PoliticsThe IndependentJill Biden spent her first week as First Lady reshaping the role. Melania Trump spent hers isolated in a tower
Dr Biden tapped former US Ambassador to Uruguay Julissa Reynoso Pantaleon to serve as her chief of staff before Inauguration Day could even arrive. The political strategist and prominent attorney who previously worked under former President Barack Obama would help the new first lady roll out her agenda, which included the relaunch of Joining Forces, an initiative she co-founded with former First Lady Michelle Obama providing support for military families. Whereas the national gaze is typically cast on the new president during their first days in office, the first lady's presence could be felt in a recently unfamiliar way.
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.
WorldReutersEU demands AstraZeneca plan to break vaccine deadlock
The European Union failed to make a breakthrough in crisis talks with AstraZeneca on Wednesday and demanded the drugmaker spell out how it would supply the bloc with reserved doses of COVID-19 vaccine from plants in Europe and Britain. The EU is making more comprehensive checks on vaccines before approval, which means a slower rollout of shots than former EU member Britain and growing public frustration. The issue has been exacerbated by Anglo-Swedish AstraZeneca and Pfizer of the United States both announcing delivery hold-ups in recent weeks.
WorldThe TelegraphJoe Biden presses Vladimir Putin on poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny
Joe Biden challenged Vladimir Putin over the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, and reports of Russian bounties on the heads of US soldiers in Afghanistan, in their first presidential phone call. Mr Biden also raised concerns about Russian "aggression" against Ukraine, and reaffirmed Washington's "strong support for Ukraine's sovereignty." Kremlin officials said documents had been exchanged to extend the pact.
WorldAssociated PressExtradited teacher appears in Australia court on sex charges
A former teacher extradited from Israel after a six-year legal battle appeared in an Australian court Thursday to face child sex abuse charges. Malka Leifer, 54, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court by video link from a police station where she is in COVID-19 quarantine. Wearing a headscarf, she sat with her head in her hands during the 20-minute hearing where the 74 charges against her were read in court for the first time.
WorldReutersChina sharpens 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 its armed forces were acting in response to provocation and foreign interference. Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, reported multiple Chinese fighter jets and bombers entering its southwestern air defence identification zone last weekend, prompting Washington to urge Beijing to stop pressuring Taiwan. China believes that Taiwan's democratically-elected government is moving the island towards a declaration of formal independence, though Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has repeatedly said it is already an independent country called the Republic of China, its formal name.
PoliticsReutersAnalysis: A 'transitory way to govern' - Biden reverses Trump's orders with the stroke of a pen
In his first week in office, U.S. President Joe Biden has rolled out a wave of executive orders to fulfill a roster of campaign promises, underscoring just how easy it is to reverse some of the policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump. As of Wednesday morning, Biden had cranked out some 40 executive orders, nearly half of them overturning Trump mandates. With one stroke of the pen, the United States rejoined the Paris climate accord and with another, Biden blocked funds for a border wall with Mexico.
WorldAssociated PressBrazil to end military-led program against Amazon logging
Brazil's ongoing military-led operation to curb illegal deforestation and fires in the Amazon rainforest will end April 30, Vice President Hamilton Mourão said at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday. Mourão defended the success of Operation Green Brazil 2, which was launched last May and saw deployment of thousands of soldiers across the Amazon. The vice president leads the government's Amazon Council to fight deforestation in the region.
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.
- NewsYahoo News Video
Video resurfaces of Marjorie Taylor Greene harassing Parkland survivor
In a video that was recorded before she was a member of Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene can be seen harassing David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting.
PoliticsReutersBiden takes sweeping measures to curb climate change, vows job creation
President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed a new raft of executive actions to combat climate change, including pausing new oil and gas leases on federal land and cutting fossil fuel subsidies, as he pursues green policies he billed as a boon for job creation. The orders map out the direction for the Democratic president's climate change and environmental agenda and reverse the policies of his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, who sought to maximize U.S. oil, gas and coal output by removing regulations and easing environmental reviews. "In my view, we've already waited too long to deal with this climate crisis," Biden told a White House ceremony, noting the threats the nation faces from intensifying storms, wildfires, floods and droughts linked to climate change as well as air pollution from burning fossil fuels.
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.
WorldBBCCoronavirus: Why South Africa has yet to roll out vaccines
South Africa has been seeking to source vaccines in three ways: via the World Health Organization-backed Covax scheme via arrangements made by the African Union through bilateral contracts with vaccine manufacturers Covax is a global initiative in which countries pool their resources to support the development of vaccines with a view to ensure that all countries receive a fair supply of effective vaccines. South Africa expects to acquire doses for around 10% of the population through Covax and has been told it will receive them from April through to June. The African Union established the African vaccine acquisition task team last year to source vaccine doses for the continent.
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.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestHere Are The Brightest Decor Buys of the Season
Let's get loud Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
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.
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.
PoliticsReutersBiden U.N. nominee pledges to work 'aggressively' against Chinese influence
U.S. President Joe Biden's nominee for ambassador to the United Nations stressed on Wednesday the importance of U.S. re-engagement with the 193-member world body in order to challenge efforts by China to "drive an authoritarian agenda." Beijing has been pushing for greater global influence in a challenge to traditional U.S. leadership. Tension between the two superpowers hit a boiling point at the United Nations last year over the coronavirus pandemic.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
“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.”