- PoliticsYahoo News
Biden shows his tough side in Iowa and in attack ad: 'You're a dаmn liar'
Joe Biden came out swinging on the campaign trail this week, calling out a hostile questioner as a “damn liar” and rolling out a campaign ad meant to hit Donald Trump where it hurts him most — his ego. After enduring criticism about his measured response to Republican charges that he was implicated in a corrupt scheme to promote his son Hunter's business interests in Ukraine, Biden confronted a voter in Iowa who parroted that claim. “You're a damn liar, man,” Biden snapped at an attendee at a rally in New Hampton who accused him of landing his son a seat on the board of the energy company Burisma Holdings to profit from his position in the Obama administration.
- NewsBusiness Insider
19 unforgettable images from the Pearl Harbor attack 78 years ago
The devastating Japanese attack began Sunday at 7:48 a.m., eventually killing 2,402 Americans and wounding many others, sinking four battleships and damaging many more. The Pearl Harbor attack spurred America into World War II. Here are photographs from the attack and its immediate aftermath. December 7, 1941 began as a perfect Sunday morning for the troops serving the US fleet at Pearl Harbor.
WorldAFPWeak Arctic ice sees 56 polar bears descend on Russian village
More than 50 polar bears have gathered on the edge of a village in Russia's far north, environmentalists and residents said, as weak Arctic ice leaves them unable to roam. The Russian branch of the World Wildlife Fund said climate change was to blame, as unusually warm temperatures prevented coastal ice from forming. The WWF said 56 polar bears had gathered in a one-square-kilometre (0.4-square-mile) area near the village of Ryrkaipy in Chukotka on the northeastern tip of Russia.
- BusinessThe National Interest
The U.S. Navy Will Need a New Stealth '6th-Generation' Fighter After the F-35
The U.S. Navy will need a new “sixth-generation” warplane eventually to follow the F-35C stealth fighter that's just beginning to enter service. The Navy in February 2019 declared its first front-line F-35C squadron “ready for flight.” Strike-Fighter Squadron 147, based in California, in 2021 is slated to embark on the aircraft carrier USS Vinson for the type's first deployment. The fleet aims to integrate a 10-plane F-35C squadron into each of its nine carrier air wings, which embark on the 11 Ford- and Nimitz-class carriers.
- WorldAssociated Press
Hong Kong police sound alarm over homemade explosives
Hong Kong's much-maligned police force provided a rare behind-the-scenes look Friday at its bomb disposal squad to show the potentially deadly destructive force of homemade explosives seized during months of protests that have shaken the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. In a demonstration for media cameras, the bomb squad set off a series of controlled explosions in a disused quarry overlooking the city's high-rise skyline, blowing up a watermelon and shredding the front of a minivan. In July, police announced the seizure of about 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of TATP, which has been used in militant attacks worldwide.
- WorldReuters
UPDATE 8-Indian police kill 4 men suspected of rape, murder, drawing applause and concern
Indian police shot dead four men on Friday who were suspected of raping and killing a 27-year-old veterinarian near Hyderabad city, an action applauded by her family and many citizens outraged over sexual violence against women. The men had been in police custody and were shot dead near the scene of last week's crime after they snatched weapons from two of the 10 policemen accompanying them, said police commissioner V.C. Sajjanar. Thousands of Indians have protested in several cities over the past week following the veterinarian's death, the latest in a series of horrific cases of sexual assault in the country.
- NewsNational Review
Virginia Commission Calls for Repeal of ‘Explicitly Racist’ and ‘Segregationist’ Laws
A Virginia state commission released a report Thursday calling for the official repeal of “deeply troubling” state laws still on the books that contain “explicitly racist language and segregationist policies. The Commission to Examine Racial Inequity in Virginia Law published a lengthy report saying that the outdated laws should not “remain enshrined in law” despite no longer being in effect. The commission believes that such vestiges of Virginia's segregationist past should no longer have official status,” the report states.
- BusinessBloomberg
Michael Bloomberg Responds to Criticism He's Trying to Buy Election
Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg responded to criticism from Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and other rivals that he's trying to buy the election by self-financing his campaign, saying they had the same opportunity in life to build up a fortune as he did. The former New York mayor said in an interview on “CBS This Morning” that he didn't come from a wealthy family and earned his money by building up his business. He said his rivals, too, “had a chance to go out and make a lot of money.
