Metronews

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Saturday night stoked the controversy over his call for punitive action against NFL players who take a knee or otherwise protest during the national anthem, tweeting anew that they should remain standing out of respect for the nation and its flag. President Trump took time from a Twitter rant against criticism of the federal response to hurricane damage in Puerto Rico to tweet: “Very important that NFL players STAND tomorrow, and always, for the playing of our National Anthem. Respect our Flag and our Country!” Very important that NFL players STAND tomorrow, and always, for the playing of our National Anthem. Respect our Flag and our Country! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017 Protesting during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” began last season when Colin Kaepernick, then a quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers, declined to stand as a way to bring attention to police treatment of blacks and to social inj...

Asria Nur Hasan was preparing goods to sell at the local market when the phone rang unexpectedly this past March. It was his daughter. She was calling from a Malaysian jail cell. “I was surprised. I couldn’t help but to cry,” Hasan, 56, said from his home of Rancasumur, near Serang, in Indonesia. His daughter, Siti Aisyah and a Vietnamese woman, Doan Thi Huong, stand accused of carrying out one of the most brazen and audacious assassination plots of the 21st Century: the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The pair will begin their trial Monday, in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. If found guilty, both could face the death penalty. “She will be proven innocent,” Hasan said. “My daughter would not have done such a thing, if she was not used by someone.” The plot to murder North Korea’s exiled son Killed with VX Kim Jong Nam was killed on February 13 while trying to catch a flight from Kuala Lumpur to his adopted home of Macau, the Chin...

LAS VEGAS — O.J. Simpson was apparently in transit Saturday, ahead of his release on parole as early as Monday — possibly in Las Vegas, a Nevada prisons official said. State Department of Corrections public inmate records provided no information about Simpson’s custody status or location, which prisons spokeswoman Brooke Keast said usually indicates that an inmate is being moved in custody. Locations are withheld for security reasons, she said. “He is still in our custody, at least until (Sunday),” Keast said. “The department is progressing toward his release as soon as possible.” Simpson’s attorney, Malcolm LaVergne, said he wouldn’t confirm his client’s location. He said that when he last spoke with Simpson, he was still at Lovelock Correctional Center in northern Nevada. When Simpson arrives at a prison facility, the department’s public website will reflect his location, Keast said. Nevada Parole and Probation Capt. Shawn Arruti, who is involved in Simpson’s release, did not im...

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Playboy founder Hugh Hefner was laid to rest during a small and private ceremony Saturday, September 30th — according to TMZ. The report says only a select few of his closest friends and family were there to attend, including Hefner’s four children, his wife Crystal Harris and some “key Playboy staffers.” Hefner was laid to rest at Los Angeles’ Westwood Village Memorial Park at noon. He purchased the burial spot directly to the left of Marilyn Monroe for $75,000 in 1992. TMZ reports Hef will have “plenty of good company” as the cemetery is filled with celebrities and many with Playboy ties.

Wisconsin National Guard 248th Aviation Support Battalion send-off ceremony WEST BEND — More than two dozen members of the Wisconsin National Guard will be joining the United States Army in the Middle East. That mission starts Sunday, October 1st — but first, soldiers along with their families attended a send-off ceremony in West Bend. During an afternoon of photos, hugs and some tears, hundreds of family members and friends gathered to say goodbye and good luck to the 248th Aviation Support Battalion. Wisconsin National Guard 248th Aviation Support Battalion send-off ceremony Jordan Stremke “I’m nervous but at the same time, this is why I enlisted,” said Jordan Stremke. Private Class Jordan Stremke, will be embarking on his first deployment. The 25-year-old joined the Wisconsin National Guard one year ago in honor of his baby sister. “Without her, I wouldn’t have enlisted. I wanted to be something more for her,” said Stremke. Now, it’s his family once again that will hel...

Marquette University hosts relief drive for Puerto Ric MILWAUKEE — Some Puerto Rican students at Marquette University say they don’t want politics to get in the way of a humanitarian crisis. They came together on Saturday, September 30th, collecting items and donations for hurricane victims. There are about 50 students from Puerto Rico attending Marquette. They say even though they worry about family back home, they are encouraged by support. Marquette University hosts relief drive for Puerto Rico Outside of the Marquette Student Union, boxes filled with donations were taped up to be sent to Puerto Rico. “Diesel’s running out, water, food and so we decided to help out from back here,” said Cristofer Borghese, Marquette student. Everything from water bottles, to batteries are being collected for victims of Hurricane Maria. Marquette University hosts relief drive for Puerto Rico “Within all this sadness and all this craziness, it has calmed me,” said Alexandra Lopez, Marque...

