United Airlines is facing backlash after a videos went viral of a doctor who was assaulted before being forcibly dragged off the plane, after he refused to give up his paid seat. The backlash against United sparked boycotts and dropped hundreds of millions of dollars from the company’s stock price.
Dr. David Dao was left bleeding and disoriented, after being forcefully pulled across the seat dividers and dragged down the aisle of the plane as shocked passengers looked on with several expressing disbelief on the incident as it was happening.
Dao, 69, of Elizabethtown, Ky., was one of four passengers picked to be bumped from an April 9 flight from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport to Louisville, Ky., to make room for airline employees who were added to the flight shortly before it departed.
According to another passenger on Flight 3411 from Chicago to Kentucky, the airline needed seats on the fully booked aircraft to reposition four crew members for another flight. The crew announced that the plane could not take off until four passengers voluntarily deplaned. When it didn’t have enough volunteers, even after offering $800 and a next day flight, the airline selected the man and several other passengers to deplane.
When he refused to leave, saying he had to see patients at a hospital in Kentucky early the following morning, multiple Chicago Department of Aviation security officers dragged Dao through the aisle, bloodying him. Dao then tried to run back on the flight and was forcibly removed a second time.
United CEO Oscar Muñoz initially defended the company’s actions but later apologized, calling the incident “horrific.” United Airlines said it will fully refund the tickets of all passengers on board the flight. Chicago’s Aviation Department has said that four officers involved in the beating had been placed on leave.
Dao, who was hospitalized in Chicago, suffered a concussion, a broken nose and lost two teeth in the ordeal. In preparation for a civil suit, lawyers for Dr. Dao filed an emergency request requiring United and the city to preserve records of the incident and the personnel files of the Aviation Department officers who pulled Dao from the plane.
The airline has said it is reviewing its policies regarding oversold flights. They already announced that they will require United employees traveling for work to book seats at least an hour in advance to avoid displacing customers already on board an aircraft.
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A major escalation of the tensions between the U.S. and North Korea has led to the US sending the Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and several warships toward the Korean Peninsula. The Carl Vinson and three guided-missile destroyers and cruisers to the peninsula were sent only days after North Korea launched its latest ballistic missile test. This missile reportedly flew only 37 miles.
North Korea has condemned the U.S. for bringing the aircraft carrier group and other nuclear-armed assets into the region, and threatened an assault on South Korea, Japan and U.S. bases. A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson stated that “We will hold the U.S. wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions. North Korea is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S.”
U.S. intelligence officials believe North Korea is preparing its sixth nuclear weapons test, possibly as early as Saturday, April 15 which coincides with the 105th anniversary of the birth of the country’s founder, Kim Il-sung.
North Korean senior officials have accused the Trump administration of wanting to “annihilate” their country and blamed the escalating tension on the Korean Peninsula squarely on the U.S. and South Korea. Han Song Ryol, North Korea’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs stated in an interview that if North Korea felt they were going to be attacked they would use nuclear weapons.
Experts say the sixth nuclear test could come at any time and is part of the Kim Jong Un regime’s quest to build a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. Most analysts believe North Korea is still at least several years away from that capacity, but Pyongyang already has weapons that pose a serious threat to U.S. allies South Korea and Japan, and U.S. troops based in those countries.
North Korea’s nuclear weapons development program has been a primary focus and a tense topic for years. Just last month North Korea successfully launched four ballistic missiles into the waters off northwest Japan. State media in Pyongyang said it was just a dry run of a nuclear attack against US military bases in Japan and experts say this exercise was defensive, not offensive.
A North Korea official stated Pyongyang intends to “relentlessly strengthen” the country’s nuclear weapons. Experts say North Korea’s goal in advancing their nuclear program and developing nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the US is a deterrent for a US invasion.
