U.S.Associated PressEvidence in Chauvin case contradicted first police statement
Moments after former officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder in George Floyd's death, copies of the original Minneapolis police statement began recirculating on social media. It attributed Floyd's death to “medical distress” and made no mention that the Black man had been pinned to the ground at the neck by Chauvin, or that he'd cried out that he couldn't breathe. Many were posting the release to highlight the distance between the initial police narrative and the evidence that led to the conviction Tuesday, including excruciating video shot by a teenage bystander of Chauvin with his knee on Floyd's neck, even after Floyd had stopped moving.
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.
WorldReutersGerman business favours Greens candidate to succeed Merkel - poll
Germany's business elite favours Greens candidate Annalena Baerbock to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel after a federal election in September, an opinion poll published on Thursday showed. Baerbock said on Monday she would run to become chancellor at the Sept. 26 election, the first time the left-leaning ecologist party has sought the top job in its 40-year history. The Civey poll of 1,500 executives for WirtschaftsWoche magazine, conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday, showed 26.5% favoured Baerbock for chancellor, ahead of Christian Lindner of the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) on 16.2%.
U.S.Associated PressFederal officers seek to block shooting trial in state court
A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments on whether Virginia prosecutors can bring manslaughter charges against two U.S. Park Police officers accused of fatally shooting an unarmed motorist in 2017. Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano obtained indictments last year against officers Alejandro Amaya and Lucas Vinyard in the shooting death of Bijan Ghaisar, 25, of McLean, after a stop-and-go chase on the George Washington Memorial Parkway near the nation's capital. Descano indicted the pair after the Justice Department opted against filing criminal charges.
WorldReutersGermany rejects idea of redrawing Western Balkans borders - minister
Germany rejects a redrawing of borders in the Western Balkans along ethnic lines and the idea has been "put back into a drawer", Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Thursday. The idea was raised in an unofficial European Union diplomatic note that alarmed Bosnians, who saw it as a threat to their country's territorial unity, two decades after ethnic conflicts led to war in the region. The note, seen by Reuters, suggested that creating a Greater Serbia, a Greater Albania and a Greater Croatia could help resolve national tensions holding up EU integration in the region.
PoliticsThe WeekReport: RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel considering running for Michigan governor
Could Michigan soon have another Romney in charge? While speaking to about 140 Republican National Committee members in Dallas on Wednesday, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said she has contemplated resigning so she can run for governor of Michigan in 2022, taking on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), Politico reports. McDaniel, 48, is a Michigan native whose grandfather, George Romney, was a three-term governor of the state.
U.S.The TelegraphGhislaine Maxwell to appear in person for first time since her arrest as she pleads to new charges
Ghislaine Maxwell is set to appear in person for the first time since her arrest last year in a New York court on Friday, where she is expected to plead not guilty to new sex trafficking charges. Ms Maxwell was granted rare permission to attend the usually procedural court hearing by Judge Alison Nathan. The 59-year-old British socialite has already pleaded not guilty to charges of recruiting and grooming teenage girls from 1994 to 2004 to provide sexual massages to her one-time boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein.
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.
WorldReutersPhilippines protests China's 'threatening' South China Sea presence
The Philippines has sent two new diplomatic protests to China over its failure to withdraw what it called on Friday "threatening" vessels that were massing in contested areas of the South China Sea. The Philippines has ramped up its rhetoric in recent weeks over the lingering presence of hundreds of Chinese boats in its 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), testing relations between two countries that have sought to heal their historic rifts. The Philippine foreign ministry said maritime officials had observed the "continued unauthorised presence and activities" of 160 Chinese fishing and militia vessels around the disputed Spratly islands and Scarborough shoal, as of April 20.
WorldArchitectural DigestBookmark These 11 Places on HipCamp for Your Next Outdoor Retreat
A WiFi break? Yes, please Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldAssociated PressShooting revives criticism of Israel's use of deadly force
Hours after Israeli soldiers shot and killed Osama Mansour at a temporary checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, the military announced that it had thwarted a car-ramming attack — but the facts didn't seem to add up. Witnesses say the soldiers killed Mansour for no apparent reason, part of what rights groups say is a pattern of fatal shootings of Palestinians by Israeli forces under questionable circumstances. In its initial statement, the Israeli military said the vehicle had accelerated “in a way that endangered the lives of the soldiers” and that forces opened fire to “thwart the threat.”
