Trump Presidency Faces High Stakes In Midterm Elections

President Donald Trump has been acting like a candidate on the ballot this week, staging daily double-header rallies and blasting out ads for Republicans up for election on Tuesday. Trump faces potentially debilitating fallout should Republicans lose control of one or both chambers in Congress, ending two years of GOP hegemony in Washington. A White House that has struggled to stay on course under favorable circumstances would be tested in dramatic ways.

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  Midterms 2018: Five key election races to watch before US voters go to the polls

  The Independent
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  Ga. Secretary Of State Launches Investigation Into Democratic Party

  Yahoo View

Ending the Qatar blockade might be the price Saudi Arabia pays for Khashoggi's murder

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, left, and Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October. WASHINGTON — The murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post contributor who disappeared after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, has created the biggest rift in U.S. relations with the kingdom since 9/11. Washington has already sought to capitalize on the murder by pushing Riyadh to halt its disastrous 3 1/2-year intervention in Yemen and lift the Saudi-led embargo on Qatar, according to the multiple U.S. and diplomatic officials.

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  SoftBank's Son defends Saudi ties after journalist murder

  Reuters
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  Saudi rights record in UN spotlight

  AFP

Senate Report Concludes No Evidence Supports Kavanaugh Misconduct Accusations

A report by the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee concluded that no evidence supported the “numerous allegations” of misconduct against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh that surfaced during his confirmation process. “This was a serious and thorough investigation that left no stone unturned in our pursuit of the facts,” said committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in a statement on Saturday as the panel’s Republican majority released a 414-page report. In the accusation that gained the most public attention, California professor Christine Blasey Ford testified to the committee that when they were both teenagers, a drunk Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, tried to remove her clothing and pressed his hand over her mouth when she attempted to scream at a house party.

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  Trump Uses False Accusation Against Brett Kavanaugh To Inflame His Base

  Refinery29
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  Trump Tries To Revive Doubt Over Kavanaugh Claims After Little-Known Accuser Recants

  HuffPost

Father speaks at vigil for 3 siblings killed at bus stop

A vigil was held for the three siblings who were struck and killed as they crossed the street to their school bus in Rochester, Indiana.

Florida Yoga Studio Shooting Suspect Was A Far-Right Misogynist

The man who police say walked into a Tallahassee, Florida, yoga studio and opened fire on Friday evening was a self-identified misogynist who ranted against women and spewed racist beliefs in videos and songs posted online. It was unclear Saturday evening whether YouTube had suspended the account.

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  Tallahassee Yoga Studio Shooting: Hero Rushed at Gunman, Saving Lives, State Rep. Says

  Inside Edition
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  Two dead, several wounded in US yoga studio shooting: police

  AFP

US soldier killed in 'insider attack' in Afghanistan

One US soldier was killed and another wounded in an "apparent insider attack" in Kabul on Saturday, NATO said, in the latest such assault on international forces in Afghanistan. The Taliban claimed two similar attacks in the western province of Herat on October 22 and the southern province of Kandahar on October 18. General Scott Miller, the top NATO and US commander in Afghanistan, narrowly escaped the latter attack that killed a powerful police chief.

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  Taliban attack an Afghan forces check point, killing 13

  Associated Press
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  Pakistan buries the 'Father of the Taliban'

  AFP Videos

Diver dies in search for Lion Air crash, main fuselage found

Pieces of the flight data recorder from the Lion Air passenger jet that crashed after takeoff from Jakarta on Monday has been retrieved on Thursday, according to CNN. On Saturday, is was reported that divers found the main fuselage and could hear pinging from the cockpit voice recorded. Strong currents are not uncommon in the area, and have been in full force all week across the Java Sea.

U.S. warns its citizens in Tanzania before anti-gay crackdown

In an alert on its website late on Saturday, the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania advised Americans to review their social media profiles and internet footprints. "Remove or protect images and language that may run afoul of Tanzanian laws regarding homosexual practices and explicit sexual activity," it said. The alert said any U.S. citizen who was detained or arrested should ensure the Tanzanian authorities informed the embassy.

