Three people killed, 10 wounded in Arkansas supermarket shooting
A shooter opened fire at an Arkansas supermarket on Friday, killing three civilians and wounding 10 other people, including two police officers, Arkansas State Police said. The suspect was also wounded in a shootout with police, Arkansas State Police Director Mike Hagar told reporters.
Man who attacked Nancy Pelosi’s husband convicted in California trial
David DePape was convicted Friday of five charges, brought by the state of California, for breaking into Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s home in 2022 and beating her husband with a hammer. The verdict in the state trial concluded a case that had raised fears of politically motivated violence in a divided America. In the years leading up to the attack, DePape, 44, was submerged in online conspiracy theories including Pizzagate and QAnon. The convictions by a state jury followed DePape’s convictions in federal court last year that resulted in a 30-year sentence. DePape now faces the possibility of a life sentence without parole in state prison after serving his federal term.
FDA authorizes first menthol-flavored e-cigarettes
The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that it had approved the first menthol-flavored e-cigarettes in the United States, less than two months after the Biden administration delayed a decision on whether to ban traditional menthol cigarettes. The FDA said it had authorized four types of menthol-flavored e-cigarettes made by NJOY, part of the tobacco company Altria, making them the first flavored e-cigarettes that can be sold legally in the U.S. The FDA said they could benefit adult smokers who want to transition to a “less harmful product.” Public health groups criticized the decision, warning that e-cigarettes and flavored tobacco products were especially appealing to young people.
Nevada judge throws out state’s case against fake electors
A Nevada judge Friday threw out the state’s case against the six Republicans who claimed to be presidential electors and tried to declare Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 election. Judge Mary Kay Holthus said state prosecutors had chosen the wrong venue to file the case. John Sadler, a spokesperson for Attorney General Aaron D. Ford, said, “We disagree with the judge’s decision and will be appealing immediately.” The defendants in the case included top leaders of the state’s Republican Party, and they were charged with forging and submitting fraudulent documents in a fake elector scheme to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in 2020.
U.S. moves ahead with plan to restrict Chinese technology investments
The Biden administration on Friday outlined its plans to curb new U.S. investment in critical Chinese technology industries that could be used to enhance China’s military, further straining economic ties with Beijing at a time when trade tensions are rising. The proposed Treasury Department rules would prohibit certain U.S. investments in Chinese companies that are developing semiconductors, quantum computers and artificial intelligence systems. The Biden administration is trying to restrict American financing from helping China develop advanced technology that could be used for weapons tracking, government intelligence and surveillance. The regulations are expected to be enacted later this year.
Russia tells U.S.: We need to talk, but Ukraine must be on agenda
Russia sees a pressing need for security talks with the United States but they must be “comprehensive” and include the subject of Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Friday. “It is impossible to rip out any individual segments from the general complex of accumulated problems, and we will not do this,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked if Moscow was ready to talk to Washington about nuclear risks.
U.S. and China hold first informal nuclear talks in 5 years, eyeing Taiwan
The United States and China resumed semi-official nuclear arms talks in March for the first time in five years, with Beijing’s representatives telling U.S. counterparts that they would not resort to atomic threats over Taiwan, according to two American delegates who attended. The Chinese representatives offered reassurances after their U.S. interlocutors raised concerns that China might use, or threaten to use, nuclear weapons if it faced defeat in a conflict over Taiwan. Beijing views the democratically governed island as its territory, a claim rejected by the government in Taipei.
Israeli Official describes secret government bid to cement control of West Bank
An influential member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition told settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that the government is engaged in a stealthy effort to change the way the territory is governed, to cement Israel’s control over it without being accused of formally annexing it. In a taped recording, Bezalel Smotrich can be heard suggesting at a private event this month that the goal was to prevent the West Bank from becoming part of a Palestinian state. While Smotrich’s opposition to ceding control over the West Bank is no secret, the Israeli government’s official position is that the West Bank’s status remains open to negotiations.
New drug provides total protection from hiv in trial of young African women
Researchers and activists in the long fight against HIV got a rare piece of exciting news this week: Results from a large clinical trial in Africa showed that a twice-yearly injection of a new antiviral drug gave young women total protection from the virus. “I got cold shivers,” said Dr. Linda-Gail Bekker, an investigator in the trial of the drug, lenacapavir, describing the startling sight of a line of zeros in the data column for new infections. The randomized controlled trial was conducted in Uganda and South Africa. The results were so convincing that the trial was halted early.
Official death toll from Hajj pilgrimage climbs into the hundreds
During the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, one of the most important events on the Muslim calendar, at least 450 people died under a scorching sun as they prayed at sacred sites around the holy city of Mecca. Amid maximum temperatures of between 108 Fahrenheit and 120, according to preliminary data, and throngs of people, many passed out and needed medical care. Indonesia has so far reported the most deaths, 199, and India reported 98. The number of dead is expected to rise as neither Saudi Arabia nor Egypt, where many pilgrims come from, have released death tolls for their citizens.
By wire sources