WorldReutersPhilippines police threaten social distancing violators with caning
Philippine police on Friday threatened to cane people who violate social distancing protocols as the Southeast Asian nation fights the spread of the coronavirus during the festive season. The Philippines celebrates one of the world's longest Christmas seasons, starting as early as September, and crowds have started to flock to sprawling malls and shopping centres despite the pandemic. Police general Cesar Binag, commander of the coronavirus task force, told a news conference that police and soldiers would patrol in public areas in the capital Manila, the hotspot of COVID-19 cases, carrying 1 meter rattan sticks to measure distancing.
- U.S.Associated Press
Army Corps withdraws plan to charge for reservoir water
The Army Corps of Engineers reversed course on an Obama-era proposal to charge for water drawn from reservoirs the Corps manages, North Dakota's attorney general said Friday. Attorneys general from a dozen Western and Plains states sent a letter last year to the Trump administration asking that the proposal be withdrawn. Republican North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem headed the effort, which was backed by attorneys general from Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
WorldThe TelegraphBrexit: How trade deal talks went from optimism to the brink
Michel Barnier is accustomed to being universally praised on his regular tours of the EU's capitals to preach the gospel against Brexit. On Tuesday, he was in the unfamiliar position of coming under friendly fire for the first time in three years as the EU's chief negotiator. It was an uncomfortable moment for Mr Barnier, who was headquartered at the Hotel Conrad in Westminster and is enmeshed in intensive Brexit negotiations with his UK counterpart David Frost.
PoliticsThe Independent‘Few lawsuits breathe more lies than this one’: Judge eviscerates Sidney Powell election lawsuit
Sidney Powell, the attorney who was distanced from the US president's legal team because she pushed election-related conspiracies, was said to have submitted a lawsuit that “breathed more lies” than most cases seen in court, after she challenged Michigan's election results. Issuing a response to Ms Powell's lawsuit on Thursday, judges for the City of Detroit said the lawsuit contained “warped logic”, and dismissed claims that vote machines had been tampered with, among other conspiracy theories. “Few lawsuits breathe more lies than this one,” said the 45-page court document, which was shared online.
PoliticsReutersPompeo says violence levels in Afghanistan 'unacceptably high'
Violence in Afghanistan is "unacceptably high" as delayed peace negotiations get underway, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday, adding that Washington has asked the warring parties to "stand back and indeed stand down." Pompeo's comments, made in a virtual address to the IISS Manama Dialogue, an annual security conference, came two days after Kabul-backed and Taliban negotiators reached a deal in Doha to proceed with talks on a political settlement to decades of strife. Pompeo noted that he met with the negotiating teams during a Nov. 21 visit to Doha and he said he told both sides that the strife must be reduced.
PoliticsAssociated PressPardon probe centered on clemency effort for psychologist
A California psychologist convicted of tax evasion was at the center of a mysterious, recently disclosed Justice Department investigation into whether White House officials were illegally lobbied to obtain a presidential pardon. The effort to obtain the pardon for the psychologist, Hugh Baras, involved a prominent Washington attorney and a major donor to President Donald Trump, according to lawyers involved in the case. But lawyers for both men say neither is under investigation.
WorldBBCVenezuela election: 'There's no opposition here, just God'
"We've come here to show our faces, to tell the truth, to walk the streets with you so you can tell us your problems, and we can solve them," hollered candidate Nicolás Maduro Guerra, addressing a crowd of about 500 on the Caribbean coast of La Guaira. For Nicolasito is the president's son and under Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela's once oil-rich economy has crumbled. Every day, millions of people in Venezuela struggle to access enough food, annual inflation is above 5,000% and about five million people have fled the country in search of jobs and more stability.
- PoliticsYahoo News Video
Georgia GOP Lt. Gov. is ‘embarrassed’ by misinformation surrounding election integrity in his state
As a pair of critical Senate runoff races approach on Jan. 5, Georgia Republican leaders find themselves in a conundrum, trying to balance indulging President Trump's baseless claims of voter fraud with supporting state GOP election officials. Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican, is frustrated with the misinformation about the election process in his state. I'm actually embarrassed at the amount of misinformation that continues to show up on Twitter feeds and Facebook posts and blogs that takes literally 10 seconds to debunk,” Duncan told Yahoo News.
