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.
PoliticsReutersSeven takeaways from Biden's budget proposal: defense, immigration, climate
Federal discretionary spending is up by 8.4% compared to 2021 levels, excluding emergency funding, to $1.52 trillion, with a focus on health, education and climate. About two-thirds of the massive budget is "mandatory" spending for benefits like Social Security and Medicare. Because it is lower than former President Donald Trump's 2022 projections, it may also anger Republican defense hawks pushing for more spending.
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.
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.
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.
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."
PoliticsAssociated PressUS unveils new rules for government contacts with Taiwan
The State Department on Friday unveiled new rules for U.S. government contacts with Taiwan that are likely to anger China but appear to reimpose some restrictions that had been lifted by the Trump administration. The department announced the changed policy in a statement that said the Biden administration intends to “liberalize” the rules to reflect the “deepening unofficial relationship” between the U.S. and Taiwan. Pompeo had lifted virtually all restrictions on contacts with Taiwan, including allowing Taiwanese military officers to wear uniforms and display the Taiwanese flag at meetings with U.S. officials.
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.
- 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.
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%.
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.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."
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
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.
WorldBBCMyanmar citizens flee to India to escape violence
Myanmar nationals have been fleeing the country amid violence against civilians in the aftermath of a military coup. Many who live close to the border are seeking refuge in India, reports BBC Hindi's Raghvendra Rao. It was on her third attempt that Makhai finally made it to India.
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.Business InsiderA 'Boogaloo' extremist group destroyed evidence from an investigation into one of their members who allegedly killed a police officer
Members of the "boogaloo" movement tried to cover up evidence in a federal probe, officials said. A member of a California group was arrested and charged with killing a federal officer. Members of the "Boogaloo" extremist movement were charged with conspiring to destroy evidence tied to the investigation of a fatal shooting of a federal officer, authorities said on Friday.
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.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.
U.S.INSIDEROne person dead, multiple hospitalized in a mass shooting in Bryan, Texas
Lt. Jason James with Bryan Police said that the scene was secure, and victims were taken to the hospital. One person was killed and five other were injured in a shooting at Kent Moore Cabinets in an industrial park in Bryan, Texas, on Thursday afternoon. At a press conference Thursday, Lt. Jason James with Bryan Police said that the call came in at around 2:30 p.m. local time, and six ambulances responded to the shooting.
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.
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.
PoliticsUSA TODAYFact check: Statement on migrants at the southern border falsely attributed to Ted Cruz
The claim: Ted Cruz said 'the Alien Invasion is orchestrated' A viral screenshot claims to show a purported quote from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, about the condition of migrants arriving at the southern U.S. border. The April 2 Facebook post says Cruz questioned why "illegals arrive at the Border clean and refreshed after traveling 1,500 miles on foot." "Why don't they ever carry food or blankets?
U.S.INSIDER9 of the 10 US metro areas with a surge in COVID-19 cases are in Michigan
9 out of 10 US metro areas with recent COVID-19 surges are in Michigan, according to The New York Times. Earlier in the pandemic, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was criticized by Republicans for her measures to curb the virus' spread in her state. Nine of 10 metro areas in the US with recent COVID-19 surges are in the state of Michigan, The New York Times reported Saturday, as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer asked - but didn't order - her constituents to avoid indoor activities.
“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.”