Times Of Harvard

 After four years of extreme tension between the news media and Donald Trump’s White House, incoming White House press secretary Jen Psaki is promising a much more respectful and informative relationship under Joe Biden’s administration. “I think more than any point in history, and I don’t want to be overly dramatic … part of the job of the White House press secretary is to rebuild trust with the American people,” Psaki told National Public Radio in an interview released on Thursday. “My goal every day will, of course, be to be truthful and transparent and to help peel the curtains back for not just the media and reporters, of course, those are the people in the room, but for the American people,” she said. Without naming her four predecessors who served Trump, Psaki’s comments can be interpreted as a criticism of them, all of whom were accused of dodging transparency and peddling falsehoods to reporters. Trump’s presidency kicked off four years ago with his then-press secretary Se...

On the last day of President Donald Trump's last full year in office, a conservative Republican senator delivered a blunt message to his colleagues and to his red state constituents clinging to hopes that Trump could stay in office despite having lost by 7 million votes. Sen. Ben Sasse, a conservative Nebraska Republican who has voted overwhelmingly for Trump's agenda but has separated from the president himself, penned a lengthy and detailed post on his Facebook page spelling out why Joe Biden won the election and why it's foolish to try to challenge those results. In his missive, Sasse dubbed efforts to challenge the Electoral College vote tally on Jan. 6 "a dangerous ploy" and said disappointment over the results wasn't a justification for overturning an election even Trump administration officials said was fair and free from fraud. "If you make big claims, you had better have the evidence. But the president doesn't and neither do the institutional...

 China has granted conditional approval to its own coronavirus vaccine after initial analysis of clinical trial results show it is effective. Sinopharm, a state-controlled company, said that a vaccine developed by its Beijing Institute of Biological Products is 79% effective in preventing COVID-19 based on preliminary analysis. The vaccine candidate is the first one approved for use in China.  Zeng Yixin, a vice minister of China's National Health Commission, said in a news conference Thursday that the vaccine will be provided for all citizens free of cost, a reversal of previous statements.  China's National Medical Products Administration said the vaccine is "generally safe," but no additional details about side effects were disclosed. Chen Shifei, deputy head of the NMPA, said in a statement that "Strict supervision will continue to be carried out over the vaccine after its approval to ensure its safety and quality." A total of 14 COVID-19 vaccines being ...

US President-elect Joe Biden warned on Monday that many of America's security agencies had been "hollowed out" under President Donald Trump, and that the lack of information being provided to his transition team was an "irresponsibility." "We've encountered roadblocks from the political leadership at the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget," Biden said after a meeting with his foreign policy team. "Right now we just aren't getting all of the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. It's nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility," he said.  Team facing 'obstruction' While speaking in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said his team has faced "obstruction" from the political leadership at the Defense Department and the Office of Management and Budget as they've sought to gather necessary information to continue the transition of power. Bid...

Frenchman Romain Vandendorpe on Saturday set a world record for sitting immersed in ice cubes for the longest time, enduring the extreme challenge to raise money for childhood cancers. The 34-year-old health worker remained buried up to his neck in ice in a plexiglass cabin for two hours, 35 minutes and 43 seconds, breaking the previous record by 40 minutes in the northern French town of Wattrelos. He said he trained to "overcome human limits" by neuro-cognitive techniques based on "imagination and concentration" to put himself in "a state of daydreaming." The feat was performed before some 50 people and Vandendorpe's mantra for success was simple. "If we train, if we give our all, we can advance (and) obtain results that can improve things." His training techniques including sitting in an ice-cold jacuzzi, training in a 500-litre freezer and then remaining buried in snow in the French ski resort of Chamonix. He aims to donate the money raise...

The Trump administration on Monday appealed a federal court ruling which allows TikTok to keep operating in the United States despite a move to block the popular social media application on national security grounds. The Justice Department filed the appeal seeking to enforce a ban on TikTok by President Donald Trump, who has argued that the app's Chinese parent company may use TikTok for espionage and to spread disinformation. The filing did not include arguments for enforcing the ban, which had been rejected earlier this month by US District Judge Carl Nichols and in a parallel case filed in Pennsylvania. Nichols said TikTok's lawyers had demonstrated that the Commerce Department likely overstepped its authority by seeking to ban the popular social media app and "acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner by failing to consider obvious alternatives." The White House claims TikTok is a national security risk because of potential links to the Beijing government throug...

 Spain, Finland and Sweden have detected infections from new coronavirus strains as the World Health Organization warns that a more severe pandemic could come in the future. Spanish authorities in the region of Andalusia reported five cases of the variant that was first detected in the U.K. The infections were found in people who traveled to the U.K. in recent days. Madrid's health adviser announced Saturday that the city confirmed four cases of the variant. Finnish government officials on Monday reported that it found both the strain from the U.K. and another first detected in South Africa. All the infected people had recently traveled.  In neighboring Sweden, health officials on Saturday announced they detected a case of the strain first found in the U.K. in a recent traveler. While the new strains appear to be more contagious, experts do not believe they are more deadly or change the course of the disease. Several vaccine developers have said they anticipate their shots wil...

