Recommended Stories
- Reuters
Israel says initial assessment is Iran behind explosion on Israeli-owned ship
Israeli defence minister Benny Gantz said on Saturday his "initial assessment" was that Iran was responsible for an explosion on an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman. The ship, a vehicle-carrier named MV Helios Ray, suffered an explosion between Thursday and Friday morning. A U.S. defence official in Washington said the blast left holes above the waterline in both sides of the hull.
- Business Insider
Biden is on the verge of making the same dangerous mistakes as the presidents before him
Opinion: The costs of a foreign policy that emphasizes US global preeminence are now inescapable clear, and US leaders need to change course.
- BBC
Lady Gaga's dogs found safe after armed robbery
The US singer's two French bulldogs were stolen after gunmen attacked and wounded her dog walker.
- INSIDER
SCOTUS quietly banned the abortion pill from mail - the only mail-in medication barred during the pandemic
Advocates say the ruling against the mail-in pill, which was recommended by the FDA, signals the court's will to erode Roe v. Wade.
- INSIDER
Princess Diana wasn't allowed to call Prince Charles by his first name until they were engaged
It's been 40 years since Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer announced their engagement with a televised interview.
- The Independent
Jamal Khashoggi: Biden will take no action against MBS after intelligence report finds Saudi leader responsible for murder of journalist
The State Department is due to announce is response to the killing soon
- Business Insider
Trump wants to start a new super PAC headed by former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, report says
Trump plans a new political action committee to maintain his grip on the Republican Party, Politico says.
- The Daily Beast
This County’s Vaccine Rollout Has Been a Total Fiasco
Sarah Meyssonnier/ReutersFederal authorities rolled into Shelby County, Tennessee, this week as the mismanagement disasters plaguing the local coronavirus vaccine rollout reached a boiling point.The county health department allowed more than 2,000 doses to spoil, two children were vaccinated against Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, and a volunteer allegedly made off with doses from one site. The Tennessee Health Department, the FBI, and the CDC are now investigating. The head of the Shelby health department, Alisa Haushalter, resigned Friday. Now residents are left questioning whether the doses they received were expired doses.“You begin to feel like you were safe to go out and do things, but now you don’t know if you’re covered or not. You don’t know if the shot you got is effective or not,” said Gayle Jones, 80, who was born and raised in Cordova, Tennessee. She received her second shot of the Pfizer vaccine Wednesday. “We’ve missed a whole year by staying at home. We finally felt like we could get out and maybe be OK.”Hundreds of people are echoing her statements on Facebook in comments on bulletins from the county health department.Ingrid Chilton, 68, vented her frustration below one post, “Let’s talk about the thousands of Memphians who don’t know whether they have been properly vaccinated since the thawing of the vaccines was not done in accordance with CDC guidelines!”Chilton and her 75-year-old husband flew from their home in Tiburon, California, to visit their son in downtown Memphis for two weeks in late February 2020. They have stayed for a year, living in the same two weeks’ worth of clothing. Saturday would be the day they reached full immunity, two weeks from their second Pfizer shots. She and her husband had begun discussing when they would return to Tiburon.“Today was the day I was supposed to be celebrating, like ‘We’re free!’ and instead we get this. I feel like we’re in limbo again,” she told The Daily Beast.The state began investigating the county health department last week after an announcement that the county had permitted 1,300 doses to expire in February. State investigators found that in actuality, 2,400 doses had gone bad this month and were trashed, with 840 wasted in one day, Feb. 15. Though the vaccines require ultra-cold storage to remain viable, some syringes felt warm to the investigator’s touch, the Tennessean reported.Adding to residents’ fears, some doses have gone missing. State Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey said in a press conference Friday that 12 syringes had expired during a Feb. 23 vaccination event, but no one had returned them to the distributing pharmacy. The doses remain unaccounted for.“There does appear to be a lack of accountability and in some sense leadership, which has undoubtedly potentially harmed some folks and withheld vaccine from people who needed it,” Piercey said.Jones had hoped to feel safe attending the births of two great-grandchildren due soon. She thinks she will still go, albeit now with feelings of uncertainty and risk. Her daughter, her son, and two of her grandchildren have all had COVID-19. A granddaughter and a granddaughter-in-law are both pregnant and work in health care.“We’ll have to take it as it is. I don’t know if they’ll be able to prove if the vaccine we got was real and effective or not,” she said.Chilton will postpone her travel until the investigation into the vaccination effort concludes.