After years in the dark, Gaza's power woes ease

The lights are going back on in the Gaza Strip, in a rare piece of positive news from the blockaded Palestinian enclave. In recent days, residents say they have received up to 16 hours of mains electricity a day, compared with as little as four previously. UN humanitarian officials report an average of between nine and 11 hours per day since October 25.

Pompeo rebuts critics who want sterner Iran sanctions

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is defending the Trump administration's reimposition of sanctions against Iran from conservative critics who argue more should be done to isolate the country. In an interview with "Fox News Sunday," Pompeo refused to reveal which countries received waivers from U.S. sanctions to continue importing Iranian oil. President Donald Trump removed the U.S. from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal earlier this year, triggering the sanctions being imposed Monday.

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  US sanctions on Iran, 'toughest ever,' take force Monday

  AFP
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  Guards chief says Iran will resist, defeat U.S. sanctions: state TV

  Reuters

These Leaf Thanksgiving Cookies Deserve A Spot On Your Holiday Dessert Table

You can totally eat cookies before the pie.From Delish

Prep For Thanksgiving Now With These 5 Simple Tasks

The process takes a few hours, and it’s a good idea to be around while a large appliance turns itself into a self-contained inferno, so schedule it for a lazy afternoon and head into Thanksgiving with a clean start. Dull knives are the easiest to cut yourself with — and that goes double if you’re trying to hurry through Thanksgiving prep and your knife skills, like your knives, are a bit rusty. If you’ve ever followed all the instructions on a cookie recipe and still felt like they came out wrong, it could be that your oven temperature is off.

In Texas Senate race, both parties are at the door — all 7.4 million of them

Beto O’Rourke, left, and Ted Cruz. DALLAS — When Beto O’Rourke wrapped up his day here late Friday, rallying supporters in what he noted was the aptly named Opportunity Park, his voice was hoarse and scratchy, and there were bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. It was the Democratic Senate hopeful’s sixth public event of the day — his 70th in two weeks — a breakneck pace that has taken him thousands of miles all over the state in his uphill bid to become the first Democrat elected statewide in Texas in 24 years.

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  Matt Dowd: If O'Rourke wins Texas, 'he becomes the biggest rock star in the country'

  ABC News Videos
• Inside the Final Days of Beto’s Battle for Texas

  Rolling Stone

2 Children Shot While Trick-Or-Treating In Philadelphia

A Philadelphia teenager and her 5-year-old brother were trick-or-treating on Halloween when they were both shot by masked gunmen, police said. Mikaya, 14, was with her brother Mael when two men began shooting, striking the children in the crossfire, WPVI reported. Both children were shot once in the leg, Philadelphia Police Capt. Malachi Jones said Thursday.

'Hamilton' Cast Delivers Message Founding Fathers Would Endorse: Vote!

The cast of the Broadway musical “Hamilton” turned to what they do best to encourage voters to turn out for the midterm elections. On Saturday, the show’s assistant stage manager, Deanna Weiner, tweeted a video of cast members backstage singing “The Election of 2018,” a song adapted from the show by music director Kurt Crowley. Members of the original Broadway cast – including the show’s creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda – have also released a video encouraging people to vote.

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  Judd Legum: Will a surge of Democrats and Independents make Iowa race more competitive?

  Yahoo View
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  Don't Bet on Post-Midterm Rally in Risk Assets, Investors Warn

  Bloomberg

Indonesia extends search for jet crash victims, second black box

"We decided to extend it three days", beginning on Monday, search and rescue agency (Basarnas) chief Muhammad Syaugi told a news conference. The agency is prioritizing recovering remains of victims and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), the second of two black boxes from the Boeing Co. 737 MAX that crashed into the sea early on Monday, 13 minutes after it took off from Jakarta. The head of Indonesia's transportation safety committee (KNKT) said 69 hours of recorded data from 19 flights, including the one that crashed, had been downloaded successfully from a partly damaged flight data recorder recovered on Thursday.

