- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump on Stone sentencing: 'I'd love to see Roger exonerated'
President Trump on Thursday weighed in on the sentencing of his longtime friend and ally Roger Stone to 40 months in federal prison for lying to Congress, obstruction and witness tampering. Speaking at a Las Vegas graduation ceremony at the city's Metropolitan Police Department headquarters for ex-offenders two days after issuing 11 pardons and commutations, Trump said he was following the Stone case “very closely,” and that “I'd love to see Roger exonerated. I want to see it play out to its fullest because Roger has a very good chance of exoneration in my opinion,” the president said.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Elizabeth Warren trolls Republican donor with ad in his paper telling him how much tax she'll make him pay
Elizabeth Warren has bought ad space in a newspaper owned by Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, taunting the billionaire with an estimate for how much he would pay during the first year of her presidency with her promised 2 per cent wealth tax. “With that small wealth tax, we can invest in Nevada families,” it continues. Ms Warren's ad was printed in the newspaper the morning after she seemed to dominate the Democratic debate in the same city by mounting a full-throated attack on another billionaire, democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg.
- WorldAssociated Press
Ukrainians hurl stones at evacuees from China
Ukraine's effort to quarantine more than 70 people evacuated from China over the new virus outbreak plunged into chaos Thursday as local residents opposing the move hurled stones at the evacuees and clashed with police. Officials deplored the violence and the country's health minister pledged to share evacuees' quarantine for two weeks in a bid to reassure protesters who fear they'll be infected. Buses carrying evacuees were finally able to reach the designated place of quarantine after hours of clashes.
U.S.AFPSuspects in abduction, murder of 7-year-old Mexican girl detained
Mexican authorities arrested a couple believed to have kidnapped, tortured and murdered a seven year-old girl on Wednesday, days after the discovery of the victim's body sparked protests in the violence-wracked country. The suspects "were detained in a town in the State of Mexico," Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum tweeted, without giving more detail. Prosecutors on Tuesday released pictures of the two suspects -- identified as Giovana and Mario Alberto "N" -- after searching a house near the victim's home.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Intelligence employee pleads guilty to leaking classified info to journalists
WASHINGTON – Henry Kyle Frese pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to illegally transmitting national defense information to journalists. Frese, 31, was employed as a counterterrorism analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency from February 2018 to October 2019, and held a top-secret clearance. “Frese violated the trust placed in him by the American people when he disclosed sensitive national security information for personal gain,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers in a statement.
- EntertainmentArchitectural Digest
9 Rural Farms of the 21st Century Featuring Stunning Modern Design
From Italy to Tasmania, a new book covers those farms with an eye on both sustainability and beautiful design Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
Have we reached peak Bloomberg? New poll shows potential drop off and a spike in dissatisfaction
Yana Paskova / Getty Insider's latest poll found a spike in voter dissatisfaction with Bloomberg as the potential Democratic nominee. Bloomberg's profile in the race has risen since Iowa and New Hampshire — where he did not compete — as he's set to enter the debate stage tonight and hit the ballot on Super Tuesday. The former New York City Mayor's net support for the nomination may have hit a ceiling.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
Racist German Shooter Exposes the Global Network of Hate
Late Wednesday night in the central German city Hanau, a gunman that police have identified as 43-year-old Tobias Rathjen opened fire at two shisha bars. They're the kind of places favored by people who enjoy a laid-back atmosphere as they puff tobacco bubbling through water-filled hookahs, and on any given evening, many of those folks may be from Turkish, Kurdish, or North African backgrounds. They're quiet places for conversation and minding your own business.
