How the Biden administration would handle NASA
SpaceX will help the company deliver two of its payloads to the moon, which will help with research for future moon landings.
A federal judge on Tuesday indefinitely banned the Biden administration from enforcing a 100-day pause on deportations of most illegal immigrants in response to a lawsuit from Texas, which argued that the moratorium violated federal law and could saddle the state with additional costs. U.S. district judge Drew Tipton issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday, dealing a blow to President Biden’s efforts to follow through on his campaign promise to pause most deportations. The pause would not have applied to those who have engaged in terrorism or espionage or who pose a danger to national security. It would also have excluded those who were not present in the U.S. before November 1, 2020, those who agreed to waive the right to remain, and those whom the ICE director individually determined need to be removed by law. Tipton first ruled on January 26 that the pause violated federal law on administrative procedure and that the U.S. failed to show why a deportation pause was justified. He issued a temporary two-week restraining order, which was set to expire Tuesday. Texas attorney general Ken Paxton argued that Biden’s January 20 memorandum violated federal law and an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security that Texas be consulted before reducing immigration enforcement or pausing deportations. As part of the agreement, DHS must give Texas 180 days notice of any proposed change on any matter that would reduce enforcement or increase the number of “removable or inadmissible aliens” in the United States. However, the ruling does not require deportations to resume at their previous pace and immigration agencies have broad discretion in enforcing removals and processing cases. In the wake of the first ruling, authorities deported hundreds of people to Central America and 15 people to Jamaica. The administration has also continued deportations that began under the Trump administration due to a public-health law in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Majorie Taylor Greene's success is a story of how the wealthy and radical prevail in one of the nation's most conservative districts.
A few months after the Trump administration scrapped the Obama administration's robust net neutrality rules in 2018, California passed its own open-internet law. The Justice Department immediately sued to block California's net neutrality law, and it was in limbo until President Biden's administration dropped the lawsuit last month. A federal judge in California on Tuesday dismissed the last legal hurdle, a lawsuit by four telecom industry groups, opening the door to enforcement of the nation's first mandate that internet service providers treat all web traffic equally. The four telecom lobbying groups — America's Communications Association, Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, the the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, and USTelecom — said Tuesday they "will review the court's opinion before deciding on next steps," suggesting they could appeal U.S. District Court Judge John Mendez's ruling. The broadband industry has successfully fought open-internet regulations for decades, but the industry groups said Tuesday that faced with a muddled "state-by-state approach," they think "Congress should codify rules for an open internet." Other states have been watching the California case for years, "hoping a legal resolution in the state's favor might open the door for them to try to craft their own open-Internet rules without facing a similar legal threat," The Washington Post reports. Congressional action is theoretically possible, but it's more likely Biden's FCC will act, once the Senate confirms his nominee, breaking the 2-2 gridlock. Net neutrality laws like the one in California prohibit internet service providers from slowing down traffic to certain sites or providing special fast access to sites that pay extra for the boost. Broadband companies and other opponents argue such rules will stifle innovation and curb investment in faster internet speeds. More stories from theweek.comThe MyPillow guy might be Trump's ultimate chumpLate night hosts laugh at Rudy Giuliani literally running from his $1.3 billion lawsuit, tie in CPACFDA confirms Johnson & Johnson vaccine prevented all deaths and hospitalizations in trial
In a two-page memo addressed to GOP donors, voters, leaders, and activists, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) declared: "The Republican Civil War is now canceled." It isn't clear if his fellow Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, are listening. Scott is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and in the memo, first obtained by Fox News, he writes that Democrats control the White House, Senate, and House, but Republicans have a path to victory in 2022. To win, the GOP must move on from the "impeachment show" and stop with the infighting, he said, adding that a Republican Civil War "does not need to be true, should not be true, and will not be true." While Scott wants unity, not all Republicans are on the same page. After Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the No. 3 House Republican, voted to impeach Trump last month, she was censured by the Wyoming Republican Party and asked to resign. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voted to acquit Trump, but still said there is "no question that former President Trump bears responsibility" for the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. This remark roused Trump, who had been flying under the radar during the trial. He called McConnell a "dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack," and said if Republican senators "are going to stay with him, they will not win again. Where necessary and appropriate, I will back primary rivals who espouse Making America Great Again." Three GOP senators are retiring in 2022 — Richard Burr (N.C.), Pat Toomey (Pa.), and Rob Portman (Ohio) — and Scott has said the NRSC will support the remaining incumbents from primary challenges. Trump is letting people know he isn't done with McConnell, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted Tuesday. Last week, Trump and former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) met for golf and dinner, and people briefed on the day told Haberman "it did not go well." Trump reportedly had "retribution" on his mind, and was focused on McConnell and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who did not go along with Trump's plot to overturn Georgia's election results. Perdue had been contemplating running again in 2022, but said Tuesday he won't. Although no longer in office, Trump still has the support of a majority of Republicans. A Suffolk University/USA Today poll of 1,000 Trump supporters conducted last week found that 46 percent would ditch the Republican Party and join a Trump party if he started one, with 27 percent saying they wouldn't and the rest undecided. A majority said they had more loyalty to Trump than the GOP, and 50 percent said the Republican Party should become "more loyal to Trump." More stories from theweek.comThe MyPillow guy might be Trump's ultimate chumpLate night hosts laugh at Rudy Giuliani literally running from his $1.3 billion lawsuit, tie in CPACFDA confirms Johnson & Johnson vaccine prevented all deaths and hospitalizations in trial
A 22-year-old Russian social media influencer is facing heavy criticism online for posing naked on top of an endangered elephant in Bali, Indonesia for her 553,000 Instagram followers. Alesya Kafelnikova received backlash for the short video she posted on Feb. 13, where she was filmed lying naked on top of a “critically endangered” Sumatran elephant, according to The Sun. In a follow-up post, Kafelnikova shared an image presumably with the same elephant and said in the caption, “To love nature is human nature.”
