France and World News

Denver is striving to become a leader other policymakers look to when it comes to tackling homelessness.

Why it matters: Addressing the issue has taken on new urgency in cities across the country over the past year, as officials grapple with a growing unhoused population and the need to preserve public safety during the coronavirus pandemic.

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Early on the morning of Oct. 2, 2018, a Gulfstream jet carrying a team of Saudi assassins on its way to Istanbul made a quick stopover in Cairo. The purpose: to pick up a lethal dose of “illegal” narcotics that was injected a few hours later into the left arm of Jamal Khashoggi, killing the Washington Post columnist within a matter of minutes, according to notes that summarize secret Saudi interrogations of the murderers.

What the drugs were — and who provided them in the middle of the night at Cairo’s airport — remains a mystery. But the previously undisclosed Cairo connection points for the first time to the possible existence of Egyptian accomplices in Khashoggi’s death. It also provides compelling new evidence of what the Saudi government had long denied: that the hit team, dispatched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS, intended to kill the journalist before the plane ever took off from Riyadh and well before Khashoggi walked into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul later that day.

The delivery of lethal drugs in Cairo to effectively poison Khashoggi is among a number of damning new details about the journalist’s grisly murder that are revealed in a new eight-episode season of Yahoo News’ “Conspiracyland” podcast being released this week, titled “The Secret Lives and Brutal Death of Jamal Khashoggi.”  

Americans Michael Taylor and Peter Taylor pleaded guilty in a Tokyo court Monday to helping former Nissan chair Carlos Ghosn escape Japan in a box aboard a plane in 2019, per the Wall Street Journal.

The big picture: Ghosn was awaiting trial in Tokyo on financial misconduct charges following his 2018 arrest when he fled to Lebanon. He denies any wrongdoing.

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Michael Taylor, a 60-year-old private security specialist and former Green Beret, and his 28-year-old son were extradited to Japan in March.

They were arrested in Massachusetts in May 2020.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Central and Eastern European nations are anxious about the coming summit meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, wary of what they see as hostile intentions from the Kremlin.

Some in the countries that once were part of the Soviet Union or the Moscow-led Warsaw Pact during the Cold War worry that Washington could scale down support for its allies in the region in a bid to secure a more stable and predictable relationship with Russia.

“I think there have been doubts as to the resoluteness of the present administration to face Russian aggressive actions in a decisive manner,” said Witold Rodkiewicz, chief specialist on Russian politics at Warsaw's Center of Eastern Studies, a state-funded think tank that advises the Polish government.

LOS ANGELES– Dr. Eugene Choi, a Los Angeles-based radiologist, said in an interview published Saturday that he came down with COVID-19 despite receiving the vaccine about six months ago.

Fox 11 reported that Choi is in quarantine fighting the virus. The report pointed out that his wife—who was also vaccinated—was also diagnosed with the disease.

“Even when I think about it today, it’s crazy,” he told the station. “I can’t believe I have COVID.”

A Bay Area couple is accused of trafficking women from overseas and operating a “brothel” in Milpitas located in a complex where units can fetch $5,000-a-month for rent, according to reports.

SFGate.com reported that David Davies, 57, and Larong Hu, 38, were taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with crimes tied to human trafficking. The report said six women were rescued and authorities said they recovered about $2 million. The suspects are accused of using websites to lure men.

Patrick Vanier, the district attorney from Santa Clara, told NBC Bay Area that these women would have their passports stripped and be forced to have sex with between 10 and 15 men a day. The arrests were the result of a two-year investigation.

Israel has a new prime minister for the first time since 2009 after a power-sharing government led by Naftali Bennett survived a confidence vote on Sunday. Bennett was sworn in as prime minister.

Why it matters: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister and the man around whom Israeli politics have revolved for a decade, will now become opposition leader. Bennett, a right-wing former Netanyahu protege, will lead the most ideologically diverse government in Israeli history.

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The final vote was 60-59 with one abstention, the smallest possible majority for the new government.

The latest: President Biden spoke by phone with Bennett shortly after the vote and said he looked forward to working with the new government. Bennett thanked Biden for his support of Israel during the last operation in Gaza and said he is a great friend of Israel, Bennett’s office said.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Tony Blinken also released statements welcoming the new government. Blinken spoke by phone with his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid and invited him to Washington.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Blinken and Lapid discussed the U.S. commitment to Israel's security, the importance of maintaining a cessation of hostilities, opportunities to deepen and broaden normalization of diplomatic relations and the threat posed by Iran.

Vice President Kamala Harris' stumbles during her first foreign trip have rekindled the debate from her presidential campaign about whether she — and not her staff — is to blame.

Why it matters: While Harris' only overture toward running for president in 2024 has been a trip to New Hampshire in April, the vice president is in a prime position to cast herself as the best choice for Democrats should President Biden not seek a second term.

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Such international trips and her leadership of the migration and jobs portfolios given to her by Biden will collectively let her showcase herself for the No. 1 slot in a future election.

The White House didn't offer comment but aides noted that Harris has done numerous interviews without problems and the exchange during her trip last week came after repeated questions on the same topic.

Although COVID-19 cases are dropping across the country, even in areas that haven't vigorously vaccinated their populations, experts warn the good times may not last, the Associated Press reported Sunday.

The state of play: The declining case numbers could be due to a combination of vaccination, natural immunity in communities where many were already exposed to the virus, and the warmer months allowing people to spend less time cooped up indoors, per AP.

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Only eight states have seen their case averages increase the past two weeks, and all of these states have vaccination rates below the national average of about 39% being fully vaccinated.

On the other hand, the 10 states with the fewest COVID-19 cases per capita are fully vaccinated at rates higher than the national average, per AP.

“To save the nation. Leaving tomorrow or the fifth,” Karol Chwiseiuk said

A Chicago police officer was arrested on Friday for his involvement in the U.S. Capitol Insurrection on Jan. 6. The insurrection was an attempt to prevent the certifying of the 2020 presidential election results.

The Huffington Post reports that Chicago police officer Karol J. Chwiesiuk appeared remotely before U.S. Judge Gabriel Fuentes and faces five federal misdemeanors including violent entry and disorderly conduct. His bond is currently set at $15,000.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year run in power is about to end, and it looks like he's aiming to make life difficult for his replacement on the way out.

Israel's parliament, or Knesset, on Sunday is holding a vote of confidence on a new coalition government headed by opposition leader Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett, the leader of the right-wing Yamina party who will step into the prime minister role for two years before Lapid takes over if the vote passes as expected.

Before the vote, though, Netanyahu got a chance to address the Knesset. He did not hold back, reportedly claiming that Bennett, his former ally, defrauded voters and that his government will pass laws akin to authoritarian regimes like those in North Korea and Iran. “While I fight Iran, you bring Iran,” Netanyahu said, referring to the enmity between the two countries and the threat of Tehran's nuclear capabilities.

Hours before a vote to oust him, outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused President Biden of endangering Israel's security by taking a soft line on Iran, and claimed the man who is about to replace him, Naftali Bennett, would be too weak to stand up to Washington.

Why it matters: Netanyahu had waged a desperate but apparently unsuccessful campaign to stop a “change coalition” from joining together to replace him after an inconclusive election in March. Facing an imminent demotion to opposition leader, he foreshadowed a willingness to damage the U.S.-Israel relationship to put his rival under pressure.

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