WorldAFPPutin lays out plans to develop missiles if US leaves treaty
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday laid out plans for Moscow to develop mid-range missiles banned under a Cold War treaty with the United States if Washington abandons the deal. Tensions have raged over the fate of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF), with US President Donald Trump promising to walk away from the agreement and Putin threatening a new arms race. Washington this month said it would withdraw from the INF within 60 days if Russia did not dismantle missiles that the US claims breach the deal.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Redacted portions of FBI interview with Michael Flynn released ahead of sentencing
WASHINGTON– A fuller account of a disputed FBI interview of former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn was made public Monday, but it did not counter Russia special counsel Robert Mueller's assertions that Flynn lied about his then-communications with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The document's release comes on the eve of Flynn's sentencing in District of Columbia federal court. Mueller's team has recommended that Flynn receive no jail time following "substantial" cooperation with prosecutors in the ongoing Russia investigation and in at least two other inquiries.
LifestyleAssociated PressFrench city honors victims of Christmas market attack
People filled a square in the French city of Strasbourg on Sunday to show respect and sympathy for the victims of last week's shooting attack near a famous Christmas market as the death toll rose to five. French authorities said a Polish man died in a Strasbourg hospital Sunday, one of a dozen people wounded in last Tuesday's attack. Poland's Foreign Ministry extended condolences Sunday on Twitter to his family.
- NewsHuffPost
Dogs Thrown From Vehicle On New York Highway, Police Say
Two beagle mixes are recovering after authorities said they were tossed from a moving vehicle onto a New York highway, igniting a search for the culprits. The truck driver, whom police identified only as Adam, said he immediately hit the brakes and parked his vehicle on the side of the road to help. A passing state trooper assisted after spotting the trucker’s abandoned vehicle and then the two dogs, one of which was described as seriously injured. The dogs, since named Adam and Trooper after their heroes, were taken to the Broome County Humane Society in Binghamton for treatment.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Fierce clashes in Hodeidah cast doubt over ceasefire
Fierce clashes broke out in Yemen’s crucial port city of Hodeidah on Sunday, leading UN and Yemeni officials to delay the "official" start of the hard-fought ceasefire agreed last week. Residents reported skirmishes on the outskirts of town with missiles and automatic gunfire heard near the city's eastern 7th July suburb. Unconfirmed television reports said that the Saudi-led coalition had launched two airstrikes on Ras Isa, a port north of Hodeidah.
- PoliticsBloomberg
Top Democrat Schiff Adds Call for Probe of Trump, Deutsche Bank Links
The incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee joined Democratic colleagues in questioning ties between Deutsche Bank AG and President Donald Trump’s real estate business. Representative Adam Schiff of California said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday that any type of compromise needs to be investigated. That could add his panel’s scrutiny to that of Representative Maxine Waters, who’s in line to be chair of the House Financial Services Committee and has also focused on the bank’s connections to Trump.
BusinessAFPNo one can 'dictate' to China what it should, shouldn't do: Xi
President Xi Jinping vowed Tuesday to push ahead with China's "reform and opening up" but warned that no one can "dictate" what it does, as the Communist Party celebrated the policy's 40th anniversary. While he pledged to press forward with the economic reforms initiated under late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in December 1978, Xi indicated that there would be no change to the one-party system. "The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the greatest advantage of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics," he said.
- BusinessTime
Google Is Spending $1 Billion on a Massive New York City Expansion
Google is spending more than $1 billion to expand operations in New York City. Ruth Porat, senior vice president and chief financial officer at Google and Alphabet, said in a blog post Monday that Google is creating a more than 1.7 million square-foot campus that includes lease agreements along the Hudson River in lower Manhattan. Google Hudson Square will be the company’s primary location for its New York operations.
WorldReutersPolice, firemen search for cause of explosion in Japan's Sapporo
Police and fire officials on Monday were searching for the cause of a dramatic explosion in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo that collapsed a building and injured 42 people. Media reports said the Sunday night incident may have involved propane gas tanks in the building where the blast occurred. Sapporo police and fire officials said it was too early to say anything certain about the cause of the explosion.
- WorldYahoo News
U.S. Intelligence officials frustrated by White House response to Khashoggi killing
While President Trump has refused to condemn MBS for his alleged role in the killing, he has pointed to measures taken against those Saudi officials involved in Khashoggi’s death and dismemberment. We have already sanctioned 17 Saudis known to have been involved in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi, and the disposal of his body,” Trump said in a statement last month. The White House has also disputed the notion that Trump is ignoring the intelligence community’s conclusions, even if Trump has so far refused to directly criticize the crown prince.
BusinessUSA TODAYCash deposited in Robinhood's 3% checking and savings isn't insured, SIPC says
Cash deposited in Robinhood's new checking and savings product that was rolled out this week by the fintech investing platform is not insured by the Securities Investor Protection Corp., the nonprofit membership corporation said Friday. Robinhood made headlines on Thursday when it announced that the new products can earn 3 percent, much better than what traditional banks offer on checking and savings accounts. Robinhood's checking and savings products are not traditional bank accounts.
- PoliticsHuffPost
Chili's Weighs In On North Carolina Election Fraud And Immediately Regrets Decision
Chili’s social media department is getting ribbed after it weighed in on North Carolina’s election fraud scandal ― without really understanding it. It all started Monday when Andrew Bates, a spokesperson for the progressive super PAC American Bridge, offered a Chili’s gift certificate to North Carolina GOP Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse with a caveat: Stop trying to seat Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris, whose election has been marred by ballot fraud allegations. Woodhouse didn’t respond, but Chili’s social media person did and aggressively attempted to do some promotion piggybacking on Bates’ tweet.
