PoliticsThe IndependentAlex Jones faces calls for arrest after apparent Biden threat
Alex Jones is facing calls for his arrest after the conspiracy theorist told a Donald Trump rally that president-elect Joe Biden will be removed "one way or the other". The InfoWars host has been accused of attempting to incite violence during his speech at the “Million MAGA march” which was held to drum up support for Mr Trump's baseless claims of election fraud. "So I don't know who's going to the White House in 38 days but I sure know this - Joe Biden is a globalist and Joe Biden will be removed one way or another,” Mr Jones said during his appearance at the event.
U.S.Associated Press5 years and counting: Ex-treasure hunter still stuck in jail
A former deep-sea treasure hunter is about to mark his fifth year in jail for refusing to disclose the whereabouts of 500 missing coins made from gold found in an historic shipwreck. Research scientist Tommy Thompson isn't incarcerated for breaking the law. Despite an investors lawsuit and a federal court order, Thompson still won't cooperate with authorities trying to find those coins, according to court records, federal prosecutors and the judge who found Thompson in contempt.
WorldThe Telegraph'We have no oxygen': First journalist to access Yemen after Covid discovers major cover up in country of her birth
Like many others in March I was spending my days locked down in my London flat, listening to reports about how overwhelmed the NHS was and the struggle to get essential supplies. If the UK was struggling to cope, I thought to myself, just how would the authorities in Yemen fare? From London I set about trying to find out what was truly happening, but it was near impossible.
PoliticsThe WeekJerry Falwell Jr. spent heavily on Trump, GOP causes with funds from nonprofit Liberty University
Jerry Falwell Jr. resigned as president of Liberty University in August after a series of scandals involving sexual indiscretions and questionable use of university funds on friends and family, but Liberty's board is still split on the partisan direction Falwell steered the private evangelical Christian school founded by his father, Jerry Falwell Sr. Especially divisive, Politico reports, is the question of whether Liberty should continue funding the Falkirk Center, a conservative "think tank" named after Falwell and GOP activist Charlie Kirk that "has produced no peer-reviewed academic work and bears little relation to study centers at other universities," but did run "pro-Trump ads, hired Trump allies including former adviser Sebastian Gorka and current Trump attorney Jenna Ellis to serve as fellows, and, in recent weeks, has aggressively promoted [President] Trump's baseless claims of election fraud."
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump signs executive order making Christmas Eve a federal holiday in 2020
Christmas Eve will be considered a federal holiday in the United States this year, according to a new executive order signed by President Trump. Under the executive order, signed Friday, “all executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Thursday, 24 December 2020, the day before Christmas Day”. The executive order does make an exception, however, for the heads of executive departments and agencies, who may determine that “certain offices and installations of their organisations, or parts thereof, must remain open,” as well as for employees who may be needed to work for “reasons of national security, defense, or other public need”.
U.S.Associated PressSupreme Court won't revive Kansas voter registration ID law
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from Kansas that sought to revive a law requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. A federal appeals court had declared the law unconstitutional. Kansas had been the only state to require people to show a physical document such as a birth certificate or passport when applying to register to vote.
WorldThe TelegraphExplosive-laden boat caused tanker blast in ‘terrorist attack’ off Saudi: state media
An “terrorist attack” on an oil tanker off the Saudi port city of Jeddah yesterday was caused by an explosive-laden boat, the kingdom's energy ministry said, after the fourth assault on Saudi energy infrastructure in a month. The Singapore-flagged BW Rhine was hit “by an external source” while discharging refined oil products at Jeddah about 0400 on Monday local time, shipowner Hafnia said in a statement. A Saudi energy ministry spokesman did not identify who was behind the attack but the kingdom has blamed other recent attacks on Houthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen.
U.S.USA TODAYMan climbs on wing of Alaska Airlines plane departing Las Vegas airport, takes off shoes and socks
Police have arrested a man who managed to climb the wing of a departing Alaska Airlines plane at Las Vegas's McCarran International Airport on Saturday. Passengers watched in shock — and filmed — inside Alaska Airlines flight 1367 from Las Vegas to Portland when they saw the man climbing onboard the wing, sitting down and eventually taking off his shoes and socks during his estimated 45-minute stint. "WTH did I just witness?" passenger Erin Evans asked on Twitter, posting video of the incident.
