- U.S.Associated Press
FedEx driver questioned about hundreds of packages in woods
The recent discovery of hundreds of packages in a wooded area north of Alabama's most populous city have led authorities to question a FedEx driver, a sheriff said Monday. As many as 400 packages of varying sizes were found in a ravine last week about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Birmingham, authorities said. The discovery was made on private property near the small town of Hayden in Blount County, Sheriff Mark Moon said.
U.S.The Daily BeastSchoolgirl Outfits, Gifts to Teens, Sex Abuse ‘Every Day’: Feds Slam Ghislaine Maxwell on 1st Day of Trial
Such was the story presented by federal prosecutors on the first day of Ghislaine Maxwell's trial in connection to multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking ring. The 59-year-old British heiress is accused of procuring underage girls for Epstein to molest in what prosecutors called a “pyramid scheme of abuse.” Four victims will testify that Maxwell participated in Epstein's sex ring—including one who says the couple involved her in “group sexualized massages” when she was only 14 years old.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderEmails show how Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg talks to his staff about vaccines, pride flags, and his adopted babies
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sends his staff regular email updates. Insider obtained nine of them under the Freedom of Information Act. He emails about vaccines, pride celebrations, and parenthood.
U.S.Associated PressJones wants Sandy Hook 'hoax' case jury to hear his defenses
Infowars host Alex Jones' lawyers are trying to get his free speech defense and other claims before a jury to argue that he is not liable for damages for calling the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting a hoax years ago. The effort comes despite a Connecticut judge ruling this month that Jones was liable by default in a defamation lawsuit brought by relatives of some of the victims, saying he repeatedly failed to turn over some documents, including financial records. Defendants who are found liable by default in lawsuits are not allowed to present their arguments against liability at hearings on damages unless they filed a “notice of defense,” which Jones and his lawyers did last Wednesday.
U.S.NBC NewsRemains of Wisconsin mom missing since September found in wooded area of Eastern Minnesota
More than two months after Wisconsin mother of four Ashley Miller Carlson vanished, her family will finally be able to bring her home -- but not in the way they had hoped. On Saturday, the 33-year-old's remains were discovered in a wooded area off Grace Lake Road in Hinckley, Minnesota, a couple of miles from where her car had been found partly submerged in Graces Lake back in September, according to Applied Professional Services, a Duluth-based investigation firm hired by the family. “This is a sad day our family hoped would not come, and there are still many questions that need answers, but the important thing is we now have Ashley,” Krista Struck, Ashley's mother, said in a statement released on Saturday.
U.S.Atlanta Black Star‘I Decided’: New York Teen Baseball Star Refused to Accept Act of Racism At Private Prep School, He Chose to Leave In Response to Derogatory Comment About His Speed
A 16-year-old baseball phenom has transferred from an elite New Rochelle, New York, prep school to attend his local public school in his junior year. The transfer comes after someone on the school's staff allegedly spewed a racist statement toward him. Local reports say Tony Humphrey was a star on the Iona Preparatory School's baseball team.
NewsYahoo News CanadaDisturbing theory behind 'rare' polar bear video
Polish scientists said the bear was observed using “much the same method” to kill reindeer twice, leading them to hypothesize it could be becoming “specialized” at hunting the species. With reindeer outpacing polar bears on land, forcing the reindeer into water could be giving giving the predator an advantage. Climate crisis forcing polar bears to adapt their diet As sea ice melting worsens across the Arctic due to global heating, researchers have observed polar bears are spending more time on land around Svalbard.
WorldUSA TODAYBodies hanging from Mexico overpasses: Powerful drug cartels are back to their old tactics
Mexico's notorious drug cartels appear to have resumed some of its bloodiest tactics, after nine half-naked and tortured bodies recently were found hanging from a bridge on a federal highway in the Mexican state of Zacatecas. Mexican authorities said a tenth body was found on the ground, apparently falling before officers arrived. Mexican state authorities condemned the "atrocious act" and deployed forces in the area to find the perpetrators.
