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Washington Post:"...The accounts of people who said they were inspired by the president to take part in the melee inside the Capitol vividly show the impact of Trump's months-long attack on the integrity of the 2020 election and his exhortations to supporters to 'fight' the results...On multiple occasions, he urged his supporters to come to Washington and to apply public pressure on Congress to change the election results...'Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!' he tweeted on Dec. 19. 'The BIG Protest Rally in Washington D.C., will take place at 11.00 A.M. on January 6th. Locational details to follow. StopTheSteal!' he wrote on New Year's Day. On the morning of Jan. 6, as Congress prepared to convene in the Capitol, Trump's son Donald Jr. delivered a fiery speech to the thousands of Trump supporters assembled on the Ellipse. Trump's personal attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, called for 'trial by combat.'In his address to the crowd, Trump did not overtly call for them to try to enter the building or commit violent violence. But he emphasized the need for strength and repeatedly called for the crowd to fight on his behalf.'Our country has had enough,' he said. 'We will not take it anymore, and that's what this all about. To use a favorite term that all of you people really came up with, we will stop the steal' He falsely claimed that 'all Vice President Pence has to do is send it back to the states to recertify, and we become president, and you are the happiest people.' And he said that if Pence allowed the vote to move forward, Biden would become president..."
the riot was much worse than thought CNN :"As DC Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone lay on the gorund at the US Capitol building, stunned and injured, he knew a group of rioters were stripping him of his gear. They grabbed spare ammunition, ripped the police radio off his chest and even stole his badge. Then, Fanone, who had just been Tasered several times in the back of the neck, heard something chilling that made him go into survival mode. 'Some guys started getting a hold of my gun and they were screaming out, 'Kill him with his own gun,' said Fanone, who's been a police officer for almost two decades..."
Rioters Speak to CNN reporter CNN Business:"CNN's Ellie Reeve speaks to rioters on the scene who broke into the Capitol during the Pro-Trump insurgence." Incendiary and demogogic propaganda from Donald Trump, his allies, and right wing media, resulted in the violent storming of the Capitol, the center of US democracy. The rioters said they were "taking back their freedom". "The Supreme Court didn't help us". One woman said "they are taking our freedom away putting us in lockdown and turning us into a socialist republic". These people have been convinced by the propagandic lies and conspiracy theories pushed forth by Trump and the right wing media. And Wednesday January 6 is evidence of that. This kind of propaganda designed to foment violence and division in this country is what our adversaries have been seeking and have obtained.
domestic terorists fueled by Trump, extremists, and conspiracy groups CNN: "The mob of Trump supporters who stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday included conspiracy theorists linked to QAnon and the Proud Boys--two right-wing extremist factions that President Donald Trump repeatedly refused to condemn during his election campaign last year. The insurrection at the heart of America's democracy, egged on by Trump's rhetoric, represented a stunning show of force for the fringe movements and their adherents. Four people were left dead during the mayhem, according to the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, including one woman shot by a U.S. Capitol Police officer and three other people who had medical emergencies..."
Amazon Web Services responds to Parler's lawsuit ABCNews: "Amazon Web Services has responded to Parler's lawsuit against it with a series of screenshots of hateful content--loaded with threats of violence and racial slurs--that allegedly spread on the platform, in new court filings. Parler, the self-proclaimed 'free speech' social media platform has courted controversy for months as it exploded in popularity among right wing-users. In the wake of the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol...Amazon Web Services abruptly suspended web hosting services to Parler, essentially forcing it offline..."
After pushing false claims Republicans call for unity Washington Post:"There are many parts of the legacy President Trump will leave behind when his term ends Wednesday. One of them is a broken Republican Party. In four years, Trump ideologically twisted a party that once had a coherent conservative governing philosophy, which he does not. He put a vise grip on the party's grass roots and persuaded many of them that truth does not matter. He opened up the party's coalition to an emboldened white supremacist movement..."
Trump Demagogue and Insurrectionist in Chief ABCNews: "President Donald Trump plans to make the unprecedented move to depart the White House next Wednesday morning, just before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, ABC News has learned. Trump has requested a large sendoff to be planned for the morning of Jan. 20, sources said, after he choppers via Marine One to Joint Base Andrews, where he is expected to give remarks to supporters and departing members of his administration. Sources add that Trump has requested his departure ceremony to have a 'military-like feel,' although details are not finalized. He hopes to depart to the blare of a miitary band, and a red carpet with military honors, according to sources briefed on the plans. Even some sort of military flyover has been suggested, they said..""
