Finance news

• Congressman Duncan Hunter to Plead Guilty in Corruption Case

  02-12-2019 23:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Bloomberg) -- Congressman Duncan Hunter, the San Diego Republican and Marine combat veteran, is set to be plead guilty to a criminal conspiracy charge more than a year after he and his wife were accused of spending almost $250,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses.Hunter made a deal with federal prosecutors, his lawyer, Paul Pfingst, said Monday. Details of what sentence he might face, and whether that will include prison time, will be discussed at a hearing Tuesday, the attorney said. Pr
  
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• Top Los Angeles homeless official steps down as crisis deepens

  02-12-2019 23:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The chief of a top Los Angeles homeless agency announced his resignation on Monday, saying he was proud of its work even as America's second-largest city grapples with spiraling numbers of people living on the streets and rising home prices.Peter Lynn, who saw homelessness rise 33% during his five years as head of the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority, said he would leave the job by Dec. 31.The agency said its chief program officer, Heidi Marston, would serve as acting director during a nat
  
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• More Charges ‘Likely’ in Giuliani Henchmen’s Campaign-Finance Case

  02-12-2019 23:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Mike Segar/ReutersFederal prosecutors said Monday that new criminal charges are “likely” in the campaign-finance case involving two associates of Rudy Giuliani who have been accused of funneling money into American elections through straw donors in order to gain influence. Asked by a judge if the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan expects to file additional charges, prosecutor Douglas Zolkind said, “We think a superseding indictment is likely,” but noted &ldqu
  
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• House Republicans have put together a 123-page anti-impeachment report

  02-12-2019 23:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  As the House prepares to vote on its case for impeaching President Trump on Tuesday, House Republicans have drawn up a 123-page report that argues against their conclusions.The GOP report claims after hearing weeks of testimonies and investigation, "the evidence presented does not prove any of these Democrat allegations and none of the Democrats' witnesses testified to having evidence of bribery, extortion, or any high crime or misdemeanor," a copy of the report reviewed by CNN details. The repo
  
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• 'This Is Your Guys' Royalty.' The Biggest Moments From Prince Andrew Accuser Virginia Giuffre’s BBC Interview

  02-12-2019 23:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  "I implore the people in the UK to stand up beside me," Virginia Giuffre said.
  
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• Mexico hunts cartel gunmen after deadly firefight kills 22

  02-12-2019 23:31 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Mexican forces hunted Monday for a drug cartel commando behind a bloody firefight in a town near the US border that left six locals and 16 gunmen dead -- the latest security embarrassment for President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.At least 60 gunmen terrorized the small northern city of Villa Union over the weekend, riding into town in heavily armed four-by-fours and spraying dozens of houses with bullets before attacking city hall, taking seven hostages along the way, including five minors.Offic
  
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• Corbyn Rounds on Amazon, Uber, Asda for ‘Exploiting Workers’

  02-12-2019 23:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. Labour Party ratcheted up its attack on big business, singling out five companies it said are some of the country’s worst employers, as it pledged to extend employee rights.Amazon.com Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. “exploited, ripped off and dehumanized” their workers, Labour said in a statement late Monday. The party leveled the same criticism at billionaire Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct International Plc, Walmart Inc.’s Asda supermarket chai
  
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• 'Why are you parroting Russian propaganda?': Hillary Clinton slams Sen. Kennedy for Ukraine claim

  02-12-2019 23:20 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Chuck Todd asked Sen. John Kennedy if the Senator was concerned that he had been "duped."
  
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• North Carolina panel of judges rule in favor of new congressional map

  02-12-2019 23:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A panel of judges in North Carolina ruled on Monday that a new congressional map approved by lawmakers last month will be used for the state's 2020 primaries, saying there was not enough time to determine whether it was a form of partisan gerrymandering.The same three-judge Wake County Superior Court panel several weeks ago blocked the state from using a congressional map created in 2016 in next year's elections, suggesting that map's boundaries were gerrymandered to favor Republicans.Monday's d
  
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• Exclusive: U.S. troop drawdowns in Afghanistan 'not necessarily' tied to Taliban deal - Esper

