U.S.TheGrioProtests erupt after police killing of San Francisco man
The family of Roger Allen, 44, who was killed by Daly City, CA police on April 7, gathered with dozens of community supporters on Wednesday to call for transparency in the case of Allen's death, reported the San Francisco Examiner. Allen died in a San Francisco hospital after a police officer reportedly shot him the chest, just a few days before the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright by a police officer on April 11 in neighboring Brooklyn Center, MN. “My family wants the truth and we want justice,” said Talika Fletcher, Allen's sister.
WorldReutersNavalny camp awaits health update, says there's "no hope of good news"
An ally of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said on Monday she was braced for bad news on the health of the hunger-striking opposition politician when his lawyers see him again, after they were kept away over the weekend. Navalny, a prominent opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, started refusing food on March 31 in protest at what he said was the refusal of prison authorities to provide him with adequate medical care for acute leg and back pain. Navalny's allies said at the weekend his life was hanging by a thread, and announced plans for what they hope will be the largest protests in modern Russian history on Wednesday.
PoliticsAxiosMarjorie Taylor Green distances herself from "Anglo-Saxon political traditions" document
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said Saturday a document full of incendiary nativist rhetoric meant to promote a potential America First Caucus was a "draft proposal from an outside group that I hadn't read." Why it matters: The document linked to the caucus promises to "follow in President Trump's footsteps" and outlines a policy platform to push "uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions" drew condemnation from a number of prominent Republicans. Greene said the document as written at the "staff-level."
WorldAssociated PressHigh-ranking Iranian general dies of heart disease at 65
A high-ranking general key to Iran's security apparatus has died, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced on Sunday. Brig. Gen. Mohammad Hosseinzadeh Hejazi, who died at 65, served as deputy commander of the Quds, or Jerusalem, force of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The unit is an elite and influential group that oversees foreign operations, and Hejazi helped lead its expeditionary forces and frequently shuttled between Iraq, Lebanon and Syria.
U.S.Associated PressCalifornia mass shooting suspect was barred from buying gun
The man accused of going on a shooting rampage at a Southern California business, killing four people, should not have been allowed to buy or own guns because of a California law that prohibits people from purchasing weapons for 10 years after being convicted of a crime. Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez was convicted of battery in 2015, which should have kept him from possessing or buying guns or ammo at stores that conduct background checks. While it's unclear how Gaxiola, 44, acquired the weapons used in the March 31 shooting, the tragedy raises concerns over California's ability to enforce strict gun control laws, the Sacramento Bee reported on Friday, Police say Gaxiola had targeted Unified Hom...
WorldReutersHong Kong bans flights from India, Pakistan and the Philippines for 2 weeks
Hong Kong will suspend flights from India, Pakistan and the Philippines from April 20 for two weeks after the N501Y mutant COVID-19 strain was detected in the Asian financial hub for the first time, authorities said in a statement late on Sunday. The three countries would be classified as "extremely high risk" after there had been multiple imported cases carrying the strain into Hong Kong in the past 14 days, the government said. The city reported 30 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, 29 of which were imported, marking the highest daily toll since March 15.
WorldAssociated PressRadical Islamist party frees 11 Pakistani police hostages
An outlawed Pakistani Islamist political group freed 11 policemen almost a day after taking them hostage in the eastern city of Lahore amid violent clashes with security forces, the country's interior minister said Monday. Supporters of the hardline Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan party attacked a police station near their rallying point and on Sunday took the policemen hostage. The group is protesting the arrest of their leader, Saad Rizvi, and pressuring the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to immediately expel France's envoy over the publication of controversial cartoons.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-Telegram‘No one was driving’ Tesla before fatal fiery crash that kept reigniting, Texas cops say
It appears no one was driving a Tesla Model S when it crashed into a tree and burst into flames, killing the two people in the car, Texas police say. The crash happened around 9 p.m. in a Spring subdivision, KTRK reported. Mark Herman, Harris County Constable for Precinct Four, said the two passengers in the car were pronounced dead at the scene, KHOU reported.
