Family members of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem received more than $600,000 in funds from a state grant program pushed by the governor that directed federal coronavirus relief funds to small businesses.
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The Supreme Court on Thursday made it harder for longtime immigrants who have been convicted of a crime to avoid deportation.
Comments made by former U.S. President Donald Trump do not meet the standard to halt an extradition hearing of a senior executive for Chinese communications giant Huawei Technologies, a Canadian justice department lawyer argued in a court Thursday. Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei’s founder and the company’s chief financial officer, at Vancouver’s airport in late 2018. It says Meng, 49, committed fraud by misleading the HSBC bank about the company’s business dealings in Iran.
The U.S. Senate is considering including in a new bill to boost competitiveness against China $30 billion in funding for previously-approved measures to supercharge the country's chipmaking industry, a congressional source said on Thursday. The source, who is involved in the effort, said that the Schumer-led package is likely to have provisions curbing China's access to U.S. capital markets, a focus of the Trump administration's crackdown on Beijing. A spokesman for U.S. Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer, who is spearheading the new package, did not respond to a request for comment.
The Times files suit to obtain documents related to a warrant used to obtain Sen. Richard Burr's phone in FBI investigation of his stock trades.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) takes President Biden's insults as a compliment, actually. On Wednesday, Biden criticized lawmakers in Texas and Mississippi who opted to fully reopen all state businesses and end mask mandates even as the pandemic rages on, calling the move a "mistake" and deeming it a result of "Neanderthal thinking." The last thing the country needs as the vaccine rollout ramps up, Biden added, is "Neanderthal thinking that in the meantime, everything's fine, take off your mask, forget it. It still matters." Though Biden didn't mention Tennessee or Blackburn specifically, Fox Business host Stuart Varney asked her to react to his comments on Thursday. She said the comments should be viewed as complimentary, somehow. "Stuart, we were called 'Neanderthals' when I led the fight against the imposition of a state income tax in Tennessee,” Blackburn said. "Do you know what I did? I started the Neanderthal Caucus!" "Neanderthals are hunter-gatherers, they're protectors of their family," she continued. "They are resilient. They are resourceful. They tend to their own. So, I think Joe Biden needs to rethink what he is saying." As The Daily Beast and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) noted, the comments were oddly in the present tense, though Neanderthals are extinct, and Blackburn, ironically, has said she does not believe in evolution. Watch the clip below. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.): “…I started the Neanderthal Caucus because neanderthals are hunter-gatherers, they’re protectors of their family, they are resilient, they're resourceful, they tend to their own. So, I think Joe Biden needs to rethink what he is saying" pic.twitter.com/KeNCVuGdgP — JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) March 4, 2021 More stories from theweek.com7 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's CPAC appearanceThe Republican grievance perpetual motion machineTrump wants revenge on Alaska's Sen. Murkowski. His advisers think he won't follow through because the flight is too long.
The Steelers might not be shut out of free agency when it's all said and done.
Contrary to the GOP lawmaker's suggestion, experts on Neanderthals said emulating the ancient hominids is probably not a great idea.
Myanmar's military says it is ready to withstand sanctions and isolation after its Feb. 1 coup, a top United Nations official said on Wednesday as she urged countries to "take very strong measures" to restore democracy in the Southeast Asian nation. U.N. special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, said 38 people died on Wednesday - the most violent day since the coup - as the military quelled protests. Schraner Burgener is due to brief the U.N. Security Council on Friday.
The charges mark the state’s first case of second-degree murder against a doctor for “depraved indifference to human life" through reckless prescribing of pill.
High-traffic areas are about to meet their matchOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest
They're "hunter-gatherers, they're protectors of their family, they are resilient," Blackburn said of Neanderthals, who are now extinct.
The Department of Defense inspector general released a scathing report Wednesday on the conduct of Ronny Jackson, now a congressman from Texas, when he worked as a top White House physician. The internal investigation concluded that Jackson made “sexual and denigrating” comments about a female subordinate, violated the policy on drinking alcohol on a presidential trip and took prescription-strength sleeping medication that prompted worries from his colleagues about his ability to provide proper medical care. The years-long investigation into Jackson, who was elected to the House in November, examined allegations into his conduct during his time serving the administrations of both Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
In sci-fi Western “Chaos Walking,” the mud-crusted colonists of New World have a tricky job of keeping secrets. That’s because something about the atmosphere on this far-flung planet — which otherwise looks a lot like the incentive-friendly Peach State of Georgia — interacts with the human brain, resulting in a curious phenomenon known as “the […]
Brussels could hit Britain with legal action, suspend the trade deal with the UK and block the City of London from the Single Market in retaliation for Boris Johnson's unilateral delaying of the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Mairead McGuinness, the EU financial services commissioner, said it was important to “send a message” to Britain about Brexit, as the fall-out from yesterday’s announcement that Britain would delay grace periods on checks on GB food imports to Northern Ireland continued. Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign minister, said the EU was negotiating with a “frustrating” partner “it simply couldn’t trust” and was being forced to resort to legal action becuase Britain had violated the terms of the Brexit agreement. “If the UK cannot simply be trusted because they take unilateral action in an unexpected way without negotiation, well then the British government leaves the EU with no option and that is not where we want to be," he told the RTE broadcaster. EU officials are mulling bringing lawsuits against the UK in the European Court of Justice, which retains jurisdiction over the Protocol. The commission last night accused the UK of threatening to break international law for the second time, referring to earlier threats to override the Withdrawal Agreement. The European Commission is considering triggering enforcement measures in the Withdrawal Agreement and the UK-EU trade deal. If Britain ignores the ruling of an arbitration panel, Brussels could suspend parts of the newly minted trade agreement, leaving British exports to the EU potentially facing tariffs. Such retaliation must be proportionate to the offence, which in the case of supermarket supplies to Northern Ireland, is likely to be limited. Ms McGuinness warned the unilateral move could have ramifications for ongoing “equivalence” negotiations aimed at granting UK financial services access to the EU’s Single Market. "Things like that don't help build trust," the Irish politician said at a Politico event in Brussels. Brussels has so far only granted equivalence to central securities depositories and clearing houses, which it sees as vital for EU financial stability. The UK granted EU firms equivalence in a slew of sectors in November last year. Britain has applied for 28 sectors to be granted equivalence but the commission has said it will only grant it once it has details of the UK’s future plans to diverge from EU rules. The commission has used equivalence as a political weapon in the past; freezing Swiss stock exchanges out of the Single Market in a bid to force Bern to the negotiating table over a new treaty. MEPs warned that they could refuse to ratify the provisionally applied trade deal with London, which will be subject to a European Parliament vote by the end of April. Christophe Hansen, a lead MEP on Brexit and the trade deal, tweeted, “if this is David Frost’s idea of showing that he is back to his old games, he should be mindful of the fact that the European Parliament has not ratified the [trade deal] yet.” That would be a nuclear option because it would force a damaging no deal Brexit, which would also hurt European businesses. In Northern Ireland, loyalist paramilitary organisations told Boris Johnson they are withdrawing support for the Good Friday Agreement in protest over the arrangements for post-Brexit trade in Northern Ireland. The outlawed groups said they were temporarily withdrawing their backing of the peace agreement amid mounting concerns about Northern Ireland Protocol.
