PoliticsYahoo NewsTrump backers, including Flynn, edge toward a call to 'suspend' Constitution to head off Biden taking office
Even as prominent Republicans, including Mitch McConnell, began to grudgingly acknowledge that Joe Biden will be the next president, a noisy grassroots movement devoted to keeping Donald Trump in office seemed to be edging closer to advocating seizing power in what would amount to a coup d'état. The day after a group run by a local Ohio tea party leader took out a full-page ad in the Washington Times calling on Trump to declare martial law and have the military oversee a redo of the presidential election using only paper ballots — a call echoed in a tweet by Gen. Michael Flynn — a raucous “Stop the Steal” rally in suburban Atlanta urged Trump supporters to descend on the statehouse on Thursd...
U.S.Associated PressWind fans wildfire in California canyons, residents flee
Powerful gusts pushed flames from a wildfire through Southern California canyons on Thursday, one of several blazes that burned near homes and forced residents to flee amid elevated fire risk for most of the region that prompted utilities to cut off power to hundreds of thousands. The biggest blaze began Wednesday as a house fire in Orange County's Silverado Canyon, where gusts topped 70 mph (113 kph). When crews arrived it was a fully engulfed house and the winds were extremely strong and they pushed flames into the vegetation,” said Colleen Windsor, a spokeswoman for the county's Fire Authority.
WorldBBCIndia farmers: The viral image that defines a protest
A photograph of a paramilitary policeman swinging his baton at an elderly Sikh man has become the defining image of the ongoing farmers' protest in India. The photograph, taken by Ravi Choudhary, a photojournalist with Press Trust of India (PTI), has gone viral on social media. It has also resulted in political wrangling - with opposition politicians using the image to criticise the way the protesters are being treated and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claiming - falsely - that the farmer was not hit.
WorldReutersFauci apologizes for casting doubt over UK's approval of Pfizer vaccine
Top U.S. infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci apologized on Thursday for casting doubt on the rigor of the British regulators who approved the Pfizer Inc vaccine against COVID-19, saying he had faith in the quality of their work. Britain announced the approval of the vaccine on Wednesday, with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) saying it had rigorously assessed the vaccine data and had cut no corners. It gave the UK the jump in the race to begin mass inoculation against a virus that has killed nearly 1.5 million people globally and hammered the world economy.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastProject Veritas’ New CNN Bombshell: Jeff Zucker Thinks Rudy Giuliani Is ‘Crazy’
Earlier this week, Project Veritas released the first of what it promised would be many shocking revelations from CNN's internal editorial meetings, which founder James O'Keefe appears to have infiltrated and recorded over the course of several weeks. First, the right-wing group tried to make hay out of the fact that one high-level CNN staffer considered Fox News host Tucker Carlson to be racist—while simultaneously misidentifying the staffer in question. CNN President Jeff Zucker thinks Rudy Giuliani is “crazy.”
PoliticsThe Week6 Republican heavyweights told Politico they're pumped for Trump 2024. 6 were less effusive.
Several Republican lawmakers are showing enthusiasm for a potential 2024 run from President Trump, Politico reports. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) went so far as to say he would support Trump's candidacy if he chooses to run, while Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said he "should run and would have the support" of the Republican Party. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), both of whom have had their names floated as potential presidential candidates, also indicated to Politico that they'd back Trump's effort to return to the White House, as did Sens.
LifestyleArchitectural Digest10 Remote Airbnbs As Stunning As They Are Secluded
From a private island to a tiny Vermont tree house Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldAssociated PressBangladesh begins relocating Rohingya refugees to island
Authorities in Bangladesh have begun relocating thousands of Rohingya refugees to an isolated island despite calls by human rights groups for a halt to the process, officials said Thursday. The United Nations has also voiced concern that refugees be allowed to make a “free and informed decision” about whether to relocate to the island in the Bay of Bengal. The island's facilities are built to accommodate 100,000 people, just a fraction of the million Rohingya Muslims who have fled waves of violent persecution in their native Myanmar and are currently living in crowded, squalid refugee camps.
