As gun rights rally looms in Virginia, Richmond residents fear another Charlottesville

RICHMOND, Va. — As gun rights activists, white nationalists and militia groups prepare to rally at the state Capitol on Monday to protest proposed gun control laws, residents are praying it won’t be a repeat of the violent 2017 rally in Charlottesville that ended in a woman’s death.

The Virginia Citizens Defense League, which organizes the annual gun rights rally, said it wants a “peaceful event,” but the crowd is expected to be larger than usual because Democrats took control of the Legislature last year and are proposing several gun control bills that would limit handgun purchases and require background checks, among other regulations.

 The proposals come after a mass shooting in May in Virginia Beach, in which a disgruntled city employee killed 12 people in a municipal building.

“I’m very worried,” Francisca Benavides, a student at Virginia Commonwealth University, said.

Benavides, who’s studying photography at the 31,000-student public research university, wanted to attend the rally to document it but is having second thoughts after Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency last week in anticipation of the event. He said “credible intelligence” indicated the rally would draw armed militias and hate groups.

“All my friends are trying to convince me not to attend,” Benavides said, adding she was reassured when Northam temporarily banned guns and other weapons from the grounds of the Capitol, and the state Supreme Court struck down the rally organizers’ challenge to the order.

"All my friends are trying to convince me not to attend," Virginia Commonwealth University student Francisca Benavides said.
“All my friends are trying to convince me not to attend,” Virginia Commonwealth University student Francisca Benavides said.

 

But on Thursday, three members of a neo-Nazi group called The Base, which advocates for a white ethno-state, were arrested on the East Coast, and law enforcement officials said they had been planning to attend the rally. The next day, officials announced the arrests of three men from Georgia and one from Wisconsin, all allegedly members of The Base.

Richmond residents said they were glad to see the men apprehended, but it doesn’t do much to calm their nerves. President Donald Trump’s tweet Friday, saying “Your 2nd Amendment is under very serious attack in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia,” was seen by some as a call to join Monday’s rally, further stoking anxieties.

Gabby Safley, a VCU student from Charlottesville who studies history, saw what happened to her city when neo-Nazis marched through the streets and white supremacist James Alex Fields ran over and killed counterprotester Heather Heyer. She had friends near Fields’ car when he sped into the crowd, students she mentored who were traumatized by the day’s events, and her aunt served on the jury for Field’s trial, she said.

Safley fears Monday’s rally will be Charlottesville all over again.

“I’m not surprised it’s happening,” she said, “and it wouldn’t be surprising if it turns into something like Charlottesville.”

Law enforcement manage a security checkpoint to access the Virginia State Capitol grounds ahead of a gun rights advocates and militia members rally in Richmond, Virginia
A security checkpoint at the Virginia State Capitol grounds ahead of a gun rights rally in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 18, 2020.

 

She said she will stay away from the Capitol on Monday but is upset by the strong response to what she views as practical gun control measures.

“My family hunts, but I think gun control is necessary,” she said. “You shouldn’t be worried if you’re not doing anything illegal.”

Anthony Berrios, who lives near the Capitol, said he will stay with his girlfriend, who lives in a different part of the city, on Monday. He said the premise behind the rally is misguided.

“It’s a myth that the government is trying to take their guns away,” he said. “I just wish people would really take an objective look at what’s best for society versus what’s good for themselves.”

Just a block from the Capitol, Quisha Jefferson manages a 7-Eleven convenience store that’s usually open round-the-clock, but she plans to shut it down Sunday night and reopen Monday when calm returns.

“I’m not gonna do it,” she said. “We’re gonna close. We don’t want to be a part of what’s going on.”

Quisha Jefferson manages a 7-Eleven convenience store that's usually open round-the-clock, but she plans to shut it down Sunday night and reopen Monday when calm returns.
Quisha Jefferson manages a 7-Eleven convenience store that’s usually open round-the-clock, but she plans to shut it down Sunday night and reopen Monday when calm returns.

Even if she wanted to stay open, it would be difficult for her employees to get to work because road closures forced by the rally will impede bus routes, and they are nervous about showing up for their regular Monday shifts anyway. “I don’t want to put them in danger, and I don’t want to put myself in danger,” Jefferson said, pointing to the store’s large glass windows that she thinks would make them vulnerable to an attack. “I’m gonna lose a lot of business, but I’d rather my workers be at home, be safe.”

