Florida 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.

Maduro 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.

Diplomats contact Canadian held for over 2 years in China

Canada said its officials have met online with former diplomat Michael Kovrig, who has been held in China for more than two years in a case related to an executive of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei. Canada's Foreign Ministry said officials led by Ambassador Dominic Barton were given “on-site virtual consular access” to Kovrig on Thursday. Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor have been confined since Dec. 10, 2018, just days after Canada detained Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who is also the daughter of the founder of the Chinese telecommunications equipment giant.

After ‘unacceptable’ vaccine cancellations, Miami-Dade mayor orders end to overbooking

After two of Miami-Dade County's largest hospitals canceled thousands of COVID-19 vaccination appointments due to lack of supply, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava signed an emergency order Friday that she says will give the county more control over the vaccination process by ending hospital overbooking. The order comes a day after Miami Beach's Mount Sinai Medical Center called off all first-dose vaccine appointments citing lack of supply, a move Baptist Health made earlier this week when it also canceled future appointments. Levine Cava called the actions on the part of the hospitals “unfair and unacceptable.

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  Mount Sinai cancels all scheduled first-dose COVID vaccines. Second doses not affected

  Miami Herald
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  NYC vaccine supply could run out today

  WABC – NY

Slim majority of Americans want Senate to convict Trump: Reuters/Ipsos poll

A slim majority of Americans say former President Donald Trump should be convicted by the Senate of inciting an insurrection and barred from holding public office, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, which showed a sharp partisan divide over the issue. The national public opinion poll, conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, found that 51% of Americans think Trump should be found guilty for inciting the deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. His trial in the Senate is expected to begin in the coming weeks.

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  Senate trial of Trump nears, as Pelosi prepares to send impeachment resolution Monday

  Yahoo News
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  Senate to receive impeachment article Monday

  Associated Press Videos

AD100 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

Iran, 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.

‘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.

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  Gun incident involving Republican lawmaker prompts police probe

  Reuters
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  GOP lawmaker with gun sets off House chamber metal detector

  Associated Press

Testing wristbands, masks signs of a new boss at White House

While the Trump administration was known for flouting safety recommendations, the Biden team has made a point of abiding by the same strict guidelines they're urging Americans to follow to stem the spread of the virus. It's part of an overall effort from President Joe Biden to lead by example on the coronavirus pandemic, an ethos carried over from his campaign and transition. One of the great tragedies of the Trump administration was a refusal to recognize that many Americans model the behavior of our leadership," said Ben LaBolt, a former press secretary to President Barack Obama who worked on the Biden transition.

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  For Biden, pandemic safety starts at home: In the White House

  Yahoo News
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  Biden signing new executive orders to address coronavirus pandemic

  CBS News Videos

Kansas advances anti-abortion measure on Roe anniversary

Republicans on Friday pushed a proposed anti-abortion amendment to the Kansas Constitution through the state House, a bitter reminder of election setbacks for abortion rights Democrats on the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide. The vote was 86-38 on a measure that would overturn a 2019 Kansas Supreme Court decision that declared access to abortion a “fundamental” right under the state's Bill of Rights. The measure would add language to the state constitution declaring that it grants no right to abortion and that the Legislature can regulate abortion in line with U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

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  Today Marks the 48th Year We've Had Roe Protections. Will It Be the Last?

  Marie Claire
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  Biden commits to protecting reproductive rights on anniversary of Roe vs Wade

  The Independent

Nearly 200 National Guard troops deployed to Capitol test positive for Covid

Nearly 200 members of the National Guard deployed to the Capitol ahead of the inauguration tested positive for coronavirus, the Wall Street Journal reports. After 6 January's pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol, approximately 26,000 Guard troops from all 50 states were sent to secure Washington ahead of the inauguration, and officials worry their close working and living quarters contributed to the spread of the disease. Defense officials told The Journal that each of the Guardsmen were screened for Covid exposure before being deployed to the Capitol, but not all were tested.

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  Thousands Of National Guard Troops Forced To Move From U.S. Capitol To Parking Garage

  HuffPost
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  Guard troops head home after helping secure Biden inaugural

  Associated Press

Oath 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.

Austin wins Senate confirmation as 1st Black Pentagon chief

Lloyd J. Austin, a West Point graduate who rose to the Army's elite ranks and marched through racial barriers in a 41-year career, won Senate confirmation Friday to become the nation's first Black secretary of defense. The 93-2 vote gave President Joe Biden his second Cabinet member; Avril Haines was confirmed on Wednesday as the first woman to serve as director of national intelligence. Biden is expected to win approval for others on his national security team in coming days, including Antony Blinken as secretary of state.

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  Senate Confirms Lloyd Austin To Be The First Black Defense Secretary

  HuffPost
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  U.S. Senate confirms Biden nominee Austin as defense secretary

  Reuters

What next for Trump - and Trumpism?

Then Trump spent two months trafficking in unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud, feuded with party officials in battleground states, unsuccessfully campaigned for two Republican incumbent senators in Georgia's run-off elections and instigated a crowd of supporters that would turn into a mob that attacked the US Capitol. He's been impeached (again) by a bipartisan vote in the House of Representatives and could, if convicted in the Senate, be permanently banned from running for public office. Over his five-year career in politics, Trump has wriggled free from political predicaments that would sink most others.

Lincoln 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.

Thousands of Hong Kongers locked down to contain coronavirus

Thousands of Hong Kong residents were locked down in their homes Saturday in an unprecedented move to contain a worsening coronavirus outbreak in the city. Authorities said in a statement that an area comprising 16 buildings in the city's Yau Tsim Mong district would be locked down until all residents were tested. The restrictions, which were announced at 4 a.m. in Hong Kong, were expected to end within 48 hours, the government said.

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  Hong Kong locks down thousands for compulsory COVID-19 testing

  Reuters
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  Hong Kong ordered into city's first Covid lockdown after outbreak

  The Telegraph

Tens 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.

GOP Senator threatens to block Biden cabinet confirmations if Democrats push ahead with impeachment

Wisconsin Senator and staunch Trump supporter Ron Johnson suggested that the senate may not confirm President Biden's cabinet nominees if the Democrats go ahead with a second impeachment trial for former president Donald Trump. Mr Johnson said Democrats have to choose between "being vindictive or staffing the administration to keep the nation safe". A significant contingent of senate Republicans have argued that an impeachment trial of a former president is unconstitutional and shouldn't take place at all, but new Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been steadfast in his commitment to holding a trial.

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  Biden responds to a question about the timing of the Trump impeachment trial

  Yahoo News Video
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  Trump's Second Impeachment Trial To Begin In February

  HuffPost

Drone 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.

German 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.

Authorities 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...

After Trump setbacks, Kim Jong Un starts over with Biden

North Korea has a history of testing new U.S. administrations with missile launches and other provocations aimed at forcing the Americans back to the negotiating table. In recent military parades in Pyongyang, Kim showcased new weapons he may test, including solid-fuel ballistic systems designed to be fired from vehicles and submarines, and the North's biggest intercontinental ballistic missile. A revival of tensions would force the U.S. and South Korea to reckon more deeply with the possibility that Kim may never voluntarily deal away the weapons he sees as his strongest guarantee of survival.