PoliticsYahoo NewsExclusive: Jan. 6 select committee will include former CIA inspector general found to have retaliated against whistleblower
As the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot prepares to get underway next week, it will include former CIA Inspector General David Buckley in the role of staff director. The selection of Buckley to serve in that capacity, however, could come back to haunt the Democrats on the committee who selected him. Yahoo News has obtained a previously unpublished 2019 report compiled by the Department of Homeland Security's watchdog office showing that investigators urged the CIA to take action against Buckley for his alleged retaliation against a whistleblower, a conclusion that would likely be troubling to potential witnesses who might testify in the Jan. 6 inquiry.
U.S.Associated PressMan pleads guilty to kidnapping, killing young Amish woman
A man who led authorities to the remains of a young Amish woman in Pennsylvania pleaded guilty Friday to kidnapping and killing her. Justo Smoker, 35, pleaded guilty in Lancaster County to third-degree murder, kidnapping and other offenses in the death of 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos, who was last seen walking home from church in the Bird-in-Hand area on June 21, 2020. Smoker was sentenced to 35 1/2 to 71 years in prison.
PoliticsReutersExclusive-Democrats may scrap matching funds from infrastructure bill over wage issue
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Democrats are threatening to scrap plans to create an infrastructure bank in the $1.2 trillion bipartisan spending bill after Republicans opposed a provision intended to lift workers' wages, according to three people familiar with the discussions. A decision to remove funding for the bank would be aimed at resolving a logjam over U.S. President Joe Biden's top legislative initiative, as lawmakers scramble to finalize key details of the plan ahead of the Senate's typical August recess. The group of bipartisan lawmakers seeking to hammer out Biden's infrastructure bill want to include $20 billion for a newly created infrastructure bank that would attract investment through private-public partnerships.
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Justice Department launches gun trafficking strike forces in 5 cities
The Justice Department is launching an effort in five cities in the U.S. to reduce spiking gun violence by addressing illegal trafficking and prosecuting offenses that help put guns in the hands of criminals.
ScienceBBCLas Vegas murder case cracked with smallest ever amount of DNA
The 1989 murder of a 14-year-old girl in Las Vegas has been solved by using what experts say is the smallest-ever amount of human DNA to crack a case. Stephanie Isaacson's murder case had gone cold until new technology made it possible to test what little remained of the suspect's DNA: the equivalent of just 15 human cells. Police on Wednesday said they had identified the suspect by using genome sequencing and public genealogy data.
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Venezuela says U.S. military plane violated its airspace
Venezuela's armed forces said on Friday that a U.S. military plane violated its airspace along the South American country's border with Colombia in what it said was a "flagrant provocation." Venezuela, whose socialist government is under heavy sanctions from Washington, has on several occasions in recent years reported alleged airspace violations. It said that on Thursday evening, a C-17 plane from the U.S. Air Force flew over the Perija mountains in western Zulia state for three minutes.
WorldAssociated PressSmall flotilla leaves Miami to show support for Cuban people
A small group of Cuban Americans launched motorboats from Miami early Friday, planning to approach Cuba in a show of support for people experiencing hardships on the island. Five boats left from Miami's Bayside marina just before 8 a.m. They planned to refuel in Key West before heading into the Florida Straits, said Jose Portieles, who is helping organize the effort.
U.S.The WeekA 'significant and far-reaching' heat wave is coming to the U.S. next week
A "significant and far-reaching" heat wave is expected to bake the U.S. coast to coast over the next few weeks, toppling temperature records and aggravating wildfires and drought conditions on the West coast in particular, Axios and The Washington Post report. When combined with humidity, temperatures will feel "well into the triple digits" for millions of Americans, per the Post, as the heat dome — or an area of high pressure aloft that helps to lock in place hot, dry weather, per Axios — forms this weekend over the West then migrates across the Central Plains. Although heat domes are expected this time of year, climate change is exacerbating their "intensity, duration, and frequency," writes Axios.
U.S.Miami HeraldProud Boys got photo ops with Miami police chief. He says he didn’t know who they were.
Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo — who prides himself on working the street with beat cops — had recent back-to-back encounters with members of the right-wing extremist group the Proud Boys during the first demonstrations in the city in support of protesters in Cuba. In the clip posted on social media, Acevedo swears at a man who asked the chief why he hangs out with Marxists and communists and supports the Black Lives Matter movement. In another photo taken the next day, a smiling Acevedo posed with his left arm around Gabriel Garcia, a prominent Proud Boys member who is facing federal charges after posting video on Facebook of his breach of the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
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Afghan Air Force hurt by inoperable aircraft - Afghan lawmakers
One-third of the Afghan Air Force's aircraft are inoperable and it has run out of U.S.-made precision-guided rockets amid a massive drop in U.S.-led airstrikes, hampering Kabul's efforts to halt Taliban advances, Afghan lawmakers said on Friday. U.S.-provided airpower was intended to give Kabul a major advantage over the insurgents with the withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign troops. But Kabul's loss of aircraft and depletion of precision-guided rockets, as well as Taliban assassinations of pilots, are eroding that edge, the lawmakers said.
WorldAssociated PressChina, Afghanistan top Blinken agenda on India, Kuwait trip
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to India and Kuwait next week for talks on China, the coronavirus and Afghanistan, the State Department said Friday. The trip comes as the Biden administration seeks to shore up U.S. leadership in vaccinating the world against COVID-19, tries to blunt increasing Chinese assertiveness, and moves to evacuate vulnerable people from Afghanistan before the U.S. military withdrawal is complete. The State Department said Blinken will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday before traveling to Kuwait City the next day.
U.S.The StateSC police got phone data of Josephson’s alleged ‘fake Uber’ killer. Here’s what they found
Two expert witnesses testified late Thursday and Friday morning about tracking data regarding the phone of Nathaniel Rowland, who has been charged with murdering a former University of South Carolina student. Friday morning, State Law Enforcement Division investigator Eric Grabsky testified that data obtained from Verizon showed Rowland's phone traveling from the Five Points area shortly after Samantha Josephson went missing and driving near the location where Josephson's body was found hours later. “The phone associated with Nathaniel Rowland does appear to travel toward the New Zion area,” Grabsky testified Friday.
WorldThe TelegraphBones found near area where missing British hiker Esther Dingley disappeared
She and her partner Dan Colegate had left England in 2014 to go on an adventure of a lifetime, which had been intended to last 12 months but stretched to six years. The 37-year-old sent a selfie to Mr Colgate from the 9,000ft Pic de Sauvegarde on the day she went missing and has not been heard from since. French police say they are now analysing the bones in an attempt to confirm whether they are human remains.
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Poland a step closer to adopting controversial property law
Poland's Senate on Friday approved with some amendments much-disputed changes to property restitution rules, moving them a step closer to adoption. The draft regulations have drawn strong criticism from Israel and from Jewish organizations who say the new administrative law would prevent Jewish claims for compensation or property seized during the Holocaust and communist times. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said the legislation will “severely damage our relations with Poland.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramCritical race theory debate is tearing apart the Christian church, Fort Worth pastors say
As the CRT turmoil continues to overwhelm school board meetings across the country, Fort Worth pastors say the shock waves are destabilizing the Christian church, too.
WorldThe TelegraphTokyo 2020 'axed opening ceremony musician for being black'
A musician claims he was cut from the Olympic opening ceremony because he was black, as organisers face a third staffing row in a week. Latyr Sy, a Senagalese percussionist based in Japan for 20 years, accused organisers of racism after he was booked and then cancelled for inclusion at the curtain-raiser. Tokyo 2020 failed to respond to requests for comment from the Telegraph on the allegations on Friday.
SportsAssociated PressBauer appears in court to fight sexual assault allegations
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer appeared in court Friday to fight the extension of a protective order sought by a woman who says he choked her to the point where she lost consciousness and punched her during two sexual encounters earlier this year. Attorneys for Bauer and for the woman revealed during a short court session that they intend to call several witnesses, including Bauer, and argue over the order in what amounts to a trial that is expected to last three days. Judge Dianna Gould-Saltman delayed the beginning of that hearing until Aug. 2 because Bauer's attorney, Shawn Holley, said she was given the woman's witness list late and had insufficient time to prepare.
