PoliticsThe IndependentBiden news – live: US travel restrictions tightened, as Russia told to free Navalny and protesters
Joe Biden signed an executive order that reverses a Trump-era military transgender ban in a widely expected move to overturn the ban on troops and military recruits from transitioning to another sex. It comes as Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani over his baseless about election fraud, and the Bidens brought their dogs Champ and Major to Washington DC. Meanwhile, as the Senate moves toward the second impeachment of Donald Trump, Supreme Court's Chief Justice Roberts reportedly withdrew from overseeing proceedings.
PoliticsThe TelegraphRepublican split widens as Donald Trump intervenes in party elections in Arizona
The acrimonious split within Republican ranks widened over the weekend as Donald Trump made his foray back into politics, backing the re-election of a hard-line supporter as chair of the party in Arizona. Underlining Mr Trump's grip on the Republican grassroots, the Arizona party also voted to censure John McCain's widow, Cindy, former senator Jeff Flake and governor Doug Ducey, who refused to back the former president's claims of election fraud. Mr Trump's intervention came amid reports that he is considering setting up a “Patriot Party” which would spearhead primary challenges to his opponents in the 2022 mid-term elections.
U.S.Associated PressUS judge blocks release of Tennessee man in Capitol riot
A federal judge on Sunday blocked the release of a Tennessee man who authorities say carried flexible plastic handcuffs during the riot at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month. U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell for the District of Columbia set aside an order by a judge in Tennessee concerning the release of Eric Munchel of Nashville. After testimony at a detention hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Frensley for the Middle District of Tennessee determined Friday that Munchel wasn't a flight risk and didn't pose harm to the public.
WorldReutersBrazil buying as many vaccines as it can, criticism unwarranted, says economy minister
Brazil is trying to buy as many COVID-19 vaccines as possible, and accusations it has focused its efforts on only one manufacturer are unjust, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said on Monday. Speaking in an online briefing, Guedes said the government's biggest challenge this year is rolling out a nationwide vaccination program and that he has full confidence this will be accomplished. Brazil has the second highest death count in the world from the virus, and President Jair Bolsonaro has come under heavy criticism from politicians, the press and the public for his stance on the pandemic and handling of the crisis.
PoliticsThe WeekThe Senate is effectively deadlocked over McConnell's filibuster demand
Senate Democrats are drawing a line at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) demand that a power-sharing agreement in the 50-50 Senate include a pledge to retain the legislative filibuster. "If we gave him that, then the filibuster would be on everything, every day," Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) told NBC's Chuck Todd on Sunday's Meet the Press.
PoliticsAssociated PressBiden replaces White House doctor with longtime physician
President Joe Biden has brought back Dr. Kevin O'Connor as his physician, replacing President Donald Trump's doctor with the one who oversaw his care when he was vice president. The White House confirmed that Dr. Sean Conley, the Navy commander who served as the head of the White House Medical Unit under Trump and oversaw his treatment when he was hospitalized with COVID-19, will assume a teaching role at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. O'Connor, a retired Army colonel, was Biden's doctor during his entire tenure as vice president, having remained in the role at Biden's request.
- PoliticsFOX News Videos
Montana governor calls escorting of troops from Capitol 'national disgrace'
Greg Gianforte, R-Mont. discusses treatment of the state's National Guard troops following the inauguration, and President Biden's Keystone XL Pipeline decision.
U.S.The Telegraph'Traitors get shot': Texas man arrested over Capitol riots after his son tipped off FBI
A Texan teenager who tipped off the FBI about his father's alleged involvement in the Capitol riots said he would "do it again", despite claiming his father threatened to shoot him for being a "traitor". His father, Guy, 48, was arrested at his home in Wylie, Texas on January 16 and faces charges of obstruction of justice and knowingly entering a restricted building. According to court documents, Mr Reffitt had allegedly threatened his wife and children, saying: “If you turn me in, you're a traitor and you know what happens to traitors … traitors get shot”.
