Joe Biden's "First Act" As President Was a National Moment of Silence for COVID-19 Deaths

The president called for the nation to mourn the losses from the pandemic.

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  • Senate rejects Bernie Sanders proposal for $15 minimum wage in coronavirus relief package

    A proposal from Bernie Sanders to raise the federal hourly minimum wage to $15 from its current $7.25 failed in the Senate after the senator sought to include the measure in a White House-backed coronavirus relief package. The House of Representatives included the wage hike in its version of its $1.9 trillion legislation, which includes unemployment relief, support for families with children, and funding for schools and vaccine distribution, among other initiatives critical to Joe Biden’s plan to combat the pandemic and its economic fallout a year after the outbreak. After the Senate rules-advising parliamentarian shot down the inclusion of a wage increase in the bill, Senator Sanders vowed to introduce an amendment to put it into the legislation.

  • Trump state department staffer arrested on Capitol riot charges

    FBI claim defendant was employed by State Department and possessed Top Secret security clearance

  • Nepal rebel group agrees to abandon violence under deal with government

    A splinter group of former Maoist rebels has agreed to abandon violence and enter the political mainstream under a deal signed with Nepal's Communist government on Thursday, a joint statement said. Under the deal, the government agreed to lift a ban on the group, which resumed fighting after the main rebel group signed a peace deal in 2006 to end a decade-long Maoist insurgency in which more than 17,000 people were killed. More than 100 jailed members of the group are set to be freed and legal charges against them will be dropped under the deal, government officials said.

  • At least 7 Myanmar policemen cross into India seeking refuge

    Police in India’s northeastern Mizoram state have detained at least seven Myanmar policemen who entered India seeking refuge a month after the country’s powerful military ousted the elected government in a coup, officials said Thursday. Magistrate Maria Zuali said four policemen arrived in the state's Champai area on Feb. 28, and local villagers handed them over to state authorities on March 1. Police officer Lalnunzira, who uses one name, said three other policemen crossed into Indian territory near Lungkawlh village on Wednesday afternoon.

  • House Impeachment Manager Eric Swalwell Sues Trump for Inciting Capitol Riot

    Reuters/Joshua RobertsRep. Eric Swalwell, the California Democrat who spearheaded impeachment arguments against Donald Trump earlier this year, has sued the former president and some of his most powerful allies for their roles in inciting the deadly Capitol insurrection.The lawsuit was filed Friday and it aims to hold Trump—as well as his son Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, and Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL)—accountable for inflaming tensions ahead of the Jan. 6 riot. All four men spoke at the rally outside the White House before the attack.Swalwell’s lawsuit is just the latest legal blow to Trump—it follows a similar lawsuit that Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and the NAACP served to Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club last week. Like Thompson’s suit, it cites the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act, which was designed to protect lawmakers from violence and intimidation.But Swalwell’s suit—which was filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., by the law firm KaiserDillon PLLC—goes further and accuses Trump and his key allies of breaking anti-terrorism laws, aiding and abetting violent rioters, and intentionally inflicting “severe emotional distress” on lawmakers who were at the Capitol that day.The complaint alleges: “As a direct and foreseeable consequence of the Defendants’ false and incendiary allegations of fraud and theft, and in direct response to the Defendants’ express calls for violence at the rally, a violent mob attacked the U.S. Capitol.”Swalwell argues that, as a result of Trump’s role in inciting the riot, he should be forced to pay financial damages and, in the future, be made to provide written notice seven days in advance of a rally or public event hosted in Washington on an important election day.The lawsuit concludes: “The defendants, in short, convinced the mob that something was occurring that—if actually true—might indeed justify violence, and then sent that mob to the Capitol with violence-laced calls for immediate action.”During his trial, Trump’s lawyers repeatedly denied that he was responsible for the attack on the Capitol, and asserted that the then-president was protected by the First Amendment when he urged his supporters outside the White House to “fight like hell” to “stop the steal.”In response to the suit, Trump spokesman Jason Miller reportedly said in a statement, “Eric Swalwell is a low-life with no credibility.”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.

  • QAnon predicted Trump’s re-inauguration on 4 March. Congress braced for an assault. Neither happened

    Two months after Capitol attack, embittered conspiracy cult holds out for last-ditch effort to revive former president – but law enforcement warns that the insurrection was not an isolated event

  • Blinken, Austin to visit Japan and South Korea this month: sources

    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin plan to visit Japan and South Korea this month for foreign policy and security talks, three government sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday. The visits will be the first to the Asian allies by the top U.S. foreign policy and defense officials since the Biden administration took office in January and reflect growing concerns about the challenge posed by a rising China and North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.

  • Clergy leads rare Christian revival in Iraqi town

    Mazen Shemes's nine-year-old son was killed by a mortar as Islamic State advanced across northern Iraq in 2014.That night, the family buried him and fled Qaraqosh, a Christian enclave near Mosul, along with thousands of others.Five years later, the farmer is back on his land, replanting trees and coaxing it back to life.His community is growing back too, encouraged by an active local clergy, which helped Shemes and others rebuild."When we came back, we filed an application at the church, we went to Father Georges, and they finished our house."Pope Francis will visit Qaraqosh on Sunday (March 7), as part of a four-day tour of Iraq, the first ever by a pope.About half the town's Christians have returned, a rare ray of hope for a community devastated by years of Islamist violence.That's down to church leaders, who hatched a plan to encourage families back to the town of 50,000 people, by rebuilding houses first, then churches.Funds came mainly from Christian organisations abroad. Father Georges Jahola was put in charge."We have this piece of land. We have inherited this small patch of land from our ancestors. If we lose it, we lose our identity."Qaraqosh boasts the Grand Immaculate Church, Iraq's biggest, restored now after it was damaged and burned.Pope Francis's visit is a source of pride for a community that remains vulnerable.And morale was high for the volunteers who danced and sang as they cleaned and decorated it in preparation.

