Joe Biden and Kamala Harris offered solace to Asian Americans and a reeling nation on Friday as they visited Atlanta just days after a white gunman killed eight people, most of them Asian American women. The visit, during a nationwide spike of anti-Asian violence, has added resonance with the presence of Harris, the first person of South Asian descent to hold national office
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Elon Musk denies Teslas used for spying after China’s military bans cars from bases
We would get shut down if we were spying, says boss of electric car maker, after reports about security concerns in Beijing
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk says his company would be shut down if its cars were used to spy, his first comments on news that China’s military has banned Teslas from its facilities.
“There’s a very strong incentive for us to be very confidential with any information,” Musk told a prominent Chinese forum during a virtual discussion on Saturday. “If Tesla used cars to spy in China or anywhere, we will get shut down.”
Continue reading...‘Blindsided’: Biden faces tough test in reversing Trump’s cruel border legacy
As unaccompanied children reach the US, Republicans seek political gain. The White House has a fight on its hands
Lauded for his human touch, Joe Biden is facing an early political and moral test over how his government treats thousands of migrant children who make the dangerous journey to America alone.
Related: Is there a crisis at the border? Advocates in Texas say it's 'political manipulation'
Continue reading...Authorities name all eight victims in Atlanta spa shootings
Names of remaining victims released as more details emerge from family and friends
Authorities have named all of the victims of the Atlanta spa shootings, as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris visited in Atlanta to meet with local Asian American leaders and offered support to a grieving community.
The Fulton county medical examiner’s office on Friday updated the list of shooting victims with the names of four women that had not been previously released. The eight who were killed on Tuesday have now been identified as:
Continue reading...‘Our silence is complicity’: Biden and Harris condemn anti-Asian violence during Atlanta visit
President and vice-president address nation reckoning with ‘heinous act’ that killed eight, including six women of Asian descent
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have condemned a “heinous act of violence” during a trip to Atlanta, hoping to console a city and Asian American communities rocked by the attack this week that left eight people dead and one injured.
Delivering remarks on Friday evening at Emory University after a day spent meeting with Asian American community leaders and politicians, the president and vice-president spoke out forcefully against the shooting, in which six of the victims were women of Asian descent, as well as the rise in anti-Asian violence.
Continue reading...Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort partially closed by Covid-19 outbreak
- Receptionist says club closed until further notice
- Trump moved to Florida property after leaving White House
Donald Trump’s Palm Beach club, Mar-a-Lago, has been partially closed because of a Covid outbreak.
Several people familiar with the situation, including a club member who received a phone call about the closure on Friday, confirmed the partial closure to the Associated Press.
Continue reading...Biden ‘doing fine’ after stumbling once, twice, thrice on steps of Air Force One
White House spokesperson blames windy weather after Biden loses his footing three times boarding presidential plane
Supporters of Joe Biden were tempting fate when they claimed he had not put a foot wrong during his first two months in office.
Related: US reaches 100m Covid vaccine milestone six weeks early as Fauci urges vigilance – live
Continue reading...Trudeau condemns closed-door espionage trial of Canadian in China
Michael Spavor has been detained in China since 2018 in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest of a Huawei executive
Justin Trudeau has reacted angrily to the closed-door trial of a Canadian man detained in China for more than two years on espionage charges, dismissing it as “completely unacceptable”.
Businessman Michael Spavor, whose hearing finished after less than three hours on Friday, is one of two Canadians detained, in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest on a US extradition warrant of the Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, and formally charged last June with spying.
Continue reading...Joe Biden stumbles on steps of Air Force One – video
The US president stumbled while boarding Air Force One on his way to visit to Atlanta, Georgia, to meet with Asian American community leaders. Biden tripped on the steps up to the plane, before recovering and carrying on unaided, turning to salute at the top. The 78-year-old fractured his right foot in November 2020 while playing with his dog Major
Continue reading...‘It’s the way she owns her body’: how Megan Thee Stallion rode to Grammys glory
Last week’s triple triumph capped the glorious rise of a rapper who has inspired a generation of women with her confidence and sublime talent
In 2014, a then-unknown Megan Thee Stallion tweeted: “I need a team [because] I promise this rap shit gone take off for me.”
That promise has been fulfilled in quite spectacular fashion. The 26-year-old, born Megan Jovon Ruth Pete, is now one of the world’s most famous and respected rap stars, with her three Grammy awards at last weekend’s ceremony marking the peak of her career thus far.
Continue reading...FBI releases new video in hunt for dangerous suspects from Capitol attack – video
Warning: some viewers may find the following footage distressing
The FBI has released new footage of the deadly 6 January US Capitol insurrection as it seeks to identify 10 suspects involved in what the agency says were 'some of the most violent attacks on officers'. Law enforcement are still pursuing more than 100 suspects from the attack, and the 10 suspects highlighted this week are considered among the most dangerous still at large
Continue reading...‘We are in pain’: Asian American lawmaker Grace Meng makes powerful speech – video
The Asian American lawmaker Grace Meng called out the violence and discrimination against her community at a hearing on Capitol Hill on Thursday. 'Our community is bleeding. We are in pain. And for the last year, we’ve been screaming out for help,' she said. She told a panel the rising tide of anti-Asian bigotry was fuelled in part by rhetoric from Donald Trump and his allies, who have referred to Covid-19 as the 'China virus' and 'kung flu'
- Asian American lawmakers say violence has reached 'crisis point'
- ‘That hit home for me’: Atlanta reeling after spa shootings of Asian Americans
Digested week: I’m taking tentative, post-vaccine first steps in a changed New York | Emma Brockes
A first trip to a restaurant is bliss. But reopening has brought new tensions too
It’s a weird time in the life of the pandemic as the vaccinated, half-vaccinated and yet to be vaccinated venture out and tentatively try to co-mingle. I’m half done, shortly to be full, on the basis of which, in a moment of rashness, I promised to take my children to a water park in New Jersey on spring break. Too late now, but it’s something which, on reflection, it might have been worth living without antibodies for a few more months to avoid.
