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Asia Bibi: Pakistan acquits Christian woman on death row - BBC News

Asia Bibi: Pakistan acquits Christian woman on death row
BBC News
A Pakistani court has overturned the death sentence of a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy, a case that has polarised the nation. Asia Bibi was convicted in 2010 after being accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad in a row with her neighbours.
Pakistan acquits Christian woman facing death for blasphemyABC News
Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi has death penalty conviction overturnedCNN
A Pakistan Court Has Acquitted a Christian Woman Facing Death for BlasphemyTIME
Bloomberg -Samaa Digital
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The Church of England should learn from Harry Potter this Halloween | Andrew Brown

JK Rowling understands that the supernatural needs to be frightening. ‘Light parties’ to replace Halloween are absurd

The Church of England has just done another slightly silly thing. Senior figures, including Archbishop Justin Welby, are backing attempts to draw children away from the lure of Halloween into “light parties”, where they can share “fun activities” in church. It is suggested that attendees wear superhero costumes instead of dressing up as “scary witches and ghosts”. “Nowadays,” the church claims, “most people believe that you can’t fight evil with evil – you can only fight evil by doing good, and good will always win in the end.”

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2qjIMkL

Can Mauricio Pochettino afford to tie his career to Tottenham’s stadium? | Barney Ronay

Overrun on White Hart Lane has begun to affect an overachieving manager who may tire of austerity

Football fans. Save money on expensive TV subscriptions. Create your own Sky Sports Monday Night Football debate by standing behind a desk shrieking “Twenty‑nine million pounds net!” and “Five hundred million on a stadium!” in a voice so high-pitched it’s audible only to fish, dogs and snails, before almost coming to blows during a metaphysical debate over the meaning of success in an essentially meaningless world.

Among the many oddities of Tottenham v Manchester City at the Wembley multisport complex on Monday was the sight of Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher being drawn, with a commendable degree of feeling, into the general uncertainty around where exactly Spurs and their manager stand right now.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2ql3OPU

Cricket must show unity if battle against fixing is to be won | Andy Bull

Al-Jazeera’s second expose prompted a slanging match with authorities but the question should be not whether spot-fixing exists but who is doing it and how often

Seems like it was Mark Wood’s bad luck to draw a short straw last week. The day after al-Jazeera released the second part of their investigation into spot-fixing in cricket Wood was put up to talk to the press. He said the accusations reminded him of “the boy who cried wolf”. Maybe Wood always used to fall asleep before his parents made it to the end of the book. Right now, five months after the first part of al-Jazeera’s expose, we are still waiting to see whether the danger they are shouting about really exists, but Wood, like everyone else in English cricket, will hope this story does not end with everyone looking the other way while the wolf eats up the sheep.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2P05PQw

Geraint Thomas: ‘Ideally, Froome would ride for me but that’s not possible’

The Tour de France winner on overcoming frustration with Team Sky, meeting Lionel Messi and why he cannot wait for next year

Geraint Thomas has already told me about the night he and Lionel Messi met in an underground car park and how it feels to have won the Tour de France. He has considered public suspicion of Team Sky and explained his long battle to be accepted as their leading rider in this year’s race ahead of Chris Froome. Thomas pauses briefly now and, stepping away from the whirlwind of the last four months, looks ahead.

“I’d love to win it again,” he says. “Each year’s different but I still feel I’m improving even though I’m 32. I still have the motivation and commitment where I think Brad Wiggins, once he’d won it [in 2012], didn’t have 100% motivation. I’ve still got the appetite. I enjoyed the whole race – not just the end.”

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2P30gRq

Mike Brown dropped by Eddie Jones for England Test against South Africa

• Full-back omitted for first time in the Jones era
• Brown has been a virtual ever-present since 2012

Eddie Jones has omitted Mike Brown, Ben Morgan and Michael Rhodes from his England squad to face South Africa on Saturday, with Courtney Lawes also ruled out through injury.

Bath’s Zach Mercer and Ben Moon of Exeter are in line to play in a Test for the first time, with the New Zealand-born back-row Brad Shields also on course for a Twickenham debut. Chris Ashton and Manu Tuilagi are poised for their first Test involvements since 2014 and 2016 respectively but there is no room for the 33-year-old Brown, who has never previously been dropped by Jones when fully fit.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2zcI3Gf

Emotions raw but Leicester decide match at Cardiff will go ahead

• Leicester feel an away game is best way to restore normality
• Book of condolence honours Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha

Leicester have made the difficult decision to play their Premier League game at Cardiff on Saturday, following the death of their chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others in the helicopter crash at the King Power Stadium.