Some Richmond residents, whose jobs are near Capitol Square, said they don’t want to go to work Monday either, but they have no choice. Many area businesses will be closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but a few retail and service employees whose workplaces will remain open still have to show up.

“We’re terrified,” said one woman, who works nearby and asked not to be named because she feared retribution from her employer.

In Jackson Ward, the city’s historically black neighborhood, Marvin Smith is taking a different approach from that of his neighbors, who are leaving town. The barbershop he owns about a mile north of Capitol Square won’t be open, but he will be in his store.

“I’m gonna be here for the community,” Smith said. “I want to know what’s going on and be on call.”

I'm gonna be here for the community," barbershop owner Marvin Smith said. "I want to know what's going on and be on call."
I’m gonna be here for the community,” barbershop owner Marvin Smith said. “I want to know what’s going on and be on call.”

Organizers say thousands of people will be at the Capitol on Monday as the Virginia Citizens Defense League buses people in from across the state, while other rallygoers are expected to travel from out of state.

At her two-week-old clothing store, Serendipity, Kim Williams said her customers were talking about the rally all day Saturday. Tourists from Boston told her they had chosen the wrong weekend to visit Richmond, and a college student said her father planned a last-minute visit but couldn’t get a hotel room because they were all booked up.

“I don’t want anything to happen that will make Richmond look bad,” Williams, who has lived in the area all her life, said. Her store isn’t open Mondays, and she won’t be going near the Capitol. “I’ll be home, probably watching the news.”

Not everyone in the city feels on edge.

“A lot of it is just talk,” Sean Taplett, who works and studies in Richmond, said.

He used to live in Portland, Oregon, where anti-fascist and far-right groups often clash.

“I’m familiar with the hysteria around these events,” he said. “The violence is usually self-contained.”

Taplett wants to check out the rally and see for himself what transpires.

As of Sunday, no major counterprotest had been planned, and many anti-fascist groups encouraged their members to stay away from the rally.

Gun safety groups also canceled their annual MLK Day vigil at the Capitol, citing “ongoing, credible threats to public safety that have been promoted and encouraged by gun extremists.” The vigil, which has been hosted for the last 28 years, was supposed to begin after the gun rights rally.

Gabby Safley, a VCU student from Charlottesville
Gabby Safley, a VCU student from Charlottesville who studies history, fears Monday’s rally will be Charlottesville all over again.

While Richmond residents wait to see what happens Monday, Safley, the VCU student from Charlottesville, is stuck on the fact all this is happening on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“They really hit all the stops with this one,” she said, before referring to a phrase from the Second Amendment right to bear arms. “A ‘well-regulated militia’ doesn’t mean you get to go buck-wild.”

Credit to NBC News

Ousted Boeing CEO may walk away with $39M. The families of crash victims? $144K

Boeing’s recently ousted CEO could walk away with a multi-million dollar golden parachute that is about 270 times what the company is paying out to family members who lost a loved one in the Max 737 crashes.

CEO Dennis Muilenburg was fired on Monday but may still walk away with $39 million in cash and stock options as part of his severance package, a source told ABC News. Some reports put that figure even higher.

Meanwhile, those who lost a family member in one of the two deadly 737 Max crashes earlier this year could receive approximately $144,500 from a company fund of $50 million that will divided pro-rata between the 346 victims’ family members.

Michael Stumo, who lost his daughter, Samya Stumo, in the Ethiopian Airlines crash, called the deaths “preventable” in a statement reacting to news of Mulienburg’s departure.

“Now that it’s known what he and top Boeing officials knew, yet ignored, prior to the crashes, it has become clear how the company eroded in quality over the years,” Michael Stumo said. “Their focus on financial engineering led to the preventable deaths of my daughter, Samya Rose Stumo, and 345 other people in two tragic crashes.”

He added that “ignoring the risk assessment of 15 future crashes that they admitted is unforgivable.”

In October 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the ocean just outside of Indonesia shortly after takeoff, killing all 189 people on board, including three children.

In March 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed just minutes after taking off from Ethiopia’s capital, killing all 157 people on board, including eight Americans.

The beleaguered fleet of jets has been grounded since March, and last week the company announced it was suspending production of the Max 737s starting in January.

