CEO told staffers Bannon had not violated enough policies to justify ban when he called for beheading of Anthony Fauci
Mark Zuckerberg told Facebook staffers on Thursday that former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon had not violated enough of the company’s policies to justify his suspension from the platform when he called for the beheading of two US officials and the posting of their heads outside the White House as a “warning”.
Continue reading...One of the first cruise ships to ply through Caribbean waters since the pandemic began ended its trip early after five passengers tested positive for Covid-19.
The SeaDream is carrying 53 passengers and 66 crew, with the majority of passengers hailing from the US, according to Sue Bryant, a cruise ship reporter who is aboard the ship.
Continue reading...Italy registers 636 daily deaths; French PM says no easing of restrictions as cases remain high; Germany seeing tentative signs of flattening curve
Greece reported 3,316 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, its highest daily tally since its first infection surfaced in February, according to health authorities data.
The latest jump in infections brings the total number of cases in the country to 66,637.
Donald Trump’s adviser Corey Lewandowski has become the latest member of the outgoing president’s staff to test positive for coronavirus.
Lewandowski recently traveled to Pennsylvania to assist Trump’s efforts to contest the state’s election results. He said today he believes he was infected in Philadelphia and is not experiencing any symptoms.
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Pope blesses president-elect
Joe Biden spoke with Pope Francis on Thursday, and Biden thanked him for his “blessing and congratulations,” his transition team said in a statement.
Related: Soul of the nation: how Joe Biden's faith will shape his presidency
Here’s where the day stands so far:
Continue reading...Six Americans, one Czech and one French citizen killed and only survivor in critical state
A helicopter carrying members of a multinational peacekeeping force has crashed near Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, killing six Americans, a Czech and a French citizen.
The US-led Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) said in a statement that all but one of the nine people onboard were killed when the aircraft went down “during a routine operation”.
Continue reading...The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, held a press conference on Capitol Hill, calling on Republican lawmakers to accept the results of the presidential election.
Pelosi emphasised the need to pass another coronavirus relief bill, saying: 'Stop the circus and get to work on what really matters to the American people'
Continue reading...Liz and Richard Uihlein, owners of the Uline packaging company, made the announcement in a message to employees
Two of Donald Trump’s billionaire donors have contracted Covid-19 months after downplaying the risk of the disease to their employees.
Richard and Liz Uihlein, conservative megadonors who own the Uline packaging company based in Wisconsin and are two of the Republican party’s most significant financial backers, told employees on Wednesday that they had contracted the disease after being “around people with Covid”.
Continue reading...Dr Anthony Fauci says unprecedented 'polarisation' has intensified an anti-science feeling in the US and led people to threaten violence against him.
While the top infectious diseases expert commands respect among much of the public, he has received personal death threats as a result of his high-profile statements about the coronavirus pandemic.
The health expert Prof David Heymann, who joined Fauci in a Chatham House webinar, said science had become highly politicised to the point that a mask wearer was seen as a Democrat and a non-mask wearer as a Republican
Continue reading...Most world leaders rushed to congratulate Joe Biden on his election on Twitter, and spoke of 'hope' and 'expectation' in later statements.
Biden’s key foreign policy priorities are cooperation in the fight against coronavirus, a commitment to rejoin the UN Paris climate agreement and, more broadly, to promise a change in tone toward traditional US allies.
Russia and China are yet to congratulate the president-elect, as the outgoing president, Donald Trump, is yet to concede defeat
Continue reading...Pence may return to his roots in conservative talk radio as a way to remain relevant – and possibly plan a 2024 run for president
Across the street from the British embassy, with its red telephone box and Winston Churchill statue, in Washington DC is the residence of the US-vice president. It has its own basketball court, on which Mike Pence reportedly installed a logo from the 1986 film Hoosiers starring Gene Hackman about small town Indiana sports.
Fortunately, the Washington Post noted a couple of years ago, the logo is removable.
