Massive accident, fire and explosion near Rego Park, Queens
A massive accident, fire and explosion took place on LIE near Rego Park, Queens in New York City. Full credit to: @thearchofaorta on Twitter
‘We The People’ concert is one in a series of events planned for Inauguration Week
Happening on Sunday, 17 January at 8 PM ET, the live-streamed fundraiser will be hosted by Keegan-Michael Key and Debra Messing
Featuring a mix of current hits and classics, the playlist 'represents the diversity of our nation, and our strength and resilience as we look forward to new leadership and a new era in America’
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 — A group of 21 Opposition MPs have urged the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government today to review its standard operating procedures (SOP) and allow food and beverage outlets to...
China reported more than 100 new COVID-19 cases for the sixth consecutive day, with rising infections in the northeast fuelling concerns of another national wave ahead of a major holiday season. The National Health Commission said in a statement on Monday that a total of 109 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Jan. 17, unchanged from a day earlier. Of the 93 local infections, 54 were reported in Hebei province that surround Beijing.
The de facto chief of South Korea's Samsung business empire faces the verdict Monday in his retrial over a sprawling corruption scandal, a ruling that could see him jailed for years, depriving the tech giant of its top decision-maker.
Australia may not fully reopen its international borders this year even if most of the population is vaccinated against coronavirus, the head of its health department said on Monday as the country recorded zero local COVID-19 cases. Australia, which has managed the coronavirus better than many other nations through targeted lockdowns and high rates of testing and contact tracing, reported zero local COVID-19 cases on Monday. Victoria, which is hosting the Australian Open, reported four positive cases in overseas travellers, all associated with the tennis, taking the total to nine.
It is all that is left of a programme, funded by some of the world’s biggest oil and chemical companies, that they said could solve a runaway ocean plastic waste crisis which is killing marine life - from plankton to whales - and clogging tropical beaches and coral reefs. The closure of Renew Oceans, which has not previously been reported, is a sign that an industry whose financial future is tied to the growth of plastic production is falling short of its targets to curb the resulting increase in waste, according to two environmental groups. The Alliance to End Plastic Waste, a Singapore-based nonprofit group set up two years ago by big oil and chemical companies, said on its website in November 2019 that its partnership with Renew Oceans would be expanded to the world’s most-polluted rivers and “ultimately could stop the flow of plastic into the planet’s ocean.”
Robert Lewandowski set a new record for the first half of a Bundesliga season on Sunday by netting his 21st league goal of 2020/21 as leaders Bayern Munich went four points clear with a 2-1 win over Freiburg.
Team BikeExchange rider set to return to racing in March after bone graft
North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament has passed decisions made by a major ruling party meeting where leader Kim Jong Un vowed to bolster his nuclear deterrent and established plans to salvage a dismal economy. The North’s Korean Central News Agency said Monday that members of the Supreme People’s Assembly during Sunday’s meeting unanimously supported the development plans for the next five years that were revealed during the Workers’ Party congress that ended last week.
It was world number 11 Yan's first major trophy as he added the title to the Riga Open ranking event he won last season. Having fallen behind 5-3 and 7-5, Yan rallied to lead 8-7 and, after Higgins levelled, went on to triumph and deny his 45-year-old opponent a third Masters title.
Major firms including Sony, Panasonic and Nissan on Monday urged the Japanese government to make its 2030 renewable energy target twice as ambitious.
Asian share markets retreated from highs on Monday as disappointing news on U.S. consumer spending tempered risk sentiment ahead of a closely-watched reading on the health of the Chinese economy. Also evident were doubts about how much of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's stimulus package will make it through Congress given Republican opposition, and the risk of more mob violence at his inauguration on Wednesday. Chinese GDP data are expected to show growth picked up to an annual 6.1% last quarter, from 4.9% in the third quarter.
A former Supreme Court justice has been criticised after telling a woman with stage 4 cancer that her life was "less valuable" than others during a televised debate on coronavirus lockdowns. Lord Sumption made his comments while appearing as a guest on The Big Questions, which was broadcast on BBC One on Sunday morning. The programme, hosted by Nicky Campbell, aimed to debate the question: "Is lockdown punishing too many for the greater good?" During the show, Lord Sumption, who sat on the Supreme Court from 2012 to 2018, argued against lockdown measures for everyone, saying older and vulnerable people could isolate themselves "if they want to". He said he did not accept that "all lives are of equal value", adding: "My children's and my grandchildren's life is worth much more than mine because they've got a lot more of it ahead." Deborah James, another guest on the programme, who has stage 4 bowel cancer, said: "With all due respect, Lord Sumption, I'm the person who you say their life is not valuable. I live with metastatic bowel cancer." Lord Sumption then interrupted her to say: "I didn't say it wasn't valuable, I said it was less valuable." Ms James continued: "My response to that would be, who are you to question and put a value on life? In my view, and I think in many others, life is sacred and I don't think we should make those judgment calls. I feel very, very strongly about that." She added: "All life is worth saving regardless of what life it is that people are living." Prof Calum Semple, another guest, said he "strongly" disagreed with Lord Sumption's comments. The University of Liverpool academic said: "The value of life doesn't change at the age of 70."
