U.S.The WeekProsecutors don't know where Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse is, want him arrested again
Prosecutors in Kenosha, Wisconsin, sought a new arrest warrant Wednesday for Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager charged with killing two people during an Aug. 25 protest against the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man now paralyzed from the waist down. The prosecutors said Rittenhouse has violated the terms of his $2 million bond by moving without informing the court or providing his new address. After a court filing sent to Rittenhouse was returned as undeliverable Jan. 28, Kenosha detectives visited Rittenhouse's listed address and discovered another man has been living there since mid-December, prosecutors explained.
PoliticsAssociated PressHigh court puts off wall, asylum cases at Biden's request
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to requests from the Biden administration to put off arguments in two cases involving the U.S.-Mexico border wall and asylum-seekers because President Joe Biden has taken steps to change Trump administration policies that had been challenged in court. The justices issued a brief order canceling arguments that had been set for the coming weeks. The court had been scheduled to hear arguments on Feb. 22 in a case over President Donald Trump's decision to divert billions of dollars in taxpayer money to construction of portions of a wall along the border with Mexico.
WorldThe TelegraphSalmond brands Sturgeon's government 'a disgrace' over claims it hid evidence
Alex Salmond has branded Nicola Sturgeon's government "a disgrace" and accused her officials of systematic dishonesty and obstruction during a probe into sexual misconduct claims against him. In written evidence to the Holyrood committee investigating the botched Scottish Government investigation into two complaints of sexual harassment, he also repeated his claim that Ms Sturgeon had offered to interfere in the probe on his behalf. If proven, the allegation would contradict Ms Sturgeon's statements to Holyrood, in which she has repeatedly denied offering to meddle in the investigation to help her former mentor.
PoliticsReutersBiden decides to stick with Space Force as branch of U.S. military
President Joe Biden is looking at all policies put in place by Republican predecessor Donald Trump, with a view toward possibly rolling them back, but not so the U.S. Space Force. "They absolutely have the full support of the Biden administration," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Wednesday about the Space Force, a day after her dismissal of a question about the service suggested Biden was less than enthusiastic about it. The Space Force was created as a separate branch of the U.S. military by Trump, who spoke enthusiastically about the need for a force to protect American interests in orbit and celebrated its new flag in an Oval Office ceremony.
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Alexei Navalny sends 'heart' messages to wife Yulia
A Russian court sentenced Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to three and a half years in jail on Tuesday (February 2) after ruling he had violated the terms of his parole, but said that his prison term would be shortened for time he had served earlier under house arrest. Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critics, was arrested at the Russian border on Jan. 17 after returning from Germany where he had been recovering from being poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent. Navalny's lawyer said the opposition politician would appeal against the ruling.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestOne Person’s Trash Is Another Person’s Coffee Table
Furniture made from waste materials just keeps getting better—and easier to buy Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldAssociated PressGulf Arab states launch new restrictions over virus fears
Gulf Arab states on Thursday launched new restrictions over fears of the coronavirus resurging across their countries. With populations including largely young and healthy foreign laborers, many Gulf countries have avoided the higher death tolls seen elsewhere around the world. In Saudi Arabia, where authorities already have banned travel to the kingdom from 20 countries, including the U.S., officials also ordered all weddings and parties suspended.
PoliticsAssociated PressSchumer, McConnell end standoff to organize 50-50 Senate
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced an agreement Wednesday with Republicans to organize the evenly split chamber, ending a weekslong standoff that prevented the new Democratic majority from setting up some operations and soured relations at the start of the congressional session. The Senate later approved the agreement by unanimous consent. Schumer, D-N.Y., said the deal with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky settled committee ratios and other details in the 50-50 chamber, where Democrats have the slim edge because Vice President Kamala Harris is a tie-breaking vote.
WorldReutersSouth Korea's Moon pledges to upgrade alliance with U.S. in call with Biden
South Korea's President Moon Jae-in pledged on Thursday to upgrade the country's alliance with the United States and prepare a comprehensive North Korea strategy in a phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden, Moon's office said. The call comes as Moon, who had offered to be a mediator between the United States and North Korea, faces the challenge of getting the stalled talks between Washington and Pyongyang back on track. The two leaders affirmed the necessity to prepare a comprehensive North Korea strategy aimed at denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok said.
