116-year-old survives COVID

PARIS -- A 116-year-old French nun who is believed to be the world's second-oldest person has survived COVID-19 and is looking forward to celebrating her 117th birthday on Thursday. The Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people thought to be 110 or older, lists Frenchwoman Lucile Randon -- Sister Andre's birth name -- as the second-oldest known living person in the world. Sister Andre tested positive for the virus in mid-January in the southern French city of Toulon. But just three weeks later, the nun is considered recovered. "I didn't even realize I had it," she told French newspaper Var-Matin. Sister Andre, who is blind and uses a wheelchair, did not even worry when she received her diagnosis. "She didn't ask me about her health, but about her habits," David Tavella, the communications manager for the care home where the nun, said. "For example, she wanted to know if meal or bedtime schedules would change. She showed no fear of the disease. On the other hand, she was very concerned about the other residents." Not all of the home's residents shared Sister Andre's luck. In January, 81 of the 88 residents tested positive for the virus, and about 10 of them died.

Manchin argues for Keystone

WASHINGTON -- In one of his first acts as new chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on Tuesday urged President Biden to reconsider his executive order revoking a presidential permit for the long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline, siding with Republican critics who say Biden's action will cost thousands of high-paying jobs. Manchin, of West Virginia, has yet to lead a hearing since being named chair last week, but he spoke out on the controversy that has spanned four presidencies. In a letter to Biden, Manchin said Keystone XL and other pipelines "continue to be the safest mode to transport our oil and natural gas resources, and they support thousands of high-paying, American union jobs.''

Senate to hear Trump case

WASHINGTON -- Donald Trump's historic second impeachment trial opened Tuesday with graphic video showing the former president whipping up a rally crowd to march to the Capitol and "fight like hell" against his reelection defeat, followed by images of the deadly attack on Congress that came soon after. In an early test of the former president's defense, Trump's team lost a crucial bid to halt the trial on constitutional grounds. Senators confirmed, 56-44, their jurisdiction over the trial, the first of a president no longer in office. While six Republican senators joined the Democrats in proceeding, the tally showed how far prosecutors have to go to win conviction, which requires a two-thirds threshold of 67 senators. Tuesday's vote was on whether a former president could be tried after leaving office.

Jemima out, Pearl Milling in

Aunt Jemima is making her last batch of pancakes. Quaker Oats said Tuesday that its Aunt Jemima brand pancake mix and syrup will be renamed Pearl Milling Company. Aunt Jemima products will continue to be sold until June, when the packaging will officially change over. Quaker Oats, a division of PepsiCo Inc., had announced last June that it would retire the Aunt Jemima brand, saying the character's origins are "based on a racial stereotype." The smiling Aunt Jemima logo was inspired by the 19th century "mammy" minstrel character, a Black woman content to serve her white masters. A former slave, Nancy Green, became the first face of the pancake products in 1890. Quaker Oats bought the Aunt Jemima brand in 1925 and had updated the logo over the years in an effort to remove the negative stereotypes. But in the cultural reckoning that followed last summer's Black Lives Matter protests, Quaker decided to change the name altogether. Other brands, like Uncle Ben's rice, followed. Quaker said Pearl Milling Company was founded in 1888 in St. Joseph, Missouri, and was the originator of self-rising pancake mix. While the brand will be new to store shelves, the boxes and bottles of syrup will still have the familiar red packaging of Aunt Jemima.

Filter makes lawyer a cat

ALPINE, Texas -- A West Texas judge has a word of caution to those attending court hearings via Zoom: Always check for filters before logging on. Judge Roy Ferguson's warning comes after an attorney accidentally joined a Tuesday video conference of a civil forfeiture court hearing while using a Zoom filter that made him appear like a fluffy white kitten. "I'm here live. I'm not a cat," Presidio County Attorney Rod Ponton said. "I can see that," replied Ferguson, whose district covers five counties in West Texas, including the town of Marfa from which Ponton was calling. The short video clip, which was shared online by Ferguson, ends with others coaching the attorney on how to remove the cat filter. The judge said on Twitter: "These fun moments are a by-product of the legal profession's dedication to ensuring that the justice system continues to function in these tough times. Everyone involved handled it with dignity, and the filtered lawyer showed incredible grace. True professionalism all around!" In an interview, Ponton said he has fielded calls from around the world and has been booked for national television. "I always wanted to be famous for being a great lawyer. Now I'm famous for appearing in court as a cat," he said.

