It seems Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was right when he complained about audio in the debate hall.

The Commission on Presidential Debates released a vague statement on Friday simply saying: “Regarding the first debate, there were issues regarding Donald Trump’s audio that affected the sound level in the debate hall.”

The commission didn’t elaborate any further, but the statement did not indicate that there were any issues with the television feed.

The day after Monday’s debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., Trump said during a “Fox & Friends” interview that he had a “bum mic.”

“I had a problem with a microphone that didn’t work,” Trump said Tuesday. “My microphone was terrible. I wonder, was it set up that way on purpose? My microphone, in the room, they couldn’t hear me. It was going on and off, which isn’t exactly great. I wonder if it was set up that way. But it was terrible. When I tested it, it was beautiful. Like an hour before, I said, ‘What a great mic,’” he said.

Trump also said that his rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, didn’t have the same issues.

“It was on and off,” he said. “And it was much lower than hers. I don’t want to believe in conspiracy theories, of course, but it was much lower than hers. And it was crackling. And she didn’t have that problem.”

Throughout the debate, Trump could be heard loudly sniffling — and commentary on his breathing dominated the social media conversation about the event. But the sniffling sounds appear unrelated to the debate commission’s statement, which admitted only to “issues” related to sound in the debate hall itself.

“The mic was very bad, but maybe it was good enough to hear breathing,” Trump said Tuesday, insisting “there was no sniffles.”

  Danielle Allen is a political theorist at Harvard University and a contributing columnist for The Post. I admire Hillary Clinton. This is new for me. I have come to admire her only over the past year. Before Monday’s debate, she had already sealed the deal. But everything I have come to see was on display that evening: intelligence, fortitude, self-control, discipline, strength and grace. Let me share my journey. In the fall of 1992, after the Los Angeles riots, I cast my first vote in a presidential election. I had attended the Democratic National Convention in New York as a summer intern for National Review. I still remember Bill Clinton’s tediously long acceptance speech, and I voted for George ...

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October 1, 2016

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May said she will listen to Scotland's concerns over Britain's exit from the European Union but that the devolved Scottish government will not have a veto over the Brexit negotiations.

Scotland wants to have more detail about how the British government plans to leave the EU to prevent a "hard Brexit" that would severely damage the economy, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Tuesday.

After Britain's vote to leave the EU, Sturgeon said Scotland may seek another independence referendum - something that could split the world's fifth largest economy apart just as it attempts to go it alone outside the European bloc.

"What I am very clear about is that, as we look into these negotiations, we will fully engage the Scottish government in the discussions that we have, in preparing what position the UK is going to take," May told BBC Scotland.

When asked directly if Scotland could have a veto over Brexit, May said: "The United Kingdom will have a position in the negotiations and we, as a United Kingdom government, will be negotiating with the European Union."

May added that the United Kingdom's government would listen to and take account of the particular concerns of Scotland and other parts of the United Kingdom, which is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The United Kingdom's devolved parliaments could complicate or slow an EU withdrawal as their remit over such a major change is unclear and there is a convention for giving the assemblies a say on matters that concern them.

Scots rejected independence in a 2014 referendum. But in the referendum on EU membership on June 23, Scots voted to stay in the bloc while England and Wales opted to leave.

"There are two questions you can ask about a second [independence] referendum in Scotland: One, 'Could there be?' And that's a process issue," May said.

"I think the real question is 'Should there be another referendum in Scotland?' My answer to that is overwhelmingly 'no'," she said. "There should not be second referendum in Scotland."

HOWARD CAMPBELL

October 1, 2016

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Hurricane Matthew grew into a powerful Category 4 storm on Friday as it crossed the Caribbean Sea on a course that could have it pounding Jamaica within days.

The center of the hurricane was projected to pass just to the east of Jamaica early Monday, but the storm was large enough that it could affect the entire island, and the first effects of the storm may be felt starting Saturday, said Evan Thompson, director of the National Meteorological Service.

"We do consider it serious," Thompson said. "We are all on high alert."

Jamaica activated its National Emergency Operations Center and Prime Minister Andrew Holness called an urgent meeting of Parliament to discuss preparations for the storm. People cleared out store shelves as they stocked up emergency supplies.

"I left work to pick up a few items, candles, tin stuff, bread," 41-year-old Angella Wage said at a crowded store in the Half Way Tree area of the capital. "We can never be too careful."

Jamaicans are accustomed to intense tropical weather but Hurricane Matthew looked particularly threatening. With wind speeds of 150 mph (242 kph), it was more powerful than Hurricane Gilbert, which made landfall on the island in September 1988 and was the most destructive storm in the country's modern history.

"Hurricane Matthew could rival or possibly exceed Gilbert if the core of the strongest winds does actually move over Jamaica," said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. "There is no certainty of that at this point."

Hurricane Matthew was expected to bring heavy rainfall especially to the eastern tip and higher elevations, which could trigger flooding and landslides, Thompson said.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said rainfall totals could reach 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 centimeters) with isolated maximum amounts of 25 inches (63 centimeters) in Jamaica and southwestern Haiti.

The Jamaican capital, Kingston, is in the southeastern corner of Jamaica and was expected to experience flooding. The government issued a hurricane watch on Friday afternoon, and a tropical storm watch was issued for Haiti's southwest coast form the southern border it shares with the Dominican Republic to the capital of Port-au-Prince.

As of 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT), the storm was centered about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north-northwest of Punta Gallinas, Colombia, and about 440 miles (710 kilometers) southeast of Kingston, Jamaica. It was moving west-southwest at 9 mph (15 kph).

Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 35 miles (55 kilometers) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 195 miles (315 kilometers).

It brought extremely high tides, storm surge and heavy rain to Colombia, prompting authorities to declare an alert as local TV broadcast images of cars and tree trunks surging though flooded streets in coastal areas. Local media in La Guajira province reported that one person died in flooding.

Matthew caused at least one death when it entered the Caribbean on Wednesday, with officials in St. Vincent reporting a 16-year-old boy was crushed by a boulder as he tried to clear a blocked drain.