Biden travels to Texas to survey damage from paralyzing winter storm

President Joe Biden traveled to Texas on Friday as the state works to recover from a severe winter storm that caused serious damage to homes and businesses, left millions without power or clean water for days, and killed at least two dozen. Biden and his wife, first lady Jill Biden, landed in Houston where he met Republican Governor Greg Abbott and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to discuss the recovery from last week's storm. Biden was scheduled to meet with volunteers at a Houston food bank and tour a health center where COVID-19 vaccines are being distributed.

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  Biden surveys weather harm, encourages virus shots in Texas

  Associated Press
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  Biden to travel to Texas to survey winter storm damage

  Good Morning America

Democrats launch sweeping bid to overhaul US election laws

Stacey Abrams, whose voting rights work helped make Georgia into a swing state, exhorted Congress on Thursday to reject “outright lies" that have historically restricted access to the ballot as Democrats began their push for a sweeping overhaul of election and ethics laws. “A lie cloaked in the seductive appeal of election integrity has weakened access to democracy for millions,” Abrams, a Democrat who narrowly lost Georgia's 2018 gubernatorial race, said during a committee hearing for the bill, which was introduced as H.R. 1 to signal its importance to the party's agenda. Democrats feel a sense of urgency to enact the legislation ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, when their narrow majorities in the House and Senate will be at risk.

U.S. Senate panel sets hearing for Biden's No. 2 and No. 3 Justice Department picks

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday announced it will hold a confirmation hearing on March 9 for President Joe Biden's nominees to serve in the No. 2 and No. 3 top jobs at the U.S. Justice Department. Lisa Monaco, a former federal prosecutor who also previously advised former FBI Director Robert Mueller and former President Barack Obama, is nominated to serve as Deputy Attorney General. Vanita Gupta, a long-time civil rights attorney who previously led the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, is nominated to serve as Associate Attorney General.

Analysis: Window is already narrowing for Republican to challenge Donald Trump for 2024

It is looking ever more probable that Donald Trump will run for the White House again in 2024. All eyes are on his speech this Sunday at CPAC, the annual conservative conference, which like Mr Trump has relocated from Washington to Florida. An adviser told The Telegraph that Mr Trump has spent the last weeks taking a break, and practising his golf swing, but is keen to re-engage in the fight.

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

Iranian journalist, who won the International Press Freedom Award, was detained in Turkey after fleeing a nearly 5-year prison sentence

Mohammad Mosaed is an Iranian reporter who has twice been arrested by the government. The Committee to Protect Journalists awarded him its 2020 International Press Freedom Award. Mohammad Mosaed, an Iranian freelance journalist who has twice been arrested by the government for his investigative reporting and criticism of Iranian officials, was detained by Turkish border officials earlier this year after fleeing Iran following a prison summons.

Philippine police to look into government admission of drug war failures

Philippine police said on Thursday they were looking into a government review of thousands of killings in the country's "war on drugs", after the justice minister made an unprecedented admission to the United Nations of widespread police failures. Human Rights Watch described Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra's video statement on Wednesday as an "astounding disclosure". Guevarra said police had in many cases failed to examine weapons and crime scenes after officers had shot dead suspected drug dealers.

IS bride loses bid to return to UK to fight for citizenship

A woman who ran away from London as a teenager to join the Islamic State group lost her bid Friday to return to the U.K. to fight for the restoration of her citizenship, which was revoked on national security grounds. Shamima Begum was one of three east London schoolgirls who traveled to Syria in 2015. She resurfaced at a refugee camp in Syria and told reporters she wanted to come home, but was denied the chance after former Home Secretary Sajid Javid revoked her citizenship.

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  UK top court says IS schoolgirl can't return

  Reuters Videos
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  Runaway schoolgirl who joined IS cannot return to Britain, top court says

  Reuters

Once the mainstream model, Michigan GOP embraces right wing

Josh Venable, a longtime Michigan GOP operative and chief of staff to former U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, can trace the arc of the state's Republican Party clearly. “This was the state where to be Republican was defined by Gerald Ford and George Romney,” Venable said, referring to the moderate former president and former governor. Now, he said, it's defined by Mike Shirkey, the state Senate majority leader who was overheard calling the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot a “hoax"; Meshawn Maddock, the new co-chair of the state party who backed former President Donald Trump's false claims of voter fraud; and the Proud Boys.