Continue reading...Democratic senator Bernie Sanders says members of the Republican party are afraid to stand up to Donald Trump as he continues his refusal to concede the result of last week's presidential election. Speaking on CNN, Sanders said his Senate colleagues on the Republican side are not 'idiots', but there's an intimidation factor from Trump that is preventing members from speaking up. 'They understand Trump has lost,' Sanders said. 'But one of the other things we should all be nervous about and fearful about is the degree to which Trump intimidates and scares the hell out of Republican members of Congress. They are afraid to stand up to him'
Continue reading...Donald Trump stepped out of the White House for his first official appearance in six days as he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to mark Veterans Day.
This was Trump's first outing, other than to play golf, since Joe Biden was declared president-elect over the weekend. Trump has declined to concede the election to Biden.
Six former patients who complained about Dr Mahendra Amin, who has been accused of operating without consent, deported
The Trump administration is trying to deport several women who allege they were mistreated by a Georgia gynecologist at an immigration detention center, according to their lawyers.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) has already deported six former patients who complained about Dr Mahendra Amin, who has been accused of operating on migrant women without their consent or performing procedures that were medically unnecessary and potentially endangered their ability to have children.
Continue reading...Fears that appointment of extreme Republican partisans could endanger or politicise operation of defense department
Extreme Republican partisans have been installed in important roles in the Pentagon, following the summary dismissal of the defense secretary, Mark Esper, at a time Donald Trump is refusing to accept his election defeat.
Democrats immediately demanded explanations for the eleventh-hour personnel changes and warned that the US was entering dangerous “uncharted territory” with the reshuffling of key national security roles during a presidential transition.
Continue reading...Platform says it’s received ‘no clarity’ from government about status of proposal to place app under control of US companies
The popular video-sharing app TikTok says its future has been in limbo since Donald Trump tried to shut it down earlier this fall and is asking a federal court to intervene.
Continue reading...We are brought up to admire athletes for refusing to throw in the towel, but events in the White House are putting that mindset to the test
We all know a bad loser when we see one and we all know what a tantrum looks like. So there has been something wearily familiar about Trump the grump’s carry-on in the White House. If you have watched a football match or dealt with kids, or indeed adults, you’ll have come across his type before.
Except I am not sure we have. When you think about it, his kind of behaviour is actually rather rare. Then again, normalising the abnormal and hitherto unacceptable would appear to be the president’s special gift.
Continue reading...Texas becomes first to record a million cases as a state as experts warn White House appears to be doing little to control pandemic
The US has recorded more than 1m new coronavirus cases in just the past 10 days as the national total soared past 10m cases amid a widespread surge – while Texas on Wednesday became the first to record a million cases as a state.
The soaring figures came as experts warned that even though successful vaccines are coming into view the White House appears to be doing little to contain a pandemic increasingly out of control.
Continue reading...As Biden’s victory sinks in across Brazil, Hungary and elsewhere, dreams of a rightwing global crusade appear to be fading
As the Donald Trump era draws to a close, many world leaders are breathing a sigh of relief. But Trump’s ideological kindred spirits – rightwing populists in office in Brazil, Hungary, Slovenia and elsewhere – are instead taking a sharp breath.
The end of the Trump presidency may not mean the beginning of their demise, but it certainly strips them of a powerful motivational factor, and also alters the global political atmosphere, which in recent years had seemed to be slowly tilting in their favour, at least until the onset of coronavirus. The momentous US election result is further evidence that the much-talked-about “populist wave” of recent years may be subsiding.
Continue reading...Jair Bolsonaro has said Brazil needs to 'stop being a country of sissies' over the Covid pandemic. Speaking at an event where few attendees wore a mask, the Brazilian president claimed he was sorry about coronavirus-related deaths, but "all of us are going to die one day". Taking a swipe at the US president-elect, Joe Biden, who is apparently threatening Brazil with sanctions if fires in the Amazon rainforest are not dealt with, Bolsonaro said that "diplomacy is not enough [...] there must be gunpowder"
From making baseless claims of voter fraud to false declarations of victory, Donald Trump has been criticised for undermining democracy through his refusal to concede the US election. Joe Biden became the president-elect after several days of vote counting, and when the race was called for the former vice-president, Trump sent out several angry tweets – without any evidence – alleging vote count irregularities and is still yet to speak out publicly or call Biden to acknowledge the result