A minute’s silence will be observed before kick-off at Cardiff and the players will wear black armbands in honour of those who died when a private helicopter carrying Vichai, two members of his staff and two flight crew came down and exploded after Leicester’s match against West Ham.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2qhsEQD

The Faces of Change in the Midterm Elections

By K.K. REBECCA LAI, DENISE LU, LISA LERER and TROY GRIGGS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2ACgWpO

On Politics: Trump Wants to End Birthright Citizenship With Executive Order

By Unknown Author from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2PtGVrY

A Weekend at Witch Camp

By VALERIYA SAFRONOVA from NYT Style https://ift.tt/2DdNbhM

Word + Quiz: jamboree

By THE LEARNING NETWORK from NYT The Learning Network https://ift.tt/2CR7iBg

Pittsburgh, Venice, Whitey Bulger: Your Wednesday Briefing

By PENN BULLOCK from NYT Briefing https://ift.tt/2qlL0QG

What’s on TV Wednesday: ‘Scary Movie’ and ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’

By GABE COHN from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/2PBa30a

Baby Antonio: 5 Pounds, 12 Ounces and Homeless From Birth

By NIKITA STEWART and GABRIELLA ANGOTTI-JONES from NYT New York https://ift.tt/2Oh27g6

Hartman Scores Twice as Predators Beat Golden Knights 4-1

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2OiBwPT

Rescue Workers Search for Missing After Typhoon Strikes Philippines

By JASON GUTIERREZ from NYT World https://ift.tt/2Oh9Cn2

Amid Scrutiny, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner Shaped Trump’s Pittsburgh Response

By KATIE ROGERS and MAGGIE HABERMAN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2SvUNk1

In California, the Search for a Missing 800-Pound Hammer Continues

By MATT STEVENS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2Q7znYV

Quotation of the Day: Move Would Have Widespread Ramifications for Many American Families

By Unknown Author from NYT Today’s Paper https://ift.tt/2OYHuu9

Review: In ‘Days of Rage,’ the Revolution Will Be Trivialized

By JESSE GREEN from NYT Theater https://ift.tt/2zfHgEh

Review: Remembering What Was and Wasn’t in ‘Good Grief’

By BEN BRANTLEY from NYT Theater https://ift.tt/2JvF3JS

Samsung Reaps Record Profit, but Tougher Times Could Come

By RAYMOND ZHONG from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2JsBLqq

Penguins and Islanders Honor Victims of Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2P1tTSM

Corrections: October 31, 2018

By Unknown Author from NYT Corrections https://ift.tt/2CRHiG0

36 Teenagers Show Us Their Generation

By KATHERINE SCHULTEN from NYT The Learning Network https://ift.tt/2PrIyq3

Resting Place

By DEB AMLEN from NYT Crosswords & Games https://ift.tt/2qjT6JH

Thomas Campbell, Ex-Director of the Met, Is Hired to Lead San Francisco Museums

By SARAH MERVOSH from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/2CUzYcP

What billionaires want: the secret influence of America’s 100 richest

A new study reveals how the wealthy engage in ‘stealth politics’: quietly advancing unpopular, inequality-exacerbating, highly conservative policies

If we judge US billionaires by their most prominent fellows, they may seem to be a rather attractive bunch: ideologically diverse (perhaps even tending center-left), frank in speaking out about their political views, and generous in philanthropic giving for the common good – not to mention useful for the goods and jobs they have helped produce.

The very top titans – Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates – have all taken left-of-center stands on various issues, and Buffett and Gates are paragons of philanthropy. The former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is known for his advocacy of gun control, gay rights, and environmental protection. George Soros (protector of human rights around the world) and Tom Steyer (focused on young people and environmental issues) have been major donors to the Democrats. In recent years, investigative journalists have also brought to public attention Charles and David Koch, mega-donors to ultra-conservative causes. But given the great prominence of several left-of-center billionaires, this may merely seem to right the balance, filling out a picture of a sort of Madisonian pluralism among billionaires.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2RkC6y8

Midterm elections: early voter turnout surging in several key states

If trends continue, turnout could beat the 49% recorded in 1966, a number that has not been surpassed since in a midterm

Early voter turnout is surging in several key states, suggesting more Americans may cast their ballots in this year’s midterm elections compared to previous years.

