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Accused Russian Agent Maria Butina Reaches Plea Deal With Federal Prosecutors: Reports

Maria Butina, a Russian gun-rights activist accused of working as an agent for

Marco Rubio: Pardoning Paul Manafort would be a 'terrible mistake'

Sen. Marco Rubio said President Trump would be making a 'terrible mistake' if he decides to pardon Paul Manafort.

The Best Green Monday 2018 Deals We've Seen So Far

Regret missing out on some of those Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals last

Neon sea creatures light up ocean with vibrant colors

Incredible neon sea creatures have been captured lighting up the ocean with their vibrant colors – in what looked like a scene from Avatar. Photographer Simon Pierce, 39, took the images over several months after visiting both Nosy Sakatia in Madagascar and Mafia Island in Tanzania recently. He was thrilled to spot the biofluorescence creatures – which produce their own light – he managed to capture, including fireflies and glow worms. Simon, who is also a marine biologist, from New Plymouth, New Zealand, said: “I felt like I was in the film Avatar capturing these images. ...

NASA's Voyager 2 becomes 2nd craft in interstellar space

WASHINGTON (AP) — NASA's Voyager 2 is now the second human-made object to zip away from the sun into the space between the stars.

GoPro to move U.S.-bound camera production out of China

The company had previously said it was being "very proactive" about the situation regarding tariffs as U.S. and China ramped up its bitter trade war, in which both nations have imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of each other's imports. GoPro said international-bound camera production will remain in China. In the company's earnings call in November, GoPro said it had the option to move U.S.-bound production out of China in the first half of 2019, if necessary.

From Tijuana to Calais, Migrant Camps Have a Serious Design Problem

For most refugees across the globe, displacement is not reversible—here's how human-centric concepts could help

Columbia University denounces student filmed harassing black students in 'racially charged' rant

Columbia University has denounced a “racially charged” tirade from a student who was caught on video telling a group of fellow students that white people “built modern civilization” and “did everything”. The student reportedly followed a group made up mostly of black students from the school’s library as they left. It was there he was filmed shouting white supremacist comments at his classmates, according to the Columbia Daily Spectator.

Would Taiwan Fight China Without U.S. Support?

It is in the interests of the United States to send reassuring signals to the public in Taiwan about the U.S. determination to assist and defend Taiwan.

2 Nuns Accused Of Embezzling $500,000 From Catholic School

Two Roman Catholic nuns have admitted to embezzling $500,000 from a parochial

Rand Paul Calls Trump's Nomination Of William Barr For Attorney General 'Very Troubling'

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Sunday bashed President Donald Trump's nomination of

Qatar emir skips Saudi-hosted summit with Gulf rivals

Qatar's emir skipped a summit in Saudi Arabia on Sunday with fellow Arab Gulf leaders whose boycott of the small but energy-flush neighbour has sparked a major regional diplomatic row. Riyadh is hosting the annual gathering as crises rumble on over the 18-month-old dispute with Doha, the war in Yemen and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul. The regional powerhouse had invited Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to attend the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council talks, but the foreign ministry in Doha said he would not go.

Grace Millane: Man accused over backpacker murder appears in court as PM apologises on behalf of New Zealand for her death

