PoliticsYahoo NewsProgressive leaders warn Biden administration to 'hold the line' on minimum wage hike
Nina Turner, former national co-chair for Sen. Bernie Sanders's 2020 presidential campaign, says middle- and lower-income Americans are “drowning” and need a substantial relief package from the White House and congressional Democrats. Prior to his inauguration, President Biden pushed for $2,000 checks to Americans struggling due to the pandemic and the resulting lockdowns that have shuttered many businesses. The current $1.9 trillion relief package includes a provision for $1,400 checks, but the White House notes that since $600 checks were approved by the last Congress in December, the total still comes out to $2,000.
- WorldAssociated Press
Warsaw opens murder probe into fate of 2 Poles in Mexico
Poland's Foreign Ministry said Thursday that authorities in Mexico are investigating the death of a young Pole and the hospitalization of another, which Polish media have linked with alleged organ harvesting. Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said he has ordered a separate investigation into what he called the “homicide and attempted homicide" of the two young Poles in Mexico. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Poland's embassy in Mexico is in contact with local investigators and with the men's local employer, and appealed to all to refrain from speculating about what had happened.
PoliticsYahoo NewsBiden, facing backlash over reopening shelter for migrant children, is left with few options
When the Biden administration began transporting migrant children to a Trump-era emergency influx shelter in Texas this week, it faced fierce criticism from some on the left, particularly Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who tweeted: “This is not okay, never has been okay, never will be okay — no matter the administration or party.” “From our perspective, influx facilities are certainly not ideal, but it is so much better than a child sitting in a camp in Matamoros or a child being cramped in a Border Patrol facility,” said Jennifer Podkul, vice president of policy and advocacy at Kids in Need of Defense, a pro bono legal service provider for migrant and refugee children.
WorldReutersSpecial Report: In Germany's Black Forest, Putin critic Navalny gathered strength and resolve
Three other prominent Russians told Reuters they paid medical bills estimated at up to 70,000 euros in total: London-based Yevgeny Chichvarkin, who made his fortune in mobile phones before falling out with Russian authorities; U.S.-based Sergei Aleksashenko, a former deputy chairman of Russia's Central Bank, and Roman Ivanov, an executive at Russian internet firm Yandex, who also now lives abroad. Ivanov said he consulted with his wife before agreeing to transfer an undisclosed sum - "a fairly large amount but less than a third" of the total, he said - to Charite hospital. "I transferred money from my European account, which is registered with the Russian tax service, nothing secret.
WorldINSIDERIranian journalist, who won the International Press Freedom Award, was detained in Turkey after fleeing a nearly 5-year prison sentence
Mohammad Mosaed is an Iranian reporter who has twice been arrested by the government. The Committee to Protect Journalists awarded him its 2020 International Press Freedom Award. Mohammad Mosaed, an Iranian freelance journalist who has twice been arrested by the government for his investigative reporting and criticism of Iranian officials, was detained by Turkish border officials earlier this year after fleeing Iran following a prison summons.
WorldThe TelegraphFormer SNP minister demands release of Salmond documents and says Sturgeon must go if they show conspiracy
A former SNP minister has called for secret documents about the Alex Salmond affair to be made public and said Nicola Sturgeon should resign if they prove allegations of a conspiracy. Alex Neil, an MSP who held senior cabinet posts in Edinburgh under both Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon, called for transparency from both the Scottish Government and the Crown Office, which have both been criticised for withholding evidence. Mr Salmond has alleged that senior figures in the SNP, including Ms Sturgeon's husband and her chief of staff, conspired against him by using sexual assault allegations to attempt to ruin his political career and potentially imprison him.
BusinessBBCUK 4G smartphone owners may be due £480m payout
About 29 million people in the UK may be entitled to compensation of up to £30 each if a legal claim from watchdog Which? It is suing chipmaker Qualcomm, claiming it breached UK competition law by taking advantage of its dominance in the patent licensing and chip markets. Qualcomm said the case had "no basis".
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UK top court says IS schoolgirl can't return
The UK's top court has unanimously ruled that a British-born woman who went to Syria as a schoolgirl to join Islamic State should not be allowed to return. The Supreme Court said on Friday (February 26) Shamima Begum cannot come back to Britain to challenge the government taking away her citizenship because she poses a security risk. She left London in 2015 when she was 15 years old and went to Syria via Turkey with two school friends, where she married an IS fighter.