BRANCHBURG, N.J. — President Donald Trump on Saturday lashed out at the mayor of San Juan and other officials in storm-ravaged Puerto Rico, contemptuous of their claims of a laggard U.S. response to the natural disaster that has imperiled the island’s future. “Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help,” President Trump said in a series of tweets a day after the capital city’s mayor appealed for help “to save us from dying.” Fake News CNN and NBC are going out of their way to disparage our great First Responders as a way to "get Trump." Not fair to FR or effort! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017 “They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort,” President Trump wrote from his New Jersey golf club. …want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic j...

The mayor of Puerto Rico's hurricane-battered capital spoke on Friday of thirsty children drinking from creeks. A woman with diabetes said a lack of refrigeration had spoiled her insulin. An insurance adjuster said roads have virtually vanished on parts of the island.

Chila Lynn  is a Cuban R&B singer who has enjoyed a certain level of success since she was a teenager. She gave life to the singing voice of Tiana in the Spanish version of Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog” in 2009, when she was only 18, and released her first album, “Real Woman,” in 2012. But Lynn wanted more. She wanted to become an international sensation. A devout believer in the Afro-Cuban goddess Yemayá, Lynn wrote her a letter asking for a successful career. She put her message inside a green wine bottle and threw it into the sea by a waterside church in her native Havana. “I hoped for my career to travel as far as the bottle would go,” Lynn told CNN. She never imagined her bottle would be found nearly 400 miles away — and by somebody who says he’ll help take her career further. Message in a bottle Earlier this month, Allen Gibson and Nikki Snow discovered Lynn’s bottle at a beach near Melbourne, Florida, as Hurricane Irma was passing through. The letter insi...

Dozens of people were arrested on Saturday as neo-Nazis and anti-fascists clashed with police during a march by the extreme right-wing Nordic Resistance Movement (NMR) in Gothenburg, Sweden on Saturday, police said.

Watch Video As Tony King tells his story, he pauses often. His memory is still sharp, but the words don’t come easily. Maybe it’s because he is turning 92. Or maybe he just hasn’t talked about that day in a very long time. Only 19 men still living — King among them — know exactly how the agony unfolded on July 30, 1945, the day two Japanese torpedoes struck the USS Indianapolis. But King never had much interest in reliving it, his relatives say. He never wanted to discuss the horrors he and his shipmates endured as they floated for nearly five days in shark-ridden waters, waiting for rescue. That is, until now. As CNN’s cameras roll, King recounts the ordeal still lamented as one of the worst disasters in US naval history. While he speaks, his family, tucked secretly behind a wall of museum exhibits, hangs on every word. They lost touch with the World War II veteran in 1981. Since then, they’ve searched for him on and off, trolling phone books and newspaper articles, using his So...

SALT LAKE CITY — A top Mormon leader reaffirmed the religion’s opposition to same-sex marriage on Saturday during a church conference — and reminded followers watching around the world that children should be raised in families led by a married man and woman no matter what becomes the norm in a “declining world.” The speech by Dallin H. Oaks, a member of a top governing body called the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, followed a push in recent years by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to uphold theological opposition to gay marriage amid widespread social acceptance while trying to foster an empathetic stance toward LGBT people. The Mormon church is one of many conservative faith groups navigating the challenges that arise from trying to strike the right balance. “We have witnessed a rapid and increasing public acceptance of cohabitation without marriage and same-sex marriage. The corresponding media advocacy, education, and even occupational requirements pose diffic...

BRANCHBURG, N.J. — The ouster of Tom Price as President Donald Trump’s health secretary is yet another self-inflicted blow for Republicans wishing to put their own stamp on health care — and the latest distraction for a White House struggling to advance its agenda after months of turmoil. Price resigned Friday amid investigations into his use of costly charter flights for official travel at taxpayer expense. His exit makes it even more unlikely that Republicans will be able to deliver on their promise to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s law, even though they control the White House and both chambers of Congress. “I think health care is a dead letter through the next election,” Joe Antos, a policy expert with the business-oriented American Enterprise Institute, said Saturday. The health secretary’s exit capped a week in which a last-ditch GOP health care bill failed to advance in the Senate. Regaining momentum will be more difficult now that the White House also has...

The President of the United States is not befitting of his position, as he has been proven to be an instrument of historical incompetence and divisiveness. America has been thrust into civil unrest and political upheaval, that hasn't been witnessed in decades. The only saving grace for the future advancement of the world's most celebrated democracy is us...We The People.

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, who helped usher in the 1960s sexual revolution with his groundbreaking men's magazine and built a business empire around his libertine lifestyle, died on Wednesday at the age of 91, Playboy Enterprises said.

