PoliticsAssociated PressBiden signals support to replace war power authority
President Joe Biden on Friday signaled support to replace decades-old authorizations for the use of military force in the Middle East, a little more than a week after he relied on the authorizations to carry out a retaliatory airstrike against Iranian-backed militia in eastern Syria. The Biden administration announced its position after a bipartisan bill was introduced earlier this week that would repeal the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for the wars in Iraq that presidents from both parties have relied on for legal justification to carry out strikes in the region. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden was committed to working with Congress to “ensure that the authorizations for the use of military force currently on the books are replaced with a narrow and specific framework that will ensure we can protect Americans from terrorist threats while ending the forever wars.”
U.S.NBC NewsAsians were thought to be the 'model minority.' Then came 'receipt culture.'
In another video recorded last July, a tech CEO taunted an Asian American family at an upscale Northern California restaurant, calling them an “Asian piece of s—.” 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.
PoliticsThe WeekBernie Sanders is forcing other senators to go on the record about a $15 minimum wage
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Friday blasted the Senate parliamentarian who ruled that raising the minimum wage couldn't be included in Democrats' COVID-19 relief package, as he introduced an amendment looking to do exactly that. The Vermont senator on Friday said he was introducing an amendment to the COVID-19 relief bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour over five years, despite Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough previously ruling the increase couldn't be included under budget reconciliation. "Because of an unfortunate and, in my view, misguided decision by the parliamentarian, this reconciliation bill does not include an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour," Sanders said.
WorldThe TelegraphMyanmar policemen cross border into India after refusing to carry out orders set by new military junta
At least 19 Myanmar police officers have crossed the border into India in the latest sign of growing dissent within the security forces and civil service officials who are opposed to the military coup. The first reported case of police fleeing the country came as one of the country's top diplomats resigned from his post at the United Nations after being promoted to the role of ambassador by the junta. Tin Maung Naing, the deputy envoy, refused to take over from Kyaw Moe Tun, the current ambassador, who was fired last week by the generals after he urged countries at the 193-member UN General Assembly to use “any means necessary” to reverse the coup that ousted the nation's elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
WorldReutersNorthern Irish loyalist paramilitaries withdraw support for 1998 peace deal
Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary groups have told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson they are temporarily withdrawing support for the 1998 peace agreement due to concerns over the Brexit deal. While the groups pledged "peaceful and democratic" opposition to the deal, such a stark warning increases the pressure on Johnson, his Irish counterpart Micheál Martin and the European Union over Brexit. Northern Ireland's 1998 peace deal, known as the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement, ended three decades of violence between mostly Catholic nationalists fighting for a united Ireland and mostly Protestant unionists, or loyalists, who want Northern Ireland to stay part of the United Kingdom.
BusinessAxiosSurprise oil supply cut from OPEC won't just hit gas prices
Oil and gas prices jumped on Thursday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied producers said on Thursday that they would extend production cuts into April. The big picture: Oil is being driven by the production cuts of OPEC, a consortium of the world's largest producers, and expectations for a rebound in global demand as more countries emerge from coronavirus lockdowns. Crude oil has been a top performing asset this year, with variants like gasoline and diesel also delivering big gains in 2021 of 38.6% and 24.3%, respectively.
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverDuke helicopter pilot may have shut off wrong engine before fatal crash, NTSB says
The pilot of a Duke Life Flight helicopter that crashed in Hertford County in 2017 may have accidentally shut off one of the aircraft's engines just before the second malfunctioning engine failed, according to federal investigators. The helicopter came down in a ditch between two fields near Belvidere, about 12 miles from Elizabeth City, killing all four people on board. They included the pilot, Jeff Burke, two flight nurses and a patient they were flying from Sentara Albemarle Medical Center in Elizabeth City to Duke University Hospital in Durham.
