- WorldYahoo News
Exclusive: The inside story of how the U.S. gave up a chance to kill Soleimani in 2007
One afternoon in Baghdad in the final months of 2007, a few members of a U.S. special operations task force were monitoring the feed from a Predator drone over the Iraqi capital, scanning for signs of trouble, when they spotted a large crowd gathering in the neighborhood of Sadr City. From their large, air-conditioned tent near Baghdad International Airport, the operators sprang into action. Sadr City was the dense, teeming home to 3 million mostly poor Shiites.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Steyer: U.S. reparations for slavery will help 'repair the damage'
Billionaire and presidential candidate Tom Steyer reiterated his support Wednesday for reparations for African-Americans suffering from the legacy of slavery. We would retell the story over the last 401 years so everybody understands not just the legalized, institutionalized injustice in racism — which is definitely a huge part of this story — but also the contribution of the African-American community,” Steyer said in an interview with Yahoo News' “Hot Mic With Brittany Shepherd. I don't think we can be the country that we want to be until we acknowledge the past and move to accept the mistakes this country made that are dramatic and obvious, and then repair the damage.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Graham praises Schiff on impeachment presentation: 'You're very well-spoken'
Walking out of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday night after the first day of opening arguments in the impeachment trial of President Trump, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., congratulated Adam Schiff, the lead manager for House Democrats, on his presentation of the case. “Good job,” Graham told Schiff. It was unusual praise coming from Graham, one of Trump's staunchest defenders in Congress.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Arizona mother admits killing her 3 children, police say
Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article gave the incorrect age of Rachel Henry's middle child. PHOENIX – The mother of three children found dead Monday night in a Phoenix home admitted killing them and has been arrested, Phoenix police officials said. Police identified the mother as Rachel Henry.
- WorldBusiness Insider
A University of Minnesota student was arrested in China and sentenced to 6 months in prison for tweeting cartoons making fun of President Xi Jingping
Luo Daiqing, 20, was arrested in Wuhan, China, in July after posting tweets critical of the government while he was studying in the US, according to court documents Axios obtained. The University of Minnesota student was sentenced to six months in prison in November. A University of Minnesota student was arrested in China and sentenced to six months in prison for posting tweets critical of the government, Axios reported Wednesday.
- U.S.The Independent
Ghislaine Maxwell: Hackers 'breached' computer belonging to Jeffrey Epstein associate, attorney says
Lawyers for the woman accused of procuring underage girls to have sex with Jeffrey Epstein told a judge that hackers “breached” her computer after a court failed to redact her email address in filings it released last year. Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyer Ty Gee said in a December letter to Judge Loretta A Preska that, “despite the Second Circuit's best efforts, it made serious mistakes” when redacting thousands of pages of records associated with a defamation lawsuit filed by one of Epstein's accusers, Virginia Giuffre. Ms Giuffre's 2015 lawsuit argued that Ms Maxwell publicly called her a liar for claiming that the British socialite approached her at the age of 15 and encouraged her to sleep with the convicted sex offender.
- PoliticsBloomberg
Nigeria Surprised by News of Possible U.S. Travel Restrictions
Nigeria's government was surprised by the news that the U.S. is considering travel restrictions on its citizens and the ban would mean officials will have to find new ways to meet with investors, Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed said. Nigeria is one of seven countries, more than half of which are in Africa, included in a list that may be affected if the Homeland Security Department's recommendation to expand restrictions is approved, according to a person familiar with the matter. President Donald Trump is reviewing it.
- WorldAssociated Press
Macron grows angry with Israeli security during church visit
French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday lost his temper with Israeli security agents during a visit to a French church in Jerusalem and angrily ordered one of them to leave the premises. The incident occurred during a spat between Israeli forces and Macron's own security detail as he entered the Church of St. Anne. The church, located in Jerusalem's Old City, is French state property and Macron did not want the Israeli guards leading him inside.
- ScienceReuters
Did asteroid that hit Australia help thaw ancient 'snowball Earth'?
Scientists have identified Earth's oldest-known impact crater, and in doing so may have solved a mystery about how our planet emerged from one of its most dire periods. Researchers have determined that the 45-mile-wide (70-km-wide) Yarrabubba crater in Australia formed when an asteroid struck Earth just over 2.2 billion years ago. The collision occurred at a time when the planet was believed to have been encased in ice and the impact may have driven climate warming that led to a global thaw.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoAdditional U.S. troops have been flown out of Iraq following Iranian missile attack
Additional U.S. troops have been flown out of Iraq for closer evaluation of potential concussion injuries from the Iranian missile attack of Jan. 8, U.S. defense officials said Tuesday.
- PoliticsNational Review
FISA Court Confirms Two Carter Page Surveillance Applications ‘Not Valid’
A FISA Court order declassified Thursday confirmed that the government had found two of the four FISA applications authorized for the FBI to surveil 2016 Trump-campaign adviser Carter Page to be “not valid,” and will further investigate the validity of the other two. Based on the ordering of the applications, it appears the review found the second and third renewal applications used against Page to be invalid, while the original application and the first renewal remain under investigation. The court also said it was still waiting on the Bureau after it “agreed 'to sequester all collection the FBI acquired pursuant to the Court's authorizations'” against Page, but so far has not provided an update.
- PoliticsThe Week
Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow says he'd advise the president not to attend his impeachment trial
President Trump may "love" the idea of attending his Senate impeachment trial, but his lawyer Jay Sekulow thinks he needs to sit this one out. While in Davos on Wednesday morning, Trump told reporters he thinks it would be great to watch the trial in person, sitting "right in the front row" so he can "stare into their corrupt faces." When asked about Trump's comments, Sekulow responded, "His counsel might recommend against that.
