A federal judge on Thursday agreed to impose financial sanctions against the Trump administration for failing to produce hundreds of documents during litigation over whether a citizenship question could be added to the 2020 census.
US District Judge Jesse Furman said in a ruling that the Trump administration's failure to produce the documents may well have been inadvertent, but is nevertheless unacceptable for any litigant, and particularly for the Department of Justice."
The judge in New York ordered the administration to pay some of the costs and fees of nonprofit advocacy groups that had sought the sanctions.
To be sure, this was not DOJ's finest hour," Furman wrote, referring to the Department of Justice. At best, DOJ failed to produce more than ten percent of the documents that Defendants were required to produce as part of this litigation." A spokesperson for the Department of Justice didn't immediately respond to an email inquiry.
Last year, Furman ruled against an effort by ...

Judge grants sanctions against DOJ over citizenship question

PTI Automatic

Hundreds of people have been killed in a new burst of intercommunal violence in South Sudan, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday, with many more injured and thousands displaced.
Among those killed in Jonglei state were a local Red Cross volunteer and a nurse working with the medical aid group Doctors Without Borders, the statement said, stressing that the coronavirus pandemic complicates efforts to respond to such violence and treat the victims.
COVID-19 restrictions make it far more difficult to evacuate the wounded by air and provide surgical care for trauma injuries, the ICRC said, adding that 23 people were evacuated by air this week.
Local authorities have expressed outrage at the killings over the weekend, the latest in intercommunal fighting that plagues a country trying to recover from five years of civil war.
The United Nations mission in South Sudan on Wednesday said a patrol of peacekeepers reached the communities in Pieri, in northern Jonglei, to ...

Hundreds killed in new violence in South Sudan, ICRC says

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock says results of a government antibody surveillance study suggest that 17 per cent of people in London and around 5 per cent of the rest of the country have tested positive for coronavirus antibodies.
He said Thursday that the government has signed contracts to supply 10 million antibody tests from Roche and Abbott. The tests will start to be rolled out next week, starting with health care workers, patients and nursing home residents.
He also said that the government is trialing a new, faster swab test that would tell people if they currently have the coronavirus. The new test would return results in 20 minutes.
Official figures show that the death toll involving those tested positive for COVID-19 in Britain has reached 36,042, an increase of 338 from the previous day's figures.

UK tests reveal 17 per cent of Londoners have COVID-19 antibodies

President Donald Trump says a full G7 summit bringing together the leaders of the world's major economies looks like it will be on.
But he says the in-person event  which had been scrapped in March because of the coronavirus  will now take place primarily at the White House, with a piece of it perhaps taking place at the nearby Camp David presidential retreat.  Trump made the comments while departing the White House for a trip to Michigan on Thursday.
The District of Columbia remains under stay-at-home orders and U.S. travel restrictions remain in place on many Group of Seven nations.  But Trump has said that holding the event would be a great sign to all that things are getting back to normal.
He said a formal announcement will likely come early next week.

Trump: 'It looks like G7 will be on'

An armed person wounded a sailor at a Texas naval air station Thursday before being killed by security forces, officials said.
The US Navy said the security team neutralized an active shooter at the Naval Air Station-Corpus Christi at about 6:15 a.m. Thursday. The shooter was shot and killed by security personnel, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details about an ongoing investigation.
One sailor assigned to the security team was injured but was in good condition, the Navy said.
The injured Navy sailor was shot but was wearing body armor, said another U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide information not yet made public.
The FBI in Houston said it will lead the investigation. Neither investigators nor the Navy provided details on the shooter or a possible motive.
The facility was on lockdown for about five hours Thursday morning, but that was lifted shortly before noon. One gate remained closed.
The station had a ...

Shooter killed, 1 sailor hurt at Texas naval station

The Senate on Thursday confirmed Texas Rep John Ratcliffe as director of national intelligence, installing a new head of the nation's intelligence agencies at a time when President Donald Trump has ousted multiple officials.
Ratcliffe seemed unlikely to get the position when he was nominated in February, as he had already been nominated for the job last year and then withdrew after Republicans questioned his experience. But senators warmed to him as they grew concerned about upheaval in the intelligence community under Trump and wanted a permanent, confirmed director.
The Texas Republican will replace Richard Grenell, the current acting director who has overseen many of the personnel changes. The last Senate-confirmed director, former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats, left the post last summer after clashing with Trump.
Democrats allowed a quick vote on the nomination this week, dropping their usual procedural delays in a signal that they prefer Ratcliffe over Grenell. But most Democrats still .

Senate confirms Ratcliffe as national intelligence chief

Israel's new opposition leader said Thursday that Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming corruption trial is embarrassing the country and that he believes the only reason the long-time prime minister is still in office is because lawmakers never imagined a scenario in which an indicted premier would not have the decency to step down himself.
In his first English-language interview since assuming the post, Yair Lapid said he was uncomfortable addressing Netanyahu's troubles before a foreign audience. Despite their rivalry, he said he takes no joy in watching a sitting prime minister walking into a courtroom defendant's dock and said he felt bad that it would attract worldwide attention when the trial begins Sunday.
It's almost like I'm saying, I wish they would never notice this  this shouldn't happen, Lapid told The Associated Press.
This is horrible for the spirit of the nation. Together with former military chief Benny Gantz, Lapid led the centrist Blue and White party to a deadlock with ...

