Tributes flood in for students and school caretaker killed in city rampage
Tributes have continued to flood in for two talented first-year students and a school caretaker after they were stabbed to death during a deadly rampage in Nottingham.Medical student Grace O'Malley-Kumar and history student Barnaby Webber, who were both studying at the University of Nottingham (UoN), were found fatally knifed in the street by police at 4.04am on Tuesday.
EU begins investigating Meta, Apple and Google under new tech law - SiliconANGLE
The European Commission has launched investigations into Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc., and Meta Platforms Inc. for potential violations of the Digital Markets Act.
The Digital Markets Act affects various aspects of big tech companies' business practices, including competition, privacy, and app payment guidelines. [ more ]
Apple, Google, and Meta are being investigated by the EU under new Big Tech regulation
The EU opened non-compliance investigations into Apple, Meta, and Google's parent company under the new Digital Markets Act.
The investigation is focused on areas such as Alphabet's rules on steering, Apple's rules on the App Store, and Meta's 'pay or consent model'. [ more ]
Investigators link Mojave mass killing to earlier shooting but release few other details
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
A mass shooting that left four people dead in Mojave more than a month ago is connected to another shooting earlier in the day that sent one person to the hospital, Kern County sheriff's officials announced.No arrests have been made in the April 30 shooting of Faith Leighanne Rose Asbury, 20; Martina Barraza Jr., 33; Darius Travon Canada, 31; and Anna Marie Hester, 34, and authorities have released few details about the investigation.
Student, 18, charged with plotting deadly shooting at his Southern California high school
An 18-year-old student in Southern California has been charged with planning a school shooting after investigations revealed his intention to carry out an attack.
The student had an arsenal of guns at his home and had researched school shootings and tactical supplies. [ more ]
State investigators found lapses that could threaten patients at Inglewood hospital
(Nick Ut/Associated Press)
An Inglewood hospital violated federal requirements in ways that could jeopardize patients, including by failing to properly assess and treat birthing patients to reduce the risk of blood clots, a state review found.Centinela Hospital Medical Center repeatedly failed to take steps to prevent patients from suffering potentially deadly clots, which can include using compression devices that improve blood flow in the legs, investigators from the California Department of Public Health found after a February visit.
Hospitalised Pentagon chief Austin cancels trip to Brussels for NATO, Ukraine meetings
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin cancelled a trip to Brussels for NATO defense talks after being admitted to a military hospital for a second time this year.
Austin had failed to disclose a prostate cancer surgery in December and a subsequent hospitalization in January to deal with its complications, triggering a political uproar and multiple investigations. [ more ]
Watchdog raises serious concerns' over Met's response to child sexual exploitation
The Metropolitan Police Service in London is not doing enough to protect victims of child exploitation, according to a report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS)
Of the 244 investigations examined, more than half were graded as inadequate [ more ]
Forbidden Stories continues work of imprisoned Azerbaijani journalists
Azerbaijani journalists from Abzas Media were imprisoned for investigating matters that the Azerbaijani regime preferred to keep under wraps.
Forbidden Stories has coordinated a consortium of 15 media outlets, including FRANCE 24, to continue the investigations of the imprisoned journalists. [ more ]
Program improves workplace conditions for undocumented workers, advocates say
Pedro Manzanares, a worker at El Milagro tortilla factory, spoke up about unsafe working conditions and organized his co-workers to protest, leading to investigations into the company.
El Milagro has been fined for violations of state labor law and has faced scrutiny over working conditions. [ more ]
Closing arguments were set to begin Wednesday in the bribery trial of a politically connected Chicago businessman accused of arranging to pay off two state legislators in exchange for their assistance pushing legislation beneficial to his sweepstakes gaming machine operation.James T. Weiss, 44, who is the son-in-law of former Cook County Democratic boss Joseph Berrios, is charged in a superseding indictment filed in October 2020 with bribery, wire fraud, mail fraud and lying to the FBI.
Abortion investigations causing women life-changing harm', says UK expert
Women accused of having illegal abortions in England and Wales have faced punitive measures such as custody, loss of children, and debt.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has issued new guidance urging healthcare staff not to report suspected illegal abortions to the police. [ more ]
FTC now investigating Big Tech's partnerships with AI startups like OpenAI
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is launching a market inquiry into the ties between major cloud service providers and AI developers.
