- PoliticsYahoo News
GOP claim that Trump cares about corruption takes a hit at impeachment hearing
In his questioning of David Hale, undersecretary of state for political affairs, Ratcliffe reprised a now familiar defense of the president, that putting a hold on military aid to Ukraine was done out of concern about corruption in the country. The reasons for the hold in summer 2019, during Ukraine's ongoing war with Russia, were not communicated either publicly or within the diplomatic and national security bureaucracy. Citing other recent instances in which congressionally approved U.S. foreign aid had been withheld without explanation, Ratcliffe asked Hale, “So, having no explanation for why aid is being withheld is not uncommon?
- PoliticsYahoo News
Exclusive: Acting Homeland Security chief Chad Wolf makes unannounced visit to privately funded border wall
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf made an unpublicized visit Wednesday to the site of a privately constructed border wall during his first official trip to the southern border, Yahoo News has confirmed. The stop at the half-mile stretch of crowdfunded steel bollard fencing, which was built without permits this spring on private land in Sunland Park, N.M., was not mentioned in a media advisory sent by the DHS press office ahead of Wolf's trip to El Paso, Texas, where he was slated to “participate in an operational tour of DHS facilities on the southwest border, meet with local DHS leadership, survey new border wall construction, and meet with state, local and community officials.
- NewsThe Telegraph
US woman could be forced to register as a sex offender after appearing topless in front of step-children
An American woman could be forced to register as a sex offender after appearing topless in front of her step-children in her own home. Tilli Buchanan, from Utah, was charged with three counts of misdemeanour lewdness involving a child after appearing topless along with the children's father in their home last year. Ms Buchanan's lawyers are contesting the charge, arguing it is unfair to treat men and women differently for baring her chest.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoMilitary: 2 airmen killed in crash at Oklahoma base during training
Two airmen were killed Thursday in an accident involving two jets during the landing phase of a training exercise at a U.S. Air Force base in northwestern Oklahoma, a military official said.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY Opinion
Cory Booker is right: Joe Biden must be 'high' to oppose legalizing marijuana
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) smoked former Vice President Joe Biden over marijuana legalization during Wednesday's Democratic presidential debate, and that was great. Biden snapped back at Booker to stake his progressive credentials, saying he's OK letting out of jail anyone with a marijuana conviction and expunging their criminal records.
- BusinessReuters
Pot stocks soar as U.S. House committee clears bill on federal weed legalization
Shares of marijuana companies rose on Thursday after a U.S. congressional committee passed a legislation to decriminalize cannabis, taking it a step closer to being approved by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. The bill, which was passed 24 to 10 in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, sent shares of Canopy Growth , Aurora Cannabis , Aphria Inc and Tilray Inc up between 8% and 15%. "We think federal legalization would be a big positive for investor sentiment surrounding cannabis equities, which have been battered by oversupply and a steep price decline for the underlying commodity since becoming legal in Canada," said Garrett Nelso...
- NewsNational Review
California Supreme Court Rejects Catholic Group’s Challenge to Rule Deeming Voluntary Abortions ‘Medically Necessary’
California's Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a Catholic women's organization's challenge to state health regulators' designation of voluntary abortions as “medically necessary” procedures that must be covered by state health care service plans. The California Department of Managed Health Care in 2014 sent letters to seven health care service plans directing them not to limit or exclude coverage for abortions, including those abortions that are not required to save the life of the mother. Since then, the Missionary Guadalupanas of the Holy Spirit have sought legal remedies to the rule, arguing that California flouted the Administrative Procedures Act by neglecting to give the rule a public hearing and comment period.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
20 of the Most Beautiful Bridges in the World
Designed by world-renowned architects such as Zaha Hadid and Santiago Calatrava, these bridges are travel destinations in their own right Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- HealthThe Independent
Ohio abortion law would require doctors to attempt impossible procedure of re-implanting ectopic pregnancies in uterus
Anti-abortion politicians in Ohio want doctors to attempt to re-implant ectopic pregnancies – a procedure derided by one doctor as “pure science fiction”. Members of the state's Republican Party proposed a law this month that would force physicians to attempt an operation for which experts say technology does not currently exist. An ectopic pregnancy is one in which a fertilised egg implants somewhere other than a woman's uterus, which in most cases ends up being inside a fallopian tube.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Sondland pressed on why Trump has blocked witnesses: 'I wish I could answer'
During his testimony Wednesday before the House Intelligence Committee, Gordon Sondland was pressed on why so many members of the Trump administration, including the president himself, were refusing to testify in the impeachment inquiry. I wish I could answer,” responded Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union. His remark came at the end of an exchange with Rep. Denny Heck, D-Wash.
