Iraqis defy crackdown to hold biggest protests yet
BAGHDAD — Tens of thousands of Iraqis massed in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square on Friday in the biggest demonstrations since anti-government protests erupted a month ago, defying security forces that have killed scores of people and harshly criticizing Iran’s involvement in the country’s affairs.
The square and the wide boulevards leading into it were packed with flag-waving protesters, as security forces reinforced barricades on two bridges leading to the heavily-fortified Green Zone, the seat of government. The protesters want sweeping change to the political system established after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, which they blame for widespread corruption, high unemployment and poor public services.
At least 255 people have been killed in two major waves of protests in the past month, including five who died Friday of wounds sustained earlier, according to security and medical officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to brief reporters. At least 350 people were wounded Friday as security forces fired tear gas grenades and rubber bullets to drive people back from the bridges.
Many protesters directed their rage at Iran, which emerged as a major power broker after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and has close ties to powerful political parties and state-backed militias that were mobilized to battle the Islamic State group but have now become an imposing political faction.
Videos circulated online of a group of protesters holding a poster showing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the head of its elite Quds force, Gen. Qassim Soleimani, with their faces crossed out. The video, which showed protesters beating the poster with their shoes, appeared to have been filmed Thursday in Tahrir Square. On Friday, protesters marched over an Iranian flag painted on the pavement with a swastika added to it.
Trump may face fight over planned move from NYC to Florida
NEW YORK — Donald Trump a Florida man? Not so fast.
Despite a stinging “good riddance” tweet from New York’s governor, the president’s home state may not let him go to Florida without a fight.
Trump’s plan to shift his permanent residence to Palm Beach will likely be heavily scrutinized by New York state officials, who are notorious for auditing wealthy residents seeking to flee to lower-tax states to make sure such moves are real and not just on paper. Those cases can go on for years.
“New York says just because you fill out a piece of paper, that doesn’t make you a Floridian,” said Mark Klein, a tax lawyer who has handled hundreds of tax-residency audits. “People have this misunderstanding that if you go to Florida and fill out an affidavit, you register to vote and you get a driver’s license, that is all it takes.”
Even though it appears Trump has a strong case — he’s only spent a few nights at his Trump Tower penthouse overlooking Fifth Avenue since he became president — tax experts say it’s not a matter of if he will be audited but when.
O’Rourke says he’s ‘reluctantly’ dropping presidential bid
WASHINGTON — Beto O’Rourke, the former Texas congressman, announced Friday that he was ending his Democratic presidential campaign, which failed to recapture the enthusiasm, interest and fundraising prowess of his 2018 Senate race.
Addressing supporters in Iowa, O’Rourke said he made the decision “reluctantly” and vowed to stay active in the fight to defeat President Donald Trump. “I will be part of this and so will you,” he said.
From wire sources
O’Rourke was urged to run for president by many Democrats, including supporters of former President Barack Obama, who were energized by his narrow Senate loss last year in Texas, a reliably Republican state. He raised a record $80 million from donors across the country, visited every county in Texas and used social media and livestreaming video to engage directly with voters. He ultimately lost to incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz by 3 percentage points.
But O’Rourke, 47, struggled to replicate that model in the presidential primary, and both his polling and his fundraising dwindled significantly in recent months.
“We have to clearly see, at this point, that we did not have the means to pursue this campaign successfully and that my service will not be as a candidate, nor as a nominee of this party for the presidency,” O’Rourke said.
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Utility re-energized power line before fire
LOS ANGELES — Southern California Edison said Friday that it re-energized a 16,000-volt power line minutes before a nearby hilltop exploded into a blaze that is threatening thousands of homes.
SCE and other utilities cut off power this week to hundreds of thousands of Californians to prevent windstorms from knocking down or fouling lines and sparking devastating fires.
As the winds eased in most locations, SCE began restoring power. It was re-energizing a circuit 13 minutes before a fire erupted nearby on a hilltop northeast of Los Angeles, the utility told state regulators.
Erratic winds continued to bedevil firefighting efforts Friday at the Maria Fire, which has burned some 13 ½ square miles, threatens about 1,800 homes and other buildings, and prompted evacuation orders for nearly 11,000 people.
Eastern Ventura, Camarillo, Somis and Santa Paula were at risk, Ventura County fire officials said.
