Nation & World Glance McConnell, Pelosi homes vandalized after $2,000 relief fails 3rd body found after landslide in Norway; 7 still missing UK judge to rule on US extradition for WikiLeaks’ Assange
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Vandals lashed out at the leaders of the U.S. House and Senate over the holiday weekend, blighting their homes with graffiti and in one case a pig’s head as Congress failed to approve an increase in the amount of money being sent to individuals to help cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
Spray paint on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s door in Kentucky on Saturday read, “WERES MY MONEY.” “MITCH KILLS THE POOR” was scrawled over a window. A profanity directed at the Republican senator was painted under the mailbox.
At House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home in San Francisco, someone spray-painted graffiti and left a pig’s head and fake blood on New Year’s Day, police said. The vandalism was reported around 2 a.m. Friday, a police statement said, and a special investigations unit is trying to determine who did it.
KGO-TV reported that graffiti found on the garage door of the Democratic leader’s home included the phrases “$2K,” “Cancel rent!” and “We want everything,” apparently referencing Democratic lawmakers’ failed efforts to increase the coronavirus relief checks from $600 to $2000.
The news station says security cameras surround the three-story brick home in the tony Pacific Heights neighborhood.
Report: Talk show host Larry King in hospital with COVID-19
LOS ANGELES – Former CNN talk show host Larry King has been hospitalized with COVID- 1 9 for more than a week, the news channel reported Saturday. Citing an unidentified person close to the family, CNN said the 87-year-old King is undergoing treatment at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Hospital protocols have kept King’s family members from visiting him.
HELSINKI – Rescue teams searching for survivors four days after a landslide carried away homes in a Norwegian village found no signs of life Saturday amid the ruined buildings and debris.
Three bodies have been recovered but searchers are still looking for seven more people believed to be missing. The landslide in the village of Ask is the worst in modern Norwegian history and has shocked citizens in the Nordic nation.
Norwegian police pledged not to scale down the search even though a rescue team from neighboring Sweden has already returned home.
LONDON – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will find out Monday whether he can be extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. to face espionage charges over the publication of secret American military documents.
District
Judge Vanessa Baraitser is due to deliver her decision at London’s
Old Bailey courthouse at 10 a.m. Monday. If she grants the request, then Britain’s home secretary, Priti Patel, would make the final decision.
Whichever side loses is expected to appeal, which could lead to years more legal wrangling.
However, there’s a possibility that outside forces may come into play that could instantly end the decade-long saga.
Stella Moris, Assange’s partner and the mother of his two sons, has appealed to U.S. President Donald Trump via Twitter to grant a pardon to Assange before he leaves office on Jan. 20.