PoliticsYahoo NewsOmar renews push to 'cancel rent and mortgage payments' during pandemic
With an eviction moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September set to expire at the end of the month, and Congress and the White House still unable to pass a new coronavirus relief bill, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., has renewed her push for legislation that would cancel mortgage and rent payments through the duration of the pandemic. In April, Omar originally introduced legislation that would cancel all mortgage and rent payments during the pandemic, a position pushed by activists across the country. The plan includes a relief fund for landlords and mortgage holders to cover losses incurred from missed payments.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastProject Veritas’ New CNN Bombshell: Jeff Zucker Thinks Rudy Giuliani Is ‘Crazy’
Earlier this week, Project Veritas released the first of what it promised would be many shocking revelations from CNN's internal editorial meetings, which founder James O'Keefe appears to have infiltrated and recorded over the course of several weeks. First, the right-wing group tried to make hay out of the fact that one high-level CNN staffer considered Fox News host Tucker Carlson to be racist—while simultaneously misidentifying the staffer in question. CNN President Jeff Zucker thinks Rudy Giuliani is “crazy.”
U.S.Associated PressFeds: Militia leader pointed rifle at officers in Kentucky
The leader of a pro-gun group that stages armed protests against police violence has been charged with pointing a rifle at federal officers while in Kentucky for a demonstration. John F. Johnson, who calls himself “Grandmaster Jay,” is facing a federal charge of assaulting task force officers. A complaint filed in federal court in Louisville said Johnson pointed a rifle, which had a flashlight mounted to it, at officers who were on a roof in downtown Louisville on Sept. 4.
PoliticsReutersU.S. imposes fresh Iran-related sanctions targeting individual, entity
The United States on Thursday imposed fresh Iran-related sanctions, blacklisting an entity and an individual as Washington continues to ramp up pressure on Tehran during U.S. President Donald Trump's final months in office. The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said that it had slapped sanctions on Shahid Meisami Group and its director, accusing the entity of being involved in Iran's chemical weapons research and linked to the Iranian Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, blacklisted by Washington and formerly headed by the Islamic Republic's top nuclear scientist killed last week. The move comes days after the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
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Who is Hong Kong’s ‘goddess of democracy' Agnes Chow?
Hailed by some as "the real Mulan," Agnes Chow has emerged as a key figure in Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement. As Hong Kong dissent has grown so, too, has her profile. Chow made headlines this week after being jailed for ten months for unlawful assembly during last year's anti-government protests.
PoliticsAssociated PressVP-elect Harris picks Tina Flournoy to be her chief of staff
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has named Tina Flournoy, a veteran Democratic strategist and aide to the Clintons, as her chief of staff, the transition team announced Thursday. Flournoy's appointment as Harris' top staffer adds to a team of advisers led by Black women. Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian heritage, is the nation's first female vice president.
PoliticsThe WeekBiden reportedly picks Obama veterans for coronavirus czar and surgeon general
President-elect Joe Biden has settled on a team to lead the U.S. through its biggest ongoing crisis, two people familiar with the decision tell Politico. Jeff Zients, who headed the National Economic Council under former President Barack Obama and is co-chair of Biden's transition team, will reportedly be named the White House's COVID-19 coordinator. Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general under Obama, will reportedly return to his role with more responsibilities, and Biden's coronavirus advisory board co-chair Marcella Nunez-Smith will get a special role focused on health disparities.
U.S.USA TODAYWisconsin court binds Kyle Rittenhouse over for trial on six counts in Kenosha shootings
A lawyer for Kyle Rittenhouse used Thursday's preliminary hearing to offer a preview of the self-defense arguments he will raise at a trial over shootings that killed two people and wounded a third during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August. Rittenhouse, 17, who was freed on $2 million bail on Nov. 20, appeared at the hearing via Zoom with his attorney, Mark Richards, from Richards' office in Racine, Wisconsin.
