PoliticsThe IndependentRudy Giuliani says election case losses help Trump campaign’s strategy to get ‘expeditiously’ to Supreme Court
Rudy Giuliani has said he is “thankful” to the judge who dismissed the Trump campaign's post-election lawsuit in Pennsylvania, as it helps them to get “expeditiously” to the Supreme Court. On Saturday, a federal judge in Pennsylvania dismissed a lawsuit by the Trump campaign that attempted to block the certification of votes in the state. “This Court has been presented with strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations, unpaid in the operative complaint and unsupported by evidence,” judge Matthew Brann wrote in his dismissal on Saturday.
PoliticsAssociated PressAP Explains: The FBI is investigating Texas AG Ken Paxton
The FBI recently opened a criminal investigation into claims that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton abused his office to benefit a wealthy donor. The probe, which was confirmed to The Associated Press by two people with knowledge of it who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, marks an escalation in the latest controversy to surround the high-profile Republican, who has spent years under indictment on unrelated state securities fraud charges. The FBI's interest in Texas' top law enforcement official arose from a rebellion by Paxton's top deputies, who accused him of breaking the law by using his office to help a wealthy donor with a troubled real estate empire who also hired a woman with whom the married Paxton allegedly had an affair.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderRepublican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a candidate in the Georgia runoff, tested positive for COVID-19 and is quarantining
Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday and is quarantining, her campaign announced in a statement on Saturday. The statement said Loeffler took a test on Saturday that came back inconclusive and is waiting on more test results. The campaign said she has no symptoms and notified close contacts.
WorldBBCArnab Goswami: India's most loved and loathed TV anchor
But for nearly a week, the Republic network ran programmes claiming the victims' Hindu identity was a motive for the crime, echoing an unfounded theory floated by some members of India's governing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). This, critics say, is the real danger of Mr Goswami's brash, cacophonic and often partisan coverage. They believe viewers of his network are being drip-fed false information, divisive and inflammatory views, and propaganda for the Hindu nationalist BJP - its six years in power have been linked to the increased marginalisation of India's 200 million Muslims.
PoliticsThe WeekReporter Carl Bernstein names 21 GOP senators who 'repeatedly expressed extreme contempt for Trump'
Political reporters in Washington, D.C., have been saying a lot of Republicans in Congress privately despise President Trump, but few have publicly criticized him — and likewise, few have publicly acknowledged his defeat to President-elect Joe Biden. Carl Bernstein, one half of the journalistic duo that uncovered President Richard Nixon's Watergate scandal, named 21 names on Sunday night, saying that in private conversations, these Republicans senators "have repeatedly expressed extreme contempt for Trump" and his fitness to be president. The 21 senators he named include names you would expect, but also some surprises, like Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.
WorldAssociated PressReports: Israeli PM flew to Saudi Arabia, met crown prince
Israeli media reported Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Saudi Arabia for a clandestine meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which would mark the first known encounter between senior Israeli and Saudi officials. The reported meeting was the latest move by the Trump Administration to promote normalized ties between Israel and the broader Arab world and reflected the shared concern of all three nations about Iran. The Israeli news site Walla, followed quickly by other Hebrew-language media, cited an unnamed Israeli official as saying that Netanyahu and Yossi Cohen, head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, flew to the Saudi city of Neom on Sunday, where they met with the crown prince.
WorldReutersGermany may start COVID-19 vaccine programme in December: health minister
Germany could start administering shots of COVID-19 vaccines as soon as next month, Health Minister Jens Spahn was quoted as saying. "There is reason to be optimistic that there will be approval for a vaccine in Europe this year," Spahn said in an interview with publishing group RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland. Spahn said that he had asked Germany's federal states to have their vaccination centres ready by mid-December and that this was going well.
