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Pulls a ad which showed a pickup truck driver chasing down children of color on Tuesday, Oct. 31

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A television ad depicting supporters of Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Ed Gillespie as Confederates who attack children of color has been pulled in the wake of the terror attack in New York City.

The Democratic group Latino Victory Fund removed the controversial ad, which showed a pickup truck driver chasing down children of color on Tuesday, Oct. 31.

"We knew our ad would ruffle feathers. We held a mirror up to the Republican Party, and they don't like what they see. We have decided to pull our ad at this time," said Cristobal J. Alex, president of the LVF, in a statement on Twitter Tuesday evening.

"Given recent events, we will be placing other powerful ads into rotation that highlight the reasons we need to elect progressive leaders in Virginia."

The statement was released just hours after investigators said the suspected driver, identified as 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov, plowed a rented pickup truck into a crowd in Lower Manhattan. The incident, being treated as a terror attack, left at least eight dead and at least 11 others injured.

The ad was released on Monday and was expected to run through Election Day.

Gillespie denounced the ad Tuesday morning in an interview with "Fox & Friends."

"This attack is not just an attack on my supporters, it's an attack on all Virginians. The fact is, whether you disagree with people or not, in Virginia, we respect civil discourse and this is a new low in politics here. It's a sad day," Gillespie said.

In a statement to Fox News, Gillespie's campaign manager called the ad a "desperate smear campaign."

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Democratic group pulls ad targeting Virginia governor hopeful Ed Gillespie's supporters

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A television ad depicting supporters of Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Ed Gillespie as Confederates who attack children of color has been pulled in the wake of the terror attack in New York City. The Democratic group Latino Victory Fund removed the controversial ad, which showed a pickup truck driver chasing down children of color on Tuesday, Oct.

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Brazil divided due to wanting the ex leader in jail.

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Half of Brazilians want former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to win next year's election and return to the office he occupied between 2003 and 2010. The other half wants him in prison for a corruption conviction.

Those dueling sentiments now underscore an important question as campaigns begin gearing up ahead of the 2018 election: Will da Silva, who is appealing the conviction, be allowed to run?

"Whether Lula runs or not makes all the difference in the next election," said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo. "Even if he is jailed he won't be out of the race, as whoever he supports could be a competitive candidate."

With a lead in all polls, the man universally known as Lula is campaigning across Brazil while he appeals the guilty verdict. If it's upheld, he could go to jail and be barred from running. If it's overturned, da Silva is facing several other trials that could interfere with his campaign.

Despite the setbacks, da Silva has seen his approval rating rise since the conviction, cementing the reality that he will likely be a force in the election one way or the other.

The chairman of a group of three magistrates has said that he expects the court to rule on da Silva's appeal before next August. The election is in October.

Da Silva was convicted in July by Judge Sergio Moro as part of a sprawling investigation into kickbacks by construction companies and public officials. Da Silva was sentenced to 9 1/2 years in jail and barred from holding public office for seven.

But while candidates figure out how to position themselves depending on da Silva's legal fate, there are also questions about whether the former president's own Workers' Party has a Plan B.

"Lula's candidacy is irreversible," Workers' Party chairwoman Gleisi Hoffmann told The Associated Press.

Ciro Gomes, a former Cabinet minister in da Silva's government and a presidential hopeful himself, disagrees.

"The Workers' Party will have a candidate, but it won't be Lula," Gomes said recently at a conference in Sao Paulo.

The election is Oct. 7, 2018, with a likely runoff three weeks later if none of the candidates obtain more than 50 percent of the vote.

A survey by polling firm Datafolha says Silva has 30 percent support for the first election round, compared to 20 percent for his closest rival, Congressman Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain who speaks glowingly about the country's 1964-1985 dictatorship.

The poll also indicates da Silva would beat every adversary in a runoff, except for a tie with Moro, the judge who convicted him but who has repeatedly said he will not run despite being hailed by many Brazilians as a hero.

Meanwhile, 54 percent of the Brazilians surveyed said they want the former president in jail.

The poll was conducted Sept. 27-28 after da Silva's conviction in the "Car Wash" probe. Datafolha interviewed 2,772 people and said the poll had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

Overall, the poll said da Silva has become more popular since he was found guilty. In July, Datafolha found that he was rejected by 46 percent of voters and would tie with former Cabinet minister Marina Silva in a runoff, compared to 42 percent of voters in October who said they would not back the ex-president.

Hoffmann believes President Michel Temer's dismal approval rating, which has hovered around 3 percent in recent polls, is a key reason why da Silva is gaining strength.

"People look at Temer and think of all the good things Lula did in office. The difference is staggering. And people have noticed how politicized the investigations against him are," she said.

Another factor fueling da Silva's lead is division among opponents who have not coalesced around an "anti-Lula" candidate.

The right-leaning Brazilian Social Democracy Party is torn between two possible candidates: Sao Paulo Gov. Geraldo Alckmin, who lost to da Silva in the 2006 presidential election, and Sao Paulo Mayor Joao Doria. So far, both are polling at less than 10 percent.

Da Silva has been holding large rallies across the country. He contends all the charges against him are politically motivated and promises better economic times, a message that resonates with many as Brazil struggles to emerge from its worst recession in decades.

At any moment, however, the higher court decision on his appeal could throw his campaign into a tailspin.

Fernando Castelo Branco, law professor at Sao Paulo's PUC University, said da Silva's candidacy will be revoked if the conviction is upheld before official campaigning begins in August.