WorldBusiness InsiderGunfire prompts Biden's UN ambassador to abruptly leave Haitian president's funeral
Biden's UN ambassador abruptly left the funeral for Haiti's president amid unrest surrounding the ceremony. The assassination of Jovenel Moïse has pushed Haiti into a deeper crisis after years of struggles. The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, abruptly departed a funeral for Haitian President Jovenel Moïse on Friday after gunfire was reportedly heard.
CelebrityReutersDutch teen on space flight told Bezos he had never ordered from Amazon
The Dutch teenager who became the world's youngest space traveller this week surprised billionaire Jeff Bezos on the flight by telling him he'd never ordered anything on Amazon.com. Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old physics student, accompanied Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos and 82-year-old female aviator Wally Funk - the oldest person to go to space - on a 10-minute trip beyond Earth's atmosphere. Bezos funded exploration company Blue Origin by selling billions of dollars' worth of stock in his online delivery business Amazon.
U.S.INSIDERAn off-duty Customs and Border Protection officer admitted to threatening 3 tribal employees with a rifle, telling them he 'shoots first, asks questions later'
The employees were on the officer's property to test creek water and said they got permission from his wife. The officer pointed his rifle at the employees and told them he "shoots first, asks questions later." An off-duty US Customs and Border Protection officer has admitted to pointing his rifle at three tribal employees who were collecting water samples on his property, telling them he "shoots first, asks questions later," according to court documents.
U.S.Miami Herald‘She’s about to get bit. Oh my lord.’ Watch a hammerhead aim for 2 swimmers in Florida
Two swimmers in Florida were blithely unaware that a large shark was swimming mere inches away in Florida. TikToker Connor Seitz, with the user name @cseitz2281, was shooting with a drone from up in his waterfront room at the Celadon Beach Resort in Panama City Beach. The video, posted Sunday, zooms in on two female swimmers treading in the water a few feet off the shore packed with beachgoers.
U.S.USA TODAYSearch for bodies at site of Florida condo collapse officially concludes with one still missing
The search for bodies at the site of the Surfside, Florida condo collapse has come to an end, with firefighters and search crews recognized at a ceremony on Friday. The June 24 collapse killed 97 people — 96 bodies were pulled from the debris and one died at a hospital after being removed — and one person who is missing has still not been identified among the remains. Officials said there were no more bodies found in the rubble, but investigators are continuing to sift through the debris where it is now housed in separate locations.
PoliticsThe Independent‘I don’t care if you think I’m Satan reincarnated’: Biden says no excuse for people underplaying Capitol riot
President Biden on Wednesday said he doesn't care if someone thinks he is “Satan reincarnated” but there is no looking away from the 6 January Capitol riots. “I don't care if you think I'm Satan reincarnated, the fact is you can't look at that television and say nothing happened on the 6th (January)”, said Joe Biden at a town hall in Cincinnati, Ohio, organised by CNN News. The US president also said that no matter the party, there is only one way to view the 6 January assault on the Capitol by Trump supporters.
ScienceBBCJeff Bezos and Sir Richard Branson not yet astronauts, US says
New Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules say astronaut hopefuls must be part of the flight crew and make contributions to space flight safety. The Commercial Astronaut Wings programme updates were announced on Tuesday - the same day that Amazon's Mr Bezos flew aboard a Blue Origin rocket to the edge of space. To qualify as commercial astronauts, space-goers must travel 50 miles (80km) above the Earth's surface, which both Mr Bezos and Mr Branson accomplished.
BusinessINSIDERMario Batali and his former partners will have to pay $600,000 to their restaurant employees who said they experienced sexual harassment
Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich will pay former employees $600,000 as part of a settlement. The men "permitted an intolerable work environment," New York Attorney General Letitia James said. The payout will go to at least 20 former employees from three Manhattan restaurants.
“Thankfully, children are at lower risk for complications from COVID-19, but low risk is not no risk.”
“Guidelines that mandate the masking of children are based on an assessment of risk that is not justified.”
“Masks are easy to use, inexpensive and effective.”
“We’re now 16 months into the pandemic and children remain victims of the Covid political theater.”
“If a community or school isn’t sufficiently vaccinated, it remains at risk of the coronavirus coming back.”