U.S.The TelegraphGender reveal party prompts fears of 'earthquakes' after US couple detonates 80 pounds of explosives
Explosives used for a gender reveal party in New Hampshire were so loud that residents across state lines thought there was an earthquake. Locals in the Rockingham County area reported the foundations of their homes cracking and walls rocking to police, who located the origin of the blast in a quarry, where a family admitted to holding the gathering. “It was earth-shaking,” a neighbor who lives near Torromeo Industries in Kingston, where the explosives were set off at 7pm EST on Tuesday, told NBC news.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramCop seen punching teen with autism in California video. ‘Disturbing,’ boy’s dad says
Surveillance video shared by a California dad shows a police officer violently attack a teenager in a residential neighborhood on Wednesday. Adam Wolf says he is worried his 17-year-old son, Preston, who has autism and ADHD, will never trust police officers again. “I am pro police, but I am not pro ABUSE,” Wolf said on Facebook, where he posted the video.
U.S.ReutersA cheerleader's Snapchat profanity gets U.S. Supreme Court's attention
(Reuters) - 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."
WorldAssociated PressFrench prosecutors open terror probe in official's killing
French prosecutors opened a terrorism investigation into the fatal stabbing Friday of a police official inside a police station near the historic Rambouillet chateau outside Paris. Anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard told reporters that his office took over the probe because the attacker had staked out the station ahead of time, because of statements he made during the attack, and because he targeted a police official. The judicial official was not authorized to be publicly named speaking about an ongoing investigation.
WorldThe TelegraphJapanese man arrested after dating 35 women at the same time in bid to 'get birthday presents'
A Japanese man has been arrested after reportedly dating more than 35 women at the same time. Takashi Miyagawa, a part-time worker, is being investigated for allegedly defrauding dozens of women by pretending he was serious about each of their relationships and receiving hundreds of pounds worth of gifts from them. He was apparently caught out when the women joined forces to create a victims' association after discovering his extensive infidelity and reported him to the police, according to local media.
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.
- NewsKTRK – Houston
Man shot in the face during armed robbery at million dollar home
Police said the couple was followed to the home after leaving a restaurant in a McLaren. They were ambushed in the garage and robbed.
ScienceThe ConversationWarp drives: Physicists give chances of faster–than–light space travel a boost
General relativity also describes how mass and energy warp spacetime – hefty objects like stars and black holes curve spacetime around them. This curvature is what you feel as gravity and why many spacefaring heroes worry about “getting stuck in” or “falling into” a gravity well. Early science fiction writers John Campbell and Asimov saw this warping as a way to skirt the speed limit.
- U.S.Associated Press
Zimbabwe air force helicopter crashes near capital, 4 killed
An air force helicopter crashed into a house in Zimbabwe on Friday, killing three crew members and a child at the crash site, the Air Force of Zimbabwe said. A young girl and a woman were rushed to hospital with burn injuries, according to the statement by the air force. Two pilots and a technician died in the crash, the air force said.
WorldThe TelegraphWho killed Chad’s warrior king? Macron flies into murder mystery troubling the West
Emmanuel Macron touched down in Chad on Friday to pay his respects to one of France's indispensable African strongman, a warrior king allegedly killed on the battlefield in a murder mystery troubling Western leaders. President Idriss Déby Itno was killed suddenly as he visited his troops facing down a heavily armed Russian-trained rebel force that had made a blitzkrieg dash across the Sahara to capture Chad's capital, N'djamena. The Chadian rebels — the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) — who swept out of Libya some two weeks ago in about 400 to 450 vehicles had fought for years as mercenaries in Libya's Civil War under General Khalifa Haftar.
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.
WorldReutersJapan PM Suga plans fresh emergency curbs amid surge in COVID cases
TOKYO (Reuters) -The Japanese government plans to declare a state of emergency for the third time for Tokyo and three other prefectures following a resurgence of new COVID-19 infections, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday. Suga told reporters the government will formally declare the state of emergency after a meeting with experts to be held on Friday, when asked when the decision will be made. While Suga did not specify the length of the state of emergency, public broadcaster NHK said the government is considering imposing the curbs from April 25 to May 11.
U.S.BBCCovid 'hate crimes' against Asian Americans on rise
A Filipino-American is slashed in the face with a box cutter. From being spat on and verbally harassed to incidents of physical assault, there have been thousands of reported cases in recent months. Advocates and activists say these are hate crimes, and often linked to rhetoric that blames Asian people for the spread of Covid-19.
