Judge sanctions Department of Justice over census case
Senate confirms Ratcliffe as national intelligence chief
WASHINGTON – The Senate on Thursday confirmed Texas Rep. John Ratcliffe as director of national intelligence, installing a new head of the nation’s intelligence agencies at a time when President Donald Trump has ousted multiple officials. Ratcliffe’s nomination was renewed in February; he withdrew last year after Republicans questioned his experience. But senators warmed to him as they grew concerned about upheaval in the intelligence community under Trump and wanted a permanent, confirmed director.
A federal judge on Thursday agreed to impose financial sanctions against the Trump administration for failing to produce documents during litigation over adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman said in a ruling that the Trump administration’s failure to produce the documents was “unacceptable for any litigant, and particularly for the Department of Justice.” The New York judge ordered the administration to pay some costs of advocacy groups that had sought the sanctions.
Hundreds killed in new violence in South Sudan, ICRC says
JOHANNESBURG – Hundreds of people have been killed in a new burst of violence in South Sudan, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday, with “many more” injured and thousands displaced. The United Nations mission in South Sudan on Wednesday said peacekeepers reached the communities in Pieri, in northern Jonglei, to investigate the violence and found many huts burned to the ground. The pandemic also complicates South Sudan’s recovery from civil war in which nearly 400,000 people were killed.
Brazil police seize marijuana in nation’s ‘biggest bust’
SAO PAULO – Brazilian police said Thursday that nearly 28 tons of marijuana have been seized hidden in corn in what authorities have called “the biggest drug bust” ever in the country. The Brazilian federal police say several packages of the drug were underneath the corn when officers stopped the truck in the southwestern state of Mato Grosso do Sul on Wednesday. Police say they had started monitoring the truck after suspicions were raised about its driver, who will face drug trafficking charges. No other details were released.