U.S.Associated PressGarland rescinds Trump-era memo curtailing consent decrees
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday rescinded a Trump-era memo that curtailed the use of consent decrees that federal prosecutors have used in sweeping investigations of police departments. Garland issued a new memorandum to all U.S. attorneys and other Justice Department leaders spelling out the new policies on civil agreements and consent decrees with state and local governments. The memo comes as the Justice Department shifts its priorities to focus more on civil rights issues, criminal justice overhauls and policing policies in the wake of nationwide protests over the death of Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramSpringtown math teacher ‘in love’ with student had sex with teen boy, authorities say
A teacher who authorities alleged had years-long sexual contact with a student in Parker County was arrested on Friday. Misty Cato, 43, of Springtown, is a fifth-grade math teacher at Springtown Intermediate School. Cato was contracted as a math teacher with the Springtown Independent School District at the time the crime in which she is accused, second-degree improper relationship between educator and student, occurred.
WorldReutersUK warships to sail for Black Sea in May as Ukraine-Russia tensions rise- Sunday Times
The deployment is aimed at showing solidarity with Ukraine and Britain's NATO allies, the newspaper reported https://bit.ly/32pc4BK. One Type 45 destroyer armed with anti-aircraft missiles and an anti-submarine Type 23 frigate will leave the Royal Navy's carrier task group in the Mediterranean and head through the Bosphorus into the Black Sea, according to the report. RAF F-35B Lightning stealth jets and Merlin submarine-hunting helicopters will stand ready on the task group's flag ship, the carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, to support the warships in the Black Sea, the report added.
U.S.Associated PressDefense expert in Derek Chauvin trial faces Maryland lawsuit
The former chief medical examiner for Maryland who testified on behalf of the officer accused of killing George Floyd is a defendant in a federal lawsuit over the death of a man who died under circumstances similar to Floyd. Dr. David Fowler was chief medical examiner in Maryland for 17 years before retiring in 2019. Fowler testified that he would have ruled Floyd's cause of death as “undetermined” rather than homicide.
WorldReutersSaudi and Iran held talks aimed at easing tensions, say sources
Saudi and Iranian officials held direct talks this month in a bid to ease tensions between the two foes, a senior Iranian official and two regional sources said, as Washington works to revive a 2015 nuclear pact with Tehran and end the Yemen war. The April 9 meeting in Iraq, first reported https://www.ft.com/content/852e94b8-ca97-4917-9cc4-e2faef4a69c8 by the Financial Times on Sunday, did not lead to any breakthrough, the Iranian official and one of the regional sources familiar with the matter said. The regional source said the meeting focused on Yemen, where a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been battling the Iran-aligned Houthi group since March 2015.
WorldThe TelegraphSinn Fein leader apologises for the death of Lord Mountbatten following Prince Philip's funeral
The leader of Sinn Fein has said she is sorry for the murder of Lord Mountbatten at the hands of the IRA following the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh. Mary Lou McDonald, the President of the republican party, said the death of the Duke's uncle in 1979 was “heartbreaking” and that it was her responsibility to “lead from the front”. Her comments represent a significant shift from her predecessor Gerry Adams, who expressed regret over the assassination but refused to retract his claims that Lord Mountbatten knew the risk of travelling to Ireland.
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...
WorldReutersGreece says resolving differences with Turkey may be hard, but not impossible
Greece cannot ignore its differences with Turkey over territorial disputes in the Mediterranean and other issues but while a solution is difficult, it is not impossible, its foreign minister told a newspaper on Sunday. The two countries are NATO allies but at odds over many issues, including competing claims over the extent of their continental shelves in the Mediterranean, air space, energy resources and ethnically split Cyprus. "It is not possible to hide under the rug issues where we have different views and approaches," Nikos Dendias told Kathimerini newspaper in an interview.
U.S.The ConversationDerek Chauvin trial: 3 questions America needs to ask about seeking racial justice in a court of law
There is a difference between enforcing the law and being the law. The world is now witnessing another in a long history of struggles for racial justice in which this distinction may be ignored. Derek Chauvin, a 45-year-old white former Minneapolis police officer, is on trial for second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter for the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man.
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
U.S.BBCIndianapolis FedEx shooting: Who were the eight victims?
Officials in Indianapolis have released the names of the eight people who were killed when a gunman opened fire at a FedEx warehouse on Thursday night. Among the victims were four members of the local Sikh community - including a mother, a father and two grandmothers. Other victims include two 19-year-olds, a university graduate and a father.
WorldAssociated PressRefugees win rare victory in landmark Serbia pushback ruling
Hamid Ahmadi still can feel the cold of the February night when Serbian police left him and two dozen other refugees in a forest. Crammed into a police van, the refugees from Afghanistan thought they were headed to an asylum-seekers' camp in eastern Serbia. Instead, they were ordered out near the country's border with Bulgaria in the middle of that night four years ago.
WorldINSIDERNeighbor who tossed an elderly Jewish woman off a balcony while yelling 'Allahu Akbar' avoids trial because he smoked weed
Kobili Traoré killed an Orthodox Jewish woman in 2018 by throwing her off her balcony in Paris. France's top court has ruled that he will not go on trial because he was in a drug-induced psychosis. Cannabis was found in Traoré's blood after he was taken into custody for the killing.
