PoliticsYahoo NewsGeorgia lawmaker arrested for knocking on Gov. Kemp's door calls possible 8-year prison term 'unfounded'
Georgia state Rep. Park Cannon, who was arrested last week after attempting to gain access to the office where Gov. Brian Kemp was signing a controversial voting restriction bill into law, said Thursday that her actions were justified. “I felt as if time was moving in slow motion,” Cannon said, fighting back tears as she described the details of the incident. “My experience was painful, both physically and emotionally, but today I stand before you to say as horrible as that experience was ... I believe the governor signing into law the most comprehensive voter suppression bill in the country is a far more serious crime.”
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverCalifornia man accused of repeatedly threatening to shoot Asian Americans
San Francisco police arrested a man on Tuesday after they said he went into a business multiple times and threatened to shoot Asian Americans. Police said Darrell Hunter, 45, frequented a store on Golden Gate Ave. four times in one week and threatened to kill Chinese people, CBS San Francisco reported. Police said the 42-year-old woman told them Hunter “used a hand gesture to mimic a gun” and simulated shooting customers in the store before he left, according to CBS San Francisco.
WorldAssociated PressGood Friday and virus lockdown empty Manila’s streets
Filipinos marked Good Friday, one of the most solemn holidays in Asia's largest Roman Catholic nation, with deserted streets and churches following a strict lockdown to slow down the spread of the coronavirus. Major highways and roads were eerily quiet after religious gatherings were prohibited in metropolitan Manila and four outlying provinces. The Philippines has imposed some of the world's longest police- and military-enforced coronavirus quarantines and lockdowns, which caused the economy last year to contract by 9.5%, the worst economic setback since the Philippines began issuing such economic data just after World War II.
WorldReutersPope meets cardinal he fired, in apparent reconciliation
Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Thursday with Cardinal Angelo Becciu, according to the cardinal who was fired by the pontiff last September on accusations of embezzlement and nepotism. Becciu told Italian journalists that the Mass was said in the chapel of the cardinal's apartment in the Vatican. Father Angelo Sceppacerca, an aide to the cardinal, confirmed the meeting in a telephone call with Reuters.
WorldAssociated PressMyanmar cuts wireless internet service amid coup protests
Myanmar's wireless broadband internet services were shut down on Friday by order of the military, local providers said, as protesters continued to defy the threat of lethal violence to oppose the junta's takeover. A directive from the Ministry of Transport and Communications on Thursday instructed that all wireless broadband data services be temporarily suspended until further notice,” according to a statement posted online by local provider Ooredoo. After weeks of overnight cutoffs of internet access, the military on Friday shut all links apart from those using fiber optic cable, whose speeds are drastically slower.
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverMom killed 6-year-old with cocaine, other drugs for insurance money, Texas police say
A Houston mom is charged with capital murder in the death of her 6-year-old child, police say. Ashley Marks, 25, is accused of poisoning her son, Jason Sanchez-Marks, with meth, cocaine and other drugs, leading to his death in June 2020, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors say Marks killed the boy to collect on life insurance policies that totaled $100,000, KTRK reported.
WorldAssociated PressChina aims to vaccinate entire city in 5 days after outbreak
A Chinese border city hit by a fresh outbreak of COVID-19 began a five-day drive Friday to vaccinate its entire population of 300,000 people. Twelve of them are Chinese and the other four are nationals of Myanmar, which lies across the border. The city has also said it would tighten controls around the porous border to try to stop anyone crossing illegally from Myanmar.
WorldReutersTrain crash kills 48 in Taiwan's deadliest rail tragedy for decades
A Taiwan express train with almost 500 aboard derailed in a tunnel on Friday, killing at least 48 passengers and injuring 66 in the island's worst rail disaster in almost four decades. Images from the scene showed carriages in the tunnel ripped apart by the impact, with others crumpled, hindering rescuers in their efforts to reach passengers, although by mid-afternoon no one was still trapped. "People just fell all over each other, on top of one another," a woman who survived the crash told domestic television.
