Ilhan Omar seeks sanctions reform in her new foreign affairs leadership role

As Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., seeks to become a major voice on U.S. foreign policy, she is looking to make sanctions one of her hallmark issues. Earlier this month, Omar, one of the members of “the Squad,” was named vice chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, providing her with a platform to oversee legislation on foreign military deployments, aid and diplomatic policy. On Feb. 11, the same day her position on the subcommittee was announced, Omar led a group of Democrats who sent a letter advocating President Biden and his administration to broaden their review of existing sanctions on foreign governments.

Nissan ex-CEO tells Japanese court Ghosn's pay was too low

Former Nissan Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa told a Japanese court Wednesday he believed the compensation for his predecessor Carlos Ghosn was too low “by international standards,” and so he supported Ghosn's retirement packages to prevent him from leaving. “Mr. Ghosn had outstanding abilities and achievements,” Saikawa said, testifying in Tokyo District Court in the criminal trial of Greg Kelly, a former senior executive at Nissan Motor Co. “We needed to prepare for Mr. Ghosn's eventual retirement to keep him motivated and to have him continue to work for Nissan,” he said in answer to a prosecutor's questioning.

Three held on suspicion of supplying bomb that killed Malta journalist

Three men suspected of having supplied the bomb which killed Maltese anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 were arrested on Tuesday, police said. Their arrest came as a man accused of carrying out the killing agreed to a plea deal, accepting his responsibility for the assassination in return for a reduced, 15-year jail term instead of possible life behind bars. A legal source said Vince Muscat had provided police with vital information about the case, which has shone a spotlight on corruption in the European Union's smallest country.

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  Hitman admits murder of Maltese anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia

  The Telegraph
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  Daphne Caruana Galizia murder: Vincent Muscat jailed for 15 years after guilty plea

  The Independent

'The science is on our side': Chris Christie blasts Biden and Democrats over failure to reopen schools

Nearly a year after most schools shut down, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie sees an opportunity for the Republican Party, whose handling of the coronavirus pandemic under Donald Trump was widely seen as anti-scientific and contributing to thousands of needless deaths. With parental frustration over the school closures mounting and too little progress being made to reopen them for in-person instruction under President Biden, Christie, a one-time Republican presidential candidate and long-time foe of public sector unions, has renewed a crusade that made him famous years ago, one YouTube video at a time, and sparked talk of a White House run.

‘Zero respect’: Ted Cruz pictured scrolling through phone during harrowing opening testimony into Capitol riot

Texas senator Ted Cruz has been filmed scrolling through his phone during the harrowing opening testimony at the Senate hearing into the Capitol riots, less than a week after his controversial trip to Mexico. The US Capitol's three former top security officials have been testifying on Tuesday before the Senate Homeland Security and Rules committees about how Congress was breached during the riots on 6 January. Steven Sund, who was serving as the chief of the Capitol Police at the time of the insurrection, gave a harrowing account of the actions of that day in front of the committees on Tuesday.

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  Ted Cruz Scorned For Fiddling With His Cellphone During Capitol Riot Testimony

  HuffPost
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  Top Capitol Police officials did not receive FBI warning about plans for 'war'

  Yahoo News

Greece to continue Athens lockdown as COVID cases rise

Greece will not be able to lift lockdown restrictions in the wider Athens area next Monday as planned following a sharp increase in coronavirus infections, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday. Athens metropolitan area, where half of Greece's population lives, has been under strict lockdown restrictions that had been set to expire at the end of the month. "There has been a steep rise in infections yesterday, particularly in Athens, which pushes back our plan...for a gradually reopening on March 1," Mitsotakis told a cabinet meeting.

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  'No fourth lockdown': Ireland to set out cautious reopening plan

  Reuters
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  Dutch slightly ease lockdown despite rising infections

  Reuters

Federal Judge Indefinitely Blocks Biden Administration’s 100-Day Deportation Moratorium

A federal judge on Tuesday indefinitely banned the Biden administration from enforcing a 100-day pause on deportations of most illegal immigrants in response to a lawsuit from Texas, which argued that the moratorium violated federal law and could saddle the state with additional costs. U.S. district judge Drew Tipton issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday, dealing a blow to President Biden's efforts to follow through on his campaign promise to pause most deportations. Tipton first ruled on January 26 that the pause violated federal law on administrative procedure and that the U.S. failed to show why a deportation pause was justified.

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  Judge rules against Biden, bans enforcement of 100-day deportation pause

  Yahoo News Video
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  Judge bans enforcement of Biden's 100-day deportation pause

  Associated Press

The 'most encouraging' aspect of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine may be its effectiveness in South Africa, Brazil

The Food and Drug Administration appears to be closing in on an emergency use authorization for the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, which a large clinical trial has shown to be safe and effective. And the "most encouraging" aspect in the FDA's analysis may be the data that suggest the shot works in areas where highly contagious variants are spreading, like Brazil and South Africa. The overall efficacy rate — that is, protection against any symptomatic infection — in the South African trial was lower than it was in the United States initially, but the numbers did start to even out over time, and after a month, the shot's efficacy rate against severe infections was 82 percent.

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  J&J’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective, says FDA

  Yahoo Finance Video
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  Johnson and Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine is effective: FDA

  Yahoo Finance Video

U.S. Postal Service on 'death spiral' without urgent reform: chief

U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told lawmakers that U.S. mail system is losing $10 billion a year and urgently needs reform and legislative relief from Congress. "I would suggest that we are on a death spiral," DeJoy told the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform committee at a hearing Wednesday, who did not rule out changing first-class deliver standards or other significant changes. DeJoy, a supporter of former President Donald Trump appointed to head the Postal Service last year, suspended operational changes in August after heavy criticism over postal delays.

