Image: CBS Photo Archive / Contributor / Getty Images

“This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone.”

When Brett Kavanaugh pushed back against his third accuser, Julie Swetnick, in a Wednesday statement, the Twilight Zone quote is the one that made the rounds. Now, the daughter of series creator Rod Serling has made it clear that she doesn’t approve of the comparison.

In a Friday tweet, Anne Serling — an author herself — pointed out that her father wouldn’t have appreciated the present day face of the GOP, which has descended into mudslinging and a partisan gaming of the system. She added that if the Kavanaugh matter had been written as a Twilight Zone episode, it would have played out much differently.

“My father believed in decency, integrity, and justice,” Serling wrote. “Had he written this, I assure you—there would indeed be a further FBI investigation along with some cosmic justice.”

The cosmic justice she spoke of may still come, now that the FBI has reopened its background check on Kavanaugh. (Serling’s tweet posted just a few hours before that happened.)

In a dramatic speech, Syria’s top diplomat has told the world that his country’s “battle against terrorism is almost over” and that, after more than seven years of brutal civil war, Syria is now ready to welcome back the more than 5 million people who fled the country. 

Taking the stage to muted applause at the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting on Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister and foreign minister Walid al-Moallem slammed international interference in Syria, denied Damascus’ use of chemical weapons and accused the US-led coalition of war crimes.

With only Idlib province still under rebel control, al-Moallem explained confidently that the “situation on the ground has become more stable and secure” and that local reconciliation was well under way. He also thanked the Syrian people for their fortitude during the bloody conflict. 

Throughout the speech, al-Moallem emphasised Syria’s right to sovereignty and decried the actions of a US-led coalition battling the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (also known as ISIS or ISIL) for doing “everything but fight terrorism”.

He claimed the “illegitimate” coalition, which includes international players along with local and regional opposition forces, destroyed the Syrian city of Raqqa– a former ISIS stronghold – and took part in massacres of civilians, including women and children as a means of “spreading chaos in international relations” and promoting colonialism and hegemony. 

Al-Moallem once again denied findings by UN investigators, which have attributed several of the at least 17 chemical attacks reported during the conflict to government forces. 

“We fully condemn the use of chemical weapons under any circumstances,” he said, claiming that no unbiased investigation or evidence had been presented to link his government with chemical attacks. 

The issue has been a flashpoint at the UN Security Council, with Russia vetoing efforts to investigate the Assad regime fully. 

Shrinking rebel territory

Saturday’s speech came as Syrian government forces, backed by Russia and Iran, have retaken most of territory rebels seized during the war, which has killed more than 400,000 people.

An offensive by government forces on Idlib – the last remaining rebel stronghold – was averted last week when Russia and Turkey reached a deal to establish a demilitarised zone around the province. 

Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from the United Nations, said al-Moallem’s “defiant” speech was intended to send a message to both the Syrian opposition and the international community.

“He was telling the Syrian opposition: ‘You’ve lost the war, you’ve got to come back home, you should forget [talking about] the future of Syria without Bashar al-Assad’,” said Ahelbarra.

During the speech, the Syrian foreign minister mentioned “occupation forces,” vowing that the Syrian government will free the country from all “illegitimate foreign troops”.

“He’s saying the presence of Turkish soldiers in the northern part of the country, American and French soldiers in the eastern part of the country, providing assistance to the Kurds is unacceptable and if they don’t pull out from those areas, then the Syrian army has all the legitimate authority to go ahead and liberate those areas,” said Ahelbarra.

“In one way or another [the international community] all realise that Assad has emerged as the winner, but the future is not guaranteed for any party in Syria,” he said.

Refugee crisis

Al-Moallem said that “doors are wide open for all Syrians abroad” to return home and that this will be a priority for Damascus.

Since the conflict began in 2011, some 5.6 million people have fled Syria, with as many as 6.6 million others internally displaced, according to the UN’s refugee agency. 

“Today the situation on the ground is more stable and secure, thanks to combatting terrorism,” he said. “All conditions are now present for the voluntary return of refugees.”

