PoliticsBusiness InsiderAttorney for Jared Kushner and a Trump fundraiser investigated by DOJ in alleged bribery-for-pardon scheme
The US Department of Justice investigated an attorney for Jared Kushner in connection with an alleged bribery-for-pardon scheme, The New York Times reported. As Business Insider reported, a US judge released documents this week showing that federal investigators were concerned about an alleged "bribery conspiracy scheme" to obtain a presidential pardon. According to The Times' reporting, the suspected scheme involved a billionaire real estate developer, Sanford Diller, who sought to secure clemency for a man named Hugh Baras, who had been convicted of tax evasion.
WorldReutersTrudeau won't comment on Huawei CFO, says priority is Canadians held in China
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday declined to comment on talks between the U.S. Justice Department and lawyers that could lead to the release of a senior Huawei executive who is under house arrest in Vancouver. Trudeau told reporters that his "top priority" was the return of two Canadian citizens being held in China. The two were picked up shortly after Canadian police detained Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in December 2018 on a U.S. arrest warrant.
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EU extends ban on Pakistan's airline from flying to Europe
The European Union's aviation safety agency has extended a ban imposed on Pakistan's state-run airline this year barring it from flying to Europe after a plane crash that killed 97 people in the port city of Karachi, a spokesman said Friday. At the time — and while the probe into the May 22 Airbus A320 crash was still underway — authorities acknowledged that nearly a third of Pakistani pilots, 260 out of 860, had cheated on their pilot's exams. Pakistan International Airlines subsequently grounded 150 of its pilots while a probe by the country's Civil Aviation Authority into the other pilots is still ongoing.
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Michigan judge declines to sanction Trump campaign over alleged 'disinformation' tactic
A federal judge in Michigan declined to reprimand President Trump's campaign for submitting a court document that opposing lawyers said was purposefully misleading.
PoliticsThe IndependentBiden calls on Trump to attend inauguration: ‘It is important in only one sense’
President-elect Joe Biden is hopeful Donald Trump will attend his inauguration next month in order to demonstrate a peaceful transfer of power, while adding that his predecessor's presence would be of “no personal consequence” for him. Talking to CNN's Jake Tapper alongside vice president-elect Kamala Harris in their first joint interview since the election on Thursday, Mr Biden was asked whether he wanted Mr Trump to attend the 20 January event. Mr Biden said the outgoing president's presence would be “important in only one sense”.
PoliticsReutersTaiwan says trade deal would show U.S. support in face of China pressure
A bilateral trade deal between Taiwan and the United States would reinforce U.S. support for the democratic island in the face of "unrelenting intimidation" from China, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Friday. Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, has long angled for a trade deal with its most important diplomatic and military backer, and in August Tsai announced a relaxation on imports of U.S. pork and beef, removing a stumbling block. In a recorded message to the American Legislative Exchange Council, having received its International Pioneer Award for Leadership, Tsai said that with Taiwan's reliance on trade, the island had to strengthen economic ties with trading partners.
- 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.
PoliticsThe WeekWhat Trump is doing isn't politics. It's something much worse.
What in the world does Donald Trump think he's doing? The deranged 46-minute Facebook video in which the recently defeated president of the United States rants and raves like Alex Jones, spinning vast conspiracies about how the election was stolen from him and his supporters, is a good example. It's President-elect Joe Biden picking people to staff his administration, office holders of both parties discussing prospects for confirming specific nominees, and Biden's team talking about priorities for the opening days and weeks of his presidency.
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 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.
WorldReutersTo save money, Mexican president says won't replace chief-of-staff
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Thursday he would not replace his outgoing chief-of-staff Alfonso Romo and will close down his office in order to save money. Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday that Romo, a longtime ally and millionaire entrepreneur known for his outreach to business groups, would step down after two years in the job. The leftist president said Romo would continue to act as a go-between for the government and the private sector, a role that has often been strained over Lopez Obrador's skepticism about private sector involvement in areas such as energy.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump news - live: Press chief quits in apparent nod to defeat, as Murdoch appears to turn on president
On a day that began with warnings by a conservative pundit that Donald Trump's final weeks in power could be his “most dangerous”, and the fallout from a 46-minute speech on social media branded as “one of his most dishonest ever”, the president continues to rail against the results of the 2020 presidential election as his communications director resigns. While he refused to tell reporters whether he had any confidence in US Attorney General William Barr, the Justice Department announced that it is suing Facebook for discriminating against Americans in its hiring practices Meanwhile, first daughter and White House adviser Ivanka Trump has hit out at the “vindictive” probe regarding her hotel...
PoliticsAssociated PressSix vice presidents talk about job once considered invisible
Ben Franklin, when the Constitution was written, said, 'we should refer to the vice president as 'his superfluous excellency,'” President-elect Joe Biden, who served eight years as Barack Obama's vice president, says in the film. Roth's doc includes several similar quotes, including the classic by John Nance Garner, Franklin Roosevelt's first vice president, who said the job was “not worth a bucket of warm piss. Cheney said Gerald Ford described it as the worst nine months of his life and urged him not to become George W. Bush's running mate.
U.S.ReutersFire crews battle to tame Southern California wildfire after thousands flee
Firefighters battled to tame a wildfire on hillsides southeast of Los Angeles late on Thursday, some 24 hours after it broke out in a wooded canyon, apparently triggered by a faulty domestic generator. Two of some 500 firefighters deployed to control it had been hospitalized with injuries, the Orange County Fire Authority said on Twitter. The Bond Fire, named for the street in Silverado Canyon where it started, ignited late on Wednesday evening and was quickly whipped up by dry Santa Ana winds.
