North Carolina's Gov. Signs Law Aimed at Restarting Executions
North Carolina's governor signed a repeal to a law that has allowed death row inmates to seek a reduced sentence if they could prove that racial bias affected their punishment, NBC News reported. The Racial Justice Act, the only law of its kind in the country, has led to four inmates getting their death sentences changed to life in prison without parole after the law took effect in 2009. Republican Gov. Pat McCrory said repealing the law would remove "procedural roadblocks" that had kept North Carolina from executing anyone since 2006 despite there being 152 people on death row. Supporters of the measure slammed state leaders for ignoring widespread evidence of systemic racial bias, while critics said the measure brings about unnecessary costs and delays after nearly all death-row inmates, including whites, sought reprieve under the act.
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Fixing America's Failing Bridges Would Cost Billions
A new report from Transportation for America, less than a month since the Skagit River bridge collapse in Washington State, found more than 66,000 U.S. bridges are structurally deficient. Pennsylvania has the most bridges in need of repair, followed by Oklahoma, Iowa, Rhode Island and South Dakota.
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Boston Bombing Victim Reunited With Man Who Saved Him
Rob Wheeler, who came to the aid of Ron Brassard during the Boston Marathon bombing, met up with him again at Brassard’s college graduation at Framingham State University.
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Brazil Officials Reverse Subway, Bus Fare Hike
AP
A bus and subway fare hike in Brazil that sparked protests across the country have been reversed, NBC News reported. The move, however, would do little to abate the demonstrations as public outrage has moved well beyond fare hikes and into communal frustration over poor public services. Mayors for both Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro confirmed that the fare hike has been rescinded, but demonstrations continued in some parts of Brazil including Rio's sister city Niteroi, as protestors demand improvements to public services in exchange for tax hikes and rising prices. Protestors across the country are slamming the government for its corruption, inefficiency and for spending billions of dollars to host the World Cup and Olympics while other needs go unmet.
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Mars Beyond Reach Without NASA Budget Boost
Mars could be permanently out of reach for NASA unless public officials treat exploration on the Red Planet with the same importance as the first mission to the moon, space industry experts say. Current budgetary constraints could mean that space explorers will never set foot on Mars, according to a Lockheed Martin official who spoke at a meeting with a House space subcommittee Wednesday. The current draft of the House's NASA budget asks the space agency to develop a roadmap that will define the technical capabilities needed to send humans to Mars in the near future. One of those intermediary steps could be another mission to the mood, which experts argue is not necessary for putting boots on Mars. The latest budget draft put NASA's funding at about $16.8 billion and authorizes the space agency to continue operations for another two years.
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Julian Assange Says WikiLeaks Helping Snowden Gain Asylum in Iceland
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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said on Wednesday that members of his anti-secrecy website have been in contact with self-proclaimed National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden and are helping him seek asylum in Iceland, NBC News reported. Assange, who spoke from the Ecuadoran embassy in London on the one-year anniversary of his own asylum said his group has a "common cause" with Snowden, though he would not comment on whether he has personally spoken with the alleged whisle-blower.
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Google: "We're Not in Cahoots with the NSA"
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"We're not in cahoots with the NSA," Google's top lawyer said Wednesday, as the search engine behemoth tries to assuage customers' fears that its email and Internet browsing history might be subject to government spying. David Drummond, the company's chief legal officer, made his appeal to Google users in a live web chat with The Guardian — which broke the story of the U.S. government's data surveillance programs with the help of contractor Edward Snowden's leaks this month — on Wednesday. He vehemently denied reports that the National Security Agency's data collection programs had given it "direct access" to Google servers, and he said the company only turns over data in response to "legitimate" requests relating to criminal or terror investigations. Drummond's remarks came a day after his company had sued in a secret intelligence court, claiming gag orders barring the company from informing customers of the data it is forced to turn over to the feds violates its First Amendment rights.
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Stocks Tumble on Doubts Over Fed's Stimulus Plans
AP
The Dow closed down more than 200 points Wednesday, after stocks tumbled in the wake of hints from the Fed that it could wind down its current stimulus measures later this year. The Federal Reserve said that for now it will hold rates steady and keep up its bond-buying — but it also suggested it could wind down its easing toward the end of 2013 if the economy keeps improving, CNBC reported. The markets had been looking to the Fed's meeting and announcement Wednesday for clues to its future plans, after its earlier mixed signals to investors on what stimulus might be in store. Stocks fell sharply Wednesday after the announcements, and at Wednesday's news conference, Fed Chair Ben Bernanke refused to address questions about his future heading the Fed as his second term there nears its end.
