- PoliticsYahoo News
Stanford law professor lights up House impeachment hearing
Stanford law professor Pamela Karlan delivered powerful testimony Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee, explaining in simple terms her view that President Trump's conduct warranted his impeachment. As she began her testimony, Karlan, who was called by Democrats to testify with Harvard law professor Noah Feldman and University of North Carolina law professor Michael Gerhardt, rebuked Republican ranking member Rep. Doug Collins, who asserted that those who had not reviewed the testimony of prior witnesses had no business testify about it.
- WorldAssociated Press
Activists apologize for use of Holocaust victims’ remains
An activist group has apologized to Jewish organizations outraged over their use of purported Holocaust victims' remains in an installation outside Germany's parliament building meant to draw attention to the perils of far-right extremism. The Center for Political Beauty, a Germany-based activist group known for provocative stunts, installed an urn outside the Reichtstag building on Monday, saying it contained victims' remains that it had unearthed from 23 locations near Nazi death and concentration camps in Germany, Poland and Ukraine. “We want to apologize especially to Jewish institutions, associations and individuals who see our work as disturbing or touching the peace of the dead according to Jewish religious law,” the group said on its website in a post late Wednesday.
WorldAFPWanted Indian guru resurfaces to announce new cosmic country
An Indian guru facing rape and sexual abuse charges made headlines Wednesday after he emerged from hiding and announced the birth of a new cosmic country with its own cabinet and golden passports. Swami Nithyananda, a controversial self-styled godman with thousands of followers in southern India's Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states, posted a video on his YouTube channel announcing the special project to his followers. 41-year-old Nithyananda announced that his country is called Kailaasa, and is the biggest Hindu nation without boundaries.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Russian spies used French Alps as 'base camp' for hits on Britain and other countries
Fifteen Russian spies, including those accused of the Salisbury nerve agent attack, used the French Alps as a “base camp” to conduct covert operations around Europe over a five-year period, according to reports. The revelations came as Germany expelled two Russian diplomats after prosecutors said there was “sufficient factual evidence” linking Moscow to the killing of a former Chechen rebel commander in central Berlin. According to Le Monde, British, Swiss, French, and US intelligence have drawn up a list of 15 members of the 29155 unit of Russia's GRU military spy agency who all passed through France's Haute-Savoie mountains close to the Swiss and Italian borders.
- PoliticsThe National Interest
NATO’s Dirty Little Secret Is Out
Frequently, that argument is presented as part of the larger case that President Trump's periodic expressions of skepticism about NATO's relevance are out-of-touch with the views of the American public. Few (if any) surveys of U.S. public opinion about NATO even hint about the extent of the risks Americans incur because of Washington's obligations under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which commits the signatories to consider an attack on any member as an attack on all. A typical poll question will ask respondents whether the United States should defend country X, if Russia attacks that country.
- NewsBusiness Insider
19 unforgettable images from the Pearl Harbor attack 78 years ago
The devastating Japanese attack began Sunday at 7:48 a.m., eventually killing 2,402 Americans and wounding many others, sinking four battleships and damaging many more. The Pearl Harbor attack spurred America into World War II. Here are photographs from the attack and its immediate aftermath. December 7, 1941 began as a perfect Sunday morning for the troops serving the US fleet at Pearl Harbor.
- BusinessThe Independent
Thai cave dive hero fights back tears as he tells court ‘life sentence with no parole’ inflicted by Elon Musk
A British diver who helped rescue a dozen boys trapped in a cave in Thailand fought back tears as he told a court Elon Musk's "pedo guy" slur amounted to “a life sentence with no parole”. Vernon Unsworth choked up on Wednesday as he testified against the Tesla CEO during a defamation trial in Los Angeles. The 63-year-old, from St Albans, told the hearing he had no choice but to sue the billionaire who used the slur on Twitter, or else it would seem the allegation were true.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoEmployee shot at a Virginia post office
Authorities say a postal worker has been shot at a northern Virginia post office by an agent for the Postal Service's Inspector General's office. News outlets report that it happened Wednesday morning at the parking lot of the Lovettsville post office in Loudoun County.
