PoliticsYahoo NewsOmar renews push to 'cancel rent and mortgage payments' during pandemic
With an eviction moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September set to expire at the end of the month, and Congress and the White House still unable to pass a new coronavirus relief bill, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., has renewed her push for legislation that would cancel mortgage and rent payments through the duration of the pandemic. In April, Omar originally introduced legislation that would cancel all mortgage and rent payments during the pandemic, a position pushed by activists across the country. The plan includes a relief fund for landlords and mortgage holders to cover losses incurred from missed payments.
PoliticsThe WeekBiden reportedly picks Obama veterans for coronavirus czar and surgeon general
President-elect Joe Biden has settled on a team to lead the U.S. through its biggest ongoing crisis, two people familiar with the decision tell Politico. Jeff Zients, who headed the National Economic Council under former President Barack Obama and is co-chair of Biden's transition team, will reportedly be named the White House's COVID-19 coordinator. Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general under Obama, will reportedly return to his role with more responsibilities, and Biden's coronavirus advisory board co-chair Marcella Nunez-Smith will get a special role focused on health disparities.
PoliticsAssociated PressBiden adjusting agenda to reflect narrow divide in Congress
Biden is already working on an array of executive actions to achieve some of his bolder priorities on climate change and immigration without having to navigate congressional gridlock. The maneuvering reflects a disappointing political reality for Biden, who campaigned on a pledge to address the nation's problems with measures that would rival the scope of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal legislation. But Democrats acknowledge that big legislative accomplishments are unlikely, even in the best-case scenario in which the party gains a slim majority in the Senate.
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.
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
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...
WorldAssociated PressJudge refuses to dismiss media charges in Pell trial
A Supreme Court judge in Australia's Victoria state on Friday dismissed submissions from news media organizations and journalists that there is no case to answer on charges they breached a gag order on reporting about Cardinal George Pell's sex abuse convictions in 2018. More charges were tossed out in the case against Australian media outlets prosecuted over reporting of Pell's abuse convictions. But the judge refused to throw out the bulk of the 87 charges of contempt of court for stories published after the cardinal's guilty verdict.
- 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.
WorldReutersSome Sino-U.S. relations damage 'beyond repair', China state media warn
In an editorial, the government-backed China Daily said it viewed as "worrisome signs" Washington's decision to limit visitor visas for members of the Chinese Communist Party and their families and a ban on Xinjiang cotton imports. "Even if the incoming administration has any intention of easing the tensions that have been sown, and continue being sown, some damage is simply beyond repair, as the sitting U.S. president intends," the paper added. China's ambassador to the United States became the latest of the Asian nation's senior officials to signal a desire to reset the increasingly confrontational relationship as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office in January.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastThis May Be the Real Reason Why Rudy’s So Thirsty for a Preemptive Pardon—and Why He Won’t Get One
Reports, denied of course by Rudy Giuliani and his lawyer, that he has discussed a preemptive pardon with Donald Trump are made even more credible by the fact that Giuliani knows that he is part of an investigation by the FBI and federal prosecutors, who may well have held off on further action during the “blackout” period leading up to the election because an indictment of the president's personal attorney would have been perceived as politically motivated. If, as it appears, Giuliani is the subject or target of a federal investigation, prosecutors have already told Giuliani's lawyer that because they are required to do so. Giuliani, then, may be cynically enabling Trump's post-election hysteria with his slapstick lawsuits and show hearings because he knows FBI agents aren't going to jump on stage to handcuff him while the cameras are still on him.
WorldAssociated PressBangladesh begins relocating Rohingya refugees to island
Authorities in Bangladesh have begun relocating thousands of Rohingya refugees to an isolated island despite calls by human rights groups for a halt to the process, officials said Thursday. The United Nations has also voiced concern that refugees be allowed to make a “free and informed decision” about whether to relocate to the island in the Bay of Bengal. The island's facilities are built to accommodate 100,000 people, just a fraction of the million Rohingya Muslims who have fled waves of violent persecution in their native Myanmar and are currently living in crowded, squalid refugee camps.
ScienceBBCClimate change: 2020 set to be one of the three warmest years on record
The warmest six years in global records dating back to 1850 have now all occurred since 2015. The most notable warmth was in the Siberian Arctic, where temperatures were 5C above average. UN climate change goal now 'within reach' Covid pandemic has little impact on rise in CO2 Can sending fewer emails really save the planet?
WorldReutersMoscow launches online registration for COVID-19 vaccination
Moscow launched an online service on Friday for people to book appointments to be vaccinated against COVID-19, two days after President Vladimir Putin called for large-scale vaccinations. Sputnik V, one of two Russian-made vaccines to have received regulatory approval in Russia despite clinical trials being incomplete, requires two injections. Ten vaccines are being developed in Russia, TASS news agency cited Anna Popova, head of consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, as saying on Thursday.
PoliticsUSA TODAYPresident-elect Biden seeks a diverse Cabinet. Here's who will join his administration and who might be top contenders
He tapped Alejandro Mayorkas, a Cuban American, to become the first Latino head of the Department of Homeland Security; Janet Yellen as the first woman to head the Treasury; Avril Haines as the first female director of national intelligence and Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a Black woman, as his ambassador to the United Nations. And he appointed an all-female communications staff. After Biden's victory, much of the speculation about his potential appointments centered on high-profile figures, including several of his rivals in the Democratic primary and a number of sitting senators.