In Georgia, where a razor-thin governor’s race has been roiled by accusations of voter suppression, turnout has been huge, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. On the first day of early voting this month, turnout was triple that of 2014: 69,049 people cast ballots, up from 20,898.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2JsLIV1

Chinese spies charged in US with trying to steal jet engine secrets

Two military intelligence officers and six hackers allegedly tried to access systems of aerospace companies

Two Chinese intelligence officers and six hackers have been charged with commercial espionage that included trying to steal information on commercial jet engines, US prosecutors have said.

The indictments unsealed in Los Angeles on Tuesday named two officers working for the Nanjing-based foreign intelligence arm of China’s ministry of state security and six other defendants who allegedly conspired from 2010 to 2015 to steal sensitive turbofan engine technology used in commercial aviation.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2OXJqDk

Ill-prepared hiker rescued after concerned woman's phone call

Katharina Groene had phoned friends to apologize for dying on Washington trek before a good Samaritan summoned authorities

A phone call from a concerned woman likely saved the life of a hiker from Germany who was attempting to travel through the Cascade Mountains to the Canadian border without proper gear as snow and cold hit the region, authorities said.

Nancy Abel of Sultan met and hiked with Katharina Groene on 24 October near Stevens pass and noticed she didn’t have equipment for snow travel, according to the Snohomish county sheriff’s office. An avid hiker, Abel told authorities she tried but failed to convince Groene to end her journey to the Canadian border.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Q2qzn0

Lime blames electric scooters catching fire on bad batteries

The company responded that the defect had affected less than 0.01% of the fleet and that at-risk scooters have been recalled

It was a late night in late August when an employee at a Lime scooter facility in Tahoe, heard a loud bang. One of the bright-green rental scooters – which have meteorically swarmed streets in crowded cities around the world over the past year – had burst into flames, seemingly, all on its own.

According to a blog posted by Lime on Tuesday, nearly two months later, bad batteries were to blame. Stating that the defect had affected less than 0.01% of the “fleet”, the company conceded that a “manufacturing defect could result in the battery smoldering, or in some cases, catching fire”.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2zdHHz3

US insurer sends public employees to Mexico for cheaper drugs

The state of Utah is offering a $500 incentive for each trip as one congressman says, ‘Everybody loves a good deal’

Owing to the soaring cost of medicine in the US, the state of Utah is offering its public employees a new incentive: $500 and a trip to Mexico to buy prescription drugs at a cheaper price.

“We can fly a health plan member to San Diego, have them picked up by private transport, receive the same drug as they would in the US from a hospital in Tijuana that meets US standards, give them a cash back incentive of $500, and still save between 40% to 60% for the employer,” said Chet Loftis, director of PEHP Health & Benefits, which insures some 170,000 public employees and their dependents.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2yHGBw6

Kanye West says he's distancing himself from politics: 'My eyes are wide open'

The statement likely results from a falling out between the rapper and a rightwing provocateur over the ‘Blexit’ concept

Is the strangest political marriage in America finally over?

Rapper Kanye West, who earlier this month hugged Donald Trump in the Oval Office, declared on Tuesday that he had been “used to spread messages I don’t believe in” and would now be “distancing” himself from politics.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2yJmHAO

Pittsburgh shooting: thousands march to remember victims and denounce Trump's visit

Organizers accuse the president of emboldening ‘a growing white nationalist movement’ with hateful speech

Thousand have gathered in Squirrel Hill to remember those killed at a neighborhood synagogue and to oppose Donald Trump’s visit to Pittsburgh. Expressing their anger and sorrow, many blamed the president for the attack.

Young and old from all walks of life marched on Tuesday to remember the 11 Jewish people who died in the Saturday morning shooting. A suspect appeared in court on Monday.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2AATGIW

Donald Trump pays tribute to Pittsburgh synagogue shooting victims – as it happened

'Unfit to serve'? US interior secretary faces fresh ethics scrutiny

Secretary Ryan Zinke has been linked to real estate deals and questionable actions that benefit lawmakers, businesses and family

An ethics watchdog has referred findings of misconduct by the US interior secretary to lawyers at the justice department who will decide whether to pursue a criminal investigation, according to the Washington Post and CNN.

