Tag: U.S. News

  • Indian-origin pediatrician fatally shoots one other physician, himself after taking hostages in Texas

    A 43-year-old Indian-American pediatrician recognized with terminal most cancers shot useless a girl physician after which killed himself after taking hostages at a medical workplace in Austin, in keeping with police within the capital metropolis of the US state of Texas.
    The armed man was recognized as Dr Bharat Narumanchi, who was lately recognized with terminal most cancers, police stated, including that he had lately been turned down for a volunteer place on the medical facility.
    Police obtained a name on Tuesday saying a person walked into the places of work of Children’s Medical Group (CMG) with a gun and was holding hostages contained in the constructing, the CNN reported, citing Austin Police Department press launch.
    Initially a number of hostages had been being held, police stated, however a number of escaped and others had been allowed to depart, besides a pediatrician named Katherine Dodson.
    The hostages who escaped the workplace advised officers on the scene that the person was armed with a pistol and what seemed to be a shotgun, police stated. He additionally had two duffel baggage. Dr Narumanchi had visited the CMG workplace every week previous to the capturing and utilized for a volunteer place.
    The suspect had terminal most cancers and had solely been given weeks to stay, Austin police Lt. Jeff Greenwalt advised reporters on Wednesday. “So we feel like his terminal cancer probably played a large part in whatever it was that occurred in his life and what was happening yesterday,” he was quoted as saying by US media studies.
    But for now, Greenwalt stated, investigators are nonetheless attempting to unravel what may have led to the hostage scenario. He referred to as for any of the physician’s household and buddies who may need information about Narumanchi to contact the murder division. Earlier, police stated hostage negotiators tried to make contact with Narumanchi, however had been unsuccessful.

    After repeated makes an attempt, SWAT (particular weapons and tactic) officers entered the constructing the place they discovered Dodson and Narumanchi useless from obvious gunshot wounds.
    “It appeared that Dr Narumanchi shot himself after shooting Dr Dodson,” in keeping with the police division’s information launch. The incident continues to be beneath investigation.
    “There were five people inside the building when the suspect arrived,” Greenwalt stated, including that they had been all workers and no kids or sufferers had been current when the incident occurred. It wasn’t till the SWAT workforce was in a position to ship a robotic fitted with a digital camera contained in the physician’s workplace that police obtained a full sense of the scenario.
    “We were able to see that both subjects were deceased,” Greenwalt stated, referring to Dodson and Narumanchi. The Travis County Medical Examiner will likely be conducting an post-mortem to find out the official trigger and method of demise.

  • Second US lawmaker assessments constructive for COVID-19 after Capitol siege

    A second Democratic U.S. lawmaker mentioned she had examined constructive for COVID-19 days after being locked down for hours with different colleagues, together with Republicans who didn’t put on a face masks, to keep away from the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol.
    The publicity provides one other worrisome consequence following Wednesday’s assault on Congress when lawmakers and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence had been threatened by pro-Trump rioters storming the legislative constructing. Health consultants warn it was additionally a superspreader occasion for the novel coronavirus.
    “Unfortunately, I think we’re going to see more cases of members of Congress and their staff testing positive in the days ahead,” Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, informed MSNBC in an interview on Tuesday. “It’s one of the consequences of that horrible day last week.”
    U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Bonnie Watson Coleman introduced their constructive take a look at outcomes on Monday and blamed Republicans for refusing to put on masks whereas remoted for hours in shut quarters. Both mentioned they’re quarantining.
    “Too many Republicans have refused to take this pandemic and virus seriously, and in doing so, they endanger everyone around them,” Jayapal, 55, mentioned in a press release late on Monday, including on Twitter that they “not only cruelly refused to wear a mask but recklessly mocked colleagues and staff who offered them one.”
    U.S. lawmakers who refuse to put on masks within the Capitol ought to be fined and instantly faraway from the chamber’s flooring, she added.
    Watson Coleman, a 75-year-old most cancers survivor, mentioned she was awaiting outcomes from a extra complete take a look at after her speedy COVID-19 take a look at got here again constructive.
    The attending doctor for Congress, Dr. Brian Monahan, warned after the assault that the roughly 200 individuals, together with some lawmakers and employees, who hid collectively for hours in a closed room might have been uncovered to the coronavirus.

    At least six Republican representatives refused to put on masks, CNN reported, citing video and images posted on-line.
    Health officers have warned the assault might change into a serious spreading occasion, not solely amongst lawmakers but additionally nationwide as members of the principally maskless crowd traveled house from Washington.
    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and out of doors scientists have mentioned correctly worn face masks may also help cut back the unfold of the extremely contagious infectious illness together with different precautions, however their use has change into a political flashpoint.

