Grandstanding fears as Norwegian mass killer seeks parole

Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik goes to court, Tuesday, after 10 years behind bars, claiming he is no longer a danger to society and attempting to get an early release from his 21-year sentence. The far right terrorist has shown no remorse since slaying 77 people in a bomb and gun massacre in 2011, and families of victims and survivors fear he will grandstand his extreme views during the hearing, which experts say is unlikely to deliver him an early release. Randi Rosenqvist, the psychiatrist who has followed up Breivik since his 2012 jailing, says “I can say that I do not detect great changes in Breivik's functioning,” since his criminal trial when he bragged about the scale of his slaughter, or his 2016 human rights case, when he raised his hand in a Nazi salute.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says he's 'disgusted' with 2 banks he claims are cutting ties with him over 'cancel culture' after his phone records were subpoenaed by the January 6 committee

Mike Lindell claims two of his financial backers want him to "leave their bank." Mike Lindell, the founder and CEO of MyPillow, told Insider on Friday that he's been told by two financial institutions to "leave their bank." Lindell said Minnesota Bank & Trust and Heartland Financial USA told him they no longer wanted to do business with him.

Trump’s Arizona Speech Proves His Shock Comic Act Has Jumped the Shark

There was a time when Donald Trump made news with his rallies—when he said things that utterly shocked us. Who could forget the firestorm he started, for example, when he went after Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players who knelt during the national anthem in 2017, or earlier that year when he called Barack Obama “the founder of ISIS”? Trump's performance in Arizona on Saturday night—his first rally in months and his much-hyped chance to respond to the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot—was neither shocking nor terribly newsworthy.

Tokyo region governors to seek further measures to counter COVID-19 surge

The governors of Tokyo and surrounding prefectures agreed on Monday to request further measures from the central government, including shorter opening hours for bars and restaurants, to help counter rising COVID-19 infections. The highly infectious Omicron variant is driving a resurgence in coronavirus cases, which are hovering near record levels, after new infections exceeded 25,000 nationwide in the past two days. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told an online meeting of governors that the occupancy rate of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients was estimated to have reached 20% on Monday, a key threshold for requesting additional steps.

Dramatic footage of tsunami hitting the Pacific island of Tonga after a giant underwater volcano erupted

An underwater volcanic eruption has led to tsunami warnings being issued to the people of Tonga. Tonga's capital, Nukuʻalofa, lies 40 miles north of the volcano. The Pacific nation of Tonga has issued a tsunami warning after a massive undersea volcanic eruption.

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  Tsunami observed in Samoa as Tonga volcano erupts

  Reuters Videos
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  Significant tsunami damage feared in Tonga, communications still cut

  Reuters

Treasure hunter strikes gold with discovery of 700-year-old Henry III coin

A detectorist has uncovered just the eighth known example of England's “first gold coinage”, with the piece expected to sell at auction for nearly half a million pounds. The Henry III coin, minted in 1257, owes its value both to its rarity and the unique portrait of the monarch on its obverse side. The coin carries a pre-sale estimate of £400,000 but past examples have sold for more than £500,000.

Surveillance footage shows a woman left distraught after police officer shot her dog 6 times while responding to a 'barking complaint'

A video shows a Florida police officer fatally shooting a dog while responding to a barking complaint. Miami-Dade police said the investigation is active and open, and the dog owners have retained an attorney. A Florida police officer fired a gun six times at a family's dog and killed him while responding to a barking complaint, said NBC 6 South Florida.

The Trump Org Stiffed a Hotel. His Kids May Pay the Price.

When at least 13 people didn't show up, the Trump Organization refused to pay the bill, something it has done many times in the past. The company then dodged a credit collection agency and eventually squirmed out of it by pushing the $49,358 bill off to the nonprofit presidential inaugural committee, the PIC. That dodged payment is now the crux of the attorney general for the District of Columbia's latest effort to put the Trump Organization back in its crosshairs in an ongoing investigation into how the Trump kids used the Presidential Inauguration Committee to throw lavish parties of their own.

