BBC
The FBI has opened a criminal investigation into the Baltimore bridge collapse, sources familiar with the matter told the BBC's US partner CBS.
The investigation will examine the circumstances leading up to the incident, in which six people were killed.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge fell on March 26 after it was struck by a large container ship called the Dali.
Federal agents have been present at the site since, the sources said.
In a statement on Monday, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice (DoJ) said the "FBI is present aboard the cargo ship Dali conducting court authorized law enforcement activity".
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BBC
Israel's war cabinet has met to discuss its response to Iran's unprecedented drone and missile attack.
Israel did not make public whether a decision had been reached.
Its allies have strongly condemned Iran's actions, but urged Benjamin Netanyahu's government to show restraint.
While Iran has signalled it considers the matter closed, the Israeli military's chief of staff said the attack would not go unanswered.
"Look, as we look forward, we weigh our steps, and this launch of so many missiles, cruise missiles, UAVs to the territory of the State of Israel will be met with a response," Lt Gen Herzi Halevi said.
NPR
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday granted Idaho's emergency request to temporarily revive a state law banning gender-affirming care for children under the age of 18.
The law, which makes it a felony for doctors to medically treat gender dysphoria in minors, will now go into effect except in the case of two anonymous plaintiffs who have until now been treated with hormones and may continue to receive treatment.
In the Idaho case, the state was not asking the court to address transgender rights head-on. Instead, the state asked the justices to consider whether the scope of the lower court's order blocking the law was appropriate. Idaho argued that the district court judge only had authority to stop the law from applying to the two plaintiffs in the lawsuit, not to prevent its enforcement throughout the state.
NPR
As armorer of the Western film Rust, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was in charge of weapons used on set and on location. She was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after loading a prop gun that killed the movie's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins. Now Gutierrez-Reed has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Before issuing the sentence, Santa Fe judge Mary Sommer said she hadn't expressed accountability for the accidental death. "In her own words, she said she didn't need to be shaking dummies all the time."
During a scene rehearsal in 2021, the film's main actor, Alec Baldwin, pointed what was supposed to be an unloaded gun toward the camera. It fired off, killing cinematographer Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Since then, there have been questions over who is responsible for loading the gun with live ammunition.
Reuters
CAIRO, April 15 (Reuters) - Israel released 150 Palestinians detained during its military operations in Gaza back into the enclave on Monday and many have alleged they were abused during their time in captivity, Palestinian border officials said.
The detainees, including two members of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) who had been detained for 50 days, were released through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza on Monday, the border officials said.
Several were admitted to hospitals, complaining of abuse and ill-treatment inside Israeli jails, they said. The Israeli has military has denied the allegations.
Reuters
BERLIN, April 15 (Reuters) - Tesla
(TSLA.O), opens new tab is laying off more than 10% of its global workforce, an internal memo seen by Reuters on Monday shows, as it grapples with falling sales and an intensifying price war for electric vehicles (EVs).
"About every five years, we need to reorganize and streamline the company for the next phase of growth," CEO Elon Musk commented in a post on X. Two senior leaders, battery development chief Drew Baglino and vice president for public policy Rohan Patel, also announced their departures, drawing posts of thanks from Musk although some investors were concerned.
Al Jazeera
Along coastlines from Australia to Kenya to Mexico, many of the world’s colourful coral reefs have turned a ghostly white in what scientists say has amounted to the fourth global bleaching event in the last three decades.
At least 54 countries and territories have experienced mass bleaching along their reefs since February 2023 as climate change warms the ocean’s surface waters, the US National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coral Reef Watch, the world’s top coral reef monitoring body, said on Monday.
“From February 2023 to April 2024, significant coral bleaching has been documented in both the northern and southern hemispheres of each major ocean basin,” Derek Manzello, coordinator of Coral Reef Watch, told journalists.
Corals are invertebrates that live in colonies. Their calcium carbonate secretions form hard and protective scaffolding that serves as a home to many colorful species of single-celled algae.
Al Jazeera
Indiscriminate attacks against civilians in Sudan could constitute “war crimes and crimes against humanity,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said, one year after war erupted between rival generals in the East African country.
The United Nations has said nearly 25 million people, half Sudan’s population, need aid and some eight million have fled their homes amid the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Donors met in Paris on Monday to pledge humanitarian help.
“This is more than a conflict between two warring parties. It is a war being waged on the Sudanese people,” Guterres told reporters, referring to the tens of thousands of people killed and 18 million facing “acute hunger”.
