TURKEY, RUSSIA PROBE SLAYING OF AMBASSADOR
ankara, turkey» Investigators from Turkey and Russia hunted for clues Tuesday in the assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey. 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, planned the attack alone.
Texas gives Planned Parenthood notice of Medicaid ouster B
austin, texas» Texas put Planned Parenthood on notice Tuesday of plans to cut off Medicaid funds, a move that federal judges have blocked in other Republican-controlled states, which are now waiting to see if President-elect Donald Trump will strip the organization of taxpayer money. Planned Parenthood responded by vowing to ask a court to stop Texas from defunding clinics in January. Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Kansas are among the states where judges have denied similar efforts.
Emergency managers charged over lead-tainted water
B flint, mich.» A criminal investigation of Flint’s lead-contaminated water turned to former key officials at City Hall on Tuesday as the state attorney general announced charges against four people accused of keeping residents on a contaminated system that caused the crisis. Darnell Earley and Gerald Ambrose, state-appointed emergency managers, were charged with four crimes, including conspiracy and misconduct in office. Howard Croft, Flint’s former public works director, and Daugherty Johnson, the former utilities director, were charged with conspiracy and false pretenses.
Trump hosts candidates for key Veterans Affairs post
B palm beach, fla.» President -elect Donald Trump met Tuesday with candidates for his unfilled Cabinet positions, including prospective hires to run the Department of Veterans Affairs. At Mar-a-Lago, Trump met with Luis Quinonez, who runs a company with military and health care ties and is said to be under consideration for VA secretary. He also interviewed Toby Cosgrove, the CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, who was a top contender to replace Eric Shinseki when he resigned at the VA in 2014.
Also, Trump is poised to pick retired Gen. John F. Kelly for secretary of the Homeland Security Department, putting an outspoken Marine commander in charge of defending America from terrorist attacks.
Fake news in Minneapolis, version one. As temperatures in
Minneapolis plummeted below zero Sunday, word spread on Twitter that the Minnesota Vikings would open their stadium for the city’s homeless. Local blogger Jake Nyberg was the first to post the plan. User David Dellanave posted about it and drew thousands of retweets and likes. Multiple news outlets published articles about the supposed plan, among them CBS and Yahoo Sports. By on Monday, Nyberg admitted he made the whole thing up. Dellanave conceded he was in on the hoax. The two men have apologized, saying their intent was to shame the Vikings into addressing homelessness in the city.
Fake news in Minneapolis, version two. A story claiming
former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin called for boycotting the Mall of America in Minnesota over its black Santa Claus is false. The story, posted by Newslo and some affiliated websites, claims Palin told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, “Santa was always white in the Bible.” It’s been widely shared on Facebook. But the Star Tribune never ran such a story. And the newspaper’s managing editor, Suki Dardarian, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that none of her reporters ever spoke with Palin about the mall’s recent hiring of its black Santa. Denver Post wire services