WorldReutersChina expected to unveil hike in military budget as tensions rise
China is expected to reveal a robust increase in defence spending at the March 5 annual opening of parliament, as its economy rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic and military tensions rise, Chinese and Western security experts said. With the coronavirus hammering its economy, China last year announced a 6.6 per cent boost in defence spending to $178 billion, the lowest rate of increase in three decades. The new administration of President Joe Biden has moved quickly to remind Beijing that the United States intends to compete with China's growing influence and military strength in the Asia-Pacific.
WorldAssociated PressDefense head Austin weighs warship needs in Pacific, Mideast
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told sailors on the USS Nimitz Thursday that he hopes to avoid long ship deployments like the more than 10 months they just spent at sea. But as he made his first aircraft carrier visit as Pentagon chief, he acknowledged the demand for American warships around the globe as he wrestles with security threats from China in the Pacific and Iran in the Middle East. Standing in the ship's hangar bay, Austin said he will make a decision soon on whether to send a carrier back to the Middle East, where the Nimitz had been.
U.S.Architectural DigestMore Inside A New Safari Lodge Treehouse Tucked Away in Botswana’s Okavango Delta
Only reachable by canoe, this Xigera hideaway is centered along lush riverbeds and a rich concentration of wildlife. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsBusiness InsiderWhile Biden visits storm-torn Texas, Sen. Ted Cruz will be giving a speech on 'cancel culture' in Florida
President Joe Biden heads to Texas on Friday to tour some of the areas hit hardest by the winter storm last week. While he's there, he won't be meeting with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. Cruz has a speaking engagement that day at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida.
WorldINSIDERResidents of an Indian slum thought they were getting vaccinated like everyone else but were unknowingly part of a clinical trial
A white van drove through the slums of Bhopal in central India advertising a COVID-19 vaccine. The van reportedly said that anyone who got one would receive 750 rupees. It seemed like a win-win for residents in the slums of Bhopal in central India when a white van drove through the streets advertising, "Come and take the coronavirus vaccine and get 750 rupees!" from its speaker system.
WorldReutersU.N. rights chief decries arrests in China, abuses in Xinjiang
United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Friday that China is restricting basic civil and political freedoms in the name of national security and COVID-19 measures, adding to a wave of criticism of the country's rights record. "Activists, lawyers and human rights defenders – as well as some foreign nationals – face arbitrary criminal charges, detention or unfair trials," Bachelet told the Human Rights Council. More than 600 people in Hong Kong are being investigated for taking part in protests, some under the new national security law imposed by mainland China on the former British colony, she said.
WorldThe TelegraphIsrael pauses 'vaccine diplomacy' campaign after wave of criticism
Israel has halted a so-called vaccine diplomacy campaign that would give jabs to countries which recognise its claim to sovereignty over Jerusalem, following a backlash from senior officials and ministers. Benjamin Netanyahu, who is seeking re-election in March, said this week that he would send vaccines to countries such as the Czech Republic, Guatemala, Honduras and Hungary, as an apparent reward for opening diplomatic missions in Jerusalem. The gesture is controversial as both Israel and the Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital, which is why most countries base their ambassadors in Israel in Tel Aviv.
WorldAssociated PressEXPLAINER: How US airstrike in Syria sends message to Iran
A U.S. airstrike targeting facilities used by Iran-backed militias in Syria appears to be a message to Tehran delivered by a new American administration still figuring out its approach to the Middle East. The strike was seemingly a response to stepped-up rocket attacks by such militias that have targeted U.S. interests in Iraq, where the armed groups are based. It comes even as Washington and Tehran consider a return to the 2015 accord meant to rein in Iran's nuclear program.
U.S.Business InsiderSouth Dakota's legislature is moving to impeach its attorney general after investigators uncovered a hit-and-run victim's glasses in his car
AG Jason Ravnsborg was charged with three misdemeanors in connection to a fatal car crash. New details have since emerged with the victim's glasses found in Ravnsborg's car. Ravnsborg was charged with three misdemeanors last week after initially saying he thought he hit a deer, not a person.
