List of All Articles with Tag 'america'

Republican state legislators in Nebraska rammed through a contentious bill restricting abortion and transgender healthcare last week with the help of a sick colleague who had just gotten out of hospital. Julie Slama, a state GOP senator, confirmed on Friday that she had been receiving treatment for hyperemesis gravidarium, a serious complication of pregnancy, but made it to the statehouse in time to cast a decisive vote. Earlier that day, Nebraska Examiner reporter Paul Hammel had posted a picture of her looking “clearly ill” as colleagues from both sides of the debate stood around her to shield her from TV cameras. According to Hammel, Ms Slama cast the crucial 33rd vote that allowed the bill to overcome a months-long filibuster by progressive senators that had brought Nebraska’s unicameral legislature practically to a standstill. The bill, signed into law by governor Jim Pillen on Monday, bans abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy, starting immediately, and all gender transition healthcare for trans people under the age of 19, starting in October. “I was hospitalised today with hyperemesis gravidarum,” Ms Slama tweeted on Friday evening. “Made it back in time to vote, and on the most divisive bill of the entire session. “Everyone put their differences aside and joined in a wall to keep my illness from the cameras. ‘Gratitude’ doesn’t even begin to cover it,” she said. In another tweet on Saturday morning, she said: “Do I like that [the photo] is out there? No. But sometimes in government, private battles end up public. I shared to address questions about my health, but also to give my colleagues credit for their kindness, especially Machaela Cavanaugh.” That last name was notable because Ms Cavanaugh, along with her progressive colleague Megan Hunt, has been one of the public faces of the 12-week filibuster that had blocked almost all legislation in this session so far. Ms Cavanaugh has described the trans healthcare ban as a stepping stone to “genocide”, telling The Independent earlier this month that it was aimed at “exterminating ‘transgender’ from existence”. Nevertheless, she was among the senators who stood in front of Ms Slama to block her from view, and later tweeted at Hammel to “delete this please”. Another Republican senator, Lou Ann Linehan, had complained that she had to miss her grandson’s preschool graduation ceremony because of the filibuster and the prolonged debate it created. Ms Hunt, who has a trans child, shot back: “If you want to see your grandson graduate from preschool, you should do that. Instead, you are here to drag out this session because you won’t come off this bill that hurts my son. You hate him more than you love your own family.” Hammel defended his decision to tweet the photo, saying: “No more public place than floor of [the] Nebraska legislature.”

Pride organisers in Florida have called off events that were to take place during the Pride Month in the wake of the latest anti-LGBT+ laws signed by Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Organisers based in the town of St Cloud outside Orlando announced on Thursday that they have cancelled the upcoming 10 June event, saying they are aware that it is “unsafe to hold the event”. “As you know, Florida has recently passed a number of laws that target the LGBTQIA+ community. These laws have created a climate of fear and hostility for LGBTQIA+ people in Florida,” the organisers said. “We believe that holding an LGBTQIA+ event in this environment would put our community at risk.” Officials and organisers in Port St Lucie city announced the cancellation of Pride parades last month and limitation of other activities for those who are 21 years or older. Mr DeSantis, a 2024 presidential hopeful, has signed several bills last week that banned gender-affirming care for minors, restricted pronoun use in schools and forced individuals to use restrooms corresponding with their biological sex – an expansion of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill enacted into law last year. The laws have been dubbed as a “slate of hate” by activists and opponents. The new laws will target drag shows in the state, limit the use of preferred pronouns for pupils in schools, and ban trans people from using public bathrooms that do not match with their gender assigned at birth. NAACP, a civil rights group, issued a formal travel advisory for Florida, stating that the state has become “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of colour and LGBTQ+ individuals”. It denounced the state’s "aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programmes in Florida schools”. LGBT+ advocacy group Equality Florida also issued a similar advisory after Mr DeSantis signed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill into law. "That law, along with additional proposals being considered, has turned the state’s classrooms into political battlefields and is telegraphing to LGBTQ families and students that they are not welcome in Florida," the group said. Florida’s Lake County Pride, however, pushed back against the laws, saying: “No unconstitutional law will keep us from celebrating our PRIDE event”. “Lake County Pride will never back down, and we stood firm and united in fighting against the "Drag Ban,” it said. Read More E Jean Carroll targets Trump again after his derogatory CNN town hall smears MLK’s daughter backs call for tourists to boycott ‘racist’ Florida and blasts Cruz Founder of student aid startup Frank pleads not guilty to fraud Haley vs. Scott: From South Carolina allies to 2024 rivals Who is Tim Scott? 5 things to know about the newest 2024 GOP presidential candidate Two fishermen bitten by sharks just hours apart in the Florida Keys

Joe Biden has again been criticised for saying that his late son Beau “lost his life in Iraq” – a reference to the president’s long-held belief that toxic burn pits led to the younger Biden passing away from brain cancer at the age of 46. The president made his latest remarks to US troops stationed in Japan during his trip to the country, after making similar remarks at least twice last year. “My son was a major in the US Army. We lost him in Iraq,” said Mr Biden during an informal visit with troops at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni last Thursday in a video obtained by The New York Post. Right-wing media outlets have attempted to use Mr Biden’s comments on Beau’s death as a sign that the 80-year-old Democrat has memory issues ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Mr Biden’s son died of brain cancer in 2015 at the Walter Reed military hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. Last October Mr Biden made similar comments while speaking close to Vail, Colorado, as he designated Camp Hail as a national monument. The area, covering 436 square miles, was the training site of the 10th Mountain Division during the Second World War. Mr Biden spoke of the bravery of the division as they fought in Italy, before stating that he lost his son in Iraq. “Just