WorldReutersChina says U.S. military in South China Sea not good for peace
The United States often sends ships and aircraft into the South China Sea to "flex its muscles" and this is not good for peace, China's Foreign Ministry said on Monday, after a U.S. aircraft carrier group sailed into the disputed waterway. The strategic South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade flows each year, has long been a focus of contention between Beijing and Washington, with China particularly angered by U.S. military activity there. The U.S. carrier group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt and accompanied by three warships, entered the waterway on Saturday to promote "freedom of the seas", the U.S. military said, just days after Joe Biden became U.S. president..
BusinessThe WeekRudy Giuliani hit with $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit from Dominion over election 'disinformation campaign'
Rudy Giuliani has been hit with a $1.3 billion lawsuit over his false claims about widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Dominion Voting Systems on Monday filed a defamation lawsuit against Giuliani, personal attorney to former President Donald Trump, after he baselessly alleged the voting machine company was involved in a conspiracy to change votes from Trump to President Biden in 2020, The New York Times reports. The lawsuit was filed in the Federal District Court in Washington and charges Giuliani with making "demonstrably false" claims about the company as part of a "viral disinformation campaign," according to the Times.
WorldAssociated PressIsrael extradites woman wanted for sex crimes to Australia
Israeli authorities on Monday extradited a former teacher accused of sexually abusing her former students in Australia, capping a six-year legal battle that had strained relations between the two governments and antagonized Australia's Jewish community. Malka Leifer, who is wanted on 74 charges of child sex abuse in Australia, was placed on a flight early in the day, several hours before Israel was to close its international airport to nearly all air traffic due to a raging coronavirus outbreak. Israeli media photographed Leifer boarding a plane at Ben Gurion Airport, her ankles and wrists shackled.
WorldReutersEU states no longer recognise Guaido as Venezuela's interim president
Venezuela's Juan Guaido is a "privileged interlocutor" but no longer considered interim president, European Union states said in a statement on Monday, sticking by their decision to downgrade his status. The EU's 27 states had said on Jan. 6 they could no longer legally recognise Guaido as after he lost his position as head of parliament following legislative elections in Venezuela in December, despite the EU not recognising that vote. Following the disputed re-election of President Nicolas Maduro in 2018, Guaido, as head of parliament, became interim president.
WorldAssociated PressChina pushes conspiracy theories on COVID origin, vaccines
Chinese state media have stoked concerns about Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, despite rigorous trials indicating it is safe. A government spokesperson has raised the unsubstantiated theory that the coronavirus could have emerged from a U.S. military lab, giving it more credence in China. As the ruling Communist Party faces growing questioning about China's vaccines and renewed criticism of its early COVID-19 response, it is hitting back by encouraging conspiracy theories that some experts say could cause harm.
PoliticsThe WeekDOJ watchdog will investigate if officials tried to 'improperly' overturn the 2020 election
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz is planning to probe whether current or former department officials tried to overturn the 2020 election. Reports over the weekend detailed former President Donald Trump's alleged plan to oust former Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen after he apparently refused to help cast doubt on Georgia's presidential election results. Horowitz's Monday announcement seemed to be a direct response to those reports, saying he would investigate whether any officials "engaged in an improper attempt to have DOJ seek to alter the outcome of the 2020 presidential election."
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTed Cruz's 'Pittsburgh over Paris' campaign shows us just how dumb the Biden years are going to be
In response to Biden re-entering the US into the Paris climate agreement, GOP Sen. Ted Cruz has launched a "Pittsburgh over Paris" campaign. Cruz says that Biden rejoining the Paris agreement will cost the citizens of Pittsburgh jobs, but the idea makes no sense and is just another bad faith attempt at scoring political points. This is the norm for Republicans, and a sign of what's to come.
WorldReutersEgypt begins COVID-19 vaccination drive with frontline medical staff
Egypt began vaccinating frontline medical staff against COVID-19 on Sunday using the jab developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm). The vaccine will be provided free of charge first to all doctors and frontline workers treating coronavirus patients, then to other medical workers, senior citizens and people with chronic illnesses, Health Minister Hala Zayed said. "As soon as each citizen registers, they will take their turn.
