Sweden’s first-ever female prime minister, Social Democrat Magdalena Andersson, has resigned just hours after being appointed, deepening political uncertainty.
Andersson said Wednesday that she was forced to resign after her budget bill failed and the Green Party quit their two-party coalition government. She had been announced as leader earlier in the day to a standing ovation by some sectors of the parliament.
Instead, lawmakers in the Riksdag voted in favor of a budget tabled by the opposition that includes the anti-immigration right-wing party of the Sweden Democrats.
Andersson told reporters she hoped to be reappointed prime minister as the head of a single-party government.
“I have asked the speaker to be relieved of my duties as prime minister,” Andersson told a media conference. “I am ready to be prime minister in a single-party, Social Democrat government.”
The Green Party and the socialist Left Party have both said they are prepared to support the re-appointment of Andersson, who previously served as finance minister for seven years under her predecessor Stefan Lofven.
Sweden’s Center Party, meanwhile, has said it would abstain, which effectively paves the way for Andersson to get the top job once again.
The parties had been unable to approve a budget bill in a fragmented political landscape, but they are seen to be united in the aim of preventing the Sweden Democrats from having a role in government.
“Magdalena Andersson stands by her word to deliver on the agreement we have concluded and the Center Party will release her as Prime Minister,” Annie Loof, leader of the country’s Center Party, said on Wednesday via Twitter.
“We are now making sure, once again, that Sweden can have a government that is not dependent on [the Sweden Democrats],” she added.
Parliamentary speaker Andreas Nolen is expected to announce the next steps to form a new government on Thursday.
Los Angeles police and paramedics are responding to a reported smash-and-grab robbery at a mall in Canoga Park on Wednesday night, according to a report by KABC-TV.
Police vehicles, firetrucks and ambulances could be seen parked outside a Nordstrom at Westfield Topanga & The Village, located at 6600 Topanga Canyon Blvd., according to the station. At least a dozen onlookers stood outside.
Further details about the incident were not immediately available.
Several calls and an email seeking information from the LAPD were not returned.
Los Angeles police pursued a vehicle into South L.A. after the break-in and arrested three people.
Wednesday night’s robbery comes two days after people broke into a Nordstrom at the Grove mall by smashing a window and stole thousands of dollars of merchandise.
Los Angeles police arrested three suspects in connection with that incident.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is available.
The former director of the US Office of Government Ethics says that President Biden will either need to pay for his Thanksgiving stay at a billionaire private equity boss’ Nantucket compound or disclose it as a gift.
“Just a friendly reminder, @WhiteHouse, that @potus will have to pay fair market value for the stay on Nantucket or disclose the gift of free lodging in his annual disclosure in May 2022,” tweeted Walter Shaub, who ran the ethics office during Barack Obama’s second term.
“I’m not suggesting he wouldn’t,” Shaub added, “just reminding not to let it slip through the cracks.”
Biden and his family arrived on the Massachusetts island late Tuesday for their stay at the home of David Rubenstein, a co-founder of the Carlyle Group.
“There’s a disclosure exception for personal hospitality, but that only applies if the head of the Carlyle Group is staying there with the Bidens,” Shaub noted in a second tweet. “I suspect the WH is all over compliance with the rule — and oblivious to the ethical optics.”
Former director of the US Office of Government Ethics Walter Shaub slammed President Joe Biden for snoozing “in a millionaire’s island paradise” with billionaire David Rubenstein.Mark Wilson/Getty ImagesShaub says President Joe Biden can also disclose his visit to Nantucket, Massachusetts as a free gift.Getty Images for MoveOn
Shaub was a frequent critic of former President Donald Trump and has knocked Biden from the left for not doing more to pass a federal election reform bill. He has also criticized first son Hunter Biden’s novice art sales and a White House arrangement in which buyers are kept anonymous.
President Joe Biden refused to answer media questions in his last press appearance before Thanksgiving.AFP via Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive on Air Force One at Nantucket Memorial Airport in Nantucket, Massachusetts on Nov. 23, 2021.AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
“If you’re a world leader spending the holiday at a billionaire’s beach house in a millionaire’s island paradise, I hope you’ll spend the weekend getting ready to care about voting rights,” Shaub wrote in another tweet.
Shaub is not the only critic of Biden’s choice for a Thanksgiving retreat.
