PoliticsNBC NewsIncoming Biden administration to migrant caravan: Don't come, you won't get in immediately
As thousands of Honduran migrants make their way to the U.S. border, the incoming Biden administration, just days from taking office, has a message: Don't come now. President-elect Joe Biden has promised an end to the strict immigration policies of the Trump administration, which focused on building a border wall and restricting eligibility for asylum. If would-be emigrants from Central America perceive that now is the time to travel to the U.S., the southern border could quickly be overwhelmed before systems are put in place to handle the influx.
WorldThe TelegraphChristian girl chained up in cattle pen for five months after forced marriage to Muslim
A Christian girl has been taken into care in Pakistan after allegedly being abducted by a Muslim man who forced her marry him and kept her chained up in a cattle pen. The girl spent five months chained up in the pen in the yard of her 45-year-old captor's home, where she was forced to work all day clearing the animals' dung, her family claim. They said that when rescued by police last month, she had cuts on her ankles left by the shackles put on her by captor, who is also said to have raped her repeatedly.
PoliticsAssociated PressCongresswoman's spokesman quits less than 2 weeks into term
The spokesman for Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert has quit less than two weeks after she was sworn into office, saying he was prompted to by the insurrection at the nation's Capitol. Ben Goldey confirmed his departure to The Colorado Sun after it was first reported on Saturday by Axios. The Sun reported that Goldey did not respond to additional questions, but he told Axios he was leaving in the wake of a deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump news – Armed groups dwarfed by security at state capitals as president’s approval at new low
President Donald Trump's approval rating has plummeted to an all-time low as the US leader prepares to exit the White House. In the wake of the deadly Capitol riots on 6 January, the president has seen his approval rating dive, with the change in perception being largely among Republicans. The worst polling came from Pew Research Center, which found Mr Trump's disapproval rating to be at 68 per cent, with his approval rating falling to 29 per cent, the lowest yet, in a poll of 5,360 adults conducted between 8-12 January.
PoliticsAxiosKevin McCarthy warned members to not call out colleagues by name, citing potential political violence
Members of the House Republican Conference ignored leader Kevin McCarthy last week when he warned them against criticizing colleagues by name based on intelligence that doing so could trigger more political violence. Why it matters: McCarthy made clear that name-dropping opponents, instead of spelling out complaints in more general terms, can put a literal target on a politician, especially with tensions so high following the events of Jan. 6. That's what happened to Rep. Liz Cheney, the GOP conference chairperson, after she said she would support impeaching President Trump.
U.S.NBC NewsWoman arrested at inauguration checkpoint in D.C. said she was Cabinet member, police say
A woman pretending to be "part of the presidential Cabinet" was arrested at an inauguration checkpoint in Washington, D.C., on Saturday morning. The woman, Linda Magovern, 63, was charged with impersonation of a law enforcement officer, failure to obey and fleeing a law enforcement officer after she presented herself at the checkpoint while in a car, NBC Washington reports. Magovern displayed "a round metallic object later identified as a Military Police Challenge Coin" and said she was part of law enforcement, according to a police report.
U.S.Associated PressCowboys for Trump leader arrested over US Capitol riot
A New Mexico county official and founder of the group Cowboys for Trump who had vowed to return to Washington after last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol to place a flag on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's desk has been arrested Sunday by the FBI. Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin was arrested on charges of illegally entering the U.S. Capitol. According to court documents, Griffin told investigators that he was “caught up” in the crowd, which pushed its way through the barricades and entered the restricted area of the U.S. Capitol, but he said he did not enter the building and instead remained on the U.S. Capitol steps.
PoliticsNational ReviewLindsey Graham Warns That Pardoning Capitol Rioters Would ‘Destroy’ Trump
Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) on Sunday advised the president not to grant presidential pardons to the rioters who stormed the Capitol this month, warning that doing so would “destroy” Trump. “There are a lot of people urging the president to pardon folks who participated in defiling the Capitol, the rioters,” Graham continued. On Wednesday, a large group of Trump supporters overpowered Capitol Police and forced their way into the halls of Congress.
HealthReutersSinovac says its COVID-19 vaccine more effective with longer dosing interval
China's Sinovac Biotech said on Monday that a clinical trial in Brazil showed its COVID-19 vaccine was almost 20 percentage points more effective in a small sub-group of patients who received their two doses longer apart. The protection rate for 1,394 participants who received doses of either CoronaVac or placebo three weeks apart was nearly 70%, a Sinovac spokesman said. Brazilian researchers announced last week that the vaccine's overall efficacy was 50.4% based on results from more than 9,000 volunteers, most of whom received doses 14 days apart, as outlined in the trial protocol.
