De la soul is dead

close Video Syrian media release video of response to strike Night-scope footage purportedly shows surface-to-air missiles over Damascus. The United States, Britain and France launched precision military strikes in Syria to punish the Assad regime for an apparent chemical weapons attack against civilians. President Donald Trump called the assault a “combined operation” with two European allies; as Defense Secretary James Mattis said, they targeted three locations in what he described as a heavy but carefully limited assault. Fox News confirmed that warships and U.S. Air Force B-1 bombers, which flew out of Qatar, were used in Friday’s campaign. Mattis said no follow-up attacks are planned and that the Pentagon was careful to ensure the safety of Russian troops and Syrian civilians in the area. Pentagon officials said the attacks targeted the heart of Assad's programs to develop and produce chemical weapons. The strikes did not cause any casualties and … [Read more...] about US strikes Syria after suspected chemical attack by Assad regime

Months after the city of Memphis circumvented state law to take down two statues honoring the Confederacy, Tennessee’s Republican-led legislature is punishing the city by stripping funding for its planned bicentennial celebration.The Tennessee House voted Tuesday to remove $250,000 that had been earmarked for festivities to commemorate the city’s founding in 1819. Legislators who supported the moved explicitly linked it to the removal of the Confederate monuments, which took place after dark, with no official announcement, on Dec. 20.“What this amendment does is it removes $250,000 from the budget that is designated to go to the city of Memphis for their bicentennial celebration,” said state Rep. Steve McDaniel, a Republican who sponsored the bill, on the House floor. “If you recall, back in December, Memphis did something that removed historical markers in the city. It was the city of Memphis that did this, and it was full knowing it was not the will of … [Read more...] about City punished for taking down two Confederate statutes

Steve Peoples and John Raby, Associated Press Published 9:09 pm, Tuesday, May 8, 2018 window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'thumbnails-c', container: 'taboola-interstitial-gallery-thumbnails-3', placement: 'Interstitial Gallery Thumbnails 3', target_type: 'mix' }); _taboola.push({flush: true}); Photo: Scott Olson / Getty Images Image 1of/3 CaptionClose Image 1 of 3 Greg Pence, the vice president’s older brother, wins his congressional primary. Greg Pence, the vice president’s older brother, wins his congressional primary. Photo: Scott Olson / Getty Images Image 2 of 3 Don Blankenship, an ex-convict opposed by President Trump, concedes in the West Virginia Republican U.S. Senate primary. Don Blankenship, an ex-convict opposed by President Trump, concedes in the West Virginia Republican … [Read more...] about GOP frets over West Virginia as 4 states decide primaries

Steve Peoples and John Raby, Associated Press Published 6:58 a.m. ET May 8, 2018 Charleston, W.Va. – Voters in the heart of Trump country are ready to decide the fate of Don Blankenship, a brash West Virginia businessman and GOP outsider with a checkered past who is testing the appeal of President Donald Trump’s outsider playbook in one of the nation’s premiere U.S. Senate contests. The stakes are high for a Republican Party bracing for major losses in this fall’s midterm elections. A victory on Tuesday for Blankenship, an ex-convict who has run racially charged ads, could cost Republicans a Senate seat come November. But the anti-establishment fervor unleashed by Trump’s 2016 campaign has proved difficult for GOP leaders to rein in. On the eve of West Virginia’s Senate primary election, Trump himself warned on Twitter that a Blankenship win would destroy Republicans’ chance of defeating Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in November. Blankenship … [Read more...] about GOP frets over W. Virginia as 4 states decide primaries

Americans will finally cast their ballots in record-breaking numbers Tuesday in an election that is widely viewed as a referendum on President Trump’s divisive personality, leadership style and policy ideas, following a historically hostile campaign season.Enthusiasm on both the right and the left has surged and partisanship has reached toxic levels in the leadup to the election, as Trump has fired up his base with fact-challenged fearmongering about immigrants while Democrats have painted the midterms as a battle for the soul of the nation.In a phone call with supporters Monday morning, Trump acknowledged that the elections are to a large extent about him.“In a certain way, I am on the ballot,” Trump said. “Whether we consider it or not, the press is very much considering it a referendum on me and us as a movement.”For once, Democrats agree with the President.Blue candidates across the country have raged against their opponents for either embracing or … [Read more...] about Trump looms large in midterm elections expected to draw record-breaking voter turnout