While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Nov 16

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Trump attacks impeachment witness on Twitter, Democrats see intimidation

President Donald Trump launched a Twitter attack on a former US ambassador to Ukraine on Friday while she was testifying to an impeachment hearing in Congress, in an extraordinary moment that Democrats said amounted to witness intimidation.

Trump blasted Marie Yovanovitch, a career diplomat, as she explained to the second day of televised impeachment hearings how she had fought corruption in Ukraine and how the Trump administration abruptly removed from her post earlier this year.

As Yovanovitch testified, Trump fired off criticism on Twitter in a move Democrats labelled "real-time" witness intimidation. "Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad. She started off in Somalia, how did that go?" Trump asked.

In the most dramatic moment of the impeachment hearings that began on Wednesday, Adam Schiff, the Democrat chairing the hearing in the House Intelligence Committee, asked Yovanovitch for her reaction to the tweet. She said it was "very intimidating."

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Roger Stone guilty of lying to Congress, obstruction, witness tampering

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A jury convicted US President Donald Trump's longtime adviser Roger Stone on Friday, finding the long-time Republican operative and self-proclaimed "dirty trickster" guilty on seven criminal counts of lying to Congress, obstruction and witness tampering.

The verdict, in a trial arising from investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 US election, is not only a blow to Stone but renews scrutiny on Trump's actions as a candidate at a time when he faces an impeachment inquiry that could derail his presidency.

Stone, a 67-year-old veteran Republican political operative and a self-described "dirty trickster" and "agent provocateur" was charged this year by Special Counsel Robert Mueller with obstructing justice, witness tampering and lying to the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee during its investigation into Russian election interference.

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Two German students arrested for 'unlawful assembly' over Hong Kong protests

Two German students were arrested in Hong Kong for "unlawful assembly" linked to ongoing unrest in the city, police said early on Saturday.

The students, aged 22 and 23, were arrested on Thursday for suspected participation in an illegal assembly, police said.

Police did not release their identities but said the 22-year-old also faces charges of violating Hong Kong's anti-mask regulation.

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Santa Clarita shooting: 'No motive or rationale' discovered, police say

Investigators on Friday said they had not identified a motive for the 16-year-old student who they say pulled a handgun from his backpack at school and shot five of his classmates, killing two, in Santa Clarita, California, before turning the gun on himself.

"We did not find any manifesto, any diary that spelled it out, any suicide note, or any writings that will clearly identify his motives behind this assault," Captain Kent Wegener of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said at a news conference on Friday.

The police also identified a 15-year-old girl, Gracie Anne Muehlberger, as one of the students who died in the Thursday morning shooting.

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Tennis: Zverev reaches ATP Finals semis as Nadal heads home

Rafael Nadal headed home from the ATP Finals on Friday after defending champion Alexander Zverev's win against Daniil Medvedev confirmed the Spaniard's exit from the season-ending tournament.

The world number one recovered to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 7-5 in the early round-robin match at London's O2 Arena but knew he was dependent on the later result.

Zverev's 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) win meant he qualified for the semi-finals from Group Andre Agassi alongside Tsitsipas.

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