Tracking Wednesday's snow storm

An early winter storm could dump more than a foot of snow across parts of the Tri-State area on Wednesday into Thursday, according to the AccuWeather forecast.

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  • Al Gore says he has no regrets over conceding 2000 race to Bush. Will Trump take the hint?

    Former Vice President Al Gore said Sunday that he hasn’t felt any regrets over conceding the razor-tight 2000 election to George W. Bush.

  • Can employers require workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine before full approval?

    As a critical care nurse, she is at high risk of infection, and her hospital has an interest in keeping her healthy. The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization (EUA) of the vaccine in the U.S. on Friday.

  • Pete Buttigieg has emerged as the frontrunner to become Biden's secretary of transportation, new report says

    Buttigieg is expected to run for president again in the future. An opportunity in the federal government would catapult any such political plans.

  • China urges EU to stop 'irresponsible remarks' after statement on Bloomberg employee

    BEIJING (Reuters) -China said on Monday the European Union should stop making "irresponsible remarks" after it called for the release of all those arrested for reporting in China in a statement on a detained Chinese national working for Bloomberg News. China's foreign ministry said on Friday authorities had detained Haze Fan, who works for the Bloomberg bureau in Beijing, on suspicion of endangering national security. The European Union called for authorities to grant Fan "medical assistance if needed, prompt access to a lawyer of her choice, and contacts with her family."

  • Roadside bomb wounds 23 near Pakistan police station

    A roadside bomb exploded near a police station in the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi on Sunday, wounding at least 23 people, police said. Initially police said a hand grenade was thrown near a water filtration plant across the road from the police station, but a senior Rawalpindi police officer Ahsan Younas later confirmed the blast was from a device planted on the side of the road. The Pakistani military’s headquarters and the offices of the country’s spy agencies are located in Rawalpindi, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of the capital, Islamabad.

  • Spectacular eruptions from Mount Etna

    The eruptions began at 9:20 p.m (2020GMT) on Sunday (December 13) and continued until around 3 a.m. (0200GMT) the following morning. According to Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology, there were two eruptive fissures on the south-eastern crater of the volcano. Volcanic ash from the eruption covered parts of the nearby small Catanian villages between Pedara and Tremestieri Etneo. On Monday morning, cars, streets and balconies were covered in black ash as workers and locals worked to clear it up.

  • Trump signs executive order making Christmas Eve a federal holiday in 2020

    All federal employees will be excused from duty on 24 December

  • 'We have no oxygen': First journalist to access Yemen after Covid discovers major cover up in country of her birth

    Like many others in March I was spending my days locked down in my London flat, listening to reports about how overwhelmed the NHS was and the struggle to get essential supplies. However where I differed is that all I could think about was Yemen. I am British, but I’m originally Yemeni, and regularly report from it for BBC News and the World Service. If the UK was struggling to cope, I thought to myself, just how would the authorities in Yemen fare? I was terrified for them: my family, my friends, the nation. But I mainly feared for my grandmother. She is in her late 70’s and ticked all the vulnerable categories. I began calling my sister who lives in northern Yemen every day asking her if there were any cases. But while I was terrified, she, like so many others in the war-torn country was oblivious to the threat. The Houthi authorities in the north hadn’t announced a single case. From London I set about trying to find out what was truly happening, but it was near impossible. The Houthis had imposed a blanket restriction on all Covid reporting from areas they control.

  • Jerry Falwell Jr. spent heavily on Trump, GOP causes with funds from nonprofit Liberty University

    Jerry Falwell Jr. resigned as president of Liberty University in August after a series of scandals involving sexual indiscretions and questionable use of university funds on friends and family, but Liberty's board is still split on the partisan direction Falwell steered the private evangelical Christian school founded by his father, Jerry Falwell Sr.Especially divisive, Politico reports, is the question of whether Liberty should continue funding the Falkirk Center, a conservative "think tank" named after Falwell and GOP activist Charlie Kirk that "has produced no peer-reviewed academic work and bears little relation to study centers at other universities," but did run "pro-Trump ads, hired Trump allies including former adviser Sebastian Gorka and current Trump attorney Jenna Ellis to serve as fellows, and, in recent weeks, has aggressively promoted [President] Trump's baseless claims of election fraud."As a 501c(3) nonprofit, Liberty University is technically barred from supporting political candidates and spending money on political campaigns. But the Falkirk Center, founded in 2019, "purchased campaign-season ads on Facebook, at least $50,000's worth of which were designated by the network as political ads, that promoted Trump and other Republican candidates by name," Politico reports. And more generally, since endorsing Trump for president in 2016, Falwell has "pumped millions of the nonprofit religious institution's funds into Republican causes and efforts to promote the Trump administration, blurring the lines between education and politics."Last July, for example, the Falkirk Center held a two-day summit on China policy at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., featuring a host of GOP officials and Trump allies but no Democratic speakers, Politico reports. Numerous evangelical groups have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars holding events at Trump's Washington hotel, where "prominent evangelical ministers were given VIP status," The New York Times reported in October. But Liberty University also has an academic mission, and slashed its humanities programs even as it poured millions into GOP organizations."The Falkirk Center, to me, represents everything that was wrong with Liberty when Jerry was there," Karen Swallow Prior, a professor at Liberty for 21 years who left at the end of last school year, told Politico. "It's brazenly partisan." University spokesman Scott Lamb said the donations to GOP organizations "are consistent with the mission and focus of Liberty University as an evangelical Christian university," and went toward "nonpartisan" activities like voter registration.More stories from theweek.com National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, wife are reportedly making Europe event a holiday vacation Donald Trump's defeat is good. Why does it feel so bad? Judge appointed by Trump heard his case to overturn Biden's win, wholly rejected it on the merits

