Donald Trump pardons former national security adviser Michael Flynn – live
Flynn #Flynn
6.46pm EST 18:46
Romance novelists raise $400,000 for Georgia Senate races – with help from Stacey Abrams 
Rallying behind Stacey Abrams, the Democratic politician, voting rights activist and romance author, American romance novelists have helped raise nearly $400,000 to help elect two Democratic senators in Georgia.
Now, Abrams herself has joined the “Romancing the Runoff” fundraiser, and has donated a copy of the first of her eight published romance novels–one signed with both her real name, and her pen name, Selena Montgomery.
“I’m privileged to be one of you,” Abrams wrote on Twitter, praising the romance authors’ “amazing” fundraising efforts.
Abrams’ work fighting against suppression of black voters and organizing voter registration efforts is widely credited with helping Joe Biden become the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Georgia in more than a quarter century. Democrats have said her work was “pivotal” in flipping Wisconsin and other battleground states.
Since election day, Abrams has not stopped fighting: a January runoff between two pairs of Democratic and Republican candidates in Georgia will determine whether Republicans maintain control of the US senate – and have the votes to block Democrats and the incoming Biden administration from enacting any substantial new policy agenda.
Read more:
6.10pm EST 18:10
‘No end in sight’: hunger surges in America amid a spiraling pandemic
As states across the country contemplate new lockdowns to slow down the rampant spread and record hospitalizations, the unprecedented demand for food aid is on the rise, according to the Guardian’s latest snapshot survey:
Read more from me and Nina Lakhani:
6.02pm EST 18:02
Republican lawmakers are slowly acknowledging the reality that Joe Biden won the election.
“With yesterday’s certification of many states’ results, it’s evident that President Trump has exhausted the due process offered to all candidates. I offer my congratulations to President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris,” said Republican Ohio congressman Steve Stivers in a statement.
But for good measure, he added: “That being said, with Republicans gaining seats in the House and likely maintaining control of the Senate, it’s clear that the American people have rejected the radical policies of the far-left wing of the Democrat Party.
Updated at 6.03pm EST
5.41pm EST 17:41
A Republican former governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Ridge, has condemned Donald Trump’s participation in an event with GOP state lawmakers who spread baseless lies about the elections.
The president called into the event in Gettysburg via cell phone.
Ridge referred to the so-called “public hearing” as “a bogus event on the hallowed grounds of Gettysburg in a brazen attempt to undermine the Republic”:
Updated at 6.03pm EST
5.25pm EST 17:25
Government blocks proposed mine that threatened Alaska salmon fishery 
he Trump administration on Wednesday denied a permit for a controversial gold and copper mine near the headwaters of the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery in south-west Alaska.
The army corps of engineers said in a statement that the permit application to build the Pebble Mine was denied under both the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act.
The corps said the discharge plan from the Pebble Limited Partnership, the mine’s backers, did not comply with Clean Water Act guidelines.
The agency “concluded that the proposed project is contrary to the public interest”, according to the statement from Col Damon Delarosa, commander of the corps’ Alaska district.
The Pebble partnership CEO, John Shively, said he was dismayed, especially after the corps had indicated in an environmental impact statement in July that the mine and fishery could coexist.
“One of the real tragedies of this decision is the loss of economic opportunities for people living in the area,“ Shively said in a statement.
Read more:
4.17pm EST 16:17
The Flynn pardon was widely anticipated. Here is part of our coverage from Tuesday:
Flynn will be among a series of pardons that Trump plans to grant before his term in office ends, multiple sources were reported as saying by Axios and the New York Times.
Flynn admitted lying to the FBI about his contact with the former Russian ambassador to the US, and became a cooperating witness in Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and the Trump campaign’s links with Moscow.
Flynn leaves after the delay in his sentencing hearing at US District Court in Washington, DC. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Flynn was the only White House official charged in Mueller’s investigation.
He has become a cause célèbre among the far right, with many of Trump’s most ardent supporters arguing the former national security adviser was a victim of the “deep state”.
4.14pm EST 16:14
Trump pardons Flynn
As expected, Donald Trump has pardoned his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who formerly pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about his contacts with Russian operatives during and after the 2016 presidential campaign.
3.12pm EST 15:12
Biden wishes everyone a happy Thanksgiving, asks for blessings for the troops, again says “happy Thanksgiving” and exits.
3.08pm EST 15:08
Biden: ‘our democracy was tested this year’
Biden says this “grim season of division” is going to give way to a year of “light and unity.”
“This is a great country. We are a good people. This is the United States of America.”
He says a sense of history “can help arm us against despair” and invokes the struggles of past generations in a call for Americans to meet the crisis.
‘Our democracy was tested this year’: Joe Biden’s Thanksgiving address – video
The motivating force behind change, he says, is “love”.
“Sounds corny but it was love, plain and simple. Love of country. Love of each other.”
The country is not perfect he says but “we’ve always sought to form a more perfect union”.
“Let’s be thankful for democracy itself,” he says. He mentions the record turnout in the middle of a pandemic. “Simply extraordinary.”
“Our democracy was tested this year, and what we learned is this. The people of America are up to the task.”
That’s quite a counterpoint to the speech Trump just gave.
Updated at 5.36pm EST
3.02pm EST 15:02
Biden says the first immunizations will begin in late December or early January.
He says it will take time to vaccinate the country. “There’s real hope, tangible hope, so hang on,” he says.
“I know we can and we will beat this virus.”