PoliticsYahoo News 360What is President Trump’s legacy?
Perspectives Historians will view Trump as a unique threat to American democracy “The sight of a violent mob inspired by President Trump smashing its way into the Capitol was more than just a shocking spectacle. It also highlighted one of the most dangerous parts of Mr. Trump's legacy: the disbelief in democracy that has metastasized among many of his supporters. Trip Gabriel, New York Times Whatever positive things he might have been remembered for were erased by the Capitol mob “A politician has to work hard to destroy a legacy and a future in a single day.
PoliticsThe Independent‘It’s unfortunate’: Ashley Biden confirms first lady snubbed her mother on traditional White House handover
In her first ever TV interview, incoming first daughter Ashley Biden said it was “unfortunate” that first lady Melania Trump had not honoured “traditional protocol” and invited her mother to the White House. The daughter of President-elect Joe Biden and Dr Jill Biden confirmed that no invitation had been sent from the White House inviting the new first lady for tea and a tour of the executive mansion, with introductions to the residence staff. Ms Biden said that her mother had not heard at all from Ms Trump in what is one of the strangest handovers of power in US history.
WorldReutersJailed Kremlin critic Navalny makes allegations of Putin wealth ahead of protests
Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critic who was jailed at the weekend, on Tuesday released a video in which he and his allies alleged that an opulent palace belonged to the Russian leader, a claim the Kremlin denied. The allegations, which first surfaced in 2010 when a businessman wrote about them to then-President Dmitry Medvedev complaining of official graft, come as Navalny's supporters urge people to join nationwide protests on Saturday. Reuters reported in 2014 that the estate in southern Russia had been partly funded by taxpayer money from a $1 billion hospital project.
WorldThe TelegraphBrussels gives tentative backing to EU coronavirus 'passports' to boost travel
It is unlikely that Britain would accept the certificates from EU citizens hoping to travel to the UK. Brussels said that using the vaccination certificates to allow greater travel and tourism in the EU was “premature” at this stage but left the door open for the plans to be picked up in the future. We feel that now this is the time for these vaccine certificates to be recognised across the European Union, and even beyond the European Union.
WorldAssociated PressPakistan PM angry over reports TV anchor knew about strike
Pakistan's prime minister reacted angrily Monday to media reports of a text exchange between an Indian TV anchor and a former media industry executive that suggests a 2019 Indian airstrike inside Pakistan was designed to boost Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's chances for reelection. Imran Khan took to Twitter to respond to Indian media reports of an exchange on the WhatsApp messaging service between popular Indian TV anchor Arnab Goswami and Partho Dasgupta, the former head of a TV rating company.
WorldReutersIndependent pandemic review panel critical of China, WHO delays
An independent panel said on Monday that Chinese officials could have applied public health measures more forcefully in January to curb the initial COVID-19 outbreak, and criticised the World Health Organization (WHO) for not declaring an international emergency until Jan. 30. The experts reviewing the global handling of the pandemic, led by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, called for reforms to the Geneva-based United Nations agency.Their interim report was published hours after the WHO's top emergency expert, Mike Ryan, said that global deaths from COVID-19 were expected to top 100,000 per week "very soon". "What is clear to the Panel is that public health measures could have been applied more forcefully by local and national health authorities in China in January," the report said, referring to the initial outbreak of the new disease in the central city of Wuhan, in Hubei province.
PoliticsAssociated PressUS virus death toll tops 400,000 in Trump's final hours
The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus eclipsed 400,000 on Tuesday in the waning hours in office for President Donald Trump, whose handling of the crisis has been judged by public health experts a singular failure. The running total of lives lost, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is nearly equal to the number of Americans killed in World II. It is about the population of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Tampa, Florida; or New Orleans. While the Trump administration has been credited with Operation Warp Speed, the crash program to develop and distribute coronavirus vaccines, Trump has repeatedly downplayed the threat, mocked masks, railed against lockdowns, promoted unproven and unsafe treatments, undercut scientific experts and expressed scant compassion for the victims.
PoliticsThe IndependentJen Psaki: Who is Joe Biden’s pick for White House press secretary?
