Light News Dump

Pentagon officials and Iraqi intelligence confirm Ukrainian plane was shot down
https://www.newsweek.com/iranians-shot-down-ukraine-flight-mistake-sources-1481313

The Canadian government believes the U.S. intelligence reports that the Ukrainian plane was accidentally shot down by an Iranian missile are credible, government sources tell CTV News.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/ottawa-believes-u-s-intelligence-on-downed-jetliner-is-credible-sources-1.4759582

147 Iranian nationals killed on that flight. (The Canadian passengers were Iranians).

McConnell wants to pass measure to change Senate rules to allow Senate to dismiss impeachment altogether
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/477587-mcconnell-backs-measure-to-change-senate-rules-dismiss-impeachment-without

Republicans refuse to release all available aid to Puerto Rico (AMERICAN CITIZENS) despite earthquakes
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-trump-refuses-aid-puerto-rico-earthquakes-20200109-leu5ushanzcnlehtnqucr6btze-story.html

UK House of Commons votes 330-231 to pass Brexit bill, paving way for UK’s Jan. 31 departure from the EU.
https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/1215325066218680322

Lindsey Graham’s Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison raises 3.5 million in 3 months.
https://www.theroot.com/lindsey-grahams-democratic-challenger-jaime-harrison-ra-1840885531

Facebook won’t limit Political ad targeting or stop False claims under new ad rules
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/01/09/facebook-wont-limit-political-ad-targeting-or-stop-pols-lying/

P.M Morrison Said He's Thankful Nobody Died In Kangaroo Island Bushfire That Killed Two
https://10daily.com.au/news/a200108hmxvk/morrison-said-hes-thankful-nobody-died-in-kangaroo-island-bushfire-that-killed-two-20200108

Bushfire protests targeting Scott Morrison to go ahead in Melbourne despite Victoria Police fears of 'resource drain' | Organisers say they are calling for all firefighters to be paid, aid for affected communities, an immediate transition away from fossil fuels, and the sacking of PM Scott Morrison
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-08/bushfire-protests-planned-melbourne-a-resource-drain-say-police/11851626

Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest pledges $70 million fire relief and recovery donation
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-09/andrew-forrest-pledges-$70m-donation-to-fire-relief/11854654

Obama spent $96 million on personal/family travel in 8 years. Trump spent $13.6 million ... IN ONE MONTH.
https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1215102680970027015
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mnuchin-seeks-delay-of-proposed-disclosure-of-secret-service-spending-on-presidential-travel-until-next-year/2020/01/08/8769ea28-30da-11ea-91fd-82d4e04a3fac_story.html

Scientists say a giant fish species that managed to survive at least 150 million years has been completely wiped out by human activity. Research published in the Science of The Total Environment report this week says the giant Chinese paddlefish, also known as the Chinese swordfish, is officially extinct. | The main causes of the ancient species demise have been listed as over-fishing and the construction of a major dam in 1981 that split the Yangtze, and the Chinese paddlefish population along with it, in two. The 3,900 mile Yangtze River ecosystem has seen half of the 175 species unique to its waters go extinct, according to Chinese media. Two other species native to the river have also been declared functionally extinct; the reeves shad and the Yangtze dolphin.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/giant-chinese-paddlefish-declared-extinct-in-china-as-human-presence-kills-off-an-ancient-species/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719362382

Shadow Super PAC Provides Sanders Super PAC Support He Claims He Does Not Accept Money From Scorns
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/01/07/us/politics/ap-us-election-2020-sanders-our-revolution-1st-ld-writethru.html

North Korean mother facing jail for saving children from fire instead of portraits of Kim family
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7868237/North-Korean-mother-facing-jail-saving-children-fire-instead-portraits-Kim-family.html

Trump statue burned to ground in Slovenia
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/trump-statue-burned-protest-fire-slovenia-melania-arson-attack-a9276836.html

Federal prosecutors say that video taken from outside of Jeffrey Epstein's cell the night of his FIRST suicide attempt in July has been permanently deleted because MCC saved video from the wrong tier of the jail and not the tier Epstein was on, a filing says.
https://twitter.com/Tom_Winter/status/1215324221276139520

The Trump administration's plan to send Mexican asylum-seekers to Guatemala has been temporarily put on hold. This plan could have led to asylum-seekers being placed in more dangerous circumstances:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hamedaleaziz/mexican-asylum-seekers-guatemala-plan-paused

Army general denies request by officer pardoned by Trump to have his Special Forces tab reinstated
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/army-general-denies-request-by-officer-pardoned-by-trump-to-have-his-special-forces-tab-reinstated/2020/01/09/398a381a-332a-11ea-9313-6cba89b1b9fb_story.html

It’s unclear how many people have been left homeless by the spate of earthquakes that began Dec. 28, but several hundred — if not more — are psychologically homeless: too spooked to sleep indoors. Washington has declared a territory-wide state of emergency and roads to the south were clogged late Wednesday with caravans carrying cots and generators. Municipal governments have also set up mass shelters at stadiums in Guanica, Guayanilla and Ponce, but there are also hundreds of impromptu villages popping up in parks and dusty lots.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article239121258.html

CRIBE
March 13, 2018, 12:22 PM EDT / Updated March 13, 2018, 2:31 PM EDT
By Jane C. Timm and Julia Ainsley

Trump's longtime personal aide John McEntee has been fired and is under investigation by the Secret Service for serious financial crimes, according to two federal law enforcement officials.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-s-assistant-out-white-house-heads-campaign-n856196

GOP senators introduce resolution honoring the Soleimani operation, which also includes text that praises Trump personally. Feels quite a bit like a dare of the 2020 Dems, though it's hard to imagine a voter caring that, like Sanders or Warren didn't vote on this
https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1215395992897540096

Pelosi: "What we should be doing is moving toward peace … Not because we believe that the other side has good motivations, or that Soleimani is not a bad person. It’s not because of what they are, it’s because of who we are as Americans. A country that is committed to peace."
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1215394139862437888

224-194: House Democrats adopt war powers resolution limiting Trump's military actions against Iran on near party line vote. 3 Republicans and Amash-I voted Yes. 8 Democrats voted No.
https://twitter.com/CraigCaplan/status/1215409087699202048

8 House Democrats voted No on Iran war powers resolution: Brindisi-NY Cunningham-SC Gottheimer-NJ Horn-OK Luria-VA McAdams-UT Murphy-FL Rose-NY

Who can name the Democratic candidate whose wife caused their family to be under federal investigation for bankrupting a college and profiting off the closure of the college with a $250k golden parachute?

Army Veteran Has Prosthetic Legs Repossessed After VA Refuses to Pay For Them: 'Medicare Did Not Send Me To Vietnam'
https://www.newsweek.com/army-veteran-has-prosthetic-legs-repossessed-after-va-refuses-pay-them-1481390

The Senate has conducted 15 impeachment trials. It heard witnesses in every one.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/01/09/senate-has-conducted-15-impeachment-trials-it-heard-witnesses-every-one/

US federal appeals court illegally lifted a lower court's order that had legally blocked the Trump admin. from illegally using Defense Dept. money to illegally build sections of a barrier on the southern border.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/appeals-court-frees-pentagon-money-trump-s-border-wall-n1112991?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_np

Kansas Gov. Kelly, a Democrat, and Sen. Denning, the state’s top Senate Republican, announced Thursday that they had come to an agreement on Medicaid expansion, which would provide the state’s working poor access to health care coverage.
https://twitter.com/NBCPolitics/status/1215436610919129089