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Hunter Biden associate Archer testifies before House panel

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:44:00 GMT

By Farnoush Amiri and Stephen Groves | Associated PressWASHINGTON — Focusing on the Bidens rather than Donald Trump’s federal court appearance, House Republicans released a transcript Thursday of their interview with Hunter Biden’s former business associate detailing overseas financial dealings by the president’s son.The more than five-hour closed-door interview with Devon Archer by the House Oversight Committee, released hours before Trump’s appearance to face a third list of charges, provides fresh insight into how President Joe Biden’s youngest son used his relationship with his father, who was then vice president, to court foreign investors. Archer said Hunter Biden was using the “illusion of access” in Washington.Republicans on the panel hope to use their work to prod impeachment proceedings against the president. However, though pressed repeatedly, Archer offered no tangible evidence that Joe Biden’s role in his son’s work ...

Barr on Trump: ‘He knew well that he had lost the election’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:44:00 GMT

By Kaanita Iyer | CNNFormer Attorney General Bill Barr on Wednesday undermined a key pillar of his old boss’ defense in the special counsel’s probe into 2020 election interference, telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that Donald Trump “knew well he lost the election.”The former attorney general also described Trump’s alleged actions as detailed in the indictment as “nauseating” and “despicable,” saying on “The Source,” “someone who engaged in that kind of bullying about a process that is fundamental to our system and to our self-government shouldn’t be anywhere near the Oval Office.”A central premise of the special counsel’s case is that Trump knew the election claims he was making were false after being told by several close aides that he had lost the election. Trump’s lawyers have argued that his statements were protected under the First Amendment, a position that Barr, in his first interview since Trump’s third indictment, said was not a valid argument.“As the indictment says, they are...

Suspect arrested for ramming Berkeley cop car: police

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:44:00 GMT

(KRON) -- The Berkeley Police Department announced Thursday that it arrested a man who it says was involved in a large brawl before crashing his car into a marked BPD vehicle. A second suspect was taken into custody for discarding a gun, police said. Police responded to the 2200 block of Bonar Street on July 28 for the report of a fight involving a "large group of males." BPD was also told that a man with a firearm was at the scene before getting into a white sedan. San Jose man accused of killing his roommate Police also responded to another fight a short distance away at Strawberry Creek Park. Officers tried to stop a white sedan associated with the fight. The driver of the car being stopped instead accelerated and smashed into a BPD car. The car then reversed and crashed into an uninvolved, parked car before accelerating again and hitting a fence. The driver was arrested and booked into Berkeley jail. Police later recovered a firearm at Strawberry Creek Park. The person who pol...

Devon Witherspoon showing he can play inside or outside at cornerback for the Seahawks

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:44:00 GMT

RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Since ending his brief holdout, rookie Devon Witherspoon has shown every bit of the skill and potential that made him the fifth overall pick in the draft by the Seattle Seahawks.It just may come at a position that wasn’t expected when he became the highest draft selection of Pete Carroll’s tenure in Seattle.At some point, Witherspoon will be a starting outside cornerback for the Seahawks. His talent seems to point in that direction for his future. And it could come at some point this season for Seattle.But the secondary in Seattle is deep – perhaps the deepest position on a team with playoff aspirations. And because of that depth, the best way for Witherspoon to get on the field immediate and make an impact could end up being as a nickel cornerback for Seattle.It’s a position that has become a de facto starter around the league, but one filled with nuance and specialized skill. And it’s one Witherspoon has picked up quickly.“It’s going smooth; it was an easy tra...

In ‘Strange Planet,’ new Apple TV Plus animated series, aliens are just like us — only more honest

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:44:00 GMT

We don’t know if we’re alone in the universe or not. With billions of galaxies, we are bound to find some form of life, maybe even life like us.Now, we’re not saying the government is hiding aliens from us, but, we do know the new Apple TV Plus show “Strange Planet” is having fun exploring the idea.Flight attendant: “If your seat is in the peril row, you must help us take the machine apart. Your reward is more leg room.”The story on “Strange Planet” can get a little weird, but that’s how the creator, Nathan W. Pyle, wants it to be.Nathan W. Pyle: “Imagine a whole planet of extraterrestrial beings on a beautiful, colorful planet, but they all go to therapy. They’re all emotionally expressive in a way that really supersedes humans. They’re a bit more sincere and a bit more honest.”The inspiration behind the comics-turned-TV series started when Nathan and his wife were cleaning their apartment for frien...

