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.
PoliticsThe WeekTrump is reportedly just going up to people and asking if they want a pardon
President Trump has spent the last few days asking his friends, aides, and associates if they would like pardons — even those who are not facing any charges, a senior administration official told The Washington Post. In one case, the official said, Trump offered a pardon to a person who declined the chance at clemency, saying they weren't in any legal trouble and hadn't committed any crimes. Trump has taken a great interest in pardoning people, the Post reports, even calling families to personally let them know he granted a pardon.
PoliticsAxiosBiden lawyers remind Kamala Harris' niece that she can't profit off aunt's name
Biden's transition team lawyers have reminded Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' niece, Meena, that she can't profit off her famous aunt's image, after she unveiled a collaboration between her company and Beats By Dre. Why it matters: Following Republican attacks, President-elect Joe Biden pledged that neither his family nor Harris' would profit from their service as president and vice president. While Meena Harris did nothing illegal, it underscored the challenge of keeping relatives in line, and of adhering to the higher ethical standards that the incoming administration has pledged.
U.S.NBC NewsConnecticut man charged in attack on police officer who was trapped in doors at Capitol riot
The FBI arrested a Connecticut man for allegedly assaulting a Washington, D.C., police officer who was seen in viral videos trapped between doors during the Capitol riot, authorities said Wednesday. Patrick Edward McCaughey, 23, was taken into custody at around 7 p.m. Tuesday in White Plains, New York, and charged with assaulting a police officer, civil disorder and unlawful entry, officials said. In McCaughey's initial court appearance on Wednesday, a judge ordered him held without bail, citing the suspect's danger to the community.
PoliticsThe TelegraphEric Trump says he will 'never forget Buckingham Palace' as family seen in tears at farewell ceremony
Eric Trump said he will "never forget Buckingham Palace" as he looked back on his father's four years in office after a tearful farewell ceremony. The president's second eldest son said it had been the honour of his life to have had a "front row seat to the most remarkable and consequential presidencies in American history". He went on to enumerate his father's achievements in office, listing his tax cuts, support for the second Amendment and Middle East peace deals.
U.S.NBC News12-year-old boy swept to sea by wave in northern California
A multiagency search for a 12-year-old boy swept out to sea in northern California on Monday has been suspended, according to officials. The boy, identified by his uncle as Arunay Pruthi, was pulled into the ocean at Cowell Ranch Beach in the city of Half Moon Bay, about 25 miles south of San Francisco, on Monday, according to the Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz unit. Arunay's father and 8-year-old brother were also pulled in by the "sneaker wave," said Arunay's uncle, Arvind Pruthi, but the pair were eventually pushed back to shore after being "beaten up by waves," according to Cal Fire.
PoliticsThe Independent‘What happened?’: QAnon followers left upset and angry as conspiracy theory’s ‘storm’ fails to materialise
But the largely uneventful inauguration seemed to be the final blow for the theory – leaving many upset and angry, even as others struggled to find new ways to keep the theory going. The baseless QAnon theory suggests, without any evidence, that argued that a group of powerful, Satan-worshipping people running a cannibalistic child sexual abuse ring. It argues that Donald Trump is planning to take down the group – and that those plans could not be revealed publicly, but have been disseminated by an anonymous individual named Q. In a series of posts, originally on website 4chan, Q laid out those theories in cryptic language.
EntertainmentArchitectural DigestThe Coolest New Automotive Technology at CES 2021
Mercedes-Benz's Hyperscreen, General Motors' Bright Drop, and Jeep's Electric Wrangler were among the unveils that turned heads Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
U.S.The WeekOnly a sprinkling of Trump supporters showed up at state capitols to protest Biden's inauguration
In the wake of the deadly riot in the U.S. Capitol building earlier this month, the FBI had warned that armed protests were being planned in every state capital. But though it was still early in much of America as President Biden was sworn in just before noon Eastern time, the handful of pro-Trump demonstrators who actually showed up were largely disappointed by the turnout, to say the least: In other states, nobody showed up at all: Meanwhile, in Montana, the only protester to show up ... was a counterprotester.
PoliticsNBC NewsMyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says products were dropped from major retailers after voter fraud claims
MyPillow CEO and ardent Trump supporter Mike Lindell says his products have been dropped by major retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl's after his repeated false claims of voter fraud in the presidential election. Lindell told NBC Minnesota affiliate KARE on Monday that HEB Stores, Wayfair and Canada's Today's Shopping Choice channel had also stopped selling his products. MyPillow, the bedding company with commercials starring Lindell, is based in Chaska, Minnesota.
U.S.Business InsiderThe 22-year-old accused of stealing Pelosi's laptop and planning to sell it to Russia has been given new charges that could see her jailed for 20 years
Riley June Williams is accused of stealing Nancy Pelosi's laptop and trying to sell it to Russia. The Justice Department charged her with breaking into the Capitol, and a new charge was added after a tip. The laptop's whereabouts is still unknown.
PoliticsThe IndependentMichelle Obama hugs Joe Biden’s grandchildren as she arrives at inauguration
Former first lady Michelle Obama has warmly greeted members of Joe Biden's family – hugging his grandchildren as she stepped onto the inaugural platform. Ms Obama was accompanied by her husband, former president Barack Obama, and donned a bipartisan-coloured purple outfit, also one of the colours of choice for the Suffragettes. As he prepares to take the oath of office, Joe Biden was also celebrated by the former president and first lady with whom he served as vice president.
- NewsYahoo News Video
Biden tells appointees 'I will fire you on the spot' for showing disrespect to colleagues
President Joe Biden issued a warning Wednesday to his appointees that a hostile workplace will not be allowed in his administration.
