HealthYahoo NewsWhy 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.”
U.S.AxiosActing Capitol Police chief: Phone logs show Jan. 6 National Guard approval was delayed
Acting U.S. Capitol Police chief Yogananda Pittman testified on Thursday that cellphone records show former USCP chief Steven Sund requested National Guard support from the House sergeant-at-arms as early as 12:58pm on Jan. 6, but he did not receive approval until over an hour later. Why it matters: Sund and former House sergeant-at-arms Paul Irving clashed at a Senate hearing on Tuesday over a dispute in the timeline for when Capitol Police requested the National Guard during the Capitol insurrection. Irving insisted that he has no recollection of receiving the request until after 2pm.
WorldReutersTurkish court convicts executive, two jet pilots in Ghosn escape trial
A Turkish court convicted an executive of Turkish jet company MNG and two pilots for migrant smuggling over their role in flying former Nissan Motor Co Ltd Chairman Carlos Ghosn out of Japan during his escape to Lebanon just over a year ago. Two other pilots and a flight attendant were acquitted, while charges were dropped against another flight attendant. Ghosn, once a leading light of the global car industry, was arrested in Japan in late 2018 and charged with underreporting his salary and using company funds for personal purposes, charges he denies.
PoliticsThe WeekNew York prosecutors finally have Trump's tax records — and the public will likely never see them
In the race to get former President Donald Trump's tax records, New York prosecutors have won. While it was more of a marathon than a sprint, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office confirmed Thursday that it had received Trump's tax records a year and a half after first requesting them. Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance and his team will now be able to dig through what sources tell CNN are "millions of pages" of documents spanning January 2011 to August 2019.
PoliticsThe IndependentBiden nominee Neera Tanden’s tweet about Joe Manchin’s daughter may come back to haunt her
Neera Tanden, Joe Biden's nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget, previously criticised Democratic Senator Joe Manchin's daughter, a slight that might factor into whether or not she is confirmed for the position. Ms Tanden tweeted an image of an article about Mr Manchin's daughter, Heather Bresch, taking aim at a significant increase in her pay while she was CEO of Mylan. In the tweet, Ms Tanden pointed out that the company's board was justifying the pay raise by saying Ms Bresch had "contributed significantly to the company's growth in recent years".
LifestyleArchitectural DigestNo Need to Call an Architect—These 9 Room Dividers Elegantly Get the Job Done
From ornate to subtle, these beautiful screens double as functional art Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
U.S.NBC NewsFormer U.S. gymnastics coach dies by suicide after sex crime charges filed in Michigan
Police found the body of a former U.S. gymnastics coach who had ties to disgraced doctor Larry Nassar hours after he was criminally charged in Michigan on Thursday. State police troopers found the body of the man, John Geddert, who died by suicide, in a rest area off an interstate at 3:24 p.m. ET in Grand Ledge, Michigan, said Kelly Rossman-McKinney, a spokeswoman for Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Geddert, who led the U.S. women's gymnastics team at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, was charged with 20 counts of human trafficking and forced labor resulting in injury, one count of racketeering, two counts of criminal sexual conduct and one count of lying to police, according to a state criminal complaint filed in Eaton County.
BusinessReutersU.S. labor market showing tentative signs of improvement; manufacturing strong
Fewer Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week amid falling COVID-19 infections, but the near-term outlook for the labor market is unclear after winter storms wreaked havoc in the South region in the middle of this month. Still, the decline in claims to a three-month low reported by the Labor Department on Thursday suggested the labor market was slowly regaining traction, catching up with the broader economy, after hitting a pothole in late 2020. It was unlikely to derail President Joe Biden's massive $1.9 trillion recovery plan under consideration in the U.S. Congress.
