GOP lawmaker says 'out-of-the-box strategy' could give Trump an 'advantage' in impeachment hearings 

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., on Sunday said it would play to the “president's advantage” to have his top administration officials, in an “out-of-the-box strategy,” testify in the upcoming impeachment hearings. “As it relates to the other members of the executive branch, the president has to make decisions not only for him but for the presidency,” he continued.

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  Over 500 law professors say Trump engaged in 'impeachable conduct' in his dealings with Ukraine

  Business Insider
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  Factbox: How will Monday's House hearing on Trump impeachment evidence unfold?

  Reuters

The 2 US Navy sailors being hailed as heroes in the Pensacola shooting were fresh out of military training

Two slain US service members who have been hailed for their perseverance during the mass shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida recently finished their introductory training in the Navy. Family members of two of the reported victims, Joshua Watson and Mohammed Haitham, say they were notified that the men tried assisting authorities during the shooting. Both service members had recently graduated from their respective introductory training stations.

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  Governor DeSantis gives update on Pensacola shooting

  FOX News Videos
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  Terror attack? Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis calls for gun restrictions after Pensacola shooting

  USA TODAY

Biden Says Son Hunter Will Not Engage in Foreign Business if He Wins in 2020

Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden said his son Hunter will not be engaged in any foreign business if the former vice president is elected in 2020. Hunter Biden raised eyebrows when it came to light that he held a lucrative position on the board of a Ukrainian gas company while his father was fighting corruption in Ukraine as vice president. The set-up prompted Trump to ask Ukraine to investigate the Bidens while temporarily withholding U.S. military aid, an alleged quid pro quo that became the basis for the impeachment inquiry against Trump.

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  Biden Says He Won’t Look Further into Hunter’s Ukrainian Business Dealings: ‘I Trust My Son’

  National Review
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  Everything you need to know about Trump's impeachment process: What's happened, who the players are, and what comes next

  Business Insider

Factory owner, manager arrested after Indian capital's deadliest fire in 20 years

Police in New Delhi have arrested the owner and manager of a factory where 43 people died in the Indian capital's deadliest fire in 20 years, a spokesman said on Monday. The blaze started early on Sunday morning when more than a hundred workers were sleeping in the four-storey building located in a residential part of Delhi. "We have arrested the owner and a manager of the factory where the fire broke out, and initiated an investigation which is going to be completed soon," Delhi police spokesman Mandeep Singh Randhawa said.

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  Must Read: A Deadly Fire in a New Delhi Handbag Factory, Could Gamers Be the Next Big Fashion Influencers?

  Fashionista
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  Dozens dead in Delhi factory fire

  CBS News Videos

Webcam live feed showed tourists inside New Zealand volcano right before it erupted and killed at least 5

A webcam photograph from the New Zealand geological hazards agency GeoNet showed a group of people inside the crater of a volcano moments before it erupted. The eruption occurred at Whakaari, also known as White Island, which is located about 50 kilometers, or 30 miles, from the east coast of the country's North Island. The New Zealand police confirmed in a press conference at 6 p.m. on Monday local time that at least five people were dead and many more were injured in the eruption.

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  NZ police say no more survivors expected from volcano eruption

  Reuters
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  'No Signs of Life,' After White Island Volcano Erupts in New Zealand. Here's What to Know

  Time

Pope names Manila Cardinal Tagle to major Vatican post

Pope Francis has named Manila Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle to a major Vatican post, in a move that could boost the Asian prelate's chances of perhaps someday becoming pontiff himself. The Vatican announced Sunday that Tagle, 62, will head the Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples. The appointment of Tagle as prefect of that office highlights the attention that Francis is giving to the church in the developing world.

'It was beautiful': Acupuncturists help migrants stranded at Mexico border deal with stress

For months, Carlos Lopez's mind has been endlessly spinning with the fears and anxiety of leaving his home country of Honduras, traveling 1,700 miles with his 13-year-old son to this Mexican border town and the day-to-day survival of living in a squalid tent city. “All the bad thoughts went away,” Lopez, 41, said, as he emerged from his 45-minute-long acupuncture session. Lopez is one of a growing number of migrants stuck on the border under President Donald Trump's Migration Protection Protocols policy – which sends migrants to Mexican border towns to await their immigration court hearing in the U.S. To help the migrants pass the time and deal with stress, teams of volunteers led by Acupuncturists Without Borders, or AWB, a nonprofit that treats people in disaster zones and refugee camps and trains other acupuncturists around the world, are providing Lopez and others with free acupuncture treatment at border towns in Mexico.

