PoliticsYahoo NewsJournalist who criticized FBI for handling of Russia probe says Trump's refusal to concede is 'dangerous BS'
A common defense of President Trump's refusal to concede the 2020 election is that he's simply taking revenge on his liberal opponents, in particular those who doubted the legitimacy of the 2016 election because of Russian interference. The media gave Russia Collusion 3.5 years. We can give Team Trump three and a half weeks,” tweeted Jenna Ellis, a member of the Trump campaign's legal team that has failed to provide any evidence in court of cheating in the 2020 election.
WorldBBCKylie Moore-Gilbert: Academic says Iran detention was 'long and traumatic'
A British-Australian academic who has been freed from jail in Iran has thanked supporters for getting her through "a long and traumatic ordeal". Kylie Moore-Gilbert has consistently denied accusations of espionage since her arrest in Iran in September 2018. She had been serving a 10-year sentence but was released in a swap for three jailed Iranians, Tehran said.
WorldAssociated PressLeading Saudi women's activist referred to terrorism court
A leading Saudi women's rights activist who's been imprisoned for 2 1/2 years and drawn attention to the kingdom's hard limits on dissent will be tried by a court established to oversee terrorism cases, her family said Wednesday. The referral of Loujain al-Hathloul's case to the Specialized Criminal Court is a setback for efforts to push for her swift release and means she will face charges related to terrorism and national security. According to a 53-page report released earlier this year by Amnesty International, the court has been used as “a weapon of repression” to imprison peaceful critics, activists, journalists, clerics and others.
WorldReutersFrance, EU lawmakers push for sanctions on Turkey next month
The European Parliament urged the EU on Thursday to impose sanctions on Turkey after President Tayyip Erdogan this month paid a visit to the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north of Cyprus. With 631 votes in favour, three against and 59 abstentions, the parliament agreed a non-binding resolution in support of EU member Cyprus urging EU leaders to "take action and impose tough sanctions in response to Turkey's illegal actions". The resolution is likely to bolster support for France's push for EU sanctions on Turkey next month, following through on a threat made by the bloc in October over a dispute between Ankara and EU members Greece and Cyprus over natural gas rights.
PoliticsYahoo NewsTrump loyalist pushed out of White House now leading a shake-up at the Pentagon
A retired Special Forces colonel, Miller had worked to revamp civilian oversight over special operations forces in a previous Pentagon job. A driving force behind the current initiative is Ezra Cohen, a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer who has held several national security positions during the Trump administration and is now the acting assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, or SO/LIC. The appointment of Cohen as the acting assistant secretary was a major factor behind the decision to implement the congressional legislation.
TechnologyArchitectural DigestThe Top 6 Black Friday Deals for Vacuums
We have you covered with all the best vacuum deals that you need to know about Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldBBCWhy Bhutan's Sakteng wildlife sanctuary is disputed by China
Sandwiched between China and India, the tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan is feeling the squeeze as its giant neighbours square up for supremacy. A close ally of India, Bhutan got a shock when China made sudden new claims in the summer - over a wildlife sanctuary in the east of the country, on land that had not been considered disputed. Most Bhutanese commentators don't want to discuss this in detail, but many believe Beijing is trying to drag the Buddhist majority nation - population 750,000 - into the territorial stand-off with India.
WorldThe Daily BeastWhat is Putin’s Endgame With Americans Detained in Russia?
When Avetisyan and his partners attempted to exercise an option on 9.9 percent of Vostochny Bank's shares in 2018, Baring Vostok refused, because of evidence that assets worth billions of rubles had been withdrawn from Uniastrum Bank before the merger. Baring Vostok then filed claims of fraud against Avetisyan for 17.5 billion rubles (around $276 million) in the London International Arbitration Court. In apparent retaliation for the London lawsuit, Avetisyan's partner Sherzod Yusupov went to the FSB in February 2019 with a claim that Calvey and five associates from Baring Vostok had defrauded Vostochny Bank of 2.5 billion rubles ($38 million at the time).
