Senate passes resolution to overturn Biden administration rule that does not penalize immigrants for receiving government benefits
The Senate passed a resolution Wednesday to stop a Biden administration immigration rule that eliminates potential hurdles for immigrants using some public benefits and trying to obtain legal status, known as "public charge."
1970-01-01 08:00
Member of Harry and Meghan’s security detail and cab driver speak out following ‘chaotic’ chase
A member of the security detail for Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle and a cab driver who transported the couple during a paparazzi chase on Tuesday night have opened up about the ordeal. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said that a relentless pursuit unfolded after the couple and Ms Markle’s mother Doria Ragland attended an awards ceremony in New York City. The “two-hour-long” chase reportedly resulted in multiple near collisions involving “other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.” Chris Sanchez, a member of the Sussexes security team, told CNN in an exclusive interview on Wednesday that he “had never” come close to the chaos he experienced on Tuesday night. “What we were dealing with was very chaotic. There were about a dozen vehicles: cars, scooters and bicycles,” Mr Sanchez said. “The public [was] in jeopardy at several points. It could have been fatal. They were jumping curbs and red lights. At one point they blocked the limousine and started taking pictures until we were able to get out.” “[I] was concerned about [Prince Harry and his wife] but more about the public because they [the paparazzi] were being so erratic,” Mr Sanchez added. “People were on sidewalks and crossing streets and the [paparazzi] were crossing red lights. We did everything by the letter of law.” But the taxi driver who picked up the Sussexes from the New York City Police Department’s 19th precinct, where they had gone to in an attempt to lose paparazzi, told the Washington Post he didn’t feel threatened. The driver said Meghan and Harry’s security asked him to drive back to the station out of concern their location would be shared with more people. “I don’t think I would call it a chase,” Sukhcharn Singh told the Post. “I never felt like I was in danger. It wasn’t like a car chase in a movie. They were quiet and seemed scared but it’s New York—it’s safe.” The NYPD told The Independent in a statement that the department assisted the couple’s “challenging” transport, but no collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests were reported. Meanwhile, Mr Sanchez told CNN that Prince Harry and Meghan were left frightened and exhausted by the time they arrived to safety. NYC Mayor Eric Adams said during a press conference on Wednesday that he was told two officers could have been injured. The mayor said while he found it “hard to believe that there was a two-hour high-speed chase,” even an incident lasting 10 minutes could have been “extremely dangerous”. “It’s clear that the press, the paparazzi, they want to get the right shot,” Mayor Adams said. “But public safety must always be at the forefront.” “New York City is different from a small town somewhere. You shouldn’t be speeding anywhere but this is a densely populated city,” he added, noting the amount of traffic and movement and people on the streets. It is understood that the Sussexes believe the pursuit, which is said to have involved six blacked-out vehicles, could have been fatal. Prince Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, died in 1997 from injuries sustained in a car crash after trying to flee paparazzi who were following her vehicle. The duke, who was 12 years old when his mother died, spoke about his concern of history repeating itself in his AppleTV+ docuseries The Me You Can’t See, in which he drew parallels between the treatment of his mother and the scrutiny he and Meghan faced. “It’s incredibly triggering to potentially lose another woman in my life, but the list is growing. And it all comes back to the same people, the same business model, the same industry,” Harry said. In the docuseries, Harry also reflected on the inquest into Diana’s death, which concluded she was unlawfully killed due to “gross negligence” of her driver, Henri Paul, who had been drinking, and the paparazzi who were following her car at the time of the crash. According to the duke, he was “so angry” that there was “no justice at all” after the inquest. “Nothing came from that. The same people who chased her into the tunnel photographed her dying in the backseat of that car,” he recalled. The royal has also spoken about the trauma of his mother’s death in his revealing memoir Spare. Prince Harry said in the book he’s retraced the route his mother’s driver took in Paris on the night she died. “I’d thought driving the tunnel would bring an end, or brief cessation, to the pain, the decade of unrelenting pain. Instead, it brought on the start of Pain, Part Deux,” he wrote. The pursuit of the Sussexes is said to have involved a number of traffic violations including driving on the pavement and through red lights, reversing down a one-way street, illegally blocking a moving vehicle and driving while photographing and while on the phone. In the statement, the spokesperson for the Sussexes condemned the “dangerous” way images of the couple and Ms Ragland leaving the event were obtained. “While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety,” the spokesperson said. “Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all involved.” Read More Harry and Meghan latest news: Buckingham Palace silent on ‘near catastrophic’ car chase with paparazzi Buckingham Palace refuse to comment on paparazzi car chase involving Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Prince Harry’s fears about ‘history repeating itself’ resurface amid paparazzi car chase
1970-01-01 08:00
Pakistan is on the edge. Should India be worried?
Pakistan has been convulsed by political and economic crises. India cannot let its guard down, say experts.
