Vox Sentences: The latest twist in the Kavanaugh saga

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A New York Times report surfaces new sexual misconduct allegations against Justice Kavanaugh; a drone strike on a Saudi oil plant is felt around the world.

Some lighter news! Vox now has crossword puzzles: Each one is designed to teach you about the world, exercise your brain, and hopefully relieve a little stress. New puzzles come out Monday through Saturday. Go ahead and nerd out.

Tonight’s Sentences was written by Stavros Agorakis.

Deborah Ramirez’s story

Nearly a year after Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court, a New York Times report published Saturday corroborated allegations from Deborah Ramirez, who was the second woman to come forward with allegations against Kavanaugh after Christine Blasey Ford. [NYT / Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly]
The article also includes a paragraph detailing another incident from Kavanaugh’s time in Yale, “where friends pushed his penis into the hand of a female student” while his pants were down at a drunken dorm party. [NYT / Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly]
The FBI investigated the allegations against Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford. But they did not interview many witnesses who could have corroborated Ramirez’s allegations. [LA Times / Jackie Calmes]
President Trump took to Twitter to support the second judge he nominated to America’s highest court during office, writing Kavanaugh is “an innocent man who has been treated HORRIBLY” and he “should start suing people for libel.” [Twitter / Donald J. Trump]
Democratic presidential hopefuls have taken a fierce opposing stance on the matter, calling for Kavanaugh’s impeachment. Notably, Sen. Kamala Harris tweeted that Kavanaugh “was put on the Court through a sham process and his place on the Court is an insult to the pursuit of truth and justice.” [Vox / Li Zhou]
The report also puts Sen. Susan Collins under more scrutiny. Collins’s support was key to confirming Kavanaugh, and she is up for reelection next year. [Washington Post / Mike DeBonis]
If you’re wondering whether a Supreme Court justice can be removed from office, the answer is yes. Here’s how it could happen. [Vox / Ian Millhiser]

“Locked and loaded”

Following a weekend drone attack on the world’s largest oil plant in Saudi Arabia, the repercussions have been felt across the globe. From crude prices skyrocketing to the kingdom’s oil production dropping to half its output, the regional crisis has risen to the international level, even stirring bad blood in foreign affairs among nations. [WSJ / Amrith Ramkumar and Joseph Wallace and Bloomberg / Liam Denning]
Though Houthi rebels in Yemen have claimed responsibility for the attack, Trump and his secretary of state have blamed Iran for the vast decline in the daily global oil supply (which surpasses 5 percent), the former tweeting that “we are … locked and loaded” in case the identity of the culprit matches the president’s suspicions. [AP / Jon Gambrell and Zeke Miller]
According to CNN sources, the United States have informed at least one ally in the Middle East that the attack originated from Iran, too. Iran has repeatedly denied it was involved in the drone strike. [CNN / Sheena McKenzie, Meg Wagner and Mike Hayes]
The strike came amid talks of Aramco — the oil giant whose plant was attacked — gearing up to become the world’s largest IPO. [Bloomberg / Shaji Mathew, Filipe Pacheco, and Sarah Algethami]

Miscellaneous

Famed whistleblower Edward Snowden is asking for President Emmanuel Macron to grant him political asylum in France, saying “welcoming someone like me is not an attack on the United States.” [Reuters / Benoit Van Overstraeten and Marine Pennetier]
New York is set to be the next state — after Michigan — to ban flavored e-cigarettes following numerous reports warning of their threat to people’s health. President Trump has also called for a federal prohibition against some vaping products. [NPR / Scott Neuman]
A solid gold, 18-karat toilet worth some $5 million and titled “America” was stolen from an art exhibit in the UK this weekend. No, it’s not a prank. [Buzzfeed News / Claudia Koerner]
Very black is the new black. Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have produced the blackest black that’s ever been (10 times more than the previously reported darkest black), able to capture more than 99.99 percent of light. [Newsweek / Hannah Osborne]

Verbatim

“Leo and I were having this conversation the other day. I hit this point in the late ‘90s or early 2000s, where I realized I was chasing these interesting [roles], yet I was failing to live as interesting a life as I thought I could.” [Brad Pitt is the cover star of the GQ October issue]