- PoliticsYahoo News
Mueller witness bragged about access to Clintons secured with illegal campaign cash, says Justice Department
An emissary for two wealthy Arab princes boasted to unnamed officials of a Middle Eastern government about his direct access to Hillary and Bill Clinton while funneling more than $3.5 million in illegal campaign contributions to the former secretary of state's 2016 presidential campaign and Democratic fundraising committees, according to a federal indictment announced by the Justice Department this week. Wonderful meeting with Big Lady. Can't wait to tell you all about it,” George Nader allegedly wrote to an official of one of the foreign governments he advises in the Middle East after attending a political fundraiser with Hillary Clinton on April 16, 2016.
- PoliticsReuters
California congressman Duncan Hunter announces resignation after corruption plea
U.S. Representative Duncan Hunter will resign from Congress following his guilty plea to a federal charge of conspiring to misuse campaign funds, he said on Friday. Hunter's announcement that he would step down came days after the leading California lawmaker, a former U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran, entered his guilty plea in federal court in San Diego. "Shortly after the Holidays I will resign from Congress," Hunter, 42, said in a written statement released by his communications director.
- BusinessThe Week
Michael Bloomberg on the all-white Democratic debate: 'Don't complain to me that you're not in the race'
Michael Bloomberg doesn't see anything wrong with being another white man in the increasingly less diverse 2020 field. As Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) recently pointed out after Bloomberg's entry to and Sen. Kamala Harris' (D-Calif.) departure from the 2020 presidential race, there are now "more billionaires than black people" running for president. In the interview aired Friday, Gayle King asked Bloomberg if it was a "problem" that the December Democratic primary debate might not have any people of color on the stage.
- WorldBusiness Insider
Reddit has said that Russia likely posted leaked UK trade documents as part of a vast covert influence campaign
Reddit has said that leaked documents on US-UK trade deal discussions were likely posted on the site as part of a Russian influence campaign. The documents were cited by Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the UK's opposition Labour party, as evidence that his opponent in the UK general election, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, was poised to sell out the NHS in trade negotiations with the US. Researchers earlier in the week said that the accounts that posted the documents on Reddit indicated links to a vast Russian influence campaign uncovered on Facebook dubbed Secondary Infektion.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
'Dark money' ties raise questions for GOP Sen. Ernst of Iowa
An outside group founded by top political aides to Sen. Joni Ernst has worked closely with the Iowa Republican to raise money and boost her reelection prospects, a degree of overlap that potentially violates the law, documents obtained by The Associated Press show. Iowa Values, a political nonprofit that is supposed to be run independently, was co-founded in 2017 by Ernst's longtime consultant, Jon Kohan. It shares a fundraiser, Claire Holloway Avella, with the Ernst campaign.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Tennessee executes blind death row inmate Lee Hall by electric chair for 1991 murder of girlfriend
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee executed death row inmate Lee Hall in the electric chair Thursday night, marking the fourth time the state has used the method since 2018. Hall, 53, was pronounced dead at 7:26 p.m. CST, according to the Tennessee Department of Correction. Media witnesses described what appeared to be a faint trail of white smoke rising from Hall's head as the lethal current coursed through his body.
- NewsThe Guardian
Two school shootings a day apart: Wisconsin reckons with impact of armed guards
Shootings a day apart at two high schools in Wisconsin have shaken the state and sparked a renewed debate over how to combat violence in American schools. An Oshkosh police department resource officer shot a 16-year-old student Tuesday after the boy stabbed him in the officer's office at Oshkosh West high school. A day earlier, a resource officer at Waukesha South high school helped clear students out of a classroom after a 17-year-old student pointed a pellet gun at another student's head.
- WorldThe National Interest
Should America Fear the Chinese H-20 Stealth Bomber?
Key point: The United States is beginning to lose its footing in East Asia. In October 2018, Chinese media announced that the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) would publicly unveil its new H-20 stealth bomber during a parade celebrating the air arm's seventieth anniversary in 2019. Prior news of the H-20's development had been teased using techniques pioneered by viral marketing campaigns for Hollywood movies.
