WorldReutersChina at least 30 years away from becoming manufacturing 'great power': former minister
China is at least 30 years away from becoming a manufacturing nation of "great power", a former industry minister said on Sunday, despite boasting the world's most complete industrial supply chains. In recent years, China has become the world's top manufacturing nation, accounting for over a third of global output, driven by domestic demand to produce everything from motor vehicles to industrial machinery. "Basic capabilities are still weak, core technologies are in the hands of others, and the risk of 'being hit in the throat' and having 'a slipped bike chain' has significantly increased," said Miao Wei, who was Minister of Industry and Information Technology for a decade before stepping down last year.
PoliticsBBCWho truly was the most dishonest president?
While it has never been established that Bush knew the incubators story he repeatedly told was unfounded, the White House is generally expected to verify claims made by the president - especially one so horrifying. American journalists failed to debunk the Nayirah testimony until after the war. The controversy was omitted from a recent admiring biography of Bush, and from glowing coverage of his presidency when he died in 2018.
WorldReutersBrexiteer Nigel Farage steps down as leader of Reform UK
Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage said on Saturday he would step down as the leader of Reform UK, the rebranded Brexit Party he launched two years ago to campaign for what was commonly known as "no deal Brexit". Farage, who as leader of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP) applied pressure on the government to hold the 2016 EU referendum, said the Brexit Party had helped the Conservatives "come to their senses" and chose Boris Johnson as their leader with a pro-Brexit agenda. "The final outcome (of Brexit) has cut off Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK and treated our fisherman terribly, but we are out and there is no going back," he said in a statement.
WorldReutersIndian farmers block highway outside Delhi to mark 100th day of protest
Indian farmers began gathering on Saturday to block a six-lane expressway outside New Delhi to mark the 100th day of protests against deregulation of agriculture markets, to add pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. Farmers young and old headed in cars, trucks and tractors to the highway for a five-hour roadblock to oppose three farm laws enacted in September 2020 they say hurt them by opening up the agriculture sector to private players. Modi has called the laws much-needed reforms for the country's vast and antiquated agriculture sector, and painted the protests as politically motivated.
WorldReutersExplainer: How the EU will respond to Britain's Northern Ireland move
The European Union has promised legal action after the British government unilaterally extended a grace period for checks on food imports to Northern Ireland, a move that Brussels said breached the terms of London's EU divorce deal. Provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement and the protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland set out the EU's course of action. Britain signed them when it formally left the EU in January 2020.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramHere’s why Gov. Abbott’s order on masks won’t make Texas the ‘Wild West’ of COVID-19
Last week, after Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley renewed the county mask order and told me he hoped he'd be in a position to lift it by July 4th, I doubted that many Texans would wait that long. Less than a week later, Gov. Greg Abbott announced the “re-opening of Texas” by lifting state capacity limits on businesses and the masking requirement, effective March 10. Whitley's move may have been in part because Abbott removed local authorities' ability to penalize mask or capacity-limit violators; however, Abbott's order allows local authorities' ability to impose some restrictions when the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients exceeds 15 percent of total hospital capacity.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestThe 7 Best Refrigerators on the Market, According to Kitchen Designers
Quality food preservation, storage space, and good-looking design are priorities among kitchen designers when it comes to refrigerators Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
TechnologyAFPIsraeli 5-minute battery charge aims to fire up electric cars
From flat battery to full charge in just five minutes -- an Israeli start-up has developed technology it says could eliminate the "range anxiety" associated with electric cars. Ultra-fast recharge specialists StoreDot have developed a first-generation lithium-ion battery that can rival the filling time of a standard car at the pump. "We are changing the entire experience of the driver, the problem of 'range anxiety'... that you might get stuck on the highway without energy," StoreDot founder Doron Myersdorf said.
