PoliticsBusiness InsiderBiden told this immigrant rights activist 'vote for Trump' in a blunt exchange. He voted for Biden but is ready to push him hard on immigration reform.
In November 2019, on the campaign trail in South Carolina, then-candidate Joe Biden was asked a question by immigrant rights activist Carlos Rojas Rodriguez and an immigrant community member. A tense back-and-forth ensued, with Rodriguez and Silvia criticizing the Obama administration's record on deportations and calling for a moratorium on deportations if Biden was elected. Biden disagreed and told Rodriguez, "You should go vote for Trump."
PoliticsAssociated PressOusted US prosecutor Berman hired by white-shoe NY law firm
Geoffrey S. Berman, the ousted federal prosecutor in Manhattan who led several investigations into President Donald Trump's allies, has been hired by a white-shoe law firm in New York. Berman will provide criminal defense in white-collar cases and work on complex commercial litigation at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, the firm announced Tuesday. The firm is “well known for its cutting-edge counsel to top tier companies and high-profile individuals,” Berman said in a statement.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastProject Veritas’ CNN Sting Uncovers Explosive News That Tucker Carlson Is Racist
All day, Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe has been hyping the huge revelations the group would be releasing from their latest stunt. In a dramatic video posted Tuesday morning, the conservative activist could be seen unmuting himself and informing CNN chief Jeff Zucker, “We've been listening to your CNN calls for basically two months and recording everything. Just wanted to ask you some questions, if you have a minute.
PoliticsAssociated PressUS Supreme Court asked to block Biden win in Pennsylvania
Republicans attempting to undo President-elect Joe Biden's victory in Pennsylvania asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to take up their lawsuit, three days after it was thrown out by the highest court in the battleground state. In the request to the U.S. Supreme Court, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly of northwestern Pennsylvania and the other plaintiffs are asking the court to prevent the state from certifying any contests from the Nov. 3 election, and undo any certifications already made, such as Biden's victory. They maintain that Pennsylvania's expansive vote-by-mail law is unconstitutional because it required a constitutional amendment to authorize its provisions.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump news - live: President ‘confirms 2024 run’ as George official accuses him of inspiring violence
Attorney General William Barr revealed the Department of Justice has been investigating allegations of voter fraud but has not uncovered evidence of enough to have changed the results of the US presidential election. It comes as the campaign of Donald Trump filed its long-promised lawsuit in Wisconsin in an attempt to invalidate hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots in two Democrat-leaning counties. Trump himself, meanwhile, appeared at a White House Christmas event on Tuesday night in which he appeared to confirm, for the first time in public, that he will run again in 2024.
WorldAssociated PressEx-Hong Kong lawmaker asks Europe to provide 'safe haven'
A Hong Kong pro-democracy activist who is visiting Denmark urged European nations on Wednesday to allow protesters in Hong Kong "a safe haven from the terror” of China's Communist Party. “The situation in Hong Kong is getting worse by the day and it is important that the world knows that Hong Kong is no longer a free city,” Ted Hui said in an email to The Associated Press. Britain has extended residency rights for up to 3 million Hong Kongers eligible for British National Overseas passports, allowing them to live and work there for five years.
- PoliticsReuters Videos
HK activist Joshua Wong arrives for sentencing
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. The sentence will be delivered at 2.30 p.m. GMT).
U.S.USA TODAY1 dead, 4 injured after 'randomly shooting' couple drives around Nevada city on Thanksgiving, police say
One person was shot dead and four others injured on Thanksgiving after police in Henderson, Nevada, say a man and woman fired at people while driving in the city. "It is believed that the suspects were driving around the city randomly shooting at citizens with no apparent motive," Henderson police said in a news release. Henderson police officers responding to the Thursday shooting at the 800 block of East Lake Mead Parkway found a 22-year-old man, who had died from an apparent gunshot wound, and a 23-year-old woman, an 18-year-old man, a 53-year-old man and a 41-year-old man, all suffering from apparent gunshot wounds, according to a news release.
