A family slain in Mexico

Impeachment testimony takes a turn. Keanu Reeves might be off the market. And an act of "incomprehensible" evil in Mexico. 

It's Ashley. Here's the news you need to know. 

But first, does wine pair well with space? A European startup sent a dozen bottles of Bordeaux to the International Space Station to see how it affects wine's aging. 🍷

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Nine family members killed in suspected drug cartel ambush

At least nine members of a family with dual citizenship in the U.S. and Mexico – three mothers and their young children – were killed in a shooting that relatives suspect might have been a case of mistaken identity by Mexican drug cartel gunman. The victims were driving to a wedding in LaBaron, a Mormon community in the state of Chihuahua, when their vehicles were hit by gunfire, which caused one to explode in flames. The attack happened in a remote area where the Sinaloa cartel has been engaged in a turf war with another gang. Authorities said eight children were found alive after escaping from the vehicles and hiding in the brush; several had bullet wounds or other injuries.

Impeachment inquiry: We weren't expecting this

A close Trump ally threw a major curveball at the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. The House committees overseeing the inquiry released transcripts of testimony by Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, and Kurt Volker, the former U.S. special envoy for Ukraine, on Tuesday. Both are witnesses in the investigation and were asked whether military aid to Ukraine was held up for political favors. Both addressed quid pro quo, but their testimonies were quite different:  

• Sondland pretty much admitted quid pro quo: He made a big-time amendment to his original testimony Monday. In the update, he said he had indeed communicated a quid pro quo to a Ukrainian official, linking U.S. aid to Ukrainian investigations. 
• Volker, on the other hand, saw no proof of quid pro quo: Volker said he had never seen any proof that the president withheld a meeting with Ukraine’s president until the country launched investigations into his political rival Joe Biden. 

More: A visual timeline of the text messages in the Trump-Ukraine affair.

Pathway of the impeachment process: How it works, where we are.

What everyone’s talking about

• The internet is freaking out over Keanu Reeves holding hands with Alexandra Grant on the red carpet.
• Emma Watson puts a new spin on the term "single." 
• This aspiring sign language interpreter signed the national anthem at his high school football game. 🏈🎶
• Sharon Osbourne called John Legend's "Baby, It's Cold Outside" rewrite "ridiculous."
• New Delhi's toxic, nasty air can be seen from space.

The key to this woman's survival at sea? Hard candy 

For nearly two days lost at sea, a New Zealand woman survived in an inflatable dinghy off southeastern Greece by eating hard candy. Kushila Stein, 47, was adrift in the Aegean Sea when the Hellenic Coast Guard rescued her Sunday. "She has been trained in sea survival so is quite competent. I think that might have saved her life," Stein's mother told New Zealand news outlet Stuff. After the rescue, Stein told her mother, "I still have one lolly left, Mum," according to the New Zealand Herald.

It’s Election Day for millions, aka a rehearsal for 2020

People around the country voted today in a series of state and municipal elections that could provide some insight into the nation's political mood heading into the 2020 election. Here’s a look at what to watch for when the results come in.

Real quick 

• Hello, winter: Arctic cold blasts are on the way.
• Russian smuggling has been linked to 39 dead bodies found in a truck outside London.
• Cam Newton’s season for the Carolina Panthers is essentially over.
• "MythBusters" host Jessi Combs' fatal car crash was caused by a wheel failure, officials say.
• Aarrr! Blackbeard's shipwreck hit the Supreme Court.

We’ve got an important message from space

NASA’s intrepid spacecraft Voyager 2 has officially left the building. And by building, I mean the heliosphere. And by heliosphere, I mean the massive bubble of magnetic fields created by our sun. One year ago today, Voyager 2 became the second spacecraft in history to reach interstellar space, the region between the stars. Monday, several research papers described what scientists observed throughout Voyager 2's historic crossing. The findings help paint a picture of the "cosmic shoreline" where the environment created by our sun ends and the vast ocean of interstellar space begins. I wish we could say it left the solar system, but that isn't really the case (yet!).  

A break from the news

• Will the bull market ever end? Here's how stocks perform during presidential election years.
• 5 tips for using your phone while traveling the world to avoid a massive bill. 
• Black Friday 2019: The best deals you can get right now.

This is a compilation of stories from across the Paste BN Network.