WorldReutersU.S. won't 'shy away' from responding when necessary, Pentagon says after Iraq rocket attack
The United States has shown it won't "shy away" from responding to attacks against its personnel when necessary, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, after a rocket attack against Iraq's Ain al-Asad air base, which hosts U.S., coalition and Iraqi forces. "Let's do this the right way. Let's let our Iraqi partners investigate this, see what they learned," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told a news briefing, calling the attack a "troubling development."
WorldThe TelegraphNicola Sturgeon chokes back tears as she rejects 'absurd' claims she was out to destroy Alex Salmond
Nicola Sturgeon today choked back tears and insisted "I would never have wanted to 'get' Alex Salmond" as she rejected as "absurd" his claims of a plot among senior SNP figures to destroy him. The First Minister told a Holyrood inquiry the "simple" truth was that several women made complaints about Mr Salmond's behaviour and "I refused to follow the usual pattern of allowing a powerful man to use his status and connections to get what he wants." In an appearance spanning more than eight hours, against the backdrop of calls for her resignation, Ms Sturgeon insisted she had seen "nothing that comes within a million miles" of backing Mr Salmond's conspiracy claims.
U.S.Miami HeraldThe FBI has arrested a white supremacist in Fort Lauderdale. Here’s the charge
The arrest of Paul Nicholas Miller by FBI agents at his Fort Lauderdale home Tuesday morning on a pedestrian charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon seems a minor thing for the feds to make a point of announcing. Until, that is, it's noted that the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force was part of the arresting team, along with FBI agents and Fort Lauderdale police officers. Also, the Anti-Defamation League considers Paul Miller “a volatile white supremacist-accelerationist.”
WorldArchitectural Digest9 of the Best Outdoor Rugs That Literally Ground Any Space
High-traffic areas are about to meet their match Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldReutersU.S., EU impose sanctions on Russia for Navalny poisoning, jailing
The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions to punish Russia for what it described as Moscow's attempt to poison opposition leader Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent last year, in President Joe Biden's most direct challenge yet to the Kremlin. The sanctions against seven senior Russian officials, among them the head of its FSB security service, and on 14 entities marked a sharp departure from former President Donald Trump's reluctance to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin. Biden stopped short, however, of putting sanctions on Putin himself.
BusinessAssociated PressRio Tinto chairman leaving over destruction of sacred sites
Rio Tinto chairman Simon Thompson said Wednesday he was accountable for the mining giant destroying sacred Indigenous sites in Australia to access iron ore and he will not seek reelection as a board director next year. Thompson's announcement came after former chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques announced his resignation last September over the destruction in May of two rock shelters in Juukan Gorge in Western Australia state that had been inhabited for 46,000 years. The company's successes in 2020 were “overshadowed by the destruction of the Juukan Gorge shelters ... and, as chairman, I am ultimately accountable for the failings that led to this tragic event,” Thompson said in a statement.
U.S.The TelegraphNorth Carolina mocked after prioritising anyone who has smoked 100 cigarettes in their lifetime for a vaccine
Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said that all frontline essential workers can have their vaccine now while giving three weeks' notice for those who are obese, in jail, pregnant, homeless - or who have smoked just five packets of cigarettes in their life. The cohort including smokers will be called forwards on March 24, and is designed to include adults at higher risk of virus exposure or who are at an increased risk of having a severe illness Smokers are defined as “current or former” having “smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime.” Victor Ricchezza, a Geology Professor at Georgia State University added: “I haven't smoked in years but was just joking with my wife that I could almost certainly smoke 100 cigarettes by the time we hit North Carolina in the car.”
PoliticsAxiosPence breaks silence to condemn Democrats' sweeping voting reform bill
In some of his most extensive remarks since Jan. 6, former Vice President Mike Pence wrote an op-ed Wednesday condemning House Democrats' sweeping election and anti-corruption proposal as an "unconstitutional power grab" by "leftists." Why it matters: Pence has largely stayed quiet since the Capitol insurrection, during which rioters were heard chanting "hang Mike Pence" after former President Trump promoted the claim that the vice president could block the certification of the Electoral College. The big picture: Writing in The Daily Signal, Pence repeated dubious claims that the 2020 election was "marked by significant voting irregularities."
