On a sweltering day this summer, a handful of protesters gathered outside an AMC movie theater in Times Square, holding red signs proclaiming "AMC = American Movie Communists."

They were opposing the giant movie theater company AMC's $1.2 billion purchase of a rival cinema chain, Carmike, that has theaters in 41 states. The deal, which is still subject to government approval, would make AMC the largest theater chain in the U.S. The protesters targeted AMC's Chinese owners — the sprawling Chinese real estate and entertainment company called Dalian Wanda that acquired the American movie chain in 2002, creating the world's largest theater empire.

The protest suggestedthe Carmike acquisition would further extend Beijing's hidden control over American mass media. But the protesters had not gathered on their own volition. They were being paid to be there by a Washington lobbying firm, Berman and Company, waging a war against Chinese acquisitions of American movie theaters.

It was one of the many unexpected ways a quiet battle is underway to halt a trend of Chinese businesses gobbling up American companies. The battle's reach now goes beyond traditional areas with obvious national security implications — such as President Obama's decision late Friday to block the acquisition of a semiconductor company with sensitive technology — into more surprising areas like movie theaters, where concerns about financial ownership collide with issues of cultural openness.

I am a Republican presidential elector, one of the 538 people asked to choose officially the president of the United States. Since the election, people have asked me to change my vote based on policy disagreements with Donald J. Trump. In some cases, they cite the popular vote difference. I do not think president-elects should be disqualified for policy disagreements. I do not think they should be disqualified because they won the Electoral College instead of the popular vote. However, now I am asked to cast a vote on Dec. 19 for someone who shows daily he is not qualified for the office.

Fifteen years ago, as a firefighter, I was part of the response to the Sept. 11 attacks against our nation. That attack and this year's election may seem unrelated, but for me the relationship becomes clearer every day.

George W. Bush is an imperfect man, but he led us through the tragic days following the attacks. His leadership showed that America was a great nation. That was also the last time I remember the nation united. I watch Mr. Trump fail to unite America and drive a wedge between us.

An off-duty New York City police officer and her son were the victims of harassment after they were physically and verbally attacked while dropping her son off in Brooklyn. The man who allegedly targeted them because the officer is Muslim.

Officer Aml Elsokary was called a hero by the New York Police Department (NYPD) after she saved a baby and the child's grandmother from a burning building in 2014. But on Saturday, Brooklyn-based Christopher Nelson, 36, called her an "ISIS [expletive]" after seeing her in a hijab.

The incident began at about 6:00pm in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, where Elsokary had dropped off her 16-year-old son on a corner and went to park her car. When she returned, she found Nelson shoving and yelling at her son. Nelson turned his attention to Elsokary and said, "ISIS [expletive], I will cut your throat, go back to your country," WCBS reported.

Jurors in the case of a white police officer, Michael Slager, who shot and killed African American Walter Scott in the back, could not reach a unanimous verdict, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial.

The shooting was caught a bystander's cellphone video and shocked the nation.

US military veterans who backed Native American tribes in protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline through the Standing Rock Sioux water source may be headed to Michigan next, where the city of Flint is still dealing with lead in the water.

The Army Corps of Engineers announced on Sunday that it would not approve the easement allowing the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) to be built under Lake Oahe, the primary water source of the Standing Rock Nation. The decision came after months of protests, and followed the arrival of some 4,500 US veterans to join the protesters at the Oceti Sakowin camp near Cannon Ball, North Dakota.

Australians may not equate illegal tobacco smuggling with drug trafficking or terrorism fundraising, but senior border security officials are warning it may be fuelling both and posing a national security risk.

In an exclusive interview with the ABC's 7.30 program and Fairfax Media, Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Wayne Buchhorn — who has been seconded to Australian Border Force (ABF) — said he had "significant" concerns that some of the proceeds of the booming illicit tobacco smuggling trade into Australia were flowing to extremist groups overseas.

"We are seeing crime gangs here in Australia, oftentimes Middle Eastern organised crime gangs, and the connections back into the Middle East ... [are] a significant concern for us in the current environment," he said. "The funding of extremist activities, we are seeing some elements of that."

