New Bike Lanes Coming To Brooklyn, Queensboro Bridges
Bike lanes are coming to the Brooklyn and Queensboro bridges, and it's going to be a tighter squeeze for drivers.
Former President Donald Trump has released a new post-presidency statement, and Democrats might just be glad he did. The former president, who remains permanently banned from Twitter, released a statement Thursday once again raging against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), blasting him as the "most unpopular politician in the country" while blaming him for Republicans' Senate losses in Georgia — losses for which Trump himself has been blamed by other Republicans. One of the reasons Republicans lost the two Georgia Senate runoffs in January, Trump argues, was "Mitch McConnell's refusal to go above $600 per person on the stimulus check payments when the two Democrat opponents were touting $2,000 per person in ad after ad." The statement offered "quite the pre-stimulus political gift to Democrats," wrote National Journal's Josh Kraushaar, while The Washington Post's Dave Weigel noted that Trump "remarkably" used this opportunity to "validate Biden's messaging on the $1,400 checks instead of whacking him and Democrats for curtailing them." Remarkably, Trump also uses this statement to validate Biden's messaging on the $1400 checks instead of whacking him and Democrats for curtailing them. "The $2000 will be approved anyway by the Democrats." https://t.co/M9dXoX13VS — Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) March 4, 2021 Indeed, Trump writes that "the $2,000 will be approved anyway by the Democrats," while offering no comment on the fact that the new checks are actually for $1,400, nor on Biden's recent compromise that narrows the eligibility. Politico's Gabby Orr observed that Trump "could have put out a statement saying the income phase-outs in the Biden stimulus bill are going to mean he gave checks to more Americans," but "instead he's still targeting his own party with stuff like this." This was just Trump's latest statement in this vein after he released another one last month describing McConnell as an "unsmiling political hack." He also mentioned McConnell in a recent Conservative Political Action Conference speech, in which he took credit for McConnell's recent re-election. McConnell told Fox News he "didn't watch" the speech and that "we're dealing with the present and the future, not looking back to the past." More stories from theweek.comThe Republican grievance perpetual motion machineWhich states best handled the pandemic? There's no clear answer. 7 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's CPAC appearance
Boris Johnson has yet to appoint a successor to his adviser on ministerial standards, more than three months after the resignation of Sir Alex Allan.
Alicia Vikander followed the keto diet because she was traveling so was unable to track her meals, and ate 1,900 calories a day to lose fat.
Britain's decision to make unilateral changes to Northern Irish Brexit arrangements is "not the appropriate behaviour of a respectable country" and will erode trust with the European Union, senior Irish ministers said on Thursday. The EU promised legal action on Wednesday after the British government unilaterally extended a grace period for checks on food imports to Northern Ireland, a move Brussels said violated terms of Britain's divorce deal.
Brian Kemp says ‘the president deserves a lot of credit and he’s not going away’
A series of extraordinary confrontations have seen the Queen's household accused of a smear capaign and Markle accused of bullying.
Buddy Hield shook off a sore ankle to score 29 points and the Sacramento Kings beat the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 123-120 on Wednesday night. Hield’s status for the game was in doubt because of a sprained right ankle, but he decided to play through it and helped the Kings win for just the second time in the past 12 games. “We've been in a bad funk,” Hield said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stressed the significance of the role that city and county chief secretaries have in improving the lives of the people and carrying out his five-year economic policies, state news media KCNA said on Thursday. North Korea's drastic measures to contain COVID-19 have exacerbated human rights abuses and economic hardship, including reports of starvation, for its citizens, already battered by international sanctions, a United Nations investigator said. Kim said the city and county chief secretaries had responsibility for taking care of their residents and urged them to embark on a fresh "turning point" to help develop their areas in line with his new five-year strategy unveiled at the January party congress.
The European Commission and Italy have blocked a shipment of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine destined for Australia after the drug manufacturer failed to meet its EU contract commitments, two sources said on Thursday. The sources said AstraZeneca had requested permission from the Italian government to export some 250,000 doses from its Anagni plant, near Rome.