WorldThe IndependentTucker Carlson calls QAnon supporters ‘gentle’ patriots a week after suggesting the conspiracy didn’t exist
Tucker Carlson appeared to change his tune on supporters of the false QAnon conspiracy theory during his primetime show on Friday, describing them as “gentle people waving American flags” following the Capitol insurrection. The Fox News host said QAnon supporters “like this country” and suggested some were “maybe kind of confused with the wrong ideas” while referring to the entirely inaccurate conspiracy theory, which claims former President Donald Trump is defending the world from a wealthy network of child predators, conveniently including his apparent political enemies, like Hillary Clinton, while ignoring his own friends and allies. “Do you ever notice how all the scary internet conspiracy theorists – the radical QAnon people – when you actually see them on camera or in jail cells, as a lot of them now are, are maybe kind of confused with the wrong ideas, but they're all kind of gentle people now waving American flags?” he asked during his opening show on Friday, adding: “They like this country.”
U.S.INSIDERA Texas middle school student said he was forced to drink urine by teammates at a sleepover. His mom called the bullying racially motivated.
Florida police are investigating allegations of a student being bullied at a Texas middle school. In a viral video, Summer Smith posted on Facebook that other students forced her son to drink urine. Florida police are investigating allegations of a student being bullied at Haggard Middle School in Plano, Texas.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderMore than 70 percent of Americans back Biden's pandemic response, but many are unhappy with the economy, poll finds
More than 70 percent are in support of President Biden's pandemic response, an AP poll has found. More than 70 percent of Americans approve of President Joe Biden's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new poll published by The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research on Friday. Biden has been making the pandemic his focus since he was sworn into office two months ago and there are now some signs the numbers of COVID-19 deaths and cases are plateauing across the country.
CelebrityThe TelegraphMeghan, Duchess of Sussex 'called all the PR shots', say royal sources despite Oprah interview claims she was gagged
The Duchess of Sussex “called all the shots” when it came to managing her own media, royal sources have said, casting doubt on her claim she could not be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey three years ago. Multiple royal sources have told The Telegraph the 39-year-old former actress “had full control” over her media interviews and had personally forged relationships not only with Ms Winfrey, but other powerful industry figures including Vogue editor Edward Enninful. In a teaser clip released from the Sussexes's interview with the US chat show host, due to be aired in the US on Sunday, the Duchess said it felt “liberating” to be able to speak and accused the Royal family of effectively gagging her and taking away that choice.
U.S.INSIDER'Lesson fully received': An 18-year-old charged in the Capitol riot says he was 'wrong' and begged a judge to release him
The youngest suspect charged in the Capitol riots wrote a letter begging a judge to release him. Bruno Joseph Cua, 18, previously boasted on Instagram of storming the Capitol and fighting inside. Bruno Joseph Cua, 18, faces a slew of federal charges related to the January 6 insurrection, including assault on a federal officer, engaging in physical violence, violent entry or disorderly conduct, and civil disorder.
U.S.NBC NewsNYC woman discovers empty apartment behind bathroom mirror
A woman in New York City went viral on TikTok Wednesday after posting a video series documenting her journey to discover a secret unoccupied apartment behind her bathroom mirror. In the first video of her four-part saga, Samantha Hartsoe said she was trying to find the source of cold air that was blowing into her Manhattan apartment. When she discovered that the air was coming from behind her bathroom mirror, Hartsoe said she removed it from the wall.
PoliticsUSA TODAY OpinionAfter Trump sabotage, 3 things Biden must do to restore gay, lesbian and trans rights
The House just passed the Equality Act for the second time in two years. With a Democratic majority in the Senate, we have a real chance to make history and, for the first time ever, write explicit discrimination protections for LGBTQ people into our federal civil rights laws. This would be welcome progress after Trump's four-year attack on LGBTQ people and about time, as the first version of the Equality Act was introduced in 1974.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderBiden fired a Trump-appointed lawyer who refused to leave office
The president on Friday dismissed a Trump appointee, Sharon Gustafson, after she refused to resign. Gustafson served as general counsel for the EEOC, a federal agency charged with investigating workplace issues. President Joe Biden on Friday fired a Trump-appointed lawyer serving on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that investigates workplace sex discrimination and retaliation.