A notorious Middle Eastern crime syndicate operating in Arncliffe, Sydney, which is involved in both drug and tobacco smuggling, has shrugged off the repeated arrest and prosecution of its members to continue importing contraband.

Police intelligence has linked the syndicate to fundraising for a Lebanese charity aligned with extremist group Hezbollah.

'My research was attacked by thought police in journalism, activist groups funded by billionaires and even the White House.'

Scientist quits research after attacks by Media, activists & Obama Admin

'My research led me to a conclusion that many climate campaigners find unacceptable: There is scant evidence to indicate that hurricanes, floods, tornadoes or drought have become more frequent or intense in the U.S. or globally. In fact we are in an era of good fortune when it comes to extreme weather. This is a topic I've studied and published on as much as anyone over two decades.'

Intimidation Works! Dr. Pielke Jr. in 2015 announced that activist and media attacks have prompted him to quit climate research! 'The incessant attacks and smears are effective, no doubt, I have already shifted all of my academic work away from climate issues. I am simply not initiating any new research or papers on the topic'

My unhappy life as a climate heretic

By Roger Pielke Jr. Dec. 2, 2016 7:05 p.m. ET

Excerpts:

Much to my surprise, I showed up in the WikiLeaks releases before the election. In a 2014 email, a staffer at the Center for American Progress, founded by John Podesta in 2003, took credit for a campaign to have me eliminated as a writer for Nate Silver 's FiveThirtyEight website. In the email, the editor of the think tank's climate blog bragged to one of its billionaire donors, Tom Steyer : "I think it's fair [to] say that, without Climate Progress, Pielke would still be writing on climate change for 538."

WikiLeaks provides a window into a world I've seen up close for decades: the debate over what to do about climate change, and the role of science in that argument. Although it is too soon to tell how the Trump administration will engage the scientific community, my long experience shows what can happen when politicians and media turn against inconvenient research—which we've seen under Republican and Democratic presidents.

I understand why Mr. Podesta—most recently Hillary Clinton 's campaign chairman—wanted to drive me out of the climate-change discussion. When substantively countering an academic's research proves difficult, other techniques are needed to banish it. That is how politics sometimes works, and professors need to understand this if we want to participate in that arena.

More troubling is the degree to which journalists and other academics joined the campaign against me. What sort of responsibility do scientists and the media have to defend the ability to share research, on any subject, that might be inconvenient to political interests—even our own?

Pizzagate took a turn for the even more bizarre on Sunday, as a man with an assault rifle walked into Comet Ping Pong to "self-investigate" the Baltimore, Maryland, pizza parlor that internet conspiracy theorists say is at the center of an international child sex ring run by prominent Democrats. 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch, of Salisbury, N.C., reportedly fired the rifle at least once inside the restaurant but no one was injured.

As HeatSt.com reports, Washington, D.C., police arrested the man Sunday afternoon, after restaurant employees saw a man, described as being in his early 20s and carrying an "assault rifle," work his way through the dining room and then attempt to enter the staff work area at the back of the building.

Researchers analysing several centuries of literature have spotted a strange trend in our language patterns: the words we use tend to fall in and out of favour in a cycle that lasts around 14 years.

Scientists ran computer scripts to track patterns stretching back to the year 1700 through the Google Ngram Viewer database, which monitors language use across more than 4.5 million digitised books. In doing so, they identified a strange oscillation across 5,630 common nouns.

The majority of Democrats believe Israel is a "burden" on the US and has too much influence on American politics, according to a survey. The poll also found that most favor economic sanctions or "more serious action" against Israel for its settlement expansion.

The Brookings Institution survey, released Friday, was conducted between October 5-14, and surveyed a total of 1,528 people. The margin of error is 2.5 percent.

Particularly, the institute found that 55 percent of Democrats believe Israel is a burden to America, compared to just 24 percent of Republicans and 41 percent of Independents.

But despite the Jewish state apparently being an encumbrance, a large majority (76 percent) of all Americans still believe Israel is an important ally to the US, as it provides military and intelligence cooperation and plays a region role helpful to American interests.