- PoliticsYahoo News
Uneasy Democrats still hope for a white knight to save them from Biden, Warren or Sanders
Although Sen. Elizabeth Warren has gained ground on him over the course of the year, a series of polls taken after the most recent debate have been positive for Biden, including a CNN survey released Wednesday morning that showed him with his widest lead among Democratic voters since shortly after he entered the race in April: 34 percent to 19 percent for Warren and 16 percent for Sen. Bernie Sanders. That hasn't stopped establishment Democrats from worrying about his campaign or the party's chances against Donald Trump in 2020 with either Biden or one of the runner-ups, the two most liberal candidates in the race, as the likely standard bearer.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Iranian beauty queen pleads for asylum in the Philippines
An Iranian beauty queen is seeking asylum in the Philippines, fearing for her life after Tehran demanded her extradition for a crime she claims she did not commit. Bahareh Zare Bahari, who represented Iran at the 2018 Miss Intercontinental pageant in Manila, and who has studied dental medicine in the Philippines since 2014, has been held for six days at the country's Ninoy Aquino airport after Iran slapped an Interpol Red Notice on her for alleged assault. In a series of messages, the distraught Ms Bahari told the Telegraph that the case was a “big lie,” adding that she believed she was being targeted for her political activism and outspoken support of women's rights.
- NewsAssociated Press
Inmate convicted of murder in deadly prison breakout attempt
A North Carolina inmate was found guilty Monday of murdering four prison workers during a failed escape attempt two years ago. Jurors deliberated for about half an hour before convicting Mikel Brady, 30, of four counts of first-degree murder in the state's deadliest attempted prison breakout. The jury next will recommend whether Brady should get life in prison or execution.
- WorldBloomberg
Mexico Misleads on Failed Arrest of ‘Chapo’ Son: Ex-DEA Official
Mexico's government isn't being truthful about the botched attempt to capture the son of the world's most notorious drug trafficker, according to a former head of international operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador hasn't revealed that while trying to bring Ovidio Guzman Lopez into custody, security forces had caught another son of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, Mike Vigil, the former DEA official, said in an interview. Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar had also been detained and let go when gunmen overpowered police, Vigil said, citing unverified intelligence he received from top Mexico police sources.
- PoliticsReuters
Trump administration says Obamacare plan premiums to fall
Monthly premiums for an average 2020 Obamacare health insurance plan will fall about 4 percent from this year, according to a report released Tuesday by the Trump administration, which has tried to dismantle the program. The Trump administration has cut back on funding for the health insurance program, which was created by President Barack Obama as part of the Affordable Care Act and is often called Obamacare, and has sought to overturn it in Congress and legal courts. Obamacare provides needs-based subsidies to help low-income people buy health insurance.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
House Republicans Literally Storm the Impeachment Hearings
House Republicans took their impeachment grievances to a more confrontational level on Wednesday, barging in to a secure facility during a closed-door witness deposition and refusing to leave until Democrats held open hearings. The gambit—cooked up by the pro-Trump brawler Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and endorsed by House GOP leadership—derailed the closed-door deposition of Laura Cooper, a Pentagon official with jurisdiction over Ukraine policy, before it even started. Lawmakers and aides said that, as of noon on Wednesday, the SCIF was being swept for electronic surveillance devices because the Republicans brought in their phones, delaying the start of Cooper's deposition.
- WorldThe National Interest
Can Israel Fend off an Iranian Missile or Drone Attack?
The IDF's missile defense shield is composed of four layers: the iconic Iron Dome system for intercepting short-range rockets, David's Sling for medium-range rockets, Arrow-2 against intermediate-range ballistic missiles, and Arrow-3 against ICBM's and potentially satellites. Widely seen as a class-leading missile defense system when it was introduced in 2011, Iron Dome has since come under criticism by several revisionist defense commentators. MIT Professor Ted Postol authored a series of influential if not controversial articles arguing that Iron Dome's true interception rate -- that is, its ability to strike and destroy a rocket's warhead rather than its fuselage-- was under 50%.
- WorldPopular Mechanics
Tasmanian Tigers Are Extinct, So Why Are Locals Reporting Sightings?
