WorldReutersNorth Korea condemns U.S. sanctions, warns denuclearization at risk
North Korea on Sunday condemned the U.S. administration for stepping up sanctions and pressure on the nuclear-armed country, warning of a return to "exchanges of fire" and that disarming Pyongyang could be blocked forever. The North's stinging response came after the United States said on Monday it had introduced sanctions on three North Korean officials, including a top aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, for alleged human rights abuses. Denuclearizing North Korea has made little progress since Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump met in Singapore in June in a historic summit.
WorldAFPStrasbourg attack victims honoured
Several hundred people gathered in Strasbourg Sunday to honour the victims of an attack on the city's popular Christmas market that left four dead. The ceremony, organised by local rights associations with the approval of the city authorities, included music, singing and several readings. Earlier Sunday, police in the eastern French city, which is home to the European Parliament, released two close associates of the attacker, Cherif Chekatt who was on a French list of possible extremist security risks.
- PoliticsHuffPost
Obamacare Will 'Likely' Survive Judge's Ruling, Obama Tweets
Barack Obama reminded people that Saturday was the last day to sign up for Obamacare, and declared that a Texas federal judge’s ruling striking down the law making the insurance possible will “likely” not prevail. Saturday is “the deadline to make sure you and the people you love have health insurance in 2019. So head over the HealthCare.gov to get covered!
- PoliticsBloomberg
Top Democrat Schiff Adds Call for Probe of Trump, Deutsche Bank Links
The incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee joined Democratic colleagues in questioning ties between Deutsche Bank AG and President Donald Trump’s real estate business. Representative Adam Schiff of California said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday that any type of compromise needs to be investigated. That could add his panel’s scrutiny to that of Representative Maxine Waters, who’s in line to be chair of the House Financial Services Committee and has also focused on the bank’s connections to Trump.
- NewsHuffPost
Dogs Thrown From Vehicle On New York Highway, Police Say
Two beagle mixes are recovering after authorities said they were tossed from a moving vehicle onto a New York highway, igniting a search for the culprits. The truck driver, whom police identified only as Adam, said he immediately hit the brakes and parked his vehicle on the side of the road to help. A passing state trooper assisted after spotting the trucker’s abandoned vehicle and then the two dogs, one of which was described as seriously injured. The dogs, since named Adam and Trooper after their heroes, were taken to the Broome County Humane Society in Binghamton for treatment.
- NewsThe Telegraph
Family of dead migrant girl says she was healthy before being detained at US border
The family of a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl who died in US Border Patrol custody is disputing an account from American officials who said she had not been given food or water for days. In a statement released by lawyers, the parents of Jakelin Caal said the girl had been given food and water and appeared to be in good health as she travelled through Mexico with her father, 29-year-old Nery Gilberto Caal Cuz. Border Patrol officials did not immediately respond to the family's comments.
WorldAssociated PressStrike, lockdown shut Kashmir amid anger over killings
A security clampdown and a strike sponsored by separatists fighting against Indian rule shut most of Indian-administered Kashmir on Sunday, a day after chaotic protests and fighting killed seven civilians and four combatants in the disputed region. At least seven civilians were killed and over three dozen injured Saturday when government forces fired at anti-India protesters following a gunbattle that left three rebels and a soldier dead. Residents accused troops of directly spraying gunfire into the crowds and killing at least two civilians, including a teenage student, away from the site of battle.
- WorldUSA TODAY
‘One of a kind’ royal tomb is 4,400 years old, Egypt says
Egyptian officials said they have discovered a 4,400-year-old tomb linked to the fifth dynasty of pharoahs. According to Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities, the tomb — located at a site west of Cairo in Saqqara — belonged to a senior official of the pharoahs, reports The Associated Press. Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani tells CNN the tomb belonged to a royal purification priest named Wahtye.
