PoliticsYahoo NewsGiuliani tells Pennsylvania legislators they can override popular vote to appoint pro-Trump electors
Speaking to an occasionally raucous but mostly disgruntled panel of Pennsylvania Republicans, President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and his campaign counsel Jenna Ellis on Wednesday floated the idea that the state Legislature could decide on its own to give Pennsylvania's 20 Electoral College votes to Trump, despite the state's certifying that Joe Biden won the Nov. 3 election in the state. It's the state Legislature that controls this process,” Giuliani told a panel of Republican legislators. It's your power.
PoliticsYahoo NewsDemocratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock bet big on 'record-shattering turnout' in Georgia
But Democrats say they've figured out how to win in Georgia, a state that had voted Republican in six straight presidential elections between 1996 and 2016 and hasn't sent a Democrat to the Senate in 20 years. And Republicans have won all but one of the statewide general election runoffs in Georgia since 1988. What we are focusing on when we go and talk to voters in these communities, something that we learned from Stacey Abrams, is we go and ask them what they need, and when they answer … we let them know Rev.
PoliticsThe IndependentBiden says his team has spoken to Fauci: ‘He’s been very, very helpful’
Joe Biden's team has been in contact with Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert, the president-elect said shortly after the Trump administration agreed to participate in the transition process. Mr Biden said he has not yet had a chance to meet with the expert himself, but praised Dr Fauci's efforts to tackle the coronavirus crisis in the US, which has seen more than 12 million cases and nearly 260,000 fatalities. “I haven't had a chance to speak to Dr Fauci,” he said, adding “he's been very, very helpful.”
WorldAssociated PressLeading Saudi women's activist referred to terrorism court
A leading Saudi women's rights activist who's been imprisoned for 2 1/2 years and drawn attention to the kingdom's hard limits on dissent will be tried by a court established to oversee terrorism cases, her family said Wednesday. The referral of Loujain al-Hathloul's case to the Specialized Criminal Court is a setback for efforts to push for her swift release and means she will face charges related to terrorism and national security. According to a 53-page report released earlier this year by Amnesty International, the court has been used as “a weapon of repression” to imprison peaceful critics, activists, journalists, clerics and others.
WorldBBCWhy Bhutan's Sakteng wildlife sanctuary is disputed by China
Sandwiched between China and India, the tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan is feeling the squeeze as its giant neighbours square up for supremacy. A close ally of India, Bhutan got a shock when China made sudden new claims in the summer - over a wildlife sanctuary in the east of the country, on land that had not been considered disputed. Most Bhutanese commentators don't want to discuss this in detail, but many believe Beijing is trying to drag the Buddhist majority nation - population 750,000 - into the territorial stand-off with India.
PoliticsYahoo NewsTrump loyalist pushed out of White House now leading a shake-up at the Pentagon
A retired Special Forces colonel, Miller had worked to revamp civilian oversight over special operations forces in a previous Pentagon job. A driving force behind the current initiative is Ezra Cohen, a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer who has held several national security positions during the Trump administration and is now the acting assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, or SO/LIC. The appointment of Cohen as the acting assistant secretary was a major factor behind the decision to implement the congressional legislation.
PoliticsThe IndependentAOC and Ilhan Omar sign petition calling on Biden not to give Bruce Reed administration role
Progressive lawmakers Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar have signed a petition calling on president-elect Joe Biden not to appoint Bruce Reed to his administration. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, of New York, and Rep. Omar, of Minnesota, are supporting efforts to have Mr Reed, Mr Biden's former chief of staff, frozen out of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Reports emerged earlier this week suggesting that Mr Reed, who also served in the Obama administration, was top of the president-elect's list to head up the OMB.
WorldAssociated PressMine explodes, damaging oil tanker off Saudi Arabia
A mine in the Red Sea off Saudi Arabia's coast near Yemen exploded and damaged an oil tanker Wednesday, authorities said, the latest incident targeting the kingdom amid its long war against Yemen's Houthi rebels. The blast happened before dawn and struck the MT Agrari, a Maltese-flagged, Greek-managed oil tanker near Shuqaiq, Saudi Arabia. “Their vessel was attacked by an unknown source,” a statement from the Agrari's operator, TMS Tankers Ltd., said.
