PoliticsThe IndependentKayleigh McEnany leaves White House after final two-minute press briefing following deadly Capitol riot
Donald Trump's press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has packed up her office at the White House, days before president-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office, though she is expected to remain in the role until the president's term ends on 20 January. The press secretary took no questions from the reporters in the room. Following a career in right-wing cable news commentary, Ms McEnany was named the Republican National Committee's national spokesperson in August 2017 before joining the Trump campaign as its national press secretary in 2019.
U.S.Miami HeraldSuspect seen crushing police officer during Capitol riot is wanted by the FBI
Authorities have released photos of a suspect who they say crushed a police officer in a doorway as rioters tried to enter the U.S. Capitol last week. A video shows officer Daniel Hodges of the Metropolitan Police Department screaming in agony and bleeding as police and rioters squared off on Jan. 6. Police say the suspect “assaulted and used a clear police shield to pin” Hodges in a door jamb.
CelebrityTheGrioMAGA protester punched by Black woman security guard fired by UMass Hospital
On January 5th, Therese Duke and a group of pro-Trump protesters that included other family members were filmed harassing Ashanti Smith, a security guard working at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington D.C. After Duke made a failed attempt to grab Smith's phone out of her hand, the woman proceeded to punch Duke in the face once, to dissuade her. Following the incident, her very liberal 18-year-old daughter Helena Duke exposed her on social media. Hi mom remember the time you told me I shouldn't go to BLM protests bc they could get violent…this you?
WorldAssociated PressUN says breakthrough achieved in Libya transition talks
The top U.N. official for Libya said Saturday an advisory committee for representatives of Libya's different regions has proposed a way forward for choosing a transitional government that would lead the war-torn country to elections late this year. The talks in Geneva, structured around the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, have been taking place amid a heavy international push to reach a peaceful settlement to Libya's civil war. U.N. acting envoy for Libya Stephanie Williams told a news conference in Geneva that the advisory committee's members “have met their responsibility with a constructive spirit, cooperative efforts, and a great deal of patriotism.”
WorldThe TelegraphChina reports ice cream contaminated with coronavirus
The coronavirus was found on ice cream produced in eastern China, prompting a recall of cartons from the same batch, according to the government. The Daqiaodao Food Co., Ltd. in Tianjin, adjacent to Beijing, was sealed and its employees were being tested for the coronavirus, a city government statement said. There was no indication anyone had contracted the virus from the ice cream.
PoliticsNational ReviewRand Paul Warns One-Third of Republicans Will Leave Party if GOP Senators Back Impeachment
Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) warned Friday that one-third of Republican voters could leave the party if GOP senators vote in impeachment proceedings to convict President Trump. The senator's remarks come amid an increasing divide between congressional Republicans who oppose impeaching the president and a smaller number who support the measure following the riots at the Capitol on January 6. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) is reportedly hopeful that Republicans can use impeachment to purge Trump from the GOP, although he would need the support of at least 16 additional Republican senators to vote to convict.
U.S.The Independent‘It was my pleasure to crush a white nationalist insurrection’: DC officer injured in Capitol riot speaks out
A Washington DC police officer who was crushed by a far-right mob during the insurrection at the US Capitol earlier this month has said that he would do it all again to protect US democracy. “If it wasn't my job I would've done that for free,” Officer Daniel Hodges said in an interview with NBC. “It was absolutely my pleasure to crush a white nationalist insurrection … We'll do it as many times as it takes."
WorldReutersItaly's Conte gets help from new Senate group in bid to keep power
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte worked the phones on Friday, trying to secure enough votes in parliament to allow him to stay in power after a junior ally quit the cabinet this week. There was growing confidence within the coalition that the government could stay afloat as a new, pro-government group formed in the Senate and the head of the country's influential bishops' association appealed for stability. Conte is due to address the lower house on Monday and the upper house Senate on Tuesday about the political chaos which was triggered by former premier Matteo Renzi in a row over the coalition's handling of the coronavirus and economic crises.
