China vows to drop some travel tracking in COVID rule easing
BEIJING — China said it would stop tracking some travel, potentially reducing the likelihood people will be forced into quarantine for visiting COVID-19 hot spots, as part of an uncertain exit from the strict pandemic policies that helped fuel widespread protests.
Once midnight hit Monday, the part of a smart phone app that recorded a person’s travel between cities and provinces showed an out-ofservice message. Another app used to restrict the movement of those who test positive or enter an area with a recent outbreak remains in effect. They’re part of a package of pandemic apps, some of which have also been used by local governments to suppress protests.
The move follows the government’s dramatic announcement last week that it was ending many of the strictest measures, following three years during which it enforced some of the world’s tightest virus restrictions. That included near-constant testing, open-ended lockdowns and requirements that a clean bill of health be shown to access public areas.
Last month in Beijing and several other cities, protests over the restrictions grew into calls for leader Xi Jinping and the Communist Party to step down — a level of public dissent not seen in decades.
While met with relief, the relaxation has also sparked concerns about a new wave of infections potentially overwhelming health care resources in some areas.
ATLANTA — Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffen
sperger has received a subpoena related to special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of former President Donald Trump, who focused strongly on the state as he sought to overturn his 2020 election loss.
Smith was appointed last month to oversee not only the Justice Department’s Mar-a-Lago investigation but also aspects of Trump’s scramble to stay in power — including his effort in Georgia — and the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
In a Jan. 2 phone call, Trump had suggested that Raffensperger “find” the votes needed to give him a win in Georgia.
The subpoena, which is dated Friday and was received by Raffensperger’s office Monday, follows others served last week in several states and counties. Like those other locations, Georgia was a target of Trump
and his allies as they sought to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.
WASHINGTON — Four Oath Keepers charged with plot
ting to stop the transfer of presidential power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden accepted an “invitation to sedition” issued by the far-right extremist group’s founder, a federal prosecutor said Monday at the start of a second trial for group leaders and members.
Jurors heard opening statements two weeks after a different jury convicted Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and Florida chapter leader Kelly Meggs of seditious conspiracy and other charges stemming from a mob’s attack on the
U.S, Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Rhodes is jailed awaiting sentencing and wasn’t in court on Monday, but a prosecutor repeatedly brought up his name. Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy Edwards said Rhodes issued a “call to action” before his followers carried out a violent plot to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s electoral victory.
“This was an invitation to sedition,” the prosecutor said.
WASHINGTON — Amid a surge in hateful rhetoric and
violence, President Joe Biden on Monday formed a new interagency group to develop a national strategy to combat antisemitism, the White House announced.
The action comes at a time when anti-Jewish vitriol is being spread by prominent public figures.
Led by the White House Domestic Policy and National Security councils, the new group will consult with community leaders, government officials, lawmakers and activists as it drafts a national strategy to tackle antisemitism and Holocaust denial.
The action follows on Biden’s public commitment to healing the “soul of the nation” after seeing hate groups marching in Charlottesville, Virginia, with torches and swastikas in 2017, an episode that propelled his run for the White House.
“This strategy will raise understanding about antisemitism and the threat it poses to the Jewish community and all Americans, address antisemitic harassment and abuse both online and offline, seek to prevent antisemitic attacks and incidents, and encourage whole-of-society efforts to counter antisemitism and build a more inclusive nation,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The boyfriend of Breonna Taylor who
fired a shot at police as they burst through Taylor’s door the night she was killed has settled two lawsuits against the city of Louisville, his attorneys said Monday.
The city agreed to pay $2 million to settle lawsuits filed by Walker in federal and state court, one of his attorneys, Steve Romines said in a written statement. He added that Taylor’s death “will haunt Kenny for the rest of his life.”
“He will live with the effects of being put in harm’s way due to a falsified warrant, to being a victim of a hailstorm of gunfire and to suffering the unimaginable and horrific death of Breonna Taylor,” Romines said.
Walker and Taylor were settled in bed for the night when they were roused by knocking on her apartment door around midnight on March 13, 2020.
Police were outside with a drug warrant, and they used a battering ram to knock down the door. Walker fired a single shot from a handgun, striking Sgt. John Mattingly in the leg. Mattingly and two other officers then opened fire, killing Taylor.
Walker was initially charged with attempted murder of a police officer, but charges against him were eventually dropped as protests and news media attention on the Taylor case intensified in the spring of 2020.