White House says it does not keep visitor logs at Biden’s Delaware home
White House officials said Monday that there are no visitor logs that keep track of who comes and goes from President Joe Biden’s personal residence in Wilmington, Delaware, where six classified documents were discovered in recent days. A top House Republican demanded Sunday that the White House turn over visitor logs for Biden’s home, citing how the documents may have been accessible to people without security clearances. “It is troubling that classified documents have been improperly stored at the home of President Biden for at least six years, raising questions about who may have reviewed or had access to classified information,” wrote Rep. James Comer, R-Ky.
US asks to drop case accusing NYPD officer of spying for China
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have moved to dismiss a case against a New York City police officer charged with providing Chinese consular officials with intelligence about Tibetans living in the United States, according to court documents. The move to drop the charges against Officer Baimadajie Angwang came about two years after he was accused of acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government and several other federal crimes, court documents show. A trial had been scheduled for July, but in a filing Friday, prosecutors asked that the indictment against Angwang be dismissed “in the interests of justice” because of the emergence of “additional information bearing on the charges.”
Economic woes, war, climate change on tap for Davos meeting
The World Economic Forum is back with its first winter meetup since 2020 in the Swiss Alpine town of Davos. Leaders are seeking to bridge political divisions in a divided world, buttress a hobbling economy and address concerns about a climate change — among many other things. Nearly 600 CEOs and more than 50 heads of state or government are expected, but it’s never clear how much concrete action emerges from the elite event. But missing are leaders like U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Baby, teen mom among 6 killed in shooting at California home
Sheriff’s officials say six people including a 17-year-old mother and her 6-month-old baby were killed in a shooting early Monday at a home in central California, and authorities are searching for at least two suspects. The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office says deputies responded around 3:30 a.m. Monday to reports of multiple shots fired in Goshen. Officials say deputies found two victims dead in the street and a third person fatally shot in the doorway of the residence. Three more victims were found inside the home, including a man who was still alive but later died at a hospital. Investigators believe there is a gang connection to the killings.
Ukraine strike deaths hit 40; Russia seen preparing long war
The death toll from a weekend Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro has risen to 40. That makes Saturday’s strike one of the war’s deadliest single attacks in months. Authorities say the multistory residential tower housed about 1,700 people and 30 remained missing on Monday while 39 survivors have been taken from the building’s ruins so far. The Kremlin’s spokesman said the Russian military doesn’t target residential buildings and suggested the Dnipro building was hit as a result of Ukrainian air defense actions. Meanwhile, Western analysts pointed to signs indicating the Kremlin is digging in for a drawn-out war in Ukraine after almost 11 months of fighting.
Flight data, voice recorders retrieved from Nepal crash site
Officials say search teams have retrieved the flight data and cockpit voice recorders of a passenger plane that plummeted into a gorge on approach to a new airport in the foothills of the Himalayas. Investigators are looking for the cause of Nepal’s deadliest plane crash in 30 years. At least 69 of the 72 people aboard were killed, and officials believe the three missing are also dead. Rescuers are still searching the debris Monday for them. It is scattered down a 300-meter-deep gorge.
China’s economy grew 3% last year, not even half 2021’s rate
China’s economic growth fell to 3% last year under pressure from antivirus controls and a real estate slump but is gradually reviving after restrictions that kept millions of people at home were lifted. Growth of the world’s second largest economy slid to 2.9% over a year earlier in December from the previous months 3.9%, government data showed Tuesday. Forecasters say activity is reviving but wary consumers are returning only gradually to shopping malls and restaurants amid a surge in COVID-19 infections. The government says the peak of that wave appears to have passed.
By wire sources
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