PoliticsAxiosJoe Manchin pledges to block Biden's infrastructure bill if Republicans aren't included
The big picture: Manchin said he'll push for tax hikes to pay for Biden's upcoming infrastructure and climate proposal, and will use his Energy Committee chairmanship to force the GOP to confront climate reality. Why it matters: My conversation yielded the most extensive preview yet of how Manchin — a Democrat from a Trump state, in a 50-50 Senate, who relishes standing up to a Democratic White House — will use his singular power. Manchin, 73, said Biden expects, and understands, the pushback: "He's the first president we've had to really, really understand the workings of the Senate since LBJ."
U.S.The Telegraph'Fake heiress' who conned US elite says being called a sociopath is a compliment
The fraudster known as 'the fake heiress' takes criticism of her as a 'sociopath' as a compliment, she has revealed in her first post-prison interview. Anna Sorokin, 30, a Russian-born German citizen who moved to the US in 2013 was charged with grand larceny after she conned the New York elite for several years, pretending to be a rich heiress called Anna Delvey. Her crimes earned her the nickname, 'the fake heiress'.
U.S.NBC NewsOhio college student dies after alleged hazing incident
An Ohio college student who was in critical condition after an alleged fraternity hazing incident has died, his family's attorney said Sunday. "At this time we are gathering all of the facts leading to his untimely death and we have no interest in commenting on speculation." Foltz was being kept alive so his organs could be donated, which the family had agreed to "so that others may have a second chance at life," Alto's statement said.
U.S.The ConversationEconomists: Biden's $1,400 COVID-19 checks may be great politics, but it's questionable economics
The US$1,400 direct checks to people are the most expensive and perhaps most popular part of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package racing its way through Congress right now. The House is set to vote on a final version of the package narrowly passed by the Senate on March 6 before it moves on to President Joe Biden's desk for his signature. Moderate Senate Democrats, who had voiced concerns about how many people would receive direct payments in the original proposal endorsed by the House, managed to make them more targeted at lower-income households, which means an estimated 17 million fewer people will get a check.
WorldThe TelegraphRussian colonel asks women to send in their ex-boyfriend's details so they can be 'sorted out'
A Russian colonel has asked women to send in their ex-boyfriends' details so they can be 'sorted out' in a video posted to mark International Women's Day. Yuri Khromov, a colonel of a local military commissariat in north-western Russia, posted a video on the official Instagram account of the Leningrad region, in which he urged Russian women to share social-media usernames of their exes in the comments below the post, so their former men could be sent to the army. Using March 8 as a hook for the recruitment drive, he packaged his statement as 'a gift for women,' implying that their ex-lovers would 'be taken care of'.
PoliticsThe WeekSen. Joe Manchin, a key Democratic swing vote, is open to crafting a 'more painful' filibuster
The House is expected to clear President Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill on Tuesday, after the Senate narrowly passed it Saturday morning, following a lengthy negotiation with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) over unemployment benefits. The narrow Democratic majority is now discussing how to pass other legislative priorities, and Manchin said Sunday he's open to reforming the filibuster. "The filibuster should be painful, it really should be painful, and we've made it more comfortable over the years," Manchin said on Fox News Sunday.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramSWAT officers hit with bricks while breaking up 800-person party, Colorado cops say
A raucous — and largely maskless — 800-person party in Colorado left SWAT officers injured and several vehicles damaged overnight Saturday, police say. The party had been going for hours in Boulder's University Hill neighborhood near the University of Colorado Boulder when police responded to the scene, the Daily Camera reported. Three SWAT officers were pelted with bricks and rocks and an armored rescue vehicle and fire truck sustained heavy damage, police said, according to KUSA.
U.S.ReutersU.S. Supreme Court rejects case over 'qualified immunity' for police
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sidestepped a chance to review the scope of a legal defense called qualified immunity that increasingly has been used to shield police accused of excessive force, turning away an appeal by a Cleveland man who sued after being roughed up by police while trying to enter his own home. The justices declined to hear the appeal by Shase Howse, who said he was slammed to the ground outside the house where he lived with his mother in a poor and mostly Black neighborhood, struck in the back of the neck and jailed after police deemed his actions suspicious. Howse, who was 20 at the time, is Black.
