U.S.Yahoo NewsA deadly storm on top of a pandemic devastates vulnerable Texans: 'We've been living in a nightmare'
Just as José Loera and his family were beginning to assess the damage to his mother's home in Houston — a caved-in roof, a living room ruined by burst pipes, flooding throughout the house — the family received more devastating news. Loera's father, José Emilio, who had already been in the hospital for three weeks recovering from COVID-19 when last week's devastating winter storm hit Texas, had lost the ability to breathe on his own. “We got hit pretty hard, not only the winter storm that affected my mom's household but also with my dad,” Loera, 28, told Yahoo News on Monday.
U.S.National ReviewFederal Judge Indefinitely Blocks Biden Administration’s 100-Day Deportation Moratorium
A federal judge on Tuesday indefinitely banned the Biden administration from enforcing a 100-day pause on deportations of most illegal immigrants in response to a lawsuit from Texas, which argued that the moratorium violated federal law and could saddle the state with additional costs. U.S. district judge Drew Tipton issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday, dealing a blow to President Biden's efforts to follow through on his campaign promise to pause most deportations. Tipton first ruled on January 26 that the pause violated federal law on administrative procedure and that the U.S. failed to show why a deportation pause was justified.
U.S.Associated PressSpecial prosecutor picked for case against St. Louis couple
A former U.S. attorney and circuit judge was appointed Wednesday as special prosecutor in the case against a St. Louis couple who waved guns at racial injustice protesters last summer. Circuit Judge Steven Ohmer chose Richard Callahan to prosecute Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who have pleaded not guilty to unlawful use of a weapon and evidence tampering. Callahan was the U.S. attorney in St. Louis from 2010 to 2017, and was a circuit judge and a prosecutor in Cole County.
WorldReutersUkraine says Russian hackers attack web-based state document system
Ukraine accused an unnamed group of Russian hackers on Wednesday of trying to disseminate malicious documents through a web-based system on which government documents are circulated, but did not say whether any damage was caused. Kyiv has previously accused Moscow of orchestrating large cyber attacks as part of a "hybrid war" against Ukraine, which Russia denies. The aim of the attack was to contaminate information resources on the System of Electronic Interaction of Executive Bodies, Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council said in a statement.
PoliticsThe Independent‘Zero respect’: Ted Cruz pictured scrolling through phone during harrowing opening testimony into Capitol riot
Texas senator Ted Cruz has been filmed scrolling through his phone during the harrowing opening testimony at the Senate hearing into the Capitol riots, less than a week after his controversial trip to Mexico. The US Capitol's three former top security officials have been testifying on Tuesday before the Senate Homeland Security and Rules committees about how Congress was breached during the riots on 6 January. Steven Sund, who was serving as the chief of the Capitol Police at the time of the insurrection, gave a harrowing account of the actions of that day in front of the committees on Tuesday.
StyleArchitectural DigestThe Best Dishwasher Models, According to Interior Designers
The designer-approved dishwashers look good—and perform even better Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
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.
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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.
WorldReutersPhilippines' Duterte says still undecided on future of U.S. troop deal
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he has not made a decision yet on the future of the two-decade-old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States, leaving the fate of the pact hanging in the balance. Duterte has said the United States should pay more if it wants to maintain the VFA, which he unilaterally cancelled last year in an angry response to an ally being denied a U.S. visa. The withdrawal period has been twice extended, however, to create what Philippine officials say is a window for better terms to be agreed.
BusinessBBCHyundai to replace 82,000 electric-vehicle batteries over fire risk
Hyundai is to replace the electric batteries in nearly 82,000 of its electric vehicles worldwide because of a fire risk. Most of the affected vehicles are Kona cars built between 2018 and 2020, tens of thousands of which have been sold in the UK, vehicle-registration data suggests. The recall is expected to cost Hyundai about £640m ($900m).
HealthThe WeekThe 'most encouraging' aspect of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine may be its effectiveness in South Africa, Brazil
The Food and Drug Administration appears to be closing in on an emergency use authorization for the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, which a large clinical trial has shown to be safe and effective. And the "most encouraging" aspect in the FDA's analysis may be the data that suggest the shot works in areas where highly contagious variants are spreading, like Brazil and South Africa. The overall efficacy rate — that is, protection against any symptomatic infection — in the South African trial was lower than it was in the United States initially, but the numbers did start to even out over time, and after a month, the shot's efficacy rate against severe infections was 82 percent.
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.
WorldReutersPhilippines to probe use of illegal COVID-19 vaccines
The Philippines health ministry said on Wednesday it will investigate the illegal use of unauthorised COVID-19 vaccines, after a presidential advisor admitted to receiving shots of a Sinopharm vaccine smuggled into the country. Ramon Tulfo, a celebrity radio and television host and special envoy to China, revealed in his newspaper column on Feb. 20 and again in an interview with One News that he received a dose in October from a batch that was also used by President Rodrigo Duterte's security detail. "I got hold of vaccines from a friend who smuggled it into the country," Tulfo told One News.
