WorldYahoo NewsReport: China, Russia fueling QAnon conspiracy theories
Foreign-based actors, principally in China and Russia, are spreading online disinformation rooted in QAnon conspiracy theories, fueling a movement that has become a mounting domestic terrorism threat, according to new analysis of online propaganda by a security firm. The analysis by the Soufan Center, a New York-based research firm focused on national security threats, found that nearly one-fifth of 166,820 QAnon-related Facebook posts between January 2020 and the end of February 2021 originated from overseas administrators. “It's very alarming,” said Jason Blazakis, a senior research fellow at the Soufan Center and a former State Department counterterrorism official who is one of the authors of the report.
U.S.Lexington Herald-Leader7-year-old girl fatally shot in McDonald’s drive-thru, Illinois police say
A 7-year-old girl was killed and her father was injured after police say gunmen opened fire on their car in a Chicago drive-thru line Sunday. Around 4:20 p.m., Jontae Adams, 28, and his daughter Jaslyn Adams were waiting in a silver Infiniti in a McDonald's drive-thru, police said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. A McDonald's worker said two men got out of another car and started firing into the vehicle, WLS reported.
WorldAssociated PressRadical Islamist party frees 11 Pakistani police hostages
An outlawed Pakistani Islamist political group freed 11 police a day after taking them hostage in the eastern city of Lahore amid violent clashes with security forces, the country's interior minister said Monday. Supporters of the hard-line Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan party attacked a police station near their rallying point Sunday and took the police officers hostage. The group is protesting the arrest of their leader, Saad Rizvi, and pressuring Prime Minister Imran Khan to expel France's ambassador over the publication in France of controversial cartoons depicting Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
WorldReutersPhilippines' Duterte would send navy ships in South China Sea to assert claim over resources
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday he was prepared to send his military ships in the South China Sea to "stake a claim" over oil and mineral resources in the disputed part of the strategic waterway. With some critics complaining Duterte had gone soft by refusing to push Beijing to comply with an arbitration ruling, he said the public can be assured he would assert the country's claims to resources like oil and minerals in the South China Sea. Duterte has sought to build an alliance with China and has been reluctant to confront its leadership, having been promised billions of dollars of loans and investments, much of which have yet to materialise, frustrating nationalists.
U.S.Associated PressCouple: 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.
U.S.The Telegraph'Hold police officers accountable,' urges George Floyd lawyer as jury prepares to deliver verdict
A jury is to hear closing arguments on Monday in the trial of the white ex-police officer accused of murdering African-American George Floyd, a case that laid bare racial wounds in the United States and has come to be seen as a pivotal test of police accountability. Derek Chauvin, a 19-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department, faces a maximum of 40 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge - second-degree murder. Mr Chauvin was seen on video kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes as the 46-year-old Black man lay handcuffed facedown in the street complaining he "can't breathe."
WorldReutersPakistan urges Taliban to stay engaged in Afghan peace process
Pakistan on Monday urged the Taliban to remain engaged in the Afghan peace process after the armed group said it would now shun summits about Afghanistan until all foreign forces leave. "They take their own decisions but we will do whatever we can to convince them that it is in their national interest to remain engaged," Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said of the Taliban in an interview with Reuters in Abu Dhabi. The refusal has thrown the peace process into disarray with Turkey scheduled for Saturday to host a summit that diplomats had hoped could create new momentum towards a political settlement between the Taliban and Afghan government.
PoliticsAssociated PressGOP targets ballot drop boxes in Georgia, Florida, elsewhere
A favorite target is ballot drop boxes, which have been used for years in states with expansive mail voting and which millions of voters used last year as a way to avoid polling places during the pandemic. Democrats say the boxes are more secure than regular mailboxes, and their use was largely trouble-free last fall. Even Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican who signed the restrictive bill into law, posted a video on his Twitter account that showed him using a drop box to cast his ballot last year, flashing a thumbs up sign afterward.
