- PoliticsBusiness Insider
Trump reportedly picked his impeachment defense team based on how well he thinks they can perform on TV
REUTERS/Tom Brenner Trump reportedly picked his impeachment defense team based partly on their ability to defend him on television. CNN reports that Trump has told those close to him that he wants a "high profile" legal team that will perform well in televised appearances. Trump on Friday announced a legal team including long-time TV defender Alan Dershowitz, and former Clinton impeachment lawyer Kenneth Starr.
U.S.AFPKidnapped US teen rescued by police thanks to Snapchat
A California teen who had been drugged and kidnapped was rescued by police this week after using Snapchat to alert her friends to her abduction. Police said the 14-year-old victim on Tuesday notified friends she had been kidnapped via the popular app and they were able to determine her location and alert authorities. One man was arrested as he left the motel in San Jose, in northern California, where the girl was being held and two other suspects were taken into custody on Wednesday, police said in a statement.
- 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.
- WorldReuters
Gulf carriers fly over Iraq, Iran after military action deters others
Qatar Airways, Emirates and several other Gulf airlines still fly in Iraqi and Iranian airspace and to cities in both countries, even as other international carriers have rerouted planes since the United States and Iran traded military strikes. Executives and analysts said carriers in the Gulf, a major transit stop between European and Asian destinations, have few alternative routes to choose from in an area where much of the airspace is kept clear of civilian aircraft for military use. In the latest flare up, a U.S. drone strike killed a top general in Iraq on Jan. 3 and Iran fired missiles at U.S. targets in Iraq on Jan. 8.
- WorldThe National Interest
Japan Planned to Attack Pearl Harbor (Yes, Again)
Key point: Japan should not have antagonized America. At 7:45 AM on the morning of December 7, 1941 Commander Mitsuo Fuchida gazed exultantly from the rear seat of his B5N bomber at the serene vision of Pearl Harbor below him, it's defenses unprepared for the onslaught about to befall them. Upon returning safely to the deck of the carrier Akagi, he and classmate Commander Minoru Genda—the raid's mastermind—then urged Admiral Chuichi Nagumo to authorize a third wave to finish off the already crippled defenses.
- U.S.The Independent
Puerto Rico disaster agency boss sacked over discovery of unused Hurricane Maria supplies
The head of Puerto Rico's emergency agency has been sacked following the discovery of a warehouse filled with supplies dating back to Hurricane Maria. Governor Wanda Vazquez said the goods had sat unused since the September 2017 disaster, which killed an estimated 3,000 people. She ordered an investigation and described the inaction of Carlos Acevedo, the director of the office of emergency management (NMEAD), as “unacceptable”.
- SportsPopular Mechanics
The 25 Best PSP Games
Console-sized action. On-the-go goodness.From Popular Mechanics
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Supreme Court will hear case that could decide future presidential elections
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court entered the 2020 presidential fray Friday by agreeing to decide a threshold question before Election Day: Must the 538 members of the Electoral College vote for their states' winning candidates? Yes, the Supreme Court of Washington State ruled in May, upholding $1,000 fines against three Democratic electors who cast their votes in December 2016 for Colin Powell rather than Hillary Clinton, who had won the state a month earlier. No, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled in August, upholding the vote cast for Republican John Kasich rather than Clinton by a Democratic elector in Colorado.
- HealthINSIDER
Fewer Americans are binge-drinking, but those who do are drinking more per session
Voyagerix / Shutterstock Americans who drink heavily are now consuming more alcoholic drinks during each binge, according to a new study. Researchers found that binge-drinkers consumed 12% more alcohol per episode in 2017 than in 2011 — from an average of 479 drinks a year per person to 529. Heavy drinking, defined as 5 or more drinks for men and 4 or more for women in a single sitting, can increase the risk of stroke, heart disease, and liver damage.
- 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.
WorldAFPMore than 100 killed in Yemen missile, drone attack
More than 100 people were killed and dozens wounded in a missile and drone attack blamed on Huthi rebels in central Yemen, officials said Sunday. Saturday's strike follows months of relative calm in the war between the Iran-backed Huthis and Yemen's internationally recognised government, which is supported by a Saudi-led military coalition. The Huthis attacked a mosque in a military camp in the central province of Marib -- about 170 kilometres (105 miles) east of the capital Sanaa -- during evening prayers, military sources told AFP.
