A group of House Democrats has formally introduced an article of impeachment against Donald Trump. They have charged the president with 'incitement to insurrection' in connection to the violent riot at the Capitol last week
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‘Diplomatic vandalism’: aid groups’ fury as US puts Houthis on terror list
Trump administration’s 11th-hour decision greeted with dismay by aid agencies working in Yemen
The Trump administration has made an 11th-hour decision to designate Yemen’s Houthi rebels as a foreign terrorist organisation in a move that is likely to severely worsen the war-torn country’s humanitarian crisis.
The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, announced the decision late on Sunday, despite bipartisan opposition and months of warnings from UN officials and aid organisations that the designation – part of the White House’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran and its allies – would lead to shortages and delays for aid and commercial shipments and undermine the peace process.
Continue reading...‘Inheriting a mess’: grim outlook for Biden goal of 100m Covid vaccinations in 100 days
With more than 22 million Americans currently Covid-19 positive, infrastructure needed to disseminate vaccine is far from complete
Joe Biden has been promising Americans that “help is on the way” since his election, with a goal of inoculating 100 million people with the Covid-19 vaccine within the first 100 days of his presidency.
But just days away from his inauguration, Biden is reportedly frustrated with his own coronavirus taskforce, and concerned they might not reach their goal in time, according to Politico.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: England mass vaccination sites to open as China says WHO team to arrive within days
South Korea daily virus cases under 500 for first time since record highs in December; China says WHO Covid-19 origins probe team to arrive 14 January; one year has passed since first coronavirus death announced in Wuhan
- China agrees to let in WHO team investigating Covid origins
- ‘South Africa is going to get a third wave, even a fourth’
- Vaccine explainer: when will things go back to normal?
- See all our coronavirus coverage
In the UK, ministers appear to have downgraded their promise to vaccinate the most vulnerable by mid-February, committing only to offering them an inoculation by that point.
The prime minister Boris Johnson said last week that they would have received their first jab by that date – and that daily figures for vaccinations carried out would be published from this week.
The top four categories, actually, for the UK is 15 million people, in England it’s about 12 million people, so we will have offered a vaccination to all of those people.
When you offer a vaccination it doesn’t mean a Royal Mail letter, it means the vaccine and the needle and the jab are ready for you. What you will see us publishing is the total numbers of people being vaccinated, not being offered a vaccine, and that’s the number to hold us to account to.
Passenger numbers at London’s Heathrow airport were down 72.7% in 2020, with 22.1 million people travelling through it.
In December, demand fell by 82.9% to 1.1 million as the new variant of the virus spread in the UK. Heathrow’s chief executive John Holland-Kaye said:
The past year has been incredibly challenging for aviation. While we support tightening border controls temporarily by introducing pre-departure testing for international arrivals, as well as quarantine, this is not sustainable.
The aviation industry is the cornerstone of the UK economy but is fighting for survival. We need a road map out of this lockdown and a full waiver of business rates.
Continue reading...Aid spending in Africa must be African-led – it needs a Black Lives Matter reckoning | Dedo Baranshamaje and Katie Bunten-Wamaru
If we use this pivotal moment to shift funding to grassroots groups we could unlock transformational change
While the US continues to reckon with its long-simmering struggle against racial injustice, it is important to remember that racism is not just a homegrown problem – we are also exporting it.
As we begin 2021, global philanthropy has an opportunity to address this.
Continue reading...Nuclear stand-off: can Joe Biden avert a new arms race?
Analysis: new president will face threats on multiple fronts, including from Russia and Iran, and must decide future of US arsenal
Joe Biden will have to make critical decisions on arms control in his first days in the White House that could determine whether a new nuclear arms race can be averted, and possibly reversed.
When the new president takes the oath of office on 20 January, there will be 16 days left before the 2010 New Start treaty with Russia expires, and with it the last binding limit on the world’s two biggest nuclear arsenals left standing in the wake of the Trump era.
Continue reading...Pelosi says House will proceed with efforts to remove Trump ‘with urgency’
House will first try to force Mike Pence to oust president by invoking 25th amendment and then move forward with impeachment
The House is prepared to launch impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump as early as this week if Vice President Mike Pence and the cabinet refuse to remove him from office for his role in inciting a mob that carried out a deadly assault on the seat of American government.
The House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, delivered the ultimatum in a letter to colleagues on Sunday night that described the president as an urgent threat to the nation.
Continue reading...Sex and the City to return for new series, stars confirm
The rebooted show will be called And Just Like That... and will feature the original stars, apart from Kim Cattrall
Sex and the City will be given a 2021 makeover, US streaming service HBO Max has announced.
Long-swirling rumours that the video-on-demand arm of the prestige TV brand was considering commissioning a revival of the 90s and 00s show were confirmed on Sunday night US time when three of the four stars of the original show, Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis, shared a trailer for the series on social media platforms.
Continue reading...Republican congresswoman Mary Miller quotes Hitler during rally – video
US Congresswoman Mary Miller of Illinois tells a crowd outside the US Capitol: Hitler was right on one thing – "Whoever has the youth has the future. Our children are being propagandised."