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Pennsylvania judge halts election certification amid mail-in vote fight
Trump campaign recount team member Chris Prudhome provides insight.
WorldAssociated PressKashmir rebels kill 2 Indian soldiers in region's main city
Rebels in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed two soldiers in an attack Thursday in the disputed region's main city, the Indian army said. Col. Rajesh Kalia, an Indian army spokesman, said militants sprayed bullets at an army patrol on the outskirts of Srinagar city. Two soldiers were critically injured and later died at a hospital, he said.
PoliticsReutersCuomo calls U.S. Supreme Court's religious gatherings ruling 'irrelevant'
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday dismissed as "irrelevant" a U.S. Supreme Court decision blocking coronavirus restrictions imposed on religious gatherings, saying it related to specific areas that were no longer considered at high risk. The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, voted 5-4 late on Wednesday in favor of requests by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and two Orthodox Jewish congregations for an injunction to block the restrictions from being enforced. The order marked one of the first consequential actions on the court involving President Donald Trump's new appointee, conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who cast a deciding vote in favor of the religious groups.
WorldBBCMexico ambush: Arrest over Mormon massacre
Authorities in Mexico have arrested a key suspect in the killing of nine members of a Mormon community. Three women and six children, all dual US-Mexican citizens, were driving through the Sonoran desert when they were killed in an ambush last year. Roberto N is believed to have been the "intellectual architect" of the attack, Mexico's federal attorney-general's office said on Wednesday.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderIlhan Omar underperformed Biden by more than perhaps any House Democrat thanks to a 3rd party candidate and well-funded GOP rival
Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, handily won a second term this month, but underperformed President-elect Joe Biden by more than perhaps any other Democratic candidate in the country. There are a slew of factors that likely impacted Omar's race, including a third party on the ticket, a supremely well-funded Republican opponent, and the fact that she was virtually guaranteed to win reelection.
WorldAssociated PressChina's top diplomat touts S. Korea ties amid row with US
China's top diplomat on Thursday stressed the importance of bilateral relations while meeting senior officials in South Korea, where there's growing concern the country is becoming squeezed between its biggest trading partner and military ally the United States. After meeting South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters that his visit amid a spreading coronavirus pandemic shows how much Beijing values its relations with Seoul. When asked whether Beijing was pressing Seoul to choose a side amid rising U.S.-China tensions over trade, security and other issues, Wang said “America is not the only nation in the world.”
U.S.Associated PressBlack Lives Matter flag becomes issue in Florida community
But when Mickle decided to hang a flag of his own last month — proclaiming that “Black Lives Matter" — his neighborhood association immediately asked him to take it down, calling the flag ”noxious or offensive" under its rules. If his neighbors could express their support for police, he said, he should be allowed to make a statement of his own. My life means something.
LifestyleBBCThanksgiving: Millions celebrate in shadow of coronavirus
Many have also travelled home to celebrate the holiday, despite warnings from health officials. More than three million people are reported to have travelled through US airports from Friday to Sunday in what was the busiest travel weekend since the outbreak began in mid-March. But the number is around half the usual figure for Thanksgiving travel, and many people have opted out of seeing friends and family for the holiday.
WorldAssociated PressAngry farmers in India clash with police to protest new laws
Thousands of Indian farmers clashed with police in northern Haryana state on Thursday during a protest demanding that the government abolish new farming laws that they fear will reduce their earnings and give more power to corporations. The farmers, who were traveling toward the capital, New Delhi, on tractors and motorbikes, flung police barricades into a river and threw bricks and stones at the officers near Ambala district. Hundreds of police were also deployed at the border between New Delhi and Haryana to block the protesters.
WorldBBCIndia coronavirus: How do you vaccinate a billion people?
