PoliticsYahoo NewsTrump White House begins packing up
One day after President Trump was impeached for the second time and with less than a week to go before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, the Trump White House began cleaning out its desks on Thursday. While 20,000 National Guard troops have descended upon Washington in order to protect the capital from pro-Trump protests expected in the coming days, White House staffers were spotted removing a bust of President Abraham Lincoln from the West Wing. Staffers did not immediately clarify if the bust belongs to the White House permanent collection, or where it was headed.
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12 Pakistani police fired for not protecting Hindu temple
Pakistani authorities sacked a local police chief and 11 other policemen for failing to protect a Hindu temple that was set on fire and demolished last month by a mob led by hundreds of supporters of a radical Islamist party, police said Friday. The punishments come amid government assurances to the Hindu community that the temple in Karak, a town in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, would be rebuilt. The attack took place after members of the Hindu community received permission from local authorities to renovate the temple.
WorldReutersYemen's Houthis won't abandon peace efforts over U.S. designation, says chief negotiator
Yemen's Houthi movement will not walk away from peace talks with the United Nations and Saudi Arabia despite the U.S. decision to designate the Iran-aligned group as a foreign terrorist organisation, the Houthi chief negotiator told Reuters. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the designation, which will trigger sanctions against the movement and three of its leaders, will come into effect on Jan. 19 at the end of the Trump administration's term. "These (peace talks) have nothing to do with the (U.S.) decision which will not limit our movements nor our international relations," Mohammed Abdulsalam said on Thursday, adding this applied to both U.N. efforts and ceasefire talks with Riyadh.
U.S.Associated PressAmid cacophony since Capitol siege, key officer stays silent
Yet amid all the noise, a Capitol Police officer hailed as a hero for confronting the insurrectionists and leading them away from Senate chambers has remained silent. Officer Eugene Goodman isn't saying whether he thinks he saved the Senate, as many of the millions who've viewed the video believe. In fact, Goodman isn't saying anything at all publicly — not to reporters, not on social media.
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Uganda's Bobi Wine rejects early election results
"We have certainly won this election and we have won it by far", Bobi Wine told a news conference at his home in the capital on Friday (January 15) in which he alleged fraud and violence in Thursday's polls but did not provide evidence. His claims have not been independently verified by Reuters or observers, though the United States and the European Union, which have previously deployed observation missions for Ugandan elections, did not deploy teams this time. With 29.4% of votes from Thursday's ballot counted, Museveni had won 1,852,263 votes, or 63.9%, while Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, had 821,874 (28.4%), the electoral commission said just after 11 a.m.
U.S.INSIDERAt least 6 pro-Trump rioters charged in the Capitol insurrection have already been released from custody
Josiah Colt is charged in federal court with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. He is one of at least five pro-Trump rioters charged with federal crimes who have already been allowed to go home pending trial. Dozens of people who were at or around the violent siege of the Capitol building last week have been charged - some of them also indicted - with crimes in DC or federal courts, and that list is growing by the hour.
WorldReutersChina COVID-19 vaccinations gather momentum as outbreaks spread
A little-known Beijing museum of urban planning looks set to see more visitors after being converted into a COVID-19 vaccination site as China seeks to ramp up inoculations amid a new upsurge in infections. "Initially there were a few hundred people a day, and then it reached a peak of 4,000," said Zheng Hongwei, a doctor at the makeshift vaccination site. Rising domestic cases are turning up the heat on China to strengthen its pace of vaccination, a campaign that may risk being complicated by a lack of detailed efficacy data and confusion over the varying success rates of one of three home-grown vaccines.
PoliticsThe WeekU.S. carries out Trump's 12th federal execution
The Trump administration executed Corey Johnson on Thursday night, after the Supreme Court lifted stays on both Johnson's execution and another one scheduled for Friday. Both Johnson and the other inmate, Dustin Higgs, tested positive for COVID-19, and their lawyers had argued that the execution drug pentobarbital would cause excruciating pain on the COVID-infected lungs. Johnson's lawyers also pointed to evidence that he was severely mentally disabled.
