North Korean's Kim holds military meeting as tension rises under looming deadline

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held a meeting of top military officials to discuss boosting the country's military capability, state news agency reported on Sunday amid heightened concern the North may be about to return to confrontation with Washington.

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Miracle survivor on mission to help close gaps in tsunami warning system

Arif Munandar had been pronounced dead before he woke up in a body bag four days after a monstrous wave swept his village in Indonesia's northern Aceh province 15 years ago.

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Pelosi and McConnell, masters of the congressional chessboard, face off over impeachment

The fate of the Trump impeachment — in fact, the fate of the entire Trump presidency — now rests on the outcome of a battle between the two ablest political generals in recent American history: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

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CNN coverage of Democratic debate 'goes to black' in Beijing when Hong Kong and Xinjiang were discussed

China is known for its strict censorship and crackdown on media that references its human rights abuses.

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Syria says possible drone attacks hit 3 oil, gas facilities

Near-simultaneous attacks believed to have been carried out by drones hit three government-run oil and gas installations in central Syria, state TV and the Oil Ministry said Saturday. No one claimed responsibility for the attacks, which targeted the Homs oil refinery — one of only two in the country — as well as two natural gas facilities in different parts of Homs province. Syria has suffered fuel shortages since earlier this year amid Western sanctions blocking imports, and because most of the country's oil fields are controlled by Kurdish-led fighters in the country's east.

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California drives U.S. homelessness increase

The Department of Housing and Urban Development released Friday its estimate of annual homelessness in the United States, concluding that the number of homeless people in the country increased 2.7 percent over the last year.The jump is reportedly strongly tied to California's housing crisis, especially in Los Angeles and San Francisco. California alone experienced an estimated 16.4 percent increase in homelessness, despite the state's efforts to counter the issue.HUD Secretary Ben Carson blamed welfare programs that fostered dependency and despair, per The New York Times, as well as policies that allow people to sleep in public spaces. Carson argued the laws discourage people from going "to the places that are actually designed to help them get out of that situation."There were some positive strives elsewhere, however. Washington, D.C., and 29 other states reported declines in the number of homeless people, NBC News reports. Meanwhile, veteran homelessness dropped 2.1 percent, homeless families with children declined 4.8 percent, and homeless youth and children decreased 3.6 percent. Read more at The New York Times and NBC News.More stories from theweek.com Porn is evil. Don't ban it. Elizabeth Warren's attack on Buttigieg's wine cave fundraiser 'plays into hands' of GOP, former Obama campaign aide says Trump is now attacking Christianity Today — and its editor is doubling down

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Do Democratic candidates agree with Obama that women make better leaders?

A question was poised about former Obama’s recent comments that if women were leaders, there would be “significant improvement across the board.”

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Debbie Dingell Gets Support From Another Widow Whose Husband Trump Has Mocked: Cindy McCain

