Bedugul Coffee: Wednesday Morning Briefing: Tightening Texas race boosts Democrats' hopes of taking Senate

Politics

The Democratic congressman aiming to unseat Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz in Texas has pulled even in the race, a Reuters poll found, a spark of hope for a party seeking a Senate majority to curb President Donald Trump’s agenda. Texas cattle rancher Bill Martin is a lifelong Republican who owns more than 20 firearms and has been shooting guns since the age of 6. He is now considering the once-unthinkable: voting for a Democratic Senate candidate who wants tougher gun laws.

A woman who has accused Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, of sexual assault decades ago wants her allegations to be investigated by the FBI before she appears at a U.S. Senate hearing, her lawyers said.

Beijing says it does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, when asked about Trump’s tweet accusing China of trying to sway the U.S. election.

World

A draft report by the United Nations’ climate change body predicts that seas are likely to rise between 33 centimeters and 1.33 meters by 2100 - a wider range than its 2013 assessment. Reuters examines the hunt to narrow these projections and explores an unprecedented NASA study of Greenland’s melting glaciers.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will face charges of abusing his position and graft related to money allegedly siphoned off from state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, the country’s anti-corruption agency said.

Empty recruiting tables and disinterested audiences are becoming more common for the SDF as Japan’s demographic troubles and robust economy have created what some defense insiders call a “silent crisis” for military recruiting.

Commentary: In scarcely more than six months Britain will leave the European Union. That departure could be toxic and disruptive through a failure to reach a deal, hurting Britain most of all, but the EU as well. The EU may hold the high cards, but it does not have to play them all to demonstrate just how painful it can make Brexit, writes Paul Wallace, a former European economics editor of The Economist and the author of “The Euro Experiment.”

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