PoliticsYahoo NewsThe Trumps are refusing to turn over the keys to the Bidens — and Michelle and Barack Obama have had enough
Two days after Donald Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton after the 2016 election, then-President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama welcomed the president-elect and the incoming first lady, Melania Trump, to the White House, a gesture symbolizing the peaceful transfer of power to a man who had launched his candidacy by spreading the lie that Obama was born in a foreign country. Now, two weeks after Election Day and more than a week after the 2020 election was called for Joe Biden by independent observers, Trump is refusing to concede defeat, challenging the results with baseless claims of voter fraud and ordering officials not to cooperate with the transition. And the Obamas are over it.
WorldReutersKey witness in Huawei CFO's arrest declines to testify in Canada court
A key witness involved in the arrest of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou two years ago has decided not to testify in the Canadian court as part of Meng's ongoing witness cross-examination, the court heard on Monday. Meng arrived back in the British Columbia Supreme Court on Monday as her U.S. extradition hearing resumed. Meng, 48, was arrested in December 2018 at Vancouver International Airport by Canadian police, on a warrant from the United States.
U.S.USA TODAYOklahoma officer who ran through flames to save his own children in a house fire is recovering, police say
A police officer in Oklahoma is receiving "amazing" support after he sustained burns across his body while rescuing his own children from a fire last week. Officer Anthony Louie responded to a call about a house on fire Friday that turned out to be his own home, the Seminole Police Department told USA TODAY in a statement. Louie ran through the flames that covered the front porch to save his two children, ages 14 and 7, police said.
PoliticsAssociated PressSen. Grassley, 87, quarantining after virus exposure
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the longest-serving Republican senator, says he is quarantining after being exposed to the coronavirus. Grassley, 87, did not say how he was exposed. “I'm feeling well and not currently experiencing any symptoms, but it's important we all follow public health guidelines to keep each other healthy,” Grassley said in a statement.
PoliticsYahoo NewsRage, tweets and TV: A vision of a Trump post-presidency begins to emerge
President Trump's first acknowledgment that he was facing a post-White House life happened on Friday, as he was giving a coronavirus vaccine speech from the Rose Garden. “He won because the Election was Rigged,” Trump tweeted, devoting the rest of that message — and many others sent to his 80 million followers throughout the course of a clement Sunday afternoon — to conspiratorial fantasies about Democratic operatives fixing millions of votes for Biden. Trump “is never going to concede the election,” said Sam Nunberg, one of the original advisers from the 2016 campaign.
U.S.ReutersSpecial Report: A Black man risks all to clear his name - and expose the police
In a courthouse holding cell, Silvon Simmons changed from a jail jumpsuit into dress pants, a shirt and a tie. Now a 36-year-old father, Simmons was preparing to stand trial in October 2017, facing life in prison for allegedly trying to kill a cop. The officer, Joseph Ferrigno, had shot Simmons three times from behind.
BusinessBusiness InsiderWalmart is losing lower-income shoppers as extra unemployment benefits end and stimulus dries up
Walmart's US same-store sales growth slowed in the most recent quarter as the boost from government stimulus came to an end. "The signs that retail is becoming tighter and that the boom is ending are there," managing director of GlobalData, Neil Saunders, wrote in a note. "Unless a new round of stimulus is agreed, retailers will need to navigate this new landscape."
PoliticsAssociated PressPompeo meets Orthodox spiritual leader in Istanbul
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the Istanbul-based spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians on Tuesday during a short trip to Turkey that raised the ire of Turkish officials and included no meetings with any of them. Pompeo, who is on a seven-country tour of Europe and the Middle East, tweeted pictures of him being greeted by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the leader of around 300 million Orthodox Christians, after being shown around the Patriarchate. He also met with the apostolic nuncio to Turkey, Archbishop Paul Russell.
PoliticsThe TelegraphDonald Trump 'considered attacking Iran nuclear site after US election defeat'
US President Donald Trump last week sought options for attacking Iran to stop its nuclear programme during the last two months in office, officials in his administration have said. Mr Trump was reportedly dissuaded from such action during an Oval Office meeting on Thursday with top national security advisers, including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, new acting Defence Secretary Christopher Miller and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley. The New York Times, which first reported the meeting, said his advisers persuaded Mr Trump that any strike would likely precipitate a wider conflict.
PoliticsINSIDERVice President-elect Kamala Harris' husband is quitting his job, and future first lady Jill Biden plans to continue teaching. It signals a new era of political spouses.
Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, is quitting his job at a high-powered law firm to focus on his duties as second gentleman and support his wife's career. Both are defying stereotypical gender roles of political spouses. Myra Gutin, a professor at Rider University and author of "The President's Partner: The First Lady in the Twentieth Century," told Insider that the change is "a breath of fresh air" since "we've always looked at the political spouse through very gendered glasses."
HealthReutersPfizer to start pilot delivery program for its COVID-19 vaccine in four U.S. states
Pfizer's vaccine, which was shown to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 based on initial data, must be shipped and stored at -70 degrees Celsius (minus 94°F), significantly below the standard for vaccines of 2-8 degrees Celsius (36-46°F). "We are hopeful that results from this vaccine delivery pilot will serve as the model for other U.S. states and international governments, as they prepare to implement effective COVID-19 vaccine programs," Pfizer said in a statement on Monday.
PoliticsAssociated PressRep. Omar terminates contract with husband's consulting firm
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar is cutting ties with her husband's political consulting firm after winning her bid for reelection, saying she wants to ensure her supporters feel there's no perceived issue. Omar married her political consultant, Tim Mynett, in March, sparking scrutiny and a complaint to the Federal Election Commission by a conservative group that alleged campaign funds paid for Mynett's personal travel. The FEC has taken no public action on that complaint, and Omar has said payments to Mynett's firm, E Street Group, were legitimate.
BusinessThe New York TimesFox News' 'Partisan Right' Audience on YouTube Is Dropping, Researchers Say
Disinformation about election fraud is thriving on YouTube, and right-wing outlets that most aggressively push false information are gaining new, conservative viewers on the video service, according to new research. YouTube, which is owned by Google, has not taken down videos challenging the outcome of the election, including content that spreads false allegations. At the same time, Fox News, which has been more reserved in promoting unsubstantiated claims of a stolen election, has seen its share among a conservative audience decline on YouTube even though it is one of YouTube's promoted, authoritative sources.
PoliticsThe IndependentCNN’s Christiane Amanpour compares Trumpism to Nazi pogrom
CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour provoked outrage after comparing the Trump administration's authoritarian leanings to Nazism on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, a horrific 1938 pogrom against Jews in Germany. Her comments, made during the introduction to her international affairs show Amanpour on Thursday, invoked the anniversary of the pogrom and compared Nazi book-burning to the Trump administration's regular distortions of truth and attacks on the media. In that tower of burning books, it led to an attack on fact, knowledge, history and truth,” she said.
BusinessReutersBuffett's Berkshire bets on Big Pharma, invests in four drugmakers
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc said on Monday it has begun investing in the stocks of four large drugmakers, betting on an industry that could benefit when the world begins emerging from the coronavirus pandemic. In a regulatory filing detailing its U.S.-listed stock holdings as of Sept. Berkshire disclosed $5.7 billion of new healthcare stakes, including more than $1.8 billion each in Abbvie Inc, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co, Merck & Co and $136 million in Pfizer Inc.
WorldAssociated PressPentagon says it shot down unarmed missile in sea-based test
In a first for the Pentagon's push to develop defenses against intercontinental-range ballistic missiles capable of striking the United States, a missile interceptor launched from a U.S. Navy ship at sea hit and destroyed a mock ICBM in flight on Tuesday, officials said. Previous tests against ICBM targets had used interceptors launched from underground silos in the United States. If further, more challenging tests prove successful, the ship-based approach could add to the credibility and reliability of the Pentagon's existing missile defense system.
- NewsReuters Videos
British diplomat saves drowning student in southwest China
A British diplomat leapt into a river in southwest China and rescued a drowning student on Saturday (November 14), Britain's embassy in Beijing and Chinese state media said. A video taken by a passer-by shows the diplomat swimming to a woman and pulling her with a float from the middle of a river, before people on the bank drag them to safety The British embassy said everyone is "immensely proud" of Ellison, whose good deed had gone viral in China.
PoliticsAssociated PressTrump campaign lawsuit in Pennsylvania vote heads to court
A hearing on the Trump campaign's federal lawsuit seeking to prevent Pennsylvania officials from certifying the vote results remains on track for Tuesday after a judge quickly denied the campaign's new lawyer's request for a delay. U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann told lawyers for Donald J. Trump for President Inc. and the counties and state election official it has sued that they must show up and “be prepared for argument and questioning" at the federal courthouse in Williamsport. It also may feature Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and the president's personal attorney, who filed Tuesday morning to represent Trump in the case.
PoliticsThe Independent‘Swaths of country believe Democratic Party a front for a paedophile ring’: Obama rails against tech and right-wing media
Barack Obama has denounced right-wing and social media as the biggest threat to America's democracy in a call to increase government regulation of news and technology companies. In a media blitz across legacy broadcast and left-wing publications, the former president bemoaned Facebook, Twitter and alternative media for enabling conspiracy theories like QAnon to blur the line between fact and fiction. Mr Obama took part in a series of TV and print interviews to promote his new book, A Promised Land.