Trump supporters break into the US Capitol CNN: "...After rioters charged through a barricade, assaulted police officer, shattered windows and stormed into the hallowed building that was torched by the invading British military in 1814, Trump made a tepid plea for them to go home--although he repeated the falsehood that the election had been stolen. Republican leaders that night--including Vice President Mike Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell--condemned the rioters in the strongest terms. But it all appeared to have little effect on the radicalized right. But it all appeared to have little effect on the radicalized right. 'Trump WILL be sworn in for a second term on January 20th!!,' said a commenter on thedonald.win, a pro-Trump online forum, on Thursday, the day after the siege.'We must not let the communists win. Even if we have to burn DC to the ground. Tomorrow we take back DC and take back our country!!"
rioters build a gallows calling for executions The Atlantic:"On the West Lawn of the Capitol Wednesday, a man in a pom-pom beanie clamored for blood. 'Execute the traitors!' he shouted into a megaphone.'I wanna see executions!'...Four rioters died as a result of Wednesday's insurrection at the Capitol. The mob beat a police officer with a fire etinguisher, law-enforcement sources told the New York Times; the officer later died. Some of them had bigger plans too: Before thr potest, pro-Trump radicals had posted online about their intentions to kill Vice President Mike Pence. They brought zip ties and wore Kevlar vests. Rioters erected a wooden gallows next to the Capitol Reflecting Pool, and police discovered two pipe bombs on Capitol Hill. The violence could have been even worse. Some of the rioters clearly wanted it to be. And Wednesday's attack may have had another, more insidious effect: to embolden extremists. Already, Trump-supporting zealots online are promising to return to Washington around Inauguration Day. 'President Trump has ignited fire within people,' a protester named Maria told me on Wednesday afternoon, before either of us knew that rioters had broken into the Capitol.'Some of these guys...they're ready to go to war or die for their country today. This is not going away anytime soon.'...Law enforcement is preparing for future violence. This week, the Army announced that it will deploy 6,000 National Guard troops for Joe Biden's inauguration. But far-right extremists are not deterred—far from it. They are already reportedly plotting more rallies, incuding a return to Washington D.C. before or on the inauguration, this time with more guns... "
far right looking for other platforms NBCNews:"Telegram, a Dubai-based chat app that has attracted a surge of new users, including some far-right Trump supporters fleeing purges at other sites, has begun a rare purge of American extremist content. At least 15 Telegram channels...have recently been banned, according to a tally by NBC News. Content has been censored on several others. Some pro-Trump zealots have moved to Telegram in recent days to plan violence on Jan. 20 the day Joe Biden is scheduled to be inaugurated. One of the deleted channels, which proclaimed itself to be 'eco-fascist,' started in early June, hosting white supremacist content from its beginning. In the wake of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, its users posted Army manuals with bombmaking and munitions-making information. Megan Squire, a professor of computer science at Elon University and a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center...said that while Telgram's approach to moderating extremist content tends to be 'scattershot,' many of the recent bans are new..."
The NSA Washington Post:"Acting defense secretary Christopher C. Miller ordered the director of the National Security Agency to install on Saturday a former GOP political oeprative as the NSA's top lawyer, according to four individuals familiar with the matter. It is unclear what the NSA will do. The agency and the Pentagon declined to comment..."
CNN:"Federal law enforcement officials are warning that domestic extremists are likely more emboldened to carry out attacks on President-elect Joe Biden's upcoming inauguration and throughout 2021 after seeing the success of last week's siege on the US Capitol. The threat is further complicating an already monumental challenge facing law enforcement agencies tasked with securing Washington in the coming days..."
CNN:"_After the House voted 232 to 197 to impeach him--with the support of 10 Republicans--Trump released a video statement that did not mention the historic development that had occurred a few hours earlier. instead, he delivered a call for calm as the threat of new riots--which Trump said he'd been briefed on by the Secret Service--casts a pall over Washington...At the end of the spot, which was recorded by the White House and not independent television cameras, Trump decried what he called the 'unprecedented assault on free speech we have seen in recent days...."
Dana Bash Glora Border react to Trump video CNN : Dana Bash and Gloria Border react to a new video the White House released of President Trump calling for calm as the threat of new riots casts a pall over Washington. 'Give me a large break here! What we just saw was an attempt at damage control. He was trying to convince Senators not to impeach him. He was the one who instigated the insurrection. The arsonist does not get to be the firefighter here.
As usual Trump is defiant CNN:"A defiant President Donald Trump insisted Tuesday his speech inciting the riot at the US Capitol was 'totally appropriate' while at the same time calling for 'no violence' in his first public remarks to reporters after the insurrection last week. Trump assumed no responsibility for what happened last Wednesday, despite telling his supporters in the hour beforehand to 'fight like hell.'..."