  02-12-2019 23:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Monday that any future troop drawdowns in Afghanistan were "not necessarily" linked to a deal with Taliban insurgents, suggesting some lowering of force levels may happen irrespective of the ongoing peace push.The remarks by Esper in an interview with Reuters came on the heels of a Thanksgiving trip last week to Afghanistan by President Donald Trump, who spoke of potential troop reductions and said he believed the Taliban insurgency would agree to a ceas
  
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• 'The United States is still in': Nancy Pelosi defies Trump over Paris climate change agreement in Spain

  02-12-2019 23:06 via news.yahoo.com
  
  House speaker Nancy Pelosi has pledged the United States is still dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, even though Donald Trump has begun the process of pulling America out of the Paris Climate Accord.The House Speaker made the claim during an appearance at the two-week long United Nations climate summit, which is being held in Spain this year.
  
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• Rod Rosenstein: DOJ ‘Not to Blame’ for Lisa Page’s Abuse

  02-12-2019 23:04 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Jim Watson/GettyFormer Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Monday that ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Page should not blame the Department of Justice for the abuse she has suffered at the hands of Donald Trump and his allies. Rosenstein’s comments come in response to an exclusive interview with Page by Daily Beast contributor Molly Jong-Fast, in which Page blasted the Justice Department for making public texts between her and agent Peter Strzok. Page alleged the messages—in whi
  
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• Republican privacy bill would set U.S. rules, pre-empt California: senator

  02-12-2019 23:02 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A draft consumer privacy bill written by Republican U.S. Senator Roger Wicker's staff would set nationwide rules for handling of personal information online and elsewhere and override state laws, including one in California set to take effect next year.Wicker, who chairs the Commerce Committee, said in an interview on Monday the 25-page draft bill is "better, stronger, clearer" than the California privacy law that will start to take effect at the beginning of 2020.Compared with California's law,
  
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• Note to Trump: China Is Considering Buying More Russian Su-35 Jet Fighters

  02-12-2019 23:00 via news.yahoo.com
  
  It's just that good.
  
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• ‘No Malarkey’: Biden could shock the pundits and win

  02-12-2019 22:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Reminder: There are 63 days until the Iowa caucuses and 337 days until the 2020 election.Joe Biden may be leading in the national polls right now, they think.No matter: Biden immediately shot up to 41 percent in the national polls.
  
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• 'No Malarkey': Biden could shock the pundits and win

  02-12-2019 22:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Reminder: There are 63 days until the Iowa caucuses and 337 days until the 2020 election.Joe Biden may be leading in the national polls right now, they think.No matter: Biden immediately shot up to 41 percent in the national polls.
  
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• Senate confirms Brouillette, former Ford lobbyist, as energy secretary

  02-12-2019 22:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed Dan Brouillette, a former top lobbyist for Ford Motor Cowho believes fossil fuels will power a large part of world energy needs for many decades, as President Donald Trump's second energy secretary.The Republican-controlled Senate confirmed Brouillette 70-15.Brouillette will replace Rick Perry, who stepped down on Sunday while at the center of Trump's impeachment probe in the U.S. House of Representatives for his role as one of the "three amigos" who ran a sid
  
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• The Latest: GOP report calls Trump actions ‘prudent’

  02-12-2019 22:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The report, obtained by The Associated Press, disputes that Trump was laying out a “quid pro quo” with Ukraine when he asked the country’s president to investigate Democrats.It says Trump holds a “deepseated, genuine, and reasonable skepticism” of Ukraine due to its history of corruption.
  
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• Trump administration reportedly releases Lebanon military aid after unexplained delay

  02-12-2019 22:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  There's no indication of a quid-pro-quo here, but the delay in getting U.S. military aid to Lebanon still baffled some observers.The Trump administration released more than $100 million in military assistance to Lebanon before Thanksgiving, two congressional staffers and an administration official confirmed to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.The money was caught in limbo at the Office of Management and Budget for months despite the State Department alerting Congress in Septemb
  
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• Senate panel look into Ukraine interference comes up short

  02-12-2019 22:36 via politico.com
  
  Some Republican senators recently questioned whether Kyiv tried to sabotage Donald Trump’s campaign in 2016. But the GOP-led Intelligence Committee looked into the theory, and found scant evidence to support it.
  
