washingtontimes--2020-10-14--AP Road Trip: Racial tensions in America's 'sundown towns'

VIENNA , Ill. ( AP ) - Ask around this time-battered Midwestern town , with its empty storefronts , dusty antique shops and businesses that have migrated toward the interstate , and nearly everyone will tell you that Black and white residents get along really well .
“ Race isn ’ t a big problem around here , ” said Bill Stevens , a white retired prison guard with a gentle smile , drinking beer with friends on a summer afternoon .
“ Never has been , really.
” “ We don ’ t have any trouble with racism , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ white , with a meticulously-kept yard and a white picket fence .
But in Vienna , as in hundreds of mostly white towns with similar histories across America , much is left unspoken .
Around here , almost no one talks openly about the violence that drove out Black residents nearly 70 years ago , or even whispers the name these places were given : “ sundown towns.
” Unless they ’ re among the handful of Black residents .
“ It ’ s real strange and weird out here sometimes , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Every time I walk around , eyes are on me.
” The rules of a sundown town were simple : Black people were allowed to pass through during the day or go in to shop or work , but they had to be gone by nightfall .
Anyone breaking the rules could risk arrest , a beating or worse .
These towns were an open secret of racial segregation that spilled over much of the nation for at least a century , and still exist in various forms , enforced today @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rules .
Across America , some of these towns are now openly wrestling with their histories , publicly acknowledging now-abandoned racist laws or holding racial justice protests .
Some old sundown towns are now integrated .
But many also still have tiny Black communities living alongside residents who don ’ t bother hiding their cold stares of disapproval .
This story was produced with the support of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting .
This part of southern Illinois had at least a half-dozen sundown towns .
We came here on the second @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trip across America , a reporting journey that three of us are taking to look at how the U.S. has been shaken and shaped by months of protests , the COVID-19 pandemic , an economic crisis and the looming November elections .
We wanted to take a close look at systemic racism , trying to understand how something that is so crushingly obvious to some people can be utterly invisible to others .
So we went to a longtime sundown town .
They were called “ grey towns , ” in some parts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in others .
The terms were used by both Black and white people .
Very often , especially in well-to-do suburbs that didn ’ t want to be known as racist , they had no name at all .
But they still kept out Black residents .
There were hundreds of such towns , scholars say , reaching from New York to Oregon .
Perhaps thousands .
James Loewen , a historian who spent years studying sundown towns , found them in the suburbs of Detroit , New York City and Chicago .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in midwestern farming villages and in New England summer towns .
Sometimes , the rules were official policies , with signs at the edge of towns warning Black people to be gone by nightfall .
More often , everyone - both Black and white - simply knew the unwritten rules .
In this area , near the borders of both Missouri and Kentucky , young Black people were raised to be aware of which towns they should avoid .
“ It was something that was known , ” said James Davis , 27 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nearby town of Cairo , which is largely Black .
“ But also something that our parents taught us growing up.
” In places still seen as sundown towns , many Black people now follow their own rules : Avoid them if possible , and lock your car doors if you have to drive through .
If you stop for gas , look for a well-lit gas station with security cameras .
So it is in Vienna .
“ Every time you come into town , or you go into a gas station @ @ @ @ @ @ @ look at you , ” said Victoria Vaughn , a biracial 17-year-old who has been coming to Vienna for years to visit her white grandparents .
“ You can feel them looking at you , feel them staring , ” she said .
“ I ’ ve never had anybody say anything ( racist ) to me in Vienna , but I ’ ve definitely felt the way they felt about me.
” She was in Vienna on a recent Saturday to join a rally organized after a group of Vienna High School @ @ @ @ @ @ @ included the phrase “ hate Black people ” in its title .
Vaughn and her grandmother were among the 50 or so people who turned out for the rally , along with about 25 counter-protesters .
At first things went well .
Protesters and counter-protesters prayed together .
They talked calmly about race .
But not for long .
“ Bullshit !
” an older white man shouted at Vaughn , after she said Black people aren ’ t treated equally .
“ They get the same as the white people get !
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ her back from the confrontation with the angry older man , isn ’ t surprised that Vienna ’ s white residents don ’ t see racial issues around them .
The situation is far more subtle today than when Black residents were forced out .
“ Until you live in a Black or brown person ’ s body you ’ re not going to understand , ” she said .
“ You have to know somebody who lived it , or live it yourself , to truly understand.
” Today it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from recent rains .
But 60 years ago , there was a small collection of houses along that stretch of 7th Street , where the outer edges of Vienna bump up against Little Cache Creek .
Everyone who lived there was Black .
The violence erupted in August , 1954 , after the arrest of a 31-year-old resident , Thomas Lee Latham , who was accused of brutally beating an elderly white woman with a soft drink bottle and trying to rape her granddaughter .
“ Vienna Negro Held on Charge of Assault @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vienna Times declared on its front page after Latham was arrested , hours after the attack .
The older woman died days later .
A few weeks after his arrest , Latham escaped from jail .
Dozens of armed men took to the streets of Vienna and the surrounding fields , backed up by bloodhounds and spotters in low-flying planes .
Within hours , the cluster of Black homes along 7th Street were ablaze , with smoke and flames rising above the town .
A week or so later Latham gave himself up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he surrendered , he was sentenced to 180 years in prison .
By then , the town ’ s Black residents were gone .
“ The Black community , from that point on , disappeared from Vienna , ” said Darrel Dexter , a historian and high school teacher who has studied the violence of 1954 .
Black people had lived in and around Vienna since the late 1820s or early 1830s , said Dexter .
But he estimates that after the fires , perhaps 50 people fled the town .
The town @ @ @ @ @ @ @ homes , the Times reported , though there is no indication anyone was ever prosecuted .
In 2000 , it showed one .
A couple of blocks from the field where Vienna ’ s Black community once lived , down a narrow dead-end street , a grandmother with pink fingernails and an easy laugh watches over an extended family that spans much of America ’ s Black-white divide .
They are not what you ’ d expect to find here .
“ It ’ s our sanctuary , ” Maribeth Harris said of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lives next door .
Another lives across the street with her boyfriend , Nicholas Lewis .
Harris has custody of three grandkids while Lewis cares for the fourth , an 18-month-old in Spiderman pajamas on a recent afternoon .
Harris , her husband and their daughters are white .
Lewis is Black .
The grandchildren are biracial .
“ This is our own little world down here , ” Harris said , sighing before she begins listing some of the troubles the family has faced .
“ They just brush everything under the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the kids was called “ burned toast ” by a classmate .
Or when an elderly woman walked past the family at a church dinner and loudly called the children “ damn half-breeds.
” There was the day the 10-year-old came home with a painful question : “ Grandma , why do I have to be Black ?
” She and her husband moved to Vienna about 10 years ago from northern Illinois , chasing work and a cheaper cost of living .
But with her oldest grandson edging up on adolescence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , before they have to worry about such things as confrontations with police .
“ We want to get out of here , ” she said .
“ We have to figure out what ’ s good for them .
And Vienna won ’ t be good for them.
” Lewis joined the little enclave two years ago , expecting a short visit but staying after his girlfriend , one of Harris ’ daughters , got pregnant .
He ’ s an unassuming man deeply in love with his young son , Nick @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the sting of outright racism in Vienna , he ’ s exhausted by how residents constantly watch him .
It ’ s complicated , he added , because most people are friendly once they know him .
But he also believes his family should leave .
“ I don ’ t want my son raised down here , ” he said .
“ I don ’ t want him out here where ( white people ) are all he sees.
” They call themselves The Gunsmoke Club .
Their clubhouse , a few @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gas station , later turned into a convenience store and now a gathering place for a dozen or so friends .
It ’ s part workshop , part bar , part informal store .
But mostly it ’ s a place for a bunch of gray-haired men to pass the time , drink light beer and relive a sliver of their childhoods every day at noon with reruns of “ Gunsmoke , ” the TV show about a marshal whose steely nerve and Colt revolver kept the peace in the American West .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ nation !
, ” said Rick Warren , a 65-year-old in blue jeans and a T-shirt , only partially joking .
“ ’ Gunsmoke ’ and John Wayne !
” This is a deeply conservative part of the nation - 77 percent of the county voted for President Donald Trump in the 2016 elections ; just 19 percent went for Hillary Clinton .
The Gunsmoke Club reflects that .
They are pro-Trump , anti-abortion , virulently against gun control and distrust the coronavirus rules and the media ( though after warming up they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ For them , race has become an issue twisted far beyond proportion , a cudgel for hypocritical liberals .
“ Really , we got a good country , and I think there is probably some racism going on .
But I try not to be racist , ” Stevens , the retired prison guard , said in his gentle drawl about this year ’ s protests over racial injustice .
“ I think they ’ re overreacting a little bit.
” Warren is more blunt , pounding his fist on a particle-board table @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ ve had Black friends .
I ’ ve had Black babysitters .
I had Black people who took care of me through my childhood , ” he said .
But the easygoing race relations of his youth were lost , he said , when President Lyndon Johnson , who pushed through some of the most important civil rights legislation of the 20th century , “ came along and turned it into a bunch of racial bullshit !
” Then there ’ s former President Barack Obama , who speaks regularly about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black father from Kenya , but who personally identifies as Black .
“ He claims to be Black !
” Warren said , pounding the table .
“ What the hell happened to his white mama ?
” Another of the men later pulls back his shirt to show that he now carries a .357-magnum revolver tucked into his jeans , worried about the unrest that occasionally flared during this year ’ s racial protests .
Vienna ’ s own violent history doesn ’ t come up until the men are asked about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it happened .
“ When they burned them out that time , a lot of them just packed their bags and went up north , ” said Stevens , who said he hated to see Black classmates driven from town .
“ For a long time there were very very few Blacks in this county , and then they started easing back in , ” he said .
“ We got a few more families in here now , but we get along good.
” How many sundown towns remain ?
It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ laws are now largely illegal , and few towns want the infamy of being known for keeping out Black people .
Scholars often rely now on demographic data , looking carefully at towns that have tiny Black populations .
Loewen , the historian , says the number is clearly dropping , categorizing many as “ recovering ” sundown towns , where organized resistance to Black residents has ended but the racial divide can remain wide .
Vienna would almost certainly fall into that category .
Dexter sees hope in the dozens of towns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ justice protests , from the infamous Illinois sundown town of Anna to Howell , Michigan , once home to a powerful Ku Klux Klan leader , which Black Detroit residents have long avoided .
“ I do think that there are lots of changes , and progress , being made today .
Mostly I think that comes from people talking about the issue , ” he said .
“ People didn ’ t want to talk about it before.
” But while legal protections and changing mores have lessened the power of sundown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them with well-known racist histories .
Sometimes , towns know their violent past keeps racial minorities away .
Sometimes , that history makes those minorities avoid them .
“ It ’ s not by law ” that Black people remain a tiny population in many towns , Dexter said .
“ It ’ s by tradition.
” Even in Vienna things are changing .
But ever so slowly .
In 2010 , the U.S. census said there were 1,434 people in Vienna .
Sixteen of them were Black .
This story has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ town to Howell , and not Hopewell , Michigan .

