PoliticsYahoo NewsMitch McConnell: Nancy Pelosi's plan for investigating the Capitol attack is a 'bizarre partisan concept'
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he's concerned Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plan to establish a commission to investigate the U.S. Capitol attack would be overly “partisan.” Speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon, McConnell noted Pelosi's proposal was criticized by the leaders of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission it was supposedly modeled after because it would feature seven members appointed by Democrats and four appointed by Republicans. McConnell began by saying he has spoken out against the assault that took place on Jan. 6 when supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in an effort to block the certification of President Biden's election victory.
WorldAssociated PressGang clashes result in Ecuador's deadliest prison riots ever
Ecuador experienced its deadliest prison riots ever this week when seemingly coordinated fights broke out in facilities in three different cities, leaving 79 inmates dead as of Wednesday and exposing the limited control that authorities have over people behind bars. Hundreds of police officers and military personnel converged on the prisons after the unrest began Monday night in the maximum-security wings as rival gangs fought for leadership. President Lenín Moreno, whose term ends in May, on Wednesday said he will ask other South American countries for help to tackle the crisis in Ecuador's prisons and acknowledged the system is deficient and lacks financial resources.
- WorldReuters
Iraq militia denies role in anti-U.S. attacks, welcomes pressure on Saudi
An Iran-aligned Iraqi militia group on Tuesday denied any role in recent rocket attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq, but said an attack against Saudi Arabia last month was justified. It is a rare direct denial and the first time the Kataib Hezbollah group, one of the Iraqi factions closest to Iran, has commented on the most serious incident this year, a rocket attack in Erbil on Feb. 15 that killed a contractor working with U.S.-led forces. The attacks over the past 10 days are an escalation against U.S. sites in Iraq at a time when Washington and Tehran are looking for a way to return to the nuclear deal abandoned by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
PoliticsLA TimesHow far will Biden go to fix the climate crisis? Pay attention to this gas project
A few days after Joe Biden claimed victory in the presidential election, a San Diego company quietly asked federal officials for permission to send 5 million tons of natural gas each year across the U.S.-Mexico border to an export terminal the company hopes to build along the Gulf of California. The facility would be Sempra Energy's second fossil fuel export plant in Mexico. The Biden administration's decision could offer an early preview of how aggressively it will confront the climate crisis.
WorldNextSharkInstagram 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.”
BusinessAssociated PressNissan 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.
U.S.ReutersU.S. to admit asylum seekers from hard-hit camp at Texas border
The United States this week will begin processing people held in the Matamoros migrant camp at the Texas border for entry into the country after the area was hit hard by severe weather, the Department of Homeland Security said on Wednesday. The camp, across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas, is home to hundreds of migrants, most from Central America, hoping to be granted refuge across the border. They have endured sub-zero temperatures over the last week while living in flimsy tents.
WorldReutersThree 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.
- WorldAssociated Press
China says Iran nuclear issue at 'critical point'
Developments surrounding Iran's nuclear program are at a “critical point” and lifting sanctions on the country is key to breaking the deadlock, China's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's comments came a day after Iran officially began restricting international inspections of its nuclear facilities in a bid to pressure European countries and the U.S. into lifting crippling economic sanctions and restoring the 2015 nuclear deal. As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China is a party to the agreement known as the JCPOA, while also maintaining friendly relations and close economic ties with Tehran.
- NewsYahoo News Video
Trump could face woman who accuses him of raping her in court
During a December visit to New York City, writer E. Jean Carroll says she went shopping with a fashion consultant to find the “best outfit” for one of the most important days of her life —when she'll sit face-to-face with the man she has accused of raping her decades ago, former President Donald Trump.
PoliticsThe WeekRepublican 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.
StyleArchitectural DigestThe Best Dishwasher Models, According to Interior Designers
The designer-approved dishwashers look good—and perform even better Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldReutersNorthern Irish Brexit issue is two-way street, says EU's Sefcovic
Britain must show it is fully using the avenues available under the Brexit divorce deal to minimise trade disruption in Northern Ireland before seeking concessions, a senior EU official said on Tuesday. Britain's exit from the EU's trading orbit in January has created trade barriers between Northern Ireland - which remains in the EU's single market for goods - and the rest of the United Kingdom. Maros Sefcovic, a vice president of the European Commission, said he hoped to learn of British efforts during an online meeting on Wednesday .