WorldReutersChina's births may fall below 10 million annually in next five years: expert quoted
China could see its number of births slide below 10 million annually in the next five years if the government does not quickly abolish its policy of limiting families to two children, an expert was quoted in domestic media as saying. China's total population may also fall in a few years, Dong Yuzheng, director at the Guangdong Academy of Population Development, told Yicai, a Chinese financial news outlet. The number of babies born in China fell by 580,000 to 14.65 million in 2019 and the birth rate of 10.48 per thousand was the lowest since 1949 when present methods of collating data began, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
- WorldAssociated Press
Bangladesh arrests Islamist leader after violent protests
Police in Bangladesh on Sunday arrested an influential leader of an Islamist group that led violent protests against last month's visit by India's prime minister to the Muslim-majority nation, officials said. Mamunul Haque of the group Hefazat-e-Islam faces charges of instigating violence, but police did not provide details on specific cases or whether the charges stem from Narendra Modi's visit. Harunur Rashid, a senior Dhaka Metropolitan Police official, said in a short briefing that Haque was arrested from a madrassa, or Islamic school, in the capital of Dhaka's Mohammadpur area.
WorldBBCUS imposes sanctions on Russia over cyber-attacks
The US has announced sanctions against Russia in response to what it says are cyber-attacks and other hostile acts. The measures, which target dozens of Russian entities and officials, aim to deter "Russia's harmful foreign activities", the White House said. The statement says Russian intelligence was behind last year's massive "SolarWinds" hack, and accuses Moscow of interference in the 2020 election.
WorldReutersWhat you need to know about the coronavirus right now
Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: Delhi locks down India's capital region of Delhi ordered a six-day lockdown on Monday as daily COVID-19 cases nationwide hit a new record and the health system crumbled under the weight of new infections. India's hospitals are struggling with a shortage of beds, oxygen and key medicines as infections pass the 15 million mark, second only to the United States. "Delhi's health system is unable to take more patients in big numbers," Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told a virtual press briefing on Monday.
U.S.Associated PressResidents evacuated as mountain fire spreads in Cape Town
Residents are being evacuated from Cape Town neighborhoods Monday as a wildfire spreading on the slopes of the city's famed Table Mountain was fanned by strong winds overnight and houses came under threat. City authorities said residents of parts of the Vredehoek suburb were being evacuated as a “precautionary” measure after the blaze spread toward the area. The man was arrested Sunday night after witnesses reported seeing three people moving through flames on the mountain slopes setting more fires, Cape Town safety and security official JP Smith told The Associated Press.
- WorldWABC – NY
Police searching for 2 women who grabbed necklace off 84-year-old in Brooklyn
Police are searching for the two women who grabbed a necklace off an 84-year-old woman in Brooklyn.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-Telegram‘I’m a Christian woman of God.’ Texas school board candidate cited after refusing mask.
A Texas school board candidate near Austin was arrested for assault after an altercation with a Nordstrom Rack employee earlier this month. Video of Kara Bell's arrest has gone viral. It shows the woman arguing with Nordstrom employees inside near the fitting rooms and then with the police outside the store.
U.S.The WeekJohn Oliver explains personal bankruptcy, how credit card lobbyists and lawyers make it much worse
Bankruptcy, especially as portrayed by bankruptcy lawyers, promises "a fresh start from your debts," John Oliver said on Sunday's Last Week Tonight. Between 800,000 and 1.5 million Americans file for bankruptcy each year, "and many worry that once the current pandemic assistance stops, more and more people will need the type of help" bankruptcy offers. The process gives people a chance to dig out from under a mountain of debt, but it does hit your credit score, and it carries a "completely misguided" social stigma, he said.
WorldThe TelegraphLobbying rules 'could be strengthened' after Greensill scandal
The rules around lobbying could be strengthened in the wake of the Greensill scandal, a Cabinet minister has said. George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, suggested that “tweaks or changes” in certain areas could be implemented once a number of reviews and inquiries into the controversy had concluded. "And that is why they declare meetings they have, that is why they declare financial interests, it is why they declare any other potential interests of family members – and that does happen and we all do that."
