BusinessAssociated PressNovember consumer prices up 0.2% as energy costs rise
U.S. consumer prices edged up 0.2% in November as a rise in the cost of energy and a number of other goods offset a drop in food costs. The gain in the consumer price index followed a flat reading in October and matched the 0.2% September advance, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Overall prices are up a modest 1.2% over the past year while core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy, has increased 1.6% over the past 12 months.
WorldINSIDERA megachurch pastor in Florida told his parishioners not to take a COVID-19 vaccine and instead believe in 'divine immunity'
Guillermo Maldonado, the founding pastor of Miami's King Jesus International Ministry, made false claims about COVID-19 during a sermon on Sunday. A pastor at a Florida megachurch has encouraged his parishioners not to take the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available, and instead told them to "believe in divine immunity." Guillermo Maldonado, the founding pastor of Miami's King Jesus International Ministry, made the scientifically inaccurate comment during a sermon that was streamed on Facebook Live on Sunday.
U.S.Business InsiderFox News anchor scolds liberal guest host who accused the panel of not bringing up the US's record COVID-19 deaths until '43 minutes into the show'
On Fox News on Thursday, liberal guest host Marie Harf questioned why her fellow panelists weren't focusing more on the record COVID-19 daily deaths in the US. "We're 43 minutes into this show, and we haven't mentioned yet that 3,000 Americans died yesterday, more than on 9/11," Harf said, adding, "We cannot lose sight of the tragedy that is unfolding every single day in this country, largely because people want to go about life as normal." In response, Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner berated Harf: "Please, keep your judgment someplace where you know you can fact check it, because you can't see my heart."
BusinessThe WeekAirbnb's co-founder learns live on air that his net worth just doubled
Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky could use a bit of work on his poker face — though learning you've raised a few billion more dollars than expected is a reasonable excuse for breaking it. The home rental app, which Chesky launched along with Nathan Blecharczyk and Joe Gebbia, first started selling shares at $68 per piece when they began being traded Wednesday. Essentially, Chesky and the other co-founders' net worth was about to double as well, from about $3 billion to more than $6 billion, seeing as they all planned to retain around 10 percent of the company.
BusinessAssociated PressWatchdog raises possible Kushner link to $700M rescue loan
A congressional monitor of federal pandemic aid is raising the possibility of a link between President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and a $700 million relief loan to a struggling trucking company. Bharat Ramamurti, a Democratic member of the four-person Congressional Oversight Commission, raised the possible Kushner connection at a hearing Thursday, as panel members from both parties challenged the Treasury Department's decision to award the loan to YRC Worldwide. The taxpayer-funded loan was made on the grounds that the company's operations are critical for maintaining national security.
PoliticsReutersBiden says 'right moment' for Pentagon nominee Austin, amid concerns over recent Army service
President-elect Joe Biden said it was the "right moment" in U.S. history for his defense secretary nominee, retired Army General Lloyd Austin, despite concerns about the recently out-of-uniform soldier taking on a role reserved by law for civilians. The choice of Austin, who if confirmed would be the first Black U.S. secretary of defense, requires both houses of Congress to waive a law requiring the military's top brass to have been out of the armed forces for at least seven years before running the Pentagon. Austin, 67, retired in 2016.
LifestyleArchitectural Digest18 Gifts Under $100 for the Design Lover
Not your average stocking stuffers Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsBusiness InsiderDianne Feinstein forgets conversations and gets upset with her staff for not briefing her on a topic shortly after they do, new report says
Sen. Dianne Feinstein forgets conversations and gets upset with her staff for not briefing her on a topic moments after they do, according to a new report from the New Yorker. The US Senator from California is said to be struggling with her short-term memory, even forgetting things she herself has said, sources familiar with the situation told the New Yorker's Jane Mayer.
