The Indonesian island of Sulawesi was slammed by a tsunami set off by a powerful earthquake.

Indonesian disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Friday the magnitude 7.5-magnitude earthquake caused the tsunami that hit the provincial capital of Palu and a smaller city of Donggala.

“There are reports that many buildings collapsed in the earthquake,” Sutopo said in a statement. 

He said communications with the area in central Sulawesi were down and the search-and-rescue effort was being hampered by darkness.

There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries.

Sutopo said in a live TV interview that houses were swept away and families are reported missing.

The city with a population of 350,000 was about 80km from the quake’s epicentre. The US Geological Survey said the shallow quake was centered at a depth of 10km.

Dramatic video footage filmed from the top floor of a parking ramp spiral in Palu showed a churning wall of whitewater mow down several buildings and inundate a large mosque.

Pictures supplied by the disaster agency showed a badly damaged shopping mall in Palu where at least one floor had collapsed onto the storey below.

Other pictures showed major damage to buildings with rubble strewn about the road and large cracks running through pavement.

 

Central Sulawsi was hit earlier Friday by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake that based on preliminary information killed one person, injured 10, and damaged dozens of houses.

“All the things in my house were swaying and the quake left a small crack on my wall,” Donggala resident Mohammad Fikri said by telephone.

Officials asked people to remain on the alert as a number of moderate aftershocks hit.

“We advise people to remain in safe areas and stay away from damaged buildings,” Nugroho said in a televised interview.

He also said the national agency in the capital Jakarta was having difficulties reaching authorities in the affected area.

Nugroho said there was “much damage” in the Donggala area – home to about 300,000 people – where the first quake hit.

A series of earthquakes in July and August killed nearly 500 people on the holiday island of Lombok, hundreds of kilometres southwest of Sulawesi.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin and is prone to earthquakes.

In 2004, an earthquake off the northern Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean, killing 226,000 people in 13 countries, including more than 120,000 in Indonesia.

A protestor who said she was sexually assaulted approached Senator Jeff Flake in the elevator Friday after he released a statement saying he was voting in favor of Brett Kavanaugh for Supreme Court. 

The unidentified woman could be heard shouting at Flake, R-Ariz., during a CNN live shot before the Senate Judiciary Committee moved toward a vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court Friday morning. Flake had previously been undecided.

“You’re telling me that my assault doesn’t matter,” a woman, audibly emotional, can be heard telling Flake.

Throughout the encounter, Flake is seen looking down, nodding his head and avoiding eye contact with the women. 

“Don’t look away from me,” the woman can be heard saying. “Look at me and tell me that it doesn’t matter what happened to me.”

The woman continues to criticize Flake, saying he is allowing attackers to occupy positions of power. 

“Thank you,” Flake said. “I need to get to the hearing. You will hear more from me.”

The Center for Popular Democracy later told USA TODAY the woman is Ana Maria Archila, co-executive of the liberal nonprofit advocacy group. 

“Earlier this week, I shared my survivor story for the first time in front of Senator Jeff Flake’s office … By announcing he will vote “yes” on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination, Flake showed us that he does not care about our truths and does not care about women,” Archila said in a statement. 

In the hearing Friday, Flake said, “our system of justice affords a presumption of innocence to the accused, absent corroborating evidence. That is what binds us to the rule of law.”

The Republican-led committee announced it would vote on Kavanaugh by 1:30 p.m. EST and most of the panel’s Democrats walked out in protest.

If the committee approves the nomination, it would then go to the full Senate over the weekend, with a final up-or-down vote possible by Tuesday. 

More: Tips for sexual assault survivors dealing with onslaught of triggering news

More: The Kavanaugh hearings triggering painful memories? How to mute sexual assault on Twitter

Thursday, Flake asked no questions during the emotional hearing. He spoke for only one minute and said little. 

Friday’s controversial vote on Kavanaugh follows allegations from Christine Blasey Ford, who alleges the nominee forced her onto a bed and tried to remove her clothes at a party when they were both high school teens. Kavanaugh denies the sexual assault and also denies ever being at the party.

More: The images that will define the emotional testimony by Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Ford

Ronald J. Hansen of the Arizona Republic and Richard Wolf and Christal Hayes of USA TODAY contributed to this story. 

