News
- Gina Rinehart demands National Gallery of Australia remove her portraitwww.theguardian.com Gina Rinehart demands National Gallery of Australia remove her portrait
NGA rebuffs efforts by billionaire to take down painting by award-winning artist Vincent Namatjira
- Slovakia PM shooting live: Robert Fico in hospital after being shot - BBC Newswww.bbc.co.uk Slovakia PM shooting live: Robert Fico in hospital after being shot - BBC News
Robert Fico has been shot a number of times as he was leaving a government meeting in the central town of Handlova.
cross-posted from: https://feddit.nl/post/15208513
- UCLA clashes: Pro-Palestinian protesters attacked by Israel supporterswww.aljazeera.com UCLA clashes: Pro-Palestinian protesters attacked by Israel supporters
Police delay intervention into ‘shocking’ attack, featuring masked vigilantes armed with pepper spray and fireworks.
- Marriott admits it falsely claimed for five years it was using encryption during 2018 breachwww.csoonline.com Marriott admits it falsely claimed for five years it was using encryption during 2018 breach
Marriot revealed in a court case around a massive 2018 data breach that it had been using secure hash algorithm 1 and not the much more secure AES-1 encryption as it had earlier maintained.
- Andrew Tate and brother Tristan to be tried in Romania on rape and trafficking chargeswww.bbc.com Andrew Tate and brother Tristan to be tried in Romania on rape and trafficking charges
Controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother deny allegations of rape and human trafficking.
- Over 30 pro-Palestine protesters arrested at Ohio State: what we knowwww.nbc4i.com Three dozen pro-Palestine protesters arrested at Ohio State
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Ohio State University police and the Ohio State Highway Patrol arrested three dozen people Thursday night for staging a pro-Palestine encampment on campus – carrying out wha…
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/9854180
> COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Ohio State University police and the Ohio State Highway Patrol arrested about three dozen people Thursday night for staging a pro-Palestine encampment on campus – carrying out what is likely the highest number of protest-related arrests there since the Vietnam War. > > After hours of peaceful protest on the South Oval behind the Ohio Union, dozens of officers clad in riot gear descended on the crowd, handcuffing protesters and carrying them to Franklin County sheriff’s buses parked nearby. Several protesters were arrested earlier in the day for pitching tents on campus, but police watched for hours – occasionally issuing threats of arrest – when hundreds of protesters returned in the evening.
- Charges dropped against all 57 pro-Palestinian demonstrators arrested on UT campuswww.kut.org Charges dropped against all 57 pro-Palestinian demonstrators arrested on UT campus
The county attorney said there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute the people arrested during Wednesday's protest.
- Oklahoma police say 10-year-old boy awoke to find his parents and 3 brothers shot to deathabcnews.go.com Oklahoma police say 10-year-old boy awoke to find his parents and 3 brothers shot to death
Police say a 10-year-old boy awoke to find his parents and three brothers shot to death in their southwest Oklahoma City home
- Hyundai pauses X ads over pro-Nazi content on the platformwww.nbcnews.com Hyundai pauses X ads over pro-Nazi content on the platform
The move came after a Hyundai ad appeared next to antisemitic posts from a user who has posted pro-Hitler content.
- Members of self-proclaimed anti-government group ‘God’s Misfits’ held in killings of Kansas womenapnews.com Members of self-proclaimed anti-government group ‘God’s Misfits’ held in killings of Kansas women
Two Kansas women who vanished two weeks ago were killed over a custody dispute involving a group of anti-government Oklahomans, authorities said.
- Ex-Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg sentenced to 5 months for perjury in Trump civil fraud trialwww.nbcnews.com Ex-Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg sentenced to 5 months for perjury in Trump civil fraud trial
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg recommended a five-month jail sentence for Weisselberg after he pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury in former President Donald Trump's civil fraud trial.
