Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan does not appear to have votes to retain role, BGA says

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan does not appear to have the votes to retain his role, the Better Government Association says.

Latest Stories

  • Former CIA Director John Brennan says the assassination of a top Iranian nuclear scientist was 'criminal' and risked inflaming conflict in the Middle East

    Iran's foreign minister, Javad Zarif, pointed the finger at Israel for the death of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, on Friday.

  • Macron says images of police beating Black man shameful for France

    President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that images showing Paris police beating up a Black music producer were shameful for France, and that government would have to find a way to restore public confidence in the force. Prosecutors are investigating the violent arrest of Michel Zecler, who said he was also racially abused by the officers, after CCTV footage of the incident was released. The police watchdog is also investigating.

  • Swedish government sidelines epidemiologist who steered country's no lockdown experiment as deaths rise

    The high-profile epidemiologist who led Sweden's no lock-down strategy in the spring appears to be being sidelined by the government after his prediction that greater immunity would mean a lighter second wave proved badly wrong. Anders Tegnell's biweekly press conference was on Thursday pushed into the shade by an overlapping press conference fronted by Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, where new scenarios prepared by the Public Health Agency were announced. "There's certainly a split, and I'm pretty sure that many in the government have rather lost faith in the Public Health Agency," said Nicholas Aylott, an associate politics professor at Stockholm's Södertorn University. "By some counts, we've now got exactly the same level of spread of the virus that we had in the spring, and that's about as clear a refutation of Tegnell's strategy as you could wish for." Dr Tegnell has always insisted that his Public Health Agency has never pursued a herd immunity strategy, but he repeatedly suggested in the summer that his counterparts in Norway, Finland and Denmark would face a tougher task over the winter because of lower levels of immunity in their populations. This month, though, the number of deaths in Sweden has again begun to soar above that of its Nordic neighbours, with 630 deaths so far registered as a result of Covid-19. That is about ten times the per capita death rate in Norway -- where just 30 Covid-19 deaths were registered between October 28th and November 25th.

  • Black firefighters in NC allege racism amid larger reckoning

    WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — They threw her new cellphone on the roof of the station house and placed nails under the wheels of her pickup truck. It was too much for Timika Ingram to bear. “It caused me pain, sleepless nights, suffering, anxiety,” said Ingram, whose four years as a firefighter in North Carolina amounted to a collection of indignities.

  • Kim Jong-Un is reportedly displaying 'excessive anger' over the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, ordering the execution of two people

    North Korea's economy has suffered in recent months as the country was forced to seal its border with its biggest trading partner, China.

  • MBS reportedly backed out of Saudi-Israel agreement because he wants to wait for Biden

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly flew to Saudi Arabia last week for a secret meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Saudi Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in the hopes of striking a deal that would normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. But he came home empty handed after Prince Mohammed backed out, The Wall Street Journal reports.His reasoning, Saudi advisers and U.S. officials, told the Journal was President-elect Joe Biden's victory over President Trump in the U.S. general election. Although the Trump administration was a factor in the recent so-called Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and both the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Prince Mohammed reportedly wants to build ties with Biden and was reluctant about following suit while Trump is still in office, although the chances of that happening reportedly aren't impossible.Negotiating normalization agreements Israel and Arab nations is one Trump policy Biden seems likely to keep pursuing, but the president-elect has taken a tougher stance on Saudi Arabia than Trump, especially after killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the Journal notes, so reviving talks with the new administration may be Prince Mohammed's best chance "to repair its image in Washington," a U.S. official said. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.More stories from theweek.com 5 witheringly funny cartoons about Trump's sort-of concession What the coronavirus vaccine shows about the potential for innovation RNC chair warns dubious Georgia voters losing 'faith' in election process could cost Senate runoff

  • Six US oil executives jailed for corruption in Venezuela after being lured to business meeting

