PoliticsYahoo NewsProbe begins into thwarted Justice Department 'coup' to keep Trump in power
The Justice Department's inspector general announced Monday that he had started an investigation into whether current or former officials in the department had engaged in an “improper attempt” to overturn the 2020 presidential election to keep Donald Trump in power. Michael Horowitz, the DOJ inspector general, released a statement announcing the decision. The DOJ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is initiating an investigation into whether any former or current DOJ official engaged in an improper attempt to have DOJ seek to alter the outcome of the 2020 Presidential Election.
PoliticsReutersBiden's new climate orders to include pause on federal oil and gas leasing - sources
The Biden administration is expected to announce a temporary suspension of new oil and gas leasing on U.S. federal lands and waters on Wednesday, and to order that nearly a third of federally run acreage is conserved over the next decade, three sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. President Joe Biden will make the announcement as part of a second batch of executive orders aimed at combating climate change, a key policy effort of the newly sworn-in president that marks an about-face from his predecessor Donald Trump who sought to maximize the country's oil, gas and coal output. Biden had vowed to ban new federal oil and gas permitting during his campaign for the White House, and his Interior Department last week issued a 60-day suspension of routine drilling approvals pending a review of the program in what was widely viewed as a precursor to a more permanent ban.
- U.S.Associated Press
Rittenhouse, mother fixated on social media treatment
An Illinois teen accused of killing two people during unrest in Wisconsin and the teen's mom were fixated on social media comments about them in the hours after his August arrest, newly released police video shows. Police in Antioch, Illinois, on Monday released four hours of video taken after Kyle Rittenhouse turned himself in hours after the Aug. 25 protest in Kenosha, the Chicago Tribune reported. The protest was part of a series of chaotic demonstrations that ensued after a white Kenosha officer shot Jacob Blake, who is Black, in the back seven times during a domestic dispute.
PoliticsBBCSarah Huckabee Sanders: The Trump defender enters political race
Known to millions around the world for her staunch defence of Trump from the press briefing room, now it's her turn to speak for herself. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is back in the political game, announcing on Monday that she's running for the Republican nomination to be the governor of Arkansas in the 2022 election. In true Trumpian fashion, his former White House press secretary broke the news in a video posted on Twitter.
WorldReutersGermany backs EU export restrictions on vaccine after supply cuts
Germany's health minister supported European Union proposals to introduce restrictions on COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday as tensions grew with AstraZeneca and Pfizer over sudden supply cuts just a month after the bloc started vaccinating citizens. The EU has proposed setting up a register of vaccine exports, amid frustration over delays in deliveries of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot and other supply problems. "I can understand that there are production problems but then it must affect everyone in the same way," Health Minister Jens Spahn told ZDF television.
WorldAssociated PressBiden administration suspends some sanctions on Yemen rebels
The Biden administration on Monday suspended some of the terrorism sanctions that former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo imposed on Yemen's Houthi rebels in his waning days in office. The Treasury Department said it would exempt certain transactions involving the Houthis from sanctions resulting from Pompeo's designation of the group as a “foreign terrorist organization” on Jan. 10. The exemption will expire Feb. 26, according to a statement from Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control announcing a general license for transactions that involve entities owned by the Iran-backed Houthis.
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'Crisis has already begun' as Biden rolls back Trump immigration enforcement: Mark Morgan
As the threat of new caravans emerges, former CBP Acting Director Mark Morgan warns President Biden's 'open border strategy' is putting politics ahead of public safety.
- WorldAssociated Press
Guatemalan families think massacre victims were migrants
Relatives of migrants from Guatemala said Monday they believe that 13 of the 19 charred corpses found in a northern Mexico border state could be their loved ones and the country's Foreign Ministry said it was collecting DNA samples from a dozen relatives to see if there was a match with any of the bodies. If true, the killings would revive memories of the 2010 massacre of 72 migrants in the same gang-ridden state of Tamaulipas. Ramiro Coronado told The Associated Press by telephone that he had a relative among a group of 13 migrants who left the province of San Marcos and were travelling together before family members lost contact with them on Thursday.