imagine, I mean it sincerely, I say this as a father of a man who won the Bronze Star, the conspicuous service medal, and lost his life in Iraq. Imagine the courage, the daring, and the genuine sacrifice they all made,” the president said. A clip of the moment shared by the conservative Washington Examiner on Twitter has been viewed more than a million times. Beau Biden served in Iraq between 2008 and 2009 as a member of the Delaware Army National Guard. He was the Delaware Attorney General between 2007 and 2015. Just months after leaving the post, he passed away at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland on 30 May 2015. After his passing, he was given the Delaware Conspicuous Service Cross for “heroism, meritorious service and outstanding achievement”. “Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015, more than five years after he returned from a year serving in Iraq. Joe Biden has attributed the cancer to Beau Biden’s proximity to burn pits in Iraq, though sometimes conceded he isn’t sure,” CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale tweeted. In 2016, then-Vice President Biden said his son’s cancer could have been caused by the toxic burn pits that he was exposed to during his service in the Middle East. The New York Times reported that Mr Biden said he was “stunned” when he read a chapter concerning the death of his son in the book The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America’s Soldiers by Joseph Hickman. “Guys, I’m going to be the biggest pain in your neck as long as I live, until we figure out about these burn pits,” he said in a conference room in the congressional complex. Burn pits were used to get rid of waste, such as plastics, rubber, and batteries, in both Afghanistan and Iraq. The smoke from the pits could be toxic, Newsweek noted. The Department of Defence has stated that almost 3.5 million service members could have been exposed to toxins at harmful levels because of the practice. “I’ve always believed that we have a sacred obligation to equip those we send to war, and care for those and their families when they come home,” Mr Biden said during his State of the Union speech earlier this year. “And they come home, many of the world’s fittest and best-trained warriors in the world, never the same. Headaches. Numbness. Dizziness. A cancer that would put them in a flag-draped coffin.” While Mr Biden said he couldn’t be entirely sure that his son’s cancer was caused by the burn pits, he said his administration would be “finding out everything we can”. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) states on its website that it “understands that many Veterans are especially concerned about exposure to the smoke and fumes generated by open burn pits”. “In Iraq, Afghanistan, and other areas of the Southwest Asia theater of military operations, open-air combustion of trash and other waste in burn pits was a common practice. The Department of Defense has now closed out most burn pits and is planning to close the remainder,” the agency adds. “Researchers, including experts at VA, are actively studying airborne hazards like burn pits and other military environmental exposures. Ongoing research will help us better understand potential long-term health effects and provide you with better care and services,” the site states. Read More DeSantis eases voting rules in counties devastated by Ian Trump supporter pleads guilty in staged ’Biden 2020’ arson attack he blamed on Antifa ‘The goose is cooked’: Why legal experts are now saying there’s enough evidence to charge Trump over Mar-a-Lago docs Biden ‘optimistic’ about McCarthy talks; AOC slams ‘dysfunctional’ debt ceiling E Jean Caroll targets Trump again after his derogatory CNN town hall smears Marjorie Taylor Greene’s boyfriend caught in drag video

Texas Senator Ted Cruz found himself denounced by the daughter of late civil rights champion Dr Martin Luther King Jr on Sunday after he attempted to invoke Dr King’s legacy in order to attack the modern incarnation of the anti-racism movement. Mr Cruz used Dr King’s name in his own tweet attacking the NAACP, one of America’s oldest and best known anti-racist institutions. The Texas Republican took issue with the organisation after it issued a “travel advisory” warning about Florida’s far-right turn under Governor Ron DeSantis, in particular efforts to ban what he calls “woke” lessons in schools which most experts on the issue say is really about erasing teachings about the struggle for civil rights and racial equality in America. The advisory came as a result of a unanimous vote by the NAACP’s board. "Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals. Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color," the advisory states. Mr Cruz responded on Twitter to a conservative publication’s writeup of the issue and wrote angrily: “This is bizarre. And utterly dishonest. In the 1950s & 1960s, the NAACP did extraordinary good helping lead the civil rights movement. Today, Dr. King would be ashamed of how profoundly they’ve lost their way.” But Dr King’s daughter, author and activist Bernice King, retorted that her father would be strongly opposed to conservative efforts to whitewash American history as well as the campaign against LGBT+ Americans currently consuming the far-right. “What my father would be deeply concerned about is the harmful, discriminatory legislation in Florida,” she wrote. She wasn’t the only person to take issue with the senator’s tweet. A Democratic former member of New York’s congressional delegation, Mondaire Jones, was less subtle in his response as he opined that Mr Cruz would have fought desegregation efforts in the 50s and 60s. “We know exactly which side you would’ve been on in the 1950s and 60s, Ted,” wrote the congressman-turned-CNN-contributor. The NAACP’s president, Derrick Johnson, further explained the organisation’s decision in a statement. "Under the leadership of Governor DeSantis, the state of Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon. He should know that democracy will prevail because its defenders are prepared to stand up and fight. We're not backing down, and we encourage our allies to join us in the battle for the soul of our nation,” said Mr Johnson. Mr DeSantis’ team, meanwhile, issued a response calling the advisory a “stunt” for attention. Read More Back in hoodies and gym shorts, Fetterman tackles Senate life after depression treatment DeSantis super PAC tackles tricky task of organizing support for him in Iowa without the candidate Ted Cruz wants Congress to investigate Bud Light for working with Dylan Mulvaney Wounded man who invaded Senate with knife sentenced to prison for Capitol riot Kentucky Republicans pick nominee to challenge Democratic Gov. Beshear With Feinstein back in Senate, 3 of Biden's judicial nominees move forward