- Florida pre-med student stabs mother more than 70 times, killing her during visit, authorities saywww.nbcnews.com Florida pre-med student stabs mother more than 70 times, killing her during visit, authorities say
“He really loved her, but she irritated him and he made up his mind ... that he would murder her, and that’s exactly what he did,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.
- 6 ex-officers who pleaded guilty in ‘Goon Squad’ torture of 2 Black men sentenced in state court | CNNwww.cnn.com 6 ex-officers who pleaded guilty in ‘Goon Squad’ torture of 2 Black men sentenced in state court | CNN
Six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who tortured two Black men for hours were sentenced in state court Wednesday to 15 to 45 years in prison.
- With famine looming, Israeli strike kills 7 aid workers and halts food charity's operations in Gazaapnews.com With famine looming, Israeli strike kills 7 aid workers and halts food charity's operations in Gaza
The strike led World Central Kitchen to suspend delivery of vital aid to Gaza, where Israel’s offensive has pushed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to the brink of starvation.
- Neo-Nazi leader charged with child abuse, domestic violencewww.rawstory.com Neo-Nazi leader charged with child abuse, domestic violence
Police allege Sean Kauffmann repeatedly punched his female partner in the head as she held their infant son
- U.S. signs off on more bombs, warplanes for Israel
Washington Post copypasta:
The Biden administration in recent days quietly authorized the transfer of billions of dollars in bombs and fighter jets to Israel despite Washington’s concerns about an anticipated military offensive in southern Gaza that could threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians.
The new arms packages include more than 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs, according to Pentagon and State Department officials familiar with the matter. The 2,000 pound bombs have been linked to previous mass-casualty events throughout Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. These officials, like some others, spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity because recent authorizations have not been disclosed publicly.
The development underscores that while rifts have emerged between the United States and Israel over the war’s conduct, the Biden administration views weapons transfers as off-limits when considering how to influence the actions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We have continued to support Israel’s right to defend itself,” said a White House official. “Conditioning aid has not been our policy.” Some Democrats, including allies of President Biden, say the U.S. government has a responsibility to withhold weapons in the absence of an Israeli commitment to limit civilian casualties during a planned operation in Rafah, a final Hamas stronghold, and ease restrictions on humanitarian aid into the enclave, which is on the brink of famine.
“The Biden administration needs to use their leverage effectively and, in my view, they should receive these basic commitments before greenlighting more bombs for Gaza,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said in an interview. “We need to back up what we say with what we do.”
The Israeli government declined to comment on the authorizations.
Four Hamas battalions remain in Rafah, say U.S. and Israeli officials. More than 1.2 million Palestinians have sought shelter there after being forced from their homes during Israel’s extensive bombing campaign over the past five months. Biden suggested that a scorched-earth invasion of the city along Gaza’s border with Egypt would cross a “red line” for him.
Biden requested that Netanyahu send a team of security officials to Washington this week to listen to U.S. proposals for limiting the bloodshed. Netanyahu canceled the visit after the United States refused to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution that called for a temporary cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages, but which did not condemn Hamas.
Israeli officials have not allayed U.S. concerns about the impending operation in Rafah, but they agreed to reschedule the meeting in Washington, the White House said.
The increasingly public spat has not dissuaded Biden from rushing weapons and military equipment into the conflict. Last week, the State Department authorized the transfer of 25 F-35A fighter jets and engines worth roughly $2.5 billion, U.S. officials said. The case was approved by Congress in 2008, so the department was not required to provide a new notification to lawmakers. The MK84 and MK82 bombs authorized this week for transfer also were approved by Congress years ago but had not yet been fulfilled.
Washington’s marginalization on the world stage over its support for Israel has rankled some Democrats in Congress, some of whom have called for more transparency in arms transfers and raised questions about whether the authorization of older unfilled cases is an effort to avoid new notifications to Congress, which could face scrutiny. When asked about the transfers, a State Department official said that “fulfilling an authorization from one notification to Congress can result in dozens of individual Foreign Military Sales cases across the decades-long life-cycle of the congressional notification.”
