Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump makes a campaign stop at Pubkey Bar and Media House, Wednesday, Sept.18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Iranian hackers tried but failed to interest Biden’s campaign in stolen Trump info, FBI says
By DAVID KLEPPER and ERIC TUCKERUpdated 9:02 PM CDT, September 18, 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — Iranian hackers sought to interest President Joe Biden’s campaign in information stolen from rival Donald Trump’s campaign, sending unsolicited emails to people associated with the then-Democratic candidate in an effort to interfere in the 2024 election, the FBI and other federal agencies said Wednesday.
There’s no indication that any of the recipients responded, officials said, and several media organizations who have said they also were approached with stolen material did not publish it. Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign called the emails from Iran “unwelcome and unacceptable malicious activity” that were received by only a few people who regarded them as spam or phishing attempts.
The emails were received before the hack of the Trump campaign was publicly acknowledged, and there’s no evidence the recipients of the emails knew their origin.
The announcement is the latest U.S. government effort to call out what officials say is Iran’s brazen, ongoing work to interfere in the election, including a hack-and-leak campaign that the FBI and other federal agencies linked last month to Tehran. ...
READ THE FULL STORY - AP
Lebanon is rocked again by exploding devices as Israel declares a 'new phase' of war
Multiple explosions occurred at the site of a funeral for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding pagers the day before, according to Associated Press journalists at the scene.
apnews.com
Johnson under pressure after House fails to pass GOP funding plan and Trump pushes shutdown | CNN Politics
The House failed on Wednesday to pass a six-month GOP government funding plan that included a controversial measure targeting noncitizen voting, an effort pushed by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
www.cnn.com
Federal Reserve signals end to inflation fight with a sizable half-point rate cut
The Federal Reserve is poised to do something it hasn’t done in more than four years: Cut its benchmark interest rate.
apnews.com
Analysis: Why are we still talking about cat memes in the 2024 campaign? | CNN Politics
Far be it from anyone to identify a defined strategy in the cat memes that have overtaken the American political conversation in a pivotal election year.
www.cnn.com
UN General Assembly overwhelmingly calls for end of Israeli occupation
United Nations demands an end to Israel’s illegal presence in the Palestinian territories within 12 months.
www.aljazeera.com
Harris hits Trump's promise of mass deportations as Trump rallies on Long Island
Presidential candidates typically focus much of their travel on battleground states, but Harris and Trump are taking a brief break.
apnews.com
House Republicans reject their own funding bill with a shutdown around the corner
A handful of Republicans voted to derail Speaker Johnson's plan linking funding to a Trump-backed voter ID bill. The government will shut down on Oct. 1 unless Congress acts.
www.nbcnews.com
Harris expected to meet with Zelensky next week, sources say | CNN Politics
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington DC next week, according to three sources familiar with the planning.
www.cnn.com
Teamsters union declines to endorse Trump or Harris for president
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has declined to endorse Kamala Harris or Donald Trump for president.
apnews.com
House votes down Speaker Johnson's funding plan as shutdown deadline approaches
The House on Wednesday voted down Speaker Mike Johnson's funding plan with 14 Republicans voting against it and two others voting present.
abcnews.go.com
FBI says it has disrupted major Chinese hacking operation that threatened US critical infrastructure | CNN Politics
The FBI has used a court order to seize control of a network of hundreds of thousands of hacked internet routers and other devices that Chinese government-linked hackers were using to threaten critical infrastructure in the US and overseas, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday.
www.cnn.com
Lebanon on edge after new wave of explosions kill 20, wound 450
Second wave of device explosions come a day after similar blasts killed 12 people and wounded nearly 3,000.
www.aljazeera.com
Trump's inconsistent messaging clashes with the RNC's attempted embrace of early voting
Trump remains skeptical of early voting despite occasionally lending his words and his likeness to RNC attempts to embrace it. That’s left pro-Trump voters caught in the middle.
www.nbcnews.com
Judge orders Sean 'Diddy' Combs jailed in sex trafficking and racketeering charges, AP explains.
Sean “Diddy” Combs was headed to jail Tuesday to await trial in his federal sex trafficking case, after a magistrate ordered him to be held without bail in a case that accuses him of presiding over a sordid empire of sexual crimes.
apnews.com
What we know about the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria
Thousands of people were injured across Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday by an Israeli covert operation that remotely detonated pagers, ABC News sources confirmed.
abcnews.go.com
Trump says inflation has cost households $28,000 under Biden and Harris. Is that true?
