PoliticsThe IndependentJoe Biden says Donald Trump left him a ‘very generous’ letter in Oval Office
New president Joe Biden says that Donald Trump left him a “very generous” letter in the Oval Office. Despite breaking with tradition and not attending his successor's inauguration, Mr Trump did decide to leave Mr Biden a letter in the historic Resolute desk. But Mr Biden, who got to work in the Oval Office hours after being sworn in, said he would not publicly share the contents of the letter until he had a chance to speak with Mr Trump.
PoliticsAssociated PressChina hits Trump officials with sanctions on their way out
China imposed sanctions on nearly 30 former Trump administration officials moments after they left office on Wednesday. In a statement released just minutes after President Joe Biden was inaugurated, Beijing slapped travel bans and business restrictions on Trump's secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, national security adviser Robert O'Brien and U.N. ambassador, Kelly Craft. Others covered by the sanctions include Trump's economic adviser Peter Navarro; his top diplomat for Asia, David Stilwell; health and human services secretary, Alex Azar; along with former national security adviser John Bolton and strategist Stephen Bannon.
U.S.NBC NewsConnecticut man charged in attack on police officer who was trapped in doors at Capitol riot
The FBI arrested a Connecticut man for allegedly assaulting a Washington, D.C., police officer who was seen in viral videos trapped between doors during the Capitol riot, authorities said Wednesday. Patrick Edward McCaughey, 23, was taken into custody at around 7 p.m. Tuesday in White Plains, New York, and charged with assaulting a police officer, civil disorder and unlawful entry, officials said. In McCaughey's initial court appearance on Wednesday, a judge ordered him held without bail, citing the suspect's danger to the community.
PoliticsThe WeekBiden asks Trump's surgeon general to step down before he's even sworn in
President-elect Joe Biden is revamping outgoing President Trump's coronavirus approach before he even takes office. On Wednesday morning, Biden asked Surgeon General Jerome Adams, whom Trump nominated for a four-year term back in 2017, to step down from his post. Biden has already announced his intention to nominate former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to the post, but will install an acting surgeon general in the meantime, The Washington Post reports.
U.S.ReutersSpanish regional health chief resigns after jumping vaccine queue
The top health official in the Spanish region of Murcia resigned on Wednesday after admitting he had received a coronavirus vaccine despite not belonging to any priority group designated for initial inoculations, such as frontline medical staff. After reports in the local media on Tuesday of his early vaccination prompted calls for his resignation, Manuel Villegas initially refused to step down. He justified taking the shot early by saying he was a doctor and his job led him to frequently interact with other health workers who had a high risk of infection.
U.S.NBC News12-year-old boy swept to sea by wave in northern California
A multiagency search for a 12-year-old boy swept out to sea in northern California on Monday has been suspended, according to officials. The boy, identified by his uncle as Arunay Pruthi, was pulled into the ocean at Cowell Ranch Beach in the city of Half Moon Bay, about 25 miles south of San Francisco, on Monday, according to the Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz unit. Arunay's father and 8-year-old brother were also pulled in by the "sneaker wave," said Arunay's uncle, Arvind Pruthi, but the pair were eventually pushed back to shore after being "beaten up by waves," according to Cal Fire.
PoliticsThe WeekQAnon believers are realizing their entire conspiracy was a hoax as Biden is sworn in
President Biden has taken office, former President Donald Trump is in Florida, and the U.S. still hasn't seen a mass arrests of Democrats or a nationwide blackout. All of these facts were shocking for some followers of the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon, as they thought and hoped that Trump would somehow seize permanent power on Wednesday, NBC News reports. But as Biden was sworn in without a hitch, QAnon message boards lit up with followers who realized a violent overthrow of the government wasn't about to happen, that Trump had no secret plans to somehow stay in office, and that they'd been wrong for months, if not years.