VIENNA, Ill. (AP) - Ask around this time-battered Midwestern town, with its empty storefronts, dusty antique shops and businesses that have migrated toward the interstate, and nearly everyone will tell you that Black and white residents get along really well.
“Race isn’t a big problem around here,” said Bill Stevens, a white retired prison guard with a gentle smile, drinking beer with friends on a summer afternoon. “Never has been, really.”
“We don’t have any trouble with racism,” said a twice-widowed woman, also white, with a meticulously-kept yard and a white picket fence.
But in Vienna, as in hundreds of mostly white towns with similar histories across America, much is left unspoken. Around here, almost no one talks openly about the violence that drove out Black residents nearly 70 years ago, or even whispers the name these places were given: “sundown towns.”
Unless they’re among the handful of Black residents.
“It’s real strange and weird out here sometimes,” said Nicholas Lewis, a stay-at-home father. “Every time I walk around, eyes are on me.”
___
The rules of a sundown town were simple: Black people were allowed to pass through during the day or go in to shop or work, but they had to be gone by nightfall. Anyone breaking the rules could risk arrest, a beating or worse.
These towns were an open secret of racial segregation that spilled over much of the nation for at least a century, and still exist in various forms, enforced today more by tradition and fear than by rules.
Across America, some of these towns are now openly wrestling with their histories, publicly acknowledging now-abandoned racist laws or holding racial justice protests. Some old sundown towns are now integrated. But many also still have tiny Black communities living alongside residents who don’t bother hiding their cold stares of disapproval.
___
This story was produced with the support of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
___
This part of southern Illinois had at least a half-dozen sundown towns. We came here on the second stop of The Associated Press’ road trip across America, a reporting journey that three of us are taking to look at how the U.S. has been shaken and shaped by months of protests, the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic crisis and the looming November elections.
We wanted to take a close look at systemic racism, trying to understand how something that is so crushingly obvious to some people can be utterly invisible to others.
So we went to a longtime sundown town.
They were called “grey towns,” in some parts of America, “sunset towns” in others. The terms were used by both Black and white people.
Very often, especially in well-to-do suburbs that didn’t want to be known as racist, they had no name at all. But they still kept out Black residents. There were hundreds of such towns, scholars say, reaching from New York to Oregon. Perhaps thousands.
James Loewen, a historian who spent years studying sundown towns, found them in the suburbs of Detroit, New York City and Chicago. He found them outside Los Angeles, in midwestern farming villages and in New England summer towns.
Sometimes, the rules were official policies, with signs at the edge of towns warning Black people to be gone by nightfall. More often, everyone - both Black and white - simply knew the unwritten rules.
In this area, near the borders of both Missouri and Kentucky, young Black people were raised to be aware of which towns they should avoid.
“It was something that was known,” said James Davis, 27, a Black truck driver from the nearby town of Cairo, which is largely Black. “But also something that our parents taught us growing up.”
In places still seen as sundown towns, many Black people now follow their own rules: Avoid them if possible, and lock your car doors if you have to drive through. If you stop for gas, look for a well-lit gas station with security cameras.
So it is in Vienna.
“Every time you come into town, or you go into a gas station, or in a store, people look at you,” said Victoria Vaughn, a biracial 17-year-old who has been coming to Vienna for years to visit her white grandparents.
“You can feel them looking at you, feel them staring,” she said. “I’ve never had anybody say anything (racist) to me in Vienna, but I’ve definitely felt the way they felt about me.”
She was in Vienna on a recent Saturday to join a rally organized after a group of Vienna High School students created a social media account that included the phrase “hate Black people” in its title. Vaughn and her grandmother were among the 50 or so people who turned out for the rally, along with about 25 counter-protesters.
At first things went well. Protesters and counter-protesters prayed together. They talked calmly about race. But not for long.
“Bullshit!” an older white man shouted at Vaughn, after she said Black people aren’t treated equally. “They get the same as the white people get!”
Vaughn, whose grandmother gently pulled her back from the confrontation with the angry older man, isn’t surprised that Vienna’s white residents don’t see racial issues around them. The situation is far more subtle today than when Black residents were forced out.
“Until you live in a Black or brown person’s body you’re not going to understand,” she said. “You have to know somebody who lived it, or live it yourself, to truly understand.”
___
Today it’s just an overgrown field, vibrant green from recent rains.
But 60 years ago, there was a small collection of houses along that stretch of 7th Street, where the outer edges of Vienna bump up against Little Cache Creek. Everyone who lived there was Black.
The violence erupted in August, 1954, after the arrest of a 31-year-old resident, Thomas Lee Latham, who was accused of brutally beating an elderly white woman with a soft drink bottle and trying to rape her granddaughter.
“Vienna Negro Held on Charge of Assault With Attempt to Murder,” the Vienna Times declared on its front page after Latham was arrested, hours after the attack. The older woman died days later.
A few weeks after his arrest, Latham escaped from jail. Dozens of armed men took to the streets of Vienna and the surrounding fields, backed up by bloodhounds and spotters in low-flying planes.
Within hours, the cluster of Black homes along 7th Street were ablaze, with smoke and flames rising above the town.
A week or so later Latham gave himself up and pleaded guilty. One day after he surrendered, he was sentenced to 180 years in prison.
By then, the town’s Black residents were gone.
“The Black community, from that point on, disappeared from Vienna,” said Darrel Dexter, a historian and high school teacher who has studied the violence of 1954.
Black people had lived in and around Vienna since the late 1820s or early 1830s, said Dexter. But he estimates that after the fires, perhaps 50 people fled the town. The town later repaid Black residents for their lost homes, the Times reported, though there is no indication anyone was ever prosecuted.
The 1950 census showed 54 Black people living in Vienna.
In 2000, it showed one.
___
A couple of blocks from the field where Vienna’s Black community once lived, down a narrow dead-end street, a grandmother with pink fingernails and an easy laugh watches over an extended family that spans much of America’s Black-white divide.
They are not what you’d expect to find here.
“It’s our sanctuary,” Maribeth Harris said of the street. One of her daughters lives next door. Another lives across the street with her boyfriend, Nicholas Lewis. Harris has custody of three grandkids while Lewis cares for the fourth, an 18-month-old in Spiderman pajamas on a recent afternoon.
Harris, her husband and their daughters are white. Lewis is Black. The grandchildren are biracial.
“This is our own little world down here,” Harris said, sighing before she begins listing some of the troubles the family has faced. “They just brush everything under the rug.”
There was the time one of the kids was called “burned toast” by a classmate. Or when an elderly woman walked past the family at a church dinner and loudly called the children “damn half-breeds.”
There was the day the 10-year-old came home with a painful question: “Grandma, why do I have to be Black?”
She and her husband moved to Vienna about 10 years ago from northern Illinois, chasing work and a cheaper cost of living. But with her oldest grandson edging up on adolescence, she knows they should leave soon, before they have to worry about such things as confrontations with police.
“We want to get out of here,” she said. “We have to figure out what’s good for them. And Vienna won’t be good for them.”
Lewis joined the little enclave two years ago, expecting a short visit but staying after his girlfriend, one of Harris’ daughters, got pregnant.
He’s an unassuming man deeply in love with his young son, Nick. If he hasn’t felt the sting of outright racism in Vienna, he’s exhausted by how residents constantly watch him.
It’s complicated, he added, because most people are friendly once they know him. But he also believes his family should leave.
“I don’t want my son raised down here,” he said. “I don’t want him out here where (white people) are all he sees.”
___
They call themselves The Gunsmoke Club.
Their clubhouse, a few miles outside Vienna, is an old gas station, later turned into a convenience store and now a gathering place for a dozen or so friends. It’s part workshop, part bar, part informal store. But mostly it’s a place for a bunch of gray-haired men to pass the time, drink light beer and relive a sliver of their childhoods every day at noon with reruns of “Gunsmoke,” the TV show about a marshal whose steely nerve and Colt revolver kept the peace in the American West.
“That’s what formed this nation!,” said Rick Warren, a 65-year-old in blue jeans and a T-shirt, only partially joking. “’Gunsmoke’ and John Wayne!”
This is a deeply conservative part of the nation - 77 percent of the county voted for President Donald Trump in the 2016 elections; just 19 percent went for Hillary Clinton. The Gunsmoke Club reflects that. They are pro-Trump, anti-abortion, virulently against gun control and distrust the coronavirus rules and the media (though after warming up they were very welcoming to us).
For them, race has become an issue twisted far beyond proportion, a cudgel for hypocritical liberals.
“Really, we got a good country, and I think there is probably some racism going on. But I try not to be racist,” Stevens, the retired prison guard, said in his gentle drawl about this year’s protests over racial injustice. “I think they’re overreacting a little bit.”
Warren is more blunt, pounding his fist on a particle-board table when he gets really angry.
“I’ve had Black friends. I’ve had Black babysitters. I had Black people who took care of me through my childhood,” he said. But the easygoing race relations of his youth were lost, he said, when President Lyndon Johnson, who pushed through some of the most important civil rights legislation of the 20th century, “came along and turned it into a bunch of racial bullshit!”
Then there’s former President Barack Obama, who speaks regularly about his white mother from Kansas and his Black father from Kenya, but who personally identifies as Black.
“He claims to be Black!” Warren said, pounding the table. “What the hell happened to his white mama?”
Another of the men later pulls back his shirt to show that he now carries a .357-magnum revolver tucked into his jeans, worried about the unrest that occasionally flared during this year’s racial protests.
Vienna’s own violent history doesn’t come up until the men are asked about it.
Stevens was about 10 when it happened.
“When they burned them out that time, a lot of them just packed their bags and went up north,” said Stevens, who said he hated to see Black classmates driven from town.
“For a long time there were very very few Blacks in this county, and then they started easing back in,” he said. “We got a few more families in here now, but we get along good.”
___
How many sundown towns remain? It’s rarely clear anymore. Openly racist laws are now largely illegal, and few towns want the infamy of being known for keeping out Black people. Scholars often rely now on demographic data, looking carefully at towns that have tiny Black populations.
Loewen, the historian, says the number is clearly dropping, categorizing many as “recovering” sundown towns, where organized resistance to Black residents has ended but the racial divide can remain wide. Vienna would almost certainly fall into that category.
Dexter sees hope in the dozens of towns with racist histories that have held racial justice protests, from the infamous Illinois sundown town of Anna to Howell, Michigan, once home to a powerful Ku Klux Klan leader, which Black Detroit residents have long avoided.
“I do think that there are lots of changes, and progress, being made today. Mostly I think that comes from people talking about the issue,” he said. “People didn’t want to talk about it before.”
But while legal protections and changing mores have lessened the power of sundown towns, there are still plenty of them with well-known racist histories. Sometimes, towns know their violent past keeps racial minorities away. Sometimes, that history makes those minorities avoid them.
“It’s not by law” that Black people remain a tiny population in many towns, Dexter said. “It’s by tradition.”
Even in Vienna things are changing.
But ever so slowly.
In 2010, the U.S. census said there were 1,434 people in Vienna. Sixteen of them were Black.
___
This story has been corrected to change the name of a town to Howell, and not Hopewell, Michigan.