Jeff Hauser, who runs the Revolving Door Project at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, highlighted that Biden nominated Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to a second four-year term Monday. Powell was a partner at the Carlyle Group from 1997 to 2005.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are greeted on their way to Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland on Nov. 23, 2021.AP Photo/Carolyn KasterPresident Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden wave as they board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on November 23, 2021.Pacific Coast News / Oliver Contreras
“Did former Carlyle partner Jerome Powell arrange this as a thank you gift?????????????????????” Hauser tweeted.
Shuab replied: “Look, Jeff. Who among us HASN’T spent a holiday at the beach house of the head of a gigantic multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation while serving in high government office?”
Rubenstein’s net worth has been estimated at $4.5 billion by Forbes. A Baltimore native, he worked in the Jimmy Carter White House as a deputy domestic policy adviser before co-founding the Carlyle Group in 1987. He’s a top donor to the White House Historical Association, which funnels private funds toward White House art procurement and restoration projects. An association facility on Lafayette Park north of the White House bears his name.
Walter Shaub previously ripped President Joe Biden for allowing his son Hunter to profit off of art sales.The Washington Post via Getty ImagesJoe Biden previously stayed at the Nantucket home in 2014.REUTERS/Tasos Katopodis
The White House has barely attempted to defend the optics of Biden spending Thanksgiving at a billionaire’s home while Americans deal with spiking gas and food prices.
“This is a time to put politics aside, spend time with your loved ones and talk about what you’re grateful for,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday when asked what message middle and working class Americans should take from Biden’s Nantucket trip.
Shaub recommends President Joe Biden to “pay fair market value for the stay on Nantucket” on Thanksgiving.Oliver Contreras / Pool via CNPPresident Biden and first lady Jill Biden plan on spending their Thanksgiving at the Nantucket home of billionaire David Rubenstein.REUTERS/Tasos Katopodis
Currently, Carlyle boasts $293 billion in assets and more than 1,800 employees in 26 offices around the world.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden speak with Col. Matthew E. Jones and his wife Christie Jones as they board Air Force One.REUTERS/Tasos Katopodis
Presidents and vice presidents are allowed to accept gifts from US citizens but are supposed to disclose them.
Former President Donald Trump disclosed in January that he received about $40,000 in gifts in his final year in office — including a bronze statue of Marines raising the US flag over Iwo Jima from the Greatest Generations Foundation worth nearly $26,000, as well as a $5,999 Mac Pro computer from Apple CEO Tim Cook.
“Wanda Cooper-Jones and Marcus Arbery (Arbery’s mother and father) were advocates for Ahmaud, and they really pushed this one when it first happened,” she said. “And I think the message is that you have to let the criminal justice system work and, in this case, yes, it did work, and to trust, which they did, they trusted us, and they trusted this team to bring justice for them and their family, but to trust the system of the constitution and due process just to let it work.”
CNN’s Christina Maxouris, Travis Caldwell, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Devon M. Sayers, Alta Spells, Steve Almasy, Nicole Chavez and Brandon Tensley contributed to this report.
“Wanda Cooper-Jones and Marcus Arbery (Arbery’s mother and father) were advocates for Ahmaud, and they really pushed this one when it first happened,” she said. “And I think the message is that you have to let the criminal justice system work and, in this case, yes, it did work, and to trust, which they did, they trusted us, and they trusted this team to bring justice for them and their family, but to trust the system of the constitution and due process just to let it work.”
CNN’s Christina Maxouris, Travis Caldwell, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Devon M. Sayers, Alta Spells, Steve Almasy, Nicole Chavez and Brandon Tensley contributed to this report.
J.J. Watt is giving back to his hometown community following a tragedy on Sunday.
The Arizona Cardinals defensive end will cover the funeral costs for the six people who died when a man drove a car into the crowd at a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wis. Watt was born in Waukesha and also played college football at the University of Wisconsin.
J.J. Watt is covering the funeral costs for everyone that lost their life in the Waukesha Christmas Parade. That is an amazing gesture. He has such a huge heart.
Darrell Brooks Jr., 39, was behind the wheel of the SUV that sped through a parade route in Waukesha on Sunday. He was charged with five counts of first-degree intentional homicide on Tuesday, according to the Waukesha County District Attorney’s Office, and prosecutors will consider a sixth charge after a young boy died later at an area hospital.
Along with six deaths, 62 people were injured.