WorldThe Daily BeastPutin May Have Triggered an Attempted Coup in Armenia After PM Insulted His Missiles
MOSCOW—Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced that his nation's military had attempted a coup on Thursday, the latest development in a country still recovering from last year's lost war with Azerbaijan. Now, politicians and political analysts are speaking of Russia's hand in the attempted coup, pointing to President Vladimir Putin's strained relationship with Pashinyan. On Tuesday, Pushinyan had insulted Moscow by complaining about Russian missiles, an indirect criticism of the Kremlin's strategy of waiting to intervene until Armenia was weakened in the conflict, despite its official status as a military ally.
PoliticsThe Telegraph'It's not as nice as Cancun': Ted Cruz jokes about controversial holiday in CPAC culture wars speech
Ted Cruz railed against "cancel culture" and mocked criticism of his trip to Mexico while his home state of Texas endured freezing conditions and power blackouts as he addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday. The Texas senator was widely criticised last week for taking a family trip to Cancun, Mexico while millions in his state went without heat or water after severe winter weather crippled power supplies. Here is @tedcruz out of state again—not doing his job again—joking about leaving Texans behind.
PoliticsReutersMcConnell to support Trump if party picks him as its 2024 nominee
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who excoriated former President Donald Trump over the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot less than two weeks ago, said on Thursday that he would "absolutely" vote for Trump if he became the 2024 Republican presidential nominee. McConnell, who Trump blasted last week as "a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack," said he expects to see an open contest for the Republican White House nomination in 2024 but showed no hesitation in backing Trump when asked whether he would vote for him as nominee. Trump is expected to talk about the possibility of a 2024 run when he speaks to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday, nearly two months after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn his defeat in November's election by Democrat Joe Biden.
U.S.Business InsiderA truck with a far-right militia sticker seen near the Capitol riot belongs to GOP Rep. Mary Miller's husband
A truck with a far-right militia sticker spotted at the Capitol riot belongs to Rep. Mary Miller's husband, according to a report. The truck bearing a Three Percenter sticker was spotted during the January 6 riot. Chris Miller, Rep. Miller's husband, told the Daily Beast the truck belongs to him but denies affiliation to the group.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderAfter a chaotic year, Biden moves to reclaim the USPS, despite a defiant Postmaster General Louis DeJoy
Postmaster DeJoy testified Wednesday at a House Oversight Committee hearing on the postal crisis. The same day, Biden nominated three people to open positions on the agency's governing board. After weeks of mounting pressure from Democrats, President Joe Biden named three nominees to open positions on the US Postal Service's governing board Wednesday, as a first step toward securing control of the agency that became a point of contention under the Trump administration last year.
PoliticsAssociated PressConservative gathering to feature Trump's false fraud claims
A gathering of conservatives this weekend in Florida will serve as an unabashed endorsement of former President Donald Trump's desire to remain the leader of the Republican Party — and as a forum to fan his false claim that he lost the November election only because of widespread voter fraud. Matt Schlapp, chairman of the Conservative Political Action Conference and a Trump ally, said discussion panels on election integrity would highlight “huge” evidence of illegal voting in Georgia, Nevada and elsewhere that ultimately swung the election for Democrat Joe Biden. Such baseless claims fueled the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and have been repeatedly dismissed by the courts, the Trump administration's leading security officials and senior Republicans in Congress, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
U.S.USA TODAYPilot reports UFO, says missile-like object flew over plane during flight to Phoenix
A pilot on a Phoenix-bound American Airlines flight radioed that an unidentified object flew over the plane in New Mexico on Sunday. At approximately 1:19 p.m. CST, the pilot of American Airlines Flight 2292 from Cincinnati reported, "Do you have any targets up here?
BusinessBusiness InsiderExperts say Dominion and Smartmatic could win their defamation lawsuits, but MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says they have 'zero' chance
Dominion and Smartmatic may win their defamation lawsuits, experts told Insider and CNBC. MyPillow's CEO told Insider Dominion had "zero, zero, zero" chance of winning. Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic have sued several Trump backers for billions of dollars, and experts say they may succeed if they can pass the high bar required in proving defamation.
“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.”