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| We're reporter Josh Hafner and editor John Riley, bringing you pre-Noel news from USA TODAY. |
| But first: "Dynasty" star Joan Collins weighed in on #BabyItsColdOutsidegate Monday, calling consent culture "out of control." |
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. Russia used them all to help Trump, reports show |
| An all-out social media push by Russia to elect Donald Trump tricked 30 million people into sharing posts and aimed to convince blacks and Latinos not to vote. That's according to Senate-issued reports that found a "sweeping and sustained" effort to boost Trump's candidacy at key moments — think debates, conventions and Election Day — using Facebook, Instagram and more. |
| Who did the reports? Oxford University fielded one, along with social analysis firm Graphika. A second report came from New Knowledge, a cybersecurity firm. Both debuted Monday. |
| How did it aim to help Trump? The Oxford report found Russian efforts targeted blacks, Latinos and LGBT people to get voters "to boycott the election, abstain from voting for (Hillary) Clinton, or to spread cynicism about participating in the election in general." Meanwhile, conservatives "were actively encouraged to get behind Trump's campaign." |
| Oh, Russians also tried to hack voting systems and stole Clinton campaign emails, the second report found. |
| How big was this? "Unprecedented," New Knowledge said, reaching 140 million-plus people across all platforms. More than 30 million people shared "computational propaganda" on Facebook and Instagram from 2015 to 2017. Russia's Internet Research Agency, the "troll farm" indicted in February by special counsel Robert Mueller, employed hundreds in the "round-the-clock" campaign. |
| "Most troublingly," Sen. Richard Burr, Republican chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said of the new data, "it shows that these activities have not stopped." |
| Also in Russia 🇷🇺: |
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A government shutdown? Trump and GOP will get the blame, poll finds |
| Americans really don't want a government shutdown, and most are ready to blame President Trump and GOP lawmakers if there is one, a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds. Several agencies are set to run out of funding Friday, and Trump said he's willing to let a partial shutdown happen unless Congress forks over $5 billion for a border wall. But poll respondents oppose a shutdown by a margin of 54 percent to 29 percent, and nearly 2-1 say they'd blame Trump and Republicans, not Democrats, if one unfolds. Trump on Monday took to Twitter to make the case for "Boarder Security." Oops. Critics flooded Trump with with images of snowboarders, collie dogs and swashbuckling sailors in response. |
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For some, holidays aren't so happy — or healthy |
| Christmas is "the most wonderful time of the year," the song goes. But a new study out of Sweden finds holidays can wreak havoc on your heart. Christmas Eve is the worst day of the year for heart attacks , researchers found, with risk rising nearly 40 percent. What causes the yuletide spike? It's unclear, but researchers noted the anxiety, sadness, and stress many feel this time of year ups the risk of heart attack. Meanwhile, idealized media images can contribute to "holiday blues," psychologists say. "Mistletoe, those damned Hallmark movies, and even commercials make me cry," said Tricia Heinz, who'll be having her second Christmas post-divorce. |
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