PoliticsThe IndependentMichelle Obama hugs Joe Biden’s grandchildren as she arrives at inauguration
Former first lady Michelle Obama has warmly greeted members of Joe Biden's family – hugging his grandchildren as she stepped onto the inaugural platform. Ms Obama was accompanied by her husband, former president Barack Obama, and donned a bipartisan-coloured purple outfit, also one of the colours of choice for the Suffragettes. As he prepares to take the oath of office, Joe Biden was also celebrated by the former president and first lady with whom he served as vice president.
PoliticsAssociated PressChina hits Trump officials with sanctions on their way out
China imposed sanctions on nearly 30 former Trump administration officials moments after they left office on Wednesday. In a statement released just minutes after President Joe Biden was inaugurated, Beijing slapped travel bans and business restrictions on Trump's secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, national security adviser Robert O'Brien and U.N. ambassador, Kelly Craft. Others covered by the sanctions include Trump's economic adviser Peter Navarro; his top diplomat for Asia, David Stilwell; health and human services secretary, Alex Azar; along with former national security adviser John Bolton and strategist Stephen Bannon.
U.S.NBC NewsConnecticut man charged in attack on police officer who was trapped in doors at Capitol riot
The FBI arrested a Connecticut man for allegedly assaulting a Washington, D.C., police officer who was seen in viral videos trapped between doors during the Capitol riot, authorities said Wednesday. Patrick Edward McCaughey, 23, was taken into custody at around 7 p.m. Tuesday in White Plains, New York, and charged with assaulting a police officer, civil disorder and unlawful entry, officials said. In McCaughey's initial court appearance on Wednesday, a judge ordered him held without bail, citing the suspect's danger to the community.
PoliticsThe WeekTrump is reportedly just going up to people and asking if they want a pardon
President Trump has spent the last few days asking his friends, aides, and associates if they would like pardons — even those who are not facing any charges, a senior administration official told The Washington Post. In one case, the official said, Trump offered a pardon to a person who declined the chance at clemency, saying they weren't in any legal trouble and hadn't committed any crimes. Trump has taken a great interest in pardoning people, the Post reports, even calling families to personally let them know he granted a pardon.
EntertainmentArchitectural DigestThe Coolest New Automotive Technology at CES 2021
Mercedes-Benz's Hyperscreen, General Motors' Bright Drop, and Jeep's Electric Wrangler were among the unveils that turned heads Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsAxiosBiden lawyers remind Kamala Harris' niece that she can't profit off aunt's name
Biden's transition team lawyers have reminded Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' niece, Meena, that she can't profit off her famous aunt's image, after she unveiled a collaboration between her company and Beats By Dre. Why it matters: Following Republican attacks, President-elect Joe Biden pledged that neither his family nor Harris' would profit from their service as president and vice president. While Meena Harris did nothing illegal, it underscored the challenge of keeping relatives in line, and of adhering to the higher ethical standards that the incoming administration has pledged.
U.S.NBC NewsProud Boys organizer Joe Biggs charged in Capitol riot
Proud Boys organizer Joseph Biggs was arrested in Florida on Wednesday in connection to the riot at the Capitol earlier this month, adding to the growing list of federal cases against those who took part in the mob. Biggs, an organizer of the far-right, all-male group of self-described "Western chauvinists," was identified through multiple videos and photos, according to a criminal complaint signed by an FBI agent who worked the case. The charges say he was one of the first to enter the Capitol building, through a door that was opened by a small group that got in by breaking a window with a police body shield.
PoliticsThe TelegraphEric Trump says he will 'never forget Buckingham Palace' as family seen in tears at farewell ceremony
Eric Trump said he will "never forget Buckingham Palace" as he looked back on his father's four years in office after a tearful farewell ceremony. The president's second eldest son said it had been the honour of his life to have had a "front row seat to the most remarkable and consequential presidencies in American history". He went on to enumerate his father's achievements in office, listing his tax cuts, support for the second Amendment and Middle East peace deals.
