- PoliticsYahoo News
In Trump impeachment trial, Nadler presses case by quoting Lindsey Graham — from 1999
Rep. Jerry Nadler pressed the House's impeachment case against President Trump in the Senate Thursday using the words of one of Trump's most ardent defenders — who is also a juror in the ongoing trial — to make the case that a president need not have committed a crime in order to be removed from office. Nadler showed a video clip of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to argue that the Founding Fathers had not defined the phrase “high crimes and misdemeanors” — the basis specified in the U.S. Constitution for impeaching a president — leaving the question up to Congress. The video showed Graham speaking in 1999, when he was a member of the House, serving as an impeachment manager during the trial of then-President Bill Clinton.
- BusinessCBS News
Thunberg fires back at Mnunchin after college degree jab
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnunchin said Thursday that teen climate change activist Greta Thunberg should get a college degree before she speaks out about fossil fuel divestment. It didn't take long for Thunberg — the 2019 Time magazine Person of the Year — to fire back on social media. During a press briefing at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mnuchin questioned Thunberg's credentials after a reporter asked him about her recent remarks.
- U.S.INSIDER
Ex-Maryland police officer has been charged with raping and attempting to transmit HIV to a woman he pulled over
ArtOlympic/ Shutterstock Former Fairmont Heights police officer Martique Vanderpool is accused of raping a woman following a traffic stop in September. A Prince George County grand jury indicted Vanderpool Tuesday on a slew of charges, including that he knowingly exposed the woman to HIV. Vanderpool resigned from duty after his arrest.
- WorldReuters
U.S. to evacuate its citizens from Wuhan, China - WSJ
The plane, with around 230 people, will carry diplomats from the U.S. consulate as well as U.S. citizens and their families, the Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the operation. Washington was given approval for the operation from China's Foreign Ministry and other government agencies following negotiations in recent days, the newspaper said. A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said that on Thursday, the State Department had ordered the departure of family members and all U.S. government employees at its Wuhan consulate, but declined to comment on the report that other U.S. citizens would be evacuated from the city.
- SciencePopular Mechanics
New Moon Photos! Get Your New Moon Photos Here!
Piping hot and fresh from China's Chang'e 4 mission. From Popular Mechanics
- U.S.National Review
Parishioner Who Stopped Texas Church Shooter Criticizes Bloomberg on Gun-Control Efforts
The armed parishioner who took down a shooter at a Texas church in December criticized former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg's gun control efforts on Wednesday. “Mr. Bloomberg, had we operated by his standards or his wishes, the carnage would have been significantly greater because the individual still, after the shooting, still had seven live rounds in his gun and three more in his pocket,” Jack Wilson said in an interview on Fox News. Wilson, a member of West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, fired a single round at an armed intruder on December 29, killing the assailant.
- U.S.The Independent
US military investigating after finding Pornhub video of Navy service members shot through peephole
The Navy is reportedly investigating videos found on the website Pornhub that they believe show unsuspecting service members through a peephole in a bathroom. The videos were discovered earlier this month by an agent from the Naval Criminal Investigative Series, according to a report by NBC News. Several reportedly show sailors and Marines in uniform, with visible name patches.
- WorldBusiness Insider
White House breaks silence on Jeff Bezos phone-hacking scandal, calls Saudi Arabia an 'important ally'
Mark Wilson/Getty Images The White House broke its silence Thursday on reports that Saudia Arabia was likely behind the hacking of Jeff Bezos' phone. The White House called Saudi Arabia an "important ally" and said it doesn't have any additional information on the hacking allegations but it's taking the situation "seriously." The spokesperson did not say whether the US plans to investigate the hacking, which the United Nations called for on Wednesday.
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.
PoliticsUSA TODAYSen. Susan Collins wrote note to Chief Justice Roberts prior to his admonishing of Senators
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she was "stunned" by remarks given by House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler at the start of the trial, where he accused senators of being complicit in a cover-up if they shot down measures to hear from additional witnesses. Collins, a key moderate who Democrats are hoping to convince that more witnesses should be heard from during the trial, said the remarks caused her to write a note to Chief Justice John Roberts, asking whether the Senate's rules had been violated. "I was stunned by Congressman Nadler's approach, and it reminded me that if we were in a normal debate in the Senate, that the rule will be invoked to strike the words of the Senator, for impugning another Senator in this case," she explained in an interview with Politico, remarks that were confirmed by her office.
- 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 Guardian
'The new evidence raises deeply troubling questions': did Arkansas kill an innocent man?
The deceased inmate's sister Patricia Young lodged a lawsuit on Thursday with the circuit court of Pulaski county, Arkansas, petitioning city authorities and the local police department in Jacksonville to release crime scene materials to her family. An 81-page filing in the lawsuit provides damning new evidence that key aspects of the prosecution case against Lee were deeply flawed. The complaint includes expert opinion from a number of world-leading specialists who find glaring errors in the way forensic science and other evidence was interpreted.
- WorldReuters
US Vice President Pence meets pope, jokes "You have made me a hero"
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence quipped that Pope Francis had made him "a hero" during an unusually long audience with the pontiff on Friday at the Vatican. Pence, a former altar boy who had a strict Irish Catholic upbringing but later converted to evangelical Protestantism, appeared to be referring to the fact that the rest of his family had stayed in the Roman Catholic Church and that his departure from the faith had put some strain on family relations. Pence's talks with Francis in the papal library lasted about an hour, twice as long as the meeting between the pope and President Donald Trump in the same frescoed room in May, 2017.
