WorldReutersHong Kong activist Joshua Wong detained for 2019 illegal assembly
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was remanded in custody on Monday after pleading guilty to charges of organising and inciting an unauthorised assembly near the police headquarters during last year's anti-government protests. 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. On Twitter afterwards, Wong said attention should be directed to the 12 Hong Kong people detained virtually incommunicado in China after being arrested at sea in August as they were attempting to flee by boat to Taiwan to escape charges related to last year's protests in the city.
WorldAssociated PressRights experts: Japan's handling of Carlos Ghosn was wrong
A panel of human rights experts working with the United Nations said Monday that former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn was wrongly detained in Japan and has urged “compensation” for him from the Japanese government. The Japanese government denounced the report as a “totally unacceptable” viewpoint that will change nothing in the country's legal process. In its opinion published Monday, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Ghosn's arrest in Japan in late 2018 and early 2019 was “arbitrary” and called on Japan's government to “take the necessary steps to remedy the situation of Mr. Ghosn without delay.”
U.S.INSIDERAOC calls out Kyle Rittenhouse's $2 million bail release as 'protection of white supremacy'
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reacted to Kyle Rittenhouse's release from jail on Twitter on Saturday, according to the New York Post. "Does anyone believe Rittenhouse would be released if he were Muslim & did the same thing in a (different) context?" Cortez wrote on Twitter. "For people who say 'systemic racism doesn't exist,' this is what it looks like: protection of white supremacy baked deep into our carceral systems."
PoliticsThe WeekGeorgia taxpayers will fund another full recount at Trump's request
President Trump is entitled under Georgia law to request a third recount of votes from the Nov. 3 election because, according to the initial machine count and a painstaking hand recount ordered by the state, he is within half a percentage point of President-elect Joe Biden. But because the ballots have been already been counted twice and Biden leads by more than 12,000 votes, the results are all but certain to stay the same. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) and Gov. Brian Kemp (R) certified Biden's victory on Friday.
WorldThe Daily BeastJFK Conspiracy Theory Is Debunked in Mexico
Most conspiracy theories surrounding President John F. Kennedy's assassination have been disproven. Kennedy was not killed by a gas-powered device triggered by aliens or by actor Woody Harrelson's dad. Several JFK assassination experts, like the former New York Times investigative reporter Phillip Shenon, see Mexico as the best place to find answers regarding a possible conspiracy and who was behind it.
- WorldAssociated Press
China lashes out at US withdrawal from open skies treaty
China on Monday lashed out at Washington over its withdrawal from the “Open Skies Treaty” with Russia, saying the move undermined military trust and transparency and imperiled future attempts at arms control. The treaty, to which China is not a signatory, had allowed each country overflight rights to inspect military facilities. That leaves only one arms-control pact still in force between the former Cold War foes, the New START treaty, which limits the number of nuclear warheads each may have.
WorldReutersGermany may start COVID-19 vaccine programme in December: health minister
Germany could start administering shots of COVID-19 vaccines as soon as next month, Health Minister Jens Spahn was quoted as saying. "There is reason to be optimistic that there will be approval for a vaccine in Europe this year," Spahn said in an interview with publishing group RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland. Spahn said that he had asked Germany's federal states to have their vaccination centres ready by mid-December and that this was going well.
PoliticsThe WeekReporter Carl Bernstein names 21 GOP senators who 'repeatedly expressed extreme contempt for Trump'
Political reporters in Washington, D.C., have been saying a lot of Republicans in Congress privately despise President Trump, but few have publicly criticized him — and likewise, few have publicly acknowledged his defeat to President-elect Joe Biden. Carl Bernstein, one half of the journalistic duo that uncovered President Richard Nixon's Watergate scandal, named 21 names on Sunday night, saying that in private conversations, these Republicans senators "have repeatedly expressed extreme contempt for Trump" and his fitness to be president. The 21 senators he named include names you would expect, but also some surprises, like Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.
