PoliticsThe IndependentRudy Giuliani says election case losses help Trump campaign’s strategy to get ‘expeditiously’ to Supreme Court
Rudy Giuliani has said he is “thankful” to the judge who dismissed the Trump campaign's post-election lawsuit in Pennsylvania, as it helps them to get “expeditiously” to the Supreme Court. On Saturday, a federal judge in Pennsylvania dismissed a lawsuit by the Trump campaign that attempted to block the certification of votes in the state. “This Court has been presented with strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations, unpaid in the operative complaint and unsupported by evidence,” judge Matthew Brann wrote in his dismissal on Saturday.
WorldReutersHong Kong activist Joshua Wong detained for 2019 illegal assembly
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was remanded in custody on Monday after pleading guilty to charges of organising and inciting an unauthorised assembly near the police headquarters during last year's anti-government protests. Wong, who was just 17 years old when he became the face of the 2014 student-led Umbrella Movement democracy protests, faces a maximum three-year jail term. On Twitter afterwards, Wong said attention should be directed to the 12 Hong Kong people detained virtually incommunicado in China after being arrested at sea in August as they were attempting to flee by boat to Taiwan to escape charges related to last year's protests in the city.
PoliticsAssociated PressAP Explains: The FBI is investigating Texas AG Ken Paxton
The FBI recently opened a criminal investigation into claims that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton abused his office to benefit a wealthy donor. The probe, which was confirmed to The Associated Press by two people with knowledge of it who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, marks an escalation in the latest controversy to surround the high-profile Republican, who has spent years under indictment on unrelated state securities fraud charges. The FBI's interest in Texas' top law enforcement official arose from a rebellion by Paxton's top deputies, who accused him of breaking the law by using his office to help a wealthy donor with a troubled real estate empire who also hired a woman with whom the married Paxton allegedly had an affair.
PoliticsThe WeekBiden reportedly picks longtime aide Antony Blinken as secretary of state
President-elect Joe Biden is expected to nominate Antony Blinken as his secretary of state, people with knowledge of the matter told The New York Times on Sunday. Blinken, 58, is one of Biden's closest foreign policy advisers, serving as his top aide on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and national security adviser when Biden was vice president. He joined the State Department during the Clinton administration, and was a deputy secretary of state during the Obama administration.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderRepublican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a candidate in the Georgia runoff, tested positive for COVID-19 and is quarantining
Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday and is quarantining, her campaign announced in a statement on Saturday. The statement said Loeffler took a test on Saturday that came back inconclusive and is waiting on more test results. The campaign said she has no symptoms and notified close contacts.
WorldBBCArnab Goswami: India's most loved and loathed TV anchor
But for nearly a week, the Republic network ran programmes claiming the victims' Hindu identity was a motive for the crime, echoing an unfounded theory floated by some members of India's governing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). This, critics say, is the real danger of Mr Goswami's brash, cacophonic and often partisan coverage. They believe viewers of his network are being drip-fed false information, divisive and inflammatory views, and propaganda for the Hindu nationalist BJP - its six years in power have been linked to the increased marginalisation of India's 200 million Muslims.
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Turkey, Russia at odds over Turkish military post in Azerbaijan - source
Turkey and Russia are at odds over Ankara's wish to set up an independent military observation post on Azeri territory, a Turkish source said, after the two agreed this month to monitor a ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Turkey and Russia have already agreed to set up a joint centre in the region to monitor the Nov. 10 ceasefire, which ended weeks of fighting between Azerbaijan's troops and ethnic Armenian forces in the enclave. Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but is populated by ethnic Armenians.
WorldAssociated PressRights experts: Japan's handling of Carlos Ghosn was wrong
A panel of human rights experts working with the United Nations said Monday that former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn was wrongly detained in Japan and has urged “compensation” for him from the Japanese government. The Japanese government denounced the report as a “totally unacceptable” viewpoint that will change nothing in the country's legal process. In its opinion published Monday, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Ghosn's arrest in Japan in late 2018 and early 2019 was “arbitrary” and called on Japan's government to “take the necessary steps to remedy the situation of Mr. Ghosn without delay.”
