Trump impeachment narrative gathers steam as diplomats fill in details

In the first week of public impeachment hearings, three witnesses, all veteran U.S. diplomats, added details of what they knew of President Trump's efforts to get Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a plan whose unraveling threatens his presidency. While the fundamental partisan dynamics of the inquiry continue to hold — Democrats who control the House appear poised to impeach the president, while Republicans in the Senate are unlikely to convict him — this week's developments shed new light on the months-long effort by the Trump administration to procure investigations from a foreign government.

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  Two more officials give closed-door depositions in impeachment inquiry

  FOX News Videos
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  ‘You can’t impeach somebody just because you don’t like them’: Michigan, swing voters and the impeachment

  Yahoo News Video

French interior minister blames protest violence on 'thugs'

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner blamed "thugs" and "bullies" on Sunday for the violence that hit demonstrations the previous day marking marked the first anniversary of the anti-government "yellow vest" protests. "Yesterday, what we saw were few (legitimate) demonstrators but thugs, bullies and morons," Castaner told Europe 1 radio when asked about the violence in Paris on Saturday. Demonstrators torched cars and pelted police with stones and bottles and police fired tear gas and water cannon during the rallies to mark a year since the birth of the anti-government yellow vest movement.

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  Fires Burn in Paris on First Anniversary of Yellow Vest Protests

  Storyful
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  France’s yellow vests stage new protests for anniversary

  Associated Press

Nuclear missile bunker: yours for less than $400k

One local newspaper described the sales listing, with calculated understatement, as a “mid-century fixer-upper”: an underground bunker built to withstand a nuclear attack, and to house the fire power to retaliate. The decommissioned nuclear silo in southern Arizona was once home to the Titan II, the largest intercontinental ballistic missile deployed by the US Air Force. The silo's owner, Rick Ellis, told the Arizona Daily Star newspaper that he was selling the property because he's “bored”.

Racist, anti-Semitic incidents prompt Syracuse to halt fraternity activities; Alpha Chi Rho suspended

Syracuse University suspended one fraternity and halted social activities at all the school's fraternities for the rest of the semester after a series of racist and anti-Semitic incidents that have prompted days of protests, the school president announced Sunday. "Last night, one of our African American students reported being subjected to a verbal racial epithet from a group of students and visitors to our campus," Chancellor Kent Syverud said in a statement. Syverud's action was the latest in a series of crackdowns on fraternities across the nation and comes less than a week after San Diego State University suspended all Interfraternity Council-affiliated organizations following the death of a freshman who had attended a fraternity event.

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  Syracuse University suspends fraternity's activities after alleged racist incidents

  ABC News
• Syracuse suspends fraternity after report of racial slur

  Associated Press

Leading Muslim groups to challenge India holy site court ruling

Two leading Muslim groups said Sunday they will file petitions in India's top court challenging its decision to award Hindus control of a bitterly disputed holy site that has sparked deadly inter-religious violence. The Supreme Court ruled on November 9 that the holy site in Ayodhya, where Hindu mobs destroyed a 460-year-old mosque in 1992, must be managed by a trust to oversee the construction of a Hindu temple. A separate piece of land in Ayodhya would be given over to a Muslim group to build a "prominent" new mosque.

There have been more mass shootings than days in 2019

The number of mass shootings across the U.S. thus far in 2019 has outpaced the number of days this year, according to a gun violence research group. This puts 2019 on pace to be the first year since 2016 with an average of more than one mass shooting a day. As of November 17, which is the 321st day of the year, there have been 369 mass shootings in the U.S., according to data from the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive (GVA), which tracks every mass shooting in the country.

Report: Prosecutor used daughter as bait to catch molester

A Northern California prosecutor used his 13-year-old daughter to lure a man back to the spot where she said he had molested her, so the man's incriminating actions could be recorded on video, according to a newspaper report Sunday. The suspect has been arrested but the Santa Clara County prosecutor is under scrutiny for possibly endangering his child, the Mercury News reported, citing police reports and sources familiar with the case. Ali Mohammad Lajmiri, 76, of San Jose is charged with lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 and false imprisonment.

Elephant dies in captivity after killing villagers

An elephant named after Osama bin Laden, the late al-Qaida leader, has died in captivity after he was captured following a massive hunt in northeastern India, officials said Sunday.

