- PoliticsBloomberg
Top Democrat Schiff Adds Call for Probe of Trump, Deutsche Bank Links
The incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee joined Democratic colleagues in questioning ties between Deutsche Bank AG and President Donald Trump’s real estate business. Representative Adam Schiff of California said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday that any type of compromise needs to be investigated. That could add his panel’s scrutiny to that of Representative Maxine Waters, who’s in line to be chair of the House Financial Services Committee and has also focused on the bank’s connections to Trump.
WorldAFPStrasbourg attack victims honoured
Several hundred people gathered in Strasbourg Sunday to honour the victims of an attack on the city's popular Christmas market that left four dead. The ceremony, organised by local rights associations with the approval of the city authorities, included music, singing and several readings. Earlier Sunday, police in the eastern French city, which is home to the European Parliament, released two close associates of the attacker, Cherif Chekatt who was on a French list of possible extremist security risks.
- NewsHuffPost
Dogs Thrown From Vehicle On New York Highway, Police Say
Two beagle mixes are recovering after authorities said they were tossed from a moving vehicle onto a New York highway, igniting a search for the culprits. The truck driver, whom police identified only as Adam, said he immediately hit the brakes and parked his vehicle on the side of the road to help. A passing state trooper assisted after spotting the trucker’s abandoned vehicle and then the two dogs, one of which was described as seriously injured. The dogs, since named Adam and Trooper after their heroes, were taken to the Broome County Humane Society in Binghamton for treatment.
WorldReutersNorth Korea condemns U.S. sanctions, warns denuclearization at risk
North Korea on Sunday condemned the U.S. administration for stepping up sanctions and pressure on the nuclear-armed country, warning of a return to "exchanges of fire" and that disarming Pyongyang could be blocked forever. The North's stinging response came after the United States said on Monday it had introduced sanctions on three North Korean officials, including a top aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, for alleged human rights abuses. Denuclearizing North Korea has made little progress since Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump met in Singapore in June in a historic summit.
WorldAssociated PressIndian troops enforce lockdown to foil Kashmir protest march
Soldiers and police fanned out across Indian-controlled Kashmir on Monday to enforce a security lockdown for a second straight day to stop anti-India protests and foil a call by separatists for a march toward India's main military garrison in the disputed region. Government forces patrolled streets in the region's main city of Srinagar and sealed off all the roads leading to India's military garrison in the city. Three Kashmiri leaders, known as the Joint Resistance Leadership, or JRL, called for Kashmiris to march to the army cantonment to protest the killings of seven civilians and three rebels during an Indian counterinsurgency operation over the weekend.
- NewsThe Telegraph
Family complains that Catholic priest used teen's funeral to condemn suicide
The parents of a teenage boy who took his own life have condemned a Catholic priest who questioned whether their son would get to heaven while presiding over his funeral. The Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit expressed regret for the comments and said the Rev Don LaCuesta would not preach at funerals "for the foreseeable future". "We wanted him to celebrate how Maison lived, not how he died," his mother, Linda Hullibarger, told The Detroit Free Press.
BusinessReutersGoogle to spend $1 billion on new campus in New York
The 1.7 million square-foot campus, called Google Hudson Square, will include leased properties at Hudson Street and Washington Street, the company said in a blog post on Monday. The new campus will be the main location for Google's advertising sales division, the Global Business Organization. Google hopes to start moving into two Hudson Street buildings by 2020, followed by a Washington Street in 2022 and will have the capacity to more than double its New York headcount, currently more than 7,000, in the next 10 years.
- 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.
- NewsAccuWeather
Snow, rain and wind in late-week storm to impact holiday travel in eastern US
As students embark on winter break, last-minute shoppers head to the stores and holiday travel ramps up across the country later this week, a major storm could lead to widespread travel headaches in the eastern U.S. The potential exists for a storm system to track from the Gulf Coast through the Northeast at the end of the week, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Maura Kelly. This storm is expected to soak the southeastern U.S. Thursday into Friday before heading northward, bringing rounds of heavy rain to the Northeast and some wintry weather to the Midwest late this week and into the weekend.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Possible 2020 candidate Beto O’Rourke meets with young refugees at US-Mexico border
Mr O’Rourke spoke with reporters outside of the detention centre on Saturday afternoon, bringing attention to the fact many of the young refugees had taken arduous journeys to arrive at the nation’s border — to wind up being housed in a facility separately from their families for months on end. When we attempted to speak with these children and ask how they’re doing — I was able to ask them the countries from which they came, I heard Guatemala and Honduras — ask about the conditions, they kind of nodded their heads, ‘it’s okay,’” the congressman said. But what are they going to say when everyone around them is watching?
WorldAFPIraq lays cornerstone to rebuild iconic Mosul mosque
Iraqis on Sunday laid the cornerstone in rebuilding Mosul's Al-Nuri mosque and leaning minaret, national emblems destroyed last year in the ferocious battle against the Islamic State group. The famed 12th century mosque and minaret, dubbed Al-Hadba or "the hunchback," hosted Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's only public appearance as IS chief, when he declared a self-styled "caliphate" after the jihadists swept into Mosul in 2014. The structures were ravaged three years later in the final, most brutal stages of the months-long fight to rid Iraq's second city of IS.
- BusinessBloomberg
Goldman’s Woes Mount as Malaysia Slaps First Criminal Charge
The country filed the first criminal charges against the U.S. bank in the global corruption probe on Monday, after publicly urging Goldman to come to the negotiating table or face litigation. The firm already is in the thick of investigations by U.S. prosecutors and regulators over Goldman’s conduct in the controversy. Malaysian authorities allege that Goldman misled investors when the bank knew that proceeds from 1MDB bond sales it arranged would be misappropriated.
