PoliticsYahoo NewsAt CPAC, Cruz and Hawley remain defiant about Capitol riot
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri took to the stage today at the Conservative Political Action Conference and gave what amounted to their most extensive public remarks since Jan. 6, when both were seen by critics as having helped incite a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election. Cruz spoke on Friday morning, while Hawley addressed the audience in a less enviable afternoon spot. As they have in appearances on Fox News and other outlets in recent weeks, they cast themselves as victims of Democratic “cancel culture” — an ill-defined concept that encompasses social and corporate disapproval — while taking no responsibility for inciting the white supremacists and other supporters of former President Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol in hopes of keeping Joe Biden from assuming the Oval Office.
PoliticsYahoo NewsBiden, facing backlash over reopening shelter for migrant children, is left with few options
When the Biden administration began transporting migrant children to a Trump-era emergency influx shelter in Texas this week, it faced fierce criticism from some on the left, particularly Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who tweeted: “This is not okay, never has been okay, never will be okay — no matter the administration or party.” “From our perspective, influx facilities are certainly not ideal, but it is so much better than a child sitting in a camp in Matamoros or a child being cramped in a Border Patrol facility,” said Jennifer Podkul, vice president of policy and advocacy at Kids in Need of Defense, a pro bono legal service provider for migrant and refugee children.
WorldBBCNodeep Kaur: Jailed Dalit activist, 25, granted bail by India court
A court in India has granted bail to Nodeep Kaur, a 25-year-old labour rights activist who has been in prison for more than a month. Nodeep was arrested on 12 January when she was protesting outside a factory on the outskirts of the capital, Delhi. Her arrest lead to global outrage given the circumstances in which she was picked up amid accusations of sexual assault and torture.
WorldReutersFrance needs a lockdown as COVID-19 cases rise: hospital official
France should impose a national lockdown given the increase in COVID-19 cases and the longer it waits, the higher the death toll will be, the head of the emergencies unit at a hospital in Paris said on Friday. The government said on Thursday that a new lockdown was not on the agenda and it would see next week if local weekend lockdowns would be needed in 20 areas considered very worrying, including Paris and the surrounding region. "I do not understand what we are waiting for," Philippe Juvin from the Georges Pompidou European Hospital in the capital told BFM TV, adding that the situation at hospitals in the Paris area was very tense.
U.S.The WeekCapitol Police chief: Militia groups threatening to 'blow up the Capitol' during State of the Union
U.S. Capitol Police will maintain "enhanced and robust" security, as militia groups tied to the deadly Jan. 6 riot reportedly discussed a desire to "blow up the Capitol." Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman revealed these reported threats during a congressional hearing Thursday about the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol building, in which she was asked about heightened security in the nation's capitol, including fencing and National Guard presence, per Politico. "We know that members of the militia groups that were present on Jan. 6 have stated their desires that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible with a direct nexus to the State of the Union," Pittman said.
U.S.TheGrioPolice question South Dakota AG on fatal car crash: ‘His face was in your windshield’
Investigators were skeptical about answers given by South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg while looking into a deadly car crash. Ravnsborg struck an individual while driving on Sept. 12, 2020, but what surprises those investigating the incident is that he claims he didn't know he fatally struck the victim, per video footage released Tuesday. According to USA Today, Joe Boever, 55, was walking on the side of Highway 14 west of Highmore when he was struck by a vehicle.
WorldAssociated PressJapan partly ending pandemic emergency, keeps it for Tokyo
The state of emergency Japan set up to curb the spread of the coronavirus will be lifted in six urban areas this weekend and remain in the Tokyo area for another week, a government minister said Friday. Partially lifting the emergency, and just a week early, underlines Japan's eagerness to keep business restrictions to a minimum to keep the economy going. Japan has never had a mandatory lockdown, but has managed to keep infections relatively low, with deaths related to COVID-19 at about 7,700 people.
WorldReutersChina expected to unveil hike in military budget as tensions rise
China is expected to reveal a robust increase in defence spending at the March 5 annual opening of parliament, as its economy rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic and military tensions rise, Chinese and Western security experts said. With the coronavirus hammering its economy, China last year announced a 6.6 per cent boost in defence spending to $178 billion, the lowest rate of increase in three decades. The new administration of President Joe Biden has moved quickly to remind Beijing that the United States intends to compete with China's growing influence and military strength in the Asia-Pacific.
