U.S.The Week'Highly unlikely' Chauvin trial ends in 'all-out' acquittal, legal analyst predicts
As Minneapolis and the rest of the nation brace for the looming verdict in former police officer Derek Chauvin's murder trial, ABC News' chief legal analyst Dan Abrams said Sunday that he believe it is "highly unlikely" the trial is headed toward an "all-out" acquittal. Closing arguments still have to take place, and Abrams noted that the defense has the benefit of not having to prove that Chauvin did not kill George Floyd by kneeling on his neck during an arrest last May (the burden of proof is on the prosecution and the defense's goal is to show there's reasonable doubt), but, still, he said he and others who have followed the trial closely would be "stunned" if Chauvin was found not guilty on all three of charges — second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter — he faces.
WorldReutersDeadly clashes after Islamists take police hostage in Pakistan's Lahore
Police in Pakistan said a hardline Islamist group had taken six security personnel hostage at its headquarters in Lahore on Sunday after a week of violent clashes following the arrest of the group's leader. The Tehrik-i-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) group had given the government an April 20 deadline to expel the French ambassador over the publication of cartoons in France depicting the Prophet Mohammad. The authorities responded by arresting its leader, prompting supporters to hold protests and sit-ins across Pakistan.
WorldBBCIndia coronavirus: Delhi announces lockdown as Covid cases surge
Indian capital Delhi has announced a week-long lockdown after a record spike in cases overwhelmed the city's healthcare system. Government offices and essential services, such as hospitals, pharmacies and grocers, will be open during the lockdown which starts on Monday. The city had imposed a weekend curfew but reported its highest single-day spike so far on Sunday - 24, 462 cases.
U.S.Associated PressMarine tanks back in water after deadly accident last year
Marines are training in seafaring tanks for the first time since nine men died when one of the troop carriers sank off the Southern California coast during an exercise last summer, a newspaper reported. The Marine Corps' fleet of the amphibious assault vehicles was suspended from all water training following the deadly accident July 30 near San Clemente Island. The Orange County Register reported Saturday that Marines from Camp Pendleton last week resumed exercises in water recovery and troop transfers — without troops.
U.S.The TelegraphDemocratic congresswoman urges protesters to stay on streets if Derek Chauvin is cleared
A veteran Democratic congresswoman has urged demonstrators to become more confrontational if Derek Chauvin is cleared of killing George Floyd. Maxine Waters, who has represented her California district since 1991, joined a crowd in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota protesting the last week's police shooting of Daunte Wright. Mr Wright, 20, an Afro-American, was shot dead by Kimberley Potter, a veteran police officer who said she had accidentally fired her gun, thinking it was a taser.
WorldReutersPakistan foreign minister says no plan to meet Indian counterpart in UAE - newspaper
Pakistan's foreign minister has welcomed mediation efforts by the United Arab Emirates between his country and India but told UAE newspaper Khaleej Times that he was not planning to meet his Indian counterpart in the country. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar are visiting the Gulf state at the same time. "I am here for a bilateral visit.
U.S.BBCIndianapolis FedEx shooting: Who were the eight victims?
Officials in Indianapolis have released the names of the eight people who were killed when a gunman opened fire at a FedEx warehouse on Thursday night. Among the victims were four members of the local Sikh community - including a mother, a father and two grandmothers. Other victims include two 19-year-olds, a university graduate and a father.
- U.S.Associated Press
Couple: Man has tossed used cups in their yard for 3 years
An upstate New York couple may have finally solved the mystery of who's been tossing used coffee cups in their front yard for nearly three years. Edward and Cheryl Patton told The Buffalo News they tried mounting a camera in a tree in front of their home in Lake View to catch the phantom litterer. After Edward Patton called police, they waited and pulled over a vehicle driven by 76-year-old Larry Pope, who Cheryl Patton said had once worked with her and had had disagreements with her over union issues.
WorldReutersRussia beefs up warship presence in Black Sea as Ukraine tensions simmer
Two Russian warships transited the Bosphorus en route to the Black Sea on Saturday and 15 smaller vessels completed a transfer to the sea as Moscow beefs up its naval presence at a time of tense relations with the West and Ukraine. The reinforcement coincides with a huge build-up of Russian troops near Ukraine, something Moscow calls a temporary defensive exercise, and follows an escalation in fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces. Russia's relations with Washington, which cancelled the deployment of two of its own warships to the Black Sea last week after fierce Russian protests, are at a post-Cold war low.
- PoliticsReuters Videos
Biden to raise cap on refugees after criticism
Biden signed an order Friday to extend that admissions cap through the end of September. That also effectively shelved a plan announced in February to increase the cap by more than four times. While the asylum system used by migrants is distinct from the refugee program, one U.S. official told Reuters that Biden's approach appears to have tied the two together.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-Telegram‘I’m a Christian woman of God.’ Texas school board candidate cited after refusing mask.
A Texas school board candidate near Austin was arrested for assault after an altercation with a Nordstrom Rack employee earlier this month. Video of Kara Bell's arrest has gone viral. It shows the woman arguing with Nordstrom employees inside near the fitting rooms and then with the police outside the store.
WorldAssociated PressJapan seeks release of Japanese journalist held in Myanmar
Japan's government said Monday it is asking Myanmar to release a Japanese journalist who was arrested by security forces in its largest city of Yangon the previous day. Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters Monday that his government is asking Myanmar authorities to explain the arrest and provide other details while asking for his release as soon as possible. He did not identify the detainee, but Japanese media identified him as Yuki Kitazumi, a former Nikkei business newspaper reporter currently based in Yangon as a freelance journalist.
