| Biden lawyers say Trump won’t win the election in Supreme Court Posted: 10 Nov 2020 04:05 PM PST  Lawyers for President-elect Joe Biden derided the slew of lawsuits filed by President Trump's campaign since Election Day, calling them "meritless," and asserted Tuesday that Biden will take office in January.
|
| Analysis: Putin draws Erdogan a red line on Russia's southern flank with Karabakh deal Posted: 10 Nov 2020 09:24 AM PST  Russian President Vladimir Putin has brokered a Nagorno-Karabakh peace deal that locks in territorial gains for Turkey-backed Azerbaijan. In doing so, he has thwarted a stronger Turkish presence in a region Moscow views as its backyard. Six weeks of heavy fighting between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces over the enclave have tested Moscow's influence in the South Caucasus, a swath of the former Soviet Union it views as vital to defending its own southern flank.
|
| MSNBC cuts off correspondent as he replies ‘s***’ and ‘f***’ to anchor question about transition Posted: 10 Nov 2020 01:01 PM PST  Ken Dilanian quickly apologises for swearing live on air
|
| FBI arrests Cincinnati councilman after undercover agents reveal 'brazen' bribery scheme, feds say Posted: 10 Nov 2020 01:47 PM PST  Undercover FBI agents and at least two whistleblowers helped to unravel the pay-to-play scheme, prosecutors say.
|
| Belarus nuclear plant stops power output soon after opening Posted: 10 Nov 2020 06:56 AM PST  Belarus' first nuclear power plant stopped generating electricity the day after it was formally opened by President Alexander Lukashenko and some of its equipment needs to be replaced, a Belarusian official told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Lukashenko inaugurated the Russian-built and -financed Astravyets plant on Saturday. The plant stopped producing power Sunday because some electrical equipment broke down, according to Oleg Sobolev, a consultant at the Belarusian Emergency Ministry's department of nuclear and radiation safety.
|
| Dominic Raab urged to boycott G20 over Saudi Arabia's bid to evict Bedouin tribe from homeland Posted: 10 Nov 2020 05:26 AM PST  Dominic Raab is facing calls to boycott the G20 summit in Saudi Arabia over the Kingdom's attempts to drive a Bedouin tribe from their homeland to make way for a futuristic "megacity". In a letter to the foreign secretary, British lawyers representing the tribe said Mr Raab had a "moral imperative" to stand up for the Howeitat tribe, which has inhabited northwestern Saudi Arabia for hundreds of years but is now being ordered to leave the area. "The Howeitat Tribe are the victims of ongoing serious human rights violations by the Saudi Arabian government," wrote Rodney Dixon QC, in a letter seen by the Telegraph. "[They] are now in the process of being forcibly removed from their homeland by the Saudi Arabian authorities." The tribe is being cleared from the area so that construction can begin on Neom, a $500bn (£377bn) city of skyscrapers, self-driving cars and robot dinosaurs next to the Red Sea. The project is the brainchild of Mohammad bin Salman, the Crown Prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, and the centrepiece of his Vision 2030 business reforms.
|
| South Africa's Ramaphosa warns of racial division after school clash Posted: 10 Nov 2020 05:31 AM PST  President Ramaphosa warns against racial polarisation after parents and activists clash.
|
| Trump's election challenge is continuing, but the campaign is already shedding staff Posted: 09 Nov 2020 03:44 PM PST  Trump and senior members of the campaign team have insisted this election is not over, potentially making the loss of staff more consequential.
