TV News LIES

John McAuliff, a 33-year-old small business owner and former civil servant, was one of the more unlikely Democrats to win election to Virginia’s legislature this month, after a campaign in which he could, at times, come off a bit like a Republican.

McAuliff was among the 13 Democrats elected to the legislature in Virginia’s elections earlier this month, as part of a blowout victory for the party that gives it firm control of the southern state’s government. Along with wins in New Jersey, California and elsewhere, the results put some wind back into Democrats’ sails nationwide, a year after their drubbing at the hands of Donald Trump and the Republicans.

The northern Virginia district of subdivisions, farmland and quaint little towns that he sought to represent had not elected a Democrat to the house of delegates in decades, so McAuliff would go door to door on an electric scooter, informing those who answered his knocks that he was running “to preserve their way of life”. He repudiated the term “woke” and decried the “chaos” coming out of Washington DC, an hour-plus drive away.

What he talked most about was a specific grievance in line with the focus on affordability many Democrats are taking these days, but with a unique twist: the deleterious effects of datacenters and their impact on electricity bills.

“Most of the year I spent knocking on the doors of folks we didn’t think were Democrats – either independents or Republicans, and once in a while, a Democrat. And so they would start to shut the door in my face,” McAuliff said.

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A Thanksgiving weekend storm system brought over a foot of snow and strong winds across the US midwest and thunderstorms across the south, as 53 million people from South Dakota to New York were under winter weather alerts.

Over the weekend, ahead of one of the busiest travel days of the year on Sunday, a 45-car pile-up occurred on interstate 78 in Indiana and a Delta Air Lines plane skidded off the runway in Des Moines, Iowa, during landing.

No serious injuries were reported from the car pile-up in Indiana, which was reported around 11.30am local time on Saturday, according to Indiana state police.

“Folks, if you can stay home, stay home,” said Sergeant Matt Ames. “People just need to drive smart when the snow starts falling, reduce your speed, make sure you’re buckled up, and let’s just all be safe out there.”

Des Moines airport recorded 10.9in (28cm) of snow through midnight on Sunday, the highest two-day snowfall for Des Moines since January 2024. No injuries were reported from the plane incident, which is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Several areas of Iowa reported over a foot of snow on Saturday, with parts of Illinois, including Chicago, recording 5in and counting.

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An Israeli lawyer has alleged that his Palestinian client is being tortured and sexually assaulted in custody, saying the abuse intensifies each time he visits the detainee.

Speaking in an interview with a known journalist, Samira Mohyeddin, lawyer Ben Marmarelli said his sole client, a Palestinian political prisoner, is subjected to severe mistreatment by Israeli authorities, including repeated sexual violence.

“It’s gotten to the point where he asks me not to come anymore because every time I come, they rape him,” Marmarelli said.

He added that sexual assault, while alarming, is only one part of a broader pattern of abuse. 

“I want to say something about the rape. Everyone talks to me about the rape like it’s the big issue. The rape is not the big issue. The rape is the least of his problems,” he said. “The issue is the conditions of the prisoners, and the rape is just one of the many pieces of the puzzle, which is Israel torturing the Palestinian prisoners.”

Marmarelli said his client has shown him “boot marks on his back,” deep marks on his wrists from tight handcuffs, and “bruises all over his body.” According to him, the sexual assaults occur “once every few weeks” and appear to coincide with his visits.

“Palestinian political prisoners don’t get any visits for years. Their only connection to the outside world is a lawyer’s visit,” he said.

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A ceasefire was reached between Tel Aviv and Beirut on Nov. 27, 2024, after more than a year of attacks against the backdrop of the Gaza war. Over 4,000 people were killed, and 17,000 others were injured in the attacks.

Under the ceasefire, the Israeli army was supposed to withdraw from southern Lebanon this January, but instead only partially pulled out and continues to maintain a military presence at five border outposts.

In a report, the Alma Research and Education Center found that 699 airstrikes were launched by the Israeli army across Lebanon over the past year on claims of targeting Hezbollah infrastructure.

According to the report, 47% of the airstrikes hit south of the Litani River, and 38.4% north of it. The Bekaa region in eastern Lebanon was targeted by 13% of the attacks, while the remaining 1.6%, which corresponds to 11 strikes, hit the capital Beirut, and its surrounding areas.

The majority of the attacks occurred in the first months of the ceasefire, with an average of 51 strikes per month.

The Israeli institute found that December 2024 and March 2025 recorded the highest number of airstrikes.

The report claimed that 218 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in the Israeli attacks.

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President Trump is set to pardon a former Honduran president who had been sentenced to prison for drug trafficking, he announced on social media Friday.

“I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,” Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday.

In June 2024, former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was given a prison sentence of 45 years due to over 10 years of collaboration with drug traffickers on getting cocaine into the United States, according to The Associated Press.

Hernández, who spent eight years as Honduras’s leader, was arrested by officials in February 2022, according to Reuters. 

Trump’s comments about Hernández also came alongside larger commentary on the Honduran presidential election, which is set for Sunday.

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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday confirmed that she instructed the federal government to carry out the deportation and transferring of Venezuelan detainees to El Salvador despite a court order halting the flights.

“The decisions that are made on deportations, where flights go, and when they go are my decision at the Department of Homeland Security,” Noem told NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.” “And we will continue to do the right thing and ensure that dangerous criminals are removed.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) last week indicated in court filings that Noem directed officials to continue deportations to a Salvadoran megaprison amid an ongoing review of whether the Trumpadministration could be held in contempt after defying a judge’s oral order seeking the return of more than 100 Venezuelan detainees to the U.S.

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz condemned President Donald Trump for his use of a slur in a social media post on Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, and for his characterization of the state's Somali immigrant and diaspora community.

Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Nov. 30, Walz said Trump's use of the r-word, which the president used to insult to the Democratic governor and 2024 vice presidential hopeful, was "damaging."

"This is what Donald Trump has done. He has normalized this type of hateful behavior and this type of language," Walz said of Trump's social media post. "At first, I think it’s just because he’s not a good human being. But secondly, (it’s) to distract from his incompetency."

While the word was introduced as a medical term in 1961, it has evolved over the decades to become a slur used to demean people with and without disabilities. Disability advocates seek to end its use, and the president's post has ignited backlash.

Walz told NBC that "kids know better" than to use the word, and criticized attempts to brush off outrage as "woke" language policing.

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At least four people were killed and 10 others were wounded in a shooting at a family party in Stockton, California, on Nov. 29, according to local police.  

Gunfire erupted inside a banquet hall in California’s Central Valley, where a family had gathered to celebrate a child’s birthday party, the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office said.

Several of the 14 victims, including children and adults, were taken to local hospitals. Four have been confirmed dead. Heather Brent, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said early indications suggest the shooting may have been a “targeted incident.” Police are still searching for the shooting suspect.

Here’s what we know so far.  
What happened?  

As of 9 a.m. ET Nov. 30, Brent told USA TODAY, the sheriff’s office had limited information about the shooting.

Police received reports of gunfire at the banquet hall shortly before 6 p.m. Nov. 29. The shooting broke out during a child’s birthday party, Brent said. It occurred at a shopping mall complex that includes a Dairy Queen, a donut shop and an Asian restaurant.

San Joaquin District Attorney Ron Frietas said at a Nov. 29 news conference, shortly after the incident, that the suspect was still at large. Officials asked anyone with information to contact the sheriff’s office.  

“This is a very active and ongoing investigation," Brent said at the news conference.

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