- NewsAccuWeather
East Coast storm to strike during peak of Christmas travel; Northwest to stay stormy
Storms with the greatest potential to disrupt travel will focus on the East and the Northwest in the days leading up to Christmas. Some of the best weather-related travel conditions are likely over the Southwest and over portions of the Plains through Christmas. The combination of commuter traffic around the major cities and the beginnings of holiday travel are likely to make Thursday, Dec. 20, the worst day to travel for the Christmas holiday this year, not including weather-related issues, according to the American Automobile Association.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Possible 2020 candidate Beto O’Rourke meets with young refugees at US-Mexico border
Mr O’Rourke spoke with reporters outside of the detention centre on Saturday afternoon, bringing attention to the fact many of the young refugees had taken arduous journeys to arrive at the nation’s border — to wind up being housed in a facility separately from their families for months on end. When we attempted to speak with these children and ask how they’re doing — I was able to ask them the countries from which they came, I heard Guatemala and Honduras — ask about the conditions, they kind of nodded their heads, ‘it’s okay,’” the congressman said. But what are they going to say when everyone around them is watching?
PoliticsFOX News VideosHilton: Trump’s record is head and shoulders above the rest
Trump haters say that the president pulling out of the Paris climate deal is definitive proof that he’s destroying the world.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
Every Photo from Our Drive of the Audi e-tron GT Concept
Developed alongside the Porsche Taycan, Audi's sleek electric coupe is still a long way from reality. From Car and Driver
WorldAFPIraq lays cornerstone to rebuild iconic Mosul mosque
Iraqis on Sunday laid the cornerstone in rebuilding Mosul's Al-Nuri mosque and leaning minaret, national emblems destroyed last year in the ferocious battle against the Islamic State group. The famed 12th century mosque and minaret, dubbed Al-Hadba or "the hunchback," hosted Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's only public appearance as IS chief, when he declared a self-styled "caliphate" after the jihadists swept into Mosul in 2014. The structures were ravaged three years later in the final, most brutal stages of the months-long fight to rid Iraq's second city of IS.
WorldReutersMore than 40 injured in explosion in Japan's Sapporo: Kyodo
More than 40 people were injured in an explosion on Sunday at a bar in Sapporo in northern Japan, Kyodo news agency reported. Kyodo said one person was in critical condition. Eyewitnesses reported smelling gas in the area following the explosion, which Kyodo said happened at 8.30 p.m. (1130 GMT).
- NewsThe Telegraph
Family complains that Catholic priest used teen's funeral to condemn suicide
The parents of a teenage boy who took his own life have condemned a Catholic priest who questioned whether their son would get to heaven while presiding over his funeral. The Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit expressed regret for the comments and said the Rev Don LaCuesta would not preach at funerals "for the foreseeable future". "We wanted him to celebrate how Maison lived, not how he died," his mother, Linda Hullibarger, told The Detroit Free Press.
WorldAssociated PressBomb kills 8 in Syrian town held by Turkey-backed forces
A bomb blast in a northwestern Syrian town held by Turkish-backed opposition forces killed at least eight people and wounded two dozen Sunday, activists and local security said, the latest in a series of attacks along the border where Turkey has troops. The spike in attacks follows Turkish threats to expand its offensive against U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces, moving from the areas it currently controls in northwestern Syria to the east, where U.S troops are also based. The U.S-led coalition against the Islamic State group backs the Syrian Kurdish fighters who have gained control of nearly 30 percent of Syrian territory, mostly in eastern Syria, after chasing out IS militants from the area.
- BusinessU.S.News & World Report
How to Remove a Closed Account From Your Credit Report
You might think closing a credit card or other account might remove it from your credit report automatically. But while closing an account prevents you from using it, that doesn't mean it disappears from your credit history. Credit reports include information for both open and closed accounts.