Economists told CBS News the calculation is incomplete, since average household incomes have also risen over that time period.
www.cbsnews.com
What’s the difference between the IVF bills Senate Democrats and Republicans keep fighting about? - Washington Examiner
For the second time in three months, partisan bickering broke out over two IVF bills. "Same song, second verse," a GOP senator said.
www.washingtonexaminer.com
Vance kept up false claims about Haitian migrants after aide was told they were baseless
A Vance aide was informed by a top Springfield official claims Haitian migrants were eating pets were false, but the VP nominee went ahead with spreading the rumor.
abcnews.go.com
Sean Combs' new home — a notorious federal jail — has a ‘way of breaking people,’ lawyers say
The situation at the Metropolitan Detention Center, known as the MDC, has gotten so bad that judges have refused to send certain nonviolent inmates there.
www.nbcnews.com
Lindsey Graham visits Nebraska on behalf of Trump campaign to push for electoral vote change
The senator from South Carolina wants the governor to call a special session to put forward legislation that would make Nebraska a winner-take-all state in the Electoral College.
www.nbcnews.com
House bill passes requiring deportation of illegal immigrants with history of sex offenses - Washington Examiner
The House passed Nancy Mace's bill to require the deportation of illegal immigrants who are convicted of or have committed sex offenses or domestic violence.
www.washingtonexaminer.com
LaMonica McIver wins special House election in New Jersey for late Donald Payne Jr.'s seat
Democrat LaMonica McIver has won a special House election in New Jersey's 10th Congressional District.
www.cbsnews.com
What to know about the two waves of deadly explosions that hit Lebanon and Syria
Just one day after pagers used by hundreds of members of millitant group Hezbollah exploded, more electronic devices detonated in Lebanon.
apnews.com
Sarah Huckabee Sanders is latest Trump ally to make dig at Harris over biological kids | CNN Politics
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders reignited the controversy over how allies of Donald Trump talk about stepmothers and childless women when she told supporters of the former president Tuesday night that Kamala Harris doesn’t have anything to keep her humble.
www.cnn.com
Exploding pagers, psychological warfare: Israel’s attack on Hezbollah
How the explosions were rigged, what will happen next, and what the point was. All are questions that remain unanswered.
www.aljazeera.com
The Fed’s long-awaited rate cut is colliding with presidential politics | CNN Politics
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the first time in the Biden era on Wednesday after the White House spent the last three years grappling with Americans’ dissatisfaction with the cost of living, raising new questions about the health of the economy and the impact on voters at the ballot...
www.cnn.com
Twenty killed by second wave of Lebanon device explosions
Walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah blow up a day after pager blasts killed 12 people.
www.bbc.com
Stock market today: Most of Wall Street edges lower after Fed delivers a big cut to rates
Most of the U.S. stock market edged lower after the Federal Reserve kicked off its efforts to prevent a recession with a bigger-than-usual cut to interest rates.
apnews.com
20 more dead, 450 injured as new round of explosions rocks Lebanon: Health officials
The Hezbollah militant group said it is conducting a "security and scientific investigation” into the explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday.
abcnews.go.com
House rejects stopgap spending deal as government shutdown looms- Washington Examiner
Johnson knew the bill was likely to fail as several of his GOP colleagues publicly opposed the package and said they would vote against it.
www.washingtonexaminer.com
NASA's "Hidden Figures" honored in Congressional Gold Medal ceremony
NASA's "Hidden Figures," whose work helped put men on the moon, were honored Wednesday in a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony.
www.cbsnews.com
A Hungarian company is linked to the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria
The company linked to the manufacture of the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria is based in a duplex in a quiet neighborhood of the Hungarian capital.
apnews.com
Iranian hackers sent stolen Trump campaign information to people associated with Biden campaign | CNN Politics
Iranian hackers sent unsolicited information they stole from Donald Trump’s presidential campaign to people who were affiliated with Joe Biden’s campaign over the summer, federal law enforcement officials said Wednesday.
www.cnn.com
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 937
As the war enters its 937th day, these are the main developments.
