In Trump pitch at black college, its students were largely absent

What if President Trump was set to make a grand speech to black students, but no one was allowed to come? Benedict alumnus Shawn Torres told Yahoo News that current students were instructed to “remain in place or leave campus” during Trump's speech, essentially sequestering themselves in dormitories. “A lot of them are opposed to this but have been silenced,” said Torres, who added that only a handful of students from the college were invited, and the rest of the attendees were recruited from non-black colleges around the state.

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  Trump Gave a Speech at a Historically Black College, and Most Students Were Asked to Stay Inside Their Dorms

  Time
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  Trump speaks at South Carolina HBCU at forum on criminal justice reform

  Yahoo News Video

'He led from his soul': Barack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton remember Elijah Cummings in Baltimore

Former presidents and world leaders delivered powerful eulogies on Friday at the funeral for Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., who died on Oct. 17 at age 68. Barack Obama was among them. “Elijah Cummings came from good soil,” the former president said at the service, which was held at New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore.

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  Amid the chaos in DC, Elijah Cummings' funeral provided a vital 'stop and think' moment for politicians

  The Independent
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  Cummings remembered as protector of Constitution

  Associated Press Videos

Russia expects woman convicted by U.S. of being agent home on Saturday

Russian national Maria Butina, who was jailed in the United States in April after admitting to working as a Russian agent, will be released from a U.S. prison on Friday and arrive back in Moscow the next day, Russia's foreign ministry said. Butina pleaded guilty in December last year to one count of conspiring to act as a foreign agent for Russia, prompting Moscow to accuse Washington of forcing her to confess to what it described as ridiculous charges. The case has been an irritant in fraught relations between Moscow and Washington that are strained over everything from Syria to the arrest in Moscow of Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine held on spying charges that he denies.

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  Maria Butina returns to Moscow after serving in a federal prison

  CBS News Videos
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  Maria Butina: Russian agent who tried to infiltrate the NRA released from prison and deported

  The Independent

A Southwest Airlines flight attendant alleges she caught 2 pilots watching a livestream of the plane's bathroom

A flight attendant for Southwest Airlines alleges she stumbled upon a disturbing sight when she entered the cockpit as part of a routine stand-in measure on a flight between Pittsburgh and Phoenix. Renee Steinaker has sued Southwest and two pilots, alleging that they livestreamed the plane's restroom and that the airlines continues to let the pilots fly. Steinaker and her husband, who is also a flight attendant, alleged that they have been stalked and monitored by managers in a "threatening and bizarre manner" since reporting the incident.

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  Southwest Airlines flight attendant says pilots streamed airplane bathroom video to cockpit

  USA TODAY
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  Southwest denies cameras were hidden in plane bathroom

  KTRK – Houston

Firefighters race to control blazes before winds roar back

Howling winds that fueled destructive wildfires across California began to die down Friday, but residents in the northern part of the state braced for another round of power outages aimed at preventing what are expected to be the strongest gusts in years from sparking more blazes this weekend. Fires destroyed dozens of buildings in Northern California wine country and in subdivisions on the outskirts of Los Angeles, where flames shut down a freeway and smoke forced schools to close. The state was under extreme fire danger like it's probably never seen before, Emergency Services Director Mark Ghilarducci said.

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  Tens of thousands evacuate near massive wildfire in Northern California, power outages continue

  WLS – Chicago
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  California's biggest utility admits its electrical equipment may have ignited a wildfire

  Yahoo News Video

Mexican town turned to war zone fears new era of narco violence

Culiacán (Mexico) (AFP) - The bullet holes splashed across the walls are an unnerving reminder to residents of Culiacan: There is no telling when the narco violence that terrorized the Mexican city last week could return. People in Culiacan are used to living alongside drug traffickers. It is, after all, the state capital of Sinaloa, home to the powerful drug cartel of the same name and its jailed kingpin, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

China's Military Parade Proves That Beijing Is Ready To Fight America

Key point: China has modernized its military and sought to take advantage of America's weaknesses. This week, the People's Republic of China celebrated the 70th anniversary of its founding by holding a massive military parade. The parade featured a number of formidable weapons systems that demonstrate the growing capability of the Chinese military, the erosion of U.S. military superiority, and the need for continued action by Washington and its partners.

On withholding aid to Central America, Mulvaney was correct: 'We do that all the time'

During a now infamous press briefing last week, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney attempted to make the case that the White House's decision to withhold military funds from Ukraine was neither improper nor any different from the Trump administration's ordinary negotiations with foreign governments. Mulvaney has since tried to walk back comments that seemed to acknowledge a “quid pro quo” offer to release the aid in exchange for Ukrainian government help in publicizing a conspiracy theory that Trump and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, have been promoting about the 2016 election. “We were holding up money at the same time for, what was it, the Northern Triangle countries.

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  The Two Theories of Trump’s Actions in the Ukraine Affair

  National Review
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  The Crazy CrowdStrike Conspiracy Theory

  National Review