PoliticsAssociated PressArizona's Kelly is sworn into Senate, narrowing GOP edge
Arizona Democrat and former astronaut Mark Kelly was sworn into the Senate on Wednesday, narrowing Republican control of the chamber and underscoring his state's shift from red to blue. Kelly, 56, defeated GOP Sen. Martha McSally in last month's election, making her one of only three incumbents to lose. If Democrats win both, they will command the 50-50 chamber for the new Congress that begins in early January because Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would cast tie-breaking votes.
PoliticsReutersBiden says he'll publicly get a COVID-19 vaccine, keep Fauci
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden said on Thursday he would publicly take a coronavirus vaccine to demonstrate its safety to the public and pledged to retain the nation's top adviser on the pandemic, Anthony Fauci, when he takes office next month. "People have lost faith in the ability of the vaccine to work," Biden told CNN in an interview that aired on Thursday. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force, met with Biden's advisers on the pandemic earlier in the day.
WorldAssociated PressIsrael urges citizens to avoid Gulf, cites Iran threat
The Israeli government on Thursday urged its citizens to avoid travel to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, citing threats of Iranian attacks. Iran has been threatening to attack Israeli targets since its chief nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was assassinated last Friday near Tehran. It accuses Israel, which has been suspected in previous killings of Iranian nuclear scientists, of being behind the shooting.
PoliticsReutersU.S. judge declines to sanction Trump campaign over alleged 'disinformation' tactic
In a four-page order issued on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Janet Neff said she would not strike the disputed document from the court record. Lawyers for the city of Detroit had asked Neff to strike the document as a way of sanctioning Trump's campaign. "While we are disappointed that sanctions were not awarded, this is only one of many cases filed in Michigan, and we do expect these lawyers to be sanctioned by some courts for their repeated frivolous lawsuits," David Fink, a lawyer for the city of Detroit, said in a statement.
PoliticsAssociated PressBiden facing growing pressure over secretary of defense pick
President-elect Joe Biden is facing escalating pressure from competing factions within his own party as he finalizes his choice for secretary of defense. Black leaders have encouraged the incoming president to select an African American to diversify what has so far been a largely white prospective Cabinet, while others are pushing him to appoint a woman to lead the Department of Defense for the first time. At the same time, a growing collection of progressive groups is opposing the leading female contender, Michèle Flournoy, citing concerns about her record and private-sector associations.
LifestyleThe Daily BeastTrump ‘Fraud’ Witness Also Believes Ghosts Are Haunting His Family
Truck driver Jesse Morgan thrust himself into the middle of the post-2020 election drama on Tuesday when he claimed at a press conference that he had unwittingly driven a truck full of suspicious mail-in ballots from New York to Pennsylvania ahead of Election Day. The appearance at a voter fraud event hosted by the right-wing Thomas More Center turned Morgan into the latest viral star on the Trumpist right.
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Hong Kong's Jimmy Lai denied bail in fraud case
Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai was denied bail on Thursday. Lai, and two of his senior executives, are facing a charge of fraud relating to the lease of a building that houses Lai's Apple Daily, an anti-government tabloid. Authorities have intensified a crackdown on key opposition figures in the Chinese-ruled city, following Beijing's imposition of a national security law on June 30.
PoliticsReutersIvanka Trump questioned under oath in lawsuit over use of inauguration funds
Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter and adviser, was questioned under oath this week as part of a civil lawsuit alleging misuse of nonprofit funds for Donald Trump's inauguration four years ago. District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine's office disclosed in a court filing on Tuesday that the deposition had taken place that day. In a January 2020 lawsuit, Racine claimed Donald Trump's real estate business and other entities misused nonprofit funds to enrich the Trump family.
ScienceAssociated PressChina: Moon probe preparing to return rock samples to Earth
China said Thursday its latest lunar probe has finished taking samples of the moon's surface and sealed them within the spacecraft for return to Earth, the first time such a mission has been attempted by any country in more than 40 years. The Chang'e 5, the third Chinese probe to land on the moon, is the latest in a series of increasingly ambitious missions for Beijing's space program, which also has a probe en route to Mars carrying a robot rover. The Chang'e 5 touched down Tuesday on the Sea of Storms on the moon's near side, on a mission to return lunar rocks to Earth for the first time since 1976.
HealthBBCCoronavirus: Is India's test and tracing strategy working?
