U.S.ReutersNorth Carolina electric grid shooter 'knew exactly what they were doing,' sheriff says
(Reuters) -The orchestrator of gunfire attacks on power stations in North Carolina that left nearly an entire county without electricity for a second straight day knew "exactly" how to disable the stations, sheriff Ronnie Fields said on Monday. Fields' comments came as North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper warned of a "new level of threat" posed by the incident and called for hardening of critical infrastructure including the power grid. “Protecting critical infrastructure like our power system must be a top priority,” said Cooper, a Democrat, in a press briefing on Monday.
U.S.INSIDERAn Arizona cult leader accused of taking more than 20 women and girls as wives 'constantly' said he wanted to kiss and touch his underage daughter, FBI says
The FBI alleges he told the daughter "if his feelings were right, he would make her have a child." An Arizona cult leader from a polygamist sect accused of taking more than 20 women and girls as wives felt compelled to marry his underage daughter and "constantly" said he wanted to kiss and touch the teen, federal court documents allege. The FBI alleges in an affidavit filed last week in federal court in Washington and obtained by Insider that Samuel Rappylee Bateman, 46, first said that he wanted to take his daughter — born in 2005 — as his wife in 2019.
BusinessMoneyWiseHere's how much the average American 60-year-old has in retirement savings — how does your nest egg compare?
Last year, Vanguard noted that retirement savings actually increased, thanks to strong performance in the stock market. But of course since then, Wall Street's woes have persisted for much of this year, as even otherwise strong stocks have been resoundingly punished. Which means 2023 numbers may drop significantly — though with dollar cost averaging, people who stick it out and keep investing will be rewarded if the market returns to full strength.
U.S.Associated PressMississippi revises demands on Favre in welfare lawsuit
The Mississippi Department of Human Services on Monday changed its demands against retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre in a lawsuit that seeks repayment of misspent welfare money that was intended to help some of the poorest people in the U.S. The department dropped its demand of $1.1 million against Favre, acknowledging he has already repaid that money for an unfulfilled pledge of public speeches. But it made a new demand of up to $5 million against Favre and a university sports foundation, saying money from an anti-poverty program was improperly used to pay for a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi.
U.S.OxygenTexas Woman Accused Of Repeatedly Stabbing Boyfriend On Thanksgiving After Accusing Him Of 'Not Helping Her With The Bills'
A Texas woman is out on bond after authorities say she repeatedly stabbed her boyfriend on Thanksgiving after accusing him of “not helping her with the bills,” according to court records. Cassandra Gutierrez, 30, was released on bond Thursday after being charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the alleged stabbing, which left her boyfriend injured but alive, Law & Crime reports. Gutierrez and her 42-year-old boyfriend had been dating for about a year when investigators said they went out “drinking at a bar” on Thanksgiving, according to an affidavit obtained by the news outlet.
WorldThe Daily BeastExplosion at Nuclear Airbase Just 150 Miles From Moscow Opens Stunning New Phase of War
Two explosions at major Russian military bases, including the Dyagilevo base near Ryazan just 150 miles from Moscow, mean the war in Ukraine has come right to Vladimir Putin's doorstep. The explosions—which were unmanned drone strikes, a senior Ukrainian official told The New York Times—suggest Ukraine wanted to strike fear right in the heart of Russia. The second explosion struck the Engels-2 base, from which Tu-95 bombers have been pummeling Ukraine's infrastructure over the last month.
WorldReutersRussia deploys defence missile system on Kuril island near Japan
Russia's defence ministry has said it has deployed mobile coastal defence missile systems on a northern Kuril island, part of a strategically located chain of islands that stretch between Japan and the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula. Japan lays claim to the Russian-held southern Kuril islands, which Tokyo calls the Northern Territories, a territorial row that dates to the end of World War Two, when Soviet troops seized them from Japan. The Russian Bastion systems, which have missiles with a flight range of up to 500 km (310 miles), were deployed on the island of Paramushir, the Russian defence ministry said on Monday.
U.S.Springfield News-LeaderTwo-for-one: Bowhunter gets antlered deer with extra skull and rack attached in Missouri
A hunter took home a two-for-one deer during archery season. Mike Lewis was bowhunting in Nodaway County, in the northwest corner of Missouri, when he shot an antlered buck that had its own accessory attached — an antlered skull. "The deer (Lewis) harvested still had the skull and antlers of another deer locked in its rack," according to Missouri Department of Conservation's post on social media in early November.