PoliticsThe IndependentBeau Biden: The story of Joe Biden’s youngest son OLD
Joe Biden's personal tragedies have shaped his career, from policy to politicking, learning to mourn as a public figure and relying on his history of loss to reach out to voters, including his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee. In December 1972, the former vice president — then a 30-year-old senator-elect from Delaware, weeks away from being sworn into office — lost his first wife Neilia and 13-month-old daughter Naomi in a car accident. In a statement following his death, his father wrote: “Beau Biden was, quite simply, the finest man any of us have ever known.”
U.S.NBC NewsGeorgia lawyer said he kicked in Pelosi's door, she could've been 'torn into little pieces'
A Georgia lawyer boasted that he and fellow rioters "kicked in Nancy Pelosi's office door" and the House speaker dodged being "torn into little pieces," according to a criminal complaint. William McCall Calhoun Jr., an attorney from Americus, Georgia, has been charged with entering a restricted building, violent or disorderly conduct and obstructing official proceedings of government, according to an FBI affidavit seeking his arrest. The FBI's National Threat operation Center received a tip that Calhoun documented — in words and video on social media — his role in the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol Building, according to the affidavit.
PoliticsThe WeekFox News' Chris Wallace calls Biden's speech the 'best inaugural address I ever heard'
President Biden's inaugural address has won some high praise on Fox News. Fox News anchor Chris Wallace on Wednesday praised Biden's "great" inaugural address, going as far as to deem it the best he's ever watched in his life. "I thought it was a great speech," Wallace said.
WorldThe Independent‘Cocaine bananas’ accidentally shipped to grocers in bungled drug deal
Some 21 bricks of cocaine hidden in banana shipments ended up at grocery shops in Canada following a bungled drug-trafficking operation, authorities have confirmed. A local store owner in Kelowna, a small town in Central Okanagan, British Columbia province, alerted authorities after finding 12 packages of what appeared to be cocaine among a banana shipment on 24 February 2019. The packages were seized by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for further investigation into their origins and intended destination.
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Rep. Crenshaw: 'I'd be frustrated if I were' Trump, watching the press 'go right back to the Obama-era'
Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw argues Republicans need to unify and show voters that Democrats 'mean what they say' and 'will change your life fundamentally.
U.S.NBC News12-year-old boy swept to sea by wave in northern California
A multiagency search for a 12-year-old boy swept out to sea in northern California on Monday has been suspended, according to officials. The boy, identified by his uncle as Arunay Pruthi, was pulled into the ocean at Cowell Ranch Beach in the city of Half Moon Bay, about 25 miles south of San Francisco, on Monday, according to the Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz unit. Arunay's father and 8-year-old brother were also pulled in by the "sneaker wave," said Arunay's uncle, Arvind Pruthi, but the pair were eventually pushed back to shore after being "beaten up by waves," according to Cal Fire.
PoliticsThe Independent‘What happened?’: QAnon followers left upset and angry as conspiracy theory’s ‘storm’ fails to materialise
But the largely uneventful inauguration seemed to be the final blow for the theory – leaving many upset and angry, even as others struggled to find new ways to keep the theory going. The baseless QAnon theory suggests, without any evidence, that argued that a group of powerful, Satan-worshipping people running a cannibalistic child sexual abuse ring. It argues that Donald Trump is planning to take down the group – and that those plans could not be revealed publicly, but have been disseminated by an anonymous individual named Q. In a series of posts, originally on website 4chan, Q laid out those theories in cryptic language.
PoliticsLA TimesThree Supreme Court justices skip Biden inauguration due to coronavirus concerns
The Supreme Court's three oldest justices did not attend the Biden inauguration due to concerns regarding the coronavirus pandemic. Justices Stephen G. Breyer, 82; Clarence Thomas, 72, and Samuel A. Alito Jr., 70, did not join their colleagues at the Capitol for the historic day. "They elected not to attend the inauguration ceremony in light of the public health risks posed by the COVID pandemic," said Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathleen Arberg in an email.
PoliticsNBC NewsMyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says products were dropped from major retailers after voter fraud claims
MyPillow CEO and ardent Trump supporter Mike Lindell says his products have been dropped by major retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl's after his repeated false claims of voter fraud in the presidential election. Lindell told NBC Minnesota affiliate KARE on Monday that HEB Stores, Wayfair and Canada's Today's Shopping Choice channel had also stopped selling his products. MyPillow, the bedding company with commercials starring Lindell, is based in Chaska, Minnesota.
