SpaceX launches 18th Starlink satellite mission

SpaceX launched the 18th mission of the constellation of networked satellites known as Starlink on Sunday. (Jan. 31)

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  • Biden and Schumer prepare to ditch Republicans on Covid relief package as GOP offers cut-price proposal

    ‘Yes, I believe that we do [have the votes],’ Senator Bernie Sanders says of party-line Covid relief proposal

  • 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

  • The president of Ukraine doesn't consider China a major geopolitical threat

    KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told "Axios on HBO" that he doesn't consider China to be a major geopolitical threat — a stance that may cause him friction with the Biden administration and Congress — even as he vowed to limit Chinese control of critical technology sectors.Why it matters: Zelensky's comments represent a break with U.S. national security leaders from both major political parties who are trying to rally allies to confront the threat of the Chinese Communist Party.Be smart: sign up FREE for the most influential newsletter in America.Driving the news: Asked about emerging consensus in Washington that China is the No. 1 geopolitical threat, Zelensky said, "I cannot agree with that because in Ukraine we do not feel this." * "There really is this a sort of cold war between China and the United States," he said. * "We know United States business is represented in Ukraine, but at the same time, it's true that Chinese business is also represented." * "I believe that regardless of the nation, the nationality, if people, if business, if a certain country, treats you with respect, respecting your people and borders, they can be present in your country."Between the lines: There's only so much leverage the U.S. has to push Zelensky away from China. Beijing has crushed Washington at vaccine diplomacy — a painful reality that Zelensky discussed in the "Axios on HBO" interview. * Zelensky has tried to obtain for his country the higher-quality American vaccines. And he’s pushed the Europeans for their help. But given the difficulty he’s faced to secure doses, he said he is willing to work with Beijing to get large quantities of a safe COVID vaccine for the Ukrainian people.   * Worth noting: The U.S. did not offer its superior vaccines to Ukraine and in fact took steps to make it harder for Zelensky to obtain them.Behind the scenes: How to handle China is a growing sore point in U.S.-Ukraine relations. Trump administration officials privately expressed concerns that China — which became Ukraine's top trading partner in 2019 — was flooding Ukraine with easy cash and in return embedding itself in Ukraine's critical sectors including defense and telecom. * U.S. officials are worried about China stealing intelligence secrets and wielding nefarious influence over allies who are increasingly beholden to Beijing.Yes, but: Senior U.S. government officials have been trying for years to persuade Ukraine to stop China from buying Motor Sich, an aero engine manufacturer that is the crown jewel of Ukraine's defense sector. * In the interview, Zelensky said for the first time definitively that he will not allow China, or any other country, to buy a controlling stake in Motor Sich. * "Never," he said. "Not under me. I am not here for life... [But] in my time [in office], definitely not.The bottom line: Russia is a far more imminent concern for Ukraine. But when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, China never condemned Russia's action. So while Zelensky may not call out China as a threat, he knows that China can't be relied upon in a Russia-Ukraine crisis.Support safe, smart, sane journalism. Sign up for Axios Newsletters here.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.’

  • 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."

  • 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.”

  • Does ignoring robocalls make them stop? Here's what we learned from getting 1.5 million calls on 66,000 phone lines

    New research aims to give phone companies tools to help curb robocalls. Peter Dazeley/The Image Bank via Getty ImagesThe Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea More than 80% of robocalls come from fake numbers – and answering these calls or not has no effect on how many more you’ll get. Those are two key findings of an 11-month study into unsolicited phone calls that we conducted from February 2019 to January 2020. To better understand how these unwanted callers operate, we monitored every phone call received to over 66,000 phone lines in our telephone security lab, the Robocall Observatory at North Carolina State University. We received 1.48 million unsolicited phone calls over the course of the study. Some of these calls we answered, while others we let ring. Contrary to popular wisdom, we found that answering calls makes no difference in the number of robocalls received by a phone number. The weekly volume of robocalls remained constant throughout the study. As part of our study, we also developed the first method to identify robocalling campaigns responsible for a large number of these annoying, illegal and fraudulent robocalls. The main types of robocalling campaigns were about student loans, health insurance, Google business listings, general financial fraud, and a long-running Social Security scam. Using these techniques, we learned that more than 80% of calls from an average robocalling campaign use fake or short-lived phone numbers to place their unwanted calls. Using these phone numbers, perpetrators deceive their victims and make it much more difficult to identify and prosecute unlawful robocallers. We also saw that some fraudulent robocalling operations impersonated government agencies for many months without detection. They used messages in English and Mandarin and threatened the victims with dire consequences. These messages target vulnerable populations, including immigrants and seniors. Why it matters Providers can identify the true source of a call using a time-consuming, manual process called traceback. Today, there are too many robocalls for traceback to be a practical solution for every call. Our robocalling campaign identification technique is not just a powerful research tool. It can also be used by service providers to identify large-scale robocalling operations. Using our methods, providers need to investigate only a small number of calls for each robocalling campaign. By targeting the source of abusive robocalls, service providers can block or shut down these operations and protect their subscribers from scams and unlawful telemarketing. What still isn’t known Providers are deploying a new technology called STIR/SHAKEN, which may prevent robocallers from spoofing their phone numbers. When deployed, it will simplify traceback for calls, but it won’t work for providers who use older technology. Robocallers also quickly adapt to new situations, so they may find a way around STIR/SHAKEN. No one knows how robocallers interact with their victims and how often they change their strategies. For example, a rising number of robocalls and scammers are now using COVID-19 as a premise to defraud people. What’s next Over the coming years, we will continue our research on robocalls. We will study whether STIR/SHAKEN reduces robocalls. We’re also developing techniques to better identify, understand, and help providers and law enforcement target robocalling operations.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. Read more:Robocalls are unstoppable – 3 questions answered about why your phone won’t quit ringingRise and fall of the landline: 143 years of telephones becoming more accessible – and smartWhy are there so many suckers? A neuropsychologist explains Sathvik Prasad is a member of the USENIX association.Bradley Reaves receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research. This research was supported by in-kind donations from Bandwidth and NomoRobo. Reaves is a member of the Communications Fraud Control Association, ACM, IEEE, and the USENIX association.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Trump's impeachment defense is out. Bannon is reportedly encouraging him to go to the Senate himself.