The watchdog – the interior department’s inspector general - has conducted several probes involving Secretary Ryan Zinke, and it’s not clear which the Justice Department could review.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2RpCPy5

Trump borrows from the old tricks of fascism | Timothy Snyder

The idea that the powerful are victims who must be coddled arose in a setting that recalls the United States of today

The governing principle of the Trump administration is total irresponsibility, a claim of innocence from a position of power, something which happens to be an old fascist trick. As we see in the president’s reactions to American rightwing terrorism, he will always claim victimhood for himself and shift blame to the actual victims. As we see in the motivations of the terrorists themselves, and in the long history of fascism, this maneuver can lead to murder.

The Nazis claimed a monopoly on victimhood. Mein Kampf includes a lengthy pout about how Jews and other non-Germans made Hitler’s life as a young man in the Habsburg monarchy difficult. After stormtroopers attacked others in Germany in the early 1930s, they made a great fuss if one of their own was injured. The Horst Wessel Song, recalling a single Nazi who was killed, was on the lips of Germans who killed millions of people. The second world war was for the Nazis’ self-defense against “global Jewry”.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Px0dwm

There are three options in tackling climate change. Only one will work | Mayer Hillman

We’re now at a fork in the road: either we cut out fossil fuels completely, or we pass on a dying planet to our children

The world faces a near-impossible decision – one that is already determining the character and quality of the lives of the generations succeeding us.

It is clear from the latest IPCC climate report that the first and only effective course, albeit a deeply unpopular one, would be to stop using any fossil fuels. The second would be to voluntarily minimise their use as much as climate scientists have calculated would deliver some prospect of success. Finally, we can carry on as we are by aiming to meet the growth in demand for activities dependent on fossil fuels, allowing market forces to mitigate the problems that such a course of action generates – and leave it to the next generation to set in train realistic solutions (if that is possible), that the present one has been unable to find.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Jr228D

The Guardian view on Donald Trump: using hate as bait | Editorial

The US president is following a consistent strategy of creating crises over immigration and race to mobilise white support for Republicans in the midterm elections

Donald Trump is still sometimes depicted as impulsive and unpredictable. But this view is mistaken. There is method – albeit an evil method – in his madness. His behaviour in the build-up to next week’s US midterm elections highlights this side of the president. He has been consistent and unscrupulous in pursuing it. Fearing that voters will elect an anti-Trump Congress on 6 November, he has made a clear choice to use hate and division to bait and provoke his opponents into a backlash which, he hopes, will energise white voters to support Republican candidates at the polls.

At least three of Mr Trump’s actions this week can only be adequately explained by this strategy. In the first, he has ordered 5,200 active duty American troops to the US-Mexico border. The objective here is not to respond to a crisis – several thousand National Guard are already there, as well as border police – but to create one. Mr Trump wants to make a show of force against a caravan of migrants from Central America, which he has mischievously described as an invasion and which he has falsely said contains “unknown Middle Easterners”. Not only is this claim untrue, but the caravan itself is daily shrinking in size and it is still in southern Mexico, weeks away from reaching the US border. Mr Trump is using his nation’s troops as partisan political props.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2CQCOza

If the men of tomorrow are to respect women, parents have to teach it | Saima Mir

There is a tide of proud and arrogant patriarchy waiting to sweep up our boys if they are not set on the correct path

The world of work does not look favourably on childbirth and parenthood, despite the legislation in place. Stay-at-home parents fare no better. This is something that most of us only discover after we take on the role of childrearing.

I used to believe that we had come far in the fight for equality, but giving birth opened my eyes to the truth that, embedded within our culture, the mechanisms that silence women, refuse to take us seriously and sever us from the centres of power, still exist. That patriarchy is alive and well, and it is kicking us when we are down.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2zhg482

Simone Biles overcomes kidney stone to lead USA to world gymnastics team gold

Russia claim silver medal with China in third place
Biles puts in strong showing despite visit to hospital

Simone Biles is now an 11-time world champion after leading the USA women to team gold at the World Gymnastics Championships in Doha on Tuesday.