PoliticsReutersGoogle stops donations to U.S. Congress members who voted against election results
Earlier this month, following the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol, the tech giant had paused all political contributions to reassess its policies toward political contribution. "Following that review, the NetPAC board has decided that it will not be making any contributions this cycle to any member of Congress who voted against certification of the election results," a Google representative said in a statement. Hundreds of former President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the halls of Congress on Jan. 6 in a bid to overturn his election defeat, battling police in the hallways and delaying the certification of President Joe Biden's victory for hours.
PoliticsAssociated PressJoe Biden to call for end of federally run private prisons
President Joe Biden on Tuesday will formally call on the federal government to end its reliance on private prisons and acknowledge the central role the government has played in implementing discriminatory housing policies, according to a senior administration official. The moves come as Biden is set to sign a series of orders and memorandums Tuesday as the new administration says it will make combatting racial injustice a central focus of his presidency. They were detailed by a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity ahead of Biden's formal announcement, scheduled for later Tuesday.
WorldReutersEU countries could band to sue AstraZeneca for breach of contract: Latvia
European Union member states could take AstraZeneca to court for a breach of supply contracts if the company does not honour the COVID-19 vaccine delivery schedule, Latvian foreign affairs minister Edgars Rinkevics said on Tuesday. "The possibility should be evaluated, and it should be coordinated among the EU countries," the minister told Reuters, via his spokesman. Each EU member state has a separate supply contract with the company.
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Iran sentences Iranian-American to prison on spying charges
An Iranian-American has been sentenced by Iran to 10 years in prison on spying charges, despite his family alleging he never had a trial or an opportunity to defend himself. A family spokesman Tuesday confirmed the sentencing of Emad Shargi, the latest dual national to be held in Iran amid tensions with the West. Iran's judiciary acknowledged the sentence without naming him or saying how many years in prison he'd face.
PoliticsAssociated PressHawaii GOP official resigns after posting pro-QAnon tweets
A high-ranking official with the Hawaii Republican Party confirmed Monday that he resigned after posting a series of tweets about the QAnon conspiracy theory on the official party account, saying its adherents shouldn't be mocked. We should make it abundantly clear — the people who subscribed to the Q fiction, were largely motivated by a sincere and deep love for America. Patriotism and love of County (sic) should never be ridiculed,” said one of several tweets that Hawaii GOP vice chairman Edwin Boyette posted Saturday.
WorldReutersBoycott 'wildcat' Scottish independence vote, says Scottish Conservative leader
Backers of the union of the United Kingdom's four nations should boycott any "wildcat" independence referendum for Scotland, the leader of the Scottish Conservative Party said on Monday, after the nation's first minister pressed ahead with plans for a vote. Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said on Sunday she was hoping a strong performance by her Scottish National Party (SNP) in an election in May would give her the mandate to hold a second referendum. To get a legal referendum, any such vote must be approved by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has ruled out doing so.
- U.S.Associated Press
COVID-19 vaccine theft charge dismissed against Texas doc
A judge on Monday dismissed a theft charge against a Houston area health department doctor who had been accused by prosecutors of stealing nine doses of coronavirus vaccine from a damaged vial and administering them to family and friends. Authorities had alleged that Hasan Gokal, who worked for Harris County Public Health, stole a vial of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine while working at a vaccination site at a suburban Houston park on Dec. 29. But Harris County Court-At-Law Judge Franklin Bynum found there was no probable cause to charge Gokal with theft.
WorldAssociated PressTop Brazil court authorizes investigation of health minister
A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Monday authorized an investigation of Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello to determine whether he is criminally responsible for the COVID-19 crisis in the Amazonian city of Manaus. The largest city in Brazil's vast rainforest region was slammed this month by a severe second wave of infections, and jam-packed hospitals ran out of oxygen. Patients' family members searched for tanks to keep their loved ones breathing, and dozens died asphyxiated.
WorldReutersVietnam's Communists proclaim pandemic, economic wins at Party congress
Vietnam's ruling Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong hailed booming economic development and containment of the COVID-19 pandemic as major achievements on Tuesday as he presided over the opening of a key party congress in Hanoi. Over nine days of meetings, mostly behind closed doors, delegates will pick a new leadership team, aiming to bolster Vietnam's ongoing economic success - and the legitimacy of the Party's rule. Party congresses take place once every five years.