  • The Trump administration turned down more vaccine doses 'as recently as November,' former FDA commissioner says

    "There were multiple conversations with the US government about taking more supply in the second quarter," said Scott Gottlieb, a Pfizer board member.

  • 5 years and counting: Ex-treasure hunter still stuck in jail

    Research scientist Tommy Thompson isn't incarcerated for breaking the law. Despite an investors lawsuit and a federal court order, Thompson still won't cooperate with authorities trying to find those coins, according to court records, federal prosecutors and the judge who found Thompson in contempt. “He creates a patent for a submarine, but he can’t remember where he put the loot,” federal Judge Algenon Marbley said during a 2017 hearing.

  • U.S. Sanctions Iranian Intel Officers for Kidnapping Ex-FBI Man Who Died in Their Custody

    The Treasury Department says it knows the Iranian intelligence officers who kidnapped the former FBI agent Robert Levinson who died in their custody. U.S. officials announced on Monday that two members of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) would be sanctioned for their alleged role in Levinson’s kidnapping and detention.“Senior Iranian officials authorized Levinson’s abduction and detention and launched a disinformation campaign to deflect blame from the Iranian regime,” the statement reads.Trump Says He ‘Won’t Accept’ That Ex-FBI Agent Robert Levinson Died in Iran, Despite Family’s StatementThe Treasury Department identified Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai as senior Iranian intel officials involved in Levinson’s kidnapping and disappearance. Baseri is allegedly a “high-ranking MOIS officer involved in counterespionage activities in and outside of Iran” who has “worked directly with intelligence officials from other countries in order to harm U.S. interests,” according to the Treasury statement. Khazai is a “high-ranking member of the MOIS” who has allegedly worked with Iran’s intel program in foreign countries.In a statement released alongside the sanctions designation, FBI Director Christopher Wray accused Iran of lying about its role in Levinson’s disappearance in 2007. “The government of Iran pledged to provide assistance in bringing Bob Levinson home, but it has never followed through. The truth is that Iranian intelligence officers—with the approval of senior Iranian officials—were involved in Bob’s abduction and detention.”Levinson, a former FBI agent, flew to Kish Island off the southern Iran coast while ostensibly pursuing an investigation into counterfeit cigarettes on behalf of a tobacco company at a meeting with Dawud Salahuddin. Salahuddin, an American convert to Islam, fled to Iran after killing an Iranian diplomat from the shah-era government who had become a dissident.U.S. law-enforcement officials had reached out to Salahuddin after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in an attempt to learn more about global terrorism and began a back-channel dialogue, during which Salahuddin discussed the possibility of returning to the U.S. and facing criminal charges.As the AP later reported, Levinson’s cigarette-counterfeiting investigation was a cover for his work as a contractor at the CIA, and his meeting with Salahuddin was part of an attempt to turn him into an informant for the agency. Levinson disappeared after the meeting, only to surface in proof-of-life videos and a photograph received in 2010 and 2011.In the images, a gaunt Levinson pleads for help from the U.S. government to “answer the requests of the group that has held me for three and a half years” while making no mention of the “group” holding him or his whereabouts. In the subsequent photos, Levinson appeared in an orange prison jumpsuit holding signs with “help me” and “why you can not help me” printed on them.Iran Can’t Find an American Hostage, U.S. Officials SayLevinson’s family waged a 13-year search for him until the Trump administration told family members in 2020 that intelligence indicated Levinson had likely died in Iranian custody at some point prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, The New York Times reported.Iran has denied holding Levinson in detention or any connection to Levinson’s disappearance.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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.