washingtontimes--2020-10-14--N. Korea's Kim visit typhoon-hit area, warns of 'defeatism'

In his first public activity after massive weekend celebrations marking the ruling party ’ s founding anniversary , Kim inspected recovery works at the northeastern Komdok area , continuing recent visits to regions hit by typhoons and flooding this summer .
Outside observers say Kim aims to boost public support as the disasters could likely aggravate North Korea ’ s economy under U.S.-led sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic .
The Korean Central News Agency cited Kim as saying that Komdok ’ s typhoon-related damage was “ more severe than he thought ” and praised soldiers mobilized in rehabilitation projects for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s damage was the worst among typhoon-hit areas .
It said military units ordered by Kim had completed over 60 % of construction of 2,300 dwellings .
KCNA photos showed Kim , clad in Mao suits , walking on an old railway track accompanied by officials , with buildings under construction seen in the distance .
Other photos showed Kim speaking near small gray houses as officials and military officers took note of his comments .
In the past , when natural disasters hit North Korea , KCNA has often dispatched photos , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ damage , in an apparent effort to win foreign aid .
But Kim said in August he won ’ t accept any outside assistance this year to maintain stringent border closures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus .
Kim ’ s government has argued it hasn ’ t reported a single virus case , something foreign experts are highly skeptical of .
At Komdok , Kim said that there were still houses built more than 50 years ago and that his government “ didn ’ t know properly the life of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dwellings.
” According to KCNA , he said “ we have to seriously self-reproach ourselves.
” Kim said the army will be in charge of building new houses and turn the Komdok area a world-class mining town under a long-term development plan .
He criticized national planning institutions that he said had become “ very calculating … caught in defeatism and making a great fuss when the target worthy of the political attention of the country is set , ” KCNA said .
In recent months , Kim has increasingly displayed candor in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government , an unusual move in a country where his family is the subject of intense personality cult among its 25 million people .
Some experts say this shows the severity of the economic difficulties Kim is facing .
Kim said in September that the overall anti-disaster condition in coastal areas is “ poor ” and that sea dikes were “ not properly built.
” Earlier , he said his country lacks modern medical facilities , and also acknowledged his economic development plans hadn ’ t been successful .

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a typhoon-ravaged rural town and lambasted government agencies for “defeatism,” state media reported Wednesday.
In his first public activity after massive weekend celebrations marking the ruling party’s founding anniversary, Kim inspected recovery works at the northeastern Komdok area, continuing recent visits to regions hit by typhoons and flooding this summer. Outside observers say Kim aims to boost public support as the disasters could likely aggravate North Korea’s economy under U.S.-led sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic.
The Korean Central News Agency cited Kim as saying that Komdok’s typhoon-related damage was “more severe than he thought” and praised soldiers mobilized in rehabilitation projects for their devotion.
KCNA said Komdok’s damage was the worst among typhoon-hit areas. It said military units ordered by Kim had completed over 60% of construction of 2,300 dwellings.
KCNA photos showed Kim, clad in Mao suits, walking on an old railway track accompanied by officials, with buildings under construction seen in the distance. Other photos showed Kim speaking near small gray houses as officials and military officers took note of his comments.
In the past, when natural disasters hit North Korea, KCNA has often dispatched photos, sometimes doctored, of vivid scenes of damage, in an apparent effort to win foreign aid. But Kim said in August he won’t accept any outside assistance this year to maintain stringent border closures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Kim’s government has argued it hasn’t reported a single virus case, something foreign experts are highly skeptical of.
At Komdok, Kim said that there were still houses built more than 50 years ago and that his government “didn’t know properly the life of the people living in so piteous environments and dwellings.”
According to KCNA, he said “we have to seriously self-reproach ourselves.”
Kim said the army will be in charge of building new houses and turn the Komdok area a world-class mining town under a long-term development plan. He criticized national planning institutions that he said had become “very calculating … caught in defeatism and making a great fuss when the target worthy of the political attention of the country is set,” KCNA said.
In recent months, Kim has increasingly displayed candor in admitting policy failures and problems in his government, an unusual move in a country where his family is the subject of intense personality cult among its 25 million people. Some experts say this shows the severity of the economic difficulties Kim is facing.
Kim said in September that the overall anti-disaster condition in coastal areas is “poor” and that sea dikes were “not properly built.” Earlier, he said his country lacks modern medical facilities, and also acknowledged his economic development plans hadn’t been successful.


washingtontimes--2020-10-15--Analysis: Liverpool, United created splits but hasten action

LONDON ( AP ) - Vilified by the Premier League , government , and even their own supporters , the American owners of Liverpool and Manchester United created a power-grab strategy that appeared unsavory and divisive at a time of financial turmoil in English soccer .
But John Henry and Joel Glazer formed a plan , however unappealing to so many , for shoehorning a consolidation of Premier League control for the elite into a long-term bailout for the lower professional leagues .
Seven months into the pandemic that has locked fans out of English stadiums - and deprived clubs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than the world ’ s richest league has managed .
Only now is the Premier League getting its act together after getting its clubs to reject Project Big Picture , which was made public on Sunday by the head of the lower leagues working in cahoots with Glazer and Henry .
There ’ s a scramble to come up with a blueprint by Richard Masters , whose limited authority has been exposed in his first year as chief executive of a Premier League where the clubs are ultimately in control .
“ What @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do , ” Masters said of his own Project Big Picture , “ is do the main components by the end of the year.
” That might be too late for the third and fourth tiers overseen by the English Football League .
“ It is desperate , ” Ian Mather , chief executive of fourth-tier side Cambridge United , told Sky News .
” There are clubs that are going to go out of business unless we get a deal and we get a deal soon.
” The uncertainty hasn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attracting American investment , with two businessmen last month buying a 20 % stake in the club — showing the appeal of lower-league clubs .
The Premier League has cut the second-tier Championship out of any financial rescue for now , offering grants and interest-free loans totaling 50 million pounds ( $ 65 million ) for clubs in League One and Two in addition to 27.2 million pounds in solidarity payments already made this year .
“ It ’ s interesting they ’ ve come up with money on Wednesday , ” Mather @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been talking about it for months and months.
” The Premier League ’ s reticence to rush into handing over cash to the lower leagues is understandable when its own financial difficulties were apparent even before the pandemic .
Also , Cambridge reported losses of more than 800,000 pounds annually in recent years - after spending on salaries more than it generates .
Project Big Picture envisaged handing out more than 25 % of Premier League central revenue - minus operating costs and good causes contributions .
But while allowing the six biggest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voting and widening the gulf in the Premier League by changing the formula for distributing TV cash .
The size of the Premier League would also have been reduced from 20 to 18 teams that would free up space in the calendar to play more games against European sides .
Intriguingly , Masters is open to reducing the number of teams in the Premier League , which began as a breakaway from the EFL with 22 in 1992 before shedding two in 1995 .
“ Part of the review will be the size @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pyramid itself , ” Masters said .
“ We ’ ve got a clear path forward and uncertainty is very dangerous , and I think we ’ re resolved the uncertainty.
” For now .
But the plight of teams in the lower leagues remains uncertain as coronavirus cases rise and new local restrictions dampen the prospect of stadiums reopening to supporters .
“ We have to find a way that works for everybody , ” said Mikel Arteta , manager of Arsenal , which is owned by American tycoon Stan Kroenke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sustainable and still evolve.
” Rob Harris is at www.twitter.com/RobHarris and www.instagram.com/RobHarrisPix

