- PoliticsYahoo News
Mueller witness bragged about access to Clintons secured with illegal campaign cash, says Justice Department
An emissary for two wealthy Arab princes boasted to unnamed officials of a Middle Eastern government about his direct access to Hillary and Bill Clinton while funneling more than $3.5 million in illegal campaign contributions to the former secretary of state's 2016 presidential campaign and Democratic fundraising committees, according to a federal indictment announced by the Justice Department this week. Wonderful meeting with Big Lady. Can't wait to tell you all about it,” George Nader allegedly wrote to an official of one of the foreign governments he advises in the Middle East after attending a political fundraiser with Hillary Clinton on April 16, 2016.
- PoliticsReuters
California congressman Duncan Hunter announces resignation after corruption plea
U.S. Representative Duncan Hunter will resign from Congress following his guilty plea to a federal charge of conspiring to misuse campaign funds, he said on Friday. Hunter's announcement that he would step down came days after the leading California lawmaker, a former U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran, entered his guilty plea in federal court in San Diego. "Shortly after the Holidays I will resign from Congress," Hunter, 42, said in a written statement released by his communications director.
- 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.
- PoliticsNational Review
Adam Schiff’s Attack on the Free Press
Where are all the self-styled champions of the free press now that Adam Schiff has used the surveillance powers of the state to smear not only his political rivals but a journalist? With the release of the House Intelligence Committee's impeachment report Tuesday came the revelation that Giuliani and his Ukrainian affiliate Lev Parnas, whose metadata Schiff apparently subpoenaed, had exchanged calls with former The Hill columnist John Solomon, ranking Intelligence Republican Devin Nunes, and attorney Jay Sekulow.
- NewsAccuWeather
Weather whiplash to bring warmup, heavy rain and flood threat followed by Arctic blast to Northeast
The weather pattern will soon be reversed in the northeastern United States, allowing wintry landscapes to transform into a sloppy, muddy mess instead. As wintry weather and yet another snowstorm are predicted for portions of the Midwest, surging warm and moist air will race out ahead of the system. The warm air combined with rain will dissolve the deep snow over part of the Northeast, potentially leading to flooding issues for some communities.
- 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.
- BusinessBloomberg
Michael Bloomberg Responds to Criticism He's Trying to Buy Election
Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg responded to criticism from Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and other rivals that he's trying to buy the election by self-financing his campaign, saying they had the same opportunity in life to build up a fortune as he did. The former New York mayor said in an interview on “CBS This Morning” that he didn't come from a wealthy family and earned his money by building up his business. He said his rivals, too, “had a chance to go out and make a lot of money.
- WorldAssociated Press
Germany's Merkel voices 'shame' during 1st Auschwitz visit
German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced a feeling of deep shame” during her first-ever visit on Friday to the hallowed grounds of the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where Adolf Hitler's regime murdered more than a million people. Merkel noted that her visit comes amid rising anti-Semitism and historical revisionism and vowed that Germany would not tolerate anti-Semitism. She said Germany remains committed to remembering the crimes that it committed against Jews, Poles, Roma and Sinti, homosexuals and others.
WorldAFPSix months of sacrifice: Hong Kong's protesters take stock
With Beijing taking a hard line, it has since broadened into a call to halt authoritarian China's attempts to erode freedoms in the city. Protesters broke into the forecourt of the city's legislative building, throwing objects including metal bars at police. Officers responded with rubber bullets, bean bag rounds and tear gas against their aggressors, but then turned their weapons on the huge, peaceful crowds outside the complex, igniting anger that has fuelled the protests for months.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Rudy’s New Ukraine Jaunt Is Freaking Out Trump’s Lieutenants—and He Doesn’t Care
Rudy Giuliani's decision to travel to multiple European countries this week, during the height of an impeachment probe involving his client President Trump, was so startling to senior administration officials and national security brass that they began tracking his movements in an effort to get a read on his objectives abroad. Other officials in the West Wing and numerous Trump associates learned about his latest foreign adventure, which included a stop in Ukraine, by reading the news. Many of them expressed exasperation at the thought of Giuliani—himself reportedly in the crosshairs of federal investigators—continuing to cause headaches for the White House.
- NewsReuters
Indiana judge grants stay of execution for federal inmate
A convicted murderer set to become the first federal inmate to be executed in 16 years was granted a stay of execution on Thursday by a judge in Indiana. Daniel Lewis Lee, a white supremacist convicted in Arkansas of murdering a family of three, was granted the stay by U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon. Lee's execution had been set for Monday, but a separate ruling by a judge in Washington last month put his execution and that of three other federal inmates on hold.
- 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
- NewsThe Guardian
Two school shootings a day apart: Wisconsin reckons with impact of armed guards
Shootings a day apart at two high schools in Wisconsin have shaken the state and sparked a renewed debate over how to combat violence in American schools. An Oshkosh police department resource officer shot a 16-year-old student Tuesday after the boy stabbed him in the officer's office at Oshkosh West high school. A day earlier, a resource officer at Waukesha South high school helped clear students out of a classroom after a 17-year-old student pointed a pellet gun at another student's head.