WASHINGTON -- One widow instantly knew how the other one felt."I'm preparing for the first holiday season without the man I love," one said."I'm terribly sorry," the other replied. "Please know I am thinking about you."The Twitter exchange sounded like a salutation between two women facing the season alone, but the message of support from Cindy McCain, the widow of John McCain, the Arizona senator, to Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., was about a different shared experience.It was a message of solidarity sent after President Donald Trump mocked Dingell ("You know Dingell? You ever hear of her, Michigan? Debbie Dingell, that's a real beauty.") and implied that her husband -- John Dingell, the former Michigan congressman who died in February -- was "looking up" from hell. McCain's own husband has been the object of relentless presidential attacks since he died.In an interview Thursday, hours after Trump became the third president in history to be impeached -- an outcome she voted for -- Dingell said that her husband "was never afraid to fight for what was right" but that the president's remarks about him had cut deep."He hurt me," Dingell said. "I think there's some things that should be off limits."Trump has freely and frequently brought the power of his office down on a variety of journalists, lawmakers, Foreign Service officers and members of the military he has seen as standing in his way.But Debbie Dingell is now joining the ranks of a more select group that includes the McCains and a Gold Star military family, who have suffered profound loss only to see it mocked and used as political ammunition by the president.Dingell said on Thursday that she was still grieving the loss of her husband, who was the longest-serving congressman in American history. He retired from Congress in 2014 after serving his district, just outside Detroit, for 59 years. His wife, who now holds his seat, called for civility as she faced her first Christmas in 38 years without her husband."If anything good comes out of this," Dingell said, "maybe people will take a deep breath and think about it."But Trump is not prone to contemplation. At his rally Wednesday night, Trump was speaking off the cuff to supporters as he called out Democrats like Dingell, who had voted in favor of the two articles of impeachment against him. But the president singled her out because she had done so after he approved an "A-plus treatment" for her husband's burial."So she calls me up: 'It's the nicest thing that's ever happened; thank you so much,'" Trump said at the rally, mocking the congresswoman's voice while recounting their call. He suggested that Dingell had begged for him to lower American flags to half-staff and, apparently impersonating her, said: "Do this, do that, do that. Rotunda."Dingell did not lie in state in the Capitol rotunda -- Dingell said on Thursday that that had not been one of his requests. Still, Trump said Dingell had said her husband would be thrilled as he looked down and saw how the country was honoring him."Maybe he's looking up," Trump said at one point. "I don't know. I don't know, maybe. Maybe. But let's assume he's looking down."Dingell said the president had ordered American flags lowered, but beyond that, Dingell's military service in World War II made him eligible for the only request he had made, which was to be buried at Arlington National Ceremony. At the time, she said, she had welcomed the president's call -- emphasizing that he called her."He was very kind," Dingell said. "He had told me that he heard he was a great man and I thought it was very thoughtful for him to call at a time when I was really grieving."But Trump's public remarks about their exchange were condemned by both Republicans -- including Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan -- and Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading 2020 candidate whose own political life has been punctuated by loss."This is equally as cruel as it is pathetic," Biden, whose son Beau died in 2015, said on Twitter, "and it is beyond unconscionable that our President would behave this way."Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has also been called "crazy" and "nervous" by Trump as she steered her caucus toward impeachment, said there was nothing funny about what Trump said."What the president misunderstands is that cruelty is not wit," she said. "It's not funny at all. It's very sad."Upton, a close friend of John Dingell's who delivered a eulogy for him, called on the president to apologize and said on Twitter, "There was no need to 'dis' him in a crass political way."Rep. Paul Mitchell, another Michigan Republican, also said the president's comments warranted an apology. "To use his name in such a dishonorable manner at last night's rally is unacceptable from anyone, let alone the president of the United States," he said. "An apology is due, Mr. President."The Trump campaign had no comment about whether the president's comments could affect his political fortunes in Michigan, a state he narrowly won in 2016. Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, also sidestepped the question."I have great respect for the Dingells' decades of service to the state of Michigan and I'm very sorry for Representative Debbie Dingell's loss," McDaniel said in a statement. "I was glad to see the late Representative John Dingell honored so highly by the president when he passed away."As the criticism mounted, the White House did not apologize and instead suggested that the public consider how Trump might feel about being impeached."He has been under attack, and under impeachment attack, for the last few months, and then just under attack politically for the last two and a half years," Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, said in an interview with ABC on Thursday. "I think that as we all know, the president is a counterpuncher."She declined to explain how John Dingell, who died 10 months ago, had thrown the first punch.The president's rough comments on his adversaries have earned him condemnation from grieving families before. In 2016, Trump criticized the parents of Capt. Humayun Khan, a Muslim soldier killed in Iraq, who had denounced the president during the Democratic National Convention. Trump said Khan's father had delivered the entire speech because his mother was not "allowed" to speak.Khizr Khan, the soldier's father, said he felt a sense of recognition when he heard that Trump had mocked the Dingell family."All three of them have served this nation and they have passed," Khan said of his son, Dingell and McCain. "They deserve to be respected."Trump has particularly fixated on McCain, who died in 2018 from complications from brain cancer and, as he was dying, made plans to keep the president away from his funeral.After McCain died, Trump waited days to issue a proclamation marking the senator's death, relenting only under enormous pressure. He has repeatedly brought up McCain's vote against repealing the Affordable Care Act at his political rallies. And when Trump traveled to Japan in May, the White House asked the Navy to hide a destroyer named after McCain during the president's visit to Yokosuka Naval Base.The late senator's daughter, Meghan McCain, offered her own sharp criticism Thursday."The comments from Trump about Rep Dingell is utterly sick and cruel," McCain said on Twitter. "Take heed in knowing he only attacks people for whom he is threatened by their great legacies. History will forever judge him very harshly."The McCain family declined to comment further. But for her part, Debbie Dingell said she did not want the president to call her again, even if he had an apology."No," she said. "He's taken his shot."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company

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Brendan Dassey of ‘Making a Murderer’ Is Denied Clemency

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Biden answers critics of his moderation: 'I have no love' for Republicans who attack me

At the Democratic debate, former Vice President Joe Biden responded to critics on the left who say he is too moderate — and too willing to work with Republicans who have enabled President Trump — to be the party’s nominee.

