Top House Armed Services Republican: Trump's Ukraine call was 'inappropriate' but not impeachable

Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said Sunday that President Trump's call with Ukraine's president was "inappropriate" — but it did not warrant his impeachment. "I believe that it is inappropriate for a president to ask a foreign leader to investigate a political rival," Thornberry told ABC's "This Week" moderator Martha Raddatz. Thornberry, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, added: "I believe it was inappropriate.

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  Giuliani Associate Says He Gave Demand for Biden Inquiry to Ukrainians

  The New York Times
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  Democrats’ 2020 Odds to Be Tested by Impeachment Hearings

  Bloomberg

Turkey begins deporting foreign jihadists

Turkey deported three foreign jihadists on Monday, with more than 20 Europeans including French and Germans in the process of being expelled to their countries of origin. Turkey has criticised Western countries for refusing to repatriate their citizens who left to join the Islamic State group (IS) in Syria and Iraq, and stripping some of them of their citizenship. Its interior ministry said it deported an American and a Dane on Monday, while Germany confirmed that one of its citizens had also been expelled.

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  Turkey starts repatriating Islamic State detainees

  Reuters
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  Turkey deports citizens of the United States and Denmark

  Yahoo News Video

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.

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  Black passenger detained and handcuffed by white police officer for eating sandwich on station platform

  The Independent
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  Transit system apologizes to black rider cuffed for eating

  Associated Press

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.

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  Democrats, GOP to vie for impeachment narrative -- on TV

  Associated Press
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  Rudy Giuliani poised to break silence with 'impeachment podcast'

  The Independent

India's Nuclear Arsenal Keeps Growing, And That's Bad News For Pakistan and China

“India is estimated to have produced enough military plutonium for 150 to 200 nuclear warheads, but has likely produced only 130 to 140,” according to Hans Kristensen and Matt Korda of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists. Unlike the missile-centric U.S. and Russian nuclear forces, India still heavily relies on bombers, perhaps not unexpected for a nation that fielded its first nuclear-capable ballistic missile in 2003. Kristensen and Korda estimate India maintains three or four nuclear strike squadrons of Cold War-vintage, French-made Mirage 2000H and Jaguar IS/IB aircraft targeted at Pakistan and China.

Shootings, blasts prompt Denmark to tighten border controls

Denmark will temporarily reinstate border controls with Sweden and step up police work along the border after a series of violent crimes and explosions around Copenhagen that Danish authorities say were carried out by perpetrators from Sweden. The checks, which start Tuesday for six months, will take place at the Oresund Bridge between Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmo, and at ferry ports. Lene Frank of Denmark's National Police said there will be both random and periodic checks of people crossing the border and officers will focus "particularly on cross-border crime involving explosives, weapons and drugs."

Republican Rep. Will Hurd breaks with Trump, insists whistleblower remain anonymous

A Republican lawmaker on Sunday broke with the President Trump and fellow party members to reject the idea that the whistleblower whose complaint prompted an impeachment inquiry into the president should have to testify publicly.

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  What's coming in impeachment: The inquiry goes public

  Associated Press
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  'Doubling down on stupid': GOP warns Adam Schiff not to block Hunter Biden as impeachment witness

  USA TODAY

Trump 'fighter' Jim Jordan likely won't get much airtime in impeachment hearings

For all the hype surrounding the move by House Republicans to place Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio on the Intelligence Committee so he can be part of the public impeachment hearings, the conservative firebrand is not likely to have much of a role to play based on the rules governing the hearings. Jordan, a former national champion collegiate wrestler known for his unflagging support for President Trump, was moved by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. The tactic was heralded as an aggressive maneuver by the GOP, increasing the odds of intense confrontations between Jordan and witnesses called by the Democrats.

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  Schiff rejects GOP requests for Hunter Biden, whistleblower to testify

  The Week
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  Pentagon raised concerns over stalled Ukraine military aid, transcript reveals

  The Guardian

Iran says new oil find adds only 22 bln barrels to reserves

Iran's oil minister said Monday that an oil field whose discovery President Hassan Rouhani announced at the weekend adds only 22.2 billion barrels to the country's estimated crude reserves. Out of the amount at the site, only a tenth -- 2.2 billion barrels --- can be extracted due to technological limitations, the minister, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, told reporters in Tehran. Rouhani on Sunday announced the discovery of a field containing 53 billion barrels of oil in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, saying it was a "small gift by the government to the people of Iran".

