WorldReutersItalian prosecutor seeks life sentences for U.S. students accused of killing
An Italian prosecutor on Saturday demanded life sentences for two young Americans being tried on murder charges after a policeman was killed following a botched drugs sale in Rome. Finnegan Lee Elder, who was 19 at the time, has admitted to stabbing Mario Cerciello Rega in the early hours of July 26, 2019, while his friend Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, then 18, was tussling with another police officer. Under Italian law, anyone who participates even indirectly in a murder can face murder charges.
PoliticsNBC NewsA third stimulus check is headed your way. Here's what you need to know.
The Democratic-controlled Congress is on the verge of passing its biggest round of coronavirus stimulus payments, delivering on a campaign promise by President Joe Biden. If the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill passes and becomes law, it would provide the third round of stimulus checks — after the $1,200 payments last March and the $600 payments in the December bill signed by President Donald Trump. The Senate is tweaking the House version of the bill, which is the most likely one to become law despite Republicans' rallying in opposition.
U.S.TODAYSenate bill narrows who can receive $1,400 stimulus checks. Here’s who’s eligible
A third stimulus bill will be debated today, but a last-minute change to the relief package means that about 7 million families may not receive a $1,400 check. Initially, the $1.9 trillion stimulus package, which is known as the American Rescue Plan, included $1,400 checks for people who make an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less, or couples who earn up to $150,000. The checks would have phased out as income increased, and individuals earning more than $100,000 a year and couples earning over $200,000 a year would not receive a check at all.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestThe 7 Best Refrigerators on the Market, According to Kitchen Designers
Quality food preservation, storage space, and good-looking design are priorities among kitchen designers when it comes to refrigerators Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsReutersA day after forcing marathon bill reading, Johnson says 'preference' to leave Senate
The day after he single-handedly delayed the U.S. Senate's debate on President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill for 11 hours, Republican Senator Ron Johnson said on Friday that he could retire from office when his term expires. The two-term Republican told Wisconsin media outlets that he has not decided whether to run for reelection in 2022 but added that not seeking another term is "probably my preference now." Johnson, a Trump ally, recently drew widespread criticism by peddling a debunked conspiracy theory that leftists posing as Trump supporters played a role in the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderRudy Giuliani's legal woes mount as a federal criminal investigation into his Ukraine dealings resumes, report says
A probe into Rudy Giuliani's business and overseas dealings has resumed, according to AP. The criminal investigation will look into the legality of his conversations with Ukrainian officials. A federal criminal investigation into Rudy Giuliani has resumed, according to the Associated Press.
U.S.The WeekDetroit's mayor rejected a shipment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Experts say that's nuts.
Experts feared the Johnson & Johnson vaccine's slightly lower efficacy rate would lead to an impression of a two-tiered system. That has been exactly the case in Detroit, where the mayor just rejected a shipment of the company's vaccine. CNN reports that Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan (D) declined an allocation of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine this week, saying the other available vaccines are better.
U.S.NBC NewsAsians were thought to be the 'model minority.' Then came 'receipt culture.'
In another video recorded last July, a tech CEO taunted an Asian American family at an upscale Northern California restaurant, calling them an “Asian piece of s---.” Fueled by former President Donald Trump's anti-China rhetoric, the Covid-19 pandemic has unleashed an onslaught of hate incidents against Asian American and Pacific Islanders. In 2020, the group Stop AAPI Hate received more than 2,800 self-reports of coronavirus discrimination nationwide, from verbal harassment to physical assault.
PoliticsThe WeekManchin signs off on Democrats' stimulus bill unemployment compromise
After nine hours of negotiations, Senate Democrats reached a compromise on the enhanced unemployment payments in President Biden's COVID-19 stimulus plan, setting it up for passage perhaps as early as Saturday. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), a crucial moderate vote on the Democratic side in the 50-50 Senate, had expressed concern about raising the existing $300 per week benefit (which is set to expire on March 14) to $400 per week, but he came around on a new deal that kept the payments at $300 while extending them until early October. Additionally, the bill now forgives $10,200 in taxes on unemployment benefits received in 2020.
