Nancy Pelosi sent charge of incitement to SenateJanet Yellen confirmed as first female US Treasury secretaryDoJ watchdog looks into possible collusion with Trump effortBiden says mask-wearing can save 50,000 lives by end of AprilFauci: US scientists working to upgrade Covid vaccines for variantsDominion Voting Systems to file lawsuit against GiulianiBiden to drop Trump’s military transgender ban 12.23am GMTButch Bowers: Trump tapped Bowers, a South Carolina lawyer, to lead his legal team and defense in the senate. A friend of Trump ally Lindsey Graham, Bowers worked for Mark Sanford, then the South Carolina governor, when he was nearly impeached in connection to an affair over a decade ago. In 2012, he also represented Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who went on to work in the Trump administration, in an ethics investigation. He also has helped defend North Carolina and South Carolina voter ID measures, according to the Post and Courier, and worked as a special counsel on voting matters in the justice department under George W Bush. Related: Trump's second impeachment trial: the key players 12.08am GMTThe impeachment article reads: ARTICLE 1: INCITEMENT OF INSURRECTIONThe Constitution provides that the House of Representatives “shall have the sole Power of Impeachment” and that the President “shall be removed from Office on Impeachment, for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Further, section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits any person who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the United States from “hold[ing] and office ... under the United States.’ In his conduct while President of the United States — and in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, provide, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed — Donald John Trump engaged in high Crimes and Misdemeanors by inciting violence against the Government of the United States, in that: Continue reading...

Moderna says jab works against new variants; California eases lockdown; WHO warns rich-poor vaccine divide is growingBiden warns deaths will pass 600,000 before US turns cornerEU threatens to block vaccine exports amid AstraZeneca shortfallFrance bans certain homemade Covid masks for use in publicHealth secretary fires warning at MPs calling for England lockdown easingSee all our coronavirus coverage 12.19am GMTThe Covid-19 vaccine divide between rich and poor nations is worsening by the day, the World Health Organization warned Monday, insisting the failure to distribute doses fairly could cost the global economy trillions of dollars.AFP reports that the WHO said it needed $26bn this year for its programme aimed at speeding up the development, procurement and equitable delivery of vaccines, treatments and tests to beat the coronavirus pandemic. 12.19am GMTModerna said on Monday it believes its coronavirus vaccine protects against the British and South African variants, although it will test a new booster shot aimed at the South Africa variant after concluding the antibody response could be diminished, Reuters reports. Britain’s health minister and health officials have said they believe the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines being rolled out in the country work against the UK variant. Continue reading...

The country’s most visible scientist worries Kiwis aren’t doing their bit when it comes to preventing another mass outbreakOn Christmas morning, Siouxsie Wiles got a call from her father-in-law. He he had woken up feeling fluey after attending an event a few days before.As he spoke, Wiles looked up his closest Covid-19 testing centre on her phone. “I recommend you give them a call,” she told him, “because you are not coming for Christmas dinner.” Continue reading...

Vigils took place overnight and rallies are planned around Australia as debate around the national day rages. Follow all the latest news and updates, liveInvasion Day 2021 rally and protest eventsGrace Tame named 2021 Australian of the YearState-by-state restrictions and lockdown rules explainedNSW Covid hotspots; Queensland Covid hotspotsNSW records no new local Covid cases 12.14am GMTBack to the Invasion Day rally in Melbourne, where the crowd is already very, very big. I’m notoriously bad at crowd estimates but there’s easily a few thousand there. It has always been difficult to get an accurate count of the Invasion Day rally. I’m wondering if the order that people march in clumps of 100 will mean we get more accurate figures. 15 minutes until the rally starts and Spring St is already packed. I can even see the end of the crowd (although in fairness I’m real short) @callapilla @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/EE7sGPnHXqThe start of the rally has been delayed as marshals wait for people to disperse into groups of 100, the legal limit for public gathering in Victoria currently. pic.twitter.com/cxhjKkogcl 12.08am GMTNew South Wales has recorded no new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 and two new cases in hotel quarantine.NSW Health said the total number of cases in the state since the pandemic began has only increased by one, because a previously reported locally acquired case has been “excluded following further investigation”. Continue reading...

Medic at heart of original outbreak tells BBC documentary staff were not allowed to wear masks despite concern about human transmissionCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA doctor from the Wuhan hospital hit hardest by the Covid-19 epidemic has said he and colleagues suspected the virus was highly transmissible in early January last year, weeks before Chinese authorities admitted it, but were prevented from warning anyone.The doctor’s testimony – in a new BBC documentary on the 54 days between the first known case of coronavirus and the Wuhan lockdown – adds to mounting evidence of Beijing’s early attempts to cover up the virus outbreak, and intimidate healthworkers into staying quiet. Continue reading...