Trump proposes new voting limits, rails against "monster" voting rights bill

Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday laid out a variety of election proposals, such as limiting absentee voting and days when Americans can vote, in his first public speech after his stinging Nov. 3 election loss. Democrats' nationwide push to register new voters, including Black voters and young people, and Trump's refusal to urge his Republican supporters to vote by absentee ballot are believed to have been factors in his 7 million vote loss to Joe Biden. At a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, Trump said Election Day should be only one day, not a number of days leading up to the actual voting day.

Haiti prison escape: Hundreds of inmates flee from Croix-des-Bouquets jail

More than 200 prisoners are on the run in Haiti after escaping from a jail near the capital, Port-au-Prince. Authorities said 25 people died following Thursday's mass escape from the Croix-des-Bouquets prison, including the prison director. One of those who fled, a powerful gang leader named as Arnel Joseph, was killed hours after escaping.

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  Haiti jailbreak: Hundreds of inmates escape with prison director and gang leader among 25 dead

  The Independent
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  Hundreds of inmates are still on the run in Haiti after a massive prison break that resulted in 25 deaths

  INSIDER

Defying lethal shootings, Myanmar protesters back on streets

Police in Myanmar's biggest city on Monday fired tear gas at defiant crowds who returned to the streets to protest the military's seizure of power a month ago, despite reports that security forces had killed at least 18 people around the country a day earlier. The protesters in Yangon were chased as they tried to gather at their usual meeting spot at the Hledan Center intersection. In the capital, Naypyitaw, the country's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi made a court appearance Monday via videoconference, the independent Myanmar Now online news agency reported.

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  Myanmar court files two more charges against Suu Kyi; protesters march again

  Reuters
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  'How many dead bodies?' asked Myanmar protester killed on bloodiest day

  Reuters

J&J's COVID-19 shot gets CDC panel backing; vaccine near shipping

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 12-0 to recommend the vaccine from J&J as appropriate for Americans 18 and older. State and local public health authorities will use Food and Drug Administration and CDC guidance as they administer the first 4 million doses. CDC epidemiologist Dr. Sara Oliver said during a Sunday presentation that there are not yet any studies comparing J&J's vaccine directly to the other approved vaccines from Pfzier-BioNTech and Moderna Inc but that all vaccines were highly effective at reducing hospitalizations and deaths.

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  FDA Approves Johnson & Johnson Single-Dose Vaccine For COVID-19

  HuffPost
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  U.S. FDA authorizes J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine

  Reuters Videos

Lady Gaga poised to hand over $500,000 reward to mystery woman after safe return of Bulldogs

Lady Gaga is poised to hand over a $500,000 reward to a mystery woman who returned her beloved French bulldogs kidnapped in a violent street robbery near her home in Hollywood. Koji and Gustav, thought to be worth up to $10,000 dollars each, were given in at a downtown LAPD Police Station by an unnamed woman late on Friday night. Authorities believe the woman who handed the dogs in was "uninvolved and unassociated" with the attack - but she is still eligible for the "unconditional" $500,000 and is said to be in contact with Gaga's representatives.

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  Lady Gaga's French Bulldogs Have Been Found "Safe" After Singer Offered a $500,000 Reward

  Harper's Bazaar
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  Lady Gaga's Dogs Were Found 'Safe' After Being Stolen in an Armed Robbery

  Elle

Thailand starts COVID-19 vaccination campaign

Thailand kicked off its COVID-19 inoculation campaign on Sunday, with cabinet ministers, health officials and medical professionals among the first in the queue to receive vaccinations. The first doses of vaccine, developed by China's Sinovac Biotech, were given to Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who is also the health minister, among others at an infectious diseases institute on the outskirts of Bangkok. "I hope that the vaccination will result in people being safe from the spread of COVID-19 and it allows Thailand to return to normalcy as soon as possible," Anutin told reporters afterwards.

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  Philippines starts coronavirus vaccinations but supply, demand uncertain

  Reuters
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  Philippines receives COVID-19 vaccine after delays

  Associated Press

Inside the attack that almost sent the U.S. to war with Iran

The U.S. airstrike against Iranian-backed militias Thursday night was the latest chapter in the poisonous relationship with Iran President Biden inherited from the Trump administration. It began with an American drone strike which killed Iran's most powerful general and ended with an Iranian ballistic missile attack against U.S. troops in Iraq. A few hours after Army Major Alan Johnson recorded that message to his son, Iranian ballistic missiles began raining down on Al Asad Airbase in Iraq where 2000 U.S. troops were based.

