RACHEL RANDER
CATHOLIC VALUES COLUMNIST
National
More of Clinton’s emails to be released before Election Day
The State Department will release 1,850 more pages recovered from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server before Election Day. According to State Department officials many of these emails may be almost identical to the ones that were previously turned over by Clinton, but there is no definitive answer as of now. When these emails are released it will allow the public to look at a total of 3,000 pages before the November elections. According to WSJ, “The State Department has been reviewing the emails to ensure that no sensitive information is revealed to the public.” In 2014, over 55,000 pages of emails were turned over to the State Department by Clinton’s attorneys.
Passenger train crashes in New Jersey
A passenger train from the New Jersey Transit ran off the track Thursday at its Hoboken station, killing one and injuring over 100 others. An event recorder retrieved be investigators shows that the train flew past its stopping point and ran through a passenger concourse at around 8:45 a.m., during rush hour. The event has caused all service from New Jersey Transit to suspend, but a separate system named PATH is still in working order. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said that Fabiola Bitter de Kroon, a resident of Hoboken, died when she was struck by debris. The engineer, Thomas Gallagher, has worked for the transit for 29 years and was released from the hospital. Further investigations will focus on the why the train didn’t stop before hitting the bumper block, and if new safety systems will prevent further crashes.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/30/us/new-jersey-hoboken-train-crash/index.html
Trump denies breach of Cuban Embargo
“No I never did anything in Cuba. I never did a deal in Cuba,” said Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as he denied allegations that he breached the Cuban Embargo. It is suspected that Trump’s Hotels & Casino resorts spent around $68,000 in Cuba in 1998. Other politicians, including Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Sen. Marco Rubio, have responded to the accusations. Clinton said Thursday that Trump put “his personal and business interests ahead of the laws and values and the policies of the United States of America.” Newsweek reported that Trump’s company sent a consulting firm to Havana and made the money appear as if their trip was connected to a charity. Trump responded to the allegations on Thursday.
http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37521671
International
Philippines president compares himself to Hitler
In a controversial statement Friday, President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines compared himself to Nazi leader Hitler. He said that he wants to kill drug addicts like Hitler sought to kill Jews. “I’d be happy to slaughter them. At least if Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have (me). You know my victims, I would like (them) to be all criminals, to finish the problem of my country and save the next generation from perdition.” World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder condemned Duterte’s statements, saying that he should apologize for his inhumane words. Duterte has been tough on crime since coming into office this June, paying special attention to drug users. He has also made controversial statements about many world and religious leaders.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/30/asia/duterte-hitler-comparison/index.html
Stolen Van Goghs recovered in Italy
Two stolen Van Gogh paintings were recently recovered by Italian police from the Naples Mafia. The paintings were stolen during the night of December 6-7, 2002, during a raid on an Amsterdam museum, where thieves used a ladder and sledgehammers to break into the building. The works, which are worth millions, were found under a cloth in the town of Castellammare di Stabia. The event is likely linked to drug trafficking, and suspects had been arrested prior to the paintings’ recovery.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37516164
Rosetta space probe lands
In an end to its 12-year mission, the Rosetta space probe crash-landed onto a comet. The goal of the probe was to follow a comet’s orbit around the sun and then gather behavioral and chemical information from the comet by placing a daughter pride on its surface. The European Space Agency chose the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as the probe’s final landing place. Its impact is reported to have been at one mile per hour, and its solar panels were ineffective because they were too far away. Scientists are interested in learning about what they call “goosebumps” on the surface of the comet, which they believe could be pieces that stuck together to form it at the beginning of the solar system.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/30/health/rosetta-landing-comet-philae/index.html