PoliticsYahoo NewsPerdue concedes race to Jon Ossoff, sealing control of Senate for Democrats
Jon Ossoff's victory in the Georgia Senate runoff election Jan. 5, together with Raphael Warnock's win the same day, ensured Democrats will control the Senate for the next two years, a seismic shift of power in Washington. Warnock's opponent, Sen. Kelly Loeffler, conceded the race on Thursday, and after several days of silence the other Republican running, Sen. David Perdue, admitted his loss on Friday afternoon, Reuters correspondent David Shepardson reported. "Although we won the general election, we came up just short of Georgia's 50 percent rule, and now I want to congratulate the Democratic Party and my opponent for this runoff win,” Perdue said.
U.S.The IndependentMike Pence’s daughter reveals she was caught up in riots and defends ‘hero’ Capitol police
Charlotte Pence Bond, Mike Pence's daughter, has defended Capitol Police after pro-Trump rioters were able to overpower law enforcement and breach the US Capitol on Wednesday. Capitol Police have come under scrutiny given how underprepared they appeared to be compared to the number of rioters who descended on the Capitol. Anyone who is blaming the Capitol Hill Police for the domestic terrorism that occurred yesterday should seriously reconsider their position.
PoliticsAssociated PressLawyer: New Kansas lawmaker reaches deal to end court order
An incoming Kansas lawmaker who has faced a possible attempt to oust him once he took office has reached a legal agreement with a woman who accused him of harassment to end an anti-stalking court order against him, an attorney says. The order entered by a state court judge last month against Rep.-elect Aaron Coleman was a key reason for the Kansas House's top Democrat to refuse to give the 20-year-old Kansas City, Kansas, Democrat any committee assignments. Minority Leader Tom Sawyer also had cited it as one of multiple reasons to try to expel Coleman from the House once the Legislature convenes Monday, and he said the effort still would go forward.
PoliticsThe WeekLindsey Graham harassed by Trump supporters at airport after he recognizes Biden as president-elect
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was seen in several viral videos on Friday being harassed by supporters of President Trump, who accused him of being a "traitor" following the certification of the 2020 election results. At Reagan National Airport, Graham was shouted at by Trump supporters calling him a "liar" and a "traitor" while telling him he "will not be able to walk down the street," as reported by Politico. Another video posted by conservative activist Mindy Robinson showed Trump supporters yelling obscenities at Graham and saying "it's gonna be like this forever wherever you go for the rest of your life."
LifestyleArchitectural DigestInside the Charming Parisian Apartment of French Designer Sarah Poniatowski
Located directly under the roof, Poniatowski's idyllic Right Bank apartment is flooded with light, flea market finds, and the designer's very own collection Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- PoliticsAssociated Press Videos
Capitol Police rejected federal aid to quell mob
Three days before the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol, the Pentagon asked the U.S Capitol Police if it needed National Guard manpower. The police turned them down both times, according to a defense official and two people familiar with the matter
WorldReutersMalaysia PM to announce new COVID-19 measures as deaths hit daily record
Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will announce new measures next week to curb a surge in coronavirus cases, a senior minister said on Friday, as the country reported its highest daily number of deaths linked to the epidemic. The Southeast Asian nation has seen a spike in infections since September, with the number of daily reported cases climbing to record highs on two days this week. Muhyiddin will announce new measures to tackle the virus surge on Monday, security minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob told reporters.
WorldAssociated PressPakistani PM asks Shiites to bury coal miners killed by IS
Pakistan's prime minister on Friday appealed on protesting minority Shiites not to link the burial of 11 coal miners from their Hazara community, killed by the Islamic State group last week, to demands that he visit the mourners. Saying that the miners would not be buried until he visits the protesters amounts to blackmail, said Prime Minister Imran Khan. Since Sunday, hundreds of mourners have been rallying despite cold weather in Quetta, beside the coffins of the miners.
PoliticsThe WeekFormer White House communications director Alyssa Farah: Trump is 'directly responsible' for Capitol riots
Former White House communications director Alyssa Farah rebuked President Trump over this week's Capitol riots in a new interview, calling him "directly responsible." Farah, who resigned as White House communications director in December, in an interview with Politico described the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol building this week as a "boiling point showing that misleading the public has consequences," and she placed blame on Trump for his repeated false claims that he won the 2020 election. "I certainly fault the protesters — frankly, we should call them terrorists, but I fundamentally fault our elected leadership who allowed these people to believe that their election was stolen from them," Farah said.