WorldReutersU.S. air strikes in Syria target Iranian-backed militia: Pentagon
The United States carried out air strikes authorised by President Joe Biden against facilities belonging to Iranian-backed militia in eastern Syria on Thursday, in response to rocket attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq, the Pentagon said. Syria did not immediately comment, but state-owned Ekhbariya TV said the strikes were conducted at dawn against several targets near the Syrian-Iraqi border. Biden's decision to strike only in Syria and not in Iraq, at least for now, gives Iraq's government some breathing room as it investigates a Feb. 15 attack that wounded Americans.
WorldAssociated PressChina, India urge further measures to ease border tensions
The foreign ministers of China and India are urging further steps to stabilize tensions along their disputed border following the pullback of forces from an area where a deadly clash broke out last summer. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Indian counterpart, S. Jaishankar, on Thursday that the disengagement by front-line troops had “significantly eased the situation” and that now is the time to maintain the momentum of consultations, build trust and “achieve peace and tranquility in the border areas,” his ministry said. In a statement Friday, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the two sides "should now quickly resolve the remaining issues” along the Line of Actual Control high in the mountainous Ladakh region.
U.S.Business InsiderSouth Dakota's legislature is moving to impeach its attorney general after investigators uncovered a hit-and-run victim's glasses in his car
AG Jason Ravnsborg was charged with three misdemeanors in connection to a fatal car crash. New details have since emerged with the victim's glasses found in Ravnsborg's car. Ravnsborg was charged with three misdemeanors last week after initially saying he thought he hit a deer, not a person.
U.S.Architectural DigestMore Inside A New Safari Lodge Treehouse Tucked Away in Botswana’s Okavango Delta
Only reachable by canoe, this Xigera hideaway is centered along lush riverbeds and a rich concentration of wildlife. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsReutersU.S. Senate panel sets hearing for Biden's No. 2 and No. 3 Justice Department picks
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday announced it will hold a confirmation hearing on March 9 for President Joe Biden's nominees to serve in the No. 2 and No. 3 top jobs at the U.S. Justice Department. Lisa Monaco, a former federal prosecutor who also previously advised former FBI Director Robert Mueller and former President Barack Obama, is nominated to serve as Deputy Attorney General. Vanita Gupta, a long-time civil rights attorney who previously led the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, is nominated to serve as Associate Attorney General.
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Five die and over 170 injured in Iraq's protests
Among the fatalities, most died from bullet wounds, a hospital source said, adding that about 120 protesters were wounded. At least 57 members of the security forces were injured, according to another hospital source and a security source. The clashes continued on Friday evening after a week of violence that erupted on Sunday when security forces fired to disperse protesters, who were trying to storm the provincial government building using rocks and Molotov cocktails.
WorldAssociated PressDefense head Austin weighs warship needs in Pacific, Mideast
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told sailors on the USS Nimitz Thursday that he hopes to avoid long ship deployments like the more than 10 months they just spent at sea. But as he made his first aircraft carrier visit as Pentagon chief, he acknowledged the demand for American warships around the globe as he wrestles with security threats from China in the Pacific and Iran in the Middle East. Standing in the ship's hangar bay, Austin said he will make a decision soon on whether to send a carrier back to the Middle East, where the Nimitz had been.
WorldBBCJamal Khashoggi: US says Saudi prince approved Khashoggi killing
A US intelligence report has found that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the murder of exiled Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. The report released by the Biden administration says the prince approved a plan to either "capture or kill" Khashoggi. Saudi Arabia rejected the report, calling it "negative, false and unacceptable".
PoliticsReutersBiden's aid bill wildly popular with Americans -- except Republicans in Congress
The White House is losing hope that congressional Republicans will back U.S. President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill despite a campaign-style push that has won support from business leaders, local government officials, unions and voters. The administration has heavily promoted the "American Rescue Plan" as crucial to getting millions of unemployed back to work and children back into schools. The House of Representatives will vote on it as soon as Friday.
WorldAssociated PressPakistan expert: Religiosity aiding spike in militancy
Militant attacks are on the rise in Pakistan amid a growing religiosity that has brought greater intolerance, prompting one expert to voice concern the country could be overwhelmed by religious extremism. Pakistani authorities are embracing strengthening religious belief among the population to bring the country closer together. But it's doing just the opposite, creating intolerance and opening up space for a creeping resurgence in militancy, said Mohammad Amir Rana, executive director of the independent Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies.
