News Daypop Archives

Puerto Rico was hit with a massive power outage Thursday after a tree fell on a power line, according to Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority.  San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz said at least 700,000 people are without power and it could take eight to 16 hours for electricity to be restored. Major blackouts were reported from the northern town of Manatí to Yabucoa, roughly 50 miles southeast. The blackout also includes the capital of San Juan, the most populated area of the island. Hurricane Maria damaged much of the island’s infrastructure and its electrical grid when it made landfall in Puerto Rico in late September. Nearly seven months later, more than 100,000 Puerto Ricans still have no power. ...Read more

President Donald Trump, in an early morning tweet, told Russia to prepare for “nice and new and ‘smart!'” missile attacks in Syria. This comes after an alleged gas attack in the country. The President’s tweet came after the Russian ambassador to Lebanon said in an interview on Tuesday that “if there is a US missile attack, we – in line with both Putin and Russia’s chief of staff’s remarks – will shoot down US rockets and even the sources that launched the missiles”. Trump also attacked Russia for its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Wednesday’s tweet, saying it “shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!” The warnings come as the United States and several European countries threatened to use military action against the Syrian government and its main ally, Russia, in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Douma.  ...Read more

Speaker Paul D. Ryan announced Wednesday that he will not seek re-election in November. Mr. Ryan said he will serve until the end of this Congress in January, which will mark 20 years in Congress. He insisted he will be “leaving this majority in good hands with what I believe is a very bright future.”  Mr. Ryan’s decision caught many in the party by surprise, as he had just hosted a donor retreat last week in Texas and most believed he would not leave until after November. However when explaining his decision Wednesday morning at a meeting in the Capitol, Mr. Ryan said he wanted to spend more time with his children, who live in the same town where he grew up. ...Read more

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive,, began the first of two marathon hearings in Washington on Tuesday afternoon, answering tough questions on the company’s mishandling of data. This was Mr. Zuckerberg’s first appearance before Congress, which was prompted by the revelation that Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm linked to the Trump campaign, harvested the data of an estimated 87 million Facebook users to psychologically profile voters during the 2016 election. Mr. Zuckerberg faced hours of questioning from lawmakers, who pressed him to account for how third-party partners could data without users’ knowledge. Lawmakers grilled the 33-year-old executive on the proliferation of so-called fake news on Facebook, Russian interference during the 2016 presidential election and censorship of conservative media. ...Read more

President Donald Trump canceled a foreign trip to Latin America as Trump administration officials consulted with global allies Tuesday on a possible joint military response to Syria’s alleged poison gas attack. Trump spoke with other world leaders and officials said the U.S., France and Britain were in extensive consultations about launching a military strike as early as the end of this week. None of the three countries’ leaders had made a firm decision, according to the officials, who were not authorized to discuss military planning by name. A joint military operation, possibly with France in the lead, could send a message of international unity about enforcing the prohibitions on chemical weapons and counter Syria’s political and military support from Russia and Iran. ...Read more

President Donald Trump promised quick action on Monday in response to a “barbaric” suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria and made clear that all options, including military action, were on the table. Trump, who was speaking at a Cabinet meeting, said he was meeting with military and other advisers and a decision would be made within 48 hours and might come as soon as the end of the day. “Nothing is off the table,” he said when asked if U.S. military action was a possibility. The suspected chemical weapons attack late Saturday night killed at least 60 people and injured more than 1,000 in several sites in Douma, a city near the capital city of Damascus, according to a Syrian aid organization. ...Read more

The FBI has raided the office of Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s personal attorney, seizing materials and documents from his office including content related to his payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels (also known as Stephanie Clifford). Law enforcement agents conducted searches Monday at Mr. Cohen’s New York office and New York residence. A court warrant authorizing the raid was obtained. It is unclear what investigation the raid stems from. Cohen has admitted paying Clifford $130,000 after she said she had an affair with President Trump over a decade ago. Cohen has cooperated with authorities and turned over documents to congressional investigators looking into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. ...Read more

Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham is expected back at work Monday. She was on a one-week vacation that served as a cooling-off period. She has faced backlash by advertisers upset over her tweet mocking a Parkland, Florida, school shooting survivor. many companies say they’ll no longer advertise with Ingraham. Ingraham picked up a strong statement of support from her boss. She also got unexpected backing from liberal talk show host Bill Maher late Friday. Ingraham has apologized for a tweet in which she said 17-year-old high school student David Hogg whined about being rejected by some colleges. ...Read more

Three people are dead and 20 were injured after a van plowed into a group of people in the German city of Münster Saturday. The driver of the van shot himself after the incident and was included in the casualty count. While officials have not announced the van driver’s identity or motive, but multiple German outlets reported that the suspect was a 48-year-old German man named Jens R. One German news agency said the suspect had connections to the right-wing extremist scene, though there is no current indication that the suspect himself was an extremist. German authorities are treating the incident as a deliberate attack. ...Read more

Police announced on Thursday that the body of Timothy Cunningham, a missing employee who worked as an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was found this week in a river nearly two months after his “unusual” disappearance prompted a nationwide search. His body was found in Chattahoochee River in northwest Atlanta late Tuesday when fishermen in the area spotted the body. “We have no indications to this point that were was any foul play,” Atlanta Police Department Major Michael O’Connor said in a Thursday news conference. An official cause of death has yet to be released, but a preliminary autopsy suggested the 35-year-old drowned, the medical examiner said at the Thursday news conference.  There are still several unanswered questions surrounding Cunningham’s disappearance. His parents said earlier this week their son sent a “disturbing” text to them 24 hours before he vanished. However, they would not elaborate on the text. A $15,000 reward is being offered for more information. ...Read more