WorldAssociated PressNetanyahu rival threatens to end coalition, force election
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chief governing partner on Tuesday said he would vote in favor of a proposal to dissolve their troubled coalition, accusing the Israeli leader of repeatedly breaking his promises and pushing Israel closer to its fourth election in two years. The announcement by Defense Minister Benny Gantz that he would vote in favor of a preliminary no-confidence measure on Wednesday did not immediately cause the government to collapse. Rather, it served as a warning by Gantz, who also holds the title of alternate prime minister, that he has run out of patience with Netanyahu and is ready to break up their alliance if a long-overdue budget isn't passed immediately.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastThis Trump Crony Is Trying to Overturn the Election. His Own Group Has Thrown in the Towel.
Adam Laxalt, the co-chair of the Trump campaign in Nevada, is fighting ferociously against his state's decision to reward its six electoral votes to President-elect Joe Biden, alleging widespread voter fraud and hyping litigation to overturn Biden's victory. But a nonprofit ethics and transparency group affiliated with Laxalt, Nevada's former attorney general, has already conceded Biden's victory and is looking ahead to the new administration. It's become clear that we're going to be having a Biden team and a Biden administration in 2021,” said Caitlin Sutherland, the executive director of Americans for Public Trust, in an interview on Tuesday.
WorldAssociated PressTurkish Cypriot leader wants new direction for Cyprus talks
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said Tuesday efforts to resolve Cyprus' ethnic division should start fresh and aim to achieve a two-state deal, because decades of negotiations for a federation-based agreement have got nowhere. Tatar said a regional “new state of affairs” that takes into account the discovery of significant gas deposits off Cyprus creates the need for a two-state accord, under which equally sovereign Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots can live “side by side.” The Greek Cypriots reject the two-state idea.
WorldAssociated PressOAS head urges international prosecutor to act on Venezuela
The leadership of a broad coalition of Western Hemisphere nations on Wednesday accused the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor of failing to take swift action on allegations that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's government committed crimes against humanity. The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States said in a report that ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's failure to open a formal investigation into Venezuela is “stunning” and “inexplicable.” The leadership of the 35-member body said the slow pace of the ICC's review of Venezuela's situation has emboldened Maduro's government to commit more crimes believing that it can act with total impunity.
LifestyleArchitectural Digest10 Remote Airbnbs As Stunning As They Are Secluded
From a private island to a tiny Vermont tree house Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsReutersU.S. judiciary, shaped by Trump, thwarts his election challenges
U.S. President Donald Trump's reshaping of the federal judiciary has done little to help him win lawsuits challenging the election outcome, with Trump appointees rebuffing him and the U.S. Supreme Court showing little interest in getting involved. An appeals court judge appointed by Trump, a Republican, on Friday ruled against his campaign's effort to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's win in Pennsylvania based on unsupported allegations of voter fraud. Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy,” Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote on behalf of a unanimous U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals panel.
U.S.BBCMissing Florida sailor found clinging to capsized vessel
A sailor who was reported missing at sea over the weekend has been recovered after he was spotted clinging to his capsized vessel off the Florida coast. Stuart Bee, 62, set sail on Friday afternoon from Cape Marina at Port Canaveral on his 10m (32ft)-long boat. The container ship, the Angeles, pulled Mr Bee from the water after throwing him a buoy, and then notified the US Coast Guard, which immediately deployed a crew to retrieve him.
ScienceAssociated PressChina spacecraft lands on moon to bring rocks back to Earth
A Chinese spacecraft sent to return lunar rocks to Earth collected its first samples Wednesday after landing on the moon, the government announced, adding to a string of successes for Beijing's increasingly ambitious space program. The Chang'e 5 probe touched down shortly after 11 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Tuesday after descending from an orbiter, the China National Space Administration said. The probe, launched Nov. 24 from the tropical southern island of Hainan, is the latest venture by a Chinese space program that sent its first astronaut into orbit in 2003, has a spacecraft en route to Mars and aims eventually to land a human on the moon.
