The devastating blitz on Saudi Arabia's oil industry has led to a flurry of accusations from US officials blaming Iran. The reason for the finger-pointing is simple: Washington's spectacular failure to protect its Saudi ally.

The Trump administration needs to scapegoat Iran for the latest military assault on Saudi Arabia because to acknowledge that the Houthi rebels mounted such an audacious assault on the oil kingdom's heartland would be an admission of American inadequacy.

Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars in recent years purchasing US Patriot missile defense systems and supposedly cutting-edge radar technology from the Pentagon. If the Yemeni rebels can fly combat drones up to 1,000 kilometers into Saudi territory and knock out the linchpin production sites in the kingdom's oil industry, then that should be a matter of huge embarrassment for US "protectors."

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) launched a profane attack on President Donald Trump's foreign policy on Monday evening, denouncing the idea of defending Saudi Arabia: "We are not your prostitutes. You are not our pimp."

Gabbard was responding to President Trump's statements about a potential U.S. response to a recent attack by Houthi rebels on oilfields in Saudi Arabia that threatened global oil supplies and the security of a key American ally.

Yesterday President Trump offered to place our military, my brothers and sisters in uniform, under the command [sic] of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the dictator of the Islamist Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [sic]. Trump said, "[We] are locked and loaded, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!" Mr. President, as you know, I have never engaged in hateful rhetoric against you [sic], or your family, and I never will, but your offering our military assets to the dictator of Saudi Arabia to use as he sees fit, is a betrayal of my brothers and sisters in uniform who are ready to give our lives for our country, not for the Islamist dictator of Saudi Arabia.

For you to think that you can pimp out our proud servicemen and women to the Prince of Saudi Arabia is disgraceful, and it once again shows that you are unfit to serve as our commander in chief. As a member of Congress, and as a soldier, I and all of my brothers and sisters in uniform have taken an oath to protect and defend the American people and the Constitution of the United States of America. There is nothing in our Constitution that gives you the power to go to war without the express consent of Congress [sic], but to speak of giving you the power to offer our military to a foreign power like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to use as they wish — President Trump, your words and actions are a betrayal of my brothers and sisters in uniform, the American people, and our Constitution. My fellow servicemembers and I — we are not your prostitutes. You are not our pimp.

President Donald Trump called for everyone at The New York Times who was involved in the smear of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to resign on Monday, saying that the newspaper can never recover from the countless things that it has done that have damaged its reputation.

Trump's demand comes after The New York Times published a highly deceptive report based on a new book that alleged that Kavanaugh was potentially involved in a sexual assault. The New York Times' report excluded key information about the alleged incident that cast serious doubt about whether it even happened. The most explosive piece of information left out of The New York Times' report was the fact that the victim allegedly has no memory of the event even happening.

As the left-wing smear against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh continues to unravel amid a journalistic malpractice scandal at the New York Times, original Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford's "lifelong friend" and alleged witness now doubts her story.

Leland Keyser, who Ford claimed was one of five people at a party in the 1980s where she says Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her, told New York Times reporters Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly "I don't have any confidence in the story."

Keyser - who said she was pressured by Ford's ex-FBI buddy to lie and say that she didn't remember the party instead of saying that it never happened - originally said through her attorney that she "does not refute Dr. Ford's account," however "the simple and unchangeable truth is that she is unable to corroborate it because she has no recollection of the incident in question."

Michelle Obama might have been a 'classy' First Lady, but she has rarely done or said anything remarkable or even entertaining. That the media has deified her into the ultimate role model for women is depressing.

The cult of Michelle continues to grow stronger since her departure from the White House. She has just been voted the most admired woman in a worldwide opinion poll, a ranking she already holds in similar US-only surveys.

Her second autobiography, Becoming, released last November, sold over 10 million in the first six months, and stands to become the biggest-selling memoir in history, at least until her husband's is published, likely next year.

Tickets for the additional book tour dates she has scheduled - in which she recites incidents from her book after prompts from a moderator - are on sale for $2,500 apiece for a meet-and-greet during the Newark stop and up to $4,200 for a suite. The cheapest seats are offered at over $100.

Amid growing reports of vaping-related illnesses and even deaths, Gov. Cuomo announced an emergency ban on all e-cigarette flavors other than tobacco and menthol.

"Vaping is dangerous, period," Cuomo said Sunday.

"This is a burgeoning health crisis," he added, vowing to "take action now."

Cuomo called out flavors like bubble gum and cotton candy that are aimed at young smokers.

"These are obviously targeted to young people and are highly effective," Cuomo said, pointing to federal stats from 2018 showing vaping among high schoolers had increased 160% over the past four years.

Iran will never hold one-on-one talks with the United States but could engage in multilateral discussions if it returns to the 2015 deal on Iran's nuclear program, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday, according to state television.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he could meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, possibly at the U.N. General Assembly in New York later this month.

"Iranian officials, at any level, will never talk to American officials ... this is part of their policy to put pressure on Iran ... their policy of maximum pressure will fail," state television quoted Khamenei as saying.

Khamenei said Iran's clerical rulers were in agreement on this: "All officials in Iran unanimously believe it.

"If America changes its behavior and returns to (Iran's 2015) nuclear deal, then it can join multilateral talks between Iran and other parties to the deal," Khamenei said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday the turnout at right-wing strongholds was "a disaster" on the day of the parliamentary election.

"The rate of voting is high in the strongholds of the left and low in the strongholds of the right, it is a disaster", Netanyahu said.


​The prime minister tweeted pictures of the voting process in two polling stations, one semi-empty and the other crowded.

The prime minister called on his supporters "to go and vote, otherwise, we will get the left-wing government with the Arab parties!"

According to the i24NEWS news agency, Netanyahu hastily summoned members of the Likud centre-right party and Knesset for an emergency meeting at his residence in Jerusalem, in light of the turnout news.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Sunday warned Pakistan to stop supporting terrorism and added that it should be ready to lose Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK).

"Article 370 has been revoked. Now, Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) too is ours. Pakistan should be ready to lose PoK. For fulfilling the dream of united India, we are ready to move forward for PoK... Pakistan should stop supporting terrorism... India will not tolerate this," he said while attending a Bharat Ekta Manch rally here.

In August, Parliament had revoked Article 370 which gave special provisions to Jammu and Kashmir and also bifurcated the state into two union territories- Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

On Friday afternoon in Sochi, President Vladimir Putin kept Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waiting for three hours, and then publicly endorsed him for re-election. Putin's endorsement was unconditional: he could have warned against Netanyahu's election pledge, revealed last week, to annex the West Bank of Palestine, but he didn't. Putin could have warned against Israeli air force and missile strikes on targets in Syria, but he didn't. "We have absolutely identical positions," Putin declared, according to the official Kremlin record. Putin was speaking only for himself.

That was made plain to Netanyahu during the Sochi session by the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The Kremlin publication, however, cut them out of the photographic record and official communiqué, as if they weren't there at all.

The Israeli press reported the three-hour delay to Putin's arrival. In the interval, Putin acknowledged in his open remarks to Netanyahu, "you have just had a fairly detailed discussion with the top executives of the Defence Ministry and with Russia's Defence Minister. We will now discuss everything that concerns this area."