STEPHEN LYNCH

A bipartisan delegation of the U.S. lawmakers are visiting Poland and they say the most urgent need in Ukraine's fight against a Russian invasion is to equip the Ukraine military and support in every way so it can defend the country's independence.

The Pentagon is taking a rare look at whether it is properly prepared for an emergency in which the portable communications system nicknamed the “nuclear football," which always accompanies the president, is lost or stolen.

By the cup or by the gallon, HTeaO’s menu boasts 24 tea and lemonade options customers can mix and match.

Trump told his acting defense secretary to 'do whatever was necessary to protect supporters 'executing their constitutionally protected rights.'

High school girls' soccer: Southern Section playoff results and updated pairings

A Georgia judge will continue hearing legal motions Thursday in the murder case of three men facing a fall trial in the slaying of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was chased and shot after being spotted running in the defendants' neighborhood. Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley planned to revisit defense attorneys' push for permission to show the trial jury evidence involving Arbery's mental health.

Australia’s largest telecommunications company Telstra was fined 50 million Australian dollars ($39 million) on Thursday for unconscionable conduct in selling remote Indigenous customers mobile phone contracts that they did not understand and could not afford. The fine ordered by a Federal Court judge is the second largest ever imposed under Australian consumer law. Telstra admitted the offenses in signing up 108 Indigenous customers, some of whom spoke English as a second or third language, to mobile phone accounts.

A CBS4 Miami reporter and photojournalist filming a fight in South Beach Wednesday night were attacked by a group of people, police said.

Attorneys for Ahmaud Arbery's accused killers want to introduce his mental health and past with police at trial. A prosecutor called the motions "offensive."

Prosecutors have charged seven people after the mummified body of the leader of a spiritual group called Love Has Won was found decorated with Christmas lights and glitter in what appeared to be a shrine in a southern Colorado home. Amy Carlson, 45, who was known as “Mother God” by her followers, was found dead in a home in the tiny, rural town of Moffat on April 28, according to arrest affidavits. A coroner’s office has not said how or when Carlson died.

