U.S.The WeekDid the Proud Boys help plan, lead the Capitol siege? Prosecutors are looking, and the video looks damning.
At least six members of the Proud Boys, a group of right-wing nationalist "Western chauvinists," have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 violent siege of the U.S. Capitol. Among those charged is Joseph Biggs, a Proud Boy leader who led about 100 men from former President Donald Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally to the Capitol. Prosecutors and federal investigators are now trying to determine how closely the Proud Boys communicated during the siege and whether they planned the incursion in advance, The New York Times reports.
WorldAssociated PressIsraeli military chief warns of new plans to strike Iran
Israel's military chief Tuesday warned the Biden administration against rejoining the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, even if it toughens its terms, adding he's ordered his forces to step up preparations for possible offensive action against Iran during the coming year. The comments by Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi came as Israel and Iran both seek to put pressure on President Joe Biden ahead of his expected announcement on his approach for dealing with the Iranian nuclear program. In Iran, leaders said they would not wait indefinitely for Biden to act.
WorldReutersMexican president felt unwell before commercial flight, took COVID-19 test later: spokesman
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador first felt the onset of COVID-19 on Sunday and was tested after returning to the capital on a commercial flight from an event in central Mexico, his spokesman said on Tuesday. Spokesman Jesus Ramirez said that passengers on the flight were being contacted, and that journalists traveling with the president were recommended to isolate. Lopez Obrador had a fever on Sunday and was still experiencing some mild symptoms by Tuesday, including a minor headache, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said in an evening news conference.
U.S.The WeekCapitol Police chief apologizes for riot 'failings,' acknowledges 'we knew that there was a strong potential for violence'
The acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police has offered an apology to lawmakers following the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol building, acknowledging the department "should have been more prepared." Yogananda Pittman, the acting Capitol Police chief, apologized to Congress during a closed-door briefing on Tuesday for "our failings" during the riot at the Capitol that left five people dead earlier this month, The New York Times reports. "On Jan. 6, in the face of a terrorist attack by tens of thousands of insurrectionists determined to stop the certification of Electoral College votes, the department failed to meet its own high standards as well as yours," Pittman said, according to remarks obtained by the Times.
U.S.Associated PressFormer Wisconsin officer cleared in 3 shootings now a deputy
A police officer in a Milwaukee suburb who resigned after being involved in his third fatal shooting in five years has been hired as a sheriff's deputy. Joseph Mensah was hired in Waukesha County after an extensive review that found his use of force was proper in all three shootings, Sheriff Eric Severson said Tuesday. Mensah, then a Wauwatosa police officer, was cleared in October in the death of Alvin Cole, a Black 17-year-old whom Mensah shot Feb. 2 outside Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa after police responded to a reported disturbance.
- PoliticsYahoo News Video
AP Exclusive: Department of Justice rescinds ‘zero tolerance’ immigration rule
The Justice Department on Tuesday rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations.
WorldReutersThailand targets vaccination of 19 million people in first phase
Thailand is targeting the immunisation of 19 million people against the coronavirus in a first phase of inoculations starting on Feb. 14, the prime minister said on Wednesday, amid criticism the government has been slow in rolling out vaccines. Inoculations will begin with 50,000 doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine, Prayuth Chan-ocha said. By May, Thailand will have received 150,000 doses from AstraZeneca.
PoliticsThe IndependentBiden news – live: President unveils climate crisis executive orders as chances of Trump impeachment fade
Joe Biden is signing three executive actions on Wednesday designed to tackle the climate crisis, including one order pausing new oil and gas leases being granted on federal lands, another directing the government to acquire electric vehicles and a third formally establishing an office of domestic climate policy under John Kerry and Gina McCarthy. A new Morning Consult poll has meanwhile found that Mr Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, remains popular within the Republican Party, with 50 per cent of respondents saying he should play a significant role in the GOP's future. A huge 81 per cent of those surveyed said they still held a positive opinion of him, even after the Capitol riot.
WorldAssociated PressFrance's Sanofi to help rival Pfizer-BioNTech make vaccines
In an unusual and potentially groundbreaking decision, French drugmaker Sanofi said Wednesday it will help bottle and package 125 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by its rivals Pfizer and BioNTech, while its own vaccine candidate faces delays. The announcement came as delays or production problems for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and a vaccine from Britain's AstraZeneca have caused political uproar across the European Union. Sanofi's Frankfurt facilities will help with late-stage production of vaccines prepared by Germany-based BioNTech, including bottling and packaging, starting in the summer, according to a Sanofi official.
NewsBBCCovid: US pharmacist in vaccine tampering guilty plea
A US pharmacist has agreed to plead guilty to tampering with Covid vaccine vials because he believed the jabs could harm people, prosecutors say. Steven Brandenburg, 46, is accused of removing from cold storage 57 vials with 570 doses of the Moderna vaccine in Grafton, Wisconsin, in December. Without refrigeration, the vaccine becomes ineffective.
WorldReutersIran will take steps next month to curb short-notice IAEA inspections: official
Iran threatened on Tuesday to block short-notice inspections of its nuclear facilities, demanding Washington reverse economic sanctions before it returns to compliance with a nuclear deal that President Joe Biden aims to restore. Biden, who took office last week, aims to reverse a decision by his predecessor Donald Trump to pull out of the 2015 agreement between Iran and world powers. The agreement lifted sanctions on Iran in return for curbs to Iran's nuclear programme, but after Trump quit and reimposed sanctions, Iran violated its conditions.
