Top News Stories for Today – Sept 27, 2018
Top News Stories for Today – Sept 27, 2018
Kavanaugh accuser to testify
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and one of the three women accusing him of sexual misconduct in the 1980s, Christine Blasey Ford, will testify Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ford will testify about her allegations first, at 10 a.m., and Senate Republicans have hired Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell to question her on their behalf, an usual arrangement.
Kavanaugh will testify in the afternoon. In his prepared opening statement, Kavanaugh decries “grotesque and obvious character assassination” but says he “did things in high school that make me cringe now.” Ford will identify Kavanaugh as her assailant, say she “believed he was going to rape me,” and affirm that the details “have been seared into my memory and have haunted me episodically as an adult.” USA Today, The New York Times
A 3rd woman accuses Kavanaugh
A woman who socialized with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in high school alleged Wednesday that Kavanaugh engaged in “abusive and physically aggressive behavior” while drunk. Julie Swetnick submitted a sworn affidavit to the Senate Judiciary Committee alleging that Kavanaugh, with others, would “spike” drinks at parties with drugs or high-proof alcohol, and claims that she saw him wait for a “turn” with incapacitated girls who were being gang-raped.
“I became the victim of one of these ‘gang’ or ‘train’ rapes where … [Kavanaugh was] present,” she wrote. Committee lawyers are “in the process of reviewing” Swetnick’s affidavit, said a spokesman, while Swetnick’s attorney Michael Avenatti said she is willing to testify to the Senate. “I don’t know who this is and this never happened,” said Kavanaugh in a statement. Michael Avenatti, Washington Examiner
Trump accuses China of meddling in midterms
President Trump on Wednesday accused the Chinese government of actively trying to interfere in the midterm elections. Speaking at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Trump said that “regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere,” with the efforts specifically geared “against my administration.” He did not mention previously reported efforts by Russia to interfere with the midterms.
China’s foreign minister denied the claim, which Trump made without providing further evidence, saying, “We do not and will not interfere.” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said in July that China was “conducting a range of cyberintrusions and attacks” on the US, but that Russia “has been the most aggressive foreign actor.” Talking Points Memo, C-SPAN
US, Japan free-trade agreement
The United States and Japan have agreed to begin negotiations on a bilateral free-trade agreement, reducing the prospect that Washington might impose tariffs against another trading partner. “We’ve agreed today to start trade negotiations between the United States and Japan,” US President Donald Trump said at a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
The White House released a statement, stating the two countries would enter into talks after completing necessary domestic procedures for a bilateral trade agreement on goods and other key areas, including services. VOA
80,000 Americans died of the flu last winter
Last winter, about 80,000 people in the United States died of the flu and its complications, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. This was the highest death toll in at least 40 years. Experts said it was such a deadly season because it was driven by a strain of the flu that typically sends more people to the hospital and particularly hits children and the elderly hard, and the vaccine did not work very well against that strain.
The CDC said in recent years, between 12,000 and 56,000 people died annually from the flu and its complications, including pneumonia, stroke, and heart attack. The Associated Press