Thirty-seven lawmakers asked President Joe Biden to commute the sentences of all remaining federal death row inmates. The effort was led by Reps. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Cori Bush of Missouri. Biden is opposed to the death penalty and campaigned on ending the practice.
Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators clashed with Israeli police in two major cities on Sunday, as authorities faced new difficulties in enforcing coronavirus restrictions in the country's religious communities. The clashes occurred in Jerusalem and Ashdod as police attempted to close religious schools that had opened in violation of lockdown orders. Throughout the pandemic, many major ultra-Orthodox sects have flouted safety regulations, continuing to open schools, pray in synagogues and hold mass weddings in funerals.
British families returning from foreign holidays will have to pay for an extra 10 days in an airport hotel under heavy guard, in plans backed by the Home Office. Senior Cabinet ministers are likely to approve a plan to force people returning from overseas to quarantine in a hotel to ensure that they cannot bring variants of Covid-19 back into the UK. The chief dispute at Cabinet level is whether the hotel quarantine rules apply to all visitors or just to those returning from coronavirus hotspots.
In the first days after a mob invaded the Capitol to try to halt President Biden's election, a welcome wave of bipartisan anger rippled through Washington. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader in the Senate, condemned the riot as an assault on democracy, accused former President Trump of provoking the mob, and even said he would consider voting to convict Trump in an impeachment trial. In Week One of the Biden presidency, McConnell opted for a more familiar pursuit: partisan combat.
The main opposition challenger in Belarus' disputed presidential election urged the United Nations on Friday to call for a halt to โviolence and lawlessnessโ in the country, including media censorship, internet shutdowns, website blockages and cancellation of accreditation for journalists. Former presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told an informal meeting of the U.N. Security Council that since September the situation in her nation โhas only worsenedโ and the media remain under assault from President Alexander Lukashenko's regime. Mass protests have gripped Belarus, a former Soviet nation of 9.5 million people, since official results from the Aug. 9 presidential election gave Lukashenko a landslide victory over Tsikhanouskaya.
Biden reportedly wasn't greeted by White House staff on Inauguration Day because Trump sent them home. Trump reportedly sent the butlers home so "there would be no-one to help the Bidens when they arrived." Chief usher Timothy Harleth left his role before the Bidens arrived at the White House.
The Biden administration has already set itself on a collision course with Saudi Arabia after its director of National Intelligence vowed to declassify a report on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. The push to release the intelligence community's assessment of the murder of the dissident journalist, which is believed to implicate Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has the potential to trigger a major fallout with the kingdom. Avril Haines, who was confirmed in her new role on Thursday, told Congress โwe will follow the lawโ regarding the report, referring to the Trump administration's refusal to release the full version for US House representatives.
The U.S. has reaffirmed its support for Taiwan following China's dispatch of warplanes near the island in an apparent attempt to intimidate its democratic government and test the resolve of the new American presidential administration. The U.S. State Department on Saturday said it was concerned by China's "pattern of ongoing attempts to intimidate its neighbors, including Taiwan.โ โWe urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan's democratically elected representatives," Ned Price, a spokesman for the department, said in the statement.
Scott Kevin Fairlamb, 43, of Stockholm, New Jersey, was arrested on five charges on January 22. Preston Fairlamb III led Michelle Obama's service detail while she was First Lady. The son of a police officer who punched a cop during the Capitol riots also has a brother in the Secret Service who Michelle Obama previously described as a "real friend," the Huffington Post found.
Saudi Arabia said Saturday it intercepted an apparent missile or drone attack over its capital, Riyadh, amid the kingdom's yearslong war against neighboring Yemen's Houthi rebels. Saudi state TV quoted authorities in the kingdom acknowledging the interception. Yahia Sarei, a military spokesman for the Houthis, said in a brief statement that the rebels had not carried out attacks on Saudi Arabia in the past 24 hours.
The claim: WikiLeaks uncovered a coded email that implicates Clinton, Obama in child sex-trafficking A recent Facebook post revisits a years-old pedophilia conspiracy theory surrounding some high profile Democrats and celebrities. The Jan. 16 post features an apparent scan of an email captured by WikiLeaks, a "giant library of the world's most persecuted documents," according to founder, Julian Assange, per the organization's website. The "email," dated Jan. 25, 2011, was allegedly sent by Hillary Clinton to former President Barack Obama.
The U.S. Census Bureau is suspending efforts to create neighborhood-level statistics on the citizenship and age of residents, using 2020 census data, in the latest rollback of Trump administration census-related initiatives that critics feared would be used to favor Republicans and whites during the drawing of state and local districts. As part of an order President Joe Biden signed Wednesday on the 2020 census, the Census Bureau said Friday that it would discontinue efforts to create citizenship tabulations at the city-block level using 2020 census data combined with administrative records.