    Men plead innocence following arrest in 2017 as State Department demands release

  • Alleged police beating of Black man angers French

    French authorities have suspended police officers accused of assaulting and racially abusing a Black man in Paris, after CCTV footage of the incident was released and caused an outcry. The music producer, who has identified himself as Michel, was beaten at the entrance to his studio. French President Emmanuel Macron was quoted by France's BFM TV as being "very shocked" by the CCTV and mobile phone images, which were obtained by the LoopSider news outlet and made headline news on French channels. The officers involved were suspended pending investigation at the interior minister's request. Michel told reporters he'd been walking in the street without a face mask, against French COVID-19 rules. When he saw a police car he went into his studio to avoid getting a fine. But the police followed him inside and arrested him, violently. The video purports to show them kicking and beating him, and he says they hurled racial abuse at him too. They then leave, and throw a tear gas canister into the studio. As anger grew, French soccer stars added to the chorus of condemnation. Kylian Mbappe tweeted that the video was "intolerable" and his fellow Les Bleus striker, Antoine Griezmann wrote: "My France is hurting." The alleged attack on Michel risks inflaming racial tension, and fuelling criticism of a draft law that would limit journalists' ability to show images of French police officers at work. The prime minister's office said on Thursday (November 26) it would set up an independent commission to propose a new draft of the legislation. Some "BlackLivesMatter" protests broke out in Paris in June, a month after the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in the United States. The movement resonates in France, in particular in deprived city suburbs, where rights groups say accusations of police brutality, often against people with immigrant backgrounds, remain largely unaddressed. And Paris police were already under fire this week after social media photos and videos showed officers hitting protesters as they cleared out an illegal migrants campsite in a central Paris square.

  • Harvey Weinstein's ex-wives succeed in freezing £4.5 million of his assets

    Harvey Weinstein's appeal against his rape and assault convictions has been hampered after the disgraced former movie mogul's two ex-wives reportedly froze £4.5 million of his remaining assets. Weinstein, who was given a 23-year jail term at a court hearing in New York in March after being convicted of rape and sexual assault, is allegedly no longer able to pay the lawyers working on his appeal. Weinstein's two ex-wives, Eve Chilton, whom he divorced in 2004, and Georgina Chapman, a British fashion designer who left the producer after assault allegations against him emerged in 2017, have reportedly taken legal action to freeze his accounts. According to the Daily Mail, the pair filed a motion in April raising concerns over the state of Weinstein's finances and provided evidence in July in the form of private jet receipts and expenses related to his criminal trial. The two women also reportedly provided the court with evidence of large deposits that had been made into Weinstein’s bank account as well as proof of insurance fees he was set to collect.

  • Supreme Court won't get involved in Louisiana pastor's case

    The Supreme Court is for now staying out of a dispute involving the state of Louisiana and a Baton Rouge-area pastor charged with violating state coronavirus restrictions by repeatedly holding large church services. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Friday evening turned away a request from Life Tabernacle Church pastor Tony Spell to get involved in the dispute. Alito denied the request himself, without asking Louisiana officials to respond and without referring the matter to the full court as often happens when a case is particularly significant or contentious.

  • Trump reportedly wants to hold a 2024 campaign event during Biden's inauguration

    Donald Trump is strategizing ways to stay relevant amid incoming Biden administration, the Daily Beast reported, citing sources close to the president.

  • Tensions rise on Canary Islands as thousands of migrants seek new route into EU

    Peering down from their balconies at the luxury Waikiki hotel, more than a thousand migrants gaze out towards the sea that carried them on their desperate journey fleeing Africa. Their rickety fishing boats lie piled up on docksides waiting to be scrapped. Smashed hulls still bob in the water, a reminder of the eight lives claimed this week off Lanzarote as hundreds more migrants reached Spain’s Canary Islands. The survivors’ safety in hotel accommodation amid the sprawling resorts of southern Gran Canaria is testament to local islanders’ proud benevolence. But generosity is running thin as tempers fray amid a growing crisis that has split Canarian leaders from their mainland colleagues, and reopened old wounds in Europe's hopeless attempt to control migration. The Canary Islands has seen arrivals increase tenfold in a year to around 20,000 by late November. Plans are now afoot to build one of Europe's largest migrant camps, housing 7,000 across three islands. Around 6,000 are currently living in 15 hotel complexes after a deal was struck between hoteliers and the Spanish government.

  • Trump may be coming to terms with loss he won't acknowledge

    President Donald Trump still won't bring himself to concede the election he decisively lost to President-elect Joe Biden. “Certainly I will," he said Thursday when asked if he will vacate the premises after electors make Biden's win formal. Trump, who took questions from reporters for the first time since the election, unleashed another round of complaints about the vote and theatrical warnings that “a lot of things” would happen before the Electoral College meets Dec. 14 that could possibly change results.