WorldAssociated PressEU pressures AstraZeneca to deliver vaccines as promised
The European Union lashed out Monday at AstraZeneca, accusing the pharmaceutical company of failing to deliver the coronavirus vaccine doses that it promised to the bloc despite getting EU funding to ramp up vaccine production. The EU, already facing heavy criticism for a slow vaccine rollout around its 27 nations, also warned that within days it will demand approving any COVID-19 vaccines produced within the bloc for export. “The European Union will take any action required to protect its citizens and its rights," Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said.
PoliticsAssociated PressAP source: Lawmakers threatened ahead of impeachment trial
Federal law enforcement officials are examining a number of threats aimed at members of Congress as the second trial of former President Donald Trump nears, including ominous chatter about killing legislators or attacking them outside of the U.S. Capitol, a U.S. official told The Associated Press. The threats, and concerns that armed protesters could return to sack the Capitol anew, have prompted the U.S. Capitol Police and other federal law enforcement to insist thousands of National Guard troops remain in Washington as the Senate moves forward with plans for Trump's trial, the official said Sunday.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderSome senators oppose the direct-payment part of Biden's stimulus plan because they think it gives too much money to the wealthy, report says
President Joe Biden's stimulus plan is facing criticism that it'd give too much to the wealthy. A bipartisan group of 16 senators spoke with the Biden administration during a call Sunday. The group also expressed support for increasing funding for vaccine distribution.
WorldReutersJapan likely to hit COVID-19 herd immunity in October, months after Olympics: researcher
Japan is likely to achieve herd immunity to COVID-19 through mass inoculations only months after the planned Tokyo Olympics, even though it has locked in the biggest quantity of vaccines in Asia, according to a London-based forecaster. That would be a blow to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga who has pledged to have enough shots for the populace by the middle of 2021, as it trails most major economies in starting COVID-19 inoculations. "Japan looks to be quite late in the game," Rasmus Bech Hansen, the founder of British research firm Airfinity, told Reuters.
U.S.The New York TimesSon Tipped Off FBI About His Father, Who Is Charged in Capitol Riot
Then his father leveled a threat: If Jackson, 18, reported him to the police, he would have no choice but to do his “duty” for his country and “do what he had to do.” “He would always tell me that he's going to do something big,” Jackson Reffitt said in a phone interview Saturday.
WorldAssociated PressGroup: Pakistani Baloch dissident buried amid high security
A Pakistani dissident and civil rights activist who died in exile in Canada last month was returned to Pakistan and laid to rest in her home village in southwestern Baluchistan province under tight security, activists said Monday. Only immediate family members of 37-year-old Karima Baloch were allowed to attend her funeral Sunday in the village of Tump in Baluchistan. Her supporters claim that Pakistani troops had sealed off the village and prevented them from attending her burial.
WorldAssociated PressEXPLAINER: How Taiwan figures in US-China ties under Biden
It didn't take long for relations with China to become an issue for new U.S. President Joe Biden. A show of force by the Chinese air force off Taiwan last weekend prompted a U.S. response, even as Biden and his administration focus on the COVID-19 pandemic and other pressing issues at home in what is still their first week in office. Taiwan's Defense Ministry reported that China sent a dozen bombers and fighter jets into Taiwan's air defense identification zone on Saturday.
WorldReutersBoycott 'wildcat' Scottish independence vote, says Scottish Conservative leader
Backers of the union of the United Kingdom's four nations should boycott any "wildcat" independence referendum for Scotland, the leader of the Scottish Conservative Party said on Monday, after the nation's first minister pressed ahead with plans for a vote. Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said on Sunday she was hoping a strong performance by her Scottish National Party (SNP) in an election in May would give her the mandate to hold a second referendum. To get a legal referendum, any such vote must be approved by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has ruled out doing so.
- U.S.Miami Herald
Pilot’s body found inside the plane that crashed off the coast in Palm Beach County
The body of the pilot of a single-engine plane that crashed near Boynton Beach Inlet was found Monday afternoon, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office divers found the 24-year-old man inside the Piper PA-28 on which the Coast Guard said he was the lone passenger. The FAA said the flight disappeared after 8 p.m. Sunday, on its way from Palm Beach County Park Airport to Merritt Island Airport in Florida.
“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.”