Trump announces grisly death of Islamic State leader Baghdadi during U.S. raid

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed himself during a daring overnight raid by elite U.S. special operations forces in Syria, in a major victory as he fights a Democratic-led impeachment inquiry. Baghdadi died alongside three of his children by detonating an explosives-laden vest when he fled U.S. forces into a dead-end tunnel during the attack, which took place in the Idlib region in northwest Syria, the Republican president said in a televised address to the nation from the White House.

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Almost 2 million Californians could be without power through Thursday in shutdown to reduce wildfire risk

Californians were in the dark during a multiday power outage aimed at curbing wildfire risks amid high winds.

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Feds: Brothers with alleged Hezbollah ties are 'dangerous'

Federal prosecutors say two brothers charged with conspiring to export drone parts and technology from the U.S. to Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon are "dangerous" and should remain in custody while they await trial, according to a court document filed Monday. Usama and Issam Hamade are charged with conspiracy to violate U.S. export laws. Usama Hamade is also charged with smuggling.

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South Korea Is Still Having Big Problems With Corruption

A bad day for the Moon administration.

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John Conyers Jr., 26-Term Congressman Hit by Scandal, Dies

(Bloomberg) -- John Conyers Jr., a Democrat who was serving his 26th term in the U.S. House when he resigned from Congress after allegations that he sexually harassed employees, has died at age 90.Conyers’ death at his home in Detroit on Oct. 27 was confirmed by a family spokeswoman, the Washington Post reported. No cause of death of given.The representative from Michigan’s 13th district entered the U.S. House in 1965. During his tenure, he introduced legislation on civil liberties, voting rights and violence against women while advancing the causes of black Americans by co-founding the Congressional Black Caucus in 1969.Conyers was the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and the longest-serving member of the House when, in November 2017, several former staff members accused him of inappropriate sexual behavior. Conyers denied any wrongdoing but announced his retirement several weeks later. He acknowledged agreeing to a $27,000 settlement in 2015 with a former aide who said she was fired because she rejected his sexual advances.Complicated Legacy“My legacy can’t be compromised or diminished in any way by what we are going through now,” he said in an interview with a Detroit radio station. “This, too, shall pass. My legacy will continue through my children.”He endorsed his son, John Conyers III, to succeed him. Rashida Tlaib ultimately won the seat, becoming one of the first Muslim-American women in Congress.Tlaib called Conyers “our congressman forever” who “never once wavered in fighting for jobs, justice and peace.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that the Detroit community and Congress mourn the loss of a civil-rights champion and public servant.“Chairman Conyers’ life was lived in service to achieving true equality in America,” Pelosi said. “His leadership made a difference in the lives of countless Americans.”Conyers, who handily won re-election contests over the decades, initiated the measure that created the national holiday celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and employed civil-rights icon Rosa Parks for 23 years.For more than a decade, he pushed the U.S. National Health Care Act, which would provide taxpayer-funded treatment for all citizens free of charge. His vision for universal health care, similar to that of the U.K.’s National Health Service, went beyond President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which Conyers saw as a platform to build toward a full single-payer health system.‘Never Wavered’The Conyers bill’s supporters, such as Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, said it would save more than $200 billion a year.“I’ve been a champion of justice for the oppressed and the disenfranchised,” Conyers said in a letter to colleagues when he left office in December 2017. “I never wavered in my commitment to justice and democracy.”Conyers was known to snub opponents, refusing to debate them in election campaigns, and criticized his party when he disagreed with policies it advocated.Supporting Jesse Jackson’s presidential candidacy in 1984, he said the Democratic Party had “become stale and lifeless” with an “allegiance to a corporate order that owes little loyalty to national goals.” He called for a protest march on the White House after Obama cut a deal with the Republicans to raise the U.S. debt ceiling in 2011.Nixon’s EnemyConyers was on the “enemies list” that President Richard Nixon’s administration compiled to target political opponents through tax audits and other methods in the early 1970s. The Michigan representative was later on the Judiciary Committee for the 1974 hearings on the Watergate impeachment process. Nixon resigned before he could be impeached.Among other issues that Conyers spoke out against included Lyndon Johnson’s escalation of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War; the Republican push to impeach President Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal; and the Republican drive to ban abortions in the District of Columbia in 2012.John Conyers Jr. was born May 16, 1929, in Detroit. He was the oldest son of Lucille Simpson and John Conyers, who worked at the Chrysler plant.During the Korean War, he served in the National Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before attending Wayne State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1957.He then became a legislative assistant to John Dingell, the Michigan representative, for two years. Conyers became a partner in the law firm Conyers, Bell & Townsend and was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to promote racial tolerance in the legal profession.Medicare LegislationAs a congressman, Conyers co-sponsored President Johnson’s Medicare legislation and the 1965 Voting Rights Bill. As chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, he oversaw the Justice Department and the federal courts, and dealt with civil-rights and consumer-protection issues. He sponsored the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 and introduced the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to improve the voting system after the presidential election in 2000 needed a recount to determine a winner.Conyers also wrote a 2006 report, “The Constitution in Crisis,” that outlined attempts by George W. Bush’s administration to manipulate intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He recommended censuring Bush.He and his wife, Monica, had two sons: John III and Carl. In 2010, Monica Conyers was sentenced to 37 months in prison for accepting bribes while she was serving on the Detroit City Council.(Updates with comments from Pelosi, Tlaib from seventh paragraph.)\--With assistance from Mark Niquette.To contact the reporter on this story: David Henry in Frankfurt at sgittelson@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Crayton Harrison at tharrison5@bloomberg.net, Jodi Schneider, Ros KrasnyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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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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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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Booby-traps, firefights and a daring chase: inside the US special forces raid on Baghdadi's compound