In a statement announcing the opening of the victim’s fund, Mulienberg said the 737 Max tragedies “weigh heavily on all of us at Boeing, and we continue to extend our deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of all those on board.”

In July, a man who lost his entire family in the Ethiopian Airlines crash testified before a congressional subcommittee, bringing with him photos of his wife, three children and mother-in-law who all died in the crash.

“I stay up nights thinking of the horror that they must have endured,” Paul Njoroge told lawmakers.

Boeing had announced the $100 million compensation fund in July just minutes before Njoroge’s testimony began, and the widower slammed the pledge at the time as “a press relations strategy to apologize to cameras.”

“Boeing has never reached out to families about the impossible sorrow and grief we will carry for our entire lives,” Njoroge said at the time.

 

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Trump to meet with Chinese vice premier at White House: ‘Big day of negotiations with China’

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, left, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin greet Chinese Vice Premier Liu He as he arrives for trade talks in Washington on Oct. 10, 2019.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, left, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin greet Chinese Vice Premier Liu He as he arrives for trade talks in Washington on Oct. 10, 2019

Ukraine controversy turns into double-edged sword for Biden

President Trump’s allies are leaning into the controversy over a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, gambling that the increased attention to the story could actually hurt the president’s potential 2020 rival Joe Biden.

For days, Democrats have seized on allegations that Trump in July pressured Zelensky to investigate Biden family dealings – using military aid as leverage – and cited the reports to revive calls for the president’s impeachment.

But the firestorm, apparently related to a still-secret whistleblower complaint, has, in turn, opened the door for Republicans to revisit the original controversy involving Joe Biden’s son Hunter. Further, they allege, the details of that story suggest Biden did the same thing Trump is accused of doing — leveraging military aid to pressure Ukraine.

 “The more they want to talk about Ukraine, the better,” Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said Monday morning on Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria.”

Giuliani has long been looking into the Bidens’ ties to Ukraine, claiming Hunter Biden improperly benefited from business dealings in Ukraine with energy company Burisma Holdings as a member of its board and questioning whether his dad helped protect him.

Hunter Biden was hired by Burisma in April 2014, two months after Ukraine’s Russia-friendly president was ousted by protesters and as his father was heavily involved in U.S. efforts to support the new pro-Western government and its pledge to fight corruption. The hiring of the younger Biden immediately raised concerns that the Ukrainian firm, whose owner was a political ally of the ousted president, was seeking to gain influence with the Obama administration.

Two years later, then-Vice President Joe Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees from Ukraine unless a top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, was fired. Shokin was accused by many in Ukraine and in the West of being soft on corruption, but he also had been leading an investigation into Burisma’s owner.

Trump has claimed Shokin “was after” Hunter Biden and the vice president was trying to protect his son.

“The very thing they’re accusing President Trump of doing, Biden did,” Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., told “Fox & Friends” Monday.

Fox News reported on the Biden controversy in April. The New York Times published a lengthy story on the matter in May. But the controversy flew largely under the radar until now. While the heat is on Trump over whether or not he pressured Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, that firestorm has prompted multiple news outlets to revisit the original Biden controversy in order to provide context.

Trump allies are hammering that as the real scandal, as video of Biden once bragging about his role in having Shokin fired has gone viral.

Trump also tweeted Sunday night, stating that the Ukrainian government backed him up by saying he did not pressure them during the phone call. In the same tweet, he said the “real story” was Biden pressuring Ukraine into firing Shokin.

Giuliani accused Kiev on Monday of laundering $3 million to Hunter Biden and suggested the Obama administration turned a blind eye.

“If Dem party doesn’t call for an investigation of Bidens’ millions from Ukraine and billions from China, they will own it,” he tweeted. “Bidens’ made big money selling public office. How could Obama have allowed this to happen? Will Dems continue to condone and enable this kind pay-for-play?”

While the former vice president has claimed he and his son never discussed Hunter’s business, Hunter told The New Yorker that they did talk about it once, with Joe Biden telling his son, “I hope you know what you are doing.”

Democrats and Republicans are both pushing for investigations. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who has shied away from calling for impeachment in the past, told CNN on Sunday that the latest allegations against Trump may warrant such a measure.