The man accused of killing British backpacker Grace Millane was jeered as he appeared in a packed Auckland court on Monday. Ms Millane, 22, died while travelling in New Zealand and her body was found in bushland on Sunday afternoon, about 30 feet from a highway outside the New Zealand city. The 26-year-old accused, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, appeared in a blue boiler suit as he attended Auckland's District Court on Monday morning. Ms Millane, from Essex, was last seen alive entering the CityLife Hotel with the man last Saturday at 9.41pm. The defendant was listed on a charge sheet as residing at the hotel on Queen Street in central Auckland. In his opening remarks Judge Evangelos Thomas addressed members of Millane's family, some of whom were in attendance. Her father, David Millane, arrived in New Zealand last Friday following his daughter's disappearance. “Your grief must be desperate,” Judge Thomas told the family in court, where every seat was taken by the public and the international and local media. “All of us hope that justice for Grace is fair and swift and ultimately brings you some peace.”  As the defendant was led out of the court, a man at the back of the court yelled out “scumbag”. Meanwhile, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern became became visibly upset as she apologised to Ms Millane's family at her weekly post-cabinet news conference.  "On behalf of New Zealand, I want to apologise to Grace's family," Ms Ardern told a weekly news conference in parliament. Ms Ardern said she could not imagine the grief that her family would be going through, according to Radio New Zealand.  “Your daughter should have been safe here and she wasn't and I'm sorry for that.” Ms Ardern told the family through police that the government would offer any assistance it could. Judge Evangelos Thomas speaks as a man accused of Grace Millane's murder appears in court in Auckland Credit: Getty Judge Thomas rejected an application from the accused's lawyer for his client's name to be suppressed based on fair trial rights. However, the decision was immediately appealed, meaning the accused's name will not be released for at least 20 working days until the appeal is determined. The accused looked at the judge for most of the 90 minutes he was in court, nodding that he understood when spoken to, his eyes only occasionally flicking towards the cameras on the other side of the court. The defendant's next appearance will be in the High Court on January 23. Accused 'was estranged from family' The accused was reportedly estranged from his family after his parents separated, according to his grandfather.  NZ media organisation Stuff reported that the grandfather, who said he'd helped raise him for a period after his parents separated, was struggling to come to terms with what his grandson had been accused of.  “He was a nice kid, but he sort of fell out with everybody, which is what happens with broken-up marriages.”  He was worried about how the allegations would affect the wider family but declined to comment further.  A female relative of the accused told Stuff he'd spent time living in Australia, where his mother lived, but she was unaware he'd returned.  His paternal grandmother told Stuff that while living in Australia the man fathered a daughter but was no longer in a relationship with the mother.  Stuff said the accused's father hadn't spoken to his son for two years, citing: “A difference in opinion on life.” Emotional tributes from family Police have yet to reveal how the pair met or the possible motive for the alleged murder. Security footage at the hotel, along with a scene investigation at a room there, confirmed that Ms Millane was dead.   Detective Inspector Scott Beard said the body was found near Scenic Drive, which leads through the Waitakere Ranges, a popular parkland west of Auckland. Grace Millane was on a year-long round-the-world trip “This brings the search for Grace to an end,” said Detective Beard, who was visibly emotional delivering the news of the discovery. “It is an unbearable time for the Millane family and our hearts go out to them.” Ms Millane's family have described her as “lovely, outgoing, fun-loving and family-orientated”. Her brother Declan paid public tribute on social media with a series of photographs of Ms Millane smiling, celebrating, graduating and, as a little girl, hugging her sibling. He also wrote the lyrics to the song "you are my sunshine, my only sunshine" underneath pictures of the pair together.   View this post on Instagram ��♥️You are my sunshine, my only sunshine You make me happy when skies are gray You'll never know, dear, how much I love you Please don't take my sunshine away A post shared by Declan Millane (@declan_millane) on Dec 9, 2018 at 2:16am PST Ms Millane, who completed a degree in advertising and marketing at Lincoln University, was on a yearlong trip and arrived in New Zealand on November 20 after a four-week group tour to Peru. Her family raised concerns after she failed to make contact for several days, including on her 22nd birthday last Sunday. Police received a missing person report on Wednesday and commenced a major search and public campaign that saw dozens of calls made to a helpline. David Millane, Grace’s father, arrived in New Zealand on Friday morning and gave a press conference with police, issuing a moving appeal for help. He was joined on the weekend by another family member. Tributes to Grace Millane are left at the roundabout in Titirangi, at the start of Scenic Drive  in Auckland Credit: Getty Mr Millane, a property developer, said Ms Millane had typically “bombarded” the family with messages and photographs during her travels but suddenly went silent after last Saturday. "Grace is a lovely, outgoing, fun-loving, family-orientated daughter," he said. "Grace has never been out of contact for this amount of time. She's usually in daily contact with either her mother, myself, her two brothers or members of the family on social media. "We are all extremely upset and it's very difficult at this time to fully describe the range of emotions we are going through." Police took the 26-year-old man into custody several days ago and have charged him with murder.  Detective Inspector Scott Beard speaks at the scene where the body of British tourist Grace Millane was found Credit: Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images Detective Beard said the investigation will continue and searches were still underway at the hotel. He would not comment on whether the pair met on the dating app Tinder. "The focus now is to piece together exactly what happened to a young woman who came to New Zealand on her [overseas experience]," he said. Appeal for information Ms Millane’s body was allegedly transported to the parkland in a red Toyota Corolla hatchback that was rented from a central Auckland firm last Sunday. Police released two photos of the car, which was found in the central North Island town of Taupo, and were appealing for anyone who had seen the vehicle on the morning of Monday, December 3, near the area where the body was found. Expressing condolences to Mr Millane and the family, Detective Beard said: "Any father in this situation is going to struggle. We are putting a lot of support around him. I feel for him, I have a daughter in her twenties.” A 2016 red Toyota Corolla hire car that police are analysing as part of a probe into the death of Grace Millane Credit: PA The case has sent shockwaves across New Zealand, where people expressed outrage and some on social media described the case as a “national shame”. It has also raised concerns about violence towards women in the country. Justin Lester, the mayor of Wellington, the capital, said the case was a "horrible and tragic nightmare". "Our girls should be safe to travel and go out and our men should be looking after and protecting them, not causing harm," he said on Twitter.

