UK Parliament rejects alternatives to May’s Brexit deal
LONDON — Britain’s Parliament has spoken — and it has said no, again.
Lawmakers seeking a way out of the country’s Brexit morass on Monday rejected four alternatives to the government’s unpopular European Union divorce deal that would have softened or even halted Britain’s departure.
With just 12 days until the U.K. must come up with a new plan or crash out of the bloc in chaos, the House of Commons threw out four options designed to replace Prime Minister Theresa May’s thrice-rejected Brexit deal — though in some cases by a whisker.
The result leaves May’s Conservative government facing difficult and risky choices. It can gamble on a fourth attempt to push May’s unloved deal through Parliament, let Britain tumble out of the bloc without a deal, or roll the dice by seeking a snap election to shake up Parliament.
Mourning for Nipsey Hussle goes well beyond his music
LOS ANGELES — Nipsey Hussle thought Marathon Clothing could be a seed to revive the impoverished Los Angeles community where he grew up.
The 33-year-old rapper and his business partner purchased property in the Crenshaw neighborhood, intending to knock it down and erect a six-story residential building atop a commercial plaza, with Marathon as its anchor.
But as Hussle stood in that same plaza Sunday afternoon, he was shot and killed by an unknown assailant. On Monday, the neighborhood he sought to improve mourned him for much more than his music.
Hussle’s philanthropic work went well beyond the usual celebrity “giving back” ethos, and political and community leaders were as quick and effusive in their praise as his fellow hip-hop artists.
“Nipsey’s activism, leadership and dedication to community was an inspiration for Californians and beyond,” tweeted California senator and presidential candidate Kamala Harris. “His senseless death leaves us worse off.”
Major cases add up to big doubts about Chicago prosecutor
CHICAGO — Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx was elected in 2016 mainly because of anger that the prosecutor she ousted had waited a year to charge a Chicago police officer with murdering black teenager Laquan McDonald. Then Foxx, who is a survivor of sexual assault as a child, grabbed national attention by charging singer R. Kelly with aggravated sexual abuse.
But in the course of just a few days, her reputation as rising political star and legal crusader was badly tarnished by her office’s handling of two celebrity cases involving “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett and Kelly.
The dismissal of all charges against Smollett enraged many, from President Donald Trump, to Chicago’s mayor and the city’s police union. They accuse her of allowing Smollett to walk away from faking a hate crime attack and lying about it to police without so much as an apology or admission of guilt.
By wire sources