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• Govt: Upgraded indictment likely against Giuliani associates

  02-12-2019 22:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  An upgraded indictment is likely in the criminal case against two Rudy Giuliani associates with ties to Ukraine, a prosecutor said Monday.Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Zolkind made the prediction during a pretrial hearing in the case against Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.“We think a superseding indictment is likely, but no decision has been made,” Zolkind told U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken, who is presiding over the case.
  
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• Look Out America, Russia Just Tested Its S-500 Air Defense System In Syria

  02-12-2019 22:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Deployment is coming next year.
  
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• FBI says Russian FaceApp is 'potential counterintelligence threat'

  02-12-2019 22:30 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Federal Bureau of Investigation considers any mobile app developed in Russia to be a "potential counterintelligence threat," it said on Monday, responding to a U.S. lawmaker's query about face-editing photo app FaceApp.Concerns about its Russian provenance prompted the Democratic National Committee to warn the party's 2020 presidential candidates against using it, as well as a call from Democratic U.S. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer for the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission to condu
  
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• Duncan Hunter Will Switch to Guilty Plea in Campaign Finance Scandal

  02-12-2019 22:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  After maintaining his innocence for more than a year, California Republican Duncan Hunter will plead guilty on Tuesday to allocating campaign funds for personal use, nearly six months after his wife and former campaign treasurer admitted to illegally misusing thousands of dollars in donations.“The plea I accepted is misuse of my own campaign funds, of which I pled guilty to only one count,” Hunter told KUSI in an interview that aired shortly after the court notice of the change on Mo
  
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• Kellyanne Conway's husband mocks her on Twitter while slamming Trump over impeachment scandal

  02-12-2019 22:26 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A prominent Washington attorney married to White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway seemingly mocked his wife in a tweet that also derided Donald Trump over the impeachment inquiry against him.George Conway, a frequent critic of the president, appeared to publicly hit out at his wife on Monday afternoon for the first time since she began working for Mr Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
  
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• US seeks high court permission to resume federal executions

  02-12-2019 22:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday for permission to begin executing federal inmates as soon as next week.The Justice Department said in a filing late Monday that lower courts were wrong to put the executions on hold.Attorney General William Barr announced during the summer that federal executions would resume after a 16-year hiatus.
  
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• Democrats Announce Witnesses for Hearing: Impeachment Update

  02-12-2019 22:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Bloomberg) -- The House Judiciary Committee plans a hearing Wednesday to discuss the constitutional grounds for impeachment as the next step of the inquiry into President Donald Trump.Here are the latest developments:Democrats Announce Witnesses for Hearing (4:15 p.m.)The House Judiciary Committee will hear on Wednesday from Harvard law professor Noah Feldman, Stanford law professor Pamela Karlan, University of North Carolina law professor Michael Gerhardt and George Washington University law p
  
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• GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter to plead guilty to misusing campaign funds, hints at possible resignation

  02-12-2019 22:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) is apparently having second thoughts.The congressmember had previously pleaded not guilty to allegations that he and his wife had spent around $250,000 in campaign funds for personal costs -- a major violation of campaign finance laws. But after a year of maintaining his innocence, Hunter announced he will change that plea to guilty and possibly resign from Congress on Tuesday.Hunter will plead guilty to one conspiracy count in a plea deal, his lawyer Paul Pfingst t
  
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• California Class-Action Lawsuit Accuses TikTok of Illegally Harvesting Data and Sending It to China

  02-12-2019 22:08 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Joel Saget/GettyThe social-media platform TikTok is amassing vast swaths of data on its users without their consent and sending it to servers in China, according to a class-action lawsuit filed the day before Thanksgiving in California federal court.The suit, filed by Misty Hong, a college student from Palo Alto, alleges TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, neglected their duty to handle user data with care and knowingly violated a slew of statutes governing data gathering and the r
  
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• 'If he can do that, so can I': How Joe Biden shares grief with voters on the campaign trail

  02-12-2019 22:02 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Joe Biden's personal losses have helped him connect with voters on a personal level few other candidates can match.
  
