PoliticsYahoo NewsBiden signs executive orders reversing Trump decisions on COVID, climate change
Fresh off his inauguration Wednesday, President Biden began his term with executive orders on measures ranging from curbing the coronavirus pandemic to addressing racial inequality, many of which roll back measures enacted by former President Donald Trump's administration. Biden signed an executive order requiring masks and social distancing in all federal buildings, on all federal lands and by all federal employees and contractors, according to his transition team. Another executive order will create a new position, the COVID-19 response coordinator, who will be tasked with coordinating the government's response to the pandemic, including the vaccine rollout, and who will report directly to Biden.
WorldAssociated PressIndonesia ends search for crashed plane's victims, debris
Indonesian authorities on Thursday ended the search for remaining victims and debris from a Sriwijaya Air jet that nosedived into the Java Sea, killing all 62 people on board. Transportation minister Budi Karya Sumadi said retrieval operations have ended after nearly two weeks, but that a limited search for the missing memory unit from the cockpit voice recorder will continue. Divers retrieved its battered casing and cover last week near the location where the flight data recorder was recovered three days after the accident.
- WorldReuters
China authorises coast guard to fire on foreign vessels if needed
China passed a law on Friday that for the first time explicitly allows its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels, a move that could make the contested waters around China more choppy. China has maritime sovereignty disputes with Japan in the East China Sea and with several Southeast Asian countries in the South China Sea. It has sent its coast guard to chase away fishing vessels from other countries, sometimes resulting in the sinking of these vessels.
WorldAssociated PressEXPLAINER: Why Navalny is a thorn in the Kremlin's side
The return to Russia from Germany by opposition leader Alexei Navalny was marked by chaos and popular outrage, and it ended, almost predictably, with his arrest. The Jan. 17 flight from Berlin, where Navalny spent nearly five months recovering from a nerve agent poisoning, carried him and his wife, along with a group of journalists documenting the journey. Navalny had prepared his own surprise for his return: A video expose alleging that a lavish “palace” was built for President Vladimir Putin on the Black Sea through an elaborate corruption scheme.
- PoliticsFOX News Videos
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.
PoliticsThe WeekVoting to convict Trump would cost McConnell his Senate leadership, GOP faction warns
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is genuinely undecided on how he will vote in former President Donald Trump's second Senate impeachment trial, his close allies say, but a faction of Senate Republicans are warning him if he votes to convict, the backlash will be swift and severe, CNN reports. "If he does, I don't know if he can stay as leader," one senior GOP senator told CNN, portraying that as a sentiment shared by several of his colleagues. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said he could not support McConnell if he voted against Trump.
WorldAssociated PressStrong earthquake shakes southern Philippines; no tsunami
A powerful earthquake shook parts of the southern Philippines on Thursday night, but authorities said it was too deep to cause major damage and no tsunami warning was issued. The quake measured magnitude 7.0 and was located 95.8 kilometers (60 miles) below the sea and about 210 kilometers (130 miles) southeast of Pondaguitan in Davao Occidental province, the U.S. Geological Survey said. In Davao city, President Rodrigo Duterte's hometown, some residents ran out of their houses as the ground shook and power cables and business signs swayed, but there were no reports of damage or injuries.
PoliticsThe TelegraphTrump spends first night as a private citizen 'looking for lawyers for his impeachment trial'
Donald Trump spent his first hours as a private citizen scrambling to find lawyers to represent him in his upcoming impeachment trial, as he settled into his new home at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. One of Mr Trump's first calls after leaving office was to Lindsey Graham, South Carolina senator and staunch ally, telling him he was now “looking for some lawyers” for the imminent Senate hearing. Mr Trump will not be drawing on his usual litigators: Rudy Giuliani, his longtime personal lawyer, is likely to step aside as he could be called as a witness, while attorneys who represented him at the first impeachment hearing have declined.
PoliticsBBCKamala Harris: What the vice-president did on her first day
Kamala Harris has made history, becoming the first woman and first black and South Asian American to serve as US vice-president. "The role of the vice-president was, frankly, to just be that heartbeat away from the president," said Barbara Perry, the director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia's Miller Centre. "One of the vice-presidents in the early 20th Century said, 'Every day I ring the doorbell at the White House and hope the president will answer,'" Ms Perry said.
WorldAssociated PressGerman virus death toll tops 50,000 even as infections sink
The death toll from the coronavirus in Germany has passed 50,000, a number that has risen swiftly over recent weeks even as infection figures are finally declining. The country's disease control center, the Robert Koch Institute, said Friday that another 859 deaths were reported over the past 24 hours, taking the total so far to 50,642. Germany had a comparatively small number of deaths in the pandemic's first phase and was able to lift many restrictions quickly.
PoliticsAssociated PressDemocrats formalize Jaime Harrison as national party chair
The Democratic National Committee elected Jaime Harrison of South Carolina as chair on Thursday, signifying an early alignment between newly inaugurated President Joe Biden and state party leaders around the country. Vice chairs on the roster include Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth and U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela Jr. of Texas. Harrison — a former chair of South Carolina's Democrats who proved his mettle as a fundraising powerhouse in his 2020 challenge to Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham — already has been anointed by Biden, continuing the tradition of sitting presidents choosing their own party's chair.
