“SAN DIEGO — U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy's assassin was granted parole Friday after two of RFK's sons spoke in favor of Sirhan Sirhan’s release and prosecutors declined to argue he should be kept behind bars.
The decision was a major victory for the 77-year-old prisoner, though it does not assure his release.
The ruling by the two-person panel at Sirhan’s 16th parole hearing will be reviewed over the next 90 days by the California Parole Board’s staff. Then it will be sent to the governor, who will have 30 days to decide whether to grant it, reverse it or modify it.
Douglas Kennedy, who was a toddler when his father was gunned down in 1968, said he was moved to tears by Sirhan’s remorse and he should be released if he’s not a threat to others.
“I’m overwhelmed just by being able to view Mr. Sirhan face to face,” he said. “I think I’ve lived my life both in fear of him and his name in one way or another. And I am grateful today to see him as a human being worthy of compassion and love.”
The New York senator and brother of President John F. Kennedy was a Democratic presidential candidate when he was gunned down June 6, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles moments after delivering a victory speech in the pivotal California primary.
Sirhan, who was convicted of first-degree murder, has said he doesn’t remember the killing. His lawyer, Angela Berry, argued that the board should base its decision on who Sirhan is today.
Prosecutors declined to participate or oppose his release under a policy by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.
Gascón, who said he idolized the Kennedys and mourned RFK’s assassination, believes the prosecutors' role ends at sentencing and they should not influence decisions to release prisoners.” Read more at USA Today
“The U.S. military launched a drone strike against ISIS-K in retaliation for the deadly bombing at the Kabul airport, the Pentagon said Friday.
Just before the Pentagon announced the strike, the State Department issued a fresh alert, telling Americans at four Kabul airport gates to ‘leave immediately.’
Earlier Friday, the Pentagon warned that specific, credible terrorist threats from ISIS-K to U.S. troops and civilians fleeing Afghanistan after Thursday's devastating Kabul airport attack, which killed 13 American service members and at least 169 Afghan civilians.
President Joe Biden has vowed retaliation against ISIS-K. ‘We will hunt you down and make you pay,’ he said hours after Thursday's bombing at the Kabul airport.
Details also began emerging on the 13 service members killed in Thursday's bombing near Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport, at least some of whom were only babies and toddlers on September 11, 2001. Evacuations of Americans and their allies restarted, an effort to get out as many civilians ahead of the military's withdrawal, just four days away.” Read more at USA Today
“The U.S. intelligence community has ruled out the possibility that the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 4 million people globally was developed as a bioweapon by China, but the agencies failed to reach consensus on the virus origin, according to key takeaways from a classified report delivered to President Biden this week.
The report, the result of a 90-day sprint ordered by Biden, also found that the agencies are unlikely to reach a conclusion about the virus’s origins without cooperation from the Chinese government, which is unlikely, according to a summary of the takeaways released Friday.
‘Beijing . . . continues to hinder the global investigation, resist information sharing and blame other countries, including the United States’ for the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed nearly 635,000 American lives, said the summary prepared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.” Read more at Washington Post
“WASHINGTON — Justice Stephen Breyer says he is struggling to decide when to retire from the Supreme Court and is taking account of a host of factors, including who will name his successor.
‘There are many things that go into a retirement decision,’ he said.
He recalled approvingly something that Justice Antonin Scalia had told him.
H’e said, ‘I don’t want somebody appointed who will just reverse everything I’ve done for the last 25 years,’ Breyer said during a wide-ranging interview Thursday. ‘That will inevitably be in the psychology’ of his decision, he said.
‘I don’t think I’m going to stay there till I die — hope not,’ he said.
Breyer, 83, is the oldest member of the court, the senior member of its three-member liberal wing, and the subject of an energetic campaign by liberals who want him to step down to ensure that President Biden can name his successor.” Read more at Boston Globe
“WASHINGTON — Millions of Americans around the country face the prospect of losing their homes after the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the Biden administration’s latest federal moratorium on evictions, a decision that poses a new and unwelcome problem for a White House already grappling with domestic and international challenges.
The court’s ruling has once again thrust President Biden into the middle of a fight to help prevent people from being evicted as the Delta variant of the coronavirus surges and as Democrats remain unable to muster enough votes to pass a new ban on evictions.
Absent legislation, there are few easy fixes. The administration is struggling to speed the flow of billions of dollars in federal funding to people who are behind in rent because of economic hardship associated with the pandemic.
The scramble to find a solution follows the eight-page majority opinion the Supreme Court issued Thursday evening that said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had exceeded its authority in acting to prevent landlords from evicting tenants during a public health crisis.
No one knows exactly how many tenants are in jeopardy, but the Census Bureau reported this week that more than one million people were very likely to face eviction for nonpayment of rent over the next two months, with millions more behind on rent and in arrears.
With no legal avenues remaining to take action on its own, the Biden administration issued a plea to state and local officials on Friday to do more to help.
