PoliticsYahoo NewsBiden's foreign policy challenges, from Iran's nuclear program to Russian hacking
China First among the foreign policy challenges that the new administration faces is an increasingly assertive China, as Biden's secretary of state nominee, Antony Blinken, made clear Tuesday during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. There is no doubt that it poses the most significant challenge of any nation-state to the United States,” Blinken said. Trump launched a trade war with China in 2018, and although the two sides reached an agreement to scale back hostilities in early 2020, Washington and Beijing have continued to trade blows, with Trump signing an executive order in November that banned Americans from investing in firms with links to the Chine...
U.S.The IndependentFlorida man arrested while attempting to go to Biden’s inauguration after ‘storming Capitol’
A Florida man who participated in the deadly pro-Trump mob attacks on the US Capitol was arrested after returning to Washington to attend President Joe Biden's inauguration ceremonies, prosecutors said at a Thursday bail hearing. Samuel Camargo, 26, was wanted by the FBI after one of his former classmates reportedly tipped the agency off to his involvement in the riots on 6 January, as Congress convened to certify former President Donald Trump's defeat in the 2020 elections. The apparent supporter of the former president posted several videos to his social media accounts that showed him “at one of the doorways to the U.S. Capitol Building, using his mobile phone to video tape his struggle with the U.S. Capitol Police over opening a door to the U.S. Capitol Building,” according to a criminal complaint.
WorldAssociated PressUN agency: Libyan navy intercepts over 80 EU-bound migrants
Libya's coast guard intercepted on Friday more than 80 Europe-bound migrants in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of the North African country, the U.N. migration agency said. The migrants were returned to Libyan soil, said the International Organization for Migration. They will most likely be held under dire conditions in detention centers that Libya has become notorious for.
WorldReutersHungary PM says too early to talk about lifting COVID-19 restrictions
Hungary cannot lift restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus until it can carry out a mass inoculation of the people, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio on Friday. Orban said the best approach was to authorise the use of several vaccines as competition would force manufacturers to speed up shipments. "We don't need explanations, we need vaccines," Orban said, adding that he hoped Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who is in Moscow for talks on Friday, can secure a deal to buy Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.
PoliticsThe TelegraphJoe Biden warns final US death toll from Covid will be 'well over 600,000'
Joe Biden has warned the final death toll from the coronavirus pandemic in the United States will be "well over 600,000”. On his third day in the job the new president issued executive orders increasing sustenance assistance, speeding up stimulus payments, and laying the groundwork for a $15 minimum wage for government workers and contractors.
WorldAssociated PressIran, pressured by blackouts and pollution, targets Bitcoin
Within days, as frustration spread among residents, the government launched a wide-ranging crackdown on Bitcoin processing centers, which require immense amounts of electricity to power their specialized computers and to keep them cool — a burden on Iran's power grid. Authorities shuttered 1,600 centers across the country, including, for the first time, those legally authorized to operate. As the latest in a series of conflicting government moves, the clampdown stirred confusion in the crypto industry — and suspicion that Bitcoin had become a useful scapegoat for the nation's deeper-rooted problems.
PoliticsThe WeekMajority of House GOP reportedly supports removing Liz Cheney from leadership after impeachment vote
House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney is facing an internal resistance after splitting from her party on former President Donald Trump's impeachment. Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, was one of only a handful of Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over his role in inciting the Capitol riot. More than a majority of GOP House members have since indicated they'd support ousting Cheney from her leadership spot, while at least two other Republicans have lined up to replace her, Politico reports.
U.S.INSIDERThe Capitol riot's 'zip-tie guy' appeared to take the plastic handcuffs from Capitol police, prosecutors say
Eric Munchel, the "zip-tie guy," was photographed storming the Capitol while carrying plastic handcuffs. Prosecutors initially raised questions about whether rioters intended to take lawmakers hostage. Eric Munchel, a pro-Trump rioter who stormed the Capitol building while holding plastic handcuffs, took the restraints from a table inside the Capitol building, prosecutors said in a court filing Wednesday.
