Why experts like Dr. Fauci think 'there's a really good chance' the worst of the U.S. pandemic is behind us

According to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll, two-thirds of Americans are either somewhat or very worried about the “newer, potentially more contagious” COVID-19 variants that have triggered huge overseas outbreaks and are now spreading in the United States. To be clear, worrying less about variants doesn't mean abandoning precautions; nothing will suppress cases and shorten the U.S. pandemic like wearing a mask, avoiding indoor gatherings, staying 6 feet apart and getting vaccinated. Asked if the worst of the pandemic was behind the U.S., Fauci told Yahoo News Tuesday that “it might be.”

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  This Is Exactly How We'll Know the Pandemic Is Over, Experts Say

  Best Life
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  Dr. Fauci Just Said He's Doing This for the First Time in a Year

  Best Life

They were stopped for speeding in the Keys. Then police smelled something fishy

Two commercial fisherman from the mainland were jailed Thursday after police said they were caught in the Keys with a haul of illegal seafood that started with 100 undersized wrung lobster tails. Their catch also included 17 undersized stone crab claws, four undersized whole lobsters and one undersized mutton snapper, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Osvaldo Hernandez, 65, listed as a seafood business owner in Fort Lauderdale, and Vladimir Medina Martin, 43, of Miami, were each arrested on a felony charge of taking 100 or more undersized lobsters.

Democrats decry Biden's airstrikes in Syria as unconstitutional. Republicans praise them as 'proportional.'

Democrats are calling the Biden administration's airstrikes in Syria unconstitutional. President Biden on Thursday ordered airstrikes against facilities in eastern Syria used by Iranian-backed militant groups, his first military action since taking office. The strikes were in response to several rocket attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq.

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  US targets Iranian militants in Syria

  Associated Press Videos
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  US bombs facilities in Syria used by Iran-backed militia

  Associated Press

Turkey's pro-Kurdish party MPs targeted in legal barrage

Turkey's parliament is set to consider legal bids to lift the immunity from prosecution of 21 pro-Kurdish MPs, applying more pressure on a political party targeted in a years-long crackdown and that now faces calls for its closure. The government accuses the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), parliament's third largest, of ties to Kurdish militants and stepped up its accusations after Turkish captives were killed in Iraq earlier this month. The HDP in response criticised President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party (AKP) for using a failed military rescue mission to target it politically and to sow ethnic division, and the European Union has expressed concern over the legal moves.

Asian Man in Critical Condition After Being Stabbed in the Back With a Butcher Knife in NY Chinatown

An Asian man is in critical condition after getting stabbed by a butcher knife in New York's Chinatown on Thursday evening. The 36-year-old local resident was attacked around 6:15 p.m. near the federal courthouse, near the corner of Worth Street and Baxter street next to the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse, reports PIX11. Call came in at 6:20 for report of a stabbing at Baxter Street and Worth Street.

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  No words exchanged before man stabbed in back in Chinatown

  WABC – NY
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  NYPD arrests Brooklyn man after stabbing in Chinatown

  ABC News Videos

Husband of Hitler-quoting GOP congresswoman parked his militia-stickered truck outside Capitol Jan. 6

Illinois state Rep. Chris Miller (R), the husband of freshman U.S. Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.), acknowledged Thursday that his pickup truck was parked in a restricted area outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot, but he said the "Three Percenter" militia sticker on the back window doesn't mean anything. "Army friend gave me decal," Miller told The Daily Beast in an email late Thursday. The Three Percenters, founded in 2008, are a "radical militia group" implicated in leading the Jan. 6 siege along with the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and other far-right extremist groups, the FBI said in an affidavit filed in the case against alleged rioter Robert Gieswein.

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  3 Percenter Sticker Found On Truck At Capitol Riot Belongs To GOP Rep's Husband

  HuffPost
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  Three Percenter Truck at Capitol on Jan. 6 Belongs to Hitler-Quoting Rep’s Husband

  The Daily Beast

Teen in hospital for sledding injury dies after dad died visiting her, Ohio mom says

Katie Dougherty Zuercher has a vision of her husband waiting for their daughter in heaven. “She used to wait on the front porch for him to arrive home from work to greet him with the biggest hug before he could even get in the house,” the Ohio mom said in a Facebook post. Last weekend, Dougherty Zuercher's 14-year-old daughter, Eirelyn, was seriously injured in a sledding accident at a park in Hinckley, Ohio, Cleveland.com reported.