Watt has given back to his communities before. The former Houston Texans star raised $41.6 million for Hurricane Harvey relief back in 2018, making it the largest crowd-sourced fundraiser in history.
Derek Watt, J.J.’s brother, also helped set up a community fund through the United Way and Waukesha County Community Foundation.
For anyone looking to assist the victims, check out the United for Waukesha Community Fund page here and additional resources compiled by WISN here.
“They’re not just stealing people’s products and impacting their livelihoods, they’re stealing a sense of place and confidence,” Newsom said, speaking Monday from a vaccine clinic, according to CBS Local.
“That’s why you’ve got to get serious about it,” he continued. “I’m not the mayor of California. But I was a mayor. And I know when things like this happen, mayors have to step up. That’s not an indictment. That’s not a cheap shot.”
Newsom said the state is “going to be more aggressive…to help support cities and the prosecution of folks.”
He said he has “no empathy, no sympathy for these folks, and they must be held to account.”
Newsom also added that his own stores had been robbed at least three times in the past year.
“We need to break up these crime rings, and we need to make an example out of these folks,” Newsom said, according to the Sacramento Bee. “We cannot allow this to continue.”
Newsom explained that the new year’s budget will include substantial funding for cities to address retail theft, but offered no further specifics.
BOSTON (CBS) – An 82-year-old man was surrounded and assaulted by a group of people riding dirt bikes and ATVs in Boston last Thursday. Police are seeking the public’s help in identifying the suspects.
The victim, Richard Bell of Brookline, suffered serious injuries and is in the hospital. He is expected to survive.
State Police said the man was driving his 1996 Buick Century from Park Drive to Boylston Street when 30 to 40 dirt bike and ATV riders forced him onto the curb. Several of the suspects then began smashing windows of the victim’s car.
A group of dirt bike and ATV riders attacked a Brookline man in Boston (Image credit Mass. State Police)
Police said the group followed Bell from Boylston Street to Storrow Drive, where he tried to get off an exit in Allston. The group then surrounded and attacked him.
“He put his window down to ask occupants of another car to call 911,” State Police said. “While the victim’s car window was down, one of the riders, a male, approached him on foot and began punching the victim through the open window.”
Dirt bike riders on Boylston Street in Boston (Image credit Mass State Police)
The suspects also threw a piece of pipe and a large rock through windows of the car.
Bell was able to get to a convenience store in Allston where Boston EMS responded and transported him to the hospital.
A group of dirt bike and ATV riders attacked a Brookline man in Boston (Image credit Mass. State Police)
Bell’s granddaughter told WBZ-TV on Wednesday that he will still be in the hospital for Thanksgiving. She also stated that she felt it could have been a lot worse.
“He recently went under a pretty serious heart surgery, and one punch to the heart have landed him in a casket instead of a hospital bed, and so that’s really upsetting to think about,” she said.
Police released surveillance video of the group of riders but not the attack. Anyone who witnessed the attack or has photos or videos is asked to contact State Police.
Paul Camarillo, Linda Dunikoski and Larissa Ollivierre (CNN)
The jury in the trial of three men for the death of Ahmed Arbery was made up of 11 White people and one Black person, but prosecutors told CNN that they felt that when the jury heard their arguments, they would make the decision to find all three guilty, which they did.
One main goal for prosecutors Paul Camarillo, Cobb County senior assistant district attorney, said was to simply show that the defendant’s claim of self-defense, simply wasn’t a viable argument.
“We had to show that it did not apply in this case and if they could not get past that hurdle, they never could get to self-defense,” Camarillo said.
Larissa Ollivierre, Cobb County assistant district attorney, said she felt bad for Arbery’s parents when one defense attorney began talking about Arbery’s toenails.
“I think the comments were unnecessary and they were low. and I just feel bad that Ahmad’s mom dad and had to sit there and listen to all of those things,” Ollivierre said.
Dunikoski said defense attorney Kevin Gough’s comments about Black pastors– though made without the jury present — was strategic.
“Mr. Gough is a very, very good attorney, and he purposefully and intentionally and strategically, I believe, did what did he in an effort to attempt to insert potentially some error into the case in case he lost the case and it went up on appeal,” she said
Darrell Brooks allegedly tried to kill his ex-girlfriend when he ran over her in a gas station parking lot just weeks before the deadly Wisconsin Christmas parade rampage — and he later told cops he was supposed to be on mental health medication, police reports reveal.
