U.S. auto safety agency to probe fatal Tesla crash in Los Angeles

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said late on Tuesday it will investigate a fatal Dec. 29 Tesla Inc crash in Los Angeles that killed two people.

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FAA probes clusters of mysterious drones flying over Colorado

The Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation into nighttime sightings of unidentified drones flying in formation over rural northeastern Colorado and southwest Nebraska over the last two weeks, the agency said on Tuesday.

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U.S. Taking Democracy for Granted, Chief Justice Roberts Says

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. has “come to take democracy for granted,” Chief Justice John Roberts said, urging his fellow judges to keep educating the public about the workings of the federal government and the Constitution.Roberts, who is slated to oversee the Senate‘s impeachment trial of President Donald Trump in the coming weeks, used his year-end report Tuesday to laud the federal judiciary’s work on civic education, while issuing a thinly veiled warning about the fragility of American democracy in a fractious time.“We have come to take democracy for granted, and civic education has fallen by the wayside,” Roberts wrote. “In our age, when social media can instantly spread rumor and false information on a grand scale, the public’s need to understand our government, and the protections it provides, is ever more vital.”Roberts described a 1788 riot that incapacitated John Jay while he was working with Alexander Hamilton and James Madison on the Federalist Papers, a series of articles published to promote the ratification of the Constitution. Jay was hit in the head with a rock while trying to quell the riot, which was sparked by a rumor that medical students were dissecting the body of a recently deceased woman. Jay later became the first U.S. chief justice.“It is sadly ironic that John Jay’s efforts to educate his fellow citizens about the framers’ plan of government fell victim to a rock thrown by a rioter motivated by a rumor,” Roberts wrote.Roberts has become the nation’s leading champion of judicial independence since being appointed to the Supreme Court by President George W. Bush in 2005. In his new report, the chief justice called the judiciary “a source of national unity and stability” but added a cautionary note.“We should also remember that justice is not inevitable,” Roberts wrote in a passage directed at his judicial colleagues. “We should reflect on our duty to judge without fear or favor, deciding each matter with humility, integrity, and dispatch.”Roberts, 64, is in the middle of a challenging Supreme Court term that includes cases on LGBTQ discrimination, abortion and gun rights. In late March or early April the court will hear arguments on Trump’s effort to prevent his financial information from being turned over to Congress and a New York grand jury.Roberts released the report three days after his mother, Rosemary A. Roberts, died at age 90. Her obituary said she was surrounded by her family when she passed away.To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, Anna EdgertonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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What Are Those Mysterious Drones Doing in Colorado?

The swarm appears to be practicing a search for ... something.

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Carlos Ghosn reportedly fled prosecution in Japan by hiding in a box on a private jet. Meet Nissan's disgraced former chairman, who was charged in 2018 with underreporting his compensation.

Ghosn said he'd "no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant, and basic human rights are denied."

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Raging wildfires trap 4,000 at Australian town's waterfront

Wildfires burning across Australia's two most populous states Tuesday trapped residents of a seaside town in apocalyptic conditions and killed at least two people while more property along the country's east coast fell victim to a devastating fire season. About 4,000 residents in the southeastern town of Mallacoota in Victoria state fled toward the water Tuesday morning as winds pushed an emergency-level wildfire toward their homes.

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Democrats rip McConnell after he vowed 'total coordination' with Trump White House on impeachment trial

Over Sen. Mitch McConnell's "total coordination" with the Trump White House, Rep. Val Demings, said the Kentucky Republican "must recuse himself."

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Carlos Ghosn's escape from Japan is a nightmare for the country's justice system — and the ousted Nissan exec may now be looking to put that system on trial

Ghosn is an auto-industry celebrity who should now have the opportunity to tell his side of the story in detail.

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Indonesia protests to China over border intrusion near South China Sea

Indonesia said on Monday it had protested to Beijing over the presence of a Chinese coastguard vessel in its territorial waters near the disputed South China Sea, saying it marked a "violation of sovereignty".

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Churchgoers kill gunman who shot two during Texas service

Worshippers in the US state of Texas shot dead a gunman who opened fire during a livestreamed Sunday service, ending an attack that killed two parishioners, authorities said. The latest US shooting at a house of worship took place in the suburban Fort Worth community of White Settlement on Sunday morning when the gunman entered West Freeway Church of Christ, officials said. "A couple of members of the church returned fire, striking the suspect who died at the scene," White Settlement Police Chief J.P. Bevering told reporters.

