After Sondland bombshell, Democrats look to expand Trump probe to Pompeo, others

A senior Democratic aide said Democratic leaders are tightly focused on Trump, because of the clarity of his constitutional violations, and said veering off to investigating people like Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence could become a distraction. But the aide did not rule out looking at additional figures in the Ukraine scandal after Trump is impeached — the aide noted that Pelosi has not yet announced whether the House will vote on impeachment, although it is widely expected. Eliot Engel, the head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee — one of the three chairs running the original impeachment inquiry — said that Sondland's testimony had made Democrats reassess how to proceed.

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  In new Yahoo News/YouGov poll, most voters think Trump committed abuses; split on impeachment

  Yahoo News Video
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  The Atlantic Politics Daily: Family Matters

  The Atlantic

Exclusive: Acting Homeland Security chief Chad Wolf makes unannounced visit to privately funded border wall

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf made an unpublicized visit Wednesday to the site of a privately constructed border wall during his first official trip to the southern border, Yahoo News has confirmed. The stop at the half-mile stretch of crowdfunded steel bollard fencing, which was built without permits this spring on private land in Sunland Park, N.M., was not mentioned in a media advisory sent by the DHS press office ahead of Wolf's trip to El Paso, Texas, where he was slated to “participate in an operational tour of DHS facilities on the southwest border, meet with local DHS leadership, survey new border wall construction, and meet with state, local and community officials.

Russia 'ruined' Ukrainian naval vessels before handing them back, says Ukrainian navy

Three Ukrainian navy boats seized by Russia a year ago were vandalised before being handed back to Ukraine, the country's navy said. The fast gunboats Nikopol and Berdyansk and the tugboat Tany Kapu were welcomed by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and onlookers waving national flags arrived in Ochakiv, a Ukrainian naval port on the Black Sea on Wednesday evening. But Ukraine's navy said the vessels had been stripped bare and left so badly damaged that they had to be towed home by tug.

A man in India dressed up as a pilot and used his disguise to skip lines and get free upgrades, police say

Delhi Police The police arrested a man at a Delhi airport Monday who they say dressed up as a pilot and tried to use his status to get preferential treatment like free upgrades. Officers say Rajan Mahbubani tried to pass himself off as a Lufthansa pilot while getting on an AirAsia flight from Delhi to Kolkata. The police said Mahbubani had also previously impersonated an army colonel.

California Supreme Court Rejects Catholic Group’s Challenge to Rule Deeming Voluntary Abortions ‘Medically Necessary’

California's Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a Catholic women's organization's challenge to state health regulators' designation of voluntary abortions as “medically necessary” procedures that must be covered by state health care service plans. The California Department of Managed Health Care in 2014 sent letters to seven health care service plans directing them not to limit or exclude coverage for abortions, including those abortions that are not required to save the life of the mother. Since then, the Missionary Guadalupanas of the Holy Spirit have sought legal remedies to the rule, arguing that California flouted the Administrative Procedures Act by neglecting to give the rule a public hearing and comment period.

Military: 2 airmen killed in crash at Oklahoma base during training

Two airmen were killed Thursday in an accident involving two jets during the landing phase of a training exercise at a U.S. Air Force base in northwestern Oklahoma, a military official said.

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  Jet accident at Oklahoma base kills 2

  ABC News Videos
• The Latest: 2 airmen died while landing at Oklahoma base

  Associated Press

Daughter's 911 call for pizza was actually a domestic violence report. The dispatcher knew

When dispatcher Tim Teneyck answered the 911 call, he was confused by the caller's request: a pizza order. The incident led to a domestic violence arrest, and authorities in Oregon, Ohio, praised Teneyck for his quick thinking, which helped a woman and her mother who needed a discreet way to call for police assistance. "This dispatcher did a great job," Oregon Police Chief Michael Navarre said.

