- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump: Impeachment 'has been very hard on my family'
President Trump said Thursday that the impeachment inquiry launched by House Democrats has been “very hard” on his family. Impeachment to me is a dirty word,” Trump said while campaigning in Bossier City, La. for Republican Eddie Rispone, who is running against incumbent Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, adding, “It has been very hard on my family.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
American Airlines flight attendants have literally begged not to work on the Boeing 737 Max when it returns, union boss says (BA)
American Airlines flight attendants are "begging" not to have to work on the Boeing 737 Max when it returns to service after its grounding, Lori Bassani, the head of the union representing them, said Thursday. "I hear from flight attendants every day, and they're begging me not to make them go back up in that plane," Bassani said, according to The Dallas Morning News. The 737 Max has been grounded around the world since March, which saw the second of two deadly crashes involving the aircraft.
- NewsAssociated Press
Chicago gang leader accused of trying to help Islamic State
A purported street-gang leader from suburban Chicago who became radicalized in prison faces federal charges accusing him of seeking to provide money to Islamic State militants in Syria, according to a complaint unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Jason Brown, the 37-year-old leader of the AHK gang, could be heard on secret FBI recordings speaking admiringly about beheadings by the Islamic State group, the 27-page complaint says. AHK, which prosecutors say traffics drugs throughout the Chicago area, is comprised of former members of the Black P-Stone, Gangster Disciples and Four Corner Hustlers who converted to Islam, the court filings say.
- PoliticsBloomberg
DNC Announces 10 Candidates in Atlanta Democratic Debate
The Democratic National Committee on Thursday announced the 10 candidates who will participate in the fifth Democratic primary debate in Atlanta on Wednesday. They are: Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang. Julian Castro, who participated in previous debates, most recently in October at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, didn't make the cut.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Santa Clarita students made an active shooter video. Two months later, they took shelter in fear
The school shooting that killed two and injured at least three people at Saugus High School Thursday comes amid a national debate around how to prepare for and respond to active shooter situations, with some schools and policymakers advocating a range of tactics — from "bulletproof backpacks" to curved hallways. The debate gained traction following the Feb. 14, 2018, killing of 17 children and school staffers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, after it came to light that the school safety officer on duty failed to confront the gunman. He now faces criminal charges.
SportsAFPTempers flare over rebuilding of Notre-Dame spire
The French army general charged with overseeing the rebuilding of Paris' fire-mangled Notre-Dame, has caused astonishment by publicly telling the cathedral's chief architect to "shut his mouth" in a sign of tension over the monument's future look. General Jean-Louis Georgelin and chief architect Philippe Villeneuve are at odds over whether to replace the cathedral's spire -- which was toppled in the April 15 blaze -- with an exact replica, or mix things up with a modern twist. President Emmanuel Macron, who appointed Georgelin to head the massive reconstruction project, has said he is in favour of adding a "contemporary" touch.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoAmerican teacher's death in D.R. is being investigated Thursday as a murder
An American teacher's death in the Dominican Republic was being investigated Thursday as a murder. Police said they found Patricia Anton deceased in her apartment in Puerto Plata, on the country's northern coast, with her hands and feet bound.
- PoliticsNational Review
AOC Says Impeachment Necessary to Unite Dems, Stop ‘Potential Compromise of the 2020 Election’
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) seemed to admit on CNN Wednesday night that she is motivated to pursue impeachment because she believes in will unite the Democratic Party and make victory in the 2020 presidential election more likely. “At the end of the day, we have to be able to come together as a caucus, and if it is this Ukrainian allegation that is what brings the caucus together, then I think we have to run with however we unify the House,” Ocasio-Cortez told Wolf Blitzer, who asked the Congresswoman whether she hoped other potential violations by Trump would be considered in any articles of impeachment.
- WorldThe National Interest
Look Out, Israel: China May Have Stolen The Iron Dome
Key point: China has aided its military modernization by stealing and reverse-engineering top-of-the-line military hardware. Maryland-based Cyber Engineering Services detected the cyber burglary, according to cybersecurity writer Brian Krebs. “Between Oct. 10, 2011 and Aug. 13, 2012, attackers thought to be operating out of China hacked into the corporate networks of three top Israeli defense technology companies, including Elisra Group, Israel Aerospace Industries, and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems,” Krebs writes.