Schumer privately says he wants to freeze last-minute stimulus changes in order to pass bill

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is privately saying he can pass President Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus package but wants to avoid any last-minute changes jeopardizing its trajectory, three sources familiar with the talks tell Axios. Why it matters: While the president hoped to enlist Republican support for the measure, Schumer has worked to ensure he has a solid 50 votes to muscle it through if necessary. What we're hearing: Schumer met with a group of moderate Democratic senators Thursday morning.

In Iraq's Biblical lands, scattered Christians ask 'should I stay or go?'

A jihadist message, "Islamic State endures", is still graffitied on the front gate of Thanoun Yahya, an Iraqi Christian from the northern city of Mosul, scrawled by Islamist militants who occupied his home for three years when they ruled the city. He refuses to remove it, partly in defiance of the militants who were eventually beaten by Iraqi forces, but also as a reminder that Iraq's scattered and dwindling Christian community still lives a precarious existence. "They're gone, they can't hurt us," said the 59-year-old, sitting in his home which he reclaimed when Islamic State was driven out in 2017.

Florida mom discovers infant son missing after daycare gives him to stranger

A Florida daycare is under fire after giving a 7-month-old baby away to a stranger. When Trinity McCoggle arrived at the Orient Road Child Development Center on January 25 to pick up her 7-month-old son, Adonis, she was left distraught when told her baby had been accidentally given to someone assumed to be the child's parent, ABC2 News reports. Describing what happened, McCoggle said the daycare worker “went to the back to get him, and when she came back, she said, He's not here.”

More Inside A New Safari Lodge Treehouse Tucked Away in Botswana’s Okavango Delta

Only reachable by canoe, this Xigera hideaway is centered along lush riverbeds and a rich concentration of wildlife. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

FBI pinpoints a single suspect in the death of US Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick

Federal investigators have a suspect in the killing of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. The probe was narrowed after video footage showed the suspect attacking officers with bear spray. The assailant has not yet been publicly named by federal investigators.

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  FBI pinpoints suspect in probe of U.S. Capitol policeman's death: NYT

  Reuters
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  FBI identifies suspect in death of Capitol police officer during Trump riot

  The Independent

Former SNP minister demands release of Salmond documents and says Sturgeon must go if they show conspiracy

A former SNP minister has called for secret documents about the Alex Salmond affair to be made public and said Nicola Sturgeon should resign if they prove allegations of a conspiracy. Alex Neil, an MSP who held senior cabinet posts in Edinburgh under both Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon, called for transparency from both the Scottish Government and the Crown Office, which have both been criticised for withholding evidence. Mr Salmond has alleged that senior figures in the SNP, including Ms Sturgeon's husband and her chief of staff, conspired against him by using sexual assault allegations to attempt to ruin his political career and potentially imprison him.

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  Salmond calls for string of resignations including Sturgeon’s husband

  The Independent
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  Nicola Sturgeon could be gone in weeks over the Alex Salmond affair, says Scottish Tory leader

  The Telegraph

Greece to toughen laws on sex crimes after wave of abuse allegations

Greece will toughen laws to combat sexual abuse and protect minors, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday following a cascade of recent scandals in culture and sport. "Greek society underwent a shock when it began to learn about its hidden facades," Mitsotakis told parliament. The measures he outlined include stricter penalties for crimes against sexual freedom, changing the statute of limitations for cases of child abuse, creating a registry for professionals who work with children and a website where victims can submit allegations in real time.

Journalist Tim O'Brien, who's seen Trump's taxes, thinks Trump's accountant will now flip in D.A. inquiry

Bloomberg's Tim O'Brien, one of the few journalists who has seen former President Donald Trump's tax returns, told MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell on Thursday night he will sleep better now that Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance finally has eight years of Trump's financial documents, from 2011 to 2019. O'Brien went on to explain why he thinks it's likely Trump's chief accountant, Allen Weisselberg, will flip on Trump. "The thing to really focus in on here is that it's not just the tax records that Cy Vance has now," O'Brien said.

