The Fed hits pause on interest rate hikes while it reviews more data
The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it will pause its rate hikes, keeping its benchmark lending rate at a 22-year high.
2023-09-21 02:27
Takeaways from the combative House Judiciary Committee hearing with Attorney General Merrick Garland
House Republicans and Attorney General Merrick Garland clashed Wednesday at a testy hearing that offered a preview of the coming Republican impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden focused on allegations surrounding his son, Hunter Biden.
2023-09-21 02:23
Tuberville forces Schumer's hand as the majority leader sets up votes to happen as soon as Wednesday afternoon
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has caved to a demand by Sen. Tommy Tuberville to bring up a small handful of votes on military promotions to the Senate floor, even as he assailed the Alabama Republican's tactics.
2023-09-21 02:22
EU demands answers about Poland visa scandal
The Polish government is embroiled in allegations that migrants were illegally sold visas.
2023-09-21 01:57
Lawsuit accuses Louisiana police of assault in ‘torture warehouse’
Police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, are being sued after being accused of beating a grandmother in a so-called “torture warehouse,” a new lawsuit alleges. Baton Rouge resident Ternell Brown was detained in June; but rather than taking her to the police station, Baton Rouge police officers drove her to an unmarked warehouse, according to a 18 September lawsuit she filed. Officers referred to this facility as the “Brave Cave,” where the street crimes unit held people in custody, assaulted them, and conducted strip and body-cavity searches on them, the lawsuit claimed. Police officers wrongfully informed Ms Brown that it was illegal to have different prescription medicines in the same pill container, according to the complaint. Ms Brown, 51, was allegedly arrested on suspicion of illegal drug activity – after officers discovered a legal prescription medication in her car during a traffic stop. She was taken to the warehouse and held there for two hours, the filing states. There, officers “forced her to spread her vagina and buttocks for inspection and examined her vagina using a flashlight,” despite not having a warrant, probable cause, or consent to conduct a strip or body cavity search, the suit states. After a couple of hours, Ms Brown was released without charge. The 51-year-old isn’t the first one to flag the “Brave Cave.” Jeremy Lee, a Baton Rouge resident, was arrested in January, and police took him to the warehouse, which one officer called the “Brave Cave,” WAFB previously reported. Bodycam footage captured Mr Lee sitting in a wooden chair in what appeared to be a warehouse. There, the 22-year-old was punched and kicked – although that happened off-camera, the outlet noted. After the incident, Mr Lee “was so badly beaten that authorities at East Baton Rouge Parish Prison refused to accept him” into its custody, “insisting that Mr Lee be taken to the hospital,” according to a lawsuit he filed. He was treated for broken ribs and other injuries. After the incident, Mr Lee filed a lawsuit; in August, the city’s mayor ordered the facility’s operations to be suspended “in light of the serious allegations.” The FBI is now investigating the claims, and an officer involved in Mr Lee’s alleged “Brave Cave” assault have resigned. An attorney for Ms Brown called out Police Chief Murphy Paul at a Monday press conference. “Chief Murphy Paul, instead of bringing BRPD policy in compliance with the constitution, decided to double down and endorse what his officers were doing and to insist that the illegal strip search policy that BRPD maintains was appropriate,” said Thomas Frampton. As a result of the chief’s decision, Mr Frampton said, “countless Baton Rouge citizens have been subject to illegal, sexually humiliating strip searches.” Chief Paul was interviewed by the Washington Post, although he declined to comment on the pending lawsuits, adding that an internal investigation is underway. He did, however, address the “Brave Cave” at a news conference last month, explaining that it was a narcotics processing facility owned by the parish that had been used by the police department for “approximately 20 years.” However, up until Mr Lee’s lawsuit came out, he was unaware of the term “Brave Cave,” he said. “We made a mistake on this one,” Mr Paul told the Washington Post. “I’ve got to own that.” The police chief also addressed other accusations made in Ms Brown’s complaint. The filing claims that the Baton Rouge Police Department’s strip search policy “violates the legal standard” by allowing officers to subject non-arrestees to such searches based on an officer’s suspicion alone. The suit also accuses the department of ignoring misconduct complaints by the street crimes unit. “We’ve been pretty consistent in our discipline,” Mr Paul told the Post, disagreeing with the suit’s claims. “We’ve terminated officers for bad behavior.” To demonstrate this, he noted that two officers who were once involved in the street crimes unit were placed on administrative leave on Tuesday. He added that the department has moved operations — which used to be conducted at the warehouse — to other facilities. The police chief said that before restoring the street crimes unit, he was waiting for the internal investigation to be completed. Ms Brown is suing the Baton Rouge Police Department for unreasonable search, unreasonable seizure, Monell liability, battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, negligence, and state constitutional violations. Read More A Supreme Court redistricting ruling gave hope to Black voters. They're still waiting for new maps Louisiana moves juveniles from adult penitentiary but continues to fight court order to do so Prosecutors set to lay out case against officers in death of unarmed Black man in Denver suburb