India plans to receive and utilise some 500 million doses of vaccines against the disease and immunise up to 250 million people by July next year. This confidence is bolstered by its track record of immunising large numbers of people every year. India's 42-year-old immunisation programme, one of the world's largest health programmes, targets 55 million people - mainly newborns and pregnant women who receive some 390 million free doses of vaccines against a dozen diseases every year.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastIn Thanksgiving Message, Trump Says ‘We’re Like a Third-World Country’ Because He Lost Election
In a surprise news conference on Thanksgiving Day, President Trump took questions from the press for the first time since losing re-election—but he doubled down on his “rigged” election claims and appeared to deny the reality that his presidency is ending, saying it will be “very hard” for him to concede to Joe Biden. “I think it's not right he's trying to pick a Cabinet,” Trump complained after railing against the supposed “massive fraud” that he claims gave Biden victory. Reiterating his claims of voter fraud in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia despite the fact that state authorities have already certified the election results in those states, Trump appeared to become combative when asked if he would concede if the Electoral College votes for Biden on Dec. 14.
WorldAssociated PressIndian state outlaws religious conversion by marriage
India's ruling Hindu nationalist party has approved legislation in the country's most populous state that lays out a prison term of up to 10 years for anyone found guilty of using marriage to force someone to change religion. The decree for the state of Uttar Pradesh was passed Tuesday and follows a campaign by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party against interfaith marriages. The party describes such marriages as “love jihad,” an unproven conspiracy theory used by its leaders and Hindu hard-line groups to accuse Muslim men of converting Hindu women by marriage.
BusinessThe IndependentDavid Perdue: Republican Senator faces scrutiny over stock trades made as Covid spread in US
Senator David Perdue, a Republican from Georgia, is facing scrutiny over a few very well times stock sales and purchases around the time the coronavirus first began to spread in the US. The Associated Press reported that on 23 January, around the time Congress was being briefed on the potential impact the coronavirus posed to the US, Mr Perdue sold off between $1m and $5m worth of shares in Cardlytics stock. Mr Perdue used to sit on the company's board of directors.
PoliticsReutersTrump order could spark mass firings of civil servants, lawmakers warn
U.S. government civil servants could face mass firings under an October executive order before President Donald Trump leaves office and Democratic lawmakers, watchdog groups and unions are mobilizing to block the move. Leaders of 23 House committees and subcommittees asked the heads of 61 federal departments and agencies to provide a "full accounting" of any plans to reclassify federal workers under the Oct. 21 order, leaving them vulnerable to firing. They also asked for details about any Trump political appointees who have already been hired into career jobs or are being considered.
PoliticsAssociated PressCongress braces for Biden's national coronavirus strategy
Congress is bracing for President-elect Joe Biden to move beyond the Trump administration's state-by-state approach to the COVID-19 crisis and build out a national strategy to fight the pandemic and distribute the eventual vaccine. The incoming administration's approach reflects Democrats' belief that a more comprehensive plan, some of it outlined in the House's $2 trillion coronavirus aid bill, is needed to get the pandemic under control. Republicans have resisted big spending but agree additional funding is needed.
LifestyleAssociated PressEmpty seats, delivered feasts as virus changes Thanksgiving
Vivian Zayas can't keep herself from scrolling through photos of last Thanksgiving, when her mother stood at the stove to make a big pot of rice and beans and then took a seat at the edge of the table. Ana Martinez died at 78 on April 1 while recovering at a nursing home from a knee replacement. The family is having their traditional meal of turkey, yams, green beans and rice and beans — but Zayas is removing a seat from the table at her home in Deer Park, New York, and putting her mother's walker in its place.
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Sexual abuse ring leader sentenced to 40 years
The leader of an online sexual blackmail ring has been sentenced to 40 years in prison by a South Korean court. year-old Cho Ju-bin was found guilty of running an online network that blackmailed at least 74 women, including 16 teenagers, into what authorities called "virtual enslavement." Over a ten month period, the women were forced to send increasingly degrading and sometimes violent sexual imagery of themselves.
“Donald Trump defeated Donald Trump.”
“The victory was a vindication of a style of American politics that many feared was gone forever.”
“Mr. Biden’s victory — and Mr. Trump’s defeat — is a testament to the resilience of American democracy.”
“Trump’s 2020 reelection bid was doomed by his boorish behavior. Time and again, he refused to act like a president.”
“Biden took the opportunity to unite the Democratic Party.”