HealthBBCCoronavirus: Millions travel for Thanksgiving despite warnings
Millions of Americans are already travelling home to celebrate Thanksgiving, despite warnings from health officials amid a significant wave of coronavirus cases and deaths. Thanksgiving, traditionally a large family get-together that rivals Christmas in size, is on Thursday. Dr Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious diseases expert, told CBS News that people in airports "are going to get us into even more trouble than we're in right now".
- PoliticsReuters Videos
Taiwan to protect sovereignty with new submarines
At the ceremony, President Tsai Ing-wen vowed to defend the democratic island's sovereignty and called the move a "historic milestone" for Taiwan's defensive capabilities. "Today's construction of a national submarine -- they demonstrate the power and independence of national defense which is strengthening day-by-day." The event was attended by the de facto U.S. ambassador to Taiwan, Brent Christensen, as this is a key project supported by the United States.
PoliticsYahoo NewsJournalist who criticized FBI for handling of Russia probe says Trump's refusal to concede is 'dangerous BS'
A common defense of President Trump's refusal to concede the 2020 election is that he's simply taking revenge on his liberal opponents, in particular those who doubted the legitimacy of the 2016 election because of Russian interference. The media gave Russia Collusion 3.5 years. We can give Team Trump three and a half weeks,” tweeted Jenna Ellis, a member of the Trump campaign's legal team that has failed to provide any evidence in court of cheating in the 2020 election.
PoliticsReutersU.S. Cabinet official postpones trip to Taiwan
The cabinet-level head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Andrew Wheeler, has postponed a visit to Taiwan due to "pressing" priorities at home, his agency said on Tuesday, removing a potential source of friction with Beijing. China, which claims the democratic island as its own, reacted with anger to his planned trip, which would have been the third visit by a senior U.S. official since August. "Due to pressing domestic priorities at home, Administrator Wheeler's visit to Taiwan has been postponed," EPA Spokesman James Hewitt said.
WorldAssociated PressPunishing hurricanes to spur more Central American migration
The hurricanes' destruction comes on top of the economic paralysis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the persistent violence and lack of jobs that have driven families north from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador in great numbers during recent years. Add an element of hope from the incoming government of President-elect Joe Biden, and experts predict the region is on the verge of another mass migration. This is going to be much bigger than what we have been seeing,” said Jenny Arguello, a sociologist in San Pedro Sula who studies migration flows.
PoliticsYahoo NewsTrump campaign sued for attempting to disenfranchise Black voters
The Trump campaign has repeatedly attempted to use the judicial system to overturn the president's defeat to President-elect Joe Biden, filing more than two dozen unsuccessful lawsuits since Election Day. “It's not even about the success of President Trump and the Trump campaign's attempts to overturn the election,” Monique Lin-Luse, assistant counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, which filed the lawsuit, told Yahoo News. “The very attempt ... to overturn it by disenfranchising and de-legitimizing Black voters is what we believe is unlawful, and it's also dangerous and corrosive to our democracy.”
WorldAssociated PressIndian state outlaws religious conversion by marriage
India's ruling Hindu nationalist party has approved legislation in the country's most populous state that lays out a prison term of up to 10 years for anyone found guilty of using marriage to force someone to change religion. The decree for the state of Uttar Pradesh was passed Tuesday and follows a campaign by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party against interfaith marriages. The party describes such marriages as “love jihad,” an unproven conspiracy theory used by its leaders and Hindu hard-line groups to accuse Muslim men of converting Hindu women by marriage.
WorldAssociated PressJapan, China agree on economic ties, split over islands
China's top diplomat told Japan's leader on Wednesday that Beijing wants the two Asian powers to have good relations and cooperate in fighting the coronavirus and reviving their pandemic-hit economies, but the two sides remained at odds over an island dispute. Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivered a message from Chinese President Xi Jinping expressing his hope of developing positive relations with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and "strengthen cooperation with Japan in pandemic measures and for the economic recovery," Wang told reporters after meeting with Suga. Wang told Suga that ties between the two countries have improved through high-level dialogue and mutual efforts and that China wants to cooperate further in a range of areas.
WorldBBCCovid: How do you vaccinate a billion people?
