Deadly twin suicide attack hits central Baghdad

At least 28 people killed after a commercial street in the heart of Iraqi capital hit by explosions with toll likely to rise, military says.

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  • Former French President Sarkozy was found guilty of corruption, but he probably won't spend a day behind bars

    A court found former French President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of forming a "corruption pact" with his lawyer and a senior magistrate, handing him a three-year prison sentence after the verdict was announced. But Sarkozy, the first president to be sentenced to jail in France's modern history, likely won't spend any time behind bars, The Guardian reports. Two of the three years are suspended, and Sarkozy will likely be able to serve the one remaining year by wearing an electronic bracelet or in home confinement. Per France 24, that's pretty much par for the course for whenever a French politician is sentenced. 2) It’s a 3 year jail term but 2 of those years are suspended, so the 1 year prison bit could be amended so Sarkozy could serve it at home and/or wearing an electronic bracelet. As one knowledgeable French observer put it, politicians get a jail sentence but never do time 2/3 — Catherine Norris-Trent (@cntrentF24) March 1, 2021 While he'll remain out of prison for now, Sarkozy still faces more legal hurdles. In just over two weeks, he'll again be on trial in relation to allegations that he violated campaign financing rules during his failed 2012 re-election bid, and he's still being investigated for allegedly receiving millions of euros in campaign funds from former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddaffi in 2007. Read more at The Guardian and CNN. More stories from theweek.comManhattan DA investigators are reportedly focusing on the Trump Organization's chief financial officerHistorian: Biden's support for Amazon workers voting to unionize is 'almost unprecedented'Trump is back. Did anyone miss him?

  • Klarna triples valuation to $31 billion

    Set to be the most valuable European startup...Swedish payments firm Klarna has nearly tripled its valuation to $31 billion in less than six months.The company, which counts U.S. store Macy's as an investor, on Monday (March 1) said it's the result of a new $1 billion private fundraising round.The latest round for the "buy now pay later" firm was oversubscribed four times.That puts the fintech on par with many of Europe's biggest listed financial houses.At $31 billion, the company's value is comparable to the likes of Barclays and Credit Suisse.And makes it larger than Germany's biggest lender, Deutsche Bank.But questions remain over the "buy now pay later" business model.Particularly during the health crisis, with countries keen to prevent consumers from over-extending themselves.But investors seem undeterred, and the latest deal caps a meteoric rise in value for Klarna.Sources say more than 30 new and existing investors took part in the latest funding round.Klarna has been widely rumoured to be among a number of tech companies mulling a public listing.With some industry experts expecting a New York IPO in the near future.

  • Merrick Garland could be confirmed as Biden’s attorney general this week

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    The Supreme Court appeared ready Tuesday to uphold voting restrictions in Arizona in a key case that could make it harder to challenge a raft of other voting measures Republicans have proposed following last year's elections. All six conservative justices, appointed by Republican presidents, suggested they would throw out an appellate ruling that struck down the restrictions as racially discriminatory under the landmark Voting Rights Act. Less clear is what standard the court might set for how to prove discrimination under the law, first enacted in 1965.

  • For Andrew Cuomo, there can be no sexual harassment double standard. He should resign.

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  • The Trump administration reportedly quietly funded Operation Warp Speed with money set aside for hospitals

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  • Royal Caribbean will offer 'fully vaccinated' cruise with sailings starting in Israel

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  • ‘Morally compromised.’ Why one archdiocese urges Catholics to avoid newest COVID vaccine

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  • Mom reports 6-year-old missing, but police say she ran him over and threw him in the Ohio River

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  • CNN's Chris Cuomo is facing backlash for refusing to cover his brother Gov. Andrew Cuomo's scandals after praising his pandemic response

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  • SpaceX once left its rocket engineers on an island without food, leading them to mutiny, according to a new book

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  • Why stop at $1,400? These Democratic senators want Biden to back recurring stimulus checks

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  • Biden refused to sanction MBS over Khashoggi's murder because he doesn't want his relationship with Saudi Arabia to get worse, officials say