PoliticsThe WeekPentagon tied D.C. National Guard general's hands before Capitol siege
Lots of things went wrong with law enforcement before and during the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol by a mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump, and one of them was the long delay in deployment of National Guard reinforcements. Walker told The Washington Post on Tuesday that the Pentagon had tied his hands. Because Washington, D.C., isn't a state, the president is nominally in charge of the D.C. National Guard.
U.S.Associated PressCalifornia reverses stay-at-home order as conditions improve
Business owners hailed Gov. Gavin Newsom's decision to lift stay-at-home orders across California in response to improving coronavirus conditions, but local health officials expressed concern that it may cause residents to let down their guard. California is experiencing a “flattening of the curve,” Newsom said during a virtual news conference on Monday. The metrics are markedly improved since last month, when some Southern California hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients were crafting emergency plans for rationing care.
WorldReutersJapan PM apologises after lawmakers' night club outings
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga apologised on Wednesday after lawmakers from his ruling coalition visited night clubs despite his government's call for people to avoid unnecessary outings to curb the spread of COVID-19. The news is another headache for Suga whose approval rating has tumbled because of dissatisfaction with his handling of the pandemic, which critics have called too slow and inconsistent. "I'm terribly sorry that this happened when we are asking people not to eat out after 8 p.m. and to avoid non-essential, non-urgent outings," Suga told parliament.
WorldAssociated PressIran, Taliban officials say US pushing war in Afghanistan
Iranian and Taliban officials met in Tehran on Wednesday and accused the U.S. of provoking the continuation of war in Afghanistan, Iranian State TV reported. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told visiting Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar that the U.S. seeks to continue the war in neighboring Afghanistan. The U.S. strategy supports the continuation of war and bloodshed among various Afghan groups in the political spectrum,” Shamkhani was quoted as saying.
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.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestHere Are The Brightest Decor Buys of the Season
Let's get loud Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsBusiness InsiderRaytheon fears Biden will cancel $500 million arms sale to Saudi Arabia, report says
The Biden administration will cancel a $500 million sale of bombs to a US ally - believed to be Saudi Arabia - the CEO of a major defense contractor predicted on Tuesday. As reported by Defense One, Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes told investors that his company is already planning to lose its sale of an "offensive weapon system" to a "customer in the Middle East" that "we can't talk about." In May 2020, it was reported that the Trump administration was planning to approve the sale of thousands of "precision-guided munitions" to the Saudis and to allow Raytheon to also manufacture a previous generation of the missiles in Saudi Arabia itself.
PoliticsUSA TODAY OpinionWhy we need a bipartisan censure to deal with Trump, not another circus impeachment trial
It is a misnomer to call the Senate proceedings a trial in the purely judicial sense of the word. There is no right of the defendant, former President Donald Trump, to testify, and the Senate can consider a wide range of information. There is no process of discovery, no firm rules of evidence or other elements routinely expected in a courtroom — or even a television legal drama.
LifestyleCharlotte Observer8 must-follow Charlotte food bloggers for recipe inspiration
Making home cooked meals from scratch is a great way to stick to your healthy new year's resolutions while keeping your immune system strong. Whether you're looking for meals to add to your weekly meal prep, for family dinner or your next Zoom dinner date, this roundup of bloggers and recipes will have you covered. Who: Amee Livingston, Olympic weightlifting masters athlete, certified NASM trainer at Fight Back Performance and Recovery, cancer survivor and food blogger.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderHouse Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy will have 'conversation' with Marjorie Taylor Greene after her 'disturbing' comments on social media
Hundreds of posts and comments on Marjory Taylor Greene's Facebook showed disturbing comments. A spokesman for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Axios he'd speak with Greene. The freshman lawmaker has endorsed conspiracy theories that mass shootings were staged.
ScienceAssociated Press1st private space crew paying $55M each to fly to station
The first private space station crew was introduced Tuesday: Three men who are each paying $55 million to fly on a SpaceX rocket. While mission commander Michael Lopez-Alegria is well known in space circles, “the other three guys are just people who want to be able to go to space, and we're providing that opportunity," Suffredini told The Associated Press.
BusinessBusiness InsiderYouTube blocks Rudy Giuliani from earning ad dollars after he repeatedly pushed election misinformation
YouTube has temporarily blocked Rudy Giuliani from earning money on his videos after he repeatedly violated its policies against spreading election misinformation, the company said Tuesday. YouTube said it suspended Giuliani from its YouTube Partner Program, which gives the platform's more popular creators some of the revenue generated by ads on their videos, as well as more extensive resources and customer support. Giuliani can appeal the ruling after 30 days, the company said.
LifestyleArchitectural Digest47 Best Housewarming Gifts to Celebrate a New Home
Everything they need to put the horrors of moving behind them Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsBusiness InsiderKey Republicans went from blaming Trump for the deadly Capitol attack to fighting his impeachment in just 3 weeks
But just a few weeks later, they're already singing a different tune as the Senate prepares for Trump's impeachment trial. "The president bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack by mob rioters," House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on January 13 during the House debate over Trump's impeachment. This reportedly infuriated Trump, even though McCarthy did not support impeaching him, and it didn't take long for the House GOP leader to change his tone and shift blame.
“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.”