U.S.Miami Herald80-year-old woman’s ex son-in-law charged with repeatedly raping her, taking pictures
Tuesday, almost five months after the woman first told police about the alleged rapes, Juan Ivan Granda, 57, was taken into custody by Hialeah police and charged with five counts of sexual battery on an incapacitated victim and false imprisonment. Granda, the police report said lived at his former mother-in-law's home despite being separated from his wife. The police report said when the woman first told her daughter, she had a hard time believing the story.
WorldReutersParliamentarians from 18 countries urge HK to intervene in China detention case
More than 150 parliamentarians from 18 countries have called on Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam to intervene to ensure justice for 12 people, the youngest of who is 16, who have been detained in mainland China while trying to flee the city by boat. The 12, who had all faced charges in Hong Kong linked to anti-government protests, have been held virtually incommunicado in a mainland prison since they were detained at sea on Aug. 23, apparently while trying to reach the democratic island of Taiwan. Chinese authorities said last week members of the group face charges of illegal border crossing and organising an illicit border crossing, which could carry a sentence of up to seven years in jail.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderRepublican Sen. David Perdue's stock portfolio shows he'd occasionally make at least 20 trades in one day, per a New York Times investigation
Republican Sen. David Perdue of Georgia has at times made at least 20 stock transactions in just one day, according to a New York Times analysis on Wednesday. Perdue made a total of 2,596 trades during his first term in office, the report revealed. The senator has faced public scrutiny and been under federal investigation for potential conflicts of interest while stock trading as a member of Congress.
U.S.INSIDERCalifornia officials told residents to stay home for the holidays but held parties and went to restaurants themselves
California Governor Gavin Newsom, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, and LA County Board of Supervisors member Sheila Kuehl attended parties or ate at restaurants in the last month. Newsom, Liccardo, and Kuehl have apologized for skirting the rules. California officials urged residents to stay home to stop the spread of COVID-19, all while attending parties and going to restaurants themselves, according to reports.
PoliticsThe WeekTrump gives 45-minute speech about voter fraud — which 1 analyst says he'd be making in court if it had any merit
President Trump has combined dozens of his favorite conspiracy theories about the 2020 election into one incredibly debunked Facebook video. In a 45-minute video posted Wednesday, Trump repeated debunked lie after lie about the 2020 election, including claims that Dominion voting machines were rigged; Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday that the Department of Homeland Security had looked into claims about the machines changing ballots and found no evidence. Trump also falsely suggested mail-in ballots were somehow rigged against him, despite it being known before the election that mail-in ballots would tend to go for President-elect Joe Biden, and that there have been no instances of widespread fraud found since.
U.S.Associated PressCosby's sex assault conviction goes before high-level court
Pennsylvania's highest court questioned Tuesday whether Bill Cosby's alleged history of intoxicating and sexually assaulting young women amounted to a signature crime pattern, given studies that show as many as half of all sexual assaults involve drugs or alcohol. Cosby, 83, hopes to overturn his 2018 sex assault conviction because the judge let prosecutors call five other accusers who said Cosby mistreated them the same way he did his victim, Andrea Constand. “That conduct you describe — the steps, the young women — there's literature that says that's common to 50% of these assaults — thousands of assaults — nationwide,” Chief Justice Thomas G. Saylor asked a prosecutor during oral arguments in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
WorldAssociated PressKey Hong Kong activists jailed over police HQ protest
Three prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activists were sentenced to prison Wednesday for a protest outside police headquarters as authorities stepped up a crackdown on opposition to tighten control by Beijing over the territory. The activists — Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam — are among more than 10,000 people who have been arrested since June 2019 on charges related to protests against a proposed extradition law that expanded to include demands for greater democracy. Beijing responded to the protests by imposing a sweeping national security law to crack down on dissent, which prompted more public opposition.