Pearl Harbor veteran interred on sunken ship

With speeches and salutes, veterans and officials on Saturday commemorated the 78th anniversary of the 1941 sneak attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor, which brought a previously reluctant United States into World War II. A ceremony in Hawaii honoring survivors was attended by US Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Washington's ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris. It was held within sight of the sunken USS Arizona, which was bombed in the opening moments of the attack that killed more than 2,400 Americans.

Ramaphosa Faces Party Bid to Oust Him Over Reforms, Citizen Says

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's opponents within the ruling party are plotting to oust him over reforms that they say are failing to benefit the poor, the Citizen reported, citing people it didn't identify. A campaign being led by African National Congress Secretary-General Ace Magashule aims to discredit him over economic policies that his opponents argue are supplanting the party's pro-poor stance, the Johannesburg-based newspaper said. The anti-Ramaphosa faction wants Deputy President David Mabuza to become president, deputized by either Magashule or Water Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, the newspaper said.

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  Ramaphosa Pledges Tough Love for Ailing South African Firms

  Bloomberg
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  South Africa's Ramaphosa vows 'drastic' steps to save state companies

  Reuters

TV crew laugh at Ted Cruz in live interview after he endorses Trump's baseless conspiracy theory

Ted Cruz was laughed at by a TV crew during a live interview after he endorsed Donald Trump's baseless conspiracy theory about Ukraine. The Texas senator, who challenged Mr Trump to be the Republican nominee in 2016, was mocked for saying he believed there was “considerable evidence” that Ukraine meddled in the most recent presidential election. The US intelligence community has concluded that Russia, not Ukraine, interfered in the 2016 election and senior officials have said it is a “fictional narrative” to suggest Ukraine was involved.

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  Ted Cruz says Ukraine 'blatantly interfered' in 2016 election during testy exchange with Chuck Todd

  USA TODAY
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  Ted Cruz Becomes Latest Republican To Push Ukraine Election Interference Claim

  HuffPost

China claims all Uighur Muslims have happily 'graduated' from its oppressive prison camp system, despite widespread reports that at least 1 million are detained

China has imprisoned at least 1 million Uighur Muslims in prison-like detention camps in the western Xinjiang region, according to numerous activists and researchers. Shohrat Zakir, the governor of Xinjiang, claimed without evidence on Monday that everyone in the camps, which China euphemistically calls "vocational training centers" is now out. Zakir said everyone had now "graduated" from the facilities, where reports of psychological and physical torture are common.

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  Chinese official blasts U.S. for Xinjiang bills

  Reuters Videos
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  China claims without providing evidence that all Muslims it detained in re-education camps have ‘graduated’ and are happy

  The Independent

AOC calls out Trump after news that Amazon plans to hire 1,500 employees in New York City

Following reports that Amazon plans to open a new office in New York City, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that the Trump administration "should focus more on cutting public assistance to billionaires instead of poor families."

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  At a pro-Israel conference, Trump told Jewish voters they'd vote for him to avoid a wealth tax

  Business Insider
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  President Trump blasted by Jewish group for his ‘vile and bigoted remarks’

  MarketWatch

The 25 Best Tower Defense Games

Build those structures. Keep them from harm. Collect that loot.

U.S. Supreme Court rejects Arizona opioid case against Purdue, Sackler family

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away a novel case by Arizona seeking to recover billions of dollars that the state has said that members of the Sackler family - owners of Purdue Pharma LP - funneled out of the OxyContin maker before the company filed for bankruptcy in September. The justices declined to take the rare step of allowing Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to pursue a case directly with the Supreme Court on the role the drugmaker played in the U.S. opioid epidemic that has killed tens of thousands of Americans annually in recent years. The lawsuit accused eight Sackler family members of funneling $4 billion out of Purdue from 2008 to 2016 despite being aware that the company faced massive potential liabilities over its marketing of opioid medications.

Ed Smart, father of Elizabeth Smart: "There is no cure" for being gay

I mean, I literally called my bishop up one morning, and I said, 'You know, I feel like I've stabbed Lois in the heart,'" Smart told King in his first network television interview about his sexuality. "And I went to my other church leader, and I said to him, 'So am I gay? Am I gay?

