HealthYahoo NewsOne of the most isolated spots on earth faces a massive COVID wave
As much of the world waits for a vaccine, many patients in Gaza are just waiting for a hospital bed. Initially, Mai, who asked that only her first name be used, was diagnosed with bronchitis and sent home to recover. Mai was eventually given a COVID-19 test, and it came back positive.
PoliticsThe WeekWhite House lawyers reportedly warn Trump of 'legal jeopardy' if he fires FBI Director Christopher Wray
President Trump has reportedly considered firing the director of the FBI again, but White House lawyers have tried their best to talk him out of it. Trump, NBC News reported on Wednesday, "has come so close to firing" FBI Director Christopher Wray that the White House counsel's office "warned him not to do so because it could put him in potential legal jeopardy." The White House lawyers, according to the report, "strongly" advised Trump not to fire Wray, saying that it would "risk creating the perception that a 'loyalty test' was being imposed" on the position or that Trump was firing him out of "retaliation" for not taking investigative actions he wanted.
WorldReuters'China does not honor its agreements,' U.S. admiral says after meeting no-show
The U.S. military on Wednesday slammed China for failing to appear at virtual, senior-level meetings slated for this week, with the top U.S. admiral for the Asia-Pacific saying it was "another example that China does not honor its agreements." "This should serve as a reminder to all nations as they pursue agreements with China going forward,” Admiral Phil Davidson, the commander for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said in a statement. China had been expected to participate in Dec. 14-16 meetings related to the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) focused on maritime safety, the command said.
PoliticsThe WeekReport: Of the hundreds of people invited to Mike Pompeo's indoor holiday party, a few dozen showed up
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo found out what happens when you send out 900 invitations to an indoor holiday party during a pandemic that has killed at least 300,000 Americans: not that many people show up. The Tuesday event for the families of diplomats in high-risk locations was hosted by Pompeo and his wife, Susan, in Washington, D.C. As of Monday night, only about 70 people had accepted their invitations, and even fewer showed up, two U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter told The Washington Post. Pompeo had been scheduled to speak, but canceled his address and had someone else deliver a message in his place, the Post reports. Government health officials have urged people not to attend indoor gatherings amid the pandemic, and several lawmakers and the American Foreign Service Association, a nonpartisan union representing diplomats, asked Pompeo to cancel the party over concerns it would be a super-spreader event.
WorldThe IndependentCocaine laden ghost boat washes up on remote Pacific island
A ghost boat with 649kg of cocaine hidden in a compartment under its deck has washed up on a remote atoll in the Marshall Islands, in what authorities believe to be the largest-ever haul of the drug in the Pacific nation. The discovery was made by authorities last week who believe the boat could have been adrift for a year or more. Attorney general Richard Hickson said the 5.5m fibreglass vessel was found at Ailuk atoll and noted that it most likely drifted across the Pacific from central or south America, the AFP news agency reported.
PoliticsNational ReviewBiden White House Official Labels Republicans ‘F***ers’ before Calling for Unity
The incoming White House deputy chief of staff, Jen O'Malley Dillon, called for unity and compromise in politics while labeling Republicans “a bunch of f***ers” in a Wednesday interview with Glamour magazine. O'Malley Dillon was campaign manager for Texas progressive Beto O'Rourke in the Democratic primaries, before joining the Biden team as campaign manager in March. In the Glamour interview, O'Malley Dillon said Biden was “able to connect” with voters over a “sense of unity.
WorldAssociated PressAfghan officials: Bombs, shooting attack in Kabul kill 4
A bombing and a shooting attack in Kabul killed at least three people, including a deputy provincial governor, while a deputy provincial council chief was killed in western Afghanistan on Tuesday, officials said. The attacks are the latest in relentless violence in Afghanistan even as the Taliban and Afghan government negotiators hold talks in Qatar, trying to hammer out a peace deal that could put an end to decades of war. According to Tariq Arian, an Afghan interior ministry spokesman, a sticky bomb attached to the armored vehicle belonging to Kabul's deputy provincial governor killed two people, and wounded two others.
