PoliticsThe IndependentTrump news: McEnany departs White House as McConnell calls impeachment ‘vote of conscience’
President Donald Trump is said to be planning a final trip on Air Force One to Mar-a-Lago during the inauguration, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly discusses impeachment with colleagues as the administration ends in history-making ignominy. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who entered the role in April 2020, joined a growing list of administration officials who left the president before his term officially ended. The president's top economic adviser Larry Kudlow has criticised his boss in The Wall Street Journal over his response to the deadly insurrection at the Capitol.
U.S.NextSharkAsian American Police Officer From Texas Will Likely Face Charges for Rioting in the Capitol
What happened: The officer attended the riots in Washington D.C. and is accused of "penetrating" the Capitol, Click2Houston reports. During a press conference on Wednesday, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo discussed the officer in question. According to the New York Post, the officer — who was not named publicly by Acevedo — was placed on administrative leave.
PoliticsNBC NewsTexas realtor who took private jet is charged in Capitol riot
A Texas realtor who took a private jet to the riot at the U.S. Capitol last week and called it the best day of her life is facing federal charges. Jennifer Ryan, who goes by Jenna Ryan on social media, is the latest person charged in connection to the Jan. 6 attack that left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer. Federal authorities said in court documents released Friday that Ryan traveled with a group to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5 and documented her two-day trip on social media.
WorldAssociated PressRussia prison agency warns Navalny he faces immediate arrest
Russia's prison service said Thursday that top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny faces immediate arrest once he returns from Germany. Navalny, who has been convalescing in Germany from an August poisoning with a nerve agent that he has blamed on the Kremlin, said he will fly back home Sunday. He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of now trying to deter him from coming home with the threat of arrest.
- WorldReuters
European court agrees to hear Ukrainian case on rights violations in Crimea
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will hear part of a case brought by Ukraine alleging Russian human rights violations in the Crimea peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014, the court said on Thursday. Abuses alleged by Ukraine including enforced disappearances, unlawful detention and suppression of non-Russian media had been deemed admissible and would be followed by a judgment at a later date, an ECHR statement said. The court said there was not enough evidence for Ukrainian allegations of a pattern of killings and shootings and detentions of foreign journalists or the alleged confiscation of Ukrainian soldiers' property.
PoliticsThe WeekTrump's team is reportedly trying to assemble a crowd for a 'major send-off' hours before Biden's inauguration
President Trump is planning to exit the White House on the morning of Jan. 20, a few hours before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in a short distance away, CNN reports. "Eager for a final taste of the pomp of being president, Trump has asked for a major send-off," and "as one of their final acts, Trump's team is working to organize a crowd to see him off on the morning of Biden's inauguration, when he plans to depart Washington while still president" for a flight to Palm Beach, Florida, where his term will officially end at noon. There are 20,000 National Guard troops currently deployed or en route to Washington, D.C., ahead of Biden's inauguration, because the last crowd Trump drew to the White House morphed into an insurrectionist mob that stormed the Capitol.
U.S.Associated PressWaitress credited with helping boy after noticing bruises
A Florida waitress who noticed bruises on an 11-year-old boy flashed him a handwritten note asking him if he needed help, and when he nodded yes, she called the police, authorities said. Orlando police credited Flaviane Carvalho, a waitress at Mrs. Potato Restaurant, with coming to the boy's aid on New Year's Eve when the child's parents weren't looking. Police took the boy to a hospital where doctors found bruises on his face, earlobes and arms.
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.
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 Joe 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 that prosecutors detailed in an 18-page detention memo arguing for the 33-year-old Arizona man to be held before trial.
U.S.The Telegraph‘I need to protect myself in case there is a civil war’: Why middle-class America is arming up
But for many of Jimmy Gong's customers in Mineola – a suburban village 20 miles east of the skyscrapers of Manhattan – the storming of the Capitol by pro-Trump demonstrators on January 6 was the inflection point. The following day is one of the busiest Gong, 46, can remember, even accounting for a 150 per cent rise in demand. And he expects business to keep booming.
U.S.The WeekSecret Service reportedly had to use Obama's bathroom after being barred from Ivanka Trump's
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have spent the past few years living in a six bedroom, 6.5 bathroom rented home in Washington, D.C.'s exclusive Kalorama neighborhood. The family could count high-profile officials and even one former president among their neighbors — as well as their own Secret Service detail, who had to rent a nearby apartment to use the bathroom because they weren't allowed inside the Kushner-Trump home, neighbors and law enforcement sources tell The Washington Post. It's not unusual for Secret Service agents to stay out of the typically expansive homes they're guarding, instead using a garage or auxiliary building as their home base, the Post notes.
