Rare scheduling in Oklahoma, Tennessee and Alabama underlines the renewed appetite in US for state killings
Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez was put to death by the state of Oklahoma, in the first of three executions scheduled for Thursday in a rare triple procedure that underlines the renewed appetite in the US for state killings.
Just one hour later, Darrell Hines was put to death by the state of Tennessee, and at 6pm local time in Alabama, that state executed Jeremy Williams.
Continue reading...District attorney says Arjun Aravind, 17, used internet and AI to search for fantasy stories regarding killing of his family
A Massachusetts teenager accused of killing his mother and younger brother is being held without bail as authorities investigate a double-murder case that prosecutors say is connected to his use of ChatGPT.
Arjun Aravind, 17, appeared Thursday morning for his arraignment in Concord district court, where a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf to murder and several additional charges.
Continue reading...The center has until next week to present plan to judge who had blocked earlier rehab and name change
The board of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington is said to have voted once again to move forward with Donald Trump’s controversial plan to temporarily shutter the building for substantial renovations, as well as to inscribe the US president’s name on the facade of its building, despite a federal order for his name to be removed from the signage.
The board – mostly handpicked, staunch allies of the president – voted “to close the Kennedy Center’s main building, while keeping a newer addition to the campus, known as the Reach, open for limited programming and to operate as an active memorial to John F Kennedy”, according to the New York Times, which was first to report the results.
Continue reading...Federal court rules administration failed to plausibly show ongoing violation of civil rights law
A US federal judge has dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit that claimed Harvard University failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students from harassment in the aftermath of the war in Gaza.
In a ruling on Thursday morning, US district judge Richard Stearns in Boston said the administration’s lawsuit – filed in March – failed to plausibly show an ongoing violation of federal civil rights law on Harvard’s campus.
Continue reading...Former PM of Israel calls events ‘concerted and meticulous attempt at ethnic cleansing’ against Palestinians
Israeli troops have forced two Palestinian families to leave their besieged West Bank homes, the day after a top Israeli commander personally promised he would end a violent settler campaign to drive them out.
Israeli soldiers also took over eight other homes in Qusra early on Thursday, telling the village’s mayor, Abdul Azim Wadi, that the buildings were needed for a days-long operation to remove the settlers. They later relinquished six. Settlers still roam the village.
Continue reading...Randall Lane left his job last month after accepting money from founder of firm that does business with magazine
The top editor of Forbes left his job last month and was reportedly dismissed for accepting $6m from the founder of a firm that does business with the magazine.
The New York Times reported this week that Randall Lane was paid by RJ Shook, whose company, Shook Research, worked with Forbes since 2016 to publish rankings of wealth advisers. The payment was made after Shook sold a majority stake in the company to a private equity firm a year ago.
Continue reading...Kelce’s remarks on his marriage to Swift at Madison Square Garden comes weeks after the event, which remains shrouded in mystery
American football star Travis Kelce has described his secretive early July wedding to pop sensation Taylor Swift as “the best night of my life.”
“I appreciate everybody who came out and celebrated and, you know, had fun with us,” the Kansas City Chiefs player told a briefing.
Continue reading...Democratic socialist Francesca Hong fell just short as David Crowley strives for unity for the general election
Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist, was on course to win the party’s nomination for Wisconsin governor on Wednesday by a clear margin, according to the polls – presaging the latest in an extraordinary wave of leftwing victories across the country, challenging the party’s establishment.
It was not to be. In a photo finish after a messy campaign, David Crowley eked out a win by a few thousand votes over Hong, raising questions over the limits of the progressive movement that has swept through Democratic contests in recent months.
Continue reading...Marni von Wilpert helped draft Protecting the Right to Organize act, and now wants work toward implementing it
Legislation that would modernize federal labor law began with a handful of lawyers meeting, of all places, in an ice-cream shop.
“We wrote for hours what we would do to amend the National Labor Relations Act,” said Marni von Wilpert, a member of the San Diego city council who was then an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Bringing together “our collective experience as labor lawyers over the years, really trying to unrig the rules so that working people could have a fair shot”.
Continue reading...President says Secret Service wanted him on ‘different plane’ due to threat as Democrats call for congressional briefing
President Donald Trump’s administration is to spend at least $900m for construction projects on the White House grounds, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing records.
Instead of securing money directly from Congress, the administration has gathered funding from other agencies and private donors and directed it to an account that holds a few million dollars for routine maintenance of the White House, the report said.