HealthReutersChina trials mixing of COVID-19 vaccines from CanSinoBIO and Zhifei Longcom: data
Chinese researchers are testing mixing two COVID-19 vaccines developed by CanSino Biologics and a unit of Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products respectively, according to clinical trial registration data. Earlier this month, the director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the country was "formally considering" giving people COVID-19 vaccines developed with different technologies as a way of further boosting vaccine efficacy. A trial expected to involve 120 participants will test the safety and ability to trigger immune response of a dose of CanSinoBIO's Ad5-nCoV treatment, followed by a dose of ZF2001 from Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical, at 28-day or 56-day interval, according to clinical trial record site ClinicalTrials.gov maintained by a department under the National Institute of Health of the United States.
PoliticsThe WeekTrump's NSA general counsel Michael Ellis resigns, never having taken office
Michael Ellis, a former Republican operative tapped as general counsel at the National Security Agency in the final months of the Trump administration, resigned Friday after spending three months on administrative leave. Former President Donald Trump's acting defense secretary had ordered NSA Director Gen. Paul Nakasone to accept Ellis' appointment as general counsel, and Nakasone agreed days before Trump left office, The Washington Post reported. The day Trump left the White House and Ellis was scheduled to start his new job, Nakasone placed him on administrative leave, citing a Pentagon inspector general investigation and inquiry into how Ellis handled classified information.
BusinessBBCTwo men killed in Tesla car crash 'without driver' in seat
Two men were killed after a Tesla car crashed into a tree and caught fire in Texas, and police believe there was nobody present in the driver's seat at the time of the accident. The 2019 Tesla Model S was travelling at a high speed when it failed to negotiate a curve on a winding road. The victims, both in their 50s, were found in the front passenger seat and in the back of the vehicle.
U.S.Business InsiderMarjorie Taylor Greene says she'll introduce a resolution to expel Rep. Maxine Waters for her 'continual incitement of violence.'
GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she'd introduce a resolution to expel Rep. Maxine Waters. Greene said Waters incited violence when she spoke with protesters in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Protests in the city have gone on for a week following the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramEarly voting starts Monday for Fort Worth city, school board races. Here’s what to know
Early voting for the May 1 municipal and school board election begins Monday. Fort Worth residents will vote for mayor from a pool of 10 candidates who want to replace Betsy Price, who is not seeking reelection after 10 years. Almost 50 are running in eight council districts.
U.S.INSIDER3 people are dead and 2 are injured after a mass shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin
Three people were fatally shot at a restaurant in Kenosha, Wisconsin early Sunday morning. A shooter killed three people and injured two others at a Wisconsin tavern early Sunday morning. The shooting occurred at The Somers House Tavern in Kenosha just after midnight, as CNN reported.
U.S.The IndependentShooting at Chicago McDonalds drive-through kills seven-year-old girl and seriously injures father
A shooting at one of Chicago's McDonald's drive-through has left a seven-year-old girl dead and resulted in serious injuries to her father. According to the Chicago police, the young girl, Jaslyn Adams, was with her father Jontae Adams, 28, in their car in the McDonald's parking lot in the Homan Square neighbourhood on Sunday afternoon when they were shot. The news report said just after the shooting Mr Adams called his mother, Lawanda McMullen.
WorldBBCPriti Patel: Facebook encryption plan ‘must not hamper child protection’
Facebook's plans to roll out encryption across its messaging services could jeopardise ongoing work to combat child abuse, the Home Secretary is to warn. "We cannot allow a situation where law enforcement's ability to tackle abhorrent criminal acts and protect victims is severely hampered," Priti Patel will tell a charity-hosted event. Facebook says its plans for wider encryption protects users' privacy.
“High-speed rail is bold and attention-grabbing, but the scale of the project makes it near impossible.”
“While a long, slow train ride across the country can be a great thing, the US needs real high-speed rail too.”
“Liberals are right that America has a car problem — but it's commutes, not road trips, that suck.”
“Investments into a high-speed rail system wouldn’t just improve the railroads — automobile traffic could also see some relief.”
“Big cities that are reasonably close together is pretty much a prerequisite for high-speed rail.”