Mumbai BEST bus crash: Driver arrested, booked for culpable homicide
The bus operated by the civic-run Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking hit several vehicles and pedestrians following which the driver, identified as Sanjay More, was detained. An official said the driver has been placed under arrest and will be produced in a court.
‘Congress opposition will not….’: RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav backs West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee to lead INDIA Bloc
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had, on December 6, expressed dissatisfaction with the functioning of the INDIA bloc, signalling her intent to take charge of the alliance if given the opportunity.
UP man dies by suicide in Bengaluru, alleges harassment by wife in 24-page death note
The incident came to light when Atul sent an email late Sunday night to an NGO focused on supporting men dealing with domestic violence and related issues.
How Biden – and Trump – helped make the pardon go haywire
The pardon debate – individual, group, partisan, preemptive – is spinning out of control. In his “Meet the Press” interview, Donald Trump mocked Joe Biden’s repeated assurances about Hunter: “‘I’m not going to give my son a pardon. I will not under any circumstances give him a pardon.’ I watch this and I always knew he was going to give him a pardon.” In a portion of that interview that did not air but was posted online, the president-elect complained to Kristen Welker: “The press was obviously unfair to me. The press, no president has ever gotten treated by the press like I was.” BIDEN’S PARDONING OF HUNTER INDICATES HE HAS ‘A LOT MORE TO HIDE’: LARA TRUMP Why did he appear on “Meet the Press”? “You’re very hostile,” Trump said. Her response: “Well, hopefully, you thought it was a fair interview. We covered a lot of policy grounds.” “It’s fair only in that you allowed me to say what I say. But you know, the answers to questions are, you know, pretty nasty. But look, because I’ve seen you interview other people like Biden.” “I’ve never interviewed President Biden,” Welker responded. Trump said he was speaking “metaphorically.” “I’ve seen George Stephanopoulos interview. And he’s a tough interviewer. It’s the softest interview I’ve seen. CNN interview. They give these soft, you know, what’s your favorite ice cream? It’s a whole different deal. I don’t understand why.” The strength of Welker’s approach is that she asked as many as half a dozen follow-ups on major topics, making more news. When she asked, for instance, whether he would actually deport 11 million illegal immigrants, as he’d said constantly on the campaign trail, he answered yes – which for some reason lots of news outlets led with. But a subsequent question got Trump to say he didn’t think the Dreamers should be expelled and would work it out with the Democrats. As for Trump, he reminded me of the candidate I interviewed twice this year. He was sharp and serious, connecting on each pitch, fouling a few off. This was not the candidate talking about sharks at rallies. BIDEN, TRUMP BOTH RIP DOJ AFTER PRESIDENT PARDONS HUNTER With one significant misstep, he made the case that he was not seeking retribution – even backing off a campaign pledge that he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden. That misstep, when Trump couldn’t hold back, was in saying of the House Jan. 6 Committee members, including Liz Cheney: “For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail.” He did add the caveat that he would let his attorney general and FBI chief make that decision, but it allowed media outlets to lead with Trump wanting his political opponents behind bars. For what it’s worth, there’s no crime in lawmakers holding hearings, and this business about them withholding information seems like a real stretch. Now back to the pardons. This mushrooming debate was obviously triggered by the president breaking his repeated promise with a sweeping, decade-long pardon of his son, a 54-year-old convicted criminal. But then, as first reported by Politico, we learned that the Biden White House is debating whether to issue a whole bunch of preemptive pardons to people perceived to be potential targets of Trumpian retaliation. But the inconvenient truth is that anyone accepting such a pardon would essentially admit to the appearance of being guilty. That’s why Sen.