Satellites observed a swirling storm above the magnetic north pole in 2014. It was the first space hurricane ever spotted, according to a new study.
Eric Trump tweeted a listing for a home that the family is trying to sell through a limited liability company for more than twice its 2018 value.
A long-range U.S. bomber flew over the capitals of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on Wednesday in a show of solidarity with NATO allies, the U.S. Air Force said, amid Western concerns over a more assertive Russia. "This mission sends a clear message that our commitment to our NATO allies is unshakeable," Gen. Jeff Harrigian, U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa commander said in a statement. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were once ruled from Moscow but are now part of both NATO and the European Union.
The Kremlin on Thursday urged France and Germany to use their influence with the Ukrainian government to make sure that events in the part of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed rebels did not "cross a dangerous line". Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow was seriously concerned by a rise in violence on the contact line between the rebels and Ukrainian government forces.
Biden approved phasing out direct payments entirely for individuals making above $80,000 a year and married couples earning more than $160,000.
Drastic measures taken by North Korea to contain coronavirus have exacerbated human rights abuses and economic hardship for its citizens, including reports of starvation, a United Nations investigator says. North Korea, which has yet to report any confirmed COVID-19 cases despite sharing a border with China, has imposed border closings, banned most international travel and severely restricted movement domestically in the past year. "The further isolation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with the outside world during the COVID-19 pandemic appears to exacerbate entrenched human rights violations," Tomas Ojea Quintana, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the country, said in a report seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
Iran has agreed to sit down with international technical experts investigating the discovery of uranium particles at three former undeclared sites in the country, the head of the U.N. atomic watchdog said Thursday, after months of frustration at Tehran's lack of a credible explanation. The agreement came as three of the remaining signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran — France, Germany and Britain — backed off the idea of a resolution criticizing Iran for its decision to start limiting access by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to current facilities. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told reporters in Vienna it was not up to him to say whether Iran's move to hold talks with his technical experts was linked to the decision of the so-called E3 group, but suggested it was difficult to separate the political side of Iran's nuclear program from the technical side.
CBS NewsThe notorious “QAnon Shaman” has insisted his actions during the Capitol riot were not an attack on the United States—and that he can prove it because he stopped other rioters from stealing muffins.Jacob Chansley, who became arguably the most infamous Capitol rioter due to his furry and be-horned costume, has given a bizarre interview to CBS News in his latest attempt to beg for mercy. The first glimpse of the 60 Minutes interview was broadcast Thursday morning.Speaking from jail, Chansley became clearly short-tempered when CBS News reporter Laurie Segall asked him if he considered his actions during the storming of the Capitol to be an attack on the nation.The "QAnon Shaman" of the January 6th attack on the Capitol tells his story for the first time from jail, as he faces up to 20 years behind bars.Jacob Chansley spoke with @60minutes+'s @LaurieSegall pic.twitter.com/uhUuFNHRvf— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) March 4, 2021 When he was then asked to describe his actions in his own words, he explained: “I sang a song, and that’s a part of shamanism, it’s about creating positive vibrations in a sacred chamber. I also stopped people from stealing and vandalizing that sacred space, the Senate. I actually stopped people from stealing muffins out of the break room.”While preventing muffin theft is all well and good, the accusations against Chansley are very serious. On top of storming into the Capitol building, Chansley is also accused of leaving an ominous note for Vice President Mike Pence at his desk in the Senate chamber that read: “It’s only a matter of time, justice is coming.” That day, he was also carrying a spear attached to a flagpole, which prosecutors considered to be a weapon.Chansley is facing as many as 20 years in prison, but can’t seem to see what he did wrong. In the interview, he went on: “I also said a prayer in that sacred chamber because it was my intention to bring divinity and to bring God back into the Senate.” When reminded that it was illegal for him to even enter the