U.S.AxiosGeorge Floyd associate invokes 5th Amendment, will not testify in Chauvin trial
Morries Hall, one of the passengers in George Floyd's car before his arrest, will not testify in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin after being permitted to invoke his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination. Why it matters: The presiding judge denied the defense's subpoena of Hall, thwarting their hopes of shedding more light on Floyd's past drug use. Chauvin's lawyers have sought to argue that Floyd's opioid use may have contributed to heart failure and ultimately his death.
WorldThe TelegraphChinese man with Down's syndrome kidnapped and killed to provide substitute body
A Chinese man with Down's syndrome was murdered in an attempt to circumvent a ban on traditional burials. Cremation is enforced in some densely populated areas of China, but to get around the regulations one family paid a man to provide them with a body to swap with that of their deceased relative. It later emerged that the body was that of a murder victim killed by the man they hired - an event the family insist they were unaware of.
WorldReutersEuropean powers warn Iran over fate of talks after 60% enrichment move
The European powers party to the Iran nuclear deal told Tehran on Wednesday that its decision to enrich uranium at 60% purity and install a further 1,000 centrifuges at its Natanz site were contrary to efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. Talks between world powers, Iran and the United States are due to resume in Vienna on Thursday, but in a joint statement Britain, France and Germany said Tehran's decision to enrich at 60 percent was not based on credible civilian reasons and constituted an important step in the production of a nuclear weapon. "Iran's announcements are particularly regrettable given they come at a time when all JCPoA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) participants and the United States have started substantive discussions, with the objective of finding a rapid diplomatic solution to revitalise and restore the JCPoA," the three countries said.
WorldReutersRussia, Ukraine hold military drills, NATO criticises Russian troop build-up
Russia and Ukraine held simultaneous military drills on Wednesday as NATO foreign and defence ministers began emergency discussions on a massing of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border. Washington and NATO have been alarmed by the large build-up of Russian troops near Ukraine and in Crimea, the peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and two U.S. warships are due to arrive in the Black Sea this week. Russia -- which said the U.S. naval move was an unfriendly provocation and warned Washington to stay far away from Crimea and its Black Sea coast -- says the build-up is a three-week snap military drill to test combat readiness in response to what it calls threatening behaviour f...
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Brooklyn Center, Minn., police release footage of Daunte Wright shooting, chief says he believes officer mistakenly grabbed gun instead of Taser
During a press conference on Monday, Brooklyn Center, Minn. released bodycam video of the police shooting of Daunte Wright. Police Chief Tim Gannon said he believes the officer who shot Wright intended to use her Taser, but mistakenly grabbed her firearm.
U.S.Associated PressLawyer: Man accused in Texas mass shooting was harassed
The employee accused of opening fire at a Texas cabinet-making company was harassed by his colleagues before he fatally shot one man and wounded five other co-workers, his lawyer said. Larry Bollin remained in a Brazos County jail Wednesday on charges of murder, attempted capital murder and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon stemming from the shootings last week. The 27-year-old is also accused of shooting and wounding a state trooper as authorities searched for him. Bollin's court-appointed lawyer, Craig Greaves, told KBTX-TV that harassments from his client's colleagues at Kent Moore Cabinets may have motivated the shooting at one of the company's facilities in Bryan, a community about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Houston.
U.S.The ConversationKnoxville school shooting serves as stark reminder of a familiar – but preventable – threat
With most U.S. students having learned virtually in 2020 because of the pandemic, the nation logged a record low for school shootings. There were just three deaths in a total of 10 school shootings in all of 2020. Now, as students return to schools for in-person instruction, the specter of school shootings is back.
U.S.The WeekArmy officer allegedly assaulted by Virginia police is related to Eric Garner
U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario has filed a lawsuit alleging two Virginia police officers violated his constitutional rights and assaulted him following a traffic stop in December. As it turns out, the 27-year-old Nazario, who is Black and Latino, was related to Eric Garner, the Black man who died in Staten Island in 2014 after an officer placed him a chokehold. Garner's last words were, infamously, "I can't breathe."
