PoliticsAssociated PressArizona auditors backtrack, say no election data destroyed
Firms hired to run a partisan audit of the 2020 election for Senate Republicans in Arizona said Tuesday that data was not destroyed, reversing earlier allegations that election officials in the state's most populated county eliminated evidence. The claim of deleted databases was amplified by former President Donald Trump and his supporters, who believe conspiracy theories about election irregularities. Ben Cotton, founder of a computer forensics firm working on the audit, told key senators that he had recovered all data.
U.S.The Week'QAnon Shaman' lawyer issues shockingly offensive defense of client's role in Capitol riot
Albert Watkins, the attorney for Jacob Chansley (perhaps better known as "QAnon Shaman"), spoke on the record with Talking Points Memo about his client's alleged role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. In the interview, published by TPM on Tuesday, Watkins used shockingly offensive language in an attempt to defend Chansley's alleged actions, saying Chansley has Asperger's syndrome, and asserting that other participants in the riot have intellectual disabilities that were to blame. "These are people with brain damage," he said.
PoliticsThe WeekKevin McCarthy appears to throw GOP broker 'under the bus' in rebuke of House's Jan. 6 commission deal
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday slammed the House's Jan. 6 commission deal, and in the process appeared to throw Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), the Republican he reportedly tasked with negotiating the legislation, "under the bus." In a statement, McCarthy specifically complained that the commission was too narrow.
WorldBBCSolarWinds hack: Russian denial 'unconvincing'
Russia's denial of involvement in the SolarWinds hack is "unconvincing", the former head of GCHQ's National Cyber Security Centre has said. Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) director Sergei Naryshkin had said he was “flattered” by the accusations from the UK and US but denied involvement. The hack is considered the largest and most sophisticated cyber-attack so far.
HealthAssociated PressBiden adviser makes personal appeal to young to get shots
A top White House aide made his pitch for young people to get vaccinated personal on Tuesday, sharing the struggles his son has experienced since contracting COVID-19 last fall. Andy Slavitt, President Joe Biden's senior adviser for the coronavirus, revealed during a White House briefing that one of his sons came down with the virus last year and continues to suffer lingering side effects. He used it to appeal to younger Americans to roll up their sleeves, even if they feel they're at relatively lower risk than older Americans to serious consequences from the virus.
PoliticsThe WeekMcConnell expresses 'surprising' openness to Jan. 6 commission
Unlike House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) seems open to a negotiated House bill that would set up a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
U.S.Business InsiderA JetBlue was forced to divert after a passenger was seen snorting a white substance and 'acting erratically'
A JetBlue flight was forced to make an early landing in Minneapolis on Sunday after a man was acting "erratically and aggressively" towards passengers and crew members, the airline said. year-old Mark Anthony Scerbo was arrested at Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport and charged with possession of a controlled substance, according to police. "JetBlue flight 915 with scheduled service from New York's JFK Airport to San Francisco, was forced to divert to Minneapolis after a customer on board began acting erratically and aggressively toward crewmembers and other customers.
U.S.Architectural Digest13 Rocking Chairs That Aren’t Your Grandma’s Rocking Chair
Rock, glide, or swivel in these updated takes on old-school rocking chairs Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
U.S.Miami HeraldFlorida COVID update for Tuesday: 94 more resident deaths, highest in over a month
Florida's Department of Health on Tuesday announced 2,805 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. More than 7.5 million Floridians have completed the two-dose series of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna or have completed Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine, according to Monday's vaccine report. In Miami-Dade, 342,924 people have received the first dose of Pfizer or Moderna and 1,063,940 people have either received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine or have completed the two-dose series of Pfizer or Moderna.
BusinessAssociated PressA late drop leaves Wall Street indexes lower, led by tech
Stocks closed lower on Wall Street Tuesday as a late-afternoon sell-off in technology companies helped nudge stock indexes into the red for the second straight day. The S&P 500 lost 0.9%, with most of the pullback coming in the last hour of trading. Apple, Facebook and Google's parent company all lost 1% or more as technology stocks fell broadly.
LifestyleCharlotte ObserverYou can tour these Charlotte secret gardens — and get inspiration for your own yard.
With quaint, older homes and elegant, cozy, manicured gardens to match, we're starting to wonder if a literal green thumb is straight-up required to live in Fourth Ward. You can both hear the signs of traffic and other parts of city life and also feel the tranquility that comes with a meandering pea gravel walkway leading to a 30-foot-tall white crepe myrtle with a fountain in the foreground. Luckily for us, several homeowners are offering up tours of their gardens at The Secret Gardens of Fourth Ward tour on May 22-23 from noon-4 p.m. The annual event was canceled last year (thanks, COVID), but it's back on for 2021.
PoliticsThe Independent‘I’m only teasing’: Biden jokes about hitting journalist with truck when asked about Israel
Following a tour of the automaker's facility in Dearborn, Michigan, President Joe Biden took a surprise test drive of Ford's F150 Lightning, an electric version of the manufacturer's signature truck. “This sucker's quick,” the president said from the driver's seat as he pulled up to reporters on Ford's test track. The president toured the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center to promote his ambitious domestic energy agenda and his American Jobs Plan, a $2.2 trillion infrastructure-focused package grounded in addressing the climate crisis and repairing economic disparities with a sweeping set of proposals, including promoting electric vehicle manufacturing and research and development.
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Man fatally cuts own throat in court after partial guilty verdict
Federal authorities say a man on trial in Fargo, N.D., slashed his own throat in the courtroom Monday and died.
WorldINSIDERA famous, photogenic rock formation in the Galapagos has collapsed
Darwin's Arch, the famed rock formation in the Galápagos Islands, has collapsed, officials said. The arch was located about a mile away from Darwin's Island, also named for Charles Darwin. UN scientists previously warned that the islands are at risk due to the effects of climate change, the New York Times reported.
