- PoliticsYahoo News
Mueller witness bragged about access to Clintons secured with illegal campaign cash, says Justice Department
An emissary for two wealthy Arab princes boasted to unnamed officials of a Middle Eastern government about his direct access to Hillary and Bill Clinton while funneling more than $3.5 million in illegal campaign contributions to the former secretary of state's 2016 presidential campaign and Democratic fundraising committees, according to a federal indictment announced by the Justice Department this week. Wonderful meeting with Big Lady. Can't wait to tell you all about it,” George Nader allegedly wrote to an official of one of the foreign governments he advises in the Middle East after attending a political fundraiser with Hillary Clinton on April 16, 2016.
- NewsReuters
Indiana judge grants stay of execution for federal inmate
A convicted murderer set to become the first federal inmate to be executed in 16 years was granted a stay of execution on Thursday by a judge in Indiana. Daniel Lewis Lee, a white supremacist convicted in Arkansas of murdering a family of three, was granted the stay by U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon. Lee's execution had been set for Monday, but a separate ruling by a judge in Washington last month put his execution and that of three other federal inmates on hold.
- PoliticsBloomberg
Giuliani Is in Kyiv; Ukrainian Officials Are Steering Clear
Rudy Giuliani, whose work in Ukraine is at the heart of U.S. impeachment proceedings, is back in the country -- and officials in Kyiv appear to be keeping their distance. People with knowledge of his trip say Giuliani flew into Kyiv from Budapest on Wednesday, the same day that U.S. hearings stemming from his shadow diplomacy in Ukraine kicked over to the House Judiciary Committee. Social media postings show him meeting with current and previous Ukrainian political figures as part of a cable news documentary series that's critical of the impeachment inquiry.
- WorldBusiness Insider
Reddit has said that Russia likely posted leaked UK trade documents as part of a vast covert influence campaign
Reddit has said that leaked documents on US-UK trade deal discussions were likely posted on the site as part of a Russian influence campaign. The documents were cited by Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the UK's opposition Labour party, as evidence that his opponent in the UK general election, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, was poised to sell out the NHS in trade negotiations with the US. Researchers earlier in the week said that the accounts that posted the documents on Reddit indicated links to a vast Russian influence campaign uncovered on Facebook dubbed Secondary Infektion.
- LifestylePopular Mechanics
13 Mythical Creatures, Ranked
Did your favorite make the list? From Popular Mechanics
- PoliticsNational Review
Biden Claims the Media Inflated AOC’s Role as Party Leader: ‘You Guys Got it All Wrong’
Former Vice President Joe Biden is accusing the media of “bad judgment” in their coverage of progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, saying reporters and commentators have exaggerated her political rise as indicative of the direction of the overall party. “You guys got it all wrong about what happened,” Biden told Axios on HBO in Iowa. “I do,” Biden responded.
- WorldThe National Interest
How America Assassinated The Japanese Admiral Responsible For Pearl Harbor
In early 1943, Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander in chief of the Japanese Navy, was one of the most hated men in America. He was seen as the Asian Devil in naval dress, the fiend who treacherously struck peaceful, sleeping America. And when the United States saw a chance for payback in April 1943, there was no hesitation.
- WorldAssociated Press
Germany's Merkel voices 'shame' during 1st Auschwitz visit
German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced a feeling of deep shame” during her first-ever visit on Friday to the hallowed grounds of the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where Adolf Hitler's regime murdered more than a million people. Merkel noted that her visit comes amid rising anti-Semitism and historical revisionism and vowed that Germany would not tolerate anti-Semitism. She said Germany remains committed to remembering the crimes that it committed against Jews, Poles, Roma and Sinti, homosexuals and others.