"If he has already registered his candidacy, the court could still uphold the conviction or add to his penalties and in that case his candidacy could be annulled," Branco said.

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Brazil: Divided over wanting ex-leader in office or jail

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Half of Brazilians want former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to win next year's election and return to the office he occupied between 2003 and 2010. The other half wants him in prison for a corruption conviction.

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North Korea’s ‘stressed’ nuclear test mountain on verge of collapse

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NOTE: We are testing out something new this week. We have separated the three Tuesday's World News articles into separate posts, with one in place of today's Daily News Article.
North Korea's 'stressed' nuclear test mountain on verge of collapse

Analysts are seeing signs that Mount Mantap, the 7,200-foot-high peak under which the tests are conducted, is [in danger of collapse], the Washington Post reported.

During a massive detonation that triggered a 6.3-magnitude earthquake, the mountain visibly shifted. Since then, the region, which is not known for natural seismic activity, has had three more quakes.

"What we are seeing from North Korea looks like some kind of stress in the ground," said Paul G. Richards, a seismologist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. "In that part of the world, there were stresses in the ground, but the explosions have shaken them up."

Chinese scientists have raised the alarm that additonal nuclear tests could cause Mount Mantap to collapse and release the radiation from the blast.

North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006, all of them under Mount Mantap at a site known as the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility.

Using satellite images, intelligence analysts and experts keep tabs on movement at the three entrances to tunnels for signals that a test is imminent.

After the latest test, on Sept. 3, dictator Kim Jong Un's rogue regime claimed it had set off a hydrogen bomb and that it had been a "perfect success."

Analysis group 38 North published images that showed "more numerous and widespread" disturbances at the site of the test than before, the BBC reported.

38 North said the pictures showed landslides as well as numerous areas of gravel and stone fields that were "lofted" by the tremors.

Lofting occurs when shockwaves force material to be ejected from the ground, and the material falls back down in the same place.

Questions

1. For North Korea, give the following information:

1. location/the countries that share its borders

2. the religious breakdown of the population

3. the type of government

4. the chief of state (and head of government if different) If monarch or dictator, since what date has he/she ruled? - include name of heir apparent for monarch

5. the population

Find the answers at the CIA World FactBook website . For each country, answers can be found under the "Geography" "People" and "Government" headings.
NOTE: Before answering the questions below, watch the videos under "Resources."
2. For NORTH KOREA:
a) list the who, what, where and when of the news item
b) List facts that point to the possibility that another North Korea nuclear test could cause Mount Mantap to collapse.
c) What have Chinese scientists warned could happen if the mountain does collapse?
d) North Korea has conduced 6 nuclear tests since 2006. How do experts know when a new test is imminent?
e) Watch the news reports under "Resources" below. Do you think the danger posed to China by a mountain collapse will make President Xi more likely to work with the U.S. in stopping North Korea? Explain your answer. Ask a parent the same question.

Free Answers - Sign-up here to receive a weekly email with answers.

Resources

Watch two news reports:

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NOTE: We are testing out something new this week. We have separated the three Tuesday's World News articles into separate posts, with one in place of today's Daily News Article. North Korea's 'stressed' nuclear test mountain on verge of collapse Analysts are seeing signs that Mount Mantap, the 7,200-foot-high peak under which the tests are conducted, is [in danger of collapse], the Washington Post reported.

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has accusations that he admitted to and now seeking help also coming out the closet.

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Former employees of the Old Vic have come forward to say that the theater had known about Mr. Spacey's improper behavior at the time, but had turned a blind eye. "We were all involved in keeping it quiet," a former employee told The Guardian newspaper. "I witnessed him groping men many times in all sorts of different situations."

A spokeswoman for the Old Vic refused repeated requests for an interview.

On Sunday, the "Star Trek: Discovery" actor Mr. Rapp told Buzzfeed News that Mr. Spacey had invited him to a party at his apartment in 1986, where he had made unwanted sexual advances. Mr. Rapp said that after the other guests had left, Mr. Spacey, who appeared intoxicated, took him into his bedroom, and lay on top of him.

In a statement that has been widely criticized, Mr. Spacey said he was "horrified" by the accusations and did not remember the incident. "But if I did behave then as he describes," he said, "I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior."

pic.twitter.com/X6ybi5atr5
- Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) Oct. 30, 2017

The day after that apology, Netflix announced it was canceling the next season of "House of Cards," in which Mr. Spacey starred.

On Wednesday, another man came forward, saying that when he was a teenager, Mr. Spacey had lain on him while he was sleeping. Speaking via a video link in which his face was not visible, the man told the Victoria Derbyshire of the BBC that the episode had occurred in the 1980s in New York.

The man said that when he was 17, Mr. Spacey had invited him to spend the weekend in New York. He said that Mr. Spacey had asked him to share his bed, but that he had declined and slept on the sofa. He then described waking up in the morning to find Mr. Spacey's arms around him.

"I was uncomfortable, at best, traumatized at worst," he said.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Roberto Cavazos, a Mexican actor, said that Mr. Spacey routinely made unwanted advances toward young men. "It seems that it only took a male under 30 to make Mr. Spacey feel free to touch us," he said.

He also said that Mr. Spacey was often seen in the Old Vic's bar, "squeezing whoever caught his attention."