- LifestylePopular Mechanics
13 Mythical Creatures, Ranked
Did your favorite make the list? From Popular Mechanics
- PoliticsBloomberg
Inquiry Reports Are Sent to Judiciary Panel: Impeachment Update
The House Judiciary panel will hold a hearing Monday to hear presentations on the evidence by the chief counsels for both parties on the Intelligence and Judiciary committees. The “Trump-Ukraine Impeachment Inquiry Report,” was sent to the House Judiciary Committee on Friday night, according to a congressional official. The report, from the chairs of the Intelligence.,Oversight and Foreign Affairs Committees, will be the focus of a Judiciary impeachment hearing scheduled for Monday.
- WorldReuters
UPDATE 8-Indian police kill 4 men suspected of rape, murder, drawing applause and concern
Indian police shot dead four men on Friday who were suspected of raping and killing a 27-year-old veterinarian near Hyderabad city, an action applauded by her family and many citizens outraged over sexual violence against women. The men had been in police custody and were shot dead near the scene of last week's crime after they snatched weapons from two of the 10 policemen accompanying them, said police commissioner V.C. Sajjanar. Thousands of Indians have protested in several cities over the past week following the veterinarian's death, the latest in a series of horrific cases of sexual assault in the country.
- NewsNational Review
Judge Allows Criminal Trial to Proceed against Pro-Life Investigators
A San Francisco judge ruled Friday that the criminal trial may move forward against the pro-life investigators who went undercover to record abortion industry executives talking about procuring fetal body parts. Judge Christopher Hite deemed the evidence sufficient to send to trial the case against David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt of the Center for Medical Progress, who are charged with nine felony counts, one count of conspiracy and eight counts of illegal taping. Daleiden, 30, and Merritt, 64, several years ago surreptitiously recorded executives from Planned Parenthood and other organizations haggling about compensation for the procurement of fetal parts for researchers who request them.
BusinessYahoo News VideoBloomberg says ending 'nationwide madness' of gun violence drives his presidential bid
Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg said on Thursday he wants to become president to end "the nationwide madness" of U.S. gun violence, calling it evil and saying he would allow its victims to file lawsuits against gun manufacturers.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
Tesla changed the release dates for the most and least expensive versions of the Cybertruck by a year
Tesla has changed the production timelines for the most and least expensive trims of its Cybertruck pickup truck. It said production for the three-motor, all-wheel-drive Cybertruck, which starts at $69,900, would begin in 2021, a year earlier than Tesla first announced. The single-motor, rear-wheel-drive Cybertruck, which starts at $39,900, will enter production in late 2022, a year later than its original timeline, Tesla said.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Russian spies used French Alps as 'base camp' for hits on Britain and other countries
Fifteen Russian spies, including those accused of the Salisbury nerve agent attack, used the French Alps as a “base camp” to conduct covert operations around Europe over a five-year period, according to reports. The revelations came as Germany expelled two Russian diplomats after prosecutors said there was “sufficient factual evidence” linking Moscow to the killing of a former Chechen rebel commander in central Berlin. According to Le Monde, British, Swiss, French, and US intelligence have drawn up a list of 15 members of the 29155 unit of Russia's GRU military spy agency who all passed through France's Haute-Savoie mountains close to the Swiss and Italian borders.
- WorldAssociated Press
Germany's Merkel voices 'shame' during 1st Auschwitz visit
German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced a feeling of deep shame” during her first-ever visit on Friday to the hallowed grounds of the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where Adolf Hitler's regime murdered more than a million people. Merkel noted that her visit comes amid rising anti-Semitism and historical revisionism and vowed that Germany would not tolerate anti-Semitism. She said Germany remains committed to remembering the crimes that it committed against Jews, Poles, Roma and Sinti, homosexuals and others.
- BusinessThe National Interest
Bombs Away! The Powerful B-52 Bomber Is Getting Even More Deadly
Key point: The Pentagon may end up flying the B-52 for 100 years. Sixty-seven years after the U.S. Air Force received its last B-52 from Boeing, the flying branch finally has firmed up plans to fit the heavy bomber with new engines. Air Force magazine in its January 2019 issue took a deep dive into the re-engining effort.
