PoliticsThe IndependentBiden tells Fox News reporter he talked to Putin about ‘You’ when asked about his call with Russian president
Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked Mr Biden what he discussed with Mr Putin on a recent call between the leaders. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that Mr Biden called Mr Putin on Tuesday. "President Biden made clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of its national interests in response to actions by Russia that harm us or our allies," the White House said in a statement.
PoliticsThe WeekBiden did not, in fact, remove Trump's 'Diet Coke button' from the Resolute Desk, White House clarifies
The new Biden administration has yet not disclosed the secrets of Area 51 or explained what the Air Force really knows about UFOs, but it did clarify, at least, the mystery of the vanished "Diet Coke button" former President Donald Trump would use to summon refreshments in the Oval Office. The usher button, as it is formally known, is not gone, even if it is no longer used to summon Diet Cokes, a White House official tells Politico. The White House official "unfortunately wouldn't say what Biden will use the button for," Politico's Daniel Lippman writes, suggesting Biden might summon Orange Gatorade and not the obvious answer, ice cream — or, let's get real, coffee.
U.S.NBC NewsCalifornia man accused of stealing documents from Mitch McConnell's desk during Capitol riot
A California man accused of taking government documents he said were from Mitch McConnell's desk and attempting to steal an American flag from the Capitol has been charged in connection with the deadly riot there earlier this month. Tommy Frederick Allan was arrested on charges of violent entry or disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, entering a restricted building or grounds and damage or theft of federal property, according to a criminal complaint filed Jan. 20 in federal court in Washington, D.C. An arrest warrant outlines how two people sent tips to the FBI alleging Allan was part of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestHere Are The Brightest Decor Buys of the Season
Let's get loud Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldAssociated PressUN group says Sri Lanka virus cremation rule violates rights
A group of U.N experts has criticized Sri Lanka's requirement that those who die of COVID-19 be cremated, even it goes against a family's religious beliefs, and warned that decisions based on “discrimination and aggressive nationalism” could incite hatred and violence. The experts, who are part of the Special Procedures of the U.N Human Rights Council, said in a statement Monday that rule amounts to a human rights violation. “We deplore the implementation of such public health decisions based on discrimination, aggressive nationalism and ethnocentrism amounting to persecution of Muslims and other minorities in the country,” the experts said.
WorldReutersChina says U.S. military in South China Sea not good for peace
The United States often sends ships and aircraft into the South China Sea to "flex its muscles" and this is not good for peace, China's Foreign Ministry said on Monday, after a U.S. aircraft carrier group sailed into the disputed waterway. The strategic South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade flows each year, has long been a focus of contention between Beijing and Washington, with China particularly angered by U.S. military activity there. The U.S. carrier group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt and accompanied by three warships, entered the waterway on Saturday to promote "freedom of the seas", the U.S. military said, just days after Joe Biden became U.S. president..
PoliticsThe IndependentMike Pence is homeless after leaving office and ‘couch-surfing’ with Indiana politicians, report says
Former vice president Mike Pence, who was thrust into the spotlight during the last days of Donald Trump's presidency, does not have a permanent place to live in since leaving his official residence at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, according to reports. A source told the news portal, that the Pences are staying at a cabin that Indiana governor, Eric Holcomb, uses as a retreat, while two republicans close to the former vice-president said that Mr Pence and his wife were staying at Pence's brother's place in Columbus. Mr Pence, who grew up in Columbus, hasn't owned an Indiana home for at least the past eight years, reported Associated Press.
PoliticsBBCTrump lawyer Rudy Giuliani sued by Dominion voting machine firm
A firm which provided voting machinery in last year's US presidential election is filing a defamation suit against Donald Trump's lawyer Rudolph Giuliani, seeking $1.3bn (£950m) in damages. Dominion Voting Systems accuses Mr Giuliani of using Twitter and media appearances to promote a false narrative that the election was stolen. Mr Trump has refused to concede that Joe Biden won the 2020 election fairly.
