Exxon to close two Houston-area office towers after staff departures

Exxon Mobil Corp plans to close two Houston-area office towers to consolidate staff in its main campus as it cuts costs following staff departures, the company said on Friday. Exxon announced last year a plan to reduce its global workforce by 14,000 people following a historical annual loss of $22.4 billion. Remaining workers at the two office buildings known as Hughes Landing, in The Woodlands (TX), will be relocated to the company's main Houston-area campus, Exxon spokesperson Casey Norton said.

Lawyer for Brian Laundrie's family addresses speculation about how easily his dad found his belongings, saying the public 'doesn't understand simplicity'

The Laundrie family's lawyer pushed back on speculation about how Brian's remains were found. The lawyer for Brian Laundrie's family vehemently rebutted speculation about the circumstances in which the 23-year-old's remains were found, saying that "the public doesn't understand simplicity." Laundrie's remains were found on Wednesday in Florida's Carlton Reserve, the FBI said on Thursday, concluding a five-week search in the vast nature reserve.

A Frontier Airlines pilot accused of secretly recording a Florida student with a spy camera has been arrested, police say

A Frontier Airlines pilot has been arrested over allegations he spied on a Florida college student. The suspect was accused of cutting a hole in the student's window to record her, WKMG reported. A Frontier Airlines pilot has been charged over allegations he recorded a 19-year-old Florida college student with a hidden spy camera hidden in her apartment, university police said.

Woman claims Uber Eats driver who delivered food months ago showed up to her house at 1 a.m.: 'Something's off'

A 25-year-old woman shared a strange encounter on TikTok. Bobbie Prestes explained in a now-viral TikTok that she and her husband first met the Uber Eats driver in question in August 2021. Months later, Prestes claimed on TikTok that the same driver showed up at her house with a bag of Taco Bell at 1 a.m., uninvited.

Every Day, Biden Smells Like More of a Loser

With a hint of confusion in his eyes and a whiff of failure in the air around him, Joe Biden is watching his approval ratings continue to plummet to the point where just 42 percent of Americans approve of his job performance. Which makes sense, since at least so far Biden really doesn't seem very good at this whole being president thing despite dreaming of and preparing for it for decades. With his staff trying to hide him from the press, and his penchant for saying confusing things, Biden isn't rhetorically equipped to talk himself out of this mess.

Trump social network given 30 days to stop breaking software license

Former President Donald Trump's new social media platform, TRUTH Social, has been given 30 days to comply with the software's terms of license before its access is terminated. If it fails to comply, the platform may face legal action or have to rebuild from scratch. Trump Media and Technology Group, a new company started by the former president, announced Wednesday it would soon launch TRUTH Social, a new platform aiming to "stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech."

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  Trump launching social media company 'TRUTH Social'

  Yahoo Finance Video
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  Trump's social network is built on a platform it didn't properly license

  Engadget

Airport worker shares fascinating video revealing how luggage gets stacked on a plane: ‘It’s like playing Tetris’

But as it turns out, the process of stacking baggage under a plane is both complicated and fascinating to watch. For that knowledge, TikTok users can thank @djsugue. In a now-viral clip, the TikToker — whose bio says he works at the Vancouver International Airport — revealed just how much goes into the luggage-loading process.

Elephant Makes Rare Fatal Attack To Protect Her Baby

Nadav Ossendryver, founder of Latest Sightings, which posted the footage, told HuffPost that in his 10 years of sharing wildlife moments, he had never seen an elephant pounce on a croc. Elephants can lift up to 770 pounds with their trunks, according to FactAnimal.com, so the croc proved to be no problem. The tons of crushing pressure from the elephant “resulted in the inevitable death” of the crocodile, Latest Sightings wrote in the video description.

Rod Stewart's plea deal on battery charge falls through

A plea deal between British rock icon Rod Stewart and Florida prosecutors fell through Friday, meaning he and his adult son are again scheduled to stand trial on charges they battered a security guard during a New Year's Eve bash nearly two years ago. Neither Rod Stewart nor his son, Sean, were present when Judge August Bonavita announced that a hearing in which a deal was expected to be finalized had been canceled. The pair are now scheduled to stand trial on misdemeanor battery charges on Jan. 25.