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverA California man vanished 42 years ago on road trip. His remains were just identified
Kenneth Lee Bell was traveling from California's Bay Area to Washington when he vanished, officials said. On Jan. 8, a timber crew working in a remote wilderness area near Molalla, Oregon, unearthed a partial human skull and other human remains, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. “If you knew Kenneth Lee Bell in the late 1970s, detectives would like to hear from you,” the sheriff's office said.
BusinessAxiosHundreds of corporations sign statement in massive condemnation of voting restrictions
Hundreds of companies and executives released a letter on Wednesday condemning legislation that restricts "any eligible voter from having an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot," per the New York Times. Advocates of the bills have said they will secure the vote, and in some instances have cited former President Trump's baseless allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 elections. The statement was organized by former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault and Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier, who last month led 72 Black executives in demanding corporate America speak out in the wake of Georgia's new voting restriction.
WorldBBCUS says troops to leave Afghanistan by 11 September
US President Joe Biden is set to announce that American troops will leave Afghanistan by 11 September, officials have told US media. The US would miss a May deadline for a pull-out agreed with the Taliban by the Trump administration last year. The new deadline would coincide with the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the US in 2001.
WorldArchitectural DigestThe World’s 9 Most Expensive Home Listings Currently on the Market
These fantastical houses range from a 64,000-acre Texas ranch to an oceanside estate in the south of France Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverBear on North Carolina coast compared to Bigfoot: ‘We weren’t even sure it was real!’
A bear got caught looking a little too human in eastern North Carolina, and photos of the encounter are being likened to a Bigfoot sighting. The photos were taken Sunday as two East Carolina students, Zachary Allen and Erin McAllister, visited Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge near the coast. “To be honest, when we both first saw it, we weren't even sure it was real!” Erin McAllister of Waxhaw told McClatchy News.
WorldThe TelegraphDavid Cameron lobbying row: Civil servant allowed to join Greensill while working in Whitehall
A senior civil servant was granted permission to join the lender Greensill Capital while still working at the highest levels of government, a watchdog has revealed. Bill Crothers was head of Whitehall procurement, in control of a £15 billion annual purchasing budget, when he took on an external role as part-time adviser to the finance company's board in September 2015. Boris Johnson was understood to be personally concerned about the disclosure on Tuesday night, while Labour described it as "extraordinary and shocking", renewing demands for an MP-led inquiry into the lobbying row engulfing Greensill and David Cameron.
U.S.Associated PressExpert blames George Floyd's death on heart rhythm problem
The judge at Derek Chauvin's murder trial Wednesday turned down a defense request to acquit the former officer in George Floyd's death, rejecting claims that prosecutors failed to prove Chauvin's actions killed the Black man. Judge Peter Cahill pressed on with the case after Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson said the prosecution's expert witnesses gave conflicting opinions about what caused Floyd's death after the 46-year-old was pinned under the white officer's knee for what authorities say was 9 1/2 minutes last May. Prosecutor Steve Schleicher countered by saying the state has proved that Chauvin's use of force was unreasonable and has introduced evidence that "clearly established that the defendant's conduct was a causal factor in bringing about Mr. Floyd's death.”
WorldReutersItalians seen increasingly reluctant to accept AstraZeneca shots
The head of healthcare management in Italy's largest region, Lombardy, said on Wednesday there was a growing reluctance amongst residents to accept AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine because of safety fears. Public confidence in the vaccine has been battered worldwide since reports emerged linking it to very rare but potentially fatal blood clots in the brain. "It is a phenomenon that in recent days is becoming more serious than we might have thought," Giovanni Pavesi told the regional health commission in Lombardy, which is centred on Italy's financial capital Milan.
PoliticsUSA TODAYMissouri GOP state lawmaker Rick Roeber resigns amid allegations he abused his children
A Kansas City-area lawmaker accused of sexually and physically abusing his children when they were younger submitted his resignation Tuesday as an investigation into his behavior neared completion. Rep. Rick Roeber, R-Lee's Summit, did not mention the allegations against him or an ongoing probe by the House ethics committee in a letter to the state House clerk. Roeber, who was elected to a two-year term in November, said he only ever wanted to serve a single year to pass a bill naming a highway after his late wife, Rep. Rebecca Roeber, who died in 2019, and help pass school choice bills.
