Haley and DeSantis quickly tear into each other’s records in their head-to-head Republican debate

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis called each other liars and insulted each other’s records and character in the opening minutes of Wednesday’s Republican primary debate, underscoring the high stakes for each of them with less than a week before the Iowa caucuses.

“We don’t need another mealy-mouthed politician who just tells you what she thinks you want to hear, just to try to get your vote and then to get in office and to do her donors’ bidding,” DeSantis said in an early barb.

“He’s upset that his campaign is exploding,” Haley said in her reply.

The former U.N. ambassador directed viewers to a website her campaign created chronicling what she said were DeSantis’ lies. The Florida governor in turn tried to send people to his website, where he said he collected “all the greatest hits” of Haley’s false statements.

Standing at lecterns an arm’s length apart, DeSantis and Haley both sought a strong debate performance in Iowa without their lower-polling rivals by their side to lift their campaigns in the final days before Monday’s caucuses, where a good showing could provide much-needed momentum as they try to become the primary alternative to Donald Trump.

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Christie ends his presidential bid in an effort to blunt Trump’s momentum before Iowa’s GOP caucuses

WINDHAM, N.H. (AP) — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday suspended his Republican presidential bid just days before Iowa’s leadoff caucuses, ceding to growing pressure to drop out of the race from those desperate to deny Donald Trump a glidepath to the nomination.

Addressing supporters at a New Hampshire town hall, Christie said he had come to the conclusion that he had no pathway to victory.

“Campaigns are run to win. That’s why we do them,” he said. “It’s clear to me tonight that there isn’t a path for me to win the nomination.”

“My goal has never been to be just a voice against the hate and division and the selfishness of what our party has become under Donald Trump,” he added, casting his decision as part of his effort to prevent Trump’s reelection.

“I am going to make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be president of the United States again. And that’s more important than my own personal ambition,” he said.

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Republicans push ahead with Hunter Biden contempt charge after his surprise visit to Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans on Wednesday took the first step toward holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for defying a congressional subpoena. They advanced the charge to a full House vote just hours after the president’s son sparked a momentary political frenzy by appearing in the front row for part of the debate.

The House Oversight and Judiciary committees each passed contempt charges against the younger Biden with unanimous Republican support and all Democrats opposed. The action sets up a House vote on recommending criminal charges against a member of President Joe Biden’s family as the GOP moves into the final stages of an impeachment inquiry into the president himself.

If the House votes to hold Hunter Biden in contempt, it will be up to the Department of Justice, specifically the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, to decide whether to prosecute.

It’s the latest step for the inquiry, which began in September, but has so far failed to uncover evidence directly implicating the president in wrongdoing involving his son’s business dealings.

Hunter Biden has defended his lack of compliance with the GOP-issued subpoena, which ordered him to appear for closed-door testimony in mid-December. Biden and his attorneys said information from private interviews can be selectively leaked and manipulated by House Republicans and insisted that he would only testify in public

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Israeli military says it found traces of hostages in an underground tunnel in Gaza

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli military said Wednesday it has found evidence that hostages were present in an underground tunnel in the Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, which has become the focus of Israel’s ground offensive.

The military showed the tunnel to journalists who were escorted into a neighborhood near the ruins of destroyed homes and streets. A corrugated tin hut covered the tunnel’s entrance in a residential yard.

A makeshift ladder led to the narrow underground pathway, about 2.5 meters (8 feet) below. The tunnel was hot and humid, with walls lined with concrete and electrical wires. Farther inside was a bathroom, where the military said it found evidence that hostages had been there, including their DNA.

“Hostages were held here in this tunnel system,” said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the army’s chief spokesman.

Hagari offered no details on what exactly was found in the tunnel, nor did he say when the hostages were there or identify them. He did not say if they were known to be dead or alive.

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Judge says Donald Trump won’t give own closing argument at civil fraud trial after disputing rules

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump won’t make his own closing argument after all in his New York civil business fraud trial after his lawyers objected to the judge’s insistence that the former president stick to “relevant” matters and “not deliver a campaign speech.”

Judge Arthur Engoron nixed Trump’s unusual plan on Wednesday, a day ahead of closing arguments.

The judge had initially indicated he was open to the idea, saying he’d let Trump speak if he agreed to abide by rules that apply to attorneys’ closing arguments. Among other things, Engoron wanted the former president and current Republican front-runner to promise he wouldn’t assail his adversaries in the case, the judge or others in the court system.

Trump’s legal team said those limitations unfairly muzzled him. When Engoron didn’t hear from them by a Wednesday deadline, the judge told them he assumed Trump was not agreeing to the restrictions and therefore would not be speaking.

