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IMPORTANT
| | | Now What | McCarthy Counts Himself Unlucky, Prepares for Fourth Day of Voting After 11 votes and three days, Republican Kevin McCarthy failed again Thursday to secure the speakership. Still, he put on a brave face Thursday night leaving the Capitol after a fresh round of negotiations: “I feel more positive today. I think we had really good discussions.” South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman said he appreciated some of the concessions reached, but others, like firebrand Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, said nothing will win her over. “I will never vote for Kevin McCarthy,” Virginia’s Bob Good said. Until a speaker is elected, representatives can’t be sworn in and work stays on hold. (Sources: WaPo, The Hill) |
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| | | College Tragedy | Idaho Slaying Suspect Faces Court, Investigators Reveal Evidence Bryan Kohberger, 28, faces four charges of first-degree murder in the case that stunned the town of Moscow, Idaho, last November. He did not enter a plea. An affidavit unsealed Thursday showed the evidence police had collected against Kohberger, including DNA, data from his phone and CCTV footage. Police also revealed that another roommate reported seeing an unidentified person in the home the night of the killings. The phone data shows it had been in the vicinity of the home 12 times prior to the murders. The magistrate judge placed a gag order on the high-profile case during the hearing. (Sources: AP, NYT) |
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| | | | | Happy Xmas (War Isn’t Over) | A Christmas Ceasefire in Ukraine? Don’t Count On it Russian President Vladimir Putin backed a proposal from his defense minister for both sides to down arms for 36 hours between Jan. 6 and 7 to commemorate Russian Orthodox Christmas. It’s nothing but a “ploy,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, accusing Russia of wanting “to use Christmas as a cover” to bring in weapons and troops as Ukraine reclaims territory in Donbas. Analysts said the Kyiv dismissal could be a PR boon for Russia’s narrative back home, painting Ukraine as the aggressor. For Zelenskyy, the only way Ukraine will stop fighting is “when your soldiers leave or we throw them out.” (Sources: DW, BBC) |
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| | | Nepo Baby | ‘El Chapo’ Son Arrested in Mexico as Violence Erupts Ovidio Guzmán, son of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, is “a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel,” according to the U.S. State Department. Mexican authorities nabbed the scion in an early morning operation in Culiacán, Sinaloa state. Clashes between security forces and the cartel ground the city to a halt for much of the day, closing schools and the airport. The arrest comes just days before U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrive for a North America summit. Guzmán Jr. was arrested in 2019 but released in an effort to quell the cartel’s violent response. (Sources: CNN, USAToday) |
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| | | Briefly | Here are some things you should know about today: Reconciliation? Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan floated meeting with Syrian leader Bashar Assad. It follows this week’s meeting between the countries’ defense ministers in the highest-level talks since 2011. (Source: Reuters) No go. The U.S. will no longer recognize Venezuelan Juan Guaidó as the country’s leader, the State Department said. Opposition lawmakers in Caracas voted to ditch the “interim presidency” four years after it was declared. (Source: Axios) Smacked down. South Carolina’s Supreme Court ruled in a split decision that banning abortion at six weeks is unconstitutional. It’s “not a reasonable period of time” for a woman to realize she is pregnant, one judge said. (Source: Post and Courier) |
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INTRIGUING
| | | Burying the Evidence | Germany Is Digging In on Carbon Under New Law “Putting CO2 under the ground is quite simply better than releasing it into the atmosphere,” said Germany’s Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, a member of the Green party. The policy announcement comes in the same week an environmental think-tank warned that Germany likely missed its climate emission reduction target in 2022. Critics say the technology has not been used on a scale as large as the government is proposing and is not as effective in eliminating emissions as a switch to renewable resources. Habeck, who is also the country’s climate and environment minister, said the proposal will offer “new opportunities” in business. (Source: AP) |
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| | | Flame Wars | Saudi Arabia Jails Wikipedia Staffers After ‘Infiltration’ One Saudi-based administrator was jailed for 32 years and a second for eight years, two watchdogs said in a joint statement. Democracy for the Arab World Now, the U.S.-based organization founded by murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and digital rights NGO Smex said “whistleblowers and trusted sources” had revealed infiltration of Wikipedia by government-backed agents. Wikipedia has become an online battleground between the Saudi government and democracy activists. A year-long investigation by parent body Wikimedia found “users with close connections with external parties were editing the platform in a coordinated fashion to advance the aim of those parties.” (Source: AFP, MEE) |
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| | | Big Bad Boss Back | Vince McMahon Elects Himself as Returning WWE Chief The former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO is returning to the role to close a rights deal — and a possible sale of the franchise. McMahon resigned from the job last July following allegations of sexual misconduct and an investigation from the board into a cover-up. He is the controlling shareholder of the wrestling giant and can effectively name himself CEO, taking back the reins from daughter Stephanie McMahon and former sports agent Nick Khan, who led as co-CEOs over the last six months. Peacock holds streaming rights through to 2026 and parent company Comcast has been named a potential outright buyer. (Source: Deadline) |
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| | | Tall Tales | A Romance Author Is Back From the Dead. Fans Are Furious. Aspiring author Susan Meachen told her Facebook followers in a September 2020 post that she’d previously suffered mental health challenges and would shortly be publishing her final novel. A few weeks later, a post from Meachen appeared, claiming to be written by her daughter and announcing the author’s death by suicide. It also offered an Amazon sale on her works and fans donated to fundraisers for her family. The wider literary community has been thrown into chaos after Meachen reappeared on the platform this week claiming her family “did what they thought was best for me” in faking the suicide. (Source: Insider) |
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| | | | | Not-So-White Christmas | France’s Winter Sports a Casualty of Climate Change An unseasonably warm winter has melted much of the snow needed for ski events, forcing organizers to cancel or postpone. It’s a disaster for ski fans, with many resorts closed for the season. In the Alps, the Andros Trophy car and motorbike ice race, set for Jan. 13-14, was canceled due to high temperatures in recent weeks and “no cold spell or fresh snow predicted for next week” to prepare the track, organizers said. The Font-Romeu Freestyle Skiing World Cup, planned for the same weekend, has also been postponed. Events in the Italian, Austrian and Swiss Alps are also affected. (Source: France24) |
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