Mr. Cavazos went on to describe his own experience with Mr. Spacey: "I myself had a couple of unpleasant encounters with Spacey that were on the edge of being called harassment."

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Kevin Spacey to Seek Treatment as Assault Accusations Grow

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Former employees of the Old Vic have come forward to say that the theater had known about Mr. Spacey's improper behavior at the time, but had turned a blind eye. "We were all involved in keeping it quiet," a former employee told The Guardian newspaper.

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House Republicans released a bill on Thursday that would make major changes to the tax code. Some key elements of the proposal:

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House Republicans released a bill on Thursday that would make major changes to the tax code. Some key elements of the proposal:

Lower Rates for Households

The bill would reduce the current marginal income tax brackets to four from seven - 12, 25, 35 and 39.6 percent - and lower taxes by increasing the income ranges affected by each rate.

The top rate would be the same as it is now, except the income level at which it would apply would increase to $1 million for married couples from $480,050 under the current law.

While the lowest income rate would increase, typical families in the existing 10 percent bracket would most likely be better off because of a larger child tax credit and an increase in the standard deduction. The full effects of the plan on different groups has not yet been analyzed by experts.

The bill would repeal the individual Alternative Minimum Tax - which primarily affects households with incomes from $200,000 to $1 million - and would maintain preferential rates for investment income. It would also repeal the estate tax after six years, in the meantime doubling the amount of inherited wealth that is exempt from the tax to $11 million from $5.5 million.

Increase the Standard Deduction and Child Tax Credit

The plan would nearly double the amount of the standard deduction and eliminate the personal exemption, a deduction based on the number of taxpayers and the dependents claimed on a return.

The new, single deduction would be higher for many filers, except those who claim multiple children. An increase in the child tax credit to $1,600 from $1,000 and a new $300 credit for each parent and nonchild dependent could make up the difference.

Filers can choose the standard deduction or itemized deductions, but not both. Most filers - 70 percent - currently choose the standard deduction because it is higher than what they qualify for in itemized deductions.

According to an analysis of an earlier House Republican tax plan by the Tax Policy Center, 84 percent of filers who currently itemize their deductions would take the standard deduction if it were doubled.

To help pay for the increase, the plan would eliminate other deductions, with the exception of deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions and state and local property taxes. The mortgage interest deduction would be capped for newly purchased homes up to $500,000, and the property tax deduction would be capped at $10,000.

Eliminate the State and Local Tax Deduction

The biggest deduction that would be eliminated is the one for state and local taxes. That deduction primarily helps people in blue states where taxes are higher.

Republicans made a last-minute change to the bill that would retain some of the property tax portion of the deduction, but many upper-middle class taxpayers in these places could still end up paying more under the bill.

But the political divide is not so straight-forward. A recent Tax Policy Center analysis found that of the 20 congressional districts with the highest percentage of returns claiming the deduction in 2014, nine had Republican representatives.

Create a New Tax Rate For 'Pass-Through' Businesses

The plan would create a new 25 percent tax rate for "pass-through" businesses - sole proprietorships, partnerships and S corporations that currently pay taxes at the individual rate of their owners. Pass-throughs now make up about 95 percent of businesses in the country and the bulk of corporate tax revenue for the government.

Most pass-throughs are small sole proprietorships currently paying less than a 25 percent marginal rate. But a few are quite large - 1.7 percent of pass-through businesses generate more than 40 percent of all pass-through income and are taxed at the top 39.6 percent rate.

The bill includes a rule to help prevent wealthy individuals from incorporating as pass-through companies to pay a lower tax rate on their income. As a result, certain personal service businesses like law, accounting and consulting would not be eligible for the rate.

Lower the Corporate Rate While Eliminating Some Tax Breaks

The plan would lower the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent and eliminate most business deductions and credits, with the exception of those for research and development and low-income housing. Cutting this tax rate is the most expensive change in the bill.

A recent analysis by the Tax Foundation found that eliminating these corporate tax expenditures that do not change the structure of the tax code would only pay to lower the rate to 28.5 percent from 35 percent, far short of the 20 percent rate called for in the bill. Because the bill calls for retaining some expenditures, even more savings will have to be found elsewhere to pay for the corporate tax cut.

The plan also makes several other major changes to the corporate tax code, including allowing temporary immediate expensing of assets, scaling back deductibility for corporate interest expenses, moving to a territorial system and implementing a one-time repatriation tax on profits overseas.

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Six Charts That Help Explain the Republican Tax Plan

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House Republicans released a bill on Thursday that would make major changes to the tax code. Some key elements of the proposal: Lower Rates for Households The bill would reduce the current marginal income tax brackets to four from seven - 12, 25, 35 and 39.6 percent - and lower taxes by increasing the income ranges affected by each rate.

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Trump signed a proclamation declaring Sunday a “National Day of Prayer” for the state of Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.)

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Watch Governor Abbott's statement:

Praying for Texas!

(Update: On Friday, President Trump signed a proclamation declaring Sunday a "National Day of Prayer" for the state of Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.)

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Watch Governor Abbott's statement: Praying for Texas! (Update: On Friday, President Trump signed a proclamation declaring Sunday a "National Day of Prayer" for the state of Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.)

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Trumps chairman,was indicted on Oct. 30 on charges that he funneled millions of dollars through overseas shell companies and used the money to buy luxury cars, real estate, antiques and expensive suits.

