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Crump said he and the Nichols family had spoken with President Joe Biden on Friday and urged him to use Nichols' death to galvanize support for the act's passage. Nichols' mother was coping with her son's death by believing he was destined to change the world, Crump said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. Nichols' death is the latest high-profile example of police using excessive force against Black people and other minorities. Crump said Nichols' death should finally prompt lawmakers to act. The officers were charged on Thursday with second-degree murder, assault, kidnapping, official misconduct and oppression in Nichols' death and dismissed from the department.

☆ 11 Valentine’s Day Gifts that Delight all Five Senses, From the Softest Sweats to the Sweetest Strawberries
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Katharine K. Zarrella | Lizzy Wholley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

But why delight one sense when you could thrill more than a few? This Valentine’s Day, skip the staid, unimaginative standards and instead get your wife, girlfriend, platonic pal or, heck, yourself a few gifts to drive all five senses wild. And yes, we even have flowers—it is Valentine’s Day, after all. But these are specially cut, shipped overnight and expertly arranged, unlike the wilting grocery-store roses you might have grabbed. Here, 11 supremely chic Valentine’s Day gifts that will give her the ultimate sensory experience.

☆ 'Doomsday Clock' moves to 90 seconds to midnight as nuclear threat rises
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Katharine Jackson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The clock's hands are moved closer to or further away from midnight based on scientists' reading of existential threats at a particular time. The new time reflects a world in which Russia's invasion of Ukraine has revived fears of nuclear war. "Russia's thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons remind the world that escalation of the conflict by accident, intention or miscalculation is a terrible risk. The clock had been set to 100 seconds to midnight since 2020, which was already the closest it had ever come to midnight. At 17 minutes to midnight, the clock was furthest from "doomsday" in 1991, as the Cold War ended and the United States and Soviet Union signed a treaty that substantially reduced both countries' nuclear weapons arsenals.

REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File PhotoWASHINGTON/BRUSSELS, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The West on Monday stepped up pressure on Iran over its crackdown on protests as the United States, European Union and United Kingdom imposed fresh sanctions on Tehran. 'BRUTAL REPRESSION'The European Union imposed sanctions on more than 30 Iranian officials and organizations, including units of the Revolutionary Guards, blaming them for a "brutal" crackdown on protesters and other human rights abuses. Those sanctions targeted units and senior officials of the IRGC across Iran, including in Sunni-populated areas where the state crackdown has been intense, a list published in the EU's Official Journal showed. Britain also imposed sanctions on more Iranian individuals and entities on Monday over the country's "brutal repression" of its people. Britain has now imposed 50 new sanctions against Iran since Amini's death, the foreign office said.

☆ The Classic Black Basic That’s Probably Missing From Your Wardrobe
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Katharine K. Zarrella | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

HERE’S A RIDDLE: What are you wearing if you’re basically naked but covered from neck to ankle? If you’re ready for yoga or a black-tie gala? If you could steal some jewels or the heart of your Hinge date? Also known as onesies or jumpsuits, catsuits can be a blank-slate base layer, a glam one-and-done outfit or even maternity wear (see Erika Boldrin below). And while stars such as Lizzo and Dua Lipa love graphic, dominatrix-worthy versions with sheer panels by brands like Mugler and LaQuan Smith, the simple, solid-black catsuit rarely gets the mainstream attention it deserves.

☆ 11 Movies and TV Shows That’ll Make You Nostalgic for Bygone Gadgets
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Magdalene J. Taylor | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

THERE ARE FEW BETTER WAYS to detect the decade in which a film or TV show was made than through its characters’ use of technology. Does the villain connive via a computer that displays only 72-point green type? ‘Desk Set,’ 1957In the eighth film Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy made together, Ms. Hepburn plays a TV network’s invincibly knowledgeable research librarian. Later, EMERAC goofs up royally, printing pink slips laying off everyone in the company. For some reason, this bleak view of early computing was sponsored in part by IBM.

