PoliticsYahoo NewsBiden praises GOP senator's bipartisanship in eulogy
President Biden on Wednesday delivered a eulogy at the funeral of former Sen. John Warner, R-Va., at Washington National Cathedral. “I had the privilege of serving with John for three decades in the United States Senate,” Biden said. “While we represented different political parties, I can say without hesitation John was a man of conscience, character and honor, with a deep commitment to God and country.”
PoliticsWashington ExaminerTrump says Giuliani suspension from practicing law in NY is part of 'Witch Hunt'
Former President Donald Trump rallied to the defense of his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who was suspended from practicing law in New York after a court determined he made false statements in challenging the results of the 2020 election. A tweemail sent Thursday afternoon described the decision, which leaves Giuliani facing the possibility of disbarment, as being part of a partisan campaign to attack Trump and people in his orbit. "Can you believe that New York wants to strip Rudy Giuliani, a great American Patriot, of his law license because he has been fighting what has already been proven to be a Fraudulent Election?” Trump said.
U.S.Kansas City StarKansas City man gets life in prison for stabbing father to death: prosecutors
A Kansas City man convicted of stabbing his father to death three years ago was sentenced Thursday to a term of life in prison, according to the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office. Curtis V. Lee, 43, was found guilty by a jury in April on charges of first degree murder and armed criminal action, court records show. Lee was arrested by Independence police in the early hours of April 18, 2018 in the 3500 block of South Lynn Court after officers responded to a residence and found Charles and Clyde Burton — Lee's uncle and father — stabbed to death.
U.S.The WeekAnthony Fauci was hosed down, naked, 'in what looked like a kiddy pool' after being mailed mysterious white powder
Last summer, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases chief Anthony Fauci was reportedly sent mail containing white powder that "literally blew up in his face," Politico writes, per a preview of the new book Nightmare Scenario by Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta. Luckily, chemical testing came back negative for both anthrax and ricin, but not before Fauci was hosed "down to his skivvies in a chemical lab," standing "naked in what looked like a kiddy pool" while his team awaited results, per Politico. Previously reported excerpts of Nightmare Scenario revealed Trump once joked he hoped COVID-19 would "take out" former National Security Adviser John Bolton, and had even proposed the U.S. house COVID-19 patients at Guantanamo Bay.
WorldThe TelegraphChina's first Covid case could have been in October 2019, says UK study
The virus that causes Covid-19 could have started spreading in China as early as October 2019, two months before the first case was identified in the central city of Wuhan, a new study showed on Friday. Researchers from Britain's University of Kent used methods from conservation science to estimate that SARS-CoV-2 first appeared from October to mid-November 2019, according to a paper published in the PLOS Pathogens journal. The most likely date for the virus's emergence was November 17, 2019, and it had probably already spread globally by January 2020, they estimated.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramU.S. Marshals arrest Royce Wood, suspected of shooting a Texas cop, in Arkansas
Royce Wood, the man accused of shooting a Rhome police officer June 13, was arrested without incident by the U.S. Marshals Service in Batesville, Arkansas, early Thursday morning, according to the Wise County Sheriff's Office. Wood and his girlfriend, Tiffany Caswell, were arrested together for separate charges against them in Wise County. Caswell and Wood are believed to have been involved in a home invasion robbery on Coyote Trail on June 12, Akin told the Wise County Messenger.
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Bipartisan senators reach tentative infrastructure deal ahead of Biden meeting
A bipartisan group of senators reached a tentative framework on a $953 billion infrastructure deal Wednesday ahead of a crucial meeting with President Biden at the White House.
WorldBBCCovid: Sydney city centre and beach suburbs to enter lockdown
Parts of Sydney's central and eastern suburbs, including Bondi Beach, will be locked down after a jump in Covid cases. The city is battling to contain an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant. It is the first lockdown in Australia's largest city - home to 5.3 million people - this year.