  • Man who sat at Pelosi aide’s desk faces fees; FBI probes officer’s loss of life

    A West Virginia state lawmaker and a person pictured sitting at an aide’s desk in U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s workplace are amongst these dealing with federal fees stemming from the siege on the U.S. Capitol by President Donald Trump’s supporters, federal prosecutors stated on Friday.
    In a associated growth, Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen introduced the FBI would group up with Washington’s police division to collectively examine the loss of life of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was injured whereas defending the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
    “Just because you’ve left the D.C. region, you can still expect a knock on the door if we find out you were part of the criminal activity at the Capitol,” Steven D’antuono, the FBI Washington Field Office’s assistant director in cost, advised reporters in a phone information briefing. The Justice Department on Friday launched particulars on 13 defendants who had been charged within the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for his or her roles in reference to the Capitol riots.
    They included Cleveland Meredith, who was charged with threatening Pelosi in addition to possession of an unregistered firearm and unregistered ammunition, and Richard Barnett, the Gravette, Arkansas, man who was photographed sitting at Pelosi’s desk and is also called Bigo.
    “The shocking images of Mr. Barnett with his boots up on a desk in the speaker of the House’s office on Wednesday was repulsive,” Rosen stated in a press release. “Those who’re confirmed to have dedicated prison acts through the storming of the Capitol will face justice.
    “Prosecutors additionally charged Nick Ochs, a outstanding member of the Proud Boys, with being within the Capitol unlawfully, primarily based largely on a photograph he posted on Twitter of himself smoking a cigarette within the Capitol together with the caption “Hello from the Capital lol.
    “Among others dealing with fees had been Lonnie Coffman of Falkville, Alabama – whose truck parked close to the Capitol and inspected by police contained 11 Molotov cocktails in addition to firearms – and Mark Leffingwell, who’s accused of assaulting a police officer.
    Ken Kohl, a prosecutor within the U.S. Attorney’s Office, advised reporters within the information briefing that West Virginia Delegate Derrick Evans additionally faces prison fees after he apparently “recorded himself storming the Capitol.
    “John Bryan, an attorney for Evans, said in a statement that his client is “an independent activist and journalist” who was exercising his First Amendment rights to peacefully protest and movie a historic and dynamic occasion” and didn’t interact in violence.
    Leffingwell and Meredith each made digital courtroom appearances in Washington, D.C. on Friday night. Several others appeared in federal courtroom in different states.Leffingwell’s spouse Julie advised the decide her husband works at a packaging plant in Seattle, and his lawyer stated his shopper is a disabled veteran who suffered a traumatic mind harm whereas he was serving in Iraq.
    Magistrate Judge Michael Harvey launched Leffingwell from custody however ordered him to not possess any firearms and to report back to pretrial companies on a weekly foundation. Meredith, 52, advised the decide he’s unemployed after promoting his enterprise in 2019.The decide ordered he should stay in custody, pending a listening to on Jan. 13.
    In addition to the 13 folks dealing with prison fees in U.S. District Court, one other 40 folks had been dealing with lesser fees within the District of Columbia Superior Court, an area venue.

    Many of these people had been arraigned on Thursday and launched, with an order from the decide to not return to Washington until it’s for courtroom appearances or conferences with their attorneys.D’antuono on Friday declined to characterize the probe of Sicknick’s loss of life as a murder investigation through the briefing, saying the circumstances had been nonetheless being reviewed.”We’re not going to enter it at this level as a result of it’s an lively investigation,” he stated.
    Capitol Police confirmed late on Thursday night that Sicknick had died after struggling accidents whereas on obligation on the U.S. Capitol through the riot. After being injured by protesters, the officer returned to his workplace the place he collapsed. He died at a hospital. Capitol Police have stated the Washington police’s murder unit was probing the loss of life.
    Pelosi on Friday ordered flags on the Capitol lowered to half-staff in honor of Sicknick.

