PoliticsBusiness InsiderPete Buttigieg has emerged as the frontrunner to become Biden's secretary of transportation, new report says
Pete Buttigieg has emerged as a leading candidate to become President-elect Joe Biden's secretary of transportation, according to a CNN report. Buttigieg's nomination would elevate the profile of the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful. Buttigieg is widely expected to run for president again.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump signs executive order making Christmas Eve a federal holiday in 2020
Christmas Eve will be considered a federal holiday in the United States this year, according to a new executive order signed by President Trump. Under the executive order, signed Friday, “all executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Thursday, 24 December 2020, the day before Christmas Day”. The executive order does make an exception, however, for the heads of executive departments and agencies, who may determine that “certain offices and installations of their organisations, or parts thereof, must remain open,” as well as for employees who may be needed to work for “reasons of national security, defense, or other public need”.
LifestyleThe WeekRussian opposition leader Alexey Navalny may have been poisoned by a very bad Negroni, investigation suggests
A sweeping investigation into the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny pins the non-fatal act on Russia's FSB spy agency, and suggests a very poor tasting cocktail may have been the source. Per the report — which was conducted by the investigative website Bellingcat in partnership with CNN, Der Spiegel, and The Insider — Navalny, a major thorn in the side of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was in the Russian city of Tomsk on Aug. 19 when he met his traveling team at a hotel bar for a drink around 11:15 p.m. He ordered a late-night Bloody Mary, but was told by the bartender the ingredients weren't on hand and that he should have a Negroni instead.
U.S.USA TODAYMan climbs on wing of Alaska Airlines plane departing Las Vegas airport, takes off shoes and socks
Police have arrested a man who managed to climb the wing of a departing Alaska Airlines plane at Las Vegas's McCarran International Airport on Saturday. Passengers watched in shock — and filmed — inside Alaska Airlines flight 1367 from Las Vegas to Portland when they saw the man climbing onboard the wing, sitting down and eventually taking off his shoes and socks during his estimated 45-minute stint. "WTH did I just witness?" passenger Erin Evans asked on Twitter, posting video of the incident.
HealthThe TelegraphApathy found to be early warning sign of dementia in your 40s, giving hope of early treatments
Apathy in your 40s could be an early warning sign of dementia which appears decades before other symptoms, Cambridge University scientists have found. The study raises hopes of early treatment for the condition which affects almost a million people in the UK. Researchers found that apathy, such as a lack of interest or motivation, is an important symptom of dementia and one which can accelerate someone's decline in later life.
HealthBusiness InsiderHead of White House security office has his right foot amputated because of severe COVID-19 and is facing 'staggering medical bills,' new report says
The head of the White House security office, Crede Bailey, had a part of his lower right leg and the big toe of his left foot amputated because of COVID-19, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Bailey has been hospitalized with a severe case of COVID-19 for three months but is said to be recovering. Friends of Bailey's have raised over $35,000 through a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for his rehabilitation and "staggering" healthcare costs.
PoliticsThe IndependentHillary Clinton calls for Electoral College to be abolished after casting first vote in New York for Biden
Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton – among New York members of the Electoral College – cast the state's first electoral vote for Joe Biden. The former US Senator was joined by former president Bill Clinton and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who are both among the state's 29 electors to cast their ballots on 14 December, as the voting body across the US formally selects the winning presidential candidate. The governor also is president of the state's electoral college.
HealthThe WeekFauci: Americans without underlying conditions could get COVID-19 vaccine by late March, early April
A COVID-19 vaccine is officially being administered in the United States, and Dr. Anthony Fauci is predicting the "vast majority" of Americans could receive theirs by early summer. Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, spoke to MSNBC on Monday after the first American health-care workers began to receive Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine will first be available to those at the highest risk, including health-care workers and then those with underlying health conditions, but Fauci told MSNBC that "the normal, healthy man and woman in the street, who has no underlying conditions" will "likely" be able to get it by "the end of March, the beginning of April."
U.S.Miami HeraldTwo inmates who escaped a Tennessee prison arrested in South Florida
Two inmates who escaped from a prison in Tennessee were arrested in Pompano Beach Sunday night, officials said. According to the Tennessee Department of Corrections, Robert Lee Brown and Christopher Osteen were arrested by the Broward County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals Service after the two absconded from Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville on Friday. Brown, 36, was serving an 18-year sentence for aggravated rape, and Osteen, 34, was serving an eight-year sentence for burglary.
