U.S.Associated PressProsecutors defend newer charges against Ghislaine Maxwell
Prosecutors hope to preserve a July trial date for Ghislaine Maxwell by defending a late-hour expansion of charges against her, saying they developed when a woman spoke after Maxwell's arrest about her abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein in the early 2000s. The rewritten indictment lodged against the 59-year-old British socialite on March 29 added sex trafficking charges to allegations that Maxwell recruited three teenage girls from 1994 to 1997 for then-boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse. Two days after the superseding indictment was returned in Manhattan federal court, defense attorney Bobbi Sternheim called it “shocking, unfair, and an abuse of power," saying the charges were based on evidence prosecutors had in their possession for years.
U.S.ReutersArmed man fires shots in Hawaii hotel, barricades himself inside room - report
A hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii was placed on lockdown after an armed man fired shots through the door of a guest room and barricaded himself inside, but there were no reports of any injuries, Hawaii News Now reported https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2021/04/11/police-surround-kahala-hotel-following-reports-armed-man-barricading-himself-room Saturday. Guests and staff at the Kahala Resort & Hotel were sheltering in place, and guests in rooms near the incident had been evacuated, the news site added. Nobody is injured.
PoliticsThe WeekTrump reportedly targets 'stone cold loser' McConnell in off-the-rails RNC speech
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) appears to have been the primary target in former President Donald Trump's improvised, insult-laden speech Saturday night at a Republican National Committee gathering at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, The Washington Post and Politico report. In a familiar turn of events, Trump, who doesn't get the opportunity to vent his frustrations on Twitter these days, reportedly boasted about tossing his "boring" prepared remarks before tearing into McConnell for several minutes. At one point Trump called him a "dumb son of a b----" for not fighting the Electoral College certification on Jan. 6.
BusinessAssociated PressBiden sees `win' for US in electric vehicle battery deal
Two big South Korean electric vehicle battery makers have settled a long-running trade dispute that will allow one of them to move ahead with plans to manufacture batteries in Georgia, a person briefed on the matter said. President Joe Biden called it “a win for American workers and the American auto industry.” LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation reached the settlement, ending the need for Biden to intervene in the dispute, the person said Saturday.
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverChester SC ex-sheriff charged in ‘man cave ... party barn’ case goes to trial on Monday
The trial of former Chester County Sheriff Alex “Big A” Underwood on public corruption charges is set to begin Monday morning at the federal courthouse in downtown Columbia. Underwood and two of his former top deputies, Lt. Johnny Ricardo Neal Jr. and Chief Deputy Robert Sprouse, are alleged to have been part of a conspiracy in which they illegally used their positions for private gain, according to an indictment in the case. Among the specifics of an alleged conspiracy by Underwood and his top deputies is a claim that they used lower-ranking on-duty deputies to drain a pond and turn a building on his property into a “party barn” with a sumptuous “man cave,” according to evidence in the case.
WorldAssociated PressJordanian prince makes first public appearance since arrest
Jordan's Prince Hamzah on Sunday made his first public appearance since he was placed under house arrest last week, attending a ceremony with King Abdullah II in what appeared to be an attempted show of unity on a major Jordanian holiday. But it remained unclear whether the king and his popular half brother had put aside the differences that escalated last week into the most serious public rift in the ruling family in decades. Hamzah joined members of the Jordanian royal family marking the centenary of the establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate that preceded the kingdom.
ScienceThe TelegraphRussian space programme facing existential crisis as Elon Musk helps US relaunch Nasa ambitions
It took four international crews and almost a year before anyone onboard the International Space Station could locate the air leak, untraceable by equipment at hand, which had been driving the cosmonauts insane. One evening last October, Russian cosmonaut Ivan Vagner in a desperate attempt to find that tiny hole sucking up precious air ripped up a tea bag inside one of the station's segments, sending the tea leaves flying into weightlessness. Mr Vagner's ingenuity won him plaudits back home but the incident at the 22-year-old core segment of the station has laid bare Russia's withering space dream as the country is nearing the 60th anniversary of the first human space flight.
U.S.ReutersU.S. Army lieutenant files suit against two Virginia police for assault during traffic stop
(Reuters) - A U.S. Army lieutenant filed a lawsuit against two Virginia police officers in federal court over what court papers say was a violent traffic stop, where officers pointed their guns, knocked him to the ground, pepper sprayed him and "threatened to murder him." The suit, filed by Army officer Caron Nazario on April 2 in the U.S. District Court of Norfolk, Virginia, against Windsor policemen Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker, alleges violations to his constitutional rights, and includes assault, illegal search and illegal detention. The incident captured on video comes at a time of heightened awareness over police arrests of minorities and racial justice, in the wake of the ongoing televised trial of former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody last May.