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  Indonesia plane crashed in more than a 100 feet of water

  ABC News Videos
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  Tearful relatives of Indonesia jet crash victims demand answers

  Reuters

Amazon Exec Rips ‘Leaking’ to Bezos’ Washington Post on Headquarters

In a tweet Saturday morning, Amazon’s Mike Grella addressed “the genius leaking info,” saying: “You’re not doing Crystal City, VA any favors. In earlier tweets, Grella criticized another story in the Post -- owned by Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos -- for speculating about the possible second headquarters location based on flight patterns of Bezos’ jet.

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  Amazon in late-stage talks with U.S. cities for second headquarters: Wall Street Journal

  Reuters
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  Amazon’s Second Headquarters Hunt May Be Near A Selection

  Deadline

N. Korea warns of returning to nuclear policy

North Korea has warned the United States it will "seriously" consider returning to a state policy aimed at building nuclear weapons if Washington does not end tough economic sanctions against the impoverished regime. For years, the North had pursued a "byungjin" policy of simultaneously developing its nuclear capabilities alongside the economy. In April, citing a "fresh climate of detente and peace" on the peninsula, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared the nuclear quest complete and said his country would focus on "socialist economic construction".

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  Pompeo seems unfazed by NKorean nuclear development threat

  Associated Press
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  N. Korean leader meets Cuban president in Pyongyang

  AFP

Trump faces a big test in the midterms and it has brought all his worst traits to the fore

For Donald Trump, his path to the White House in 2016 was simple: promise action on immigration, the economy and repealing his predecessor's flagship healthcare policy, Obamacare. The playbook for the midterms – despite the White House not being at stake – is the same. Mr Trump knows what the type of promises and rhetoric that he believes will bring his supporters to the polls and he has been hitting it hard over the past few weeks.

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  Texas' early votes exceed total cast in 2014 election

  Associated Press
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  Midterms 2018: Why the race for the Georgia governor's office between Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp matters

  The Independent

Sri Lanka president summons Parliament amid political crisis

Sri Lanka's president issued an order Sunday for Parliament to reconvene on Nov. 14, when lawmakers will get the chance to hold a confidence vote on the nation's former strongman who has been named prime minister. The announcement made in a decree comes amid a political crisis in the South Asian island nation sparked when President Maithripala Sirisena dismissed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his Cabinet and replaced him with Mahinda Rajapaksa last month. Sirisena suspended Parliament in an apparent attempt to give Rajapaksa time to muster support to survive any no-confidence vote.

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  Rivals China, India cautiously watch Sri Lankan crisis

  Associated Press
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  Rajapakse rally gathers as Sri Lanka showdown toughens

  AFP

10 Things I Learned Working In A Cannabis Dispensary

In 2015, I nearly died from a vitamin B12 deficiency (because that’s a thing), which catapulted an evil disease called fibromyalgia into the center of my world ― and then totally imploded it. Finally, after two and a half intense-yet-dull years of medical tests, bedrest, physical therapy and intensive self-care, I was healthy enough that rejoining the working world started to seem like an option.

Are E-Gift Cards Secure?

Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. Physical gift cards for specific merchants and services are widely available at stores, but before buying one, always inspect a card’s protective stickers or coating for tampering and check whether the PIN has been revealed, says CR senior money editor Tobie Stanger.

Trump Administration Goes To Trial To Defend Adding A Citizenship Question To Census

The Trump administration is set to defend its controversial decision to add a question about citizenship to the 2020 census in a closely watched federal trial that will begin Monday in New York City. Controversy over the question immediately erupted when it was leaked that the Justice Department requested it in December so it could collect better data to enforce the Voting Rights Act. In March, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the Census Bureau, announced he had decided to add the question.

Obama Draws Excited Crowds Ordering Tacos In Miami While Campaigning In Florida

Former President Barack Obama stopped at a restaurant to order tacos while on the campaign trail in Florida. Obama visited Miami to campaign for the state’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Andrew Gillum, and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. The staff at Coyo Taco expressed their excitement over Obama’s visit in an Instagram post.