- PoliticsYahoo News
GOP lawmaker says 'out-of-the-box strategy' could give Trump an 'advantage' in impeachment hearings
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., on Sunday said it would play to the “president's advantage” to have his top administration officials, in an “out-of-the-box strategy,” testify in the upcoming impeachment hearings. “As it relates to the other members of the executive branch, the president has to make decisions not only for him but for the presidency,” he continued.
- PoliticsNational Review
Biden Says Son Hunter Will Not Engage in Foreign Business if He Wins in 2020
Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden said his son Hunter will not be engaged in any foreign business if the former vice president is elected in 2020. Hunter Biden raised eyebrows when it came to light that he held a lucrative position on the board of a Ukrainian gas company while his father was fighting corruption in Ukraine as vice president. The set-up prompted Trump to ask Ukraine to investigate the Bidens while temporarily withholding U.S. military aid, an alleged quid pro quo that became the basis for the impeachment inquiry against Trump.
- NewsReuters
U.S. Supreme Court rejects Arizona opioid case against Purdue, Sackler family
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away a novel case by Arizona seeking to recover billions of dollars that the state has said that members of the Sackler family - owners of Purdue Pharma LP - funneled out of the OxyContin maker before the company filed for bankruptcy in September. The justices declined to take the rare step of allowing Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to pursue a case directly with the Supreme Court on the role the drugmaker played in the U.S. opioid epidemic that has killed tens of thousands of Americans annually in recent years. The lawsuit accused eight Sackler family members of funneling $4 billion out of Purdue from 2008 to 2016 despite being aware that the company faced massive potential liabilities over its marketing of opioid medications.
- NewsBusiness Insider
The Pensacola Navy base shooter reportedly used a loophole to buy his gun legally
The Saudi national who fatally shot three people at a Florida Navy base on Friday bought his gun legally even though people designated as "nonimmigrant aliens" are not typically allowed to do so, NBC News reported. But the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says there are exceptions for those with a valid hunting license or permit, and those from "a friendly foreign government entering the United States on official law enforcement business." NBC News cited sources that said the shooter had a license and bought his weapon from a dealer in Pensacola.
- LifestylePopular Mechanics
The 25 Best Tower Defense Games
Build those structures. Keep them from harm. Collect that loot.
- NewsAssociated Press
Family honors Florida UPS driver slain in police shootout
Family and friends are honoring a UPS driver who was killed in a shootout between Florida police and the robbery suspects who had hijacked his delivery truck. Loved ones and coworkers of Frank Ordonez gathered at a UPS Customer Center in Miami with lit candles and flowers Sunday. Other UPS workers also joined in — one group from London expressed support by tweeting a photo showing uniformed workers holding up letters that together spelled #ONE UPS and RIP Frank Ordonez.
NewsAFPPearl Harbor veteran interred on sunken ship
With speeches and salutes, veterans and officials on Saturday commemorated the 78th anniversary of the 1941 sneak attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor, which brought a previously reluctant United States into World War II. A ceremony in Hawaii honoring survivors was attended by US Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Washington's ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris. It was held within sight of the sunken USS Arizona, which was bombed in the opening moments of the attack that killed more than 2,400 Americans.
- HealthUSA TODAY
'It was beautiful': Acupuncturists help migrants stranded at Mexico border deal with stress
For months, Carlos Lopez's mind has been endlessly spinning with the fears and anxiety of leaving his home country of Honduras, traveling 1,700 miles with his 13-year-old son to this Mexican border town and the day-to-day survival of living in a squalid tent city. “All the bad thoughts went away,” Lopez, 41, said, as he emerged from his 45-minute-long acupuncture session. Lopez is one of a growing number of migrants stuck on the border under President Donald Trump's Migration Protection Protocols policy – which sends migrants to Mexican border towns to await their immigration court hearing in the U.S. To help the migrants pass the time and deal with stress, teams of volunteers led by Acupuncturists Without Borders, or AWB, a nonprofit that treats people in disaster zones and refugee camps and trains other acupuncturists around the world, are providing Lopez and others with free acupuncture treatment at border towns in Mexico.
- WorldThe National Interest
Remember When Russian Diesel Submarines Chased Down A British Nuclear Sub?
