Body-camera footage shows Andrew Hall fatally shooting Tyrell Wilson less than two years after killing Laudemer ArboledaA white sheriff’s deputy in the San Francisco Bay Area shot and killed a Black man in the middle of a busy intersection about a minute after trying to stop him on suspicion of throwing rocks at cars last month, newly released video showed.The graphic body-camera footage shows Andrew Hall shooting Tyrell Wilson, 33, within seconds of asking him to drop a knife on 11 March in Danville. Continue reading...

Ron Johnson, who has no medical expertise or background, made comments during interview with conservative talk radio hostThe Republican senator Ron Johnson, of Wisconsin, questioned the need for widespread Covid-19 vaccinations, saying in a radio interview “what do you care if your neighbor has one or not?”Johnson, who has no medical expertise or background, made the comments on Thursday during an interview with the conservative talk radio host Vicki McKenna. Contrary to what medical experts advise, Johnson has said he doesn’t need to be vaccinated because he had Covid-19 in the fall. On Thursday, he went further, questioning why anyone would get vaccinated or worry about why others have not. Continue reading...

It was baseball commentator Geoff Haxton who pulled off a spectacular play during Texas Tech's game against West Virginia. Barely breaking his flow, the play-by-play announcer made a remarkable one-handed catch when a foul ball popped up directly into his booth Continue reading...

Courtney Wilson and Shenita Jones planned their wedding at their ‘dream home and estate’. The only problem? It wasn’t theirsAn ambitious Florida couple attempted to hold their two-day wedding celebration at a mansion they didn’t have permission to use. But their intended nuptials ended before they could begin as the owner called the police and turned the wedding party away at the gate.Courtney Wilson, the groom, and Shenita Jones, the bride, sent elaborate invitations to family and friends to attend their wedding at their “dream home and estate”, with the ceremony on Saturday, brunch on Sunday. But they never got permission from the owner, Nathan Finkel, to hold the event there, NBC affiliate WTVJ in Miami reported. Continue reading...

Relatives of Isaiah Brown, who is in intensive care, say they haven’t been given a reason why deputy opened fireThe family of a Black man shot by a Virginia sheriff’s deputy this week says he is in intensive care with 10 bullet wounds, and they have no idea why.Relatives of Isaiah Brown, 32, spoke with Washington TV station WRC about the shooting, which happened outside their home in Spotsylvania county early on Wednesday. Continue reading...

The alleged Dominic Cummings leaks may just be a distraction from the bigger issue: we’re led by a man with no self-discipline and a very busy phoneIncredible that Boris Johnson’s craziest ex is not actually someone he’s had sex with. When you think of the sheer volume of fatal attractions that must be stored in the prime minister’s phone under decoy names like “James Dyson” and “Mohammed bin Salman”, it seems extraordinary that the biggest bunny-boiler is alleged to be ex-spad Dominic Cummings.Anyway, speaking of Fatal Attraction, you’ll have seen the news that undead Cummings is rearing back out of the bath again like Glenn Close, except wearing trackie bums and a T-shirt reading “My girlfriend – YES I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND – went to Los Alamos National Laboratory and all she got me was this lousy T-shirt”. Continue reading...

Rice, who served as secretary of state for former president from 2005 to 2009, told Bush ‘she would refuse to accept the office’Former president George W Bush revealed in an interview with People magazine that he didn’t vote for either the Republican incumbent Donald Trump or Democrat Joe Biden in the November 2020 presidential election. Instead, he wrote in Condoleezza Rice.Rice, who served as secretary of state for Bush from 2005 to 2009, was aware of the write-in. But, “She told me she would refuse to accept the office,” Bush shared. Continue reading...

A New Hampshire family’s gender reveal party set off reports of an earthquake, and could be heard from across the state line, police said.The source of the blast was 80lbs (36kg) of Tannerite, which is typically sold over the counter as a target for firearms practice, according to officials.Sara Taglieri, a resident, said 'of all of the blasts I have experienced, nothing was as loud' as the explosion on Tuesday evening

At a virtual climate summit, Biden called on 40 world leaders to ‘overcome the existential crisis of our time’. Plus, the US Postal Service is reportedly monitoring social media postsGood morning.Joe Biden called on world leaders to “overcome the existential crisis of our time” at a virtual White House summit on the climate crisis yesterday, as he attempted to re-establish US leadership on the subject after the Trump era. Continue reading...

