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Chile confirms finding human remains, debris, from missing plane
Chile confirms finding human remains, debris, from missing plane

Chile confirmed Thursday that human remains and debris found by search ships are from a military plane reported missing with 38 people aboard, and that hopes of finding survivors had all but gone. "The condition of the plane wreckage that was found makes it practically impossible that there are survivors from this air accident," Air Force chief Arturo Merino told a news conference in the southern port of Punta Arenas.

Bulletproof vest did not fail in fatal shooting of Houston police officer, chief says
Bulletproof vest did not fail in fatal shooting of Houston police officer, chief says

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo says body armor didn't fail Sgt. Christopher Brewster, who was killed while responding to a domestic violence call

U.S. tests ground-launched ballistic missile after INF treaty exit

The Pentagon on Thursday tested a conventionally configured ground-launched ballistic missile, a test that would have been prohibited under the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The United States formally withdrew from the landmark 1987 INF pact with Russia in August after determining that Moscow was violating the treaty, an accusation the Kremlin has denied. It was the second test by the Pentagon that would have not been allowed under the INF treaty.

Scandinavian woman
Scandinavian woman 'forced to withdraw rape claim' in case similar to British teen's Cyprus ordeal

A Scandinavian woman says she was forced by Cypriot police to withdraw a rape claim or face arrest, in a striking parallel to the case of a British teenager who was allegedly gang raped on the Mediterranean island. The Scandinavian woman said police officers questioned her aggressively for several hours after she was raped by two men outside a nightclub. The officers accused her of lying and said that if she did not withdraw the rape claim they would arrest her and send her to prison. Her account bears striking similarities to the alleged treatment of a British teenager who is on trial in Cyprus, accused of concocting a claim of gang rape by Israeli tourists in the resort town of Ayia...

Eagle v octopus: Canadians rescue bird locked in battle with giant mollusc
Eagle v octopus: Canadians rescue bird locked in battle with giant mollusc

Employees at a fish farm in Vancouver intervened when an eagle tried to eat a large octopus, resulting in a battleA bald eagle on Canada's west coast has learned that its eyes may be bigger than its stomach after it was nearly drowned by an octopus it tried to eat.After hearing shrieks coming from the water on the north-western tip of Vancouver Island, employees at a fish farm investigating the noises happened upon a bird and cephalopod locked in battle.The octopus, which had turned a deep crimson, had wound its tentacles tightly around the eagle, which was floating helplessly at the surface."At first we just watched and we didn't know if we should interfere because, you know, it's Mother...

3 teachers suspended over text messages leaked online
3 teachers suspended over text messages leaked online

An Alabama school board voted to discipline three teachers accused of sharing offensive text messages about students that were later leaked online. The Houston County School Board voted Wednesday night to approve 10-day, unpaid suspensions for three teachers from Ashford High School, news outlets reported. As many as six teachers were suspended with pay earlier after a student used social media to post leaked text messages that included a racial slur and comments about students' sex lives and intelligence.

Dem Leaders Expect a Group of Swing-State Lawmakers to Defect on Impeachment Vote
Dem Leaders Expect a Group of Swing-State Lawmakers to Defect on Impeachment Vote

House Democrats are worried that the caucus could lose six or more moderate votes on impeachment, according to multiple officials who spoke anonymously to the Washington Post.When the House voted to formalize impeachment on October 31, all but two Democrats - Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey and Collin C. Peterson of Michigan - voted with House leadership. Amidst concerns from moderates, who on Monday considered reviving a proposal to censure President Trump rather than impeach him, the fate of the impeachment vote is a bit less certain.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could afford to lose 17 votes and still prevail with the vote, which will likely get the approval of former Republican Justin Amash....

Ukraine detains five, including pediatric surgeon, for killing journalist in 2016
Ukraine detains five, including pediatric surgeon, for killing journalist in 2016

Ukrainian police have detained five people, including a pediatric surgeon and a rock musician, over the killing of an investigative journalist in a car bomb in July 2016, law enforcement officials said on Thursday. Briefing journalists alongside President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the officials said the motive for killing 44-year-old Pavel Sheremet, a Belarusian, was to destabilize the country but declined to say who might have ordered the murder. The New York City-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomed the detentions.

