Feed aggregator

Volker has been accused of working with Rudy Giuliani and the US ambassador to the EU to pressure Ukraine to investigate Trump's political opponents.

Douglas Haig, 57, of Mesa, Arizona, became the first and only person arrested and charged in connection with the Oct. 1, 2017, massacre, which ended when the gunman, Stephen Paddock, killed himself. Haig told reporters following his arrest early last year that none of the surplus military ammunition he sold to Paddock in September 2017 was ever fired during the killing spree, which ranks as the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The case against Haig stemmed from the federal investigation of the shooting.

The third day of public testimony in the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump yielded witnesses who largely propped up Democrats' allegations that the president sought to use his public office to coerce the Ukrainian government into investigating Joe Biden — and even some testimony from witnesses seen as sympathetic to Republicans saying that Mr Biden was not known to have done anything wrong.Throughout the marathon of hearings, Washington heard from National Security Council official and Army veteran Lt Col Alexander Vindman, Mike Pence staffer Jennifer Williams, former ambassador Kurt Volker, and Tim Morrison.

On Monday, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation commended Chick-fil-A for its decision to halt donations to several Christian charities but demanded the fast-food chain do more to change its "anti-LGBTQ" brand.GLAAD said it "greet[s] today's announcement with cautious optimism" but warned that the Georgia-based company still has work to do to fix its tarnished image with the LGBTQ community."In addition to refraining from financially supporting anti-LGBTQ organizations, Chick-fil-A still lacks policies to ensure safe workplaces for LGBTQ employees and should unequivocally speak out against the anti-LGBTQ reputation that their brand represents," GLAAD director of campaigns Drew Anderson said in a statement to CNN.Chick-fil-A announced Monday that as the company expands it will no longer donate to the Salvation Army, the Paul Anderson Youth Home, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which opposes same-sex marriage. The company’s charity, the Chick-fil-A Foundation, has donated millions of dollars to the two organizations.“We made multi-year commitments to both organizations and we fulfilled those obligations in 2018,” the company said, adding that from now on it will focus its charitable work “education, homelessness and hunger.”"There’s no question we know that, as we go into new markets, we need to be clear about who we are," said Tim Tassopoulos, Chick-fil-A's president and Chief Operating Officer. "There are lots of articles and newscasts about Chick-fil-A, and we thought we needed to be clear about our message."Tassopoulos added that he believes the decision to pull donations will be "helpful" and is "just the right thing to do."CEO Dan Cathy said in 2012 that Chick-fil-A backs "the biblical definition of the family unit."Chick-fil-A has frequently found itself on the receiving end of criticism from LGBT rights advocates, with some groups boycotting the franchise as it expanded.Conversely, however, Chick-fil-A's move was excoriated by conservatives who accused the company of caving to progressive pressure at the expense of its charity work."Congrats to the wokescolds who finally bullied Chick-Fil-A into stopping donations to the Salvation Army and their 'bigoted' history of helping the poor and helpless," Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R., Texas) wrote in a tweet Tuesday. "Real big accomplishment for the progressives. Hope you're happy."

Special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker said during questioning that "others didn't see the distinction" between Burisma and investigating former Vice President Biden.

The American Medical Association (AMA) on Tuesday called for a total ban on all e-cigarette and vaping products that are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as smoking cessation tools. The AMA is urging regulators and legislators at the state and local levels to ban the sale and distribution of all e-cigarette and vaping products, and stipulates that those products should only be available by prescription.

What does this mean for America?

The FBI wished it had taken swifter action as Beijing recruited U.S.-based researchers to transfer intellectual property from American laboratories, a senior official at the agency said on Tuesday during Senate testimony. The admission by John Brown, assistant director of the Counterintelligence Division at the FBI, backed up a Senate subcommittee report that found federal agencies had responded too slowly as China recruited the researchers, leaving U.S. taxpayers unwittingly funding the rise of China's economy and military. Despite China's announcement in 2008 of the Thousand Talents Plan - for which China had originally hoped to recruit 2,000 people but ended up recruiting more than 7,000 by 2017 - the FBI did not respond strongly until last year, the report released on Monday by the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found.

