U.S.Associated PressClub shooter's 2021 bomb case dropped, family uncooperative
The Colorado Springs gay nightclub shooter had charges dropped in a 2021 bomb threat case after family members who were terrorized in the incident refused to cooperate, according to the district attorney and unsealed court documents. The charges were dropped despite authorities a finding a tub with more than 100 pounds (45 kilograms) of explosive materials and later receiving warnings from other relatives that suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich was sure to hurt or murder a set of grandparents if freed, according to the documents, which were unsealed Thursday. In a letter last November to state District Court Judge Robin Chittum, the relatives painted a picture of an isolated, violent person who did not have a job and was given $30,000 that was spent largely on the purchase of 3D printers to make guns.
PoliticsINSIDERAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez mocks Kyrsten Sinema's announcement to leave the Democratic Party and register as an independent: 'She lays out no goals for Arizonans'
AOC mocked Sen. Kyrsten Sinema after she announced she's registered as an independent. "She lays out no goals for Arizonans, no vision, no commitments," Ocasio-Cortez said. Sinema is up for re-election in 2024 in Arizona.
U.S.Fox NewsIdaho murders: Convicted killer arrested a mile from university stabbings
Police arrested an ex-con killer this week just over a mile from the scene of an unsolved quadruple stabbing that left four University of Idaho students dead after they were attacked in their sleep early on a November Saturday. James Leonard, 39, of Moscow, Idaho, allegedly beat his wife and her daughter late Tuesday evening and slashed himself with a knife, according to court documents. "Dispatch advised an intoxicated husband punched his wife in the head and struck his daughter," according to a criminal complaint on the latest charges obtained by Fox News Digital.
U.S.ReutersBorder barrier of shipping containers snakes across Arizona wilderness
This is made up entirely of shipping containers stacked on top of each other. The improvised wall - topped with concertina wire - was ordered built by Republican Governor Doug Ducey in August in an attempt to fill gaps in the U.S.-Mexico border used by migrants. Border communities had been overwhelmed, he argued, saying the double-stacked containers would reach 22 feet (6.7 m) high.
U.S.Miami HeraldIt wasn’t a Burmese python. Check out what these two snake wranglers found in Florida
A snake-wrangling couple got a big surprise the other day in Southwest Florida. According to their social media accounts, Rhett and Taylor Stanberry had received a message from a concerned homeowner near Naples about a “huge python” in the backyard. The two wildlife professionals went to the area and realized that no, it wasn't a python, but a boa constrictor, and the big gal was albino.
U.S.Washington PostA plane crash 50 years ago changed the course of U.S. history
Dorothy Hunt was the spouse of one of the Watergate ringleaders, former CIA operative E. Howard Hunt. Hunt was under indictment in Washington, D.C., facing a trial with his co-defendants that was scheduled to begin the second week of January 1973. Dorothy was later identified as the "paymistress" of hush money to the Watergate defendants and their families to keep the burglars from cooperating with authorities and testifying at the trial.
WorldAssociated PressPutin says Russia could adopt US preemptive strike concept
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Moscow could adopt what he described as a U.S. concept of using preemptive military strikes, noting it has the weapons to do the job, in a blunt statement amid rising Russia-NATO tensions over Ukraine. For years, the Kremlin has expressed concern about U.S. efforts to develop the so-called Conventional Prompt Global Strike capability that envisions hitting an adversary's strategic targets with precision-guided conventional weapons anywhere in the world within one hour. “Speaking about a disarming strike, maybe it's worth thinking about adopting the ideas developed by our U.S. counterparts, their ideas of ensuring their security,” Putin said with a thin smile, noting that such a preemptive strike was intended to knock out command facilities.
U.S.Business InsiderApple exec who was fired after being caught on video joking about fondling 'big-breasted women' says he stayed up all night trying to get the TikTok down before it went viral
A former Apple exec said he spent all night trying to remove a TikTok in which he made a crude joke. In the video, Tony Blevins made a comment about fondling "big-breasted women." Apple fired Blevins, who'd been with the company for 22 years, over the video in September.
U.S.BuzzFeed NewsThe Gay Nephew Of The Lawmaker Who Cried While Voting Against Marriage Equality Has A Message For Her
As the House of Representatives convened on Thursday to vote for the Respect for Marriage Act, lawmakers rose to speak both in favor and against the landmark bill. Among those opposing the legislation, which would act as a fail-safe should the Supreme Court's right-wing majority reverse the decision that legalized marriage equality, was Rep. Vicky Hartzler. The Missouri Republican said it was Christians, and not the LGBTQ community, who were under threat in the US, arguing the government was trying to silence religious people.