HealthReutersChina trials mixing of COVID-19 vaccines from CanSinoBIO and Zhifei Longcom: data
Chinese researchers are testing mixing two COVID-19 vaccines developed by CanSino Biologics and a unit of Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products respectively, according to clinical trial registration data. Earlier this month, the director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the country was "formally considering" giving people COVID-19 vaccines developed with different technologies as a way of further boosting vaccine efficacy. A trial expected to involve 120 participants will test the safety and ability to trigger immune response of a dose of CanSinoBIO's Ad5-nCoV treatment, followed by a dose of ZF2001 from Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical, at 28-day or 56-day interval, according to clinical trial record site ClinicalTrials.gov maintained by a department under the National Institute of Health of the United States.
CelebrityThe TelegraphRoyal summit to decide future of monarchy to be led by Prince Charles and Prince William
The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge will hold a summit to decide the future of the monarchy over the next two generations following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh. In consultation with the Queen, Britain's next two kings will decide how many full-time working members the Royal family should have, who they should be, and what they should do. The death of Prince Philip has left the Royal family with the immediate question of how and whether to redistribute the hundreds of patronages he retained.
WorldAssociated PressHigh-ranking Iranian general dies of heart disease at 65
A high-ranking general key to Iran's security apparatus has died, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced on Sunday. Brig. Gen. Mohammad Hosseinzadeh Hejazi, who died at 65, served as deputy commander of the Quds, or Jerusalem, force of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The unit is an elite and influential group that oversees foreign operations, and Hejazi helped lead its expeditionary forces and frequently shuttled between Iraq, Lebanon and Syria.
WorldUSA TODAY'There will be consequences': National security adviser Sullivan warns of US retaliation if Kremlin critic Navalny dies
WASHINGTON – National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States would retaliate if Russian government critic Alexei Navalny dies during a prison hunger strike. "We have communicated (to Russia) that there will be consequences if Mr. Navalny dies," Sullivan said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. Video: Biden announces tough new sanctions on Russia Sullivan did not specify how retaliation for Navlany's death might be carried out.
U.S.Business InsiderSen. Ted Cruz accused Rep. Maxine Waters of 'actively encouraging riots and violence' after she protested the police killing of Daunte Wright
Sen. Ted Cruz accused Rep. Maxine Waters of inciting violence at protests against police brutality. Waters rallied against recent police killings of Black men, telling demonstrators to remain in place. "Democrats actively encouraging riots & violence," Cruz tweeted in response to Waters' remarks.
WorldReutersExclusive: Canada's budget to include digital and luxury levies, but no wealth tax - sources
Canada's first budget in two years, to be presented to parliament on Monday, proposes a sales tax for online platforms and e-commerce warehouses, a digital services tax for Web giants and a luxury tax on items like yachts, government sources familiar with the document said. It will not include a wealth tax, a levy sought by the opposition New Democrats. Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's budget will need the support of at least one opposition group to pass.
PoliticsAssociated PressGeorgia's Abrams navigates voting law fight with eye on 2022
President Joe Biden called Georgia's new voting law an “atrocity.” “These are laws that respond to an increase in voting by people of color,” Abrams told The Associated Press recently. The approach demonstrates how Abrams, a former and potentially future candidate for governor, is navigating the politics in the new battleground.
WorldBBCCovid-19: How India failed to prevent a deadly second wave
In early March, India's health minister Harsh Vardhan declared the country was "in the endgame" of the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr Vardhan also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership as an "example to the world in international co-operation". From January onwards, India had begun shipping doses to foreign countries as part of its much-vaunted "vaccine diplomacy".
- ScienceReuters Videos
Caribbean island rocked by volcanic eruptions
The tiny eastern Caribbean island of Saint Vincent was blanketed by ash Sunday, where authorities said the La Soufriere volcano erupted yet again in the late afternoon. Some 20,000 people have been evacuated from their homes since eruptions began last week, many staying in shelters in the island's capital, Kingstown. Layers of ash as thick as 8 inches have destroyed crops, contaminated water, killed animals and devastated infrastructure, leaving some roads impassable and slowing down search and rescue.
U.S.Business InsiderMarjorie Taylor Greene says she'll introduce a resolution to expel Rep. Maxine Waters for her 'continual incitement of violence.'
GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she'd introduce a resolution to expel Rep. Maxine Waters. Greene said Waters incited violence when she spoke with protesters in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Protests in the city have gone on for a week following the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright.
WorldINSIDERNeighbor who tossed an elderly Jewish woman off a balcony while yelling 'Allahu Akbar' avoids trial because he smoked weed
Kobili Traoré killed an Orthodox Jewish woman in 2018 by throwing her off her balcony in Paris. France's top court has ruled that he will not go on trial because he was in a drug-induced psychosis. Cannabis was found in Traoré's blood after he was taken into custody for the killing.
PoliticsAssociated PressGOP White House hopefuls move forward as Trump considers run
Less than three months after former President Donald Trump left the White House, the race to succeed him atop the Republican Party is already beginning. Trump's former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has launched an aggressive schedule, visiting states that will play a pivotal role in the 2024 primaries, and he has signed a contract with Fox News Channel. Mike Pence, Trump's former vice president, has started a political advocacy group, finalized a book deal and later this month will give his first speech since leaving office in South Carolina.
U.S.Lexington Herald-LeaderSome people got saline shots instead of COVID vaccine at a North Carolina Walgreens
A North Carolina Walgreens mistakenly gave some people a saline injection instead of the COVID-19 vaccine. Walgreens recently learned a “limited number” of people at a location in Monroe were affected and that the company has contacted them about the mistake, Rebekah Pajak, a spokesperson for the company, told McClatchy News in a statement Sunday. Walgreens says it's investigating the incident and reviewing procedures with the Monroe location to “prevent this from occurring again.”
“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.”