U.S.Yahoo News'The science is on our side': Chris Christie blasts Biden and Democrats over failure to reopen schools
Nearly a year after most schools shut down, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie sees an opportunity for the Republican Party, whose handling of the coronavirus pandemic under Donald Trump was widely seen as anti-scientific and contributing to thousands of needless deaths. With parental frustration over the school closures mounting and too little progress being made to reopen them for in-person instruction under President Biden, Christie, a one-time Republican presidential candidate and long-time foe of public sector unions, has renewed a crusade that made him famous years ago, one YouTube video at a time, and sparked talk of a White House run.
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Turkish police nab Iraqi IS suspect, rescue Yazidi girl
Turkish police have detained a suspected Iraqi Islamic State group militant and rescued a 7-year-old girl from Iraq's Yazidi religious minority he had allegedly been holding captive, the state-run news agency reported Wednesday. The man, identified by his initials S.O., was detained in an early morning raid in the capital Ankara, the Anadolu Agency reported. The suspect had once served as an officer in the Iraqi army, the agency said, adding that police and the country's intelligence agency had been monitoring his moves.
PoliticsThe Independent‘Zero respect’: Ted Cruz pictured scrolling through phone during harrowing opening testimony into Capitol riot
Texas senator Ted Cruz has been filmed scrolling through his phone during the harrowing opening testimony at the Senate hearing into the Capitol riots, less than a week after his controversial trip to Mexico. The US Capitol's three former top security officials have been testifying on Tuesday before the Senate Homeland Security and Rules committees about how Congress was breached during the riots on 6 January. Steven Sund, who was serving as the chief of the Capitol Police at the time of the insurrection, gave a harrowing account of the actions of that day in front of the committees on Tuesday.
U.S.National ReviewFederal Judge Indefinitely Blocks Biden Administration’s 100-Day Deportation Moratorium
A federal judge on Tuesday indefinitely banned the Biden administration from enforcing a 100-day pause on deportations of most illegal immigrants in response to a lawsuit from Texas, which argued that the moratorium violated federal law and could saddle the state with additional costs. U.S. district judge Drew Tipton issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday, dealing a blow to President Biden's efforts to follow through on his campaign promise to pause most deportations. Tipton first ruled on January 26 that the pause violated federal law on administrative procedure and that the U.S. failed to show why a deportation pause was justified.
WorldReutersExclusive: 'Perfect trips' - Venezuela ships jet fuel to Iran in exchange for gasoline, sources say
Venezuela is shipping jet fuel to Iran in return for vital gasoline imports for the South American nation as part of a swap deal agreed by the two state-run oil firms, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Iran has ramped up assistance to Venezuela since last year as the United States tightened sanctions on both countries, hitting oil exports by state-run firms Petroleos de Venezuela and National Iranian oil Company (NIOC). Iran has sent flotillas of state-operated tankers carrying gasoline and feedstock for motor fuel to Venezuela, as well as equipment and spare parts to help the once-prosperous OPEC nation restart its dilapidated refineries.
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China says Japan-U.S. security treaty a product of Cold War
China on Wednesday called the Japan-U.S. mutual security pact a product of the Cold War following U.S. criticism of the presence of Chinese coast guard vessels in Japanese-claimed territorial waters over the weekend. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin also reasserted China's claim to a string of tiny, uninhabited islands in the East China Sea controlled by Japan. The verbal exchange followed reports that two Chinese coast guard ships on Sunday twice entered Japanese territorial waters surrounding the islands, known by Japan as Senkaku and by China as Diaoyu.
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
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Trump could face woman who accuses him of raping her in court
During a December visit to New York City, writer E. Jean Carroll says she went shopping with a fashion consultant to find the “best outfit” for one of the most important days of her life —when she'll sit face-to-face with the man she has accused of raping her decades ago, former President Donald Trump.
