PoliticsThe WeekJoe Biden just yanked away stimulus checks from 17 million Americans
During the campaign for the two Georgia Senate races, Joe Biden repeatedly promised to pass $2,000 stimulus checks if the Democrats won. After they did, the administration argued that $2,000 really meant $1,400 in addition to the $600 that had already gone out in the December rescue package. Whether that is true or not, now Biden is inarguably breaking his promise.
WorldBBCHardoi: India man arrested for beheading teenaged daughter
Police in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh have arrested a man for beheading his 17-year-old daughter. Sarvesh Kumar was arrested as he walked towards a police station carrying the severed head. In a video shot by the police, he is heard saying that he was angered by his daughter's alleged affair with a man he did not like.
PoliticsAxiosPence breaks silence to condemn Democrats' sweeping voting reform bill
In some of his most extensive remarks since Jan. 6, former Vice President Mike Pence wrote an op-ed Wednesday condemning House Democrats' sweeping election and anti-corruption proposal as an "unconstitutional power grab" by "leftists." Why it matters: Pence has largely stayed quiet since the Capitol insurrection, during which rioters were heard chanting "hang Mike Pence" after former President Trump promoted the claim that the vice president could block the certification of the Electoral College. The big picture: Writing in The Daily Signal, Pence repeated dubious claims that the 2020 election was "marked by significant voting irregularities."
WorldReutersSOS call to local paper saves 81 Rohingya at sea, but no country says welcome
Siddiqui pleaded with Giles to spread the word of dozens of Rohingya Muslims fleeing Bangladesh for Malaysia aboard a crippled fishing boat in the Andaman Sea. Eight of the passengers had already died. "You can help me save lives," Siddiqui told Giles, who publishes the English-language Andaman Chronicle, which has been covering news in India's coral reef-fringed Andaman and Nicobar archipelago for more than 15 years.
- NewsYahoo News Video
Authorities investigate whether human smuggling involved in Calif. crash
Barely a mile from where an SUV packed with 25 people struck a tractor-trailer — killing 13 inside — a cemetery with unmarked bricks is a burial ground for migrants who died crossing the border from Mexico to remote California desert.
WorldThe TelegraphNicola Sturgeon chokes back tears as she rejects 'absurd' claims she was out to destroy Alex Salmond
Nicola Sturgeon choked back tears and insisted "I would never have wanted to 'get' Alex Salmond" as she rejected as "absurd" his claims of a plot among senior SNP figures to destroy him. The First Minister told a Holyrood inquiry the "simple" truth was that several women made complaints about Mr Salmond's behaviour and "I refused to follow the usual pattern of allowing a powerful man to use his status and connections to get what he wants." In an appearance spanning more than eight hours, against the backdrop of calls for her resignation, Ms Sturgeon insisted she had seen "nothing that comes within a million miles" of backing Mr Salmond's conspiracy claims.
BusinessAssociated PressSouth Korea economy shrank in 2020 for 1st time in 22 years
South Korea's central bank says the country's economy shrank for the first time in 22 years in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic destroyed service industry jobs and depressed consumer spending. Preliminary data released by the Bank of Korea on Thursday showed the country's gross domestic product last year contracted 1% from 2019. It was the first annual contraction since 1998, when South Korea was in the midst of a crippling financial crisis.
WorldNBC NewsU.S. issues warning after Microsoft says China hacked its mail server program
The U.S. has issued an emergency warning after Microsoft said it caught China hacking into its mail and calendar server program, called Exchange. The perpetrator, Microsoft said in a blog post, is a hacker group that the company has "high confidence" is working for the Chinese government and spies primarily on American targets. The latest software update for Exchange blocks the hackers, prompting the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, to issue a rare emergency directive that requires all government networks do so.
U.S.The TelegraphNorth Carolina mocked after prioritising anyone who has smoked 100 cigarettes in their lifetime for a vaccine
Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said that all frontline essential workers can have their vaccine now while giving three weeks' notice for those who are obese, in jail, pregnant, homeless - or who have smoked just five packets of cigarettes in their life. The cohort including smokers will be called forwards on March 24, and is designed to include adults at higher risk of virus exposure or who are at an increased risk of having a severe illness Smokers are defined as “current or former” having “smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime.” Victor Ricchezza, a Geology Professor at Georgia State University added: “I haven't smoked in years but was just joking with my wife that I could almost certainly smoke 100 cigarettes by the time we hit North Carolina in the car.”