Eugenie gives birth to a boy

LONDON -- Britain's Princess Eugenie has given birth to a baby boy. Eugenie, a granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, welcomed their son at London's Portland Hospital on Tuesday morning. Eugenie, 30, is the younger daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York. The princess' baby, who weighed 8 pounds, 1 ounce, is her and Brooksbank's first child and the queen's ninth great-grandchild. The child is the 11th in line to the throne. The new parents uploaded to Instagram a black and white image of their hands cradling their infant's tiny fingers. Eugenie was born at the private Portland Hospital herself, as was her sister, Princess Beatrice. More recently, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, gave birth to her son, Archie, at the hospital in May 2019.

Apologizes for storming Capitol

PHOENIX -- An Arizona man who participated in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol while sporting face paint, no shirt and a furry hat with horns said he regrets storming the building, apologized for causing fear in others and expressed disappointment with former President Donald Trump. In a statement released late Monday through his attorney, defendant Jacob Chansley said he has re-evaluated his life since being jailed for over a month on charges stemming from the Jan. 6 riot and realizes he shouldn't have entered the Capitol building. Chansley, who previously said Trump inspired him to be in Washington that day, said Trump "let a lot of peaceful people down." Chansley said he's coming to terms with events leading to the riot and asked people to "be patient with me and other peaceful people who, like me, are having a very difficult time piecing together all that happened to us, around us, and by us. We are good people who care deeply about our country."

WHO does not blame China lab

WUHAN, China-- The coronavirus most likely first appeared in humans after jumping from an animal, a team of international and Chinese scientists looking for the origins of COVID-19 said Tuesday, saying an alternate theory that the virus leaked from a Chinese lab was unlikely. A closely watched visit by World Health Organization experts to Wuhan -- the Chinese city where the first coronavirus cases were discovered -- did not dramatically change the current understanding of the early days of the pandemic, said Peter Ben Embarek, the leader of the WHO mission. Embarek said the initial findings suggest the most likely pathway the virus followed was from a bat to another animal and then to humans, adding that would require further research.

Dem relief: schools, minimum wage

WASHINGTON -- House Democrats on Tuesday muscled past Republicans on major portions of President Joe Biden's pandemic plan, including a proposed $130 billion in additional relief to help the nation's schools reopen and a gradual increase of the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Democrats on the Education and Labor Committee say schools won't be able to reopen safely until they get an infusion of federal funding to repair building ventilation systems, buy protective equipment and take other steps recommended by federal health officials. The plan faces opposition from Republicans who want to tie new school funding to reopening. The panel met Tuesday to craft its portion of a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that tracks with Biden's plan for battling the pandemic and reviving a still staggering economy. Democrats hope to rush the bill to Biden for his signature by mid-March.

Wis. pharmacist pleads guilty

MADISON, Wis. -- A former Wisconsin pharmacist pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to charges that he tried to spoil dozens of vials of COVID-19 vaccine. Federal prosecutors charged Steven Brandenburg, 46, of Grafton, in late January with two counts of attempting to tamper with consumer products. He pleaded guilty to both counts during a video conference with U.S. District Judge Brett Ludwig in Milwaukee. The charges carry a maximum combined sentence of 20 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. Prosecutors agreed to recommend that Ludwig give him at least three years and five months and at most four years and three months for his guilty pleas.

'Last Supper' reopens to public

MILAN -- COVID-19 restrictions have brought a novelty to art lovers: The possibility of seeing Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" without waiting in line, and with same-day tickets possible. Access to the masterpiece housed inside the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie resumed Tuesday after the second closure of the pandemic, starting in November and the fall virus resurgence. The famed mural was also closed to the public from Feb. 26-June 9, with the double closures resulting in an 80% drop in visitors last year from 2019's record 445,728 Leonardo admirers. Access is restricted in the first week to just eight viewers every 15 minutes, going up to 12 starting next week. While in the past demand also among foreign visitors meant that reservations were necessary weeks or even months in advance, Emma Daffra, director of Lombardy's state museums, said reservations are now opening each week with same-day tickets possible at the museum.