☆ White House calls Lavrov's Holocaust comparison 'truly offensive'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday called Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's statement comparing the United States' assembly of a coalition to take on Russia to Adolf Hitler's actions to eradicate Jews in Europe "truly offensive." "It's almost so absurd that it's not worth responding to, other than the truly offensive manner in which he tried to cast us in terms of Hitler and the Holocaust," White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters. Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Doina Chiacu; Writing by Katharine Jackson; Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Aides previously found another batch of classified documents at his residence, and at a Washington think tank where he had an office after his time as vice president in the Obama administration. The White House has largely been on the defensive since the initial revelations that the documents had been found. The department is separately probing Trump's handling of highly sensitive classified documents that he retained at his Florida resort after leaving the White House in January 2021. Sams said the White House had received a "few letters" from the Republican-led House Oversight Committee on the issue, is reviewing them and will make a determination about its response in due course. The White House reiterated on Tuesday Biden's commitment to cooperating with the Justice Department’s investigation.

☆ House Speaker says Democrats should cap spending to avoid U.S. debt default
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Sunday he believes Democrats would agree to cap government spending to avoid a U.S. debt default and he wants to discuss the idea with President Joe Biden. Republicans now in control of the House have threatened to use the debt ceiling as leverage to demand spending cuts from Biden's Democrats, who control the U.S. Senate. McCarthy pointed to the Trump-era agreement by U.S. lawmakers' in 2019 to suspend the statutory debt limit on Treasury Department borrowing until a later date as evidence that such compromise is possible. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said on Sunday he hoped debt default could be avoided but put the onus on Democrats to agree to spending cuts. Congress created the debt ceiling in 1917 to give the government greater borrowing flexibility, and must approve each increase to ensure that the United States meets its debt obligations and avoids a catastrophic default.

The White House said some material was found in a locked garage at Biden's home and an adjacent room, and pledged to cooperate. "People know I take classified documents and classified material seriously," he added. Biden's attorneys said they have found fewer than a dozen classified documents and turned over the relevant papers after finding them. Trump resisted doing so until an August FBI search turned up about 100 classified documents, raising questions about whether Trump or his staff obstructed the investigation. "People know I take classified documents, classified material seriously," Biden told reporters on Thursday.

"We are confident that a thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced," White House lawyer Richard Sauber said in a statement. The White House on Monday disclosed that classified documents from Biden's vice presidential days were discovered in November at a think tank in Washington. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst 1 2 3 4 5"The fact that they called for special counsel for Trump's handling of classified documents, I don't see how they cannot appoint a special counsel with respect to Biden," said Representative James Comer, who will head the House Oversight Committee. Garland named a special counsel, Jack Smith, in November to oversee Justice Department investigations related to Trump, including the Republican former president's handling of classified documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 election. "As I said earlier this week, people know I take classified documents, classified material seriously.

☆ Second set of classified papers found at Biden's home, White House says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's legal team has discovered a second set of classified documents from his time as vice president at a storage space in the garage of his home in Wilmington, Delaware, the White House said on Thursday. The discoveries have presented legal and political headaches for Biden as he prepares for an expected 2024 re-election campaign in the upcoming months. There are differences between the revelation that Biden's legal team found classified documents in his properties and the ongoing Justice Department investigation into former President Donald Trump's refusal to hand over classified documents taken from the White House. When he finally handed over 15 boxes of records in January 2022, the Archives discovered more than 100 were marked as classified. It referred the matter to the Justice Department in the spring and a special counsel has been named to oversee the investigation.

☆ Former Nebraska Governor Ricketts to become U.S. senator
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Katharine Jackson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Nebraska's former Republican Governor Pete Ricketts is due to become a U.S. senator after being appointed on Thursday to fill the seat left vacant by Republican Senator Ben Sasse. In an anticipated move, Nebraska's Republican Governor Jim Pillen announced the appointment of his predecessor at the state Capitol on Thursday morning. Ricketts, 58, served two terms as Nebraska's governor, wrapping up his second term last week. The senator was one of seven Republican senators who voted to impeach then-president Donald Trump. Ricketts' appointment will not alter the balance of power in the Senate.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are sounding the alarm about how a nonfunctional House hurts national security. "If a national security crisis arises, the President of the United States is right down the street," he said. "I'm informed by House Security that, technically, I don't have a clearance," Gallagher, a former Marine Corps intelligence officer, told reporters. "I'm a member of the [House Intelligence Committee], I'm on the Armed Services Committee, and I can't meet in the SCIF to conduct essential business." "President Xi says, 'Our system of governance works because democracy don't,'" Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, told reporters.