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  Iran condemns U.S. strikes in Syria, denies attacks in Iraq

  Reuters
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  The inside story of the Iranian attack on Al Asad Airbase

  CBS News

J&J’s 1-dose shot cleared, giving US 3rd COVID-19 vaccine

The U.S. is getting a third vaccine to prevent COVID-19, as the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose instead of two. Health experts are anxiously awaiting a one-and-done option to help speed vaccinations, as they race against a virus that already has killed more than 510,000 people in the U.S. and is mutating in increasingly worrisome ways. The FDA said J&J's vaccine offers strong protection against what matters most: serious illness, hospitalizations and death.

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  FDA Approves Johnson & Johnson Single-Dose Vaccine For COVID-19

  HuffPost
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  US clears J&J’s shot; 3 vaccines now available

  Associated Press Videos

Republicans cite ‘public health emergency’ for skipping Covid relief votes while speaking at maskless CPAC

Several Republican lawmakers said they could not attend Congress on Friday to vote for the coronavirus stimulus package due to the pandemic, but were due to appear in-person at the conservative conference taking place in Orlando, Florida, this weekend. According to CNN, the Republican lawmakers included those who were former US president Donald Trump's closest allies - some of whom were scheduled to speak at this weekend's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Florida. The group of twelve House Republicans said they were unable to attend a number of votes in the House of Representatives that day "due to the ongoing public health emergency”, in a written letter seen by CNN.

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  Rep. Gosar Used Pandemic Vote-by-Proxy to Speak at Far-Right Extremist Event

  Rolling Stone
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  Republicans sued over proxy voting in the pandemic. Now they're using it to speak at CPAC.

  USA TODAY

Teenage sledder partly paralyzed in accident on same hill that took girl's life

Two teenage girls were injured, one fatally, in separate sledding accidents on the same Ohio hill, both families said Saturday. Natalie Wilson, 17, has been hospitalized since last weekend after she crashed at Hinckley Reservation in Medina County, said her father, Jim Wilson. Wilson said in a phone interview that his daughter and a friend "were taking one last trip down the hill before going home" when their sled veered off course toward a tree line.

Minneapolis approved funding to hire social media influencers to spread information about ex cop Derek Chauvin's trial

Minneapolis city council approved funding to hire social media influencers for Derek Chauvin's trial, WCCO-TV reported. The influencers will be paid to provide the local community with information about the trial. Chauvin was charged in Floyd's death, and his trial is set to begin on March 8.

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  Minneapolis To Hire “Social Media Influencers” To Report During Upcoming George Floyd Death Trial

  Deadline
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  Minneapolis Will Pay 6 Local 'Influencers' to Send Out City-Backed Messages During Derek Chauvin Trial

  Complex

Far-right Proud Boys leader condemns Capitol rioters but says he 'won't cry' about politicians

Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio has condemned the rioters who besieged the US Capitol, but will not “cry” about lawmakers who came under attack on the day. Mr Tarrio, who was arrested two days before some members of the Proud Boys – and other Trump supporters – rioted at the US Capitol, told CNN that lawmakers did not need sympathy after the attack. The remarks come despite concerns among members of Congress that they were targets of those who broke into the complex on 6 January, citing baseless claims the 2020 election was “stolen”.

The Bidens, in a rare gesture, immediately greeted the White House residence staff upon entering the building on Inauguration Day, staffer says

The Bidens immediately greeted the White House staff upon entering the building on Inauguration Day. "Usually we meet them in the first days or first weeks, but never in the first minutes," a staffer said. Biden has publicly expressed some reservations about being waited on by residence staff.

Fauci Fires Back at Kristi Noem Saying He’s ‘Wrong’: ‘The Numbers Don’t Lie’

Biden's chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci hit back at South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem's harsh criticism of him on Sunday, saying her comments about him at this weekend's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) were “not very helpful” and “unfortunate.” Noem, who has received praise from conservatives for largely ignoring coronavirus restrictions and guidelines, got a standing ovation from the CPAC crowd when she boasted about ignoring the medical advice of experts and called out Fauci for supposedly being “wrong.” Appearing on CBS News' Face the Nation, Fauci was asked if that sentiment was an impediment to the nation's recovery.