Brooks was charged in the alleged attack on his ex-girlfriend, who is also the mother of his child — but had been cut loose on a $1,000 bond just days prior to the Christmas parade crash.
Police said they believe Brooks, a convicted sex offender, had been involved in a domestic incident with his ex-girlfriend, 31, just moments before he allegedly plowed into the paraders Sunday.
In an interview with police at the time of the Nov. 2 incident, the woman said Brooks had come to the American Inn motel where she was staying that morning before screaming at her and grabbing her phone.
Police believe Darrell Brooks was involved in a domestic incident with his ex-girlfriend just moments before he drove his SUV through a Christmas parade.See bottom of caption / MEGA
A clerk at the motel had no recollection of the incident when asked by The Post on Tuesday.
The woman told cops she set off walking toward the gas station and Brooks followed her in his red SUV — the same vehicle police said was used in the Waukesha incident.
Brooks allegedly punched her in the face after she refused to get in the car, according to the police report.
Onlookers watch as Brooks’ SUV speeds through the Waukesha Christmas parade on Nov. 21, 2021.City of Waukesha/AFP via Getty I
She told police that’s when Brooks allegedly “tried to kill her” as he ran her over and fled.
According to the police report, the woman was found lying on the ground with tire marks on her pants. She was rushed to a hospital suffering from a dislocated femur and fractured right ankle, police said.
The ex-girlfriend later told cops that Brooks had allegedly threatened to kill her on multiple occasions, but she never reported it to authorities.
She alleged Brooks had previously tried to choke her, and was jealous and controlling.
Minutes after allegedly driving his SUV through the parade, Brooks was captured on a doorbell camera pleading for help.Daniel Rider / NBC News
The woman said she’d known Brooks for more than 16 years and that they’d been in a relationship since April, according to the report.
Brooks, who was arrested outside his mother’s house soon after, described the woman to cops as his longtime girlfriend.
He denied attacking her and suggested to police that she had made up the allegations because she was drunk, the report said.
Brooks also told officers he was meant to be taking medication for an undisclosed mental health issue, according to the police report.
He ended up being charged over the Nov. 2 incident with recklessly endangering safety, bail jumping, battery and disorderly conduct.
In the case involving his nephew, Brooks’ cash bail was originally set at $10,000 before being reduced to $7,500.
Parade-goers on the street in the aftermath of the Waukesha parade rampage.Jordan Woynilko/Twitter
He was unable to pay and remained in custody as he requested a speedy trial. The court planned to proceed in November 2020 and early 2021, court records show, but amid court congestion and COVID-19-related delays, the trial didn’t happen as scheduled.
The case was adjourned and his bail reduced to $500 in February of this year because the court couldn’t honor the speedy trial demand. Brooks posted bail on Feb. 21.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office addressed the “inappropriately low” bond on Monday, vowing to investigate how it was granted given the seriousness of the charges he was facing.
Darrell Brooks was previously out on bail for firing a gun during an argument with his nephew Anjali Brooks (above).Facebook
During his initial court hearing Tuesday over the parade attack, Brooks was held on $5 million bail.
Prosecutors revealed during the hearing that he’ll be hit with a sixth homicide count after an 8-year-old boy died after being in critical condition since the attack.
Each homicide count carries a potential sentence of life without parole. Wisconsin doesn’t have a death penalty statute.
STOCKHOLM, Nov 24 (Reuters) – Sweden’s first female prime minister, Social Democrat Magdalena Andersson, resigned on Wednesday after less than 12 hours in the top job after the Green Party quit their two-party coalition, stoking political uncertainty.
But Andersson said she had told the speaker of parliament she hoped to be appointed prime minister again as the head of a single-party government, and the prospects of that happening appeared fairly strong given support from other parties.
The Green Party quit after parliament rejected the coalition’s budget bill.
“I have asked the speaker to be relieved of my duties as prime minister,” Andersson told a news conference. “I am ready to be prime minister in a single-party, Social Democrat government.”
The Green Party said it would support her in any new confirmation vote in parliament, while the Centre Party promised to abstain, which in practice amounts to the same as backing her candidacy. The Left Party has also said it would back her.
While these parties were unable to agree a budget, they are united in the goal of keeping the Sweden Democrats, a populist, anti-immigration party, from having a role in government.