ST. LOUIS, MO — The Milwaukee Brewers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 7-6 as they went head to head on Saturday, September 30th — ending their hopes for the post season. FINAL: Cardinals 7, Brewers 6. #MILatStL The season finale is tomorrow at 2:15pm CT. http://pic.twitter.com/tDmg7u1GwF — Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) September 30, 2017

CABOOL, Mo. –The gruesome murder of a transgender teen in Missouri has some wondering why the three main suspects arrested aren’t facing hate crime charges. Texas County authorities have charged Andrew Vrba, Isis Schauer and Briana Calderas with the first-degree murder of 17-year-old Ally Lee Steinfeld, whose family had reported her missing earlier this month. According to police reports, Vrba, 18, admitted to killing Steinfeld and burning her body. Schauer and Calderas allegedly helped Vrba hide Steinfeld’s body. Schauer and Calderas told police Vrba claimed he stabbed the victim’s genitals multiple times and gouged her eyes out. All three are being held in jail without bond and have yet to be arraigned. Their lawyers did not immediately respond to CNN’s requests for comment. The grisly details of Steinfeld’s death have prompted some to call for the suspects to face hate crime charges. “There couldn’t be a more vivid example of someone being targeted because of their gender iden...

The following is a partial list of officials who have been fired or have left the administration since Trump took office on Jan. 20, as well as people who were nominated by Trump for a position, but did not take the job.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Students at Harvard University staged a protest as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos delivered an address on school choice. Some held up fists. One held up a sign reading, “White supremacist.” Others called for protections for victims of campus sexual assault. DeVos last week revoked Obama administration guidance that instructed colleges on how to handle sexual assault cases. She did not interrupt her speech Thursday to address the protesters, but later took some pointed questions from the audience. The protest was mostly silent, though some students snapped their fingers or cheered in support of some questions. Asked about protections for transgender students, DeVos said she is committed to making sure all students are safe. Earlier this year, she rescinded guidance that allowed transgender students to use bathrooms that matched their gender identity. “With respect to any student that feels unsafe or discriminated against in their school, that is the last thin...

WILMINGTON, Mass. — An owl that was hit by a truck last spring and traveled from Massachusetts to New Hampshire wedged between the truck cab and trailer is ready to hunt crawfish and moles again. The bird’s wings and tail feathers were shattered and it showed signs of head trauma after the bird was discovered by the truck driver and turned over to an owl rehabilitator in Edding, New Hampshire. Jane Kelly helped care for the owl over the last six months and said the bird, named Trucker, was released Saturday in Wilmington, Massachusetts, where the mishap originally occurred. Kelly said the owl was ready to take flight and head home. New Hampshire Fish and Game conservation officer Chris McKee said it’s a miracle the owl survived the ordeal. He said the owl was most likely trying to hunt for rodents along the highway when it collided with the truck. Truckers Will Sword and Tyler Buckley, based in Londonderry, New Hampshire, were on the road in Massachusetts when they heard a bang. ...

Russia probe Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating Mike Flynn's possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), violations of which have a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Monty Hall, host of the original game show “Let’s Make a Deal” has died — according to a report from the New York Times . He was 96. The New York Times reports Hall’s daughter, Joanna Gleason, confirmed he passed away at his home in Beverly Hills, California on Saturday, September 30th. “Let’s Make a Deal” premiered in 1963.

BEIJING — U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged on Saturday that the United State is maintaining direct channels of communications with North Korea even as tensions rise over the North’s nuclear and missile programs and the countries’ leaders spar through bellicose name-calling. Tillerson said the U.S. was probing North Korea’s willingness to talk, and called for a calming of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, adding it was incumbent on the North to halt the missile launches. “We have lines of communication to Pyongyang. We’re not in a dark situation, a blackout,” Tillerson told reporters during a visit to China. “We have a couple … three channels open to Pyongyang. We can talk to them, we do talk to them.” No elaboration about those channels or the substance of any discussions came from Tillerson, who met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top officials in Beijing. While Tillerson affirmed that the U.S. would not recognize North Korea as a nuclear powe...

MEXICO CITY — The death toll from Mexico’s magnitude 7.1 earthquake has risen by two and now stands at 360. It includes 219 deaths in Mexico City, where 38 buildings collapsed during the temblor. The rest of the casualties came in five states near the capital. National Civil Defense chief Luis Felipe Puente reported the new toll Saturday on Twitter.

Amber Pflughoeft RICHFIELD -- Keeping her daughter alive with groundbreaking surgeries and also the help of the community, people are rallying behind a girl who who spent five years hospitalized after being diagnosed with bone cancer. "My daughter Amber is wonderful girl," the girl's mother, Tiffany Pflughoeft said. Amber Pflughoeft has had a tough time for much of her childhood. Amber Pflughoeft Amber Pflughoeft "We got devastating news she had bone cancer," Tiffany said. Diagnosed at 10 years old. Amber's mother said cancer spread to her knees and lungs. "What she had is rough and can't do very much. She doesn't have a lot of energy because of all the medicine," Pflughoeft said. Amber, who is now 17, spent the last few years undergoing multiple rounds of chemo and several surgeries -- then got hit with another blow to her health. Amber Pflughoeft Tiffany Pflughoeft "She was in remission for about a year and a h...