The FTC has issued compulsory orders to Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, and OpenAI to provide information about their investments and partnerships. [ more ]
Why America's controls on sales of AI tech to China are so leaky
The US is intensifying its campaign against Chinese technology, with restrictions on semiconductors and investigations into companies like Nvidia and ABB.
Both Democrats and Republicans are unlikely to relent in their efforts to curtail Chinese technology and prevent workarounds to export controls. [ more ]
Did Boeing learn from past mistakes? Mid-air blowout has again put company on defensive | CBC News
Concerns regarding Boeing's safety and manufacturing capabilities have resurfaced after a mid-air blowout on a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet.
Boeing's CEO Dave Calhoun met with senators in the U.S. Capitol to address questions and concerns regarding Boeing's capabilities and safety measures. [ more ]
Dozens of Iranian regime officials denied entry to Canada, says border agency | CBC News
The Canada Border Services Agency has denied entry to senior Iranian regime officials and is investigating individuals with status in Canada for potential ties to Tehran.
The measures taken by the Liberal government in response to protests in Iran and pressure from the opposition Conservatives include designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity and reviewing visa applications and conducting investigations. [ more ]
CNN Presses Garland On Special Counsels - By Quoting Hunter
The appointment of multiple special counsels by Attorney General Merrick Garland has been criticized, including investigations into Donald Trump and Hunter Biden.
Garland defended the independence and impartiality of the investigations and stated that politics does not influence the Department of Justice's determinations. [ more ]
Evidence in Trump Documents Case Hints at Ongoing Investigations,' Filing Says
The federal prosecutors overseeing the classified documents case against former President Donald J. Trump said in court papers on Friday that the evidence they are poised to give the defense as part of the normal process of discovery contained information about ongoing investigations that could identify uncharged individuals.
We don't have the votes': House GOP takes step toward Mayorkas impeachment as supporters lobby key holdouts
House Republicans took their most concrete and public step this week toward pursuing the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.But behind the scenes, supporters of the effort are still working to convince key holdouts to get on board with the potentially divisive plan.House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green on Wednesday outlined a five-phase investigation into Mayorkas and his handling of the border, accompanied by a preliminary report and a hearing focused on framing Mayorkas' dereliction of duty, which starts a roughly three-month countdown for House Republican leadership and their allies to get the House GOP conference in alignment.
Jill Biden takes on Trump, GOP while White House maintains indictment silence
First lady Dr. Jill Biden is emerging as a prominent voice taking on Republicans and former President Donald Trump since his indictment even as the White House has maintained a stay-silent strategy on the legal case.In her first solo events of the campaign, the first lady has not shied away from critiquing the former president and offered a rare comment related to his legal woes as she reflected on Republican support for Trump despite his indictment.
Federal Government to Investigate Harassment Complaints at Universities
The federal government has opened discrimination investigations into several universities following complaints of antisemitic and anti-Muslim harassment.
The Biden administration is taking aggressive action to address the rise in reports of discrimination.
The investigations are based on possible violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. [ more ]
Columbia, Cornell and other colleges face US inquiries over alleged antisemitism and Islamophobia
The federal government has opened civil rights investigations into seven schools and universities over allegations of antisemitism or Islamophobia.
Schools found to have violated civil rights law can face penalties up to a total loss of federal money.
Five of the investigations are in response to allegations of antisemitic harassment, while two are in response to allegations of anti-Muslim harassment. [ more ]
QAnon Supporter Pours Cash Into a Legal-Defense Fund for Trump Allies
Supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory, real estate developers, and a funeral home company were among the top contributors to a legal-defense fund established by allies of Donald Trump.
The fund, called the Patriot Legal Defense Fund, raised $1,624,360 from July through early December, according to documents filed with the IRS. [ more ]
FCC Partners With States to Increase on Privacy and Data Protection Investigations, Signaling Increased Focus on Future Enforcement
The FCC has signed agreements with several states to collaborate on privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity investigations.
The FCC plans to increase its investigation and enforcement activities in these areas using its authority under Sections 201 and 222 of the Communications Act. [ more ]
Media owners in the crosshairs as Trump craves retribution
Media companies may face investigations from the Republican nominee for president in 2024 if statements they make are disliked by his voters.
