U.S.NBC NewsWoman arrested at inauguration checkpoint in D.C. said she was cabinet member, police say
A woman pretending to be “part of the presidential cabinet” was arrested at an inauguration checkpoint in Washington, D.C., on Saturday morning. Linda Magovern, 63, was charged with impersonation of a law enforcement officer, failure to obey and fleeing a law enforcement officer after she presented herself at the checkpoint while in a car, NBC Washington reports. Magovern displayed “a round metallic object later identified as a Military Police Challenge Coin,” and said she was part of law enforcement, according to a police report.
PoliticsThe IndependentKayleigh McEnany leaves White House after final two-minute press briefing following deadly Capitol riot
Donald Trump's press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has packed up her office at the White House, days before president-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office, though she is expected to remain in the role until the president's term ends on 20 January. The press secretary took no questions from the reporters in the room. Following a career in right-wing cable news commentary, Ms McEnany was named the Republican National Committee's national spokesperson in August 2017 before joining the Trump campaign as its national press secretary in 2019.
ScienceThe TelegraphColombia's rapidly breeding 'cocaine hippos' must be stopped, scientists say
Scientists forecast that the number of hippos will swell to almost 1,500 by 2040. They conclude, that at that point, environmental impacts will be irreversible and numbers impossible to control. Nobody likes the idea of shooting a hippo, but we have to accept that no other strategy is going to work,” ecologist Nataly Castelblanco-Martínez told The Telegraph.
HealthThe WeekIsrael may be starting to show 'herd effects' of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, expert suggests
Israel has vaccinated at least 25 percent of its population against the coronavirus so far, which leads the world and makes it "the country to country watch for herd effects from" the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, says infectious disease expert David Fishman. Recently, the case rate in Israel appears to have declined sharply, and while there could be a few reasons for that, it's possible the vaccination effort is beginning to play a role. One study from Clalit that was published last week reports that 14 days after receiving the first Pfizer-BioNTech shot, infection rates among 200,000 Israelis older than 60 fell 33 percent among those vaccinated compared to 200,000 from the same demogra...
CelebrityTheGrioMAGA protester punched by Black woman security guard fired by UMass Hospital
On January 5th, Therese Duke and a group of pro-Trump protesters that included other family members were filmed harassing Ashanti Smith, a security guard working at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington D.C. After Duke made a failed attempt to grab Smith's phone out of her hand, the woman proceeded to punch Duke in the face once, to dissuade her. Following the incident, her very liberal 18-year-old daughter Helena Duke exposed her on social media. Hi mom remember the time you told me I shouldn't go to BLM protests bc they could get violent…this you?
PoliticsNBC NewsIncoming Biden administration to migrant caravan: Don't come, you won't get in immediately
As thousands of Honduran migrants make their way to the U.S. border, the incoming Biden administration, just days from taking office, has a message: Don't come now. President-elect Joe Biden has promised an end to the strict immigration policies of the Trump administration, which focused on building a border wall and restricting eligibility for asylum. If would-be emigrants from Central America perceive that now is the time to travel to the U.S., the southern border could quickly be overwhelmed before systems are put in place to handle the influx.
HealthThe IndependentFauci: Two more Covid vaccines just ‘weeks’ away from US distribution
Two more Covid vaccine candidates are likely just around the corner, a development that would provide a much-needed boost to the US programme to vaccinate millions of its citizens, Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, has said. A pair of vaccines from the drugmakers AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson have wrapped up their clinical trials and could be cleared for use in the US within “a few weeks” pending the government review process, Dr Fauci said in an interview on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday. The drug companies' own safety monitoring boards will first need to ensure the data from their clinical trials is sound and proves they have a safe, effective vaccine.
HealthThe TelegraphAlmost a third of recovered Covid patients return to hospital in five months and one in eight die
Almost a third of recovered Covid patients will end up back in hospital within five months and one in eight will die, alarming new figures have shown. Research by Leicester University and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found there is a devastating long-term toll on survivors of severe coronavirus, with many people developing heart problems, diabetes and chronic liver and kidney conditions. Out of 47,780 people who were discharged from hospital in the first wave, 29.4 per cent were readmitted to hospital within 140 days, and 12.3 per cent of the total died.
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Gov. Hutchinson: Trump misled followers into believing election was rigged, resulted in attack on Capitol
Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark. joins Chris Wallace on 'Fox News Sunday.
