Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 17th September 2019 at 21:45 (about 5 hours ago)
The Defense Department has decided not to move forward with three border-barrier projects in California and Arizona, indicating that the estimated $2.5 billion cost of the 20 miles of planned construction would be too high.Funding for the projects -- three 30-foot-high barriers on the U.S.?Mexico border -- was originally allocated from a counter-drug initiative, which the Pentagon approved pending final analysis of cost projections. That analysis found that the cost would be prohibitive, according to a Monday court filing in Washington, D.C.President Trump has struggled to free up funding to build and renovate barriers on the southern border, an issue that was central to his 2016 campaign. This past January, he led the longest government shutdown in U.S. history after Democrats refused to include funding for border barriers in the 2019 budget. The budget was eventually passed without the funding, at which point Trump declared a national emergency in order obtain funds for the barriers from the Pentagon. House Democrats have mounted legal challenges to the national-emergency declaration, so far without success.As of late August, the Trump administration has renovated 60 miles of fences, walls, and other border infrastructure. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 17th September 2019 at 21:45 (about 5 hours ago)
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has forbidden all Iranian officials from negotiating with President Trump, Iranian State TV reported Tuesday."There will be no talks with the U.S. at any level," Khamenei was quoted as saying.The comments came amid speculation regarding a possible meeting between Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting later this month. It would be the first meeting between a U.S. and Iranian president since the 1970's. Advisors close to Trump indicated that the idea appeals to him, according to a report from the Washington Post.Khamenei said that the U.S. was trying to demonstrate that its current policy of applying maximum pressure on Iran, via economic sanctions, would work to bring the country to the negotiating table. ?In return, we have to prove that the policy is not worth a penny for the Iranian nation,? he continued.?That?s why all Iranian officials, from the president and the foreign minister to all others have announced that we do not negotiate (with the U.S.) either bilaterally or multilaterally.?The Iranian position is that the U.S. must reenter the JCPOA nuclear deal in order for negotiations to take place.Khamenei's comments came just days after an attack on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure, which was claimed by Yemeni Houthi rebels but which Trump has indicated was carried out by Iran.Trump initially said the U.S. military was "locked and loaded" and that it could respond ?with an attack many, many times larger,? but later clarified, ?I?m not looking at options right now.? #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 17th September 2019 at 21:45 (about 5 hours ago)
The home of Ukraine's former central bank chief has been burned to the ground, the third chilling incident involving the banker over the past few weeks. Police said in a statement Tuesday that they are investigating a suspected arson attack late Monday on the house of Valeria Gontareva outside the capital, Kyiv. Gontareva has said she has received threats from Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi, who lost his PrivatBank to a government nationalization that was carried out while Gontareva was at the helm of the central bank in 2016. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 17th September 2019 at 21:45 (about 5 hours ago)
A man from California is the seventh person to die from a suspected vaping-related illness in the US, reports say.The man, in his 40s, had been ill for a number of weeks before he succumbed to a ?severe pulmonary injury associated with vaping?, according to Tulare Country public health officer Dr Karen Haught. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 17th September 2019 at 21:45 (about 5 hours ago)
General Motors Co shifted health insurance costs for its striking workers to the United Auto Workers union as its members walked the picket line for the second day on Tuesday. The UAW on Monday launched the first company-wide strike at GM in 12 years, saying negotiations toward a new national agreement covering about 48,000 hourly workers had hit an impasse. This year's talks between the union and GM, Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA) were expected to be tough, with thorny issues such as healthcare costs, profit-sharing and the use of temporary workers on the table. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 17th September 2019 at 21:45 (about 5 hours ago)