LONDON (AP) - Vilified by the Premier League, government, and even their own supporters, the American owners of Liverpool and Manchester United created a power-grab strategy that appeared unsavory and divisive at a time of financial turmoil in English soccer.
But John Henry and Joel Glazer formed a plan, however unappealing to so many, for shoehorning a consolidation of Premier League control for the elite into a long-term bailout for the lower professional leagues.
Seven months into the pandemic that has locked fans out of English stadiums - and deprived clubs of key income - it is more than the world’s richest league has managed.
Only now is the Premier League getting its act together after getting its clubs to reject Project Big Picture, which was made public on Sunday by the head of the lower leagues working in cahoots with Glazer and Henry.
There’s a scramble to come up with a blueprint by Richard Masters, whose limited authority has been exposed in his first year as chief executive of a Premier League where the clubs are ultimately in control.
“What I think we’re trying to do,” Masters said of his own Project Big Picture, “is do the main components by the end of the year.”
That might be too late for the third and fourth tiers overseen by the English Football League.
“It is desperate,” Ian Mather, chief executive of fourth-tier side Cambridge United, told Sky News. ”There are clubs that are going to go out of business unless we get a deal and we get a deal soon.”
The uncertainty hasn’t prevented Cambridge following Liverpool and United in attracting American investment, with two businessmen last month buying a 20% stake in the club — showing the appeal of lower-league clubs.
The Premier League cut the second-tier Championship out of any financial rescue for now, which contributed to EFL clubs on Thursday rejecting a bailout offer it deemed insufficient. Grants and interest-free loans of 50 million pounds ($65 million) were proposed for clubs in League One and Two in addition to 27.2 million pounds in solidarity payments already made this year.
The Premier League is willing to offer emergency assistance to clubs in dire need. But the reticence to rush into handing over cash to the lower leagues is understandable when their financial difficulties were apparent even before the pandemic. Also, Cambridge reported losses of more than 800,000 pounds annually in recent years - after spending on salaries more than it generates.
Project Big Picture envisaged handing out more than 25% of Premier League central revenue - minus operating costs and good causes contributions. But while allowing the six biggest clubs to effectively seize control with preferential voting and widening the gulf in the Premier League by changing the formula for distributing TV cash. The size of the Premier League would also have been reduced from 20 to 18 teams that would free up space in the calendar to play more games against European sides.
Intriguingly, Masters is open to reducing the number of teams in the Premier League, which began as a breakaway from the EFL with 22 in 1992 before shedding two in 1995.
“Part of the review will be the size and shape of the Premier League and the pyramid itself,” Masters said. “We’ve got a clear path forward and uncertainty is very dangerous, and I think we’re resolved the uncertainty.”
For now. But the plight of teams in the lower leagues remains uncertain as coronavirus cases rise and new local restrictions dampen the prospect of stadiums reopening to supporters.
“We have to find a way that works for everybody,” said Mikel Arteta, manager of Arsenal, which is owned by American tycoon Stan Kroenke, “that can make this game sustainable and still evolve.”
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Rob Harris is at https://RobHarris and https://instagram.com/RobHarrisPix
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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports


washingtontimes--2020-10-15--Over 5,600 Afghan families displaced by fighting in south

LASHKAR GAH , Afghanistan ( AP ) - Renewed fighting in southern Afghanistan ’ s Helmand province between Taliban insurgents and government forces has forced more than 5,600 families to flee their homes , local officials said Thursday .
Omar Zwak , the provincial governor ’ s spokesman , said Afghan security forces were fighting to regain areas lost to the Taliban over the weekend , while the local government was scrambling to provide food and shelter to the growing number of civilians coming from nearby districts to the provincial capital , Lashkar Gah .
Ajab Gul , 25 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city for four days .
“ The Taliban have taken over our village and both sides in the battle are using light and heavy weapons , so how could we stay there ?
” he said .
Afghanistan ’ s refugee department estimates an average family has seven members , meaning nearly 40,000 people have likely been displaced , said Mohammad Ramen Ibrahimi , the department ’ s provincial director .
The Taliban control roughly 80 % of Helmand province , and over the past year have waged several attacks on Lashkar Gah @ @ @ @ @ @ @ security forces , whose control is largely restricted to district centers .
Last week , the Taliban launched coordinated attacks in different parts of Helmand province , Zwak said .
He claimed that government forces had retaken much of the territory lost over the weekend , but operations were still ongoing in other parts of the province .
However , several internally displaced persons who had fled to Lashkar Gah told The Associated Press that the Taliban were in control of most of their districts - Marjah , Nad Ali and Nawa .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Afghan forces had forced them to leave their homes and property .
Most internally displaced persons were staying with relatives in Lashkar Gah , said Ibrahimi .
His refugee department was providing food and shelter to those with nowhere to stay , but he said more people were coming to the city each day .
Zwak , the governor ’ s spokesman , said discussions were underway between the central government , charity organizations and local businessmen to help those in need .
In Kabul , Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and other government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ service members who died Tuesday night when two Afghan army helicopters collided in Helmand .

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (AP) - Renewed fighting between the Taliban and Afghan government forces in southern Helmand province has forced more than 5,600 families to flee their homes, officials said Thursday, the latest flareup that could undermine U.S. efforts to broker peace in the war-torn country.
The fighting comes as Afghan government representatives and the Taliban are holding peace talks in Qatar, where the Taliban have for years maintained a political office. The negotiations, envisaged under a U.S. deal signed with the insurgents in February, are meant to end Afghanistan’s grueling 19-year war and are seen as the country’s best chance at peace.
The Trump administration has pledged to pull out American forces from Afghanistan but U.S. officials have stressed that the Taliban have still not met requirements to reduce violence against the Afghans, a key element of the U.S. withdrawal plan.
In Helmand, Omar Zwak, the provincial governor’s spokesman, said Afghan security forces were trying to regain areas lost to the Taliban over the weekend, while local officials were scrambling to provide food and shelter to the growing number of civilians fleeing from nearby districts to the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.
Ajab Gul, 25, and his family have been in the city for four days. “The Taliban have taken over our village and both sides in the battle are using light and heavy weapons, so how could we stay there?” he said.
Afghanistan’s refugee department estimates an average family has seven members, meaning nearly 40,000 people have likely been displaced, said Mohammad Ramen Ibrahimi, the department’s provincial director.
The Taliban control roughly 80% of Helmand province, and over the past year have waged several attacks on Lashkar Gah, only to be repulsed by Afghan security forces, whose control is largely restricted to district centers.
Last week, the Taliban launched coordinated attacks in different parts of Helmand province, Zwak said. He claimed that government forces had retaken much of the territory lost over the weekend, but operations were still ongoing in other parts of the province.
However, several internally displaced persons who had fled to Lashkar Gah told The Associated Press that the Taliban were in control of most of their districts - Marjah, Nad Ali and Nawa. They said the fighting and airstrikes by Afghan forces had forced them to leave their homes and property.
Most internally displaced persons were staying with relatives in Lashkar Gah, said Ibrahimi. His refugee department was providing food and shelter to those with nowhere to stay, but he said more people were coming to the city each day.
Zwak, the governor’s spokesman, said discussions were underway between the central government, charity organizations and local businessmen to help those in need.
In Kabul, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and other government officials attended the funeral for nine Afghan service members who died Tuesday night when two Afghan army helicopters collided in Helmand.
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Faiez reported form Kabul, Afghanistan


washingtontimes--2020-10-15--Police say 3 killed in separate crashes in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY , Mo .
( AP ) - Three people were killed in separate crashes in Kansas City in @ @ @ @ @ , police there said .
The first happened just before 2 a.m. Wednesday when a @ @ @ @ @ end of the city killed one driver , the Kansas City Star reported .
The @ @ @ @ @ a.m. Wednesday when a Jeep lost control in the South Town Fork Creek neighborhood and @ @ @ @ @ then a tree , killing the driver , police said .
Minutes later , a @ @ @ @ @ a crash with a sport utility vehicle on Blue Parkway .
Police did not immediately @ @ @ @ @ killed .
Wednesday ’ s fatalities came as Kansas City is seeing a significant increase @ @ @ @ @ said .
Data show 86 people have been killed on city roads this year , @ @ @ @ @ all of 2019 , police said .

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Three people were killed in separate crashes in Kansas City in a single morning this week, police there said.
The first happened just before 2 a.m. Wednesday when a head-on crash in the south end of the city killed one driver, the Kansas City Star reported. The second crash happened about 6:40 a.m. Wednesday when a Jeep lost control in the South Town Fork Creek neighborhood and hit a utility pole, then a tree, killing the driver, police said.
Minutes later, a 59-year-old motorcyclist was killed in a crash with a sport utility vehicle on Blue Parkway.
Police did not immediately release the names of those killed.
Wednesday’s fatalities came as Kansas City is seeing a significant increase in deadly crashes, police said. Data show 86 people have been killed on city roads this year, compared with 78 fatalities in all of 2019, police said.


washingtontimes--2020-10-15--Town residents oppose church identified as hate group

MURDOCK , Minn. ( AP ) - Residents packed a town hall in a tiny western Minnesota community to voice opposition to plans by a controversial Nordic heritage church that has been identified as a white supremacist group .
The Asatru Folk Assembly bought an abandoned Lutheran church in the Swift County town of Murdock and wants a permit to turn it into a Midwest regional gathering hall .
Nearly 50 people in the town of 275 filled the hall for a special City Council meeting Wednesday night , wearing masks and sitting 6 feet ( 1.8 meters ) apart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus .
Most opposed the AFA ’ s permit request .
AFA board member Allen Turnage told the crowd the church would not admit a Black person “ because they ’ re not of northern European descent.
” The AFA is among groups that seek to practice a pre-Christian , European spirituality and , according to a statement on its website , it ’ s pro-white .
The Southern Poverty Law Center has added the AFA to its list of hate groups .
Murdock resident Pete Kennedy said he doesn ’ t want @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hate capital of Minnesota , the Star Tribune reported .
The council plans to vote on the church ’ s permit at a Nov. 4 meeting .
Turnage said the AFA has about 500 members nationwide , and 20 or so in and around Minnesota .