  • Israel announces full diplomatic relations with Bhutan

    Israel announced on Saturday that it is establishing full diplomatic relations with the relatively isolated Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, the latest in a string of international deals designed to show Israel’s growing acceptance abroad. “The circle of recognition of Israel is widening,” said Israeli foreign minister, Gabi Ashkenazi. “The establishment of relations with the Kingdom of Bhutan will constitute a new stage in the deepening of Israel’s relations in Asia.” The agreement follows several years of secret contact between the two countries with the aim of establishing relations, according to a statement from Israel’s foreign ministry. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the deal, tweeting that it is an “additional fruit of the peace agreements”. The accord between the two countries does not appear to be linked to the US-backed Abraham accords, in which four Arab countries have agreed to normalise relations with the Jewish state since August. Mr Netanyahu added that Israel was in contact with more countries to normalise relations. Bhutan is a relatively isolated country and only maintains diplomatic relations with around 53 countries, which does not include the US, UK or France, who only maintain informal contact via India. With a population of around 800,000 people, the Kingdom of Bhutan is wedged between neighbouring giants, China and India. They have long relied on the latter for guidance on foreign and defence policy. Ron Malka, the Israeli ambassador to India said he signed the agreement with his Bhutanese counterpart, Maj Gen Vestop Namgyel, on Saturday night, calling the agreement a “historic day”. The joint statement on the deal said the key areas of cooperation would include economic, technological and agricultural development. “The ties between the peoples through cultural exchanges and tourism would also be further enhanced,” the statement added. Bhutan was closed off to tourists until 1970 and still strictly limits entry to the country with a $250 daily fee per visitor in high season

  • Judge appointed by Trump heard his case to overturn Biden's win, wholly rejected it on the merits

    President Trump told Fox News' Brian Kilmeade on Saturday, in a clip broadcast Sunday, that no judges have had "the courage" to allow his lawyers and allies to argue his baseless claims that the election was "stolen," specifically criticizing the U.S. Supreme Court for declining to "go into the evidence" on his cases because of "little technicalities, like a thing called standing."> "They're winning these things on little technicalities, like a thing called standing." pic.twitter.com/fPdLMHX3bg> > — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 13, 2020In fact, several courts have offered to hear pro-Trump lawyers argue their case, and U.S. District Judge Brett Ludwig in Wisconsin shot down the latest of those cases on Saturday. "A sitting president who did not prevail in his bid for reelection has asked for federal court help in setting aside the popular vote based on disputed issues of election administration, issues he plainly could have raised before the vote occurred," wrote Ludwig, a Trump appointee. "This court allowed the plaintiff the chance to make his case and he has lost on the merits. In his reply brief, plaintiff 'asks that the Rule of Law be followed.' It has been."The "most telling aspect" of Ludwig's ruling isn't that "the rejecting was done by a Trump-appointed judge" or "that it was done on the merits," Andrew McCarthy argues at National Review. It's when Ludwig notes that "on the morning of the hearing, the parties reached agreement on a stipulated set of facts," meaning "there was no actual disagreement between the Trump team and Wisconsin officials about the pertinent facts of the case."In other words, "there was no there there," McCarthy writes. "Despite telling the country for weeks that this was the most rigged election in history, the campaign didn't think it was worth calling a single witness. Despite having the opportunity of a hearing before a Trump appointee who was willing to give the campaign ample opportunity to prove its case, the campaign said, 'Never mind.'" And "this is not the first time the campaign ducked an opportunity to prove its claims of a stolen election in court," he adds. In Wisconsin, as in Pennsylvania and Michigan, "every time a court offers him an opportunity to establish by proof what he is promoting by Twitter, Team Trump folds." Read more about Ludwig's ruling at National Review.More stories from theweek.com National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, wife are reportedly making Europe event a holiday vacation Donald Trump's defeat is good. Why does it feel so bad? The Constitution has an answer for seditious members of Congress

  • Putin installed a replica of his Moscow office at his beachside retreat so he could pretend to be in the thick of things while shielding from COVID-19, report says

    Vladimir Putin is heavily shielded from COVID-19, with visitors made to walk through disinfectant tunnels or quarantine for weeks before meeting him.

  • Iran summons EU envoys for protesting reporter's hanging

    Iran on Sunday summoned the German and French envoys to Tehran after the European Union condemned the execution of an Iranian journalist whose work helped inspire nationwide economic protests in 2017, Iranian state media reported. IRNA said an Iranian Foreign Ministry official summoned the ambassadors because of EU statements on the exiled reporter Ruhollah Zam, 47, who was hanged on Saturday. Zam had been jailed in Iran after Iranian authorities seized him while he was traveling in neighboring Iraq last year.