BusinessBusiness InsiderThe Trump administration turned down more vaccine doses 'as recently as November,' former FDA commissioner says
The Trump administration once again rejected an offer from Pfizer for more COVID-19 vaccines "as recently as November," according to former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb. "There were multiple conversations with the U.S. government about taking more supply in the second quarter," Gottlieb, who is a Pfizer board member, told CNBC on Monday. This comes on the heels of the Trump administration reportedly rejecting 100 million doses of Pfizer's recently approved COVID-19 vaccine over the summer, according to The New York Times.
WorldThe TelegraphSupermarkets to implement rationing within 24 hours of a run on essential goods being detected
Supermarkets are poised to implement rationing within 24 hours of a run on essential goods being detected, amid growing fears panic buying will erupt if the UK confirms a no-deal Brexit, The Telegraph has learnt. One major chain is preparing to intervene at high speed to implement a three-item limit on specific products, and could even impose a one-item limit on certain baby goods, in order to ensure all customers have access to essentials, according to a senior industry source. Moves to start rationing are expected to be expedited this winter after many stores took a week or more to levy item limits when coronavirus sparked a spate of customer stockpiling in the spring.
WorldReuters'Narrow path' to Brexit trade deal visible, next few days critical
BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) -European Union Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Monday that sealing a trade pact with Britain was still possible before the country's final break with the 27-nation bloc on Dec. 31 but the next few days of negotiations would be critical. "There might now be a narrow path to an agreement visible - if negotiators can clear the remaining hurdles in the next few days," another EU diplomat said, adding that success depends on London accepting "inherent trade-offs" for a fair deal. Despite missing multiple deadlines, Britain and the EU agreed on Sunday to "go the extra mile" to try to break deadlocks on access to UK fishing waters for EU trawlers and corporate fair play rules in order to avert a turbulent split in trading ties at the end of the month.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderGeorgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler posed for a photo with a former KKK chief - but says she didn't know who he was
Sen. Kelly Loeffler has been photographed with Chester Doles, a former head of the Ku Klux Klan and member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance. Doles posted a selfie of them at a rally for Loeffler in Dawsonville, Georgia, on Friday, on the Russian social-media site VKontakte. The image was reshared on Twitter by a Jewish advocacy group, which criticized Loeffler.
U.S.USA TODAYMichigan man imprisoned for nearly 4 decades exonerated after witness admits lying
It felt like all the possibilities that I was working on all those years were coming to fruition,” Forbes said. I didn't think it would take that long, but patience paid off. COVID-19 gave this Ohio family a 'sucker punch': Powerful family emails show how tragedy unfolded Witness comes forward Key evidence used to implicate Forbes was witness testimony from a woman, Annice Kennebrew, who said she saw three men, including Forbes, burn down the century-old, two-story house-turned-apartment in Jackson.
PoliticsThe Independent‘This is a moment I have dreamed about’: Stacey Abrams presides over Georgia electoral college vote to name Biden official winner
Former Democratic lawmaker and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams presided over Georgia's electoral college and announced that Joe Biden would receive the state's 16 electoral votes. The announcement was met with applause by the slate of electors present. Republicans - including two of the states own senators and Donald Trump - have alleged, without clear evidence, that the state's elections were rife with voter fraud.
HealthMiami HeraldWhat are your chances of dying from COVID? This calculator gives you a hint
Studies and statistics alike have shown that people over 65 and those with underlying health conditions face the highest risks of dying from COVID-19 compared to the rest of the population. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health developed an online calculator that can answer these questions. The tool, which is updated on a weekly basis, incorporates information on mortality risks and statistics from several data sets on the community and state level.
- NewsYahoo News Video
Newsom could face recall, as resistance to California governor is growing
An effort to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom is gaining momentum, partly fueled by outrage over the Democrat dining with friends at an opulent restaurant while telling residents to stay home.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderAttorney General Barr reportedly instructed prosecutors not to reveal the Hunter Biden tax probes before the election to keep the DOJ out of politics
Attorney General William Barr went to great lengths to prevent prosecutors and senior Justice Department officials from revealing the existence of federal tax investigations into Hunter Biden before the election, The Wall Street Journal reported. The report includes new details of Barr's efforts to keep the investigations under wraps. Monday's report adds to a growing list of frustrations President Donald Trump has with Barr and may catalyze the president's efforts to fire the attorney general weeks before he leaves office.
