- PoliticsYahoo News
As defense opens, Trump attorneys accuse Democrats of 'blind drive' to impeachment
Attorneys for President Trump opened their defense in his Senate impeachment trial Saturday morning by charging that the case presented by House Democrats was full of “bluster and innuendo,” and that “devastating evidence” would lead to the inevitable conclusion that the two articles of impeachment now being considered have no merit. “The president did absolutely nothing wrong,” said White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who is leading Trump's defense. The other key point, made by Cipollone and others, was that Trump acted “in our national interest” by withholding $250 million in military aid from Ukraine for several months in the spring and summer of 2019.
- U.S.The Independent
Robert Koehler: Serial ‘pillowcase rapist’ suspect was building a ‘dungeon’ before arrest
Prosecutors in Florida believe a 60-year-old man building a “dungeon” under his home is the so-called pillowcase rapist, who authorities say broke into women's houses and concealed his face with pillows and towels in as many as 40 assaults in the state since the 1980s. Robert Koehler was arrested on 18 January after authorities say they tied his DNA to samples collected from a 1983 case. Authorities were able to link Koehler to at least 25 cases, although they believe there are other matches to follow, as investigators begin to dive into Koehler's history in the state.
- BusinessBloomberg
Canada ‘Will Not Stop’ Until It Has Answers on Iran Crash
Justin Trudeau's second in command, speaking in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Davos, Switzerland, said Canada wants a “real, independent” analysis of the airplane's black box, along with transparency on what exactly happened. “I am confident we will get those answers because Canada is relentlessly focused on getting them and we will not stop until we get them,” Freeland said. Iran is under intense international pressure to provide full accountability over the circumstances that caused the crash of the Ukrainian International Airlines plane on Jan. 8.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
‘Fox & Friends’ Desperately Tries to End Unhinged Giuliani Interview, Repeatedly Fails
President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani showed up on the president's favorite morning program on Friday—and apparently didn't want to leave. A day after Giuliani claimed on Twitter that he was about to go public with evidence that will reveal the “Biden Family Enterprise made millions by selling public office” when Joe Biden was vice president, the former New York City mayor sat down on Fox & Friends' curvy couch for what can generously be described as an unhinged, rambling, off-the-rails performance. Giuliani, whose involvement in the Ukraine scandal is at the heart of the president's impeachment, continually left the hosts of the Fox News slack-jawed as he prattled on and bulldozed right through their efforts to keep him from incriminating and implicating himself.
- U.S.Associated Press
Pete Stark, congressman who reshaped health care, dies at 88
Former California Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark Jr., an influential Democrat whose legislative work helped reshape America's health care system, has died. He was 88. Stark's family said he died Friday at his home in Maryland.
- WorldThe National Interest
Damaged By Drone Strike: Suleimani's Sainthood Is Now Being Questioned
In the wake of Washington's assassination of former Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, Arab Shi'a desires and interests across the Middle East are under a microscope. Have they shifted their protest slogans from opposing Iran to denouncing the United States? Americans should not assume that wide-angle television images of Shi'a protests in Iran calling for the downfall of the Great Satan reflect Shi'a sentiment across Arab societies.
- WorldReuters
Pope backs Iraqi call for its sovereignty to be respected
Pope Francis met Iraq's president on Saturday and the two agreed that the country's sovereignty must be respected, following attacks on Iraqi territory this month by the United States and Iran. President Barham Salih held private talks for about 30 minutes with the pope and then met the Vatican's two top diplomats, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, its foreign minister. The talks "focused on the challenges the country currently faces and on the importance of promoting stability and the reconstruction process, encouraging the path of dialogue and the search for suitable solutions in favor of citizens and with respect for national sovereignty," a Vatican statement said.
WorldYahoo News VideoPhilippine President Duterte threatens to end military deal with U.S.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned the United States on Thursday he would repeal an agreement on deployment of troops and equipment for exercises if Washington did not reinstate the visa of a political ally.
WorldAFPChinese Uighurs in Saudi face impossible choice
His eyes brimming with tears, a Uighur student in Saudi Arabia holds out his Chinese passport -- long past its expiry date and condemning him to an uncertain fate as the kingdom grows closer to Beijing. The Chinese mission in Saudi Arabia stopped renewing passports for the ethnic Muslim minority more than two years ago, in what campaigners call a pressure tactic exercised in many countries to force the Uighur diaspora to return home. Half a dozen Uighur families in Saudi Arabia who showed AFP their passports -- a few already expired and some approaching the date -- said they dread going back to China, where over a million Uighurs are believed to be held in internment camps.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Schiff lobbies Chief Justice Roberts to rule on questions of executive privilege
Rep. Adam Schiff, the lead House prosecutor, called on Chief Justice John Roberts to expedite rulings on any disputes between Congress and President Trump over witness testimony and documents, if the Senate votes to allow them. “We have a very capable justice sitting in that Senate chamber empowered by the Senate rules to decide issues of evidence and privilege,” Schiff, the Democratic congressman from California leading the case for impeachment, told reporters prior to the last day of opening arguments for the House impeachment managers. Republicans have said over the past day or so that one reason to vote against subpoenas for documents and witnesses in the trial is that it would drag out the process too long, because Trump would claim executive privilege and the matter would get bogged down in the courts.
- WorldBusiness Insider
Transit going in and out of Wuhan, China is being shut down to contain coronavirus
Since Thursday, Chinese authorities have shut down transit going in and out of Wuhan to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Other than emergencies, people cannot leave Wuhan using its buses, subways, or ferries. Chinese authorities are shutting down almost all transit going in and out of Wuhan to contain the coronavirus and keep it from spreading further.
