PoliticsAxiosBiden says $1,400 stimulus payments can start going out this month
President Biden said Saturday that the Senate passage of his $1.9 trillion COVID relief package means the $1,400 direct payments for most Americans can begin going out later this month. Driving the news: The Senate voted 50-49 Saturday to approve the sweeping legislation. The House is expected to pass the Senate's version of the bill next week before it heads to Biden's desk for his signature.
WorldReutersIndian farmers block highway outside Delhi to mark 100th day of protest
Indian farmers began gathering on Saturday to block a six-lane expressway outside New Delhi to mark the 100th day of protests against deregulation of agriculture markets, to add pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. Farmers young and old headed in cars, trucks and tractors to the highway for a five-hour roadblock to oppose three farm laws enacted in September 2020 they say hurt them by opening up the agriculture sector to private players. Modi has called the laws much-needed reforms for the country's vast and antiquated agriculture sector, and painted the protests as politically motivated.
U.S.Associated PressPolice: Texas rapper dead in interstate shooting in Georgia
A shooting on Interstate 85 in suburban Atlanta has claimed the life of a rising Texas rap artist, one of three interstate shootings in the metro area in two days, authorities said Saturday. Rapper Corey Detiege, who performed under the stage name Chucky Trill, died at an area hospital after Friday's predawn shooting, police in suburban Gwinnett County said. Collin Flynn, a department spokesman, said someone pulled up beside Detiege's car and opened fire around 3 a.m. Friday, WSB TV reported. Ditiege, 33, was from Sugar Land, Texas.
PoliticsLos Angeles Times OpinionAbcarian: Joe Biden levels an innocuous insult and his Trump-loving, mask-hating critics go wild
“It is now time to open Texas, 100%,” a maskless Gov. Greg Abbott announced at a Mexican restaurant in Lubbock, where the only person wearing a mask seemed to be the news photographer who was shooting the event. There were so many ways that President Biden could have criticized Abbott — along with Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, who also lifted all COVID-19 restrictions in his state. Biden, who had met with Abbott in Houston several days earlier to discuss federal assistance after the deadly winter storms that crippled Texas (and also to visit a mass vaccination site), could have said that Abbott and Reeves were anti-scientific, or politically opportunistic, or just plain dumb for ignoring the advice of public health officials.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestThe 7 Best Refrigerators on the Market, According to Kitchen Designers
Quality food preservation, storage space, and good-looking design are priorities among kitchen designers when it comes to refrigerators Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- PoliticsYahoo News Video
Civil war within the GOP continues as Trump fires back at strategist Karl Rove
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.
PoliticsThe GuardianTrump reportedly told Republican party to stop using his name for fundraising
Donald Trump has told the Republican National Committee and other party bodies to stop using his name and likeness in fundraising efforts, it was reported on Saturday. “President Trump remains committed to the Republican party and electing America First conservatives,” Politico quoted an unnamed adviser to the former president as saying about the legal cease-and-desist notice, “but that doesn't give anyone – friend or foe – permission to use his likeness without explicit approval.” The website previously reported that Trump's ire was stoked by bodies including the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) using his name while fundraising for Republicans who voted for his impeachment.
U.S.INSIDERA Missouri pastor is reportedly seeking 'professional counseling' after he told women to lose weight and strive to be like Melania Trump for their husbands
Missouri pastor Stewart-Allen Clark in a February sermon encouraged women to stay slim for their husbands. Clark used first lady Melania Trump as an example during his sermon before warning, "don't let yourself go." Local outlet KCTV reported he has taken a leave of absence and is seeking counseling.
PoliticsPoliticoWith No Votes to Spare, Biden Gets a Win Obama and Clinton Would Have Envied
The Senate just passed the $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill—one of the biggest emergency spending packages in history, targeted to the poor and the middle class. But despite full Democratic control of Congress and the White House, it came with significant omissions from the wish list of Democratic priorities: no $15 minimum wage, lower jobless benefits, a tighter income limit for the checks. With just 50 senators and no Republicans crossing the line, President Joe Biden and his party had to bow to their most conservative members.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramHere’s why Gov. Abbott’s order on masks won’t make Texas the ‘Wild West’ of COVID-19
Last week, after Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley renewed the county mask order and told me he hoped he'd be in a position to lift it by July 4th, I doubted that many Texans would wait that long. Less than a week later, Gov. Greg Abbott announced the “re-opening of Texas” by lifting state capacity limits on businesses and the masking requirement, effective March 10. Whitley's move may have been in part because Abbott removed local authorities' ability to penalize mask or capacity-limit violators; however, Abbott's order allows local authorities' ability to impose some restrictions when the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients exceeds 15 percent of total hospital capacity.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderMSNBC host and former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough says there's 'no doubt' that the GOP is 'unsavable'
Joe Scarborough said on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" that the Republican Party was "unsavable." Scarborough, who served in the US House as a Republican, now identifies as an independent. "What issues does this guy share with conservatives?" Scarborough said of former President Trump.
U.S.INSIDERA Texas middle school student said he was forced to drink urine by teammates at a sleepover. His mom called the bullying racially motivated.
Florida police are investigating allegations of a student being bullied at a Texas middle school. In a viral video, Summer Smith posted on Facebook that other students forced her son to drink urine. Florida police are investigating allegations of a student being bullied at Haggard Middle School in Plano, Texas.
PoliticsBBCWho truly was the most dishonest president?
While it has never been established that Bush knew the incubators story he repeatedly told was unfounded, the White House is generally expected to verify claims made by the president - especially one so horrifying. American journalists failed to debunk the Nayirah testimony until after the war. The controversy was omitted from a recent admiring biography of Bush, and from glowing coverage of his presidency when he died in 2018.
