The day after he single-handedly delayed the U.S. Senate's debate on President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill for 11 hours, Republican Senator Ron Johnson said on Friday that he could retire from office when his term expires. The two-term Republican told Wisconsin media outlets that he has not decided whether to run for reelection in 2022 but added that not seeking another term is "probably my preference now." Johnson, a Trump ally, recently drew widespread criticism by peddling a debunked conspiracy theory that leftists posing as Trump supporters played a role in the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In another video recorded last July, a tech CEO taunted an Asian American family at an upscale Northern California restaurant, calling them an โAsian piece of s---.โ Fueled by former President Donald Trump's anti-China rhetoric, the Covid-19 pandemic has unleashed an onslaught of hate incidents against Asian American and Pacific Islanders. In 2020, the group Stop AAPI Hate received more than 2,800 self-reports of coronavirus discrimination nationwide, from verbal harassment to physical assault.
Experts feared the Johnson & Johnson vaccine's slightly lower efficacy rate would lead to an impression of a two-tiered system. That has been exactly the case in Detroit, where the mayor just rejected a shipment of the company's vaccine. CNN reports that Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan (D) declined an allocation of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine this week, saying the other available vaccines are better.
The group took aim at Mr Cruz after he voted against the congressional certification of the electoral college votes despite the ransacking of the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters on 6 January. In a 17 January statement, the group said that โTed Cruz and Josh Hawley deserve the most blame for firing up the violent mob of Trump supporters that attacked the U.S Capitol and killed five peopleโ. On the fundraising page for the billboard campaign, the group adds that โrioters who broke into the Senate were quoted as saying Cruz 'would want us to do this.
U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co Inc said on Saturday the experimental antiviral drug molnupiravir it is developing with Ridgeback Bio showed a quicker reduction in infectious virus in its phase 2a study among participants with early COVID-19. "The secondary objective findings in this study, of a quicker decrease in infectious virus among individuals with early COVID-19 treated with molnupiravir, are promising," said William Fischer, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, in a statement from the companies. The antiviral is being currently tested in a Phase 2/3 trial that is set to be completed in May.
Quality food preservation, storage space, and good-looking design are priorities among kitchen designers when it comes to refrigerators Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
A probe into Rudy Giuliani's business and overseas dealings has resumed, according to AP. The criminal investigation will look into the legality of his conversations with Ukrainian officials. A federal criminal investigation into Rudy Giuliani has resumed, according to the Associated Press.
NASA's newest Mars rover hit the dusty red road this week, putting 21 feet on the odometer in its first test drive. The Perseverance rover ventured from its landing position Thursday, two weeks after setting down on the red planet to seek signs of past life. The roundabout, back and forth drive lasted just 33 minutes and went so well that more driving was on tap Friday and Saturday for the the six-wheeled rover.
Senate Democrats clinched a deal on Friday night over unemployment benefits that will smooth the upper chamber's passage of President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill this weekend. After about a nine-hour delay following Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va.) resistance to an earlier agreement on jobless payments, party leaders announced a new accord with Manchin. The latest deal would provide $300 a week in extra unemployment benefits through Sept. 6, and up to $10,200 in tax relief for unemployed workers.
A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Friday found that community requirements that support mask use during the pandemic play a large role in county-level COVID-19 case and death growth rates, particularly when it comes to restaurant dining. An analysis of mask mandates and restaurant reopenings in all U.S. counties from March to December 2020 found that significant drops in daily coronavirus cases and death growth rates occurred within 20 days of implementing mask use. Meanwhile, jumps in daily COVID-19 case growth rates were observed starting 40 days after restaurant dining reopened โ in which people do not wear masks โ while daily death growth rates spiked 60 days after allowing on-site dining.
The White House defended Joe Biden accusing Texas and Mississippi of having "Neanderthal thinking", saying he was talking about their "behaviour" and not calling them actual Neanderthals. It comes as Donald Trump tried to shift the blame for the Senate race defeats in Georgia, saying Mitch McConnell only offering $600 stimulus checks led to the defeats of Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. On the US Mexico border, child migrants detained by authorities have increased 583 per cent under Joe Biden, according to internal documents from the Department of Health and Human services reported by Axios.
A Trump appointee, who was still employed at the State Department when he allegedly bashed police at the U.S. Capitol with a riot shield and egged on a crowd of insurrectionists, has been arrested for his role on Jan. 6. Federico Klein, a 42-year-old State Department staff assistant with top security clearance, is facing a slew of charges, including unlawful entry and assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon, according to a criminal complaint first obtained by The New York Times. Prosecutors allege Klein, who also worked on Trump's 2016 campaign, โphysically and verbally engaged with the officers holding the lineโ before assaulting one officer with a riot shieldโand using that stolen police equipment to wedge open a door into the Capitol to allow insurrectionists inside.