WorldReutersAustralia, largely free of COVID-19, in no hurry to reopen borders - PM
Australia is no hurry to reopen its international borders and risk the country's nearly coronavirus-free lifestyle, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday. Australia closed its borders to all non-citizens and non-residents in March 2020 and has been permitting only limited international arrivals in recent months, mainly its citizens returning from abroad. The border closure, together with snap lockdowns, swift contact tracking and high community compliance with health measures, have made Australia one of the world's most successful countries in curbing the pandemic, limiting coronavirus cases to under 29,500 infections and 910 deaths.
PoliticsAssociated PressGOP White House hopefuls move forward as Trump considers run
Less than three months after former President Donald Trump left the White House, the race to succeed him atop the Republican Party is already beginning. Trump's former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has launched an aggressive schedule, visiting states that will play a pivotal role in the 2024 primaries, and he has signed a contract with Fox News Channel. Mike Pence, Trump's former vice president, has started a political advocacy group, finalized a book deal and later this month will give his first speech since leaving office in South Carolina.
- WorldYahoo News Video
Retired Ohio sheriff and K-9 partner die the same day
The Ohio county sheriff and his tiny police dog were inseparable, their lives unwaveringly intertwined. It thus seems fitting that retired Geauga County Sheriff Dan McClelland, 67, and his crime-fighting partner Midge, 16, would both die on Wednesday — McClelland at a hospital after a lengthy battle with cancer, and Midge a few hours later at home, perhaps of a broken heart.
U.S.INSIDERA Minnesota man attacked a store employee over a mask policy then dragged a police officer with his vehicle and struck him with a hammer, police say
A 61-year-old Minnesota man has been charged with assaulting a store employee and a police officer. Police say Luke Oeltjenbruns attacked an employee with lumber over the store's mask policy. Oeltjenbruns then dragged a police officer from his truck and struck him with a hammer, police said.
ScienceReutersMars helicopter flight test promises Wright Brothers moment for NASA
NASA hopes to score a 21st-century Wright Brothers moment on Monday as it attempts to send a miniature helicopter buzzing over the surface of Mars in what would be the first powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet. A modest debut is likewise in store for NASA's twin-rotor, solar-powered helicopter Ingenuity. While the mere metrics may seem less than ambitious, the "air field" for the interplanetary test flight is 173 million miles from Earth, on the floor of a vast Martian basin called Jezero Crater.
WorldLA TimesA royal feud has some Jordanians asking: Is this the monarchy we want?
A century ago this month, the British created Jordan. In possibly the world's first instance of nation-building as consolation prize, they carved out a piece of desert with little water and even less oil from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire and gifted it to their Hashemite ally, Emir Abdullah bin Hussein, whose brother had been granted control of Iraq. A hundred years later, the emir's great-grandson, King Abdullah II, celebrated the centennial of a country few believed then would still exist.
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.Miami HeraldFlorida COVID update for Saturday: 74 resident deaths as vaccinations top 5 million
COVID-19 in Florida ▪ Miami-Dade County reported 1,444 new cases. The county added 14 deaths, putting its pandemic totals at 468,908 cases and 6,043 deaths. In Miami-Dade, 388,967 people have received the first dose of Pfizer or Moderna and 668,502 people have either received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine or have completed the two-dose series of Pfizer or Moderna.
CelebrityArchitectural DigestOur 9 Favorite Items From Jessica Alba’s Affordable Office Makeover
In a new YouTube video, the star shows how she decorated a space using all Amazon products Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
U.S.The StateCharlotte woman, who was oldest living American and had 125 great-grandchildren, has died
Hester McCardell Ford, believed to be the oldest living person in the United States and among the oldest human beings on the planet, died peacefully at her home in Charlotte on Saturday, according to her family. She was at least 115, but possibly as old as 116. She lived more than twice as long as her late husband — John Ford, who died at age 57 in 1963 — and was the matriarch of an enormous family: 68 grandchildren, 125 great-grandchildren, and at least 120 great-great-grandchildren.
U.S.Kansas City Star2 teens taken to hospital in crash Saturday night after driver speeds, hits building
Two teenage passengers were taken to the hospital Saturday night after a 19-year-old driver lost control of their vehicle, striking a building and a fire hydrant, Kansas City police said. A blue Chevy Cobalt with five teenagers inside was speeding on East 27th Street about 11:17 p.m. when the driver lost control, left the road and struck a building on the northwest corner of East 27th Street and Agnes Avenue. The vehicle then struck a fire hydrant, removing it at the base, before it went up the hill of a front yard and through a chain link fence.
U.S.INSIDERThe head of the Chicago Police Union called the officer who shot 13-year-old Adam Toledo 'heroic'
The Chicago Police Union head said Thursday that the fatal shooting of Adam Toledo was "justified." A video released this week shows Toledo running down an alley and raising his hands before he was shot. Toledo appeared to have a gun but dropped it before officer Eric Stillman shot him once in the chest.
“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.”