Trump’s personal lawyer was trying to drum up interest in tales of election rigging – but viewers were drawn to the drama on his head
On 7 November, the day the presidential election was called for Joe Biden, former New York mayor turned Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani addressed the media at a landscaping company between a sex shop and a crematorium on Philadelphia’s industrial fringe.
Continue reading...US left with few allies as it tries to change wording on topic of reproductive healthcare
The outgoing Trump administration’s final days at the United Nations have resulted in a deepening of US isolation on social and health issues, with only a handful of allies including Russia, Belarus and Syria.
In one vote this week, the US was entirely alone in backing its own amendment to a seemingly uncontroversial resolution about efforts to treat medical complications from childbirth. It called for the removal of references to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Population Fund.
Continue reading...Rising Biden tally and his popular vote lead overshadowed by Trump escalating his false insistence that he actually won
Joe Biden is approaching a record 80m votes, with ballots still being counted and having already recorded the highest number of votes for a US presidential election winner, as Donald Trump persisted on Thursday in denying the result and trying to overturn it.
Continue reading...Trump’s top diplomat becomes first US secretary of state to officially visit a settlement
Israel’s military occupation has received a symbolic US stamp of approval after Mike Pompeo toured an archaeological dig run by a far-right settler group and visited a settlement that farms grapes on land Palestinians say was stolen from them.
The trips on Wednesday and Thursday marked the first time a US secretary of state had officially visited settlements, a deeply provocative move that previous American administrations went to lengths to avoid.
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Former official in the George W. Bush administration Matt Becker has a blunt message for General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Emily Murphy today. She’s the person who has so far failed to sign the documents to begin the official transition process to a Biden-Harris administration. Becker writes this morning:
When you serve in the executive branch, you are required to take an oath of office on your first day. Your oath is not to the president of the United States but to the Constitution and the American people. When Emily accepted this leadership role, she also accepted the responsibility to make the tough choices. This is one of those times.
Make no mistake, I absolutely want the Trump campaign to expose fraud, if it is there. As a father, small business owner and lifelong Republican, I do not want a Joe Biden presidency. I simply do not agree with Joe Biden on how to move America forward. But, as an American, I know elections have consequences and my support of our Constitution outweighs my distress at who will be in the Oval Office.
New claims for unemployment benefits in the US rose to 742,000 last week. It is the first increase since early October, as a surge in coronavirus cases keeps a tight check on the US economic recovery.
More than 21 million Americans are currently claiming some form of unemployment insurance.
Even with news of two promising vaccines, the consumer spending that powers the nation’s economic growth could shrivel amid extended business closures.
While the holiday season traditionally brings enormous sales volume for retailers, restaurants, and movie theaters, many are facing a challenging season. Travel is at a near-standstill, consumers’ wallets are already tightly squeezed, and extended pandemic unemployment assistance is set to expire by the end of December.
The economic pain from the coronavirus pandemic continues. The U.S. Department of Labor just reported that another 742,000 unemployed Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits just last week. Meanwhile, there’s still no badly needed Covid-19 economic stimulus package.
Red flag: 4.4 million Americans are receiving "Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation," up from 1.4 million in August.
That's the program for people who have been unemployed for months and exhausted their regular UI.
**It will end on Dec. 26 if Congress does not act** pic.twitter.com/tzDRIbW2tE
Russia passes landmark number as 23,610 new cases reported; Denmark says no further cases of mutation since mid-September
The UK will be urged to reconsider its opposition to waiving intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines and treatments at a World Trade Organization meeting on Friday, a move that would allow mass production of treatments and inoculations against the disease and could significantly shorten the length of the pandemic, campaigners say.
India and South Africa have proposed that WTO member states be allowed to waive patents and other intellectual property (IP) rights on any treatments and tools related to Covid-19 until the end of the pandemic, including for the Moderna and Pfizer/BionNTech vaccines that are set to be approved for use in the coming weeks.
Related: UK faces calls to drop opposition to patent-free Covid vaccines
More mink mutation news: a number of cases of Covid-19 have been found in people who work in the mink industry in Sweden.
In a statement the Swedish Public Health Agency said it and “the Swedish Veterinary Institute, the Swedish Board of Agriculture and local infection control units are jointly investigating whether there is any connection between the cases and their contact with minks.”
Flera myndigheter utreder fall av covid-19 inom minknäringen. https://t.co/TRDin3ZZHG
Continue reading...Police pronounced son of singer Bobby Brown dead at the scene but provided no additional details
Bobby Brown Jr, the son of singer Bobby Brown, was found dead at a Los Angeles home late Wednesday. He was 28.
