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Month: January 2021

Videos of passengers being removed from planes do not indicate federal no-fly status yet, TSA says

Videos of belligerent passengers at airports — some donning pro-Trump outfits — being forced off planes or denied boarding are circulating widely on social media, with many users describing the scenes as airport officials informing people that participated in the Capitol riot that they’re on a no-fly list. But that’s not necessarily the case. Though

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Lose weight with household chores! Seoul government’s 1950s-style advice to pregnant women comes under fire

Officials in South Korea have withdrawn recently published guidelines for pregnant women, following a backlash over their use of outdated sexist stereotypes. Seoul city government’s Pregnancy and Childbirth Information Center published the guidelines on its website on January 5, including instructions to “prepare instant foods like curry, black bean paste and soup, so the husband,

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South African President announces extension of Covid-19 restrictions, closes land borders

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa extended coronavirus restrictions in the country Monday, citing a “massive increase” in Covid-19 cases driven by a variant discovered there last year. The current measures were were due to expire on January 15 and include closing beaches and public parks, and banning the sale of alcohol. “The pandemic in our

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Los Angeles County officials are advising essential workers to wear masks at home to avoid further spread of Covid-19

Things are so bad in Los Angeles County that health officials are now advising all essential workers to wear masks inside their own home to prevent spreading Covid-19 within their household. “Right now, because there is so much spread, we’re recommending that people wear their face coverings while they’re inside the home,” Los Angeles County

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The power of a real apology

“Forgiveness” in the time of Covid usually refers to loans, as in TD Bank’s recent announcement that, pending new information, it was no longer “accepting new forgiveness applications.” That phrasing got me thinking about how we, as individuals, sometimes struggle to accept a “forgiveness application” — aka apology — from someone who has done us

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A pregnant mother, a family of five and a father on a business trip among the victims of Sriwijaya Air crash

Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency team was continuing a search operation for the 62 people aboard Sriwijaya Air Flight 182, which crashed into the ocean shortly after takeoff Saturday. The Boeing 737-500 plane was heading from Jakarta to the city of Pontianak, on the Indonesian side of Borneo, when it lost contact at 2:40

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A federal judge has granted a stay of execution for the only woman on federal death row pending a competence hearing

A federal judge granted Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row, a stay of execution pending a competency hearing — just hours before she was scheduled to die. Judge James Hanlon of the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana wrote in the order granting the stay, “Ms. Montgomery’s motion to

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Moderna thinks its vaccine will protect against the coronavirus for at least a year

Biotechnology company Moderna believes its vaccine should protect people against COVID-19 for at least a year, a top official told investors Monday. “Our expectation is that the vaccination should last you at least a year,” Moderna’s chief medical officer Tal Zaks told the JP Morgan 39th Annual Healthcare Conference. Both Moderna’s and Pfizer/BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccines

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Parler sues Amazon for cutting off its services

Parler, the alternative social media platform favored by the far-right, sued Amazon on Monday in response to being deplatformed, alleging an antitrust violation, breach of contract and interference with the company’s business relationships with users. The complaint asks a federal court for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Amazon and calls Amazon Web Services’ decision

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Chief Justice John Roberts has received both doses of Covid vaccine, court says

Chief Justice John Roberts has received his two doses of the coronavirus vaccine, the Supreme Court said Monday. “The Chief Justice has taken steps to protect against infection, including minimizing contact with staff, regular testing, and receiving both doses of the Pfizer vaccine,” public information officer Kathy Arberg wrote in an email, responding to questions

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GOP lawmaker ‘strongly considering’ impeachment: Trump is ‘no longer qualified to hold that office’

Michigan GOP Rep. Peter Meijer said Monday evening he is “strongly considering” voting to impeach President Donald Trump following last week’s riot at the US Capitol, assessing that the President is “no longer qualified to hold that office.” “I would prefer that we have a more fulsome investigation into what happened. Most of what I

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Pompeo accuses VOA of “demeaning America” in speech that whistleblowers blast as “political propaganda”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the Voice of America news service of “demeaning America” in a speech that a watchdog group criticized as “political propaganda” and a violation of the government-funded agency’s own rules. Pompeo delivered remarks in person to a command audience of VOA staff despite the Covid pandemic, urging them to report

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All-women Indian pilot crew make history by completing country’s longest commercial flight

An all-female Indian pilot team made history this week, after they completed the longest non-stop commercial flight ever operated by an Indian national airline. The team of four cockpit crew members from Air India completed the 17-hour-long flight on Monday according a statement released by the airline. “We are India’s daughters who were given the

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Members of the public mistakenly allowed to sign up for Covid-19 vaccination appointments in Kentucky

Members of the general public in Kentucky were mistakenly allowed to sign up for Covid-19 vaccine appointments meant for health care workers, according to Louisville-based health system Baptist Health. Baptist Health provided the Kentucky Department of Health with an online vaccine appointment scheduling tool that could be linked to the state’s vaccine website for health

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Trump administration names Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism, frustrating Biden’s efforts to boost relations

The Trump administration has designated Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Monday, reversing an Obama-era decision to remove the label and potentially hindering the efforts of incoming president Joe Biden to normalize relations with the country. Pompeo said the State Department gave Cuba the designation “for repeatedly providing support

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Angry staffer appears to be behind State Department website edits saying Trump’s term is over

A disgruntled State Department employee appears to have been behind bizarre changes to the department website Monday that stated that President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence’s terms were over, two sources told CNN. A State Department source and another source familiar told CNN that the early stages of an investigation suggest the changes

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What is the Insurrection Act?

Viral social media posts have falsely claimed that President Donald Trump invoked the Insurrection Act of 1807 law to deploy American soldiers to police US streets. That didn’t happen. The unfounded posts have gained traction in the wake of the US Capitol breach on Wednesday that engulfed the nation’s capital in chaos and left five

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Michigan State Capitol Commission bans open carry of firearms inside state Capitol building

The Michigan State Capitol Commission on Monday banned the open carry of firearms inside the state’s Capitol building, effective immediately. The policy change only affects public areas inside the building and does not change policy on the Capitol grounds, nor does it prohibit licensed concealed pistol carry that follows state laws, according to the commission

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SEPTA Union Says Transit Agency going in wrong direction, putting workers’, riders’ health at risk

Click here for updates on this story     PHILADELPHIA, PA (KYW) — SEPTA’s workers’ union says the lives of employees and riders are at risk because of the coronavirus pandemic. And now, they’re looking to the courts in order to protect their civil rights. The president of SEPTA’s workers’ union is calling out the transit agency.

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Parents, school districts facing difficult decisions surrounding sending students back into classrooms

Click here for updates on this story     PITTSBURGH, PA (KDKA) — More and more families are raising concerns about the quality of their child’s education during this year of COVID-19. With Pennsylvania’s Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine encouraging schools to return to in person education, school districts and parents are trying to decide what to

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US sanctions Russia-linked disinformation network for involvement in attempts to influence US election

The US announced sanctions Monday against a group of Russian-linked Ukrainians, including two people who worked closely with Trump allies to discredit President-elect Joe Biden during the 2020 election campaign. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced sanctions against seven individuals and four entities “that are part of a Russia-linked foreign influence network associated with” accused

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‘An unimaginable love story’: High school sweethearts reunite and marry after nearly 70 years apart

High school sweethearts who were separated nearly seven decades ago reunited during the coronavirus pandemic and are now married. The love story began 68 years ago, when Fred Paul and Florence Harvey first found each other. The couple met as teenagers in Wandsworth, a small town in Newfoundland and Labrador province, Canada. They spent every

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