Sugar Land

Man fires at officers with AK-47 a day after refusing to wear a mask, police say

Adam Zaborowski had lost his job because of the pandemic and recently lost custody of his child, his attorney said, adding it was "not a defense or excuse."

Virgin Galactic's Branson to fly into space in early 2021

Branson's trip to space hinges on the success of two upcoming test flight programs, Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc said, with the first powered spaceflight scheduled for this fall from Spaceport America. The company competes with billionaire-backed ventures such as Blue Origin that are vying to usher in a new era of space tourism, racing to be the first to offer sub-orbital flights to civilian space travelers. Virgin Galactic offers zero-gravity experiences to customers with its centerpiece SpaceShipTwo plane and has long-term point-to-point travel plans to quickly transport passengers from city to city at near-space altitudes.

Fed's Evans says ball is in Congress' court on U.S. economy

"Aggregate demand trouble is brewing with the expiration of these relief policies," including supplemental jobless benefits and a national moratorium on evictions that ended last month, Evans told reporters on a call. In making that point Evans joined several other Fed policymakers on Monday, even as congressional Democrats and Trump administration officials made little progress on crafting a coronavirus relief bill to follow a $2.3 trillion package passed in March. "If we go very long without somehow addressing the reduction and evaporation of that support, I think it’s going to show up in lower aggregate demand, and that would be very costly for the economy, individuals, households, people," Evans said.

Leaked video shows first moments of George Floyd's fatal arrest by Minneapolis officers

The bodycam video shows Floyd repeatedly telling officers he was claustrophobic and asking not to be locked inside the police vehicle.

Coronavirus updates: WHO points to Vietnam as example of how to combat pandemic

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 690,000 people worldwide. Over 18.1 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks.

Take-Two: Fiscal 1Q Earnings Snapshot

NEW YORK (AP) _ Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) on Monday reported fiscal first-quarter net income of $88.5 million. On a per-share basis, the New York-based company said it had net income of 77 cents.

California governor says COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, trending down

The rates of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions were all trending downward in California in the latest counts, the governor said on Monday. Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said that despite that good news, the state's Central Valley agricultural region was still being hit hard by the coronavirus. "This virus is not going away," Newsom said at a daily coronavirus briefing.

Man wounded in drive-by shooting near a Northwest Miami-Dade elementary school

A man was flown to the hospital after being injured in a drive-by shooting early Monday afternoon near a Northwest Miami-Dade elementary school.

Tropical Storm Isaias expected to strengthen to hurricane, heads to Carolinas

Tropical Storm Isaias is expected to strengthen to a Category 1 hurricane as it approaches northeastern South Carolina and southern North Carolina on Monday. Hurricane warnings have been issued for parts of the Carolinas and tropical storm alerts stretch from Florida to New England. Isaias is forecast to bring torrential rain, flash flooding and storm surge to the East Coast, as well as dangerous winds to the Northeast.

U.S. FAA proposes requiring key Boeing 737 MAX design changes

The Federal Aviation Administration said on Monday it is proposing requiring four key Boeing 737 MAX design changes to address safety issues seen in two crashes that killed 346 people and led to the plane's grounding in March 2019. The agency is issuing a proposed airworthiness directive to require updated flight-control software, revised display-processing software to generate alerts, revising certain flight-crew operating procedures, and changing the routing of some wiring bundles. The announcement is significant but there are still other major steps, including finalizing pilot-training procedures, that must be completed before the 737 MAX can resume flights.

Church burglary suspect goes from unmasked to Batman costume mid-heist, SC cops say

He found the costume in one of the offices, according to an arrest report.

Gisele Bundchen shares loving note for Tom Brady on his 43rd birthday

Gisele Bündchen shared a loving note to her husband Tom Brady on his 43rd birthday. The supermodel included a family photo in her Instagram post for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, featuring the couple with their two children Benjamin, 10, and Vivian, 7. Brady also has a son, Jack, 12, from a previous relationship.

House panel investigates DHS office over Portland, other protests

The U.S. House Intelligence Committee launched an investigation on Monday into the Department of Homeland Security's intelligence office, including its actions in Portland, Oregon, and its involvement in other anti-racism protests across the country. "The reporting regarding the monitoring of peaceful protesters, creating and disseminating intelligence reports about journalists and protesters, and potential exploitation of electronic devices is deeply troubling," Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a Democrat, wrote in a letter to top DHS officials. The United States has seen largely peaceful protests nationwide since the death of George Floyd, a Black man, while in Minneapolis police custody in May. Protests in cities, including Portland, have at times erupted into arson and violence, and federal officers sent into the Northwestern city have repeatedly clashed with crowds targeting the federal courthouse there.

Who CARES about the unemployed? How COVID benefit bill died in the Senate

Democrats passed a bill extending them in May, but Republicans were unable to agree on their own legislation that would have extended the benefits while also cutting them.

Manhattan DA cites "possible criminal activity" at Trump Org in tax fight

The claim was made in a filing with the federal district court in New York City from lawyers with the Manhattan district attorney's office.