 "It's all about modesty for me. As a Muslim, being modest is a major thing and I just wanted to showcase to everyone that you can be modest and be into fashion because the hijab itself - apart from representing Islam - represents beauty." Ikram Abdi Omar was the UK's first hijab-wearing model to feature on the cover of Vogue at the age of 21 and became the face of Burberry in 2019. The Swedish-born Somali model, now 23 and living in Bristol, said her heritage and religious beliefs have greatly influenced her modelling career. "I like how everyone can express themselves differently and manage to portray a message with clothing alone," she said. "I believe my role in this industry embodies women's empowerment itself, because it shows that women have the choice to dress however they like, whether that includes showing skin or not, and still feel brilliant." "The hijab itself is an extremely significant thing to me as it stands for modesty an...

  Music superstar Beyoncé is getting 100 $5,000 checks in formation — to help individuals and families impacted by the current pandemic housing crisis. The Grammy-winner announced the extension of her BeyGOOD Impact Fund, which will grant $5,000 to 100 recipients who are facing foreclosures or evictions due to job loss, illness and other challenges. The BeyGood Impact Fund previously gave $10,000 grants to over 250 small businesses who were affected due to COVID-19. Renters nationwide face a critical timeclock, as the federal eviction moratorium is set to expire Dec. 31 — with no plan yet in place to extend it. The Census Bureau estimates 11.3 million households are behind on rent or won’t be able to pay the coming month’s, according to Washington Post. The online application process will open Jan. 7, with grants dispersed later that month. A second round will open in February, BeyGOOD says.

Speaking at a briefing Friday night, Nashville Mayor John Cooper said 41 businesses were “materially damaged” by a large explosion downtown. “There will be others,” he added. At least three people suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were transported to local hospitals, all are currently in stable condition. “This morning’s attack was intended to cause fear,” Cooper said, calling the explosion “a deliberate bomb”. Officers responded to a call of shots fired call on 2nd Avenue at approximately 5:30 a.m. The department’s Hazardous Devices Unit was called to check the RV.  As those officers were en route, the vehicle exploded outside an AT&T transmission building. “Officers encountered an RV that had a recording saying that a potential bomb would detonate within 15 minutes. Upon hearing that, officers decided to evacuate the buildings nearby,” John Drake, Metro Chief of Police said. Shortly after the RV exploded. Metro Police have released a photo of the RV. The Associated P...

 A Mexican nurse has become the first person in Latin America to receive a coronavirus jab when her country began its vaccination programme on Thursday. Mexico received an initial shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines the previous day. A short time later, Chile began administering the same vaccine, with Costa Rica to follow later on Thursday. Mexico has one of the highest pandemic death tolls in the world, exceeded only by the US, Brazil and India. Meanwhile, Argentina said on Wednesday it had approved the emergency use of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and a delivery of 300,000 doses arrived in Buenos Aires on Thursday morning.  In Mexico, María Irene Ramirez, 59, the head of the intensive care unit at Ruben Leñero Hospital in Mexico City, was the first to volunteer to be vaccinated. "We are afraid, but we have to move on [...] and I want to stay in the line of fire," she said afterwards, according to El Universal newspaper.  The first 3,000 doses - of 34 million purchased - ...

 Brazil has become the latest country to bar flights from the United Kingdom in a bid to prevent contagion from a new strain of the coronavirus. The government announced in an extra edition of the country’s official gazette released late Wednesday that it is temporarily prohibiting flights either originating in the U.K. or passing through. The government also is suspending authorization for foreigners who have been in the U.K. in the preceding 14 days from boarding Brazil-bound flights. The new rules take effect Friday. Cheer will be in short supply this pandemic-stricken Christmas, as many face isolation, grief, job fears and potentially more contagious coronavirus variant. No Christmas Day driving in Peru. Lebanon's nightclubs are open, but no dancing. Such is the global mish-mash of coronavirus measures. Freight from Britain and passengers have started arriving in France after the country eased a two-day blockade over a new virus variant. France is springing elderly residents fr...

 The President did not explicitly threaten to veto the invoice, and his White House stated earlier in the night time that he would signal it, however in a video launched on Twitter, he added a layer of confusion to a fragile course of that features not solely Covid-19 aid however a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending package deal that funds the federal authorities. The White House explicitly advised Senate Republicans weeks in the past that it supported pursuing the omnibus (all 12 appropriations payments tied right into a single large package deal) and people negotiations happened for weeks. The White House was totally conscious of what was in the invoice and what was agreed upon, although White House officers acknowledged late Tuesday that Trump himself had not acquired an in depth briefing on the package deal earlier than its passage. Most of the gadgets the President listed off as problematic in his Tuesday night time video weren’t from the Covid aid piece of the package deal. They ...

