- PoliticsYahoo NewsU.S. spymaster says evidence on Russian hacking has only gotten stronger
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper listens to questions while testifying alongside Adm. Michael Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, right, before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday on foreign cyberthreats. The country’s top intelligence official set down a marker for President-elect Donald Trump Thursday, saying that evidence the Russian government sought to interfere in the U.S. election had only gotten stronger in recent months and included a “multifaceted campaign” of propaganda, “disinformation” and “fake news” in addition to the cyberattack on the Democratic National Committee. “I don’t think we have ever encountered a more aggressive or direct campaign to interfere in our election process than we saw in this instance,” Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
- NewsInside EditionSisters Unable to Say Goodbye to Dying Father After They Say They Were Kicked Off Flight
Trisha Baker and Debbie Hartman were leaving Orlando on Allegiant Airlines to visit their ailing 84-year-old father in a hospice in Asheville, North Carolina, Monday. Debbie was sitting a few rows behind her sister. Trisha says she walked back and took the empty seat across the aisle from Debbie to console her, catching the attendant of a flight attendant. Fellow passengers say they were appalled at the attitude of one flight attendant in particular.
NewsAssociated PressEvidence paints Dylann Roof as racist, drifting lonerBefore Dylann Roof was arrested for killing nine black church members, he scribbled a note to his mother, apologizing for all the repercussions his actions would cause. Jurors who convicted Roof of hate crimes and other charges will decide whether he should be executed or face life in prison. Roof has pointed out that there was no dramatic confrontation that led him to begin hating blacks.
BusinessAFPMexican leader defends fuel price hikeMexican President Enrique Pena Nieto defended on Wednesday a steep increase in gasoline prices but said he understood people's "anger" against the measure, as protests entered a fourth day. Pena Nieto said the 20.1 percent increase in the cost of a liter of gasoline was necessary due to a rise in global oil prices. Mexicans have held protests and blocked highways every day since the measure was implemented on January 1.
- BusinessPopular MechanicsToyota's CES Concept Car Is Something Else
Say hello to Toyota's Concept-i, a far-out concept car the automaker unveiled during its press conference at CES 2017. Like all concept cars, this is intended not to hit the road as-is but to demonstrate the carmaker's vision of the future. As Toyota Research Institute head Gill Pratt explained during the demo, that vision involves two things: making the car safer, and changing the way people interact with their vehicles.
- NewsInternational Business TimesMenendez Case Gets An ABC Special
About 27 years have passed since the Menendez brothers killed their parents, but ABC News is reopening and diving into their sordid story this week. The network was set to air "Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers," a two-hour documentary special on the infamous case, Thursday at 9 p.m. EST. It was August 1989 when Erik and Lyle Menendez, then aged 18 and 21 years, respectively, ended the lives of their parents, Cuban-American entertainment executive Jose Menendez and his wife, Kitty.
- NewsThe AtlanticComing Soon to the U.S. Army: Turbans, Beards, Hijabs, and Dreadlocks
The Army has issued a new regulation: Effective immediately, brigade-level commanders will be able to grant accommodations to servicemen and women who wear beards, turbans, or hijabs for religious reasons—the three most common requests for waivers to current guidelines on grooming and dress, according to a letter from the Secretary of the Army, Eric Fanning. It came about largely in response to litigation and advocacy from Sikh servicemen who wear beards and turbans for religious reasons, and who wanted to be able to keep them while actively serving. It’s possible that the Army felt it had no options and wanted to put the issue to rest, but also possible the directive reflects some other unstated motive.
- U.S.Yahoo News Photo StaffLondon Zoo begins annual residents count
Keepers at ZSL London zoo began the mammoth task of counting the park’s more than 700 species using treats to entice some animals out for the annual stocktake. Information collected is then shared with other zoos around the world to help in the protection of endangered species.
NewsReutersChicago's gang violence catches highway drivers in crossfireJonathan Ortiz and other members of his rap group, No Nights Off, stepped onto the stage at Chicago's House of Blues in mid-September for a concert they hoped would propel their young, promising careers. Less than two weeks later, the 22-year-old Ortiz, who forebodingly rapped under the stage name "John Doe," was fatally shot as he drove on an expressway in Chicago. Ortiz and Garcia were victims of the 38th shooting on Chicago-area expressways in 2016, a record-high number for a city stung by a murder rate not seen in two decades.
- PoliticsYahoo NewsIntelligence chief: Russia’s election interference went far beyond hacks
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper says the Russian government’s interference with the United States election went far beyond the now highly publicized hacks of Democratic email accounts, which were merely one part of a multilayered campaign of propaganda and deception. The intelligence leader outlined various methods wielded by Moscow to interfere with U.S. institutions during Thursday morning testimony on cyberattacks before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The testimony comes at a point of tension between the U.S. intelligence community and Donald Trump.
- PoliticsYahoo NewsPence: Trump will sign executive orders to begin repealing Obamacare on Day 1
Vice President-elect Mike Pence says that the first priority of President-elect Donald Trump is to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. “Obamacare has failed,” Pence said after a meeting with House Republicans on Wednesday. Pence said Trump will sign executive orders related to repealing President Obama’s signature health care law on his first day in office Jan. 20.
- NewsAssociated PressMountain lion kitten killed on Southern California freeway
A mountain lion kitten has been struck and killed on a Southern California freeway — the same road where his mother died last month, it was announced Thursday. The death of the 7-month-old male known as P-52 was announced by the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife will conduct a necropsy to determine whether P-52 had been healthy, according to the posting.