U.S.Business InsiderAmerica's oldest college debate society votes to strip Ted Cruz of a prestigious Princeton honor for public service
Princeton's American Whig-Cliosphic Society voted to strip Sen. Ted Cruz of a public service award. Cruz is facing criticism for his role in the insurrection on January 6 and an ill-timed Cancun trip. America's oldest collegiate debate society has voted to strip Sen. Ted Cruz of its highest honor, according to The Daily Princetonian.
CelebrityThe TelegraphMeghan, Duchess of Sussex 'called all the PR shots', say royal sources despite Oprah interview claims she was gagged
The Duchess of Sussex “called all the shots” when it came to managing her own media, royal sources have said, casting doubt on her claim she could not be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey three years ago. Multiple royal sources have told The Telegraph the 39-year-old former actress “had full control” over her media interviews and had personally forged relationships not only with Ms Winfrey, but other powerful industry figures including Vogue editor Edward Enninful. In a teaser clip released from the Sussexes's interview with the US chat show host, due to be aired in the US on Sunday, the Duchess said it felt “liberating” to be able to speak and accused the Royal family of effectively gagging her and taking away that choice.
U.S.NBC NewsNYC woman discovers empty apartment behind bathroom mirror
A woman in New York City went viral on TikTok Wednesday after posting a video series documenting her journey to discover a secret unoccupied apartment behind her bathroom mirror. In the first video of her four-part saga, Samantha Hartsoe said she was trying to find the source of cold air that was blowing into her Manhattan apartment. When she discovered that the air was coming from behind her bathroom mirror, Hartsoe said she removed it from the wall.
PoliticsCBS NewsJohnson & Johnson vaccines come with uplifting messages
President Joe Biden's promise, that 100 million Americans would be vaccinated in his first 100 days in office, is close to completion. At McKesson, the company distributing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the first shipments on Monday delivered hope and a message. Brown and the other supervisors, including Kristi Larson, signed the very first box.
U.S.The New York TimesFBI Finds Contact Between Proud Boys Member and Trump Associate Before Riot
A member of the far-right nationalist Proud Boys was in communication with a person associated with the White House in the days just before the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. Location, cellular and call record data revealed a call tying a Proud Boys member to the Trump White House, the official said. The FBI has not determined what they discussed, and the official would not reveal the names of either party.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderSenate shatters record with longest vote in history as Democrats negotiated the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill
A Friday vote on Capitol Hill became the longest vote in the Senate's modern history. The vote on a Sanders-backed minimum wage amendment was held open for 11 hours and 50 minutes. The extended open vote was attributed to a Democratic scramble to get votes for future amendments.
U.S.USA TODAY'Let kids be kids': California considers bill requiring gender-neutral children's sections at large retailers
Retail stores in California may be required to become more gender-neutral under proposed legislation. State lawmakers are debating a new bill that would prohibit department stores with more than 500 employees from dividing products for children by gender. The restriction would ban separate areas and signage and mandate online retailers that have a physical location in the state use gender-neutral terms to label children's items in a section of their websites.
CelebrityNBC NewsRoyal tensions erupt into 'all-out war' ahead of Harry and Meghan's 'liberating' Oprah interview
While royals have given many interviews before, she said, the decision to invite such public scrutiny on the tensions that have played out behind palace doors will have been "controversial" with the family. Meghan accused the palace of "perpetuating falsehoods" about the couple in a 30-second excerpt from the interview that was released Thursday. "I don't know how they could expect that after all of this time, we would still just be silent if there's an active role that 'The Firm' is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us," she tells Winfrey.
U.S.INSIDERInaugural poet Amanda Gorman said a security guard followed her and told her she 'looked suspicious' when entering her own building
Amanda Gorman became an international sensation in January after performing at the Inauguration. Amanda Gorman said Friday that a security guard followed her home because he thought she looked "suspicious." The 22-year-old poet, who lives in Los Angeles, said she showed him her keys and buzzed herself into her building, prompting the security guard to leave without apologizing to her.
U.S.NY Daily News18-year-old Capitol rioter wants to go home to his ‘loving family’ who drove him to DC
A Georgia teen charged for alleged involvement in the U.S. Capitol riot now admits he “was wrong” for his actions and hopes to spend his pretrial days with his folks, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Friday. Bruno Cua, 18, is the youngest of more than 300 people accused of having stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 in support of former President Donald Trump and has been in custody since his Feb. 5 arrest. Hoping U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss might take pity on him, Cua vowed “not to step one foot out of line,” not least because he “will never be the same person” after a month behind bars, according to his Thursday letter to the judge, obtained by the newspaper.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderBiden fired a Trump-appointed lawyer who refused to leave office
The president on Friday dismissed a Trump appointee, Sharon Gustafson, after she refused to resign. Gustafson served as general counsel for the EEOC, a federal agency charged with investigating workplace issues. President Joe Biden on Friday fired a Trump-appointed lawyer serving on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that investigates workplace sex discrimination and retaliation.
U.S.INSIDERA judge questioned the 'QAnon Shaman' about his '60 Minutes+' interview that was billed to the jail as a call with his lawyer
A federal judge questioned the "QAnon Shaman" and his lawyer over a "60 Minutes+" interview. The judge asked whether the lawyer attempted "subterfuge" in arranging the interview. A federal judge on Friday questioned the self-described "QAnon Shaman" and his lawyer following his appearance this week on 60 Minutes+, pressing them about whether they went through the necessary channels to set up an interview.
“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.”