U.S.Yahoo News'Skullduggery' political podcast: 'Sen. Murphy's Law' — April 14, 2021
In the aftermath of the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. said he experienced an awakening and was called to fight for meaningful gun reform on behalf of the grieving families in his home state.
- WorldReuters
Many Afghans feel U.S. is leaving them at mercy of resurgent Taliban
Many Afghans believe that the United States is putting them at the mercy of hardline Islamist Taliban insurgents after President Joe Biden's announcement that U.S. troops will leave the country by Sept. 11. The withdrawal date was pushed back four months from the May 1 deadline agreed to between the Washington and the insurgents last year - but, this time, there have been no conditions attached to the pullout. "International forces' intervention was like a light in a dark night," Amina, 32, a teacher at a girls school in the northern province of Kunduz, told Reuters.
- WorldAssociated Press
Mexico orders 30 marines to stand trial in disappearances
Prosecutors in Mexico said Thursday a court has ordered 30 marines to stand trial in the cases of people who disappeared during anti-crime operations in the northern border city of Nuevo Laredo in 2018. The Navy had said previously there were warrants for the 30, charging them with “acting in violation of their duty. The Navy turned them over to the federal Attorney General's Office last week.
U.S.The WeekFederal prosecution gives 'most comprehensive presentation' so far showing that some Capitol rioters stashed firearms
During a Wednesday hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler told a judge that surveillance footage recorded on Jan. 7 at the Comfort Inn Ballston in Arlington, Virginia, shows an alleged member of the Oath Keepers carrying what appeared to be rifle cases, BuzzFeed News reports. While the footage is not considered conclusive, BuzzFeed writes that Wednesday's presentation was the "most comprehensive" to date when it comes to showing that the extremist group "came prepared for violence" ahead of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and "stashed firearms just outside of Washington, D.C., that they could easily access." The footage does not include any images of actual guns.
WorldReutersBattle-hardened and better funded, Ukraine's army knocks on NATO's door
At the outbreak of the war in eastern Ukraine in 2014, the Ukrainian army was so poorly equipped that ordinary citizens were knitting socks, donating scrap metal and even crowdfunding a tank for soldiers at the front line. The government that took over after the Maidan street protests said it had only 5,000 combat-ready ground troops and did not put up a fight when Russian forces seized and annexed the Crimea peninsula in March that year. But the Crimea annexation and seven years of fighting Russian-backed forces in the eastern Donbass region drove Ukraine to overhaul its military, combining a huge increase in defence spending with aid and training from Western allies.
WorldReutersHong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai, others to be sentenced for illegal assembly
HONG KONG (Reuters) -Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai and nine other pro-democracy activists are expected to be sentenced on Friday after they were found guilty of participating in unauthorised assemblies during anti-government protests in 2019. It would be the first time that Lai, one of Hong Kong's most prominent democratic activists, who has been in jail since December after being denied bail in a separate national security trial, will receive a sentence. Lai was found guilty in two separate trials earlier in April for illegal assemblies on Aug. 18 and Aug. 31 2019, respectively.
WorldAssociated PressEXPLAINER: What are the Iran nuclear talks all about?
Negotiations to bring the United States back into a landmark nuclear deal with Iran resumed Thursday in Vienna amid signs of progress — but also under the shadow of an attack this week on Iran's main nuclear facility. After more than two hours of talks characterized by Russia's delegate as generally positive, issues were turned back over to two working groups for continued discussion and refinement. In 2015, Iran signed an agreement with the U.S., Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain that was intended to set limits on Tehran's nuclear program in order to block it from building a nuclear weapon — something it insists it doesn't want to do.
WorldBBCAfrica's week in pictures: 9-15 April 2021
A selection of the week's best photos from across the continent: All pictures subject to copyright.
WorldReutersEuropean Parliament gives initial backing to UK trade deal
The European Parliament's committees on relations with Britain on Thursday voted overwhelmingly in favour of the post-Brexit trade and cooperation agreement, clearing the path to its final ratification. They had suspended voting in March in protest over British changes to trading arrangements in Northern Ireland, which Brussels says breach the terms of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. The United Kingdom left the European Union on Jan. 31 after years of tortuous negotiations over their future relations but many details remain unclear, leading to acrimony.
- U.S.Reuters
Investigators find officer wounded in Tennessee not shot by student's gun
A police officer wounded during a shooting incident inside a high school in Knoxville, Tennessee, was struck by a bullet that was not fired by the gun of the student who police shot and killed, according to a preliminary investigation. A 17-year-old high school student, who opened fire at an Austin-East Magnet High School, was fatally shot on Monday during a confrontation with the police. The officers, who were responding to the scene, tracked the gunman to a bathroom where shots were fired.
EntertainmentArchitectural DigestShop Troye Sivan’s Eclectic Home Style
Take a page out of the stylish young star's book, from must-have splurges to affordable accessories Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldUSA TODAYAntony Blinken makes surprise stop in Afghanistan to sell Biden troop withdrawal
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Thursday to sell Afghan leaders and a wary public on President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw all American troops from the country and end America's longest war. Blinken sought to assure senior Afghan politicians that the United States remains committed to the country despite Biden's announcement a day earlier that the 2,500 U.S. soldiers remaining in the country would be coming home by the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that led to the U.S. invasion in 2001.