The eight American stealth helicopters, carrying Delta Force and Navy Seals, came in fast and low over the olive trees in Barisha, a village of a few thousand people in Idlib province near the Turkish border. In the darkness around midnight they were fired on from the ground but quickly obliterated the source, before soldiers rappelled to the ground near the compound housing Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the world's most wanted terrorist. Watching in the Situation Room at the White House Donald Trump was flanked by vice president Mike Pence, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Mark Milley, national security adviser Robert O'Brien, military generals and CIA officials. Mr Trump said it was “as though watching a movie.” The CIA had been tracking Baghdadi, 48, for a couple of weeks after getting information on his whereabouts from sources in Iraq. A senior Iraqi official told The Telegraph they had obtained details on Baghdadi's location from members of his inner circle, who were arrested in Iraq in September. The CIA had been tracking Baghdadi, 48, for a couple of weeks after getting information on his whereabouts from sources in Iraq Credit: Al-Furqan media The official said: “We arrested one of Baghdadi's wives, his nephew, and the wife of one of Baghdadi's couriers.” The Telegraph understands the courier's wife led them to a location in the desert of al-Qaim, on the Iraqi side of the Syria-Iraq border, where Baghdadi was thought to have been hiding out after the fall of the Islamic State caliphate. At the site they found two barrels full of personal items, including medicine, and documents with coordinates of the terrorist leader's location in Idlib written down. As the US began tracking him there were several false starts as Baghdadi headed for locations in or near Barisha, but changed his mind at the last minute. Finally convinced he was in the compound, Mr Trump gave the order. To get to Barisha the US helicopters had to fly for one hour and 10 minutes through dangerous areas of northern Syria controlled by Russia and Turkey. Both nations were informed in advance that the US would be operating, but not why.  A satellite image taken 28 September 2019 of the reported residence of the former ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in northwestern Syria near the village of Barisha Credit: Rex For commanders it was considered perhaps the riskiest part of the mission. After landing successfully, Seals set up a perimeter and Delta Force approached the compound wall.    The intelligence had been so detailed that they knew the main gate was booby-trapped. Instead, they blew holes in several locations along the wall before going in. They also attacked a car outside which, it is believed, may have been part of an escape attempt. According to Mr Trump's account there was a last stand by some of Baghdadi's closest cadre inside the compound. Some of them were “cold-blooded killers,” others were like “frightened puppies”. Donald Trump confirms the raid's success in the Diplomatic Room of the White House  Credit: AP Half a dozen terrorists were killed, with no US dead or injured. As they cleared the compound the US forces found two of Baghdadi's wives, wearing suicide vests, dead. They had not detonated and it was not clear if they were killed in a firefight or took their own lives. The US forces removed 11 children to safety away from the compound. The intelligence had also included that there was a series of tunnels under the compound. One of those tunnels was believed to be an open-ended escape route to the outside, and a unit of US forces were stationed there to prevent Baghdadi getting away. Baghdadi instead fled down one of the dead-end tunnels, taking three children with him. US dogs led the chase, followed by soldiers, down the tunnel. Cornered, Baghdadi detonated the suicide vest he was wearing, killing himself and the three children. Isil Rise and fall of a caliphate Mr Trump said: “He was whimpering and crying and screaming all the way. He died like a dog. He died like a coward.” The US president added that it was the “judgment of God”. The explosion caused the tunnel roof to collapse on top of Baghdadi and the children. One of the US dogs was injured, but no soldiers were. Baghdadi's body parts were quickly uncovered from the debris and removed from the tunnel. A DNA test was carried out on site 15 minutes later and the result was positive. Meanwhile, US teams combed the compound and found records relating to both the origins and future of Isil. The entire raid was swift, with the US forces only in the compound for about two hours. After the helicopters took off the compound was hit by an air strike to prevent it from becoming a shrine to the terrorist leader. Baghdadi's presence in Idlib, the last-remaining anti-Assad opposition stronghold, came as a surprise to some as the province is under the control of rebel groups hostile to Isil. Abu Ahmad, 55, who lives next to the compound, said he had repeatedly tried and failed to befriend his discreet neighbour, the owner of the compound, who was a merchant from the province of Aleppo. In the middle of the night he was woken in the night by the sound of soldiers “speaking a foreign language”. He heard them calling for his neighbour to give himself up. Abdel Hameed, another resident, said he saw six bodies inside the house, and two more in the car outside following the raid. Ahmed Mohammad, who lives nearby, said he was the internet provider for the owner of the compound, and visited regularly. He said: “I have known this man personally for two years. He is a merchant. I did not have the impression that he was anything but a civilian.” Barry McCaffrey, a retired four-star US Army general, said: “It was flawless. The fact we had no casualties is astonishing.”

