In testimony, rifle makers say they bear no responsibility
Executives from two top makers of semi-automatic rifles that have been used to perpetrate some of the deadliest mass shootings in the country testified to Congress on Wednesday that they bore no responsibility for the surge in gun violence, even as their revenues from the sales of such weapons have soared. Marty Daniel, CEO of Daniel Defense, whose company manufactured the weapon used in the Uvalde, Texas, massacre, said any response to the rise in such events had to focus “not on the type of gun, but on the type of persons who are likely to commit mass shootings.”
Senate passes $280B industrial policy bill
The Senate on Wednesday passed an expansive $280 billion bill aimed at building up America’s manufacturing and technological edge to counter China, embracing in an overwhelming bipartisan vote the most significant government intervention in industrial policy in decades. It passed on a bipartisan vote of 64-33, with 17 Republicans voting in support, showing a shift in long-standing party orthodoxies. “No country’s government — even a strong country like ours — can afford to sit on the sidelines,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the majority leader. “I think it’s a sea change that will stay.”
Biden tests negative for COVID, ends isolation
President Joe Biden returned to the Oval Office with a triumphant flair Wednesday after testing negative for COVID-19, boasting that his mild case was evidence of the progress his administration had made in stemming the pandemic. The president’s staff staged a pep rally of sorts in the Rose Garden to celebrate the end of his five-day isolation. “Fortunately, God thankfully, God willing, my symptoms were mild, my recovery was quick, and I’m feeling great,” Biden said, appearing energetic and upbeat. “It’s a real statement on where we are in the fight against COVID-19.”
Judges block abortion bans in Wyoming, North Dakota
Judges have blocked abortion bans set to take effect this week in Wyoming and North Dakota amid lawsuits arguing that the bans violate their state constitutions. A judge in Wyoming on Wednesday sided with a firebombed women’s health clinic and others who argued the ban would harm health care workers and their patients, while a North Dakota judge sided with the state’s only abortion clinic. The court action puts those states among several where judges have temporarily blocked “trigger laws” meant to go in effect when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The Wyoming law was set to take effect Wednesday. The North Dakota law was set to take effect Thursday. Elsewhere hundreds protested an abortion ban bill that advanced in the West Virginia Legislature.
Whistleblowers hit Southwest, FAA for lax safety practices
Federal officials say Southwest Airlines and its pilots union have resisted some investigations into accidents and other incidents, and have pushed to close the matters quickly. The findings were disclosed Wednesday by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which represents federal whistleblowers. The whistleblowers accuse the Federal Aviation Administration of lax oversight of Southwest. In one case, the FAA cut short an investigation of a 2019 incident even though the agency determined that there was pilot error — the plane was damaged while trying to land in Connecticut. The FAA says Southwest and union officials sometimes resisted interviews with agency representatives.
NASA will send more helicopters to Mars
The first helicopter that NASA sent to Mars worked so well that it is sending two more. The helicopters are similar to Ingenuity, the “Marscopter” that accompanied NASA’s Perseverance rover to Mars. But they’ll have the added ability of being able to grab and transport small tubes filled with bits of Martian rock. That is part of a major rejiggering of NASA’s next great mission to Mars, a collaboration with the European Space Agency to bring Martian rocks back to Earth for close examination by scientists using state-of-the-art laboratory equipment that cannot fit into a spacecraft.
FDA tobacco science official takes job at Philip Morris
A Food and Drug Administration official with considerable power over authorization decisions for e-cigarettes resigned Tuesday to work for Philip Morris International. Matt Holman was chief of the office of science in the agency’s Center for Tobacco Products. A staff memo said Holman had been on leave and, consistent with agency ethics policies, had recused himself from all tobacco center work “while exploring career opportunities outside of government.” To critics, Holman’s move is a particularly concerning example of the “revolving door” between federal officials and the industries they regulate.
US offers exchange of prisoners: Arms dealer for a basketball star
The Biden administration has offered to free imprisoned Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to secure the release of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, two Americans imprisoned in Russia whom the State Department says were wrongfully detained, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the United States had “put a substantial proposal on the table.” Blinken’s comments represented the first time that the United States had confirmed that it had made a formal proposal to persuade Russia to release Griner, a basketball star, and Whelan, a former Marine.
City in Japan kills monkey after attacks on children
Authorities in a western Japanese city said Wednesday that they had killed a monkey they believe was responsible for a spate of attacks against humans. That was a relief to people in the city, Yamaguchi, where 56 victims were attacked by a monkey this month, including a baby girl injured in her home and a 4-year-old girl pounced on at a kindergarten. The marauding macaque killed Tuesday will almost certainly not be the last to be executed in Japan for terrifying humans. Yasuko Sanada, the vice principal of the Yamaguchi kindergarten where the 4-year-old was attacked, said Wednesday that monkeys were still running through the school’s playground. Japan’s macaque population is thriving, in large part because conservation efforts have been a tad too successful.
By wire sources
