- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Can senators who have already voiced opinions do 'impartial justice' at Trump impeachment trial?
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, has said she's ready to convict President Donald Trump at his impeachment trial that starts next week. On Thursday, they joined the chamber's 98 other senators in taking a constitutionally required oath "to do impartial justice according to the Constitutions and laws" in the impeachment trial of Trump over his attempts to get Ukraine to publicly investigate political rival Joe Biden.
WorldAFPPainting found in Italian museum wall is stolen Klimt
A painting found stashed inside a wall at an Italian museum has been confirmed as the stolen "Portrait of a Lady" by Austria's Gustav Klimt, prosecutors said on Friday, two decades after the artwork went missing. The century-old painting was discovered concealed in an external wall by gardeners at the Ricci Oddi Gallery of Modern Art in Piacenza, northeast Italy, last month. The museum estimates that the 55-by-65-centimetre (21-by-26-inch) expressionist work could be worth between 60 and 100 million euros ($67-111 million), but notes the difficulty in estimating the work as it has never been sold on the market.
- U.S.Associated Press
Discovery of unused disaster supplies angers Puerto Rico
People in a southern Puerto Rico city discovered a warehouse filled with water, cots and other unused emergency supplies, then set off a social media uproar Saturday when they broke in to retrieve goods as the area struggles to recover from a strong earthquake. With anger spreading in the U.S. territory after video of the event in Ponce appeared on Facebook, Gov. Wanda Vázquez quickly fired the director of the island's emergency management agency. The governor said she had ordered an investigation after learning the emergency supplies had been piled in the warehouse since Hurricane Maria battered Puerto Rico in September 2017.
- U.S.Yahoo News Video
Woman pleads guilty to killing husband by putting eye drops in his water
A South Carolina woman pleaded guilty to fatally poisoning her husband by putting eye drops in his water for days. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
- U.S.INSIDER
The TSA apologized after an agent pulled a Native American passenger's braid and said "giddyup!" during a pat down
Molly Riley/Reuters Native American woman Tara Houska says a TSA agent grabbed her braids, whipped them like reins and said "giddyup" while she was going through security at the Minneapolis airport on Monday. A TSA official apologized to Houska for the incident, and released a statement saying "improper behavior is taken seriously" by the agency. The Transportation Security Administration was forced to issue an apology on Tuesday after a Native American woman described on Twitter a humiliating experience going through security at the Minneapolis-St.
- BusinessReuters
After India's Amazon snub, Modi's party slams Bezos-owned Washington Post
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party on Friday slammed editorial policies of billionaire Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post, even as his e-commerce firm Amazon announced plans to create a million jobs in the country by 2025. Vijay Chauthaiwale, chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) foreign affairs department, said there was "a lot of problem" with the newspaper's coverage of India, but gave no examples. The swipe at the Post came a day after a cabinet minister gave short shrift to Amazon's investment plans for India.
- WorldThe National Interest
Revealed: The Secrets Behind Russia's Crazy 100-Megaton Nuclear Torpedo
On November 10, 2015, Russian media accidentally-on-purpose revealed a glimpse into the Kremlin's new underwater weapon—the "Kanyon" or Status-6 nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed drone. The Kanyon UUV (unmanned underwater vehicle) as described and illustrated is a very, very large torpedo almost eighty feet long and five feet in diameter. Fitted with a monstrous 100-megaton nuclear warhead and propelled by a nuclear power plant, Kanyon is designed to create radioactive tsunamis in ports and coastal areas.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Delta plane slides off taxiway amid winter storm; airlines issue travel advisories into weekend
Airlines are issuing travel waivers due to a winter storm headed for much of the U.S. this weekend – and at least one airport has experienced issues after a plane slid off the taxiway. Delta flight 1114 headed to Detroit slid off the taxiway at Kansas City International Airport in Missouri, according to Joe McBride, marketing manager for the airport. "Passengers were safely offloaded and bused to Terminal B. Crews will remove the aircraft sometime today," he said in a tweet.
- U.S.Business Insider
USS Abraham Lincoln shatters US Navy's record for longest post-Cold War carrier deployment with 10-month around-the-world tour
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Zachary Pearson/ReleasedShortly after the deployment began, the powerful armada sailed through the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean, at one point sending a message to Russia in joint operations with the USS John C. Stennis. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jeremiah Bartelt On May 5, plans unexpectedly changed. The Trump administration ordered the Lincoln to the Middle East to send an "unmistakable message" to Iran.