U.S.The WeekTrump's Mar-a-Lago neighbors don't want him to move there. They may be able to stop him, too.
President Trump may be refusing to concede that he's leaving the White House in January, but first lady Melania Trump and the Secret Service are reportedly busy preparing for his post-presidency life at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump's Mar-a-Lago neighbors sent a letter to the town of Palm Beach and the Secret Service on Tuesday demanding that the town notify Trump he can't reside at Mar-a-Lago because he signed away that right in 1993, the Post reports.
StyleArchitectural Digest27 Best Coffee Table Books to Buy & Gift This Year
Discover the top tomes for every interest—from fashion to design to travel–that our editors loved this year Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsThe IndependentBiden coughs his way through first speech since being confirmed as president-elect: ‘Hand him a glass of water!’
Joe Biden's first address to the nation shortly after state electors declared him president-elect was overshadowed by persistent bouts of coughing and throat-clearing, as he mounted a scathing attack on President Donald Trump for his efforts to undermine the election. “It should be celebrated, not attacked,” Mr Biden said, as he acknowledged his victory in the presidential race. Mr Biden sounded hoarse and stopped several times to clear his throat during his speech on Monday night, prompting reactions from social media users.
PoliticsThe WeekCongress getting close to a coronavirus relief deal, including smaller stimulus checks
After months and months of negotiations, Congress may finally have a coronavirus deal. Earlier Wednesday, congressional leaders pledged to stay in Washington until they passed a coronavirus stimulus bill and a package to fund the government. But they may not have to stay late after all, as Politico reports negotiators are "on the brink" of a new coronavirus relief bill that includes direct stimulus payments to Americans.
WorldAssociated PressEU regulators move up Pfizer vaccine assessment to Dec. 21
Facing strong pressure from Germany and other European Union nations, the bloc's medicines agency on Tuesday moved up a meeting to assess the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to Dec. 21, likely bringing vaccinations a step closer for millions of EU citizens. The announcement came after Germany's health minister and others had publicly demanded that the agency move quicker than its previously planned Dec. 29 meeting at which it was to discuss approving the vaccine. The vaccine is already being given daily to thousands of people in Britain, Canada and the United States, galling some Europeans who note that BioNTech is a Germany company.
WorldBBCCovid-19: Singapore migrant workers infections were three times higher
Over the past months, infections in both the general population and the migrant dormitories have dropped to almost zero and authorities have just announced a further easing of restrictions for the general population. But Singapore's foreign workers - typically low-wage migrant labourers from South Asia who largely work in the construction and manufacturing sectors - still face restrictions on their freedom of movement which will only be gradually lifted next year. "There is no justification for Singapore to treat migrant workers like prisoners," Alex Au of the charity Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) told the BBC.
PoliticsCharlotte Observer’Liberals are going nuts’: NC senator says he’d support suspension of civil liberties
“All the liberals are just going nuts today,” he said Wednesday. Steinburg's comments, first reported Tuesday night by WRAL, found a national audience Wednesday in the Washington Post. On Facebook, the Republican from northeast Chowan County posted comments from controversial retired Gen. Thomas McInerney, who said that Trump should suspend civil liberties and invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act, which would allow the president to deploy the military to quell domestic disorder.
- HealthAssociated Press Videos
Alaska woman has allergic reaction to COVID vaccine
Health officials in Alaska reported Wednesday that a health care worker had a severe allergic reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine within 10 minutes of receiving a shot. She was treated and kept in the hospital overnight but has recovered. Dec.
PoliticsThe WeekBernie Sanders and Joe Manchin reportedly fight on conference call over stimulus checks
Things reportedly got testy on Wednesday during an internal conference call as lawmakers tried to iron out a bipartisan agreement for a coronavirus relief bill, The Washington Post reports. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), who reportedly got into a heated exchange over how big stimulus checks should be. Sanders argued for more robust direct payments, while Manchin advocated for a lower amount, instead preferring to emphasize unemployment benefits.