-elect Adam Schiff says he doesn’t want a pardon and won’t accept one. MEDIA ADMITS THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS TOO ‘WOKE’ AFTER KAMALA HARRIS’ 2024 LOSS But many of those potential recipients don’t even know they’re under consideration for sweeping pardons covering anything they may or may not have done. It is a truly awful idea, and with Biden and Trump both agreeing that DOJ engages in unfair and selective prosecutions – which in the Republican’s case made his numbers go up – the stage is set for endless rounds of payback against each previous administration. I remember first thinking about the unchecked power of presidential pardons when Bill Clinton delivered a last-minute one to ally and super-wealthy Marc Rich. So it’s time to hear from Alexander Hamilton, who pushed it into the Constitution. Keep in mind that in that horse-and-buggy era, there were very few federal offenses because most law enforcement was done by the states. In Federalist 74, published in 1788, Hamilton said a single person was better equipped than an unwieldy group, and such decisions should be broadly applied to help those in need. “In seasons of insurrection or rebellion,” the future Treasury secretary wrote, “there are often critical moments, when a welltimed offer of pardon to the insurgents or rebels may restore the tranquillity of the commonwealth.” SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES Otherwise, it might be too late. But another founding father, George Mason, opposed him, saying a president “may frequently pardon crimes which were advised by himself. It may happen, at some future day, that he will establish a monarchy, and destroy the republic. If he has the power of granting pardons before indictment, or conviction, may he not stop inquiry and prevent detection?” An excellent argument, but Hamilton won out. As Hamilton envisioned, George Washington, in 1794, granted clemency to leaders of the Whiskey Rebellion to calm a fraught situation. Something tells me that Biden, Trump and their allies aren’t poring over the Federalist papers. But it’s still an awful lot of sweeping power to place in the hands of one chief executive, for which the only remedy is impeachment.
Trump FBI director pick Kash Patel ‘instrumental in unraveling’ Russia collusion hoax, former chair says
Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI director, was the chief investigator in the congressional probe into alleged Trump-Russia collusion, uncovering government surveillance abuse that led to the appointment of two special counsels: one who determined there was no such collusion and another who determined the entire premise of the FBI’s original investigation was bogus. Patel served as senior counsel and a national security adviser on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) for then-Chair Rep. Devin Nunes. DURHAM FINDS DOJ, FBI ‘FAILED TO UPHOLD’ MISSION OF ‘STRICT FIDELITY TO THE LAW’ IN TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE “Kash was instrumental in unraveling the Russia collusion hoax and finding evidence of government malfeasance despite constant attempts by the FBI and DOJ to stonewall our investigation,” Nunes, who now chiefs Trump’s Truth Social site, told Fox News Digital. In July 2016, during the 2016 election cycle, the FBI launched an investigation into whether the Trump campaign was colluding with Russia to influence the outcome of the election. That investigation, inside the bureau, was known as “Crossfire Hurricane.” By January 2017, then-FBI Director James Comey had notified Trump of a dossier, known as the Steele dossier, that contained salacious and unverified allegations about Trump’s purported coordination with the Russian government, a key document prompting the opening of the probe. The dossier was authored by Christopher Steele, an ex-British intelligence officer, and commissioned by Fusion GPS. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign hired Fusion GPS during the 2016 election cycle. HOUSE INTEL TRANSCRIPTS SHOW TOP OBAMA OFFICIALS HAD NO ‘EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE’ OF TRUMP-RUSSIA COLLUSION It eventually was determined that the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee funded the dossier through the law firm Perkins Coie. Trump fired Comey in May 2017. Days later, Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel to take over the “Crossfire Hurricane” probe and investigate whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election cycle. While Mueller investigated, the HPSCI opened its own investigation into alleged Trump-Russia collusion. Patel, as chief investigator for Nunes, by February 2018 had discovered widespread government surveillance abuse, including improper surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. FBI IGNORED ‘CLEAR WARNING SIGN’ OF CLINTON-LED EFFORT TO ‘MANIPULATE’ BUREAU FOR ‘POLITICAL PURPOSES’ “While most members of Congress were ready to ignore the unprecedented civil rights abuses against the Trump campaign and myself, Kash Patel’s training as a top public defender made him the perfect advocate for exposing one of the greatest election interference scandals of all time,” Page told Fox News Digital. Patel was an integral part of the creation of a memo released by then-Chair Nunes in February 2018, which detailed the DOJ’s and FBI’s surveillance of Page under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Nunes and Patel revealed that the infamous anti-Trump dossier funded by Democrats “formed an essential part” of the application to spy on Page. DECLASSIFIED TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE DOCUMENTS: WHAT TO KNOW The memo referred to closed-door testimony from former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who said that “no surveillance warrant would have been sought” from the FISA court “without the Steele dossier information.” But when applying for the FISA warrant, the FBI omitted the origins of the dossier, specifically its funding from Clinton, who was Trump’s 2016 presidential opponent. The memo also said Steele, who worked as an FBI informant, was eventually cut off from the bureau for what the FBI described as the most serious of violations, “an unauthorized disclosure to the media of his relationship with the FBI.” FLASHBACK: DNI DECLASSIFIES BRENNAN NOTES, CIA MEMO ON HILLARY CLINTON ‘STIRRING UP’ SCANDAL BETWEEN TRUMP, RUSSIA The memo noted that the FBI and DOJ obtained “one initial FISA warrant” targeting Page and three FISA renewals from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The statute required that every 90 days a FISA order on an American citizen “must be reviewed.” The memo revealed that Comey signed three FISA applications for Page, while McCabe, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and former Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente signed at least one. The memo was widely criticized by Democrats but was ultimately correct. The Justice Department inspector general, Michael Horowitz, reviewed the memo and confirmed the dossier served as the basis for the controversial FISA warrants obtained against Page. HERE’S WHAT KASH PATEL’S FORMER COLLEAGUES ARE SAYING ABOUT HIM “The feds spied on Kash during the probe and ran information warfare against him, but Kash helped expose them anyway,” Nunes told Fox News Digital. Nunes was referring to the Justice Department in November 2017 using grand jury subpoenas to secretly obtain the personal email and phone data for Patel and another Nunes staffer on the HPSCI as they were investigating FBI abuse and the Russia probe. DURHAM TESTIFIES FBI IGNORED HILLARY CLINTON PLAN TO LINK TRUMP TO RUSSIA House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote a letter to now-FBI Director Christopher Wray last year to investigate the improper surveillance of Patel. Meanwhile, Mueller completed his investigation in April 2019, which yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 election. Weeks later, then-Attorney General Bill Barr tapped then-U.S. Attorney for Connecticut John Durham to serve as special counsel to investigate the origins of the FBI’s original Trump-Russia probe. Durham in his report said the Justice Department and FBI “failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law” when it launched its original Trump-Russia probe. He also said in his report that the FBI “failed to act” on a “clear warning sign” that the bureau was the “target” of a Clinton-led effort to “manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes” ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Durham was referring to intelligence on a plan stirred up by Clinton’s presidential campaign in July 2016 to tie Trump to Russia in an effort to distract from the investigation into her use of a private email server and mishandling of classified information.
DNC fundraiser takes aim at ‘vindictive’ torrent of criticism over Hegseth comments
Prominent Democratic National Committee (DNC) powerhouse Lindy Li is facing fierce backlash from members of her own party after she expressed support for President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth. She said her position touched off a level of intraparty vitriol that took her off guard, to the point where some are calling for her to leave the Democratic Party altogether. Li, a Democrat strategist, served as both a surrogate for Vice President Harris and a member of the DNC’s national fundraising committee, a membership for which she noted requires raising “millions of dollars” on behalf of Democrat candidates. She also appeared nearly every day on the air to stump for Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign. Li said that what’s happening to her underscores the party’s broader posture of finger-pointing and internal blame even after its wide election losses. So, it was in this context that she appeared on NewsNation’s “Morning in America” show over the weekend and offered what she described as “restrained support” for Hegseth, Li told Fox News Digital on Monday. The two share Princeton University as their alma mater and both appeared at the same time on “Fox & Friends” this fall. Asked about his nomination on Sunday, Li told host Markie Martin, “I actually think he’s a pretty good guy.” “Maybe you’re looking for someone to oppose the nomination, but I actually have personal interactions with [Hegseth],” she said, adding that, “because I’ve been on Fox and Friends – I’ve met Pete, he’s my fellow Princetonian.” Li repeatedly declined to answer questions about Hegseth’s path to confirmation amid allegations of alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct. Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing. Still, the torrent of criticism continued, ranging from party leaders to public voices within the party who urged her on social media and in text messages reviewed by Fox News Digital to resign or be “fired,” to which Li scoffed because she, in her current capacity, is not on any DNC payroll. (As a Democrat strategist and fundraiser, she has raised millions of dollars for both President Biden and Harris in their respective presidential campaigns, and she appeared on TV countless times. Her family has also donated buildings, including a Philadelphia-area church.) Still, Li said, the criticism caused her to question, to some degree, her allegiance to the very party for which she’s raised millions of dollars during the 2024 election cycle alone. “I’m not just some random donor. I am one of the biggest, if not the biggest, Asian-American fundraiser on the Democratic side,” she said. TRUMP TRANSITION SIGNS AGREEMENT FOR FBI BACKGROUND CHECKS Instead, Li said she sees the fallout over the fairly innocuous comment as a “microcosm of what is wrong with the Democratic Party” by “permitting no dissent, no criticism.” She said this bolsters the contention held by certain factions within the Democratic Party: the leadership has learned the wrong lessons after their losses in the 2024 House, Senate and presidential races. Instead of engaging in an open dialogue with the public about their missteps, they have become more resolute on intraparty blame and finger-pointing. Li described a “vindictive” effort by some leadership to discount her support and the millions she has raised on behalf of their party. She also took aim at some Democrat leaders’ decisions to reinforce the idea of identity politics, a strategy embraced most prominently by outgoing Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison. Harrison, whose leadership role ends in February, has sharply dismissed critics within the party who have urged them to take a different path forward after their resounding losses in 2024. He also used a speech last week to push back on the notion that Democrats need to abandon “identity politics,” despite criticism that embracing these issues may have prompted their losses in key swing states. Li said she and others think that’s part of the problem. “Harrison is asking us to double down on identity politics. And I think that’s a counterproductive strategy,” Li said in the interview. SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH REQUIRED TO SUBMIT TRUMP FINDINGS TO DOJ BEFORE LEAVING. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? “It’s just insane,” she said. “If you want an explanation for why they lost, this is it,” Li added, taking aim at what she described as the Democratic Party’s “purity tests” and the “purging” of Democrats regarded as out of step or failing to toe the party line. In the meantime, Li said she is not facing a shortage of options as she weighs what a future role in the Democratic Party could look like, or if she even wants to stay with it. “I think I’m too big to fully exile from the party,” Li said of her contributions to the DNC. “The leadership knows that.” “People on Trump’s team have already reached out to me to see if I’d be willing to switch,” Li added. “So, I’m not an orphan, you know? And I know people are actively trying to recruit me.”
Opposition moves no-confidence motion against Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankar
INDIA bloc moved a no-confidence motion against Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar
Gov. Phil Murphy signs law prohibiting book bans, making New Jersey the latest state to do so
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, signed a bill into law on Monday to prohibit public libraries and school libraries from banning books in the state. The law will also implement protections for librarians who follow the law against civil and criminal charges, according to The Associated Press. This makes New Jersey the latest state to enact a law prohibiting book bans, joining other Democrat-led states, including Illinois and Minnesota. Murphy signed the bill at Princeton’s public library, located near Princeton University. The legislation comes in response to Republican-leaning states that have looked to remove books in recent years from school curriculum and school libraries that they deem inappropriate for young children, such as books containing sexually explicit material or that center on LGBTQ+ or Critical Race Theory. SUPREME COURT REJECTS BOSTON PARENTS’ APPEAL CLAIMING RACIAL BIAS IN AN ADMISSIONS POLICY “It’s the antithesis of all these book banning states that you see,” the governor said. “I’m incredibly proud to have signed it, but also acknowledge that America — and this is yet another good example — is becoming a patchwork quilt country. It really matters where you live.” Under the law, public libraries and school libraries may not exclude books because of the origin, background or views of the material or of its authors. Libraries will also be prohibited from censoring books solely because a person finds them offensive. The bill allows books to be restricted in the case of “developmentally inappropriate material” for certain age groups. The law also requires local school boards and the governing bodies of public libraries to establish policies for book curation and the removal of library materials, including a way to address concerns over