Ex-officer appeals 20-year sentence for killing Black man

A white former police officer serving 20 years in prison for killing an unarmed Black man in South Carolina who ran from a traffic stop said his lawyer never told him about a plea offer from prosecutors that could have cut years off his sentence. Former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager is requesting a new sentence in federal court this week, saying he would have taken the deal and that his lawyer was grossly incompetent for not telling him about it. Prosecutors said Savage's mistake didn't rise above the very high bar of tossing out Slager's sentence and added that the attorney's defense was excellent in almost every other way.

Biden plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11

President Biden is planning to withdraw all remaining troops from Afghanistan and will complete the pullout before Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that sparked the United States' longest war, according to a senior U.S. official. The plan, which Biden is expected to announce this week, means that a portion of the few thousand troops in Afghanistan will remain after May 1, a deadline the Trump administration set last year in a deal with the Taliban. White House officials feared that pulling out all U.S. troops by that deadline would undercut efforts to settle the war between the Taliban and the Afghan government, the official said.

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  Joe Biden Aims To Withdraw U.S. Troops From Afghanistan By Sept. 11, 2021

  HuffPost
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  US to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11

  Associated Press

Tory MP claims GCHQ told him his Gmail account was safer than parliamentary email after he was targeted by hackers

A senior Tory MP has said he was told by sources at GCHQ that his personal Gmail account was safer than using his Parliamentary email after being repeatedly targeted by suspected Chinese hackers. Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said the warning showed the need for both ministers and Parliament to take a more robust stance against Beijing's attacks of British democracy. The MP, who has previously revealed efforts by Chinese cyber hackers to access his accounts and impersonate him online, is one of seven Parliamentarians who have been sanctioned by China for calling out its actions in Hong Kong and against the Uighur minority in Xinjiang.

UK official: American warhead decision won’t impact British nuclear plans

The United Kingdom's plan to increase its nuclear warhead stockpile will not be impacted should the U.S. scrap a new submarine-launched nuclear warhead, a British Ministry of Defence official said Tuesday. “The number of warheads we need for the future is not determined by anything which the U.S. is doing on W93,” Angus Lapsley, the MoD's director general for strategy and international issues, said during an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The W93 is a new nuclear warhead design for use aboard submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

Viral Video Shows Man With Swastika Tattoo Punching Asian Man at White Lives Matter Rally

An alleged white supremacist with a swastika tattoo has been charged with fighting in public after punching an Asian man at a White Lives Matter rally in Huntington Beach, California. What happened: The incident began on Sunday when the Asian man, identified as Santa Ana resident Triet Tran, 36, approached Andrew Nilsen, 38, a resident of Huntington Beach, according to Raw Story. “I want to understand why you hate me so much,” Tran told Nilsen, as shown in the video posted by producer and live streamer Andrew Kimmel on Twitter.

Analysis: Iran's powerful Guard faces scrutiny after attacks

The recent sabotage at Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility is just the latest setback for the country's Revolutionary Guard, though the paramilitary force is rarely publicly criticized due to its power. Its forces failed to stop both an earlier attack at Iran's Natanz facility and the assassination of a top scientist who started a military nuclear program decades earlier. In the wake of the attack, Iran announced Tuesday it would begin enriching uranium at 60% purity, the highest level its program has ever reached.

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  Iran says it will enrich uranium to 60%, highest level ever

  Associated Press
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  Iran to begin 60% uranium enrichment after nuclear site incident

  Reuters

Officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright identified as Kim Potter

The officer who shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright has been identified as Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran with the Brooklyn Center, Minnesota Police Department. “It is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their Taser but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet,” Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon said Monday. “This appears to me, from what I've viewed and the officer's reaction and distress immediately after, that this was an accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr. Wright.”

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  Minnesota Police Chief Resigns After Daunte Wright's Killing

  HuffPost
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  NFL players react to Minnesota police shooting of Daunte Wright

  Yahoo Sports

Taiwan: 'Record number' of China jets enter air zone

Taiwan has said a record number of Chinese military jets flew into its air defence zone on Monday. The defence ministry said 25 aircraft including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers entered its so-called air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday. The incursion is the largest in a year and comes as the US warns against an "increasingly aggressive China".

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  Chinese aircraft in biggest Taiwan airspace incursion for a year despite US warning

  The Independent
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  Taiwan says China flew 25 warplanes into its air-defense zone in the largest breach yet

  Business Insider

The 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

Pausing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is wildly irresponsible

Use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine has been paused in multiple states after the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control issued an advisory recommending they do so "out of an abundance of caution." The reason is a tiny handful of unusual blood clotting events — just six of them, to be precise, out of a total of 6.8 million doses administered in the United States thus far. As Helen Branswell writes at STAT News, every single clotting event involved a woman aged between 18 and 48 with a condition called thrombocytopenia (or low blood platelets).

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  Is The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Safe? Here's What To Know.

  HuffPost Life
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  J&J vaccine paused by U.S. federal agencies over blood clot reports

  Yahoo News Video

NC town appeals after judge threatens officials with jail — again — over seized cash.

The legal fight over the police seizure of $17,000 in Mooresville took on a Whac-A-Mole quality this week with a judge again holding the town in contempt only to see town officials file another appeal to stop her. On Monday — and for the second time this year — Iredell County District Judge Christine Underwood threatened town leaders and police with jail time for not returning Jermaine Sanders' money. The judge gave officials seven days to comply with her signed order or she would start putting people behind bars.