U.S.TheGrioWoman who entered Capitol may have stolen Pelosi device to sell to Russians: FBI
The sale ultimately didn't happen, and agents reportedly think Riley June Williams still has or destroyed it. A woman who participated in the deadly insurrection at the Capitol Building is being investigated for allegedly stealing a laptop or hard drive from the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. An affidavit released to the public on Sunday night said Riley June Williams, 22, was seen on video near the speaker's office.
U.S.Associated PressWind, rain, heavy snow batter New England, eastern Canada
A storm lashed parts of New England and eastern Canada on Saturday with heavy rain, snow and wind, leading to power outages and slick roads. About 15,000 homes and businesses were without electricity at the height of the storm in Vermont, the hardest-hit U.S. state, and thousands of outages were reported elsewhere across the region, officials said. “The snow is wet, heavy and slippery, which makes travel and restoration conditions tough," said Mike Burke, chief of field operations at Green Mountain Power in Vermont.
PoliticsThe IndependentKayleigh McEnany leaves White House after final two-minute press briefing following deadly Capitol riot
Donald Trump's press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has packed up her office at the White House, days before president-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office, though she is expected to remain in the role until the president's term ends on 20 January. The press secretary took no questions from the reporters in the room. Following a career in right-wing cable news commentary, Ms McEnany was named the Republican National Committee's national spokesperson in August 2017 before joining the Trump campaign as its national press secretary in 2019.
PoliticsThe GuardianBillionaire backer feels 'deceived' by Josh Hawley over election objections
A secretive billionaire supporter of Josh Hawley and other rightwing lawmakers suggested he had been “deceived” by the Republican senator from Missouri, who led the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Jeffrey Yass is a co-founder of Susquehanna International Group – headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a critical swing state – who has donated tens of millions of dollars to hardline Republican groups who supported Donald Trump's effort to invalidate his defeat at the polls by Joe Biden. “Do you think anyone knew Hawley was going to do that?” Yass wrote to Laura Goldman, a former stockbroker who has known him for more than three decades.
EntertainmentLA TimesFox News launches new opinion show with Bartiromo, Gowdy and Pavlich among the hosts
Fox News has lined up six rotating hosts for its new 7 p.m. opinion program aimed at feeding the appetite of conservative viewers in the hour. The new show called "Fox News Primetime" launches tonight with "Fox & Friends" morning show co-host Brian Kilmeade, as previously announced. The Times has learned that other names lined up to helm the program are "Sunday Morning Futures" host Maria Bartiromo and regular contributors to the network Katie Pavlich, Rachel Campos-Duffy, Mark Steyn and former congressman Trey Gowdy.
ScienceThe TelegraphColombia's rapidly breeding 'cocaine hippos' must be stopped, scientists say
Scientists forecast that the number of hippos will swell to almost 1,500 by 2040. They conclude, that at that point, environmental impacts will be irreversible and numbers impossible to control. Nobody likes the idea of shooting a hippo, but we have to accept that no other strategy is going to work,” ecologist Nataly Castelblanco-Martínez told The Telegraph.
- PoliticsReuters Videos
Biden to end Keystone XL pipeline early on
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden may end the Keystone XL pipeline project as one of his first acts in office, a source familiar with his thinking told Reuters it could happen as early as day one. Biden, who will be inaugurated on Wednesday, was vice president when Barack Obama rejected the $9 billion project in 2015. Then two years later, Donald Trump issued a presidential permit that allowed the line to move forward.
U.S.NBC NewsTexas realtor on Capitol riot: 'I'm glad I was there'
Jenna Ryan says it all began with an invitation from a “very cute guy” on Facebook: Would she join him on a private plane to the Jan. 6 Trump rally in Washington, D.C.? Ryan, a Dallas-area real estate agent, is single, loves President Donald Trump and believes the discredited claim that the election was riddled with fraud. Within 48 hours of her return to Texas, social media posts made by Ryan, who live-streamed herself entering the Capitol with a mob of Trump supporters, were being shared with the FBI and she would soon become the target of a federal investigation.