WorldAssociated PressUS exploring new bases in Saudi Arabia amid Iran tensions
The U.S. military is exploring the possibility of using a Red Sea port in Saudi Arabia and an additional two airfields in the kingdom amid heightened tensions with Iran, the military said Tuesday. While describing the work as "contingency" planning, the U.S. military said it already has tested unloading and shipping cargo overland from Saudi Arabia's port at Yanbu, a crucial terminal for oil pipelines in the kingdom. Using Yanbu, as well as air bases at Tabuk and Taif along the Red Sea, would give the American military more options along a crucial waterway that has come under increased attack from suspected mine and drone boat attacks by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
WorldReutersTaliban backs Afghan vaccine drive after COVAX pledges $112 million
Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents on Tuesday gave their backing to a vaccination programme to which the World Health Organization's COVAX programme has pledged $112 million. The COVAX programme is a global scheme to vaccinate people in poor and middle income countries against the coronavirus. It aims to deliver at least 2 billion vaccine doses by the end of 2021 to cover 20% of the most vulnerable people in 91 poor and middle-income countries.
WorldAssociated PressLawmakers say North Korean diplomat defected to South Korea
A North Korean diplomat who served as the country's acting ambassador to Kuwait has defected to South Korea, according to South Korean lawmakers who were briefed by Seoul's spy agency. Ha Tae-keung, a conservative opposition lawmaker and an executive secretary of the National Assembly's intelligence committee, said Tuesday he was told by officials from the National Intelligence Service that the diplomat arrived in South Korea in September 2019 with his wife and at least one child. That would make him one of the most senior North Koreans to defect in recent years.
U.S.The IndependentNew threats of a second attack on the US Capitol loom over lawmakers ahead of Trump’s second impeachment trial
A surge in threats against lawmakers and the US Capitol have forced National Guard troops to remain in Washington ahead of former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial. The troops will remain on Capitol Hill as the US Senate trial begins on 8 February, marking the first time in American history in which a former president has faced an impeachment trial after leaving office. The House voted to impeach Mr Trump for fomenting a deadly insurrection at the Capitol as Congress convened to certify his electoral defeat in the 2020 elections, citing his speech held just before the deadly attacks and conduct during the riots, which left at least five people dead, including United States Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick.
HealthReutersModerna shot protects against new virus variants; higher blood thinner dose keeps patients off ventilators
The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Moderna vaccine protects against new variants The COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna Inc protects against the new virus variants found in Britain and South Africa, researchers reported on Monday on bioRxiv ahead of peer review. They found no reduction in the effect of vaccine-induced antibodies on the UK variant.
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Taiwan air force flexes muscles after latest Chinese incursion
Taiwan, claimed by China as its territory, has been on edge since the large-scale incursion by Chinese fighters and nuclear-capable bombers into the southwestern part of its air defence identification zone on Saturday (January 23) and Sunday (January 25), which coincided with a U.S. carrier group entering the South China Sea. The base in the southern city of Tainan, home to F-CK-1 Ching-kuo Indigenous Defence Fighters (IDF), frequently scrambles jets to intercept China's air force.
U.S.Business InsiderProsecutors say the woman accused of stealing Pelosi's laptop is attempting a cover-up by deleting her social-media activity during house arrest
Video: Inside the pro-Trump mob attack on the Capitol Department of Justice prosecutors have accused Riley June Williams, the 22-year-old woman suspected of stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's laptop during the Capitol riot, of trying to cover up her tracks by deleting her social-media activity, according to Law & Crime and the NBC 4 reporter Scott MacFarlane. In a court hearing on Monday, prosecutors also said Williams had been telling others to delete messages she had sent them, WHTM reported. The judge hasn't decided on the matter, as Monday's hearing ended abruptly because of a scheduling conflict with Williams' new public defender, Law & Crime reported.
PoliticsINSIDERFilibuster drama explained: McConnell will organize the new Senate now that he's confident Democrats won't gut the filibuster
McConnell wanted a promise that Democrats would not eliminate the filibuster. Two Democratic Senators signaled their support for keeping the filibuster in place Monday. With those assurances, McConnell said he was ready to move forward with an organizing resolution.
“By encouraging this act of terror on our capital, Trump’s legacy is destroyed.”
“Both backers and critics of Trump agreed that he remade the federal judiciary — a change that will impact America for decades.”
“He was largely responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans who did not need to die.”
“I do know what the future should hold for this country. That is to say, a policy of Trumpism without Trump.”
“It will be decades before the consequences of his tenure are fully known.”