TODAY'S TOP STORIES

Ted Cruz under fire for flying to Cancun, U.S officially rejoins Paris climate pact and Australia vows to make Facebook pay news outlets

Senator Ted Cruz flew into a storm of criticism after leaving his home state of Texas in the grip of a deadly deep freeze, for a family holiday jaunt to Cancun.
A “fragile” energy grid has fully returned to life for frigid Texans who have spent five days dealing with blackouts caused by a historic winter storm.
The United States officially rejoined the Paris climate agreement, reinvigorating the global fight against climate change.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed into law a ban on almost all abortions in the state and Planned Parenthood followed with a lawsuit.
Democrats formally introduced Biden’s sweeping immigration bill in Congress, a measure that would provide a path to U.S. citizenship for an estimated 11 million immigrants in the country illegally.

World

A young woman protester in Myanmar died after being shot in the head last week as police dispersed a crowd, her brother said.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison vowed to press ahead with laws to force Facebook to pay news outlets for content.
Taiwan’s air force scrambled after eight Chinese fighter aircraft flew into the southwestern part of its air defense zone.
The chief of Britain’s MI6 publicly apologized for historic discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the spy agencies before 1991.
Gunfire and rockets exploded in Mogadishu as Somali government forces clashed with opposition supporters angered by delayed elections.