PoliticsThe IndependentRepublican senator urges Trump to accept defeat and condemns ‘unprecedented’ attempt to overturn election result
A Republican senator has urged Donald Trump accept defeat in the US presidential election and begin the transition process, condemning his campaign's “unprecedented” attempt to overturn Joe Biden's victory. Alaska's Lisa Murkowski took to Twitter to say Joe Biden had beaten Mr Trump fairly and told the president it was time to give up his legal team's efforts to stay in power. Senator Murkowski is among just a handful of Republican politicians to recognise Mr Biden's win.
WorldAssociated PressLibya’s rivals meet to discuss transitional government
Libya's rivals on Monday began a second round of talks on a mechanism to choose a transitional government that would lead the conflict-stricken country to elections in December next year, the United Nations said. U.N. acting envoy for Libya Stephanie Williams headed the online meeting of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum a week after the first round of the talks in Tunisia failed to name an executive authority. The U.N. mission in Libya said last week it was investigating allegations of bribes paid for some participants in the forum to vote for certain names to be part of the transitional government.
WorldThe Daily BeastJFK Conspiracy Theory Is Debunked in Mexico
Most conspiracy theories surrounding President John F. Kennedy's assassination have been disproven. Kennedy was not killed by a gas-powered device triggered by aliens or by actor Woody Harrelson's dad. Several JFK assassination experts, like the former New York Times investigative reporter Phillip Shenon, see Mexico as the best place to find answers regarding a possible conspiracy and who was behind it.
WorldReutersIndia says local COVID-19 vaccine final trials could end within two months
India's health minister said on Sunday a locally-developed COVID-19 vaccine candidate could complete its final trials in a month or two, raising hopes for a rapid roll-out in a country with the world's second highest number of infections. The state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and privately-held Bharat Biotech this month started third-stage trials of COVAXIN, in a process that would involve 26,000 volunteers. It is the most advanced Indian experimental vaccine.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderRepublican Gov. Larry Hogan is 'embarrassed that more people in the party aren't speaking up' against Trump's refusal to concede
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said on Sunday that he's "embarrassed" members of his own party are staying silent while President Donald Trump continues to refuse to concede to Joe Biden. "It's time for them to stop the nonsense," Hogan said on CNN's "State of the Union." "It just gets more bizarre every single day, and frankly, I'm embarrassed that more people in the party aren't speaking up."
WorldAssociated PressThousands march in Taiwan against US pork imports
Thousands of people marched in Taipei's streets on Sunday demanding the reversal of a decision to allow U.S. pork imports into Taiwan, alleging food safety issues. President Tsai Ing-wen's administration lifted a long-standing ban on U.S. pork and beef imports in August, in a move seen as one of the first steps toward possibly negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the U.S. The ban is due to be lifted in January. The new policy allows imports of pork with acceptable residues of ractopamine, a drug added into animal feed that promotes the growth of lean meat that some farmers use in pigs.
- WorldReuters Videos
Hong Kong activists detained for illegal assembly
Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong was taken into custody on Monday after pleading guilty to charges of illegal assembly last year, which could land him in jail for up to three years if he's convicted at a later date. While Wong was taken away by courtroom staff, he shouted "Everyone hang in there!" The assembly in question took place near the city's police headquarters in June last year.
WorldAssociated PressIndonesia's confirmed coronavirus cases exceed half million
Indonesia's confirmed COVID-19 cases breached half a million on Monday as the government of the world's fourth most populous nation scrambled to procure vaccines to help it win the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Indonesia's Health Ministry announced that new daily infections rose by 4,442 to bring the country's total to 502,110, the most in Southeast Asia and second in Asia only to India's 9.1 million confirmed cases. President Joko Widodo said at a Cabinet meeting that his administration is preparing mass vaccinations.
PoliticsReutersFactbox: Trump suffers major defeat in legal battle to overturn the election, but presses on
On Saturday, a federal judge in Pennsylvania said Trump's challenge to mail-in ballots in the state had been "haphazardly stitched together" like "Frankenstein's monster." Several Trump campaign lawsuits have been dismissed, and legal experts said the remaining cases do not give Trump, a Republican, a viable path to overturning the election results. The Trump campaign sued on Nov. 9 to prevent Biden, a Democrat, from being certified by election officials as the winner in Pennsylvania.
