Advocates try to close gap keeping seniors from getting COVID-19 vaccine
A Baltimore woman and her neighbors should be eligible to get their coronavirus vaccine, but there's a loophole they can't get around.
‘I'm not going to worry about people that their only worry in life is to be re-elected,’ says Enrique Tarrio
Paul Stastny scored in the first minute of overtime to give Winnipeg a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night, extending the Jets’ winning streak to four games. Nikolaj Ehlers also scored for Winnipeg, which won the game despite being outshot 41-21. Connor Hellebuyck made 40 saves.
Outspoken GOP congressman complains ‘the left and the media’ were less concerned about ‘caravans going through Mexico’ than Texas senator visiting
PGA champion Collin Morikawa went from feeling he could do no wrong to wondering if he could do anything right, and that was just over the final hour Saturday in the Workday Championship. What mattered at the end of the third round was he had a two-shot lead as he goes for his first World Golf Championship title, even knowing it could have been a lot bigger. Morikawa walked off the 12th hole with his seventh birdie in eight holes, stretching his lead to five shots with two par 5s still to play.
The U.S. is getting a third vaccine to prevent COVID-19, as the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose instead of two. Health experts are anxiously awaiting a one-and-done option to help speed vaccinations, as they race against a virus that already has killed more than 510,000 people in the U.S. and is mutating in increasingly worrisome ways. The FDA said J&J’s vaccine offers strong protection against what matters most: serious illness, hospitalizations and death.
Villagers living on both sides of the Line of Control dividing the Himalayan region of Kashmir welcomed an agreement between long-time foes India and Pakistan to stop shelling from each side, but some were sceptical it would hold. The nuclear-armed neighbours signed a ceasefire agreement along the Line of Control (LoC) in 2003, but that has frayed in recent years and there have been mounting casualties. In a joint statement on Thursday, India and Pakistan said they would observe a ceasefire.
Lawmakers due to attend conservative conference where crowds booed hosts for asking guests to wear masks
After blaming Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Biden administration is announcing new sanctions against Saudi operatives, but not against the crown prince himself. The U.S. on Friday declassified an intelligence report concluding that Mohammed bin Salman "approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi." Shortly after the report's release, Politico's Natasha Bertrand reported the U.S. Treasury Department is announcing new sanctions against General Ahmed al-Asiri, former deputy head of the Saudi intelligence services, as well as the crown prince's personal protective detail, over their alleged roles in the Washington Post journalist's killing. However, according to Bertrand, "Crown Prince MBS will NOT be sanctioned," and Politico quotes a senior administration official as saying that the "aim is recalibration, not a rupture, because of the important interests that we do share" with Saudi Arabia. Similarly, The New York Times reports that President Biden "has decided that the price of directly penalizing" the crown prince "is too high" and that he's "simply too important to American interests to punish." Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday did, however, also announce a new "Khashoggi Ban" policy, under which the State Department will impose visa restrictions on individuals "believed to have been directly engaged in serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities" while "acting on behalf of a foreign government." Blinken also said the U.S. is now imposing visa restrictions against 76 Saudi individuals under this policy. But a lack of direct punishment for the crown prince is likely to draw criticism, Politico's Nahal Toosi noted. "For activists, the WHOLE POINT was to punish MBS," Toosi said. "Will Biden's other new sanctions/policies appease them? Doubt it." And the Times writes that "in the end, Mr. Biden came to essentially the same place on punishing the young and impetuous crown prince as did Mr. Trump." More stories from theweek.comBiden in the quagmireRecords provide Louisiana State Police's 1st acknowledgement Black man who died in custody was mistreatedFDA grants emergency use authorization for Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine
Both Scottish Labour leadership hopefuls have hit back at the Tories for accusing them of being soft on independence as the party prepares to unveil its new leader on Saturday. During a speech announcing the Scottish Conservative Holyrood campaign message on Friday, party leader Douglas Ross accused both Anas Sarwar and Monica Lennon as being “fair weather” unionists and challenged them to rule out working with the SNP. Ms Lennon dismissed the comments as “desperate and attention-seeking nonsense”. “The Tories are experts in dividing our communities and forcing working class people into poverty,” she said. “People in Scotland are tired of the same old arguments from politicians who want to drag us back to 2014 rather than take responsibility for their own government records,” she added. Meanwhile, frontrunner Anas Sarwar accused the Scots Tory leader of engaging in “playground politics” at a time when “people are losing their lives and livelihoods.”
