U.S.National ReviewPelosi: Waters Should Not Apologize for Urging Protesters to ‘Get More Confrontational’
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday said she does not believe Representative Maxine Waters (D., Calif.) should apologize for her recent suggestion that protesters should “get more confrontational” if former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is acquitted. On Saturday, Waters traveled to Brooklyn Center, Minn., to join protests in response to the police shooting of Daunte Wright last week. Speaking just a few miles from where George Floyd died last year after Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes during his arrest, Waters said she was “going to fight with all of the people who stand for justice,” and called on others to join her.
- WorldReuters
Egypt targets cell suspected of killing Christian in Sinai
Egyptian security forces have shot dead three suspected Islamist militants accused of targeting Coptic Christians and involvement in the execution-style killing of a 62-year-old man in North Sinai, the interior ministry said on Monday. The suspected militants died in an exchange of fire and were part of a cell that was plotting to attack Copts, their property and places of worship, as well as the security forces, the ministry said in a statement. An Islamist insurgency spread in the north of the Sinai Peninsula after Egypt's military overthrew Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Mursi in 2013.
U.S.INSIDERThe police officer who fatally shot 13-year-old Adam Toledo was listed as a victim on an incident report. One law enforcement expert said it's 'an old cop trick meant to muddy the murky waters.'
An incident report lists Officer Eric Stillman as the victim in an officer-involved shooting that left 13-year-old Adam Toledo dead. A law enforcement expert told Insider that doing so is an "old cop trick" meant to shift culpability from the police. It's "meant to muddy the murky waters," often used in "the aftermath of what we cops call a 'bad shoot,'" he said.
WorldBusiness InsiderThe war against Russia's spies just cost Putin billions from a cancelled nuclear contract
Russia announced on Monday the expulsion of at least 20 Czech diplomats in a furious response to the gutting of Moscow's most critical intelligence station in central Europe over the weekend, when Czech authorities accused Russian intelligence of being behind two blasts at an ammunition storage facility in 2014. Czechia has accused a notorious Russian intelligence unit implicated in multiple operations across Europe and the UK of conducting two operations in 2014 that led to explosions at a munitions factory in 2014. At the time, the ammunition was said to be headed for Russia's rivals in Ukraine.
- ScienceReuters Videos
NASA releases HD video of Mars 'helicopter' flight
NASA's miniature robot helicopter Ingenuity performed a successful takeoff and landing on Mars early on Monday, achieving the first powered, controlled flight by an aircraft over the surface of another planet, the U.S. space agency said. "I don't think I can ever stop watching it over and over again," Aung said of the video, noting scheduled upcoming flights will push Ingenuity to its limit, by going faster, farther and against the wind.
U.S.USA TODAYElderly Korean couple attacked in park in California by same man who harassed Olympian Sakura Kokumai, police say
Olympian Sakura Kokumai said she was verbally harassed and called racial slurs in April. Now, weeks later, authorities say they arrested her harasser after he attacked a senior couple on Sunday. According to authorities, Michael Vivona, 25, punched a 79-year-old man and his 80-year-old wife, knocking them to the ground while they were walking in a park in Orange, California, about 40 miles from Los Angeles.
PoliticsThe IndependentBiden news: White House warns Russia of consequences if Navalny dies as John Kerry apologises for Trump
The White House has warned Russia that “there will be consequences” if Alexei Navalny, a Putin critic, dies in prison, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday. This comes after President Joe Biden gave a speech on Thursday about Russia where he failed to mention the imprisoned Russian opposition leader, which angered critics. John Kerry has also apologised for former President Donald Trump's “non-leadership” on the effort to address the climate crisis during his four years as US leader.
ScienceLA TimesIngenuity, NASA's helicopter that could, soars over Mars
Compared to the seven-month, 293-million-mile journey from Earth to Mars, a brief excursion 10 feet above the dusty surface of Mars might seem like an afterthought. NASA's Ingenuity helicopter spun its blades and rose above Mars' Jezero Crater, where it arrived two months ago with the Perseverance rover. Team members at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge broke into applause hours before dawn Monday as they learned that Ingenuity had hit every mark in its planned flight — spin-up, take-off, climb, hover, descent, landing, touchdown and spin-down — without a hitch.
