- PoliticsYahoo News
'You embarrassed yourself': Kellyanne Conway blasts CNN's Wolf Blitzer for playing George Conway clip
Appearing live on CNN Thursday, Kellyanne Conway, special counselor to President Trump, was asked to respond to the assessment given by her husband, George, that testimony of career diplomats in the first public impeachment hearings was damning for her boss. George Conway, a conservative lawyer and outspoken Trump critic, appeared on MSNBC as a guest analyst during Thursday's hearings. While introducing a clip of George Conway, CNN's Wolf Blitzer told Kellyanne Conway he wanted to ask her a “sensitive” political question.
NewsUSA TODAYSupreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh gets hero's welcome from conservative Federalist Society
WASHINGTON – Brett Kavanaugh waited more than 13 months to take a victory lap. On Thursday night, a hero's welcome greeted the associate justice who made it to the Supreme Court by the narrowest of margins last October after two contentious Senate confirmation hearings. The annual black-tie dinner of the Federalist Society – the nation's premier gathering of conservatives in the law – is dedicated to the memory of the late Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.
- NewsAssociated Press
Chicago gang leader accused of trying to help Islamic State
A purported street-gang leader from suburban Chicago who became radicalized in prison faces federal charges accusing him of seeking to provide money to Islamic State militants in Syria, according to a complaint unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Jason Brown, the 37-year-old leader of the AHK gang, could be heard on secret FBI recordings speaking admiringly about beheadings by the Islamic State group, the 27-page complaint says. AHK, which prosecutors say traffics drugs throughout the Chicago area, is comprised of former members of the Black P-Stone, Gangster Disciples and Four Corner Hustlers who converted to Islam, the court filings say.
SportsAFPTempers flare over rebuilding of Notre-Dame spire
The French army general charged with overseeing the rebuilding of Paris' fire-mangled Notre-Dame, has caused astonishment by publicly telling the cathedral's chief architect to "shut his mouth" in a sign of tension over the monument's future look. General Jean-Louis Georgelin and chief architect Philippe Villeneuve are at odds over whether to replace the cathedral's spire -- which was toppled in the April 15 blaze -- with an exact replica, or mix things up with a modern twist. President Emmanuel Macron, who appointed Georgelin to head the massive reconstruction project, has said he is in favour of adding a "contemporary" touch.
- LifestylePopular Mechanics
20 Great Gifts for Boys Who Love to Tinker
These toys will do what your junior high chem teacher never could: make learning about science fun. From Popular Mechanics
- WorldThe Telegraph
Bolivia interim leader recognises Guaido as legitimate Venezuelan leader as balance shifts
Interim president Jeanine Anez moved Thursday to consolidate power in deeply polarized Bolivia, winning recognition from the United States and immediately shifting the country's foreign policy on erstwhile ally Venezuela. Anez was expected to complete her government line-up, having named new military chiefs and half of her proposed 20-member cabinet - including Defense Minister Fernando Lopez Julio - the night before. "We have come to pacify the country," Lopez Julio said in a speech at the military college in La Paz.
- WorldThe National Interest
Look Out, Israel: China May Have Stolen The Iron Dome
Key point: China has aided its military modernization by stealing and reverse-engineering top-of-the-line military hardware. Maryland-based Cyber Engineering Services detected the cyber burglary, according to cybersecurity writer Brian Krebs. “Between Oct. 10, 2011 and Aug. 13, 2012, attackers thought to be operating out of China hacked into the corporate networks of three top Israeli defense technology companies, including Elisra Group, Israel Aerospace Industries, and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems,” Krebs writes.
- WorldReuters
Moving university to Vienna, Soros vows to defend academic freedom from Orban
Billionaire George Soros opened the new main campus of his Central European University in Vienna on Friday, saying it would not halt its struggle to defend academic freedom from Viktor Orban, the right wing leader he says hounded it from Hungary. Since it was founded by Soros in 1991, CEU has been a gateway to the West for thousands of students from eastern Europe, offering U.S.-accredited graduate degree programmes in an academic climate that celebrates free thought. "CEU has steadfastly defended the principle of academic freedom against a concentrated attack by the corrupt government of Viktor Orban, who was hellbent to destroy it," Soros said at the inauguration of CEU's Vienna campus.