certain titles. Lawmakers in more than 15 states have proposed bills this year to impose harsh penalties on libraries or librarians. SCHOOL DISTRICT MIRED IN TRANSGENDER ATHLETE CONTROVERSY TELLS CRITICS TO BLAME LAWMAKERS IN CA AND DC Conservative parents and activists argue that the books are too sexually explicit or otherwise inappropriate, particularly for younger children. National groups such as Moms for Liberty have said parents should have more of a say over which books ought to be available to their children. Librarians praised the enactment of New Jersey’s law, with Karen Grant, president of the New Jersey Association of School Librarians, saying the bill recognizes librarians’ professionalism and promotes libraries as a source of information. “The bill will protect the intellectual freedom of students as well as acknowledge that school libraries are centers for voluntary inquiry, fostering students’ growth and development,” Grant said. Retired librarian Martha Hickson spoke on Monday alongside the governor about how parents first suggested her book collections contained pedophilia and pornography during a school board meeting in 2021. She watched the livestream in shock as they objected to the availability of the novel “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison, which contains graphic descriptions of sex between men and children, and the illustrated memoir “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe. Hickson, who said parents suggested she should be criminally liable for the availability of the books, said Monday that it was time to celebrate after three years of harassment. “I’m thrilled,” she said. “After more than three years of harassment, this legislation is a relief to readers and librarians.” The law is set to take effect in a year, although the state education commissioner and state librarian may begin taking steps to implement the law. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Apparent swatting call at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Georgia home leads to deadly car accident
An apparent swatting call at the north Georgia home of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., left a woman dead following a car accident involving local police. Greene took to social media on Monday to report that she was the subject of a bomb threat directed at her home. The congresswoman said the Rome Police Department’s assistant chief received the threat via email, prompting a bomb squad to be dispatched to her home. Greene says that this is not the first time she has been the subject of a swatting call since being elected to Congress, noting that she has been “swatted at least nine times.” A swatting call involves alerting 911 of a false threat to a specific location or person, which invokes a police response and can divert resources from real crimes or threats. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE SAYS SHE WAS ‘SWATTED’ FOR 8TH TIME: ‘IT WAS TERRIFYING’ Greene said the email was traced back to a Russian IP address and her office will be working with local and federal law enforcement, including the FBI, to bring the perpetrator to justice. Rome police reported that during the attempt to respond to Greene’s home, a deadly traffic incident took place involving one of their officers. “On Monday December 9, a Rome Police Department officer was traveling in a personal vehicle en route to take his place with the Bomb Squad on a call. This officer was involved in a traffic accident on Redmond Rd near Walmart which has created significant travel delays around the Norfolk Southern Railroad Tracks.” MTG TO INTRODUCE BILL AIMED AT ‘SWATTERS’ AS RICK SCOTT BECOMES LATEST TARGET Greene said she was “heartsick” over the deadly accident, which she said claimed the life of a woman and injured a police officer. “I’m heartsick right now. I was just informed that an innocent woman died today in an auto accident involving a member of the Rome Police bomb squad who was responding to the threat at my home,” she wrote. “These violent political threats have fatal consequences. It’s an undue strain on our law enforcement who must treat them seriously. The officer was responding to protect my life. And now, a woman has lost her life because of this despicable act,” the post said. “My prayers are with Tammie Pickelsimer, her family, the officer who was injured, and the entire Rome Police Department.” Greene was noticeably outraged throughout her updates, accusing the perpetrator of the call of committing murder. “I’m sick to my stomach, but I’m also angry. This should have never happened and I pray it never happens again,” she said. She went on to thank Rome PD for protecting the city and putting their lives at stake. The cause of the accident is still under investigation. Fox News Digital has reached out to Rome police for comment.
Shillong Teer Result TODAY December 10, 2024 Tuesday: Check 1st, 2nd-round lucky winning numbers
Participants place bets on numbers ranging from 00 to 99 before the rounds begin. The objective is to predict the last two digits of the total number of arrows that successfully hit the target.