WorldArchitectural Digest9 of the Best Outdoor Rugs That Literally Ground Any Space
High-traffic areas are about to meet their match Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldAssociated PressYemen’s rebels say latest US sanctions will prolong the war
Yemen's Iran-backed rebels Wednesday warned that the U.S. sanctions imposed the previous day on two of their military leaders would only prolong the conflict in the impoverished Arab country. President Joe Biden's administration on Tuesday slapped sanctions on two Houthi leaders, citing their alleged roles in cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia and shipping vessels in the Red Sea. Rebel leaders Monsour al-Saadi and Ahmed al-Hamzi were responsible for attacks “impacting Yemeni civilians, bordering nations, and commercial vessels in international waters,” the departments of State and Treasury said.
U.S.TheGrioMom arrested after girl, 4, found alone on NYC sidewalk remained unclaimed for days
Over the weekend police officers were stunned to discover a four-year-old girl roaming the streets of New York City alone. Saturday, police noticed the child walking alone just after midnight at the corner of E. 156 St. and Prospect Ave. in the Bronx. Sunday, the NYPD shared surveillance video on its official Twitter page that showed a person who appears to be a woman walking ahead as the girl crosses the street alone.
WorldReutersTurkey's Erdogan pledges stronger rights and freedoms, critics unimpressed
President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday his government would strengthen rights to a fair trial and freedom of expression in Turkey under an "action plan" that critics said failed to address real concerns about an erosion of human rights. Part of long-promised moves towards legal and economic reform, the plan would also improve the judicial system and form the first step towards a new constitution, he said. Erdogan, who has faced accusations at home and abroad of increasingly autocratic rule over his NATO member country, said no one could be deprived of freedom because of their thoughts.
WorldAssociated PressMyanmar's Christian refugees hold anti-coup protest in India
About 300 refugees from a Christian minority community from Myanmar held a demonstration in India's capital on Wednesday against last month's military takeover in their country and demanded the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other Myanmar leaders. They chanted “Restore democracy in Burma” and Shame on you dictator” and carried placards as they burned a coffin with photographs of Myanmar's coup leaders and Chinese President Xi Jinping, accusing him of supporting the military rulers. They also stomped their feet on the Chinese national flag.
HealthBBCCovid: Biden says ‘Neanderthal thinking’ behind lifting of mask rules
President Joe Biden has criticised the lifting of mask requirements in the states of Texas and Mississippi, calling it "Neanderthal thinking". "I think it's a big mistake," he said. Masks, social distancing and other measures were still important, despite the role vaccines were playing in containing the pandemic, he said.
PoliticsThe Independent‘Textbook voter suppression’: How Trump’s stolen election lies are shaping the future of democracy
On the floor of Georgia's House of Representatives on 1 March, state Democratic Rep Bee Nguyen warned her colleagues that the bill in front of them – a 66-page, Republican-backed proposal to drastically roll back voting access across the state – followed a months-long campaign from Donald Trump and his GOP allies to undermine millions of voters with baseless claims of widespread voter fraud and a “stolen” election. “Members of this body aided and abetted a deliberate misinformation campaign to sow seeds of doubt among Georgia voters with absolutely no facts or evidence.” The bill would, among other things, cut mail-in voting and early voting access, strip elections oversight from the state's Secretary of State, and limit voting access that would disproportionately target Black voters.
HealthAssociated PressCanada vaccine panel recommends 4 months between COVID doses
A national panel of vaccine experts in Canada recommended Wednesday that provinces extend the interval between the two doses of a COVID-19 shot to four months to quickly inoculate more people amid a shortage of doses in Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also expressed optimism that vaccination timelines could be sped up. The current protocol is an interval of three to four weeks between doses for the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines.
WorldThe TelegraphCoronavirus latest news: Germany U-turns on AstraZeneca vaccine for over-65s
Vaccines tweaked for Covid variants will be fast-tracked, MHRA says UK's death toll fuelled by its obesity problem, say experts Economy 'will bounce back faster thanks to success of vaccinations' Rishi Sunak's five-year tax raid after Covid crisis Fears of 'mask apartheid' as schools threaten to segregate pupils Germany will authorise the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for people over the age of 65, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said. The country had previously approved it for under-65s only, citing insufficient data of its effects on older people. Now, in a significant U-turn, Mrs Merkel said recent studies had now provided enough evidence to approve it for all ages.