“The Centre Party will open the door for her (Andersson) to be prime minister,” its leader, Annie Loof, said on Twitter.
“We will make sure, again, that Sweden can have a government that is not dependent on the Sweden Democrats.”
The opposition right-wing Moderates and Christian Democrats are backed by the Sweden Democrats, but cannot command a majority in parliament.
CHALLENGES
1/5
Current Finance Minister and Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson is appointed as the country’s new Prime Minister after a voting at the Swedish Parliament Riksdagen in Stockholm, Sweden November 24, 2021. Andersson is the first ever Swedish female prime minister. Erik Simander /TT News Agency/via REUTERS
Andersson took over as prime minister from Stefan Lofven as head of a minority two-party coalition supported by the Left and Centre parties. But that alliance collapsed when the Centre Party refused to back the new government’s finance bill.
Parliament then passed spending plans on Wednesday drawn up by three opposition parties, prompting the Green Party to quit the coalition and leaving Andersson no option but to resign.
The speaker of parliament will now decide the next step in the process of finding a new government, but will most likely put Andersson forward for a new vote in coming days.
“We expect the Left, Green and Centre parties to abstain in the upcoming vote and therefore effectively approve Andersson as Prime Minister again,” banking group Nordea said in a note. “In other words, the political chaos is over as long as nothing more unexpected happens.”
Whoever becomes prime minister faces major challenges, and a national election is due next September.
Gang violence and shootings blight life in many major cities. read more
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed gaps in the much-vaunted welfare state and the government needs to speed up the shift to a green economy if it is to meet its climate change goals. read more
The centre-left and centre-right blocs are basically deadlocked in polls.
The fact that it has taken this long for Sweden to get a woman prime minister is embarrassing for many in a country that introduced universal suffrage 100 years ago and has long championed gender equality.
Neighbouring Norway got its first woman leader 40 years ago. Sri Lanka was the first country to elect a woman premier in 1960.
“They’re not just stealing people’s products and impacting their livelihoods, they’re stealing a sense of place and confidence,” Newsom said, speaking Monday from a vaccine clinic, according to CBS Local.
“That’s why you’ve got to get serious about it,” he continued. “I’m not the mayor of California. But I was a mayor. And I know when things like this happen, mayors have to step up. That’s not an indictment. That’s not a cheap shot.”
Newsom said the state is “going to be more aggressive…to help support cities and the prosecution of folks.”
He said he has “no empathy, no sympathy for these folks, and they must be held to account.”
Newsom also added that his own stores had been robbed at least three times in the past year.
“We need to break up these crime rings, and we need to make an example out of these folks,” Newsom said, according to the Sacramento Bee. “We cannot allow this to continue.”
Newsom explained that the new year’s budget will include substantial funding for cities to address retail theft, but offered no further specifics.
A Florida actor was arrested in Milwaukee on Tuesday, charged with a felony and a misdemeanor related to the attack of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, James D. Beeks was charged with obstruction of Congress, a felony, and a misdemeanor charge of unlawfully entering a restricted building or ground.
The 49-year-old Orlando resident was in Milwaukee this week as a cast member of the national tour of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” which is performing at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts through Sunday.
According to Variety.com, Beeks, whose stage name is James T. Justis, portrayed Judas in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Variety reported that he was suspended immediately from the tour.
The Justice Department said Beeks was an affiliate of the Oath Keepers, a far-right anti-government militia organization.
According to the criminal complaint filed by an FBI agent investigating the incident:
Beeks and a group of Oath Keeper members and affiliates marched in “stack” formation into the Capitol grounds and then up the east steps of the Capitol to the area outside of the Rotunda doors around 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 6.
The people Beeks marched with assaulted officers using pepper spray, flagpoles, and numerous improvised weapons and projectiles. They also disarmed the officers by stealing their shields and pushing them away from the Rotunda doors.
Soon the mob stormed the Capitol and forced themselves inside.
Once inside the group split off, half headed to the House of Representatives chanting for Nancy Pelosi. Beeks and the others headed to the Senate Chamber.
The group encountered a line of law enforcement officers who were guarding a hallway that led to the chamber.
Law enforcement forcibly repelled the group, which retreated to the Capitol Rotunda and then left the building at 3:04 p.m.
Beeks stood out from the camouflaged-combat attire of many Oath Keeper individuals as he was wearing a Michael Jackson “BAD” world tour jacket and black helmet.