Experts have debated whether North Korea possesses a nuclear warhead it can mount to a short or medium-range missile. North Korea claims that it has miniaturized a nuclear warhead and is capable of mounting it to a short, medium, or long-range missile – has never been independently verified. Kim said in his New Year’s address that the country had reached “the final stages” of that weapon’s development.
While analysts say it is unlikely that North Korea possesses an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching West Coast cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Seattle, they are well on their way to developing such a weapon.
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In an escalating dispute over the death penalty cases in Florida, Governor Rick Scott has removed Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala from 21 more cases from District 9 to a special prosecutor. The governor’s spokeswoman said in a statement “State Attorney Ayala’s complete refusal to consider capital punishment for the entirety of her term sends an unacceptable message that she is not interested in considering every available option in the fight for justice,” Ayala’s office, in response, is saying Scott blindsided her and is calling the decision an abuse of power.
All of the cases removed from Ayala have been reassigned to State Attorney Brad King. Ayala has filed a motion in state circuit court indicating her intent to challenge Scott’s decision and disputing the governor’s authority to remove her simply because he disagrees with her valid exercise of prosecutorial discretion.
Ayala, an elected prosecutor in central Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, took office in January, to begin a four-year term. In March, Ayala announced she would no longer seek the death penalty in any murder cases, including in the case of Markeith Loyd, who’s accused of murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend and then Orlando police officer Debra Clayton. Scott removed Ayala from that case shortly after.
Her decision sparked an outcry with many Republican leaders claiming Ayala violated her oath of office by taking the death penalty off the table. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi called Ayala’s move “a blatant neglect of duty and a shameful failure to follow the law,” while members of the state legislature threatened to reduce her office’s funding.
There were also some who backed Ayala’s decision including more than 100 judges, former prosecutors and legal experts who have expressed their support for Ayala, saying Scott has overstepped his legal authority by removing her from cases, and saying she has the legal discretion to not seek the death penalty.
Capital punishment remains legal in 31 states, but death penalty sentences have dropped dramatically over the past few decades. Of the nation’s 2,300 prosecutors, only 27 sentenced a person to death last year. Capital punishment in Florida has been on hold since Jan. 12 when the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the state’s sentencing system as a violation of a defendant’s right to a jury trial. Florida’s old law allowed a jury to recommend the death penalty by a simple majority vote. Every other state with the death penalty except for Delaware requires juries to be unanimous in recommending a sentence of death.
In March, Governor Scott attempted to restart executions last month by signing a bill which took effect immediately-that requires jury recommendations to be unanimous before a death penalty can be imposed by a judge. After signing the legislature, Scott said he hopes that executions could soon resume in Florida. “My foremost concern is always for the victims and their loved ones,” Scott’s statement said. “I hope this legislation will allow families of these horrific crimes to get the closure they deserve.”
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U.S. District Court Judge David Hale in Louisville, Kentucky, has ruled that a lawsuit accusing Donald Trump of inciting violence against protesters at a presidential campaign rally last year can move forward, denying a free speech argument against the suit.
The ruling opens the way for the lawsuit brought by three protesters to proceed through the legal system. The suit is against Trump, his campaign and three of his supporters. Trump’s lawyers had argued a free speech defense against the lawsuit, arguing that Trump did not intend for his supporters to use force.
Kentucky federal Judge David Hale said he found ample facts supporting the allegations that the protesters’ injuries were a ”direct and proximate result” of Trump’s actions. He wrote that “it is plausible that Trump’s direction to ‘get ‘em out of here’ advocated the use of force. … It was an order, an instruction, a command.” The protesters- two women and a teenage boy, were at the Kentucky International Convention Center.
Plaintiffs Henry Brousseau, Kashiya Nwanguma and Molly Shah say they were assaulted by Trump supporters at the March 2016 rally in Louisville as Trump repeatedly said “Get ‘em out.” The trio are suing Trump and his campaign for incitement to riot, negligence, as well as gross negligence and recklessness. They are seeking unspecified damages.