WorldAFPDrone hits Iraq cleric's home as tensions rise after Baghdad attack
An armed drone targeted the home of Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr on Saturday, hours after his supporters deployed in Baghdad in response to an attack that left 17 protesters dead. The developments marked a worrying turn for the anti-government protests rocking Iraq since October, the country's largest and deadliest grassroots movement in decades. The mostly young protesters in the capital's iconic Tahrir Square had long feared a spiral into chaos, and on Friday it appeared their apprehensions were well-placed.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Trump complains about light bulbs making him look orange and people flushing toilets 15 times in rambling monologue
Donald Trump has complained about new light bulbs which supposedly make him look orange and flushing toilets, during a rambling monologue. Although he appeared to be joking, Mr Trump has complained before about bad lighting from energy-efficient light bulbs and added on Friday that he wanted to remove the “orange” bulbs from some rooms in the White House. The cause of Mr Trump's distinctive orange hue has been a much-discussed mystery of his appearance.
- NewsReuters
Indiana judge grants stay of execution for federal inmate
A convicted murderer set to become the first federal inmate to be executed in 16 years was granted a stay of execution on Thursday by a judge in Indiana. Daniel Lewis Lee, a white supremacist convicted in Arkansas of murdering a family of three, was granted the stay by U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon. Lee's execution had been set for Monday, but a separate ruling by a judge in Washington last month put his execution and that of three other federal inmates on hold.
- NewsTime
Trump Administration Authorizes 'Cyanide Bombs' to Kill Predators Again, Months After Backlash
The Trump Administration will reauthorize the use of so-called “cyanide bombs” to poison coyotes, foxes and feral dogs that could threaten private livestock. The decision comes four months after halting their authorization amid public backlash. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Thursday it would include new safety requirements to protect humans and pets, such as additional signs and increased distances the distance the “cyanide bombs” must be from homes and roads.
- WorldBloomberg
Chaos Ensues as Nigerian Secret Police Rearrest Buhari Critic
Sign up to our Next Africa newsletter and follow Bloomberg Africa on Twitter Nigeria's secret police rearrested publisher Omoyele Sowore, a prominent critic of President Muhammadu Buhari, in chaotic scenes at the country's Federal High Court. Scuffles broke out in the court room as armed Department of State Services operatives detained Sowore and co-defendant Olawale Bakare, his lawyer Femi Falana said. His arrest came less than a day after he was freed from state custody following a court ruling demanding his release.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin is working with the Federal Reserve to curtail another repo rate crisis, report says
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is working with the Federal Reserve to monitor bank reserves and decrease the chances of a rate crisis similar to September's, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Mnuchin told the House of Representatives on Thursday that he and Fed Chair Jerome Powell have met multiple times to discuss the September lending rate spike and liquidity concerns ahead of year-end reserve obligations. The Fed has been pumping billions of dollars into money markets through market repurchase agreement, or repo, operations and Treasury bill purchases after its overnight lending rate spiked in September.
- NewsINSIDER
Thousands of Las Vegas shooting victims will have to split an $800 million settlement. Now, 2 retired judges have to decide which victims deserve the most.
Two retired judges have been given the gut-wrenching task of divvying up a roughly $800 million settlement among thousands of people who were injured or lost loved ones in the 2017 Las Vegas massacre, USA Today reported Friday. Last month, MGM Resorts International, which owned the Mandalay Bay hotel where the shooting occurred, agreed to pay a settlement of up to $800 million to compensate victims and their families. Just over two years ago, the deadliest mass shooting in US history left 58 people dead after a gunman sprayed bullets into a music festival crowd as he stood on the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas hotel.
- WorldAssociated Press
Germany: 'No understanding' for Russia outrage on expulsions
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff is urging Russia to support the investigation of a killing prosecutors say appears to have ordered by Russian or Chechen authorities, and says he has “no understanding" for outraged reactions from Moscow. Germany expelled two Russian diplomats on Wednesday over the brazen killing of a Georgian man on the streets of Berlin in August. German federal prosecutors said evidence suggested the slaying was ordered either by Moscow or authorities in Russia's republic of Chechnya.
