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Gathered mainly from international media sources December 2020 - March 2021 |
For recent entries click "Invalid Item"  These are news/opinion items which caught my eye. Click on the link below: 31 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" 24 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 22 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" 21 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 19 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 17 Mar 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 26 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 25 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 24 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 22 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 21 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 19 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 18 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 16 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 15 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 14 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 9 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 8 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 4 Feb 2021 "Invalid Entry" 30 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 29 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 28 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 27 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 26 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 24 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 23 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 21 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 20 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 19 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 18 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 14 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 12 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 11 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 10 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 4 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 2 Jan 2021 "Invalid Entry" 29 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 27 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 24 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 23 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 22 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 20 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 19 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 18 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 17 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 16 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 15/12/20 "Invalid Entry" 13 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" 12 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" 11 Dec 2020 "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" "Invalid Entry" For earlier entries drill down the list 10 Dec 2020 - Covid: Genes hold clues to why some people get severely ill 10 Dec 2020 - Referendum for the state of Texas to secede from the U.S. ? 10 Dec 2020 - Covid-19: More single day dead than in 9/11 terror attack or on D-Day landing 10 Dec 2020 - Covid-19: France moves to night-time curfew from 15 December 10 Dec 2020 - Elon Musk has launched the latest prototype of his Starship vehicle from Texas. 9 Dec 2020 - Covid-19 - $600 direct payment to most Americans? 9 Dec 2020 - Hunter Biden under federal investigation 9 Dec 2020 - Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine data gets positive FDA review 9 Dec 2020 - Is BIG TECH censoring different ideas about COVID-19? 9 Dec 2020 - Clashes in Portland 9 Dec 2020 - UK is investigating two possible allergic reactions to Pfizer coronavirus shot 9 Dec 2020 - Open letter by the Prime Minister of Hungary to the European Union 9 Dec 2020 - VACCINE OPTIMISM AND PESSIMISM 9 Dec 2020 - UK EXIT FROM THE EU (Last supper?) 8 Dec 2020 - ROALD DAHL AND A WOKE APOLOGY |
Tearful Joe Biden honours late son Beau during final speech before inauguration Joe Biden wiped away tears as he made a farewell speech to Delaware, in which he paid tribute to his late son Beau. Mr Biden, who arrived in Washington on Tuesday ready for his inauguration the next day, made his emotional speech at the National Guard headquarters in Delaware, which was named for his son. Speaking before he left for Washington, Mr Biden, his voice thick with emotion, told the crowd: "I am proud, proud, proud, proud to be a son of Delaware. And I am even more proud to be standing here doing this from the Major Beau Biden facility. Ladies and gentlemen, I only have one regret: he's not here. "Because he should... we should be introducing him as president. "But we have great opportunities. Delaware has taught us anything's possible. Anything's possible in this country. So may God bless you all and may God protect our troops. Thank you." Mr Biden also talked about making change in America and the enormity of having a black and Asian vice president. He said: "Twelve years ago, I was waiting at the train station in Wilmington for a black man to pick me up on our way to Washington, where we were sworn in as president and vice president of the United States of America. And here we are today. "My family and I, about to return to Washington to meet a black woman of south Asian descent, to be sworn in as president and vice president of the United States. "As I told Beau on that station waiting for Barack and Hunter and Ashley, I said, 'don't tell me things can't change. They can and they do.' That's America. That's Delaware." The event was attended by about 100 people, including numerous Delaware elected officials and members of Mr Biden's family. After leaving Wilmington, Mr Biden flew to Washington where he attended a memorial for the US's 400,000 Covid-19 victims. He will spend the night at Blair House, the president's official guest house, before moving into the White House after he is sworn in on Wednesday. Mr Biden plans to issue a series of executive orders on his first day as president — including reversing Donald Trump’s effort to leave the Paris climate accord, canceling his travel ban on visitors from several predominantly Muslim countries, and extending pandemic-era limits on evictions and student loan payments. Mr Trump will not be attending Biden's inauguration, the first outgoing president to skip the ceremony since Andrew Johnson more than a century and a half ago. |
