U.S.NBC NewsBody of missing LSU student found, no foul play suspected
He cited video footage, cellphone tracking and "other evidence we shared with Kori's parents that we are not at liberty to disclose publicly out of respect for their privacy." Gauthier was a freshman at the university in Baton Rouge. Thompson's department, other law enforcement agencies and volunteers searched exhaustively for the 18-year-old, he said.
PoliticsAssociated PressUS to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11
President Joe Biden will withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America that were coordinated from that country, several U.S. officials said Tuesday. The decision defies a May 1 deadline for full withdrawal under a peace agreement the Trump administration reached with the Taliban last year, but leaves no room for additional extensions. A senior administration official called the September date an absolute deadline that won't be affected by security conditions in the country.
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverMysterious goat appears in Death Valley National Park. That’s bad news, rangers say
A tourist at Death Valley spotted something within the park that shouldn't be there: a mysterious goat. The visitor reported seeing a domestic goat in a canyon near Stovepipe Wells within the park. The goat could be bad for native bighorn sheep and the park's ecosystem, rangers said Wednesday on Facebook.
WorldAssociated PressTrump-era spike in Israeli settlement growth has only begun
An aggressive Israeli settlement spree during the Trump era pushed deeper than ever into the occupied West Bank — territory the Palestinians seek for a state — with over 9,000 homes built and thousands more in the pipeline, an AP investigation showed. If left unchallenged by the Biden administration, the construction boom could make fading hopes for an internationally backed two-state solution — Palestine alongside Israel — even more elusive. Satellite images and data obtained by The Associated Press document for the first time the full impact of the policies of then-President Donald Trump, who abandoned decades-long U.S. opposition to the settlements and proposed a Mideast plan that would have allowed Israel to keep them all — even those deep inside the West Bank.
U.S.The StatePopular NC teacher killed trying to rob Mexican drug cartel member, sheriff says
A popular Union County teacher described by family and friends as a devoted father, teacher and coach was fatally wounded in a shootout when he and his brother-in-law tried to rob members of a Mexican drug cartel, Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson said Wednesday. Barney Dale Harris, 40, taught Spanish and was head coach of the boys' varsity basketball and track teams at Union Academy Charter School in Monroe, according to his family and the school. Alamance County is east of Greensboro along interstates 85 and 40 — 55 miles west of Raleigh and 115 miles from Charlotte.
WorldReutersEuropean powers warn Iran over 'dangerous' uranium enrichment move
PARIS (Reuters) -The European countries party to the Iran nuclear deal told Tehran on Wednesday its decision to enrich uranium at 60% purity, bringing the fissile material closer to bomb-grade, was contrary to efforts to revive the 2015 accord. But in an apparent signal to Iran's arch-adversary Israel, which Tehran blamed for an explosion at its key nuclear site on Sunday, European powers Germany, France and Britain added that they rejected "all escalatory measures by any actor". Israel, which the Islamic Republic does not recognise, has not formally commented on the incident at Iran's Natanz site, which appeared the latest twist in a long-running covert war.
ScienceAssociated PressUAE sets new ambitious timeline for launch of moon rover
The United Arab Emirates' space center announced Wednesday a more ambitious timeline for sending its first rover to the moon. The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center said it is partnering with Japan's ispace company to send a rover to the moon on an unmanned spacecraft by 2022, rather than 2024. The “Rashid” rover, named after Dubai's ruling family, will deploy to the moon using ispace's lunar lander.
U.S.TheGrioArmy sergeant pushes Black man, demands he leave neighborhood in viral video
A viral video of an army sergeant pushing a Black resident in South Carolina and demanding that he leaves the neighborhood has now resulted in criminal charges. Initially uploaded on Facebook on Monday, the three-minute clip has circulated various media channels before the aggressor was identified as Jonathan Pentland, a 42-year-old U.S. Army sergeant in Columbia, S.C. Pentland has since been charged with third-degree assault, Washington Post reports. In the video, Pentland pushes, threatens, and verbally assaults a black man and attempts to force him to leave the area.
WorldReutersIndia, Pakistan held secret talks to try to break Kashmir impasse
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Top intelligence officers from India and Pakistan held secret talks in Dubai in January in a new effort to calm military tension over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, people with close knowledge of the matter told Reuters in Delhi. Ties between the nuclear-armed rivals have been on ice since a suicide bombing of an Indian military convoy in Kashmir in 2019 traced to Pakistan-based militants that led to India sending warplanes to Pakistan. Later that year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdrew Indian-ruled Kashmir's autonomy in order to tighten his grip over the territory, provoking outrage in Pakistan and the downgrading of diplomatic ties and suspension of bilateral trade.