“Indiscriminate attacks that are killing, injuring and terrorising civilians could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity,” he said, condemning the use of sexual violence against women and girls, and attacks on aid convoys.
Deutsche Welle
The criticism began almost immediately. Over the weekend, Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel. Neighboring Jordan played a significant role in fending off the attack and it is likely that it shot down Iranian projectiles.
"The Jordanian king dropped missiles on his citizens to protect Israel," one widely shared post on X, formerly known as Twitter, said. The words were posted alongside a picture of drone wreckage in the Jordanian city of Karak, which is not very far from the border with Israel. The post, in Arabic, was later changed to be less negative of Jordanian leadership, which is known to repress criticism.
"Jordan following the money as usual," said one commentator.
"It's irresponsible of them to shoot missiles down over their own cities," another added.
Deutsche Welle
When Europe talks about aid for Ukraine, it looks to itself and the United States. But for months, politicians in Washington have been unable to agree on a new multibillion aid package for Kyiv.
As a result, other countries have increased their share of support. Among them is Japan, which, according to Ukraine's Finance Ministry, has quietly become one of Kyiv's most important financial backers, leading the way in the first months of 2024.
At a conference in Japan in February, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the aid provided and pledged would total $12 billion (€11.2 billion). According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Japan was in sixth place for international aid to Ukraine in January, providing more than €7 billion.
This aid from Japan is helping to keep the Ukrainian economy afloat. The National Bank estimates the country's gross domestic product has shrunk by a third since the Russian invasion began in February 2022. While Tokyo cannot supply Kyiv with lethal weapons for historical reasons and national legal restrictions, it can send food, medicine, generators, cars, bulletproof vests and demining equipment.
The Guardian, Australia
New South Wales police are treating the alleged stabbing of a bishop during the live stream of a mass in western Sydney as a terrorist attack.
The premier, Chris Minns, said the decision was taken early on Tuesday morning and validated by the police minister.
The NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, said a strike force had been established to investigate last night’s incident
“This is a major and serious criminal investigation,” Minns said on Tuesday.
“It is crucial that New South Wales police are able to devote their resources and intelligence as well as officers to the investigation of this crime.”
Hundreds of people clashed with police in western Sydney on Monday night after a prominent Orthodox Christian leader was allegedly stabbed at the altar of his church.
The Guardian, US
An Ohio man was charged with murder after shooting a Black ride-share driver in an unprovoked attack, following the most recent string of cases of Black Americans being shot while doing mundane things.
William Brock, 81, who is white, was arrested after he fatally shot Lo-Letha Hall, 61, outside his home in South Charleston, Ohio, about an hour outside Dayton, NBC News reported.
Brock told police that he shot Hall because he believed she was working with scammers who had allegedly called Brock’s home that same morning.
On 25 March, Brock received a scam call from a man who falsely identified himself as an officer at the local courthouse.
“Mr Brock received some scam call by a person purporting to be someone from our courts who informed him a family member was incarcerated and that he had a bond of a significant amount of money,” said Lt Kristopher Shultz of the Clark county sheriff’s office in a press release.
The Guardian, International
Thousands of people held protests across the US on Monday condemning Israel’s attack on Gaza, shutting down airports and disrupting traffic in major cities from New York to San Francisco.
A portion of the Kennedy Expressway into Chicago O’Hare international airport, one of the US’s busiest, was blocked off by protesters calling for an end to the violence.
[...]
The protests were just a few of many demonstrations held around the world since Israel’s violent siege on the Palestinian territory began last year.
Following the 7 October attacks on Israel, carried out by Hamas fighters who killed more than a thousand people and took hundreds of hostages, the Israeli government has launched an unrelenting attack on the heavily populated Gaza strip, killing more than 30,000 people, many of whom are women and children.
New York Times
To enter a secret session of Germany’s Parliament, lawmakers must lock their phones and leave them outside. Inside, they are not even allowed to take notes. Yet to many politicians, these precautions against espionage now feel like something of a farce.
Because seated alongside them in those classified meetings are members of the Alternative for Germany, the far-right party known by its German abbreviation, AfD.
In the past few months alone, a leading AfD politician was accusedof taking money from pro-Kremlin strategists. One of the party’s parliamentary aides was exposed as having links to a Russian intelligence operative. And some of its state lawmakers flew to Moscow to observe Russia’s stage-managed elections.
The crew of the Overnight News Digest consists of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, jeremybloom, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Rise above the swamp, Besame and jck. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) eeff, Interceptor 7, Man Oh Man, wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck (RIP), rfall, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.