UNITED STATES
Democrats to push gun ban
Democratic lawmakers in Virginia yesterday planned to try to advance legislation to ban assault weapons, despite pushback from members of their own party. A state House of Representatives committee was to take up legislation, backed by Governor Ralph Northam, that would ban the sale of certain semi-automatic firearms, including popular AR-15 style rifles. However, the bill would not require current owners of assault weapons to turn them in or register them with state police, as some earlier proposals required. “This is a compromise that takes into account folk’s concerns and is still a good bill that will help reduce mass murders in the commonwealth,” said Delegate Mark Levine, a Democrat sponsoring the legislation.
UNITED STATES
Sanders, Buttigieg tied
Democratic presidential candidates Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders were neck and neck on Thursday in the chaotic Iowa caucuses, with 100 percent of precincts reporting, but no winner declared following technical issues. The tally comes hours after Democratic Party Chairman Tom Perez ordered a review of the results following technology problems that prevented a complete vote count in the nation’s first nominating contest on Monday and some doubts were raised about the accuracy of the process. Sanders, the leftist senator from Vermont, and Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, are separated by a razor-thin margin in the final results, which come three days after the caucuses. Perez stepped in earlier on Thursday, demanding a review of the caucuses. With returns in from all of the 1,765 precincts in Iowa, Buttigieg was leading by 26.2 percent to Sanders’s 26.1 percent in the delegate totals. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren was next with 18 percent, followed by former vice president Joe Biden with 15.8 percent and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar with 12.3 percent.
UNITED STATES
Louisiana crash kills three
A small plane crash in Louisiana on Thursday afternoon has left three people dead, authorities said. Jackson Parish Sheriff Andy Brown told news outlets the plane was heading from Jackson to Shreveport and crashed north of Chatham on Louisiana 34. The Monroe Regional Airport tower lost contact with the plane at about 2:10pm. Brown said there were three people on the plane. He later confirmed that all three were killed. The plane was a Cessna. Further details regarding the crash were not immediately known.
UNITED STATES
Deputies detain man, puppy
A Florida man and his furry “accomplice” were taken into custody by authorities who said the man shoplifted from a store. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said Logan Wilson was arrested on Wednesday, and charged with petit theft and possession of meth, WTSP-TV reported. Wilson admitted to stealing US$259 worth of items from Bass Pro Shops, deputies said. He was arrested during a traffic stop after he was seen leaving the store. Deputies also took Wilson’s four-legged friend into custody. A sheriff’s office Facebook post showing an officer holding a small puppy said deputies took care of the “cutest accomplice” before handing him over to Hillsborough County Animal Services. Animal services will care for the dog until his owner is released from jail. Animal services has listed the puppy as “pre-adopted.” Deputies said that if the owner does not claim the dog, it will go up for adoption.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of