- NewsThe Guardian
Two school shootings a day apart: Wisconsin reckons with impact of armed guards
Shootings a day apart at two high schools in Wisconsin have shaken the state and sparked a renewed debate over how to combat violence in American schools. An Oshkosh police department resource officer shot a 16-year-old student Tuesday after the boy stabbed him in the officer's office at Oshkosh West high school. A day earlier, a resource officer at Waukesha South high school helped clear students out of a classroom after a 17-year-old student pointed a pellet gun at another student's head.
- PoliticsThe Week
Former Trump housekeepers revealed some of his odd habits involving Tic Tacs, soap, and straws
It's no secret President Trump has some peculiar habits. Several undocumented workers who spoke to The Washington Post about their time employed by the Trump organization's properties in Florida, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia, provided a closer look at some of his stranger practices, to which they attended. For starters, he reportedly needed two full containers of white Tic Tacs in his bedroom bureau at all times, along with — for some reason — a container that was half full.
WorldYahoo News VideoPakistan pulls back on prosecuting Chinese sex traffickers
Pakistan has declined to pursue a sprawling case against Chinese sex traffickers due to fears it would harm economic ties with Beijing, the AP reported on Wednesday. Pakistan has been seeking closer ties with China for years as Beijing continue to make major investments in the country's infrastructure.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
Tesla changed the release dates for the most and least expensive versions of the Cybertruck by a year
Tesla has changed the production timelines for the most and least expensive trims of its Cybertruck pickup truck. It said production for the three-motor, all-wheel-drive Cybertruck, which starts at $69,900, would begin in 2021, a year earlier than Tesla first announced. The single-motor, rear-wheel-drive Cybertruck, which starts at $39,900, will enter production in late 2022, a year later than its original timeline, Tesla said.
- BusinessThe National Interest
Double the Fighters: Why Japan Wants Domestic F-3s and the F-35
In February 2019, Japan turned heads with its decision to proceed with the development of an indigenous stealth fighter jet. This came in the wake of the decision to purchase more than one hundred American F-35 jets, and the supposed cancellation of the Japanese X-2 stealth fighter prototype in 2018. The Japanese Ministry of Defense announced the move to develop the new fighter, currently named Future Fighter or F-3 as part of their Mid-Term Defense Program (MTDP) that lays out modernization and procurement decisions for the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) for the next ten years.
- NewsAssociated Press
Tennessee high court rules against paper in defamation case
The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a newspaper cannot use the state's fair report privilege law as a shield against a defamation lawsuit for a story that was based on a one-on-one interview with a police detective. The case concerns Jeffery Burke, who was accused in 2013 of stealing money from a White County football team's cookie dough fundraiser. The original trial court judge found that the story fell under Tennessee's fair report privilege, a law that shields reporters from defamation suits when they report fairly and accurately on an official action or proceeding, even if that information turns out to be inaccurate.
- NewsUSA TODAY
4 dead after hijacked UPS truck leads police on high-speed chase in Florida, FBI says
Four people died in a shootout Thursday after jewelry robbers stole a UPS truck and led Florida police on a high-speed chase, the FBI said. The truck driver, a bystander and both suspects were killed in Miramar, about 20 miles from the site of the initial robbery, FBI Special Agent in Charge George Piro said during a news conference. Police in Coral Gables responded to the robbery at a Regent Jewelers store shortly after 4 p.m., Chief Ed Hudak said, and were met with gunfire from two suspects.
- WorldReuters
Hungary's government plans to tighten control over theaters
Hungary's nationalist government plans to tighten control over theaters, in a move critics said could undermine their independence and stifle artistic freedom. According to draft legislation seen by Reuters on Friday, the government would set up a National Cultural Council, headed by a minister, with the task of "setting priorities and directions to be followed in Hungarian culture". Since Prime Minister Viktor Orban won power in 2010, his right-wing Fidesz party has rewritten Hungary's constitution, gained control of state media, and businessmen close to Orban and the party have built empires.
