Top Stories Today – May 3, 2019
Top Stories Today – May 3, 2019
2nd suspect freed in killing of Kim’s half brother
A Vietnamese woman who spent more than two years in a Malaysian prison on suspicion of killing the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was freed on Friday, her lawyer said. Doan Thi Huong, 30, was charged along with an Indonesian woman with poisoning Kim Jong Nam by smearing his face with liquid VX, a banned chemical weapon, at Kuala Lumpur airport in February 2017.
Malaysian prosecutors dropped a murder charge against Huong last month after she pleaded guilty to an alternate charge of causing harm. Huong will return to Vietnam later on Friday, her lawyer, Hisyam Teh, told Reuters. The Voice of America
Trump says he won’t let McGahn testify to Congress
President Donald Trump said on Thursday he did not believe he would allow former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify to committees in Congress, saying McGahn had already spoken to the special counsel on the Russia probe. “I would say it’s done,” Trump told Fox News.
“I’ve had him testifying already for 30 hours,” Trump said, referring to McGahn’s testimony to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team. Trump said allowing McGahn to testify would open the gates for others to be called. Reuters
Sexual assaults in US military spike
The US Defense Department said on Thursday the estimated number of sexual assaults in the military climbed nearly 38 percent in 2018 compared with a survey two years earlier, data that critics say laid bare broken Pentagon promises of a crackdown.
The Pentagon said there were 6,053 reports of sexual assaults last year, according to an anonymous, bi-annual survey. It is the highest since the US military began collecting this kind of survey data in 2004. Taking into consideration unreported cases as well, the military survey estimated 20,500 male and female service members experienced some kind of sexual assault last year. The estimated number in 2016 was 14,900. Reuters
Pelosi says Barr commits a crime
Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday accused Attorney General William Barr of committing a crime by lying to Congress, blasting him in a closed-door meeting and later at a news conference. “We saw [Barr] commit a crime when he answered your question,” Pelosi told Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) during a private caucus meeting Thursday morning, according to two sources present for the gathering.
“He lied to Congress. He lied to Congress,” Pelosi said soon after at a news conference. “And if anybody else did that, it would be considered a crime. Nobody is above the law. Not the president of the United States, and not the attorney general.” Politico
Cyclone Fani hits Eastern India
Cyclone Fani has crashed into the eastern coast of India as a grade 5 storm, replete with heavy rain and winds gusting to 205 kilometers per hour. The storm hit the coast of the state of Odisha early Friday. More than 100 million people are in the path of the cyclone.
Authorities say more than 1 million people in the low-lying coastal areas have heeded government warnings and evacuated. Authorities plan to move thousands more. Cyclone tracker Tropical Storm Risk rated Fani as a category 4 storm, a notch below the worst level. “Total destruction” is what Fani is capable of inflicting, according to some forecasters. The Voice of America
Baltimore mayor resigns amid corruption charges
The Baltimore mayor resigned Thursday amid corruption allegations tied to her self-published series of children’s books. An attorney for Catherine Pugh read a written statement from the mayor to reporters Thursday, in which she said, “I am sorry for the harm that I have caused to the image of the city of Baltimore and the credibility of the office of the mayor.”
Pugh has not been seen in public since April 1, taking a leave of absence after suffering from pneumonia. Her resignation comes a week after the FBI and tax agents raided her home, City Hall office, and a third location. Pugh is accused of ethics violations after the University of Maryland Medical System paid her $500,000 for thousands of copies of her books for children about the adventures of a character called Healthy Holly. The books were supposed to be sent to schools and day care centers, but hardly anyone has seen copies of it. The Voice of America
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