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- The Independent
CPAC: Gaetz says media ‘biased’ over Ted Cruz’s Cancun trip and should have focused on ‘caravans’ of migrants instead
Outspoken GOP congressman complains ‘the left and the media’ were less concerned about ‘caravans going through Mexico’ than Texas senator visiting
- Reuters
Myanmar's U.N. ambassador vows to fight after junta fired him
Myanmar's United Nations envoy in New York vowed to fight on Saturday after the junta fired him for urging countries to use "any means necessary" to reverse a Feb. 1 coup that ousted the nation's elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "I decided to fight back as long as I can," Kyaw Moe Tun told Reuters on Saturday. Myanmar state television announced on Saturday that Kyaw Moe Tun had been fired for betraying the country.
- Associated Press
Durant out until after break, Sabonis gets All-Star spot
Kevin Durant will be out through the All-Star break because of a hamstring injury, sidelining the Brooklyn Nets star from a game for which he was chosen to serve as a captain. Indiana's Domantas Sabonis was chosen by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to replace Durant, with Boston's Jayson Tatum elevated to the pool of starters for the March 7 game in Atlanta. The Nets said Friday that after a routine follow-up MRI on Durant's left hamstring, it was determined that he needed additional recovery time.
- Associated Press
Sabres G Ullmark to miss a month; Eichel out against Flyers
Sabres starting goalie Linus Ullmark will miss at least the next month with a lower-body injury, leaving Buffalo with one established netminder. Captain Jack Eichel will also miss his second game but remains day to day with a lower body injury, coach Ralph Krueger said before Buffalo hosted the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. Veteran backup Carter Hutton will take over and start both games of Buffalo’s weekend series against the Flyers, with minor league callup Jonas Johansson serving as backup.
- The Daily Beast
House Passes Biden’s $1.9T Stimulus Plan—Without a Single GOP Vote in Favor
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via GettyDemocrats are one big step closer to achieving their first major goal of the Joe Biden era. Early Saturday morning, the U.S. House approved a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill on a nearly party-line vote.The 219-212 vote allows the U.S. Senate to formally take up the legislation, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) intends to do immediately. But the party is under the gun: Many Democrats regard March 14—the day that extended unemployment benefits run out for millions—as a de facto deadline for getting the so-called American Rescue Plan on Biden’s desk.The legislation would replenish relief for the jobless by extending a weekly $400 check through August. It also fulfills a number of other promises Democrats campaigned on in 2020: $1,400 direct stimulus checks to supplement the $600 checks that went out in December, billions of dollars to hasten vaccine distribution, funds for schools, and aid for state and local governments. The House’s bill passed with an increase to the federal minimum wage—but the Senate’s procedural enforcer found that the proposal did not conform to the rules of fast-tracking a bill in the upper chamber. It effectively kills the prospects for a clean wage hike as part of the COVID legislation.Prior rounds of major COVID legislation passed the House with bipartisan support, but Friday’s vote all but confirmed Biden’s first relief effort will travel a starkly partisan path. The GOP, beset with infighting in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack and Donald Trump’s impeachment, have found cause for unity in opposing the relief plan, which they slammed as a bloated vehicle for liberal wish-list items. Democrats held out hope that at least a few Republicans would vote for the plan, but not a single GOP lawmaker backed the legislation, and its odds for picking up many Senate Republicans look dim.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 Telegraph
'It's not as nice as Cancun': Ted Cruz jokes about controversial holiday in CPAC culture wars speech
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.
- BBC
Coronavirus: Biden's $1.9tn Covid relief bill passes House vote
The coronavirus aid bill passes despite total Republican opposition, but must now go to the Senate.
- Associated Press
Auckland COVID outbreak forces America's Cup postponement
The first weekend of sailing in the America’s Cup has been postponed after new COVID-19 cases were reported in Auckland. Auckland was placed in limited lockdown for seven days from 6 a.m. Sunday with travel restrictions into and out of New Zealand’s largest city, strict limits on public gatherings, and a ban on sports events. The 36th match for the America’s Cup between Team New Zealand and Italy’s Luna Rossa was due to begin next Saturday.
