Experts sound alarm as Trump mulls pardons for January 6 attackers

“It gives the message that Trump decides what is and is not actionable under the criminal laws of the United States,” said Kimberly Wehle, a professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law who has studied constitutional law and the separation of powers.

The Guardian

Why are basic human rights ever put to a vote?

Rather than granting the rights conceived as automatic in our founding documents, majority rule is tradition in the United States.

LGBTQ Nation

North Carolina Democrats find electoral success further down the ballot and hope to build on it

Despite Donald Trump’s more than 3-percentage point win over Vice President Kamala Harris in North Carolina, Democrats celebrated Election Day victories in races for governor, attorney general and the legislature in a closely divided state where conservatives have recently dominated the General Assembly and the courts.

AP News

Trans students have a fighting chance in lawsuit against South Carolina bathroom ban

A transgender minor and his family are taking South Carolina to court over the state’s transphobic school bathroom policy. Based on past precedent, there’s promise that the class action lawsuit could prevail and restore protections for trans students in the state.

into

Texas judge blocks Biden administration’s overtime protection rule

A federal judge in Texas is blocking a rule enacted by President Joe Biden earlier this year that provides overtime pay protection for roughly four million American workers.

The U.S. Department of Labor exceeded its authority when it enacted the rule, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Judge Sean Gordon ruled Friday.

UPI

Schiff on Gaetz’s AG nod: ‘He’s not only unqualified. He is really disqualified’

“But Jake, I think the whole point with these nominees, several of them, is their unqualification, is there affirmative disqualification,” Schiff said. “That’s Trump’s point because what he wants to do with these nominees is establish that the Congress of the United States will not stand up to him with anything.”

“If they will confirm Matt Gaetz, they will do anything he wants,” Schiff said.

The Hill

Johnson: House likely to punt funding to early 2025

He added, “I think it would be ultimately a good move because the country would benefit from it because then you’d have Republican control and we’d have more say in what those spending bills are.”

Politico

Rep. Tony Gonzales emphasizes the need to focus on criminals for deportations

“You know, if we’re going after the guy that’s picking tomatoes or the nurse at the local hospital and we’re not going after the convicted criminal, then our government has failed us,” Gonzales told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz in an interview on “This Week.”

ABC News

Haitian immigrants flee Springfield, Ohio, in droves after Trump election win

For companies in Springfield and in nearby communities that depend on Haitian labor, Trump’s comments could prove damaging. The Haitians who filled thousands of jobs at area packaging and auto plants have helped rejuvenate once-blighted neighborhoods and contributed to the local economy in myriad ways.

The Guardian

Big voter turnout this year benefited Republicans, contradicting conventional political wisdom

“The Harris campaign did a pretty good job getting voters out who wouldn’t have come out,” said Tom Bonier, a Democratic data analyst. “She did get her voters out. Trump got more.”

AP News

How Donald Trump Cut Into Democrats’ Hold on Young Voters

The former president’s messaging, disseminated through alternative media, resonated with young adults — especially those struggling with higher costs.

Bloomberg

Hispanic, LGBTQ communities receive hateful emails after racist text surge

A week after cellphone users across the U.S. reported a flurry of racist text messages, members of the Hispanic and LGBTQ communities are now receiving text messages saying they have been selected for deportation or to report to a re-education camp, according to a new statement from the FBI.

ABC News

Why Trump Won in 2024: Inflation, an Information Breakdown, and Democrats Losing Working-Class Voters

The Democrats have spent the past three election cycles ignoring their base in favor of appealing to Republicans who might find Trump repulsive. Harris, for instance, paraded her endorsement from former congresswoman and Never Trumper Liz Cheney, making a campaign appearance with her in Michigan (Harris was also endorsed by Cheney’s father, former George W. Bush vice president Dick Cheney, a longtime villain for liberals).

Teen Vogue

Kamala Harris’s hidden barrier

The Glass Cliff refers to situations where women from marginalized groups are promoted into leadership during times of crisis and/or when the risk of failure is high. For example, back in 2021, Yogananda Pittman became the first Black person and first woman to lead the Capitol Police as it faced criticism for its handling of January 6. Minorities and women getting promotions often face impossible circumstances. And if they succeed, the person who gave them the opportunity gets credit.