WorldThe TelegraphChina creating 'biologically enhanced soldiers', claims US intelligence chief
China is conducting "human testing" to create "biologically enhanced soldiers," the head of US intelligence has claimed as he warned that Beijing poses the biggest threat to America's national security. In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence, warned that the US must be prepared for an "open-ended" confrontation with China which he likened to the Cold War. Mr Ratcliffe, who oversees America's intelligence agencies, said he believed China's intention was to "dominate" the planet in every sense: economically, militarily and technologically.
U.S.Associated PressTennessee inmate’s execution put on hold due to COVID-19
The Tennessee Supreme Court on Thursday indefinitely postponed the execution of death row inmate Byron Black. In a brief order issued on Thursday, the court wrote that Black's execution is stayed pending a further order by the court “because of the multiple issues caused by the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. Black was convicted by a Nashville court of murdering his girlfriend Angela Clay and her daughters Latoya, 9, and Lakesha, 6, at their home in 1988.
WorldReutersJerusalem church suffers damage in arson near Garden of Gethsemane
Israeli police on Friday arrested a man for trying to set fire to an east Jerusalem church by the Garden of Gethsemane, the site revered by Christians as the place where Jesus prayed before he was crucified. The 49-year-old Israeli suspect poured flammable liquid inside the Church of All Nations, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. The man then set it alight, a separate police statement said, before the church guard detained him.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump blames ‘Democrat’ postal service for loss even though it’s led by GOP megadonor
The president on Friday blamed the “Democrat stronghold” US Postal Service for his election loss, even though he appointed a GOP mega-donor to lead it and spent months undermining the agency ahead of the election. Whistleblowers reveal that the USPS is responsible for tampering with hundreds of thousands of ballots,” Mr Trump tweeted on Friday morning, referencing a report to that effect from the far-right One America News Network. This long time Democrat stronghold got rid of massive numbers, especially in swing states, during and before delivery of the ballots.
BusinessThe WeekU.S. economy adds 245,000 jobs in November, a 'red flag that momentum is waning'
The last jobs report to be released this year has arrived, and it's a major disappointment. The Labor Department on Friday said the U.S. economy added 245,000 jobs in November, which was down from the 440,000 jobs economists were expecting, CNBC reports. It was also "by far the lowest monthly total since the economy started its halting recovery," NBC News reports.
BusinessAssociated PressAfter being fined by US, Hyundai recalls more vehicles
A week after being fined by regulators for delaying safety recalls, Hyundai is recalling about 130,000 vehicles in the U.S. because the engines could fail. The recall will address a manufacturing issue that could cause the connecting rod bearings to wear out and the engines to fail, Hyundai said. Documents posted Friday on NHTSA's website say that owners could hear abnormal knocking sounds from the engine and see warning lights before any failure or fire.
WorldReuters'No presents': Mexicans urged to embrace abstemious Christmas to stop pandemic
Mexicans should cancel celebrations and even avoid exchanging Christmas presents to beat the coronavirus, the president said on Friday, pitching a frugal festive season to one of the world's largest capital cities as infections scaled new heights. "Let's leave Christmas presents for another time," President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said, urging people to scale down or forego traditional family gatherings over Christmas and New Year. Lopez Obrador said people should stay at home unless they had something "truly important to do" as he announced hospitals would increase patient capacity, equipment and staff.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump raised over $200 million after Election Day. Just $8.8 million has gone towards challenging the vote.
President Donald Trump has raised $207.5 million since Election Day while seeking to overturn the results, according to a new report, while actually spending just a small fraction of that on efforts to challenge the vote count in key states. The president broke somewhat of an unusual record in the days since his electoral defeat, failing to concede to President-elect Joe Biden despite his own Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security discrediting his allegations of widespread voter fraud. The recount was the campaign's most costly expense at $3 million, while other funds went to Mr Trump's legal advisers like Jenna Ellis, who has reportedly taken in $30,000 since Election Day.
ScienceBBCChina's Chang'e-5 mission leaves Moon's surface
China has executed the next stage of its Chang'e-5 Moon mission, blasting into orbit samples gathered on the lunar surface. Right on cue, at 15:10 GMT, an ascent vehicle lit its engine to head up to a service module that will shepherd home the rock and dust materials. It's more than 40 years since lunar samples were last brought back to Earth.