PoliticsThe IndependentBiden signs executive order to expand voting rights: ‘If you have the best ideas, you have nothing to hide’
President Joe Biden marked the 56-year anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” march in Selma, Alabama by signing an executive order to protect and strengthen nationwide voting access, while calling on states to expand voting rights for all eligible Americans. The order was described by the White House as an “initial step” towards securing voting rights just days after the passage of HR1, legislation focusing on expanding access to mail-in voting and making it easier for Americans to register to vote. The right to vote is sacred and fundamental — and H.R. 1 is urgently needed to protect that right, to safeguard the integrity of our elections, and to repair and strengthen our democracy.
U.S.Business InsiderThousands of people who visited a COVID-19 vaccination site in California received the wrong dose, report says. Officials say nobody needs a booster shot.
An estimated 4,300 people received less of the Pfizer vaccine than they should have, KTVU reported March 4. Too little of the vaccine was administered due to a problem with syringes on March 1, the media outlet said. Thousands of people who visited a mass-vaccination site in Oakland, California, on March 1 received the wrong dosage of the Pfizer vaccine, KTVU reported.
U.S.Associated PressClaimed value of sleepy NY estate could come to haunt Trump
It's sleepy by Donald Trump's standards, but the former president's century-old estate in New York's Westchester County could end up being one of his bigger legal nightmares. Seven Springs, a 213-acre swath of nature surrounding a Georgian-style mansion, is a subject of two state investigations: a criminal probe by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and a civil inquiry by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Both investigations focus on whether Trump manipulated the property's value to reap greater tax benefits from an environmental conservation arrangement he made at the end of 2015, while running for president.
- PoliticsWABC – NY
Trump set to return to NYC for first visit since leaving office
The NYPD will be providing additional security around Trump Tower, where police presence has significantly scaled back over the past month.
CelebrityThe TelegraphFive thorny issues in Meghan and Harry's Oprah interview that could make for uncomfortable viewing
The Royal family will assume the brace position as it awaits a stream of damaging revelations by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in their Oprah Winfrey interview. The slickly produced, dramatic teasers quashed any lingering hopes that the couple might stick to more mundane and diplomatic subject matters. Instead, they will tell “their truth”, lifting the lid on life behind palace walls in a manner no member of the family has done for decades.
PoliticsReutersU.S. could send $1,400 COVID bill payments within days; child tax credit a bigger challenge
With plenty of practice sending coronavirus relief payments to Americans, the federal government should be able to launch the delivery of $1,400 checks almost immediately once Congress finalizes the new aid bill and President Joe Biden signs it, tax experts say. Some Americans might see direct payments as soon as this week if the bill passes the House of Representatives on Tuesday as expected, compared with several weeks' lag in April 2020. The Treasury Department's Internal Revenue Service will have new challenges on its hands, though, thanks to the $1.9 trillion relief bill.
HealthBusiness InsiderMississippi governor says his goal 'has never been to get rid of the virus' in defense of his decision to end COVID-19 mask mandate
Mississippi GOP Gov. Tate Reeves defended his decision to end the state's mask mandate. Reeves told CNN's Jake Tapper that it was never his "objective" to eradicate the virus. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, in an interview Sunday defended his decision to roll back the state's mask requirement even as public health officials warn such actions are premature.
PoliticsThe New York TimesA Governor in Isolation: How Andrew Cuomo Lost His Grip on New York
When Gov. Andrew Cuomo came under fire just a few weeks ago over his handling of nursing home deaths in the pandemic, he and his top advisers followed their usual playbook to stem the fallout: They worked the phones, pressing his case in private calls to legislators and other New York Democrats. As three women stepped forward with claims of sexual harassment and other unwanted advances by Cuomo, the most visible governor in America effectively went dark. After one of the women detailed her accusations against the governor in a Medium post, state Sen. Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat, decided that she would come out with a statement calling for an independent investigation — an implicit rebuke of Cuomo.