PoliticsThe IndependentRepublican senator urges Trump to accept defeat and condemns ‘unprecedented’ attempt to overturn election result
A Republican senator has urged Donald Trump accept defeat in the US presidential election and begin the transition process, condemning his campaign's “unprecedented” attempt to overturn Joe Biden's victory. Alaska's Lisa Murkowski took to Twitter to say Joe Biden had beaten Mr Trump fairly and told the president it was time to give up his legal team's efforts to stay in power. Senator Murkowski is among just a handful of Republican politicians to recognise Mr Biden's win.
WorldThe Daily BeastJFK Conspiracy Theory Is Debunked in Mexico
Most conspiracy theories surrounding President John F. Kennedy's assassination have been disproven. Kennedy was not killed by a gas-powered device triggered by aliens or by actor Woody Harrelson's dad. Several JFK assassination experts, like the former New York Times investigative reporter Phillip Shenon, see Mexico as the best place to find answers regarding a possible conspiracy and who was behind it.
WorldReutersIndia says local COVID-19 vaccine final trials could end within two months
India's health minister said on Sunday a locally-developed COVID-19 vaccine candidate could complete its final trials in a month or two, raising hopes for a rapid roll-out in a country with the world's second highest number of infections. The state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and privately-held Bharat Biotech this month started third-stage trials of COVAXIN, in a process that would involve 26,000 volunteers. It is the most advanced Indian experimental vaccine.
WorldAssociated PressThousands march in Taiwan against US pork imports
Thousands of people marched in Taipei's streets on Sunday demanding the reversal of a decision to allow U.S. pork imports into Taiwan, alleging food safety issues. President Tsai Ing-wen's administration lifted a long-standing ban on U.S. pork and beef imports in August, in a move seen as one of the first steps toward possibly negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the U.S. The ban is due to be lifted in January. The new policy allows imports of pork with acceptable residues of ractopamine, a drug added into animal feed that promotes the growth of lean meat that some farmers use in pigs.
WorldAssociated PressReports: Israeli PM flew to Saudi Arabia, met crown prince
Israeli media reported Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Saudi Arabia for a clandestine meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which would mark the first known encounter between senior Israeli and Saudi officials. The reported meeting was the latest move by the Trump Administration to promote normalized ties between Israel and the broader Arab world and reflected the shared concern of all three nations about Iran. The Israeli news site Walla, followed quickly by other Hebrew-language media, cited an unnamed Israeli official as saying that Netanyahu and Yossi Cohen, head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, flew to the Saudi city of Neom on Sunday, where they met with the crown prince.
HealthBBCCovid: 'Entire families in hospital after coronavirus surge'
On 14 October, Farah Husain, a critical care specialist in Delhi's largest Covid-19 hospital, heaved a sigh of relief. Doctors fear that Delhi may well become the epicentre of India's first wave of winter infections. Delhi is now recording more cases a day than any state.
PoliticsReutersTrump campaign parts ways with Powell after vote-switching claim
President Donald Trump's election campaign distanced itself on Sunday from Sidney Powell, a lawyer who claimed without evidence at a news conference last week that electronic voting systems had switched millions of ballots to President-elect Joe Biden. "Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own," Trump campaign lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis said in a statement. "She is not a member of the Trump Legal Team."
WorldThe Daily BeastMigrants Flee Climate Change Ravaged Central America as Record-Breaking Hurricanes Hit
The destruction left in the wake of the hurricanes highlight the impacts of human caused climate change, factors which are driving hundreds of thousands from Central America to seek to reach the United States. Northern and Eastern Guatemala saw intense heavy rains from the storms causing widespread flooding and catastrophic landslides. In one disaster following Eta, a landslide in province of Alta Verapaz buried the Indigenous Maya Poqomchi' village of Quejá, leaving over 100 under mud and debris.
