Rumors are spreading that the U.S. Supreme Court will vote 5-4 to rule that a U.S. president cannot be prosecuted for anything he does while he is president. Some Democrats are suggesting that Joe Biden bring a gun to his first debate with Donald Trump. If he shoots Trump, he would be immune, but if Trump shoots Biden he would be prosecuted because he is not a sitting president.   read more

Deaths from synthetic opioids, including illicit fentanyl, rose 73 percent to 9,580. And prescription painkillers took the highest toll, but posted the smallest increase. Abuse of drugs like Oxycontin and Vicodin killed 17,536, an increase of 4 percent. "I don't think we've ever seen anything like this. Certainly not in modern times," said Robert Anderson, who oversees death statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.   read more

An Energy Dept. official called the 74 questions a hit list and said Trump's team appears to be going after top scientists and employees who work on subjects ranging from the Iran nuclear deal to the clean energy mission. Sen. Edward Markey sent a letter to Trump on Friday telling the president-elect that the new Trump administration would violate the law if any of the information being collected is used to punish department employees who carried out legal policy directives.   read more

Inside a book about the Quran, someone had written “lies cover to cover,” drawn a swastika and made a disparaging remark about the Prophet Muhammad. Six more books about Islam and the Quran that had been similarly defaced with racist language and imagery. Authorities say the spate of hate crimes targeting libraries, their books or patrons had rarely seen before. These crimes coincide with a recent FBI report that attacks against American Muslims surged last year.   read more

Business groups note that experts predict negative economic fallout should Trump pursue mass deportation. A study by right-leaning American Action Network found that such a plan could reduce "real GDP by $1 trillion" and cost taxpayers more than $400 billion. Public opinion appears to be on their side. One survey found that 60% of Trump backers said immigrants in the country illegally should be able to stay. A third of Trump supporters said law enforcement should deport all such immigrants.   read more

New Mexico leads the nation with a backlog of 5,000 untested evidence kits from sexual assaults. Audit officer Sarita Nair said the "heartbreaking" statistics reinforce the concerns of sex assault victims who are reluctant to come forward for fear of not being believed. "When we see a kit on a shelf and the reason is a lack of perceived victim credibility, we're just sort of reinforcing those worst fears and we're discouraging people from coming forward — and that just has to stop," she said.   read more

Soaring use of e-cigarettes among young people “is now a major public health concern,” according to the surgeon general. The report from the nation’s highest public-health authority finds that e-cigarettes are now the most commonly used tobacco product among youths, surpassing tobacco cigarettes. E-cigarettes, which turn nicotine into inhalable vapor, can harm developing brains of teenagers who use them and also can create harmful aerosol for people around the user.   read more

An extraordinary breach has emerged between Donald Trump and the national security establishment, with Trump mocking U.S. intelligence assessments that Russia interfered in the election on his behalf. The findings prompted a blistering attack against the intelligence agencies by Trump. “To have the president-elect...simply reject the fact-based narrative that the intelligence community puts together because it conflicts with his a priori assumptions — wow,” said former NSA/CIA chief Hayden.   read more

"The Obama administration is running out of time to completely suspend U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia or be forever linked to Yemen wartime atrocities," HRW's Motaparthy said. A Saudi-led coalition supported by the U.S. launched air campaigns on behalf of Yemen's internationally recognized government. More than 4,000 civilians have been killed in the conflict, and some 3 million have been displaced. HRW said fragments of the weapons used in attacks show they were produced in the U.S.   read more

"I found the numbers astounding, the sheer volume of technology used by parents," Steyer said. "There's really a big disconnect between their own behavior and their self-perception, as well as their perception of their kids." "Yet 78% of all parents believe they are good media and technology role models for their children," said the survey. The activities include TV/video viewing; video gaming; social networking or website browsing, and any other task on a computer, smartphone or tablet.   read more

Of all President-elect Donald Trump’s rivals over the past year, the tiny narrow-mouthed whorl snail must be the smallest. Sometimes, though, less is more: Now it appears that the snail has prevailed. The sea wall plan had attracted attention because the Trump Organization’s representatives had used the threat of rising seawater from climate change as a rationale for building it, even though Trump has referred to climate change as a hoax.   read more

Sawerengera was appointed as ambassador to Brazil in 2014 but served there only a short time before he and the ambassadors to the United Nations and to the United States were rotated. The move provoked some controversy in Malawi, with speculation that the UN ambassador had fallen out of favor and other reports that Sawerengera may have been involved in a questionable deal for Brazilian maize.   read more

Congress offered sanctuary to only a fraction of the Afghan interpreters who have risked their lives to help the military. Last summer, Republicans questioned the cost of 4,000 visas requested by Obama this year. Now, the fate of the visa program will hinge on a government led by President-elect Donald Trump, who has yet to say how he will handle an issue that is championed by the military but would also bring more Muslim immigrants to the U.S.--a prospect Trump has railed against.   read more

“Throughout the presidential campaign and since, the president-elect has made many troubling statements that run counter to the principles that define California today,” said Kevin de León, the state Senate president pro tempore, “If the president-elect has identified 2 to 3 million criminal immigrants, we can only assume it’s a pretense to open up criteria to deport mothers who are pulled over for a broken taillight. We want to ensure that those facing deportation are afforded due process...”   read more

Popular theories for the cause of the decline, including an increase in obesity rates and an opiod epidemic, fail to explain a problem that feels broader. “If you actually dissect the data, neither of those arguments hold,” said Muennig. “This report slams it home that this is really a mystery.” Researchers suspect that the strain of income inequality in the U.S. -- and the stress that this causes — could be a major contributing factor to the uptick, but it has been hard to prove.   read more

"This was a criminal, fraud operation masquerading as a fake U.S. embassy," said the U.S. State Dept. It was not clear how many people were defrauded by the fake embassy, which charged $6,000 for its services. Those running the operation were able to bribe corrupt officials "to look the other way," the State Dept said. The fake embassy featured an American flag and photo of President Barack Obama. The fake consular officers were Turkish.   read more

In 2008, Zackios took over as chairman of the Nitijela’s Committee on Public Accounts. He lost that seat in 2012 after an election in which he won a majority of the vote from constituents in the Marshall Islands, but lost when votes from islanders in the United States were counted. In 2013, Zackios was made regional director of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, the principal technical and scientific organization in the region. He held that post until taking the Washington assignment.   read more