Kaluuya said he was shooting "Black Panther" and even cleared his schedule to attend the premiere but no one invited him.
The minority community of several hundred thousand was decimated first by al Qaeda's rise in the early 2000s and later by Islamic State, which brutally persecuted them and other minority faiths and sects.For many of those who remained, or have returned to Iraq where free worship is again possible, Pope Francis' visit from March 5-8 is welcome recognition of how they have suffered for their beliefs.The trip by the 84-year-old leader of the world's Catholics was announced in December, and will take in the capital Baghdad, as well as Ur, a city linked to the Old Testament figure of Abraham, and Erbil, Mosul, and Qaraqosh in the plain of Nineveh.
After Tiger Woods' car crash Tuesday, celebs and sports figures such as Alex Rodriguez, Jada Pinkett Smith, Cher and Magic Johnson tweeted their well wishes.
The House GOP's leadership split is far from patched up. After former President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol Building, House Republican Caucus Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) was among just a handful of Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for the action. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) meanwhile said he'd only support censuring Trump, as he "bears responsibility" for the attack. But just a month later, McCarthy already seems ready to welcome Trump back into the party. When asked Wednesday if Trump should be speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference this weekend, McCarthy gave a quick "yes." Cheney, meanwhile, said the decision was "up to CPAC," but affirmed her belief that Trump shouldn't "be playing a role in the future of the party or the country." Q: Do you believe former President Trump should speaking at CPAC?@GOPLeader: "Yes he should."@RepLizCheney: "That's up to CPAC....I don't believe that he should be playing a role in the future of the party or the country." McCarthy: "On that high note, thank you very much." pic.twitter.com/ZOkTUbpQCP — CSPAN (@cspan) February 24, 2021 Following the impeachment, more than a quarter of the House GOP voted secretly to remove Cheney from her leadership post, while Wyoming's state GOP censured her. More stories from theweek.comThe MyPillow guy might be Trump's ultimate chumpLate night hosts laugh at Rudy Giuliani literally running from his $1.3 billion lawsuit, tie in CPACFDA confirms Johnson & Johnson vaccine prevented all deaths and hospitalizations in trial
Twenty20 specialist Mohammad Hafeez has declined a central contract offer from the Pakistan Cricket Board. The allrounder “politely turned down” a contract offer in category C for 2020-21, the cricket board said Wednesday. “While I am disappointed, I fully respect his decision,” PCB chief executive Wasim Khan said in a statement.