PoliticsThe WeekTrump wants Georgia's GOP governor to 'call off the election'
President Trump is once again expressing his disappointment with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R). After saying over the weekend that he was "ashamed" he endorsed Kemp, Trump accused him of not doing enough to guarantee Georgia's 2020 election for Republicans in a Tuesday tweet. In response to an unfounded article insinuating Georgia's voting machines were tampered with, Trump called on Kemp to "do something" after he "allowed your state to be scammed."
PoliticsBusiness InsiderA former Obama official says the Biden administration has its work cut out for it to fix refugee resettlement and asylum
Last month, in an interview with CBS News, President-elect Joe Biden's campaign officials outlined an immigration platform for the incoming administration. It included reversing many of Trump's policies like the travel ban and family separation and bolstering the refugee cap and protecting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Bob Carey, the former director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Obama administration, spoke with Business Insider about how Biden could rebuild the asylum and refugee resettlement systems.
HealthReutersFirst U.S. COVID-19 shots could be given 24-to-48 hours after FDA nod, health official says
Moncef Slaoui, a former GlaxoSmithKline executive overseeing the vaccine portion of the U.S. program, said he hopes 20 million people will have been vaccinated by the end of this year. "Within 24 hours, maybe at most 36 to 48 hours, from the approval, the vaccine can be in people's arms," Slaoui said at an event conducted by The Washington Post. Slaoui said practice shipping runs - without vaccines - have been conducted to prepare for initial distribution expected to begin in mid-December once Pfizer Inc receives an emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its vaccine.
WorldAssociated PressNew Zealand joins Australia in denouncing China's tweet
New Zealand has joined Australia in denouncing a graphic tweet posted by a Chinese official that shows a fake image of a grinning Australian soldier holding a bloodied knife to a child's throat. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Tuesday that New Zealand has voiced its concerns directly with Chinese authorities. This is an image that wasn't factual.
U.S.Associated PressGeorgia elections official urges Trump to rein in supporters
A top Georgia elections official on Tuesday lashed out angrily at the rhetoric surrounding the election and the threats of violence that have resulted, specifically calling on President Donald Trump to rein in his supporters. Gabriel Sterling is a Republican who oversaw the implementation of the state's new voting system. During a routine news conference at the state Capitol to provide an update on the recount of the presidential race requested by Trump, Sterling admonished the president and Georgia's two U.S. senators, who are both locked in tight runoff races against Democrats and have called on GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to resign over claims that he mishandled the election.
WorldBBCCanada unveils largest economic relief package since WW2
Canada's federal government will spend C$100bn ($77bn, £58bn) to kick-start the country's post-pandemic economy. It is "the largest economic relief package for our country since the Second World War", Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Monday. The announcement - the first full fiscal update from Canada's Liberal government since the onset of the pandemic - comes as the country battles a steep second wave of Covid-19 infections.
WorldReutersCOVID-19 vaccine sprint as Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna seek emergency EU approval
Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are in a tight race to launch their COVID-19 vaccines in Europe after both applied for emergency EU approval on Tuesday, though there was uncertainty over whether a rollout could begin this year. The applications to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) came a day after Moderna sought emergency use for its shot in the United States and more than a week after Pfizer and BioNTech did the same. U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and its German development partner BioNTech said their vaccine could be launched in the European Union as early as this month.
BusinessBusiness InsiderMark Zuckerberg says Facebook has asked the Biden administration about helping with the COVID-19 vaccine response
Mark Zuckerberg said in a livestreamed interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci that Facebook had been in touch with the incoming Biden administration about how it might help with the coronavirus response. Zuckerberg said Facebook was planning a "push around authoritative information on vaccines," though he did not elaborate on what this would look like. The Financial Times reported last week that Facebook was considering placing a banner at the top of its site encouraging users to get vaccinated, as a way of getting on President-elect Joe Biden's good side.
PoliticsThe Independent‘Is he just coming to bring Covid’: Democratic Georgia candidate launches blistering attack on Trump state visit
Georgia Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff launched a blistering attack on Donald Trump and suggested his visit would just bring Covid to the state. And Mr Ossoff branded Mr Trump “a disgraced president” who would only “intensify” the enthusiasm of Democratic voters in Georgia. "With respect to President Trump, I mean, is he bringing stimulus for families?
“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.”