Public Notice

‘Blame yourself’: Trump’s election hasn’t dampened pro-Palestinian activists’ anger at Democrats

“We told them that the impact of Gaza was going be bigger than just the Arab community. It’s why the turnout was lower in college areas and among young Black voters,” said James Zogby, co-founder of the Arab American Institute and a Democratic National Committee member for more than 30 years. “From the polling we’ve been doing over the last year, we saw it had an impact. And it certainly had an impact on my community.”

Early post-election analysis of the race suggests that those concerns were well-founded – and emblematic of a broader disconnect between party leaders and the Democratic grassroots. Arab Americans, like Latino and Black men, all moved toward Trump in the final accounting. The president-elect’s vote-share improved nearly everywhere, from the red states he’s dominated for nearly a decade to traditionally liberal electorates, where Democrats either stayed home or, to a lesser degree, backed third-party candidates.

“While Kamala Harris was ignoring communities, especially of Muslim Arab communities here in Dearborn,” Uncommitted co-founder Lexis Zeidan told CNN, Trump “was coming to these communities and pandering to these communities, and he was capitalizing off of these vulnerable emotions and telling them what they wanted to hear.”

CNN

Transgender-rights advocates say the election of Trump and his allies marks a major setback

For transgender Americans, it’s personal: There is palpable fear of potential Trump administration steps to further marginalize them. But there is also a spirit of resilience – a determination to persevere in seeking acceptance and understanding.

AP News

A derogatory term for Native women will be removed from place names across California

The derogatory term “sq**w” will be removed from over 30 geographic features in California by 2025, according to an announcement Friday by the state’s natural resources agency.

NPR

Twitter Is Getting Absolutely Destroyed as Users Flee to Rivals Run by People Who Haven’t Lost Their Minds

Just last month, half a million users flocked to Bluesky after X announced that the “block” fountain would be rendered useless, opening the floodgates for even more harassment.

Futurism

Argentina seizes large arsenal of Nazi weapons, Hitler-era memorabilia

Argentine police arrested a man in Buenos Aires who possessed a large number of vintage Nazi weapons decorated with Third Reich symbols from Adolf Hitler’s infamous regime, officials said on Friday.

Reuters

Russia passes bill to outlaw adoption by people from countries where gender-affirming care is legal

The bill’s authors believe that foreign parents can “change the gender of the adopted child” once safely back in their home country.

LGBTQ Nation

Sheinbaum’s Mexico Is Ground Zero for Trump’s Threatened Trade War

Weeks after the start of her government, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is giving signs that she’ll come down on the side of the US over China, if she’s forced to choose.

Whether that’s enough to prevent Donald Trump from sweeping her up in the punitive tariffs he’s threatened in his second term is another matter.

Bloomberg

NATO allies criticize German leader’s telephone call with Putin

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday came under fire from NATO allies for his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week.

In a post on X, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said: “No one will stop Putin with phone calls.”

dpa international

Israel kills Hezbollah’s chief spokesman in Lebanon

A rare Israeli airstrike on central Beirut killed Hezbollah’s chief spokesman on Sunday, an official with the militant group said.

euronews

Free Democrats reportedly planned German coalition exit weeks before final split

Germany’s pro-business Free Democrats, who collapsed Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition earlier this month in a dispute over the budget, reportedly plotted their exit weeks before the final split, referring to their plans internally as “D-day”.

The Guardian

Xi urges ‘extreme caution’ from US on Taiwan matters, South China Sea disputes

‘Support China’s peaceful reunification’, avoid provocation in South China Sea, President Xi Jinping tells Joe Biden in Lima

South China Morning Post

Israeli forces blow up historic Shrine of Shimon in southern Lebanon

Israeli forces destroyed a religious shrine in the village of Shama in southern Lebanon on Friday, garnering widespread condemnation.

The area is revered among  Shia and Christian populations, as Christian worshippers believe a Christian saint is buried there and Shia believers have constructed various sites to honour Imam Mahdi.

The New Arab

‘Massive’ Russian attack causes Ukraine blackouts

A “massive” Russian missile and drone attack has targeted power infrastructure across Ukraine, the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

BBC

Nigeria and India agree deeper ties in maritime security, counter-terrorism

Nigeria and India on Sunday agreed to deepen collaboration in maritime security, intelligence and counter-terrorism during a state visit to the West African country by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Reuters