News and Headlines: In The News, Politics, World News.
In The News:
Celebrations kick off in Dubai as the United Arab Emirates welcomes 2020.
When Donald met Kim, Notre Dame in flames and a royal kiss: Pictures of the decade show incredible ups and downs of life around the world since 2010
Pictures of the decade show the incredible ups and downs of life around the world since 2010 – including the Notre Dame fire, Donald Trump meeting Kim Kardashian and the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
The last ten years have brought us many iconic moments – with some having an impact that will last well beyond this decade.
Highlights of the decade include not one but two major royal weddings. Prince William and Kate got married in the Westminster Abbey in front of around 2,000 guests in April 2011 and seven years later Prince Harry and Meghan tied the knot in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle after a whirlwind romance.
Natural disasters, terrorism and global violence also made headlines including the Grenfell Tower fire, the Ebola epidemic, the Paris terror attacks and more recently the Hong Kong protests.
Illinois’ population loss more than 51,000 in 2019, most lost in past decade
Illinois lost nearly 105,000 people in net domestic migration between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019, according to new numbers released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau. In total, the Land of Lincoln lost on net 51,250 people, the largest annual population decline this decade.
It’s the sixth consecutive year Illinois’ population declined.
The 51,250 in net population loss is roughly the size of the village of Hoffman Estates in suburban Chicago or Normal in downstate McLean County.
Last year, Illinois dropped from the fifth to the sixth most populous state, losing an estimated 45,000 people and falling behind Pennsylvania. In 2017, Illinois lost around 40,000 people.
In 2016, there was a loss around 38,000 people. In 2015, there was a loss of around 25,000. In 2014, there was a loss of around 10,000.
New York residents flee state as population stagnates
New York residents are leaving the state in droves, continuing a pattern of migration loss that has plagued the state for years.
New York saw its fourth consecutive year of population loss between 2018 and 2019 despite a promising economy, according to a demographic study by the New York-based think tank Empire Center.
The state lost 76,790 people in 2018-2019, a 0.4 percent decrease from the previous year, bringing its total population down to about 19.4 million, the study found.
“NY is a state [with] limitless potential,” Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) tweeted Tuesday in response to the report. “Success should be better rewarded, constitutional rights should be better protected, tax [money] should be better spent, our police [and] rule of law should be better respected [and] illegal immigration should be less encouraged.”
Blue state residents running to greener pastures, according to Census data
FOX News Video: California, New York and Illinois are seeing the largest net domestic migration losses while the South is seeing a population surge.
A mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of residents in blue states was to be expected because of their extremely high cost of living, Laguna Hills, Calif., Mayor Don Sedgwick said Tuesday.
Appearing on “Fox & Friends” with hosts Griff Jenkins and Dean Cain, Sedgwick said that “it’s just too darn expensive” to live in densely populated states like California and New York.
Man who punched NYPD officer released without bail
Commentary/Opinion: De Blasio’s program gives freed inmates gift cards, metro cards; reaction from City Journal associate editor Seth Barron.
Horrifying moment man, 48, grabs sleeping woman on the subway and tries to abduct her in the Bronx
Horrifying footage has emerged of an attempted abduction which took place on a New York City subway train in the Bronx.
Sonny Alloway, 48, was arrested after the incident on a 6 train at 2:45a.m. Monday.
He was filmed by a bystander first trying to talk to the unidentified woman as she slept with her face covered, then grabbing her and running off the train with her when it was at a stop at the Morrison Avenue-Soundview station.
In one sudden motion once the train had stopped, Alloway sprang from his seat, picked her up and carried her slight frame off the train.
She kicked and struggled against him.
Politics:
‘No Benghazis on His Watch’: Graham Praises Trump Response to Embassy Protests in Baghdad
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) praised President Donald Trump for his response to an attack on Tuesday at the American embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, while Trump’s former adviser, John Bolton, criticized Iran for its role in the incident.
“Very proud of [Trump] acting decisively in the face of threats to our embassy in Baghdad,” Graham wrote on Twitter as the news unfolded.
“He has put the world on notice—there will be no Benghazis on his watch.”
The longtime senator then issued warnings to both the Iranian regime and U.S. allies in Iraq, telling Tehran to “choose your battles wisely” while asking Iraq to “protect our American personnel.”
New bill aims to eliminate $100 billion year-end federal shopping spree
U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, introduced legislation based on OpentheBooks.com’s transparency efforts that would crack down on federal agencies’ “Christmas in September.”
Ernst’s legislation, called the End of Year Fiscal Responsibility Act, would end agencies’ annual 11th-hour spending spree.
It seeks limit agency spending in the last two months of the fiscal year to no more than what it usually spends every month on average.
“This bill won’t end all wasteful spending, but it will force agencies to put more thought into long-term planning and curtail the bad habit of out-of-control impulsive spending,” Ernst said.
Homan: Be prepared for ‘out of control border’ if Democrat wins in 2020
Commentary/Opinion: Former acting ICE director Tom Homan on how a Democrat winning the presidential election could cause the country to collapse.
World News:
Australia wildfires trap thousands in seaside town, many take refuge on beach as fires turn sky ‘pitch black’
The southeastern town of Mallacoota in Victoria state was shrouded in darkness for most of the day as winds pushed an emergency-level wildfire toward the coast, before skies turned a shade of bright red as the day wore on.
The approaching flames sent around 4,000 people away from their homes to beachside areas. Similar scenes were reported in the neighboring New South Wales state.
“We’ve got literally hundreds, thousands of people up and down the coast, taking refuge on the beaches,” said Shane Fitzsimmons, the commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service.
Turkey rounds up at least 124 suspected of links to ISIS ahead of New Year’s Eve celebrations
Of the 124 people who were detained, 33 were foreign nationals arrested in the capital Ankara in a joint operation conducted by anti-terrorism police and the national intelligence agency, the state-run news agency Anadolu reported.
In the country’s biggest city of Istanbul, 24 suspects were detained by officials, including four foreign nationals.
Dawn raids were also conducted in the cities of Adana, Kayseri, Samsun and Bursa, while an operation in Batman led to the seizures of weapons and ammunition, along with 22 people taken into custody, according to Anadolu.
Trump blames Iran for US Embassy attack in Iraq, vows to hold regime ‘fully responsible’
“Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will,” Trump tweeted Tuesday morning.
“Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.
They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!”
The breach at the compound followed an earlier attempt by hundreds of Iraqis. The unrest came as Iraqis held funerals for the 25 fighters from Iran-backed Shiite militia Kataeb Hezbollah who were killed in U.S. airstrikes earlier this week, the Associated Press reported.
US embassy stormed in Baghdad amid anger at airstrikes
Dozens of Iraqi Shia militia supporters have broken into the US embassy compound in Baghdad after smashing a door and storming inside, amid teargas and sounds of gunfire.
An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw flames rising from inside the compound and at least three US soldiers on the roof of the embassy.
A man on a loudspeaker urged protesters not to enter the compound.
The US ambassador and staff were reportedly earlier evacuated from the embassy in Baghdad, after thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the building to protest against a US airstrike on an Iranian-backed militia group.