PoliticsThe WeekBiden did not, in fact, remove Trump's 'Diet Coke button' from the Resolute Desk, White House clarifies
The new Biden administration has yet not disclosed the secrets of Area 51 or explained what the Air Force really knows about UFOs, but it did clarify, at least, the mystery of the vanished "Diet Coke button" former President Donald Trump would use to summon refreshments in the Oval Office. The usher button, as it is formally known, is not gone, even if it is no longer used to summon Diet Cokes, a White House official tells Politico. The White House official "unfortunately wouldn't say what Biden will use the button for," Politico's Daniel Lippman writes, suggesting Biden might summon Orange Gatorade and not the obvious answer, ice cream — or, let's get real, coffee.
PoliticsThe IndependentMillions of Covid vaccines missing under Trump
Millions of coronavirus vaccine doses appear to be missing after they were shipped by the Trump administration to US states. According to the Daily Beast and sources within the Biden administration, there could be almost 20 million doses missing since they were shipped to states by the previous administration. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that 41.1 million doses have been sent to states since last month, but only 22.7 million Americans have received a dose.
PoliticsThe WeekMSNBC's Rachel Maddow says McConnell 'caved' on his filibuster demand during her Schumer interview
In an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Monday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said his caucus won't allow Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to dictate the agenda in the Democratic-led 50-50 Senate or demand an end to the legislative filibuster as a precondition for a power-sharing pact. "While we were airing that right now, and you were watching it, Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell just put out a statement that he is folding on this" and willl "agree to go forward with what Sen. Schumer told him he must," she said.
U.S.Los Angeles Times OpinionEditorial: Is Gov. Newsom 'following the science' on COVID reopening, or following the politics?
New coronavirus infections are decreasing in California, as are the number of people filling intensive care hospital beds. ICU beds are all but unavailable throughout Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley. Newsom defended the decision by saying that projections based on testing and transmission rates, as well as a steady decrease in the demand for ICU beds, make him confident about returning to the system that imposes various levels of restrictions by county and is tied to the percentage of positive coronavirus test results.
PoliticsThe IndependentQAnon merges with white extremists and spreads new conspiracy Trump will be president again on March 4
Believers of the QAnon conspiracy have begun to spread rumours that Donald Trump will become president again on 4 Match, as the theory merges with other online extremist movements. QAnon supporters have been circulating the theory that the Republican will return to office in recent days, with many suggesting 4 March as a final day of reckoning for the former president's opponents. The rumours, which have been shared on TikTok, come amid reports QAnon was moving towards theories promoted by The Sovereign Citizen movement.
PoliticsThe WeekChuck Schumer tried to unseat Susan Collins, and now it's personal
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will have his work cut out for him as he tries to maneuver through the 50-50 upper chamber. Take, for example, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who ultimately won a hard fought re-election campaign last year against Democratic challenger Sara Gideon. Despite the victory, Collins appears to have taken Schumer's efforts to unseat her personally.
BusinessThe ConversationYes, customers do like it when waiters and hairdressers wear a mask – especially if it's black
The big idea Customers perceive a better quality of service, feel less anxious and exhibit more trust in businesses when waiters and other service workers wear a mask, according to a new study we just submitted for peer review. And we found this to be especially true when the mask was black. We surveyed about 4,500 Americans through Amazon's Mechanical Turk, showing each of them a random picture of a service employee, with or without a mask, in either a grocery store, bank, hair salon, hotel or restaurant.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump's press secretary Kayleigh McEnany to head to Fox News
Former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany spent her time as the president's mouthpiece spinning his words, attacking his enemies, and attempting to undermine the credibility of reporters who questioned his actions. Now, with her days at the White House behind her, Ms McEnany will step into a new role where she can once again use the skill set she cultivated during her time with the president; she'll be joining Fox News. Government watchdog organisation CREW obtained a financial disclosure report that showed Ms McEnany and Fox News entered into an employment agreement on 1 January.
