Joe Biden clarifies he'd testify in impeachment trial under lawful circumstances, but says GOP has no legal basis

Former Vice President Joe Biden made some waves Friday evening when he told The Des Moines Register he wouldn't comply with a congressional subpoena to testify in President Trump's upcoming Senate impeachment trial. But he eased the breaks on that Saturday morning.Biden, a leading Democratic presidential candidate, who is connected to the impeachment saga because of accusations from Trump's allies that he and his son Hunter were involved in corrupt activities in Ukraine, initially said he wouldn't comply because it would take attention away from Trump and possibly play a role in letting him off the hook. But on his Twitter account the next morning, the former vice president clarified that he would always comply with a lawful order — he just doesn't think the Republicans have any legal basis in this case, so as far as he's concerned it's a moot point.> But I am just not going to pretend that there is any legal basis for Republican subpoenas for my testimony in the impeachment trial. That is the point I was making yesterday and I reiterate: this impeachment is about Trump’s conduct, not mine.> > — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 28, 2019Biden said the subpoenas should be sent to the White House instead, calling those who can actually provide testimony about Trump's interactions with Kyiv to the stand.More stories from theweek.com The best health advice from 2019 The 2010s were an economic disaster The secret to perfect pancakes

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/366Cto0

Ten questions from the past 10 years

How well do you remember events in England from the past decade?

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2F6emK4

Hollywood Hills Tours May Be Restricted If New Regulations Are Imposed

Seeing the homes and stars in the Hollywood Hills may become more difficult for tourists if new rules are implemented by the Los Angeles City Council. The council’s Transportation Committee has been studying ways to regulate the commercial vehicles, which some contend clog roads that are deemed unsafe. Under proposed new rules created by the […]

from Deadline https://ift.tt/2tayZSO

Bahrain expresses support for U.S. strikes on Kataib Hizbollah facilities in Iraq, Syria: statement

Bahrain expressed support for strikes conducted by the United States targeting Kataib Hezbollah facilities in Iraq and Syria, Bahrain's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2F2ZQ67

New top story on Hacker News: Why I won't switch to Firefox as a web developer

Why I won't switch to Firefox as a web developer
3 by sniok | 0 comments on Hacker News.

New top story on Hacker News: A 3 weeks trip to Europe costed him 411$

A 3 weeks trip to Europe costed him 411$
5 by wajdiben | 4 comments on Hacker News.

Democrat Warren's U.S. presidential campaign issues fundraising plea

Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign told supporters on Friday its fundraising haul stands at just over $17 million and made a plea for more donations with just days left in the fourth quarter. The figure was a sharp drop from the previous quarter and accompanied the progressive Democrats' slight slide in opinion polls in recent weeks in the Democratic contest to face Republican Donald Trump in the November 2020 election. In the third quarter of 2019, Warren's campaign reported raising $24.6 million, slightly behind the $25.3 million raised by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, the only other 2020 Democratic candidate to swear off big-money fundraisers.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/364YraO

5 people were stabbed during a Hanukkah celebration at a rabbi's home in what New York's governor is calling an 'act of domestic terror'

The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council for the Hudson Valley region said five patients — all Hasidic — had been taken to local hospitals.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Q3AQ4T

Christianity Today's split with Trump highlights deeper issue in white evangelical America

After evangelical publication Christianity Today published a blistering editorial on what it called Donald Trump's "grossly immoral character", some church leaders and the U.S. president himself denounced the criticism as elitist and out-of-touch. The Dec. 19 editorial sparked a Christmas holiday debate over religion in U.S. politics, and posed new questions about the close alignment between white evangelical voters and Trump, who has given their beliefs strong political support. There has been a big drop-off in white evangelical church participation among adults under 40, and publications such as Christianity Today and religious leaders are struggling to engage "Gen Z," or those born after 1996.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2MDoGxg

Turkey says it won't evacuate NW Syria observation posts

Turkey's defense chief said Sunday that his country's troops won't evacuate their 12 observation posts in rebel-held northwestern Syria. Turkey — a strong backer of some of the rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces — has a dozen observation posts in Idlib province, as part of an agreement reached last year with Russia, a main supporter of Assad.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2tdbd8y

Biden would "honor" whatever Congress "legitimately" asks

Some Republicans and President Trump have floated subpoenaing Joe and Hunter Biden to appear before the Senate.

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

Hawaii tour helicopter wreckage found on Kauai island

The wreckage of a tourist helicopter carrying seven people has been discovered in Hawaii a day after it was reported missing.Two children are thought to have been onboard the aircraft, which was reported overdue from a tour of the Na Pali Coast on Thursday evening.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2F2Ku1b

What Is the Hottest Place on Earth?

