- PoliticsYahoo News
Democrats pounce as Trump says he would consider cuts to Social Security and Medicare
While much of the nation was focused on Donald Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate, the president gave an interview in Davos, Switzerland, that undercut one of his key pledges from his 2016 campaign, declaring his intention to “take a look” at cutting benefits to entitlement programs, such as Social Security and Medicare. Asked by CNBC host Joe Kernen whether he would ever consider cutting entitlements, Trump, who had run on a promise to protect Social Security and Medicare, didn't rule it out. At some point they will be.
U.S.USA TODAY'His intention was to kill everyone in the home except himself': Utah boy, 16, charged with killing mother, 3 siblings
A 16-year-old was charged Wednesday with killing his mother and three siblings in a chilling case that appears to be Utah's largest mass shooting in 13 years, prosecutors said. Colin Jeffery "CJ" Haynie will be tried as an adult and could face up to life in prison in the quadruple homicide, Tooele County Attorney Scott Broadhead said. Haynie has refused to speak with authorities and investigators have yet to determine a motive, he said.
- PoliticsBloomberg
Biden Holds Onto National Lead in New Poll
Joe Biden is holding onto his lead among Democratic voters according to a national Monmouth University poll out Wednesday. Among registered voters, Biden carried 30% followed by Bernie Sanders with 23% and Elizabeth Warren with 14% less than two weeks before the first voters weigh in. Patrick Murray, director of Monmouth University's Polling Institute, says the national numbers have remained stagnant but there's room for upset after the first caucus and primary.
- 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.
- WorldAssociated Press
Firefighting plane crashes in Australia, killing 3 Americans
Three American firefighting airplane crew members were killed Thursday when the C-130 Hercules aerial water tanker they were in crashed while battling wildfires in southeastern Australia, officials said. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed the deaths in the state's Snowy Monaro region, which came as Australia grapples with an unprecedented fire season that has left a large swath of destruction. Canada-based Coulson Aviation said in a statement that one of its Lockheed large air tankers was lost after it left Richmond in New South Wales with retardant for a firebombing mission.
- WorldReuters
U.S.-Israeli woman jailed in Russia has not yet sought pardon: Kremlin
The Kremlin said on Friday that the possible release of Naama Issachar, a U.S.-Israeli woman jailed in Russia on drug charges, was being held up because she had not yet formally asked to be granted a pardon. Israel has called on Russia to release Issachar, who was sentenced by a Russian court to seven-and-a-half years in jail for drug offences in October. During a trip to Israel on Thursday, President Vladimir Putin told Issachar's mother that "everything will be okay" for her daughter.
- U.S.CBS News
Utah bans LGBTQ conversion therapy for minors
In November, Utah Governor Gary Herbert proposed a new rule to ban conversion therapy for LGBTQ minors in the state. The passing of the ban was reliant on support of the influential Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which opposes same-sex relationships but preaches kindness towards members of the LGBTQ community. The Mormon Church gave its support only after the ban was amended to include certain exceptions for clergy who offer religious counsel, though the church stressed that it opposes conversion therapy.
- WorldThe National Interest
See This Nuke? Meet the Most Destructive Nuclear Bomb Ever Made By Man
Maj. Andrei Durnovtsev, a Soviet air force pilot and commander of a Tu-95 Bear bomber, holds a dubious honor in the history of the Cold War. Durnovtsev flew the aircraft that dropped the most powerful nuclear bomb ever. It had an explosive force of 50 megatons, or more than 3,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima weapon.
WorldAFPNo qualms for India's hangman before first job of executing rapists
Pawan Kumar feels zero sympathy for the four men he is due to hang next month for a 2012 gang rape and murder that appalled India. "The people who are going to die are like beasts, not humans," the third-generation hangman and father-of-seven told AFP in his tiny flat in the northern town of Meerut. The group set to meet their demise before dawn on February 1 -- although it may be delayed -- were convicted for a brutal crime against Jyoti Singh, a 23-year-old student.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows two-thirds of voters want the Senate to call new impeachment witnesses
Nearly two-thirds of registered voters (63 percent) agree with Democrats that the Senate should call new witnesses to testify during President Trump's impeachment trial, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll. Only 26 percent of voters disagree. Conducted on Jan. 21 and 22 as the Senate trial was getting underway, the poll suggests that broad majorities of Americans side with Democrats in the pitched partisan battle over whether new witnesses should be allowed to testify or whether they should be blocked, as Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has maintained.
- U.S.National Review
White Nationalists Arrested ahead of Richmond Rally Planned to Kill Gun-Rights Demonstrators to Spark Civil War
Three alleged members of a white supremacist group were plotting to murder demonstrators at Monday's gun rights rally at the Virginia Capitol before they were arrested by the FBI last week, according to court documents. The men were caught discussing their plans on a hidden camera set up in their Delaware apartment by FBI agents. “We can't let Virginia go to waste, we just can't,” said Patrik J. Mathews, one member of the hate group “the Base” that promotes violence against African-Americans and Jews.
