PoliticsAssociated PressBiden Republicans? Some in GOP open to president's agenda
When Trump was up for reelection last year, Copan appeared on roadside billboards across North Carolina, urging other Republicans to back Democratic rival Joe Biden. Nearly three months into the new administration, Copan considers himself a “Biden Republican,” relieved by the new president's calmer leadership style and coronavirus vaccine distribution efforts. Copan is the type of voter Biden is counting on as he pushes an agenda that's almost universally opposed by Republicans in Washington.
U.S.ReutersVirginia investigates after police use pepper spray on Black U.S. Army officer
Virginia's attorney general has directed his civil rights office to investigate a possible "pattern of misconduct" by police in the town of Windsor after officers drew their guns and used pepper spray on a Black uniformed U.S. Army officer during a traffic stop. Caron Nazario, a second lieutenant in the Army Medical Corps, filed a lawsuit this month against Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker, officers in the police department in the town of about 2,600 people in southeastern Virginia, over the incident that occurred in December. The lawsuit said the traffic stop "was ostensibly for the lack of a rear license plate, though the temporary tags were affixed to the back of the vehicle and visible."
U.S.BBCJake Paul accused of sexual assault by Justine Paradise
TikTok star Justine Paradise has accused YouTuber Jake Paul of sexually assaulting her at his home in Los Angeles in 2019. Paradise alleges Paul grabbed her face and forced her to perform oral sex on him, and touched her inappropriately without consent. The BBC has contacted representatives for Jake Paul for comment but has not yet had a response.
WorldThe TelegraphTens of thousands flee Myanmar town after crackdown leaves 100 protesters dead
Tens of thousands have fled the central Myanmar town of Bago after the military regime brutally attacked anti-coup protesters at the weekend, leaving at least 100 dead. Residents told Radio Free Asia that many people were seeking refuge from the junta's violence in villages in the surrounding countryside. “The people fleeing their homes are residents of four neighborhoods in the city where the junta forces attacked,” said one woman who declined to give her name.
U.S.Associated PressNTSB: Pilot error likely caused vintage bomber's fatal crash
The pilot, Ernest “Mac” McCauley, reported a problem with one of the engines shortly after takeoff, and the plane crashed into a maintenance building and burst into flames during a landing attempt. The NTSB said the flight data indicated that the landing gear was extended too early, adding drag that slowed the plane, and it was traveling too slow on its return to the airport. The B-17 could likely have overflown the approach lights and landed on the runway had the pilot kept the landing gear retracted and accelerated to 120 mph until it was evident the airplane would reach the runway,” the NTSB said.
- WorldReuters
Mexico arrests 30 marines over suspected forced disappearances
Mexican authorities have arrested 30 marines over their suspected involvement in forced disappearances in the northern border city of Nuevo Laredo in 2014, the Navy said in a statement late on Monday. The Navy said the attorney general's office had ordered the arrests of the 30 marines, who were being deployed in "surveillance and deterrence" operations in Nuevo Laredo at the time of the alleged crimes during the previous administration. Along with the Mexican Army, the Navy for years assumed a central role in the government's military-led crackdown on drug cartels, which was launched in late 2006.
WorldThe TelegraphIran to enrich uranium to 60 per cent, upping ante for nuclear talks
Iran said Tuesday it would dramatically increase its uranium enrichment levels in response to an attack on its Natanz nuclear facility, a further breach of its nuclear deal with world powers that ongoing talks are struggling to salvage. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is leading negotiations in Vienna on saving the nuclear deal, said Tehran would begin enriching uranium to 60 per cent purity on Wednesday, according to state TV, up from the 20 per cent it is currently producing. Tehran has informed the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency, which declined to comment.
- NewsYahoo News Video
Fauci: Breakthrough infections after vaccinations 'inevitable'
It is inevitable that some people who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus will still get a "breakthrough" infection because no vaccine is 100 percent effective, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Monday.
