U.S.The StatePopular NC teacher killed trying to rob Mexican drug cartel member, sheriff says
A popular Union County teacher described by family and friends as a devoted dad, teacher and coach was fatally wounded in a shootout when he and his brother-in-law tried to rob members of a Mexican drug cartel, Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson said Wednesday. Barney Dale Harris taught Spanish and was head coach of the boys' varsity basketball and track teams at Union Academy Charter School, according to his family and the school. He was found dead last Thursday in the bedroom of an Alamance County mobile home that Johnson called a drug “stash house” for a Mexican cartel.
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverMysterious goat appears in Death Valley National Park. That’s bad news, rangers say
A tourist at Death Valley spotted something within the park that shouldn't be there: a mysterious goat. The visitor reported seeing a domestic goat in a canyon near Stovepipe Wells within the park. The goat could be bad for native bighorn sheep and the park's ecosystem, rangers said Wednesday on Facebook.
WorldThe TelegraphPlan for temporary Chamber during Parliament restoration will be axed in favour of Zoom debates, Rees-Mogg suggests
A £1.5bn pound plan to relocate MPs to a “temporary Chamber” in Westminster while Parliament undergoes a major restoration will be axed in favour of Zoom debates, Jacob Rees-Mogg has suggested. Mr Rees-Mogg, the Commons leader, told Tory backbenchers on Wednesday night that Parliament should use video calls to beam members into the historic Chamber while other parts of the Palace of Westminster are restored, and that a full decamp to an expensive temporary facility should be avoided. Plans by the Restoration and Renewal Sponsor Body and Delivery Authority previously suggested that MPs move to Richmond House and the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre, with debates taking place in a temporary Chamber costing around £1.5bn.
PoliticsAssociated PressNo. 2 House Republican says GOP would act against Gaetz
The No. 2 House Republican leader said Wednesday that party leaders would “take action" against Rep. Matt Gaetz if the Justice Department formally moves against the Florida lawmaker, who is under federal investigation for alleged sex trafficking. The remarks by Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana made him the latest congressional Republicans to opt against springing to the defense of the three-term lawmaker from Florida's panhandle. Federal investigators are probing Gaetz over allegations that include sex with a minor, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity because they could not discuss details publicly.
WorldThe TelegraphFrance to allow TV cameras to film trials under draft law
Television crews will be allowed to film and broadcast trials in France under a controversial draft bill the government says will help “improve trust in the justice system”. Eric Dupond-Moretti, the French justice minister, is due to present the draft law at a council of ministers meeting on Thursday. Currently, cameras and sound equipment are strictly forbidden inside court except in highly exceptional circumstances, namely trials that are considered “historic”, such as one last year regarding the 2015 Charlie Hebdo and Jewish supermarket terror attacks.
U.S.Associated PressMother of teen killed by trooper mourns 'awesome young man'
A 16-year-old boy who was shot and killed by a Maryland State Police trooper was an honor student who loved cooking with his mother and spirited political debates at the family dinner table, the teenager's relatives said Wednesday. A written statement from the family doesn't address the circumstances of Peyton Ham's encounter with the trooper who shot him Tuesday afternoon outside a home near the State Police barracks in Leonardtown. Investigators determined that Ham had an airsoft gun and a knife and pointed the replica toy gun at the trooper, who was responding to a pair of 911 calls, according to State Police Superintendent Woodrow Jones III.
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverBiden team believes Austin Tice, journalist missing in Syria, is alive
Biden administration diplomats and intelligence officers are operating “with the sincere belief” that Austin Tice is alive, two U.S. officials told McClatchy on Wednesday, and the group is working daily to free the American journalist who went missing in 2012 while covering the war in Syria. “We operate with the sincere belief that Austin is alive and waiting for us to come get him,” Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens said. The Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, a team of experts from different government agencies that gathers diplomatic leads and intelligence information together in one place, is pursuing the Tice case.
HealthThe TelegraphCancer patient saw disease all but vanish after catching Covid
Covid may have caused a cancer patient's tumours to vanish, according to doctors, who said it could have sparked an "anti-tumour immune response" in the man. The 61-year-old patient at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro had a check-up last summer after being diagnosed with Hogkin's Lymphoma, a rare blood cancer that affects 2,100 people in the UK each year. The disease, which occurs when white blood cells get out of control and spread to the lymph nodes, is typically treated with chemotherapy and around 90 per cent of patients are still alive five years afterwards.