ScienceAssociated PressRIP: Mars digger bites the dust after 2 years on red planet
NASA declared the Mars digger dead Thursday after failing to burrow deep into the red planet to take its temperature. "We've given it everything we've got, but Mars and our heroic mole remain incompatible,” said the German Space Agency's Tilman Spohn, the lead scientist for the experiment. Astronauts one day may need to dig into Mars, according to NASA, in search of frozen water for drinking or making fuel, or signs of past microscopic life.
U.S.INSIDERA Florida teacher was filmed falsely telling students 'Antifa' was behind the Capitol riots
A Florida teacher was filmed falsely telling students "Antifa" was responsible for the January 6 Capitol riots. The substitute teacher is "no longer with" Edward W. Bok Academy South or Lake Wales Charter Schools (LWCS), the HR director at LWCS confirmed to Insider. There's no evidence "Antifa" was responsible for violence during the Capitol riots; about 100 pro-Trump supporters have been charged so far.
WorldThe TelegraphBoris Johnson considers post-Brexit changes to rules on 48-hour working week
Boris Johnson is considering a post-Brexit overhaul of labour laws to free businesses from regulations originally imposed by the EU. The 48-hour working week is one of the regulations being targeted by the Government, it was reported on Thursday night, in a move that is likely to meet with resistance from trade unions. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), has asked business leaders for their views on the ideas, which are understood to be at an early stage.
PoliticsThe IndependentLindsey Graham urges Biden to get Democrats to end impeachment
One of President Trump's closest confidants is asking President-elect Joe Biden to pressure Congressional Democrats to end the impeachment proceedings. In a string of tweets, Senator Lindsey Graham called on Mr Biden to "to rise to the occasion and instruct his party to call off post-presidential impeachment proceedings". Mr Biden has so far been doing his best to avoid giving his opinion publicly regarding impeachment, only indicating that he wants the Senate to deal with cabinet confirmations and new legislation at the same time as an impeachment trial.
WorldReutersChina's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine safe for children, teenagers: state media
A COVID-19 vaccine developed by China National Biotec Group (CNBG), a Sinopharm subsidiary, is safe in those aged between three and 17, based on clinical data obtained by the company, state media reported on Friday. "It should be noted that for three to five-year-old children, because their immune system is still developing, they must be carefully and closely monitored during vaccination," CNBG chairman Yang Xiaoming told Xinhua, without providing further details. CNBG has two COVID-19 vaccines in Phase 3 clinical trials, both of which have been authorised for emergency use and are being given to limited priority groups at high risk of infection.
WorldAssociated PressSpain rejects virus confinement as most of Europe stays home
While most of Europe kicked off 2021 with earlier curfews or stay-at-home orders, authorities in Spain insist the new coronavirus variant causing havoc elsewhere is not to blame for a sharp resurgence of cases and that the country can avoid a full lockdown even as its hospitals fill up. The government has been tirelessly fending off drastic home confinement like the one that paralyzed the economy for nearly three months in the spring of 2020, the last time Spain could claim victory over the stubborn rising curve of cases. Infection rates ebbed in October but never completely flattened the surge from summer.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderPro-Trump rioters who stormed the Capitol came within seconds of seeing Pence and his family, report says
A mob of pro-Trump rioters came within seconds of seeing Vice President Mike Pence when it laid siege to the US Capitol last week, The Washington Post reported. At the time, Pence was presiding over a joint congressional session as lawmakers prepared to formalize President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election. When the rioters breached the Capitol, Pence was in the Senate chamber as lawmakers debated a Republican challenge to the electoral votes in Arizona.
WorldAssociated PressChina builds new quarantine center as virus cases rise
A city in northern China is building a 3,000-unit quarantine facility to deal with an anticipated overflow of patients as COVID-19 cases rise ahead of the annual Lunar New Year travel rush. State media on Friday showed crews leveling earth, pouring concrete and assembling prefabricated rooms in farmland in an outlying part of Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital of Hebei province, which has seen the bulk of the new cases. That recalled scenes from last year, when China rapidly built field hospitals and turned gymnasiums into isolation centers to cope with a then-spiraling outbreak in Wuhan, where the virus was first detected in late 2019.
WorldBBCCovid-19: Brazil hospitals 'run out of oxygen' for virus patients
Hospitals in the Brazilian city of Manaus have reached breaking point while treating Covid-19 patients, amid reports of severe oxygen shortages and desperate staff. The city, in Amazonas state, has seen a surge of deaths and infections. Health professionals, quoted by local media, warned "many people" could die due to lack of supplies and assistance.
