News

CNN reports: As Alabama’s attorney general in 1996, Sessions attempted to stop the Southeastern Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual College Conference from meeting at the University of Alabama under a state law passed in 1992 that made it illegal for public universities to fund in any way a group that promotes “actions prohibited by the sodomy and sexual misconduct laws.” Fob James, …

CNN reports: China’s foreign ministry said Saturday it has lodged a complaint with the United States over a controversial phone call between President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan’s President that has overturned decades of diplomatic protocol. China views Taiwan as a renegade province and, since 1979, the US has acknowledged Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is part of China, with US-China relations …

The BBC reports: Yahya Jammeh, The Gambia’s authoritarian president of 22 years, has suffered a surprise defeat in the country’s presidential elections. He will be replaced by property developer Adama Barrow, who won more than 45% of the vote. After his win, Mr Barrow hailed a “new Gambia”. Mr Jammeh, who came to power in a coup in 1994, has …

The Associated Press reports: President Rodrigo Duterte said Saturday Donald Trump wished his deadly crackdown on illegal drugs would succeed during a telephone call, and he assured the U.S. president-elect the Philippines would maintain its ties with America — a departure from Duterte’s hostility toward the Obama administration. Duterte called to congratulate Trump late Friday in their first talk that …

Business Insider reports: President-elect Trump spoke with the president of Taiwan by phone on Friday, the Financial Times reported, in a move likely to infuriate Beijing and hinder US-China relations. Trump’s spokesperson Hope Hicks confirmed the phone call in an email on Friday. “President-elect Trump spoke with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, who offered her congratulations,” according to a readout …

Reuters reports: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump invited Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte to the White House next year during a “very engaging, animated” phone conversation, a Duterte aide said on Friday, amid rocky relations between their two countries. Trump’s brief chat with the firebrand Philippine president comes during a period of uncertainty about one of Washington’s most important Asian alliances, stoked …

The Associated Press reports: When Donald Trump named his Treasury secretary, Teena Colebrook felt her heart sink. She had voted for the president-elect on the belief that he would knock the moneyed elites from their perch in Washington, D.C. And she knew Trump’s pick for Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, all too well. OneWest, a bank formerly owned by a group of …

Two years ago I reported that a business group had proposed a privately-operated $100M gondola system (much like existing the Roosevelt Island Tramway) which would connect Brooklyn and lower Manhattan. The proposal soon vanished into “neat idea but not gonna happen” history but now it has new life with the coming years-long closure of the L train forced by damage …

Politico reports: Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump’s first campaign manager, said Thursday that New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet “should be in jail” because the newspaper published parts of the president-elect’s tax returns during the race. Lewandowski, who has been floated for a possible role in the White House or the Republican National Committee, had previously said he hoped Trump …

The Associated Press reports: Michigan’s attorney general has asked the state Supreme Court to block a potential recount of the state’s presidential vote, which was won by his fellow Republican, Donald Trump. Attorney General Bill Schuette, like the Trump campaign, argues that Green Party candidate Jill Stein cannot seek the recount because she was not “aggrieved” to the point at …

The Hill reports: Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) said Friday morning that he will be boycotting Donald Trump’s inauguration to protest the president-elect’s rhetoric. “I’ve been to, let me see, two Clinton inaugurations, I’ve been to two of them for Bush, two of them for Obama,” Gutiérrez said in an interview with CNN’s “New Day.” “I’m not going to this inauguration,” …

Via Mediaite: George Stephanopoulos of Good Morning America grabbed one key question by the tail in his morning interview with senior Trump aide Kellyanne Conway and refused to let it go, sending the usually unflappable Conway into a debate ditch. Conway, who served as the third campaign manager for Donald Trump and is the first woman in American history to …

Yahoo Finance reports: In a stunning development, the Bureau of Labor Statistics just revealed that the US unmployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 4.6% in November. This is the lowest level since August 2007. Economists were expecting the rate to be unchanged from October at 4.9%. During the month, US companies added 178,000 non farm payrolls, which was a tad lighter …

The New York Daily News reports: Donald Trump’s Treasury pick treasures his family’s privacy. Steven Mnuchin told a judge during his 2014 divorce he wanted his home address kept private because he was worried protesters upset by foreclosures might harm his three young kids – and he even got the address wiped off the internet. In a sworn statement requesting …

Politico reports: A top Russian official is accusing the Ukrainian government of undermining Donald Trump’s presidential campaign by trashing him on social media and disseminating dirt on one of his close associates. A spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday contended that the Ukrainian government over the summer damaged Trump’s campaign by implicating his then-campaign chief Paul Manafort in a …

USA Today reports: President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has selected James Mattis, a legendary, tough-talking retired Marine Corps general who favors a robust military and criticized the Obama administration’s approach to war, to lead the Defense Department. Trump joked about the announcement at a rally Thursday night in Cincinnati. “We are going to appoint ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis as …

Next year’s tree will be covered in gold flake. Via People: It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the White House! President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama hosted the 94th annual National Christmas Tree Lighting on the Ellipse at the White House on Thursday evening, where they lit the tree for their final time as the …

Law Newz reports: President-elect Donald Trump filed an objection with the Michigan Bureau of Elections on Thursday, regarding the vote recount initiated by Green Party candidate Jill Stein. According to a statement from Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, recount activities will be postponed pending a decision on the objection by the Board of State Canvassers. The Board is scheduled …

The Guardian reports: François Hollande, the least popular French president since the second world war, has announced he will not run for a second term in office. With a satisfaction rating so low it recently dropped to just 4%, the Socialist president appeared emotional as he said in a live televised address from the Élysée palace that he would not …

From Matt Baume: “Donald Trump’s the most pro-gay Republican president-elect in history, right? Well, no — he’s stacking his administration with people who’ve spent their entire careers going after queer people. Here are the ten most dangerous people Donald’s appointed, the harm that they could do in their new jobs, and what you can do to stop them.”