He was also carrying what appeared to be a homemade black shield.
This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
LONDON — Europe is slipping behind in its vaccination drive and could see hundreds of thousands more deaths by next spring, the World Health Organization has said.
“We’ve only got 54% of the one billion people living in Europe fully vaccinated,” Robb Butler, executive director for WHO Europe, told CNBC Wednesday.
This region for the U.N. health agency comprises of 53 countries that actually spans Europe and Central Asia and has approximately 900,000 citizens at its last count.
“There are [around] 45% who are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated, that’s a bigger issue for our policy and decision-makers right now — driving up vaccination rates,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday.
Butler’s comments come as Europe struggles with the latest wave of Covid infections, prompting further restrictive measures and pushing hospitalizations higher.
Most, if not all, of the people who have been admitted to hospital intensive care wards with Covid are unvaccinated, health officials from across the region have reported. Covid vaccines cannot stop transmission of the virus entirely but they greatly reduce the risk of severe infection, hospitalization and death.
The Europe region has already recorded 1.5 million Covid deaths, with the virus now becoming the leading cause of death in both Europe and Central Asia, WHO’s Europe branch said.
The region is currently experiencing nearly 4,200 deaths per day, twice the daily deaths recorded at the end of September, the statement noted.
WHO has repeatedly stated that Europe is at the epicenter of the latest global wave of Covid infections. Vaccination rates, both of the initial Covid vaccination programs and booster shots, differ widely from country to country.
Law enforcement was able to find images on social media of a person who they say appears to be Beeks and is wearing the same jacket as a man who participated in the Jan. 6 riots.
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia
hide caption
toggle caption
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia
Law enforcement was able to find images on social media of a person who they say appears to be Beeks and is wearing the same jacket as a man who participated in the Jan. 6 riots.
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia
A Michael Jackson tour jacket proved to be a thriller to federal agents working to identify a suspected rioter at the U.S. Capitol.
Prosecutors said James Beeks, who played Judas in a Jesus Christ Superstar production and also works as a Michael Jackson impersonator, can be seen in photos and videos from Jan. 6 wearing the jacket, as thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.
That’s the name of Michael Jackson’s world tour, which kicked off in 1987.
Law enforcement was already looking into Beeks, a 49-year-old from Orlando, Fla., after a rioter who pleaded guilty told agents that Beeks linked up with the Oath Keepers as they walked to the Capitol.
Investigators were able to find photos on social media of Beeks wearing what appears to be the same jacket, smiling and posing in front of a poster for a production of Jesus Christ Superstar.
Prosecutors said Beeks played Judas in that production under the stage name James T. Justis. It appears he has been replaced in that role, according to a current cast list on the production’s website, which has removed his page.
There are other signs of Beeks’ enthusiasm for the pop icon – on YouTube, he describes himself as “one of the Top Michael Jackson Tribute artists,” and his handle “jdmoonwalker” appears to be a reference to Jackson’s famous dance move.
It was not immediately clear whether Beeks had hired a lawyer who could comment on his behalf. He was arrested on Tuesday and has been charged with obstruction of Congress and unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds. After making an initial appearance, he was released.
Beeks was part of a mob that entered into a formation to force its way into the Capitol, prosecutors said. After entering the building, they said Beeks joined a group that tried to push through a line of law enforcement officers guarding a route to the Senate, but they were not able to get past the officers.
Beeks is among the more than 675 peoplewho have been arrested so far over the storming of the Capitol.
Darrell Brooks appears in court following Wisconsin parade attack
Darrell Brooks was trying to strike “as many people as possible” when raced his car through a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on Sunday, authorities said in a criminal complaint.
The complaint filed on Tuesday describes Mr Brooks as having “no emotion” when he drove down the parade route, killing six people and wounding at least 47 others. Moments earlier, he was said to have fled from police responding to a call about a domestic dispute between him and another person.
Prosecutors plan to charge the 39-year-old with six counts of first-degree intentional homicide. He is being held on $5m bail.
More than $1.5m has been raised to support victims of the attack and their families. The six people killed are: Tamara Durand, Jane Kulich, Wilhelm Hospel, Leanna Owen, Virginia “Ginny” Sorenson, and Jackson Sparks.
Read more:
Follow live updates below
To receive our free breaking news alerts direct to your inbox click here.