3-year-old boy found dead in Milwaukee week after mother found fatally shot

Muenzenberger and her son lived in Onalaska, Wisconsin, and police said she and her son were last seen alive on Oct. 9 in Milwaukee. Authorities initially struggled to identify Muenzenberger and notify her family, in part because she was not a local resident, but when they did make contact with relatives last Saturday, they learned her son was missing and issued an Amber Alert. Missing children: 8 missing endangered children recovered, 18 sex offenders arrested in Louisiana, US Marshals say Police quickly developed a suspect in Jaheem Clark, 20, but he died by suicide Sunday as officers approached the home where he was staying.

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  Missing 3-year-old boy found dead in Milwaukee

  WISN - Milwaukee Videos
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  Missing three-year-old found dead in an alley after mother murdered

  The Independent

Watchdog says ‘substantial reason to believe’ that congressman’s wife used insider info in stock trade

A congressional ethics watchdog has concluded there is “substantial reason to believe” that the wife of Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly used nonpublic information gained through her husband's position in Congress to purchase stock last year, a likely violation of federal law and House rules. The company had threatened to shut down a plant in Kelly's district unless the Trump administration took action that would help make it more competitive, steps the administration took after Kelly, a Republican, and others intervened. The ethics office has recommended that subpoenas be issued for Kelly, his wife, Victoria, a senior staffer and former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross because they declined to be interviewed or participate in the investigation.

Apaches ask appeals court to oppose transfer of Arizona land

An attorney for members of the San Carlos Apache tribe on Friday asked the the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to back a nonprofit group's efforts to keep a copper mining company from gaining federal Arizona land the Apaches consider sacred. “We are talking about the survival of the Apache people,” attorney Luke Goodrich told the panel, arguing that an end to religious activities on the land known as Oak Flat would help spell an end to the tribe. Joan Pepin, an attorney for the U.S. government, argued the land transfer must go ahead because it was part of legislation approved by Congress.

A 4-foot-8 Black Woman Was Accosted By Group of Boys, Minutes Later a Louisiana Deputy Was Flinging Her By Her Hair In Shocking Video; Investigation Launched

An investigation has been launched in a New Orleans suburb after a video captured a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputy flinging a 4-foot-8 Black woman just minutes after she had been attacked by a group of boys. It's unclear who captured the graphic footage, but in a clip that has since gone viral, the unidentified deputy could be seen grabbing Shantel Arnold by the wrist and dragging her along the pavement. At times, the deputy could be seen lifting Arnold up and slamming the 100-pound woman to the ground repeatedly.

‘I Just Killed a Guy’: Texas Man Admits He Chased Down Moroccan Driver Before Killing Him, Affidavit Says

On Friday morning, Terry Turner, a 65-year-old man who police say shot and killed 31-year-old Adil Dghoughi on Oct. 11 in Martindale, Texas, was arrested and charged with murder. According to the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office, a warrant for Turner's arrest was issued on Thursday for the murder of Dghoughi. On Friday morning, Turner turned himself in.

Plane that crashed in Houston had not flown in 10 months

A private jet that ran off a runway and crashed through an fence before bursting into flames at a Texas airport had not been flown since December and investigators are looking into maintenance performed on the plane, federal authorities said Thursday. National Transportation Safety Board member Michael Graham said the plane left 1,200 feet (365 meters) of tire marks on the runway at Houston Executive Airport in Brookshire, Texas, on Tuesday. There was a heavy braking event, which appears to be an aborted takeoff, so we do know that the brakes were effectively working before the aircraft exited the runway,” Graham said at a briefing.

Family’s new dog attacks and kills 7-year-old boy, Oklahoma cops say. ‘Gut-wrenching’

A 7-year-old boy was killed Wednesday when his family's new pet dog attacked him, Oklahoma officials say. Deputies in Creek County were dispatched around 7:20 p.m. Wednesday for reports of a missing child, the sheriff's office said. The boy was identified by KOCO as James McNeelis, who was playing outside with the dog before it attacked him.

A 'monster' coming this weekend: Bomb cyclone, atmospheric river to blast western US

A series of potent storms is poised to deliver torrents of rain and feet of snow across the West over the next few days, including one on Sunday that's being called a "bomb cyclone" because of its ferocity. Supercharged by a classic atmospheric river pattern, the storms could lead to flash floods and dangerous debris flows in a wide swath of the region already devastated by wildfires, CNN said. California has been hit especially hard by the drought.