2023-09-21 01:28
A shock confession, spiteful obituary and boozy boat party: What the new Murdaugh Murders Netflix series revealed
Over the last few weeks, the sprawling crime saga surrounding Alex Murdaugh has once again been catapulted into the spotlight. Six months after he was convicted of killing his wife Maggie and son Paul on 7 June 2021, Murdaugh filed a motion demanding a new trial based on a damning accusation against Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill. His attorneys claim that Ms Hill tampered with the jury, pressuring them to find him guilty and breaking her oath as an elected official. New details continue to emerge about this – including a random Georgia man’s unlikely links to the case – and legal experts have warned that if the allegations are in fact true, a new trial is almost certain. At the same time, Murdaugh’s other criminal charges are progressing through the courts. He appeared in court on 14 September for a hearing on a slew of state financial charges – marking his first court appearance since his murder trial sentencing. On Thursday, he is slated to appear in court to plead guilty to 22 federal financial criminal charges including wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering – after signing a plea deal with prosecutors on Monday. Now, Netflix has dropped its second series of “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal” – bringing new details and claims about the Murdaugh saga to light. Here are some of the key revelations from the new series: Cousin Eddie claims Murdaugh all but confessed to murders Curtis “Cousin Eddie” Smith has claimed that Murdaugh made a bombshell confession about his wife and son’s murders before orchestrating the now-infamous botched hitman plot. On 4 September 2021, Mr Smith – Murdaugh’s former law firm client, distant cousin and alleged drug dealer – allegedly shot the double murderer in the head along the side of a road in Hampton County in an assisted suicide scheme. Mr Smith claimed in the show that Murdaugh begged him to shoot him but he refused. When he asked Murdaugh why he wanted him to kill him, Mr Smith revealed that Murdaugh had given a chilling response. “Because they’re going to be able to prove that I’m responsible for Maggie and Paul,” Murdaugh allegedly said. Cousin Eddie also asked Murdaugh “what did happen” that fateful night. Murdaugh is said to have given the damning response: “Things just got all f***ed up.” Randolph Murdaugh published obituary as ‘warning’ to wife Murdaugh’s now-late father Randolph Murdaugh once wrote and published a fake obituary for his wife when she was still alive as a “warning” because she wanted to divorce him, it has been claimed. In 1976, an obituary for Libby Murdaugh – Murdaugh’s mother – appeared in the local paper The Hampton Guardian. The obituary has long been a source of mystery as to who published it and why. In the Netflix show, Paul Murdaugh’s former girlfriend Morgan Doughty claimed that Maggie once told her that the obituary came about because Libby told Randolph she wanted to divorce him. Randolph then took the step to write Libby’s obituary himself and have it published in the paper. “I think it was a gesture to scare her into staying,” said Ms Doughty, who also took Maggie confiding in her as a warning. “I think that was her way of letting me now what I was signing up for. I think it was kind of like a warning.” Paul Murdaugh hosted booze-fuelled boat party weeks before murder Paul Murdaugh was pulled over by police for hosting a booze-fuelled boat party just days before he was brutally murdered by his father – and at a time when he was awaiting trial over a 2019 deadly boat wreck. Housekeeper Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson revealed that the 22-year-old had a fresh brush with the law in the run-up to the 7 June 2021 murders. The incident took place around a week before Memorial Day weekend, when Ms Turrubiate-Simpson said Maggie told her that “Paul got in trouble again”. “He was on the boat with friends and they were drinking,” she said. “But they called Alex and he said he was going to take care of it.” Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill also confirmed that the DNR had stopped the 22-year-old with a boat full of people and confiscated a cooler “full of booze”. At the time, Paul was awaiting trial over a February 2019 drunken boat wreck that killed friend Mallory Beach, 19. Court clerk reveals daughter was ‘almost’ on jury The South Carolina court official at the centre of Murdaugh’s bid for a new murder trial has revealed that her own daughter was almost seated as a juror in the case. “So my daughter almost became a juror,” said Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill. She added: “She was so excited.” Ms Hill went on to describe her first encounter with Murdaugh on the opening day of the trial – an encounter that appeared cordial and as though the now-convicted killer expected the saga to soon be over. “The first day of trial, Alex was coming in and said ‘good morning Ms Becky, how are you?’” she said. “It was more of a lightheartedness. It was a ‘we’re going to get through this in about a week or two, we’re all gonna go home. All of this is going to go away’.” Ms Hill – who is a regular feature throughout the new three-part series – is an elected official of the court whose role was to maintain the courtroom proceedings and even read out Murdaugh’s verdict. Now, she has been accused of jury tampering by Murdaugh’s attorneys as the convicted killer fights for a new trial. Bubba the dog’s new life Among the familiar faces from the Murdaugh saga returning in the Netflix series is Bubba the dog. Bubba’s name cropped up multiple times during the murder trial as he was likely something of a witness to the killings of Maggie and Paul. That night, Paul, Maggie and Alex were down by the dog kennels. Paul was filming a brown labrador named Cash on his cellphone for his friend Rogan Gibson. In the video, Maggie and her husband are heard shouting off-camera about Bubba catching a chicken in his mouth. Just minutes later, Maggie and Paul were shot dead at the kennels. It was this video – and Bubba’s antics – which led to Murdaugh’s voice being caught on camera at the kennels at the time of the murders. In the Netflix show, Bubba is seen with Ms Turrubiate-Simpson – after the dog began a new life with her in the wake of Maggie’s death. Ms Turrubiate-Simpson, who was a close friend of Maggie’s, and Bubba are also seen visiting Maggie’s grave. “Maggie loved Bubba,” she said. “He was her prized possession, he was not a kennel dog.” Read More Alex Murdaugh’s alleged co-conspirator shares convicted killer’s bombshell confession in documentary - live Paul Murdaugh hosted booze-fueled boat party days before his murder – as he faced charges for deadly crash Alex Murdaugh’s bombshell confession before infamous botched hitman plot revealed Court clerk accused of jury tampering in Alex Murdaugh trial says daughter was ‘excited’ to be on jury
2023-09-21 00:58
Missing woman feared dead after blood stain found in her home with ‘drag marks’ to lake in yard
A missing woman is feared dead after a blood stain was found in her home and police discovered evidence that something was dragged into a lake in her backyard. Sheryl Ann Siddall, 57, was reported missing on Monday after she failed to answer phone calls from her family. Family members say they last spoke to Ms Siddall, who lives in Liberty County, Texas, on 12 September. A Texas deputy searched the 57-year-old’s home and found a 52-year-old man who said he was buying the home from Ms Siddall. He also told police Ms Siddall told him she was going to visit her sister in Oklahoma. The man was arrested and booked into the Liberty County Jail on a charge of felon in possession of firearms, police said. In a statement, police said the deputy found a bloodstain on the floor of Ms Siddall’s home. “Suspecting that foul play may be involved, the deputy immediately backed out of the room and called for investigators,” the statement continued. Investigators also said they found evidence that suggested something was dragged into the lake that borders Ms Siddall’s backyard. A Texas game warden searched Horseshoe Lake using a sonar system on his boat, deputies said, but he did not find any other evidence. Another search of the property was carried out by investigators using cadaver dogs on 19 September. Ms Siddall’s cellphone was last pinged near her home, deputies said, and her car and purse were both found at the home along with other personal possessions. An investigation is ongoing. Read More Husband of mother missing with three young children says he’s ‘not concerned’ Family sues department store after cleaner’s body lay undiscovered in bathroom for four days Teen found drenched with accelerant and set on fire after mother begged her to stay home
2023-09-21 00:56
Updated Echo Show 8 Senses Where You Are in the Room
Amazon today updated its Echo lineup, and previewed a conversational version of Alexa that offers
2023-09-21 00:50
Celoxis Review
Project management apps can be simple or extraordinarily complex. Celoxis gives the best of both
2023-09-21 00:28
A Year in the Life of a Classic Game: John Romero Recounts Doom's Origins
ZADAR, Croatia—The pioneering first-person shooter Doom could not have been created without a few unusual
2023-09-20 23:45
Half-million-year-old wooden structure unearthed
Ancient timber preserved in a riverbed suggests humans were building wooden structures 500,000 years ago.
2023-09-20 23:28
MLB Hot Seat: 5 contending managers who won't be back after the playoffs
These five MLB managers need their teams to finish the season strong or they could be out and looking for a new job soon.
2023-09-20 22:55