The attackers named in the lawsuit include Matthew Heimbach, a member of a white supremacist group, and Alvin Bamberger, a member of the Korean War Veterans Association in Ohio. A third defendant has not been identified. In a video of the incident that went viral shortly after it happened, Heimbach and Bamberger are seen pushing Nwanguma down an aisle as Trump repeatedly says “Get ‘em out, Get ‘em out of here!”
Hale said the removal of Nwanguma, an African American woman, was “particularly reckless.” The judge did not remove allegations that Nwanguma was the victim of racial, ethnic and sexist slurs from the rally crowd. He wrote, “While the words themselves are repulsive, they are relevant to show the atmosphere in which the alleged events occurred.”
The judge dismissed part of the suit claiming that Trump and his campaign were “vicariously liable” for assault and battery. Hale said that the men accused of attacking the protesters were not employed by the Trump campaign, nor were they under Trump’s direct control.
Alvin Bamberger, said in a letter cited by the judge: “Trump kept saying, ‘get them out, get them out,’ and people in the crowd began pushing and shoving the protesters. I physically pushed a young woman.”
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At least 86 people have died, including 20 children, and hundreds wounded – in a suspected chemical weapons attack in the northern province of the rebel controlled city of Idlib. The attack has been described as the largest chemical attack in Syria since 2013. The United States, France and Britain have accused the Syrian government of carrying out the attack and have proposed a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning it.
U.N. war crimes investigators have said that if the suspected chemical attack is confirmed, that it constitutes a “serious violation of international law.” Russia had initially claimed that the chemical attack was actually gases that were released after an airstrike hit a depot where rebels were making chemical weapons. Later, a spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin called the gassing of civilians a “dangerous and monstrous crime” but did not name anyone as the perpetrator.
Syrian journalist Hadi Abdullah, who was a victim of the attack that occurred at dawn on Tuesday, described it in an interview. “We were attacked with four strikes” “When people went to help, they were choked with the poisoned gas.” Abdullah described his symptoms of a massive headache with blaring pain in his eyes, trouble breathing and a persistent runny nose as minor in comparison to others.
He described the horrifying scene in the aftermath of the strike as chaos with crying, people being stripped and washed in the streets and children suffocating and dying in the streets as white liquid frothed from their open mouths. He said many were wandering the streets in search of loved ones-not knowing if they had been taken for medical treatment or were already dead. In one case, he said, an entire family – parents and three children, were found dead in their beds from the initial alleged chemical attack.
According to Syrian Dr. Khaled Al Milaji- the initial medical summaries following the attack indicated that the substance used was “more than just chlorine,” and that they strongly suspect “sarin or worse” was also utilized. Sarin is next to impossible to detect, due to its clear, tasteless and non-odorous nature. Atropine – a medication used intravenously to treat certain types of nerve agent exposure – was distributed as widely as possible, but the best chance one had of survival was being relocated to safer area in the northern part of the region.
Just days before the chemical attack, the Trump administration said it would no longer seek the ouster of Bashar al-Assad but afterwards, President Trump said that it had altered his position on Syria and its leader Bashar al-Assad. A mere 63 hours after the chemical attack, understandably shaken by photos of infants and children dying- President Trump gave the order to unleash 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Al Shayrat airfield- where attack was launched from.
The intent of the US strike was to “send a message” to the Assad regime. Russia’s Foreign Ministry quickly condemned the U.S. assault, saying it threatened international security. Russia-the Syrian regime’s main ally, has pledged to help strengthen Syria’s air defenses and suspend its “deconfliction agreement,” which prevents Russian and U.S. planes from coming into conflict over Syria.
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Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye was arrested on charges related to the bribery scandal that led to her impeachment. Park faces 13 charges in total, including bribery, abuse of power and the leaking of state secrets. She has not been formally indicted yet but prosecutors can detain her for up to 20 days before formally charging her.
Park was removed from office March 10th, stripping her of presidential immunity after South Korea’s Constitutional Court upheld a decision to impeach her for alleged corruption.