President Joe Biden on Monday said he was “optimistic” about the chances of finding an agreement with the Republican-led House of Representatives that would avoid a catastrophic default on America’s sovereign debt. Speaking at the outset of a crucial meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Mr Biden said the source of his optimism was a shared agreement between the two men that a debt default is “off the table”. Mr Biden also said the consequences that would arise should the US fail to meet its’ outstanding debt obligations would be “a kick in the ... economic well-being” for the American people. The negotiating session between the president and House speaker comes with just ten days remaining before the US Treasury is set to lose the ability to pay its’ bills by issuing new bonds. In a letter to Congress, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday that “it is highly likely” that the Treasury would run out of operating funds in the event that Congress does not raise the department’s statutory debt limit. A default on America’s sovereign debt would be a financial catastrophe both for Americans and people around the world who rely on US financial stability. Mr Biden said he and Mr McCarthy “talked about the need for bipartisan agreement” and stressed that he was “optimistic” that he and Mr McCarthy were “going to make some progress” during the Monday evening session. For his part, the House Speaker said he and Mr Biden had a “very productive” conversation during a phone call held on Sunday while Mr Biden was returning to Washington from the G7 summit aboard Air Force One. Earlier in the day, Mr McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol that “decisions have to start being made” on spending for the next fiscal year since “we’re 10 days out” from the debt ceiling deadline. “We have to spend less next year than we spent this year,” he said before pointing to the House’s proposal for spending cuts as the “framework” for a deal. “I’m hopeful,” he added. Read More Watch live: Biden and McCarthy meet to discuss US debt ceiling Who is Tim Scott? 5 things to know about the newest 2024 GOP presidential candidate A timeline of Donald Trump’s rivalry with Ron DeSantis

As he launches his presidential campaign on Monday, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is officially wading into a GOP primary battle already largely dominated by two commanding figures: former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Scott, the only Black Republican senator, will make his campaign announcement in his hometown of North Charleston after making it official last week with the Federal Election Commission. The late morning event is taking place at Charleston Southern University, Scott’s alma mater and a private school affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Then he'll spend Tuesday with donors in Charleston before a whirlwind, two-day campaign swing to Iowa and New Hampshire. Like others in the GOP race, including former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and “Woke, Inc.” author Vivek Ramaswamy, Scott will have to find a way to stand out in a field led by Trump and DeSantis, the latter of whom could announce his own bid as early as this week. But Scott's senior advisers note that political environments can shift over the course of a primary campaign, pointing to early in the 2016 race when Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush were seen as the top GOP candidates before Trump became the party's nominee. One way Scott, 57, hopes to make his mark is by leaning into more optimistic rhetoric than his conservative rivals. With his Christian faith an integral part of his political and personal story, Scott often quotes Scripture at his campaign events, weaving his reliance on spiritual guidance into his stump speech and even bestowing the name “Faith in America” on his pre-launch listening tour. In terms of Scott's political strength, his team points to his most recent Senate reelection in November, when Scott defeated his Democratic opponent by more than 20 percentage points. Such overwhelming support in a state that votes early in the GOP's presidential nominating calendar bodes well for Scott's electability on a larger scale, his advisers say. There's also the matter of money. He will enter the 2024 race with more cash on hand than any other presidential candidate in U.S. history. He had $22 million left in his campaign bank account at the end of his 2022 campaign and plans to immediately transfer that to his presidential coffers. It's enough money, his team says, to keep Scott on the air with continuous TV ads in early voting states until the first round of votes next year. On many issues, Scott aligns with mainstream GOP positions. He wants to reduce government spending and restrict abortion, saying he would sign a federal law to prohibit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy if elected president. But Scott has pushed the party on some policing overhaul measures since the killing of George Floyd, and he has occasionally criticized Trump’s response to racial tensions. Throughout their disagreements, though, Scott has maintained a generally cordial relationship with Trump, saying in his book that the former president “listened intently” to his viewpoints on race-related issues. When he was appointed to the Senate by then-Gov. Nikki Haley in 2012, Scott became the first Black senator from the South since just after the Civil War. Winning a 2014 special election to serve out the remainder of his term made him the first Black candidate to win a statewide race in South Carolina since the Reconstruction era. He has long said his current term, which runs through 2029, would be his last. Scott rejects the notion that the country is inherently racist and has repudiated the teaching of critical race theory, an academic framework that presents the idea that the nation’s institutions maintain the dominance of white people. “Hear me clearly: America is not a racist country,” Scott has said. “It’s backwards to fight discrimination with different types of discrimination. And it’s wrong to try to use our painful past to dishonestly shut down debates in the present.” If Scott is successful, he would be the first Black person to win the Republican presidential nomination and the second elected to the presidency, following Barack Obama in 2008. In a video announcing his exploratory committee earlier this year, Scott positioned himself as the antidote to the “radical left: a self-made success story as the son of a single mother who overcame poverty. He also bemoaned Democratic leaders as needlessly dividing the country by fostering a “culture of grievance.” Other Republicans are still deciding whether to wade into the presidential race, including former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. President Joe Biden is seeking reelection, a decision that has largely cleared the Democratic field. ___ Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Haley vs. Scott: From South Carolina allies to 2024 rivals Who is Tim Scott? 5 things to know about the newest 2024 GOP presidential candidate Trump slams DeSantis as he welcomes Tim Scott to presidential race