'A lengthy prison sentence or a burdensome financial fine would not rehabilitate him,' Rep. Omar wrote

California Gov. Gavin Newsom cracked down on oil producers Tuesday, halting approval of hundreds of fracking permits until independent scientists can review them and temporarily banning new wells using another drilling method that regulators believe is linked to one of the largest spills in state history. The state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources announced it will not approve new wells that use high-pressure steam to extract oil from underground. It’s the type of process Chevron uses at an oil field in the Central Valley that leaked more than 1.3 million gallons (4.9 million liters) of oil and water this summer.

Supporters of Tennessee death row inmate Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman kicked off a clemency campaign on Tuesday amid uncertainty over whether his death sentence will be upheld. Abdur'Rahman (AHB'-dur-RAK'-mahn) was sentenced to die in 1987 for the murder of Patrick Daniels, who was stabbed to death. Norma Jean Norman was also stabbed but survived.

Former Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker has one big revision to his first impeachment testimony.In his original closed-door testimony, when asked if there was any talk of investigating the Bidens in a July 10 meeting with a Ukrainian defense leader, Volker repeatedly answered "no." But when appearing publicly before the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, Volker reversed that statement.In his lengthy opening statement Tuesday, Volker mentioned meeting with then-National Security Adviser John Bolton, Ukraine's then-National Security and Defense, and other leaders. "I remember, the meeting was essentially over when Ambassador Sondland made a generic comment about investigations," Sondland's new statement read, referring to U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland and Trump's desired political investigations. "I think all of us thought it was inappropriate; the conversation did not continue," Volker added.Flash back to last month when Volker was asked if there was any talk of Rudy Giuliani's desired Biden probe in that meeting. Volker didn't even let the questioner finish before answering "no" three times in a row.Volker also made another change to his previous testimony, saying that while he didn't tell Ukraine there were conditions to receive U.S. aid, he "did not know" if others "were conveying a different message to them around that same time."More stories from theweek.com The potential lie that could actually destroy Trump The coming death of just about every rock legend Everyone will eventually turn on Trump. Even Steve Doocy.

Despite decades of sanctions, Iran has succeeded in developing its missile arsenal, which is larger than that of any other Middle Eastern country including Israel, a Pentagon study said Tuesday. "Iran has an extensive missile development program, and the size and sophistication of its missile force continues to grow despite decades of counterproliferation efforts aimed at curbing its advancement," the Defense Intelligence Agency said. The study said Iran considered missiles to be a strategic necessity due to the limitations of its air force, which still has some US planes ordered by the pro-Western shah, who was toppled in 1979.

The US aircraft carrier strike group Abraham Lincoln sailed through the key Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday to show Washington's "commitment" to freedom of navigation, the Pentagon said, amid tensions with Tehran. The group's move through the strategic waterway separating Iran and the United Arab Emirates towards the Gulf was scheduled, and unfolded without incident, the US Navy said in a statement. It was the first time a US aircraft carrier group went through the strait since Iran downed a US drone in June in the same area.

From flowing streams to hummocky hills, scientists have charted the moon's spellbinding surface.

From flowing streams to hummocky hills, scientists have charted the moon's spellbinding surface.

More than 15,000 people are expected to flood downtown Indianapolis on Tuesday for what could be the largest Statehouse rally in more than 20 years.

A Norwegian man freed by Moscow from an espionage jail term as part of a spy swap between Lithuania and Russia said on Tuesday he felt "deceived" by his country's intelligence service. Frode Berg, 64, a retired Norwegian border guard, was detained in Moscow in 2017 following a sting operation by Russia's FSB security service and freed on Friday as part of an exchange reminiscent of the Cold War.

Kim Gervais, who was left a quadriplegic after the shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas in 2017, died on Friday, her sister told KVVU-TV.

The former special envoy to Ukraine testified Tuesday he should have realized — as many of his colleagues did — that President Donald Trump was holding up military aid to pressure the country to investigate political rival Joe Biden. Testifying in the House impeachment inquiry, Kurt Volker said he believes now, thanks to hindsight and the testimony of other witnesses, that Trump was using the aid to compel Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son Hunter, who was on the board of a Ukrainian gas company, Burisma.