Covid cases are surging, forcing community leaders to rethink strategies to reduce vaccine misinformation and barriersNearly a dozen people sit in on a Zoom call on a Wednesday afternoon for what they call a “publications” meeting – one similar to many others held daily in Flint, Michigan, as community partners collaborate for the sake of public health.In essence, it’s a meeting bringing organizations together to help strategize on how to get the word out about Covid-19 vaccinations. Continue reading...

Fighting climate change may be the most important task we face today – and the US’s renewed commitment to it is welcomeNearly three decades ago, during the Earth Summit held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, the international community acknowledged the need to address the growing challenges posed by the state of the environment. Several resolutions and agreements emerged from that historic conference, among them the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The ultimate goal of this multilateral initiative has been to prevent unchecked, runaway climate change from harming natural ecosystems, threatening food production or hindering sustainable development. In short, to preserve the world as we know it.For three decades, countries – or parties, as they are known under the convention – have debated and deliberated on the mounting threat posed by human activities to the stability of the climate system and, consequently, to the future of our planet. Progress has been slow, often disappointingly so. But there have been major achievements, such as the Kyoto protocol in 1992 and, most significantly, the 2016 Paris agreement, which constitute landmarks in the development of an international regime that protects the climate. Continue reading...

Glenda Brown Thomas has paid tribute to her nephew, Andrew Brown, a day after the 42-year-old was shot dead by police in North Carolina. “He had a good laugh, a nice smile. And he had good dimples ... He did not finish school, but he did encourage his children to get a good education," she said.Brown, from Elizabeth City, was shot and killed on Wednesday by a deputy sheriff trying to serve a search warrant. An witness said Brown tried to drive away, but was shot dead in his car

I know from personal experience that protest has its costs. But by banding together we can stop those who would subvert democracyAthletes, politicians and even corporate America have been speaking out about the recent Republican-led legislation in Georgia that seems to target Black citizens by making it harder for them to vote. But for all the sabre-rattling, finger-wagging and stern letter-writing, it was Major League Baseball who actually took direct action on 2 April by moving their All-Star Game from Georgia to Colorado, stating, “Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.” Republican senators Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and Mike Lee – three of Donald Trump’s most notorious sock puppets – immediately tried to punish the league’s defense of democracy by proposing legislation to remove MLB’s antitrust exemption. Didn’t work. But their unspoken threat to all professional sports leagues who may wish to join the fray loomed large.After years of bullying their athletes for their passive protests, most sports teams became “woke” following last summer’s massive Black Lives Matter marches of between 15 and 26 million people, the largest protests in US history. It was a glorious phoenix-like ascension of sports leagues to the heights of social morality. Today, we need that commitment more than ever, because if there were ever a case of Black lives not mattering, it’s the nearly 250 laws since the November election that have been passed around the country designed to marginalize Black voters. It’s time for all sports leagues – who are supposed to embody the American ideals of teamwork, fair play and level playing fields – to join as one voice to represent their players, their fans and their Constitution in stopping this attempt to steal democracy. Continue reading...

The Florida tight end’s physical talents are off the charts. But his style of play also complements the tactical changes of the modern NFLAs athletes have become bigger, faster and stronger, the term “unicorn” has become deeply rooted in the sports lexicon.In fact, it’s now chucked around with such ease that it’s in danger of losing all meaning. The unicorns are supposed to be the one-offs. The physical “freaks”. The world-class athletes who do things that other world-class athletes can only dream about. Continue reading...

Transport operator’s shares rose 10% as it announces plans to focus on UK bus and railFirstGroup has sold the bulk of its North American transport business in a deal worth $4bn, as the transport group looks to focus on its UK bus and rail operations.The Aberdeen-based FirstGroup has sold First Student, America’s biggest school-run operator with about 43,000 yellow buses, and First Transit, which provides outsourced public transport, to EQT Infrastructure. Continue reading...

Report obtained by Yahoo says USPS surveilling via covert program social media activity it describes as ‘inflammatory’The US Postal Service has reportedly been monitoring social media posts, with a focus on people planning protests.The surveillance procedure, known as the Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP), tracks social media activity that it describes as “inflammatory” and shares that information to government agencies, according to a government bulletin from 16 March obtained by Yahoo News. The program is part of the efforts of the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the law enforcement arm of the USPS. Continue reading...

