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Republicans Turn Up Heat on Gordon Sondland in Impeachment Hearing
Republicans Turn Up Heat on Gordon Sondland in Impeachment Hearing

Republicans sought to discredit EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland, a key witness in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

The FBI Inspector General's Report Has Bad News for Democrats, Too

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- The long-awaited report from the Justice Department's inspector general on the origins of the FBI's investigation into President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign is now public, and it finds that the initial investigation was deeply flawed but nonetheless justified. The senior officials and agents who opened the investigation, says the report, made serious mistakes but were not motivated by political bias.Some Democrats, predictably, are claiming vindication. Some Republicans, just as predictably, are challenging its findings. Neither side is completely wrong - or right, for that matter - but the Democrats might want to show a bit more humility.The report is devastating...

'S--- just got real': DOJ watchdog uncovers pro-Trump text messages between FBI agents after 2016 election

"I saw a lot of scared MFers on...[my way to work] this morning," one FBI agent texted another. "Start looking for new jobs fellas. Haha."

Trump, Russia and Ukraine: Five presidential conspiracy theories debunked
Trump, Russia and Ukraine: Five presidential conspiracy theories debunked

Here's a guide to the facts -- and the fictions -- behind some of President Trump's assertions about Russia, Ukraine and the 2016 election.

Elizabeth Warren reveals she earned $2 million from 30 years of private legal work as she feuds with Pete Buttigieg over financial transparency
Elizabeth Warren reveals she earned $2 million from 30 years of private legal work as she feuds with Pete Buttigieg over financial transparency

Buttigieg's campaign has honed in Warren's previous private legal work, seeking to cast her as a "corporate lawyer" at odds her campaign message.

GOP leader Kevin McCarthy falsely insists a president has 'never' been impeached in their 1st term

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) doesn't quite have his impeachment facts straight."In modern history, we've never gone after impeaching a president in the first term," McCarthy said in a Monday appearance on Fox News ahead of the House Judiciary Committee's second public impeachment hearing. McCarthy then claimed longtime impeachment advocate Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) had once said "we have to impeach [Trump] because we cannot beat him." Green specifically said he was "concerned that if we don't impeach this president, he will get re-elected" and "say he has been vindicated."> "In modern history, we've never gone after...

Family honors Florida UPS driver slain in police shootout
Family honors Florida UPS driver slain in police shootout

Family and friends honored on Monday a UPS driver who was killed in a shootout between Florida police and the robbery suspects who had hijacked his delivery truck. Loved ones filed by Frank Ordonez's open casket at a Miami funeral home to pay respects to the 27-year-old driver. Some UPS employees showed up in the brown company uniform to express condolences to Ordonez's family.

Sweden charges former China envoy over dissident bookseller case

Swedish prosecutors said on Monday they had brought criminal charges against the country's former ambassador to China over unauthorized meetings in Stockholm aimed at freeing dissident bookseller Gui Minhai. Anna Lindstedt was replaced as ambassador in February amid a furore over her alleged role in setting up the meetings with people representing the Chinese government, which Sweden's foreign ministry said had not been authorized. Gui, a Hong Kong-based publisher of books critical of China's communist leaders and also a Swedish citizen, was abducted in Thailand in 2015 and later appeared in custody in mainland China.

Central Bank Limits, U.S. Immigration, U.K. Skills: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Explore what's moving the global economy in the new season of the Stephanomics podcast. Subscribe via Apple Podcast, Spotify or Pocket Cast.Good morning Americas. Here's the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get your day started:After years of crisis fighting, central bankers in key economies are entering a new decade with few good options to fight the next downturnThe closing of American borders to mass migration from Europe in the 1920s didn't raise wages for U.S.-born workers, according to researchers, who say their findings carry important lessons for todayAt least 15 central banks are holding their final monetary policy meetings of the year this...