PoliticsCBS NewsJohnson & Johnson vaccines come with uplifting messages
President Joe Biden's promise, that 100 million Americans would be vaccinated in his first 100 days in office, is close to completion. At McKesson, the company distributing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the first shipments on Monday delivered hope and a message. Brown and the other supervisors, including Kristi Larson, signed the very first box.
- PoliticsYahoo News Video
Civil war within the GOP continues as Trump fires back at strategist Karl Rove
Former President Donald Trump intensified his war with the Republican establishment on Thursday by attacking Karl Rove, a longtime Republican strategist who criticized Trump's first speech since leaving office for being long on grievances but short on vision.
U.S.INSIDERA Missouri pastor is reportedly seeking 'professional counseling' after he told women to lose weight and strive to be like Melania Trump for their husbands
Missouri pastor Stewart-Allen Clark in a February sermon encouraged women to stay slim for their husbands. Clark used first lady Melania Trump as an example during his sermon before warning, "don't let yourself go." Local outlet KCTV reported he has taken a leave of absence and is seeking counseling.
U.S.USA TODAY'Let kids be kids': California considers bill requiring gender-neutral children's sections at large retailers
Retail stores in California may be required to become more gender-neutral under proposed legislation. State lawmakers are debating a new bill that would prohibit department stores with more than 500 employees from dividing products for children by gender. The restriction would ban separate areas and signage and mandate online retailers that have a physical location in the state use gender-neutral terms to label children's items in a section of their websites.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderMSNBC host and former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough says there's 'no doubt' that the GOP is 'unsavable'
Joe Scarborough said on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" that the Republican Party was "unsavable." Scarborough, who served in the US House as a Republican, now identifies as an independent. "What issues does this guy share with conservatives?" Scarborough said of former President Trump.
HealthThe New York TimesIn Oregon, Scientists Find a Virus Variant With a Worrying Mutation
Scientists in Oregon have spotted a homegrown version of a fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus that first surfaced in Britain — but now it's combined with a mutation that may make the variant less susceptible to vaccines. “We didn't import this from elsewhere in the world — it occurred spontaneously,” said Brian O'Roak, a geneticist at Oregon Health and Science University who led the work. The variant originally identified in Britain, called B.1.1.7, has been spreading rapidly across the United States, and accounts for at least 2,500 cases in 46 states.
WorldINSIDERA teenage girl wearing 'Everything will be OK' T-shirt was shot in the head on Myanmar's bloodiest day of protests yet
Wednesday was the bloodiest day of protests in Myanmar since the military's February coup. Photos of Kyal Sin before her death have gone viral, spurring continued defiance among protesters. Nineteen-year-old Kyal Sin, known as Angel, made careful preparations before hitting the streets of Mandalay Wednesday.
U.S.INSIDERInaugural poet Amanda Gorman said a security guard followed her and told her she 'looked suspicious' when entering her own building
Amanda Gorman became an international sensation in January after performing at the Inauguration. Amanda Gorman said Friday that a security guard followed her home because he thought she looked "suspicious." The 22-year-old poet, who lives in Los Angeles, said she showed him her keys and buzzed herself into her building, prompting the security guard to leave without apologizing to her.
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Texas Democrat on migrant surge at border: Biden owns this now
Rep. Henry Cuellar, who represents a district on the U.S.-Mexico border, says he has a lot of tough questions for the Biden administration on immigration policy.
“Taking humans to Mars would require an investment astronomically out of kilter with the possible benefits.”
“Can a Mars settlement be a freer society than we enjoy on Earth? Maybe.”
“What we learn...may spark the next revolution that will make life in 2071 beyond anything we can imagine right now.”
“Our presence on Mars could jeopardize one of our main reasons for being there — the search for life.”
“The future of geologic investigation of other worlds lies with highly improved versions of our Mars rovers.”