- PoliticsYahoo News
Biden shows his tough side in Iowa and in attack ad: 'You're a dаmn liar'
Joe Biden came out swinging on the campaign trail this week, calling out a hostile questioner as a “damn liar” and rolling out a campaign ad meant to hit Donald Trump where it hurts him most — his ego. After enduring criticism about his measured response to Republican charges that he was implicated in a corrupt scheme to promote his son Hunter's business interests in Ukraine, Biden confronted a voter in Iowa who parroted that claim. “You're a damn liar, man,” Biden snapped at an attendee at a rally in New Hampton who accused him of landing his son a seat on the board of the energy company Burisma Holdings to profit from his position in the Obama administration.
- NewsAssociated Press
Police chief firing puts spotlight on cops who let him go
For officers, pulling over a fellow cop can be an awkward dilemma, one that's magnified when it's the head of one of the nation's largest police departments. It's a worst-nightmare situation for a police officer to encounter their superior or chief who has been drinking,” said Philip Stinson, a criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. They're damned if they do, and they're damned if they don't in terms of how they respond or act.
- NewsThe Daily Beast
St. Louis Woman Looked Up ‘What to Do if Your Husband Is Upset You Are Pregnant’ Before Her Murder: Warrants
Before she went missing last month, a St. Louis woman looked up “what to do if you husband is upset you are pregnant” on her phone, according to search warrants. Beau Rothwell, 28, reported the disappearance of his six-weeks-pregnant wife, Jennifer Rothwell, on Nov. 12, after she failed to show up for work at a chemical engineering firm. Two days later, authorities charged him with second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence in connection with his 28-year-old wife's slaying.
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.
- BusinessThe National Interest
The U.S. Navy Will Need a New Stealth '6th-Generation' Fighter After the F-35
The U.S. Navy will need a new “sixth-generation” warplane eventually to follow the F-35C stealth fighter that's just beginning to enter service. The Navy in February 2019 declared its first front-line F-35C squadron “ready for flight.” Strike-Fighter Squadron 147, based in California, in 2021 is slated to embark on the aircraft carrier USS Vinson for the type's first deployment. The fleet aims to integrate a 10-plane F-35C squadron into each of its nine carrier air wings, which embark on the 11 Ford- and Nimitz-class carriers.
- WorldReuters
Turkey's Halkbank will use all rights to halt U.S. Federal Court ruling
Turkey's majority state-owned Halkbank said on Friday that it will use all its legal rights to challenge a U.S. Federal Court ruling that it must enter a formal plea to charges that it helped Iran evade sanctions. Halkbank said it requests the right to defend its position that the U.S. court lacks jurisdiction over claims made against the bank as Halkbank does not have any branch or physical operation in the United States. The bank has so far declined to make a formal appearance in the case.
- 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
Jim Banks Asks Graham to Subpoena Adam Schiff’s Call Records in Letter
Representative Jim Banks (R., Ind.) sent a letter to Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) on Wednesday asking the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman to subpoena the call records of House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), a day after Democrats revealed they subpoenaed AT&T phone records showing contact between Representative Devin Nunes (R., Calif.) and Lev Parnas. Banks also called for the phone records of Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and the whistleblower's lawyer Mark Zaid, in order to determine the extent of communication between Schiff and potential Republican impeachment witnesses.
- WorldUSA TODAY
Big delays at US-Mexico border crossings after migrants use car lanes to claim asylum
NOGALES, Sonora – Lane closures, resulting in lengthier wait times to cross into the United States, have returned indefinitely to the ports of entry along the Arizona-Mexico border as asylum-seeking migrants are increasingly attempting to cross through car lanes at the ports. Wait times to cross at one port of entry along the border dividing Arizona and Mexico increased to as much as 11 hours over the weekend, according to some drivers, because the lane closures coincided with Thanksgiving, already a busy time at the border crossings.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Stanford law professor lights up House impeachment hearing
Stanford law professor Pamela Karlan delivered powerful testimony Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee, explaining in simple terms her view that President Trump's conduct warranted his impeachment. As she began her testimony, Karlan, who was called by Democrats to testify with Harvard law professor Noah Feldman and University of North Carolina law professor Michael Gerhardt, rebuked Republican ranking member Rep. Doug Collins, who asserted that those who had not reviewed the testimony of prior witnesses had no business testify about it.
- NewsAssociated Press
Tennessee high court rules against paper in defamation case
The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a newspaper cannot use the state's fair report privilege law as a shield against a defamation lawsuit for a story that was based on a one-on-one interview with a police detective. The case concerns Jeffery Burke, who was accused in 2013 of stealing money from a White County football team's cookie dough fundraiser. The original trial court judge found that the story fell under Tennessee's fair report privilege, a law that shields reporters from defamation suits when they report fairly and accurately on an official action or proceeding, even if that information turns out to be inaccurate.
- WorldBusiness Insider
Lamborghinis, baby lions, and stacks of cash: The Russian hackers in charge of 'Evil Corp' are living an absurdly lavish lifestyle
The Russian hacking group Evil Corp is being sought by various international governments, suspected of a wide range of illegal activities. The UK's National Crime Agency said the group's leader, Maksim "Aqua" Yakubets, was charged in connection with "two separate international computer hacking and bank fraud schemes" across the past 10 years that allowed his hacking group to steal millions of dollars. Photos released of the group's lavish lifestyle offer a look at how they spend the millions they're accused of stealing, from exotic animals to custom Lamborghinis.