- LifestylePopular Mechanics
REI’s January Sale Offers 50% off Cold-Weather Outdoor Gear
Save big on Patagonia, The North Face, Columbia, and more of our favorite outdoor brands. From Popular Mechanics
- U.S.USA TODAY
Family attorneys say cruise line's story of toddler's death is 'physically impossible'
Attorneys representing the family of an Indiana toddler who fell to her death from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in July say their recent inspection of the scene proves the cruise line is lying to the court. Earlier this month, Royal Caribbean filed a motion to dismiss the civil case holding them responsible, claiming that Chloe Wiegand's death was solely caused by the "reckless and irresponsible" actions of her grandfather, Salvatore "Sam" Anello. The cruise line maintains that Anello was aware that the window Chloe fell from was open.
- U.S.Business Insider
The American Airlines flight attendant union is calling on US airlines to step up precautions for the deadly Wuhan coronavirus
VIVEK PRAKASH/AFP via Getty Images) The head of American Airlines' flight attendants union released on Thursday urged US airlines to buckle down and take "immediate emergency measures" to protect flight crews from the deadly coronavirus outbreak. "The health of our crew members and passengers is a top priority for us and we refuse to compromise their health or safety in any way," Lori Bassani, the president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), said in a statement. "I am urging American Airlines and all airlines to do everything humanly possible to contain the outbreak and minimize any chance of exposure."
- U.S.The Independent
Mother says she sang to her three children as she smothered them
A young mother in Arizona has reportedly told police that she killed her three children before placing them in the living room as if they were sleeping. Rachel Henry, 22, confessed that she smothered to death her three-year-old son, one-year-old daughter, and seven-month-old daughter at their home in Phoenix. Police were called to Henry's house at 24th Street and Southern Avenue on Monday evening, responding to a 911 call reporting an unspecified incident.
- WorldThe National Interest
Are North Korea's Vaunted Submarines Actually Any Good?
Each Romeo displaced 1,830 tons submerged, had a top speed of thirteen knots and was operated by a crew of fifty-four. The Romeo submarines were armed with eight standard-diameter 533-millimeter torpedo tubes, two facing aft. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was filmed touring and taking a short voyage on a Romeo-class submarine in 2014.
- U.S.Reuters
16 people under observation after contact with U.S. coronavirus patient
At least 16 people had close contact with a Washington state man diagnosed as the first U.S. case of the coronavirus and are being monitored for the illness that has killed 17 people in China and sickened hundreds more, local officials said. The patient, a 30-year-old man, is doing well and may be released from Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington in the near future, the hospital's chief medical officer Jay Cook told a press conference. None of the people who were in close contact with the patient have displayed symptoms of the flu-like illness, said John Wiesman, secretary of health for Washington State.
- WorldINSIDER
The brazen (and careless) Russian assassination team behind the Salisbury poisonings has been spotted in Europe, again
PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA New images have been published of the Russian GRU assassination team working in Europe. A video from a case in Bulgaria shows a man connected to the 2015 poisoning of an arms dealer. The suspects in the Bulgarian poisoning are believed to be part of the same Russian unit that conducted the poison attack on Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England.
- WorldNational Review
Alarmists Were Wrong about the Soleimani Strike
Two weeks ago, the United States seemed on the brink of starting another war in the Middle East after a drone strike killed Iran's most notorious spymaster, Qasem Soleimani, as he departed an international airport in Baghdad. It is true that Iran launched a missile attack into U.S. bases in Iraq, but the attack was merely symbolic. As Iraqi officials revealed the following day, Iran had informed them of an imminent attack on U.S. bases, a message that the Iraqis promptly and predictably passed on to the Americans.
- WorldBloomberg
Man in Mexico Now Ill After Visiting Coronavirus Ground Zero
A man who fell ill in Mexico on Monday following a December trip to Wuhan, China, is under observation as a potential case of the coronavirus, the respiratory virus that has killed at least 17 people worldwide. The 57-year-old molecular biology professor works for the Instituto Politecnico Nacional university in the city of Reynosa, which borders with the U.S. The man returned to Mexico on Jan. 10 through a Mexico City airport and then flew to the state of Tamaulipas, Mexican authorities said. Tamaulipas State Health Minister Gloria Molina said in a radio interview that the man immediately reported his situation to authorities after feeling sick.
- U.S.Associated Press
Fifth condemned Tennessee inmate opts for the electric chair
A Tennessee inmate has chosen the electric chair for his scheduled execution next month, opting like four other inmates in little more than a year for electrocution over the state's preferred execution method of lethal injection. Nicholas Sutton, 58, is scheduled to be put to death Feb. 20 for the stabbing death of a fellow inmate decades ago while serving a life sentence for his grandmother's slaying. An affidavit signed on Tuesday said he waives the right to be executed by lethal injection and chooses electrocution.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Smugglers tried to bring 3,700 invasive crabs through the Port of Cincinnati
CINCINNATI – U.S. Customs and Border Protection says its agriculture specialists at the Port of Cincinnati have stopped 51 shipments of invasive mitten crabs from being smuggled into the country over the past four months. The shipments containing 3,700 of the live crabs weighed about 3,400 pounds, originated in China and Hong Kong and were destined for businesses and homes in multiple states – mostly New York, a CBP press release said. Nationwide, CBP agriculture specialists and others have refused entry to more than 15,000 mitten crabs since September.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
These 9 Dining Chairs Are Sculptural, Surprising, and Downright Sleek
The best chairs earn their place at the table Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsYahoo News VideoPresidential candidate Tom Steyer: ‘I’m for reparations’
On Yahoo News' “Hot Mic with Brittany Shepherd,” Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer spoke about race and reparations, saying that if he were elected to office, “I would start a commission on race on day one.