Russian diesel subs chased a British nuclear sub off the Syrian coast, according to British media. The incident reportedly involved one or two Russian Kilo-class diesel-powered submarines, which have been dubbed the "Black Hole" by Western navies because they are remarkably quiet. "Two Russian frigates and an anti-submarine aircraft are also thought to have been searching for the British boat as it maneuvered to put its Tomahawk cruise missiles within range of Syrian military targets," according to The Times of London."The Astute-class submarine is believed to have spent several days trying to evade detection in a tense and dangerous contest." The British sub did not fire its Tomahawks during last week's strike by American, British and French forces against Syrian chemical weapons sites, leading to speculation that the British boat was driven off by the Russian subs.
- WorldBloomberg
China Says All People Held in Xinjiang Camps Have ‘Graduated’
Top officials for the predominately Muslim region of Xinjiang made the claim Monday during a briefing to promote policies they said were responsible for ending a spate of terrorist attacks. The briefing came less than a week after the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would sanction Chinese officials over percieved human rights abuses in the region, including what the United Nations says is the detention of as many as 1 million mostly Uighur Muslims. “All the students in the centers studying the national common language, law, vocational skills and de-radicalization courses have all graduated,” said Shohrat Zakir, Xinjiang's governor and No. 2 official.
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
A protester from the conspiracy site InfoWars interrupted the latest impeachment hearing as soon as it began, shouting 'Trump is innocent!'
A protestor who works for the right-wing talk radio and conspiracy site Infowars interrupted the first minutes of Monday's impeachment hearing by yelling loudly in the hearing room. Shroyer has helped spread right-wing conspiracies, including the "Pizzagate" theory, which falsely alleged that multiple pizza restaurants were fronts for child sex trafficking rings led by Hillary Clinton. A protestor who works for the right-wing talk radio and conspiracy site Infowars interrupted the first minutes of Monday's impeachment hearing by yelling in the hearing room about his opposition to the process.
- NewsReuters
U.S. Supreme Court rejects challenge to Berkeley cell phone law
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a free speech challenge brought by a trade group against a regulation issued by the California city of Berkeley that requires cell phone retailers to tell customers of certain radiation risks. The justices left in place a July 2019 decision by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that refused to block the 2015 regulation that industry group CTIA appealed. CTIA said the regulation violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects free speech rights, because the government, without the necessary justification that supports other types of regulations, is forcing retailers to spread a message they disagree with.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
‘No More Survivors Expected’ Among Dozens of Tourists Caught in New Zealand Volcano
At least five people have died and more than 20 are still unaccounted for after the White Island/Whakaari volcano off the coast of New Zealand erupted without warning Monday as tourists hiked around the rim and walked inside the crater. Authorities say an estimated 30 to 38 of those on the island when the volcano erupted were on an adventure excursion from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that was docked on North Island about 30 miles away. In a statement just after midnight local time, police officials said they feared the worst for those still on the island.
- NewsThe Guardian
'An outright lie': Ohio lawmaker shown to be linked to group pushing rightwing Christian bills
An Ohio legislator who said he had “no knowledge” of a rightwing Christian bill mill called Project Blitz is, in fact, the co-chair of the state branch of an organization behind the campaign. The Ohio state representative Timothy Ginter sponsored a bill called the Student Religious Liberties Act. The Guardian revealed the bill was nearly identical to one promoted by Project Blitz, a state legislative project guided by three Christian right organizations, including the Congressional Prayer Caucus (CPC), WallBuilders and the ProFamily Legislators Conference.
- WorldAssociated Press
Hong Kong protests mark 6-month mark with massive rally
Almost hidden among the throngs of demonstrators who marched in Hong Kong on Sunday was one woman who crawled, literally on hands and knees on the rough road surface — an apt metaphor for the arduous path traveled by Hong Kong's protest movement in the past six months. Dragging bricks and empty soda cans on pieces of string behind her, the young woman elicited shouts of encouragement from fellow protesters. "Her performance art is about the difficulty, or the repetitiveness, of demonstrations," said one of her friends, who walked alongside and identified herself by her surname, Chan.
