WorldThe TelegraphAngela Merkel refuses Oxford jab amid calls to 'lead by example'
Angela Merkel has dismissed suggestions she should ignore her government's guidelines and take the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine. There have been calls for Mrs Merkel to “lead by example” and be vaccinated on camera in order to dispel German public fears over the jab. “I do not belong to the recommended age group for AstraZeneca,” Mrs Merkel told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.
WorldNBC NewsOnce a darling of the pandemic, Germany now has more than 1 million vaccines unused in storage
At a time when vaccines are in such urgent demand, Germany has more than 1 million unused doses sitting in storage — partly because people are reluctant to take them. Once hailed for its coronavirus response, Germany has administered just 15 percent of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine it has received, the country's health ministry said in a briefing Wednesday. "We are working quite hard on this and trying to convince people to accept the vaccine and really to rebuild the trust in the vaccine in the population," Thomas Mertens, a professor who chairs Germany's Standing Commission on Vaccination, told the BBC on Thursday.
U.S.NextShark'Kind and Generous' Pizzeria Owner, 56, Brutally Beaten By Thieves in Pennsylvania
A 56-year-old pizzeria owner in Norristown, Pennsylvania was violently attacked by a group of men who stole beers from her shop on Friday. Ying Ngov, the owner of Mama Venezia's Pizzeria, reportedly ran after the men after they took the items from her business without paying, reports 6ABC. Security footage initially showed the attackers looking through the windows of Ngov's pizza shop before they all put on masks and entered the store.
PoliticsAxiosManhattan prosecutors reportedly obtain millions of pages of Trump's tax records
The Manhattan district attorney is now in possession of millions of pages of former President Trump's tax and financial records, CNN first reported, following a Supreme Court ruling that allowed prosecutors to enforce a subpoena after a lengthy legal battle. Why it matters: Trump fought for years to keep his tax returns out of the public eye and away from prosecutors in New York, who are examining his business in a criminal investigation that was first sparked by hush-money payments made by Trump's former fixer Michael Cohen during the 2016 election.
PoliticsThe Independent'Get used to me': Derided Postmaster General Louis Dejoy says he's not going anywhere
USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told Democrats eager to see him removed from his position to “get used to me” during a meeting of the House Oversight Committee. When asked by Democratic Congressman Jim Cooper if he planned to stick around or if he thought he would be replaced by a new appointee, Mr DeJoy pointed out that he was not actually a Trump appointee, but was selected by the USPS Board of Governors from a group of 200 candidates. The derided postmaster general made the comments while testifying at an oversight hearing concerning the financial state of the USPS.
U.S.The Independent‘Read the fine print’: Texas lieutenant governor blames Texans for high storm energy bills
The lieutenant governor of Texas has blamed the state's hard-hit residents for higher energy prices accrued throughout last week's winter storm. When more than four million Texans lost power as the crisis hit, the state's Public Utilities Commission raised the cap on electricity prices to $9 (£6) per kilowatt-hour, to force users to switch off to try to protect the over-run grid. Dan Patrick, the state's lieutenant governor, told Fox News on Wednesday that the state's residents — some of whom went days without the lights on — were personally to blame for the higher prices because they had not read the “fine print” of their contracts.
PoliticsThe StateSC Republican files bill to allow Donald Trump to be buried on State House grounds
A Republican state legislator wants to give former President Donald Trump the option of making the State House grounds his final resting place. A bill from state Rep. R.J. May, R-Lexington, would require the South Carolina Department of Administration to offer any president acquitted of impeachment twice to be buried on State House grounds, according to a statement from May's political consulting firm, Ivory Tusk Consulting. The bill is a rebuttal to one introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, which would bar any president impeached twice from being buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
U.S.INSIDERA Texas border patrol officer was charged after she used a coworker's login to bring her children's nanny into the US from Mexico
A Customs and Border Protection officer was charged with bringing in an undocumented immigrant. Prosecutors allege Rhonda Lee Walker used a coworker's computer to scan the woman's documents. Walker admitted to hiring the immigrant as a live-in nanny and housekeeper for her mother and kids.
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
BusinessBusiness InsiderExperts say Dominion and Smartmatic could win their defamation lawsuits, but MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says they have 'zero' shot
Dominion and Smartmatic may win their defamation lawsuits, experts have told Insider and CNBC. MyPillow CEO Lindell told Insider Dominion has "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.
CelebrityThe IndependentWho is Heidi Cruz? The high-powered Goldman Sachs executive and wife to ‘disgraced’ Texas senator Ted Cruz
Heidi Cruz, the wife of Texas senator Ted Cruz, is reportedly on the hunt for the neighbour who leaked her text messages about their much criticised trip to Cancun during a snow-storm that left thousands without heat or electricity. “Ritz Carlton Cancun $309 plus tax,” she allegedly wrote in messages passed to The New York Times last week, that demonstrated the family was planning to violate government guidelines and the recommendations of her own husband. In 2000, when the pair met whilst working on George W Bush's presidential campaign before marrying the next year and moving into government positions, Heidi Nelson wasn't necessarily destined to be window dressing to someone else's ambitions.
U.S.The Daily BeastPhone Records Prove House Sergeant-at-Arms DID Ignore Pleas for Backup: Capitol Police Chief
The acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police just came with the receipts. Testifying before a House Appropriations subcommittee about the catastrophic breakdown that allowed thousands of MAGA rioters to breach the Capitol, Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman revealed that her predecessor called the House sergeant-at-arms, Paul Irving, at 12:58 p.m. to request the National Guard as rioters breaching the building and forced lawmakers into hiding. Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who resigned after the riot, called Irving again seven minutes later, according to phone records pulled by Pittman—and then called him at least three more times until 1:45 p.m.
