Katie Hill delivers scathing resignation speech after Trump impeachment vote: 'I am leaving because of a double standard'

Katie Hill has unloaded with a scathing resignation speech, in which she claimed she is the victim of a gendered "double standard" in society that has punished her for her sexual life even as Donald Trump remains president in spite of bragging "about his sexual predation".Ms Hill, who was elected to Congress in 2018 as a part of a wave of women Democrats who took office that year, delivered her final speech in the House just after participating in a historic vote to formally launch the impeachment inquiry into the president over his alleged effort to force Ukraine to investigate a potential chief political foe.

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Biden stumbles over words, struggles to deliver his message to voters

Joe Biden was making an impassioned case for protecting immigrants in the country illegally one recent Sunday when he abruptly stopped himself. “There’s many more things, but —” he said before trailing off at a union forum. Six months into his presidential campaign, Biden is still delivering uneven performances on the debate stage and on the campaign trail in ways that can undermine his message.

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Aniah Blanchard's UFC Fighter Stepdad Says Missing Alabama Teen Is 'Amazing'

Aniah Haley Blanchard, 19, was reported missing by her family on Oct 24. The last time she was heard from was by a friend the night before, according to authorities. 

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Troops, armored vehicles enter Syria to protect oil fields from ISIS

The Pentagon moved troops and armored vehicles into Syria Thursday to protect oil fields from exploitation by ISIS.

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Exxon, Chevron Begin Pushing Back Against Warren’s Fracking Ban

(Bloomberg) -- America’s two biggest oil companies are starting to push back against the fracking ban touted by the leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, which may become one of the most consequential flashpoints for energy markets during the election campaign.Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. executives spoke out publicly against the proposals for the first time on Friday, saying they would shift profits from crude production from the U.S. to other countries, and may increase prices for consumers while doing nothing to reduce oil demand or greenhouse-gas emissions.It’s a line of attack that’s likely to feature heavily in debates in the year ahead as the energy industry and Republicans seek to counter the Democratic Party’s green wing. To be sure, whoever gets elected next year will find it difficult to end fracking. Presidential powers to enact a ban only extend to federal lands, something that would be certain to face immediate legal challenges. A wider restriction would need to go through Congress.“Any efforts to ban fracking or restrict supply will not remove demand for the resource,” Neil Hansen, Exxon’s vice president of investor relations, said on a conference call with analysts. “If anything it will shift the economic benefit away from the U.S. to another country, and a potentially impact the price of that commodity here and globally.”Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, two front-runners in the race to be the Democratic candidate, are keen to stop America’s reliance on fossil fuels, and they also want to end what they say is Washington’s subservience to corporate interests. They also know how to hit Exxon and Chevron where it hurts. Five years ago, both companies produced little crude from fracking and might have even have benefited from a ban if it led to higher oil prices. But now fracking is the fastest-growing part of their global businesses and a key profit driver.Hydraulic fracturing of shale rock is pushing U.S. oil production to record highs, touching 12.4 million barrels a day in August. Exxon said Friday its output from the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico had boomed by more than 70% in the third quarter from a year earlier. Chevron, a bigger Permian producer, saw its output there climb 35%.That wave of supply has ensured lower gasoline and energy prices for domestic consumers, bolstered economic growth for states such as Texas and North Dakota, and restored the country to ranks of the world’s major crude exporters.“It’s really unlocked an economic huge economic benefit for the country, as well as for the companies involved,” Jay Johnson, the boss of Chevron’s upstream business, said during the company’s earnings conference call.But fracking also has costs, particularly in terms of the climate. Cheap fossil fuels typically mean people use more of them, causing higher emissions. Hansen said that while Exxon shares concerns about climate change, “there are more effective policies” such as a revenue-neutral carbon tax and technology initiatives.To contact the reporter on this story: Kevin Crowley in Houston at kcrowley1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Casey at scasey4@bloomberg.net, Joe CarrollFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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Ex-beauty queen accuses former Gambia president of rape

A Gambian former beauty queen on Thursday accused former President Yahya Jammeh of raping her to punish her for rejecting his marriage proposal, in evidence to the country's truth and reconciliation commission. "What he wanted to do was to teach me a lesson, what he wanted to do is manifest his ego," Fatou Jallow said. "There were words like 'who do you think you are?', that he is the president and that he gets any woman that he wants," Jallow told Gambia's Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC).

