U.S.NBC NewsPolice accused of threatening, pulling gun on Black Army lieutenant during Virginia traffic stop
Virginia police pulled guns on a Black Army officer during a traffic stop and threatened to execute him in a parking lot, according to the serviceman's lawsuit and video of the encounter. U.S. Army Lt. Caron Nazario was driving Dec. 5, 2020, in his newly purchased Chevrolet Tahoe when he encountered police on U.S. Highway 460 in Windsor, about 30 miles west of downtown Norfolk, the active-duty soldier claimed in a federal civil lawsuit filed last week. Nazario, who is Black and Latino, conceded in his complaint that he didn't immediately pull over.
WorldAssociated PressElectrical problem strikes Iran's Natanz nuclear facility
Iran's Natanz nuclear site suffered a problem Sunday involving its electrical distribution grid just hours after starting up new advanced centrifuges that more quickly enrich uranium, state TV reported. It was the latest incident to strike one of Tehran's most secure sites amid negotiations over the tattered atomic accord with world powers. Power had been cut across the facility of above-ground workshops and underground enrichment halls, civilian nuclear program spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told Iranian state television.
PoliticsReutersSeven takeaways from Biden's budget proposal: defense, immigration, climate
Federal discretionary spending is up by 8.4% compared to 2021 levels, excluding emergency funding, to $1.52 trillion, with a focus on health, education and climate. About two-thirds of the massive budget is "mandatory" spending for benefits like Social Security and Medicare. Because it is lower than former President Donald Trump's 2022 projections, it may also anger Republican defense hawks pushing for more spending.
U.S.The StateNote in missing couple’s car leads rescuers to ‘extreme’ site in Death Valley, cops say
A missing Arizona couple was found on a steep ledge in Death Valley National Park after leaving a note in their car, police said. Alexander Lofgren, 32, and Emily Henkel, 27, from Tucson were found Thursday in a remote part of Death Valley National Park, according to the Inyo County Sheriff's Office. Cops said that a search and rescue team would descend the canyon to reach Lofgren and Henkel on Thursday night, but an update on the couple's condition hasn't been provided by authorities on Friday.
WorldAssociated PressOfficial: Chinese vaccines' effectiveness low
In a rare admission of the weakness of Chinese coronavirus vaccines, the country's top disease control official says their effectiveness is low and the government is considering mixing them to give them a boost. Chinese vaccines “don't have very high protection rates,” said the director of the China Centers for Disease Control, Gao Fu, at a conference Saturday in the southwestern city of Chengdu. Beijing has distributed hundreds of millions of doses in other countries while also trying to promote doubt about the effectiveness of Western vaccines.
PoliticsThe WeekTexas GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw recovering from emergency eye surgery that will leave him blind for a month
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Tex.) revealed Saturday that he underwent emergency surgery on his left eye a day earlier after a doctor discovered his retina was detaching. It was a "terrifying prognosis" for Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who was hit by an IED blast during a mission in Afghanistan's Helmand province in 2012. Crenshaw said "it was always a possibility that the effects of the damage to my retina would resurface, and it appears that is exactly what has happened."
PoliticsAxiosScoop: Ohio Senate candidate Josh Mandel escorted out of RNC retreat
During this weekend's highly anticipated donor retreat hosted by the Republican National Committee in Palm Beach, Ohio Senate candidate Josh Mandel was escorted off the premises while his primary opponent, Jane Timken, was allowed to stay, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation tell Axios. What we're hearing: The invitation-only event is taking place at the Four Seasons Resort, and the RNC reserved the entire hotel. While Timken, former Ohio GOP chair, was invited to the event “because she is a major donor” — Mandel was not, so he was asked to leave, according to one of the sources.
WorldReutersSouth African variant can 'break through' Pfizer vaccine, Israeli study says
The coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa can "break through" Pfizer/BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine to some extent, a real-world data study in Israel found, though its prevalence in the country is low and the research has not been peer reviewed. The South African variant, B.1.351, was found to make up about 1% of all the COVID-19 cases across all the people studied, according to the study by Tel Aviv University and Israel's largest healthcare provider, Clalit. But among patients who had received two doses of the vaccine, the variant's prevalence rate was eight times higher than those unvaccinated - 5.4% versus 0.7%.
