WorldThe TelegraphUS announces sanctions against Russia and expels 10 diplomats
The United States announced economic sanctions against Russia on Thursday and the expulsion of 10 diplomats in retaliation for what Washington says is the Kremlin's US election interference, a massive cyber attack and other hostile activity. President Joe Biden's executive order "sends a signal that the United States will impose costs in a strategic and economically impactful manner on Russia if it continues or escalates its destabilising international action," the White House said. The moves are in response to alleged interference in last year's presidential election as well as the hacking last year of federal government agencies.
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverToddler found walking alone near highway while mom dined with friend, Texas police say
Dominique Edwards was driving home late Tuesday when he saw something he won't soon forget — a 2-year-old toddling along the feeder road to North Freeway in Harris County. Police arrived to take the girl then started checking nearby hotels, according to KTRK. An 8-year-old boy and his 3-year-old brother were asleep inside, KHOU reported.
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.
U.S.The StateBody found in Mississippi River is missing LSU student Kori Gauthier, officials say
Kori Gauthier, a Louisiana State University freshman reported missing one week ago, was found dead. LSU officials confirmed Wednesday night that a body recently found in the Mississippi rRiver is Gauthier. “Since Kori was first reported missing, the LSU Police Department, Baton Rouge Police Department and other law enforcement agencies and volunteers have taken exhaustive measures to locate her and, in the process, to determine what led to her disappearance,” LSU Chief of Police Bart Thompson said in a statement.
WorldReutersChina push for global power tops U.S. security threats: intelligence report
China's push for global power is the leading threat to U.S. national security, while Russia's efforts to undermine American influence and assert itself as a major actor also pose a challenge, said a U.S. intelligence report released on Tuesday. The 2021 Annual Threat Assessment lays out U.S. spy agencies' views of the chief foreign policy issues facing U.S. President Joe Biden in his first year in office, complicated by the coronavirus pandemic and global climate change. While China and Russia are presented as the leading challenges, Iran and North Korea will also test U.S. national security, the report said.
WorldBBCAfghanistan: Biden calls for end to 'America's longest war'
The US will continue to support Afghanistan after withdrawing all US troops, but not "militarily," President Joe Biden has pledged. "It is time to end America's longest war," he said in a speech from the White House room where US airstrikes there were first declared in 2001. The number of US troops on the ground in Afghanistan fluctuates, and US media report the current total is closer to 3,500.
U.S.TheGrioArmy sergeant pushes Black man, demands he leave neighborhood in viral video
A viral video of an army sergeant pushing a Black resident in South Carolina and demanding that he leaves the neighborhood has now resulted in criminal charges. Initially uploaded on Facebook on Monday, the three-minute clip has circulated various media channels before the aggressor was identified as Jonathan Pentland, a 42-year-old U.S. Army sergeant in Columbia, S.C. Pentland has since been charged with third-degree assault, Washington Post reports. In the video, Pentland pushes, threatens, and verbally assaults a black man and attempts to force him to leave the area.
U.S.Kansas City StarMysterious 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 Telegraph'Denmark is waging psychological war': Trauma for Syrian refugees facing controversial deportation
"He kills us with missiles directly," she says of Syria's president Bashar Al-Assad. "But the Danish government is waging a psychological war. Ms al-Natoor is one of dozens of Syrian refugees who have been told their temporary residency in the seemingly progressive haven of Denmark has been revoked.
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
U.S.USA TODAYNo apology owed for pepper-spraying Black and Latino Army officer in Virginia, police chief says
While he said he felt bad for how the events of a traffic-stop late last year unfolded, the police chief of the town where a Black and Latino military officer from Petersburg, Virginia, was accosted by two of his officers said Wednesday that he does not think the soldier is in need of an official apology. In response, Army Lt. Caron Nazario's legal team said Windsor Police Department Chief Rodney D. Riddle "continues a false narrative" of the case and blaming their client for initiating it. "I'm gonna own what we did," Riddle said about the stop during a news conference Wednesday in the Isle of Wight County, Virginia, community where Nazario was stopped last December while on his way home.
U.S.Charlotte ObserverCharlotte had two homicides reported overnight in a three-hour period, CMPD says
Charlotte had two homicides reported in a three-hour period overnight, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police. The first was reported around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 4000 block of Wilkinson Boulevard, near west Charlotte's Westerly Hills community. The victim was identified as Demontravis Davonte Reid, 25, CMPD said in an update.
PoliticsDefense NewsBiden admin moving ahead with UAE F-35, drone sales for now
The U.S. State Department is moving forward with the sale of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and MQ-9 drones to the United Arab Emirates, a decision which will now face a legal challenge from a nonprofit seeking to halt the weapons agreement. At stake is an arms package approved in the waning days of the Trump administration, which includes 50 F-35s,18 MQ–9B Reapers, as well as thousands of munitions and hundreds of missiles. In December, the New York Center for Foreign Policy Affairs, or NYCFPA, filled a legal claim that the Trump administration failed to provide a reasonable explanation for its decision to sell F-35 fighter jets and other weapons to the UAE, which would place it in breach of the Administrative Procedure Act.