“MEAN & NASTY,” Trump wrote of the judge’s decision on his Truth Social platform. Trump indicated he will still attend Thursday’s court proceeding and reiterated his desire to “personally do the closing argument.”

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Alabama’s Nick Saban retires after 7 national titles, most in major college football history

Nick Saban’s coaching reign has come to an end. His dominance over college football, however, will forever linger in lore.

Saban, who won seven national championships — more than any major college football coach — and turned Alabama back into a national powerhouse that shattered an Associated Press poll record for most consecutive seasons at No. 1, announced his retirement Wednesday.

“The University of Alabama has been a very special place to Terry and me,” Saban said in a statement. “It is not just about how many games we won and lost, but it’s about the legacy and how we went about it. We always tried to do it the right way.”

Saban, 72, restored a Crimson Tide program once ruled by Paul “Bear” Bryant to the top of college football after taking over in 2007. As he stacked his wins, Saban’s celebrity status reached royalty levels in the state of Alabama.

For a time, he was the sport’s overlord and there was little that could be done to stop him.

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1 dead, 3 injured following avalanche at California ski resort as storm moves in, officials say

RENO, Nev. (AP) — An avalanche roared through a section of expert trails at a California ski resort near Lake Tahoe on Wednesday, sweeping up four people and killing one, as a major storm with snow and gusty winds moved into the region, authorities said.

The avalanche prompted Palisades Tahoe to close 30 minutes after it opened, and search crews combed the area to see if anyone was injured or trapped.

Sgt. David Smith, a spokesperson for the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, said hours later that one person died. The sheriff’s office identified him Wednesday evening as Kenneth Kidd, 66, a resident of nearby Truckee and Point Reyes.

One person suffered a lower leg injury and two others were treated for unspecified injuries and released, officials said.

Authorities said nobody else was missing.

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FACT FOCUS: Discovery of a tunnel at a Chabad synagogue spurs false claims and conspiracy theories

News of a brawl between police and worshippers on Monday over a secret underground tunnel found connected to a historic Brooklyn synagogue was picked up quickly on social media, with posts spreading baseless claims about the passage, many laced with antisemitism.

The conflict at the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters in New York City, which serves as the center of an influential Hasidic Jewish movement, began when a cement truck arrived to seal the tunnel’s opening. Proponents of the tunnel then staged a protest and ripped off the wooden siding of the synagogue. Police called to the scene ultimately arrested nine people.

Those supporting the tunnel said they were carrying out an “expansion” plan long envisioned by the former head of the movement, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. But that hasn’t stopped a proliferation of social media posts falsely suggesting the passage is proof of illicit activities such as child sex trafficking.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

CLAIM: The tunnel is connected to a local children’s museum.

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The largest great ape to ever live went extinct because of climate change, study finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — An ancient species of great ape was likely driven to extinction hundreds of thousands of years ago when climate change put their favorite fruits out of reach during dry seasons, scientists reported Wednesday.

The species Gigantopithecus blacki, which once lived in southern China, represents the largest great ape known to scientists — standing 10 feet tall (3 meters) and weighing up to 650 pounds (295 kilograms).

But its size may also have been a weakness.

“It’s just a massive animal – just really, really big,” said Renaud Joannes-Boyau, a researcher at Australia’s Southern Cross University and co-author of the study published in the journal Nature. “When food starts to be scarce, it’s so big it can’t climb trees to explore new food sources.”

The giant apes, which likely resembled modern orangutans, survived for around 2 million years on the forested plains of China’s Guangxi region. They ate vegetarian diets, munching on fruits and flowers in tropical forests, until the environment began to change.

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SAG Awards nominate ‘Barbie,’ ‘Oppenheimer,’ snub DiCaprio

NEW YORK (AP) — The 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards on Wednesday heaped nominations on “Oppenheimer,” “Barbie” and “American Fiction,” while snubbing Leonardo DiCaprio for best male actor.

As they were at the Golden Globes, Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” were again the lead nominees. Each film picked up four nods including best ensemble. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling were nominated for their performances in “Barbie,” while Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt received nods for “Oppenheimer.”

Barbenheimer continues to rule Hollywood’s awards season, just as it did the summer box office.

Cord Jefferson’s “American Fiction” got the biggest momentum boost, landing three nods: best ensemble, Jeffrey Wright for best male actor and Sterling K. Brown for supporting male actor.

Along with those three films, Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Blitz Bazawule’s “The Color Purple” were nominated for best ensemble, the guild’s top award.