Barr warned Trump for months that Rudy Giuliani was becoming a liability, but the president ignored him because he loves Giuliani
Barr warned Trump for months that Rudy Giuliani was becoming a liability, but the president ignored him because he loves Giuliani's fiery media appearances

Rudy Giuliani was a key figure in the events that sparked an impeachment probe, and his actions have long concerned Trump administration officials.

China claims all Uighur Muslims have happily
China claims all Uighur Muslims have happily 'graduated' from its oppressive prison camp system, despite widespread reports that at least 1 million are detained

Xinjiang governor Shohrat Zakir claimed that everyone had "graduated" from "vocational training camps," found employment, and are leading happy lives.

Ramaphosa Pledges Tough Love for Ailing South African Firms
Ramaphosa Pledges Tough Love for Ailing South African Firms

(Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Next Africa newsletter and follow Bloomberg Africa on TwitterPresident Cyril Ramaphosa said he's ready to make tough decisions about the future of South Africa's struggling state-owned companies, after placing the national airline into bankruptcy protection last week."Business rescue is not the preferred option for fixing our state-owned enterprises, nor would it be necessarily advisable in other circumstances," Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly open letter to the country. "But the resolve we have shown in putting South African Airways into business rescue cuts across all key state-owned enterprises. We are taking all necessary measures to turn them around."The...

Putin, new Ukrainian leader Zelenskiy meet for first time
Putin, new Ukrainian leader Zelenskiy meet for first time

President Vladimir Putin of Russia met with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine for the first time Monday at a summit in Paris to try to end five years of war between Ukrainian troops and Moscow-backed separatists. Both sat down at the French presidential palace along with the leaders of France and Germany for talks focused on reviving a 2015 peace agreement for eastern Ukraine that has largely stalled. A major breakthrough is unlikely, and Ukrainian protesters in Kyiv are heaping pressure on their new leader not to surrender too much to Putin, who has been in office nearly 20 years.

Meet the "Blue Magpie": Taiwan
Meet the "Blue Magpie": Taiwan's New Domestically-Made Fighter?

Here's what we know.

Turkey says it has deported 11 French terrorist suspects

Turkey said on Monday it had deported 11 French nationals back to France as part of a program to extradite what it says are foreign terrorist fighters. Turkey's Interior Ministry, which made the announcement, gave no details. France's Foreign Ministry declined to comment, but diplomatic sources said the 11 included four women and seven children.

Heads of U.S. Business Group in Hong Kong Denied Entry to Macau
Heads of U.S. Business Group in Hong Kong Denied Entry to Macau

A U.S. bill supporting protests in Hong Kong has increased tensions with China

Refugees may soon be barred from resettlement in one North Dakota county

Depending on how a local commission votes Monday, the population of Burleigh County, North Dakota, could look different in the very near future.For the first time in history, state and local governments have the authority to refuse to accept refugees, thanks to an executive order issued by President Trump in September. A commission in Burleigh County will vote Monday whether to bar new refugees from resettling in the county, home to 95,000 people. The state capital, Bismarck, is in the county, and Mayor Steve Bakken told The Associated Press he is concerned by how much refugees cost. "This isn't abut heartstrings, this is about purse strings," he said.In North Dakota, there are...

Anti-Semitism stokes fear and election angst in UK
Anti-Semitism stokes fear and election angst in UK's 'bagel belt'

Labour party candidate Holly Kal-Weiss sums up the mood of Jewish constituents she's met on the election campaign trail in the "bagel belt" constituencies around north London. Kal-Weiss, who is also Jewish, said the rift between the party she represents and her own community was personally "very painful", testing traditional loyalties and sowing division. Britain goes to the polls on Thursday and accusations of anti-Semitism that have dogged Labour and its leader, Jeremy Corbyn, could well influence the overall result.

