California's Sonoma wine country dealt with destructive wildfires in 2017. Here's how one winery is dealing with 2019's Kincade Fire.

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Ilhan Omar declined to vote in favour of a resolution recognising the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as a genocide, saying any "true acknowledgement" of such crimes must include other historical "mass slaughters".The Minnesota Democrat was one of just three House members to vote “present” on the resolution that passed in an overwhelming 405-11 vote.

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SITE Intelligence GroupWith ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed one day and the group’s official spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir the next, there’s a giant hole in the pseudo-Caliphate structure of the so-called Islamic State. The group must now, by its strict religious tenets, find a new (supposed) descendant of the Prophet Muhammed to fill the role of Caliph. But the deaths of those two are equally consequential for al-Qaeda, the bitter rival of ISIS for leadership of global jihad. Al-Qaeda has spent the last six years branding the Caliphate as illegitimate, too extreme, and ultimately harmful. When ISIS declared the establishment of its so-called Caliphate spanning territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014, al-Qaeda and its affiliates unanimously rejected it. To this day, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri’s speeches rarely come without some critique of the “epidemic” put forth by ISIS.Trump Officials Had No Clue Where He Got ‘Whimpering’ Detail in His Baghdadi Raid AccountOddly, Baghdadi was killed in Idlib, a haven of al-Qaeda-linked fighters and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a Syrian Islamist faction led by Abu Muhammad al-Julani, a former al-Qaeda comrade who had become one of Baghdadi's most bitter foes. There has been some speculation Baghdadi was not just hiding out but trying to recruit from the ranks of his enemies.Neither al-Qaeda Central nor its affiliates have commented on Baghdadi’s death as yet, but within hours after the news broke, al-Qaeda ideologues and supporters already were celebrating the event and discussing what it will mean for the future of jihad. In chat groups online, al-Qaeda supporters voiced resentment after years of bitter strife with the group, and the scale of these responses illustrates just how much of a big deal and opportunity they see with Baghdadi’s death.“Based on his orders, thousands of the mujahideen were killed,” one post read.“How thrilled were they every time leaders from al-Qaeda were martyred?” read another.Some wished Baghdadi the ultimate condemnation:  “May Allah send him to Hell.”Messages by others, however, particularly al-Qaeda-linked ideologues, balanced expressions of justice for the jihadi movement with restraint, making sure not to celebrate excessively the result of an operation by the United States.The tactful enthusiasm is calculated. Many ISIS fighters, much of its military infrastructure, many media officials, and supporters were pulled from al-Qaeda. Now, with ISIS’ “Caliph” dead and that Caliphate itself destroyed, al-Qaeda has been given its biggest opportunity yet to bring many of them back under its tent. SITE Intelligence GroupPerhaps the most profound instance of this outreach was a lengthy essay by “Adel Amin,” the pen name of a prominent ideologue linked to the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s branch in Somalia and most powerful affiliate. The message, disseminated widely across al-Qaeda-supporting channels and chat groups (many of which are also frequented by pro-ISIS users), demanded that ISIS supporters “return to the road of righteousness” after the Islamic State, in all of its excessive aggression and delusions of destiny, has proven itself a failure. Amin wrote:The situation here is not one in which to gloat. It is a situation for reminding and calling on those who remained in the ranks of al-Baghdadi, to reconsider… Indeed, we witnessed its back being broken, its leaders getting killed, and its banner falling, and we hope that we can witness whoever remains from its soldiers returning to righteousness.Statements by other ideologues and supporters voiced the same points. A statement by Sirajuddin Zurayqat, a former religious official in the now-defunct al-Qaeda-linked Brigades of Abdullah Azzam in Lebanon, urged: “Now [Baghdadi] is dead and there is not one from the Ummah grieving over him or giving condolences... Therefore, those who were deceived by him should reconsider before it is too late!”These messages echo the same calls heard from Zawahiri and al-Qaeda affiliates over the years calling on ISIS fighters to “repent” and leave the group. Yet despite these new