“As a matter of practicality, major procurements, like Israel’s F-35 program for example, are often broken out into several cases over many years,” the official added. The 2,000 pound bombs, capable of leveling city blocks and leaving craters in the earth 40 feet across and larger, are almost never used anymore by Western militaries in densely populated locations due to the risk of civilian casualties.
Israel has used them extensively in Gaza, according to several reports, most notably in the bombing of Gaza’s Jabalya refugee camp Oct. 31. U.N. officials decried the strike, which killed more than 100 people, as a “disproportionate attack that could amount to war crimes.” Israel defended the bombing, saying it resulted in the death of a Hamas leader.
Israeli officials deny that their military campaign has been indiscriminate and say civilian casualties are the fault of Hamas for embedding its fighters among the population in Gaza.
Biden’s decision to continue the flow of weapons to Israel has been strongly supported by powerful pro-Israel interest groups in Washington, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which is spending tens of millions of dollars this election cycle to unseat Democrats it views as insufficiently pro-Israel.
AIPAC, alongside congressional Republicans and several Democrats, oppose any conditions on U.S. military assistance to Israel. “The U.S. can protect civilians, on both sides of the conflict, by continuing to ensure Israel receives as much U.S. assistance as is needed, as expeditiously as possible, to keep its stockpiles full of lifesaving munitions,” Reps. August Pfluger (R-Tex.) and Don Davis (D-N.C.), and Michael Makovsky, a fellow at the pro-Israel Washington Institute think tank, wrote in a recent column. “Doing so is also morally right and in the U.S. interest.”
Biden’s recurring approvals of weapons transfers are an “abrogation of moral responsibility, and an assault on the rule of law as we know it, at both the domestic and international levels,” said Josh Paul, a former State Department official involved in arms transfers who resigned in protest of Biden’s Gaza policy.
“This is a policymaking process that is fundamentally broken, and which makes everyone from policymaking officials to defense manufacturers to the U.S. taxpayer complicit in Israel’s war crimes,” he said. The Post’s reporting on the new weapons authorizations follows a visit to Washington by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant this week in which he requested that the Biden administration expedite a range of weaponry.
Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Thursday that Israeli officials have been asking for weapons they consider important “in pretty much every meeting” he has been in with them.
Israel has “not received everything they’ve asked for,” Brown said. The United States has withheld some, he said, either due to capacity limits or because U.S. officials were not willing at the time. Brown did not identify the weapons.
Hours later, the Pentagon clarified Brown’s remarks, highlighting the issue’s sensitivity. Navy Capt. Jereal Dorsey, a spokesman for the general, said there has been no change in policy and that the United States assesses its stockpiles as it provides aid to partners. “The United States continues to provide security assistance to our ally Israel as they defend themselves from Hamas,” Dorsey said.
Advocates of the policy inside the administration say behind-the-scenes discussions with the Israelis have succeeded in delaying the country’s Rafah operation, which they now don’t expect to happen until May. But at least part of that delay is due to Israel’s military operations in Khan Younis taking longer than anticipated. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, since the war began in response to the Oct. 7 cross-border attack in which Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took at least 250 hostage.
Any increase in fighting in Rafah, a key transit point for humanitarian aid, risks exacerbating conditions across the enclave that the United Nations and aid groups say is suffering from chronic shortages of food, water and medicine. A massive influx of aid trucks is required to remedy the situation, but U.S. officials say Israel has imposed onerous restrictions on deliveries, which are deeply unpopular inside Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government.
The Biden administration does not see that its words and actions are in conflict with respect to weapons transfers, Van Hollen said.
“They do not see the contradiction between sending more bombs to the Netanyahu government even as it is ignoring their demands with respect to Rafah and getting more humanitarian assistance to starving people,” he said. “If this is a partnership it needs to be a two-way street.”