What Trump said before mob stormed the Capitol ABC:"Many who participated in the chaos at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday came straight from an event held by President Donald Trump. Trump's 'Save America Rally' included the president telling supporters to 'stop the steal' of the election, urging them to head to the Capitol to demonstrate against Congress certifying President-elect Joe Biden's victory. Among the crowds battle cries was 'Fight for Trump!Fight for Trump!Fight for Trump!' Trump spoke at the event nearly an hour at the Ellipse, a park near the White House. After he spoke, thousands of attendees, many of them without masks, marched toward Capitol Hill..."
mob threatens cnn crew CNN Business:"CNN's Alex Marquardt shares footage his crew captured as they were berated and threatened whil covering the pro-Trump mob at the US Capitol." There were numerous reports of assaults on reporters Wednesday. Rioters threatened Marquardt and his crew once it was discovered they were with CNN. "Get the F* out of here get the F* traitor CNN sucks There is more of us than there are of you we can absolutely destroy you right now. " Marquardt said I felt I was like a foreign correspondent again, but this is where we are...these people have been told that their country has been stolen from them, that their votes have been stolen and the press is the enemy of the people so it is no real surprise. The division, tribalism and sectarianism these are words we use covering foreign countries, this is where we are, we should be stunned and shocked but if you have been paying attention we should not be surprised..."
signal.org NY Times:"...In the four hours after Parler went offline on Monday, one Proud Boys group on Telegram gained over 4,000 new followers.'Don't trust Big tech,' read a message on one Proud Boys group on Parler. 'We will need to find safer spaces' On Signal, a Florida-based militia group said on Monday that it was organizing its chats in small, city-by-city groups limited to a few dozen people each, according to messages seen by The New York Times. They warned one another not to let anyone they did not personally know, to avoid law enforcement officials spying on their chats..."
Capitol Rioters one with a sign that says Make Guillotines Great Again NBC News:"The FBI is investigating whether foreign governments, organizations or individuals provided financial support to extremists who helped plan and execute the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, one current and one former FBI official told NBC News. As part of the investigation, the bureau is examining payments of $500,000 in bitcoin, apparently by a French national, to key figures and groups in the alt-right before the riot, the sources said..."
Confederate battle flag in the Capitol CNN:"A pro-Trump mob in thrall to White supremacy and incited by President Donald Trump laid siege to the US Capitol on January 6. With their Confederate flags and zip ties in hand, rioters sought to overturn the legitimate election that President-elect Joe Biden won two months ago...the election in November made clear the political might of Black voters, who saw the ballot box as a means of protesting against Trump and the racial animus that he and his acolytes embody. White backlash to racial equaity--including an empowered Black electorate--isn't unusual. In fact, what makes the dynamic disturbing is how common it's been throughout US history. And the issue isn't just the backlash itself. It's also the fear (real or alleged) of backlash--fear that might hold back progress. And while the attack on the Capitol was horrifying, it wasn't the first manifestation of White backlash. In important ways, this episode echoed the past. The years immediately followingh the end of the Civil War in 1865 saw the ratification of the three Reconstruction amendments...By the mid-1870s, though, the country had essentially abandoned its equal rights efforts, as Supreme Court decisions as well as Jim Crow laws and revanchist campaigns in the South eroded the civil, economic and political progress that Black Americans had gained..."
Dr Susan Moore dies ABC News:"Lying in a hospital bed laboring for breath despite being on oxygen, Dr. Susan Moore, a 52-year old Black physician, stared into her cell phone and recorded a video alleging her battle with COVID-19 was made worse by the treatment she received from a doctor at a suburban Indianapolis, Indiana, hospital. Moore died on Sunday from complications of coronavirus, he son said...Moore's case apears to highlight a concern health-care advocates say has been exposed by the pandemic: allegations that Black people and minorities suffering from COVID receive inferior medical treatment compared to whites..."
on a laptop in the dark CNN:"President Donald Trump's former homeland security adviser described the massive data breach of multiple US federal agencies, which US officials suspect is the work of Russian-linked hackers, in urgent terms Wedneday night, calling for immediate and decisive action by the President. 'The magnitude of this ongoing attack is hard to overstate,' Tom Bossert, who headed the administration's cybersecurity efforts, including its response to Russian interference in the 2016 election before he was pushed out in April 2018, wrote in a New York Times op-ed. He added it will 'take years to know for certain which networks the Russins control and which ones they just occupy.'..."
the building NYTimes:"Over the past few years, the United States government has spent tens of billions of dollars on cyberoffensive capabilities, building a giant war room at Fort Meade, Md., for United States Cyber Command and installing sensors all around the country—as system named Einsteing to give it an air of genius—to deter the nation's enemies from picking its networks clean, again. It now is clear that the broad Russian espionage attack on the United States government and private companies, underway since spring and detected by private companies only a few weeks ago, ranks among the greatest intelligence failures of modern times..."