circumstances, ISIS supporters will not easily be moved. Since the summer of 2016, the group’s followers have seen the loss of the major cities Mosul in Iraq and Raqqah in Syria as well as the death of revered ISIS figures like Omar Shishani, Abu Muhammad al-‘Adnani, and others. With the latest setbacks to its leadership, ISIS-linked accounts online already have poured out calls to stay steadfast and have even used Baghdadi’s death as a rallying point to carry out new attacks. Reinforcing this undeterred support is an ISIS military and media machine that has shown no sign of stopping in the last two days. While ISIS has not yet officially acknowledged the death of Baghdadi, it has continued reporting on day-to-day military activity across Iraq, Syria, and the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.ISIS' Yemen Province - AQAP Prisoners as Featured in the video “He Who Starts is More Unjust”SITE Intelligence GroupFurthermore, while al-Qaeda affiliates like the Shabaab serve as powerful representatives of the organization, al-Qaeda Central is weaker than it has ever been. These days, al-Qaeda Central’s role is largely symbolic, limited to leadership messages and other content while steering the big-picture ethos of the organization. Its attempts to bolster its image, already heavily weighed down by a less-than-charismatic leader in Zawahiri, were upended upon the death of Hamza bin Laden, the son of Osama, whom al-Qaeda likely was grooming for an eventual leadership position. These variables considered, al-Qaeda may not be the appealing alternative for jihadists that its supporters want it to seem. So, while some fighters might very well join the ranks of al-Qaeda affiliates in their region, we shouldn't expect to see any drastic migration from ISIS’ ranks into its rival’s.Despite any notions of good-riddance that al-Qaeda and its supporters attach to Baghdadi’s death, and for whatever number of defectors it may win over as a result of Baghdadi’s demise, ISIS is not going anywhere. The barriers between these terrorist organizations have only hardened over the years, fueling deadly clashes and jihadi PR wars. Baghdadi was not the sole barrier keeping ISIS members from joining al-Qaeda, and his death is unlikely to diminish existing disputes.How U.S. Commandos IDed a ‘Mutilated’ Baghdadi So QuicklyRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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The Trump administration has petitioned the Supreme Court to strike down California's "sanctuary law," which hinders cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.The administration is challenging several provisions in the California Values Act, or S.B. 54. The law prohibits officials from sharing information with ICE about a suspect's release from custody, eliminating any opportunity for ICE agents to take illegal immigrants into custody before they are released from local jails. It also prohibits local law-enforcement officers from sharing physical descriptions of suspects with immigration authorities."The practical consequences of California’s obstruction are not theoretical; as a result of SB 54, criminal aliens have evaded the detention and removal that Congress prescribed, and have instead returned to the civilian population, where they are disproportionately likely to commit additional crimes," the Trump administration argued in its petition, which was filed Monday.While the provisions of S.B. 54 do not technically apply to suspects with a violent criminal history, since the law effectively prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE, immigration officials must stake out jails and police stations to await the release of non-citizen suspects from custody, and only then make arrests.Last week at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, ICE official Timothy Robbins claimed that the Los Angeles police department was releasing as many as 100 illegal immigrants per day from custody."Cooperation between ICE and state and local law enforcement agencies is critical to the agency’s efforts to identify and arrest removable aliens, and to protect the nation’s security,” Robbins said at the time. “Unfortunately, we are seeing more jurisdictions that refuse to work with our officers, or directly impede our public safety efforts."

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The head of United States Central Command says Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was buried at sea after a weekend raid on his compound. Gen. Frank McKenzie told reporters Wednesday that al-Baghdadi died after he exploded a suicide vest just before U.S. troops were going to capture him. McKenzie says two children were killed in the explosion set off by the Islamic State leader.

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How could that happen?

