NewsPlexus Media January 15, 2021

A strong, shallow earthquake shook Indonesia's Sulawesi island just after midnight Friday, toppling homes and buildings, triggering landslides and killing at least 42 people.

NewsPlexus Media January 15, 2021

As states across the U.S. roll out the COVID-19 vaccine to people 65 and older, senior citizens are scrambling to figure out how to sign up to get their shots. Many states and counties ask people to make appointments online, but glitchy websites, overwhelmed phone lines and a patchwork of fast-changing rules are bedeviling older people who are often less tech-savvy, may live far from vaccination sites and are more likely to not have internet access at all, especially people of color and those who are poor.

NewsPlexus Media January 15, 2021

President-elect Joe Biden has picked a former Food and Drug commissioner to lead vaccine science in his drive to put 100 million shots into the arms of Americans in his administration's first 100 days and stem the COVID-19 pandemic.

NewsPlexus Media January 15, 2021

North Korea displayed new submarine-launched ballistic missiles under development and other military hardware in a parade that underlined leader Kim Jong Un’s defiant calls to expand the country's nuclear weapons program.

NewsPlexus Media January 15, 2021

Airlines and airports say they are stepping up security before next week's presidential inauguration, with Delta and other major airlines saying they will prohibit passengers flying to the Washington area from putting guns in checked bags. The moves follow the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump and politically tinged confrontations on some flights.

NewsPlexus Media January 15, 2021

President-elect Joe Biden unveiled a $1.9 trillion coronavirus plan Thursday to end "a crisis of deep human suffering" by speeding up vaccines and pumping out financial help to those struggling with the pandemic's prolonged economic fallout. Called the "American Rescue Plan," the legislative proposal would meet Biden's goal of administering 100 million vaccines by the 100th day of his administration, and advance his objective of reopening most schools by the spring. On a parallel track, it delivers another round of aid to stabilize the economy while the public health effort seeks the upper hand on the pandemic.

NewsPlexus Media January 15, 2021

The A-list is back. How A-list? Try Lady Gaga and J. Lo. Inauguration officials announced on Thursday that the glittery duo would appear in person on Jan. 20, with Gaga singing the national anthem as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are sworn in on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, and Jennifer Lopez giving a musical performance. The announcement comes a day after word that Tom Hanks will host a 90-minute primetime TV special celebrating Biden’s inauguration.

NewsPlexus Media January 15, 2021

The FBI is tracking an “extensive amount of concerning online chatter,” including calls for armed protests leading up to next week's presidential inauguration, Director Chris Wray said Thursday. Wray, in his first public appearance since the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, said in a security briefing for Vice President Mike Pence that the FBI remains concerned about the potential for violence at protests and rallies in Washington and in state capitols around the country.

NewsPlexus Media January 15, 2021

President-elect Joe Biden already faces the daunting task of steering a newly announced $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill through a closely divided Congress as the pandemic and its economic fallout grow. Now Biden will have to do it with President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial beginning potentially as soon as his first day in office. The confluence of events amounts to one of the most politically and logistically complicated openings to a new administration in modern history, requiring Biden to try to move the country into a post-Trump era even as senators debate Trump's most divisive acts.

NewsPlexus Media January 15, 2021

Jaime Harrison — a longtime Democratic Party official and fundraising powerhouse who failed in his bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham — is Joe Biden’s choice to lead the national party, the president-elect announced Thursday. Harrison is expected to be elected without any significant opposition when the Democratic National Committee convenes next Thursday in a virtual session, a day after Biden is inaugurated.

NewsPlexus Media January 15, 2021

Two major railroad workers unions have asked the Department of Homeland Security to beef up security on Amtrak and other passenger lines, including by creating a no-ride list akin to the no-fly list that prevents people identified as risks from boarding planes. The unions said Wednesday that tougher security measures are needed in light of last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol because people who took part in the insurrection and were subsequently placed on the no-fly list may turn to rail travel instead.

NewsPlexus Media January 15, 2021

At first, viewed from a distance, it was a rally or protest. Then it became an assault, a riot, an insurrection, domestic terrorism or even a coup attempt. The language used by the American media to describe last week's Capitol siege proves one thing whatever your perspective: Words matter. The coverage has sent Americans scurrying to the dictionary and news organizations carefully considering terminology.

NewsPlexus Media January 15, 2021

Amid insurrection and impeachment, the Supreme Court's big news Thursday was a decision in a bankruptcy case. Wednesday brought arguments over the Federal Trade Commission's ability to recapture ill-gotten gains. At this fraught moment in U.S. history, the court is doing its best to keep its head down, going about its regular business and putting off as many politically charged issues as it can, including whether President Donald Trump's tax returns must be turned over to prosecutors in New York.

NewsPlexus Media January 15, 2021

Ugandans voted Thursday in a presidential election tainted by widespread violence that some fear could escalate if security forces try to stop supporters of leading opposition challenger Bobi Wine from monitoring the process. Internet access remained cut off. Long lines of voters snaked into the distance in the capital, Kampala. “This is a miracle,” mechanic Steven Kaderere said. “This shows me that Ugandans this time are determined to vote for the leader they want. I have never seen this before.”