U.S.USA TODAYSchools close for millions of kids as teachers get sick and COVID-19 cases surge: Some districts are holding out
Kentucky's governor announced a statewide closure of schools to take effect Monday, a move that followed Michigan closing all high school classrooms and New York City schools – the largest district in the country – moving back to all-remote learning. Already, just over 40% of schoolchildren are attending only virtual classes, a figure that's risen from 36.9% Sunday, according to Burbio, a company that aggregates school calendars. Adding to the confusion and stress of the moment: The metrics used for closure, and the scope of the shutdowns, diverge wildly, sometimes even within the same county.
PoliticsAssociated PressBiden's choice for UN envoy signals return to US engagement
Joe Biden's pick to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a low-key, veteran foreign service officer, reflects the president-elect's intent to return to a more traditional role at the world body as well as offer an olive branch to a beleaguered diplomatic corps. If confirmed by the Senate, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, would be neither the first African American nor the first woman, nor even the first African American woman, to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Thomas-Greenfield joined the State Department more than three decades ago, when Black women were even more of a rarity in the U.S. diplomatic corps than they are today.
- PoliticsReuters Videos
China hopeful as Biden to name secretary of state
When asked if relations with the United States might improve with Blinken replacing Mike Pompeo, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian sidestepped the question by saying he does not comment on U.S. domestic affairs. He reiterated that China was willing to improve communication, strengthen cooperation and manage differences with the United States. Biden will also likely name Linda Thomas-Greenfield as ambassador to the U.N., bringing deep foreign-policy backgrounds to the nascent administration while providing a sharp contrast with current president Donald Trump, who distrusted such experience and embraced an "America First" policy that strained longstanding U.S. relationships.
U.S.Associated PressGun-toting congresswoman-elect may carry Glock at Capitol
Boebert asked Capitol Police officials about carrying her weapon when she and other House freshmen taking office in January were in town recently for orientation programs, according to two congressional officials. Both people — a Democrat and a Republican — spoke on condition of anonymity to describe her request. Aides to Boebert, who Trump endorsed as “a fighter" who will “never bow down to the establishment in Congress," did not make her available for an interview.
HealthBBCCovid: 'Entire families in hospital after coronavirus surge'
On 14 October, Farah Husain, a critical care specialist in Delhi's largest Covid-19 hospital, heaved a sigh of relief. Doctors fear that Delhi may well become the epicentre of India's first wave of winter infections. Delhi is now recording more cases a day than any state.
WorldThe Daily BeastMigrants Flee Climate Change Ravaged Central America as Record-Breaking Hurricanes Hit
The destruction left in the wake of the hurricanes highlight the impacts of human caused climate change, factors which are driving hundreds of thousands from Central America to seek to reach the United States. Northern and Eastern Guatemala saw intense heavy rains from the storms causing widespread flooding and catastrophic landslides. In one disaster following Eta, a landslide in province of Alta Verapaz buried the Indigenous Maya Poqomchi' village of Quejá, leaving over 100 under mud and debris.
PoliticsLA TimesOn Biden's to-do list: Blunt the talk that he enters the presidency as a lame duck
When he takes the presidential oath of office in January at the age of 78, Joe Biden will be the oldest person to hold the office. Fighting off the debilitating "lame duck" label is already on his advisors' to-do list. As they work to fill White House staff and Cabinet posts and strategize about the new administration's agenda, top advisors are also trying to figure out how to lay down a marker that Biden, who has portrayed himself as a transitional, stabilizing figure — a bridge to the next generation of Democratic leaders — has not ruled out running for a second term as he approaches 82, according to a source familiar with the transition team's conversations.
PoliticsAssociated PressOhio governor sees growing criticism from fellow Republicans
That was just the start of a rough few days last week for the Ohio governor, who is dealing with a state he says “is on fire” with skyrocketing coronavirus cases, and now finds himself fending off questions about his political future. DeWine is feeling the heat mostly from within his party. Statehouse Republicans pushed forward a series of bills last week that would limit his authority to issue orders in response to the pandemic, and they sent a letter criticizing him for telling businesses to act as “mask police.