“If the president is essentially withholding military aid at the same time that he is trying to browbeat a foreign leader into doing something illicit … then that may be the only remedy that is coequal to the evil that that conduct represents,” Schiff said.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has resisted calls for impeachment for other alleged Trump transgressions, said Sunday that unless acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire provides information about a whistleblower complaint involving Trump to Congress, administration officials “will be entering a grave new chapter of lawlessness, which will take us into a whole new stage of investigation.”

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., meanwhile, told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that he wants the Justice Department to look into the Bidens’ dealings with Ukraine.

 

“Nobody’s looked at this, but somebody should, so I’m hoping the Department of Justice will look at the Biden-Ukraine connection like we looked at the Trump-Russia connection,” Graham said. “Was there a relationship between the vice president’s family and the Ukraine business world that was inappropriate? I don’t know. Somebody other than me needs to look at it, and I sure as hell don’t trust the media to get to the bottom of it.”

All this comes as Democrats continue to battle for the 2020 presidential nomination. After three debates, Biden remains the front-runner, but he has lost ground to rivals Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., with Warren surpassing Biden in a new Iowa poll.

 

 

Credit to The Associated Press

Texas hit by Imelda

Severe flash flooding hit parts of east Texas on Thursday as the center of Tropical Depression Imelda hit close to Houston, just over two years since the community was devastated by Hurricane Harvey.

Up to 5 inches of rain per hour could fall in Harris County, where Houston is located, throughout the day Thursday, forecasters said. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency warning for several counties, saying “life-threatening amounts of rainfall” have already dropped.

The city of Hamshire saw more than 40 inches of rain — 25 of which fell within a 12-hour span, and meteorologists with AccuWeather are predicting a total of 55 inches of rain.

HURRICANE HUMBERTO THREATENS BERMUDA

Tropical Depression Imelda has dropped "life-threatening amounts of rainfall" in Texas and is forecast to fall more, according to forecasters.

Tropical Depression Imelda has dropped “life-threatening amounts of rainfall” in Texas and is forecast to fall more, according to forecasters. (Kelsey Walling/The Galveston County Daily News via AP)

Mayor Sylvester Turner cautioned people against driving or going outside, urging residents to wait for the storm to clear. “Remain where you are and be safe,” the city’s Office of Emergency Management advised online.

In Chambers County, at least 200 people have had to be rescued in the town of Winnie, located roughly 60 miles east of Houston, according to Sheriff Brian Hawthorne. In addition to a flash flood warning, the NWS has also issued a tornado warning for the county.

Sargent, Texas, pictured here from above, received 22 inches of rain since Imelda started impacted the area on Tuesday, officials said.

Sargent, Texas, pictured here from above, received 22 inches of rain since Imelda started impacted the area on Tuesday, officials said. (Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP)

The city has been hit hard by flooding, and an additional 50 households were on a waiting list to be rescued as of Thursday, he said. Airboats from the sheriff’s office and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department were helping with the rescues, along with high-water vehicles, the sheriff added.

“It’s as bad as I’ve ever seen it. Right now, I’m in an absolute deluge of rain,” Hawthorne told The Associated Press of Winnie, adding the town “looks like a lake.” He said it’s the worst storm-related flooding he’s experienced after going through hurricanes including Rita in 2005, Ike in 2008 and Harvey two years ago.

Angel Marshman wades through floodwaters from Tropical Depression Imelda after trying to start his flooded car Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, in Galveston, Texas. 

Angel Marshman wades through floodwaters from Tropical Depression Imelda after trying to start his flooded car Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, in Galveston, Texas.  (AP)

“Right now, as a Texas sheriff, the only thing that I really want is for people to pray that it will quit raining,” he said.

In Jefferson County’s Beaumont, a city of just under 120,000 people that’s about 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, authorities said all service roads were impassable and two hospitals were inaccessible, according to the Beaumont Enterprise. Local police said on Twitter that 911 has received requests for more than 250 high water rescues and 270 evacuations.

No deaths or injuries were reported in connection with Imelda as of Thursday. Earlier in the week, the storm was downgraded to a tropical depression after making landfall as a tropical storm Tuesday near Freeport, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph.

 

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Fiancé of Wall Street big killed by shark slams diving company

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3 hours ago

Fiancé of Wall Street big killed by shark slams diving company

Rohina Bhandari, right, died during a shark attack. Dr. Jeffrey Rosenthal, left, blames the diving company she was with.

