Biden’s executive orders are ‘restricting our freedoms’: Sen. Blackburn

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., explains her criticisms of the president’s executive actions.

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  • Ex-GOP congresswoman says party is on the way to being ‘fringe’ within ‘three or four years’

    ‘It's not just Marjorie Taylor Greene, it's a disease flowing through the Republican Party’ says Susan Molinari

  • Arkansas' Republican governor praises Biden administration's 'seamless' vaccine distribution

    Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) bestowed some bipartisan praise on the Biden administration Sunday, telling ABC News' Martha Raddatz that the vaccine distribution in his state has been "seamless" lately and he's grateful President Biden and his team are "working to assure" the Arkansas-U.S. government partnership remains in tact. When asked if he thought Biden was doing enough, Hutchinson said he "was delighted that we had a 14 percent increase in vaccine supply last week." And, given the global vaccine supply shortage, he's happy "we have that partnership, which is good, with the federal government." “In terms of the vaccine distribution, it’s been seamless,” Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says on the Biden administration’s efforts. “President Biden and his team is working to assure that partnership and not tear it apart, which I’m very grateful for.” https://t.co/0tIupXQlob pic.twitter.com/VQQiXHie2v — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 31, 2021 More stories from theweek.comTrump's impeachment defense is out. Bannon is reportedly encouraging him to go to the Senate himself.How Moscow police's attempts to shut down pro-Navalny protests may have backfired5 brutally funny cartoons about the GOP's Trump problem

  • Taiwan says Chinese fighters, U.S. aircraft both entered defence zone

    Six Chinese fighter aircraft and a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft entered the southwestern corner of Taiwan's air defence identification zone on Sunday, the island's defence ministry said, in an unusual admission of U.S. military activity. Tensions have spiked over the last week or so after Taiwan reported multiple Chinese fighters and bombers flying into the zone last weekend, in an area close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the northern part of the South China Sea.

  • Moscow protest spreads wide after police block original plan

    The Moscow police plan to stifle an opposition protest by clamping down on the center of the city backfired — not only did the massive demonstration take place, but it was spread throughout a wide swath of the city. Moscow police always come out strong for unauthorized protest gatherings, but the plan for Sunday's demonstration demanding freedom for jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny was especially anathema symbolically. It was to start on Lubyanka Square, where the Federal Security Service that Navalny accuses of poisoning him is headquartered, then march a half-kilometer to the presidential administration building, about as close to the levers of power that a protester could get without breaching the Kremlin’s walls.

  • Rural communities 'under siege' by criminal hare-coursing gangs

    Rural communities have suffered a steep rise in hare coursing, with the RSPCA saying the growing involvement of gangs in wildlife crimes is a major factor in its decision to hand over its 200-year-old prosecuting powers to the CPS. Dozens of rural landowners are being repeatedly targeted by gangs who gather to bet on the outcome of dogs chasing down and killing as many hares as possible. Latest figures obtained by The Telegraph show that in some counties, such as North Yorkshire, there was a 51 per cent increase in incidents of hare coursing and poaching last year. A similar increase is expected this year. The RSPCA’s chief executive, Chris Sherwood, said on Saturday: “We’re involved in cases that involve cock fighting, badger baiting and hare coursing, which can involve millions of pounds of fraud, tax evasion and even weapons and these cases are complex. “We think there’s a better way for us which is to mirror the situation in Scotland, where our sister charity, the SSPCA, transfers its cases and files over to the procurator fiscal, the Scottish equivalent of the CPS, so there’s that division between investigation and prosecution.”

  • 10 GOP senators to unveil alternative $600 billion COVID-19 relief package

    Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) led a group of 10 Republican senators — including fellow moderates Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — that on Sunday announced plans to unveil a $600 million COVID-19 relief package they believe could serve as a bipartisan alternative to President Biden's $1.9 trillion plan, which the GOP has deemed too expensive. The details are expected to be released Monday, though The Washington Post reports it will likely not include Biden's proposal to increase the federal minimum wage and it will also reportedly narrow eligibility for a new round of $1,400 stimulus checks to individuals earning $50,000 per year or less or couples earing $100,000 per year or less. The Republicans want to meet with Biden to discuss their counterproposal. "We want to work in good faith with you and your administration to meet the health, economic, and societal challenges" of the COVID-19 pandemic, they wrote in a letter. Whether Democrats will be open to discussing the idea remains to be seen (Biden's top economic adviser reiterated Sunday that the president is determined to act swiftly), but, as the Post notes, the fact that 10 Republicans are on board with the plan is significant. If the two sides do reach a compromise that would give the Senate the 60 votes required to pass legislation without the Democrats having to seek a workaround. Read more at The Washington Post. More stories from theweek.comTrump's impeachment defense is out. Bannon is reportedly encouraging him to go to the Senate himself.How Moscow police's attempts to shut down pro-Navalny protests may have backfired5 brutally funny cartoons about the GOP's Trump problem

