U.S.NBC NewsPolice accused of threatening, pulling gun on Black Army lieutenant during Virginia traffic stop
Virginia police pulled guns on a Black Army officer during a traffic stop and threatened to execute him in a parking lot, according to the serviceman's lawsuit and video of the encounter. U.S. Army Lt. Caron Nazario was driving Dec. 5, 2020, in his newly purchased Chevrolet Tahoe when he encountered police on U.S. Highway 460 in Windsor, about 30 miles west of downtown Norfolk, the active-duty soldier claimed in a federal civil lawsuit filed last week. Nazario, who is Black and Latino, conceded in his complaint that he didn't immediately pull over.
PoliticsReutersU.S. Senate panel's consideration of China bill now set for April 21
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will consider sweeping legislation to counter China's influence on April 21 instead of the planned date of April 14, committee aides said on Friday. Democratic and Republican leaders of the panel announced the "Strategic Competition Act of 2021" on Thursday. It includes a range of diplomatic and strategic initiatives to counteract Beijing, reflecting hard-line sentiment on dealings with China members of both political parties.
WorldAssociated PressJordanian prince makes first public appearance since arrest
Jordan's Prince Hamzah on Sunday made his first public appearance since he was placed under house arrest last week, attending a ceremony with King Abdullah II in what appeared to be an attempted show of unity on a major Jordanian holiday. But it remained unclear whether the king and his popular half brother had put aside the differences that escalated last week into the most serious public rift in the ruling family in decades. Hamzah joined members of the Jordanian royal family marking the centenary of the establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate that preceded the kingdom.
U.S.AxiosSevere storms lash South, unleashing hail, strong winds and a deadly tornado
Strong storms lashed the South Saturday, spawning at least one tornado and unleashing powerful winds and hail. And forecasters warned more severe weather was expected to hit parts of the region in the coming hours. Details: Thousands of customers lost power in Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana, according to tracking site poweroutage.us.
- WorldYahoo News Video
Medical examiner testifies George Floyd’s death was caused by the neck restraint from police
During the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin on Friday, Dr. Andrew Baker, the medical examiner for Hennepin County, Minn. said George Floyd's cause of death was “cardio-pulomonary arrest, complicating law enforcement subdual restraint and neck compression.
U.S.TheGrioKansas GOP leader Suellentrop ousted after threatening officer in DUI arrest
After the March 16 DUI arrest of state Senate majority leader Gene Suellentrop, the Kansas GOP has relieved him of his post. This happened after affidavits of search warrant and probable cause were requested for disclosure by WIBW of Topeka, Kansas. Not only was Suellentrop's blood-alcohol level twice that of the legal limit at 0.17, but he also referred to the arresting officer, Kansas highway patrol trooper Austin Shepley, as a “donut boy” and remarked that the arrest was “all for going the wrong way” while in the intoxilyzer room, according to the report.
U.S.ReutersArmed man fires shots in Hawaii hotel, barricades himself inside room - report
A hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii was placed on lockdown after an armed man fired shots through the door of a guest room and barricaded himself inside, but there were no reports of any injuries, Hawaii News Now reported https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2021/04/11/police-surround-kahala-hotel-following-reports-armed-man-barricading-himself-room Saturday. Guests and staff at the Kahala Resort & Hotel were sheltering in place, and guests in rooms near the incident had been evacuated, the news site added. Nobody is injured.
WorldAssociated Press'Suspicious' blackout strikes Iran's Natanz nuclear site
Iran's underground Natanz nuclear facility lost power Sunday just hours after starting up new advanced centrifuges capable of enriching uranium faster, the latest incident to strike the site amid negotiations over the tattered atomic accord with world powers. As Iranian officials investigated the outage, many Israeli media outlets offered the similar assessment that a cyberattack darkened Natanz and damaged a facility that is home to sensitive centrifuges. While the reports offered no sourcing for the evaluation, Israeli media maintains a close relationship with the country's military and intelligence agencies.
U.S.The TelegraphNew York facing exodus after city raises taxes to plug Covid-19 shortfall
New York is bracing for an exodus of its wealthiest residents after officials passed a budget that will see them pay the US's highest tax rate, as they desperately seek to boost their Covid-hit economy. Under the new rate, which is expected to soon be rubber-stamped by Governor Andrew Cuomo, the city's top earners could pay up to 14.8 per cent tax - a combined federal, state, and city tax which could reach 52 per cent. Business leaders and CEOs this week warned that the increase is likely to backfire by driving away the very people and companies the city relies on for its revenue.
