PoliticsYahoo NewsProbe begins into thwarted Justice Department 'coup' to keep Trump in power
The Justice Department's inspector general announced Monday that he had started an investigation into whether current or former officials in the department had engaged in an “improper attempt” to overturn the 2020 presidential election to keep Donald Trump in power. Michael Horowitz, the DOJ inspector general, released a statement announcing the decision. The DOJ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is initiating an investigation into whether any former or current DOJ official engaged in an improper attempt to have DOJ seek to alter the outcome of the 2020 Presidential Election.
PoliticsAssociated PressPets are back: Biden's 2 dogs settle in at White House
The patter of paws is being heard in the White House again following the arrival of President Joe Biden's dogs Champ and Major. The two German shepherds are the first pets to live at the executive mansion since the Obama administration. Major burst onto the national scene last year after Biden, then president-elect, broke his right foot while playing with the dog at their home in Wilmington, Delaware.
WorldReutersNo word from pirates who seized sailors off Nigeria, Turkey says
Pirates who seized 15 sailors when they stormed a Turkish-crewed container ship in the Gulf of Guinea two days ago have not yet made contact with authorities, Turkey's foreign minister said on Monday. "We have not yet received word from the pirates," foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara. Turkey was in contact with officials in Gabon, where he said the Liberian-flagged container ship Mozart had docked with its remaining crew, and with authorities in neighbouring countries.
- WorldAssociated Press
Iran sentences Iranian-American to prison on spying charges
An Iranian-American has been sentenced by Iran to 10 years in prison on spying charges, despite his family alleging he never had a trial or an opportunity to defend himself. A family spokesman Tuesday confirmed the sentencing of Emad Shargi, the latest dual national to be held in Iran amid tensions with the West. Iran's judiciary acknowledged the sentence without naming him or saying how many years in prison he'd face.
PoliticsAssociated PressJoe Biden to call for end of federally run private prisons
President Joe Biden on Tuesday will formally call on the federal government to end its reliance on private prisons and acknowledge the central role the government has played in implementing discriminatory housing policies, according to a senior administration official. The moves come as Biden is set to sign a series of orders and memorandums Tuesday as the new administration says it will make combatting racial injustice a central focus of his presidency. They were detailed by a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity ahead of Biden's formal announcement, scheduled for later Tuesday.
WorldReutersBritain says it will work with EU to avoid vaccine disruption
Britain will be able to work with the European Union to ensure there is no disruption to vaccine supplies, Health Minister Matt Hancock said on Tuesday, arguing protectionism was not right during a pandemic. German Health Minister Jens Spahn earlier said he backed proposals to restrict vaccines leaving the EU, saying Europe should have its "fair share". The European Commission later said it had no plans to impose an export ban, explaining its proposal would require firms to register vaccine exports.
WorldThe TelegraphGermany denies false reports Oxford vaccine is ineffective in older people
Germany has denied media reports that it has data suggesting the Oxford vaccine is drastically less effective in older people, blaming an apparent mix-up in the figures. The German health ministry issued a swift denial after two German newspapers claimed Angela Merkel's government has data that suggests the vaccine is largely ineffective in people aged over 75. Handelsblatt newspaper claimed the vaccine's effectiveness could be as low as 8 per cent, while Bild reported it was “under 10 per cent”.
PoliticsAssociated PressSenate confirms Antony Blinken as 71st secretary of state
Blinken, 58, served as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser during the Obama administration. He has pledged to be a leading force in the administration's bid to reframe the U.S. relationship with the rest of the world after four years in which President Donald Trump questioned longtime alliances. He is expected to start work on Wednesday after being sworn in, according to State Department officials.
WorldReutersBoycott 'wildcat' Scottish independence vote, says Scottish Conservative leader
Backers of the union of the United Kingdom's four nations should boycott any "wildcat" independence referendum for Scotland, the leader of the Scottish Conservative Party said on Monday, after the nation's first minister pressed ahead with plans for a vote. Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said on Sunday she was hoping a strong performance by her Scottish National Party (SNP) in an election in May would give her the mandate to hold a second referendum. To get a legal referendum, any such vote must be approved by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has ruled out doing so.
