
Wisconsin Republican leader won't back down from impeachment threat against Supreme Court justice
Wisconsin’s Republican Assembly leader is refusing to back down from possibly impeaching a newly elected liberal state Supreme Court justice over her refusal to step aside in a redistricting case
2023-10-12 23:54

iPhone 12 is not emitting dangerous radiation, Apple says, amid fears of Europe ban
Apple has denied claims that its iPhone 12 emits illegal levels of radiation for users, amid fears that the phone could face a Europe-wide recall. France’s National Frequency Agency (ANFR) said on Tuesday that tests had revealed unusually high levels of electromagnetic radiation being emitted from the device. The smartphone, which was released in 2020, has a reported Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) that is 40 per cent above the legal limit, according to to agency. The ANFR therefore ordered Apple to halt sales of the device and warned that a recall would follow if Apple fails to fix the problem. A spokesperson for Apple told The Independent that it contests the results of the findings made by the AFNR and is engaging with the regulator in an effort to prove that its iPhone 12 is compliant. The US tech giant said it has provided the ANFR with independent third-party lab results proving the iPhone 12’s compliance, and has already been certified by multiple international bodies that it meets SAR regulations. The Independent has reached out to the AFNR for comment. Other regulators across Europe have warned that the French findings could have implications for the rest of the continent, with Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands all signalling that they might follow the sales ban. Dutch digital watchdog Rijksinspectie Digitale Infrastructuur (RDI) said on Wednesday that there did not appear to be an “acute safety risk” but that the Netherlands attached “as much importance as France to safe use of mobile phones”. On Tuesday, France’s junior minister for digital economy said that the ANFR’s findings would be shared with other EU member states, warning that it could have a “snowball effect” for the smartphone maker. Apple is set to discontinue sales of the iPhone 12 following the launch of the iPhone 15 earlier this week, however any potential recall could prove damaging. German regulators said on Thursday that the French procedure could have implications for the whole of Europe. Read More France’s iPhone 12 ban could spread across Europe, regulators say
2023-09-14 20:55

Trump supporters falsely claim special counsel seeking death penalty in indictment over 2020 election
Donald Trump supporters and right-wing media outlets are incorrectly claiming that the federal government is seeking the death penalty as part of its four-count indictment against the former president for allegedly seeking to overturn the 2020 election. After the charges were announced on Tuesday, the claims quickly spread across conservative corners of the Internet. Mr Trump’s Truth Social platform sent users an alert that read “New charges against Trump carry DEATH PENALTY,” while conservative influencer Dinesh D’Souza claimed on X the alleged death sentence “proves how scared they are of Trump!” One MAGA Internet personality wrote on social media, “This is how you start a war.” A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office told The Independent these claims are “not accurate.” “The indictment does not contain the special findings required,” the DoJ official said. The misinterpretation stems from one of the federal statutes that prosecutors are accusing Mr Trump of violating, Section 241 of Title 18 of US Code. As The Independent has reported, the law is part of a landmark set of provisions passed in the brutal aftermath of the Civil War to prosecute those who sought to deprive the civil rights of newly enfranchised Black Americans. The punishment for violating this section, according to the Department of Justice, is a felony and up to 10 years in prison. That penalty can be extended to life in prison or death if the government “proves an aggravating factor (such as that the offense involved kidnapping, aggravated sexual abuse, or resulted in death)”, per the DoJ. Five people, a mix of police officers and rioters, did die during the January 6 insurrection, but, as The Washington Post noted, nowhere in the lengthy indictment against Mr Trump are prosecutors arguing the former president is responsible for any such aggravating circumstances. (Police officer Michael Byrd, who shot January 6 rioter Ashli Babbitt, was cleared of wrongdoing by the DoJ and the Capitol police in April of 2021, and two of the men who attacked Brian Sicknick, a Washington police officer who died during the insurrection, have been sentenced to prison.) Rather, the DoJ is alleging that Mr Trump and his associates knew he lost the election, but launched a multi-part conspiracy to hold onto power anyway, a scheme that included spreading false claims, attempting to send false slates of electors to Washington, and pressuring officials to meddle with the election certification process. The scheme was largely focused on a handful of counties in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Wisconsin, all of which have large communities of Black and Latino voters, who tend to vote for Democrats. “The attack on our nation’s capitol on January 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy,” special counsel Jack Smith said Tuesday in a press conference describing the indictment. “As described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies. Lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the US government – the nation’s process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election.” As Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the voting rights and elections programme at the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law, told The Independent, the civil rights statute in question has been used to prosecute officials for attempting to alter election results in the past. He pointed to the example of the 1915 case US v Mosley, where Oklahoma officials were punished for trying to exclude votes from a final tally. “If you read that case, you’d never be able to tell that it’s about race. And there’s not a word about race mentioned, but that’s really the story underlying it,” Mr Morales-Doyle told The Independent. “And that’s really, throughout our nation’s history, the battle over our democracy. The battle over the right to vote has not always but pretty consistently also been a fight that has race at its heart,” he added. “And that’s true now still, and I think it is an overlooked thread underlying much of the story about Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election.” Prosecutors may not be arguing Mr Trump caused conduct worthy of the death penalty, but the former president’s sentencing still will be a delicate issue. "Possible jail time for Donald Trump if he’s convicted of one, some, or all the criminal cases is a fascinating but speculative business," former federal prosecutor Michael McAuliffe told Newsweek. "As for the federal cases charging Trump with crimes, the sentencing guidelines – which assign numerical values to various factors to create a range for a presumptive sentence – will prove inadequate." In regards to Mr Trump, both "the crimes and the defendant are singular.” Alex Woodward contributed reporting to this story. Read More Trump’s election fraud claims were always bogus. Will his history of lies finally catch up to him? Why Trump is charged under a civil rights law used to prosecute KKK terror Donald Trump due in court charged with ‘conspiracy to defraud United States’ Trump supporters claim special counsel seeking death penalty in indictment Trump supporters view the latest indictment as evidence of a crime — against Trump Selection of Thailand’s new prime minister delayed again, to await court decision on election winner
2023-08-03 17:47