U.S.Lexington Herald-LeaderBiden team believes Austin Tice, journalist missing in Syria, is alive
Biden administration diplomats and intelligence officers are operating “with the sincere belief” that Austin Tice is alive, two U.S. officials told McClatchy on Wednesday, and the group is working daily to free the American journalist who went missing in 2012 while covering the war in Syria. “We operate with the sincere belief that Austin is alive and waiting for us to come get him,” Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens said. The Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, a team of experts from different government agencies that gathers diplomatic leads and intelligence information together in one place, is pursuing the Tice case.
U.S.USA TODAYNo apology owed for pepper-spraying Black and Latino Army officer in Virginia, police chief says
While he said he felt bad for how the events of a traffic-stop late last year unfolded, the police chief of the town where a Black and Latino military officer from Petersburg, Virginia, was accosted by two of his officers said Wednesday that he does not think the soldier is in need of an official apology. In response, Army Lt. Caron Nazario's legal team said Windsor Police Department Chief Rodney D. Riddle "continues a false narrative" of the case and blaming their client for initiating it. "I'm gonna own what we did," Riddle said about the stop during a news conference Wednesday in the Isle of Wight County, Virginia, community where Nazario was stopped last December while on his way home.
WorldReutersBattle-hardened and better funded, Ukraine's army knocks on NATO's door
At the outbreak of the war in eastern Ukraine in 2014, the Ukrainian army was so poorly equipped that ordinary citizens were knitting socks, donating scrap metal and even crowdfunding a tank for soldiers at the front line. The government that took over after the Maidan street protests said it had only 5,000 combat-ready ground troops and did not put up a fight when Russian forces seized and annexed the Crimea peninsula in March that year. But the Crimea annexation and seven years of fighting Russian-backed forces in the eastern Donbass region drove Ukraine to overhaul its military, combining a huge increase in defence spending with aid and training from Western allies.
U.S.The Independent‘An indefensible system’: AOC leads calls to abolish police after Daunte Wright killing
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has described the police killing of Daunte Wright as no “accident”, and once again led calls for the abolition of the police. Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, the Democratic congresswoman called for reform of the police both in Minneapolis and across the US, in the aftermath of Mr Wright's death on Sunday, while criticising failures in addressing “what is a systematic problem”. It came as a number of others in Congress, and famous US brands including Ben & Jerry's, called for the defunding or abolition of police.
CelebrityNBC NewsWhat happened to Bernie Madoff's family? Where Ruth Madoff and the others are now
The death of Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff has dredged up memories of the destruction and pain left behind in the wake of perhaps the most infamous Wall Street scheme in recent history. Madoff, 82, died while serving a 150-year prison sentence stemming from fraud charges that involved cheating thousands of investors, including the filmmaker Steven Spielberg and the actors Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, out of billions in promised returns. In 2011, Ruth said during an interview with NBC's "TODAY" show that she did not miss her imprisoned husband, adding that "the villain of all this is behind bars."
WorldBBCWhy $30m didn't protect Nigerian pupils after Chibok
The kidnapping of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls from Chibok seven years ago led to the launching of a multi-million dollar plan, backed by a former UK prime minister, to bolster security at schools - but it failed to stop abductions and protect children. The swirl of dust thrown up as a helicopter came down to land heralded a high-level visit to Chibok in March 2015. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's finance minister at the time and now head of the World Trade Organization, was received by a waiting crowd of community leaders and parents whose daughters had been kidnapped.
- PoliticsReuters Videos
Israel made 'very bad gamble' on Natanz: Iran FM
Speaking during a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart, Iran's top diplomat said the incident enabled Iran to use all of its options at Natanz legally and legitimately. "Israel played a very bad gamble if it thought that the attack will weaken Iran's hand in the nuclear talks," Zarif said. Tehran has said an explosion on Sunday (April 11) at its key nuclear site was an act of sabotage by arch-foe Israel and vowed revenge for an attack that appeared to be latest episode in a long-running covert war.