PoliticsThe WeekTrump himself suggested a former president can be impeached
With former President Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial looming, several Republicans in the upper chamber are reportedly rallying around the argument that impeaching a president who is already out of office is unconstitutional. As The Dispatch and Politico note, scholars in legal circles that span the political spectrum generally disagree, and Trump himself suggested ex-presidents could be tried a year ago. Per The Washington Post, when Trump was impeached for the first time, he complained that Congress should be going after former President Barack Obama instead over comments he made about health care.
WorldBBCIndia protest: Farmers breach Delhi's Red Fort in huge tractor rally
A rally against agriculture reforms in India turned violent on Tuesday, after protesting farmers broke through police barricades to storm Delhi's historic Red Fort complex. On foot and in tractors, the protesters were part of a huge rally planned for India's Republic Day. Many protesters diverted from agreed routes and clashes broke out with police.
PoliticsThe IndependentSean Spicer has application to White House Correspondents’ Association cancelled
Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer has had his application to the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) cancelled by Newsmax. According to the right-wing cable news channel on Tuesday, there were already two Newsmax correspondents accredited by the WHCA, and so “[we] don't see a need for additional personnel assigned there”, a spokesperson told Politico. Mr Spicer, who hosts Newsmax's evening politics show, submitted an application to the association only last week, when he told Politico that he applied because “I thought, why not?
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Biden administration has system in place where reporters will not ask president tough questions: Media critic
Steve Krakauer, editor at Fourth Watch, says 'it shouldn't be contingent' on one reporter to ask Biden tough questions.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderBiden plans to replace the US government's fleet of 650,000 vehicles with electric models in a shift to clean energy
President Joe Biden said Monday he plans to replace the "enormous fleet" of government vehicles with electric models. President Joe Biden said on Monday his new administration will replace the US government's fleet of around 650,000 vehicles with electric models in a bid to shift to clean energy. Whilst signing a new "Buy American" executive order, Biden said: "The federal government also owns an enormous fleet of vehicles, which we're going to replace with clean electric vehicles made right here in America made by American workers."
PoliticsThe IndependentJosh Hawley issues counter-complaint against Democrats who called for investigation into him over Capitol insurrection
Republican Senator Josh Hawley filed an ethics counter-complaint against seven Democratic senators who called for an investigation into him and Ted Cruz. Both senators have faced widespread criticism and calls for them to resign for their role in trying to challenge Joe Biden's election victory. Five people were killed when Pro-Trump rioters attacked the Congress as lawmakers gathered to certify the electoral college results earlier this month.
HealthThe WeekCancer drug is 27.5 times more effective at treating COVID-19 than remdesivir, study suggests
Researchers reported Monday in the journal Science that a drug developed to fight multiple myeloma has proved 27.5 times more effective at treating COVID-19 than remdesivir in laboratory studies with infected human lung and kidney cells. The drug, Aplidin or Plitidepsin, was also effective at fighting COVID-19 in lab mice. Aplidin was developed in Spain from a tubular, plantlike marine animal called a sea squirt.
U.S.TheGrioBlack Capitol rioter denied bail while many White participants granted release
Activists have repeatedly pointed out the glaring disparity between how violent white Capitol rioters were treated vs. peaceful Black Lives Matter protestors. According to reports, on Jan. 6, Black Trump supporter Emanual Jackson, from Capitol Heights, was caught on surveillance video joining the mob of “patriots” who attacked Capitol police during the siege. The 20-year-old was seen wielding a metal bat at the Capitol entrance during the insurrection, where five people, including a Capitol police officer, succumbed to fatal wounds.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderRudy Giuliani admits Biden is president hours after being sued for $1.3 billion by voting-machine company
Rudy Giuliani on Monday acknowledged Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president. The statement came hours after Dominion Voting Systems sued Giuliani for $1.3 billion. Giuliani spent months peddling conspiracy theories about the company's role in the 2020 election.