From pariah to peacemaker: Saudi Arabia’s bid to become Ukraine war middleman

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:44:00 GMT

Saudi Arabia was dismissed globally as a human rights pariah following the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. But this weekend, the country will burnish its credentials as a peacemaker when it hosts talks on the Ukraine war. Dozens of national security advisers and senior-ranking officials are descending on the Red Sea city of Jeddah for a meeting that kicks off Friday evening.The aim is to bring together countries from the “global south,” such as India, Brazil and South Africa — as well as European Union countries, along with the United States and Canada — to rally around Ukraine’s efforts to broker a peace plan.Countries like Brazil and India have not always had a clear stance on Russia’s war against Ukraine; the European Union — and Ukraine — has sought to bring them on board when it comes to holding Russia accountable. Ukraine will be represented at the summit; Russia was not invited.But the big question is whether China shows up. “It matters wh...

Kings of the castle! How our political leaders splash the cash

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:44:00 GMT

Welcome to Declassified, a weekly humor column.Declassified is taking a break at its tax-free summer residence in the Cayman Islands to drink gin and think of more offensive nicknames for politicians. Back in September.“We’re all in this together.” So said man of the people, Eton-educated pig enthusiast, and one-time British Prime Minister David Cameron.But our leaders aren’t like us ordinary folk, with our supermarket own-brand cheese and need to remember what day the rubbish gets collected. Cameron’s eventual successor, Rishi Sunak (whose net worth, along with his heiress wife, Akshata Murty, was a mere £529 million, or €600 million, in the latest Sunday Times rich list), has decided that what his country needs is more chess.He’s planning to install chess tables in parks, encourage the game in schools, and back the English Chess Federation to the tune of £500,000. No word yet on how much if any of that cash will be spent on vibrating anal b...

Britain’s creaking energy grid isn’t ready for net zero

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:44:00 GMT

LONDON — The U.K.’s energy grid is just not ready for the shift to clean power.That’s the stark finding of a year-long, government-commissioned review published Friday, which warns the country’s existing energy policies are “badly out of date” as a crucial decarbonization deadline looms and Britain eyes a future of electric cars in every driveway and heat pumps in every home.Getting buy-in for the major changes needed will be a mammoth task, it warns — and could even require cold hard cash payments to a pylon-skeptic British public.Despite recent anti-green noises, the British government has strict net zero targets, including an interim goal of decarbonizing its power grid by 2035.Overhauling and expanding the electricity network — the swathes of cables and pylons covering the U.K. — will be central to determining whether the government hits or misses those lofty aims.In his long-awaited report, Nick Winser, the government’s electricity networks czar, warns t...

Now is the time to double down on green pledges — not back down

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:44:00 GMT

Matt Hancock is a member of parliament of the United Kingdom and former secretary of state for health and social care.As the impact of climate change becomes more apparent, and the competition for green investment intensifies, it is clear that voters will not forgive politicians that slow down. They will reward those who double down and deliver the fair, affordable and ambitious environmental action we need to see.Thus, we must hold our nerve to reach net zero by 2050 and end the United Kingdom’s contribution to climate change. It is the challenge and economic opportunity of the century, and successive Conservative governments have developed plans and policies to answer it and grasp the benefits.There’s no point denying it, we can already see the impact of a changing climate around us. This summer’s devastating heat waves and wildfires in Europe, Canada and the United States aren’t just “weather” — strong scientific evidence suggests they would be virtually impossible without human-...

Trump’s in big legal trouble, but he’s still a nightmare for Europe

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:44:00 GMT

Jamie Dettmer is opinion editor at POLITICO Europe. With former United States President Donald Trump ensnared in mounting and potentially politically terminal legal woes, some European leaders and politicians are breathing more easily . . . but only a little. For months now, in the margins of global summits and gatherings — including Davos, the Munich Security Conference and the Aspen Ideas Festival — discussions have increasingly turned to considering what a second Trump term might mean for Europe and NATO, as well what its impact would be on the West’s support for Ukraine.“It is all anyone wants to talk about,” said Ivo Daalder, former U.S. ambassador to NATO, who heads the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. “Everyone’s asking everyone else what’s going to happen. I hear people asking all the time what it will do to Ukraine if Trump gets back into the White House.”Europe’s nightmare is still of a Trump return, but it’s a bad dream that’s been pushed to the back of the mi...