On this first Friday of December, this is what’s trending.
Analysis: Ex-Presidents fill leadership vacuum as Trump ignores worsening pandemic
This is what presidential leadership looks like. As President Donald Trump ignores America’s worst-ever daily Covid-19 recorded death toll and the nation slips deeper into a tragic winter, three of his predecessors are volunteering to bare their arms on camera to build confidence in the vaccines that could finally end the pandemic.
Coronavirus update: Latest news from around the world
By Ben Westcott and Adam Renton, CNN Updated 9:07 a.m. ET, December 3, 2020 What you need to know Coronavirus cases are rising in the US, and health care officials say their staff and facilities are struggling to support burgeoning numbers of patients.
Analysis: The UAE and Israel’s whirlwind honeymoon has gone beyond normalization
Never has the process of normalization been so fast, and pursued with such mutual enthusiasm, as between Israel and the UAE, Ben Wedeman writes.
The US has reported its most coronavirus deaths in a single day: Over 2,800
More than 2,800 Covid-19 deaths were reported in the United States on Wednesday — the most the country has ever reported in a single day — as health care officials say their staff and facilities are struggling to support burgeoning numbers of patients.
Republicans brace for Trump rally in Georgia
Georgia Republicans are increasingly worried about President Donald Trump’s rally on Saturday for the two Senate runoff races, as some brace for a tirade to overturn his loss that could hurt the party’s effort to keep control of the chamber.
Cristiano Ronaldo scores 750th career goal and edges closer to all-time record
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 750th goal of his astonishing career in Juventus’ comfortable 3-0 win against Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Threat to remove Chinese firms from Wall Street is now on Trump’s desk
The US government is just one step away from enacting a law that could kick several Chinese firms off Wall Street, further escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing.
Torture and discrimination: How police brutality became endemic in India
It was minutes into India’s Independence Day when police stormed a slum in the western state of Gujarat where Hira Bajania, 65, was sleeping. In the black of night, he was dragged from his home, taken to a nearby police station and accused, with 11 other men, of stealing cell phones.
Missing credit card payments may be an early sign of dementia, study says
Patterns of missing credit card and loan payments could be an early indicator of dementia years before diagnosis, a new study says.
Coronavirus: US hits record Covid cases and hospitalisations
Record-high Covid infections and hospitalisations have been reported in the US, with fears they will not slow in the run-up to Christmas. The number of people in hospital passed 100,000 for the first time, a figure that has doubled since early November.
Zanele Muholi: Celebrating South Africa’s black LGBTQIA+ community
“I am re-writing a black, queer and trans visual history of South Africa for the world to know of our existence, resistance and persistence,” says Zanele Muholi. Delayed by coronavirus restrictions, the photographer’s biggest exhibition yet finally opens at London’s Tate Modern gallery on Wednesday.
Why Trump keeps outperforming the polls
He lost the election, but did better than most experts were predicting. How does this keep happening?
James & Davis set for Lakers extensions
James, 35, is set to sign a two-year contract extension, worth a reported $85m (£63m), which will run until the end of the 2022-23 season – his 20th in the NBA. Davis, 27, will agree a new five-year deal worth a reported $190m (£141m).
A Record 100,000 Americans Are Currently Hospitalized With COVID-19
More than 100,000 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, a grim record amid three straight weeks of them: Every day since Nov. 9 has seen more Americans hospitalized than at the peak of the first wave of this virus this spring, with more admissions every day.
Georgia Voters Will Decide If There’s Any Chance We Raise The Minimum Wage
The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 an hour for more than 11 years. Whether or not it rises anytime soon largely depends on Georgia, where two runoff elections in January will determine which party controls the Senate.
Mike Pompeo Sends Out 900 Invitations For One Big Holiday Party: Report
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife have sent out around 900 invitations for one of several indoor holiday parties at the State Department, despite the coronavirus pandemic and bleak warnings from public health officials to avoid large gatherings, according to a report in The Washington Post.
Ivanka Trump Deposed As Part Of Inauguration Donor Funds Lawsuit
WASHINGTON (AP) – Ivanka Trump has been deposed by attorneys alleging that President Donald Trump ‘s 2017 inauguration committee misused donor funds, a new court filing reveals. The document, first reported by CNN Wednesday, notes that Ivanka Trump, the president’s oldest daughter and a senior White House adviser, was interviewed Tuesday by attorneys from the Washington, D.C., attorney general’s office.
Trump Releases 46 Minutes Of Lies Falsely Asserting ‘Fraud’ In Last Month’s Election
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump on Wednesday released a lie-packed video on Facebook falsely claiming there was massive “fraud” in last month’s election, which he lost by 7 million votes to Democrat Joe Biden.
How robot tentacles may capture our floating space trash
It could be one small step for space junk, one giant leap for commercial space operations. The European Space Agency signed an €86 million contract with a team led by Swiss start-up ClearSpace SA in November, talking to reporters on Tuesday about what could be the first space mission to remove an item of debris from orbit, and one that could potentially push the commercial space trash removal market forward.
‘Lord of the Rings’ actors form fellowship to try and buy Tolkien’s old house
It’s always nice to see the folks of Middle-earth banding together again. Earlier this year we got to watch the Lord of the Rings cast hanging out on a video call for an episode of Josh Gad’s YouTube series Reunited Apart, and now they’ve created a fellowship once again – only this time, for a very different reason.
VW’s electric ID.4 feels way more personalized than a Tesla
Tesla lets you name your car (I went with the very original “Tessie” during a Model 3 loan last year), but Volkswagen’s upcoming electric compact SUV, the ID.4, lets you customize the entire feel of the car. The ID.4 was revealed in September as VW’s first electric SUV available in the U.S.
How you’ll know the COVID-19 vaccines are safe
There’s an excellent reason why you’ve never seen someone suffering the ills of smallpox, with hard, scabbing pustules forming on their body “like peas under the skin.” It’s the same reason polio, a crippling disease, no longer exists in the U.S.
