- PoliticsUSA TODAY
GOP condemnation rises over Rep. Steve King's white supremacy comment; House to vote on rebuke
WASHINGTON – The House was scheduled to vote Tuesday on a formal rebuke of Rep. Steve King, who has received bipartisan condemnation for his comments in which he questioned why phrases like "white supremacist" are offensive. In a rare move, House Democratic leaders are coalescing behind a vote of disapproval put forth by Rep. James Clyburn, the No. House Democrat and an African American, a senior Democratic aide said Monday.
- NewsReuters
LA teachers' strike all but certain as talks stall
More than 30,000 teachers are expected to walk off the job in public schools across Los Angeles early on Monday in the first teachers' strike in the city in 30 years. No formal talks were held over the weekend, dashing hopes of an 11th-hour deal between United Teachers Los Angeles and the nation's second-largest school district. Talks broke down on Friday when union leaders said they were "insulted" by the latest contract offer from district officials.
NewsAssociated PressNo. of no-show airport security screeners soars in shutdown
The number of airport security screeners failing to show up for work is soaring as the partial government shutdown goes into its fourth week. No-shows among screeners jumped Sunday and again Monday, when the Transportation Security Administration reported a national absence rate of 7.6 percent compared with 3.2 percent on a comparable day a year ago. At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest, some passengers waited more than an hour to get through checkpoints.
PoliticsAFPTrump and Russia: what drives the suspicions?
President Donald Trump faced new heat Monday after news reports that he has hid from aides the details of discussions with Vladimir Putin and that the FBI investigated him as a potential national security risk who might be acting on behalf of Russia. Trump has repeatedly stressed that he simply admires strong leaders and is always prepared to work with any of his counterparts. "I never worked for Russia," Trump said vehemently on Monday.
- BusinessPopular Mechanics
2019 Ram Heavy Duty Has 1,000 Lb-Ft of Cummins Torque
Next time some oldtimer tells you the glory days of horsepower and torque were in the past, sock 'em in the teeth with this: The 2019 Ram HD pickup now offers 1000 lb-ft of torque from its optional Cummins diesel engine. The new top-spec 6.7-liter Cummins High Output turbodiesel straight-six churns out 1000 lb-ft at 1800 RPM and 400 horses at 2800 RPM. The heavily-redesigned oil-burner is actually 60 lbs lighter than the previous-gen Cummins engine, with a high-pressure turbo cramming up to 33 lbs of boost into the thing.
- NewsAOL.com
Man accused of killing California police officer left behind cryptic suicide note: police
A man accused of gunning down a 22-year-old California police officer before turning the weapon on himself left behind a bizarre suicide note about "ultra sonic waves," according to authorities. Police say Kevin Douglas Limbaugh, 48, attacked Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona as she was responding to the scene of a three-car accident off Interstate-80 outside of Sacramento on Thursday evening. This 2018 booking photo released by the Yolo County Sheriff's Office shows Kevin Douglas Limbaugh.
U.S.FOX News VideosDemocrats boycott shutdown meeting at the White House, say they will not meet until government is reopened
Ohio Congressman Brad Wenstrup, who attended the meeting, reacts to the democrats actions on 'Your World.
- NewsUSA TODAY
'Is this the best a man can get?' Gillette issues #MeToo challenge to cut toxic behavior
Procter & Gamble's Gillette razor brand is urging men to stand up to "toxic masculinity" in a new ad campaign. Similar to P&G's hit #LikeAGirl campaign, the latest ad puts a new twist on the iconic brand's 'The best a man can get' tagline. In a nearly 2-minute digital spot, the ad depicts several anxious-looking men presumably looking in the mirror and listening to news about bullying, the #MeToo movement and sexual harassment.
- BusinessCar and Driver
The Nissan IMs Concept Is a Gilded Look at Nissan's Future Sedans
With its notchback body and tall ride height, the IMs shares a modern connection to swoopy four-doors like the Audi A7. Nissan calls it an "elevated sports sedan." We might call it a Maxima Cross Country, after the now departed Volvo S60 with the lift kit. It's especially intriguing since the Sentra and Maxima are the next Nissans in line to receive major updates.