- U.S.Associated Press
Detroit police fatally shoot man after pursuit, gun battle
A man who drove through a Detroit crime scene where five people were shot and one person died in a car crash was fatally shot by police early Monday following a pursuit and gun battle, the city's police chief said. The shooting of the 27-year-old man was caught on police video, snippets of which were shown to reporters at a news conference. “Clearly, this was a suspect that we had to apprehend," Chief James Craig said.
- WorldYahoo News Video
During Chauvin trial closing arguments, prosecutor tells jury “Believe your eyes”
During closing arguments in the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin on Monday, prosecutor Steve Schleicher told the jury to listen to common sense as they consider the evidence in the death of George Floyd. Believe your eyes,” he said. What you saw, you saw.
PoliticsReutersSenator Manchin throws support behind U.S. labor reform bill
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin said on Monday he supports a sweeping labor reform bill, giving the legislation some momentum after it passed in the House last month. The West Virginia Democrat said the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or PRO Act, would level the playing field for unions and he was looking forward to working with a bipartisan group of legislators to pass it. He made the announcement at a virtual National Press Club event with Cecil Roberts, the president of the United Mine Workers of America union.
PoliticsThe Independent‘I’m not going to be bulled’: Maxine Waters hits back at GOP criticism after she urged protesters to get ‘more confrontational’ in Minneapolis
Maxine Waters says she is “not going to be bullied” after Republicans attacked her for urging Minneapolis protesters to get “more confrontational” if former police officer Derek Chauvin is acquitted for the killing of George Floyd. The longtime California congresswoman said Monday that GOP criticism of her was trying to “send a message” to their white supremacist supporters. “Republicans will jump on any word, any line and try to make it fit their message and their cause for denouncing us and denying us, basically calling us violent,” Ms Waters told thegrio.
WorldReutersAustria will only use Sputnik V vaccine after EMA approval, Kurz says
Austria will only use Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine once the European Medicines Agency has approved it, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Monday, amid growing public frustration with the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations. Austria has been in talks with Russia to buy a million doses of the vaccine, and Kurz said on March 31 the order would probably be placed the following week. Kurz had recently avoided saying whether his country would await EMA approval of the vaccine, which has been used in the European Union only by Hungary so far.
- WorldAssociated Press
Egypt: 3 militants involved in Christian's slaying killed
Egypt police killed three suspected militants allegedly involved in the slaying of a Coptic Christian man kidnapped more than five months ago in a restive part of Sinai Peninsula, the Interior Ministry said Monday. Security forces exchanged fire with Islamic State group militants while chasing them in the Abtal area of North Sinai province, the ministry said in a statement. Three of the militants were killed and police were chasing three others.
U.S.Lexington Herald-LeaderBlack man paralyzed by Iowa officer in shooting gets historic $8 million settlement
A Black man who was paralyzed from a police shooting has reached an $8 million settlement with an Iowa city, officials say. Attorneys for Jerime Mitchell, who was shot by a Cedar Rapids police officer during a 2016 traffic stop, said Monday the settlement is believed to be the largest for a police-involved shooting in the state's history. States Insurance, the insurer for Cedar Rapids, agreed to pay the Mitchell family to dismiss the claims without acknowledgment of fault or liability by the defendants, according to the city.
PoliticsReutersU.S. Supreme Court brings end to another Republican election challenge
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday brought an end to another lawsuit related to the Nov. 3 presidential election filed by a Republican former congressional candidate who had challenged the extension of Pennsylvania's deadline to receive mail-in ballots. Bognet, who lost his race for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives to Democratic rival Matt Cartwright, and the voters had filed the suit before the election, challenging a Sept. 17 ruling by Pennsylvania's top court ordering officials to count mail-in ballots that were postmarked by Election Day and received up to three days later.
