- PoliticsYahoo News
New Fox News poll on impeachment contradicts its most loyal viewer — President Trump
A new Fox News poll on voter support for impeachment contradicted President Trump, who recently boasted major support in favor of “No Impeachment. Amid last week's historic House Judiciary Committee vote to advance two articles of impeachment, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, the president tweeted, “Poll numbers have gone through the roof in favor of No Impeachment, especially with swing States and Independents in swing States. People have figured out that the Democrats have no case, it is a total Hoax.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Alyssa Milano’s 'facts are wrong': Andrew Yang refutes activist’s allegations of campaign staffer sexual misconduct
Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang denied allegations made by actress Alyssa Milano that an unnamed campaign staffer engaged in sexual misconduct, saying the matter had been looked at promptly. During a sit-down interview with Yahoo News, Yang said that he and his team conducted an internal investigation on the staffer allegedly involved in the misconduct and found no evidence of anything sexual in nature. The staffer was dismissed instead for “management problems,” according to Yang.
- NewsBusiness Insider
An exclusive fundraiser reveals Pete Buttigieg is being backed by some of Silicon Valley's wealthiest families
Paras Griffin/Getty Pete Buttigieg is having a fundraiser hosted for him by a group of extremely wealthy Silicon Valley families, according to a host list obtained by Recode. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is listed as a co-host, as are family members of Sergey Brin, Eric Schmidt, and Sheryl Sandberg. Buttigieg has come under fire from rival Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren for his ties to big tech.
- PoliticsCBS News
CBS News Battleground Tracker: Biden has edge in Super Tuesday states
The Super Tuesday primaries on March 3, 2020, have a diverse electorate and the largest single-day delegate prize on the Democratic calendar next year. They have attracted added attention lately, since former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has staked his newly launched presidential bid on these contests, instead of charting a more conventional path through Iowa and New Hampshire. This CBS News Battleground Tracker shows Bloomberg stands in fifth place across the Super Tuesday states, while it's Joe Biden, along with Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders just behind him, who continue to form the top tier there.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Body of 6-year-old girl swept away in flood waters has been found after 2-week search
PHOENIX – The Gila County Sheriff's Office confirmed Friday night a body found earlier in the day is that of 6-year-old Willa Rawlings, who was swept away in the swollen Tonto Creek two weeks ago along with two other children. Willa had been missing for two weeks after a vehicle she was in was swept away in floodwaters. Two other children, Willa's brother, Colby Rawlings, and cousin Austin Rawlings, both 5, also were swept away but their bodies were later recovered.
- WorldThe National Interest
Operation Plunder: How 1 Hellish Battle Slowed The Allies' Capture Of Nazi Germany
January 1945—with World War II in its sixth year—found the Allied armies going on the offensive after the Battle of the Bulge, but they were still west of the Rhine and six weeks behind schedule in their advance toward Germany. Although U.S. and French units of Lt. Gen. Jacob L. Devers' Sixth Army Group had reached the western bank around Strasbourg in late 1944, the river proved too difficult to cross. The key to eventual victory lay in the central and northern Rhineland, but three factors delayed an advance: the failure of Operation Market Garden, the British-American airborne invasion of Holland, the onset of an extremely wet autumn and harsh winter, and the unexpectedly rapid recovery of the German Army in the wake of recent Allied advances.
WorldAFPNew Zealand eruption death toll rises to 18
The death toll from New Zealand's White Island volcano eruption rose to 18 Sunday, including two people whose bodies have not been recovered, police said. A land search Sunday failed to find any sign of the missing pair and divers returned to the sea in the afternoon amid increasing speculation both could be in the water. Deputy police commissioner Mike Clement said there was "every chance" the bodies had been washed into the sea from the stream where they were last seen Monday.
- NewsAssociated Press
Shooting shows New Jersey's gun laws aren't stopping imports
Officials from states with strong gun restrictions have called for stricter firearm control in places with weaker laws to thwart traffickers, but the fatal attack on a Jewish market in New Jersey shows how fruitless those efforts can be. Three civilians and a police officer were gunned down Tuesday by two killers with anti-Semitic and anti-law enforcement beliefs, the state's attorney general said. The attackers carried five firearms and a pipe bomb in the U-Haul van they drove to the Jersey City Jewish market before opening fire, officials said.