At its Friday meeting, the Public Utility Commission of Texas declined to adjust prices that resulted in $16 billion in overcharges to the electricity market during the February winter storm. The governor-appointed regulatory commission, which oversees the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, met with just two members after the resignation of chairperson DeAnn Walker. Commissioners Arthur D'Andrea and Shelly Botkin addressed the Potomac report, which found that ERCOT kept electricity prices too high for at least 33 hours after most outages ended on late Feb. 17.
Former President Donald Trump intensified his war with the Republican establishment on Thursday by attacking Karl Rove, a longtime Republican strategist who criticized Trump's first speech since leaving office for being long on grievances but short on vision.
Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has taken a swipe at her successor Jen Psaki, saying that she didn't need to โcircle backโ to questions during conferences because of her access to Donald Trump. Appearing on Fox News on Thursday Ms McEnany reacted to a montage of Joe Biden's press secretary referring reporters to specific government departments or saying she would โcircle backโ to certain issues. In a jab at Ms Psaki, the former press secretary said that โshe didn't have to do a ton of circling back because President Trump gave a lot of access to me."
She was reportedly concerned about the woman causing problems with her relationship with her kids. Bauman was recorded discussing the scheme, according to a press release from the Camden County prosecutor's office. She was given multiple opportunities to change her mind when asked by a witness-turned-informant if she was sure she wanted to carry out the killing, prosecutors said, but she moved ahead with it, at one point acknowledging that she was a Christian but noting she could always ask for forgiveness later.
It was a government sting operation, โfake newsโ, a way for congressional Democrats to skip work, or Donald Trump's supporters trolling Joe Biden's administration. A post on the former president's fan forum The Donald reads โHEY FBI WE ARE ATTACKING THE CAPITAL ON THIS DATEโ. Adherents to the cult-like delusion of the QAnon movement, the former president's supporters, and MAGA true believers โ not all necessarily in the same right-wing ideological camp โ arrived at different conclusions as to why an insurrection, let alone Mr Trump's second inauguration, did not happen on 4 March, as some of the QAnon faithful and far-right memes anticipated.
A Virgin Islands man tried to hire a hitman from prison to kill witnesses. Delroy Thomas, 30, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and must pay a $3,000 fine. In his attempt to hire a hitman, Thomas was unaware that the person he was speaking to was actually a DEA informant.
The Senateย amended President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus bill to include a $300 weekly federal unemployment benefit through August. The Senate also passed a Republican proposal to the unemployment benefit Saturday morning. Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman's amendment would have extended the $300 benefit through mid-July โ a tweak anathema to progressives, who had pushed for more generous unemployment benefits.
The US has long emphasized cyber offense over defense, Nicole Perlroth argues in a new book. But now the weapons it developed are being used against it, the The New York Times reporter said. Perlroth told Insider the US needs to shore up its biggest vulnerability: critical infrastructure.
Mike Pompeo has refused to rule out a presidential run for 2024, causing speculation the former US secretary of state will throw his hat into the ring. Speaking on Fox News on Wednesday night, Mr Pompeo said he would consider running for president if former President Donald Trump does not. It follows Mr Trump's suggestion on Sunday that he may be considering another run for office in 2024, in a speech delivered to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida.
Amanda Gorman became an international sensation in January after performing at the Inauguration. Amanda Gorman said Friday that a security guard followed her home because he thought she looked "suspicious." The 22-year-old poet, who lives in Los Angeles, said she showed him her keys and buzzed herself into her building, prompting the security guard to leave without apologizing to her.
Guaranteed to look great in your Zoom happy hours Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Thursday authored her first ruling since joining the Supreme Court in October as the court handed a defeat to an environmental group looking for access to government documents.
Wednesday was the bloodiest day of protests in Myanmar since the military's February coup. Photos of Kyal Sin before her death have gone viral, spurring continued defiance among protesters. Nineteen-year-old Kyal Sin, known as Angel, made careful preparations before hitting the streets of Mandalay Wednesday.
โTaking humans to Mars would require an investment astronomically out of kilter with the possible benefits.โ
โCan a Mars settlement be a freer society than we enjoy on Earth? Maybe.โ
โWhat we learn...may spark the next revolution that will make life in 2071 beyond anything we can imagine right now.โ
โOur presence on Mars could jeopardize one of our main reasons for being there โ the search for life.โ
โThe future of geologic investigation of other worlds lies with highly improved versions of our Mars rovers.โ