National News - Page 80

Voting rights march leaders honor the sacrifice made by foot soldiers killed during the civil rights era

By Nicquel Terry Ellis When Medgar Evers and Jimmie Lee Jackson were killed amid a yearslong battle for voting rights, it brought a sense of doom and darkness over the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Evers, a NAACP field secretary and civil rights leader who organized voter registration drives, boycotts and protests against school segregation, was shot in the back by a White supremacist in his driveway in June 1963. Jackson, a church deacon, was shot in the stomach by an Alabama State Trooper while trying to protect his mother during a march for voting rights in Marion, Alabama,

Capitol Police officer who killed Ashli Babbitt on January 6 speaks publicly for first time: ‘I know that day I saved countless lives’

By Marshall Cohen The veteran US Capitol Police officer who killed pro-Trump rioter Ashli Babbitt went public Thursday, revealing his identity and defending his actions on January 6. “I know that day I saved countless lives,” Lt. Michael Byrd said in an interview with “NBC Nightly News.” “I know members of Congress, as well as my fellow officers and staff, were in jeopardy and in serious danger. And that’s my job.” The officer fatally shot Babbitt in the shoulder while she climbed through a window that led into the Speaker’s Lobby, adjacent to the House chamber, while lawmakers were evacuating.

Ida leaves at least 1 dead and more than a million without power as it slows to a near standstill over Louisiana

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By Madeline Holcombe, Hurricane Ida slammed Louisiana with devastating force Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane, leaving at least one person dead and more than 1 million customers without power as it flooded homes, ripped off roofs and trapped residents in dangerous rising waters. While the scope of the damage won’t be clear until day breaks Monday and teams can assess the chaos, initial reports indicate the situation for many residents who stayed behind is dire. The storm slowed after it made landfall around 1 p.m. ET Sunday near Port Fourchon, delivering catastrophic winds and torrential rains for hours. Ida weakened

Biden has approved $9.5 billion in student loan cancellations this year for defrauded and disabled students

By Katie Lobosco The Department of Education said Thursday that it will cancel $1.1 billion in student loan debt for some students who attended the now-defunct for-profit ITT Technical Institute — bringing the total amount of loan discharges approved under President Joe Biden to $9.5 billion. The majority of that debt is held by permanently disabled borrowers who have long been eligible for loan forgiveness but who have not applied. The Department of Education is making the cancellation automatic by using federal data to identify borrowers who qualify. The change will impact 320,000 borrowers, eliminating $5.8 billion in debt starting in September. Much of

Visualizing the stark maternal health inequities in the United States

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By Priya Krishnakumar Black women in the United States are more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than any other demographic — and the Covid-19 pandemic may be exacerbating one of the starkest disparities in American health care. Health care practitioners and advocacy groups have raised the alarm that the pandemic, which has disproportionately impacted communities of color and strained the resources of the country’s health care system, may further increase barriers to care for pregnant people. “Even before the pandemic, the United States was considered the most dangerous developed nation to be pregnant,” said Stacey Stewart, CEO and President

The Supreme Court has sided with the police at the expense of Black Americans

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Analysis by Brandon Tensley The Senate has left for its August recess, meaning that two of the primary negotiators for policing legislation — Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey — can add another blown deadline to the tally. More than a year after the police killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks and other Black Americans catalyzed a summer of uprisings, the atmosphere remains thick with calls for social transformation. Mostly, civil rights activists have laid the responsibility for curbing police abuse at the feet of national lawmakers, whose efforts have

US presses on with evacuation from Afghanistan after deadly Kabul airport attack

By Ivana Kottasová, Barbara Starr, Kylie Atwood, Nick Paton Walsh, Sam Kiley, Zachary Cohen, Jennifer Hansler and Nectar Gan The United States has vowed to continue the evacuation of American citizens and allies from Afghanistan, as US troops brace for the threat of more terrorist attacks following two deadly bombings at Kabul’s airport. At least 90 Afghans died and another 140 were injured Thursday, an official with Afghanistan’s Ministry of Health said, after suicide bombers and gunmen attacked packed crowds outside the airport. “It was as if someone pulled the ground from under my feet; for a moment I thought my eardrums

Johnson & Johnson booster shot prompts large increase in immune response, company says

By Maggie Fox Booster doses of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot coronavirus vaccine generated a big spike in antibodies, the frontline immune system defenses against infection, the company reported Wednesday. People who received a booster six to eight months after their initial J&J shots saw antibodies increase nine-fold higher than 28 days after the first shot, Johnson & Johnson said. The data comes from two Phase 2 studies conducted in the United States and Europe, the company said in a statement. Some of the 2,000 or so people in the studies got booster doses six months after their first doses of

Missouri’s first Black-owned brewery coming to Kansas City’s Jazz District

By Taylor Johnson A common bond surrounding the love of beer has come a historic business venture called Vine Street Brewing. It will be the first of its kind. “We’ll be the first Black-owned brewery in Missouri and Kansas City,” said co-owner, Kemet Coleman. Coleman, and his partners Woodie Bonds and Elliot Ivory met and connected through their interest in beer. Woodie and Elliot have thorough knowledge in brewing, while Kemet oversees the business side. With their skills, the trio has created their own perfect mix. “Between Woodie’s creativity and Elliot’s consistency and things of that nature, I think we’ll

Body camera footage shows 2019 beating of Black man by Louisiana state police officer

By Nick Valencia and Peter Nickeas A Louisiana State Police trooper was captured on video repeatedly beating a Black motorist with a flashlight more than two years ago, according to body camera footage of the incident obtained by CNN — the latest footage linked to a state police division that is under investigation for possible systemic abuses against Black motorists. Seven minutes of footage from the officer’s body-worn camera from the May 2019 incident was recently turned over to attorneys for the motorist, Aaron Larry Bowman, pursuant to a court order last week. CNN obtained a copy of that video

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