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  How to prepare your car as bomb cyclone bears down on the West Coast

  AccuWeather
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  Relief? Worry? Jubilation? Western US residents react to the incoming bomb cyclone

  AccuWeather

Day care owner gets 6 years for hiding 26 kids in basement

A Colorado day care owner convicted of keeping 26 children hidden in the basement of her business two years ago has been sentenced to six years in prison after parents said some of the children suffered trauma including sleeping problems and anxiety. A judge issued the sentence to Carla Faith on Thursday following her conviction by a jury in August of more than two dozen misdemeanor child abuse charges and other crimes. Faith was only licensed to care for up to six children at her Colorado Springs private day care and only two of them were allowed to be under the age of 2.

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  A daycare owner who hid 26 kids behind a false wall in her basement was sentenced to 6 years in prison

  INSIDER
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  Former daycare owner Carla Faith sentenced to 6 years in prison

  KOAA

Eerie shipwreck that became forbidden draw for Outer Banks tourists is being removed

A haunting shipwreck that became a popular destination for Outer Banks tourists is being removed by the National Park Service, starting next week. The abandoned scallop vessel, known as the Ocean Pursuit, has been sinking into the sand off Bodie Island since it ran aground on March 1, 2020. “The National Park Service is continuing our attempts to recover costs associated with the removal of the derelict vessel from its registered owner,” David Hallac, superintendent of National Parks of Eastern NC, said in a news release.

GOP calls for Fauci investigation, resignation mount after NIH admits funding gain-of-function research

GOP calls for an investigation and the resignation of Dr. Anthony Fauci have escalated following this week's revelation that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded gain-of-function research on the coronavirus. The controversial research involves artificially engineering an animal virus in a laboratory setting to further examine how it becomes more easily transmissible and deadly to humans – a measure that Fauci told lawmakers was not utilized by the NIH. But a letter from the NIH to Ranking Member Rep. James Comer of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform Wednesday admitted to a "limited experiment" conducted in order to test if "spike proteins from naturally occurring bat coron...

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  NIH acknowledges US funded gain-of-function at Wuhan lab, despite Fauci’s denials

  Fox News
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  Fauci critics say NIH letter debunks 'gain of function' denial

  Washington Examiner

More Sinema backers defect over her Biden plan objections

Democratic Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema faced more defections Thursday from the broad base of support she built to win her seat in 2018 when five members of her veterans advisory council resigned over her opposition to parts of President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan and refusal to ditch the Senate filibuster. The resignations come as progressive groups are ratcheting up their pressure on the first-term moderate, who along with West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is seen as holding back progress as Biden sharply scales back his once-$3.5 trillion plan to win their support. Democrats need their support to push the legislation through the 50-50 Senate.

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  Biden at pains to explain how he'll convince Manchin and Sinema to support budget and infrastructure bills

  Yahoo News
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  Agreement on spending won’t be 'anytime soon' -Manchin

  Reuters Videos

Texas man seen on video smashing computer 24 times in child porn case. Jurors say guilty

A Weatherford man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after he was caught on video smashing a computer with a hammer in an attempt to stop authorities from seizing it because it may have had child pornography, the Parker County district attorney said Friday. Weatherford police later seized his cell phone which contained a child porn video Judge Graham Quisenberry sentenced Joe Eddie Stephens, 71, on Wednesday to 12 years for promotion of child pornography and 10 years for tampering with evidence. The sentences will be served concurrently.

Idaho hitchhiker vanished 50 years ago. DNA helped his daughter find closure

A 15-year-old boy set out for the Oregon coast from Idaho in the spring of 1971, looking for “job opportunities. His family never heard from him again. Winston Arthur Maxey III hitchhiked to Oregon and did end up in Coos Bay, the Coos County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

GM expedites shipment of pickup trucks parked due to lack of chips-exec

General Motors Co is more than halfway through shipping newly-assembled pickups that it had parked due to a shortage of semiconductor chips, a top executive at the No. 1 U.S. automaker said on Friday. The global chip shortage has forced automakers like GM to idle production or in some cases mostly build vehicles and then park them until the necessary chips can be installed, allowing those vehicles to be then shipped to dealers. Last month, GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson cautioned that GM's third-quarter wholesale deliveries could be down by 200,000 vehicles because of chip shortages.