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Showing posts from December, 2019

PHOTOS: #MenToo: The hidden tragedy of male sexual abuse in the military

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Award-winning photojournalist Mary F. Calvert has spent 6 years documenting the prevalence of rape in the military and the effects on victims. She began with a focus on female victims but more recently has examined the under-reported incidence of sexual assaults on men and the lifelong trauma it can inflict. Last March, Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., a retired Air Force combat pilot, disclosed that she had been the victim of multiple sexual assaults by fellow officers, putting the issue of sexual assault in the military on the national agenda. Two months later, a required biannual Department of Defense report found that sexual assault within the ranks had increased by 38% over two years. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2MKjEPA

In Leaked Memo, Andrew Yang Asks DNC for More Debate Polls

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Andrew Yang is urging the Democratic National Committee to take an unorthodox step in its debate oversight process: commission more polling over the next several days. In a letter sent to DNC Chairman Tom Perez on Dec. 21, obtained by The Daily Beast, the Democratic contender calls for the DNC to commission four early-state polls before Jan. 10 as part of an effort to encourage more diversity on the debate stage in Iowa. “With the upcoming holidays and meager number of polls currently out in the field, a diverse set of candidates might be absent from the stage in Des Moines for reasons out of anyone’s control,” Yang wrote. “This is a troubling prospect for our party. Regardless of the DNC’s best intentions, voters would cry foul and could even make unfounded claims of bias and prejudice.”Yang, who qualified for the first six debates but has yet to reach the polling threshold for the seventh, was the only candidate of color on stage at the recent Los Angeles event. Andrew Yang Goes Main

Greta Thunberg said it would be a waste of time for her to talk to Trump about climate change

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President Donald Trump, who is withdrawing the US from the Paris climate accord, has a long record of expressing skepticism on climate science. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Q97wtQ

Churchgoers kill gunman who shot two during Texas service

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Worshippers in the US state of Texas shot dead a gunman who opened fire during a livestreamed Sunday service, ending an attack that killed two parishioners, authorities said. The latest US shooting at a house of worship took place in the suburban Fort Worth community of White Settlement on Sunday morning when the gunman entered West Freeway Church of Christ, officials said. "A couple of members of the church returned fire, striking the suspect who died at the scene," White Settlement Police Chief J.P. Bevering told reporters. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/36a24fE

Disney World's Magic Kingdom turns away guests on New Year's Eve

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Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom Park began turning away guests on New Year's Eve, the park tweeted Tuesday afternoon. Who's affected and who's not? from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2rFJH3c

North Korean leader calls for 'military countermeasures'

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for active “diplomatic and military countermeasures” to preserve the country’s security in a lengthy speech at a key political conference possibly meant to legitimize major changes to his nuclear diplomacy with the United States. Kim spoke for seven hours during the ruling Workers’ Party meeting that continued for the third day on Monday. The Korean Central News Agency said the plenary meeting of the party’s Central Committee will extend to the fourth day on Tuesday, a day before Kim is expected to use his annual New Year’s address to announce major changes to his economic and security policies. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/35cCNAh

Officials struggle to determine cause of fatal Louisiana plane crash

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"The wreckage is in pretty tough shape. Between impact damage and fire damage, there's not a lot to work with," an aviation official said. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2ZC8Bxu

FBI Agents: McCabe Apologized for Changing His Story on Leak

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Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe faced scorching criticism and potential criminal prosecution for changing his story about a conversation he had with a Wall Street Journal reporter. Now newly released interview transcripts show McCabe expressed remorse to internal FBI investigators when they pressed him on the about-face. The FBI released the documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). They provide fresh details about the investigation into a leak to the Journal, McCabe's role in it, and the reaction of agents who investigated it.In the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign, the Journal broke news about an FBI investigation involving then-candidate Hillary Clinton, describing internal discussions among senior FBI officials.Emails Show McCabe Scrambling to Handle Stories About Hillary ProbeThe apparent leak drew scrutiny from the bureau’s internal investiga

Mexico arrests seven suspects in Mormon family massacre

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Mexican authorities have arrested seven suspects in connection with last month's massacre of nine Mormon women and children in the country's north, the attorney general's office said. A local police chief suspected of links to organized crime was among those taken into custody, according to local media. The victims -- six of them children -- had dual US-Mexican nationality and were shot dead on a rural road in a lawless region known for turf wars between drug cartels fighting over lucrative trafficking routes to the United States. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2QxqyZQ

