Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr argues President Biden's move to cancel the Keystone XL oil pipeline project was a 'political reward for those that supported the Biden-Harris administration.'
Quawan "Bobby" Charles, 15, was reported missing by his family on Oct. 30.
Previously unreleased footage of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot shown during Wednesday's impeachment proceedings left Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) "angry," "disturbed," and "sad," she told reporters Wednesday night. The video and audio showcased the brutality of some members of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol. In one clip, an officer was shown getting crushed in a doorway, while other videos showed officers getting shoved as they tried to keep rioters back. "I don't see how after the American public sees the whole story laid out here ... how Donald Trump could be re-elected to the presidency," Murkowski told reporters. The House impeachment managers put together a timeline detailing where the rioters were at the Capitol, Trump's messages to the mob, and pleas lawmakers made to Trump in an attempt to get his supporters to leave the complex. The managers are trying to prove that Trump incited an insurrection, and they are making "a strong case," Murkowski said. "The evidence that has been presented thus far is pretty damning." More stories from theweek.comThe most important person in the impeachment trial is missing. It isn't Trump.Trump publicly attacked Pence during the Capitol riot knowing Pence was in trouble, GOP senator suggestsWould the Capitol mob have killed Mike Pence?
President Joe Biden's Administration has expressed concern over the disturbing uptick in violence toward Asian Americans in recent weeks. Several disturbing videos have emerged showing unprovoked attacks on elderly Asian Americans, including at least three in the Bay Area within the last two weeks, as NextShark previously reported. During a press briefing on Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked by a reporter how the Biden administration would address the issue, and whether the President had seen the videos.
If not a lot of luxuryOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest
Ms Hawley called the protest 'an assault' on her home, though there was no damage and no violence occurred
Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was prepared to plead guilty to third-degree murder in George Floyd's death before then-Attorney General William Barr personally blocked the plea deal last year, officials said. The deal would have averted any potential federal charges, including a civil rights offense, as part of an effort to quickly resolve the case to avoid more protests after protests and riots damaged a swath of south Minneapolis, according to two law enforcement officials with direct knowledge of the talks. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks.
Donald Trump stands accused of being the “Inciter in Chief” who summoned a mob of violent insurrectionists to attack the Capitol building and try to overturn the result of the November election. In chilling new video footage played during his trial for impeachment, Senators were shown just how dangerous, violent and committed those rioters were on Jan 6. There are desperate calls for backup. Panicked Senators run through the building looking for escape routes. Brave police officers try to hold their lines and push the rioters back. Mitt Romney, a Republican senator who was steered away from trouble by police officer Eugene Goodman, said: "It tears at your heart and brings tears to your eyes. "That was overwhelmingly distressing and emotional". This is how the day unfolded, according to Democrat prosecutors. 12:30pm - Trump's speech
White House press secretary Jen Psaski held a briefing on Wednesday and was asked by White House Correspondent Hunter Walker if the administration considers the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol an attempted "coup."
As Neera Tanden, President Biden's nominee to take over as the director of the Office of Management and Budget, sat Wednesday for her confirmation hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, read aloud some reviews her former employees at the Center for American Progress left on Glassdoor over the last few years. Graham noted that Tanden, the president of CAP, referred the committee to the reviews, some of which were far from flattering about the management at the public policy organization, even when the overall experience was considered positive ("Great experience, terrible management," one read.) "All I can say," Graham said after going through some of the negative comments, "is that this is not the unifying pick that I was looking for in this position." CONFIRMATION HEARING: Sen. Lindsey Graham reads negative Glassdoor reviews of Center for American Progress under Neera Tanden after she referred committee to them: “‘1 out of 5 stars. Terrible absolutely horrible.’” pic.twitter.com/u6hKaZWg0W — Forbes (@Forbes) February 10, 2021 Republicans like Graham weren't the only ones to raise concerns about Tanden. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the chair of the committee, joined some GOP colleagues in questioning Tanden about some inflammatory comments she previously made on Twitter. "Your attacks were not just made against Republicans," he said. "There were vicious attacks made against progressives. People I have worked with." Sanders acknowledged lawmakers are used to such criticism, but he clarified that "it's important" to refrain from personal attacks and instead express "differences on policy." Tanden told Sanders she regrets her past remarks and will change her approach if confirmed. .@SenSanders says it's important to "minimize the level of personal and vicious attacks." Asks Neera Tanden if she'll have a different approach at OMB.@neeratanden: "Absolutely...social media does lead to too many personal comments and my approach will be radically different." pic.twitter.com/QB6FAtrWQr — CSPAN (@cspan) February 10, 2021 More stories from theweek.comThe most important person in the impeachment trial is missing. It isn't Trump.Trump publicly attacked Pence during the Capitol riot knowing Pence was in trouble, GOP senator suggestsWould the Capitol mob have killed Mike Pence?
