A U.S. immigration judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration can move forward with its deportation case against Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student and prominent pro-Palestinian activist who was arrested in New York City last month. Judge Jamee Comans of the LaSalle Immigration Court in Louisiana stated she did not have the authority Read More…
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Thursday the termination of $5.1 billion worth of Pentagon IT and consulting contracts, targeting major firms such as Accenture, Deloitte, and Booz Allen Hamilton. The move, he said, is aimed at eliminating “wasteful spending” and redirecting funds toward core defense priorities. In a Department of Defense memo, Hegseth ordered the Read More…
The U.S. Senate confirmed retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in a 60-25 vote on Friday, officially filling the nation’s top military post nearly two months after President Donald Trump ousted the previous chairman. The confirmation vote came just before lawmakers departed Washington Read More…
(The Center Square) – Billionaire Alex Meruelo is looking to use nearly $100 million in Reno city redevelopment funding for a new multi-use stadium at the University of Nevada, Reno. The public funds would come from a property tax cut, called Tax Increment Financing, which would take off a significant portion of Meruelo’s $1 billion Read More…
Rioters targeted the federal courthouse in Portland, Ore., on Thursday evening in renewed clashes between demonstrators and federal police. The attack on the courthouse came one day after authorities removed fencing initially erected over the summer, in response to continued riots following the death of George Floyd, an African American man killed during his arrest Read More…
Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, whose criminal fraud trial was scheduled to start in July, is asking for a delay because she’s pregnant. In a court filing on Friday, her defense attorneys and prosecutors asked Judge Edward Davila to delay the start of her trial by six weeks to begin on August 31, 2021. “On March Read More…
One of the most prolific careers in NFL history has come to an end, as New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees announced Sunday on Instagram he has decided to retire after 20 seasons. Brees’ four children, Baylen, Bowen, Callen and Rylen, announced in a video: “After 15 years with the Saints and 20 years in the NFL, our dad Read More…
A number of Americans reported late Friday that the third round of government stimulus checks were posted in their bank accounts, just one day after President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Relief Plan into law. Biden said on Thursday that some Americans would begin receiving deposits as soon this weekend. READ FULL STORY
Dozens of violent anti-cop protesters clad in black descended upon an Oregon courthouse, where they set fires and damaged the building Thursday night as federal officers responded with tear gas and flash-bang grenades, according to video and reports. Footage from outside the Mark O. Hatfield US Courthouse in downtown Portland late Thursday shows a small fire outside Read More…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now advising that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can gather indoors with others who have the jab — without masks or social distancing. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of the CDC, said Monday that fully vaccinated people can follow the looser guidelines about two weeks after their final shot. “CDC Read More…
The U.S. and South Korea have reached agreement on a new accord that would resolve a yearslong dispute on how to share the cost of American troops based on the Korean Peninsula, officials from the two countries said Sunday. The new accord, which would last through 2025, would provide for a “meaningful increase” in the South Korean Read More…
The U.S. is on course for an employment boom this year once pandemic restrictions ease and the economy reopens, according to economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “Reopening, fiscal stimulus, and pent-up savings should fuel very strong demand growth,” Chief Economist Jan Hatzius and colleagues wrote in a report highlighting an outlook that’s more optimistic than Read More…
On January 15, in its last days, President Donald Trump’s State Department put out a statement with serious claims about the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. The statement said the U.S. intelligence community had evidence that several researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology laboratory were sick with Covid-like symptoms in autumn 2019—implying the Chinese government had Read More…
A Long Island doctor is facing murder charges after five patients allegedly died between 2016 and 2018 due to prescriptions he wrote. George Blatti, 75, was arraigned Thursday on five counts of murder in the second degree and 11 counts of reckless endangerment in the first degree. Blatti was remanded and is due back in Read More…
