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May 20 2000 UTC Brief
In U.S. politics and courts
A Tennessee county will pay $835,000 to settle a lawsuit from a retired police officer who spent 37 days in jail over a meme about Charlie Kirk’s death. His lawyers say the arrest, and a $2 million bond, were based on a false claim that he had threatened mass violence at a school. The case was later dropped, and the settlement ends his federal civil rights suit against the sheriff, investigators, and Perry County.
On Capitol Hill, Rep. Jamie Raskin introduced a bill to block the Justice Department’s new $1.776 billion compensation fund from being used for payouts to people who claim they were targeted by the government. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court split the difference on New York’s gun restrictions, upholding the ban on firearms in parks and other public spaces, but striking down the rule covering private businesses open to the public.
In Maine, a new Pan Atlantic Research poll shows Democrat Graham Platner leading Sen. Susan Collins by 7 points in a hypothetical Senate matchup, 48 percent to 41 percent, with 11 percent undecided. In Pennsylvania, the Working Families Party says it went six for six in the Democratic primaries it targeted, a clean sweep that gives progressives a small but useful reason to smile.
In international news
The U.K. has signed a £3.7 billion trade deal with six Gulf states, a pact expected to remove about £580 million in tariffs from British exports. Rights groups criticized the agreement, which is now being sold as an economic win and defended as if trade and principle are always just waiting for a tidy press release.
Argentina and the United States have launched a new maritime cooperation alliance in the South Atlantic aimed at fighting drug trafficking and other threats at sea, though it has already stirred sovereignty concerns. Separately, China and Russia are aligning more closely after Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing, with Vladimir Putin arriving in China for a summit with Xi Jinping just days later.
Trump also said Cuba is “on our mind” after the Justice Department charged former Cuban President Raúl Castro with murder, saying the move matters to Cuban Americans and others who want to return. The administration is treating that as both foreign policy and a family reunion, which is quite a combination.
In crime and public safety
A London bus driver, Sergei Krajev, 64, has died after an assault on a bridge left him critically injured and taken to hospital on Monday. Police have not released more details publicly, and the case remains under investigation.
In Virginia, DNA evidence has led to the arrest of 66-year-old Charles Berry in the 1986 killing of Roberta Walls, a 22-year-old Virginia Beach library worker. Police say Walls was last seen alive at Bayside Public Library the night before her body was found in a field behind Old Donation Elementary School, and Berry is now awaiting extradition from Connecticut.
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By IniaesIn U.S. politics and courts
A Tennessee county will pay $835,000 to settle a lawsuit from a retired police officer who spent 37 days in jail over a meme about Charlie Kirk’s death. His lawyers say the arrest, and a $2 million bond, were based on a false claim that he had threatened mass violence at a school. The case was later dropped, and the settlement ends his federal civil rights suit against the sheriff, investigators, and Perry County.
On Capitol Hill, Rep. Jamie Raskin introduced a bill to block the Justice Department’s new $1.776 billion compensation fund from being used for payouts to people who claim they were targeted by the government. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court split the difference on New York’s gun restrictions, upholding the ban on firearms in parks and other public spaces, but striking down the rule covering private businesses open to the public.
In Maine, a new Pan Atlantic Research poll shows Democrat Graham Platner leading Sen. Susan Collins by 7 points in a hypothetical Senate matchup, 48 percent to 41 percent, with 11 percent undecided. In Pennsylvania, the Working Families Party says it went six for six in the Democratic primaries it targeted, a clean sweep that gives progressives a small but useful reason to smile.
In international news
The U.K. has signed a £3.7 billion trade deal with six Gulf states, a pact expected to remove about £580 million in tariffs from British exports. Rights groups criticized the agreement, which is now being sold as an economic win and defended as if trade and principle are always just waiting for a tidy press release.
Argentina and the United States have launched a new maritime cooperation alliance in the South Atlantic aimed at fighting drug trafficking and other threats at sea, though it has already stirred sovereignty concerns. Separately, China and Russia are aligning more closely after Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing, with Vladimir Putin arriving in China for a summit with Xi Jinping just days later.
Trump also said Cuba is “on our mind” after the Justice Department charged former Cuban President Raúl Castro with murder, saying the move matters to Cuban Americans and others who want to return. The administration is treating that as both foreign policy and a family reunion, which is quite a combination.
In crime and public safety
A London bus driver, Sergei Krajev, 64, has died after an assault on a bridge left him critically injured and taken to hospital on Monday. Police have not released more details publicly, and the case remains under investigation.
In Virginia, DNA evidence has led to the arrest of 66-year-old Charles Berry in the 1986 killing of Roberta Walls, a 22-year-old Virginia Beach library worker. Police say Walls was last seen alive at Bayside Public Library the night before her body was found in a field behind Old Donation Elementary School, and Berry is now awaiting extradition from Connecticut.