Twitter suspended Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for 12 hours on Sunday for violating rules regarding misinformation introduced by the social media site following the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 that resulted in the deaths of five people. Greene, a representative from Georgia, posted a Twitter thread on Sunday filled with conspiracy theories about the Senate runoff elections held in her state earlier this month, which saw Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue lose their seats to Democrat challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. The victory in the longtime Republican-controlled state gave the Democrats control of the Senate with 50 seats and incoming Vice President Kamala Harris serving as the tiebreaker. Twitter said in a statement that Greene’s tweets violated the site’s “civic integrity policy,” leading the site to block users from replying or retweeting the tweets due to a “risk of violence.” The decision comes days after Twitter shut down over 70,000 accounts for promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory and other baseless election conspiracy theories, including President Donald Trump. Also Read: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Defends Trump Ban: 'This Was the Right Decision' Greene is a newly elected member of the House of Representatives, though she has for years posted about conspiracy theories such as “Pizzagate,” which claims that some Democrat leaders were secretly hosting a human-trafficking ring. Greene denounced Twitter’s move in a statement claiming conservatives should not be “scared into submission by Socialists who want to end their way of life.” “Conservative Americans shouldn’t be afraid to speak their mind. They shouldn’t have to fear being cancelled by American corporations where they work, do business, and use services,” she said. Read original story Twitter Suspends Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene Over Election Misinformation At TheWrap
Four more Australian Open participants, including one player, have been recorded with COVID-19 infections and more cases may come to light as testing continues, officials said on Monday. Health authorities in Victoria state have now reported nine infections among passengers that arrived in Melbourne on charter flights for the Feb. 8-21 Australian Open. "All four are associated with the tennis, and they're all tucked away safely in hotel quarantine," Victoria state premier Daniel Andrews told reporters of the new cases.
A New Mexico county official and founder of the group Cowboys for Trump who had vowed to return to Washington after last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol to place a flag on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk has been arrested Sunday by the FBI. Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin was arrested on charges of illegally entering the U.S. Capitol. According to court documents, Griffin told investigators that he was “caught up” in the crowd, which pushed its way through the barricades and entered the restricted area of the U.S. Capitol, but he said he did not enter the building and instead remained on the U.S. Capitol steps.
President Donald Trump, a Republican, had made building the pipeline a central promise of his presidential campaign. Biden, who will be inaugurated on Wednesday, was vice president in the Obama administration when it rejected the project as contrary to its efforts to combat climate change. The words "Rescind Keystone XL pipeline permit" appear on a list of executive actions likely scheduled for the first day of Biden's presidency, according to an earlier report https://bit.ly/3nP4993 by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC).
This is the moment police detained Alexei Navalny, the prominent Kremlin critic who flew home to Russia for the first time on Sunday after being poisoned in Siberia last summer. Video showed the 44-year-old talking with officers at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, then kissing his wife Yulia before he was led away. The couple was returning from a five-month stay in Germany, where Navalny, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most outspoken domestic critics, had been recovering after he'd been poisoned with what German tests showed was the deadly Novichok nerve agent. Navalny says Putin was behind his poisoning, a charge the Kremlin denies. As he boarded the plane in Berlin, he thanked Germany and said he wasn't afraid of being arrested. He announced his decision to return from Germany on Wednesday. A day later, Moscow’s prison service said it would do everything to arrest him once he returned, accusing him of flouting the terms of a suspended prison sentence for embezzlement, a 2014 case he says was trumped up. Navalny's plane from Berlin was diverted to a different Moscow airport at the last minute for a technical reason in an apparent effort by authorities to keep journalists and supporters from greeting him. A statement on Sunday from the Moscow Prison Service said Navalny would remain in custody until a court hearing later this month. His arrest drew immediate condemnation abroad. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's incoming national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Twitter: "Mr. Navalny should be immediately released, and the perpetrators of the outrageous attack on his life must be held accountable."