WorldReutersIndia pins hopes on locally-tested COVID-19 vaccines given Pfizer constraints
India hopes five locally-tested vaccines will help it to control COVID-19, as those developed by Pfizer and Moderna may not be available to it in big quantities soon. The five candidates include Russia's Sputnik-V whose "Phase-II going to Phase-III" trials in India will start next week in collaboration with Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Vinod Paul, the head of a committee advising the prime minister, said. The other experimental vaccines are the one being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University which is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India; Bharat Biotech and the Indian government's COVAXIN; Zydus Cadila's ZyCoV-D and lastly one being developed by Biological E. Ltd alongside Baylor College of Medicine and Dynavax Technologies Corp.
PoliticsUSA TODAYGOP Sen. Lankford: ‘I will step in’ if Biden doesn’t start receiving intel briefings
WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans broke with the Trump administration Thursday to argue that President-elect Joe Biden should get access to high-level classified intelligence briefings, even though the president continues to contest the election results. Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, said he will intervene on Friday if the Trump administration doesn't start allowing Biden to receive what's known as the president's daily brief, a summary of the most urgent and credible national security threats. Incoming presidents typically have access to those assessments during the transition, so they can be prepared to deal with any national security threats on day one.
WorldThe Daily BeastPutin’s Judo Partner and His Wife Locked in Battle Over $35M Mansion Neither Is Allowed to Live in
Vladimir Putin's judo sparring partner is fighting his ex-wife in a London courtroom over the ownership of a luxurious British mansion with tennis courts, swimming pool, and a panic room—despite the fact that neither of them is allowed to live in the U.K. Billionaire Russian oligarch Arkady Rotenberg, 68, a childhood friend of Putin, has been banned from entering the U.K. since 2014, when the EU slapped sanctions on him after his company built a 12-mile bridge between Russia and Crimea, the Ukraine territory that Russia illegally annexed. In 2016, the High Court ordered Arkady, one of the richest men in Russia and estimated to be worth some $2.7 billion, to transfer ownership of the property to his former wife as part of a financial settlement brokered in 2016.
HealthReutersHow two companies sprinted ahead in extraordinary race for a COVID vaccine
“He did not want us to focus on the potential barriers we might face, but instead said that it is much better to try to do something that seemed impossible, and even if you don't succeed, you still (will) have done something great, ” said Dormitzer, noting that new vaccine development can cost on the order of $1 billion. What followed was a full-bore effort carried out under strict coronavirus lockdown conditions, borrowing elements from ongoing flu and cancer research, according to Reuters interviews with half a dozen scientists critical to the vaccine program run by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech SE. On Monday, Moderna Inc, a scrappy biotech with nearly $1 billion in research and development backing from the U.S. government, announced what appeared to be its own successful vaccine, using the same new technology that brought Pfizer such rapid results.
PoliticsThe Independent‘What is the matter with them?’: Biden hits back at Trump’s coronavirus adviser Scott Atlas
President-elect Joe Biden has responded to one of President Donald Trump's top coronavirus advisers, who called for Michigan residents to “rise up” against governor Gretchen Whitmer's new Covid-19 restrictions. On Sunday, Ms Whitmer announced the introduction of new coronavirus measures for Michigan, which banned indoor dining and in-person learning for three weeks, as part of a “pause to save lives,” amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Dr Scott Atlas, who was selected by President Donald Trump in August as an adviser for the White House coronavirus task force, criticised the decision in a tweet on Sunday evening and urged Michigan residents to resist the measures.
WorldBBCBarack Obama: Memoir praises India opposition leaders
Former US president Barack Obama's memoirs have already caused a minor stir in India - his frank, unflattering description of Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the main opposition Congress party incensed the latter's supporters and amused his detractors. A Promised Land, the first volume of Mr Obama's account of his political career which released on Tuesday, is a vivid and racy read. In it, he spends some 1,400 words writing of his first visit to India in November 2010 when the now-opposition Congress party was in power - and his impressions of then prime minister Manmohan Singh and party president Sonia Gandhi.
“Donald Trump defeated Donald Trump.”
“The victory was a vindication of a style of American politics that many feared was gone forever.”
“Mr. Biden’s victory — and Mr. Trump’s defeat — is a testament to the resilience of American democracy.”
“Trump’s 2020 reelection bid was doomed by his boorish behavior. Time and again, he refused to act like a president.”
“Biden took the opportunity to unite the Democratic Party.”