WorldReuters'Burn everything': Poland chokes on the smog of war
Four years on, as the fallout from the Ukraine war halted Russian gas supplies to Poland, the local authorities postponed a ban on the dirtiest stoves for heating, and air pollution in Olpiny exceeded the norms by four-fold last month. "I feel completely helpless and abandoned by the state," said Julia Tkaczuk, 38, whose five-year-old son has asthma. While a number of European countries besides Poland, such as Germany and Hungary, are burning more polluting brown coal, or lignite, to keep the lights on, experts say it's the use of the fuel at home that will have the biggest impact on health.
U.S.Kansas City StarWoman, father found dead after her toddler answers phone call from worried co-worker
Chicago police went to the apartment on the 8100 block of South Drexel Avenue before 11 a.m. on Dec. 7, according to a police department report. Officers found a 27-year-old woman and 79-year-old man dead, and a toddler alive and unharmed in the apartment, Deputy Chief Senora Ben said at a news briefing, adding that an investigation is underway. The victims are Javonni Jenkins and Curtis Hardman, daughter and father, WGN reported.
U.S.National ReviewNon-Binary Biden Official Charged with Second Felony Suitcase Theft
Sam Brinton, a non-binary nuclear waste official in the Biden administration, is once again facing charges for attempting to steal luggage from an airport, raising doubts about Brinton's insistence that the first incident was the result of a mix-up. Brinton, the deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition at the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, allegedly stole luggage from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada on an unknown date. There is a federal warrant out for Brinton's arrest on grand larceny charges for stealing property worth between $1,200 and $5,000, 8 News Now reported.
WorldAssociated PressMurderous 1600s pirate hid out in US colonies with impunity
One tarnished silver coin at a time, the ground is yielding new evidence that in the late 1600s, one of the world's most ruthless pirates wandered the American colonies with impunity. Newly surfaced documents also strengthen the case that English buccaneer Henry Every — the target of the first worldwide manhunt — hid out in New England before sailing for Ireland and vanishing into the wind. “At this point, the amount of evidence is overwhelming and indisputable,” historian and metal detectorist Jim Bailey, who's devoted years to solving the mystery, told The Associated Press.
- BusinessBloomberg
Putin Is Losing Badly in Ukraine: William Cohen
Former US Defense Secretary William Cohen says Russia's Vladimir Putin is losing badly in Ukraine and that's why he's making more threats about using nuclear weapons. He's on "Balance of Power." Follow Bloomberg for business news & analysis, up-to-the-minute market data, features, profiles and more: http://www.bloomberg.com Connect with us on...
U.S.Fox NewsMountain lion barges into California home, drags dog outside: video
A woman in Sonoma County, California, shared video showing a mountain lion standing over her dog in her backyard after she says the predator burst into her home and dragged her pup outside by its neck last month. Rebecca Kracker, of Bennett Valley, told FOX2 KTVU on Tuesday that she went to check on her border collie, Sherman, after she heard him yelping and growling. To her shock, Kracker said she found a mountain lion inside her home with Sherman's neck in its jaws.
WorldReutersSouth Koreans set to become younger as traditional way of counting age scrapped
South Korea on Thursday passed laws to scrap its traditional method of counting ages and adopt the international standard - a shift which will make its citizens either 1 or 2 years younger on official documents. A separate system also exists for conscription purposes or calculating the legal age to drink alcohol and smoke, in which a person's age is calculated from zero at birth and a year is added on Jan. 1. Since the early 1960s, however, South Korea has for medical and legal documents also used the international norm of calculating from zero at birth and adding a year on every birthday.
PoliticsThe GuardianJudge denies justice department plea to hold Trump in contempt over records
A top federal judge denied a request from the justice department to hold Donald Trump's office in contempt of court for failing to fully comply with a subpoena demanding the return of all documents bearing classified markings, according to sources familiar with proceedings. The chief US judge for the District of Columbia Beryl Howell told the department during a closed-door hearing on Friday to resolve the matter with the Trump legal team itself because a contempt ruling would not hold, the sources said. Federal prosecutors had sought to force Trump to name a custodian of records and certify under oath that all documents with classified markings had been returned to the government – as demanded by the grand jury subpoena issued in May – or otherwise find Trump's office in contempt.
