U.S.National ReviewChauvin Trial Judge Says Maxine Waters Comments Could Lead to Trial Being ‘Overturned’ on Appeal
The judge in the Chauvin trial stated Monday that inflammatory remarks by Representative Maxine Waters could lead to the trial being “overturned” on appeal. Waters had called for demonstrators to “get more confrontational” and protest in the streets if no guilty verdict was reached in the case. Waters delivered the comments over the weekend ahead of closing arguments in the high-profile case against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who's been charged with the murder of George Floyd.
U.S.Associated PressNevada inmate fighting execution seeks firing-squad option
A convicted killer who is fighting a possible June execution date that would make him the first person put to death in Nevada in 15 years is calling for the state to consider the firing squad as an option, a rare method in the United States. Attorneys for Zane Michael Floyd say he does not want to die and are challenging the state plan to use a proposed three-drug method, which led to court challenges that twice delayed the execution of another convicted killer who later took his own life in prison. “This is not a delaying tactic,” Brad Levenson, a federal public defender representing Floyd, said Monday.
WorldNBC NewsSteady increase in Russian troops in Crimea on Ukraine border, says Pentagon
The number of Russian troops deployed in occupied Crimea near Ukraine's border has steadily increased over the past two weeks and has surpassed the size of the force that annexed the peninsula in 2014, the Pentagon said on Monday. Press secretary John Kirby declined to provide specific numbers on the growing Russian troop presence. A spokesperson for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said last week there are about 80,000 troops now stationed along the country's border with Russia, 40,000 of them in Crimea.
WorldThe WeekPutin critic Navalny taken to prison hospital as team warns he could die in 'days'
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been taken to a prison hospital after his team warned his health is deteriorating and he could die "in a matter of days." Navalny, the prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was moved to a hospital in a high security prison by Russian authorities on Monday, The New York Times reports. "With the patient's consent, he was prescribed vitamin therapy," Russia's federal penitentiary service said, per The Washington Post.
PoliticsNational ReviewManchin Backs PRO Act, Bill to Eliminate Right-to-Work Laws
Senator Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) gave his support to the PRO Act during a National Press Club event on climate change on Monday. The PRO Act is intended to strengthen unionizing efforts and would block right-to-work laws, which allow workers to opt out of union memberships and accompanying fees. “I am pleased to announce that I am cosponsoring the PRO Act,” Manchin said at the event.
U.S.INSIDERJudge denies Chauvin defense's motion for a mistrial, but says Rep. Maxine Waters' comments 'could lead to this whole case being overturned'
Derek Chauvin's defense cited comments from US Rep. Maxine Waters in a motion for a mistrial. Over the weekend, Waters called on protesters to stay on the streets if there's no guilty verdict. Judge Peter Cahill denied the motion but said Waters may have given the defense a successful appeal.
BusinessCBS NewsAmazon buying Atlas 5 rockets to launch its internet satellites
Amazon plans to buy nine powerful Atlas 5 rockets from United Launch Alliance to boost an initial wave of the company's planned Kuiper internet satellites into orbit. The satellites will be part of a planned constellation of 3,236 relay stations that will compete with OneWeb and SpaceX's fast-growing Starlink system. "We're determined to make affordable broadband a reality for customers and communities around the world," Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said in a statement.
WorldBusiness InsiderThe war against Russia's spies just cost Putin billions from a cancelled nuclear contract
Russia announced on Monday the expulsion of at least 20 Czech diplomats in a furious response to the gutting of Moscow's most critical intelligence station in central Europe over the weekend, when Czech authorities accused Russian intelligence of being behind two blasts at an ammunition storage facility in 2014. Czechia has accused a notorious Russian intelligence unit implicated in multiple operations across Europe and the UK of conducting two operations in 2014 that led to explosions at a munitions factory in 2014. At the time, the ammunition was said to be headed for Russia's rivals in Ukraine.
WorldBBC5G: Rural areas to be allowed taller and wider masts
The government is to allow taller and wider mobile phone masts to be built across the English countryside to speed up the 5G network rollout. Parliament will vote on the plans, which the government says would improve rural coverage, while “minimising any visual impact” on the landscape. Stricter rules will apply in protected areas, including national parks, conservation areas and areas of outstanding natural beauty.