U.S.The IndependentTexas Attorney General left the state on the same day as Ted Cruz amid historic winter storm
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton left the state while a brutal winter storm caused millions of residents to be without power and clean water, on the same day senator Ted Cruz travelled from the state on a controversial trip to Mexico. Mr Paxton's spokesman Ian Prior told the Houston Chronicle on Monday that the attorney general and his wife, Texas state senator Angela Paxton, travelled to Utah last Wednesday. The spokesperson said that Mr Paxton left Texas to speak with Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, for a “previously planned” meeting to discuss a myriad of topics, including an antitrust lawsuit against Google.
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.
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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 WeekMichael Cohen predicts Trump tax investigation will end with jail time
Former President Donald Trump's ex-attorney Michael Cohen told MSNBC's Katy Tur that he thinks his old client ought to start looking into getting a "custom made jumpsuit." Cohen's prediction that Trump could wind up in jail came a few hours after the Supreme Court ruled that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance can obtain Trump's tax returns as part of New York prosecutors' investigation into his past business dealings. @MichaelCohen212 says Trump should look into getting a "custom made jumpsuit, because it does not look good for him."@JoyceWhiteVance says Cy Vance has "sent signals that this is a serious investigation."
WorldReutersDefying court order, Malaysia deports more than 1,000 Myanmar nationals
Malaysia sent more than 1,000 Myanmar nationals back to their strife-torn homeland on Tuesday despite a court order to halt the deportation, a move rights groups said could endanger the deportees' lives. The 1,086 Myanmar citizens were sent back on three navy ships sent by Myanmar's military, which seized power in a Feb. 1 coup, sparking weeks of protests from pro-democracy activists. Malaysia had initially said it would deport 1,200.
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.”
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.
WorldReutersEgg supply tightens in Poland as EU bird flu crisis hits industry
Avian influenza in Europe is now approaching levels last seen in 2016 with egg supply shrinking in Poland, one of the hardest hit countries due to the loss of laying hens, in a sign that the virus is starting to strain the poultry industry. The disease, commonly called bird flu, has been found in several European countries, decimating flocks with bruising losses for farmers already hit hard by Covid-19. Asia is also experiencing outbreaks of the same highly pathogenic H5N8 strain as the livestock sector also reels from the deadly African Swine Fever epidemic.
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China says Japan-U.S. security treaty a product of Cold War
China on Wednesday called the Japan-U.S. mutual security pact a product of the Cold War following U.S. criticism of the presence of Chinese coast guard vessels in Japanese-claimed territorial waters over the weekend. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin also reasserted China's claim to a string of tiny, uninhabited islands in the East China Sea controlled by Japan. The verbal exchange followed reports that two Chinese coast guard ships on Sunday twice entered Japanese territorial waters surrounding the islands, known by Japan as Senkaku and by China as Diaoyu.
PoliticsThe IndependentPerdue ditches Senate run after Trump Mar-a-Lago meeting
Former GOP senator David Perdue has decided against running for the Senate in 2022, in an apparent about-face that followed a meeting with former president Donald Trump in recent days. A source close to Mr Perude denied that the meeting between the pair was related to his decision not to run again, but said the meeting at Mar-a-Lago “did not go well”, according to the New York Times. Maggie Haberman, Washington correspondent for the New York Times, wrote on Tuesday that “Perdue had dinner with and played a long round of golf with Trump last week.
BusinessReutersGoldman-backed ReNew plugs into U.S. public market with $8 billion blank check deal
ReNew Power will go public through an $8 billion merger with a blank-check firm in the biggest deal in the fast-growing clean energy sector in India, allowing the country's largest renewable energy firm to grow capacity over the next few years. The deal will be financed with cash proceeds of $1.2 billion, including $855 million in investments from serial blank-check dealmaker Chamath Palihapitiya, funds managed by BlackRock and Sylebra Capital, ReNew Power said on Wednesday. Founded in 2011, ReNew Power counts Goldman Sachs and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board among its prominent investors.
U.S.Associated PressBust of Black hero of Lewis & Clark trip goes up in Portland
Now, one of the first works of art to emerge in their place depicts an unsung hero of the Lewis and Clark expedition. A huge bust of York, a Black man who was enslaved by William Clark and who was the first African-American to cross the continent and reach the Pacific Ocean, is sitting atop a pedestal amid a lushly forested park in Portland, Oregon. The artist's depiction of York shows him seemingly deep in thought or even sad, his eyes cast downward.
“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.”