10 things you need to know today: October 29, 2018

1. Names of Pittsburgh synagogue shooting victims released as community mourns

Pittsburgh authorities on Sunday released the names of the 11 people killed by the gunman who opened fire with a semi-automatic assault-style rifle in the Tree of Life synagogue. The dead included eight men and three women. The oldest was Rose Mallinger, 97; the youngest were brothers David and Cecil Rosenthal, 54 and 59. Husband and wife Sylvan and Bernice Simon, 86 and 84, also were among the dead. Investigators said the suspected gunman, Robert Bowers, had posted rants against Jews and immigrants on social media. Thousands gathered in Pittsburgh to mourn the dead, saying their names out loud and rejecting hate. "What happened yesterday will not break us," said Rabbi Jonathan Perlman, leader of New Light Congregation, which worshiped in the synagogue. "It will not ruin us."

The New York Times CNN

2. Trump, allies reject connection between Trump rhetoric and political violence

President Trump and his allies on Sunday rejected suggestions that his harsh political rhetoric is linked to recent hate crimes, including the Saturday shooting that left 11 people dead in a Pittsburgh synagogue. "I don't see where President Trump is somehow to blame" for the acts of a "deranged" killer, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said Sunday on Face the Nation. Trump tweeted: "The Fake News is doing everything in their power to blame Republicans, Conservatives and me for the division and hatred that has been going on for so long in our Country." Critics disagreed. "The numerous statements he's made, calling himself a 'nationalist,' crowds at his rallies chanting threats against George Soros — it's all connected," said Cecilia Wang, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

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3. Trump trades Twitter barbs with Democratic activist Tom Steyer

President Trump on Sunday tweeted that billionaire Democratic activist Tom Steyer came across as a "crazed & stumbling lunatic" in a TV appearance in which he accused Trump and other Republicans of creating an atmosphere of "political violence." Steyer was among the Democratic politicians and other Trump critics who were sent pipe bombs, allegedly by a fanatical Trump supporter. Steyer, a philanthropist and former hedge fund manager best known for his "Need to Impeach" campaign against Trump, responded by tweeting that Trump had just ridiculed him "in his typical insulting style," and said it was "unthinkable that in the midst of the horrible political violence our president would resort to name-calling instead of repairing the damage to the fabric of our country."

The Washington Post

4. Lion Air jet crashes with 189 on board

A Lion Air jetliner carrying 189 people crashed into the Java Sea on Monday in clear weather. Rescue crews rushed to the crash site to look for survivors. The brand-new Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane had left Jakarta on a flight to the city of Pangkal Pinang on the island of Bangka. Officials said the aircraft crew on the plane, Lion Air Flight 610, had requested and received permission to turn around just before losing contact. A tugboat crew saw the plane come down, the national search and rescue agency said. The crash came after years of efforts to address safety issues that have troubled Indonesia's fast-growing airline industry. Just in June, the European Union cleared all Indonesian airlines from an operating ban imposed in 2007 based on "unaddressed safety concerns."

The New York Times

5. Merkel to quit as party chief after latest election setback

Germany's governing parties suffered the latest in a string of electoral setbacks on Sunday, with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union heading to a weak win in the vote for the central Hesse region's state legislature. The CDU was projected to win 27 percent support, down from 38 percent in 2013, and its national coalition partner, the center-left Social Democrats, got just under 20 percent, down from 31 percent in 2013. Merkel's coalition is struggling to recover from harsh criticism over its handling of an immigration crisis. Merkel has reportedly told her party that she will not seek re-election as party leader in December but intends to stay on as chancellor until her term ends in 2021.

The Associated Press Bloomberg

6. Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro wins Brazil presidency

Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro won Brazil's presidential election as expected. Exit polls showed Bolsonaro taking 56 percent of the vote, while left-wing Workers Party rival Fernando Haddad trailed with 44 percent. Bolsonaro, the favorite in the second round after falling just short of a majority in the first round, campaigned on promises to wipe out corruption and crime. He has praised the South American nation's former military dictatorship, advocated torture, and threatened to jail or exile political opponents, but promised after his victory to be a "defender of the Constitution, democracy, and liberty." "We have everything we need to become a great nation," he said Sunday night. "Together we will change the destiny of Brazil."

The New York Times BBC News

7. Web host ditches social media site used by Pittsburgh shooting suspect

Gab, the social media service where Pittsburgh synagogue shooting suspect Robert Bowers posted hateful rants against Jews and immigrants, has been dropped by its web host and payment processor Stripe, following a similar rejection by PayPal. "Gab's new hosting provider, has just pulled our hosting service," Gab tweeted. "They have given us until 9am on Monday to find a solution. Gab will likely be down for weeks because of this. Working on solutions. We will never give up on defending free speech for all people." Gab earlier removed Bowers' account. The site touts itself as a champion of free speech, but its loose rules on offensive and hateful content have made it a haven for white supremacists and other far-right users rejected by Twitter and Facebook.

Deadline The Washington Post

8. English soccer team's billionaire owner among 5 killed in helicopter crash

Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the Thai billionaire who transformed the struggling Leicester City soccer club into one of the most surprising champions in English soccer history, was among five people killed in a helicopter crash outside the club's stadium after a game Saturday night. The aircraft crashed in the stadium's parking lot right after takeoff, and the pilot was remembered as a hero for steering away from a crowd. Fans placed flowers and club jerseys on the ground Sunday in honor of Srivaddhanaprabha's leadership, after he took over in 2010 and took the club to a shocking Premier League title victory in 2016. "He made us champions, so he is a champion," one supporter said.

BBC News The New York Times

9. IBM agrees to buy Red Hat for $34 billion

IBM said Sunday it had agreed to buy software company Red Hat for $34 billion. The deal, by far IBM's biggest acquisition, will help the technology hardware company diversify by moving more into higher margin software and services. "The acquisition of Red Hat is a game-changer," said IBM CEO Ginni Rometty. "IBM will become the world's No. 1 hybrid cloud provider, offering companies the only open cloud solution that will unlock the full value of the cloud for their businesses." Red Hat specializes in open-source Linux operating systems, and charges fees to corporate customers for custom features, maintenance, and technical support. Red Hat's business will give IBM a lucrative source of subscription revenue, helping it to catch up with Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft in the booming cloud business.

Reuters

10. Red Sox beat Dodgers to win World Series

The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 on Sunday night to win the World Series, the team's fourth title in 15 years. World Series MVP Steve Pearce put the Red Sox up by 2-0 with a two-run homer in the first inning. In the bottom of the first, David Freese responded with a leadoff home run for the Dodgers, but that was all Los Angeles' batters could do. Boston's David Price turned in what was widely praised as his best pitching of the postseason, going strong for seven innings. Solo homers by Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez in the sixth and seventh innings added to Boston's lead, and Pearce added his second home run of the game in the eighth.

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