Bill Clark/Pool/GettyA Democratic lawmaker called former acting defense secretary Chris Miller “ridiculous” on Wednesday for trying to walk back his claims that former President Donald Trump incited the violent Jan. 6 insurrection.In his prepared remarks for a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on the riot, and in a March interview with VICE, Miller had called out Trump for directly inciting thousands of MAGA supporters to attack the Capitol after repeated claims that the 2020 election was “stolen.”“You said the insurrection happened because of Trump’s speech,” Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) said during the hearing.But Miller then tried to walk back his original claims, saying he’d had a change of heart after seeing information from the ongoing criminal investigation into the siege and statements from D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee. He said he now believed there was “some sort of conspiracy where there were organized assault elements that intended to assault the Capitol that day.”‘Fuck All of You!’: Capitol Rioter Raises Hell During Off-the-Rails Court Hearing“I’d like to modify my original assessment,” Miller said, to which Lynch snarked,” Why am I not surprised about that?”“We are getting more information by the day, by the minute,” Miller said. “There was some sort of conspiracy...that intended to storm that Capitol that day… I have reassessed. [Trump was] not the unitary factor at all.”An incredulous Lynch told Miller: “For your written testimony for today, for today, this morning, you stated the following about the president, quote, I personally believe his comments encouraged the protesters that day.”Unsatisfied with Miller’s response, Lynch called him out for his “very recent reversal of your testimony.”“Absolutely not. That’s ridiculous,” Miller responded, clearly agitated.“You’re ridiculous!” Lynch hit back. Miller seemed stunned by insult, before sarcastically thanking the lawmaker for his thoughts. He later slammed Lynch for the “partisan attack.”Miller’s new reasoning doesn’t quite hold water. Of the 400 individuals charged in connection with the riot, dozens have been accused of planning and training to storm the Capitol. But prosecutors say those alleged conspirators, most of whom believe to MAGA-loving paramilitary group the Oath Keepers, openly admitted that they felt compelled to protest widespread election fraud in D.C. on Jan. 6 at Trump’s behest.Dem Hearings Bend Over Backward to Ignore GOP Complicity in Capitol RiotMiller has come under fire for waiting too long to authorize National Guard troops amid the insurrection, and for ignoring pleas from D.C. leaders for help.Defending his own actions, he said in his prepared remarks that he was concerned about sending U.S. troops into the Capitol out of the “possibility of a military coup or that advisors to the President were advocating the declaration of martial law.”Miller said that he wanted to ensure the operation to deploy the National Guard was finalized before making the call for military assistance to ensure the optics were carefully considered.“I was also cognizant of the fears promulgated by many about the prior use of the military in the June 2020 response to protests near the White House and fears that the President would invoke the Insurrection Act to politicize the military in an anti-democratic manner,” Miller added in this statements, stressing that he was not going to allow a coup under his watch.But Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) slammed Miller for not taking accountability or having any “sense of shame” for his role in the siege.“Will you apologize to the American public for what happened on your watch? Will you apologize to the troops for what happened on your watch?” Khanna asked. “I can’t believe we had someone like you in that role... it’s total self-promotion. All you're trying to do is cover your own reputation.”Dodging Khanna’s request to apologize, Miller instead said he wanted to “highlight the incredible job of the members of our armed forces.”“I stand by every decision I made on January 6,” Miller said.Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) also tore Miller to shreds on the crucial “1.5 hour gap” between D.C. Mayor Muriel Bower’s request for National Guard backup at about 1:30 p.m. and Miller’s authorization at 3:04 p.m. on Jan. 6. He noted that Trump had told Miller on Jan. 3 to grant Bowser’s request for resources.“Sir, she requested additional support from you. And during that 1.5 hours either you disobeyed an order given to you by the president to help Mayor Bowser, or the president changed his order and asked you to delay the support, or you just plain froze and were being indecisive as people were being injured, killed, while hundreds of rioters breached the capitol and a nation was traumatized,” Krishnamoorthi said.When Miller insisted there were “8,000 badged and credentialed police officers on duty,” Krishnamoorthi asked him specifically why he was missing in action.“That’s completely inaccurate!” Miller hit back, to which Krishnamoorthi responded: “Sir, you partially own this mayhem and that why I’m going to ask for a Department of Defense investigation into your actions.”“I already requested that before I left the DoD,” Miller said.In his March interview with VICE, Miller said he believed Trump played a clear role in the insurrection, stating that “it’s pretty much definitive” the event wouldn’t have happened if the president didn’t encourage it in his speech that day.“It seems cause-and-effect,” Miller said at the time. “The question is, did he know he was enraging people to do that? I don’t know.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

During Wednesday’s House Oversight Committee hearing on the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack, Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., called out former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller for reversing his testimony on whether former President Donald Trump incited the violent insurrection.

Republicans are seeking to rewrite the history of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.

Five suspected militants killed four people in an Indonesian village on Tuesday, beheading one of them, officials said. The attackers also burned a motorcycle that belonged to one of the victims in Kalemago village in Central Sulawesi province's Poso district, they said. A witness said the attackers were believed to be members of the East Indonesia Mujahideen group, Central Sulawesi spokesperson Didik Supranoto said.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)WASHINGTON – Lawmakers expressed frustration Tuesday with how slowly improvements are being made to criminal investigation at Fort Hood, Texas, where rates of violent crime and sexual assaults are particularly high. More than two dozen Fort Hood soldiers died in 2020, including in multiple homicides and suicides. The review also concluded that the Army CID was understaffed, overwhelmed and filled with inexperienced investigators. Elder Fernandes, who was missing for more than a week last year before he was found dead about 28 miles from Fort Hood. AdAs a result of the independent review and other investigations, the Army earlier this year took action against 14 officers and enlisted soldiers at Fort Hood.

FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2021, file photo, Drivers wait in line at a mega COVID-19 vaccination site set up in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Some of them carried signs decrying the COVID-19 vaccine and shouting for people not to get the shots. California surpasses 40,000 coronavirus deaths. ___BALTIMORE — Baltimore public health officials are canceling some COVID-19 vaccination appointments scheduled for next week after overbooking hundreds of first-dose appointments. ___ROME — The Italian Medicines Agency known has approved the use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for persons older than 18.

Boston Marathon Race Director Dave McGillivray holds an "I Got Vaccinated" button at a COVID-19 vaccine injection site set in a concession area at Fenway Park, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)BOSTON — A Massachusetts congressman who has received both doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine has tested positive for the virus. The state also reported 5,028 additional confirmed coronavirus cases, increasing the state’s totals to 748,260 cases and 13,022 deaths. Ad___FORT LAUNDERDALE, Fla. — The predominantly Black farming communities on the shore of Florida’s Lake Okeechobee will get a coronavirus vaccine station. Algeria has registered more than 106,000 coronavirus cases and 2,881 confirmed deaths.

Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy speaks about an investigation into Fort Hood, Texas at the Pentagon, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, in Washington. A day after Army officials released an independent panel's report on chronic leadership failures and widespread violence at Fort Hood, lawmakers said they will ensure the Army makes long-delayed changes. Elder Fernandes, who was missing for more than a week before he was found dead about 28 miles from Fort Hood. Army leaders concluded that leadership failures contributed to the widespread crime problems at Fort Hood. The five-member panel spent three weeks at Fort Hood and conducted more than 2,500 interviews, including 647 in person.

Jake Auchincloss has won a packed primary to become the Democratic nominee in the race to fill the U.S. House seat being vacated by Rep. Joe Kennedy III in Massachusetts. Nearly 1 million voters, skittish over the coronavirus pandemic, used the mail option for Tuesdays primary. He was elected to the Newton City Council in 2015. Kennedy opted not to seek reelection so he could challenge incumbent U.S. Sen. Edward Markey in the Senate Democratic primary, but lost that bid Tuesday, becoming the first member of the Kennedy political dynasty to lose a congressional race in Massachusetts. The few other members of Massachusetts all-Democratic congressional delegation who had faced primary opponents Reps. Richard Neal, Stephen Lynch and Seth Moulton all breezed through Tuesdays runoff.

BOSTON A background in science specifically, infectious disease and epidemiology may not spring to mind as a key selling point for candidates hoping to land a seat in Congress. Kennedy is challenging incumbent U.S. Sen. Edward Markey in the states Democratic primary, creating an open race to fill his seat. I cant go anywhere in this district and not talk about anything but my experiences as an infectious disease doctor, he said. Goldstein said he also sees himself as part of a wave of younger Democratic candidates trying to push the party toward a more progressive agenda. Brookline resident Barbara Kamholz, a 48-year-old associate professor of psychiatry at the Boston University School of Medicine, said she's pleased with the variety of Democratic candidates running to fill Kennedys seat.

In the August complaint, Lt. Col Yevgeny Vindman alleges he faced retaliation from Trump and White House officials after raising concerns about the presidents pressure on Ukrainian officials to investigate Democrat Joe Bidens family the heart of the Democrats impeachment inquiry. Both Vindmans worked for the National Security Council in the White House and were reassigned to the Army after the Senate voted to acquit Trump in his impeachment trial. If the White House refuses to cooperate fully including by denying requests for documents or for interviews with White House officials we will have no other choice but to infer that any such actions were retaliatory, the Democrats wrote. Mark Zaid, a lawyer for Yevgeny Vindman, confirmed the existence of the complaint and said it states that that senior White House officials, to include the president, retaliated against him for performing his duty as an attorney and soldier. The White House did not immediately comment on the allegations. The allegations are wide-ranging, including his apprehension about the pressure on Ukraine and the behavior of OBrien, who was then the assistant to the president for national security affairs.