Trump slams $900B stimulus bill, demands $2K check to Americans

President Trump demands increase in payments to Americans; reaction from Fox News contributor Brian Brenberg

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  • Texas attorney general asked Trump administration to revoke COVID relief funds for Harris County

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the Trump administration in the spring to revoke millions of dollars in COVID relief for Harris County, which includes Houston, because the funds were earmarked to expand mail-in voting in the 2020 election.

  • How Biden will deal with the Pentagon's generals

    During his 34-year tenure on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which he twice chaired, Biden took a keen interest in military issues, frequently visiting U.S. forces deployed overseas.

  • Dr Deborah Birx: White House virus expert quits over holiday travel

    Dr Deborah Birx says the criticism she has faced for a family get-together is "very difficult".

  • Toronto police: Pakistani dissident death not suspicious

    Police in Toronto said Tuesday they are not treating the death of a prominent Pakistani dissident as suspicious. Authorities said the body of 37-year-old Karima Mehrab was found near Toronto's downtown waterfront Monday, a day after she had been reported missing. “It is currently being investigated as a non-criminal death and there are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances,” Toronto police spokeswoman Caroline de Kloet said.

  • Russia’s New Territory

    In November, Russia gained a slice of somebody else’s country. It did this not through unidentified troops moving across a border, nor through hybrid warfare. Instead, it negotiated its capture in full view of, and without a single question asked by, the United States or the rest of the world.Fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh preceded the annexation. The mountainous region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but since a 1994 ceasefire between the two nations has been controlled by ethnic Armenians. The conflict flared up again in September. Two months later came a peace deal, with Russia the winner: It mediated a ceasefire that placed the Kremlin’s ostensibly peacekeeping boots on the ground. America watched idly as this happened.As Armenia’s traditional protector, Russia held the only leverage to convince Armenia to sign this ceasefire. By signing, Yerevan gave up claims to the territories it had occupied within Azerbaijan since 1994 and gained nothing — bar a ceasefire rather than a forced surrender. In return for securing for its ally a marginally smaller humiliation, Moscow gained a present and a presence.In reality — unless America is prepared to engage fully in the peace process — Nagorno-Karabakh is now Russia’s indefinitely. The Kremlin ostensibly controls the territory for five years, with an automatic rollover for an additional five should none of the three parties to the ceasefire object six months before the end of the mandate.Russia certainly won’t. It is now gatekeeper to a region central to Europe’s energy diversification (reducing the role of Russian imports). If the region is strategically important to NATO, that makes it strategically important to the Kremlin.Armenia, for mistrust of Azerbaijan, will want the peacekeepers to stay. The short but brutal conflict has proven conclusively that Armenia cannot win militarily, and that therefore ethnic Armenians must accept either governance by Azerbaijan or the protectorate of Russia. Weak and broken, Yerevan finds it less of a humiliation to accept Russian tutelage in Nagorno-Karabakh, if only to deny an archenemy a complete victory. But this is a longer-term disaster for the Armenians. It means they are effectively trapped in a Russian embrace. They cannot turn west and cannot turn east — either diplomatically or for investment — because the Russians are now in charge.Though traditionally thought of by Moscow as “on the other side,” Azerbaijan — owing to lukewarm support from the United States and EU in recent years — has been steadily deepening diplomatic and economic relations with Russia, in part from necessity and a lack of serious alternatives. Yet now, with Russian military boots on Azerbaijani territory for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union, Moscow’s leverage has also become economic leverage: By militarily guaranteeing a transport corridor across Armenia — closed before the ceasefire — to Azerbaijan’s exclave of Nakhichevan, Russia now controls Azerbaijan’s long-sought-after, direct land route from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean and Europe.The West certainly could have seen this coming. This is how it always begins: A toehold soon morphs into a footprint. Crimea, Eastern Ukraine, South Ossetia, Abkhazia — the list of examples goes on. Russian presence becomes Russian control: the only logic of Putin’s neo-czarist ambitions.Indeed, now, only a matter of weeks after troop deployment, the Kremlin is maneuvering: Lines on maps have started to bend and flex. On the Russian Ministry of Defense website, a page shows a map outlining the area where Russian peacekeepers, by the terms of the agreement, are to be stationed and will have jurisdiction within which to operate. On December 13, miraculously, the land they control had expanded. This was changed back to the original on the next day, after Azerbaijani diplomatic pressure. But this activity demonstrates that Kremlin cartographers are getting creative — and very early in this intervention.Rumors now swell of Russian “passportization” in Nagorno-Karabakh. Manufacturing new demographic realities on the ground by granting citizenship has been used to maintain influence in the internal affairs in other post-Soviet nations. Once Russians occupy the area, the Russian state is obliged to step in.It is a classic of the Kremlin repertoire. It preceded the invasion of Crimea. It happened in two regions in Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, again before wars broke out, with Russia coming out as the chief beneficiary. Most recently, passportization has been aggressively deployed in eastern Ukraine, through a helpfully streamlined process. The Kremlin forecasts that there will be over one million Russian citizens bearing newly minted documents by the end of the year. In all of these situations, Russia’s grip is secure.Passportization would mean that a negotiated settlement on the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh — what was supposed to be some form of autonomy within Azerbaijan, as in Soviet days — will never materialize. It will instead turn into a Russian-passport protectorate, giving Russia the pretext — or in Moscow’s lexicon, the legal right — to jump into the region were any imagined threat to its “citizens” to emerge.Considering the U.S.-led assistance now poured into Ukraine in the wake of Russian destabilization, it is surprising that more precautionary measures are not being taken in the South Caucasus.Yet time remains for America to step in: The ceasefire shall give way to negotiations for a final peace deal, with much left to decide. The U.S. must fully and comprehensively oppose passportization. American companies should invest in infrastructure and energy projects in the region so as to limit Russia’s room for maneuver. And U.S.-led joint investment initiatives between Armenia and Azerbaijan would help to cut the dependence of both on Russia.It’s time for America to step up diplomatic and economic efforts and reinsert itself in this process. Otherwise, Russia’s empire will continue to expand unchecked.

