Black-Ink

  A mother and child look at the line of trucks parked up on the M20, part of Operation Stack in Ashford, Kent, England, Friday, Dec. 25, 2020. Thousands wait to resume their journey across The Channel after the borders with France reopened. Trucks inched slowly past checkpoints in Dover and headed across the Channel to Calais on Thursday after France partially reopened its borders following a scare over a rapidly spreading new virus variant. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BY PAN PYLAS,  Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Around 1,000 British soldiers were spending Christmas Day trying to clear a huge backlog of truck drivers stuck in southeast England after France briefly closed its border to the U.K., then demanded coronavirus tests from all amid fears of a new, apparently more contagious, virus variant. Recommended Videos Powered by  AnyClip Trump pardons 15, including two convicted in Mueller probe 47K 17 Play Video NOW PLAYING Trump pardons 15,...

Police in Columbus, Ohio, fatally shot an unarmed Black man early Tuesday but did not have their body cameras turned on during the incident, leading the mayor to call for the removal of the officer who opened fire. Mayor Andrew Ginther said he was greatly disturbed by the fact that the cameras were not recording the incident and called it "unacceptable" on the part of the officers involved. "So let me be clear, if you're not going to turn on your body-worn camera, you cannot serve and protect the people of Columbus," Ginther said. "I have asked Chief Quinlan to remove the officer involved of duty and turn in his badge and gun." The shooting happened in the 1000 block of Oberlin Drive and occurred more than two weeks after law enforcement fatally shot 23-year-old Black man Casey Goodson as he entered his grandmother's home. The investigation into his death, which drew national headlines, is ongoing. Two officers in separate cars responded to a distu...

  A visual representation of bitcoin. studioEAST | Getty Images Bitcoin breached the $20,000 level for the first time in history Wednesday, as crypto enthusiasts pointed to increased demand from institutional investors for the red-hot digital currency. The world’s most-valuable virtual currency traded 5.6% higher to a price of around $20,600, according to market data from Coin Metrics, taking its year-to-date gains to more than 180%. Bitcoin has been on a tear this year. Analysts say it’s gotten a boost from big-name investors such as Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller moving their own assets into the cryptocurrency, while tech firms such as Square and MicroStrategy have used their own balance sheets to buy bitcoin. “This is the domino effect as asset managers tumble their portfolios into bitcoin,” Charles Hayter, CEO of crypto market data provider CryptoCompare, told CNBC. Bitcoin’s latest record high has reminded many market watchers of ...

  By April Glaser and Olivia Solon Fourteen organizations designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center or the Anti-Defamation League have received funding from the Paycheck Protection Program totaling $4.3 million, according to data released last week by the Small Business Administration, revealing who benefited from the pandemic federal relief funds. Those organizations include the New Century Foundation, known for publishing the white supremacist website and now-discontinued magazine American Renaissance. That group is run by prominent white supremacist Jared Taylor, who for decades  has argued  that immigration policy should aim to “keep the country white.” The New Century Foundation received $51,600 in relief funds. The analysis by NBC News, one of 11 newsrooms that sued for the release of data, was based on hate groups designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center or the Anti-Defamation League, that received PPP money and...

  Travellers to   Greece   for Christmas and New Year face 10 days in self-isolation when they arrive – in addition to coronavirus tests before departure and after arrival. The country has kept infection rates relatively low. The  latest figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control  (ECDC) show that Greece had 222 new cases per 100,000 people over the past two weeks, compared with 317 for the UK. But the country saw rates double during November. The government in Athens is concerned about the pressure on the nation’s health service, and fears that arrivals from abroad for the festive season could increase infections. The prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis,  tweeted : “The optimism from the arrival of the vaccine should not lead us to complacency. This euphoria worries us, because it can lead to a possible third wave and winter is still ahead of us. We must continue to respect individual protection measures.” Greece already has strict...

With the economic recovery faltering and federal aid stalled in Washington, state governments are stepping in to try to help small businesses survive the pandemic winter. The Colorado legislature held a special session last week to pass an economic aid package. Ohio is offering a new round of grants to restaurants, bars and other businesses affected by the pandemic. And in California, a new fund will use state money to backstop what could ultimately be hundreds of millions of dollars in private loans. Other states, led by both Republicans and Democrats, have announced or are considering similar measures. But there is a limit to what states can do. The pandemic has ravaged budgets, driving up costs and eroding tax revenues. And unlike the federal government, most states cannot run budget deficits. “We have done what we can do to pump money into small businesses so that people can continue to work,” said Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio, a Republican. “From the jobs point of view and the economy...