|
| Why appointing Amy Klobuchar to a Biden Cabinet position could backfire on Democrats Posted: 10 Nov 2020 10:00 AM PST  Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is reportedly under consideration for a number of Cabinet positions by President-elect Joe Biden, including attorney general and agriculture secretary, but there's a sense that could backfire on Democrats down the line.As analysts point out Klobuchar represents a state that generally leans blue, but is still competitive, and may grow more so over the next few years. For a party trying to flip the Senate majority, losing Klobuchar — whom NBC News' Benjy Sarlin notes is "uniquely popular" and "wins big" in battleground areas within the state — could add another hurdle.> If D's are still too nervous to appoint Warren for fear of another special election, then it would be insane to appoint a senator who's uniquely popular in a far more competitive state https://t.co/b8ybZO6UZ9> > — Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) November 10, 2020> what democrat would watch the last few senate cycles and willingly open up a MN senate seat https://t.co/zb9SD8CpJs> > — David Byler (@databyler) November 10, 2020On the flip side, Commentary's Noah Rothman argues Republicans should signal they'd be happy to confirm the more moderate Klobuchar to any Cabinet position, opening an eventual path for an even wider Senate majority.> The Republican conference should make it explicit that they will happily confirm all Cabinet nominees plucked out of the Senate from competitive states. https://t.co/POpTg0lNcS> > — Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) November 10, 2020Of course, this is all speculative, and Klobuchar may remain in the upper chamber once Biden settles into the White House. But even if she did enter the administration, Minnesota's Democratic Gov. Tim Walz would appoint someone from the party to take her place, where they would serve until 2024 when Klobuchar's term ends.More stories from theweek.com Trump wants to be forced out Trump's aggressive assault on election integrity is reportedly making some of his outside lawyers queasy 3 Latino politicians considered top contenders to fill Kamala Harris' Senate seat
|
| Gretchen Whitmer turns down prospect of Biden cabinet role Posted: 08 Nov 2020 10:55 PM PST  Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has requested the president-elect Joe Biden leave her name out of consideration when he assembles his first cabinet. Ms Whitmer was understood to be on the shortlist of candidates for Mr Biden's running mate before he picked Kamala Harris, and is among the favourites to be given a cabinet role instead.
|
| Friend who bought rifle Kyle Rittenhouse used in Kenosha shooting charged Posted: 10 Nov 2020 03:58 AM PST  A 19-year-old Kenosha man has been charged with giving Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, the rifle he used to kill two people during August unrest in Kenosha
|
| Florida’s west coast under tropical storm watch as Eta’s projected track shifts east Posted: 10 Nov 2020 04:04 AM PST  Tropical Storm Eta started moving north Tuesday afternoon, triggering a tropical storm warning for the Dry Tortugas and a tropical storm watch for much of Florida's west coast.
|
| These Are the Most Beautifully Designed Outdoor Dining Experiences in America Posted: 10 Nov 2020 01:48 PM PST |
| Kosovo ex-president Thaci pleads not guilty to war crimes Posted: 09 Nov 2020 02:02 AM PST  Kosovo's former president Hashim Thaci pleaded not guilty on Monday to 10 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the alleged torture and killing of opponents. Prosecutors have said Thaci was responsible for nearly 100 murders when he led the guerrilla uprising against Serbian forces in 1998-99 as commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army. "Your honour, the indictment is completely without basis and I plead not guilty," he told the Netherlands-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers.
|
| Trump’s evangelical adviser, Bishop Harry Jackson Jr., has died at 66 Posted: 10 Nov 2020 06:03 AM PST  Jackson, the senior pastor at Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland, was a conservative prison reform advocate. Bishop Harry Jackson Jr., an evangelical advisor to President Donald Trump and senior pastor at Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland, died Monday at 66. The church released a statement after his death, saying, "It is with a heavy heart that we notify you that our beloved Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr. has transitioned to be with the Lord on November 9, 2020."
|
| Georgia's Republican secretary of state rejects call for resignation by two GOP senators Posted: 09 Nov 2020 03:05 PM PST  Brad Raffensperger replies to criticism from Sens. Loeffler and Perdue by suggesting they focus on their runoff races instead of his job.
|
| MSNBC's election guru Steve Kornacki has moved on to analyzing Thanksgiving Posted: 10 Nov 2020 07:47 AM PST  MSNBC's election week chartthrob Steve Kornacki has undoubtedly been going through big board withdrawal ever since Joe Biden was declared the president-elect on Saturday. The nice people at Today, though, decided to throw him a bone -- or perhaps more aptly, a turkey drumstick -- and asked him to analyze a map of national Thanksgiving trends on the show Tuesday.You could practically see the lights turn back on in Kornacki's eyes. "This is going to be such a fun break for me, I'm so used to doing this electoral map," he said, flipping over to a map that broke down the most popular Thanksgiving side dishes by state.Kornacki proceeded to walk through the Today show hosts' home states, noting that many belonged to "stuffing country" in the northeast. Craig Melvin cut in, though, with the million dollar question: "Steve, can you get us to 270 using the Thanksgiving map?""This is an election that would be going to the House of Representatives," Kornacki quipped, before thoughtfully adding that "mashed potatoes get California. That's a lot of electoral votes…" > With just 16 days until Thanksgiving, @stevekornacki returns to the big board to break down the most popular sides dishes in every state. pic.twitter.com/q6NldeTp1V> > -- 3rd Hour of TODAY (@3rdHourTODAY) November 10, 2020More stories from theweek.com Trump wants to be forced out Trump's aggressive assault on election integrity is reportedly making some of his outside lawyers queasy 3 Latino politicians considered top contenders to fill Kamala Harris' Senate seat
|
| House Democrats win their 218th seat, clinging to a slim majority Posted: 10 Nov 2020 02:30 PM PST  Democrats held enough seats in the suburbs to retain their House majority
|
| Dr. Fauci says Pfizer's reported 90% vaccine efficacy rate is 'extraordinary' Posted: 09 Nov 2020 10:15 AM PST  On Monday, Pfizer said its experimental coronavirus vaccine was found to be more than 90% effective in its final stage of clinical trials.
