PoliticsYahoo NewsMike Pence called 'traitor' by hecklers in Florida
Former Vice President Mike Pence was briefly heckled Friday as a "traitor" at a conservative conference in Orlando seen as a stop for Republicans honing stump speeches for a possible presidential run in 2024. As Pence kicked off his remarks to the Faith and Freedom Coalition, the organization founded by political consultant and lobbyist Ralph Reed, several audience members greeted him with boos. "It is great to be back with so many patriots," Pence said as the jeering continued, "dedicated to faith and freedom and the road to the majority."
U.S.The StateOfficers who fatally shot NC man at home won’t face charges, special prosecutor says
Two Mooresville police officers who fatally shot Chris Craven last summer after they say he pulled a gun — an account disputed by the dead man's wife — will not face criminal charges, a special prosecutor announced Friday. In a statement, Randolph County District Attorney Andy Gregson said officers Alexander Arndt and Christopher Novelli reasonably feared for their lives when they fired dozens of shots with high-powered rifles at Craven during an Aug. 2 confrontation outside his Mooresville home. “It is clear from all of the evidence that at the time Officers Arndt and Novelli fired their duty rifles they were presented with an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury from the actions of Mr. Craven,” Gregson said in summarizing the findings of a State Bureau of Investigation report.
WorldThe TelegraphRumours swirl that China’s top spycatcher has defected to the US
Rumours abounded on Friday night that China's top spycatcher had defected to the US, amid a growing focus in Washington on the theory that Covid-19 escaped from a Wuhan laboratory. Dong Jingwei, vice minister of state security, was reported to have flown from Hong Kong to the US in February with his daughter. There was no confirmation of the rumoured development from either the US or China.
WorldThe TelegraphUS will be able to keep embassy in Afghanistan after Turkey agrees to secure airport
Turkey will secure the Afghan capital's airport after American troops withdraw, in an agreement designed to help the US, Britain and others to keep their embassies open. Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's president, told Joe Biden that his nation would take a lead role to safeguard the air link out of an increasingly beleaguered Kabul. Contingency plans to continue the safety of the airport had become a priority for diplomats working out how to operate after US troops leave by September.
WorldBBCApple Daily: Hong Kong police raid sparks rush on newspapers
People in Hong Kong have queued up to buy copies of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily a day after its newsroom was raided by police. The raid on the newspaper came as two of its executives were charged under Hong Kong's controversial new national security law. Editor-in-chief Ryan Law and chief executive officer Cheung Kim-hung were the two charged.
WorldThe TelegraphKim Jong-un says ready for negotiations with US as food shortages bite
Kim Jong-un has declared that North Korea should be ready for negotiations with the United States, striking an unusually conciliatory note amid a growing economic crisis that has led to dire shortages of fuel and food. The dictator's comments come just days after the United States and others urged the totalitarian regime to abandon its nuclear program and return to talks. Speaking at a meeting on the ruling Workers' Party on Friday, the North Korean leader “stressed the need to get prepared for both dialogue and confrontation,” according to the state-run KCNA news agency.
BusinessMiami HeraldFederal judge throws out CDC’s cruise safety regulations, handing win to DeSantis
A federal judge threw out U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention safety rules for cruise companies operating in Florida during the COVID-19 pandemic Friday, handing a victory to Gov. Ron DeSantis. In a 124-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday of the Middle District of Florida said the agency's “conditional sail order” — a framework of regulations dictating how cruises can restart in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic — can remain in place for Florida cruises only until July 18, granting DeSantis' request for a preliminary injunction while the full case moves forward. After July 18, the rules will become non-binding recommendations for cruise companies as they are for other industries.
U.S.Idaho StatesmanIdaho finally compensates first exonerated death-row inmate. Here’s what he got
After more than 18 years in prison and two decades spent without being formally declared innocent of the charges against him, 72-year-old Charles Fain received a declaration of innocence from the state of Idaho last week and compensation on Thursday. “Today we say we're sorry as a society,” said Sen. Doug Ricks, R-Rexburg, at a press conference at the Statehouse on Thursday. Ricks and Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, sponsored the Idaho Wrongful Conviction Act, which Gov. Brad Little signed into law in March.
WorldThe TelegraphHindu priest tipped to succeed Narendra Modi claims hospitals lied about India oxygen shortages
Yogi Adityanath, the Hindu priest tipped as successor to India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has said hospitals lied about shortages of oxygen during the height of the Covid crisis, in an exclusive interview with the Telegraph. Mr Adityanath, the chief minister of India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh, is seen as the third most powerful man in India behind his colleagues in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Mr Modi and home minister Amit Shah. The controversial politician attracts fervent support among many of India's 966 million Hindus, who admire his Trump-like forthrightness on domestic issues - but, until now, Mr Adityanath had never spoken to the international media.
