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Published by AFP US Reprepresentatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger have been targets of the Republican Party's right wing for months Washington (AFP) – Republicans were set to censure two lawmakers Friday in a significant escalation of the drive to oust dissidents seen as disloyal to former US president Donald Trump. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, the lone Republicans on the House committee investigating Trump’s role in last year’s US Capitol assault, are regarded as adversaries of the ex-president, who retains his iron grip on the party despite losing the 2020 election. The party’s 168 national committee members, gathered for their winter meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, will vote to approve a formal censure of the pair. Hardline Trump loyalists have been pushing for months for the two to be expelled, particularly as the investigation into the January 6 2021 insurrection has closed in on the former president’s inner circle. The measure is expected to get a strong vote of approval from the committee. But with Kinzinger retiring from Congress after the November midterm elections, and Cheney in danger of losing her Wyoming seat, the party leadership is said to be keen to put the issue behind them. Republicans are hoping instead to focus on hitting President Joe Biden on his stalled domestic agenda, spiraling inflation and the stubborn pandemic ahead of the midterms. Cheney responded to news of the censure by doubling down on her Trump criticism. “The leaders of the Republican Party have made themselves willing hostages to a man who admits he tried to overturn a presidential election and suggests he would pardon January 6 defendants, some of whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy,” she said in a statement Thursday. “I’m a constitutional conservative and I do not recognize those in my party who have abandoned the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump. History will be their judge,” Cheney added. “I will never stop fighting for our constitutional republic. No matter what.” View the full article

Published by DPA Lutz Leichsenring, spokesman and member of the executive board Clubcommission e.V., speaks at a press conference. Berlin's world-famous club scene is hoping to relaunch in March if coronavirus restrictions are lifted as hoped, a group representing the venues said on Friday. Britta Pedersen/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa Berlin’s world-famous club scene is hoping to relaunch in March if coronavirus restrictions are lifted as hoped, a group representing the venues said on Friday. Clubcommission said in a statement that clubs in the German capital would be ready to reopen within two or three weeks of such an announcement, citing the results of a recent survey. Around 80% of venues polled are currently closed completely, while others are still hosting cultural events or offering bar service. Dancing is currently banned in clubs under Berlin’s current Covid rules. Even as calls for the easing of restrictions grow in Germany, club owners said they are worried about renewed closures further down the line. They also cited a lack of staff and financial problems as a result of the restrictions as major concerns. If the clubs are to open, most would be prepared to allow in only vaccinated and recovered persons, while also requiring a recent negative test result at the door. They said that reopening with mask-wearing and social-distancing was out of the question. “If it is decided to reopen the clubs in the coming weeks, a strategy on the part of the politicians is urgently needed to ensure long-term planning security for event operations and thousands of employees,” Clubcommission press spokesperson Lutz Leichsenring said. Clubcommission chairperson Pamela Schobeß spoke of “light at the end of the tunnel.” “When it is clear that the intensive care units are no longer at their limits and the critical infrastructure workers are no longer absent due to illness, we too must finally be allowed to reopen for our guests,” she said. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Andrew Osborn and Mark Trevelyan MOSCOW (Reuters) -China and Russia proclaimed a deep strategic partnership on Friday to balance what they portrayed as the malign global influence of the United States as China’s President Xi Jinping hosted Russia’s Vladimir Putin on the opening day of the Beijing Winter Olympics. In a joint statement, the two countries affirmed that their new relationship was superior to any political or military alliance of the Cold War era. “Friendship between the two States has no limits, there are no ‘forbidden’ areas of cooperation,” they declared, announcing plans to collaborate in a host of areas including space, climate change, artificial intelligence and control of the Internet. The agreement marked the most detailed and assertive statement of Russian and Chinese resolve to work together – and against the United States – to build a new international order based on their own interpretations of human rights and democracy. Steeped in ideological discourse, it was not clear whether it would immediately translate into an increase in tangible and practical cooperation despite Putin trumpeting a new gas deal with China on Friday, or was intended as more of a statement of general policy intent. Jonathan Eyal of the London-based RUSI think tank said the declaration marked a “frontal rebuttal” of the U.S. and Western view of the world and a possible building block towards a military alliance between Russia and China. “It’s the most explicit articulation of the ‘making the world safe for dictatorship’ strategy,” he said. “It is a historic point because they both feel cornered and they feel their moment has arrived to state their vision of the world and promote it aggressively.” The two countries have moved closer together as both have come under pressure from the West on a host of issues including their human rights records and Russia’s military build-up near Ukraine. The timing of their announcement was highly symbolic, at a China-hosted Olympics that the United States has subjected to a diplomatic boycott. Each went significantly further than before, Eyal said, in explicitly backing the other over key bones of contention with the United States and its allies: – Russia voiced its support for China’s stance that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and opposition to any form of independence for the island. Moscow and Beijing also voiced their opposition to the AUKUS alliance between Australia, Britain and the United States, saying it increased the danger of an arms race in the region. – China joined Russia in calling for an end to NATO enlargement and supported its demand for security guarantees from the West – issues at the heart of Moscow’s confrontation with the United States and its allies over Ukraine. The two countries expressed concern about “the advancement of U.S. plans to develop global missile defence and deploy its elements in various regions of the world, combined with capacity building of high-precision non-nuclear weapons for disarming strikes and other strategic objectives”. Elsewhere, without naming Washington, they criticised attempts by “certain states” to establish global hegemony, fan confrontation and impose their own standards of democracy. TECH AND ENERGY In the technology arena, Russia and China said they were ready to strengthen cooperation on artificial intelligence and information security. They said they believed that “any attempts to limit their sovereign right to regulate national segments of the Internet and ensure their security are unacceptable”. Meanwhile Russian state energy giants Gazprom and Rosneft on Friday agreed new gas and oil supply deals with Beijing worth tens of billions of dollars. The deals capitalise on Putin’s drive to diversify Russian energy exports away from the West, which started shortly after he came to power in 1999. Since then Russia has become China’s top energy supplier and cut its reliance on the West for revenues. The Kremlin said the presidents also discussed the need to broaden trade in national currencies because of unpredictability surrounding the use of the dollar. U.S. President Joe Biden has said Russian companies could be cut off from the ability to trade in dollars as part of sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine. Moscow denies any such intention, but has used a build-up of more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s border to grab the attention of the West and press its demands for security guarantees. The Chinese gas supplies are not directly linked with Russian gas exports to Europe, and more Russian gas for Beijing does not automatically mean less for Europe. However, they serve Putin as an addition revenue cushion amid the rising threat of U.S. and EU sanctions. (Additional reporting by Mark Trevelyan in London; Editing by Angus MacSwan) View the full article

Published by New York Daily News Gay and lesbian adults in the United States have higher COVID-19 vaccination rates than heterosexual adults, health officials said Thursday. According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lesbians and gay men age 18 and older reported higher vaccination coverage overall (85.4%) than their heterosexual counterparts (76.3%), whose rates were similar to those of bisexual adults (76.3%) and transgender adults (75.7%) Additionally, gay and lesbian adults were also more likely to trust in the efficacy of the potentially life-saving shots than heterosexual adults. W… Read More View the full article