U.S.Kansas City StarMissouri Gov. Mike Parson says he is not convinced Kevin Strickland is innocent
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Wednesday said he is not convinced that Kevin Strickland is innocent, making him the first official to publicly doubt prosecutors' assertions that the Kansas City man was wrongly convicted four decades ago. In an interview with 41 Action News, Parson said he does not know if Strickland, 62, is “innocent or not” in a 1978 triple murder in Kansas City that the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office now says he did not commit. Parson's comments came more than 40 days after Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced her office had concluded Strickland, who was 18 when he was arrested, is “factually innocent” in the April 25, 1978, shooting at 6934 S. Benton Ave.
WorldThe TelegraphAustralian man goes on hunger strike after mother dies while he was stuck in hotel quarantine
An Australian man whose mother died while he was in a hotel quarantine has gone on hunger strike to draw attention to the impossible situations facing people who seek exemptions from Covid restrictions on compassionate grounds. James Turbitt, who lives in Belgium, made an emergency dash home last week after he learned his 62-year-old mother was in hospital in Perth, Western Australia. “This is probably the most compelling reason for a compassionate exemption," Mr Turbitt told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-Telegram3 Texas men sentenced to prison for using dating app to target gay men for violent crimes
Three Texas men who used a dating app to target gay men to carjack, kidnap and commit other hate crimes have been sentenced to federal prison ranging from 11 years to 22 years. A fourth Texas member of the group is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 6 for committing hate crimes against gay men. He faces a maximum of 26 years in prison.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez slams the lack of diversity in an all-white group of lawmakers who drafted a bipartisan infrastructure deal
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized the bipartisan group of lawmakers who negotiated an infrastructure deal. President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that the group reached a deal. The New York lawmaker called out the group for its lack of diversity.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-Telegram911 operator didn’t send Fort Worth officer on call and 3 people died, news report says
An overworked 911 call-taker didn't send a Fort Worth police officer on a June 1 domestic call that ended in a double-murder and suicide, according to a news report. Ex-911 operator Kate Colley told KXAS-TV that the stressed 911 dispatcher received a call from Holly Beverly, who reported that her estranged husband was on his way to her apartment in west Fort Worth to harm her. The operator didn't send an officer because the suspect wasn't actually on the scene yet, Colley told the TV station.
TechnologyBBCCrackonosh: How hackers are using gamers to become crypto-rich
But hidden inside the code of these games is a piece of crypto-mining malware called Crackonosh, which secretly generates digital money once the game has been downloaded. Criminals have made more than $2m (£1.4m) with the scam, researchers say. The researchers, at Avast, say the "cracked" games are spreading Crackonosh fast and the cyber-security software company is now detecting about 800 cases on computers every day.
U.S.Kansas City StarKansas City police officer ‘violently’ threw man to ground in wrongful arrest, lawsuit says
A man has filed a lawsuit against the Kansas City Police Department alleging he was “violently” thrown to the ground during a wrongful arrest last year. Murray Anderson, Jr., 47, claims Officer Jose Romero Jr. placed a knee on his neck after he was handcuffed and taken to the ground following a nearby assault. The assault Romero and other officers responded to occurred on the afternoon of May 24, 2020, outside reStart Inc., a shelter for the homeless community at 918 E. 9th St., according to the lawsuit filed in Jackson County Circuit Court in May.
U.S.Business InsiderA judge expressed skepticism about arguments from Mike Lindell, Sidney Powell, and Rudy Giuliani, who want Dominion's defamation lawsuits against them dismissed
A federal judge on Thursday weighed whether to dismiss Dominion's defamation lawsuits. Dominion is suing all three Trump allies over election conspiracy theories. A federal judge heard arguments Thursday over whether to allow multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuits from Dominion Voting Systems to proceed against Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
U.S.The StateLive updates Thursday: Murdaugh family to offer reward; Vehicle towed from crime scene
The Murdaugh family will soon be offering a $100,000 reward for information that will lead to an arrest and conviction in Paul and Maggie's murders, a Columbia lawyer told The State Media Co. and The Island Packet on Thursday. A local towing company owner also confirmed with The Island Packet that it towed a Chevrolet Suburban from the Murdaugh property to the Colleton County Sheriff's Office the morning after the killings. These are the latest developments as the June 7 double homicide investigation of Paul Murdaugh and his mother Maggie outside their home in Colleton County approaches its third week.
