Raw Story reports: Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky dashed off a letter to President Joe Biden today pleading for expeditious federal relief aid to victims of a deadly 200-mile tornado that struck his state Friday. In 2017, Paul was one of just 17 senators to oppose an emergency $15.3 billion federal relief bill for victims of Hurricane Harvey. In 2013, …

Reuters reports: President Vladimir Putin has lamented the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago as the demise of what he called “historical Russia” and said the economic crisis that followed was so bad he was forced to moonlight as a taxi driver. Putin’s comments, released by state TV on Sunday, are likely to further fuel speculation about his …

The Los Angeles Times reports: After the U.S. Supreme Court declined to block a Texas state law that bans most abortions there, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he’ll push for a new California law that deters the manufacture and sale of assault rifles in the state. “If states can now shield their laws from review by the federal courts that compare …

Politico reports: Peter Navarro, a former White House trade adviser, this week refused to comply with a subpoena from a House probe into the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. “At this time, I am unable to respond to the Subpoena, based on former President Trump’s invocation of executive privilege with respect to the very topic covered by the …

Variety reports: Anne Rice, influential author of “Interview with the Vampire,” died on Saturday due to complications resulting from a stroke. She was 80. The author’s son Christopher revealed the news on Facebook and said that she would be interred in the family mausoleum at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans in a private ceremony. Born in New Orleans in 1941, …

Deadline Hollywood reports: It’s a happy 90th birthday to iconic actress Rita Moreno, celebrating today the renewal of interest in one of her most famous roles, that of Anita in the 1961 version of West Side Story (she’s also the widow Valentina in the 2021 update). But lest we forget, Moreno is one of the few performers to have won …

First, a quote to remind you about him: When y’all going to get the memo that I didn’t get it wrong? Trump ain’t never went nowhere, he ain’t back, he’s always been around. He is the legitimate president of the United States of America. I don’t care if you stand up and clap or not. I’m telling you, Donald Trump …

The Washington Post reports: AmazonSmile, a charitable-giving arm that donates a half percent of every purchase from its online store to the nonprofit of a shopper’s choice, gave more than $42,000 to a dozen anti-vaccine nonprofits last year, according a Washington Post analysis of its tax returns. We respect that our customers have a wide variety of viewpoints on this …

The Associated Press reports: Among the biggest takeaways so far from the Justice Department’s prosecution of the insurrection is how large a role social media has played, with much of the most damning evidence coming from rioters’ own words and videos. FBI agents have identified scores of rioters from public posts and records subpoenaed from social media platforms. Prosecutors use …

The Daily Beast reports: Newsmax host Greg Kelly attacked Olympic gymnast Simone Biles on Friday night after Time magazine named her “Athlete of the Year.” He bellowed, “Time magazine’s Athlete of the Year is Simone Biles. Remember? She quit, she quit in the middle of the Olympics. Time made her ‘Athlete of the Year.’ The world has gone mad!” He …

Stars & Stripes reports: Cmdr. Lucian Kins was relieved of his duties Friday as second in command of the USS Winston Churchill, a destroyer, by Navy Capt. Ken Anderson, commander of Naval Surface Squadron 14. Officials said Kins was the first naval officer to be fired as a result of a vaccine refusal. A spokesman for the Naval Surface Force …

The Today Show reports: Hillary Clinton says Donald Trump running for president again in 2024 could have a negative impact on the country. The former Secretary of State and presidential candidate spoke frankly to Sunday TODAY’s Willie Geist about what she believes would be the dire consequences for the nation if Trump reclaims the White House in three years. “If …

“He’s not obeying science, he’s sort of granting his impulse to authoritarianism. “His default position is always, ‘How can I control people? How can I regulate people?’ “But I can tell you he’s not going to be too happy with the Paul family Christmas. We have 57 for Christmas, no vaccine passport. “The only requirement is that you have read …

The Washington Post reports: European leaders and scientists warned Friday that the omicron variant could become dominant in some countries startlingly soon, overtaking the delta variant, which has remained the most common version of the virus globally for months. “We expect it to overtake delta within days, not weeks,” Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland, said Friday about the …

Axios reports: Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday responded to an interview in which Donald Trump accused him of disloyalty, saying Israel’s alliance with the U.S. meant “it was important for me to congratulate the incoming president.” “I highly appreciate President Trump’s big contribution to Israel and its security. I also appreciate the importance of the strong alliance …

Politico reports: For the first time since 2012, the New Jersey Legislature held a vote on gay marriage. In this case, just the Assembly Judiciary Committee. But it appears the bill, which writes the 2013 Superior Court decision legalizing gay marriage into law, is headed for a quick passage in the lame duck. The reason: With the right-leaning U.S. Supreme …

Changing America reports: Amazon has removed a children’s picture book comparing being transgender to pretending to be a walrus from a list of LGBTQ+ books. The book, “Johnny the Walrus,” is written by the conservative writer and media personality Matt Walsh, who earlier this year said doctors who perform gender-affirming surgeries for trans youths are “plastic surgeons basically acting like …

CNN reports: A formal investigation has been launched by the University of Florida after an internal report detailed a culture of fear among faculty members claiming political influence on campus as well as instances of Covid-19 research data being destroyed and delayed. Vice President of UF Research David Norton announced the investigation in an email to faculty and staff Friday …

The Hill reports: Leaders in the Group of Seven are looking for a consensus regarding Russia’s “malign behavior” towards Ukraine. The leaders of the U.K., U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Italy are meeting at the Museum of Liverpool for two-day talks, with Russia-Ukraine tensions the key issue on the table. The meeting is hosted by British Foreign Secretary Liz …

The Associated Press reports: No information has been made available for weeks about the location or condition of Republican state Sen. Doug Ericksen of Ferndale, since he was reportedly in a Florida hospital being treated for COVID-19. Ericksen wrote to legislative colleagues in November saying he tested positive for COVID-19 in El Salvador and needed monoclonal antibodies. He arranged a …