The Australian government recently released a list of documented thylacine—also known as the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf—sightings. It remains to be seen whether or not any reported thylacine sightings will be made official—something made especially difficult with no photographic proof or other hard evidence. If the creatures are extinct, there may still be hope to see a living thylacine as scientists have replicated their DNA and may one day be able to use the genetic material to clone the animal.
- NewsNational Review
Seattle Public Schools Want to Teach Social Justice in Math Class. That Hurts Minorities.
Seattle's public-school district has proposed a new math curriculum that would teach its students all about how math has been “appropriated” — and how it “continues to be used to oppress and marginalize people and communities. A draft of the curriculum, which was covered in an article in Education Week, would teach students how to “explain how math and technology and/or science are connected and how technology and/or science have (sic) been and continues to be used to oppress and marginalize people and communities of color,” as well as to “identify and teach others about mathematicians* of color in their various communities: schools, neighborhoods, places of worship, businesses, etc.” Educat...
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
'Who gives a s--t about Afghanistan?': Trump stunned officials with his comments during a military briefing, former aide says
President Donald Trump bemoaned a US-led coalition mission to provide aid to Afghanistan and derailed a conference meeting with top military officials last year, according to an upcoming book written by former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis's aide. "Seriously, who gives a s--t about Afghanistan," Trump remarked, according to Guy Snodgrass, a retired US Navy commander and Mattis's former speechwriter. "So far we're in for $7 trillion, fellas ...
- WorldThe Independent
Deep-sea researchers discover second missing Battle of Midway ship
After the recent discovery of a Japanese aircraft carrier that was destroyed in the 1942 Battle of Midway, researchers combing through the deep seas for lost World War II-era warships have found the remains of another craft. Discovered nearly 5,500-metres below the surface in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, roughly 2,000 kilometres from Pearl Harbour, the carrier Akagi was found by a crew using an autonomous underwater vehicle on Sunday morning. Image scans show debris surrounding the vessel on the sea floor.
NewsAFPUS far-right activists get four years in jail for attacking leftists
Two members of a US far-right group were each sentenced to four years in prison on Tuesday for brawling with anti-fascist demonstrators in New York, prosecutors said. The sentencing comes as tensions between white supremacists and leftists simmer in the United States. Maxwell Hare and John Kinsman, members of the Proud Boys group, were found guilty in August by a state court of several counts of attempted assault and rioting.
- WorldAssociated Press
Kim orders South's buildings at resort in North be destroyed
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the destruction of South Korean-made hotels and other tourist facilities at the North's Diamond Mountain resort, apparently because Seoul won't defy international sanctions and resume South Korean tours at the site. Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday that Kim had visited the resort and described its facilities as "shabby" and lacking national character. The report said Kim criticized North Korea's policies pushed under his late father as too dependent on the South and vowed that the North would redevelop the site on its own.
- BusinessCar and Driver
See Photos of the New Honda Fit
The new fourth-generation Fit hatchback is here, but its prospects for the U.S. are not looking good. From Car and Driver
- PoliticsThe Guardian
Hillary Clinton's attacks on Tulsi Gabbard are embarrassing
Hillary Clinton has kept a relatively low profile since her embarrassing 2016 election defeat, popping up only occasionally to make out-of-touch elitist comments that confirm why she lost. Clinton accused the Hawaii congresswoman of being groomed by outside forces, saying: “I think they've got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate … She's the favorite of the Russians.” There is some dispute about whether Clinton meant it was the Russians or Republicans who were pushing a third-party Gabbard candidacy, but a Clinton spokesman asked about the comments replied “if the nesting doll fits”, clearly implying it was dastardly Russians. Related: It was gutsy of Hillary Clinton to stand by Bill.
- WorldBloomberg
South African Airways Recalls Planes for Compliance Checks
State-owned South African Airways and its low-cost unit Mango were affected, as was Comair Ltd., which operates Kulula and British Airways domestically, according to statements on Tuesday. South African Airways said it will operate an amended flight schedule Tuesday for compliance checks in line with Civil Aviation Authority requirements. The decision followed an oversight inspection conducted by the regulator at South African Airways Technical, which oversees the maintenance for a number of carriers including SAA and Comair.