- U.S.Associated Press
Illegal crossings plunge as US extends policy across border
Adolfo Cardenas smiles faintly at the memory of traveling with his 14-year-old son from Honduras to the U.S.-Mexico border in only nine days, riding buses and paying a smuggler $6,000 to ensure passage through highway checkpoints. Father and son walked about 10 minutes in Arizona's stifling June heat before surrendering to border agents. Instead of being released with paperwork to appear in immigration court in Dallas, where Cardenas hopes to live with a cousin, they were bused more than an hour to wait in the Mexican border city of Mexicali.
- WorldReuters
Philippine military says 5 Indonesians kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf militants
The Philippine military on Sunday said it has launched search and rescue operations for five Indonesian fishermen kidnapped by militants belonging to the Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf group in Malaysian waters last week. Eight Indonesians were abducted in Sabah on Thursday. Three were released, while the remaining five were probably brought by their captors to the southern Philippine province of Sulu, said Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, chief of the military's Western Mindanao Command.
- WorldThe National Interest
What Can Iran Hope To Do Against America's Stealth Aircraft?
Key point: The need for stealth grew only more urgent in 2019 when an Iranian missile knocked an MQ-4C out of the sky. U.S. forces on deployment to the Middle East include F-15E fighter-bombers, F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters and B-52 bombers, among others. 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.
- 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.
- U.S.The Guardian
TSA issues apology to Native American woman who had braids pulled by agent
The federal Transportation Security Administration has apologized to a Native American woman who said an agent at Minneapolis-St Paul international airport “pulled her braids” and said “giddy up!” when she took a flight from there this week. “The agent said she needed to pat down my braids,” tweeted Tara Houska, an indigenous rights advocate and attorney. According to the Washington Post, women of color have long experienced problems at TSA checkpoints, because natural, braided or twisted hair prompt “flags” on security devices, spurring “more invasive screenings”.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Body of woman who was missing for almost 6 years found in car submerged in NJ river
SALEM, N.J. – A body found in a submerged car here Thursday was a New Jersey woman reported missing almost six years ago. Vanessa Smallwood, who was 46 at the time of her disappearance, was identified in a statement from New Jersey State Police. Smallwood was a Maple Shade resident, according to the statement.
- PoliticsYahoo News Video
Hillary Clinton urges people to vote, fearing 4 more years of Trump: ‘Lord knows what will happen’
Hillary Clinton pleaded for Democratic voters to be practical with their primary vote in the coming election this year. That's because, she argued, nothing could be worse than a second term for President Trump.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
Ex-Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line workers reveal the things they couldn't live without on board
The workers' former employers were Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, and American Cruise Lines. A cruise ship is an unusual work environment, keeping employees away from their homes for months at a time. Six former cruise-ship workers told Business Insider what they couldn't live without during their contracts.
- 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.
- WorldAssociated Press
Mexico blocks hundreds of migrants from crossing border span
Mexican authorities closed a border entry point in southern Mexico on Saturday after thousands of Central American migrants tried to push their way across a bridge spanning the Suchiate River between Mexico and Guatemala. Honduran migrants waved their country's flag and sang the national anthem as they approached the bridge. At the height of the confrontation, Guatemalan authorities estimated 2,500 migrants were on the bridge, or attempting to get on it.
- U.S.Reuters
Ten charred bodies found in vehicle in violence-plagued Mexican state
Mexican prosecutors are investigating the discovery of a burned-out vehicle containing the charred bodies of 10 people in the southwestern state of Guerrero, authorities said late on Friday. Police made the grisly discovery on a country road in the municipality of Chilapa de Alvarez after locals saw the vehicle on fire and alerted authorities, state security spokesman Roberto Alvarez said in a statement published on Facebook. The attorney general's office of Guerrero did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
- 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.
WorldAFPRainstorms douse bushfires across eastern Australia
Rain and thunderstorms doused long-burning bushfires across much of eastern Australia Saturday, but they also brought a new threat of flooding in some areas. Major bushfires continued to rage in regions of the south and southeast of the country that have so far missed out on the rain, including in wildlife-rich forests on Kangaroo Island off the southern coast. The fire service in New South Wales (NSW) state, the country's most populous and the hardest hit by the crisis, said 75 fires continued to burn Saturday, down from well over 100 a few days earlier.
- WorldBusiness Insider
Iran says it will examine the plane it shot down domestically — but a national air safety director admitted that the agency hasn't been able to open black boxes previously
Reuters An accident investigation director for the Iranian government told state media on Jan. 19 that the downed plane's black boxes will be examined domestically. That refutes a statement he made to state media the previous day — that Iran was unable to investigate the black box alone and that Iran would send the black box to Ukraine, where investigators from France, Canada, and the US would assist in the inspection. On Jan. 8, two missiles brought down Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752.
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