Nation Glance
VARNER, Ark. – Arkansas has put to death inmate Marcel Williams, marking the first double execution in the United States since 2000.
Williams was pronounced dead at 10:33 p.m. Monday, 17 minutes after the procedure began at the Cummins Unit in southeast Arkansas. Inmate Jack Jones was executed earlier in the evening.
U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker temporarily stopped Arkansas from executing Williams, but lifted her stay after about an hour. Attorneys had argued that the first inmate executed, Jones, gulped for air and suffered during his lethal injection.
State Dept. removes promotion of Mar-a-Lago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department has removed its promotional posting about President Donald Trump’s Florida resort, after a storm of ethics criticism Monday.
In an April 4 blog post that was republished by several U.S. embassies abroad, Mar-a-Lago was described as “Trump’s Florida estate,” where he has hosted foreign leaders. “By visiting this ‘winter White House,’ Trump is belatedly fulfilling the dream of Mar-a-Lago’s original owner and designer,” the post said.
Left unsaid: Mar-a-Lago is part of Trump’s business empire. After his election, the resort doubled its membership fee to $200,000. As president, Trump has visited the property seven times.
The State Department said Monday that its intention was “to inform the public about where the president has been hosting world leaders” and that it regrets “any misperception.”
O’Reilly surprised by Fox exit, says truth will come out
LOS ANGELES — Five days after being fired from his top-rated Fox News Channel perch, Bill O’Reilly used a podcast to express his dismay and vowed that “the truth will come out.”
“I am sad that I’m not on television anymore,” he said in an episode Monday. “I was very surprised how it all turned out.”
O’Reilly, who exited Fox News amid sexual harassment allegations that he has denied, said he couldn’t add much more “because there’s much stuff going on right now.”
“But I can tell you that I’m very confident the truth will come out and when it does, I don’t know if you’re going to be surprised, but I think you’re going to be shaken, as I am,” said O’Reilly.