- PoliticsYahoo News
Did Democrats just help Trump win reelection?
On Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that after months of haggling over key details, House Democrats had officially agreed to back a revised version of Trump's new trade pact — an announcement made just one dizzying hour after House Democratic leaders unveiled articles of impeachment against him. Many progressives were apoplectic about the mixed messaging, arguing — like Trump — that the USMCA would effectively help keep in office the same dangerous president Democrats were simultaneously endeavoring to remove.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Democrats say they won't cross picket line over union conflict at debate host site
WASHINGTON – All of the Democratic presidential candidates slated to attend next week's primary debate may skip it due to ongoing local union negotiations at Loyola Marymount University, the site of the debate. Unite Here Local 11, which represents 150 cooks, dishwashers, cashiers, and servers at the university, will picket next Thursday ahead of the debate and called on candidates to not cross the picket line. Every candidate who has qualified for the debate — former Vice President Joe Biden; Sens.
- WorldReuters
U.S. sanctions on Iran violate international law: Mahathir
The American sanctions imposed on Iran violate the United Nations charter and international law, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told a conference in Qatar on Saturday. ''Malaysia does not support the reimposition of the unilateral sanctions by the US against Iran,'' he told the Doha Forum, also attended by Qatar Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. Malaysia and other countries have lost a ''a big market'' because of the sanctions on Iran, he said.
PoliticsYahoo News VideoDems: Postponing impeachment vote was tactical
After a marathon session of debate, the House Judiciary Committee abruptly postponed a historic vote Thursday on articles of impeachment against President Trump.
- WorldAssociated Press
Chile: Plane that vanished en route to Antarctica found
Searchers combing Antarctic seas have recovered parts of a military transport plane and human remains belonging to some of the 38 people aboard who vanished en route to the frozen continent, Chilean officials said Thursday. Air Force Gen. Arturo Merino said at a news conference that based on the condition of the remains, he believed it would be “practically impossible” that any survivors would be pulled from the water alive. An international team of searchers continued the hunt, while officials on shore said they would use DNA analysis to identify the crash victims.
WorldAFPDivers search for remaining bodies from NZ volcanic eruption
Divers searched seas around New Zealand's volatile White Island Saturday for two people still missing five days after the volcano erupted, while police formally named the first victim. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, meanwhile, has called for a minute's silence to be observed at 2.11pm (0111 GMT) on Monday in honour of the victims of the eruption. "Together we can express our sorrow for those who have died and been hurt, and our support for their grieving families and friends," Ardern said, with the minute's silence to start exactly one week after the eruption began.
- WorldThe National Interest
In 2030, What Countries Will Have the Most Power Airforces?
The list will be dominated by traditional air powers, particularly the United States, Russia and the United Kingdom. Towards that end, these powers consider maintaining large, rapidly deployable and modern air forces vital to their national security. The People's Republic of China will be a new entrant on the list.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
The FAA calculated that Boeing's 737 Max could crash a total of 15 times, killing more than 3,000 people, if it wasn't grounded and fixed
REUTERS/Beawiharta/File Phot An internal investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which was recently made public, predicted that the Boeing 737 Max crash could crash 15 times more over its lifespan. The figure was released during a Wednesday hearing before the House Transportation Committee on the plane's safety. crashes of full 737 Max planes — if they were as catastrophic as the two that took place — would kill as many as 3,450 people.
- CelebrityThe Daily Beast
Meghan McCain Confronts Tom Steyer: ‘You Bought Your Way’ Onto Debate Stage
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer got a warm welcome from every co-host of The View except one on Friday morning. “Mr. Steyer, between you and Mayor Bloomberg, you have now spent $200 million on political ads,” Meghan McCain told their guest. “I'm talking about breaking a corporate stranglehold on our government that is preventing it from acting on anything,” Steyer said.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY Opinion
Former FBI agent: Justice Department investigation finds Trump's FBI conspiracy is false
The incident set the stage for a narrative Donald Trump and his allies would repeat time again for over two years: the new president was the victim of out of control "deep state" made up of Obama loyalists in government who were actively working to bring Trump down. On Monday the Justice Department's independent watchdog, Inspector General Michael Horowitz, finally weighed in on these inflammatory allegations when he released his long-awaited report on the origins of the FBI's Russia investigation, code named “Crossfire Hurricane. Trump's dubious allegations “Terrible!