EntertainmentArchitectural DigestClever’s 2020 Gift Guide Is Here and It Just Wants You to Have a Nice Time
We rounded up a mix of gifts that help others, keep folks healthy, and add a little something-something to the home Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
U.S.USA TODAYCoronavirus updates: Third vaccine candidate up to 90% effective; White House sticks with holiday party plans; November infections up
A third vaccine candidate, this one from AstraZeneca, has shown the capability to be up to 90% effective as pharmaceutical companies around the world race for answers to conquering the pandemic as early as this spring. The University of Oxford said Monday that it is working with AstraZeneca in submitting interim Phase III data to global regulators for emergency-use approvals. "The vaccine's simple supply chain and our no-profit pledge and commitment to broad, equitable and timely access means it will be affordable and globally available supplying hundreds of millions of doses on approval," said AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot.
PoliticsReutersFactbox: Trump suffers major defeat in legal battle to overturn the election, but presses on
On Saturday, a federal judge in Pennsylvania said Trump's challenge to mail-in ballots in the state had been "haphazardly stitched together" like "Frankenstein's monster." Several Trump campaign lawsuits have been dismissed, and legal experts said the remaining cases do not give Trump, a Republican, a viable path to overturning the election results. The Trump campaign sued on Nov. 9 to prevent Biden, a Democrat, from being certified by election officials as the winner in Pennsylvania.
WorldAssociated PressChina tests millions after coronavirus flare-ups in 3 cities
Chinese authorities are testing millions of people, imposing lockdowns and shutting down schools after multiple locally transmitted coronavirus cases were discovered in three cities across the country last week. As temperatures drop, large-scale measures are being enacted in the cities of Tianjin, Shanghai and Manzhouli, despite the low number of new cases compared to the United States and other countries that are seeing new waves of infections. Many experts and government officials have warned that the chance of the virus spreading will be greater during the cold weather.
WorldBBCPakistan opposition seeks end to Imran Khan's 'puppet' rule
Opposition parties in Pakistan are keeping up the pressure on Imran Khan, holding a series of mass protests against his government. The PM, who came to power on an anti-corruption platform, has said the campaign is aimed at blackmailing him to drop corruption cases against opposition leaders. Pakistan's powerful military denies interfering in politics and Mr Khan rejects claims it helped him win.
PoliticsReutersTrump campaign parts ways with Powell after vote-switching claim
President Donald Trump's election campaign distanced itself on Sunday from Sidney Powell, a lawyer who claimed without evidence at a news conference last week that electronic voting systems had switched millions of ballots to President-elect Joe Biden. "Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own," Trump campaign lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis said in a statement. "She is not a member of the Trump Legal Team."
WorldThe Daily Beast‘The Dumbest Sort of Traitor’: Israeli Spies Aren’t Exactly Rejoicing at Jonathan Pollard’s Release
Jonathan Pollard betrayed the United States. Did Israel betray Jonathan Pollard? One of the most infamous spy sagas in modern history whimpered to an end on Saturday, when the Justice Department let the parole restrictions imposed on former navy intelligence analyst Jonathan J. Pollard, 66, quietly expire.
EntertainmentAssociated PressBruce, the last ‘Jaws’ shark, docks at the Academy Museum
Bruce, the fiberglass shark made from the “Jaws” mold, is ready for his close-up. The 1,208 pound, 25-foot-long, 45-year-old shark, famous for being difficult to work with on the set of Steven Spielberg's classic thriller, on Friday was hoisted up in the air above the main escalator of the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles where he will greet guests for the foreseeable future. It is the culmination of years of planning, including a seven-month restoration by special effects and makeup artist Greg Nicotero.
PoliticsThe IndependentRepublican senator urges Trump to accept defeat and condemns ‘unprecedented’ attempt to overturn election result
A Republican senator has urged Donald Trump accept defeat in the US presidential election and begin the transition process, condemning his campaign's “unprecedented” attempt to overturn Joe Biden's victory. Alaska's Lisa Murkowski took to Twitter to say Joe Biden had beaten Mr Trump fairly and told the president it was time to give up his legal team's efforts to stay in power. Senator Murkowski is among just a handful of Republican politicians to recognise Mr Biden's win.
“Donald Trump defeated Donald Trump.”
“The victory was a vindication of a style of American politics that many feared was gone forever.”
“Mr. Biden’s victory — and Mr. Trump’s defeat — is a testament to the resilience of American democracy.”
“Trump’s 2020 reelection bid was doomed by his boorish behavior. Time and again, he refused to act like a president.”
“Biden took the opportunity to unite the Democratic Party.”