WorldAssociated PressPope asks US bishop to resign after cover-up investigation
Pope Francis asked a bishop in the U.S. state of Minnesota to resign after he was investigated by the Vatican for allegedly interfering with past investigations into clergy sexual abuse, officials said Tuesday. The Vatican said Francis accepted the resignation of Crookston Bishop Michael Hoeppner on Tuesday and named a temporary replacement to run the diocese. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Crookston said in a statement that the pontiff asked Hoeppner to resign following the Vatican probe, which it said arose from reports that the bishop "had at times failed to observe applicable norms when presented with allegations of sexual abuse involving clergy."
WorldAssociated Press4 killed in Pakistan in clashes between police, Islamists
Overnight clashes between Islamists and police in Pakistan left three demonstrators and a police officer dead, officials said Tuesday, hours after authorities arrested the head of an Islamist political party. The violence came as police clashed Monday and into Tuesday with supporters of Saad Rizvi, head of the Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan party, who was arrested Monday in the eastern city of Lahore. Senior police officer Ghulam Mohammad Dogar said police were still trying to bring the situation in Lahore under control Tuesday.
U.S.ReutersChauvin's lawyers call officer in previous arrest to the stand as first witness
Lawyers for Derek Chauvin on Tuesday began presenting their case in the former Minneapolis policeman's murder trial, calling to the stand a now-retired officer who pulled over a car in which Floyd was a passenger in 2019 - a year before his deadly encounter with Chauvin. Chauvin's lead attorney, Eric Nelson, argued in court filings that the earlier arrest supported his defense that a drug overdose may have caused Floyd's death in May 2020, not a lack of oxygen caused by Chauvin kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes, as prosecutors charge. Nelson showed the jury a video taken by a body-worn camera during the May 6, 2019, traffic stop in which Floyd became distressed as the officer, Scott Creighton, pointed a gun at him and ordered him out of a car.
WorldThe Independent‘Unlike anything we’ve seen in modern history’: Attacks against journalists soar during Black Lives Matter protests
At least 50 journalists in the US have been arrested during Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the US, while dozens of others have also been injured by rubber bullets, pepper spray and tear gas. The US Press Freedom Tracker has collected nearly 500 incidents from 382 reports, from the unrest in Minneapolis in the wake of George Floyd's killing by police in late May, to demonstrations in more than 70 cities across 35 states since. At least 46 journalists were arrested between the end of May and the beginning of June, according to data collected by the organisation.
WorldThe TelegraphAlex Salmond 'stoking anti-English feelings with Braveheart video on breaking spines of oppressors'
Alex Salmond has been accused of pandering to extreme Scottish nationalists after his new party released a campaign video which spoke of breaking "the spine of English superiority” and he claimed the support of a King who died nearly seven centuries ago. The former First Minister's Alba Party on Monday broadcast a supposed endorsement from Robert the Bruce, who successfully led Scotland during the first War of Independence against England in the fourteenth century. In the clip, 'The Bruce', who actually died in 1329, predicts that Mr Salmond's new rival party to the SNP would “unite the clans”.
WorldArchitectural DigestThe World’s 9 Most Expensive Home Listings Currently on the Market
These fantastical houses range from a 64,000-acre Texas ranch to an oceanside estate in the south of France Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
U.S.Associated PressCourt rejects appeal of killer of 3 in home invasion
The Connecticut Supreme Court rejected the appeal of a man convicted of murder, sexual assault and other crimes in the killings of a woman and her two daughters, ages 11 and 17, in a 2007 home invasion. Justices issued a 7-0 decision Monday upholding the convictions against Joshua Komisarjevsky. Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes are serving life prison sentences for the killings of Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, and her daughters, 11-year-old Michaela and 17-year-old Hayley, in their Cheshire home.
WorldAssociated PressRussia says troop buildup near Ukraine is a response to NATO
Russia's defense minister said Tuesday that the country's massive military buildup in the west was part of readiness drills amid what he described as threats from NATO. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the maneuvers in western Russia that have worried neighboring Ukraine and brought warnings from NATO would last for another two weeks. Speaking at a meeting with the top military brass, Shoigu said the ongoing exercise was a response to what he claimed were continuous efforts by the United States and its NATO allies to beef up their forces near Russia's borders.