CelebrityThe TelegraphForget hiding behind the sofa, the Royal family needed a bullet-proof vest as Harry and Meghan let rip
From Meghan's revelation that she was almost driven to suicide by being in the Royal family, to the astonishing claim that Harry was questioned about the potential colour of Archie's skin, it's fair to say this two-hour tell-all represented a worst-case scenario for what the couple kept referring to as The Firm. At first, it seemed as if Meghan casually letting slip that she and Harry were secretly “married” by the Archbishop of Canterbury three days before their actual wedding day in Windsor in May 2018 would be the biggest marmalade dropper of the morning. Contrary to reports, which first surfaced in the Daily Telegraph in November 2018, that Meghan had made Kate cry during a bridesmaids' dress fitting, the former actress insisted it was actually the other way round.
HealthBusiness InsiderFauci says the plateau of COVID-19 cases in the US is unacceptable and warns against an 'on and off' reopening strategy
The US recently has averaged about 60,000 to 70,000 new coronavirus cases reported each day. Dr. Anthony Fauci told CBS on Sunday that this was "not an acceptable level." The US COVID-19 case count is plateauing at "not an acceptable level," Dr. Anthony Fauci told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, warning against public-health measures being turned "on and off."
- U.S.Tribune Publishing
It's nearly impossible to get rid of a camp stove fuel canister in Maine
Mar. 8—Gas canisters used to fuel camp stoves can be a big challenge to get rid of in Maine once they're empty. Companies that make the canisters, such as Coleman, don't have a collection program for the empties, nor do the stores that sell them, such as L.L.Bean and Cabela's. Many transfer stations and recycling facilities won't accept them, and there is no statewide collection program. "It's something we get asked about a lot, and I don't have a really clear, definitive answer," said Eric Hamlin, environmental specialist with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection Division of Solid Materials Management.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTrump said he would travel the 5,000 miles from Mar-a-Lago to Alaska to bury the political career of GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski in revenge for her impeachment vote
Trump is seeking revenge on GOP figures who disparaged him in the final months of his presidency. Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted to convict Trump in the Senate after he was impeached in January. Trump told Politico he would campaign against the "disloyal" Alaska senator in the 2022 Senate election.
EntertainmentLA Times'The Real World' made 'Julie from Alabama' a star. The spotlight wasn't what she hoped
Gentry (née Oliver) was cast in the inaugural season of “The Real World,” which as anyone over 35 can readily recite, told “the true story of seven strangers picked to life in a loft and have their lives taped. The groundbreaking reality series altered the course of television history and, arguably, American politics, by proving that unscripted programming could make for gripping and lucrative entertainment with a profound cultural impact. And Gentry's spur-of-the-moment decision would turn her into one of the earliest examples of a now-ubiquitous breed of celebrity — the reality star — well before there was a roadmap for this type of fame.
U.S.Business InsiderCalls for Cuomo to resign ramp up after the NY governor says stepping down over harassment allegations would be 'anti-democratic'
Five women have now accused the New York governor of inappropriate behavior. Cuomo said resigning over the allegations would be "anti-Democratic." New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday said during a phone call with reporters he would not resign in light of the rising number of allegations against him, saying that doing so would be "anti-Democratic."
CelebrityThe WeekMeghan Markle, Prince Harry secretly got married 3 days before their televised wedding
When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got married on May 19, 2018, at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, it was their second time around. During an interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired Sunday night, Markle revealed that the pair actually were married three days before their wedding, which was televised to millions of people around the globe. The private ceremony was conducted in their backyard by the Archbishop of Canterbury, with no one else present.
SportsLA TimesColumn: Newsom hits home run as the effort to recall him gets closer to making the ballot
It doesn't get much better for a politician during a pandemic than to announce that fans can probably return to ballparks when the Major League Baseball season opens. Helping to unlock baseball stadiums as season openers approach is guaranteed to be popular and bipartisan. This gives baseball fans and their families in every demographic group — whether they live in East or West L.A. — something normal to look forward to.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTed Cruz's claims about undocumented people getting $1,400 stimulus checks were shot down by Dick Durbin as 'just plain false'
Senator Dick Durbin offered a rebuke to Senator Ted Cruz over who would get $1,400 stimulus checks. Senator Dick Durbin on Saturday offered a searing rebuttal to claims made by Senator Ted Cruz about undocumented immigrants getting stimulus checks, as part of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. Cruz on Saturday morning had proposed an amendment to the bill, seeking to block some $1,400 stimulus checks that he said would be sent to "every illegal alien in America."
“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.”