Politics

The Republican National Committee is threatening to prohibit its future nominees from participating in presidential debates if the organization behind them does not agree to certain reforms. In a letter addressed to the Commission on Presidential Debates on Thursday, RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel outlined concerns as to “whether the CPD credibly can provide a fair

UPDATE: Queen Elizabeth II has removed all of Prince Andrew’s military titles and royal patronages days after it emerged that her son, who is also known as the Duke of York, will face a civil trial in New York after his motion to dismiss Virginia Giuffre’s sexual assault case was thrown out by a judge.

Prince Andrew is set to face a civil trial in New York as his motion to dismiss Virginia Giuffre’s sexual assault case was thrown out by a judge on Wednesday. The British royal’s legal team sought to have the case dismissed on the basis it was “legally insufficient,” largely due to a settlement she signed

Donald Trump gave his first interview to NPR in six years, but the conversation was abruptly ended after the former president hung up on reporter Steve Inskeep after being challenged over his election fraud lies. Trump was asked about Republican candidates being forced to back his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

Republican congressman Matt Gaetz wants to stop the music this weekend in Florida, when it comes to the 30A Songwriters Festival, an annual gathering that he contends is acting as a scofflaw when it comes to COVID restrictions — by having any at all. Gaetz has written an open letter to Florida governor Ron De

A judge has sentenced the three men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery to life in prison. Travis McMichael and his father Gregory McMichael were sentenced to life plus 20 years without the possibility of parole. Their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. In Georgia, life in prison is

Citizen News, an independent Hong Kong news publication, announced on Sunday evening that it will disband by Tuesday. It is the third publication in city that was not aligned with the pro-Beijing camp to close in the space of seven months. “We announced with a heavy heart that CitizenNews will cease operation starting from January

Twitter permanently suspended the personal account of far-right politician Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for repeated violations of the social network’s policy prohibiting COVID misinformation. Greene’s @mtgreenee account on Twitter has been permanently suspended; she still has access her official congressional account, @RepMTG. Before Twitter banned the @mtgreenee account, it had 465,000 followers. The account’s

National Security Police in Hong Kong have arrested six people associated with Chinese-language online media company Stand News. They include pop star-turned-pro-democracy activist Denise Ho. “Police National Security Department conducted a search against an online media company in Kwun Tong with a warrant issued under Schedule 1 of the Implementation Rules for Article 43 of

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that his administration is ramping up testing and hospital resources to combat the omicron variant, but promised that the country will not return to lockdowns that were seen in March 2020. Biden also again urged people to get vaccinated and get booster shots, saying it is a “patriotic duty.” He

Elizabeth Warren has tested positive for COVID-19. The Mass. Senator announced her diagnosis on Sunday. “I regularly test for COVID and while I tested negative earlier this week, today I tested positive with a breakthrough case,” Warren stated through her official Twitter. “Thankfully, I am only experiencing mild symptoms and am grateful for the protection

Here we go again. Europe has marked its strictest lockdown yet over the Omicron variant, with the Netherlands announcing a Christmas lockdown that will run through to at least mid-January. Non-essential shops, schools, bars, restaurants and other public venues, including cinemas, will be closed under the new rules. The Dutch restrictions come into effect on

Country stars mostly shied away from being forthright with their political beliefs known in the 2010s, but the pendulum seems to have swung in the other direction in the last couple of years, with stars like Jason Aldean coming out as explicitly anti-Biden. The shift has really become apparent, though, with the unveiling of the

California will enact a statewide indoor mask mandate, regardless of vaccination status, starting Wednesday until Jan. 15. The new requirement comes amid concerns about the Omicron variant, which has contributed to a 47 percent increase in daily COVID-19 cases since Thanksgiving, according to California Health and Human Services. People attending events with 1,000 people or

The U.S. government has won the latest round in its bid to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange from the U.K. In January, a London court turned down a request for Assange to be extradited to the U.S. to face espionage charges, over mental health concerns. Assange’s clinical depression could be compounded and he might commit