WorldBusiness InsiderPutin installed a replica of his Moscow office at his beachside retreat so he could pretend to be in the thick of things while shielding from COVID-19, report says
Russian President Vladimir Putin had a replica of his Moscow office secretly installed at his beachfront retreat, according to the Proekt investigative news outlet. The Kremlin says Putin is working from the Novo-Ogaryovo palace near Moscow, but Proekt said that he secretly fled to the Black Sea palace of Bocharov Ruchey this summer. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov denied the report, calling it an "informational attack," while opposition leader Alexei Navalny said it was "absolutely Putin's style to lie."
PoliticsThe WeekJudge appointed by Trump heard his case to overturn Biden's win, wholly rejected it on the merits
President Trump told Fox News' Brian Kilmeade on Saturday, in a clip broadcast Sunday, that no judges have had "the courage" to allow his lawyers and allies to argue his baseless claims that the election was "stolen," specifically criticizing the U.S. Supreme Court for declining to "go into the evidence" on his cases because of "little technicalities, like a thing called standing." "They're winning these things on little technicalities, like a thing called standing." In fact, several courts have offered to hear pro-Trump lawyers argue their case, and U.S. District Judge Brett Ludwig in Wisconsin shot down the latest of those cases on Saturday.
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Driver arrested after car plows into protesters
A woman suspected of plowing her car into protesters Friday in New York City, injuring six of them, has been arrested and charged with reckless endangerment, police said. Dec.
PoliticsThe IndependentJoseph Epstein wiped from university website after backlash over ‘sexist drivel’ Jill Biden column
Northwestern University has distanced itself from its former lecturer Joseph Epstein who, in an article published by the Wall Street Journal, criticised the incoming first lady for using the title Dr when she is not a medical professional. Epstein's article has met with a backlash after he said the use of the title by Dr Jill Biden, who has a doctorate in education, “sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic”. Northwestern has now scrubbed Epstein's page from its website, where he was previously listed as an emeritus lecturer of English.
U.S.Miami HeraldTwo inmates who escaped a Tennessee prison arrested in South Florida
Two inmates who escaped from a prison in Tennessee were arrested in Pompano Beach Sunday night, officials said. According to the Tennessee Department of Corrections, Robert Lee Brown and Christopher Osteen were arrested by the Broward County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals Service after the two absconded from Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville on Friday. Brown, 36, was serving an 18-year sentence for aggravated rape, and Osteen, 34, was serving an eight-year sentence for burglary.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderGeorgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler posed for a photo with a former KKK chief - but says she didn't know who he was
Sen. Kelly Loeffler has been photographed with Chester Doles, a former head of the Ku Klux Klan and member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance. Doles posted a selfie of them at a rally for Loeffler in Dawsonville, Georgia, on Friday, on the Russian social-media site VKontakte. The image was reshared on Twitter by a Jewish advocacy group, which criticized Loeffler.
U.S.The WeekNational Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, wife are reportedly making Europe event a holiday vacation
National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien is heading to Paris on Monday as head of a U.S. delegation to the 60th anniversary of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Convention, the White House announced Sunday. His wife, Lo-Mari, is accompanying him on the lame-duck trip, which will double as "a holiday tour of the romantic Mediterranean and European capitals, including seeking a private tour of the Louvre despite it being closed because of coronavirus restrictions," Axios reports. Most Americans are barred from traveling to France or other European countries, and U.S. citizens already in Paris are supposed to leave their homes only for grocery shopping or work.
U.S.The Independent‘Major winter storm’ to cause power outages in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic this week, says National Weather Service
A "major winter storm" is forecast to blast swathes of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic this week, the National Weather Service (NWS) has said. Heavy snow is expected west and north of the I-95 corridor in the Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston metropolitan areas. Meanwhile, further south, "freezing rain and ice accumulations" are likely in northwest North Carolina and across much of southwest and central Virginia.