By Katherine Lam | Fox News

Rohina Bhandari, right, died during a shark attack. Dr. Jeffrey Rosenthal, left, blames the diving company she was with.  (2014 Getty Images)

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Grieving father detonates grenades at son’s killer’s murder trial, injures 7

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UKRAINE

 

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Grieving father detonates grenades at son’s killer’s murder trial, injures 7

By Lucia I. Suarez Sang | Fox News

A grieving father reportedly detonated two grenades during the murder trial of the man accused of killing his son.

A grieving father reportedly detonated two grenades during the murder trial of the man accused of killing his son.  (Dnipropetrovsk Police Department)

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Matt Lauer fired from ‘Today’ due to ‘inappropriate sexual behavior’ in the workplace

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4 hours ago

Matt Lauer fired from ‘Today’ due to ‘inappropriate sexual behavior’ in the workplace

By Sasha Savitsky | Fox News

 

Rocket man daredevil aims to prove Earth is flat

On the same day the giant Christmas tree is being lit outside NBC studios at Rockefeller Center in New York City, the network dumped one of its biggest stars.

“Today” show co-host Matt Lauer was fired Wednesday due to inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace, an incident “Today” honchos said they learned about just two days ago.

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Possible North Korea defectors may be occupants of skeleton-filled ghost ship found on Japan coast

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NORTH KOREA

 

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Possible North Korea defectors may be occupants of skeleton-filled ghost ship found on Japan coast

 

North Korean defector makes dangerous escape across DMZ

A skeleton-filled ghost ship carrying the remains of eight ill-fated seafarers washed ashore on Japan’s North Korean-facing coast, the Japanese Coast Guard said Monday — days after the body of a suspected North Korean man and parts of another wrecked wooden craft were discovered on a Japanese island.

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Saudi Arabia’s crown prince calls Iran’s supreme leader ‘new Hitler of the Middle East’

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Saudi Arabia’s crown prince calls Iran’s supreme leader ‘new Hitler of the Middle East’

Fox NewsSaudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was the "new Hitler of the Middle East."

 

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was the “new Hitler of the Middle East.”  (AP/Reuters)

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VA study shows parasite from Vietnam may be killing vets

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1 hour ago

VA study shows parasite from Vietnam may be killing vets

This combination of file photos provided by their families shows some of the hundreds of U.S. veterans of the Vietnam War who suffered from cholangiocarcinoma, a rare bile duct cancer believed to be linked to liver fluke parasites in raw or poorly cooked river fish.

This combination of file photos provided by their families shows some of the hundreds of U.S. veterans of the Vietnam War who suffered from cholangiocarcinoma, a rare bile duct cancer believed to be linked to liver fluke parasites in raw or poorly cooked river fish.  (AP)

Veterans returned to the U.S. after fighting in the jungles of Vietnam a half century ago, but hundreds of them may be dying from a silent bullet — a slow-killing parasite living in the men decades after the war, a new study revealed.

Liver flukes, parasites that infect a human when raw or undercooked fish is eaten, are being investigated as the cause of a rare bile duct cancer among veterans who served in the Vietnam War. It could take years for symptoms to show up, but when they do, the host is left with tremendous pain and given just a few months to live.

The Department of Veterans Affairs this spring commissioned a small pilot study to look into the link between liver flukes and the cancer. More than 20 percent of the 50 blood samples submitted to the study came back positive or bordering positive for liver fluke antibodies, said Sung-Tae Hong, the tropical medicine specialist who carried out the tests at Seoul National University in South Korea.

Gerry Wiggins, who served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969, agreed to take part in the study even though he didn’t have any symptoms. The 69-year-old said he has already lost friends to the disease. To his surprise, liver fluke antibodies were detected in him.

“I was in a state of shock,” he said. “I didn’t think it would be me.”

SALMONELLA POISONING SYMPTOMS AND WARNING SIGNS

Further tests showed two cysts on his bile duct what could develop into cancer known as cholangiocarcinoma. They were removed and Wiggins is doing well.

Everyone who tested positive for the antibodies was notified, Northport VA Medical Center spokesman Christopher Goodman told the Associated Press. Goodman would not comment on the findings. The parasites infect about 25 million people worldwide, mostly in Asia. It’s very uncommon among Americans.