The materials and colors took center stage,โ said David Lucas when it came to the design of the home. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
Over a thousand protesters gathered in Jerusalem on Saturday for weekly demonstrations demanding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu step down over corruption charges, as smaller protests were staged at intersections and bridges across the country. The protests have taken place each week since last summer, primarily at a Jerusalem square near Netanyahu's official residence, and continued despite lower turnout in the cold winter nights. In March, Israel will hold its fourth national election in less than two years, and Netanyahu is facing further challenges from defectors within his Likud party.
A Texas man is facing multipleย criminal charges after allegedly participating in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitolย and postingย death threats against Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, and aย U.S. Capitol police officer. The Department of Justice revealed that Garret Miller faces five criminal charges, including trespassing and making death threats. Usingย the initials widely used to refer to the New York Democrat, Miller tweeted "assassinate AOC" hours after he posted pictures of himself storming the Capitol.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney tells 'The Story' both countries will be hurt by Biden action
Joe Biden will have two weeks to get nominees to his cabinet confirmed and push through a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package after Republicans and Democrats agreed to delay opening arguments in Donald Trump's impeachment trial for two weeks. The deal also gives Mr Trump time to assemble his legal team and prepare a defence to the charge of incitement of insurrection over the US Capitol riots on Jan 6. Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat Speaker of the House of Representatives, still intends to transmit the article of impeachment to the Senate on Monday evening.
Newly confirmed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will have to contend not only with a world of security threats and a massive military bureaucracy, but also with a challenge that hits closer to home: rooting out racism and extremism in the ranks. Austin took office Friday as the first Black defense chief, in the wake of the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, where retired and current military members were among the rioters touting far-right conspiracies. Austin, who was confirmed in a 93-2 vote, has made clear that accelerating delivery of coronavirus vaccines will get his early attention.
The claim: Dominion Voting Systems is tied up in the Nashville bombing, based on the affected AT&T building's ownership and that the cellular company was contracted to audit Dominion's machines. There may not be answers to the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville anytime soon. A widely sharedย post on Facebook alleges that four days before the bombing, a rumor circulated that AT&T was awarded a contract to audit Dominion's voting machines, which were supposedly being sent to Nashville.
Senator Chris Coons has said that Donald Trump and โhis team caused more harm than expectedโ during the transition period after Joe Biden's transition team was not permitted access. The revelation came during an interview on MSNBC during which the Democratic senator was asked for his opinion on the flurry of executive actions passed by the president since Wednesday. Senator Coons, who holds Mr Biden's old seat and has known the president for 30 years, said the president had been thoroughly preparing since he won the election in November.
The terms of Kyle Rittenhouse's bond were modified after he was seen at a bar with his mother and members of the far-right Proud Boys, according to FOX 6. Kenosha County prosecutors previously requested to adjust his bond conditions after being spotted using white power associated hand symbols and drinking beers following his release. Rittenhouse,18, is the gunman associated with the deaths of two people and injuring another during a Jacob Blake protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin last summer.
Sir Kenneth Branagh will playย Prime Ministerย Boris Johnson in an upcoming Sky drama based on the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, it has been announced. The BAFTA and Emmy award-winning actor,ย who has starred inย Valkyrie, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets andย Dunkirk will portray Mr Johnson inย Thisย Sceptredย Isle, aย five-part drama will chart the events surrounding the Prime Minister, theย government, and the country in the face of the first wave of the global pandemic. Thisย Sceptredย Isleย will tell the tale of some of the most devastating events to ever befall the United Kingdom, and of a Prime Minister leading in these unprecedented times, Sky said.
Arizona Republicans voted Saturday to censure Cindy McCain and two prominent GOP members who have found themselves crosswise with former President Donald Trump. The censures of Sen. John McCain's widow, former Sen. Jeff Flake and Gov. Doug Ducey are merely symbolic. But they show the party's foot soldiers are focused on enforcing loyalty to Trump, even in the wake of an election that saw Arizona inch away from its staunchly Republican roots.
Elon Musk, who recently relocated to Texas, now reportedly has plans to to drill for natural gas there, too. SpaceX, Musk's space company, is looking to drill wells close to the company's Boca Chica, Texas, launchpad, according to Bloomberg. The site in Boca Chica previously hosted prototype launches for the company.
US President Joe Biden has apologised after some members of the National Guard stationed at the Capitol were pictured sleeping in a car park. Mr Biden called the chief of the National Guard Bureau on Friday to apologise and ask what could be done, according to US media reports. First Lady Jill Biden also visited some of the troops to thank them personally, bringing biscuits from the White House as a gift.
โBy encouraging this act of terror on our capital, Trumpโs legacy is destroyed.โ
โBoth backers and critics of Trump agreed that he remade the federal judiciary โ a change that will impact America for decades.โ
โHe was largely responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans who did not need to die.โ
โI do know what the future should hold for this country. That is to say, a policy of Trumpism without Trump.โ
โIt will be decades before the consequences of his tenure are fully known.โ