WorldReutersPower struggle leaves U.N. rights body without leader
Russia and China have opposed a candidate from Fiji seen as a staunch human rights defender to lead the top U.N. rights body, diplomats and observers say, creating a deadlock just as Washington may seek to rejoin the forum it quit in 2018. The Human Rights Council presidency rotates annually between regions and is usually agreed by consensus, with any contests typically resolved quickly and cordially, diplomats say. The impasse means the council, the only intergovernmental global body to promote and protect human rights worldwide, is set to resume work in Geneva next week with no leader for the first time in its 15-year history.
ScienceBBCWhat is Elon Musk's Starship?
Starship is a rocket and spacecraft combination that could ferry more than 100 people a time to the Red Planet. The system is designed to be fully reusable, meaning the principal hardware elements are not discarded in the sea or allowed to burn up, as happens with some other launch systems, but are instead recovered from space. They can then be refurbished and flown again, reducing the cost of the whole enterprise.
WorldAssociated PressDaughter of slain Sri Lankan journalist files UN complaint
A daughter of a slain Sri Lankan journalist filed a complaint Friday with the United Nations Human Rights Committee over alleged government involvement in her father's death 12 years ago. The San Francisco-based Center for Justice and Accountability filed the complaint on behalf of Ahimsa Wickrematunge, the daughter of Lasantha Wickrematunge, who was allegedly killed by a military-linked hit squad while driving to work on Jan. 8, 2009. Wickrematunge, editor of the now-defunct Sunday Leader newspaper, was a strong critic of current President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was a powerful defense official at the time.
WorldReutersU.S. envoy to U.N. to visit Taiwan; China says playing with fire
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, will visit Taiwan next week for meetings with senior Taiwanese leaders, Taiwan's government and the U.S. mission to the U.N. said, prompting China to warn they were playing with fire. Beijing, which claims the self-governed island as its own territory, has been angered by stepped-up support for Taiwan from the outgoing Trump administration, including trips to Taipei by top U.S. officials, further straining Sino-U.S. ties. Chinese fighter jets approached the island in August and September during the last two visits - by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach, respectively.
PoliticsAssociated PressAfter years of work, Abrams takes victory lap in Georgia
Stacey Abrams spent years crisscrossing Georgia, working to convince Democratic leaders, donors and prospective candidates that a vast, untapped well of potential voters could upend Republican domination in the state. After disappointments including her own narrow defeat for governor in 2018, Abrams is being credited with laying the organizational groundwork that helped Democrats capture the state's two Senate seats. It gives the 47-year-old voting rights advocate considerable momentum for whatever comes next — most likely a rematch with Gov. Brian Kemp in 2022.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastPelosi Gives Pence an Ultimatum as House Members Draft Articles of Impeachment
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for Vice President Mike Pence to immediately invoke the 25th Amendment on Thursday, threatening to move forward with impeachment efforts if the president isn't removed for inciting the deadly Capitol riot. “In calling for this seditious act, the president has committed an unspeakable assault on our nation and our people,” Pelosi said. “If the vice president and Cabinet do not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment.”
PoliticsAssociated PressStay or go? After Trump-fueled riot, aides debate early exit
A steady stream of Trump administration officials are beating an early path to the exits as a protest against the deadly siege of the U.S. Capitol this week even as others wrestling with the stay-or-go question conclude that they owe it to the public to see things through to the end. “Nobody is fooled by these last-second, come-to-Jesus conversions,” said Rick Wilson, co-founder of the Lincoln Project, a group of Republicans fiercely critical of Trump. Trump's education and transportation secretaries, his acting chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers and deputy national security adviser are among at least a dozen senior administration officials who have announced their resignations since Wednesday's attack by Trump supporters on the Capitol.
PoliticsReutersU.S. Supreme Court's Breyer in retirement spotlight after Democratic wins
With Democrats securing control of the U.S. Senate, some liberal activists are calling for liberal Justice Stephen Breyer to make retirement plans so Democratic President-elect Joe Biden quickly can appoint a successor to the Supreme Court's oldest member. Breyer, 82, has served on the nation's top judicial body since 1994, having been appointed by a Democratic president, Bill Clinton. Republican President Donald Trump, due to leave office on Jan. 20, appointed three justices during his four-year term, moving the court rightward with a 6-3 conservative majority.