1970-01-01 08:00
Man accused of stealing ‘Wizard of Oz’ ruby-red slippers in 2005 indicted by federal grand jury
Dorthy's ruby red slippers can't just take you home, they can also land you in federal court. That much was made apparent after a federal grand jury indicted Terry Martin, 76, with one count of theft of a major artwork for allegedly stealing one of four remaining pairs of Dorthy's ruby red slippers from The Wizard of Oz. The indictment claims that Mr Martin stole the slippers — worn by Judy Garland in her iconic 1939 role — in 2005 during an after-hours "visit" to the Judy Garland Museum in the actress's hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Federal prosecutors alleged on Tuesday that Mr Martin climbed into the museum through a window, broke a display case containing the slippers, and took off with the legendary film artefact, according to ABC News. The museum's alarm had been tripped, but it failed to alert local police, according to a report by The Guardian. “The biggest thing that ever happened to our museum was getting the slippers stolen. We were literally crying,” the museum’s co-founder, Jon Miner, told KQDS just after the robbery. The slippers were on loan to the museum from Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw when they were stolen. The other three pairs worn in the movie are in the possession of a private collector, the Smithsonian, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. At the time of their theft, the slippers were insured for $1m but had a market value of approximately $3.5m. After they disappeared, law enforcement, enthusiasts and film history buffs offered up rewards for the slippers' safe return, with one anonymous donor in Arizona offering up to $1m. The museum even hired a private investigator in 2013 to try to track down the slippers, but the investigation never made headway. In 2017, a man came forward and told the company that insured the slippers he could assist in their recovery. That man was later found to have been allegedly attempting to extort the individual who stole the shoes, according to the FBI. The agency launched a nearly year-long investigation, after which they launched a sting operation to recover the slippers. The FBI managed to recover the slippers in Minneapolis during the operation, and later examination by experts confirmed the shoes were authentic. However, no arrests were made following the sting, as the FBI was continuing its investigation into who actually stole the memorabilia. Since the 2018 recovery operation, the agency has been working to rule out suspects. Little is known about Mr Martin beyond his age. The indictment did not include a motive or any details about how investigators determined Mr Martin was behind the alleged theft. No attorney's information is available for Mr Martin. Read More Stolen ruby slippers from Wizard of Oz found by FBI after 13 years $1 million reward offered for the return of Judy Garland's ruby red slippers, a decade after they were stolen from a museum The Wizard of Oz most influential film of all time, study finds
1970-01-01 08:00
Top Offset Project Must Hand Zimbabwe Revenue or Close
Zimbabwe’s Environment Minister said the operators of a project generating carbon credits from an area almost the size
1970-01-01 08:00
We come, we take pictures, we leave: Gaza's grim routine
Now I come once a year for the annual flare up between Gaza militants in Israel. The flare up lasts a few days, maybe a week. I cover it. I leave.
1970-01-01 08:00
Bryan Kohberger indicted by grand jury over Idaho murders
University of Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger has been indicted by a grand jury. Mr Kohberger is accused of murdering students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chaping at the victims’ off-campus residence on 13 November. He was arrested at his family home in Pennsylvania on 30 December after investigators gathered several pieces of evidence allegedly linking him to the crime. A preliminary hearing, where prosecutors had to show a judge that there is enough evidence to justify moving forward with charges of burglary and four counts of murder, was previously scheduled for 26 June. However, on Tuesday, a grand jury indicted MrKohberger on the same charges, effectively rerouting the case directly to the state’s felony court level and allowing prosecutors to skip the preliminary hearing process, the Associated Press reported. The former Washington State University PhD student is now expected to appear for his arraignment at the Latah County District Court at 9am on Monday to enter a plea. According to the indictment, Mr Kohberger is charged with four counts of murder in the first degree and one count of burglary. Each murder count states that he “did wilfully, unlawfully, deliberately, with premeditation and with malice aforethought, kill and murder” each of the victims by stabbing. The list of witnesses who testified before the grand jury is sealed. Mr Kohberger’s indictment means that the jurors empanelled on the grand jury believed there was enough evidence against him for the case to proceed to trial. Mr Kohberger said through a public defender earlier this year that he “was eager to be exonerated.” He was linked to the crimes by DNA evidence, cellphone data and surveillance video of what prosecutors believe is his white Hyundai Elantra leaving the scene, according to the arrest affidavit. Another roommate, who survived the attack, was also able to partially describe the killer to investigators after she came face-to-face with him. The murder weapon, a fixed-blade knife, was not recovered during searches and remains missing. Two warrants obtained by The Independent show that investigators collected a Glock .40 calibre gun, empty gun magazines, a knife, a pocket knife, black face masks, black gloves, electronic devices, and clothing items from the home of Mr Kohberger’s parents in Pennsylvania where he was arrested. The family home was raided on 30 December, the same day that a search was also carried out at Mr Kohberger’s apartment in Pullman, Washington a 15-minute drive from the crime scene in Moscow. The Washington warrant revealed that investigators seized a “collection of dark red” spotting and a pillow with a “reddish/brown stain” at Mr Kohberger’s apartment. At least two items seized from that search tested positive for blood. Read More Lori Vallow — update: Juror reveals why he flipped to guilty verdict and ‘disgust’ at Chad Daybell wedding Warped dad who murdered wife and autistic daughter likely to ‘die in prison’ Police apologise to man wrongly charged with girl’s murder in 1992
1970-01-01 08:00
Western states and feds are closing in on a landmark deal to prevent Lake Mead from plummeting further
Three Western states and the federal government are nearing a deal to leave millions of gallons of water in the Colorado River's Lake Mead.
1970-01-01 08:00
Manchin Scrubs Vote on Energy Agency Nominee Over Gas Stove Rule
Senator Joe Manchin pulled his support for an Energy Department nominee in protest of the agency’s plan to
1970-01-01 08:00
SEC Official Sees Possible Overlap in Carbon Rules: Forum Update
The Bloomberg Sustainable Finance Forum is under way, focusing on topics ranging from opportunities in the US market
1970-01-01 08:00
How Joe Biden and Donald Trump's border policies compare
President Biden promised a more humane approach but his border policy has been sharply criticised too.
1970-01-01 08:00
IMF approves Ghana $3 billion loan facility - sources
By Maxwell Akalaare Adombila and Christian Akorlie ACCRA (Reuters) -The International Monetary Fund's executive board has approved a $3 billion,
1970-01-01 08:00