  • Hong Kong official says Joint Declaration gave Britain no rights to city post handover

    Hong Kong Secretary of Justice Teresa Cheng reiterated on Saturday that Britain had no rights over the city under the joint declaration that laid the blueprint for how the city would be ruled after its 1997 reunification with China. Cheng made the comments in a blog post on the eve of changes to the UK's visa application program that will allow Hong Kong residents who hold a British National Overseas (BNO) passport to live, study and work in Britain for five years and eventually apply for citizenship.

  • Impeachment fever hits Kentucky with efforts to oust leaders

    Impeachment fever has struck Kentucky, where grievances over coronavirus restrictions and the outcome of the Breonna Taylor death investigation have spurred petitions to oust both the governor and the attorney general. It's a card rarely played in any serious way in the Bluegrass State, though Kentucky has had its share of provocative elected officials. In the two new cases, the effort to impeach was triggered by disagreements over policy or executive decisions at the highest levels of Kentucky government.

  • Relatives of Manson 'family' murder victims outraged by DA's new policy

    Kay Martley said she was stunned by the Los Angeles County DA’s decision to stop opposing parole for the Manson follower convicted of killing her cousin.

  • Lincoln Project co-founder accused of 'exploiting his power' with sexually provocative online messages

    John Weaver, a longtime Republican strategist who helped run presidential campaigns for the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2000 and 2008 and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) in 2016, has been accused of online harassment by 21 men, The New York Times reports. In interviews, the men said that over the course of several years Weaver — who is also a co-founder of, but not longer involved with, the Lincoln Project, a prominent anti-Trump group formed by Republican — sent unsolicited and sexually provocative over the internet. The exchanges reportedly did not lead to physical encounters except in one consensual case, and the men did not accuse Weaver of unlawful conduct, the Times notes, but they did describe being "preyed upon by an influential older man in the field in which they wanted to work." Weaver even sent messages to a 14-year-old boy, eventually inviting him to come to Las Vegas with him after he turned 18. One of the men who received messages from Weaver last year when he was a recent college graduate looking for a job in politics said "it just seemed like he was exploiting his power." The Times' provided new, specific details about the situation, but allegations of Weaver's solicitations were first reported earlier this month by The American Conservative. In response to that story, Weaver acknowledged sending the inappropriate messages and apologized. Read more at The New York Times. More stories from theweek.comTrump's impeachment defense is out. Bannon is reportedly encouraging him to go to the Senate himself.How Moscow police's attempts to shut down pro-Navalny protests may have backfired5 brutally funny cartoons about the GOP's Trump problem

  • 10 Senate Republicans propose compromise with Biden on COVID relief package

    A group of 10 Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), sent a letter to President Biden Sunday requesting a meeting with the president, saying they have developed a counterproposal to the president's COVID-19 relief plan.The big picture: The proposal includes $160 billion in spending for vaccines, testing and tracing, treatment and medical equipment. The senators said the plan "could be approved quickly by Congress with bipartisan support," if it gained Biden's support.Support safe, smart, sane journalism. Sign up for Axios Newsletters here. * The Senators' proposal includes a measure to renew unemployment benefits that expire in March. It also seeks to send a new round of direct payments to "families who need assistance the most," and to send additional assistance to small businesses. * "Our proposal reflects many of your stated priorities," the senators wrote.What they're saying: “In the spirit of bipartisanship and unity, we have developed a COVID-19 relief framework that builds on prior COVID assistance laws, all of which passed with bipartisan support,” the senators wrote.Between the lines: Biden has said he prefers a bipartisan approach to getting his plan through Congress, writes Axios Hans Nichols. * But he hasn’t ruled out relying on Democratic votes alone to pass his proposal through budget reconciliation, which requires a simple majority in the Senate. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled last week that Democrats would seek to use the tactic if they could not garner Republican support.What's new: National Economic Council Director Brian Deese told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday morning that the White House has "seen the letter and will be reviewing it over the course of the day."What's next: The senators will reveal more of the plan's details on Monday, per Politico. Go deeper: White House plots "full-court press" for $1.9 trillion relief planGet smarter, faster with the news CEOs, entrepreneurs and top politicians read. Sign up for Axios Newsletters here.

