WorldReutersChina will 'eat our lunch,' Biden warns after clashing with Xi on most fronts
U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held their first phone call as leaders and appeared at odds on most issues, even as Xi warned that confrontation would be a "disaster" for both nations. While Xi has called for "win-win" cooperation, Biden has called China America's "most serious competitor" and vowed to "out compete" Beijing. On Thursday, Biden told a bipartisan group of U.S. senators at a meeting on the need to upgrade U.S. infrastructure the United States must raise its game in the face of the Chinese challenge.
U.S.Associated PressJudge declines new arrest warrant for Kyle Rittenhouse
A judge on Thursday refused prosecutors' request to issue a new arrest warrant for an 18-year-old from Illinois accused of killing two people during a police brutality protest in Wisconsin last summer. Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger alleged that Kyle Rittenhouse failed to update his address when he moved out of his Antioch apartment in November, amounting to a bail violation. In addition to a new arrest warrant, Binger asked Judge Bruce Schroeder to increase Rittenhouse's bail by $200,000.
WorldAssociated Press8 sentenced to death in Bangladesh for killing publisher
A special tribunal in Bangladesh's capital on Wednesday sentenced to death eight Islamic militants for the 2015 killing of a publisher of books on secularism and atheism. Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal Judge Majibur Rahman announced the verdicts in a packed courtroom in the presence of six defendants. Another two, including sacked military official Sayed Ziaul Haque Zia, remain at large.
PoliticsThe WeekTrump publicly attacked Pence during the Capitol riot knowing Pence was in trouble, GOP senator suggests
Former Vice President Mike Pence was a perhaps unlikely hero of Day 2 of former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial — unlikely because the people lauding his courage and extolling his patriotic fulfillment of duty to God and country were the fairly progressive Democrats prosecuting the case that Trump incited an insurrection on Jan. 6. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), for example, described how Trump "turned on" Pence, who was presiding over the counting of President Biden's electoral win. The impeachment managers also showed new footage of Pence and his family being evacuated from the Senate chamber down some back stairs at 2:26 p.m., 14 minutes after the pro-Trump mob broke into the Capitol building.
TechnologyArchitectural DigestHow to Add a Little Extra Luxury to Your Bath Time
If not a lot of luxury Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldReutersUse AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot even in countries with South African variant, says WHO panel
AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective and should be deployed widely, including in countries where the South African variant of the coronavirus may reduce its efficacy, a World Health Organization panel said on Wednesday. In interim recommendations on the shot, the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE) panel said the vaccine should be given in two doses with an interval of 8 to 12 weeks, and should also be used in people aged 65 and older. Even in countries such as South Africa, where questions have been raised about the AstraZeneca vaccine's efficacy against a newly-emerged variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, "there is no reason not to recommend its use", SAGE's chair, Alejandro Cravioto, told a briefing.
U.S.Associated PressOfficials: Chauvin was ready to plead to 3rd-degree murder
Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was prepared to plead guilty to third-degree murder in George Floyd's death before then-Attorney General William Barr personally blocked the plea deal last year, officials said. The deal would have averted any potential federal charges, including a civil rights offense, as part of an effort to quickly resolve the case to avoid more protests after protests and riots damaged a swath of south Minneapolis, according to two law enforcement officials with direct knowledge of the talks. Barr rejected the deal in part because he felt it was too soon as the investigation into Floyd's death was still in its relative infancy, the officials said.
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David Schoen: Dems' videos of riot not admissible in any court of law
Trump impeachment attorney David Schoen breaks down due process issues with Senate trial on 'The Ingraham Angle'
WorldAssociated PressLebanese ex-army chief testifies in Beirut port blast probe
Lebanon's former army chief told the lead investigator of last year's massive Beirut port blast on Thursday that he had recommended, years before the explosion, that tons of seized ammonium nitrate stored there be sold privately or sent back to importers. The military had no use for the volatile chemical, testified Jean Kahwaji, who was army chief until 2017. Kahwaji was summoned for questioning as a witness six months after the probe began, the first army official and the most senior security official to testify in the probe.