- PoliticsYahoo News
As Supreme Court weighs DACA, Trump pushes fiction about 'hardened criminals'
As the Supreme Court considers whether it is legal for the Trump administration to cancel the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, the president and his allies have begun spinning a familiar — and false — narrative about the program's nearly 700,000 beneficiaries. Many of the people in DACA, no longer very young, are far from 'angels,'” Trump tweeted Tuesday morning, hours before the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear opening arguments in the DACA case. Some are very tough, hardened criminals.
- WorldBusiness Insider
One of Jamal Khashoggi’s close friends said Twitter is the 'only free platform' for many Saudis, but it also may have led to Khashoggi’s brutal murder
Omar Abdulaziz, a Saudi activist in exile in Canada, said that Twitter is an important tool for many Saudi dissidents but comes with risks. Abdulaziz was friends with murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The two of them were working to create an "army" of internet users to combat Saudi propaganda before Khashoggi was killed.
- LifestylePopular Mechanics
20 Great Gifts for Boys Who Love to Tinker
These toys will do what your junior high chem teacher never could: make learning about science fun. From Popular Mechanics
- PoliticsAssociated Press
Beshear to Kentucky teachers: Help is on the way
Now that Republican Gov. Matt Bevin has conceded, Beshear is moving quickly to translate the political activism of teachers that began in 2018 and persisted through this year's election into tangible school improvements. Teachers staged large demonstrations at Kentucky's Capitol in Frankfort the past two years as part of a national wave of teacher activism. Many of the teachers who chanted “We will remember in November” during their statehouse protests in Kentucky later remobilized as part of a vast grassroots effort on Beshear's behalf.
- NewsThe Independent
Ray Cromartie: Death row inmate executed without testing DNA evidence ‘that could have proved his innocence’
A man has been executed in the US state of Georgia despite a request from his lawyers for DNA evidence which they claimed would clear him of murder. Ray Jefferson Cromartie was convicted of the April 1994 shooting of shop worker Richard Slysz twice in the head at the convenience store in the city of Thomasville. Prosecutors said the 52-year-old had shot delicatessen worker Dan Wilson in the face, three days before the killing, seriously injuring him.
WorldAFPVietnam jails music teacher for 'undermining' state
Vietnam sentenced a music teacher to 11 years in prison on Friday for Facebook posts that allegedly undermined the one-party state, which has been accused of tightening the noose on online dissent. Communist Vietnam has long jailed its critics but has come under fire recently for targeting users on Facebook, a popular forum for activists in the country where all independent media is banned. Nguyen Nang Tinh is the latest activist jailed for his Facebook comments, including posts about police brutality, land rights, and a Taiwanese steel firm that dumped toxic sludge into the ocean, killing masses of fish off the coast of Vietnam.
- PoliticsPolitico
Jackie Speier erupts at reporter for The Hill
Angered by the testimony of ousted ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, California Rep. Jackie Speier upbraided a reporter for The Hill and ripped the outlet's publication of columns by John Solomon, the conservative journalist whose work is at the center of what Yovanovitch described as a “smear campaign” against her. “I just find it reprehensible that any newspaper would just be willing to put that kind of crap out that is not — has no veracity whatsoever, and not check to see if it had any veracity,” said Speier, a Democrat serving in her seventh term in the House, according to audio of the exchange reviewed by POLITICO. Speier launched into her critique of The Hill after fielding a question from its senior staff writer Scott Wong about who her dream witness would be at the impeachment proceedings.
