News and Headlines: In The News, Politics, World News, Commentary/Opinion.
In The News:
Toyota recalls 2.9 million vehicles for faulty air bag sensor
The North American recall involves 2011 through 2019 Corolla sedans, 2011 through 2013 Matrix hatchbacks, 2012 through 2018 Avalon sedans, and 2013 through 2018 Avalon Hybrid sedans.
At issue are air bag control units, electrical components that could receive incorrect signals from crash sensors and fail to tighten seat belts or deploy air bags at the first indication of an accident.
The U.S. National Highway Safety Administration, which has been investigating the problem since April 2019, has identified two accidents involving Toyota Corolla models, one resulting in a fatality, in which the situation may have been a factor.
21-year-old son of Christian rapper TobyMac died of an accidental drug overdose
Davidson County Medical Examiner Feng Li said that an “acute combined drug intoxication” of fentanyl and amphetamines resulted in the 21-year-old’s death last October, according to the Tennessean.
In the report, Li said that McKeehan had a history of drug and alcohol abuse, and possibly abused nitrous oxide, or “laughing gas.” He also had Adderall and marijuana in his system at the time of his death.
McKeehan was discovered unresponsive in his bed on Oct. 23 when a friend was conducting a welfare check on him.
In January, McKeehan released a song called “21 Years” about his son and his own experience grappling with the death of child.
Idaho state lawmaker to introduce bill banning biological males from competing against biological females in high school sports
State Rep. Barbara Ehardt of Idaho Falls said she will introduce legislation that would prevent individuals from competing in high school sports against opponents who aren’t the same biological sex, the East Idaho News reported.
“Boys and men will not be able to take the place of girls and women in sports because it’s not fair,” she said, according to the outlet.
Ehardt emphasized to the News that the bill’s language focuses on DNA and chromosomes and doesn’t single out transgender women — and in fact, she added that transgender men would be prevented from competing in men’s sports as well.
Air Force Captain who Fled Court-Martial Hearing Found Dea
(U.S. Air Force photo/Bryan Guthrie)
Capt. Kevin Larson, 34, of Las Vegas, was the subject of an arrest warrant issued Friday when he did not appear for a court-martial hearing at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said.
A CHP officer spotted the man’s 2018 Jeep Wrangler about 4 p.m. Saturday and attempted to pull the vehicle over south of Ukiah.
The driver fled north on Highway 101, with the CHP in pursuit, evading the officer by turning off onto Reeves Canyon Road about 14 miles north of Ukiah.
‘I’ll Give You A Ride Back!’: Trump Stops To Chat With Greg Abbott Before Leaving Davos
Abbott shared a video Wednesday of the brief exchange between the two leaders.
“Are you okay? You want to come up with us?” Trump asked after greeting Abbott with a hug and a pat on the back. “I’ll give you a ride back.”
Trump turned to the gathered crowd then, saying, “The great Governor of Texas, everybody! There’s nobody like him!”
Oklahoma zookeeper sentenced in murder-for-hire plot
OKLAHOMA CITY — A former Oklahoma zookeeper and one-time candidate for governor was sentenced Wednesday to 22 years in prison for his role in a murder-for-hire plot and violating federal wildlife laws.
A federal judge in Oklahoma City sentenced 56-year-old Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage — who is also known as “Joe Exotic” — for trying to arrange the killing of a Florida animal sanctuary founder who criticized his treatment of animals. The woman, Carole Baskin, wasn’t harmed.
Maldonado, who maintained his innocence, also was sentenced for killing five tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying wildlife records. A jury convicted him last April.
Toddlers tried to stop mother from killing her 3 children: court documents
“Rachel admitted to smothering each child, starting with the 1-year-old,” a probable cause statement says.
Henry told investigators the girl kicked her as she smothered her while the toddler son yelled and punched her to try to stop her, according to the statement.
After the girl was dead, Henry chased the 3-year-old, the statement says, but was interrupted when other adults arrived at the house. One of them played with the boy for a while.