- NewsAssociated Press
Mayor of St. Louis suburb charged in election fraud case
The 81-year-old mayor of a St. Louis suburb was charged Thursday with submitting fraudulent absentee voter applications in what prosecutors say was an effort to illegally influence the city's municipal elections. Berkeley Mayor Theodore Hoskins is charged with four counts of committing an election offense and one forgery count. The charges were filed by Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, who was assigned to the case as special prosecutor at the request of St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest.
- NewsCBS News
Nearly ¾ of transgender people slain since 2017 killed with guns
Nearly three-fourths of transgender and gender non-conforming Americans slain in the last three years were killed with a firearm, according to data published this month by the gun violence prevention advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety. The data sheds grim new light on the role of guns in what's been called an epidemic of violence against transgender Americans, as advocates honor the victims with nationwide vigils Wednesday during the Transgender Day of Remembrance. The data is available for the first time publicly via EveryStat for Gun Safety, the group's database detailing gun deaths in America.
- WorldThe National Interest
Meet America's New 'Assault Ship' Armed with F-35s (And Much More)
Washington, D.C.) Firing deck-mounted guns, intercepting enemy cruise missiles, launching F-35B Joint Strike Fighters and using Osprey tiltrotor aircraft to attack behind enemy lines -- are all mission possibilities envisioned for the Navy's fast-progressing second big-deck America-class amphibious assault ship, the future USS Tripoli (LHA 7). The new ship just completed its acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico, a series of exercises intended to prepare the amphib for deployment by assessing its propulsion, communication, navigation, weapons systems and aviation platforms, a Navy statement said.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Biden, in Democratic debate, says you have to 'keep punching' to address domestic violence
Vice President Joe Biden was asked Wednesday night how he would address sexual violence. “So we have to just change the culture, period,” Biden said. Biden was one of 10 Democratic candidates to take the stage in Atlanta to debate a range of topics that included, health care, violence, impeachment and defeating President Trump.
WorldAFPNinth family member dies after Israeli strike: ministry
A Palestinian wounded in an Israeli strike that killed eight members of his family has died, the health ministry in the Hamas-run strip said on Friday. Mohammed Abu Malhous al-Sawarka, 40, succumbed after being wounded in "the massacre in which eight members of a family died when they were targeted in their homes," ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement. It said he was the brother of Rasmi Abu Malhous who was killed when his home was hit by an air strike on November 14.
- PoliticsReuters
Justice Department watchdog to release report on Russia probe December 9
The U.S. Justice Department's internal watchdog said he expects to be able to release on Dec. 9 a long-awaited report on the origins of investigations into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In a letter sent on Thursday to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said he expected his office to be able to release the report on Dec. 9 "barring unforeseen circumstances." Supporters of President Donald Trump have claimed the report will raise questions about the legitimacy of FBI investigations into alleged links to Russia by Trump and some of his campaign advisers.
- BusinessBloomberg
Obama Warns Technology Has Created a More Splintered World
Former U.S. President Barack Obama warned that technology is creating a more splintered world, fueling the disparities among wealthy and poorer nations, and people within countries. The rise of extreme inequality both within nations and between nations that is being turbocharged by globalization and technology” is one of the biggest risks for young people, Obama said Thursday at Salesforce.com Inc. s annual Dreamforce conference in San Francisco.