“I don’t know if we’ll ever know accurately whether we’re protected or not,” she said.Memphis’ city health department has taken over vaccination efforts for the entire county.In addition to its procedural woes, the vaccination effort has suffered an alleged robbery. The state notified the FBI Thursday that a volunteer allegedly stole vaccine doses on Feb. 3, according to Piercey. The state health commissioner said the city had not been forthcoming with information on the disappearance of the doses, leading to a delay of nearly a month in reporting it. Shelby County Chief Administrative Officer Dwan Gilliom said Piercey was incorrect and that law enforcement had been made aware but that no arrests had been made.Two children were vaccinated in Shelby County on Feb. 3 as well, according to Piercey. Neither the Moderna nor Pfizer vaccine is approved for anyone under the age of 16, as the medicine has only been tested on adults.The mess has further eroded Jones’ already cratering trust in the local government, which has struggled with picking up garbage and supplying water to residents in recent weeks.“They just need to get their act together in the Memphis government. They’re totally unreliable,” said Jones. “We just had the water boil for 8 days because all the mains broke. It just has you thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, can’t you do anything?’”Chilton feels similarly.“I don’t think my feelings toward the county and state health department would be fit to print, frankly,” she said.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
- The Independent
CPAC: Gaetz says media ‘biased’ over Ted Cruz’s Cancun trip and should have focused on ‘caravans’ of migrants instead
Outspoken GOP congressman complains ‘the left and the media’ were less concerned about ‘caravans going through Mexico’ than Texas senator visiting
- Associated Press
EXPLAINER: Why rising rates are unsettling Wall Street
Yes, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing, and that’s exactly why stock markets around the world are getting so unsettled. When it tries to figure out the value for anything from Apple’s stock to a junk bond, the financial world starts by comparing it against a U.S. Treasury bond, which is what the government uses to borrow money. For years, yields have been ultralow for Treasurys, meaning investors earned very little in interest for owning them.
- The Independent
Who’s John Boehner’: Ted Cruz reacts to former Speaker telling him to ‘f*** himself’
Texas senator shamed for Cancun trip delivered a high-energy CPAC speech studded with Star Wars references
- Business Insider
Why QAnon are pinning their last desperate hopes on Trump emerging as president on March 4
QAnon's most devout followers believe bizarrely that former President Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 19th President on March 4, 2021.
- Architectural Digest
More Inside A New Safari Lodge Treehouse Tucked Away in Botswana’s Okavango Delta
Only reachable by canoe, this Xigera hideaway is centered along lush riverbeds and a rich concentration of wildlife.Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- Business Insider
Trump supporters and right-wing reporters wouldn't stop heckling CNN's Jim Acosta during second day of CPAC
A crowd of Trump supporters and right-wing reporters were filmed following Jim Acosta around CPAC while chanting "CNN sucks!"
- Associated Press
10 death row inmates in Oklahoma could get new trials
As many as 10 death row inmates in Oklahoma, more than one-fifth of the state’s prisoners condemned to die, could escape execution because of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling concerning criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country. The inmates have challenged their convictions in state court following the high court’s ruling last year, dubbed the McGirt decision, that determined a large swath of eastern Oklahoma remains an American Indian reservation. The decision means that Oklahoma prosecutors lack the authority to pursue criminal charges in cases in which the defendants, or the victims, are tribal citizens.
- USA TODAY Opinion
Immunization not ammunition: School safety means fewer guns
New research shows that armed guards inspire more schoolyard bloodshed.
- Associated Press
J&J’s 1-dose shot cleared, giving US 3rd COVID-19 vaccine
The U.S. is getting a third vaccine to prevent COVID-19, as the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose instead of two. Health experts are anxiously awaiting a one-and-done option to help speed vaccinations, as they race against a virus that already has killed more than 510,000 people in the U.S. and is mutating in increasingly worrisome ways. The FDA said J&J’s vaccine offers strong protection against what matters most: serious illness, hospitalizations and death.
- FOX News Videos
Biden administration facing criticism for giving Saudi prince a ‘pass’ for Khashoggi killing
Former State Dept. spokesperson Morgan Ortagus discusses the Biden administration’s response to the Saudi Arabia's role in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
- INSIDER
Coffee experts share 14 ways to make a better cup at home
From buying whole, fresh beans to nailing the perfect water-to-coffee ratio, coffee connoisseurs have plenty of tips for better at-home brewing.
- Associated Press
Pakistan expert: Religiosity aiding spike in militancy
Militant attacks are on the rise in Pakistan amid a growing religiosity that has brought greater intolerance, prompting one expert to voice concern the country could be overwhelmed by religious extremism. Pakistani authorities are embracing strengthening religious belief among the population to bring the country closer together. Militant violence in Pakistan has spiked: In the past week alone, four vocational school instructors who advocated for women’s rights were traveling together when they were gunned down in a Pakistan border region.