'Blue wall of silence' takes hit in Chauvin's murder trial

Police accused of wrongdoing can usually count on the blue wall of silence — protection from fellow officers that includes everything from shutting off body cameras to refusing to co-operate with investigators. But that's not the case with Derek Chauvin, with many colleagues quick to condemn his actions in George Floyd's death, some even taking the stand against him.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo testified that Chauvin’s kneeling on the handcuffed Floyd's neck was “in no way, shape or form” in line with department policy or training. Homicide detective Lt. Richard Zimmerman testified, “If your knee is on a person’s neck, that can kill him.”

Chauvin's former supervisor, retired Sgt. David Ploeger, testified that the force used on Floyd went on too long and should have ended when the Black man was handcuffed and stopped resisting. An inspector acquainted with Chauvin for two decades and an officer who said the defendant spent a day as her training officer took the witness stand as well.

The criticism didn't start at trial. Fourteen officers, including Zimmerman, signed an open letter last year saying Chauvin “failed as a human and stripped George Floyd of his dignity and life. This is not who we are.”

It's unclear whether officers are becoming more willing to call out a colleague, or if the extraordinary circumstances of this particular case are at play. While police agencies across the country have instituted reforms that promote more ethical behaviour, some experts say the unblinking video of Chauvin with his knee on Floyd's neck as the dying man pleads for air is the impetus for fellow officers to stand against Chauvin.

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Philip, in role with no job description, was queen’s bedrock

LONDON (AP) — When Prince Philip married the heir to the British throne, he knew he was stepping into virtually uncharted territory.

There was no official role for the husband of a sovereign queen, no constitutional duty or legal responsibility.

“There was no precedent,” he said when he turned 90. “If I asked somebody, ‘What do you expect me to do?’ They all looked blank. They had no idea.”

His wife Elizabeth knew exactly what she had to do when she became queen in 1952 after the premature death of her father, King George VI. For Philip, though, her ascension to the throne marked the end of his career as a naval officer and a plunge into uncertainty.

But at that crucial moment, he carved out the part he would carry through the decades: the queen’s honest and unwavering bedrock of support through a turbulent reign in which the thousand-year-old monarchy was forced to reinvent itself for the 21st century. It was a role the Duke of Edinburgh played until his death Friday at age 99.

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Group to study more justices, term limits for Supreme Court

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has ordered a study on overhauling the Supreme Court, creating a bipartisan commission Friday that will spend the next six months examining the politically incendiary issues of expanding the court and instituting term limits for justices, among other issues.

In launching the review, Biden fulfilled a campaign promise made amid pressure from activists and Democrats to realign the Supreme Court after its composition tilted sharply to the right during President Donald Trump's term. Trump nominated three justices to the high court, including conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was confirmed to replace the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg just days before last year’s presidential election. That gave conservatives a 6-3 split with liberals on the court.

During the campaign, Biden repeatedly sidestepped questions on expanding the court. A former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Biden has asserted that the system of judicial nominations is “getting out of whack,” but has not said if he supports adding seats or making other changes to the current system of lifetime appointments, such as imposing term limits.

The 36-member commission, composed largely of academics, was instructed to spend 180 days studying proposed changes, holding public meetings and completing a report. But it was not charged with making a recommendation under the White House order that created it.

The panel will be led by Bob Bauer, who served as White House counsel for former President Barack Obama, and Cristina Rodriguez, a Yale Law School professor who served in the Office of Legal Counsel for Obama. Other prominent members include Walter Dellinger, a former top Supreme Court lawyer for the government during the Clinton administration; Harvard law professor Lawrence Tribe, who has supported the idea of expanding the court and Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defence and Educational Fund.

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Gaetz faces House ethics probe; federal investigation widens

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee announced an investigation Friday into Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as federal prosecutors probing sex trafficking allegations against him are also scrutinizing the actions of some of his political allies and fellow Florida Republicans as part of a broader public corruption inquiry.

Federal agents have, in recent months, been examining Gaetz’s connections to several other influential Florida political figures.

They include Florida state senator Jason Brodeur; Halsey Beshears, the state’s former top business regulator; Chris Dorworth, a lobbyist who had served in the state House of Representatives; and Jason Pirozzolo, a hand surgeon and Gaetz campaign donor who served on the board of the Orlando Airport Authority, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

Brodeur and Beshears did not respond to repeated calls seeking comment. An attorney for Pirozzolo also did not respond to a request for comment. Dorworth didn't comment.

The FBI’s examination of a wide range of topics involving Gaetz and his associates exemplifies the breadth of the investigation.

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'Nothing less than a giant': Rapper-actor DMX dies at 50

NEW YORK (AP) — DMX, the iconic hip-hop artist behind the songs “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” and “Party Up (Up in Here)” whose distinctively gruff voice and thoughtful messages in his rhymes made him one of rap’s biggest stars, has died, according to a family statement Friday. He was 50.

The Grammy-nominated performer died after suffering “catastrophic cardiac arrest,” according to a statement from the hospital in White Plains, New York, where he died. He was rushed there from his home April 2.

His family's statement said DMX, whose birth name was Earl Simmons, died with relatives by his side after several days on life support.

“Earl was a warrior who fought till the very end. He loved his family with all of his heart, and we cherish the times we spent with him,” the family said, adding that his music “inspired countless fans across the world."

Memorial plans were not yet set.

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No region in the world spared as virus cases, deaths surge

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Hospitals in Turkey and Poland are filling up. Pakistan is restricting domestic travel. The U.S. government will send more help to the state with the country's worst infection increase.

The worldwide surge in coronavirus cases and deaths includes even Thailand, which has weathered the pandemic far better than many nations but now struggles to contain COVID-19.