PoliticsThe WeekTrump reportedly began 'choreographing' premature victory speech weeks before election
President Trump is known for going off script, but his premature presidential election victory declaration in the early hours of the morning on Nov. 4 wasn't a completely spur-of-the-moment decision, Axios' Jonathan Swan reports. In the first installment of a reported series on Trump's final two months in office, Swan writes that Trump began "choreographing election night in earnest" during the second week of October following a "toxic" debate with President-elect Joe Biden on Sept. 29 and a bout with COVID-19 that led to his hospitalization. At that point, Trump's internal poll numbers had reportedly taken a tumble, Swan notes.
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What you need to know after getting the COVID-19 vaccine
Can you still get the virus after being vaccinated? What happens if you don't get the second dose in time? These are your questions answered.
U.S.Miami Herald‘You are violating my rights!’ Florida woman jailed — again — for refusing to wear a mask
Cindy Falco Dicorrado may have wanted a bagel at an Einstein Bros. Bagels near Boca Raton but she may have had to settle for eating one in a Palm Beach County jail the next morning. Dicorrado, 62, who lives in Boynton Beach, was arrested Thursday morning after she refused to leave an Einstein bagel shop at 9795 Glades Rd. because she refused to wear a mask. There is a mask mandate in Palm Beach County due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is currently surging in Florida.
U.S.INSIDERA couple of Capitol rioters told the FBI an officer shook their hands and said 'it's your house now' as insurrectionists stormed the US Capitol
Two Capitol rioters claim an officer told them "It's your house now" as hundreds stormed the Capitol on January 6. Bobby Bauer and a relative were identified as among those who breached the US Capitol after an unknown caller tipped the FBI's National Threat Operations Center. Bauer told authorities an officer "grabbed his hand, shook it, and said, 'It's your house now."
PoliticsThe IndependentAide to Lauren Boebert resigns following Capitol riots
The communications director for newly elected Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, a gun-rights activist who has supported the QAnon conspiracy theory, has resigned after less than two weeks in office. The Colorado congresswoman had pledged to object to electoral college results certifying president-elect Joe Biden as a mob stormed the halls of Congress following Donald Trump's false claims that the election was “stolen” from his supporters. This week, the freshman Colorado Republican denied that she had led rioters on a tour of the US Capitol ahead of the insurrection on 6 January.
HealthNBC NewsThousands of Covid-19 vaccines landing in the garbage
And because of federal and state mandates, hospitals and other health care providers would rather risk a dose going bad than give it to somebody who isn't scheduled to get a shot. At the same time, states like Massachusetts now have rules requiring hospitals to report the number of vaccine doses that have been discarded, Jha said. The problem is that hospitals that do report this get pilloried in the press for wasting vaccines,” Jha said.
PoliticsAssociated PressBiden outlines 'Day One' agenda of executive actions
In his first hours as president, Joe Biden plans to take executive action to roll back some of the most controversial decisions of his predecessor and to address the raging coronavirus pandemic, his incoming chief of staff said Saturday. The opening salvo would herald a 10-day blitz of executive actions as Biden seeks to act swiftly to redirect the country in the wake of Donald Trump's presidency without waiting for Congress. On Wednesday, following his inauguration, Biden will end Trump's restriction on immigration to the U.S. from some Muslim-majority countries, move to rejoin the Paris climate accord and mandate mask-wearing on federal property and during interstate travel.
EntertainmentArchitectural DigestMore Inside Artist Jorge Pardo's Transformed Bushwick Carriage House
When it came to the lighting in his home, Pardo drew inspiration from the insides of fruits, nuts, and seeds, as well as sea creatures and machine parts. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
U.S.NBC NewsOff the grid, heavily armed and radicalized: He's a law enforcement nightmare
Lonnie Coffman had no criminal record. “I don't know him, never heard of him and I haven't heard of anybody that did know him,” said Ken Winkles, mayor of the 1,300-person town of Falkville, where Coffman's mail is delivered. Coffman's face was not among those that have gone viral, and it's not even clear if he breached the building.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump impeachment news – live: Biden vows to reverse string of policies on day one as Senate prepares trial
As Donald Trump's presidency reaches its final days, incoming president Joe Biden has revealed a 10-day action plan to see some of the US leader's most contentious policies reversed. On Wednesday, Mr Biden's inauguration day, the president-elect has vowed to sign a string of executive orders overturning key policy shifts introduced under Mr Trump, including his ban on travel from majority-Muslim countries and his withdrawal of the US from the Paris climate agreement. Meanwhile, the Senate is preparing for what Mitch McConnell has described as a “vote of conscience” as lawmakers weigh whether to convict the president for his role in inciting a deadly insurrection at the Capitol earlier this month.