Opposition leader says PM embarrassing Israel

China's ceremonial parliament will consider a bill that could limit opposition activity in Hong Kong, a spokesperson said Thursday, appearing to confirm speculation that China will sidestep the territory's own lawmaking body in enacting legislation to crack down on activity Beijing considers subversive.
Zhang Yesui said the National People's Congress will deliberate a bill on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to safeguard national security.
Such a move has long been under consideration but was hastened by months of anti-government protests last year in the former British colony that was handed over to Chinese rule in 1997. Such legislation was last proposed in 2003 under Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution, bringing hundreds of thousands of the territory's citizens out in protest.
The proposal was withdrawn by the government but Beijing has increasingly pushed for measures such .

China considers bill limiting Hong Kong opposition activity

Iran is slowly pulling out of Syria in response to Israeli strikes, as well as growing domestic discontent linked to the economy and its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the Israeli military said Thursday.
Israel and Iran have for years been engaged in a shadow war that has recently been playing out in Syria, where Israel says Iran has been boosting its military presence along the frontier. Amid the chaos of the Syrian civil war, Israel has carried out repeated strikes aimed at pushing back Iranian forces and preventing the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group that is also fighting in Syria.
The Israeli military described the withdrawal as a backward movement from various locations to other locations that are further away and in reduced numbers. It said the movement was not massive, not overwhelming," but that it was also undeniable. The military shared its findings in a briefing with reporters and said they were based on classified ..

Israeli military says Iran is slowly pulling out of Syria

A speeding truck loaded with iron bars overturned Thursday in heavy rain after its driver apparently lost control, killing 13 passengers in northern Bangladesh, police said.
The truck was travelling from Dhaka and the dead were day laborers who were riding in the back, local police chief Masudur Rahman said. The driver and his assistant fled after the accident, which occurred in Polashbari in Gaibandha district, he said.
Many people choose cheap rides in the back of trucks to their hometowns ahead of the major Islamic festival of Eid-al Fitr next week.  Gaibandha is 189 kilometers north of Dhaka.
Road accidents in Bangladesh are common because of lax enforcement of traffic laws, bad road conditions and speeding. Up to 7,000 people die annually.

13 workers die in Bangladesh road accident

The Trump administration notified international partners on Thursday that it is pulling out of a treaty that permits 30-plus nations to conduct unarmed, observation flights over each other's territory  overflights set up decades ago to promote trust and avert conflict.
The administration says it wants out of the Open Skies Treaty because Russia is violating the pact, and imagery collected during the flights can be obtained quickly at less cost from US or commercial satellites. Exiting the treaty, however, is expected to strain relations with Moscow and upset European allies and some members of Congress.
President Dwight Eisenhower first proposed that the United States and the former Soviet Union allow aerial reconnaissance flights over each other's territory in July 1955. At first, Moscow rejected the idea, but President George H.W. Bush revived it in May 1989, and the treaty entered into force in January 2002. Currently, 34 nations have signed it; Kyrgyzstan has signed but not ...

Trump says US pulling out of Open Skies surveillance treaty

Trump announces plans to exit Open Skies Treaty

China's ceremonial parliament will consider legislation that could limit opposition activity in Hong Kong, a spokesperson said Thursday, appearing to confirm speculation that China will sidestep the territory's own legislative body in enacting legislation to crack down on activity Beijing considers subversive.
Zhang Yesui said the National People's Congress will deliberate a bill on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to safeguard national security.
Such a move has long been under consideration but was hastened by months of anti-government protests last year in the former British colony that was handed over to Chinese rule in 1997.
Zhang's comments at a news conference came on the eve of the opening of the congress's annual session.

China proposes law limiting Hong Kong opposition activity

A security team neutralized an active shooter early Thursday at a Texas naval air station, the US Navy said.
The security team responded at the Naval Air Station-Corpus Christi at about 6:15 am.
One security force member was injured, the Navy said. It did not immediately release any additional details.
All gates remained closed and the facility remained on lockdown Thursday morning.
The station had a similar lockdown last December.
In another incident at the base last year, a man pleaded guilty to destruction of US government property and possession of a stolen firearm for ramming his truck into a barricade at the Corpus Christi station.

Shooter 'neutralized,' 1 hurt at Texas naval station

William J Keating, who spent three decades as an Ohio newspaper executive after leaving Congress in the mid-1970s, has died, his family confirmed. He was 93.
The Cincinnati native led The Cincinnati Enquirer as president and later as publisher.
He served on the board of The Associated Press for 25 years, chairing the global news organization from 1987 to 1992.
He also held executive positions in the Gannett Co., where he served as general counsel, a regional newspaper president, and helped put together the joint operating agreement that combined the business operations of Detroit's two competing daily newspapers.
Genial and modest, but driven and fiercely competitive, Keating was a champion swimmer who is in the University of Cincinnati athletic hall of fame. He helped build a Cincinnati law firm from scratch and had a flourishing political career until he gave up his U.S. House seat in 1974 to become The Enquirer's president.
He brought a skilled politician's touch with him to the ...