  • A man was physically assaulted while supporting Democratic candidates at rally in Georgia, police say

    The attacker punched the rally-goer before ripping up his campaign sign for Georgia Democratic Senate candidates, local news reported.

  • Hunter Biden subpoena seeks info on Burisma, other entities

    A subpoena seeking documents from Hunter Biden asked for information related to more than two dozen entities, including Ukraine gas company Burisma, according to a person familiar with a Justice Department tax investigation of President-elect Joe Biden's son. The breadth of the subpoena, issued Tuesday, underscores the wide-angle lens prosecutors are taking as they examine the younger Biden’s finances and international business ventures. Hunter Biden's ties to Burisma in particular have long dogged the policy work and political aspirations of his father, Joe Biden, now the president-elect of the United States.

  • Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny may have been poisoned by a very bad Negroni, investigation suggests

    A sweeping investigation into the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny pins the non-fatal act on Russia's FSB spy agency, and suggests a very poor tasting cocktail may have been the source.Per the report — which was conducted by the investigative website Bellingcat in partnership with CNN, Der Spiegel, and The Insider — Navalny, a major thorn in the side of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was in the Russian city of Tomsk on Aug. 19 when he met his traveling team at a hotel bar for a drink around 11:15 p.m. He ordered a late-night Bloody Mary, but was told by the bartender the ingredients weren't on hand and that he should have a Negroni instead.Navalny took the advice, but quickly set the drink aside after a sip or two because, he said in an interview, it "tasted like the most disgusting thing I've had in my life." He soon went to bed, and the next morning fell critically ill on his flight back to Moscow.> Bellingcat's investigation suggest Navalny was poisoned with a negroni that had some novichok bitters mixed inhttps://t.co/Q7Pg41d2Xr pic.twitter.com/pWeSWGOJkS> > — max seddon (@maxseddon) December 14, 2020The investigation suggests that drink may have been tainted with the poisoning agent Novichok, although CNN notes the toxin could have also been added to laundry he had done at the hotel, placed on a towel or pillow case, or injected into a shampoo bottle. Read more about the investigation into Navalny's poisoning, which used phone and travel data to implicate the FSB at Bellingcat and CNN.More stories from theweek.com National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien, wife are reportedly making Europe event a holiday vacation Donald Trump's defeat is good. Why does it feel so bad? Judge appointed by Trump heard his case to overturn Biden's win, wholly rejected it on the merits

  • Explosive-laden boat caused tanker blast in ‘terrorist attack’ off Saudi: state media

    An “terrorist attack” on an oil tanker off the Saudi port city of Jeddah yesterday was caused by an explosive-laden boat, the kingdom’s energy ministry said, after the fourth assault on Saudi energy infrastructure in a month. The Singapore-flagged BW Rhine was hit “by an external source” while discharging refined oil products at Jeddah about 0400 on Monday local time, shipowner Hafnia said in a statement. A Saudi energy ministry spokesman did not identify who was behind the attack but the kingdom has blamed other recent attacks on Houthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen. “Terrorist acts against vital facilities go beyond the kingdom to target the security and stability of worldwide energy supplies and the global economy,” the ministry said in a statement. Jeddah port, the kingdom’s primary shipping point, was closed for an indeterminate duration following the incident, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations. “The incident did not result in any casualties, and there was no damage caused to the unloading facilities, nor any effect on supplies," the ministry spokesman said. The 22 crew aboard were able to extinguish a blaze caused by the blast, Hafnia said. “It is possible that some oil has escaped from the vessel,” its statement read. “But this has not been confirmed and instrumentation currently indicates that oil levels on board are at the same level as before the incident.” The vessel was reportedly carrying over 60,000 metric tons of unleaded gasoline from an Aramco refinery at Yanbu for consumption in Saudi Arabia. Monday’s blast followed a series of other recent incidents in the Red Sea, a vital shipping lane for both oil and cargo. On November 25, a Greek-managed oil tanker was damaged at the Saudi terminal of Shuqaiq, south of Jeddah, which the Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen described as a foiled terror attack. Days earlier, Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for a cruise missile strike on an Aramco fuel depot in Jeddah that punctured a diesel storage tank and ignited a fire. Since Saudi intervened in Yemen’s war in 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government, the Iran-backed Houthis have carried out numerous missile strikes and other attacks on Saudi Arabia. The United Nations has concluded that the missiles used likely originated in Iran. During November, the Saudi-led coalition also reported intercepting an explosive-laden drone and several explosive-laden boats launched towards the kingdom by the Houthis. Saudi Arabia recently accused the rebels of laying mines in the southern Red Sea. Dryad Global, a maritime intelligence firm, said if the Houthis were responsible for Monday’s blast, it “would represent a fundamental shift in both targeting capabilities and intent.”