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  Iran says it discovered massive oil field

  Yahoo News Video
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  Iran says finds new oilfield with 53 billion barrels of crude

  Reuters

Bernie Sanders laughs at idea of Jeff Bezos floating Michael Bloomberg's presidential run

CORALVILLE, Iowa — When U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders learned Saturday that Amazon owner Jeff Bezos reportedly asked fellow billionaire Michael Bloomberg about running for president, Sanders couldn't contain his laughter to speak. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was in Iowa campaigning for Sanders, jumped in while Sanders composed himself. “Of course!” she said in an interview with the Des Moines Register.

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  Sanders slams Bloomberg for eyeing 2020 bid

  Reuters Videos
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  Warren and Sanders aim attacks at Michael Bloomberg

  CBS News Videos

Police Employees Charged in 911 Medical Fraud Ring

For years, Angela Meyers, a 911 operator with the New York Police Department, fielded emergency calls, then filed reports about the calls within the department. But according to court documents, when someone called 911 after a car accident, Meyers did something else: She also passed victims' information to an insurance fraud ring in Queens. Meyers was one of six current and former New York Police Department employees charged in federal court Thursday with conspiracy and bribery.

These Are the Shortest-Stopping Cars We've Ever Tested

An essential quality in a fast car is how quickly it can become a stopped car. From Car and Driver

EU unveils sanctions plan to hit Turkey over Cyprus drilling

The European Union on Monday unveiled a system for imposing sanctions on Turkey over its unauthorized gas drilling in Mediterranean waters off Cyprus but no Turkish companies or officials have yet been targeted. EU member countries can now come forward with names of those they think should be listed. Turkish warship-escorted drillships began exploratory drilling this summer in waters where EU-member Cyprus has exclusive economic rights, including areas where European energy companies are licensed to conduct a hydrocarbons search.

Russia's F-35 Killer: Report Claims S-500 Air Defense System Was 'Tested' in Syria

Russia's next-generation air and missile defense system is on the verge of entering serial production, according to the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov. “On time, they are putting a new system into operation-- the S-500,” Borisov told Russian news outlet Interfaks earlier today. Borisov is the latest top-tier Russian official to tease the readiness of the S-500 over the course of this year, joined by the likes of Aerospace Forces Deputy Commander Lieutenant General Yuri Grekhov and Rostec CEO Sergei Chemezov.

Douglas MacArthur Is One of America's Most Famous Generals. He's Also the Most Overrated

In that dubious department, few generals in modern history come close to Douglas MacArthur. From time to time, President Donald Trump (he who pleaded the bone spurs defense to avoid service in Vietnam) has rather audaciously taken it upon himself to grade various American military figures, past and present. Most recently, he made headlines by calling James Mattis, his own former Secretary of Defense, “the world's most overrated general.” By contrast, during the 2016 campaign, Trump repeatedly declared that Douglas MacArthur was his “favorite general.” At rallies, Trump would invoke MacArthur's name almost as though he were in direct communication with his ghost.

Morales: Latin America's longest-serving leader collapses under protests

Evo Morales was Latin America's longest-serving president until he resigned in ignominy Sunday, after weeks of opposition protests over an election ultimately said to have been riddled with irregularities. A member of the Aymara people, he grew up in poverty on Bolivia's high plains and was a llama herder, coca farmer and leftist union leader before rising to take office as his country's first indigenous president in January 2006. His victory in October 20 elections -- verified by the heavily-criticized Supreme Electoral Tribunal -- had been set to extend his mandate until 2025 and give him 19 consecutive years in power.

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  Mexico offers former Bolivia president Evo Morales asylum

  The Independent
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  Unrest in Bolivia after Morales resigns

  Reuters Videos

2020: Joe Biden edges ahead of opponents in New Hampshire poll

WASHINGTON –  A new Quinnipiac poll out of New Hampshire shows the crowded Democratic field is still pretty fluid in the early voting state but displays a consistent top tier of Democratic candidates led by former Vice President Joe Biden. Biden received 20% of support from New Hampshire's likely Democratic primary voters. Following behind were Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 16%, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg bringing in 15%, and Sen. Bernie Sanders received 14%.

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  Four questions for US presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg

  AFP
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  Still unknown? Many have yet to form opinions on Warren

  Associated Press