Senate Democrats reportedly staged an intervention around Dianne Feinstein's mental 'deterioration'The Week
Chuck Schumer had to tell Dianne Feinstein that she should step down as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee twice because she forgot the first conversation they had, new report saysBusiness Insider
U.S.USA TODAY'Hyphenated identity groups': Utah GOP Sen. Mike Lee blocks legislation for Latino and women history Smithsonians
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, blocked two proposals on Thursday to create Smithsonian museums for Latino and women's history from unanimously passing the Senate, saying there's been too much "balkanization" in the country. Claiming "the last thing we need is to further divide an already divided nation," Lee blocked proposals to establish the National Museum of the American Latino and the American Women's History Museum. "Within the walls of a Smithsonian museum just like at the National Gallery of Art or the great memorials that dot this city, there is no us and them.
- WorldAssociated Press
UK Home Secretary meets with exiled Hong Kong activist
Britain's Home Secretary met with exiled Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Nathan Law Wednesday to discuss the situation in the Chinese territory as well as new British immigration policies intended to help people wishing to leave the city amid concerns about Beijing's tightening grip. Priti Patel was the first British Cabinet minister to meet with Law, who fled his hometown before a warrant for his arrest was issued by Beijing. “The United Kingdom will stand by the people of Hong Kong and keep our promise to protect and uphold their freedoms,” Patel said in a statement after the meeting.
PoliticsThe WeekCDC director allegedly ordered staff to delete email from Trump administration official trying to change COVID-19 report
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official has reportedly alleged that Director Robert Redfield ordered the deletion of an email showing a Trump administration appointee attempting to interfere with a scientific report. Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), chair of the House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, wrote to Redfield and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar this week to express "serious concern about what may be deliberate efforts by the Trump administration to conceal and destroy evidence that senior political appointees interfered with career officials' response to the coronavirus crisis at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," The Washington Post and Politico report.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderRep. Eric Swalwell refused to say if he had sex with a suspected Chinese spy who slept with 2 mayors for an intelligence campaign
On Tuesday, Axios reported that a suspected Chinese spy got close to Rep. Eric Swalwell of California early in his political career and, separately, slept with two unnamed US mayors as part of a yearslong intelligence campaign. Swalwell has not been accused of wrongdoing, and Axios also did not report on or suggest any sexual relationship between Swalwell and the woman. But on Tuesday night, the Fox News host Tucker Carlson said that US intelligence officials believed Swalwell and the woman had a sexual relationship and that Swalwell's office declined to comment on the matter.
- WorldYahoo News Video
Sexual misconduct shakes FBI's senior ranks with little to no discipline
An Associated Press investigation has identified at least six sexual misconduct allegations involving senior FBI officials over the past five years, including two new claims brought this week by women who say they were sexually assaulted by ranking agents.
HealthTheGrioFauci says daughter ‘saddened greatly’ by death of boyfriend’s brother, 32, from virus
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has been one of America's most trusted medical leaders during the coronavirus pandemic, recently confirmed that the virus has impacted his own family. The nation's leading disease expert said the brother of his youngest daughter's boyfriend died from COVID-19 at only 32, despite being previously healthy. Fauci made the revelation during a livestream interview hosted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and moderated by Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN.
U.S.USA TODAY5 bicyclists killed, 4 injured after truck hits group on 'retirement ride' in Nevada
On a highway ride to celebrate a cyclist's retirement, five bicyclists were killed and four others were injured in a crash involving a truck, according to authorities. Around 9:40 a.m., a box truck struck a group of about 20 bicyclists. The box truck remained at the scene for several hours after the collision, as authorities investigated what caused the crash.
U.S.Miami Herald‘Savage:’ Watch an alligator get eaten whole by an unlikely creature at Florida lake
Wildlife photographer Shellie Gilliam saw a king of the swamp swallowed whole on Saturday afternoon — by a bird — at Lake Apopka, outside Orlando. OK, so the scaly little guy wasn't fully grown, but color us impressed, anyway. In a video posted to her Facebook page on Monday, Gilliam shows the great blue heron consuming its reptilian snack whole.