- EntertainmentPopular Mechanics
The 25 Best Sci-Fi Movies on Netflix Right Now
Rouge robots, deep space planets, and a voice assistant love story. From Popular Mechanics
WorldAFPSix months of sacrifice: Hong Kong's protesters take stock
With Beijing taking a hard line, it has since broadened into a call to halt authoritarian China's attempts to erode freedoms in the city. Protesters broke into the forecourt of the city's legislative building, throwing objects including metal bars at police. Officers responded with rubber bullets, bean bag rounds and tear gas against their aggressors, but then turned their weapons on the huge, peaceful crowds outside the complex, igniting anger that has fuelled the protests for months.
- PoliticsNational Review
FBI Failed to Inform FISA Court that Steele Dossier was Unreliable: Report
The Justice Department's inspector general has concluded that the FBI omitted crucial details in its requests for warrants to surveil Trump campaign associate Carter Page, saying the agency neglected to mention that some of the information the warrant applications were based on was shaky. Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's yet unpublished draft report found that the FBI did not inform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that the controversial Steele dossier, cited in applications to spy on Page, was unreliable, according to the Washington Post. The dossier was compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele who was investigating Donald Trump for an opposition research firm hired by the Hillary Clinton campaign.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoEmployee shot at a Virginia post office
Authorities say a postal worker has been shot at a northern Virginia post office by an agent for the Postal Service's Inspector General's office. News outlets report that it happened Wednesday morning at the parking lot of the Lovettsville post office in Loudoun County.
- NewsBusiness Insider
As smartphones became more popular, more people were sent to the hospital after dropping their phones on themselves, study finds
The number of cellphone-related head and neck injuries is on the rise, according to a new study. The injuries were evenly split between direct injuries, like someone dropping a phone on themselves, and use-associated injuries, which include injuries that result from being distracted by a phone. Americans are increasingly distracted by our smartphones — and that distraction is taking a toll on our health, according to a new study.
- WorldThe National Interest
Missile Shield: Romania Now Has America's Aegis Ashore
Key point: Washington has wanted to expand NATO's anti-missile capabilities for a while now. A key NATO missile-defense site in Romania on Aug. 9, 2019 completed a three-month upgrade process that had forced operators to take the system offline. To fill the resulting gap in coverage, the U.S. Army in May 2019 deployed to Romania one of its seven Terminal High-Altitude Area-Defense missile-interceptor batteries.
- NewsAssociated Press
Report: Investigators ask about Illinois House leader
The longest-serving state House speaker in modern American history is a subject of inquiries in an ongoing federal corruption investigation that has already entangled several top Illinois Democrats, according to a newspaper report published Thursday. Four people interviewed by investigators told the Chicago Tribune that FBI agents and prosecutors asked about Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan's ties to ComEd lobbyists, contracts the utility had with Madigan associates and government jobs those close to Madigan have landed. The Tribune did not name the four people and did not offer any additional details about them, including whether they themselves were former Madigan confidants.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Indian rape victim set ablaze by gang of men on her way to court as outrage grows over violence against women
A 23-year-old rape victim is in critical condition after being set on fire by a group of men, including two of her alleged rapists, as she made her way to court in northern India on Thursday. It came after thousands took to the streets of several cities on Monday to protest the brutal rape and murder of a 27-year-old vet in Hyderabad and called for the rape cases to be fast-tracked and for rapists to be given tougher punishments. A June 2018 survey of 550 experts on women's issues by the Thomson Reuters Foundation found India was the worst country in the world for sexual violence against women.
- WorldReuters
Azerbaijan plants 650,000 trees to celebrate poet - but green activists grumble
TBILISI, Dec 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Oil-rich Azerbaijan planted more than half a million trees on Friday to celebrate a 14th century poet, an initiative the government said would help tackle climate change but some environmental activists called "a waste of money". The Azeri ministry of ecology said 650,000 trees were being planted across the country to mark the 650th anniversary of the birth of Seyid Imadeddin Nesimi, whose work touched on the relation between man and nature. The campaign) will have a positive impact on further greening of our country, reducing the effects of global climate change, as well as absorbing carbon dioxide, the ministry said in a statement.