  • Trump's longtime Deutsche Bank private banker and her close colleague abruptly resign

    Rosemary Vrablic, a managing director and senior banker in Deutsche Bank's wealth management division, has resigned, effective Dec. 31, Vrablic and Deutsche Bank said Tuesday. Vrablic became President Trump's private banker at the German lender in 2011, at a time when Trump was having difficulties borrowing money due to his history of defaulting on loans. Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, already a client of Vrablic, introduced her to Trump."The reasons for Ms. Vrablic's abrupt resignation were not clear," The New York Times reports. But Deutsche Bank in August opened an internal investigation into a real estate deal in which Vrablic and a longtime colleague at the bank, Dominic Scalzi, invested in an apartment building partly owned by Kushner. Scalzi is also resigning at the end of the year.The status of the internal review is unclear, the Times reports. But the relationship between Trump and Deutsche Bank is the subject of congressional, civil, and criminal investigations, including a criminal inquiry by the Manhattan district attorney. Vrablic is not among the handful of Deutsche Bank employees questioned by New York investigators yet, but her lawyer told CNN that "Ms. Vrablic is committed to cooperating with the authorities if asked."Deutsche Bank has been exploring how it can end its heavily scrutinized relationship with Trump, Reuters reports. But for Trump, his "key contacts at his biggest financial backer are leaving at a perilous time for the departing president," the Times reports. "He owes Deutsche Bank about $330 million, and the loans come due in 2023 and 2024. Mr. Trump provided a personal guarantee to get the loans, meaning that if he fails to pay them back, the bank can pursue his personal assets."More stories from theweek.com Trump is reportedly turning on 'virtually every person around him' A Lincoln Project ad reportedly turned Trump against Mike Pence. Pence is now bending. Trump's eye-for-an-eye endgame

  • Kamala Harris campaigns in Georgia: '2020 ain't over until Jan. 5'

    Vice President-elect Kamala Harris campaigned in Georgia on Monday for Senate Democratic hopefuls Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, emphasizing the “need” for them in Washington.

  • US companies no longer have to pay sick leave to people with Covid after Mitch McConnell reportedly blocks extension

    ‘This crisis has made it clearer than ever why paid leave for every worker is so important to families,’ says senator Patty Murray

  • Kremlin mocks Navalny for his phone call to alleged member of FSB hit squad

    The Kremlin has mocked Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, for his claim that he managed to speak to one of the men allegedly involved in a botched plot to kill him earlier this year, saying he has a "Freudian fixation on his own crotch area." Mr Navalny, who spent weeks in a coma after a nerve agent poisoning, on Monday released a bombshell 49-minute-long phone conversation with one of the suspected Russian intelligence agents involved in the August attempt on his life. The man, who apparently thought he was talking to a senior intelligence official, was heard detailing the operation to Mr Navalny and confessing that the FSB was out to kill him. Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, told reporters on Tuesday that he was speaking in a personal capacity but felt it necessary to say that the politician, in his opinion, “has a pronounced persecutory delusion.” “You can also clearly identify certain signs of megalomania,” he said. Mr Peskov also referred to the part of the phone call where the alleged agent tells Mr Navalny at length about his blue underpants smeared with the nerve agent, describing the remarks as a "Freudian fixation on his own crotch and all that."