- LifestylePopular Mechanics
The 25 Best Survival Games
You have one mission: Stay alive. From Popular Mechanics
- PoliticsThe Guardian
White House defends Melania Trump's silence on Greta Thunberg attack
Melania Trump has been silent over her husband's attacks on Greta Thunberg after protesting a mention of her own son in an impeachment hearing because Barron Trump “is not an activist who travels the globe giving speeches”, a spokeswoman said on Friday. Thunberg is 16. The White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, also said: “It is no secret that the president and first lady often communicate differently – as most married couples do.
- NewsUSA TODAY Opinion
Kamala Harris flames out: Black people didn't trust her, and they were wise not to
Even though Barack Obama surprisingly won Iowa in 2008, Harris struggled to gain support in the small, mostly white state whose African American population is a whopping 3.8%. All that may be true, but it misses the most important part of the story. It was one thing for Harris to receive little to no support from whites in Iowa, but how could the fact that blacks in South Carolina (and beyond) weren't excited about her either be explained?
- WorldBloomberg
Zambia Wants U.S. Ambassador Out for Defending Gay Couple
“We have complained officially to the American government, and we are waiting for their response because we don't want such people in our midst,” Lungu said Sunday in comments broadcast on state-owned ZNBC TV. U.S. Ambassador Daniel Foote said last month that he was “personally horrified” after the high court sentenced the two men and called on the government to reconsider laws that punish minority groups. The move was particularly disturbing as “government officials can steal millions of public dollars without prosecution,” Foote said.
- WorldYahoo News Video
Boris Johnson's victory is 'catastrophic warning' to Democrats: Bloomberg
Boris Johnson's election victory is a 'catastrophic warning' to Democrats in the United States, presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg has warned.
NewsUSA TODAYFBI breaks up 2 illegal streaming sites – including iStreamItAll, with more subscribers than Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu
Two programmers in Las Vegas recently admitted to running two of the largest illegal television and movie streaming services in the country, according to federal officials. One of the platforms reportedly had more paying subscribers than Netflix, Hulu and other popular licensed streaming platforms. An FBI investigation led officials to Darryl Polo, 36, and Luis Villarino, 40, who have pleaded guilty to copyright infringement charges for operating iStreamItAll, a subscription-based streaming site, and Jetflix, a large illegal TV streaming service, federal officials said Friday.
- NewsThe National Interest
Is Congress Set to Open U.S. Banks to Drug Cartels?
Last month, the House of Representatives passed a bill known as the SAFE Banking Act, a seemingly innocuous bill offering the nascent, state-legal marijuana industry access to banks. Interestingly, many House Republicans who claim to oppose marijuana legalization voted in support of the bill. Whatever their excuse may be, some House Republicans were hoodwinked in supporting this policy, and drug traffickers and cartel bosses naturally rejoiced.
- WorldReuters
Zimbabwe vice president's wife arrested for suspected fraud, money laundering
Zimbabwean authorities arrested the wife of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga on charges of money laundering, fraud and violating exchange control regulations, the country's anti Corruption Commission (ZACC) said on Sunday. Marry Mubaiwa was arrested on Saturday evening and will likely appear in court on Monday, ZACC spokesman John Makamure said. Appointed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa this year, ZACC is under pressure to show that it can tackle high-level graft, which watchdog Transparency International estimates is costing the country $1 billion annually.
WorldAFPIndia protests spread over 'anti-Muslim' law
Fresh protests were expected across India on Monday over a new citizenship law seen as anti-Muslim, after clashes overnight in the capital and days of unrest in the northeast that left six people dead. The bill fast-tracks citizenship for non-Muslim immigrants from three neighbouring countries, but critics allege it is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist agenda to marginalise India's 200 million Muslims -- something he denies. On Sunday evening thousands took to the streets in the northeast, the scene of days of rioting and deadly running battles with police, while other protests were reported across India in Delhi, Aligarh, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Patna and Raipur.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Italian city evacuated as World War Two-era British bomb is defused
Italian authorities ordered the biggest peacetime evacuation in the country since World War Two on Sunday to defuse a massive unexploded British bomb that was partially damaged when discovered in the southern city of Brindisi. The historic evacuation displaced some 53,000 residents —more than half — of the coastal city on the Adriatic, due to the high risk that the 440-pound ordnance containing 40 kilograms of dynamite could explode. The bomb is believed to have been dropped on the city in a 1941 air raid, during the period of World War Two when Italy was still allied with Germany and Royal Air Force bombers based in Malta were targeting Naples, Brindisi and Bari in order to disrupt Axis shipping lanes.