Typhoons, wildfires, missiles: Teen flies solo round world

As teenage pilot Zara Rutherford flew ever onward in a record-challenging global odyssey, she met little as strange or scary as when she tried to squeeze in between North Korean airspace and a massive cloud threatening to cut off passage for her ultralight plane. “Well, they test missiles once in a while without warning,” Rutherford said. “Straight away they said: 'Whatever you do, do not go into North Korean airspace!'” Fortunately the clouds cooperated enough and she didn't have to continue the crash course in applied geopolitics.

Americans reinvented MLK after his assassination. Let’s remember what he really stood for

Each year, we publish this 2018 editorial from the Charlotte Observer. Its message is as relevant as ever: Martin Luther King Jr. was not a well-liked man. He was one of the most polarizing figures in the United States during his final few years of life.

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  Omicron Surge Forces Martin Luther King Day Cancellations

  CBS-Sanfrancisco
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  8 Ways To Be Of Service During MLK Weekend

  Madame Noire

'Corrupt' FBI should be 'eliminated' for statement on Texas synagogue hostage taker: Critics

The FBI is facing backlash on social media after an official said that the Texas synagogue hostage taker's demands were "not specifically related to the Jewish community." "The FBI is now an organization solely focused on destroying the domestic enemies of the Democratic Party," conservative talk radio show Jesse Kelly tweeted Sunday morning. Kelly's tweet came in response to the Associated Press reporting that FBI officials said "the Texas synagogue hostage taker's demands were specifically focused on issues not connected to the Jewish community."

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  Texas synagogue captor identified

  Yahoo News Video
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  Hostages freed after Texas synagogue standoff; captor dead

  Yahoo News Video

Expect more worrisome variants after omicron, scientists say

Scientists warn that omicron's whirlwind advance practically ensures it won't be the last version of the coronavirus to worry the world. Every infection provides a chance for the virus to mutate, and omicron has an edge over its predecessors: It spreads way faster despite emerging on a planet with a stronger patchwork of immunity from vaccines and prior illness. Experts don't know what the next variants will look like or how they might shape the pandemic, but they say there's no guarantee the sequels of omicron will cause milder illness or that existing vaccines will work against them.

'Superload' Lumbers Across Pennsylvania, Two Lanes Wide and as Heavy as Two Whales

It is called a superload, and for good reason: The highway behemoth is longer than five firetrucks and weighs as much as two blue whales. This week and next week, the mammoth tractor-trailer, hauling a tank from a decommissioned nuclear training site, will lumber across Pennsylvania on a 400-mile route that would test the skills of even the most seasoned trucker. As it rolls across the state on what is expected to be a nine-day journey, the rig with several flatbeds and escort vehicles must cross 16 counties, navigating exit ramps, country roads, two-lane highways, unusual traffic patterns and a potential snowstorm.

A radio station fired two announcers who got caught calling high school girls playing basketball 'extremely overweight' on a hot mic

Two sports announcers were fired on earlier this week after disparaging high school girls. Jim Carter and Steve Shaw criticized girls on two basketball teams for their weight. A Maine radio station based fired two sports announcers for body-shaming high school girls during a livestream of their basketball game.

UAE regulator investigating aborted Emirates take-off at Dubai airport

The United Arab Emirates' civil aviation regulator has opened an investigation into an aborted take-off by an Emirates airline passenger jet this month at Dubai airport, the carrier said on Saturday. It is the second inquiry launched into the airline in less than a month, after another passenger jet in December did not immediately increase its ascent after take-off. An Emirates spokesperson said that safety is its top priority and there was no aircraft damage or any injuries as a result of the aborted take off from Dubai on Jan. 9.

Trump Is Reportedly Very Nervous About 1 Potential 2024 Republican Rival

Donald Trump is reportedly growing annoyed with one potential 2024 rival for the Republican presidential nomination: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “He says DeSantis has no personal charisma and has a dull personality,” one unnamed source told Axios. While several potential 2024 Republican candidates have publicly said they won't seek the nomination if Trump runs for a third time, DeSantis isn't one of them.