- WorldINSIDER
Photos from the Lunar New Year show how coronavirus turned China's biggest party into a washout
Crowds gather in Ditan Park in Beijing, China. Thomas Peter/Reuters2020: Ditan Park is eerily empty as workers took down the lantern decorations after the Lunar New Year celebration was cancelled. Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters2019: Signs with the Chinese character "Fu," which means "Good luck," hang in the Forbidden City.
- WorldThe Week
Virologist who helped identify SARS on coronavirus outbreak: 'This time I'm scared'
Experts are seeing shocking similarities between the coronavirus that has now spread beyond China and the SARS outbreak of 2003. Like the infectious pneumonia that has killed at least 17 people, SARS was caused by a coronavirus that originated in China. People were out at markets without masks, "preparing to ring in the New Year in peace and had no sense about the epidemic," Guan Yi of the University of Hong Kong's State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases told Caixin.
BusinessAFPGreta Thunberg says climate demands 'completely ignored' at Davos
Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg on Friday said calls to the corporate elite meeting in Davos to immediately disinvest in fossil fuels had been ignored. Of course these demands have been completely ignored. Thunberg was a highlight of the 50th edition of the conference, drawing massive attention including barbs by US Secretary Steven Mnuchin who on Thursday told the teen to go "study economics".
- WorldBusiness Insider
The outbreaks of both the Wuhan coronavirus and SARS started in Chinese wet markets. Photos show what the markets look like.
The Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan closed on January 1 after it was found to be the most likely starting point for the outbreak of this coronavirus, also called 2019-nCov. NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images A 61-year-old man was the first person to die from the virus. According to Bloomberg, he was a regular shopper at the Huanan wet market, which sold more than seafood.
- U.S.The Independent
Ghislaine Maxwell: Hackers 'breached' computer belonging to Jeffrey Epstein associate, attorney says
Lawyers for the woman accused of procuring underage girls to have sex with Jeffrey Epstein told a judge that hackers “breached” her computer after a court failed to redact her email address in filings it released last year. Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyer Ty Gee said in a December letter to Judge Loretta A Preska that, “despite the Second Circuit's best efforts, it made serious mistakes” when redacting thousands of pages of records associated with a defamation lawsuit filed by one of Epstein's accusers, Virginia Giuffre. Ms Giuffre's 2015 lawsuit argued that Ms Maxwell publicly called her a liar for claiming that the British socialite approached her at the age of 15 and encouraged her to sleep with the convicted sex offender.
- PoliticsNational Review
FISA Court Confirms Two Carter Page Surveillance Applications ‘Not Valid’
A FISA Court order declassified Thursday confirmed that the government had found two of the four FISA applications authorized for the FBI to surveil 2016 Trump-campaign adviser Carter Page to be “not valid,” and will further investigate the validity of the other two. Based on the ordering of the applications, it appears the review found the second and third renewal applications used against Page to be invalid, while the original application and the first renewal remain under investigation. The court also said it was still waiting on the Bureau after it “agreed 'to sequester all collection the FBI acquired pursuant to the Court's authorizations'” against Page, but so far has not provided an update.
- WorldAssociated Press
Belarus' leader blasts Russia for pushing merger of 2 states
The president of Belarus on Friday accused Moscow of pressuring his country to merge with Russia and vowed not to let it happen. Talking to workers of a paper plant in eastern Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko lambasted Russia, the country's main provider of cheap oil and gas, for halting oil supplies in order "to dissolve Belarus ... in the brotherly Russia.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoRep. Ilhan Omar launches 'Send her back to Congress!' reelection bid with big advantages
Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. is kicking off her reelection campaign Thursday night with a massive bank account and no challengers who pose a serious threat from either party. Her campaign slogan — “Send her back to Congress!
- 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
Donald Trump is suddenly scared of Mike Bloomberg — as he should be
The president is projecting his own personality onto Bloomberg because he doesn't want the former New York City mayor, who is roughly 17 times as rich Trump, to “spend money helping whoever the Democrat nominee is” — and hurting Trump's own reelection chances. In other words, Trump is afraid. His fear is justified.
- WorldReuters
Bodies of U.S. firefighters retrieved from Australian air crash site
The bodies of three U.S. firefighters who died in a plane crash earlier this week in Australia's remote bushland while battling a fierce wildfire have been recovered, the police said on Saturday as investigators started probe into the accident. A spokeswoman for Australia's New South Wales state police confirmed the recovery to Reuters in an e-mail. Coulson Aviation, the private Canadian firm that employed the trio, named them as U.S. military veterans Captain Ian H. McBeth, 44, of Great Falls, Montana, First Officer Paul Clyde Hudson, 42, of Buckeye, Arizona, and Flight Engineer Rick DeMorgan Jr., 43, of Navarre, Florida.
WorldAFPMexico seeks US extradition of drug lord's son for reporter murder
Mexico is seeking the extradition from the United States of the son of a Sinaloa cartel drug lord over the 2017 murder of acclaimed journalist Javier Valdez, the attorney general's office said Thursday. Damaso Lopez Serrano, the son of former top "El Chapo" lieutenant Damaso Lopez Nunez "El Licenciado", is accused of being the mastermind behind the killing of Valdez. An arrest warrant for Lopez Serrano was approved Thursday afternoon after prosecutors interviewed members of the Sinaloa cartel who testified against him, the attorney general's office said in a statement.