  • Beach poles behind Florida hotel block driving in Daytona

    Driving on the seaside sand, a long-lived tradition in Daytona Beach, is now threatened along one short stretch where poles are blocking any vehicles. The Hard Rock Hotel erected the poles along a 410-foot (124-meter) section of beach to prevent driving there. The chair of the Volusia County Council, Jeff Brower, has made beach driving a priority since his election in November.

  • Asian Americans warily watch family overseas enjoy 'normal' life

    One woman with family in South Korea said she’s "jealous that they’re in a place where people care about other people and take precautions."

  • Wyoming governor: Keystone XL Pipeline cancellation is ‘a real problem’ for energy-producing states

    Gov. Mark Gordon discusses what President Biden’s climate plans will mean for his state on ‘America’s News HQ.’

  • China temporarily bars entry of foreigners travelling from Canada

    China has temporarily banned entry of foreign nationals travelling from Canada, even if they hold valid Chinese residence permits for work, the Chinese consulate in Toronto said. "All foreign nationals who hold valid Chinese residence permits for work, personal matters and reunion are temporarily not allowed to enter China from Canada," the consulate said in a statement on its website on Saturday. Entry with diplomatic and service visas will not be affected, it said.

  • Biden reportedly expected to nominate judges with legal backgrounds 'historically underrepresented on the federal bench'

    For decades, NBC News notes, the Republican Party has been the political faction emphasizing the courts in the United States, but now Democrats appear to be playing catch-up as they look to fill several federal vacancies before the mid-terms in 2022 when they could lose their slim Senate majority. If they do fill the seats, White House Counsel Dana Remus recently wrote in a letter to senators that was obtained by NBC, it will likely be with "individuals whose legal experiences have been historically underrepresented on the federal bench, including those whose who are public defenders, civil rights and legal aid attorneys, and those who represent Americans in every walk of life" rather than, say, prosecutors or "big corporate lawyers." Chris Kang, a co-founder of the progressive group Demand Justice and former deputy counsel in the Obama administration, similarly told NBC he expects President Biden's first set of judiciary nominees are "going to look very different than the kind of judges that Democratic presidents have put forward in the past" and will likely have "radically" different backgrounds, which "will make a huge difference in our courts." Read more at NBC News. More stories from theweek.comTrump's impeachment defense is out. Bannon is reportedly encouraging him to go to the Senate himself.How Moscow police's attempts to shut down pro-Navalny protests may have backfired5 brutally funny cartoons about the GOP's Trump problem

  • France and Germany mull sanctions on vaccine providers as EU row over delays escalates

    France and Germany threatened legal action against AstraZeneca on Sunday as they scrambled to explain their shortages in vaccine supplies and warned that any firm which favoured UK orders for the jabs would be penalised. Clement Beaune, the French Europe minister, threatened sanctions against the Anglo-Swedish firm, which produces the Oxford vaccine, if it emerged that Britain had been given priority. "If there is a problem and that other countries have been favoured - for example the UK over us - then we will defend our interests," Mr Beaune said on Sunday. "Contracts are not moral commitments, they are legal commitments. Penalties or sanctions can be triggered in every contract." It came as Berlin and Rome issued similar threats to vaccine providers, in the latest stage of a bitter row in Europe over delays in the production and delivery of Covid jabs. "If we find out that individual companies are not maintaining their side of the bargain then we'll have to make a decision on legal measures," Peter Altmaier, the German economy minister, told Die Welt newspaper. Mr Altmaier, a close confidant of Chancellor Angela Merkel, also warned vaccine producers that "it is in no way acceptable that another country is retrospectively favoured over the EU." AstraZeneca says it will deliver 4.6 million doses to France by the end of March, which is half the amount that was initially agreed upon. It has also significantly reduced its delivery targets for the EU for the first quarter of the year, leading to a furious response from Brussels, which accuses the company of offering preferential treatment to the UK. Among the sanctions being considered by France include withholding payments, cancelling subsequent orders and seeking compensation for a breach of contract. Mr Beaune said an investigation into vaccine deliveries to Britain by EU-based factories was already underway.

  • DeSantis is right: Florida doesn’t need Biden’s vaccine plan. His has been a flaming success | Opinion

    Florida’s COVID vaccine rollout is more like a flaming ant farm, only less organized.

  • Major nor'easter expected to impact 110 million with heavy snow, winds

    Some areas around New York City might see up to 18 inches of snow.

  • Fugitive Tigray leader reportedly speaks out after months

    The fugitive leader of Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region has reportedly made his first public comments in three months, urging the international community to investigate alleged “genocide” and other abuses by forces including those from neighboring Eritrea. It was not immediately possible to verify the audio comments by Debretsion Gebremichael posted late Saturday by Tigray-allied media outlet Dimtsi Weyane.