- North Carolina moves to revoke license of a wilderness camp where a 12-year-old diedwww.nbcnews.com North Carolina moves to revoke license of a wilderness camp where a 12-year-old died
State officials cited Trails Carolina for violating several regulations, including one requiring mental health facilities to protect clients from abuse.
- “Everyone Will Die in Prison”: How Louisiana’s Plan to Lock People Up Longer Imperils Its Sickest Inmateswww.propublica.org “Everyone Will Die in Prison”: How Louisiana’s Plan to Lock People Up Longer Imperils Its Sickest Inmates
Janice Parker has witnessed the failing medical care at Angola, the state’s largest prison, on her frequent visits to see her paralyzed son. Laws passed at the behest of Gov. Jeff Landry threaten to further strain that system.
cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/4117847
> Also done in conjunction with Verite News.
- Mike Lindell's MyPillow evicted from Minnesota warehouse after lawsuit claimed it was $200K behind on rentwww.cbsnews.com Mike Lindell's MyPillow evicted from Minnesota warehouse after lawsuit claimed it was $200K behind on rent
A judge evicted the Minnesota-based MyPillow from a facility in Shakopee after the landlord filed a lawsuit claiming that the company, owned by Mike Lindell, was at least $200,000 behind on rent payments.
- What is your news search engine?
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/13657574
> Over the years news search engine of Google and Bing has become increasingly useless, where even quoting specific keywords of news I know exists yields no result and I am choked with unrelated trendy local news. > So, I am looking for a better news search engine (bonus if it also searches blogs and is able to differentiate as well).
- Baltimore bridge collapses after ship strikes it, sending vehicles into waterwww.ocregister.com Baltimore bridge collapses after ship strikes it, sending vehicles into water
A large vessel crashed into the bridge, catching on fire before sinking and causing multiple vehicles to fall into the Patapsco River.
A large vessel crashed into the bridge, catching on fire before sinking and causing multiple vehicles to fall into the Patapsco River.
- Elon Musk’s X Loses Lawsuit Against Research Group That Reported Rise in Hate Speech, Racist Content on Social Networkvariety.com Elon Musk’s X Loses Lawsuit Against Research Group That Reported Rise in Hate Speech, Racist Content on Social Network
A federal judge dismissed Elon Musk's X lawsuit against a research group, ruling it was "evident" the litigation was intended "to punish" the group.
- Court agrees to block collection of Trump's $454 million civil fraud judgment if he puts up $175M
Rules for thee, not for me.
- Donald Trump Should Probably File for Bankruptcy, but Likely Won’t Because He’s Worried It Would Make Him Look Like a Loser: Reportwww.vanityfair.com Donald Trump Should Probably File for Bankruptcy, but Likely Won’t Because He’s Worried It Would Make Him Look Like a Loser: Report
He’d apparently rather have his assets seized by the New York attorney general.
- New York Attorney General takes initial step to prepare to seize Trump assets | CNN Politicswww.cnn.com New York Attorney General takes initial step to prepare to seize Trump assets | CNN Politics
The New York attorney general’s office has filed judgments in Westchester County, the first indication that the state is preparing to try to seize Donald Trump’s golf course and private estate north of Manhattan, known as Seven Springs.
- Officer Who Made Man Lick Urine Off Jail Floor Pleads Guiltywww.mississippifreepress.org Officer Who Made Man Lick Urine Off Jail Floor Pleads Guilty
An ex-police officer pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge after authorities say he forced a Latino man to lick his own urine off the floor.
- FCC investigates Amazon over alleged marketing of wireless signal jammers | CNN Businesswww.cnn.com FCC investigates Amazon over alleged marketing of wireless signal jammers | CNN Business
The Federal Communications Commission is investigating Amazon and other retailers over the alleged marketing and sale of wireless signal jammers, the agency said Wednesday.
- A branch of the flu family tree has died and won't be included in future US vaccineswww.livescience.com A branch of the flu family tree has died and won't be included in future US vaccines
Advisers to the FDA say a type of flu virus known as the "Yamagata lineage" can be dropped from next year's vaccines.