U.S.Miami HeraldA Tesla speeding about 100 mph hits several parked cars, then slams into a Broward home
According to Sgt. Oscar Mendoza of the Miramar Police Department, the crash happened around 4:20 a.m. The “Tesla drove off the road, hitting several parked cars and a house,” he said. According to WPLG Local 10, neighbors who saw the Tesla speed by on their Ring surveillance cameras described the image as akin to “a flash of light” given how fast the car was driving. Estimates suggest the dark-colored Tesla was going over 100 mph but Miramar police are still investigating the crash.
WorldAssociated Press'Suspicious' blackout strikes Iran's Natanz nuclear site
Iran's underground Natanz nuclear facility lost power Sunday just hours after starting up new advanced centrifuges capable of enriching uranium faster, the latest incident to strike the site amid negotiations over the tattered atomic accord with world powers. As Iranian officials investigated the outage, many Israeli media outlets offered the similar assessment that a cyberattack darkened Natanz and damaged a facility that is home to sensitive centrifuges. While the reports offered no sourcing for the evaluation, Israeli media maintains a close relationship with the country's military and intelligence agencies.
WorldBBCCovid-19: India vaccination crosses 100 million doses
India says it has become the "fastest country in the world" to administer more than 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccines, amid a deadly second wave of infections. It achieved the feat in 85 days, whereas the US took 89 days and China 102 days, the health ministry said. But the country reported a record daily increase of over 150,000 cases - and more than 800 new deaths - on Sunday.
U.S.Miami HeraldFor the second day in a row, a group of Cuban migrants lands in the Keys
The landing happened as U.S. officials say illegal migration attempts from the island nation have increased by more than 100% so far this year. The group of five men and one woman arrived around 8 a.m. Saturday on a green wooden boat near Sombrero Beach in the Middle Keys city of Marathon, said Adam Hoffner, spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol. The day before, a group of 13 men arrived near Boot Key Harbor, less than a mile away from Sombrero Beach, also in Marathon.
WorldAssociated PressUS-Philippines officials discuss concerns over China's ships
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday discussed with his Philippine counterpart China's recent positioning of “militia vessels” near the Philippines in the South China Sea. Austin spoke by phone with Philippine Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana while Austin was flying from Washington to Israel to begin an international trip. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Austin and Lorenzana discussed the situation in the South China Sea and the recent massing of Chinese vessels at Whitsun Reef, which has drawn criticism from Manila.
WorldAssociated PressOfficial: Chinese vaccines' effectiveness low
In a rare admission of the weakness of Chinese coronavirus vaccines, the country's top disease control official says their effectiveness is low and the government is considering mixing them to get a boost. Chinese vaccines “don't have very high protection rates,” said the director of the China Centers for Disease Control, Gao Fu, at a conference Saturday in the southwestern city of Chengdu. Beijing has distributed hundreds of millions of doses abroad while trying to promote doubt about the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine made using the previously experimental messenger RNA, or mRNA, process.
WorldArchitectural DigestWhy We Love a Small Loveseat
Supremely versatile, loveseats work as standalone pieces in studio apartments and as part of a seating arrangement in sprawling living rooms Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- WorldYahoo News Video
Medical examiner testifies George Floyd’s death was caused by the neck restraint from police
During the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin on Friday, Dr. Andrew Baker, the medical examiner for Hennepin County, Minn. said George Floyd's cause of death was “cardio-pulomonary arrest, complicating law enforcement subdual restraint and neck compression.
U.S.INSIDERA Proud Boys leader is arguing he shouldn't be sent back to jail, since other accused Capitol rioters are being beaten and threatened by guards
Lawyers for a self-proclaimed "Sergeant of Arms" of the far-right Proud Boys asked a federal judge to keep his client out of jail, in part because other accused Capitol rioters have alleged abuse and mistreatment behind bars. In a court filing on April 8, which was first reported by Law and Crime, lawyers for 30-year-old Ethan Nordean cited a recent Politico article describing alleged violence other Capitol siege defendants have experienced from guards. According to the article, one defendant told a judge that another defendant "was severely beaten by correctional officers, [is now] blind in one eye, has a skull fracture and detached retina."