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Swiss Embassy worker detained in Sri Lanka gets bail

A Sri Lankan Court on Monday granted bail to a Swiss Embassy employee who was detained pending charges that she made statements to create disaffection toward the government and fabricated evidence. Before her arrest, the employee, a Sri Lankan national, had reportedly said she was abducted, held for hours, sexually assaulted and threatened by captors who demanded that she disclose embassy-related information. Sri Lankan authorities have said they investigated her complaint but found no evidence to file charges against anyone.

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Lev Parnas Pushes to Share His Info With House Intel

Lev Parnas, a former Rudy Giuliani associate charged with financial crimes, is looking to share more material with congressional investigators, according to a letter his lawyer has sent to a federal judge. The letter, filed in court on Monday evening, indicates that the committee first tasked with helming the impeachment inquiry is gathering additional evidence about Trump World. In the letter, Parnas’ lawyer Joseph Bondy said the Justice Department will share materials with his client on Tuesday that it seized from his home and at his arrest. The materials include documents and the contents of an iPhone. Bondy then asked Judge Paul Oetken of the Southern District of New York to allow him to share those materials with the House Intelligence Committee; a court order currently bars him from sharing them with anyone. The Justice Department has said it does not object to him giving the material to Congress. “Review of these materials is essential to the Committee’s ability to corroborate the strength of Mr. Parnas’ potential testimony,” Bondy wrote. The potential new document dump comes as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi deliberates on when to send the House’s articles of impeachment to the Senate. The House voted largely along party lines to pass two articles of impeachment on President Donald Trump earlier this month. The next step, which Pelosi has not yet taken, is to send the articles to the upper chamber for trial. Trump’s relationship with Ukraine—in particular through his intermediary and personal lawyer Giuliani—is at the center of the impeachment process. Parnas had a front-row seat to much of Giuliani’s Ukraine-related activity. Federal authorities arrested Parnas and his associate Igor Fruman at Dulles Airport in October and charged them with conspiring to illegally funnel money from a foreign national into an American election. For many months before their arrest, the two worked with Giuliani to investigate allegations about former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter, who served for a time on the board of a scandal-dogged Ukrainian energy company. At the same time, the trio pushed for the ouster of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch from her post as the top U.S. diplomat in Kyiv. Their efforts succeeded, and Trump removed her from the job in May.Two months after removing Yovanovitch, Trump had the now-infamous phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he asked the newly elected leader to work with Giuliani to scrutinize the Biden-linked company, as well as allegations about Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 election. Trump’s former top Russia official, Fiona Hill, said the Kremlin is pushing those allegations as part of a disinformation campaign designed to harm Ukraine. Parnas and Fruman, both Soviet-born U.S. citizens, made hefty political contributions through an entity they started called Global Energy Partners. And they built connections on Capitol Hill; after then-Rep. Pete Sessions sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling for Yovanovitch’s removal, a PAC the pair supported shelled out a huge sum to boost his re-election bid. Sessions’ name was also batted around within the Trump administration as a potential replacement for Yovanovitch, though any efforts to install him there didn’t get traction. Parnas and Fruman have both pleaded not guilty. And Parnas indicated he would cooperate with the congressional impeachment inquiry. Because of his close proximity to Giuliani, he may have significant visibility into Giuliani’s actions that other witnesses lack. For instance, a senior Zelensky aide confirmed to The Daily Beast that Parnas was present for a meeting he had with Giuliani where they discussed the U.S.-Ukraine relationship. Parnas’ lawyer also said the Floridian worked to help Rep. Devin Nunes’ team with its investigative work. Phone records released later by impeachment investigators indicated there was communication between Parnas and Nunes himself, though Nunes has said he doesn’t remember talking with the Giuliani pal.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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Iraq militia chief warns U.S. airstrikes could bring tough response

A top Iraqi militia leader warned of a strong response against U.S. forces in Iraq following airstrikes in Iraq and Syria overnight that hit several bases of his Iranian-backed group and killed at least 25 people.

