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.
WorldReutersDivided CDU picks Laschet to lead party into post-Merkel era
Centrist Armin Laschet positioned himself on Saturday as the man to heal divisions among Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats after they chose him to lead the party, putting him in pole position to succeed her as Germany's chancellor. Laschet, premier of the country's most populous state and the self-styled Merkel continuity candidate, beat arch-conservative Friedrich Merz in a ballot of CDU party delegates. Merkel, Europe's predominant politician and a consistent winner with German voters since taking office in 2005, has said she will not run for chancellor again in September's federal election.
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?
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.
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.
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U.N. says U.S. blacklisting of Yemen group may hinder bid to avert oil spill
The United Nations is concerned that a U.S. plan to blacklist Yemen's Houthi movement on Tuesday will hinder its efforts to assess a decaying oil tanker that is threatening to spill 1.1 million barrels of crude oil off the war-torn country's coast. The tanker Safer has been stranded off Yemen's Red Sea oil terminal of Ras Issa for more than five years, and U.N. officials have warned it could spill four times as much oil as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska. A U.N. team, which includes a private company contracted by the world body to do the work, aims to travel to the tanker early next month.
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Spring man latest to be charged in US Capitol riot
FBI agents said Joshua Lollar posted a Facebook live video of him clashing with police officers while making his way into the Capitol.
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."
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.
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 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.
PoliticsTheGrio68 officials push for probe of congresswoman who tweeted lawmaker locations during riot
elected officials from Colorado have sent a letter to lawmakers requesting a probe into Rep. Lauren Boebert's actions before and during the day of the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to multiple reports. The letter was addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and Kevin McCarthy. In the letter published by KUSA, Colorado officials of the 3rd Congressional District, expressed “deep concern about Boebert's actions leading up to and during the protests that turned into a violent deadly mob.
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.
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.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.
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 IndependentTrump news: McEnany departs White House as McConnell calls impeachment ‘vote of conscience’
President Donald Trump is said to be planning a final trip on Air Force One to Mar-a-Lago during the inauguration, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly discusses impeachment with colleagues as the administration ends in history-making ignominy. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who entered the role in April 2020, joined a growing list of administration officials who left the president before his term officially ended. The president's top economic adviser Larry Kudlow has criticised his boss in The Wall Street Journal over his response to the deadly insurrection at the Capitol.
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.
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.Business InsiderUSPS says it's removing mailboxes and suspending mail collection in several major cities ahead of Biden's inauguration
The US Postal Service will remove some mailboxes and halt collection in several major cities as a safety measure ahead of next week's presidential inauguration. States and cities across the country are expecting unrest in the days leading up to January 20. The US Postal Services said it will remove mailboxes in several major cities as a security measure ahead of Joe Biden's Inauguration next week.
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Panel of moms express concern over divisions in nation ahead of Biden inauguration
A panel of mothers - Karith Foster, Lili Gil Valletta and Kim Alfano - weigh in on the divided state of the nation after the Capitol riots.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump administration staffers reportedly getting snubbed while looking for new jobs
Trump administration staff are reportedly getting snubbed for jobs, amid the fallout of the end of Donald Trump's presidency and the Capitol riots. After a mob of pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol last week, several businesses turned on the Trump Organisation, as New York City announced on Thursday that it was ending all ties with the company. The rioters attacked the Capitol after attending a rally led by Mr Trump, who urged supporters to “walk down to the Capitol” and told them: “You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”
WorldReutersBritish maestro Rattle seeking German citizenship after Brexit
Star conductor Simon Rattle, who this week announced he was cutting short his tenure at Britain's leading orchestra to return to Germany, said on Friday he had applied for German citizenship after Brexit. The Liverpool-born musician, 65, lamented the barriers thrown up by Britain's departure from the European Union to the careers of young musicians who had grown used to performing freely to the continent's music-hungry public. "My passport is on the way," Rattle told a news conference when asked if he had followed many EU-based Britons in applying for the citizenship that will let them continue to work freely around the bloc.
PoliticsBusiness Insider'What the hell's the matter with them?': Biden scorches GOP lawmakers who didn't wear masks in secure areas during Capitol riots, saying they need 'to grow up'
President-elect Joe Biden on Friday excoriated Republicans who refused to wear masks while huddled with other lawmakers during the Capitol riots, saying they needed "to grow up." "Quite frankly, it was shocking to see members of the Congress while the Capitol was under siege by a deadly mob of thugs refuse to wear masks while they were in secure locations," he said. At least three Democratic House members who were in locations with a select number of maskless Republicans have now tested positive for COVID-19, including Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, and Brad Schneider of Illinois.
“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.”