Al-Moallem said Syria welcomes reconstruction aid from any country not involved in “aggression” towards Syria, but those offering conditional assistance were “neither invited or welcome to help”. 

Towards the end of his address, al-Moallem briefly touched on international politics, chastising Israel for its “oppressive and aggressive policies” in Golan Heights and branding the country’s recently-passed nation state law as “racist”. 

He also slammed the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and withdraw funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). 

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

Javier E. David, CNBC
Published 5:50 p.m. ET Sept. 29, 2018

A teenage boy was bitten by a shark early Saturday morning in Southern California as the boy participated in the opening day of lobster diving season.

The attack happened around 6:55 a.m. PDT in Encinitas, California, according to Lois Yum, the public information officer for the city of Encinitas. The boy, 13, was airlifted to a hospital, she said.

Yum described the attack as “non-fatal,” and said beaches in the area will be closed for 48 hours.

The attack happened at Beacon’s Beach, according to a news release.

Witnesses estimated the shark was about 11-feet long, but the type of shark was not known, Encinitas Lifeguard Captain Larry Giles said.

The boy suffered traumatic upper torso injuries, Giles told reporters. The victim was attacked in about 9 feet of water and was approximately 150 yards offshore, Giles said.

The boy was brought to shore by three bystanders, according to Giles.

Sept. 21: Katharine the shark surfaces off North Carolina coast after being silent since January

“At this time, we have not received additional reports of any shark sightings in the area but are advising the public to stay out of the water,” Giles is quoted a saying in a news release.

Officials are working with a marine scientist to identify the type of shark involved in the attack, the release says.

The most recent fatal shark attack in the area was in 2008 when a swimmer was killed at Solana Beach. A more recent attack along the Camp Pendleton coast of north San Diego County was not fatal.

On Sept. 15, a man died at a Cape Cod hospital after police say he was attacked by a shark off a Wellfleet, Massachusetts, beach.

California Fish and Wildlife regulations say that lobster divers must use hoop nets or their hands to capture lobster during lobster diving season, which started at 6 a.m. Saturday.

Contributing: The Associated Press

 

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The US and Canada are reportedly working furiously to reach a deal over revisions to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

According to multiple reports, the two countries are closing in on an agreement to update the two decade-old trilateral trade deal and an announcement could come as soon as Saturday.

The intense negotiations come hours before the Trump administration’s Sunday deadline for Canada to sign on to a new bilateral trade deal between the US and Mexico. Absent an agreement, the administration threatened the two countries will move forward without their northern neighbor.

This also represents a major turnaround from earlier in the week when Trump hurled insults at his Canadian counterparts during a press conference, prompting a strong reply from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

While officials from both sides told the Wall Street Journal that no deal is guaranteed, the two sides appear to be closing in on the the NAFTA rewrite.

Pressure to get a deal done

The US-imposed deadline was designed to secure a deal before Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto leaves office on December 1. The law under which the US is renegotiating NAFTA requires Trump to notify Congress 60 days before a signature, so Sunday appeared to be the last day to get Canada into the deal to ensure Nieto can sign the agreement.

The Trump administration is hoping to avoid the possible reopening of negotiations by Nieto’s successor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which could add more political uncertainty.

Early signs that progress was being made came Friday when the release of the US-Mexico bilateral trade deal’s official text was pushed back with little explanation. Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told reporters after announcing the delay that the US and Canada were attempting to reach an agreement in the short-term.

“At this moment there’s a very serious attempt to continue advancing in the process of finalizing the differences in bilateral issues between the U.S. and Canada,” Guajardo said.

Rumblings that progress was being made grew louder when Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s minister of foreign affairs and the country’s chief negotiator in the NAFTA talks, pushed back a planned speech at the United Nations on Saturday in order to continue talks.

Freeland, as well as other key Canadian officials, returned to the capital of Ottawa on Saturday to make progress on negotiations.

US threatened to move on without Canada

The growing possibility of a deal comes after Trump’s team attempted to put pressure on Canada with threats to move forward with the bilateral US-Mexico deal.