Israeli authorities have identified the ship responsible for a massive oil spill that polluted the bulk of the country’s Mediterranean coastline, Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel said Wednesday. “We have laid our hands on the criminal ship,” Gamliel tweeted. “Our long reach will get to all those who harm nature in the sea and our Read More…
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas is lifting its mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday, making it the largest state to no longer require one of the most effective ways to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The announcement in Texas, where the virus has killed more than 43,000 people, rattled doctors and big city leaders who Read More…
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Biden administration’s push to end contracts with private prisons has left federal authorities in Cleveland scrambling to find ways to house nearly 800 inmates. A contract between the U.S. Marshals Service and CoreCivic, owner of the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown, expired Sunday. Authorities, however, were granted a three-month reprieve, Read More…
Two Bronx women caused an American Airlines flight to divert due to their “disturbing and unacceptable” behavior — including spitting at a passenger who asked them to stop using racial slurs, according to reports. Kelly Pichardo, 30, and Leeza Rodriguez, 29, were aboard Flight 776 from Dallas-Fort Worth to Los Angeles on Wednesday when a Read More…
Two travelers visiting Hawaii from Louisiana were arrested on Friday and accused of offering a Honolulu airport screener $3,000 to let them pass without quarantining or providing the negative coronavirus tests required for entry, officials say. Johntrell White, 29, and Nadia Bailey, 28, were charged with bribery and flown back to the mainland. The two allegedly flew Read More…
The first U.K. houses where appliances including boilers, stoves and ovens are fueled exclusively by hydrogen are due to be opened by April, with authorities hoping the buildings will provide the public with “a glimpse into the potential home of the future.” The project to develop the two semi-detached properties has received £250,000 (around $347,175) Read More…
Millions of people in Texas remain without power as a bitter cold snap prompted record-breaking wintertime energy demand for the region, all while dozens of gigawatts of power were unavailable. More than 4 million people in the state still don’t have power as of Tuesday morning, according to online tracker poweroutage.us. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, the Texas Read More…
A New York judge issued a restraining order Friday afternoon that prohibits the state from imposing its 10 p.m. curfew on dozens of restaurants in Erie and Monroe counties. The order, which took effect immediately, comes 10 days after about 90 Erie County establishments filed a lawsuit challenging a Cuomo administration order that directs establishments to Read More…
SEATTLE (Reuters) – Freed from his daily obligations at Amazon.com Inc, Jeff Bezos is expected to turn up the heat on his space venture, Blue Origin, as it faces a pivotal year and fierce competition from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, industry sources said. The 57-year-old Bezos, a lifelong space enthusiast and the world’s second-richest person behind Read More…
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday that she and financial market regulators needed to “understand deeply” what happened in the trading frenzy involving GameStop Corp and other retail stocks in recent days before taking any action. READ FULL STORY
Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Americans on Wednesday that large Super Bowl parties could turn into “super-spreader” events for COVID-19. During an interview on the Today show, the chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden and the director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases urged football fans to keep gatherings small for Sunday’s game. Read More…
Jalina Porter, who has been named deputy spokesperson for the U.S. State Department under President Biden, once wrote that the largest threat to U.S. national security may be a domestic one. In a 2016 Facebook post, Porter wrote that U.S. cops posed the largest national security threat, greater than that of both Russian hackers and ISIS, because of killings Read More…
New York’s nursing-home death toll from COVID-19 may be more than 50 percent higher than officials claim — because Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration hasn’t revealed how many of those residents died in hospitals, state Attorney General Letitia James announced Thursday. In a damning, 76-page report, James also said that some unidentified nursing homes apparently underreported resident fatalities to the state Department of Read More…
DETROIT — General Motors wants to end production of all diesel- and gasoline-powered cars, trucks and SUVs by 2035 and shift its entire new fleet to electric vehicles as part of a broader plan to become carbon neutral by 2040, the company said Thursday. The company plans to use 100% renewable energy to power its U.S. Read More…
In a report released by the Florida Museum of Natural History, 10 people were killed by sharks worldwide in 2020, which is the highest number since 2013. According to the International Shark Attack File, there were 13 shark-related fatalities in 2020, 10 of which were confirmed to be unprovoked. Six of those fatalities happened in Read More…