- PoliticsNational Review
The Hole in the Impeachment Case
Thought experiment No. 1: Suppose Bob Mueller's probe actually proves that Donald Trump is under Vladimir Putin's thumb. Fill in the rest of the blanks with your favorite corruption fantasy: The Kremlin has video of the mogul-turned-president debauching himself in a Moscow hotel; the Kremlin has a bulging file of real-estate transfers through which Trump laundered racketeering proceeds for Putin's favored mobsters and oligarchs; or Trump is recorded cutting a deal to drop Obama-era sanctions against Putin's regime if Russian spies hack Democratic accounts. Thought experiment No. 2: Adam Schiff is not a demagogue.
WorldAFPTaliban aim to sign deal with US by end of month: report
The Taliban are aiming to reach a withdrawal agreement with the US by the end of January and are prepared to "scale down" military operations ahead of signing the deal, according to their chief spokesman. The statement by Suhail Shaheen to Pakistani daily Dawn comes as the group and the US held discussions in Doha this week, after insurgent sources told AFP they had offered to initiate a brief ceasefire. "We have agreed to scale down military operations in days leading up to the signing of the peace agreement with the United States," Shaheen told Dawn in a report published Saturday.
- U.S.Associated Press
ICE ups ante in standoff with NYC: 'This is not a request'
Federal authorities are turning to a new tactic in the escalating conflict over New York City's so-called sanctuary policies, issuing four “immigration subpoenas” to the city for information about inmates wanted for deportation. This is not a request — it's a demand,” Henry Lucero, a senior U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official, told The Associated Press. This is a last resort for us.
- U.S.The Independent
Groom accused of sexually assaulting teenage waitress at wedding spared jail
A man accused of sexually assaulting a woman at his own wedding reception pleaded guilty to misdemeanours after more serious charges against the New Jersey groom were dropped, keeping him out of prison. In a Pennsylvania court on Thursday, 32-year-old newlywed Matthew Aimers received six years of probation as part of a plea agreement on misdemeanour charges of simple assault, indecent exposure and disorderly conduct during his November 2018 reception. Charges of indecent assault, imprisonment of a minor and harassment were dropped.
- BusinessINSIDER
An ISIS preacher captured in Iraq was apparently so overweight that police had to take him away in the back of a pickup truck
Twitter/AliBaroodi A well-known ISIS preacher was captured by Iraqi police, but he was apparently so overweight he had to be taken away in the back of a truck. Police said he incited extremist ideology and pledged allegiance to ISIS during their control of Mosul. Pictures posted to social media appear to show al-Nima being put in the back of a pickup truck by Iraqi forces.
- WorldReuters
'You have not seen anything yet,' climate activist Greta says ahead of Davos
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg marched with 10,000 protesters in the Swiss city of Lausanne on Friday and said "you have not seen anything yet" before some head to Davos next week to challenge the global financial elite to fight climate change. "So, we are now in a new year and we have entered a new decade and so far, during this decade, we have seen no sign whatsoever that real climate action is coming and that has to change,” Thunberg said in a speech in Lausanne. Hundreds will take trains over the weekend and then march to Klosters near Davos, the annual gathering of world political and business leaders that Thunberg is attending for the second year in a row and will take part in two panel events.
- WorldThe National Interest
What Can Iran Hope To Do Against America's Stealth Aircraft?
Iran's shoot-down of a U.S. Navy Global Hawk drone in June 2019 put a dent in this system. But it's possible that other, stealthier drones complement the high-flying but non-stealthy Global Hawks. In 2010, the U.S. Air Force surveyed an airbase in the United Arab Emirates for the deployment of RQ-170 Sentinel stealth spy drones.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Remains of fallen paratrooper return home to Fort Bragg
The remains of a U.S. Army paratrooper arrived back in Fort Bragg on Saturday, a week after he died in Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. Ian McLaughlin, 29, of Newport News, Virginia, was killed Jan. 11 by an improvised explosive device. Miguel Angel Villalon, 21, of Joliet, Illinois, was killed in the same incident.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Rain douses some Australian bush fires but flash floods now threaten wildlife
Heavy rains in fire-ravaged eastern Australia have brought welcome relief for firefighters and farmers, but sparked flash floods that have led to fresh scrambles to save native animals. As the rain hit on Thursday the New South Wales State Emergency Services department warned that the sudden heavy downpours in some areas would bring flash flooding, falling trees and landslides where the fires have wiped out vegetation. On Friday, the warnings were realised when flash floods hit the Australia Reptile Park on the NSW east coast, and the state's koalas - having lost thousands of their number and huge swathes of their habitat - needed to be rescued again as floods thundered down fire-blasted hills empty of vegetation.