- NewsAssociated Press Videos
Video shows shooting in Ohio hospital
Police body camera footage shows a routine police pat-down of a man in a hospital emergency room erupting within minutes into a fatal police shooting after the man apparently fires a gun he had concealed in his possession. (April 15)
HealthThe Telegraph'My healthy sister just never woke up'. The reality of Sudden Adult Death – and how to protect yourself
Patrick Mead had just finished his breakfast one Sunday morning in October 2019 when he noticed his sister, Lauren, hadn't yet left her bedroom. The siblings worked together at a restaurant near their family home in Frome, Somerset; they had a shift that morning and Lauren was going to be late. Lauren, the seemingly healthy 19-year-old with whom Patrick used to gossip every afternoon after school, had died in her sleep.
- BusinessAssociated Press
Chipmaker TSMC says profit up 16.7% as demand revives
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's biggest contract manufacturer of processor chips, said Thursday quarterly profit rose 16.7% over a year ago as global demand strengthened. Profit after tax rose to 139.6 billion New Taiwan dollars ($4.9 billion) for the three months ending in March, the Taipei-based company announced. Total revenue rose 16.7% over a year ago to 362.4 New Taiwan dollars ($12.8 billion).
U.S.Miami Herald‘That hurts.’ Black students fail state tests in English, math, amid high graduation rates
A majority of Black students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools are failing state tests in English Language Arts, math and science, despite graduation rates topping 85 percent. Some School Board members on Wednesday were stunned to learn the stark reality of the district's achievement gap from a sobering presentation given by administrators in the district's Office of Academics and Transformation. The achievement gap is defined as the disparity in academic performance between groups of students.
CelebrityNBC NewsWhat happened to Bernie Madoff's family? Where Ruth Madoff and others are now
The death of Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff has dredged up memories of the destruction and pain left behind in the wake of perhaps the most infamous Wall Street scheme in recent history. Madoff, 82, died while serving a 150-year prison sentence stemming from fraud charges that involved cheating thousands of investors, including the filmmaker Steven Spielberg and the actors Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, out of billions in promised returns. In 2011, Ruth said during an interview with NBC's "TODAY" show that she did not miss her imprisoned husband, adding that "the villain of all this is behind bars."
PoliticsUSA TODAYBiden set to give first formal address to Congress just before he marks 100 days in office
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden is set to deliver his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, April 28, just before he marks his 100th day in office. Biden accepted an invitation Tuesday night from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to address a joint session on that date, the White House confirmed. The speech will allow Biden to claim progress during his first 100 days, a benchmark historically for the presidency.
U.S.The ConversationHow Baptists hold differing views on the resurrection of Christ and why this matters
As a Baptist minister and theologian myself, I believe it is important to understand how Baptists hold differing views on the meaning of the Resurrection. The Resurrection Easter is the Christian holiday which commemorates the story of Jesus Christ's resurrection. According to the Christian faith, resurrection is the pivotal event on which “God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day” after he was crucified by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and then buried in a tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea.
U.S.The IndependentTwo North Carolina police officers suspended over beating Black man in clash caught by bystander video
Two North Carolina police officers have been suspended after repeatedly punching a Black man lying on the ground in a clash that was caught on camera by a filming bystander. At around 6pm on Monday, Kinston Police officers McKinley Jones and Kevin Page responded to a 911 call from a woman who said David Lee Bruton Jr, 36, had threatened to “slap” her, according to the Jones Free Press. In a press conference on Tuesday, police said that Mr Bruton then attempted to run away from the officers, but tripped and fell to the ground, with the officers quickly moving to detain him while he was on the floor.
WorldUSA TODAY OpinionWithdrawing troops from Afghanistan: Biden’s unforced error puts America at risk
President Biden's decision to bring home all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the 20-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is a major mistake. An unconditional U.S. troop withdrawal goes beyond what the Trump administration negotiated with the Taliban in the first phase of that peace process, on February 29 of last year in Doha, Qatar. The Taliban, according to the U.N. and U.S. government, has not cut ties to al Qaeda, has not engaged seriously in the intra-Afghan peace process, and has not reduced violence against Afghan forces. (Nor has it moderated its misogynistic and intolerant views.) It has not held up its end of the bargain; we should feel no obligation to do so, either.
U.S.Business InsiderPelosi says she thinks Chauvin trial is 'disappointing': 'Maybe my disappointment springs from my expectation that these are our protectors'
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reflected on the Chauvin trial Wednesday, calling it "so disappointing." Pelosi said she still respects law enforcement and stamped down calls to "defund the police." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday she finds the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin "so disappointing."
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
WorldThe IndependentBiden to hit Russian officials with sanctions as tension rises with Putin
The United States is expected to announce sanctions on Russia for alleged election interference and a massive hacking campaign amidst mounting tensions between the two countries. The US government has said that the hack, which affected at least 100 private-sector businesses and nine federal agencies, was likely 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.
“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.”