News and Headlines: In The News, Politics, World News. Commentary/Opinion.
In The News:
Bioluminescent waves dazzle surfers in California: ‘Never seen anything like it’
The event occurs every few years along the coast of southern California, though locals say this year’s sea sparkle is especially vibrant, possibly related to historic rains that soaked the region and generated algal bloom.
For some, this year’s light show was especially meaningful, coming just as beaches began to reopen after an almost month-long closure due to coronavirus.
The neon waves owe their color to blooming microscopic plants called phytoplankton.
By day, the organisms collect on the water’s surface to give the water a reddish-brown hue, known as the red tide.
By night, the algae put on a light show, dazzling most brightly in turbulent waters.
Arlington man spent days in home with his wife’s body after killing her, warrant says
COURTESY: TARRANT COUNTY JAIL
In September 2019, Arlington officers were called out to the Sudduths’ home after the couple got into an argument. The dispute was over Joseph Sudduth’s hobby of buying broken electronics to fix.
At one point during their argument, Sue Sudduth ripped her husband’s shirt. He tried to call 911, but she reached for the telephone and hung it up, according to Arlington police reports.
After speaking with Arlington officers, the couple agreed to separate for the evening and no charges were filed.
The warrant written by Arlington Detective Spencer Simmons noted that Arlington patrol officers responded to the couple’s home again on April 11.
Twitter employee, transit advocate dies after getting caught in Mission District shootout
Photo: Special to The Chronicle
Brousseau was walking home from Dolores Park at 8:22 p.m. Friday when 50 to 60 shots were fired at the intersection of Rosa Parks Lane and Guerrero Street, according to San Francisco police.
The gunfire left him critically wounded and caused non-life-threatening injuries to an 18-year-old victim.
Colleagues and friends of Brousseau, who identified him as the older victim, said he was on life support Sunday and had little hope of surviving.
He died around 7 p.m. Monday, said Brent Andrew, a San Francisco General Hospital spokesman.
Two charged after dogs die in ‘disturbing’ starvation case
Authorities said both dogs died in March, with Otis’ death under investigation since March 2.
That’s when Naperville police and Naperville animal control personnel responded to a report of a dead German shepherd found near a trail area.
Officers found the dog, later identified as Otis, in a wooded area near a ditch, wrapped in a bed sheet and placed in a storage container.
Authorities said the dog weighed roughly 20 pounds, when the typical shepherd should weigh about 70.
16-year-old arrested for Annapolis double shooting, charged with attempted murder
A 19-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy were hospitalized as after being shot during the broad daylight shooting in the Robinwood community.
The man was flown to shock trauma in Baltimore with a wounded abdomen, while the teen was driven to Anne Arundel Medical Center after being struck in the foot by at least one bullet. Both are expected to make full recoveries, according to Annapolis police.
Keharee Sellers, of Madison Street, was arrested Monday in Linthicum Heights by Annapolis and Anne Arundel County police officers.
Online court records show Sellers has been charged with the attempted murders and assaults of the man and the teen, as well as a host of firearms offenses, including altering a firearm identification number, among other offenses.
Woman arraigned in killing of security guard over virus mask
(Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP)
Teague, her husband, Larry Teague, 44; and her son, Ramonyea Bishop, 23, face first-degree premeditated murder charges in Friday’s killing of Calvin Munerlyn, 43, at a Family Dollar near downtown Flint.
Larry Teague and Bishop have yet to be arrested and were believed to be on the run, prosecutor David Leyton said.
The three defendants also face gun charges. Larry Teague also is charged with violating Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order requiring all customers and employees to wear face coverings inside grocery stores.
Massachusetts pastor faces $300 fine for service in which members wore face masks, gloves
Kristopher Casey, pastor of Adams Square Baptist Church in Worcester, waved an American flag after Sunday’s service while his congregation sang “God bless America.”
Casey explained his sanctuary has been deep-cleaned, a process that costs thousands of dollars, before services, and congregants must wear masks and gloves at all times, Casey said.
“The Constitution and the Bill of Rights don’t go on vacation when there’s a pandemic.
We are protected as a church, and yet the big box retailers are not protected and yet they are still open,” Casey told Fox News.
Men Accused of Raping Children Among 830 Inmates Freed in Massachusetts
Christie is one of the inmates set free thanks to the court order. In 2018, Christie was convicted for repeatedly raping a 12-year-old boy.
