Duggar convicted of downloading child sexual abuse imagery
Josh Duggar, a onetime star of the TLC reality show “19 Kids and Counting,” about a large family guided by conservative Christian values, was convicted Thursday in federal court in Arkansas of downloading child sexual abuse imagery. A jury returned the verdict in the U.S. District Court in Fayetteville one day after it began its deliberations in a case that drew widespread attention. Duggar, 33, was found guilty on one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
NYC gives 800k noncitizens right to vote in local elections
New York City became the largest city in the country to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections after the City Council on Thursday overwhelmingly approved legislation granting the right to more than 800,000 legal residents. The move places the city at the forefront of the debate over voting rights, serving as a stark contrast to some states that have moved to add voting restrictions, including explicitly barring noncitizens from voting. The legislation was approved over the objections of Mayor Bill de Blasio, who questioned whether the City Council has the power to grant voting rights to noncitizens. Legal experts expect that the bill could face a legal challenge.
Smollett found guilty of reporting a fake hate crime
A jury in Chicago found actor Jussie Smollett guilty Thursday of falsely reporting to police that he had been the victim of a racist, homophobic assault in 2019, an attack that investigators concluded was a hoax directed by the actor himself. With its finding, after more than nine hours of deliberation, the 12-person jury indicated it had chosen to believe the accounts of two brothers who testified that Smollett had asked them to mildly injure him as part of a publicity stunt. Smollett, wearing a dark-gray suit and a blue shirt, sat upright in his chair, hands clasped, staring at the jury just after the verdict was read.
Dozens of earthquakes strike off Oregon coast, but experts say not to worry
Just after midnight Tuesday, a magnitude-4.2 earthquake struck off the coast of Oregon. Ninety minutes later, another tremor rippled through the seafloor. And then another. And another. By Wednesday afternoon, at least 66 quakes had been recorded in the area, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. If that many earthquakes had struck along an area like California’s San Andreas fault, there could have been chaos and destruction. But this series of small quakes, known as a swarm, was nothing to worry about, according to the USGS. “This is just how the Earth works in that spot,” said Don Blakeman, a geophysicist at the USGS’s National Earthquake Information Center.
Ukraine commanders say a Russian invasion would overwhelm them
On the 30th anniversary of the founding of Ukraine’s armed forces, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced with great fanfare the delivery of new tanks, armored vehicles and ships to front-line units engaged in fighting Russian forces and Kremlin-backed separatists. The weapons systems may help to maintain parity in the war of attrition that has prevailed for years. But they would not be sufficient to repel a full-on Russian assault that Ukrainian and Western officials say Moscow might be preparing. Ukrainian commanders responsible for their country’s defense acknowledge that without a significant influx of resources, their forces do not stand much of a chance against a full-scale attack by Russia.
Mexico migrant truck crash leaves 53 dead
At least 53 people were killed and dozens injured in a horrific truck accident in southern Mexico on Thursday, authorities said, with most of the victims believed to be migrants coming from Central America. The accident, which took place in southern Chiapas state, occurred when a truck carrying more than 100 people overturned Thursday afternoon near Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital, the head of the state Civil Protection Service, Luis Manuel García Moreno, told Milenio TV. The accident is one of the deadliest involving migrants in decades, and follows the death of 13 migrants in a car accident on the U.S. border in March.
New Zealand plans to eventually ban all cigarette sales
New Zealand unveiled a plan Thursday to eventually ban all sales of cigarettes in the country, a decadeslong effort unique in the world to prevent young people from taking up smoking. The proposed legislation, which is expected to become law next year, would leave current smokers free to continue buying cigarettes. But it would gradually raise the smoking age, year by year, until it covers the entire population. Starting in 2023, anyone under age 15 would be barred for life from buying cigarettes. So, for instance, in 2050 people 42 and older would still be able to buy tobacco products — but anyone younger would not.
Court rejects Trump’s efforts to keep records from 1/6 panel
A federal appeals court ruled Thursday against an effort by former President Donald Trump to shield documents from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. The three-judge panel tossed aside Trump’s various arguments for blocking through executive privilege records the committee regards as vital to its investigation into the run-up to the deadly riot that was aimed at overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election. Judge Patricia Millett, writing for the court, said Congress had a “uniquely vital interest” in studying the events of Jan. 6 and that President Joe Biden had made a “carefully reasoned” determination that the documents were in the public interest and that executive privilege should therefore not be invoked. Trump also failed to show any harm that would occur from the release of the sought-after records, Millett wrote.
By wire sources
© 2021 The New York Times Company