NewsYahoo NewsMichelle Obama says she’s not interested in running for officeFirst lady Michelle Obama says she has no plans to run for office after her family leaves the White House. “I don’t make stuff up, I’m not coy — I’m pretty direct,” Obama told Oprah Winfrey in an interview that aired on CBS Monday night.
- PoliticsDylan StablefordAlabama official apologizes for chopping public park tree for Trump rally
An Alabama mayor’s chief of staff has apologized for cutting down a giant tree from a city park in Mobile so it could be used as a backdrop for President-elect Donald Trump’s “thank you” rally at a nearby football stadium. Colby Cooper, Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson’s top aide, admitted he was “overzealous” in fulfilling a request from Trump’s advance team ahead of Saturday’s event. The 50-foot cedar tree was cut down at the city’s Public Safety Memorial Park on Friday and taken to Ladd-Peebles Stadium, placed behind the podium was decorated with Christmas ornaments.
- BusinessThe DriveFeds Investigating 1 Million Fiat Chrysler Vehicles for Potential Rollaway Threat
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is investigating roughly one million late-model trucks and SUVs built by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles over reports that the vehicles may be prone to rolling away after being parked, Automotive News is reporting. The investigation reportedly covers 2014-2016 model year Dodge Durangos and 2013-2016 model year Ram 1500 pickup trucks. FCA said it is cooperating with the federal authorities, according to AN.
- NewsInside EditionPolice Officer Ties Tie for College Student He Pulled Over for Speeding - Instead of Giving Him Ticket
Maybe it was the fashion police who pulled him over. When stopped for speeding, University of Wisconsin-Stout student Trevor Keeney told Officer Martin Folczyk he was running late for an important presentation and could not tie his tie. Read: Cops ID
WorldAFP12 dead in likely 'terror attack' on Berlin Xmas marketGerman police said on Tuesday they were treating as "a probable terrorist attack" the killing of 12 people when a speeding lorry cut a bloody swathe through a Berlin Christmas market. Images showed the mangled truck with its windscreen smashed and a trail of destruction in its wake, with Christmas trees toppled on their side and festive stalls obliterated into splinters. "We heard a really loud bang and saw some of the Christmas lights to our left starting to be pulled down," she told Sky news.
- BusinessThe DriveThe Porsche 911 Turbo S Is the Powered Exoskeleton Drivers Need Now
You’re at the wheel of the 2017 Porsche 911 Turbo S. A few laps around a racetrack and there it is: the feeling that Porsche engineers, with all their actuators and algorithms, have been edging us closer and closer to machinery that’s less a car than a man-machine interface. A devastating performer with the numbers to match: Zero to 60 in under three seconds, standing quarter-mile in just over 10 seconds, and a lap around the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 7:18, as Porsche estimated earlier this year (when Nürburgring officials barred unrestricted laps). Porsche Turbos have always been sexy in the way a 14-cylinder, 100,000-hp Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C diesel engine is.
WorldAssociated PressSmog chokes Chinese cities, grounding flights, closing roadsThick, gray smog fell over Beijing on Tuesday, choking China's capital in a haze that spurred authorities to cancel flights and close some highways in emergency measures to cut down on air pollution. Beijing and much of industrial northern China are in the midst of a "red alert," the highest level in China's four-tiered pollution warning system. The alert has affected 460 million people, according to Greenpeace East Asia, which calculated that about 200 million people were living in areas that had experienced levels of air pollution more than 10 times above the guideline set by the World Health Organization.
- ScienceInternational Business TimesNorth Korea’s 2010 ‘Nuclear Explosion’ An Earthquake: Study
A tiny seismic event that occurred in North Korea in 2010 — believed to be a nuclear explosion — may have been just an earthquake, a study found. The analysis published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America debunks a 2015 report by Chinese seismologists, which concluded that the seismic activity was triggered by a nuclear explosion.