9-year-old girl cries to virtual class that she's 'starving,' local food bank steps in

A 9-year-old girl living in the Jersey Shore area broke down in her virtual class and told her class she was “starving,” a local food bank said. Fulfill, a food bank based in New Jersey, told TODAY Food they got a call from the school district social worker who explained the girl had been having trouble concentrating and started to cry “uncontrollably.” "When asked what was wrong, she confessed in front of her entire class that she was starving,” Linda Kellner, the director of external affairs for Fulfill, said.

Dutch appeals court says coronavirus curfew was right move

A Dutch appeals court said on Friday the government had been right to impose a night curfew in the fight against the coronavirus, overturning a lower court's order which had caused confusion over the measure last week. In a clear victory for the government, the appeals court said it had rightfully used emergency powers to install the curfew, the first in the Netherlands since World War Two, and had adequately proved that the measure was necessary to rein in the pandemic. The district court in The Hague last week had ruled that the government had failed to make clear why emergency powers were needed at this stage of the pandemic, siding with anti-lockdown activists who had brought the case.

This United flight from Florida was just about to take off. Then came the pepper spray

A United Airlines flight out of Southwest Florida International Airport ran into some trouble Monday afternoon, but it had nothing to do with mechanical issues or lack of face masks. A passenger on the plane from Fort Myers to Newark International accidentally discharged a can of pepper spray from his keychain shortly before takeoff, Fox 4 Now first reported. A spokesperson for United Airlines said in a statement that the flight returned to the gate to let off anyone in distress.

Biden visits Texans battered by deadly winter storm and COVID-19 pandemic

President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden arrived in Texas on Friday for their first trip to a major disaster zone since the inauguration, a visit that's expected to include a survey of winter storm damage, a local food bank and a mass COVID-19 vaccination center. After landing at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base at noon, the president is expected to tour Harris County Emergency Operations Center while Jill Biden visits the Houston Food Bank. The pair will then reunite at a local-arena-turned-vaccination-center run by the federal government, where Biden will speak.

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  Biden in Texas to survey storm recovery efforts

  Reuters Videos
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  Biden surveys Texas weather damage, encourages virus shots

  Associated Press

Air Force general worried US won’t field sixth-gen fighter in time to beat China

Since September, when the U.S. Air Force disclosed that it had flown a full-scale demonstrator of its future fighter, the defense community has been hungry for more details about the Next Generation Air Dominance program. During the event, none of the 20-something journalists gathered ventured to ask Kelly about the NGAD program. “I for one am confident that the technology and the test points have developed to where NGAD technology will get fielded,” he said.

$1,400 stimulus checks set for House vote today. Here’s what to know

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan with $1,400 stimulus checks for most Americans on Friday before sending the legislation to the Senate for consideration. Democrats are hoping to pass the stimulus deal into law before Mar. 14, the day that $300 weekly unemployment benefits approved in December's coronavirus package expire. Around 11.4 million workers could lose their unemployment benefits between Mar. 14 and Apr. 11 unless Congress passes the bill before the mid-March deadline, a study by The Century Foundation found.

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  House passes Biden's $1.9 trillion relief package including $1,400 stimulus checks

  Yahoo Money
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  House Democrats Pass $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Bill

  HuffPost

Residents of an Indian slum thought they were getting vaccinated like everyone else but were unknowingly part of a clinical trial

A white van drove through the slums of Bhopal in central India advertising a COVID-19 vaccine. The van reportedly said that anyone who got one would receive 750 rupees. It seemed like a win-win for residents in the slums of Bhopal in central India when a white van drove through the streets advertising, "Come and take the coronavirus vaccine and get 750 rupees!" from its speaker system.

How 30,000 elephant 'selfies' will help in conservation

The 30,000 "selfies" are being used in a conservation project to help save endangered elephants. The researchers are developing new technology to help reduce human-elephant conflicts in countries where elephants roam free. Alasdair Davies is conservation technology expert at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

House Passes Biden’s $1.9T Stimulus Plan—Without a Single GOP Vote in Favor

Democrats are one big step closer to achieving their first major goal of the Joe Biden era. Early Saturday morning, the U.S. House approved a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill on a nearly party-line vote. The 219-212 vote allows the U.S. Senate to formally take up the legislation, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) intends to do immediately.

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  House passes Biden's $1.9 trillion relief package including $1,400 stimulus checks

  Yahoo Money
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  Biden scores legislative win as House passes $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan

  Reuters