A New York Times editor lost her job after receiving criticism for tweeting about her excitement for President Joe Biden’s inauguration. Journalist Yashar Ali broke the news of Lauren Wolfe’s departure from The Times in a series of tweets last Thursday, saying that she had been let go from her editing job at The Times for tweeting about Read More…
Robert Kraft’s legal issues in Florida seem to finally be behind him for good. A federal judge in Florida ordered on Friday that a video allegedly showing the New England Patriots owner paying for sex at a massage parlor be destroyed, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II ruled that any videos Read More…
(The Center Square) – California, the state that has led population growth nationally for the last 170 years, reported a population loss under Gov. Gavin Newsom for the first time since 1850, according to newly published Census Bureau data. Until 2020, California had gained population in every year since 1900. Increasing taxes, restrictive policies on Read More…
The new $1.9 trillion ‘rescue plan’ introduced by President-elect Joe Biden includes an additional $1,400 in direct payment to Americans. “We will finish the job of getting a total of $2,000 in cash relief to people who need it the most,” Biden said at an event in Delaware on Thursday evening. “The $600 already appropriated is simply Read More…
(CNN) — They’re watching you, wherever you walk. They know exactly where you pause, when you slow down and speed up, and they count you in and out of the city. What’s more, they’re tracking your phone, so they can tell exactly how many people from your country or region are in which area, at which Read More…
Travelers will have a new nonstop route this summer to fly between Las Vegas and Wyoming. Allegiant Air will kick off a new nonstop route from Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, starting June 4. To mark the new route, Allegiant is offering one-way rates starting at $49. “We’re thrilled to announce Read More…
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – A Kansas woman was executed Wednesday for strangling an expectant mother in Missouri and cutting the baby from her womb, the first time in nearly seven decades that the U.S. government has put to death a female inmate. Lisa Montgomery, 52, was pronounced dead at 1:31 a.m. after receiving a lethal injection at the federal Read More…
Sheldon Adelson, who rose from selling newspapers on Boston street corners at age 12 to one of the most successful luxury resort developers, philanthropists and political influencers of his generation, died Monday night at his home in Malibu, California. He was 87. Adelson founded and served as chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., Read More…
Free speech advocates are striking out in their legal challenges to revenge porn laws. The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously upheld a law that bars displaying intimate images or video of another person, either nude or engaged in sexual acts, without the subject’s consent. A lower court had thrown out the state’s non-consensual porn Read More…
Bruce Burnworth used to clip coupons and look for deals before his investment in Tesla Inc. made him a millionaire. He is part of a widening class of affluent Americans who are doubling, or even tripling, down on this year’s highflying stock market. The S&P 500 has soared 66% since bottoming in March in the early days Read More…
For years, California and other states have collected detailed personal data from those getting immunizations to ensure children received the required shots. With the rollout of coronavirus vaccines, experts say the collection of names, addresses, birth dates and other information will be vital to tracking the safety and effectiveness of products that were developed in Read More…
SEOUL—The star of the younger sister of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un has risen so fast and high in the country’s ruling firmament in 2020 as to make her appear as a stand-in for big brother if not his rival for power. At 32, four years younger than Jong Un, Kim Yo Jong has made her Read More…
An autopsy has confirmed a man who died after a medical emergency mid-flight last week had COVID-19 and it likely caused his death. The 69-year-old man, identified by the coroner as Isais Hernandez, and his wife were on a United Airlines flight from Orlando to Los Angeles on December 14 when he had a medical emergency. The plane made Read More…
Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech will supply 100 million more doses of their coronavirus vaccine to the United States by this summer after protracted negotiations over how much the companies could deliver, given their commitments to other nations. The $1.95 billion agreement doubles the overall U.S. order for the vaccine to 200 million doses. Read More…
A Wendy’s employee in St. Louis was shot early on Tuesday morning, reportedly after an argument with a customer over dipping sauce. According to St. Louis’ FOX2, a man in a dark-colored Nissan came through the drive-thru at around 1 a.m. He reportedly asked for extra dipping sauce and was denied, which led to an argument Read More…