- PoliticsTime
James Comey Slams the Republican Party After Second Interview on Capitol Hill
As former FBI Director James Comey left his second closed-door interview with Congressional lawmakers Monday, he made sure to take parting shots at the Republicans who called him there in the first place. “Republicans used to understand that actions of a President matter, that words of a President matter and the truth matters. Where are those Republicans today?” Comey asked reporters after meeting for over five hours with members of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees.
WorldAFPJesuits release list of 89 US priests accused of sex abuse
Jesuit authorities for 20 US states on Monday released the names of 89 priests with credible allegations of child sexual abuse dating as far back as 1950. The disclosures by the Jesuit provinces of Maryland and USA Midwest are the latest chapter in the ongoing sexual abuse scandal roiling the Catholic Church and come after 153 Jesuits were publicly identified by two other provinces earlier this month. Maryland released 24 names with allegations dating back to 1950 and USA Midwest released 65 names dating back to 1955.
PoliticsAssociated PressAP Explains: What happens in a partial government shutdown
But hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be forced off the job, and some services will go dark. Even after funding is restored, the political repercussions could be enduring. According to a report by Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee, more than 420,000 federal employees deemed essential would continue to work without pay during a partial shutdown, including about 41,000 law enforcement and corrections officers and nearly 150,000 Homeland Security employees.
- PoliticsHuffPost
Chili's Weighs In On North Carolina Election Fraud And Immediately Regrets Decision
Chili’s social media department is getting ribbed after it weighed in on North Carolina’s election fraud scandal ― without really understanding it. It all started Monday when Andrew Bates, a spokesperson for the progressive super PAC American Bridge, offered a Chili’s gift certificate to North Carolina GOP Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse with a caveat: Stop trying to seat Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris, whose election has been marred by ballot fraud allegations. Woodhouse didn’t respond, but Chili’s social media person did and aggressively attempted to do some promotion piggybacking on Bates’ tweet.
- WorldUSA TODAY
‘One of a kind’ royal tomb is 4,400 years old, Egypt says
Egyptian officials said they have discovered a 4,400-year-old tomb linked to the fifth dynasty of pharoahs. According to Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities, the tomb — located at a site west of Cairo in Saqqara — belonged to a senior official of the pharoahs, reports The Associated Press. Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani tells CNN the tomb belonged to a royal purification priest named Wahtye.
NewsReutersE-cigarette usage nearly doubles in U.S. high-schools: survey
The percentage of high school seniors who used e-cigarettes in the last 30 days nearly doubled to 20.9 percent from last year, results of a survey released by the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed on Monday. The increase in vaping by 10th and 12th graders was the largest year-over-year jump for any substance ever measured by the survey, which started 44 years ago. The annual survey, which also measures use of other substances including marijuana, alcohol and opioids, questioned more than 44,000 students from 8th, 10th and 12th grades in U.S. public and private schools.
- WorldBloomberg
General Dynamics Warns Trudeau Over Exit Penalties in Saudi Deal
Canada is looking for a way out of a $13 billion deal to export armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia -- a move the company warns could leave the government liable for billions. In a television interview Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government was looking for a way to halt the sale of armored vehicles manufactured by a unit of U.S.-based General Dynamics Corp. We are engaged with the export permits to try and see if there is a way of no longer exporting these vehicles to Saudi Arabia,” Trudeau told CTV, without elaborating.
- BusinessAutoClassics
1000mph Bloodhound SSC record car saved
The Super Sonic Car was set to raise the land speed record bar with the vehicle finished and undergoing final testing, but the project was stopped in its tracks when funding ran out. Related Video: Watch the Bloodhound SSC Team Show off Car Months of administration failed to find an investor willing to supply the £25 million ($31.5 million) required to set what might be the last record of this kind. Time was called on Bloodhound and we all shed a tear over a hard-fought challenge that seemingly fell at the final hurdle.
- U.S.Meredith Videos
Carnival Says a Passenger Is Missing From a Ship Currently in Mexico
Authorities are searching for a man who went missing from a cruise ship bound for Mexico.
- SportsCar and Driver
The 25 Best-Selling Cars, Trucks, and SUVs of 2018
The auto industry is a popularity contest, and sedans are the clear losers these days. From Car and Driver
WorldAFPRussia slashes Syria military flights
Russia has cut its military flights in Syria from more than 100 per day to fewer than four a week, the defence minister said Tuesday, in another sign the country's conflict is winding down. Russia launched air strikes in Syria in support of long-term ally President Bashar al-Assad in September 2015. Russian support helped Assad's forces reclaim swathes of territory once in the hands of opposition fighters and Islamic extremists.
PoliticsAssociated PressJudge's rebuke of Flynn upends sentencing, prolongs case
Lawyers for Flynn requested the delay Tuesday after a tongue-lashing from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan raised the prospect that Flynn could spend time behind bars for lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts. Prosecutors hadn't recommended prison, but the hearing that began with the defendant upbeat and smiling took an unexpected turn when the judge said his sentence would take into account not just Flynn's extensive cooperation with investigators but also the lies the Trump administration official told from the grounds of the White House. "I can't make any guarantees, but I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offense," Sullivan said.
- WorldThe Guardian
Fleeing home alone: the migrant children blocked at Mexican border
Guatemalan children caught in Mexico while trying to migrate into the US, queue before climbing into a minibus at Aurora international airport in Guatemala City. For years, Dora waited impatiently to turn 15, the age her mother had agreed she would be old enough to leave their home in El Salvador – where she suffered physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her grandfather – and head to the US, in search of a new life. “Seeing them leave together … that gave me hope and gave me the courage to finally leave,” said Dora, who is now living at a children’s shelter in Tijuana, on the border with California.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
Delta adds Mexico City route from Minneapolis/St. Paul hub
Delta Air Lines will add nonstop service to Mexico City from its Minneapolis/St. Paul hub. Daily service will begin June 8, with Delta offering one daily round-trip flight on 132-seat Airbus A319 aircraft. Minneapolis/St. Paul will become the sixth city to get nonstop service to Mexico City on Delta.