Parris, also freed from prison thanks to the court order, was arrested less than two months ago and charged with raping and sexually assaulting two teenage girls.
According to the charges, Parris had been working as a teaching assistant at Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School when he contacted a 15-year-old student through Instagram.
More than a week later, police said Parris threatened and forced the girl to perform oral sex on him in the middle of a school day inside a closet. A second victim told police that Parris had similarly contacted her through Instagram.
Philadelphia Reports Zero Coronavirus Deaths, First Day Since March
“We’ve been through some tough times in this epidemic, but over the weekend the situation here in Philadelphia is starting to look better,” Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Tom Farley said, according to WHYY:
Monday also marked the third consecutive day the city saw less than 400 new coronavirus cases. Farley said the city’s total now stands at 16,040 positive cases.
“While the daily count has remained low over the past few days, some labs do not report results over the weekend, and the City has not yet received all backlogged results,” the health department added in a press release.
Police say Kentucky homeowner who fired warning shots at alleged intruder left him with swollen face
The Boone County Sheriff’s Office said a suspect identified as David Whitford, 29, tried to break into an unidentified homeowner’s house Saturday afternoon in northern Kentucky.
The homeowner fired warning shots at Whitford with a handgun as he fled on foot toward a riverbank, according to police.
The homeowner then found him hiding, fired more warning shots, and got into a physical altercation with the man.
Whitford’s face appears swollen in a photo from the sheriff’s office.
University of Texas investigated for links to Wuhan lab
The investigation comes after the UT system received $172.5 million in federal stimulus money from the CARES Act.
The Education Department’s Office of General Counsel sent a letter to Chancellor James Milliken last week requesting that it provide documentation of its dealings with the Chinese laboratory U.S. officials now believe was where the coronavirus was experimented on and leaked from, despite prior conflicting reports.
The U.S. Department of Education letter sent to Chancellor Milliken requests records of gifts or contracts from the Wuhan Institute of Virology to the UT system and records pertaining to its connection with Huawei, the 5G equipment maker blacklisted by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The Federal Communications Commission has also classified Huawei a national security threat for its alleged acts of espionage.
President Trump Delivers Remarks Upon Departure – JBA
Joint Base Andrews, MD.
Kansas City mayor defends ‘Nazi-like’ policy registering people attending church
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas issued the 10/10/10 rule in effect May 5, ordering that nonessential businesses, like churches, can have 10 people inside and 50 people outside as long as they practice social distancing.
They also must record the information of anyone who spends more than 10 minutes inside.
The order states that by recording names and contact information, the health department will be able “to more quickly trace, test, and isolate individuals who may have been exposed to COVID-19.”
Anyone who doesn’t provide their information won’t be allowed in.
Gun sales amid coronavirus pandemic spike 71% in April
March saw an even higher surge in sales, with 2,583,238 firearms sold – or 85.3 percent more than the previous year, according to data released late Monday by Small Arms Analytics and Forecasting.
SAAF data also indicated a surge in handgun over long-gun purchases, a group spokesperson said.
“This shows us there is continued appetite among Americans to be able to provide for their own safety during times of uncertainty.
These are buyers who have witnessed their governments empty prisons… Police departments are stretched beyond capacity in many cases.
Law-abiding Americans recognize this and exercising their right to own a gun and defend themselves and their loved ones.”
Florida fishermen hook 6 foot bull shark first weekend beaches in the state reopen
The giant shark was towed to the shore, where the men posed with it for videos and photos.
According to Shelley Goudy of Fort Walton, who took the video of the proud fishermen, the group caught the shark by “kayaking their line out around 200 yards,” she told WKRG.
Goudy estimated the bull shark to be around six feet long.
Michelle Obama says these Americans responsible for Trump’s 2016 victory
“So, the day I left the White House, and I write about how painful it was to sit on that [inauguration] stage,” she said.
“A lot of our folks didn’t vote. It was almost like a slap in the face.
“Every midterm. Every time Barack didn’t get the Congress he needed, that was because our folks didn’t show up,” she said.
“After all that work, they just couldn’t be bothered to vote at all. That’s my trauma.”