- PoliticsThe Guardian
The lies have it: Republicans abandon truth in Trump impeachment defence
A bewildering array of fake news, warped facts and conspiracy theories have been propagated in the past week by conservative media, Republican politicians, White House officials and the president in his own defence. It is, commentators say, a concerted disinformation war, intended to crowd out damaging revelations as the House of Representatives prepares its ultimate sanction. The more facts come out, the more desperate they get,” said Kurt Bardella, a former spokesman and senior adviser on the House oversight committee.
- NewsAssociated Press
Louisiana sues California over alligator ban
Louisiana is suing the state of California over its decision to ban the import and sale of alligator products, saying the ban will hurt an important Louisiana industry and ultimately could hurt the state's wetlands. In a lawsuit filed Thursday, Louisiana said the economy surrounding alligators has played a key role in bringing back the American alligator population and is an important factor in protecting wetlands and other species besides alligators that depend on the wetlands. “California has nevertheless attempted to destroy the market for American alligator products notwithstanding the fact that no such alligators live in California," the lawsuit says.
- NewsTime
A Man Sparked Outrage After Slapping a Reporter's Backside on Live TV. Now He's Charged With Sexual Battery
A male runner who slapped a female reporter's backside in the middle of her live broadcast was arrested Friday and charged with sexual battery, according to records from Georgia's Chatham County Sheriff's office. Thomas Callaway, who turned himself in, was later released on a $1,300 bond, according to the reporter's employer, WSAV. Alex Bozarjian was reporting live on the Enmarket Savannah Bridge Run in Savannah, Ga., on Dec. 7 when a runner in a blue shirt passed her and slapped her backside — prompting Bozarjian to pause and look shocked at the encounter.
- WorldBloomberg
Iran Demands $6 Billion Oil Payment From South Korea: Chosun
Iran's Foreign Ministry called in the South Korean ambassador last month to demand payment of 7 trillion won ($6 billion) for oil it sold to the Asian country, Chosun Ilbo reported, citing officials it didn't identify. Iran expressed “strong regret” over Seoul's failure to complete the payment, which has been deposited at two South Korean banks without being transferred to Iran's central bank for years due to U.S. sanctions against the Middle Eastern country, the newspaper said. It added that other Iranian authorities including the central bank also complained.
- NewsThe Independent
Kentucky governor pardons killer whose family donated to his campaign days before leaving office
The outgoing Republican governor of Kentucky has sparked outrage after he pardoned a convicted killer whose family had hosted a fundraiser for the politician and given him money. Matt Bevin, who was defeated in his bid for re-election in November, has issued over 400 pardons in his final days in office. Among those were Patrick Baker, who had been sentenced to 19 years in jail in 2017 after he impersonated a police officer to force his way into a home, then shot a man inside.
- WorldThe National Interest
Mortal Enemy? How Does the People's Liberation Army View the United States?
Key Point: Internal documents reveal the mindset of the PLA is offensive, specifically against the U.S. In December 2017, the U.S. Government published a new National Security Strategy. This remarkable document referred to the People's Republic of China (PRC) as a "revisionist power" that sought "to shape a world antithetical to U.S. values and interests." One month later, in January 2018, the Pentagon released the unclassified version of its National Defense Strategy, which stated that "China is a strategic competitor." Thanks to these documents, we now know how the American military―and the broader national security community―officially views China.
- BusinessReuters
China's factory, retail sectors shine as trade tensions thaw
Growth in China's industrial and retail sectors beat expectations in November, as government support propped up demand in the world's second-largest economy and amid easing trade hostilities with Washington. The set of upbeat figures released on Monday follow firm signs of progress in Sino-U.S. trade negotiations over the weekend after the world's two largest economies announced a "phase one" trade deal that would nearly double U.S. exports to China. However, growth in infrastructure and the property sector, both key growth drivers, remained lacklustre in November, underlining key challenges for Beijing in its efforts to stabilise economic performance next year.