ScienceAssociated PressUAE sets new ambitious timeline for launch of moon rover
The United Arab Emirates' space center announced Wednesday a more ambitious timeline for sending its first rover to the moon. The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center said it is partnering with Japan's ispace company to send a rover to the moon on an unmanned spacecraft by 2022, rather than 2024. The “Rashid” rover, named after Dubai's ruling family, will deploy to the moon using ispace's lunar lander.
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverA California man vanished 42 years ago on road trip. His remains were just identified
Kenneth Lee Bell was traveling from California's Bay Area to Washington when he vanished, officials said. On Jan. 8, a timber crew working in a remote wilderness area near Molalla, Oregon, unearthed a partial human skull and other human remains, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. “If you knew Kenneth Lee Bell in the late 1970s, detectives would like to hear from you,” the sheriff's office said.
WorldThe TelegraphCameron-Greensill lobbying scandal: the facts, explained
Ministers, Whitehall mandarins and a former prime minister have become embroiled in a major lobbying scandal after it emerged that David Cameron had been quietly pushing for a beleaguered finance company to receive Covid bailouts from the Treasury. After leaving office in 2016, Mr Cameron took on a job with Greensill Capital, a “supply chain finance” company that offers short term credit to firms to help them pay invoices more quickly. The company is run by Lex Greensill, who worked in Government during Mr Cameron's time in office and was awarded a CBE for his work on a similar finance scheme for government departments.
U.S.The WeekFauci shoots down Tucker Carlson's 'crazy' COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy theory as 'not helpful'
Dr. Anthony Fauci is pushing back against the "crazy" COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy theory Fox News host Tucker Carlson floated on his highly-rated show. In a Tuesday night segment, Carlson questioned why those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are still advised to wear masks and avoid large gatherings, proceeding to baselessly suggest of the vaccines, "Maybe it doesn't work and they're simply not telling you that." Asked to comment on these remarks on CNN on Wednesday, Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, dismissed them as "crazy."
- PoliticsReuters Videos
Israel made 'very bad gamble' on Natanz: Iran FM
Speaking during a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart, Iran's top diplomat said the incident enabled Iran to use all of its options at Natanz legally and legitimately. "Israel played a very bad gamble if it thought that the attack will weaken Iran's hand in the nuclear talks," Zarif said. Tehran has said an explosion on Sunday (April 11) at its key nuclear site was an act of sabotage by arch-foe Israel and vowed revenge for an attack that appeared to be latest episode in a long-running covert war.
PoliticsUSA TODAYMissouri GOP state lawmaker Rick Roeber resigns amid allegations he abused his children
A Kansas City-area lawmaker accused of sexually and physically abusing his children when they were younger submitted his resignation Tuesday as an investigation into his behavior neared completion. Rep. Rick Roeber, R-Lee's Summit, did not mention the allegations against him or an ongoing probe by the House ethics committee in a letter to the state House clerk. Roeber, who was elected to a two-year term in November, said he only ever wanted to serve a single year to pass a bill naming a highway after his late wife, Rep. Rebecca Roeber, who died in 2019, and help pass school choice bills.
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverMississippi dad suffers stroke after Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Here’s what happened.
A 43-year-old father of seven from Ocean Springs suffered a stroke hours after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Brad Malagarie was otherwise healthy before he suffered the stroke April 6 while at work. Malagarie had the most common form of stroke, an ischemic stroke, which is caused by a blood clot in an artery leading to the brain.
U.S.The Daily BeastBiden’s Challenge: Save Police Reform Bill From ‘Irreconcilable’ Differences
As another American city is gripped by protests following the shooting death of an unarmed Black person by a police officer, the Biden administration is renewing focus on one of the “four historic crises” he pledged to address in his first hundred days: a long-overdue reckoning over racial justice in policing. “With Daunte Wright in Minnesota, that god-awful shooting resulting in his death, and in the midst of an ongoing trial over the killing of George Floyd… we're in the business, all of us meeting today, to deliver some real change,” President Joe Biden said on Tuesday before a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus. “You can't reconcile abolition with reform—they're irreconcilable,” said Eugene O'Donnell, a former NYPD officer and prosecutor in New York City and professor of law and police science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
U.S.LA TimesColumn: The UC system is one of the best and worst parts of living in California
And indeed, biology, managerial economics, social psychology and computer science are listed as UC Irvine's most popular majors on the college ranking and review site Niche.com. Although UC Irvine offers many traditional humanities majors, not one of them made the top 10. English, history and political sciences do make the top 10 at other UC campuses, including UCLA, but according to Niche.com, business/economics, biology and computer science reign supreme.