Politics:
CIA Watchdog Sitting on Secret Report About John Brennan
The CIA Inspector General has taken more than a year to clear the release of a House Intelligence Committee report which contradicts the key conclusion of the intelligence community assessment on Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to the former chief of staff of the National Security Council.
The January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA), prepared at the behest of President Barack Obama, claimed that Russia interfered in the presidential election in order to help candidate Donald Trump.
A separate, classified report holed up at the office of the CIA Inspector General (IG) sheds damning light on the role then-CIA Director John Brennan played in the preparation of the report,
The report states that Brennan overruled agency analysts who wanted to include strong intelligence in the assessment to show that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted Hillary Clinton to win the election, Fleitz says, citing conversations with House Intelligence Committee staffers.
Rep. Gaetz is fighting to stop US cities from using Chinese-made drones
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-FL, member of the House Judiciary Committee, is pressuring the Justice Department to halt the use of Chinese-made drones.
Tucker: Why isn’t the ACLU fighting for our liberties?
Commentary/Opinion:
As freedoms vanish across the country the ACLU has filed dozens of lawsuits, none protecting the Bill of Rights.
House GOP says Schiff is ‘blocking’ release of Russia probe transcripts, demands access
The committee “after interviewing 73 individuals and reviewing over 300,000 documents” issued a report in 2018 revealing that “the Trump campaign did not collude with Russia,” it states.
It adds that the committee voted in September 2018 to release “53 transcripts.”
“We understand now that Chairman Schiff is blocking the release of these transcripts,” they wrote.
“This news, if accurate, is disturbing—especially in light of Chairman Schiff’s cries in 2019 for transparency regarding allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.”
Nikki Haley: Coronavirus stimulus – help those truly in need, but stop wasting billions on others
Commentary/Opinion:
The United States has overcome every challenge we have ever faced. The coronavirus pandemic will be no exception.
Yet while the American people have risen to the needs of the moment, in some vital ways our political class has fallen short.
They have done too much to help some who don’t need it, and too little to help some who need it most.
White House eyes changes to ‘sanctuary’ cities as part of future stimulus deal
Democrats have called for at least $500 billion to be included for relief to state governments as part of the next stimulus package, something that has brought concern from Republicans that it could be an excuse to bail out states for past mismanagement on issues such as pensions and health care.
“We’d have to talk about things like sanctuary cities, as an example,” Trump said last week in the Oval Office. “I think sanctuary cities is something [that] has to be brought up, where people that are criminals are protected.
They’re protected from prosecution. I think that has to be done. I think it’s one of the problems that the states have.”
World News:
Elderly man dies and three people hurt after ‘stabbing’ in Co-op store in Welsh village
A 29-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is in custody.
Witnesses described seeing people running from the shop after an apparent knife attack.
Kenan Bastug, who was working in his brother’s kebab shop one door down from the Co-op, said a woman ran into their premises at around 1.50pm saying she had been stabbed in the neck.
Tucker: Leaked intel dossier examines China’s coronavirus cover-up
Commentary/Opinion:
The report confirms much of what we suspected.
Israel allegedly strikes Iran in Syria; Germany threatens Hezbollah – TV7 Israel News 05.05.20
1) Israel allegedly conducts two separate strikes against Iranian-backed forces in Syria.
2) The Secretary General of Iran’s Lebanese-proxy Hezbollah Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah condemned Germany for its decision to designate his militant group a “terror organization.”
3) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel’s gradual exit plan from the current restrictive routine, in light of the government’s perceived success in handling the corona-crisis.
China Orders Christian Church to Discontinue Online Worship
In late 2018, Chinese authorities carried out a series of tightly coordinated raids on the 5,000-member Early Rain Covenant Church in the city of Chengdu, arresting more than 100 members, including Pastor Wang Yi and his wife.
The government cut the phone line to the church and Chinese police reportedly tracked down church members using the location signals from their mobile phones.
Pastor Wang later received a sentence of nine years in prison for “inciting subversion” and running an illegal “business.”
Since the shuttering of their church, Early Rain members have had to resort to online streamed worship services, but now the government wants to stop those as well, the Christian Post reported Monday.
Despite ISIS Fall and Coronavirus, First Week of Ramadan Deadlier than 2019
That means, on average, terrorists killed about 26 people each day during the first full seven days of the holiest week for Muslims — April 24 to 30.