U.S.INSIDERRudy Giuliani struggled to answer basic questions at his attorney misconduct hearing
Rudy Giuliani appeared as a witness in his attorney misconduct hearing Monday. Opposing counsel grew increasingly frustrated as Giuliani failed to answer straightforward questions, veered off course, and aired nonsense allegations of voter fraud. "I'm asking you what time it is, and you're telling me how to make a watch," the lawyer told Giuliani at one point.
PoliticsAssociated PressTrump faces peril in docs probe after decades of scrutiny
As a businessman and president, Donald Trump faced a litany of lawsuits and criminal investigations yet emerged from the legal scrutiny time and again with his public and political standing largely intact. The sense of vulnerability has been heightened in recent weeks not only by the Justice Department's appointment of a special counsel with a reputation for aggressiveness but also by the removal of a Trump-requested independent arbiter in the case and by judges' unequivocal rejection of his lawyers' arguments. It's impossible to predict how much longer the investigation will last or whether the Justice Department will take the unprecedented step of indicting a former president and current candidate.
U.S.Miami HeraldPeople scream as boat propeller kills woman retrieving sandals on Colombia vacation
A woman on vacation in Colombia was fatally struck by a boat propeller when she tried to retrieve her sandals, according to media reports. Natalia Andrea Larrañaga Fajardo, 26, visited San Andrés island's White Watta beach on vacation, Colombian news outlet La Razon reported. Fajardo jumped back into the water to retrieve some sandals when the boat propeller struck her, The Archipeilago Press and Radio Colombia Network reported.
BusinessBuzzFeedYou've Heard Of "Quiet Quitting," But Now Get Ready For "Shift Shock," The Trend That's Ruining Your New Job
Due to wages not keeping up with the rising costs of inflation and companies starting to end remote working opportunities, among other reasons, we've seen a lot of people jump ship. There's now a term to describe just how you and others may currently feel: shift shock. Kathryn Minshew, CEO and cofounder of The Muse, describes shift shock as “that feeling when you start a new job and realize, with either surprise or regret, that the position or company is very different from what you were led to believe.”
WorldReutersUkraine hails air defences after heavy Russian missile strikes
Russia rained long-range missiles on Ukraine on Monday, killing two people, destroying homes in the southeast and causing power outages, but Kyiv said its air defences had limited the damage. Air raid sirens blared across the country and men, women and children huddled in the capital's cavernous metro system to take cover during the latest big wave of missile strikes since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has been targeting Ukraine's power grid in intense waves of attacks since October, and state energy company Ukrenergo, which operates the national power grid, said more infrastructure had been hit on Monday Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal later said energy facilities had been hit i...
- U.S.Dr. Phil CBS
Family Says Son Was Never The Same After He Was Pulled From The Rubble Of A Tornado At 9 Years Old
Simon, his wife, Athena, and their three children, Marissa, Haley, and Xavier, all lived through a devastating tornado that ripped through Moore, Oklahoma nearly 10 years ago. The parents say Xavier, who was 9 at the time, was never the same after he was pulled from the rubble of his school. Of the seven kids that passed that day, six of them were in his class, just inches away from him,” Athena says.
U.S.E! NewsCause of Death Revealed for Jack and Kristina Wagner's Son Harrison Wagner
The cause of death for Jack and Kristina Wagner's son, Harrison Wagner, has been determined. News that Harrison was found dead at a North Hollywood parking lot on the morning of June 6. At the time, officials said they did not suspect foul play, but his cause of death was deferred pending additional investigation.
- BusinessReuters
Cryptoverse: Forget crypto winter, this is a bitcoin 'bloodbath'
Dec 6 (Reuters) - "I'm nearly bankrupt," says Jad Fawaz, a crypto trader in Abu Dhabi. "I had about 40 coins and then I came down to 20 coins then I came down to 10 coins, came down to five coins and now I'm down to the last two coins, and it's bitcoin and ripple XRP," he says. Bitcoin balances on crypto exchanges - where retail investors typically transact - have fallen to around 2.3 million from its 2020 all-time high of 3.1 million, exchange Bitfinex said.
U.S.The Daily BeastElementary School Principal Dead in Apparent Disneyland Suicide
An elementary school principal died in an apparent suicide after jumping from a multistory parking structure at Disneyland in California, officials said. Anaheim Police said they found a man dead when they were called to the amusement park just before 9 p.m. on Saturday. On Sunday, the Orange County coroner identified the man as 51-year-old Christopher Christensen, the principal of William T. Newland Elementary School in Huntington Beach.
