- PoliticsYahoo News
Ukrainian energy company tied to Hunter Biden supported American think tank, paid for trips
A Ukrainian company that employed Hunter Biden paid more than $450,000 to a prominent Washington think tank, including picking up the tab for energy-related conferences as part of a campaign to burnish its image in the United States after it was accused by Western officials of corruption. Burisma's support of the Atlantic Council was detailed last week by the Wall Street Journal, which said the company had given the think tank $100,000 per year for three years starting in 2016. In the public impeachment proceedings starting Wednesday, Republicans, led by House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., will likely focus on Burisma to justify efforts by President Trump and his associates to pressure the Ukrainian government to publicly announce it was investigating the company.
WorldAFP51 children injured in chemical attack at China kindergarten
More than 50 people, mostly children, were injured by a man who broke into a kindergarten in southwest China and sprayed them with corrosive liquid, local authorities said Tuesday. The suspect, a 23-year-old surnamed Kong, entered the kindergarten by climbing a wall before spraying victims with sodium hydroxide, said local authorities in Kaiyuan city, Yunnan province. The attack took place on Monday at 3:35 pm (0735 GMT), authorities said on their Twitter-like Weibo account.
- NewsAssociated Press
Catholic bishops' agenda: immigrants, gun deaths, sex abuse
US Catholic bishops received a challenging to-do list Monday as they opened their national assembly — notably to support immigrants and refugees, extend the campaign to curtail clergy sex abuse and work harder to combat gun violence. "The pope has emphasized certain themes: Mercy, closeness to the people... a spirit of hospitality toward migrants, and dialogue with those of other cultures and religions," Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio, told the bishops as they opened a three-day meeting. Pierre said the bishops should find tangible ways of showing they supported the pope's merciful message and flexible doctrine, which includes an emphasis on protecting the environment.
- ScienceBusiness Insider
Mercury is traveling across the sun for the last time until 2032. Here's how to watch the rare transit.
Within our own solar system, we only see transits of Venus and Mercury, since those are the only planets between us and the sun. But when it comes to other star systems, NASA telescopes can hunt for new exoplanets by watching for tiny dips in a star's brightness caused by transits of orbiting planets. We won't see a Mercury transit again until 2032.
WorldYahoo News VideoU.S. troops who remain in Syria are redeploying to bases: Senior commander
At a base in eastern Syria, a senior U.S. coalition commander said Monday that American troops who remain in Syria are redeploying to bases, including in some new locations, and working with the Kurdish-led forces to keep up the pressure on the ISIS militants and prevent the extremists from resurging or breaking out of prisons.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Tulsi Gabbard's lawyers sent a letter to Hillary Clinton demanding she retract Russia comments
In the latest development of the feud between Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, lawyers for the Hawaii congresswoman sent a letter to Clinton demanding a retraction of comments alleging Gabbard is a "favorite of the Russians." A political firestorm was set off after Clinton's remarks, made during an October podcast interview, that triggered a bipartisan outpouring of support and defense of Gabbard, from President Donald Trump to 2020 Democratic rival Sen. Bernie Sanders.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
With Rising Violence, China Pushes Hong Kong Toward Civil War
Hong Kong braced for a weekend of disturbances after Chow Tsz-lok, a 22-year-old student at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, died on Friday after falling from a car park the preceding Sunday while running away from police tear gas. Many have accused the police of delaying medical assistance to the mortally injured Chow. Chow has been called “the first fatality linked to police action during a protest,” but many believe the police have killed others.
- WorldThe National Interest
How Did Nazi Germany Crush France During World War II So Easily?
Key point: Flexible leadership by the generals was a vital difference- a difference that Hitler would later squash during the war against the Soviets. In May 1940, the German Wehrmacht launched a lightning attack into France and within weeks destroyed the combined French and British armies. The rapid defeat is typically ascribed to a combination of the French High Command's attempts to refight the methodical battle of World War I against Germany's adoption of new mobile, all-arms warfare.