- ScienceReuters Videos
NASA releases HD video of Mars 'helicopter' flight
NASA's miniature robot helicopter Ingenuity performed a successful takeoff and landing on Mars early on Monday, achieving the first powered, controlled flight by an aircraft over the surface of another planet, the U.S. space agency said. "I don't think I can ever stop watching it over and over again," Aung said of the video, noting scheduled upcoming flights will push Ingenuity to its limit, by going faster, farther and against the wind.
U.S.Chicago TribuneJaslyn Adams shooting: First grader shot 6 times, Chicago police investigating if father was target
The 7-year-old girl killed Sunday afternoon while with her father in a McDonald's drive-thru was a first grade student who attended a Chicago public school in Humboldt Park and Chicago detectives are investigating her fatal shooting as possibly targeting her father, according to police. Jaslyn Adams, 7, was shot six times Sunday as she and her father waited in a drive-thru line at the McDonald's, 3200 W. Roosevelt Road in the Homan Square neighborhood on the West Side, a preliminary police report states. A responding police officer took the gravely injured child in a squad car and rushed her to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 4:39 p.m. Her father, 29, with whom she had been in an Infiniti sedan in the drive-thru lane at the time of the shooting, was shot once in the lower back, the report states.
WorldThe IndependentClimate crisis: What has Joe Biden done for the environment in his first 100 days?
US president Joe Biden is approaching 100 days in office after making a swift start to his tenure in the White House in which he issued a flurry of executive orders, pushing major spending bills through Congress to fend off the coronavirus pandemic and stimulate the country's economy. Mr Biden is now turning his attention to the environment ahead of Earth Day, with his administration forced to pick up the pieces following the disastrous reign of Donald Trump, who considered the climate crisis “a hoax”, withdrew from the Paris accord, backed “beautiful clean coal” over the renewable energy sector and engaged in the hacking and slashing of regulations to permit drilling on once-protected public lands. Mr Trump's successor, also having been confronted with America's epidemic of gun violence, will host a virtual climate summit this week, bringing together world leaders in the hope of securing more ambitious commitments to united action.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramTexas didn’t see a COVID surge after opening and ending its mask mandate. Here’s why
It's been over a month since Gov. Greg Abbott lifted the state's mask mandate and ended business restrictions, but at least for now, Texas has not become the epicenter of a coronavirus surge as some predicted. After Abbott announced COVID-19 restrictions would end on March 10, President Joe Biden called the decision a “big mistake” and that it reflected “Neanderthal thinking. A slew of other political figures thought the decision was premature and a way to distract people from the February winter storm and power outage that killed at least 111 Texans.
WorldBusiness InsiderThe bosses of the Suez Canal say the excavator operator who helped free the Ever Given is getting his overtime pay, plus a bonus
The excavator driver who helped free the Ever Given ought to have been paid, Suez Canal bosses said. Abdullah Abdul-Gawad, a subcontractor, earlier told Insider he was still waiting for overtime money. The Suez Canal Authority said it paid, though Insider couldn't reach Abdul-Gawad's direct employer.
U.S.Los Angeles Times OpinionOpinion: One reason tuition keeps soaring? Colleges' unhealthy obsession with 'yield'
It's all part of the hyperdrive of college admissions that is pushing college costs upward. It's not something we can afford to keep doing if we want free colleges like in much of Europe, or reduced costs, or even just keeping prices flat. The marketing is the first step toward bringing in enough applicants to fill university seats.
U.S.The IndependentGeorge Floyd’s brother has a message for America: ‘You have the right to be angry – but express it peacefully’
No words can adequately explain what this past year has been like for Terrence Floyd and the other members of George Floyd's family. On Monday, the jury is to hear closing arguments from both the prosecution and the defence, before it is sent away, sequestered and told to consider its decisions.
CelebrityThe TelegraphNo man-to-man for Prince Charles and Harry as Duke heads back to US
The Duke of Sussex will return to California without having a private meeting with his father, The Telegraph understands. Many family members had hoped the pair would take the opportunity to spend some time together alone, to air their differences face to face. While the Duke's travel plans have not been disclosed, he is thought likely to return home to his pregnant wife, the Duchess of Sussex, 39, and their son Archie, who turns two next month, within the next day or two.
