Ten years ago: U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice met privately with three Republican senators who had indicated they would block her possible nomination to be U.S. secretary of state; they said afterward that they were even more troubled by her initial explanation of the attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya. (The following month, Rice withdrew from consideration to be secretary of state.)
Five years ago: As he tried to bolster his support in the wake of a sexual harassment allegation, Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken apologized to “everyone who has counted on me to be a champion for women.” Authorities ordered a mass evacuation of people from an expanded danger zone around an erupting volcano on the Indonesian island of Bali; the eruption had closed the island’s international airport, stranding tens of thousands of travelers. On Cyber Monday, the Echo Dot was the top-selling electronic item on Amazon, followed by the Fire TV.
One year ago: The new potentially more contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus popped up in more European countries, just days after being identified in South Africa, leaving governments around the world scrambling to stop the spread. Britain’s health secretary said two people had tested positive in England; both cases were related to travel from southern Africa.