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
WorldReutersSome Sino-U.S. relations damage 'beyond repair', China state media warn
In an editorial, the government-backed China Daily said it viewed as "worrisome signs" Washington's decision to limit visitor visas for members of the Chinese Communist Party and their families and a ban on Xinjiang cotton imports. "Even if the incoming administration has any intention of easing the tensions that have been sown, and continue being sown, some damage is simply beyond repair, as the sitting U.S. president intends," the paper added. China's ambassador to the United States became the latest of the Asian nation's senior officials to signal a desire to reset the increasingly confrontational relationship as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office in January.
PoliticsAssociated PressTrump aide banned from Justice after trying to get case info
The official serving as President Donald Trump's eyes and ears at the Justice Department has been banned from the building after trying to pressure staffers to give up sensitive information about election fraud and other matters she could relay to the White House, three people familiar with the matter tell The Associated Press. Heidi Stirrup, an ally of top Trump adviser Stephen Miller, was quietly installed at the Justice Department as a White House liaison a few months ago.
LifestyleBBCTiger mauls volunteer at Carole Baskin's Big Cat Rescue
A tiger "nearly tore" off the arm of a volunteer at a big cat sanctuary in Florida that featured in the Netflix series Tiger King. Candy Crouser, 69, a volunteer at Big Cat Rescue - the animal refuge made famous by Tiger King character Carole Baskin - was injured on Thursday. In a statement, the sanctuary said Ms Crouser was hurt after Kimba, a male tiger rescued from Guatemala, bit her.
PoliticsUSA TODAYJoe Biden asks Anthony Fauci, the federal coronavirus expert, to become his chief medical adviser
President-elect Joe Biden told CNN on Thursday that he asked Dr. Anthony Fauci, the expert on the coronavirus pandemic, to become his chief medical adviser and part of his Covid-19 response team. "I asked him to stay on the exact same role he's had for the past several presidents, and I asked him to be a chief medical adviser for me as well, and be part of the Covid team," Biden said. Fauci had told CBS News that he would meet Thursday Biden's transition team to discuss the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
PoliticsReutersU.S. Democrats elect Meeks as first Black House foreign affairs chairman
U.S. House of Representatives Democrats elected Greg Meeks on Thursday as the next chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a position in which he is expected to work closely with President-elect Joe Biden's administration on the Iran nuclear deal and other issues. Meeks, 67, who will be the first Black American to lead the committee, said he planned "a new way of doing business," including working to rejoin the Iran nuclear pact and World Health Organization, and seeking to regain Congress' traditional control over the right to declare war. "Not only will we need to re-engage with a world that has felt the marked absence of U.S. global leadership, but we must also rethink traditional approaches to foreign policy," Meeks said in a statement.
U.S.Associated PressFatal shooting of Black teen roils liberal town in Oregon
The killing of a young Black man last month by a white man who complained that he was playing loud music has roiled Ashland, Oregon, forcing the liberal college town that is famous for its Shakespeare festival to take a hard look at race relations. The death of Aidan Ellison, 19, added another name to the list of Black men and women whose killings have sparked a nationwide reckoning with racism and fueled a surge in a Black Lives Matter movement. On Nov. 23, Robert Keegan fired a single shot into Ellison's chest after complaining about the music late at night in a motel parking lot.
WorldBBCHow a blow to Australian wine shows tensions with China
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.
U.S.USA TODAY'Simply unthinkable': Law officers call for halt to executions in Trump's final weeks
A coalition of 90 current and former law enforcement officials are calling on federal authorities to halt five executions scheduled during the final weeks of the Trump administration, claiming that the uncertain transition period and resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic risk undermining confidence in the criminal justice system. “When people believe the state is executing a person, or applying the death penalty unjustly ... their trust in our system of government and law enforcement is undermined,” the officials said in an open letter released by the group Fair and Just Prosecution. This year, the Trump administration has dramatically revived its use of the death penalty after a 17-year hiatus, executing more prisoners – eight – than any system in the country.