www.aljazeera.com
Led by the South, clean energy sector added more than 150,000 jobs last year
The Inflation Reduction Act has fueled job growth in the clean energy industry, which employs nearly 3.5 million people in the U.S., a new report found.
www.nbcnews.com
Israel notified US ahead of Tuesday’s Lebanon operation but gave no details of what was planned, sources say | CNN Politics
Israeli officials notified the US that the country was going to carry out an operation in Lebanon on Tuesday but did not give any details about what they were planning, according to three sources familiar with the matter, including in a call between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Israeli...
www.cnn.com
Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff seeks more control over postmaster general after mail meltdown
As the U.S. Postal Service faces delivery slowdowns, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat from Georgia, has proposed legislation to impose stricter oversight on who leads the agency.
apnews.com
Melania Trump says she stands ‘proudly behind my nude modeling work’ | CNN Politics
Former first lady Melania Trump posted a new video on social media Wednesday defending her previous nude modeling work as she promoted her new book.
www.cnn.com
LaMonica McIver wins special House election in New Jersey | CNN Politics
Democratic Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver has defeated Republican small businessman Carmen Bucco in a contest in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District that opened up because of the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April.
www.cnn.com
Iranian hackers sent stolen Trump materials to Biden campaign: FBI - Washington Examiner
There is no evidence the Biden campaign solicited or responded to the emails, according to officials.
www.washingtonexaminer.com
Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new indictment charging him with criminal sex act
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office presented to the grand jury allegations of three separate women who said Weinstein sexually assaulted them.
abcnews.go.com
US wants more clarity from Ukraine on possible use of long-range weapons
U.S. officials say the Biden administration still isn't convinced that it should give Ukraine the authority to launch long-range missiles deeper into Russia.
apnews.com
Trump and Harris' views on inflation, according to their records and what they've said
Inflation is a top issue for voters heading into 2024 presidential election. Here's what we know about Harris and Trump's views on combating high prices for Americans.
www.cbsnews.com
Second wave of blasts hits Lebanon as Israel declares ‘new phase’ of war
Health Ministry says 20 people killed, 450 wounded in latest device explosions, which Hezbollah blames on Israel.
www.aljazeera.com
A 12-year-old boy fatally shoots a black bear mauling his father during a hunt in western Wisconsin
A 12-year-old boy has shot and killed a wounded black bear as it was mauling his father near their hunting cabin in western Wisconsin.
apnews.com
Trump says he is "going to win New York" as he rallies on Long Island
Trump is again insisting that he can win the state of New York, a Democratic stronghold, at a rally in Uniondale on New York's Long Island.
apnews.com
US Army deploys ‘Arctic Angels’ soldiers to remote part of Alaska amid Russian exercises | CNN Politics
US Army soldiers were deployed to a remote island southeast of Alaska last week as part of a “force protection operation” amid an expected increase in Russian and Chinese military exercises in the region, according to an Army statement.
www.cnn.com
Democratic prosecutors are criminalizing self-defense - Washington Examiner
The reality in Democratic cities and jurisdictions is that Democratic prosecutors want to make self-defense illegal.
www.washingtonexaminer.com
California laws cracking down on election deepfakes by AI face legal challenges
California now has some of the strictest laws on election deepfakes. The state could be among the first to test out the new regulations ahead of the 2024 election.
apnews.com
Billie Jean King to become first solo female athlete to receive Congressional Gold Medal
The medal has previously been given to athletes like baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente and golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.
www.nbcnews.com
US Fed cuts rates by larger than usual half-percentage point
Central bank’s rate-setting committee says it has ‘greater confidence’ inflation is moving towards two-percent target.
www.aljazeera.com
Key takeaways from the Fed’s decision to deliver a jumbo-sized interest rate cut | CNN Business
The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates aggressively Wednesday, announcing the first rate cut since March 2020.
www.cnn.com
Teamsters won’t endorse in presidential race after releasing internal polling showing most members support Trump | CNN Politics
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters declined to endorse a presidential candidate on Wednesday after releasing internal polling that showed a majority of its members supported former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris.
www.cnn.com
Springfield has bigger problems than empty threats - Washington Examiner
The media are focusing on temporary immigrant struggles instead of the actual hardships that grip Springfield residents.