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• Russia refused Dutch request to hand over MH17 suspect: Netherlands

  02-12-2019 22:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Russia has refused a Dutch request to hand over a suspect in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, in violation of European law, prosecutors said on Monday.Volodymyr Tsemakh, a Ukrainian national, had been identified as a suspect by the Netherlands, which is leading an investigation into the disaster on July 17, 2014 which killed all 298 people onboard.MH17 was shot out of the sky over territory held by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
  
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• Evacuation slide accidentally falls from plane into Boston backyard

  02-12-2019 22:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The pilot of Delta Air Lines Flight 405 from Paris to Boston reported hearing a loud noise as began its final approach to Boston's Logan airport, the Boston Globe reported. Stephanie Leguia, a resident of a Boston suburb,told the Boston Herald that she was standing in a neighbor's backyard when an uninflated evacuation slide fell from the sky, bringing down several tree branches along the way.The slide, which was uninflated, looked like a "giant silver tarp," she said.
  
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• Michigan Dem Senator Backs Green New Deal Goal of Net-Zero Emissions by 2050: ‘I Believe We Can Do That’

  02-12-2019 21:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Senator Gary Peters (D., Mich.) voiced his support for the "Green New Deal" goal of reducing U.S. carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050 in an interview that aired Sunday.Peters, along with 43 other Democratic senators, voted "present" when the non-binding Green New Deal resolution was brought to the floor for a vote in March. The resolution, drafted by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and Senator Ed Markey (D., Mass.), aimed to eliminate the fossil fuel industry within ten years
  
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• The US military is talking about tinkering with soldiers' brains to let them control drones, weapons, and other machines with their minds

  02-12-2019 21:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The US military sees a not-too-distant future where "cyborg soldiers" can control drones and other machines with neural implants
  
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• 'A Lot Is at Stake': Supreme Court Weighs First Major Gun Rights Case in Nearly a Decade

  02-12-2019 21:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Advocates on both sides of the U.S. gun debate were watching the Supreme Court closely on Monday as the justices weighed a high-stakes gun case that experts say has the potential to expand gun rights and roll back hundreds of gun-safety laws across the country.
  
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• House Republicans Put Together an Impeachment Rebuttal Report

  02-12-2019 21:46 via news.yahoo.com
  
  As House Democrats prepare a report documenting their case for impeachment, House Republicans have put together a document of their own.GOP staff have finalized a report for the top Republicans on the House intelligence, judiciary, and oversight committees arguing against removing Trump from office. Their work draws on the last several weeks of public hearings and private depositions. The Daily Beast reviewed the document, which is more than 100 pages long. Among its arguments is a defense
  
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• Here's how the million-mile battery could lead to Teslas lasting a lifetime

  02-12-2019 21:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Tesla filed a patent for a battery that would last one million miles. We break down what this battery means for Tesla.
  
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• Malta PM to Quit as Questions Mount Over Reporter Murder

  02-12-2019 21:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Bloomberg) -- Malta’s Joseph Muscat pledged to resign as leader after his closest aides were linked to a car bomb that killed an investigative journalist.Muscat, 45, said that public anger over the murder, two years ago, was justified. His closest adviser and economy minister have both been questioned by police in recent days as the inquiry into the killing gathered pace. “We are starting the process for a new prime minister who will continue carrying out the work for this legislatu
  
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• Existential: 2019 word of the year raises concerns for climate change, gun violence, and threats to democracy

  02-12-2019 21:42 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Climate change, gun violence, the future of democracy around the world, and the plight of an animated character named Forky have all contributed to this year’s word of the year, as named by Dictionary.com: “Existential”.The word was chosen by the team at Dictionary.com amid several quite alarming top searched words in 2019 — including the chilling term “polar vortex”, the uncertainty of “stochastic terrorism”, and the relief of “exonerate&rdq
  
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• Hunter says he will plead guilty to corruption charges

  02-12-2019 21:40 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter plans to plead guilty on Tuesday to the misuse of campaign funds and has indicated he will leave Congress. The California Republican is facing federal corruption charges he looted campaign cash to finance vacations, golf outings and other personal expenses. Hunter has served 11 years in Congress.
  