WorldAssociated PressSidelining experts, Brazil bungled its immunization plans
Like many Brazilian public health experts, Dr. Regina Flauzino spent most of 2020 watching with horror as COVID-19 devastated Brazil. When the opportunity to join the government's vaccination effort came, she was thrilled: She would be able to share her decades of on-the-ground experience. Flauzino, an epidemiologist who worked on Brazilian vaccine campaigns for 20 years, became frustrated with what she described as a rushed, chaotic process.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestJessie Schuster Transforms a Spacious SoHo Loft Inside an Old Factory Building
The Manhattan-based interior designer preserved the element of gritty New York through a “raw but elevated” renovation Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
U.S.Business InsiderA Black Capitol Police officer reportedly put on a MAGA hat to rescue his fellow officers during the Capitol siege
A Black Capitol Police officer who was suspended after being seen wearing a "MAGA" hat while defending the Capitol from the January 6 siege did so to try to free fellow officers, the Wall Street Journal reported. Video footage of the day's events showed the officer, identified as Lt. Tarik Khalid Johnson, apparently masquerading as a Trump supporter to get help from protesters to make his way through the crowd on the steps. The entrance to the Capitol was incredibly packed and crowded with rioters, but the group Johnson recruited to help him successfully shouted to the crowd to "make a hole" and "let the cops leave!"
U.S.INSIDERA Virginia man arrested at a DC checkpoint with guns and ammo says he was just lost and made an 'honest mistake'
A Virginia man arrested at a DC checkpoint and accused of having guns and a cache of ammunition says it was an "honest mistake," and he was simply a private security guard who got lost. Wesley Allen Beeler, 31, was released by a judge on Saturday and told The Washington Post he was licensed to carry the gun, and had an inauguration badge as he'd been working security gigs all week. Washington, DC, has dramatically ramped up security measures ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, just two weeks after Trump supporters violently stormed the US Capitol.
PoliticsThe GuardianTrump heads for new life in Florida, marking end of an era in New York
When Donald Trump leaves the White House on 20 January, reports indicate that he will not return to his home town of New York City but rather, reside at his Mar-a-Lago home in south Florida. Indeed, Trump formally changed his residency to the so-called Sunshine State in fall 2019. Trump's seemingly permanent departure to a state known for its large population of elderly retirees marks the end of an era in New York, the city where he grew up and moved from its suburbs of Queens to become an icon of brash Manhattan style and wealth in the 1970s and 1980s.
BusinessBusiness InsiderA man who says he threw away a hard drive loaded with 7,500 bitcoin in 2013 is offering his council $70 million to dig it up from the city dump
James Howells from Newport, Wales, has offered his city council a 25% cut of his 7,500 bitcoins if it allows him to excavate the landfill where he threw it away in 2013. Howells' bitcoin is now worth around $275 million as bitcoin is trading around $37,000 at the time of writing. However, Newport City Council told CNN in a statement that it was not allowed to excavate the site, warning of a "huge environmental impact on the surrounding area," "without any guarantee of either finding [the hard drive] or it still being in working order."
U.S.USA TODAYEx-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones 'turning herself in' to face new charge
Rebekah Jones, the fired Florida Department of Health data scientist-turned-whistleblower, said Saturday she will be "turning herself in" to Florida police on Sunday after a warrant was issued for her arrest. Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger confirmed there is an active arrest warrant for Jones. "FDLE agents have been working with her attorney to have her turn herself in," Plessinger said.
“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.”