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China sentences Protestant pastor to 9 years for subversion

China has sentenced a prominent pastor who operated outside the Communist Party-recognized Protestant organization to nine years in prison for subversion. Wang Yi had led the Early Rain Covenant Church and was arrested a year ago during China's ongoing crackdown on all unauthorized religious groups in the country. The government requires Protestants worship only in churches recognized and regulated by the party-led Three-Self Patriotic Movement.

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Heal divisions in 2020, says Archbishop of Canterbury

"Begin cementing our unity one brick at a time," Archbishop of Canterbury says in new year message.

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U.S. presidential candidate Sanders given clean bill of health after October heart attack

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders passed a stress test this month after a heart attack required him to have two stents inserted in an artery in October, doctors to the Democratic presidential candidate said on Monday. Sanders' campaign released letters from his main doctor and two heart specialists, who all gave the 78-year-old White House hopeful a clean bill of health after physical exams, electrocardiogram monitoring and a treadmill stress test. "Mr Sanders is more than fit enough to pursue vigorous activities and an occupation that requires stamina and an ability to handle a great deal of stress," said Philip A. Ades, the director of cardiac rehabilitation at the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVM), where the senator had the stress test on Dec. 11.

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Surprise! When U.S. Fighters Approach Iran, Russia Jams Their Signal

What's the goal of this cooperation?

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China took their parents: the Uighur refugee children of Turkey

The school on the outskirts of Istanbul is a rare place where Uighur child refugees from China can study their language and culture. Having fled a worsening crackdown on Uighur Muslims in northwest China, some of their parents thought it was still safe to return occasionally for business and to visit family, only to disappear into a shadowy network of re-education camps from which no communication is permitted. Nine-year-old Fatima has only vague memories of her homeland -- and now, of her father, too.

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Revelers, protesters to see in the new year in Hong Kong

New Year's revelers and pro-democracy protesters were flocking to sites across Hong Kong on Tuesday to see out 2019. The semi-autonomous Chinese city has toned down the usually raucous celebrations this year amid continuing demonstrations that began in June in opposition to proposed extradition legislation. A fireworks display that traditionally lights up famed Victoria Harbor was canceled amid safety concerns, while some roads have been closed and barriers set up in the Lan Kwai Fong nightlife district for crowd control.

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‘He’ll claim it was a witch hunt’: Democrats fear Trump will be ‘emboldened’ if he survives impeachment trial

Democratic senators are worried Donald Trump will be emboldened if he survives the upcoming impeachment trial and will use an acquittal as momentum for his 2020 re-election campaign.Sixty-seven votes are needed to convict and remove the president from office but that result seems unlikely in the Republican-controlled Senate, where Mr Trump’s party holds a 53-47 majority.

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Thousands flee to beaches amid devastating Australian wildfires

Thousands of Australians were forced to flee to beaches on Tuesday as wildfires continued to blaze in New South Wales and Victoria.About 4,000 people sought refuge on nearby beaches in the town of Mallacoota in Victoria, with thousands along the New South Wales coast needing to evacuate their homes, CNN reports. Fires have been raging in Australia for the past several months, and 70 new fires reportedly started in Victoria on Monday, while more than 60 fires haven't yet been contained in New South Wales."It was like we were in hell," a vacationer in New South Wales told CNN. "We were all covered in ash.""It should have been daylight but it was black like midnight and we could hear the fire roaring," a local business owner in Mallacoota told BBC News. "We were all terrified for our lives."After the death of a father and son in Cobargo, at least 11 people have died amid Australia's devastating fire season, during which more than 900 homes have been destroyed in New South Wales, The New York Times reports. Victoria Emergency Services Commissioner Andrew Crisp said there have been "significant" property losses, The Associated Press reports.Australian military aircraft and vessels will assist in the emergency services, BBC News reports, and the United States and Canada have also been asked to help in the effort. CNN reports that weather conditions are expected to improve in the next 24 hours before worsening by the end of the week, again "bringing dangerous fire conditions."More stories from theweek.com The Obama legacy is not what many liberals think Trump's scandals will haunt America for years The first decade in history

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Russia Was Almost A France And British Enemy At The Onset Of World War II

Would Hitler have won?