GOP edges back from filibuster cliff on hate crimes bill

A bipartisan effort is underway to amend Democrats' anti-hate crime legislation in the Senate as the GOP edges back from its first filibuster opportunity of Joe Biden's presidency. The bill, a modest piece of legislation from Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) aimed at addressing a spike in hate incidents against Asian Americans during the pandemic, has faced headwinds in the Senate as Republicans weigh whether to mount a formal filibuster. Ahead of a vote Wednesday on whether to open debate, some in the GOP argued that the bill is unnecessary and a potential government overreach, but following their weekly lunch meeting Republicans opened the door to beginning debate and amending the legislation.

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  Democrats renew push for COVID hate crimes bill

  Associated Press Videos
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  Democrats dare GOP to filibuster Asian American hate crimes bill

  Politico

City manager fired after calling for ‘due process’ in police shooting of Daunte Wright

In an emergency meeting Monday, Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott was given authority over the city's police department. Curt Boganey, city manager of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, has been fired in the wake of the police shooting death of Daunte Wright. At an emergency meeting Monday afternoon, the Brooklyn Center City Council voted 3-2 to give authority over the police department to Mayor Mike Elliott.

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  City Manager In Minnesota Fired In Response To Police Shooting Of Daunte Wright

  HuffPost
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  NFL players react to Minnesota police shooting of Daunte Wright

  Yahoo Sports

Black 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.

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  Town Fires Officer Who Pepper-Sprayed Black Army Lieutenant During Traffic Stop

  HuffPost
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  Officer who pepper-sprayed U.S. Army officer fired

  Reuters Videos

‘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.

Defense expert, an ex-detective, testifies on ‘failures’ in Kylr Yust investigation

A former Washington, D.C. detective testified Tuesday for Kylr Yust's defense team that he found issues with how local police investigated the two homicides in question. James Trainum, who has testified across the country about best police practices, said those investigative failures included not reigning in a Kansas City police officer who allegedly interviewed an “untold number of witnesses” without documenting his interactions with them. Investigators with the Belton Police Department also did not put all of their work on paper, he testified.

Boris Johnson refuses to give David Cameron backing on Greensill Capital row

Boris Johnson has refused to give David Cameron his backing over the Greensill Capital scandal, saying he has his own questions about what happened. The Prime Minister yesterday ordered lawyer Nigel Boardman to head up an inquiry into how the finance firm secured state contracts for supply chain finance The probe will also look at how the lender's representatives, including Mr Cameron, "engaged with Government". Asked what he made of his predecessor's behaviour the Prime Minister told journalists: "That's a matter for Nigel Boardman's report."

‘Gorilla hail’ pounded parts of Texas. See photos and video from the powerful storm

The severe thunderstorm that hit the Texas Hill Country Monday evening produced hailstones that were as large as a grapefruit. according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The hail was not only remarkable for its size, but also for the fact that it reportedly accumulated up to three inches on the ground in Llano, Texas,” NOAA said.

Software fix planned for Mars helicopter

The long-awaited maiden flight of an experimental $80 million mini helicopter carried to Mars by the Perseverance rover is on hold while engineers test software to resolve a glitch that cropped up Friday during a pre-flight test, NASA announced Monday. If all goes well, the team hopes to determine a new flight date next week. Engineers initially expected to clear the Ingenuity helicopter for launch Sunday on a 30-second up-and-down flight to verify the 4-pound drone can, in fact, autonomously lift off, hover and land in the ultra-thin atmosphere of Mars.

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  The Morning After: Even NASA’s Mars drone needs software updates

  Engadget
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  Nasa’s Ingenuity helicopter still stuck on surface of Mars as engineers rush to give it software update

  The Independent

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

India reported 161,736 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, hitting the world's highest daily tally once again, for a total of 13.69 million cases, health ministry data showed. Japan's western region of Osaka is set to report a daily record of more than 1,000 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, the Yomiuri newspaper said in its online edition. A highly contagious variant discovered in Britain is driving a fourth wave of cases in western Japan, mostly among younger people, with a record 918 infections on Saturday.

Biden tells Putin to de-escalate troop build-up on Ukraine border and invites him to summit

Joe Biden called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to deescalate tensions at the Ukraine-Crimea border, where he has been amassing troops since March. According to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, there are more Russian troops on the border of Ukraine than there were ahead of Russia's invasion and eventual annexation of Crimea in 2014. Mr Biden and Mr Putin spoke on the phone on Tuesday about a "number of regional and global issues" according to a White House synopsis of the call.

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  Biden proposes summit with Putin after Russia calls U.S. 'adversary' over Ukraine

  Reuters
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  Ukraine says Putin snubs Russian troop build-up talks, Moscow lashes U.S

  Reuters

14 Ways to Do Memphis Without Doing Memphis

You don't have to commit to full-on maximalism to make a statement Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

Companies that have containers on the Ever Given could have to help pay the up to $1 billion Egyptian authorities are demanding before the ship leaves the Suez Canal

The Suez Canal Authority said the Ever Given can't leave until $1 billion in damages is paid. The $1 billion would likely include paying for the tugboats and dredging ships that freed the ship. The owner of the Ever Given declared "General Average," so insurance could pay some of the damages.

Biden administration revives Obama-era housing discrimination policies cut by Trump

Joe Biden's administration is restoring Obama-era fair housing rules at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, critical to the enforcement of federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion and disability, among other protected categories. Days after his inauguration, the president issued four executive orders aimed at advancing racial equity and tackling systemic racism, including directing the Housing Department to examine the impacts of former President Donald Trump's cuts to civil rights protections in housing laws and to begin reversing them. Housing Secretary Marcia Fudge intends to revive a 2013 rule aimed at preventing landlords, lenders and other housing authorities from putting in place discriminatory barriers to housing that have disproportionate impacts among Black and Latino residents.