- PoliticsAssociated Press
Impeachment trial: Trump wants drama, but GOP wants it over
Trump and his allies have been building up the likely Senate trial, an effort to delegitimize the Democratic-controlled House's impeachment process by contrast. In the Senate, the Trump team has argued, the president would get the opportunity to challenge witnesses and call some of his own, such as House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, the still-anonymous intelligence community whistleblower, or even Joe Biden and Hunter Biden. He sees that as a chance to embarrass Democrats, including the former vice president and 2020 Democratic rival, and use the friendlier ground to portray himself as the victim of a partisan crusade.
- NewsBloomberg
Giuliani Ally Parnas Got $1 Million From Russia, U.S. Says
Rudy Giuliani's associate Lev Parnas got $1 million from an account in Russia in September, a month before he was charged with conspiring to funnel foreign money into U.S. political campaigns, according to U.S. prosecutors who asked a judge to jail him for understating his income and assets. The majority of that money appears to have been used on personal expenses and to purchase a home,” prosecutors said in a court filing Wednesday. Parnas failed to disclose the payment to the government, prosecutors said.
- NewsBusiness Insider
The FAA said the Boeing 737 Max had a high risk of crashing, but let the plane continue flying anyway
The Boeing 737 Max was found to have a high likelihood of future crashes in a November 2018 FAA analysis, after the first crash of the plane type. Sign up for Business Insider's transportation newsletter, Shifting Gears, to get more stories like this in your inbox. An internal FAA analysis after the first Boeing 737 Max crash found a high likelihood of future crashes.
- WorldThe National Interest
Why Can't Russia Replace Its Old Submarines Fast Enough?
In March 2017, Russia's new Yasen-class nuclear attack submarine Kazan launched at the northern port city of Severodvinsk. The Russian navy — already badly depleted since the collapse of the Soviet Union — can't quickly replace most of its existing nuclear submarine fleet, which is approaching the end of its collective lifespan. The outcome will likely mean a shrinking of the Russian nuclear submarine force in the years ahead.
- EntertainmentArchitectural Digest
The Real Locations That Inspired 13 Famous Paintings
From Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night Over the Rhône to Pablo Picasso's Au Lapin Agile Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- NewsCBS News
Kentucky governor to restore voting rights to 100,000 convicted felons
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear vowed during his inaugural address Tuesday to restore voting rights to more than 100,000 people convicted of felonies. "My faith teaches me to treat others with dignity and respect. My faith also teaches forgiveness," Beshear, a Democrat, said during his speech from the steps of the Kentucky capital in Frankfort.
NewsAFPNine-year-old Belgian prodigy drops out of university
A nine-year-old Belgian boy who was due to graduate in electrical engineering has dropped out of his Dutch university due to a dispute over the end date of his degree, his father said Tuesday. Young prodigy Laurent Simons hit the headlines worldwide when it emerged he was on course to receive his degree from the Eindhoven University of Technology in December and become one of the world's youngest graduates. But his father Alexander told AFP he had now quit because the university wanted to delay his degree until next year, while insisting his son now had new plans.
- WorldThe Guardian
Outrage after Colombia riot police force young woman into unmarked car
Outrage has erupted in Colombia after a young woman participating in anti-government protests was grabbed by riot police in body armour, forced into an unmarked vehicle and driven away. Video of the incident showed the woman sobbing and screaming “Help! The police have kidnapped me!
- HealthINSIDER
A woman caught her boyfriend cheating when his Fitbit activity spiked at 4 a.m.
Last week, a woman tweeted that she once caught a boyfriend cheating when his Fitbit recorded a 4 a.m. spike in physical activity. Sex can indeed raise your heart rate, burn calories, and show up on fitness tracking devicees, according to an exercise science expert. NFL Reporter Jane Slater went viral last week after sharing her story of fitness gift-giving gone wrong.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Rudy Giuliani's divorce battle ends, but legal troubles continue for Trump lawyer
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has reached a settlement in one of the two legal issues facing him — his acrimonious divorce, not the dealings in Ukraine that have attracted the attention of prosecutors and drawn him into the presidential impeachment spotlight. The former New York City mayor and his third wife, Judith Nathan, agreed Tuesday to a confidential resolution that settles all disputes concerning support, assets and any other claims, Nathan's lawyer, Bernard Clair, said in an emailed statement.
PoliticsYahoo News VideoDonald Trump Jr. killed endangered sheep in Mongolia with special permit
On a hunting trip to Mongolia earlier this summer, the president's son Donald Trump Jr. killed a rare species of the endangered argali sheep.
- NewsReuters
UPDATE 1-Texas executes inmate convicted of killing prison supervisor
Texas on Wednesday executed an inmate convicted of killing a prison boot factory supervisor because he was upset he had to work as a janitor. Travis Runnels, 46, was put to death by lethal injection at the state's death chamber in Huntsville for the 2003 murder of 40-year-old Stanley Wiley, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said in a statement. Runnels' death was the final execution scheduled in the United States for 2019, bringing the total to 22 this year, according to the Catholic Mobilizing Network, which opposes the death penalty.
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
Joe Biden is underwater with voters earning less than $75,000 a year, who overwhelmingly prefer Bernie Sanders
Drew Angerer/Getty Images Recent Insider polling shows that former Vice President Joe Biden's net satisfaction is currently underwater with voters earning less than $75,000 a year, who prefer Sen. Bernie Sanders. Over the last 10 polls conducted between September and December, we broke down each candidate's satisfaction by categories including race, gender, education, and income The former vice president has very high satisfaction, however, among voters reporting incomes of $75,000 and above. Sanders' net satisfaction by income level breaks down the opposite way of Biden's.