The U.S. ambassador to Lebanon paid a rare visit to a quarter of Beirut that is a Hezbollah stronghold on Thursday to attend the memorial service for political researcher and activist Lokman Slim. He was shot dead and found in his car last Thursday in south Lebanon - the first killing of a high-profile activist in years. "This was a barbaric act, unforgivable and unacceptable," Dorothy Shea said in a speech at the service, which was held at the Slim family home in Beirut's Dahiya quarter.
State and federal officials are searching for a white tanker.
A judge on Thursday refused prosecutors’ request to issue a new arrest warrant for an 18-year-old from Illinois who is accused of killing two people during a police brutality protest in Wisconsin last summer. Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder also rejected prosecutors’ request for a $200,000 bail increase for Kyle Rittenhouse, who came to Kenosha in August as hundreds were protesting the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man. Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said in court filings that prosecutors realized Rittenhouse was no longer living at his apartment in Antioch, Illinois, when a court notice was returned as undeliverable.
Senator Raphael Warnock (D., Ga.) is under investigation for his involvement in the New Georgia Project, a voter registration organization founded by Stacey Abrams, which officials say failed to follow state election deadlines in 2019. The Georgia State Election Board voted 3-0 Wednesday to launch an investigation into Warnock’s time as chairman of the board for the New Georgia Project in 2019, when officials say the group violated state election rules that require voting registration organizations to submit completed voter application within ten days after they are received from the voter. Officials say the New Georgia Project submitted 1,268 applications to the Gwinnett County elections office after the ten-day deadline in 2019. The board will refer the investigation to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican. The only Democrat on the board, as well as Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, abstained from the vote. Nse Ufot, the CEO of New Georgia Project, pushed back against the claims in a statement, saying the board meeting was “the first time we heard about the allegations regarding NGP’s important voter registration work from 2019.” “We have not received any information on this matter from the Secretary or any other Georgia official,” Ufot said. In December, Raffensperger announced an investigation into the New Georgia Project and other voter registration groups, alleging that they had “sought to register ineligible, out-of-state, or deceased voters.” Warnock resigned from the New Georgia Project on January 28, 2020. Abrams founded the organization in 2014 and later made an unsuccessful bid for Georgia governor, losing by roughly 55,000 votes to Governor Brian Kemp. She claimed that Kemp, who was then- Georgia secretary of state, had won thanks to voter suppression efforts he implemented during his time in office, such as purging voter roles.
A detained Saudi women’s rights activist had electrodes fixed to her head during phone calls with her family to prevent her speaking of the torture she suffered in prison, her sister said on Thursday after her release. Loujain al-Hathoul was released to her family’s home in Riyadh on Wednesday after 1,001 days in prison on charges related to her activism. Under her probation she is unable to travel, use social media or speak to the media. Her sisters, who live abroad, announced Thursday that Ms al-Hathoul will seek legal redress in Saudi Arabia for torture she said she suffered in detention. “She was tortured and she cannot forget this,” her sister Lina said, during an online press conference. The family have previously claimed Ms al-Hathoul was tortured – which Saudi authorities deny – but gave new details Thursday, including that the threat of electrocution stopped her speaking out. “If I complained about anything they were ready to electrocute me,” Lina said her sister told the family on Wednesday of her early months in detention. “It was months later that we found out about the torture” when Ms al-Hathoul was moved to another prison, Lina said. Ms al-Hathoul has identified one of her torturers as Saud Al Qahtani, a top adviser to the Saudi crown prince until he was sanctioned by the US over his role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. “He’s the only person that we know the name of who was present at the torture sessions,” Lina said. Mr Qahtani is notorious in Saudi Arabia, sometimes called the “lord of the flies” for his army of Twitter trolls used for attacking dissidents. “Loujain recognised him, he’s a public figure,” said her older sister Alia. Ms al-Hathoul now hopes to use the Saudi justice system to prove she was tortured and seek justice. “The torturers must be sentenced,” Lina said. In December, Ms al-Hathoul was sentenced to nearly six years imprisonment over her activism, which included demanding the right for women to drive and calling for the abolition of Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system. The decades old driving ban was lifted weeks after her arrest, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman eager to claim the credit for the reform. The 35-year-old prince muscled his way to become next in line to the throne in 2015, partly by projecting an image as a dynamic young reformer who could modernise the conservative kingdom. But the sisters believe that any reforms under Mohammed bin Salman are illusory. “MBS is far from being a reformer, he’s an oppressor,” said Lina, referring to him by his initials. “Women’s empowerment is a lie in Saudi Arabia, there are no real reforms,” she said. Lina said she was choosing her words carefully to avoid further negative repercussions for her family still in Saudi Arabia: “There’s really an atmosphere of fear under MBS.” The family believe Ms al-Hathoul’s early release was timed by the Saudi government to impress new US President Joe Biden, who has promised closer scrutiny of his close ally’s human rights record. “Saudi Arabia’s situation is tightly connected with what’s going on in the US,” Alia said. “The Biden administration made clear that they care about human rights.”