  • Biden secretly limits drone strikes, amid congressional scrutiny over war powers

    Obama administration greatly expanded the use of drone strikes before later imposing checks

  • ‘Always up for a fight’: Mike Pompeo refuses to rule out presidential run on Hannity

    ‘I’m always up for a good fight,’ says Trump ally

  • Canucks open 2-game set with 3-1 win over Maple Leafs

    Jake Virtanen scored twice, leading the Vancouver Canucks to a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night in the opener of a two-game set. Bo Horvat also scored for Vancouver, providing a bit of a cushion with a goal midway through the third period. Pierre Engvall scored for the Maple Leafs off an assist from Ilya Mikheyev.

  • A day after forcing marathon bill reading, Johnson says 'preference' to leave Senate

    The day after he single-handedly delayed the U.S. Senate's debate on President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill for 11 hours, Republican Senator Ron Johnson said on Friday that he could retire from office when his term expires. The 65-year-old Republican, who was first elected to the Senate during the Tea Party surge in 2010, had pledged to spend only two terms in the Senate.

  • Inaugural poet Amanda Gorman said a security guard followed her and told her she 'looked suspicious' when entering her own building

    "This is the reality of black girls: One day you're called an icon, the next day, a threat," Gorman said in a tweet about the incident.

  • Live stimulus updates: Senate considering changes to Joe Biden's stimulus bill after long delay

    Biden and Democratic leaders are pushing for passage before March 14 when unemployment benefits approved under an earlier relief bill expire.

  • NASA's new Mars rover hits dusty red road, 1st trip 21 feet

    NASA’s newest Mars rover hit the dusty red road this week, putting 21 feet on the odometer in its first test drive. The Perseverance rover ventured from its landing position Thursday, two weeks after setting down on the red planet to seek signs of past life. “This is really the start of our journey here,” said Rich Rieber, the NASA engineer who plotted the route.

  • NASA's Perseverance rover just went for its first drive on Mars, then spotted its own wheel tracks in the dirt

    Perseverance's six-wheel drive leaves quite an imprint in its path. Those wheels are ready to carry the rover over an ancient river delta.

  • Charles Barkley lost weight because he was worried about being lifted in a chair for the traditional Jewish hora at his daughter's wedding

    "Listen, I need all Jewish people on deck, brother," Chuck told Jimmy Kimmel about the chair lift. "Cause I can only get so skinny by Saturday, man."

  • Lake of the Ozarks Realtor Offered $1.5K to Have Her Former Mother-in-Law Killed: Prosecutors

    Camden County JailA prominent Lake of the Ozarks real estate agent and self-described “cheer mom” has been arrested for allegedly trying to put a hit out on her former mother-in-law. Prosecutors in Camden County say Leigh Ann Bauman, 43, offered to pay $1,500 to people in St. Louis to make her former mother-in-law’s death “look like an accident.” She was reportedly concerned about the woman causing problems with her relationship with her kids.Bauman was recorded discussing the scheme, according to a press release from the Camden County prosecutor’s office. She was given multiple opportunities to change her mind when asked by a witness-turned-informant if she was sure she wanted to carry out the killing, prosecutors said, but she moved ahead with it, at one point acknowledging that she was a Christian but noting she could always ask for forgiveness later.The realtor also is said to have made no secret about her alleged plans. After sending a text message to her daughter that said, “Your grandmother will die,” Bauman allegedly plowed ahead with the plan and pushed for her former mother-in-law to be killed in the small town of Hermann.Her alleged murder-for-hire plot fell apart when an attorney for a person who was solicited to hire people to carry out the killing contacted the Missouri Highway Patrol. She was arrested on Thursday and charged with conspiracy to commit murder and is currently being held without bond in the Camden County Jail.“We’re very appreciative of what the witness did in this case,” Camden County Prosecutor Caleb Cunningham said Friday. “We encourage anyone to contact law enforcement if there’s a crime or suspected crime.” “A local realtor had several political connections and the witness was aware of these political connections,” Cunningham said. “Out of an abundance of caution, DDCC was used to avoid any hint of impropriety,” he said, referring to the Missouri Highway Patrol Division of Drug and Crime Control.Bauman, who describes herself as a realtor, an artist, an entrepreneur, and a “cheer mom” on her Facebook page, frequently posted online about her “track record of success.” While she was most well-known as a realtor, with nearly 20 years in the industry, she also apparently set a world record in a boating race last year. Her LinkedIn account also mentions work in pharmaceutical sales and an acting and modeling career, with appearances on Days of Our Lives and in Nike commercials.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.

  • Kim Kardashian calls out tabloids for comparing her to a whale and shaming her on a 'weekly basis' during her 1st pregnancy

    The 40-year-old "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star reshared several offensive magazine covers about her pregnancy weight gain in 2013.