- NewsAssociated Press
Supreme Court weighs whether Mexican family can sue in US
The Supreme Court's left-leaning justices on Tuesday appeared willing to allow a lawsuit filed by the parents of a Mexican teenager shot over the border by an American agent, but the case will depend on whether they can persuade a conservative colleague to join them. The high court heard arguments in a 2010 case where Border Patrol Agent Jesus Mesa Jr. fired into Mexico, striking and killing Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca. Mesa rode up on a bicycle, took Sergio's friend into custody, then fired across the border, killing Sergio with a gunshot wound to the face.
- PoliticsNational Review
Condoleezza Rice Calls Giuliani’s Ukraine Involvement ‘Deeply Troubling’
Former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said Monday that reports detailing the involvement of President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani in the White House's Ukraine policy were “deeply troubling. What I see right now troubles me. I see a state of conflict between the foreign policy professionals and someone who says he's acting on behalf of the president but frankly I don't know if that is the case,” Rice said at a conference in Abu Dhabi.
- PoliticsThe Week
Democrats need to stop being such babies about Barack Obama
Pete Buttigieg got in hot water with many loyal Democrats on Sunday when the Los Angeles Times reported that he cited the "failures of the Obama era" as part of why Trump's election happened. This inspired furious outrage from liberal partisans and party apparatchiks — only soothed (and tweets deleted) when the reporter said he had misquoted Buttigieg, who was then quick to lavish praise on the ex-president. "I don't think there's going back to Obama... the American political world we've been in from the day I was born, has been blown up," he explained, "[thanks to] its own failures which culminated in Trump.
WorldAFPDo-it-yourself temple waits to move into Indian holy site
Huge slabs of pink Rajasthan stone, carved pillars and bricks from across India are already waiting to form a Hindu temple to be built on the site of a demolished mosque at the centre of decades of deadly turbulence. Enough stone to build a small mountain was waiting at a complex in the holy city of Ayodhya years before the country's Supreme Court ruled on Saturday that the site should be handed over to Hindus to build a new temple. Dozens of stonemasons and artisans have been chipping away at the blocks since an appeal for contributions toward a "grand Hindu temple" in Ayodhya was launched in 1990, without knowing when, or whether, the building would be erected.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
Angered at EU, Turkey threatens to release IS prisoners
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday issued a veiled threat suggesting Turkey could release the Islamic State group prisoners it holds and send them to Europe, angered at a EU decision to impose sanctions on his country over its drilling for gas in Mediterranean waters off Cyprus. Speaking to reporters before a visit to the United States, Erdogan also said Turkey would continue repatriating foreign Islamic State militants to their home countries, even if those countries decline to take them back. "You should revise your stance toward Turkey, which at the moment holds so many IS members in prison and at the same time controls those in Syria," Erdogan warned European nations, a day after the EU unveiled a system to sanction Turkey.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
See Photos of the 2020 Jeep Wrangler EcoDiesel
Jeep's diesel engine turns a great off-roader into something special. From Car and Driver
NewsUSA TODAY4 frat deaths this month. 2 this week alone. What's going on with fraternity hazing?
What else to look out for during college fraternity rush The facts about frat deaths On Oct. 19, 17-year-old John "Jack" Schoenig, 17, died outside a house alleged to be associated with the Pennsylvania State chapter of the fraternity Chi Phi. The cause of his death was unclear, and the university and the fraternity said the house was off-campus. Regardless, Penn State suspended the fraternity.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
After Baseless Trump Claim About Transcripts, Lawyer Says Sondland’s Is Fine
President Donald Trump accused Democrats on Monday of scheming to alter witnesses' transcripts from the impeachment inquiry, but a lawyer for a key witness said his client's transcript looks fine. Robert Luskin, who represents Ambassador Gordon Sondland, a key witness and a Trump administration political appointee, said his client's testimony hadn't been altered. No reason to believe that the transcript was altered, and the clarification was released in the form that it was submitted,” Luskin emailed The Daily Beast on Monday morning.
- WorldThe National Interest
America Wants To Innovate Its Way Out Of A War With Russia Or China (It May Not Work)
Key point: American overextension, both domestically and abroad, has temporarily weakened the United States, and the “third offset” alone cannot mend it. U.S. defense planners hope that the Pentagon's “Third Offset” will deter nations like China and Russia from risking war with the United States by expanding our narrowing technological lead. Superficially, the United States' pursuit of a decisive technological advantage sends a signal to the world: America will remain ready to deter aggression abroad, now and in the future.