NewsBGR NewsYouTube star says Delta kicked him off a flight for speaking Arabic to his momPopular YouTube prankster Adam Saleh is waging a war on Delta Airlines after he says he was kicked off his flight just for speaking Arabic to his mom on the phone. Saleh, who posted a video on Twitter showing he and his friends being escorted out of the flight as fellow passengers sarcastically wave goodbye, says the police were brought in after the incident, and that he’s consulting a lawyer on the best course of action. Saleh, who has over three million subscribers on YouTube on his multiple channels, and a robust social media following, was able to generate over 200,000 retweets in just a few hours with the damning video, which you can watch below.
NewsNational Constitution CenterElectoral College a rare topic of discussion at Supreme CourtWith all of the recent attention given to the Electoral College, not a lot has been written by the Supreme Court on the unique electoral institution – mostly because the Court has had few opinions about it in the past 226 years. A search of the historical Supreme Court opinions database at www.courtlistener.com shows that the words “electoral college” have appeared just 23 times in the thousands of opinions written by the Justices since 1790. There are two significant cases related to the Electoral College not including the 2000 Bush v. Gore decision, which was more about the process of counting presidential ballots in Florida than the legitimate function of the Electoral College.
- PoliticsYahoo NewsTrump’s ‘very famous doctor’ speaks: 8 bizarre quotes from Dr. Harold Bornstein
Bornstein’s profile exploded, in part because he shared his patient’s penchant for excessive verbiage (his letter also paid homage to Trump’s “astonishingly excellent” lab test results and “extraordinary” strength and stamina) and his kooky appearance: shoulder-length hair, round tortoise-shell glasses and a rotation of black turtlenecks that would put most beatniks to shame. In a new interview with STAT News — his first since the election — Bornstein lived up to his eccentric reputation, sounding off on everything from the virility of the president-elect to the fate that awaits his interviewer. “If something happens to him [Trump], then it happens to him.
- BusinessThe DriveVW Will Buy Back or Offer to Fix Your 3.0L V6 TDI
Another issue has popped up for the Volkswagen Audi Group in the Dieselgate scandal. This settlement comes as a result of the emission-cheating 3.0L V6 TDI. The 2009-2016 VW Touareg, 2013-2016 Porsche Cayenne, 2009-2015 Aud Q7, as well as the 2014-2016 A6, A7, A8, and Q5 are all affected by this news.
WorldReutersBolivia says airline, pilot responsible for plane crashA Bolivian government investigation into the plane crash that killed dozens of Brazilian soccer players last month concluded that a Bolivian airline and pilot were directly responsible, Public Works Minister Milton Claros said on Tuesday. The pilot, Miguel Quiroga, was one of 71 people killed when a plane operated by the Bolivia-based charter apparently ran out of fuel and crashed on a wooded hillside near the Colombian city Medellin. Quiroga was also a co-owner of the airline.
LifestyleMarie Claire VideosNo Place in the World Does Christmas as Well as LondonIf you've never seen what London looks like at Christmas, prepare to have your mind blown.
- NewsInside EditionCops ID Man They Say Stole Pot of Gold Worth $1.6M From Armored Truck in Daring Heist
Police have identified the man they believe made off with a pot of gold from an armored truck parked on a busy New York City street in broad daylight, and are now appealing to the public to help track down the thief. Surveillance footage caught Julio Nivelo, 53, allegedly grabbing an 86-pound bucket of gold flakes valued at $1.6 million from the back of an armored truck parked on West 48th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in midtown Manhattan about 4:30 p.m. on September 29, police said.
- WorldYahoo News Photo StaffDeadly blast destroys Mexican fireworks market
A powerful chain-reaction explosion ripped through Mexico’s best-known fireworks market on the northern outskirts of the capital Tuesday, killing at least 29 people, injuring scores more and sending a huge plume of charcoal-gray smoke billowing into the
- WorldThe DriveFerrari, Aston Martin to Be Fined by European Union for Missing CO2 Goals
When it comes to combating climate change, the European Union isn’t letting the some of the world’s most notable automakers off the hook just because they don’t build many vehicles. The EU will slap fines on Ferrari and Aston Martin because the sports car companies failed to meet requirements for CO2 reduction in 2015. Under requirements set by the European Environmental Agency, every carmaker selling its cars in the EU was required to hit a fleet-wide target of 130 grams of CO2 per kilometer, as part of the continent-wide move towards an ultimate aim of 95 g/km in the 2020-2021 timeframe.