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A Roman Catholic priest's denial of communion to Joe Biden in South Carolina on Sunday illustrates the fine line presidential candidates must walk as they talk about their faiths: balancing religious values with a campaign that asks them to choose a side in polarizing moral debates. The awkward moment for Biden came during a weekend campaign swing through South Carolina, a pivotal firewall in his hopes to claim the Democratic presidential nomination. The former vice president on Sunday visited St. Anthony Catholic Church in Florence, a midsize city in the state's largely rural northeast.

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1. Chuck Schumer: Vindman Should Be Given 'Appropriate Protections' After Testifying | NBC News  NBC News
2. Testimony: Nunes acolyte misrepresented himself to Trump as Ukraine expert  POLITICO
3. Seth Meyers Goes Off on Laura Ingraham for Smearing Vindman  The Daily Beast
4. Alexander Vindman should be celebrated, not smeared  The Washington Post
5. Accusing Vindman of Divided Loyalties Makes No Sense  Bloomberg
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1. Syrian, Turkish forces clash near border town: report | TheHill  The Hill
2. Kurd fighters complete pullout from Turkey-Syria border: Russia  Al Jazeera English
3. How the New Syria Took Shape  The New York Times
4. Resolving to honor victims of the Armenian Genocide  The Boston Globe
5. Syrian army, Turkish forces clash near border: state media  Reuters
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1. Apple warns some iPhone users: Update your phone or lose internet  CNN
2. Update your iPhone 5 before November 3rd to keep email, web, and GPS working  The Verge
3. Old iPhones could stop working on Sunday, Apple warns  KSAT 12
4. Old iPhones will stop working Sunday unless users update software  WKMG News 6 & ClickOrlando
5. View full coverage on Google News

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By BY JESS MCHUGH from NYT Smarter Living


Food, Restaurants

By BY NICHOLAS CASEY from NYT U.S.


Voter Registration and Requirements, Elections, Senate

By BY MARC TRACY from NYT Business


Appointments and Executive Changes, Computers and the Internet, Writing and Writers, News and News Media

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Demonstrations, Protests and Riots, Politics and Government

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party holds around an 8-point lead over the opposition Labour Party, according to a Survation poll conducted by Daily Mail.

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Apple Watch, AirPods and services are Apple's big winners, not iPhone  CNETView full coverage on Google News

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What kind of mask do you need for wildfire smoke? As wildfires blaze around San Francisco and Los Angeles, here's how to protect yourself from smoke

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After hitting a dead end in efforts to defuse the crisis sweeping Lebanon, Saad al-Hariri informed a top Hezbollah official on Monday he had no choice but to quit as prime minister in defiance of the powerful Shi'ite group. The decision by the Sunni leader shocked Hussein al-Khalil, political advisor to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who advised him against giving in to protesters who wanted to see his coalition government toppled. The meeting described to Reuters by four senior sources from outside Hariri's Future Party captures a critical moment in the crisis that has swept Lebanon for the last two weeks as Hariri yielded to the massive street protests against the ruling elite.

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Things reportedly got heated between House Democrats and Republicans during Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's impeachment testimony Tuesday, CNN reports.Considering the consequences of the hearing (Vindman, the National Security Council's top expert on Ukraine, testified about his concerns regarding the Trump administration's interactions with Kyiv), it's not a shocker that the atmosphere in the closed-door hearing was tense, but the lawmakers reportedly took things to another level with a "shouting match."It apparently started when House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) objected to a line of questioning from Republicans. Schiff accused the GOP of trying to reveal the identity of the original whistleblower who set the whole saga in motion by expressing concern over President Trump's phone call in July with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Republicans reportedly didn't take too kindly to Schiff's charge, and the fray ended with Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) yelling at each other, multiple sources confirmed, which isn't surprising since the two have gone at it before.> This isn't the first time Swalwell & Meadows have sparred during the depositions. They also butt heads during Kurt Volker's testimony, during which Meadows accused Swalwell of trying to take over Schiff's duties while he was out of the room, per sources with direct knowledge https://t.co/xXogAyQ44T> > -- Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) October 29, 2019Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) expressed her displeasure with Republicans afterwards, calling their performance during the hearing "pathetic," while arguing their only course of action was "attacking" Vindman, a decorated military veteran. Read more at CNN. > Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) calls House Republicans "pathetic," accusing them of "attacking" Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman during his testimony in the impeachment inquiry Tuesday; "they can't defend the president's conduct so basically they are attacking a war hero," Hirono says. pic.twitter.com/yAiyw6EYt2> > -- CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) October 29, 2019

