News

The Hill reports: Airline passengers in five states and a U.S. territory will be unable to present their current driver’s licenses at airport checkpoints after Jan. 22, 2018, under new rules announced on Friday by the Department of Homeland Security. The Homeland Security department, which overseas the TSA, said it would begin enforcing a post-Sept. 11 law that directs federal …

The Guardian: ‘I’m going to be nice tonight’ promises Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais in his opening speech at this year’s ceremony in Los Angeles. The actor, comedian and Hollywood bête noire left the film and television industries’ biggest stars gasping in shock, delight and discomfort as he poked fun at everyone from Caitlyn Jenner to Jennifer Lawrence to Roman …

Sorry kids, you’re going to work tomorrow. The Independent reports: America awaits its first lottery billionaire, after the Powerball jackpot rollover hit a world-record figure of $1.3 billion. No one won Saturday’s $949.8 million jackpot on 9 January, already the biggest in US history. Strong ticket sales, fueled by excitement over the enormous sum, have driven the prize money up …

This was definitely the most surreal news on the net last night. CBS News reports: The recapture of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman took a surprise, Hollywood twist when a Mexican official said security forces located the whereabouts of the world’s most-wanted trafficker thanks to a secret interview with U.S. actor Sean Penn. Penn’s interview with Guzman, who has …

ABC News reports: Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted today that the infamous drug lord known as “El Chapo” has been captured. “Mission accomplished: We have him. I want to inform the Mexicans that Joaquin Guzman Loera has been detained,” the tweet states, originally in Spanish. No further details have been released. Guzman escaped from the Altiplano prison near Mexico …

Teabagistan has been patting itself on the back all week for finally getting an Obamacare repeal bill to the president’s desk after literally dozens of attempts. You know how this ends. NBC News reports: President Obama vetoed a bill Friday aimed at repealing his signature health care law. “This legislation would not only repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act, …

#ThanksObama! The Washington Post reports: The U.S. economy finished the year with a red-hot hiring spree, adding 292,000 new jobs as the unemployment rate held steady at 5 percent, according to new government data released Friday morning. The latest jobs report exceeded the expectations of economists and investors and provided a reassuring note about the resiliency of the labor market, …

The first eight of 20 planned medical marijuana dispensaries open today in New York state, but unlike in most states, you won’t see actual buds available. CBS New reports: Vireo Health of New York in White Plains is one of the dispensaries opening Thursday, about 18 months after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a medical marijuana bill into law. New York …

Gothamist reports: Governor Cuomo announced on Wednesday that he is spearheading a comprehensive overhaul of Penn Station. In conjunction with Amtrak and the MTA, the renovation will seek a private developer to convert the Farley post office building on Eighth Avenue into a grand, sun-soaked waiting area. Maybe this time the stories will be true? The project—dubbed the Empire Station …

Reported yesterday by the Associated Press: The son of Alabama’s chief justice has pleaded not guilty to drug charges. Court documents show Caleb Moore pleaded not guilty on Dec. 21 to two counts. Moore, who is 25, faces charges of felony possession of the prescription medication alprazolam and misdemeanor marijuana possession. Caleb Moore was arrested in March in Troy. Police …

The New York Daily News today again strikes effectively at the gun lobby, calling the GOP “the party of pro-death.” Today’s front page calls out Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina, and Paul Ryan for their “blood-soaked chase for cheap votes.” Yesterday the tabloid blasted the NRA for its “act of terror” in tweeting out a bullet-strewn image of pro-gun …

The BBC reports: North Korea says it has successfully carried out its first underground test of a hydrogen bomb – a more powerful weapon than an atomic bomb. If true it would be its fourth nuclear test since 2006 and mark a huge advance in its nuclear capabilities. The announcement was swiftly criticised by world leaders with South Korea calling …

“The gun lobby may be holding Congress hostage but they cannot hold America hostage. We cannot make carnage the price of freedom.” USA Today reports: President Obama announced a series of executive actions on guns Tuesday, focusing on the victims of gun violence in a White House event intended to prod Congress to take further action. Speaking to an East …

According to federal data released yesterday, December gun sales followed a long pattern of spiking sharply whenever President Obama proposes new gun measures after mass shootings. From the New York Times: The heaviest sales last month, driven primarily by handgun sales, followed a call from President Obama to make it harder to buy assault weapons after the terrorist attack in …

It’s a year of reunions for the headliners. Via Billboard: Coachella announced its official lineup for 2016 on Monday (Jan. 4), with headliners Guns N’ Roses, LCD Soundsystem and Calvin Harris atop the bill. The two-weekend festival is scheduled for April 15-17 and 22-24. A Guns N’ Roses reunion for the event had previously been confirmed to Billboard via multiple …

This news shocks no one. Via the New York Times: In Manhattan real estate, 2015 was a year for the record books, with the median price for co-ops and condos hitting a new high of $1.15 million in the final months of the year, according to reports by major real estate firms that will be released Tuesday. Strong overall sales …

The Norwegian Medical Association is pressuring the government to ban all tobacco sales to anyone born after 2000. The Independent reports: Marit Hermansen, the president of the NMA, told Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten that access to cigarettes was not a basic human right. “We have long had the policy of phasing out smoking by 2035. This is a measure to achieve …

In a meeting with the editorial board of a New Hampshire newspaper, Hillary Clinton yesterday promised to investigate whether the federal government has covered up visits by alien civilizations. We’re pretty sure she was joking. The Conway Daily Sun writes: During the meeting, the former first lady, former senator from New York and secretary of state answered serious questions about …

Former Rep. Aaron Schock today tweeted for the first time in nearly eight months to complain about a news item which reports that his House replacement has painted over Schock’s infamous Downton Abbey-inspired office. The Washington Post speculates that Schock might be setting the stage for a return to public life. They write: The day after the first episode of …

CNBC reports: Gun control initiatives are coming to the U.S. in the next few days, President Barack Obama said Monday afternoon. Obama, who has expressed deep frustration about U.S. gun control regulations after a series of mass shootings at schools and other places during his presidency, met with U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Monday to discuss gun control measures …