PoliticsThe WeekBiden asks Trump's surgeon general to step down before he's even sworn in
President-elect Joe Biden is revamping outgoing President Trump's coronavirus approach before he even takes office. On Wednesday morning, Biden asked Surgeon General Jerome Adams, whom Trump nominated for a four-year term back in 2017, to step down from his post. Biden has already announced his intention to nominate former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to the post, but will install an acting surgeon general in the meantime, The Washington Post reports.
WorldBusiness InsiderJailed Russian critic Alexei Navalny released a video accusing Putin of secretly building a $1 billion coastal palace funded through bribes
A new video from Alexei Navalny's FBK foundation accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of building a private palace with $1 billion raised through corruption. The FBK said Putin funded the 17,691-square-meter palace on the Black Sea via a bribes-for-access scheme. Alexei Navalny, the archcritic of Vladimir Putin, accused the Russian president of building a secret $1 billion coastal palace funded through a bribes-for-access scheme.
U.S.Business InsiderThe 22-year-old accused of stealing Pelosi's laptop and planning to sell it to Russia has been given new charges that could see her jailed for 20 years
Riley June Williams is accused of stealing Nancy Pelosi's laptop and trying to sell it to Russia. The Justice Department charged her with breaking into the Capitol, and a new charge was added after a tip. The laptop's whereabouts is still unknown.
PoliticsThe WeekQAnon believers are realizing their entire conspiracy was a hoax as Biden is sworn in
President Biden has taken office, former President Donald Trump is in Florida, and the U.S. still hasn't seen a mass arrests of Democrats or a nationwide blackout. All of these facts were shocking for some followers of the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon, as they thought and hoped that Trump would somehow seize permanent power on Wednesday, NBC News reports. But as Biden was sworn in without a hitch, QAnon message boards lit up with followers who realized a violent overthrow of the government wasn't about to happen, that Trump had no secret plans to somehow stay in office, and that they'd been wrong for months, if not years.
U.S.USA TODAY'Americans helping Americans': National Guard members protecting Capitol fed thousands of meals by celebrity chef José Andrés
Between armored vehicles and scores of law enforcement officers in downtown Washington on Inauguration Day, José Andrés was working. "Well I mean, World Central Kitchen, we are an emergency organization," said the famous chef and restauranteur, whose organization provides free meals during times of crises. "A simple, traditional thing like feeding people disappeared," Andrés said.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderSecretary of State Mike Pompeo's departing message to the US is that multiculturalism is 'not who America is'
The outgoing secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, on Tuesday decried multiculturalism as un-American. Pompeo was excoriated on Twitter for his comments. On his last full day as the top US diplomat and just one day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo deemed multiculturalism to be un-American.
PoliticsINSIDERVice President Kamala Harris was sworn in with 2 Bibles held by husband Doug Emhoff. Here's a timeline of their relationship.
Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff met on a blind date and married in 2014. Emhoff, a lawyer, has accompanied Harris to campaign events, debates, and the DNC. On January 20, 2021, Kamala Harris became the first Black female vice president in American history, and her husband, Doug Emhoff, the country's first-ever second gentleman.
WorldBusiness InsiderIsrael is warning that a single dose of the Pfizer vaccine is 'less effective than we hoped' against COVID-19, and it could be a blow to the US and UK strategies
Israel's coronavirus chief warned the first Pfizer vaccine dose seems "less effective" than expected. This may worry the UK and US, which are prioritizing widespread first doses. Israel has vaccinated a larger share of its population than any other country.
“If you’re looking to win elections, it is probably best not to urge your supporters not to vote.”
“Warnock’s portrayal of himself as a dog lover, a means of overcoming white suspicions of Black men, smacked of pure genius.”
“Trump has done damage to the Republican brand among suburban voters that goes well beyond just races where he is on the ballot.”
“Once more, Democrats must profusely thank activist Stacey Abrams.”
“Overall, demographic trends show that the state’s electorate is becoming younger and more diverse each year.”