    Five attorneys who were prepared to defend former President Donald Trump in his upcoming Senate impeachment trial have departed his legal team, people familiar with the situation confirmed to CNN and The New York Times. Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, who were expected to be two of the lead attorneys, are out, as are Josh Howard, Johnny Gasser, and Greg Harris. No other attorneys have announced they were involved with the case, so it appears that, for now, Trump is defenseless. The lawyers reportedly left because of a disagreement over legal strategy. Trump reportedly wanted them to push his unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud in last year's presidential election rather than focus on whether convicting a former president after he's out of office is constitutional, an argument that appears to be the consensus among Republicans and the reason he'll likely be acquitted. Bowers, a source said, lacked chemistry with Trump and the decision to leave was reportedly mutual. It's unclear where Trump will go from here — his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani reportedly wants to take the case, but he's a potential witness in the trial because he spoke at the rally preceding the deadly Capitol riot Trump is accused of inciting, and the Times notes "almost all" of Trump's advisers blame Giuliani for the impeachment in the first place. Considering GOP senators have signaled they won't vote to convict, some are wondering why Trump would even bother spending money on attorneys at all at this point. And here is a statement Trump has made to advisers almost verbatim > https://t.co/zktWOIrUD6 — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 31, 2021 Stephen Bannon, Trump's former chief strategist, thinks the former president should go the Senate himself because "he's the only one who can sell it." However, aides are reportedly against the idea. Read more at The New York Times and CNN. More stories from theweek.comHow Moscow police's attempts to shut down pro-Navalny protests may have backfired5 brutally funny cartoons about the GOP's Trump problemThe reality of Brexit

  • Wall Street gears up for second bout against Reddit traders

    Wall Street is gearing up for another week of market mayhem, with signs that the retail frenzy that pumped up the stock prices of the likes of GameStop Corp and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc is spreading to other assets. Some of Wall Street's largest hedge funds are still licking their wounds after retail traders sought to drive up the prices of stocks that were heavily bet against, resulting in large losses for major investors. Melvin Capital, a hedge fund at the center of the GameStop drama, lost 53% in January but received commitments for fresh cash from investors in the last days of the month, Reuters reported on Sunday.

  • China crackdown prompts thousands to flee Hong Kong as U.K. opens new visa scheme

    About 7,000 Hong Kongers have fled to the U.K. since China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong and the British government expects more than 300,000 to obtain extended residency rights over the next five years, per AP.Why it matters: The announcement comes as the U.K. opened the new visa scheme Sunday — a day after China said it would no longer recognize Hong Kongers' British National Overseas (BNO) passports as valid travel documents or proof of identity, escalating tensions between the two countries.Be smart: sign up FREE for the most influential newsletter in America.Driving the news: The U.K. government announced last July when the security law passed a new path to British citizenship for Hong Kongers who qualify for the BNO status, which was granted to those living in the city before the British government handed its former colony back to China in 1997. * Under the offer, these Hong Kongers and their dependents have the right to remain in the United Kingdom for five years, during which time they can work or study. * They would then be allowed to apply for "settled status" and, after an additional year, citizenship, Axios Dave Lawler notes.The big picture: Some Hong Kongers told AP they're leaving because they're worried they'll be punished for backing the pro-democracy protest movement — which has seen several prominent figures either arrested or imprisoned in recent months. * "Many others" said China's erosion of the high degree of autonomy they previously enjoyed had become "unbearable," and they their children to have better future. * "Most say they don't plan to ever go back," AP notes.Get smarter, faster with the news CEOs, entrepreneurs and top politicians read. Sign up for Axios Newsletters here.

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

    Some areas around New York City could get up to 18 inches of snow.

  • Exclusive: Covid patients dying unnecessarily because they refuse to go on ventilators, medics warn

    Critically ill Covid patients are dying unnecessarily in the second wave because they are refusing to go on ventilators, senior medics have warned. The Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine said its members are being confronted by patients or their families who wrongly believe that the machines will kill them. It follows widespread use of the devices in the early stage of the pandemic, when death rates in intensive care units were high. Ventilator use then declined markedly during the first wave, and this correlated with an improvement in survival. However, Dr Alison Pittard, the dean of the faculty, said recent studies proved that the two were not related and that patients were and are dying from Covid itself and not because of the machines. She told The Telegraph that, during the second wave, colleagues across the country have watched patients die because of their fear of intubation. Although there is not yet published data, Dr Pittard said this trend appears to be more pronounced among patients from ethnic minority backgrounds and those from deprived areas. "It's really difficult for doctors working in ICU when you see a patient deteriorate and you know that if you don't put them on a ventilator they are going to die, but they are refusing," she said. "They get sicker and sicker and sicker, then you have a situation when they become semi-conscious, so you can't have an informed conversation. We have to honour our patients' wishes."

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Blizzard to bury Northeast in feet of snow

    The storm will also cause near-hurricane force wind gusts and major coastal flooding.