WorldAssociated PressImran 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.
PoliticsThe IndependentMitt Romney says Trump will win Republican nomination ‘by a landslide’ if he runs in 2024
Utah senator Mitt Romney has predicted that Donald Trump will win the Republican presidential nomination if he decides to run in 2024. Mr Romney, the Republican nominee for president in 2012, made the comments during a discussion with The New York Times's Andrew Ross Sorkin at the DealBook DC Policy Project on Tuesday evening. Mr Trump failed to be re-elected in 3 November's presidential election and was subsequently impeached by the House after a mob of his supporters breached the US Capitol after attending a rally where he told them to “show strength” and “be strong.”
WorldReutersChina 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.
WorldAssociated PressJapan emperor shows concern to those suffering in pandemic
Japan's Emperor Naruhito expressed concern about the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on people's health and livelihoods, noting that he has used online meetings to connect with people he could not console in person. Naruhito had expressed hope to reach out to people and stay close to them as emperor, following the example of his father, Akihito, who abdicated in 2019 due to age. But Naruhito has largely retreated behind the palace moat due to the pandemic and made only limited public appearances, including the 75th anniversary of the end of the World War II in August.
PoliticsThe Independent‘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.
PoliticsAssociated PressBiden 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.
PoliticsINSIDERThe 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.
- ScienceReuters Videos
Wild sheep freed from his own wool
This wild sheep had a much-needed shearing relieving him of over 78 lbs of fleece That's nearly half the weight of an adult kangaroo Baarack Location: Lancefield, Australia Rescuers say he used to have an owner but was found wandering in a forest Baarack is now settling in with other rescued sheep in a farm sanctuary
WorldThe Daily BeastOfficials Probe ‘Foul Play’ After Crash of Military Plane Close to Finding Abducted Nigerian Schoolboys
ABUJA, Nigeria—The seven personnel of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) who died in a fatal plane crash in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, on Sunday were close to discovering the location of dozens of students abducted by gunmen from their school in north-central Nigeria last week, two senior military sources told The Daily Beast. The crew—led by Flight Lieutenant Haruna Gadzama, the aircraft captain, and Flight Lieutenant Henry Piyo, the co-pilot—had been in Minna, the capital of Nigeria's north-central Niger state, for days conducting intelligence-gathering missions in connection with concerted efforts to secure the release of 42 people, including 27 students.
PoliticsAssociated PressIowa Republicans fast-tracking dramatic election changes
Iowa Republicans were moving swiftly Wednesday to sharply limit early voting in the state, months after a general election overseen by a Republican secretary of state resulted in record turnout and overwhelming victories by GOP candidates. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump, has indicated she'd consider them. “Last fall we had elections overseen by a Republican secretary of state in which Republicans gained seats in the Iowa House and the U.S. House, so if there is any significant voter fraud in this state then two things are true," Democratic Sen. Herman Quirmbach of Ames said.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestNo 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
U.S.The IndependentWhy is the Texas snowstorm attracting anti-Biden conspiracy theories?
The extreme weather that struck Texas this month presented US president Joe Biden with the first fresh crisis of his tenure, Winter Storm Uri striking just weeks after his inauguration and leaving 4.3 million homes without electricity, heating and secure drinking water and at least 58 people dead. President Biden will visit the Lone Star State on Friday to survey the infrastructure damage caused by the bitter sub-zero temperatures and heavy snow and to commiserate with locals, having issued a major disaster declaration and dispatched emergency federal funding to assist with the recovery effort. Already beset by the inherited problem of a coronavirus pandemic that has killed half a million Americans and preoccupied with rolling back the toxic policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump, the Democrat acted decisively in sending federal support to the state while one of its own senators, Republican Ted Cruz, decided it was the right moment to join his family on a Mexican beach holiday in Cancun.
“How about we skip ‘he won’t win’ cycle and not do 2016 all over again. Trump can absolutely win another presidential election.”
“With independents deserting him, there is simply no path for Trump to get back into the White House — except as a tourist.”
“They might as well cancel the 2024 primaries...because there is no way he can lose.”
“The next Republican presidential primary will be heavily shaped by Trump — whether or not he decides to run again.”
“Donald Trump will not be running for president again. He will, however, continue to tease the possibility of a 2024 run.”