Biles had the highest individual score in the entire competition on the floor, uneven bars and vault as the US recorded a total of 171.269, with Russia second on 162.863 and China winning bronze with 162.396. Biles’s only blemish came on the beam where she made a few small errors. However, her compatriot Kara Eaker produced a strong showing to record the best score of the competition in the discipline.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2zidLl9

NFL increases London series to four games in 2019, with Spurs hosting two

London has hosted NFL games since 2007
Many believe UK capital will eventually have its own team

The NFL says it will play four regular-season games in London next year, two at Wembley and two at the new stadium being built for Tottenham Hotspur. The NFL did not say which teams would be making the trip, or when the games will be played.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2COzTao

'The best feeling': Warriors' Klay Thompson sets NBA record for three-pointers – video

Klay Thompson set an NBA record with 14 three-pointers in the Golden State Warriors’ 149-124 win over the Chicago Bulls.

Thompson surpassed the mark set by teammate Steph Curry, who hit 13 three-pointers in November 2016 against the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Warriors guard sank 14 of 24 three-point attempts, calling it ‘one of the best feelings in the world’. Thompson added that: ‘I don’t know if I would be able to break these records … without the system I play in or the team I’m with.’

Golden State led 92-50 at half-time, which was the highest ever score by a visiting team and the second most in NBA history behind the Phoenix Suns (107) in 1990.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2RpeTLw

We just saw the greatest team in Boston Red Sox history | Hunter Felt

Alex Cora’s players started the season well, and just got better. No wonder owner John Henry called them the best Red Sox team ever

As he lifted the World Series trophy, Boston Red Sox owner John Henry proclaimed the 2018 edition was “the best Red Sox team in history in so many ways”. It wasn’t surprising that Henry would be inspired to say that while he was caught up in the joy of victory; what was surprising was that he was probably right. The moment that the Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series, they cemented their place as the best all-around team in the history of Boston baseball.

It’s something of a bold claim for a team that has has been around, in one form or another, since 1901 and now has nine championships to its name. Still, the numbers alone back it up. The Red Sox won 108 games during the regular season, a franchise record, and combined to win 119 games in total after they breezed their way through the postseason. The Ringer’s Zach Kram, making the case for the 2018 Red Sox being one of the best teams of all time, noted that the only teams that won more combined games were the 1998 New York Yankees and the 2001 Seattle Mariners (and the Mariners didn’t even make the World Series).

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Q5tyeB

FBI asked to investigate suspected double hoax against Mueller

FBI to investigate whether a hoaxer offered women money to make false allegations about special counsel investigating Russian election meddling

The FBI has been asked to investigate whether a hoaxer offered women money to make false allegations about Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

Several journalists and bloggers in the US received an email this month purporting to be from a woman who had been offered money to smear Mueller with bogus claims of inappropriate behaviour decades ago.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2zd2q6b

Trump suggests he will end birthright citizenship with executive order

President falsely claimed US is ‘the only country in the world’ to endow the right and that he would move to sign order ending it

US politics live – latest news

Donald Trump has insisted he will move to end the right to American citizenship for the children of non-citizens born in the US, a pledge he made frequently throughout the 2016 campaign and one often dismissed by scholars as legally unfeasible.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2OfR4Ui

Georgians shrug at voter suppression as Republican voters keep a low profile

Democrat Stacey Abrams and her opponent Brian Kemp seem to be proxies for racial and social divisions of the age of Trump

Gerald Devereaux, 74, stood outside an early polling station in firmly Republican Forsyth county after casting his ballot early in Georgia, one of America’s battleground states in next week’s midterm elections.

“I voted anti-Trump,” he said. “I like Republican policies better than the Democrat policies, but not if you got jerks leading it,” the registered Independent clarified, though he was unable to name a single policy he especially liked from Republicans.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2zfYDF9

Pittsburgh residents and city leaders divided over imminent Trump visit

Mayor asked president to delay visit until after victims are buried while some residents say politics should pause for grief

US politics live – latest news

Donald Trump faces an uneasy welcome in Pittsburgh on Tuesday after the city’s governor and mayor said they would not join the president on his visit following Saturday’s antisemitic mass shooting.

Trump was expected to visit the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, where 11 people were shot and killed at the Tree of Life synagogue, despite a request from the city’s mayor asking him not to come.

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from US news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2qiI3QZ

WWE news, rumors: Daniel Bryan officially off Crown Jewel card in Saudi Arabia - CBSSports.com

CBSSports.com

WWE news, rumors: Daniel Bryan officially off Crown Jewel card in Saudi Arabia
CBSSports.com
As was reported by multiple outlets over the last few days, Daniel Bryan is officially off the Crown Jewel card where he was scheduled to challenge AJ Styles for the WWE championship. This news comes on the heels of the confirmation on Raw Monday night ...

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