Media owners will face scrutiny from both Trump's camp and pro-democratic forces and may need to think about how they will stand up to a potential autocratic leader. [ more ]
Eric Adams, mayor of New York City, is facing multiple investigations and controversies, including a search of a top aide's home and allegations of campaign finance irregularities and favors for the Turkish government.
Adams has been known as a Teflon politician in the past, but his current troubles, including a sexual assault allegation, are tarnishing his reputation and causing a drop in his job approval ratings. [ more ]
Hounslow fire: House being made safe ahead of investigation
Investigations are being conducted following a fatal house fire in Hounslow, west London, that claimed the lives of five members of the same family, including three children.
The leader of Hounslow Council, Shantanu Rajawat, has stated that nearby properties have been evacuated and residents have been relocated to hotels as a precaution.
The cause of the fire is currently unknown, and both the London Fire Brigade and the Met Police are keeping an open mind during their investigations. [ more ]
According to Danielle Pletka, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, if the President "wants to deliver on his promise to heal the country, he could do so with one action."In the wake of Donald Trump's indictment by the Justice Department, some members of the Republican establishment have dared to criticize the former President.
BBC drops Panorama inquiry into claims of sexual harassment by MPs
A BBC Panorama documentary commissioned to look into the internal handling of claims of widespread sexual harassment inside the Palace of Westminster has been dropped for the foreseeable future, the Observer understands, despite months of research.The prestigious investigative programme, which had been due to go out this summer, has now been removed from future broadcast schedules without any public explanation from the BBC.
Filling the Surveillance Footage Gaps: Place and Payments - emptywheel
The government has asked for - and Trump and Walt Nauta's lawyers have not objected - to a protective order in the stolen documents case.That's utterly routine - though sometimes there is a stink about the terms of a protective order, which didn't happen here.The actual protective order itself does not include extra restrictions to prevent Trump from tweeting shit out - as his Alvin Bragg protective order did - but it does require the defense to make everyone who reviews discovery to sign a protective order as well (sometimes defendants unsuccessfully object to this on Sixth Amendment grounds because it provides a way to track a defendant's own investigation).
Special counsel seeks court order to ensure Trump and his defense don't share materials turned over in discovery
Special counsel Jack Smith's team is asking the judge in the classified documents case against Donald Trump to bar the former president and his defense team from publicly disclosing some of the materials shared in the criminal case as part of the discovery process.In a new filing on Friday, Smith's team said that among the unclassified materials that prosecutors are set to turn over to the defense is information pertaining to ongoing investigations, the disclosure of which could compromise those investigations and identify uncharged individuals.
Here Are the Most Significant Allegations Against the Minneapolis Police
The Justice Department accused the Minneapolis Police Department of rampant discrimination, unlawful conduct and systemic mismanagement in a scathing 89-page report released on Friday.The federal investigation, launched in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis officer, found that the systemic problems in M.P.D. made what happened to George Floyd possible.
Maybe they don't exist': Republicans question legitimacy of alleged audio recordings of Biden bribery scheme
Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa claimed on the Senate floor earlier this week that the foreign national who allegedly bribed then-Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter has 17 audio recordings of their conversations but questioned whether those tapes even existed in an interview with CNN days later.
4 political questions after Trump's second arraignment for criminal charges
Former President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., Tuesday after pleading not guilty in a Miami courtroom earlier in the day to dozens of felony counts that he hoarded classified documents and refused government demands to give them back.Andrew Harnik/AP Former President Trump appeared somber and quiet in a Miami courtroom, hands clasped and leaning back in his chair, at times, speaking aloud only to utter the words, "not guilty" to 37 federal counts stemming from his handling of classified documents.
Addicts Went in for Treatment. Instead They Were Enslaved.
The Indonesian anti-corruption investigators began hunting for the powerful local official after they caught two of his aides taking a $40,000 bribe.Their six-month investigation led them to a sprawling estate in North Sumatra, where they made a shocking discovery: 65 men locked in two cages.The captives, investigators learned, had been imprisoned under the guise of a drug rehabilitation program and forced to work as slaves at a palm plantation and palm oil factory owned by the official, Terbit Rencana Perangin-angin, and his family.