- WorldAssociated Press
Guatemalan families think massacre victims were migrants
Relatives of migrants from Guatemala said Monday they believe that 13 of the 19 charred corpses found in a northern Mexico border state could be their loved ones and the country's Foreign Ministry said it was collecting DNA samples from a dozen relatives to see if there was a match with any of the bodies. If true, the killings would revive memories of the 2010 massacre of 72 migrants in the same gang-ridden state of Tamaulipas. Ramiro Coronado told The Associated Press by telephone that he had a relative among a group of 13 migrants who left the province of San Marcos and were travelling together before family members lost contact with them on Thursday.
PoliticsUSA TODAYFact check: National Guard members didn't turn away from Biden's Inauguration Day motorcade in dissent
The claim: Video shows National Guard members turned away from Biden's motorcade History will remember President Joe Biden's inauguration for its many irregularities, including the 26,000 National Guard members who descended upon Washington to provide additional security after pro-Trump rioters breached the U.S. Capitol two weeks earlier. While tensions were high on Inauguration Day, a viral video does not show guard members insulting Biden, as online opponents claim. A 21-second video titled “Troops Turn Backs on Biden as Motorcade Drives By” shows guard members standing along a road, with some backs turned from the presidential motorcade.
WorldReutersIndian farm protesters battle police to plant flags at historic Red Fort
Thousands of Indian farmers protesting against agricultural reforms on Tuesday overwhelmed police and stormed into the historic Red Fort complex in New Delhi after tearing down barricades and driving tractors through roadblocks. Police fired tear gas in an unsuccessful bid to force the protesters back. One protester was killed, a witness said, and Delhi police said 86 officers had been injured across the city.
WorldAssociated PressTop Brazil court authorizes investigation of health minister
A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Monday authorized an investigation of Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello to determine whether he is criminally responsible for the COVID-19 crisis in the Amazonian city of Manaus. The largest city in Brazil's vast rainforest region was slammed this month by a severe second wave of infections, and jam-packed hospitals ran out of oxygen. Patients' family members searched for tanks to keep their loved ones breathing, and dozens died asphyxiated.
HealthThe WeekInadequate immune responses force Merck to abandon COVID-19 vaccines
Merck, one of the world's most storied vaccine makers, is abandoning the development of its two COVID-19 vaccines after initial trials resulted in inadequate immune responses, Stat News reports. Both vaccines produced lower levels of coronavirus antibodies than have been found in the blood of individuals who recovered from natural COVID-19 infections. For reference, the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines produced antibody levels several times higher than natural infections.
WorldReutersIran will take steps next month to curb short-notice IAEA inspections: official
Iran threatened on Tuesday to block short-notice inspections of its nuclear facilities, demanding Washington reverse economic sanctions before it returns to compliance with a nuclear deal that President Joe Biden aims to restore. Biden, who took office last week, aims to reverse a decision by his predecessor Donald Trump to pull out of the 2015 agreement between Iran and world powers. The agreement lifted sanctions on Iran in return for curbs to Iran's nuclear programme, but after Trump quit and reimposed sanctions, Iran violated its conditions.
- NewsFOX News Videos
Biden administration has system in place where reporters will not ask president tough questions: Media critic
Steve Krakauer, editor at Fourth Watch, says 'it shouldn't be contingent' on one reporter to ask Biden tough questions.
WorldReutersChina ambassador says export delays for Brazil vaccine supplies not political
The issues holding up vaccine supply exports from China to Brazil are due to technical, rather than political obstacles, China's ambassador said on Tuesday, as delays to Brazil's vaccine rollout began to grow. Some have speculated that China, which for years has been the butt of attacks by Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, may have stalled approving the exports as some form of political vengeance. Brazil is waiting for ingredients from China needed to produce two vaccines locally - one from China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd and another from AstraZeneca Plc .