U.S.The IndependentProud Boys and Black Lives Matter supporters clash at Utah rally
As pro-Trump extremists, which President-elect Joe Biden later would label “domestic terrorists”, laid siege to the Capitol building on Wednesday, similar “Save America” gatherings erupted across several US cities, from Atlanta, GA, to Topeka, KS — albeit on a less grand scale. Atop Salt Lake City's Capitol Hill, approximately 400 people, some heavily armed, descended upon the Utah statehouse. There, speakers led the horde in chants and several prayers that urged a higher power to intervene in stopping Congress' electoral count to confirm Biden's victory.
PoliticsThe New York TimesIn Minnesota, a GOP Lawmaker's Death Brings Home the Reality of COVID
Republicans in the Minnesota state Senate were feeling jubilant after the November election. Masks were offered to guests on arrival, but there was little mask wearing over hours of dining and drinking, at a moment when a long-predicted surge in coronavirus infections was gripping the state. One was the Republican majority leader, Paul Gazelka, the state's most outspoken opponent of mask mandates and shutdown orders during the pandemic.
U.S.Business InsiderThe FBI is investigating whether a woman stole a laptop from Pelosi's office to sell it to Russia, after receiving a tip from someone claiming to be her ex
The FBI is investigating whether a woman stole a laptop from Nancy Pelosi's office to sell it to Russia, an affidavit said. The tip came from someone who claimed to be a former romantic partner of the woman, Riley June Williams. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating whether a Pennsylvania woman stole a laptop from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's office during last week's Capitol siege to sell it to Russia, a new affidavit said.
CelebrityThe Daily BeastFarewell, Ivanka Trump? No, Ivanka Doesn’t Want to Say Farewell.
Ivanka Trump's time in the White House has been horrible for America. Watch: Where do Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner go from here? Call it classic rich kid brattiness or a more complicated kind of delusion, but for Ivanka the future is still bright, or it is in her determination to just carry on regardless.
U.S.Business InsiderThe Florida data scientist who has accused the state of firing her for refusing to alter COVID-19 data says she'll turn herself in after a warrant was issued for her arrest
Rebekah Jones, the Florida data scientist fired last year by the state's health department, said Saturday that she'd turn herself in to authorities Sunday after they issued a warrant for her arrest. Jones, who worked on the state's COVID-19 dashboard, was fired over what she alleges was a refusal to alter data related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the state. State officials say she was fired for insubordination.
U.S.Business InsiderCapitol rioters say Trump told them to do it, which some legal experts say could open him to criminal charges
Multiple people who stormed the Capitol have claimed they did so on the instructions of President Donald Trump, the Washington Post reported. Trump instructed his supporters to come to Washington to attend a "Stop The Steal" rally as he sought to overturn the election, promising his supporters that the protest would be "wild." Leonard M. Niehoff, a First Amendment expert, said that the response to Trump's direct call for supporters to visit the Capitol and "fight" meant the president could be liable.
U.S.INSIDERSpiritual advisor to Barack Obama and George W. Bush sentenced to 6 years for multi-million dollar China bonds fraud
The spiritual advisor for both Barack Obama and George W. Bush during their time as President has been sentenced to six years for his role in a multi-million dollar investment fraud scheme. Kirbyjon H. Caldwell, 67, was sentenced by US District Judge S. Maurice Hicks on Wednesday in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he and his co-defendant, Gregory Alan Smith, were indicted in 2018. He spoke at the 2000 Republican National Convention, delivered the benediction at Bush's 2005 inauguration, and officiated his daughter Jenna's 2008 wedding, the New York Times reported Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
U.S.INSIDERA man who lived at a Chicago airport for 3 months before being discovered said he was too scared to fly because of COVID-19, prosecutors say
A 36-year-old California man lived at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport for three months before being discovered, according to multiple reports. Prosecutors said the man arrived at O'Hare from Los Angeles in October, but told police he was too scared to fly because of COVID-19. He was discovered Saturday when two United Airlines employees asked him for identification and he displayed a badge that had been reported missing in October.
“If you’re looking to win elections, it is probably best not to urge your supporters not to vote.”
“Warnock’s portrayal of himself as a dog lover, a means of overcoming white suspicions of Black men, smacked of pure genius.”
“Trump has done damage to the Republican brand among suburban voters that goes well beyond just races where he is on the ballot.”
“Once more, Democrats must profusely thank activist Stacey Abrams.”
“Overall, demographic trends show that the state’s electorate is becoming younger and more diverse each year.”