
The Trump administration's director of national intelligence on Sunday refused to acknowledge a Biden administration, the latest denial as the president and his allies launch increasingly desperate bids to stall or overturn the transfer of power. “Well, these election issues, we'll see who's in what seats and whether there is a Biden administration,” said DNI director John Ratcliffe, after Fox News host Maria Bartiromo asked what the official thought of Mr Biden's cabinet picks and their approach to China. During the interview, Mr Ratcliffe also cast doubt on the use of mail-in voting, long considered safe and used by the president himself this election, and further echoed conspiracies from the president and his allies.

Mellissa Carone, a witness in the Trump campaign's election fraud lawsuit in Michigan, was recently on probation for harassing her fiance's ex-wife, it emerged on Saturday. Over two years, Carone harassed the woman and sent her tapes of herself having sex with the boyfriend. Carone told the Huffington Post that it was her fiance who had really sent the sex tapes, and she agreed to a plea deal to avoid further court appearances.

A California man punched a 350-pound bear in the face after it began attacking his dog Buddy. Kaleb Benham rescued his pitbull from the bear attack outside their home in Grass Valley, California the day before Thanksgiving. "I just ran down there, plowed into the bear, tackled it and grabbed it by the throat and started hitting it in the face and the eye until it let go," he told CBS Sacramento.

To the editor: As the COVID-19 pandemic surges to a climax that dominates the remaining weeks of his presidency, Donald Trump's behavior has become increasingly egregious as he perpetuates a leadership vacuum with a country that is essentially on a war footing. President Trump might have been able to salvage his reputation by ending his term with a show of leadership and interest with regard to vaccines. Instead, Trump has been completely disconnected from the reality of an out-of-control pandemic and is consumed with the futility of overturning the election, ensuring that as Jan. 20 approaches, his scarred legacy becomes increasingly more embedded.

A Texas medical examiner's preliminary findings say a man found dead Thursday was killed by a wild animal, possibly a mountain lion, but state wildlife officials are disputing that report. Christopher Allen Whiteley's body was found in a wooded area by deputies a day after he vanished near Lipan, 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth, according to the Hood County Sheriff's office. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner said Whiteley, 28, died from a wild animal attack, according to the sheriff's office. On Sunday, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said its biologists, Texas Game Wardens, and subject matter experts inspected the scene and found no evidence of a predatory attack by a mountain lion.

China - this top customer - has bought close to 40% of Australia's wine exports in the past few years. In 2019, China bought more bottled wine from Australia than it did from France. After an intense few years of marketing and trade deals, this love affair with Australian winegrowers was fizzing along nicely.
The killing of Iran's top nuclear scientist last month was carried out remotely with artificial intelligence and a machine gun equipped with a "satellite-controlled smart system," Tasnim News Agency in Iran quoted a senior commander as saying.

President Donald Trump says his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani has tested positive for the coronavirus, making him the latest in Trump's inner circle to contract the disease that is now surging across the U.S. Giuliani was exhibiting some symptoms and was admitted Sunday to Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly. The 76-year-old former New York mayor has traveled extensively to battleground states in an effort to help Trump subvert his election loss to Joe Biden. On numerous occasions he has met with officials for hours at a time without wearing a mask.

The devastating Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor began at 7:48 a.m. on December 7, 1941, and it drew America into World War II. December 7, 1941, began as a perfect Sunday morning for the troops serving the US fleet at Pearl Harbor. There, like a string of pearls draped across the docks and waterfront, was the majority of America's naval might.

Before 2020 comes to a close, Jupiter and Saturn will be so close that they will appear to form a "double planet." The great conjunction, as the planetary alignment has come to be known, hasn't occurred in nearly 800 years. When their orbits align every 20 years, Jupiter and Saturn get extremely close to one another.

Take your home garden to the next level this winter Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

The storm is expected to unleash snow, rain and strong winds across parts of the central United States, but the exact strength and track of the storm will determine how intense conditions become and which areas will get a dose of wintry weather. Travel disruptions are possible with the potential for accumulating snow in cities such as Minneapolis; Omaha, Nebraska; Des Moines, Iowa; Chicago and Milwaukee, depending on the path and intensity of the system. "At this early stage, it seems, regardless of the storm track and strength, areas from northern Wisconsin to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan are most likely to receive significant snow," AccuWeather Meteorologist Matt Benz said.

Weeks before her family turns the White House over to President-elect Joe Biden, Melania Trump announced Monday that a new tennis pavilion on the south grounds is ready for action. The project included sprucing up an existing tennis court and children's garden, in addition to construction of the pavilion, which replaces a smaller structure. The first lady's office said the pavilion's design was inspired by the architecture of the White House, especially the East and West Wings.