- U.S.Reuters
Cockpit voice recorder from crashed Indonesian jet downloaded successfully: investigator
The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) from a crashed Sriwijaya Air jet has been downloaded successfully and includes the last minutes of the flight that ended with 62 people dead, an official at Indonesia's air accident investigator said on Monday. The contents of the recording from the 26-year old Boeing Co 737-500 that crashed shortly after take-off on Jan. 9 cannot be disclosed publicly at this stage of the probe, Indonesia National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) investigator Nurcahyo Utomo said. The channels will need to be synchronised with each other as well as radio communications and the flight data recorder (FDR) for analysis to help determine the cause of the crash.
U.S.INSIDERBlack Army officer pepper-sprayed by police said he thought he could be murdered as officers gave quickly changing commands
A uniformed Black Army officer was held at gunpoint and pepper-sprayed during a traffic stop. Second lieutenant Caron Nazario filed a lawsuit against the 2 Virginia officers involved. In a complaint, Nazario said they gave conflicting orders and he was worried he would be murdered.
WorldThe Telegraph'Freedom of speech is a dangerous job': Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai writes to staff ahead of sentencing
Hong Kong's pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai has told his staff in a letter from jail that “freedom of speech is a dangerous job” and to “stand tall” just days before he is sentenced in two cases against him. It comes as fellow democracy activist Joshua Wong received a second jail sentence under the territory's strict new national security law. Mr Lai, the 72-year-old founder of Apply Daily, is in custody after prosecutors appealed successfully against a court decision to grant him bail on national security charges.
U.S.Associated PressGeorgia lawmaker's legal work targeted again over voting law
Protesters are trying to get a Georgia state representative fired by cities and counties that pay him to be their attorney, citing his role in pushing through a voting law that adds restrictions. The Washington City Council voted 4-2 to ask Rep. Barry Fleming to resign Monday, WJBF-TV reports. It's not clear if the city can immediately fire the Republican from Harlem because Washington has a contract with Fleming's law firm.
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.
U.S.INSIDERMinnesota mayor says police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright should be fired and face 'full accountability'
Daunte Wright, 20, was fatally shot by a police officer in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on Sunday. Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott says the officer who shot Wright should be fired. Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, Mayor Mike Elliott says the police officer who fatally shot 20-year-old Daunte Wright on Sunday should be fired and face "full accountability" in the shooting.
U.S.The StateMistaking Asian woman as white, Asian man attacks her over hate crimes, CA cops say
An Asian man was arrested after California police say he kidnapped and tried to sexually assault an Asian woman, believing she was white, in retaliation for the rise in hate crimes against Asians. Michael Sangbong Rhee, 37, was arrested Thursday night at his Lake Forest home, Irvine police said in a Facebook post. Rhee was charged with kidnapping with intent to commit a sexual assault and is being held at Orange County Jail on $1 million bail.
CelebrityThe TelegraphCrumbling former home of Queen and Prince Philip in Malta undergoes multi-million pound restoration
The garden is overgrown, the walls are collapsing and the stonework is crumbling, but a dilapidated townhouse in Malta where a young Prince Philip once lived with the then Princess Elizabeth is undergoing a multi-million pound restoration. Villa Guardamangia, on the outskirts of the Maltese capital Valletta, is to be returned to how it looked when it was home to the royal couple in what they said was one of the happiest periods of their lives. The restoration, expected to take at least five years, will enable it to be opened as a museum and underscores the connection between the royal family and Malta, which gained independence in 1964.
U.S.Associated PressStone Mountain Park denies permit for Confederate event
The Stone Mountain Memorial Association has denied a gathering permit from the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who were looking to host their annual Confederate Memorial Day service at Stone Mountain Park outside Atlanta. The gathering was slated for Saturday but a March 31 letter from memorial association CEO Bill Stephens denied the necessary permit, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Stephens listed three reasons for the denial including safety concerns, specifically the pandemic and racial tensions.
“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.”