WorldThe Independent‘Cocaine bananas’ accidentally shipped to grocers in bungled drug deal
Some 21 bricks of cocaine hidden in banana shipments ended up at grocery shops in Canada following a bungled drug-trafficking operation, authorities have confirmed. A local store owner in Kelowna, a small town in Central Okanagan, British Columbia province, alerted authorities after finding 12 packages of what appeared to be cocaine among a banana shipment on 24 February 2019. The packages were seized by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for further investigation into their origins and intended destination.
U.S.CBS News"Joe Exotic," with limo waiting outside prison, fails to get pardon
The White House released a list of 73 pardons and 70 commutations shortly before 1:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, and Joseph Maldonado-Passage - also known as "Joe Exotic" -- was not on the list. Maldonado-Passage, who starred in Netflix's "Tiger King" documentary, is serving a 22-year sentence in a Fort Worth, Texas, federal prison for his conviction on charges that he participated in a murder-for-hire plot and violated federal wildlife laws. In asking for clemency, Maldonado-Passage submitted a handwritten letter in September, calling President Trump his hero and invoking Mr. Trump's criticism of federal investigators.
EntertainmentArchitectural DigestThe Coolest New Automotive Technology at CES 2021
Mercedes-Benz's Hyperscreen, General Motors' Bright Drop, and Jeep's Electric Wrangler were among the unveils that turned heads Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
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Rep. Crenshaw: 'I'd be frustrated if I were' Trump, watching the press 'go right back to the Obama-era'
Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw argues Republicans need to unify and show voters that Democrats 'mean what they say' and 'will change your life fundamentally.
PoliticsNBC NewsMyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says products were dropped from major retailers after voter fraud claims
MyPillow CEO and ardent Trump supporter Mike Lindell says his products have been dropped by major retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl's after his repeated false claims of voter fraud in the presidential election. Lindell told NBC Minnesota affiliate KARE on Monday that HEB Stores, Wayfair and Canada's Today's Shopping Choice channel had also stopped selling his products. MyPillow, the bedding company with commercials starring Lindell, is based in Chaska, Minnesota.
PoliticsThe WeekFox News' Chris Wallace calls Biden's speech the 'best inaugural address I ever heard'
President Biden's inaugural address has won some high praise on Fox News. Fox News anchor Chris Wallace on Wednesday praised Biden's "great" inaugural address, going as far as to deem it the best he's ever watched in his life. "I thought it was a great speech," Wallace said.
PoliticsThe Independent‘What happened?’: QAnon followers left upset and angry as conspiracy theory’s ‘storm’ fails to materialise
But the largely uneventful inauguration seemed to be the final blow for the theory – leaving many upset and angry, even as others struggled to find new ways to keep the theory going. The baseless QAnon theory suggests, without any evidence, that argued that a group of powerful, Satan-worshipping people running a cannibalistic child sexual abuse ring. It argues that Donald Trump is planning to take down the group – and that those plans could not be revealed publicly, but have been disseminated by an anonymous individual named Q. In a series of posts, originally on website 4chan, Q laid out those theories in cryptic language.
WorldBusiness InsiderJailed Russian critic Alexei Navalny released a video accusing Putin of secretly building a $1 billion coastal palace funded through bribes
A new video from Alexei Navalny's FBK foundation accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of building a private palace with $1 billion raised through corruption. The FBK said Putin funded the 17,691-square-meter palace on the Black Sea via a bribes-for-access scheme. Alexei Navalny, the archcritic of Vladimir Putin, accused the Russian president of building a secret $1 billion coastal palace funded through a bribes-for-access scheme.
PoliticsThe TelegraphEric Trump says he will 'never forget Buckingham Palace' as family seen in tears at farewell ceremony
Eric Trump said he will "never forget Buckingham Palace" as he looked back on his father's four years in office after a tearful farewell ceremony. The president's second eldest son said it had been the honour of his life to have had a "front row seat to the most remarkable and consequential presidencies in American history". He went on to enumerate his father's achievements in office, listing his tax cuts, support for the second Amendment and Middle East peace deals.