NewsPlexus Media January 15, 2021

Russia's prison service said Thursday that top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny faces immediate arrest once he returns from Germany. Navalny, who has been convalescing in Germany from an August poisoning with a nerve agent that he has blamed on the Kremlin, said he will fly back home Sunday. He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of now trying to deter him from coming home with the threat of arrest. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied a role in the opposition leader's poisoning.

NewsPlexus Media January 15, 2021

Four people, including two minors, remained in custody Thursday after a Brussels demonstration over the weekend death of a young Black man detained by police turned violent, the prosecutor's office said. A spokesman for the prosecutor's office said three of the individuals held were suspected of arson. The fourth has been accused of rebellion following the Wednesday demonstration, when police made more than 100 arrests,.

NewsPlexus Media January 15, 2021

Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right party is choosing a new leader this weekend, a decision that will help shape German voters' choice of her successor at the helm of the European Union's biggest economy after her 16-year tenure. Merkel, now 66, has steered Germany, and Europe, through a series of crises since she took office in 2005. But she said more than two years ago that she won't seek a fifth term as chancellor.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

The rapid expansion of COVID-19 vaccinations to senior citizens across the U.S. has led to bottlenecks, system crashes and hard feelings in many states because of overwhelming demand for the shots.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

President Donald Trump's impeachment trial could begin on Inauguration Day, just as Democrat Joe Biden takes the oath of office in an ever-more-extraordinary end to the defeated president's tenure in the White House.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

Last week’s “violent insurrection” at the Capitol by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump has “impacted the way we are approaching working with our federal partners in planning for the 59th inauguration,” Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said Wednesday, asking people not to travel to the District of Columbia for the event.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

Justice Department leaders under President Donald Trump knew their 2018 “zero tolerance” border policy would result in family separations but pressed on with prosecutions even as other agencies became overwhelmed with migrants, a government watchdog report released Thursday has found.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

Amid the American flags and Trump 2020 posters at the U.S. Capitol during last week's insurrection were far more sinister symbols: A man walking the halls of Congress carrying a Confederate flag. Banners proclaiming white supremacy and anti-government extremism. A makeshift noose and gallows ominously erected outside.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

Earth’s rising fever hit or neared record hot temperature levels in 2020, global weather groups reported Thursday.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

The Constitution says the chief justice is to preside at the impeachment trial of a president. But what about an ex-president?

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

The WHO team of international researchers that arrived in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Thursday hopes to find clues to the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. The visit has been shrouded in secrecy, with neither China nor the WHO revealing exactly what the team will do or where it will go. Here's what we know.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

The scene in the U.S. Capitol seemed jarringly disconnected. Inside the House chamber, the nation's lawmakers spoke with solemnity about democracy, the rule of law and the words of Abraham Lincoln as they undertook a vote to remove the president from office. They wore masks, a rule imposed by Democrats, as a measure of the pandemic that continues to ravage the country. But only steps away, outside the chamber doors, there was the look of an armed encampment.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

A global team of researchers arrived Thursday in the Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic was first detected to conduct a politically sensitive investigation into its origins amid uncertainty about whether Beijing might try to prevent embarrassing discoveries. The 10-member team sent to Wuhan by the World Health Organization was approved by President Xi Jinping's government after months of diplomatic wrangling that prompted an unusual public complaint by the head of the WHO.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

Florida was one of the first states to throw open vaccine eligibility to members of the general public over 65, leading to rumors that tourists and day-trippers are swooping in solely for the jab. State officials have moved quickly to disavow such scuttlebutt. Gov. Ron DeSantis said stories of people flying to Florida, getting vaccinated and returning home are overblown. While there have been scattered reports of such interlopers, DeSantis said the nonresidents who are getting shots are almost entirely "snowbirds," residents who live in the state for several months during the winter and who could infect others if they aren't vaccinated.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

The highest court in sports blasted Russia for engaging in “a cover up of the cover-up” in another desperate attempt to deny culpability for a state-sponsored doping scheme, while also justifying its decision to reduce the country's punishments at the next two Olympics. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the Court of Arbitration for Sport's 186-page decision for the case it ruled on last month between the Russians and the World Anti-Doping Agency. The decision is expected to be made public this week.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

President-elect Joe Biden will no longer be taking an Amtrak train to Washington for his inauguration because of security concerns, a person briefed on the decision told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The president-elect’s decision reflects growing worries over potential threats in the Capitol and across the U.S. in the lead-up to Biden's Jan. 20 inauguration.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

A law enforcement news conference this week on the U.S. Capitol riot was notable not only for news that sedition charges were being contemplated but also because of who was not there: the highest-ranking leaders of the FBI and the Justice Department. Since loyalists of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol last week, neither FBI Director Chis Wray nor acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen has appeared in public or joined lower-level officials at news conferences or on calls updating the public on the case.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