Why Russian Fighter Jets Are Threatening NATO In The Baltics

Key point: Russia and NATO's military buildup in the Baltics is creating a tense situation. In the most recent illustration of ongoing Russia-NATO military tensions over Baltic airspace, recently released footage shows a Russian Su-27 fighter making a sharp turn into an American F-15C. It is unclear when the video was filmed, with some speculating that it occured during a prior NATO BAP (Baltic Air Policing) mission. When viewed in that light, this incident seems to fall into the trend of what US officials have previously described as “unsafe” Russian interceptions and “aggressive maneuvers” in high-tension airspace.

On an upswing, the Pete Buttigieg show rolls through New Hampshire

Earlier this week, Pete Buttigieg traveled more than 100 miles through the Granite State on a bus emblazoned with his name and packed with over a dozen journalists. It's a spectacle that hasn't been seen in recent presidential races, but it's part of a freewheeling strategy that has helped bring Buttigieg from relative obscurity to the top of the Democratic primary field. As the bus headed toward Buttigieg's third event of the day in Rochester, N.H., on Monday, news broke that a Quinnipiac University poll was showing the South Bend, Ind., mayor in third place in the state, just 1 percentage point behind Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

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  Black South Carolinians Say Buttigieg Campaign Misleadingly Touted Their Support

  HuffPost
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  Can Pete Buttigieg win the presidency?

  Yahoo News 360

John Oliver Says If You Want to Irritate Donald Trump, Fill Out the 2020 Census

Census data helps determine Congressional representation and used as a basis to distribute federal funds and businesses use census data to decide where to open new branches. Despite that important function, Congress has reportedly underfunded the census and, according to Oliver, the 2020 census is shaping up to be more complicated than usual due to budget shortfalls and active Republican meddling, including attempting to add a citizenship question that alienated many people. If that isn't enough to get people interested in filling out the census survey, Oliver has one more idea sure to appeal to his audience: Filling out the census would probably really irritate Donald Trump.

'He doesn't seem like the kind of kid to do this': Classmates, neighbors surprised by suspected Santa Clarita shooter's identity

The 16-year-old suspected of fatally shooting two students and wounding three others at their high school Thursday was an unlikely gunman, classmates and neighbors said. Following a 16-second burst of gunfire that ended with the suspect shooting himself in the head, the boy was is in critical condition at a local hospital, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. Neighbors and classmates described the boy as pleasant but noted that he was changed by the death of his father two years ago.

Elizabeth Warren takes risk with ad blasting billionaires

Elizabeth Warren, one of the leading Democratic presidential candidates, has stepped up her assault on billionaires -- a rallying cry popular with her base, but one that could stymie her efforts to garner wider support among US voters. The 70-year-old US senator from Massachusetts on Thursday unveiled a new ad in an appearance on CNBC, a business news network that often criticizes her, in which she takes on the ultra-rich. The one-minute campaign ad shows clips of several leading businessmen criticizing her plans for a wealth tax and predicting economic ruin if she is elected to succeed Donald Trump, a billionaire himself.

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  What do “billionaire tears” taste like?

  Quartz
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  Elizabeth Warren Comes to Taylor Swift’s Defense

  Rolling Stone

This Decision Could Be Bigger Than Impeachment

Overlooked as the nation was riveted by the opening days of the televised impeachment proceedings was an appeals court decision that started a clock ticking for the Supreme Court to finally pick a side in what Attorney General Bill Barr has called a “scorched earth, no-holds-barred war” between Congress and a president who has categorically refused to cooperate with its investigations into his misconduct. Unless the Supreme Court acts, Trump's taxes—which he has fought furiously to keep hidden since beginning his campaign for the presidency— will be turned over to Congress as soon as Wednesday. Thus, the nation will soon begin to learn whether the Supreme Court's conservative majority is, as Trump himself hopes, composed of “Trump judges” willing to side with the president in cases where lower courts have shrugged aside the president's weak arguments for stonewalling investigations into his misconduct.

Sheriff calls deadly shooting at Airbnb rental a ‘bloodbath’

Authorities in the San Francisco Bay Area are calling a shooting that left five dead during a Halloween party at an Airbnb rental a “bloodbath,” where several partygoers were armed and some showed up looking for trouble. Contra Costa Sheriff David Livingston said Friday that he knows residents in the plush San Francisco suburb of Orinda are on edge after the massive party on Oct. 31 and wanted to provide an update, although he could not yet say what sparked the shooting and who shot whom. Livingston said there is a wealth of evidence to process, including casings that littered the floors and countertops of the four-bedroom home with vaulted ceilings that hosted roughly 100 people that night.