PoliticsNBC NewsGeorgia lawmaker removed from House chamber after refusing Covid test
A Georgia state lawmaker said his refusal to take a Covid-19 test got him kicked out of the House chambers on Tuesday. But Georgia House Speaker David Ralston said the lawmaker, Rep. David Clark, has repeatedly refused to follow House policy which states that all members and staff be tested for the coronavirus twice a week. "The member in question had been advised numerous times about the requirements and had refused to be tested at any point during this session," Ralston's office said in a statement on Twitter.
- U.S.Associated Press
Woman charged in Capitol riot may be released pending trial
The mother of a Tennessee man who authorities say carried flexible plastic handcuffs during the riot at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month can be released from custody, a federal magistrate judge ruled Monday in Tennessee. Lisa Eisenhart is accused of breaking into the U.S. Capitol with her son, Eric Munchel of Nashville, during the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington. Eisenhart poses no flight risk or danger to the public while awaiting trial, Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Frensley ruled.
WorldReutersConte quits as Italy's PM in tactical bid to build new majority
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte handed in his resignation to the head of state on Tuesday, hoping he would be given an opportunity to put together a new coalition and rebuild his parliamentary majority. The deepening political crisis is playing out against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 86,000 Italians -- the second highest death toll in Europe after Britain and the sixth highest in the world. Conte lost his absolute majority in the upper house Senate last week when a junior partner, the Italia Viva party headed by former premier Matteo Renzi, quit in a row over the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis and economic recession.
PoliticsLA Times45 Senate Republicans vote to declare Trump impeachment trial unconstitutional
Moments after senators were sworn in Tuesday as jurors in former President Trump's impeachment trial, Republicans forced a vote on the constitutionality of the process that strongly suggested Democrats won't be able to get the two-thirds support they will need for a conviction next month. Forty-five Republicans supported a resolution by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that said the trial is unconstitutional because Trump is a private citizen and no longer president.
WorldThe IndependentFour teenagers arrested over ‘live-streamed’ murder of 15-year-old girl in Walmart
Four young girls were arrested over the weekend after the fatal stabbing of a 15-year-old girl at a Louisiana Walmart was live-streamed on social media. The four girls, aged between 12 and 14, were arrested on Saturday after the victim was fatally stabbed at a Walmart in Lake Charles, Louisiana, according to a Facebook post by the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office on Sunday. The suspects allegedly used a knife that they had stolen from the store in the incident, just moments after they were seen in the kitchen aisle, according to reports.
- NewsFOX News Videos
Biden administration has system in place where reporters will not ask president tough questions: Media critic
Steve Krakauer, editor at Fourth Watch, says 'it shouldn't be contingent' on one reporter to ask Biden tough questions.
WorldAssociated PressIsraeli troops kill Palestinian attack suspect in West Bank
Israeli troops on Tuesday shot and killed a Palestinian suspected of trying to attack soldiers at a West Bank intersection, the military said. The Israeli army said the incident occurred near near the Israeli settlement of Ariel in the occupied West Bank. In a video released by the military, a female soldier identified as “Cpl.
WorldNextSharkTibetan Monk, 19, Dies After Months of Beatings in Chinese Custody, Human Rights Watch Claims
Tenzin Nyima, also known as Tamay, served at Dza Wonpo monastery in Wonpo township, Kandze prefecture, a Tibetan area in the Sichuan province of China. Nyima was first arrested in November 2019 after distributing leaflets with three other monks according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). They protested for Tibetan independence outside a local government office because local officials allegedly pressured forcibly resettled nomads and rural dwellers to praise China's “Poverty Alleviation” program.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderJoe Biden says he's willing to adjust income thresholds for stimulus checks in the new relief package
Joe Biden on Monday seemed willing to negotiate an aspect of the new coronavirus relief package. President Joe Biden on Monday said he was open to altering the income thresholds for a fresh wave of direct payments to Americans, a key demand among some moderate senators reluctant to back his coronavirus rescue package.