WorldBBCMyanmar citizens flee to India to escape violence
Myanmar nationals have been fleeing the country amid violence against civilians in the aftermath of a military coup. Many who live close to the border are seeking refuge in India, reports BBC Hindi's Raghvendra Rao. It was on her third attempt that Makhai finally made it to India.
WorldReutersTurkey's Erdogan calls for end to 'worrying' developments in eastern Ukraine, offers support
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday called for the "worrying" developments in eastern Ukraine's Donbass region to come to an end after meeting his Ukrainian counterpart in Istanbul, adding Turkey was ready to provide any necessary support. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held more than three hours of talks with Erdogan in Istanbul as part of a previously scheduled visit, amid tensions between Kyiv and Moscow over the conflict in Donbass. Kyiv has raised the alarm over a buildup of Russian forces near the border between Ukraine and Russia, and over a rise in violence along the line of contact separating Ukrainian troops and Russia-backed separatists in Donbass.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramMan accused in Amazon data center explosion plot arrested in Fort Worth after FBI probe
A man planning to blow up an Amazon Web Services data center met on Thursday in Fort Worth with an undercover FBI employee who gave him C-4 plastic explosives and showed him how to use the devices, federal prosecutors said. Seth Pendley, 28, intended to breach doors at the data center in Ashburn, Virginia, and detonate the explosives in order to damage computer servers there that he believed are used by federal government agencies, according to the FBI. The destruction would broadly disrupt Internet service, Pendley expected, and perturb “the oligarchy.”
U.S.INSIDERA Proud Boys leader is arguing he shouldn't be sent back to jail, since other accused Capitol rioters are being beaten and threatened by guards
Lawyers for a self-proclaimed "Sergeant of Arms" of the far-right Proud Boys asked a federal judge to keep his client out of jail, in part because other accused Capitol rioters have alleged abuse and mistreatment behind bars. In a court filing on April 8, which was first reported by Law and Crime, lawyers for 30-year-old Ethan Nordean cited a recent Politico article describing alleged violence other Capitol siege defendants have experienced from guards. According to the article, one defendant told a judge that another defendant "was severely beaten by correctional officers, [is now] blind in one eye, has a skull fracture and detached retina."
WorldBBCCyclone Seroja: Western Australia braces as category two storm nears
Emergency services in Western Australia have opened shelters ahead of tropical cyclone Seroja's expected landfall in the coming hours. Residents in the area 500km (about 310 miles) north of Perth have been urged to evacuate as the category two cyclone accelerates towards the shore. The Bureau of Meteorology has said that Seroja is expected to bring destructive winds and flash flooding.
- EntertainmentChristian Science Monitor
Is it art? NFTs and the surge of digital ownership.
In March, Kenny Schachter proclaimed that he'd auctioned off his grandmother on the internet. The digital artist had uploaded an image of his long-deceased matriarch to the web and sold the rights to it as a nonfungible token (NFT). NFTs are certificates of ownership of a unique digital item such as a video, recording, or cyber artwork.
PoliticsBusiness Insider'I'm not going anywhere': Matt Gaetz defiant in Florida speech after House Ethics Committee opens investigation
GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida on Friday was defiant in his attempt to remain in office, brushing aside the damaging set of developments surrounding a federal sex trafficking investigation that has unfolded in the media over the course of nearly two weeks. While attending the "Save America Summit," part of a four-day conference at the Trump National Doral resort in Miami, Gaetz, who was billed as the keynote speaker for the event, said he was here to stay, according to The Daily Beast. "This past week has been full of encouragement," he told the group of attendees.
CelebrityThe TelegraphService with a smile: Prince Philip puts Land Rover hearse at heart of funeral he designed himself
The Duke of Edinburgh's coffin will be carried through the grounds of Windsor Castle in a modified Land Rover that he designed for the occasion himself. The funeral will take place next Saturday at 3pm, following a short procession in which the Prince of Wales and senior members of the Royal family will follow the coffin on foot as it is driven to St George's Chapel. The Queen will not take part in the procession.
