PoliticsReutersCivil War: Trump attacks Republican strategist Rove, who fires back
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. "He's a pompous fool with bad advice and always has an agenda," Trump complained in a statement issued by his office in Palm Beach, Florida. Rove, the architect of Republican George W. Bush's presidential victories in 2000 and 2004, wrote in an opinion article in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday that Trump's speech last Sunday to the Conservative Political Action Conference was wanting.
PoliticsAxiosKamala Harris breaks tie as Senate proceeds with lengthy debate on COVID relief bill
The Senate on Thursday voted 51-50 — with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie — to proceed to debate on President Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package, likely setting up a final vote this weekend. The state of play: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is forcing the Senate clerk to read the entire 628-page bill on the floor, a procedural move that will likely add 10 hours to the 20 hours already allotted for debate. During that time, Republicans will propose amendments — some unrelated to COVID relief — intended to force uncomfortable votes for Democrats, in a practice known as vote-a-rama.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramWoman likely sneaked gun into jail by hiding it inside her body, Missouri sheriff says
A Missouri woman likely sneaked a gun into jail by hiding it inside her body, authorities say. The Boone County Sheriff's Office says the woman underwent three searches on her way into jail and the firearm was never detected. Amy Natasha Wilhite, 39, was arrested on Valentine's Day and searched by law enforcement after she was taken into custody, authorities say.
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Barrett authors first Supreme Court ruling, a loss for environmentalists
Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Thursday authored her first ruling since joining the Supreme Court in October as the court handed a defeat to an environmental group looking for access to government documents.
WorldArchitectural Digest9 of the Best Outdoor Rugs That Literally Ground Any Space
High-traffic areas are about to meet their match Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverKentucky man — and a motorcycle — found after 465-foot Grand Canyon fall, officials say
A missing Kentucky man was found dead after a 465-foot fall from the Grand Canyon, according to the National Park Service. A motorcycle was also found beside the body of John Pennington, a 40-year-old man from Walton, officials say. He was believed to have entered the Grand Canyon around Feb. 23 and abandoned his vehicle at Yaki Point, a scenic overlook, officials say.
PoliticsThe WeekTrump inadvertently boosts Biden's stimulus messaging with another statement raging against McConnell
Former President Donald Trump has released a new post-presidency statement, and Democrats might just be glad he did. The former president, who remains permanently banned from Twitter, released a statement Thursday once again raging against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), blasting him as the "most unpopular politician in the country" while blaming him for Republicans' Senate losses in Georgia — losses for which Trump himself has been blamed by other Republicans. One of the reasons Republicans lost the two Georgia Senate runoffs in January, Trump argues, was "Mitch McConnell's refusal to go above $600 per person on the stimulus check payments when the two Democrat opponents were touting $2,000 per person in ad after ad."
WorldReutersClash over Myanmar U.N. seat averted as diplomatic revolt against junta widens
A clash was averted over who represents Myanmar at the United Nations in New York following a Feb. 1 military coup, after the junta's replacement quit and the Myanmar U.N. mission confirmed that Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun remained in the job. Kyaw Moe Tun was fired by the junta on Saturday, a day after he urged countries at the 193-member U.N. General Assembly to use "any means necessary" to reverse the coup that ousted the nation's elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The junta appointed deputy U.N. Ambassador Tin Maung Naing to replace him, but he has since resigned and Myanmar's U.N. mission told the United Nations, in a note seen by Reuters on Thursday, that Kyaw Moe Tun remained the country's envoy.
U.S.AxiosMan pictured with feet on Pelosi's desk yells at judge: "It's not fair"
The Arkansas man who was pictured with his feet on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's desk during the Jan. 6 insurrection had an outburst in court Thursday, yelling at the judge and his own lawyers that it isn't "fair" he is still in jail, KNWA reports. Background: Richard Barnett, 60, has been asking to be freed on bond since he was arrested days after the attack at the Capitol, per the New York Times. Barnett lost his patience after D.C. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper continued his trial until May 4.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-Telegram‘Impossible to trace.’ Tech savvy dad may be holding daughter captive in WA, cops say
A father accused of kidnapping his teenage daughter 17 months ago could be holding her captive in Washington, but his technology skills are making it hard for authorities to find him, officials say. Authorities say John Oliver Westbrook kidnapped his daughter, Daphne Westbrook, 17, in October 2019 from Chattanooga, Tennessee, according to a news release posted on Facebook by the Hamilton County District Attorney's Office in Tennessee. Investigators say Westbrook is holding Daphne against her will and they're struggling to locate them because he is “an IT expert specializing in security, block chain technology and bitcoin.”