Wildfire east of Los Angeles grows, forces thousands from homes

The fire, dubbed the Apple Fire by local firefighters and not related to technology company Apple Inc, has already forced about 8,000 residents from their homes in Riverside County. The blaze was first reported in Cherry Valley, a community about 75 miles (120 km) east of Los Angeles. The Apple Fire is just the third wildfire in California this year to burn over 10,000 acres and it is expected to quickly become the state's biggest blaze so far this fire season.

Poll gives Democrats bad news in key Senate race

Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines, running for reelection, holds a 6-point lead against Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock in a race that will help decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate, according to a poll released Monday by Emerson College.

Alleged victim urges Tory Chief Whip to name Conservative former minister accused of rape

The Conservative Chief Whip's defence for failing to suspend an MP accused of rape was undermined by the alleged victim on Monday as she urged him to name the Tory who was arrested at the weekend. Mark Spencer said he did not want to "do anything to identify the victim", suggesting that publicly withdrawing the whip from the senior Conservative would jeopardise the anonymity of the woman he is accused of attacking. But the former parliamentary worker said the excuse did not hold water because she did not work for the accused MP and so does not believe there is a risk of her identity becoming known. The woman also told friends she had contacted the Chief Whip's office on Sunday asking for a meeting to discuss the case but had not received a reply. She claimed that when she tried to detail the multiple allegations against the MP, Mr Spencer tried to change the subject and talked over her. He disputes the woman's version of their conversation. Mr Spencer has come under mounting pressure from some MPs to remove the whip from the MP in question, in the same way that former Tory MP Charlie Elphicke lost the whip in 2017 when he was first accused of sexual assaults that led to his conviction by a jury last week. Losing the whip, or having it withdrawn, effectively means an MP or peer is expelled from their party. However, they do not lose their seat. Until the whip is restored, they sit as an independent in the chamber. Speaking for the first time since the MP's arrest on Saturday, Mr Spencer said: "They are very serious allegations, and we do take those allegations very seriously. I think it is down to the police to do that thorough investigation, not for the Whips' Office to investigate this alleged crime, it is for the police and the authorities to do that. "Once they've come to that conclusion, then we can assess where we're at and the position that the MP finds themselves in. "Of course, we've got to bear in mind the victim – we don't want to do anything to identify the victim at the same time." However, the alleged victim told friends that she does not accept that suspending and naming the MP would put her anonymity at risk. She told a friend: "His defence today that he can't name the MP because it would identify me is rubbish. I didn't work for this MP, and in any case I have lifelong anonymity so there is no risk of me being 'outed' in the press."

Thong bikini gets acrobat handcuffed in Myrtle Beach after woman complains, video shows

Should wearing thong bikinis on the beach be legal?

Engineered decoys trap virus in test tube study; healthcare workers at high risk even with protections

The new coronavirus enters cells by attaching to a protein on the cell membrane called the ACE2 receptor. Scientists have now developed a decoy version of ACE2 that lures the virus and traps it, preventing it from infecting human lung cells in test tubes. While actual ACE2 receptors have effects on blood vessels, the decoys do not.

Double murder suspect was last spotted in Georgia, feds say. There’s a reward

Russell T. Smith is “considered armed and dangerous,” authorities say.