WorldBelleville News-DemocratHow many people in your area are vaccinated against COVID? Here’s a ZIP by ZIP report
How does your southwestern Illinois community compare to others?
WorldReutersCatholic nuns lift veil on abuse in convents
When young nuns at a convent in Eastern Europe told their Mother Superior that a priest had tried to molest them, she retorted that it was probably their fault for "provoking him". When African nuns in Minnesota asked why it was always they who had to shovel snow they were told it was because they were young and strong, even though white sisters of the same age lived there too. As the Roman Catholic Church pays more attention to the closed world of convents, where women spend much of their time in prayer and household work, more episodes of psychological, emotional and physical abuse are coming to light.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderFauci responds to Ted Cruz's suggestion that he should be prosecuted: 'I should be prosecuted? What happened on January 6, senator?'
In an interview on CBS, Dr. Anthony Fauci responded to Sen. Ted Cruz's call for his prosecution. Fauci's suggestion that Cruz be prosecuted over the Capital riot comes as an ethics probe stalls. Dr. Anthony Fauci responded to Sen. Ted Cruz's calls for him to be prosecuted by invoking the storming of the US Capitol on January 6.
U.S.FTW OutdoorsHawaii diver captures rare great white shark encounter on video
A Hawaii-based photographer was astonished Friday to spot a 15-foot great white shark swimming toward him off Kona on the Big Island. Deron Verbeck told FTW Outdoors that he was freediving and first spotted the shark about 100 feet below the surface. But she turned and came up into about 30 feet when I got all the shots and video,” he said.
U.S.Associated PressAlabama inmate who survived execution attempt dies of cancer
An Alabama inmate whose lethal injection was halted because medical staff couldn't find a suitable vein for the execution has died of natural causes almost four years later, his lawyer said Monday. Doyle Lee Hamm, who was convicted in the slaying of a motel clerk in 1987, died of natural causes on death row, said his longtime attorney, Bernard Harcourt. Alabama officials postponed Hamm's execution in February 2018 because workers couldn't find a suitable vein to connect the intravenous line used to send lethal chemicals into his body.
WorldDeadlineFirst Cases Of Omicron Variant Found In North America – Update
Duclos said health officials were working to contract trace the cases and that “it is expected that other cases of this variant will be found in Canada. President Joe Biden echoed that sentiment today, saying that Omicron will arrive in the United States “sooner or later,” but said that it was “a cause for concern, not a cause for panic. The World Health organization, which was among the first bodies to begin tracking the disease, released a statement of observations and recommendations on Sunday.
- WorldWTTG
Gun not recovered, family not interviewed in 1-year-old's death
A one-year-old child was shot and killed in the District on the day before Thanksgiving. Now, police and the public are still searching for answers.
BusinessReutersCostly Airbus paint flaw goes wider than the Gulf
DUBAI (Reuters) - A dispute between Airbus and Qatar Airways over paint and surface flaws on A350 jets stretches beyond the Gulf, with at least five other airlines raising concerns since the high-tech model entered service, according to documents seen by Reuters and several people with direct knowledge of the matter. Qatar's national carrier has grounded 20 of its 53 A350s, saying it is acting on orders from its local regulator, until reasons for what witnesses describe as the blistered and pock-marked appearance of some of its A350s can be confirmed. Airbus says there is no risk to the A350's safety - a point echoed by the other airlines, which have not grounded any jets and describe the issue as "cosmetic."
U.S.IndyStar | The Indianapolis StarWhat we know about 2-year-old Emma Sweet's death in Indiana river in Bartholomew County
Rescue teams in Bartholomew County on Sunday found the body of toddler Emma Sweet after a three-day search of the White River. The Bartholomew County Water Rescue and Recovery Team found the 2-year-old 2.5 miles downstream from where her father, Jeremy Sweet, was found alive by duck hunters last Friday. He was in a pickup truck submerged in the White River and was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital to be treated for hypothermia.