ScienceAssociated PressChinese spacecraft carrying lunar rocks lifts off from moon
A Chinese spacecraft lifted off from the moon Thursday night with a load of lunar rocks, the first stage of its return to Earth, the government space agency reported. Chang'e 5, the third Chinese spacecraft to land on the moon and the first to take off from it again, is the latest in a series of increasingly ambitious missions for Beijing's space program, which also has a orbiter and rover headed to Mars. Its mission: collect about 2 kilograms (4 pounds) of lunar rocks and bring them back to Earth, the first return of samples since Soviet spacecraft did so in the 1970s.
WorldBBCHow a blow to Australian wine shows tensions with China
China - this top customer - has bought close to 40% of Australia's wine exports in the past few years. In 2019, China bought more bottled wine from Australia than it did from France. After an intense few years of marketing and trade deals, this love affair with Australian winegrowers was fizzing along nicely.
U.S.ReutersU.S. sets single day records for cases; California readies new clamp down
The United States set single-day records for new infections and deaths on Thursday as California's governor said he would impose some of the nation's strictest stay-at-home orders in the coming days when intensive care units are expected to reach capacity. California's latest round of restrictions, going further than any other U.S. state, will be triggered on a region-by-region basis when available ICU-bed space falls to 15% of capacity in any of five geographic areas. Governor Gavin Newsom said four of the regions, including Southern California, were on track to reach the 15% threshold this week, with the San Francisco Bay area expected to follow by mid- to late December.
WorldTimeIran's Move to Speed Up Its Nuclear Program Complicates Biden's Plan to Resume Diplomacy
Iran's parliament ratified the new law on Dec. 2, only days after Iran's top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed in an attack in the countryside north of Tehran. The move is being read as a response to the death of a man sometimes referred to as “Iran's Oppenheimer,” but in fact Fakhrizadeh was not a well-known figure among the Iranian public. His death provoked a far more muted street-level response than that of Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani, the influential military leader killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq on Jan 3.
PoliticsAssociated PressTrump aide banned from Justice after trying to get case info
The official serving as President Donald Trump's eyes and ears at the Justice Department has been banned from the building after trying to pressure staffers to give up sensitive information about election fraud and other matters she could relay to the White House, three people familiar with the matter tell The Associated Press. Heidi Stirrup, an ally of top Trump adviser Stephen Miller, was quietly installed at the Justice Department as a White House liaison a few months ago.
WorldThe IndependentFauci apologises for ‘misunderstanding’ after suggesting UK rushed Covid vaccine approval
Dr Anthony Fauci said he has “great faith" in the UK's scientists and regulators, as he “set the record straight” on comments which seemed to suggest the UK had rushed through its approval of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine. America's top infectious diseases expert said on Wednesday evening he did “not mean to imply any sloppiness, even though it came out that way”. Dr Fauci had said UK health authorities did not scrutinise vaccine trial data as “carefully” as US officials have been doing, after the UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) approved Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine on Tuesday, making Britain the first western country to green light the injection.
WorldBBCIs Africa overtaking the Middle East as the new jihadist battleground?
About 300 British troops have arrived in the troubled West African state of Mali at a time when the epicentre of the Islamic State group (IS) appears to have moved from the Middle East to Africa. In a three-year mission named Operation Newcombe they are joining a force of around 15,000 UN multinational troops, spearheaded by the French, in efforts to help stabilise a part of the continent known as the Sahel. Mali is one of several Sahel nations currently fighting jihadist insurgencies and the violence is getting worse.
WorldReutersItaly tightens curbs for Christmas as COVID deaths hit record high
Italy approved new restrictions on Thursday to avoid a surge in novel coronavirus infections over Christmas and the New Year, banning midnight mass and halting movement between towns, as the country posted its highest daily death toll of the pandemic. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that from Dec. 21 to Jan. 6 movement between Italy's 20 regions will only be allowed for work, medical reasons or emergencies. On Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day, Italians cannot even leave their towns.
ScienceAssociated PressJapan spacecraft approaches Earth to drop asteroid samples
Japanese space agency officials said Friday the Hayabusa2 spacecraft is on its intended trajectory as it approaches Earth to deliver a capsule containing samples from a distant asteroid that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on Earth. The spacecraft left the asteroid Ryugu, about 300 million kilometers (180 million miles) away, a year ago. Hayabusa2 is flying smoothly according to plan, Yuichi Tsuda, project manager at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, said at a briefing ahead of the critical separation of the capsule from the spacecraft on Saturday.
U.S.USA TODAYFormer FBI lawyer who altered email in Russia investigation seeks probation
Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith, who altered an email used to justify wiretapping a former Trump campaign aide, is asking to be spared from a prison sentence, acknowledging he had committed a crime but did not mean to mislead investigators. Clinesmith's attorneys are asking a federal judge to sentence him to probation. Clinesmith, who worked for the FBI for four years, pleaded guilty last summer to falsifying an email used to support an application to renew surveillance of Carter Page.
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”.
“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.”