Three men found guilty of hate crimes in Arbery killing
A jury Tuesday found the three white Georgia men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery guilty of a federal hate crime, determining that they were motivated by racism when they chased the 25-year-old Black man through their neighborhood in 2020. Travis McMichael, 36, his father, Gregory McMichael, 66, and their neighbor William Bryan, 52, face up to life in prison for the federal crimes, on top of the life sentences they received in state court this year after being convicted of Arbery’s murder. National civil rights leaders hailed the conviction as a victory for racial justice.
Supreme Court to hear same-sex marriage case
The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear an appeal from a Colorado web designer who objects to providing services for same-sex marriages, returning the justices to a battleground in the culture wars pitting claims of religious freedom against laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The precise question the justices agreed to decide in the new case is “whether applying a public-accommodation law to compel an artist to speak or stay silent violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment.” The court will hear the case in its next term, which starts in October.
Biden interviews Supreme Court candidates
President Joe Biden has interviewed at least three candidates for his Supreme Court nomination, a signal that he intends to fulfill his promise that he would choose a nominee by the end of the month. The interviews began last week, according to several people familiar with the process, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Biden is under pressure to announce his selection, who he has promised will be a Black woman, somewhere between a rapidly devolving diplomatic effort to contain Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine and plans to deliver his first State of the Union address, scheduled for next Tuesday.
Jurors to weigh fate of three officers in Floyd case
In the prosecution’s telling, three Minneapolis police officers did little more than watch as their colleague, Derek Chauvin, killed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes. In the eyes of defense lawyers, the officers had trusted Chauvin to do his duty and should be acquitted. The dueling positions presented Tuesday brought the arguments in the federal trial over Floyd’s death to a close, and jurors Wednesday will begin deliberating whether any of the three officers — Tou Thao, 36; J. Alexander Kueng, 28; and Thomas Lane, 38 — are guilty of violating Floyd’s civil rights.
Trump Organization and finance chief seek dismissal of charges
The Trump Organization and its longtime chief financial officer asked a judge in New York on Tuesday to dismiss the criminal charges against them, arguing in court filings that the case was politically motivated and was only brought because the defendants were linked to former President Donald Trump. The Trump Organization, Trump’s family business, was charged this past summer with organizing a yearslong scheme to compensate a number of its executives with off-the-books luxury perks. Its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was charged with participating in the scheme. Weisselberg and the company have denied all wrongdoing.
Treasury asked to investigate its hiring of lawyers from big accounting firms
A pair of Democratic lawmakers asked the Treasury Department’s inspector general Tuesday to investigate the revolving door between the country’s biggest accounting firms and key policy positions at the Treasury. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington were prompted by an investigation published by The New York Times in September detailing how giant accounting firms embed top lawyers inside the government to draft tax rules that benefit their clients. The Times found at least 35 examples in which lawyers at the country’s biggest accounting firms left to join the government and then returned to their old firm.
Taliban takeover in Afghanistan fuels terror in Pakistan
The euphoria felt by many in Pakistan over a Taliban victory in Kabul six months ago is subsiding. The government had hoped that a friendly regime in Kabul would ease its concerns about the Pakistani Taliban. But instead, there has been a spike in terror attacks in recent months. Still, senior Pakistani civil and security officials stress that a stable Afghanistan is essential for a stable Pakistan. It’s a position that puts Pakistan in a tight corner: The country must continue to help the new Taliban government, while also contending with the growing security and economic risks to Pakistan that have come with the new regime.
Canada ends its freeze on hundreds of accounts tied to protests
With the capital’s streets cleared of the heavy trucks and cars that made some of them impassable for three long weeks of protest, Canadian authorities said Tuesday that they were lifting freezes on hundreds of bank accounts associated with protest organizers and Canadians who had blockaded Ottawa’s streets with their vehicles. Isabelle Jacques, an assistant deputy minister in Canada’s department of finance, told a House of Commons committee that the banks had begun unlocking accounts Monday and that no more finances would be locked up. Some protesters, however, may now face long-term consequences, even with the freezes lifted.
Hong Kong will require residents to get tested in March
Hong Kong will require its more than 7 million residents to undergo coronavirus testing in March, Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, said Tuesday, as the territory struggles to contain its worst outbreak. Hong Kong will expand its testing capacity to 1 million tests a day from about 200,000 a day. The latest wave of infections, which has led the total number of cases in the city to surpass that of the previous two years and left hospitals overflowing, has forced authorities to expand their efforts. New isolation facilities are being built to house coronavirus patients and a large-scale hospital is also being planned.
By wire sources