The scandal has dominated the headlines in South Korea since late last year and sparked mass protests, many calling for her impeachment. The controversy centered around Park’s friend and close adviser, Choi Soon-sil, who is alleged to have had significant and inappropriate influence over the former president. Choi is on trial for abuse of power and fraud.
Among other accusations, Park is accused of helping extort some $38 million from Samsung and a total of $70 million from South Korean companies for the private slush fund of her friend and confidant Choi Soon-sil. Park is also accused to leaking state secrets to Choi. Lee Jae-yong, the former head of Samsung is also being held in connection to the same corruption scandal. Lee is accused of approving the millions in bribes to Choi.
The former president continued to deny all wrongdoing during a 14-hour interrogation last week, leading prosecutors to ask for a warrant for her arrest. They said they were concerned Park would destroy evidence if she remained at large. The 65-year-old former president was taken to a detention center outside Seoul, the same detention center where Choi Soon-Sil and Lee Jae-yong, the de facto head of Samsung are both being held. If convicted, Park could face up to 10 years in prison.
Park becomes the third former president in South Korean history to face the possibility of a prison sentence. Two other former leaders, Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, were charged with improperly collecting millions from businesses while in office. Both were later pardoned after short jail stints.
Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office released a statement regarding the arrest. “The suspect abused the mighty power and position as President to take bribes from companies and infringed upon the freedom of corporate management and leaked important confidential official information.”
Park Geun-hye was the nation’s first female president and the daughter of the former president Park Chung-hee. Park’s mother was killed in 1974 in an assassination attempt that targeted her husband. Park was regarded as First Lady after her mother’s death. Park’s father, Chung-hee, was gunned down by his own intelligence chief in 1979. After her father’s killing, Park Geun-hye left the presidential Blue House and secluded herself from the public eye. She entered politics in the late 1990s — when public nostalgia for her father emerged after the country’s economy was hit hard by the Asian financial crisis.
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The U.S.-backed Iraqi military’s ground campaign against ISIS to retake west Mosul was mistakenly reported as being halted after details emerged about U.S.-led coalition airstrikes on March 17th killed over 200 people in a single day. The U.S.-led coalition has admitted launching the airstrikes that targeted a crowded section of the Mosul al-Jadida neighborhood. The March 17 strikes appear to be among the deadliest U.S. airstrikes in the region since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Amnesty International has accused Iraqi officials of advising residents not to flee amid the airstrikes and ground offensive. Amnesty claims officials dropped leaflets and broadcast over the radio that residents should stay in their houses. Amnesty said, “The fact that Iraqi authorities repeatedly advised civilians to remain at home instead of fleeing the area, indicates that coalition forces should have known that these strikes were likely to result in a significant numbers of civilian casualties.
Disproportionate attacks and indiscriminate attacks violate international humanitarian law and can constitute war crimes.” Many have questioned whether the U.S. military has loosened the rules of engagement that seek to limit civilian casualties. The Pentagon maintains the rules have not changed.
Despite reports of the ground campaign being suspended, heavy fighting continues in west Mosul. The campaign for West Mosul has involved block-by-block fighting in an urban environment. ISIS has been using snipers and bombs against the US backed Iraqi military.
Though not confirmed, it’s been reported that Major Gen. Maan al-Saadi, a commander of the Iraqi special-forces, said that the civilian deaths were a result of a coalition airstrike that his men had called in, to take out snipers on the roofs of three houses in a neighborhood called Mosul Jidideh. General Saadi said the special forces were unaware that the houses’ basements were filled with civilians seeking refuge. Witnesses have said that in an area where apartment blocks were reduced to rubble, at least 50 bodies could be seen, including those of pregnant women and children.
The Pentagon announced that the incident was under investigation and a day later confirmed that the coalition had targeted Islamic State fighters and equipment in the area on March 17, “at the location corresponding to allegations of civilian casualties”. The military is investigating at least a dozen other reports of civilian casualties in Mosul.