“I think Canada wants to do it, I know we want to do it,” US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Tuesday. “We’ll see whether it happens, we’re sort of running out of time.”

Lighthizer was also pessimistic that a deal could get done this week during a talk with US lawmakers on Thursday given Canadian officials insistence that the country would not just accept any deal.

In addition to the strong public position, Canadian officials’ position was also bolstered by the backing from key allies.

Mexico is not committed to moving forward with the US on an exclusively bilateral basis and incoming president López Obrador told reporters on Friday that his administration would push Trump to maintain the trilateral nature of NAFTA.

Also bolstering Canada’s position are US lawmakers in both parties. Both Republicans and Democrats have stressed that a bilateral deal between the US and Mexico will likely not get the votes needed to ratify the agreement and Canada should stay in the deal.

A turnaround from Trump’s attacks

The possible deal also comes as a surprise given earlier pessimism that an agreement could be reached before the deadline and the barbs traded between Trump and Trudeau earlier in the week.

When asked about the state of NAFTA negotiations with Canada, Trump told reporters at a press conference Wednesday that he rejected a request for a meeting from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“Because his tariffs are too high, he doesn’t seem to want to move and I’ve told him forget about it,” Trump said when asked why he turned Trudeau down. “And frankly we’re thinking about just taxing cars coming in from Canada, that’s the mother load, that’s the big one. We’re very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada.”

Trudeau’s office told Business Insider that they made no request for a meeting.

Trump also took a shot at Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s minister of foreign affairs and the country’s chief negotiator in the NAFTA talks.

“We’re very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada. We don’t like their representative very much,” Trump said.

Trudeau pushed back on Trump’s comments about Freeland and the state of negotiations on Thursday.

“The Americans are finding that negotiations are tough because Canadians are tough negotiators, as we should be,” Trudeau told reporters. “A good and fair deal is still possible, but we won’t sign a deal that is bad for Canadians.”

Several outstanding issues

Even in the face of the Trump administration’s pressure, Canada seemed to be sticking strong on a handful of thorny issues and its unclear where the two sides have come out on these problems.

According Canadian and US officials over the past few weeks, the biggest issues going into the talks were:

1. Canada’s dairy protections: A particular sore spot for Trump, the US is demanding that Canada give American dairy farmers more access to its market. Canada wants to keep the protections in part due to the political influence of its country’s farmers.
2. Trade protection: Another major sticking point is Canada’s desire to keep Chapter 19 of the NAFTA deal, which created an extrajudicial dispute resolution process that allows member countries to contest particular trade policies of other members. In fact, Trudeau suggested that Canada needs Chapter 19 to protect itself against Trump’s volatile behavior.
3. Auto tariffs: According to reports, Canada is also seeking assurances that Trump will not impose tariffs on imports of cars and auto parts from the country as the president has threatened.

Image: Andrew MacColl/REX/Shutterstock

You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see one of your favorite childhood metal bands start peddling branded coffee.

Korn, the band whose angsty 1994 debut provided the soundtrack for my last two years of high school, has gotten into the coffee biz. This new development, a partnership with J Gursey Coffee, was announced on Friday in a tweet.

The weirdest thing about the announcement video is how normal and… ahem… grounded it is. Yes, pun definitely intended.

Follow the link at the end of the tweet and you’ll find yourself in the Korn web store. A 12-ounce bag will cost you $14.99 and a bundle that also includes a branded coffee mug raises the price to $24.99.  Unfortunately for all you Korn-loving coffee fans out there, both are sold out as of this writing.

Love the product description:

Wake The F Up! Korn Koffee is a smooth, dark roasted blend of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Guatemalan Huehuetenango, and Organic Peru beans mixed with Vintage Black Diamond by J. Gursey Coffee that has been uniquely curated by the members of Korn. This offer comes bundled with a heavyweight black Korn mug.

I still have fond memories of driving down to New York City from SUNY Albany in 1996 to catch Korn at the Roseland Ballroom (R.I.P.) during the “Life Is Peachy” tour. It was a rough mosh pit that night, so I mostly stuck to the outskirts of the crowd and took in the music.