PoliticsThe WeekTexas GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw recovering from emergency eye surgery that will leave him blind for a month
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Tex.) revealed Saturday that he underwent emergency surgery on his left eye a day earlier after a doctor discovered his retina was detaching. It was a "terrifying prognosis" for Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who was hit by an IED blast during a mission in Afghanistan's Helmand province in 2012. Crenshaw said "it was always a possibility that the effects of the damage to my retina would resurface, and it appears that is exactly what has happened."
PoliticsAxiosScoop: Ohio Senate candidate Josh Mandel escorted out of RNC retreat
During this weekend's highly anticipated donor retreat hosted by the Republican National Committee in Palm Beach, Ohio Senate candidate Josh Mandel was escorted off the premises while his primary opponent, Jane Timken, was allowed to stay, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation tell Axios. What we're hearing: The invitation-only event is taking place at the Four Seasons Resort, and the RNC reserved the entire hotel. While Timken, former Ohio GOP chair, was invited to the event “because she is a major donor” — Mandel was not, so he was asked to leave, according to one of the sources.
WorldAssociated PressFamed Egyptian archaeologist reveals details of ancient city
Egypt's best-known archaeologist on Saturday revealed further details on a Pharaonic city recently found in the southern province of Luxor. Zahi Hawass said that archaeologists found brick houses, artifacts, and tools from pharaonic times at the site of the 3,000-year-old lost city. It dates back to Amenhotep III of the 18th dynasty, whose reign is considered a golden era for ancient Egypt.
WorldReutersSouth African variant can 'break through' Pfizer vaccine, Israeli study says
The coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa can "break through" Pfizer/BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine to some extent, a real-world data study in Israel found, though its prevalence in the country is low and the research has not been peer reviewed. The South African variant, B.1.351, was found to make up about 1% of all the COVID-19 cases across all the people studied, according to the study by Tel Aviv University and Israel's largest healthcare provider, Clalit. But among patients who had received two doses of the vaccine, the variant's prevalence rate was eight times higher than those unvaccinated - 5.4% versus 0.7%.
U.S.The StateNote in missing couple’s car leads rescuers to ‘extreme’ site in Death Valley, cops say
A missing Arizona couple was found on a steep ledge in Death Valley National Park after leaving a note in their car, police said. Alexander Lofgren, 32, and Emily Henkel, 27, from Tucson were found Thursday in a remote part of Death Valley National Park, according to the Inyo County Sheriff's Office. Cops said that a search and rescue team would descend the canyon to reach Lofgren and Henkel on Thursday night, but an update on the couple's condition hasn't been provided by authorities on Friday.
WorldArchitectural DigestWhy We Love a Small Loveseat
Supremely versatile, loveseats work as standalone pieces in studio apartments and as part of a seating arrangement in sprawling living rooms Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldAssociated PressOfficial: Chinese vaccines' effectiveness low
In a rare admission of the weakness of Chinese coronavirus vaccines, the country's top disease control official says their effectiveness is low and the government is considering mixing them to get a boost. Chinese vaccines “don't have very high protection rates,” said the director of the China Centers for Disease Control, Gao Fu, at a conference Saturday in the southwestern city of Chengdu. Beijing has distributed hundreds of millions of doses abroad while trying to promote doubt about the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine made using the previously experimental messenger RNA, or mRNA, process.
U.S.The Guardian‘No community should suffer this’: Florida’s toxic breach was decades in the making
It's been a week since a significant leak at a long-abandoned fertilizer plant in the Tampa Bay area threatened the surrounding groundwater, soil, and local water supplies. Last weekend, officials ordered more than 300 families living near the 676-acre Piney Point plant site in Manatee county to evacuate. “We're nowhere near out of the woods yet on this – there's a long way to go,” says Glen Compton of ManaSota-88, an environmental non-profit that has been urging officials for decades to do something about the industrial waste pile.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderVice President Mike Pence pleaded with the acting defense secretary to 'clear the Capitol' as pro-Trump rioters overran the building, report says
The Associated Press obtained an internal Pentagon document about the Capitol riot on January 6. According to the outlet, Vice President Mike Pence placed an urgent call to the acting defense secretary. "Clear the Capitol," Pence said after the mob had been in the building for hours.
