NEWS OF THE DAY
_1 Foie gras ban: New York City lawmakers passed a bill that bans restaurants and grocery stores from selling foie gras, the fattened liver of a duck or goose. The bill, which is expected to be signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, would ban the sale of the delicacy starting in 2022. Animal welfare activists had campaigned for a ban on the grounds that the methods used to produce foie gras are cruel. Usually, it involves forcefeeding a bird through a tube briefly slipped down its throat. Farmers who produce foie gras say the birds are treated humanely and don’t suffer during the fattening process. Vendors say the bill could mean trouble for farms outside the city.
_2 Plane crash: A small plane crashed into a town home Wednesday morning in a leafy Atlantaarea neighborhood near a major interstate, killing two people and tearing off the home’s brick exterior, authorities said. The crash scattered wreckage and shook up nearby residents. Both the pilot and a passenger died, but there were no injuries on the ground because no one was home at the time, DeKalb County Fire Capt. Dion Bentley told reporters. The Piper PA28 plane crashed shortly after taking off from DeKalbPeachtree Airport outside Atlanta about 10:30 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. Conditions were foggy in the area.
_3 Chicago fact check: President Trump ripped Chicago as a hellscape of violence that makes Afghanistan, one of the world’s deadliest countries for terrorism, seem like a tranquil and secure place. It’s not true. More people died by violent means in Afghanistan in one month than died from murders in Chicago in a year. The U.S. president has long sought to hold up America’s thirdlargest city as the poster child of urban violence and dysfunctional Democratic politics, even when his assertions don’t square with the facts. He’s called it a war zone in the past. The BBC this year found 2,307 people died in Afghanistan in 611 violent “security incidents” such as armed clashes, air strikes and explosions, in August alone. In 2016, Chicago recorded more than 760 homicides, its worst year in nearly two decades. Last year, homicides claimed more than 560 people. _4 Adviser resigns: A top adviser to President Trump on Russia and Europe is resigning on the eve of his testimony in the House’s impeachment probe. A senior administration official says Tim Morrison, a National Security Council official, “has decided to pursue other opportunities.” The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, adds that Morrison has been considering leaving the administration for “some time.” Morrison was one of the officials listening in on Trump’s July call with the president of Ukraine.
_5 Medal of Honor: President Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to Master Sgt. Matthew Williams for conspicuous gallantry in Afghanistan in 2008, when he braved enemy fire multiple times while rescuing other members of his task force and evacuating casualties.