WorldMiami HeraldLast Castro steps down. Unfortunately, too many Cuban exiles didn’t live to see it | Editorial
For the first time in six decades, no Castro will hold an official position of power in Cuba's government — at least that's what the Cuban government wants us to believe. On Friday, Raúl Castro, the late Fidel's younger brother, stepped down as head of Cuba's Communist Party, the moral center of the regime that reshaped Cuba — and Miami. Sadly, Miami-Dade's cemeteries are filled with the graves of Cuban exiles, those who fled in the '50s, '60s and '70s, and whose lives were so brutally interrupted by the Castro brothers' deceitful revolution.
PoliticsThe WeekGOP Sen. John Cornyn says Republicans could support a smaller infrastructure bill
During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said if an infrastructure bill is introduced with an $800 billion price tag, that's one Republicans "could pass." "Let's do it and leave the rest for another day and another fight," he added. President Biden has proposed a $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan that would upgrade roads and bridges; invest in manufacturing and workforce development; and fund care for senior citizens and disabled Americans.
U.S.INSIDERThe head of the Chicago Police Union called the officer who shot 13-year-old Adam Toledo 'heroic'
The Chicago Police Union head said Thursday that the fatal shooting of Adam Toledo was "justified." A video released this week shows Toledo running down an alley and raising his hands before he was shot. Toledo appeared to have a gun but dropped it before officer Eric Stillman shot him once in the chest.
WorldAssociated PressEXPLAINER: Jerusalem dispute could derail Palestinian vote
A dispute over voting in east Jerusalem is threatening to cancel or delay the first Palestinian elections in more than 15 years. While President Mahmoud Abbas is vowing to hold the vote, Israeli restrictions on Palestinian voters in east Jerusalem could give him a pretext for calling off an election that appears increasingly likely to threaten his hold on power. The Palestinians view east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and Abbas has said its residents cannot be excluded from parliamentary elections planned for May 22.
HealthReutersDoctors say clot treatment advice key to U.S. resuming J&J COVID vaccines
Resuming the use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine in the United States will require clear guidelines for the medical community on how to best treat patients that develop a rare type of blood clot, as well as alerting vaccine recipients to be aware of the telltale symptoms, according to heart doctors and other medical experts. U.S. health regulators recommended last week that use of the J&J vaccine be paused after six cases of rare brain blood clots, accompanied by low platelet levels, were reported in women following vaccination, out of some 7 million people who have received the shot in the United States. A panel of expert advisors to U.S. health agencies will meet later this week to determine whether the pause should continue, with a decision expected as early as Friday.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderOAN fires staffer who called out the network over voter fraud lies
A producer who recently went on the record to criticize OAN has been fired. The network sacked Marty Golingan on Monday, according to a New York Times reporter. Golingan was one of several employees who blasted OAN for its election fraud lies.
U.S.INSIDER3 people are dead and 2 are injured after a mass shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin
Three people were fatally shot at a restaurant in Kenosha, Wisconsin early Sunday morning. A shooter killed three people and injured two others at a Wisconsin tavern early Sunday morning. The shooting occurred at The Somers House Tavern in Kenosha just after midnight, as CNN reported.
PoliticsAssociated PressSupreme Court asked to give access to secretive court's work
Civil liberties groups are asking the Supreme Court to give the public access to opinions of the secretive court that reviews bulk email collection, warrantless internet searches and other government surveillance programs. The groups say in an appeal filed with the high court Monday that the public has a constitutional right to see significant opinions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The appeal was filed by Theodore Olson, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and Yale Law School's Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic.
U.S.The IndependentPolice officer’s powerful TikTok message on Daunte Wright goes viral
A US police officer has demonstrated the “huge difference” between a gun and a Taser in a viral TikTok video, describing how it is difficult to confuse the two items in an officer's arsenal, in the wake of Daunte Wright's death. The video posted from the account of a man named Brian B had about 6 million views and 1.4 million likes before the account was taken down after it became viral and triggered an extensive online conversation. The officer, appearing in his police uniform in the Tiktok video, can be seen loading his belt with both Taser and pistol before tapping the pistol as “dominant” and Taser as “not so dominant.”
“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.”