ABCOn Tuesday night, The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert dragged the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) for branding this year’s edition “America Uncanceled” and then canceling a speaker over his history of anti-Semitic comments. And Jimmy Kimmel joined in on the fun—but also set his sights on someone who’s become such a colossal embarrassment he won’t be speaking at CPAC: Rudy Giuliani, the president’s ex-attorney who once married his cousin. “Rudy Giuliani isn’t on the list at CPAC. He is no longer representing Donald Trump, and his next client could be himself,” cracked Kimmel. “Last month, Rudy got hit with a $1.3 billion lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems. They’re suing him for spreading misinformation about their machines, and apparently, they had a heck of a time serving him with papers.”Yes, Dominion filed a whopping $1.3 billion lawsuit against Giuliani—citing 50 “demonstrably false” (Dominion’s words) claims he made that their voting machines flipped votes from Trump to Biden—and even tied Giuliani’s baseless claims about rigged Dominion machines to the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, referencing a speech that Giuliani gave earlier that day in the lawsuit.“Having been deceived by Giuliani and his allies into thinking that they were not criminals — but patriots ‘Defend[ing] the Republic’ from Dominion and its co-conspirators — they then bragged about their involvement in the crime on social media,” the lawsuit read.And Giuliani—of Borat 2, Four Seasons Total Landscaping, leaking head, and courtroom-farting fame—has continued to embarrass himself during the Dominion saga. According to a report in the New York Daily News, Dominion struggled to serve Giuliani with the 107-page lawsuit. First, he refused to receive it by email, and it took them a week to try to serve Giuliani in person.Stephen Colbert Hammers ‘America Uncanceled’ CPAC for Canceling Speaker“A doorman, knowing process servers were looking for Giuliani, locked the door to the building whenever the former mayor entered the lobby,” reported the Daily News. “On Feb. 7, a pair of process servers and Giuliani got into an awkward standoff during a nasty winter storm. That morning, the doorman to the building waved to a Ford Explorer SUV parked down the street. Giuliani got in the passenger seat and closed the SUV door as a process server lunged forward with a bag full of documents.”Then, as Kimmel elaborated, something truly ridiculous happened: “At one point, the server jammed the lawsuit into the door of an SUV Giuliani got into, but Rudy’s doorman grabbed an umbrella and pried it out onto the ground,” Kimmel explained, adding, “You know, if they really want to get those papers to Rudy, they should’ve just had Borat’s daughter stuff them in his pants.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
The United States this week will begin processing people held in the Matamoros migrant camp at the Texas border for entry into the country after the area was hit hard by severe weather, the Department of Homeland Security said on Wednesday. The camp, across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas, is home to hundreds of migrants, most from Central America, hoping to be granted refuge across the border.
Police officers who put a hood over the head of a mentally distraught Black man, then pressed his body against the pavement until he stopped breathing will not face criminal charges after a grand jury declined to indict them, New York's attorney general announced Tuesday. Daniel Prude, 41, died last March, several days after his encounter with police in Rochester, New York. Attorney General Letitia James, whose office took over the investigation, said her office had “presented the strongest case possible” to the grand jury, but couldn’t persuade it that the officers had committed a crime.
"I don't like anyone ... to have their right taken away to send a message on Twitter or on Facebook," Mexico's president said on January 7.
Malaysia sent more than 1,000 Myanmar nationals back to their strife-torn homeland on Tuesday despite a court order to halt the deportation, a move rights groups said could endanger the deportees' lives. The 1,086 Myanmar citizens were sent back on three navy ships sent by Myanmar's military, which seized power in a Feb. 1 coup, sparking weeks of protests from pro-democracy activists. Malaysia had initially said it would deport 1,200.
As Australia entered the third day of its vaccination drive its health minister told local media on Wednesday that two people had received incorrect coronavirus vaccine doses.The two patients, aged 88 and 94, were given four times the recommended dose of the Pfizer vaccine.Health Minister Greg Hunt said the human error was a reminder of safeguards during the rollout:"I think it's very important that we are upfront. The safeguards that were put in place immediately kicked into action, a nurse on the scene identified the fact that a higher than prescribed amount of the dose was given to two patients.""Both patients are being monitored and both patients are showing no signs, at all, of an adverse reaction."Meanwhile, after several weeks of zero COVID-19 cases, two Australian states will loosen their restrictions this week.In New South Wales, up to 30 people can kick up their heels on dance floors at indoor venues, and households can host 50 guests, up from 30.Australia has recorded around 29,000 COVID-19 cases and just over 900 deaths since the pandemic began.
Demi Lovato debuted her new shorter locks late last year and says she feels "so free" with her new hair.
While China has yet to approve vaccines developed by Western drug makers, it has granted authorisation to domestic products for use in select groups or by the wider public, which have also gained ground in developing countries battling a surge in coronavirus infections. Sinopharm affiliate Wuhan Institute Of Biological Products said on Wednesday its vaccine has an efficacy rate of 72.51% against the COVID-19 disease caused by the virus, citing interim analysis of late-stage clinical trial data, without offering more details.
Teigen was one of 13 people followed by the president's account on Twitter. The others include his wife, Dr. Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris.
ReNew Power will go public through an $8 billion merger with a blank-check firm in the biggest deal in the fast-growing clean energy sector in India, allowing the country's largest renewable energy firm to grow capacity over the next few years. The deal will be financed with cash proceeds of $1.2 billion, including $855 million in investments from serial blank-check dealmaker Chamath Palihapitiya, funds managed by BlackRock and Sylebra Capital, ReNew Power said on Wednesday. Founded in 2011, ReNew Power counts Goldman Sachs and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board among its prominent investors.