The parasites can be killed in infected humans through drugs during the early stages. But they can also live in humans without treatment for decades because no symptoms show up — much like veterans who fought in the jungles of Vietnam during the war. Over time, swelling and inflammation of the bile duct can lead to cancer. Jaundice, itchy skin, weight loss and other symptoms appear only when the disease is in its final stages.

FILE - This Sept. 7, 2016 file photo shows a display of preserved liver fluke parasites at the Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. A half a century after serving in Vietnam, hundreds of veterans have a reason to believe they may be dying from a silent bullet. Test results show some men may have been infected by a slow-killing parasite while fighting in the jungles of Southeast Asia. The Department of Veterans Affairs this spring commissioned a small pilot study to look into the link between liver flukes ingested through raw or undercooked fish and a rare, bile duct cancer that usually takes decades for symptoms to appear. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

Preserved liver fluke parasites at the Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand.  (AP)

Mike Baughman, 65, who has bile duct cancer that his doctor said was “more likely than not” caused by liver flukes, was granted a claim for service-related benefits early this year after being denied three times. Baughman was probably infected when his unit ate uncooked fish in the Vietnam jungle after they ran out of rations. He gets about $3,100 a month and said he’s relieved to know his wife will continue to receive benefits after he dies. But he remains angry that other veterans’ last days are consumed by fighting the same government they went to war for as young men.

“In the best of all worlds, if you came down with cholangiocarcinoma, just like Agent Orange, you automatically were in,” he said, referring to benefits granted to veterans exposed to the toxic defoliant sprayed in Vietnam. “You didn’t have to go fighting.”

“Personally, I got what I needed, but if you look at the bigger picture with all these other veterans, they don’t know what necessarily to do,” he said. “None of them have even heard of it before. A lot of them give me that blank stare like, ‘You’ve got what?'”

The VA study, along with a call by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York for broader research into liver flukes and cancer-stricken veterans, began after The Associated Press raised the issue in a story last year. The reporting found that about 700 veterans with cholangiocarcinoma have been seen by the VA in the past 15 years. Less than half of them submitted claims for service-related benefits, mostly because they were not aware of a possible connection to Vietnam. The VA rejected 80 percent of the requests, but decisions often appeared to be haphazard or contradictory, depending on what desks they landed on, the AP found.

The number of claims submitted reached 60 in 2017, up from 41 last year. Nearly three out of four of those cases were also denied, even though the government posted a warning on its website this year saying veterans who ate raw or undercooked freshwater fish while in Vietnam might be at risk. It stopped short of urging them to get ultrasounds or other tests, saying there was currently no evidence the vets had higher infection rates than the general population.

“We are taking this seriously,” said Curt Cashour, a spokesman with the Department of Veterans Affairs. “But until further research, a recommendation cannot be made either way.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

 

Border agent killed, partner injured by illegal immigrants using rocks, report says

Article credited by Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com

 

 

BORDER SECURITY

 

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Border agent killed, partner injured by illegal immigrants using rocks, report says

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Republicans renew calls for wall after border agent’s death

Illegal immigrants reportedly assaulted two U.S. Border Patrol agents with rocks, killing one and seriously injuring another Sunday near the southern border with Mexico.

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Michelle Parker: 6 years after Florida mom disappeared, ex-fiancé is prime suspect

Article credited to Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com

 

Michelle Parker: 6 years after Florida mom disappeared, ex-fiancé is prime suspect

Michelle Parker, left, disappeared six years ago after an episode aired on "The People's Court," showing Parker sparring with her ex-fiancé, Dale Smith, right.

Michelle Parker, left, disappeared six years ago after an episode aired on “The People’s Court,” showing Parker sparring with her ex-fiancé, Dale Smith, right.

Michelle Parker had no interest in watching her appearance on “The People’s Court” when it aired on a November afternoon six years ago, telling family members she was embarrassed about the broadcasted dispute with her ex-fiancé over a lost engagement ring.

Hours later, the hardworking and popular bartender and mother of three vanished — never to be seen or heard from again.

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Downhill Skier David Poisson Dies at Age 35 After Training Crash

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Downhill Skier David Poisson Dies at Age 35 After Training Crash

Alessandro Trovati/Associated Press

FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015 file photo, France's David Poisson celebrates his third place after completing a men's World Cup downhill in Santa Caterina Valfurva, Italy. French downhiller David Poisson died on Monday, Nov. 13, 2017 following a training crash in Canada. The French skiing federation said in a statement that the 35-year-old Poisson, who won a bronze medal in the downhill at the 2013 world championships, was training in the Canadian resort of Nakiska for World Cup races in North America. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati, file)

Downhill skier David Poisson died at the age of 35 after a training crash Monday.