Continue reading...With wing spans up to 3ft, the shy cownose ray species typically arrive in Long Island waters in the warmer months
Drone footage of dozens of stingrays in the ocean off New York has captivated beachgoers and marine enthusiasts, offering a rare bird’s-eye view of a species that scientists say has visited the area for decades.
The footage was captured las`t Friday off the coast of Southampton on the Long Island peninsula by Joanna Steidle, a Hamptons-based professional drone pilot known for her aerial ocean shots. It shows cownose rays gliding through the water en masse near the surface.
Continue reading...Iran lost top leaders in the war and US ‘humiliation ... a form of revenge’, say experts, after administration’s flight ruse
Since the joint US-Israeli strikes in February that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and scores of other senior Iranian officials on the first day of the war, a revenge plot to kill Donald Trump should not have appeared far-fetched.
But the US administration’s elaborate ruse to spirit Trump off of Air Force One in Turkey last month indicates a credibility to the Iranian threat that has surprised many in Washington – including the Trump aides and journalists left on the jet that may have remained the target of an Iranian missile strike.
Continue reading...Crowley pulls off last-minute victory in tight race after polls had shown his progressive opponent as a clear frontrunner
David Crowley, the Milwaukee county executive, pulled off a last-minute victory after re-entering the Wisconsin governor’s race and snagging an endorsement from Tony Evers, the outgoing governor.
The race came down to the wire, with Francesca Hong and Crowley running close to each other as each batch of results came in.
Continue reading...British driver Andy Green reached 406.320 mph in car powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines
The only person to break the sound barrier in a car earned another world record Tuesday in a show of force for hydrogen power.
British driver Andy Green reached 406.320 mph (653.908 kph) in a car powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines with a combined 1,600 horsepower, setting the record for that vehicle category, according to the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the international governing body of motor sports.
Continue reading...Mike Heard used his paddle to strike gator that had latched on to swimmer in Silver River after hearing yells of ‘Gator!’
A Florida paddleboarder rescued a woman from an alligator attack in Marion county over the weekend.
On Saturday, an alligator bit the woman on the arm while she was swimming in the Silver River, according to local reports citing Marion county authorities.
Continue reading...School said it is pivoting away from letter-grading system to ‘curb the mental health crisis’ among college students
The University of Michigan will pivot to a pass-or-fail-style grading system, instead of letter grades, for first-semester students in an effort to “curb the mental health crisis unfolding among college-aged individuals”.
The school said in a notice on Tuesday that its goal was “to help first-year students acclimate to the demands of college and allow intrinsic motivations to guide personally meaningful academic journeys” and foster “a culture of connection and collaboration – rather than competition”.
Continue reading...Jacob ‘Jake’ Whisenant died in Sequoia and Kings Canyon wilderness in ‘climbing-related incident’, authorities say
A 30-year-old California climber known for breaking speed records died after falling in the Sierra Nevada wilderness last week, according to authorities.
Jacob “Jake” Whisenant, from Mammoth Lakes, California, died in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon wilderness on 3 August, according to the Tulare county sheriff’s office coroner unit and the National Park Service (NPS).
Continue reading...Nearly 500 personnel battle Timber fire in Los Padres national forest as blaze grows to 2,000 acres
Evacuations have been ordered for areas along California’s famous Big Sur coast as a wildfire burns in the nearby steep, rugged mountains.
The Timber fire in Monterey county started on Sunday and grew to 2,000 acres by Tuesday morning, according to Cal Fire, the state’s fire agency. Nearly 500 fire personnel had been assigned to the fire in the Los Padres national forest.
Continue reading...Lawsuit challenges executive order targeting international criminal court for investigating Israeli crimes in Palestine
Four prominent US human rights organizations have accused the Trump administration of using its “crippling” sanctions regime against the international criminal court (ICC) to undermine global efforts to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court on Tuesday, the groups – the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch and the Open Society Institute – argued that the administration’s targeting of the ICC, as well as of groups and individuals affiliated with it or assisting its work, amounts to a “blatantly illegal attack on international justice”, the groups said.
Continue reading...Elaborate ruse was used to transport president to military flight from Air Force One in July
Donald Trump departed on a secret military flight from Turkey to Britain last month when the White House said he was flying aboard Air Force One, in an extraordinary ruse – prompted by an Iranian assassination threat – that involved hiding the president in an airport catering container, according to reporting from the Washington Post and the New York Times.
The operation took place when Trump was in Ankara for a Nato summit with world leaders, according to the Post. The president reportedly boarded the old Air Force One jumbo jet in view of television cameras, and then was secretly shuttled minutes later to a smaller plane via an airport catering truck typically used to load meals and other supplies preflight, a US official told the Post.
Continue reading...