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3 Legal Experts on What the Obamacare Ruling Really Means

Ever since Judge Reed O'Connor of the Northern District of Texas ruled a year ago that the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional, the country has been waiting for the next arbiter -- a federal appeals court -- to weigh in on the fate of the landmark health law.That ruling finally came Wednesday. But it offered little clarity.The judges from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that one key element of the law -- the mandate requiring people to have insurance -- was unconstitutional. But they sent the rest of the case back to O'Connor for what the dissenting judge called a "do-over," asking him to give it another think on the question of whether other parts of the law should be struck down too.The move means the legal showdown could continue for a long time, almost certainly beyond the 2020 election.We spoke with three law professors who have closely followed the battles over Obamacare to preview what next steps in this already prolonged litigation might look like.Can anything be done to speed up this process?The group of Democratic states that are defending the act could ask for all judges on the 5th Circuit to take the case, known as an en banc hearing. Xavier Becerra, the attorney general of California, said in a news conference Thursday that he wants to appeal directly to the Supreme Court but is consulting other attorneys general in the group about that strategy."Both are long shots," said Jonathan H. Adler, who teaches at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Since there are no immediate consequences to Wednesday's ruling -- the law continues to be enforced while the court process plays out -- the Supreme Court, in particular, would be unlikely to consider the case until it has made its way fully through the lower courts, Adler said.Not everyone shares that view, given the national importance of the law to the nation's health care system. "This is an unusual case, and the writing for the ACA is on the wall," said Nicholas Bagley, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Law. "So the court might opt to hear it now."When is O'Connor likely to rule again?The 5th Circuit put the burden on both sides to do their homework, to submit new briefs and reargue the case, a time-consuming process. And the federal government will be taking a new stance, since it now supports striking down the full ACA, a different position from its original one.Adding the time it will take for O'Connor to draft a fresh decision, his ruling might not emerge for nearly a year, several legal observers say. Then the appeal process would begin anew.Is this decision a legal punt?Adler considers the ruling a punt, saying, "it has no practical effect."Bagley, not so much: "The Supreme Court might well take the case, and this will remain a political headache for the Republicans."Abbe R. Gluck, a professor at Yale Law School, characterizes the 5th Circuit's ruling as more intentional. "As the dissent says, severability is a question of law -- the court doesn't need more briefing or facts to determine," Gluck said, referring to the doctrine that says when Congress strikes down an element of a law but doesn't explicitly erase it all, the rest stands. "Instead, it sent the case back to a judge who has made his distaste for the entire ACA unclear," ducking responsibility for knocking it down or reinforcing it.Any clue what the appeals panel really thinks?"I think the panel is skeptical of the all-or-nothing approach to severability and isn't quite sure what to do," Adler said. "But that is somewhat speculative on my part."Bagley took a harder line, saying he thought the majority opinion almost completely endorsed O'Connor's ruling. The judge had said that when Congress in 2017 eliminated the tax penalty for those who didn't buy insurance, the full act became null."The court thinks, though, that there might be a few portions of the ACA that can be salvaged," Bagley said. "But it's signaling that it's OK if O'Connor thinks those are precious few indeed."Any bets on how the 5th Circuit will ultimately rule?Gluck said the panel noted that O'Connor gave short shrift to the views of the 2017 Congress, which struck down the penalty for not buying insurance but said nothing about eliminating the full health care law."Once the inquiry properly shifts to the 2017 Congress," she said, "it will be hard for any court to invalidate the whole law without looking like it is engaging in egregious judicial overreach."How long could this case continue?"The case is all but certain to drag out well past the 2020 election," Bagley said.Among the three law professors, on that point there was no dissent.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company

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Ethiopia PM Abiy denounces religious strife after mosque attacks

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Saturday condemned religious violence following attacks on multiple mosques in the Amhara region, the latest unrest targeting religious institutions. State-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported Saturday a number of mosques had been attacked and that "other properties were destroyed" in Mota town, more than 350 kilometres (217 miles) north of the capital, Addis Ababa. "Attempts by extremists to breakdown our rich history of religious tolerance and coexistence have no place in the new prosperity focused Ethiopia," said Abiy, this year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate, in a statement posted to his Facebook and Twitter accounts.

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Court rules in landmark climate change case

The Dutch government must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by the end of 2020 to protect its citizens from the effects of climate change.

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Trump will ‘absolutely’ designate Mexican cartels like CJNG as terrorists. Will it help?

President Donald Trump will "absolutely" designate Mexican cartels as terrorists, which could fray already strained U.S.-Mexico relations.

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Everyone ganged up on Pete Buttigieg at the Democratic debate, and these numbers show why that was basically guaranteed

We're getting closer and closer to votes. At this point, Buttigieg, considered a top-tier candidate, is vulnerable.

