Navarro on US-China tensions: They are 'increasingly a mortal enemy'

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro discusses holding China accountable for the coronavirus pandemic and attacks on American business.

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  • U.S. intelligence agencies are increasingly focused on domestic extremists. Their latest target: Satanists.

    In recent years, the U.S. law enforcement and intelligence communities have identified domestic threats linked to a variety of ideologies and movements. But an internal government report adds what may be the most surprising addition to the list: an obscure satanic cult.

  • GOP congressman says he will not take the Covid vaccine because he’s ‘an American’

    ‘I have the freedom to decide if I’m going to take a vaccine or not and in this case I am not going to take the vaccine,’ Congressman Ken Buck says

  • Mexico leader, U.S. president-elect discuss migration

    Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he spoke with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden by phone Saturday, five days after he sent a tardy and somewhat chilly letter of congratulations to Biden. "We reaffirmed our commitment to work together for the good of our peoples and our countries,” López Obrador wrote in his social media accounts. Biden's transition team said the two discussed migration, apparently with a focus on a theme that López Obrador has championed: developing jobs and opportunities so that people won't have to migrate.

  • China says tailed U.S. warship in Taiwan Strait

    China's military tailed a U.S. warship as it passed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Saturday, the Chinese military said, denouncing such missions as sending "flirtatious glances" to supporters of Taiwan independence. China, which claims democratically-run Taiwan as its own territory, has been angered by stepped-up U.S. support for the island, including arms sales and sailing warships through the Taiwan Strait, further souring Beijing-Washington relations. The U.S. Navy said the guided missile destroyer USS Mustin had conducted "a routine Taiwan Strait transit (on) Dec. 19 in accordance with international law".

  • Yemen doctors call for urgent help to save life of conjoined twins in need of surgery

    Conjoined twin boys who were born in war-torn Yemen on Wednesday are in “critical condition”, according to their doctors who are urgently appealing for help. The boys were born in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, which since 2014 has been controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Over years of war and air blockades, like much of the rest of the country, it’s economy and healthcare system have been destroyed. "An echocardiogram showed that each of the two children had their own heart, though the position of the heart of one of them is not normal," Majda al-Khatib, the director of Al-Sabeen hospital in Sanaa, told AFP news agency. She added that the hospital did not have the necessary equipment to accurately determine "which organs are connected". The war in Yemen has resulted in what the UN describe as the world’s biggest humanitarian disaster, with the country of 30 million plagued by conflict, starvation, disease and now coronavirus. The current conditions of hospitals in Sanaa make dealing with complex cases such as conjoined twins almost an impossibility. Making access to treatment more difficult, Sanaa’s airport is closed for commercial flights because of an air blockade imposed by the Saudi-led coalition, who have been waging war in Yemen against the Iranian-backed Shi’ite Houthis, since 2015.

  • This online dashboard shows how many COVID-19 vaccines have been administered and where they're available

    A new online dashboard hosted by Johns Hopkins University shows how many vaccines have been administered in each state.

  • President in the pews: DC churches offer Biden options

    Wearing a dark suit and medical mask, Biden slipped into a polished wooden pew near the back of the sanctuary for a recent Saturday evening Catholic Mass. He was one of only about 40 worshippers with attendance limited by the coronavirus pandemic. This is one of the last places where Biden can at least try to blend in, a luxury that probably will fade away completely when he takes office next month. Once he arrives in Washington, the trappings of the presidency — and the eagerness of the city's residents to be near power — could make a casual church visit nearly impossible.

  • India's Modi surprises with Sikh temple visit amid farm protests

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an unscheduled visit to a Sikh temple in New Delhi on Sunday, kneeling down in respect and having pictures taken with visitors, at a time when the community is leading massive protests against his farm reforms. Sikhs in India and abroad have rallied against recent measures to deregulate agriculture markets that they fear would erode farm incomes by giving a greater say to profit-chasing private companies, instead of assuring a minimum price like in government-regulated wholesale markets. Protesting farmers, mainly from Sikh-dominated Punjab and neighbouring Haryana, have blocked highways into New Delhi for the past three weeks demanding a repeal of the laws, which the government says widen the agriculture market and are crucial to boost storage and other infrastructure.

  • Emmanuel Macron told he's making a 'massive miscalculation' that UK will negotiate next year

    Emmanuel Macron has been accused of risking a no-deal Brexit by making the “massive miscalculation” that Britain will be forced back to the negotiating table in the new year. Downing Street believes Mr Macron is standing in the way of a deal because he is playing to his domestic audience ahead of elections in 18 months’ time. A deadline of 11pm Sunday night – set by MEPs for a deal to be agreed in order for it to be ratified by December 31 – passed without any conclusion to the talks. The UK has said it will not walk away from the negotiations while there is still time to reach an agreement. Negotiators believe Mr Macron is gambling on the theory that no deal will be so unpopular in Britain that Boris Johnson will cave in and accept Brussels’ current offer within weeks of leaving the single market and customs union on January 1.

