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    The United States is expected to impose sanctions to punish Russia for the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny as early as Tuesday, two sources familiar with the matter said. President Joe Biden's decision to impose sanctions for Navalny's poisoning reflects a harder stance than taken by his predecessor, Donald Trump, who let the incident last August pass without punitive U.S. action. The sources said on Monday on condition of anonymity that the United States was expected to act under two executive orders: 13661, which was issued after Russia's invasion of Crimea but provides broad authority to target Russian officials, and 13382, issued in 2005 to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

  • ‘I cannot cover it because he is my brother’: Chris Cuomo addresses harassment allegation against brother during live CNN show

    Mr Cuomo had his brother on the air repeatedly during early days of pandemic

  • Ten arrested in Barcelona as protests over jailed rapper turn violent

    Ten people were arrested in Barcelona on Saturday for assaulting police officers in fresh unrest over the jailing of a rapper for glorifying terrorism and insulting royalty in his songs. Pablo Hasel, known for his anti-establishment lyrics, was arrested on Feb. 16 after failing to report to serve his sentence, prompting debate over freedom of expression and sparking sometimes violent protests in Barcelona and Madrid. Hasel was convicted for lyrics and tweets that included references to Basque separatist group ETA, calling Spain's former king Juan Carlos a mafia boss and likening Spanish judges to Nazis.

  • Thai protesters, police clash near base of army unit king controls

    Thai police used tear gas and water cannon against protesters marching on a military base in Bangkok on Sunday to call for King Maha Vajiralongkorn to give up direct command of the army unit housed there. Protesters threw bottles at police and marched right up to a barricade of shipping containers and barbed wire at the entrance to the base of the 1st Infantry Regiment in Bangkok, one of several army units that government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha transferred to the king's control in 2019.

  • Analysis: U.S. seeks to put Saudi crown prince in his place - for now

    Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may have been spared direct punishment after a U.S. intelligence report implicated him in the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but he has not emerged unscathed. The declassified report, based on CIA intelligence, concludes that the prince approved an operation to "capture or kill" Khashoggi, who was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. President Joe Biden's decision to publish a report that his predecessor Donald Trump had set aside brings with it a broad refocusing of Washington's stance on dealing with the kingdom, on its human rights record, and on its lucrative arms purchases.

  • Exclusive: Biden in no rush to lift Venezuela sanctions, seeks 'serious steps' by Maduro

    President Joe Biden’s administration is in “no rush” to lift U.S. sanctions on Venezuela but would consider easing them if President Nicolas Maduro takes confidence-building steps showing he is ready to negotiate seriously with the opposition, a White House official told Reuters. Signaling that the new U.S. president may be unlikely to loosen the screws on Venezuela anytime soon, the official emphasized that existing sanctions have enough special provisions to allow for humanitarian aid shipments to help Venezuelans cope with economic hardships and the COVID-19 pandemic. This suggests that for now Biden is prepared to stick with the specific sanctions, including crippling oil-sector penalties, imposed by former President Donald Trump on the OPEC nation, despite the failure to force Maduro from power.

  • Far-right Proud Boys leader condemns Capitol rioters but says he 'won't cry' about politicians

    ‘I'm not going to worry about people that their only worry in life is to be re-elected,’ says Enrique Tarrio

  • Don't bully Riyadh, Saudi columnists tell Biden administration

    Saudi Arabia's sovereignty is a red line, Saudi columnists said on Sunday, ramping up rhetoric in defense of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after a U.S. intelligence report implicated him in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Prince Mohammed, de facto ruler of the U.S.-allied Gulf powerhouse, has denied any involvement in the 2018 murder of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

  • Rooster kills Indian man during banned cockfight

    A man was killed by a rooster with a blade tied to its leg during an illegal cockfight in southern India, police said, bringing focus on a practice that continues in some Indian states despite a decades-old ban. The rooster, with a 3-inch knife tied to its leg, fluttered in panic and slashed its owner, 45-year-old Thangulla Satish, in his groin last week, police inspector B. Jeevan said Sunday. According to Jeevan, Satish was injured while he prepared the rooster for a fight.

  • Republican congressman appears at white nationalist conference whose founder called Capitol riot ‘awesome’

    Only elected GOP official to attend alternative far-right conference said afterwards: ‘I denounce when we talk about white racism’

  • CPAC 2021 – live: Roger Stone dances to pro-Trump rap as Kristi Noem and Mike Pompeo woo party faithful

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  • Dozens of leading Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners charged with subversion

    Forty-seven Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners and activists were charged on Sunday with conspiracy to commit subversion in the largest single crackdown on the opposition under a China-imposed national security law. Among them was Sam Cheung, a 27-year-old activist and a participant in an unofficial primary election last summer, who was charged after reporting to a local police station. "Hong Kongers have a really tough time these days," he told reporters before entering the station.

  • Exclusive: Mexico's president expected to ask Biden to share U.S. vaccines, say sources

    Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is expected to ask President Joe Biden to consider sharing part of the U.S. coronavirus vaccine supply with its poorer southern neighbor when the two leaders hold a virtual summit on Monday, U.S. and Mexican officials said. Biden is open to discussing the matter as part of a broader regional effort to cooperate in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic but will maintain as his “number one priority” the need to first vaccinate as many Americans as possible, a White House official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Lopez Obrador has been one of the most vocal leaders in the developing world pressing the richest countries to improve poorer nations’ access to the vaccines.

  • 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

  • Joe Biden marks 50M vaccine doses in 37 days; South Korea, Hong Kong administer first vaccinations; 508K US deaths: Latest COVID-19 updates

    President Joe Biden urged Americans to wear masks and not let their guard down as the number of coronavirus cases declined. Latest COVID-19 updates.

  • Biden is reportedly discussing an infrastructure spending plan in the wake of devastating winter storms

    President Joe Biden and administration officials have reportedly begun talking to lawmakers about plans to fix the country's infrastructure.

  • Biden says the reopened Texas facility for migrant children 'won't stay open very long'

    Progressive lawmakers, including Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, blasted the administration's move to reopen the facility.

  • UK top court says IS schoolgirl can't return

    The UK’s top court has unanimously ruled that a British-born woman who went to Syria as a schoolgirl to join Islamic State should not be allowed to return.The Supreme Court said on Friday (February 26) Shamima Begum cannot come back to Britain to challenge the government taking away her citizenship because she poses a security risk.She left London in 2015 when she was 15 years old and went to Syria via Turkey with two school friends, where she married an IS fighter. Since that time she gave birth to three children, all of them died.Now aged 21, Begum is being held in a detention camp in Syria.President of the UK Supreme Court Robert Reed said on Friday "The right to a fair hearing does not trump all other considerations, such as the safety of the public".It was stated that Begum can still pursue her appeal against the revoking of her citizenship, but she cannot do that in Britain.This decision overturns a ruling made by the Court of Appeal last year saying she could only have a fair appeal if she were allowed back to the UK.The case has provoked heated debate in Britain, pitting those who say she gave up her right to citizenship by traveling to join IS against those, including Human Rights groups who argue she should not be left stateless but rather face trial in Britain.

  • Thai marchers link their democracy cause to Myanmar protests

    A new faction of Thailand’s pro-democracy movement staged a protest march Sunday, linking their cause with that of demonstrators in Myanmar battling that neighboring country’s coup-installed military government. Marchers sought but failed to go to Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s house, which is on an army base in Bangkok. Shipping containers were situated to block them, and police using water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas barred the way.

  • 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.