- PoliticsMashableTwitter account imagines how Trump would tweet if he was mature
While some people turn to yoga or meditation when they're stressed, Trump heads to Twitter. The future leader of the free world has had multiple emotional outbursts on the platform as of late. It's discomfiting, for some, to imagine how poor grammar
- TechnologyCar and DriverToyota Concept-i: More Like Concept AI
The Toyota Concept-i is a car with personality—literally. Think of the Concept-i as the vehicular equivalent of the brand’s Kirobo Mini robot currently sold in Japan. As such, the cab-forward concept car is able to dynamically adjust the amount of autonomous intervention it deems necessary to assist the driver.
- NewsInside EditionParents of Boy Who Pushed Dresser Off Twin Brother Insist Video is Not a Hoax
The parents of the Utah toddler who pushed a dresser off his twin brother are defending themselves against claims that video of the incident is fake. Kayli Shoff told Good Morning America: that her "heart sank" after she watched surveillance video of her 2-year-old twins climbing the dresser before it toppled over, pinning her son, Brock, underneath. After trying and failing to lift the dresser, Brock's twin brother, Bowdy, was eventually was able to push it aside, freeing the boy.
- BusinessRoad & TrackAlfa Romeo Doubles U.S. Sales With New Giulia
It's hard to believe, but the long-awaited Alfa Romeo Giulia has officially hit the U.S. market. The Giulia is doing big things for Alfa too–it's already outselling the 4C sports car, and it doubled the Italian automaker's U.S. sales last month. This information comes from Fiat Chrysler's monthly sales report, which states that Alfa Romeo sold a whopping 52 cars last month.
- U.S.ABC News VideosMenendez Family Turmoil in Beverly Hills: Part 3
Family members and friends said Jose and Kitty Menendez's marriage was on the rocks and that Jose saw his sons as disappointments. By early 1989, the Menendez family was living in a mansion in Beverly hills. Which, according to some of the witnesses, was kitty Menendez's dream.
- NewsInternational Business Times2 Teenagers Dead Among 12 Shot In Chicago
The new year brought no relief from gun-related violence to Chicago: Two teenagers were shot to death on the city's West Side, among 12 people shot within 13 hours Tuesday. Police dispatched to the scene of the shooting in the East Garfield Park neighborhood, roughly 5 miles west of the Chicago Loop, found one of the boys dead. Lillie Turner, 65, was shot in the leg by stray bullets from the same gunfire that killed the two boys.
WorldAFPIran hits back at Syria truce criticism from TurkeyIran has hit back at "unconstructive" Turkish allegations that Tehran's allies were violating a fragile ceasefire in Syria, accusing rebels of breaking the truce. "The current ceasefire in Syria has been violated repeatedly by the anti-government armed opposition groups," foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said Wednesday. Ghasemi criticised the "unconstructive remarks" and said they could "further complicate the current situation" in Syria.
- PoliticsYahoo NewsBernie Sanders displays giant Trump tweet on Senate floor
With the fight over health care in Congress brewing, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders took to the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon to argue against the Republican plan to repeal Obamacare. In the May 7, 2015, tweet, which came before Trump announced his presidential campaign, the real estate mogul bragged that he was the first potential GOP candidate to pledge no cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — and that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee had “copied” him.
- NewsAssociated PressWestern snowstorm draws skiers, but leaves deadly conditions
At Deer Valley in Utah, Emily Summers said her boss kicked her and her co-workers out of the office Thursday and told them to hit the slopes and take advantage of a winter that only comes once a decade. The storms pounded parts of California, Utah, Colorado and other states as they made their way east, creating difficult driving conditions and closing roads.
NewsReutersNew York train crash injures more than 100 commutersEmergency crews swarmed Atlantic Terminal after the Long Island Rail Road train went off the tracks inside the busy transportation hub at 8:20 a.m. local time, the New York City Fire Department said. Traveling at a fairly slow speed, it derailed after striking a bumping block, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at the briefing.
LifestyleAFP Relax NewsGet ready for the most extreme Bentley in historyOn January 6, Bentley will be officially taking the wraps off the Continental GT Supersports, a premium car where the premium is well and truly on performance not passenger pampering. Following hot on the heels of its new Black Edition Continental with aggressive body kit, Bentley is getting ready to launch another special GT but this one promises to offer supercar-like acceleration to match the external styling. Until now, the title of the most extreme and supercar-like Bentley in history has been held by the very rare and very expensive Continental GT3-R.
- NewsInside EditionChurch Shooter Dylann Roof Tells Jurors During Sentencing Hearing: 'There's Nothing Wrong With Me'
The young man, who gunned down nine people during a prayer meeting at a historically black church, was representing himself at a sentencing hearing that began Wednesday. Roof spoke so softly that people in court had trouble hearing him. Roof, 22, was convicted in December of federal murder and hate crime charges for the June 2015 shooting rampage at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.
- PoliticsInternational Business TimesTillerson, Exxon Confirm $180M Retirement Agreement
United States President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet pick for the position of secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, is set to receive more than $180 million as he severs his ties with his former company–ExxonMobil. If Tillerson, the former chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, is confirmed to the post through upcoming hearings before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee that start from Jan. 11, he will be paid in cash for his previously set retirement package that was pegged at the value of two million unvested shares over the next ten years and the money will be transferred to an independently managed trust, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Upon confirmation, Tillerson would be committed to selling his more than 600,000 vested Exxon shares worth about $54 million.