www.washingtonexaminer.com
Mayor of Atlantic City and his wife are indicted for allegedly beating their daughter
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. and his wife, La’Quetta, the city’s superintendent of schools, have been indicted on child endangerment and other charges for allegedly beating their teenage daughter on numerous occasions
abcnews.go.com
Sri Lanka's plantation workers live on the margins. But politicians still want their votes
Both leading candidates in Sri Lanka's presidential election are promising to give land to the country’s hundreds of thousands of plantation workers, but the long-marginalized group has heard promises like these before.
apnews.com
Portugal mobilizes thousands of firefighters to tackle wildfires after state of calamity declared
Thousands of firefighters continued their efforts to extinguish over 100 wildfires in northern Portugal on Wednesday.
apnews.com
Atlantic City mayor indicted for allegedly abusing underage daughter - Washington Examiner
Marty Small Sr., the Democratic mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and his wife are being accused by prosecutors of physically abusing their daughter, who was 15 or 16 years old at the time.
www.washingtonexaminer.com
'An indispensable weapon': Harris mobilizes diverse labor force in the Sun Belt
Democrats are tapping into the organizational strength of unions with more women and people of color in key states such as Arizona and Nevada.
www.nbcnews.com
U.S. passports can now be renewed online, State Department announces
The online system bypasses the traditional method that required printing out a form and mailing a check.
www.cbsnews.com
Do Lebanon explosions violate the laws of war?
Experts say blasts potentially violate international humanitarian law, including ban on indiscriminate attacks.
www.aljazeera.com
Reporter's Notebook: A walkie-talkie exploded at a funeral in Lebanon. Chaos ensued.
Video shows a man suffering serious injuries to his hands after an explosion in Beirut's Dahieh district at a funeral for four people killed in pager explosions.
abcnews.go.com
Kentucky governor signs executive order banning conversion therapy
The scientifically discredited treatment, which aims to change an LGBTQ person's sexual orientation or gender identity, is now banned for minors in 24 states.
www.nbcnews.com
How major US stock indexes fared Wednesday, 9/18/2024
Wall Street wavered near its records after the Federal Reserve kicked off its efforts to prevent a recession with a bigger-than-usual cut to interest rates.
apnews.com
Hackers demand $6 million for files stolen from Seattle airport operator in cyberattack
Hackers are demanding $6 million in bitcoin from the operator of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for documents they stole during a cyberattack last month.
apnews.com
Russia-Ukraine war updates: Kremlin says NATO chief’s comments ‘dangerous’
These were the updates from the Russia-Ukraine war for Wednesday, September 18, 2024.
www.aljazeera.com
Pennsylvania ballots are almost ready. Here's why they look different this year.
The new design aims to prevent voter errors that would result in ballots’ getting rejected in a battleground state that is usually decided by razor-thin margins.
www.nbcnews.com
Days after posting mugshot of a boy accused of school threat, sheriff puts video of 2 teens online
Communities nationwide are being battered by a wave of school shooting threats, with emergency notifications and group chat messages sparking parents’ fears their child’s school could be the next Parkland or Uvalde.
apnews.com
Teamsters poll highlights the Democrats’ working class problem - Washington Examiner
Polling of members of the Teamsters union showed overwhelming support for Donald Trump for president as the Democrats struggle with working-class voters.
www.washingtonexaminer.com
Video: Inside the MAGA boat parade where there’s a contest for ‘most Trumpian’ | CNN Politics
CNN correspondent Elle Reeve goes inside the MAGA boat parade and asks Donald Trump’s supporters about their opinions on the former president’s false claims, their anger over immigration and whether they think Trump will win the 2024 election.
www.cnn.com
State Department announces US passport renewal now fully available online
The U.S. State Department officially allows for online passport renewals, here's how it works.
abcnews.go.com
Taiwan drawn into Middle East politics after deadly pager blasts in Lebanon
Taiwanese tech firm Gold Apollo denies manufacturing exploding pagers used in attack on Hezbollah members in Lebanon.
www.aljazeera.com
Chuck Todd: What if we can't unite?
