Category Archives: Virginia

Virginia Target workers seek to unionize amid surge in labor organizing efforts

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Company has already reportedly pushed back by trying to use union dues as a tactic to deter workers from supporting the union

Workers at a Target store in Christiansburg, Virginia, have filed for a union election and, if successful, the store would be the first belonging to the retail chain to unionize.

Target has long opposed unionization, with anti-union videos to discourage workers from unionizing. Earlier this year, Target training documents for managers to prevent unionization within stores were leaked.

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‘It was terrifying’: Amber Heard testifies Johnny Depp hallucinated during fight

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Actor denies putting human feces in couple’s bed and claims ‘he was talking to people who weren’t in the room’

Johnny Depp was hallucinating and his sobriety had completely collapsed in the final months of his marriage, his ex-wife – fellow actor Amber Heard – testified on Monday in the civil lawsuit between the two.

Heard was back on the stand as the trial resumed in a Virginia courtroom after a one-week hiatus.

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Amber Heard testifies in Johnny Depp defamation trial: ‘This is horrible for me’

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Actor takes witness stand in Virginia court and tells jurors trial ‘has been one of the most painful things I’ve ever gone through’

Amber Heard took the witness stand in a Virginia court on Wednesday afternoon during Johnny Depp’s defamation lawsuit against her – a make-or-break moment for the actors in a four-week trial that had so far largely focused on Depp’s version of events during their turbulent 15-month marriage.

“I struggle to find the words to describe how painful this is … this is horrible for me to sit here for weeks and relive everything, to hear people that I knew, some well, some not, my ex-husband with whom I shared a life, speak about our lives in the way they have,” she said.

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Depp’s attorneys rest after 13 days of testimony in case against Heard

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Amber Heard’s attorneys demanded judge dismiss defamation case but Judge Penney Azcarate ruled trial will proceed

Attorneys for Johnny Depp rested on Tuesday after 13 days of testimony in the actor’s $50m defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard. In court in Virginia, Heard’s attorneys demanded the judge dismiss the action.

Without jurors present, lawyer Ben Rottenborn asked the judge, Penney Azcarate, “to strike the plaintiff’s evidence and award summary judgment in whole or in part to Ms Heard”.

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British-born Islamic State member receives life sentence in US trial

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Alexanda Kotey of the so-called ‘Beatles’ terror cell given a life sentence for each of the eight counts he pleaded guilty to

A member of an Islamic State group that beheaded western hostages in Iraq and Syria, nicknamed “the Beatles” for their British accents, has been sentenced to life in prison in the US.

Alexanda Kotey, 38, originally from Paddington, London, stood motionless as Judge Thomas Selby Ellis delivered his verdict at a district court in Alexandria, Virginia, while members of his victims’ families watched.

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ACLU helped draft article at heart of Depp v Heard case for $3.5m donation, court hears

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American Civil Liberties Union’s general counsel testifies that at least $500,000 came from fund connected to Elon Musk

The ACLU helped Amber Heard draft the Washington Post article accusing Johnny Depp of abuse after the organization was promised a $3.5m donation from her divorce – though at least $500,000 of it eventually came from a fund connected to Tesla founder Elon Musk, jurors in the Depp-Heard defamation trial heard on Thursday.

The American Civil Liberties Union’s general counsel, Terence Dougherty, testified that the organization decided to propose Heard as an ambassador for the group after Heard pledged the sizeable donation over 10 years.

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Johnny Depp details severed finger incident in court: ‘Nothing made sense’

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Actor continues testimony on his life and marriage with Amber Heard, including events that marked the end of their relationship

Johnny Depp’s courtroom exploration of his life and marriage with Amber Heard continued in the US on Wednesday, with the court viewing a photograph of the actor’s partially severed finger.

Depp testified that Heard had become enraged when he had started drinking in Australia during the filming of one of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise films and had thrown a bottle of vodka at him, severing the top of his finger.

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Johnny Depp testifies that alleged abuse of Amber Heard ‘never happened’

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Actor takes stand in defamation trial and denies Heard’s domestic abuse claims, saying ‘I have never struck any woman in my life’

Taking the stand in his libel lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard, Johnny Depp said her domestic abuse allegations against him were disturbing, heinous and “not based in any species of truth”.

“Nothing of the kind ever happened,” Depp said in court on Tuesday. “Never did I myself reach the point of striking Ms Heard in any way. Nor have I ever struck any woman in my life.”

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Jury in Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation case hears of ‘mutual abuse’

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Couple’s relationship counsellor says Heard would ‘initiate a fight’ at times while ex-assistant says she was ‘belligerent and abusive’

The dueling defamation case between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard dug further into the heart of an often toxic and violent relationship on Thursday as jurors heard from the couple’s marriage counsellor, Heard’s former personal assistant and Depp’s addiction specialist.

Dr Laurel Anderson, who was employed by Depp and Heard as a counsellor to discuss their relationship, described “mutual abuse” between the two. She said that, on more than one occasion, Heard had initiated incidents to stop Depp leaving, stemming from her fear of abandonment, according to Anderson. She also said she had seen photos of Heard with bruises.

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Court hears US hostage’s emotional letter to father as IS trial continues

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Peter Kassig, who was later killed, described paralysis and hope and offered words of comfort to his family

An American hostage’s harrowing story about captivity at the hands of the Islamic State militants who would kill him was recounted in court in Virginia on Wednesday.