  • Rockets hit US base in Afghanistan, no casualties reported

    Five rockets were fired at a major U.S. base in Afghanistan on Saturday, but there were no casualties, NATO and provincial officials said. The rockets hit Bagram Airfield, said Wahida Shahkar, spokeswoman for the governor in northern Parwan province.

  • Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro bizarrely suggests COVID-19 vaccines could turn people into crocodiles or bearded ladies

    Brazil's president suggested that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has strange side effects and the country was at the "tail end of the pandemic."

  • Biden’s niece avoids prison time for driving under the influence crash

    Caroline Biden’s arraignment was one day after 3 November’s presidential election

  • U.S. officials eye new COVID-19 strain in UK, urge vigilance

    The United States is monitoring the new strain of COVID-19 emerging in the United Kingdom, multiple U.S. officials said on Sunday, adding that it was unclear whether the mutated variant had made its way to America. Slaoui, chief scientific adviser for the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed, added that the UK mutation was "very unlikely" to be resistant to current vaccines, saying: "We can't exclude it, but it's not there now." Other health officials from the outgoing Trump administration and the incoming Biden administration also said they were watching the strain rapidly spreading in Great Britain.

  • US front-line workers and people 75 and above will be next to receive coronavirus vaccine

    Essential front-line workers and people aged 75 and above will be the next group to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in the US, according to recommendations from the Centres for Disease Control. They will follow health-care workers and residents of long-term care facilities who were made a top priority by the Trump administration. The recommendations came within hours of work starting on distributing the Moderna vaccine, the second to be approved by the CDC. An estimated 30 million people are expected to be in this tranche of essential workers including police officers, postal workers, teachers, those employed in food production, agriculture and on public transport. This group can expect to be inoculated in February.

  • U.S. Congress reaches deal on COVID-19 relief

    MCCONNELL: "More help is on the way." Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday evening that a deal had finally been reached on a $900 billion dollar package to provide the first new aid in months to an economy hammered by the coronavirus pandemic. MCCONNELL: "We can finally report what our nation has needed for a very long time. More help is on the way. Moments ago in consultation with our committees, the four leaders of the Senate and the House finalized an agreement. There will be another major rescue package for the American people as our citizens continue to battle this coronavirus this holiday season, they will not be fighting alone." Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the package should have enough support to pass both chambers of Congress. The package would be the second-largest economic stimulus in U.S. history, following the $2.3 trillion dollar aid bill passed back in March. The new package would give $600 direct payments to individuals, boost unemployment payments by $300 a week and give hundreds of billions of dollars in additional aid to small businesses. Sources said it would also provide $25 billion for rental assistance. The bill leaves out two of the most contentious elements in the negotiations: legal protections for businesses from coronavirus lawsuits, which had been sought by Republicans, and the substantial aid for state and local governments sought by Democrats. Sources briefed on the matter told Reuters on Sunday the deal was also expected to grant U.S. airlines $15 billion in new payroll assistance that will allow them to return more than 32,000 furloughed workers to their payrolls through March 31. The Democratic-led House of Representatives will likely vote on the package on Monday, with the Republican-controlled Senate to follow.

  • EXPLAINER: Iran, despite sanctions, has routes to vaccines

    Although Iran faces crushing U.S. sanctions, there are still ways for Tehran to obtain coronavirus vaccines as the country suffers the Mideast's worst outbreak of the pandemic. After earlier downplaying the virus, Iran has since acknowledged the scope of the disaster it faces after 1.1 million reported cases and over 52,000 deaths. Getting vaccines into the arms of its people would be a major step in stemming the crisis.

  • A weekend stimulus deal just got more likely after Republicans and Democrats resolved their clash over the Federal Reserve

    Congress struck a compromise on the scope of the Federal Reserve's emergency lending powers, increasing the odds of a deal passing.

  • Chaos at California mall after man shoots self

    Authorities said thousands were emotionally distressed, sheltering-in-place and calling home to tell families they loved them.

  • Tesla's Elon Musk asks about converting 'large transactions' to bitcoin

    Michael Saylor, chief executive officer of MicroStrategy Inc, in a tweet to Musk, suggested that the billionaire Tesla founder and head, make the move. "If you want to do your shareholders a $100 billion favor, convert the $TSLA balance sheet from USD to #BTC," Saylor wrote in his tweet.

  • Kuwait's key reformer, son of late emir, dies at 72

    Kuwait’s Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al Sabah, the eldest son of the late emir, who emerged as an influential reformer in the oil-rich Gulf sheikhdom, died on Sunday, the country’s state-run news agency reported. Sheikh Nasser, who held various government posts over the years including minister of defense and deputy prime minister, had been considered a top contender for crown prince following the death in September of his father, the 91-year-old Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah. Although he drew popular support for his ambitious mega-projects and anti-corruption efforts, he was passed over for his uncle, Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, a more cautious choice of heir apparent at a turbulent time for Kuwait’s politics and the wider region.