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Theresa May secured her cabinet’s support for a Brexit deal, then started losing cabinet members
Two years after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced her cabinet will back her draft deal with the bloc that would see Britain leave but still maintain some ties.
Except here’s the thing — as of this writing, at least two ministers have resigned over the deal, including Dominic Raab, who is May’s Brexit secretary.
Raab wrote that “I cannot reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country in our manifesto at the last election.”
May defended the draft withdrawal agreement before a fractious House of Commons, reiterating that the choice is now this deal, no deal, or no Brexit.
👉What to keep an eye on: if May loses more members of her cabinet, her leadership position could be shaky. The deal on the table is as much about Brexit as it is a referendum on May’s leadership.
The death toll in the California wildfires has climbed to 59, as more than 100 remain missing
In Northern California, 56 people have died in the Camp fire near the town of Paradise, making it the deadliest fire in state history. It’s also the most destructive, torching more than 10,300 structures.
In Southern California, three deaths have been linked to the Woolsey fire. The blaze has forced the entire city of Malibu to evacuate.
We’re keeping this page as the go-to for everything you need to know about California’s wildfires.
Stories you should read:
👉Families left homeless by the deadly Camp fire are now living in a Walmart parking lot.
👉 Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke called the Camp fire “worse than any war zone I saw in Iraq.”
👉Nurses are amazing. These nurses kept helping people after narrowly escaping deadly flames.
👉 As the fire spread too fast to escape, some people jumped into a lake and a creek to survive. They stayed in the chilly water for hours.
👉The town of Paradise wasn’t prepared for the worst. Fire officials knew they’d eventually have trouble with the community, because there weren’t enough roads in and out of the mountain town.
If you want to help victims of California’s wildfires, here’s everything you need to know.
SNAPSHOTS
Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti has been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. Officials declined to elaborate on the allegations, except to say the alleged incident occurred at a residence in the 10,000 block of Santa Monica Boulevard near Beverly Hills. Avenatti, who was released on $50,000 bail, denied any allegation of abuse or violence.
Women are tweeting photos of their underwear after a teenager’s thong was cited in a rape trial. People are protesting in Ireland, after a teenager’s underwear was brought up during the trial of a man accused of raping her. In the trial, a lawyer held up a pair of the 17-year-old’s underwear in court, and said: “You have to look at the way she was dressed. She was wearing a thong with a lace front.” A 27-year-old man was found not guilty of raping the teenager earlier this month.
“I will kill you”: A 10-year-old Muslim girl found racist and threatening letters in her elementary school cubby. Police in Framingham, Massachusetts, are investigating a possible hate crime after the girl found two letters. The fifth-grader found one note in her storage bin on Friday that said, “You’re a terrorist.” School officials said they had put safeguards in place, but on Monday, the girl found a second note in her cubby that was addressed to her. The note said, “I will kill you.”
A professor was suspended after calling campus police on a black student who had her feet up in class. The University of Texas at San Antonio professor will remain suspended for the semester, and two investigations are ongoing. A video of the student being escorted out of a UTSA classroom by campus police at the direction of the professor went viral earlier this week.
This company is giving its employees gift cards to buy a gun as their holiday bonus. The cofounder of BenShot, a Wisconsin-based glassware company, told us he wanted to “give a gift ... of personal protection to keep employees safe.” He also told us the majority of the 16 full-time workers were thrilled by the gift, and many of them have already received their guns.
Here’s what happens when you bring Steve Bannon onstage and try to scrutinize his ideas
Steve Bannon, President Trump’s former top strategist, has been doing the rounds lately. He’s been invited to several conferences and talks by organizations who want to “test his ideas.”
Outside many of Bannon’s appearances, protesters gather. They’re often carrying signs that say things like “no to racists” and “racists never welcome.”
But inside, organizers aim for representing — and probing — “the other side.” The question is: Is a live stage the best place to do that? Is this really the forum to scrutinize Bannon’s ideas?
Ryan Broderick explains why interviewing Bannon in front of an audience does not seem like a thoughtful way to break down his spin.
From the piece: “So you’ve decided to invite Steve Bannon to your event. Here’s what to expect: Some people will drop out. Other people will march in protest. There will be chaos. And then, Bannon will say nothing new.”
People are throwing cheese slices on their dogs and honestly, it’s kind of great
Look, this is either a sign that the internet has finally run out of creativity, or we’ve just unlocked nirvana. It’s one or the other. There is no middle ground.
This morning, I find myself in the unusual position of telling you about a new trend: People are throwing slices of cheese on their dogs.
Note: It’s not at their dogs, it’s on. It all began when Matthew Elias of Windsor, Ontario, tweeted a video with the caption, “Fuck beer pong, we playin dog cheese.”
Like what it sounds like, the object is to land a slice of cheese flat on your dog.
The internet has heartily taken to the challenge, and the result is an unusual amount of joy.