  • Woman killed in siege of US Capitol was veteran who embraced conspiracy theories

    The lady shot useless by police throughout Wednesday’s siege of the U.S. Capitol was recognized by police as Ashli Babbitt, a U.S. Air Force veteran whose social media exercise signifies she embraced far-fetched right-wing conspiracy theories.
    Babbitt, 35, was an avid supporter of U.S. President Trump, her husband advised KUSI News. Her posts and retweets on Twitter backed Trump’s false assertions that he was defeated as a result of Democrats elaborately rigged the Nov. 3 election.
    The Twitter account @Ashli_Babbitt, which incorporates images of her, shared many posts in latest weeks flagging her pleasure over attending the Trump rally on Jan. 6.
    The day earlier than, she wrote: “Nothing will stop us … they can try and try and try but the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours … dark to light!”
    Trump ended a speech on Wednesday with exhortations to his supporters to march on the Capitol. Shortly after, a few of them started smashing their approach in whereas Congress met to verify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
    Video of the capturing posted by a contract journalist on social media reveals a chaotic second between the Trump-supporting intruders and police in a hallway within the Capitol. There is the sound of a single gunshot earlier than the video reveals a girl, whose look matches that of Babbitt’s images, carrying a Trump flag on the bottom, bleeding profusely and visibly in shock. People round her scream and attempt to are inclined to her accidents.
    The U.S. Capitol Police confirmed in a press release on Thursday {that a} lady recognized as Ashli Babbitt had been shot by an officer as protesters had been forcing their approach into the House Chamber. They stated she later died of her accidents in a hospital.
    Relatives of Babbitt, whose social media exercise and enterprise information point out ran a pool cleansing service in San Diego, California, couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.
    Babbitt served within the U.S. Air Force as a senior airman whereas on energetic responsibility from 2004 to 2008, the Air Force stated in a press release. She additionally served within the Air Force Reserve between 2008 and 2010, and within the Air National Guard from 2010 till 2016, the assertion stated.

    Babbitt posted an image of herself on Twitter at a Trump boat rally in September, smiling with one other individual, each of them carrying tops bearing the slogans and imagery of QAnon, a sprawling cult-like conspiracy idea that has been embraced by some Trump supporters.
    QAnon adherents imagine claims by a number of unidentified folks posting on Internet messageboards underneath the identify ‘Q’ who say that Trump is secretly combating a cabal of child-sex predators that features highly effective U.S. elites.
    Robin Babbitt, who recognized herself as Ashli Babbitt’s mother-in-law on Twitter on Thursday, wrote: “Can’t stop crying. … She was such a wonderful kind person, and a serious military woman. Strong, Smart, Kind.”

  • Biden decries ‘obstruction’ in nationwide safety transition

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    President-elect Joe Biden accused Trump loyalists at nationwide safety companies of throwing up roadblocks to a easy presidential transition and warned that adversaries might benefit from the scenario with out higher cooperation from the outgoing administration.
    “We need to make sure nothing is lost in the hand-off between administrations,” he mentioned after a gathering together with his nationwide safety advisers in addition to the groups accountable for the transition at associated companies. “Right now we just aren’t getting all the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. It’s nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility.”
    Biden singled out political appointees on the Defense Department and Office of Management and Budget for “obstruction,” and known as on them to convey him in control on pressure posture and budgeting “in order to avoid any window of confusion or catch-up that our adversaries may try to exploit.”

    Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller mentioned the division had responded to 188 requests for info from the Biden workforce with greater than 5,000 pages of managed and labeled info.
    In a press release on Monday evening, he mentioned that Defense officers “have been working with the utmost professionalism to support transition activities in a compressed time schedule and they will continue to do so in a transparent and collegial manner that upholds the finest traditions of the department. The American people expect nothing less and that is what I remain committed to,” Miller added.
    It wasn’t the primary time Biden has expressed displeasure of the tempo of the transition. But with 23 days till his inauguration, his remarks on Monday displayed a mounting frustration with the outgoing Trump administration.
    Biden mentioned a lot work must be completed to re-invest in diplomacy after 4 years of pulling again from worldwide organizations and agreements. President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization, the Paris Climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal.
    Biden needs the U.S. to return to all three.
    “Right now we have an enormous vacuum,” the president-elect mentioned. “We’re going to have to regain the trust and confidence of the world that has begun to find ways to work around us, or work without us.”

    The new administration can even inherit the response to what’s believed to be a Russian-backed hack of federal authorities laptop methods this month.
    Biden mentioned he’s nonetheless studying concerning the extent of that breach, however mentioned it known as for bipartisan cooperation to bolster cyber defenses. “This attack represents a grave risk to our national security, and we need to close the gap between where our capabilities are now and where they need to be,” he mentioned.
    After a delay of a number of weeks after the election, Biden has been receiving the presidential day by day briefing — the identical top-secret intelligence report given to Trump — a number of occasions per week since Nov. 30.

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