A Nebraska Republican state senator who voted for a combined anti-trans and anti-abortion bill that passed by one vote in the legislature has admitted that she didn’t pay attention to the issue. State Senator Christy Armendariz represents the 18th District in the state. Writing for New York magazine, journalist Lila Shapiro said that the senator “led me to a bench in an empty hallway” to say that she “found it puzzling that a reporter from New York would come all the way to Nebraska to cover this affair”. “I don’t watch the news or get the newspaper,” she told the magazine. “Is there anything going on I should be aware of?” The writer told Ms Armendariz that other states have passed other similar bills restricting trans and women’s reproductive rights and that an appeals court on the federal level in the Nebraska circuit had ruled that one of them was unconstitutional. “So is it a big widespread thing?” she asked the writer, adding that regular Nebraska residents were unaware of the issue. “I knocked doors for a year, and nobody brought this up,” the senator said, adding that she wished that the legislation had never been brought to the floor. For three months, a group of lawmakers in the state has ground nearly all legislative business in the state to a halt, grabbing the nation’s attention with a remarkable filibuster to stifle a bill that would end gender-affirming care for young transgender people. Late Tuesday 16 May, Republican lawmakers broke through, advancing a bill that not only bans gender-affirming care for trans people under 19 years old but also tacks on an amendment to outlaw abortion after 10 weeks of pregnancy and hands the state’s GOP-appointed medical officer the authority to set the rules for affirming care for trans youth. Hundreds of protesters filled the capital in Lincoln, standing outside the doors and in the gallery above lawmakers while chanting “one more vote to save our lives”; only one senator would have had to defect from supporters of the bill to kill the legislation. The vote – on the 78th day of a 90-day session – followed a series of manoeuvres that opponents argued were bending and breaking the rules of the state legislature to hammer through the legislation and avert the filibuster, which would allow opponents to occupy their allotted time to speak the bill to death. “What you are attempting to do today is the lowest of the absolute lows,” state Senator Machaela Cavanaugh, who spearheaded the filibuster, told Republican lawmakers. “You literally have to cheat at every moment of this debate in every possible way … You are allowing it to happen,” she added. “You do literally have blood on your hands, and if you vote for it, you will have buckets.” State Senator Megan Hunt, the first openly LGBT+ member of the state legislature and the mother of a trans child, lambasted lawmakers for their “escape routes” from the capitol to avoid facing protesters. “If you can’t go out and face them, you are not worthy,” she said. “Your legacy is filth.” Protesters surrounded the state capitol chambers in Lincoln on 19 May chanting “keep your bans off our bodies” and “save our lives” as lawmakers made their final round of votes on the bill, which passed 33-15, according to Reuters. The bill reached the exact number of votes needed to pass. Republican Governor Jim Pillen signed it into law on Monday. Before signing the bill, Mr Pillen said, “We are working to inspire Nebraskans to get in the game so that abortion is simply unthinkable in the state of Nebraska,” according to WOWT. He added that it was “an extremely historic day for Nebraska. It’s a day where it’s really simple: We’re standing up to protect our kids so our state has a bigger and brighter future. LB574 is the most significant win for [the] social conservative agenda that over a generation has seen in Nebraska. I think that’s something we need to clap and shout about”. At a show in Nebraska hours after the vote on Friday night, the artist Lizzo lambasted the legislation from the stage. “It really breaks my heart that there are young people growing up in a world that doesn’t protect them,” she said. “Don’t let anyone tell you who you are. ... These laws are not real. You are what’s real, and you deserve to be protected.” Ari Kohen, a political science professor at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, tweeted: “Hat tip to Senator Armendariz, who says she doesn’t know anything about the issue, doesn’t pay attention to current events, and wishes the bill she voted for hadn’t been introduced. It passed by 1 vote.” “These are the people who devoted an entire legislative session to taking away people’s rights in the face of massive opposition from experts and ordinary citizens. They openly admit that none of their constituents mentioned this issue to them and they don’t know much about it,” he added. “We have a handful of legislators who care enough to listen and learn. And then we have the majority, who seem not to know or care what they’re doing as long as it feels right to them and they have the votes to do it. Awful.” Journalist and author Charles Jaco tweeted that a similar assessment could be made regarding the Missouri legislature. “You have a handful of lawmakers who are serious, substantial people. The rest are various shades of know-nothing religious fanatics, grifters, and bigoted buffoons,” he tweeted. The Independent has reached out to Ms Armendariz for comment. Read More Nebraska governor to sign 12-week abortion ban, limits on gender-affirming care for minors Lizzo blasts Nebraska bill banning abortion access and gender-affirming care: ‘You deserve to be protected’ Here are the restrictions on transgender people that are moving forward in US states Nebraska governor to sign 12-week abortion ban, limits on gender-affirming care for minors Lizzo blasts Nebraska bill banning abortion access and gender-affirming care Nebraska expected to pass 12-week abortion ban, restrictions on gender-affirming care

Bryan Kohberger became a household name across America when police swooped on his parents’ home in December and arrested him for the brutal murdersof four University of Idaho students. Mr Kohberger, then a PhD criminology student at Washington State University, was accused of stabbing to death Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in an off-campus student rental home in Moscow, Idaho, on 13 November. The victims’ loved ones and those following developments in the quadruple murder case went from weeks of near-silence from law enforcement to the bombshell news of the accused killer’s arrest six weeks later. Since then, people from Mr Kohberger’s past – though shocked – have built a picture of a bullied loner who overcame addiction. Meanwhile, fellow students from his time just over the Idaho border into Washington describe a criminology zealot who “creeped people out”. With the 28-year-old refusing to enter a plea on four counts of murder and one burglary charge on Monday, The Independent asks: Who really is Bryan Kohberger? Bullying, addiction and weight loss Four years before the vicious murders of four University of Idaho students, the man now