Thousands of Google cafeteria staff have unionized, and it's the latest group of Google's 'shadow workforce' to join a union

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The union organizing comes as Google is facing a wave of internal activism from its own employees protesting the company's treatment of workers. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2tg5bnY

Ukraine and Russia Can Deal When They Must But Peace Isn’t Close

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(Bloomberg) -- Quickfire agreements on energy and the Kremlin-backed war that erupted after Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea show Ukraine and Russia can increasingly look past their differences to strike deals.The natural-gas pact agreed late Monday, which ended fears of disruptions to European Union supplies, comes a day after the former allies’ second prisoner swap in four months. EU diplomats, mediating in both cases, may feel they’re making headway in easing tensions more than five years after the conflict in eastern Ukraine rekindled Cold War animosity and brought a barrage of sanctions against Russia.That Ukraine and Russia now meet at all -- let alone reach consensus on hot-button issues like these -- marks undoubted progress. It’s been driven by pragmatism and a readiness to compromise under EU and U.S. pressure, including the Trump administration’s sanctions against Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.The gas deal was necessary as transit contracts ran down. Putin wants s

Drones are appearing in the Colorado and Nebraska skies

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Mysterious groups of giant drones have appeared in the Colorado and Nebraska night sky since last week, the Denver Post reported. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/37m6kZD

AP Explains: Who are Iraq's Iran-backed militias?

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Iran emerged as a major power broker in Iraq after the American invasion in 2003, supporting Shiite Islamist parties and militias that have dominated the country ever since. Worries are increasing that the militias could drag Iraq into the growing proxy war between the U.S. and Iran in the Middle East. The United States and its ally, Israel, are targeting pro-Iranian militias across Lebanon, Syria and Iraq with economic sanctions and airstrikes hitting their bases and other infrastructure. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2sEPM0r

Hanukkah Attack Suspect’s Lawyer: Cuccinelli Immigration Comments Are ‘a Disgrace’

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After a leader in the Trump administration came under fire for seemingly trying to turn the latest violent anti-Semitic attack in New York into an anti-immigrant parable, the target of his smear responded Tuesday, calling his comments “a disgrace.”Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, claimed in a Monday morning tweet that 38-year-old Grafton Thomas, a U.S. citizen who allegedly stabbed five people at a Hanukkah party over the weekend, was the “son of an illegal alien who got amnesty under the 1986 amnesty law for illegal immigrants.” “Apparently, American values did not take hold among this entire family, at least this one violent, and apparently bigoted, son,” Cuccinelli wrote.Thomas’ attorney, Michael Sussman, said Tuesday that Cuccinelli’s remarks “are a disgrace and akin to blaming the parents of a mentally ill child for conceiving him or her” and that “such comments have no place in a rational debate about national immigration policy, a

Thousands flee to beaches amid devastating Australian wildfires

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Thousands of Australians were forced to flee to beaches on Tuesday as wildfires continued to blaze in New South Wales and Victoria.About 4,000 people sought refuge on nearby beaches in the town of Mallacoota in Victoria, with thousands along the New South Wales coast needing to evacuate their homes, CNN reports. Fires have been raging in Australia for the past several months, and 70 new fires reportedly started in Victoria on Monday, while more than 60 fires haven't yet been contained in New South Wales."It was like we were in hell," a vacationer in New South Wales told CNN. "We were all covered in ash.""It should have been daylight but it was black like midnight and we could hear the fire roaring," a local business owner in Mallacoota told BBC News. "We were all terrified for our lives."After the death of a father and son in Cobargo, at least 11 people have died amid Australia's devastating fire season, during which more than 900 homes h

Here's who will be onstage for the January Democratic presidential debate in Iowa and how to watch it

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CNN and the Des Moines Register will co-host the seventh Democratic presidential debate in Des Moines three weeks before the Iowa caucuses. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/39pIsq3

Trump says he has been denied due process. But the Constitution does not afford him that.

