyed over 500 structures, or burned 140,000 acres, according to state agency Cal Fire.

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How to Eat Alone (and Like It)

By BY JESS MCHUGH from NYT Smarter Living https://ift.tt/31WLbCt

Georgia Plans to Purge 300,000 Names From Its Voter Rolls

By BY NICHOLAS CASEY from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2WrdJ5X

Stick to Sports? No Way. Deadspin Journalists Quit en Masse.

By BY MARC TRACY from NYT Business https://ift.tt/31YbsQz

Hundreds of U.S. Troops Leaving, and Also Arriving in, Syria

By BY ERIC SCHMITT AND HELENE COOPER from NYT World https://ift.tt/331hmlz

Iraq Prime Minister Pressed to Quit as Protests Clog Streets

By BY ALISSA J. RUBIN from NYT World https://ift.tt/2pqzoyQ

Wednesday 30 October 2019

Trump says al-Baghdadi died 'screaming and crying.' U.S. officials aren't sure how he knows that.

Gen. Mark A. Milley, who watched the raid with Trump in the Situation Room, told reporters at the Pentagon that he doesn't know "what the source of that was."

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English tourists seriously injured in Australia shark attack

An English tourist had his foot bitten off by a shark while another was bitten during the attack in the Whitsunday Islands near Australia's Great Barrier Reef on Tuesday, officials said. In the latest in a string of shark attacks in the tourist area, a 28-year-old man's right foot was bitten off while a 22-year-old man suffered serious lacerations to his lower left leg, according to Mackay Base Hospital. The pair were in a "serious but stable" condition in hospital after being airlifted from the resort town of Airlie Beach, an official told AFP.

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China warns U.S. that criticism over Uighurs not 'helpful' for trade talks

The United States and 22 other countries at the United Nations pushed China on Tuesday to stop detaining ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims, prompting China's U.N. envoy to warn it was not "helpful" for trade talks between Beijing and Washington.

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Mexican lawmakers vote overwhelmingly to end presidential immunity

A proposal to allow for the prosecution of Mexican presidents for a wide range of crimes overwhelmingly passed the lower house of Congress on Tuesday, giving the proposal backed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador a shot of momentum.

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Arrow Producer Brings Green Lantern Inspired Series & DC Anthology To HBO Max

Arrow Producer Brings Green Lantern Series & DC Anthology To HBO Max

HBO Max is launching next spring into an increasingly crowded streaming space. However, HBO Max is already looking to shore up its originals with two new DC shows. Via Entertainment Weekly, Arrow producer Greg Berlanti is developing a “Green Lantern inspired series” and Strange Adventures, an anthology series.

“Both of these original DC properties we’ll be creating for HBO Max will be unlike anything seen on television,” said Berlanti via a statement. “An anthology series of cautionary tales set in a world where superpowers exist, and, in what promises to be our biggest DC show ever made, we will be going to space with a Green Lantern television series, but I can’t reveal any more about that just yet.”

Strange Adventures will feature several superheroes from the DC Universe, including Adam Strange. According to EW, the series will also tell “close-ended morality tales about the intersecting lives of mortals and super-humans.” There are certainly no shortage of cosmic heroes to choose from. Additionally, the large cast of Green Lanterns means there plenty of options for that show as well.

RELATED: First Look At The Green Lantern #6

Berlanti is also an executive producer on The Flash, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, and Black Lightning for The CW. For DC Universe, he produces Titans, Doom Patrol, and Stargirl. Additionally, is developing spinoffs for Superman and Lois Lane as well as Green Arrow and the Canaries. Berlanti was also a co-writer on the 2011 Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds. It’s unclear if the new Green Lantern series will impact the long-in-development Green Lantern Corps movie.

Are you excited to see Green Lantern and Strange Adventures on HBO Max? Let us know in the comment section below!

Recommended Reading: Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. This affiliate advertising program is designed to provide a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

The post Arrow Producer Brings Green Lantern Inspired Series & DC Anthology To HBO Max appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

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Woman Who Oversaw Robberies Targeting Asians and Indians Gets 37 Years in Prison

By BY MARIEL PADILLA from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/369Aa3Q

72 British Lawmakers Condemn ‘Colonial’ Coverage of Meghan

By BY ALAN YUHAS from NYT World https://ift.tt/2BRnK2I

House Passes Resolution Recognizing Armenian Genocide

By BY CATIE EDMONDSON AND RICK GLADSTONE from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2Nq4qPo

Despair for Many and Silver Linings for Some in California Wildfires

By BY THOMAS FULLER, JULIE TURKEWITZ AND JOSE A. DEL REAL from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/32WbkCw

Can the Nationals and Astros Turn This World Series Into a Classic?

By BY TYLER KEPNER from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2NnCk7r

‘Game Of Thrones’ Spinoff ‘House Of The Dragons’ Gets Straight To Series Go-Ahead From HBO

One Game of Thrones prequel pilot may be dead, but another spinoff has been given the gift of life by HBO today. House of the Dragons is coming to the premium cabler it was made official Tuesday at WarnerMedia’s news-heavy HBO Max investors presentation. Jumping beyond pilot, the House Targaryen story from George R.R. Martin […]

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Is Trump trying to unleash the Border Patrol on all of America?