Death Valley brings the heat, but there are other hot spots on this sweltering planet.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2SBnI8L

Put away phones at mealtimes and talk to each other, says pope

Pope Francis on Sunday urged people to talk to each other at mealtimes instead of using their mobile phones, citing Jesus, Mary and Joseph as an example for families to follow. "I ask myself if you, in your family, know how to communicate or are you like those kids at mealtables where everyone is chatting on their mobile phone ... where there is silence like at a Mass but they don't communicate," the pope said. "We have to get back to communicating in our families," Francis said in his unscripted remarks.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/359XOLU

Elizabeth Warren's campaign is 30% behind in quarterly fundraising 4 days before deadline

The campaign said it was doing "something different" as it "probably won't" raise as much as last quarter by the December 31 FEC reporting deadline.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/39nV0yf

At Least 79 Dead in Truck Bomb Attack in Somalia’s Capital

(Bloomberg) -- At least 79 people, many of them university students, died when a truck bomb exploded during rush hour at a busy intersection in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu, according to the Associated Press and other news reports.An explosives-laden vehicle hit the taxation office near a junction in Mogadishu, Ahmed Abdi Hussein, a Somali police officer, told Bloomberg News by phone. Another police official said the target was Turkish engineers who were in a vehicle near the intersection, without elaborating on how he got the information.Two Turks were killed in the attack, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported, citing Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.At least 125 people were wounded and were being treated at nearby hospitals. The number of dead could exceed 100, Anadolu Agency said, quoting Ambassador Mehmet Yilmaz.The explosion took place at a checkpoint after police blocked the truck from entering the city, the Associated Press reported, citing the nation’s police chief.No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. The al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabab last week said they carried out a car bombing that killed eight people in central Somalia and the group has been blamed for an October 2017 bombing that killed more than 500 people.Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed blamed al-Shabab for what he called a “heinous act of terror.”“This dark day has robbed our nation of dozens of innocent lives, the perpetrators of this heinous act of terror will never dim the spirits of the people of Somalia,” he said in a statement posted on Twitter. “Let’s join hands in countering this evil in our midst. Let’s move fast and help out the survivors.”The U.S. embassy in Somalia, speaking on behalf of Ambassador Donald Yamamoto, sent its “deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims” in a Twitter message.The United Nations issued a statement on behalf of Secretary General Antonio Guterres that “strongly condemns” the attack and expressed condolences to the injured and families of the victims.“He stresses that the perpetrators of this horrendous crime must be brought to justice,” the UN said in the statement. “The Secretary-General reiterates the full commitment of the United Nations to support the people and Government of Somalia in their pursuit of peace and development.”The African nation is among the world’s poorest, and is struggling to rebuild after decades of civil war.(Updates death toll in first paragraph.)\--With assistance from Taylan Bilgic and Susan Decker.To contact the reporters on this story: Mohammed Omar Ahmed in Garowe at mahmed76@bloomberg.net;Mohamed Sheikh Nor in Mogadishu at msheikhnor@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Matthew G. MillerFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2Sy2WXB

Navy Seal Edward Gallagher described by his own unit as 'evil', 'toxic' and 'perfectly OK with killing anybody'

The navy SEAL whose demotion after being convicted of posing next to the corpse of a captured Islamic State prisoner was overturned by Donald Trump has been described as “toxic” and “evil” by members of his own unit. Explosive testimony obtained by the New York Times has reignited the controversy over Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher, one of three US servicemen facing war crimes allegations who were pardoned by the American president. The Gallagher case polarised American public opinion with Fox News taking up his case as well as the US president. Mr Trump’s intervention angered the Pentagon with senior figures fearing it would undermine military discipline. The row culminated in the sacking of the US Navy Secretary, Richard Spencer. Gallagher, 40, had been accused of war crimes following the fatal stabbing of a captured ISIS fighter and the shooting of two civilians in Iraq in 2017. At a court-martial in July he was acquitted of six out of seven charges, including murder and attempted murder after a key witness changed his testimony. Corey Scott, who had been granted immunity, took responsibility for the wounded prisoner’s death, telling the hearing he blocked the man’s breathing tube as an act of mercy rather than allow him to be tortured by the Iraqi security forces. A military jury in San Diego did convict Gallagher of posing next to the prisoner’s body and demoted him one rank and stripped him of the prestigious Trident Insignia. Mr Trump described the soldier as one of America's 'great fighters' and invited him to Mar-a-Lago Credit: LEAH MILLER/REUTERS The punishment was overruled by Donald Trump who ordered that Gallagher’s insignia should be restored and that he should be allowed to retire with his rank intact. Earlier this month Mr Trump invited Gallagher and his wife to Mar-a-Lago and described him at a recent rally as one of America’s “great fighters”. However, the footage of evidence presented to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), obtained by the New York Times and broadcast on “The Weekly” paints a very different picture of Gallagher, who was the leader of Alpha Platoon, SEAL Team 7. Members of the team told investigators that they spent much of their time trying to protect civilians from Gallagher. Special Operator Craig Miller described Mr Gallagher as "freaking evil", while another member of the team said he was ”toxic” describing the incident as "the most disgraceful thing I've ever seen in my life." Corey Scott, whose testimony was pivotal in the court-martial, told investigators “You could tell he was perfectly OK with killing anybody that was moving.”  In a statement, Gallagher voiced his “surprise and disgust” at the testimony which he described as “blatant lies”. He added: "I felt sorry for them that they thought it necessary to smear my name, but they never realised what the consequences of their lies would be.  “As upset as I was, the videos also gave me confidence because I knew that their lies would never hold up under real questioning and the jury would see through it.  “Their lies and NCIS's refusal to ask hard questions or corroborate their stories strengthened my resolve to go to trial and clear my name." Gallagher’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, told the New York Times the videos were full of inconsistencies and falsehoods which “a clear road map to the acquittal.”

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/352t0wK

John Lewis, Congressman and Civil Rights Icon, Has Pancreatic Cancer

By BY EMILY COCHRANE from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2Q8dTO8

Bill Barr Thinks America Is Going to Hell

By BY KATHERINE STEWART AND CAROLINE FREDRICKSON from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2SBnazG

The Presidential Nominating Process Is Absurd

By BY DAVID LEONHARDT from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2MFgEEt