headed to trial for allegedly taking their lives was lauded for helping to save another. Mr Kohberger had been working as a part-time security officer for Pleasant Valley School District, where his mother was also employed when a hall monitor – a grandmother – began having trouble breathing and losing consciousness. Security guard Luis Fuentes, according to the Pocono Record, dispatched Mr Kohberger to retrieve the school AED as fellow staffers and emergency personnel attended to their coworker. Disaster was averted – but the incident still made the local paper in small-town Pennsylvania, where Mr Kohberger grew up with his parents, Michael and Maryann, and two sisters, Amanda and Melissa. It would mark one of the few times that Bryan Kohberger’s name would surface online until his arrest. Most of Mr Kohberger’s college courses have focused on criminality and the mind, though careers in education with an emphasis on psychology run in the family. His mother worked as a paraprofessional at Pleasant Valley School District and was beloved by students, by all accounts – the type of woman who tells a former pupil that they can always call her after the death of a parent. Her two daughters, both older than Mr Kohberger, both studied psychology at East Coast schools before finding work in the field. Melissa is a therapist in New Jersey, while Amanda is a counsellor in Pennsylvania. The Kohbergers lived for years in Effort, an unincorporated community in Monroe County with a population of under 2,500 just minutes from Pleasant Valley School District, where the children also graduated from high school. Michael Kohberger was a maintenance worker and the family seemed unremarkable in the quiet community 90 miles north of Philadelphia; Bryan used to mow the neighbours’ lawn. Mr Kohberger was overweight and bullied in high school – then lost 100 pounds in his senior year, and more than just his appearance changed, according to friends. “He was rail thin,” Casey Arntz, who hung around in the same group as Mr Kohberger, told 48 Hours. “It was after that weight loss that a lot of people noticed a huge switch.” She says Mr Kohberger bullied her brother, a member of the same social circle, at times even putting her sibling in chokeholds: “When Bryan would get kinda angry with him, he would gaslight him and get physically aggressive,” she said. Her brother, Thomas, told The Daily Beast that Mr Kohberger liked to point out his “flaws and insecurities” and would do so “all the time.” “He would go after my intelligence,” the 26-year-old said. “He would basically insinuate that I’m kind of slow-witted and that I’m forgetful and [that] I lack the intelligence to be his friend.” That aggressive streak was described by other friends, as well. Nick McLoughlin, 26, attended classes at both Pleasant Valley High School and Monroe Count’s vocational school with Mr Kohberger, telling The Daily Beast the murder suspect had been interested in becoming a police officer and took criminal justice courses. His interest in law enforcement was apparent, one former teacher told the outlet, describing Mr Kohberger as “passionate about criminal justice.” “He was just a regular 12th grader, had a few friends, was a good student,” she said. “I thought he would become a police officer or correctional officer ... He liked to watch movies about police, and ask me the next day if I’d seen it. It was more than a hobby for him, he was always asking questions.” In addition to criminology, Mr Kohberger had a new interest after the weight loss, Mr McLoughlin said: Boxing. “He always wanted to fight somebody,” he said. “He was bullying people. We started cutting him off from our friend group because he was 100 percent a different person.” Mr Kohberger’s changing behaviour included drug abuse, another friend, Bree, told 48 Hours – claiming that he began using heroin. She said that “people were not his strong suit.” “You just saw him becoming more self-destructive,” said Bree. “He really stayed secluded.” Overcoming addiction and interest in criminology In a February interview with the Idaho Statesman, high school friends and acquaintances of Mr Kohberger addressed previous reports that he was bullied because of his weight. They told the newspaper that Mr Kohberger found in marijuana a way to cope with the constant targeting that he suffered as a teenager before he escalated to heroin addiction. “I feel he was looking for validation, and that’s why he fell into that crowd,” Ms Arntz told the Statesman. “And honestly, it’s why he fell into the whole drug scene.” Ms Arntz recalled an instance in which Mr Kohberger asked her to drive him to pick up needles for his aunt because his car had broken down. In reality, Mr Kohberger was buying drugs from a dealer, Ms Arntz claimed. “He literally used me to get it,” she added. “I was freaking out and not happy I had heroin in my car and didn’t even know.” Following high school, however, many believed Mr Kohberger seemed to be doing better. He told Ms Arntz that he went to rehab, according to the Daily Beast, and he earned an associate of arts degree in psychology from Northampton Community College in 2018. “He was telling me that he wanted to get sober, that he was getting sober,” Bree told 48 Hours, “And he wanted to let me know, ‘I’m gonna do better. I’m gonna be better.’” Ms Arntz last saw Mr Kohberger at a wedding in 2017, where she gave him a hug and told him, “You look so good. I’m so proud of you,” she told 48 Hours. Mr Kohberger continued his studies at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s in criminal justice last year. Teachers and classmates have described him as bright, focused and nearly obsessive about criminology. Michelle Bolger, an associate professor at DeSales, taught Mr Kohberger and described him as a “great writer” and “brilliant student.” “In my 10 years of teaching, I’ve only recommended two students to a PhD program and he was one of them,” she told the Daily Mail. “He was one of my best students, ever. Everyone is in shock over this.” After Mr Kohberger’s graduation from DeSales, he left Pennsylvania and crossed the country to pursue a PhD at Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman, Washington, just across the state border from the University of Idaho in Moscow. He was also a teaching assistant in WSU’s department of criminal justice and criminology. There, he “sort of creeped people out,” fellow grad student B.K. Norton told The New York Times, describing a quiet, intense demeanour. She also alleged he made comments about the LGBTQ community that made some uncomfortable. “He stared and didn’t talk much, but when he did it was very intelligent and he needed everyone to know he was smart,” Ms Norton said. Another WSU grad student in the programme with Mr Kohberger, Benjamin Roberts, echoed her sentiments about the suspect’s academic arrogance. “He would describe things in the most complicated, perhaps academic way possible,” Mr Roberts told 48 Hours, elaborating: “It was like he was trying to convince people that he knew what he was talking about.” Mr