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Mexican security forces had a son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán outside a house on his knees against a wall before they were forced to back off and let him go as his cartel's gunmen shot up the western city of Culiacan. Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval on Wednesday showed video and presented a timeline of the failed operation to arrest Ovidio Guzmán López on Oct. 17 — an incident that embarrassed the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Guzmán called his brother Archivaldo Iván Guzmán Salazar on his cellphone and told him to stop the chaos.

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Facebook announced on Wednesday that it had removed three Russian-backed influence networks from its platform that targeted several African countries including Cameroon, Mozambique, Libya, and Sudan.The networks posted information in Arabic critical of U.S. and French policies in Africa, while praising Russian initiatives in the region. Russian operatives worked with local citizens to set up Facebook accounts that appeared more authentic."They are trying to make it harder for us and civil society to try and detect their operations," Nathaniel Gleicher, head of Facebook’s cybersecurity policy, told the New York Times.Director of the Stanford Internet Observatory Alex Stamos, himself a former Facebook executive, said the Russian campaign in Africa will have implications for the 2020 presidential elections."We will see a model where American groups are used as proxies, where all the content is published under their accounts and their pages,” Stamos said.The Russian networks are linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch who has been sanctioned by the U.S. for interfering in U.S. elections.When the State Department announced new sanctions on Prigozhin in September, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. will not tolerate any interference in the voting process.“We have been clear: We will not tolerate foreign interference in our elections,” said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a statement. “The United States will continue to push back against malign actors who seek to subvert our democratic processes and we will not hesitate to impose further costs on Russia for its destabilizing and unacceptable activities.”

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Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump boosted a tweet Monday promoting a controversial allegation from an indicted Ukrainian oligarch: that a top U.S. diplomat put fabricated information about the mogul in a diplomatic cable. That diplomat happens to be one of Democrats’ key impeachment witnesses. And that oligarch happens to have a long-standing beef with Joe Biden.Scott Adams, a Washington, D.C., talk radio host, sent out a tweet Monday night about U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor, who delivered some of the impeachment inquiry’s most damaging testimony yet. The tweet alleged that Taylor lied about Ukrainian natural gas baron Dmytro Firtash in a cable to State Department headquarters in 2008. At issue was a conversation Taylor had with Firtash in Kyiv that December. Taylor wrote in a diplomatic cable (later published by WikiLeaks) that Firtash told him he had “acknowledged ties to Russian organized crime figure [Semion] Seymon Mogilevich,” one of the most notorious accused mobsters on the planet. According to Taylor, Firtash said “he needed Mogilevich's approval to get into business in the first place,” but had not committed any crimes in the course of his business.When WikiLeaks published the cable in 2010, Firtash issued a statement on his website disputing its contents. Firtash, the statement claimed,“has never stated, to anyone, at any time, that he needed or received permission from Mr. Mogilevich to establish any of his businesses.”Earlier this year, Firtash reiterated that defense. Without mentioning any American official by name, he said someone must have fabricated the detail about Mogilevich. Taylor, meanwhile, has defended the State Department’s notes. The Justice Department appears to side with Taylor; its lawyers have argued in court that Firtash has ties to Russian organized crime. The criminal charges he faces, however, don’t involve any such alleged relationships. Instead, the Justice Department charged him in 2014 with helming a conspiracy to bribe Indian government officials. Trump’s retweet, however, offers a presidential thumbs-up to Firtash’s side of the story, and raises a new line of attack on Taylor’s credibility for the president’s allies.  Asked about his sourcing for the allegations against Taylor, Adams told The Daily Beast, “My sources are solid Foggy Bottom people.” He also noted the explanation for the cable that Firtash provided to The Daily Beast earlier this year.This specific defense of Firtash took hold in The Hill over the summer, when columnist John Solomon, whose articles informed Rudy Giuliani’s Biden-Ukraine investigation, published a piece in July claiming that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s deputy said Firtash’s criminal charges in the U.S. might “go away” if he shared damaging information about Trump with Mueller’s team. Solomon cited “multiple sources with direct knowledge” and contemporaneous memos. Firtash and Solomon share the same lawyers: Victoria Toensing and Joe diGenova. The husband-wife team are veterans of the conservative movement’s most contentious legal battles, with longstanding ties in the Justice Department and Trump administration. Ukrainian Oligarch Seethed About ‘Overlord’ Biden for YearsRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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In their long hunt for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Iraqi intelligence teams secured a break in February 2018 after one of the Islamic State leader's top aides gave them information on how he escaped capture for so many years, said two Iraqi security officials.

