AP News Summary at 11:00 p.m. EST
Jan. 6 panel unveils report, describes Trump ‘conspiracy’
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee’s final report asserts that Donald Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol. The report of 814 pages, released Thursday, ends an extraordinary 18-month investigation into former President Donald Trump and violent insurrection. The panel had interviewed over 1,000 witnesses, held 10 hearings, and obtained millions upon millions of pages of documents. The witnesses detailed Trump’s actions in the weeks ahead of the insurrection and how his wide-ranging pressure campaign to overturn his defeat directly influenced the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
Russia scrubs Mariupol’s Ukraine identity, builds on death
Russian workers tear down bombed out buildings in Mariupol at an average of one per day and haul away the bodies. Russian soldiers, doctors, builders, administrators, and officials are replacing thousands of Ukrainians who died or fled. Russia is now eradicating any vestiges of Ukraine eight months after Mariupol was taken into Russian hands. Russia cannot deny that it is building on the death. The Associated Press discovered that Mariupol has more than 10,000 graves. Interviews with 30 residents of occupied Mariupol were used by the Associated Press to investigate. These included 13 Russian-occupied residents and hundreds of videos taken from within the city.
Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, released $250M bond.
NEW YORK (AP) — Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried has left Manhattan federal court after his parents signed a $250 million personal recognizance bond. As he ran to get to his parents’ house in California, he was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet. Bankman-Fried is charged with swindling investors as well as looting customer funds on his FTX trading platform. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos said that the 30-year-old Bankman-Fried “perpetrated a fraud of epic proportions.” Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein largely agreed to bail terms proposed by lawyers on both sides. Bankman-Fried is due to return to court Jan.
Holiday travel upended as forecasters warn of ‘bomb cyclone’
MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Thousands of flights were canceled and homeless shelters are overflowing amid one of the most treacherous holiday travel seasons the U.S. has seen in decades. Some areas have seen temperatures drop to 50 degrees Fahrenheit in a matter hours. A bomb cyclone is expected to form near the Great Lakes on Thursday and Friday. That occurs when atmospheric pressure drops quickly in a strong storm.They warn of an impending “bomb cyclone” that could pack blizzard conditions. The President Joe Biden warned Americans to be careful during a storm. He said Thursday in the Oval Office that “this is not like a snow day when you were a kid.”
Arizona lawyers: Kari Lake election loss lawsuit lacks merit
PHOENIX (AP) — Lawyers for Arizona election officials say Republican Kari Lake didn’t offer evidence to back her claims of widespread, intentional misconduct on Election Day in challenging her loss to Democrat Katie Hobbs in the governor’s race. A lawyer for Hobbs, who won by just over 17,000 votes, told a judge Thursday that Lake never established her claim that printer problems at Maricopa County polling places were intentional acts that would have changed the race’s outcome had they not occurred. Lake’s attorneys say officials tried to downplay the effects of the printer problems in Maricopa County. Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson didn’t say when he would issue a ruling.
Canadian polar bears near ‘bear capital’ dying at fast rate
Polar bears in Canada’s Western Hudson Bay — on the southern edge of the Arctic — are continuing to die in high numbers, a new government survey of the land carnivore has found. The study revealed that bear cubs and females are suffering the most. Researchers surveyed the region home to the ‘Polar Bear Capital of the World’ by air in 2021 and estimated there were 618 bears, down from the 842 in 2016, when the population was last counted. Frozen saltwater, which is the sea ice that polar bears depend on to hunt seals, continues its disappearance.
Arizona will remove Mexico’s shipping container wall at the border with Arizona
PHOENIX (AP) — Gov. Doug Ducey has announced that Arizona will remove a temporary wall constructed of shipping containers along the Mexico border. This is in settlement to a lawsuit and political dispute with the federal government regarding trespassing onto federal lands. According to a deal between the Republican governor and the Biden administration, Arizona will stop installing containers in Coronado National Forest. According to documents filed Wednesday at U.S. District Court, this is what the court documents state. The agreement states that Arizona must get rid of all shipping containers found in Cochise County’s southeast by January 4. Two weeks before Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, becomes governor, the resolution was passed.
Taliban minister defends ban on women’s university studies
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The minister of higher education in the Taliban government has broken his silence over his decision to ban women from universities. Nida Mohammad Naidim stated Thursday that he had issued the decree earlier in the week to prevent the mixing of genders at universities and because he feels some subjects are violating the principles of Islam. Earlier, the foreign ministers of the G-7 group of states urged the Taliban to rescind the ban, warning that “gender persecution may amount to a crime against humanity.” The ministers warned after a virtual meeting that “Taliban policies designed to erase women from public life will have consequences for how our countries engage with the Taliban.”
Glass Act: Scientists reveal the secrets of transparency in frogs
WASHINGTON (AP) — A species of glass frogs found in South and Central America has the rare ability to turn on and off its transparent appearance. Researchers report Thursday in the journal Science that some sleeping glass frogs concentrate, or “hide,” nearly 90% of their red blood cells in their liver. Because they have transparent skin and other tissues, it’s the blood circulating through their bodies that would otherwise give them away. The frogs become opaque when they are awake and actively moving. Only a few animals are naturally transparent. Most of them are ocean dwellers. The frogs have mastered the trick of turning transparency on while asleep and making themselves vulnerable to predators.
Jurors to decide whether Tory Lanez killed Megan Thee Stallion
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jurors have began deliberating at the trial of rapper Tory Lanez, who is charged with shooting hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion in the feet and leaving her wounded. The jury of seven women and five men received the case late Thursday morning after Lanez’s defense completed a closing argument from a day earlier and Los Angeles County prosecutors gave a brief rebuttal. The Canadian rapper, aged 30, has pleaded guilty to three felonies including assault with a semiautomatic weapon. He could spend up to 22 years behind bars and be deported. Lanez’s attorney argued he was not the shooter.
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