U.S.Chicago TribuneJaslyn Adams shooting: First grader shot 6 times, Chicago police investigating if father was target
The 7-year-old girl killed Sunday afternoon while with her father in a McDonald's drive-thru was a first grade student who attended a Chicago public school in Humboldt Park and Chicago detectives are investigating her fatal shooting as possibly targeting her father, according to police. Jaslyn Adams, 7, was shot six times Sunday as she and her father waited in a drive-thru line at the McDonald's, 3200 W. Roosevelt Road in the Homan Square neighborhood on the West Side, a preliminary police report states. A responding police officer took the gravely injured child in a squad car and rushed her to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 4:39 p.m. Her father, 29, with whom she had been in an Infiniti sedan in the drive-thru lane at the time of the shooting, was shot once in the lower back, the report states.
BusinessCBS NewsAmazon buying Atlas 5 rockets to launch its internet satellites
Amazon plans to buy nine powerful Atlas 5 rockets from United Launch Alliance to boost an initial wave of the company's planned Kuiper internet satellites into orbit. The satellites will be part of a planned constellation of 3,236 relay stations that will compete with OneWeb and SpaceX's fast-growing Starlink system. "We're determined to make affordable broadband a reality for customers and communities around the world," Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said in a statement.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderNew poll indicates most Americans want to end lifetime appointments for Supreme Court justices
With congressional Democrats and Republicans seemingly in a perpetual state of battles over the judiciary, a recent poll shows the American public in favor of curbing lifetime appointments for Supreme Court justices, while displaying less enthusiasm toward other judicial reforms. A Reuters/Ipsos national opinion poll conducted in mid-April showed that 63% of respondents supported term limits for Supreme Court justices, while only 22% of respondents supported lifetime appointments. Supreme Court justices currently have lifetime appointments.
CelebrityThe TelegraphNo man-to-man for Prince Charles and Harry as Duke heads back to US
The Duke of Sussex will return to California without having a private meeting with his father, The Telegraph understands. Many family members had hoped the pair would take the opportunity to spend some time together alone, to air their differences face to face. While the Duke's travel plans have not been disclosed, he is thought likely to return home to his pregnant wife, the Duchess of Sussex, 39, and their son Archie, who turns two next month, within the next day or two.
U.S.The IndependentAsian American CNN producer zip-tied by Minnesota police and asked if she can speak English, lawyer says
Minnesota police wrongfully arrested, manhandled, and humiliated a CNN producer while she was covering the Daunte Wright protests, a lawyer representing her and other journalists said. According to attorney Leita Walker, Carolyn Sung was among the press at a 13 April demonstration against the shooting of Mr Wright when police ordered the crowd to disperse. “As Sung tried to leave the area as directed, troopers grabbed Sung by her backpack and threw her to the ground, zip-tying her hands behind her back,” Ms Walker wrote in a letter to Governor Tim Walz.
U.S.The IndependentDerek Chauvin trial: What are the possible outcomes?
Closing arguments in the trial of Derek Chuavin for the killing of George Floyd are about to finish. The 45-year-old is accused of restraining Mr Floyd for over nine minutes over a counterfeit bill, thereby causing the 46-year-old's death in the custody of Minneapolis police. The city was the location of the killing of Mr Floyd in May 2020, and with a final wait for justice imminent, the tension inside the courtroom – and out – is discernible.
PoliticsLA TimesMost corporations stood by pledges to not fund politicians who voted against Biden's victory
In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, many of the nation's largest corporations pledged that they would suspend donations to elected officials who opposed the certification of Joe Biden's victory, hindered the peaceful transfer of power or incited violence. “There was a lot of cynicism around the announcements when they first were made,” said Judd Legum, the founder of the Popular Information newsletter, which focuses on the role of money in politics. New fundraising disclosures filed Friday show, however, that several businesses that made the pledge, including Cigna, AT&T and Intel, gave at least $75,000 to 37 Republican members of Congress who voted against certifying the election results and six of their associated political action committees.
- U.S.USA TODAY
'A pillar and stalwart': Hester Ford, the oldest person in US, dies at 115 (or maybe 116)
A North Carolina woman who lived through the Spanish flu, World Wars I and II and the civil rights movement died Sunday, according to her family. Hester Ford was either 115 or 116. Her family said U.S. Census Bureau documents suggest she was born in 1905, but another set of Census Bureau documents point to 1904, CBS reported.
SportsAssociated PressMourinho fired by Tottenham 6 days before cup final
That could have changed on Sunday, when Tottenham plays Manchester City in the English League Cup final at Wembley Stadium. Mourinho won't now get that chance. Jose and his coaching staff have been with us through some of our most challenging times as a club,” Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said in a statement announcing the departure of Mourinho, whose contract was due to run until the end of the 2022-23 season.