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An elected official in Arizona was suspended Monday after he was charged with running a human smuggling scheme that brought pregnant women from the Marshall Islands to the U.S. to give birth and then paid them to give up their children for adoption. Leaders in Arizona's most populous county suspended Assessor Paul Petersen without pay for 120 days. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors doesn't have the power to permanently remove him from his office, which determines the value of properties for tax purposes in Phoenix and its suburbs.

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The Bay-area's Kincade wildfire has grown so large that a satellite can record the plumes from 23,000 miles away in space.

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Under past precedent in 1974 and 1998 — the last two times the House conducted an impeachment inquiry — the House Judiciary Committee was the hub for investigations, hearings, and a committee vote on articles of impeachment.

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By BY MARIEL PADILLA from NYT U.S.


Robberies and Thefts, Indian-Americans, Racketeering and Racketeers, Hinduism

By BY ALAN YUHAS from NYT World


Politics and Government, Royal Families, News and News Media, Legislatures and Parliaments

By BY CATIE EDMONDSON AND RICK GLADSTONE from NYT U.S.


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The United States and 22 other countries at the United Nations pushed China on Tuesday to stop detaining ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims, prompting China's U.N. envoy to warn it was not "helpful" for trade talks between Beijing and Washington.

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A proposal to allow for the prosecution of Mexican presidents for a wide range of crimes overwhelmingly passed the lower house of Congress on Tuesday, giving the proposal backed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador a shot of momentum.

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By BY ELISABETH VINCENTELLI from NYT Theater


Theater

1. Joe Manchin isn't feeling the Bern  POLITICO
2. Bernie Sanders Won't Yet Explain How He Would Pay For Medicare For All  NPR
3. Taxes on wealthy Americans and corporations alone is not enough to pay for Medicare for All  Business Insider
4. Confiscating wealth of all billionaires wouldn't pay for three average years of 'Medicare for all'  Washington Examiner
5. A dose of reality for Medicare-for-all  The Washington Post
6. View full coverage on Google News

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1. Nepalese Climber Summits World's 14 Highest Peaks In 6 Months, Smashing Record  NPR
2. Ex-soldier smashes record for climbing world's 14 highest mountains  CNN
3. Former British army soldier shatters record for climbing 14 tallest peaks in just 189 days  Fox News
4. Climber scales world's 14 highest peaks in just over 6 months, breaks record  NBC News
5. Nepali man shatters speed record for scaling the world’s tallest mountains ‘to show human capacity’  The Washington Post
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1. Rick and Morty to Green Lantern: all the announcements from HBO Max’s event  The Verge
2. Green Lantern TV Show Coming to HBO Max from Arrowverse's Greg Berlanti - IGN  IGN
3. ‘Green Lantern,’ ‘Strange Adventures’ Series From Greg Berlanti in the Works at HBO Max  Variety
4. 'Green Lantern' TV Series Among Pair of Greg Berlanti DC Dramas Set at HBO Max  Hollywood Reporter
5. DC Announces New Green Lantern HBO Max Series  Comicbook.com
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Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is launching an increasingly aggressive defense of President Trump, promising to soon open a staffed “war room” that will forcefully counteract the fast-moving Democratic impeachment effort.