WorldThe TelegraphScottish Greens plan to push through 'millionaire's tax' and back independence referendum
The Scottish Greens want to enter a coalition government with the SNP after the Holyrood election and push through an array of tax hikes for the wealthy including a new "millionaire's tax", their co-leader has said. Patrick Harvie said his party "aspired" to enter government after May 6 if Nicola Sturgeon fails to win an outright majority as he unveiled a manifesto backing her plans for another independence referendum. Although he refused to set out his policy “red lines” for a coalition deal, the Green manifesto set out radical proposals to hike income tax for wealthier Scots and replace council tax with a levy based on property values that would also increase bills for the better-off.
U.S.BBCDaunte Wright shooting: Police resignations fail to ease unrest over death
The resignations of a police chief and of an officer who shot dead a black motorist in Minnesota have failed to end unrest over Sunday's killing. Chief Tim Gannon and Officer Kim Potter have quit the Brooklyn Center force. Mrs Potter said she shot Daunte Wright accidentally, having mistakenly drawn her gun instead of her Taser, a stance backed by Mr Gannon.
CelebrityThe WeekMeghan Markle reportedly goes on maternity leave next month
It's unclear exactly how Meghan Markle spends her days in sunny Montecito, California, when she isn't taking care of baby Archie, tending to her rescue chickens, and riling up the British royal family by simply existing. Markle — who co-founded the nonprofit Archewell and recently guest edited British Vogue — will have some free time more immediately, too, since she wasn't medically cleared to fly with Prince Harry the 12 hours to the U.K. for her grandfather-in-law's funeral.
CelebrityReutersBritain's Princess Anne seen in public for first time since death of Philip
Princess Anne, the daughter of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, was on Wednesday seen in public for the first time since the death of her father last week. Philip died at Windsor Castle on Friday, aged 99. "My father has been my teacher, my supporter and my critic, but mostly it is his example of a life well lived and service freely given that I most wanted to emulate," Anne, the Princess Royal, said in a statement on Sunday.
U.S.USA TODAY‘Most humiliating punishment imaginable’: Black National Guardsman allegedly forced to wear heavy chain
NATIONAL GUARD: Women welcomed, promoted until they report sexual assault In a scathing report obtained by USA TODAY, the National Guard Bureau Office of Equity and Inclusion substantiated 11 complaints of discrimination and one of harassment lodged by Weaver and accused Maryland of violating Weaver's right to due process. The Maryland National Guard has exonerated its personnel after several internal investigations and is appealing the bureau's decision. In his own harsh letter to the National Guard Bureau on April 8, Maj. Gen. Timothy Gowen, the Maryland National Guard's adjutant general, accused the bureau's Office of Equity and Inclusion of attacking the state with "erroneous and unsuppo...
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Jill Biden to undergo 'procedure,' White House says
The White House says President Biden will accompany his wife, Jill Biden, Wednesday morning to an appointment where she will undergo a “common medical procedure.
WorldBBCNiger school blaze: Trapped children die in Niamey
At least 20 children have died after they became trapped in a fire at a school in Niger's capital, Niamey. It started late on Tuesday afternoon when the children were in lessons, many in straw-hut classrooms. The government-run junior and pre-school in the Pays Bas district of the city had a mixture of brick and straw-hut classrooms, BBC Hausa's Tchima Illa Issoufou reports from Niamey.
U.S.INSIDERMorries Hall, the passenger in George Floyd's car, will not have to testify in the Derek Chauvin trial
Morries Hall has invoked his 5th Amendment right not to testify in Derek Chauvin's trial. Judge Peter Cahill ruled Wednesday that the man who was in the car with George Floyd on the day of his death does not have to testify in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Morries Hall had invoked his 5th Amendment right, and Hall's attorney argued he could open himself up to a third-degree murder charge if he testified about being in the car with Floyd.
“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.”