PoliticsThe WeekCapitol riot's 'QAnon Shaman' defends himself by claiming he 'stopped somebody from stealing muffins'
A suspect charged in the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol building is speaking from jail in a new interview — and offering a unique defense positioning himself as simply a savior of baked goods. Jacob Chansley, the Capitol riot suspect who refers to himself as the "QAnon Shaman" and was photographed during the insurrection wearing fur and horns, spoke with 60 Minutes in an interview broadcast Thursday, in which he claimed his "actions were not an attack on this country" as he faces up to 20 years in prison for them. "I sang a song, and that's a part of shamanism," he said.
U.S.Associated PressAudit finds major gaps in US bio weapons detection system
A U.S. program created after the 2003 anthrax attacks to help detect biological weapons provided protection in less than half the states and couldn't detect many of the known threats, according to a report released Thursday. The program known as BioWatch, which described itself in a mission statement as a nationwide early warning system, was capable of detecting only six of 14 biological agents known to be potential threats. It also left detection equipment exposed and unguarded, the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security found.
WorldCBS NewsIndian man accused of beheading daughter in apparent "honor killing"
Indian police have arrested a man and accused him of decapitating his own teenage daughter in a rage over her relationship with another man he didn't like, BBC News reported on Thursday, in what appears to be the latest gruesome case of so-called "honor killing" in the Asian nation. Police in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh said Sarvesh Kumar was arrested as he walked toward the local police station carrying his daughter's head. BBC News said the local police released a video of Kumar confessing to the crime, in which he explains that he was enraged to learn of his daughter's relationship, came home to find her alone, locker her in a room and decapitated her with a sharp object.
PoliticsAxiosAOC and fellow progressives counter push for Puerto Rico statehood, propose self-determination
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nydia Velázquez are pushing ahead with a bill in Congress that would let Puerto Rico decide its future — a proposal threatening Gov. Pedro Pierluisi's determination to pursue statehood for the island. Why it matters: There's an urgency among supporters of statehood to get it done while Democrats control both chambers of Congress, and President Biden has been publicly supportive. During a joint phone interview with Axios on Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez said she still hasn't heard from Pierluisi, and Velázquez said she met with him virtually a few weeks ago.
U.S.INSIDERA New Orleans police officer groomed and raped a 14-year-old girl he was assigned to take to a rape kit exam, a lawsuit alleges
A new lawsuit accuses a New Orleans cop of grooming and raping a 14-year-old rape survivor. Officer Rodney Vicknair was arrested last year and fired from the police department in January. The lawsuit alleged the police department shouldn't have allowed Vicknair to assist the girl.
PoliticsThe Independent‘Textbook voter suppression’: How Trump’s stolen election lies are shaping the future of democracy
On the floor of Georgia's House of Representatives on 1 March, state Democratic Rep Bee Nguyen warned her colleagues that the bill in front of them – a 66-page, Republican-backed proposal to drastically roll back voting access across the state – followed a months-long campaign from Donald Trump and his GOP allies to undermine millions of voters with baseless claims of widespread voter fraud and a “stolen” election. “Members of this body aided and abetted a deliberate misinformation campaign to sow seeds of doubt among Georgia voters with absolutely no facts or evidence.” The bill would, among other things, cut mail-in voting and early voting access, strip elections oversight from the state's Secretary of State, and limit voting access that would disproportionately target Black voters.