MURDOCK, Minn. (AP) - Residents packed a town hall in a tiny western Minnesota community to voice opposition to plans by a controversial Nordic heritage church that has been identified as a white supremacist group.
The Asatru Folk Assembly bought an abandoned Lutheran church in the Swift County town of Murdock and wants a permit to turn it into a Midwest regional gathering hall.
Nearly 50 people in the town of 275 filled the hall for a special City Council meeting Wednesday night, wearing masks and sitting 6 feet (1.8 meters) apart to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Most opposed the AFA’s permit request.
AFA board member Allen Turnage told the crowd the church would not admit a Black person “because they’re not of northern European descent.”
The AFA is among groups that seek to practice a pre-Christian, European spirituality and, according to a statement on its website, it’s pro-white. The Southern Poverty Law Center has added the AFA to its list of hate groups.
Murdock resident Pete Kennedy said he doesn’t want his hometown to be known as the hate capital of Minnesota, the Star Tribune reported. The council plans to vote on the church’s permit at a Nov. 4 meeting.
Turnage said the AFA has about 500 members nationwide, and 20 or so in and around Minnesota.


washingtontimes--2020-10-15--No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 3 Georgia takes center stage in SEC

Here are things to watch in Week 4 in the Southeastern Conference : No .
3 Georgia at No .
2 Alabama .
The mid-week news that Alabama coach Nick Saban tested positive for COVID-19 added a challenging backdrop for the season ’ s first Top 5 matchup .
Saban figures to be communicating his marching orders and input from home while offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian likely serves in his stead on the sidelines .
The Crimson Tide sends quarterback Mac Jones and the nation ’ s top scoring offense against linebacker Monty Rice and the No .
2 scoring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to become the first ex-Saban assistant to beat their old boss .
Alabama running back Najee Harris has run for 10 touchdowns in three games while the Bulldogs haven ’ t allowed a TD on the ground .
Alabama receivers like Jaylen Waddle , John Metchie III and DeVonta Smith face their biggest test by far .
COVID-19 versus the SEC .
This week has provided the toughest test yet for the SEC .
Two games were postponed , the league ’ s most prominent coach is off the sidelines and Mississippi had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ players .
It also happens to come on the week when the SEC was going to be dominating the national spotlight in a good way thanks to Georgia-Alabama .
Two games - LSU-Florida and Missouri-Vanderbilt - have been postponed to Dec. 12 because of COVID-19 outbreaks .
… Alabama has won 27 consecutive meetings against teams from the SEC East , dating back to a 35-21 loss at then-No .
19 South Carolina on Oct. 9 , 2010 .
… Auburn has held South Carolina to just three rushing touchdowns since 1996 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gamecocks .
… The SEC has six teams ranking worse than 50th in the nation in points allowed per game : LSU , Vanderbilt , Florida , Texas A & M ; , Missouri and Mississippi .
All of them are giving up 32-plus points .
Mississippi State ( 1-2 ) brings the nation ’ s top passing attack against a Texas A & M ; defense that is pretty close to the bottom ( 64th ) .
K.J .
Costello has put up huge yardage numbers but has also been picked off @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t put up the points to quite match those yards .
The Aggies are giving up 299 yards per game through the air while allowing nine passing touchdowns .
That secondary and defense will be tested , though the Aggies are only four-point favorites .
Arkansas quarterback Feleipe Franks had a huge game - 318 yards , four touchdowns - against No .
15 Auburn .
It wasn ’ t enough , partly because of an officiating call on a backward spike by Tigers quarterback Bo Nix .
Franks and the Razorbacks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which has a pass defense that ranks 73rd of 76 teams nationally .
They ’ ll have to keep up with the fast-paced , high-scoring Rebels offense , though .

Here are things to watch in Week 4 in the Southeastern Conference:
GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 3 Georgia at No. 2 Alabama. The mid-week news that Alabama coach Nick Saban tested positive for COVID-19 added a challenging backdrop for the season’s first Top 5 matchup. Saban figures to be communicating his marching orders and input from home while offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian likely serves in his stead on the sidelines. The Crimson Tide sends quarterback Mac Jones and the nation’s top scoring offense against linebacker Monty Rice and the No. 2 scoring defense. Georgia coach Kirby Smart attempts to become the first ex-Saban assistant to beat their old boss. Alabama running back Najee Harris has run for 10 touchdowns in three games while the Bulldogs haven’t allowed a TD on the ground. Alabama receivers like Jaylen Waddle, John Metchie III and DeVonta Smith face their biggest test by far.
MATCHUP OF THE WEEK
COVID-19 versus the SEC. This week has provided the toughest test yet for the SEC. Two games were postponed, the league’s most prominent coach is off the sidelines and Mississippi had an outbreak affecting an undisclosed number of players. It also happens to come on the week when the SEC was going to be dominating the national spotlight in a good way thanks to Georgia-Alabama.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Two games - LSU-Florida and Missouri-Vanderbilt - have been postponed to Dec. 12 because of COVID-19 outbreaks. … Alabama has won 27 consecutive meetings against teams from the SEC East, dating back to a 35-21 loss at then-No. 19 South Carolina on Oct. 9, 2010. … Auburn has held South Carolina to just three rushing touchdowns since 1996, while scoring 22 of them against the Gamecocks. … The SEC has six teams ranking worse than 50th in the nation in points allowed per game: LSU, Vanderbilt, Florida, Texas A&M, Missouri and Mississippi. All of them are giving up 32-plus points.
UPSET WATCH
Mississippi State (1-2) brings the nation’s top passing attack against a Texas A&M defense that is pretty close to the bottom (64th). K.J. Costello has put up huge yardage numbers but has also been picked off nine times already and the Bulldogs haven’t put up the points to quite match those yards. The Aggies are giving up 299 yards per game through the air while allowing nine passing touchdowns. That secondary and defense will be tested, though the Aggies are only four-point favorites.
IMPACT PLAYER
Arkansas quarterback Feleipe Franks had a huge game - 318 yards, four touchdowns - against No. 15 Auburn. It wasn’t enough, partly because of an officiating call on a backward spike by Tigers quarterback Bo Nix. Franks and the Razorbacks will try to rebound against Mississippi, which has a pass defense that ranks 73rd of 76 teams nationally. They’ll have to keep up with the fast-paced, high-scoring Rebels offense, though.
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More AP college football: http://apnews.com/Collegefootball and http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25


washingtontimes--2020-10-15--Drugstore chain Walgreens rebounds with $373M 4Q profit

COVID-19 took another bite out of Walgreens Boots Alliance quarterly numbers but this time left behind better-than-expected earnings .
The drugstore chain said Thursday that it made $ 373 million in the final quarter of fiscal 2020 after losing $ 1.7 billion the previous quarter , when millions of shoppers stayed home to avoid the rapidly spreading pandemic .
COVID-19 still hurt .
The company estimated that the pandemic ’ s impact shaved about $ 520 million from its operating income .
But Walgreens also grew sales and prescriptions at its established U.S. stores and saw an improved performance in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ company booked adjusted earnings of $ 1.02 per share in the three-month window that ended Aug. 31 .
Revenue climbed 2 % to $ 34.75 billion .
Analysts expected , on average , earnings of 96 cents per share in the fiscal fourth quarter on $ 34.37 billion in revenue , according to financial data provider FactSet .
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. , based in Deerfield , Illinois , runs more than 9,000 stores in the United States and several thousand more internationally .
The company said Thursday that it expects the pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first half of 2021 .
It forecasts low , single-digit adjusted earnings per share growth next year .
Walgreens finished 2020 with adjusted EPS of $ 4.74 .
Analysts forecast , on average , earnings of $ 4.80 per share , which would represent growth of about 1 % .

COVID-19 took another bite out of Walgreens Boots Alliance quarterly numbers but this time left behind better-than-expected earnings.
The drugstore chain said Thursday that it made $373 million in the final quarter of fiscal 2020 after losing $1.7 billion the previous quarter, when millions of shoppers stayed home to avoid the rapidly spreading pandemic.
COVID-19 still hurt. The company estimated that the pandemic’s impact shaved about $520 million from its operating income in the most recent quarter. But Walgreens also grew sales and prescriptions in the United States and saw some improvement in the United Kingdom. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. runs more than 9,000 stores in the United States and several thousand locations internationally.
Company shares climbed higher than the broader market in morning trading Thursday.
Drugstore chains and other retailers were pummeled earlier this year by lockdowns that kept customers away from their stores. But as those restrictions eased, companies have since started reporting improving numbers.
Walgreens leaders told analysts Thursday that customer visits to their stores were still down, but shoppers were continuing to buy more per visit.
Sales from established U.S. stores climbed 3.6% compared to last year’s quarter. That’s an important metric because it excludes stores that recently closed or opened.
Those sales dropped 29% for the company’s Boots stores in the United Kingdom, but the company said customer visits improved steadily compared to the third quarter.
Overall, the company booked adjusted earnings of $1.02 per share in the three-month window that ended Aug. 31. Revenue climbed 2% to $34.75 billion.
Analysts expected, on average, earnings of 96 cents per share in the fiscal fourth quarter on $34.37 billion in revenue, according to financial data provider FactSet.
Company officials said they expect the pandemic’s impact on their business to subside in the second half of the new fiscal year as people start receiving vaccines - which have yet to be approved by regulators - and more customers return to their stores.
“We are confident we will come out of this in better shape,” Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Stefano Pessina said.
Walgreens forecasts low, single-digit adjusted earnings per share growth in its new fiscal year.
The company finished 2020 with adjusted EPS of $4.74. Analysts forecast, on average, earnings of $4.80 per share for fiscal 2021, which would represent growth of about 1%.
Walgreens announced in July that Pessina will step down as CEO once the company finds his replacement. He said Thursday they had no updates on that search.
Shares of the Deerfield, Illinois-based company climbed nearly 3% to $36.90 Thursday morning while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell slightly. Walgreens is a Dow component.
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Follow Tom Murphy on Twitter: @thpmurphy


washingtontimes--2020-10-15--Morgan Stanley 3Q profit rises 25%, helped by trading

CHARLOTTE , North Carolina ( AP ) - Morgan Stanley said Thursday that profit rose 25 % in the third quarter from last year , as the investment bank benefitted from a boost in trading revenue as well as higher investment banking fees .
The New York-based firm posted a profit in the third quarter of $ 2.72 billion , or $ 1.66 per share , up from $ 2.2 billion , or $ 1.27 per share , in the same period a year earlier .
The results beat analysts ’ expectations .
The results included a one-time tax benefit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investment banks , Morgan Stanley benefitted from markets that generally moved higher through the summer .
Morgan Stanley ’ s stock trading division - the firm ’ s specialty - saw next revenues increase to $ 2.26 billion from $ 1.99 billion a year earlier .
The bond trading division , smaller than the stock trading operation , saw a bigger jump in revenues in the quarter to $ 1.92 billion .
Investment banking fees increased modestly .
While the fees Morgan Stanley earned from advising companies to do deals declined , fees @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over the summer .
The firm reported a return on tangible common equity - a measurement of profitability of investment banks that gauges how much they earn on the assets the bank holds - was 15 % in the quarter .
Typically banks like Morgan Stanley aim for a return on equity above 10 % .

