Gen William Cooley sentenced for sexual misconduct in first-ever US Air Force trial

Military judge rules Cooley must forfeit $54,550 in pay and face a public reprimand for forcibly kissing his sister-in-law in 2018

A two-star general in the US air force who was convicted over the weekend of abusive sexual contact for forcibly kissing his sister-in-law following a family cookout in 2018 must forfeit $54,550 in pay and face a public reprimand, a military judge ruled Tuesday.

Gen William Cooley received that sentence, military officials confirmed in a statement, after becoming the first-ever general to face a military trial in the American air force’s 75-year history.

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‘No sign Putin is serious’ about Ukraine negotiations, says Blinken – as it happened

The vice-president Kamala Harris has tested positive for Covid-19, her office has announced.

A statement from Harris’s press secretary Kirsten Allen said:

Today, vice-president Harris tested positive for Covid-19 on rapid and PCR tests. She has exhibited no symptoms, will isolate and continue to work from the vice-president’s residence.

She has not been a close contact to the president or First Lady due to their respective recent travel schedules. She will follow CDC guidelines and the advice of her physicians. The vice-president will return to the White House when she tests negative.

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California police detain three in baby kidnapping as grandma unloaded car

Police say baby Brandon Cuellar, who has since been found, was taken from home at about 1pm on Monday

A 3-month-old baby who was kidnapped from his San Francisco Bay Area home was found Tuesday and three suspects were detained, police said.

The baby, Brandon Cuellar, was taken to a hospital as a precaution, the San Jose police department announced on Twitter, without saying where the boy was located.

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Could Elon Musk’s Twitter plans prove a costly mistake?

Analysis: Experts warn against reinstating banned accounts and neglecting moderation

Welcome back Donald Trump, Katie Hopkins, David Icke and Alex Jones? These are just some of the Twitter accounts that could be reinstated if the platform’s new owner-in-waiting, “free speech absolutist” Elon Musk, practices what he preaches.

All of those accounts have been permanently suspended from the platform for infractions that include, most notoriously, the former US president’s alleged support for the Capitol riot on 6 January last year. Their reinstatement now appears to be back in play given that the world’s richest man has agreed a $44bn (£35bn) takeover of the platform that banned them and has stated that “free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy”.

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Viola Davis says ‘critics absolutely serve no purpose’

Oscar-winning actor hits back at critics over negative reviews of her performance as Michelle Obama in drama series The First Lady

Viola Davis has responded to widespread criticism of her latest performance by stating that critics “serve no purpose”.

The Oscar-winning actor has received negative feedback from both critics and on social media for playing Michelle Obama in the Showtime series The First Lady. In an interview with the BBC, Davis called the response “incredibly hurtful”.

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Civil rights group counts record tally of antisemitic incidents in US

Anti-Defamation League counts 2,717 incidents of harassment, assault and vandalism in 2021 – highest since it began counting

A Jewish civil rights organization’s annual tally of antisemitic incidents in the US reached a record high last year, with a surge that coincided with an 11-day war between Israel and the Hamas militant group, according to a report released Tuesday.

The Anti-Defamation League counted 2,717 antisemitic incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism in 2021, a 34% increase over the previous year and the highest number since the New York City-based group began tracking such incidents in 1979.

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Jeff Bezos questions China’s influence over Elon Musk’s Twitter

Amazon founder raises concerns after Tesla boss strikes $44bn deal to buy social media platform

Jeff Bezos has questioned whether China will lean on Elon Musk’s Tesla business to quell criticism of Beijing on Twitter.

The world’s second richest man posted a tweet raising concerns over potential Beijing influence on Twitter several hours after the Tesla chief executive, and current holder of the No 1 wealth spot, reached a $44bn (£34bn) deal with the Twitter board to buy the influential social media platform.

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US won’t rule out military action if China establishes base in Solomon Islands

Ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink warns security pact presents ‘potential regional security implications’

One of the most senior US officials in the Pacific has refused to rule out military action against Solomon Islands if it were to allow China to establish a military base there, saying that the security deal between the countries presented “potential regional security implications” for the US and other allies.

Ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, was part of a high-level US delegation to the Pacific country last week.

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Woman rescued after surviving in a forest for six days on yogurt and snow

Sheena Gullett was stranded in a broken down car after it became stuck in the snow in California and her friend went for help

A woman stranded for six days in a broken-down car in a remote northern California forest survived by rationing yogurt and eating snow, authorities said.

The ordeal of Sheena Gullett, 52, was detailed in a Facebook post by the Lassen county sheriff’s office. Gullett and friend Justin Lonich, 48, were driving to Little Valley, a small incorporated community, on dirt roads off Highway 44 on 14 April when their vehicle became stuck in snow. They spent the night in the vehicle and in the morning its battery was dead.

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Elon Musk, world’s richest man, reaches deal to buy Twitter for $44bn

Tesla chief executive will gain control over social network he has criticized over its handling of ‘free speech’

Elon Musk has reached a $44bn deal to buy Twitter in a takeover that will give the world’s richest man control of a social network with more than 200 million users.

The sale will put the Tesla chief executive in charge of a company that he has frequently criticized, claiming it has not lived up to its potential as a platform for “free speech”.

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Beat it: trucker convoy driven out after being egged by kids in California

The people’s convoy had gathered outside lawmaker Buffy Wicks’s house to protest her support of an abortion rights bill

A convoy of trucks that had gathered outside a California lawmaker’s house over the weekend to protest her support of an abortion rights bill was forced to leave the area after crossing paths with a group of young people armed with eggs.