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Bot or not? Mystery over anonymous user retweeted by Trump

The Twitter user goes by Gigi, though sometimes Sophia, Emma or Leona. Just before midnight Friday, Trump retweeted a tweet from the user, then going by Surfermom77, that included the alleged name of the anonymous whistleblower whose complaint ultimately led to Trump’s impeachment by the House. While anonymity on Twitter allows people in oppressive communities to speak online freely, it can also allow people to harass others or spread bogus claims without accountability.

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19-year-old found guilty of lying about being gang-raped

A British teenager has been found guilty of lying about being gang-raped in Cyprus. The woman, 19, was convicted of a single count of public mischief at Famagusta District Court in Paralimni, Cyprus, on Monday.

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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.

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New WeWork cochiefs will reportedly receive an $8.3 million golden parachute each if they are fired or choose to leave

Co-CEOs Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham would cost WeWork almost $17 million if ousted, the Financial Times says, citing documents.

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GOP Senator: ‘There Are No Rules’ for Senate Impeachment Trial

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) claimed on Sunday’s broadcast of State of the Union that there are no “substantive rules” when it comes to holding an impeachment trial and that the Constitution doesn’t provide much guidance to the Senate.CNN anchor Jake Tapper noted that Kennedy had previously said his objective in President Donald Trump’s impeachment is to be fair to both sides. He asked the lawmaker about Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) saying she was “disturbed” that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would coordinate with the White House on impeachment.“Were you also bothered when Majority Leader McConnell said there would be no daylight between him and the White House?” Tapper asked.“I think Senator McConnell is entitled to his opinion and his approach. So is Senator Murkowski,” Kennedy stated, adding that if you look at specific case law on impeachment, “the rule is there is no substantive rules.”“It is not a criminal trial,” he continued. “The Senate is not really a jury. It is both jury and judge. The chief justice is not the judge, he’s the presiding officer. There are no standards of proof. There are no rules of evidence.”The guidelines provided by Article 1, Section 3 of the Constitution say that the Senate has the “sole Power to try all Impeachments,” the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will preside over the trial, and a president will only be removed from office if two-thirds of the Senate convicts.Kennedy went on to say that every member of the Senate is entitled to approach impeachment any way they want until a majority of the chamber votes on passing new rules, reiterating that he wants it “to be fair to both sides.”“I thought that the House proceedings were unnecessarily unfair and when the American people walk away from the Senate trial, if we ever have one, I don’t want them saying: ‘Well, we were just run over by the same truck twice. It was unfair in the house and it was unfair in the Senate,’” the Louisiana senator said. “I want people to think that it was a level playing field.”Asked whether his idea of fairness would be for both House impeachment managers and the president’s team to call the witnesses they deem worthy, Kennedy said they first need to decide whether Senate will hear evidence during the trial.“But, look, there are no rules here,” he asserted. “For example, what is an impeachable offense? I think the precedent shows that not all impeachable offenses are crimes. But it also shows that not all crimes are impeachable offenses.”Kennedy, meanwhile, concluded by saying it would be proper for Trump to continue blocking key White House witnesses from testifying if called by Congress.“I fully expect the president to do two things,” he said. “Claim executive privilege, which is his right. And number two, demand his own list of witnesses.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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"I was taken": 7-year-old torn from dad at U.S. border

CBS News documentary "The Faces of Family Separation" follows the harrowing journey of four migrant families fleeing violence in Central America, only to be split apart after arriving in the U.S.

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Ukraine holds big prisoner swap with pro-Russian separatists

KIEV/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the east completed a large-scale prisoner swap on Sunday after bussing scores of detainees in the five-year conflict to an exchange point in the breakaway Donbass region. The swap should help build confidence between the two sides, who are wrangling over how to implement a peace deal after the loss of more than 13,000 lives, but major disagreements remain and full normalization is far off. Ukraine said 76 pro-government detainees were handed over, while separatists said they took 120 of their prisoners during the swap at a checkpoint near the industrial town of Horlivka.

