American, Southwest Airlines And Employee Unions Praise Coronavirus Relief Aid Bill

They're urging both the House and Senate to pass it quickly so President Trump can sign it.

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  • 'Climate day' is also 'jobs day,' Biden says as he issues sweeping new orders on fuel, power and more

    President Biden on Wednesday signed additional executive orders addressing the climate crisis, adding to those he signed on his first full day in office, saying “we can’t wait any longer” for action on what his predecessor famously dismissed as a hoax.

  • As Democrats take control of Senate, these 10 senators will shape the agenda

    From Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders to Judiciary Committee head Dick Durbin, these are some of the new leaders of the Senate’s most powerful panels.

  • QAnon-aligned Rep. Marjorie Greene's support for 'a bullet to the head' for Pelosi draws rebuke from House GOP leader

    In old social media posts unearthed by CNN, the freshman congresswoman from Georgia said the Democratic leader would “suffer death” or be put in prison for her “treason.”

  • Kenyan Mansur Mohamed Surur charged in US over '$7m smuggling ring'

    Elephant tusks and rhino horns "hidden inside African masks" were exported, US prosecutors say.

  • Iran's president criticizes prosecution of telecom minister

    Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday criticized Iran's hard-liner dominated judiciary over last week's prosecution of the countrys telecommunications minister. Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi was released on bail after he was summoned for prosecution. Judiciary officials cited his refusal to block Instagram and impose limitations on the bandwidth of other foreign social media and messaging systems.

  • John Kerry: American workers 'fed a false narrative' that shift to clean energy is 'coming at their expense'

    President Biden on Wednesday turned his attention to climate issues, signing executive orders that seek to halt new oil and gas leases on public lands and waters, conserve 30 percent of federal lands and waters by 2030, and find ways to double wind production by the same year. John Kerry, the first-ever United States Climate Envoy, championed the actions, reiterating his belief that the climate crisis is "existential" and "failure, literally, is not an option." While briefing reporters, Kerry was asked about potential job losses in the fossil fuel industry, and whether he had a message for workers who believe they are witnessing the end of their livelihoods. Kerry explained that those workers "have been fed a false narrative" by the Trump administration about the shift to clean energy, which he said will not come "at their expense." He added that, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the solar and wind energy industries were growing swiftly, while coal plants have been closing over the last few decades. "The same people can do those jobs. But the choice of doing the solar power one now is a better choice," he said, also pointing out the health risks associated with coal mining. John Kerry says oil and gas workers have been fed a "false narrative" that action on climate change will hurt their livelihoods, and that President Biden wants to "make sure that those folks have better choices" for jobs in the energy sector https://t.co/Nj065CIsxp pic.twitter.com/czkjomesi8 — CBS News (@CBSNews) January 27, 2021 Republicans like Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) weren't buying the reassurance, suggesting that Kerry's statement lacked empathy, although he didn't explicitly refute the notion that an industry transition may be feasible for fossil fuel workers. John Kerry's message to the tens of thousands of Americans who lost their jobs thanks to the Biden administration: go make solar panels. Where is the empathy that Joe Biden promised in his inauguration? https://t.co/CvQovUlEoD — Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) January 27, 2021 More stories from theweek.com5 brutally funny cartoons about the GOP's Trump problemWith Senate Republicans balking at convicting Trump, Democrats explore alternative censuresBiden is not going to get his $1.9 trillion stimulus plan. And that's okay.

  • UK PM Johnson heads to Scotland amid fears of break up of UK

    Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic underlined the benefits of being part of the United Kingdom as he prepares to visit Scotland on Thursday to confront growing support for another independence referendum. The bonds holding together the United Kingdom have been severely strained over the last five years by Brexit, the government’s handling of the pandemic, and repeated calls by the Scottish National Party for a new referendum on independence. Ahead of his visit, Johnson said that Scotland as a part of the United Kingdom gained access to a coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and they are being administered by their shared armed forces, who are creating 80 new vaccine centres in Scotland.

  • Here Are The Brightest Decor Buys of the Season

    Let’s get loudOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • Congress prepares for major fight over voting laws in the wake of Trump's false fraud claims

    Former President Donald Trump’s “big lie” about a stolen election may have been discredited over and over in the courts, and disgraced by the attack on the U.S. Capitol, but the corrosive effect of his dishonesty will linger on, complicating efforts to strengthen American elections.

  • Jill Biden spent her first week as First Lady reshaping the role. Melania Trump spent hers isolated in a tower

    New first lady signals she will be an active and constant presence in the White House - drawing stark contrasts to her predecessor

  • Singapore detains 16-year-old over plans to attack mosques

    Authorities in Singapore have detained without trial a 16-year-old student who made detailed plans and preparations to carry out “terrorist attacks” on two mosques with a machete. The Singaporean teen was inspired by an Australian white supremacist who killed 51 worshippers at two mosques in New Zealand in 2019, the Internal Security Department said Wednesday. The teen detained in December was the youngest terror suspect to be held under the country's Internal Security Act, it added.

