3 Book recommendations to read in 2021

It's January and our new year's resolutions are fresh on our minds. For a lot of people that means reading more in 2021. Today's three book recommendations will help us tackle those goals.

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  • Egypt's premier visits Libya to discuss trade, other ties

    Egypt’s prime minister arrived in Libya's capital Tuesday to discuss trade and other ties with the newly appointed government, his office said. Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly is the most senior Egyptian official to visit Libya since the oil-rich country plunged into chaos in 2011. A NATO-backed uprising that year toppled longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed.

  • The 52-year-old who was her own daughter's surrogate says she experienced postpartum depression after giving birth to her granddaughter

    Julie Loving, 52, gave birth to her granddaughter after volunteering to be her daughter's surrogate. Now she's opening up about postpartum depression.

  • State Department to issue 'Do Not Travel' advisories for 80 percent of countries

    The coronavirus pandemic is continuing to pose an "unprecedented risk" to travelers, the State Department said Monday, and travel advisories are being updated to "outline current issues affecting travelers' health." The changes "better reflect" the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's travel health notices, the State Department said, and will "result in a significant increase in the number of countries at Level 4: Do Not Travel, to approximately 80 percent of countries worldwide." The advisories also take into account "logistical factors," the State Department said, like "in-country testing availability and current travel restrictions for U.S. citizens." Level 4 is the highest travel advisory level, and there are now about three dozen countries with this designation, CNN reports. The CDC is recommending that people delay international travel until they are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, adding that even those who have been inoculated "are at increased risk for getting and possibly spreading new COVID-19 variants." More stories from theweek.comThe new HBO show you won't be able to stop watchingDonald Trump's most dangerous political legacyFauci flubs the freedom question

  • For decades, US special-operations units copied the British, but now the tables are turning

    The changes are part of a strategic shift, meant to keep the British military relevant amid great-power competition.

  • The rare clots people get after taking COVID-19 vaccines are different from other clots and require special treatment

    The CDC has issues special guidance for the specific post-vaccine clots, known as vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, or VITT.

  • George W. Bush said he's troubled by 'the capacity of people to spread all kind of untruth'

    Former President George Bush said in an interview with the "Today" show that he avoided Twitter, Facebook, and "any of that stuff."

  • Montana man dies following attack by grizzly bear

    Investigators later shot and killed male bear near site of mauling

  • Idaho woman charged in ‘egregious’ case surrounding missing grandchild’s death

    Police say they found the child’s body in a car in Emmett.

  • Kevin McCarthy jumps on Marjorie Taylor Greene's bandwagon, saying he'll introduce his own resolution to censure Maxine Waters for her 'dangerous comments'

    McCarthy said he would file a resolution of his own just as Greene filed her resolution to "expel" Waters for "inciting Black Lives Matter terrorism."

  • I watched 8 hours of Mike Lindell's 48-hour Frankathon. Here are the highlights.

    The continuous live stream, which Lindell says will be two days long, is being hosted exclusively on his website.

  • Former Trump aides are reportedly frustrated he didn't become vaccine 'salesman-in-chief' as planned

    Former aides to former President Donald Trump are reportedly looking back at the end of his term as a major missed opportunity to encourage his supporters to get vaccinated against COVID-19. A new report in Politico describes how Trump's "unwillingness to pitch his voters on getting the jab has become the source of frustration for former aides," not to mention experts who believe he could have helped sway those Republicans who say they won't get vaccinated. While Trump was in office, there was reportedly a "monthslong effort to get him to publicly take the lead" on pushing vaccinations. "If he spent the last 90 days being the voice — and taking credit because he deserved to for the vaccine — and helping get as many Americans get vaccinated as he could, he would be remembered for that,” a former senior administration official said. In fact, health officials pushed for Trump to receive a COVID-19 vaccine on camera, and officials from the White House and federal agencies planned for him take on the role of the "vaccine's salesman-in-chief," Politico reports. Ultimately, Trump didn't get the vaccine publicly, though former Vice President Mike Pence did. A senior administration official told Politico there were concerns that Trump would be seen as "jumping the line" ahead of those at higher risk after he had COVID-19 in the fall. But officials were also reportedly skeptical that Trump would be open to getting the vaccine on camera. "Someone joked and said, 'Have you ever seen him wear a short sleeved shirt in public?'" a former administration official told Politico. "'I don't think that's going to happen.'" It was later revealed in March that Trump actually quietly received the vaccine off camera before he left office — and not only did the White House not tell anyone, but Politico says top health officials and aides didn't even know this was happening at the time Read more at Politico. More stories from theweek.comThe new HBO show you won't be able to stop watchingDonald Trump's most dangerous political legacyFauci flubs the freedom question

  • Philippines' Duterte would send navy ships in South China Sea to assert claim over resources

    Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday he was prepared to send his military ships in the South China Sea to "stake a claim" over oil and mineral resources in the disputed part of the strategic waterway. With some critics complaining Duterte had gone soft by refusing to push Beijing to comply with an arbitration ruling, he said the public can be assured he would assert the country's claims to resources like oil and minerals in the South China Sea. Duterte has sought to build an alliance with China and has been reluctant to confront its leadership, having been promised billions of dollars of loans and investments, much of which have yet to materialise, frustrating nationalists.