PoliticsThe Independent‘In Wyoming men don’t wear make-up’: Cheney spokesperson hits out at Matt Gaetz amid GOP civil war
The spokesperson was most likely referring to a clip from the HBO documentary The Swamp in which Mr Gaetz puts on makeup before TV interviews at the capitol. The spat comes after Rep Cheney, the House Republican Conference Chair and number 3 in the House Republican leadership, voted to impeach former President Donald Trump along with nine other Republicans and all 222 House Democrats.
U.S.Miami HeraldShe once sold real estate. Now she searches for predators at night.
Kalil decided to start capturing Burmese pythons in the Everglades after reading a story in the Miami Herald about one of the snakes blowing up when it swallowed a 6-foot alligator after a confrontation in 2005. She realized there was a problem with these snakes, although she did not know how big it was, and she turned her life upside down to help remove pythons in the fragile Everglades ecosystem, where they are an invasive species. Pythons have a tremendous impact on native Florida wildlife.
U.S.Business InsiderA woman charged in the Capitol insurrection used an 'emergency holiday' at her job as a corrections officer to join Trump's rally that led to the deadly riot, prosecutors say
Marissa Suarez took an "emergency holiday" from work to go to the Trump rally that led to the Capitol riot, an affidavit said. The affidavit said Suarez worked as a probationary corrections officer at a jail in New Jersey. The document said she texted someone "Sooo we've stormed Capitol Hill lol" during the insurrection.
PoliticsThe IndependentSarah Huckabee Sanders: Trump press secretary comments on Capitol riots as she announces run for Arkansas governor
Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced her candidacy for governor of Arkansas on Monday. In a campaign announcement video released on Twitter, Ms Sanders, 38, says that “our freedom and the rule of law are under attack”. She claims she was the first White House Press Secretary to require Secret Service protection “because of a credible, violent threat against me”.
PoliticsINSIDERFilibuster drama explained: McConnell will organize the new Senate now that he's confident Democrats won't gut the filibuster
McConnell wanted a promise that Democrats would not eliminate the filibuster. Two Democratic Senators signaled their support for keeping the filibuster in place Monday. With those assurances, McConnell said he was ready to move forward with an organizing resolution.
U.S.Business InsiderProsecutors say the woman accused of stealing Pelosi's laptop is attempting a cover-up by deleting her social-media activity during house arrest
Video: Inside the pro-Trump mob attack on the Capitol Department of Justice prosecutors have accused Riley June Williams, the 22-year-old woman suspected of stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's laptop during the Capitol riot, of trying to cover up her tracks by deleting her social-media activity, according to Law & Crime and the NBC 4 reporter Scott MacFarlane. In a court hearing on Monday, prosecutors also said Williams had been telling others to delete messages she had sent them, WHTM reported. The judge hasn't decided on the matter, as Monday's hearing ended abruptly because of a scheduling conflict with Williams' new public defender, Law & Crime reported.
BusinessAssociated PressBudweiser joins Coke, Pepsi brands in sitting out Super Bowl
For the first time since 1983, when Anheuser-Busch used all of its ad time to introduce a beer called Bud Light, the beer giant isn't advertising its iconic Budweiser brand during the Super Bowl. Instead, it's donating the money it would have spent on the ad to coronavirus vaccination awareness efforts. Anheuser-Busch still has four minutes of advertising during the game for its other brands including Bud Light, Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade, Michelob Ultra and Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderDr. Anthony Fauci is the federal government's top-paid employee, and was paid $18,000 more than Trump in 2019
Fauci earned $417,608 in 2019, according to OpenTheBooks – a rise of $18,000 from the year before. A spokeswoman for the National Institutes of Health told Insider in December his current salary was $434,312 per year. Dr. Anthony Fauci has the highest salary of all federal government employees in the US.
“By encouraging this act of terror on our capital, Trump’s legacy is destroyed.”
“Both backers and critics of Trump agreed that he remade the federal judiciary — a change that will impact America for decades.”
“He was largely responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans who did not need to die.”
“I do know what the future should hold for this country. That is to say, a policy of Trumpism without Trump.”
“It will be decades before the consequences of his tenure are fully known.”