Zelensky to address Congress; what Biden thinks of Harris; Committee votes to release Trump's taxes to public; Taliban releases two Americans and bars women from universities; Weinstein guilty!
97-year old Nazi secretary sentenced; General Hospital star dies suddenly; Biden calls out anti-semitism; new Administration plan for homelessness; Scott Peterson will not get new trail
Good Wednesday morning! Happy hump day! Lot of breaking news! But only #34.
My take: One of those days I am left to ask why? Maybe I am not that smart but I am left scratching my head a lot today..Let’s start with why did the United States announce that President Zelensky will address Congress. Sounds like an invitation to Putin to…The Biden administration urged the Supreme Court Tuesday to let the Trump-era Title 42 border policy end as GOP-led states push to keep it in place — but requested a short pause on lifting it for operational reasons. Title 42, which allows the U.S. to expel migrants at the southern border without the chance for asylum, had been set to expire Wednesday before the Supreme Court temporarily halted its termination to consider taking up the case. Termination of Title 42 will cause "irreparable harm…The Taliban released two Americans. That may have bought them some good will. Then right after they announced that women will be barred from public and private universities. No good will coming now…Twitter (under the old regime) helped the United States military influence operations. That is a head scratcher…A 97-year-old woman was sentenced to time served for working as a Secretary in a Nazi office during the war. Now tell me what could she have done? Was she just used as an example?..Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape. While there is a lot that disturbs me about Weinstein’s prosecution, no one needed to tell me that he raped multiple women…Finally, in 2016 Wells Fargo was fined when the bank’s fake-accounts scandal created a national firestorm. Now Wells Fargo has been ordered to pay $3.7 billion for ‘illegal activity’ including unjust foreclosures and vehicle repossessions since 2016. Once criminals, always criminals I guess. But who would have thought they would have done it twice…Four decade study ends and finds mysterious patterns in temperatures at Jupiter. I could care less about the temperature on Jupiter. Can you imagine that is where your tax dollars are going?..COVID booster shot poll: People ‘don’t think they need one’. Well that is the one story that does not surprise me — at all…Finally, read #1, She did what? People are really messed up.
Now to your “1 to…”:
She did what? The Mom who stole her daughter’s identity: When a young victim of domestic violence showed up in a small town in Missouri, the residents took her in. But she wasn’t who she said she was.
What we care about: Cyberbullying is more common than parents think, study shows.
Start with a smile: Grandpa designs and builds enchanting bedroom for grandson with Autism.
COVID booster shot poll: People ‘don’t think they need one’.
Millions across US under 'bomb cyclone' winter weather alert: A fast-approaching arctic blast has put parts of the United States under a winter weather alert, with temperatures expected to drop to 50 degrees below zero in some areas.
Zelensky planning to visit Washington to address Congress: Capitol Hill is preparing to host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a joint session of Congress this week, Axios has learned. This would be Zelensky’s first in-person visit to the U.S. since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. While the details are not yet finalized, U.S. Capitol Police is beefing up security for a potential Wednesday visit, multiple senior leadership sources tell Axios. Zelensky is expected to thank lawmakers for the billions of dollars in aid they’ve provided to the Ukrainian war effort, as well as to make his case for why even more funding is needed. Punchbowl News first reported on the planned visit. The trip is dependent on security, per another source familiar. In a letter to colleagues on Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked “all Members to be physically present at our session Wednesday night” adding that they “please be present for a very special focus on Democracy Wednesday night.”
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy visits front-line city of Bakhmut: President meets troops facing down Russia’s offensive as Putin warns of difficulties in partly-occupied regions.
Wells Fargo ordered to pay $3.7 billion for ‘illegal activity’ including unjust foreclosures and vehicle repossessions: Federal regulators fined Wells Fargo a record $1.7 billion on Tuesday for “widespread mismanagement” over multiple years that harmed over 16 million consumer accounts. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wells Fargo’s “illegal activity” included repeatedly misapplying loan payments, wrongfully foreclosing on homes, illegally repossessing vehicles, incorrectly assessing fees and interest and charging surprise overdraft fees. The CFPB ordered Wells Fargo (WFC) to pay the $1.7 billion civil penalty in addition to more than $2 billion to compensate consumers for a range of “illegal activity.” CFPB officials say this is the largest penalty imposed by the agency.
