PoliticsNBC News'You want to see a temper tantrum?': Arizona Republican sides with Democrats, blocks voting bill
A bill that would stop some voters from getting a ballot automatically mailed to them each election failed unexpectedly in Arizona's state Senate Thursday after a single Republican joined Democrats in voting against the legislation. GOP state Sen. Kelly Townsend explained her surprise "no" vote on the state Senate floor amid a tense episode that saw the senator get into a heated confrontation with the bill's sponsor. "I am for this bill, but I am not voting for it until after the audit," she said, referring to an audit orchestrated by Senate Republicans of ballots in Maricopa County reportedly set to get underway this week and last through mid-May. The audit is a continuation of GOP efforts to question the results of the 2020 election in a state President Joe Biden won by over 10,000 votes.
U.S.The WeekThe Derek Chauvin solitary confinement predicament
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is being held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day following his conviction for the murder of George Floyd. Chauvin's solitary confinement is protective, and he's hardly languishing in a dank hole. A brief separation is one thing, but extended isolation from human contact is "cruel and unusual punishment," in constitutional parlance.
- U.S.Associated Press
Bodies found in desert in 1980 ID’d as woman seeks parents
Authorities have finally identified the bodies of two homicide victims who were found buried in the Southern California desert in 1980 and linked to a man imprisoned for murder in Mississippi, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said. A chain of events that began with a woman using DNA to try to find her biological parents led to identification of the victims as Pamela Dianne Duffey, born in 1959, and William Everette Lane, born in 1960, a department statement said Wednesday. An archeologist found the bodies in a shallow grave in a remote area of the Mojave Desert a few miles east of the tiny community of Ludlow.
WorldThe TelegraphIt's 'fair' to call me a private education hypocrite, says Scottish Labour leader
Anas Sarwar has admitted it is a “fair” to call him a hypocrite after he unveiled plans for an attack on private education despite sending his own children to a fee-paying school. Scottish Labour's manifesto, published Thursday, calls for the charitable status of private schools to be revoked and for any public sector backing for them to end. Mr Sarwar, the party leader, sends his own children to Hutchesons' Grammar School in Glasgow, which he also attended, and currently charges annual fees of up to £12,924 per pupil.
PoliticsReutersU.S. House passes bill to make Washington, D.C., the 51st state
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday narrowly voted, for the second time in less than a year, to make the District of Columbia the 51st state, sending it to the Senate where it faces stiff Republican opposition. By a vote of 216-208, the Democratic-controlled House approved the initiative with no Republican support. The population of Washington, D.C., is heavily Democratic.
U.S.Associated PressSheriff: Deputy fatally shot Black man while serving warrant
A North Carolina deputy shot and killed a Black man while serving a search warrant Wednesday, authorities said, spurring an outcry from community members who demanded law enforcement accountability and the immediate release of body camera footage. Authorities wouldn't provide details of the shooting but an eyewitness said that Andrew Brown Jr. was shot while trying to drive away, and that deputies fired at him multiple times. The car skidded out of Brown's yard and eventually hit a tree, said Demetria Williams, who lives on the same street.
- NewsWLS – Chicago
Inbound I-290 lanes closed near 25th Avenue after shooting
All inbound lanes of I-290 are blocked from just before the 25th Avenue exit due to police investigation of a shooting.
PoliticsAxiosGeorge W. Bush says he wrote in Condoleezza Rice for president in 2020 election
Former President George W. Bush told People magazine that he wrote in Condoleezza Rice when he voted for president in the 2020 election. The big picture: Bush also clarified comments made earlier this week in which he called today's GOP "isolationist, protectionist and, to a certain extent, nativist." The former president told People that he "painted with too broad a brush" and excluded "a lot of Republicans who believe we can fix the problem."