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
Text messages show Devin Nunes' aide had extensive communications with Giuliani associate Lev Parnas about Trump's Ukraine efforts
AP Photo/Susan Walsh House Democrats released a tranche of previously undisclosed text messages on Friday night between an associate of Rudy Giuliani's and an aide to the top-ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. The records show that Parnas, who Rudy Giuliani used to communicate with Ukrainian officials, texted with Rep. Devin Nunes' aide, Derek Harvey, extensively throughout 2019. The messages provide key new evidence that Nunes' team was aware of and involved in Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden.
WorldAFP220 wounded as Lebanon protesters clash with police
Clashes between police and Lebanese protesters wounded more than 220 people on both sides Saturday in the highest such tally in three months of anti-establishment demonstrations. The sound of ambulance sirens rang out across Beirut as the Red Cross reported 80 wounded had been taken to hospital and 140 more were treated on site. The protest movement rocking Lebanon since October 17 revived this week as a deepening economic crisis increases pressure to form a new government.
- WorldAssociated Press
Town on edge in Colombia after 5 killed, 2 vehicles burned
A remote town was on edge Friday after at least five people were found shot to death, highlighting Colombia's struggle to bring peace to rural areas where drug crops are abundant and illegal armed groups are active. The killings happened overnight in an isolated part of the Jamundi municipality in southwestern Colombia and also left two vehicles incinerated, officials said. It was the third massacre in Jamundi in the past year.
BusinessAFPOff-duty Hong Kong police officer arrested for supporting protests
An off-duty Hong Kong police officer was arrested along with seven other people on Friday as they tried to put pro-democracy posters on a footbridge, police said. It's the first known case of a police officer being apprehended for supporting the massive demonstrations that have led to more than 6,500 arrests in the past seven months. The officer, 31, and the seven other people aged 14 to 61, were arrested at 3:00 am on Friday in Tuen Mun, a district in northwest Hong Kong.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Meghan McCain: McSally ‘Didn’t Earn’ the Senate Seat She Inherited From My Dad
The View's Meghan McCain took some shots at Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) on Friday after the lawmaker personally insulted a CNN reporter, pointing out that McSally didn't “earn” the Senate seat she was appointed to after McCain's father died. After CNN senior congressional correspondent Manu Raju attempted to ask McSally whether the Senate should consider new evidence in the impending impeachment trial, the Arizona senator snapped at Raju: “You're a liberal hack—I'm not talking to you.” McSally, meanwhile, quickly seized upon the instantly viral moment to fundraise for her tight election race before predictably appearing on Fox News to do a victory lap. Discussing the incident on Friday's broadcast of the ABC talk show, the View hosts noted that Raju's question was “very reasonable” and that the lawmaker also refused to answer it when asked by Fox News' Laura Ingraham during a chummy Thursday night interview.
- PoliticsReuters
U.S. Supreme Court takes up presidential Electoral College dispute
As the 2020 race heats up, the Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear a dispute involving the complex U.S. presidential election system focusing on whether Electoral College electors are free to break their pledges to back the candidate who wins their state's popular vote, an act that could upend an election. The Supreme Court will take up appeals in two cases - from Washington state and Colorado - involving electors who decided to vote in the Electoral College process for someone other than Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 even though she won the popular vote in their states.
- WorldThe National Interest
China Thinks It Can Nuke American Cities. Should We Worry?
Key Point: Despite the developments related above, the balance of opinion in Beijing seems impressively moderate on the prospects for a major nuclear buildup by China. When one reads enough Chinese naval literature, diagrams of multi-axial cruise missile saturation attacks against aircraft carrier groups may begin to seem normal. Targets include the biggest cities on the East and West Coasts, as well as in the Midwest, as one would expect.
What to Read Next
PHOTOS: Ukraine International Airlines plane crashes in Iran killing all on board
Yahoo News Photo Staff