U.S.Associated PressTransgender youth bills in US states reflect deep divisions
Transgender kids would be banned from playing on school sports teams for the gender with which they identify under a GOP-backed bill that advanced Thursday in Montana, one of more than a dozen states where lawmakers are proposing restrictions on athletics or gender-confirming health care for trans minors this year. The proposals run counter to an executive order signed by Democratic President Joe Biden during his first day in office prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity in school sports and elsewhere. The order immediately sparked a backlash from conservative groups, a split that reflects the deep divisions in the U.S. around transgender youth.
WorldReutersEU lawmakers call for halt to Nord Stream 2 after Navalny arrest
European Union lawmakers passed a resolution on Thursday calling for the bloc to stop the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to take Russian natural gas to Europe, in response to the arrest of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critic, was detained at the weekend and later jailed for alleged parole violations after flying back to Russia for the first time since being poisoned by a military grade nerve agent. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has continued to back the pipeline between Germany and Russia despite criticism elsewhere in the EU, said on Thursday her view of the project had not changed despite the Navalny case.
PoliticsYahoo NewsPhotos: How newspapers around the world covered Biden's inauguration
The historic inauguration of President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris was splashed across the front pages of newspapers in the United States and around the world on Thursday, a day after they were sworn in at the U.S. Capitol. Many featured Biden taking the oath of office. Some also showed Harris, who became the first woman, first Black woman and first South Asian woman to become Vice President.
PoliticsThe TelegraphTrump spends first night as a private citizen 'looking for lawyers for his impeachment trial'
Donald Trump spent his first hours as a private citizen scrambling to find lawyers to represent him in his upcoming impeachment trial, as he settled into his new home at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. One of Mr Trump's first calls after leaving office was to Lindsey Graham, South Carolina senator and staunch ally, telling him he was now “looking for some lawyers” for the imminent Senate hearing. Mr Trump will not be drawing on his usual litigators: Rudy Giuliani, his longtime personal lawyer, is likely to step aside as he could be called as a witness, while attorneys who represented him at the first impeachment hearing have declined.
PoliticsAssociated PressOutging US ambassador says world must end Taiwan's exclusion
In a final swipe at China, the Trump administration's outgoing U.N. ambassador tweeted that it's time for the world to oppose China's efforts to exclude and isolate Taiwan, drawing sharp criticism from Beijing. To make the point even more graphic, Ambassador Kelly Craft accompanied the tweet with a photo of herself in the U.N. General Assembly Hall where the island is banned. And she carried a handbag with a stuffed Taiwan bear sticking out of the top, a gift from Taiwan's representative in New York, Ambassador James Lee.
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Rep. Crenshaw: 'I'd be frustrated if I were' Trump, watching the press 'go right back to the Obama-era'
Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw argues Republicans need to unify and show voters that Democrats 'mean what they say' and 'will change your life fundamentally.
PoliticsLos Angeles Times OpinionOp-Ed: Why the mob thought attacking the Capitol was their '1776 moment'
Shortly before thousands of people stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Donald Trump gave a rousing speech to that crowd, calling them “amazing patriots.” While it remains to be seen whether Trump's words that day rise to the level of criminal incitement, it is beyond dispute that by casting doubt on the outcome of the election months before it occurred, he emboldened his supporters to take up arms in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden's clear victory. By wrapping his lies in the cloak of patriotism, Trump fueled the view that a violent assault on the Capitol, which resulted in five people dead, was a legitimate action — similar to the actions of the American founders in 1776.
WorldAssociated PressIndonesia ends search for crashed plane's victims, debris
Indonesian authorities on Thursday ended the search for remaining victims and debris from a Sriwijaya Air jet that nosedived into the Java Sea, killing all 62 people on board. Transportation minister Budi Karya Sumadi said retrieval operations have ended after nearly two weeks, but that a limited search for the missing memory unit from the cockpit voice recorder will continue. Divers retrieved its battered casing and cover last week near the location where the flight data recorder was recovered three days after the accident.
