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Good evening. Here’s the latest.
1. After weeks of decline followed by a plateau, the US is seeing another surge in coronavirus cases.
For the past week, there was an average of 65,382 cases per day, up 19 percent from the average two weeks earlier. States like Florida and Texas, both overwhelmed by the virus, have lifted mask mandates and precautionary measures that most experts still believe are necessary. This increases the urgency to get more Americans vaccinated before worrying variants spread in a possible fourth wave of infections.
By mid-April, a total of 39 states should allow all adults to be approved for the Covid-19 vaccine, with Arkansas, Delaware and Wisconsin on the list at the latest. Federal health officials are asking Americans to remain vigilant. Above, a mass vaccination site in Louisville, Ky.
2. Young Witnesses commented on the second day of the Derek Chauvin Trial.
Darnella Frazier, the teenage girl who recorded the video of George Floyd’s arrest, held back tears when she described arriving at the crime scene and seeing him “scared, scared, begging for his life”. The widespread footage of Mr. Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer kneeling on Mr. Floyd’s neck, as well as the exact cause of death have been found to be key to the arguments.
3. Representative Matt Gaetz to investigate whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid to travel with him.
The Justice Department is currently investigating whether Mr. Gaetz, a Florida Republican and a close ally of Donald Trump, has violated federal sex trafficking laws. It was not clear how Mr Gaetz met the girl who was believed to be 17 at the time of the encounters about two years ago.
The investigation was opened in the final months of the Trump administration by former Attorney General William Barr. It was part of a wider investigation by a political ally of Mr Gaetz, Joel Greenberg, who was charged last summer on various counts, including sex trafficking in a child and financial aid to people in exchange for sex, at least one of whom was a minor Girl.
4. As President Biden prepares to announce its major infrastructure plan on Wednesday, a group fighting for inclusion: mothers.
The package is expected to include significant childcare allowance in addition to the family financial support listed in the $ 1.9 trillion stimulus plan. But for many mothers who have been hard hit by the pandemic, like Bridget Hughes, there are still no real feelings of relief, and grudges persist that the government is late to help. Both parties are now trying to woo them.
And with a string of judicial nominations on Tuesday, Mr Biden began an initiative to reshape the federal judiciary. The president’s first decisions reflected his campaign promise to select judges from a variety of backgrounds, including public defense lawyers.
5. An attack on a 65-year-old woman in Manhattan is the latest in a wave of anti-Asian violence.
The NYPD said it was looking for a man who would kick the woman to the ground on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk in broad daylight, stomp on her several times, and make anti-Asian remarks. Building workers who witnessed the attack and did not intervene have been suspended.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the video of the attack was “absolutely disgusting and outrageous” and that it was “absolutely unacceptable” that no one intervened or came to the woman’s aid.
The attack on the woman came when hate crime investigators were investigating a man’s subway beating on the same day.
6. Peace agreement or not, The Taliban believe they have already won the war.
From the bellicose speech of its deputy leader with “conquests” to mocking references to the “foreign masters” of the “illegitimate” government of Kabul, the boasting of the Taliban shapes the volatile present in Afghanistan.
The grim feeling of Taliban’s supremacy depends on talks slated for next month in Turkey. The Taliban show little external interest in compromises or in the American idea of power-sharing.
7. The blockade of the Suez Canal showed that bigger is not always better.
The Ever Given, a ship that is longer than the Empire State Building and can transport furniture for 20,000 apartments, is finally sailing again, but was part of a growing trend in shipbuilding: With the growth of world trade, shipping companies have increased their ship sizes.
The accelerated growth in ship size in recent years has often made economic sense – larger ships are usually cheaper to build and operate per container. But the rise has fought port against port, canal against canal in the race to accommodate mammoth ships.
9. Lil Nas X has evolved Good old-fashioned moral panic, writes our music critic.
Since the release of his new single “Montero” four days ago, the 21-year-old rapper has been using Twitter to bait and beat critics, including South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Nike and Fox News.
“Montero” – a playful song about lust featured in a Campy adult video in which Lil Nas X gives Satan a lap dance before killing him – may or may not top the Billboard Hot 100 next week, but he does will be unrivaled in the talks that have started.
“The real art here isn’t the music,” writes Jon Caramanica, adding that while it is one of his better songs, “the ease, the ease, the joy of his reactions to the reactions.”
10. And finally: tiny Marine animals are ready for their close-up.
One of the largest migrations of organisms on the planet occurs every evening when larval fish and invertebrates rise from the depths to the surface. A growing group of hobbyists are there to take their pictures – and to help scientists by offering new insights into fish larvae.
In so-called black water photography, divers dive deep into the ocean at night, to a place where “no floor, no walls, just this space that extends to infinity”, as one photographer put it. Many of the larvae are no bigger than a fingernail. But up close to macro lenses, the scene is like a submarine safari on another planet.
“The number one thing people, even scientists, ask is, ‘What the hell is this?’” Said Ned DeLoach, a veteran underwater photographer.
Have a night beyond