☆ Former astronaut Cunningham, member of first crewed Apollo flight, dies at age 90
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Astronaut Walter Cunningham, Apollo 7 lunar module pilot, is photographed during the Apollo 7 mission in this October 1968 NASA handout photo. NASA/Handout via Reuters/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Former astronaut Walter Cunningham, who flew to space aboard Apollo 7 in 1968, part of the first crewed Apollo mission paving the way for 12 others to land on the moon in subsequent years, died on Tuesday at age 90, NASA said. Cunningham joined crewmates Walter Schirra and Donn Eisele for the successful 11-day mission, which was conducted in low-Earth orbit as the first human test flight of the new Apollo spacecraft that would later venture to the moon. Apollo 7 marked the resumption of NASA's lunar spaceflight program 21 months after the fire that killed all three members of the Apollo 1 crew during a ground-based launch rehearsal in late January 1967. "Walt Cunningham was a fighter pilot, physicist, and an entrepreneur – but, above all, he was an explorer," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement announcing his death.

☆ We asked Broadway actors which audience behaviors annoy them most — here are their 8 theater-etiquette rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Iris Dorbian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Insider asked Broadway and off-Broadway experts about their top etiquette tips for watching a show. Recently, Insider spoke to a number of Broadway and off-Broadway experts to ask about proper theater etiquette. Below are eight tips to follow the next time you're in a Broadway theater. Robin Rothstein, a playwright and former director of operations at touring-show producer Broadway Across America, told Insider: "The Broadway theaters are old and seats are small. Now that you know the eight rules of proper Broadway etiquette, buy a ticket and enjoy a show.

☆ Pioneering U.S. television journalist Barbara Walters dead at 93
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Bill Trott | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Television personality Barbara Walters arrives for the premiere of the film "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" in New York September 20, 2010. "I asked Yeltsin if he drank too much, and I asked Putin if he killed anybody," Walters told the New York Times in 2013. "These two men were really quite brutal to me and it was not pleasant," Walters told the San Francisco Examiner. The New York Times called her "arguably America's best-known television personality" but also observed that "what we remember most about a Barbara Walters interview is Barbara Walters." Walters' three marriages - to businessman Robert Katz, theatrical producer Lee Guber and television executive Merv Adelson - ended in divorce.

☆ Factbox: Key facts about pioneering broadcast journalist Barbara Walters
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 30 (Reuters) - The following are key facts about the life and career of pioneering broadcast journalist Barbara Walters, the first woman to anchor an American network evening newscast, who died on Friday:* Walters was born in Boston on Sept. 25, but she did not like to reveal the year, which reportedly was 1929, 1930 or 1931. * Walters started at NBC's "Today" show as a writer in 1961 and in 1976 became the first woman to co-anchor a network evening news broadcast on U.S. television. * Walters singled out her "Today" co-host Frank McGee and Reasoner on ABC News for making her life miserable. * Walters felt she was unfairly mocked for her asking actress Katharine Hepburn what kind of tree she would like to be. * Walters' marriages to businessman Robert Katz, theatrical producer Lee Guber and television executive Merv Adelson all ended in divorce.

☆ Explainer: When are attacks on civilian infrastructure war crimes?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Stephanie Van Den Berg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Gleb GaranichTHE HAGUE, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Russia's attacks on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure, including energy facilities, have been described as possible war crimes by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Amnesty International. The Geneva conventions and additional protocols shaped by international courts say that parties involved in a military conflict must distinguish between "civilian objects and military objectives" and that attacks on civilian objects are forbidden. IS ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE MILITARY OR CIVILIAN? "Simply put, Russian forces are almost certainly striking many targets that do not qualify as military objectives," Schmitt argues. Russia says it attacks military targets including energy infrastructure.