Five-time Olympic swimming medalist Klete Keller was charged Wednesday with participating in a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol after video emerged that appeared to show him among those storming the building last week. An FBI complaint filed in U.S. District Court, citing screenshots from the video, requested a warrant charging Keller with knowingly entering a restricted building to impede an official government function, disorderly conduct, and obstructing law officers during the frightening ordeal.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

Flint mother Ariana Hawk struggled to find words. Bittersweet came to mind, as did frustrated. “I literally could have cried,” said Hawk, sitting in her car after learning Tuesday that former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and others in his administration were expected to be charged in a water crisis blamed with causing learning disabilities in scores of children and other medical problems among adults in the majority Black city about 60 miles (95 kilometers) northwest of Detroit.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

Federal safety officials said Wednesday they stepping up enforcement against unruly airline passengers after confrontations on flights to and from Washington, D.C., around the time of the riot at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump. The Federal Aviation Administration said there has been "a disturbing increase in incidents where airline passengers have disrupted flights with threatening or violent behavior. These incidents have stemmed both from passengers' refusals to wear masks and from recent violence at the U.S. Capitol."

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, facing waning support from longtime backers and donors in the wake of the attack at the U.S. Capitol last week, defended himself in a newspaper column Wednesday, accusing the media and “Washington establishment” of deceiving Americans into calling him an “insurrectionist.” Hawley’s column appeared in the Southeast Missourian, a daily newspaper in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. It marked the first time Hawley, 41, has publicly defended himself since the brutal attack on Jan. 6 when a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol following the president's rally.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

Potential threats and leads are pouring in to law enforcement agencies nationwide after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The challenge is now figuring out what's real and what's just noise. Investigators are combing through a mountain of online posts, street surveillance and other intelligence, including information that suggests mobs could try to storm the Capitol again and threats to kill some members of Congress.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

Sixteen days before the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and nearly 2,900 miles away, an eerily similar incident occurred at the Oregon Capitol when 50 protesters breached the building — where lawmakers were working — and clashed with law enforcement. Security video shows a Republican lawmaker, Rep. Mike Nearman, had physically opened the Capitol's door — letting protesters gain access to the building. Since then, there have been calls for Nearman, a representative from the small northwest Oregon town of Independence, to resign ahead of the upcoming Legislative session that begins Tuesday.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

Housing advocates around the country staked out courthouses and held rallies Wednesday, calling on the incoming Biden administration to extend and strengthen the current federal ban on evictions. President Donald Trump's directive, implemented in September by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was extended until the end of January. Given the pandemic is still ongoing, advocates argue tenants should have protections for the next several months and that the ban should be expanded beyond only tenants who cannot pay their rent.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

Top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny says he plans to go home to Russia next weekend despite the authorities' threats to put him once again behind bars. Navalny, who has been convalescing in Germany from an August poisoning with a nerve agent that he has blamed on the Kremlin, charged that Russian President Vladimir Putin was now trying to deter him from coming home with new legal motions. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied a role in the opposition leader's poisoning.

NewsPlexus Media January 14, 2021

For America's allies and rivals alike, the chaos unfolding during Donald Trump's final days as president is the logical result of four years of global instability brought on by the man who promised to change the way the world viewed the United States. From the outside, the United States has never looked so vulnerable — or unpredictable. By seeking to overturn his loss to Joe Biden, Trump upended the bedrock principle of democratic elections that the United States has sought to export around the world.

NewsPlexus Media January 13, 2021

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday blocked a quick Senate impeachment trial for President Donald Trump but did not rule out that he might eventually vote to convict Trump.

NewsPlexus Media January 13, 2021

Experts say last Wednesday's attack on the U.S. Capitol was the culmination of years of increasing radicalization and partisanship, combined with a growing fascination with paramilitary groups and a global pandemic. And they warn that the armed insurrection that left five people dead and shook the country could be just the beginning.

NewsPlexus Media January 13, 2021

For more than four years, President Donald Trump has dominated the national discourse like no one before him. That's just what made his position on the sidelines Wednesday, while his legacy was about to be permanently redefined, all the more stunning.

NewsPlexus Media January 13, 2021

AP fact checks claims made by Republican legislators during Wednesday's impeachment debate in the U.S. House of Representatives.

NewsPlexus Media January 13, 2021

U.S. Census Bureau statisticians are under significant pressure from Trump political appointees to figure out who in the U.S. is in the country illegally, and they're worried that any such report they produce in the waning days of the Trump administration will be inaccurate, according to the bureau's watchdog agency.

NewsPlexus Media January 13, 2021

Tom Hanks will host a 90-minute primetime TV special celebrating the inauguration of Joe Biden as president of the United States, with performances by Justin Timberlake, Jon Bon Jovi, Demi Lovato and Ant Clemons.

NewsPlexus Media January 13, 2021

As a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol last week clamoring to overturn the result of November's presidential election, photographs captured a man in the crowd wearing a shirt emblazoned with “Camp Auschwitz,” a reference to the Nazi concentration camp.

NewsPlexus Media January 13, 2021

The wall of Republican support that has enabled Trump to weather a seemingly endless series of crises is beginning to erode.