- PoliticsYahoo News
Is Nikki Haley auditioning to replace Pence on Trump's 2020 ticket?
Less than three months ago, Nikki Haley, President Trump's first U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, shut down speculation that she was seeking to replace Vice President Mike Pence on the Republican 2020 ticket. “Vice President Pence has been a dear friend of mine for years. Haley's book, “With All Due Respect: Defending America With Grit and Grace,” which was released Tuesday, is respectful toward Trump and dismissive of some of his Cabinet members, including former White House chief of staff John Kelly and ex-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who she says tried to recruit her to “save the country” by undermining Trump.
- NewsAssociated Press
The Latest: Officer says Miranda failure was a mistake
A police officer who obtained a confession from the suspect in the disappearance and death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts says she made an honest mistake by initially failing to read him his legal rights. Officer Pamela Romero testified Wednesday that she tried to read Cristhian Bahena Rivera his Miranda warnings from memory during the Aug. 20, 2018, interrogation. After several more hours of questioning, Rivera led police officers to a cornfield where they discovered Tibbetts' body underneath a stack of leaves and stalks.
- NewsThe Independent
'Words matter': Trump accused of fuelling attacks on Hispanics as violent hate crimes hit 16-year high
Violent hate crimes have climbed to a 16-year year high in the US, with a surge in attacks on Hispanics, according to FBI data. Reports of hate crimes dipped slightly in 2018 from an alarming increase the previous year, but violence rose as attacks increasingly targeting people instead of property. In its review of statistics collected from more than 16,000 law enforcement agencies, the FBI said there had been 7,120 hate crimes reported last year.
- BusinessThe National Interest
Taiwan Wants American F-16V Fighters but Will Washington Sell Them?
Key point: Washington wants to help Taiwan but is also wary of upsetting China too much. A few months ago, the U.S. State Department announced it would approve a $2.2 billion arms deal with Taiwan including 108 Abrams main battle tanks and 250 Stinger man-portable surface-to-air missiles—a deal which elicited new sanctions from Beijing on the companies involved. This would have been the first sale of new Western combat jets to Taiwan since 1992—a fact not unrelated to Beijing's claims that sales of jet fighters to the “renegade province” constitute a redline.
- CelebrityThe Daily Beast
Hillary Clinton: I Want to Hug Meghan Markle After ‘Racist’ Abuse in Britain
Hillary Clinton has said she wishes she could hug Meghan Markle as she accused the mainstream British media of participating in a cycle of abuse against her motivated by racism and sexism. The former first lady and presidential candidate was appearing on BBC radio in Britain to promote a new book she has written with her daughter, Chelsea, about “gutsy” women. Hillary said the abuse she had suffered was “heartbreaking and wrong” and said she was in no doubt there was a racial element to the abuse she has endured since starting a relationship with Harry in 2016 and marrying him in 2018.
- WorldReuters
Over 100 people leave Mexican Mormon village after massacre
MEXICO CITY/ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (Reuters) - More than 100 members of a U.S.-Mexican community of Mormon origin have left their homes in northern Mexico after an ambush killed nine of their number, relatives said on Tuesday. Since the massacre last week of three mothers and six children by suspected cartel gunmen, families have been streaming out of La Mora, a remote farming village in the state of Sonora, said Taylor Langford, a relative of the victims. Some of the members were leaving temporarily, others permanently, but almost all would return if security were better, said Langford, 27, who grew up in La Mora and now lives in Utah.
- 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.
PoliticsYahoo News VideoThe U.S. Navy canceled a routine Black Sea operation after Trump complained that it was hostile to Russia
Christopher Anderson, an aide to Kurt Volker, former special envoy to Ukraine, testified that the White House canceled a Navy freedom-of-navigation operation in the Black Sea after President Trump complained to then-national security adviser John Bolton about a CNN report that framed the operation as a counter to Russia, Politico reported.
- WorldBusiness Insider
An Air India flight was delayed nearly 12 hours after a stowaway rat was spotted in the cabin
An Air India flight flying from Hyderabad to Visakhapatnam was delayed for 12 hours after a rat was spotted in the cabin. Flight AI-952 was due to depart at 06:10 a.m. on Sunday but after the rat was spotted passengers were told to disembark the plane— which did not leave until later in the day at 5.30 p.m. according to the Times of India. A domestic flight in India was delayed for 12 hours after a rat was spotted in the cabin as the flight was about to take off.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump impeachment hearings: 5 key takeaways from the first day
The first day of public impeachment hearings resulted in new evidence supporting the Democrats' case that President Trump was leveraging U.S. aid to Ukraine to get President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden. State Department officials Bill Taylor and George Kent, career diplomats who have served under multiple presidents, were the witnesses Wednesday before the House Intelligence Committee. While much of Taylor's testimony had already been disclosed in the transcripts of his earlier, closed-door deposition, there was key new information.
- 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.
BusinessAFP'Blossom everywhere': Hong Kong protesters evolve tactics
From "be water" to "blossom everywhere", Hong Kong's black-clad pro-democracy protesters' tactics have evolved this week in their bid to overwhelm police by creating flashpoints in as many areas as possible. The campaign of massive disruption has seen small groups of protesters emerge all across the city of 7.5 million people from Monday to block intersections, vandalise shops, clash with police and damage the vital train network. "We must blossom everywhere to divert the police force," read an anonymous post on Wednesday morning on an internet message board popular with protesters, echoing other calls online.