Experts say the fear of arrest for massage workers – many of whom are undocumented – is greater than the fear of robbery or assault from clientsAn undercover New York City police officer enters an Asian massage parlor in plain clothes; he looks like any other client. He’ll request a massage and, when they are alone, he’ll ask his masseuse if she can perform sexual services. The masseuse may not speak English very well, so she may agree – or seem to – without understanding what she’s being asked.Related: 'A new chapter in an old story': what the Atlanta shootings reveal about the US Continue reading...

Hundreds of mourners filled a Minneapolis church for the funeral of Daunte Wright after the 20-year-old was killed two weeks ago by a police officer who said she mistook her gun for a Taser. The funeral came two days after the city's streets were filed by people celebrating the conviction of a former police officer for murdering George Floyd. Civil rights leader Al Sharpton was among those who delivered a eulogy and called for police reform. 'The time has come for police to understand they're not above the law, they're to enforce the law,' he said

New Hampshire man turns himself in to police after detonating explosives as part of a gender reveal party held in a quarryA New Hampshire family’s gender reveal party was such a blast that it set off reports of an earthquake, and could be heard from across the state line, police said.Police in Kingston, a town not far from the Massachusetts border, received reports of a loud explosion Tuesday evening. They responded to Torromeo quarry where they found people who acknowledged holding a gender reveal party with explosives. Continue reading...

The 42 year old – who was shot by a deputy sheriff Wednesday – had a hard life, but was known for ‘always having a nice joke’ and a great heart

The bill comes amid an alarming increase in reports of hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific IslandersThe US Senate has overwhelmingly passed a bill that would help combat the rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, marking a bipartisan denunciation of the violence that has come into sharp focus during the coronavirus pandemic.The Senate passed the anti-Asian hate crimes bill on Thursday in a vote of 94 to 1, after the Democrat Mazie Hirono worked with some of her Republican colleagues to ensure bipartisan support for the legislation. Continue reading...

Days after streets filled with people celebrating Chauvin’s conviction the city held a funeral for the Black man shot by policeTwo days after the streets of Minneapolis filled with people celebrating the conviction of a former police officer for murdering George Floyd, the city held a funeral on Thursday for Daunte Wright, a young Black man shot dead by police during a traffic stop.The killing of Wright, 20, two weeks ago by a police officer who said she mistook her gun for a Taser shocked a city still reeling from Floyd’s death and anxiously watching the trial of his killer, Derek Chauvin. The shooting of Wright, the father of a one-year-old boy, in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center sparked days of protests and led to dozens of arrests. Continue reading...

The Biden administration on Thursday pledged to slash US greenhouse gas emissions by 50%-52% from 2005 levels by 2030, a new target it hopes will spur other big emitter countries to raise their ambition to combat climate change. The goal, unveiled at the start of a two-day climate summit hosted by President Joe Biden, comes as the United States seeks to reclaim global leadership in the fight against global warming after former president Donald Trump withdrew the country from international efforts to cut emissions.

Law covers drivers who unintentionally injure or kill demonstrators while subjecting protesters to jail time and finesA new Oklahoma law protects drivers who unintentionally injure or kill demonstrators from any liability, while simultaneously subjecting protesters who block roadways to jail time and hefty fines.Oklahoma’s Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, signed HB 1674 on Wednesday, even as advocates excoriated their elected officials for undermining democracy. Continue reading...

Funding was ‘unnecessarily delayed’ by bureaucratic obstacles, after hurricane killed thousands of people in 2017The Trump administration delayed more than $20bn in hurricane relief aid for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, according to a report by the housing department’s office of the inspector General.The efforts to deliver recovery funding to the island were “unnecessarily delayed by bureaucratic obstacles”, according to the 46-page report. The hurricane, which hit the island in 2017, killed thousands of people and left thousands more without electricity or water for months. Continue reading...

