Politics

Pew Research reports: Most Americans feel worn out by the amount of news there is these days – a feeling that has persisted for several years now. Around two-thirds of Americans feel worn out by the news, about the same share as in 2018. About two-thirds of Americans (66%) feel worn out by the amount of news there is, while …

The Times of Israel reports: At a carnival procession in Spain, participants dressed like Nazis and Jewish concentration camp prisoners while dancing next to a float evoking crematoria. The Israeli Embassy in Madrid on Tuesday protested the display this weekend at the annual carnival procession in Campo de Criptana, a town situated about 80 miles southeast of the capital. A …

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports: Justin Flippen, the mayor of Wilton Manors, died suddenly Tuesday. Flippen was 41. He was elected mayor in 2018 after serving as a city commissioner. City officials said that Flippen apparently was driving to Tuesday evening’s City Commission meeting when he became ill and died. “We were notified that Justin apparently was on his way …

Bloomberg News reports: An episode of John Oliver’s show that criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been blocked in India by Hotstar, the local platform run by Walt Disney Co. The comedian was previewing President Donald Trump’s visit to India on his Emmy-winning ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,’ which typically airs at 6 a.m. each Tuesday in the Asian …

Reuters reports: The Supreme Court on Tuesday barred a lawsuit against a Border Patrol agent for fatally shooting a 15-year-old Mexican boy on Mexican soil from across the border in Texas, refusing to open the door for foreign nationals to pursue civil rights cases in American courts in such incidents. The court ruled 5-4 to uphold a lower court’s dismissal …

Agence France-Presse reports: More than 50,000 people are locked down in about a dozen Italian villages where the most deaths and infections have been recorded. Schools, shops and offices are closed and armed police are threatening to arrest and detain anyone who attempts to leave the quarantine zone. Panic is taking hold in the nearby city of Milan, the engine …

USA Today reports: Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian leader who for nearly 30 years was the resolute face of stability in the Mideast before being forced by the military to resign after 18-day nationwide protests that were part of the Arab world’s 2011 pro-democracy upheaval, died on Tuesday. He was 91. Throughout his rule, he was a stalwart U.S. ally, a …

The Guardian reports: There was no room inside for the hundreds who had turned up to support Julian Assange, but the the sound of their chants in support of the WikiLeaks founder could be heard throughout the long-awaited extradition hearing at Woolwich crown court. At an early stage, perhaps as much in hope as anything else, the presiding judge, Vanessa …

The Huffington Post reports: Top leadership at the progressive news network The Young Turks held an all-staff meeting at its office in Culver City, California, on Feb. 12. The regularly scheduled gathering was supposed to deal with personnel matters, but instead the focus turned to the staff’s nascent union campaign, which had just gone public. Earlier that day, a Twitter …

The Associated Press reports: A staggering 50 people have died in the Iranian city of Qom from the new coronavirus this month, a lawmaker was quoted as saying on Monday, even as the Health Ministry insisted only 12 deaths have been recorded to date in the country. The new death toll reported by the Qom representative, Ahmad Amiriabadi Farahani, is …

Variety reports: Longtime Republican Clint Eastwood is pulling support from Donald Trump in the 2020 election. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the actor-director signaled that he thinks a different candidate would be the better choice. “The best thing we could do is just get Mike Bloomberg in there,” he said. After endorsing Mitt Romney and famously delivering …

The Associated Press reports: Former Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, the career diplomat who during the impeachment hearings of President Donald Trump offered a chilling account of alleged threats from Trump and his allies, has a book deal. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt confirmed Friday to The Associated Press that it had acquired Yovanovitch’s planned memoir, currently untitled. Financial terms were not disclosed, …

The Guardian reports: Leo Varadkar has resigned as taoiseach after Ireland’s hung parliament entered deadlock over the choice of a new premier. Varadkar submitted his resignation to Michael D Higgins, the president of Ireland, on Thursday night after a tempestuous but inconclusive sitting of Dáil Éireann, which met for the first time since the 8 February election. It adjourned until …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: A bill that would effectively decriminalize polygamy and dispel fears of prosecution for plural marriage among consenting adults sailed through the Utah Senate on Tuesday. Sen. Deidre Henderson’s bill would reclassify bigamy as an infraction, codifying the practice of the Utah attorney general’s office not to prosecute otherwise law-abiding polygamists. An infraction, like a traffic …

Politico reports: In response to widespread fear among immigrants and activists over the Trump administration’s failed drive to put a question about citizenship status on the 2020 census, the Census Bureau is investing millions of dollars in an advertising campaign underlining the fact that participants’ information will not be shared with local or federal authorities. The handful of citizenship-focused advertisements …

The Associated Press reports: The corruption trial for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will begin March 17, just two weeks after national elections are held, a court said Tuesday. The surprise announcement immediately shook up the final stretch of the contentious election campaign, upending Netanyahu’s attempts to divert attention away from his legal woes. It also could weaken his ability …

This is only news due to the Cory Booker connection, which the cultists will surely leap upon. Entertainment Tonight reports: Rosario Dawson is proud of the love in her life. The 40-year-old Briarpatch star opens up in a new interview about questions surrounding her sexuality following a 2018 Pride month post. “People kept saying that I [came out]… I didn’t …

The New York Times reports: The Boy Scouts of America, an iconic presence in the nation’s experience for more than a century, filed for bankruptcy protection early Tuesday, succumbing to financial pressures that included a surge in legal costs over its handling of sexual abuse allegations. Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts have long maintained internal files at their headquarters …

The Los Angeles Times reports: For decades, Japanese American activists have marked Feb. 19 as a day to reflect on one of the darkest chapters in this nation’s history. On that date in 1942, during World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt authorized the forced removal of over 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent from their homes and businesses. On Thursday, …

CNBC reports: As part of a forthcoming package of proposed tax cuts, the White House is considering ways to incentivize U.S. households to invest in the stock market, according to four senior administration officials familiar with the discussions. The proposal, one of many new tax cuts under consideration, would see a portion of household income treated as tax-free for the …