WorldArchitectural DigestBookmark These 11 Places on HipCamp for Your Next Outdoor Retreat
A WiFi break? Yes, please Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
HealthThe WeekCNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta says vaccinated people can generally go maskless outdoors, with some caveats
There's been some heated discussion about whether it's safe, for you and others, to do outdoor activities without wearing a mask. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is putting together new guidance for vaccinated Americans, CNN's Jake Tapper told chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Thursday evening, but "what does the science say about what the rules should be for people, like us, who are vaccinated?" Gupta said the research shows that fewer than 10 percent of all infections happen outdoors, and the odds of transmitting COVID-19 indoors is 18.7 precent higher than outdoors.
U.S.Miami HeraldThe biker thought he was getting a ticket. Instead, the deputy gave him a phone number
Largely phased out nationwide, just a few Officer Friendly programs have endured through the millennium, including one by the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, according to WFTS Tampa Bay. This story isn't about Officer Friendly, but it is about a friendly officer. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office posted video of a traffic stop that went in a direction the motorist probably didn't expect.
WorldLA TimesHeffernan: Mondale was a root canal compared to Reagan's show biz magic. Too bad we couldn't stand the pain
Mondale could never have done government as show business. He was famous for his integrity and reciprocally awkward with media. Reagan “could walk in front of those cameras and it would come out magic,” Mondale told the Guardian in 2008.
U.S.The WeekTucker Carlson is uncancelable
Or you might think he'd resign over a college yearbook image circulating in which a much younger Carlson appears to make an inside joke about the assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Macone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the latter of whom was California's first openly gay elected official. Indeed, in that elite realm — which obviously includes Carlson, for all his railing against the elite — we're rapidly approaching a point where anything short of tattooing Nazi symbols on your face on live television is not disqualifying for anyone willing and able to ignore the haters for a few weeks or months. Former President Donald Trump was a big part of this shift, but so are Democratic Govs.
PoliticsTimeLeaving Afghanistan Isn't Enough to End America's Forever Wars
When he woke up in Kabul, in the waning days of the Soviet War in Afghanistan, he had trouble figuring out what was going on. As the journalist Artyom Borovik told the story, when his fellow soldiers tried to reorient him, he just kept asking the same question: “What are we doing in Afghanistan?” No one could give a definite answer. In 2001, we were conducting “comprehensive and relentless operations” to drive terrorists out of Afghanistan and bring them to justice.
PoliticsAssociated PressSen. Johnson on others getting shots: 'What do you care?'
Contrary to what medical experts advise, Johnson has said he doesn't need to be vaccinated because he had COVID-19 in the fall. Johnson's comments come as health officials in the U.S. and around the world urge people to get vaccinated for COVID-19 as soon as possible, saying that reaching herd immunity is the best shot at stopping the uncontrolled spread of the virus. Herd immunity occurs when enough people have been vaccinated or have immunity from natural infection that the virus can't easily spread and the pandemic fizzles out.
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.
U.S.INSIDERA Virginia sheriff's deputy shot an unarmed Black man 10 times after he called 911 for help
A Virginia sheriff's deputy shot a Black man ten times after he called 911 for help. A Virginia man is intensive care in the hospital after he was shot 10 times outside of his home by a sheriff's deputy who had given him a ride earlier in the day. Isaiah Brown, 32, was stranded at a gas station after his car broke down early Wednesday morning when a deputy provided Brown with a ride home, according to NBC4 Washington.
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 IndependentSouth Korean president calls Trump failure who ‘beat around the bush’ on North Korea
South Korea's president Moon Jae-in has criticised Donald Trump's efforts to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula and said he “failed” in his diplomacy towards North Korea. He beat around the bush and failed to pull it through,” Mr Moon said about the former US president in an interview with the New York Times. The South Korean president, who is scheduled to meet US president Joe Biden next month, said he hopes he would “go down as a historic” leader to have achieved substantive and irreversible progress on the stalled denuclearisation process.
- WorldWTVD – Raleigh/Durham
Man dead after being shot outside Brier Creek Barnes & Noble
The Wake County District Attorney's Office will not pursue charges at this time following a shooting outside of the Barnes and Noble at Brier Creek shopping center that killed a 32-year-old man back in March.
“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.”