Hillary Clinton is sharing her personal insights and strategies about perseverance and resilience in an all-new internet course. Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State, senator and first lady, was famously defeated in the 2016 presidential election by Donald Trump. In her new class, launched on the MasterClass e-learning platform, Clinton will host lessons covering practical

The Senate voted to confirm Jessica Rosenworcel, chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission — the first woman to lead the agency on a permanent basis — to serve for another five-year term. The Senate on Tuesday voted 68-31 to confirm Rosenworcel’s new term as commissioner, after she gained key Republican supporters in the chamber including

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), a stalwart defender of Donald Trump, will step down from his seat in Congress to become CEO of the ex-president’s Trump Media & Technology Group in 2022. Nunes, currently a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee who once unsuccessfully sued Twitter alleging defamation over parody accounts purporting to be his

John Stankey, CEO of AT&T, said an effort by Democratic leaders in Congress to characterize the proposed merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery as an anticompetitive threat to the media industry was “unfounded.” “What is articulated in those letters is really unfounded,” said Stankey, speaking Monday at UBS’s Global TMT Conference, referring to a communication from

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking, among other details, information on the identity of certain investors in the company that plans to merge with Donald Trump’s recently established social network and media outfit as part of a “preliminary” investigation, according to financial filings. The disclosure of the SEC probe comes after the October

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s civilian leader has been sentenced to four years in jail for inciting dissent against the military and for breaching anti-COVID rules. Suu Kyi, who headed the civilian government during the country’s brief democratic interlude, was deposed on Feb. 1, 2021, by a coup that was organized by the military with

Bob Dole, the former Senate majority leader and the Republican presidential candidate in 1996, died in his sleep on Sunday morning. He was 98 years old. Dole’s death was announced by the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, an organization that supports military veteran caregivers founded by former U.S. senator and Dole’s wife Elizabeth Dole. No location of death

Public health officials have confirmed what appears to be the second case of the COVID-19 Omicron variant in the U.S. On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that Minnesota health officials confirmed that a male resident of the state, who is fully vaccinated, had mild symptoms due to the Omicron variant, and

Germany is bringing in tough new restrictions on unvaccinated people in a bid to control the rapid spread of COVID-19. Chancellor Angela Merkel said that unvaccinated people would be barred from several public places such as non-essential shops and events. The only exemption would be if they have recently recovered from COVID-19. “Culture and leisure

Stacey Abrams is running for governor of Georgia, after making history in the 2018 election, which she lost to Republican Brian Kemp. Abrams made the announcement with a campaign video on Wednesday, highlighting the work she’s done in Georgia during the pandemic. In the 2018 election, she was the first Black woman from a major

Dr. Oz is officially running for U.S. Senate. The television personality and cardiothoracic surgeon, best known for his talk series “The Dr. Oz Show,” on Tuesday announced his candidacy via his website, which has been rebranded for his campaign. He is joining the high-stakes race for Pennsylvania’s open Republican Senate seat, as Sen. Pat Toomey

Matthew McConaughey has decided against throwing his hat into the ring to be elected the next governor of Texas. The actor made the announcement on Sunday through a video posted to his official Twitter account. “Over the past two years, I’ve been working on the answer to the question of how I can be most

As two cases of the new Omricon variant of the COVID-19 virus have been detected in the U.K., the country has mandated a return to mask wearing and PCR tests. Addressing a nationally televised press conference on Saturday afternoon, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that face coverings will become mandatory again in shops and on

A jury has found Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery in February 2020. All three white men were involved in the murder of Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, on February 23, 2020, in Brunswick, Ga. Arbery was running through the neighborhood of Satilla Shores when the McMichaels, who

A man who smuggled copies of smash hit South Korean Netflix series “Squid Game” into North Korea has been sentenced to death, after authorities caught high school students watching the show, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA). U.S.-headquartered independent news agency RFA reported, quoting sources, that the series was smuggled in from China on USB