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Strike-ending deal will shape Chicago schools for years
CHICAGO — Chicago teachers and more than 300,000 students affected by an 11-day strike returned to classrooms Friday amid a tentative agreement that ended the walkout and is expected to shape education in the nation’s third-largest city for the next five years.
The outcome came at a cost, though. Mayor Lori Lightfoot said “nobody wins,” noting the hardships that students and their families endured during the walkout.
The outlined agreement shows both sides secured key victories and fell short on other priorities.
Experts said those details also will inform teachers unions and school districts as a national wave of activism by educators is expected to continue.
The union’s 25,000 members still must vote on the tentative agreement accepted by their 700 elected delegates late Wednesday night. Union officials haven’t discussed a timeline for that process yet.
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Warren vows no middle class tax hike for $20T health plan
WASHINGTON — Elizabeth Warren on Friday proposed $20 trillion in federal spending over the next decade to provide health care to every American without raising taxes on the middle class, a politically risky effort that pits the goal of universal coverage against skepticism of government-run health care.
The details of Warren’s “Medicare for All” plan aim to quell criticism that the Massachusetts Democrat and presidential candidate has been vague about how she would pay for her sweeping proposal. Her refusal to say until now whether she would impose new taxes on the middle class, as fellow progressive White House hopeful Bernie Sanders has said he would, had become untenable and made her a target in recent presidential debates.
However, her detailed proposal was quickly attacked by her moderate rivals, including former Vice President Joe Biden, whose campaign said it amounts to “mathematical gymnastics.” Some independent experts also questioned whether her numbers were realistic.
In a 20-page online post, Warren said a cornerstone of her plan would require employers to transfer to the government almost all the $8.8 trillion she estimates they would otherwise spend on private insurance for employees.
“We can generate almost half of what we need to cover Medicare for All just by asking employers to pay slightly less than what they are projected to pay today, and through existing taxes,” she wrote.
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Juvenile charged with shooting Chicago trick-or-treater, 7
CHICAGO — A 15-year-old boy was charged Friday night with attempted murder in the suspected gang-related shooting of two people on Chicago’s West Side, including a 7-year-old girl out trick-or-treating in a bumblebee costume when she was shot in the neck and critically injured.
The shooting Thursday night was another grim example of children in the city being caught in the crossfire while doing normal activities like walking down the street, sitting on a porch or laughing with friends inside a house. A day before Halloween, an earlier shooting of a child resurfaced in the news when a jury acquitted a man who was charged with first-degree murder in the 2014 death of an 11-year-old girl who was shot while inside a house at a slumber party.
Investigators think the 7-year-old girl was shot in a gang-related attack. The man believed to be the target was a 30-year-old shot in the hand, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
The 15-year-old was charged with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of battery through discharge of a firearm, police said in a news release Friday night. He was taken into custody and interviewed earlier Friday.
The Chicago Tribune reported police believe the gunman is a member of the Gangster Two-Six gang and was targeting a member of the Latin Kings.
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Trump says Chad Wolf to be next acting DHS secretary
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday said Chad Wolf, a longtime Homeland Security official, would be the new acting head of the department, the fifth person in the job for this administration.
But Trump’s casual announcement, made in response to a reporter’s question outside the White House, temporarily created more uncertainty about who was in charge of the sprawling department.
There have been weeks of speculation over whom would be named the next leader, and Kevin McAleenan, the current acting secretary, has agreed to stay on temporarily. The department initially wouldn’t confirm Wolf was next in line, saying only that McAleenan was acting secretary.
When a reporter asked Trump directly whether Wolf was to be the next DHS secretary, the president responded, “He’s acting, and we’ll see what happens.”
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley later clarified.
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Governor threatens possible PG&E takeover if no plan is made
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s governor on Friday threatened a possible takeover of the troubled utility blamed for sparking deadly wildfires across the state with its outdated equipment unless it can emerge from bankruptcy ahead of next year’s wildfire season with a plan focused on safety.
Gov. Gavin Newsom called all sides to a meeting early next week, saying he would personally try to mediate a solution involving Pacific Gas &Electric.
But if an agreement can’t be reached, Newsom said, “then the state will prepare itself as backup for a scenario where we do that job for them.”
PG&E has come under more scrutiny in recent weeks as it cut off power to millions of people to avoid a repeat of last year’s deadly fire season.
The shutoffs have angered residents, businesses and local governments, who say the company has done a poor job of communicating.