- U.S.NBC News
Airport worker with no license takes plane for spin near D.C., almost crashes, feds say
A Virginia man piloted at least one plane without a license in 2018, in a dangerous journey that ended with a "bounced" landing, federal authorities said. Ryan Guy Parker "knowingly and willfully" flew above suburban Washington D.C., posing a "significant risk of injury and death" to himself and the public, according to an affidavit by U.S. Department of Transportation Special Agent Bret Stolle. In a Sept. 27, 2018 trip out of Shannon Airport in Fredericksburg, Parker nearly crashed on touch down, Stolle wrote.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Rohrabacher confirms he offered Trump pardon to Assange for proof Russia didn't hack DNC email
Former California Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher confirmed in a new interview that during a three-hour meeting at the Ecuadorian Embassy in August 2017, he told Julian Assange he would get President Trump to give him a pardon if he turned over information proving the Russians had not been the source of internal Democratic National Committee emails published by WikiLeaks. In a phone interview with Yahoo News, Rohrabacher said his goal during the meeting was to find proof for a widely debunked conspiracy theory: that WikiLeaks' real source for the DNC emails was not Russian intelligence agents, as U.S. officials have since concluded, but former DNC staffer Seth Rich, who was murdered on the streets of Washington in July 2016 in what police believe was a botched robbery.
- U.S.Yahoo News Video
Virginia lawmakers reject assault weapons ban over fears of potential civil war
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's push to ban the sale of assault weapons has failed after members of his own party balked at the proposal. Senators voted to shelve the bill for the year and ask the state crime commission to study the issue, an outcome that drew cheers from a committee room packed with gun advocates.
- U.S.Associated Press
Report: California prisoner confesses to killing 2 molesters
A California prison inmate confessed in a letter that he beat two child molesters to death with a cane while behind bars just hours after his urgent warning to a counselor that he might become violent was ignored, a newspaper chain reported Thursday. Jonathan Watson, 41, confessed in the letter to the Bay Area News Group in Northern California that he clubbed both men in the head on Jan. 16 at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran. “We can't comment on an active investigation," Dana Simas, spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, wrote in an email.
WorldAFPNew virus cases soar in S.Korea and Chinese prisons, more die in Iran
Two more people died from the new coronavirus in Iran, infections nearly doubled in South Korea, and clusters surfaced in Chinese prisons Friday, rekindling concerns about an epidemic that has killed more than 2,200 people in China. The World Health Organization warned nations could face a serious problem if they fail to "hit hard now" against the virus, which has infected more than 75,000 in China and over 1,100 abroad. China has pointed to official figures showing new cases slowing this week as evidence that its drastic containment measures are working, but fresh infections emerged at two Beijing hospitals, and more than 500 others were reported in prisons across the country.
- U.S.The Independent
Death row inmate scheduled to die by electric chair loses last attempt at life in prison
The Tennessee governor has denied clemency to a murderer on death row following a last-ditch effort to get him life in prison made by multiple people, including a former guard who says the man saved his life. Nicholas Sutton, 58, is scheduled to die by electric chair on Thursday evening for the 1985 murder of inmate Carl Estep. His attorneys filed an appeal for clemency on 14 January, and it included multiple people advocating for removing Mr Sutton from death row.
- PoliticsReuters
Democrat Warren, worried campaign will run out of cash, taps $3 million loan
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren raised more money than most of her Democratic presidential rivals in the weeks before the Iowa caucuses, but spent so heavily that her campaign took out a $3 million loan fearing she would run out of cash. Warren raised $10.4 million in contributions in January -- more than former Vice President Joe Biden's $9 million and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg's $6 million -- but ended the month with only $2.3 million in cash, according to disclosures filed on Thursday. All of the presidential hopefuls were required to submit financial disclosures on Thursday, public documents that offer insights into how they are managing their multi-million campaign operations.
- PoliticsThe Week
Chuck Todd gets existential with billionaire Michael Bloomberg: 'Should you exist?'
Some of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's rivals don't think he should exist. Or rather, they don't think the billions of dollars he has in the bank should've ever been his. So during Wednesday night's Democratic, Meet The Press host Chuck Todd posed the very meta question to Bloomberg himself.
- WorldUSA TODAY
Coronavirus: CDC issues new travel notices for Hong Kong, Japan
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new advisories on Wednesday for travelers going to Hong Kong and Japan in the wake of the deadly coronavirus spreading across the world. The advisories are notably only a "level 1," a "watch," meaning travelers should exercise "usual precautions," unlike the "level 3" issued for China Jan. 27, which warns to "avoid nonessential travel." China's "level 3" advisory excludes Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
Ilhan Omar’s Challenger Is Literally on the Run From the Law
It's not unheard-of for members of Congress to resign their seats because of serious legal trouble. Now Republican House candidate Danielle Stella is trying to achieve the inverse: getting elected to Congress while being wanted by the law. Stella, one of the five Republicans competing for the right to take on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) in November, has been wanted for months on an arrest warrant for felony shoplifting.
