Campaigning Trudeau vows Canada assault rifle ban

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, campaigning for re-election, vowed on Friday to ban assault rifles but fell short on handguns, saying only that he would help cities restrict pistols and revolvers in response to a spate of shootings. "You don't need military-grade assault weapons, ones designed to kill the largest amount of people in the shortest amount of time, to take down a deer," he told a news conference in Toronto. There have been 311 shootings in Canada's largest city so far this year, with gun violence having increased incrementally each year to almost triple the rate in 2014.

A family fleeing violence in El Salvador has been stuck at the US-Mexico border for 2 months — and Trump's new asylum rules may make it impossible for them to cross

Trump's "asylum ban," recently affirmed by the Supreme Court, means that families fleeing violence may be stuck in Mexico indefinitely.

Hurricane Lorena threatens Mexico's resort-studded Los Cabos

Residents and tourists hunkered down in homes, shelters and hotels as Hurricane Lorena menaced Mexico's resort-studded Los Cabos area Friday, threatening damaging winds, flash floods and life-imperiling surf along the Baja California Peninsula. Local security forces urged evacuations even as some tourists continued to stroll the streets under cloudy skies.

Israel president to start consultations Sunday on next PM

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will begin consultations on Sunday to decide who should form the next government following this week's general elections, a statement from his office said. Rivlin will hold meetings with the parties elected to parliament and ask them for their recommendations on who should be the next prime minister. Rivlin's announcement on Thursday came as reported election results showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main opponent Benny Gantz deadlocked.

U.S. Senate hearing to confirm Trump pick Issa for trade post delayed by concern over FBI check

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee postponed a hearing on Thursday to consider former congressman Darrell Issa to lead the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, after Democrats accused the White House of withholding potentially compromising details in a background check. The panel's Republican chairman, Jim Risch, said consideration of Issa, President Donald Trump's nominee for the post, was postponed about half an hour into an acrimonious hearing. Senator Bob Menendez, the committee's ranking Democrat, said the White House had blocked access for all committee members to possibly compromising information on Issa.

Injured crewman sues California dive boat owner after 34 diein fiery tragedy

Ryan Sims filed the suit last week in Ventura County Superior Court saying the Conception dive boat was unseaworthy and operated in an unsafe manner.

Third Photo of Justin Trudeau in Blackface Threatens to Destroy His Progressive Reputation

REUTERS/Chris WattieThe progressive reputation of Justin Trudeau is in ruins Thursday morning after a third instance emerged of the Canadian prime minister wearing racist dark face-paint.The first photo that surfaced, showing Trudeau in 2001 wearing brownface as part of an Aladdin costume, would have been enough to turn some voters off him forever. But, within hours, a second photo was published of him wearing blackface to sing the Jamaican folk song “Day-O,” followed by a third video of him sticking his tongue out wearing dark makeup.What was initially assumed to be a deeply stupid and offensive costume at one theme party now looks like it was just one instance of a deeply troubling habit.Trudeau admitted he “made a mistake” late Wednesday after the first photo was published. That showed him wearing brownface makeup to an “Arabian Nights”-themed gala at the Vancouver private school where he taught in 2001.The picture, found in West Point Grey Academy’s yearbook and published by Time magazine, shows Trudeau with his face, neck, and hands darkened—along with him wearing a turban and robes. While he was not the only one pictured in costume at the gala, he appeared to be the only one pictured in brownface. “Obviously I regret that I did it, I’m really sorry I did it,” Trudeau told reporters Wednesday evening. “I take responsibility for my decision to do that. I should have known better... I didn’t know it was racist at the time.”Media relations lead of the Liberal Party of Canada, Zita Astravas, confirmed to Time that it was Trudeau in the photo. “It was a photo taken while he was teaching in Vancouver, at the school’s annual dinner which had a costume theme of ‘Arabian Nights.’ He attended with friends and colleagues dressed as a character from Aladdin,” Astravas said. In addition to the yearbook photo, he also disclosed to reporters that he once participated in a high school play “with makeup on”—but he did not elaborate further. That photo was then found shortly afterward.The third video, published Thursday morning by Canada’s Global News, appears to show Trudeau’s face covered in dark makeup while he sticks his tongue out. It appears his arms and legs are also covered in dark makeup. A senior member of the Liberal campaign reportedly told the network that it was Trudeau in the video but didn’t comment further.The photos, which surfaced as Trudeau is ramping up his re-election campaign, sparked an outpouring of criticism on Twitter, where many accused the Canadian prime minister of racism. Trudeau announced his re-election bid this month amid accusations he meddled in a corruption case. When asked by reporters if he would consider resigning over the photo, he said only that the incident “calls for important conversations.”“I have worked all my life to create opportunities for people to fight against racism, I can stand here and say I made a mistake... I should have known better then, but I didn’t and I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m going to be asking Canadians to forgive me... I’m disappointed and pissed off at myself.”New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh blasted the prime minister, claiming that his public calls to fight discrimination and his behavior in private were at odds.“Who is the real Mr. Trudeau? Is it the one behind closed doors, the one when the cameras are turned off that no one sees?” Singh asked, according to The Globe and Mail. “Is that the real Mr. Trudeau? Because more and more, it seems like it is.”The National Council of Canadian Muslims also said Trudeau wearing brownface was a “reprehensible” act that “hearkens back to a history of racism, slavery, and an Orientalist mythology that is unacceptable.”“While we recognize that people can change and evolve over two decades, it is critical that the prime minister immediately and unequivocally apologize,” executive director Mustafa Farooq told the newspaper.Earlier this year, a similar yearbook photo of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam wearing a racist costume was uncovered—prompting calls for him to resign. He is currently still in office. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey also recently apologized for participating in a blackface skit in college.Read 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.