Governor Ron DeSantis is set to sign bill revoking 1967 law allowing Disney to self-govern a roughly 25,000-acre Orlando area
Florida legislators passed a bill on Thursday that would revoke Walt Disney Co’s special tax status in a move widely seen as tit-for-tat for the company’s opposition to a new “don’t say gay” state law limiting discussion of LGBTQ+ issues in schools.
The bill now heads to the desk of Governor Ron DeSantis, who is all but guaranteed to sign it.
Continue reading...Juan Orlando Hernández accused of involvement with drug cartels and related weapons charges
US Drug Enforcement Administration agents have extradited the Honduran former president Juan Orlando Hernández to New York, where he will face federal drug trafficking and weapons charges.
Honduran national police delivered a handcuffed Hernández to DEA agents at the Tegucigalpa airport just over two months after he was arrested outside his home on 15 February following an extradition request from the US Department of Justice.
Continue reading...About 350,000 fewer children were vaccinated against preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough, CDC reports
Yet another hidden cost of Covid-19 was revealed on Thursday as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention presented new data showing how the pandemic has dramatically impeded the US effort to vaccinate kids for other diseases.
According to the CDC’s report, national vaccine coverage among American children in kindergarten dropped from 95% to below 94% in the past year – which may seem like a small amount but meant 350,000 fewer children were vaccinated against common diseases.
Continue reading...Plan drawn by Ron DeSantis gives Republicans a significant boost and is one of the most aggressively gerrymandered maps in US
Florida Republicans approved a new congressional map that severely curtails Black voting power in the state on Thursday, taking a final vote as Black lawmakers staged a sit-in on the floor of the legislature.
The new plan, which was drawn by Governor Ron DeSantis, gives Republicans a significant boost in the state and is one of the most aggressively gerrymandered maps passed in recent months. Republicans would be expected to win 20 of the state’s 28 congressional districts, a four seat increase from the 16 they hold now. It also eliminates two of four districts where Black voters have been able to elect the candidate of their choice.
Continue reading...Here are some more details from the defense department on the new $800m military assistance package to Ukraine:
For those keeping track on how much the US has provided Ukraine so far in military assistance:
Continue reading...The US Capitol was briefly evacuated on Wednesday evening after police identified an aircraft that they said posed “a probable threat” to the heart of American government.
The plane turned out to be members of the US Army Golden Knights, who parachuted into Nationals Park for a pregame display. The stadium, home of the Washington Nationals baseball team, is a little more than a mile away from the Capitol.
Continue reading...Russia changes tactics as US warns of risk of cyber-attacks on Ukraine’s allies. Plus, Trump campaign ordered to pay Omarosa Manigault Newman over $1.3m
Good morning.
Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian forces to blockade the Mariupol steelworks rather than storming the area, after his defence minister admitted thousands of Ukrainian troops continued to resist there.
Facebook posts disputing evidence of alleged war crimes in Bucha have been shared hundreds of thousands of times, analysis by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue has found.
Russian forces are moving towards Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine, British intelligence suggests, while Putin likely wants to demonstrate “significant successes” ahead of 9 May Victory Day celebrations.
Russia has fined Google 11m roubles ($137,000) for failing to delete what it called “fake” information about the Ukraine war.
What did the memoir say? Among other allegations, Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House included the claim that the Trump was a “racist” who used the N-word. She also released audio recordings of Trump officials.
Is this the first Trump NDA case? No – the former president has lost other cases, including by a former campaign worker who said he forcibly kissed her.
Continue reading...State officials deliver highest level of rebuke and say production demonstrated ‘plain indifference’ to employee safety
The state of New Mexico on Wednesday issued its maximum citation against the producers of the western movie Rust for safety lapses before what the authorities called the “avoidable” shooting death of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming last autumn.
An investigation into Hutchins’ death found the company, Rust Movie Productions, knew firearm safety procedures were not being followed on set and demonstrated “plain indifference” to employee safety, the New Mexico environment department said in a statement.
Continue reading...Electric car company reports $18.8bn in revenue for the first quarter, up 81% from a year before
Tesla surpassed Wall Street estimates for its first-quarter revenue and profit Wednesday, despite a tumultuous few months for its CEO, Elon Musk, and ongoing supply chain concerns.
The electric car manufacturer reported $18.8bn in revenue for Q1 of 2022, up 81% from a year earlier. The report beat analyst expectations of $17.8bn, sending Tesla shares up 4% in after hours trading.