Elizabeth Warren Made $1.9 Million as Bankruptcy Lawyer Over 24 Years
Elizabeth Warren Made $1.9 Million as Bankruptcy Lawyer Over 24 Years

(Bloomberg) -- Elizabeth Warren on Sunday said she made about $1.9 million working as a bankruptcy lawyer over three decades, a disclosure that comes after requests from the media and Pete Buttigieg for her to release her tax returns.Warren had previously released the names of the clients and cases she took on during her tenure as a professor at Harvard and other law schools, as well as 11 years of tax returns, dating back to 2008. The documents released Sunday cover her compensation between 1985 and 2009, but don't include tax returns.Warren has campaigned as a progressive in the presidential race, condemning big money in politics and calling for restraining the influence of large...

China says people held in Xinjiang camps have
China says people held in Xinjiang camps have 'graduated', condemns U.S. bill

People held in camps in China's Xinjiang region have now "graduated" and new trainees will have the freedom to come and go, the regional governor said on Monday. Governor Shohrat Zakir also hit out at Western criticism of the camps and said the United States had launched a smear campaign against Xinjiang. The United Nations and human rights groups estimate that between 1 million and 2 million people, mostly ethnic Uighur Muslims, have been detained in harsh conditions as part of what Beijing calls an anti-terrorism campaign.

Booker slams Democratic debate rules as he ends Iowa tour
Booker slams Democratic debate rules as he ends Iowa tour

Fighting to be in the next Democratic presidential debate, Cory Booker concluded a nearly 800-mile, 12-county tour of Iowa on Sunday by criticizing the Democratic party for allowing "elites" and "money" to control who gets on stage and urging voters to offer his name when pollsters call. "Iowa never lets elites decide," he told a crowd at his campaign office in Cedar Rapids on Sunday. Just six candidates are qualified for the Dec. 19 debate, and Booker is not one of them.

FBI Treating Pensacola Navy Shooting as Terrorism
FBI Treating Pensacola Navy Shooting as Terrorism

The FBI said Sunday that it is treating the mass shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola as an act of terrorism so it can amass more resources to investigate whether the Saudi gunman was spurred by an "ideology."Special Agent in Charge Rachel Rojas said authorities have not yet pinpointed shooter Mohammed Alshamrani's motive for Friday's ambush, which killed three and wounded eight."I can tell you that we are looking very hard at uncovering his motive and I would ask for patience so we can get this right," Rojas said at an afternoon press briefing."As we speak, members of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and Counterterrorism Division are working tirelessly to discern any possible...

Catholic Celebrity to Challenge Polish President in 2020 Vote

(Bloomberg) -- Szymon Holownia, a TV show host and writer known for his Catholic views, announced plans to run against incumbent Andrzej Duda in next year's presidential election.The 43-year-old political newcomer focused his announcement on social solidarity, climate protection and higher standards in Polish politics, characterized by what he called "a devouring clinch" between the ruling Law & Justice and the main opposition party Civic Platform."It's time for a man coming from the bottom to fix what's broken at the top," he said in his announcement speech delivered in a theater in Gdansk, north of Poland. "I want a Poland in which there's no "either-or," but "and-and," and where both...

Pearl Harbor veteran interred on sunken ship
Pearl Harbor veteran interred on sunken ship

With speeches and salutes, veterans and officials on Saturday commemorated the 78th anniversary of the 1941 sneak attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor, which brought a previously reluctant United States into World War II. A ceremony in Hawaii honoring survivors was attended by US Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Washington's ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris. It was held within sight of the sunken USS Arizona, which was bombed in the opening moments of the attack that killed more than 2,400 Americans.

Pearl Harbor veteran to be interred on sunken ship
Pearl Harbor veteran to be interred on sunken ship

With speeches and salutes, veterans and officials on Saturday commemorated the 78th anniversary of the 1941 sneak attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor, which brought a previously reluctant United States into World War II. A ceremony honoring survivors attended by US Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Washington's ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris was held within sight of the sunken USS Arizona, which was bombed in the opening moments of the attack that killed more than 2,400 Americans. Later in the day, the remains of Lauren Bruner, who died in September at age 98 and was among the last sailors rescued from the Arizona after it exploded into flames, will be interred in the wreckage.