U.S.The IndependentAsian American CNN producer zip-tied by Minnesota police and asked if she can speak English, lawyer says
Minnesota police wrongfully arrested, manhandled, and humiliated a CNN producer while she was covering the Daunte Wright protests, a lawyer representing her and other journalists said. According to attorney Leita Walker, Carolyn Sung was among the press at a 13 April demonstration against the shooting of Mr Wright when police ordered the crowd to disperse. “As Sung tried to leave the area as directed, troopers grabbed Sung by her backpack and threw her to the ground, zip-tying her hands behind her back,” Ms Walker wrote in a letter to Governor Tim Walz.
WorldBusiness InsiderChina is committing 'crimes against humanity' with its treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, human rights group says
China is arbitrarily detaining up to 1 million people in Xinjiang, Human Rights Watch said Monday. The group said China is justifying its repression in the language of a "global war on terrorism." HRW said Chinese authorities are committing "crimes against humanity," but didn't label it genocide.
U.S.The IndependentPolice officer’s powerful TikTok message on Daunte Wright goes viral
A US police officer has demonstrated the “huge difference” between a gun and a Taser in a viral TikTok video, describing how it is difficult to confuse the two items in an officer's arsenal, in the wake of Daunte Wright's death. The video posted from the account of a man named Brian B had about 6 million views and 1.4 million likes before the account was taken down after it became viral and triggered an extensive online conversation. The officer, appearing in his police uniform in the Tiktok video, can be seen loading his belt with both Taser and pistol before tapping the pistol as “dominant” and Taser as “not so dominant.”
LifestyleUSA TODAYResorts World Las Vegas announces June opening date. Here's what to expect
Resorts World Las Vegas will open on June 24. “We are filled with gratitude and excitement as we approach our opening this June and hope to play a role in Las Vegas's rebound after what has been an incredibly challenging year for the destination and greater hospitality industry," said Scott Sibella, president of Resorts World Las Vegas, in a statement, reports the Reno Gazette Journal, which is part of the USA TODAY Network. Resorts World Las Vegas will offer three hotel collections from Hilton – each with its own entrance and lobby.
PoliticsThe IndependentSupreme Court scraps last GOP election lawsuit, ending five-month challenge to results
After five months and an estimated 65 lawsuits, the GOP lost its final legal bid at challenging the results of the United States' presidential election. The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed as moot a Republican challenge to the extension of Pennsylvania's deadline to receive mail-in ballots. It was the last challenge over Pennsylvania's results, and the last of 65 cases brought by GOP plaintiffs, according to Democrat Party attorney Marc Elias, who has been tracking the post-election legal battle.
CelebrityTheGrioToni Braxton, 53, unveils bald head and fit physique in bikini post
In a post on her official Instagram account, Toni Braxton, 53, unveiled her bald head and fit physique in a red bikini. Braxton is “letting it flow” on social media. The Grammy Award-winning singer shared her new look in an Instagram video, and her fans quickly chimed in on how great she looks.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTrump and Lindsey Graham are charging $25K to play in their golf tournament to raise funds for Republicans
Former President Trump and Sen. Lindsey Graham are raising money for the GOP with a golf tournament. Graham has emerged as a top ally to Trump and has said Republicans have no future without him. Former President Donald Trump and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham are teaming up to raise money for their political group and other Republican interests with a Florida golf tournament.
U.S.The IndependentSuspect in custody after fatal triple-shooting in Kenosha bar
A suspect in the fatal shooting at a tavern in Wisconsin has been taken into custody by Wisconsin police, authorities have said. The Kenosha County Sheriff's Office said on Sunday afternoon that a “person of interest” had been arrested in connection to the shooting. “A person of interest has been located and will be criminally charged with one count of 1st-degree intentional homicide with additional criminal charges to follow pending further investigation,” the office said in a release.
“High-speed rail is bold and attention-grabbing, but the scale of the project makes it near impossible.”
“While a long, slow train ride across the country can be a great thing, the US needs real high-speed rail too.”
“Liberals are right that America has a car problem — but it's commutes, not road trips, that suck.”
“Investments into a high-speed rail system wouldn’t just improve the railroads — automobile traffic could also see some relief.”
“Big cities that are reasonably close together is pretty much a prerequisite for high-speed rail.”