Author: Grace Thompson

Hong Kong Jimmy Lai, a former Hong Kong publisher, started testifying on Wednesday in his historic national security trial, which is regarded as a test of judicial independence and press freedom in China. Lai, who will turn 77 next month, wore a gray blazer and glasses as he entered the courtroom, smiling and waving at his relatives who were seated close to Cardinal Joseph Zen, the city's Roman Catholic. The Catholic affirmed that his testimony will be truthful in court while holding up the Bible. During a crackdown on large-scale pro-democracy rallies that shook Hong Kong beginning in 2019, Lai, the creator of the now-defunct Apple Daily pro-democracy newspaper, was detained in 2020. He is battling accusations of plotting to publish seditious material and collaborating with foreign enti...

On Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he will appoint Mehmet Oz, a TV personality and former Pennsylvania Senate candidate, to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Trump said in a statement that Oz would collaborate with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist whom Trump wants to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. "He is an eminent Physician, Heart Surgeon, Inventor, and World-Class Communicator, who has been at the forefront of healthy living for decades," Trump said. Oz said he was "honored" by Trump's announcement in his own statement. "I look forward to serving my country to Make America Healthy Again under the leadership of HHS Secretary @RobertKennedyJr," stated X. In an Instagram post last week, cardiothoracic surgeon Oz comme...

As northern California and the Pacific Northwest began to feel the effects of a strong atmospheric river event, officials reported that tens of thousands of residences in Washington state lost power Tuesday and that several roadways were blocked by fallen wires or trees. According to experts, the storm may deliver significant snowfall in the mountains and up to 15 inches of rain. According to the tracking website poweroutage.us, by approximately 7 p.m. local time, nearly 100,000 households and businesses in Washington and over 14,000 in Oregon were without power. Connie Clarstrom, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Medford, Oregon, stated, "We are expecting near-hurricane-force winds near the coast with hurricane-force wind gusts over the capes and headlands." The Cascade...

As northern California and the Pacific Northwest began to feel the effects of a strong atmospheric river event, officials reported that thousands of households in Washington state lost power Tuesday and that several roadways were blocked by fallen wires or trees. According to experts, the storm may deliver significant snowfall in the mountains and up to 15 inches of rain. According to the tracking website poweroutage.us, more than 80,000 households and businesses in Washington and more than 12,000 in Oregon were without power by 6 p.m. local time. Connie Clarstrom, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Medford, Oregon, stated, "We are expecting near-hurricane-force winds near the coast with hurricane-force wind gusts over the capes and headlands." The Cascade mountains, whic...

On Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he will appoint Mehmet Oz, a TV personality and former Pennsylvania Senate candidate, to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Trump said in a statement that Oz would collaborate with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist whom Trump wants to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. "He is an eminent Physician, Heart Surgeon, Inventor, and World-Class Communicator, who has been at the forefront of healthy living for decades," Trump said. Oz said he was "honored" by Trump's announcement in his own statement. "I look forward to serving my country to Make America Healthy Again under the leadership of HHS Secretary @RobertKennedyJr," stated X. In an Instagram post last week, cardiothoracic surgeon Oz comme...

Following a serious fall, Jay Leno is recuperating. The 74-year-old TV personality and former Tonight gig host showed up to his most recent comedy gig with a battered face, a broken wrist, and an eye patch. Before a gig in Pittsburgh, he was heading to supper when he slipped down the side of a hill, he told Inside Edition. He told the outlet, "I'm a little beat up." I tumbled sixty feet. One boom, one boom, one boom. Leno claimed that after hitting many pebbles, he became completely black and blue. He explained that he need the eye patch since one of the boulders had struck him in the eye. In addition, he lost a fingernail. He responded, "It'll be fine," when asked if he would be able to see again. It doesn't concern me. Leno did not postpone his stand-up performances in spite of the fa...

Linda McMahon, a longtime CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment who worked under the first Trump administration, was appointed by President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday to head the Education Department. If approved by the Senate, McMahon would take charge of a department that Trump claimed he intended to eliminate as it presently stands and let the states manage education on their own. Trump said in a statement that characterized McMahon as a strong supporter of parents' rights that "Linda will fight tirelessly as Secretary of Education to expand 'Choice' to every State in America and empower parents to make the best education decisions for their families." Co-chairing Trump's presidential transition team is McMahon. She led the pro-Trump America First Action super PAC in 2019 after leavin...

A house in a town in Ohio burst and caught fire Tuesday morning, killing two people and injuring a third, according to authorities. At a press conference, Bethel Fire Chief Christopher Cooper stated that the house exploded at approximately 8:44 a.m. in Bethel, a hamlet of about 2,600 people southeast of Cincinnati. Cooper described the situation as chaotic and claimed it was a big explosion that had scattered debris around the area. One neighbor told NBC station WLWT of Cincinnati that he felt a shockwave go through his house, demonstrating how the blast's shock rippled through the area. "You could feel it, it was louder than any boom I've ever heard," Stephanie Young, another neighbor, told the channel. This was definitely noisy. She claimed to have discovered debris all over her house wh...