Gambia to crack down on traffickers after migrant deaths
Gambia to crack down on traffickers after migrant deaths

Gambian President Adama Barrow on Saturday vowed to punish people traffickers as he mourned the deaths of 60 Europe-bound migrants who drowned off Mauritania when their boat capsized. "To lose 60 young lives at sea is a national tragedy and a matter of grave concern to my government," he said on national television. Barrow said 60 people were confirmed dead in Wednesday's tragedy.

Mike Bloomberg apologizes for calling Cory Booker "well spoken"
Mike Bloomberg apologizes for calling Cory Booker "well spoken"

"I probably shouldn't have used the word, but I could just tell you he is a friend of mine," Bloomberg said.

Saudi gunman called US
Saudi gunman called US 'nation of evil' before Florida shooting, monitoring group says

A Saudi trainee military pilot reportedly condemned the United States as a "nation of evil" before carrying out a mass shooting at a top US Navy base in Florida. Lieutenant Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani killed three people and injured eight before being shot dead himself by police at the Naval Air Station Pensacola. The Saudi Air Force officer, who was on a US-sponsored training programme, reportedly posted a manifesto on Twitter in which he wrote: "I'm against evil, and America as a whole has turned into a nation of evil." It went on: "I'm not against you for just being American, I don't hate you because your freedoms, I hate you because every day you supporting,...

Official documents shed light on Tokyo's role in 'comfort women': Kyodo

The Imperial Japanese Army asked the government to provide one "comfort woman" for every 70 soldiers, Japan's Kyodo news agency said, citing wartime government documents it had reviewed, shedding a fresh light on Tokyo's involvement in the practice. "Comfort women" is a euphemism for the girls and women - many of them Korean - forced into prostitution at Japanese military brothels. The issue has plagued Japan's ties with South Korea for decades.

Nord Stream 2 Sanctions to Be Included in Must-Pass Defense Bill
Nord Stream 2 Sanctions to Be Included in Must-Pass Defense Bill

(Bloomberg) -- Sanctions aimed at blocking the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany were included by U.S. lawmakers a must-pass defense bill, according to two people familiar with the legislation.The sanctions, which would apply to companies building the pipeline project of Russian energy company Gazprom PJSC, are modeled after a bill introduced earlier this year by Senators Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat.The measure targets vessels that lay the pipeline as well as executives from companies linked to those vessels, who could be denied visas and have transactions related to their U.S.-based property or interests blocked.The...

Schiff obtains, publicly releases phone records of political opponents and conservative journalist
Schiff obtains, publicly releases phone records of political opponents and conservative journalist

Reaction from special adviser to the president Pam Bondi and House Judiciary Committee member Matt Gaetz.

Saudis distance themselves from US naval base shooter
Saudis distance themselves from US naval base shooter

Saudi Arabia sought to distance itself Saturday from a student who carried out a fatal shooting at an American naval base, as it seeks to repair its image of being an exporter of Islamic extremism. The Saudi military trainee reportedly condemned the US as a "nation of evil" before going on a rampage Friday at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, killing three people and wounding eight. The shooting marks a setback in the kingdom's efforts to shrug off its longstanding reputation for promoting religious extremism after the September 11, 2001 attacks in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis.

It may not be HQ2 but AOC declares victory and trolls Amazon over New York expansion
It may not be HQ2 but AOC declares victory and trolls Amazon over New York expansion

"Won't you look at that: Amazon is coming to NYC anyway," even without $3 billion in tax breaks, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter.

Evidence tampering alleged in police chief firing case
Evidence tampering alleged in police chief firing case

A female Chicago police officer who was reportedly seen on video drinking with and kissing the now-fired police superintendent the night he was found asleep behind the wheel of his SUV has been accused of tampering with a cellphone investigators wanted to examine, a police department spokesman said Friday. Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said officials noticed that the phone was damaged when the woman left then-Superintendent Eddie Johnson's security detail to join the evidence and recovered property unit, three days after the incident. According to the Chicago Tribune, which first reported the allegations about the phone, a sergeant in the unit that the officer was joining...