- WorldReuters
Italian ship attacked by pirates in Mexico, two crew hurt
Pirates attacked an Italy-flagged offshore supply vessel in the southern Gulf of Mexico, injuring two crew members, the Mexican Navy said on Tuesday, in the latest outbreak of robbery and piracy to hit oil platforms and infrastructure in the area. One of the crew members of the boat, "Remas," received a bullet wound, and the other suffered a concussion, and both were transferred to a nearby hospital, the Navy said in a statement. Owned by Italian offshore contractor Micoperi, the boat is a supply vessel for Mexico's oil industry.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Ukraine Wants to Set the Record Straight on Taylor Testimony
When Ambassador Bill Taylor testified to congressional Democrats' closed-door impeachment inquiry, he created huge headaches for the Trump administration by detailing their efforts to push Ukraine to probe former Vice President Joe Biden's son. The episode shows just how complicated relations between the U.S. and Ukraine have become as the Trump impeachment inquiry unfolds. In his testimony last month, Taylor–America's top diplomat in Kyiv–implied that two Zelensky aides blamed Ukraine, rather than Russia, for the long-running, bloody war in the eastern part of the country.
- NewsINSIDER
A black man was put in handcuffs after a police officer stopped him on a train platform because he was eating
Steve Foster/Facebook Steve Foster was detained and cited at a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in Walnut Creek, California, on November 4. BART police said Foster violated state law by eating a sandwich on the platform. Foster told KTVU that he thinks he was detained because he is black and that that the officer who stopped him should be disciplined.
- WorldReuters
Uganda charges 67 after raid on gay bar
KAMPALA, Nov 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A Ugandan court charged 67 people with causing a nuisance on Tuesday after they were arrested in a gay-friendly bar, in a move condemned by activists as the latest "homophobic" attack. The 67 - who were among 127 arrested at Ram Bar, in the capital, Kampala, on Sunday - could face up to one year in jail if found guilty, said Patricia Kimera, a lawyer for the group. "This is just a homophobic attack," LGBT+ activist Raymond Karuhanga told the Thomson Reuters Foundation outside the court.
- WorldAssociated Press
Zimbabwe says 200 elephants have now died amid drought
More than 200 elephants have died amid a severe drought, Zimbabwe's parks agency said on Tuesday, and a mass relocation of animals is planned to ease congestion. Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesman Tinashe Farawo said at least 200 elephants have died in vast Hwange National Park alone since October and other parks are affected. Animals including giraffe, buffalo and impala are also dying, he said, and the situation can improve only after rains return.
WorldAFPTurkey police rearrest journalist Ahmet Altan
Turkish police acting on a court order rearrested journalist and novelist Ahmet Altan Tuesday, just a week after his release from prison over alleged links to the failed 2016 coup. Altan and another veteran journalist Nazli Ilicak were released on November 4 despite having been convicted of "helping a terrorist group". The Istanbul court sentenced Altan to more than 10 years in jail, but ruled that he and Ilicak should be released under supervision after time already served -- around three years each.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Don't miss Sunday's shooting stars: The Leonid meteor shower will be visible across the night sky
Be sure to keep an eye to the sky Sunday night: The peak of the Leonid meteor shower – an annual mid-November treat – will be visible across the night sky late Sunday night and especially early Monday morning. The Leonids appear to be coming from the constellation Leo the Lion (hence their name) in the east, but they should be visible all the way across the sky. In a dark sky, absent of moonlight, you could see up to 10 to 15 meteors per hour at the typical peak of the shower, according to NASA.
- PoliticsNational Review
Trump Promises Dreamers ‘Deal’ if SCOTUS Upholds DACA Repeal
President Trump tweeted Tuesday morning that “a deal will be made with Dems” over the status of 700,000 immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program if the Supreme Court upholds a repeal of the 2012 Obama mandate by the Trump administration. “Many of the people in DACA, no longer very young, are far from 'angels.' Some are very tough, hardened criminals. President Obama said he had no legal right to sign order, but would anyway.
