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Biden tours Texas storm relief efforts
Houston (AFP) - President Joe Biden on Friday toured relief efforts in Houston after an unusually severe winter storm pummeled Texas, driving the state's power grid to the brink of collapse. "Hell of an operation here. It's probably the best one in the country," Biden told staff at the Emergency Operations Center in Houston. "You're saving people's lives. As my mother would say, you're doing God's work." Biden, accompanied by his wife Jill, was visiting for the first time since a prolonged freeze plunged Texas into chaos, with the power grid unable to keep up and Texans, far more used to heat ...
AFP
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Khashoggi murder report puts US-Saudi ties on thinner ice
Washington (AFP) - The explosive US finding that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi promises fresh turbulence between the allies but it is doubtful that Washington will shun the kingdom's de facto ruler. The decision to declassify the report on Khashoggi's grisly killing inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 marks a major departure by US President Joe Biden from his predecessor Donald Trump, who boasted of close ties with the kingdom. Will the US shun the crown prince? - The report concluded, as had been widely reported, th...
AFP
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Ted Cruz mocks Ocasio-Cortez, trip to Cancun at CPAC
Sen. Ted Cruz taunted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as he addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, making a joke out of the New York Democrat's fears of the deadly riot at the Capitol last month. In his remarks, Cruz, R-Texas, said the U.S. faces “dark times” with Democrats controlling both chambers of Congress, adding dramatically that “Bernie is wearing mittens, and AOC is telling us she was murdered,” his voice reaching a high pitch. The reference to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ sartorial choices at President Joe Biden’s inauguration and Ocasio-Cortez’s account of the Capit...
New York Daily News
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US says Saudi crown prince 'approved' Khashoggi murder
Washington (AFP) - The United States on Friday for the first time publicly accused Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of approving the gruesome murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, unveiling a raft of punitive measures but stopping short of directly targeting the powerful heir apparent. The prince, who is de facto ruler of the longtime US ally and oil provider, "approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi," said an intelligence report newly declassified by President Joe Biden's administration. The report said that given Prince Mo...
AFP
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US House tees up $1.9 tn Covid plan but wage hike falters
Washington (AFP) - The US House was expected to vote Friday on President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid relief package, but a Senate ruling means the final version will not include a minimum wage hike as sought by Democrats. Biden had campaigned extensively on raising the national minimum wage to $15 an hour, from a rate of $7.25 that has stood since 2009. He aimed to include it in the huge Covid rescue plan under consideration by Congress and have it signed earlier this month. But the minimum wage effort ran aground Thursday night when the Senate parliamentarian ruled that it can not be inc...
AFP
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URGENT: G-20 finance chiefs agree to continue support for virus-hit nations
Finance chiefs from the Group of 20 advanced and e...
Kyodo News
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‘We are in an oasis of freedom.’ CPAC conference is a Florida-heavy, Trumpian affair
ORLANDO, Fla. – The country’s largest annual gathering of conservatives began in Orlando on Friday, and Florida was front and center. Gov. Ron DeSantis kicked off the event and touted his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and Florida’s relatively lax social-distancing protocols that enabled this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference to be held indoors and in-person in former President Donald Trump’s home state. “We are in an oasis of freedom in a nation that’s suffering from the yoke of oppressive lockdowns,’‘ DeSantis said during a speech that mostly mirrored a stump-style campaign ...
Miami Herald
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EU leaders pledge to cooperate more closely on defence
The 27 leaders of the European Union want to sign off on a new shared defence strategy early next year, part of a push to improve security cooperation, European Council President Charles Michel said. "We want to increase defence investment, and we want to enhance civilian and military capabilities and operational readiness," Michel told the press after a leaders' videoconference on Friday. The EU has been trying to coordinate more closely on security matters in recent years, for example with plans to jointly fund defence development projects. The overarching aim is greater strategic autonomy, ...
DPA
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EU leaders pledge to cooperate more closely on defence
The 27 leaders of the European Union want to sign off a new shared defence strategy early next year as part of a push to improve security cooperation, European Council President Charles Michel said. "We want to increase defence investment, and we want to enhance civilian and military capabilities and operational readiness," Michel told the press after a leaders' videoconference on Friday. The EU has been trying to coordinate more closely on security matters in recent years, for example with plans to jointly fund defence development projects. The overarching aim is greater strategic autonomy, a...
DPA
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China to ban imports of Taiwanese pineapples next month
China said Friday it will suspend pineapple import...
Kyodo News
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