United for Waukesha Community Fund receives 6,300 donations from 12 countries in three days
Over the past three days, the United for Waukesha Community Fund has received 6,300 donations from 12 different countries.
Organiser of the fundraiser, led by United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County and the Waukesha County Community Foundation, announced the impressive numbers on Wednesday but did not say the total amount of money raised to date.
The first round of funding will go to the families of people killed, with a committee set to determine how the rest of the money is allocated.
Waukesha County Community Foundation President Shelli Marquardt said: “Waukesha is a big, little city and we are about one degree of separation away from anyone who was at the parade or who knows someone that was impacted by this.”
City officials add extra precautions to Thanksgiving parades
Authorities in cities across the US are taking extra measures to ensure the safety of crowds at the city’s Thanksgiving Day parade in light of the events in Waukesha.
Detroit, Michigan; Waco, Texas; and Knoxville, Tennessee, are among the cities reviewing their safety plans, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Meanwhile, several towns across Wisconsin have cancelled upcoming holiday parades in the wake of Waukesha’s deadly attack.
Thirteen children injured in Sunday’s attack remained hospitalised as of Tuesday evening, according to Children’s Wisconsin.
Of those, six are in critical condition, three in fair condition and four in good condition.
The hospital treated a total of 18 victims in the attack, four of whom have since been released. One of the children, eight-year-old Jackson Sparks, succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday afternoon.
Kathleen N. Walsh: We should have taken Brooks’ history seriously
In the wake of Mr Brooks arrest over Sunday’s Christmas parade attack, a slew of information emerged about his lengthy criminal past.
A registered sex offender, Mr Brooks has a serious of previous charges for domestic violence, including for allegedly trying to run the mother of his child over with his car on 5 November.
The Independent’s Kathleen N. Walsh writes: “To me, that is not surprising. What is surprising — or at least galling — is that we still do not take violence against women seriously when the correlation between domestic abuse and other violent crime seems so clear. That means that ultimately, everybody else is less safe.
“If the allegations against Brooks — that he had already used a vehicle to attempt to seriously injure a woman he’d been formerly in a relationship with — were considered more seriously, then perhaps five families wouldn’t be mourning the deaths of their loved ones today.”
Dozens of items left behind in the chaos of Waukesha’s Christmas parade are waiting to be claimed.
Piles of chairs, scarves, shoes and other belongings were collected from the scene and are now being held at the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department.
The Independent’s Sheila Flynn visited the collection site on Wednesday:
WATCH: Brooks on doorbell camera moments after attack
Doorbell camera footage shows Mr Brooks outside a home moments after he made his deadly drive through the Christmas parade.
Homeowner Daniel Rider said Mr Brooks arrived on his front porch and said he was waiting for a ride.
“I called an Uber and I’m supposed to be waiting for it over here, but I don’t know when it’s coming,” Mr Brooks allegedly said. “Can you call it for me please? I’m homeless.”
Mr Rider said he invited the man inside, offered him a sandwich and his phone so that he could call his mother.
Minutes later, police arrived to arrest Mr Brooks.
Darrell Edward Brooks Jr, 39, was identified by police as the man who drove his car down the Waukesha Christmas parade route on Sunday, killing six people and wounding dozens more.
Mr Brooks had only been out on bail for two days after being arrested on 5 November on charges of domestic abuse, resisting an officer, second-degree recklessly endangering safety, disorderly conduct and felony bail jumping.
On social media, Mr Brooks promoted his hip-hop career under the name MathBoi Fly.
The Independent’s Joe Sommerlad explains what we know about the suspect so far:
A police officer quoted in the criminal complaint against Mr Brooks described him as showing “no emotion” when he drove his car onto the parade route.
Officer Butryn, who was directing traffic along the route, said he heard the tires on Mr Brooks’ SUV screech as it abruptly accelerated into the crowd of parade-goers.
“At this point, it was clear to Officer Butryn that this was an intentional act to strike and hurt as many people as possible,” the complaint states.
Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.
Hours after being tapped as Sweden’s prime minister, Magdalena Andersson resigned Wednesday after suffering a budget defeat in parliament and coalition partner the Greens left the two-party minority government.
“For me, it is about respect, but I also do not want to lead a government where there may be grounds to question its legitimacy,” Andersson told a news conference.
Andersson has informed parliamentary Speaker Anderas Norlen that she is still interested in leading a Social Democratic one-party government.