- WorldReuters
Hong Kong extradition bill officially killed, but more unrest likely
Hong Kong's legislature on Wednesday formally withdrew planned legislation that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, but the move was unlikely to end months of unrest as it met just one of five demands of pro-democracy demonstrators. The rallying cry of the protesters, who have trashed public buildings in the Chinese-ruled city, set street fires and pelted police with petrol bombs, has been "five demands, not one less", meaning the withdrawal of the bill makes no difference. Hundreds of protesters gathered peacefully outside the British Consulate, waving British flags, chanting "stand with Hong Kong" and calling for support for a British parliamentary debate on the citizenship status of Hong Kong people scheduled for Thursday.
BusinessYahoo News VideoNewt Gingrich and Whoopi Goldberg go at it on 'The View' over Trump's 'lynching' comments
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Whoopi Goldberg go toe to toe over Trump's “lynching” comments on Twitter.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY Opinion
President Trump is right to keep administration members from secret tribunals: Rep. Biggs
For two years, congressional Democrats promised evidence of collusion between Donald Trump's campaign and the Russian government. Mueller immediately hired a team of biased prosecutors to prove that Trump was guilty of the crimes he had been accused of. At the conclusion of the Mueller report, Trump was cleared of any criminal collusion, collaboration or coordination with the Russians — something the American people knew all along.
- NewsThe Daily Beast
Rudy Giuliani Admits He ‘Did Sort of Look at’ Ukrainian Oligarch Dmitry Firtash for Info
Victoria Toensing and Joe DiGenova, the pro-Trump lawyers representing a Ukrainian oligarch wanted by U.S. authorities on conspiracy charges, reportedly met personally with Attorney General William Barr in July—at the height of Rudy Giuliani's hunt for kompromat on Joe Biden in Ukraine. Citing three sources familiar with the meeting, The Washington Post reports that diGenova and Toensing argued against the charges facing Dmitry Firtash—who has been described by federal prosecutors as having connections to the “upper echelons” of Russian organized crime—in the meeting with Barr and other Justice Department officials. Barr is said to have refused to intercede.
WorldAFPIraqi Kurds turn to Zoroastrianism as faith, identity entwine
Zoroastrianism. Years of violence by the Islamic State jihadist group have left many disillusioned with Islam, while a much longer history of state oppression has pushed some in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region to see the millennia-old religion as a way of reasserting their identity. "After Kurds witnessed the brutality of IS, many started to rethink their faith," said Asrawan Qadrok, the faith's top priest in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.
- WorldAssociated Press
North Mexico city of Culiacan cleans up after cartel fight
Residents of the northern Mexico city of Culiacan tried to get back to their routines Tuesday, five days after gunmen from the Sinaloa drug cartel sowed terror across the city. Restaurants caught in the midst of last week's shootings have repaired some of their plate-glass windows, but some outside walls are still scarred by bullet holes. Hundreds of cartel gunmen took to the streets with heavy weaponry Thursday to open fire on soldiers and police, seeking to force the release of a drug lord held by a military patrol.
NewsUSA TODAY'Johnny Reb' no longer welcome in Norfolk: Virginia city gets OK to move Confederate statue
The Virginia city of Norfolk has the right to move its "Johnny Reb" Confederate statue from a busy downtown intersection to a local cemetery, the state attorney general and a local prosecutor have determined. Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Gregory Underwood filed court papers late Tuesday saying his office and the office of Attorney General Mark Herring have determined the statue, dedicated in 1907, is technically exempt from a state law banning the removal of monuments to war veterans. Underwood says the city would only be governed by the law if the statue were built after 1997.
- PoliticsThe National Interest
Bernie Weighed in on the 'Outrageous' Hillary-Tulsi Spat. You Won't Believe Which Side He Took.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders jumped to Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard's defense Monday against unfounded allegations that she is a Russian asset, which former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and commentators at multiple news outlets have recently floated. “Tulsi Gabbard has put her life on the line to defend this country. People can disagree on issues, but it is outrageous for anyone to suggest that Tulsi is a foreign asset,” Sanders said of his fellow Democratic presidential hopeful on Twitter.
- BusinessCar and Driver
View Photos of the Mazda MX-30
Mazda's first EV sports body cladding, suicide doors, and the evocative MX moniker. From Car and Driver
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