US rolls out more sanctions after NKorea missile tests
The U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions Friday after North Korea had tested parts of its biggest intercontinental ballistic missile in two recent launches, a sign it is likely to fire that weapon soon to put a spy satellite into orbit in what would be its most significant provocation in years. The Treasury Department noted a March 4 ballistic missile launch in unveiling restrictions against three Russian-based entities that aided ongoing development of North Korea’s military capabilities. The companies are Apollon, Zeel—M and RK Briz; two individuals tied to those companies will also be sanctioned.
Texas court halts transgender abuse inquiries
Investigations of parents with transgender children for possible child abuse were temporarily halted across Texas on Friday after a state court ruled that the policy, ordered last month by Gov. Greg Abbott, had been improperly adopted and violated the state constitution. The injunction, issued by Judge Amy Clark Meachum in Travis County, stemmed from a legal challenge by the parents of a 16-year-old transgender girl. Her family was among the first to be investigated by the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services under Abbott’s order. The state immediately appealed the decision.
Texas high court shuts down final challenge to abortion law
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday effectively shut down a federal challenge to the state’s controversial ban on abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy, closing off what abortion rights advocates said was their last path to blocking the new law. The law, which several states are attempting to copy, offers $10,000 rewards for successful lawsuits against anyone who “aids or abets” a woman who gets an abortion once fetal cardiac activity can be detected. “With this ruling, the sliver of this case that we were left with is gone,” said Nancy Northup of the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Jussie Smollett begins jail sentence
It was an extraordinary ending to an unusual hearing. Jussie Smollett, sentenced Thursday to five months in a Chicago jail for falsely reporting a hate crime, stood up, declared his innocence and warned the room that he was not suicidal and, if anything should befall him while incarcerated, it would not be his own doing. Then, Smollett was led off to become likely the most famous of the 6,000 inmates at the Cook County Jail. Supporters have said the actor is particularly vulnerable to being targeted because he is a gay man and a recognizable celebrity.
Afghan embassy will shut down, US says
Without the backing of a recognized government or money to keep the lights on, Afghanistan’s embassy to the United States is shutting down, State Department officials said Friday. Afghan diplomats, who were appointed by the former U.S.-backed government and could be under threat by the ruling Taliban if they return home, have 30 days to apply for residency or temporary humanitarian parole to remain in the United States before they risk being deported, the officials said. Although they would not be sent back to Afghanistan, it is not clear where else the diplomats would go, the officials said.
1891 shipwreck is found in Lake Superior
On May 4, 1891, as gale-force winds and waves raged on Lake Superior, the crew of a schooner barge named Atlanta abandoned ship as it sank. The six men and one woman clung to their lifeboat for nine hours, fighting at its oars to guide it to the Michigan shore. As they neared land, according to news reports, the lifeboat capsized within sight of a rescue patrol, which mistook it for a tree trunk rolling in the turbulent water. Only two of the crew members survived. This month, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society said that the wreckage of the Atlanta had been found.
Officer who killed Ma’Khia Bryant will not face charges
A grand jury has voted to bring no charges against the white police officer who shot and killed Ma’Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old Black girl, as she swung a knife at a woman during a raucous dispute last year in the front yard of her foster home in Ohio. The decision not to charge the officer, Nicholas Reardon, was announced Friday by prosecutors. It brings a close to a case that led to protests in Columbus, Ohio, and scrutiny of the foster care system that had shuffled Ma’Khia between at least five homes in two years.
Europe’s trains take fighters to Ukraine, and bring back refugees
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is turning Europe’s trains and stations into a refugee crisis network, putting them on a war footing again. At least a dozen state- and privately owned railway operators have opened their services for free to refugees, and their cargo trains are being deployed to bring humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Europe’s railways boomed in wartimes past. From the second half of the 19th century onward, trains carried soldiers to and from the front lines, supplied armies in combat and grew to meet the needs of the continent’s defining conflicts. In the 1990s and 2000s, as peace took hold, trains became a key vehicle for European integration.
By wire sources