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Lebanon investigates death of former customs official
Lebanese authorities are investigating the killing of a retired customs officer in what a leading politician described as a "terrible incident". Colonel Munir Abu Rjeili was found dead in his home on Wednesday in Qartaba, some 40 km (25 miles) northeast of Beirut, with a blow to the head, a security source said. Leading Druze politician Walid Jumblatt asked on Twitter on Thursday what was behind the killing.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTrump's plant in the DOJ was barred from the building after she harassed staff for evidence of election fraud, report says
She was one of several Trump loyalists sent to monitor government departments. Stirrup was barred from entering the building after officials "learned of her efforts to collect insider information about ongoing cases and the department's work on election fraud," the AP reported, citing the three people. President Donald Trump's team has filed several lawsuits challenging the election result, which he has falsely claimed is fraudulent, but those efforts are failing.
WorldAssociated PressFirst Rohingya refugees arrive at isolated Bangladesh island
Authorities in Bangladesh on Friday sent the first group of more than 1,500 Rohingya refugees to an isolated island despite calls by human rights groups for a halt to the process. The 1,642 refugees boarded seven Bangladeshi naval vessels in the port of Chittagong for the trip to Bhashan Char, according to an official who could not be named in accordance with local practice. After about a three-hour trip they arrived at the island, which was once regularly submerged by monsoon rains but now has flood protection embankments, houses, hospitals and mosques built at a cost of more than $112 million by the Bangladesh navy.
WorldReutersBuddhist prayer ceremony held in Cambodia for missing Thai activist
The sister of a Thai pro-democracy activist who rights groups say was abducted by unknown gunmen in Cambodia called on Friday for authorities to solve the case after holding a Buddhist prayer ceremony to mark six months since his disappearance. Wanchalearm Satsaksit, 37, was bundled into a vehicle in front of his Phnom Penh apartment in June, New York-based Human Rights Watch said. Cambodian police have previously said they were unaware a kidnapping had taken place.
WorldAssociated PressMilitants open fire and burn police car in Philippine town
Dozens of militants aligned with the Islamic State group opened fire on a Philippine army detachment and burned a police patrol car in a southern town but withdrew after troops returned fire, officials said Friday. There were no immediate reports of injuries in Thursday night's brief attack by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in Datu Piang town. Nevertheless it sparked panic among residents and rekindled fears of a repeat of a 2017 militant siege of southern Marawi city that lasted for five months before being quelled by government forces.
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At pro-Trump rally in Georgia, attorney Lin Wood suggests supporters shouldn't vote for Republicans in state's Senate runoff
At a pro-Trump rally called “Stop the Steal” on Wednesday, attorney Lin Wood suggested to the crowd that they should not vote for Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in the Jan. 5 runoff election until what he claims are instances of election fraud have been fixed. No evidence of widespread voter fraud has been found in Georgia or anywhere else in the U.S.
WorldReuters'We lost everything:' Central Americans flee north after back-to-back hurricanes
It took Luis Salgado years of manual labor to save enough money to open a small fresh produce store, so when torrential floods swept away $1,500 worth of apples, bananas and other fruits, he decided there was no longer a future for him in Honduras. Salgado had already been struggling to eke out a profit after measures to curb the novel coronavirus such as additional cleaning cut into his meager revenues. Back-to-back hurricanes Eta and Iota internally displaced more than half a million people in Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, according to International Organization for Migration data.
PoliticsUSA TODAY OpinionPence's political future hinges on how he leads the White House Coronavirus Task Force
Where has Vice President Mike Pence been for the past month? As COVID-19 infections and deaths continue to surge nationally, I've been looking for Pence, the man tasked with guiding America through this public health crisis as head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Sure, I've seen him honor our nation's fallen soldiers during a Veterans Day ceremony.
U.S.Associated PressCalifornia fire danger remains high even as winds ease
Fire danger remained high Friday amid unpredictable wind gusts and dry conditions in Southern California, as crews made progress against blazes that burned several homes and injured two firefighters. The region's notorious Santa Ana winds decreased slightly but red flag warnings of extreme wildfire risk were in place into the weekend because of low humidity. After the weather calms in the southern part of the state, winds are expected to increase in Northern California starting Sunday, forecasters said.
WorldLA TimesHer #MeToo trial's making history in China and sparking rare solidarity
Zhou Xiaoxuan, 27, more widely known by her nickname Xianzi, became a pioneer of China's #MeToo movement in 2018, when she accused Zhu Jun of groping and kissing her in a dressing room in 2014. Despite police warnings, pressure on her family, online censorship and harassment, Zhou has persisted — one of the few to make it into court on claims of sexual misconduct, which China did not recognize as grounds for legal recourse until last year. A young woman pulled out her lipstick to write #MeToo on another woman's mask.
- WorldAssociated Press
Japan court revokes permits at 2 reactors over quake safety
A Japanese court on Friday revoked the operating permits of two nuclear reactors for having inadequate earthquake safeguards, a ruling that challenges safety assessments conducted by the nuclear regulator and could influence the outcome of other court cases. The Osaka District Court revoked the permits of the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Ohi nuclear power plant in Fukui in western Japan. Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority had approved the restart of the two Ohi reactors, run by Kansai Electric Power Co., in 2017 and granted them operating permits.
“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.”