- BusinessReuters
Police search cryptocurrency trading firm after Turks say they were scammed
Police searched the headquarters of a cryptocurrency trading platform provider in Istanbul on Thursday, after thousands of Turks filed criminal complaints against the company saying they had been scammed and were unable to access their accounts. The Thodex cryptocurrency trading platform, which had been handling daily cryptocurrency trade worth hundreds of millions of dollars, said on its website on Thursday it would be closed for four to five days due to a sale process. But users who have not been able to withdraw money or access their accounts voiced concern on Twitter that they may have been defrauded, in comments widely picked up by Turkish media.
WorldBBCAustralia resists calls for tougher climate targets
Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison has resisted pressure to set more ambitious carbon emission targets while other major nations vowed deeper reductions to tackle climate change. Addressing a global climate summit, Mr Morrison said Australia was on a path to net zero emissions. US President Joe Biden, who chaired the virtual summit, pledged to cut carbon emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by the year 2030.
- WorldChristian Science Monitor
A light for Myanmar's darkness
The dictator of Myanmar, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, is set to meet with other leaders of Southeast Asia on Saturday in Indonesia. The gathering may be the only place where the man who led a Feb. 1 coup against an elected government might feel some legitimacy. Now, instead of relying solely on resistance to the regime, democracy leaders have decided to set up “free zones” in border areas to provide both basic services and civic liberties.
ScienceReutersNASA extracts breathable oxygen from thin Martian air
NASA has logged another extraterrestrial first on its latest mission to Mars: converting carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere into pure, breathable oxygen, the U.S. space agency said on Wednesday. The unprecedented extraction of oxygen, literally out of thin air on Mars, was achieved Tuesday by an experimental device aboard Perseverance, a six-wheeled science rover that landed on the Red Planet Feb. 18 after a seven-month journey from Earth. In its first activation, the toaster-sized instrument dubbed MOXIE, short for Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment, produced about 5 grams of oxygen, equivalent to roughly 10 minutes' worth of breathing for an astronaut, NASA said.
U.S.The StateCop who fatally shot teen in Tennessee school bathroom won’t face charges, official says
Prosecutors say they won't charge the Tennessee officer who fatally shot a 17-year-old student last week during a violent confrontation inside a high school bathroom. Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen said Knoxville officers were justified in the April 12 shooting that killed Anthony J. Thompson Jr. at Austin-East Magnet High School. Knoxville policeman Jonathon Clabough fired in self-defense, Allen said, after thinking Thompson had shot and wounded an officer.
WorldBBCIdriss Déby: Chad funeral for president killed by rebels
The state funeral of Chad's long-serving President Idriss Déby is being held after he was killed by rebels. Among the foreign leaders is France's President Emmanuel Macron, for whom Chad is a key ally in the fight against jihadists in region. Friday's ceremony saw a military march-past and a speech by his son, Gen Mahamat "Kaka" Déby Itno, who the army has named as the country's new leader.
U.S.NBC NewsCouple planned wedding at Florida mansion without owner's OK.
A Florida couple attempted to host a two-day wedding celebration at a mansion they didn't have permission to use, and when the owner found out about it on the day of their planned nuptials, he called the police. Courtney Wilson, the groom, and Shenita Jones, the bride, sent elaborate invitations to family and friends to attend their wedding at their "dream home and estate." When Wilson showed up with another person on the morning of his wedding day, ready to begin "setting up," Finkel saw them at the gate and immediately called the police, according to WTVJ.
WorldReutersUK sorry for 'pervasive racism' over commemoration of Black and Asian war dead
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain apologised on Thursday for failures that meant "pervasive racism" may have denied a proper commemoration to as many as 350,000 Black and Asian service personnel who died fighting for the British Empire. An independent inquiry commissioned by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) found that hundreds of thousands of mostly African and Middle Eastern casualties from World War One were not commemorated by name, or at all. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the contribution of people from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Middle East who fought for Britain had been "immense" and he was "deeply troubled" by the findings of the inquiry.
U.S.LA TimesHow Biden's new U.S. climate target compares with those of California and world
But it's unclear yet whether the administration's pledge will require California to do more to cut its pollution, in part because of differences in how the state and federal government track emissions, researchers and state officials said. The target to reduce U.S. emissions 50 to 52% below 2005 levels by 2030 is among the "most ambitious 2030 commitments when it comes to economy-wide emission reductions below historical levels,” according to an analysis by the research firm Rhodium Group. Those ambitions fall behind only the United Kingdom, and are similar to what the European Union has pledged to reduce from 2005 levels, according to the analysis.