- EntertainmentPopular Mechanics
The 25 Best Sci-Fi Movies on Netflix Right Now
Rouge robots, deep space planets, and a voice assistant love story. From Popular Mechanics
- PoliticsYahoo News
In fiery memo, Dem lawmaker urges Congress to include Trump’s 'racism' in articles of impeachment
The first member of Congress who called for President Trump to be impeached sent a memo Wednesday to House members urging them to incorporate concerns about Trump's “racism” into the ongoing impeachment inquiry. In the memo, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, noted that, in July, the House passed a resolution condemning Trump for making “racist comments” about four Democratic congresswomen of color. “How will history judge this Congress that passed a resolution indicating President Trump made harmful, racist comments if it does not impeach him for his impeachable racist, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, transphobic, xenophobic language instigating enmity and inciting violence within our society?” Green asked in his memo, which was obtained by Yahoo News.
- NewsAssociated Press
Report: Officer recorded kissing Chicago chief reassigned
A female officer who was reportedly caught on video kissing then-Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson at a popular restaurant in October was transferred weeks later from his personal security detail to another role on the police force, a department spokesman said. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed to WBEZ that the officer, who was appointed to Johnson's security detail in 2016, was reassigned in November to the technical services bureau. He said he didn't know if the two had a romantic relationship and couldn't say if the officer's reassignment was connected to one, but that the move was neither a promotion nor a demotion and was not done for disciplinary reasons.
- LifestyleCBS News
Israeli same-sex couples find legal loophole for marriage
In our World of Weddings series, "CBS This Morning" is exploring the different ways people get married and celebrate their love around the globe. Seth Doane traveled to Tel Aviv where he met a same-sex couple who had to find a legal loophole to get their marriage recognized. Tel Aviv, Israel – Liran Buchny and Maor Shtern met almost a decade ago when they were serving in Israel's army.
- WorldINSIDER
A man arrested in Russia is accused of building a fake border with Finland 15 miles from the real one and charging migrants $11,000 to cross it
Authorities in western Russia arrested a man accused of building fake border posts and tricking migrants into believing they marked the state borders between Russia and Finland, the Interfax news agency reported. The incident happened in Russia's Vyborg region, which is about 15 miles from the actual border. The unidentified man from central Asia is accused of charging four South Asian migrants more than 10,000 euros, or $11,000, to help them cross what they believed was the EU border, Interfax reported, citing border agents.
- BusinessThe National Interest
The Reviews Are In: 31 Air Force Pilots Say Why They Love the F-35 Stealth Fighter
Air Force Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, this week declared the F-35A fighter jet ready for combat. 1. Even with developmental restrictions that limit the F-35A's responsiveness and ability to maneuver, every U.S. fighter pilot interviewed would pick the F-35A over his former jet in a majority of air-to-air (dogfight) engagement scenarios they could face. 2. A former F-15C instructor pilot said he consistently beat his former jet in mock dogfights.
- PoliticsNational Review
2020 Democrats Expose Extreme Abortion Policies in New Survey
The New York Times has released the results from a set of questions posed to each Democratic presidential candidate about his or her views on abortion. Thus far in the primary race, very few of the candidates have been pushed to account for their position on a variety of abortion policies, especially during the debates. The Times should be commended for this effort to get candidates on the record on specific policy questions.
- BusinessThe Guardian
Why is Michael Bloomberg silencing the press? Because it's his plaything
There is no better demonstration of this farce than the sad fate of Bloomberg News, a global media organization that has the unfortunate distinction of also being a billionaire's plaything. Michael Bloomberg, who is worth more than $50bn, is running for president. A cadre of political consultants who will get rich if he runs have urged him to run, and a potential wealth tax under President Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders would cost him a much greater portion of his fortune than the relatively small sliver he'll spend on his doomed campaign.
- WorldBusiness Insider
NATO is finally talking about China, and there are 3 big problems it has to address
Jeku Arce The alliance has been working for several years to improve its ability to reinforce and resupply across Europe, not only inland via roads, rivers, and railways but around the continent through ports that haven't seen much action since the Cold War. NATO started going to more European ports around 2015 in order "to reestablish capabilities" and "to demonstrate that we could come [into Europe] at a variety of different places," retired Army Gen. Ben Hodges, who led the US Army in Europe between 2014 and 2017, told Business Insider in 2018. "So as China continues to invest in things like ports and rail in Europe, that can complicate NATO mobility," Kendall-Taylor said Monday.
