Suspect in shootings of 5 homeless men arrestedin Washington
A 30-year-old Washington man with a history of mental illness and assault charges was arrested early Tuesday in connection with a series of shootings that killed two homeless men in New York and Washington, D.C., and wounded three others. The suspect, identified by law enforcement officials as Gerald Brevard III, was arrested around 2:30 a.m. in southeast Washington following a manhunt in the two cities. He is accused of shooting three men in Washington between March 3 and March 9 and two more in Manhattan on Saturday. One victim in each city died. Officials in Washington said he would be charged with first-degree murder while armed.
Pfizer and BioNTech seek authorization of a 2nd booster shot for older Americans
Pfizer and BioNTech said Tuesday that they had sought emergency authorization for a second booster shot of their coronavirus vaccine for adults 65 and older. The companies’ request to the Food and Drug Administration was based heavily on data from Israel, where such shots are authorized for a broader group. Their move could further inflame a debate among scientists over when and how the vaccines’ protection should be bolstered, and for whom. Pfizer’s CEO, Dr. Albert Bourla, said repeatedly over the past week that he believed an additional dose would be necessary to counteract waning protection after the third dose, now authorized for all Americans 12 and older.
Health agency under Cuomo ‘misled the public’ on nursing home deaths
The administration of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo failed to publicly account for the deaths of about 4,100 nursing home residents in New York during the pandemic, according to an audit released Tuesday by the state comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli. The audit found that Health Department officials at times underreported the full death toll by as much as 50% from April 2020 to February 2021, as Cuomo faced increasing scrutiny over whether his administration had intentionally concealed the actual number of deaths. The audit marks the third state inquiry to corroborate how Cuomo’s administration significantly downplayed the number of nursing home deaths during the pandemic.
Senate approves making daylight saving time permanent
On Tuesday, with almost no warning and no debate, the Senate unanimously passed legislation to do away with the biannual springing forward and falling back that most Americans have come to despise, in favor of making daylight saving time permanent. The bill’s fate in the House was not immediately clear, but if the legislation were to pass there and be signed by President Joe Biden, it would take effect in November 2023. Senators urged the House to pass the bill. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, wrote on Twitter that he was “hopeful that we can end the silliness of the current system soon.”
Submarine spy couple tried to sell nuclear secrets to Brazil
In 2020, naval engineer Jonathan Toebbe and his wife, Diana, tried to sell some of America’s most closely guarded military secrets, the technology behind the nuclear reactors that power the U.S. submarine fleet. The identity of the nation they approached has until now remained shielded by government officials. But, according to people briefed on the investigation, Jonathan Toebbe approached Brazil nearly two years ago with an offer of thousands of pages of classified documents that he had stolen from the U.S. Navy Yard in Washington. The Toebbes pleaded guilty to espionage charges last month. He faces up to 17 1/2 years in prison; she faces up to three.
9/11 prosecutors are in plea talks that could avert a death-penalty trial
Prosecutors have opened talks with lawyers for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and his four co-defendants to negotiate a potential plea agreement that would drop the possibility of execution, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. Guilty pleas in exchange for life sentences could bring to an end the long-running case at the war court, which has been mired in pretrial proceedings focusing on the CIA’s torture of the defendants. Nearly a decade after the men were arraigned, the military judge has set no trial start date.
In reversal, Guatemala shelves anti-abortion law
Guatemala’s congress on Tuesday shelved a bill that would have imposed up to 10 years of jail time for women who obtained abortions, an abrupt reversal that follows days of protests, legal challenges and widespread disapproval of the measure. The U.S. government also expressed serious concerns about enacting the legislation, which also banned same-sex marriage, in back-channel conversations with the Guatemalan government, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. The country’s president, Alejandro Giammattei, said he would veto the bill days after his allies pushed it through the legislature, a move that surprised analysts, human rights activists and Guatemalan officials.
Embattled Federal Reserve pick Raskin withdraws nomination
Sarah Bloom Raskin withdrew her nomination Tuesday to a position on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors after a key Democrat had joined with all Senate Republicans to oppose her confirmation. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin announced Monday that he opposed Raskin’s confirmation, and all Republicans in the evenly-split 50-50 Senate had indicated that they planned to block her nomination for the position of the Fed’s top banking regulator. Republicans have argued that Raskin would use the Fed’s regulatory authority to discourage banks from lending to oil and gas companies. Democrats, as well as many banking executives, countered that Raskin’s views aren’t out of the mainstream and said she simply wants the Fed to consider the risks that climate change poses to banks, insurance companies and other financial firms.
By wire sources
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