Tag: Region Americas

Experts question prosecutors’ strategy against weapons expert in Alec Baldwin case

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — More than a year and a half after Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer while rehearsing a scene on set in New Mexico, prosecutors have yet to solve the biggest mystery in the tragic case: How did live rounds get on the set? Prosecutors said in their latest court filing that they have some evidence to support the theory that weapons expert Hannah Gutierrez-Reed may be responsible for the introduction of the rounds. But they…

The Mississippi police officer who shot an 11-year-old is now suspended without pay

Enlarge this image The Mississippi police officer who shot and wounded the unarmed boy has been suspended without pay during an investigation, a city official said. Here, this December 2022 photo provided by Nakala Murry shows her 11-year-old son Aderrien Murry, who was shot and wounded by an Indianola, Miss., Police Department officer on May 20, 2023, during a domestic disturbance call at the family’s home. AP AP The Mississippi police officer who shot and wounded an 11-year-old boy in…

Mexico investigates troops over video of ‘execution’ of five men

Mexican prosecutors are investigating what the country’s president on Wednesday called an “execution” after soldiers were filmed beating and then shooting five men they pulled from a crashed pick-up truck. The investigation, confirmed by the defense ministry, follows the publication by media outlets on Tuesday of a video dated May 18 from the northern state of Tamaulipas that showed about a dozen troops surround a truck after it crashed into a wall at high speed. The video shows the soldiers…

California’s Newsom Proposes 28th Amendment to Tackle Gun Access

  California Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed a 28th Amendment to the US Constitution aimed at curbing gun access in response to the increasing number of nationwide mass shootings.The proposed amendment, according to Newsom, would not eliminate the Second Amendment or civilian gun ownership but would introduce measures such as raising the minimum age to purchase a firearm to 21, implementing universal background checks, imposing a waiting period for gun purchases, and banning the civilian purchase of assault weapons.During an…

The Wuhan Cover Up, by RFKJr.

  The title of US Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new book, The Wuhan Cover Up, does not really represent the scope and nature of this seminal work.  This book is the most comprehensive historic summary and indictment of the history of the United States’ biowarfare/biodefense program ever written. Summarizing an amazing sweep of untold censored history, it begins with ancient Mediterranean and European examples of both chemical and biological warfare, proceeds to an open discussion of the shocking truths…

UK, US officials pressured journalist to comply with the prosecution of Julian Assange of Wikileaks

The Justice Department and FBI have used “vague threats and pressure tactics” in an attempt to gain compliance with journalists, reporter James Ball said, citing his own experience being pressured by government officials. Ball briefly worked and lived with Assange, who is imprisoned in the UK and faces the possibility of extradition to the United States for allegedly violating the Espionage Act. In 2013, Ball published an article critical of WikiLeaks, its handling of US State Department cables, and its…

Shakespeare and penguin book get caught in Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ laws

ORLANDO, Fla. — Students in a Florida school district will be reading only excerpts from William Shakespeare’s plays for class rather than the full texts under redesigned curriculum guides developed, in part, to take into consideration the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” laws. The changes to the Hillsborough County Public Schools’ curriculum guides were made with Florida’s new laws prohibiting classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in mind. Other reasons included revised state standards and an effort to get…

US Supreme Court reinstates rule cracking down on firearms without serial numbers

The US Supreme Court has temporarily reinstated a rule cracking down on the proliferation of firearms without serial numbers, known as “ghost guns”, reversing a ruling by a lower court. In a narrow 5-4 decision on Tuesday, the nation’s highest judicial body ruled to keep in place regulations introduced by the administration of President Joe Biden to restrict “ghost guns”, which can be constructed from separate parts or put together using 3D printers. The ruling is only temporary, though, while…

Canadian publishers want Meta investigated for blocking news, following the impending Canadian law that demands tech firms pay for news

Canadian news industry groups have asked the country’s antitrust regulator to investigate Meta Platforms’ decision to block news on its platforms in the country, accusing the Facebook parent of abusing its dominant position. Meta started blocking news on its Facebook and Instagram platforms for all users in Canada last week in response to a law requiring internet giants to pay for news articles. Canada’s Online News Act, part of a global trend to make tech firms pay for news, became…

Syria permits UN to use Bab Assalama and Rae’ crossing points for three extra months

Syria permitted the UN and its agencies concerned to use Bab Assalama and al-Rae’ crossing points to deliver humanitarian aid to people in need for three extra months to end on November 13th. “The decision comes in light of Syria’s keenness on boosting stability, improving the humanitarian and livelihood situation of the Syrians and facilitating the delivery of aid to people in need,” Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, Bassam Sabbagh said Tuesday. On July 13th, Syria allowed the UN agencies to use Bab al-Hawa crossing point to deliver humanitarian aid. – End of content –

Tennessee teen sues school for suspending him after he posted memes mocking principal

Students rights are limited on school grounds. But they don’t cease to exist. And what they do off-campus is subject to even fewer limitations. These are long-held facts backed by years of court precedent, the most famous of which is the Supreme Court’s 1969 Tinker decision. This is the baseline for school-student interactions when it comes to constitutional rights, as written by Justice Abe Fortas: It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to…

Alaska’s bursting ice dam highlights threat of glacial floods worldwide

The grey, two-storey home with white trim toppled and slid, crashing into the river below as rushing waters carried off a bobbing chunk of its roof. Next door, a condo building teetered on the edge of the bank, its foundation already having fallen away as erosion undercut it. The destruction came at the weekend as a glacial dam burst in Alaska’s capital, swelling the levels of the Mendenhall River to an unprecedented degree. The bursting of such snow-and-ice dams is…

Kadlec Throws Fauci Under the Bus

On July 28, 2023, Weekend Australian Magazine published a bombshell report based on an exclusive interview with Dr. Robert (Bob) Kadlec, the HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) who served under Donald Trump. To many readers this may seem like just more Washington, DC Kabuki theater with a side order of limited hangout (much like the prior Vanity Fair article in which Kadlec provided a generous scoop of spin with a topping of CYA). Personally, I find this whole “inside…

Carcinogens found at Montana nuclear missile sites amid cancer reports

The Air Force has detected unsafe levels of a likely carcinogen at underground launch control centers at a Montana nuclear missile base where a striking number of men and women have reported cancer diagnoses. A new cleanup effort has been ordered. The discovery “is the first from an extensive sampling of active U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile bases to address specific cancer concerns raised by missile community members,” Air Force Global Strike Command said in a release Monday. In those samples, two…

Europe confirms in-depth probe for Adobe’s $20B Figma acquisition

The European Commission (EC) has confirmed that it’s opening an in-depth investigation into Adobe’s proposed $20 billion bid for digital design software rival Figma. The Commission said that the acquisition “may reduce competition in the global markets for the supply of interactive product design software and for digital asset creation tools.” First announced last September, Adobe’s megabucks bid for one of its biggest competitors was always likely to attract scrutiny from regulators around the globe. The U.S. Department of Justice…

China Demands Philippines Remove Ship From Disputed Waters

China Tuesday renewed calls for the Philippines to remove an aging ship from a reef which Manila uses to press its stake in the Spratly Islands in defiance of Beijing’s claim to nearly the entire South China Sea. The move comes after the Philippines at the weekend accused the China Coast Guard of firing water cannon against boats on a resupply mission to its garrison stationed on the grounded vessel. The BRP Sierra Madre – deliberately grounded in the late…