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- USA TODAY
Texas utility chairwoman resigns amid rebukes and fallout from record-breaking storm
Dan Patrick says officials making sure Texas has sufficient electric power were not prepared for the magnitude of last month's winter storm.
- The Independent
‘He won’t let the grift go’: Mary Trump thinks Donald’s 2024 ‘ambitions’ are a money-maker
Dr Mary Trump thinks her uncle’s ego is too fragile to risk losing again - though he has much to gain by pretending he’ll run.
- Business Insider
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shoots back at Ted Cruz, saying he treated storm-hit Texas as a 'layover' between trips to Cancun and CPAC
"It appears Texas was just a layover stop for him between Cancun and Orlando to drop a pack of water into someone's trunk," Ocasio-Cortez said.
- Reuters
First UAE ambassador arrives in Israel, eyes Tel Aviv embassy
The first United Arab Emirates ambassador to Israel arrived there on Monday pledging to build up new bilateral relations and officials said he would scout for an embassy location in the Tel Aviv area. Mohamed Al Khaja, former chief of staff to the UAE foreign minister, was due to present his credentials to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at the start of a three-day visit. Meeting Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi in Jerusalem, Al Khaja, 40, said he was "very proud and honoured to be the first Emirati ambassador" to Israel, where, he said, he and his hosts were discussing "the model of how we operate".
- INSIDER
Kourtney Kardashian admits Kim made her cry when she called her the 'least exciting to look at': 'I took it really personally'
The eldest Kardashian was getting her makeup done by sister Kylie Jenner, who asked her about the vicious argument she and Kim had in 2018.
- Reuters
Prince Harry tells Oprah he worried history would repeat itself
Prince Harry, who shocked Britain last year when he and his wife Meghan stepped back from royal duties, told U.S. interviewer Oprah Winfrey that he had worried about history repeating itself, according to excerpts released on Sunday. The CBS broadcast network released two brief clips from Winfrey's interview of the couple, which is scheduled to air on March 7. "My biggest concern was history repeating itself," Harry said, apparently referring to his mother Princess Diana, who was hounded by the British press and died at age 36 in a car crash in Paris after her divorce from Prince Charles.
- Associated Press
Huawei daughter back in Canada court in US extradition case
Lawyers for a senior executive for Chinese communications giant Huawei Technologies were in court Monday arguing evidence should be introduced which would undermine the case to have their client extradited to the U.S. Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei’s founder and the company’s chief financial officer, at Vancouver’s airport in late 2018. The U.S. accuses Huawei of using a Hong Kong shell company called Skycom to sell equipment to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions.
- Associated Press
Georgia House passes GOP bill rolling back voting access
Republican lawmakers in Georgia muscled legislation through the state House on Monday that would roll back voting access, over the objection of Democrats and civil rights groups gathered at the Capitol to protest. The bill comes after record turnout led to Democratic wins in Georgia’s presidential election and two U.S. Senate runoffs. House Bill 531 passed the lower legislative chamber by a vote of 97-72.
- Reuters
Senate panel to vote Wednesday on three Biden nominees, including trade pick Tai
The Senate Finance Committee said its members will vote on Wednesday on three Biden administration nominees, including Katherine Tai as trade czar and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as U.S. health secretary. Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden will convene the business meeting at 10 a.m. to vote on the nominations of Tai, Becerra and Wally Adeyemo, who was nominated as to be deputy Treasury secretary, the committee said. All three candidates are expected to win approval by the committee, a congressional aide said, which would clear the way for their consideration by the full Senate.
- The Independent
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has mic muted at CPAC for spouting vaccine and election conspiracies
Lindell equates getting coronavirus vaccine to receiving ‘mark of the beast’ pledging allegiance to the devil
- Reuters
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.
- Associated Press
Report: US wasted billions on cars, buildings in Afghanistan
The United States wasted billions of dollars in war-torn Afghanistan on buildings and vehicles that were either abandoned or destroyed, according to a report released Monday by a U.S. government watchdog. The agency said it reviewed $7.8 billion spent since 2008 on buildings and vehicles. Only $343.2 million worth of buildings and vehicles “were maintained in good condition,” said the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, which oversees American taxpayer money spent on the protracted conflict.
- Reuters Videos
Global COVID-19 cases up for first time in seven weeks -WHO
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the rise in cases was "disappointing but not surprising" and urged countries not to relax measures to fight the disease.It was too early for countries to rely solely on vaccination programs and abandon other measures, he said.Adding, "If countries rely solely on vaccines, they are making a mistake. Basic public health measures remain the foundation of the response."
- INSIDER
An earnest 'WandaVision' line about grief has turned into a joking meme online
After a tweet admiring a line about grief and love from episode eight of WandaVision went viral, people began making ironic memes about it.
