Biden orders ‘National Day of Mourning’ for Carter

President Joe Biden on Monday ordered federal offices closed and gave government employees the day off to observe the Jan. 9 funeral of former President Jimmy Carter, which Biden has proclaimed as a “National Day of Mourning.”

Carter passed away Sunday at the age of 100, after serving one term in the White House from 1977 to 1981.

Biden’s order dictates that all “executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed on January 9, 2025, as a mark of respect for James Earl Carter, Jr., the thirty-ninth President of the United States,” excepting in situations where agency or department heads determine “their organizations, or parts thereof, must remain open and that certain employees must report for duty on January 9, 2025, for reasons of national security, defense, or other public need.”

Carter “was a man of character, courage, and compassion, whose lifetime of service defined him as one of the most influential statesmen in our history,” Biden said in an official message to Congress on Sunday night, marking the the former president’s passing,

“He embodied the very best of America: A humble servant of God and the people. A heroic champion of global peace and human rights, and an honorable leader whose moral clarity and hopeful vision lifted our nation and changed our world,” Biden wrote.

—Boston Herald

Orlando drone mishap grounds New Year’s shows from Texas to NYC

ORLANDO, Fla. — A horrifying mishap at Orlando’s holiday drone show that severely injured a boy is grounding New Year’s Eve displays from Texas to New York City and sparking further scrutiny into what went wrong.

Drone shows planned for New York’s Central Park and Austin and Dallas, Texas, have been canceled. Those events planned to use drones from Sky Elements, the same Texas-based vendor that operated Orlando’s holiday show, according to organizers.

Two Central Florida tourist spots also halted drone shows in recent days as Orlando’s botched event put the safety of such synchronized spectacles into question. The shows feature drones flying in formation and creating dazzling light displays in the sky.

The Federal Aviation Administration restricted Sky Elements’ operations as it investigates the drone mishap at Orlando’s Lake Eola Park. Footage captured during the Dec. 21 display showed drones falling from the sky as spectators watched. One of the drones appeared to shoot toward the crowd of spectators and struck a 7-year-old boy in the chest, sending him to the hospital, according to a Dec. 22 GoFundMe post from his mother.

The boy is recovering from emergency heart surgery, she wrote the next day.

The FAA on Friday said it suspended a Sky Elements permit known as a Part 107 waiver, which allows for the operation of more than one drone at a time, as it conducts its probe. Without that waiver, the company apparently is unable to stage drone shows in the U.S.

The National Transportation Safety Board is reviewing the processes and standards the FAA uses to evaluate and approve drone shows as part of its investigation.

—Orlando Sentinel

Elon Musk living in $2K per night Mar-a-Lago cottage, report says

Elon Musk is reportedly staying in a cottage at President-elect Donald Trump’s estate that rents for $2,000 a day.

The world’s richest man, who holds substantial government contracts and appears to have spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to get Trump and his surrogates elected to office, has been a Trump tenant since the presidential election in November, according to The New York Times. How much he’s paying for the space wasn’t reported. Billing usually comes when a visitor checks out.

By planting himself in a cottage, which is reportedly named Banyan, Musk reportedly lives a short walk from Trump’s home and gives him easy access to the 78-year-old Republican leader. Musk’s personal worth before Trump was elected to office last month was a little over $260 billion. He’s now worth around $430 billion, according to Forbes.

Having easy access to Trump and Mar-a-Lago has allowed Musk to drop in on meetings the incoming commander-in-chief is hosting. That included a recent dinner Trump had with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos— the world’s second-richest man — that the Times said Musk wasn’t expected to attend.

—New York Daily News

Liam Payne’s manager, two hotel workers charged in One Direction singer’s death

A representative for Liam Payne was charged with manslaughter in connection with the One Direction veteran’s death in October, Argentine officials confirmed Monday.

The National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office of Argentina announced in a Spanish-language statement that Judge Laura Graciela Bruniard on Friday prosecuted five people for alleged involvement in the pop singer’s death. Payne’s representative (identified as “R.L.N.”) and the manager and the head of reception of the Buenos Aires hotel where the British singer fell to his death were charged with manslaughter.

Another hotel employee and a waiter whom Payne met in a restaurant were charged with allegedly supplying the singer with narcotics.

Payne, an “X Factor” alum who was one-fifth of the global boy-band sensation One Direction, died Oct. 16 after falling from a balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel. He was 31. Shortly after his death, officials determined the singer died from multiple traumas and internal and external bleeding caused by the fall.

Payne had traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system when he fell, officials announced in November. Prosecution at the time said it was considering ruling out the possibility of suicide.

In Monday’s announcement, the prosecutor’s office detailed the defendants’ alleged roles in Payne’s death. The hotel employee (identified as “E.D.P.”) and waiter (“B.N.P.”) both allegedly supplied Payne with cocaine multiple times during his stay in Buenos Aires. Payne died two weeks after arriving in Argentina, where he attended an Oct. 2 concert by his former bandmate Niall Horan.

According to Monday’s announcement, Payne’s representative “failed to comply with his duties of care, assistance and assistance that he had with respect to” the singer. Prosecutors alleged R.L.N. abandoned the singer despite knowing he was “unable to fend for himself” and having previous knowledge of Payne’s struggles with addiction.

—Los Angeles Times