PoliticsAssociated PressDemocrats move 2 bills showing strength and limits of power
The House voted along party lines to make the nation's capital the 51st state, and two hours later, the Senate overwhelmingly approved bipartisan legislation to address violence against Asian Americans. Thursday's twin victories let Democrats display momentum just six days before President Joe Biden's maiden speech to Congress. Despite a minuscule majority, House Democrats have passed legislation this year reworking voting laws, toughening gun background checks and fulfilling other party goals.
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverChatham man freed in 1975 murder can have DNA evidence used against him in new one
Willie Womble walked free in 2014 after nearly 40 years in prison, cleared for a convenience store robbery and murder he didn't commit. Now 67, Womble faces new charges in a Chatham County slaying, in which a 54-year-old Pittsboro woman was found stabbed to death with a pair of scissors. Womble faced a setback this week when the NC Court of Appeals ruled a lower court erred by suppressing DNA evidence found at the scene.
WorldThe TelegraphIt's 'fair' to call me a private education hypocrite, says Scottish Labour leader
Anas Sarwar has admitted it is a “fair” to call him a hypocrite after he unveiled plans for an attack on private education despite sending his own children to a fee-paying school. Scottish Labour's manifesto, published Thursday, calls for the charitable status of private schools to be revoked and for any public sector backing for them to end. Mr Sarwar, the party leader, sends his own children to Hutchesons' Grammar School in Glasgow, which he also attended, and currently charges annual fees of up to £12,924 per pupil.
WorldAssociated PressIsrael says Syrian missile was not aimed at nuclear reactor
The Israeli military said Thursday that a Syrian missile that reached deep into Israeli territory and set off air raid sirens near the country's top-secret nuclear reactor was the result of a misfire and not a deliberate attack. The missile landed in southern Israel early Thursday, prompting Israel to respond with airstrikes on the missile launcher and other targets in Syria. The army's chief spokesman, Brig. Gen. Hidai Zilberman, was quoted as telling military correspondents that the Israeli air force was already operating in Syrian airspace when the anti-aircraft missile was fired.
PoliticsThe WeekAfter reading 'all 14 pages' of the Green New Deal, Marjorie Taylor Greene says she's ready to debate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Now that she's done her homework, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is ready to spar. One day after seemingly admitting she had never finished reading "all 14 pages" of the Green New Deal, a bill she's repeatedly criticized while throwing barbs at sponsor Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Greene has now finally perused the full policy — and dubbed it a "Communists manifesto." Greene incriminated herself on Wednesday, while tweeting a surreptitiously-taken photo of the two lawmakers chatting on Capitol Hill.
LifestyleArchitectural Digest12 Outdoor Furniture Sets for Living Alfresco
With warmer weather just around the corner, we're taking our home-design focus to the great outdoors Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
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.
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.
WorldAssociated PressUS troops in Afghanistan begin packing gear in pullout prep
The U.S. military has begun shipping equipment and winding down contracts with local service providers ahead of the May 1 start of the final phase of its military pullout from Afghanistan, a U.S. Defense Department official said Thursday. The pullout under U.S. President Joe Biden marks the end of America's longest war after a 20-year military engagement. Currently, some 2,500 U.S. soldiers and about 7,000 allied forces are still in Afghanistan.
WorldThe TelegraphForeign aid destined for China will be diverted to fighting human rights abuses
Chinese foreign aid will be devoted to fighting human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Dominic Raab has said. It comes after the Government was criticised last year for funding schemes to China including a photography project to understand the country's past, syphilis tests for gay men and improving cancer screening in rural areas. The Foreign Secretary told the International Development Committee that he had cut China's Official Development Assistance by 95 per cent.
WorldLA TimesThe U.S. is the biggest carbon emitter in history. Where do other nations stand?
It's not just the United States — other major polluters around the world have also been falling behind the climate goals they set for themselves under the Paris agreement. As the Biden administration virtually hosts the leaders of more than three dozen countries Thursday and Friday to discuss the need for more action on climate change, here's a look at where others stand, and what's preventing them from fulfilling their promises. China is the biggest emitter of planet-warming greenhouse gases, responsible for about 28% of the global total.
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Minneapolis-based therapist shares how local community copes with tragedy: ‘Black folks are constantly under trauma’
For many Twin Cities residents, Tuesday's guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial epitomized the emotional whiplash of the past 10 years, in which short-lived moments of hope gave way to ever-present fears and frustrations. Minneapolis-based therapist Jamil Stamschror-Lott had a pit in his stomach before the verdict, then a sudden feeling of relief. Quickly, though, those feelings turned to fear.
WorldAssociated PressVenezuela prosecutor who defied Maduro implicated in bribery
A former Venezuelan attorney general who defied President Nicolas Maduro by siding with his opponents has been implicated in a major corruption case involving a Venezuelan businessman who this week pleaded guilty to paying $1 million in bribes, two people familiar with the case said Thursday. The former official, Luisa Ortega, isn't mentioned by name in the Miami federal case. But in quietly pleading guilty Monday to a single charge of conspiring to defraud the United States, businessman Carlos Urbano Fermin admitted to paying around $1 million in bribes to a “high-ranking prosecutor” in Venezuela as “insurance” against any investigations into his extensive construction contracts with state-...
