- PoliticsThe Week
The impeachment rules fight is another blowup in the slow destruction of Congress
If politics is just warfare by other means, both Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer have decided to drag out the heavy artillery in advance of the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump. The Senate majority leader's rules proposal passed, thanks to the simple majority required, which itself is part of a pitted landscape in the upper chamber after nearly 20 years of partisan one-upmanship. That proposal will govern a process that might be more about settling scores with the House and with the Senate Democratic minority than it has to do with Trump or his handling of Ukraine aid.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Arizona mother admits killing her 3 children, police say
PHOENIX – The mother of three children found dead Monday night in a Phoenix home admitted killing them and has been arrested, Phoenix police officials said. Police identified the mother as Rachel Henry. Henry, 22, was arrested Monday night after the children, all under the age of 4, were found dead, according to Phoenix police.
- WorldAssociated Press
Putin to meet mother of Israeli backpacker jailed over hash
Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to meet with the mother of an Israeli tourist who was jailed in Russia for carrying a few grams of hashish, the Kremlin said Wednesday. The Russian leader is set to meet with Naama Issachar's mother while he is visiting Israel on Thursday, Putin adviser Yuri Ushakov said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of the Holy Land, are also taking part in the meeting that will focus on “the humanitarian aspect” of the case, Ushakov told reporters Wednesday.
- WorldReuters
Hong Kong on high alert to tackle coronavirus outbreak
Hong Kong's government is on high alert to deal with a new flu-like coronavirus that has killed nine people in mainland China, the city's commerce secretary, Edward Yau, said on Wednesday. The outbreak has rattled financial markets as investors recall the huge impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 800 people globally during a 2002/03 outbreak that also started in China. Yau is part of a delegation on a mission to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos to convince global business and political leaders that the Asian financial hub is back on track after more than seven months of protests, even as it faces a potentially more damaging crisis.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Hillary: Bernie Sanders Is Just a Career Politician and ‘Nobody Likes Him’
Hillary Clinton has taken herself off the sidelines of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination with a brutal condemnation of Sen. Bernie Sanders, his campaign team, and his supporters. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter to promote the upcoming Hulu documentary, Hillary, Clinton laid into her 2016 Democratic primary rival who she has previously accused of contributing to her eventual election defeat to Donald Trump. Clinton said Sanders and his team have relentlessly attacked Democratic women, and she threw her support behind Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has faced abuse for claiming Sanders told her during a private meeting that a woman couldn't win the election.
- BusinessBloomberg
Halkbank Hit With U.S. Demand for Millions in Contempt Fines
Prosecutors charged the bank in October with aiding a yearslong scheme to help Iran evade U.S. economic sanctions and access $20 billion in frozen oil revenue. The U.S. pursuit of Halkbank, which is owned by the Turkish government, has been a sore point in relations between the two countries. “Halkbank has consistently sought to avoid responsibility for its role in a massive sanctions-evasion and money-laundering scheme that gave the Government of Iran access to billions of dollars' worth of restricted oil proceeds,” the U.S. said in Tuesday's filing.
- WorldTime
Here’s What It’s Like in Wuhan, the Chinese City at the Center of the Deadly Coronavirus Outbreak
Rows of blue-shuttered market stalls remain bolted behind streams of police tape. It's been six weeks since a mysterious pneumonia-like virus was first discovered in China's central city of Wuhan, and the investigation continued Wednesday at the market deemed the source of the outbreak. There have now been more than 440 confirmed cases. The vast majority are here in Wuhan, though the disease has spread beyond mainland China to Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States.
- WorldBusiness Insider
Russia admits its deadly Zircon hypersonic missile is suffering from 'childhood diseases'
Associated Press Russia's deadly Zircon hypersonic missile is apparently suffering from unspecified "childhood diseases," the Russian Navy's top admiral revealed. Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov told RIA Novosti that the weapon is likely still years away from entering service. In February of last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted that the developmental missile can hit speeds up to Mach 9 and eliminate targets up to 620 miles away.
- WorldINSIDER
The brazen (and careless) Russian assassination team behind the Salisbury poisonings has been spotted in Europe, again
PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA New images have been published of the Russian GRU assassination team working in Europe. A video from a case in Bulgaria shows a man connected to the 2015 poisoning of an arms dealer. The suspects in the Bulgarian poisoning are believed to be part of the same Russian unit that conducted the poison attack on Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England.
- PoliticsPolitico
Schiff may have mischaracterized Parnas evidence, documents show
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff appears to have mischaracterized a text message exchange between two players in the Ukraine saga, according to documents obtained by POLITICO — a possible error the GOP will likely criticize as another example of the Democrats' rushed effort to impeach President Donald Trump. The issue arose when Schiff (D-Calif.) sent a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) last week summarizing a trove of evidence from Lev Parnas, an indicted former associate of Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. In one section of the letter, Schiff claims that Parnas “continued to try to arrange a meeting with President Zelensky,” citing a specific text message exchange where Parnas tells Giuliani: “trying to get us mr Z.” The remainder of the exchange — which was attached to Schiff's letter — was redacted.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoJudge upholds mom charged for being topless at home
A judge refused to overturn part of Utah's lewdness law Tuesday in a blow to a woman who's fighting criminal charges after her stepchildren saw her topless in her own home.
- BusinessAssociated Press
S. Korea naval unit to expand operations to Strait of Hormuz
A South Korean anti-piracy unit has temporarily expanded its mission to the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global oil route at the center of soaring tensions between Iran and the United States. South Korea's Defense Ministry announced the expansion Tuesday, saying it was meant to help ensure the safe passage of South Korean vessels and nationals through the waterway. South Korea has conducted anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden since 2009 and is expanding to the strait that connects the Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf.