Two in three Americans live in the "border zone," a 100-mile stretch inland where some constitutional due process and privacy protections are functionally canceled in the name of border security. The zone includes entire states -- Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, nearly all of New England, and all but a tiny sliver of Michigan -- as well as about three in four of our 20 largest metro areas. Is the Trump administration trying to make it bigger?The prospect seems obviously attractive to immigration hawks like White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, known to be the president's chief influence on border policy. Yet the possible suggestion of interest in expanding the border zone comes not from Miller but acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Mark Morgan, who joined President Trump on stage at a law enforcement conference in Chicago this week."We will be building 450 miles of big, beautiful wall by the end of 2020," Morgan said, implausibly. "With every mile of wall that's being built, I promise you, it's not just the cities and towns on the border. I always say: Every town, every city, every state is a border town, a border city, and border state."Is that just a figure of speech? Because it's blatantly untrue -- unless the border zone goes national.My suspicion here may seem unfounded, and I hope it is. But I think there are two good reasons to be wary.The first is the nature of the border zone, which too few Americans realize exists. The Fourth Amendment protects our right "to be secure in [our] persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures" and requires specific probable cause before search warrants are issued. But at the border, CBP agents are allowed to conduct searches of bags and vehicles without meeting those requirements. And in 1953, the Justice Department issued a regulation saying these relaxed rules apply within a "reasonable distance" from the actual border, a term the DOJ defined as 100 miles.The 100-mile decision was made by unelected administrators. It wasn't open to public input, nor was it determined by our representatives in Congress. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court upheld the rule in 1976 in U.S. v Martinez-Fuerte, where the 7-2 majority wrote that usually law enforcement must have "individualized suspicion" to breach someone's privacy, but as long as the Border Patrol checkpoints are "reasonably located" (i.e. within the 100-mile range), agents can stop, search, and question motorists without any particular cause.As the minority opinion noted, there's "no principle in the jurisprudence of fundamental rights which permits constitutional limitations to be dispensed with merely because they cannot be conveniently satisfied." The fact that CBP agents typically won't be able to establish probable cause by looking at a moving vehicle should not mean they get to ignore the Constitution. That's not how rights work, and this "papers, please" style of law enforcement is fundamentally un-American.Yet even if you agree with the theory of the 100-mile rule, the practice is a disaster and sees CBP authority expanded well past what Martinez-Fuerte permitted. As Cato Institute scholar and former CIA analyst Patrick Eddington has detailed, CBP agents "elect to ignore the court's admonition in the Martinez-Fuerte ruling that 'any further detention ... must be based on consent or probable cause.'" They've "used violence to remove motorists from their vehicles when they decline to answer questions after asserting their rights;" expanded their searches to planes, buses, and trains; and used the checkpoints in service to the wars on drugs and terror. (No terrorists have ever been arrested this way.)The upshot, as the ACLU has reported in its extensive coverage of the border zone, is CBP "agents are stopping, interrogating, and searching Americans on an everyday basis with absolutely no suspicion of wrongdoing, and often in ways that our Constitution does not permit." And in the years since the 100-mile rule was created, Border Patrol agents have grown from a force of 1,100 to around 21,000, with an estimated 170 permanent "interior checkpoints." What may have been relatively innocuous at the start is now a major problem.That brings us to the second reason to be worried by Morgan's remark: The border zone as it exists today was implemented with remarkably little pushback. The Border Zone Reasonableness Restoration Act of 2019 would reduce the zone to 25 miles, but that would still include most major cities in the current designation -- and it has no legislative traction anyway.If neither Congress nor the Supreme Court objects to this status quo, why would we expect them to object to extending the border zone to include the final third of the population? If it's fine to have CBP infringing around 200 million people's Fourth Amendment rights, what's another 100 million?It's not true that every town, every city, every state is a border town, a border city, and border state. The unchallenged corruption of the border zone gives us good cause to be leery of any talk that suggests they are.

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Rugby World Cup: England fined for crossing halfway line before New Zealand match

England are fined a four-figure sum for crossing the halfway line as they lined up in a V formation to face the haka before their Rugby World Cup semi-final match against New Zealand.

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Michelle Obama on white flight: 'Y'all were running from us'

The former US first lady says race and lack of understanding of migrants still divides the US and world.

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Catholic priest says he denied Joe Biden Holy Communion at Mass in South Carolina because of abortion views

"Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching." Rev. Robert Morey said in a statement.

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Australian sentenced to 36 years for murder, rape of Israeli

An Australian judge sentenced a man to 36 years in prison on Tuesday for the murder and rape of an Israeli student whom he bludgeoned into unconsciousness moments after she stepped off a tram in Melbourne before setting her corpse on fire. Victoria state Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth ordered Codey Herrmann, 21, to serve at least 30 years behind bars for his crimes against 21-year-old Aiia Maasarwe last January. The judge said she would have sentenced Herrmann to 40 years in prison with 35 years to be served before he became eligible for parole if he had not pleaded guilty in the face of an overwhelming prosecution case.