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Driver Charged in Death of Soccer Fan Dribbling to Brazil
Getty Images / Scott Olson
An Oregon man, who police say fatally struck Richard Swanson, the man who was on a mission to dribble a soccer ball from Seattle to Brazil for the World Cup, was arrested Monday on a charge of criminally negligent homicide, NBC News reported. Swanson, 42, was walking along busy U.S. 101 on May 14, when he was struck from behind by a pickup truck. Scott Van Hiatt stayed at the scene and has been cooperative, police said, but would not elaborate on the circumstances that led to the crash. Swanson started his journey in Seattle on May 1 partly to promote the Berkeley, Calif.-based One World Futbol Project, which donates durable blue balls to people in developing countries. In an interview with a Seattle TV station, Swanson joked that he hoped he wouldn't be run over on the coastal road. "I'll be on Highway 101, but I'll also try to utilize any of the trails that run along the coast, just trying to get off the beaten path, there's a lot of cars and just not get run over," he said.
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HPV Infections Fell by Half in Teen Girls After Vaccine
AP
HPV infections in American teen girls fell by more than half after the HPV vaccine was introduced in 2006, despite political controversy surrounding the vaccine, a study has found. The gains also happened even though just a third of teens aged 13 to 17 had the full series of shots to prevent HPV infection, said Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 19,000 cancers caused by HPV infections occur in women in the U.S. each year, with cervical cancers the most common, according to the CDC. Vaccination is recommended starting at age 11 or 12. Frieden said the study should be a national "wake-up call" to "protect the next generation by increasing HPV vaccination rates."
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FBI Chief: We Use Drones in U.S. for Surveillance
FBI Director Robert Mueller acknowledged Wednesday that his agency uses drones for surveillance on U.S. soil, but only on a "very, very minimal basis," he said. "We are in the early stages of doing that, and I will tell you that our footprint is very small, we have very few, and have limited use. And we're exploring not only the use, but the necessary guidelines for that use," Mueller, who is set to retire this year, said at a Senate hearing Wednesday. Although the use of government drones on U.S. soil is well-documented, with Homeland Security using them to help police the U.S.-Mexico border, Mueller said they are used for surveillance only "seldom." His remarks came amid a raging national debate over how much information the government should be able to gather in its law enforcement and anti-terrorism activities and how it should be allowed to collect it.
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GOP's Sen. Murkowski Backs Same-Sex Marriage
AP
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska on Wednesday has thrown her support behind legalizing same-sex marriage, joining GOP Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Mark Kirk of Illinois in backing the right of gay and lesbian couples to wed. Her announcement comes days before the Supreme Court is set to issue decisions on the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California’s ban on same-sex marriage. "When government does act, I believe it should encourage family values,” Murkowski wrote in an op-ed explaining her position. "I support the right of all Americans to marry the person they love and choose." A veteran GOP senator, Murkowski had previously said her views on same-sex marriage were "evolving," using the language President Barack Obama had once used to describe his own position before endorsing marriage rights.
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India to Shut Down Last Telegraph Service in July
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While at least 90 percent of Americans use cell phones to communicate, people in India still rely on the telegraph service to reach certain corners of the country. But that is soon to change. The country's 160-year old telegraph company, BSNL, will deliver its last telegram on July 14, leaving lawyers, soldiers and government officials without a trusty communication tool. The Indian government will shut down the service, which played a key role in the mid-nineteenth century during the British Raj, due to losses of $23 million a year connected to the rising popularity of text messages and smartphones. Telegram companies still exist as part-Web services, but India is the last country to use the service on a large scale -- 5,000 telegrams are sent sent in India per day. In the U.S., the Western Union delivered its last telegram in 2006.
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Karzai Quits U.S.-Taliban Peace Talks
AP
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Wednesday he will not participate in peace talks with the Taliban and accused the U.S. of "a contradiction" over its decision to meet with the militant group. He said Afghanistan would not take part "until the peace process is totally under Afghan control." Karzai earlier Wednesday announced he had suspended talks with the U.S. on a new security deal over how many troops should remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014 in protest of how the talks were announced. Government sources in Kabul told NBC News the Afghan leader was angered by the Taliban's decision to open a new office in Qatar under the name of the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" -- the name of its regime in the 1990s -- and fly its own flag outside.
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Radioactive Substance Found Near Fukushima Nuclear Reactor
AP
High levels of toxic Strontium-90 have been found in the groundwater at the site of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, its operator said on Wednesday. Nearly 30 times the permitted level of the radioactive isotope was discovered in a well dug up last month outside one of the reactors at the tsunami-stricken plant, according to the Tokyo Electric Power. The company said it believed the Strontium-90 was trapped during the initial 2011 nuclear fallout and there was no detectable rise in the substance in the sea water, NBC reported. The plant plans to inject chemicals into the ground to prevent any leaks into the ocean.
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