After an apparent election setback, Israel's prime minister says he will seek the formation of a new "Zionist" government that excludes Arab parties. Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a small crowd of supporters in Tel Aviv at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, more than five hours after voting ended. Initial exit polls placed challenger Benny Gantz's Blue and White party just ahead of Netanyahu's Likud, hurting Netanyahu's chances of remaining as prime minister. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 17th September 2019 at 21:45 (about 5 hours ago)
Israel's Prime Minister turned on HBO show 'Our Boys' in his hunt for enemies. That's bad for real efforts against anti-Semitism. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 17th September 2019 at 21:45 (about 5 hours ago)
The smoke rising above above Saudi Arabia?s Abqaiq oil field might seem at first like the justification Riyadh has been waiting for. If the White House is to be believed, Iran launched an unprovoked attack on the kingdom?s most important oil facilities. Saudi Arabia would be within its rights to strike its Iranian archrivals in response. In an evening tweet, Donald Trump even appeared to give Saudi Arabia a say in whether the US would attack Iran. ?[The US is] waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!? Saudi Arabia has the power to bring fire and fury down on its most-hated foe but may be reluctant to actually use that power. The reality is the Saudis are deeply skittish about the prospects of any war with Iran because they know they will be Tehran?s main target. If fighting breaks out between the US and Iran, the Iranians will have relatively few chances to strike America directly. They could target US ships in the Persian Gulf or order their Shia militia proxies to harass American forces in Iraq. But most of their fire is likely to be aimed at the soft underbelly of Saudi Arabia, which is well within range of Iran?s missiles on the other side of the Gulf. Strikes against Saudi oil plants ?Saudi Arabia will not support a war with Iran that has a Saudi return address on it,? said Joshua Landis, director of the Centre for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. ?Saudi Arabia would support a war between the US and Iran, if Saudi Arabia could hide behind the US, but not one where the Saudis must step out in front, because the Saudis would lose.? Although the kingdom is the world?s third largest defence spender after the US and China, its military is fairly ineffective and would struggle against Iranian forces hardened by decades of unconventional warfare across the region. Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, openly lamented the disparity between the quality of his troops? weapons and the paucity of their fighting skills. ?It is unacceptable that we are the world?s third or fourth biggest country in military spending but our army is ranked in the twenties [in ability],? he said in 2016. ?There is a problem.? Mohammed bin Salman had lamented his forces' capabilities Credit: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo That problem has been mercilessly exposed on the battlefields of Yemen, where Saudi forces equipped with state-of-the-art British and American weaponry have been fought to a stalemate by ragtag Houthi rebel fighters backed by Iran. This vulnerability explains why, despite Riyadh?s strong rhetoric towards Iran, the Saudis have often looked to de-escalate in the face of Iranian provocations. After two Saudi oil tankers were bombed in a mysterious sabotage attack in May, the US pointed the finger directly at Iran. Yet, Saudi Arabia hemmed and hawed and appeared reluctant to place the blame on anyone. In their initial statements about this week's attack, Saudi officials have confirmed the weapons were Iranian-made but have not gone as far as the US in directly blaming Iran. As with the tanker attacks, they may now say that a lengthy investigation is needed to determine the culprits, giving time for passions to fade. The kingdom surely dream of ridding itself of its rivals in the Islamic Republic across the narrow water. But if the price of confronting Iran is far more smoke billowing above burning Saudi oil fields then Riyadh will probably look for a way to back down. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 17th September 2019 at 20:15 (about 7 hours ago)
Companies in India will seek exemptions from the government's planned ban on certain plastic items, fearing the move will disrupt supply chains and raise costs ahead of a festive season, according to sources and an industry document seen by Reuters. India is likely to impose a nationwide ban on plastic bags, cups, small bottles, straws and some types of sachets next month as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to reduce use of pollution-causing, single-use plastic. "This has created an existential issue for multiple sectors," said the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), a lobby group, in a two-page draft note, seen by Reuters, which is likely to be finalised and sent to the government in the coming days. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 17th September 2019 at 20:15 (about 7 hours ago)
The fatal shooting of three teens by a Georgia homeowner this week could be a 'stand your ground' case, the Rockdale County Sheriff says. #