NBCNews:"The wave of Covid-19 infections sweeping across the United States was followed Monday by a spate of new lockdowns and calls to reimpose restrictions after a week when more than a million new cases were reported. With two promising vaccines still months away from the start of widespread distribution and President Donald Trump slowing the transition by refusing to concede his apparent election loss to Joe Biden, mayors and governors were battening down the hatches and not counting on guidance from Washington..."
CNN: "Pope Francis has declared support for civil unions for same-sex couples for the first time, according to the Catholic News Agency.The Pope made the historic remarks in a new documentary film,'Francesco,' which was released in Rome on Wednesday. 'Homosexual people have a right to be in a family. They're children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it,' the Pope said in the film, the Catholic News Agency reported..."
NBCNews:"Catalina Marcelino,42, usually spends the days before November making signature Mexican dishes, like mole and tamales, to celebrate el Dia de los Muertos...the tradition originating in Mexico that celebrates the life of loved ones who are deceased. The Freehold, New Jersey, resident said the celebrations on Nov.1 and 2 will be very different for her family this year. They're still reeling from the death of her father-in-law, Wilfredo Noyola, 68, who died this summer from coronavirus complications...
Bridging the Global Wealth Gap Bloomberg New Economy Forum: Bridging the Global Wealth Gap: "IBM Exhectuive Chair Ginni Rometty, McDonald's Corp. CEO Chris Kempxzinski, Singapore Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratmnam and Blackstone Group Inc. Chairman and CEO Stephen Schwarzman discuss the task of rebuilding the eocnomy and the best path to prosperity for low-income workers..."
the coronavirus CNN:"...New, more contagious variants of the coronavirus will likely accelrate the spread of the virus and that means the US must double down on efforts to protect people, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. A variant first identified in Britain known as B.1.1.7 is being found in the US as well, and modeling indicates it could worsen the already terrible spread of the virus across the country, the CDC researchers said. That means people need to try harder to wear masks, avoid gatherings and stay socially distant from one another. 'It means that it is going to be harder and harder to contrl it. Any of those measures we are going to have to do to a higher degree..."
flag and girl Reuters:"Wall Street's main indexes finished lower on Friday, weighed down by big U.S. banks after their earnings reports, while the energy fell sharply due to a regulatory probe into Exxon Mobil Corp. The S&P 500 banks index lost ground as shares of Wells Fargo & Co, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc tumbled even though they had posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter profits. The gank sector had rallied sharply in recent days. Wells Fargo, down 7.8%, was among the biggest drags on the S&P 500, along with Exxon MObil, down 4.8%. 'Financials and energy have been disappointing...that's bringing down the whole market,' said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance in Charlotte, North Carolina. 'This is the year for financials, energy, materials, industrials. So if there is a day when they're not leading, it's not good news for the market..."
Microsoft and clouds Reuters:"Microsoft was hacked as part of the suspected Russian campaign that has hit multple U.S. government agencies by taking advantage of the widespread use of software from SolarWinds Corp, according to people familiar with the matter. As with networking management software by SolarWinds, Microsoft's own products were then used to further the attacks on others, the people said. It was not immediately clear how many Microsoft users were affected by the tainted products. The Department of Homeland Security, which said earlier Thursday that the hackers used multiple methods of entry is continuing to investigate..."
NBC News:"In an election year when the unemployment rate in the U.S. soared to its highest level since the Great Depression and was compared to a natural disaster, a terrorist attack and a financial shock all at once, many voters across the country-even in states with the biggest economic fallout-cast their ballot for President Donald Trump. ..The data shows the trend was apparent nationwide, from Latino communities in southern Texas and Florida, to counties in California, Connecticut and even Hawaii where the unemployment rate reached nearly 24 percent..."
Washington Post:"As the Donald Trump parenthesis in the republic's history closes, he is opening the sluices on his reservoir of invectives and self-pity. A practiioner of crybaby conservatism—no one, he thinks, has suffered so much since Job lost his camels and acquired boils—and ever a weakling, Trump will end his presidency as he began it: whining...His presidency that began with a wallow in self-pity probably will end in ignominy when he slinks away pouting, trailing clouds of recriminations, without a trace of John McCain's graciousness on election night 2008:..."