Agency: Fear of returning home spikes at US-Mexico border

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The number of people expressing fear of returning to their home countries when stopped at the U.S. border with Mexico has spiked, according to figures released Monday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Britain's May will seek further assurances from EU on Brexit backstop

Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday she would do all she could to secure further assurances from the European Union on the so-called backstop arrangement in the Brexit deal that has angered so many across parliament. Announcing that she would delay a vote on her agreement with the EU she looked set to lose, May told lawmakers if they wanted an alternative arrangement with the bloc, they must be honest about the downsides of the other options - a second referendum, continued single market membership and a no deal Brexit.

Inside the Navy's flyover farewell for President George H.W. Bush

Navy pilots who participated in the 21 aircraft flyover at George H.W. Bush's funeral in Texas describe what it was like to be part of that historic tribute for the late president.

Google CEO Sundar Pichaoi to tell Congress company 'supports federal privacy legislation' amid allegations of security violations and political bias

The boss of Google - under fire over allegations of political bias and its failure to protect personal information - is to tell congress it supports government legislation that defends against privacy violations. On the day Google announced it was to terminate earlier than planned its modestly-used social media network Google Plus because of a flaw that had leaked the personal information of 52.5m users, CEO Sundar Pichai made clear he would defend the company against accusations of favouritism or predisposition. “I lead this company without political bias and work to ensure that our products continue to operate that way,” Mr Pichai will say in prepared remarks he is due to deliver on Capitol Hill.

I Drove Drunk And It Cost 6 People Their Lives. Here's How My Own Life Changed Forever.

On Nov. 1, 2003, I was involved in a drinking and driving accident. I cost six

James Comey: If Trump Weren't President He'd Be 'In Serious Jeopardy' Over Cohen

James Comey, the former director of the FBI, speculated Sunday that if

Indian tycoon Mallya to find out extradition fate

Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya will appear in a London court on Monday to find out whether he will be extradited to his homeland, where he is accused of fraud. Mallya, chairman of the UB Group drinks conglomerate and chief executive of the Force India Formula One team, will discover his fate at Westminster Magistrates' Court. The loans from the state-owned IDBI bank were intended to bail out his failed carrier Kingfisher Airlines.

An '(Unintentional) Grinch' Tried To Ban Christmas From The Classroom

An elementary school principal from Omaha, Nebraska has been placed on

Yemen peace talks in Sweden focus on prisoner swap deal

RIMBO, Sweden (AP) — Yemen's warring parties met Sunday for the fourth day of U.N.-sponsored peace talks in Sweden to try to hammer out details of a prisoner exchange, which could eventually include all prisoners held by both sides in the four-year civil war.

May Said to Pull Parliament Vote on Her Deal: Brexit Update

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May has called off a crucial vote in Parliament on whether to approve her Brexit deal, after being warned she was on course for a devastating defeat, according to a person familiar with the matter. May’s office publicly insisting it was going ahead as recently as 11.20 a.m. on Monday but the prospect of an overwhelming revolt from members of Parliament forced the premier to think again. “The British people gave a clear instruction to leave, and we are delivering on that instruction,” a government spokesman said in response to the ECJ ruling on revoking Article 50.

Former beauty queen sent nude pictures to 15-year-old student on Snapchat, police say

A former beauty pageant queen is facing up to 20 years in prison after allegedly sending nude photographs of herself to a 15-year-old boy. Ramsey Bearse, now a teacher at Andrew Jackson Middle School outside Charleston, West Virginia, was arrested and charged with distribution or display of obscene matter to minors after allegedly sending the lewd images to the former student. According to the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office, Ms Bearse sent the teenager at least four topless photos using multimedia messaging app Snapchat over a period of three months.

Jared Kushner Gave Saudi Crown Prince Advice After Khashoggi Slaying: NY Times

Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, flouted

China summons US ambassador over Huawei arrest

China summoned the US ambassador on Sunday to protest the "extremely bad" arrest of telecom giant Huawei's chief financial officer in Canada and demand that the United States drop its extradition request. The arrest of Meng Wanzhou, who faces US fraud charges related to sanctions-breaking dealings with Iran, has infuriated Beijing, threatening to disrupt a trade war truce between China and the United States. Meng -- the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, a former engineer in China's People's Liberation Army -- is in custody as she awaits a Canadian court's decision on bail on Monday.