- PoliticsBloomberg
DNC Announces 10 Candidates in Atlanta Democratic Debate
The Democratic National Committee on Thursday announced the 10 candidates who will participate in the fifth Democratic primary debate in Atlanta on Wednesday. They are: Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang. Julian Castro, who participated in previous debates, most recently in October at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, didn't make the cut.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump: Impeachment 'has been very hard on my family'
President Trump said Thursday that the impeachment inquiry launched by House Democrats has been “very hard” on his family. Impeachment to me is a dirty word,” Trump said while campaigning in Bossier City, La. for Republican Eddie Rispone, who is running against incumbent Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, adding, “It has been very hard on my family.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Protesters blare Christine Blasey Ford testimony and dress up as handmaids outside Kavanaugh speech
WASHINGTON — As guests filed into Union Station to hear a keynote speech by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh Thursday evening, the scene outside included protesters dressed in "Handmaid's Tale" costumes and chanting their support for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. The protesters from the group Demand Justice sent the message to attendees that they "still believe" Blasey Ford, according to video and photos taken by journalists present. Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault last year.
- NewsThe Independent
American war veteran who spent several days in ICE detention receives $190k settlement
A US citizen and military veteran suffering from a mental health condition will reportedly receive $190,000 (£147,988) from a Michigan city after local officials transferred him to ICE detention following an arrest last year. Jilmar Ramos-Gomez, a decorated Marine veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, was arrested while experiencing an episode in which he lost all recollection, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Police found the veteran, who was born and raised in Michigan, on the helipad of a hospital after he started a small fire and pulled an alarm, according to reports.
WorldAFPVietnam jails music teacher for 'undermining' state
Vietnam sentenced a music teacher to 11 years in prison on Friday for Facebook posts that allegedly undermined the one-party state, which has been accused of tightening the noose on online dissent. Communist Vietnam has long jailed its critics but has come under fire recently for targeting users on Facebook, a popular forum for activists in the country where all independent media is banned. Nguyen Nang Tinh is the latest activist jailed for his Facebook comments, including posts about police brutality, land rights, and a Taiwanese steel firm that dumped toxic sludge into the ocean, killing masses of fish off the coast of Vietnam.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoAmerican teacher's death in D.R. is being investigated Thursday as a murder
An American teacher's death in the Dominican Republic was being investigated Thursday as a murder. Police said they found Patricia Anton deceased in her apartment in Puerto Plata, on the country's northern coast, with her hands and feet bound.
- WorldAssociated Press
Fuel rations, price hike hit Iranians amid plunging economy
Across the capital, Tehran, long lines of cars waited for hours at pumping stations following the changes in energy policy, which state media announced around midnight without any prior warning to the public. The U.S. withdrew from Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers last year, and re-imposed crippling trade sanctions that have sent the Iranian economy into free-fall. Iranian officials say the proceeds from Friday's price hikes are earmarked to fund subsidies for low-income families.
- WorldThe National Interest
The Army Plans To Use These 6 Weapons In A War Against Russia Or China
Key point: The Pentagon is at a crossroads. The U.S. Army is at a crossroads as the Pentagon is reorienting itself to fight a capable great power opponent after nearly two decades focused on counter-insurgency conflicts. Russia poses a traditional land-power challenge for the U.S. Army with its large mechanized formations threatening the Baltics, as well as formidable long-range ballistic missiles, artillery and surface-to-air missiles.
- PoliticsPolitico
Jackie Speier erupts at reporter for The Hill
Angered by the testimony of ousted ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, California Rep. Jackie Speier upbraided a reporter for The Hill and ripped the outlet's publication of columns by John Solomon, the conservative journalist whose work is at the center of what Yovanovitch described as a “smear campaign” against her. “I just find it reprehensible that any newspaper would just be willing to put that kind of crap out that is not — has no veracity whatsoever, and not check to see if it had any veracity,” said Speier, a Democrat serving in her seventh term in the House, according to audio of the exchange reviewed by POLITICO. Speier launched into her critique of The Hill after fielding a question from its senior staff writer Scott Wong about who her dream witness would be at the impeachment proceedings.