☆ Rising climate costs to challenge countries, companies in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Katy Daigle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Nowhere was this more apparent than at the U.N. climate conference in Egypt, where countries reached a landmark agreement to set up a fund to help poor countries cope with climate-fueled disaster costs. Even Hayhoe and others warning about the dangers of climate change didn't escape censure, with some activists laying into them for flying to conferences or eating meat. As of today, there are 2,176 climate-related lawsuits in play across the world, including 654 filed in U.S. courtrooms, according to the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University. And scientists and economists are making further advances in calculating exactly how much a country's activity may have contributed to climate change – and to specific disasters. With the new year, expect more public anxiety as climate change continues to escalate – and more worry among companies and governments over liability and risk.

☆ Biden signs marriage equality act to tune of Cyndi Lauper's 'True Colors'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law on Tuesday at a jubilant celebration that featured U.S. singer Cyndi Lauper performing "True Colors" in front of thousands of supporters on the White House lawn. The law recognizes that everyone should have the right to answer those questions for themselves," Biden said. [1/8] U.S. President Joe Biden celebrates with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, U.S. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque 1 2 3 4 5"Well, this time, love wins," Lauper said before starting to sing. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, whose daughter and her wife are expecting a child, called it "a day of jubilation."

"If all goes well, we should be able to finish an omnibus appropriations package by Dec. 23," Shelby said in a statement. The full-year "omnibus" bill is also expected to contain new emergency funds to aid Ukraine in its battle against Russian forces. It also is expected to fold in an unrelated bill reforming the way Congress certifies U.S. presidential elections. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had said his Republicans want work on the omnibus bill wrapped up by Dec. 22. Any negotiations on the funding bill would get more complicated next year, when Republicans take majority control of the House.

☆ Animals Are Running Out of Places to Live
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | Lauren Leatherby | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +17 min

In many places, poverty, powerful interests and a lack of law enforcement make habitat loss especially hard to address. Because animals there often have smaller ranges to begin with, habitat loss hits them especially hard. “That's the ultimate challenge of forest conservation globally.”Source: Map of Life | Photo: Chien C. Lee MOZAMBIQUE Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Est. habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR MOZAMBIQUE Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Source: Map of Life | Photo: Chien C. Lee MOZAMBIQUE Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR MOZAMBIQUE Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCARThis is the 2001 habitat of the white-headed lemur, a primate that eats fruit and flowers. Of the many targets being negotiated, the one that has gotten the most attention seeks to address habitat loss head on.

☆ Yellen: U.S. can avoid recession, on 'right track' to lower inflation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FORT WORTH, Texas, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The United States can avoid a recession, given that there is no wage-price spiral and supply chain bottlenecks are starting to ease, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday. "Recession is not inevitable," Yellen told reporters after speaking at an event in Fort Worth, Texas, adding that rent prices had also peaked and were starting to come down. Yellen said the heat was starting to come off the labor market as well. "I believe we're on the right track in terms of lowering inflation and that recession is not inevitable," she said. Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Writing by Katharine Jackson; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The special counsel overseeing two federal investigations related to Donald Trump has issued grand jury subpoenas to local election officials in Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin as part of an inquiry into efforts to overturn the Republican former president's loss in the 2020 U.S. election. The subpoenas also sought communications involving a list of Trump's attorneys during the 2020 campaign including Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Justin Clark, Jenna Ellis and Cleta Mitchell. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Nov. 18, three days after Trump announced his 2024 presidential run, appointed Smith to take over the two Justice Department investigations. A spokesperson for Arizona's Maricopa County confirmed receiving a subpoena and said officials will comply, but declined to give further details. The subpoenas sent to officials in Wisconsin, Arizona and Michigan resemble the ones previously sent to other witnesses including Republican Party leaders and state elected officials in key states from the 2020 election.

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