- 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.
- WorldBusiness 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."
WorldYahoo News VideoSuccessor to slain Iran general will be murdered if he kills Americans: U.S. envoy
The successor to the Iranian commander killed in a U.S. drone strike would suffer the same fate if he followed a similar path by killing Americans, the U.S. special representative for Iran said, according to the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.
- WorldAssociated Press
First stage of extradition hearing for top Huawei exec ends
A Canadian judge said Thursday she will announce her decision at a later date after ending the first phase of an extradition hearing that will decide whether a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei is sent to the United States. This week's hearings dealt with the question of whether the U.S. charges against Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei's founder, are crimes in Canada as well. Canada arrested Huawei's chief financial officer in December 2018 at Vancouver's airport at the request of the U.S. as she was changing flights.
- U.S.CBS News
Residents paint a picture of Epstein's life on "Pedophile Island"
Some locals on the island of St. Thomas, about two miles off the coast of Jeffrey Epstein's private island Little Saint James, say the late financier's alleged crimes were somewhat of an open secret. Epstein is accused of trafficking underage girls to Little Saint James, where he sexually assaulted them and kept them against their will – however, people say Epstein himself rarely left the island. When Epstein was convicted and serving time for procuring an underage girl in Florida for sex, word of his 13-month sentence and his alleged crimes made their way to St. Thomas.
- 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
- WorldBloomberg
Putin’s Overhaul Gets Initial Approval in Russian Parliament
Legislators in the State Duma rose for a standing ovation after voting 432-0 for the proposal, which Putin unveiled in a surprise announcement last week. The amendments, the most dramatic since the constitution was adopted in 1993, would reduce the power of the presidency, giving somewhat more authority to the parliament and strengthening the State Council, now a largely ceremonial body. The overhaul could create options for Putin to retain control after his current term -- his last under constitutional limits -- ends in 2024.
- PoliticsReuters
Justice Department says it should not have continued spying on former Trump adviser
The U.S. Justice Department has told a court it did not have enough evidence to justify continued surveillance of one of President Donald Trump's former campaign advisers in 2017, in a sign it believes the FBI on occasion went too far when it investigated Russian influence in the 2016 election. The department's assessment, made public on Thursday, came after an in-depth review by the Justice Department's internal watchdog found the FBI manipulated evidence and otherwise overstepped its bounds as it explored possible links between the Trump campaign and Moscow in 2016. The watchdog's review, made public in December, found that FBI agents acted legally when they asked in 2016 for court approval to begin surveillance of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
- U.S.INSIDER
Ex-Maryland police officer has been charged with raping and attempting to transmit HIV to a woman he pulled over
ArtOlympic/ Shutterstock Former Fairmont Heights police officer Martique Vanderpool is accused of raping a woman following a traffic stop in September. A Prince George County grand jury indicted Vanderpool Tuesday on a slew of charges, including that he knowingly exposed the woman to HIV. Vanderpool resigned from duty after his arrest.
- 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.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoRep. Ilhan Omar launches 'Send her back to Congress!' reelection bid with big advantages
Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. is kicking off her reelection campaign Thursday night with a massive bank account and no challengers who pose a serious threat from either party. Her campaign slogan — “Send her back to Congress!
- WorldBusiness Insider
The Chinese city of Wuhan was a breeding ground for an outbreak, experts say. The coronavirus has infected more than 800 people.
Hyzler said a few specific conditions put Wuhan at especially high risk of a disease outbreak: the city's density, its role as a transportation hub, and the presence of live-animal markets there. As of Thursday, the virus (officially known as 2019-nCoV) has killed 25 people and infected more than 830. It has spread to at least eight other countries: the US, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
- WorldAssociated Press
Some see end to caravans as Mexican guardsmen stop migrants
From the roadside stand where his family sells mole, barbecue and chicken stew, Miguel Ángel Vázquez has seen all the caravans of Central American migrants and asylum seekers stream past his front door in recent years, throngs of people driven to flee poverty and violence in hopes of a better life in the United States. After watching armored National Guard troops and immigration agents break up the latest one right on his doorstep, loading men, women and wailing children onto buses and hauling them off to a detention center in the nearby city of Tapachula, he's sure of one thing. Where the first caravans were allowed to pass through Mexican territory and even given humanitarian aid or transportation by many communities and some officials, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's adminstration changed that beginning last year in response to steep trade tariffs threatened by Washington.
- U.S.The National Interest
Spotted: America's Shadowy Stealth Spy Drone
Key Point: That Sentinel's frequent proximity to Iran and North Korea raised the possibility that the Air Force was sending the stealth drone on missions to investigate nuclear-weapons facilities. A photographer spotted what appears to be a new variant of the U.S. Air Force's secretive, stealthy RQ-170 Sentinel spy drone. Matt Hartman of Shorealone Films photographed an apparently heavily-modified Sentinel while covering the launch of a top-secret satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in southern California on March 1, 2017.
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