New York schools to close again as US approaches 250,000 Covid deaths – live

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10.51pm GMT

The US coronavirus death toll has now surpassed 250,029, representing a higher death toll than an...

Enough is enough: Republicans’ fealty to Trump imperils America itself | Jill Filipovic

When the president refuses to concede, it has a tangible impact on the nation’s future. Why are Republicans enabling this?

The Republican party has spent four years enabling Donald Trump: backing up his lies, defending his most egregious misbehaviors, shattering longstanding democratic norms to keep his, and by extension their, iron grip on power. But by refusing to push him to concede an election he clearly lost, they’re truly following him off a cliff – and threatening to take Amer...

Joe Biden names former Ebola tsar Ron Klain as chief of staff – as it happened

Waleed Shahid, the communications director for the progressive political action committee Justice Democrats, said Klain “understands the Democratic party has moved in a more progressive direction”.

Progressives and moderates came together to help elect Joe Biden. But post-election, the two camps have already begun to spar over the party’s future, with progressives saying that Biden should embrace more ambitious policy on climate change, policing and healthcare.

Ron Klain understands the Democratic Party has moved in a more progressive direction and that voters expect bold action.

Best of luck to @RonaldKlain as he manages a team to act on the biggest crises of our time.

Progressives will keep pushing. pic.twitter.com/rxytnuAIy4

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Trump’s longshot election lawsuits: where do things stand?

The president and other Republicans have filed a series of lawsuits in different states that several judges have already dismissed

  • US politics live – follow all the latest

Since election day, Donald Trump and other Republicans have filed a smattering of lawsuits in battleground states that have provided cover for Trump and other Republicans to say that the election still remains unresolved.

Related: US election 2020: Biden to speak as Trump and the supreme cou...

Conservative US supreme court justices suggest Obamacare will be upheld

Brett Kavanaugh and John Roberts indicated law could be upheld even if court deems one part of it unconstitutional

Two conservative supreme court justices have suggested the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could be upheld, as oral arguments began in a suit backed by the Trump administration which threatens the healthcare of millions amid a global pandemic.

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Joe Biden says Trump’s refusal to concede defeat ‘an embarrassment’ – live

Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, has drafted “anti-mob” legislation that would expand the state’s Stand Your Ground Law that would allow citizens to shoot anyone they suspect is engaged in looting, the Miami Herald reports.

The legislation is a reaction to anti-police brutality, The Herald’s Ana Ceballos and David Ovalle report:

“It allows for vigilantes to justify their actions,” said Denise Georges, a former Miami-Dade County prosecutor who had handled Stand Your Ground cases. “It also allows for death to be the punishment for a property crime — and that is cruel and unusual punishment. We cannot live in a lawless society where taking a life is done so casually and recklessly.”

The draft legislation put specifics behind DeSantis’ pledge in September to crack down on “violent and disorderly assemblies” after he pointed to “reports of unrest” in other parts of the country after the high-profile death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a white Minneapolis police officer.

Since election day, Donald Trump and other Republicans have filed a smattering of lawsuits in battleground states that have provided cover for Trump and other Republicans to say that the election still remains unresolved.

Legal experts have noted these suits are meritless, and even if they were successful, would not be enough to overturn the election results. Indeed, judges in several of these lawsuits have already dismissed them, noting the Trump campaign has failed to offer evidence to substantiate allegations of fraud.

Related: Trump's longshot election lawsuits: where do things stand?

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Barr tells prosecutors to pursue ‘clear’ fraud claims, without evidence – as it happened

  • Attorney general says investigations ‘may be conducted’ in some cases
  • President announces ‘Mark Esper has been terminated’
  • Biden gets to work as president-elect while Trump refuses to concede
  • US coronavirus cases surpass 10m as Ben Carson tests positive
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4.02am GMT

Here’s a r...

We were told Joe Biden was the ‘safe choice’. Why did he barely scrape through? | Naomi Klein

A great many people did not vote for Joe Biden, they voted against Trump. We have to recognise how narrow this win was

  • Naomi Klein delivered her election analysis at a Haymarket event on Friday night. This is an abridged transcript of remarks. You can watch the event here

These have been a harrowing few days. And these days have been more harrowing than they should have been. As we all know, Joe Biden won the Democratic primaries based on the claim that he was the s...

We were told Joe Biden was the ‘safe choice’. Why did he barely scrape through? | Naomi Klein

A great many people did not vote for Joe Biden, they voted against Trump. We have to recognise how narrow this win was

  • Naomi Klein delivered her election analysis at a Haymarket event on Friday night. This is an abridged transcript of remarks. You can watch the event here

These have been a harrowing few days. And these days have been more harrowing than they should have been. As we all know, Joe Biden won the Democratic primaries based on the claim that he was the s...

Nancy Pelosi: ‘We’re able to say that we have held the House’ – video

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the Democrats have held the majority in the House of Representatives as counting continues in the US election. Pelosi says campaigning on healthcare helped the Democrats retain their majority, with their message amplified during the coronavirus pandemic. 'Our purpose in this race was to win so that we could protect the Affordable Care Act and that we could crush the virus,' she says


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