  • Donald Trump Jr. is pushing his father to go all-in on culture war issues ahead of a potential 2024 run, report says

    Taking on a prominent role in his father's increasingly small circle, Trump Jr. is advising him on political issues ahead of a possible 2024 bid.

  • Islamists call halt to Pakistan protest after government allows vote on French envoy

    A banned Pakistani Islamist group called an end to violent nationwide anti-France protests on Tuesday, after the government called a parliamentary vote on whether to expel the French ambassador and said it would halt criminal cases against the group's members. Pakistan arrested the leader of the group Tehrik-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) on April 12 and banned the group last week after its members blocked main highways, railways and access routes to major cities, assaulting police and burning public property. The group has demanded that Pakistan expel the French ambassador in retaliation for the publication in France of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

  • A Real Prince Harry and Prince William Reconciliation Has to Include Meghan Markle

    Mark Large-WPA Pool/Getty ImagesPrince Harry walked out of his grandfather’s funeral on Saturday afternoon, and, conveniently enough, caught up with his brother William and wife Kate just as they passed the BBC’s cameras which were broadcasting a pooled feed to the world.In royal reporting circles, the spot occupied by the pool camera is often known as the “fixed position,” or FP, and the FP is always the central focus of whatever royal performance is taking place, and the importance of putting on a good show as they passed the FP was clearly uppermost in the young royals’ minds Saturday.Kate, in particular, played her part in this miniature play to perfection as she waited for Harry, broke the ice with friendly words and a smile, walked him towards his brother, and then fell back to allow them to chat.Prince Harry and Prince William Reunite After Prince Philip’s Funeral, Where the Queen Sat AloneIt was quite clear Kate was taking charge and was not going to allow another visual debacle, like that which unfolded at last year’s Commonwealth Service, when the two sides of the former fab four frostily ignored each other, to happen on her watch.If you love The Daily Beast’s royal coverage, then we hope you’ll enjoy The Royalist, a members-only series for Beast Inside. Become a member to get it in your inbox on Sunday.Instead, what we witnessed was a demonstrative metaphorical throat clearing in advance of what is understood to be at least an hour which Harry, William, and Charles spent locked in conversation in the queen’s private apartments, availing of an exemption to British coronavirus rules that allows 15 people to gather for a wake.Common sense would suggest it was unlikely they used the solemn occasion to excavate the detail of Harry’s claims against his family in his and Meghan’s Oprah Winfrey interview—in which they described alleged royal racism, a family and institution who ignored her suicidal feelings, and his male relatives as “trapped” in the monarchy.But at this stage even discussing the relative merits of the cucumber sandwiches would represent a triumph of royal reconciliation and forgiveness unsurpassed since Harry invited Fergie to his wedding. Of course, there is an alternate reading of the entire situation, which is that when the sight of two brothers exchanging pleasantries after the funeral of their grandfather is taken as a great sign of peacemaking, then the family involved has an epic problem on its hands.Duncan Larcombe, a former royal correspondent for the Sun and author of Prince Harry: The Inside Story told The Daily Beast, “The idea that it was choreographed is 100 percent spot on. Harry and William will both have known that all eyes were upon them and every gesture that they might’ve given to each other was going to be of huge interest because of what it would signify. I have covered enough royal events to know that we don’t get fed anything that they don’t absolutely want to signal to us.”“That said, the fact that they actively wanted to be pictured together is a very encouraging sign. I thought it was very interesting to see Kate’s role as well. Let’s not forget that it wasn’t that many weeks ago that Harry’s wife accused Kate of being a liar. Kate’s involvement tells us that there’s still a relationship there between Kate and Harry, who once described her the as the sister he never had.”The walk up the hill was certainly better than the original plan, which would have seen Harry get into his own car before being whisked out of sight of the cameras. The palace is likely to have been delighted with a story in the Daily Mail Monday that portrayed the sending away of the cars, enforcing the oh-so casual stroll, as a diplomatic masterstroke by Prince Charles that had saved the monarchy.Ian Lloyd, a writer and photographer who has followed the royals for many years, told The Daily Beast that the deliberate symbolism of the encounter between William and Harry should not be underestimated. “They are aware of the cameras and know how important these kinds of visual signals are. It was not an accident the cars were held back and that William and Harry walked up the hill together right at that point, opposite where the little BBC studio tent was. I mean, they could have gone round the corner and no one would have seen them talk. It’s never really accidental with the royals. But it was a healing moment. And it takes the pressure off when they meet again on 1 July for the unveiling of the Diana statue.”Given that it was Charles and William who came in for the most trenchant criticism from Harry in his and Meghan’s Oprah interview, the fact that newspapers have been full of reports that Harry spent the afternoon chatting with William and their father Prince Charles, and that Charles had spoken at length with Harry, were all taken as a positive signal of potential reconciliation.By Monday morning, however, the sense of the events of Saturday marking a genuine breakthrough was fading as it was reported that Harry was preparing to head back to California on Monday or Tuesday, missing his grandmother’s birthday. This may not be the unfeeling gesture it at first appears. As with so much these days, it must be seen through the filter of COVID: the simple fact is that while Harry was able to avail of an exemption on funeral guests attending a wake for up to 15 people on Saturday evening, he wouldn’t legally be allowed to go to his grandmother’s house on Tuesday to wish her happy birthday.But then the Mail reported Harry may stay for the birthday celebration, as he has an open flight booked back to the States.The royals are, as ever, in flux. Harry’s possible departure before, or on the early morning of, his grandmother’s first birthday as a widow would be a tactical error (the Sussexes’ spokespeople have declined to comment on Harry’s travel plans) as far as the all-important and very delicate optics of the situation are concerned. A speedy departure would ultimately serve as a rather depressing verdict on the true state of relations between the houses of Sussex and Windsor.The writer Tom Bower, author of the incisive and revelatory biography of Prince Charles, Rebel Prince, said of the brothers chat while they walked up the hill: “I think it looked good, but the problem remains that the Oprah interview was unbelievably hostile. It’s very difficult to see how you quickly overcome such overt accusations. Although I think that Harry could have been open to some discussion with his father and William after the funeral on Saturday, the real problem is whether Meghan agrees to whatever they might have concluded, and I imagine she has a very different opinion.”Of course, without Meghan present, it’s hard to see any reconciliation as anything other than a fledgling effort.Larcombe said, “Meghan couldn’t fly because she was pregnant, but it isn't until we see the four of them together, or see something similar to what we saw on Saturday with Meghan included, that we can actually see any confirmation that all sides are actually keen to find a resolution to this and put it behind them.“I’m not saying that Harry and Megan definitely feel differently, but maybe the dynamic was different because Meghan wasn't next to Harry.”Bower told The Daily Beast, “I think it’s very difficult. I think as much as everyone would like Harry and his family to be reunited, it is hard to see how that can happen without some sort of public apology on the part of the Sussexes. The accusations were so grave and Meghan seems to be so hostile to the royal family that unless she has a rethink, it is hard to see how some sort of peace and truce is possible.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • Home Depot to face boycott over Georgia voting curbs