How to watch the Leonids meteor shower

Colorful shooting stars will soon streak across the night sky during one of the most famous annual meteor displays. The Leonids meteor shower is expected to peak Sunday night into Monday morning, November 17-18. The Leonid meteor shower occurs every year when Earth passes through a cloud of debris left behind by comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle.

American Submarines Are in the Crosshairs of China

China has been steadily improving its anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities to cope with a perceived, major asymmetry in undersea warfare capabilities. Additionally, when Beijing began filling out its navy with major surface combatants, including aircraft carriers, cruisers and now large amphibious attack ships, there has been a rather visible and understandable uptick in Chinese attempts to protect these new investments from submarine attack. Some of these developments in Chinese ASW over the last decade have included building a formidable force of light frigates that are equipped with towed sonar arrays, fielding a vertically launched “rocket torpedo” as a standard weapon in its fleet, deploying a new maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) that is optimized for ASW and developing ocean bottom sensor networks in and around its key naval bases.

Three family murder-suicides within ten days shock Turkey as the country faces record unemployment

The deaths of three separate families within ten days have shocked Turkey as the country struggles with mass unemployment and a financial crisis. On Friday, authorities confirmed that a family of three had been found dead in their home in the central Istanbul district of Bakırköy, poisoned by cyanide. Earlier in the month, police discovered the bodies of a family of four, including a nine year-old daughter and a five year-old son, in their home in the southern city of Antalya.

Chile police stopped rescue workers helping dying protester: human rights watchdog

Chile's independent human rights watchdog said on Saturday it would file a formal complaint for murder against police officers who allegedly prevented paramedics from attending a heart attack victim amid a protest Friday. Security forces firing tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons made it impossible for rescue workers to properly treat the victim, Chile's publicly-funded National Institute for Human Rights said. Twenty-nine year old Abel Acuna died shortly after at a nearby Santiago hospital.

Trump hosts White House screening of 'Joker'

A supervillain was inside the White House Saturday night. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz reported that President Trump hosted a showing of “Joker,” which tells the origin story of Batman's archnemesis. “Joker,” which was released in theaters in October, stars Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, a disturbed young comedian who descends into a world of crime.

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  Trump screened Joker at the White House and liked it, aide says

  The Independent
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  Trump holds White House screening of 'Joker'

  Yahoo News Video

Chicago teachers approve 'historic' contract that ended 11-day strike

Teachers officially approved a contract deal Friday following an 11-day strike in the nation's third-largest school district last month. Teachers went on strike Oct. 17 after months of failed negotiations with Chicago Public Schools and the city.The strike idled academics, sports and college prep for about 350,000 students and their families. Members of the union's governing body voted in favor of a tentative agreement with the city on Oct. 30, bringing the strike to an end the next day.

S. African asylum-seekers held on trespassing charges

South African police detained more than 180 foreign nationals for storming the UN refugee agency in Pretoria, where they had been staging a sit-in protest, police said Saturday. Hundreds of asylum-seekers started camping in front of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on October 8, asking to be relocated to another country after a spate of xenophobic violence in September. Protesters broke into the UNHCR premises on Thursday after they were informed of a court order giving them three days to vacate the site.

Conservative Group Fires Michelle Malkin Over Support for Holocaust Denier

A conservative group cut ties with right-wing columnist Michelle Malkin on Sunday over her support for an anti-Semitic internet personality, ramping up a growing conservative civil war centered on college campuses. Malkin's firing from Young America's Foundation, whose speaker's bureau had booked Malkin for speeches across the country for the past 17 years, marks the latest battle between supporters of Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and more establishment conservative figures. Michelle Malkin in no longer part of YAF's campus lecture program,” a YAF spokesman said in an email to The Daily Beast.

Rights group: Nicaragua plans charges for detained activists

Authorities will file charges against a group of anti-government opposition activists, including 13 who were arrested for supporting protesters demanding freedom for people they consider political prisoners, a rights group said Sunday. María Oviedo, a lawyer with the Permanent Commission on Human Rights in Nicaragua, said charges would be formally presented Monday. Among those arrested is Belgian-Nicaraguan student Amay Coppens, who was imprisoned for nearly a year for taking part in anti-government protests in 2018.