StyleTheGrioKamala Harris’s niece reveals special meaning behind daughters’ inauguration coats
The girls wore adorable faux leopard coats to the inauguration ceremony where they were pictured being attended to by their father Nikolas Ajagu who struck his own fashionable note in Air Jordan Dior 1's, surely a first for a presidential inauguration ceremony. Meena Harris, 36, the girls' mother is the daughter of Maya Harris, Kamala Harris' younger sister. Harris is a lawyer and children's book author who published “Kamala and Maya's Big Idea” and “Ambitious Girl” last year.
PoliticsPoliticoTrump leaves QAnon and the online MAGA world crushed and confused
But the lengthy list of prophecies they'd been told would eventually happen under Trump's watch never came. In the days leading up to Trump's departure from office, his online followers watched with horror as his pardons that were supposed to go to allies and supporters instead went to people who were inherently swampy: white-collar criminals convicted of tax fraud, family friends, Steve Bannon, even Democrat Kwame Kirkpatrick. So just to recap: Trump will pardon Lil Wayne, Kodak Black, high profile Jewish fraudsters … No pardons for middle class whites who risked their livelihoods by going to 'war' for Trump,” fumed a user in a white supremacist channel on Telegram, the encrypted messaging ...
PoliticsReutersHow offshoring rolled along under Trump, who vowed to stop it
Donald Trump won the U.S. presidency four years ago, in part, by a promise to Midwest factory workers that he would stop companies like Schneider Electric SE from moving jobs out of the country. Schneider's plant, which produced electrical equipment near the center of this tiny town north of Indianapolis, closed in April, shedding 306 jobs. Regina McDowell, who worked there 42 years and said it was the only job she ever had other than teenage babysitting, said she went through a “bit of a depression” when it closed.
PoliticsThe IndependentIvanka praises her own work in farewell message as bitter Don Jr compares Biden to The Lion King’s Uncle Scar
Ivanka Trump praised her own work for American families in a farewell message as a bitter Don Jr compared Joe Biden to Uncle Scar from Disney's The Lion King. Members of the Trump family, who still have access to their main social media accounts unlike the outgoing president, signed off after four tumultuous years in the White House. While the president's daughter highlighted herself on Twitter, her elder brother took a bizarre shot at the president-elect on Instagram stories, in what appeared to be an attempt to undermine president-elect Biden's presidential win.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump draws disappointing crowd at Andrews Air Force Base despite hopes of massive turnout
Donald Trump intended his final public appearance as president to be a display of vast support from a devoted mass movement – but instead, he was seen off by a thin crowd of well-wishers. The early morning ceremony, from which Mr Trump flew to Florida on Air Force One, was meant to be an upbeat send-off with a cheering throng of fans. However, in the days leading up to it, reports emerged that even Trump dissenters like former press secretary Anthony Scaramucci were receiving invitations, while others had been offered the chance to bring five guests.
PoliticsThe IndependentBiden gets controversial Trump officials to resign in first act on inauguration day
Joe Biden has asked surgeon general Jerome Adams to resign as his administration begins on Wednesday, in what has been billed as a reboot of the US government's pandemic response. Mr Adams, who has served as the surgeon general since 2017, announced his resignation at the Biden administration's request, and said it had “been the honor of my life to serve”. He and Michel Pack, the chief executive of the state-run US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), are among those Trump administration officials asked to resign by Mr Biden - with more expected to follow.
BusinessBusiness InsiderMercedes-Benz's new sub-$50,000 electric crossover takes aim at one of Tesla's most crucial markets
Mercedes-Benz on Wednesday unveiled the 2022 EQA 250 crossover. The electric vehicle will rival small crossovers like the Tesla Model Y when it hits European streets. Mercedes is still considering whether to bring the crossover to the US, a spokesperson said.
PoliticsINSIDERVice President Kamala Harris was sworn in with 2 Bibles held by husband Doug Emhoff. Here's a timeline of their relationship.
Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff met on a blind date and married in 2014. Emhoff, a lawyer, has accompanied Harris to campaign events, debates, and the DNC. On January 20, 2021, Kamala Harris became the first Black female vice president in American history, and her husband, Doug Emhoff, the country's first-ever second gentleman.
- PoliticsFOX News Videos
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.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTrump's last-minute pardons include a guy who shared Google's trade secrets with Uber, a snake smuggler, and a man charged with cyberstalking a doctor
In his last hours in office, President Donald Trump issued more than 140 pardons and commutations. Many went to nonviolent drug offenders, but Trump also gave clemency to some surprising figures. The list included a friend of Jared Kushner, a snake smuggler, and a former Google executive.
PoliticsThe IndependentFox News fires editor who defended correct Arizona call after backlash from Trump, viewers
Two top executives of Fox News who were involved in accurately calling Arizona for Joe Biden would be leaving the organisation by the end of the month, a move that is being seen as part of the discontent from the organisation leadership under Rupert Murdoch over the alleged mishandling of the election projection. Chris Stirewalt, 45, who had been with the network for more than a decade, was the onscreen face of the channel when it projected 11 electoral votes for the then-Democratic candidate Mr Biden, ahead of the other networks, thereby drawing ire from the supporters of President Donald Trump and his supporters.
EntertainmentLA TimesHere's what Jennifer Lopez said in Spanish at Biden's inauguration
Lopez opened her performance at the inauguration with a portion of “This Land Is Your Land,” the 1940 folk song by Woody Guthrie, who, incidentally, identified as a socialist and ally of working people. She followed the patriotic flourish with another very J. Lo touch, a sweeping delivery of her 1999 hit, "Let's Get Loud." The irony of Lopez bringing her crowd-pleasing stadium anthem to a relatively small, socially distanced ceremony a year into the pandemic was not lost on Twitter.
“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.”