- NewsUSA TODAY
Stomach flu outbreak terrorizes school in Washington state, sickening over 100 students, staff
A nasty Norovirus outbreak is terrorizing Washington state, forcing hundreds of kids to stay home and dozens of schools to close. Seattle Public Schools tweeted that Leschi Elementary will be closed Friday for cleaning because of the stomach flu outbreak. Over 100 students and staff members reported being sick Thursday.
- WorldReuters
Turkey adds former Palestinian politician Dahlan to most wanted list
Turkey has added exiled Palestinian politician Mohammed Dahlan to its "red list" of most-wanted terrorism suspects, offering a reward of up to 10 million lira ($1.75 million) for information leading to his capture, the Interior Ministry said on Friday. Arrest warrants have been issued for Dahlan on accusations of playing a role in the 2016 attempted coup in Turkey, seeking to change the constitutional order by force, and various spying-related charges, the ministry said in a statement. Turkey accuses U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and his followers of carrying out the failed putsch of July 2016, when rogue soldiers commandeered warplanes, tanks and helicopters in a bid to seize power in which some 250 people were killed.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Iraq mob lynches 16-year-old after he attacked and killed anti-government protesters
An angry mob killed a 16-year-old and strung up the corpse by its feet from a traffic pole after the teen shot and killed six people on Thursday, including four anti-government protesters, Iraqi officials said. Dozens of people pointed their cellphones at the body dangling high above them in a central Baghdad square. The violence underscored the growing fears and suspicions swirling around the 8-week-old protest movement, which engulfed Iraq on October 1 when thousands took to the streets to decry government corruption, poor services and scarcity of jobs.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
George P. Bush says GOP can't let 'racist' episodes slide
Republican George P. Bush, the only member of the Bush dynasty still in public office, condemned Thursday recurring episodes of what he described as racist or hateful rhetoric within the Texas GOP, and ripped what he called false accusations fanned by his Hispanic heritage. Bush, Texas' land commissioner, first denounced a white GOP state legislator who suggested “Asian" challengers on the ballot in 2020 were motivated by race. He then joined others Saturday in calling for the resignation of a Republican county chairwoman near Houston who used a racial slur in a text message about a black party organizer.
- WorldINSIDER
Death toll from New Zealand eruption rises to 14 after authorities conduct harrowing mission to retrieve bodies from the island
Authorities on Friday recovered the bodies of six people who died after one of New Zealand's most active volcanoes erupted on Monday, bringing the known death toll to 14. New Zealand's geological monitoring agency, GeoNet, said the eruption began at around 2:11 p.m. local time on Whakaari, also known as White Island, a popular tourist spot which features an active volcano. Police released the nationalities of 47 people who were on the island when the volcano erupted, which included 24 Australians, two Chinese nationals, four Germans, one Malaysian national, five New Zealanders, two people from the UK, and nine people from the US.
- WorldThe National Interest
Taiwan Still Has a Giant World War II-Era Artillery Gun (Pointed at China)
The 240-millimeter M1 howitzer, or “Black Dragon,” was the heaviest piece of field artillery the U.S. Army deployed in World War II. The huge guns smashed the Axis Powers' concrete fortifications in Europe to rubble, and blasted Chinese mountain bunkers during the Korean War. “There was little call for the type to be employed whenever the fighting was fluid as it took too long to emplace the weapons or get them out of action, but when they were used the heavy 163.3 kg (360-lb) high explosive shells were devastating weapons,” Chris Bishop wrote in the exhaustive Complete Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. From Kinmen, the Black Dragon's 14-mile range can reach Xiamen, a city of five million people along China's southeast coast.
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
Biden, Warren, Sanders, Yang, and Buttigieg are threatening to skip the next Democratic debate amid a labor dispute
Former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the entrepreneur Andrew Yang, and South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg have all threatened to skip next week's primary debate at Loyola Marymount University. "We had hoped that workers would have a contract with wages and affordable health insurance before the debate next week," Susan Minato, co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11, said in a statement. Five top Democratic contenders for the 2020 nomination are threatening to skip next week's primary debate at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles in solidarity with campus food service workers who are on strike.