PoliticsThe Independent‘MyPillow Guy’ complains loyalty to Trump is costing him millions while facing $1.3 billion lawsuit
Mike Lindell, a loyal ally to former President Donald Trump who has continued to promote flagrantly false and debunked claims of rampant voter fraud, lamented over his financial predicament in a new interview after he was sued on Monday for $1.3 billion by Dominion Voting Systems. “I lost 20 retailers, and it's cost me $65 million this year that I won't get back, OK?” Mr Lindell told Insider after it was reported the voting technology company sued him for repeatedly making false claims about its work in the 2020 US elections. The seemingly frustrated CEO of MyPillow.com became close to Mr Trump towards the end of his presidency, bringing notes that mentioned martial law to his meetings in the White House in the final weeks of the previous administration.
WorldNextSharkInstagram Influencer Sparks Outrage After Posing Naked on Top of Endangered Elephant in Bali
A 22-year-old Russian social media influencer is facing heavy criticism online for posing naked on top of an endangered elephant in Bali, Indonesia for her 553,000 Instagram followers. Alesya Kafelnikova received backlash for the short video she posted on Feb. 13, where she was filmed lying naked on top of a “critically endangered” Sumatran elephant, according to The Sun. In a follow-up post, Kafelnikova shared an image presumably with the same elephant and said in the caption, “To love nature is human nature.”
WorldReutersU.S. report on Khashoggi death expected to single out Saudi crown prince: sources
The Biden administration is expected to release a declassified U.S. intelligence report on Thursday finding that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, four officials familiar with the matter said. The release would represent the latest move by U.S. President Joe Biden to realign ties with Riyadh after years in which Washington largely gave its key Arab ally and major oil producer a pass on its human rights record, intervention in Yemen's civil war and other issues. The report's release is expected to coincide with the first phone conversation, possibly on Wednesday, between Biden and Saudi King Salman since Biden took over the presidency.
BusinessAssociated PressNissan ex-CEO tells Japanese court Ghosn's pay was too low
Former Nissan Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa told a Japanese court Wednesday he believed the compensation for his predecessor Carlos Ghosn was too low “by international standards,” and so he supported Ghosn's retirement packages to prevent him from leaving. “Mr. Ghosn had outstanding abilities and achievements,” Saikawa said, testifying in Tokyo District Court in the criminal trial of Greg Kelly, a former senior executive at Nissan Motor Co. “We needed to prepare for Mr. Ghosn's eventual retirement to keep him motivated and to have him continue to work for Nissan,” he said in answer to a prosecutor's questioning.
PoliticsThe WeekRepublican leaders want to avoid a party civil war. Trump might have other ideas.
In a two-page memo addressed to GOP donors, voters, leaders, and activists, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) declared: "The Republican Civil War is now canceled." It isn't clear if his fellow Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, are listening. Scott is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and in the memo, first obtained by Fox News, he writes that Democrats control the White House, Senate, and House, but Republicans have a path to victory in 2022.
WorldReutersNorthern Irish Brexit issue is two-way street, says EU's Sefcovic
Britain must show it is fully using the avenues available under the Brexit divorce deal to minimise trade disruption in Northern Ireland before seeking concessions, a senior EU official said on Tuesday. Britain's exit from the EU's trading orbit in January has created trade barriers between Northern Ireland - which remains in the EU's single market for goods - and the rest of the United Kingdom. Maros Sefcovic, a vice president of the European Commission, said he hoped to learn of British efforts during an online meeting on Wednesday .
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China says Iran nuclear issue at 'critical point'
Developments surrounding Iran's nuclear program are at a “critical point” and lifting sanctions on the country is key to breaking the deadlock, China's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's comments came a day after Iran officially began restricting international inspections of its nuclear facilities in a bid to pressure European countries and the U.S. into lifting crippling economic sanctions and restoring the 2015 nuclear deal. As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China is a party to the agreement known as the JCPOA, while also maintaining friendly relations and close economic ties with Tehran.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump, Sessions, Grenell: Critics say Senate didn’t worry about mean tweets until Neera Tanden
Of all Joe Biden's nominees, one was always going to have the hardest time. Neera Tanden, nominated to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), was already controversial before Mr Biden picked her – and her hearings before the Senate Budget Committee failed to neutralise her single biggest problem: her history of tearing into opponents of both parties on Twitter. The senator who first signalled Ms Tanden was in genuine trouble was Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat whose swing vote will determine the fate of much of the Biden agenda.
