WorldThe TelegraphSpain acquits man of sexually abusing 14-year-old stepdaughter who gave birth to his child
A Spanish court has provoked outrage by acquitting a man of sexually abusing his 14-year-old stepdaughter despite the fact she gave birth to his child. The Pamplona court accepted the defendant's claim that the teenager had sat astride him while he was asleep on the sofa and engaged in penetrative sex. The girl's mother reported the father for alleged sexual abuse of her daughter, who initially said she had been raped in the street before changing her story to corroborate her stepfather's claim that he had not been conscious when they had sex.
PoliticsBBCAfghanistan war: US spies doubt reports of Russian 'bounties' for troops
It comes amid new sanctions on Russia and US plans to leave Afghanistan. US imposes sanctions on Russia for cyber-attacks US: Putin pushed pro-Trump 'influence' campaign The intelligence assessment was first reported last June by the New York Times, and was cited by Mr Biden on the 2020 presidential campaign trail to accuse then-President Trump of not standing up to Russia. Mr Trump at the time called it "fake news" and a "fake issue".
WorldReutersItalian prosecutor accuses WHO of hindering COVID investigation
An Italian prosecutor has accused the World Health Organization (WHO) of hindering efforts to investigate allegations that Italy failed to prepare adequately for the coronavirus pandemic. Prosecutors in the northern city of Bergamo, the epicentre of the deadly outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, are also looking into accusations that WHO officials helped the Italian health ministry cover up its alleged shortcomings. "Up until now we have just been met with a rubber wall," prosecutor Maria Cristina Rota told Reuters.
- WorldWABC – NY
Woman shot and killed on street, boyfriend hits suspect with car
A 52-year-old woman walking with her boyfriend in the Bronx was fatally shot Wednesday afternoon, and her boyfriend then ran down the suspect with his car.
PoliticsAssociated PressA look at new Biden administration sanctions against Russia
The Biden administration on Thursday rolled out a sweeping set of sanctions on Russia over its election interference, hacking campaigns and other malign activity. The Treasury Department sanctioned 16 people and 16 entities related to Russia's election interference efforts. Additionally, the department took new action to sanction Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a backer of the Internet Research Agency, which carried out Russia's election interference campaign in 2016, and Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian intelligence agent who falsely claimed Ukraine was behind the 2016 interference effort.
WorldReutersAppeals court upholds Canada-U.S. asylum-seeker agreement
A Canadian appeals court on Thursday upheld a Canada-U.S. agreement to turn back asylum seekers, overturning a lower court ruling, siding with the federal government and setting up a possible Supreme Court showdown. The Canadian government had launched an appeal defending the agreement and, by association, U.S. immigration detention practices. Canada had argued the pact was necessary to manage its border with the United States.
- U.S.Christian Science Monitor
Slavery’s ‘lingering’ effects, reparations, and a hope of reconciliation
She said that 10 of the first 12 U.S. presidents had been slave owners. That's true, but the full list is longer. Among the first 12, Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James K. Polk, and Zachary Taylor were slave owners, eight of them while in office.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestThe 9 Best Wireless Headphones for Every Kind of Use
From the most comfortable pair to the best value buy, these headphones will carry you through the spring, summer, and beyond Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsThe Guardian‘Alarm is growing’: Michigan governor faces shutdown dilemma as Covid cases rise
The coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions that Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, enacted in March last year were among the nation's toughest, and the governor's leadership is thought to have saved lives. Now, as Michigan faces another surge of cases and hospitalizations, its worst yet, Whitmer has changed tack. Despite past success and growing calls for another lockdown from public health experts, and doctors managing hospitals with Covid patients, the governor is resisting further restrictions, and is instead largely relying on a vaccination rollout and a voluntary suspension of in-person dining services.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderUS set to sanction a dozen Russian individuals, 24 entities for influencing the 2020 election, SolarWinds hack
The Biden administration is set to sanction Russian intelligence officials over attempts to influence the 2020 election. Russian officials and entities could also be sanctioned for misconduct, including the SolarWinds hack. The sanctions may be announced this week, just days after Biden and Putin last spoke on Tuesday.
BusinessReutersDow hits milestone, S&P breaks record high on tech rally
The Dow industrials closed above 34,000 for the first time on Thursday as the blue-chip benchmark and S&P 500 posted fresh record highs on a tech stock rally fueled by falling bond yields and strong March U.S. retail sales. The S&P 500 scored its second closing high this week, and the Dow surpassed its previous peak on April 9. The Nasdaq Composite finished above 14,000 for the first time since Feb. 16 and is now down less than 1% from its Feb. 12 record high ending.
HealthLexington Herald-LeaderLexington health department cancels Friday COVID-19 vaccination clinic
The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department has canceled its Friday vaccination clinic to administer doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, following the statewide halt on use of the single-dose vaccine. The vaccination clinic scheduled for Friday, April 16 at Consolidated Baptist Church “has been canceled following the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and [U.S. Food and Drug Administration's] review of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine,” the health department said Thursday morning. The health department began using the single-dose vaccine in its weekly clinics last week, before which it had administered the two-dose Moderna vaccine.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderMitt Romney, Liz Cheney, and other GOP lawmakers who criticized Trump or voted to impeach him have spent tens of thousands of dollars on private security
Lawmakers who criticized Trump or voted to impeach him spent thousands to improve personal security after the Capitol attack. Republicans including Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney beefed up their security, per Punchbowl News. Prominent lawmakers spent tens of thousands of dollars on private security guards and other protection following the Capitol riots, a Punchbowl News analysis of campaign finance records shows.