WorldAssociated PressMaduro sent letter to Iran's leader accrediting US fugitive
A Colombian businessman was carrying a letter from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accrediting him to Iran's supreme leader when he was arrested on a U.S. warrant last year, according to a new court filing in a politically charged corruption case ratcheting up tensions with the South American nation. Attorneys for Alex Saab made the filing in Miami federal court Thursday just hours after prosecutors in the African nation of Cape Verde said they granted the 49-year-old Colombian house arrest as he fights extradition to the U.S. to face money laundering charges. U.S. officials believe Saab holds numerous secrets about how Maduro, his family and top aides allegedly siphoned off millions of dollars in government contracts amid widespread hunger in the oil-rich nation.
PoliticsThe WeekThe Daily Show and Colbert's Late Show joke about Biden's Peloton and other 1st-day 'scandals'
When President Biden moved into the White House on Wednesday, he probably left his Peloton exercise bike in Wilmington. With its cameras, microphones, and internet connection, "the last thing the CIA wants is the Russians and the Chinese peering or listening into the White House gymnasium," The New York Times notes. The exercise bikes also cost "upward of $2,500 apiece," the Times added, so it "does not exactly comport with Mr. Biden's 'regular guy from Scranton' political persona."
PoliticsThe Independent‘The stupidity is extraordinary’: Morning Joe host slams GOP lawmakers for taking guns to Congress
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough ripped into Republican lawmakers who have been stopped from entering the chamber of the House of Representatives carrying firearms just two weeks after the violent storming of the US Capitol led to five deaths. The former Republican congressman was incredulous in a segment of Friday's edition of Morning Joe, exclaiming: “Really, the stupidity is just extraordinary.” Mr Scarborough was reacting to a report that Republican lawmaker Andy Harris of Maryland was stopped by Capitol Police with a gun on his hip as he was entering the House to cast a vote.
WorldAssociated PressTens of thousands protest against Nepal's prime minister
Tens of thousands of people protested in Nepal's capital on Friday against the prime minister for dissolving Parliament and ordering new elections in an escalating feud within the governing party. The supporters of a splinter group in the Nepal Communist Party marched peacefully in the center of Kathmandu as they demanded that Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli reinstate Parliament. Security was tight in the capital, with barbed wire barriers and police in riot gear blocking the area around the main government offices.
U.S.The Daily BeastOath Keeper Charged in Capitol Riots Was ‘Preparing for Literal War,’ Feds Say
A member of the far-right paramilitary group the Oath Keepers who's been charged with conspiring to storm the Capitol was ready “for violence” during the deadly riot and had plans for a “further insurrection,” federal prosecutors said Friday. “The plan was never for peaceful protest,” a Virginia prosecutor said during a detention hearing for Donovan Crowl, a former U.S. Marine. Crowl, 50, is one of three members of the right-wing group who've been charged with conspiring to disrupt the congressional session to certify President-elect Joe Biden's electoral victory.
WorldINSIDERDrone footage purports to show Vladimir Putin's secret $1.4 billion palace on Russia's Black Sea
A video uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday purports to show a secret $1.4 billion palace on Russia's Black Sea that allegedly belongs to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Alexei Navalny, the Russian politician and Putin critic behind the video, alleges Putin and his billionaire friends secretly built the mansion using illicit funds. The Kremlin denies Putin has any connection the property.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestAD100 Designer Monique Gibson Designs a Tribeca Aerie with High-Impact Views
800 feet up in the sky, the Dreamy 6,000 square foot space offers panoramic views from the East River to the Hudson Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldAssociated PressGerman virus death toll tops 50,000 even as infections sink
The death toll from the coronavirus in Germany has passed 50,000, a number that has risen swiftly over recent weeks even as infection figures are finally declining. The country's disease control center, the Robert Koch Institute, said Friday that another 859 deaths were reported over the past 24 hours, taking the total so far to 50,642. Germany had a comparatively small number of deaths in the pandemic's first phase and was able to lift many restrictions quickly.