Arab craft enters Mars orbit

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A spacecraft from the United Arab Emirates swung into orbit around Mars on Tuesday in a triumph for the Arab world's first interplanetary mission. Ground controllers at the UAE's space center in Dubai rose to their feet and broke into applause when word came that the craft, called Amal, Arabic for Hope, had reached the end of its seven-month, 300-million-mile journey and had begun circling the red planet, where it will gather data on Mars' atmosphere. The orbiter fired its main engines for 27 minutes in an intricate, high-stakes maneuver that slowed the craft enough for it to be captured by Mars' gravity. It took a nail-biting 11 minutes for the signal confirming success to reach Earth. Tensions were high: Over the years, Mars has been the graveyard for a multitude of missions from various countries. Two more unmanned spacecraft from the U.S. and China are following close behind, set to arrive at Mars over the next several days. All three missions were launched in July to take advantage of the close alignment of Earth and Mars.

Super Bowl reaches 92 million

NEW YORK -- The pandemic-era Super Bowl between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs reached the big game's smallest television audience since 2006. An estimated 92 million people tuned in across the country to watch the Bucs' 31-9 victory, the Nielsen company said Tuesday. Add in a record number of people who streamed the game online and CBS said the total audience was 96.4 million. That's down from the 101.3 million people who watched the 2020 game between Kansas City and San Francisco. The New England-Seattle Super Bowl in 2015 was the most-watched game with 114.4 million viewers. The Super Bowl is annually television's most-watched event.

'Wizard of Oz' remake planned

NEW YORK -- Are we off to see the wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz -- again? New Line Cinema is making a new adaptation of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," L. Frank Baum children's novel, with Nicole Kassell, the visual architect of "Watchmen," set to direct. Baum's 1900 novel, now in the public domain, has spawned many adaptations over the years -- most famously, of course, the 1939 MGM musical by Victor Fleming and starring Judy Garland. Kassell's version will not be a musical. New Line said it will be a "fresh take" and a "reimagining" of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz."

Pilot error blamed in Kobe crash

LOS ANGELES -- The pilot who crashed the helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant, killing all nine aboard, made a series of poor decisions that led him to fly blindly into a wall of clouds where he became so disoriented he thought he was climbing when the craft was plunging toward a Southern California hillside, federal safety officials said Tuesday. The National Transportation Safety Board primarily blamed pilot Ara Zobayan in the Jan. 26, 2020 crash that killed him along with Bryant, the basketball star's daughter and six other passengers heading to a girls basketball tournament. Zobayan, an experienced pilot, ignored his training, violated flight rules by flying into conditions where he couldn't see and failed to take alternate measures, such as slowing down and landing or switching to auto-pilot, that would have averted the tragedy.

Dutch take to the outdoor ice

DOORN, Netherlands -- A deep winter freeze gripping the Netherlands is reawakening the national obsession with skating on frozen canals. With subzero temperatures forecast to last more than a week, ice fever swept the nation Tuesday, offering a welcome respite from grim coronavirus news while also creating a challenge for authorities trying to uphold social distancing rules. People around the country were rummaging through attics and dusting off long-unused skates, while businesses that sharpen skate blades reported boom times. Ice skating is a national wintertime passion in the Netherlands, with the country's spandex-clad elite athletes dominating Winter Olympic speedskating races in recent years. Amateurs of all ages eagerly await the Arctic conditions that allow them to take to the country's vast network of canals and waterways. But with the country in a strict coronavirus lockdown, the prospect of a long-distance skating race in the northern province of Friesland being staged for the first time since 1997 remains remote at best. The association that organizes the 11 Cities Tour over frozen canals and lakes said in January that "under the current coronavirus measures, it is not possible to organize" the near mythical event. Since then, authorities have not relaxed the measures beyond allowing elementary school students back into classrooms this week.