U.S.ReutersFauci says pause on J&J COVID-19 shot should not prompt vaccine hesitancy
Top U.S. health officials urged Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19 on Wednesday, saying U.S. regulators' pause on Johnson & Johnson shots, following reports it can cause blood clotting, should boost confidence in the vaccines' safety. U.S. federal health agencies on Tuesday recommended pausing use of J&J's COVID-19 vaccine for at least a few days after six women under 50 developed rare blood clots after getting the shot. White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said that U.S. regulators' quick response to the clotting reports should give Americans more confidence, not less, that any shots they receive will be safe.
U.S.The StateMississippi dad suffers stroke after Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Here’s what happened.
A 43-year-old father of seven from Ocean Springs suffered a stroke hours after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Brad Malagarie was otherwise healthy before he suffered the stroke April 6 while at work. Malagarie had the most common form of stroke, an ischemic stroke, which is caused by a blood clot in an artery leading to the brain.
U.S.Business InsiderPelosi says she thinks Chauvin trial is 'disappointing': 'Maybe my disappointment springs from my expectation that these are our protectors'
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reflected on the Chauvin trial Wednesday, calling it "so disappointing." Pelosi said she still respects law enforcement and stamped down calls to "defund the police." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday she finds the trial of ex-Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin "so disappointing."
WorldArchitectural DigestMonaco Is Becoming an Unexpected Leader in Sustainability
The second-smallest independent state in the world is emerging as a leader in planet preservation. Monaco's sovereign prince founded his namesake Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation in 2006 to combat climate change, preserve biodiversity, and conserve water resources. To reach the lofty target, Monaco expanded public transportation options including biodiesel buses and electric shuttle boats.
U.S.USA TODAY‘Most humiliating punishment imaginable’: Black National Guardsman allegedly forced to wear heavy chain
NATIONAL GUARD: Women welcomed, promoted until they report sexual assault In a scathing report obtained by USA TODAY, the National Guard Bureau Office of Equity and Inclusion substantiated 11 complaints of discrimination and one of harassment lodged by Weaver and accused Maryland of violating Weaver's right to due process. Related video: Evanston, IL to offer reparations to Black residents The Maryland National Guard has exonerated its personnel after several internal investigations and is appealing the bureau's decision.
BusinessFort Worth Star-TelegramRubber glove manufacturer bringing 800 jobs to facility on Fort Worth’s North Side
Nitrile rubber glove manufacturer Rhino Health Inc. is bringing 800 jobs to Fort Worth, the company announced in a Wednesday news release. The company hopes to triple the production from its New Mexico facility with a 400,000 square foot property in Majestic Fort Worth South business park, making it the largest manufacturing facility in the company. Approximately 10,000 square feet will go to office space and serve as the corporate office location.
U.S.INSIDERCharges against Daunte Wright before his death have sparked anger and disinformation - here are the documents that explain what happened
Daunte Wright was killed on Sunday while he had an outstanding arrest warrant, the police said. Insider reviewed legal documents that shed light on what happened. Daunte Wright's killing by a police officer not far from Minneapolis sparked renewed debates about racism and policing in the US.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderFlorida, Michigan, and Texas are the next frontiers in the nationwide battle over voting access
Republican lawmakers in Florida, Michigan, and Texas are taking up new voting laws. Proposed measures in all three states would add restrictions to mail voting. Recently, GOP governors in Iowa and Georgia signed major election reforms into law.
U.S.Associated PressBaylor refuses title Jeep after dealer's insensitive remark
Baylor and coach Scott Drew have refused to accept a vehicle wrapped with the school's national championship logo after an insensitive remark made by the dealership's general manager when discussing it during a live TV interview. The customized Jeep Wrangler was driven in the team's championship parade through downtown Waco on Tuesday night, and was then going to be given to the school for Drew to use for the next year. When talking about the vehicle with KWTX-TV before the parade started, Ted Teague, GM of the Allen Samuels dealership in Waco, said Drew could enjoy the Jeep and “use it to recruit, pull some people out of the hood.”
“There’s no ‘both sides of the debate’ when it comes to active voter suppression.”
“Companies that do this ooze contempt for their own customers and employees who are not in the leftmost quarter of opinion.”
“The truth is that Fortune 500 companies were never taking moral stances from the goodness of their corporate hearts.”
“The truth is, the companies hold the cards…If companies stick to their guns, Georgia is likely to back down as well.”
“When a company folds to the unfounded outrage of a few misinformed nuts, they are forever at the mob’s beck-and-call.”