U.S.The New Voice of UkraineMassive fire with explosions hits shopping mall in Moscow, video report
The fire area is 17,000 square meters (about 200,000 square feet), and it has the highest complexity level. The Emergency Service official reported the fire broke out on the roof of the OBI supermarket, a household goods store. It was reported in Russian media that a short circuit in a storage area with wooden products caused the fire.
WorldReutersKremlin: Russia plans to 'liberate' parts of Ukraine that Moscow annexed
The Kremlin said on Thursday that its forces are still set on seizing parts of eastern and southern Ukraine that Moscow has claimed as its own. However, the Kremlin has not fully defined the goals of its military campaign, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appeared to set a limit on the Ukrainian territory that Russia now sought to incorporate as its own. Moscow proclaimed that it had annexed four provinces of Ukraine - Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson - after holding so-called referendums in September that were rejected as bogus and illegal by Kyiv, the West and a majority of countries at the United Nations.
U.S.Kansas City Star‘Deeply disturbing’ video shows middle school teacher fighting student, MO district says
A Missouri school district is investigating after a viral video shows a teacher involved in a fight with a middle-school student. The fight happened on Monday, Dec. 5, at Westview Middle School in St. Louis, according to Riverview Gardens School District Superintendent Joylynn Pruitt-Adams. The district did not identify the teacher or the student.
U.S.USA TODAYTopless beach 'gender equity' bylaw approved by Massachusetts town, state attorney general
For anyone who enjoys the free ebb and flow of ocean air and currents over their bare skin, the coast is now clear for people of all genders to legally go topless on Nantucket beaches. Seven months after Nantucket voters approved a bylaw amendment specifically to allow all people – including women – freely to eschew torso coverings while spending time on the island's beaches, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has given the change her seal of approval. Nantucket is the first town in Massachusetts specifically to address this issue in its bylaws, giving beachgoers a blanket green light to go topless on all of its beaches if they choose.
WorldReutersSaudi Arabia signs Huawei deal, deepening China ties on Xi visit
RIYADH (Reuters) -Saudi Arabia and China showcased deepening ties with a series of strategic deals on Thursday during a visit by President Xi Jinping, including one with tech giant Huawei, whose growing foray into the Gulf region has raised U.S. security concerns. King Salman signed a "comprehensive strategic partnership agreement" with Xi, who received a lavish welcome in a country forging new global partnerships beyond the West. Xi's car was escorted to the king's palace by members of the Saudi Royal Guard riding Arabian horses and carrying Chinese and Saudi flags, and he later attended a welcome banquet.
WorldFox NewsPutin says one missile will trigger 'hundreds' of warheads in stark message on nuclear deterrence
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday once again drew international attention when he warned that if even one missile enters Russian territory, "hundreds" of warheads will respond. "I assure you, after the early warning system receives a signal of a missile attack, hundreds of our missiles are in the air," Putin said from a summit in Kyrgyzstan, Russian news outlet RIA reported. Putin made headlines after he appeared to suggest that he may make changes to Russia's nuclear deterrence doctrine by employing a first-strike policy, which he referred to as a "disarming strike" — a strategy he said is motivated by the current U.S. deterrence policy.
U.S.National ReviewChicago School Defends Sex-Toy Event amid Backlash over Undercover Video
A prestigious private school in Chicago, Francis W. Parker, defended dean of students Joe Bruno on Thursday following the release of a video in which he said the school's LGBTQ sex-education programming includes passing around sex toys and instructing students on how to use them. Bruno reportedly wasn't aware that his statements were being recorded at the time by a member of Project Veritas, an American organization known for making similar undercover videos.
- U.S.Associated Press
Former Fox News guest charged with exploiting her mom
A former regular guest on Fox News stole at least $224,000 from her 88-year-old mother and unnecessarily put her in a nursing home twice against her will, including by once dragging her mom from her home, Florida authorities said Friday. Cathy Areu, who provided a liberal perspective on several shows, faces numerous felony charges including kidnapping, exploitation of the elderly and organized scheme to defraud. Miami-Dade County prosecutors say she falsified documents to take control of her mother's home, took money from her mother's reverse mortgage and savings account, and took out credit cards in her mother's name and then used them for her own benefit.
“Essentially none of the things conservatives warned would happen actually transpired.”
“On the most prominent battlefield of the past few decades, same-sex marriage, [the GOP has] all but conceded defeat.”
“Marriage is no longer a means of harnessing the brute facts of biology into the service of children.”
“Same-sex marriage is a conservative issue at its core, but one some conservatives have chosen not to accept until now.”
“A variety of suburban voters who were more traditional at one time who now care more about economic issues.”