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Greta Thunberg: 'I wouldn't have wasted my time' speaking to Trump

* Swedish activist and president attended UN climate summit * ‘He’s not listening to experts … why would he listen to me?’Greta Thunberg has said she wouldn’t have wasted her time talking to Donald Trump about climate change at the UN climate change summit in New York earlier this year – the same event she was pictured glaring at the one of the world’s leading climate-change deniers.The Swedish climate activist made the comment during an interview on BBC Radio 4 on Monday morning, where she had been invited to guest-edit the programme.Thunberg, 16, was asked what she would have said to the leader who pulled the US – one of the world’s leading carbon emitters – out of the Paris climate accord, and who has taken radical steps to undo decades-old US pollution standards.She said: “Honestly, I don’t think I would have said anything. Because obviously he’s not listening to scientists and experts, so why would he listen to me?”She added: “So I probably wouldn’t have said anything, I wouldn’t have wasted my time.”Thunberg’s comments came several weeks after Trump attacked her for being named Time magazine’s person of the year.“So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!” Trump tweeted at the time.She has also been attacked by Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.“It is staggering, the amount of coverage the press gives that brat,” Bolsonaro said at the time.Invited to respond to her critics, Thunberg told the program “those attacks are just funny because they obviously don’t mean anything”.She said: “I guess of course it means something – they are terrified of young people bringing change which they don’t want – but that is just proof that we are actually doing something and that they see us as some kind of threat.”

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China sentences 3 researchers involved in creating 1st gene-edited babies

A court in Shenzhen, China, sentenced a Chinese scientist and two researchers Monday for creating the world's first genetically edited babies last year, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported. The lead scientist, He Jiankui, was handed three years in prison and a fine of 3 million yuan ($430,000) on charges of falsifying ethical review documents, practicing medicine without a license, and other infractions. The two researchers who helped He got lesser sentences: Zhang Renli was handed two years in prison and a 1 million yuan fine, and Qin Jinzhou received 18 months in jail, but with a two-year reprieve, and a 500,000 yuan fine."The three accused did not have the proper certification to practice medicine, and in seeking fame and wealth, deliberately violated national regulations in scientific research and medical treatment," Xinhua reported, citing the court's ruling. "They've crossed the bottom line of ethics in scientific research and medical ethics." The news agency said He and his team edited the genes of three children born to two women.He shocked the medical and scientific world in November 2018 when he announced that he had used the CRISPR gene-editing technology to genetically modify the embryos of infant twin girls to disable a gene that allows the AIDS virus to enter a cell. He disappeared soon after making his announcement, apparently detained by Chinese authorities. It's not clear if the experiment worked on the two unidentified girls He discussed publicly, but the experiment was widely condemned by medical ethicists and researchers around the world.More stories from theweek.com The best headlines of 2019 Giants, Browns fire head coaches on otherwise quiet 'Black Monday' Republicans are still trying to steal your health insurance

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Turkey evacuates wounded after deadly Mogadishu blast

A Turkish military cargo plane landed in the Somali capital on Sunday to evacuate people badly wounded in a devastating truck bombing that killed at least 90 people including two Turkish nationals. The plane also brought emergency medical staff and supplies, the Turkish embassy said in a tweet, adding these had been taken to a Turkish-run hospital in Mogadishu. Somali Information Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir Mareye told state media that 10 Somalis who were badly wounded in Saturday's blast would be evacuated to Turkey.

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National living wage to rise by 6.2% in April

The government says it will boost pay by more than four times the rate of inflation.

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Record sightings of whales, dolphins and seals in UK, says Wildlife Trusts

More than 800 sightings of whales, dolphins and seals have been logged in British waters this year.

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Here's who will be onstage for the January Democratic presidential debate in Iowa and how to watch it

CNN and the Des Moines Register will co-host the seventh Democratic presidential debate in Des Moines three weeks before the Iowa caucuses.

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Cyprus court finds British woman guilty of false rape claim

A court in Cyprus on Monday found a British woman guilty of falsely claiming she was gang-raped by a group of Israeli tourists in the holiday resort of Ayia Napa. "The statements you have given were false," the judge told the defendant in remarks translated by the court interpreter. The Israelis, aged 15 to 18, were released without charge the same month after the woman was arrested on suspicion of making a false statement.

