You have permission to have an adult beverage early today if you like:
US official: airstrike kills terrorist behind USS Cole bombing
The terrorist behind the 2000 attack on the USS Cole is believed to have been killed in a US airstrike in Yemen on Tuesday, according to a US administration official.
Jamel Ahmed Mohammed Ali Al-Badawi was an al Qaeda operative who the US believes helped orchestrate the October 12, 2000, attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors. The official said all intelligence indicators show al-Badawi was killed in a strike in Yemen as a result of a joint US military and intelligence operation.
The administration official said that al-Badawi was struck while driving alone in a vehicle and that the US assessed there was not any collateral damage.
Chaser feel-good story: We were told this wouldn’t happen—
Manufacturing industry posts biggest annual job gain in 20 years
The manufacturing industry posted net job gains of 284,000 over 2018, capping its best calendar year since 1997.
A priority for President Donald Trump, manufacturing saw marked hiring in December with an additional 32,000 jobs. Most of the gains occurred in blue-collar durable goods manufacturing, with growth in fabricated metals and computer and electronic products, the Labor Department said in its release. The definition of durable goods is items with a life expectancy of three years or more, such as automobiles, furniture and machinery.
Manufacturing added 207,000 jobs in 2017.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.