A deadly storm on top of a pandemic devastates vulnerable Texans: 'We've been living in a nightmare'

Just as José Loera and his family were beginning to assess the damage to his mother's home in Houston — a caved-in roof, a living room ruined by burst pipes, flooding throughout the house — the family received more devastating news. Loera's father, José Emilio, who had already been in the hospital for three weeks recovering from COVID-19 when last week's devastating winter storm hit Texas, had lost the ability to breathe on his own. “We got hit pretty hard, not only the winter storm that affected my mom's household but also with my dad,” Loera, 28, told Yahoo News on Monday.

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

‘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

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.”

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.

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.

Texas Attorney General left the state on the same day as Ted Cruz amid historic winter storm

Texas attorney general Ken Paxton left the state while a brutal winter storm caused millions of residents to be without power and clean water, on the same day senator Ted Cruz travelled from the state on a controversial trip to Mexico. Mr Paxton's spokesman Ian Prior told the Houston Chronicle on Monday that the attorney general and his wife, Texas state senator Angela Paxton, travelled to Utah last Wednesday. The spokesperson said that Mr Paxton left Texas to speak with Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, for a “previously planned” meeting to discuss a myriad of topics, including an antitrust lawsuit against Google.

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  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Also Left The State During Deadly Winter Storm

  HuffPost
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  Texas AG was in Utah after historic freeze back home

  Associated Press

Russian fugitive arrested in Bali after fleeing deportation

A Russian listed by the Interpol as a fugitive back home was arrested on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali on Wednesday after 13 days on the run with his partner to avoid deportation, officials said. After completing his sentence, he was waiting for deportation to Russia on Feb. 11 when he escaped during transfer from one immigration center to another when he was visited by his Russian partner Ekaterina Trubkina, police said. Eka Budianto, head of the Bali immigration division, said both were arrested at a villa early Wednesday after changing places to avoid detection.

The Best Dishwasher Models, According to Interior Designers

The designer-approved dishwashers look good—and perform even better Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

Hong Kong's freedoms threadbare as China removes last vestiges of political opposition

China's Communist Party wields much, if not all, of the political power in Hong Kong, having chipped away at the “one country, two systems” model meant to guarantee the former British colony's unique freedoms after being returned to mainland rule. Four elected opposition lawmakers were ousted last year and those remaining resigned in protest, further skewing the city legislature toward Beijing loyalists. Outsized political influence has allowed Beijing the ability to exercise its will over Hong Kong, often thinly disguising it as 'process' – for instance, passing a law last June through city legislature making it illegal to insult the Chinese national anthem.

Philippines to probe use of illegal COVID-19 vaccines

The Philippines health ministry said on Wednesday it will investigate the illegal use of unauthorised COVID-19 vaccines, after a presidential advisor admitted to receiving shots of a Sinopharm vaccine smuggled into the country. Ramon Tulfo, a celebrity radio and television host and special envoy to China, revealed in his newspaper column on Feb. 20 and again in an interview with One News that he received a dose in October from a batch that was also used by President Rodrigo Duterte's security detail. "I got hold of vaccines from a friend who smuggled it into the country," Tulfo told One News.

‘MyPillow Guy’ complains loyalty to Trump is costing him millions while facing $1.3 billion lawsuit

Mike Lindell, a loyal ally to former President Donald Trump who has continued to promote flagrantly false and debunked claims of rampant voter fraud, lamented over his financial predicament in a new interview after he was sued on Monday for $1.3 billion by Dominion Voting Systems. “I lost 20 retailers, and it's cost me $65 million this year that I won't get back, OK?” Mr Lindell told Insider after it was reported the voting technology company sued him for repeatedly making false claims about its work in the 2020 US elections. The seemingly frustrated CEO of MyPillow.com became close to Mr Trump towards the end of his presidency, bringing notes that mentioned martial law to his meetings in the White House in the final weeks of the previous administration.

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.

Defying court order, Malaysia deports more than 1,000 Myanmar nationals

Malaysia sent more than 1,000 Myanmar nationals back to their strife-torn homeland on Tuesday despite a court order to halt the deportation, a move rights groups said could endanger the deportees' lives. The 1,086 Myanmar citizens were sent back on three navy ships sent by Myanmar's military, which seized power in a Feb. 1 coup, sparking weeks of protests from pro-democracy activists. Malaysia had initially said it would deport 1,200.

