Big Time News Blog: 01/08/20

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Impeachment Briefing: Mitch McConnell’s Trial

By BY NOAH WEILAND from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/36DZoar

300 New Subway Cars Pulled Over Fears That Doors Would Open

By BY CHRISTINA GOLDBAUM from NYT New York https://ift.tt/2T6PwlM

Trump softens rhetoric after Iranian missile attacks, says Tehran appears to be 'standing down'

President Donald Trump on Wednesday tempered days of angry rhetoric and suggested Iran was "standing down" after it fired missiles at U.S. forces in Iraq overnight, as both sides looked to defuse a crisis over the U.S. killing of an Iranian general

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2s33qdk

Australia issues new evacuation alerts as monster bushfires regenerate

Authorities issued new warnings and evacuation notices across southeast Australia on Thursday, as a return of hot weather fanned huge bushfires threatening several towns and communities.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/37ShiXj

U.S. lawmakers divided over Trump Iran argument, set war powers vote

Trump administration officials failed to convince Democratic U.S. lawmakers, and some Republicans, on Wednesday that an imminent threat had justified the killing of a top Iranian military commander, and congressional Democrats scheduled a vote on legislation to rein in the president's ability to wage war.

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

Bolivia prosecutor seeks Spain response over embassy spat

Bolivia's attorney general has pushed forward a probe into Spanish officials the South American country's government alleges were seeking to help allies of ousted leftist leader Evo Morales who are holed up in the Mexican embassy in La Paz.

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

Iran sending messages to militias not to attack U.S. targets: Pence

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Wednesday the United States has received intelligence that Iran has asked its allied militias not to attack U.S. targets.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2N7Vi2q

Trump, Israel's Netanyahu discuss regional issues in call: White House

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "discussed critical bilateral and regional issues" in a call on Wednesday, the White House said in a statement, without giving further details.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2R1ApXQ

Saudis warn of new destructive cyberattack that experts tie to Iran

The Saudi authorities detected a new destructive cyberattack suspected of coming from Iran on Dec. 29, the same day the U.S. military struck targets controlled by Iranian-backed proxies in retaliation for a rocket attack that killed an American contractor the previous Friday.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/36zN0s7

Mexican migrants removed from border camp after family separation threat

Mexican authorities on Tuesday removed almost 100 Mexican migrants seeking asylum in the United States from a camp in downtown Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, according to a Reuters witness, after state police threatened to separate parents from their children. Ciudad Juarez has been received growing numbers of Mexicans seeking to apply for asylum in the United States, leading to a backlog in the city as U.S. border officials limit the number of asylum cases they receive at the port of entry each day. The operation came a day after news that the United States will deport some Mexican asylum seekers to Guatemala.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/36BCiRS

2 Mississippi men tried to cash in a lottery ticket for $100,000 after supergluing the winning numbers onto it, police say

Police said two men signed the ticket and presented it to the Mississippi Lottery Corporation, but officials realized it was fake and called police.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2QWP1bh

Pompeo Limits U.S. Links to Iranian Group Linked to Giuliani

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

25 photos show what Iran looked like before the 1979 revolution turned the nation into an Islamic republic

From 1941 to 1979, Iran was ruled by King Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah. On February 11, 1979, the Islamic Revolution swept the country.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2T5LIRy

McConnell on Impeachment: ‘The Senate Has Made Its Decision’

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) seemed to confirm that the Republican majority was ready to advance with impeachment, saying Wednesday that “there will be no haggling with the House over Senate procedure.”“We will not cede our authority to try this impeachment. The House Democrats’ turn is over. The Senate has made its decision. This is for the Senate, and the Senate only, to decide,” McConnell tweeted.> There will be no haggling with the House over Senate procedure. We will not cede our authority to try this impeachment. The House Democrats’ turn is over. The Senate has made its decision. This is for the Senate, and the Senate only, to decide.> > -- Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) January 8, 2020Multiple reports broke Tuesday that McConnell and Republican leadership in the Senate had whipped the 51 votes required to establish the rules for President Trump’s impending impeachment trial without a concrete agreement on witnesses.It is understood that McConnell wants to vote on a resolution outlining the parameters of the trial and hear opening arguments, and only then to vote on a second resolution determining which witnesses, if any, will be called upon to testify — mirroring the impeachment trial of former President Bill Clinton.The news came despite threats from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), who threatened that “Republicans may run but they can’t hide” from a vote on the question of witnesses and documents.But several of Schumer’s fellow Democratic senators broke ranks after the news, saying that they believed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) should release the articles of impeachment against President Trump.“I think the time has passed. She should send the articles over,” Chris Murphy of Connecticut said, according to The Washington Post.“I think it needs to start, I really do,” concurred West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin. “I can’t tell the House how to do their business…But the bottom line is, the holdout helped force Bolton to step forward. Let us do what we have to do over here.”

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/35EaI54

Heat wave, tornadoes, floods and snow: There's some wild weather ahead for eastern half of US

A wild potpourri of weather is in the forecast by the end of the week over the eastern half of the nation, including possible record warmth.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/35wwd7P

With Pompeo out, GOP can't dodge Kansas Senate race headache

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's declaration Tuesday that he won't run for Senate in Kansas returned some Republicans to worrying that they can't block a polarizing conservative from winning the GOP nomination and putting the seat in play. Pompeo's decision to remain as the nation's top diplomat, assuming he sticks by it, means the GOP can't dodge the issue that had prompted top Republicans to woo Pompeo for months.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2N6e76c

In rebuke to Lebanese leaders, U.N. says "irresponsible" to leave country without government

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/300tm60

Ex-prisoners slam Lori Loughlin’s reported jail preparation

As Lori Loughlin gets ready for her trial in the college-admissions scandal, she is said to have hired a prison consultant who's teaching her martial arts to prepare for the possibility of prison, a move other experts in the industry have called absurd.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2FBZd3n

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