> A type of flu virus that used to sicken people every year hasn't been spotted anywhere on Earth since March 2020. As such, experts have advised that the apparently extinct viruses be removed from next year's flu vaccines.
> The now-extinct viruses were a branch of the influenza B family tree known as the Yamagata lineage. Scientists first reported the apparent disappearance of Yamagata viruses in 2021. At that time, experts speculated that precautions taken to stop the spread of COVID-19 — such as masking and social distancing — had not only driven the overall number of flu cases to historic lows but may have completely snuffed out this type of flu virus.
- JK Rowling Holocaust Denialism: Author Pushes Claims That Trans People Were Not A Targetwww.erininthemorning.com JK Rowling Holocaust Denialism: Author Pushes Claims That Trans People Were Not A Target
On Wednesday, JK Rowling implied that Nazis never targeted trans people in Germany, calling it "a fever dream." She doubled down when challenged with sources showing trans persecution in Nazi Germany.
cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/3976427
> Check out the article above. > > Here's also a good response to JK Rowling's ill-informed Tweets. > > Take care, everyone. Maybe subscribe to Erin in the Morning's Substack or Restack her article (and give it a like as well).
- The IRS launches Direct File, a pilot program for free online tax filing available in 12 statesapnews.com The IRS launches Direct File, a pilot program for free online tax filing available in 12 states
After weeks of testing, Direct File, an electronic system for filing returns directly to the IRS is now available for taxpayers from 12 selected states.
- Ex-Hays GOP official sentenced to 410 years in sex abuse casewww.expressnews.com Ex-Hays GOP official sentenced to 410 years in child sex abuse case
Bo Dresner, a former Hays County Republican precinct chair, pleaded guilty to 65 counts of sexual abuse and possession of child pornography.
- Nearly 3,000 fires in Brazilian Amazon in February, new recordwww.france24.com Nearly 3,000 fires in Brazilian Amazon in February, new record
Nearly 3,000 forest fires were registered in the Brazilian Amazon this month, the highest for any February since records began in 1999, and made more likely by climate change, according to experts.
- The DOJ has opened a criminal investigation into the Alaska Airlines 737 blowout, a report saysapnews.com The DOJ has opened a criminal investigation into the Alaska Airlines 737 blowout, a report says
The Wall Street Journal reports Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into the Boeing jetliner blowout that left a gaping hole on an Alaska Airlines plane this January.
- Colorado Bureau of Investigation finds DNA scientist manipulated data in hundreds of cases over decades | CNNwww.cnn.com Colorado Bureau of Investigation finds DNA scientist manipulated data in hundreds of cases over decades | CNN
A now-former forensic scientist with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) manipulated DNA test results in hundreds of criminal cases, an internal affairs investigation found, which prompted a full review of her work during her nearly 30-year career at the agency.
- Woman’s feet amputated after boyfriend allegedly shoved her in front of NYC trainwww.nbcnews.com Woman’s feet amputated after boyfriend allegedly shoved her in front of NYC train
Witnesses told officers that the woman and her boyfriend had been arguing before she was pushed, according to the NYPD.
- Florida mother missing for days found alive in shipping container, banging on locked doorwww.nbcnews.com Florida mother missing for days found alive in shipping container, banging on locked door
Marlene Lopez, 52, was reported missing after she failed to pick up her son.
- Dead Ohio man's roommates drove body to withdraw money from his bank account, police saywww.nbcnews.com Dead Ohio man's roommates drove body to withdraw money from his bank account, police say
Two suspects, who lived with the man in Ashtabula, Ohio, were charged with gross abuse of a corpse.
- Diamond Ranch Academy resurfaces amid death of WA teenwww.fox13seattle.com Diamond Ranch Academy resurfaces amid death of WA teen
The Southern Utah facility has resurfaced under a new name, Rafa Academy, raising concerns and reopening old wounds for the family of Taylor Goodridge.