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• George Conway fires back at Kellyanne Conway's Joe Biden insults

  02-12-2019 21:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The Conways are at it again -- but this time it was a little more personal. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway tweeted a video Monday of former Vice President Joe Biden telling a cringe-worthy story on the presidential campaign trail. Conway scoffed at the notion that the U.S. would need a foreign country's help to defeat a presidential contender like Biden. > WATCH:> > Sleepy Joe is Creepy Joe. > > We need Ukraine's help to defeat THIS guy? https://t.co/QsCwihXAB6> > --
  
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• Argentine ex-leader angrily denounces graft charges at trial

  02-12-2019 21:38 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Former Argentine President Cristina Fernández made an unusual detour Monday on her way back to power as vice president, appearing in court to defend herself against corruption charges stemming from her time in office.The former leader, who becomes vice president in eight days, is charged with heading a criminal association that defrauded the government by illegally granting public works projects in the southern province on Santa Cruz during her 2007-2015 presidency.Fernández angril
  
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• Russian scientists present prehistoric puppy

  02-12-2019 21:32 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Russian scientists on Monday showed off a prehistoric puppy, believed to be 18,000 years old, found in permafrost in the country’s Far East.Discovered last year in a lump of frozen mud near the city of Yakutsk, the puppy is unusually well-preserved, with its hair, teeth, whiskers and eyelashes still intact.
  
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• U.S. ‘Likely’ to Bring New Charges in Giuliani-Allies Case

  02-12-2019 21:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Bloomberg) -- The U.S is “likely” to bring additional charges in a case against Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, associates of Rudy Giuliani who are accused of skirting campaign contribution limits as part of a plot to oust the American ambassador to Ukraine, a prosecutor said.The comment was made Monday at a court hearing in Manhattan. The prosecutor didn’t elaborate on what the new accusations would be or whether others would be charged.Parnas and Fruman were initially charged in
  
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• Tennessee prepares to execute blind death row inmate

  02-12-2019 21:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The execution of a blind man in Tennessee this week would mark only the second time in recent decades that a person without vision has been put to death in the U.S., the death row inmate’s lawyers say. Lee Hall, 53, is scheduled to be electrocuted Thursday in a state that has accelerated the pace of its executions over the past year. Hall had his sight when he entered death row nearly three decades ago, but attorneys for the condemned prisoner say he’s since become functionally blind
  
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• The best Cyber Monday Costco, BJs, and Sam's Club deals

  02-12-2019 21:27 via news.yahoo.com
  
  These are the best Cyber Monday deals you can get from Sam's Club, BJ's, and Costco on TVs, laptops, Bose headphones, and more.
  
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• Trump mocks FBI's Lisa Page, again citing debunked text-message conspiracy

  02-12-2019 21:21 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The president lashed out yet again at former FBI lawyer Lisa Page after she granted an interview to the Daily Beast.
  
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• Ukraine president rejects Trump defense for withholding aid

  02-12-2019 21:19 via news.yahoo.com
  
  In a recent interview, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected one of President Trump’s central talking points in defending his decision to withhold millions in military aid from Kyiv.
  
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• Evacuations, airport closure as Typhoon Kammuri hits Philippines

  02-12-2019 21:16 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Typhoon Kammuri lashed the Philippines on Monday, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents and the closure of Manila's international airport as a safety precaution.The storm made landfall at around 11:00 pm (1500 GMT) on Sorsogon, the southernmost province of Luzon island, the government weather service PAGASA said.Luzon, the country's largest island, is home to some 49 million people.
  
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• Drones show Greenland ice sheet fracturing in real time

  02-12-2019 21:14 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Scientists said Monday they had used a drone to observe the rapid fracturing and draining of a lake on the Greenland ice sheet, a phenomenon that may become more frequent as a result of climate change.The ice sheet is typically about a kilometer thick, and during summer, it is normal for some of the surface to melt and form thousands of lakes.This process has been extremely difficult to observe firsthand, but a group of glaciologists from the Scott Polar Institute at the University of Cambridge
  
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