Mexico hails 'Sledgehammer' arrest but murder crisis still a tough nut to crack

The capture of José Antonio ‘El Marro’ Yépez, a top gangster in violence-stricken Guanajuato state, gives a boost to the presidentMexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has hailed the capture of one of the country’s most notorious gangsters as an important victory in his so far fruitless struggle to slash murder rates.In a Sunday night video message to the nation, López Obrador said security forces had seized “El Marro” or “the Sledgehammer” – the head of the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel – at about 6am that morning in the violence-stricken state of Guanajuato.“How is it that this cartel was able to grow so much – to the extent that Guanajuato became our country’s most violent state?” asked Mexico’s populist leader, who took power in late 2018 vowing to slow the killing with a policy of “hugs, not bullets”.“If there were 100 murders each day, 15 were being committed in Guanajuato – and some days there were 20 or 25 murders. How could this happen?” added López Obrador, who is best known as Amlo.Sledgehammer – whose real name is José Antonio Yépez Ortiz - was the widely feared head of a gang of fuel thieves that controlled large swaths of the central Mexican state and was also involved in drug trafficking, cargo theft and extortion.When the Guardian visited one of the villages at the heart of El Marro’s empire in 2018, the driver refused to enter, warning: “We wouldn’t make it out again.”The Guanajuato-based group grew rich siphoning off billions of dollars worth of petrol from pipelines that crisscross the state, which is located to the north-west of Mexico’s capital and is home to one of its most important refineries.El Marro, who had run the group since 2017, was reportedly apprehended on a rural ranch where he had been hiding following a brief gunfight with his security chief.The newspaper El Universal claimed he had unsuccessfully tried to flee on a quad bike as a spy drone hovered overhead and troops closed in.“Who betrayed me?” the “wild-eyed” kingpin reportedly asked his captors before conceding: “Everything has a beginning and an end – and my end has come.”Experts called El Marro’s capture a triumph for López Obrador, whose security policy has come under growing scrutiny following a series of humiliating challenges from Mexico’s cartels, although few believe it will fundamentally solve the crisis facing his country.Last year, as Latin America’s No 2 economy suffered a record 34,582 murders, gunmen working for the Sinaloa cartel seized control of the northern city of Culiacán and forced the release of one of the group’s key leaders, the son of the jailed capo Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.In June assassins, reputedly deployed by the ascendant Jalisco New Generation cartel, launched a brazen attempt to murder Mexico City’s police chief in one of the capital’s wealthiest neighbourhoods.Jalisco cartel infantrymen subsequently appeared in a viral video, toting automatic rifles and swearing allegiance to their leader, El Mencho.“It’s undoubtedly an important victory [for Amlo] … and he will no doubt use this in next year’s midterm elections to show he’s effective when it comes to security,” said Eduardo Guerrero, a Mexico City-based security specialist.In fact, Guerrero said he believed El Marro’s arrest was part of a shrewd political gamble on the part of the federal government to force down the country’s sky-high murder rate.“Guanajuato is responsible for about 15% or 16% of the total number of murders in the country. So if you can reduce violence in this state you can have a considerable impact on the national statistics,” said Guerrero who runs the group Lantia Consultores.“If you can cut Guanajuato’s murders in half you can bring down the nationwide levels of violence by 7% or 8%. This would be a major PR coup for this administration,” added Guerrero, predicting that the city of Tijuana, where murder rates are also soaring, might also be targeted for the same reason.Guerrero said security chiefs appeared to be wagering that dealing a body blow to El Marro’s faction would allow the more powerful Jalisco cartel to seize monopoly-like control over Guanajuato, thus reducing violence.“El Marro was a very skilful, elusive and strategic leader and it seems to me that his replacements – who will certainly be relatives – don’t have the skills he had to keep this organization afloat,” said Guerrero, who expected the Santa Rosa cartel to splinter into dozens of smaller groups.“It’s possible that by the end of the year there has been a significant drop in violence in Guanajuato and this would give the federal government something to show off ahead of next July’s elections.”Other observers are less sure the arrest will do anything to end Mexico’s seemingly interminable conflict, which saw more than 2,800 peopled murdered in Guanajuato last year – 73 of them law enforcement officers.“It’s a temporary victory,” said Chris Dalby, the managing editor of InSight Crime, which tracks Latin American organized crime.“The violence in Guanajuato was the most important criminal threat to surge during López Obrador’s presidency and this allows him to show that he has done something about it – but it’s a very narrow victory.“Yes, El Marro was a major, savage factor in the violence in Guanajuato. But removing him probably doesn’t change much,” Dalby added, noting that before taking power Amlo had explicitly vowed not to pursue the so-called “kingpin strategy” of targeting cartel leaders which critics say does little to reduce violence or stop drugs flowing north into the US.On Monday, Mexican newspapers stamped photographs of the fallen capo across their front pages.El Universal called El Marro’s arrest the end of a “dark chapter” for Guanajuato, which is home to several of Mexico’s best-known tourist destinations, including the picturesque colonial town of San Miguel de Allende.But in his video message Mexico’s president, who is facing growing criticism over his handling of the coronavirus epidemic, admitted there was more work to do.“We must continue tackling the root causes of violence – first of all poverty, and secondly, making sure there is no corruption and no impunity,” López Obrador said. “Our authorities must not protect these criminals.”

Officer in Miami-Dade’s jail system dies of COVID as county tries to contain spread

A county correctional officer has died of COVID-19, the first known death of an employee of Miami-Dade’s detention system from the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Fauci says states seeing surge in COVID-19 cases should reconsider some lockdown measures

In some states with moderate case counts, experts are seeing "that same insidious increase in percent positive that we had seen and pointed out ... in states like Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Minnesota and others", Fauci said during an interview with the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Fauci said last week that he was seeing signs the surge of COVID-19 cases could be peaking in the South and West while other areas were on the cusp of new outbreaks. Fauci said that it is crucial that the outbreak be contained before autumn, when influenza cases are likely to spike alongside COVID-19 and more people begin to move indoors, increasing the risk of contagion.

Trump threatens to sue Nevada to block universal mail-in ballots

Trump, who has claimed without evidence that voting by mail will lead to rampant fraud, wrote on Twitter on Monday that the legislation approved on Sunday was a "illegal late night coup." If the state's Democratic governor, Steve Sisolak, signs the bill as expected, Nevada would become the seventh state to send ballots to all registered voter for the Nov. 3 election. A Trump campaign spokeswoman did not immediately comment on Trump's threat.

New York's Cuomo calls federal COVID-19 response 'worst government blunder in modern history'

Cuomo said that states where cases are currently spiking, including Texas and Florida, followed the federal government's lead in playing down the epidemic, which led them to reopen their economies too soon. "This was the worst government blunder in modern history," Cuomo said of the federal government's response to the pandemic. "It was a mistake to deny the reality that happened in New York," he added.