- WorldReuters
China envoy threatens Sweden over award to detained writer Gui Minhai
China threatened Sweden with unspecified "counter measures" if its culture minister attends a literary award ceremony on Friday for Gui Minhai, a Swedish citizen who was abducted in Thailand in 2015 and is now in detention in China. The case of Chinese-born Gui Minhai, who studied in Sweden in the 1980s and was based in Hong Kong when he published books critical of China's leaders, has soured relations between Sweden and China. Svenska PEN, a literary organization, has awarded Gui Minhai the 2019 Tucholsky Prize, praising his work in the service of free speech.
- PoliticsCBS News
Congressman Raskin condemns "moral degeneration" of Republicans
Congressman Jamie Raskin is condemning the "moral degeneration" of Republicans in his assessment of their conduct during the impeachment inquiry of President Trump. The Maryland Democrat, a member of the Judiciary and Oversight Committees, has been sitting in on the closed hearings held by the committees conducting the impeachment inquiry. House Democrats are conducting an impeachment inquiry into President Trump regarding whether the administration deliberately withheld aid to Ukraine in an effort to get the Ukrainian president to announce investigations into a political rival of Mr. Trump.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Santa Clarita students made an active shooter video. Two months later, they took shelter in fear
The school shooting that killed two and injured at least three people at Saugus High School Thursday comes amid a national debate around how to prepare for and respond to active shooter situations, with some schools and policymakers advocating a range of tactics — from "bulletproof backpacks" to curved hallways. The debate gained traction following the Feb. 14, 2018, killing of 17 children and school staffers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, after it came to light that the school safety officer on duty failed to confront the gunman. He now faces criminal charges.
- NewsThe Independent
Ray Cromartie: Death row inmate executed without testing DNA evidence ‘that could have proved his innocence’
A man has been executed in the US state of Georgia despite a request from his lawyers for DNA evidence which they claimed would clear him of murder. Ray Jefferson Cromartie was convicted of the April 1994 shooting of shop worker Richard Slysz twice in the head at the convenience store in the city of Thomasville. Prosecutors said the 52-year-old had shot delicatessen worker Dan Wilson in the face, three days before the killing, seriously injuring him.
WorldAFPIran moves on ultra-cheap petrol, starts rationing
Iran imposed petrol rationing and raised pump prices by at least 50 percent Friday, saying the move aims to help the needy with cash handouts and is not due to a budget deficit. The Islamic republic provides some of the most heavily subsidised petrol in the world, with the pump price previously standing at just 10,000 rials (less than nine US cents) a litre. "Increasing petrol prices is to the people's benefit and also to help the society's strata under (economic) pressure," President Hassan Rouhani told a cabinet meeting, quoted by state news agency IRNA.
- PoliticsNational Review
Sanders, AOC to Introduce Over $100 Billion Plan to Make Public Housing Environmentally Friendly
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) plan to introduce legislation on Thursday that makes public housing more energy efficient, at a cost of over $100 billion. The plan, dubbed the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act, will call for renovation of public housing units to install community gardens and organic grocery stores along with on-site childcare services, according to the Washington Post. “Importantly, the working people who have been most impacted by decades of disinvestment in public housing will be empowered to lead this effort and share in the economic prosperity that it generates for our country,” Sanders said in a statement.
- WorldBusiness Insider
One of Jamal Khashoggi’s close friends said Twitter is the 'only free platform' for many Saudis, but it also may have led to Khashoggi’s brutal murder
Omar Abdulaziz, a Saudi activist in exile in Canada, said that Twitter is an important tool for many Saudi dissidents but comes with risks. Abdulaziz was friends with murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The two of them were working to create an "army" of internet users to combat Saudi propaganda before Khashoggi was killed.
- WorldThe National Interest
Dressed to Kill: Arming Ukraine Could Put It on a Path Towards War
In 2017, the United States began supplying Javelin missile launchers and sniper systems to Ukraine. This equipment, in addition to nonlethal aid (since 2014), is intended to help fight off Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region. Yet the aid policy has a number of fundamental shortcomings: its effectiveness at the tactical level is limited; it will likely encourage, not deter, Russia's engagement in the conflict; and it fails to address the root causes of the Donetsk and Luhansk (collectively—Donbas) rebellions.