Those are hazy days in my memories, but I’m completely certain I never once thought, “I hope this amazing band one day goes on to sell me coffee.” I’ll bet that thought never occurred to anyone at the Roseland that night either.

And yet, here we are. I don’t even drink coffee, but sign me the hell up for Korn Koffee.

The Trump administration is trying to get support for an anti-Iran alliance between Gulf states, Egypt and Jordan.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has met foreign ministers from six countries to discuss plans to counter what is perceived to be a threat from Iran to peace and stability in the region.

But deep divisions among the Gulf Cooperation Council states may pose problems for the Middle East Strategic Alliance.

Qatar wants lifted the blockade imposed on it by Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt last June, before the security operation can be considered credible.

Washington also hopes to include Israel in any alliance. If Israel’s military relations improve with Gulf nations and Egypt, then conditions would be ripe to push for Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’ for peace in the Middle East.

Presenter: Peter Dobbie

Guests:

Mostafa Khoshchesm – political commentator

Mahjoob Zweiri – associate professor in contemporary history of the Middle East 

Hillary Mann Leverett – former US State Department official

Source: Al Jazeera

Looks like this “Love Story” is still going strong.

Taylor Swift joined her boyfriend Joe Alwyn for the premiere of his movie “The Favourite” in New York Friday.

Swift got glam for the premiere, wearing a sheer, glittering black and red sleeveless dress by Amen with strappy black heels by Jimmy Choo.

She paired the look with a clutch, red lipstick and her hair down in messy waves. 

Alwyn opted for a blue suit paired with black dress shoes.

The public outing together is rare for the happy couple, who usually keep a low profile.

They even showed a bit of PDA at they event, holding hands as they walked into the venue.

Alwyn, 27, is a British actor who was the main focus of Swift’s album “Reputation” from November. On the album she talks about falling in love with her new beau and even pledges her loyalty to him.

“The Favourite” also stars Emma Stone, Olivia Colman and Nicholas Hoult.

More: Man who allegedly sent threatening letters, showed up to Taylor Swift’s label is arrested

More: Taylor Swift’s ‘Reputation’: All the gossip about Joe Alwyn, Kanye West and Tom Hiddleston

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A federal judge in Kansas has ruled that a South Korean-born teenager, who was adopted by her aunt and uncle in Kansas, will have to leave the country right after graduation from college because of a disparity between state and immigration laws regarding a child’s age at the time of their adoption.

Hyebin Schreiber was brought to the United States in 2012 at the age of 15 by now-retired 
Army Lt. Col. Patrick Schreiber of Lansing, Kansas and his wife, Soo Jin, who met in South Korea when he was stationed there in 1995, according to the Kansas City Star.

Schreiber delayed a formal adoption, in large part because the 27-year Army veteran spent much of 2013 and 2014 in Afghanistan, where he served as an intelligence officer. 

He told the Star that he was advised by his lawyer that he could wait to finalize the adoption until Hyebin was 17. However, that rule only applies to the adoption of native-born Americans.

Under federal immigration law, foreign-born children must be adopted before they turn 16 to derive citizenship from an American. The birth certificate issued by Kansas was, in the eyes of the federal government, essentially null and void.

The bottom line: Hyebin will have to leave the country after she graduates from Kansas University, where she is a senior studying biochemistry.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree said in ruling against the family that the federal immigration law is “not ambiguous” and that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services “interpreted the statue in accordance with its plain meaning.”

In March, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., introduced a bill that would, if passed, remove the disparity by extending U.S. citizenship to foreign-born children adopted by Americans before the age of 18. 

The family told KCTV before the ruling that they were planning to move the entire family to South Korea if Hyebin was going to be deported.

“I’m going to go back to Korea too. I can’t leave her, Soo-Jinn Schreiber said.

One long-shot possibility: A U.S. company might be willing to give her a work visa.

In a March interview with The Star, the father blamed himself for not fully researching rules on adopting immigrants. 

Looking back, he regretted not pursuing the adoption before time ran out. “I should have put my family ahead of the Army,” he said.

 

 

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