    Religious leaders in Georgia on Tuesday will call for a boycott of Home Depot Inc because of its silence on the state's new voting curbs that activists say make it harder for Black people and other racial minorities to vote. Other Georgia-based corporations - including Delta Air Lines Inc and Coca-Cola Co - have been meeting with the activists for weeks and issued statements opposing the voting restrictions. Coca-Cola also hosted a meeting of several companies on April 13 with the faith leaders, but Home Depot did not attend and has since "ignored a series of follow-up requests, and has failed to speak publicly on the new law," the activists - led by AME Bishop Reginald Jackson and representing more than 1,000 chruches - said in a notice to media on Tuesday.

  • A smiling Simone Biles (and her abs) cozy up to NFL beau in a tepee in Miami Beach

    When asked why she wasn’t smiling after being complimented on “Dancing with the Stars” back in 2017 Simone Biles had the best ever response.

  • OAN fires staffer who called out the network over voter fraud lies

    "The majority of people did not believe the voter fraud claims being run on the air," the staffer recently said of his colleagues.

  • Iran says it only enriched its uranium to 60% as a show of strength, and can revert to nuclear-deal levels if the US lifts sanctions

    Iran said it wanted to show its strength after an attack on its Natanz nuclear plant earlier this month, which it blames Israel for.

  • Japan says Chinese military likely behind cyberattacks

    Tokyo police are investigating cyberattacks on about 200 Japanese companies and research organizations, including the country’s space agency, by a hacking group believed to be linked to the Chinese military, the government said Tuesday. Police have forwarded the case involving attacks on the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to prosecutors for further investigation, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters. Police believe a series of hacks of JAXA were conducted in 2016-2017 by “Tick,” a Chinese cyberattack group under the direction of a unit of the People’s Liberation Army, Kato said.