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  USPS on 'death spiral' without reform -chief

  Reuters Videos
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  'We will do better' -Postmaster General DeJoy

  Reuters Videos

The White House has 132 rooms and its own restaurant. Here's what it's like inside Joe Biden's new home.

The six-story Executive Residence building is the White House's largest, consisting of two basement levels, a ground floor where building staff work, a state floor for events and receptions, and two floors where the first family lives and sleeps.

Republican leaders want to avoid a party civil war. Trump might have other ideas.

In a two-page memo addressed to GOP donors, voters, leaders, and activists, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) declared: "The Republican Civil War is now canceled." It isn't clear if his fellow Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, are listening. Scott is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and in the memo, first obtained by Fox News, he writes that Democrats control the White House, Senate, and House, but Republicans have a path to victory in 2022.

No Need to Call an Architect—These 9 Room Dividers Elegantly Get the Job Done

From ornate to subtle, these beautiful screens double as functional art Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

Imran Khan invites Sri Lankan Buddhists to visit Pakistan

Visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has proclaimed his Muslim-majority nation a choice destination for religious tourism by Sri Lankans, most of whom are Buddhists. In talks with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday, Khan highlighted Buddhist heritage sites in Pakistan and stressed the building of cultural ties, the Pakistan Embassy said in a statement. “Pakistan probably has one of the greatest Buddhist heritages in the world and we invite people from Sri Lanka to visit them,” Khan said a day earlier after meeting with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Instagram Influencer Sparks Outrage After Posing Naked on Top of Endangered Elephant in Bali

A 22-year-old Russian social media influencer is facing heavy criticism online for posing naked on top of an endangered elephant in Bali, Indonesia for her 553,000 Instagram followers. Alesya Kafelnikova received backlash for the short video she posted on Feb. 13, where she was filmed lying naked on top of a “critically endangered” Sumatran elephant, according to The Sun. In a follow-up post, Kafelnikova shared an image presumably with the same elephant and said in the caption, “To love nature is human nature.”

Israel sharing some COVID vaccines with Palestinians, Honduras, Czech Republic

Israel said on Tuesday it was giving small amounts of surplus COVID-19 vaccines to Palestinian-run territories as well as to several countries. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not name which countries in a statement announcing the move. But the government of Guatemala - which opened its Israel embassy in Jerusalem last year - said it was expecting to receive 5,000 doses from Israel on Thursday.

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  Diplomatic doses: Israel shares vaccines with allied nations

  Associated Press
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  For Israel's allies, road to vaccines runs through Jerusalem

  Associated Press

Sanctions prompt Venezuela to expel head of EU delegation

Venezuela's government on Wednesday ordered the expulsion of the head of the European Union delegation in the South American nation following the bloc's decision to impose sanctions on several Venezuelan officials accused of undermining democracy or violating human rights. Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa was given 72 hours to leave the troubled country. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said Brilhante Pedrosa was declared persona non grata by decision of President Nicolás Maduro.

9 Products to Help You Become a Better Plant Parent

You can't buy a green thumb, but at least you can buy the right tools Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

Global equities rise as U.S. bond yield fears ease

A gauge of global equity markets rose on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said interest rates will remain low, calming market jitters sparked by a jump in U.S. Treasury yields on fears that a robust recovery would drive inflation higher. Sales of new U.S. single-family homes increased more than expected in January as the median sale price rose 5.3% on a year-over-year basis, the latest data to show certain consumer prices are rising faster than expected. Crude oil rose more than 2% to fresh 13-month highs while gold prices struggled for traction as elevated Treasury yields eroded the allure of bullion as an inflation hedge.

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  Powell: Rising bond yields signal recovery but Fed’s ‘job not done’

  Yahoo Finance
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  Gold subdued as U.S. Treasury yields stay elevated

  Reuters

Perdue ditches Senate run after Trump Mar-a-Lago meeting

Former GOP senator David Perdue has decided against running for the Senate in 2022, in an apparent about-face that followed a meeting with former president Donald Trump in recent days. A source close to Mr Perude denied that the meeting between the pair was related to his decision not to run again, but said the meeting at Mar-a-Lago “did not go well”, according to the New York Times. Maggie Haberman, Washington correspondent for the New York Times, wrote on Tuesday that “Perdue had dinner with and played a long round of golf with Trump last week.

Ghana 1st nation to receive coronavirus vaccines from COVAX

Ghana received the world's first delivery of coronavirus vaccines from the United Nations-backed COVAX initiative on Wednesday — the long-awaited start for a program that has thus far fallen short of hopes that it would ensure shots were given quickly to the world's most vulnerable people. The arrival of 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the West African country marks the beginning of the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation in history, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF. It is a linchpin of efforts to bring the pandemic to an end and has been hailed as the first time the world has delivered a highly sought-after vaccine to poor countries during an ongoing outbreak.

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  Ghana 1st nation to receive vaccines from COVAX

  Associated Press Videos
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  What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

  Reuters

Wall Street finishes up as Fed's Powell soothes inflation fears

Shares on Wall Street ended higher on Wednesday, as a selloff in technology-related stocks eased and a rotation into cyclical shares continued after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments calmed inflation worries. The Nasdaq index, which traded as much as 1.3% lower earlier in the session, regained its footing by early afternoon and closed up. The Dow hit a record high earlier in the session.