BusinessReutersSears to take $443 million in charges arising from store closures
Total costs related to closing 73 Sears stores and 28 Kmart stores in the third quarter ended Nov. 3 amounted to $229 million, the company said earlier this month. The charges entail markdowns, severance costs and lease termination costs arising from store closures, which the company announced in October, when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert made a $4.6 billion offer to buy the U.S. retailer earlier this month, which called for about 500 Sears stores to remain open.
- PoliticsBloomberg
GOP Representative McSally Chosen for Arizona U.S. Senate Seat
Arizona’s governor said he will appoint Republican U.S. Representative Martha McSally to fill the Senate seat being vacated Dec. 31 by GOP Senator Jon Kyl, who temporarily took the post after John McCain died in August. McSally, a blunt-talking former Air Force combat pilot, ran unsuccessfully for Arizona’s other Senate in November, losing narrowly to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema. McSally is a favorite of Senate leadership including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who had urged her appointment.
- NewsAssociated Press
The Latest: Car driver charged in North Carolina bus crash
A North Carolina woman has been charged with driving while impaired after a crash with a school bus that sent 13 students to the hospital. The North Carolina Highway Patrol issued a news release saying Kimberly Ann Austin was also charged with driving left of center. A working home phone listing couldn't be found, and the district attorney's office didn't immediately respond to an email asking if Austin has an attorney.
- NewsTime
'I Don't Know Where My Fish Is At.' Airline Bans Student's Pet From Flight
A student has lost her pet fish after it was banned from the Southwest Airlines flight she booked on. According to USA Today, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs student Lanice Powless was traveling from the Denver airport to her home in California when she said a Southwest employee told her she could not bring her pink pet Betta fish, Cassie, on the flight. Powless had researched TSA policy about bringing fish on flights ahead of getting Cassie and was pleased to note that live fish are allowed on flights if they’re in a carry-on bag.
LifestyleAFP Relax NewsVegan beauty gift sets for holiday 2018
With interest in vegan lifestyles growing, both specialist and mainstream beauty brands have a selection of gifts out this holiday for anyone committed to excluding animal-based products and shunning animal testing. Here's a look at some of the 100% vegan gift sets out this year. Snow Globe by Lush Lush, which offers a host of vegan products, has a Snow Globe gift set out for Christmas.
WorldAFPUS accepts Assad staying in Syria -- but won't give aid
The United States said Monday it was no longer seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but renewed warnings it would not fund reconstruction unless the regime is "fundamentally different." James Jeffrey, the US special representative in Syria, said that Assad needed to compromise as he had not yet won the brutal seven-year civil war, estimating that some 100,000 armed opposition fighters remained in Syria. "We want to see a regime that is fundamentally different.
- PoliticsHuffPost
Weekly Standard Co-Founder Calls Rep. Steve King 'Foul, Disgusting Liar'
White supremacist congressman Steve King (R-Iowa) tweeted over the weekend that the recently shuttered magazine The Weekly Standard “deserved” to shut down and was met with major pushback from magazine co-founder John Podhoretz. The 23-year-old conservative publication known for being critical of President Donald Trump released its final issue on Monday after announcing last week that it would be folding. Trump addressed the closure, referring to the publication as “pathetic and dishonest” and lambasting the editor-at-large, Bill Kristol.
- NewsThe Guardian
Woman who climbed Statue of Liberty in immigration protest found guilty
Magistrate judge Gabriel Gorenstein says Therese Patricia Okoumou’s political and moral motivations did not trump the law An activist has been found guilty of a series of federal crimes after she climbed on to the base of the Statue of Liberty this summer to protest against the US policy of separating migrant families and holding children in detention. Magistrate judge Gabriel Gorenstein convicted Therese Patricia Okoumou, who goes by Patricia, on Monday afternoon after a one-day bench trial in New York, asserting that the protester’s political and moral motivations did not trump the law.
- LifestyleUSA TODAY
Michigan business FloraCraft hands out $4 million in Christmas bonuses to workers
Each gift will be based on longevity of service and shared in two ways: a cash bonus and a special contribution to the employee’s 401(k) retirement account. Workers get a second cash bonus and special bonus 401(k) retirement gift by the end of March 2020. Due to federal laws governing employer contributions to retirement programs, FloraCraft is required to make the contributions over two calendar years in order to maximize Schoenherr’s gift, a company spokesman said.
BusinessReutersGlobal stocks drop, where is 'Santa Claus rally'?
Broad stock declines in Europe and the United States dragged world equity markets lower on Monday, adding to a sell-off that has sent global stocks near 17-month lows. The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, slipped nearly 1.3 percent as declines in U.S. and European markets offset modest gains in Asia overnight. Wall Street's Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 506.71 points, or 2.1 percent, to 23,593.8, the S&P 500 lost 54.09 points, or 2.08 percent, to 2,545.86 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 156.93 points, or 2.27 percent, to 6,753.73.
- WorldBloomberg
Hungary’s Orban Suffers for His Overconfidence
Since his Fidesz party won a constitutional majority in April and installed him as prime minister for a third consecutive term, Orban has moved to tighten his grip on the country. Late last month, more than 400 news outlets founded or acquired by Orban’s allies were consolidated into a non-profit organization called the Central European Press and Media Foundation. Earlier this month, the Central European University, founded by George Soros, announced it would decamp for Vienna after years of fighting to stay in Budapest.