chamber, he described that as a “very serious regret.”His mother, Martha Chansley, also insisted he did nothing wrong, telling Segall that her son simply “walked through open doors.” “He was escorted into the Senate. So, I don’t know what’s wrong with that,” she said. “I know that he is sorry but again it all comes back to he walked through open doors.” Prosecutors haven’t said how Chansley got into the building but there’s no evidence that police guided rioters into the Senate chamber. She justified her son’s decision to protest the election result by repeating the lie that the election was stolen. “I don’t think it’s right that [the election] was won fraudulently. I don’t believe it was won fairly at all,” she said. "He walked through open doors." - Martha Chansley, defends the actions of her son -- aka the QAnon Shaman -- during the Capitol siege. This exchange was one of the most telling from the piece. Would watch the full clip. pic.twitter.com/Ie1YJ0YXPf— Laurie Segall (@LaurieSegall) March 4, 2021 On former President Donald Trump, whom Chansley has repeatedly criticized via his attorney because he was not offered a pardon before Trump left office, it appears he still holds a soft spot for him.“I developed a lot of sympathy for Donald Trump because it seemed like the media was picking on him,” said Chansley. “I have been a victim of that all my life, whether it be at school or at home, so in many ways I identified with a lot of the negative things he was going through.”Chansley went on to admit that he was “wounded” by not being offered a pardon, but does not regret his loyalty to Trump. “I [only] regret entering that building, with every fiber of my being,” he said.While Chansley’s strange jailhouse appearance on national television might be viewed as detrimental to his legal battle, his defense attorney believes it was totally logical and justified. “[Chansley] is the most visible face of this riot. So for the first time in my career, it is not a trepidation to have my client speak out—it’s fully abated,” defense attorney Albert Watkins told The Daily Beast on Thursday.“If anything, it’s necessary to shift the message and dialogue that I have been pushing for since Jacob Chansley has been taking into custody: The riots were more than a lynch mob, but the result of years of manipulation [from Trump].”“He believed the president. He believed the words and reacted on those words. So when you have millions of Americans who were embracing over four years of propaganda and lies and misrepresentations daily—we have to have compassion for that. We have to have patience,” Watkins added.The lawyer added that the more people get exposed to his client, they’ll realize the “gentleman that he is” and remember that the thousands who stormed the Capitol “are our brothers and sisters and neighbors.”CBS reporter Segall said Chansley ended his interview by shouting “SEE ME! SEE ME!” and insisting that he’s not a violent man. A judge will hear arguments Friday on whether he should be released before his trial.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.
McDonald's is one of many major retailers that has stopped publicly fighting against a federal $15 minimum.
The man who plowed a rental van into dozens of people in Toronto, Canada in 2018 was found guilty of murder and attempted murder by a judge on Wednesday. Ten people were killed, and 16 wounded by the driver - 28-year-old Alek Minassian.Victims’ families – outside of court Wednesday - said they were relieved. ”Oh, well, it's like you're holding your breath for three years and you can finally breathe.” Nick D’Amico’s sister was killed in the attack - which Minassian had said was motived by a desire to punish society for his perceived status as an "incel" - otherwise known as an involuntary celibate. Minassian had pleaded ‘not criminally responsible.’His lawyers argued his autism spectrum disorder left him with no idea how horrific his actions were.But the judge dismissed that defense - and read a guilty verdict that was live-streamed on YouTube.Catherine Riddell was among those injured in the attack:"Oh, it was the best I could hope for. I think it was a fair decision. And he can spend the rest of his life in jail because he deserves it. I'm sorry he took lives and he didn't care. And you know what? You just have to be accountable for what you do. And he's going to have to be.”A sentencing hearing will be scheduled and - according to criminal lawyers following the case - Minassian is likely to get a life sentence.
Prince Harry's wife Meghan has accused Buckingham Palace of "perpetuating falsehoods" about her and her spouse, saying the royal couple would not be silent in telling their story. Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, made the comments to American talk show host Oprah Winfrey in an interview about why they quit their royal roles that is due to be broadcast on U.S. television on Sunday. An advance excerpt of the interview was released on Wednesday, hours after Buckingham Palace said it was "very concerned" about reports in the Times newspaper that assistants working for Meghan two years ago had been bullied by her.