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  Trump has been talking trash about Ron DeSantis in private, saying the Florida gov. has a 'dull personality' and is ungrateful: report

  INSIDER
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  Trump slams “dull” DeSantis ahead of potential 2024 matchup

  Axios

Letter: Pro-gun Fayetteville reader asks if a windshield wiper is a deadly threat

I've read the current reporting regarding Jason Walker and Lt. (Jeffrey) Hash and as much detail as has been released in The Fayetteville Observer. As a gun enthusiast and a CCW permit holder who has voluntarily undergone almost 200 hours of self-paid training, I have one question. Walker was beating on a windshield with a wiper.

Trailblazing Arab lawmaker shakes up Israeli politics

Mansour Abbas broke a longstanding taboo when he led his Arab party into Israel's governing coalition last year. Abbas, a once obscure politician, is the linchpin of the shaky union, securing hefty budgets and favorable policies for his constituents and even winning an audience with the king of Jordan. “We are equal partners the whole way, part of the coalition, for the first time in the state of Israel,” Abbas recently told the Israeli news site Ynet.

South Carolina road sign changed to display racist message, officials say

Police are on a search in South Carolina for the person who tampered with an electronic road sign, changing its text to display a racial slur. The text on the sign, set up in the city of Sumter, was altered to display an offensive command that included the n-word. Sumter has a population of roughly 43,000 with a racial divide of roughly 49% Black and 44% white, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Virginia's new AG Jason Miyares announces major investigations within hours of taking office

Virginia's newly sworn-in Attorney General Jason Miyares announced investigations into the Virginia Parole Board and Loudoun County Public Schools within hours of taking office. In a statement released on Saturday just hours after Miyares and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin were sworn in, Miyares explained why he has launched an investigation into the commonwealth's parole board as well as Loudoun County Public Schools. "One of the reasons Virginians get so fed up with government is the lack of transparency - and that's a big issue here," Miyares wrote.

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  Jason Miyares sworn in as Virginia Attorney General

  WTVR
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  Republican Glenn Youngkin sworn in as Virginia 74th governor

  The Progress-Index

Marcos Jr. wins ruling on eligibility to run in Philippine poll

MANILA (Reuters) -The Philippines' election commission on Monday rejected a complaint seeking to block the presidential bid of the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, ruling prior tax violations while in public office should not derail his run. The petition had sought to cancel the certificate of candidacy of Ferdinand Marcos Jr, accusing him of misrepresenting his eligibility because of the three-decade-old tax conviction and arguing it should mean a lifetime election ban. But judges on the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) said the petition lacked merit.

A 74-year-old woman was exonerated of the rape and murder of her niece after spending 27 years in prison

Joyce Watkins and her boyfriend at the time, Charlie Dunn, had been convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated rape in 1988 after the death of Watkins' 4-year-old niece Brandi, CNN reported. Watkins and Dunn in 1987 picked up Brandi from the home of her great aunt in Kentucky and found her unresponsive a day later. They took her to Nashville Memorial Hospital, where doctors examined her vaginal injuries and head trauma.

Republican Glenn Youngkin takes flurry of executive actions after swearing-in as Virginia’s governor

Virginia's new governor, Republican Glenn Youngkin, pledged to “restore trust in government and to restore power to the people” as he was sworn into office Saturday in Richmond. “No matter who you voted for, I pledge to be your advocate, your voice, your governor,” said Youngkin, a former private-equity executive with the Carlyle Group (CG) and a newcomer to electoral politics who neither welcomed nor disavowed the backing of former president Donald Trump. The incumbent Trump lost the state to Democrat Joe Biden by 10.1 percentage points in November 2020, and Democrats have carried the state in every presidential election dating to President Barack Obama's first campaign.

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  Va.'s new GOP governor pledges to restore trust

  Associated Press Videos
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  Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin pledges to restore trust

  WTVR

Double dealing: Legal, illicit blur in California pot market

But it's been virtually impossible for the grower to turn a profit in a struggling legal industry where wholesale prices for cannabis buds have plunged as much as 70% from a year ago, taxes approach 50% in some areas and customers find far better deals in the thriving underground marketplace. So the company has two identities — one legal, the other illicit. We basically subsidize our white market with our black market,” said the cultivator, who agreed to speak with The Associated Press only on condition of anonymity to avoid possible prosecution.