PoliticsThe IndependentBiden news – live: President approves airstrike against Syrian militia, as police fear plot to ‘blow up’ Capitol during SOTU
In what may have been his first major war-fighting move as president, Joe Biden signed off on an airstrike in Syria that targeted a structure believed to belong to an Iran-backed militia, officials told Reuters. The strike may have been in response to rocket attacks against the US in Iraq last week, and comes as the US and Iran seek to re-instate their nuclear agreement, which the Trump administration scrapped. Tensions are flaring at home too, as US Capitol Police believe militia groups want to "blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible" during Joe Biden's State of the Union.
U.S.INSIDERA Texas border patrol officer was charged after she used a coworker's login to bring her children's nanny into the US from Mexico
A Customs and Border Protection officer was charged with bringing in an undocumented immigrant. Prosecutors allege Rhonda Lee Walker used a coworker's computer to scan the woman's documents. Walker admitted to hiring the immigrant as a live-in nanny and housekeeper for her mother and kids.
U.S.The IndependentFox anchor suspended after saying he was ‘annoyed’ at obese people getting Covid vaccine
A Fox news station suspended its anchor following social media outrage for his tweet expressing annoyance over obese people getting the Covid-19 vaccine on priority. Blake McCoy made the controversial remark on Tuesday afternoon and later deleted his tweet, issuing an apology for his “insensitive and offensive” comment. “I'm annoyed obese people of all ages get priority vaccine access before all essential workers,” he said in the now-deleted tweet.
- WorldWABC – NY
Woman grabbed from behind, attacked at NYC subway station
The victim's daughter says her mother is still too shaken up to speak about the attack publicly.
U.S.TheGrioFemale track star on lawsuit to stop trans athletes from competing: ‘Biological males are taking our medals’
Less than 48 hours into his presidency, Joe Biden took steps towards protecting the rights of transgender athletes looking to participate as their identified gender in both high school and college sports. But now a Connecticut high school track athlete has come forward to say she's disappointed that the Justice Department withdrew from a lawsuit aiming to prevent transgender athletes from competing in girls' high school sports. Wednesday, Alanna Smith, who filed the lawsuit with fellow athletes Selina Soule and Chelsea Mitchell, appeared on Fox News with her lawyer to denounce the actions of the current administration.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderThe $15 minimum wage is struck from the Democratic stimulus plan
The $15 minimum wage was struck from the Democratic rescue plan, per a Senate Democratic aide familiar with the decision. It means the Democratic package will not have a wage increase included for hourly workers. The Senate parliamentarian ruled on Thursday evening that a $15 minimum wage provision cannot stay in the President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package, according to a Senate Democratic aide familiar with the decision.
U.S.The IndependentCollege library shut down after discovery of venomous ‘Mediterranean recluse’ spiders
The University of Michigan shut down its library after venomous spiders were found in the building's basement. University officials discovered a trio of Mediterranean recluse spiders in the building, as well as "remote areas" on other parts of the campus, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. "Mediterranean recluse spiders prefer basement spaces, tunnels and other hideaways where there is a decrease in foot traffic," she added.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderStephen Miller, the architect of Trump's migrant-family-separation scheme, called Biden's immigration policies 'cruel' and 'inhumane'
In a Fox News interview, Stephen Miller weighed in on Biden's reopening of a child-migrant facility. "What we're seeing here is the cruelty and inhumanity of Joe Biden's immigration policies," he said. Stephen Miller, the Trump administration official who masterminded the policy of separating migrant children from their families at the US-Mexico border, described President Joe Biden's immigration policies as "cruel" and "inhumane" during an appearance on Fox News' "Ingraham Angle" on Wednesday night.
U.S.The Daily BeastTeen Accused of Killing Disabled Sister as Parents Slept
Claire Elaina Miller, 14, has been charged with homicide after calling authorities on Feb. 22 to admit she stabbed her older sister, 19-year-old Helen Miller, while her parents were asleep, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney's office. According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by The Daily Beast, the Manheim Township Police Department arrived at the home just after 1 a.m. to find Miller, a ninth-grader at a local private school, standing in front of the house close to “what appeared to be blood on the snow near the driveway.”