Lebanese-born donor of Hitler items welcomed in Israel

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday welcomed a Lebanese-born Swiss real estate mogul who purchased Nazi memorabilia at a German auction and is donating the items to Israel. Chatila, a Lebanese Christian who has lived in Switzerland for decades, paid some 600,000 euros ($660,000) for the items at the Munich auction last month, intending to destroy them after reading of Jewish groups' objections to the sale. Among the items he bought were Adolf Hitler's top hat, a silver-plated edition of Hitler's “Mein Kampf” and a typewriter used by the dictator's secretary.

'An outright lie': Ohio lawmaker shown to be linked to group pushing rightwing Christian bills

An Ohio legislator who said he had “no knowledge” of a rightwing Christian bill mill called Project Blitz is, in fact, the co-chair of the state branch of an organization behind the campaign. The Ohio state representative Timothy Ginter sponsored a bill called the Student Religious Liberties Act. The Guardian revealed the bill was nearly identical to one promoted by Project Blitz, a state legislative project guided by three Christian right organizations, including the Congressional Prayer Caucus (CPC), WallBuilders and the ProFamily Legislators Conference.

'Old man' Trump is 'bluffing' says North Korea: KCNA

North Korea on Monday accused US President Trump of "bluffing" and called him "an old man bereft of patience" as Pyongyang ramps up pressure on Washington over stalled nuclear talks. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un engaged in mutual insults and threats of devastation in 2017, sending tensions soaring before a diplomatic rapprochement the following year. Pyongyang has now set Washington an end-of-year deadline to offer it new concessions in deadlocked nuclear negotiations, and has said it will adopt an unspecified "new way" if nothing acceptable is forthcoming.

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  Analyst View: As North Korea's deadline looms, what are Kim Jong Un's options?

  Reuters
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  North Korea opens mountain spa, ski resort in tourism push

  Associated Press

Mysterious automated calls, vanished relatives, and sinister Facebook comments: How China intimidates Uighurs who don't even live in the country

China is waging a widespread, coordinated mass crackdown on its Uighur Muslim minority. Though the brutal campaign is most active in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, the Uighurs' homeland, many Uighurs abroad say they have also been targeted by Chinese agents. Members of the Uighur diaspora described receiving mysterious automated calls, eerie Facebook comments, and being threatened by Mandarin Chinese speakers in real life.

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  Chinese official blasts U.S. for Xinjiang bills

  Reuters Videos
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  China claims without providing evidence that all Muslims it detained in re-education camps have ‘graduated’ and are happy

  The Independent

The Russian Navy Has Some Problems

The Russia fleet in 2019 will take delivery of 23 new surface vessels, two new submarines and three new aircraft, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced. As such, 2019 continues the Russian fleet's long-term trend toward fewer and smaller ships. “We have paid and will pay the closest attention to the technical re-equipment of the armed forces, including, of course, the modernization of the Russian navy,” Putin said at a Dec. 3, 2019 meeting of top military and industry officials.

Female Reporter Calls Out Runner Who Groped Her While She Was on TV

A young female local news journalist has spoken out after she was apparently groped by a runner while reporting live on a race in Savannah, Ga. Alexandrea Bozarjian, a WSAV3 journalist, was reporting on the Enmarket Savannah Bridge Run on Saturday as runners rush by her, waving to the camera, according to footage of the incident. Suddenly, a man throws back his arm, turns to her and appears to deliberately hit her on the rear end.

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  Journalist says man "violated" her during live TV report at race event

  CBS News
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  Reporter left stunned after runner gropes her on live television during a race

  AOL.com

Man wearing reindeer slippers tips woman out of wheelchair on train as he tries to steal it

A man has been arrested after a would-be thief tipped a woman out of her wheelchair on a train and attempted to steal it. CCTV footage of the incident shows a man dressed in a red jacket and reindeer slippers, who lept out of his seat and grabbed the handles of the wheelchair as the train approached a station. The woman sitting in the chair can be seen desperately grabbing onto the railings inside the carriage as the attacker attempts to steer her out of the open doors.

American soldiers banned from Italian main street after vicious brawl

Around 2,000 US Army soldiers have been banned from one of the main streets in the Italian city of Vicenza after a  brawl between soldiers and locals. The temporary ban, which affects members of the 173rd Airborne Brigade stationed in the city, involves the quaint via  Contra' Pescherie Vecchie, where two young Vicenza men say they were surrounded and beaten by several soldiers after a verbal exchange just outside a popular watering hole for off duty combat paratroopers. City authorities are studying CCTV images to identify the culprits of the latest violent episode, which prompted Mayor Francesco Rucco to request special restrictive measures from the base commander.