Breaking: Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee votes to release materials on Trump's taxes to the public: The Democratic-led House Ways and Means committee has approved a motion to release the materials surrounding Donald Trump's tax returns to the "House of Representatives." It is unclear when the public will see these materials. The vote was approved with all 24 Democrats voting in favor of the motion and all 16 Republicans voting no. The committee said it will redact personal information from the documents.
New book says Biden called Harris a 'work in progress': In the first months of his presidency, Joe Biden vented his frustration about Vice President Kamala Harris, telling a friend that she was “a work in progress.” According to an upcoming book about the Biden presidency obtained by West Wing Playbook, “The Fight of His Life,” word got back to him that second gentleman Douglas Emhoff had been complaining about Harris’ policy portfolio — which her allies felt was hurting her politically. “Biden was annoyed,” wrote author Chris Whipple, who obtained extensive access to Biden administration officials while writing the book. “He hadn’t asked Harris to do anything he hadn’t done as vice president — and she’d begged him for the voting rights assignment.” Biden wasn’t alone. A senior White House adviser vented that “[Harris’] inner circle didn’t serve her well in the presidential campaign — and they are ill-serving her now.” The new details of the tensions between the vice president and the president are among the many revelations in the book due out on Jan. 17 that traces the highs and lows of Biden’s first two years.
Biden administration asks Supreme Court to let Trump-era immigration policy end: The Biden administration urged the Supreme Court Tuesday to let the Trump-era Title 42 border policy end as GOP-led states push to keep it in place — but requested a short pause on lifting it for operational reasons. Title 42, which allows the U.S. to expel migrants at the southern border without the chance for asylum, had been set to expire Wednesday before the Supreme Court temporarily halted its termination to consider taking up the case. The coalition of Republican states has argued that the termination of Title 42 will cause "irreparable harm," but the Department of Justice countered in its filing Tuesday that the states "assert no interests even arguably within the zone protected by Title 42." Their interest in avoiding "immigration consequences cannot justify extending a public-health measure that is no longer supported by public-health conditions."
What to watch: The administration, however, requested that the high court keep Title 42 in place until next week at the earliest.
At least 2 dead and 11 injured after earthquake, sheriff's office says: At least two people are dead after Tuesday’s 6.4 magnitude quake that shook the northern California, according to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.
European Energy Ministers agree to emergency Natural-Gasprice cap: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent prices for the fuel soaring across the continent, prompting the emergency measure
97-year-old former Nazi secretary sentenced for involvement in more than 10,000 murders: A 97-year-old former secretary at a Nazi concentration camp has been convicted for her role in the murder of 10,505 people during the Holocaust, in what could be the final trial of its kind. Irmgard Furchner worked as a stenographer and typist at the Stutthof camp near Gdansk in Nazi-occupied Poland, from 1943 until the end of the Nazi regime in 1945. She was sentenced Tuesday to a two-year suspended sentence, according to a spokesperson at the court in Itzehoe, northern Germany.
Twitter Files Part 8: Platform ‘directly assisted’ U.S. military’s influence operations: 'Twitter docs show that the social media giant directly assisted the U.S. military’s influence operations,' Lee Fang wrote.
Biden releases plan to reduce homelessness as numbers match pre-pandemic: About 582,000 people were counted as homeless in tallies earlier this year, the administration said. It aims to lower that by 25% by 2025.
Biden condemns rising antisemitism in U.S. at Hanukkah reception: The president will say silence is complicity amid rising antisemitic attacks nationwide and around the world.
Taliban releases 2 Americans who were detained in Afghanistan: The release of the Americans is not a prisoner swap, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.