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2xSzz6m

WASHINGTON – A Republican House task force has agreed to meet with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for a closed-door meeting about his statements about President Donald Trump, according to a lawmaker who had called for a hearing.

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., tweeted Friday that House leadership had agreed to call Rosenstein for a closed-door meeting “so he can explain his alleged comments on “wiring”  the president.

If Rosenstein fails to show up, he would be subpoenaed, said Meadows, a member of the Freedom Caucus of several dozen conservative Republicans who have called for a hearing with Rosenstein.

A spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., referred questions Friday to the Judiciary Committee, but said Ryan supported the panel. The committee on Thursday subpoenaed memos from former FBI Director Andrew McCabe. The New York Times has reported that McCabe’s memos recounted comments in 2017 by Rosenstein in which he allegedly suggested tape recording or “wiring” Trump and of potentially using the 25th Amendment to oust him from office.

Rosenstein has strongly denied the Times story, but it raised the prospect that either Trump might fire him or that Rosenstein might resign.

The meeting with Rosenstein will include Republican members of the panel including Chairman Robert Goodlatte of Virginia and members Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, Jim Jordan of Ohio, John Ratcliffe of Texas and Ken Buck of Colorado.

Rosenstein had an “extended” phone conversation with Trump on Monday, according to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. He had originally been scheduled to meet with the president Thursday, but that meeting was postponed until next week because of the hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Trump said Wednesday that he preferred to have Rosenstein stay, but that he wanted to talk with him.

Rosenstein oversees special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 election, so his departure would be contentious. Trump has repeatedly criticized Attorney General Jeff Sessions for recusing himself from the investigation he calls a “witch hunt” and Rosenstein for how it has been handled.

As part of his oversight role, Rosenstein has authority to dismiss Mueller. But he has consistently voiced strong support for his work. “The special counsel is not an unguided missile,” Rosenstein said in a March interview with USA TODAY. “I don’t believe there is any justification at this point for terminating the special counsel.”

Contributing: Eliza Collins

 

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

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote Friday on whether to favorably recommend the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh at 9:30 a.m. ET, following a dramatic, marathon day of testimony from him and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her in high school.

The committee is composed of 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats. While most Republicans on the committee are expected to vote to give Kavanaugh a favorable recommendation, all eyes will be on undecided Republicans who could sway the vote.

Shortly before the vote, Sen. Jeff Flake, who was previously uncertain about his vote, announced he would vote to give Kavanaugh a favorable recommendation.

Ford, a psychology professor in California, accuses Kavanaugh of groping and attempting to rape her during a Maryland house party in 1982, when he was 17 and she was 15.

“This isn’t easy for anybody,” Flake told reporters after the testimony on Thursday. “Some of us have been talking for a while — similar questions I guess.”

If Kavanaugh’s nomination makes it out of committee, the first procedural floor vote to advance his confirmation is scheduled for Saturday at noon ET. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could still move to bring the nomination to the full Senate even if the committee doesn’t vote favorably.

Both Ford and Kavanaugh delivered highly emotional testimonies that captivated the nation and the world. While Ford said she was “terrified” to be in the spotlight and held back tears at time, she delivered a thorough and steady recounting of the assault and its effects on her life, weaving in her scientific expertise on the effects of trauma on the brain.

When Kavanaugh took the stand, he gave a passionate, vehement, and sometimes angry denial of the allegations, sparring with senators and accusing Democratic forces of concocting a plot to tank his nomination.

He delved deep into details about his life in high school and touted his record of supporting and advancing the careers of female lawyers to defend both his qualifications to be on the Supreme Court — and his honor. Republicans left the day perhaps rallied even more around his nomination, even as some senators remained on the fence.

“It’s shameful what has gone on in this country in the last two weeks,” Montana Sen. Steve Daines told Business Insider. “This has brought the United States Senate to an all-time low.”

After the hearings, the American Bar Association took the extraordinary step of recommending an FBI investigation into the allegations before proceeding with his confirmation.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

The key to being first-to-market? Working to create products that service the public by listening to their needs. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has always been working to get his products to the public as soon as possible. This episode is narrated by Masters of Scale Host Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn Cofounder, Greylock investor).