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Senator Jeff Flake, the Arizona Republican who has tangled with President Trump for months, announced on Oct. 24 that he would not seek re-election in 2018, declaring on the Senate floor that he "will no longer be complicit or silent" in the face of all of the following EXCEPT .

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Weekly News Quiz: Mueller Investigation, Catalonia, Public Health Emergency

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Senator Jeff Flake, the Arizona Republican who has tangled with President Trump for months, announced on Oct. 24 that he would not seek re-election in 2018, declaring on the Senate floor that he "will no longer be complicit or silent" in the face of all of the following EXCEPT .

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Elizabeth Warren agrees DNC was 'rigged' in Clinton's favor

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CLOSE

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., agreed Thursday during an interview with CNN, that the Democratic National Committee was "rigged" in favor of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Democratic primary.

"Very quickly Senator, do you agree with the notion that it was rigged?" Jake Tapper asked Warren.

Yes," Warren answered empathically.

The exchange occurred at the end of a discussion about former DNC chair Donna Brazile's conclusion that the Clinton campaign had control over the DNC and that the "system" was rigged "to throw the primary to Hillary."

More: Donna Brazile accuses Hillary Clinton of 'rigging' DNC in her favor

"This is a real problem," Warren said. "But what we've got to do as Democrats now, is we've got to hold this party accountable."

Warren said the moment is a test of DNC Chair Tom Perez's leadership.

"And either he's going to succeed by bringing Bernie Sanders and Bernie Sanders representatives into this process and they're going to say, 'It's fair, it works, we all believe it.' Or, he's going to fail, and I very much hope he succeeds," Warren said. "I hope for Democrats everywhere, I hope for Bernie and for all of Bernie's supporters that he's going to succeed."

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2A16LIj

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Elizabeth Warren agrees DNC was 'rigged' in Clinton's favor

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CLOSE Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., agreed Thursday during an interview with CNN, that the Democratic National Committee was "rigged" in favor of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Democratic primary. "Very quickly Senator, do you agree with the notion that it was rigged?" Jake Tapper asked Warren. Yes," Warren answered empathically.

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everyone thinks that Trump had his hands on the Russian election meddling

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Nearly half of Americans believe President Trump likely committed a crime related to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to a new poll published Thursday.

Of the 49% of Americans that think Trump likely acted illegally, 30% hold the belief on suspicion alone while 19% think there's already solid evidence to back it up, according to the Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The poll also found that more than half of Americans approve of the job Russia special counsel Robert Mueller is doing, while just over a quarter of Americans disapprove.

The survey of 714 Americans, conducted Oct. 30-Nov. 1, comes on the heels of Mueller's team filing the first criminal charges in its investigation and confirming publicly for the first time that someone in Trump's campaign sought an allegiance with Russians to gather "dirt" on his political rival.

The charges unsealed Monday included grand jury indictments of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates on charges that they secretly worked on behalf of pro-Russian factions in Ukraine, then laundered millions of dollars in profits through foreign bank accounts.

More: Who's who: Key players in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election

Also announced Monday: former adviser to Trump's campaign George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to a charge that he lied to FBI agents about his contacts with a professor he believed "had substantial connections to Russian government officials" during the campaign. The professor offered him "dirt" - in the form of thousands of emails - on Trump's election opponent, Hillary Clinton.

When asked about the charges brought against Manafort, almost 70% of Americans said they approved, according to the poll. More than half think those charges - as well as the cases against Gates and Papadopoulos - signal more widespread wrongdoing in the Trump campaign.

More: Mueller's bombshell: Special counsel charges Manafort, Gates and reveals aide's Russia contacts

More: Analysis: After Mueller's first charges, the White House braces for the next ones

Trump has long been critical of Mueller's probe, calling it a "hoax" and "witch hunt."

On Monday, Trump distanced himself from the investigation, denying any allegations of collusion and saying that the charges against Manafort stem from actions from "years ago" and that Papadopoulos was a "young, low level volunteer."

According to Thursday's poll, 51% of Americans think Trump is not cooperating with Muller's investigation.
Contributing: Kevin Johnson and Brad Heath Follow Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller
Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2A2gEp2

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Poll: Nearly half of Americans think Trump committed a crime related to Russian election meddling

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CLOSE Nearly half of Americans believe President Trump likely committed a crime related to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to a new poll published Thursday. Of the 49% of Americans that think Trump likely acted illegally, 30% hold the belief on suspicion alone while 19% think there's already solid evidence to back it up, according to the Washington Post-ABC News poll.

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A worker who last day deactivated Trumps twitter it was down for about 11 mins

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President Trump's personal Twitter account was taken down Thursday evening by a customer service employee who was leaving the company, the social media giant confirmed.

Trump's @realDonaldTrump account went offline shortly before 7 p.m. ET, providing the error message "Sorry that page doesn't exist." The account was restored minutes later.

Twitter released a statement an hour after the outage saying the account was "inadvertently deactivated due to human error by a Twitter employee."

"The account was down for 11 minutes, and has since been restored. We are continuing to investigate and are taking steps to prevent this from happening again," the company said.

Twitter later confirmed at 10 p.m. that Trump's account was taken down by a customer support employee "who did this on the employee's last day."

The company added, "We are conducting a full internal review." It did not say whether the employee would be punished in any way.

Trump did not immediately address the outage after his account was reactivated. Instead, he tweeted about the GOP tax plan.

"Great Tax Cut rollout today. The lobbyists are storming Capital [sic] Hill, but the Republicans will hold strong and do what is right for America!"