WorldBBCMyanmar coup: Six-year-old shot 'as she ran into father's arms'
A six-year-old girl has been shot dead in Myanmar, becoming the youngest known victim in the crackdown following last month's military coup. Khin Myo Chit's family told the BBC she was killed by police while she ran towards her father, during a raid on their home in the city of Mandalay. Myanmar's military has been increasing its use of force as protests continue.
PoliticsThe State‘No hand-wringing’: Biden embraces aggressive approach to thorny cultural issues
Mikie Sherrill is the type of congresswoman — a moderate Democrat from a battleground district — who in years past might have recoiled at President Joe Biden's recent call for gun control legislation. “The only place this isn't bipartisan is in Capitol Hill,” said Sherrill, a New Jersey Democrat, noting her own pledges on gun control that closely mirror the president's. “We see widespread support for this across the country.” In the dozen years since Democrats last took control of Washington, lawmakers like Sherrill have led a transformation in how their party handles once-sensitive cultural topics, pushing it to uniformly adopt more liberal positions on issues moderates once gingerly toe-tapped around.
U.S.Associated PressCoin firm pays it forward after Georgia man paid in pennies
A global company has stepped in to solve quite a “coinundrum” for a Georgia man. When Bellevue, Washington-based Coinstar heard about his predicament, they decided that change was needed. “Coinstar has been in the coin business for 30 years and we process approximately 41 billion coins annually – so picking up 91,000 pennies was all in a day's work,” Coinstar CEO Jim Gaherity said in a statement.
- PoliticsReuters Videos
Yangon mall ablaze amid protests - local media
Ruby Mart was seen ablaze at around 2 a.m. local time on Thursday (1930GMT on Wednesday), with some onlookers capturing images of the fire on their phones. Local media said two military-owned malls were on fire on Thursday morning during a curfew, with two people arrested near Ruby Mart.
U.S.ReutersA first kiss, a battle with addiction: Floyd's girlfriend testifies at Chauvin murder trial
MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) -George Floyd's girlfriend took the witness stand on Thursday and described their relationship, from a first kiss to date nights at restaurants, but also spoke about how an addiction to painkillers took hold of their life together. Courteney Ross, 45, was the first witness who personally knew Floyd to testify at the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis policeman charged with murdering the man she loved by kneeling on his neck during an arrest last May. In her testimony, Ross described how her romance with Floyd began in 2017 when he offered to pray with her.
WorldBBCEvidence suggests Ethiopian military carried out massacre in Tigray
An investigation by BBC Africa Eye has uncovered evidence that a massacre in northern Ethiopia was carried out by members of the Ethiopian military. In early March, a series of five video clips surfaced on social media showing armed, uniformed men leading a group of unarmed men to the edge of a cliff, shooting some at point blank range, and pushing dead bodies over the cliff. The BBC has confirmed that the massacre took place close to the town of Mahbere Dego in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, where the Ethiopian army is fighting the forces of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), previously the region's ruling party.
WorldAssociated PressPakistan, India peace move silences deadly Kashmir frontier
But experts point to a climbdown by both from their earlier stance following a decision by India to strip Kashmir of its semi-autonomy and take direct control over the region in 2019, and its monthslong bitter border standoff with China. Paul Staniland, associate professor of political science at the University of Chicago, said the ongoing costs of clashes along the Line of Control, the economic effects of the pandemic, and other foreign policy challenges facing both countries might have combined to create incentives to pursue a cease-fire. Since 2003, the cease-fire has largely held despite regular skirmishes.
StyleArchitectural DigestThese Modern Dressers Prove That Style and Function Are One and the Same
From a midcentury-inspired chest of drawers to a glamorous mirrored dresser, these storage pieces will make you forget that you have a closet Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
U.S.The State‘Go home now.’ Threatening letter to Asian business under investigation, Utah cops say
A letter sent to an Asian-owned business in Utah threatening Asians and praising the shootings in Georgia is under investigation, police said. The Unified Police Department told McClatchy News that the letter was sent to an Asian business in Taylorsville and that police are working with the U.S. Postal Inspector because it was sent via U.S. mail. The letter was sent the weekend after shootings at Atlanta spas left eight people dead, including six Asian women, Deseret News reported.