| The Duchess of Sussex and her father have given conflicting reports about the impact of the letter she sent him in the months after the Royal Wedding. The contradictory claims have been made in the most recent High Court hearing in Meghan’s legal action against the Mail on Sunday, which published the letter after being contacted by Thomas Markle. The Duchess is suing the newspaper for breach of privacy and copyright. Meghan’s lawyers have claimed that her final sentence in the letter – which the Mail on Sunday chose not to publish – showed that she was seeking “a message of peace”. Meghan's lawyers: The 'triple barrelled invasion' on privacy and why they say the Mail cannot win She wrote: “I ask for nothing other than peace. And I wish the same for you.” Her legal team insist that her intention was merely to repair the rift which had so dramatically developed between Meghan and her father after he was unable to attend the Royal Wedding in May 2018. But in a witness statement released today by the court, it is revealed that Thomas Markle saw Meghan’s intentions very differently. He said that he “wanted to correct that misrepresentation” of Meghan’s letter in an earlier article in People magazine which Mr Markle says was a “total lie” and did not represent “the tone and the content of the letter Meg had written me in August 2018”. The content of the People article, claims Mr Markle in the statement, “caused me to change my mind” over whether to “talk publicly about Meg’s letter to me”. He then tears into his own daughter for what she wrote in the letter. “The letter was not an attempt at a reconciliation. It was a criticism of me. The letter didn't say she loved me. It did not even ask how I was. "It showed no concern about the fact I had suffered a heart attack and asked no questions about my health. ITV Royal Editor Chris Ship explains what happened in court "It actually signalled the end of our relationship, not a reconciliation.” He also wrote that claims by Meghan’s friends in the People magazine article that she took care of her father with “such incredible generosity” was also false. Mr Markle said: “That was wrong and unfair. It made it sound as though Meg had been supporting me, which was untrue.” Meghan spent 'several weeks' drafting the letter to her father, Thomas Markle. Mr Markle is supporting the defendant, the Mail on Sunday’s publishers Associated Newspapers, in this case. If the judge does rule that this privacy case should proceed to a full trial, Thomas Markle is likely to be called as a witness to testify against his own daughter. These court papers expose how low their relationship has sunk. And that is a very sad state of affairs, no matter where you stand on the rights of the Mail on Sunday to publish Meghan’s personal letter. |
| Biden immigration bill would put millions of illegal immigrants on 8-year fast-track to citizenship A pathway to citizenship has been the goal of liberal activists for years Biden seeks to reverse several Trump policies in first days in office A radical immigration overhaul to be proposed this week by President-elect Joe Biden would include a path to citizenship that could see millions of illegal immigrants become U.S. citizens in just eight years. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris told Univision last week that the immigration bill would be "first order of business" and will be about "creating a pathway for people to earn citizenship." She said that pathway would be eight years long. The Washington Post reported Monday that the bill, to be unveiled on Inauguration Day Wednesday, would put illegal immigrants into protected status and a five-year pathway to a green card. If they meet certain conditions, such as payment of taxes and a background check, they could then be put on a three-year pathway to citizenship. Some estimates put the population of illegal immigrants at around 12 million as of 2015, other estimates are higher. The Associated Press, which also reported that the eight-year path is in the bill, noted that it would be one of the fastest pathways to citizenship for illegal immigrants in recent years. A pathway to citizenship -- not just legal status -- for illegal immigrants has been a top agenda item for liberals and immigration activists for decades and now -- with Democratic control of the White House, House and Senate -- that goal could be in sight. It would also grant immediate green cards to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants protected from deportation under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programs. President Trump had moved to abolish DACA, the 2012 Obama-era executive order that protected those who came to the U.S. as children. But he was rebuffed by the Supreme Court, and Harris said that "we are going to expand protections for Dreamers and DACA recipients." Biden immigration agenda includes pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrantsVideo "These are some of the things that we're going to do on our immigration bill. And we believe it is smarter and a more humane way of approaching immigration for immigrants," she said. The Post reported that the bill would also include border security provisions at the border, and said it would see increased technology at the border -- but it is unclear what this involves. Biden has promised that "not another foot" of President Trump’s border wall will be built under his administration. The bill would also include provisions to stem the flow of migration by addressing root causes of migration from south of the border. Biden had, during the campaign, promised a $4 billion four-year plan of assistance to be linked with reforms from those countries. On legal immigration, the Post reported that the bill would open a number of further avenues of legal immigration -- including "recapturing" unused visas from prior years, giving work permits to the spouses and children of temporary visa holders. While the bill has a good chance of being passed in the Democrat-controlled House, it is unclear of its chances in the Senate. It would need 60 votes to pass the chamber, meaning 10 Republicans would have to vote in favor. A number of past efforts at immigration reform have failed, including a 2013 effort under President Barack Obama. While Republicans have indicated they are open to working with Biden on his key legislative priorities, GOP lawmakers have traditionally demanded that any amnesty of illegal immigrants be accompanied by muscular enforcement at the border. Republicans are likely to face pressure from its conservative base opposed to legalizing millions of illegal immigrants. The legislation is one of a number of radical actions on immigration that Biden has promised to take. He has promised to implement a moratorium on deportations and to end a number of Trump-era programs to stop illegal immigration, including the Migrant Protection Protocols. He has also pledged to dramatically increase the number of refugees the U.S. takes in every year. Meanwhile, the Biden administration will face an early challenge in the form of a caravan of thousands of migrants moving toward the border from Honduras. That caravan has called on the administration to honor its "commitments" to them. But, in a possible nod to fears of a migrant surge at the border with a new bill, the Post reported that the pathway to citizenship would only apply to those who arrived in the country before Jan. 1. |
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