- U.S.Raleigh News and Observer
Durham man pleads guilty to shooting grandfather in the head at 16. Why did he do it?
Nearly six years after William Evans was found shot and cold in a Durham parking lot, his grandson pleaded guilty to shooting the 65-year-old man with his own gun. Under a plea agreement, Dominick Jackson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to up to nearly 10 years in prison, with credit for the more than five years he spent in jail awaiting trial. Under North Carolina sentencing laws, courts must consider mitigating and aggravating factors that could decrease or increase the sentence.
BusinessBusiness InsiderRepublicans say less than 6% of Biden's plan is traditional infrastructure. BofA says it's more like half.
Bank of America says about half of Biden's infrastructure plan is traditional, or physical, infrastructure. This contrasts with the GOP argument that less than 6% of Biden's plan goes to roads and bridges. The bank added that nontraditional infrastructure will take longer to prompt economic growth.
PoliticsThe IndependentBiden news: Pence undergoes pacemaker operation as Sanders pays Trump rare compliment on Afghanistan
Former vice president Mike Pence is recovering after surgery to install a pacemaker, a small device to regulate a heartbeat. Mr Pence is expected to fully recover and return to normal activity in the coming days following the procedure, described as “routine surgery”. While Sanders praised Joe Biden's commitment to withdraw troops from Afghanistan before the 20th anniversary of September 11, he made clear it was a deal negotiated by the former president.
U.S.INSIDERA Portland police officer fatally shot a man near a city park, The Oregonian reports
A Portland, Oregon, police officer shot and killed a man in a city park Friday afternoon, The Oregonian reported. According to The Oregonian reporter Maxine Bernstein, police were responding to a 911 call of a man with a gun. One officer opened fire on a man, who was shot and killed near a baseball field fence, Bernstein reported.
U.S.PoliticoMesh mask lands Capitol riot defendant in hot water with judge
A federal judge is demanding that a Pennsylvania woman arrested for her alleged role in the Capitol riot, Rachel Powell, explain why a video of her circulating online shows her wearing a porous, mesh mask despite another judge's order to comply with Covid mask requirements while she awaits trial. U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth said Powell's decision to wear the obviously noncompliant mask “mocks” the initial requirement decreed by the court's chief judge, Beryl Howell, soon after Powell's release in February. Defendant must wear a mask whenever she leaves her residence,” Howell ruled at the time.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderThe US officially designates Paul Manafort's associate Konstantin Kilimnik as a 'known Russian agent'
The US on Thursday designated Manafort associate Konstanin Kilimnik as a "known Russian agent." It's the first time the US government has explicitly tied Kilimnik to the Russian government. Mueller and the Senate Intel Committee described him as someone with ties to Russian intelligence.
WorldThe Independent‘We stayed. The citizens are why we stay’: CNN reporter goes viral after police threaten to arrest journalists
“In my 25 years as a reporter I have NEVER heard police in America actually say “journalists will be arrested” during a protest,” wrote Sara Sidner. The comments from Sidner, who is 48, have highlighted an aspect of the story of the fatal shooting of the young man that has threatened to get lost in the flurry of breaking news - the harsh way police have responded to protesters, and to reporters covering the protesters. As hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets every night since 20-year-old Wright was shot by an officer from the Brooklyn Center Police Department, police have responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets.
PoliticsThe IndependentDemocrats to unveil bill adding four new justices to the Supreme Court
House and Senate Democrats are planning to introduce a legislation on Thursday that seeks to expand the number of Supreme Court justices from nine to 13. The bill, bound to draw fierce opposition from Republican lawmakers, is led by senator Ed Markey and representatives Jerrold Nadler, Hank Johnson and Mondaire Jones who will introduce it in both the chambers. The legislation comes days after president Joe Biden announced the formation of a bipartisan commission to study potential Supreme Court reforms including the expansion and limiting terms of the justices.
LifestyleINSIDERA professional cleaner reveals the dirtiest thing in your bathroom isn't the toilet - it's the bath mat
The dirtiest thing in the bathroom is the bath mat, pro cleaner Bailey Carson told Insider. Dirty shower water and flushing toilets can make mold, mildew, and bacteria grow over time. Most people think the most disgusting thing in their bathroom is the toilet, Bailey Carson told Insider.
EntertainmentArchitectural DigestShop Troye Sivan’s Eclectic Home Style
Take a page out of the stylish young star's book, from must-have splurges to affordable accessories Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
HealthBusiness Insider4 virus variants are spreading in the US, and studies suggest they can make people sicker, evade the immune response, or spread faster. Here's why experts are concerned.
There are four coronavirus variants that experts in the US are worried about. Several coronavirus variants have evolved mutations that mean they spread more easily, make people sicker, escape immune responses, evade tests, or render treatments ineffective. It has been identified in 111 countries worldwide, including the US, where there are more than 20,000 reported cases, according to the CDC. Michigan has the highest proportion of B.1.1.7 cases of any state, at over 57%.
U.S.The IndependentBLM activist arrested for anti-Asian hate crime in Seattle
A man identified as a Black Lives Matter activist has been charged for anti-Asian hate crime, according to reports. Christopher Hamner, of Seatac, Washington, appeared in court on 9 April facing hate crime charges for chasing Asian-American women in Seattle. In one of the incidents, the 51-year-old allegedly called a woman an “Asian b****” while she was driving with her children, who were in the vehicle.
“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.”