  • Singapore airport becomes luxury 'glamping' ground

    This airport has become a ‘glamping’ ground Location: Changi Airport, Singapore Some visitors are choosing to spend their holidays in luxury tents with queen-sized beds at the retail and leisure wing of the Changi Airport (SOUNDBITE) (English) FADLINA MUSA, BUSINESS MANAGER IN BIOMEDICAL INDUSTRY, SAYING:"Usually we go out of the country every holiday but since we can't travel much and it's a school holiday so I thought, you know, why not do something different for the children. And I think they enjoy camping, they always set up tents in our house, I thought lets give them this experience." But the 'glamp-cations' aren't cheap Guests can spend up to $269 a night at the airport

  • Belarus to allow exiled archbishop to return home

    MOSCOW (Reuters) -Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has decided to allow Minsk's exiled Catholic archbishop to return home after a personal appeal from Pope Francis, the Vatican's embassy in Minsk said on Tuesday. Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz angered Lukashenko by defending the rights of anti-government protesters and was denied entry in August as he tried to return from a ceremony in neighbouring Poland. The respected Rome-based website Il Sismografo, which specialises in Vatican affairs, posted a photo of a statement from the Vatican's ambassador in Minsk saying it had been informed by the government that "there are no more obstacles" to Kondrusiewicz's return.

  • The disappointing downfall of Dr. Deborah Birx

    Along with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Birx was seen as a potential counter to Trump and those who abetted his worst impulses.

  • Australian held in China hopes for justice despite torture

    A Chinese-Australian writer has told family he has been tortured during almost two years in detention in China but maintains confidence he will receive justice in court. Yang Hengjun was taken into custody upon arriving in Guangzhou in southern China from New York in January last year with his wife, Yuan Xiaoliang, and his 14-year-old stepdaughter. “After two years, especially with torture, more than 300 interrogations and a lot of verbal abuse, I am now in a place of deeper retrospective and introspective meditation,” Yang wrote in a recent holiday season letter addressed to his wife, sons and friends, colleagues and readers.

  • Biden delays attorney general appointment

    President-elect is deliberating on his final cabinet positions before taking office

  • 11 Luxurious Bedding Options to Start the New Year Right

    Slip into something a little more comfortableOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • Putin critic Navalny reportedly tricks Russian agent into revealing how he was poisoned

    Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has reportedly uncovered details of his own poisoning by successfully duping a Russian agent into revealing them.Navalny, a leading critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is recovering after being poisoned in August. On Monday, CNN reported that an agent from the toxins team at Russia's FSB security service made the "stunning disclosure" that Navalny was poisoned through a nerve agent planted in his underwear.The way the revelation came about was just as stunning: evidently in a 45-minute phone call in which the agent, who was tasked with trailing Navalny, thought he was speaking with an official from Russia's National Security Council -- but in reality, he was speaking with none other than Navalny himself. Navalny disguised his phone number so it looked like that of Russia's FSB headquarters to dupe the agent, Konstantin Kudryavtsev, who ultimately "talked about others involved in the poisoning in the Siberian city of Tomsk, and how he was sent to clean things up," CNN reports. Bellingcat also reported on details from the phone call."Every once in a while, you come across a story, John [Berman], that really leaves your jaw wide open," CNN's Clarissa Ward said on CNN Monday morning. "And this is one of them."Ward added, "Boy, does this conversation punch a giant hole in the Kremlin's narrative, which has always been to say that, 'Well, while the FSB might have been trailing Navlany, that does not prove that they poisoned him.' Well, this certainly would appear to prove it." Read more from Navalny's call at CNN. > EXCLUSIVE: A Russian officer is duped into telling Alexey Navalny how he was poisoned: through his underpants https://t.co/fzrQl65CXc pic.twitter.com/dRBAEFv7ad> > -- New Day (@NewDay) December 21, 2020More stories from theweek.com Trump's eye-for-an-eye endgame Biden suggests GOP senators speaking out against alleged Russian hack is a sign of bipartisan future Televangelist Pat Robertson says Biden won, won't be president long, urges 'erratic' Trump to retire

  • HK court grants tycoon Jimmy Lai bail in national security, fraud case

    A Hong Kong court granted HK$10 million ($1.3 million) bail on Wednesday to media tycoon Jimmy Lai, the highest profile pro-democracy activist charged under the city's new national security law on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces. Lai is one of the financial hub's most ardent critics of Beijing, while his Next Media group is considered one of the key remaining bastions of media freedom.