- WorldThe National Review
Will May Survive Her Brexit Defeat?
The only meaningful unity that the United Kingdom has seen in the past two years has been opposition to the Brexit deal Prime Minister Theresa May negotiated with the European Union. That agreement, as predicted, suffered a crushing blow in the House of Commons today, voted down by a 432-to-202 margin in what was instantly the worst parliamentary defeat in history. The defeat, as predicted, has prompted Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to propose a vote, expected to be held on Wednesday, of no confidence in the government.
NewsReutersLos Angeles teachers strike, claiming 'existential battle' over schools
More than 30,000 Los Angeles teachers demanding pay raises and smaller classes walked off the job in America's second-largest school system on Monday, marching downtown in the rain after negotiations over a new contract broke down. Students arriving for classes at some 900 campuses across the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) were met by their teachers carrying picket signs in the city's first teachers' strike in three decades. "It's an existential battle for the future of public education," teacher Mike Finn told Reuters outside John Marshall High School in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Los Feliz.
- BusinessThe National Interest
F-22 vs. F-35: Which Stealth Fighter Wins in a Shootout?
TNI Staff Security, The U.S. Air Force's original plan was for the F-22 to be its high-end air superiority fighter while the F-35 was designed to be primarily an air-to-ground strike aircraft, but one which could defend itself. Key point: The answer is that the F-35 cannot match the F-22 as an air superiority fighter—it was never designed as such. Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter—which is built in three versions—recently completed its developmental test phase and is operational with the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
West Virginia: Proposal to give $10M for Trump's border wall
Some lawmakers in drug-ravaged West Virginia want to pitch in millions of dollars for President Donald Trump's wall-building effort along the U.S.-Mexico border. The GOP-led House of Delegates issued a statement Monday that a bill planned by three delegates would divert $10 million from West Virginia's current $186 million budget surplus for wall construction. Trump is seeking $5.7 billion overall to fund construction of a wall along about 235 miles (375 kilometers) of the border, and the federal government has been partially shut down as Trump and Democratic lawmakers are at an impasse over his request.
WorldAFPAmerican citizen killed in Nairobi attack: official
A US citizen was killed Tuesday in an attack by Islamist militants on an upmarket hotel and office complex in Nairobi, a US official said. "We can confirm that a US citizen was killed in the attack. An AFP photographer in Nairobi saw the bodies of five victims and a police source said he had seen as many as 14 dead.
- NewsThe Independent
Jayme Closs: Suspect Jake Patterson decided to kidnap girl when he spotted her get on school bus, court papers say
The man suspected of kidnapping Jayme Closs and killing her parents in their Wisconsin home allegedly decided to take the 13-year-old after spotting her getting onto a school bus one day, accordng to a criminal complaint filed in court. Jake Thomas Patterson, 21, will be formally charged with two counts of murder and one count of kidnapping before his afternoon hearing in Barron County Circuit Court, according to prosecutors. A criminal complaint alleges Mr Patterson told investigators that, on his drive to a job at a cheese factor in Almena, Wisconsin, he spotted Jayme get on the school bus one day and came up with the idea to abduct her.
- BusinessU.S.News & World Report
Considerations Before Maxing Out Your 401(k)
You probably already know that contributing to your 401(k) plan will improve your retirement finances. There are some circumstances when it makes sense to pay down debt and build up some savings outside of your 401(k) before boosting your 401(k) withholding. Here's what you should think about before increasing your 401(k) contributions.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
Delta CEO: Government shutdown tab $25 million and counting
Delta Air Lines is losing an estimated $25 million in business due to the longest government shutdown on record, the airline's CEO said Tuesday. Ed Bastian told CNBC the decline in revenue is due to fewer government employees and contractors traveling. He said the $25 million figure is a monthly impact that will continue as long as the shutdown, now in its 25th day, lingers.