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'Customer service' rep at Twitter briefly deactivates Trump's account

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President Trump's personal Twitter account was taken down Thursday evening by a customer service employee who was leaving the company, the social media giant confirmed. Trump's @realDonaldTrump account went offline shortly before 7 p.m. ET, providing the error message "Sorry that page doesn't exist." The account was restored minutes later.

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A terrorist act a man who rented a truck and ran people over.

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Example of Media Bias:

From The Daily Caller on Oct. 31 by Rachel Stoltzfoos:
The New York Times and other media outlets buried the phrase "Allahu akbar" in reports on the man who carried out what authorities are treating as a deadly terror attack in New York City on Tuesday.

A breaking banner on TheNYT website said the man "yelled 'God is great' in Arabic," and the same indirect reporting remained in a blurb on the homepage:

"The police said the driver shouted 'God is great' in Arabic and was shot and taken to a hospital," the paper stated.

Translation: the man was heard yelling "Allahu akbar," a phrase that is obviously a strong indicator he is an Islamic extremist, regardless of its English translation.

The Washington Post (whose new motto is "Democracy Dies in Darkness") made no mention of the phrase whatsoever on the homepage of its website or in the report, and simply described the attacker who shouted the Islamic phrase as "a man."

CNN also chose not to mention the Islamic phrase on its homepage.

Here's what the homepage of the three outlets looked like Tuesday evening:

The man killed at least eight people and injured 15 others when he plowed into a group of people in a pickup truck.

Questions

1. Multiple eyewitnesses said the terrorist yelled "Allahu Akbar" after running over and killing multiple people in NYC. What type of bias do the New York Times, Washington Post and CNN display in not including this key information in their initial reports?

2. Why do you think these media outlets chose to publish reports with this fact missing? Why is it important?
Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the answers.
Answer(s)

2. Opinion question. One possible answer: the media thinks it is "Islamaphobic" to report the fact that a man who tried to murder as many people as possible was shouting the Islamic phrase "Allahu Akbar," which means "Allah is Great." It is not Islamaphobic to report the facts of the story, but rather the responsibility of the media to do so. It is important to reporting that the terrorist yelled this phrase to allow readers/viewers to understand that the attacker was an Islamic extremist.

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Media Outlets Bury Key Info In Reports On NYC Terror Attack

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Example of Media Bias: From The Daily Caller on Oct. 31 by Rachel Stoltzfoos: The New York Times and other media outlets buried the phrase "Allahu akbar" in reports on the man who carried out what authorities are treating as a deadly terror attack in New York City on Tuesday.

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a combination of Kurdish and Syrian Arab fighters, wrested control of Raqqa last week after four months of fighting

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NOTE: We are testing out something new this week. We have separated the three Tuesday's World News articles into separate posts, with one in place of today's Daily News Article.

SYRIA - US-backed militias declare 'total liberation' of Raqqa from ISIS

(By Yaron Steinbuch, NY Post, Oct. 20) - After a four-month-battle, US-backed militias on Friday declared the "total liberation" of Raqqa, the de-facto capital of ISIS in Northern Syria.

Talal Silo, spokesman of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), claimed a "historic victory" over the jihadists and said the extremist group had suffered a "brutal" defeat, CNN reported.

The SDF handed over administration of the devastated city to a council made up of local officials and tribal leaders and a 3,000-strong US-trained police force tasked with governance and security.

"Our victory is one against terrorism, and the liberation of Raqqa marks the latest chapter in the fight against terrorists in Syria," Silo said in a soccer stadium where ISIS militants had tortured their opponents.

SDF commanders told CNN that the victory celebration was held at the stadium - to add insult to injury following the extremist group's defeat there.

"The future of Raqqa will be decided by its people," he said. "We call upon all countries and peace-loving forces and all humanitarian organizations to participate in rebuilding the city and villages around it and help in removing the scars of war that were inflicted by the (IS) group."

The United Nations and aid organizations estimate that about 80 percent of the city is destroyed or uninhabitable.

Silo said 655 local and international fighters lost their lives fighting ISIS during the long battle. He said residents will be allowed to start returning to the city once the mines and explosives are removed.

The fall of Raqqa marks a major defeat for ISIS, which has seen its territories steadily shrink since last year.

The extremists took over the city, located on the Euphrates River, in January 2014, and turned it into the epicenter of its brutal rule.

Kurdish-led authorities in other parts of northern Syria are already proceeding with plans to establish the federal system in areas they control, kicking off a three-phase election process last month in Kurdish majority regions, according to Reuters.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is regaining territory with Iranian and Russian military support, has said [he] will recover control over the entire country, which has been fractured by six years of conflict.

Questions

1. For Syria, give the following information:

1. location/the countries that share its borders

2. the religious breakdown of the population

3. the type of government

4. the chief of state (and head of government if different) If monarch or dictator, since what date has he/she ruled? - include name of heir apparent for monarch

5. the population

Find the answers at the CIA World FactBook website . For each country, answers can be found under the "Geography" "People" and "Government" headings.
NOTE: Before answering the questions below, read the info under "Background" and watch the video under "Resources."
2. For SYRIA:
a) list the who, what, where and when of the news item
b) What percent of Raqqa was destroyed by the ISIS occupation?
c) When will city residents be able to return home?
d) The fall of Raqqa marks a major defeat for ISIS. Read the "Background" below. Do you think the news of European countries' view of their citizens who joined ISIS in Syria would deter Muslims from being "radicalized" or joining terrorist groups like ISIS? Explain your answer.

