Linda Yaccarino: the advertising executive Musk picked as new Twitter CEO
(Reuters) -Linda Yaccarino began her role as Twitter's new CEO on Monday, about a month after Elon Musk named her
2023-06-06 23:17
Texas sheriff recommends criminal charges over DeSantis migrant flights
The sheriff of Bexar County, Texas is recommending criminal charges against those involved with flights that sent 49 mostly Venezuelan migrants from El Paso to Martha’s Vineyard last year, what was widely derided as a political stunt orchestrated by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. A statement from the sheriff’s office says it has completed an investigation launched last September and recommended several counts of unlawful restraint, both misdemeanors and felonies, to the office of the Bexar County district attorney. “At this time, the case is being reviewed by the DA’s office. Once an update is available, it will be provided to the public,” the statement said. The sheriff’s office has not named suspects. The flights faced international scrutiny following allegations that migrants and their families, who were in the country with legal permission, were deceptively lured into planes out of state after they were processed in the US after crossing the southern border with Mexico, with their asylum cases pending in Texas. “What infuriates me the most about this case is that here we have 48 people who are already on hard times, they are here legally in the country at that point,” sheriff Javier Salazar said in a statement announcing the investigation last year. “They have every right to be where they are, and I believe they were preyed upon – somebody came from out of state, preyed upon these people, lured them with promises of a better life, which is what they were absolutely looking for, with the knowledge that they were going to cling to whatever hope they could be offered ... to just be exploited and hoodwinked into making this trip,” he said. A federal lawsuit filed by attorneys for a group of migrants last year alleges that the DeSantis administration supervised a “fraudulent and discriminatory scheme” to collect migrants and fly them, unannounced, hundreds of miles out of state. The lawsuit alleges the governor and members of his administration targeted immigrants who were recently released from shelters with false promises of job opportunities, education and financial assistance before they landed on the island with only volunteer support from local groups and emergency assistance from state agencies. The lawsuit includes two unnamed defendants who “targeted” many of the people who boarded the flights, as well as three other unnamed defendants who participated in the alleged scheme, who “manipulated them, stripped them of their dignity, deprived them of their liberty, bodily autonomy, due process and equal protection under the law,” according to the complaint. Those allegations mirror claims from migrants who spoke with reporters about the ordeal, including multiple allegations that a woman identified only as “Perla” was central to an alleged effort to coerce migrants to board the planes, providing cash and McDonald’s gift cards to help recruit others. Mr DeSantis has taken credit for the flight, and his administration has supported legislative efforts to secure $12m in funding for similar operations. The administration has spent more than $1.5m on such flights, according to state records. The sheriff’s announcement follows more migrant flights from Texas to California, which California Attorney General Rob Bonta has likened to “state-sanctioned kidnapping.” Officials and civil rights attorneys are investigating whether the DeSantis administration was also behind those flights; Mr Bonta has stated that the migrants had what appeared to be Florida government documents. “We are also evaluating potential criminal or civil action against those who transported or arranged for the transport of these vulnerable immigrants,” he said in a statement this week. “While we continue to collect evidence, I want to say this very clearly: State-sanctioned kidnapping is not a public policy choice, it is immoral and disgusting.” The Independent has requested comment from the DeSantis administration. Read More DeSantis news – latest: Casey DeSantis nicknamed ‘Walmart Melania’ over anti-woke leather jacket California officials probe ‘state-sanctioned kidnapping’ of migrants flown in on private jet False promises, a legal investigation and a mystery woman: Unanswered questions about Ron DeSantis's migrant flights
2023-06-06 22:16
STL Cardinals frustration boils over with Nolan Arenado
The St. Louis Cardinals lost again, this time thanks to a late rally from the Texas Rangers. Nolan Arenado wasn't happy postgame.One might mistake the mood in the St. Louis Cardinals locker room to that of a wake these days, and it's tough to blame them. St. Louis entered the season wi...