 Talks between the UK and the EU on a post-Brexit trade agreement continued during the night, but a deal is expected to be unveiled on Thursday. Negotiators in Brussels are said to be trying to finalise details on fishing quotas, which have proved an obstacle to an agreement during months of talks. The PM has briefed his cabinet. Boris Johnson is expected to speak to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the phone, BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said. A press conference is then expected to follow. Kuenssberg said she understands there were four calls between the pair to get a Brexit deal "over the line" - and the final one is "expected to sign and seal". It is understood the agreement does not have a role for the European Court of Justice and the two sides have agreed a system to sort out disputes that follows international law, rather than EU law, our political editor said. In addition, she said the two sides have agreed to phase new fishing ...

Twitter has confirmed that the official US presidential accounts will be wiped of their millions of followers before being transferred to the Biden administration. Mr Biden's team "fought" the plan, but the social media giant said its decision was "unequivocal". The move marks a reversal from the last transition. Twitter agreed to Donald Trump's request in 2016 to inherit Barack Obama's millions of followers.  “In 2016, the Trump administration absorbed all of President Obama's Twitter followers on @POTUS and @WhiteHouse - at Team 44's urging,” Rob Flaherty, the president-elect's digital director, tweeted on Monday. “In 2020, Twitter has informed us that as of right now the Biden administration will have to start from zero.” It affects followers of government-led accounts such as @POTUS and @FLOTUS. Twitter said those who follow the current presidential accounts will be notified that they are being archived, and will be given the choice to fo...

The number of people filing for initial unemployment claims fell last week but remains elevated at a historic level as coronavirus cases surge more than nine months into the pandemic. Initial jobless claims sat at 803,000 last week, a decrease of 89,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday.  Claims have fallen since reaching a peak of nearly 7 million in March at the onset of the pandemic but have stagnated between 700,000 and 900,000 since August, generally declining gradually week over week. That trend reversed in early December when claims rose above 800,000 for the first time in nearly two months. The weekly pre-pandemic record for jobless claims was just shy of 700,000. Congress on Monday passed a bipartisan coronavirus relief package that would extend additional jobless aid, but President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening threatened not to sign the measure, demanding that Congress up the value of direct stimulus payments included in the bill. Meanwhile, co...

  The United Nations is striving to get a team on the ground to investigate alleged human rights violations, including a mass killing in Ethiopia’s Tigray, described by the UN rights chief as one of many “appalling” human rights abuses that could amount to war crimes. Ethiopia’s army has been fighting rebellious forces in the northern Tigray region for more than six weeks in a conflict that has displaced close to 950,000 people. Access for humanitarian workers has until recent days been impossible and rights workers are now seeking access on the ground to verify reports. “If civilians were deliberately killed by a party or parties to the conflict, these killings would amount to war crimes and there needs to be, as I have stressed previously, independent, impartial, thorough and transparent investigations to establish accountability and ensure justice,” UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Tuesday, describing incidents there as “heartbreaking” and “appalling”.   Mai ...

Police say they have found the body of a Pakistani dissident living in the Canadian city of Toronto on refugee status, with rights group Amnesty International and others calling for a full and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death. The body of 37-year-old Karima Mehrab Baloch was found on Monday evening, although no immediate cause of death was given by police, said Lateef Johar Baloch, a rights activist. “I am with her family [and] I was there when police came to us and confirmed that they found her body,” Lateef Baloch told Al Jazeera by telephone. “It is confirmed that she is dead, and her body was found from water near Toronto.” A Toronto police spokesperson confirmed the body of a 37-year-old woman had been located on Monday. “It is currently being investigated as a non-criminal death and there are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances,” said Caroline de Kloet, a police media relations officer. Karima had earlier been reported missing by ...

  In the six weeks since President-elect Joe Biden won the White House, President Donald Trump has proved again and again that he has little concern for anyone other than himself, scheming and spreading falsehoods as he seeks to overturn the election while seeming unmoved by the grim climb in coronavirus cases that has led to more than 316,000 deaths in the United States while countless Americans struggle to keep food on the table.   Just when it seemed like the President couldn't sink any lower in his quest to subvert the November election results, his mere entertainment of invoking martial law to negate Biden's victory underscores how laser-focused he still is on his own interests at a time when the nation is mired in crisis.   The idea came up during an extraordinary Oval Office meeting Friday between Trump, members of his team and two of his most discredited outside advisers -- lawyer Sidney Powell, a fount of baseless voter fraud theories, and former national securit...