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Californians have come to expect the fall fires. The power outages are a new — and unwelcome — twist to a reality that's playing out like a bad movie.

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An English tourist had his foot bitten off by a shark while another was bitten during the attack in the Whitsunday Islands near Australia's Great Barrier Reef on Tuesday, officials said. In the latest in a string of shark attacks in the tourist area, a 28-year-old man's right foot was bitten off while a 22-year-old man suffered serious lacerations to his lower left leg, according to Mackay Base Hospital. The pair were in a "serious but stable" condition in hospital after being airlifted from the resort town of Airlie Beach, an official told AFP.

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A perfect storm of conditions have created an environment ripe for fire.

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Inyoung You, 21, was "physically, verbally and psychologically abusive" to fellow Boston College student Alexander Urtula during an 18-month relationship

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New preliminary research has found that tucking into an avocado on toast could help lower levels of "bad" cholesterol. The small-scale study by researchers from Penn State looked at 45 participants aged 21 to 71 with overweight or obesity. All participants were asked to follow a two-week diet which mimicked the average American diet and gave everyone a similar nutritional start to the study.

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Video of a white woman threatening to arrest a group of Hispanic teens at a park in Texas has been viewed more than 5 million times.

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The wife of jailed former Veracruz state Gov. Javier Duarte has been detained in London, Mexican authorities said Tuesday. A Mexican official who was not authorized to speak about the case said that Karime Macias was detained Tuesday. Macias had been with him at the time.

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A diplomat at the centre of the Donald Trump impeachment inquiry did say there was a "quid pro quo" between the US president and Ukraine, according to his lawyer. Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, gave evidence earlier this month to congressional committees. His lawyer Robert Luskin, told the Wall Street Journal his client had been asked if there was a quid pro quo. He said Mr Sondland had given a caveat that he was not a lawyer, but that he believed the answer was yes. Mr Sondland was said to have been referring to a meeting between Mr Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, that would happen only if Ukraine agreed to investigate allegations of corruption against Joe Biden, one of Mr Trump's chief political rivals. Democrats in Congress are carrying out an impeachment inquiry after a whistleblower came forward detailing a phone call on July 25 between Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky. In text messages that emerged during the inquiry Mr Sondland had earlier said he did not believe there was a quid pro quo. He sent a text message in September saying: "The president has been crystal clear no quid pro quo's (sic) of any kind." The latest development came as John Kelly, Mr Trump's former chief of staff, said he had warned the president he would be impeached. Mr Kelly, who resigned nearly a year ago, said: "It pains me to see what's going on because I believe if I was still there or someone like me was there, he would not be kind of, all over the place. "I said whatever you do, don't hire a 'yes man,' someone who won't tell you the truth - don't do that. Because if you do, I believe you will be impeached." Mr Trump lambasted his former chief of staff. He said: "John Kelly never said that, he never said anything like that. If he would have said that, I would have thrown him out of the office. He just wants to come back into the action like everybody else does." Stephanie Grisham, Mr Trump's spokeswoman, said: "I worked with John Kelly, and he was totally unequipped to handle the genius of our great President." The House of Representatives is expected to vote on articles of impeachment against Mr Trump by Christmas, with a trial to follow in the Senate to determine whether he should be removed from office.

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Democratic California Rep. Katie Hill, faced with allegations she had a sexual relationship with a staff member, announced her resignation on Sunday.

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