WorldReutersIn parting shot, Pompeo rebukes Turkey at NATO meeting
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used his final NATO meeting this week to sharply criticise Turkey, saying its purchase of a Russian weapons system was "a gift" to Moscow, according to five diplomats and officials. At the confidential foreign ministers' video conference on Tuesday, Pompeo said Turkey was undermining NATO's security and creating instability in the eastern Mediterranean in a dispute with Greece and non-NATO member Cyprus over gas resources, said the diplomats and officials, who asked not to be named as the discussions were confidential. While the U.S. and other NATO allies have long been odds over Turkey's military intervention in Syria and Libya, Pompeo's remarks underscored the depth of tensions at the Western alliance that many experts say dangerously weakens it.
PoliticsAssociated PressElection 2020 Today: Biden ponders health and defense picks
Here's what's happening Thursday in Election 2020 and President-elect Joe Biden's transition. TODAY'S TOP STORIES: HEALTH CARE PICKS: Up soon for President-elect Joe Biden: naming his top health care officials as the coronavirus pandemic rages. It's hard to imagine more consequential picks.
WorldAssociated PressAustralian leader seeks conciliation in dispute with China
A diplomatic war of words between Australia and China over a graphic tweet seemed to finally cool on Thursday as Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison struck a much more conciliatory tone. Morrison's change in approach came even after he was thwarted in getting his views out directly to Chinese people over the messaging app WeChat, after the Chinese company deleted his post on the grounds it could distort historical events and confuse the public. China has angrily rejected Morrison's complaints, but its foreign ministry on Thursday declined to comment further on the controversy.
PoliticsReutersRoles of Trump fundraiser, Kushner's attorney were scrutinized in pardon bribe probe
A former Trump fundraiser and a prominent lawyer were among the people scrutinized by the Justice Department for their roles in what a judge described as a possible bribery scheme to win a presidential pardon for a convicted felon, lawyers for the men said Thursday. Lawyer Abbe Lowell's attorney and friend Reid Weingarten said his client was never a target or subject in the Justice Department's inquiry, while former fundraiser Elliot Broidy's attorney William Burck said his client was "not under investigation and has not been accused by anyone of any wrongdoing whatsoever." No one has been charged in the investigation, the status of which is unclear.
WorldBBCIndia farmers: The viral image that defines a protest
A photograph of a paramilitary policeman swinging his baton at an elderly Sikh man has become the defining image of the ongoing farmers' protest in India. The photograph, taken by Ravi Choudhary, a photojournalist with Press Trust of India (PTI), has gone viral on social media. It has also resulted in political wrangling - with opposition politicians using the image to criticise the way the protesters are being treated and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claiming - falsely - that the farmer was not hit.
WorldAssociated PressBangladesh begins relocating Rohingya refugees to island
Authorities in Bangladesh have begun relocating thousands of Rohingya refugees to an isolated island despite calls by human rights groups for a halt to the process, officials said Thursday. The United Nations has also voiced concern that refugees be allowed to make a “free and informed decision” about whether to relocate to the island in the Bay of Bengal. The island's facilities are built to accommodate 100,000 people, just a fraction of the million Rohingya Muslims who have fled waves of violent persecution in their native Myanmar and are currently living in crowded, squalid refugee camps.
PoliticsAssociated PressCensus Bureau says data irregularities being fixed quickly
The U.S. Census Bureau says the data irregularities that are putting in jeopardy a year-end deadline for turning in numbers used for divvying up congressional seats affect only a tiny percentage of the records and are being resolved as quickly as possible. The statistical agency's statement was issued as the House Committee on Oversight and Reform held a hearing Thursday on the data abnormalities, which likely will force a delay in when the Census Bureau turns in the apportionment numbers, to several weeks past a Dec. 31 deadline. The timeline remains in flux for turning in the apportionment numbers used for deciding how many congressional seats and Electoral College votes each state gets in future elections, the Census Bureau said in a statement late Wednesday.
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Cat buried under concrete rescued after two days
The rescuers received a call from neighbours on Wednesday (December 2) and found the cat's location with thermal cameras, Izmir municipality said in a written statement. The municipality said the bedraggled-looking cat ran away soon after it was rescued, but not before wolfing down some food. It was not immediately clear how the animal became trapped.
“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.”