Washington Post:"...The records show that Trump has continued to make money off foreign investments and projects while in office; that foriegn officials have spent lavishly at his Washington hotel and other properties; and that despite this revenue he is hundreds of millions of dollars in debt with massive payments coming due..."
Four CNN Correspondents Reflect on White House Coverage CNNBusiness:"It's ...been a whirlwind four years for reporters covering Donald Trump's presidency, a time marked by a never-ending campaign of attacks on the press. The relationship between the media and the Trump White House was contentious. It stirred up mistrust and led to a disturbing rise of physical and verbal threats against journalists. Those threats were aided and egged on by Trump's constant prodding to his supproters of 'fake news' and jabs at the press as 'the enemy of the people.' 'I am not the only reporter who covered this White House, who has had death threats,' said Jim Acosta, CNN's chief White House correspondent on 'Reliable Sources on Sunday. 'We can't be at a place in this country where political reporters, White House correspondents, need bodyguards to cover political campaign events.'..."
homeless camp portland oregon Bloomberg:"An economy is its people. Alongside the 19 million infected and more than 330,000 killed in the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., there are millions more whose lives have been upended by the economic collapse that has come with it... People once in the middle class are struggling to secure food, shelter and a decent income. At the same time, others are enjoying rising home prices, new models of work and the pleasures of baking bread. This is America in 2020—here are some faces and facts that tell the story. Donna Swangler is used to extending help to others during the holidays. This year that means administering a Facebook group with more than 19,000 self-employed contractors and gig workers, many of them trying to navigate the unemployment system..."
Former Defense Secreatary Mattis ABCNews:"Former Defense Secretary James Mattis has directly blamed President Donald Trump for having fomented the security breach at the U.S. Capitol Wednesday...'Today's violent assault on our Capitol, an effort to subjugate American democracy by mob rule, was fomented by Mr. Trump,' said Mattis, who served as Trump's first secretary of defense, in a statememt provided to ABCNews.'His use of the Presidency to destroy trust in our election and to poison our respect for fellow citizens has been enabled by pseudo political leaders whose names will live in infamy as profiles in cowardice,' he added.'Our Constitution and our Republic will overcome this stain and We the People will come together again in our never-ending effort to form amore perfect Union, while Mr. Trump will deservedly be left a man without a country.' Gen Joseph Dunford Ret Retired Marine General Joseph Dunford, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Trump, issued a rare statement regarding Wednesday's violence. His comments are noteworthy, as he has kept his opinions on political events quiet since his retirement. 'I bleieve our leaders who have continued to undermine a peaceful transition in accordance with our Constitution have set the conditions for today's violence,' he said in a statement provided to ABC News. 'This is an outrageous assault on our democracy and a sad day for our Nation,' Dunford added.'It's time for all Americans and particularly our elected officials to put our Country first. As many have said, we're better than this.'..."
DHS office Washington Post:"...For days, it has been clear that compromised software patches distributed by a Texas-based company, SolarWinds, were central to Russian efforts to gain access to U.S. government computer systems. But Thursday's alert frm Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency at the Department of Homeland Security said evidence suggested there was other malware used to initiate what the alert described as 'a grave risk to the Federal Government and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations..."
WA Post America's Biggest Companies Washington Post:"As the coronavirus pandemic devastated small businesses and plunged millions of Americans into poverty this summer and fall, executives at some of the largest corporations sounded surprisingly upbeat...With few exceptions, big businesses are having a very different year from most of the country...45 of the 50 most valuable publicly traded companies turned a profit, a Washington Post analysis found. Despite their success, at least 27 of the 50 largest firms held layoffs this year, collectively cutting more than 100,000 workers..."
NBCNews:"More than 1 million children in the United States have been diagnosed with Covid-19 according to a report released Monday. As of last Thursday, a total of 1,039,464 young people, including infants and teens, had tested positive for the coronavirus. The weekly report on pediatric cases is a collaboration between the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association, and uses state health department data to track pediatric cases nationwide..."
NY Times:"...Mr. Trump did not merely fail to end Washington's insider culture of lobbying and favor seeking. He reinvented it, turning his own hotels and resorts into the Beltway's new back rooms, where public and private business mix and special interests reign...
At a rally Trump complained that CNN was always talking about Covid this Covid that there always talking about it, they don't want you to vote, people are not going for it you "dumb bastards" to the loud applause of the crowd. CNN's Brianna Keilar responded that we do it for the 220,417 people who have died and we are going to keep doing it. CNN then rolled videos of the hundreds of people who have lost loved ones due to the virus, every single person that Trump does not care to empathize with and who he has failed as a president...