During that same period, there were 60 terrorist attacks that took place in 13 countries, resulting in a total of 373 casualties, including fatalities and injuries.
That translates to over 50 casualties each day during the holiest month for Islam adherents.
As it has done in the last three years, Breitbart News will provide regular updates on the carnage during Ramadan, which began at sunset on April 23 in most countries and will last through sundown on May 23.
Far-Left Antifa Extremists Set French Post Office Vans Ablaze
Police found the letters “ADA” spraypainted nearby, the acronym for the far-left Antifa groups Action Directe Anarchiste which took credit for the destruction on their website, broadcaster franceinfo reports.
The violence comes just days after French police arrested two Antifa anarchist extremists who they say were both armed and were plotting to kill police officers.
In neighbouring Germany, Antifa extremists are also thought to have been behind the brutal beating of a camera crew belong to the satirical television programme Heute Show (Today Show) on International Workers’ Day in the German capital of Berlin.
White House sees British trade talks as ‘chance to cement anti-China alliance’
“A trade agreement with the United Kingdom, locking in trade relations, would serve as the tip of the spear in pushing back China’s attempts to co-opt Europe.”
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will hold a video call with Britain’s international trade secretary on Tuesday.
Each will be joined by about 100 of their officials.
Washington wants Britain to drop regulations on imports of food and agricultural products and provide full market access for American pharmaceutical products, both of which could be politically difficult among Britons who fear a reduction in food safety standards and a squeezing of their public healthcare system.
The Daily Telegraph’s Sharri Markson on major new revelations on China’s role in coronavirus pandemic
Sharri Markson, the national political editor at The Daily Telegraph in Australia, appeared on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Monday, two days after the newspaper published an article referencing a 15-page dossier compiled by the so-called “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance, saying the document shows that “China deliberately covered up evidence of the virus [COVID-19] early on in a pure case of negligence.”
The research dossier from the intelligence agencies of the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand states that China intentionally hid or destroyed evidence of the coronavirus outbreak, leading to the loss of tens of thousands of lives around the world.
US Navy enters Barents Sea near Russia for first time since Cold War
Three American destroyers, a combat support ship and a British Royal Navy frigate have entered the waters north of Scandanavia and Russia to conduct joint security operations, the Navy announced Monday.
“In these challenging times, it is more important than ever that we maintain our steady drumbeat of operations across the European theater, while taking prudent measures to protect the health of our force,” said Vice Adm. Lisa Franchetti, commander of the U.S. 6th Fleet.
Commentary/Opinion:
What You Need to Know Before Buying Firearms
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the fragility of life as we know it.
Social norms have changed, people are hoarding supplies, and gun sales have spiked.
Will Witt sits with the security professionals at Covered Six to get expert advice on firearms, personal safety, home security, and how to be as prepared as possible in these uncertain times.
Media Attack Gov. Kristi Noem For Not Panicking And Destroying Her State
While the media generally praise “government shutdown” politicians such as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who kept unsanitary subways running, forced people into deadly nursing homes, and demanded tens of thousands of ventilators he never used — they condemn politicians such as South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who has strongly encouraged social distancing measures but not used government force to accomplish public health goals.
The media predicted that Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ more measured approach would result in horrific disaster. It hasn’t.
Unlike Cuomo, DeSantis focused on nursing homes more than the low likelihood of transmission on big, sunny beaches.
The media sense that they will face less scrutiny for their preferred policy position if they can remove sane alternative policy approaches from the table.
To that end, Noem and others who reject the mandatory, long-term, government-forced shutdown model as the preferred option for their states must be condemned.
Setting the Record Straight On Trump COVID Response (Pt. 1) | Dan Crenshaw | POLITICS | Rubin Report
Dave Rubin of The Rubin Report talks to Dan Crenshaw (Congressman, Former Navy SEAL) about the US government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dan calls out some of the media’s misrepresentation of President Trump’s actions and sets the record straight on the timeline of events of how the government responded as Coronavirus began spreading around the world.
Dan shares his disappointment with leaders like Senator Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi for using this crisis to play partisan politics.
Dan points out that it was the Obama administration that did not replenish the strategic national stockpile of N95 masks and PPE supplies.
He also feels that our for profit healthcare system is one of the main reasons that we have not run out of ventilators or ICU beds.