  • Spike in F grades across the US as online learning gap emerges amid pandemic school closures

    America's great experiment in "remote learning" during the pandemic has proved disastrous for many children as the first figures from one of its largest school districts showed an explosion in failing grades, and a widening gulf between thriving and struggling pupils. Unlike in the UK, thousands of schools across the United States have still not reopened, having been closed since March. Children from age five up are instead being taught on computer screens at home. Many will end up missing an entire academic year of in-person schooling. An internal report from Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, just outside Washington DC, which has 188,000 pupils, was released this week following a Freedom of Information request by a local parent. It confirmed what many families around the country had feared for months. Among children aged 11 to 18 there was an 83 per cent jump in those with two or more 'F' grades, in the first quarter of the 2020-21 academic year, which has just ended. The younger the age group the worse it was. For those aged 11 to 13 the increase was 300 per cent. Among girls in that age group it was 600 per cent. For children with special needs the jump in failing grades was 111 per cent. And for those with English as a second language, it was 106 per cent.

  • Tulsi Gabbard urges Trump to ‘please consider’ pardons for Julian Assange and Edward Snowden

    ‘Whistleblowers must be protected’, says Democrat lawmaker

  • Brexit Bulletin: it now all comes down to whether Boris will gamble on selling a bad deal

    And so we approach the final act, all smoke and mirrors. Brussels and Britain are miles apart, and yet within a whisker of an agreement. Both sides are determined to win the argument, and yet closer than ever to mutually compatible interpretations. It isn’t particularly reassuring that the Brexit crunch point feels like the slow climax towards the finale of a conjuring trick. Are we gearing up for the clean break that people voted for, or merely the political illusion of an exit? Only time will tell, but one thing is certain: it is all politics. Whether a deal is struck depends on one simple question: does Boris Johnson believe he can sell it to Tory MPs and the public as the real deal? For this he needs a tangible win on the symbolic question of fish – rather than, perhaps, the dryer issue of state aid. The EU may in the end offer, for example, a quota boost for Scottish fishermen (doubly important considering the Scottish elections looming next year). But Brussels would expect a major level playing field concession in return. Perhaps a ratchet clause that spells the UK’s continued alignment with EU regulations. And perhaps a dispute resolution mechanism that sneakily references the ECJ rather than an independent arbitration panel. These would be costly concessions for Britain, but luckily for Brussels, they are complicated and convoluted. The PM may be tempted to wager that MPs and Brexiteer voters will struggle to grasp their significance. Especially if the Tory party closes ranks with the same discipline as it did with the divorce deal.

  • North Korea executed people, shut capital in battle against Covid, South's spies say

    Kim Jong Un has also banned fishing and salt production at sea to prevent seawater from being infected with the virus, lawmakers were told.

  • Trump's national security advisor and his entourage were said to be treated as 'human petri dishes' in Vietnam, as the US COVID-19 outbreak worsens every day

    Robert O'Brien's airplane crew was also not allowed to enter Vietnam and had to spend the night in Thailand, Bloomberg reported.

  • Ex-Overstock CEO Says He’s Put Together an ‘Army of Various Odd People’ to Save Trump