It Doesn't Count as a War Crime if You Had Fun': Inside the Minds of Some Russian Soldiers
Sweeping out discarded Russian rations, shattered glass and broken furniture was a daunting task.In the four and a half months that Russian forces had occupied a village in eastern Ukraine, the troops had used the local bar as a small outpost, gutting it in the process.The physical destruction of the watering hole of Velyka Komyshuvakha was only part of what the Russians left behind.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez joins Trump and DeSantis, becoming Florida's third Republican presidential candidate
Does Florida have room for another Republican presidential hopeful, in addition to the high-wattage candidacies of Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump?Miami Mayor Francis Suarez just became the third.He filed paperwork Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission, making official his candidacy for his party's 2024 nomination, something he's been hinting at for the better part of two years.
House to take up GOP resolution to censure Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff
The House is expected on Wednesday to take up a censure resolution against California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff for his role in investigations of the former president.The resolution, sponsored by GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, is expected get called up at the end of an afternoon vote series around 3:45 p.m. ET.
Rhode Island Investigates Disturbing' Behavior on Official Trip
It was a prime opportunity for a Philadelphia developer that had won a contract for a $55 million project in Providence, R.I., to show off what it could do.But even before two Rhode Island state officials arrived for a tour of a building that the company had redeveloped, one of them made some highly unorthodox demands.
Inside the Biden White House's intentionally quiet response to Trump's federal charges
At the very moment former President Donald Trump was pulling into an underground garage at the federal courthouse in Miami, his successor was 40 minutes into a meeting about Ukraine's nascent counteroffensive with NATO's secretary general.Outside the Oval Office windows, the soundcheck for an evening Juneteenth concert could be heard drifting over from the South Lawn.
Ontario coroners looking to unionize over working conditions, upcoming reforms | CBC News
Burned out and fed up with working conditions they say are unfair, Ontario's coroners are pushing to be allowed to unionize despite their first raise in more than a decade and a law preventing them from doing so.The Ontario Coroners Association says coroners are frustrated with a new computer program that has increased workloads and lost data, and are concerned about growing reliance on nurses for investigations and a system that places all coroners on call.
For Trump, the Show and the Campaign Must Trudge On
Donald J. Trump went to bed Tuesday night, on the eve of his 77th birthday, as a now twice-indicted former president and current front-runner for the Republican nomination for the White House in 2024.Some birthday, Mr. Trump grumbled on Tuesday as he visited Versailles, a popular Cuban coffee shop in Miami.
'We're so interested in the why': Golfers at U.S. Open are vocal about PGA, LIV merger
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
The news was so jarring for professional golfers that they'll always remember where they were when they heard that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf had entered into a partnership agreement.Jon Rahm said he was home in Arizona making breakfast with his wife, Kelley, and two young sons.
U.K. Woman Sentenced to Prison for Abortion in Eighth Month of Pregnancy
A woman's sentencing to prison this week for illegally using abortion pills to end a 32- to 34-week pregnancy is prompting a debate in England over the state of its abortion laws and whether a woman should ever be prosecuted for the procedure.Adding to the debate is the fact that she was prosecuted under a law more than 160 years old.
The 12 words that sparked Boris Johnson's downfall
They were the 12 words that ultimately brought down a prime minister and if Boris Johnson didn't know it then, he will almost certainly know it now.In a Commons showing believed to have been key to the findings of the report, the then prime minister stood at the despatch box at Prime Minister's Questions at 12.28pm on Wednesday, 8 December 2021.
Men accused of mutilating corpse won't face trial, a casualty of Antioch police scandal
(Terry Chea / Associated Press)
Contra Costa County prosecutors have dismissed felony charges against two men accused of mutilating a woman's corpse - the latest case to be fouled by a racist text message scandal that rocked the Antioch Police Department.Ashton Montalvo and Deangelo Boone were arrested and charged in October 2022 with arson and mutilation after the burned body of Mykaella Sharlman, 25, was found near a hiking trail in Antioch.
All we know about Nottingham attacks that left three people dead in night of horror
Nottingham has been left reeling after a devastating series of incidents that left three people dead and three more in hospital.Two 19-year-old students and a man in his 50s were stabbed to death in the early hours of Tuesday before the attacker allegedly stole the older victim's van and attempted to run over three people in Nottingham, a police chief has said.