Families of people killed by Los Angeles police called this week’s verdict in Chauvin trial a win, but are pushing forward with demands to defundLos Angeles activists denounced a budget proposal by the mayor that includes increases to the law enforcement budget, one day after the conviction of Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis fueled renewed scrutiny of police across the US.Protesters who gathered outside a local police union building near downtown LA on Wednesday celebrated the rare guilty verdict in a police murder case, but also called for systemic changes locally, including the defunding of the LA police department (LAPD). Continue reading...

Part of the audit by state Republicans will consist of a hand recount of all the votes cast for president there – which will probably breathe life into Trump’s liesHappy Thursday, Continue reading...

Bridgett Floyd told the Guardian the guilty verdict in the Chauvin murder trial was ‘like a weight being lifted off my shoulders’As Bridgett Floyd watched the three guilty verdicts, called one after another, at the conclusion of the Derek Chauvin murder trial this week, she thought of her beloved older brother George Floyd.“All I could do was just scream and jump up and down,” she told the Guardian. “You know. It was like a weight being lifted off my shoulders.” Continue reading...

A sheriff’s deputy in North Carolina shot and killed a black man while serving a search warrant, authorities have said, raising tensions over policing after the Derek Chauvin trial and Ma’Khia Bryant killing. The deputy in Elizabeth City was placed on leave pending a review by the state bureau of investigation. A witness said Brown was shot while trying to drive away

The murder trial of Derek Chauvin drew the attention of the world to Minneapolis, the focal point of the Black Lives Matter movement after the murder of George Floyd. In some parts of the city people have reclaimed the streets, while others are under military occupation. With the area reeling from yet another recent police killing, Oliver Laughland and Tom Silverstone spent time with activists, lawyers, witnesses and members of the Floyd family to see how this landmark moment in American racial justice is shaping the city

2020 was a challenging year for the dental industry. But hardships often bring out the best in small business ownersLast year was not a good year for many small businesses – and dentists didn’t escape the downturn either.According to a recent survey from SoftwarePundit, a technology research firm that advises dental practices, the $139bn dental industry suffered a revenue decline of about 6% in 2020 compared with 2019, with dental hygiene appointments alone dropping 47%, as some put off hygiene and other dental work during the pandemic out of health and safety fears, while others (like me) just used the pandemic as a convenient excuse to avoid an appointment that we never enjoy. Continue reading...

This week’s roundup also features a Zoltan Gera stunner for West Brom and the fastest ever Super League try1) It’s the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, though Spurs have dispensed with José Mourinho, a winner in 2005 (featuring a Steven Gerrard own goal), 2007, 2012 when John Terry got the winner and 2017, the Zlatan Ibrahimovic show. Manchester City are chasing their fourth straight League Cup, a feat previously achieved by Liverpool when they beat Everton in a 1984 final replay, the winner scored by Graeme Souness. Spurs last won the competition in 2008, beating a Chelsea team only recently managed by, yes, José Mourinho. Sunday is the 60th time a club will lift the Alan Hardaker Trophy. Enjoy this Wembley classic from 1967: QPR v West Brom featuring a young Rodney Marsh.Related: Classic YouTube | Crucible classics, Matthew Hayden catches and a vaccinated vaulter Continue reading...

The language we use to discuss immigration is dehumanizing: ‘catch and release’, ‘migrant caravans’, swarms – anything, in other words, but peopleThis week, the Biden administration fulfilled a promise it made on Joe Biden’s first day in office. Agencies that deal with immigration, such as US customs and border patrol, have now been instructed to change their official language practices. Gone are the terms “alien”, “illegal alien” and “assimilation”. Instead, new vocabularies will apply, including the words “noncitizen” for “alien” and “integration” for “assimilation”.As a former “alien” (who arrived here from the planet “Canada”) and now citizen, here’s what I say to these changes: well, United States, it’s about time! For far too long, so much of the language we use in the US when discussing immigration has been bizarre and dehumanizing. Officials talk about “catch and release”, as if they are chatting about fish when they’re really talking about people’s lives. The term “migrant caravans”, meant to summon images of marauders, is used to describe people searching for refuge together while risking everything in the process. Our southern border is routinely described as being beset by swarms, hordes, swells, or surges, terms that evoke insects or ocean catastrophes – anything, in other words, but people. Continue reading...