- Reuters
Europeans push IAEA Iran resolution despite warnings by Russia, Tehran
Britain, France and Germany are pressing ahead with a U.S.-backed plan for a resolution by the U.N. nuclear watchdog's board criticising Iran for curbing cooperation with the agency, despite Russian and Iranian warnings of serious consequences. The International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation Board of Governors is holding a quarterly meeting this week against the backdrop of faltering efforts to revive Iran's nuclear deal with major powers now that U.S. President Joe Biden is in office. Iran has recently accelerated its violations of the 2015 deal in an apparent bid to raise pressure on Biden, as each side insists the other must move first.
- The Telegraph
European Commission raises hopes of coronavirus vaccine passports to ease travel for work and tourism
European Union plans for a coronavirus vaccine passport could be opened up to British tourists and other non-EU holidaymakers, Brussels said on Monday. Ursula von der Leyen said the EU-wide “Digital Green Pass” would be proposed this month and that it could be a first step towards a virus passport for travel from outside the bloc. "The Digital Green Pass should facilitate Europeans‘ lives. The aim is to gradually enable them to move safely in the EU or abroad - for work or tourism,” the European Commission president said. The chief spokesman for the European Commission said the process would be done "step by step". “We work on a European solution now, this is where we start and then anything else would need to come after,” he said. "We’re of the view that in collaboration with the World Health Organisation there should be a way to scale this up globally." The UK said it was looking into the idea. “The Department for Transport will work and speak to countries across the world in terms of how they may look to introduce passports," the Prime Minister’s spokesman said in London. The Green Pass will include information such as whether the carrier has ever had coronavirus, been tested or vaccinated and is aimed at “facilitating safe free movement in the European Union.” The legislation will be put forward on March 17. Spanish Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto said that work should be speeded up to save the summer season and enable safe travel from the UK. “It is important to have the tools ready to start mobility and make Europe a safe travel destination again as soon as the virus incidence data allows for this,” Ms Maroto said at a meeting of EU tourism ministers in Lisbon.
- Reuters
J&J COVID-19 vaccine shipping to U.S., but new deliveries hinge on regulators
Johnson & Johnson will ship nearly 4 million doses of its newly authorized single-dose COVID-19 vaccine around the United States this week, but a top executive said on Monday that the next round of deliveries is contingent on regulatory approvals at a new plant. The drugmaker expects to deliver another 16 million doses of the vaccine by the end of this month. "Four million doses are already on trucks to different places in the U.S.," J&J Chief Scientific Officer Paul Stoffels said in an interview, noting that those doses came from a smaller plant already up and running.
- Los Angeles Times Opinion
Letters to the Editor: Trump's CPAC speech was just about the only thing that could make me thankful for Twitter
If it were not for Twitter's ban we would be getting a daily dose of these juvenile, bitter and toxic tirades.
- INSIDER
'The Walking Dead' showrunner on revisiting Maggie's trauma caused by Glenn's death: 'It's a painful thing to acknowledge'
Insider caught up with showrunner Angela Kang to discuss the first of six bonus "TWD" episodes and how Maggie and Negan are an integral part of them.
- The Telegraph
Chinese hackers infiltrated India's power grid ahead of Mumbai blackout, says report
Chinese state hackers seeded India's power grid with cyber malware as the rivals last year skirmished over a disputed border in the Himalayas, a report has found. As the standoff continued, Chinese illicit programs were being inserted into control systems managing India's power supply, as well as a high-voltage transmission substation and a coal-fired power plant. The disclosure lends weight to the idea that a massive power outage in Mumbai last year was a deliberate attack by China to warn India not to press its claim, the New York Times reported. The October 12 blackout in India's financial capital shut down the stock market and trains and forced hospitals to run emergency back-up generators. Indian officials at the time said state-sponsored cyber attackers were suspected to be behind the blackout. A new report by Recorded Future, a firm that monitors state cyber activity, found a sharp increase in attacks by Chinese-backed groups from the start of last year. That increased further from the middle of the year. Indian and Chinese soldiers were involved in hand-to-hand fighting in Ladakh over the summer as the armies clashed over the disputed border. Record Future found “a concerted campaign against India’s critical infrastructure”, with 10 different power sector organisations targeted, including centres for balancing supply and demand in the power grid. Stuart Solomon, Recorded Future’s chief operating officer, said that the Chinese state-sponsored group, which the firm named Red Echo, “has been seen to systematically utilise advanced cyberintrusion techniques to quietly gain a foothold in nearly a dozen critical nodes across the Indian power generation and transmission infrastructure”. Most of the malware was never activated. But even just by signalling that it has the capability, China could potentially wield significant deterrence against India, experts suggested.