- WorldThe National Interest
Deadliest Weapon After a Nuclear Bomb: Meet Russia's TOS-1 MLRS 'Buratino'
Key point: Buratino is a unique Russian self-propelled multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS) that has seen action in global hotspots like Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iraq and Syria. The TOS-1 Buratino is a unique Russian self-propelled multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS) that has seen action in global hotspots like Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iraq and Syria. Like the enormous 240-millimeter 2S4 self-propelled mortar, the TOS-1's specialty is obliterating heavily fortified positions.
- PoliticsThe Week
Republicans blamed Democrats for USMCA delays. Mitch McConnell promptly delayed it further.
Yes, the USMCA is facing further delays. After House Democrats announced Tuesday they'd crafted a deal on a U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement they and the White House could both agree on, House Republicans started pushing for an immediate vote on the trade deal. Republicans followed Democrats' Tuesday USMCA press conference with one of their own, with the top Republican on the Ways and Means committee Rep. Kevin Brady (Texas) calling out "much delay by Democrats" before the trade deal got here.
- NewsAssociated Press
Oink oink, cha-ching: $3 million found in barrels of pork
Barrels of raw pork shoulder were riding fat in a tractor trailer pulled over by North Carolina deputies. Approximately $3 million in cash was recovered from the barrels Saturday, the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post Tuesday. The driver of the tractor trailer was accused of failing to maintain his lane and impeding the flow of traffic on Interstate 85.
WorldAFPDelhi rapist-murderer cites pollution in death row appeal
One of four Indian men on death row over the infamous 2012 Delhi gang-rape and murder appealed against his sentence on Tuesday citing pollution. Akshay Kumar Singh was one of a group of men who gang-raped a 23-year-old woman on a bus in India's capital late at night in December seven years ago. Her case and death -- 12 days later from extensive internal injuries -- sparked national protests and international horror, and became synonymous with India's high rates of sexual violence against women.
- WorldThe Telegraph
New Zealand volcano: Hero tour guide skipper who turned his boat around after eruption to save injured tourists
As New Zealand Police announced a criminal investigation into the deaths on White Island and a sixth person died as a result of the volcanic eruption, it emerged that the death toll could have been higher were it not for the efforts of one tour boat captain in helping the rescue mission. Paul Kingi was a skipper on the White Island Tours boat, working alongside his friend Hayden Marshall-Inman, who did not survive the explosion. In a post on his company website, Pursuit Fishing Charters owner Rick Pollock, a 40-year veteran of the industry, said he had worked with Mr Kingi for five years and described him as "an outstanding man" and "amazingly resourceful".
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz: My Report Doesn’t ‘Vindicate Anybody’
During Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Justice Department inspector general's report on possible FISA abuses in the Russia probe, top inspector Michael Horowitz pushed back against former FBI Director James Comey's suggestion that the findings vindicated bureau actions. While Horowitz's recently released report finds that there was no political bias by FBI leadership and that there was sufficient evidence to launch a counterintelligence probe of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, it also chided the FBI for “fundamental errors” in its investigation of former Trump campaign official Carter Page.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Virginia counties are declaring themselves 'sanctuaries' for Second Amendment. Will it affect gun laws?
A wave of counties and towns in Virginia are declaring themselves "sanctuaries" for the Second Amendment, but the resolutions are largely symbolic, legal experts say. The push comes in anticipation of a Democrat-controlled General Assembly that will take office in January. State lawmakers, along with Gov. Ralph Northam, have promised Virginians a host of stricter gun laws as Democrats take full power in the state for the first time in decades.
- NewsINSIDER
The New Jersey shootout that left 6 people dead was a 'targeted' attack on a Jewish-owned grocery store, officials say
Seth Wenig/AP Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said Wednesday that a kosher supermarket was clearly "targeted" in a shooting that left six dead on Tuesday, including the two perpetrators and a police officer. Fulop tweeted that "anti-Semitism" has "never had a place in [Jersey City]." Two other officers and a civilian were injured in the gunfight, which lasted for more than an hour.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
How did South Bend actually do under Mayor Pete Buttigieg? We pulled the numbers to find out.
Still, South Bend's median income in 2017 was much lower than the other 87 cities with 100,000 to 125,000 inhabitants: the average city's median income was $60,211 in 2017. But, Mayor Pete's term has been a fairly unambiguous success on one point: In 2012, according to the ACS data unemployment in South Bend stood at 15.6%. As of 2017, according to the American Community Survey estimates it was down to 9.0%, a 6.6 percentage point decline that was the second-highest of any of the 87 cities in the sample.
BusinessYahoo News VideoJohn Kerry: World's richest nations are failing to 'behave like adults'
The world's richest nations are failing to “behave like adults” and act firmly enough to meet global warming targets set in the Paris climate accord, former Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday.
- StylePopular Mechanics
The Best Trimmers for Keeping Your Facial Hair Under Control
Shave well, look good. From Popular Mechanics
- BusinessAssociated Press
China reportedly threatens tiny Faeroe Islands over Huawei
Danish media are reporting that the Chinese government threatened to cancel a trade deal with the tiny Faeroe Islands if the country does not agree to use internet networks supplied by Chinese tech company Huawei. Huawei is at the center of a global cybersecurity debate, with the U.S. pushing allies in Europe and elsewhere to avoid the company over fears it could allow the Chinese government to snoop on consumers. Huawei denies that.