She then took the 3-year-old to a back bedroom and sang to him as she placed her hand over his nose and mouth, the statement says.
The boy scratched her chest and pinched her to try to get her to stop, it says.
MISSOURI INTRODUCES BILL TO STOP DRAG QUEEN STORY HOUR
House Bill 2044, the Parental Oversight of Public Libraries Act, requires any library that receives taxpayer dollars to create a review board composed of five parents elected from the community, with final authority over the permissibility of sexual material.
These boards would be empowered to hold public hearings and render verdicts on public concerns as to the library’s offering of “age-inappropriate sexual material,” meaning “any description or representation, in any form, of nudity, sexuality, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse” that is deemed “patently offensive” and without “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.”
“Any public library personnel who willfully neglects or refuses to perform any duty imposed on a public library under this section, or who willfully violates any provision of this section, is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year,” the bill states.
Second convicted child molester dies following California prison attack
(Courtesy of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)
De Luis-Conti was received by CDCR on June 21, 2001. He was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14 years old.
Watson was transferred to Corcoran State Prison from Humboldt County on Sept. 4, 2009 serving time for first-degree murder and intentionally discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury or death.
Bobb was received by CDCR from San Diego County on October 17, 2005 to serve life with the possibility of parole sentence for aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14 years old.
Tulsi Gabbard sues Hillary Clinton for defamation
“Tulsi Gabbard is running for President of the United States, a position Clinton has long coveted, but has not been able to attain,” Wednesday’s Manhattan federal lawsuit reads.
“In October 2019 — whether out of personal animus, political enmity, or fear of real change within a political party Clinton and her allies have long dominated — Clinton lied about her perceived rival Tulsi Gabbard.
She did so publicly, unambiguously, and with obvious malicious intent.”
The lawsuit goes on to claim that Clinton demonstrated actual malice — and says the failed Democratic presidential candidate has had it in for Gabbard since the congresswoman endorsed Clinton rival Bernie Sanders in 2016.
Politics:
Nearly 50 Years After Roe, 65% Of Americans Want A Candidate Who Supports Significant Abortion Restrictions
Now nearly 50 years later, Americans are engaged in a vigorous tug of war over human life.
And although the political left and 2020 Democratic presidential candidates endlessly strive to out-progressive each other on abortion policy, a new poll reveals bipartisan support for abortion restrictions.
The latest annual, nationwide Marist/Knights of Columbus poll shows most Americans, 70 percent, desire significant restrictions on abortion, such as limiting it to the first trimester, permitting it only in cases of rape or incest or to save the mother’s life, or prohibiting abortion altogether.
In fact, even 47 percent of people who identify as “pro-choice” want some form of these restrictions.
The poll finds most Americans also want to vote for a candidate who supports significant restrictions on abortion, including more than 60 percent of independents, and even 44 percent of Democrats.
Biden Snaps At CBS News Reporter For Asking About Bernie Sanders Spat
“Yesterday, you said you accepted Bernie’s apology, now you’re attacking him. Why are you doing that? Why wasn’t his apology enough, Mr. Vice President? Why attack Sanders?”
CBS News reporter Ed O’Keefe asked Biden after a campaign event in Mason City, Iowa.
Sanders apologized Tuesday after one of his surrogates accused Biden of corruption. But the Vermont senator followed up with a Twitter post that quoted Biden in 1995 saying he was open to cuts to social security.
Biden’s reaction to O’Keefe is not his first outburst in the face of questions from reporters.
Graham Goes Off On The Dems Senate Case
Senator Graham tore in to the Democrats case against Trump at a Senate Press conference for their unwillingness to go to court.
Watchdog cited in impeachment push repeatedly flagged violations under past presidents
In a separate report released in 2015, the GAO determined the Obama administration broke the law—again—this time, with regard to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The GAO claimed the EPA violated federal law by engaging in “covert propaganda” when it used social media to urge support for an Obama administration rule to protect the nation’s waters.