Myanmar
Myanmar's suppression of the Rohingya, explained in 30 seconds

Myanmar's leader is appearing before the UN International Court of Justice this week to address an accusation of genocide against the Rohingya.

Inside the Assassination of Imperial Japanese Admiral Yamamoto
Inside the Assassination of Imperial Japanese Admiral Yamamoto

A daring tale.

Goldman Sachs employees want to cancel a Nikki Haley interview after her Confederate flag comments
Goldman Sachs employees want to cancel a Nikki Haley interview after her Confederate flag comments

They asked the bank's president to scrap an event with the former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador after she didn't denounce the flag's fans.

Saudi Arabia is quietly spending millions on a fresh lobbying effort in the US, hoping to finally put to bed Jamal Khashoggi
Saudi Arabia is quietly spending millions on a fresh lobbying effort in the US, hoping to finally put to bed Jamal Khashoggi's brutal murder

Saudi Arabia contracted three US lobby firms in November, its first move since it was abandoned by five firms over the Khashoggi affair in late 2018.

Republicans are turning impeachment into a carnival - and it could cost them
Republicans are turning impeachment into a carnival - and it could cost them

These antics may work as a short-term strategy. But they'll go down poorly with voters the Republican party really needs House Democrats announced this week that they would bring two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, making him only the fourth president in US history to face such charges. Democratic leaders characterized the occasion as solemn, somber and sad. Republicans, on the other hand, dismissed the impeachment inquiry as a circus and a sham despite the fact that they are themselves the ones trying to reduce it to carnivalesque farce. Even a motion to take a 15-minute bathroom break during this week's judiciary committee hearings provoked hysterical Republican...

Rhode Island lawsuit: Students sue for the right to learn civics
Rhode Island lawsuit: Students sue for the right to learn civics

A federal case in Rhode Island, brought by parents and students, tests the ideals of equal opportunity and participatory democracy.

Pakistan charges 250 lawyers for treason in hospital assault
Pakistan charges 250 lawyers for treason in hospital assault

Pakistan on Thursday leveled "treason" charges against 250 lawyers who were part of a mob that stormed a hospital in the eastern city of Lahore the previous day, kicking and punching doctors and staff and trashing equipment and property, police said. Three patients at the hospital died when physicians and medical staff left them unattended for several hours, to flee and escape the mob, officials said. The mob of about 500 lawyers - apparently angered over alleged misbehavior by some of the hospital doctors toward one of their colleagues the month before - stormed the Punjab Institute of Cardiology on Wednesday, punching and beating doctors and other staff.

Meet the Navy
Meet the Navy's Small Warships That Help to Deter Iran

Spunky and important little boats.

Democratic Rep. Van Drew to vote against Trump impeachment, says others could join him
Democratic Rep. Van Drew to vote against Trump impeachment, says others could join him

Democratic Rep. Jeff Van Drew said that he will vote against articles of impeachment that outline the case for President Trump's removal from office.

The Air Force Wants To Reinvent The Storied SR-71 As A Hypersonic Bomber
The Air Force Wants To Reinvent The Storied SR-71 As A Hypersonic Bomber

And it might be unmanned.

FAA
FAA's Oversight of Boeing 737 Max Jet Slammed by Lawmakers

(Bloomberg) -- Lawmakers peppered Federal Aviation Administration officials with questions about how the agency approved the now-grounded Boeing Co. 737 Max jet and kept it flying after the first of two deadly crashes despite doubts about its safety.An internal FAA risk assessment conducted after a Lion Air flight crashed off the coast of Indonesia in October 2018, predicted another 15 of the jets would crash over the next 45 years without a fix, according to documents released by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, appearing for the first time before the committee, had refrained from criticizing the agency's actions before his swearing...

