Top News Stories for Today – Dec 18, 2018
Top News Stories for Today – Dec 18, 2018
Comey slams Republicans
After a six-hour, closed-door interview with two House committees on Monday, former FBI Director James Comey emerged to slam lawmakers as obsessed with “Hillary Clinton’s emails and the Steele dossier.” What they should be focused on, Comey said, is how President Trump is “attacking the FBI and attacking the rule of law in this country.”
Comey, a former Republican, called out GOP legislators for not facing their “fear of Fox News, fear of their base, fear of mean tweets,” and got in a dig at Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and other departing Republicans, questioning why lawmakers would “slink away into retirement” rather than “stand up for the values of this country.” Comey has testified twice to the House this month, addressing the investigation into Clinton’s emails and Russian interference in the 2016 election. The Week
Russia rejects US election meddling reports
The size and scope of Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election was far more extensive and thorough than previously understood, according to two newly released reports. The reports that emerged this week support conclusions by the US intelligence community — and published in an unclassified January 2017 report — that the goal of all of Russia’s meddling in the months leading up to the 2016 elections was to get their preferred candidate elected president of the United States.
Russia on Tuesday rejected the allegations in the two reports. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the accusations baseless. VOA
UN condemns N. Korea rights violations
The U.N. General Assembly on Monday condemned North Korea’s “systematic, widespread and gross violations of human rights” and its diversion of resources into pursing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles over the welfare of its people. It noted “with concern” that over 10 million North Koreans are estimated to be undernourished and that there is “an unacceptably high prevalence of chronic and acute malnutrition” in the reclusive northeast Asian nation.
The resolution, sponsored by Japan and the European Union, was adopted by consensus, though countries including Russia, China, Cuba and Venezuela disassociated themselves from it. Many expressed opposition to assembly resolutions singling out specific countries and said the Geneva-based Human Rights Council should deal with rights issues. VOA
Ceasefire takes effect in key Yemen port
Fighting between Yemeni pro-government forces and Houthi rebels in the city of Hudaydah has reportedly subsided, after a ceasefire came into effect overnight. Skirmishes continued for several hours following the start of the UN-brokered truce at midnight, but locals now say it is relatively calm.
UN envoy Martin Griffiths said the initiative seemed to be working so far. The battle for Hudaydah threatened the operation of its port, which is crucial to the delivery of aid supplies. Half of the war-torn country’s population – 14 million people – are on the brink of famine and an estimated 85,000 children may have died from malnutrition. BBC
CBS terminates Les Moonves without severance
CBS has decided its ousted CEO Les Moonves won’t receive a severance payment. A series of sexual misconduct allegations against Moonves were reported by The New Yorker in July. Moonves was removed as chairman and CEO of the network in early September, and CBS announced Monday he wouldn’t receive a $120 million severance payment due to his “breach of employment contract” and resistance to the company’s investigation, among other things.
The New Yorker’s report detailed six allegations against Moonves, and several more were reported in September. Moonves continually denied the allegations and said he only knew about three of the encounters, but said they were consensual. The Week
Mueller releases memo FBI interview with Flynn
Special counsel Robert Mueller has released a January 2017 memo detailing the FBI’s interview that month with Michael Flynn — a moment that led to a high-profile criminal case against the former Trump national security adviser.
In the interview described in the memo, Flynn lied about his contact during the presidential transition in 2016 with then-Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak. At times, Flynn offered the FBI agents more benign descriptions of what he and Kislyak had said about Russian policy. In all, the newly released memo shows clear examples of Flynn denying he had made policy requests of Russia, and the agents prodding him toward fuller descriptions of the calls. CNN