PoliticsThe StateAlex Murdaugh was ‘authorized’ as a volunteer for the Solicitor’s Office, letter says
Alex Murdaugh, a prominent Hampton lawyer who told police he discovered the bodies of his wife and son on June 7, was “authorized as a volunteer” for the 14th Judicial Circuit Solicitor's Office, according to a letter obtained by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette. Almost two weeks after the killings of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, Duffie Stone, 14th Circuit Solicitor, still refuses to say what role his office is playing in the investigation. “It would be unethical for our office to be involved in prosecuting or sorting out the facts of any case in which material witnesses, potential defendants or victims have a familial relationship with someone in our office,” Jeff Kidd, spokesperson for the 14th Judicial Circuit Solicitor's Office, wrote in 2019.
U.S.Miami HeraldWhat killed the stingrays at this Florida zoo? After an investigation, some answers
Earlier this week, the Florida zoo disclosed the results of an investigation into the May 27 deaths of 12 stingrays at its “Touch Tank” facility in May. In a statement, park officials said that a thorough investigation with “independent experts who have extensive aquatic experience in the zoo and aquarium field” helped determine the cause. “Following their analysis and assessment of lab and pathology tests, it's been concluded that a supersaturation event took place, likely in the overnight hours, causing gas embolisms (gas bubble disease) in the rays,” said the statement.
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Biden's lack of action on executions adds to death penalty disarray
Activists widely expected Joe Biden to take swift action against the death penalty as the first sitting president to oppose capital punishment, especially since an unprecedented spate of executions by his predecessor ended just days before Biden took office. That has not happened.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderCatholic Bishops took another step towards denying Biden from receiving communion while he supports abortion rights
Catholic Bishops voted to advance guidance that would reproach Biden for receiving communion. The document is in response to Biden's support of abortion rights as a policy matter. Biden, a practicing Catholic who regularly attends Mass, is the second Catholic president.
WorldThe TelegraphItaly at crisis point as Mediterranean migrant numbers surge nine-fold
Italy's government is under huge pressure to staunch the arrivals of migrants from the coast of North Africa as the country recorded a nine-fold increase in the number of asylum seekers reaching its shores since 2019. Latest figures show the migration landscape shifting, with many more attempts to reach Spain and Italy than Greece, which has adopted hardline policies. On Friday, Greece's migration minister said the government had adopted the measures so “we don't send the wrong message of incentivising people to come”.
U.S.The StateTeen sleeping in hammock at 12:30 a.m attacked by large bear in Great Smoky Mountains
A 16-year-old girl was attacked by a bear in the Great Smoky Mountains early Friday, prompting the National Park Service to close a back country section to visitors. The attack happened at 12:30 a.m., as the teen was sleeping in a hammock in the the Crosby section of the park, officials said. “The family was able to drive the bear off from the area immediately after the attack and quickly notified the park's emergency communications center,” the National Park Service said.
U.S.The WeekMark Meadows reportedly predicted 'nobody is going to care' about George Floyd's killing
Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows reportedly initially dismissed the idea that George Floyd's killing would dominate the news and generate nationwide outrage in May 2020, instead thinking "nobody" would care. That's according to a new excerpt published in Politico Friday from reporter Michael C. Bender's book Frankly, We Did Win this Election, which details a West Wing meeting the morning after Memorial Day in 2020. The scheduled topic was the COVID-19 pandemic, but adviser Jared Kushner, who appeared "distracted" and "aloof," reportedly interrupted the discussion to bring up the video starting to spread of Floyd's killing at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
U.S.BBCCalifornia declares state of emergency amid heatwave
California has declared a state of emergency to address power system concerns, as parts of the US south-west reported dangerously high temperatures. An excessive heat warning is in place for much of Arizona and California, and southern areas of Nevada and Utah. Governor Gavin Newsom said the state of emergency, which is in effect until 23:59 on Saturday (06:59 GMT on Sunday), was to "reduce the strain on the energy infrastructure and increase energy capacity".
