U.S.NBC NewsAttorneys for Black Army officer threatened by police criticize response as chief refuses to apologize
Attorneys for a Black Army officer whom police can be heard threatening during a traffic stop in Virginia have criticized what they called "cutting-corner policing." Windsor police on Tuesday fired Officer Joe Gutierrez, who was initially disciplined after an internal review of the incident in December concluded in January. Police Chief Rodney Riddle addressed the incident publicly for the first time Wednesday, saying Gutierrez was fired after the video of the traffic stop went viral this week.
WorldThe TelegraphBritain calls out Russia for 'malign' cyber attacks
Britain has accused the Kremlin of being behind cyber attacks on UK soil and summoned the Russian ambassador to the Foreign Office. It came as Joe Biden imposed tough new economic sanctions on Moscow, and expelled 10 Russian diplomats, over the same SolarWinds hack that caused chaos to US government computer systems last year. For the first time, the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, the defensive branch of GCHQ, confirmed that a "low single-digit number" of public sector organisations had been hit, although it said the impact had been "low".
WorldNextSharkChinese Woman Goes Viral After Hitting Boss With Mop for Alleged Harassment
A woman has gone viral on Chinese social media after hitting her boss with a mop over inappropriate text messages. What happened: The woman, a government worker from northeastern China who has been identified only as Zhou, was caught on video fighting back after her boss had allegedly harassed her, the New York Times reported. In the 14-minute Weibo video, which has been watched millions of times, Zhou pours water over her boss.
WorldReutersHong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai, others to be sentenced for illegal assembly
HONG KONG (Reuters) -Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai and nine other pro-democracy activists are expected to be sentenced on Friday after they were found guilty of participating in unauthorised assemblies during anti-government protests in 2019. It would be the first time that Lai, one of Hong Kong's most prominent democratic activists, who has been in jail since December after being denied bail in a separate national security trial, will receive a sentence. Lai was found guilty in two separate trials earlier in April for illegal assemblies on Aug. 18 and Aug. 31 2019, respectively.
WorldThe TelegraphSNP-run council accused of ordering cleaners to tidy streets in Sturgeon’s constituency ahead of Anas Sarwar visit
Anas Sarwar has accused an SNP-run council of dispatching cleaners to tidy the streets of Nicola Sturgeon's constituency shortly before an election photocall he held on Thursday to highlight their dirty condition. The Scottish Labour leader claimed that cleansing workers in Glasgow Southside, which is the First Minister's constituency, told him they were ordered to do a clean up operation ahead of his visit to the Govanhill area. The Daily Telegraph photographed three bin lorries and street cleaners that turned up shortly before Mr Sarwar's election stop.
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Third night of protests after Daunte Wright shooting
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota saw a third night of protests on Tuesday night. The protests follow the death of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man. The white police officer who shot him and the city's police chief resigned Tuesday.
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U.S. envoy: border talks with Israel will help crisis-hit Lebanon
BEIRUT (Reuters) -The United States stands ready to facilitate maritime border talks between Lebanon and Israel that will have benefits for the crisis-hit Lebanese economy, a U.S. envoy said on Thursday. On a visit to Beirut, Under Secretary of State David Hale blamed Lebanese leaders for failing to end a deadlock in cabinet talks to tackle the collapse, which has crashed the currency. Hale accused Hezbollah and Iran of undermining the state after meeting on Thursday with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, a political ally of the group whose son-in-law became a target of U.S. sanctions.
U.S.Associated PressTexas' longest serving death row inmate has sentence tossed
An appeals court has overturned the sentence of Texas' longest serving death row inmate, whose attorneys say has languished in prison for more than 45 years because he's too mentally ill to be executed. Raymond Riles' “death sentence can no longer stand” because the 70-year-old inmate's history of mental illness was not properly considered by jurors, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled Wednesday. When Riles was tried, state law did not expect jurors to consider mitigating evidence such as mental illness when deciding whether someone should be sentenced to death.