PoliticsThe WeekTrump reportedly began 'choreographing' premature victory speech weeks before election
President Trump is known for going off script, but his premature presidential election victory declaration in the early hours of the morning on Nov. 4 wasn't a completely spur-of-the-moment decision, Axios' Jonathan Swan reports. In the first installment of a reported series on Trump's final two months in office, Swan writes that Trump began "choreographing election night in earnest" during the second week of October following a "toxic" debate with President-elect Joe Biden on Sept. 29 and a bout with COVID-19 that led to his hospitalization. At that point, Trump's internal poll numbers had reportedly taken a tumble, Swan notes.
WorldAssociated PressOfficial: 2 insider attackers kill 12 Afghan militiamen
At least two members of an Afghan militia opened fire on their fellow militiamen in the western Herat province, killing 12, in what provincial police on Saturday described as an insider attack. Herat police spokesman Abdul Ahad Walizada said the attackers fled with the slain militiamen's weapons and ammunition, adding that Afghan government forces had regained control of the area. A Taliban spokesman Yousaf Ahmadi in a tweet claimed responsibility for the insider attack, which took place late Friday.
PoliticsINSIDERBiden's incoming chief of staff says the administration is prepared to tackle the 'huge mess' it's inheriting in COVID-19 vaccine rollout
Incoming chief of staff Ronald Klain told CNN's Jake Tapper the Biden administration is inheriting a 'huge mess' from the Trump team when it comes to the vaccine rollout. Klain said the Biden administration has a plan to fix it and speed up the delivery of the vaccine. Incoming White House chief of staff Ronald Klain said Sunday President-elect Joe Biden's administration is gearing up to address the "huge mess" it is inheriting from the Trump administration regarding the coronavirus vaccine rollout.
U.S.The Guardian'I had no qualms': The people turning in loved ones for the Capitol attack
When Alison Lopez discovered her uncle's sister had been part of the mob that breached the Capitol doors on 6 January, she immediately reported her to the FBI. Lopez found out about her in-law's participation when the woman in question called her aunt from inside the Capitol to brag about “taking back the election”. In the week after the attacks on the Capitol, there has been a concerted effort to “unmask” rioters online, with self-styled detectives investigating who's who in videos and photos posted from the attack.
U.S.CBS NewsArmed capitol rallies "will continue" as planned, Boogaloo group member says
A group that has been planning since November to have armed rallies in Washington, D.C., as well as state capitols, intends to carry out its events Sunday, despite an unprecedented effort to secure the Capitol. In the days since supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in a violent riot that left five dead, officials have installed a massive security apparatus around the complex, where President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in on January 20. The FBI warned law enforcement this week about a group calling for its supporters to come to Washington, D.C., and state capitols armed at their "personal discretion."
U.S.Business InsiderThe Florida data scientist who claims she was fired by the health department for refusing to alter COVID-19 data said she'll turn herself into police after a warrant was issued for her arrest
Rebekah Jones, the Florida data scientist, last year fired by the Department of Health, said Saturday she would turn herself in to authorities Sunday after they last week issued a warrant for her arrest. Jones, who worked on the state's COVID-19 dashboard, was fired in May after she said she refused to alter data related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the state. Florida authorities in December executed a warrant on her property, seizing computers, phones, and external storage drives after she continued to publish Florida's COVID-19 data through her own dashboard.
U.S.NBC NewsOff the grid, heavily armed and radicalized: He's a law enforcement nightmare
These are the people who keep law enforcement up at night,” said Clint Van Zandt, a former FBI criminal profiler and an NBC News analyst. I used to go to bed thinking, 'Did I do everything I could? Have I looked for this?
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump news: McEnany departs White House as McConnell calls impeachment ‘vote of conscience’
President Donald Trump is said to be planning a final trip on Air Force One to Mar-a-Lago during the inauguration, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly discusses impeachment with colleagues as the administration ends in history-making ignominy. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who entered the role in April 2020, joined a growing list of administration officials who left the president before his term officially ended. The president's top economic adviser Larry Kudlow has criticised his boss in The Wall Street Journal over his response to the deadly insurrection at the Capitol.