Los Angeles Police spokesman Jeff Lee said officers were responding to a medical emergency when they found Brown Jr’s body around 1pm at a home in Encino, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Continue reading...The Georgia secretary of state tells the Guardian he’s received death threats for pushing back against the president’s claims
Of all the Republicans to push back on Donald Trump’s baseless claims about voter fraud, Brad Raffensperger, the mild-mannered top election official in Georgia, did not seem like a likely candidate.
Continue reading...Climate advocates urge Louisiana congressman Cedric Richmond to leverage his new position to help bring attention to their plight
As Louisiana congressman Cedric Richmond takes a senior role in the incoming Biden administration, climate advocates and leaders in the fight against toxic air pollution in his district have warned of his history of poor engagement with vulnerable communities and his ties to the oil and gas industry.
But they also have urged him to leverage his new position to help direct attention to their plight.
Continue reading...The new administration has promised to undo Trump’s discriminatory policies, but advocates want to see bold support for queer and trans rights
Joe Biden has promised to undo years of anti-LGBTQ+ policies by Donald Trump’s administration, but advocates and civil rights leaders are urging the president-elect to go further in expanding protections and opportunities for queer and transgender people.
In its four years in office, the Trump administration systematically attacked the fundamental rights of LGBTQ+ people, stripping away safeguards enacted in the previous administration in education, immigration, healthcare, housing and criminal justice.
Continue reading...From ‘peace’ deals to gutting aid, the US president has had a major impact on the region
Donald Trump has cast himself as an isolationist president focused on Americans. However, in one major foreign policy issue, Israel and Palestine, the US leader has possibly made more of an impact than any of his predecessors.
Continue reading...Lawsuit alleges boats lacked safety equipment and that there were no warning signs around California lake where she died in July
A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed over the drowning of Glee actor Naya Rivera, who died in July while boating with her four-year-old son on a lake in California.
The suit was filed on Tuesday against Ventura County and managers of Lake Piru over her accidental death on 8 July at the lake north-west of Los Angeles. It was filed on behalf of her son, Josey Hollis Dorsey, by Ryan Dorsey — Rivera’s ex-husband and the boy’s father and guardian — and also on behalf of her estate.
Continue reading...Watching Andrew Cuomo’s coronavirus press briefings was once a household ritual for many in the US and around the world. But on Wednesday, the New York governor lost his cool.
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The US coronavirus death toll has now surpassed 250,029, representing a higher death toll than any other country in the world.
According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, x number Americans have now died of coronavirus, more than eight months after the start of the pandemic.
Walmart, McDonald’s and Uber are among the companies that have the most employees on food stamps and Medicaid, according to a report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The GAO looked into the matter at the behest of Bernie Sanders. “These giant corporations pay starvation wages – wages so low their workers have to rely on Medicaid and food stamps,” Sanders said, pointing to several fast food and other companies whose workers have to rely on benefits because they do not make enough money to survive.
These giant corporations pay starvation wages—wages so low their workers have to rely on Medicaid and food stamps to survive:
Walmart
McDonald’s
Dollar Tree
Uber
Burger King
FedEx
Wendy's
This is what a rigged economy is about. We need a $15 living wage and Medicare for All. https://t.co/GFzfK9ERae
The United States has seen more than 250,000 deaths due to the coronavirus pandemic as a new swathe of data was released that pushed the stricken country over the grim landmark on Wednesday.
Latest figures from Johns Hopkins University showed that the number of people killed by Covid-19 is now 250,029.
Continue reading...Public schools in New York City will close again on Thursday, officials announced, after the city reached a 3% Covid test positivity rate.
Related: Covid deaths near 250,000 as US urged to act to stop 'unrelenting' spread
Continue reading...Donald Trump was condemned by opponents on Wednesday for firing the senior official who disputed his baseless claims of election fraud, as the president pressed on with his increasingly desperate battle to overturn Joe Biden’s victory.
Related: Biden to consult with frontline workers as US approaches 250,000 coronavirus deaths – live
Continue reading...More than 900 employees at Mayo Clinic, a top research hospital that is based in Rochester, Minnesota, have contracted Covid-19 in the last two weeks.
Continue reading...Decision seen as reward from Trump to Mexican counterpart for election support
A shock US decision to drop charges against a former Mexican defence minister accused of drug trafficking and money laundering has sparked celebration, consternation and bewilderment.
Gen Salvador Cienfuegos was arrested at Los Angeles airport last month and accused of being at the heart of a multimillion dollar conspiracy to smuggle huge shipments of drugs into the US.
Continue reading...Iran uses advanced uranium-enriching centrifuges in underground plant in breach of 2015 nuclear agreement
Iran has admitted a further breach of the 2015 nuclear deal by firing up advanced uranium-enriching centrifuges installed at its underground plant at Natanz.
The finding was made by the UN nuclear weapons inspectorate, the International Atomic Energy Association, and confirmed by the Iranian ambassador to the IAEA.
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