What the testing data reveals is that in both Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (and some other states) less than 50% of total tests use the PCR method - so cases are being missed. In Maharashtra, nearly 60% of tests have been PCR tests (although they are increasingly using rapid testing in the state capital, Mumbai. And Tamil Nadu state has relied totally on PCR testing, which means it is likely to have a far more accurate idea of the spread of the virus.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastRudy Attempts to Shush Unhinged ‘Witness’ During Election Fraud Hearing
In yet another unhinged election fraud hearing on Wednesday night, Trump campaign attorney Rudy Giuliani—who recently had hair dye leaking down his face during a press conference in which he quoted My Cousin Vinny—appeared to be so embarrassed by one of his witnesses that he tried to shush her. With Team Trump's lawsuits and legal challenges repeatedly getting laughed out of court, the legal team's latest gambit to keep President Donald Trump in the White House is to try to convince legislatures in states President-elect Joe Biden won to dismiss their states' certifications and flip their electoral votes to Trump. After holding unofficial “hearings” in Arizona and Pennsylvania hotels, Giuliani and fellow Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis appeared in front of a Michigan House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday.
U.S.Associated PressPolice guide that calls BLM a terrorist group draws outrage
A prominent law enforcement training group is promoting a lengthy research document riddled with falsehoods and conspiracies that urges local police to treat Black Lives Matter activists as terrorists plotting a violent revolution. The document distributed by the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association contains misinformation and inflammatory rhetoric that could incite officers against protesters and people of color, critics said. It alleges Black Lives Matter and antifa, an umbrella term for leftist militants, are “revolutionary movements whose aims are to overthrow the U.S. government" and claims they are planning “extreme violence.”
HealthUSA TODAYWill there be side effects from a COVID-19 vaccine? When can you get it? We answer your vaccine questions
Vaccines are on the horizon in the U.S., and distribution could potentially begin by mid-December. Two companies – Pfizer and Moderna – have already applied for emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for their two-shot vaccine candidates, and more companies are expected to apply in the coming months. On Wednesday, the United Kingdom became the first Western country to approve the widespread use of Pfizer's vaccine, making it one of the first countries to begin vaccinating.
PoliticsThe IndependentI saw Donald Trump’s presidency come crashing down at Four Seasons Total Landscaping
Journalists from around the world who had gathered in Philadelphia, most of whom had spent the last four days transfixed by moving maps on CNN, were eager for stimulation, and perhaps as a side note to see evidence of massive election fraud the president and his lawyers had alleged. I sprang into action immediately, gathered my things, and was heading out of the door towards the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Philadelphia when the next tweet came. Big press conference today in Philadelphia at Four Seasons Total Landscaping — 11:30am!
CelebrityINSIDERZayn Malik and Gigi Hadid are now parents of a baby girl. Here's everything you need to know about their relationship.
"Breakup statements often seem impersonal because there is really no way to put into words what two people experience together over a few years .. not only in the relationship, but in life in general. I'm forever grateful for the love, time, and life lessons that Z and I shared.
BusinessUSA TODAYCarnival, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean cancel cruises into 2021 amid COVID-19 pandemic
While the cruise industry is on an operational pause through the end of the year, cruise companies have begun to voluntarily extend their sailing suspensions past that date due to the impact of COVID-19. Carnival Cruise Line, Carnival Corp.'s flagship line, announced Wednesday that it would cancel more sailings in 2021. Vance Gulliksen, spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Line, told USA TODAY that all sailings scheduled to depart from U.S. ports until March have been canceled.
CelebrityThe Independent‘Call me Momala’: Who’s who in Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ family?
Kamala Harris, accepting the nomination by Joe Biden to be his running mate, in August told the world a little about her family. The family that Harris, 55, and her husband Doug Emhoff, also 55, have made is being touted as a model modern American unit. Emhoff is Jewish; Harris has described his ex-wife as “a dear friend”.
“This metastasizing debt crisis has had tremendous social costs. An entire generation has been set back.”
“It is not the government’s job to step in and rescue those who took on more debt than their future incomes would support.”
“Many student-borrowers need relief, but well-off borrowers who are thriving — thanks to their college degrees — do not.”
“It will stimulate the lagging economy. And though not everyone will directly benefit, the country as a whole will improve.”
“Canceling student debt would cost billions of dollars each year and would exacerbate, not lessen, economic inequalities.”