This editorial series is created by Mashable & Masters of Scale and sponsored by Skillshare, the online learning community. Get 2 months of Skillshare classes for free by visiting this link → https://ift.tt/2NEV3ty

The United Nations Human Rights Council has voted to extend an international probe of alleged war crimes committed in Yemen overriding objections from Saudi Arabia and Yemen itself.

Nations voted 21 to 8, with 18 abstentions, in favour of the resolution on Friday.

Supporters of the resolution, including Canada and the European Union, argued that an expert group mandated by the council last year still had work to do, but opponents said it would exacerbate the crisis and increase regional instability.

In a report last month, experts detailed evidence of possible war crimes committed in Yemen by the Saudi-backed coalition and Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The report added that coalition air strikes caused “most of the documented civilian casualties” and voiced “serious concerns about the targeting process”.

The Yemeni government, which has accused investigators of bias, announced on Thursday that it was ending cooperation with the mission.

“The government refuses to extend the mission’s mandate because its findings, outlined in the report, did not meet the standards of professionalism and impartiality or the basic principles of the United Nations,” said a statement carried by the state-run Saba news agency.

It accused the UN group of “turning a blind eye” to the violations of the Houthi rebels, who the government has been battling since 2014.

The Saudi-led coalition has also dismissed as “inaccurate” and “non-neutral” the UN experts’ August 28 report.

Last week, Human Rights Watch accused Saudi Arabia of mounting a “campaign to discredit and undermine a UN investigation into abuses by all of Yemen’s warring parties”, calling it “yet another blatant attempt to avoid scrutiny of the coalition’s own actions in Yemen”.

Despite intense Saudi pressure, UN Human Rights Council renews UN investigation of the ongoing war crimes in Yemen, including Saudi-led bombing and blockading of civilians. Vote is 21 in favor, 8 against, 18 abstain, rejecting Saudi effort to buy its way out of scrutiny. pic.twitter.com/MrZYquzXPl

— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) September 28, 2018

The UN said there have been nearly 10,000 confirmed deaths in the conflict since the coalition intervened in 2015, when the Saudi-led alliance entered the war to bolster Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The conflict has triggered what the UN describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with three-quarters of the population – or 22 million people – in need of humanitarian aid.

WASHINGTON – The clock is ticking and it’s still unclear whether Republicans have enough votes to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after an emotional hearing reciting accusations of sexual assault. 

A vote is scheduled for the Senate Judiciary Committee at 9:30 a.m. Friday, less than a day after the panel heard emotional testimony from Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who alleges the nominee pinned her to a bed and tried to remove her clothes at a party when they were both teens. 

Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegations.

If the committee approves the nomination, it would then go to the full Senate. Kavanaugh’s appointment could be approved as early as Tuesday. 

More: The top moments from Thursday’s emotional testimony by Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Ford

More: Analysis: On Kavanaugh vs. Ford, a Supreme Court showdown hinges on whom you believe

More: Senate panel to vote Friday on Brett Kavanaugh after assault testimony but his fate uncertain

Republicans left the U.S. Capitol Thursday evening in a state of uncertainty. GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, both supporters of abortion rights, have remained noncommittal. So has Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, a member of the Judiciary panel and a frequent critic of Trump who is not seeking re-election.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said he was unsure of how a vote to confirm Kavanaugh would play out.

“I don’t know if they have enough votes, but they think it deserves a vote,” he said.

Some Democrats were furious with the push to move forward with the vote on Friday. Senators pointed to people who were allegedly present at the party Ford has described, saying they have not had the chance to testify.

“We should hear what these witnesses have to say for themselves publicly before the Senate Judiciary Committee about what they remember of the Summer of 1982. In their own words,” Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said on Twitter. “Right now we are missing this critical information.”

Democrats also cited the lack of an investigation by the FBI as a reason to slow down the pace of the process. 

Ford offered emotional and intimate testimony before the Judiciary Committee. She told senators she was “100 percent” confident Kavanaugh was “the boy who sexually assaulted me.” She said the sounds of his laughter during the assault have haunted her for decades. 

More: Brett Kavanaugh: How quickly could he be confirmed to the Supreme Court?

“They were having fun at my expense,” she said. “I was underneath one of them while the two laughed.”