U.S.Kansas City StarEx-employee tampered with Kansas water plant, feds say, a sign of online vulnerability
Wyatt Travnichek was just entering his 20s, but he had a vital job. After residents across eight central Kansas counties headed home for the night, Travnichek would keep watch — virtually — over the utility that supplied them with clean drinking water. As a worker at the Post Rock Rural Water District, headquartered in Ellsworth, he was periodically responsible for monitoring the plant after hours by remotely logging into its computer system.
U.S.Miami HeraldTo ‘The Fellowship of the Springs,’ Florida is selling out an environmental treasure
Thomas Greenhalgh risked his job and career in 2019 when he sued his own employer, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, to challenge the state's plans to protect Florida's imperiled springs from increasing pollution. Greenhalgh, a veteran hydrogeologist and expert on the underground flows that feed North Florida's springs, argued that the sandy soils and porous rock of the region made them especially vulnerable — a position supported by other springs advocates and independent scientists in a long-running lawsuit seeking tougher state restrictions on how surrounding farms and other industries use fertilizer. The little-noticed ruling finally came down in February, overshadowed by a water management district decision the same week to allow the multinational conglomerate Nestlé to expand its lucrative bottled water business by drawing up to another million gallons a day from Ginnie Springs, a popular swimming and tourist spot.
CelebrityThe TelegraphService with a smile: Prince Philip puts Land Rover hearse at heart of funeral he designed himself
The Duke of Edinburgh's coffin will be carried through the grounds of Windsor Castle in a modified Land Rover that he designed for the occasion himself. The funeral will take place next Saturday at 3pm, following a short procession in which the Prince of Wales and senior members of the Royal family will follow the coffin on foot as it is driven to St George's Chapel. The Queen will not take part in the procession.
U.S.INSIDERA Proud Boys leader is arguing he shouldn't be sent back to jail, since other accused Capitol rioters are being beaten and threatened by guards
Lawyers for a self-proclaimed "Sergeant of Arms" of the far-right Proud Boys asked a federal judge to keep his client out of jail, in part because other accused Capitol rioters have alleged abuse and mistreatment behind bars. In a court filing on April 8, which was first reported by Law and Crime, lawyers for 30-year-old Ethan Nordean cited a recent Politico article describing alleged violence other Capitol siege defendants have experienced from guards. According to the article, one defendant told a judge that another defendant "was severely beaten by correctional officers, [is now] blind in one eye, has a skull fracture and detached retina."
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTrump spent several minutes insulting 'dumb son of a b---h' Mitch McConnell during a rambling speech to GOP donors at Mar-a-Lago, say reports
Former President Donald Trump insulted Mitch McConnell during a speech to donors at Mar-a-Lago. Trump referred to the Senate Minority Leader as a "dumb son of a b---h," Politico reported. Former President Donald Trump derided Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell during a 50-minute speech at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Politico reported.
U.S.USA TODAY'We are all heartbroken': Robert Shook, who initially survived shooting in South Carolina, dies
A North Carolina man who initially survived a mass shooting in rural York County, South Carolina, on Wednesday has now died, becoming the sixth person killed by a gunman who later took his own life. GSM Services, the HVAC company that employed Robert Shook, announced his death Saturday night. The York County Coroner's office also confirmed Shook's death in a statement.
WorldBusiness InsiderLuxury ships from the Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise lines sail to the rescue and evacuate islanders in the path of a volcano eruption
Royal Caribbean International and Carnival Cruise sent ships to the Caribbean island Saint Vincent. The ships helped to evacuate northern areas of the island after La Soufrière threatened to erupt. Saint Vincent's National Emergency Management Organisation later tweeted that the volcano did erupt.
“Without modern infrastructure, the US cannot create decent jobs, social justice or climate safety.”
“The plan itself is really a big bait-and-switch...A fraction of the spending is actually devoted to traditional infrastructure projects.”
“Focusing on the size of the investment is misleading when you consider the high cost of not making it.”
“Rather than spending $2 trillion, we should privatize infrastructure where feasible and cut taxes and regulations on the rest.”
“Public investment can also be a major source of jobs and growth, helping to pull us out of the stagnation trap.”