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (AP) - Morgan Stanley said Thursday that profit rose 25% in the third quarter from last year, as the investment bank benefitted from a boost in trading revenue as well as higher investment banking fees.
The New York-based firm posted a profit in the third quarter of $2.72 billion, or $1.66 per share, up from $2.2 billion, or $1.27 per share, in the same period a year earlier. The results beat analysts’ expectations. The results included a one-time tax benefit of $113 million.
Like other investment banks, Morgan Stanley benefitted from markets that generally moved higher through the summer. Morgan Stanley’s stock trading division - the firm’s specialty - saw next revenues increase to $2.26 billion from $1.99 billion a year earlier. The bond trading division, smaller than the stock trading operation, saw a bigger jump in revenues in the quarter to $1.92 billion.
Investment banking fees increased modestly. While the fees Morgan Stanley earned from advising companies to do deals declined, fees from underwriting stock offerings more than doubled over the summer.
The firm reported a return on tangible common equity - a measurement of profitability of investment banks that gauges how much they earn on the assets the bank holds - was 15% in the quarter. Typically banks like Morgan Stanley aim for a return on equity above 10%.


washingtontimes--2020-10-15--North Carolina man accused of fatally shooting his mother

TAYLORSVILLE , N.C. ( AP ) - A North Carolina man has been accused of fatally shooting his mother during @ @ @ @ @ victim was discovered with multiple gunshot wounds Wednesday morning at a residence in Taylorsville , @ @ @ @ @ s Office said in a news release .
She died before she arrived at a @ @ @ @ @ information that the suspect had left the scene of the shooting in a vehicle started @ @ @ @ @ ensued but Christopher Lee Brown , 36 , was later arrested after his car came @ @ @ @ @ release said .
Authorities said he had with a gun in his possession when he @ @ @ @ @ been charged with first degree murder and is being held without bond .
It was @ @ @ @ @ had an attorney who could comment on his behalf .

TAYLORSVILLE, N.C. (AP) - A North Carolina man has been accused of fatally shooting his mother during a domestic dispute.
The victim was discovered with multiple gunshot wounds Wednesday morning at a residence in Taylorsville, the Alexander County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. She died before she arrived at a hospital.
Deputies who received information that the suspect had left the scene of the shooting in a vehicle started pursuing him. A chase ensued but Christopher Lee Brown, 36, was later arrested after his car came to a stop, the release said.
Authorities said he had with a gun in his possession when he was arrested.
Brown has been charged with first degree murder and is being held without bond. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.


washingtontimes--2020-10-15--Dog walker struck, killed by vehicle in Smithfield

SMITHFIELD , R.I. ( AP ) - A 70-year-old Rhode Island woman walking her dog has died after being struck @ @ @ @ @ woman was struck at about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday as she crossed a street in Smithfield @ @ @ @ @ statement .
The driver of the vehicle that struck her stopped , called 911 and @ @ @ @ @ police said .
The woman suffered “ significant injuries ” and was taken to Rhode @ @ @ @ @ where she later died .
The driver , a 34-year-old Smithfield resident , is cooperating @ @ @ @ @ The dog was not injured and is in the care of a neighbor .
“ @ @ @ @ @ lot of people in this neighborhood , our hearts go out for her , because @ @ @ @ @ beautiful woman and just loved her dog and walked her dog every day , ” @ @ @ @ @ ’ s neighbor , told WLNE-TV .

SMITHFIELD, R.I. (AP) - A 70-year-old Rhode Island woman walking her dog has died after being struck by a vehicle.
The woman was struck at about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday as she crossed a street in Smithfield, police said in a statement.
The driver of the vehicle that struck her stopped, called 911 and stayed at the scene, police said.
The woman suffered “significant injuries” and was taken to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, where she later died.
The driver, a 34-year-old Smithfield resident, is cooperating in the ongoing investigation.
The dog was not injured and is in the care of a neighbor.
No names were released.
“My heart, and a lot of people in this neighborhood, our hearts go out for her, because the woman was just a beautiful woman and just loved her dog and walked her dog every day,” Kevin Butera, the woman’s neighbor, told WLNE-TV.


washingtontimes--2020-10-15--Joe Biden leads Donald Trump by 11 points: Poll

Joseph R. Biden holds an 11-point lead over President Trump , according to a national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Thursday .
Mr. Biden had an 11-point , 53 % to 42 % lead over Mr. Trump among registered voters .
That margin was down from a 14-point lead for Mr. Biden in a poll taken right after the first presidential debate on Sept. 29 .
Despite the deficit for the incumbent , 50 % said they and their families are better off than they were four years ago , compared to 34 % who said they ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recent Gallup polling .
However , 38 % said the country is better off than it was four years ago , compared to 58 % who said it ’ s worse off .
Republicans also had a 13-point advantage over Democrats on who respondents think would do a better job on dealing with the economy , which was rated the top issue for voters in deciding who to vote for for president .
“ There are signs that the race could still tighten , ” said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt , who helped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 17-point edge on the coronavirus and an 18-point edge on health care , the second- and third-most important issues for voters in the poll .
Both the Trump and Biden campaigns say they think the race is significantly closer than such public polling has shown in recent weeks .
“ There is still a long way to go in this campaign , and we think this race is far closer than folks on this website think .
Like a lot closer , ” Biden campaign manager Jen O ’ Malley Dillon said on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ registered voters was taken from Oct. 9-12 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points .

Joseph R. Biden holds an 11-point lead over President Trump, according to a national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Thursday.
Mr. Biden had an 11-point, 53% to 42% lead over Mr. Trump among registered voters. That margin was down from a 14-point lead for Mr. Biden in a poll taken right after the first presidential debate on Sept. 29.
Despite the deficit for the incumbent, 50% said they and their families are better off than they were four years ago, compared to 34% who said they’re worse off — approximately in line with recent Gallup polling.
However, 38% said the country is better off than it was four years ago, compared to 58% who said it’s worse off.
Republicans also had a 13-point advantage over Democrats on who respondents think would do a better job on dealing with the economy, which was rated the top issue for voters in deciding who to vote for for president.
“There are signs that the race could still tighten,” said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt, who helped conduct the survey.
Democrats had a 17-point edge on the coronavirus and an 18-point edge on health care, the second- and third-most important issues for voters in the poll.
Both the Trump and Biden campaigns say they think the race is significantly closer than such public polling has shown in recent weeks.
“There is still a long way to go in this campaign, and we think this race is far closer than folks on this website think. Like a lot closer,” Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said on Twitter Wednesday.
The survey of 1,000 registered voters was taken from Oct. 9-12 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.


washingtontimes--2020-10-15--Chinese retailer Miniso to raise about $562 million in IPO

HONG KONG ( AP ) - Miniso , a Chinese discount retailer known for its fashionable but affordable household products , is expected to raise up to $ 562 million in a U.S. initial public offering in New York .
The Guangzhou-based retailer is the latest Chinese company to list in the U.S. , amid tensions that have taken U.S.-China relations to their worst level in decades .
The U.S. market remains an attractive place to go public , despite the friction over trade and technology , with Chinese firms raising at least $ 7.5 billion in initial public offerings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to data compiled by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission .
Miniso founder Ye Guofu , who owns an 80 % stake in the company , is set to become a billionaire following the listing on Thursday in the U.S. , with a net worth of about $ 4 billion .
The IPO would also value Miniso at about $ 5.6 billion if shares are priced on the higher end of the estimate , which was pegged to be between $ 16.50 to $ 18.50 a share .
“ We chose to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many global companies list there , ” Ye said in a phone interview on Thursday , ahead of the company going public on the New York Stock Exchange .
“ We are aiming for continuous development of our business model and are not after short-term profit , and we hope the market will see this.
” Backed by Chinese gaming company Tencent Holdings , which also owns social media company WeChat , Miniso found success in brick-and-mortar retailing by modeling itself after Japan ’ s 100-yen stores , which sell a variety of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The company has over 3,000 stores globally , more than 60 % of them in mainland China .
Miniso stores typically sell a range of goods , from cosmetics to small household appliances , mostly crafted by an in-house team of designers .
The company positions itself as a retailer that sells high-quality products at an affordable price – shoppers can pick up waterproof eyeliner for as little as $ 1.50 , perfume for $ 3 , or a pair of sunglasses for less than $ 8 .
It also partners with brands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Disney or Marvel , offering various items such as wallets , bags and toys featuring Marvel superhero characters and Mickey Mouse .
Ye was inspired to start Miniso in 2013 , after he travelled to Japan with this family and was impressed by the Japanese design aesthetic .
“ I realized that there are many lifestyle specialty stores in Japan selling household products and home furnishings , and we didn ’ t have such stores in China , ” Ye said .
Ye wanted to harness China ’ s manufacturing prowess and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offer quality products at attractive prices to consumers .
Miniso entered the offline retail scene at a time when e-commerce was winning market share .
Ye said he decided to take the brick-and-mortar route because he was more familiar with the industry , having had retail experience for over a decade prior to founding Miniso .
“ For the products that we offer , it is more suited to an offline shopping experience as consumers can touch the products and get a feel of them , it is an experience that you can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Although the company will still focus on offline retail , Miniso has previously launched some of its products on Chinese e-commerce platforms like Taobao and JD.com .
Ye said that they will not exclude e-commerce as a sales channel in the future .
Miniso stores became popular among consumers because they have raised the bar for design and quality , while maintaining a commitment to competitive prices , said Michael Norris , a research and strategy manager at Shanghai-based AgencyChina .
“ They ’ ve been a trailblazer in reimagining discount retail @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offline-first approach works for Miniso because it debuts new products almost every week , so every time shoppers browse the store they will see something different.
” “ That level of discovery and serendipity is difficult for online-only retailers to match , ” Norris said .
Like many other retailers , Miniso ’ s business has suffered during the coronavirus pandemic .
Stores in China were closed for about two months between January and March , and the company reported a 4 % decline in revenue to about 9 billion yuan ( $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of stores , both self-operated and franchised , also weathered temporary closures between April and June this year , impacting the company ’ s sales to overseas distributors , according to the Miniso prospectus .
With the funds raised from the IPO , Miniso plans to expand its network of stores and invest in warehousing and logistics , as well as technology and information systems .