- NewsNational Review
Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings Faces House Ethics Investigation of Relationship with Top Staffer
Representative Alcee Hastings (D., Fla.) is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over his relationship with a top staffer, according to a Thursday press release from the Committee. “The Committee is aware of public allegations arising out of Representative Alcee Hastings' personal relationship with an individual employed in his congressional office,” read the statement. While the announcement does not name the staffer, it is almost certainly Patricia Williams, Hastings's district-office director and long-time partner, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
- WorldThe Guardian
Evo Morales: indigenous leader who changed Bolivia but stayed too long
The meteoric political journey of Evo Morales came to an end – for now, at least – right where it started: in a steamy jungle region of central Bolivia. And it was here that he fled to last weekend, after resigning the presidency – at the prompting of Bolivia's top general – as deadly protests convulsed the country amid allegations of electoral fraud. Pictured lying atop a blanket on a safehouse floor, Morales fondly recalled his time as a local leader on Twitter.
- PoliticsYahoo News
'You embarrassed yourself': Kellyanne Conway blasts CNN's Wolf Blitzer for playing George Conway clip
Appearing live on CNN Thursday, Kellyanne Conway, special counselor to President Trump, was asked to respond to the assessment given by her husband, George, that testimony of career diplomats in the first public impeachment hearings was damning for her boss. George Conway, a conservative lawyer and outspoken Trump critic, appeared on MSNBC as a guest analyst during Thursday's hearings. While introducing a clip of George Conway, CNN's Wolf Blitzer told Kellyanne Conway he wanted to ask her a “sensitive” political question.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Protesters blare Christine Blasey Ford testimony and dress up as handmaids outside Kavanaugh speech
WASHINGTON — As guests filed into Union Station to hear a keynote speech by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh Thursday evening, the scene outside included protesters dressed in "Handmaid's Tale" costumes and chanting their support for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. The protesters from the group Demand Justice sent the message to attendees that they "still believe" Blasey Ford, according to video and photos taken by journalists present. Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault last year.
- WorldThe National Interest
The Army Plans To Use These 6 Weapons In A War Against Russia Or China
Key point: The Pentagon is at a crossroads. The U.S. Army is at a crossroads as the Pentagon is reorienting itself to fight a capable great power opponent after nearly two decades focused on counter-insurgency conflicts. Russia poses a traditional land-power challenge for the U.S. Army with its large mechanized formations threatening the Baltics, as well as formidable long-range ballistic missiles, artillery and surface-to-air missiles.
- WorldAssociated Press
The Latest: Hong Kong highway blocked after deadline passes
Protesters in Hong Kong have once again blocked a highway in an outlying area after the government did not meet their demand that it pledge to go ahead with local elections later this month. The protesters had allowed one lane of traffic to re-open in each direction and gave the government 24 hours to meet their demand. Constitutional Affairs Secretary Patrick Nip said the government hopes the election will be held on schedule but warned that it could be postponed if conditions are unsafe and roads and other transportation are blocked.
- NewsThe Independent
American war veteran who spent several days in ICE detention receives $190k settlement
A US citizen and military veteran suffering from a mental health condition will reportedly receive $190,000 (£147,988) from a Michigan city after local officials transferred him to ICE detention following an arrest last year. Jilmar Ramos-Gomez, a decorated Marine veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, was arrested while experiencing an episode in which he lost all recollection, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Police found the veteran, who was born and raised in Michigan, on the helipad of a hospital after he started a small fire and pulled an alarm, according to reports.
- WorldReuters
China envoy threatens Sweden over award to detained writer Gui Minhai
China threatened Sweden with unspecified "counter measures" if its culture minister attends a literary award ceremony on Friday for Gui Minhai, a Swedish citizen who was abducted in Thailand in 2015 and is now in detention in China. The case of Chinese-born Gui Minhai, who studied in Sweden in the 1980s and was based in Hong Kong when he published books critical of China's leaders, has soured relations between Sweden and China. Svenska PEN, a literary organization, has awarded Gui Minhai the 2019 Tucholsky Prize, praising his work in the service of free speech.
- SciencePopular Mechanics
Scientists Are Fighting Over One of the Hottest Places on Earth
Two recent studies came to opposite conclusions about the same evidence of life in a caustic pool in Ethiopia. Extreme environments on Earth may model habitats on other planets, like the moon Titan. The evidence of life found in Ethiopia is DNA from archaea, an organism similar to bacteria.