|
| Tropical Storm Theta is record-breaking 29th storm of 2020 — and there could be more Posted: 09 Nov 2020 07:41 PM PST  Tropical Storm Theta formed in the Atlantic Monday night. It poses no threat to land but was notable nonetheless, making 2020 a record-breaking hurricane season.
|
| UK peer ‘should be ashamed’ for calling Kamala Harris ‘the Indian’, says former top Biden official Posted: 10 Nov 2020 02:15 AM PST  Lord Kilclooney has been told to apologise for his 'appalling' tweet
|
| At more than 3,500 pounds, this great white shark is swimming off New Jersey coast Posted: 10 Nov 2020 11:30 AM PST  Nukumi is a 3,541-pound great white shark. She's among the largest of the apex predators in the ocean.
|
| Relative of 8 slaying victims files wrongful death lawsuit Posted: 10 Nov 2020 09:31 AM PST  A man who lost several relatives in the killings of eight people in southern Ohio four years ago filed a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday against the suspects, saying he wants to be sure none of them receive financial gain from the crime. Tony Rhoden Sr. is seeking unspecified economic and punitive damages against four suspects in the April 2016 killings and two others who were charged with peripheral offenses. Four are awaiting trial in Pike County; charges were dropped against one suspect, and another pleaded guilty to an obstruction charge last year.
|
| Landscaping company at centre of farcical Trump press conference launches merchandise line Posted: 09 Nov 2020 02:21 AM PST  A small landscaping company in Philadelphia has begun selling merchandise today after finding global fame as the location of a briefing from Donald Trump's lawyers. Four Seasons Total Landscaping, located in between a crematorium and a sex shop, was the unlikely venue for a press briefing in which the outgoing president's attorney Rudy Giuliani pressed Mr Trump's unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud.
|
| Dem Senator Joe Manchin Vows to Vote against Packing Court, Eliminating Filibuster Posted: 10 Nov 2020 05:01 AM PST  Senator Joe Manchin (D., W.V.) vowed to oppose ending the filibuster and packing the Supreme Court in a Monday interview on Fox News, two actions many Democrats have called for over the past several months.Former president Obama has voiced support for ending the filibuster as a "Jim Crow relic" even though he himself used it to stall the confirmation of Justice Samuel Alito in 2006. During and after the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett in October, progressive Democrats pressured more moderate colleagues to support packing the court, or expanding the number of justices on the bench.However, Manchin promised in his interview with Bret Baier not to support potentially drastic moves by other Democrats. The comments were significant because if the Republican senators from Georgia are both defeated in runoff elections, the Senate will likely be tied at 50-50. In that case, Manchin would be able to scrap initiatives by simply withholding his support."I commit to you tonight, and I commit to all of your viewers and anyone else who's watching…when they talk about packing the courts, or ending the filibuster, I will not vote to do that," Manchin said. "Brett, this system, this Senate is [such a] unique body in the world. It was made to work together in a bipartisan way, and once you start breaking down those barriers, then you lose everything."Manchin also denounced support by members of his own party for efforts to "defund the police" and even to institute Medicare for All, which he said was practically impossible to pay for."I'm a proud moderate conservative Democrat. Maybe there's not many of us left but I can tell you what this country wants is moderation," Manchin said. "It was wrong for this many people to be split, for us not to be able to have a mess that didn't scare the bejeezus out of people and when you're talking about basically the Green New Deal and all this socialism, that's not who we are as a Democratic Party."The West Virginia senator has stuck with Democrats on a number of key issues, including voting for President Trump's impeachment and against the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett. However, Manchin broke with Democrats to vote for Senator Tim Scott's police reform bill, and also voted to confirm Trump nominees Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch to the Court.
|
| Map: These are the states that have agreed to a plan to replace the Electoral College Posted: 10 Nov 2020 07:07 AM PST  Colorado became the latest state to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, now one of 15 states and D.C.