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Beto O’Rourke Drops Out of 2020 Race

REUTERSFormer Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) is ending his presidential campaign after struggling for months to gain sustained momentum, as the crowded Democratic primary thins out less than 100 days before the Iowa caucus. “Though it is difficult to accept, it is clear to me now that this campaign does not have the means to move forward successfully,” O’Rourke wrote in a Medium post announcing his move on Friday. “My service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee. Acknowledging this now is in the best interests of those in the campaign; it is in the best interests of this party as we seek to unify around a nominee; and it is in the best interests of the country.”Rumors about O’Rourke’s candidacy began shortly after his Senate campaign concluded. But for months, he put off making a decision, leaving top Democratic operatives who may have signed on with him to look elsewhere. The entrance into the race of South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, perceived to occupy the same lane for a young, fresh-faced outsider, appeared to further dull the allure of O’Rourke’s bid. When he finally launched he did so with much fanfare. A Vanity Fair article timed to his announcement marketed his bid as a second chance at political greatness for the former Texas congressman after failing to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. O’Rourke was featured on the magazine cover’s standing on a dirt road, outside a pick-up truck with the words, “Beto’s Choice” written in bold over his left shoulder and the quote, “I want to be in it. Man, I was born to be in it.” And he was, for a few weeks, anyway.  In the first 18 days of his candidacy, O’Rourke raised an impressive $9.4 million. But his star began to fall as quickly as it rose. A lack of fully formed policy positions and a series of lackluster debate appearances contributed to his failure to harness the same energy that that was seen during his Senate campaign. A mass shooting at a Walmart in his hometown of El Paso took him off the campaign trail briefly in August as he mourned with his community. When he returned to the race, O’Rourke, 47, called for a mandatory buyback program of assault-style weapons, which ignited loud applause during a Democratic primary debate in his native Texas in September. Days later, his unofficial campaign slogan became “hell yes”—a line from his debate performance that if he were elected president, he would buy back such weapons. Beto O’Rourke’s Finest Hour Came Off the Presidential Campaign Trail, in El PasoWhile the move helped rally some progressives in key voting states, his promise proved to be politically risky and was met with some skepticism among his fellow Democrats and guns rights activists, who argued he was giving fuel to Republicans by calling for such drastic measures. By the end of his campaign, O’Rourke was at approximately 2 percent nationally. And while he made his plans to withdraw from the presidential race public on Friday, he has consistently ruled out running for any other office in 2020, including challenging Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). “Oh no, Beto just dropped out of race for President despite him saying he was “born for this.” I don’t think so!,” President Donald Trump tweeted on Friday afternoon. Just hours before he suspended his bid, his campaign released official plans to file for the New Hampshire primary and return to the state on Nov. 8. “Beto will be joined by local supporters at the New Hampshire State House for the filing event,” the release reads. Ultimately, O’Rourke pledged to help elect the party’s nominee to take on Trump in the general election. “We will work to ensure that the Democratic nominee is successful in defeating Donald Trump in 2020,” he wrote. “I can tell you firsthand from having the chance to know the candidates, we will be well served by any one of them, and I’m going to be proud to support whoever that nominee is.”Beto Going Bust: The Once Great Dem Hope Is Among the Many 2020ers Struggling for CashRead 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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Bad news for Boeing: Company says more 737 NGs found to have wing cracks

The FAA ordered the inspections in 737 NG's that have flown many thousands of flghts

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Democrats' decision to televise Trump impeachment hearings could prove politically perilous

Democrats in the U.S. Congress took a major step toward impeaching President Donald Trump this week when they agreed on the rules for publicly televised hearings after weeks of testimony behind closed doors. Leaders of the Democratic-run U.S. House of Representatives believe that putting the main witnesses on TV will convince independent voters and other doubters that Trump was wrong in asking the Ukrainian government to dig up dirt on a political rival, Democrat Joe Biden, who hopes to be the candidate to oust Trump in the 2020 election. While Republicans and the president face great political risk in the hearings, so do Democrats.

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The ‘Whimpering’ Terrorist Only Trump Seems to Have Heard

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