PoliticsBusiness InsiderThe Texas GOP had a fit after the Supreme Court rejected their bid to flip the election in Trump's favor, and now they're hinting at secession
The Republican Party of Texas decried the US Supreme Court decision to reject a bid by some states to overturn the results of the presidential election. The case, which was brought by Texas and joined by other Republican-led states, sought to overturn the results in four states won by President-elect Joe Biden. "Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the constitution," Allen West, the Texas GOP chairman, said.
PoliticsThe WeekManhattan prosecutors are reportedly 'significantly escalating' their investigation into Trump
An investigation into President Trump being conducted by Manhattan prosecutors is reportedly "significantly escalating." The office of Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has "stepped up its efforts" to investigate Trump's business conduct, in recent weeks "significantly escalating" the probe by interviewing employees of lender Deutsche Bank and insurance broker Aon, The New York Times reported on Friday. The prosecutors have reportedly issued new subpoenas and questioned witnesses before a grand jury for investigative purposes.
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Indonesian cleric turns himself in for COVID-19 violations
A firebrand Indonesian cleric turned himself in to authorities Saturday after he was accused of inciting people to breach pandemic restrictions by holding events with large crowds. Rizieq Shihab, leader of the Islamic Defenders Front, arrived at Jakarta police headquarters a day after police warned they would arrest him after he ignored several summonses. Wearing a white robe, turban and face mask, Shihab told reporters that he never ran away or hid from police.
U.S.USA TODAYUnder fire for strong-arm tactics, DeSantis lashes out at former data scientist Rebekah Jones
TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Ron DeSantis lashed out Friday at a former Florida data scientist turned whistleblower whose home was raided by a state law enforcement team wielding a sledgehammer earlier this week. Just because you're a darling of some corners of the fever swamps, that does not exempt you from following the law,” DeSantis said during an appearance in Tampa. The video of law enforcement's arrival at the Tallahassee home of Rebekah Jones has gone viral and the former health department data scientist has denied allegations that she accessed a state emergency alert system to urge former co-workers to speak out about the DeSantis administration's handling of the coronavirus.
PoliticsThe WeekAtlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms reportedly went from Biden's VP list to being offered a Bahamas ambassadorship
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) played a big advocacy role in President-elect Joe Biden's 2020 bid, no doubt helping him lock up the typically red state of Georgia. Bottoms was expected to be offered a White House role in return, perhaps as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or the head of the Small Business Administration, or even Biden's vice president. After the naming of Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) as Biden's running mate over the summer, and after Biden slotted Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) into the HUD spot, Bottoms' choices seemed to be slimming.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderRepublican congressman rips Texas GOP for suggesting secession and says 'my guy Abraham Lincoln and the Union soldiers already told you no'
Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger on Friday criticized the Texas GOP for floating the idea of secession after the Supreme Court rejected a bid to overturn the results of the presidential election. In a statement, the Texas GOP chairman suggested that "law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the constitution." Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said the statement should be immediately retracted and the people involved fired.
WorldThe TelegraphMexican archaeologists find remains of 119 more people in Aztec 'tower of skulls'
Mexican archaeologists said on Friday they had found remains of 119 more people, including women and several children, in a centuries-old Aztec "tower of skulls" in the heart of the capital. The new discovery was announced after an eastern section of the Huei Tzompantli was uncovered along with the outer facade, five years after the northeastern side was found. Archaeologists believe that many of the skulls belonged to captured enemy warriors and that the tower was intended as a warning to rivals of the Aztec empire, which was overthrown by Spanish conquistadors in 1521.
U.S.The GuardianZodiac: cipher from California serial killer solved after 51 years
It took 51 years and a team of experts from three countries to crack the code to a cipher left by the still unidentified Zodiac Killer, who haunted northern California communities in the 1960s and 70s. “I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me,” the message, sent to the San Francisco Chronicle in November 1969 in a series of symbols, reads. The FBI confirmed that the news of the cracked code is the real deal, but said it does little to help investigators in the decades-long search for the serial killer.
