November 22, 2017

President Trump on Tuesday appeared to encourage voters to back Republican candidate Roy Moore in Alabama's special Senate election despite allegations of inappropriate sexual advances toward several women when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. "He denies it," Trump said. "He says it didn't happen and you have to listen to him, also." Trump called Moore's Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, "terrible" on issues from crime to borders, and added, "We don't need a liberal person in there, a Democrat." When asked by reporters about a broad wave of revelations on sexual abuse in politics, entertainment, and other industries, Trump, who also has been accused of sexual misconduct in the past, said "it's a very special time ... I think it's very, very good for women and I'm very happy." [ABC News, The Washington Post]

The Navy rescued eight survivors who had been aboard a Navy plane that crashed in the Pacific Ocean near Japan, the Seventh Fleet said Wednesday. A search is continuing for the other three people who were on the C-2 Greyhound transport aircraft when it went down 90 miles northwest of Okinotorishima, a Japanese atoll. The plane had been making a routine flight from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in southern Japan to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, which is participating in joint exercises with Japanese maritime forces. Investigators could not immediately say what caused the crash, the latest in a series of accidents the Seventh Fleet has seen in the Pacific. [The Associated Press]

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Tuesday announced plans to scrap the 2015 "net neutrality" rules that barred internet service providers from blocking or slowing connections for some users, and charging more for privileged access. The Obama administration championed net neutrality, saying it was crucial for a free and open internet. Pai, a Republican appointed by President Trump in January, said the commission will vote at a Dec. 14 meeting on rescinding the rules. The move amounts to a victory for the big internet providers, including AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon, who will be able to charge different prices for certain content once net neutrality is rescinded. Major internet companies such as Google parent Alphabet and Facebook had lobbied against the change. [Reuters]

CBS News and PBS fired TV host Charlie Rose on Tuesday, the day after several women who have worked with him on his PBS interview show said he had committed sexual misconduct, including groping them and walking naked in front of them. Both organizations had suspended Rose Monday night, making him the latest broadcaster punished for sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior. "Despite Charlie's important journalistic contribution to our news division, there is absolutely nothing more important, in this or any organization, than ensuring a safe, professional workplace — a supportive environment where people feel they can do their best work," CBS News President David Rhodes said in a memo to staff. "We need to be such a place." [The Associated Press]

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri put his resignation on hold Wednesday shortly after returning home for the first time since announcing he was stepping down during a trip to Saudi Arabia. Hariri said his decision to hold off came at the request of President Michel Aoun, who had questioned whether the Saudi government had been holding Hariri against his will, something the prime minister had denied. Hariri's first stop after his return on Tuesday was the grave of his father, Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated while serving as prime minister. Hariri, a long-time ally of Saudi Arabia, had said he feared for his own life, accusing Iran and the Hezbollah militant group it backs in Lebanon of creating instability. [Bloomberg, CNN]

Longtime Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe announced his resignation on Tuesday as lawmakers were starting proceedings to impeach him. Mugabe, 93, had ruled the nation since independence in 1980, but the military last week placed him under house arrest. As protesters called for his ouster, his ruling Zanu-PF party on Sunday kicked him out as party leader. Mugabe shocked his nation that night when he refused to step down in a televised speech. On Tuesday, he said that he had decided to leave out of concern for "the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe and the need for a peaceful transfer of power." The country's recently fired vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was returning to the country on Wednesday to be sworn in as Zimbabwe's new president on Friday. [The New York Times, The Associated Press]

More remains of Army Sgt. La David Johnson have been recovered at the site where his body was found outside the remote village of Tongo Tongo in Niger, where Johnson and other soldiers were ambushed by as many as 50 Islamist militants five weeks ago, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Johnson, Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson, Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright, and five Nigerien soldiers were killed in the fighting. Johnson's body was found separate from the others two days later, his hands bound and a gaping wound in his head suggesting he had been captured and executed. The Pentagon did not immediately provide details on the remains most recently recovered. [The Washington Post]

Hackers stole the personal data of 50 million Uber customers and 7 million drivers in October 2016, the ride-hailing company announced Tuesday. Uber paid the hackers $100,000 to delete the data, which included names, email addresses, phone numbers, and in the case of some U.S. drivers, driver's license numbers. Uber, which is struggling to repair its image after scandals over its corporate culture, said it didn't believe any of the information had been used by criminals, but this week ousted its chief security officer and one of his deputies for their roles in keeping the incident secret. "None of this should have happened, and I will not make excuses for it," CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement. "We are changing the way we do business." [Bloomberg]

An international tribunal at The Hague on Wednesday found Ratko Mladic, the former Serb warlord known as "the Butcher of Bosnia," guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. Judge Alphons Orie read the verdict after a trial that lasted four years, saying Mladic's crimes while commanding forces that carried out some of the worst atrocities of the Balkan wars "rank among the most heinous known to humankind." Mladic, 74, had been too ill to attend the trial, and he was removed from the courtroom before the verdict was read after shouting insults at the judge. Nearly 600 witnesses testified during the trial, including people who had been held in concentration camps during a military campaign against Bosnian Muslims.

David Cassidy, the singer best known for his starring role in the 1970s ABC show The Partridge Family, died Tuesday in a Florida hospital from multiple organ failure. He was 67. Cassidy sang on a string of hits with The Partridge Family, including "I Think I Love You," which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1970, and the show's signature tune "Come On Get Happy." Cassidy also fronted five solo albums, but struggled with personal problems from bankruptcy to substance abuse. He announced in February that he had dementia and would stop performing to "enjoy life," after an incident when he fell on stage and forgot lyrics. [The Hollywood Reporter]