A letter from the late Peter Kassig was read aloud during the terrorism trial of El Shafee Elsheikh, a 33-year-old former British citizen and alleged member of a kidnap-and-murder cell known to captives as the “Beatles” because of their British accents.

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IS terrorists who kidnapped James Foley ignored efforts to negotiate, court hears

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Foley’s brother and mother testify at Virginia court trial of El Shafee Elsheikh, accused of kidnap and murder of US journalist

The Islamic State terrorists who kidnapped American journalist James Foley never made serious attempts to negotiate a ransom before brutally executing him, family members have told a court.

Foley’s brother and mother took the witness stand at US district court in Alexandria at the terror trial of El Shafee Elsheikh, a Briton accused of playing a leading role in a hostage-taking scheme that resulted in the deaths of Foley and three other Americans – Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.

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How the Islamic State trial could change the future of US terrorism cases

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As a Virginia jury hears horrific allegations, experts say the trial of El Shafee Elsheikh sets an important precedent

As the trial against the accused Islamic State fighter El Shafee Elsheikh began this week on American soil, jurors in a northern Virginia courtroom were quickly exposed to accounts of unimaginable brutality.

Elsheikh, prosecutors alleged, carried out terrorist acts that involved the grisly deaths of four Americans – the journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as the aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig.

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Virginia governor Youngkin apologizes after mixing up Black state senators

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Louise Lucas noted she received a text from Glenn Youngkin congratulating her for a speech Mamie Locke gave

The Virginia governor, Glenn Youngkin, has apologized after mistaking one Black legislator for another in a text message.

Youngkin is the new Republican governor of the state, which has trended Democrat in recent election cycles but stunned observers by picking Youngkin as its new leader last year over a centrist Democrat candidate.

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‘A slap in the face’: uproar in Virginia as governor relaxes school mask rules

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Most families want masks in schools – so why did Virginia’s new governor make them optional?

Emily Paterson was finally feeling able to relax. Her two sons were now fully vaccinated, and with mask policies in place at their school in northern Virginia she felt safe sending them every day, even as the Omicron variant surged.

Then Virginia’s new governor, Glenn Youngkin, took office on 15 January of this year – and, with his second executive action, he made masks in schools optional.

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Nor’easter lashes eastern US with snow and wind gusts near hurricane force

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  • Philadelphia, New York and Boston in path of storm
  • Flooding, high winds and cold weather expected

A nor’easter with hurricane-force wind gusts battered much of the US east coast on Saturday, flinging heavy snow that made travel treacherous or impossible, flooding coastlines and threatening to leave bitter cold in its wake.

The storm thrashed parts of 10 states, with blizzard warnings from Virginia to Maine. Philadelphia and New York saw plenty of wind and snow, but Boston was in the crosshairs. The city could get more than 2ft of snow by early Sunday.

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Virginia conservators open time capsule found in Robert E Lee statue’s pedestal

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Box, deposited in 1887, did not appear to hold a rare photo of Abraham Lincoln that had been hoped for

More than 130 years after a time capsule was deposited in the pedestal of a statue of the Confederate general Robert E Lee, and after one false start, conservators in Virginia were finally able to open the long sought-after box on Tuesday.

The 36lb copper container, deposited in 1887, was removed on Monday after it was found sitting in water in the remains of the pedestal.

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Researchers open possible time capsule from 1887 found in Robert E Lee statue pedestal – video

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For the second time in a month, conservation experts in Virginia opened an apparent time capsule found in the remnants of a pedestal that once held a statue of Confederate general Robert E Lee.

State officials hope Tuesday’s opening of the aged copper box, which was discovered and carefully extracted from the monument site on Monday, will mark the end of a long search for an elusive time capsule deposited in 1887.

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1887 time capsule apparently found under Robert E Lee statue pedestal – video

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A long-sought 1887 time capsule appears to have been found under a pedestal that once held a statue of the Confederate general Robert E Lee in Richmond, Virginia. Media reports described a capsule with dozens of artefacts, perhaps including a rare photo of Abraham Lincoln. Crews dismantling the pedestal found another time capsule earlier this month, but it did not contain the expected trove of objects. The statue was removed in September after protests against the police killing of George Floyd

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Crews find second apparent 1887 time capsule under Robert E Lee statue

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Long-sought-after item could contain artifacts, Confederate memorabilia and even a rare photo of Abraham Lincoln

Crews wrapping up the removal Monday of a giant pedestal that once held a statue of Confederate Gen Robert E Lee in Richmond found what appeared to be a second and long-sought-after time capsule, Virginia governor Ralph Northam said.

The governor tweeted photos of a box being removed from the site and said conservators were studying the artifact.

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Jury awards $25m in damages over deadly 2017 Charlottesville far-right rally

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Nine people who were physically or emotionally injured during the two days of demonstrations will receive payment

A jury has awarded more than $25m in damages against white nationalist leaders for violence that erupted during the deadly 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville.

The defendants were accused of promoting and then carrying out racially motivated violence during the “Unite the Right” rally. After a nearly monthlong civil trial, a jury in US district court in Charlottesville deadlocked on two claims but found the white nationalists liable on four other counts in the lawsuit that was filed by nine people who suffered physical or emotional injuries during the two days of demonstrations.

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