Comment on Top of the morning, May 4, 2016

By MOLLY QUELL, Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The president of the International Criminal Court lashed out at the United States and Russia for interfering with its investigations, calling attacks on the court “appalling.” “The court is being threatened with draconian economic sanctions by another permanent member of the Security Council as if it was a terrorist organization,” Judge Tomoko Akane said in her address to the institution’s annual meeting, which opened on Monday. Akane was referring to remarks made by U.

By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s drive to upend the FBI was welcomed by Republican senators although it was not clear on Sunday how strongly members of the incoming majority party would embrace his move to install ally Kash Patel as the next director of the Justice Department’s top investigative arm. Patel, a onetime national security prosecutor who is aligned with the president-elect’s rhetoric about a “deep state,” “must prove to Congress he will reform & restore public trust in FBI,” said Sen.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: For several years, my wife and I have hosted a large, somewhat elaborate holiday open house, complete with a lot of homemade dishes, champagne, activities and accommodations for children. We’ve often had more than 50 people attend. It is expensive, and more than a little work, but we enjoy the result.

By COLLEEN LONG and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden had long pledged that he would not pardon his son, Hunter, who was set to be sentenced this month for gun and tax convictions. But on Sunday, the president did it anyway. The sweeping pardon covers not only Hunter Biden’s convictions in two cases in Delaware and California, but also any other “offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.” Biden is hardly the first president to deploy his pardon powers to benefit those close to him.

Dear Eric: I am friends with a person I dated for a short while. We’re in our 50s. The only reason I still see her is that she doesn’t have any other friends. Related Articles Advice | Asking Eric: My neighbor yells at me when I try to reclaim my yard from her ‘wilding’ Advice | Asking Eric: Should I tell well-wishers what I learned after my boyfriend died? Advice | Asking Eric: When our grandnephew visits, he can’t stay off his video games Advice | Asking Eric: My widowed friend cancelled our long-planned dinner date at the last moment Advice | Asking Eric: I saw what my teen calls me in his phone contacts She is also a sole parent to a difficult teen who also has no friends and has no desire to make any (she tells me this).

By HALELUYA HADERO Consumers in the United States are scouring the internet for online deals as they look to take advantage of the post-Thanksgiving shopping marathon with Cyber Monday. Even though e-commerce is now part and parcel of many people’s regular routines and the holiday shopping season, Cyber Monday — a term coined in 2005 by the National Retail Federation — has become the biggest online shopping day of the year, thanks to the deals and the hype the industry has created to fuel it. Adobe Analytics, which tracks online shopping, expects consumers to spend a record $13.2 billion on Monday, 6.1% more than last year.