WorldThe TelegraphIsrael pauses 'vaccine diplomacy' campaign after wave of criticism
Israel has halted a so-called vaccine diplomacy campaign that would give jabs to countries which recognise its claim to sovereignty over Jerusalem, following a backlash from senior officials and ministers. Benjamin Netanyahu, who is seeking re-election in March, said this week that he would send vaccines to countries such as the Czech Republic, Guatemala, Honduras and Hungary, as an apparent reward for opening diplomatic missions in Jerusalem. The gesture is controversial as both Israel and the Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital, which is why most countries base their ambassadors in Israel in Tel Aviv.
WorldReutersPoland raises upper age limit for AstraZeneca shot, taking in Slovak patients
Poland will raise the upper age limit for people being given the AstraZeneca vaccine to 69, and will take COVID-19 patients from neighbouring Slovakia, a health ministry spokesman said on Friday. COVID-19 cases have been surging in central and eastern Europe, but in common with the rest of the European Union the region has faced problems with vaccine deliveries. "Today the health minister's vaccination team recommended extending (the age limit)...Within an hour there will be a announcement from the health minister," spokesman Wojciech Andrusiewicz told a news conference.
PoliticsUSA TODAYSen. John Cornyn, Gov. Greg Abbott — but not Ted Cruz — to meet with Joe Biden in Texas
Two out of Texas' top three Republican officials will meet with President Joe Biden during his Friday trip to Houston following the state's winter storm and power outages last week. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, plan to join Biden and first lady Jill Biden as they survey storm and power grid damage, visit an emergency operations center and food bank and stop by NRG Stadium, a mass vaccination site. The state's other senator, Ted Cruz, won't be joining them.
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UN rights chief cites 'need' to assess rights in Xinjiang
The United Nations' human rights chief on Friday cited the need for an “independent and comprehensive assessment” of the rights situation in China's Xinjiang region, while emphasizing that activists, lawyers and rights defenders face unfair charges, detention and trials in China. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said her office is working to find “mutually agreeable parameters” for her to visit China, including Xinjiang. Efforts to arrange such a visit for the human rights commissioner date to before she took office in September 2018.
U.S.The Daily BeastFledgling Actor From Texas Bashed a Cop With a Crutch in Capitol Riot: Docs
An aspiring actor from Texas, who said he was almost “gassed to death like… a Jew” during the Capitol insurrection, has been charged with using a crutch to bash a cop in the Jan. 6 riot. Luke Coffee, a 41-year-old from Dallas, has been charged with a slew of crimes, including assault of a federal law enforcement officer with a dangerous weapon and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. In a newly unsealed criminal complaint, prosecutors said Coffee is seen in photos and videos using a crutch to assault D.C. Police officers who were trying to protect the Capitol.
WorldReutersFrom the hinterland to Hollywood: how Indian farmers galvanised a protest movement
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is struggling to beat back his biggest political challenge in years from a protest movement which began with disgruntled farmers travelling to New Delhi on tractors and is now gaining wider support at home and abroad. Simmering in makeshift camps housing tens of thousands of farmers since last year, the movement has seen a dramatic growth in recent weeks, getting backing from environmental activists, opposition parties and even A-list Western celebrities. At its heart are three new farm laws passed by the government last September, thanks to the majority Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) enjoys in the lower house of parliament.
WorldThe Daily BeastPutin May Have Triggered an Attempted Coup in Armenia After PM Insulted His Missiles
MOSCOW—Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced that his nation's military had attempted a coup on Thursday, the latest development in a country still recovering from last year's lost war with Azerbaijan. Now, politicians and political analysts are speaking of Russia's hand in the attempted coup, pointing to President Vladimir Putin's strained relationship with Pashinyan. On Tuesday, Pushinyan had insulted Moscow by complaining about Russian missiles, an indirect criticism of the Kremlin's strategy of waiting to intervene until Armenia was weakened in the conflict, despite its official status as a military ally.
“How about we skip ‘he won’t win’ cycle and not do 2016 all over again. Trump can absolutely win another presidential election.”
“With independents deserting him, there is simply no path for Trump to get back into the White House — except as a tourist.”
“They might as well cancel the 2024 primaries...because there is no way he can lose.”
“The next Republican presidential primary will be heavily shaped by Trump — whether or not he decides to run again.”
“Donald Trump will not be running for president again. He will, however, continue to tease the possibility of a 2024 run.”