In November, Joe Biden named veteran Democratic spokesperson Jen Psaki as his White House press secretary, rounding out an all-woman senior communications team for his administration. Ms Psaki will be one of seven women to fill the upper ranks of Mr Biden's communications team, and currently oversees the confirmations team for the Biden-Harris Transition. The 42-year-old graduate of the College of William and Mary previously held a number of senior roles in the Obama administration when Mr Biden was Vice-President.
- PoliticsReuters Videos
Police use water cannon on anti-lockdown protest
The protesters had gathered on a square in front of the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum art galleries, carrying signs reading "Freedom: stop this siege" and chanting "What do we want? Freedom!" None wore masks, which are not mandatory, and few respected social distancing rules.
WorldAssociated PressThai court gives record 43-year sentence for insulting king
A court in Thailand on Tuesday sentenced a former civil servant to a record prison term of 43 years and six months for breaching the country's strict law on insulting or defaming the monarchy, lawyers said. The Bangkok Criminal Court found the woman guilty on 29 counts of violating the country's lese majeste law for posting audio clips to Facebook and YouTube with comments deemed critical of the monarchy, the group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said. The sentence, which comes amid an ongoing protest movement that has seen unprecedented public criticism of the monarchy, was swiftly condemned by rights groups.
EntertainmentArchitectural DigestThe Coolest New Automotive Technology at CES 2021
Mercedes-Benz's Hyperscreen, General Motors' Bright Drop, and Jeep's Electric Wrangler were among the unveils that turned heads Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
HealthReutersItaly reports 603 coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, 10,497 new cases
Italy reported 603 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday, against 377 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 10,497 from 8,824. Italy has registered 83,157 COVID-19 deaths since its outbreak came to light last February, the second-highest toll in Europe and the sixth-highest in the world. There were 176 new admissions to intensive care units, against 142 the day before.
PoliticsBBCBiden Inauguration: What will Joe Biden do first?
Executive orders - Mr Biden plans a blitz in the first two weeks after taking office. Here are a few to expect: A US return to the Paris climate agreement - the global pact on cutting carbon emissions Repealing the controversial travel ban on mostly Muslim-majority countries Mandating the wearing of masks on federal property and when travelling interstate An extension to nationwide restrictions on evictions and foreclosures due to the pandemic Continuing to pause student loan payments implemented during the pandemic Economic measures Relief for renters and homeowners Mr Biden's team has said he has immediate plans to extend a moratorium on evictions and on foreclosures on home mortgages - bo...
WorldAssociated PressUK: 'Genocide' clause to China trade deals narrowly defeated
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson narrowly avoided a defeat in Parliament on Tuesday after lawmakers voted against a controversial proposal seeking to bar trade deals with any country deemed by the U.K. High Court to be committing genocide. The amendment to the government's post-Brexit trade bill was largely designed to force international action in addressing China's alleged human rights abuses against the Uighur minority in the far western Xinjiang region. Campaigners had said that if the proposal passed, Britain would become the first country in the world to allow genocide cases to be considered in domestic courts.
WorldAssociated PressAP Photos: Snow fills Kashmir resort with tourists again
Snow lies knee-deep in the pastoral town of Gulmarg, or “meadow of flowers,” on Indian-controlled Kashmir's high plateau. With its blanket of white, the idyllic hill station is seeing tourists again fill its hotels and ski, sledge and trek its Himalayan landscape. The heavy influx of tourists is a dramatic change for the tourism industry in disputed Kashmir, which faced the double whammy of the coronavirus pandemic and harsh curbs on civil rights India imposed in the region in August 2019.
PoliticsReutersU.S. Senate Republican leader McConnell says Trump 'provoked' Jan. 6 riot
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday accused President Donald Trump, a fellow Republican, of provoking the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. The U.S. House of Representatives last Wednesday impeached Trump for a second time. The Senate has yet to schedule a trial to determine Trump's guilt or innocence.
WorldBBCCoronavirus: Why South Africa has yet to roll out vaccines
South Africa has been seeking to source vaccines in three ways: via the World Health Organization-backed Covax scheme via arrangements made by the African Union through bilateral contracts with vaccine manufacturers Covax is a global initiative in which countries pool their resources to support the development of vaccines with a view to ensure that all countries receive a fair supply of effective vaccines. South Africa expects to acquire doses for around 10% of the population through Covax and has been told it will receive them from April through to June. The African Union established the African vaccine acquisition task team last year to source vaccine doses for the continent.