WorldReutersNo breakthrough at UK-EU talks, says Northern Ireland's Foster
There was no breakthrough at a "hugely disappointing" meeting between the European Commission and the British government on Wednesday over post-Brexit trade issues in Northern Ireland, the region's first minister, Arlene Foster, said on Wednesday. The British government is demanding concessions from the European Union to minimise disruption in trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom that have emerged since Britain left the bloc's trading orbit in January. The European Union has said it will be pragmatic in seeking solutions, but has blamed the disruption on Britain's decision to exit the European Union and has called for London to implement measures agreed.
WorldAssociated PressImran Khan invites Sri Lankan Buddhists to visit Pakistan
Visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has proclaimed his Muslim-majority nation a choice destination for religious tourism by Sri Lankans, most of whom are Buddhists. In talks with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday, Khan highlighted Buddhist heritage sites in Pakistan and stressed the building of cultural ties, the Pakistan Embassy said in a statement. “Pakistan probably has one of the greatest Buddhist heritages in the world and we invite people from Sri Lanka to visit them,” Khan said a day earlier after meeting with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
PoliticsThe IndependentPerdue ditches Senate run after Trump Mar-a-Lago meeting
Former GOP senator David Perdue has decided against running for the Senate in 2022, in an apparent about-face that followed a meeting with former president Donald Trump in recent days. A source close to Mr Perude denied that the meeting between the pair was related to his decision not to run again, but said the meeting at Mar-a-Lago “did not go well”, according to the New York Times. Maggie Haberman, Washington correspondent for the New York Times, wrote on Tuesday that “Perdue had dinner with and played a long round of golf with Trump last week.
PoliticsReutersU.S. Postal Service on 'death spiral' without urgent reform: chief
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told lawmakers that U.S. mail system is losing $10 billion a year and urgently needs reform and legislative relief from Congress. "I would suggest that we are on a death spiral," DeJoy told the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform committee at a hearing Wednesday, who did not rule out changing first-class deliver standards or other significant changes. DeJoy, a supporter of former President Donald Trump appointed to head the Postal Service last year, suspended operational changes in August after heavy criticism over postal delays.
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Pilots, exec convicted over Ghosn's Japan escape
A business executive and two pilots have been convicted over their role in helping Carlos Ghosn escape from Japan. The former Nissan chief had been under house arrest charged with financial crimes - charges he has always denied. But in December 2019 he fled the country after allegedly being smuggled onto a private jet hidden inside a music case.
WorldAssociated PressGhana 1st nation to receive coronavirus vaccines from COVAX
Ghana received the world's first delivery of coronavirus vaccines from the United Nations-backed COVAX initiative on Wednesday — the long-awaited start for a program that has thus far fallen short of hopes that it would ensure shots were given quickly to the world's most vulnerable people. The arrival of 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the West African country marks the beginning of the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation in history, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF. It is a linchpin of efforts to bring the pandemic to an end and has been hailed as the first time the world has delivered a highly sought-after vaccine to poor countries during an ongoing outbreak.
PoliticsINSIDERThe White House has 132 rooms and its own restaurant. Here's what it's like inside Joe Biden's new home.
The six-story Executive Residence building is the White House's largest, consisting of two basement levels, a ground floor where building staff work, a state floor for events and receptions, and two floors where the first family lives and sleeps.
WorldAssociated PressSanctions prompt Venezuela to expel head of EU delegation
Venezuela's government on Wednesday ordered the expulsion of the head of the European Union delegation in the South American nation following the bloc's decision to impose sanctions on several Venezuelan officials accused of undermining democracy or violating human rights. Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa was given 72 hours to leave the troubled country. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said Brilhante Pedrosa was declared persona non grata by decision of President Nicolás Maduro.
WorldReutersHong Kong crafting 'patriotic' oath for local councils, Beijing wants loyalists in charge
Hong Kong's government will gazette a bill later this week that will require community level district councils to pledge an oath of allegiance to the Chinese-ruled city's mini-constitution, further stifling democratic opposition. Secretary for Mainland and Constitutional Affairs Eric Tsang said politicians deemed insincere would be blocked from office, releasing details of the bill a day after a senior official in China's cabinet said provisions should be made to ensure "patriots" were running Hong Kong. "The law will fulfill the constitutional responsibility of the government," Tsang said.
“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.”