Taliban says women banned from universities in Afghanistan: The US and Britain criticised the ban, which the Taliban says preserves “national interest” and women’s “honour”.
Putin visits Belarus, stirring new concern on future of Ukraine War: Belarus has resisted being drawn more centrally into the war. But the visit raised worries that a new Russian ground offensive could aim again at Kyiv, near the Belarusian border.
Prince Andrew is the human shield protecting Prince Harry’s title: Any move to strip Harry of his title would force the same questions to be asked about other disgraced royals—most notably Prince Andrew.
Scott Peterson is denied a new trial in the death of his pregnant wife: Laci Peterson, 27, was eight months pregnant with their son, Conner, when she was killed in December 2002.
Los Angeles jury finds Harvey Weinstein guilty of rape in mixed verdict: The former film producer was convicted of sex crimes for the second time, though the jury could not reach a decision on three counts and acquitted him on one count.
Rowena Chiu, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Mira Sorvino and others react to Weinstein’s rape conviction in L.A. trial: Following 10 days of deliberations, a jury found the disgraced movie mogul guilty of rape, but acquitted him on another sexual assault charge and couldn't reach a decision on other counts: "There is still work to be done, and yesterday’s verdict demonstrates that."
A Texas superintendent ordered school librarians to remove LGBTQ books. Now the federal government is investigating: The Education Department has opened what appears to be the first-of-its-kind investigation into Granbury Independent School District after it pulled library books dealing with sexuality and gender.
Ex-officer sentenced to 11 years for killing of Atatiana Jefferson: Aaron Dean, the former Fort Worth police officer who killed Atatiana Jefferson, has been sentenced to 11 years, 10 months and 12 days in prison. A Tarrant County jury decided Dean's sentence after two days of deliberation. The same jury found Dean guilty of a lesser charge of manslaughter last week. He was on trial for a murder charge. Court testimony showed Dean did not follow Fort Worth Police Department standard practice the night he went into the backyard of Jefferson's home and shot her through a window in October 2019.
Four decade study finds mysterious patterns in temperatures at Jupiter.
Trouble reading prescriptions? Google announces tool that can easily decipher your doctor's bad handwriting.
Woman arrested after breaking into Robert De Niro’s home in New York City, source says: Police in New York City arrested a woman who broke into Robert De Niro’s home early Monday, according to a law enforcement source. The woman did not interact with the actor, who was on another floor, the source said. The suspect is known to the New York Police Department from previous arrests and is one of the top five burglars in the precinct, the source said. Two law enforcement sources affirmed Shanice Aviles, 30, was arrested Monday in connection with the burglary. She had already been arrested twice this month before Monday on various burglary charges in New York, a law enforcement source told CNN.
After the holidays, Disney’s Gingerbread Houses feed pollinators.
'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' model from 1982 Spielberg classic sells for $2.5 million at auction: Bidding for the iconic creation of Italian special effects master Carlo Rambaldi opened at $500,000.
'General Hospital' star Sonya Eddy dead at 55: Executive producer Frank Valentini confirmed the news about Sonya Eddy, known for her role as head nurse Epiphany Johnson
The best and worst TV endings of 2022, from ‘Better Call Saul’ to ‘Killing Eve’: his year brought a mixed bag of finishes, from AMC’s “Better Call Saul” – which put a cherry on top of its splendid run – to Showtime’s “Ray Donovan,” which after ending abruptly in 2020 presented a dreary movie intended to provide its audience a belated degree of closure. A few disclaimers: This isn’t a comprehensive list, with “His Dark Materials,” “The Good Fight” and “Better Things” among the other shows – some notable, others less so – that ended their runs this year. Also, entries are limited to programs where the producers knew they were coming to an end and could plan accordingly, thus excluding something like “Westworld,” which was canceled after its fourth season and deprived the opportunity to craft an ending – not, frankly, that it would have likely mattered much given its confusing creative spiral.
All I want for Christmas is ... more Christmas music.
Have a great Wednesday!