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.
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.
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.
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.
PoliticsTimeWhat Rand Paul’s Procedural Failure Says About Donald Trump’s Survival
Sen. Rand Paul attends the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the nomination of Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, on Capitol Hill on Jan. 27, 2021. Sen. Rand Paul lost the very first procedural vote of former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial. “The impeachment trial is dead on arrival,” the Kentucky Republican and regular Trump ally declared yesterday after his attempt to short-circuit the impeachment trial on the grounds it is unconstitutional failed by a 55-45 vote.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
BusinessCharlotte ObserverBelk to file bankruptcy. Department stores to stay open, with no layoffs or closures.
Belk, the 133-year-old, Charlotte-based department store chain, will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, its owner, the private equity firm Sycamore Partners, said Tuesday. Belk will continue “normal operations” as it goes through bankruptcy, according to a news release from Sycamore. Pending objections, New York-based Sycamore expects Belk to exit bankruptcy by the end of February.
PoliticsBBCBiden raises election meddling with Putin in first phone call
US President Joe Biden has warned Russian leader Vladimir Putin about election meddling in their first call as counterparts, the White House says. The conversation also included a discussion about the ongoing opposition protests in Russia. A Kremlin statement did not refer to any points of friction, saying the call was "businesslike and frank".
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.
PoliticsTime‘He’s Saying One Thing and Then He’s Doing Another.’ Rep. Madison Cawthorn Peddles a Different Kind of Trumpism in a Post-Trump World
Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R.N.C., speaks as the House debates the objection to confirm the Electoral College vote from Pennsylvania, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. early on Jan. 7, 2021. As the Trump Administration drew to a close, Republican legislators and aides were forced to choose a side. Longtime Trump faithfuls, including Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Tom Rice have chosen Option 1, rebuffing their former leader, calling for rule of law and returning, at least rhetorically, to the storied principles of conservatism that once guided the Grand Old Party.
U.S.INSIDER3 members of a radical, anti-government group have been charged over their role in the Capitol insurrection
Three members of a radical anti-government group have been charged for their roles in the Capitol insurrection. The three are associated with the Oath Keepers, a group that claims tens of thousands of members. Three people associated with the Oath Keepers, a far-right, anti-government militia group made up of current and former military officers and law-enforcement officials, were indicted in a Washington, DC, federal court Wednesday.
WorldThe Daily BeastPanicked Euro Leaders Threaten Trade War as Vaccine Rollout Goes to Hell
ROME— The development of COVID-19 vaccines was supposed to mark the end of the worst year in modern history, but less than a month into the rollout, European leaders are already panicking. Threats of trade wars and fierce infighting over short vaccine supplies are making the cure—or in this case, the vaccine—just as divisive as the finger-pointing that marked the beginning of this nightmare. German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered a thinly veiled threat against the U.S. on how Europe should deal with American “vaccine nationalism” in her address to the World Economic Forum being held virtually instead of in Davos this year.
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.
PoliticsTimeThe Biden Administration Is Already Calling on China to Do More on Climate Change
Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry wants the world to know the U.S. is humble as it rejoins the international conversation on climate change. In his Jan. 21 remarks to the international business community hosted by the G20 group, Kerry used the world “humility” to describe America's reentry to climate talks five times. Two days later, speaking at the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Kerry called China's efforts to reduce emissions insufficient, and said that if the country doesn't bolster its commitments, countries working to fight climate change are “all going to lose credibility.”
BusinessBusiness InsiderThe Boeing 777X won't be delivered to airlines until late 2023. Take a look at the enormous new flagship Boeing hopes will be its redemption.
Boeing Boeing's third 777X aircraft departing on a test flight. Boeing Boeing's third 777X aircraft departing on a test flight. Boeing Boeing's third 777X aircraft departing on a test flight.
U.S.INSIDERCapitol rioter was noticed by airport cop because he was annoying people on his flight by yelling 'Trump 2020'
A man was arrested for his role in the Capitol riots because he annoyed people on his plane. John Lolos was removed from a Delta flight after yelling "Trump 2020" repeatedly. The airport officer who removed Lolos later recognized him in an Instagram video at the Capitol.
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...
“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.”