HONG KONG (AP) - Shares of Miniso Group Holding finished higher Thursday in their first day of trading on Wall Street but ended well below their peak.
Miniso, a Chinese discount retailer known for its fashionable but affordable household products, raised $608 million in an initial public offering in New York.
The Guangzhou-based retailer is the latest Chinese company to list in the U.S., amid tensions that have taken U.S.-China relations to their worst level in decades.
The U.S. market remains an attractive place to go public, despite the friction over trade and technology, with Chinese firms raising at least $7.5 billion in initial public offerings in the U.S. this year, according to data compiled by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
Miniso founder Ye Guofu, who owns an 80% stake in the company, is set to become a billionaire following the listing on Thursday in the U.S., with a net worth of about $4 billion. Each of Miniso’s depository shares were priced at $20 apiece, above the estimated price range of $16.50 to $18.50, according to a press release by the company.
The stock opened at $24.40, and ended Thursday up 4.4%, or 88 cents, at $20.88. It had been has high as $24.90 earlier in the day.
“We chose to list in the United States … because many global companies list there,” Ye said in a phone interview on Thursday, ahead of the company going public on the New York Stock Exchange.
“We are aiming for continuous development of our business model and are not after short-term profit, and we hope the market will see this.”
Backed by Chinese gaming company Tencent Holdings, which also owns social media company WeChat, Miniso found success in brick-and-mortar retailing by modeling itself after Japan’s 100-yen stores, which sell a variety of products at about $1 each. The company has over 3,000 stores globally, more than 60% of them in mainland China.
Miniso stores typically sell a range of goods, from cosmetics to small household appliances, mostly crafted by an in-house team of designers. The company positions itself as a retailer that sells high-quality products at an affordable price – shoppers can pick up waterproof eyeliner for as little as $1.50, perfume for $3, or a pair of sunglasses for less than $8.
It also partners with brands to sell products with intellectual property licensed from Disney or Marvel, offering various items such as wallets, bags and toys featuring Marvel superhero characters and Mickey Mouse.
Ye was inspired to start Miniso in 2013, after he travelled to Japan with this family and was impressed by the Japanese design aesthetic.
“I realized that there are many lifestyle specialty stores in Japan selling household products and home furnishings, and we didn’t have such stores in China,” Ye said.
Ye wanted to harness China’s manufacturing prowess and meld it with good design, to offer quality products at attractive prices to consumers.
Miniso entered the offline retail scene at a time when e-commerce was winning market share. Ye said he decided to take the brick-and-mortar route because he was more familiar with the industry, having had retail experience for over a decade prior to founding Miniso.
“For the products that we offer, it is more suited to an offline shopping experience as consumers can touch the products and get a feel of them, it is an experience that you cannot get online,” he said.
Although the company will still focus on offline retail, Miniso has previously launched some of its products on Chinese e-commerce platforms like Taobao and JD.com. Ye said that they will not exclude e-commerce as a sales channel in the future.
Miniso stores became popular among consumers because they have raised the bar for design and quality, while maintaining a commitment to competitive prices, said Michael Norris, a research and strategy manager at Shanghai-based AgencyChina.
“They’ve been a trailblazer in reimagining discount retail,” he said. “An offline-first approach works for Miniso because it debuts new products almost every week, so every time shoppers browse the store they will see something different.”
“That level of discovery and serendipity is difficult for online-only retailers to match,” Norris said.
Like many other retailers, Miniso’s business has suffered during the coronavirus pandemic. Stores in China were closed for about two months between January and March, and the company reported a 4% decline in revenue to about 9 billion yuan ($1.3 billion).
Its global network of stores, both self-operated and franchised, also weathered temporary closures between April and June this year, impacting the company’s sales to overseas distributors, according to the Miniso prospectus.
With the funds raised from the IPO, Miniso plans to expand its network of stores and invest in warehousing and logistics, as well as technology and information systems.
ADRs of the company are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “MNSO.”


washingtontimes--2020-10-15--Authorities kill man who pointed gun at them, asked to die

HOUMA , La .
( AP ) - A Louisiana man was fatally shot by police after he barricaded himself in a car , asked officers to kill him and later pointed a gun at them , authorities said .
Authorities identified the man as Miguel Nevarez , 36 , The Houma Courier reported .
Both the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff ’ s Office and the Houma police were involved in the incident .
Houma police responded to a shots fired call around 9 p.m. Tuesday and learned that a man was randomly firing a weapon .
When police arrived , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Parish Sheriff Tim Soignet said Nevarez repeatedly asked law enforcement to kill him .
Police Chief Dana Coleman said officers and deputies attempted to diffuse the situation but it was “ spiraling out of control very quickly.
” Coleman said Nevarez left the car and threatened officers when he pointed a gun at them .
Authorities later shot and killed him .
“ It was a no-win situation for all involved , ” Coleman said .
“ Our hearts go out to the gentlemen ’ s family as well as the families of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Councilwoman Arlanda Williams said the incident happened across the street from her .
She said Nevarez was her neighbor .
“ Mental illness is real , ” Williams said .
“ Tonight I watched as HPD and TPSO officers were negotiating with my neighbor as he threatened to kill himself and then gunshots were fired…Please keep his wife and children in your prayers .
”

HOUMA, La. (AP) - A Louisiana man was fatally shot by police after he barricaded himself in a car, asked officers to kill him and later pointed a gun at them, authorities said.
Authorities identified the man as Miguel Nevarez, 36, The Houma Courier reported. Both the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Houma police were involved in the incident.
Houma police responded to a shots fired call around 9 p.m. Tuesday and learned that a man was randomly firing a weapon.
When police arrived, Nevarez barricaded himself in a car.
Parish Sheriff Tim Soignet said Nevarez repeatedly asked law enforcement to kill him.
Police Chief Dana Coleman said officers and deputies attempted to diffuse the situation but it was “spiraling out of control very quickly.”
Coleman said Nevarez left the car and threatened officers when he pointed a gun at them. Authorities later shot and killed him.
“It was a no-win situation for all involved,” Coleman said. “Our hearts go out to the gentlemen’s family as well as the families of the officers involved.”
State Police will investigate the shooting.
Former Terrebonne Parish Councilwoman Arlanda Williams said the incident happened across the street from her. She said Nevarez was her neighbor.
“Mental illness is real,” Williams said. “Tonight I watched as HPD and TPSO officers were negotiating with my neighbor as he threatened to kill himself and then gunshots were fired…Please keep his wife and children in your prayers.”


washingtontimes--2020-10-15--US official holds Beirut meetings after Israel-Lebanon talks

BEIRUT ( AP ) - Lebanon ’ s parliament speaker met Thursday with a visiting U.S. official , a day after Beirut began indirect negotiations with Israel over their disputed maritime border .
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker , the top American diplomat for the Middle East , did not speak to reporters after his meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri .
Berri has been the main Lebanese official dealing with U.S. mediators regarding the dispute with Israel over the past decade .
On Wednesday , Schenker attended the opening session of U.S.-mediated talks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ compound in the border area known as Ras Naqoura .
A joint statement released Wednesday by the U.S. State Department and Jan Kubis , the U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon , said the Israeli and Lebanese teams “ held productive talks and reaffirmed their commitment to continue negotiations later this month.
” Israel and Lebanon have no diplomatic relations and are technically in a state of war .
They each claim about 860 square kilometers ( 330 square miles ) of the Mediterranean Sea as being within their own exclusive economic zones .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ industry elsewhere in its economic waters , and Lebanon hopes oil and gas discoveries in its territorial waters will help it overcome the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history .
Lebanon ’ s economic crisis is the result of decades of corruption and mismanagement , but has been dramatically worsened by the coronavirus pandemic as well as a massive blast in Beirut on Aug. 4 , which killed and wounded many and caused damage worth billions of dollars .
Schenker visited Beirut after the blast and met members of Lebanon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not hold talks with politicians at that time .
The international community has said it will not help Lebanon get out of its economic crisis before it implements major reforms , on top of fighting corruption .
President Michel Aoun was scheduled to hold binding consultations with members of parliament on Thursday to name a new prime minister , but postponed it for a week at the last minute .
A top candidate for the post was former Prime Minister Saad Hariri .
He resigned in October last year , days after nationwide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rule of the political class that ’ s brought the country to the verge of bankruptcy .
On Wednesday , Hariri failed to win the backing of the two largest Christian blocs in parliament .