WorldBBCWuhan lockdown: A year of China's fight against the Covid pandemic
A year ago on 23 January 2020 the world saw its first coronavirus lockdown come into force in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the pandemic is believed to have started. One year on, China is often held up as one of the virus success stories - not least by Beijing itself. How did China tackle the outbreak?
WorldAssociated PressTens of thousands protest against Nepal's prime minister
Tens of thousands of people protested in Nepal's capital on Friday against the prime minister for dissolving Parliament and ordering new elections in an escalating feud within the governing party. The supporters of a splinter group in the Nepal Communist Party marched peacefully in the center of Kathmandu as they demanded that Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli reinstate Parliament. Security was tight in the capital, with barbed wire barriers and police in riot gear blocking the area around the main government offices.
U.S.Miami HeraldMount Sinai cancels all scheduled first-dose COVID vaccines. Second doses not affected
Days after Baptist Health, South Florida's largest nonprofit hospital system, abruptly canceled COVID vaccine appointments for hundreds, Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach is taking a similar action. Due to restraints on the COVID-19 vaccine supply, all first-dose vaccinations booked for Jan. 23 and later are canceled. No new appointments will be taken.
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.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestAD100 Designer Monique Gibson Designs a Tribeca Aerie with High-Impact Views
800 feet up in the sky, the Dreamy 6,000 square foot space offers panoramic views from the East River to the Hudson Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsReutersU.S. Congress moves toward approving Biden's defense secretary pick
The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate backed a waiver on Thursday that paved the way for President Joe Biden's nominee, Lloyd Austin, to lead the Pentagon even though he has not cleared the required seven-year waiting period since leaving the military. Austin, who retired as an army general in 2016, would be the first Black U.S. Secretary of Defense. The House of Representatives approved the waiver by 326 to 78, far more than the simple majority necessary.
- WorldAssociated Press
Israeli warplanes strike Syria, kill 4 - including children
Israeli warplanes fired several missiles toward central Syria early Friday, killing a family of four - including two children - and wounding four others, state media reported. State-news agency SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying the attack took place shortly before dawn when Israeli warplanes flew over neighboring Lebanon. The Israeli prime minister's office on Friday declined to comment on the reports.
U.S.Business InsiderJon Ossoff was sworn in using a Hebrew Bible from a rabbi who was an ally to MLK and had his synagogue bombed by white supremacists
Newly elected Sen. Jon Ossoff was sworn in to Congress on Wednesday using a Hebrew Bible that was once owned by a Georgia rabbi whose synagogue was bombed by white supremacists, and who was an ally to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ossoff, Georgia's first Jewish senator, was sworn in to the Senate by Vice President Kamala Harris, alongside the Rev. Raphael Warnock, Georgia's first Black senator, and Alex Padilla, who's filling Harris' seat. As Ossoff was sworn in, he clutched the Hebrew Bible that once belonged to Rabbi Jacob Rothschild, the former leader of Atlanta's Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple.
CelebrityMiami Herald‘Maskless idiots’: Real Housewives star Luann de Lesseps blasted for partying in Miami
The latest COVID-related kerfuffle involves former Countess Luann De Lesseps, who was just in South Florida to party with pals. Earlier this week, the “Real Housewives of NYC” star posted a video splashing around in a bikini under an outdoor shower somewhere in Miami. The cabaret singer was also seen Tuesday with former “Real Housewives of Miami's” Marysol Patton and Alexia Echevarria and a handful of others enjoying a meal at Portosole Miami restaurant in Coral Gables.
LifestyleArchitectural Digest9 Products That Make for a More Sustainable Home in 2021
Set yourself up for success with all the right stuff Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldBusiness InsiderArchaeologists unearthed 210 sarcophagi in an Egyptian city of the dead. They'd remained undisturbed for at least 2,500 years.
KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/GETTY Decorated wooden sarcophagi from Saqqara on display during the official announcement of the discovery on January 17, 2021. KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/GETTY The underside of a wooden sarcophagus discovered at Saqqara. KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/GETTY Colored coffins from Saqqara on display October 3, 2020.
PoliticsReutersAppealing to 'kind angels' China strikes optimistic tone with Biden administration
China struck an optimistic tone toward President Joe Biden's new administration on Thursday, saying "kind angels can triumph over evil forces" and playing down early irritants as the result of an atmosphere poisoned by Donald Trump's term in office. Bilateral relations worsened dramatically during Trump's tenure. Biden, who took office on Wednesday, is expected to maintain pressure on Beijing but with a more traditional and multilateral approach.
HealthINSIDERDermatologists debunk 9 skincare myths and reveal how to get and keep healthy-looking skin
Dermatologists debunk nine skincare myths and offer advice on how to have healthy skin without falling for trendy, pseudoscience. It's important to remember that genetics play a large role in your skin's overall texture and appearance. The same skincare routine isn't for everyone, and it may take some trial and error to determine what's right for you.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderSen. Bernie Sanders says Democrats don't need GOP support to approve $2,000 stimulus checks and cancel student debt
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont wrote an opinion column this week pushing for Democrats to implement a bold economic agenda. Now that the Democratic Party has full control over Congress, Sanders argues they can use a tool called reconciliation, which requires only a simple majority in the Senate to pass bills. Among the key measures Sanders urges the Senate to pass are $2,000 direct payments to Americans and raising the minimum wage to $15.
“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.”