The Best Trimmers for Keeping Your Facial Hair Under Control
The Best Trimmers for Keeping Your Facial Hair Under Control

The Real Locations That Inspired 13 Famous Paintings
The Real Locations That Inspired 13 Famous Paintings

We Tasted 10 Sour Beers That Quenched Our Thirst and Made Us Pucker Up
We Tasted 10 Sour Beers That Quenched Our Thirst and Made Us Pucker Up

Saudi Family of Pensacola Gunman:
Saudi Family of Pensacola Gunman: 'Even We Don't Know the Truth' of Motive

AL AHSA, Saudi Arabia -- Not long before a 21-year-old Saudi Royal Air Force trainee shot and killed three American sailors Friday at a naval base in Pensacola, Florida, he called his mother and his brother back home.The trainee, 2nd Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, was wearing his uniform, they could see on the video call -- the uniform he had always wanted to wear as a child, when he dreamed of becoming a pilot.With his elder brother, Abdullah, he joked around on the call: "You're the eldest," Alshamrani teased, "but I'm going to get married first." Talking to his mother, he promised he would be home as soon as he finished his training. "Just a few more...

DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz: My Report Doesn
DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz: My Report Doesn't 'Vindicate Anybody'

During Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Justice Department inspector general's report on possible FISA abuses in the Russia probe, top inspector Michael Horowitz pushed back against former FBI Director James Comey's suggestion that the findings vindicated bureau actions.While Horowitz's recently released report finds that there was no political bias by FBI leadership and that there was sufficient evidence to launch a counterintelligence probe of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, it also chided the FBI for "fundamental errors" in its investigation of former Trump campaign official Carter Page.Noting that Comey figuratively spiked the football over Horowitz's report in a...

'Total nonsense': Democrats rip McConnell on delaying USMCA vote until after impeachment trial

After weeks of blaming Democrats for delaying Trump's renegotiated trade deal with Canada and Mexico, McConnell said he would delay it further.

Armed suspect arrested at Texas naval air base, no injuries reported

An armed person was arrested on Wednesday at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas, after causing the base to be put on lockdown just days after deadly shootings at U.S. Navy bases in Florida and Hawaii. On Friday, a Saudi Air Force lieutenant being trained at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, shot and killed three people and wounded eight on the base in a suspected terrorist attack. The Corpus Christi base said on Wednesday there was no indication the incident there was related to the Florida shooting.

The Aging B-1 Bomber Can No Longer Fly Like It Used To
The Aging B-1 Bomber Can No Longer Fly Like It Used To

The 80s-era bomber may need to cut low-altitude flying due to old age.

Chicago police halt controversial merit promotion system

Chicago's interim police superintendent is discontinuing a so-called merit promotion system that rank-and-file cops have long complained rewards officers for who they know and not what skills they have to do the job. In a letter to the 13,400-member department obtained by the Chicago Tribune, Interim Superintendent Charlie Beck said Tuesday he's heard that many officers have been "dissatisfied and discouraged" by the process that allows promotions to the ranks of detective, sergeant and lieutenant regardless of exam scores. Beck wrote that he made the decision after consulting with Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Fraternal Order of Police President Kevin Graham.

Corpus Christi Naval Air Station lockdown lifted; armed suspect in custody
Corpus Christi Naval Air Station lockdown lifted; armed suspect in custody

Corpus Christi officials issued a lockdown after an armed suspect was reported to be on the base Wednesday morning.

Picture the Future 6th Generation Fighter In Your Mind
Picture the Future 6th Generation Fighter In Your Mind

What do you think it'll look like?

India Approves Bill Granting Citizenship Based on Religion

(Bloomberg) -- India's Parliament approved a controversial bill that prevents illegal Muslim migrants from neighboring countries from receiving citizenship after hours of heated debate among lawmakers and protests in some parts of the country.The bill, which offers amnesty to non-Muslim illegal migrants from three neighboring countries, was approved in the upper house of Parliament on Wednesday after it secured more votes in favor of the legislation. The bill was passed in the lower house on Monday.Prime Minister Narendra Modi doesn't command a majority in the upper house, but managed to cobble together the numbers needed to pass the legislation.The bill amends existing citizenship norms...

A key paragraph in the articles of impeachment against Trump mentions disqualifying him from ever running for office again
A key paragraph in the articles of impeachment against Trump mentions disqualifying him from ever running for office again

The first article of impeachment says President Donald Trump should be not only impeached and removed from office but disqualified from running again.