In testimony that was both fiery and at times tearful, Kavanaugh said the sexual assault allegations had harmed his family and his name. He accused Democrats of orchestrating a “political hit” and repeatedly professed his innocence. 

“You will not drive me out,” he said. 

Confirmation by Kavanaugh would be an important milestone for Republicans and the president as it would tilt the balance of power on the high court to conservatives. 

And while Friday’s vote is an important step in the process, even if Kavanaugh is rejected by the committee, it’s not final. There have been previous cases where a Supreme Court nominee has been brought to the full Senate for a vote without committee approval.

If the committee approves Kavanaugh’s nomination, or if the nomination is sent to the floor without a recommendation, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could make a motion on Saturday to end debate on the nomination. Under Senate rules, that means a final vote on could take place on Tuesday.

 

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

During Thursday’s emotional hearing with Brett Kavanaugh, the Wikipedia page for Devil’s Triangle briefly changed to reflect the Supreme Court nominee’s answer.

The hearing about the sexual assault allegations Christine Blasey Ford brought against Kavanaugh prompted a line of questions about Kavanaugh’s high school behavior. 

Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse asked Kavanaugh a serious of questions about “Devil’s Triangle,” because the term is mentioned in Kavanaugh’s senior high school yearbook. 

When asked, what it meant, Kavanaugh said it was a “drinking game” played with “three glasses in a triangle.”

Whitehouse asked an unamused Kavanaugh to expand.

“You ever played quarters?” asked Kavanaugh.

“No,” said Whitehouse.

“OK, it’s a quarters game,” said Kavanaugh.

In the drinking game of quarters, players bounce 25-cent pieces off of a table into cups of beer.

As the conversation continued, people began searching for more on the reported drinking game. Most searches refer to the term as another name for the Bermuda Triangle, the mysterious region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where some ships and airplanes have disappeared.

Soon, the Wikipedia page for Devil’s Triangle had a new definition: “a popular drinking game enjoyed by friends of judge Brett Kavanaugh.” The entry was later removed, and at least one revision appears removed from the public archives.

Another entry on the Wikipedia page showing a history of revisions reads: “Do not add the hoax about a ‘drinking game,’ especially as related by Brett Kavanaugh.”

Wikipedia also lists TV episodes, songs, a short story and a few games that have been titled Devil’s Triangle. It also lists the slang term for Devil’s Triangle, which is sexual in nature. Attorney Michael Avenatti has suggested the term in Kavanaugh’s yearbook was related to sexual behavior. 

Thursday, Kavanaugh again strongly denied all sexual assault allegations against him, saying he never attending the gathering Ford described. 

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

Business Insider/Samantha Lee

• Tesla shares are down 13% ahead of Friday’s opening bell after the Securities and Exchange Commission sued CEO Elon Musk.
• The SEC alleges Musk made “false and misleading statements” about his claims he could take the electric-car maker private at $420 a share. 
• The SEC also alleged Musk’s tweets caused market chaos and investor harm.
• The SEC recommends Musk pay a penalty and seeks to bar him from being the head of a public company. 
• Watch Tesla trade in real time here.

Tesla shares are getting slammed Friday morning, down more than 13%, after the US Securities and Exchange Commission sued CEO Elon Musk, alleging he made “false and misleading statements” in tweets on August 7 claiming he could take the electric-car maker private at $420 a share.

“Musk knew or was reckless in not knowing that each of these statements was false and/or misleading because he did not have an adequate basis in fact for his assertions” the complaint said.

“When he made these statements, Musk knew that he had never discussed a going-private transaction at $420 per share with any potential funding source, had done nothing to investigate whether it would be possible for all current investors to remain with Tesla as a private company via a ‘special purpose fund,’ and had not confirmed support of Tesla’s investors for a potential going-private transaction.”

In its lawsuit, the SEC alleges Musk’s tweets caused market chaos and investor harm and that the Tesla CEO had been vocal about his disdain for short sellers — or people betting shares would fall. 

The SEC recommends Musk pay a penalty and seeks to bar him from being an officer or director at a public company. 

Friday’s selling has Tesla’s stock on track to open near $270 a share, its lowest level since September 7. Should the sell-off intensify and shares were to close below $252.48, they would finish at levels last seen since in March 2017.

Tesla shares were down down less than 1% this year through Thursday. 

Markets Insider