U.S.USA TODAY'I see bodies flying': Woman charged for driving car into NYC protesters, injuring 6, police say
A woman has been arrested and charged with reckless endangerment after driving her car into protesters Friday in New York City, injuring six of them, police said. Kathleen Casillo, 52, was released from custody after being given a notice to appear in court at a later date, police said. The New York City Police Department said the incident happened Friday around 4 p.m. at the intersection of Third Avenue and E. 39th Street.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderAlan Dershowitz says Texas lawsuit tossed by Supreme Court should tell Trump's allies they 'can't count on the judiciary' to invalidate the election results
Alan Dershowitz on Sunday said the Supreme Court's decision to toss the Texas election lawsuit signaled to President Donald Trump's camp that they "can't count on the judiciary" to invalidate the election results, according to The Hill. Dershowitz said Trump's campaign would need a "perfect storm" to invalidate the election results, with courts, governors, and state election officials aiding his cause. "I suspect on Monday we will see the electors ... elect Joe Biden," he said.
U.S.INSIDER2 Ohio girls who ran away from home together were located states apart - but only one was found safe and alive
The Ohio police are investigating a case involving the death of a 15-year-old girl who was reported missing last month, Fox News reported. Kathryn McGuire, 15, and Haylie Vance, 15, are thought to have run away from their homes with a 19-year-old named Aaron Larkin, according to a news release from the Painesville Police Department. McGuire died in a hospital in Nevada four days later, according to the police.
PoliticsThe WeekTrump's feud with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp reportedly predates Election Day
President Trump's feud with Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp exploded into public view last month after President-elect Joe Biden won Georgia by a narrow margin. Trump, who claims — without evidence — that he lost the state because of widespread voter fraud, blames Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for refusing to help him overturn the results, which were confirmed by multiple recounts. For starters, Trump reportedly believed Kemp wasn't appreciative enough when he endorsed him in his 2018 gubernatorial race.
BusinessBusiness InsiderTesla is reportedly shutting down Model S and X production for 18 days, forcing staff to take unplanned, unpaid time off - or they can 'volunteer' in other parts of the business
Tesla is suspending production of two of its Model S and X electric vehicles for 18 days from December 24, according to a Friday staff email seen by CNBC. Affected staff have to take five unpaid days off work, but Tesla said they could seek limited paid opportunities, or even "volunteer" elsewhere in the business. Tesla is suspending production of its Model S and Model X vehicles for 18 days from late December, according to an email to factory staff seen by CNBC.
U.S.INSIDERTiny house owners are facing evictions or living under the radar because their homes are considered illegal in most parts of the US
Tiny house owners across the country are facing the struggles of zoning ordinances that exclude tiny homes. Zoning differs from state to state and even from community to community, so tiny house owners need to work with their local governments to pass tiny house-friendly ordinances if they don't exist. Brianna O'Brien said she was forced to move out of her tiny house after she parked it on her parents' property in New Hampshire and the zoning board told her it wasn't allowed.
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Hunter Biden requested keys for his father and others, emails show
Former assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Little provides insight into alleged Hunter Biden email scandal.
U.S.USA TODAY'Everybody is in shock': New York City Christmas concert ends with police shooting gunman on cathedral steps
A Christmas choral concert in New York City ended in horror as police fatally shot a man who had opened fire with semiautomatic handguns on the steps of a noted Manhattan cathedral Sunday. The gunshots rang out Sunday afternoon at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, mother church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, and concert goers were sent fleeing and taking cover in the Morningside Heights neighborhood. A police officer and detective were already at the church when the shots rang out and responded immediately, and another police sergeant at a nearby hospital responded as well, said New York Police Commissioner Dermot Shea.
PoliticsLA TimesMcManus: Trump has changed tactics in his election fight. His new approach is more dangerous
President Trump's initial challenge to the outcome of the presidential election annoyed supporters of Joe Biden, who won the vote. But Trump's early actions weren't outrageous. A candidate — any candidate — has the right to challenge results, ask for recounts and investigate charges of wrongdoing.
“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.”