Category: Daily news

Trump’s Syria withdrawal is a boon for ISIS — and a nightmare for Europe

With the surprise withdrawal of US forces in Syria and the subsequent — and immediate — commencement of Turkish military operations against Syrian Kurdish forces, chaos has ensued. Kurdish forces are claiming that hundreds of ISIS prisoners have escaped at the Ain Issa detention facility while fighting raged nearby, while two officials told the New York Times that the US military had failed to secure 60 or so high-value detainees before its forces departed.

President Donald Trump, however, has assured Americans that his new approach would not prove a threat to the US homeland, saying, “They’re going to be …

Did Joker deserve all the discourse?

Ah, Joker. The tale of villainy, pathos, violence, and agony that nabbed a major award at its film festival debut, launched scores of thinkpieces — and raked in more than $93 million at the North American box office in its opening weekend. Until October 4, nearly all the conversations and debates around the film were happening between the small number of critics and moviegoers who saw it in Venice, Toronto, or New York prior to its theatrical release.

But now it’s out, and the conversation can expand. The critics at Vox and its sister site Polygon have plenty of …

Bernie Sanders’s plan to reshape corporate America, explained

Bernie Sanders’s return to the campaign trail will come with a renewed message about the need to reform corporate America — and it will be backed by a comprehensive proposal to significantly transfer power to workers in the American economy.

Ahead of the fourth Democratic presidential debate, which will be Sanders’s first campaign appearance since suffering a heart attack on the trail two weeks ago, the Vermont senator’s campaign unveiled its “Corporate Accountability and Democracy” plan Monday. In broad strokes, the plan calls for giving workers ownership stakes in their companies, reversing major corporate mergers, and undoing the Trump …

8 winners and 6 losers from a Succession finale that blows the whole show up

In its second season, Succession, America’s favorite show about the haunting legacy of physical and psychological abuse and/or rich white folks trying to win a kiss from daddy — has seemingly gone from a show that a bunch of TV critics couldn’t shut up about to a show that seemingly everybody* can’t shut up about.

(*who works in the media)

The HBO series has made good on the prediction that I, Vox critic at large Emily VanDerWerff, made back when Game of Thrones’ final season had just ended: that Succession would become the next TV show everybody was …

As conflict mounts at Syrian border, US will withdraw almost all its troops from the country

A thousand US troops will be withdrawn from northern Syria as “quickly as possible,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Sunday, a day after President Donald Trump approved the withdrawal that would almost completely eliminate the US military presence in the region.

Esper confirmed the withdrawal on CBS’ Face the Nation and Fox News Sunday. The news comes amidst an incursion by Turkish military forces into Kurdish-held areas of northern Syria that has led to displacement and alleged atrocities against civilian populations. These alleged atrocities include executions, like one shared in a video that appears to depict the roadside …

Hunter Biden resigns from a Chinese firm amid controversy over his business dealings

Hunter Biden — the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, and the figure at the heart of President Donald Trump’s efforts to have Ukraine investigate the former vice president — will step down from the board of a Chinese private equity company he has invested in later this month, his lawyer announced in a statement Sunday.

Trump has alleged, without evidence, that Joe Biden used the power of the vice presidency to help Hunter Biden and his business interests in Ukraine, and has also claimed the former vice president assisted his son in making a large business deal …

SNL’s cold open reimagines the presidential LGBTQ forum as a drag ball

On Tuesday, the Human Rights Campaign and CNN hosted a forum in Los Angeles in which Democratic presidential contenders discussed issues relevant to the LGBTQ community. The event offered prime fodder for Saturday Night Live’s opening sketch this week, as cast members and guest stars, including Woody Harrelson and Lin-Manuel Miranda, did impressions of top Democratic candidates making their pitches to voters.

Coming after a week in which the Supreme Court debated whether workers may be fired because of their sexualities or gender identities, the forum offered Democratic voters a chance to see where candidates came down …

As the Ukraine probe heats up, Trump and Giuliani are sticking together. Mostly.

As the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump continues, Trump pushed back Saturday against speculation about whether he and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani — a key figure in that inquiry — were on the outs.

“He may seem a little rough around the edges sometimes,” Trump tweeted of Giuliani, “But he is also a great guy and wonderful lawyer. Such a one sided Witch Hunt going on in USA. Deep State. Shameful!”

Trump went to Louisiana to stump for local Republicans. He ended up attacking national Democrats instead.

At a rally in Louisiana Friday night, President Donald Trump came out swinging against the impeachment inquiry he faces and signaled plans to embrace a general election strategy that will again rely on personal attacks against the Democratic Party leaders and his potential 2020 rivals.

Trump was at the Friday evening rally, in part, as the head of the Republican Party, a role he has not always fully embraced. While before the crowd in Lake Charles, a small city in southwest Louisiana, he called on voters to support either of the state’s two Republican gubernatorial candidates, saying, “One …

Hot, dry, and windy conditions in California have sparked big fires

Wildfires are burning across California this week as risks for more blazes remain high throughout the state. Dry, warm weather and strong seasonal winds this week have created a “recipe for explosive fire growth,” according to the National Weather Service.

The state’s largest fire currently is the Saddleridge Fire burning near Los Angeles. As of Saturday, the blaze has spread over 7,500 acres and was 19 percent contained, shutting down highways and schools in the area. About 100,000 people in Southern California are under mandatory evacuation orders.

Meanwhile, the Briceburg Fire has now burned more than 5,100 acres …