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  Defying court, Malaysia deports Myanmar nationals

  Reuters Videos
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  Lawmakers, rights groups ask Malaysia to explain deportation

  Associated Press

InfoWars pushes conspiracy that Biden cut power to Texas

As millions of Texans were battling a severe winter weather crisis without steady electricity, heat, and running water, InfoWars, the American far-right website run by Alex Jones, floated another conspiracy theory. It said that president Joe Biden blocked Texas from increasing power ahead of the severe winter storm, a claim that has since been comprehensively debunked by fact-checkers. Published on 20 February, InfoWars' article is headlined: “Joe Biden's Dept. of Energy Blocked Texas from Increasing Power Ahead of Killer Storm.”

Iraq's struggling Christians hope for boost from pope visit

Traditionally Christian towns across the Nineveh Plains virtually emptied out and, by some of the widely varying estimates, fewer than half of the Christians who fled have returned. The Vatican and the pope have frequently insisted on the need to preserve Iraq's ancient Christian communities and create the security, economic and social conditions for those who have left to return. To do that, the Vatican for years has helped coordinate a network of Catholic non-governmental organizations providing help in the field in Iraq and other countries, including in education, health care and reconstruction.

Biden moves to reengage with Palestinians after Israel focus

The Biden administration is moving slowly but surely toward reengaging with the Palestinians after a near total absence of official contact during former President Donald Trump's four years in office. As American officials plan steps to restore direct ties with the Palestinian leadership, Biden's national security team is taking steps to restore relations that had been severed while Trump pursued a Mideast policy focused largely around Israel, America's closest partner in the region. On Tuesday, for the second time in two days, Biden's administration categorically embraced a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, something that Trump had been purposefully vague about while slashing aid to the Palestinians and taking steps to support Israel's claims to land that the Palestinians want for an independent state.

China rejects growing Western criticism at U.N. rights forum

China hit back on Wednesday at growing criticism by Western powers of its treatment of ethnic minorities in the regions of Xinjiang and Tibet and of citizens in the former British colony of Hong Kong. Hours earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a wide-ranging speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council, said that the Biden administration would denounce atrocities in Xinjiang. "At this high-level segment, the U.K., EU, Germany, USA, Canada, and some other countries abused this forum of the Council to make groundless charges against China, to interfere in internal affairs of our country.

Indonesia presses regional effort to resolve Myanmar crisis

Regional diplomatic efforts to resolve Myanmar's political crisis intensified Wednesday, while protests continued in Yangon and other cities calling for the country's coup makers to step down and return Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government to power. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi visited the Thai capital, Bangkok, and held three-way talks with her Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai and Myanmar's new foreign minister, retired army colonel Wunna Maung Lwin, who also traveled to Thailand. The meeting was part of her efforts to coordinate a regional response to the crisis triggered by Myanmar's Feb. 1 military coup.

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  Indonesia says it holds intensive talks with both sides of Myanmar crisis

  Reuters
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  Elephant-riders join Myanmar coup protests

  Reuters Videos

The Best Beds for Kids

Thirteen twin beds that are as inspired as they are practical Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

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.

Victim That South Dakota AG ‘Didn’t See’ Came Through His Windshield, Investigators Say

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota—South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg has maintained since his fatal crash last fall that he didn't see what he'd hit—but a newly released video of his police interview has revealed that the victim's face literally “came through” his windshield. In videos released late Tuesday by the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, investigators can be seen challenging Ravnsborg's claim that he didn't see what it was he struck during the crash on Sept. 12, 2020. Ravnsborg was driving home from a Republican Party event that night when he struck and killed 55-year-old Joe Boever.

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  Police interview South Dakota AG after fatal crash

  Associated Press Videos
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  Police grilled South Dakota AG on phone use before crash

  Associated Press

Bust of Black hero of Lewis & Clark trip goes up in Portland

Now, one of the first works of art to emerge in their place depicts an unsung hero of the Lewis and Clark expedition. A huge bust of York, a Black man who was enslaved by William Clark and who was the first African-American to cross the continent and reach the Pacific Ocean, is sitting atop a pedestal amid a lushly forested park in Portland, Oregon. The artist's depiction of York shows him seemingly deep in thought or even sad, his eyes cast downward.