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Researchers Catch Prehistoric Frilled Shark in Trawler Net

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Researchers Catch Prehistoric Frilled Shark in Trawler Net

OutdoorHub Reporters

Scientists running a trawling net in waters off the resort of Portimão, Portugal netted a creature that dates back 80 million years ago.

According to BBC News, the researchers working for the Institute for the Sea and Atmosphere called it a “living fossil” because remains have been found that date back 80 million years.

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Roy Moore turmoil prompts talk of Luther Strange write-in campaign in Senate race

 

Roy Moore turmoil prompts talk of Luther Strange write-in campaign in Senate race

By Alex Pappas | Fox News

GOP Sen. Luther Strange, left, was defeated by Roy Moore, right, in the Alabama Senate primary.

GOP Sen. Luther Strange, left, was defeated by Roy Moore, right, in the Alabama Senate primary.  (Reuters/AP)

Outgoing GOP Sen. Luther Strange is being urged to mount a write-in campaign in Alabama’s Senate special election next month amid the fallout over a bombshell report that Republican nominee Roy Moore pursued romantic relationships with teenagers as an adult.

Among those encouraging Strange to consider a write-in campaign is Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who famously won as a write-in candidate in 2010 after being defeated in the Republican primary. A spokeswoman for Murkowski told Fox News the Alaska senator thinks Moore should step aside if the allegations are true and Strange should seek the seat as a write-in.

Strange, who was appointed to Alabama’s Senate seat when then-Sen. Jeff Sessions vacated it to become attorney general, was defeated by Moore in a bruising run-off in September. He was seen talking with Senate Majority Mitch McConnell on the Senate floor after the story broke Thursday afternoon.

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Mexican citizen executed in Texas for decades-old killing vows he ‘will be back for justice’

 

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Mexican citizen executed in Texas for decades-old killing vows he ‘will be back for justice’

Fox News

 

At right, Ruben Ramirez Cardenas, who is set to be executed. At left, Mexico's Deputy Foreign Minister for North America Carlos Manuel Sada Solana speaks at a news conference about the case.

 

At right, Ruben Ramirez Cardenas, who is set to be executed. At left, Mexico’s Deputy Foreign Minister for North America Carlos Manuel Sada Solana speaks at a news conference about the case.  (AP/Reuters)

The Mexican citizen executed Wednesday night for killing his 16-year-old cousin wrote in a handwritten statement that he will be back for justice, “You can count on that!”

Ruben Ramirez Cardenas, 47, was given a lethal injection after several federal court appeals failed to halt his punishment for the February 1997 killing of Mayra Laguna, 16. She was abducted from her family’s apartment and beaten to death.

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Woman fired after flipping off Trump’s motorcade

 

Woman fired after flipping off Trump’s motorcade

By Gregg Re | Fox News

FILE 2017:  President Trump's motorcade drives through New York City during the United Nations General Assembly.

FILE 2017: President Trump’s motorcade drives through New York City during the United Nations General Assembly.  (Reuters)

The woman who flipped off President Trump’s motorcade last month said Monday that she was fired on Halloween for violating her employer’s code of conduct policy — but she vowed she would do it all over again if given the chance.

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Man critical after he was beaten with a baseball bat

Article credited to Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com

 

Man critical after he was beaten with a baseball bat

Police process a crime scene after a man was critically injured after he was beat with a baseball bat at the corner of Palmer Road and Pulaski Street in Hermosa on the Northwest Side on Oct. 31, 2017.

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200 feared dead after tunnel collapses at North Korean nuclear test site, Japanese TV claims

Article credited to Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com

 

200 feared dead after tunnel collapses at North Korean nuclear test site, Japanese TV claims

By Katherine Lam | Fox News

 

Reports of ‘unusual’ wartime preparations in North Korea

Greg Palkot reports on the alleged evacuation drills in the region.

About 200 people are feared dead in North Korea after underground tunnels at a nuclear test site that was feared to be unstable reportedly collapsed, crushing 100 people in the initial cave-in and 100 others when the tunnels again gave way on top of rescuers.

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