UK EU agree to post Brexit trade deal BBC:"Summary ...'We have taken back control of our money, border, laws, trade and our fishing waters,' the UK government says...The text of the agreement has yet to be released, but UK PM Boris Johnson claims it is a 'good deal for the whole of Europe'...'Today is a day of relief, but tinged by some sadness,' EU chief negotiator MIchel Barnier says...The UK is set to exit EU trading rules next Thursday-a year after officially leaving the 27 nation bloc...Negotiating teams talked through the night to finalise the details of the agreement..."
The Highest Paid CEOs Bloomberg:"rightly or wrongly, Wall Street CEOs are still excoriated as greedy fat cats who exemplify everything that's wrong with executive pay. But look around corporate America these days, and you'll find any number executives, paritcularly in tech, taking home far more than thos bankers ever made—even during the boom years before the financial crisis—without a fraction of the scrutiny or the outrage. It's a small price to pay, companies lavishing those lofty compensation packages say, as long as their stock prices keep going up..."
SMIC CNN Business:"China had been counting on its biggest chipmaker to help the country eventually reduce its reliance on the likes of Intel (INTC) and Samsung (SSNLF). The United States just put those ambitions in jeopardy. Washington announced Friday that it will require US exporters to apply for a license before they can sell to Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC)The US government claims that the chipmaker can use its tech to help China modernize its armed forces. SMIC (SIUIF) says it has no relationship with the Chinese military..."
UK Health Secretary new mutation is out of control Bloomberg:"U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned that the new strain of the coronavirus is 'out of control' and suggested parts of England will be stuck in the new, highest tier of restrictions until a vaccine is rolled out. More than 16 million Britons are now required to stay at home after a lockdown came into force Sunday in London and southeast England and the government scrapped plans to relax rules on socializing at Christmas. The measures to control the fast-spreading new variant of the virus forbid household mixing in those areas and restrict socializing to just Christmas Day across the rest of England..."
what happens when the one percent work remotely Bloomberg:"The 1% are on the move. Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen bought a $17 million teardown on Miami Beach's ultra-exclusive Indian Creek island. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, who are said to have plunked down $30 million for a lot, may be their neighbors. Recently it emerged that hedge fund Elliott Management Corp. is moving its Manhattan headquarters to South Florida, and that private equity gian Blackstone Group Inc., will open an office there. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is reportedly considering relocating part of its asset management operations to the region, too..."
Hurricane damage Louisiana NBCNews:"..The deadly and destructive hurricanes Laura and Delta delt a double blow to Louisiana just six weeks arpart, making landfall in coastal Cameron Parish near the Texas border. Lausra made landfall in late August, leaving a path of destruction along its route from the coast to Lake Charles, a working-class city in Calcasieu Parish of around 80,000 people..."
China will respond Reuters:"China will respond to the reported visit of a U.S. Navy admiral to Taiwan and firmly opposes any military relations between Taipei and Washington, China's Foreign Ministry said on Monday. A two-star Navy admiral overseeing U.S. military intelligence in the Asia-Pacific region has made an unannounced visit to Taiwan, two sources told Reuters on Sunday. Neither Taiwan nor the United States has officially confirmed the trip..."
pro democracy activists remanded Reuters:"Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was remanded into custody on Monday after pleading guilty to charges of organising and inciting an unauthorized assembly near the police headquarters during last year's anti-government protests..."
Woman and child in Tigray BBC:"Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: PM gives Tigray forces 72 hours to surrender. Ethiopia's prime minister has given forces in the northern region of Tigray 72 hours to surrender as government troops advance on the capital, Mekelle. Abuy Ahmed told Tigrayan leaders they were 'at a point of no return'.."
The Wonders of Star Gazing CNN: "The two largest planets in our solar system are coming closer together than they have been since the Middle Ages, and it's happenng just in tie for Christmas. So there are some things to look forward to in the final month of 2020.On the night of December 21, the winter solstice, Jupiter and Saturn will appear so closely aligned n our sky that they will look like a double planet. This close approach is called a conjunction.' Alignments between these two planets are rather rare, occurring once every 20 years or so, but this conjunction is exceptionally rare...'..."
Large and Small Magellanic Clouds CNN:"There are nearly 2 billion stars in our galaxy. At least that's what the most current map shows. Astronomers have mapped the most extensive atlas of our Milky Way galaxy yet, including the positions of each and every one of those stars. The European Space Agency's Gaia space observatory also tracked the movement, colorsand brightness of these stars as well as the first visible measurement of the acceleration of our solar system..."