President-elect Joe Biden's instinct is to look for common ground, so it will be difficult for him not to try for bipartisanship in the short-term. But the politics of conviction, not the politics of compromise, have best chance of bringing about a fruitful cross-party consensus on the most important international issues, writes Dr. Peter Harris, a professor of political science at Colorado State University. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

When she heard a knock on the door, Colin Monahan figured it had to be about the new garage. Monahan and her wife, Shannon Lastowski Monahan, had just finished dinner. Colin had just finished installing a new, prefabricated garage on their property, painted in a shade of brown to complement the waving grasses of the surrounding valley.

Donald Trump and his relatives are being sued by a group of tenants in New York City, who accuse them of a decades-long scheme to illicitly push up their rents. The new lawsuit, filed on 2 October in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, has been filed by 20 people who live or lived in more than 30 apartment complexes across Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island which previously belonged to the president's father, Fred Trump. The buildings were sold in 2004, but the plaintiffs claim that the fraudulent scheme began in 1992 and the artificially-raised rents carried on after the sale.

It's been a month since major news organizations projected President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election, but 83% of Republicans don't believe the reporting, according to a new Gallup poll. The poll said 99% of Democrats, 64% of independents, and 17% of Republicans characterized the news reports as "accurate." The vast majority of Republicans — 89% — did not believe the electoral process worked well, while 92% of Democrats said it did.

Kamala Harris has not publicly backed farmers' protest A fake screenshot of US vice-president-elect Kamala Harris apparently extending support to the protesting farmers in India has been shared on Facebook. It shows a tweet - seemingly under her Twitter handle - alongside text which reads: "We are shocked to see the Indian government's suppression of farmers protesting new laws which will endanger their livelihood. Instead of using water cannons and tear gas, the Indian government needs to engage in open dialogue with farmers."

President Trump has apparently reached a point in his relationship with Fox News where he'd rather watch NFL players kneel in protest during the national anthem than his formerly favorite channel. The president has been going through an increasingly acrimonious breakup with the network, which apparently began in earnest when it projected he had lost Arizona on election night last month. Since then, Trump has frequently criticized Fox's news coverage — though he's continued to praise specific hosts — and has championed outlets like One America News Network and Newsmax, whose coverage of his presidency is more flattering, in its stead.

A head start helped -- over a decade of behind-the-scenes research that had new vaccine technology poised for a challenge just as the coronavirus erupted. “The speed is a reflection of years of work that went before,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, told The Associated Press. Creating vaccines and having results from rigorous studies less than a year after the world discovered a never-before-seen disease is incredible, cutting years off normal development.

The Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff debated an empty podium Sunday night in Atlanta after his opponent, Republican Sen. David Perdue, declined to participate. Ossoff is challenging Perdue in one of two US Senate runoffs, set to take place in Georgia on January 5, that will determine control of the US Senate. After sharing what he would've asked Perdue had Perdue appeared at the debate, Ossoff said, "If the senator were not too much of a coward to debate in public, then that's what I'd ask him."
Video shared online shows police moving in on the protesters and hitting them with batons. One protester was reportedly arrested. Protesters say they are opposed to Garcetti, who co-chaired Biden's campaign, based on his handling of issues such as homelessness and the COVID-19 pandemic.

An influential Saudi prince launched a bitter attack on Israel at a regional conference Sunday, drawing retorts from the Jewish state's foreign minister who addressed the gathering virtually. The row erupted months after the UAE and Bahrain broke decades of Arab consensus by normalising ties with Israel, a move condemned as a "stab in the back" by Palestinians. Prince Turki al-Faisal, a Saudi former intelligence chief who is said to be close to the country's top leadership, reiterated strong support for the Palestinian cause in a fiery presentation to the Manama Dialogue security forum.

The sanitation worker who found the body of Houston influencer Alexis Sharkey said he can't stop thinking about the moment he discovered the deceased 26-year-old in Houston. "It's been playing back in my head every day," John Richardso of the City of Houston Solid Waste told local outlet KHOU. Sharkey, a budding Instagram influencer, was found dead the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

We'll help you become a retro decor grandmaster Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest


“The prospect of a 2024 run is politically significant. It’s also a complete fiction.”
“His flirtation with a 2024 bid ensures he’ll remain the dominant force in the Republican Party.”
“He shouldn’t run for president again. There’s a better job and life for him on the horizon.”
“Trump is in for years of scandals and humiliations…He’ll have to devote much of his energy to trying to stay out of prison.”
“If Trump himself passes on the opportunity, his two very political children could also potentially pick up the mantle.”