U.S.Idaho StatesmanJohnson & Johnson recalls Acuvue contact lenses sold by Walmart, Sam’s Club and others
One lot of Acuvue Vita Brand Diagnostic lenses has been recalled by Johnson & Johnson because of a packaging problem that can lead to the lenses losing sterility. Walmart posted the recall, saying the lenses were sold at select Walmart and Sam's Club stores, but haven't posted a store list yet. Johnson & Johnson says “a limited number of individual contact lens packages” might “have an incomplete packaging seal.”
PoliticsThe IndependentManchin and Murkowski call for bipartisan voting rights bill as For The People Act deadlocks in Senate
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin and Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski have made a bipartisan appeal to Congress to reauthorise the Voting Rights Act, a measure that has total support from congressional Democrats but could face Republican roadblocks. The conservative Democrat from West Virginia has joined Republicans to object to the White House-backed For The People Act, which Democrats and voting rights advocates have warned is an urgent and necessary step to combat a wave of suppressive voting laws and protect Americans' access to the ballot. Instead, the two senators have urged House and Senate leaders to take up the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a restoration of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that prohibits racial discrimination at the polls.
PoliticsUSA TODAYGroup of House GOP lawmakers remove masks in Chamber on Tuesday
A group of House GOP lawmakers refused to wear face masks on the floor during votes on Tuesday in defiance of leadership's rules regarding COVID-19 protocols. House Democrats imposed a rule in January that said members would be fined $500 on a first offense and $2,500 for a second offense if they did not wear a mask on the House floor. The members Tuesday who refused to wear a mask first included Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., who was approached by a staff member of the House Sergeant of Arms during votes and did not put one on.
U.S.Business InsiderMatt Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg pleads guilty to 6 felony counts and agrees to cooperate with prosecutors
Former Florida tax official and Matt Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg pleaded guilty to 6 counts on Monday. Greenberg also agreed to cooperate fully with the government in any related cases. The former Florida county tax collector Joel Greenberg formally pleaded guilty to six felony counts on Monday and agreed to cooperate with the US government in the investigation and potential prosecution of others.
U.S.INSIDERAmy Coney Barrett took speaking fees from a group that pushed Mississippi's abortion ban. A constitutional law expert says that won't stop her ruling on the case.
The Supreme Court will hear a case on Mississippi's abortion ban that may challenge Roe v. Wade. Amy Coney Barrett has been criticized for paid speaking gigs to a group that took credit for the law. A constitutional law expert says the justice almost certainly won't recuse herself from the case.
U.S.USA TODAY OpinionReturn of firing squads shows death penalty and its 'machinery' are grinding to a halt
It requires inmates on death row to choose the firing squad or the electric chair (long an alternative in South Carolina) if lethal injection drugs are not available. Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah are the only other states that authorize use of the firing squad as a means to put someone to death. This revival of a previously discredited execution method shows the lengths to which death penalty supporters will go to keep the machinery of death running.
PoliticsThe IndependentRepublican congressman lashes out at GOP colleagues over ‘bogus’ attempts to rewrite history of Capitol riots
In a show of support for a bipartisan commission to investigate the Capitol riots, Republican representative Fred Upton on Sunday lashed out at his colleagues for trying to downplay the 6 January insurrection. During an interview with CNN, the Michigan Republican blasted his GOP colleagues for trying to rewrite history, attempting to explain away the significance of the historic incident where supporters of Donald Trump stormed the Capitol Building in an effort to overturn Joe Biden's election victory. It comes after Georgia Republican Andrew Clyde had on Wednesday likened the Trump supporters' breaching the Capitol to a “normal tourist visit”.
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88% of children to receive monthly payments starting in July
The Treasury Department said Monday that 39 million families are set to receive monthly child payments beginning on July 15.
CelebrityThe TelegraphSussex Royal loses its lustre as Duke and Duchess call in the liquidators
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have formally liquidated one of their sole-remaining British companies, marking the final nail in the coffin for Sussex Royal. Documents filed with Companies House revealed that MWX Trading confirmed on May 5 that it was winding up and a liquidator was appointed on May 14. The couple established the company in August 2019, naming their lawyer, Gerrard Tyrrell, as its secretary and Natalie Campbell, who worked for their charitable foundation Sussex Royal, as director.
U.S.The IndependentFour-year-old found beaten to death on Dallas street was kidnapped and attacked by intruder through back door, mother reveals
The mother of a 4-year-old boy found murdered on a Dallas street says he was snatched from his bed by his killer in a random attack. Cash Gernon's family identified him as the victim in the horrifying attack which has rocked the suburban neighborhood where his body was found. Police said the boy suffered from wounds made by an “edged weapon” in a “violent” death before his body was found shoeless and partially clothed in the Mountain Creek neighborhood by a jogger around 6:45am on Saturday morning.
WorldINSIDERDoctors are telling trans women they have to wear lipstick and feminine clothing to receive medical care, UK lawmakers say
Some doctors in the UK are telling transgender women to wear lipstick and wear more "feminine" clothes, UK parliament heard. Trans women have been told they should look a certain way to prove their gender identity and access medical care. British Members of Parliament heard testimony on this issue as they discussed the Gender Recognition Act (GRA).
“We are a nation bobbing in multiple crises. Not one of them involves people taking COVID-19 too seriously.”
“The threat is increasingly concentrated among people who are vulnerable by choice.”
“This announcement would be very welcome if not for one big problem: There is no requirement for proof of vaccination.”
“Joining the protected vaccinated minority, which we hope will rapidly become the majority, is simple.”
“Instead of taking giant steps. I think we should be taking small steps toward the same goal.”