Already facing federal firearms charges, Hunter Biden has now been indicted on nine tax charges — three felonies and six misdemeanors — in California. Special counsel David Weiss said President Joe Biden's son "spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills." The case involves $1.4 million in taxes owed between 2016 and 2019; Biden has since paid the back taxes. |
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2. ABORTION BAN EXCEPTION |
A Texas judge granted a 31-year-old mother of two an exemption from the state's near-total abortion ban because her fetus has a fatal diagnosis and carrying the pregnancy further could cause her serious injuries. Her lawsuit is the first time a woman has asked a court to preempt a state ban and allow her to get an abortion since the Supreme Court struck down a federal right to the procedure last year. |
Ahead of taking the stand for a second time on Monday, former President Donald Trump sat in on his civil fraud trial in New York for the first time in a month. As of last week, he's once again under a gag order against maligning court staff. New York Attorney General Letitia James is asking for Trump to be barred from doing business in the state as punishment for defrauding lenders and insurers with manipulated financial statements. |
Trump has something to say after exiting the courtroom for a break yesterday. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez) |
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Less than a week after the House voted to expel Rep. George Santos for "overwhelming evidence" he broke campaign finance and ethics laws, House Republicans and a few Democrats voted to censure another New York congressman, Democrat Jamaal Bowman — for pulling a fire alarm while the House was in session focusing on preventing a government shutdown. |
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5. REMEMBERING PEARL HARBOR |
Five of the remaining Pearl Harbor survivors — each more than 100 years old — joined commemorations at the naval base in Hawaii, which was attacked 82 years ago yesterday. The surprise assault killed more than 2,300 service members and spurred the U.S. entry into the second World War. Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, just 120,000 were alive in October, and about 4,000 die each month. |
Pearl Harbor survivors Harry Chandler, 102, and Herb Elfring, 101, attended yesterday's ceremony in Hawaii. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin) |
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Taylor Swift was seemingly everywhere in 2023, so it makes sense that one of the places would be the cover of Time as its Person of the Year. The magazine's executive editor, Dan Macsai, gave us a behind-the-scenes perspective on why they chose Ms. Swift and how they go about narrowing down a world's worth of newsmakers for the feature, which debuted in 1927 with pilot Charles Lindbergh.
Not to be outdone, we at Need2Know are announcing, right now, that all Need2Know readers are our persons of the year. Your award is more editions of Need2Know.
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7. NEW YEAR'S ROCKIN' EVE |
Ryan Seacrest's New Year's Eve show announced performers including Ellie Goulding, Green Day, Janelle Monáe and Reneé Rapp. In a fitting cap to a year when Barbie dominated the big screen, the Nordic group Aqua — who updated their 1997 hit Barbie Girl for the blockbuster — will also join the party. |
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A small town in Minnesota's north woods can't afford $10,000 signing bonuses to entice applicants for police jobs, but it can offer them 10,000 lakes. The city council of Ely, best known as the gateway to pristine wilderness accessible only by paddling, signed off on free top-of-the-line canoes to their new hires. |
One of the many lakes a new officer in Ely can paddle when off duty. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images) |
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A sea otter pup found alone and malnourished in Alaska in October is getting round-the-clock love at his new home in Chicago's Shedd Aquarium. The pup, barely 2 months old, likes to munch on ice chips and is learning how to groom his dense fur. In a few months, he can start getting acquainted with the five other otters living there. |
The little guy is learning how to eat solid foods, starting with bits of clam. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley) |
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| Wondering what to watch this weekend? This week we watch real-life spiritualism that has gone too far, fictional witchcraft that has gone too far, and two Christmas classics to bring our happiness back. Hint: "We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap-hap-happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny-Bleeping-Kaye!" |
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Today is Pretend to Be a Time Traveler Day. We can't decide whether to travel to the year we finally pay off our student loans or back to the year before we started borrowing. |
Get us a TARDIS and we'll stop the madman who invented student loans in the first place. (Giphy) |
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