PoliticsAssociated PressGeorgia House speaker moves against election official
Amid continuing Republican attacks on the legitimacy of Joe Biden's presidential victory in Georgia, the state House speaker is proposing to take the selection of the state's chief election official from the voters and put it in the hands of legislators. Republican House Speaker David Ralston said Thursday that he will seek a state constitutional amendment to change how Georgia's secretary of state is chosen. With two-thirds approval needed by both the House and Senate, such a move is unlikely, particularly with Democrats signaling immediate opposition.
U.S.Business InsiderThe 'unprecedented' wreck of a Hyundai cargo ship off the coast of Georgia a year ago is no longer a mystery - here's what happened
Golden Ray cargo ship in St. Simons Island, Georgia. Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images Source: NPR ... and the ship listed a full 90 degrees, according to CBS News.
U.S.Business InsiderA Wisconsin Air National Guard F-16 pilot is dead after a fighter jet crash in Michigan
A Wisconsin National Guard F-16 fighter jet crashed in Michigan during a routine training flight Tuesday night, the Guard said in a Facebook post. The Guard's 115th Fighter Wing announced Thursday afternoon that the pilot, who was initially missing after the crash, had died. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
EntertainmentINSIDERDisney World is seemingly editing virtual masks onto parkgoers who take theirs off for ride photos
Disney World is seemingly editing digital masks onto parkgoers who remove their face coverings for ride photos, WDW News Today reported. In the past, Disney deleted photos that showed people without masks, meaning that they and others on the ride could not purchase them. While some people think Disney's new idea is "brilliant," others argued that this could encourage people to not wear masks on rides.
U.S.TheGrioER doctor who spoke out against Trump to be removed from Walter Reed
According to a new report, Dr. James Phillips will no longer be employed at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center beginning next year. CBS News reported Phillips has been removed from the schedule beginning in January 2021, according to sources close to the situation. The news outlet stated the emergency room doctor is chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University and works on a contract basis for Walter Reed.
U.S.Business InsiderMore Americans have now died from COVID-19 than the number of US soldiers killed in battle during World War II
The US saw 291,557 battle deaths during World War II, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The United States has now recorded more COVID-19 deaths than the total number of Americans killed in combat during World War II, the bloodiest war in human history. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the US saw 291,557 battle deaths during WWII.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTrump administration doubles down on proposing a one-time $600 stimulus check over weekly federal unemployment benefits
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Trump administration was aiming to deliver aid more efficiently via one-time stimulus checks instead of weekly federal unemployment benefits. "We view this as a more effective way to get the money out quickly," Mnuchin said in a call with reporters on Wednesday, Politico reported. Economists say that replacing a weekly federal benefit with a one-time $600 payment would be a less efficient way to help jobless Americans.
- ScienceReuters Videos
Ship that lost containers in Pacific storm docks
Nearly 2,000 containers aboard the ship managed by NYK Ship management of Japan were lost or damaged when it was hit by stormy weather in the Pacific Ocean, according the company's statement earlier this week. Dramatic footage shot by a YouTuber and obtained by Reuters showed ONE Apus carrying collapsed containers and docking at Kobe, one of the world's busies port cities. ONE Apus, owned by Chidori Ship Holdings, was travelling from Yantian in China to Long Beach, California, when it hit a violent storm about 1,600 nautical miles (2,960 kilometres) northwest of Hawaii, a statement issued on behalf of the companies said.
EntertainmentMiami Herald‘Cyberpunk 2077’ glitch causes genitals to pop out of characters’ clothes, players say
Bugs aren't uncommon in new releases, but one glitch in particular in the hotly anticipated “Cyberpunk 2077” computer game has fans atwitter. Players of the science fiction game, which debuted Thursday on PC and consoles, report problems such as soda cans floating in air, passers-by walking through characters like ghosts and inexplicable vehicle crashes, PC Gamer reported. But those bugs, along with problems with mission progression and controls, are run-of-the-mill compared to one that causes the penises and breasts of characters to seem to pop out of their clothing from time to time, Kotaku reported.
“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.”