Iraqi Vice-President Osama Nujaifi, a Mosul native, has called the strike a “humanitarian catastrophe” that killed hundreds. He blamed the US-led coalition and federal police for using excessive force and called for an emergency session of Parliament to address the incident.
Prior to this incident, the Pentagon had said that there have been 220 civilian deaths since the campaign against the Islamic State began in 2014, but independent monitoring groups say that there have been over 2700.
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Three teenagers were killed in a deadly home invasion in Broken Arrow, a suburb of Tulsa, when the home-owners son, 23 year old Zach Peters shot them with an AR-15 rifle. The teens, who broke in through a back door, were later identified as 19-year-old Maxwell Cook, 17-year-old Jacob Redfearn and 16-year-old Jaykob Woodriff. All three were dressed in black and wearing masks and gloves. One of the alleged suspects was found to have a knife, while another was carrying brass knuckles.
No charges have been filed against Zach Peters and Wagoner County Sheriff’s Deputy Nick Mahoney said “Preliminary investigation looks like it’s self-defense,” but cautioned that the investigation was still ongoing. Oklahoma is one of 24 states which have laws also known as “stand your ground” laws-allowing citizens to shoot someone if they believe the person threatens their safety, according to the National Council of State Legislatures.
The getaway driver, Elizabeth Rodriguez, a 21 year old mother of three, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree burglary. She has been jailed without bond since turning herself in. Oklahoma law allows a person to be charged with murder if they take part in a crime in which people are killed, even if the person does not take part in the slaying.
Rodriguez, who was in a relationship with Cook, one of the suspects killed, admits to planning the burglary and driving the teens to the home on two occasions that same day. The teens first broke into and stole items from a garage apartment earlier in the day but returned to gain entry into the main house. It does not appear that the residents and intruders knew each other but Rodriguez told authorities she knew the homeowner Zach Peters, had knowledge of the house and chose his house because she believed he had money.
The suspects kicked in a back door and encountered Peters, who shot all three after a brief exchange of words. Peters’ father was also in the house at the time but was not involved in the shooting. Rodriguez, who had been waiting in her car in the driveway, fled the scene when she heard shots fired. She turned herself in shortly after seeing a news report of the shooting on TV so the families of the deceased could be notified.
During a jailhouse interview with Inside Edition, Rodriguez said that she and the teens had committed several car-jacking and home invasions prior to the fatal home invasion in Broken Arrow. She stated that she waited in her car after hearing the shots and saw the youngest of the suspects killed, Jake Woodruff stumble to the driveway, and slide across the hood of her car before collapsing on the ground. She then sped out of the driveway, leaving him on the ground.
Immediately after the shooting, Peters barricaded himself in his bedroom and called 911. In the 911 call, Peters tells the operator that he shot two intruders and that another had gotten away. When asked, he tells the operator that the suspects were shot in the upper body and asks them to send help fast as one is badly wounded, though he can still hear one talking.
When police arrived, two of the suspects were found deceased in the kitchen and the third had succumbed to his wounds in the driveway. Police stated that Peters appeared to be in shock and repeatedly asked if the suspects were going to be ok.
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Five people have died and dozens were injured in a terrorist attack outside the Houses of Parliament in London including a police officer and the attacker. The attacker is believed to have acted alone but police are investigating possible associates and do not further attacks on the public are planned. ISIS has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack, calling the attacker “a soldier of Islamic State”.
The attack began when 52 year old Khalid Masood drove a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge. He struck and killed three people – two of whom died at the scene and one who later died of his injuries in the hospital. Masood crashed the vehicle into a wall outside the parliament, where he ran into New Palace Yard. Armed with two knives, he attacked two police man at the security gates as he tried to enter the building. There, he stabbed an unarmed police officer multiple times and was subsequently shot by police.