WorldBusiness InsiderBiden changed his plan for the strike on Iran-backed militias at the last minute to avoid killing a woman and children
The president changed his plans for an airstrike against Iran-backed militias at the last minute. Battlefield intelligence indicated the presence of a woman and children at one of two strike areas. With fighters in the air, Biden chose to strike only one target, bypassing the one with civilians.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump served with lawsuit accusing him of breaking ‘Ku Klux Klan’ laws on day of Capitol riot
Donald Trump has been served a civil rights lawsuit accusing him of inciting the Capitol riot along with Rudy Giuliani, the Proud Boys and other far-right groups, according to reports. Mr Trump was given the documents, filed by Democrat congressman Bennie Thompson and civil rights group the NAACP in mid-February, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. It is unclear who will represent the former president in the case: it was merely signed for by a “Ricky”, according to The Daily Beast.
WorldMiami HeraldSurvey: Venezuelans in Florida open to ‘oil-for-food’ program — if it bypasses Maduro
Venezuelan Americans living in Florida would be open to easing U.S. sanctions against Venezuela's oil industry if the Biden administration found a way to use the revenue from exports to buy food and medicine for needy residents in their embattled homeland. An Atlantic Council survey released Thursday found that 51% would be in favor of an oil-for-food program somewhat like that previously tried by the United Nations with Iraq so long as Nicolás Maduro's government is prohibited from accessing or managing the money. “There is support among this population for consideration of different pathways,” said Jason Marczak, director of the Atlantic Council's Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, “a different road ahead than the road that defined the previous administration.”
ScienceCBS NewsEarth's largest-ever mass extinction is a warning for humanity
Right now our planet is in the midst of what science says is an unprecedented rate of change, unlike anything seen in tens of millions of years. Overconsumption, unsustainable practices and the release of immense amounts of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels are altering our life-sustaining climate at a dangerous pace, oceans are acidifying and losing oxygen, and species are dying off. The worst came a little over 250 million years ago — before dinosaurs walked the earth — in an episode called the Permian-Triassic Mass Extinction, or the Great Dying, when 90% of life in the oceans and 70% of life on land vanished.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderRudy Giuliani, who helped lead Trump's bogus election-fraud conspiracy theory, is being mocked after warning of the dangers of misinformation
Rudy Giuliani warned of "the dire consequences of misinformation on social media." Giuliani has long promoted right-wing misinformation on social media. Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's former personal attorney, was pilloried on Wednesday after he warned in a podcast of the dangers of online misinformation.
PoliticsUSA TODAYLive stimulus updates: Kamala Harris breaks Senate tie to begin debate on Joe Biden's COVID stimulus bill
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., forced the Senate to begin reading President Joe Biden's entire $1.9 trillion COVID bill aloud on the Senate floor, threatening to further delay the bill's passage as the Senate clerk reads through the hundreds of pages of the bill. Johnson said his tactic was about “educating” the American public on what was in the $1.9 trillion package, which he has derided as full of provisions unrelated to COVID relief. The Senate voted earlier to begin debate on the bill.
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Businesses tied to South Dakota Gov. Noem family reportedly got $600,000 in coronavirus grants
Family members of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem received more than $600,000 in funds from a state grant program pushed by the governor that directed federal coronavirus relief funds to small businesses.
WorldThe TelegraphPrince Harry and Meghan's 2018 tour was 'stressful' for staff and left one aide visibly upset
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's autumn 2018 tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga was “stressful” for staff, with at least one aide visibly upset after a discussion with the Duchess. One engagement in particular has long been shrouded in mystery, with no credible explanation given as to why the Duchess was abruptly whisked from a market in Fiji's capital Suva, cutting short the visit. The engagement was organised to allow Meghan to learn more about a UN Women's project called Markets for Change, which promotes women's empowerment in marketplaces throughout the Pacific.
WorldBusiness InsiderBiden and Europe allies worry Israel is preparing a substantial attack on Iran
Israel suspects Iran intentionally dispatched a ship to dump hundreds of tons of crude oil onto its beaches, the area's worst ecological disaster in decades, in revenge for the November assassination of the country's top nuclear scientist, according to Israeli officials and media. But Israeli officials tell Insider the statement from the environmental minister directly blaming Iran released Wednesday was premature as the military and intelligence services have yet to make a final determination on both Iranian culpability and the appropriate level of response to what would be the most brazen act of environmental terrorism in recent history.
“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.”