U.S.Good Morning AmericaIdaho police zero in on movements of 2 victims who went to frat house before killings
Moscow, Idaho, police are looking for more information on the movements of University of Idaho students Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, who were at the Sigma Chi fraternity house in the hours before they were killed along with two other Idaho students last month. Police said the couple, both 20 years old, was believed to be at Chapin's frat house from 9 p.m. on Nov. 12 to 1:45 a.m. on Nov. 13. Chapin and Kernodle's timeline "seems to be one of the larger areas that we don't have a lot of information in," Idaho State Police spokesman Aaron Snell told ABC News.
- U.S.Associated Press
Farmer: Georgia dog injured saving sheep from coyote attack
A Georgia sheepdog is recovering at home two days after killing a pack of coyotes that attacked his owner's flock of sheep, farmer John Wierwiller said. Casper, a 20-month old Great Pyrenees from Decatur, fought off a pack of coyotes who were threatening Wierwiller's sheep farm, he said. The fight lasted longer than half an hour, left eight coyotes dead and bloodied Casper, with skin and part of his tail torn off, Wierwiller told Atlanta's WAGA-TV.
U.S.Miami Herald‘Dangerously defective’ pistol fires even if you don’t touch the trigger, lawsuit says
A gunmaker promised one of its pistols sold in the U.S. “won't fire unless you want it to” — but a new federal lawsuit argues that's a lie. The lives of experienced gun users, who are suing Sig Sauer, Inc., were “upended” by the company's “dangerously defective pistol,” a complaint filed Nov. 30 in federal court in New Hampshire states. Twenty plaintiffs named in the lawsuit became gunshot victims when their own Sig Sauer P320 Pistol fired unexpectedly, without the trigger ever being touched, according to the complaint representing the plaintiffs nationwide.
BusinessMoneyWise‘I expect a tsunami of shutoffs’: 20 million American households are behind an average of $788 on their utility bills — here are 3 simple ways to drop your monthly costs
According to the Energy Information Administration, natural gas is the biggest source of electricity generation in the U.S. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that October prices for electricity jumped 14.1% from a year ago. And just a few months before in August, this marker recorded its biggest 12-month increase since August 1981. According to Mark Wolfe, executive director of NEADA, the country is “heading towards a period of unaffordable energy prices.
U.S.Associated PressLawyer: Man charged in Takeoff killing says he's innocent
An attorney for a man accused of fatally shooting rapper Takeoff last month said Monday that the musician's death outside a Houston bowling alley was a tragedy but that her client says he's innocent of the crime. Patrick Xavier Clark, 33, made a brief court appearance in which prosecutors and his defense attorneys agreed to hold a bond reduction hearing on Dec. 14. Clark was arrested on a murder charge last week and is jailed on a $2 million bond.
PoliticsINSIDERIncoming House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries says there's 'a real risk' that the new GOP majority in the chamber will be 'hijacked by the extremists'
Hakeem Jeffries said there's "a real risk" the incoming House GOP majority is being "hijacked" by extremists. Jeffries, the incoming House Democratic leader, said Republicans have not laid out an economic plan. During his interview with CNN, Jeffries was relatively mum on his feelings about Kevin McCarthy.
WorldThe Daily BeastRussian Officials Fear Deserter on the Run Just Went Full Rambo With a Machine Gun
A suspected Russian deserter dressed in full camouflage and a ski mask opened fire on police officers in Russia's Rostov region on Tuesday, sparking frantic calls for residents to take cover indoors as a manhunt was underway. The incident—just the latest evidence of Vladimir Putin's flailing war beginning to blow up within Russian borders—occurred in Novoshakhtinsk, just 12 miles or so from the border with Ukraine. Law enforcement sources cited by Russia's TASS news agency and Komsomolskaya Pravda identified the gunman as a deserter, without giving further details.
BusinessTechCrunchSpaceX goes full defense contractor with national security-focused Starshield
SpaceX's launch services have already become an invaluable resource for the U.S. government, but the company is now jumping into the deep end of the pool it had heretofore only splashed around in. Starshield, a new vertical within SpaceX, will provide "government entities" (think three-letter agencies) with secure communications and bespoke satellite designs. The new brand (possibly a subsidiary) appeared as a new top-line category on SpaceX's website, alongside Dragon, Starlink and Starship, but beyond that has not received any visible promotion or discussion in the company's media channels.
“Democrats succeeded again in making the former President a central campaign issue, and Mr. Trump helped them do it.”
“If you work…to install a Supreme Court that will eliminate constitutional rights, prepare to live with the electoral consequences.”
“Trump pretty reliably put his thumb on the scale for the riskiest and most flawed candidates.”
“The Republicans should have done much better on inflation and the economy. They lacked an effective and transparent message.”
“Where does Trump end and the far-right begin?”