WorldReutersEU's Barnier: UK must accept what Brexit means, deal on Northern Ireland
The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator said Britain must accept the realities of Brexit and it was the UK's exit from the EU that had caused tensions between London and Brussels over Northern Ireland, not the divorce protocol. Britain has been seeking changes to the Northern Ireland protocol of the Brexit deal after the European Commission sought briefly to prevent vaccines from moving across the open border between EU-member Ireland and Northern Ireland. "Both parties must be conscious of their responsibilities in applying fully this protocol.
- WorldAssociated Press
Threatened French teacher offered top-level state protection
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Thursday a state school teacher who allegedly received death threats after writing an open letter on the threat of radical Islam to teachers has been offered the highest level of state protection. Didier Lemaire had already been under some degree of police protection in the Yvelines area, southeast of Paris. On Thursday, Darmanin said the highest level of protection -- usually accorded to high-profile politicians -- was offered to him.
PoliticsReutersPoll finds 47% of Americans favor Trump conviction in impeachment trial: poll
Just under half of Americans think former U.S. President Donald Trump should be convicted in his Senate impeachment trial after the first day of the historic proceedings, according to an Ipsos poll conducted for Reuters released on Wednesday, with opinions split along party lines. Most respondents in the national online poll - 79% - said they had already made up their minds about conviction before this week, with the rest doing so this week. The poll found that 71% of respondents said they were paying either "a lot" or "some" attention to the trial, which was triggered by the House of Representatives impeachment of Trump on a charge of inciting insurrection relating to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol that left five people dead.
U.S.Associated PressAlabama would be 1st state to execute an inmate this year
Alabama would be the first state to carry out an execution this year if allowed to proceed with plans to put to death an inmate convicted in the shotgun slaying of a police detective's sister decades ago. Alabama on Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to lift an appellate court stay blocking the evening execution of Willie B. Smith III from taking place. The state also asked justices to vacate an injunction banning the state from proceeding with the execution unless Smith is allowed to have his personal pastor in the execution chamber with him.
ScienceAssociated PressChina spacecraft enters Mars orbit, 2nd in 2 days after UAE
A Chinese spacecraft entered Mars orbit on Wednesday on a mission to land a rover and collect data on underground water and possible signs of ancient life, state media said. “China's probe Tianwen-1 successfully entered the orbit around Mars on Wednesday after a nearly seven-month voyage from Earth,” the Xinhua News Agency said in a brief report. The orbiter-rover combo became the second spacecraft in two days to reach the red planet.
WorldReutersIn Israel's largest Arab city, a Nazarene defends Netanyahu
Few Arab politicians in Israel's history have openly flirted with the country's right wing, let alone endorsed its main candidate for prime minister. But Ali Salam, the mayor of Nazareth, says that he sees "no better choice" for Israel's 21% Arab minority than veteran conservative Benjamin 'Bibi' Netanyahu. In the build-up to a fourth election in two years, Salam has hosted Netanyahu in Israel's largest Arab city, disparaged protests against him and actively cheered a split in Israel's main Arab coalition, the Joint List.
U.S.INSIDERA DJ who shared photos of himself smoking in the Capitol building during the insurrection has been arrested
Greg Rubenacker, from Farmingdale, New York, was taken into custody on Tuesday. The FBI says he smoked inside the Capitol building during the January 6 insurrection. In a criminal complaint, the FBI cited videos Rubenacker posted on Snapchat during the riot.
WorldAssociated PressDespite Biden's push, a difficult road to peace in Yemen
For her uncle, Khalid Mohammed Saleh, the U.S. decision last month to stop backing the Saudi coalition and push for an end to the war can do nothing to end her suffering. It's also too early, he said — too early to say whether President Joe Biden's move will bring peace to Yemen. Biden's halt to support for the Saudi-led coalition was a dramatic break with the air campaign against Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, which had brought international condemnation for causing thousands of civilian deaths.
U.S.Miami HeraldThe future of Miami-Dade’s coast: tall walls, landscaped barrier islands or both?
Politicians and residents of Miami-Dade County are mostly on board with the now $6 billion federal proposal to protect the vulnerable coastal community from future storm surge strengthened by climate change. An alternative vision — released this week and promoted by Miami-Dade, Miami and private businesses — would be an even more radical redevelopment of the Biscayne Bay coast. “Our residents, our stakeholders wouldn't and shouldn't accept the wall as currently proposed,” said Miami Commissioner Ken Russell.