In a letter, top cabinet members urged governors, mayors, county executives and judges and administrators to extend local eviction moratoriums. The letter, from Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen; Marcia L. Fudge, the secretary of housing and urban development; and Attorney General Merrick B. Garland; also asked them to enact policies that would require landlords to apply for federal aid before enforcing evictions and recommended that evictions be delayed while rental aid applications were pending.
The troubles facing the Biden administration’s $46.5 billion emergency rental assistance program were clear this week, when Treasury Department figures showed that 89 percent of the money had yet to be distributed by state and local governments. Just $1.7 billion made it to tenants or landlords in July, as states and cities continue to grapple with how to streamline the application processes.
White House officials acknowledge that the money is not being distributed quickly enough, but point out that not all of it was expected to be deployed by now and contend that critics are overlooking the effect the program has had by exaggerating its slow start.
With the court’s decision looming, the Treasury Department rolled out changes to the program on Wednesday, including additional attempts to absolve local governments of federal punishment if they provided money to those who do not actually need help. The agency issued a directive to local officials that they allow tenants to use self-reported financial information on aid applications as a first, rather than a last, resort, while giving states permission to send bulk payments to landlords and utility companies in anticipation of federal payouts to tenants.
The Supreme Court’s ruling divided lawmakers along party lines on Friday, with Republicans applauding the decision and Democrats demanding legislative action to address a looming eviction crisis.” Read more at New York Times
“Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reaffirmed the central bank’s emerging plan to begin reversing its easy-money policies later this year while explaining in greater detail why he expects a recent surge in inflation to fade over time.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Ida strengthened into a hurricane Friday afternoon as Louisiana prepared for a direct hit from the storm, which the National Hurricane Center said could reach Category 4 strength with winds estimated at 140 mph.
The New Orleans area is under a hurricane warning after the Hurricane Center on Friday afternoon issued hurricane and storm surge warnings for portions of the Gulf Coast. Ida is forecast to make landfall Sunday afternoon or evening.
The storm has developed ‘more rapidly than anyone was prepared for. And there are no indications at all that it will weaken,’ New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell said Friday evening.
‘Time is not on our side,’ Cantrell said. ‘The city cannot issue a mandatory evacuation because we don't have the time.’” Read more for USA Today
“Fratelli Beretta USA Inc. is recalling approximately 862,000 pounds of uncured antipasto products for possible salmonella contamination, the latest outbreak linked to deli meat.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced the Mount Olive, New Jersey company's recall late Friday for 24-ounce trays of ready-to-eat meat shipped to retailers nationwide. Costco posted a recall for the trays on its website Friday.
The recall comes days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday it was investigating two salmonella outbreaks across 17 states believed to involve Italian-style meats.
The CDC updated its investigation Thursday and linked Fratelli Beretta's vacuum-sealed plastic packages to the outbreak.” Fratelli Beretta USA Inc. is recalling approximately 862,000 pounds of uncured antipasto products for possible salmonella contamination, the latest outbreak linked to deli meat.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced the Mount Olive, New Jersey company's recall late Friday for 24-ounce trays of ready-to-eat meat shipped to retailers nationwide. Costco posted a recall for the trays on its website Friday.
The recall comes days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday it was investigating two salmonella outbreaks across 17 states believed to involve Italian-style meats.
The CDC updated its investigation Thursday and linked Fratelli Beretta's vacuum-sealed plastic packages to the outbreak.” Read more at USA Today
Shine like gold
”The Paralympics is currently underway in Tokyo, which means even more superhuman athletes doing superhuman things. Here are just some of the tough and talented people competing in this year's games:
Asiya Mohammed, who made history by becoming the first female rower to represent Kenya in an Olympic or Paralympic Games. Mohammed lost both legs and several fingers in a train accident when she was two. She competed in her first sporting event, a wheelchair marathon, when she was 17, and has basically slayed every sport she's tried since then, including tennis and track events.
Beatrice de Lavalette, an American dressage equestrian competing in her first Games. In 2016, de Lavalette lost both legs in a terror attack at Brussels' Zaventem Airport. During her long and grueling recovery, she wasn't sure if she would ever be able to resume her passion for horse riding, and she certainly didn't give much thought to a being a para-athlete. But once she was reunited with her beloved horse DeeDee, she knew she had to get back in the saddle. And, well, the rest is history in the making.
Abbas Karimi, who is representing the Refugee Paralympic Team after fleeing Afghanistan when he was 16 years old. Karimi was born without arms, and despite growing up with loving family, suffered from intense bullying. He found solace in the water, and became a skilled swimmer. However, he eventually had to flee Afghanistan. He moved through four different refugee camps in Turkey before an American former wrestling coach saw a video of Karimi swimming and reached out to help the young man resettle in the US. Since then, Karimi has earned success after success -- including qualifying for his first Paralympic Games.”