- NewsThe National Interest
History Book Nightmare: Russia Could Have Nuked Away America's Submarine Fleet
Key point: Issues of command and control remain important to keeping America's nuclear deterrent secure and reliable. A key component of the U.S. doctrine of mutually assured destruction — commonly and appropriately known as MAD — was that American troops would still be able to retaliate if the Soviet Union launched a nuclear attack. In 1968, the Defense Intelligence Agency's Scientific Advisory Committee found dangerous gaps in the communications network supporting the nation's so-called Fleet Ballistic Missile boats, or FBMs.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin is working with the Federal Reserve to curtail another repo rate crisis, report says
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is working with the Federal Reserve to monitor bank reserves and decrease the chances of a rate crisis similar to September's, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Mnuchin told the House of Representatives on Thursday that he and Fed Chair Jerome Powell have met multiple times to discuss the September lending rate spike and liquidity concerns ahead of year-end reserve obligations. The Fed has been pumping billions of dollars into money markets through market repurchase agreement, or repo, operations and Treasury bill purchases after its overnight lending rate spiked in September.
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.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
'Dark money' ties raise questions for GOP Sen. Ernst of Iowa
An outside group founded by top political aides to Sen. Joni Ernst has worked closely with the Iowa Republican to raise money and boost her reelection prospects, a degree of overlap that potentially violates the law, documents obtained by The Associated Press show. Iowa Values, a political nonprofit that is supposed to be run independently, was co-founded in 2017 by Ernst's longtime consultant, Jon Kohan. It shares a fundraiser, Claire Holloway Avella, with the Ernst campaign.
- NewsThe New York Times
Police Officer Under Investigation After Footage Said to Show Him Groping Dead Woman
A Los Angeles police officer has been placed under investigation, a police spokesman said Wednesday. Body camera footage was said to show him groping a deceased woman's breasts, according to a person familiar with the case. The unidentified male officer was not working while the case was under investigation, Josh Rubenstein, the department spokesman, said.
- PoliticsBloomberg
Trump Energy Adviser Leaving White House After Ukraine Subpoena
An international energy adviser to President Donald Trump, who was sought by congressional Democrats as part of their impeachment inquiry, is leaving the White House, according to three people familiar with the matter. Wells Griffith, who has been serving as a senior director for international energy and environment on the National Security Council, is set to join the Overseas Private Investment Corp. next week, said two of the people.
- WorldReuters
Azerbaijan plants 650,000 trees to celebrate poet - but green activists grumble
TBILISI, Dec 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Oil-rich Azerbaijan planted more than half a million trees on Friday to celebrate a 14th century poet, an initiative the government said would help tackle climate change but some environmental activists called "a waste of money". The Azeri ministry of ecology said 650,000 trees were being planted across the country to mark the 650th anniversary of the birth of Seyid Imadeddin Nesimi, whose work touched on the relation between man and nature. The campaign) will have a positive impact on further greening of our country, reducing the effects of global climate change, as well as absorbing carbon dioxide, the ministry said in a statement.
- NewsNational Review
Judge Allows Criminal Trial to Proceed against Pro-Life Investigators
A San Francisco judge ruled Friday that the criminal trial may move forward against the pro-life investigators who went undercover to record abortion industry executives talking about procuring fetal body parts. Judge Christopher Hite deemed the evidence sufficient to send to trial the case against David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt of the Center for Medical Progress, who are charged with nine felony counts, one count of conspiracy and eight counts of illegal taping. Daleiden, 30, and Merritt, 64, several years ago surreptitiously recorded executives from Planned Parenthood and other organizations haggling about compensation for the procurement of fetal parts for researchers who request them.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Bernie Sanders unveils plan to break up telecom companies and launch universal broadband access
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders wants to leverage existing anti-trust laws to break up telecommunications monopolies and use "Green New Deal" grants to ensure high-speed internet is treated as a "a basic human right." Sanders, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, unveiled the plan Friday morning while on a swing through Iowa. It is outrageous that across the country millions of Americans and so many of our communities do not have access to affordable high-speed internet,” Sanders said in a statement.
- BusinessThe National Interest
Bombs Away! The Powerful B-52 Bomber Is Getting Even More Deadly
Key point: The Pentagon may end up flying the B-52 for 100 years. Sixty-seven years after the U.S. Air Force received its last B-52 from Boeing, the flying branch finally has firmed up plans to fit the heavy bomber with new engines. Air Force magazine in its January 2019 issue took a deep dive into the re-engining effort.
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.
- NewsBusiness Insider
The Navy created incredible photos comparing Pearl Harbor today to the day of the Japanese attack
Navy photo illustration by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Diana Quinlan Defenders on Ford Island watch for planes during the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.U.S. Navy photo illustration by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Diana Quinlan Hangar 6 on Ford Island badly damaged after the attack on Pearl Harbor.U.S. Navy photo illustration by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Diana Quinlan A view of the historic Ford Island control tower in 1941.