Kohberger lived in an unassuming Pullman apartment complex and, while studying and working as a TA, was also continuing to pursue his dream of working in law enforcement. The affidavit unsealed earlier this year by Idaho courts revealed that Mr Kohberger applied for an internship with the Pullman Police Department. “Kohberger wrote in his essay he had an interest in assisting rural law enforcement agencies with how to better collect and analyze technological data in public safety operations,” the affidavit states. The department did not respond to The Independent’s request regarding whether Mr Kohberger ever got the internship. He was committed, it seems, to thoroughly exploring the inner workings of the criminal mind, posting a survey to Reddit that “asked for participants to provide information to ‘understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision making when committing a crime,’” the affidavit continues. Mr Kohberger seemed fastidious about his efforts to understand the inner workings of the criminal mind – and reportedly applied that same attitude to his diet. A former aunt told the New York Post that Mr Kohberger’s food regime was “very, very weird” and went “above and beyond being vegan.” Relatives had to “buy new pots and pans because he would not eat from anything that had ever had meat cooked in them,” she said, adding that he seemed “very OCD [obsessive-compulsive disorder].” Allegations of sexism and disciplinary action at WSU Around the time of the murders, Mr Kohberger was facing disciplinary action in his teaching assistant job at WSU. The 29-year-old began working as a teaching assistant in the criminology department in August as part of his graduate program. But within a month he was already under investigation by the university because of “behavioural problems” and a “sexist attitude towards women”, according to NewsNation. Earlier this year, the outlet obtained a detailed timeline of his issues in the department, revealing that Mr Kohberger was warned multiple times about his behaviour and was brought into several meetings with professors due to their concerns. His attitude towards women was cited as a key concern, with the criminal justice student allegedly being “rude to women”, grading the women that he taught differently to the men, and having a “sexist attitude towards females he interacted with at the school”. In his brief four-month stint as a teaching assistant, Mr Kohberger also reportedly got into multiple altercations with one of the professors – Professor John Snyder. The first altercation reportedly took place on 23 September and he was called in to meet the professor to discuss his behaviour on 3 October. But his behaviour only escalated, with reports of him becoming increasingly “feisty”, “belligerent” and getting into arguments with professors in the run-up to the murders. On 21 October, Professor Snyder emailed Mr Kohberger telling him he had failed to meet the expectations he had outlined in their previous discussion. On 2 November – 11 days before the murders – Mr Kohberger reportedly met with the professor to discuss an “improvement plan” for his behaviour. In the aftermath of the slayings, the university continued to note his concerning behaviour. Mr Kohberger attended a meeting with the professor about the improvement plan on 7 December – before getting into yet another altercation with him two days later. The professor condemned his behaviour, writing to the accused killer that it was “apparent that you have not made progress regarding your professionalism”. On 19 December – just over one month on from the murders – Mr Kohberger was ultimately fired from his WSU teaching post, reported NewsNation. Phil Weiler, the vice president at WSU, told The Independent back in February that the university could not discuss a student’s records. “Bryan Kohberger received an appointment as a teaching assistant at Washington State University (WSU) during the fall 2022 semester. It is typical for students to receive a teaching assistantship or similar appointment as part of their PhD program,” he said in a statement. “Mr Kohberger does not currently have a teaching assistantship and he is not currently enrolled at WSU. “Information concerning a student’s teaching assistantship is considered a student record. The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prevents universities from discussing student records. As a result, I am unable to comment on Mr Kohberger’s experience as a teaching assistant.” Aftermath of the murders Following the murders, classmates said Mr Kohberger continued attending classes – but “seemed more upbeat and willing to carry a conversation,” Ms Norton told the Times. In mid-December, Mr Kohberger then drove cross-country with his father in his white Hyundai Elantra, getting stopped twice in Indiana, before returning to his parents’ home in Pennsylvania. He was arrested there on 30 December and extradited to Moscow to face charges. His lawyers have claimed Mr Kohberger is innocent and wants to clear his name. His family released a statement expressing their condolences to the victims’ families while urging a presumption of innocence on part of their son. Many in Mr Kohberger’s orbit expressed shock at his alleged involvement in the crime; others from his past were not so sure. “He was mean-spirited,” Thomas Arntz told the Daily Beast. “He was a bully. I never thought he would do something like that, but at the same time it doesn’t really surprise me.” On Monday (19 May), Mr Kohberger refused to enter a plea in Latah County District Court, with his attorney saying that he was “standing silent” on the charges. The unusual response prompted the judge to enter a “not guilty” plea on Mr Kohberger’s behalf, setting the stage for a trial in which he could potentially face the death penalty. Read More Bryan Kohberger arraignment – live: Idaho college murders suspect to appear in court and enter plea on charges Four students stabbed to death, a weeks-long manhunt and still no motive: What we know about the Idaho murders Kaylee Goncalves’ father thanks roommates who survived Idaho murders for helping in Bryan Kohberger case