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Protesting Indian farmers ask top court to scrap new laws
Indian farmers filed a petition with the Supreme Court on Friday seeking the quashing of three new laws on agricultural reform which they say will drive down crop prices, as they continued their two-week blockade of highways connecting to the Indian capital. The Supreme Court is expected to take up the petition after seeking the government's response. The petition was filed by the Bharatiya Kisan Union, or Indian Farmers' Union, and its leader, Bhanu Pratap Singh, who argued that the laws were arbitrary because the government enacted them without proper consultations with stakeholders.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez ripped into GOP Sen. Mike Lee after he blocked the creation of Latino and women's history museums during a dramatic Senate session
Sen. Mike Lee blocked two proposals that would establish new Smithsonian museums for American Latino and women's history. Both bipartisan bills passed the House of Representatives earlier this year, but the Republican senator said Americans didn't need "separate but equal" museums. Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez and GOP Sen. Susan Collins both pushed back against Lee during a dramatic Senate session on Thursday.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestMore Inside a John Stefanidis–Designed Dreamy Escape on the Island of Patmos
Tasked with a California family's historic getaway on Patmos, John Stefanidis gives the once-neutral house a vibrant polychrome presence Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsUSA TODAYThe Elector College will pick the president on Monday. Here's what you should know.
"But most of us don't even know who the electors of our state are unless we've done our research." Experts: Facing Electoral College vote, Trump continues election attack, but without risks to him The state parties appoint electors to cast the electoral ballots on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December of the presidential election – about a month after the Americans cast their ballots in the popular vote. How are the votes divided?
PoliticsBBCIn Trump’s final days, a rush of federal executions
As President Donald Trump's days in the White House wane, his administration is racing through a string of federal executions. Five executions are scheduled before President-elect Joe Biden's 20 January inauguration - breaking with an 130-year-old precedent of pausing executions amid a presidential transition. The five executions began this week, starting with convicted killer 40-year-old Brandon Bernard who was put to death at a penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.
U.S.The Guardian'The virus is moving in': why California is losing the fight against Covid
Los Angeles county last week passed the disturbing milestone of 10,000 new Covid-19 cases a day, and officials there fear a spike in infections resulting from the Thanksgiving holiday could send hospitalizations surging further. LA officials said that one person is now dying of Covid every 20 minutes, and the county's public health director, Barbara Ferrer, broke down crying at a briefing while talking about the “incalculable loss” of more than 8,000 deaths. San Francisco has seen its average case rate soar from 15 to 30 per 100,000 residents since the holiday.
U.S.Business InsiderHead pastors at Hillsong Church are accused of using volunteers as their personal babysitters for little or no pay, insiders said
Former members of the celebrity megachurch Hillsong recently came forward to Insider with multiple accusations of racism, anti-LGBTQ behavior, and exploitation after pastor Carl Lentz was fired for infidelity last month. After celebrity pastor of Hillsong NYC Carl Lentz was fired for cheating on his wife in November, sources told Insider that the issues at Hillsong run much deeper than one affair. Several former volunteers said top pastors regularly took advantage of free and underpaid labor, and in some cases paid little or no money for volunteers to babysit their children.
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Sexual misconduct shakes FBI's senior ranks with little to no discipline
An Associated Press investigation has identified at least six sexual misconduct allegations involving senior FBI officials over the past five years, including two new claims brought this week by women who say they were sexually assaulted by ranking agents.
U.S.USA TODAYMan arrested in fatal shooting of 26-year-old ICU nurse who was driving to work
A tip from a concerned citizen provided a pivotal break Friday in the Dec. 3 slaying of 26-year-old nurse Caitlyn Kaufman, who worked in the intensive care unit at Saint Thomas West Hospital. At dawn, members of Metro Nashville Police Department's SWAT team descended on an East Nashville apartment complex and made an arrest in the fatal shooting of a Nashville nurse who was driving to work when police say someone opened fire on her SUV. Devaunte Lewis Hill, 21, was taken into custody at 6:15 a.m. in Kaufman's death.