- WorldPopular MechanicsIs North Korea's Nuclear Missile Sub Ready to Set Sail?
North Korea's nuclear ballistic missile submarine may be prepared to head out to sea. The deployment of the submarine would make the country's nuclear weapons more difficult to track while theoretically extending their range, possibly as far as the United States and beyond. According to longtime North Korea watcher Joseph Bermudez at 38North, satellite imagery (above) provides circumstantial evidence that the submarine and the floating barge used to test missiles have both recently gone to sea.
- WorldAssociated PressTurkey and Russia probe slaying of envoy in Ankara gallery
Investigators from Turkey and Russia hunted for clues Tuesday in the assassination of Russia's ambassador to Turkey in front of stunned onlookers at a photo exhibition in Ankara. A team of 18 Russian investigators and foreign ministry officials arrived in Turkey and began inspecting the art gallery where the shooting of Andrei Karlov took place. Central to the joint Turkish-Russian investigation is whether Mevlut Mert Altintas, a member of Ankara's riot police squad, planned the attack alone.
PoliticsYahoo News43 days after winning election, Trump still touchy about losing popular voteForty-three days after winning the election and 29 days before his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump is still obsessing over the fact that he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. In a series of tweets early Wednesday, Trump claimed he would have campaigned “differently” had he not been focused on amassing the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency — and that he could’ve won the popular vote if he wanted to. “Campaigning to win the Electoral College is much more difficult & sophisticated than the popular vote,” Trump tweeted.
- NewsInternational Business TimesBogoslof Volcano Briefly Erupts, Forming Ash Cloud
The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) issued its highest level of alert for aviation after reports surfaced about a brief eruption of Bogoslof volcano in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. The volcano erupted Tuesday forming an ash cloud that rose to 34,000 feet, pilots reported. While only 4,300 people live within 62 miles of the volcano, there is a lot of air traffic that crosses the Aleutian Islands — a chain of volcanic islands in the Bering Sea, belonging to both the U.S. and Russia. The last recorded eruption of Bogoslof was reportedly in 1992.
- BusinessThe DriveUber Says Its Self-Driving Cars Have a "Problem" With Bike Lanes
Uber has confirmed there is a "problem" with how its self-driving test vehicles navigate around bike lanes, according to a report. This announcement comes less than a week after the ride-hailing company launched its potentially illegal tests in San Francisco, following an initial test period in Pittsburgh. The issue with the self-driving tech could potentially injure bicyclists in the path of the self-driving Uber test vehicles, The Guardian reports.
- WorldYahoo News Photo StaffTruck attack at Berlin Christmas market
Investigators hunted Wednesday for a Tunisian man whose documents were found in the truck that plowed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring 48 others, German media reported. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack on the market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in the center of the capital. Several German media outlets reported Wednesday, without identifying their sources, that authorities were searching for a Tunisian man whose identification documents were found in the cab of the truck.
- NewsMashablePagan priest finally allowed to wear goat horns in license photo
According to the Associated Press, though MoonSong learned his photo was initially rejected in November, his request has since been accepted. MoonSong told the Bangor Daily News that during his initial visit to the DMV, he told an employee that he is an ordained Pagan minister.
WorldAFPGambia's Jammeh does not face prosecution on leaving office: oppositionGambian President Yahya Jammeh will not face prosecution on leaving office, a spokesman for the opposition coalition that backed president-elect Adama Barrow told AFP late Tuesday. Jammeh led the Gambia for 22 years but conceded defeat in polls this month before reversing his position and claiming victory, bringing calls from the international community to accept the result and step down. "ECOWAS wanted to know whether the incoming administration plans to prosecute outgoing President Yahya Jammeh," spokesman Halifa Sallah said following talks with the Economic Community of West African States on the peaceful transfer of power.