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Like Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson before him, President Trump does not have the same constitutional protection afforded to criminal defendants. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2tjBZMz

North Korea leader promises look at new weapon soon

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has accused the Trump administration of dragging its feet in nuclear negotiations and warned that his country will soon show a new strategic weapon to the world as its bolsters its nuclear deterrent in face of “gangster-like” U.S. sanctions and pressure. The North’s state media said Wednesday that Kim made the comments during a four-day ruling party conference held through Tuesday in the capital Pyongyang, where he declared that the North will never give up its security for economic benefits in the face of what he described as increasing U.S. hostility and nuclear threats. Kim’s comments came after a monthslong standoff between Washington and Pyongyang over disagreements involving disarmament steps and the removal of sanctions imposed on the North. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2tf6JOV

Donald Trump warns Iran it will pay 'big price' as protesters try to storm US embassy in Baghdad

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Donald Trump accused Iran of orchestrating the attack on the US embassy in Baghdad as he said he expected Iraq to “use its forces” to intervene. "Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities. They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat," he wrote on Twitter. "The US Embassy in Iraq is, & has been for hours, SAFE! Many of our great Warfighters, together with the most lethal military equipment in the world, was immediately rushed to the site," Mr Trump  intensified pressure on the Iraqi authorities who had been powerless to prevent hundreds of demonstrators breaching the outer wall of the embassy compound in the heavily fortified green zone. He pressed the case for action in a call to  Iraq's caretaker  Prime Minister Adel Abd al-Mahd, urging him to protect US personnel and property. Chanting "death to America", the protesters set fire to a sentry box, pulled security camer

China took their parents: the Uighur refugee children of Turkey

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The school on the outskirts of Istanbul is a rare place where Uighur child refugees from China can study their language and culture. Having fled a worsening crackdown on Uighur Muslims in northwest China, some of their parents thought it was still safe to return occasionally for business and to visit family, only to disappear into a shadowy network of re-education camps from which no communication is permitted. Nine-year-old Fatima has only vague memories of her homeland -- and now, of her father, too. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2SI5wKG

Huawei says it will generate a record $122 billion in annual revenue despite US sanctions

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The $122 billion figure would, however, fall short of Huawei's own annual revenue projections for 2019. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2MGFP9l

Deputy tases woman, 70, while trying to make arrest at her home

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Authorities say Barbara Pinkney wouldn't let them in and had to be tased three times before she could be subdued. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2ZC8Vfx

Greta Thunberg calls world leaders' attacks on her 'just funny'

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Greta Thunberg says it's "just funny" when she's personally attacked by world leaders like President Trump.The 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist, who earlier this month was named Time's person of the year, spoke with Today on BBC Radio on Monday and was asked about recent attacks on her, such as when Trump lashed out at her in a tweet by claiming she has an anger management problem or when Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro called her a "brat.""Those attacks are just funny because they obviously don't mean anything," Thunberg said. "Well, I guess, of course, it means something. It means they are terrified of young people bringing change, which they don't want."Thunberg went on to say that these attacks are "proof that we are actually doing something and that they see us as some kind of threat."This comes after Trump went after Thunberg on Twitter in response to Time's decision to name her person of the

U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria hit sites linked to Iran

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The United States carried out airstrikes in Iraq and Syria on Sunday, targeting weapons and munitions depots used by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia.Over the last two months, there have been 11 rocket attacks against bases used by the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State. U.S. officials said Sunday's airstrikes were in response to an attack that took place in Kirkuk, Iraq, on Friday, which left one U.S. contractor dead and four U.S. troops injured.Kataib Hezbollah is connected to Iran's paramilitary Quds Forces, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal, and the Pentagon said the airstrikes are meant to serve as a warning to stop attacking the coalition's bases. A Kataib Hezbollah official said 25 members of the militia were killed in the airstrikes.More stories from theweek.com The best headlines of 2019 Giants, Browns fire head coaches on otherwise quiet 'Black Monday' Republicans are still trying to steal your health insurance from Yaho

U.S. presidential candidate Sanders given clean bill of health after October heart attack

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U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders passed a stress test this month after a heart attack required him to have two stents inserted in an artery in October, doctors to the Democratic presidential candidate said on Monday. Sanders' campaign released letters from his main doctor and two heart specialists, who all gave the 78-year-old White House hopeful a clean bill of health after physical exams, electrocardiogram monitoring and a treadmill stress test. "Mr Sanders is more than fit enough to pursue vigorous activities and an occupation that requires stamina and an ability to handle a great deal of stress," said Philip A. Ades, the director of cardiac rehabilitation at the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVM), where the senator had the stress test on Dec. 11. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/359qOmY