- The Independent
CPAC: What is the convention Trump, Pence and Farage are speaking at and why is it so influential?
Republican gathering began in 1974 and sees American conservatives debate social worries but has struggled with position on 'alt-right' in recent years
- Reuters
U.S. imposes sanctions, visa bans on Saudis for journalist Khashoggi's killing
The Biden administration announced sanctions and visa bans on Friday targeting Saudi Arabian citizens over the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but stopped short of imposing sanctions on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself. U.S. President Joe Biden's actions in the first weeks of his administration appear aimed at fulfilling campaign promises to realign Saudi ties after critics accused his predecessor, Donald Trump, of giving the Arab ally and major oil producer a pass on gross human rights violations. A senior Biden administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the approach aims to create a new launching-off point for ties with the kingdom without breaking a core relationship in the Middle East.
- CBS News
L.A. restaurant closes after high-tech "dine and dash" scheme
"I just felt so incredibly helpless and frustrated," said Spoon by H owner and chef Yoonjin Hwang.
- INSIDER
Jonah Hill slams the media for body-shaming photos: 'I'm 37 and finally love and accept myself'
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.
- TODAY
Jonah Hill shares inspiring message for ‘kids who don’t take their shirt off at the pool'
The actor says his childhood insecurities were “exacerbated” by years of public mockery, and he doesn’t want kids to endure the same fate.
- USA TODAY
'We're done with that lifestyle': Jessica Watkins, Ohio woman charged in Capitol riot, renounces Oath Keepers
Jessica Watkins, 38, says she has disbanded her local armed group and is canceling her Oath Keeper membership after her arrest.
- The Independent
CPAC 2021: What will Trump say at the Republican conference and who else is speaking?
Ex-president expected to reassert dominance over party and attack Biden as event focuses on ‘culture war’ rather than pandemic
- USA TODAY
GOP congresswoman's husband, whose truck had Three Percenters decal, says he never heard of armed group before
Illinois state Rep. Chris Miller said he was given the sticker featuring the armed group's logo by a friend "who said that it represented patriotism."
- NBC News
'If he dies, he dies': Suspect in stabbing of Asian man in New York City told authorities
"This case is every New Yorker's worst nightmare....to be attacked by a complete and total stranger with a large knife for no reason at all," an assistant D.A. said.
- The Telegraph
Lady Gaga poised to hand over $500,000 reward to mystery woman after safe return of Bulldogs
Lady Gaga is poised to hand over a $500,000 reward to a mystery woman who returned her beloved French bulldogs kidnapped in a violent street robbery near her home in Hollywood. Koji and Gustav, thought to be worth up to $10,000 dollars each, were given in at a downtown LAPD Police Station by an unnamed woman late on Friday night. Authorities believe the woman who handed the dogs in was "uninvolved and unassociated" with the attack - but she is still eligible for the "unconditional" $500,000 and is said to be in contact with Gaga’s representatives. “If you bought or found them unknowingly, the reward is the same,” Gaga had said in a post confirming the hefty sum before the dogs were handed back on Friday. The violent abduction on Wednesday saw the singer’s dog-walker and close friend Ryan Fischer shot in the chest. Gaga's third dog named Miss Asia escaped the attack and was later found by police. The singer, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, has kept silent since the dogs were handed into police. But her reward offer has raised eyebrows.
- Business Insider
Trump supporters and right-wing reporters wouldn't stop heckling CNN's Jim Acosta during second day of CPAC
A crowd of Trump supporters and right-wing reporters were filmed following Jim Acosta around CPAC while chanting "CNN sucks!"
- Business Insider
Andrew Yang intervened when a man wielding a metal pole attacked a photojournalist on the Staten Island Ferry
Yang was traveling from Manhattan to Staten Island to tour the borough when a journalist was attacked by a man with a steel "broomstick."