WorldArchitectural DigestBookmark These 11 Places on HipCamp for Your Next Outdoor Retreat
A WiFi break? Yes, please Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
U.S.INSIDEROther ex-officers charged in George Floyd's killing are 'almost 100 percent' going to plead guilty after Derek Chauvin's conviction, experts say
The three remaining former officers charged in George Floyd's death are awaiting trial in August. The officers will want to avoid going to a jury trial, criminal justice experts tell Insider. Experts say the officers are likely to take a plea deal if offered, or ask for a bench trial.
PoliticsThe IndependentSotomayor gives blistering dissent to Trump SCOTUS appointees who find juvenile not worthy of parole
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor gave a blistering dissent to Donald Trump's SCOTUS appointees who found a juvenile not worthy of parole, calling the ruling “an abrupt break from precedent”. On Thursday, the highest court in the US ruled 6-3 along liberal-conservative lines against Mississippi inmate Brett Jones who was sentenced to life in prison when he was 15 years old. Jones was sentenced to prison without the possibility of parole in 2005, for fatally stabbing his grandfather Bertis in 2004 during a fight about his girlfriend.
WorldReutersAt least 130 migrants feared drowned in Mediterranean as capsized boat, bodies found
MILAN (Reuters) -Merchant vessels and a charity ship searching the Mediterranean for boats carrying migrants has found 10 bodies floating near a capsized rubber boat believed to have had 130 people on board, French humanitarian organisation SOS Mediterranee said. Another wooden boat was still missing with about 40 migrants aboard, a spokesman for the group said on Friday. The civil hotline Alarm Phone had reported three boats were in distress on Wednesday, prompting SOS Mediterranee to launch a search "in very rough seas, with up to 6-metre waves", the non-governmental organisation said in a news release issued earlier.
HealthAssociated PressJ&J vaccine 'pause' latest messaging challenge for officials
Confronted with rare cases of blood clots potentially linked to Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, U.S. health officials faced a delicate task: how to suspend distribution of the shots without setting off alarm about their safety. It was the just the latest challenge in crisis messaging for officials since the start of the pandemic more than a year ago. The behavior of the new virus, the benefits of masks and the need for school and business closings have all been marked by public confusion, changing guidance and squabbling.
WorldINSIDERHundreds of Jewish supremacists chant 'Death to Arabs' as tensions boil over in Jerusalem clashes
Members of the supremacist group, Lehava, chanted "death to Arabs" as they marched to the Old City. Police were able to separate the two crowds, but The Jerusalem Post still reported incidents of violence and arrests. Planned protests among far-right Jewish extremists and Arab crowds escalated in Jerusalem's Old City Thursday night and early Friday morning amid increasing tensions in the city.
PoliticsUSA TODAY OpinionHelp Michael Wood clean up the Republican Party and deliver a rebuke to Donald Trump
Michael Wood's run for Congress Michael Wood is a Republican running for Congress in a May 1 special election in the 6th Texas Congressional District. Since it's a special election, it's what's sometimes called a "jungle primary" where all candidates, regardless of party, compete in one election and then the top two, assuming nobody gets more than 50%, advance to a runoff. Wood is a conservative Republican, but he has based his campaign around disgust for Trump's anti-democratic behavior: “The country needs a strong, sane GOP that is not a Trump cult of personality or just a vehicle for 'owning the libs'.
ScienceIdaho StatesmanApril’s supermoon is called the ‘Pink Moon’ — but not because of its color. Here’s why
April's full moon is called the “Pink Moon” — but not for the reason you might think. The moon will appear full Monday, April 26, but it probably won't look pink, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac. The moniker comes from Native American groups who coined April's full moon after the time of year when a wildflower would bloom, The Old Farmer's Almanac reported.
“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.”