A series of tornadoes and storms killed at least seven people in Alabama and Georgia. Also in the news: A second set of classified documents has been found in President Joe Biden's garage and the James Webb Telescope confirmed its first exoplanet. |
Here are Friday's headlines. |
7 dead in Alabama, Georgia after tornadoes and storms |
Authorities said a clearer picture of the extent of the damage caused by a massive storm system would come once the sun rose Friday. At least seven people were killed, several were injured and extensive damage was reported Thursday as tornadoes and extreme weather rolled through the Southeast U.S. As of Thursday night, tens of thousands of customers were without power across Alabama and Georgia. In Selma, the city council used lights from cellphones during a meeting on the sidewalk to declare a state of emergency. Six of the deaths were recorded in Autauga County, Alabama. Read more | A damaged structure and debris are seen in the aftermath of severe weather, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023, in Selma, Ala. A large tornado damaged homes and uprooted trees in Alabama on Thursday as a powerful storm system pushed through the South. (AP Photo/Butch Dill) ORG XMIT: ALBD205
Butch Dill, AP |
The political meaning of Biden's classified documents |
A second set of classified documents discovered by aides to President Joe Biden were recovered in the garage of his Wilmington, Delaware, home, the White House confirmed Thursday. Hours after the disclosure, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Robert Hur as special counsel to investigate the discovery of the classified documents. |
One thing to know: These revelations are threatening to become a political – and possible legal – liability for the president. |
| • | The new set of documents, described as a small number, were returned to the National Archives and the Justice Department was alerted, said Richard Sauber, a special counsel to the president. | | • | Why Garland said he's appointing a special counsel: "This appointment underscores for the public the department's commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters, and to making decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law." | | • | Who is Robert Hur? As Maryland's top attorney, Hur – who was called out of government retirement by Garland – supervised one of the largest and busiest U.S. Attorney's offices in the nation and set the strategic priorities for it. | |
👉 Here are four ways in which the documents debacle could become a political headache for Biden. | Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023, in Washington, as John Lausch, the U.S. Attorney in Chicago, looks on.
Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP |
Russia releases American Taylor Dudley |
An American and Navy veteran detained in Russia since April was released Thursday, his family said in a statement. Taylor Dudley, 35, was backpacking in Europe when he crossed the border from Poland into Russia and was taken into custody. On Thursday he was released at the Polish border to former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, who is a representative of the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw. Richardson said in a statement that he continues to work for the release of Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine detained in Russia four years ago. Read more |
| • | More world news: Why were anti-government riots in Brazil so similar to the Jan. 6 insurrection? | | A photograph shows a piece by British street artist Banksy in the small Ukrainian town of Borodyanka, some 60 km from Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on January 12, 2023, amid Russian invasion of Ukraine.
SERGEI SUPINSKY, AFP via Getty Images |
NY nurses return to work, but more strikes could follow |
Even as 7,000 nurses return to work at two of New York's busiest hospitals after a three-day strike, colleagues around the country say it's just a matter of time before frontline workers at other hospitals begin walking the picket line. Problems are mounting at hospitals across the nation, which are facing widespread health care staffing shortages, overworked nurses beaten down from a pandemic that's brought years of death and illness, and a draining pipeline of nursing school graduates. Read more | Nurses stage a strike in front of Mt. Sinai Hospital in the Manhattan borough of New York Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, after negotiations broke down hours earlier.
Craig Ruttle, AP |
James Webb Space Telescope confirms its first exoplanet |
The James Webb Space Telescope has captured dazzling images of stars and galaxies throughout the universe, but it achieved another first recently by discovering its first exoplanet. This name refers to any planet outside our solar system that orbits a star. The planet, named LHS 475 b, shares similar qualities with Earth, NASA announced Wednesday. Its discovery first came with the help of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, which hinted at the planet's existence before the Webb Telescope confirmed it with its near-infrared spectrograph. Read more | This illustration reflects that exoplanet LHS 475 b is rocky and almost precisely the same size as Earth based on new evidence from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
NASA, ESA, CSA, Leah Hustak (STScI) |
📷 Photo of the day: European winter resorts struggle with no snow 📷 |
Sparse snowfall and unseasonably warm weather in much of Europe is allowing green grass to blanket many mountaintops across the region where snow might normally be. It has caused headaches for ski slope operators and aficionados of Alpine white this time of year. Click here for more pictures of the warm weather hitting Europe's winter destinations. | People skiing on a cross country slope in Ramsau, Austria, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. Sparse snowfall and unseasonably warm weather in much of Europe is allowing green grass to blanket many mountaintops across the region where snow might normally be. It has caused headaches for ski slope operators and aficionados of Alpine white this time of year.
Matthias Schrader, AP | Grumpy Otto (Tom Hanks) has his cold exterior defrosted by a stray cat in "A Man Called Otto."
NIKO TAVERNISE |
Associated Press contributed reporting. | | | |
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