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  Why This Woman Pretended to Order Pizza When Calling 911 on Mom's Alleged Abuser

  Inside Edition CBS
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  Ohio Authorities Arrest Man For Domestic Violence After Victim's Daughter Calls 911 to 'Order Pizza'

  People

Google's Tour Builder Is a Great Way to Make Your Friends Hate You

Now you can create virtual tours of your annoying vacations. From Popular Mechanics

Ninth family member dies after Israeli strike: ministry

A Palestinian wounded in an Israeli strike that killed eight members of his family has died, the health ministry in the Hamas-run strip said on Friday. Mohammed Abu Malhous al-Sawarka, 40, succumbed after being wounded in "the massacre in which eight members of a family died when they were targeted in their homes," ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement. It said he was the brother of Rasmi Abu Malhous who was killed when his home was hit by an air strike on November 14.

Booker and Harris warn Dems: Electability doesn't just mean appealing to white voters

In poll after poll, it's what Democrats say they prize above all else: a nominee who can defeat Donald Trump. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, argued for the first time on the national stage that electability actually goes the other way, too, and that defining it solely as “white working-class appeal” could doom the Democratic Party next November. “The issue has to be, how are we going to win?” Harris said.

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  Cory Booker raises $650K after Democratic debate in Atlanta

  CBS News Videos
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  All The Key Moments From The November Democratic Debate (Spoiler: Women Won)

  Refinery29

Colorado District Closes All 46 Schools to Stop Spread of 'Extremely Contagious Virus'

The Mesa County Valley School District 51, which serves more than 22,000 students, plans to keep schools closed on Thursday and Friday and reopen after Thanksgiving, according to a statement from the school district. More than 3,400 students were absent this week, Emily Shockley, spokesperson for the school district tells TIME. Health officials said the main symptoms of the outbreak appear to be vomiting and diarrhea, with some individuals reporting a fever—but the effects appear to be short-lived with the illness hitting quickly and patients recovering quickly.

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  Mystery illness shuts down 46 schools in Colorado

  ABC News Videos
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  School district shuts down amid possible norovirus outbreak

  CBS News Videos

Attorney general unveils plan on missing Native Americans

Attorney General William Barr announced a nationwide plan Friday to address the crisis of missing and slain Native American women as concerns mount over the level of violence they face. Barr announced the plan, known as the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Initiative, during a visit with tribal leaders and law enforcement officials on the Flathead Reservation in Montana. Native American women experience some of the nation's highest rates of murder, sexual violence and domestic abuse.

Benjamin Netanyahu was just indicted on fraud and bribery charges, becoming the first Israeli prime minister to be indicted in office

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday was indicted on bribery, fraud, and breach of trust charges in three corruption cases. Netanyahu is accused of receiving gifts and positive news coverage in exchange for regulatory benefits from the government. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday was indicted on bribery, fraud, and breach of trust charges in three corruption cases, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced.

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  Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged in corruption cases

  WPVI – Philadelphia
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  Israeli PM Netanyahu defiant after corruption indictment

  AFP

Federal Judge Rules Covington Student’s $275M Libel Lawsuit against NBC May Proceed

Federal judge William Bertelsman on Thursday allowed Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann's $275 million libel lawsuit against NBCUniversal to move forward, rejecting the media company's attempt to have the suit dismissed in full even as he threw out parts of it. Sandmann, 16, sued NBC and other major news outlets in the aftermath of their coverage of a controversial interaction he and several of his classmates had with Native American activist Nathan Phillips near the Lincoln Memorial on January 18. Viral video of the incident showed Sandmann and Phillips standing face to face as Phillips loudly beat on a drum and Sandmann smirked from time to time.

Pot stocks soar as U.S. House committee clears bill on federal weed legalization

Shares of marijuana companies rose on Thursday after a U.S. congressional committee passed a legislation to decriminalize cannabis, taking it a step closer to being approved by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. The bill, which was passed 24 to 10 in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, sent shares of Canopy Growth , Aurora Cannabis , Aphria Inc and Tilray Inc up between 8% and 15%. "We think federal legalization would be a big positive for investor sentiment surrounding cannabis equities, which have been battered by oversupply and a steep price decline for the underlying commodity since becoming legal in Canada," said Garrett Nelso...