- WorldBloomberg
Death Toll Rises in Turkey Quake as Erdogan Slams Social Media
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Turkey's eastern Elazig province on Friday evening killed at least 31 people and injured hundreds. By Sunday, 45 people had been rescued from the rubble of collapsed buildings. A total of 76 buildings were destroyed and 645 heavily damaged, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, or AFAD, said in a statement.
- WorldThe Week
A 2nd U.S. coronavirus case has been confirmed in Chicago
A second case of the coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China and has left more than 20 people dead has been confirmed in the United States. Officials on Friday said a Chicago woman in her 60s has been diagnosed with the virus, and they're monitoring 63 other possible cases across 22 U.S. states, CNBC reports. The Chicago patient, who last week returned home from Wuhan, is reportedly isolated in the hospital, and officials say she's doing well.
- U.S.Associated Press
Racist threats rattle students, faculty at university
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Three months after a set of anonymous, threatening, racist, antisemitic and homophobic emails sent a wave of fear through the sociology department at Wake Forest University, the department chairman says he's still waiting for university leaders to announce a meaningful response. Alarmed by what he deemed white supremacist terrorism, chairman Joseph Soares canceled sociology classes for a week. When they resumed, Wake Forest police officers were stationed outside classrooms and the building itself.
- LifestylePopular Mechanics
Wax On, Wane Off: A Guide to All the Lunar Phases
Your guide to the moon—and its many phases. From Popular Mechanics
- PoliticsReuters
Biden picks up another high profile endorsement in Iowa as voting nears
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden picked up another high profile endorsement on Saturday in Iowa, where the party's nominating contest kicks off in nine days, after U.S. congresswoman Cindy Axne said she was backing the former vice president. Axne, a freshman U.S. lawmaker and moderate, is the latest in a slew of big-name endorsements for Biden in Iowa which could have an impact on undecided voters as caucus day nears on Feb. 3. Two former Iowa Democratic governors, Tom Vilsack and Chet Culver, have backed Biden, as has another U.S. House member, congresswoman Abby Finkenauer.
- WorldThe National Interest
China is Expanding into the Indian Ocean—Here Are Five Things the Indian Navy Can Do About It
For decades, the Indian Navy has been the dominant regional power in the Indian Ocean, and has even boasted a carrier aviation capability that was nearly unique in Asia. But as outlined in a report by the Center for New American Security (CNAS), the growth of Chinese military power in the last two decades has dramatically eclipsed India's own attempts to modernize and expand its forces—particularly in the maritime domain. This is problematic due to New Delhi's tense relations with Beijing since a 1962 border war.
- U.S.The Independent
Female prisoner dies after guards ‘did not stop her being beaten with soap bars’
A female prisoner died after guards did not intervene while she was being beaten with a sock filled with bars of soap, it is claimed in a lawsuit set to be heard in the US. Nicole Rathmann was attacked by another inmate as she lay on her bunk at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. But prison wardens allegedly allowed the beating to happen without intervening.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump complains his impeachment defense has a lousy time slot
If there is one thing Donald Trump fears, it's lousy ratings. Since being elected president, in fact, Trump has tweeted about “ratings” exactly 100 times, according to the Trump Twitter Archive, the most recent coming Friday, on the eve of his defense team's opening testimony in his impeachment trial. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell gave in to pressure from members of his own party to adjust the trial's timetable to give House Democrats three days to make their case for removing Trump from office, pushing the opening arguments by the president's lawyers to the weekend.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
Louise Linton briefly posted and deleted a message of support for Greta Thunberg, whom her husband Steve Mnuchin dissed at Davos
Ron Adar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Louise Linton, a Scottish-born actress and wife to US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, briefly posted then deleted a message of support for Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on her Instagram page. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mnuchin dismissed Thunberg, who was named Time's 2019 person of the year, as not knowledgeable enough to weigh in on climate issues. "Is she the chief economist or who is she?
- WorldBloomberg
Italy Regions Vote in Test of Salvini Surge: Election Day Guide
The opposition League party led by Matteo Salvini is looking to snatch control of the center-left stronghold of Emilia Romagna, one of two regions voting over the weekend. It is a popularity contest that's become even more significant following the resignation of the leader of Five Star, the biggest party in the government. While Salvini's party continues to ride high in the polls, opinion surveys show support for Five Star has cratered.
WorldAFPChina virus death toll rises to 56, total cases near 2,000
The death toll from a virus in China has risen to 56 and the number of people infected across the country is nearing 2,000, authorities said Sunday. Fifteen more people have died and at least 688 new cases of the coronavirus have now been confirmed, according to the National Health Commission. Among the new deaths, 13 were in Hubei, the province at the heart of the outbreak, while Shanghai reported its first death.
- WorldAssociated Press
Turkish leader slams 'propaganda' as quake deaths rise to 29
The death toll from a strong earthquake that rocked eastern Turkey climbed to 29 on Saturday night as rescue crews searched for people who remained trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings, officials said. Speaking at a televised news conference, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said earlier in the day that 18 people were killed in Elazig province, where Friday night's quake was centered, and four in neighboring Malatya. The national disaster agency later updated the total with seven more casualties.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
This Is What Skiing in Africa Looks Like
From the sand dunes of Namibia to South Africa's world-class Tiffindell resort, this is what makes skiing in Africa like no place on the planet Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsYahoo News VideoWhite House Counsel Cipollone delivers closing remarks
White House Counsel Pat Cipollone delivered his closing remarks during the Senate impeachment trial on Saturday.
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