Author: Reporter

House committee investigating January 6 attack will make criminal referrals to DOJ by end of year

The House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol will make criminal referrals to the Justice Department as it wraps up its probe and looks to publish a final report by the end of the year, the panel’s chairman said December 6. Representative Bennie Thompson, D-MI, told reporters that the committee has decided to issue the referrals recommending criminal prosecution, but did not disclose who the targets will be or if former President Donald Trump will be among them. “At this point, there’ll be a separate document coming from me to DOJ,” Thompson told reporters at...

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Lethal Force: San Francisco becomes first American city to approve police deployment of killer robots

Supervisors in San Francisco voted on November 29 to give city police the ability to use, in emergency situations, remote-controlled robots capable of potentially lethal force. By December 6, the Supervisors held another vote in the aftermath of public backlash to halt the policy. The original resolution followed an emotionally charged debate that reflected divisions on the politically liberal board over support for law enforcement. The vote was 8-3, with the majority agreeing to grant police the option despite strong objections from civil liberties and other police oversight groups. Opponents said the authority would lead to the further militarization...

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A year after omicron: The ever-morphing coronavirus mutant continues its assault on families

A year after omicron began its assault on humanity, the ever-morphing coronavirus mutant drove COVID-19 case counts higher in many places just as Americans gathered for the holidays. It was a prelude to a wave that experts expect to soon wash over the United States. Phoenix-area emergency physician Dr. Nicholas Vasquez said his hospital admitted a growing number of chronically ill people and nursing home residents with severe COVID-19 this month. “It’s been quite a while since we needed to have COVID wards,” he said. “It’s making a clear comeback.” Nationally, new COVID cases averaged around 39,300 a day...

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China announces rollback of draconian anti-COVID measures in stunning reversal after public protests

In a sharp reversal, China announced a series of measures rolling back some of its most draconian anti-COVID-19 restrictions, including limiting harsh lockdowns and ordering schools without known infections to resume regular classes. The dramatic change to an unpopular strategy that confined millions of people to their homes and sparked protests and demands for President Xi Jinping to resign came on December 7. The recent protests included calls for leader Xi Jinping to step down. The protests began November 25 after at least 10 people died in a fire in an apartment building in Urumqi in the northwest. Authorities...

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January 6 heroes honored with Congressional Gold Medals for defending Capitol from Trump’s sedition

Law enforcement officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 were honored on December 6 with Congressional Gold Medals, praised as “heroes” for securing democracy nearly two years after they fought off a brutal and bloody attack by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opened an emotional ceremony, tensions still raw in the stately Capitol Rotunda, which was overrun that day when Trump supporters roamed the halls trying to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election. “January 6 was a day of horror and heartbreak; it is also a moment of extraordinary heroism —staring...

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USS Arizona survivor honors the heroes killed at Pearl Harbor on 81st anniversary observance

USS Arizona sailor Lou Conter lived through the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor even though his battleship exploded and sank after being pierced by aerial bombs. That makes the now 101-year-old somewhat of a celebrity, especially on the anniversary of the December 7, 1941 assault. Many call him and others in the nation’s dwindling pool of Pearl Harbor survivors heroes. Conter rejects the characterization. “The 2,403 men that died are the heroes. And we’ve got to honor them ahead of everybody else. And I’ve said that every time, and I think it should be stressed,” Conter said in a...

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