Former President Donald Trump was, by all accounts, furious at his impeachment trial defense team, especially lead lawyer Bruce Castor, panned across the board for his odd, rambling opening statement. "Cocooned at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump watched as his defense attorneys responded to an emotional presentation by House impeachment managers with a series of dry, technical, and at times meandering arguments about due process and the constitutionality of the proceedings," Politico reports. "As they droned on, he grew increasingly frustrated with the sharp contrast between their muted response and the prosecution's opening salvo." But Trump, watching the trial on Newsmax, wasn't just dismayed at Castor's low-energy performance and the bad reviews from allies and senator-jurors, Politico reports. Castor declined to use "graphics or a video — tools his TV-obsessed client had hoped to deploy." And the former president was upset Castor "wore an ill-fitting suit and at one point praised the case presented by the Democratic House impeachment managers," The Washington Post adds, even though Trump himself was reportedly also impressed with the impeachment managers and their video presentation. And Castor notably "did what Trump himself has not: conceded Joe Biden won the presidential election," The Associated Press notes. He called Trump a "former president," said he "was removed by the voters," and argued that Americans are "smart enough to pick a new administration if they don't like the old one, and they just did." Trump continues to insist falsely that he actually won the election, and this "big lie" — that the election was "stolen" from him — undergirds his entire impeachment trial. Castor was using Trump's status as former president to make his case, rejected by the Senate, that it's unconstitutional to try a president after he leaves office. In fact, "Trump initially pushed his impeachment lawyers to make the baseless case that the election was stolen," the Post reports, "an approach they ultimately rejected while still arguing that the First Amendment protects their client's right to share misinformation and false claims." More stories from theweek.comTrump publicly attacked Pence during the Capitol riot knowing Pence was in trouble, GOP senator suggestsMurkowski says after seeing 'pretty damning' evidence, she doesn't think Trump could ever be re-electedLate night hosts find creative ways to show just how badly Trump's impeachment trial is going for the GOP
In the latest of a new surge in anti-Asian attacks, a man was assaulted and robbed while trying to deposit “large sums of money” at a bank in San Leandro, California this week. The incident, which left the victim with minor injuries, occurred at the Bank of America branch at 1925 Marina Boulevard around 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday. Witnesses tell me this older Asian man was making a deposit at the Bank of America along Marina in San Leandro & was attacked & robbed.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Thursday many migrants believe the “doors are open” to the United States following the election of President Joe Biden. López Obrador said that wasn’t true, and urged migrants not to believe traffickers who tell them they could get legal status immediately. “Now, for example, that there is a U.S. immigration policy to regularize the situation of migrants, Mexicans and our Central American brothers, people think that now the doors are open, that President Biden is going to immediately regularize all migrants,” López Obrador said.
The Canadian province of Manitoba said on Thursday that it would buy 2 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate that is currently in early trials, bypassing the national government. Premier Brian Pallister said his government had agreed to buy the doses from Alberta-based Providence Therapeutics, which is developing a candidate similar to those produced by Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc. If approved by the regulator, Health Canada, Providence would supply Manitoba with its first 200,000 doses next year.
An L.A. Times freelancer was assaulted and had her laptop stolen after she reported on rape in Ethiopia's Tigray conflict.
Two teenagers have been charged in connection with the rape and death of Ee Lee in Washington Park, Milwaukee in September 2020. Violent crime: Lee, 36, was found unconscious, still breathing but with severe injuries and undressed below the waist in Washington Park by "bystanders" on Sept. 16, 2020. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Lee was sexually assaulted and identified blunt force trauma to her head as the cause of her death.
