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.Associated PressGeorge Floyd and Emmett Till families see parallels in loss
A Black Chicago teen's lynching in 1955 galvanized the civil rights movement. A Black Minneapolis man's killing by police last year propelled a worldwide call for racial justice and ending police brutality. The murders of Emmett Till and George Floyd were separated by more than six decades, contrasting circumstances and countless protests, but their families say they feel an intimate connection in their grief and what comes next.
U.S.ReutersA cheerleader's Snapchat profanity gets U.S. Supreme Court's attention
Two days after Mahanoy Area High School in Pennsylvania held its cheerleading tryouts, ninth-grader Brandi Levy was still fuming about being passed over for a spot on the varsity squad. While a younger girl had been picked for varsity, Levy was facing another year relegated to the junior varsity cheer squad. Levy, age 14 at the time, posted the photo to the Snapchat social media platform, adding a caption using the same curse word four times to voice her displeasure with cheerleading, softball, school and "everything."
WorldBBCMissing Indonesian submarine has 72 hours of oxygen left, navy says
Indonesia has about 72 hours left to rescue 53 crew members of a missing navy submarine before they run out of oxygen, the navy said. The KRI Nanggala-402 vessel is thought to have disappeared about 60 miles (100km) off the coast of Bali early on Wednesday morning. Six warships, a helicopter and 400 people are involved in the search.
U.S.NextSharkOver 400 Asian New Yorkers Sign a Letter Against Andrew Yang's Mayoral Bid
More than 400 Asian Americans in New York City have signed a letter opposing Andrew Yang's bid for mayor, arguing that "representation alone is simply not enough." Yang, who promised a monthly universal basic income of $1,000 as a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, announced his mayoral campaign at a rally in Upper Manhattan in January. Since his confirmation, Yang has consistently placed at the top of polls, the latest of which shows 22% of likely Democratic voters favoring him the most.
WorldArchitectural DigestBookmark These 11 Places on HipCamp for Your Next Outdoor Retreat
A WiFi break? Yes, please Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldReutersU.S., other countries deepen climate goals at Earth Day summit
The United States and other countries hiked their targets for slashing greenhouse gas emissions at a global climate summit hosted by President Joe Biden, an event meant to resurrect U.S. leadership in the fight against global warming. Biden unveiled the goal to cut emissions by 50%-52% from 2005 levels at the start of a two-day climate summit kicked off on Earth Day and attended virtually by leaders of 40 countries including big emitters China, India and Russia. The United States, the world's second-leading emitter after China, seeks to reclaim global leadership in the fight against global warming after former President Donald Trump withdrew the country from international efforts to cut emis...
PoliticsAxiosBiden will unveil eye-popping new tax rates for wealthiest Americans
President Biden in the next few days will unveil eye-popping new tax rates for the wealthiest Americans —a top marginal income tax rate of 39.6% and a capital gains rate of 43.4%. Why it matters: The proposal, to be announced ahead of Biden's address to Congress next Wednesday, is an opening bid for Hill negotiations. Practically and politically, the White House needs buy-in from Congress to pay for social spending in the next phase of his plan to reshape the American economy, the American Families Plan.
U.S.Miami HeraldA Miami man killed an armed teen in self-defense. Why he’s still facing a criminal case
In a strange twist, police say, Luis returned to the scene minutes later — and from inside his truck, fired 10 more times at Nimikae as he lay dying on the ground, using the teen's own handgun. Luis surrendered Thursday to face a charge of aggravated battery with a firearm against Nimikae. Luis is not being charged with murder.
WorldReutersBasque chocolatiers recreate 'Guernica' in show of skill and cultural pride
A group of chocolatiers in Spain's Basque Country are creating a version of "Guernica", Pablo Picasso's masterpiece representing the bombing of a small Basque town in 1937, to showcase their skills and celebrate their cultural heritage. Guernica, one of the world's most famous paintings, was Picasso's response to the bombardment, carried out by war planes from Nazi Germany and fascist Italy to assist the forces of fascist general Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War. The immense cubist painting, which hangs in the Reina Sofia art gallery in Madrid, depicts a harrowing scene in black and white full of tormented human and animal figures.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramAs she was launching adult life, Fort Worth woman was shot dead in error as she drove
As she steered a car around a Fort Worth apartment building Tuesday evening, Hailey Watts could not know of the gunfire in her path ahead. “She was just caught in the midst of it,” said Renea Dunn, Watts' mother. Fort Worth police have not announced an arrest, and a spokesman did not release other information about the killing.