The only exceptions to the deteriorating situation are countries that have advanced vaccination programs, most notably Israel and Britain. The U.S., which is a vaccination leader globally, is also seeing a small uptick in new cases, and the White House announced Friday that it would send federal assistance to Michigan to control the state’s worst-in-the-nation transmission rate.

The World Health Organization said infection rates are climbing in every global region, driven by new virus variants and too many countries coming out of lockdown too soon.

“We’ve seen rises (in cases) worldwide for six weeks. And now, sadly, we are seeing rises in deaths for the last three weeks,” Dr. Margaret Harris, a WHO spokeswoman, said at a briefing in Geneva.

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Biden budget seeks more for schools, health care and housing

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden released a $1.5 trillion wish list for his first federal budget Friday, asking for substantial gains for Democratic priorities including education, health care, housing and environmental protection.

The request by the White House budget office for an 8.4% increase in agency operating budgets spells out Biden’s top priorities as Congress weighs its spending plans for next year. It’s the first financial outline of the Democrats’ broader ambitions since the expiration of a 2011 law that capped congressional spending.

“I’m hoping it’ll have some bipartisan support across the board," Biden said before an Oval Office meeting with his economics team, though prominent Senate Republicans immediately complained the plan would shortchange the military and national security in boosting domestic programs.

Bipartisanship in 2011 also restricted Democrats' ambitions, a problem they’re now trying to address. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration was “inheriting a legacy of chronic underinvestment” because of the caps.

“The president is focused on reversing this trend and reinvesting in the foundations of our strength,” she told reporters at a briefing.

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Explosive eruption rocks volcano on Caribbean's St. Vincent

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — An explosive eruption rocked La Soufriere volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent on Friday after the government ordered thousands to evacuate their homes nearby.

Experts said the first explosion shot an ash column 32,000 feet (10 kilometres) into the sky and that the majority of the ash was headed northeast into the Atlantic Ocean. Lightning crackled through the towering column of smoke and ash late Friday.

Heavy ashfall was reported in communities around the volcano and beyond, with authorities saying some evacuations were limited by poor visibility.

Several flights also were cancelled and islands including Barbados, St. Lucia and Grenada prepared for light ashfall as the 4,003-foot (1,220-meter) volcano continued to rumble. Authorities reported two other explosions later Friday as the island braced for possible additional activity.

“More explosions could occur," Erouscilla Joseph, director of the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Center said in a phone interview, adding that it was impossible to predict whether they might be bigger or smaller than the explosions that have occurred so far.

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Kremlin says it fears full-scale fighting in Ukraine's east

MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin said Friday it fears a resumption of full-scale fighting in eastern Ukraine and could take steps to protect Russian civilians there, a stark warning that comes amid a Russian troop build-up along the border.

The statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, reflected the Kremlin’s determination to prevent Ukraine from using force to try to retake control over separatist-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine's military chief dismissed the Russian claims that the country's armed forces are preparing for an attack on the rebel east.

Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists have been fighting in eastern Ukraine since shortly after Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. More than 14,000 people have died in the conflict, and efforts to negotiate a political settlement have stalled.

Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of sending in troops and weapons to help separatists, accusations that Moscow has denied. The White House says Russia now has more troops on its border with Ukraine than at any time since 2014.

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NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week

A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:

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New Georgia voting law is far stricter than that in Colorado CLAIM: Major League Baseball moved the All-Star game to Colorado because Georgia now requires voter ID, but Colorado has the same requirement.

THE FACTS: Colorado does not require a photo identification card to vote, while Georgia’s new law requires voters to use such IDs to request vote-by-mail ballots and existing state law requires them for voting in person. Furthermore, Georgia’s newly passed voting rules that caused a backlash among critics are more sweeping than just ID requirements. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a 98-page measure into law on March 25 that rewrote Georgia election rules. Critics say the new law is too restrictive and will lead to voter disenfranchisement. They highlighted a provision that make it a misdemeanour to hand out water or food to anyone waiting in line to vote within 150 feet of the polling place and within 25 feet of anyone in line. The new law requires voters applying to receive a mailed ballot to include a driver’s license or state-issued ID number in their application, and then write that number on the envelope when they mail back their ballots. The law, which also gives the Republican-controlled legislature more authority over local election administration, follows former President Donald Trump’s false claims that widespread voter fraud occurred in Georgia and other states he lost in the November election. After the law passed, Major League Baseball released a statement on April 2 saying it would no longer hold its All-Star game in Truist Park in Atlanta because the organization "fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.” MLB announced Tuesday that the new location for the game would be Denver’s Coors Field. Social media users compared voter laws in the two states to falsely claim that Colorado’s laws are not that different from Georgia’s. One tweet that was widely shared on Twitter and Facebook spread the falsehood that the states have the same voter ID requirements, proving that the move was foolish. “Soooo! MLB moved the All-Star game from Georgia because of voter ID requirements, to Colorado WHICH ALREADY HAS VOTER ID!!” one Facebook post said. Despite what the posts online say, Colorado, a Democratic-controlled state, has less restrictive voting rules than Georgia. The state does not require voters to show photo identification to vote, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said 94% of Colorado’s voters cast their ballots by mail in November since the state sends all registered voters mailed ballots automatically. “The simple fact is Colorado is one of the easiest states to vote in and also has the highest election integrity of any state in the country,” Becker said. When voters choose to cast ballots in person, the state accepts many forms of identification that prove a voter's name and address, including a current copy of a utility bill, paycheque or bank statement. Voters who use a mailed ballot for the first time may also be asked to send in a photocopy of one of those documents.

— Associated Press writer Beatrice Dupuy in New York contributed this report.

News from © The Associated Press, 2021