WorldAssociated PressUS exploring new bases in Saudi Arabia amid Iran tensions
The U.S. military is exploring the possibility of using a Red Sea port in Saudi Arabia and an additional two airfields in the kingdom amid heightened tensions with Iran, the military said Tuesday. While describing the work as "contingency" planning, the U.S. military said it already has tested unloading and shipping cargo overland from Saudi Arabia's port at Yanbu, a crucial terminal for oil pipelines in the kingdom. Using Yanbu, as well as air bases at Tabuk and Taif along the Red Sea, would give the American military more options along a crucial waterway that has come under increased attack from suspected mine and drone boat attacks by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
WorldReutersMexico passes 150,000 deaths from the coronavirus as pandemic deepens
Mexico's official death toll from the coronavirus passed 150,000 on Monday following a surge in infections in recent weeks that has stretched the health system in the capital to the limit and led to the president contracting COVID-19. The Health Ministry on Monday reported 659 new deaths, bringing the total death toll to 150,273. The government says the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
U.S.The IndependentNew threats of a second attack on the US Capitol loom over lawmakers ahead of Trump’s second impeachment trial
A surge in threats against lawmakers and the US Capitol have forced National Guard troops to remain in Washington ahead of former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial. The troops will remain on Capitol Hill as the US Senate trial begins on 8 February, marking the first time in American history in which a former president has faced an impeachment trial after leaving office. The House voted to impeach Mr Trump for fomenting a deadly insurrection at the Capitol as Congress convened to certify his electoral defeat in the 2020 elections, citing his speech held just before the deadly attacks and conduct during the riots, which left at least five people dead, including United States Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick.
WorldReutersIran asks Indonesia to explain seizure of tanker accused of illegal oil transfer
Iran has asked Indonesia to provide details about the seizure of an Iranian-flagged vessel, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday, a day after Jakarta said it had seized Iran and Panama-flagged tankers in its waters. Indonesia said on Sunday its coast guard had seized the Iranian-flagged MT Horse and the Panamanian-flagged MT Freya vessels over suspected illegal oil transfer in the country's waters. Khatibzadeh said that the seizure was over a "a technical issue and it happens in shipping field".
WorldReutersTaliban backs Afghan vaccine drive after COVAX pledges $112 million
Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents on Tuesday gave their backing to a vaccination programme to which the World Health Organization's COVAX programme has pledged $112 million. The COVAX programme is a global scheme to vaccinate people in poor and middle income countries against the coronavirus. It aims to deliver at least 2 billion vaccine doses by the end of 2021 to cover 20% of the most vulnerable people in 91 poor and middle-income countries.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderRudy Giuliani admits Biden is president hours after being sued for $1.3 billion by voting-machine company
Rudy Giuliani on Monday acknowledged Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president. The statement came hours after Dominion Voting Systems sued Giuliani for $1.3 billion. Giuliani spent months peddling conspiracy theories about the company's role in the 2020 election.
PoliticsThe Independent‘Don’t let him off the hook’: Beto O’Rourke says Ted Cruz is guilty of sedition
Former Congressman Beto O'Rourke accused Sen. Ted Cruz - who he challenged in a Senate race in 2018 - of being "guilty of sedition." Mr O'Rourke made the statement on Twitter while imploring citizens not to "let him off the hook" for his involvement in the US Capitol riots. "Don't let him off the hook.
WorldINSIDERChina is spreading conspiracy theories that the coronavirus was created in an American lab and that a US-created vaccine is killing the elderly
Chinese state media is spreading a conspiracy theory that a US Army base created the coronavirus. The disinformation push comes as WHO scientists arrive in Wuhan to study the virus' origins. Chinese state media is playing up a conspiracy theory about the novel coronavirus' origins while also questioning the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine's safety in older people.
“By encouraging this act of terror on our capital, Trump’s legacy is destroyed.”
“Both backers and critics of Trump agreed that he remade the federal judiciary — a change that will impact America for decades.”
“He was largely responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans who did not need to die.”
“I do know what the future should hold for this country. That is to say, a policy of Trumpism without Trump.”
“It will be decades before the consequences of his tenure are fully known.”