Hong Kong Protestors Win TIME
Hong Kong Protestors Win TIME's 2019 Person of the Year Reader Poll

The choice of 30% of visitors to our online survey

Biden Suggests He Would Only Serve One Term: Report
Biden Suggests He Would Only Serve One Term: Report

Former vice president Joe Biden has reportedly suggested that he would only serve one term if elected president but has stopped short of publicly pledging not to run again."If Biden is elected, he's going to be 82 years old in four years and he won't be running for reelection." a Biden campaign adviser told Politico, arguing that the former vice president could serve as a "good transition figure" to defeat Trump and usher in the "next generation of leaders.""He's going into this thinking, 'I want to find a running mate I can turn things over to after four years but if that's not possible or doesn't happen then I'll run for re-election.' But he's not going to publicly...

Beshear faces suit from ousted state school board members
Beshear faces suit from ousted state school board members

For nearly four years as Kentucky attorney general, Andy Beshear filed a series of lawsuits accusing then-Gov. Matt Bevin of abusing his executive powers. Now Beshear is being sued by the people he ousted from the state school board on his first day as governor. The new Democratic governor wielded his executive authority Tuesday to reorganize the Kentucky Board of Education with 11 new members, fulfilling a campaign promise he made to teachers.

Ousted Envoy Says Guaido Must Clean up Venezuelan Opposition
Ousted Envoy Says Guaido Must Clean up Venezuelan Opposition

(Bloomberg) -- One of Venezuela's most experienced opposition figures says National Assembly chief Juan Guaido needs to root out corruption in his inner circle.Humberto Calderon Berti, who was recently replaced by Guaido as his envoy to Colombia, said the opposition must enforce higher standards than the government of Nicolas Maduro does."We have been saying we are different and we have to show it," he said in a phone interview. "Honesty and ethics require permanent behavior."Calderon, 78, a former foreign minister and a past president of the state oil company, said he continues to back Guaido's leadership, but that he needs to "clean up his entourage and act like a president."Calderon,...

Germany contradicts Russia over Georgian murdered in Berlin
Germany contradicts Russia over Georgian murdered in Berlin

Germany contradicted Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, saying it was not aware Russia had requested the extradition of a Georgian man who was murdered in Berlin in August. In an escalation in already tense relations, Germany last week expelled two employees at the Russian embassy in Berlin, saying Moscow was not cooperating sufficiently in the investigation into the murder. Putin described the victim on Monday as a "cruel and blood-thirsty person" who had fought on the side of anti-Moscow separatists in Russia's mainly Muslim north Caucasus region, and said Moscow's requests for his extradition had not been heeded.

China reportedly threatens tiny Faeroe Islands over Huawei
China reportedly threatens tiny Faeroe Islands over Huawei

Danish media are reporting that the Chinese government threatened to cancel a trade deal with the tiny Faeroe Islands if the country does not agree to use internet networks supplied by Chinese tech company Huawei. Huawei is at the center of a global cybersecurity debate, with the U.S. pushing allies in Europe and elsewhere to avoid the company over fears it could allow the Chinese government to snoop on consumers. Huawei denies that.

New climate pact is EU
New climate pact is EU's 'man on the moon moment': chief executive

The European Union's executive wants to mobilize 100 billion euros worth of investment to help the bloc's economies become more environmentally friendly, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday. Von der Leyen will propose her hallmark "Green Deal" for the EU later on Wednesday to commit the bloc to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. "This is Europe's man on the moon moment," von der Leyen told journalists before making her climate pitch.

Boeing removed a feature that protects its 787 planes during lightning strikes as a cost-cutting measure, even after FAA experts objected
Boeing removed a feature that protects its 787 planes during lightning strikes as a cost-cutting measure, even after FAA experts objected

The FAA administrator will be questioned by Congress today over its certification of the change to the 787 Dreamliner as well as the 737 Max.

'She is speaking out to us': Māori leader says volcano eruption was a message

Pouroto Ngaropo, standing on an ancient settlement site overlooking the island of Whakaari, recites his ancestry back thousands of years, back to the volcano which erupted there on Monday. "Whakaari is my connection to the ocean, to the land, and to the environment around me ... we are one and she's our ancestor," said the 51-year old Māori spiritual leader whose genealogy is depicted in the tattoo art known as a 'tā moko' adorning his face. The volcano island off New Zealand's North Island holds deep spiritual significance for his iwi or tribe, Ngāti Awa, which also own the company that ran tours there before the eruption.