WorldReutersSaudi minister rejects Iranian accusation on scientist's killing
Saudi Arabia's minister of state for foreign affairs on Tuesday criticised Iran's foreign minister for implicating Riyadh in the killing of prominent Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Jubeir's remarks appeared to be a response to comments made on Monday by Mohammad Javad Zarif which suggested a covert meeting in Saudi Arabia between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu contributed to the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderOperation Warp Speed's top scientist predicts more than 100 million Americans could be immunized with coronavirus vaccines within the next 100 days
Moncef Slaoui, the top scientist advising the US government's Operation Warp Speed, predicted that more than 100 million Americans would be vaccinated against COVID-19 within the next 100 days. Slaoui said 20 million Americans should be immunized in December, then 30 million more in January and 50 million in February. By the end of February, "we will have potentially immunized 100 million people, which is really more or less the size of the significant at-risk population: the elderly, the healthcare workers, the first-line workers, people with comorbidities," Slaoui said.
LifestyleArchitectural Digest10 Remote Airbnbs As Stunning As They Are Secluded
From a private island to a tiny Vermont tree house Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsThe Week'Stop the Steal' rally asks Trump supporters not to vote in Georgia's Senate runoffs
Sidney Powell, a former lawyer for the Trump campaign who has since been disavowed, and high-profile lawyer Lin Wood, along with a bunch of other people falsely alleging the whole 2020 election was rigged, gathered Wednesday in Georgia for a so-called "Stop the Steal" rally. There, they brought up some old favorite Trump rally chants and election conspiracy theories, though with a decidedly non-GOP-approved twist. With Trump campaign flags flying, the scantily masked crowd was reminiscent of a rally for the outgoing president.
PoliticsBusiness Insider'This is shameful!': Fox News co-host goes off on Trump voter fraud claims as 'nonsense' and 'ridiculous' in heated exchange
The panel on Fox News' "The Five" got heated Wednesday evening when co-host Juan Williams went off on his colleagues who were entertaining President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated voter fraud claims. "Let me ask you something: Do you think the news division of Fox News isn't interested in every one of these [voter fraud allegations]?" Williams said before significant crosstalk ensued. Fox News has been in a bind of its own making now that Trump has turned on the network, with Williams' mini rant marking another instance of tensions among on-air talent.
- PoliticsFOX News Videos
Can a GOP presidential candidate win an election with mail-in voting?
Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale joins Martha MacCallum for an exclusive interview on 'The Story.
WorldBBCAgnes Chow: Hong Kong’s 'real Mulan' fighting for democracy
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow has been hailed as a hero by her supporters. But she is in custody awaiting sentencing on Wednesday on charges of unauthorised assembly and faces being jailed. Earlier she spoke to Lam Cho Wai from BBC Chinese about the pressure she feels under.
WorldAssociated PressIran's parliament approves bill to stop nuclear inspections
Iran's parliament on Tuesday approved a bill that would suspend U.N. inspections of its nuclear facilities and require the government to boost its uranium enrichment if European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal do not provide relief from oil and banking sanctions. The vote to approve the bill, which would also require approval by the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog, was a show of defiance after the killing of a prominent Iranian nuclear scientist last month. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on all nuclear policies.
WorldReutersWomen's movement sweeps Latin America to loosen abortion restrictions
Several weeks pregnant and about to start a job away from home, Lupita Ruiz had no doubts about wanting to end her pregnancy, despite knowing she could face jail time for having an abortion under a law in her state of Chiapas in southern Mexico. Five years later, lawmakers in Chiapas are set to consider an initiative to halt prosecutions of women who terminate their pregnancies, part of a movement sweeping Latin America to loosen some of the world's most restrictive abortion laws. Several out of more than 20 Latin American nations ban abortion outright, including El Salvador, which has sentenced some women to up to 40 years in prison.
PoliticsThe WeekTrump is reportedly 'livid' at Barr, has discussed terminating him
President Trump is so mad at Attorney General William Barr that a senior administration official told The Washington Post there's a chance Barr could soon be fired. Trump is "livid" for a multitude of reasons, including the fact that Barr told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he has not seen any voter fraud "on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election." Trump spent time on Wednesday complaining about Barr, officials familiar with the matter told the Post, and several people close to the president are working to convince Trump not to fire the attorney general.
- WorldAssociated Press
Activists see threat to territory for isolated Indigenous
Brazil's Indigenous affairs agency on Tuesday launched an expedition that activists fear could endanger a large protected area for isolated people in the Amazon region that has been targeted for development by ranchers, miners and other land-hungry interests. The mission went forward even though prosecutors in the city of Altamira this week warned the National Indian Foundation that officials could face legal sanctions unless they called off the expedition, which potentially could lead to decertification or reduction of the Ituna-Itata reserve. It's been at least 35 years — when military rule ended — since any designated Indigenous territory in Brazil has been eliminated or reduced in size.