- BusinessTime
Google Is Spending $1 Billion on a Massive New York City Expansion
Google is spending more than $1 billion to expand operations in New York City. Ruth Porat, senior vice president and chief financial officer at Google and Alphabet, said in a blog post Monday that Google is creating a more than 1.7 million square-foot campus that includes lease agreements along the Hudson River in lower Manhattan. Google Hudson Square will be the company’s primary location for its New York operations.
PoliticsAFPLawyer says Mueller can interview Trump only 'over my dead body'
A lawyer for Donald Trump Sunday pushed back Sunday against reports that the special counsel investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election might be seeking to interview the president, saying it would happen only "over my dead body." Rudy Giuliani said special counsel Robert Mueller and his team of prosecutors could not be trusted to deal fairly with the president, suggesting they had trapped another witness into committing perjury. Asked on "Fox News Sunday" about reports Mueller now wants a face-to-face interview to follow up on Trump's submission of written answers, Giuliani shot back: "Good luck.
- NewsAccuWeather
Snow, rain and wind in late-week storm to impact holiday travel in eastern US
As students embark on winter break, last-minute shoppers head to the stores and holiday travel ramps up across the country later this week, a major storm could lead to widespread travel headaches in the eastern U.S. The potential exists for a storm system to track from the Gulf Coast through the Northeast at the end of the week, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Maura Kelly. This storm is expected to soak the southeastern U.S. Thursday into Friday before heading northward, bringing rounds of heavy rain to the Northeast and some wintry weather to the Midwest late this week and into the weekend.
- BusinessThe National Interest
Introducing the Army's New Lethal Sniper Rifle
Task and Purpose, Jared Keller Security, Here's all we know. Despite a brief period of ambiguity wrought by budget-jousting among lawmakers in Congress, the Army’s new and improved sniper rifle is alive and well. Heckler & Koch showed off its M110A1 7.62mm semi-automatic sniper rifle, selected for the Army’s Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System (CSASS) program on the floor of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference and exposition in Washington this week, a first up-close-and-personal look at the lightweight rifle.
BusinessUSA TODAYAsk the Captain: Do planes have quirks like cars?
Question: Owners of cars, trucks and motorcycles, especially older models, learn the quirks of their vehicles and how to safely compensate for them while driving. Are modern commercial aircraft maintained so precisely that individual airplanes of the same model do not have unique mechanical or electrical quirks that pilots notice in flight? Answer: Pilots fly many different airplanes of the same model within a fleet.
- WorldReuters
Any decision on Brexit deal will happen in New Year - British trade minister
British trade minister Liam Fox said on Sunday talks with the European Union to secure "assurances" for parliament on Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal will take time, with a decision expected in the New Year. quot;The prime minister is giving an update tomorrow, she will be talking to the cabinet on Tuesday, it is very clear that the EU understand what the problem is. And it's a question now, without unpicking the whole of the withdrawal agreement, can we find a mechanism of operating the backstop in a way that actually removes those anxieties," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr show.
- PoliticsThe Telegraph
Joe Biden tops key 2020 poll as he mulls whether he is too old to run for president
Joe Biden, Barack Obama’s vice-president, has emerged as an early frontrunner among Democrats vying for the 2020 presidential nomination with a dominant lead among voters in Iowa, who will be the first to state their preference next year. A new CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll finds 32 per cent of likely caucusgoers saying they back Mr Biden as their first choice, ahead of 19 per cent for Bernie Sanders and 11 per cent for Beto O'Rourke, the telegenic campaigner who came close to an against-the-odds win in Texas last month. “It’s early days and a lot can change but it could be a way to get past the age issue with Joe,” said a Democratic strategist who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of endorsing a candidate.
NewsAssociated PressChild's death highlights communication barriers on border
Shortly before a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl died in U.S. custody, her father signed a form stating that his daughter was in good health. But it's unclear how much the man understood on the form, which was written in English and read to him in Spanish by Border Patrol agents. The death of Jakelin Caal highlights the communication challenges along the U.S.-Mexico border as agents come in contact with an increasing number of migrants who speak neither English nor Spanish.