WorldReutersScottish support for independence drops, poll shows
Scottish support for independence has fallen four percentage points, probably due to divisions among Scottish nationalists, but 47% of Scots still support breaking up the United Kingdom by going it alone, a poll indicated on Thursday. A Savanta ComRes poll for The Scotsman showed 47% would vote for independence and 42% would vote against, up 4 percentage points, with 10% still undecided. Scottish nationalists are pushing for an independence referendum to be held after this May's Scottish parliament election, but British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said such votes should happen only once in a generation.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastThe Same Putin Poison Squad Hit a Washington Post Columnist Before Navalny
Years before a Russian poison squad nearly killed Alexei Navalny by allegedly planting a Novichok-like nerve agent in his boxer shorts, the same group was honing its skills on other Russian opposition figures, according to a new report by Bellingcat. The same agents who Bellingcat says stalked, trailed, and spied on Navalny for more than three years, also trailed three other Russian dissidents, including Kremlin critic and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who, like murdered Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, was a contributor to The Washington Post. Kara-Murza was poisoned twice, both incidents leaving him in prolonged comas while his vital organs shut down.
- WorldAssociated Press
3 Turkish soldiers killed in clashes in northern Iraq
Three Turkish soldiers were killed in a new Turkish military offensive against a Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, Turkey's Defense Ministry said Thursday. Two of soldiers were killed Wednesday in a clash that erupted in northern Iraq's Gara region on the first day of the latest Turkish operation, the ministry said. There was no immediate comment from the militant group on the clashes.
BusinessReutersDoughnut-loving Poles cram in calories as Fat Thursday lifts pandemic gloom
After some lean months during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fat Thursday finally brought some cheer to Polish confectioners as their sweet-toothed customers feasted on doughnuts. On the last Thursday before Lent, the period when Christians traditionally fast before Easter, Poles stuff their faces with doughnuts in a festival of calorific indulgence. "The pandemic has obviously had an effect on our sales, a negative effect of course," Pawel Sypniewski, owner of the Sucre Patisserie in Warsaw, told Reuters.
PoliticsReutersExclusive: Dozens of former Republican officials in talks to form anti-Trump third party
Dozens of former Republican officials, who view the party as unwilling to stand up to former President Donald Trump and his attempts to undermine U.S. democracy, are in talks to form a center-right breakaway party, four people involved in the discussions told Reuters. The early stage discussions include former elected Republicans, former officials in the Republican administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Trump, ex-Republican ambassadors and Republican strategists, the people involved say. More than 120 of them held a Zoom call last Friday to discuss the breakaway group, which would run on a platform of "principled conservatism," including adherence to the Constitution and the rule of law - ideas those involved say have been trashed by Trump.
- WorldAssociated Press
Rockets from Afghanistan kill boy in Pakistan, wound 7
Rockets fired by militants inside Afghanistan killed a five-year-old boy and wounded seven other children in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, the military said. The attack took place in Bajur, a former tribal region that was also once a Taliban stronghold, it added in a statement, providing no further details. Bajur served as a base for the Pakistani Taliban and other militants until a few years ago, when the army said it cleared the area of insurgents.
U.S.Business InsiderJenna Ryan, a Texas real-estate agent charged in the Capitol insurrection, says she 'bought into a lie' and regrets 'everything'
Jenna Ryan, charged in the Capitol riot, says she "bought into a lie" and regrets her participation. Ryan, who flew on a private jet to Washington ahead of the violence, faces two misdemeanor charges. Jenna Ryan, a Texas real-estate agent who infamously took a private jet to Washington, DC, to attend what turned into the riot at the US Capitol and who has since been criminally charged over the insurrection, now says she is embarrassed by her actions and regrets "everything."
“There are people who genuinely need financial assistance due to the pandemic....but we don’t need a fiscal free-for-all.”
“The bottom line is that checks are popular with the public, easy to deliver, will help the fortunes of those who are struggling.”
“Checks are the confetti cannon of the economic-stimulus arsenal — not maximally efficient, just maximally awesome.”
“The public needs relief — not everyone, just the minority who’ve experienced the pandemic most acutely.”
“Checks are a golden opportunity to make sure Americans’ wallets are nice and fat in 2021 so that the economy will pop back.”