PoliticsThe WeekMaxine Waters tells Jim Jordan to 'shut your mouth' during heated exchange with Fauci
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Thursday railed against Dr. Anthony Fauci in a heated exchange on Capitol Hill — prompting one lawmaker to call on him to "shut your mouth." During a congressional hearing on the COVID-19 pandemic, Jordan confronted Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, and demanded he explain exactly when Americans will no longer have to follow public health measures and will "get their liberty and freedoms back." Fauci appeared to grow frustrated as he pushed back on that characterization.
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Twists aplenty in Australian Navy twerking controversy
A dance troupe's performance at an Australian Navy event created a furore on Thursday as initial criticism over apparent twerking at dignitaries turned into a story of inaccurate media coverage and criticism of the national broadcaster by the prime minister. The Defence Department found itself in hot water over reports of inappropriate entertainment at the commissioning of a A$2 billion ($1.5 billion) naval ship in Sydney last weekend. A seven-woman troupe dressed in black shorts, red crop tops and berets performed a dance routine that included twerking in front of the auxiliary vessel, HMAS Supply, on April 10, according to footage shown by the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) on Wednesday.
WorldBusiness InsiderBiden administration reveals the intelligence community is not very confident Russia actually put bounties on US troops
A Biden administration official said that US intelligence only has "low to moderate confidence" in prior claims that Russia offered to pay bounties to militants for killing American troops. The New York Times last year reported that American intelligence found that Russian operatives offered the bounties to Taliban-linked militants - a conclusion military officials later disputed. "The United States intelligence community assesses with low to moderate confidence that Russian intelligence officers sought to encourage Taliban attacks on US and coalition personnel in Afghanistan in 2019 and perhaps earlier," a senior administration official told The Daily Beast.
EntertainmentArchitectural DigestShop Troye Sivan’s Eclectic Home Style
Take a page out of the stylish young star's book, from must-have splurges to affordable accessories Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
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Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins unanimous pick: VMI's 1st Black leader
Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins, who was named interim superintendent of Virginia Military Institute amid the controversy over the school's Confederate ties and the removal of a statue of Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, was voted unanimously Thursday to become the first Black man to lead the school. Wins, a 1985 graduate of VMI, took over for retired Army Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, whose ouster followed publication of a story by The Washington Post that described an “atmosphere of hostility and cultural insensitivity at the oldest state-supported military college in the U.S. “Maj.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderBiden called George W. Bush before he announced his Afghanistan troop withdrawal plan - but neither said whether Bush supported it
President Joe Biden called George W. Bush to discuss his plan to pull US troops out of Afghanistan. Biden didn't say if Bush supported the decision to end the war that started during his presidency. Biden also spoke with former President Barack Obama by phone before announcing the decision.
WorldThe Independent‘We stayed. The citizens are why we stay’: CNN reporter goes viral after police threaten to arrest journalists
“In my 25 years as a reporter I have NEVER heard police in America actually say “journalists will be arrested” during a protest,” wrote Sara Sidner. The comments from Sidner, who is 48, have highlighted an aspect of the story of the fatal shooting of the young man that has threatened to get lost in the flurry of breaking news - the harsh way police have responded to protesters, and to reporters covering the protesters. As hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets every night since 20-year-old Wright was shot by an officer from the Brooklyn Center Police Department, police have responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets.
U.S.Miami HeraldMiami Beach city manager applicants interviewed publicly before final vote
Ahead of a final vote next week, the six finalists for Miami Beach's city manager position appeared before the City Commission on Thursday to be interviewed publicly for the job for the first time. The candidates, who include three senior city officials, made pitches for why they should lead City Hall and answered questions about sea level rise, work experience and leadership style. Commissioners did not vote during the meeting, nor did they open it up to public comment.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderManchin balks at GOP's smaller infrastructure plan - and says he can back $4 trillion as long as it's paid for
Sen. Manchin rebuked the GOP's infrastructure plan, saying senators should "do whatever it takes." The moderate Democrat added he was open to spending $4 trillion as long as it's paid for. The GOP is preparing an up to $800 billion bill.