  • Georgia Senate race shows deep rift on Christian faith

    The Georgia Senate race between Kelly Loeffler and Raphael Warnock highlights a centuries-old rift between the white and Black church in the South.

  • Pfizer and Moderna testing vaccines on UK coronavirus variant

    Drugs giants Pfizer and Moderna are testing their new coronavirus vaccines to see if they work against the new mutated version sweeping across the UK. More than 40 nations have restricted travel from Britain after the Government at the weekend expressed warned that a new, easier to catch variant was running out of control. Some 500,000 high risk people have already been given their first shot of the double-dose Pfizer vaccine in the UK and both vaccines have also been authorised for use in America. "Based on the data to date, we expect that the Moderna vaccine-induced immunity would be protective against the variants recently described in the UK," Moderna said in a statement. "We will be performing additional tests in the coming weeks to confirm this expectation." Pfizer said it is now “generating data” on how well blood samples from people immunized with its vaccine “may be able to neutralize the new strain from the UK.” Ugur Sahin, chief executive of BioNTech which co-produced the Pfizer vaccine said the company was confident the vaccine will be effective against the UK mutation of the coronavirus. If not, he estimated a modified vaccine could be made in six weeks. He told the German Press Agency that although the vaccine had not been tested against the new, more infectious mutation, “scientifically, it is highly likely that the immune response by this vaccine also can deal with the new virus variant.” “We have already tested the vaccine against around 20 other virus variants with other mutations. The immune response produced by our vaccine has always inactivated all forms of the virus. " Mr Sahin said that even if the current vaccine was found to be ineffective, the company had the infrastructure in place to provide a modified vaccine within six weeks. “In principle the beauty of the messenger technology is that we can directly start to engineer a vaccine which completely mimics this new mutation - we could be able to provide a new vaccine technically within six weeks." Mr Sahin said testing over the next two weeks would determine the vaccine’s effectiveness against the new UK strain of the virus. By Tuesday morning a total of 45 countries were off-limits to all UK travellers, including 23 of the EU's 27 member states. The severity of the bans varies, from from Spain's ban on non-Spanish visitors from Britain, to Croatia's suspension of all flights until January 31. Among overnight additions to the no entry list were Jamaica, Grenada and Dominican Republic. As nations attempted to keep track of any entry of the new variant, it was reported that the first patients in Italy thought to have the new strain were an Italian spy and her husband, a former British army officer. The unnamed woman, 42, works for AISE, the Italian equivalent of MI6. Her 45-year-old husband is understood to have flown into Rome's Fiumicino airport from the UK in the last few days. The former British Army officer, who was reportedly an aide-de-camp to a general, now works for a financial institution in Rome. Both at home, in isolation, and are said to have mild symptoms, but have need declared the country's "patients zero" for the strain. Italy wants to trace and test the estimated 44,000 people who flew in from the UK in December in a bid to discover if any of them are suffering from the mutant strain of Covid-19. The authorities want to locate all the travelers, swab them for the coronavirus, and then trace their family, friends and other contacts - a huge logistical challenge. Some Italian commentators and medical experts have been highly critical of the fact that it took the British authorities so long to publicly announce the discovery of the new strain of the virus. "It is a highly alarming situation caused by the delay in communication by the British authorities," said Corriere della Sera newspaper on Tuesday. Meanwhile Singapore is to ban all short-term visitors with a travel history to the UK or Australia’s New South Wales from midnight on Wednesday. Passengers from these locations will also be unable to transit through Singapore’s Changi international airport. Returning Singaporeans and permanent residents who have travel history to the UK in the last 14 days, will be required to undergo a COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test upon arrival in Singapore, before starting their 14-day quarantine.

  • White supremacists were plotting to attack US power grid over Trump election loss

    Court documents reveal a teen from Ohio discussed creating Nazi militant cells around the US