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Civil war within the GOP continues as Trump fires back at strategist Karl Rove
Former President Donald Trump intensified his war with the Republican establishment on Thursday by attacking Karl Rove, a longtime Republican strategist who criticized Trump's first speech since leaving office for being long on grievances but short on vision.
U.S.The Daily BeastTrump State Dept. Aide Accused of Beating Cops During Riot Is Already Hating Prison
A Trump appointee, who was still employed at the State Department when he allegedly bashed police at the U.S. Capitol with a riot shield and egged on a crowd of insurrectionists, has been arrested for his role on Jan. 6. Federico Klein, a 42-year-old State Department staff assistant with top security clearance, is facing a slew of charges, including unlawful entry and assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon, according to a criminal complaint first obtained by The New York Times. Prosecutors allege Klein, who also worked on Trump's 2016 campaign, “physically and verbally engaged with the officers holding the line” before assaulting one officer with a riot shield—and using that stolen police equipment to wedge open a door into the Capitol to allow insurrectionists inside.
PoliticsThe Independent‘People need the help now’: Senate at standstill over coronavirus relief as Biden makes final plea for passage
The US Senate came to an hours-long standstill on Friday, with off-the-floor negotiations among Republicans and moderate Democrats over the future of unemployment benefits for jobless Americans, a compromise that threatened to derail a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief legislation that is critical to Joe Biden's efforts to combat the pandemic. Attention centred around moderate Democrats like Joe Manchin of West Virginia as Republicans offered last-minute revisions to jobless aid, along with more than 100 amendments to the aid package as it clears its last major hurdle one year after a public health crisis that has upended American life and its economy.
PoliticsCBS News2,000 page report shows House GOP posting attacks on 2020 election
A Democratic congresswoman has released a nearly 2,000-page report compiling social media posts about the 2020 election from House Republicans who voted to overturn the results. The report lays out how some Republicans relentlessly pushed misinformation and conspiracy theories about election fraud, and kept at it even after Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol. "Like former President Trump, any elected Member of Congress who aided and abetted the insurrection or incited the attack seriously threatened our democratic government," Representative Zoe Lofgren writes in the introduction of her report. The California lawmaker suggests the social media posts could be used as evidence for potential punishments of these Congress members, including expulsion and any criminal charges stemming from the Capitol insurrection.
BusinessFort Worth Star-TelegramTexas regulators will not correct $16 billion in electricity ‘overcharges.’ Why?
At its Friday meeting, the Public Utility Commission of Texas declined to adjust prices that resulted in $16 billion in overcharges to the electricity market during the February winter storm. The governor-appointed regulatory commission, which oversees the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, met with just two members after the resignation of chairperson DeAnn Walker. Commissioners Arthur D'Andrea and Shelly Botkin addressed the Potomac report, which found that ERCOT kept electricity prices too high for at least 33 hours after most outages ended on late Feb. 17.
PoliticsThe IndependentBiden secretly limits drone strikes, amid congressional scrutiny over war powers
The Biden administration secretly put temporary limits on the use of drone strikes and commando raids outside of traditional battlefield settings like Afghanistan or Syria, part of a larger national security review of whether to alter use of force rules from the Trump administration. The changes, which the administration put in place on Mr Biden's first day in office, were first reported on Wednesday by the New York Times, and come as the Biden administration recalibrates the sprawling US footprint across the Middle East, and Congress pushes to rein in the president's war-fighting powers and scrutinises a recent strike in Syria.
PoliticsLos Angeles Times OpinionLetters to the Editor: Gavin Newsom stabbed workers in the back by being silent on Prop. 22
To the editor: Gov. Gavin Newsom's Future of Work Commission called for a new "social compact" for workers — an aspiration that took a knife in the back from Newsom's silence on Proposition 22 last November. On the report's goals for improving workers' wages, benefits and rights, increasing racial equity and unionization, Proposition 22 did the opposite. It institutionalized rideshare drivers' status as poverty-level, informal workers.
U.S.The Daily BeastLake of the Ozarks Realtor Offered $1.5K to Have Her Former Mother-in-Law Killed: Prosecutors
She was reportedly concerned about the woman causing problems with her relationship with her kids. Bauman was recorded discussing the scheme, according to a press release from the Camden County prosecutor's office. She was given multiple opportunities to change her mind when asked by a witness-turned-informant if she was sure she wanted to carry out the killing, prosecutors said, but she moved ahead with it, at one point acknowledging that she was a Christian but noting she could always ask for forgiveness later.