CelebrityBBCDame Barbara Windsor's funeral held with 'Queen Peggy' tribute
The funeral of EastEnders and Carry On actress Dame Barbara Windsor has taken place in London. Ross Kemp, who played her on-screen son in the soap, was among the 30 mourners and gave a reading, as did actor and friend Christopher Biggins. Dame Barbara died in December at the age of 83, having had dementia.
PoliticsAssociated PressDemocrats plan lightning Trump impeachment, want him out now
Warnings flashing, Democrats in Congress laid plans Friday for swift impeachment of President Donald Trump, demanding decisive, immediate action to ensure an “unhinged” commander in chief can't add to the damage they say he's inflicted or even ignite nuclear war in his final days in office. As the country comes to terms with the violent siege of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters that left five dead, the crisis that appears to be among the final acts of his presidency is deepening like few other periods in the nation's history. With less than two weeks until he's gone, Democrats want him out — now — and he has few defenders speaking up for him in his own Republican party.
EntertainmentArchitectural DigestThese 9 Vintage Cars Are the Hot New Pandemic Buys
From a midcentury Ford F-Series to a early-2000s BMW M3, experts explain the best vintage cars on the market—and how you can buy them right now Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsBusiness Insider'You should be expelled': Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mocks Josh Hawley for 'crying over a book deal' after insurrection
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez slammed Sen. Josh Hawley on Thursday evening after he grumbled over a canceled book deal, and called for his expulsion from the Senate. "Your actions fueled a riot and you fundraised in the chaos," the New York congresswoman said. Publisher Simon & Schuster announced earlier Thursday that it would cancel releasing an upcoming book by Hawley due to his commitment to object to the electoral process.
SportsAssociated PressAustralia-India cricket match in Brisbane in further doubt
The fourth cricket test between India and Australia scheduled to be played in Brisbane is in further doubt after Queensland state officials announced a hard lockdown for at least three days due to a new COVID-19 case in Brisbane. There has already been continuing speculation that India will refuse to travel to Brisbane for the final match of the four-test series beginning Jan. 15, wanting to avoid the Queensland government's strict biosecurity protocols. Both squads are due to travel to Brisbane on Tuesday, the day after Brisbane's stay-at-home restrictions are currently scheduled to end.
LifestyleBBCStella Tennant: Family confirms model's death was suicide
British model Stella Tennant took her own life after being "unwell for some time", her family has confirmed. Tennant, who made her name in the early 1990s modelling for designers like Karl Lagerfeld and Versace, died in December five days after her 50th birthday. Tennant was "a beautiful soul, adored by a close family and good friends, a sensitive and talented woman whose creativity, intelligence and humour touched so many", they said.
HealthBusiness InsiderI volunteered to test the Moderna coronavirus vaccine. Here's what the side effects were like, and why I want my experience to give people hope.
Journalist Elle Hardy is taking part in a phase-three trial of Moderna's mRNA-1273 vaccine, which was just approved in the UK and has been shown to be 94.5% effective. The UK government has ordered 17 million doses of Moderna's shot, but it's unlikely to roll out before March. After a slight reaction to the two doses, Hardy said she was certain she didn't receive a placebo.
PoliticsReutersTrump's fans condemn violence, but they aren't about to blame him
Eddie Emerson worked his fly fishing pole back and forth, tossing his line into a pond in West Texas, searching for stocked trout and an answer to questions on how he felt about the storming of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. A backer of President Donald Trump, Emerson said he disliked the violence he saw on TV on Wednesday: people overturning barricades, clashing with police and swarming the building in Washington that houses the Senate and House of Representatives. In two dozen interviews with Trump backers across deeply conservative slices of Texas and Georgia, they condemned Wednesday's violence, but at the same time did not hold the president responsible.
“Governors are being WAY too precious about who gets this vaccine.”
“The federal government needs to give states strict parameters for when their vaccine allocation must be administered.”
“While public health leaders know what must be done, their critical work could be supported by a national COVID-19 Vaccine Corps.”
“The US vaccine campaign is not a disaster. Rather, I think it is predictably mediocre.”
“The best option may be to rely more on private industry.”