- PoliticsThe Week
State Department official George Kent calls out Rudy Giuliani and attempts to 'smear' his colleagues
It didn't take long for Rudy Giuliani to come up in the first impeachment hearing. After Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Ranking Member Davin Nunes (R-Calif.) gave their opening statements Tuesday, top State Department official George Kent took the floor. Early in his testimony, Kent described how it was "unexpected, and most unfortunate, to watch some Americans ... launch attacks on dedicated public servants." The fact that Kent mentioned those Americans as being "allied" with "corrupt Ukrainians" made it clear he was talking about Giuliani, who worked with recently arrested Ukrainians Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman was allegedly the driving force behind Ukrainian Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch's ouster by President Trump.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
2020 Subaru Outback vs. 2019 Honda Passport in Photos
Freshly redesigned, Subaru's popular lifted wagon challenges Honda's mid-size Passport SUV in real-world usability and performance. From Car and Driver
- 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.
- WorldThe National Interest
China's Submarines Can Now Launch a Nuclear War Against America
Key Point: If China could boost the JL-3's range to 7,500 miles, like the Trident, then it could reach the entire United States from subs stationed in waters near the Chinese coast. China has tested a new submarine-launched missile that can hit the United States. The first flight test of the JL-3 missile was conducted last November from Bohai Bay in the Yellow Sea, according to the South China Morning Post, citing an unnamed source.
- 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.
- NewsAssociated Press
Report: Loud fight with detective preceded chief's death
A maintenance man checking on a noise complaint at a Florida beachfront hotel Sunday night walked into the room where a small-town Oklahoma police detective killed his boss in a drunken brawl, authorities said. The noises coming from room 527 at the Hilton on Pensacola Beach on Sunday night were so loud that the couple staying next door asked to switch rooms, according to an arrest report released to The Associated Press on Tuesday. A separate guest told investigators he heard a "roaring" sound followed by a voice saying, "stop it Mike" over and over.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Rep. Connolly says Democrats already have 'smoking gun' to impeach Trump
A Democrat who attended most of the closed-door depositions over the past month said that while the beginning of public hearings will be instructive for Americans, President Trump has already given Congress all the evidence it needs to impeach him. The reconstructed partial transcript of Trump's July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “is the smoking gun,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., who has represented the Northern Virginia suburbs for the last decade. “It's right in front of us,” Connolly said in an interview with Yahoo News.
WorldAFPVenezuela ex-intel chief missing in Spain ahead of US extradition: police
Venezuela's former military intelligence chief has gone missing in Spain just days after a court approved a request for his extradition to the United States on drug trafficking charges, police said Wednesday. "They are currently looking for him," said a spokeswoman for Spain's national police, referring to General Hugo Armando Carvajal. Judicial sources said police had gone to his house in Madrid after Friday's court decision but could not find him.
- WorldAssociated Press
Chinese, other students flee Hong Kong as violence worsens
University students from mainland China and Taiwan are fleeing Hong Kong, while those from three Scandinavian countries have been moved or urged to leave as college campuses become the latest battleground in the city's 5-month-long anti-government unrest. Marine police used a boat Wednesday to help a group of mainland students leave the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which remained barricaded by demonstrators after violent clashes with police on Tuesday. The protests have taken on a strong anti-China bent, with radical demonstrators trashing branches of mainland banks, China's official Xinhua News Agency and restaurant chains whose owners support the Beijing government.
- CelebrityCBS News
Cat "repeatedly" breaks his friends out of animal shelter
A mischievous cat named Quilty has earned internet fame for repeatedly breaking himself out of his enclosure at a Texas animal shelter. But, he doesn't just escape — he brings all of his feline friends along with him. The Friends for Life animal shelter of Houston posted about its little Houdini on Facebook last month.
- NewsINSIDER
The US is being hit by a frigid, early cold snap that has killed at least 6 people and could break 100 temperature records
It said that "more than a hundred locations [are] expected to tie or set new low temperature records." At least six people have been killed, all from road collisions related to the cold temperatures. One victim, in Kansas, was an eight-year-old girl.
- WorldReuters
Korean survivor says Japan's no-show at 'comfort women' case in Seoul lacks honor
A South Korean woman who had been forced to work in a Japanese wartime military brothel said Japan lacked honor for failing to attend a South Korean court on Wednesday as it began hearing a civil case brought against its government by a group of victims. "I am a living proof of history," said Lee Yong-soo, the 91-year-old survivor, her voice quaking with emotion as she addressed a news conference held near the courthouse, before proceedings began. Reminders of Japan's 1910-45 colonization of the Korean peninsula are inflammatory for both sides.
- WorldThe National Interest
F-35s Belong in a Museum: Europe Has Some Wild 6th-Generation Fighter Dreams
Nations such as Britain, France and Sweden could devise weapons of clever and innovative design. But when it came to weapons technology, the innovation came from the United States and the Soviet Union/Russia, who were willing to spend vast amounts of treasure on military research and development. But is a new generation of weapons coming that will put Europe on a par with America and Russia?