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  Cannabis stocks end 3-day rally as weak fundamentals come back in focus

  MarketWatch
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  Marijuana stocks get contact high from Congress

  Fox Business

Woman accused of encouraging boyfriend to kill himself releases last text message they sent

A 21-year-old woman accused of encouraging her boyfriend to kill himself has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter charges after publicly releasing the last text messages the pair sent to each other before his death. Ms You and her 22-year-old boyfriend Alexander Urtula exchanged more than 75,000 texts in the last two months of their relationship, prosecutors said, before he killed himself on 20 May — the day of his graduation from Boston College. Prosecutors described their relationship as toxic and abusive, and that Ms You would isolate Mr Urtula from his friends and constantly tell him to “go die” and “kill yourself”.

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  Prosecutor reveals vile language used in Boston College suicide case during arraignment

  ABC News
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  Texts read in court during woman's arraignment for boyfriend's suicide

  CBS News Videos

Putin honours 'hero' pilots for Russian corn field landing

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday bestowed the country's top state honour on two pilots who safely landed a plane carrying more than 230 people in a corn field after a bird strike. At a ceremony in the Kremlin, Putin handed pilot Damir Yusupov and co-pilot Georgy Murzin the Hero of Russia awards, praising the crew's courage and professionalism. "They were able to land the plane literally in an empty field and saved dozens of lives," Putin said.

Pelosi, White House Fail to Seal USMCA Deal in Crucial Meeting

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer made progress on but failed to seal a deal Thursday on the stalled U.S. Mexico Canada free trade agreement, increasing the likelihood the deal won't get a vote in Congress this year. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, the top negotiator on the pact, said he will continue talks with Lighthizer through next week when the House is in recess to maintain momentum on the final changes Democrats are seeking. “The conversation was spirited and it was candid,” Neal told reporters after the meeting.

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  Pelosi hints USMCA trade deal may not come up for vote by end of year

  FOX News Videos
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  House Democrats see progress on U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal, passage possible this year

  Reuters

Analysis: Lots of impeachment evidence but one thing missing

After two weeks of riveting public hearings in the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, there is a mountain of evidence that is now beyond dispute. Trump explicitly ordered U.S. government officials to work with his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani on matters related to Ukraine, a country deeply dependent on Washington's help to fend off Russian aggression. The Republican president pushed Ukraine to launch investigations into political rivals, leaning on a discredited conspiracy theory his own advisers disputed.

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  What has been learned so far in the impeachment public hearings and what comes next?

  USA TODAY
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  Quid pro quo or no? Voters react to public impeachment hearings

  FOX News Videos

Arrest made at Syracuse, chancellor bows to student demands as racist hate incidents continue

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Police Department has made an arrest after a series of new graffiti markings were discovered on school grounds, authorities said Thursday. The announcement came hours after Syracuse Chancellor Ken Syverud agreed to the demands of students protesting the university's handling of a two-week run of almost daily racist, anti-Semitic incidents that have prompted tension on the campus 250 miles north of New York City. Kym McGowan, 18, was arrested on charges of fourth-degree criminal mischief and marking graffiti, both misdemeanors, police said.

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  Syracuse University students demand action following string of 'hateful incidents'

  FOX News Videos
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  Security tightened as FBI investigates threats at Syracuse University

  ABC News Videos

Iran says 'world war' against it foiled; blames U.S., Saudi Arabia and Israel

Iran's Basij militia said unrest sparked by fuel price hikes amounted to a "world war" against Tehran that was thwarted, and blamed the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

20 of the Most Beautiful Bridges in the World

Designed by world-renowned architects such as Zaha Hadid and Santiago Calatrava, these bridges are travel destinations in their own right Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

Yes, America Is Using Stealth Drones to Spy on Iran

But as tensions escalate between the United States and its allies including Saudi Arabia on one hand, and Iran and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels on the other hand, it's worth considering what other American aircraft might be in the region. The Pentagon maintains an extensive surveillance system in the Persian Gulf region that includes satellites, drones and ground- and sea-based sensors. Iran's shoot-down of a U.S. Navy Global Hawk drone in June 2019 put a dent in this system.