Like every Thursday night back then, Angela Merkel was relaxing in an East Berlin sauna on the night of November 9, 1989 as the Berlin Wall fell, dreaming of tasting oysters in the West. The future chancellor of Germany was indulging in a favourite German winter pastime on the night that led to German reunification. “Every Thursday, I would go to the sauna with a friend,” Merkel, in power since 2005, recounted to Berlin schoolchildren a few years ago.
…
A man went on a knife rampage in Hong Kong late Sunday leaving at least five people wounded, including a local pro-democracy politician who had his ear bitten off, capping another chaotic day of political unrest in the city. The violence was less sustained than Saturday when police and protesters fought hours of cat and mouse battles after thousands took the streets for an unsanctioned march. Live footage showed Andrew Chiu, a local pro-democracy councillor, having his ear bitten off after trying to subdue the attacker, while a second man was seen unconscious in a growing pool of blood as …
Agencies hired to protect assets look like first responders but, if a fire puts them in danger, they can become a liabilityFirefighters work to defend homes from an approaching wildfire in Sonoma, California. Photograph: Jim Urquhart/ReutersThe engines, big and small, came from all over the country to fight the Kincade fire in the Sonoma county wine region of California. There were trucks from Nevada, South Dakota, Colorado – and from the wildfire protection unit of home insurer AIG.As fires have increasingly encroached on development in California’s wildlands in recent years, communities are grappling with a new paradigm of risk. If …
And that is just for starters.
…
A Halloween party on Oct. 25 at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in D.C. featured candy, paper airplanes — and concerning for some attendees — a station where children were encouraged to help “Build the Wall” with their own personalized bricks.
…
A man convicted of fatally shooting his parents and three siblings in New Mexico as a 15-year-old was sentenced Friday to life in prison with the possibility of parole in a case that has tested the limits of mental treatment for juvenile offenders. Judge Alisa Hart sentenced 22-year-old Nehemiah Griego after his attorney sought a sentence that would have let him continue treatment while on probation.
…
October was the first full month in at least 18 years in which the United States did not admit any refugees.
…
Immigrant rights groups called Friday for Gov. Gavin Newsom to end policies they say ease the transfer of prison inmates to federal authorities despite California’s efforts to provide a sanctuary to those who are in the country illegally. The groups asked Newsom to stop prison officials from holding parolees until they can be picked up by federal immigration officials. California passed a law in 2017 barring local and state agencies from cooperating with federal immigration authorities over those who have committed certain crimes, mostly misdemeanors, but critics said it doesn’t apply to the state prison system.
…
Will any of this year’s candidates pull an Obama at the newly named Liberty and Justice Celebration?
…
Despite a break in the Santa Ana winds, the Maria Fire exploded overnight north of Los Angeles, prompting evacuations.
…