Origin of the planets capsule lands in Australia Reuters:"Japan has retrieved a capsule of asteroid dust from Australia's remote outback after a six-year mission that may help uncover more about the origins of the planets and water, the Asian nation's space agency said on Sunday. The mission of the Japanese spacecraft, Hayabusa2, spotlights Asia's growing role in space exploration, with a Chinaes robotic vehicle collecting lunar samples last week for the first time since the 1970s. A helicopter flew the capsule from the unmanned craft containing the first extensive samples of asteroid dust, from the landing site in Australia's desert to a domestic research facility of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)...."
Russia China joint patrols in the Pacific ABCNews:"Russian and Chinese bombers flew a joint patrol mission over the Western Pacific Tuesday in a show of increasingly close military ties between Moscow and Beijing. The Russian military said that a pair of its Tu-95 strategic bombers and four Chinese H-6K bombers flew over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the joint mission was intended to 'develop and deepen the comprehensive Russia-China partnership further increase the level of cooperation between the two militaries, expand their ability for joint action and strengthen strategic stability'..."
Global Wealth Inequality Bloomberg: "Tax cuts for rich people breed inequality without providing much of a boon to anyone else, according to a study of the advanced world that could add to the case for the wealthy to bear more of the cost of the coronavirus pandemic. The paper, by David Hope of the London School of Economics and Julian Limberg of King's College London, found that such measures over the last 50 years only really benefited the individuals who were directly affected, and did little to promote jobs or growth. 'Policy makers shouldn't worry that raising taxes on the rich to fund the financial cost of the pandemic will harm their economies,' Hope said in an interview..."
BBC:"Police in the Marshall Islands have found their biggest drug haul ever, in an abandoned boat washed ashore on a small atoll. It's thought the vessel might have drifted across the Pacific Ocean from Latin America, spending possibly months out sea. the 649kg (1,430lb) of cocaine have an estimated street value of $80m(L61m). Drugs often wash ashore on the remote Pacific archpelago but last week's discovery set a new record. Police said the drugs were incinerated on Tuesday, apart from two packets, which have been sent to the US Drug Enforcement Administration for testing..."
WSJ:"Several attackers killed at least one person and seriously injured others in a terrorist attack in an area around a synagogue in the Austrian capital Vienna on Monday night, police and government officials said. One passerby was shot dead an police shot one of the attackers, a police spokesman said. The police operation was focusing on six locations in central Vienna where the attackers opened fire..."
Afghanistan one of the worlds most dangerous countries for children BBC:"An average of five children have been killed or wounded every day for the past 14 years in war-torn Afghanistan, a charity has found. Data from the UN showed at least 26,025 children were killed or maimed from 2005 to 2019, said Save the Children. The charity has urged donor nations to protect the future of children ahead of a key meeting in Geneva on Monday..."
Hundreds arrested in Minsk BBC:"Opposition protesters remain defiant in Belarus despite police brutality, 100 days after they first took to the streets to denounce the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko. Police in helmets and body armour throw women holding flowers and balloons into police vans. Officers tear-gas elderly people on a pensioners' march. Men in balaclavas chace musicians for singing songs from popular cartoons in courtyards. Yet every Sunday thousands still pour into the streets of the capital Minsk, condemning what they see as Mr Lukashenko's fraudulent 9 August victory. Western governments have also condemned the widely reported election abuses and Mr Lukashenko's violent crackdown..."
Milton Friedman Bloomberg:"George Serafeim wants to revolutionize the way businesses calculate their success. Profit and loss aren't enough says the Harvard Business School professor. Serafeim aims to do what no one has done before: Put a dollar value on the impact of products and operations on people and the planet, then add or subtract it from companies' bottom lines. Intel Corp. provides an example of both. Serafeim and his five-person team credited $6.9 billion to the chipmaker in 2018 fo paying its employees well and for boosting local economies where it has offices..."
HPE website Washington Post:"Tech giant Hewlett Packard Enterprise said it is moving its global headquarters to the Houston area from California, where the company's roots go back to the founding of Silicon Valley decades ago. Texas Gov. Greg Abbot's office announced that the relocation will increase the company's presence in the area, which is already home to more than 2,600 employees..."
UK EU Brexit BBC :"A new era has begun for the United Kingdom after it completed its formal separation from the European Union. The UK stopped following EU rules at 23:00 GMT, as replacement arrangements for travel, trade, immigration and security co-operation came into force. Boris Johnson said the UK had 'freedom in our hands' and the ability to do things 'differently and better' now the long Brexit process was over. French President Emmanuel Macron said the UK remained a 'friend and ally'. UK minister have warned there will be some disruption in the coming days and weeks..."