WorldThe TelegraphCare home workers face compulsory Covid vaccinations
Ministers have formally threatened mandatory vaccination for care home workers after new figures showed that just half of facilities pass the safety threshold. On Wednesday, the Government announced provisional plans to force care homes to include a requirement to be vaccinated in contracts with staff. It comes as the Department for Health and Social Care said just 53 per cent of older adult homes in England currently have a staff vaccination rate of 80 per cent and a resident vaccination rate of 90 per cent.
U.S.INSIDERCharges against Daunte Wright before his death have sparked anger and disinformation - here are the documents that explain what happened
Daunte Wright was killed on Sunday while he had an outstanding arrest warrant, the police said. Insider reviewed legal documents that shed light on what happened. Daunte Wright's killing by a police officer not far from Minneapolis sparked renewed debate about racism and policing in the US.
CelebrityReutersBritain's Princess Anne seen in public for first time since death of Philip
Princess Anne, the daughter of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, was on Wednesday seen in public for the first time since the death of her father last week. Philip died at Windsor Castle on Friday, aged 99. "My father has been my teacher, my supporter and my critic, but mostly it is his example of a life well lived and service freely given that I most wanted to emulate," Anne, the Princess Royal, said in a statement on Sunday.
PoliticsThe IndependentBiden news – live: Jill Biden returns to work after undergoing ‘medical procedure’
Jill Biden has returned to the White House after a “common” medical procedure, to which she was accompanied by Joe Biden. There was no immediate detail offered about the nature of the first lady's treatment. It comes as US climate envoy John Kerry is heading to China for talks between the world's two biggest carbon emitters ahead of an environmental summit of world leaders.
U.S.Business InsiderA woman who traveled to the Bahamas with Rep. Matt Gaetz in 2018 says no one was underage on the trip, according to Politico
A woman who traveled to the Bahamas with Matt Gaetz in 2018 told Politico that everyone was over 18. Politico said it was unable to confirm the age of that woman at the time of the trip. A woman who was with Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida on a trip to the Bahamas in September 2018 that federal investigators are looking into told Politico that no one was underage on the trip.
BusinessLexington Herald-Leader‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author J.D. Vance exits AppHarvest board after controversial tweets
AppHarvest announced Wednesday that author J.D. Vance is no longer a board member of the Eastern Kentucky mega-greenhouse company, days after he made controversial comments on Twitter. Vance authored “Hillbilly Elegy” and is the co-founder and partner of Narya, a venture capital firm in Ohio. Equilibrium CEO and Chairman Dave Chen also exited the Board of Directors.
U.S.The IndependentPolice officer who shot Jacob Blake, sparking protests in Kenosha, has returned to duty
The police officer who shot Jacob Blake, sparking protests in Wisconsin, has returned to active duty his department has announced. Rusten Sheskey shot Mr Blake, a Black man, seven times in the back leaving him paralysed from the waist down, when he responded to a domestic violence call in Kenosha last year. “Although this incident has been reviewed at multiple levels, I know that some will not be pleased with the outcome,” said police chief Daniel Miskinis.
- NewsKFSN – Fresno
4 kids found living in deplorable conditions, father arrested
Officials say the seven-year-old, a four-year-old, a three-year-old and a one-year-old are now being cared for by Child Protective Services.
“There’s no ‘both sides of the debate’ when it comes to active voter suppression.”
“Companies that do this ooze contempt for their own customers and employees who are not in the leftmost quarter of opinion.”
“The truth is that Fortune 500 companies were never taking moral stances from the goodness of their corporate hearts.”
“The truth is, the companies hold the cards…If companies stick to their guns, Georgia is likely to back down as well.”
“When a company folds to the unfounded outrage of a few misinformed nuts, they are forever at the mob’s beck-and-call.”