Biden’s Supreme Court commission shows interest in term limits for justices
The most complete look yet at the ongoing work of President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court commission showed its continuing interest in imposing terms limits on justices, while also noting “profound disagreement among commissioners” over whether court expansion would be wise. Before a public meeting Friday, the bipartisan panel of legal experts released Thursday a set of “discussion materials” that amount to draft chapters for its final report to Biden next month. Their release is the latest development in the complex and politically sensitive debate over whether to seek fundamental changes to the Supreme Court.
Germany imposes new pandemic regulations amid record case numbers
German lawmakers approved tighter COVID restrictions Thursday, a day after Lothar Wieler, head of the national agency responsible for monitoring the pandemic, warned of a “really bad Christmas” and said that the coronavirus had again become a countrywide emergency. Wieler’s remarks came as Germany posted another record in daily new infections — more than 65,000 new cases — a 61% increase over two weeks earlier — and 264 deaths. On Thursday, lawmakers in parliament approved a bill whose measures include a rule that only people who are vaccinated against the virus, have recovered from an infection or test negative can ride public transit or attend work in person.
Jury in Rittenhouse trial has deliberated for 23 hours with no verdict
The jurors in the Derek Chauvin murder trial in Minneapolis deliberated in April for 10 hours. In 1995, a jury in the O.J. Simpson trial delivered a verdict in less than four hours. The jury in the Kyle Rittenhouse case has been talking for 23 hours — and counting. After three days, the jury deciding Rittenhouse’s fate in a Kenosha, Wisconsin, courtroom has yet to reach a consensus, a strikingly long deliberation that suggests the jurors may have clashed on the weighty decisions before them. Rittenhouse, 18, is on trial for first-degree intentional homicide and other charges after fatally shooting two men and maiming another during civil unrest in Kenosha in August 2020.
Colorado wildfire kills one, signaling season is far from over
A quick-moving blaze in northern Colorado has led to the death of a pilot who was fighting the fire and has set off a wave of evacuations, officials said, underscoring research that wildfires are growing more intense and are occurring year-round. As of Thursday afternoon, the Kruger Rock fire near the southeastern tip of Estes Park, about 40 miles northwest of Boulder, had burned 146 acres and was 60% contained, Larimer County officials said on Facebook. More than 200 firefighters were battling the blaze. Gusty winds and low humidity, conditions that are ripe for wildfires, caused it to quickly spread, threatening structures in the area.
New Delhi’s air turns toxic, and the finger-pointing begins
A thick blanket of noxious haze has settled over the Indian capital of New Delhi. India’s leaders have responded with what has become an annual tradition: by pointing fingers at one another. The central government, run by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is accusing city officials of inaction, and vice versa. The country’s Supreme Court has stepped in to shut down factories and order farmers to stop burning fields. But the court’s other efforts, which last year included ordering the installation of a pair of air-scrubbing filter towers, have been derided as ineffectual, and partisanship and official intransigence have hindered steps that could help clear the air.
Relocation of federal agency hurt diversity, watchdog finds
A decision by the Trump administration to move the headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management to Grand Junction, Colorado, from Washington left the agency with high vacancy rates as veteran employees — especially African Americans — quit rather than relocate, a government watchdog said in a report issued this week. Senior officials at the Interior Department under President Donald Trump had argued that the move was needed to ensure that top employees were closer to the federal land that the agency manages. But the report from the Government Accountability Office was critical of the decision, saying that the agency lacked a “strategic workforce plan” that could have guided its decision-making.
Vials labeled ‘smallpox’ are found in Pennsylvania laboratory
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating the discovery of vials that are labeled “smallpox” at a laboratory in Pennsylvania, the health agency said Thursday. The frozen vials “were incidentally discovered by a laboratory worker while cleaning out a freezer in a facility that conducts vaccine research in Pennsylvania,” Belsie González, a spokesperson for the CDC, said in an email Thursday. She added that the CDC was working with law enforcement officials to investigate the vials. The agency said the vials appeared to be intact. The CDC did not say where in Pennsylvania the vials were discovered or how many there were.
At summit, U.S., Canada and Mexico avoid thorny questions
President Joe Biden hosted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico at the White House on Thursday, a diplomatic mission that saw three leaders trying to project a united front amid trade scuffles, accusations of American protectionism and ongoing concerns over surging migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. But while they agreed to form a working group on regional supply chain issues, including for critical minerals, and struck an agreement to share vaccines, the leaders seemed intent on relaying diplomatic niceties over tackling thornier questions like trade disputes or the surging numbers of migrants.
Fury in Kashmir after deadly police raid at shopping complex
Tensions in Kashmir are rising days after four people were killed in a raid by Indian security forces, fueling outraged protests and stirring fears that the conflict-torn region could be sliding into another especially deadly phase. Indian police said two militants and two businessmen whom they described as “terrorist supporters” had been killed when the police raided a shopping complex Monday. Police initially said they were fired on by the militants, who had also killed the two businessmen in the process. They later amended that account, saying the businessmen may have been caught in the crossfire and that it was unclear whose bullets had killed them.
Defense attorneys rest their cases at Arbery death trial
Defense attorneys rested their case in the Ahmaud Arbery trial Thursday after calling just seven witnesses, including the shooter, who testified that Arbery did not threaten him in any way before he pointed his shotgun at the 25-year-old Black man. Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley scheduled closing arguments in the trial for Monday, setting up the possibility of verdicts before Thanksgiving for the three white men charged with murder in Arbery’s death.
By wire sources
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