PoliticsThe TelegraphEnd of the road for Donald Trump? US Supreme Court rejects lawsuit that tried to overturn election
The US Supreme Court on Friday brought an abrupt end to a long-shot lawsuit filed by Texas and backed by President Donald Trump seeking to throw out voting results in four states, dealing him a crushing setback in his quest to undo his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden. The justices in a brief order rejected the bid by Texas to file the extraordinary challenge targeting Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin directly with the Supreme Court, as is allowed in some instances of litigation between states under a legal doctrine called "original jurisdiction". The order said Texas did not have legal standing to bring the claim.
LifestyleINSIDERGordon Ramsay says Gigi Hadid is 'one of the most sophisticated foodies on the planet' and he's even making his own version of her spicy vodka pasta
Gordon Ramsay and Gigi Hadid share a mutual love of cooking. In a live cooking event on Saturday, December 12, at 12 p.m. EST, Ramsay will pay homage to a spicy pasta and shrimp dish he said Hadid sent him recently. The "MasterChef" judge will also make a "glamorous" banana bread pancake cereal with warm, vanilla-infused milk.
BusinessMiami HeraldYour mail carrier isn’t allowed to accept a cash tip. Here’s what you could do instead
As holiday gifts and packages pile up, some might be looking for ways to show appreciation for the people who delivered them. You might want to think twice before you pull out a cash tip, however. The U.S. Postal Service prohibits all employees — including mail carriers — from accepting cash or cash equivalents of any kind.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderRepublicans are signaling they won't support the $908 billion bipartisan stimulus plan, leaving Democrats concerned the parties won't be able to compromise
Republicans are signaling that they won't support the $908 billion bipartisan coronavirus relief plan. The plan was intended to be a compromise between Democrats and Republicans after months of deadlock over how much should be spent and on what. Democrats have dismissed the White House's alternative proposal in favor of working on the bipartisan one, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has suggested that negotiations could continue after Christmas.
PoliticsAssociated PressWhite House threatens FDA chief's job over vaccine approval
Hours before the Food and Drug Administration authorized the first COVD-19 vaccine late Friday, a high-ranking White House official told the agency's chief he could face firing if the vaccine was not cleared by day's end, two administration officials said. The FDA granted emergency use for the vaccine produced by Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech. President Donald Trump said late Friday that Pfizer had “passed the gold standard of safety” and hailed the vaccine as “one of the greatest scientific accomplishments in history.”
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WFP receives Nobel Peace Prize in virtual ceremony
That's according to the head of the United Nations' World Food Programme, David Beasley, as he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on Thursday (December 10) on behalf ot the organization. From the WFP's headquarters in Rome, Beasley said because of wars, climate change, and the use of hunger as a political and military weapon, more than a quarter of a billion people were marching towards starvation. He warned that failure to address their needs would cause a hunger pandemic that will dwarf the impact of COVID-19.
U.S.INSIDERA viral TikTok is resurfacing the mysterious death of Elisa Lam, whose body was found in a hotel water tank
A viral TikTok video with over 1 million likes has resurfaced the story of Elisa Lam's mysterious 2013 death. Lam, 21 at the time of her death, was found dead in a water tank on top of the Cecil Hotel, which is now known as the Stay at Home hotel. A TikTok with nearly 6 million views has resurfaced the questions around Canadian student Elisa Lam's still-mysterious 2013 death at Los Angeles' Cecil Hotel (now known as the Stay on Main hotel), and Google trends data appears to show that interest in the case has risen amid other references of the case in pop culture.
LifestyleTimeMen Aren't Planning to Socially Distance This Holiday Season. The Results Could Be Devastating
A couple wearing protective masks take a selfie with the Rockefeller Christmas Tree in the background on Dec. 6, 2020 in New York City. With the U.S. setting a new, devastating record of more than 3,000 people dead from COVID-19 in a single day this week, American women say they're planning on social distancing this holiday season. One in four Americans has plans to travel for Christmas, and one in five is traveling for New Year's—choices that in this horrific year have the potential to exacerbate an outbreak already spreading out of control in much of the country.
“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.”