U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverNC town to appeal after judge threatens officials with jail — again — over seized cash.
The legal fight over the police seizure of $17,000 in Mooresville took on a Whac-A-Mole quality this week with a judge again holding the town in contempt only to see town officials file another appeal to stop her. On Monday — and for the second time this year — Iredell County District Judge Christine Underwood threatened town leaders and police with jail time for not returning Jermaine Sanders' money. The judge gave officials seven days to comply with her signed order or she would start putting people behind bars.
WorldThe TelegraphIran to enrich uranium to 60 per cent, upping ante for nuclear talks
Iran said Tuesday it would dramatically increase its uranium enrichment levels in response to an attack on its Natanz nuclear facility, a further breach of its nuclear deal with world powers that ongoing talks are struggling to salvage. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is leading negotiations in Vienna on saving the nuclear deal, said Tehran would begin enriching uranium to 60 per cent purity on Wednesday, according to state TV, up from the 20 per cent it is currently producing. Tehran has informed the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency, which declined to comment.
WorldReutersTunisian journalists protest over new head of state news agency
TUNIS (Reuters) -Tunisian police on Tuesday clashed with journalists at the state news agency demonstrating against a new chief executive whose appointment they see as an attempt to undermine editorial independence. Dozens of protesting journalists had gathered in front of Tunis Afrique Presse's (TAP) headquarters to try to stop Kamel Ben Younes from entering, but police later forced a way in. "TAP is free and police must go," the journalists chanted.
U.S.TheGrioCity manager fired after calling for ‘due process’ in police shooting of Daunte Wright
In an emergency meeting Monday, Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott was given authority over the city's police department. Curt Boganey, city manager of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, has been fired in the wake of the police shooting death of Daunte Wright. At an emergency meeting Monday afternoon, the Brooklyn Center City Council voted 3-2 to give authority over the police department to Mayor Mike Elliott.
U.S.Associated PressEx-officer appeals 20-year sentence for killing Black man
A white former police officer serving 20 years in prison for killing an unarmed Black man in South Carolina who ran from a traffic stop said his lawyer never told him about a plea offer from prosecutors that could have cut years off his sentence. Former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager is requesting a new sentence in federal court this week, saying he would have taken the deal and that his lawyer was grossly incompetent for not telling him about it. Prosecutors said Savage's mistake didn't rise above the very high bar of tossing out Slager's sentence and added that the attorney's defense was excellent in almost every other way.
WorldThe TelegraphDavid Cameron lobbying row: Civil servant allowed to join Greensill while working in Whitehall
A senior civil servant was granted permission to join the lender Greensill Capital while still working at the highest levels of government, a watchdog has revealed. Bill Crothers was head of Whitehall procurement, in control of a £15 billion annual purchasing budget, when he took on an external role as part-time adviser to the finance company's board in September 2015. Boris Johnson was understood to be personally concerned about the disclosure on Tuesday night, while Labour described it as "extraordinary and shocking", renewing demands for an MP-led inquiry into the lobbying row engulfing Greensill and David Cameron.
WorldReutersHong Kong announces more electoral system changes favouring pro-Beijing camp
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announced amendments to voting laws on Tuesday that critics say favour pro-Beijing candidates by redrawing constituency boundaries, creating more electoral districts, and criminalising calls for voters to leave ballots blank. Having become Hong Kong's least popular chief executive in the near quarter century since the handover from British colonial rule, it remains unclear whether Lam will seek re-election. She faced the largest and most violent anti-government protests in 2019 after proposing a bill to allow extraditions to mainland China.
U.S.USA TODAYA grieving daughter dropped her toy. A president gave it back.
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden and congressional leaders paid tribute Tuesday to U.S. Capitol Police Officer William "Billy" Evans during a solemn ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda. Evans, an 18-year member of the force who served on the agency's First Responders Unit, died during an attack at the Capitol earlier this month. His body is lying in honor in the Rotunda, an unusual distinction for a private citizen.