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.
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Romania's 'modern slaves' who burn trash for a living
In the trash-strewn slums of Sintesti, less than 10 miles from Romania's capital, Bucharest, Mihai Bratu scrapes a dangerous living for his Roma family amid the foul reek of burning plastic that cloys the air day and night.
WorldBBCVaranasi: The viral picture that defines India's Covid distress
A heartbreaking image of a mother sitting with the lifeless body of her 29-year-old son at her feet has gone viral in India. The photo shows an exhausted Chandrakala Singh, sitting stone-faced in an electric rickshaw with the body of her son Vineet Singh, on a busy street in the city of Varanasi in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. The haunting image is just one example of the plight of Indians trapped between a raging pandemic and a healthcare system on the brink of collapse.
WorldReutersJapan to declare 'short, powerful' emergency in Tokyo, elsewhere
Japan will declare "short and powerful" states of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and two other prefectures on Friday as the country struggles to contain a resurgent pandemic just three months ahead of the Olympics. Under a new state of emergency for April 25 to May 11, the government will require restaurants, bars, and karaoke parlours serving alcohol to close, and big sporting events to be held without spectators, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said. Breaching the restrictions will in some cases carry penalties under a recently revised law, he said.
U.S.Associated PressMormon sex therapist ousted from faith for critiques
A sex therapist in Utah who has publicly challenged her faith's policies on sexuality has been kicked out of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints following a disciplinary hearing. Natasha Helfer received a letter Wednesday from a regional church official explaining the reasons for her removal from the Salt Lake City-based church, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Helfer was disciplined by church leaders in Kansas, where she lived before moving to Utah in 2019.
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.
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.
WorldAssociated PressDenmark tells some Syrians to leave, separating families
An email brought Faeza Satouf's world to a standstill. The 25-year-old Syrian refugee had fled the civil war with her family in an all-too-familiar journey across the sea to Europe, where they finally arrived in Denmark and were granted asylum in 2015. Ten years after the start of the uprising against Bashar al-Assad's regime, Denmark has become the first European country to start revoking the residency permits of some Syrian refugees, arguing that the Syrian capital, Damascus, and neighboring regions are safe.
WorldAssociated PressJordan releases alleged plotters following king's appeal
Jordan released 16 people detained earlier this month over an alleged foreign-backed conspiracy linked to a former crown prince after King Abdullah II requested they be let go in honor of the holy month of Ramadan. The 16, including tribal leaders and former senior officials, were arrested during a crackdown in which authorities placed Prince Hamzah, the king's half-brother, under a form of house arrest. The prince denied being part of any plot and accused authorities of trying to silence his criticism of corruption and misrule in the country, which is a close Western ally.
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.
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.
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Belgian envoy's wife 'slapped' S.Korea shopkeeper
South Korean police say they want to talk to the wife of the Belgian ambassador there, after an incident in which she allegedly slapped a shopkeeper. Footage from a security camera emerged online this week from a clothing store. It shows a woman slapping a shopkeeper who had tried to stop her from approaching another worker.
TechnologyAssociated PressEU outlines ambitious AI regulations focused on risky uses
Risky uses of artificial intelligence that threaten people's safety or rights such as live facial scanning should be banned or tightly controlled, European Union officials said Wednesday as they outlined an ambitious package of proposed regulations to rein in the rapidly expanding technology. The draft regulations from the EU's executive commission include rules for applications deemed high risk such as AI systems to filter out school, job or loan applicants. The proposals are the 27-nation bloc's latest move to maintain its role as the world's standard-bearer for technology regulation, as it tries to keep up with the world's two big tech superpowers, the U.S. and China.
U.S.ReutersMeet the man in a bear suit walking from Los Angeles to San Francisco
He has got a giant padded head, perfectly round red cheeks and a bobbletail, and he is walking from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Jesse Larios says he does not know exactly what inspired him to dress up as the character he has named Bearsun and start the over 400-mile (644-km) trip, but he has been pleased with the attention the move has received. Upon reaching San Francisco, he said he plans to hold an online vote to determine where to donate the money.
“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.”