PoliticsReutersU.S. DOJ declined to investigate Trump transport chief after inspector general review
The U.S. Justice Department declined to investigate or prosecute then-Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao after the inspector general's office referred allegations of potential misuse of office for review, a report made public on Wednesday said. The report included allegations that Chao directed staff to research or purchase personal items for her online using her personal credit card or performed other personal errands for her or her father. The report focused largely on Chao's actions related to her family's shipping business, the Foremost Group, which was founded by her father and whose current chief executive is her sister.
EntertainmentNational ReviewDr. Seuss Gets Blindsided by a Moral Minority
If, in 1987, the editorial boards of the major newspapers learned that a fanatical cult of angry moral scolds, representing a small sliver of the population, was successfully campaigning to remove books from the public eye with the not-so-subtle encouragement of the president and his political allies, they would have been outraged. The Left used to be against banishing books, banning books, burning books. Just six years ago, when Barack Obama was publicly praising Dr. Seuss on March 2, Read Across America Day — a day specifically chosen by the National Education Association to honor Theodor Geisel's birthday — you would have called me a paranoid wingnut if I had told you that books such as On Beyond Zebra!
- NewsYahoo News Video
Authorities investigate whether human smuggling involved in Calif. crash
Barely a mile from where an SUV packed with 25 people struck a tractor-trailer — killing 13 inside — a cemetery with unmarked bricks is a burial ground for migrants who died crossing the border from Mexico to remote California desert.
U.S.TheGrioMom arrested after girl, 4, found alone on NYC sidewalk remained unclaimed for days
Over the weekend police officers were stunned to discover a four-year-old girl roaming the streets of New York City alone. Saturday, police noticed the child walking alone just after midnight at the corner of E. 156 St. and Prospect Ave. in the Bronx. Sunday, the NYPD shared surveillance video on its official Twitter page that showed a person who appears to be a woman walking ahead as the girl crosses the street alone.
WorldNBC NewsU.S. issues warning after Microsoft says China hacked its mail server program
The U.S. has issued an emergency warning after Microsoft said it caught China hacking into its mail and calendar server program, called Exchange. The perpetrator, Microsoft said in a blog post, is a hacker group that the company has "high confidence" is working for the Chinese government and spies primarily on American targets. The latest software update for Exchange blocks the hackers, prompting the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, to issue a rare emergency directive that requires all government networks do so.
PoliticsCBS NewsSchumer says Senate will take up relief bill as early as Wednesday
The Senate is using the budget reconciliation process to pass the bill, which limits time for debate and allows legislation to pass with a simple majority, without any Republican votes. Under the rules of the budget reconciliation process, debate on the bill will be limited to 20 hours. Republican Senator Ron Johnson said Wednesday that he might ask the Senate clerk to read the full text of the bill, which any senator can request.
HealthAssociated PressCanada vaccine panel recommends 4 months between COVID doses
A national panel of vaccine experts in Canada recommended Wednesday that provinces extend the interval between the two doses of a COVID-19 shot to four months to quickly inoculate more people amid a shortage of doses in Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also expressed optimism that vaccination timelines could be sped up. The current protocol is an interval of three to four weeks between doses for the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines.
CelebrityTheGrioMichelle Obama: Barack and I ‘can’t get a word in’ with Sasha, Malia
During a recent interview on Good Morning America with host Robin Roberts, former First Lady Michelle Obama opened up about how she and her husband, former President Barack Obama, have open communications with their two young-adult daughters. I always have wanted them to start practicing the power of their voices very early on,” Mrs. Obama shared of Sasha, 19, and Malia, 22. If you sit around the dinner table, me and Barack, we can't get a word in edgewise and we like it like that.
PoliticsFort Worth Star-TelegramWhy is Gov. Greg Abbott waiting a week to reopen Texas and lift mask mandate?
There is a week before Gov. Greg Abbott's order ending the mask mandate and capacity limits at businesses goes into effect. Why did Abbott pick March 10 as the date to roll back his previous COVID-19 orders? Abbott told Hasty he intended to announce the lifting of the state's mask mandate and business capacity limits on the last Monday in February.