    Former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne left behind a cloud of confusion when he resigned in 2019 from the internet retailer he’d founded after panicking investors with his bizarre claims that he had romanced a Russian agent at the behest of “Men in Black” working for the United States government.Now he’s back, with what he has described as his own personal “army,” touting what he claims is proof that Democrats stole the election from Donald Trump.“I’ve funded a team of hackers and cybersleuths, other people with odd skills,” Byrne said in a Tuesday interview at One America News, where OAN personality Chanel Rion praised Byrne as the head of an “elite shadow cyber security team.”Former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne Claims Maria Butina Offered to Arrange One-on-One for Him With PutinAs Trump’s chances of securing a second term dwindle down to nothing, Byrne has launched a media tour to promote his mysterious hacker team, appearing from an “undisclosed location” on OAN, Newsmax, and a series of far-fringe YouTube shows associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory movement. On Friday, a guest host on the popular Rush Limbaugh talk radio show praised Byrne’s allegations about voter fraud and proposed inviting Byrne on the show.With Trump allies on his legal team and in conservative media scrambling for any evidence that Trump didn’t legitimately lose the presidential race, Byrne has become a hero to the MAGA crowd, despite his history of making off-the-wall allegations.Byrne claims he’s funding teams of “hackers and crackers” who realized all the way back in August that Dominion voting machines could be used to steal the election from Trump. Since the election, those voting machines have figured prominently in Trump supporters’ allegations of fraud, despite the company’s repeated denials and any actual proof the voting tallies were changed.The actual details of Byrne’s supposed hacker super-team, however, similarly thin.“I’m a free agent, and I’m self-funded, and I’m funding this army of various odd people,” Byrne said in a Nov. 23 appearance on a podcast with a QAnon promoter who used the name InTheMatrixxx. “It’s really going to make a great movie someday.”Asked for more details on his hacker team, Byrne referred The Daily Beast to his blog, “DeepCapture.” But the 40,000-word explanation on Byrne’s website focuses on his long-running feud with Wall Street short-sellers, and Byrne’s conversations with a mysterious financial whistleblower called the “Easter Bunny,” rather than on any election investigations team.Byrne stopped responding to emails from The Daily Beast when asked whether any members of his hacker team would be available for interviews.Despite his vague claims, Byrne says he’s been funneling allegations about the election to the White House and one-time Trump lawyer Sidney Powell for weeks. Byrne’s claims are similar to those Powell has made publicly, including an allegation that deceased Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez somehow meddled in the election seven years after his death.“Sidney was the first to really get it, and to get what we’re saying is so vast, that you need kind of a very open-minded person to get it,” Byrne said in the InTheMatrixxx podcast.In the aftermath of the election, Byrne has become the latest with a broad “tech” background to reinvent himself as an expert on voting machines. Byrne is joined in that niche by former 8kun administrator Ron Watkins, who left his position managing the site for its QAnon posts on Election Day and has since appeared on OAN as a so-called elections investigator.During his post-election media tour, Byrne has made a series of other strange claims, including that he could be the reincarnation of an ancient Chinese monk.“I love the Chinese, I speak Chinese, I think I’m the reincarnation of a Shaolin monk, maybe,” Byrne said on the “InTheMatrixxx” podcast.Here’s How Hugo Chavez, Dead Since 2013, Became Responsible for Trump’s Election LossByrne has also encountered some other strange allegations on his media tour. In an appearance on a QAnon YouTube show hosted by a woman named “Cirsten W,” Byrne listened as his host claimed that Bill Clinton and late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein have been cloned.Byrne’s habit of making oddball claims made headlines in 2019, when he was still the CEO of Overstock. Using company letterhead, Byrne issued a statement claiming that “Men in Black” figures in the federal government had urged him to romance Russian agent Maria Butina, who was at the time allegedly trying to infiltrate conservative circles as a gun rights activist. Overstock’s share price plunged, and Byrne eventually resigned after Overstock’s insurer refused to insure the company with Byrne at the helm.A Senate Intelligence Committee report issued in August lays out a different view of Byrne’s interactions with Butina. In the report, Butina sees Byrne as a potential avenue to reach Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), then a presidential candidate. In a July 2016 email published in the committee report, Butina’s boyfriend, Paul Erickson, wrote that Byrne was “stalking” Butina after meeting her at a libertarian conference and claimed that Byrne made her a $1 million offer related to having his child.“Byrne is a bachelor by choice and consequences of his intellectual gifts and limitations, but is now concerned with his mortality and family legacy,” Erickson wrote. “Since meeting Maria, he has found ever more creative ways to pitch a standing $1 million offer to her ‘to have a baby with him.’ He is utterly enamored of her imagined gene stock and believes that a baby would cement not only his familial line but also relations between our two nations.”Byrne didn’t respond to The Daily Beast about the allegations made in Erickson’s email.Byrne’s other allegations haven’t always paid off, either. In 2018, he lost a landmark defamation trial filed against him by a Canadian businessman who had been described on Byrne’s blog as a terrorist financier and drug and arms trafficker, with the plaintiff awarded $1.2 million in damages.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • Honduran ex-president stopped with bag containing $18,000 in cash at airport

    ‘Obviously, someone must have put it in my belongings,’ Mr Zelaya said