WorldThe IndependentDerek Chauvin: Prosecutor defends police while condemning officer who ‘abandoned his values’
Prosecutor Steve Schleicher claimed that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was not on trial for being a police officer, but solely because of his role in the death of George Floyd last year. Mr Schleicher was trying to convince the jury to separate their biases about police from the facts surrounding Mr Floyd's death. "Policing is a noble profession.
PoliticsThe Independent‘Give back her socialist cash’: Democrats pushed to return campaign donations from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
The campaign arm of the Republicans in the House of Representatives is putting pressure on their Democratic colleagues to return donations from New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The National Republican Congressional Committee launched a website on Monday called “Socialist Give Back”, listing 26 House Democrats who have received funds from Ms Ocasio-Cortez. The new NRCC site comes after Politico reported earlier this month that the New York Democrat donated $5,000 to a number of her House colleagues in an effort to help keep the House majority in the upcoming 2022 midterms.
- WorldKGO – San Francisco
EXCLUSIVE: EB family followed home by robber; dad held at gunpoint
Concord Police confirmed the same vehicle was used in a similar incident targeting women in Oakley earlier in the day. They ask anyone with additional information to reach out.
ScienceUSA TODAY'The tipping point:' First T. rex mass death site in southern US, found in Utah, strengthens evidence of pack behavior
The Tyrannosaurus rex may not have been as solitary as we believed. In a groundbreaking discovery of the first T. rex mass death site in the southern U.S., announced Monday by the Utah Bureau of Land Management, scientists found evidence of pack-like behavior among the famous ancient predator in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. "The new Utah site adds to the growing body of evidence showing that tyrannosaurs were complex, large predators capable of social behaviors common in many of their living relatives, the birds,” said Dr. Joe Sertich, curator of dinosaurs at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
CelebrityThe TelegraphThe quiet making of our future queen
It is arguably one of the best photographs ever to have been taken of the Duchess of Cambridge. Capturing not only the sombre mood of the occasion but also the steely determination of a family in mourning, Kate's sorrowful green eyes stared straight down the lens as she was pictured arriving at Windsor Castle for the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral on Saturday. Taken by Getty photographer Chris Jackson, who is married to the Duchess's stylist Natasha Archer, the extraordinary image revealed the steady yet serious gaze of a Royal whose decade in the monarchy has been characterised by quiet confidence and calm self-composure.
LifestyleUSA TODAYResorts World Las Vegas announces June opening date. Here's what to expect
Resorts World Las Vegas will open on June 24. “We are filled with gratitude and excitement as we approach our opening this June and hope to play a role in Las Vegas's rebound after what has been an incredibly challenging year for the destination and greater hospitality industry," said Scott Sibella, president of Resorts World Las Vegas, in a statement, reports the Reno Gazette Journal, which is part of the USA TODAY Network. Resorts World Las Vegas will offer three hotel collections from Hilton – each with its own entrance and lobby.
BusinessBusiness InsiderFacebook says it will remove content that 'praises, celebrates or mocks George Floyd's death' ahead of Chauvin trial verdict
Ahead of the verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, Facebook is beefing up content moderation standards. Among those new standards, Facebook "will remove content that praises, celebrates or mocks George Floyd's death," the company said in a blog post on Monday. Floyd died during an interaction with police in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020.
U.S.The IndependentSuspect in custody after fatal triple-shooting in Kenosha bar
A suspect in the fatal shooting at a tavern in Wisconsin has been taken into custody by Wisconsin police, authorities have said. The Kenosha County Sheriff's Office said on Sunday afternoon that a “person of interest” had been arrested in connection to the shooting. “A person of interest has been located and will be criminally charged with one count of 1st-degree intentional homicide with additional criminal charges to follow pending further investigation,” the office said in a release.
“High-speed rail is bold and attention-grabbing, but the scale of the project makes it near impossible.”
“While a long, slow train ride across the country can be a great thing, the US needs real high-speed rail too.”
“Liberals are right that America has a car problem — but it's commutes, not road trips, that suck.”
“Investments into a high-speed rail system wouldn’t just improve the railroads — automobile traffic could also see some relief.”
“Big cities that are reasonably close together is pretty much a prerequisite for high-speed rail.”