HealthNBC NewsFauci: Weeks, not months before new vaccines are submitted for approval
Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nation's foremost public health experts, said Sunday that the U.S. is “weeks away, not months away” from considering the approval of new coronavirus vaccines. In an interview on NBC News' "Meet the Press," Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who will be staying on as President-elect Joe Biden's chief science adviser, said he was optimistic that the vaccine candidates being made by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca can be fully evaluated soon. "I would imagine within a period of a week or so, or at the most, a couple of weeks, they're going to be getting their data together and showing it to the FDA,” Fauci said of the two pharmaceutical companies.
U.S.INSIDERPolice say Oregon man who stole a car with a child in the backseat came back and 'lectured' the mom about parenting
A carjacker in Beaverton, Oregon returned a child to their mother after realizing they were in the backseat of the car he was stealing. "He actually lectured the mother for leaving the child in the car and threatened to call the police on her," Beaverton police spokesman Officer Matt Henderson told the Oregonian. The carjacking took place outside of a grocery store in Beaverton, Oregon on Saturday when the mom left the car running with the child in the backseat, local authorities said.
WorldBusiness InsiderEvery single passenger on board 2 international flights to Canada informed that they were potentially exposed to COVID-19
All passengers on board two Air Transat flights from Haiti to Montreal have potentially been exposed to COVID-19, the Toronto Sun reported. Passengers seated in "all rows" have been notified by the Canadian government's exposure tracking system that they need to monitor their symptoms. The Canadian government announced on January 7 that a negative coronavirus test is required to fly.
U.S.INSIDERFederal authorities arrest the mother of Tennessee man who was pictured holding plastic restraints during Capitol riots
The mother of the man who was pictured with plastic zip-tie restraints during the Capitol riots was arrested and charged by the FBI. Lis Eisenhart was arrested in Nashville on Saturday. According to an affidavit, footage from the riot revealed that both Eisenhart and Munchel appeared to be "holding flex cuffs in each of their hands" while following a violent mob who were chasing two Capitol police officers during the siege.
PoliticsNBC NewsPoll: Trump approval remains stable, Republicans unmoved after Capitol violence
Donald Trump is the only president in U.S. history to be impeached twice — this time for his role in inciting a deadly assault on the Capitol by his supporters — but he is still poised to leave office with a job approval rating that is fairly typical of his entire time in office. A new NBC News poll found that 43 percent of voters nationwide gave Trump a positive job approval rating, just barely down from 45 percent who said the same before the November election and the 44 percent who approved of his performance shortly after he took office in 2017. The same poll found that 35 percent of voters — including 74 percent of Republicans but just 30 percent of independents and 3 percent of Democrats — believe that President-elect Joe Biden did not win the 2020 election legitimately.
U.S.Business InsiderUSPS says it's removing mailboxes and suspending mail collection in several major cities ahead of Biden's inauguration
The US Postal Service will remove some mailboxes and halt collection in several major cities as a safety measure ahead of next week's presidential inauguration. States and cities across the country are expecting unrest in the days leading up to January 20. The US Postal Services said it will remove mailboxes in several major cities as a security measure ahead of Joe Biden's Inauguration next week.
U.S.INSIDERA waitress at an Orlando restaurant used a secret sign to help rescue a boy suspected of abuse after noticing his parents weren't giving him any food
Flavaine Carvalho became suspicious of a family that she was serving at the Mrs. Potato Restaurant in Orlando, Florida, on New Years Day when she noticed they weren't giving their son any food. After noticing other signs of abuse, including a massive scratch on the boy's forehead, the waitress flashed signs behind the parents' back that read "are you ok?" and "do you need help"? After multiple attempts, the boy indicated to Carvalho that he needed help, which prompted her to call the police.
PoliticsUSA TODAYFact check: Trump loses several perks only if there's an impeachment conviction by Jan. 20
The claim: If President Trump is impeached again, he loses many post-presidency perks On Jan. 13, President Donald Trump became the only U.S. president to be impeached twice. Even before that, Americans took to social media to deliberate what this could mean for Trump after he leaves office Jan. 20. For those wondering if it's worth impeaching him this time, it means he: 1) loses his 200k+ pension for the rest of his life, 2) loses his 1 million dollar/year travel allowance, 3) loses lifetime full secret service detail, 4) loses his ability to run in 2024,” Ben Costiloe tweeted Jan. 8.
“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.”