U.S.Associated PressEx-chief: Dallas cop kept on job to not tip him off to probe
The Dallas Police Department allowed an officer to continue patrolling for more than a year while investigating whether he ordered two people to be killed because it didn't want to tip him off, the city's former police chief said. Former Police Chief U. Renee Hall, who left the department at the end of 2020, told The Dallas Morning News that the decision not to place Officer Bryan Riser on leave was made in conjunction with federal law enforcement and the Dallas County district attorney's office. Riser, 36, was arrested Thursday on two counts of capital murder and taken to the Dallas County Jail, where he was being held Friday on $5 million bond after a court appearance Thursday night.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestThe 29 Best Bar Carts Under $500
Guaranteed to look great in your Zoom happy hours Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
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Civil war within the GOP continues as Trump fires back at strategist Karl Rove
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.
PoliticsThe WeekCapitol riot's 'QAnon Shaman' defends himself by claiming he 'stopped somebody from stealing muffins'
A suspect charged in the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol building is speaking from jail in a new interview — and offering a unique defense positioning himself as simply a savior of baked goods. Jacob Chansley, the Capitol riot suspect who refers to himself as the "QAnon Shaman" and was photographed during the insurrection wearing fur and horns, spoke with 60 Minutes in an interview broadcast Thursday, in which he claimed his "actions were not an attack on this country" as he faces up to 20 years in prison for them. "I sang a song, and that's a part of shamanism," he said.
PoliticsThe Independent‘Textbook voter suppression’: How Trump’s stolen election lies are shaping the future of democracy
On the floor of Georgia's House of Representatives on 1 March, state Democratic Rep Bee Nguyen warned her colleagues that the bill in front of them – a 66-page, Republican-backed proposal to drastically roll back voting access across the state – followed a months-long campaign from Donald Trump and his GOP allies to undermine millions of voters with baseless claims of widespread voter fraud and a “stolen” election. “Members of this body aided and abetted a deliberate misinformation campaign to sow seeds of doubt among Georgia voters with absolutely no facts or evidence.” The bill would, among other things, cut mail-in voting and early voting access, strip elections oversight from the state's Secretary of State, and limit voting access that would disproportionately target Black voters.
U.S.AxiosHouse cancels Thursday session as FBI, Homeland Security warn of threat to Capitol
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security predict violent domestic extremists attacks will increase in 2021, according to a report obtained by Axios. Driving the news: The joint report says extremists have discussed plans to take control of the Capitol and "remove Democratic lawmakers" on or about March 4. The extremist group is unidentified in the report, but Capitol police told congressional staffers the FBI has intelligence that it's the Three Percenters militia group, according to a person present during the briefing.
PoliticsUSA TODAYJoe Biden campaigned as the mask candidate. Now he's facing the limits of the bully pulpit
Joe Biden ran for the White House as the mask candidate, criticizing then-President Donald Trump's dismissal of masks, promising to get tough on mask wearing and modeling good behavior by wearing at least one – and sometimes two –masks himself. "The one thing we do know — these masks make a gigantic difference," Biden said last June. As president, however, Biden is running up against the limits of the bully pulpit as mask-wearing remains politically polarized.
U.S.NBC NewsTexas workers should be worried about more than Covid after gov's mask repeal, experts say
Working the door at a business in Texas that still requires masks against Covid-19 could be hazardous to your health — and not just because of the virus, top security experts said Thursday. Gov. Greg Abbott's sudden decision this week to lift the mask mandate and other coronavirus restrictions has undermined the ability of these companies to enforce their own rules for protecting staffers and customers, they said. “This ripping off the Band-Aid approach is not good,” said Brian Higgins, a security consultant who also teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.
ScienceBBCNasa's Perseverance rover takes its first drive on Mars
It's two weeks now since the one-tonne robot landed on the Red Planet. Engineers have spent the time commissioning the vehicle and its many systems, including its instruments and robotic arm. Perseverance's mission is to explore a near-equatorial crater called Jezero, to search for evidence of past life.
WorldBBCWorld's oldest known wild bird has another chick at age of 70
Wisdom the albatross, the world's oldest known wild bird, has had a chick at the age of at least 70. The Laysan albatross hatched the chick on 1 February in a wildlife refuge in the North Pacific Ocean, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has said. The father is Wisdom's partner, Akeakamai, who she has been with since 2012, US wildlife officials said.