Train kills two elephants in India
Train kills two elephants in India

Two elephants were hit and killed by a passenger train on Wednesday in eastern India, officials said, with the animals' bodies decorated with flowers before being cremated at the spot. In the past five years, at least 26 elephants have been killed and scores more injured by trains on this stretch of track near the Nepal border, according to wildlife officials. The animals -- one of which was pregnant -- were hit at 4:30 am (2300 GMT) while crossing the railway line, said North Frontier Railway spokesman Subhanan Chanda.

Experts quit police probe in blow to Hong Kong government
Experts quit police probe in blow to Hong Kong government

Foreign experts recruited to add legitimacy to Hong Kong's police watchdog quit Wednesday, saying the agency lacks teeth. The expert panel's decision to stand aside is likely to increase pressure on the territory's government for an independent probe of police behavior during six months of pro-democracy protests.

Nude portrait of Emiliano Zapata in high heels sparks fury in Mexico
Nude portrait of Emiliano Zapata in high heels sparks fury in Mexico

Campesinos storm museum to call for removal of image featuring revolutionary hero posing in pink sombreroA new portrait of Emiliano Zapata has caused a firestorm of outrage for its portrayal of the Mexican revolutionary hero striking a seductive pose - clad only in a pink sombrero and high heels.Furious campesinos stormed one of the country's most renowned art museums on Thursday to demand the removal of the painting, part of a new exhibition titled Zapata after Zapata that seeks to present alternative views of the Mexican revolution. "This isn't freedom of expression, it is debauchery! It's degrading. They can't exhibit our history that way," fumed Antonio Medrano, a spokesman for the...

Turkey says will retaliate against any sanctions ahead of U.S. vote
Turkey says will retaliate against any sanctions ahead of U.S. vote

Turkey said on Wednesday it would retaliate against any U.S. sanctions over its purchase of Russian defense systems, adding that with Britain it had agreed to speed up a joint fighter jet program to meet Turkish defense needs. U.S. lawmakers will vote - and likely pass - a defense bill later on Wednesday that calls for sanctions against Turkey over Ankara's decision to procure the S-400 defenses. Turkey and the United States, NATO allies, have been at odds over the purchase.

Elizabeth Smart
Elizabeth Smart's dad describes kids' reaction to him coming out as gay

In our exclusive interview, Ed Smart reveals how difficult it was to come out as gay to his family and friends

China imprisoned more journalists than any other country in 2019: CPJ
China imprisoned more journalists than any other country in 2019: CPJ

At least 250 journalists were imprisoned worldwide this year, according to the report, which the committee compiles annually. China's total rose by one since last year. "A crackdown in Xinjiang province - where a million members of Muslim ethnic groups have been sent to internment camps - has led to the arrests of dozens of journalists, including some apparently jailed for journalistic activity years earlier," the report said.

Bill Barr blasts FBI for "inexplicable behavior" in Russia probe
Bill Barr blasts FBI for "inexplicable behavior" in Russia probe

The attorney general told NBC News in an interview he believes there were "gross abuses" and "inexplicable behavior" on the part of the FBI in its investigation of ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.

Texas inmate executed for killing prison supervisor in 2003
Texas inmate executed for killing prison supervisor in 2003

A Texas inmate was executed by lethal injection Wednesday evening for killing a supervisor at a state prison shoe factory in Amarillo nearly 17 years ago. Travis Runnels, 46, was convicted of slashing the throat of 38-year-old Stanley Wiley on Jan. 29, 2003. Runnels was executed at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.

Taliban attack on U.S. military base kills two, injures dozens
Taliban attack on U.S. military base kills two, injures dozens

Suicide bombers struck the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing two people and injuring scores in a major attack that could scupper plans to revive peace talks between the United States and the Taliban. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which struck the Bagram air base north of Kabul. "First, a heavy-duty Mazda vehicle struck the wall of the American base," said Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman.

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