At least 50 people were injured, with 31 requiring hospital treatment. Two victims remain in a critical condition, one with life-threatening injuries. Two police officers are among those still in hospital. Victims killed in the attack have been identified as 43 year old mother of two Aysha Frade who was hit by a bus while fleeing the attack and 75 year old Leslie Rhode who succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. Also killed was 54 year old Utah resident Kurt Cochran. He and his wife, Melissa, were on the last day of a trip to Europe to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. Melissa remains in hospital with serious injuries. Forty-eight year old Police Officer Keith Palmer who was a husband and father, had 15 years of service with the parliamentary and diplomatic protection service.
British-born attacker Khalid Masood was known to police and had been investigated a few years ago by MI5 in relation to concerns about violent extremism but police have said he was not part of any current investigation at the time of the attack. Masood, who was born in Kent, a county east of London, had several aliases including his birth name “Adrian Russell Ajao”. He had a range of previous convictions for assaults- including grievous bodily harm, possession of offensive weapons and public order offences. His most recent arrest was in December 2003 for possession of a knife.
London mayor Sadiq Khan, led a vigil attended by thousands in Trafalgar Square where he vowed “Londoners will never be cowed by terrorism”. World leaders condemned the attack and offered condolences. The US president, Donald Trump promised full support by the US government to the UK in responding to the attack. Leaders of Canada, France, Germany and Spain were among others who sent messages of solidarity.
In the aftermath of the attack, London has been doubled the number of armed police and increased the number of unarmed officers. Police raided properties in Birmingham — where the culprit’s vehicle was rented from Enterprise — and London. Defense Minister Michael Fallon described the attack as a “lone-wolf attack” but said investigators were still checking whether others were involved.
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Oil could start flowing through the highly contested $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline as early this week. The company building the Dakota Access pipeline says the project remains on track to start moving oil this week despite recent “coordinated physical attacks” along the line. Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners didn’t detail the attacks, but said they “pose threats to life, physical safety and the environment.”
Two American Indian tribes have battled the $3.8 billion pipeline in court for months, arguing it’s a threat to water. The company has said the pipeline will be safe. An appeals court rejected the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Nations’ request for an emergency injunction to stop the pipeline from becoming operational.
Judge James Boasberg of the US District Court for the District of Columbia cleared the way for the startup, when he turned down two North Dakota tribes’ request for a preliminary injunction to prevent oil from flowing under Lake Oahe.
The 1,172-mile, four-state pipeline constructed almost entirely on private land is 99 percent complete, but a federal easement which was obtained in February-was required in order to finish the final 1,100-foot stretch in North Dakota. When complete, the pipeline will move crude oil from the Bakken field in North Dakota to a shipping point in Patoka, Illinois via 30-inch diameter pipes, and then connect to an existing reconfigured pipeline.
The pipeline consists of more than 700 miles of existing pipeline that has been converted to crude oil service from Patoka to Nederland, Texas. The two pipelines are expected to be in service in the second quarter of 2017.
The approval in February was granted after President Trump issued an executive order to expedite the process. The US Army Corps of Engineers originally granted the easement for the pipeline in July, but withdrew it in December under political pressure from thousands of protesters camped near the construction site at Cannon Ball, North Dakota.
The Corps abandoned the additional environmental review launched in December and argued in court that it undertook a two-year review of the project’s impact on water quality and historic relics, including 389 meetings with 55 tribes. The company rerouted the pipeline 140 times in response to concerns raised.
Greenpeace and a group of more than 160 scientists dedicated to conservation and preservation of threatened natural resources and endangered species have spoken out against the pipeline. Many Sioux tribes say that the pipeline threatens the Tribe’s environmental and economic well-being, and would damage and destroy sites of great historic, religious, and cultural significance.
Protests at sites in North Dakota began in the spring of 2016 and drew indigenous people from throughout North America creating the largest gathering of Native Americans in the past hundred years. In January, the Morton County Sheriff’s Department released figures showing the state and local policing of the protests have cost $22.3 million since August 10 2016.
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