U.S.The IndependentGhislaine Maxwell reportedly assigned to monitor other inmates who may be suicidal
However, the New York Post reported on Tuesday that Ms Maxwell has now been tasked with keeping an eye on the wellbeing of other inmates. She has been made a suicide watch inmate, which is the highest and most trusted responsibility that an inmate can have,” her attorneys wrote as part of a motion that requests she be released to home confinement on a bail package totalling nearly $28.5m (£21.1m). The attorneys added: “It is the height of irony that Ms Maxwell is being constantly surveilled as if she were a suicide risk when she, herself, is trusted enough (if she were ever released from isolation) to monitor inmates who are truly at risk of suicide.
U.S.Miami Herald‘Look at him thrash!’ Watch an alligator get ejected from this Florida neighborhood
An alligator “hanging around” a Bonita Springs neighborhood isn't going to be visiting again anytime soon. The Lee County Sheriff's Office posted a video to Facebook of what went down last Friday evening. A nuisance alligator was spotted in a Bonita Springs neighborhood.
PoliticsNational ReviewJill Biden’s Doctorate Is Garbage Because Her Dissertation Is Garbage
You can tell someone is smarting from an inferiority complex when he insists on being addressed as “Dr. on the basis of holding an academic doctorate rather than being a physician. Ph.D.
PoliticsThe WeekOcasio-Cortez slams Pelosi and House leadership for hogging power
It's no secret that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) doesn't always see eye to eye with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and others in Democratic congressional leadership. Read more at The Intercept.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump news – live: President lashes out at fired elections chief, as he is warned not to destroy records
Donald Trump has turned on his once-close ally Mitch McConnell after the top Senate Republican finally acknowledged president-elect Joe Biden's victory, sharing tweets critical of the Kentucky lawmaker overnight. The outgoing president's neighbours at his Mar-a-Lago private club in Palm Beach, Florida, are meanwhile dismayed about the prospect of him moving there post-presidency and have initiated legal action to stop him from making it his permanent residence once he departs the White House.
PoliticsThe WeekThe plan to disinfect the White House before Biden moves in is a 'huge waste of time and effort,' experts say
"Nuking" the White House "with chemicals is not needed" to protect the incoming Biden administration from COVID-19, J. David Krause, an environmental and occupational health consultant, told Stat News, yet that appears to be the plan to disinfect the building before the transition. Multiple outlets have reported that a Virginia-based contractor has been tapped to spray a disinfectant throughout the East and West Wings before President-elect Joe Biden moves in next month, but Krause — the past chair of the American Industrial Hygiene Association — and many other experts have said that strategy is not only ineffective, but also could be dangerous, both for people and for works of art. Instead, a deep clean followed by another round of frequently-touched surfaces like elevator buttons and light switches should do the trick, Jason Marshall, the laboratory director of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, told Stat.
PoliticsCBS NewsTrump administration to withhold Medicaid funding from California
The Trump administration will withhold $200 million in Medicaid funding from California in the first quarter of 2021 over the state's mandate that health insurance providers include coverage for elective abortion, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced on Wednesday. An additional $200 million in funding will be withheld for each quarter in which the state continues with that policy, said Azar, failing to recognize that the Trump administration ends on January 20. HHS' Office for Civil Rights had previously issued a violation notice to California over its requirement that all insurance plans cover elective abortions, and threatened to cut funding.
NewsThe IndependentKamala Harris ‘deeply disappointed’ by Wall Street Journal piece undermining Dr Jill Biden: ‘It’s not the American way’
Kamala Harris has criticised a Wall Street Journal editorial that claimed Dr Jill Biden should stop using the title of “doctor”. The vice president-elect was asked about the op-ed in an interview with Good Morning America, which aired on Wednesday. The piece, which has been widely criticised as sexist and patronizing, refers to Dr Biden as “kiddo” and argues that the future first lady should not use the title because she's not a medical doctor.
ScienceBusiness InsiderJupiter and Saturn are about to appear closer in the sky than they have for 800 years, aligning as a 'double planet.' Here's how to see it.
Jupiter and Saturn will align in the night sky on Monday. The last time Saturn and Jupiter were both this close and visible was in 1226. Here are the best ways to see, photograph, or watch a live stream of the conjunction.
“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.”