WorldAFPOpposition figure freed in Nigeria after court ruling
Nigerian opposition activist Omoyele Sowore and co-defendant Olawale Bakare were set free on Thursday after months in detention, for alleged treason. The pair were released hours after a judge gave the secret police 24 hours to release Sowore, who had been held since August by the Department of State Services (DSS) after urging protests under the online banner "#RevolutionNow". Sowore, 48, also ran unsuccessfully against President Muhammadu Buhari in the February polls.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Tucker Carlson: ‘In My View’ We Shouldn’t Be Sending Ukraine Any Aid
Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who has repeatedly said recently that he's rooting for American adversary Russia against Ukraine, now says the United States shouldn't be sending any military aid to Ukraine. In the wake of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announcing that the House will proceed with articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, Carlson welcomed on former Mitch McConnell Chief of Staff Josh Holmes on Thursday night to discuss the Democrats' “rush” to impeachment and where this will end up. The ex-McConnell aide questioned the central charge behind the impeachment inquiry—that the president withheld congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine in an attempt to compel the Ukrainian president to publicly announce an investigation into Trump's domestic political rivals.
- NewsAssociated Press
Police chief firing puts spotlight on cops who let him go
For officers, pulling over a fellow cop can be an awkward dilemma, one that's magnified when it's the head of one of the nation's largest police departments. It's a worst-nightmare situation for a police officer to encounter their superior or chief who has been drinking,” said Philip Stinson, a criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. They're damned if they do, and they're damned if they don't in terms of how they respond or act.
- WorldThe Telegraph
'Jews are France', says Emmanuel Macron after 107 Jewish graves desecrated in anti-Semitic attack
President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to fight anti-Semitism saying “Jews are and make France” after 107 graves were desecrated at a Jewish cemetery in the northeast of the country. The daubing of swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti on the graves at the cemetery in Westhoffen around 15 miles west of Strasbourg in the Alsace region was the latest racist attack to shock the country. "Jews are and make France," President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
- NewsINSIDER
The college admissions scandal ringleader tried to recruit 7 Stanford coaches to be part of the scheme but only one took the bait
Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne said in a letter to the university community that the ringleader of the college admissions scandal, William "Rick" Singer, approached seven coaches at the school about trading bribes for students' recruitments to the school at athletes. Tessier-Lavigne said an external review of the case revealed that only the school's former sailing coach, John Vandemoer, accepted Singer's deal. Vandemoer accepted $610,000 in bribes from Singer to facilitate the admission of students as sailing recruits.
- BusinessThe National Interest
Double the Fighters: Why Japan Wants Domestic F-3s and the F-35
In February 2019, Japan turned heads with its decision to proceed with the development of an indigenous stealth fighter jet. This came in the wake of the decision to purchase more than one hundred American F-35 jets, and the supposed cancellation of the Japanese X-2 stealth fighter prototype in 2018. The Japanese Ministry of Defense announced the move to develop the new fighter, currently named Future Fighter or F-3 as part of their Mid-Term Defense Program (MTDP) that lays out modernization and procurement decisions for the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) for the next ten years.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Bernie Sanders isn't polling in first place. His early-state organizing may mean that doesn't matter.
Bourgeacq Pinzón's journey from curious to committed volunteer is one the Sanders campaign aims to emulate across Iowa. Sanders already has the firmest base in the field, according the latest Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll, even as he continues to jostle in third place. Now, the Sanders campaign is working to turn that enthusiastic base into caucus victory.
WorldYahoo News VideoPakistan pulls back on prosecuting Chinese sex traffickers
Pakistan has declined to pursue a sprawling case against Chinese sex traffickers due to fears it would harm economic ties with Beijing, the AP reported on Wednesday. Pakistan has been seeking closer ties with China for years as Beijing continue to make major investments in the country's infrastructure.