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Ex-Nissan boss Ghosn, facing Japan trial, arrives in Beirut

Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn, who is awaiting trial in Japan on charges of financial misconduct, has arrived in Beirut, a close friend said Monday. It was not clear how Ghosn, who is of Lebanese origins and holds French and Lebanese passports, left Japan where he was under surveillance and is expected to face trial in April 2020. Ricardo Karam, a television host and friend of Ghosn who interviewed him several times, told The Associated Press Ghosn arrived in Lebanon Monday morning..

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Hasan Minhaj’s 2020 Advice: Be Like Mitch McConnell

Before signing off for 2019, Hasan Minhaj has turned his eye towards 2020. The host of Netflix’s Patriot Act ended his final episode of the year by sharing some updates from stories he covered earlier in the year, including an interview during which he tried to get Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to accept Islam as his “one true faith.” Two weeks later, his brownface scandal erupted. “Little did I know he had actually converted decades ago,” Minhaj joked.  The biggest problem of 2019, he went on to argue, is that “we’re exposed to all the news, all the time, which makes us feel like we have to care about everything all the time.” It’s called “compassion fatigue” and Minhaj compared it to feeling like you have “50 tabs open in our mental browsers and we’re about to crash.” “You know who really figured out 2019?” he asked, before adding, “You’re not going to like this.” He was talking about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. “We’ve shat on Mitch McConnell all year. ‘He’s a goblin, he’s a skin tag with glasses, he looks like something from a wax museum dumpster.’ He doesn’t give a fuck.” To extend Minhaj’s analogy, McConnell “closed all tabs, except for the Republican Party and locking down the courts.” And he thinks those on the other side of the political divide should do the same.Hasan Minhaj Fires Back at Saudi Arabia for Censoring His Netflix Show ‘Patriot Act’“So here’s what I’m pitching,” he continued. “For 2020, give yourself a break. Just pick a couple things to not care about, for your sanity. I’m not saying shut down your browser. Just close a couple tabs.” For himself, Minhaj has decided to let other people worry about plastic straws, North Korea and brownface. “I know, that’s supposed to be my issue,” he said. “But I’ve got other tabs to focus on. So if someone comes up to me and is like, ‘Did you hear? Joe Biden dressed up as Apu for Halloween!’ I’d be like, ‘Yo, I bet the accent was funny.’” Minhaj acknowledged that it was “weird” to hear this advice from a host—much like his fellow Daily Show alum John Oliver—who “tells you to care about something new every week.” And he promised to keep doing so in 2020, something that was an open question before Patriot Act aired the 32nd episode of its initial 32-episode order this past week. “I’ll see you guys in 2020,” he concluded. “We’ve got a few more tabs to open.” For more, listen to the most recent episodes of The Last Laugh podcast. Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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Iraq Resumes Oil Output at Field Halted by Protesters

(Bloomberg) -- Iraq resumed pumping at the Nasiriya oil field a day after protesters forced it to halt operations, the government said, as widespread unrest starts to take a toll on the country’s most important industry.Employees returned to work at the field in southern Iraq after authorities cleared away protesters who had cut roads to the area, Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said Monday in a statement. OPEC’s second-biggest producer maintained its overall output level during the halt by pumping more oil at its Basra fields to offset the loss of about 80,000 to 85,000 barrels a day from Nasiriya, Jihad said earlier.Nasiriya’s oil refinery, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the field, also restarted after shutting down on Sunday when about 700 protesters blocked worker access to the plant, according to a person familiar with the operations. The refinery in the southern province of Thiqar processes crude into gasoline, fuel oil and kerosene sold mostly in the province. All three of its units are back on line, the person said, asking not to be identified due to the matter’s sensitivity.Protesters -- most of them unemployed and some of them recent graduates -- have rallied repeatedly over the past two months near southern oil fields and refineries, though Nasiriya was the first field to be closed due to the disturbances. Iraq is the largest producer, after Saudi Arabia, in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. It pumps most its oil at deposits in the south, exporting cargoes by sea through the Persian Gulf.Iraq’s oil production is in line with limits set by OPEC and the group’s global allies, Jihad said. The so-called OPEC+ coalition has decided to reduce its collective output until the end of March in an effort to balance the market and prop up crude prices.Around 500 people have died and more than 22,000 others have been wounded in clashes between security forces and protesters since Oct. 1. Iraqis, mostly from the Shiite majority population, are protesting against government corruption, poor services, and wide-ranging Iranian political influence, calling for an overhaul of the ruling class.(Updates with refinery restarting in third paragraph)\--With assistance from Salma El Wardany.To contact the reporter on this story: Khalid Al-Ansary in Baghdad at kalansary@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Bruce Stanley at bstanley5@bloomberg.net, James HerronFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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Greta Thunberg calls world leaders' attacks on her 'just funny'