U.S.Kansas City StarMissouri’s Hawley is only senator to oppose anti-hate crimes bill on final action
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley was the lone senator Thursday to oppose a bill meant to curb hate crimes against Asian Americans. The bill passed the Senate, with broad support from both parties, by a vote of 94 to 1. It's too broad.
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverPregnant mom driving drunk caused crash that killed son, injured 2 others, PA cops say
A pregnant woman had a blood alcohol content three times the legal limit in a February crash that resulted in the death of her 11-year-old son, Pennsylvania police said. Police released details Thursday about the Feb. 23 crash in Manheim Township and announced 22 charges against Jennifer Johnson, 35. Johnson was traveling with her son and driving up to 69 mph in a 25 mph zone at the time of the crash, according to police.
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.
U.S.Associated PressPolice: Arrested Michigan lawmaker warned he'd call governor
A Michigan lawmaker who was arrested for drunken driving and resisting police threatened to call Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and told state troopers it would not be good for them because he oversees their budget, according to an incident report. Rep. Jewell Jones, an Inkster Democrat, was charged in Livingston County last week after driving his Chevy Tahoe into a ditch along Interstate 96 near Fowlerville around 6 p.m. on April 6, following reports of erratic driving. Police said he became so combative that they had to use a Taser and pepper spray.
BusinessReutersU.S. weekly jobless claims hit 13-month low; home sales tumble
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell to a 13-month low last week, suggesting layoffs were subsiding and strengthening expectations for another month of blockbuster job growth in April as a re-opening economy unleashes pent-up demand. While the labor market recovery is gaining speed, red flags are emerging in the housing market, the economy's star performer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales of previously-owned homes tumbled to a seven-month low in March as prices jumped to a record high amid an acute shortage of houses, other data showed on Thursday.
U.S.The WeekAndrew Yang accused of 'Michael Scott levels of cringe and insensitivity' at forum with LGBTQ group
It sounds like a recent attempt by Andrew Yang to secure an endorsement in his New York City mayoral bid didn't exactly go as planned. The candidate on Wednesday met with the Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City to seek the Democratic LGBTQ organization's endorsement, but he ended up offending its members, The New York Times reports. Yang, according to the report, "cited gay members of his staff as apparent evidence of his openness to the club's concerns, and expressed enthusiasm about the prospect of visiting" the New York gay bar Cubbyhole.
TechnologyBBCTaiwan authorities look into Apple supplier hack
Authorities in Taiwan say they are looking into a ransomware cyber-attack on a major technology firm there. Quanta Computer is a manufacturer of many flagship Apple products, including its MacBook line. The hackers, known as Revil, have published stolen blueprints for unreleased products, and are threatening to release more.
U.S.Associated PressRestoring service central to Biden's postal board nominees
President Joe Biden's nominees to the governing board of the U.S. Postal Service pledged Thursday to rebuild trust with the American public through prompt deliveries, as they outlined a vison for the agency in their first formal statements to lawmakers. The nominees — Ron Stroman, a former deputy postmaster general; Amber McReynolds, who leads the nonprofit National Vote at Home Institute; and Anton Hajjar, the former general counsel of the American Postal Workers Union — made the remarks during their confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. If approved by the committee then the full Senate, the nominees would give Democrats and Democratic appointees a majority on the board.
ScienceReutersNASA-SpaceX set to launch next 4-member crew to International Space Station
NASA and commercial rocket company SpaceX were due to launch a new four-astronaut team to the International Space Station early on Friday in what would be the first crew propelled into orbit by a rocket booster recycled from a previous spaceflight. The company's Crew Dragon capsule, the Endeavour, was set for liftoff atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 5:49 a.m. Eastern time (0949 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The nearly 24-hour ride to the space station, which orbits some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, had been set to begin on Thursday but was delayed for a day by unfavorable weather forecasts along the rocket's flight path.
WorldBusiness InsiderCountries from around the world are chipping in to help find Indonesia's missing naval submarine
An Indonesian naval submarine went missing on Wednesday off the northern coast of Bali. Countries from around the world are sending reinforcements to assist in the search for a Indonesian naval submarine that went missing on Wednesday. The 53-person crew was participating in a torpedo drill north of Bali but failed to relay the results of the drill, an Indonesian Navy spokesperson told Reuters. Hadi Tjahjanto, the commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, said the submarine lost contact with the military at 4:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday.
BusinessAssociated PressJaguar Land Rover halts production because of chip shortage
Jaguar Land Rover said Thursday it's suspending production at two U.K. factories, becoming the latest automaker to fall victim to a global shortage of microchips. The shortage “is having an impact on our production schedules and our ability to meet global demand for some of our vehicles.” Production will be halted for a “limited period" starting Monday at its Halewood factory near Liverpool and at its Castle Bromwich plant near Birmingham in central England, the company said, without being more specific.
U.S.INSIDERA Massachusetts police department apologized for sharing a response to Chauvin's guilty verdict that said Chauvin 'calmly placed his hands behind his back' and to 'imagine if George Floyd had done the same'
"Chauvin immediately stood and calmly placed his hands behind his back," the post read in part. "Imagine if George Floyd had done the same," it continued. The now-deleted Facebook post was shared by the Fall River Police Department in Massachusetts on Tuesday after Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.
“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.”