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Reuters source: Top aide to al-Baghdadi helped his capture

In their long hunt for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Iraqi intelligence teams secured a break in February 2018 after one of the Islamic State leader's top aides gave them information on how he escaped capture for so many years, said two Iraqi security officials.

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Two dead as hundreds of police, supporters march in Haiti

Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Two people were killed as several hundred police and their supporters demonstrated in Haiti's capital for better law enforcement salaries on Sunday, police said, while anti-government marchers also took to the streets. The first victim was shot during a protest demanding that President Jovenel Moise step down. "An unidentified individual was shot dead," the Haitian police said in a statement.

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Greg Walden to retire in latest sign of GOP doubts about retaking House

Rep. Greg Walden, the top Republican on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, will retire at the end of this Congress — the latest sign that Republicans see a struggle to retake the House in 2020. The 62-year-old Walden, who was first elected in 1998, said he was confident he'd win reelection but decided instead to end his congressional career in Jan. 2021.

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California wildfires: how bad are they and is the climate crisis linked?

Firefighters across the state are racing to control flames exacerbated by extreme winds. Is this normal?

Thousands of firefighters are battling wind-fueled wildfires across California, as warm temperatures, strong winds and low humidity turned the state into a “tinderbox”.

Gavin Newsom, the California governor, declared a state of emergency on 27 October, as crews worked to control several large blazes, including the Tick fire in the Santa Clarita Valley and a brush fire near the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The largest of the fires, the Kincade Fire in Sonoma county, forced almost 200,000 people to evacuate.

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Esper: US troops, armored vehicles going to Syria oil fields

The United States will send armored vehicles and combat troops into eastern Syria to keep oil fields from potentially falling into the hands of Islamic State militants, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said. It was the latest sign that extracting the military from Syria is more uncertain and complicated than President Donald Trump is making it out to be.

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Israel's Gantz, Netanyahu hold talks to break gov't deadlock

Israel's prime minister and his main rival opened a new round of unity talks Sunday in the latest effort to break a political stalemate and avoid an unprecedented third parliamentary election in less than a year. Israel has been paralyzed by political deadlock following an inconclusive election last month, with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud nor the rival Blue and White party in control of a 61-seat majority in parliament. After nearly a month of efforts, Netanyahu last week said he had failed to cobble together a coalition.

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Honduran inmate who linked president's brother to drug deals killed

An alleged drug dealer with knowledge of drug shipments involving a brother of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez convicted this month for drug trafficking, was killed on Saturday in prison, his lawyer said. Magdaleno Meza, who had been in the El Pozo prison since June 2018 on charges of money laundering, was shot dead during a fight between inmates of the facility, the deputy director of the national penal authority, German McNiel, told reporters. Meza's lawyer, Carlos Chajtur, told Reuters his client was attacked by two armed men trying to stop him from talking about the information about drug deals he had in several notebooks in case he was called to testify in the United States.

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Homeowner says a mystery object damaged his house. It didn't fall from a plane, FAA says

Authorities including the Federal Aviation Administration have not been able to identify a canister-type object that damaged a Kentucky man's home.

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Joe Biden's changing looks have reportedly become a 'minor obsession of the White House' and Trump

Early on, Trump was worried about Joe Biden. Privately, he doesn't like his 'look,' or the plastic surgery he thinks Biden has had done.

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Cyclone heads to Gulf coast as rain douses Southeast

Storms with heavy rains doused the drought-parched South on Friday, prompting alerts for floods and tornadoes as Post-Tropical Cyclone Olga headed for the Gulf coast. The National Hurricane Center said Olga, located in the Gulf of Mexico south of Louisiana, would contribute to rainfall that could total 8 inches (20 centimeters) in spots by Sunday. Neither it nor Tropical Storm Pablo, far out in the Atlantic, was expected to reach hurricane strength.

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How Early-Career Setbacks Can Set You Up for Success

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Max Scherzer’s Neck Pain Gives Nationals’ Joe Ross a Surprise Start

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