Heavy snow batters North Carolina and Virginia, leaving thousands of drivers stranded

At least four deaths have been blamed on "mammoth" snowstorm in the Southeast, causing drivers to abandon their cars on the road due to dangerous conditions.

11 Useful Gifts For The Person Who Can't Cook To Save Their Life

Learning to cook can be intimidating for a lot of people. Maybe they are a

Verizon says to shed 10,400 jobs by mid next year

As part of the separation program, the employees will get a salary of up to 60 weeks, bonus and benefits, depending on the length of their service, Verizon said. "This program coincides with Verizon's recently announced realigned organization structure designed to optimize growth opportunities in the 5G era," the company said. The company said it had 152,300 employees at the end of the third-quarter ending Sept. 30.

Teachers union: Tentative deal to end charter schools strike

CHICAGO (AP) — The nation's first teachers' strike against a charter school operator will end after their union and management struck a tentative deal Sunday that includes protections for students and immigrant families living in the country illegally.

Government spent £100,000 on Facebook adverts to promote Brexit deal in week before vote was pulled

The government spent almost £100,000 on Facebook adverts to promote Theresa May’s Brexit deal in the week running up to her decision to pull the Commons vote. Figures released by the social media giant showed the government spent £96,684 on 11 adverts from December 2 to 8 as it became increasingly clear the prime minister faced defeat over her deal. It dwarfed the £50,000 the government spent on Brexit social media ads in the previous three months to November 20. Three videos, intending to explain the deal in terms of free trade, the economy and “controlling our borders”, cost between £10,000 and £50,000 each to promote, reaching between 500,000 and 1m Facebook users apiece. Theresa May's approval rating through the Brexit negotiations The money also included videos on “what the Brexit Deal means for you - explained in 60 seconds” and others focusing on immigration and jobs. Last night the spending was slated as an “inappropriate” and “wasteful” use of taxpayers’ money. Jon Trickett, Shadow Cabinet Office minister, said: "Not only is this a completely inappropriate use of public money, but it turns out to have been entirely wasted. When official resources are used for the Prime Minister's personal purposes it threatens our democracy." Layla Moran, LibDem education spokesman, said: “Given that the vote won’t even happen now, it is an absolute insult to taxpayers that the Prime Minister has been throwing our money down the drain promoting a deal that not even she can back.” Eloise Todd, head of the Best for Britain campaign group, said the absurdity of spending almost £100,000 on a vote that “you know you are going to pull shows flagrant disregard of taxpayers’ cash to waste it like this.” The figures showed the Conservative Party also spent £39,967 on Facebook adverts supporting the deal. Theresa May is listed as spending £1,659. The government spending was double that of the People’s Vote, of £47,313. The figures were published by Facebook as part of new advert transparency measures following sustained criticism of the platform through 2018. It included the Vote Leave campaign being sanctioned over advertising spending on the social network during the Brexit campaign. A government spokesman said: “Communicating government policy effectively to the public is a core function of the Civil Service. “We have reached a deal that is good for the UK, good for its citizens, and good for business and we will be communicating that to the country. Any costs associated with this will be published in the usual way." Adverts have included one paid for to push it to the top of Google’s rankings and linked to a website called Brexit Deal Explained which sets out the government’s case for the EU withdrawal agreement - and warns about the dangers of a no-deal Brexit. Another Facebook video featured the prime minister hailing the deal as offering “certainty for business and economy”, concluding: “Now is the time to come together to build a brighter future.”

Indiana teen charged with killing pregnant schoolmate

MISHAWAKA, Ind. (AP) — An Indiana high school football player told investigators that he killed a 17-year-old schoolmate because he was angry that she waited so long to tell him she was pregnant with his child that it was too late to get an abortion, authorities said Monday.

Key House Democrat Jerry Nadler Says Trump Payments May Be 'Impeachable Offenses'

Allegations that President Donald Trump directed his former personal attorney

'I can't breathe' were Khashoggi's final words, report says

Jamal Khashoggi's final words were "I can't breathe," CNN said Sunday, citing a source who has read the transcript of an audio tape of the final moments before the journalist's murder. CNN said Turkish officials believe those calls were made to top officials in Riyadh. Khashoggi, a Saudi contributor to The Washington Post, was killed shortly after entering the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Heisman Winner Kyler Murray Apologizes After Homophobic Tweets Surface