Medicare Costs for Seniors Lowered in Senate Drug-Price Bill

(Bloomberg) -- Seniors would pay a smaller portion of their drugs' cost and be shielded from huge one-time expenses under a new version of a Senate drug-pricing bill.The second draft of the Senate Finance Committee's Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act lowers what Medicare beneficiaries are responsible for paying in the initial phase of their prescription plans from 25% to 20% after they've paid their deductibles.The measure also gives seniors the option to more evenly distribute what they pay each month for their medications, which would be capped at $3,100 a year.Part D plans and drug middlemen would also have to include price concessions and fees they negotiate with pharmacies at...

Bloomberg says his reporters must
Bloomberg says his reporters must 'live with' limits on coverage

Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg on Friday defended the policy implemented by his news agency to steer clear of investigating him, saying doing so would not be credible. Bloomberg told CBS News he "hired somebody outside" to run the Bloomberg News organization and establish policies for ethics. When asked about complaints from Bloomberg journalists that the policy to avoid investigating him or other Democratic candidates, he replied, that they "have to live with some things" about the job.

Passport of elusive Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud turns up in lost-and-found office in Madeira
Passport of elusive Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud turns up in lost-and-found office in Madeira

The passport of a mysterious Maltese academic implicated in the leaking of Hillary Clinton's emails to the Trump campaign and accused of being a spy, turned up in a lost and found office in Madeira, it is claimed. Joseph Mifsud, 59, an enigmatic law professor with links to universities in the UK and Italy, has not been seen in public for two years. His apparent disappearance is one of the strangest aspects of the scandal over alleged Russian interference in the US election process. His passport and wallet were handed to a lost and found office in Madeira airport in August 2017 and languished there for 17 months, according to BuzzFeed News. They were found in the coastal town of Câmara de...

A day in the life of a Peloton instructor who wakes up at 4:30 a.m., takes his mini poodle to dog parks, and loves cookies
A day in the life of a Peloton instructor who wakes up at 4:30 a.m., takes his mini poodle to dog parks, and loves cookies

Peloton, a fast-growing fitness brand, has developed a cult following in part because of energetic instructors like Oliver Lee.

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. But when confronted with that fact in a CBS This Morning interview, Bloomberg, one of those aforementioned billionaires, didn't seem to think it was a problem.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...

Gunman Who Killed 3 in Pensacola Navy Shooting Was Reportedly Saudi Student: Here
Gunman Who Killed 3 in Pensacola Navy Shooting Was Reportedly Saudi Student: Here's the Latest

The Escambia County Sheriff's Office has confirmed that the shooter is dead.

Top Indonesia graft buster warns on risk of spike in corruption

An Indonesian anti-corruption investigator, who was partially blinded in an acid attack in 2017, said on Friday a new law governing the country's anti-graft agency could unleash a spike in corruption in Southeast Asia's biggest economy. In September, Indonesia's parliament approved changes to a law overseeing the Corruption Eradication Commission, one of the country's most respected agencies, setting off protests, led by students and activists. Under the new law, the agency, known by its Indonesian initials KPK, will be overseen by an Oversight Council, handpicked by President Joko Widodo, and investigators will lose their right to wiretap suspects without a warrant.

Texas Democrats Urge Pelosi to Press for Border Security as Part of USMCA Deal
Texas Democrats Urge Pelosi to Press for Border Security as Part of USMCA Deal

As USMCA negotiations drag on, Texas Democrats Vicente Gonzalez and Filemon Vela urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to press Mexico for firm security commitments in the war on Mexican cartels to protect U.S. trade and tourism."We can no longer afford to be silent. This trade pact is critical to our economy and we need to get this right or risk standing in the way of our own economic success," Gonzalez said in the release. The representatives, who serve in districts that border Mexico, warned Pelosi in the letter that "while business and individuals alike have taken steps to mitigate the risks, including paying a protection fee to criminal organizations, this should not and cannot be the...