HealthINSIDERFamily was kicked off United Airlines flight because their 2-year-old refused to keep her mask on
Eliz Orban says she and her family were kicked off a United Airlines flight after being unable to get her 2-year-old daughter to keep her mask on. United Airlines has a policy that states all passengers over the age of 2 must wear a "face covering" during flights. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that children over the age of 2 should wear a mask, the World Health Organization says that children under the age of 5 should be exempt.
PoliticsThe Independent‘It’s time to move forward together’: Gretchen Whitmer receives standing ovation following violent threats to Michigan Electoral College
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer received a standing ovation at the state's capitol as the Electoral College convened to cast definitive votes in the 2020 presidential election. The state's electors awarded its 16 Electoral College votes to president-elect Joe Biden following his popular vote victory in a critical swing state that Donald Trump won by just 10,000 votes in 2016. The president has repeatedly attacked the state's Democratic governor following statewide “lockdown” measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus, which inspired an alleged far-right plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer amid protests and right-wing demonstrators storming the capitol in Lansing.
U.S.USA TODAYMississippi police identify 2-year-old boy abandoned at Goodwill donation outlet, arrest suspect
Police in Mississippi police say a 2-year-old boy left abandoned at a Goodwill donation outlet on Monday has been identified and is in the custody of Mississippi Child Protective Services. "Southaven Police received numerous tips, and with the assistance of F.B.I. offices in both Mississippi, and Tennessee, along with the Shelby County Sheriff's Department a suspect related to this case was taken into custody in Memphis," the department said. Officers responded to the Goodwill outlet around 9:30 a.m., where they learned the boy was left with a plastic bag that contained a note and a change of clothes.
WorldBusiness InsiderHours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, US Marines took on the Japanese in what became the Alamo of the Pacific
On December 8, 1941, the US garrison on Wake Island awoke to news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Japan's destruction of the US Pacific Fleet meant Wake Island was on its own against Japan's advance across the Pacific. The garrison surrendered after a 16-day battle, but their resistance gave the US Navy breathing room and became a rallying cry for Americans.
PoliticsThe IndependentMichael Cohen wants Trump and his family deposed in lawsuit over legal costs
Michael Cohen wants to see Donald Trump in court after he has left office to testify as part of a lawsuit he filed against the Trump Organisation in 2019. The president's former personal lawyer and “fixer” is suing his ex-boss for almost $2m in legal bills he accrued through his involvement in the probes by special counsel Robert Mueller and the congressional investigations into Mr Trump. Court papers seen by The New York Post show that the president will be deposed as a witness in the case in which Cohen claims that Mr Trump's company agreed to indemnify him for all legal costs.
U.S.INSIDERTiny house owners are facing evictions or living under the radar because their homes are considered illegal in most parts of the US
Tiny house owners across the country are facing the struggles of zoning ordinances that exclude tiny homes. Zoning differs from state to state and even from community to community, so tiny house owners need to work with their local governments to pass tiny house-friendly ordinances if they don't exist. Brianna O'Brien said she was forced to move out of her tiny house after she parked it on her parents' property in New Hampshire and the zoning board told her it wasn't allowed.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderA voting technology company at the center of election conspiracy theories demanded a retraction from Fox News, accusing them of 'a concerted disinformation campaign'
Smartmatic, a voting technology company, sent cease and desist letters on Monday to Fox News, One America News, and Newsmax, demanding retractions. The company has become the subject of conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, and accused the media organizations of spreading them. In a letter to Fox News obtained by Insider, Smartmatic says Fox News hosts Lou Dobbs, Jesse Watters, and Maria Bartiromo have been instrumental in spreading the conspiracy theories, which first gained widespread currency with lawsuits from ex-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell.
“The prospect of a 2024 run is politically significant. It’s also a complete fiction.”
“His flirtation with a 2024 bid ensures he’ll remain the dominant force in the Republican Party.”
“He shouldn’t run for president again. There’s a better job and life for him on the horizon.”
“Trump is in for years of scandals and humiliations…He’ll have to devote much of his energy to trying to stay out of prison.”
“If Trump himself passes on the opportunity, his two very political children could also potentially pick up the mantle.”