U.S.Miami HeraldDemocrat Nikki Fried files complaint against former Trump attorney’s organization
Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried on Friday said her office has filed a formal complaint against a charity run by Sidney Powell, a former attorney who joined President Donald Trump's legal team and spewed false voter fraud claims about the 2020 election. In the complaint, Fried alleges the organization — Defending the Republic — has not registered with the state and is deceptively asking for contributions by telling consumers that it is, in fact, registered. Fried, a Democrat challenging Trump ally Gov. Ron DeSantis for governor in 2022, denied that the complaint is politically motivated.
ScienceThe TelegraphGiant rhino taller than a giraffe ‘could be largest ever land mammal’
A skull from one of the largest mammals to have ever lived has been found in northwest China. The “completely preserved” 26.5 million-year-old fossil comes from an extinct species of giant rhino measuring 16 feet at the shoulder, taller than a giraffe, and weighing 20 tonnes - as much as four African elephants. Researchers have named the newly discovered species Paraceratherium linxiaense.
U.S.The StateSC’s most shocking crimes throughout history now include mysterious Murdaugh killings
The mysterious shotgun and assault rifle murders of 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh and his 52-year-old mother, Maggie, members of one of the state's most prominent legal families, is the kind of South Carolina happening likely to be discussed for years to come. In the last 125 years across the Palmetto State, such attention-grabbing killings have erupted sporadically from the dark side of the state's cultural DNA. “People are drawn to these crimes for a broad variety of reasons,” says Margaret Oakes, a former lawyer and Furman University professor of English who taught a class this year on true crime writing — an entire branch of nonfiction devoted to stories of lawless behavior, the victims and those who solve the crimes.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-Telegram9,000+ acres of ‘rare’ Texas ranchland is up for sale west of Fort Worth. Take a look
More than 9,300 acres of Big Country ranchland with a unique military history has gone on the market in North Texas. Located about 125 miles northwest of Fort Worth and 65 miles from Abilene, the Tecumseh Ranch features more than eight miles of shoreline on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River and almost five miles of the Tecumseh Creek, according to Hall and Hall Partners, which is handling the bid collection process. There is high expected interest in the property due to its “rare” location in Throckmorton County and amount of water resources in the area, said Tyler Jacobs, a real estate partner at Hall and Hall.
PoliticsKansas City StarSwamp 101: Joe Manchin asks billionaire donors to get Roy Blunt to do their bidding
This is Swamp 101, but instructive all the same: An audio recording has surfaced of Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin asking billionaire donors to lean on Republican Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt to change his vote on the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection commission. That's important in itself, he said, but would also accomplish a very different goal, and one the donors on the call care about a lot: Their implied IOU of future opportunities for Blunt, Manchin suggested, could help neutralize the Democrats' best argument for doing away with the filibuster. Since Republicans oppose anything and everything the Democrats want to do, Rs could preserve the filibuster by proving Ds wrong about that.
U.S.USA TODAYA gay couple faced harassment for 5 years. Handwriting analysis led to a suspect: A neighbor.
For five years, we were living here and wondering which of our neighbors, who were all being kind and neighborly to us, is actually harassing us,” McLean said. Then the perpetrator made a mistake. The suspect, who has not been publicly identified, signed the couple up for a Boston Globe subscription, but the McLean and Furze already had a subscription.
PoliticsINSIDERThe accused Capitol rioter who took photos at Nancy Pelosi's desk had his request to attend a car show denied by a judge
On Friday, a federal judge denied a Capitol riot suspect's request to go to a car show. Richard Barnett was photographed putting his feet on Nancy Pelosi's desk during the insurrection. A federal judge ruled Friday that the accused Capitol rioter who was photographed with his feet up on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's desk is not allowed to go to a car show, The Associated Press reported.
U.S.LA TimesAfghanistan's air force is a rare U.S.-backed success story. It may soon fail.
But there is a deeper problem: Over the last two decades the U.S. has built an army in its own image, with Afghan security forces relying on some 18,000 contractors for everything from buying fuel and bullets to doing payroll to the critical tasks of maintaining the 162 aircraft used by the AAF and training the pilots who fly them. Since late 2019, 94% of U.S. forces involved in training and advising the air force have left, so contractors have taken on almost all roles. Without continued contractor support, according to a Defense Department inspector general's report earlier this year, those warplanes would be combat effective for only a few months.
“It may seem desperate at this point, but I can’t be mad at any and all efforts to get people vaccinated.”
“I won’t get rich, but I will get to live my life. That seems like reward enough.”
“Offering incentives may encourage people who are not actively opposed to vaccination but may have put it off.”
“At some point, the government is simply rewarding irresponsible behavior.”
“Sure, people should do it without needing an incentive. But what’s the alternative? Not enough people get vaccinated.”