Greta Thunberg says it's "just funny" when she's personally attacked by world leaders like President Trump.The 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist, who earlier this month was named Time's person of the year, spoke with Today on BBC Radio on Monday and was asked about recent attacks on her, such as when Trump lashed out at her in a tweet by claiming she has an anger management problem or when Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro called her a "brat.""Those attacks are just funny because they obviously don't mean anything," Thunberg said. "Well, I guess, of course, it means something. It means they are terrified of young people bringing change, which they don't want."Thunberg went on to say that these attacks are "proof that we are actually doing something and that they see us as some kind of threat."This comes after Trump went after Thunberg on Twitter in response to Time's decision to name her person of the year, writing she "must work on her anger management problem, then go to a good old-fashioned movie with a friend!"Asked in the BBC interview whether Trump is one of those people who sees her as a threat, Thunberg said "it's possible.""Not me, of course, me myself alone am not much of a threat," she added. "But it's that I'm a part of a big movement that they probably see as a threat."Thunberg also reiterated that a meeting with Trump at the United Nations earlier this year would not have been productive, saying that even if she did have an opportunity to speak with the president, she "wouldn't have wasted my time."More stories from theweek.com The best headlines of 2019 Giants, Browns fire head coaches on otherwise quiet 'Black Monday' The White House always knew Trump's order to freeze Ukraine aid could blow up, New York Times details

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Officials: Hanukkah attack suspect researched Hitler online

A man charged with federal hate crimes Monday in a bloody attack on a Hanukkah celebration had handwritten journals containing anti-Semitic references and had recently used his phone to look up information on Hitler and the location of synagogues, authorities said. Grafton Thomas, 37, was held without bail after appearing in federal court in White Plains on five counts of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs by attempting to kill with a dangerous weapon. Five people were stabbed and slashed in the Saturday attack north of New York City.

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Saudi Arabia Sentences Man to Death for Theater Stabbings: TV

(Bloomberg) -- A Saudi Arabian court sentenced a Yemeni man to death for stabbing three performers at a theater show in the capital last month in an attack ordered by al-Qaeda, state-run TV reported.Another defendant was jailed for 12 1/2 years, Al Ekhbariya channel reported, citing the criminal court. The attack, in which three people were injured, was ordered by al-Qaeda in neighboring Yemen, the broadcaster said. It didn’t specify where it got the information.The mid-November attack in Riyadh came as the conservative kingdom undergoes a drastic overhaul of its social norms spearheaded by its young crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Saudis have been granted freedoms that include the loosening of rules on women’s attire and travel as well as the mixing of genders in conjunction with a plan to wean the economy off oil.The court rulings were preliminary and both defendants can file appeals.\--With assistance from Sarah Algethami.To contact the reporter on this story: Reema Alothman in Riyadh at ralothman1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Donna Abu-Nasr at dabunasr@bloomberg.net, Michael Gunn, Bruce StanleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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Plane crash before LSU Peach Bowl: Carley McCord among 5 victims identified

A plane crashed Saturday in Lafayette, Louisiana, killing five people. One person on board survived. Passersby pulled person from flaming wreckage.

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North Korea's Kim Jong-un calls for 'offensive measures' ahead of nuclear talks deadline

Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, has called for “positive and offensive measures” to ensure national security ahead of his year-end deadline for the resumption of nuclear talks with the US, raising the prospects of a much-anticipated major weapons test.  His announcement, at a meeting of top party officials on Sunday, and reported by state newswire, KCNA, on Monday, coincided with a warning from the US that it is prepared to take action if North Korea delivers on its threat of a  so-called “Christmas gift”, including a potential long-range missile test-fire. "If Kim Jong-un takes that approach, we'll be extraordinarily disappointed and we'll express that disappointment," Robert O'Brien, the national security advisor, said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday when asked whether the US would respond to a North Korean provocation.  Mr O'Brien said that the White House was monitoring the situation, but did not provide specifics on Washington’s approach, saying only that the US has "a lot of tools in our toolkit".  Under a self-imposed moratorium, North Korea has not tested a long-range missile or nuclear warheads since 2017.  Kim Jong-un in pictures: Bizarre photoshoots of North Korea's leader The US and its regional Asian allies have been on nervous standby for an escalation in tensions on the Korean peninsula since Pyongyang warned of a “gift” in mid-December due to Kim’s growing frustrations that Washington has not responded to his demands to soften its approach to nuclear talks.  The North Korean leader has made clear he expects concessions, including the lifting of sanctions, by the end of December, to kickstart stalled negotiations on his nuclear and weapons programmes.  North Korea has urged Washington to offer a new approach to resume negotiations, warning that it may take an unspecified "new path" if the US fails to meet its expectations. Kim’s decision to convene a meeting of top party officials to pore over important matters including foreign affairs, armaments and the defence industry, has increased expectations of a major policy announcement.  The meeting - the largest of the party’s central command since 2013, with some 300 attendees - is still underway.  A plenary session of North Korea's leadership is still underway Credit: KCNA/Reuters North Korea experts fear that the diplomatic détente, which began in 2018 with unprecedented summits between Kim and both Donald Trump, the US president, and Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s leader, may come to a crashing halt in 2020 because of this year’s failure to reach a breakthrough.  During Sunday's meeting session, Kim stressed the need to take "positive and offensive measures for fully ensuring the sovereignty and security of the country," KCNA said, without elaborating. Mr Kim discussed state management and economic issues, including measures to improve agriculture, science, education, public health and the environment, it said, as the country's economy has been hit by international sanctions over its weapons programmes. He "presented the tasks for urgently correcting the grave situation of the major industrial sectors of the national economy," KCNA said. North Korea has already resumed shorter range missile tests this year Credit: KCNA via KNS/AFP With North Korea’s relations with the US in a downward spiral, United Nations Security Council members are due to meet informally on Monday for a second round of talks on a Russian and Chinese proposal to lift a raft of sanctions against Pyongyang.  Russia and China proposed a draft UN Security Council resolution earlier this month that would lift sanctions imposed in 2016 and 2017 on industries that earned North Korea hundreds of millions of dollars.  One Security Council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters, accused Russia and China  of coordinating with North Korea on the draft resolution, including letting Pyongyang make its own additions to the text, before they engaged with the 15-member Security Council.  “China and Russia are pushing a sanctions-gutting resolution knowing full well from the beginning that they do not have the votes for the resolution to pass,” said the council diplomat.

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Cyprus court: British teen guilty of fabricating rape claims

A Cyprus court on Monday found a 19 year-old British woman guilty of fabricating claims that she was gang raped by 12 Israelis in a hotel room at a tourist resort in the east Mediterranean island nation, saying her story lacked credibility. Famagusta District Court Judge Michalis Papathanasiou said the defendant didn't tell the truth and tried to deceive the court with “evasive” statements in her testimony. It was reported as a shocking gang rape until Cypriot authorities cast doubt on the woman's account.

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US hits pro-Iran group with deadly strikes in Iraq, Syria

The US has carried out air strikes against a pro-Iran militant group in Iraq, killing 19 fighters, two days after a rocket attack that killed an American civilian contractor. The Pentagon said on Sunday it targeted weapons caches or command and control facilities linked to Kata'ib Hezbollah (KH) in Western Iraq, as well as Eastern Syria, in response to a barrage of 30 or more rockets fired on Friday. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said "we will not stand for the Islamic Republic of Iran to take actions that put American men and women in jeopardy".

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The 'lathi': India's colonial vintage anti-protest weapon

As Indian protests against a new citizenship law have intensified, so has police use of "lathis", sturdy sticks used to whack, thwack and quell dissent since British colonial times -- to sometimes deadly effect. At least 27 people have died in the past two weeks of protests, mostly from bullets, but hundreds more have been injured in clashes between demonstrators and riot police wielding the bamboo canes. "From being used as means to regulate crowds, lathi has turned into a lethal weapon," said V. Suresh, the secretary general of the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), a non-profit rights group.

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