Free Answers - Sign-up here to receive a weekly email with answers.

Background

Raqqa is located on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River in Syria; the population was 220,488 in 2004 official census.

During the Syrian Civil War, the city was captured in 2013 by the Syrian opposition and then by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

ISIL made the city its defacto capital in 2014. As a result, the city was hit by airstrikes from the Syrian government, Russia, the U.S. and several other countries that are part of the U.S.-led coalition (including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan and France).

Most non-Sunni Muslim structures in the city were destroyed by ISIL, most notably the Shi'ite Uwais al-Qarni Mosque.

All Christian churches have been forcefully converted into mosques.

After seizing control, ISIL terrorists executed Alawites (a small sect of Islam) and also suspected supporters of Bashar al-Assad in the city and destroyed the city's Shia mosques and Christian churches such as the Armenian Catholic Church of the Martyrs, which has since been converted into an ISIL police headquarters and an Islamic center tasked to recruit new fighters.

The Christian population of Raqqa, which had been estimated to be as much as 10% of the total population (22,000 people) before the civil war began, largely fled the city (adapted from wikipedia)

What to do with captured ISIS fighters who are not Syrian (from an Associated Press report at nypost)

At its height, between 27,000 and 31,000 men may have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State group...

Of those, about 6,000 were from Europe, with most from France, Germany and Britain. (90% of these were Muslim immigrants to Europe; only 10% were converts to Islam)

As many as a third of the Europeans (native-born and naturalized citizens) may have returned home. Many are jailed immediately and awaiting trial in backlogged courts, but others are freed and under surveillance.

Among the complications are how to prosecute any returnees and how to track them if and when they leave custody.

No government publicly expressed concern about the fate of its citizens who left and joined the Islamic State fighters plotting attacks at home and abroad.

In France, which has suffered repeated violence claimed by the Islamic State - including the Nov. 13, 2015, attacks in Paris - Defense Minister Florence Parly was among the few to say it aloud.

"If the jihadis perish in this fight, I would say that's for the best," Parly told Europe 1 radio last week.

Those were the orders, according to the U.S. Brett McGurk, the top U.S. envoy for the anti-IS coalition, in an interview with Dubai-based Al-Aan television said:

"Our mission is to make sure that any foreign fighter who is here, who joined ISIS from a foreign country and came into Syria, they will die here in Syria. So if they're in Raqqa, they're going to die in Raqqa," he said.

The coalition has given names and photos to the Kurdish fighters to identify the foreign jihadis, who are seen as a threat back home and a burden on their justice systems, according to a commander with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The commander said his U.S.-backed fighters are checking for wanted men among the dead or the few foreigners among the captured.

An official with the Kurdish YPG, the backbone of the SDF that also runs the local security and intelligence branches, said foreigners who decided to fight until the end will be "eliminated." For the few prisoners, the Kurds try to reach out to the home countries, "and we try to hand them in. But many would not want to take their (detainees)," he said.

No country will admit to refusing to take back citizens who joined the Islamic State, including women and their children. But few are making much of an effort to recover them.

Parly said, "We cannot do anything to prevent their return besides neutralize the maximum number of jihadis in this combat," she said.

Raqqa's foreign holdouts are generally acknowledged to be midlevel IS recruits, and most are believed to have little information about the group's inner workings. U.S. Col. Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the coalition, said he had no information about any "high-value targets" among approximately 350 fighters who surrendered in Raqqa in the last days, including a few foreigners.

But for their home countries, they pose a risk.

"The general sentiment in northern Europe is we don't want these people back, but I don't think anyone has thought about the alternatives," said Pieter Van Ostaeyen, an expert on the Belgian jihadis.

Among the complications are how to prosecute any returnees and how to track them if and when they leave custody.

Resources

Watch a CNN video:

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NOTE: We are testing out something new this week. We have separated the three Tuesday's World News articles into separate posts, with one in place of today's Daily News Article. SYRIA - US-backed militias declare 'total liberation' of Raqqa from ISIS (By Yaron Steinbuch, NY Post, Oct.

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she represents her husband and this shows that shes has responsibility as the first lady

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It was a perfectly conventional thing for a first lady to say. In this case, she was discussing President Donald Trump's decision to declare a public health emergency to stem the country's ongoing opioid crisis. But like so many other things in the Trump administration, for the first couple, convention is an anomaly and the line of support marked a rare public moment.

Melania Trump, in stark contrast to her seemingly ubiquitous husband, has emerged as the most mysterious woman in Washington. Since moving here with her son, Barron, 11, this summer, she has demonstrated none of the extrovert bravado that so defines the man she married.

In fact, of late it's been her quietly touted solo activities that have begun to define an otherwise private first lady.

'Mrs. Trump is independent'

Take, for example, the East Wing response to cries of hypocrisy when she outlined an early platform taking on school bullying.

The idea that Melania Trump would tackle bullying when her husband is seen by millions as one of the country's best examples of bad behavior sparked countless opinion pieces pointing out how he uses terms such as "wacky" and "liddle" for elected officials.

Asked by CNN if the first lady feels the need to reconcile that irony with what she's trying to accomplish, Trump's communications director Stephanie Grisham said flatly, "no."

"Mrs. Trump is independent and acts independently from her husband," Grisham told CNN at the time. "She does what she feels is right and knows that she has a real opportunity through her role as first lady to have a positive impact on the lives of children. Her only focus is to effect change within our next generation."