Continue reading...Ruling by district court judge in Florida that Covid-19 measure was illegal is opposed by 49% of Americans, poll shows
Defense secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his counterpart in China today for the first time since Austin became Pentagon chief more than a year ago, breaking a communications stalemate that had American officials concerned amid the possibility that Beijing might provide military support to Russia in its war on Ukraine, the Associated Press is reporting.
Austin had requested the telephone call with general Wei Fenghe after months of failed efforts to speak with general Xu Qiliang, the highest ranking uniformed officer in the Communist Party military structure.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Wildfire doubles in size overnight as wind gusts of up to 50mph kick up flames as high as 100ft outside a tourist town
An Arizona wildfire doubled in size overnight into Wednesday, a day after heavy winds kicked up a towering wall of flames outside a northern Arizona tourist and college town.
Flames as high as 100ft raced through an area of scattered homes, dry grass and Ponderosa pine trees on the outskirts of Flagstaff as wind gusts of up to 50mph pushed the Tunnel fire over a major highway. The blaze has ripped through two dozen structures and sent residents of more than 700 homes scrambling to flee.
Continue reading...Rapper was detained at LAX in connection to a November 2021 shooting not previously reported in the media
A$AP Rocky was detained at Los Angeles international airport on Wednesday in connection to a November 2021 shooting, NBC News reported.
The 33-year-old rapper, legal name Rakim Mayers, was returning from vacation in Barbados with his girlfriend, Rihanna, when he was arrested by the Los Angeles police department with assistance from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s homeland security investigations team. The couple are expecting a child this spring.
Continue reading...Prime minister defends Canberra’s ‘calibrated’ approach to Honiara and tries to turn criticism back on Labor
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has fended off accusations that he is responsible for “the worst Australian foreign policy failure” in the Pacific since the end of the second world war after the Solomon Islands struck a new security pact with China.
Labor has seized on the new agreement as evidence that Australia has been asleep at the wheel while China has cemented its influence in the region, with leader Anthony Albanese saying more should have been done to prevent it from going ahead.
Continue reading...The star ‘became irate’ after being asked to leave a private residence and reportedly threw a chair, which struck a woman
Fantastic Beasts star Ezra Miller has been arrested on suspicion of assault in Hawaii, just weeks after police on the Big Island arrested the actor for disorderly conduct and assault.
The star, 29, also known for playing the Flash in Justice League films, “became irate” after being asked to leave a private residence and reportedly threw a chair, which struck a woman on the forehead, according to a statement from the Hawaii police department.
Continue reading...Agreement between diocese of Camden and plaintiffs is one of largest cash settlements involving Catholic church in US
A New Jersey Catholic diocese has agreed to pay $87.5m to settle claims involving clergy sexual abuse with some 300 alleged victims, marking one of the largest cash settlements involving the Catholic church in the United States.
The agreement between the diocese of Camden, which encompasses six counties in southern New Jersey on the outskirts of Philadelphia, and plaintiffs was filed with US bankruptcy court in Camden on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Officials say nuclear energy remains vital as carbon-free source of power to help tackle the climate crisis
The Biden administration is launching a $6bn effort to rescue nuclear power plants at risk of closing, citing the need to continue nuclear energy as a carbon-free source of power that helps to combat climate change.
On Tuesday, a certification and bidding process opened for a civil nuclear credit program that is intended to bail out financially distressed owners or operators of nuclear power reactors, the US energy department told the Associated Press exclusively, shortly before the official announcement. It’s the largest federal investment in saving financially distressed nuclear reactors.
Continue reading...Lawsuit asks court to rule SB 8 unconstitutional, citing public threats and legal action from anti-abortion activists
Reproductive rights advocates in Texas have filed a new legal challenge to halt a near-total abortion ban that has been in effect for more than half a year.
Senate Bill 8 bars abortion once embryonic cardiac activity is detected – typically as early as six week of pregnancy, which is before most people are aware they are pregnant – and offers no exception for rape or incest. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, asks a federal court to rule the extreme law unconstitutional. It cites public threats and legal action from anti-abortion activists against Texas abortion funds, groups that have been instrumental in helping patients travel out of state for care, arguing that this conduct has chilled their first amendment rights.
Continue reading...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.”
Continue reading...Streaming giant blames factors including increased competition, war in Ukraine and the number of people who share their logins
Netflix lost subscribers for the first time in 10 years at the start of the year and said it expects to lose even more in the spring, sending its share price crashing again on Tuesday.
The streaming giant’s share price initially fell close to 20% on news that it had lost 200,000 subscribers globally during the first quarter. Wall Street had been expecting the company to add 2.5 million subscribers. Netflix expects to lose 2 million global subscribers in the current quarter.
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