HealthState College Centre Daily TimesToxic deer? ‘Do not eat advisory’ issued for contaminated deer in central Maine
Deer in one region of central Maine are to be considered toxic to humans, according to state wildlife officials. An indefinite “do not eat” advisory was issued Nov. 24, out of concern people who eat the meat could develop a variety of health problems. The contaminated deer were found “in the greater Fairfield area,” about 55 miles southwest of Bangor.
U.S.Associated PressEmbattled Kansas lawmaker arrested for second time in month
A 21-year-old embattled Kansas lawmaker was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving — his second arrest in less than a month — and is facing fresh calls for his resignation or removal from office. A Kansas trooper arrested Aaron Coleman around 1 a.m. Saturday on Interstate 70 near Lawrence, the Kansas Highway Patrol said. Coleman was taken to the Douglas County Jail, where he bonded out hours later.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTrump stopped receiving presidential intelligence briefings after the Capitol riot, new book says
Trump stopped receiving presidential intel briefings after the Capitol riot, a new book says. Trump told one of his briefers he would see her after the holidays, but "none were scheduled after the attack on the Capitol," the book says. In his final weeks as president, Donald Trump stopped receiving the presidential briefing by intelligence officers.
U.S.The Providence JournalThanksgiving surprise: RI man finally meets Florida woman who's been calling him for years
More than 20 years ago, Mike Moffitt started getting a lot of calls from a Florida phone number. Finally, "I said, 'Hey, what's your name?'" Moffitt told The Providence Journal last week. The woman's name was Gladys, and as time went on, she became a steady fixture in Moffitt's life.
U.S.Associated PressActor charged in riot almost talked way into staying in jail
An actor charged with storming the U.S. Capitol as a member of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group nearly talked his way into remaining in jail after a judge heard on Monday that the Florida man was challenging the court's authority over him. A prosecutor said he wasn't planning to seek pretrial detention for James Beeks of Orlando, Florida, until learning in court that the actor didn't accept the court's jurisdiction over him. Beeks, who has performed in a traveling production of the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” and as a Michael Jackson impersonator, initially rejected being represented by an attorney and made comments that the judge called “gobbledygook.”
U.S.Modesto BeeScott Peterson transferred off death row ahead of murder resentencing. What’s next?
Scott Peterson on Monday was transferred from death row at San Quentin Prison to the San Mateo County jail in advance of his resentencing hearing next week. Judge Anne-Christine Massullo signed an order Nov. 23 to have Peterson transferred as soon as possible after Peterson's attorney Pat Harris filed papers saying he'd been having trouble communicating with his client at the prison. A hearing on the juror misconduct claim is scheduled in late February; Massullo will have 90 days after the matter is submitted to decide whether Peterson gets a new trial.
U.S.The Daily BeastThe Border Patrol Agent Who Threw Away His Badge
SCHIVONE: In your book, you describe Brendan Lenihan as an "open-hearted Border Patrol agent" who told you “one of the most powerful stories of empathy I've ever heard”—referring to an incident Lenihan had while on patrol in Southern Arizona. Guide readers through what happened. MILLER: So, Brendan Lenihan was patrolling around the town of Arivaca and he got a call from dispatch that somebody or something had tripped a motion sensor.
WorldAssociated PressBlack Eyed Peas frontman defies Israel boycott calls
Speaking to The Associated Press ahead of the concert, which was taking place on the U.N.'s international day of solidarity with the Palestinian people, will.i.am said that personal and business ties keep him performing and investing in the country. I'm a musician and a tech enthusiast and people like our music,” he said, flanked by two of the group's other members, Taboo and Apl.de.ap. Do I turn my back on people that live here because of politics?
“I know it doesn’t feel like it, but inflation is both a feature and a bug of a normalizing economy.”
“What is not going to work, and hasn’t worked, is trying to talk people out of the lived reality of higher prices.”
“When inflation expectations rise, actual inflation tends to follow.”
“The Fed must acknowledge that its monetary policy has been a source of inflation, and that it will need to raise interest rates.”
“The supply chain logjams are the core of the problem right now, and that should work itself out over time.”