Bryan Kohberger is believed to have broken into the home of a female student and then installed security cameras to spy on her in the months before he allegedly killed four other students in a horror attack in Moscow, Idaho. The 28-year-old criminology PhD student had befriended the woman after he moved to Pullman, Washington state, to begin a graduate program in criminal justice at Washington State University (WSU), according to a source. One day, the woman returned to her apartment and found that someone had broken in and moved items around the home – but that nothing was missing. Since nothing was taken, the woman decided not to call the police but instead called her new friend Mr Kohberger and asked him to come over. Mr Kohberger allegedly offered to install a video security system inside her home and the woman agreed. Following its installation, investigators believe Mr Kohberger used the security cameras to spy on the woman as – knowing her wifi password – he was able to tap into the cameras when within close proximity to the apartment. The bombshell allegation was revealed for the first time in an NBC Dateline episode titled “The Killings on King Road”, which reported that Mr Kohberger is now a strong suspect in the initial break-in. Months later, on 13 November, Mr Kohberger is accused of breaking into an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, and stabbing to death Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, and Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20. Former FBI profiler Greg Cooper told Dateline that the incident was a “step in progression” for Mr Kohberger to move from breaking into a home when no one was in to allegedly breaking in when multiple people were home at the King Road address that deadly night in November. “I would expect that he orchestrated the whole thing, he was not looking at her as a potential victim necessarily,” said Mr Cooper. “But he orchestrated it so that she would come to him and that he would be able to help her. It is another level of power and domination and control over another person. “The hero image that he can portray. ‘You’ve got this problem, I’m here to solve the problem for you and to make it better for you.’” In the Dateline episode, sources also revealed that Mr Kohberger’s sister was growing suspicious that her brother could have been responsible for the murders when the family gathered to spend the holidays together. In mid-December, Mr Kohberger left his student rental home in Pullman, Washington, to travel cross country with his father back to the family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, for the holidays. During his time at home, his family members noticed that he was behaving somewhat bizarrely. The source said that Mr Kohberger was constantly wearing latex gloves, including inside their own home. One of his two older sisters began to wonder if he could have played a part in the murders – and, at one point, she raised her concerns with her other family members. She “loudly pointed out” that, at the time of the murders, her brother was living just a few miles from the crime scene and that he drove a white Hyundai Elantra – the make and colour of vehicle at the centre of the investigation. Along with his bizarre tendency to wear latex gloves at all time, she believed that the family should consider that Mr Kohberger might have killed the four victims, the source said. Mr Kohberger’s father allegedly defended his son and insisted he could not have been involved. But her suspicions were so great that – at one point – several family members searched Mr Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra for possible evidence of the crime, the source said. By that point, police said Mr Kohberger had already been spotted cleaning his car out with bleach and so the family members didn’t find anything of note, the source said. It is not clear if Mr Kohberger was aware of his family members’ suspicions that he could have been behind the murders – or what potential prior behaviour may have led his own sister to suspect him capable of carrying out such a brutal crime. Soon after, in the early hours of 30 December, law enforcement swooped on the family home and arrested him for the murders. At the time of his arrest, the source said Mr Kohberger was wide awake standing in the kitchen wearing latex gloves and putting his personal trash in plastic bags to take it out to a neighbour’s trash can. An attorney close to Mr Kohberger’s family declined to comment on the revelations to Dateline. On Monday (22 May), he will appear in court for his arraignment on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. The 28-year-old is now scheduled to be arraigned in Latah County Court in Moscow, Idaho, where he is expected to enter a plea on the charges. Mr Kohberger had been due to appear in court for a week-long preliminary hearing on 26 June, where the prosecution would lay out the case and evidence against the suspect. However, last Tuesday, a grand jury indicted Mr Kohberger on the charges, paving the way for the case to proceed without and leading to the cancellation of the preliminary hearing. Mr Kohberger is accused of breaking into the student home in the early hours of 13 November and stabbing the four students to death in a horror attack that rocked the college town of Moscow and sent shockwaves across America. The motive remains unknown and it is still unclear what connection the WSU PhD student had to the University of Idaho students – if any – prior to the murders. However, the affidavit, released in January, revealed that Mr Kohberger’s DNA was found on a knife sheath left behind at the scene of the murders. It also revealed that his white Hyundai Elantra was caught on surveillance footage at the crime scene and that one of the surviving roommates came face to face with the killer – masked, dressed in head to toe black and with bushy eyebrows – as he left the home in the aftermath of the murders. New details have also emerged about what was found during an initial search of his apartment and a rental storage unit. The court documents show that two items found in his apartment tested positive for blood. The two items were a mattress cover on the bed and an uncased pillow, both of which had visible “reddish brown stains”. The documents do not reveal who the blood belongs to. Investigators seized a string of other items from his home including possible human and animal hair strands, a disposable glove and a computer. The murder weapon – a fixed-blade knife – has still never been found. As a criminal justice PhD student at WSU, Mr Kohberger lived just 15 minutes from the victims over the Idaho-Washington border in Pullman. He had moved there from Pennsylvania and began his studies there that summer, having just completed his first semester before his arrest. Before this, he studied criminology at DeSales University – first as an undergraduate and then finishing his graduate studies in June 2022. While there, he studied under renowned forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland who interviewed the BTK serial killer and co-wrote the book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer with him. He also carried out a research project “to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime”. Now, the criminology PhD student is set to appear in Latah County Courthouse in Idaho for his preliminary hearing on 26 June. He is facing life in prison or the death penalty for the murders that have rocked the small college town of Moscow and hit headlines around the globe. Read More Bryan Kohberger – live: Idaho murders suspect faces arraignment over quadruple stabbing today Who is Bryan Kohberger? The criminology graduate being arraigned over the Idaho college murders Four students stabbed to death, a weeks-long manhunt and still no motive: What we know about the Idaho murders

Season 21 of "American Idol" crowned a winner with an emotional, star-studded finale on Sunday.