WorldThe TelegraphHealthy Scots warned they may not get Covid vaccine doses until second half of 2021
Scots who are not at a high risk of dying from Covid-19 have been urged to be patient in waiting to be vaccinated, after they were warned they may not be offered inoculations until the second half of 2021. In an attempt to clear up confusion around when all 4.4 million adult Scots will receive a vaccination, John Swinney, the Deputy First Minister, confirmed on Friday that a spring target date applied only to priority groups, such as the elderly and frontline healthcare workers. Jeane Freeman, the health secretary, had told parliament last month that the entire vaccination programme could be finished by the spring while Nicola Sturgeon said on Thursday that she “very much hoped” all eligible people would have received it within the timeframe.
PoliticsReutersBiden urges broad action on coronavirus aid after 'grim' jobs report
President-elect Joe Biden said Friday's "grim" jobs report shows the economic recovery is stalling, and urged the U.S. Congress to pass a coronavirus relief bill immediately and follow up with "hundreds of billions of dollars" in more aid in January. A government report on Friday showed the labor market slowing in November as the COVID-19 pandemic eclipsed its levels of the spring. Biden, the Democratic former vice president who defeated Republican President Donald Trump in the November election, offered backing for an emerging bipartisan package of around $908 billion in COVID-19 spending that has drawn tentative support from members of both parties in Congress.
PoliticsThe IndependentGiuliani’s witness at voter fraud hearing just got off probation for computer crime, reports say
One of the Trump campaign's key witnesses at a hearing about alleged voter fraud before the Michigan legislature just got off probation for an unspecified digital crime, the Daily Mail reports. Mellissa Carone, a former contractor for Dominion Voting Systems, went before the Michigan House Oversight Committee on Wednesday and claimed in bizarre, oftentimes belligerent testimony that instantly went viral, that she witnessed a host of election misconduct at a Detroit counting center.
WorldUSA TODAYFact check: Strict lockdowns, experimental vaccine helped China recover from COVID-19
China has used strict measures to succeed in controlling COVID-19 It's true that China appears to have succeeded in its efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 within its borders, per statistics from the World Health Organization. Though it has a population of 1.4 billion, China has reported fewer than 100,000 coronavirus cases and fewer than 5,000 deaths. In contrast, the United States — which has a population of 330 million — has had over 13.5 million cases and 271,000 deaths.
- PoliticsYahoo News Video
Biden says it's important for the country for Trump to attend inauguration
President-elect Joe Biden, speaking on Thursday to CNN's Jake Tapper and alongside Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, said it's important for the country that President Trump attends the inauguration. Biden said it's important to show “there is peaceful transfer of power, with the competing parties standing there, shaking hands and moving on.
BusinessAssociated PressCheesecake Factory settles with SEC over 'false' filings
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday that The Cheesecake Factory settled charges that it misled investors on the impact the pandemic was having on its business. The Cheesecake Factory said in March and April government filings that it was “operating sustainably” during the pandemic. But the SEC said Friday that the filings were “false and misleading” because internal documents at time showed the restaurant chain was losing $6 million in cash per week and had projected that it had 16 weeks of cash left.
ScienceBusiness InsiderA Japanese spacecraft is about to send a 'treasure box' of asteroid dust plummeting to Earth. Watch the sample return live.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched Hayabusa-2 in 2014 with the goal of collecting the first sample of material from below an asteroid's surface. The spacecraft first landed on Ryugu in February to collect shallow samples from the surface. But scientists knew that probing deeper could reveal more pure rock from the beginnings of our solar system, since that material hasn't been exposed to harsh radiation from the sun.
PoliticsReutersU.S. government ordered to reinstate protections for 'Dreamers'
In a rebuke to President Donald Trump's administration, a judge on Friday ordered the U.S. government to reopen to first-time applicants a program that protects from deportation and grants work permits to hundreds of thousands of immigrants who live in the United States unlawfully after arriving as children. The action by U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn centered on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created by Trump's Democratic predecessor Barack Obama in 2012. The Supreme Court in June blocked Trump's 2017 bid to end DACA.
“This metastasizing debt crisis has had tremendous social costs. An entire generation has been set back.”
“It is not the government’s job to step in and rescue those who took on more debt than their future incomes would support.”
“Many student-borrowers need relief, but well-off borrowers who are thriving — thanks to their college degrees — do not.”
“It will stimulate the lagging economy. And though not everyone will directly benefit, the country as a whole will improve.”
“Canceling student debt would cost billions of dollars each year and would exacerbate, not lessen, economic inequalities.”