And in 2014, the GAO ruled that the Obama administration broke the law when the Pentagon swapped Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban leaders, and used $988,400 from a wartime account to make the transfer.
With regard to budgetary issues, the GAO was critical of former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and the late President George H.W. Bush regarding impoundments—acts by presidents of not spending money that has been appropriated by Congress.
Barack Obama should be key witness in impeachment trial, not Joe or Hunter Biden
Commentary/Opinion: What has been glaringly overlooked in this whole situation is that Joe Biden was technically not the person responsible for the idea of a quid pro quo in that situation, because Biden was merely the official U.S. representative delivering the quid pro quo ultimatum to the Ukrainian leaders.
In his own words, Joe Biden clearly establishes this fact.
Biden implies that because Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk had not yet taken “action against [fired] the state prosecutor,” Ukraine was not going to get the billion dollars from the USA.
At this point in his story, Biden says the Ukrainian leaders challenged him, saying, “You have no authority. You’re not the president.”
Biden said his response to their challenge was, “Call him.” That’s the irrefutable statement that implicates President Obama in the quid pro quo.
After indicating that he was acting on a clear directive from President Obama, Biden spelled out what can only be characterized as a threatening and time-sensitive quid pro quo.
Biden told the Ukrainian leaders,
Hillary Clinton Folds Like a Rotten Lawn Chair After Savaging Sanders In Hollywood Reporter
Commentary/Opinion: Tammy Bruce, president of Independent Women’s Voice, joins Tucker Carlson on Fox News Channel to discuss the impeachment theater that taxpayers are paying for and Hillary Clinton’s strong opposition that she later walked back.
Under the Radar: VA Is Proposing Some Crazy Non-Gun Control Laws Too
Removing their photo ID requirement to vote, allowing felons to vote, doubling the Governor’s term limit – and more.
When it comes to Virginia’s newly Democrat controlled General Assembly, gun control is just the first item on their radical agenda
Trump talks impeachment trial in exclusive interview with Maria Bartiromo
Fox News and Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo recaps her interview with President Trump in Davos, Switzerland amid the Senate impeachment trial in Washington.
World News:
Chinese city stops outbound flights, trains to fight virus
(AP Photo Emily Wang)
BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese city of more than 11 million people planned to shut down outbound flights and trains Thursday as the world’s most populous country battled the spread of a new virus that has sickened hundreds of people and killed 17, state media reported.
Everyone in the city of Wuhan was to be restricted to some degree. The state-owned People’s Daily newspaper said no one would be allowed to leave.
The official Xinhua News Agency said no one would be permitted to leave without a specific reason.
Train stations and the airport were to shut down at 10 a.m. Buses, subways, ferries and long-distance shuttle buses would also be temporarily closed.
Lebanon protesters angry over new government
Protesters in Lebanon have returned to the streets, saying the new government formed on Tuesday does not meet their demands.
They had been calling for an overhaul of the political system, the formation of an independent, non-sectarian cabinet, and an end to government corruption.
Man, 32, is charged with four counts of attempted murder after boy, 10, was stabbed in the neck, a five-year-old was run over and two adults were assaulted in Leicester
The charges relate to a 10-year-old boy who was attacked in Belper Street, Belgrave, on Saturday.
And a road traffic collision on Thursday, January 2, in which a five-year-old child was struck by a vehicle in Exploration Drive, off Abbey Lane, Leicester.
Two further attempted murder charges relate to a woman in her 30s who was assaulted in Doncaster Road, Belgrave, on Tuesday, January 14.
And a man in his 70s who was assaulted in Dean Road, also in Belgrave, on Thursday, January 16.
US ‘likely’ to deploy anti-missile system to protect American troops in Iraq
The move comes after U.S. troops were sent to a medical facility in Germany after complaining of head injuries following the Iranian missile attack.
Eleven U.S. troops were flown out of Iraq late last week for treatment out of an “abundance of caution,” according to a spokesman for American forces in the Middle East.