WorldAssociated PressEU and COVID-19: When a vaccine only adds to the trouble
Lofty hopes that the crisis would encourage a new and tighter bloc to face a common challenge have given way to the reality of division: The pandemic has set member nation against member nation, and many capitals against the EU itself, as symbolized by the disjointed, virtual meetings the leaders now hold. Leaders fight over everything from virus passports to push tourism to the conditions for receiving pandemic aid. Perhaps worse, some attack the very structures the EU built to deal with the pandemic.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTrump spent several minutes insulting 'dumb son of a b---h' Mitch McConnell during a rambling speech to GOP donors at Mar-a-Lago, say reports
Former President Donald Trump insulted Mitch McConnell during a speech to donors at Mar-a-Lago. Trump referred to the Senate Minority Leader as a "dumb son of a b---h," Politico reported. Former President Donald Trump derided Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell during a 50-minute speech at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Politico reported.
CelebrityThe TelegraphService with a smile: Prince Philip puts Land Rover hearse at heart of funeral he designed himself
The Duke of Edinburgh's coffin will be carried through the grounds of Windsor Castle in a modified Land Rover that he designed for the occasion himself. The funeral will take place next Saturday at 3pm, following a short procession in which the Prince of Wales and senior members of the Royal family will follow the coffin on foot as it is driven to St George's Chapel. The Queen will not take part in the procession.
U.S.USA TODAYNearly 40% of Marines decline COVID vaccine, prompting some Democrats to urge Biden to set mandate for military
Nearly 40% of United States Marines who have been offered the COVID-19 vaccine have declined it, according to the Pentagon. Of the 123,500 Marines that have had access to the vaccine, 75,500 Marines are either fully vaccinated or have only received one dose while about 48,000 have declined it, Communication Strategy and Operations Officer Capt. Andrew Woods told USA TODAY. Woods said service members may have declined the offer for any one of a variety of reasons, including wanting to allow others to get the vaccine before them; having already received the vaccine through other channels; or waiting until the military makes receiving the vaccine mandatory, which it has yet to do.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderVice President Mike Pence pleaded with the acting defense secretary to 'clear the Capitol' as pro-Trump rioters overran the building, report says
The Associated Press obtained an internal Pentagon document about the Capitol riot on January 6. According to the outlet, Vice President Mike Pence placed an urgent call to the acting defense secretary. "Clear the Capitol," Pence said after the mob had been in the building for hours.
WorldAssociated PressReligious leaders recall Prince Philip's spiritual curiosity
Churches in Britain held services Sunday to remember Prince Philip as people of many religions reflected on a man whose gruff exterior hid a strong personal faith and deep curiosity about others' beliefs. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby led a service of remembrance at Canterbury Cathedral in southeast England for the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, who died Friday at the age of 99. Welby, who is set to preside at Philip's funeral on Saturday at Windsor Castle, led prayers for Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, and contemplated “a very long life, remarkably led.”
WorldThe Daily BeastHow Putin or Xi Could Blow It All Up for Biden
Russia has in recent weeks increased troop and military resource deployment on the Crimean peninsula and along the Russian-Ukrainian border. And China has increased aggressive posturing toward Taiwan and within the South and East China Seas that has Asian and U.S. military leaders deeply concerned. While neither a Russian invasion of Ukraine nor a Chinese attack on Taiwan is considered the most likely near-term consequence of their saber-rattling, it does not make these situations less risky.
U.S.Business InsiderEver Given ship forbidden to leave the Suez Canal until its owners pay up to $1 billion in compensation for the chaos it caused
The Ever Given can't leave the Suez Canal until compensations are paid, officials said Thursday. The owner of the Ever Given said it hadn't officially heard from Egyptian authorities yet. While the giant Even Given container ship might have been freed from the banks of the Suez Canal, it still finds itself stuck, embroiled in a row of who should pay for dislodging it from the waterway.
“Without modern infrastructure, the US cannot create decent jobs, social justice or climate safety.”
“The plan itself is really a big bait-and-switch...A fraction of the spending is actually devoted to traditional infrastructure projects.”
“Focusing on the size of the investment is misleading when you consider the high cost of not making it.”
“Rather than spending $2 trillion, we should privatize infrastructure where feasible and cut taxes and regulations on the rest.”
“Public investment can also be a major source of jobs and growth, helping to pull us out of the stagnation trap.”