PoliticsKansas City StarDisgraced MO Rep. Rick Roeber calls it quits. Never forget what happened to his kids
Disgraced Missouri state Rep. Rick Roeber announced his resignation Tuesday afternoon, just steps ahead of potential ouster proceedings in the House chamber. Roeber, of Lee's Summit, had been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for alleged sexual assault of his now-adult child Anastasia, and physical abuse of Samson Roeber, a sibling. Gabrielle Galeano, a sister, said she was aware of Roeber's behavior at the time.
WorldBBCTaiwan: 'Record number' of China jets enter air zone
Taiwan has said a record number of Chinese military jets flew into its air defence zone on Monday. The defence ministry said 25 aircraft including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers entered its so-called air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday. The incursion is the largest in a year and comes as the US warns against an "increasingly aggressive China".
WorldReutersSweden's COVID infections among highest in Europe, with 'no sign of decrease'
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -The rate of new COVID-19 infections in Sweden has jumped to the second-highest in Europe after land-locked San Marino, data showed on Tuesday, as the Scandinavian country which has shunned lockdowns throughout the pandemic faced a third wave of cases. Sweden had 625 daily new cases per million inhabitants in a rolling seven-day average, statistics from OurWorldInData showed on Tuesday, second only to San Marino, a small nation that is surrounded by Italy.
PoliticsAssociated PressIRS chief expects new child payments to start this summer
It's a strain, but the head of the IRS said Tuesday he expects to meet the July 1 deadline in the new pandemic relief law for starting a groundbreaking tax program aimed at reducing child poverty. In testimony at a Senate hearing, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said it will cost nearly $400 million and require the hiring of 300 to 500 people to get the new monthly payment system and electronic portal in place for the child tax credit. “We have to create a new structure,” Rettig said, adding that the tax-collecting IRS is “not historically” a benefits agency.
WorldThe Independent‘Unlike anything we’ve seen in modern history’: Attacks against journalists soar during Black Lives Matter protests
At least 50 journalists in the US have been arrested during Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the US, while dozens of others have also been injured by rubber bullets, pepper spray and tear gas. The US Press Freedom Tracker has collected nearly 500 incidents from 382 reports, from the unrest in Minneapolis in the wake of George Floyd's killing by police in late May, to demonstrations in more than 70 cities across 35 states since. At least 46 journalists were arrested between the end of May and the beginning of June, according to data collected by the organisation.
- NewsYahoo News Video
Fauci: Breakthrough infections after vaccinations 'inevitable'
It is inevitable that some people who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus will still get a "breakthrough" infection because no vaccine is 100 percent effective, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Monday.
U.S.INSIDERThe Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake in the back has returned to active duty without being disciplined or charged
Rusten Sheskey, the Wisconsin police officer who shot Jacob Blake, returned from administrative leave on March 31. Blake was shot seven times in the back, and Blake's father said his son was paralyzed from the waist down after the incident. Officer Rusten Sheskey, the Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer who shot 29-year-old Jacob Blake in the back in August 2020 will not be charged or disciplined, the police department said on Tuesday.
TechnologyCBS NewsSoftware fix planned for Mars helicopter
The long-awaited maiden flight of an experimental $80 million mini helicopter carried to Mars by the Perseverance rover is on hold while engineers test software to resolve a glitch that cropped up Friday during a pre-flight test, NASA announced Monday. If all goes well, the team hopes to determine a new flight date next week. Engineers initially expected to clear the Ingenuity helicopter for launch Sunday on a 30-second up-and-down flight to verify the 4-pound drone can, in fact, autonomously lift off, hover and land in the ultra-thin atmosphere of Mars.
WorldThe Daily BeastTaliban Boycotts Key Peace Talks After U.S. Pull-Out Delay
Hours after the Biden administration announced that the remaining 3,500 American troops will return from Afghanistan by the twentieth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, a Taliban spokesperson announced a refusal to join U.S.-facilitated peace talks between the Islamic group and the Afghan government. “Until all foreign forces completely withdraw from our homeland, the Islamic Emirate will not participate in any conference that shall make decisions about Afghanistan,” Mohammed Naeem, a spokesperson for the Taliban's political arm, said on Tuesday. The boycott marks the latest blow to U.S. efforts to strike a deal between the militant group and the government ahead of a scheduled April conference in Istanbul that was viewed as pivotal to Washington's residual vision for Kabul.
