WorldThe TelegraphSpain acquits man of sexually abusing 14-year-old stepdaughter who gave birth to his child
A Spanish court has provoked outrage by acquitting a man of sexually abusing his 14-year-old stepdaughter despite the fact she gave birth to his child. The Pamplona court accepted the defendant's claim that the teenager had sat astride him while he was asleep on the sofa and engaged in penetrative sex. The girl's mother reported the father for alleged sexual abuse of her daughter, who initially said she had been raped in the street before changing her story to corroborate her stepfather's claim that he had not been conscious when they had sex.
WorldAssociated PressIsrael says it will 'definitely' stop Iran from getting bomb
Israel's foreign minister said Friday that his country was determined to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon, after Tehran promised to step up its uranium enrichment process. “We will do whatever it takes to prevent the extremists (in Iran) from succeeding, and definitely will prevent this regime from having a nuclear weapon,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi told reporters on a visit to Cyprus. Iranian officials say the country will begin enriching uranium up to 60% purity following an attack on its nuclear facility at Natanz, in central Iran, on Sunday, that it blamed on Israel.
HealthReutersJ&J scientists refute 'class effect' to blame for clots in those who got its COVID-19 vaccine
Scientists at Johnson & Johnson on Friday refuted an assertion in a major medical journal that the adenovirus-based design of their COVID-19 vaccine, which is similar AstraZeneca's, may explain why both have been linked to very rare brain blood clots in some vaccine recipients. The United States earlier this week paused distribution of the J&J vaccine to investigate six cases of a rare brain blood clot known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), accompanied by a low blood platelet count, in U.S. women under age 50, out of about 7 million people who got the shot. The blood clots in patients who received the J&J vaccine bear close resemblance to 169 cases in Europe reported with the AstraZeneca vaccine, out of 34 million doses administered there.
WorldAssociated PressBeijing warns US, Japan against collusion vs China
China said Friday it has expressed “serious concerns” to the United States and Japan over what it calls negative moves and collusion between the two countries against China. The statement from Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian came just before President Joe Biden welcomes Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to the White House on Friday in his first face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader. That meeting is seen as reflecting Biden's emphasis on strengthening alliances to deal with a more assertive China and other global challenges.
U.S.Associated PressOfficials: 2nd dead worker from capsized boat found in Gulf
The body of a second dead worker from a lift boat that capsized earlier this week was found about 33 miles from the overturned ship Friday, according to a coroner and the family member of one of the missing workers. Rescuers in the air and the sea have been searching for the workers who were aboard the vessel when it overturned Tuesday in rough weather about 8 miles (13 kilometers) from the Louisiana coast. Lafourche Parish Coroner John King told The Times-Picayune / The New Orleans Advocate that a second body had been found but he was not releasing the name of the person.
WorldReutersExclusive: EU agrees to sanction two companies close to Myanmar military, diplomats say
The European Union has agreed to impose sanctions on another 10 individuals linked to the Feb. 1 coup in Myanmar and to target two businesses run by the armed forces for the first time in protest at the military takeover, two diplomats said. The measures, which the diplomats said could take effect next week, would target two companies that generate revenue for the Myanmar Armed Forces. While the EU has an arms embargo on Myanmar and targeted 11 senior military officials last month, the decision to target two companies is the most significant response so far for the bloc since the coup that ousted an elected government led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
- 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.
ScienceKansas City Star‘Godzilla Shark’ with 12 rows of teeth now has an official name — inspired by dragons
A graduate student pierced a pocket knife through shaley limestones in New Mexico, not expecting to find much. That student — John-Paul Hodnett — was part of a group of researchers learning about fossils of Pennsylvanian Period plants and animals in 2013. He had only found fragments of plants and fish scales up to that point, and the group was about to leave the site when Hodnett found something different.
WorldAssociated PressNew blast at St. Vincent volcano; cruise ship helps evacuees
La Soufriere volcano shot out another explosive burst of gas and ash on Friday as a cruise ship arrived to evacuate some of the foreigners who had been stuck on a St. Vincent island coated in ash from a week of violent eruptions. Friday morning's blast “wasn't a big explosion compared to the ones that we last weekend, but it was big enough to punch a hole through the clouds," said Richard Robertson, lead scientist at the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Center, in an interview with local NBC radio. During a comparable eruption cycle in 1902, explosive eruptions continued to shake the island for months after an initial burst killed some 1,700 people, though the new eruptions so far have caused no reported deaths among a population that had received official warning a day earlier that danger was imminent.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestThe 9 Best Wireless Headphones for Every Kind of Use
From the most comfortable pair to the best value buy, these headphones will carry you through the spring, summer, and beyond Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- 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.
PoliticsThe Guardian‘Alarm is growing’: Michigan governor faces shutdown dilemma as Covid cases rise
The coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions that Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, enacted in March last year were among the nation's toughest, and the governor's leadership is thought to have saved lives. Now, as Michigan faces another surge of cases and hospitalizations, its worst yet, Whitmer has changed tack. Despite past success and growing calls for another lockdown from public health experts, and doctors managing hospitals with Covid patients, the governor is resisting further restrictions, and is instead largely relying on a vaccination rollout and a voluntary suspension of in-person dining services.