2023-06-06 21:48
Man charged in the sexual assaults of 4 women over a decade ago after his DNA was pulled from a drinking glass at an event, prosecutors say
Investigators in Boston have used DNA analysis to identify and charge a suspect in the sexual assaults of four women whose cases have gone unsolved for over a decade, according to prosecutors.
2023-06-06 20:50
Bill Walton Refused to Let Richard Jefferson Interview Him on 'NBA Today'
Bill Walton is the subject of a new ESPN documentary called The Luckiest Guy in the World. To promote the doc, Walton appeared on NBA Today where he was interviewed by his close family friend Richard Jefferson. It was classic Bill Walton from the jump as he launched into an amusing, meandering monologue without Jefferson asking him so much as a single question. Walton went on for about two full minutes before Jefferson even attempted to get an word in.
2023-06-06 20:17
Wheat Jumps on Dam Blast as Fighting Escalates in Ukraine
Wheat surged after fighting between Russia and Ukraine escalated, with the destruction of a giant dam and damage
2023-06-06 20:16
DeSantis news – latest: Casey DeSantis nicknamed ‘Walmart Melania’ over anti-woke leather jacket
Casey DeSantis, Florida’s first lady and the wife of aspiring Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, has been branded a “Walmart Melania” after she wore a leather jacket emblazoned with a map of the Sunshine State, an alligator and the legend “Where woke goes to die” during a campaign stop in Iowa to promote her husband. Ms DeSantis wore the offending jacket in Des Moines at a “Roast and Ride” event hosted by state senator Joni Ernst. The gesture recalled former US first lady Melania Trump wearing a jacket that said “I really don’t care. Do you?” while child immigrants were being cruelly separated from their families at the Texas border during her husband Donald Trump’s presidency. “Walmart Melania made herself fair game when she put on this jacket,” one Twitter user wrote, while another prominent account tweeted: “Behind every Republican man, there’s a Republican woman selling out her sisterhood.” Meanwhile, a Vice documentary about the candidate’s earlier career as a US Navy lawyer serving at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba has been mysteriously dropped from Showtime’s schedules, according to The Hollywood Reporter, with no explanation given. Read More DeSantis defines ‘woke’ after Trump claimed ‘half the people can’t’ DeSantis condemns Trump for congratulating ‘murderous dictator’ Kim Jong-un Transgender adults in Florida `blindsided' that new law also limits their access to health care DeSantis, Pence and other GOP 2024 hopefuls, but not Trump, set to appear at Iowa rally
2023-06-06 19:27
Trump news – latest: Trump lawyers meet special counsel at DoJ as Mar-a-Lago swimming pool flood probed
Two members of Donald Trump’s legal team, Evan Corcoran and Lindsey Halligan, were spotted entering the Washington DC headquarters of the Department of Justice late on Monday morning as the agency continues its investigations into their employer and his handling of classified documents post-presidency. Meanwhile, federal investigators taking part in the probe are reportedly training their attention on an employee at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, who, in the process of draining a swimming pool on the property last year, flooded a room where computer servers containing video surveillance logs were stored. Investigators are said to have asked at least one witness about the episode but it is as yet unclear whether the flooding of the server room is being treated as suspicious or an accident. Responding in an all-caps meltdown on Truth Social, Mr Trump raged: “HOW CAN DOJ POSSIBLY CHARGE ME, WHO DID NOTHING WRONG, WHEN NO OTHER PRESIDENT’S WERE CHARGED?” Also on Monday, his estranged former deputy Mike Pence filed the necessary paperworks with the Federal Election Commission to commence a presidential bid of his own, which is likely to be formally announced on Wednesday. Read More Trump makes misleading claim that New York hush money case could be dropped DeSantis defines ‘woke’ after Trump claimed ‘half the people can’t’ DeSantis condemns Trump for congratulating ‘murderous dictator’ Kim Jong-un Marjorie Taylor Greene U-turns on release of Jan 6 tapes - saying she’s worried about Capitol security
2023-06-06 18:51
Cathay Pacific to pay deferred dividend to HK govt as operations return to normal
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said on Tuesday it would pay the deferred dividend of HK$1,524.1 million ($194.35 million)
2023-06-06 18:25
Ford recalls over 125,000 SUVs, trucks over fire risk - NHTSA
Ford Motor Co is recalling more than 125,000 sport utility vehicles and trucks in the United States due
2023-06-06 17:58
Egypt Distressed Bonds Attract Yield Hunters on Asset-Sale Bets
Investors are looking anew at Egypt’s bonds after signs of progress in its plans to sell state assets.
