‘All that mattered was survival’: the songs that got us through 2020

Butterflies with Mariah, Bronski Beat in the Peak District, Snoop Dogg on a food delivery ad … our writers reveal the tracks that made 2020 bearable

When it came to lockdown comfort listening, there was something particularly appealing about lush symphonic soul made by artists such as Teddy Pendergrass and the Delfonics. But there was one record I reached for repeatedly: Black Moses by Isaac Hayes, and particularly the tracks arranged by Dale Warren. Their version of Burt Bacharach’s (They Long to Be) Close to You is an epic, spinning the original classic into a nine-minute dose of saccharine soul. But their cover of Going in Circles, another Warren exercise in expansion, is their masterpiece, reimagining the Friends of Distinction original as a seven-minute arrangement with stirring strings and beatific backing vocals that builds into a story about lost love that transcends the genre’s usual parameters. A perfect, if slightly meta, balm for the repetitive lockdown blues. Lanre Bakare

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Taylor Swift: The Long Pond Studio Sessions review – cosy campfire confessions

The pop star’s Disney+ movie about quarantine album Folklore reveals the potency of her songwriting, though it’s hazy on any ‘pandemic epiphanies’

Pre-pandemic, few artists were so keenly attuned to the music industry’s calendar as Taylor Swift. She timed her album releases for awards contention and singles to sustain her world tours; the promotional cycle for 1989, released in 2014, seemed to go on for years. With coronavirus, that “circus” – as she puts it on Mirrorball, one of a few songs on her “quarantine album”, Folklore, that address the pandemic directly – was abruptly called off.

Stripped of those structures, “this lockdown could have been a time where I absolutely lost my mind”, Swift says in The Long Pond Studio Sessions, a film that explores the making and meaning of Folklore. Instead, in a matter of months, she created an album as good as any she has ever written. She collaborated remotely with the National’s Aaron Dessner, writing to his musical sketches and self-recording her performances at home.

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Chinese Internet Star Taken Into Custody For Mocking National Anthem

A Chinese livestreaming star has apologized after being detained for the way she sang the Chinese national anthem on a live broadcast on Oct. 7, according to BBC. Yang Kaili, 20, known as Li Ge, was followed by over 44 million people on her Huya account - a Chinese version of Twitch.tv - before she was taken into custody for flailing her arms to the national anthem in a manner authorities saw as disrespectful.

Schumer: Feds havena t done enough to investigate limo safety

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer says there are glaring gaps in safety data about limousines because federal officials haven't done enough to investigate limo wrecks. The Senate's top Democrat says Saturday that the National Transportation Safety Board hasn't thoroughly investigated a single limousine crash since 2015.

Service warns of minor flooding along several Iowa rivers

The National Weather Service posted or continued warnings Tuesday for the Cedar, Iowa, Maquoketa, Mississippi, North Raccoon, Rock and Wapsipinicon rivers. More rain is expected to fall on already saturated ground and eventually flow into already swollen streams and rivers.

‘Presidential Alert’: FEMA to test emergency alert system next week

You'll soon be getting a message on your phone from the President of the United States - whether you are a supporter or not. It's not a political message, but an emergency test message sent from President Donald Trump as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's system to warn the public in cases of national emergencies.

National Enquirer had safe with Trump scandal stories

The National Enquirer kept a safe containing documents about hush-money payments and damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Donald Trump leading up to 2016 presidential election, people familiar with the arrangement told The Associated Press. The detail comes as several media outlets reported Thursday that federal prosecutors have granted immunity to National Enquirer chief David Pecker, potentially laying bare his efforts to protect his longtime friend Trump.

Democratic governors set to take on the bigger names in 2020 race

Three governors -- Montana's Steve Bullock, Colorado's John Hickenlooper and Washington state's Jay Inslee -- each said in interviews at the National Governors Association summer meeting in New Mexico this week that they are considering 2020 runs. All three have already visited Iowa, the first state to vote during the caucus and primary season, once this year.

FBI seizes secret audio recordings of Trump’s hushed payments to former model from Cohen’s house

Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trump's current lawyer, confirmed the veracity of the tape, which he said was less than two minutes long. He said the payment discussed was never actually made Ms McDougal, 47, sold her story to the National Enquirer just before the election for $150,000, .

Dino Sajudin, Trump doorman, paid $30,000 by National Enquirer owner

Eight months before the company that owns the National Enquirer paid $150,000 to a former Playboy Playmate who claimed she'd had an affair with Donald Trump , the tabloid's parent made a $30,000 payment to a less famous individual: a former doorman at one of the real estate mogul's New York City buildings. As it did with the ex- Playmate , the Enquirer signed the ex-doorman to a contract that effectively prevented him from going public with a juicy tale that might hurt Trump 's campaign for president.

$30,000 rumor? Tabloid paid for, spiked, salacious Trump tip

As it did with the ex-Playmate, the Enquirer signed the ex-doorman to a contract that effectively prevented him from going public with a juicy tale that might hurt Trump's campaign for president. The payout to the former Playmate, Karen McDougal, stayed a secret until The Wall Street Journal published a story about it days before Election Day.

GOP Unleashes Anti-Pelosi Ad Blitz in Fight to Control Congress

If there's one person Republican congressional candidates can rally around for their November election campaigns, it's House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. Much as animosity toward President Donald Trump rouses Democrats, Pelosi is a bete noire for Republicans, who've long targeted her as the prototype of a San Francisco liberal.

Utah Hispanic lawmakers blast Trump administration over census citizenship question

Utah Hispanic lawmakers condemned the decision by President Donald Trump's administration to include a question about U.S. citizenship status on the 2020 census. House Minority Assistant Whip Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City; Reps.

Justice Department official who helped oversee Clinton, Russia probes steps down

A Justice Department official who helped oversee the controversial probes of Hillary Clinton 's use of a private email server and Russian interference in the 2016 election stepped down this week. David Laufman, an experienced federal prosecutor who in 2014 became chief of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, said farewell to colleagues Wednesday.