BEIRUT (AP) - Lebanon’s parliament speaker met Thursday with a visiting U.S. official, a day after Beirut began indirect negotiations with Israel over their disputed maritime border.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker, the top American diplomat for the Middle East, did not speak to reporters after his meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Berri has been the main Lebanese official dealing with U.S. mediators regarding the dispute with Israel over the past decade.
On Wednesday, Schenker attended the opening session of U.S.-mediated talks between Lebanon and Israel in a U.N. compound in the border area known as Ras Naqoura. A joint statement released Wednesday by the U.S. State Department and Jan Kubis, the U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon, said the Israeli and Lebanese teams “held productive talks and reaffirmed their commitment to continue negotiations later this month.”
Israel and Lebanon have no diplomatic relations and are technically in a state of war. They each claim about 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea as being within their own exclusive economic zones.
Israel has already developed a natural gas industry elsewhere in its economic waters, and Lebanon hopes oil and gas discoveries in its territorial waters will help it overcome the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history.
Lebanon’s economic crisis is the result of decades of corruption and mismanagement, but has been dramatically worsened by the coronavirus pandemic as well as a massive blast in Beirut on Aug. 4, which killed and wounded many and caused damage worth billions of dollars.
Schenker visited Beirut after the blast and met members of Lebanon’s civil society. He did not hold talks with politicians at that time.
The international community has said it will not help Lebanon get out of its economic crisis before it implements major reforms, on top of fighting corruption.
President Michel Aoun was scheduled to hold binding consultations with members of parliament on Thursday to name a new prime minister, but postponed it for a week at the last minute.
A top candidate for the post was former Prime Minister Saad Hariri. He resigned in October last year, days after nationwide protests broke out demanding an end to the rule of the political class that’s brought the country to the verge of bankruptcy.
On Wednesday, Hariri failed to win the backing of the two largest Christian blocs in parliament.


washingtontimes--2020-10-15--Baltimore prosecutor: Do not authorize “no knock” warrants

BALTIMORE ( AP ) - Baltimore State ’ s Attorney Marilyn Mosby has directed prosecutors in her office to not authorize “ no knock ” arrest warrants that are approved by judges , citing the police shooting death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville , Kentucky .
Police are typically required to knock , but they can request permission to conduct a “ no knock ” warrant from a city judge , The Baltimore Sun reported Wednesday .
It ’ s up to the judge to approve or deny the request .
Prosecutors do not have the authority to stop the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but Wednesday ’ s directive shows Mosby ’ s office does not support the tactic , said Patricia DeMaio , Baltimore ’ s deputy state ’ s attorney of major crimes .
“ The ends do not justify the means , ” Mosby wrote to her staff Wednesday .
“ Seventeen states do not allow this tactic , and our office will also no longer sign off on this dangerous measure.
” The directive has drawn criticism from Mike Mancuso , the president of the city ’ s police union .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who decides whether a no-knock is warranted , ” Mancuso said in a statement .
“ This action is completely irresponsible and an overreach , though predictable .
We urge all Baltimore City judges not to get caught up in the agendas of others , but to continue to follow the facts as presented.
” Taylor , a Black emergency medical worker , was shot multiple times by white officers who entered her Louisville home during a narcotics investigation in March .
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said that while the officers had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they announced themselves before entering .
Taylor ’ s boyfriend , Kenneth Walker , opened fire when police burst in .
He told police he did not know who was coming in and fired in self-defense .
The warrant used to search her home was connected to a suspect who did not live there , and no drugs were found inside .
Louisville has since banned the tactic , and Oregon and Florida have outlawed such warrants .
Other cities , including Topeka , Kansas ; and police in Memphis , Tennessee ; @ @ @ @ @ @

BALTIMORE (AP) - Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby has directed prosecutors in her office to not authorize “no knock” arrest warrants that are approved by judges, citing the police shooting death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.
Police are typically required to knock, but they can request permission to conduct a “no knock” warrant from a city judge, The Baltimore Sun reported Wednesday. It’s up to the judge to approve or deny the request.
Prosecutors do not have the authority to stop the execution of warrants that are already approved, but Wednesday’s directive shows Mosby’s office does not support the tactic, said Patricia DeMaio, Baltimore’s deputy state’s attorney of major crimes.
“The ends do not justify the means,” Mosby wrote to her staff Wednesday. “Seventeen states do not allow this tactic, and our office will also no longer sign off on this dangerous measure.”
The directive has drawn criticism from Mike Mancuso, the president of the city’s police union.
“A judge should be the only person who decides whether a no-knock is warranted,” Mancuso said in a statement. “This action is completely irresponsible and an overreach, though predictable. We urge all Baltimore City judges not to get caught up in the agendas of others, but to continue to follow the facts as presented.”
Taylor, a Black emergency medical worker, was shot multiple times by white officers who entered her Louisville home during a narcotics investigation in March.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said that while the officers had a no-knock warrant, the investigation showed they announced themselves before entering. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, opened fire when police burst in. He told police he did not know who was coming in and fired in self-defense.
The warrant used to search her home was connected to a suspect who did not live there, and no drugs were found inside.
Louisville has since banned the tactic, and Oregon and Florida have outlawed such warrants. Other cities, including Topeka, Kansas; and police in Memphis, Tennessee; have also banned the measure.


washingtontimes--2020-10-15--German police arrest teen who recruited for Islamic State

BERLIN ( AP ) - Police in western Germany have arrested an 18-year-old man on suspicion he tried to recruit @ @ @ @ @ State group .
Cologne police said that the German teenager , who was detained early @ @ @ @ @ in several cases ” to have urged people to join or support the extremist group @ @ @ @ @ reported that evidence against the suspect included online chat transcripts .

BERLIN (AP) - Police in western Germany have arrested an 18-year-old man on suspicion he tried to recruit people to join the Islamic State group.
Cologne police said that the German teenager, who was detained early Thursday, is alleged “in several cases” to have urged people to join or support the extremist group.
German news agency dpa reported that evidence against the suspect included online chat transcripts.


washingtontimes--2020-10-15--Extremists in Somalia kill 8 army soldiers, says official

MOGADISHU , Somalia ( AP ) - Somalia ’ s extremist rebels have killed at least eight soldiers in an @ @ @ @ @ s south , said a military official .
Two other soldiers are missing after an @ @ @ @ @ traveling between the towns of Afoye and Wanlaweyn in Lower Shabelle region , Col. Ahmed @ @ @ @ @ ’ s al-Shabab , which is linked to al-Qaida , has claimed responsibility for the @ @ @ @ @ said it killed at least 25 soldiers , a claim dismissed by the Somali military @ @ @ @ @ troops traveling on the major roads between the Somali capital , Mogadishu , and nearby @ @ @ @ @ comes after Somalia ’ s intelligence agency said it seized nearly 80 tons of sulfuric @ @ @ @ @ from being smuggled into territory held by al-Shabab , which would have used it to @ @ @ @ @ involved in the smuggling have been arrested , according to the intelligence agency .

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Somalia’s extremist rebels have killed at least eight soldiers in an ambush in the country’s south, said a military official.
Two other soldiers are missing after an attack on a military convoy traveling between the towns of Afoye and Wanlaweyn in Lower Shabelle region, Col. Ahmed Hassan said Thursday.
Somalia’s al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaida, has claimed responsibility for the attack. The extremist group said it killed at least 25 soldiers, a claim dismissed by the Somali military.
Al-Shabab fighters often attack troops traveling on the major roads between the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and nearby regions.
The latest attack comes after Somalia’s intelligence agency said it seized nearly 80 tons of sulfuric acid, preventing the chemical from being smuggled into territory held by al-Shabab, which would have used it to make explosives. Several people involved in the smuggling have been arrested, according to the intelligence agency.


washingtontimes--2020-10-15--1 in custody, second suspect sought in fatal shooting

SIOUX FALLS , S.D .
( AP ) - One man has been arrested and police are searching for a second suspect in a fatal shooting in Sioux Falls .
A 39-year-old local man has been arrested in the death of 36-year-old Clay Stubbs .
He was found dead near a vehicle that had crashed Oct. 8 .
Police say Stubbs was shot to death shortly before the crash , the Argus Leader reported .
Authorities are also looking for a 34-year-old Sioux Falls man in connection with Stubbs ’ death .
According to court documents , Stubbs was planning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the man in custody .
Police say the two men were planning to jump Stubbs during the drug deal because he owed one of the men some money .
The man in custody told investigators the second suspect approached Stubbs ’ vehicle and shot him two times .
Officers say they found shell casings , two live 9mm rounds , a spent round and a bullet hole in a Grand Jeep Cherokee in the apartment parking lot .
Lt. Terrance Matia says police have not recovered a gun .
Court documents say authorities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grams of meth , 27 pills and a baggie of methamphetamine in the SUV .
Stubbs was found lying on the ground in front of the crashed vehicle with a gunshot wound to his torso .

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - One man has been arrested and police are searching for a second suspect in a fatal shooting in Sioux Falls.
A 39-year-old local man has been arrested in the death of 36-year-old Clay Stubbs. He was found dead near a vehicle that had crashed Oct. 8. Police say Stubbs was shot to death shortly before the crash, the Argus Leader reported.
Authorities are also looking for a 34-year-old Sioux Falls man in connection with Stubbs’ death.
According to court documents, Stubbs was planning to sell a pound of marijuana to the man in custody. Police say the two men were planning to jump Stubbs during the drug deal because he owed one of the men some money.
The man in custody told investigators the second suspect approached Stubbs’ vehicle and shot him two times.
Officers say they found shell casings, two live 9mm rounds, a spent round and a bullet hole in a Grand Jeep Cherokee in the apartment parking lot. Lt. Terrance Matia says police have not recovered a gun.
Court documents say authorities found a half-pound of marijuana, 28 grams of meth, 27 pills and a baggie of methamphetamine in the SUV.
Stubbs was found lying on the ground in front of the crashed vehicle with a gunshot wound to his torso.