Miller has since apologised for quoting the Nazi leader at the right-wing rally, issuing a statement on Twitter saying: "I sincerely apologize for any harm my words caused and regret using a reference to one of the most evil dictators in history"
- Illinois Republican Mary Miller sorry for quoting Hitler in Capitol speech
- Capitol attack: two men believed to have brought zip-tie handcuffs arrested
Three killed and four wounded in apparently random Chicago shootings
- Gunman killed by police named as Jason Nightengale, 32
- Three women and girl seriously wounded as police seek motive
A man who police say killed three people and wounded four in a series of shootings in and around Chicago posted nonsensical and expletive-laced videos in the days and hours leading up to the attacks.
Investigators were trying to determine a motive for the Saturday afternoon attacks in which police say 32-year-old Jason Nightengale apparently chose victims at random.
Continue reading...Vogue’s Kamala Harris cover photos spark controversy: ‘Washed out mess’
First woman of color elected vice-president is February cover star but users complain about lighting
Vogue magazine became embroiled in a “whitewashing” controversy on Sunday when it tweeted photographs of its February cover star, Kamala Harris.
Continue reading...Majority of Americans want Trump out before Biden takes over, poll says
- 56% in ABC-Ipsos poll back removal before inauguration
- Trump impeachment looms as Republicans ponder his fate
- Condemnation – and support: Trump’s midwest base split
A majority of Americans believes Donald Trump should be removed from power before Joe Biden is sworn in to replace him, according to a poll released on Sunday.
Related: Trump attempted a coup: he must be removed while those who aided him pay | Robert Reich
Continue reading...Trump is being pelted in the stocks now – but don’t bet against him wriggling free
The chances of seeing the outgoing president in an orange jumpsuit are low – even as the potential charges mount up fast
Lock him up! Echoing Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign chant against Hillary Clinton, many Americans appear keen on jailing their president after his criminally reckless incitement of last week’s mob-driven, amateur-hour insurrection in Washington.
His harshest critics would despatch him forthwith to a federal penitentiary or mental institution. Yet despite fears that an unstable Trump poses a security threat in his final 10 days in office, he is unlikely to be forced out. It’s just not that easy, politically or legally.
Continue reading...Inequality, racism and polarisation set stage for Trump’s ‘American carnage’
Analysis: The attack on the US Capitol shook America’s image of itself but is democracy really in its most precarious moment since the civil war?
In the film Mr Smith Goes to Washington, James Stewart’s eponymous hero gazes with reverence and awe at the dome of the US Capitol, the near sacred citadel of American democracy.
Continue reading...Trump Twitter: Republicans and Democrats split over freedom of speech
- Allies of president claim company restricted free speech
- Opponents say suspension was long overdue
- Woman killed in Capitol riot was devoted conspiracy theorist
Twitter’s decision to permanently suspend Donald Trump’s account in the wake of the storming of Capitol Hill on Wednesday continues to stoke fierce debate, supporters and critics split on partisan lines as they contest what the suspension means for a cherished American tradition: freedom of speech.
Related: Insurrection Day: when white supremacist terror came to the US Capitol
Continue reading...US Capitol attack: Trump at bay as first Republican senator calls for resignation
- President faces second impeachment and calls to quit
- Twitter bans Trump to prevent ‘further incitement of violence’
- Sidney Blumenthal: This was a perverse civil war re-enactment
Donald Trump’s grip on the US presidency appeared increasingly tenuous on Saturday as Democrats advanced plans to impeach him for a second time, political allies continued to abandon him and Twitter banned his account, removing his most powerful way to spread lies and incite violence.
Continue reading...Denver police officers who detained four black girls will not be charged
- Lawyer says he will sue city and Aurora PD officers
- Colorado attorney general opens Elijah McCain investigation
Suburban Denver police officers will not be charged after detaining four black girls at gunpoint this summer and handcuffing two after wrongly suspecting they were riding in a stolen car, prosecutors said on Friday.
Related: 'He was inspired by everything': friends and family pay tribute to Elijah McClain
Continue reading...Trump has lost Twitter, his biggest political megaphone. Now what?
Trump’s banishment is likely to further enrage an already volatile president, but many hailed the move as a long overdue milestone
From his first executive tweet on the morning of inauguration day 2017 to his final tweet on Friday, announcing that he would not attend his successor’s inauguration, Donald Trump’s personal Twitter account has served as the president’s official platform.
For four years, the @realDonaldTrump Twitter feed was both public square and personal dialogue, a place where he made policy announcements and taunted political enemies; threatened military reprisal and boasted about his TV ratings. But it was also, perhaps most dangerously, a place where he sought to bend reality to his will, unleashing a combustible, near-daily stream of misinformation, lies and outrage to his more than 87 million followers.
Continue reading...Kim Jong-un calls US ‘biggest enemy’ and says nuclear submarine plans ‘complete’
North Korea should ‘further advance nuclear technology’ and develop more flexible attack capability, leader tells party congress
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has called the United States his nuclear-armed nation’s “biggest enemy” and revealed that plans for a nuclear-powered submarine are complete, state media said.
Kim’s declaration on Saturday also included a call to develop smaller, more adapatable nyuclear warheads, comes less than two weeks before the inauguration of Joe Biden as US president, and after a tumultuous relationship between Kim and the outgoing Donald Trump.
Continue reading...Theft of two computers during Capitol attack raises information security concerns
Nancy Pelosi’s office confirms laptop was stolen when Trump supporters, incited by the president, invaded the building
At least two computers were stolen from the Capitol when a violent mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the building on Wednesday – including one from the office of the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi – raising grave information security concerns.
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