PoliticsThe IndependentQAnon merges with white extremists and spreads new conspiracy Trump will be president again on March 4
Believers of the QAnon conspiracy have begun to spread rumours that Donald Trump will become president again on 4 Match, as the theory merges with other online extremist movements. QAnon supporters have been circulating the theory that the Republican will return to office in recent days, with many suggesting 4 March as a final day of reckoning for the former president's opponents. The rumours, which have been shared on TikTok, come amid reports QAnon was moving towards theories promoted by The Sovereign Citizen movement.
U.S.The IndependentTrump Plaza near Mar-a-Lago in Florida will be renamed following riots at US Capitol
The board of Trump Plaza in Florida has voted to remove the ex-president's branding from its twin-buildings following the riots at the US Capitol. The 32-storey tower in downtown West Palm Beach is a 10-minute drive from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago across the Intracoastal Waterway, where he has returned after leaving the White House to launch the Office of the Former President. Trump Plaza's condo board voted on 19 January to rename the complex after two attempts in 2020.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderDr. Anthony Fauci is the federal government's top-paid employee, and was paid $18,000 more than Trump in 2019
Fauci earned $417,608 in 2019, according to OpenTheBooks – a rise of $18,000 from the year before. A spokeswoman for the National Institutes of Health told Insider in December his current salary was $434,312 per year. Dr. Anthony Fauci has the highest salary of all federal government employees in the US.
PoliticsINSIDERFilibuster drama explained: McConnell will organize the new Senate now that he's confident Democrats won't gut the filibuster
McConnell wanted a promise that Democrats would not eliminate the filibuster. Two Democratic Senators signaled their support for keeping the filibuster in place Monday. With those assurances, McConnell said he was ready to move forward with an organizing resolution.
PoliticsThe IndependentMike Pence adviser claims she was told to spy on Deborah Birx because she ‘was not to be trusted’
A former adviser to Mike Pence says she was told to "spy" on Dr Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus taskforce coordinator during the Trump administration. In response to Ms Birx speaking out publically this week, Ms Troye said she saw first hand the "very challenging situations" the administration placed on its health expert. "I'm the person that actually was brought into a room at some point when she first started, and she was coming into a no-win situation even more so than, I think, she even realized," Ms Troye said in an interview with MSNBC's Chris Hayes on Monday.
U.S.USA TODAY'Atmospheric river' to blast California with heavy rain, feet of snow
A powerful "atmospheric river" was headed for California on Tuesday, bringing the threat of torrential downpours that could unleash destructive debris flows from wildfire burn scars as well as a massive dump of snow in the Sierra Nevada. "Even though precipitation is greatly needed across the drought-stricken state, the storm will bring too much all at once and lead to serious flooding concerns," AccuWeather meteorologist Jake Sojda said. Evacuation orders were in effect for areas of fire-scarred Santa Cruz County, and evacuation warnings were issued in San Mateo County.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderFormer Navy SEAL who oversaw bin Laden raid says people 'don't have to look at a president' to find American values
Retired Adm. William McRaven, a former US Navy SEAL commander and head of US Special Operations Command, had a hopeful message for aspiring public servants. "When the locals see that, they believe in America," McRaven said of public service, in a podcast. Retired Adm. William McRaven, a former US Navy SEAL commander and head of US Special Operations Command, had a hopeful message for aspiring public servants, particularly those who feel distraught by an absence of moral leadership by high levels of government.
U.S.The Daily BeastTeen Killed 6 Family Members After Dad Scolded Him for Leaving the House: Reports
An Indianapolis teenager accused of killing six family members over the weekend reportedly began the grisly attack after his father yelled at him for leaving the house without permission, according to police and people close to the family. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department on Monday announced the arrest of a 17-year-old boy in connection with the Sunday murder of five people, including a pregnant woman whose unborn baby also died. “I'm still tryna wrap my mind around this whole thing,” Nikki Smith, a childhood friend of victim Kezzie Childs, told The Daily Beast.
“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.”