WorldReutersExclusive: Germany to propose Beirut port reconstruction with 'strings attached' - sources
Germany will next week present a multi-billion-dollar proposal to Lebanese authorities to rebuild the Port of Beirut as part of efforts to entice the country's politicians to form a government capable of warding off financial collapse, two sources said. A chemical explosion at the port last August killed 200 people, injured thousands and destroyed entire neighbourhoods in Lebanon's capital, plunging the country deeper into its worst political and economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. According to two diplomatic sources with knowledge of the plans, Germany and France are vying to lead reconstruction efforts.
WorldBBCAustralia: Geologist beaten up by 'angriest octopus' on beach
In a video that has gone viral, the octopus can be seen in shallow waters lashing out at geologist Lance Karlson. The tentacles left stinging red welts on his skin, which Mr Karlson said only eased after he poured cola over them. The former lifeguard told Australian news outlet 7News that his preferred treatment for sea animal stings is vinegar, but he did not have any on him at the time.
PoliticsAssociated PressPelosi: Remove Rep. Gaetz from committee if claims are true
Rep. Matt Gaetz, facing accusations of a sexual relationship with an underage girl, should at a minimum be removed from the House Judiciary Committee if the claims are true, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. Pelosi, D-Calif., also said the House Ethics Committee should consider the allegations against the Florida Republican. Gaetz, 38, who has been one of former President Donald Trump's closest allies since coming to Congress in 2017, said anew Thursday that the accusations are wrong.
HealthReutersUK regulator found total of 30 cases of blood clot events after AstraZeneca vaccine use
British regulators on Thursday said they have identified 30 cases of rare blood clot events after the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, 25 more than the agency previously reported. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said it had received no such reports of clotting events following use of the vaccine made by BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc. The health officials said they still believe the benefits of the vaccine in the prevention of COVID-19 far outweigh any possible risk of blood clots.
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Meet the designer behind the Trump "Buddha" statue
Meet the man behind the Trump “Buddha” statue Location: Xiamen, China (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) DESIGNER, HONG JINSHI, SAYING: "I believe it was in September and October last year when Trump was still campaigning and causing torment. It was particularly interesting to me because our tradition is that a person who is so old and successful and has been the president of the United States should start to enjoy his old age and be more relaxed. But he was still tormented and fretting over various desires and uncertainties.
PoliticsBBCFive takeaways from Biden's White House cabinet
It's been a long three months, but US President Joe Biden has now finalised his White House cabinet - the top aides that will guide his administration's oversight of the federal government. With Labour Secretary Marty Walsh's Senate confirmation last week, Biden filled all 15 of his presidential cabinet secretary positions. The confirmation process began slowly, with delays in appointees being named and Senate confirmation hearings conducted in part because of drawn-out Republican challenges to Biden's presidential victory and Donald Trump's impeachment trial.
U.S.Associated PressJill Biden treats reporters to April Fools' Day prank
Reporters traveling with first lady Jill Biden got an April Fools' Day surprise on their flight back from California to Washington on Thursday. During meal service, a flight attendant with a “Jasmine” nametag passed out Dove ice cream bars. The first lady's aides told reporters that they were just as surprised to discover the true identity of “Jasmine.”
WorldArchitectural DigestPlant Art Is the Logical Next Step in Our Flora Obsession
Lush landscapes, still lifes, and graphic prints are the jolt of color you need in a green jungle—and you can't kill them Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
“D.C. residents do all the other things that all U.S. citizens do, but they don’t have anyone who votes in Congress who represents them.”
“The agitation for D.C. statehood is little more than a cynical play for partisan advantage.”
“If you care about racial justice, then you care about granting full voting rights to Black Americans.”
“Once residential Washington is no longer the nation's capital, there is no good reason it should be a separate state.”
“The Senate as a whole massively overrepresents white and rural areas.”