Trump's secret plan to pressure Ukraine reportedly pitted administration officials against each other

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The New York Times reported that Trump leaned on a small circle of top officials amid widespread confusion as he ordered the block on Ukrainian aid. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2MEO2uJ

The 40 Best Movies of 2019

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/37j5JrR

Hanukkah candles burn in Iraqi Kurdistan

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Al-Qosh (Irak) (AFP) - In the glow of the nine-candled menorah, with kippa skullcaps on their heads and tallit prayer shawls around their shoulders, a small association is working to revive Hanukkah in Iraq. The country has been nearly emptied of its Jewish community amid regional conflict and violence within its borders, but this year, the town of Al-Qosh hosted its first Hanukkah celebrations. Al-Qosh is a majority Christian town around 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Mosul, the former self-proclaimed "capital" of the Islamic State group (IS) in Iraq. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/36ddnDM

Iraq’s Southern Nasiriya Refinery Said to Shut Over Protests

(Bloomberg) -- Iraq, OPEC’s second-biggest producer, shut operations at its southern Nasiriya refinery after protesters marched into the facility, according to a person familiar with the operations.Operations were halted at 7 p.m. local time after about 700 protesters blocked employee access into the refinery in the southern province of Thiqar, the person said, declining to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.The facility refines between 25,000 to 30,000 barrels a day with products ranging from gasoline, fuel oil and kerosene used mostly in the province. The cut in output may lead to a shortage for the area.Protesters -- mostly made up of the unemployed that also include recent graduates from the province -- have rallied repeatedly in the past two months near the southern oil fields in Basra and other cities and near refineries.The oil ministry on Saturday had to shut the southern Nasiriya oil field after protesters cut roads leading to the area, blocking access to e

Trump's tariffs have backfired, at least so far, Federal Reserve reports

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President Trump has promoted his trade policy, specifically his tariffs on imported goods, as a means of reviving American manufacturing. It has done the opposite, according to a new study from Federal Reserve economists. Trump's trade war with China and other countries has led to higher consumer prices, failed to boost U.S. manufacturing, and led to domestic job losses."We find that the 2018 tariffs are associated with relative reductions in manufacturing employment and relative increases in producer prices," write Fed economists Aaron Flaaen and Justin Pierce. The tariffs did boost the competitiveness of some U.S.-made goods inside the U.S., they found, but that was "completely offset in the short-run by reduced competitiveness from retaliation and higher costs in downstream industries," and protectionist policies are now intrinsically "complicated by the presence of globally interconnnected supply chains."The industries hit especially hard by "

U.S. promises action on any North Korea missile test: White House

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The United States would be very disappointed if North Korea tested a long-range or nuclear missile and would take appropriate action as a leading military and economic power, White House national security adviser Robert O'Brien said on Sunday. "We'll reserve judgment but the United States will take action as we do in these situations," he said. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/36i1oFn

Climate change denial was defeated in 2019. But what comes next won't be easier

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Defeating the climate crisis is just the beginning of the struggle – and tough political choices will have to be made Will 2019 be remembered as the year in which climate change denial was defeated? The global climate strike, Greta Thunberg’s meteoric rise to international prominence, as well as several high-profile international conferences and reports – all contributed in putting climate skeptics on the back foot.Even Donald Trump, who previously claimed that the climate crisis was a “hoax” invented by China to hold back American industry, has recently begun to brag about all his administration has done to address it. Following suit, the rest of his party is scrambling to develop a coherent environmental platform, more in line with their electoral base’s shifting views.But the next steps in the global fight against the climate crisis remain far from clear. In the speech she delivered to US Congress in September, Thunberg maintained: “No matter how political the background to this cri

Alligators, pricey bananas and naked people: 2019 in Florida

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In 2019, Florida Banana managed to eclipse Florida Man. From alligator antics to naked people doing wacky things, Florida did not disappoint in the weird news department this year. In December, a Miami couple spent more than $100,000 on the “unicorn of the art world” — a banana duct-taped to a wall — during Art Basel. Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan sold three editions of “Comedian,” each in the $120,000 to $150,000 range. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/39jn2Lj

Rudy Giuliani reportedly participated in a phone call with Nicolás Maduro. The White House was confused.