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Iran's Rouhani welcomes Japan opt-out of U.S.-led naval mission in Gulf

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday welcomed Japan's decision not to join a U.S.-led naval mission in the Gulf and said he had discussions on ways of "breaking" U.S. sanctions on a trip to Tokyo. Friction between Tehran and Washington has increased since last year when U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with six nations and re-imposed sanctions on the country, crippling its economy. Washington proposed the naval mission after several attacks in May and June on international merchant vessels, including Saudi tankers, in Gulf waters which the United States blamed on Iran.

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Vegans charged with murder after baby dies of starvation

A vegan couple who fed their children only raw fruits and vegetables have been charged with murder after their son allegedly died of starvation.

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Public push to legalise same-sex marriage in China

Legalising same-sex marriage was among the top suggestions made by the Chinese public to lawmakers tasked with amending the civil code, a spokesperson for the top legislative body said. The public push comes despite a recent crackdown in China on LGBT activists and the wider gay community, as well as censorship of content related to homosexuality in films and on social media. Feedback from ordinary people was solicited in November by the Commission for Legislative Affairs ahead of its meeting next week to discuss updates to the civil code, which mostly deals with matters relating to marriage and family.

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Carnival cruise ships collide in Mexico, injuring 6

The slow-moving collision was caught on video by many onlookers.

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DNA test frees Texas man from life sentence - and leads to confession of a new murder suspect

Lydell Grant, who was serving a life sentence, has been freed after a new DNA test of a murder victim's fingernail pointed to a different suspect.

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Joe Biden was drowned out during much of the Democratic debate

Former Vice President Joe Biden was supposed to be a 2020 frontrunner. He didn't talk like it.Biden, the largely undisputed poll leader in the Democratic primary field, spent just 15 minutes and 28 seconds speaking during Thursday's debate. That's nearly four minuted behind South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg's 19 minutes, 12 seconds, and puts Biden ahead of only entrepreneurs Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer in terms of talking time, CNN reports.Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is meanwhile on the lower end of the polling spectrum. But that didn't stop her from speaking the second most of the seven candidates onstage. She gt in 19 minutes, 54 seconds of words, while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) topped the list with 20 minutes, 18 seconds. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) meanwhile came in third just behind them with 19 minutes, 23 seconds.Find a chart comparing speaking times at CNN.More stories from theweek.com Porn is evil. Don't ban it. Elizabeth Warren's attack on Buttigieg's wine cave fundraiser 'plays into hands' of GOP, former Obama campaign aide says Trump is now attacking Christianity Today — and its editor is doubling down

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Russia Says Shooter at Moscow Spy Headquarters Was Lone Wolf

(Bloomberg) -- Russian investigators said a single man was responsible for a Thursday evening attack on the Federal Security Service’s headquarters in central Moscow that killed two of the agency’s employees.One of the victims lost his life at the scene and the second died in the hospital from wounds he received in the attack, Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement Friday. Five others, including one civilian, were wounded and the shooter was killed, it said.The committee identified the attacker as 39-year-old Evgeny Manyurov, a Moscow region resident. Initial reports said as many as three men were involved in the attack, and videos posted on social media showed officers conducting random searches of people in the area following the shooting.“It seems that this man wasn’t interested in politics,” Alexei Makarkin, deputy head of the Moscow-based Center for Political Technologies, said. “This is unlikely to lead to the tightening of the screws” unless people start praising him in social media, he said.The brazen attack in a heavily-policed area filled with government agencies and restaurants about a half mile from the Kremlin came around the same time President Vladimir Putin was attending a concert nearby in honor of the Russian security services.At that event, Putin praised the security services, saying they had prevented 54 terrorist crimes, including 33 attacks, since the beginning of the year.The FSB, as the security service is known, was last targeted in October 2018, when a 17-year-old anarchist injured 3 officers when he blew himself up during an attack on the intelligence service’s Arkhangelsk office, leading to a nationwide crackdown of people critical of the agency.(Updates death toll in first paragraph)\--With assistance from Ilya Arkhipov.To contact the reporters on this story: Jake Rudnitsky in Moscow at jrudnitsky@bloomberg.net;Stepan Kravchenko in Moscow at skravchenko@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Torrey Clark at tclark8@bloomberg.net, Tony HalpinFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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'Homosexual face': Brazil's Bolsonaro lashes out at press

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro lashed out at journalists on Friday, saying one had a homosexual's “face” in a remark that was promptly mocked by the president's critics. A visibly upset Bolsonaro accused the press of bias against him and his son, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro. Prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro are investigating allegations the younger Bolsonaro hired employees with no duties while he was a state legislator.

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