- WorldYahoo News Video
Medical examiner testifies George Floyd’s death was caused by the neck restraint from police
During the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin on Friday, Dr. Andrew Baker, the medical examiner for Hennepin County, Minn. said George Floyd's cause of death was “cardio-pulomonary arrest, complicating law enforcement subdual restraint and neck compression.
WorldArchitectural DigestWhy We Love a Small Loveseat
Supremely versatile, loveseats work as standalone pieces in studio apartments and as part of a seating arrangement in sprawling living rooms Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
U.S.USA TODAY'We are all heartbroken': Robert Shook, who initially survived shooting in South Carolina, dies
A North Carolina man who initially survived a mass shooting in rural York County, South Carolina, on Wednesday has now died, becoming the sixth person killed by a gunman who later took his own life. GSM Services, the HVAC company that employed Robert Shook, announced his death Saturday night. The York County Coroner's office also confirmed Shook's death in a statement.
- WorldKTRK – Houston
1 dead and 2 detained in northwest Houston shooting
Police say an investigation is underway into the shooting death of a female Saturday afternoon.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderVice President Mike Pence pleaded with the acting defense secretary to 'clear the Capitol' as pro-Trump rioters overran the building, report says
The Associated Press obtained an internal Pentagon document about the Capitol riot on January 6. According to the outlet, Vice President Mike Pence placed an urgent call to the acting defense secretary. "Clear the Capitol," Pence said after the mob had been in the building for hours.
U.S.Business InsiderDOJ veterans say the latest twist in the Matt Gaetz sex-trafficking investigation could be the most 'scary' one yet for the lawmaker
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz has been in hot water since The New York Times reported the existence of a Justice Department investigation into whether he had sex with a minor and broke federal sex-trafficking laws. On Thursday, the pressure on Gaetz jumped another notch after lawyers representing Joel Greenberg, a former Florida tax collector who was indicted as part of the investigation, told a judge that Greenberg was close to accepting a plea deal. It's a seismic development that spells trouble for Gaetz, whose friendship with Greenberg dates back to at least 2017.
WorldINSIDERBoris Johnson says he won't attend Prince Philip's funeral so a royal family member can take his place
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson won't attend the funeral of Prince Philip on April 17. A statement from his office, 10 Downing Street, said he wants to save the seat for family members. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday in a statement from 10 Downing Street obtained by Insider that he won't attend Prince Philip's funeral.
BusinessBusiness InsiderMyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says he hired private investigators to find out why Fox News isn't letting him speak on air
Mike Lindell said he's hired investigators to find out why Fox News isn't letting him speak on air. Lindell told Steve Bannon on Friday that several entities are conspiring against him. Fox News and the MyPillow CEO have both been sued by Dominion Voting Systems for defamation.
PoliticsUSA TODAYGeorgia voting law explained: Here's what to know about the state's new election rules
Certain provisions will go into effect on July 1: Special ballots will be created for nonpartisan elections Ballots must be printed in black and white ink on security paper A cutoff date of 11 days before a primary, general election or runoff election for mail-in ballot applications A deadline for the issuance of absentee ballots at least 25 days before a federal primary, general election or special election or 22 days before a municipal general election or primary A Georgia state driver's license number, ID card number, date of birth and the last four digits of a social security number or another approved form of identification must be printed on the outside of an absentee ballot Conditions...
“Without modern infrastructure, the US cannot create decent jobs, social justice or climate safety.”
“The plan itself is really a big bait-and-switch...A fraction of the spending is actually devoted to traditional infrastructure projects.”
“Focusing on the size of the investment is misleading when you consider the high cost of not making it.”
“Rather than spending $2 trillion, we should privatize infrastructure where feasible and cut taxes and regulations on the rest.”
“Public investment can also be a major source of jobs and growth, helping to pull us out of the stagnation trap.”