- BusinessPopular Mechanics
The 10 Best Tech Gadgets of 2019
From the Apple AirPods Pro to the Google Pixel 3a, these are the gadgets that took over 2019. From Popular Mechanics
WorldAFPIsrael hails Johnson win as defeat for anti-Semitism
Israel Friday hailed the election defeat of Britain's Labour Party as a "milestone in the fight against hatred" after its leadership was accused of inaction against anti-Semitism in its ranks. Congratulating British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said their win in the polls was "not just a political victory, it is first and foremost a victory of values." "The spectre of anti-Semitism loomed large over this campaign, and the British public overwhelmingly voted against it," Katz said.
- BusinessBloomberg
McDonald’s Wins High-Stakes Labor Battle With Help From White House
The national board that referees union-organizing drives effectively absolved the company of liability for alleged labor-law violations in some of its franchisees' restaurants, easing a major threat to the fast-food giant's business structure. The deal resolves allegations of wrongdoing without holding the corporation legally liable as “joint employer” with its franchisees.The victory, which eluded McDonald's during Obama's presidency, could help the fast-food giant close a bruising chapter in its history that imperiled its valuable brand as well as the franchise structure it's built on. In an emailed statement, McDonald's Corp. said it was “pleased” that the case had been concluded, and that the decision “allows our franchisees and their employees to move forward, and resolves all matters without any admission of wrongdoing.”Separately, top administration officials, including acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, are pushing to enact new, more lenient rules that would help insulate McDonald's and similar chains from liability for the conduct of their franchisees.
- NewsReuters
Washington state seeks to ban sale of 'assault weapons,' high capacity magazines
The state of Washington on Thursday proposed bans on the sale of "assault weapons" and high capacity magazines, part of a package of gun laws meant to address a rising wave of U.S. mass shootings. If successful, Washington would become the seventh U.S. state to ban assault weapons, which it defines as semi-automatic rifles with at least one military feature, and the ninth to limit the capacity of ammunition magazines. "We should be making it harder for those who want to inflict mass violence and destruction upon innocent people," Governor Jay Inslee said in announcing the gun-control push.
- ScienceAccuWeather
Satellite evades ‘day of reckoning' to discover puzzling weather phenomenon on Jupiter
At first glance, these newly released images by NASA may look like lava churning in the heart of a volcano, but they reveal otherworldly storm systems whirling in a way that surprised scientists. The swirls in the photos are cyclones around Jupiter's south pole, captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft on Nov. 3, 2019. Juno has been orbiting the solar system's largest planet since 2016 and has seen these polar cyclones before, but its latest flight over this region of the planet revealed a startling discovery - a new cyclone had formed unexpectedly.
- WorldAssociated Press
Death toll in aircraft carrier fire in Russia rises to 2
A crew member who went missing during a fire on Russia's only aircraft carrier was found dead Friday, raising the death toll from the blaze to two, the nation's military officials said Friday. The fire on the Admiral Kuznetsov broke out during welding work at a shipyard in the Arctic port of Murmansk on Thursday and spread quickly through the carrier's internal compartments. The Investigative Committee, Russia's top state investigative agency, opened a probe into a possible violation of safety rules.
- NewsThe Daily Beast
Spokane Cop Accused of Sex Assault Finally Loses Pay After More Accusers Come Forward
A Washington state police officer once told a coworker he would “say exactly what's on my mind, unless I'm on body camera.” This week, his boast came back to haunt him. The Spokane Police Department suspended Officer Nathan Nash without pay after a domestic violence victim accused him of assaulting her, and a police investigation found he had turned off his body camera during the event. The investigation began in October, when a domestic violence victim told the police department Nash had sexually assaulted her in a follow-up call to her house.
- NewsThe National Interest
Inside the Assassination of Imperial Japanese Admiral Yamamoto
Key point: Tokyo didn't know that Washington had broken its codes. Some sixty-eight years before U.S. special forces killed Osama bin Laden, America conducted an assassination of another kind. This time, the target wasn't a terrorist.
