USA

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is switching sides in the legal fight against California’s right to set its own clean-air standards, abandoning the Trump administration as the president’s term nears its close.

CEO Mary Barra said in a letter Monday to environmental groups that GM will no longer support the Trump administration in its defense against a lawsuit over its efforts against California’s standards. And GM is urging other automakers to do the same.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government is set to begin working with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team now that the head of the General Services Administration has “ascertained” that he is the apparent winner of this month’s presidential election.

Among other things, the ascertainment process gives the incoming president and his team access to officials at federal agencies and directs the Justice Department to work on security clearances for transition team members and Biden political appointees. It even gives his team access to official government website domains.

(AP) --- State and local officials nationwide are imposing new coronavirus restrictions and pleading with the public in an increasingly desperate attempt to stop the explosive spread of the disease as many Americans resist calls to limit gatherings and travel heading into the holidays.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden is set to formally introduce his national security team to the nation, building out a team of Obama administration alumni that signals his shift away from the Trump administration’s “America First” policies and a return to U.S. engagement on the global stage.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government recognized President-elect Joe Biden as the “apparent winner” of the Nov. 3 election, formally starting the transition of power after President Donald Trump spent weeks testing the boundaries of American democracy. He relented after suffering yet more legal and procedural defeats in his seemingly futile effort to overturn the election with baseless claims of fraud.

NEW YORK, Nov 22 (APP): Former United States (US) National Security Adviser John Bolton has called on Republican Party leadership to condemn President Donald Trump’s post-election behaviour as “inexcusable” for the sake of the party.

Bolton, a conservative republican who served the Trump administration, told CNN’s “State of the Union” news programme on Sunday said that describing the president’s efforts to overturn the November 3, election results as a “nonviolent attempt at coup” gives “Trump too much credit.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Joe Biden is expected to name Linda Thomas-Greenfield as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, media outets reported Sunday, citing Democratic sources close to Biden.

The appointment of Thomas-Greenfield, a Black woman who held a top diplomatic post in the administration of former President Barack Obama, was intended to restore morale and help fulfill Biden’s pledge to choose a diverse Cabinet, Axios, which first broke the news, reported.

Thomas-Greenfield is the “leading contendor” for the job, CNN reported.

23 Nov 2020; MEMO: Israel and the US are reportedly planning to carry out "covert operations" and increase pressure on Tehran during US President Donald Trump's final days in office, the Times of Israel reported yesterday.

Washington, Nov 23 (AP-PTI) Perhaps Sidney Powell has gone too far for even Rudy Giuliani this time.

The Trump campaign's legal team moved to distance itself Sunday from the firebrand conservative attorney after a tumultuous several days in which Powell made multiple incorrect statements about the voting process, unspooled unsupported and complex conspiracy theories and vowed to blow up Georgia with a biblical lawsuit.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (US), Nov 23 (AP-PTI) President Donald Trump is appealing a federal judge's dismissal of his campaign's effort to block the certification of votes in Pennsylvania.

The president and other plaintiffs filed notice of appeal to the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals on Sunday, a day after the judge issued a scathing order shooting down claims of widespread irregularities with mail-in ballots.