WorldReutersThe man who saves forgotten cats in Fukushima's nuclear zone
A decade ago, Sakae Kato stayed behind to rescue cats abandoned by neighbours who fled the radiation clouds belching from the nearby Fukushima nuclear plant. So far he has buried 23 cats in his garden, the most recent graves disturbed by wild boars that roam the depopulated community. Kato leaves food for feral cats in a storage shed he heats with a paraffin stove.
U.S.INSIDERA lawyer for an accused Oath Keeper Capitol rioter says the group's 'quick reaction force' of weapon suppliers was actually just one guy
In February, federal prosecutors arrested several members of the Oath Keepers - an anti-government militia group - on charges related to participating in the riot at the Capitol on January 6. Prosecutors alleged that the Oath Keeper members had planned part of their attack. They wore tactical gear, held training sessions in the weeks before, and looked at then-President Donald Trump's direction for their assault on Congress, prosecutors laid out in court documents.
CelebrityTheGrioVanessa Bryant says Kobe, Gianna ‘motivate’ her, but pain is ‘unimaginable’
Vanessa Bryant, on the latest cover of PEOPLE Magazine, says that her pain is still “unimaginable” after the loss of her husband Kobe Bryant and her daughter Gianna Bryant, but that they still “motivate her.” It's been over a year since Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, 13, tragically passed in a helicopter crash last Jan. 26. While the world publicly mourned the loss of an icon, Vanessa is opening up to the outlet about her terrible loss and how she has coped through the past year.
WorldReutersIndia's next phase of virus crisis likely to be localised outbreaks
Experts say that the relatively low hospitalisation and fatality rates in India suggest the coronavirus pandemic is approaching its next phase - largely manageable local outbreaks. Although a handful of states are reporting a spurt in infections, for a country of 1.35 billion people with limited health facilities and where the practice of wearing masks and social distancing is falling off, the positive trend, if it holds, will be a respite. It could also help India keep its economy open without any national lockdown.
LifestyleArchitectural Digest16 Best Poufs, Ottomans, and Footstools for Your Every Need
Footrest, coffee table, laptop stand, bar cart—these tiny but mighty multipurpose pieces get it all done Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- PoliticsCBS News Videos
Supreme Court appears ready to uphold Arizona election measures in Voting Rights Act case
The Supreme Court's conservative majority on Tuesday appeared ready to uphold election measures in Arizona that would require election officials to throw away provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct, and limit who can collect absentee ballots for delivery to polling places. The justices heard arguments in the case as dozens of state legislatures consider changes to their election laws, including many that voting rights groups say could curb voter access. Ed O'Keefe reports.
PoliticsUSA TODAY OpinionElections should be a contest of ideas, not a race to disenfranchise minority voters
A new bill in the Arizona State Legislature would require voters using mail-in ballots to have them notarized. This is just one absurd example of the more than 250 bills in 43 states that would restrict voting access across the nation, part of an organized effort to shape the electorate to meet the needs of one party over another. While many people, particularly Black voters, were once again forced to wait in long lines to cast their ballots, this unprecedented election cycle proved that voting by mail is safe, convenient and secure, that early voting periods work, and that ballot drop-off boxes are effective.
WorldReutersEU, under pressure over vaccine rollouts, considers switch to emergency approvals
The European Commission said on Tuesday that it was considering emergency approvals for COVID-19 vaccines as a faster alternative to more rigorous conditional marketing authorisations which have been used so far. The move would mark a big shift in approach to vaccine approvals, as it would entail using a procedure that the EU had considered dangerous and that before the COVID-19 pandemic had been reserved for exceptional authorisation at national level of drugs for terminally ill patients, including cancer treatments. The potential change comes as the EU executive and the bloc's drug regulator come under increasing pressure for what some consider slow vaccine approvals, which have contributed to a slower rollout of COVID-19 shots in the 27-nation union, compared to the United States and former EU member Britain.
“Taking humans to Mars would require an investment astronomically out of kilter with the possible benefits.”
“Can a Mars settlement be a freer society than we enjoy on Earth? Maybe.”
“What we learn...may spark the next revolution that will make life in 2071 beyond anything we can imagine right now.”
“Our presence on Mars could jeopardize one of our main reasons for being there — the search for life.”
“The future of geologic investigation of other worlds lies with highly improved versions of our Mars rovers.”