- BusinessThe Guardian
Why is Michael Bloomberg silencing the press? Because it's his plaything
There is no better demonstration of this farce than the sad fate of Bloomberg News, a global media organization that has the unfortunate distinction of also being a billionaire's plaything. Michael Bloomberg, who is worth more than $50bn, is running for president. A cadre of political consultants who will get rich if he runs have urged him to run, and a potential wealth tax under President Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders would cost him a much greater portion of his fortune than the relatively small sliver he'll spend on his doomed campaign.
- WorldThe National Interest
The Ultimate Counterfactual: What if Japan Never Attacked Pearl Harbor?
Key point: America would not have responded as forcefully if only the Philippines were attacked. How would American history have unfolded? Change a major variable, especially in a fanciful way—for instance, positing that machine-gun-toting Confederates took the field against Ulysses S. Grant's army at the Battle of the Wilderness—and the same fate befalls you.
- 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
- 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
Virginia Commission Calls for Repeal of ‘Explicitly Racist’ and ‘Segregationist’ Laws
A Virginia state commission released a report Thursday calling for the official repeal of “deeply troubling” state laws still on the books that contain “explicitly racist language and segregationist policies. The Commission to Examine Racial Inequity in Virginia Law published a lengthy report saying that the outdated laws should not “remain enshrined in law” despite no longer being in effect. The commission believes that such vestiges of Virginia's segregationist past should no longer have official status,” the report states.
- LifestyleCBS News
World of Weddings: In India, arranged marriages are as strong as ever
In our first report, we take you to India, a country where modern technology is blending with centuries-old marriage traditions. One of the most spectacular shows on Earth, taking place on the outskirts of New Delhi, isn't a music video, or even a Bollywood movie; the high-end production is an Indian wedding celebration. Amidst all the food, fireworks and fanfare, here in India centuries-old traditions, like arranged marriages, remain alive and well.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Pelosi warns reporter: 'Don't mess with me' about 'hate' for Trump
While defending her call to pursue articles of impeachment against President Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi clashed with a reporter who asked if she hates the president. As she was leaving her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill, the reporter, James Rosen of Sinclair television, asked, “Do you hate the president, Madame Speaker? Pelosi stopped, turned and pointed to him.
- WorldAssociated Press
Hong Kong police sound alarm over homemade explosives
Hong Kong's much-maligned police force provided a rare behind-the-scenes look Friday at its bomb disposal squad to show the potentially deadly destructive force of homemade explosives seized during months of protests that have shaken the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. In a demonstration for media cameras, the bomb squad set off a series of controlled explosions in a disused quarry overlooking the city's high-rise skyline, blowing up a watermelon and shredding the front of a minivan. In July, police announced the seizure of about 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of TATP, which has been used in militant attacks worldwide.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Indian rape victim set ablaze by gang of men on her way to court as outrage grows over violence against women
A 23-year-old rape victim is in critical condition after being set on fire by a group of men, including two of her alleged rapists, as she made her way to court in northern India on Thursday. It came after thousands took to the streets of several cities on Monday to protest the brutal rape and murder of a 27-year-old vet in Hyderabad and called for the rape cases to be fast-tracked and for rapists to be given tougher punishments. A June 2018 survey of 550 experts on women's issues by the Thomson Reuters Foundation found India was the worst country in the world for sexual violence against women.
- NewsBusiness Insider
Tesla refused to help the police with an investigation into stolen copper wire after Elon Musk learned about the incident because the company was scared of bad press
Tesla declined to help local authorities with an investigation into stolen copper wire at its factory in Sparks, Nevada, out of fear that it could make the electric-car maker look bad, the Reno Gazette Journal's Benjamin Spillman reported, citing a police report from June 2018. Tesla security employees reportedly told the Storey County Sheriff's Department that the contractor who first alerted authorities about the stolen copper wire was fired after making the report. Tesla declined to assist authorities on other occasions amid reports of "rampant crime" in 2018, according to the Reno Gazette Journal's report.
- WorldThe National Interest
Missile Shield: Romania Now Has America's Aegis Ashore
Key point: Washington has wanted to expand NATO's anti-missile capabilities for a while now. A key NATO missile-defense site in Romania on Aug. 9, 2019 completed a three-month upgrade process that had forced operators to take the system offline. To fill the resulting gap in coverage, the U.S. Army in May 2019 deployed to Romania one of its seven Terminal High-Altitude Area-Defense missile-interceptor batteries.
- 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.
- BusinessReuters
World Bank adopts $1 bln-plus annual China lending plan over U.S. objections
The World Bank said its board on Thursday adopted a new plan to aid China with $1 billion to $1.5 billion in low-interest loans annually through June 2025, despite the objections of U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and several U.S. lawmakers. Mnuchin told a House Financial Services Committee hearing that the Treasury's representative on the board had objected on to the plan on Wednesday, adding he wants the World Bank to "graduate" China from its concessional loan programs for low- and middle-income countries. The five-year lending strategy plan was published http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/902781575573489712/pdf/China-Country-Partnership-Framework-for-the-Period-FY2020-2025.pdf on Thursday afternoon after the World Bank's board "expressed broad support" for the multilateral development lender's engagement in China's structural and environmental reforms.
