Politics

The Associated Press reports: West Virginia plans to begin training its corrections department staff about the Holocaust after a photograph of correction officer cadets giving Nazi salutes led to dozens of firings and widespread outrage, officials said Tuesday. A spokesman for the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety said the leader of the regional Anti-Defamation League chapter …

From the Russian state outlet RT News: Julian Assange sounded like a shell of the man he once was during a Christmas Eve phone call, British journalist Vaughan Smith told RT, noting the WikiLeaks founder had trouble speaking and appeared to be drugged. Assange was allowed to make just a single call from the maximum security Belmarsh prison in southeast …

Politico Europe reports: Boris Yeltsin had a reputation for the sensational and the unpredictable, from ordering tanks to shell a rebellious Russian parliament to drunkenly hunting for pizza in Washington in his underwear. But he saved arguably his biggest surprise for last. Twenty years ago this New Year’s Eve, with six months to go until the end of his final …

From a new op-ed by James Comey: The longer it goes on, the less it means. The impact diminishes, the power of it shrinks. It no longer feels as though the most powerful human on the planet is after you. It feels as though a strange and slightly sad old guy is yelling at you to get off his lawn, …

Reuters reports: Erik Prince, the controversial private security executive and prominent supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, made a secret visit to Venezuela last month and met Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, one of socialist leader Nicolas Maduro’s closest and most outspoken allies, according to five sources familiar with the matter. The visit, described by one source as “outreach” by Prince …

CBS News reports: Representative John Lewis of Georgia announced Sunday that he will be undergoing treatment for Stage IV pancreatic cancer. The 79-year-old Democratic congressman said he has “never faced a fight quite like the one I have now.” “While I am clear-eyed about the prognosis, doctors have told me that recent medical advances have made this type of cancer …

Haaretz reports: Immunity from prosecution is a cornerstone of democracy, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was indicted in three corruption cases, said Sunday. Netanyahu added that he would make a decision on whether he would ask the Knesset for immunity within two days. “Immunity isn’t against democracy; immunity is a cornerstone of democracy,” the prime minister told the audience at …

CNN reports: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the attack by a machete-wielding man at a Hanukkah celebration at a New York rabbi’s home Saturday night an “act of terrorism” and challenged his state to fight the rise of anti-Semitism and hate. Standing out the home of Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg in the town of Monsey on Sunday morning, Cuomo called …

The Independent reports: The Netherlands is gearing up to drop the moniker “Holland” as it rebrands itself in 2020. Holland is a region of the Netherlands, but the two names are often used interchangeably to describe the northern European country. From January, the Netherlands will officially drop “Holland” from all literature and marketing materials, so the country will only be …

The Associated Press reports: A Turkish court on Friday convicted six journalists and one other employee of an independent newspaper of aiding the network of a U.S.-based cleric who is accused of masterminding the failed coup in 2016, the state-run news agency reported. The seven were accused of supporting the coup through their work for the newspaper Sozcu, which has …

Reuters reports: The Philippines has banned two U.S. lawmakers from visiting and will introduce tighter entry restrictions for U.S. citizens should Washington enforce sanctions over the detention of a top government critic, the president’s spokesman said on Friday. President Rodrigo Duterte will impose a requirement on U.S. nationals to get visas should any Philippine officials involved in the incarceration of …

France 24 reports: Embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared victory in a leadership primary in his right-wing Likud party Friday, ensuring he will lead it into March elections. “A huge win! Thank you to Likud members for their trust, support and love,” Netanyahu tweeted. Initial results showed Netanyahu comfortably beating rival Gideon Saar, though a final tally was expected …

Haaretz reports: The Israeli military said it struck in the Gaza Strip early Thursday morning, targeting Hamas military posts in the coastal enclave in retaliation for a rocket that was launched at Israel’s south earlier on Wednesday, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was attending an election campaign event there. Netanyahu, who had been making an address at a gathering in …

The BBC reports: Ari Behn, the former son-in-law of Norway’s king, has died aged 47, his spokesman has said. Behn, the author of several novels and plays, married Princess Martha Louise in 2002 but the couple divorced two years ago. His spokesman told Norway’s NTB agency that Behn had taken his own life. In December 2017, Behn accused the disgraced …

The BBC reports: The Pope has prayed for a softening of “stony and self-centred hearts” to help end injustice in the world, in his Christmas Day message. From the Vatican balcony, Pope Francis spoke of “walls of indifference” being put up to people fleeing hardship in the hope of finding a better life. For change to happen for the better, …

Politico reports: A court in Saudi Arabia on Monday sentenced five people to death for the killing of Washington Post columnist and royal family critic Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last year by a team of Saudi agents. Saudi Arabia’s state-run Al-Ekhbariya TV channel reported that three others were sentenced to prison. All can …

There’s a sweet symmetry to this story: While President Trump was hunkered down in the White House monitoring impeachment proceedings Wednesday, his predecessor in the Oval Office was hitting the links in Hawaii. Photos show Barack Obama — a native of Honolulu — on the course at the Mid-Pacific Country Club in Lanikai, O’ahu, playing a round of golf under …

Politico reports: Bernie Sanders has won the endorsement of People’s Action, a coalition of 40 progressive groups that said it represents more than 1 million members in key early-voting states and others across the country. The nod is a triumph for the Vermont senator in the competition with Elizabeth Warren to become the leading left-wing candidate in the presidential primary. …

The BBC reports: General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s former military leader, has been sentenced to death at a special court hearing in Islamabad. The three-member court sentenced him over a high treason charge that has been pending since 2013. Gen Musharraf seized power in a military coup in 1999 and served as the country’s president from 2001 to 2008. He is …

The Associated Press reports: Upstart Israeli politician Gideon Saar officially launched his bid to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as head of the ruling Likud party. Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving leader, but he’s been weakened by a corruption indictment that may force him out of office, as well as back-to-back failures to form a government this year. Saar’s leadership bid …