U.S.Business InsiderThe 22-year-old accused of stealing Pelosi's laptop and planning to sell it to Russia has been given new charges that could see her jailed for 20 years
Riley June Williams is accused of stealing Nancy Pelosi's laptop and trying to sell it to Russia. The Justice Department charged her with breaking into the Capitol, and a new charge was added after a tip. The laptop's whereabouts is still unknown.
PoliticsAxiosBiden lawyers remind Kamala Harris' niece that she can't profit off aunt's name
Biden's transition team lawyers have reminded Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' niece, Meena, that she can't profit off her famous aunt's image, after she unveiled a collaboration between her company and Beats By Dre. Why it matters: Following Republican attacks, President-elect Joe Biden pledged that neither his family nor Harris' would profit from their service as president and vice president. While Meena Harris did nothing illegal, it underscored the challenge of keeping relatives in line, and of adhering to the higher ethical standards that the incoming administration has pledged.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump draws disappointing crowd at Andrews Air Force Base despite hopes of massive turnout
Donald Trump intended his final public appearance as president to be a display of vast support from a devoted mass movement – but instead, he was seen off by a thin crowd of well-wishers. The early morning ceremony, from which Mr Trump flew to Florida on Air Force One, was meant to be an upbeat send-off with a cheering throng of fans. However, in the days leading up to it, reports emerged that even Trump dissenters like former press secretary Anthony Scaramucci were receiving invitations, while others had been offered the chance to bring five guests.
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Calf leads coastguard to dead whale off Naples
An ominous scene - the bloated, lifeless body of a massive whale, discovered floating near the southern coast of Naples in the dead of night. Italian Coastguard scuba divers found the carcass on Sunday (January 17) after spotting a calf in difficulty near the harbour of Sorrento. The body subsequently surfaced and was closely monitored by the coastguard, who decided to carry out an operation to move it to land.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderSecretary of State Mike Pompeo's departing message to the US is that multiculturalism is 'not who America is'
The outgoing secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, on Tuesday decried multiculturalism as un-American. Pompeo was excoriated on Twitter for his comments. On his last full day as the top US diplomat and just one day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo deemed multiculturalism to be un-American.
EntertainmentLA TimesHere's what Jennifer Lopez said in Spanish at Biden's inauguration
Lopez opened her performance at the inauguration with a portion of “This Land Is Your Land,” the 1940 folk song by Woody Guthrie, who, incidentally, identified as a socialist and ally of working people. She followed the patriotic flourish with another very J. Lo touch, a sweeping delivery of her 1999 hit, "Let's Get Loud." The irony of Lopez bringing her crowd-pleasing stadium anthem to a relatively small, socially distanced ceremony a year into the pandemic was not lost on Twitter.
U.S.The WeekOnly a sprinkling of Trump supporters showed up at state capitols to protest Biden's inauguration
In the wake of the deadly riot in the U.S. Capitol building earlier this month, the FBI had warned that armed protests were being planned in every state capital. But though it was still early in much of America as President Biden was sworn in just before noon Eastern time, the handful of pro-Trump demonstrators who actually showed up were largely disappointed by the turnout, to say the least: In other states, nobody showed up at all: Meanwhile, in Montana, the only protester to show up ... was a counterprotester.
CelebrityINSIDERDoug Emhoff's kids describe his relationship with Kamala Harris as 'almost vomit-inducingly cute and coupley'
Cole and Ella Emhoff spoke to the New York Times about their stepmom, Kamala Harris. Ella said it's like their father, Doug Emhoff, and Harris are in "the honeymoon phase forever." Emhoff, who married Harris in 2014, will be the country's first-ever second gentleman.
WorldBusiness InsiderIsrael is warning that a single dose of the Pfizer vaccine is 'less effective than we hoped' against COVID-19, and it could be a blow to the US and UK strategies
Israel's coronavirus chief warned the first Pfizer vaccine dose seems "less effective" than expected. This may worry the UK and US, which are prioritizing widespread first doses. Israel has vaccinated a larger share of its population than any other country.
“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.”