Bryan Kohberger’s sister feared that her brother was involved in the stabbings of four University of Idaho students before police swooped on their parents’ home and arrested him for murder, according to a bombshell report. Sources told NBC’s Dateline that one of the accused killer’s older siblings grew increasingly suspicious of her brother and his behaviour when the family gathered to spend the holidays together. Her suspicions were so great that – at one point – several family members searched Mr Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra for possible evidence of the crime, they said. Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were found brutally stabbed to death in the off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, that the three women shared with two other roommates back on 13 November. For more than six weeks, no suspects were publicly identified and leads appeared to have gone cold. In mid-December, Mr Kohberger – a 28-year-old criminology PhD student at Washington State University (WSU) – embarked on a cross-country trip with his father from his student rental home in Pullman, Washington, back to the family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, to spend the holidays together. But, during his time at home, his family members noticed that he was behaving somewhat bizarrely. The source said that Mr Kohberger was constantly wearing latex gloves, including inside their own home. One of his two older sisters began to wonder if he could have played a part in the murders – and, at one point, she raised her concerns with her other family members. She “loudly pointed out” that, at the time of the murders, her brother was living just a few miles from the crime scene and that he drove a white Hyundai Elantra – the make and colour of vehicle at the centre of the investigation. Along with his bizarre tendency to wear latex gloves at all time, she believed that the family should consider that Mr Kohberger might have killed the four victims, the source said. Mr Kohberger’s father allegedly defended his son and insisted he could not have been involved. But the concerns were clearly big enough for several of the family members to reportedly decide to search the 28-year-old’s vehicle to look for possible evidence. By that point, police said Mr Kohberger had already been spotted cleaning his car out with bleach and so the family members didn’t find anything of note, the source said. It is not clear if Mr Kohberger was aware of his family members’ suspicions that he could have been behind the murders – or what potential prior behaviour may have led his own sister to suspect him capable of carrying out such a brutal crime. Soon after, in the early hours of 30 December, law enforcement swooped on the family home and arrested him for the murders. On Monday (22 May), he will appear in court for his arraignment on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. The 28-year-old is scheduled to be arraigned in Latah County Court in Moscow, Idaho, where he is expected to enter a plea on the charges. Mr Kohberger had been due to appear in court for a week-long preliminary hearing on 26 June, where the prosecution would lay out the case and evidence against the suspect. However, last Tuesday, a grand jury indicted Mr Kohberger on the charges, paving the way for the case to proceed without and leading to the cancellation of the preliminary hearing. Mr Kohberger is accused of breaking into the student home in the early hours of 13 November and stabbing the four students to death in a horror attack that rocked the college town of Moscow and sent shockwaves across America. The motive remains unknown and it is still unclear what connection the WSU PhD student had to the University of Idaho students – if any – prior to the murders. However, the affidavit, released in January, revealed that Mr Kohberger’s DNA was found on a knife sheath left behind at the scene of the murders. It also revealed that his white Hyundai Elantra was caught on surveillance footage at the crime scene and that one of the surviving roommates came face to face with the killer – masked, dressed in head to toe black and with bushy eyebrows – as he left the home in the aftermath of the murders. New details have also emerged about what was found during an initial search of his apartment and a rental storage unit. The court documents show that two items found in his apartment tested positive for blood. The two items were a mattress cover on the bed and an uncased pillow, both of which had visible “reddish brown stains”. The documents do not reveal who the blood belongs to. Investigators seized a string of other items from his home including possible human and animal hair strands, a disposable glove and a computer. The murder weapon – a fixed-blade knife – has still never been found. As a criminal justice PhD student at WSU, Mr Kohberger lived just 15 minutes from the victims over the Idaho-Washington border in Pullman. He had moved there from Pennsylvania and began his studies there that summer, having just completed his first semester before his arrest. Before this, he studied criminology at DeSales University – first as an undergraduate and then finishing his graduate studies in June 2022. While there, he studied under renowned forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland who interviewed the BTK serial killer and co-wrote the book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer with him. He also carried out a research project “to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime”. Now, the criminology PhD student is set to appear in Latah County Courthouse in Idaho for his preliminary hearing on 26 June. He is facing life in prison or the death penalty for the murders that have rocked the small college town of Moscow and hit headlines around the globe. Read More Bryan Kohberger – live: Idaho murders suspect faces arraignment over quadruple stabbing today Who is Bryan Kohberger? The criminology graduate being arraigned over the Idaho college murders Four students stabbed to death, a weeks-long manhunt and still no motive: What we know about the Idaho murders

Ron DeSantis is reportedly preparing to announce his official campaign for 2024 president next week, after months of anticipation. Two people with knowledge of Mr DeSantis’ plans told The Wall Street Journal the Florida governor plans to file formal paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Thursday, 25 May. The filing date will correspond with a donor meeting in Miami, according to the report. The Independent has reached out to Mr DeSantis’ office for comment. Mr DeSantis, 44, was first considered a potential candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 2021 when he emerged from the pandemic as a hard-line Republican. But after the midterm elections in November, when Mr DeSantis was re-elected Governor of Florida by a nearly 20 per cent margin, he began to be considered a possible frontrunner. As of recently, Mr DeSantis has seemingly secured his spot as a presidential contender - partially thanks to former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump. Over the last several months, Mr Trump has launched attacks on Mr DeSantis- criticising his legislative record in Florida, downplaying his popularity with voters and comparing their polling numbers, despite Mr DeSantis having no official bid. When Mr DeSantis was asked recently about trailing behind the former president in polling, he responded, “I’m not a candidate so we’ll see if and when that changes.” The Florida governor has been coy about his possible presidential bid, giving vague answers to the press and re-directing attention to his current actions in Florida. But that hasn’t stopped the public, media and Mr Trump from assuming Mr DeSantis is running. If the reports about Mr DeSantis’ launch are true, he would be the sixth person to launch a campaign for Republican president. So far, Mr Trump, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and conservative personality Larry Elder have announced their bid for president. On the Democratic side, President Joe Biden announced he would seek re-election, and two other candidates: lawyer and anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy Jr as well as self-help author Marianne Williamson have launched campaigns. Read More Trump news – live: DeSantis to enter presidential race next week as Trump claims governor’s ‘magic is gone’ ‘We will not be erased’: Critics slam Ron DeSantis for unprecedented bills attacking LGBTQ+ people Don’t look now, but Ron DeSantis just suffered some big losses Will Ron DeSantis run for president in 2024? NAACP advises against traveling to Florida: ‘Openly hostile toward African Americans’ Ron DeSantis prepares for 2024 bid as NAACP advises against Florida travel – live