PoliticsThe IndependentBiden news: Senate at stimulus standstill as CDC ends Covid safeguard for shelters in migrant ‘tsunami’
The US Senate came to an hours-long standstill on the Covid stimulus as negotiations threatened to derail a $1.9 trillion relief legislation that is critical to Joe Biden's efforts to combat the pandemic. As the president made a plea to pass the bill, Donald Trump was focusing on the “spiralling tsunami” of migrants on the US Mexico border in a furious statement blaming Biden for the overwhelmed border agencies. The situation is becoming so dire the CDC is reportedly lifting a Covid safeguard requiring shelters stay at 50 per cent capacity to maintain distancing.
HealthFort Worth Star-TelegramGov. Abbott, where’s the evidence that it’s safe to remove Texas’ mask mandate?
In spite of recent warnings from public health officials, Gov. Greg Abbott lifted the state's mask mandate, effective March 10. In response, we ask: What evidence did the governor use to change policy? We know that public health policy has been far more effective in dealing with the pandemic than individual actions alone.
U.S.INSIDERDisney World guests with COVID rage spit and yell at resort staff trying to enforce safety guidelines, report says
Disney World employees are experiencing harassment from guests, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Workers detailed incidents of being spat and yelled at for trying to enforce COVID-19 safety protocols. Employees of the Walt Disney World Resort have been harassed by furious guests while trying to enforce COVID-19 health and safety guidelines, according to a report by the Orlando Sentinel.
WorldThe IndependentProtesters injured after police clashes over Paraguay’s Covid response
Around 20 people were injured when police fired rubber bullets and tear gas as protests over the Paraguayan government's handling of Covid turned violent. Hundreds of rioters, mainly young people, took to the streets of the capital, Asuncion, on Friday amid growing outrage that coronavirus infections had hit record levels and hospitals verged on collapse throughout the South American nation. Protesters lit flares, threw rocks at police, broke down security barriers and started fires in the streets as violent clashes turned the area around Asuncion's Congress building into a makeshift battlefield on Friday night.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderThe Wall Street Journal ridicules Trump in public feud after the paper questioned his usefulness to the Republican Party
The Wall Street Journal and Trump are feuding after the paper ridiculed him for his election loss. The paper published an article that questioned Trump's usefulness to the Republican Party. Trump responded by saying the paper, backed by Rupert Murdoch, has "lost great credibility."
U.S.The Daily BeastFox News Turns to Tyrus, Currently Embroiled in Sexual-Harassment Lawsuit, for Thoughts on Cuomo
For thoughts on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's harassment scandal, Fox News daytime show Outnumbered on Friday turned to Tyrus, who is currently embroiled in a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit from his former Fox Nation co-host Britt McHenry. As far as, all women should be heard and respected, and then you need to have the investigation and then results of the investigation. Uhh, we need to respect those,” the Fox contributor said, when asked for his thoughts on the accusations against Cuomo, before quickly pivoting to the controversy over the governor's alleged cover-up of coronavirus-related nursing home deaths.
U.S.INSIDERInaugural poet Amanda Gorman said a security guard followed her and told her she 'looked suspicious' when entering her own building
Amanda Gorman became an international sensation in January after performing at the Inauguration. Amanda Gorman said Friday that a security guard followed her home because he thought she looked "suspicious." The 22-year-old poet, who lives in Los Angeles, said she showed him her keys and buzzed herself into her building, prompting the security guard to leave without apologizing to her.
CelebrityNBC NewsRoyal tensions erupt into 'all-out war' ahead of Harry and Meghan's 'liberating' Oprah interview
While royals have given many interviews before, she said, the decision to invite such public scrutiny on the tensions that have played out behind palace doors will have been "controversial" with the family. Meghan accused the palace of "perpetuating falsehoods" about the couple in a 30-second excerpt from the interview that was released Thursday. "I don't know how they could expect that after all of this time, we would still just be silent if there's an active role that 'The Firm' is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us," she tells Winfrey.
“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.”