U.S.The StateA week after she was found in a Florida Keys swimming pool, Georgia toddler dies
A 2-year-old Georgia girl died Thursday, almost a week after she was found unresponsive in the swimming pool of the Florida Keys vacation rental home in which she and her family were staying. Leland Rudeen's family released a statement on Facebook Thursday saying that she had died a day after undergoing an MRI at Nicklaus Children's Hospital near South Miami. “Shortly after the devastating MRI results, as we were trying to wrap our head around some hard decisions ahead of us, Leland took the choice out of our hands and started her painless decline,” the statement reads.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastBiden Keeps Trump’s Record-Low Cap On Refugee Admissions
Amidst growing calls to lift the historically low yearly cap on refugee admissions into the United States, President Joe Biden on Friday signed an emergency order intended to speed the admissions process for those fleeing war, natural disaster or persecution abroad—but did not lift the cap itself, setting up a potential conflict with Democratic allies on Capitol Hill. Less than a month into his administration, Biden pledged to raise the cap to 125,000 people in order to “rebuild what has been so badly damaged” in the immigration system. “I'm directing the State Department to consult with Congress about making a down payment on that commitment as soon as possible,” Biden said in a speech at the State Department on February 4.
PoliticsThe IndependentBiden news: Pence undergoes pacemaker operation as Sanders pays Trump rare compliment on Afghanistan
Former vice president Mike Pence is recovering after surgery to install a pacemaker, a small device to regulate a heartbeat. Mr Pence is expected to fully recover and return to normal activity in the coming days following the procedure, described as “routine surgery”. While Sanders praised Joe Biden's commitment to withdraw troops from Afghanistan before the 20th anniversary of September 11, he made clear it was a deal negotiated by the former president.
- U.S.Raleigh News and Observer
Durham man pleads guilty to shooting grandfather in the head at 16. Why did he do it?
Nearly six years after William Evans was found shot and cold in a Durham parking lot, his grandson pleaded guilty to shooting the 65-year-old man with his own gun. Under a plea agreement, Dominick Jackson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to up to nearly 10 years in prison, with credit for the more than five years he spent in jail awaiting trial. Under North Carolina sentencing laws, courts must consider mitigating and aggravating factors that could decrease or increase the sentence.
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.INSIDERLawyer for the police officer who shot Adam Toledo complained that people hadn't asked how his client was doing
Eric Stillman fatally shot the 13-year-old Adam Toledo in Chicago on March 29. A lawyer for the police officer who fatally shot the 13-year-old Adam Toledo in Chicago has complained that few people have asked how his client is doing. The lawyer for Eric Stillman said in a statement quoted by The Daily Beast: "What is amazing and disheartening is that very few have asked about the welfare of the officer."
U.S.PoliticoMesh mask lands Capitol riot defendant in hot water with judge
A federal judge is demanding that a Pennsylvania woman arrested for her alleged role in the Capitol riot, Rachel Powell, explain why a video of her circulating online shows her wearing a porous, mesh mask despite another judge's order to comply with Covid mask requirements while she awaits trial. U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth said Powell's decision to wear the obviously noncompliant mask “mocks” the initial requirement decreed by the court's chief judge, Beryl Howell, soon after Powell's release in February. Defendant must wear a mask whenever she leaves her residence,” Howell ruled at the time.
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.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderMitt Romney, Liz Cheney, and other GOP lawmakers who criticized Trump or voted to impeach him have spent tens of thousands of dollars on private security
Lawmakers who criticized Trump or voted to impeach him spent thousands to improve personal security after the Capitol attack. Republicans including Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney beefed up their security, per Punchbowl News. Prominent lawmakers spent tens of thousands of dollars on private security guards and other protection following the Capitol riots, a Punchbowl News analysis of campaign finance records shows.
U.S.The IndependentDerek Chauvin news: Officer won’t testify as Kim Potter to appear in court over Daunte Wright shooting
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin confirmed on Thursday that he will not testify in his murder trial. Mr Chauvin is currently standing trial for the murder of unarmed Black man George Floyd, who died in the former Minneapolis police officer's custody last May. Meanwhile, Former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter's first court hearing on second-degree manslaughter charges is scheduled for today.
U.S.USA TODAYSpring snowstorm wallops portions of New England, could bring 50 mph gusts and a foot of snow
A spring snowstorm is pounding New England, promising to dump over a foot of snow on some parts of the region. Winter weather warnings or advisories were posted for large swaths of Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. "There is even the chance that snow briefly mixes in along the coast of Massachusetts, including in the Boston area, as well as in coastal areas of New Hampshire and Maine on Friday," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Brett Anderson said.
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.
- WorldWABC – NY
Woman shot and killed on street, boyfriend hits suspect with car
A 52-year-old woman walking with her boyfriend in the Bronx was fatally shot Wednesday afternoon, and her boyfriend then ran down the suspect with his car.
“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.”