WorldThe Daily BeastMigrants Flee Climate Change Ravaged Central America as Record-Breaking Hurricanes Hit
The destruction left in the wake of the hurricanes highlight the impacts of human caused climate change, factors which are driving hundreds of thousands from Central America to seek to reach the United States. Northern and Eastern Guatemala saw intense heavy rains from the storms causing widespread flooding and catastrophic landslides. In one disaster following Eta, a landslide in province of Alta Verapaz buried the Indigenous Maya Poqomchi' village of Quejá, leaving over 100 under mud and debris.
WorldBBCPakistan opposition seeks end to Imran Khan's 'puppet' rule
Opposition parties in Pakistan are keeping up the pressure on Imran Khan, holding a series of mass protests against his government. The PM, who came to power on an anti-corruption platform, has said the campaign is aimed at blackmailing him to drop corruption cases against opposition leaders. Pakistan's powerful military denies interfering in politics and Mr Khan rejects claims it helped him win.
BusinessAssociated PressGM to recall 7M vehicles globally to replace Takata air bags
The U.S. is making General Motors recall and repair nearly 6 million big pickup trucks and SUVs equipped with potentially dangerous Takata air bag inflators. The decision announced Monday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will cost the automaker an estimated $1.2 billion, about one third of its net income this year. GM says it will not fight the recall, and it will repair another 1 million vehicles worldwide.
PoliticsReutersTrump campaign parts ways with Powell after vote-switching claim
President Donald Trump's election campaign distanced itself on Sunday from Sidney Powell, a lawyer who claimed without evidence at a news conference last week that electronic voting systems had switched millions of ballots to President-elect Joe Biden. "Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own," Trump campaign lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis said in a statement. "She is not a member of the Trump Legal Team."
PoliticsThe Independent‘Abandoning our people’: AOC attacks Mitch McConnell for granting Senate recess without passing coronavirus relief bill
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has criticised Mitch McConnell for granting a Senate recess without reaching an agreement on the coronavirus relief bill. Democratic Representative Ocasio-Cortez said on Friday during a House hearing that Mr McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, was “abandoning our people”. "Just a day or two ago, the Senate majority leader, Senator McConnell, decided to break the Senate," Ms Ocasio-Cortez said.
HealthBBCCovid: 'Entire families in hospital after coronavirus surge'
On 14 October, Farah Husain, a critical care specialist in Delhi's largest Covid-19 hospital, heaved a sigh of relief. Doctors fear that Delhi may well become the epicentre of India's first wave of winter infections. Delhi is now recording more cases a day than any state.
WorldAssociated PressChina tests millions after coronavirus flare-ups in 3 cities
Chinese authorities are testing millions of people, imposing lockdowns and shutting down schools after multiple locally transmitted coronavirus cases were discovered in three cities across the country last week. As temperatures drop, large-scale measures are being enacted in the cities of Tianjin, Shanghai and Manzhouli, despite the low number of new cases compared to the United States and other countries that are seeing new waves of infections. Many experts and government officials have warned that the chance of the virus spreading will be greater during the cold weather.
PoliticsUSA TODAYElection 2020 live updates: Trump legal team distances itself from lawyer Sidney Powell, Biden taps Blinken as secretary of state
USA TODAY'S coverage of the 2020 election continues this week as states begin to certify their vote counts after President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the hard-fought presidential race. President Donald Trump has yet to concede the race as Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris prepare to take office in January. Reps. Bryan Steil, R-Wisc., and Joe Courtney, D-Conn., announced separately Sunday that they had tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the list of members of Congress who have contracted the virus to nearly three dozen.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderFox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera suggests naming COVID-19 vaccine 'The Trump' to soften his election blow
Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera has suggested naming the COVID-19 vaccine 'The Trump' to soften his election blow. He said: With the world so divided and everybody telling him he's got to give up and it's time to leave and time to transition and all the rest of it, why not name the vaccine 'The Trump? The comments came after the president falsely took credit for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, which was found to be 95% effective.
“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.”