|
| Tesla employees reportedly fear having a meeting with Elon Musk the day after a SpaceX rocket test fails Posted: 10 Nov 2020 08:33 AM PST  Tesla employees will watch SpaceX launches and live in fear of Musk's bad mood if they fail, according to a new report from Vanity Fair.
|
| One in five COVID-19 patients develop mental illness within 90 days: study Posted: 09 Nov 2020 03:36 PM PST  Many COVID-19 survivors are likely to be at greater risk of developing mental illness, psychiatrists said on Monday, after a large study found 20% of those infected with the coronavirus are diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder within 90 days. Anxiety, depression and insomnia were most common among recovered COVID-19 patients in the study who developed mental health problems, and the researchers also found significantly higher risks of dementia, a brain impairment condition. "People have been worried that COVID-19 survivors will be at greater risk of mental health problems, and our findings ... show this to be likely," said Paul Harrison, a professor of psychiatry at Britain's Oxford University.
|
| White supremacist flyers displaying swastikas appeared in a Texas town after Joe Biden was declared president-elect Posted: 09 Nov 2020 11:44 AM PST  Police in Hollywood Park, Texas, said they were investigating the flyers that depicted "anti-Black Lives Matter and anti-abortion rhetoric."
|
| Edmund Fitzgerald crew memorialized across Great Lakes 45 years after ship sank Posted: 10 Nov 2020 12:29 PM PST  The Great Lakes have claimed some 6,000 ships but few have captured the public's imagination as has the Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank Nov. 10, 1975.
|
| A Florida corrections officer is charged with the beating death of an inmate Posted: 10 Nov 2020 12:52 PM PST  Michael Riley Jr., became a Florida Department of Corrections officer in 2019, one month after Christopher Howell became a Corrections inmate at Lake Correctional Institution. Howell was scheduled to do three years, at the most.
|
| Trump is asked to cooperate with Biden team on transition Posted: 09 Nov 2020 03:37 AM PST  President Trump is facing pressure to cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden's team to ensure a smooth transfer of power when the new administration takes office in January.
|
| Rudy Giuliani featured sex offender at press conference Posted: 09 Nov 2020 11:22 AM PST  At his bizarre press conference outside Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Philadelphia, Rudy Giuliani called up several witnesses to testify of alleged irregularities at vote-counting facilities – and one, it turns out, is a convicted sex offender. Poll watcher Darryl Mikell Brooks was convicted in the 1990s of sexual assault, lewdness and endangering the welfare of a minor. Speaking at the press conference, he lamented that Republican poll watchers were supposedly kept too far away from the ballots to see what was being counted.
|
| Senator Whitehouse Slams FBI for Lack of Transparency around ‘Tanked’ Kavanaugh Sex Assault Probe Posted: 10 Nov 2020 11:21 AM PST  Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.) slammed the FBI for not investigating sexual assault allegations against Justice Brett Kavanaugh, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.The hearing itself was organized by Committee head Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) to interview former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe regarding the origins of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. However, Whitehouse criticized the Republicans on the committee for not looking into other allegations of wrongdoing involving the FBI and Justice Department."We have what appears to have been a tanked FBI investigation into the Kavanaugh hearings, and I've asked questions about that, to which I've had no answer whatsoever," Whitehouse said. "We're highly selective in what we choose to look into, and we've been extremely solicitous of the stonewalling and non-responsiveness of this Department of Justice."Whitehouse went on to argue that Senate Republicans had established a precedent during the Trump administration whereby the FBI could simply ignore requests for information issued by the minority, and suggested this precedent would come back to haunt them during the Biden administration.The FBI investigated allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh by Christine Blasey Ford, but found "no corroboration" of those allegations, according to a summary of the report released by then-Judiciary head Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa).During the 2018 confirmation hearings, Whitehouse also released a report detailing an allegation of rape against Kavanaugh. However, after the FBI investigated that allegation, the accuser admitted that the story was false.Democrats on the committee have vociferously opposed President Trump's nominations to the Supreme Court, including Kavanaugh himself as well as Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett. With the confirmation of all three, conservative justices hold a 6-3 majority on the Court bench.During Barrett's confirmation hearings in late October, Whitehouse portrayed the nominee as a "judicial torpedo" who would strike down the Affordable Care Act.
|
| Karabakh truce spells turmoil for Armenian leader Pashinyan Posted: 10 Nov 2020 08:32 AM PST  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's agreement overnight Monday to end fighting with Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region sparked widespread anger from Armenians that threatens to spiral into a full-blown political crisis.