EntertainmentArchitectural DigestMore Inside Artist Jorge Pardo's Transformed Bushwick Carriage House
When it came to the lighting in his home, Pardo drew inspiration from the insides of fruits, nuts, and seeds, as well as sea creatures and machine parts. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsAssociated PressTrump to leave Washington on morning of Biden's inauguration
President Donald Trump will leave Washington next Wednesday morning, just before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, to begin his post-presidential life in Florida. He will be sent off with a departure ceremony at Joint Base Andrews, according to a person familiar with the planning who spoke on condition of anonymity because Trump's plans have not been formally announced. Officials are considering an elaborate event that would have the feel of a state visit, with a red carpet, color guard, military band and 21-gun salute all being discussed.
ScienceAccuWeatherSnow to threaten slippery travel as chilly air returns to northeastern US
The pattern change in the Northeast may come as a shock to the system for some following mild weather, but forecasters say the return of cold and snow will be on par with what's typical for the middle of January. The first half of January was a mild one for the northeastern corner of the nation, with temperatures averaging 4-5 degrees Fahrenheit above normal along the Interstate 95 corridor and 8-12 degrees higher than average in parts of New England. "When factoring in mild air prior to the storm's arrival and AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures 10-20 degrees lower than the actual temperature from Saturday night to Sunday, it will feel like the middle of January and the cold will be penetrating," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
WorldAssociated PressGerman lockdown loopholes criticized as deaths hit new high
Germany has too many loopholes in its coronavirus lockdown rules, the head of the country's disease control agency said as figures published Thursday showed the highest number of daily deaths since the start of the pandemic. The Robert Koch Institute said 1,244 deaths from COVID-19 were confirmed in one day up to Thursday, taking the total number to 43,881. There were also 25,164 newly confirmed cases, putting Germany's total known infections close to 2 million.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestJessie Schuster Transforms a Spacious SoHo Loft Inside an Old Factory Building
The Manhattan-based interior designer preserved the element of gritty New York through a “raw but elevated” renovation Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsAssociated PressFate of Biden agenda rests with Schumer in 50-50 Senate
Chuck Schumer is used to drinking from a firehose. But the incoming Senate majority leader has never taken on such a torrent of challenges, with the opening days of both the Biden administration and Democratic control of the Senate coming at the very moment an impeachment trial gets underway. A 38-year veteran of Congress who first came to the Senate during President Bill Clinton's impeachment, Schumer is a 70-year-old bundle of energy with one overriding mandate: Help Joe Biden become a successful president.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastPeyote-Loving ‘QAnon Shaman’ Vowed to Attend Inauguration, Left Chilling Note for Pence: Docs
The so-called QAnon Shaman who stormed the U.S. Capitol last week in Viking garb before sitting in Vice President Mike Pence's chair on the Senate dais admitted to federal agents he intended to return to D.C. to “protest” President-elect Biden's inauguration. “I'll still go, you better believe it,” Jacob Chansley bragged in an interview with FBI agents the day after the violent insurrection. The admission by Chansley, also known as Jake Angeli, is one of several prosecutors detailed in an 18-page detention memo arguing for the 33-year-old Arizona man to be held before trial.
HealthMiami HeraldStress and depression may weaken your immune response to COVID vaccines, studies show
Both available coronavirus vaccines have been shown to be highly effective at preventing infection during clinical trials, but a new review of nearly 50 studies on other vaccines suggests people's mood and overall well-being play a role in how well their body's respond to the COVID-19 shot. Specifically, feelings of stress, depression and anxiety, as well as poor health, can negatively affect a person's immune response to a vaccine. These consequences can include a delay in the production of antibodies following vaccination, a reduction in how long immunity lasts and a more intense experience with side effects such as fatigue and muscle soreness.
“Governors are being WAY too precious about who gets this vaccine.”
“The federal government needs to give states strict parameters for when their vaccine allocation must be administered.”
“While public health leaders know what must be done, their critical work could be supported by a national COVID-19 Vaccine Corps.”
“The US vaccine campaign is not a disaster. Rather, I think it is predictably mediocre.”
“The best option may be to rely more on private industry.”