U.S.Associated PressRennie Davis, 'Chicago Seven' activist, dies at 80
Rennie Davis, one of the “Chicago Seven” activists who was tried for organizing an anti-Vietnam War protest outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago in which thousands clashed with police in a bloody confrontation that horrified a nation watching live on television, has died. Davis died Tuesday of lymphoma at his home in Berthoud, Colorado, his wife, Kirsten Liegmann, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. A longtime peace activist, Davis was national director of the community organizing program for the anti-war Students for a Democratic Society and was a protest coordinator for the Chicago convention.
PoliticsRaleigh News and ObserverSC will expand COVID-19 vaccine access to people 65 and older. What you need to know
All South Carolinians age 65 and older will be able to schedule COVID-19 vaccination appointments starting next week. Gov. Henry McMaster, who hinted Monday that he wanted to expand the state's pool of vaccine-eligible residents in the near future, made it official Wednesday when he announced that seniors 65 and older could begin making vaccination appointments on Feb. 8. We have a moral and ethical duty to first vaccinate the South Carolinians who are at the highest risk of dying from the virus,” McMaster said in a statement..
WorldAssociated PressCrime, conflict, chaos crushing Afghan hopes for tomorrow
There's also been a string of targeted killings, like the bomb planted on the car of a prominent cleric that detonated Tuesday in the middle of busy morning traffic, killing him and his driver — one of four such bombings that day. The tensions are increased because it's not clear who is behind the attacks. Some are claimed by the Islamic State group, who took responsibility for the cleric's killing and the killing of a judge Wednesday in eastern Nangarhar province.
PoliticsReutersU.S., Australia discuss China and Myanmar in first leaders call, White House says
U.S. President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison discussed how they can work together to deal with China and a recent military coup in Myanmar, the White House said on Thursday. The first call between the leaders since Biden's inauguration comes amid heightened tension between Australia and China and just days after Myanmar's military seized power in a coup against the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The strength of the U.S.-Australia alliance "remains an anchor of stability in the Indo-Pacific and the world," the White House said in an emailed statement.
HealthAxiosU.K. to test mixing COVID-19 vaccines in world-first trial
The United Kingdom on Thursday launched a new clinical study to test the effects of mixing COVID-19 vaccines. Why it matters: Per a statement from Oxford University virologist Matthew Snape, chief investigator of the world-first study: "If we do show that these vaccines can be used interchangeably in the same schedule this will greatly increase the flexibility of vaccine delivery." How it works: More than 800 volunteers over 50 years old will be given the Oxford University-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine followed by a dose of Pfizer-BioNTech's, or vice-versa, according to the U.K. government statement.
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Syrian military says Israeli strikes in the country's south
A Syrian military official said Israel fired surface and air missiles at targets in southern Syria late Wednesday, causing only material damage. The official said the attacks prompted Syrian air defenses. The unnamed official said the Israeli attacks came in from over the Golan Heights but didn't identify what the target was.
PoliticsReutersPentagon purges advisory boards after flurry of Trump end-of-term appointees
New Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has stripped several hundred appointees of their posts on Pentagon advisory boards, a number of whom took office at the end of President Donald Trump's administration, two U.S. officials said on Tuesday. The appointees include Anthony Tata, a former acting senior defense official who in 2018 called former President Barack Obama a "terrorist leader" and was placed on the Defense Policy Board on Jan. 19, the last full day of the Trump administration. Austin became defense secretary under Joe Biden, the vice president under Obama who took office as president on Jan. 20.
LifestyleTimeThe Story Behind TIME’s Amanda Gorman Cover
Credit - Photograph by Awol Erizku for TIME Amanda Gorman's eloquent poetry at Joe Biden's presidential Inauguration soothed many Americans still reeling just two weeks after pro-Trump supporters staged an insurrection at the Capitol. We will rebuild, reconcile and recover and every known nook of our nation and every corner called our country, our people diverse and beautiful will emerge, battered and beautiful. This week, Gorman—the youngest Inaugural poet in U.S. history—is featured on TIME's cover, where the 22-year-old wears a bright yellow familiar from January's event.