|
| COVID-related hospital overcrowding has gotten so bad the Utah governor has issued a state of emergency Posted: 09 Nov 2020 12:29 PM PST  Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said "our hospitals are full" in a video to residents about the issued state of emergency due to coronavirus uptick.
|
| Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris' husband leaves job at powerhouse law firm DLA Piper Posted: 10 Nov 2020 01:52 PM PST  Emhoff took a leave of absence from the law firm, DLA Piper, in August, after now President-elect Joe Biden, a Democrat, named Harris as his running mate. Biden, who faced off against President Donald Trump, on Nov. 3, captured the presidency on Saturday.
|
| Deadly Tropical Storm Eta targets Florida, would be state's first landfall of historic hurricane season Posted: 08 Nov 2020 06:57 PM PST  Eta targeted Florida after storming through Central America as a Category 4 hurricane, triggering deadly mudslides that destroyed entire villages.
|
| 4 Florida teens face attempted murder charges. They drove a van over a mother, cops say Posted: 10 Nov 2020 10:56 AM PST  A gang of four Polk County teens looking to settle a romantic beef put a mother in critical condition and are charged with attempted murder, the Polk County Sheriff's Office says.
|
| Trump administration claims COVID-19 vaccine will be available for 'all Americans' by the spring Posted: 10 Nov 2020 07:09 AM PST  In a series of morning show appearances on Tuesday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar predicted that COVID-19 vaccines will be available for the general public by the spring. "We have anticipated that we will have enough vaccine by the end of December to have vaccinated our most vulnerable citizens in nursing homes and otherwise," Azar said on Today. "And by the end of January, enough for all health-care workers and first responders, and enough for all Americans by the end of March to early April."The Trump administration has historically painted an optimistic picture with its estimates of when a vaccine will be available, with President Trump having even suggested at one point that a vaccine would be available by Election Day. Experts have additionally warned that there are looming hurdles involved in the distribution of the eventual vaccine, from defining who qualifies as "high risk" or "essential workers," to the practicality of widely disseminating the product, given what Stat News describes as the "taxing storage requirements" of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine in particular.On Monday, though, there did come good news: The vaccine in development from Pfizer and BioNTech was found to be more than 90 percent effective against COVID-19 in a first interim analysis. And Azar's timeline additionally fits in with predictions from Stat about vaccines beginning to become available to Americans by the spring.While drug makers by comparison are prepared to disseminate 194 to 198 million doses of flu vaccine in the 2020-2021 season, experts say roughly 330 million Americans will need immunity to COVID-19 before herd immunity sets in. On Monday, Pfizer said it is prepared to deliver 50 million doses of its vaccine by the end of 2020, and ramp up production to 1.3 billion in 2021.More stories from theweek.com Trump wants to be forced out Trump's aggressive assault on election integrity is reportedly making some of his outside lawyers queasy 3 Latino politicians considered top contenders to fill Kamala Harris' Senate seat
|
| AOC lashes out at Democratic party over lack of support: ‘I didn’t even know if I would run for re-election’ Posted: 08 Nov 2020 08:50 PM PST  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said that she might quit politics if Democrats continue to be "hostile" towards progressive causes. In an interview with The New York Times, shortly after president-elect Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election, AOC admitted that she wasn't even initially sure if she was going to run for reelection this year.
|
| The 'war on drugs' may be a bigger problem than the drugs themselves, experts say Posted: 10 Nov 2020 08:13 AM PST  Voters in seven states and DC voted on Tuesday to decriminalize or legalize a variety of drugs, ending the practice of using punishment as treatment.
|
| Armenia and Azerbaijan agree ceasefire deal as Russia deploys peacekeepers Posted: 09 Nov 2020 03:12 PM PST  Armenia and Azerbaijan announced an agreement early on Tuesday to halt fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan under a pact signed with Russia that calls for deployment of nearly 2,000 Russian peacekeepers and territorial concessions. Nagorno-Karabakh has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a 1994 truce ended a separatist war in which an estimated 30,000 people died. Since then, sporadic clashes erupted, and full-scale fighting began on September 27. Several ceasefires had been called but were almost immediately violated. However, the agreement announced early on Tuesday appeared more likely to take hold because Azerbaijan has made significant advances, including taking control of the strategically key city of Shushi on Sunday. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Facebook that calling an end to the fight was "extremely painful for me personally and for our people."
|
| The world's longest flight just quietly touched down in New York. Here's why you haven't heard anything about it. Posted: 10 Nov 2020 01:15 PM PST  The historic first flight was overshadowed by the pandemic and election of a new president. But Singapore Airlines didn't roll out the red carpet either.
|