Britain's vaccine advice committee has said that the COVID-19 vaccine rollout should continue to prioritize people by age - rather than occupation.Some frontline workers such as police and teachers had been calling for prioritization for shots on the basis of their jobs.But Chair for the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation Professor Wei Shen Lim said the current system was the best way to keep up the pace of immunisations."Of all the different approaches to vaccination, getting vaccines into arms as quickly as possible is the fastest way and the best way to maximise benefit to the population. Taking all of these factors into account, we advise that the offer of vaccination in phase two should still be age based, starting with the oldest and proceeding in the following order: Those age 40 to 49, followed by those age 30 to 39, and lastly, those age 18 to 29. // An occupation-based vaccine program has never been tested before on a large scale in the UK, it is in that sense untested and untried. So trying to switch from an age-based program to an occupation-based programme will be more complex and potentially introduce more delays to the program."Britain, whose rollout has been among the fastest in the world, aims to complete phase 1 of its vaccine program by mid-April.
Blinken did not address why the United States fell short of imposing sanctions on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who the report said approved an operation to kill Khashoggi in 2018, but said that a number of steps were taken on Friday to prevent similar conduct by the kingdom in future.
Chinese officials have signalled that Beijing plans sweeping electoral changes for Hong Kong, possibly as soon as next week, when China's parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), opens in Beijing. WHAT IS BEIJING PLANNING? Xia Baolong, director of China's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, has said the electoral system in the global financial hub needs to be changed to allow only "patriots" to govern.
Ted Cruz railed against "cancel culture" and mocked criticism of his trip to Mexico while his home state of Texas endured freezing conditions and power blackouts as he addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday. The Texas senator was widely criticised last week for taking a family trip to Cancun, Mexico while millions in his state went without heat or water after severe winter weather crippled power supplies. He cut his trip short and apologised for the trip after facing a public backlash. As he addressed CPAC attendees in Orlando, Florida, Mr Cruz began by referencing the controversy, joking: "Orlando is awesome. It's not as nice as Cancun - but it's nice." The comments were met with laughter from the audience.
New Zealand's endangered Maui dolphins swim just below the surface of a small stretch of ocean off the west coast of the North Island.They're being followed overhead by drones tracking their each and every movement, as part of a new government-backed project aimed at protecting the beloved sea creatures.The Maui Drone Project uses artificial intelligence to find and track down the elusive Maui dolphins.New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Friday she has high hopes for the new program."Really it's about making sure that where we have those protections, we've put them in the places that Maui dolphins really need them. You know, we have drawn basically geographical areas where we have restricted certain types of fishing, but this will help us understand where they are, their movements, where the extra protections are required."The project is a one-year collaboration between the Ministry for Primary Industries, non-profit organisation MAUI63 and WWF-New Zealand, with the support of local fisheries.Officials say the drone technology can collect detailed data on the habitats, population, distribution and behaviour of the dolphins, along with many other marine species such as seabirds and whales.The drone will also ensure dolphins remain undisturbed as they fly out of the water at an altitude of up to nearly 400 feet (120 meters).Current estimates suggest that only 63 dolphins age one year and older remain.
President Joe Biden is still committed to raising the U.S. minimum wage to $15 after a key Senate referee ruled the provision could not be included in the COVID-19 relief bill, a top White House economic adviser said on Friday. White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, in an interview on MSNBC, said the administration was disappointed by the Senate parliamentarian's Thursday ruling and would consult with congressional leaders about the path forward.
From ‘election integrity’ panels to outright falsehoods about a stolen election, how CPAC is relitigating the 2020 election as Republican lawmakers file legislation to restrict voting rights
"I just felt so incredibly helpless and frustrated," said Spoon by H owner and chef Yoonjin Hwang.
Trump, who lives at his private Mar-a-Lago club, has already stolen the show at CPAC and will deliver his own speech on the last day of the conference.
After the Daily Mail posted photos of a shirtless Jonah Hill, the actor clapped back at "public mockery of his body" and said it "doesn't phase" him.
The actor says his childhood insecurities were “exacerbated” by years of public mockery, and he doesn’t want kids to endure the same fate.