Continue reading...Surge in gun violence is stress test for Oakland’s defund the police campaign
Homicides in the city have risen 314% and while some back shifting resources to prevention and healing, others want alternatives in place to keep Black and brown people safe
Since the visceral video of George Floyd pinned beneath a police officer’s knee sparked massive uprisings in US cities last summer, movements to defund police departments have grown from siloed local campaigns into a national movement. But in multiple cities, this work is being done amid a disturbing rise in gun violence that is affecting the same Black and Latino communities most affected by police misconduct.
While some crime survivors support shifting resources from police and into prevention and healing services, others who have lost loved ones to shootings and live in high-crime areas worry that depleting police budgets without proven alternatives to fill any gaps will make Black and brown communities less safe.
Continue reading...Is there a crisis at the border? Advocates in Texas say it’s ‘political manipulation’
The Texas governor has sent troops to fortify the border while advocates say the immigration numbers are being politicized
Along the winding road which follows the Rio Grande west from Mission, Texas, dozens of armed border patrol agents, state troopers, soldiers and state and local police are dotted about to catch undocumented migrants entering the country from Mexico.
This is a so-called hotspot for irregular migration – folks crossing the border river without permission to enter the US – in what the Republican party and anti-immigrant activists are calling a crisis at the border. During one afternoon this week, there were more law enforcement vehicles cruising along this dusty 15-mile stretch towards Los Ebanos, a tiny border community connected to Mexico by a hand-operated cable ferry, than there was local traffic.
Continue reading...US and China publicly rebuke each other in first major talks of Biden era
Antony Blinken criticises China over Hong Kong and Xinjiang while his counterpart says US can no longer ‘speak to China from a position of strength’
The United States and China have publicly clashed during their first face-to-face high-level talks since Joe Biden took office, with one senior Chinese official urging the US to address “deep-seated” issues such as racism, and accusing his American counterparts of “condescension”.
Any hopes that the meeting, in Anchorage, would reset bilateral ties after years of tensions over trade, human rights and cybersecurity during Donald Trump’s presidency evaporated when the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, opened their meeting with China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi and the state councillor Wang Yi.
Continue reading...Oscars 2021 ceremony will be in-person and Zoom-free, producers say
Academy Awards producers have insisted video-link will ‘not be an option’ for attendees in the wake of ratings slumps for other recent major awards shows
The Oscars ceremony in April will be an intimate, in-person gathering, held without Zoom and limited to nominees, presenters and their guests, the producers said on Thursday.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, events to hand out the highest honours in the film industry will held at both the Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and the traditional home of the Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
Continue reading...Actor Armie Hammer under investigation for 2017 sexual assault allegation
The accuser, known as Effie, was 20 at the time and claims she briefly dated the Call Me by Your Name star while he was married
The actor Armie Hammer is under investigation for sexual assault, Los Angeles police said Thursday.
Hammer is the main suspect in a sexual assault that was reported to police on 3 February, an LAPD spokesperson said. Police did not give further details.
Continue reading...Joe Biden says US will hit 100m vaccines ‘weeks ahead of schedule’ – video
Joe Biden said the US will have successfully administered 100m vaccine doses by 19 March – his 58th day in office. ‘That’s weeks ahead of schedule, and even with the setbacks we faced during the winter storms,’ he said. Upon taking office, Biden set his administration the target of reaching the number in his first 100 days.
Continue reading...Biden says US to meet goal of vaccinating 100m Americans by Friday – live
- President delivers remarks on the progress of Covid vaccines
- Putin reacts to comments he will ‘pay price’ for Russian interference
- Republicans vote against honoring police for protecting Capitol
- Texas Republicans pushing bills to make voting harder
- Atlanta spa shootings – follow the latest live updates
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Illinois and Maryland recently announced that within the next two months, all adults will be eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, joining at least seven other states who said they can open up eligibility in March and April.
Illinois governor JB Pritzker said today that all residents 16 and older will be eligible to receive the vaccine starting 12 April. Meanwhile, Maryland’s governor, Larry Hogan, said on Tuesday that all adults should be eligible by 27 April.
The Senate just confirmed William Burns to be director of the CIA. Burns is the former deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration and has held multiple roles within the State Department.
While Burns’ nomination received widespread support from Democrats and Republicans, senator Ted Cruz had temporarily blocked what would have been a quick confirmation as Cruz was hoping to send a message to Biden over the Russia-Germany natural gas Nord Stream 2 pipelines, a controversial energy project that critics fear will give more political power to Russia.
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