The people’s convoy, inspired by Canadian truckers who shut down roads to protest vaccine mandates, arrived in the Bay Area last week after weeks of demonstrations in Washington DC.

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Body recovered of Texas border soldier who drowned trying to save two people

Bishop Evans jumped into the Rio Grande on Friday to save two people he thought were struggling to swim across

Search crews on Monday recovered the body of a Texas national guard soldier who apparently drowned three days earlier while trying to save two people he believed were struggling to swim across the Rio Grande near the US southern border.

The 22-year-old soldier, Bishop E Evans, was working in Eagle Pass as part of a border security operation under the direction of the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott. Evans’ superiors hailed him as “selfless” and condemned the people he was trying to save as suspected drug traffickers attempting to enter the country without permission.

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Ron DeSantis signs bill to create Florida voter-fraud police force

Republican governor embraces top priority of his party, following Donald Trump’s false claims that his 2020 re-election was stolen

Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill Monday to create a police force dedicated to pursuing voter fraud and other election crimes, embracing a top priority of Republicans after Donald Trump’s false claims that his reelection was stolen.

DeSantis, who is running for reelection and considered a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate, made voting legislation a focus this year, pushing the Republican-controlled Legislature to create the policing unit in a speech where he referenced unspecified cases of voter fraud, which have become popular talking points in his party.

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Trump to be fined $10,000 a day after New York judge finds him in contempt – as it happened

A New York judge on Monday held former president Donald Trump in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena for documents in the state attorney general’s civil probe into his business practices, Reuters reports.

The decision relates to Trump’s non-compliance in a case brought by New York state attorney general Letitia James.

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Texas death row prisoner Melissa Lucio granted stay of execution

Mexican American woman, 52, who was due to be put to death on Wednesday, wins time for court to consider new evidence

The Texas court of criminal appeals has issued a stay of execution for Melissa Lucio, the Mexican-American woman who was set to be judicially killed within 48 hours, ordering a lower court to consider new evidence of her innocence in the death of her two-year-old daughter Mariah.

The court issued its order on Monday as the final clock was ticking on Lucio’s transfer to the death chamber. She would have been the first Hispanic woman executed by Texas.

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Donald Trump held in contempt in New York attorney general’s investigation

New York judge holds former president in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena for documents

A New York judge has held Donald Trump in contempt and fined him $10,000 a day, following the former president’s failure to hand over documents to prosecutors investigating his business practices.

Letitia James, the New York state attorney general, had asked for the contempt finding this month stating that Trump had not complied with a subpoena requiring him to produce documents and information.

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Canada: increase in asylum seekers after Covid restrictions blocked border entry

Numbers ticking up again after Canadian border police had refused entry to all asylum seekers to try to stop Covid spread

Snowy northern winters tend to see a drop in asylum seekers crossing from the United States into Canada at Roxham Road in Quebec. Not this past winter.

In December, the number of asylum seekers entering Canada outside formal land border crossings reached its highest point since August 2017, government statistics show.

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Russia-Ukraine war: about 15,000 Russian troops killed since start of invasion, says UK; Nato is ‘in essence engaged in war with Russia’, says Lavrov – live

UK defence secretary says, alongside death toll, Russians have lost over 2,000 armoured vehicles; Russian foreign minister says western weapons are a ‘legitimate target’

The visit of US secretary of state Antony Blinken and US defence secretary Lloyd Austin to Kyiv had been kept tightly under wraps in advance for security reasons. Some images from the meeting have been sent to us via the newswires.

The US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has just been speaking to the media at the Poland-Ukraine border. He has been meeting officials from Ukraine. He told reporters:

Our focus in the meeting was to talk about those things that would enable us to win the current battle and also build for tomorrow. We talked about security force assistance. And we talked about training.

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US pledges extra $713m for Ukraine war effort and to weaken Russia

Moscow complains about US military aid as Washington promises more support, including advanced weapons

Russia should be “weakened to the point where it can’t invade Ukraine”, the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said after he and the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, visited Kyiv and pledged a further $713m to help Ukraine in its war effort.

The direct comment came a few hours after the two senior US figures met with with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy – and was followed by Russia making an official diplomatic complaint about American arms supplies.

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Russia failing in its war aims, says top US diplomat | First Thing

Washington pledges more military aid, including advanced weapons, and return of US envoys. Plus the parents of trans children tackle the law

Good morning.

Russia is failing in its war aims and “Ukraine is succeeding”, Washington’s top diplomat has announced after a visit to Kyiv during which he pledged additional military aid, including advanced weapons, and a return of US envoys.

What else did Blinken say? He told reporters this morning: “Ukrainians are standing up. They are standing strong. And they are doing that with the support that we have coordinated from literally around the world.

What has Russia said? The Kremlin has warned the US against sending more arms to Ukraine, Moscow’s ambassador to Washington told Russian state television. “We stressed the unacceptability of this situation when the United States of America pours weapons into Ukraine,” Anatoly Antonov said.

What else is happening? Here’s what we know on day 61 of the invasion.

What were the results? Macron beat Le Pen with a lower margin than the 66% he won against her in 2017. Turnout was also lower than five years ago, with abstention estimated at a record 28%.

What’s next for Marine Le Pen? Far-right leader hails “victory in itself” and vows to fight on after winning more than 40% of the vote.

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