PoliticsAssociated PressDemocrats formalize Jaime Harrison as national party chair
The Democratic National Committee elected Jaime Harrison of South Carolina as chair on Thursday, signifying an early alignment between newly inaugurated President Joe Biden and state party leaders around the country. Vice chairs on the roster include Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth and U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela Jr. of Texas. Harrison — a former chair of South Carolina's Democrats who proved his mettle as a fundraising powerhouse in his 2020 challenge to Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham — already has been anointed by Biden, continuing the tradition of sitting presidents choosing their own party's chair.
PoliticsBBCHow did President Trump spend his last hours in office?
White House lobbying ban scrapped Another act taken in his final hours at the White House was to revoke the so-called "Drain the Swamp" ethics order he signed when he first took office. That prevented officials who have recently left the government from immediately joining lobbying firms for a five year period. The 2017 executive order's goal was to prevent his aides from using their influence for personal gain.
WorldAssociated PressStrong earthquake shakes southern Philippines; no tsunami
A powerful earthquake shook parts of the southern Philippines on Thursday night, but authorities said it was too deep to cause major damage and no tsunami warning was issued. The quake measured magnitude 7.0 and was located 95.8 kilometers (60 miles) below the sea and about 210 kilometers (130 miles) southeast of Pondaguitan in Davao Occidental province, the U.S. Geological Survey said. In Davao city, President Rodrigo Duterte's hometown, some residents ran out of their houses as the ground shook and power cables and business signs swayed, but there were no reports of damage or injuries.
PoliticsAssociated PressChina hits Trump officials with sanctions on their way out
China imposed sanctions on nearly 30 former Trump administration officials moments after they left office on Wednesday. In a statement released just minutes after President Joe Biden was inaugurated, Beijing slapped travel bans and business restrictions on Trump's secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, national security adviser Robert O'Brien and U.N. ambassador, Kelly Craft. Others covered by the sanctions include Trump's economic adviser Peter Navarro; his top diplomat for Asia, David Stilwell; health and human services secretary, Alex Azar; along with former national security adviser John Bolton and strategist Stephen Bannon.
PoliticsReutersFauci credits Biden for letting 'the science speak' as new administration puts focus on virus
President Joe Biden unveiled sweeping measures to battle COVID-19 on his first full day in office on Thursday, with his chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, praising his new boss' willingness to "let the science speak" in contrast to the Trump administration. Biden said he was stepping up the federal response to the virus including by taking steps to expand testing and vaccinations and increase mask-wearing. "This is a wartime undertaking," the Democratic president said at a White House event where he signed executive orders to establish a COVID-19 testing board to ramp up testing, address supply shortfalls, establish protocols for international travelers and direct resources to hard-hit minority communities.
WorldBBCEU orders next-generation Galileo satellites
They will make six spacecraft each for the global navigation satellite system, with the first of them likely to go into orbit in 2024. Galileo is the EU's version of the US Global Positioning System (GPS). Now enabled in billions of smartphones worldwide, both services allow users to identify their location on the planet down to an error of a metre or so.
U.S.Miami HeraldMount Sinai cancels all scheduled first-dose COVID vaccines. Second doses not affected
Days after Baptist Health, South Florida's largest nonprofit hospital system, abruptly canceled COVID vaccine appointments for hundreds, Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach is taking a similar action. Due to restraints on the COVID-19 vaccine supply, all first-dose vaccinations booked for Jan. 23 and later are canceled. No new appointments will be taken.
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Israeli warplanes strike Syria, kill 4 - including children
Israeli warplanes fired several missiles toward central Syria early Friday, killing a family of four - including two children - and wounding four others, state media reported. State-news agency SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying the attack took place shortly before dawn when Israeli warplanes flew over neighboring Lebanon. The Israeli prime minister's office on Friday declined to comment on the reports.