Who is Karl Clemente? Dad of doctor found dead in NY Creek seeks answers after financial analyst John Castic's death in similar way
Karl Clemente was a psychologist, who was found dead in the English Kills five days after mysteriously disappearing from The Brooklyn Mirage
2023-08-03 15:58

Tropical storm Ophelia could slam mid-Atlantic states on Friday
(Reuters) -A tropical storm off the mid-Atlantic coast began dumping rain on parts of North Carolina on Friday and will
2023-09-23 09:16

These are the first 10 drugs subject to Medicare price negotiations
The Biden administration unveiled Tuesday the names of the first 10 drugs subject to price negotiations in Medicare, including blood thinners and diabetes medications.
2023-08-29 22:26

Internet accuses Kai Cenat of using children for views after Lil RT's rap with offensive lyrics during livestream goes viral: 'Gotta stop this s**t'
Kai Cenat recently received backlash after he collaborated with Lil RT, a viral nine-year-old rapper from Atlanta, on a livestream
2023-11-22 17:23

Yankees slugger Aaron Judge faces live pitching for the first time since right toe injury
New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge faced live pitching on Sunday for the first time since tearing a ligament in his right toe on June 3
2023-07-24 01:19

Democrats upset Arizona budget doesn’t limit school voucher expansion
A $17 billion budget package that Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs negotiated with leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature is drawing criticism from Democrats for failing to put limits on an expansion of a school voucher program that they say is a drain on the state’s coffers
2023-05-11 07:20

Odell Beckham Jr dating history: Rumors link Kim Kardashian to Ravens star player
'Kim and Odell are friends and have a lot of mutual friends in common,' said a source
2023-09-20 15:20

US defense chief urges nations to dig deep and give Ukraine more much-needed air defense systems
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is urging defense leaders Tuesday to “dig deep” and provide more air defense systems for Ukraine, to help the country block increasing barrages of Russian missiles
2023-09-19 17:57

Why Tim Scott may be one to watch in the GOP presidential race
Can the nice guy finish first?
2023-07-23 20:29
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