China expected to unveil hike in military budget as tensions rise

China is expected to reveal a robust increase in defence spending at the March 5 annual opening of parliament, as its economy rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic and military tensions rise, Chinese and Western security experts said. With the coronavirus hammering its economy, China last year announced a 6.6 per cent boost in defence spending to $178 billion, the lowest rate of increase in three decades. The new administration of President Joe Biden has moved quickly to remind Beijing that the United States intends to compete with China's growing influence and military strength in the Asia-Pacific.

While Biden visits storm-torn Texas, Sen. Ted Cruz will be giving a speech on 'cancel culture' in Florida

President Joe Biden heads to Texas on Friday to tour some of the areas hit hardest by the winter storm last week. While he's there, he won't be meeting with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. Cruz has a speaking engagement that day at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida.

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  Ted Cruz tries joke at CPAC: 'Orlando is awesome. It's not as nice as Cancún.'

  Yahoo News
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  Cruz at CPAC: 'Orlando is awesome. It's not as nice as Cancún.'

  Yahoo News Video

Myanmar's UN envoy dramatically opposes coup in his country

Myanmar's U.N. ambassador strongly opposed the military coup in his country and appealed for “the strongest possible action from the international community” to restore democracy in a dramatic speech to the U.N. General Assembly Friday that drew loud applause from diplomats from the world body's 193 nations. Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun urged all countries to issue public statements strongly condemning the military coup and refuse to recognize the military regime and ask its leaders to respect the free and fair elections in November won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party. Tun's surprise statement not only drew applause but commendations from speaker after speaker at the assembly meeting including ambassadors representing the European Union, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the new U.S. ambassador, Linda Thomas Greenfield, who joined others in calling it “courageous.”

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  Myanmar's U.N. envoy makes emotional appeal for action to stop coup

  Reuters
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  Myanmar envoy appeals to U.N. to stop coup as police break up protests

  Reuters

McConnell to support Trump if party picks him as its 2024 nominee

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who excoriated former President Donald Trump over the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot less than two weeks ago, said on Thursday that he would "absolutely" vote for Trump if he became the 2024 Republican presidential nominee. McConnell, who Trump blasted last week as "a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack," said he expects to see an open contest for the Republican White House nomination in 2024 but showed no hesitation in backing Trump when asked whether he would vote for him as nominee. Trump is expected to talk about the possibility of a 2024 run when he speaks to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday, nearly two months after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn his defeat in November's election by Democrat Joe Biden.

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  McConnell: I'd support Trump if he won 2024 nomination

  Yahoo News Video
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  Mitch McConnell Says He'd 'Absolutely' Back Donald Trump In 2024 Presidential Race

  HuffPost

EXPLAINER: How US airstrike in Syria sends message to Iran

A U.S. airstrike targeting facilities used by Iran-backed militias in Syria appears to be a message to Tehran delivered by a new American administration still figuring out its approach to the Middle East. The strike was seemingly a response to stepped-up rocket attacks by such militias that have targeted U.S. interests in Iraq, where the armed groups are based. It comes even as Washington and Tehran consider a return to the 2015 accord meant to rein in Iran's nuclear program.

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  U.S. bombs facilities in Syria used by Iran-backed militia

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

  Associated Press

Third US vaccine could raise question: Which shots are best?

The nation is poised to get a third vaccine against COVID-19, but because at first glance the Johnson & Johnson shot may not be seen as equal to other options, health officials are girding for the question: Which one is best? If cleared for emergency use, the J&J vaccine would offer a one-dose option that could help speed vaccinations, tamp down a pandemic that has killed more than 500,000 people in the U.S. and stay ahead of a mutating virus. The challenge will be explaining how protective the J&J shot is after the astounding success of the first U.S. vaccines.

