THE BIG STORY

Three impeachment-related stories you should know

The first: Rudy Giuliani made a surprise visit to Kyiv and nobody there is happy about it. Giuliani arriving with his shady band of conspiracy theorists is the last thing Ukrainians, who have tried desperately to stay out of the drama unfolding in Washington, wanted.

The second: House Republicans say the Senators running for president shouldn’t be allowed to be jurors in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. As of now, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, and Michael Bennet are all still in the race for president and will sit in the likely trial, which could begin as soon as January.

The third: Joe Biden challenged a man in Iowa to an “IQ test” or push-up contest after he asked Biden about his son, Hunter. The man asked Biden about his son working for a Ukrainian oil company, and said Biden is “too old” to run. Biden responded, “...you want to check my shape, man, let’s do push-ups together here, man, let’s run, let’s do whatever you want to do, let’s take an IQ test.”

Scott Olson / Getty Images

Impeachment Today

Drench yourself in words unspoken. Today on our daily impeachment podcast, a close look at who is not talking: all the people who work for Trump who have refused to testify before Congress, citing various legal rationale for ducking subpoenas. Listen and subscribe.

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Four men accused over a woman’s rape and murder have been shot dead by police

Last weekend, we covered how protests erupted outside the Indian city of Hyderabad after police arrested four men accused of raping and killing a 27-year-old woman and then burning her body.

A new development in the story: the four men suspected of the heinous crime have been shot dead by police. According to police, the suspects were shot attempting to escape during a reconstruction at the scene of the crime.

This is all a part of yet another broader cycle of mindless violence against women in India. Just yesterday, a 23-year-old woman who said she was raped by two men was set on fire by five men — while she was on her way to court for a hearing in her case.

Police arrive at the scene where four suspects were shot dead. Reuters

SNAPSHOTS

Frost and ice are forecast for the UK’s election on Dec. 12. Emergency measures are being prepared to help voters get to the polls. The extensive special plans come as senior Conservatives fear that adverse weather conditions could reduce turnout among older, typically more pro-Tory voters.

An 8-year-old boy killed himself after his school covered up the bullying he faced, a lawsuit says. The parents of Gabriel Taye say a “violent” elementary school in Cincinnati covered up the bullying of their child. School officials say they cannot be held responsible.

R. Kelly married Aaliyah when she was 15. Now he’s being charged with a federal crime. 25 years after he married the singer, Kelly has been charged with bribing a government official to get a fake ID for the teen.

Zola has removed plantations as wedding venue options from its website. The major US wedding planning platform removed all plantation venues listed on its website, a day after Pinterest and the Knot Worldwide said they will no longer promote wedding content that romanticizes former slave plantations.

Tom Holland was drunk and cried when he spoke to Disney about the Spider-Man drama. Holland had previously talked about the phone call he had with Disney CEO Bob Iger that set the table for Spider-Man to return Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. When Iger called, Holland was at a pub with his family, a little drunk.

TAKING ACTION

Facebook said a Chinese company compromised users with malware and ran ads using their accounts

Facebook is suing a Hong Kong–based company and two Chinese citizens it says used malware to compromise user accounts in order to run millions of dollars of deceptive Facebook ads that often featured celebrities.

Facebook’s court filing alleges the accused tricked users into installing their malware by bundling it with other programs. Once downloaded, the malware compromised a user’s Facebook account.

Facebook says the defendants used the accounts to run ads that often misused the images of celebrities to sell “counterfeit goods and diet pills.”

TAKE A BREATHER

Some longreads to spend the weekend with

Trans Visibility Won’t Save Us. Trans people in 2019 are more represented in mainstream culture than ever. But, as Alex Verman writes, that hasn’t necessarily improved the everyday lives of trans people: “If recognition couldn’t bring us revolution, what should we be fighting for instead?”

The Tricky Business Of Humanizing The Monarchy. The Crown and Meghan Markle have given the British royal family a badly needed PR boost: “The British monarchy has been enjoying — or perhaps for certain members, enduring — a renewed surge of interest over the past few years, largely thanks to both the Sussexes and The Crown.”

The L Word: Generation Q Is Trying To Atone For The Original’s Sin. This weekend, a new reboot of The L Word arrives. Shannon Keating wrote about watching the first few episodes of the new series: “It makes me wish that Hollywood would take more risks and let a new generation of queer characters explore their own universes.”

Wishing you the strength it takes to be optimistic today,

Elamin