PoliticsReutersBiden administration calls China sanctions on Trump officials 'unproductive and cynical'
China's move to sanction former Trump administration officials was "unproductive and cynical", a spokeswoman for President Joe Biden's National Security Council said on Wednesday, urging Americans from both parties to condemn the action. Around the time Biden was sworn in as president on Wednesday China announced sanctions against "lying and cheating" outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and 27 other top officials under former President Donald Trump, a striking repudiation of its relationship with Washington under Trump. China's foreign ministry said Pompeo and the others had "planned, promoted and executed" moves that had interfered in its internal affairs.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestAD100 Designer Monique Gibson Designs a Tribeca Aerie with High-Impact Views
800 feet up in the sky, the Dreamy 6,000 square foot space offers panoramic views from the East River to the Hudson Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
HealthAssociated PressCan COVID-19 vaccines be mixed and matched?
Health officials say both doses should be of the same vaccine. The COVID-19 vaccines rolling out in the United States, the United Kingdom and other parts of the world so far require two shots given a few weeks apart. In the U.S. where Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are being distributed, health officials say the vaccines are not interchangeable.
PoliticsReutersAppealing to 'kind angels' China strikes optimistic tone with Biden administration
China struck an optimistic tone toward President Joe Biden's new administration on Thursday, saying "kind angels can triumph over evil forces" and playing down early irritants as the result of an atmosphere poisoned by Donald Trump's term in office. Bilateral relations worsened dramatically during Trump's tenure. Biden, who took office on Wednesday, is expected to maintain pressure on Beijing but with a more traditional and multilateral approach.
U.S.Business InsiderJon Ossoff was sworn in using a Hebrew Bible from a rabbi who was an ally to MLK and had his synagogue bombed by white supremacists
Newly elected Sen. Jon Ossoff was sworn in to Congress on Wednesday using a Hebrew Bible that was once owned by a Georgia rabbi whose synagogue was bombed by white supremacists, and who was an ally to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ossoff, Georgia's first Jewish senator, was sworn in to the Senate by Vice President Kamala Harris, alongside the Rev. Raphael Warnock, Georgia's first Black senator, and Alex Padilla, who's filling Harris' seat. As Ossoff was sworn in, he clutched the Hebrew Bible that once belonged to Rabbi Jacob Rothschild, the former leader of Atlanta's Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple.
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Fire hits one of world's largest vaccine makers
Videos and pictures from Reuters partner ANI showed black smoke billowing from a multi-story building in the SSI's massive complex in the city of Pune. The Maharashtra government said the fire could have been caused by an electrical fault during construction work. Five people have died.
WorldBusiness InsiderArchaeologists unearthed 210 sarcophagi in an Egyptian city of the dead. They'd remained undisturbed for at least 2,500 years.
KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/GETTY Decorated wooden sarcophagi from Saqqara on display during the official announcement of the discovery on January 17, 2021. KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/GETTY The underside of a wooden sarcophagus discovered at Saqqara. KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/GETTY Colored coffins from Saqqara on display October 3, 2020.
SportsAssociated PressTeam UK close to America's Cup challenger series final
British challenger INEOS Team UK stands one win away from a direct path to the final of the America's Cup challenger series, unsure whether that prize will be a blessing or a curse. Team UK and Italian challenger Luna Rossa will race each other once on Saturday and again on Sunday in the last round-robin stage of the Prada Cup challengers series at Auckland, New Zealand. If Team UK wins the first race Saturday or the second on Sunday it will qualify for the final; if Luna Rossa wins both races, the second will count as a tiebreak and the Italian team will progress to the final.
PoliticsAssociated PressBiden proposes 5-year extension of nuke treaty with Russia
President Joe Biden has proposed to Russia a five-year extension of a nuclear arms treaty that is otherwise set to expire in February, the White House said Thursday. Biden proposed the extension even as he asked the intelligence community to look closely into Russia's cyberattacks, its alleged interference in the 2020 election and other actions, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. Russia has said for some time that it would welcome an extension of the New START treaty, which limits the number of U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear weapons.
“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.”