ScienceBBCWhat is Elon Musk's Starship?
Starship is a rocket and spacecraft combination that could ferry more than 100 people a time to the Red Planet. The system is designed to be fully reusable, meaning the principal hardware elements are not discarded in the sea or allowed to burn up, as happens with some other launch systems, but are instead recovered from space. They can then be refurbished and flown again, reducing the cost of the whole enterprise.
WorldAssociated PressGeneral strike protesting prime minister paralyzes Nepal
A general strike organized by a splinter group in the governing Communist party paralyzed life in Nepal on Thursday, shutting schools, transportation and markets. Highways were deserted and shops were closed by the strike, called to protest Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli's decision to dissolve Parliament and announce new elections. In the capital, Kathmandu, riot police guarded the main streets and stopped people who were forcing vehicles off the roads.
PoliticsReutersBiden White House says cannot release Trump visitor logs
The Biden administration cannot release visitor logs from former President Donald Trump's White House, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a news briefing on Wednesday. The White House said on Tuesday it would look into whether it can make visitor logs from Trump's administration public, a move that would be in line with the Biden administration's vow to release its own records. The logs detail who visits the president and his staff on official business and enable the public to know which lobbyists, political donors and others are gaining access to the chief executive and his aides on a daily basis.
WorldAssociated PressSri Lanka Tamils march to protest deaths, disappearances
Hundreds of ethnic Tamils began a four-day protest march from eastern to northern Sri Lanka on Wednesday to demand justice for civilians killed and forcibly disappeared during the country's civil war, allegedly at the hands of the government's military. Politicians, civil and religious leaders on foot and in cars joined the march, which is also protesting alleged plans by the government to change the demography of the traditional Tamil heartland by settling majority Sinhalese there and taking over private lands. Sri Lanka marks its 73th anniversary of independence from British colonial rule on Thursday.
PoliticsAssociated PressUS ends deal with Arizona restricting Biden on immigration
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has terminated an unusual agreement that Arizona's top prosecutor signed with the agency in the waning days of the Trump administration to try to restrict President Joe Biden's ability to overhaul his predecessor's immigration policies. The agency's action was revealed Wednesday as Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, sued to stop newly confirmed Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas from carrying out Biden's 100-day moratorium on deportations. A federal judge in Texas has already put it on hold.
U.S.INSIDER'QAnon Shaman' Jacob Chansley hasn't eaten in a week and lost 20 pounds in jail because he'll eat only organic food, his lawyer says
Jacob Chansley, aka the "QAnon Shaman," has refused to eat while in jail, his lawyer said. Chansley says that because of his religious beliefs he eats only organic food — and he isn't getting any. The jail system in Washington, DC, denied his request for an organic diet.
WorldAssociated PressTaiwan opens trade office in Guyana in diplomatic win
Taiwan has established a trade office in the South American country of Guyana, a diplomatic win for the island that has continued to lose allies in an aggressive poaching campaign from China in recent years. China's Foreign Ministry responded swiftly, demanding that those concerned “avoid setting up any official institutions with each other, and take practical measures to correct mistakes and eliminate negative impacts." “We admonish the DPP authority that any attempt to seek support of foreign forces to engage in secessionist activities around the world will never succeed," ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters, referring to the initials of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party that rejects Beijing's demands for political unification.
WorldAssociated PressJapan expresses concern to UK over new Chinese maritime law
Japan's foreign minister and defense minister expressed strong concern to their British counterparts on Wednesday over a new Chinese maritime law that took effect two days earlier. “Japan is staying alert and paying close attention to its effect on us,” Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said in online talks between the two sides. Japan sees China's escalating influence and military activity in the region as a security threat and has been stepping up defense cooperation with the U.S., Australia, Southeast Asian countries, as well as Britain.
“We need to reverse this catastrophic choice to keep kids at home by ensuring the health and safety of our teachers.”
“It is decades of disinvestment in the public education of our most vulnerable students that’s keeping students out of classrooms.”
“We ultimately have to choose: bars and gyms or schools and daycares? Choose wisely.”
“Labor groups are continuing to flex their political muscle, most often pushing for a more conservative approach.”
“The terrible and mounting toll of the pandemic has caused positions to harden on both sides of the reopening debate.”