While I don’t find hope in one man’s conviction, I do find it in multitudes elsewhereOn Tuesday afternoon, a jury confirmed what many of us have known to be true for the better part of a year: the former Minneapolis police department officer Derek Chauvin was guilty of murdering George Floyd.On Wednesday morning, US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a justice department pattern-or-practice probe to determine if the Minneapolis police department’s general operating norms are unlawful and unconstitutional, in violation of the rights of the citizens they police. Continue reading...

Many Americans associate driving with freedom, but recent tragedies – including the killing of Daunte Wright mean Black families must remain hyper awareWhen Lewis Holloway first obtained his driver’s license at 17, the San Diego native remembers feeling ecstatic. He was already promised his mother’s car upon getting his learner’s permit a year earlier, adding to the anticipation. “It was an exciting feeling, being able to finally drive legally without getting in trouble,” Holloway says.Now 28, Holloway’s excitement is waning, and getting in trouble feels out of his control. While many Americans associate driving a car with freedom and autonomy, recent tragedies – including the killing of Daunte Wright, who was stopped by police for an expired license plate – suggest that’s not true for Black Americans. Continue reading...

Audit will include a hand recount of all 2.1m ballots cast in Maricopa county in alarming consequence of Trump’s baseless liesNearly five months after Joe Biden was declared the official winner of the presidential race in Arizona, state Republicans are set to begin their own audit of millions of ballots, an unprecedented move many see as a thinly-veiled effort to continue to undermine confidence in the 2020 election results. Continue reading...

The Georgia Tech prospect will intrigue NFL fans with his ability to throw dimes as well as his talent as a punterWhen the NFL draft kicks off next Thursday, the fate of some of college football’s biggest names will be decided. Names like Kyle Pitts, the red-zone busting tight end out of Florida; Patrick Surtain II, the second-generation ballhawk out of Alabama; and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, the once in a generation prospect whose name figures to be called first. Names that draftniks like ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr and the NFL.com’s Peter Schrager have spent months shuffling up and down their draft boards like clairvoyants reading tea leaves. Or worse: smoking them.But in addition to those three, here’s another name you’d be wise to track – Pressley Harvin III, maybe the most interesting prospect in the draft. Continue reading...

The next mayor faces profound challenges: a city ravaged by the pandemic and beset by deep income inequality a reckoning over racial discriminationIt was during the administration of Fiorello LaGuardia that the position of New York City mayor became known as the “second toughest job in America”.LaGuardia, New York’s 99th mayor and a man whose name now graces the city’s streets, parks, schools and an airport labeled one of the worst in the country, became regarded as one of the city’s greatest ever leaders, despite facing a collapsing economy, all-powerful crime mobs and civic unrest when he took office in January 1934. Continue reading...

Corona, Queens, home to many essential and immigrant workers, had New York’s the highest rates of death and infection – and vaccine uptake remains lowA year after New York City became the center of the global Covid-19 outbreak, the neighborhood considered at the time to be the “epicenter of the epicenter” of the pandemic remains in crisis – laying bare many of the economic fault lines exposed by the coronavirus.Corona, Queens, a welcoming enclave for many of the city’s undocumented immigrants and home to many of the “essential” workers who kept New York running during the pandemic’s worst days, has had the highest number of infections and deaths in the city – and now has one of the lowest percentages of people vaccinated. Continue reading...

Tou Thao, J Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane to go on trial in August, charged with aiding and abetting Floyd’s murderAs millions of Americans welcomed Derek Chauvin’s murder conviction, three of his former colleagues who still face trial for their part in George Floyd’s death will have greeted it with dismay.Tou Thao, J Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane face charges of aiding and abetting the murder and manslaughter of Floyd nearly a year ago. The Minnesota attorney general’s office is attempting to add charges of third-degree murder against the men at a court hearing next month. Continue reading...

A new book, based on unprecedented access to Bernie Madoff, suggests it may never be possible to separate knowledge from the web of lies“What’s a Ponzi scheme?” Ruth Madoff asked her husband Bernard after he revealed to her that his respected investment company was actually one of the largest frauds in history, according to a new book examining the life of the late fraudster.Just how much Madoff’s family knew about his massive scheme has been a riddle since he was convicted of orchestrating his $17.5bn scam in 2009. Ruth Madoff, the couple’s two sons and Bernard Madoff’s brother Peter all worked for the company. Continue reading...