Fox News previously reported that the U.S. military didn’t shoot down any of Iran’s ballistic missiles because there was no missile defense system in position.
A senior Pentagon official told Fox News that they believed an Iranian missile attack was “unlikely.” U.S. officials say a Patriot air defense system will now likely be deployed.
There is a worldwide shortage of Patriots. Some units are currently bogged down protecting bases in Saudi Arabia.
Olympic qualifying events canceled and moved due to deadly Wuhan coronavirus outbreak
It follows an outbreak of the virus last month in the city of Wuhan that has since killed 17 people, sickened hundreds and spread as far as the United States.
Chinese authorities and scientists say wild animals sold at the popular Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market market are the likely source of the new strain of coronavirus, which is in the same family of viruses as the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
President Trump Participates in a Bilateral Meeting with the President of the Republic of Iraq
The White House: Davos, Switzerland.
Macron Berates Israeli Security Men in Tussle at Jerusalem Church
The French tricolor has flown over the Church of St. Anne in Jerusalem’s walled Old City since it was gifted by the Ottomans to French Emperor Napoleon III in 1856.
France views it as a provocation when Israeli police enter the church’s sandstone complex.
Video showed Macron, jostled in the center of a crowded circle between his own protective detail and Israeli security personnel, including several paramilitary policemen in uniform, under an archway leading into the church.
Macron then stopped the shoving and shouted at the Israeli security guards in English: “I don’t like what you did in front of me.”
The Leviathan Natural Gas Field Could Be a Game-Changer for Israel-EU Relations
Leviathan, the largest natural gas field ever discovered, is located in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel. It is deep in the Levantine Basin, an area rich in hydrocarbons.
The field is roughly 130 kilometers west of Haifa and 1,500 meters deep.
Leviathan is estimated to hold over 21 trillion cubic feet of natural gas — enough to fill Israeli power-generation needs for the next 40 years, while still leaving ample supply for export.
Israel’s proven gas reserves are estimated at some 455 billion cubic meters (bcm), while the Eastern Mediterranean has about 2,100 bcm of gas in total. The EU’s consumption of gas in 2017 was 410 bcm, meaning Israel’s reserves are enough to supply the EU.
IDF thwarts Palestinian Islamist cross-border attack – TV7 Israel News 22.01.20
1) The Israeli military said it foiled an attempted terror attack along the border of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, when three armed Palestinian Islamists crossed the border fence into Israeli territory near the Israeli community, Kibbutz Kissufim.
2) Forty-seven delegations from around the world are arriving in Israel’s capital Jerusalem, during which they are set to attend the Fifth World Holocaust Forum, which commemorates the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau.
3) The Islamic Republic has offered a 3 million dollars reward to anyone who murders U.S. President Donald Trump – in a move dubbed by a U.S. official as ‘highlighting the “terrorist underpinnings” of Iran’s clerical regime.’
Protestors Demand Puerto Rico’s Governor Resign After Residents Discover Warehouses Full Of Relief Supplies
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Puerto Rico Monday and Tuesday, demanding that the island’s governor resign over what they are calling the complete mismanagement of emergency relief.
On Monday, the island’s secretary of state even admitted, in an interview with Univision, that there are probably other, similar warehouses, full of supplies locked out of reach of those who need them.
The island’s governor, Wanda Vazquez, fired three people amid an outcry over the discovery, but residents of Puerto Rico say the corruption goes deeper, and the entire government is to blame.
Commentary/Opinion:
CNN Makes Most Perfect CNN Hire In History
Harwood is a textbook example of a biased reporter masquerading around the nation’s capital as an “objective journalist,” on a noble quest to uncover the truth in clear and honest reporting in a media environment saturated with fake
news.
There is certainly no shortage of examples to illustrate Harwood’s left-wing bias, but then again, the list to showcase CNN’s runs even longer, making the pair a perfect fit.
Of course, true to form and well within CNN’s brand, Harwood thinks the media has actually been too fair to the Republican Party.