WorldAssociated PressVatican committee: Church credibility at risk over sex abuse
Organizers of an upcoming Vatican summit on sex abuse prevention are warning that the credibility of the Catholic Church is in jeopardy over the abuse scandal and are urging participants to meet with victims personally before coming to Rome. Pope Francis invited the church leaders to the Feb. 21-24 summit to respond to what has become the gravest threat to his papacy, as the abuse and cover-up scandal erupted in the U.S., Chile and elsewhere this year. In revealing the first details of the meeting, the Vatican said the summit would focus on three main areas: responsibility, accountability and transparency.
- PoliticsMeredith Videos
James Comey Slams the Republican Party After Second Interview on Capitol Hill
As former FBI Director James Comey left his second closed-door interview with Congressional lawmakers Monday, he made sure to take parting shots at the Republicans who called him there in the first place.
- WorldBloomberg
U.S., Taliban Meet in U.A.E. to Discuss Afghanistan Peace
The Afghan Taliban said it was holding another round of talks with U.S. officials in the U.A.E. on Monday after peace negotiations failed last month. Representatives from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the U.A.E. will also attend the meeting, Zabihullah Mujahed, a spokesman for the militant group, said in a statement released on Sunday evening. Pakistan has also confirmed that talks will be taking place and hopes the meeting “will end bloodshed in Afghanistan and bring peace to the region,” Mohammad Faisal, a foreign ministry spokesman in Islamabad, said on Twitter.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
Every Photo You Need to See of the $100,000 Lincoln Continental Coach
The 80 units of the special-edition sedan will celebrate the nameplate's 80th anniversary. From Car and Driver
WorldAFPRussia slashes Syria military flights
Russia has cut its military flights in Syria from more than 100 per day to fewer than four a week, the defence minister said Tuesday, in another sign the country's conflict is winding down. Russia launched air strikes in Syria in support of long-term ally President Bashar al-Assad in September 2015. Russian support helped Assad's forces reclaim swathes of territory once in the hands of opposition fighters and Islamic extremists.
- WorldUSA TODAY
‘One of a kind’ royal tomb is 4,400 years old, Egypt says
Egyptian officials said they have discovered a 4,400-year-old tomb linked to the fifth dynasty of pharoahs. According to Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities, the tomb — located at a site west of Cairo in Saqqara — belonged to a senior official of the pharoahs, reports The Associated Press. Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani tells CNN the tomb belonged to a royal purification priest named Wahtye.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Michael Cohen would refuse a pardon from Trump, his former lawyer says
Veteran political consultant and attorney Lanny Davis said that his embattled advisee Michael Cohen is taking personal responsibility for his bad behavior and would refuse any pardon offered by President Trump. Davis was Cohen’s attorney last summer when he pleaded guilty to fraud and violating campaign finance laws by paying hush money to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels. Cohen, who was Trump’s personal attorney for many years, was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday.
PoliticsFOX News VideosHilton: Trump’s record is head and shoulders above the rest
Trump haters say that the president pulling out of the Paris climate deal is definitive proof that he’s destroying the world.
- WorldThe Guardian
Fleeing home alone: the migrant children blocked at Mexican border
Guatemalan children caught in Mexico while trying to migrate into the US, queue before climbing into a minibus at Aurora international airport in Guatemala City. For years, Dora waited impatiently to turn 15, the age her mother had agreed she would be old enough to leave their home in El Salvador – where she suffered physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her grandfather – and head to the US, in search of a new life. “Seeing them leave together … that gave me hope and gave me the courage to finally leave,” said Dora, who is now living at a children’s shelter in Tijuana, on the border with California.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
5 Products That Can Make Driving in Winter Easier
If you're looking for free shipping, you've got one more day for these Amazon deals. From Car and Driver
- BusinessThe National Interest
Introducing the 5 Ultimate Smith & Wesson Guns
Smith & Wesson’s successful “wonder nine” pistol, the M&P followed in the footsteps of the Glock to produce a highly effective, high capacity polymer frame pistol. The Military & Police Model, currently in version 2.0, has a low bore axis, which the manufacturer claims reduces muzzle climb and allows the shooter to get sights back on target faster. Smith & Wesson is one of the oldest, and most storied names in American firearms.
BusinessReutersE-cigarette usage nearly doubles in U.S. high-schools: survey
The percentage of high school seniors who used e-cigarettes in the last 30 days nearly doubled to 20.9 percent from last year, results of a survey released by the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed on Monday. The increase in vaping by 10th and 12th graders was the largest year-over-year jump for any substance ever measured by the survey, which started 44 years ago. The annual survey, which also measures use of other substances including marijuana, alcohol and opioids, questioned more than 44,000 students from 8th, 10th and 12th grades in U.S. public and private schools.
WorldAssociated PressCorrection: Vatican-Bulgaria-Macedonia story
In a story Dec. 13 about the pope's May travel schedule, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Bulgaria is a former Soviet republic. During the Cold War, Bulgaria was one of the Soviet allies that formed the Warsaw Pact. A corrected version of the story is below: Pope to visit Bulgaria, Macedonia in May in busy travel year Pope Francis is travelling in May to the Orthodox countries of Bulgaria and Macedonia, where he will pay tribute to Macedonian-born Mother Teresa, officials said Thursday VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis is travelling in May to the Orthodox countries of Bulgaria and Macedonia, where he will pay tribute to Macedonian-born Mother Teresa, officials said Thursday.
