Jeffrey Ferguson, 72, arrested in connection with death of Sheryl Ferguson, 65, discovered at home with at least one gunshot wound
A southern California judge has been arrested in connection with the killing of his wife, authorities said Friday.
Jeffrey Ferguson was arrested late Thursday after police received reports of a shooting in an Anaheim Hills home and found the judge’s wife, Sheryl Ferguson, suffering from at least one gunshot wound, Anaheim police said.
Continue reading...Former speaker says she ‘didn’t see any bravado or confidence’ in comments likely to enrage Trump, a longtime Pelosi foe
Donald Trump looked like “a scared puppy” before his arraignment in court in Washington on charges related to his election subversion, Nancy Pelosi said, comments likely to anger an ex-president the former US House speaker has long delighted in baiting.
“I wasn’t in the courtroom of course but when I saw his coming out of his car and this or that, I saw a scared puppy,” Pelosi told MSNBC.
Continue reading...Ex-national security adviser calls former boss ‘irrational’ and criticizes Republicans who support him on foreign policy
Ex-national security adviser John Bolton issued harsh remarks against his former boss and the leading 2024 Republican presidential candidate, saying that the US will likely withdraw from Nato if Donald Trump wins the election.
In an interview with the Hill on Thursday, Bolton criticized the former president’s foreign policy after an op-ed he wrote earlier this week called Trump’s behavior “erratic, irrational and unconstrained”.
Continue reading...Kathleen McElroy, whose history of promoting diversity caused pushback, receives damages and apology from Texas A&M
A Black journalism professor who was hired by Texas A&M University before objections in some quarters over her history of promoting diversity foiled the job offer has secured a $1m settlement from the institution.
Kathleen McElroy also received an apology from officials at Texas A&M, the largest public school in the US, who in a statement Thursday acknowledged “mistakes … made during the process”.
Continue reading...2-1 ruling on policy that revoked voting rights for certain people with felony convictions is surprise victory from conservative court
A federal appeals court on Friday struck down Mississippi’s Jim Crow-era policy of permanently revoking voting rights from certain people with felony convictions, ruling that it is unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment.
The 2-1 panel ruling is a surprise victory from the conservative fifth circuit court of appeals just over a month after the US supreme court refused to hear a challenge to the discriminatory law.
Continue reading...Adrienne Vaughan was on family holiday and reportedly fell overboard when speedboat collided with a sailboat
Adrienne Vaughan, the 45-year-old president of the US branch of the Bloomsbury publishing house, has been killed after a collision between a speedboat and a 45-metre sailboat on Italy’s Amalfi coast.
Vaughan was on holiday in Italy with her husband and two children when the collision happened on Thursday.
Continue reading...‘Data security incident’ began Thursday at facilities operated by California’s Prospect Medical Holdings
A cyberattack has disrupted hospital computer systems across the United States, forcing emergency rooms in several states to close on Thursday and ambulances to be diverted.
Many primary care services remained closed on Friday as security experts worked to determine the extent of the problem and resolve it.
Continue reading...Road closures and a huge police presence meant Trump slipped into court out of public view – but onlookers made their voices heard
After hearing that Donald Trump would appear at a federal courthouse in downtown Washington to answer charges filed against him for attempting to overturn the 2020 election, Joan Batista made plans to be outside, celebrating what she viewed as the former president’s long overdue comeuppance.
But when she arrived at the E Barrett Prettyman US courthouse, what she saw bothered her. City trucks equipped with snow plows blocked roads, hundreds of police monitored the building’s entrances and reporters from all around the world ringed its perimeter, hoping for a glimpse of the former president.
Continue reading...Ron DeSantis’s government has banned instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, effectively also banning the class
Florida has told school superintendents that the Advanced Placement psychology course offered to high school students violates the state’s new law prohibiting instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, effectively banning the class, the non-profit that develops the courses said on Thursday.
The move is the latest by the administration of Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor, to limit instruction about LGBTQ+ issues and race in the state. DeSantis is challenging Donald Trump for the Republican nomination for president in 2024 and has made battles over cultural issues a centerpiece of his campaign.
Continue reading...American Academy of Pediatrics reaffirms support for transgender children in face of growing push for restrictions across US
The American Academy of Pediatrics has reaffirmed its support for gender-affirming medical care for transgender children, even as the treatments face a growing push for bans and restrictions from Republican lawmakers across the US.
The board of directors for the group, which represents 67,000 pediatricians, unanimously voted to reaffirm its 2018 position on the treatments. The board also voted to provide additional documents to support pediatricians, including clinical and technical reports, and to conduct an external review of research regarding the care.
Continue reading...Ex-president arraigned on four felony counts related to ‘criminal scheme’ to remain in office as Trump laments ‘sad day for America’
Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, marking the third time this year the former president has been forced to respond to a criminal indictment.
Trump was arrested and arraigned on four felony counts outlined in special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.
Continue reading...The ex-president was hit with four felony counts over efforts to overturn the election, and another hearing is due this month
Donald Trump’s third arraignment took place in a Washington courthouse on Thursday, the usual throng of media and smattering of protestors outside.
But as routine as a Trump indictment may seem to the public eye, this was the first time the former president has faced accountability for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.
Obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.
Conspiracy against rights.
Continue reading...Jinchao Wei, 22, and Wenheng Zhao, 26, accused in separate cases of ‘violating commitments they made to protect the United States’
Two US navy sailors have been arrested on charges of handing over sensitive national security material to China, US officials said on Thursday.
Jinchao Wei, a 22-year-old sailor assigned to the San Diego-based USS Essex, was arrested on Wednesday on a charge related to espionage involving conspiracy to sending national defense information to Chinese officials. In a separate case, the justice department charged Wenheng Zhao, 26, for allegedly collecting bribes in exchange for giving sensitive US military photos and videos to a Chinese intelligence officer.
Continue reading...In the minutes after the Trump indictment was filed in federal district court in Washington, conservative commentators rapidly scrambled to his defense. Rightwing pundits lined up to compare the charges to “criminalizing thoughts” and the dropping of “fifteen dozen” atomic bombs – and that was just on Fox News.
Rightwing TV channel Newsmax, which has drained some of Fox News’s audience in recent months, brought on Rudy Giuliani, an unnamed co-conspirator in Tuesday’s indictment, who railed for seven minutes about Hillary Clinton’s emails and Biden being a “crooked president”.
Continue reading...Lawsuit filed by three of the singer’s tour dancers alleged she sexually harassed them and created a hostile work environment
Lizzo has spoken out in response to several of her tour dancers waging allegations of sexual harassment against her, calling their claims “sensationalized stories”.
Earlier this week, a lawsuit filed by three of the singer’s tour dancers alleged that Lizzo had sexually harassed them and created a hostile work environment through sexual, racial and religious harassment in various incidents between 2021 and 2023.
Continue reading...US statement comes as ousted president says he is being held hostage and calls on international community to restore order
Joe Biden has called for the immediate release of Niger’s elected president and for the country’s democracy to be restored, in the highest profile statement by the US since the coup that removed Mohamed Bazoum from power, as Senegal also ramped up the pressure by saying its troops would join a a military intervention if necessary.
“I call for President Bazoum and his family to be immediately released, and for the preservation of Niger’s hard-earned democracy,” the US president said in a statement on Thursday, the 63rd anniversary of Niger’s independence. “In this critical moment, the United States stands with the people of Niger to honour our decades-long partnership rooted in shared democratic values and support for civilian-led governance.”
Continue reading...Over 85,000 workers hold pickets at 50 facilities across US as union contracts set to expire on 30 September
Unions representing more than 85,000 healthcare workers have held pickets at 50 facilities across California, Washington, Oregon and Colorado amid new contract negotiations as their current union contracts are set to expire on 30 September.
The negotiations at Kaiser Permanente are the third largest set of contract negotiations in the US in 2023, behind the 340,000 workers at UPS who will be voting on a tentative agreement this month that was reached days before planned strike action, and 150,000 autoworkers at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis whose contracts are set to expire on 14 September.
Continue reading...Vivek Ramaswamy and Doug Burgum have qualified for the GOP debate after each contributed over $10m to their own campaigns
Two wealthy Republicans running long-shot campaigns for president have qualified for the first GOP debate – even as they remain their own top donors.
The candidates, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Doug Burgum, the governor of North Dakota and former software company executive, have each contributed more than $10m to their own campaigns.
Continue reading...Former president scheduled to surrender to federal authorities in Washington and enter not guilty plea. Plus, inside the wellness-to-fascism pipeline
Good morning.
Donald Trump is scheduled to surrender to federal authorities in Washington this afternoon and enter a not guilty plea to charges that he conspired to defraud the US among other crimes in seeking to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Can Trump still run in 2024 after his indictment? The US constitution does not bar those convicted of a crime from running for president. There could be a pathway to blocking him, however, through the constitution’s 14th amendment. That provision says someone cannot hold office if they have taken an oath to the US, as Trump did when he was inaugurated, and engage in “insurrection or rebellion” against the country.
What happens if Trump wins the election next November? If Trump takes office while the charges are still pending against him, he is likely to move to quickly get rid of the charges. He would almost certainly appoint an attorney general who would fire the special counsel Jack Smith. If he has already been convicted, Trump could theoretically pardon himself, an untested legal idea.
What has Mexico said about the barrier? Mexico has sent two diplomatic letters to the US saying the barrier violates a water treaty and may encroach on Mexican territory, according to a statement from Mexican authorities published last week. The Mexican foreign ministry said: “We are concerned about the impact on migrants’ human rights and personal security that these state policies could have, as they go in the opposite direction to close collaboration.”
Continue reading...ACLU and NAACP among organizations condemning homeland security department over ‘domestic violent extremist’ label
Prominent civil rights and civil liberties organizations have called on the US homeland security department to investigate the agency’s intelligence-gathering on protesters against ‘Cop City’, the police and fire department training center planned for a forest south-east of Atlanta.
The organizations draw attention to the dozens of environmental protesters arrested and charged with domestic terrorism in a letter to the department director, Alejandro Mayorkas. The charges have caused outrage among many observers who accuse Georgia law enforcement of a heavy-handed crackdown on the protest movement.
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