 Covid-19 vaccines are coming, but in most of Europe, winter is coming faster. In several countries, cases are surging again — after many countries seemed to be turning the tide. Politicians are desperate to find a balance of restrictions that flatten the curve without flattening the economy or upsetting residents who are eager to reunite for the holidays. "The key question now is to determine what is the optimal package of policies to maximize the health benefit at least cost," said Thomas Hale, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Oxford. "However, this 'magic formula' will likely differ across different countries and populations, and of course over time as the virus surges or recedes." It's a complicated and ever-changing calculus, and every country is different. But the approaches of three nations — Finland, Norway and Denmark — in recent months stand out, a CNN analysis shows. The analysis, which looked at data from the Unive...

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's Vision 2030 plan to create a vibrant private sector that can wean the Kingdom off its overwhelming dependence on oil revenue is stalled.  Over the past two years, consumer spending has tanked as higher prices for gasoline, water and electricity caused citizens to nervously hold on to their sparse pocketbooks.  The private sector, long dependent on cheap foreign labor—9 of 10 workers in the private sector are foreigners—has seen an exodus of some 1.1 million expatriate laborers over the past two years. The exodus has further drained consumer spending from the Saudi economy. As a result, the private sector isn’t leading but loudly calling for a lifeline. Watch one of the disappointed person who speaks of his hopes attached to Vision 2030:  

 School officials in districts that enroll the majority of the country's Black and Latino students, including many of the country's big city school districts, are counting on the coronavirus vaccines to allow them to reopen safely for in-person learning – every day, for all students. But as states start administering the first vaccines in what's expected to be a historic distribution campaign to inoculate hundreds of millions of Americans, pediatricians and school and public health officials have a major hurdle to overcome: how to convince vaccine-hesitant Black and Latino families – and especially Black parents who harbor a warranted distrust in the health care system and in immunizations specifically – that the vaccine is safe and effective and the gateway to reopening schools. "Black people have every right to be suspicious of vaccinations," says Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association. "We need to acknowledge that. Don't put tha...

 Half of Americans believe the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is still ahead as officials warn of a difficult winter to come and the U.S. set a record for daily deaths from the virus. A Kaiser Family Foundation survey published Friday found that 51% of Americans say the worst of the outbreak is yet to come, while 25% say the worst is already over. Nineteen percent of respondents say the pandemic is not and will not be a major problem. Health officials report more than 17.2 million cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., the most of any country, and the country surpassed 300,000 deaths this week, with a death toll now topping 310,790. Amid rising cases, the survey found that 68% of Americans, the most since the foundation began asking the question in February, are very or somewhat worried that they or a family member will get sick from COVID-19. Democrats are nearly twice as likely as Republicans to worry about themselves or their families getting sick, 83% compared to 46%. While American...

  The detention of the former crown prince of Saudi Arabia in breach of international law is weakening the security of both the kingdom and the west, a cross-party investigatory panel of British MPs has found. Mohammed bin Nayef was arrested in March as part of a consolidation of power ordered by the current crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. The panel found that, since March, Bin Nayef had lost a significant amount of weight. He is “suffering from pains in his joints, particularly his knees, making it difficult for him to walk comfortably without assistance, and there is evidence of damage to his feet, adding to the pain in walking”, the panel found. The panel also claims evidence submitted to it shows “he has not been able to contest his detention before an independent and impartial judge, has no access to a lawyer to discuss his situation and his case has not been reviewed to determine whether it is appropriate to continue his detention”. He has not been allowed to see either hi...

  State revenue growth increased 2.1% in October compared to year-earlier levels, but employment declined 6.1%. The numbers, from the Urban Institute's Monthly State Tax Revenue Highlights, reflect the disparate effect the COVID-19 pandemic is having on state economies, with some seeing growth in corporate and personal income taxes yet declines in jobs. Overall, revenues rose 2.1% with personal income taxes up 1.6%, sales tax revenue increasing 3.8% and corporate taxes up 12.2%. A large chunk of the growth in personal and corporate taxes came from California, which was the result of changes in tax rates. Excluding California, corporate taxes were up 4% overall. Twenty states saw declines in corporate income tax revenue. Sales taxes increased in 35 states but declined in eight. "In some states there is a disconnect between consumer spending (substantially down) and sales taxes (modest growth)," the institute reported. The drop in personal consumption came from lower spendi...

 President Donald Trump is considering pushing to have a special counsel appointed to advance a federal tax investigation into Hunter Biden, son of President-elect Joe Biden, setting up a potential showdown with incoming acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen. Trump – angry that outgoing Attorney General William Barr didn’t publicly announce the  two-year investigation into Hunter Biden – consulted on the matter with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, White House counsel Pat Cipollone and outside allies, according to administration officials who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss private matters. Beyond appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the younger Biden, the sources said, Trump is interested in having another special counsel appointed to look into his claims of election fraud, charges that have been lacking in proof. If he expects his newly named acting attorney general to go further than Barr on either matter, he could en...