U.S.Associated PressOklahoma judge orders 'Tiger King' zoo to turn over big cats
A federal judge in Oklahoma has ordered the new owners of an Oklahoma zoo featured in Netflix's “Tiger King” documentary to turn over all the lion and tiger cubs in their possession, along with the animals' mothers, to the federal government. U.S. District Judge John F. Heil III issued the order last week in the case against Jeffrey and Lauren Lowe and the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park based on claimed violations of the Endangered Species Act and the Animal Welfare Act. “The Lowes have showed a shocking disregard for both the health and welfare of their animals, as well as the law,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jonathan D. Brightbill of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.
PoliticsReutersTrump fraud claims open Republican rift in Texas and other red states
Many Republican candidates in solidly conservative states like Texas face intense pressure to perpetuate Trump's false election-fraud narrative as voters make loyalty to Trump a litmus test for their support in future elections. That loyalty was on display last week in the Texas state legislature as several Republicans introduced bills to restrict voting access, including limits on mail-in voting and early voting, citing a need to prevent fraud. In Georgia, turmoil wracked the party during two ultimately failed campaigns by Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate as Trump attacked Republican Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger over their refusal to help him overtu...
WorldAssociated PressIran kicks off ground forces drill on coast of Gulf of Oman
Iran's military kicked off a ground forces drill on Tuesday along the coast of the Gulf of Oman, state TV reported, the latest in a series of snap exercises that the country is holding amid escalating tensions over its nuclear program and Washington's pressure campaign against Tehran. According to the report, commando units and airborne infantry were participating in the annual exercise, along with fighter jets, helicopters and military transport aircraft. Iran's National Army chief Abdolrahim Mousavi was overseeing the drill.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastIncoming Dem Chairman to Trump Admin: Why Did You Slow Walk Ukrainian Disinfo Sanctions?
A top Senate Democrat wants answers from the Trump administration about what he calls a suspiciously-timed sanctioning of the man behind the bogus narrative that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 election, and a promoter of the debunked claims that President-elect Joe Biden acted corruptly to help his son's business in the country. On Jan. 11, the Treasury Department announced sanctions on Andrii Telizhenko for his involvement in a “Russia-linked foreign influence network” steered by Andriy Derkach, a Ukrainian politician who was deemed a Russian intelligence asset when Treasury sanctioned him in September 2020.
U.S.Business InsiderWhat we know about the laptop that was stolen from Nancy Pelosi's aide during the Capitol siege
Since the deadly siege on the US Capitol, lawmakers have reported various items stolen from their offices. A laptop that belonged to an aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was one of the items reported stolen. On Monday, the FBI arrested a 22-year-old woman accused of stealing the laptop and planning to sell it to Russia.
PoliticsReutersThe Trump years: Tax cuts and trade wars overshadowed in the end by a virus
From trade wars to tax cuts, from ultra-low unemployment to record highs on stock markets and a high-volume feud with his own Federal Reserve chief, President Donald Trump took the U.S. economy on a wild ride even before the coronavirus drove it off a cliff. A year ago, the U.S. economy seemed to have settled into a sweet spot of steady growth, low unemployment, low inflation and, finally, rising wages. Trump may have hated the Fed, but in the end the Republican president and the U.S. central bank reached a truce that kept a decade of growth chugging along, and pushed the unemployment rate to a 50-year low.
CelebrityINSIDERDoug Emhoff's kids describe his relationship with Kamala Harris as 'almost vomit-inducingly cute and coupley'
Cole and Ella Emhoff spoke to the New York Times about their stepmom, Kamala Harris. Ella said it's like their father, Doug Emhoff, and Harris are in "the honeymoon phase forever." Emhoff, who married Harris in 2014, will be the country's first-ever second gentleman.
WorldBBCKeystone pipeline: Biden 'to cancel it on his first day'
US President-elect Joe Biden is to cancel the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline on his first day in office, North American media report. The pipeline is projected to carry oil nearly 1,200 miles (1,900km) from the Canadian province of Alberta down to Nebraska, to join an existing pipeline. Environmentalists and Native American groups have fought the project for more than a decade.
“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.”