Within hours of accepting the prestigious Heisman Trophy, Oklahoma Sooners

3 tools for learning a new language, on sale for an extra 15% off with code

Wish you could give someone the world this holiday season? Well, now you can — (somewhat) literally — with the gift of language lessons. Whether your Secret Santa aspires to be a polyglot or just wants to brush up on their vocabulary so they don't sound like an idiot the next time they dine at their local Mexican place, they'll find it easier to navigate the world around them with a subscription to any of these three online language courses and apps. SEE ALSO: Learn Python for cheap: Shop online classes on sale Oh, and speaking of presents — we have a gift for you, dear reader: You can take an additional 15% off your purchase of any of these already-discounted programs by entering the coupon code MERRY15 at checkout. Mondly: Lifetime Subscription Mondly takes a fresh approach to learning a new language by integrating speech-recognition technology into its education. It actually listens to you when you speak, and only offers positive feedback if you correctly pronounce a new word or phrase. (Cool, right?) It's structured around short lessons that emphasize conversational tools in your choice of 33 languages but also lets you take part in chats with native speakers and supplement your learning with a dictionary and a verb conjugator. A $1,199.75 value, you can snag a lifetime subscription to training in five languages through Mondly for only $69.99 plus an extra 15% off using the coupon code MERRY15. Image: ATi Studios Mondly: Lifetime Subscription See Details uTalk Language Education: Lifetime Subscription  Take your pick from more than 130 different tongues and start busting language barriers through uTalk. Available on any device, its lessons emphasize practical vocabulary and verified translations that help you understand how native speakers actually talk. Valued at $64.99, you can purchase lifetime access to any one language's lessons through uTalk for just $19.99, plus an additional 15% off if you enter the coupon code MERRY15 at checkout. Image: uTalk uTalk Language Education: Lifetime Subscription See Details busuu Premium Subscriptions When it comes to learning a new language, "I'm too busy!" is no longer an excuse thanks to busuu Premium. Since it works both on- and offline, you can brush up on your learning from virtually anywhere with its advanced grammar units, vocabulary trainer, and other useful features. By the time you've completed 22 hours of training with busuu Premium, you'll have reportedly learned the equivalent of an entire college semester of language classes. A $69.96 value, you can get lifetime access to 12 different language courses through busuu Premium for only $34.99 — plus an extra 15% off with the promo code MERRY15. Image: busuu busuu Premium Subscriptions See Details

Celebrating Hanukkah Across Generations

Hanukkah, one of the biggest Jewish holidays, is a time of year when families come together to celebrate the festival of lights and recount centuries of traditions and history. The Jewish Family and Children's Service of Greater Philadelphia (JFCS) brings together all the generations, from Holocaust survivors to children, to strengthen lives and specifically, to provide help to the survivors with all their needs. Watch more on this episode of "Holiday Heroes."

Tempted to eat raw cookie dough? 'Just say no,' CDC warns

Raw dough often contains flour and eggs that can cause diseases, some that can lead to death.

Reluctant U.S. Supreme Court on collision course with Trump

The court's 5-4 conservative majority includes Trump appointees Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch. While Trump has suffered a series of setbacks in lower federal courts since taking office last year, he has collected major victories at the Supreme Court. Most notably, the court in June upheld in a 5-4 ruling Trump's travel ban targeting people from several Muslim-majority countries, with Gorsuch casting a pivotal vote, after lower courts had blocked the policy.

Donald Trump's 'Smocking Gun' Tweet Triggers A Whole Lot Of Jokes

Twitter was mocking the "smocking."

Israel hunts Palestinian gunmen, raids official news agency

Israeli forces entered the Palestinian city of Ramallah on Monday and raided the offices of the official Palestinian news agency, the agency and witnesses said, a day after gunmen wounded several Israelis near a settlement. Seven people were wounded in the drive-by shooting by Palestinian gunmen at a bus stop near the Ofra settlement in the occupied West Bank late Sunday, with doctors forced to prematurely deliver the baby of one of the wounded, Israeli officials said. Israeli soldiers entered Ramallah in the morning, with low-level clashes breaking out a few hundred metres (yards) from the house of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, AFP journalists said.

Meet the Nissan Skyline GT-R with a single owner since 1972

Finding an unmolested Nissan Skyline C10 is difficult enough, yet an S20-powered example boasting only one owner over the last 46 years? Surely impossible…

Gavin McInness: Proud Boys founder and far-right activist ‘dropped’ by conservative US TV channel

A far-right activist linked with English Defence League (EDL) founder Tommy Robinson has reportedly been ditched by an American television channel less than a week after he was recruited as a host. Gavin McInnes, the founder of right-wing group Proud Boys, which the FBI labelled an “extremist organisation with ties to white nationalism”, is no longer working with BlazeTV, the company announced. An FBI agent later denied having called the group extremist, saying it had been trying to characterise the potential threat from individuals in the Proud Boys.