WorldAssociated PressIran's president criticizes prosecution of telecom minister
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday criticized Iran's hard-liner dominated judiciary over last week's prosecution of the countrys telecommunications minister. Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi was released on bail after he was summoned for prosecution. Judiciary officials cited his refusal to block Instagram and impose limitations on the bandwidth of other foreign social media and messaging systems.
WorldReutersChina toughens language, warns Taiwan that independence 'means war'
China toughened its language towards Taiwan on Thursday, warning after recent stepped up military activities near the island that "independence means war" and that their armed forces were taking action to respond to provocation and foreign interference. Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, reported multiple Chinese fighter jets and bombers entering Taiwan's southwestern air defence identification zone over the weekend, prompting concern in Washington. China believes that Taiwan's democratically-elected government is moving the island towards a declaration of formal independence, though President Tsai Ing-wen has repeatedly said they are already an independent country called the Republic of China, its formal name.
PoliticsThe IndependentBiden climate tsar John Kerry says Trump sold workers ‘false narrative’ about job losses
Joe Biden's climate czar John Kerry tried to quash concerns that the president's planned climate policies will kill jobs for Americans in traditional energy sectors. During a press conference on Wednesday, Mr Kerry said workers had been mislead by former President Donald Trump about the impact clean climate policy would have on their jobs. "Unfortunately, workers have been fed a false narrative, no surprise, for the last four years [on clean energy infrastructure]," Mr Kerry said.
U.S.Associated PressFeds withheld info on virus cases following executions
At least two journalists tested positive for coronavirus after witnessing the Trump administration's final three federal executions, but the Bureau of Prisons knowingly withheld the diagnoses from other media witnesses and did not perform any contact tracing, The Associated Press has learned. The AP is not identifying the journalists, but has confirmed they both received positive coronavirus tests following the executions earlier this month at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. The Bureau of Prisons just completed a record number of executions under former President Donald Trump, more than any previous administration.
HealthReutersPfizer vaccine only slightly less effective against key South African mutations - study
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine appeared to lose only a small bit of effectiveness against an engineered virus with three key mutations from the new coronavirus variant found in South Africa, according to a laboratory study conducted by the U.S. drugmaker. The study by Pfizer and scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), which has not yet been peer-reviewed, showed a less than two-fold reduction in antibody titer levels, indicating the vaccine would likely be effective in neutralizing a virus with the so-called E484K and N501Y mutations found in the South African variant.
PoliticsThe IndependentAfter the fall of Trump, Matt Gaetz matters more than ever
Speaking when the House returned to vote on the Electoral College results, Mr Gaetz spoke up to challenge the results from Arizona. Citing unsubstantiated allegations of electoral meddling on the left, he also condemned the violence of that day – explicitly denying Mr Trump played any role in inciting it while also raising the notion that it was at least in part a false flag attack by radical leftists. I don't know if the reports are true,” he said on the floor, “but the Washington Times has just reported some pretty compelling evidence from a facial recognition company showing that some of the people who breached the Capitol today were not Trump supporters, they were masquerading as Trump s...
WorldAssociated PressAuschwitz survivors mark anniversary online amid pandemic
A Jewish prayer for the souls of the people murdered in the Holocaust echoed Wednesday over where the Warsaw ghetto stood during World War II as a world paused by the coronavirus pandemic observed the 76th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Most International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorations were being held online this year due to the virus, including the annual ceremony at the site of the former Auschwitz death camp, where Nazi German forces killed 1.1 million people in occupied Poland. The memorial site is closed to visitors because of the pandemic.
- PoliticsFOX News Videos
Cotton: Not aware of threat that warrants National Guard staying in DC
GOP senator from Arkansas joins 'Hannity' to discuss his push to remove armed forces from the nation's capital.
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.
PoliticsReutersBiden speaks to Putin for first time since taking power: White House
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday for the first time since taking office and raised concerns about Russian activities including the treatment of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the White House said. A White House statement said the two leaders agreed to have their teams work urgently to complete the extension of the New START arms control treaty between the United States and Russia by Feb. 5, when the current pact expires. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki announced the phone call between the two leaders at her daily briefing.
PoliticsAssociated PressUS puts hold on foreign arms sales, including F-35s to UAE
The Biden administration has put a temporary hold on several major foreign arms sales initiated by former President Donald Trump. Officials say that among the deals being paused is a massive $23 billion transfer of stealth F-35 fighters to the United Arab Emirates. The new administration is reviewing the sales but has not made any determination about whether they will actually go through, the State Department said.
PoliticsReutersU.S. reviewing China genocide ruling to make sure it sticks
The U.S. State Department is reviewing a Trump administration determination that China has committed genocide by repressing Uighur Muslims in its Xinjiang region to make sure that it sticks, President Joe Biden's pick for U.N. ambassador said on Wednesday. "The State Department is reviewing that now because all of the procedures were not followed," Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the move last week, one day before Biden took office, "after careful examination of the available facts," accusing the Chinese Communist Party of crimes against humanity targeting the Uighurs and other Muslim minorities.
WorldAssociated PressEXPLAINER: Why India's farmers are revolting against PM Modi
Most of the protesters are farmers from northern Punjab and Haryana states, the two biggest agricultural producers. They are demanding the repeal of laws passed by Parliament in September that they say will favor large corporate farms, devastate the earnings of many farmers and leave those who hold small plots behind as big corporations win out. Modi has billed the laws as necessary to modernize Indian farming.