Longtime news executive William J. Keating dead at 93

Doubts were growing on Thursday over whether ambitious plans by European governments to use contact-tracing apps to fight the spread of the coronavirus will be able to be implemented with any real effectiveness soon.
In contrast, there appeared to be some movement forward in the sprint to find a vaccine against COVID-19, bolstered by a USD 1 billion investment from the U.S. vaccine agency.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged Wednesday to have a test, track and trace program for COVID-19 in place by June 1 as part of a strategy to persuade the country that it's safe to move on to the next stage of easing the lockdown and restarting the economy.
But the government also appeared to backtrack on an earlier pledge to make a smart phone app a pillar of that program.
Security minister James Brokenshire told the BBC on Thursday that he remains confident that the tracing system will be in place by June 1, but acknowledged that an app intended to help track the virus was not ready. He .

European plans to use apps in virus tracking face setbacks

The number of Americans thrown out of work since the coronavirus crisis struck two months ago has climbed to nearly 39 million, the government said Thursday.
More than 2.4 million people applied for unemployment benefits last week in the latest wave of layoffs from the outbreak that has triggered nationwide business shutdowns and brought the economy to its knees, the Labor Department reported. That brings the
running total to a staggering 38.6 million.
An additional 2.2 million sought aid under a new federal program for self-employed, contractor and gig workers, who are now eligible for unemployment benefits for the first time. Those figures aren't adjusted for seasonal variations, so they are not included in the overall number of applications.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the unemployment rate could peak in May or June at 20% to 25%  a level unseen since the depths of the Great Depression in the 1930s.
As of April, unemployment stood at 14.7%, a figure also unmatched ..

Coronavirus-triggered layoffs in US hit nearly 39 million

A day after threatening to withhold funds over Michigan's mail-in ballot effort, President Donald Trump was set to visit the electoral battleground Thursday to learn how the medical breathing machines governors begged for during the height of the coronavirus pandemic are made.
But hovering over his visit to a repurposed Ford Motor Co. factory in Ypsilanti, outside of Detroit, is whether he will wear a face covering.
Trump has refused to wear a face mask in public, a practice that federal health authorities say all Americans should adopt to help slow the spread of the virus.
Ford says everyone in its factories must wear personal protective equipment, including masks, and that its policy has been communicated to the White House. Trump wouldn't commit to wearing a mask at the plant when he was asked about the matter earlier this week.  Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said that mask-wearing isn't
just Ford's policy but it's also the law in a state that's among those hardest hit by ..

Trump to tour Ford's ventilator assembly plant near Detroit

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not face a criminal investigation into whether he offered special favors to an American businesswoman during his time as mayor of London.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct ruled Thursday against a criminal investigation into Johnson's ties to tech entrepreneur Jennifer Arcuri.
The office, which oversees police complaints in England, was asked to consider if there were grounds to investigate him for misconduct in public office. Johnson has vociferously denied wrongdoing.
It said that while its review established that there may have been an intimate relationship between Johnson and Arcuri, we found no evidence to indicate that Mr Johnson influenced the payment of any sponsorship monies to Ms. Arcuri, or that he influenced or played an active part in securing her participation in trade missions.
The office added that it would have been wise for Johnson to declare the relationship as a conflict of interest.
A spokesman for Johnson welcomed 

UK watchdog clears Johnson of criminal wrongdoing

Cape Town has become the center of the COVID-19 outbreak in South Africa and one of Africa's hot spots.
The popular tourist destination at the southern tip of Africa had more than 12,000 confirmed cases as of Thursday, representing 63% of South Africa's 19,000 cases and about 10% of Africa's 95,000 cases.
Gauteng province containing Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city, and the capital, Pretoria, had been expected to be the country's epicenter with its population density and poverty levels, but Cape Town defied predictions with high levels of community transmission.
No model upfront predicted what we see in Western Cape (province), Health Minister Zwelini Mkhize told journalists Thursday.
The explosion of cases in Western Cape is out of the expected range and it may be that we need to have additional interventions to try and contain those numbers. Cape Town's mountains and beaches may have contributed to its high number of COVID-19 cases. With direct flights to several European ..

Cape Town is virus hot spot for South Africa and continent

Drug maker AstraZeneca said Thursday it had secured its first agreements for 400 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine it is testing, bolstered by an investment from the US vaccine agency.
The Anglo-Swedish company reported it had received more than $1 billion from the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority for the development, production and delivery of the vaccine, starting this fall.
The investment will accelerate the development and production of the vaccine, AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said. It had already joined forces with the British government and is in discussions with the Serum Institute of India and other potential partners to increase production and distribution.
We will do everything in our power to make this vaccine quickly and widely available, Soriot said.
Pharmaceutical companies including also Moderna and Sanofi are racing to develop and produce a vaccine against the new coronavirus as experts say it will be crucial to allowing ...

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