The statement is clearly meant to separate the first lady from the orbit of her husband, which is fundamentally different than first ladies of recent memory. But the idea that Trump is doing things her own way shouldn't come as a surprise, said Anita McBride, who served as chief of staff to first lady Laura Bush.

"A first lady gets to rewrite the position and the job description any way she wants to, and Melania has, from Day 1, really, been charting her own course," McBride said. "From the beginning, by saying she wasn't even going to move down to Washington right away, she has been very open and honest about doing things on her own time, in her own way."

McBride pointed to how the first lady has staffed her office with just nine members, as opposed to the 20 or so that predecessors Michelle Obama and Laura Bush each had.

"It's not the way it's been done in the past, but this is a first lady who said she was interested in quality and not quantity," she said.

But part of Melania Trump's unique path is born of necessity.

A former Obama White House official said Michelle Obama, who did pursue an agenda independent of her husband, would never have needed to distance herself so explicitly from him.

"There would never have been anything similar to that (statement from Grisham) because it wasn't an issue for the Obamas," the official told CNN. "Michelle Obama had her own agenda -- Let Girls Learn, Let's Move, Joining Forces -- but at no point did any of those conflict with the President's words, actions, or policies," the source said.

Spousal support

A recent CNN poll found Melania Trump is the most popular member of the first family. About 44% of respondents had a favorable view of her, compared with 41% for her husband. The President, however, seems comfortable with that.

At a private dinner for the White House Historical Association, Trump told the audience that America is enamored with the first lady.

"They love her out there ... they're loving Melania," he said, calling her the "star of the Trump family."

Still, there are high-profile times the couple appeared out of step.

In August, after a spate of national and international crises, from the Barcelona terror attacks to the Charlottesville, Virginia, riots, it became apparent that the first lady's voice of support and condolence, through her social media accounts, was far more timely and compassionate than that of her husband.

A White House official said the first lady does not check in with her husband before posting.

"She is her own person," the official told CNN. "She operates the account herself and pays close attention to which events warrant comment, and which do not."

The divide in approach again points to a first couple unlike those that came before.

"Mrs. Bush would always say, 'I'm not here for myself, I'm here for George and because of George,' and that was the prism and the filter she used for her platform," said McBride.

Literacy, the cause she championed, fit well into the President's overarching initiatives, so the melding was relatively seamless.

"The East Wing definitely has some independence, but not this kind of independence," said the Obama White House official, referring to the Trump's differing philosophies. "It hasn't before been as though there's a completely different view of the world from one side than the other."

The same could be said of how previous first ladies got in the trenches with their husbands when the heat was on. McBride pointed to Hurricane Katrina as an example of the Bushes having each other's back.

"There were things like that which were controversial for him, but that didn't stop her from being there, from her going down to New Orleans 26 times after the storm and working on behalf of the administration, even when the administration wasn't necessarily in good standing down there," McBride said.

McBride, who also worked in the Reagan administration as director of White House personnel, said Nancy Reagan would speak up quite frequently to West Wing staff when it came to President Ronald Reagan's policies and positions.

"She always had her antenna up, and in her mind she was doing what she felt best served the President," said McBride. "She did it because she 100% was trying to protect him and shape how he was remembered by history."

The Trump dynamic doesn't appear to operate in the same manner, at least not on the surface. The first lady rarely gets involved with her husband's scuffles, or his bruising responses to those who oppose him.

In an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" shortly after the election, Melania Trump said she sometimes tries to help contain her husband, but it didn't appear to be a priority.

"I think he hears me. But he will do what he wants to do on the end. He's an adult. He knows the consequences. And I give him my opinion. And he could do whatever he likes with it," Trump told "60 Minutes."

In June, after the President tweeted harsh words at MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski, Grisham was asked if the first lady had anything to say about the dispute.

"As the first lady has stated publicly in the past, when her husband gets attacked, he will punch back 10 times harder," was all the statement said.

Outside perceptions vs. reality

The observations about the first lady having her own independent methodology does not, however, seem to imply the couple doesn't get along. In fact, one observer who has spent time with them lately says she has seen the President be "very affectionate" with Melania at times, and that he is "deferential to her."

"I can appreciate how perceptions of the first couple on the outside are generally wrong," said McBride, who witnessed both the public and private sides of both the Bushes and the Reagans.

"For President Bush and the first lady, their lives were so completely intertwined, they didn't even have to speak a word, they could merely be in the same room to know what the other was thinking or feeling, so demonstrating that closeness just wasn't necessary -- and that could sometimes be perceived as a coldness or as trouble. But it wasn't," she said.

A current White House official said the first lady's primary objective right now has little to do with how her relationship with the President is perceived by White House observers.

"She wants to establish herself as a first lady who helps children, that's her mission while her husband is in office," the official told CNN.

Next week, the first lady will accompany her husband to Asia, where she is expected to attend ceremonies and dinners with him, standing by his side, as she is often seen doing. But CNN has learned Melania Trump also has a number of solo events on the itinerary, too. They are likely to showcase the burgeoning independence that's happening not because of, but perhaps in spite of, her husband's tumultuous presidency.

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melania trump does things her way - cnnpolitics

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During a Thursday afternoon event in the White House's East Room, first lady Melania Trump stood at the podium and closed her remarks by saying something she has not often said -- and certainly not said lately -- about her husband: "I am so proud to support him today, as he sees this commitment through."