Sen Mazie Hirono D Hawaii NBC News:"The government recently restored federal health care to the Marshallese and other Pacific Islanders, decades after the programs were taken away. Lawmakers, led in part by Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, reinstated Medicaid for the groups as part of the larger coronavirus relief and year-end funding, which President Donald Trump signed this week. President Bill Clinton signed a welfare bill 24 years ago that altered who was eligible for federal aid, stripping the Marshallese and other nations of coverage. Experts say it was an injustice that had long been ignored..."
solar winds adviser gave warnings Bloomberg:"A former security adviser at the IT monitoring and network management company SolarWinds Corp. said he warned management of cybersecurity risks and laid out a plan to improve it that was ultimately ignored...Thornton-Trump, as well as a former SolarWinds software engineer...said that given the cybersecurity risks at the company, they viewed a major breach as invevitable...'My belief is that from a security perspective, SolarWinds was an incredibly easy target to hack,' said Thornton-Trump, now the chief information security officer at threat intelligence firm Cyjax Ltd..."
We Are One BBC:"Every year, some 1,000 interfaith couples get in touch with a Delhi-based support group and seek help. Hindu and Muslim couples usually approach Dhanak when their families deny them persmission to marry. Aged between 20-30 years, the harried men and women want the group , talk to their families or help them seek legal assistance. Among the couples who come to Dhanak, 52% are Hindu women planning to marry Muslm men; and 42% are Muslim women planning to marry Hindu men. "Both Hindu and Muslim families in India fiercely oppose interfaith marriages,' Asif Iqbal, founder of Dhanak, told me.."
WSJ: "Gunmen stormed Afghanistan's Kabul University as it hosted an Iranian book fair, killing at least 19 people and wounding 22 others, in the second attack claimed by Islamic State in recent weeks on an educational center in the country. Monday's attack in the Afghan capital involved three gunmen who were killed after a six-hour battle with security forces, according to Afghanistan's Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian..."
WSJ:"Tom Hayes, the former bank trader convicted of global interest-rate rigging, will be released from prison on Jan. 29 after serving five years out of an 11-year prison sentence...The 40-year-old Briton was found guilty by a jury in 2015 on eight counts of conspiracy to defraud for his role in attempting to rig interest-rate benchmarks while working at UBS Group AG and Citigroup Inc. The high-profile case was the first criminal conviction of an individual for rigging the widely used London interbank offered rate, or Libor..."
Bloomberg:"After George Floyd's killing this year, corporate America flooded social media with statements of support for protesters—and some even went further, with pldeges and targes to hire more Black people and other people of color, including in top management roles. Now some companies are taking the ultimate step—unveiling all of their data on the racial makeup of their employees. By showing how underrepresented Black and other minority groups are in their workplaces..."
People sift through debris NBCNews:"A new report by a federal agency that regulates the nation's commodities markets warns that climate change 'poses a major risk to the stability of the U.S. financial system' and is already affecting, or is projected to affect, nearly every part of the American economy. Coming at the midpoint of what has already been an intense hurricane season and as extreme wildfires rage across a huge part of the west Coast, the report offers one of the most strongly worded warnings about the financial risks of climate change yet seen from a federal financial regulator..."
Pro Democracy Activist arrested in security crackdown Reuters:"Over 50 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of violating the city's national security law, local media reported, in the biggest crackdown yet against the opposition camp under the contentious new legislation. Police also arrived at the offices of pr-democracy online media outlet Stand News, according to live footage on its website. A Stand News reporter said police had asked the editor-in-chief to sign documents related to a national security investigation..."
Lost Library BBC:"Centuries ago, a prestigious Islamic library brought Arabic numerals to the world. Though the library long since disappeared, its mathematical revolution changed our world. The House of Wisdom sounds a bit like make belive: no trace remains of this ancient library, destroyed in the 13th Century, so we cannot be sure exactly where it was located or what it looked like. But this prestigious academy was in fact a major intellectual powerhouse in Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age, and the birthplace of mathematical concepts as transformative as the common zero and our modern-day 'Arabic' numerals..."
ShakespeareCNN:"When you see a big discovery about William Shakespeare hit the press before fellow scholars have had a chance to ask questions, take a breath and be very, very skeptical..."
CNN:"Betelgeuse, the red supergiant star that acts as the shoulder of Orion in his constellation, is having a moment. Normally one of the brightest stars in the constellation, it's been dimming..."
Reuters:"...Welcome to the longest U.S. economic expansion in history, one perhaps characterized by the excesses of extreme wealth and an ever-widening chasm between the unfathomably rich and everyone else..."
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