- NewsThe Guardian
Two school shootings a day apart: Wisconsin reckons with impact of armed guards
Shootings a day apart at two high schools in Wisconsin have shaken the state and sparked a renewed debate over how to combat violence in American schools. An Oshkosh police department resource officer shot a 16-year-old student Tuesday after the boy stabbed him in the officer's office at Oshkosh West high school. A day earlier, a resource officer at Waukesha South high school helped clear students out of a classroom after a 17-year-old student pointed a pellet gun at another student's head.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Republican who 'wanted to destroy' Bill Clinton during 1998 impeachment has regrets
A former Republican congressman who led the charge to impeach Bill Clinton in 1998 said he paid a visit to the former Democratic president a few years ago to ask forgiveness for his role in the affair. “I hated Bill Clinton, wanted to destroy him, asked to be on Judiciary Committee so that I could impeach him,” said Bob Inglis, R-S.C., in an interview on “The Long Game,” a Yahoo News podcast. Inglis visited Clinton a few years ago at the former president's office in Harlem, he said, in what he described as a “very interesting” meeting.
- PoliticsReuters
California congressman Duncan Hunter announces resignation after corruption plea
U.S. Representative Duncan Hunter will resign from Congress following his guilty plea to a federal charge of conspiring to misuse campaign funds, he said on Friday. Hunter's announcement that he would step down came days after the leading California lawmaker, a former U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran, entered his guilty plea in federal court in San Diego. "Shortly after the Holidays I will resign from Congress," Hunter, 42, said in a written statement released by his communications director.
- NewsTime
Trump Administration Authorizes 'Cyanide Bombs' to Kill Predators Again, Months After Backlash
The Trump Administration will reauthorize the use of so-called “cyanide bombs” to poison coyotes, foxes and feral dogs that could threaten private livestock. The decision comes four months after halting their authorization amid public backlash. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Thursday it would include new safety requirements to protect humans and pets, such as additional signs and increased distances the distance the “cyanide bombs” must be from homes and roads.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
Tesla changed the release dates for the most and least expensive versions of the Cybertruck by a year
Tesla has changed the production timelines for the most and least expensive trims of its Cybertruck pickup truck. It said production for the three-motor, all-wheel-drive Cybertruck, which starts at $69,900, would begin in 2021, a year earlier than Tesla first announced. The single-motor, rear-wheel-drive Cybertruck, which starts at $39,900, will enter production in late 2022, a year later than its original timeline, Tesla said.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Russian spies used French Alps as 'base camp' for hits on Britain and other countries
Fifteen Russian spies, including those accused of the Salisbury nerve agent attack, used the French Alps as a “base camp” to conduct covert operations around Europe over a five-year period, according to reports. The revelations came as Germany expelled two Russian diplomats after prosecutors said there was “sufficient factual evidence” linking Moscow to the killing of a former Chechen rebel commander in central Berlin. According to Le Monde, British, Swiss, French, and US intelligence have drawn up a list of 15 members of the 29155 unit of Russia's GRU military spy agency who all passed through France's Haute-Savoie mountains close to the Swiss and Italian borders.
- NewsNational Review
Virginia Commission Calls for Repeal of ‘Explicitly Racist’ and ‘Segregationist’ Laws
A Virginia state commission released a report Thursday calling for the official repeal of “deeply troubling” state laws still on the books that contain “explicitly racist language and segregationist policies. The Commission to Examine Racial Inequity in Virginia Law published a lengthy report saying that the outdated laws should not “remain enshrined in law” despite no longer being in effect. The commission believes that such vestiges of Virginia's segregationist past should no longer have official status,” the report states.
PoliticsYahoo News VideoBloomberg says ending 'nationwide madness' of gun violence drives his presidential bid
Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg said on Thursday he wants to become president to end "the nationwide madness" of U.S. gun violence, calling it evil and saying he would allow its victims to file lawsuits against gun manufacturers.
- WorldAssociated Press
Afghanistan bids farewell to slain Japanese physician
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani led a memorial Saturday in the capital Kabul to bid final farewell to a Japanese physician killed earlier this week in a roadside shooting in eastern Afghanistan that also killed five Afghans, who were traveling with him. Dr. Tetsu Nakamura was affectionately known as “Uncle Murad by villagers in eastern Afghanistan, where he led the development of water and agricultural management projects since his arrival in Afghanistan in 2008. Ghani joined Afghan National Security soldiers in carrying Nakamura's coffin draped in an Afghan flag to an awaiting aircraft.