- PoliticsBloomberg
Judge Throws Political Bomb in Trump's Lap by Voiding Obamacare
An explosive court ruling to wipe out Obamacare has revived the acrimonious health care battle in Washington and tossed a political bomb in President Donald Trump’s lap as he gears up to run for re-election. The case may not be resolved in the courts before 2020, legal experts said, which could make it a defining issue in the race for the White House and Congress. Democrats immediately jumped on the Friday night ruling to warn that health care coverage for millions of Americans was at stake due to the Republican-led lawsuit that sought to void popular parts of Obamacare, including protections for pre-existing conditions and a ban on annual lifetime limits.
- PoliticsThe Telegraph
Joe Biden tops key 2020 poll as he mulls whether he is too old to run for president
Joe Biden, Barack Obama’s vice-president, has emerged as an early frontrunner among Democrats vying for the 2020 presidential nomination with a dominant lead among voters in Iowa, who will be the first to state their preference next year. A new CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll finds 32 per cent of likely caucusgoers saying they back Mr Biden as their first choice, ahead of 19 per cent for Bernie Sanders and 11 per cent for Beto O'Rourke, the telegenic campaigner who came close to an against-the-odds win in Texas last month. “It’s early days and a lot can change but it could be a way to get past the age issue with Joe,” said a Democratic strategist who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of endorsing a candidate.
- NewsAssociated Press
Man who demolished landmark house ordered to build replica
A man who illegally demolished a San Francisco house designed by modernist architect Richard Neutra was ordered this week to rebuild it exactly as it was. The city Planning Commission also ordered Ross Johnston to add a sidewalk plaque telling the entire saga of the house's origins in the 1930s, its demolition and replication. A call and email message seeking comments from Johnston's lawyer has not been returned.
- NewsHuffPost
Colin Kroll, Co-Founder Of HQ Trivia And Vine, Found Dead In New York Apartment
Colin Kroll, the co-founder of the widely popular game HQ Trivia, has been found dead in a New York City apartment, according to police. Kroll, who also co-founded the now defunct video platform Vine, was found by police in his Manhattan apartment’s bedroom early Sunday morning after his girlfriend requested a welfare check, TMZ first reported. The 34-year-old’s suspected cause of death is a narcotics overdose, NYPD sources told HuffPost.
- WorldYahoo News Photo Staff
Restaurant explosion injures dozens in Sapporo, Japan
A suspected gas explosion destroyed wooden buildings housing a restaurant and a real estate office in northern Japan on Sunday night, injuring 42 people, police and local media said. The powerful explosion in Sapporo, the capital city of Japan’s northern main island of Hokkaido, shook nearby buildings, shattered windows and scattered wooden debris across the area. One person was in serious condition, but police said the other injuries were mostly mild.
PoliticsFOX News VideosHilton: Trump’s record is head and shoulders above the rest
Trump haters say that the president pulling out of the Paris climate deal is definitive proof that he’s destroying the world.
- LifestyleAccuWeather
East Coast storm to strike during peak of Christmas travel; Northwest to stay stormy
Storms with the greatest potential to disrupt travel will focus on the East and the Northwest in the days leading up to Christmas. Some of the best weather-related travel conditions are likely over the Southwest and over portions of the Plains through Christmas. The combination of commuter traffic around the major cities and the beginnings of holiday travel are likely to make Thursday, Dec. 20, the worst day to travel for the Christmas holiday this year, not including weather-related issues, according to the American Automobile Association.
WorldAFPSaudi Arabia slams US Senate vote as 'interference'
Saudi Arabia on Sunday rejected as "interference" a US Senate resolution to end American military support for a Riyadh-led war in Yemen, and another holding its crown prince responsible for the murder of critic Jamal Khashoggi. "The kingdom condemns the latest position of the US Senate that was based on unsubstantiated allegations and rejects the blatant interference in its internal affairs," the foreign ministry said in a statement released by the official Saudi Press Agency.
- BusinessU.S.News & World Report
9 Safe Dividend Stocks to Buy for 2019
Broadcom has a 3 percent dividend yield and a 23.1 percent payout ratio. CFRA has a "strong buy" rating and $282 price target for AVGO stock. Bank of New York Mellon is a U.S. bank with more than $34.5 trillion in assets under custody.
- WorldReuters
Turkey would consider working with Assad if he won a democratic Syrian election
Turkey and other world powers would consider working with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if he won a democratic election, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a conference in Qatar on Sunday. Turkey supported the opposition to Assad in the Syrian civil war that broke out in 2011 and continues to support rebel fighters who control part of northwest Syria. A year ago Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan described Assad as a terrorist and said it was impossible for Syrian peace efforts to continue with him.
- PoliticsBloomberg
Americans Turn More Pessimistic on Economy
A majority of Americans also say President Donald Trump has been untruthful about the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 campaign, and half say the probe has given them doubts about Trump’s presidency. “For the first time in Trump’s presidency, his safety net of a robust economy shows signs of unraveling,” said Fred Yang, a Democratic pollster with Hart Research Associates. The poll, taken a month after November’s midterm elections, shows more Americans want congressional Democrats to take the lead in setting policy for the U.S.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
Every Photo from Our Drive of the Audi e-tron GT Concept
Developed alongside the Porsche Taycan, Audi's sleek electric coupe is still a long way from reality. From Car and Driver
- NewsUSA TODAY
Judge gives mom 40 years after 2 kids die in car. People 'take better care of their pets'
A Texas judge showed little sympathy during sentencing for a mom whose two daughters, ages 1 and 2, died after being left in an increasingly hot car overnight. In September, Amanda Hawkins pleaded guilty to two felony counts of abandoning or endangering a child causing imminent danger of death, bodily injury or physical or mental impairment and two counts of injury to a child.