HealthAssociated PressThe Latest: Half eligible Californians have at least 1 shot
US opens more distance in vaccine race against coronavirus — WHO: Europe surpasses 1 million COVID-19 deaths — Africa CDC urges India to lift COVID vaccine export limits — India skyrockets past 14M virus cases; 200,000 new infections in 1 day Follow AP's pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine HERE'S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING: SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah's Republican governor says he's concerned that the U.S. decision to recommend a “pause” in use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine could make it more difficult to reach rural communities.
WorldBBCBenin election: The fight for a democratic future
Early indications show voter turnout was low in Benin's presidential election, where polling stations have now closed. In the run-up to the election, protests over President Patrice Talon's broken promise to serve only one term in office left two people dead. After voting himself, President Talon called on his fellow citizens to come out and vote.
WorldBBCFrance urges citizens to leave Pakistan amid anti-French protests
France has urged all its citizens in Pakistan to leave the country temporarily amid violent anti-French protests across the country. The country's embassy in Pakistan warned of "serious threats to French interests in Pakistan", saying protests were increasing nationwide. The protests were sparked months ago after France defended the right to show cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
- WorldYahoo News Video
Daunte Wright's mother calls for accountability
On Thursday, Katie Wright, the mother of Daunte Wright, the 20-year-old Black man shot and killed by police in Brooklyn Center, Minn. expressed her grief and called for accountability for her son's death.
HealthReutersFauci says he believes J&J vaccine will 'get back on track soon'
CHICAGO (Reuters) -Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease doctor, hopes U.S. regulators will make a quick decision to lift a pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and get that vaccine "back on track," he said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday. His comments come a day after a panel of advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) delayed a vote on whether to resume the J&J shots for at least a week, until it had more data on the risk. The United States earlier this week decided to pause distribution of the J&J vaccine to investigate six cases of a rare brain blood clot linked with low platelet counts in the blood.
WorldThe IndependentBiden expels Russian diplomats and announces new sanctions in retaliation for hacking
US president Joe Biden has announced sanctions against a number of Russian officials and ordered the immediate expulsion of ten diplomats from the country, following allegations of election interference and hacking. The US government said for the first time on Thursday that that the hack, which affected at least 100 private-sector businesses and nine federal agencies, was carried out by Russia. The US has also alleged that Russian president Vladimir Putin authorised attempts to swing the 2020 US presidential election in favour of Donald Trump.
U.S.BBCHow George Floyd's death changed a small Iowa town
George Floyd's death, and the trial of Derek Chauvin, has shone a light on racial issues in small towns. The Iowa town seemed idyllic. The officer had gotten a call, and was told "someone who didn't look like they belonged in the neighbourhood was walking around the house", Nave recalls.
WorldMiami HeraldCuba’s budding civil society asks to be heard as island prepares for historic congress
Famous musicians long aligned with the communist government poke a finger at the revolution with a song that mocks a slogan penned by Fidel Castro. Cuba's upcoming Communist Party Congress, in which Raúl Castro is expected to hand the reins of power to a younger generation of leaders, coincides not just with a deep economic crisis but also the advent of a nascent civil society movement demanding greater freedoms and channeling growing discontent on the island. In the lead up to the conclave, opposition groups have called on Cuba's leaders to open the debate on the island's future to a more diverse range of voices and consider significant reforms to the island's one-party system and Soviet-style economy.
U.S.The IndependentNorth Carolina teacher killed in shoot-out after trying to rob Mexican drug cartel
A North Carolina teacher was killed during an “old Western shootout” when he and his brother-in-law tried to rob members of a Mexican drug cartel. Barney Harris, 40, was found dead inside a mobile home that authorities say was a stash house for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in the state. Police say that Mr Harris and Steven Alexander Stewart had entered a mobile in Alamance County to wait for cartel member Alonso Beltran Lara to arrive so they could rob him of drugs and cash.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderThe US officially designates Paul Manafort's associate Konstantin Kilimnik as a 'known Russian agent'
The US on Thursday designated Manafort associate Konstanin Kilimnik as a "known Russian agent." It's the first time the US government has explicitly tied Kilimnik to the Russian government. Mueller and the Senate Intel Committee described him as someone with ties to Russian intelligence.
WorldArchitectural DigestMore Inside Australian Phenomenon Troye Sivan’s Soulful Melbourne Home
Sivan worked with Flack Studios to transform the space while preserving the essence of its Victorian-era origins Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
U.S.Lexington Herald-LeaderLetters: Cheers on election bipartisanship. Jeers for corrupt open records changes.
Employees, whether working in person or remotely, used infrastructure to do their jobs. If Senator McConnell can identify a single corporation that uses no infrastructure, I'd be glad to excuse that corporation from paying for upgrades. But to suggest that corporations don't use infrastructure is disingenuous, to say the least.
U.S.The IndependentBLM activist arrested for anti-Asian hate crime in Seattle
A man identified as a Black Lives Matter activist has been charged for anti-Asian hate crime, according to reports. Christopher Hamner, of Seatac, Washington, appeared in court on 9 April facing hate crime charges for chasing Asian-American women in Seattle. In one of the incidents, the 51-year-old allegedly called a woman an “Asian b****” while she was driving with her children, who were in the vehicle.
“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.”