U.S.ReutersBiden's immigration changes too late for grandfather deported on Inauguration Day
As U.S. President Joe Biden took the oath of office last Wednesday, Felipe Ortega sat in a van handcuffed and chained at the waist and feet, headed toward Mexico and the end of his 30-year life in the United States. A day earlier, the 58-year-old grandfather of eight U.S. citizens was on his way to work when immigration agents surrounded his car in Midland, Texas, just blocks from his home. After one sleepless night in jail and a long ride to the border, Ortega, a Mexican national, was sent across the international bridge at El Paso in Texas around 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestHere Are The Brightest Decor Buys of the Season
Let's get loud Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldAssociated PressPhilippines protests new China law as `verbal threat of war’
The Philippines has protested a new Chinese law that authorizes its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels and destroy other countries' structures on islands it claims, Manila's top diplomat said Wednesday. Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said in a tweet that the new Chinese law “is a verbal threat of war to any country that defies” it. “While enacting law is a sovereign prerogative, this one — given the area involved, or for that matter the open South China Sea — is a verbal threat of war to any country that defies the law,” Locsin said.
PoliticsThe IndependentJosh Hawley accuses Democrats who filed ethics complaint of conspiring with Lincoln Project
Republican Senator Josh Hawley has accused Democrats who filed an ethics complaint against him of working with the anti-Trump Lincoln Project. Seven Democratic senators have called for an investigation into Mr Hawley and Ted Cruz. Mr Hawley and Mr Cruz have been accused of helping provoke the violence with their refusal to accept Mr Biden's legal victory over Donald Trump, and Mr Hawley was photographed giving a clench-fisted salute to the rioters.
U.S.USA TODAYReturn letter from Biden again shows Texas kindergarten students 'their voice matters,' teacher says
EL PASO, Texas – An El Paso teacher received a letter from President Joe Biden after her kindergarten class wrote to congratulate him for winning the 2020 election. Barron Elementary teacher Martha Tavarez and her class wrote to the then president-elect and Jill Biden after she gave a lesson to her students about the presidential election, including hosting a mock election, according to a news release on the El Paso Independent School District's website. The letter her class received in response bore the official seal of the Office of the President-Elect and some words of appreciation from the man elected as America's 46th president.
PoliticsAssociated PressAP Exclusive: GOP to stay neutral should Trump run again
The head of the Republican National Committee on Wednesday declined to encourage former President Donald Trump to run for the White House in 2024, saying the GOP would stay “neutral” in its next presidential primary. In an interview, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel also described the pro-Trump conspiracy theory group known as QAnon as “dangerous." The national GOP, under McDaniel's leadership, spent the past four years almost singularly focused on Trump's 2020 reelection.
WorldReutersRumours and fear dog Philippine plan for coronavirus vaccine drive
According to one rumour circulating in the Philippines, the coronavirus vaccine will allow President Rodrigo Duterte to kill people at the push of a button. Elsewhere in the country of 108 million, memories of a dengue vaccine that has been banned locally are putting people off the idea of immunisation even before the campaign begins. "Many kids got sick after receiving that vaccine," 62-year-old Crisanta Alipio said of the ill-fated vaccine against dengue, a mosquito-borne disease that can be deadly.
U.S.BBCCapitol riots: Who has the FBI arrested so far?
The suspects in the Capitol riot are a varied group: they include a West Virginia lawmaker, a Florida firefighter and a left-wing activist from Utah. It's been over two weeks since the Capitol Hill riot - how much progress has law enforcement made bringing the perpetrators to justice? Michael Sherwin, US Attorney for the District of Columbia, says they have identified 400 suspects and arrested 135 to date in connection with the Capitol siege.
PoliticsThe IndependentGiuliani election witness who went viral after testimony says she’s running for office
A conservative activist who was widely mocked after she was called to testify by Rudy Giuliani during a hearing on election fraud in December says she is running for office. Melissa Carone, who was an IT contractor for Dominion Voting Systems on election day, testified before a Michigan House panel in December 2020 that she had witnessed electoral fraud take place in favour of the Democrats on 3 November's presidential election. In testimony that went viral, Ms Carone claimed that tens of thousands of votes had been counted twice, but offered no proof to back up her claims.
BusinessBusiness InsiderThe White House is 'monitoring the situation' with GameStop and the stock market
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Treasury and others were "monitoring the situation" with GameStop. "It's a good reminder though that the stock market isn't the only measure of the health of our economy," Psaki said. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was "monitoring the situation" around the GameStop-related changes in the stock market.
LifestyleArchitectural Digest47 Best Housewarming Gifts to Celebrate a New Home
Everything they need to put the horrors of moving behind them Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
LifestyleINSIDERI traveled from London to Paris on an underwater train, and I'd choose it over a flight in a heartbeat
Here's how my trip went and why I'll always choose the train over a plane: I started my trip at St. Pancras Station, which I found lovely I started my journey at St. Pancras International Train Station in London, which is also connected to Kings Cross Station and the London Underground, making it quick and seamless to get there from anywhere in the city. The station's architecture is a mix of classic Victorian Gothic styles from the 19th century and modern additions from the early 21st century. The station is well lit, spacious, and easy to navigate, and there were a variety of places to grab a bite to eat before you board the train.
“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.”