- CelebrityThe Week
Britney Spears apologizes to fans for 'pretending like I've been okay'
Britney Spears got real with her fans on Thursday, writing on Instagram that based on the pictures and videos she posts, "my life seems to look and be pretty amazing," but she doesn't want people to "think my life is perfect because IT'S DEFINITELY NOT AT ALL." During a public hearing on Wednesday, the 39-year-old singer spoke out against the court-ordered conservatorship she's been under for the last 13 years, calling it "abusive." The experience has been "traumatizing," Spears said, and she is depressed. "I apologize for pretending like I've been okay these past two years," she added.
WorldBBCCovid: How do you feel about going back to the office?
Firms which have had most of their staff working from home throughout the pandemic are beginning to share their plans for when coronavirus restrictions end. Almost all of 50 of the UK's biggest employers say they do not plan to bring staff back to the office full-time. However, Goldman Sachs has told its UK bankers they need to be ready to return to the office with boss David Solomon describing working from home as "an aberration".
U.S.USA TODAYMom of biracial teen seen on video being shocked with Taser by state trooper plans to sue
Kris Rodeman finally got to see her son Wednesday. The mother of the 16-year-old was beside herself with worry, angry and concerned that her son, currently in the Southwest Florida Juvenile Justice Center, is in pain. At issue is the shocking a week ago of her son with a Taser stun gun in the San Carlos Park neighborhood where his girlfriend lives.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderNancy Pelosi says 'there ain't no bipartisan bill' unless Senate also approves Democrat-only infrastructure package
Schumer and Pelosi are plowing ahead with a separate spending package without the GOP. A bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure deal is in sight after weeks of sputtering negotiations. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that a bipartisan infrastructure plan won't get voted on in the House until the Senate approves a Democrat-only package.
U.S.The StateLottery player settles for different NC ticket after favorite sold out. It paid off
A North Carolina woman won a top lottery price after settling for a different ticket. Joanne Pacheco bought the winning “7” scratch-off lottery ticket from the Lakeland St. Mini Mart in Durham over the weekend after the one she wanted to buy was sold out, according to the North Carolina Education Lottery. “They didn't have my tickets,” she told lottery officials.
U.S.INSIDERLand around the Florida condo that collapsed was showing signs of sinking, according to a 2020 study
A 2020 study showed that the land around the collapsed Florida condo showed signs of sinking. FIU professor Shimon Wdowinski said that the ground movement alone is not likely to be the cause of the accident. Land around the Florida condominium that collapsed early Thursday morning in Surfside, Florida, showed signs of sinking in the 90s, according to a 2020 study.
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No jail time in 1st Capitol riot sentence; Oath Keeper pleads guilty
An Indiana woman on Wednesday became the first defendant to be sentenced in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and avoided time behind bars. Meanwhile, a member of the Oath Keepers extremist group pleaded guilty in a conspiracy case, and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, in a major step forward for the massive investigation.
CelebrityThe TelegraphPrince of Wales gave Duke and Duchess of Sussex a ‘substantial sum’ to start new life
When the Duke of Sussex told Oprah Winfrey that his family had “literally” cut him off financially, sources close to the Prince of Wales could not hide their surprise. It has now emerged that the Prince of Wales gave the Duke and Duchess a “substantial sum” when they stepped back from their official roles, apparently contradicting Prince Harry's claim that they had only been able to afford their new life in California because of his inheritance from his mother. The Clarence House annual review revealed that Prince Charles gave a total of £4.5 million to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex during the last financial year, down from £5.6 million the previous year.
“The pandemic has unequivocally proven the public health value of masks. And they should stick around in certain situations.”
“With the steady thrum of anti-mask sentiment in the U.S., it’s highly unlikely that they will continue to be a ubiquitous sight.”
“Wearing masks on airplanes or other modes of transit ... can help keep everyone safe.”
“Just because masks are common in many other nations ... is hardly a reason to emulate the practice.”
“The fact that the flu all but vanished ... is not evidence alone that masks were responsible.”