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You've probably heard about President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani getting involved with Ukraine, but he also played a role in back-channel negotiations regarding Venezuela, The Washington Post reports. And nobody was really sure why.In September 2018, Giuliani, who isn't an official member of the Trump administration, reportedly listened in on a phone call between Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and then-Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) — who went on to assist Giuliani in the ouster of former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch — in which the sides discussed easing Maduro from power.When White House officials eventually found out about Giuliani's participation in the phone call, alarms bell went off, the Post reports. They reportedly couldn't figure out why someone in a private role was getting involved in a shadow diplomatic effort, especially because Giuliani and Sessions' plan went against the White House's official sanctions-heavy stan

United, Delta, and American Airlines flight attendants reveal their favorite planes to fly on

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Seven flight attendants told Business Insider what their favorite plane is and why. Airbus received four responses, followed by Boeing with two. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/367eODH

GOP Senator: ‘There Are No Rules’ for Senate Impeachment Trial

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Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) claimed on Sunday’s broadcast of State of the Union that there are no “substantive rules” when it comes to holding an impeachment trial and that the Constitution doesn’t provide much guidance to the Senate.CNN anchor Jake Tapper noted that Kennedy had previously said his objective in President Donald Trump’s impeachment is to be fair to both sides. He asked the lawmaker about Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) saying she was “disturbed” that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would coordinate with the White House on impeachment.“Were you also bothered when Majority Leader McConnell said there would be no daylight between him and the White House?” Tapper asked.“I think Senator McConnell is entitled to his opinion and his approach. So is Senator Murkowski,” Kennedy stated, adding that if you look at specific case law on impeachment, “the rule is there is no substantive rules.”“It is not a criminal trial,” he continued. “The Senate is not really a jury. It is

Turkey arrests 94 Islamic State suspects ahead of New Year

Turkish police detained 94 people suspected of ties to Islamic State in nationwide raids on Monday ahead of New Year celebrations, police and state media said, two months after the group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed. Counter-terror police carried out the operations in the central provinces of Ankara, Kayseri and Adana, and Batman in the southeast, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported. At 5 a.m. (0200 GMT) in Batman, some 400 police officers detained 22 people in simultaneous raids on various addresses, seizing weapons, ammunition and documents, Anadolu said. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/36bfecv

Saudi Arabia Sentences Man to Death for Theater Stabbings: TV

(Bloomberg) -- A Saudi Arabian court sentenced a Yemeni man to death for stabbing three performers at a theater show in the capital last month in an attack ordered by al-Qaeda, state-run TV reported.Another defendant was jailed for 12 1/2 years, Al Ekhbariya channel reported, citing the criminal court. The attack, in which three people were injured, was ordered by al-Qaeda in neighboring Yemen, the broadcaster said. It didn’t specify where it got the information.The mid-November attack in Riyadh came as the conservative kingdom undergoes a drastic overhaul of its social norms spearheaded by its young crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Saudis have been granted freedoms that include the loosening of rules on women’s attire and travel as well as the mixing of genders in conjunction with a plan to wean the economy off oil.The court rulings were preliminary and both defendants can file appeals.\--With assistance from Sarah Algethami.To contact the reporter on this story: Reema Alothman in R

California's groundbreaking privacy law takes effect in January. What does it do?

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Landmark law, the ‘most comprehensive’ in the US, gives Californians an arsenal of tools to protect their data online Last year, California passed a landmark privacy law that gives consumers more control over their data. The legislation gives residents unprecedented rights to control what information companies collect on them and how it is used.The California Consumer Privacy Act will go into action 1 January 2020, giving residents of the state a whole new arsenal of tools to protect their data and personal information online – and saddling businesses with a lot more responsibility.Here is everything you need to know about California’s “groundbreaking” new privacy law. What is the law?The California Consumer Privacy Act, passed in 2018, is the “most comprehensive” privacy legislation to be enacted in the United States to date, according to the American Bar Association.Under the new regulations, California residents will be able to demand companies to disclose what information is collec

Judge dismisses lawsuit from Bolton deputy regarding Ukraine testimony

Charles Kupperman filed suit in October after he was subpoenaed by the House Intelligence Committee. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Qe1ZCp