U.S.INSIDERA triple murder suspect told police he killed his neighbor and tried to feed his family her heart 'to release the demons'
An Oklahoma man reportedly cut out his neighbor's heart and tried to feed it to his aunt and uncle. Lawrence Anderson, 42, now faces three first-degree murder charges. An Oklahoma man confessed to killing three people and cutting out one of their hearts to cook with potatoes, The Oklahoman reported on Tuesday.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastRand Paul Launches Into Transphobic Rant Against Trans Nominee
Dr. Rachel Levine, the first transgender person to be nominated for a Senate-confirmed position in the federal government, had been seated in her confirmation hearing to become the nation's assistant secretary of health for a little less than an hour when she was grilled about “genital mutilation” of minor children by a Republican committee member. “American culture is now normalizing the idea that minors can be given hormones,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said on Thursday, likening standards of care for transgender minors to castration and female circumcision and blaming increasing rates of trans-identified youth on “the social pressure to conform and do what others do.” “Do you believe minors are capable of making such a life-changing decision of changing one's sex?” Paul asked Levine.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTrump-appointed federal judge indefinitely blocks the Biden administration's 100-day deportation freeze
A federal judge blocked the Biden administration from enforcing a 100-day deportation freeze. The ruling does not mandate that deportations have to return to their previous rate. Democrats are hoping to pass a large-scale immigration overhaul in Congress this year.
PoliticsPoliticoHistoric LGBTQ rights bill passes — after exposing GOP divisions
The House passed sweeping legislation on Thursday to ban discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity, delivering a major victory to the LGBTQ community — while exposing an ugly rift in the GOP. The Equality Act, which would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to provide protections for LGBTQ individuals, garnered unanimous support from House Democrats on its way to approval on a 224-206 vote. Three Republicans crossed party lines to join Democrats to endorse the bill, less than half of the number of GOP votes the measure got the last time it came to the floor.
ScienceBusiness InsiderNASA just unveiled a high-def, 360-degree panorama of Mars from the Perseverance rover. It's made from 142 photos.
Less than a week into its Mars mission, the Perseverance rover has already sent back a host of postcard-worthy images. NASA scientists recently stitched together 142 photos from the rover's cameras to create a high-definition, 360-degree panorama of Mars' surface (below). The image, released Wednesday shows all sides of the Jezero Crater, a 28-mile-wide ancient Martian lake bed.
U.S.INSIDERA woman in North Carolina is accused of using a $149,000 COVID-19 relief loan to go shopping at luxury stores
Jasmine Johnnae Clifton is accused of fraudulently obtaining a $149,000 COVID-19 relief loan. Prosecutors say she spent the loan at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Louis Vuitton, and other stores. A 24-year-old woman in North Carolina has been accused of spending a $149,000 COVID-19 relief loan at Louis Vuitton, diamond stores, and other luxury spots.
WorldThe Daily BeastConfession of Partially Blind Lookout Is Breakthrough in Journalist’s Murder
ROME—The confession of a partially blind hitman in the heinous murder of Maltese muckraker journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has kicked off a slew of new arrests in the complicated case. On Tuesday, a Maltese judge accepted the startling guilty plea of Vincent Muscat, 57, who had originally pleaded not guilty along with brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio, for setting off the car bomb that killed Galizia on a country road near her home in Malta in October 2017. Muscat's lawyers say the change in tactics is part of a guilty plea that should see their client out of jail by 2027.
BusinessBusiness InsiderTexas lieutenant governor says people getting huge energy bills 'gambled on a very, very low rate' - but suggests they won't have to pay the full amount
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Texans getting huge energy bills took a gamble and lost. In Texas, some energy deals are linked to wholesale prices, exposing customers to spikes. After last week's devastating storm, some Texans faced energy bills as high as $16,000.
“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.”