- NewsMiami Herald
Smugglers cut a truck-sized hole to drive 16 through US-Mexico border wall, feds say
Sixteen people were arrested Wednesday in what federal officials described as a “brazen” smuggling attempt that involved cutting a section of the border wall in Southern California. A white Dodge utility truck drove across the United States-Mexico border around 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday after human smugglers cut a hole in the “old landing mat border wall” near Campo, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said in a news release on Thursday. Then, around 4 p.m., agents spotted a man with a truck that matched that description using bolt cutters to cut a lock on a local's private gate, according to federal officials.
- NewsNational Review
Trump Admin Warns Sanctuary States against Barring ICE Courthouse Arrests in Letter
State supreme courts in Washington and Oregon received a letter from Attorney General William Barr and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on Friday warning them to reconsider “dangerous and unlawful” directives that prohibit immigration officials from detaining illegal immigrants in and around state courthouses. Last week, Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Walters banned ICE from courthouse arrests “to maintain the integrity of our courts and provide access to justice,” unless the agency has a criminal judicial warrant. Washington is considering adopting a similar measure.
- ScienceAssociated Press
Spacewalking astronauts slice into cosmic ray detector
Spacewalking astronauts ventured out Friday for the second week in a row to repair a cosmic ray detector, this time actually cutting into the $2 billion instrument. The International Space Station's Luca Parmitano sliced through eight stainless steel tubes, using hardware store-type bolt cutters. Parmitano had to sever the tubes in a specific order and notified Mission Control each time before cutting.
- NewsReuters
Former Boston College student charged over boyfriend's suicide pleads not guilty
A former Boston College student pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges of involuntary manslaughter stemming from what prosecutors said was her role in encouraging her boyfriend to commit suicide. A lawyer for Inyoung You, 21, entered the plea on her behalf during a hearing in Suffolk County Superior Court after she returned from South Korea to face charges brought last month over the May 20 suicide of her college boyfriend, who leaped to his death from a parking garage hours before his graduation. "These text messages demonstrate the power dynamic of the relationship," Assistant District Attorney Caitlin Grasso said in court.
- WorldThe National Interest
Why Did Russia Launch 8 Submarines All at Once?
The eight submarines, including six nuclear-powered ships, sailed from their bases in northern Russia into the cold waters of the Barents and Norwegian Seas. At the same time, an additional two boats -- the nuclear-powered Sierra-class attack submarines Pskov and Nizhny Novgorod -- sailed into roughly the same waters for tests and training. The 10 vessels represent around 20 percent of the Russian submarine force.
- WorldUSA TODAY
Arrest made at Syracuse, chancellor bows to student demands as racist hate incidents continue
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse Police Department has made an arrest after a series of new graffiti markings were discovered on school grounds, authorities said Thursday. The announcement came hours after Syracuse Chancellor Ken Syverud agreed to the demands of students protesting the university's handling of a two-week run of almost daily racist, anti-Semitic incidents that have prompted tension on the campus 250 miles north of New York City. Kym McGowan, 18, was arrested on charges of fourth-degree criminal mischief and marking graffiti, both misdemeanors, police said.
WorldAFPPutin honours 'hero' pilots for Russian corn field landing
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday bestowed the country's top state honour on two pilots who safely landed a plane carrying more than 230 people in a corn field after a bird strike. At a ceremony in the Kremlin, Putin handed pilot Damir Yusupov and co-pilot Georgy Murzin the Hero of Russia awards, praising the crew's courage and professionalism. "They were able to land the plane literally in an empty field and saved dozens of lives," Putin said.
- CelebrityThe Daily Beast
Meghan McCain Snaps at Sunny Hostin: ‘Take Your Cheap Applause Line!’
Things are just going swimmingly on The View. Following a week's worth of dramatic impeachment hearings, conservative co-host Meghan McCain lashed out at her View colleagues on Friday over Republican belief that President Trump did not commit an impeachable offense—specifically getting into a heated, personal clash with co-host Sunny Hostin. After McCain pointed out that retiring Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) said that he has not heard evidence proving Trump committed bribery or extortion, liberal co-host and frequent sparring partner Joy Behar wondered aloud whether Hurd was “deaf” since “we all heard it.
What to Read Next
PHOTOS: 10 bronze statues of inspirational women in NYC by Statues for Equality"
Yahoo News Photo Staff