The pastor has since “taken a leave of absence and is seeking professional counseling,” the church said.
Britain's Prince Philip, the 99-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth, underwent a successful procedure for a pre-existing heart condition on Wednesday, Buckingham Palace said in a statement on Thursday. Philip was admitted to hospital on Feb. 16 after he felt unwell, to receive treatment for an unspecified, but not COVID-19-related, infection. "The Duke of Edinburgh yesterday underwent a successful procedure for a pre-existing heart condition at St Bartholomew’s Hospital," the palace said, using Philip's formal title.
The 2021 NFL Scouting Combine isn't happening, but prospects still received invites as a formality.
The bill, known as the For the People Act, would make sweeping election reform and strengthen regulations on both lobbying and money in politics.
Even as global growth expectations increase and governments pile on fiscal spending measures central bankers are quietly restarting recession-era bond-buying programs.Driving the news: Comments Tuesday from Fed governor Lael Brainard suggest the Fed may be jumping onboard the global monetary policy rethink and restarting a program used following the 2008 global financial crisis.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.What she said: “I am paying close attention to market developments,” she said. “Some of those moves last week, and the speed of the moves, caught my eye.” Brainard added that she would be "concerned" if she saw disorderly conditions or persistent tightening in financial conditions.What we're hearing: Economists say it's unlikely the Fed will reignite its quantitative easing program as central banks in Australia and Korea have announced in recent days but could restart Operation Twist.What it means: Operation Twist III, as it's been dubbed by economists (because it would be the third time the Fed has used the tool), would see the Fed selling some of its short-dated U.S. Treasury bonds and buying longer-dated bonds to flatten the yield curve as it did in 1962 and 2011.Why it matters: In addition to the technical benefits for the bond market, Operation Twist has historically stimulated the economy by pulling down the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield.Because most consumer interest rates — like credit cards, auto loans, mortgage rates — are set based on the 10-year yield, Operation Twist could act as an accelerant for the economy without the Fed having to add to its balance sheet and risk the appearance of concern.Under the surface: Despite the extraordinarily bullish expectations for booming economic growth in 2021, rate-sensitive sectors of the economy are showing weakness.The housing market has slowed with recent home sales numbers badly missing expectations and CoreLogic's latest Home Price Insights Report noting that "as supply/demand challenges continue to push home prices higher, we may see new barriers for some prospective buyers in 2021."The rate for the traditional 30-year fixed mortgage saw its largest single-week increase in almost a year last week, rising to 3.23%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Auto sales are slowing after a weak 2020, with Edmunds.com estimating sales fell 2.8% last month, year over year, due to smaller tax returns and higher car prices and interest rates, Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst at IHS Markit, told the Detroit News.Credit card balances and other revolving credit lines fell by 10.8% year over year in December (the last month data were reported) the steepest decline ever, according to the Fed's data.What's next: All eyes will be on Fed chair Jerome Powell Wednesday at a virtual Wall Street Journal event to see if he also is paying close attention to "market developments." Charted: 5-year inflation expectations hit highest in a decadeData: St. Louis Fed; Chart: Axios VisualsIn addition to the lightning-fast jump up in nominal U.S. bond yields, the Fed also is likely watching the continued rise in 5-year inflation expectations.While 10-year and 30-year breakeven rates, which measure investors' expectations for inflation over those time horizons, have been capped in recent days as the bond market selloff abated, 5-year breakeven rates have continued to surge higher.The 5-year breakeven rate touched 2.43% on Tuesday, the highest since May 2011. Got her back: Tuesday's remarks from Brainard were echoed by San Francisco Fed president Mary Daly who told reporters after a speech that the Fed could change the maturity of its bond purchases if the yield curve steepens in a problematic way. More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free
A U.S. House of Representatives panel has reissued a subpoena seeking Donald Trump's tax and financial records, saying in a memo made public on Tuesday it needs the documents to address "conflicts of interest" by future presidents. In a court filing on Tuesday, House lawyers told a judge that the House Oversight Committee reissued a subpoena to Trump's accounting firm, Mazars USA LLP, on Feb. 25.