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Trumps wants tax cuts

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Answer(s)

1. A pun is an amusing use of a word or phrase that has more than one meaning or that sounds like another word (dictionary.cambridge.org)
OR
A pun is the usually humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more of its meanings or the meaning of another word similar in sound (Merriam-Webster .com)

2. The woman has no problem buying a large number of super-sized pork products (the groceries she likes), but when her child asks for one smaller box of something, she angrily says she doesn't have enough money to pay for it.
Almost all members of Congress take advantage of pork barrel spending - they add "pork" to bills.
Businessdictionary .com defines pork-barrel spending as: the act of using government funds on local projects that are primarily used to bring more money to a specific representative's district. Basically the politician tries to benefit his/her constituents in order to maintain their support and vote.

Cartoonist Steve Kelley is implying that Congress has no problem using taxpayer money for their pork spending, but when the president wants to cut taxes to help taxpayers, Congress says they can't afford to lose any of that revenue.

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Answer(s) 1. A pun is an amusing use of a word or phrase that has more than one meaning or that sounds like another word (dictionary.cambridge.org) OR A pun is the usually humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more of its meanings or the meaning of another word similar in sound (Merriam-Webster .com) 2.

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House passes $4 trillion budget, witch clears away for Trump tax plan.

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(by Marisa Schultz, New York Post) WASHINGTON - House Republicans on Thursday narrowly passed the Senate's $4 trillion budget proposal, despite grumblings about the impact on the deficit and the elimination of state and local tax deductions.

Even with 20 Republicans joining all Democrats in voting no, the budget passed 216-212.

The House had already passed its own budget that directed upcoming tax reform legislation to be deficit-neutral. (The House budget called for tax cuts that would not add to the federal deficit, which the Senate's bill will to do. The House version coupled the tax cuts with $200 billion in spending cuts over 10-years.) But to speed up the process toward their ultimate goal of tax cuts, the House (gave up the spending cuts they wanted and) passed the Senate plan that would allow tax cuts to add $1.5 trillion to the deficit.

"By passing this budget today, we can send a clear message to the American people: Real tax reform is on the way," said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas).

The budget vote opened a process called reconciliation* that will allow the upcoming tax reform legislation to pass the Senate with a simple majority vote - and without any Democrats. (*Reconciliation is a legislative process that allows expedited passage of certain budgetary legislation on spending, revenues [taxes], and the federal debt limit with a simple majority vote in both the House (218 votes) and Senate (51 votes).)

Democrats blasted the plan as "the billionaires' budget" that will roll back Medicaid and Medicare spending to deliver tax relief to the wealthiest Americans. ...

Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) said Democrats shouldn't make assumptions about a tax plan that hasn't even been written yet. ...

Republicans and President Trump believe they can deliver a massive tax cut to Americans and businesses this year that will create economic growth and deliver relief to the middle class.

"We're going to make history," Black said.

One major sticking point is how to pay for those tax cuts. The current plan would eliminate the deductibility of state and local taxes to save about $1.3 trillion over the decade. (Lammakers from high-tax states were upset about this elimination and mostly voted "no" on the budget.)

More than 44 million people rely on those deductions, especially in high-taxes states like New York, New Jersey and California.

New York Republicans voting "no" were Dan Donovan, Claudia Tenney, Lee Zeldin, Elise Stefanik, John Katko, Peter King and John Faso.

Rep. Faso said he couldn't support "a budget resolution that singled out for elimination the ability of New York families to deduct state and local taxes."

(Republicans will move quickly to the tax measure in hopes of passing it into law this year. House and Senate leaders want to pass companion measures before Thanksgiving with a final compromise coming before year's end. Congressman Brady said immediately after the vote that he'll release the tax measure on Nov. 1 and that a panel vote is expected the week of Nov. 6.)
Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission from the New York Post.
Questions

NOTE: There will be no new posts next week (the week of October 30) as we must dedicate our full attention to fundraising. Regular posting will resume November 7. Please see note at top of "Answers" emails for more.

1. The first paragraph of a news article should answer the questions who, what, where and when. List the who, what, where and when of this news item. (NOTE: The remainder of a news article provides details on the why and/or how.)

2. What was the outcome of the final vote?

3. a) How was the Senate plan different from the House's budget proposal?
b) Why did the House pass the Senate's budget?

4. What is reconciliation?

5. When will the House release the proposed tax reform bill? When do Republicans aim to pass the final bill?

CHALLENGE - on upcoming tax reform - Watch Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), explain the reason for eliminating state and local tax deductions (see videos under "Resources" below). What do you think?

Free Answers - Sign-up here to receive a daily email with answers.

Background

For information on "How a Bill Becomes a Law," click here. Put the steps in order .

Resources

Sept. 29, 2017 video on tax reform with OMB Director Mick Mulvaney:

Sept. 29 interview with Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, discussing proposed elimination of state and local deductions:

Watch an Oct. 26 MSNBC report on Thursday's $4 trillion budget vote:

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House passes $4 trillion budget, clears way for Trump tax plan

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(by Marisa Schultz, New York Post) WASHINGTON - House Republicans on Thursday narrowly passed the Senate's $4 trillion budget proposal, despite grumblings about the impact on the deficit and the elimination of state and local tax deductions. Even with 20 Republicans joining all Democrats in voting no, the budget passed 216-212.