WorldArchitectural DigestThe World’s 9 Most Expensive Home Listings Currently on the Market
These fantastical houses range from a 64,000-acre Texas ranch to an oceanside estate in the south of France Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
HealthLexington Herald-LeaderWhite House confident COVID-19 vaccine supply enough for rescheduled J&J appointments
The Biden administration is working with states to reschedule appointments for individuals who were in line to receive shots of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine in the coming days, after federal agencies recommended a pause in usage over safety concerns. Jeff Zients, coordinator of the White House coronavirus response team, said in a statement that the federal supply of other vaccines — produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna — was enough to continue vaccinating the country at a pace of 3 million shots per day. “We are working now with our state and federal partners to get anyone scheduled for a J&J vaccine quickly rescheduled for a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine,” Zients said.
U.S.Business InsiderMatt Gaetz's indicted associate Joel Greenberg has been cooperating against him since last year, report says
Joel Greenberg has been cooperating against Rep. Matt Gaetz since last year, NYT reported. Greenberg reportedly told investigators that he and Gaetz had interactions with women who were given cash or gifts in exchange for sex. Gaetz has been embroiled in a political firestorm since The Times reported that he was being investigated over whether he broke sex trafficking laws.
WorldThe IndependentBiden tells Putin to de-escalate troop build-up on Ukraine border and invites him to summit
Joe Biden called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to deescalate tensions at the Ukraine-Crimea border, where he has been amassing troops since March. According to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, there are more Russian troops on the border of Ukraine than there were ahead of Russia's invasion and eventual annexation of Crimea in 2014. Mr Biden and Mr Putin spoke on the phone on Tuesday about a "number of regional and global issues" according to a White House synopsis of the call.
CelebrityThe TelegraphQueen will have to sit alone at Prince Philip's funeral because of strict Covid rules
The Queen faces the prospect of having to sit on her own during the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral because of strict Covid rules, it has emerged. The law states that anyone attending a funeral must stay at least two metres apart from anyone who is not part of their household, meaning all members of the Royal family will have to spread out in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. The Queen is not eligible to be in a support bubble because she does not live on her own, meaning the only person who could sit with her during the service would be a member of her Windsor Castle staff.
U.S.INSIDERDefense use of force expert testifies Derek Chauvin's treatment of George Floyd was 'objectively reasonable'
Fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's defense kicked off their case Tuesday, calling witnesses including a use of force expert who said Chauvin's treatment of George Floyd was "objectively reasonable." Former Santa Rosa, California, police officer Barry Brodd's statements were completely different from the testimony of the prosecution's law enforcement experts - including Minneapolis Police Department leadership - who previously told jurors Chauvin should have stopped using once Floyd was handcuffed and no longer resisting. Brodd's testimony followed that of Shawanda Hill, George Floyd's ex-girlfriend who was in the car on the day of his death, and other law enforcement witnesses.
U.S.The Daily BeastFox News Host Tries and Fails to Bait Jon Stewart Into Attacking Biden
After decades of mercilessly “eviscerating” Fox News during his time as host of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart has made a surprising number of appearances on that network in years, almost exclusively to promote his activism around issues like medical benefits for 9/11 first responders and now veterans who were exposed to “burn pits” in Iraq and Afghanistan. The comedian remained dead serious on Tuesday when he joined Fox host Martha MacCallum to explain why he was in Washington lobbying for a bill that would provide aid to veterans affected by that toxic exposure. “If a senator or a representative is unsure of the science, let's go dig a 10-acre burn pit in their town, light it on fire with jet fuel and see how quickly the health effects come to the forefront,” Stewart said at one point, as the Fox host nodded along sympathetically.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderBiden meets with bipartisan group on $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, saying he's open to negotiate
Biden held his first official meeting with eight bipartisan lawmakers to discuss infrastructure. Republican lawmakers argue his plan is too focused on things aside from physical infrastructure. For the first time since unveiling his $2.3 trillion infrastructure package two weeks ago, President Joe Biden met with a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Monday to discuss the proposal.
“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.”