- WorldThe National Interest
Should America Fear the Chinese H-20 Stealth Bomber?
Key point: The United States is beginning to lose its footing in East Asia. In October 2018, Chinese media announced that the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) would publicly unveil its new H-20 stealth bomber during a parade celebrating the air arm's seventieth anniversary in 2019. Prior news of the H-20's development had been teased using techniques pioneered by viral marketing campaigns for Hollywood movies.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Viral video shows border wall being scaled at Mexicali. Border Patrol says system 'worked exactly as designed'
A vehicle that appears to belong to U.S. Border Patrol then pulls up and officials emerge, prompting the other men to gather the ladder and slide back down the fence into Mexico. Video: ACLU Asks Judge to Block Border Wall Funding The 16-year-old Mexican citizen who ran into the U.S. was apprehended by Border Patrol, Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Joshua Devack said in a video statement posted to Twitter. Trump sent park rangers to the border: National parks official says he wasn't informed "All too often, criminal organizations exploit juveniles in this regard," Devack said in the video, which was shot at the same location.
- WorldReuters
Official documents shed light on Tokyo's role in 'comfort women': Kyodo
The Imperial Japanese Army asked the government to provide one "comfort woman" for every 70 soldiers, Japan's Kyodo news agency said, citing wartime government documents it had reviewed, shedding a fresh light on Tokyo's involvement in the practice. "Comfort women" is a euphemism for the girls and women - many of them Korean - forced into prostitution at Japanese military brothels. The issue has plagued Japan's ties with South Korea for decades.
- NewsTime
The Story of Henry Lee Lucas, the Notorious Subject of Netflix’s The Confession Killer
Henry Lee Lucas was a notorious self-proclaimed serial killer who confessed to committing as many as 600 murders. But as detailed by the new Netflix documentary series The Confession Killer, most of these claims were lies. Through archival footage from news channels and police confessional videos, and interviews with law enforcement officials and the families of victims, directors Robert Kenner and Taki Oldham offer a compelling look at the fallout wrought by Lucas' false confessions—and the police officers who were more than willing to go along with them.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin is working with the Federal Reserve to curtail another repo rate crisis, report says
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is working with the Federal Reserve to monitor bank reserves and decrease the chances of a rate crisis similar to September's, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Mnuchin told the House of Representatives on Thursday that he and Fed Chair Jerome Powell have met multiple times to discuss the September lending rate spike and liquidity concerns ahead of year-end reserve obligations. The Fed has been pumping billions of dollars into money markets through market repurchase agreement, or repo, operations and Treasury bill purchases after its overnight lending rate spiked in September.
WorldAFPBelarus crowds rally against closer Russia ties
Roughly 1,000 Belarusians joined an unauthorised demonstration on Saturday against the prospect of a closer union with Russia. Long-time ruler Alexander Lukashenko was meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Russia on Saturday to discuss "key issues in our bilateral relations, including the prospects for deepening integration", according to the Kremlin. Angered by the potential deal, crowds of mostly young Belarusians headed towards the government headquarters in the capital Minsk carrying signs that read "it's not integration, it's an occupation" and "the president is selling our country".
- PoliticsNational Review
Buttigieg: Trump Supporters are ‘At Best Looking the Other Way on Racism’
South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg implied on Monday that supporters of President Trump tacitly support racism. “Anyone who supported this President is, at best, looking the other way on racism,” Buttigieg said at a South Carolina campaign event. This is not the first time that Buttigieg has made this comment.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoEmployee shot at a Virginia post office
Authorities say a postal worker has been shot at a northern Virginia post office by an agent for the Postal Service's Inspector General's office. News outlets report that it happened Wednesday morning at the parking lot of the Lovettsville post office in Loudoun County.