U.S.Miami HeraldMinutes into a 911 call a Florida driver realizes what smashed through her windshield
“Something just came through the windshield and hit my mom in the head!” a woman cried out to a 911 dispatcher after she pulled over on Interstate 95 while driving to Daytona Beach on Wednesday. On the 911 call, the driver, heeding directions from the dispatcher, works to stem the bleeding, using towels. “There's so much blood,” the driver says.
BusinessReutersU.S. SEC picks first woman of color to lead enforcement
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday named former federal prosecutor Alex Oh as its new head of enforcement, the first woman of color to lead the division, which plays a crucial role in policing U.S. financial markets. The appointment of Oh, a native of Seoul who moved to Maryland when she was 11, is the first big move under Chair Gary Gensler and comes amid a diversity push by President Joe Biden's administration. Oh, who most recently worked for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison Llp in Washington, has extensive trial experience and was previously an assistant U.S. attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan.
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.
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.
WorldBBCWhat's gone wrong with Australia's vaccine rollout?
And while steps have been taken to speed up the programme - such as mass immunisation hubs and investment in local production - the government is seeing its success so far in battling Covid tarnished by its sluggish vaccination effort. How many Australians have been vaccinated? The rollout began in February and so far 1.6 million vaccine doses have been administered nationwide in a population of 25 million.
- PoliticsFOX News Videos
Pelosi has turned House narrow margin into a 'machine': Gingrich
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich discusses the Democrat's push to make Washington, D.C. a state.
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.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderRepublicans blew up after a Democratic congressman accused them of spreading 'racist trash' in a debate over giving Washington, DC, statehood
GOP lawmakers erupted after Rep. Mondaire Jones accused them of spreading "racist trash." The argument came as the House was debating a bill to grant statehood to Washington, DC. Jones withdrew his comment but said the GOP was scared its "white-supremacist politics" wouldn't work in DC.
PoliticsThe IndependentJohn Kerry criticises Donald Trump for pulling out of Paris accord ‘without any facts, without any science’
John Kerry denounced former President Donald Trump for withdrawing the US from the landmark Paris treaty, which the former Secretary of State signed in 2015. “Regrettably, without any facts, without any science, without any rationale that would be considered reasonable, the former president decided to pull out,” Mr Kerry told reporters at the White House on Thursday following President Joe Biden's Earth Day pledge to cut US emissions by 50 per cent by 2030. Mr Biden announced on his first day in office that the US would re-enter the agreement after the former president refused to acknowledge the contract in 2017 and formally withdrew in 2020.
ScienceCBS NewsSpaceX Crew Dragon, 4 astronauts lift off to space station
After a one-day delay, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Friday to boost a Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts into orbit for a one-day trip to the International Space Station. Liftoff from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center occurred right on time at 5:49 a.m. EDT, setting up an automated rendezvous and docking at the space station early Saturday. The SpaceX "Crew-2" flight will mark only the third launch of NASA astronauts from U.S. soil since the space shuttle's retirement 10 years ago.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTop Trump ally Lindsey Graham praises Democrats Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema for refusing to abolish the filibuster
Sen. Lindsey Graham explicitly praised two Democratic senators for rejecting their party's efforts to eliminate the filibuster. Graham supported GOP's successful effort to eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominee confirmations. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has urged his caucus to publicly praise the two Democratic lawmakers.
PoliticsThe IndependentVanita Gupta: Senate narrowly confirms Biden’s pick for key Justice Department role
In a vote one day after a jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty for the murder of George Floyd, the Senate confirmed the nation's next leading law enforcement watchdog by a vote of 51-49, becoming the first-ever civil rights attorney in the role. Ms Gupta, who leads the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, was previously chief of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division under Barack Obama. With the exception of Ms Murkowski, Republicans uniformly objected to her nomination.
U.S.INSIDERThe police officer who killed 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant is a military-trained expert marksman
The Columbus, Ohio, police officer who fatally shot a Black teen was identified as Nicholas Reardon. Reardon is a military-trained expert marksman, The Daily Beast reported. The distinction means Reardon scored high on a marksmanship test, using the Air Force's M4A1 rifle.
U.S.USA TODAY OpinionGun control is a lost cause. Come despair with me.
Add to that a couple of Supreme Court decisions that enshrine gun ownership alongside freedom of speech and freedom of assembly as constitutionally hallowed rights. No better example of this is the fact that the Indiana "red flag" law designed to keep guns out of the hands of mentally unstable people only temporarily delayed the killer of eight people in Indianapolis from getting his hands on the weapon used to take their lives. The brief flicker of hope that somehow the financial problems of the National Rifle Association, and the profligate spending of members' dues by one its top executives, might stifle the effectiveness of the opposition to even the most modest efforts to control firearms or reduce their lethality became an iridescent dream — and seemed to prove that the organization itself was never much of a factor in blocking gun-control legislation.
“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.”