- NewsThe Independent
Man wearing reindeer slippers tips woman out of wheelchair on train as he tries to steal it
A man has been arrested after a would-be thief tipped a woman out of her wheelchair on a train and attempted to steal it. CCTV footage of the incident shows a man dressed in a red jacket and reindeer slippers, who lept out of his seat and grabbed the handles of the wheelchair as the train approached a station. The woman sitting in the chair can be seen desperately grabbing onto the railings inside the carriage as the attacker attempts to steer her out of the open doors.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Twin girls, 4, free themselves from car crash that killed their father in 'heroic' act
Twin 4-year-old girls escaped a fatal car crash by unbuckling their car seats and hiking for help, Washington state officials confirmed. The crash killed their father, Corey Simmons, 47, at the scene after the car careened off a winding road Friday evening and down into a wooden area 200 feet away, KING-TV and CNN reported. Simmons sustained traumatic head injuries. The twins unbuckled their booster seats, extricated themselves from the wreckage by climbing out of the broken back window of the vehicle — a 2017 Nissan Sentra —and climbed 200 feet up an embankment back to the road on Whidbey Island, located 34 miles north of Seattle, Trooper Heather Axtman told USA TODAY.
PoliticsYahoo News VideoAOC calls out Trump after news that Amazon plans to hire 1,500 employees in New York City
Following reports that Amazon plans to open a new office in New York City, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that the Trump administration "should focus more on cutting public assistance to billionaires instead of poor families."
- WorldThe National Interest
Think America Is Safe? A Nuclear ICBM Could Destroy Us In Half An Hour
Now that North Korea has signaled its intention to continue developing long-range ballistic missiles capable of threatening the U.S. with nuclear warheads, it is all the more important for the Trump administration's Ballistic Missile Defense Review to fund comprehensive missile defense. The documentary's title, “33 Minutes,” refers to the maximum amount of time the U.S. government would have to respond to an incoming intercontinental ballistic missile from anywhere in the world. Beyond showing this short response time, the film vividly depicts the threat of a nuclear attack and its destructive consequences.
- WorldBusiness Insider
China claims all Uighur Muslims have happily 'graduated' from its oppressive prison camp system, despite widespread reports that at least 1 million are detained
China has imprisoned at least 1 million Uighur Muslims in prison-like detention camps in the western Xinjiang region, according to numerous activists and researchers. Shohrat Zakir, the governor of Xinjiang, claimed without evidence on Monday that everyone in the camps, which China euphemistically calls "vocational training centers" is now out. Zakir said everyone had now "graduated" from the facilities, where reports of psychological and physical torture are common.
- BusinessReuters
Amid flurry of Saudi reforms, mocktails on order in execution square
For decades, criminals in Saudi Arabia were lined up after Friday prayers at a central Riyadh plaza and beheaded by sword in a gruesome public spectacle overseen by the religious police. Such jarring contrasts are accompanying the rapid social changes under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, like lifting bans on women driving, gender mixing and public entertainment. Many Saudis embrace the new openness, but even supporters worry it might be coming too quickly and risks provoking a conservative backlash.
BusinessYahoo News VideoU.S. military to shift focus to competing with China and Russia: Esper
Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Saturday he still plans to shift the military's focus to competing with China and Russia, even as security threats pile up in the Middle East. Esper outlined his strategic goals and priorities in a speech at the Reagan National Defense Forum, an annual gathering of government, defense industry and military officials.
- WorldBloomberg
Plot Emerged to Fix Venezuela Without Maduro or Guaido
People close to both President Nicolas Maduro and his rival Juan Guaido plotted to push both men aside and end the nation's crisis with the rule of a temporary junta, the newspaper reported without citing where it got the information. Guaido, the National Assembly president, has been recognized by more than 50 countries, including the U.S., as Venezuela's leader. The key figure appears to be Humberto Calderon Berti, then the designated ambassador to Colombia who Guaido dismissed last month.
- NewsTime
Female Reporter Calls Out Runner Who Groped Her While She Was on TV
A young female local news journalist has spoken out after she was apparently groped by a runner while reporting live on a race in Savannah, Ga. Alexandrea Bozarjian, a WSAV3 journalist, was reporting on the Enmarket Savannah Bridge Run on Saturday as runners rush by her, waving to the camera, according to footage of the incident. Suddenly, a man throws back his arm, turns to her and appears to deliberately hit her on the rear end.
WorldAFPScreams and goodbyes as scores die in devastating India factory fire
At least 43 people were killed Sunday in a devastating fire that ripped through a bag factory in the congested old quarter of the Indian capital New Delhi, with survivors describing the screams of workers trapped inside. The blaze was the worst in Delhi since 59 movie-goers died in a cinema in 1997. The cause of the blaze is not yet known, but the city's poor planning and lax enforcement of building and safety codes have often been blamed for such deadly incidents.