Hasan Minhaj’s 2020 Advice: Be Like Mitch McConnell

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Before signing off for 2019, Hasan Minhaj has turned his eye towards 2020. The host of Netflix’s Patriot Act ended his final episode of the year by sharing some updates from stories he covered earlier in the year, including an interview during which he tried to get Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to accept Islam as his “one true faith.” Two weeks later, his brownface scandal erupted. “Little did I know he had actually converted decades ago,” Minhaj joked.  The biggest problem of 2019, he went on to argue, is that “we’re exposed to all the news, all the time, which makes us feel like we have to care about everything all the time.” It’s called “compassion fatigue” and Minhaj compared it to feeling like you have “50 tabs open in our mental browsers and we’re about to crash.” “You know who really figured out 2019?” he asked, before adding, “You’re not going to like this.” He was talking about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. “We’ve shat on Mitch McConnell all year. ‘He’s a go

Machete Attacker Stabs 5 at NY Rabbi’s Hanukkah Celebration

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A masked, machete-wielding man barged into a Hanukkah celebration and stabbed five people at a rabbi’s home in Monsey, New York, on Saturday evening, intensifying fears anti-Semitic violence after a spate of incidents last week. The assailant escaped but the NYPD quickly picked up a suspect. Law-enforcement sources identified him as Grafton Thomas, 37, who has several previous arrests on his record, including one for punching a police horse. He was turned over to the state police, and will face five counts of attempted murder.The terrifying ambush—which took place in Rockland County, a northern suburb that has the highest per capita Jewish population in the U.S.—drew swift condemnation from public officials from Israel to Washington. Gov. Andrew Cuomo called it an “act of domestic terrorism.”According to Ramapo Police Chief Brad Weidel, a man covering his face with a scarf knocked on the door at Rabbi Rottenburg’s shul during the seventh night of Hanukkah just as the rabbi was lighting

Turkey evacuates wounded after deadly Mogadishu blast

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A Turkish military cargo plane landed in the Somali capital on Sunday to evacuate people badly wounded in a devastating truck bombing that killed at least 90 people including two Turkish nationals. The plane also brought emergency medical staff and supplies, the Turkish embassy said in a tweet, adding these had been taken to a Turkish-run hospital in Mogadishu. Somali Information Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir Mareye told state media that 10 Somalis who were badly wounded in Saturday's blast would be evacuated to Turkey. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2F54cJY

Trump to Counter-Program Next Democratic Debate: Campaign Update

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(Bloomberg) -- Democrats seeking to replace Donald Trump in the White House will have some competition for television viewers during their next debate: The incumbent president himself.Trump’s campaign announced Monday that his next rally would be in Milwaukee on Jan. 14. That’s the same day as the Democratic candidates’ seventh debate, in Des Moines, Iowa.Trump’s impeachment could complicate matters. It’s unclear whether the Democratic debate will proceed if the Senate is holding a trial on articles of impeachment the U.S. House passed earlier this month. Three senators -- Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota -- have qualified for the debate so far.The Milwaukee rally would be the second of the new year for the president. He is to hold a rally Jan. 9 in Toledo, Ohio. Trump won both of the Midwestern states in 2016 and his campaign regards them as critical for his re-election next year.A Trump campaign spokesman, Tim Murtaugh, said

Twitter system 'outage' briefly blocked Trump whistleblower tweet

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A tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump that identified an intelligence analyst as the alleged whistleblower who helped spark his impeachment was temporarily blocked at the weekend, with Twitter blaming an outage that affected a number of user accounts. In recent days, Trump shared an unsubstantiated media report and a second post that appeared to name the intelligence community member. It was visible again on Sunday afternoon, although the original account that shared the alleged whistleblower's name had been deleted. from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/39xQehI

Duterte Renews Attacks on TV Network, Urges Owners to Sell

(Bloomberg) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte continued his attacks on a local television network he’s accused in the past of bias, and urged owners of ABS-CBN Corp. to sell before its franchise expires in March.In a televised speech delivered in the local language at Davao City on Monday, Duterte suggested the media firm’s franchise renewal is uncertain. He had earlier threatened to block the network’s bid to extend the franchise for 25 years.“Your contract is expiring. I’m not sure what will happen if you renew,” he said. “If I were you, I would just sell.”Duterte has accused ABS-CBN as well as privately-owned Philippine Daily Inquirer of unfair reporting, allegations that the media companies have denied. The president’s criticisms of ABS-CBN pushed its share price to a decade low earlier this month. The stock ended 2019 with a 21% loss compared with the local benchmark index’s 4.7% gain for the year.Duterte also resumed his criticism of water utilities for alleged corruption,