India plans to receive and utilise some 500 million doses of vaccines against the disease and immunise up to 250 million people by July next year. This confidence is bolstered by its track record of immunising large numbers of people every year. India's 42-year-old immunisation programme, one of the world's largest health programmes, targets 55 million people - mainly newborns and pregnant women who receive some 390 million free doses of vaccines against a dozen diseases every year.
TechnologyArchitectural DigestThe Top 6 Black Friday Deals for Vacuums
We have you covered with all the best vacuum deals that you need to know about Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsReutersExplainer: Can Trump's lawyers be disciplined for making false claims?
Representative Bill Pascrell, a Democrat, on Friday called for Giuliani and other members of the legal team to be stripped of their law licenses for bringing "frivolous" lawsuits and allegedly attempting to help Republican Trump steal the Nov. 3 vote from President-elect Joe Biden. Here's why Trump's lawyers are very unlikely to face disbarment, suspension, or even lighter sanctions such as a fine.
PoliticsAssociated PressPresidential race official recount gets underway in Georgia
County election workers across Georgia on Tuesday began a machine recount of the roughly 5 million votes cast in the presidential race in the state, just days after completing a hand tally that confirmed President-elect Joe Biden's lead. The recount was requested by President Donald Trump after certified results showed him losing the state to Democrat Joe Biden by 12,670 votes, or 0.25%. Under state law, the losing candidate can request a recount when the margin is less than 0.5%.
U.S.USA TODAYCOVID-19 infections are soaring. Lockdowns could be coming. A list of restrictions in your state.
As COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise nationwide, some states are halting phased reopening plans or imposing new coronavirus-related restrictions. Several are putting limits on social gatherings, adding states to travel quarantine lists, mandating face masks and encouraging residents to stay home, as many did in the spring. At least 17 states implemented new statewide measures in the past week, including: California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wyoming.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump adviser who was with Rudy Giuliani at press conference tests positive for coronavirus
Boris Epshteyn, an adviser to Donald Trump who recently joined Rudy Giuliani at a press conference alleging widespread voter fraud during the 2020 election, has announced that he tested positive for the coronavirus. Mr Giuliani is expected to travel to Pennsylvania on Wednesday as Republican lawmakers in the state hold a hearing on “voter fraud” following the president's loss in the 2020 election. Along with Mr Epshteyn, the younger Giuliani and other members of the president's legal team who launched a spurious legal effort to overturn the results of the election, attended a press conference where the president's personal attorney amplified baseless claims of widespread voter fraud and other conspiracies.
WorldAssociated PressUN agency: Israel's Gaza blockade has devastated economy
Israel's blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip has cost the seaside territory as much as $16.7 billion in economic losses and sent poverty and unemployment skyrocketing, a U.N. report said Wednesday, as it called on Israel to lift the closure. The report by the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development echoed calls by numerous international bodies over the years criticizing the blockade. Israel imposed the blockade in 2007 after Hamas, an Islamic militant group that opposes Israel's existence, violently seized control of Gaza from the forces of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.
PoliticsReutersYellen would need Congress to approve use of clawed-back Fed loan funds, Treasury says
President-elect Joe Biden's Treasury secretary will need Congress to approve re-use of $455 billion in funds that the Trump administration is taking back from Federal Reserve and other pandemic lending programs, the Treasury said on Monday. Biden is expected to name former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen as his Treasury secretary, putting a woman in the job for the first time since the department was created in 1789. Current Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin last week said he would allow some little-used coronavirus lending programs at the Federal Reserve to expire on Dec. 31 and allow Congress to spend the funds on other aid for businesses and individuals.
WorldAssociated PressAsia Today: SKorea cases jump over 500 amid reimposed rules
South Korea has recorded more than 500 new coronavirus cases for the first time in about eight months. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Thursday the 583 additional cases in the past 24 hours took the national tally to 32,318 including 515 deaths. Government records show that 402 of the 583 newly reported cases were found in the Seoul metropolitan area, where half of the country's 51 million people reside.
“Donald Trump defeated Donald Trump.”
“The victory was a vindication of a style of American politics that many feared was gone forever.”
“Mr. Biden’s victory — and Mr. Trump’s defeat — is a testament to the resilience of American democracy.”
“Trump’s 2020 reelection bid was doomed by his boorish behavior. Time and again, he refused to act like a president.”
“Biden took the opportunity to unite the Democratic Party.”