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  Dr. Fauci Slaps Down Gov. Kristi Noem's CPAC Dig: Numbers 'Don't Lie'

  HuffPost
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  Fauci on CPAC speech: ‘I'm sure that you can get a standing ovation by saying I'm wrong’

  Politico

Senior Democrats ditch their backdoor proposal for a $15 minimum wage, throwing pay hike in doubt in $1.9 trillion stimulus package

Senior Democrats tossed out a backdoor plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, per a person familiar with the decision. The proposal was ditched as Democrats appeared reluctant to finalize a complex plan that could delay stimulus passage. Experts said the backup plan risked being inefficient at raising hourly wages.

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  House Passes Biden's $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Package

  Motley Fool
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  The Next Stimulus Hurdle: Raising the Minimum Wage to $15

  GOBankingRates

Republican congressman appears at white nationalist conference whose founder called Capitol riot ‘awesome’

Republican congressman Paul Gosar appeared at a white nationalist political conference before attending the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), according to reports. The Arizona Republican appeared on-stage at the "America First Political Action Conference" (AFPAC) on Friday, following the far-right conference's founder, Nicholas Fuentes. Mr Fuentes, an alleged white nationalist, said on Friday that the Capitol riot – in which five people died – was “awesome”, and that "white people are done being bullied".

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  Rep. Gosar criticizes ‘white racism’ after speaking at event whose organizer called for white supremacy

  TheGrio
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  Rep. Paul Gosar speaks at white nationalist event in Florida ahead of CPAC, skips in-person D.C. votes

  USA TODAY

"We are American, too": Hundreds in New York rally against anti-Asian hate

More than 300 people joined some of New York's top elected officials and community leaders on Saturday afternoon to speak out against the increase in anti-Asian violence in the city and nationwide. The Rise Up Against Asian Hate rally, organized by the Asian American Federation (AAF), took place at Foley Square in downtown Manhattan, two blocks from where a 36-year-old Asian man was stabbed on Thursday night. Among the speakers was a recent victim: 61-year-old Filipino-American Noel Quintana, whose face was slashed on the subway earlier this month.

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  New Yorkers rally in support of Asian-Americans

  Associated Press Videos
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  An Asian American man was stabbed in NYC amid a rise in racialized violence

  INSIDER

GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy said he'd bet his 'personal house' that Republicans will 'get the majority back' in 2022

Rep. Kevin McCarthy on Saturday said he'd bet his home on the odds that the GOP secures a majority in 2022. Democrats have a slim majority in the House. Republicans will need to flip five seats to regain control.

The California surgeon who dialed into a virtual court trial mid-operation is facing investigation

Dr. Scott Green is facing investigation after dialing into a virtual court trial while in the operating room. In a video of the trial posted to YouTube, Green can be seen in scrubs and a face mask — and at times bowing his head to tend to the patient. After the video went viral, a medical and licensing agency in California said it would investigate.

Trump asks supporters for more money in CPAC speech after raising $250 million for his Stop the Steal campaign

Donald Trump on Sunday asked his supporters for more funds if they want to “take back the future” of the US even though he has reportedly raised about $250m (£179m) since the November 2020 elections. A Forbes report in January 2021 said that in a period of two months after the November 2020 elections Mr Trump attracted about $255m (£182m) in political donations.

American Airlines flight diverted after 'disturbing and unacceptable' passenger fight over racial slur

An American Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Los Angeles was diverted to Phoenix after an in-flight passenger altercation, the company confirmed. Two passengers got into a fight with another passenger who asked them to stop using a racial slur, Phoenix police told Yahoo. "Upon arrival, the flight was met by local law enforcement who removed and arrested two individuals for verbally and physically assaulting other customers and flight crew members," an American Airlines statement read.

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  American Airlines Forced to Divert Flight After Women Use Racial Slurs and Spit on Passenger

  Complex
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  American Airlines flight diverted to Phoenix after passengers fight over racial slur

  Business Insider

Customers are boycotting Trader Joe's after the chain fired an employee who asked the CEO to enhance COVID-19 protections

People are calling for a boycott on Trader Joe's after one of its employees was fired. A New York man said he was fired from his job after asking the company to do more to protect its workers from COVID-19. Ben Bonnema shared his termination letter on Twitter.