CelebrityNBC NewsWhat happened to Bernie Madoff's family? Where Ruth Madoff and others are now
The death of Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff has dredged up memories of the destruction and pain left behind in the wake of perhaps the most infamous Wall Street scheme in recent history. Madoff, 82, died while serving a 150-year prison sentence stemming from fraud charges that involved cheating thousands of investors, including the filmmaker Steven Spielberg and the actors Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, out of billions in promised returns. In 2011, Ruth said during an interview with NBC's "TODAY" show that she did not miss her imprisoned husband, adding that "the villain of all this is behind bars."
PoliticsThe IndependentBiden news: Pence undergoes pacemaker operation as Sanders pays Trump rare compliment on Afghanistan
Former vice president Mike Pence is recovering after surgery to install a pacemaker, a small device to regulate a heartbeat. Mr Pence is expected to fully recover and return to normal activity in the coming days following the procedure, described as “routine surgery”. While Sanders praised Joe Biden's commitment to withdraw troops from Afghanistan before the 20th anniversary of September 11, he made clear it was a deal negotiated by the former president.
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VIDEO: Bodycam footage shows 13-year-old boy was raising his hands before he was shot and killed by Chicago police
Chicago released multiple body-cam videos of a police officer shooting and killing 13-year old Adam Toledo. The footage appears to show that Toledo was unarmed as he tried to surrender with his hands up.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderSenate Republicans are drafting their own infrastructure plan and want to tax people for it, not corporations
Republicans are starting to draft an infrastructure plan in a bid to strike a deal with Biden. The plan could come in at less than half of the $2.3 trillion proposal laid out by the White House. A group of Senate Republicans is assembling an infrastructure plan, part of a bid to strike a deal with President Joe Biden on a package that's more narrowly targeted in scope.
U.S.USA TODAYFact check: Derek Chauvin did not have hand in his pocket while kneeling on George Floyd
The claim: Derek Chauvin's hand was in his pocket while pinning George Floyd to the ground As witness testimony continues in the trial of Derek Chauvin, viral posts have surfaced on social media claiming the former Minneapolis police officer's hand was in his pocket while pinning George Floyd to the ground. The description paints a particularly nonchalant picture, which would be a jarring contrast to the incident's tragic outcome. Chauvin is facing murder and manslaughter charges over the death of Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old Black man who died May 25, 2020, when Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes.
CelebrityThe TelegraphQueen to sit alone and wear a face mask throughout Prince Philip's funeral
The Queen will sit alone during the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral service and will wear a mask throughout, Buckingham Palace has confirmed. The Queen will be driven to the chapel in a State Bentley alongside a lady-in-waiting, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said. It is not yet known which lady-in-waiting will accompany the Queen, but Lady Pamela Hicks, 91, a first cousin of the Duke, could be considered a possibility, thereby allowing her to be part of the occasion.
WorldThe IndependentGeophysicist accused in Capitol riot named flight risk for trying to flee to Switzerland
A rioter who allegedly attacked police while they were trying to help injured people during the Capitol riot and who then tried to flee to Switzerland has been jailed after being named a flight risk. Jeffrey Sabol, a geophysicist who attended the Capitol insurrection and was seen on video apparently beating officers while they were trying to help injured rioters, was arrested and is ineligible for bond after trying to flee the country to Switzerland. Judge Emmet Sullivan said releasing Mr Sabol would prove too risky, stating in a court ruling that the alleged rioter might be inclined to continue fighting "perceived tyranny" once he is free.
WorldArchitectural DigestMore Inside Australian Phenomenon Troye Sivan’s Soulful Melbourne Home
Sivan worked with Flack Studios to transform the space while preserving the essence of its Victorian-era origins Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
“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.”