TV News LIES

The world has entered an era of “global water bankruptcy” that is harming billions of people, a UN report has declared.

The overuse and pollution of water must be tackled urgently, the report’s lead author said, because no one knew when the whole system could collapse, with implications for peace and social cohesion..

All life depends on water but the report found many societies had long been using water faster than it could be replenished annually in rivers and soils, as well as over-exploiting or destroying long-term stores of water in aquifers and wetlands. 

This had led to water bankruptcy, the report said, with many human water systems past the point at which they could be restored to former levels. The climate crisis was exacerbating the problem by melting glaciers, which store water, and causing whiplashes between extremely dry and wet weather.

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Nearly 400 millionaires and billionaires from 24 countries are calling on global leaders to increase taxes on the super-rich, amid growing concern that the wealthiest in society are buying political influence.

An open letter, released to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos, calls on global leaders attending this week’s conference to close the widening gap between the super-rich and everyone else.

The letter, signed by luminaries including the actor and film-maker Mark Ruffalo, the musician Brian Eno and the film producer and philanthropist Abigail Disney, says extreme wealth is polluting politics, driving social exclusion and fuelling the climate emergency.

"A handful of global oligarchs with extreme wealth have bought up our democracies; taken over our governments; gagged the freedom of our media; placed a stranglehold on technology and innovation; deepened poverty and social exclusion; and accelerated the breakdown of our planet,” it reads. “What we treasure, rich and poor alike, is being eaten away by those intent on growing the gulf between their vast power and everyone else.

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Ty Cobb, who worked as a White House attorney in President Donald Trump’s first administration, said Trump’s cognitive decline is “palpable.”

On Tuesday, Trump held a whirlwind press conference that lasted more than 90 minutes. He repeated wild 2020 election conspiracy theories, raged at former CNN host Don Lemon, baselessly claimed that a witness to a fatal ICE shooting this month was a “paid agitator,” alleged that “pirating ships,” is the “only thing” Somalis are “good at,” said people in Washington, D.C. “can act like a real lover” after he deployed the National Guard there, dunked on former Special Counsel Jack Smith, and declared that “God is very proud” of the president’s first year back in office. When asked how far he would be willing to go to seize Greenland from Denmark, a NATO ally, Trump replied, “You’ll find out.”

Hours later, Cobb appeared on The Beat on MS NOW, where he homed in on Trump’s Greenland remarks.

“Those are not the comments of a rational human being and certainly not presidential at all,” Cobb told host Ari Melber. “Likewise, yesterday you had the clear, deranged, demented, and insane note that he sent to the leaders of Norway, saying that because Norway, which has no control over the Nobel Peace Prize, hadn’t given it to him, that he was free to disregard peace and very interested in Greenland. I don’t think there’s anybody outside of the United States who believes that Trump is sane.”

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Lindsey Halligan, a Trump-appointed federal attorney who led the failed prosecutions of two of the president’s political opponents, has left her position at the US justice department, attorney general Pam Bondi said on Tuesday.

The departure of Halligan, who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney, comes after multiple judges have sharply criticized her and cast doubts on her ability to lawfully remain in her position.

Lindsey Halligan, a Trump-appointed federal attorney who led the failed prosecutions of two of the president’s political opponents, has left her position at the US justice department, attorney general Pam Bondi said on Tuesday.

The departure of Halligan, who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney, comes after multiple judges have sharply criticized her and cast doubts on her ability to lawfully remain in her position.

Halligan, who had no prosecutorial experience, was sworn in as interim US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia in September after the president pushed out her predecessor who had declined to bring charges against Letitia James, the New York attorney general, and James Comey, the former FBI director. Halligan oversaw indictments brought against James and Comey, which were criticized as politically vindictive, and a judge in November dismissed the cases.

The judge who threw out the cases ruled that Halligan had been unlawfully appointed and did not have the legal authority to bring the indictment against James and Comey.

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Former CNN host Don Lemon reacted to criticism Tuesday after being put “on notice” by the Department of Justice civil rights chief over his coverage of an anti-ICE protest at a church in Minnesota.

“Whatever they do, let them do it, but in the end, I’m telling you, I don’t think that they’ve realized that people are fed up with this,” Lemon, now an independent journalist, said in an interview with podcaster Jennifer Welch. ”That’s why you see so many people out in the streets. That’s why those protesters went into the church.”

Protesters disrupted a Sunday morning service at Cities Church in St. Paul, and alleged the church’s pastor, David Easterwood, was the same David Easterwood who is a top ICE official in the state, CNN reported. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told CNN that it “will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement officers,” pressed about the pastor’s connection with ICE. It was not immediately clear if Easterwood was at the service when the protest took place.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon announced Sunday night that the DOJ will pursue charges against the protesters. She also called Lemon’s coverage of the protest “pseudo journalism” and said he was “on notice.”

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U.S. military forces boarded and took control of a seventh oil tanker connected with Venezuela on Tuesday as the Trump administration continues its efforts to take control of the South American country’s oil.

U.S. Southern Command said in a social media post that U.S. forces apprehended the Motor Vessel Sagitta “without incident” and that the tanker was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s “established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

The military command did not say whether the U.S. Coast Guard took control of the tanker as has been the case in prior seizures. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to questions for more details.

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The Sagitta is a Liberian-flagged tanker and its registration says it is owned and managed by a company in Hong Kong. The ship last transmitted its location more than two months ago when exiting the Baltic Sea in northern Europe.

President Trump on Tuesday warned Iran that continued assassination threats made by leaders in Tehran would be met with the country getting “blown up.”

“Well, they shouldn’t be doing it but I’ve left notification,” Trump told NewsNation’s Katie Pavlich on “Katie Pavlich Tonight.” “Anything ever happens, we’re going to blow the whole — the whole country’s going to get blown up.”

Biden-era Intelligence officials briefed Trump about the alleged threats against him during his presidential campaign in 2024. Former Attorney General Merrick Garland said the plot was retaliation for the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani by the U.S. in 2020, during Trump’s first administration.

Despite being briefed by his administration, Trump on Tuesday said President Biden “should have said something” on the matter, adding that presidents should defend each other on such matters.

“But I have very firm instructions,” Trump continued. “Anything happens they’re going to wipe them off the face of this earth.”

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Virginia voters gave Democrats another special election win on Tuesday, according to Decision Desk HQ, adding to a string of recent victories for the party in the Old Dominion.

Democrat Garrett McGuire will replace state Del. Mark Sickles (D), who has been tapped to be Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s secretary of finance, in the 17th House District.

The Tuesday contests are part of a series of special elections prompted as Spanberger, who was elected governor last year and inaugurated over the weekend, called on several state lawmakers to join her administration.

Democrats have the majority in the House of Delegates, where state lawmakers moved forward quickly this month with constitutional amendments on abortion access, mid-decade redistricting and other major issues.

Democrats were expected to win in the district, which went to former Vice President Kamala Harris by 43 points in 2024.

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