  • What Ted Cruz gets wrong about climate, jobs — and Pittsburgh

    “By signing this order, President Biden indicates that he’s more interested in the views of the citizens of Paris than in the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh,” Cruz said.

  • 'The best advertisement for Brexit': European press gives damning verdict of AstraZeneca row

    For much of the European press, the public spat between the European Union and AstraZeneca was just the latest Brexit battle — but there was little support for the EU’s position. Prime Minister Boris Johnson refused on Wednesday to divert millions British-made doses to the EU, which is months behind in its coronavirus vaccination rollout. The decision has been ruled a Brexit victory - even by EU member states. “The European Commission is providing the best advertisement for Brexit,” Germany’s Zeit newspaper wrote. "It is acting slowly, bureaucratically and in a protectionist manner. And if something goes wrong, it's everyone else's fault.” The EU delayed approving a vaccination by months, leaving it vulnerable to shortages, while Britain placed its faith in AstraZeneca before its effectiveness had been confirmed. As Europe's supplies dwindle, meetings between Britain and the EU have become increasingly frantic. Influential MEPs are stoking talk of a trade war. "How did the atmosphere get so poisoned?“ Germany’s Bild asked, under a headline of “Vaccine row gets ever crazier”.

  • Alaska to investigate issuance of offensive license plate

    An Alaska department plans to investigate the issuance of “3REICH” personalized license plates, while a spokesperson for Gov. Mike Dunleavy said Dunleavy removed a member of Alaska's Human Rights Commission for comments she made about the controversy. The issue drew attention after a former newspaper editor, Matt Tunseth, posted a picture of the plate on social media. Debate over the issue gained traction on social media and blogs over the weekend, and Department of Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka announced Monday that she was ordering a review of Division of Motor Vehicles' processes to determine how the plates were issued.

  • U.S. reviewing China genocide ruling to make sure it sticks

    The U.S. State Department is reviewing a Trump administration determination that China has committed genocide by repressing Uighur Muslims in its Xinjiang region to make sure that it sticks, President Joe Biden's pick for U.N. ambassador said on Wednesday. "The State Department is reviewing that now because all of the procedures were not followed," Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the move last week, one day before Biden took office, "after careful examination of the available facts," accusing the Chinese Communist Party of crimes against humanity targeting the Uighurs and other Muslim minorities.

  • Pakistani suspect admits to role in Daniel Pearl’s beheading

    After 18 years of denial, the Pakistani suspect convicted and later acquitted in the 2002 beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl has told a court he played a “minor" role in the killing, the Pearl family lawyer said Wednesday. A letter handwritten by Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh in 2019, in which he admits limited involvement in the killing of the Wall Street Journal reporter, was submitted to Pakistan's Supreme Court nearly two weeks ago. It wasn't until Wednesday that Sheikh's lawyers confirmed their client wrote it.

  • Twitter suspends My Pillow CEO's account

    The Twitter account of Mike Lindell, the non-apologetic pro-Trump CEO of My Pillow, has been put to sleep - permanently. Twitter suspended his account late Monday for repeatedly violating its policy on election misinformation, according to the social media site. Lindell, who is a devout supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump, financed post-election protest movements in an attempt to overturn the election win of President Joe Biden. He has repeatedly used both his personal account, which had nearly half a million followers before being suspended, and the company's account to spread unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud in the November elections. That is in complete violation of Twitter's civic integrity policy, a company spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement. Lindell, whose political commentary and advertisements are a regular fixture on conservative media, is not alone. Trump, impeached by the U.S. House, has been kicked off Twitter as well after his supporters stormed Capitol Hill on January 6th, resulting in five deaths. Other social media outlets have silenced Trump and his supporters too. Despite the riots and the deaths -- Lindell hasn't changed his tune... He recently told Reuters regarding the election: "I'm never letting the fraud go." Lindell's company - My Pillow - did not respond to a request for comment on the suspension of his account.

  • Biden’s new sign language interpreter runs a right-wing Facebook group and has been pictured in a MAGA hat

    One video featuring Heather Mewshaw is titled ‘Joe Biden is literally and legally not the President elect’

  • Secretary of State Blinken says U.S. committed to Israel's security

    Blinken, in a call with Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, applauded recent progress made with the "Abraham Accords" and affirmed U.S. interest in building further on that progress, the U.S. State Department said in a statement. "Foreign Minister Ashkenazi and Secretary Blinken acknowledged the steadfast partnership between the United States and Israel, and that the two countries would work closely together on challenges ahead," it said. The so-called Abraham Accords is a U.S.-brokered agreement to normalize diplomatic ties between Israel and Arab and Muslim countries.

  • Brazil to end military-led program against Amazon logging

    Brazil’s ongoing military-led operation to curb illegal deforestation and fires in the Amazon rainforest will end April 30, Vice President Hamilton Mourão said at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday. Mourão defended the success of Operation Green Brazil 2, which was launched last May and saw deployment of thousands of soldiers across the Amazon. The vice president leads the government’s Amazon Council to fight deforestation in the region.