U.S.CBS NewsRestaurant manager uses concealed sign to help rescue abused boy
A manager at a restaurant here noticed that a boy in a family of four seated on New Year's Day had bruises on his face and arms. Flavaine Carvalho decided to step in. CBS Orlando affiliate WKMG-TV reports Carvalho then called the owner of the Mrs. Potato restaurant, Rafaela Cabede, who agreed Carvalho should call police.
- WorldAssociated Press
Raids in Pakistan's NW leave 3 soldiers, 2 militants dead
Security forces raided two militant hideouts in a former insurgent stronghold in Pakistan's northwest Thursday, triggering shootouts that left three soldiers and two insurgents dead, the military said. The separate raids took place in the North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and one of the slain militants was a bomb-making expert, the military said in a statement. It provided no further details and the identity and nationality of the slain militants were not known.
- NewsFOX News Videos
Biden unveils $1.9T COVID-19 relief package with $1,400 checks
President-elect announces plans for additional economic relief to help those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
PoliticsAxiosKudlow says he's "very disappointed" in Trump's treatment of Pence
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow criticized President Trump's response to last week's U.S. Capitol siege and his treatment of Vice President Mike Pence in the aftermath of the 2020 election, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Friday. The big picture: Trump has lost support from a number of top aides and allies since a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol building on Jan. 6, resulting in five deaths. Kudlow is the latest to publicly speak out against the president.
U.S.TheGrioBiden nominates Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to DNC post
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has been nominated by President-elect Joe Biden as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. In the role, Bottoms would be in charge of civic engagement and voter protection. Mayor Bottoms is the only Mayor in Atlanta's history to have served in all three branches of government, serving as a judge and City Councilmember before being sworn in as Mayor,” the DNC said in press release Thursday night.
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.
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
PoliticsBusiness InsiderBumble removed its political filter after people said they used it to lure conservatives who were at the Capitol riot into sending incriminating evidence
The dating app Bumble has temporarily removed its political-identification filter to prevent "misuse." The move came after women tweeted about using the filter to find conservatives who took part in the Capitol breach and passing on evidence to law enforcement. Users started to notice the political filter had been removed on Thursday, and people on Twitter criticized Bumble as appearing to protect the insurrectionists.
PoliticsThe WeekMelania Trump is reportedly more than ready to leave the White House
First lady Melania Trump is spending her final days in the White House packing, making photo albums, and counting down the minutes until she can move out, CNN reports. Since November, she has been overseeing the Trump family's move, deciding what will go to Mar-a-Lago in Florida and what will go into storage. With the help of White House staffers, she has been doing this stealthily, as to not upset President Trump — the official told CNN he really didn't think they would be moving, and it's a sensitive subject.
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.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump is back in contact with Steve Bannon and ‘asking him how to overturn election’
Donald Trump is reportedly back in touch with his former chief strategist Steve Bannon who he has been speaking to several times over the phone in the recent weeks, seeking advice on how to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential elections. Mr Bannon is considered one of the main architects of Mr Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and had joined him as an adviser in the White House after the elections. Mr Bannon quit the position in August 2017 after he fell from the good books of the president due to a controversy related to his book.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderPelosi says Congress members may face prosecution if an investigation shows they were accomplices in Capitol siege
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday said that Congress members could face prosecution should an investigation show that they were accomplices in the Capitol riots. "If they aided and abetted the crime, there may have to be actions taken beyond the Congress in terms of prosecution for that," Pelosi said during a news conference. Pelosi also pointed out one rioter captured on camera in a "Camp Auschwitz" sweatshirt, describing him as a "punk."
PoliticsBusiness InsiderThe US government will spend $500,000 deep-cleaning the White House before Biden's inauguration
The White House will get a $500,000 deep-clean before President-elect Joe Biden moves in, CNN reported. "There's always been a deep clean between administrations, but we've never seen anything like this," presidential historian Kate Brower Andersen told ABC. The US government will spend almost $500,000 on a deep clean of the White House before President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20, CNN reported, citing government contracts it had viewed.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderThe Texas realtor who was pictured in the Capitol after taking a private plane to DC for Trump's rally has been arrested
The woman who went viral for taking a private plane to President Donald Trump's "Stop The Steal" rally on January 6 before being pictured at the US Capitol has been arrested. Jenna Ryan, who owns a real estate firm called Jenna Ryan Realty, in Frisco, Texas, posted a 21-minute video on her Facebook account, of her and a group walking towards the Capitol building, prosecutors said. Ryan claimed she didn't enter the Capitol, but video shows her in a large crowd entering the front door of the building.
“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.”