WorldBBCCovid vaccine: How will we keep it cold enough?
The government hopes to start distributing the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine imminently. However, the vaccine needs to be kept at a temperature of about -70C. Most other vaccines do not need this, so how will this be made to work? How will it travel?
PoliticsBusiness InsiderBiden told this immigrant rights activist 'vote for Trump' in a blunt exchange. He voted for Biden but is ready to push him hard on immigration reform.
In November 2019, on the campaign trail in South Carolina, then-candidate Joe Biden was asked a question by immigrant rights activist Carlos Rojas Rodriguez and an immigrant community member. A tense back-and-forth ensued, with Rodriguez and Silvia criticizing the Obama administration's record on deportations and calling for a moratorium on deportations if Biden was elected. Biden disagreed and told Rodriguez, "You should go vote for Trump."
PoliticsThe Telegraph'Someone’s going to get killed': Georgia elections official urges Trump to rein in supporters
A top Georgia elections official on Tuesday lashed out angrily at the rhetoric surrounding the election and the threats of violence that have resulted, specifically calling on President Donald Trump to rein in his supporters. Gabriel Sterling is a Republican who oversaw the implementation of the state's new voting system. During a routine news conference at the state Capitol to provide an update on the recount of the presidential race requested by Mr Trump, Mr Sterling admonished the president and Georgia's two US senators, who are both locked in tight runoff races against Democrats and have called on GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to resign over claims that he mishandled the election.
ScienceAssociated PressChina spacecraft lands on moon to bring rocks back to Earth
A Chinese spacecraft sent to return lunar rocks to Earth collected its first samples Wednesday after landing on the moon, the government announced, adding to a string of successes for Beijing's increasingly ambitious space program. The Chang'e 5 probe touched down shortly after 11 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Tuesday after descending from an orbiter, the China National Space Administration said. The probe, launched Nov. 24 from the tropical southern island of Hainan, is the latest venture by a Chinese space program that sent its first astronaut into orbit in 2003, has a spacecraft en route to Mars and aims eventually to land a human on the moon.
WorldAssociated PressUN: 20,000 foreign fighters in Libya are a 'serious crisis'
The top U.N. official for Libya said Wednesday there are at least 20,000 foreign fighters and mercenaries in the war-torn nation, and warned of a “serious crisis” as weapons continue pouring into the North African country. “That is a shocking violation of Libyan sovereignty ... a blatant violation of the arms embargo,” U.N. acting envoy for Libya Stephanie Williams told an online meeting of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum. The 75-member forum is trying to get Libya's warring sides to agree on a mechanism that would establish a transitional administration to lead the country through presidential and parliamentary elections in December 2021.
CelebrityThe IndependentAlexis Sharkey: Husband of influencer found dead says he has been receiving death threats
The husband of Alexis Sharkey, the Instagram influencer who was found dead Saturday, has revealed he has been receiving death threats since the news of his wife's passing. Alexis, 26, who was living in Houston, Texas, with her husband Tom Sharkey, went missing Friday evening. Her body was discovered on the side of a Houston road a day later, with her mother, Stacy Robinault, confirming her death in a statement shared to Facebook Sunday evening.
PoliticsReutersSenate Republicans vetting COVID-19 relief that Trump would sign
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that he and his fellow Senate Republicans have begun considering COVID-19 economic relief provisions that President Donald Trump would be willing to sign into law later this month. "I think the one thing we all agree on, is that we don't have time for messaging games. We don't have time for lengthy negotiations," McConnell told reporters, saying that he has also received a proposal from Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
“This metastasizing debt crisis has had tremendous social costs. An entire generation has been set back.”
“It is not the government’s job to step in and rescue those who took on more debt than their future incomes would support.”
“Many student-borrowers need relief, but well-off borrowers who are thriving — thanks to their college degrees — do not.”
“It will stimulate the lagging economy. And though not everyone will directly benefit, the country as a whole will improve.”
“Canceling student debt would cost billions of dollars each year and would exacerbate, not lessen, economic inequalities.”