U.S.Miami HeraldDemocrats ask FBI for investigation into vaccine distribution; DeSantis pushes back
Florida's two top Democratic officials on Thursday called on the U.S. Justice Department to launch an investigation into Gov. Ron DeSantis for what they say appears to be a “pay to play” scheme in which the governor directed vaccine doses to communities in the state's wealthiest ZIP codes in exchange for campaign contributions. Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Senate Democratic Leader Gary Farmer issued separate statements urging the U.S. Attorney and the FBI to look into whether the $3.9 million in contributions made to the governor's political committee since December alone were connected to favorable treatment for vaccine distribution. On Thursday, the governor angrily blasted a Miami Herald report that quoted an internal newsletter sent to residents of the wealthy gated enclave of the Ocean Reef Club, located in north Key Largo.
WorldBBCCovid: Brazil's daily deaths reach all-time high
Brazil on Wednesday registered its highest daily number of Covid deaths since the pandemic started. The health ministry said 1,910 people had died with Covid in the previous 24 hours, the second day in a row of record deaths. The record was reached as scientists said that a new variant first found in Brazil appears more contagious.
U.S.The Daily BeastTrump State Department Aide Beat Capitol Cops With Riot Shield, Egged on Jan. 6 Crowd: FBI
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 insurrections has been arrested for his role on Jan. 6. Federico Klein, a 42-year-old State Department staff assistant, is facing a slew of charges for his role in the Capitol riots, 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, allegedly “physically and verbally engaged with the officers holding the line” before assaulting one law enforcer with a riot shield—and using that stolen police equipment to wedge a door into the Capitol to allow insurrectionists inside.
U.S.Los Angeles Times OpinionLetters to the Editor: If New Yorkers think Andrew Cuomo is a creep, let them vote him out
Opinion, March 3) New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is accused of questioning an employee's sex life and asking a woman if he could kiss her. Just to put this in perspective, our former president wasn't asked to resign after alleged non-consensual kissing or groping of at least 25 women. He is also accused of raping a woman in a department store dressing room.
HealthMiami HeraldThis recalled dog food can make pets and pet owners sick with salmonella and listeria
Bravo Packing has recalled its Performance Dog and Ground Beef frozen, raw pet food because it has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella and listeria monocytogenes. The recall alert, issued Wednesday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is nationwide. Bravo is headquartered in New Jersey and worked with a New York distributor.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderGOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn says being called a 'Neanderthal' is actually a good thing after Biden criticized states for lifting mask mandates
Sen. Blackburn defended Neanderthals after Biden said lifting mask rules was "Neanderthal thinking." Lawmakers and members of the public mocked Blackburn by pointing out that Neanderthals are extinct. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee defended Neanderthals after President Joe Biden criticized Texas and Mississippi for lifting their mask mandates and called the decision "Neanderthal thinking."
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverComedian Jimmy Fallon’s New York penthouse on the market for $15 million. Take a look
“The Tonight Show” host and “Saturday Night Live” alumni Jimmy Fallon has put his prismatic New York City penthouse on the market, according to Sotheby's International Realty and multiple news sources. The penthouse was actually a project that was put together slowly over the last two decades, The Wall Street Journal reported. The comedian bought his first one-bedroom apartment in the building for $850,000 in 2002, which ended up being the first piece, according to WSJ.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTrump's fake inauguration on March 4 was QAnon's latest vision that flopped. A new date is now being peddled to perpetuate the mind games.
QAnon followers believed that Donald Trump would be reinstated as president on Thursday. The date was the latest in a long line of bizarre and continually shifting goalposts. Followers of the conspiracy theory now say future dates will herald epic changes.
“Taking humans to Mars would require an investment astronomically out of kilter with the possible benefits.”
“Can a Mars settlement be a freer society than we enjoy on Earth? Maybe.”
“What we learn...may spark the next revolution that will make life in 2071 beyond anything we can imagine right now.”
“Our presence on Mars could jeopardize one of our main reasons for being there — the search for life.”
“The future of geologic investigation of other worlds lies with highly improved versions of our Mars rovers.”