Sweden’s Finance Minister and Social Democratic Party leader Magdalena Andersson looks on during a vote in the Swedish parliament Riksdagen in Stockhom on Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021. (Erik Simander/TT News Agency via AP)
She said that “a coalition government should resign if a party chooses to leave the government. Despite the fact that the parliamentary situation is unchanged, it needs to be tried again.”
The speaker of Sweden’s 349-seat parliament, Andreas Norlen, said he had received Andersson’s resignation and will contact the party leaders “to discuss the situation,” the Swedish news agency TT said. On Thursday, he will announce the road ahead.
The government’s own budget proposal was rejected in favor of one presented by the opposition that includes the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats. Sweden’s third-largest party is rooted in a neo-Nazi movement.
“Now the government has voted for a budget that has been negotiated by a right-wing extremist party,” Green Party spokesperson Per Bolund said. “That is something we deeply regret.”
Earlier in the day, Andersson said she could “govern the country with the opposition’s budget.”
“We have a united party behind us saying we can not sit in government that implements a policy (the Sweden Democrats) negotiated. We must look our voters in the eye and feel pride,” said Marta Stenevi, the Greens’ other spokesperson as the party chose to resign from the government.
The party said it is prepared to stand behind Andersson in a new vote to tap a prime minister. It was unclear what the dramatic development would lead to.
The approved budget was based on the government’s own proposal but of the 74 billion kronor ($8.2 billion) that the government wanted to spend on reforms, just over 20 billion kronor ($2.2 billion) will be redistributed next year, Swedish broadcaster SVT said. The approved budget aims at reducing taxes, increased salaries for police officers and more money to different sectors of Sweden’s judiciary system.
Sweden’s Minister of Finance Magdalena Andersson gestures after being elected to party chairman of the Social Democratic Party at the Social Democratic Party congress in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. (Bjorn Larsson Rosvall/TT News Agency via AP, File)
Andersson’s appointment as prime minister had marked a milestone for Sweden, viewed for decades as one of Europe’s most progressive countries when it comes to gender relations but which had yet to have a woman in the top political post.
Andersson had been tapped to replace Stefan Lofven as party leader and prime minister, roles he relinquished earlier this year.
In the 349-seat Riksdag earlier in the day, 117 lawmakers voted yes to Andersson, 174 rejected her appointment while 57 abstained and one lawmaker was absent.
Under the Swedish Constitution, prime ministers can be named and govern as long as a parliamentary majority — a minimum of 175 lawmakers — is not against them.
Sweden’s next general election is scheduled for Sept. 11.
While the unexplained sightings were mostly around military installations or operations, the report said that could be the result of collection bias or the presence of cutting-edge sensors.
Some people believe any phenomenon exhibiting technology beyond the abilities of the United States needs deep study. Skeptics believe most or all of the sightings, including videos recorded by cameras on military fighter jets, can be explained by tricks of optics or naturally occurring phenomena.
Earlier this month, Avril D. Haines, the director of national intelligence, said the government needed to get better at collecting information about the unexplained phenomenon. Ms. Haines said that the primary focused remained on whether the phenomenon were aircraft from rival nations spying on the United States, but held open the possibility of otherworldly explanations.
“The main issues that Congress and others have been concerned about are basically safety of flight concerns and counterintelligence issues,” she said. “But of course, there’s always the question of, is there something else that we simply do not understand that might come extraterrestrially?”
Ms. Haines’ extraterrestrial remark was not necessarily referring to space aliens, but rather more pedestrian explanations such meteors and solar flares that could impact flight safety issues.
For years a military intelligence official, Luis Elizondo, ran a little-noticed group within the Pentagon called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. The Pentagon has said the program was shut down in 2012, but backers of the program said its work continued. In 2020, the Pentagon announced it had a new group, the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force.
The memo released by Dr. Hicks said the task force would immediately transition to the new synchronization group. The oversight council will choose an acting director for the new group and issue guidance, subject to Dr. Hicks’s approval, she said.
The new director will have the power to standardize incident reporting of unidentified areal phenomena, ask to oversee the analysis of data on the unexplained sightings and identify shortfalls in detection capabilities.
This is a widget area - If you go to "Appearance" in your WP-Admin you can change the content of this box in "Widgets", or you can remove this box completely under "Theme Options"