- BusinessCar and Driver
The 2020 Volkswagen Passat in Photos
The 2020 Volkswagen Passat in Photos From Car and Driver
- PoliticsBloomberg
Schumer Will Force Vote Tuesday on Deripaska-Firm Sanctions
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he will force a vote Tuesday on a measure to block the Treasury Department's plans to lift sanctions on three Russian companies linked to oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Speaking on the Senate floor, Schumer said the Treasury Department's Dec. 19 decision was “deeply flawed and wrong,” and would benefit a Russian magnate who he said has “effectively acted as agent of Russian President Vladimir Putin's interests abroad. The Treasury Department's decision sparked a backlash from Democratic lawmakers who are questioning the administration's motives in lifting sanctions against three companies Deripaska controls: United Co. Rusal, En+ Group Plc and EuroSibEnerg...
NewsReutersWorst is over for winter storm that clobbered U.S. Midwest, D.C. and New England
The deadly winter storm that clobbered a swath of the U.S. Midwest and East Coast over the weekend is blowing out to sea, but leaves as much as 13 inches of snow in Washington, D.C. and Virginia, and frigid arctic air parked over New England. All Washington D.C. federal offices would be closed on Monday, but train and bus service in the metro D.C. area would resume after being shut down on Sunday, officials said. quot;There's some digging out to do," Jim Hayes, a forecaster with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, said Monday.
NewsUSA TODAYWhat happens to the 62,500 students with special needs during Los Angeles teachers' strike?
The disruption triggered by the strike that began Monday in the nation's second-largest school district could set back Daniel and thousands of other children with developmental disabilities who need special education and consistency, parents told USA TODAY. About 62,500 students with special needs attend schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District School, said associate superintendent for Special Education Beth Kauffman. Students with developmental disabilities — from autism to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) — sometimes need one-on-one aides and services such as behavioral and speech therapy at school.
WorldAssociated PressTrump's evolving foreign policy challenges top US diplomat
If Mike Pompeo was surprised, he didn't show it. But the secretary of state had woken up in the capital of Saudi Arabia on Monday to find that President Donald Trump had tweeted a threat to NATO ally Turkey warning of economic harm should the Turks attack U.S.-backed rebel forces in Syria. On the second-to-last stop of a Mideast tour dominated by questions and concerns from Arab leaders about Trump's abrupt order to withdraw American troops from Syria, Pompeo had to refer reporters' questions about the tweet to the White House.
WorldAFPIndonesia recovers second black box from Lion Air crash
The cockpit voice recorder from an Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed in October has been recovered, officials said Monday, a discovery that could be critical to explaining why a brand new plane fell out of the sky just after take-off. The Boeing 737 MAX vanished from radar about 13 minutes after departing Jakarta, slamming into the Java Sea moments after pilots had asked to return to the capital and killing all 189 people onboard. The bright orange voice recorder was discovered early Monday about 10 metres from a flight data recorder that was located back in November, authorities said.
- NewsThe Independent
Two women rescued after being taken hostage at UPS warehouse in New Jersey
Two women have been rescued after being taken hostage at a UPS facility in New Jersey, a local prosecutor has said. The women, both UPS employees, were not seriously injured during the hours-long standoff, Gloucester County Prosecutor Charles Fiore said at a news conference. The suspect has been apprehended after the incident at the UPS processing facility in Logan Township.
- LifestyleBGR News
The top 5 benefits that make the American Express Platinum Card a must-have
Large financial institutions have historically enticed borrowers to spring for their most luxe credit options by offering incentives like free air travel and tons of points, though as The Wall Street Journal reported in recent days some banks are now looking to tweak that model — changing up the rewards so that you get less on the front end and you're induced to actually use the cards more to get the benefits over the long term. All of which is to say, when you consider all of the above and the various options on the market available to you, there are several reasons why the Platinum Card® from American Express is a smart choice for consumers who want the best mix of price and rewards.