CelebrityTheGrioMichelle Obama: Barack and I ‘can’t get a word in’ with Sasha, Malia
During a recent interview on Good Morning America with host Robin Roberts, former First Lady Michelle Obama opened up about how she and her husband, former President Barack Obama, have open communications with their two young-adult daughters. I always have wanted them to start practicing the power of their voices very early on,” Mrs. Obama shared of Sasha, 19, and Malia, 22. If you sit around the dinner table, me and Barack, we can't get a word in edgewise and we like it like that.
PoliticsThe IndependentRepublicans ‘increasingly irritated’ by Marjorie Taylor Greene’s repeated efforts to disrupt work of Congress, report says
A growing number of Republicans are siding with Democrats against Marjorie Taylor Greene's repeated attempts to adjourn the US House of Representatives. For the third time in six days, the Georgia representative has forced members to return to the floor of the House to cast votes as to whether the lower chamber of Congress should adjourn. Ms Greene requested the adjournment in protest at the House taking up the Democrats' election and police reform bills this week.
WorldAssociated PressKuwait swears in new government amid mounting crises
Kuwait's new Cabinet was sworn in Wednesday, state-run media reported, weeks after the government quit amid a deepening deadlock with parliament that has blocked badly needed reforms in the tiny oil-rich Gulf Arab state. Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah swapped out four ministers whose selections had angered various lawmakers for less contentious, veteran politicians, an apparent gesture to appease parliament. The worsening rift between Kuwait's emir-appointed government and elected parliament presents the first significant challenge to Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, who ascended the throne last fall.
HealthNBC NewsTexas doctors respond to mask repeal: We have 'capacity' but not 'morale' for another surge
Some of Texas' top doctors warned Wednesday that Gov. Greg Abbott's sudden decision to ditch the mask mandate and lift coronavirus restrictions could result in a new surge of Covid-19 infections and deaths. And while they now have enough masks, ventilators and emergency room space to treat a new wave of patients, they say there is an acute shortage of staffers who aren't already stressed out and exhausted from battling the pandemic for more than a year. We have the capacity to take care of more patients,” Dr. James McDeavitt of the Baylor College of Medicine told NBC News.
U.S.Associated PressSpaceX Starship lands upright, then explodes in latest test
SpaceX's futuristic Starship looked like it aced a touchdown Wednesday, but then exploded on the landing pad with so much force that it was hurled into the air. The failure occurred just minutes after SpaceX declared success. The full-scale prototype of Elon Musk's envisioned Mars ship soared more than 6 miles (10 kilometers) after lifting off from the southern tip of Texas on Wednesday.
PoliticsThe Independent5,000 National Guard troops remain in DC amid QAnon frenzy that Trump will be inaugurated again this week
Nearly 5,000 National Guard troops are in Washington, DC this week for an inauguration that won't happen. According to Rep. Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, this has led to online chatter about storming the Capitol a second time. “Some of these people have figured out that apparently 75 years ago, the president used to be inaugurated on 4 March,” Smith said during a hearing last month with Department of Defense officials.
PoliticsPolitico'Neanderthal thinking': Biden lays into states lifting Covid restrictions
President Joe Biden said Wednesday that moves by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and others to lift statewide Covid restrictions showed "Neanderthal thinking." The president's remark came after both Texas and Mississippi issued executive orders Tuesday to eliminate mask mandates and let all businesses open at 100 percent capacity, flying in the face of health officials who have urged continued Covid restrictions. Biden has signed an executive order requiring mask-wearing on federal property but has little authority to overrule governors and other state and local officials.
“Taking humans to Mars would require an investment astronomically out of kilter with the possible benefits.”
“Can a Mars settlement be a freer society than we enjoy on Earth? Maybe.”
“What we learn...may spark the next revolution that will make life in 2071 beyond anything we can imagine right now.”
“Our presence on Mars could jeopardize one of our main reasons for being there — the search for life.”
“The future of geologic investigation of other worlds lies with highly improved versions of our Mars rovers.”