- PoliticsThe Independent
AOC criticises Democratic Party: ‘We don’t have a left party in the United States’
New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez explained that the Democratic party does not represent the political left in the United States, calling the organisation a “centre or centre-conservative” party that “can't even get a floor vote” on nationalising health care. She said: “We can't even get a floor vote on Medicare for All — not even a floor vote that might get doubled down. In an interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates during an event honouring Martin Luther King Jr Day, the progressive politician said there are “left members inside the Democratic party” — including freshman congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, among others — ”who are working to try to make that shift happen”.
- LifestylePopular Mechanics
REI’s January Sale Offers 50% off Cold-Weather Outdoor Gear
Save big on Patagonia, The North Face, Columbia, and more of our favorite outdoor brands. From Popular Mechanics
- WorldBloomberg
Putin to Meet Jailed Israeli’s Mother Amid Reports of Release
President Vladimir Putin is to meet in Jerusalem with the mother of an Israeli woman imprisoned in Russia on drug-smuggling charges, the Kremlin said, amid reports Russian authorities are preparing to free her. Putin, who'll be a guest of honor Thursday at a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Red Army's liberation of the Nazi Auschwitz death camp, spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone last week about 26-year-old Naama Issachar. Netanyahu said after the call that he was optimistic about securing her freedom.
- WorldReuters
Taiwan calls on China to share 'correct' virus information
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen called on China on Wednesday to share "correct" information about a new coronavirus and for the World Health Organisation (WHO) not to exclude Taiwan from collaboration on the outbreak for political reasons. Authorities have confirmed more than 400 cases of the virus in China, most of them in the central city of Wuhan where the virus first appeared at the end of 2019. The virus, which health officials have said can be passed from person to person, has spread to cities including Beijing and Shanghai, with cases have been confirmed in Thailand, South Korea, Japan, as well as Taiwan.
- PoliticsThe National Interest
White House Impeachment Lawyer Blasts Rep. Nadler: 'You're Not in Charge Here'
White House counsel Pat Cipollone tore into Democratic New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, one of the House impeachment managers, during the Senate trial Wednesday morning. Cipollone, part of President Donald Trump's legal team, told Nadler that he “should be embarrassed” about the way he conducted himself in the Senate. Shortly before Cipollone's remarks, Nadler accused Trump's defense team and Senate Republicans of participating in a “cover-up.
- WorldBusiness Insider
This is a rare photo of the smartphone-hacking device sold by the NSO Group, the billion-dollar Israeli spyware company accused of helping hack Jeff Bezos
Becky Peterson/Business Insider A bombshell UN report published Wednesday accuses Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of hacking Jeff Bezos' phone in 2018. The UN report indicates that Mohammed carried out the hack using technology from the NSO Group, a billion-dollar Israeli spyware startup. A Business Insider photo reveals the device NSO Group sells to its clients to carry out hacks.
- PoliticsThe Week
Attorney: Due to a conflict of interest, William Barr must recuse himself from Lev Parnas' criminal case
An attorney for Lev Parnas, the indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr on Monday, requesting the he recuse himself from Parnas' criminal case. Parnas was arrested last October and charged with campaign finance violations. In the letter, which was also filed in New York federal court, attorney Joseph Bondy said Barr has a conflict of interest and asked that a special prosecutor from outside the Justice Department handle Parnas' case.
- EntertainmentArchitectural Digest
30 Doormats That Will Wow Visitors
Because you only get one shot at a first impression Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- U.S.USA TODAY
Police: Mom accused of killing her 3 kids said she smothered them while singing
PHOENIX – The 22-year-old mother accused of killing her three children in Phoenix sang to her children as she smothered them to death, according to court records. Rachel Henry was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder Monday after she admitted to killing her three children under the age of 4, police said. Police initially said her son was 3 years old and her daughters were 2 years old and 7 months old, but a probable cause document released Tuesday night says the girls were 1 year old and 7 months old.
- WorldAssociated Press
Israeli army kills 3 Palestinians after attack at Gaza fence
The Israeli military said its soldiers killed three Palestinians who crossed the Gaza border fence and threw an explosive device at troops on Tuesday. The army said its troops fired on three suspects who crossed the security fence and "hurled a grenade or an explosive device" at the soldiers. There was no immediate comment from the Gaza authorities.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
McConnell Impeach Plan: Run Like Hell, Pray for No Surprises
The vision that Senate Republican leaders have for the impeachment trial of President Trump, which is set to begin on Tuesday, is simple: a sprint that briskly checks the required procedural boxes before arriving, business-like, at the end result—an acquittal of the president. The vision that Trump himself has for the impeachment trial of President Trump, however, may be different. Between Kenneth Starr—the architect of President Clinton's impeachment 20 years ago—and Alan Dershowitz, the celebrity attorney and former Clinton backer turned Trump defender, what is effectively a Fox News panel will be guiding Trump's defense in a trial before 100 U.S. senators and the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
- BusinessBloomberg
Zimbabwe Opposition Vows Rolling Protests Over Economy
Sign up to our Next Africa newsletter and follow Bloomberg Africa on Twitter Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change will hold a series of demonstrations this year over the government's failure to address the deteriorating economy. The southern African nation had the continent's fastest-shrinking economy last year, after Libya, and its annual inflation rate was outpaced globally only by Venezuela, International Monetary Fund estimates show. Zimbabwe is grappling with shortages of food, fuel and foreign-exchange, while its inability to pay for adequate electricity imports and breakdowns at power plants have led to outages of as long as 18 hours a day.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoFeds: White supremacists hoped rally would start civil war
A hidden camera captured members of a white supremacist group expressing hope that violence at a gun rights rally in Virginia this week could start a civil war, federal prosecutors said in a court filing Tuesday.
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