PoliticsThe IndependentLincoln Project co-founder says committee will go after Cruz now Trump has left office
The Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson has suggested that the political action committee will turn its attention to Texas senator Ted Cruz and other Republicans now that Donald Trump has left office. The Republican super PAC that was set up in 2019 to prevent the reelection of Mr Trump, released several videos on social media during the 2020 presidential campaign relentlessly criticising the then president and his administration. Mr Trump left the White House on Wednesday after losing November's presidential election to President Joe Biden, who was then inaugurated shortly after.
- NewsReuters Videos
Fire hits one of world's largest vaccine makers
Videos and pictures from Reuters partner ANI showed black smoke billowing from a multi-story building in the SSI's massive complex in the city of Pune. The Maharashtra government said the fire could have been caused by an electrical fault during construction work. Five people have died.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderDemocrats may have regained the Senate, but McConnell is blocking them from taking up Biden's agenda
Mitch McConnell is wielding any power he can to block Democrats from carrying out their agenda. Democrats, now in control of Congress and the White House, are pushing back on McConnell's demands. It's left the Senate at an impasse at the start of Joe Biden's presidency.
U.S.USA TODAYAuthorities found sniper rifle, handcuffs in home of accused 'zip tie guy' in Capitol riot
Federal agents recovered a sniper rifle and more than a dozen high-powered weapons from the home of Eric Munchel, a Nashville man charged in connection with this month's U.S. Capitol riot and storming in Washington D.C., new court documents show. They also found a tactical vest covered in patches and a set of plastic restraints that match those that caught the attention of social media users in the aftermath of the riot and led to the nickname "zip tie guy." The items, discovered when federal agents searched his home, are among several reasons why federal prosecutors plan to argue Munchel should remain in custody as his case proceeds, according to a a motion filed Wednesday in Middle Tenness...
PoliticsThe WeekNew financial disclosures show how hard Trump's hotels have been hit amid pandemic
Presidents routinely file financial disclosures when they leave office, and forms recently submitted by former President Donald Trump show that 47 of his hotels, resorts, and other properties lost more than $120 million in revenue in 2020, The Washington Post reports. The pandemic has hit the travel and hospitality industries hard, and two of Trump's most famous hotels struggled last year; the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., which has a $170 million loan outstanding, saw its revenue drop more than 60 percent, while the Doral in Miami saw its revenue decline 44 percent. Trump's private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach fared better — its revenue went up 13 percent.
- WorldFOX News Videos
Antifa militants cause destruction in protest of Biden inauguration
Journalist Nancy Rommelmann reacts to anti-fascist protesters rampaging through Portland, Seattle on 'FOX News Primetime'
PoliticsBusiness InsiderBiden plans a 3rd wave of executive actions for Friday, including increased food stamps and pushing the Treasury to hand out stimulus checks faster
President Biden is planning a series of moves to increase payments to combat hunger and poverty. An official says they include larger food-stamp payments and pressure to issue more relief checks. Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion relief package to Congress that includes far bolder moves.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastAs Dems Stress About Impeachment Trial, Trump Plots Revenge
When the House of Representatives impeached Donald Trump for inciting the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol—with unanimous Democratic and even some Republican support—it set into motion the constitutional inevitability of a trial in the Senate, a process triggered as soon as the article of impeachment arrives in the upper chamber. On Friday, newly-minted Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced that the article would be sent on Monday, making Tuesday a likely opening day of the trial, according to Senate rules. The articles of impeachment will be delivered to the Senate on Monday.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderHere are the 16 Democratic and Republican senators who may determine the fate of Biden's legislative agenda on stimulus, infrastructure, and taxes
A group evenly divided between eight Republican and eight Democratic senators could play a key role shaping the Biden legislative agenda, starting with stimulus. The group includes moderate senators like Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, Joe Manchin and Mark Warner. It may form a center of influence in a Senate with a narrow Democratic majority.
“By encouraging this act of terror on our capital, Trump’s legacy is destroyed.”
“Both backers and critics of Trump agreed that he remade the federal judiciary — a change that will impact America for decades.”
“He was largely responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans who did not need to die.”
“I do know what the future should hold for this country. That is to say, a policy of Trumpism without Trump.”
“It will be decades before the consequences of his tenure are fully known.”