WTO Members Agree on a 2020 Budget, Averting Jan. 1 Shutdown
WTO Members Agree on a 2020 Budget, Averting Jan. 1 Shutdown

(Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. World Trade Organization members agreed to a preliminary 2020 budget, bowing to U.S. demands to choke off funding to the alliance's appellate body.The WTO's budget committee on Thursday gave initial approval to a 197.2 million-Swiss franc ($200 million) funding package for next year and agreed to delay their consideration of the 2021 budget, according to a spokesman for the Geneva-based institution.Last month, the Trump administration said it was considering a veto of the budget over its opposition to the WTO's appellate body, the panel that has the final say in trade disputes...

Flesh-eating bacteria tied to black tar heroin use kills 7 in San Diego, health officials say
Flesh-eating bacteria tied to black tar heroin use kills 7 in San Diego, health officials say

Between Oct. 2 and Nov. 24, nine people who had injected black tar heroin were admitted to San Diego County hospitals with severe myonecrosis.

Joe Biden Refuses to Testify in Impeachment Hearings
Joe Biden Refuses to Testify in Impeachment Hearings

Former vice president Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he would not voluntarily testify in the impeachment hearings against President Trump."No, I'm not going to let them take their eye off the ball," Biden told reporters. "The president is the one who has committed impeachable crimes. I'm not going to let him diverge from that. I'm not going to let anyone diverge from that."Democrats launched the impeachment inquiry due to suspicions that Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine to pressure the country to investigate corruption allegations involving Joe Biden.Trump and his allies allege that the former vice president had a conflict of interest while handling Ukraine...

Malaysia
Malaysia's Anwar says sexual assault claim is 'politics at its worst'

Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's prime-minister-in-waiting, denied on Thursday that he had sexually assaulted a former male aide, describing the accusation as "politics at its worst" days before his ruling party's annual congress. On Wednesday, a statement issued by Anwar's former aide, Muhammed Yusoff Rawther, accused the former deputy premier of attempting to force him to have sex in September last year. Reuters could not immediately reach Muhammed Yusoff, but he read out the allegations in a Facebook Live broadcast on Wednesday.

Elon Musk opens up about his wealth during second day of testimony in
Elon Musk opens up about his wealth during second day of testimony in 'pedo guy' defamation trial

The Tesla CEO took the witness stand in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday in a trial that could set a precedent for public discourse on social media.

NATO allies just want the United States to subsidize European defense
NATO allies just want the United States to subsidize European defense

Reform NATO. China is our foremost adversary, not Russia, writes Jordan Schachtel, an investigative journalist based in Washington, D.C.

For 20 years, a Tennessee baby thief kidnapped more than 5,000 children from the streets, hospitals, and shanty towns of Memphis. Now, 70 years later, survivors of her
For 20 years, a Tennessee baby thief kidnapped more than 5,000 children from the streets, hospitals, and shanty towns of Memphis. Now, 70 years later, survivors of her 'house of horrors' are confronting the past.

As director of the Tennessee Children's Home Society, Georgia Tann got rich by stealing babies and adopting them out to unsuspecting families. Hundreds of children died under her watch.

Why is Elizabeth Warren falling in the polls? Blame Medicare-for-all.

Before Elizabeth Warren had "a plan for that," the GOP had its own man with a plan. A decade ago, Paul Ryan championed a "roadmap" to curb the national debt and rein in entitlement spending through free-market reforms of the big programs that benefit the elderly. Republicans seemed to buy in: Despite Democrats labeling his "Path to Prosperity" plan a cruel austerity program that would hurt seniors, Ryan rode this ambitious budget blueprint to two committee chairmanships, a vice presidential nomination and the House speakership.But the triumph of the Ryan plan did not last long. The former speaker is out of Congress and Republicans no longer control the House....

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