2023-06-06 16:47
Mother ‘shot dead by neighbour who bombarded her children with racial slurs’
A Black mother of four was shot dead through a closed door in Florida after a dispute with a white neighbour who had earlier allegedly bombarded her children with “racial slurs”. Ajike “AJ” Owens, a resident of Ocala, had an ongoing dispute with her neighbour over her children walking over her ground, according to local officials. Police did not name the neighbour, but CNN cited an incident report that identified her as a 58-year-old white woman. According to family and witness accounts, Owens had knocked on the door of the woman living next to her on Friday to get an iPad back that her children had left behind, when she was shot from the other side. She was with her nine-year-old son when the incident happened, according to the family. Owens was taken to the hospital where she was later pronounced dead, police said. Authorities received a call for trespassing, and when they arrived, they saw a woman with a gunshot wound, said Marion County sheriff Billy Woods in a news conference on Monday. No arrest has been made so far in the case, according to Ben Crump, one of the attorneys representing the family, who called the killing “appalling”. “It is asinine when they try to justify this unjustifiable killing of this mother of four who was killed in front of her children,” Mr Crump told MSNBC on Monday. “It is heartbreaking on every level.” Mr Woods said his office was working to determine what role the state’s “stand your ground” laws might play in the shooting. The Florida law allows people to use lethal force if they believe their or someone else’s life is in danger. “Any time that we think or perceive or believe that that might come into play, we cannot make an arrest. The law specifically says that,” he said in the Monday briefing. “And what we have to rule out is whether this deadly force was justified or not before we can even make the arrest.” He said there was an ongoing “neighbourhood feud” between the two families and police had received about a half dozen calls since January 2021. In a news conference held by Owens’s family attorneys on Monday, the victim’s mother said the neighbour accused of shooting her daughter had called the family, including the children, racial slurs. The neighbour’s door “never opened” when Owens tried to confront her, and she was shot through the door, said Pamela Dias, the victim’s mother. “My daughter, my grandchildren’s mother, was shot and killed with her nine-year-old son standing next to her. She had no weapon, she posed no imminent threat to anyone,” Ms Dias said. “What I’m asking is for justice,” she said. “Justice for my daughter.” A GoFundMe page set up by the family for Owens’s funeral expenses and education of children has raised a little more than $42,000 out of the $25,000 target so far. According to the family, Owens’s children were playing in a field next to an Ocala apartment complex when the 58-year-old white woman allegedly began yelling at them and calling them racial slurs. The children left, but “accidentally left an iPad behind, which the woman took”, said the GoFundMe page. When one of the children went to her residence to retrieve it, the woman allegedly threw it, hitting the boy and cracking the screen. After Owens’s children informed her of what happened, she walked across the street with her kids to speak to the woman. She knocked on the door, and at that point, she was shot through the door. Read More What we know about the three gunmen on the run and the two men arrested over Florida mass shooting Racist abuse of Vinícius Júnior highlights entrenched problem in soccer How Republicans and right-wing media turned Jordan Neely’s killer into a hero ‘License to kill’: How ‘Stand Your Ground’ gun laws are fuelling random shootings and racism across the US Distrust in America: Small mistakes, deep fear — and gunfire Plane passenger escorted from Florida flight after erupting over crying baby
2023-06-06 15:29