- U.S.NBC News
Airports warn of chaos with looming Real ID license deadline
The nation's airports are warning of chaos for passengers if the White House doesn't postpone the looming Real ID deadline. The law requires airline passengers to present a Real ID-compliant driver's license or ID card at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints in airports as of Oct. 1. Without a Real ID, airline passengers will be required to present a passport, military ID or Global Entry card to pass through security, even for domestic flights.
- PoliticsYahoo News Video
Stone’s sentencing to begin after judge refuses new trial request
Roger Stone, a longtime ally of President Trump and a self-described political dirty trickster, is set to be sentenced on Thursday for his attempts to sabotage a congressional investigation that posed a political threat to the president.
- WorldAssociated Press
Germany's immigrant community in Hanau reeling after attack
In the German town of Hanau, a longtime immigrant destination with decades of coexistence between people of different origins, residents were left with the fear Thursday that their community was targeted after a gunman shot and killed nine people of foreign background. Residents shook their heads at a level of violence that is rare in Germany, and wondered at the degree of anti-foreigner hatred expressed by the attack in a place where Turks and ethnic Kurds patronize the same hookah bars, and where members of both groups were among the victims along with people with roots in Bulgaria, Bosniaand Romania, according to media reports. Among the dead was the owner of the Midnight Shisha Bar, an immigrant from Turkey who worked and saved to buy his own business, along with the gaming kiosk next door.
- WorldBusiness Insider
South Korea accepted that its efforts to stop the coronavirus infecting the country failed, and says it's pivoting to containment
With coronavirus cases soaring, the government in South Korea said Friday that it has failed to keep the virus out of the country, and must now focus on containment. It is the most-infected place outside China. The country has urged people in a city of 2.5 million people to stay in their homes and banned some public gatherings.
WorldAFPFour things to know about Pope Pius XII's archives
The March 2 unsealing of the archives of Pope Pius XII, the controversial World War II-era pontiff, whose papacy lasted from 1939 to 1958, has been awaited for decades by Jewish groups and historians. The controversy over Pius XII hinges on whether the head of the Catholic Church, a former diplomat of the Holy See in Germany, remained too silent during the Holocaust, never publicly condemning the Nazis. The most sensitive archives, comprising the World War II period, have already been largely published by the Vatican.
- U.S.Reuters
China says will help manage Mekong as report warns of dam danger
VIENTIANE/BANGKOK (Reuters) - China on Thursday said it was helping its downstream neighbors cope with a prolonged drought by releasing more water from its dams on the Mekong River, adding it would consider sharing information on hydrology to provide further assistance in the future. The statement came as a new economic report predicted that the building of dams to harness hydropower on the Mekong River would reshape the economies of five countries along the waterway, fuelling long-term inflation and dependence on China. The drought over the past year has severely hurt farming and fishing in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam, and many blame China's 11 dams on the upper Mekong - which China calls the Lancang River - as well as climate change.
- PoliticsThe National Interest
Kill Shot: Did Elizabeth Warren Just Knock Michael Bloomberg Out of the Presidential Race?
Last night former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made his first appearance on the 2020 Democratic debate stage to optically disastrous results (others disagree, see this). As predicted, Elizabeth Warren was on the offensive throughout the debate, launching direct verbal attacks on her opponents in an attempt to resuscitate her dwindling campaign ahead of Super Tuesday. “Democrats are not going to win if we have a nominee who has a history of hiding his tax returns, of harassing women, and of supporting racist policies like redlining and stop and frisk.” She followed this statement by assuring viewers she would still support Bloomberg if he was the Democratic nominee.
“Statehood will finally give the fundamental democratic right to congressional representation to more than 700,000 Americans.”
“Republicans correctly see the D.C. statehood ploy as the Democratic political power grab that it is.”
“The Senate is now a place where legislation goes to die...But there’s a way to start fixing it: Make the District of Columbia a state.”
“The Founding Fathers rejected the idea that the nation’s capital should be in one of the states.”
“Efforts to keep home rule out of reach for D.C. have historically been motivated by racist beliefs."