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  • Harry and Meghan Are Begged to Delay Oprah Broadcast While Prince Philip Is Gravely Ill

    DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / Getty ImagesPrince Harry and Meghan Markle are being urged by some commentators in the U.K. to ask CBS to postpone the airing of its Oprah Winfrey interview, in which they are expected to mount a stinging attack on the royal family, as concern mounts over Prince Philip’s prospects of beating an infection.Prince Harry Tells Oprah He Left the Royals Because He Feared Meghan Markle Would Suffer Like Princess Diana Philip, 99, was moved to a specialist heart hospital on Monday and royal sources have been quoted by British newspapers saying the family is “pretty appalled” at the idea of the interview, which Oprah has said sees Meghan saying “pretty shocking things” being broadcast while Philip is so unwell.Penny Junor, author of Prince Harry, Brother, Soldier, Son, told The Daily Beast that airing the interview while Prince Philip was undergoing very public health travails risked making the interview look inappropriate, saying, “Anything could hijack this interview. Philip is ill. He is 99 and could die at any time. They were not to know he would get ill, but it could be seen to be the wrong time. But I doubt it is in their gift to postpone the interview. The control is in the hands of CBS and Oprah.”Robert Lacey, historical consultant for The Crown and author of the definitive royal biography Majesty, told The Daily Beast, “I think it would be a marvelous turnaround for Harry’s image if he took the brave step of canceling the whole thing this weekend—or, if that’s not practical, postponing it at least.”Royal commentator and former editor of Who’s Who Richard Fitzwilliams said it would “surely be appropriate” to postpone the interview.He told MailOnline, “Oprah is their friend and neighbor and would undoubtedly comply if asked and the gesture would I am sure be appreciated by the royal family. If an interview has been extended, as this recently has, it can also be postponed, as this undoubtedly should be.” Royal biographer Robert Jobson told the Mail, “With the Duke of Edinburgh clearly very unwell, the fact that the couple plan to go ahead with airing their self-indulgent, no-holds-barred interview with chat show queen Oprah Winfrey makes them appear heartless, thoughtless, and supremely selfish.“For U.S. broadcast network CBS, this interview is a coup, all about securing big viewing figures and big advert sales around the airing of their exclusive interview. So even if they wanted to, Harry and Meghan probably couldn’t dictate terms to Oprah Winfrey and the network now. Too much has been invested.”A TV industry insider told the Mirror, “CBS has sold millions of dollars worth of advertising around the interview, but bosses are aware of the delicacy of the Duke’s health. They have no loyalty to the royal family, although some feel as though they do to Harry and Meghan. For it to run if Philip’s condition worsened would be like setting off a diplomatic bomb. It would be grossly insensitive and hugely disrespectful.”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.

  • 10 hours in Cancún hurt Ted Cruz's job approval more than when he tried to flip the presidential election

    New polling from Morning Consult shows Ted Cruz's job approval fell more after traveling to Mexico than when he objected to the election results.

  • What happens if Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigns from office or is impeached over harassment allegations

    Cuomo has built a reputation as a fighter but could go down through resignation or impeachment as he faces multiple scandals.

  • Hospital: Semitruck crashes with SUV carrying 25, killing 13

    A semitruck on Tuesday crashed into an SUV carrying 25 people on a Southern California highway, killing 13 people and leaving others injured, authorities said. California Highway Patrol Chief Omar Watson said 12 people died at the scene, which is about 11 miles (18 kilometers) north of the U.S.-Mexico border, and another died after arriving at the hospital. Hospital officials earlier reported there were 15 killed and more people in the SUV.

  • Bunny Wailer, reggae luminary and last Wailers member, dies

    Bunny Wailer, a reggae luminary who was the last surviving member of the legendary group The Wailers, died on Tuesday in his native Jamaica. Wailer, a baritone singer whose birth name is Neville Livingston, formed The Wailers in 1963 with late superstars Bob Marley and Peter Tosh when they lived in a slum in the capital of Kingston. “Jah-B was a vanguard, always pushing the boundaries of expression, whether in song, in style or in spoken word,” said Brian Paul Welsh, a local reggae musician known as Blvk H3ro.