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Here's What California's Kincade Wildfire Looks Like From Space

The Bay-area's Kincade wildfire has grown so large that a satellite can record the plumes from 23,000 miles away in space.

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Correction: Puerto Rico-Cruise Ship Death story

In a story Oct. 28 about charges brought in a cruise ship death, The Associated Press reported erroneously that a child who died was 2 and the man's niece. SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A man who police say dropped his young granddaughter from the 11th floor of a cruise ship docked in Puerto Rico in July has been accused of negligent homicide.

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Is Trump trying to unleash the Border Patrol on all of America?

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Ivan Milat, who killed backpackers, dies in Australia prison

Ivan Milat, whose grisly serial killings of seven European and Australian backpackers horrified Australia in the early '90s, died in a Sydney prison on Sunday, ending hopes of a deathbed confession to more unsolved slayings. Milat died in Long Bay Prison where authorities sent him from a hospital last week to ensure he ended his days behind bars, officials said. Milat was convicted of murder in the deaths of three German, two British, and two Australian backpackers after giving them rides while they were hitchhiking.

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Tuesday 29 October 2019

IS leader's death ushers in new phase for the group

One of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's last audio messages was an appeal for his followers to do everything in their power to free Islamic State detainees and the women being held in jails and camps in northeastern Syria. With news of the extremist group's leader's death, Kurdish security forces worried about the possibility of attacks or rioting have been tightening security at these facilities, which hold more than 80,000 members and supporters of the militant group, including women and children. Fear of chaos already was running high over the fate of those detained after this month's Turkish military invasion of northeastern Syria, which ushered in major troop changes in the area about two weeks after al-Baghdadi's message.

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Judge to allow portion of Nick Sandmann lawsuit against Washington Post to continue

A federal judge is allowing a portion of Covington Catholic student Nathan Sandmann's lawsuit against the Washington Post to continue.

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South Korea Is Still Having Big Problems With Corruption

A bad day for the Moon administration.

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Democratic Rep. Katie Hill resigns amid ethics probe

Freshman Rep. Katie Hill, a rising Democratic star in the House, announced her resignation Sunday amid an ethics probe, saying explicit private photos of her with a campaign staffer had been "weaponized" by her abusive husband and political operatives. The House ethics committee also launched an investigation into whether Hill had an inappropriate relationship with an aide in her congressional office. Hill has denied that.

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US diplomat reportedly said there was a 'quid pro quo' between Donald Trump and Ukraine

A diplomat at the centre of the Donald Trump impeachment inquiry did say there was a "quid pro quo" between the US president and Ukraine, according to his lawyer. Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, gave evidence earlier this month to congressional committees. His lawyer Robert Luskin, told the Wall Street Journal his client had been asked if there was a quid pro quo. He said Mr Sondland had given a caveat that he was not a lawyer, but that he believed the answer was yes. Mr Sondland was said to have been referring to a meeting between Mr Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, that would happen only if Ukraine agreed to investigate allegations of corruption against Joe Biden, one of Mr Trump's chief political rivals. Democrats in Congress are carrying out an impeachment inquiry after a whistleblower came forward detailing a phone call on July 25 between Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky. In text messages that emerged during the inquiry Mr Sondland had earlier said he did not believe there was a quid pro quo. He sent a text message in September saying: "The president has been crystal clear no quid pro quo's (sic) of any kind." The latest development came as John Kelly, Mr Trump's former chief of staff, said he had warned the president he would be impeached. Mr Kelly, who resigned nearly a year ago, said: "It pains me to see what's going on because I believe if I was still there or someone like me was there, he would not be kind of, all over the place. "I said whatever you do, don't hire a 'yes man,' someone who won't tell you the truth - don't do that. Because if you do, I believe you will be impeached." Mr Trump lambasted his former chief of staff. He said: "John Kelly never said that, he never said anything like that. If he would have said that, I would have thrown him out of the office. He just wants to come back into the action like everybody else does." Stephanie Grisham, Mr Trump's spokeswoman, said: "I worked with John Kelly, and he was totally unequipped to handle the genius of our great President." The House of Representatives is expected to vote on articles of impeachment against Mr Trump by Christmas, with a trial to follow in the Senate to determine whether he should be removed from office.

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Democratic Rep. Katie Hill announces resignation amid allegations of relationship with staff member

Democratic California Rep. Katie Hill, faced with allegations she had a sexual relationship with a staff member, announced her resignation on Sunday.

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Vietnam collects DNA samples from relatives of UK missing

Vietnamese officials collected DNA samples on Sunday from relatives of those feared among 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain, a security source and a family member told AFP, as villagers held emotional prayers for the victims. The 31 men and eight women found dead were initially identified as Chinese, but several Vietnamese families have come forward saying they believe their relatives are among the dead. The grim case has cast light on the extreme dangers facing illegal migrants seeking better lives in Europe.