WorldAssociated PressErdogan says Turkey's place is in Europe before EU summit
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that Turkey sees itself as a part of Europe, but he called on the European Union to “keep your promises” on issues such as the country's membership bid and refugees. In recent weeks, EU members have raised the prospect of sanctions against Turkey over its gas exploration missions in the eastern Mediterranean. “We always see ourselves as part of Europe,” Erdogan said in a virtual speech to ruling party members.
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G20: Trump defends withdrawal from Paris accord
It was a move that took effect on Nov. 4, a day after the presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden, who has said he will rejoin the agreement as soon as he takes office. Trump said, without providing evidence, that the air in the United States was 7% cleaner than when he took office, and that U.S. renewable energy capacity had increased by more than 30% even as the United States became the top U.S. and natural gas producer in the world. "Every day we're proving that we can protect our workers, create new jobs, and safeguard the environment without imposing crippling mandates and one-sided international agreements on our citizens," he said.
WorldReutersPalestinian rocket fire draws Israeli air strikes in Gaza
Palestinian militants fired a rocket into Israel, drawing Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said on Sunday. Israeli police said the Gaza rocket fired on Saturday night damaged a factory in the southern city of Ashkelon. The Israeli military said its aircraft struck in response against several military sites belonging to Hamas, the Islamist armed group that controls Gaza.
WorldThe Daily BeastThe Olive Oil in Your Local Store May Be Funding Syrian Warlords
Syrian exile Nidal Shaikho should have been delighted when he found a bottle of his hometown olive oil at a grocery store in upstate New York. Shaikho comes from Afrin, Syria's Holy City of Olives, whose produce is famed across the Middle East. An investigation by The Daily Beast has found that conflict olives stolen by Syrian warlords to finance their fighting units are being smuggled into Europe and used to produce high-grade olive oil.
HealthBusiness InsiderAmericans will hopefully begin receiving the COVID-19 vaccine as early as December 11, 'Warp Speed' advisor says
Some Americans could "hopefully" receive the vaccine for COVID-19 as soon as December 11 or 12, Moncef Slaoui, the chief science advisor of the White House's vaccine effort, "Operation Warp Speed," said Sunday. Slaoui, who was tapped to head the White House effort to develop a vaccine earlier this year, told CNN's Jake Tapper during an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union" that he and his colleagues hoped to ship the vaccine to immunization sites within 24 hours of receiving approval to do so by the Food and Drug Administration. A panel of outside experts that advises the FDA is expected to meet on December 10 to discuss Pfizer's application for an emergency use authorization.
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Australia state border reopens after four months
Sirens ring out, as the first cars cross the border from New South Wales into Victoria, Australia's two most populous states. They're the first to make the journey since July when the border was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Victoria - once the epicentre of the country's outbreak - has now gone 24 days without recording a single new case.
WorldAssociated PressChina tests millions after coronavirus flare-ups in 3 cities
Chinese authorities are testing millions of people, imposing lockdowns and shutting down schools after multiple locally transmitted coronavirus cases were discovered in three cities across the country last week. As temperatures drop, large-scale measures are being enacted in the cities of Tianjin, Shanghai and Manzhouli, despite the low number of new cases compared to the United States and other countries that are seeing new waves of infections. Many experts and government officials have warned that the chance of the virus spreading will be greater during the cold weather.
PoliticsThe Independent‘Abandoning our people’: AOC attacks Mitch McConnell for granting Senate recess without passing coronavirus relief bill
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has criticised Mitch McConnell for granting a Senate recess without reaching an agreement on the coronavirus relief bill. Democratic Representative Ocasio-Cortez said on Friday during a House hearing that Mr McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, was “abandoning our people”. "Just a day or two ago, the Senate majority leader, Senator McConnell, decided to break the Senate," Ms Ocasio-Cortez said.
WorldLA TimesMexico's military gains power as president turns from critic to partner
As a candidate for president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador slammed Mexico's armed forces and the "mafia of power" that he said controlled them. He accused soldiers of human rights abuses in the country's bloody drug war and publicly clashed with Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos, then secretary of defense. But after taking office, López Obrador changed his tune, embracing the same military leaders he had once bashed.
“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.”