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  FDA says J&J one dose vaccine does prevent COVID

  Associated Press Videos
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  U.S. could roll out J&J vaccine next week

  Reuters Videos

U.N. rights chief decries arrests in China, abuses in Xinjiang

United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Friday that China is restricting basic civil and political freedoms in the name of national security and COVID-19 measures, adding to a wave of criticism of the country's rights record. "Activists, lawyers and human rights defenders – as well as some foreign nationals – face arbitrary criminal charges, detention or unfair trials," Bachelet told the Human Rights Council. More than 600 people in Hong Kong are being investigated for taking part in protests, some under the new national security law imposed by mainland China on the former British colony, she said.

Ties with Saudis at stake as US releases findings on killing

The United States has pledged to tell the world its conclusions on what role Saudi Arabia's crown prince played in the brutal killing and dismembering of a U.S.-based journalist, but as important is what comes next — what the Biden administration plans to do about it. Ahead of the release of the declassified U.S. intelligence report, and announcement of any U.S. punitive measures, President Joe Biden spoke to Saudi King Salman on Thursday for the first time since taking office more than a month ago. It was a later-than-usual courtesy call to the Middle East ally, timing seen as reflecting Biden's displeasure.

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  Biden Speaks With Saudi King Amid Expected Report On Killing Of Jamal Khashoggi

  HuffPost
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  Intelligence report: Saudi prince 'approved' operation that killed Jamal Khashoggi

  Yahoo News

Officials: Attack targets Afghan reporter's family, kills 3

Three family members of an assassinated journalist in western Afghanistan have been killed by gunmen, local officials said Friday, amid a rising wave of attacks targeting journalists and civil society actors. Ghor provincial council member Hamidullah Mutahid said that at least five others were wounded in the attack late Thursday. The gunmen stormed the family home of Afghan journalist and activist Bismillah Adil Aimaq, who was shot dead in an unclaimed attack nearby Ghor on Jan. 1.

Exclusive: Two rights groups quit Hong Kong as security law sends shudders through NGOs

At least two political rights groups advocating democracy have quietly quit Hong Kong and moved overseas, unnerved by a national security law that has fanned fears over the erosion of freedoms under China's rule, sources told Reuters. In the past, China-focused rights groups had valued the wide-ranging autonomy, including freedom of speech and assembly, guaranteed for Hong Kong when control over the former British colony was returned to Beijing in 1997. But some non-government organisations (NGOs) say the new legislation means they face a choice of either having to leave Hong Kong or work with the same kind of fears and constraints they would encounter in mainland China.

Marjorie Taylor Greene calls Liz Cheney ‘a fool’ for criticising Trump

Marjorie Taylor Greene called her fellow House Republican Liz Cheney "a fool" for refusing to support Donald Trump. "Liz Cheney and any other Republican that wants to make statements against President Donald Trump is a fool," she said. Ms Greene's comments come a day after Ms Cheney publicly broke with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy by saying she did not think Mr Trump should speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference nor should have any leadership role in the party or the country's leadership.

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  Republican leaders Kevin McCarthy and Liz Cheney clash over support for Trump at a press conference

  Business Insider
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  Should Trump speak at CPAC? Liz Cheney says he shouldn't be part of the GOP's future; McCarthy says yes

  USA TODAY

At pivotal moment in Afghanistan war, Biden weighs a dilemma

President Joe Biden's choices in Afghanistan boil down to this: withdraw all troops by May, as promised by his predecessor, and risk a resurgence of extremist dangers, or stay and possibly prolong the war in hopes of compelling the Taliban to make peace with a weak and fractured government. Afghanistan presents one of the new administration's tougher and more urgent decisions. The U.S. public is weary of a war nearly 20 years old, but pulling out now could be seen as giving the Taliban too much leverage and casting a shadow over the sacrifices made by U.S. and coalition troops and Afghan civilians.

Experts say Dominion and Smartmatic could win their defamation lawsuits, but MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says they have 'zero' chance

Dominion and Smartmatic may win their defamation lawsuits, experts told Insider and CNBC. MyPillow's CEO told Insider Dominion had "zero, zero, zero" chance of winning. Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic have sued several Trump backers for billions of dollars, and experts say they may succeed if they can pass the high bar required in proving defamation.