U.S.The IndependentFox anchor suspended after saying he was ‘annoyed’ at obese people getting Covid vaccine
A Fox news station suspended its anchor following social media outrage for his tweet expressing annoyance over obese people getting the Covid-19 vaccine on priority. Blake McCoy made the controversial remark on Tuesday afternoon and later deleted his tweet, issuing an apology for his “insensitive and offensive” comment. “I'm annoyed obese people of all ages get priority vaccine access before all essential workers,” he said in the now-deleted tweet.
- WorldWABC – NY
Woman grabbed from behind, attacked at NYC subway station
The victim's daughter says her mother is still too shaken up to speak about the attack publicly.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderStephen Miller, the architect of Trump's migrant-family-separation scheme, called Biden's immigration policies 'cruel' and 'inhumane'
In a Fox News interview, Stephen Miller weighed in on Biden's reopening of a child-migrant facility. "What we're seeing here is the cruelty and inhumanity of Joe Biden's immigration policies," he said. Stephen Miller, the Trump administration official who masterminded the policy of separating migrant children from their families at the US-Mexico border, described President Joe Biden's immigration policies as "cruel" and "inhumane" during an appearance on Fox News' "Ingraham Angle" on Wednesday night.
U.S.USA TODAY'His face was in your windshield': Police skeptical South Dakota AG didn't know he fatally struck a pedestrian
North Dakota investigators were skeptical that South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg didn't know he fatally struck a pedestrian on the night of Sept. 12, 2020. According to video footage from two separate interviews between investigators and Ravnsborg, made public Tuesday by the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, authorities found the reading glasses of Joe Boever inside the Ford Taurus that killed him. Law enforcement from North Dakota have assisted in the investigation in order to buffer the inquiry from conflict-of-interest perceptions.
PoliticsThe IndependentObama backs reparations for the first time and slams ‘politics of white resistance’
Barack Obama backed the reparation of Black Americans for the first time, calling it “justified” but blamed "politics of white resistance and resentment" as the reason for not being able to push it during his presidency. The former president was speaking on the topic of “race relations in the US” during the second episode of his podcast series titled “Renegades: Born in the USA” that he kicked off with rock legend Bruce Springsteen. The two were discussing about the bill regarding reparations, which would study racial reparations for compensating Black Americans descended from slavery and victims of systemic racism.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastRand Paul Launches Into Transphobic Rant Against Trans Nominee
Dr. Rachel Levine, the first transgender person to be nominated for a Senate-confirmed position in the federal government, had been seated in her confirmation hearing to become the nation's assistant secretary of health for a little less than an hour when she was grilled about “genital mutilation” of minor children by a Republican committee member. “American culture is down normalizing the idea that minors can be given hormones,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said on Thursday, likening standards of care for transgender minors to castration and female circumcision and blaming increasing rates of trans-identified youth on “the social pressure to conform and do what others do.” In response, Levine thanked Paul for his “interest” in the question of transgender medicine, calling it “a very complex and nuanced field with robust research and standards of care that have been developed” by pediatricians.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTrump-appointed federal judge indefinitely blocks the Biden administration's 100-day deportation freeze
A federal judge blocked the Biden administration from enforcing a 100-day deportation freeze. The ruling does not mandate that deportations have to return to their previous rate. Democrats are hoping to pass a large-scale immigration overhaul in Congress this year.
BusinessINSIDERA Texas woman is suing her electricity provider after she got a $9,000 power bill amid statewide power outages
Lisa Khoury, of Texas, is at the forefront of a proposed class-action lawsuit against Griddy Energy. The class-action lawsuit is seeking $1 billion in damages. The lawsuit accuses Griddy of price gouging during last week's winter storm.
- ScienceFOX News Videos
Laid-off Keystone XL worker reacts to Biden’s climate pledge with Canada
Kolten Walker weighs in on President Biden's climate change policies on 'Fox and Friends First.
U.S.The Daily BeastTeen Accused of Killing Disabled Sister as Parents Slept
Claire Elaina Miller, 14, has been charged with homicide after calling authorities on Feb. 22 to admit she stabbed her older sister, 19-year-old Helen Miller, while her parents were asleep, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney's office. According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by The Daily Beast, the Manheim Township Police Department arrived at the home just after 1 a.m. to find Miller, a ninth-grader at a local private school, standing in front of the house close to “what appeared to be blood on the snow near the driveway.”
PoliticsBusiness InsiderPelosi mocks McConnell for criticizing commission on the Capitol insurrection: GOP Sen. 'Ron Johnson seems to be taking the lead'
Pelosi blasted McConnell for criticizing a commission to investigate the Capitol insurrection. "He was taking a page out of the book of Senator Johnson," Pelosi said Thursday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday after he criticized her proposal for a 9/11-style commission to investigate the Capitol insurrection.
BusinessBusiness InsiderTexas Lt. Gov. says that people getting huge energy bills 'gambled on a very, very low rate' - but suggests they won't have to pay the full amount
Texas Lt. Gov, Dan Patrick said that Texans getting huge energy bills took a gamble and lost. In Texas, some energy deals are linked to wholesale prices, exposing consumer to sudden spikes. After last week's devastating storm, some Texans faced energy bills as high as $16,000.
U.S.Architectural Digest9 Products to Help You Become a Better Plant Parent
You can't buy a green thumb, but at least you can buy the right tools Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
“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.”