Analysis: Trump's reaction to the most recent apparent attempt on his life is very different from his initial reaction to the July shooting. It's one of a series of bad signs for the nation.
www.nbcnews.com
Mediators struggle to clear final hurdles in Israel-Hamas ceasefire - Washington Examiner
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas are now "a question of political will."
www.washingtonexaminer.com
Ship owner cut corners on repairs before deadly Baltimore bridge collapse, US says in $100M lawsuit
The U.S. Justice Department is suing the owner and manager of the cargo ship that caused the Baltimore bridge collapse.
apnews.com
Search for suspect in Kentucky highway shooting ends with discovery of body believed to be his
Authorities say they believe the body of a man suspected of shooting and wounding five people on a Kentucky interstate highway has been found. Col.
apnews.com
House rejects GOP plan to extend government funding, sending Johnson back to drawing board
The legislation, which would fund the government for about six months and require proof of citizenship to register to vote, fell short.
www.cbsnews.com
Melania Trump defends her nude modeling in new video - Washington Examiner
“Why has the media chosen to scrutinize my celebration of the human form in a fashion photo shoot?" Melania Trump asked.
www.washingtonexaminer.com
Iranian hackers sent 'stolen' Trump campaign material to individuals associated with Biden campaign: FBI
Intelligence agencies have assessed Russia, China and Iran are the biggest peddlers of influence operations in 2024.
abcnews.go.com
Zimbabwe and Namibia will kill scores of elephants to feed people facing drought
Zimbabwe and Namibia plan to slaughter hundreds of wild elephants and other animals to feed hunger-stricken residents amid severe drought conditions in the southern African countries.
apnews.com
Sean 'Diddy' Combs denied bail again in sex trafficking indictment
Sean "Diddy" Combs learned Wednesday he will be held without bail on charges including sex trafficking by force and transportation to engage in prostitution.
abcnews.go.com
Brisk voting for local government in Indian-controlled Kashmir for first time after losing autonomy
The first leg of a phased election for choosing a local government in Indian-controlled Kashmir has concluded in the first such vote since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped the disputed region of its special status five years ago.
apnews.com
GOP senator tells Arab American witness at hate crimes hearing to 'hide your head in a bag'
Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana also repeatedly suggested the witness, a leading Arab American activist, supports Hamas even as she repeatedly denied it.
www.nbcnews.com
Mark Warner warns of foreign interference in days after election - Washington Examiner
“The 48 hours after the polls close, particularly if we have as close of an election as we anticipate, can be equally if not more significant,” Warner said.
www.washingtonexaminer.com
Amazon increases average pay for warehouse workers and adds free Prime membership perk
Last week, Amazon also hiked wages for its contracted delivery drivers to roughly $22 an hour as part of a $2.1 billion investment this year.
www.nbcnews.com
Pagers explode across Lebanon and parts of Syria, AP Explains
Pagers used by hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded near simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday, killing at least nine people – including an 8-year-old girl -- and wounding several thousand, officials said.
apnews.com
Bogus hit-and-run story about Vice President Kamala Harris created by Russian troll farm, Microsoft says
The fabricated story was created by the Kremlin-aligned Storm-1516, one of several disinformation efforts targeting the Harris-Walz campaign, a new report from Microsoft says.
www.cbsnews.com
Lawyers question whether a drugged French woman was truly unconscious during alleged rapes
Lawyers for some of the men accused of raping an unconscious French woman who had been drugged by her husband have asked her about her habits, personality and sex life, and even questioned whether she was truly unconscious during the encounters.
apnews.com
Trump SALT pledge spurs latest tax headache for GOP - Washington Examiner
Trump's vow to repeal his own limit on state and local tax deductions is creating headaches for Senate Republicans weary of the major fiscal policy reversal.
www.washingtonexaminer.com
Weekly mortgage demand surges 14% as interest rates hit two-year low
The Federal Reserve was expected to make its first interest rate cut in four years Wednesday.
www.nbcnews.com
Kilauea volcano erupting in remote area of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, one of the most active in the world, is erupting again, prompting a volcano watch alert in surrounding areas.
abcnews.go.com
Police say a pair took an NYC subway train on a joyride and crashed it. They have arrested 1 teen
Police say they have arrested one of the young people who took an empty New York City subway train on a brief joyride before they crashed it and fled.
apnews.com
JD Souther, who helped write ‘New Kid in Town,’ ‘Heartache Tonight’ and other Eagles hits, has died
John David “JD” Souther has died. He was a prolific songwriter and musician whose collaborations with the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt helped shape the country-rock sound that took root in Southern California in the 1970s.
apnews.com
NEWS FROM THE HILL:
NEWS FROM REUTERS:
NEWS FROM POLITICO: