On Colorado’s northeastern plains, where the pencil-straight horizon divides golden fields and blue sky, a farmer named Danny Wood scrambles to plant and harvest proso millet, dryland corn and winter wheat in short, seasonal windows. That is until his high-tech Steiger 370 tractor conks out. 

The tractor’s manufacturer doesn’t allow Wood to make certain fixes himself, and last spring his fertilizing operations were stalled for three days before the servicer arrived to add a few lines of missing computer code for $950. 

“That’s where they have us over the barrel, it’s more like we are renting it than buying it,” said Wood, who spent $300,000 on the used tractor. 

Wood’s plight, echoed by farmers across the country, has pushed lawmakers in Colorado and 10 other states to introduce bills that would force manufacturers to provide the tools, software, parts and manuals needed for farmers to do their own repairs — thereby avoiding steep labor costs and delays that imperil profits. 

“The manufacturers and the dealers have a monopoly on that repair market because it’s lucrative,” said Rep. Brianna Titone, a Democrat and one of the bill’s sponsors. “[Farmers] just want to get their machine going again.” 

In Colorado, the legislation is largely being pushed by Democrats, while their Republican colleagues find themselves stuck in a tough spot: torn between right-leaning farming constituents asking to be able to repair their own machines and the manufacturing businesses that oppose the idea. 

The manufacturers argue that changing the current practice with this type of legislation would force companies to expose trade secrets. They also say it would make it easier for farmers to tinker with the software and illegally crank up the horsepower and bypass the emissions controller — risking operators’ safety and the environment. 

Similar arguments around intellectual property have been leveled against the broader campaign called ‘right to repair,’ which has picked up steam across the country — crusading for the right to fix everything from iPhones to hospital ventilators during the pandemic. 

In 2011, Congress tried passing a right to repair law for car owners and independent servicers. That bill did not pass, but a few years later, automotive industry groups agreed to a memorandum of understanding to give owners and independent mechanics — not just authorized dealerships — access to tools and information to fix problems. 

In 2021, the Federal Trade Commission pledged to beef up its right to repair enforcement at the direction of President Joe Biden. And just last year, Titone sponsored and passed Colorado’s first right to repair law, empowering people who use wheelchairs with the tools and information to fix them. 

For the right to repair farm equipment — from thin tractors used between grape vines to behemoth combines for harvesting grain that can cost over half a million dollars — Colorado is joined by 10 states including Florida, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas and Vermont. 

Many of the bills are finding bipartisan support, said Nathan Proctor, who leads Public Interest Research Group’s national right to repair campaign. But in Colorado’s House committee on agriculture, Democrats pushed the bill forward in a 9-4 vote along party lines, with Republicans in opposition even though the bill’s second sponsor is Republican Representative Ron Weinberg. 

“That’s really surprising, and that upset me,” said the Republican farmer Wood. 

Wood’s tractor, which flies an American flag reading “Farmers First,” isn’t his only machine to break down. His grain harvesting combine was dropping into idle, but the servicer took five days to arrive on Wood’s farm — a setback that could mean a hail storm decimates a wheat field or the soil temperature moves beyond the Goldilocks zone for planting. 

“Our crop is ready to harvest and we can’t wait five days, but there was nothing else to do,” said Wood. “When it’s broke down you just sit there and wait and that’s not acceptable. You can be losing $85,000 a day.” 

Representative Richard Holtorf, the Republican who represents Wood’s district and is a farmer himself, said he’s being pulled between his constituents and the dealerships in his district covering the largely rural northeast corner of the state. He voted against the measure because he believes it will financially hurt local dealerships in rural areas and could jeopardize trade secrets. 

“I do sympathize with my farmers,” Holtorf said, but he added, “I don’t think it’s the role of government to be forcing the sale of their intellectual property.”  

At the packed hearing last week that spilled into a second room in Colorado’s Capitol, the core concerns raised in testimony were farmers illegally slipping around the emissions control and cranking up the horsepower. 

“I know growers, if they can change horsepower and they can change emissions they are going to do it,” said Russ Ball, sales manager at 21st Century Equipment, a John Deere dealership in Western states. 

The bill’s proponents acknowledged that the legislation could make it easier for operators to modify horsepower and emissions controls but argued that farmers are already able to tinker with their machines and doing so would remain illegal. 

This January, the Farm Bureau and the farm equipment manufacturer John Deere did sign a memorandum of understanding — a right to repair agreement made in the free market and without government intervention. The agreement stipulates that John Deere will share some parts, diagnostic and repair codes and manuals to allow farmers to make their own fixes. 

The Colorado bill’s detractors laud that agreement as a strong middle ground while Titone said it wasn’t enough, evidenced by six of Colorado’s biggest farmworker associations that support the bill. 

Proctor, who is tracking 20 right to repair proposals in a number of industries across the country, said the memorandum of understanding has fallen far short. 

“Farmers are saying no,” Proctor said. “We want the real thing.” 
…

The average price for a new vehicle in the United States soared above $49,000 in December, a record high.

With Americans increasingly price conscious at a time of high inflation and elevated interest rates, customer choice is a prominent theme at the 2023 Chicago Auto Show, the largest and longest-running auto show in North America.

A launchpad for manufacturers to showcase their latest offerings, previous auto shows have highlighted battery powered electric vehicles — commonly known as EVs and BEVs — that herald a carbon-free future for ground transportation.

While many EVs are also on display this year, manufacturers want customers to know they still have other options.

“We believe it shouldn’t be just one formula,” said Toyota regional manager Curt McAllister, noting that the company’s current product lineup, a mix of electric and gas-powered automobiles, reflects customer feedback. “Our customers are telling us they want choices. They just don’t want us to try to pigeonhole them into one subset.”

Which is why Toyota is profiling a fifth-generation Prius, a best-selling hybrid that uses both a battery and a gasoline-powered engine.

“We now have 21 hybrids across Toyota and Lexus,” said McAllister. “So it’s a big part of our carbon neutrality message.”

McAllister said Toyota isn’t ignoring the rapidly growing but more expensive battery powered electric vehicle market. “We know that BEVs are part of the future, but we want to make sure that we have something that not only makes sense but makes sense for their pocketbook.”

Though overall car sales down, EV sales up

Higher interest rates for car loans in 2022 slowed new vehicle purchases, marking the first drop in sales in a decade, even as carmakers worked to overcome supply chain problems such as shortages of microchips.

Even so, the number of EVs sold increased by about 65% from a year earlier, according to research firm Motor Intelligence. EVs made up nearly 6% of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. last year.

Despite recent price cuts for some electric vehicles that make them more competitive with gasoline-powered cars, many Americans remain reluctant to purchase battery powered electric vehicles.

One primary obstacle is what’s known as “range anxiety” — the concern about how far a vehicle can travel before having to recharge in a nation where gas stations still outnumber charging stations.

“Our customer base, some of them are not ready for EVs,” explained Chad Lyons, who is representing General Motors Chevrolet brand at the Chicago Auto Show. “So, actually our plan for the next five years is to offer EVs for those that are ready … but at the same time offer gas-powered vehicles for those that are not ready.”

Lyons said demand for gas-powered sedans has plummeted. As a result, his company’s lineup is focused on sport utility vehicles — commonly known as SUVs — including the redesigned gasoline-powered Trax compact SUV launching later this year, and priced similarly to Chevrolet’s sedans.

“People want vehicles that are higher up [higher riding] — that’s why you see so many SUVs right now being so popular,” he said.

‘The jelly bean proportion’

That preference is also reflected in Chevrolet’s electric vehicle lineup. Later this year, the brand will roll out two new SUV EVs, the Equinox and Blazer, and the choices don’t end there.

“Pickup trucks are the heart of America, and so we are going to offer the Silverado EV as well,” said Lyons.

“Everyone loves muscle cars,” said Dodge design manager Deyan Ninov, adding that customers want vehicles that look less electric and more classic. “I think if you look at all the electric cars out there right now, they all sort of look the same, they all have the same feeling and character they kind of have the same proportions — the jelly bean proportion.”

Ninov’s team has been working on an electric version of Dodge’s iconic Challenger, hoping to bring the “muscle car experience” to the battery-powered vehicle segment.

While manufacturers continue to emphasize choice, President Joe Biden has outlined a plan to ensure 50% of all vehicles on the road by 2030 are all electric. As a number of states consider mandates for electric vehicle adoption, California is leading the way, requiring all new vehicles sold in the state to be electric or hydrogen powered by 2035.
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U.S. federal agents arrested four Florida men on Tuesday in connection with the July 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, bringing to 11 the number of defendants in the United States facing charges over the plot.

Following the arrests, a federal grand jury in Florida returned a superseding indictment charging all 11 with a variety of crimes related to Moise’s killing in his residence in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on July 7, 2021. Moise’s wife was shot multiple times during the attack but survived.

“We have one case, one indictment charging the 11 defendants for their individual roles in the plot,” Markenzy Lapointe, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, announced during a press conference in Miami.

Plot to kill allegedly ‘advanced’ in US

The four suspects arrested Tuesday were identified as Arcángel Pretel Ortiz, a Colombian national and U.S. permanent resident; Antonio Intriago, a Venezuelan businessman and U.S. permanent resident; Walter Veintemilla, a U.S. citizen originally from Ecuador living in Florida, and Frederick Bergmann, a U.S. citizen.

The charges announced on Tuesday arise from U.S. laws that prohibit conspiracies to kill or kidnap persons abroad and to provide material support to such efforts, said Matt Olsen, assistant attorney general for national security.

“This assassination was carried out in Port-au-Prince, but as alleged in the complaint, aspects of this deadly plot were advanced inside the United States by co-conspirators and facilitators located here,” Olsen said during the press conference.

“Let me be very clear: The United States will not tolerate those who would plot from our soil to carry out acts of violence abroad, just as we will not tolerate those outside the U.S. who would plot to conduct violence in this country,” Olsen said.

Lapointe said “much of the planning, funding and direction” of the plot to assassinate Moise took place in southern Florida beginning in early 2021.

Three kinds of suspects

Lapointe said the suspects in the assassination plot fall into three broad groups.

“There were the planners and financiers in south Florida,” he said. “Then you also had operators with boots on the ground in Haiti. And there was a third group — those were the hired soldiers from Colombia who traveled to Haiti to carry out the coup.”

The four men arrested Tuesday were among the planners and organizers of the plot, Lapointe said.

Pretel Ortiz and Intriago, principles of a South Florida company called the Counter Terrorist Unit Federal Academy, and Counter Terrorist Unit Security [collectively CTU Security], were the planners, Lapointe said.

Veintemilla, the head of a finance company, is accused of financing the operation. Bergmann is charged with smuggling ballistic vests for the former Colombian soldiers who carried out the assassination.

Lawyers for the four defendants could not be immediately reached for comment.
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Democratic U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein announced Tuesday that she will not seek reelection in 2024, signaling the end of a groundbreaking political career spanning six decades in which she shattered gender barriers and left a mark on political battles over reproductive rights, gun control, and environmental protection.

“I am announcing today I will not run for reelection in 2024 but intend to accomplish as much for California as I can through the end of next year when my term ends,” Feinstein said in a statement.

“Even with a divided Congress, we can still pass bills that will improve lives. Each of us was sent here to solve problems. That’s what I’ve done for the last 30 years, and that’s what I plan to do for the next two years. My thanks to the people of California for allowing me to serve them.”

Feinstein was first elected to the Senate in 1992 and is the oldest member of Congress.
…

The largest and longest running auto show in North America, the Chicago Auto Show, is an annual showcase of the latest vehicle technology and offerings available to customers. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports this year’s show reflects consumer demand, and government mandates.
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U.S. inflation likely slowed again last month in the latest sign that consumer price increases are becoming less of a burden on America’s households. But Tuesday’s report from the government may also suggest that further progress in taming inflation could be slow and “bumpy,” as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has described it.

Consumer prices are expected to have risen 6.2% in January from 12 months earlier, down from a 6.5% year-over-year surge in December. It would amount to the seventh straight slowdown.

On a monthly basis, though, inflation is expected to have jumped 0.5% from December to January, according to a survey of economists by the data provider FactSet. That would be much faster than the 0.1% uptick from November to December.

So-called core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy costs to provide a clearer view of underlying inflation, are also expected to have slowed on a 12-month basis. They are forecast to have increased 5.5% in January from a year earlier, down from a 5.7% year-over-year rise in December.

But for January alone, economists estimate that core prices jumped 0.4% for a second straight month — roughly equivalent to a 5% annual pace, far above the Fed’s target of 2%.

“The process of getting inflation down has begun,” Powell said in remarks last week. But “this process is likely to take quite a bit of time. It’s not going to be, we don’t think, smooth, it’s probably going to be bumpy.”

Average gasoline prices, which had declined in five of the past six months through December, likely rose about 3.5% in January, according to an estimate from Nationwide. Food prices are also expected to have risen, though more slowly than the huge spikes of last summer and fall.

On a brighter note, clothing and airfare costs are thought to have barely budged from December to January. And economists have estimated that hotel room prices fell sharply.

Overall, the government’s inflation report will likely show the continuation of a pattern that has emerged in recent months: The costs of goods — ranging from furniture and clothing to toys and sporting goods — are falling. But the prices of services — restaurant meals, entertainment events, dental care and the like — are rising faster than they did before the pandemic struck and threaten to keep inflation elevated.

Goods have become less expensive because supply chain snarls that had inflated prices after the pandemic erupted in 2020 have unraveled. And Americans are shifting much of their spending toward services, after having splurged on items like furniture and exercise equipment during the pandemic.

Yet average wages are rising at a brisk pace of about 5% from a year ago. Those pay gains, spread across the economy, are likely inflating prices in labor-intensive services. Powell has often pointed to robust wage increases as a factor that’s driving up services prices and keeping inflation high even as other categories, like rent, are likely to decelerate in price.

The Biden White House last week calculated a measure of wages in service industries excluding housing — the sector of the economy that Powell and the Fed are most closely tracking. The administration’s Council of Economic Advisers concluded that wages in those industries for workers, excluding managers, soared 8% last January from a year earlier but have since slowed to about a 5% annual pace.

That suggests that services inflation could soon slow, especially if the trend continued. Still, wage gains of that level are still too high for the Fed’s liking. The central bank’s officials would prefer to see wage growth of about 3.5%, which they see as consistent with their 2% inflation target.

A key question for the economy this year is whether unemployment would have to rise significantly to achieve that slowdown in wage growth. Powell and other Fed officials have said that curbing high inflation would require some “pain” for workers. Higher unemployment typically reduces pressure on businesses to pay bigger wages and salaries.

Yet for now, the job market remains historically very strong. Earlier this month, the government reported that employers added 517,000 jobs in January — nearly twice December’s gain. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.4%, the lowest level since 1969. Job openings remain high.

Powell said last week that the jobs data was “certainly stronger than anyone I know expected,” and suggested that if such healthy readings were to continue, more rate hikes than are now expected could be necessary.

Other Fed officials, speaking last week, stressed their belief that more interest rate increases are on the way. The Fed foresees two more quarter-point rate hikes, at its March and May meetings. Those increases would raise its benchmark rate to a range of 5% to 5.25%, the highest level in 15 years.

The Fed lifted its key rate by a quarter-point when it last met on Feb. 1, after carrying out a half-point hike in December and four three-quarter-point increases before that.

The financial markets envision two more rate increases this year and don’t expect the Fed to reverse course and cut rates until sometime in 2024. For now, those expectations have ended a standoff between the Fed and Wall Street investors, who had previously been betting that the Fed would be forced to cut rates in 2023 as inflation fell faster than expected and the economy weakened. 
…

The handprints of military children pressed onto paper hearts are decorating a corner inside the White House and the lawn as first lady Jill Biden celebrates Valentine’s Day. 

Three large hearts, one with the message, “Reach Out with Open Hearts and Helping Hands this Valentine’s Day,” and two others featuring handprints are on display on the north lawn in view of television cameras where White House correspondents stand for their live reports.

Cut-outs of dog Commander and cat Willow are also part of the display.

The theme continues inside the executive mansion as a corner of the East Wing entrance is decorated with three more large hearts, all printed with “Love,” and replicas of the dog and cat. Hearts bearing the children’s handprints have been strung together and hung in a window for visitors taking public tours to see.

The first lady and the children worked on the “heart” projects when she visited the U.S. Army Garrison Fort Drum, New York, home of the 10th Mountain Division, on Jan. 30. The 3- to 5-year-old children are enrolled at Fort Drum South Riva Ridge Child Development Center.

The visit was part of her Joining Forces initiative to support military and veteran families and their caregivers.

Valentine’s Day is one of the first lady’s favorite holidays. She also displayed Valentine’s Day messages at the White House in 2021 and 2022.
…

The United States said Monday it does not know the origin of the three high-altitude objects it shot down over the past few days as they drifted in the winds over North America.

The government said it does not believe the objects were surveillance aircraft, though it is leaving open the possibility that they may be.

“They didn’t have propulsion,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at the White House. “They were not being maneuvered. They didn’t have surveillance [capability], but we couldn’t rule it out.”

“We’re sort of in uncharted territory here,” Kirby said.

He said parts of all three objects fell “in remote, difficult places to reach” — ice off the coast of the far northwestern U.S. state of Alaska, the Yukon territory of northwestern Canada and the depths of Lake Huron on the U.S.-Canada border.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said U.S. personnel have not yet recovered any debris from the three objects.

Austin told reporters Monday in Brussels, where he is scheduled to meet with NATO defense ministers this week, that weather is hampering recovery efforts in Alaska while the remote terrain in Canada is affecting the search there.

He said the priority for the Pentagon is “debris recovery so that we can get a better sense of what these objects are.”

Kirby declined to refer to any of the three airborne objects as balloons.

“We don’t know who owns them,” he said, in contrast to the Chinese spy balloon the U.S. shot down February 4 over the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of the southern state of South Carolina after it traversed the U.S. mainland for eight days.

China is continuing to claim the balloon was an errant weather-monitoring aircraft that drifted off course. But U.S. officials say the parts they have recovered from the ocean floor show the balloon was on a surveillance mission.

The U.S. military’s Northern Command said in a statement Monday that crews had recovered “significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces identified as well as large sections of the structure.”

Kirby said President Joe Biden “has made this a very top priority,” to determine the ownership and origin of the three objects downed by U.S. fighter pilots, either on his orders, or in the case of the one that landed in the Yukon, in consultation with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The spokesperson said the three objects were shot down because they posed a “very real” threat to civilian aviation, with the objects near Alaska and over the Yukon territory drifting about 12,000 meters above the Earth and the one over Lake Huron at half that height.

After the Chinese balloon was discovered, Kirby said U.S. radar has been recalibrated to look for more objects.

“One of the reasons we’re seeing more is we’re looking for more,” he said.

Earlier, Kirby vehemently rejected Beijing’s accusation Monday that the U.S. had flown more than 10 high-altitude balloons over China.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, at a daily briefing, said, “It is also common for U.S. balloons to illegally enter the airspace of other countries. Since last year, U.S. high-altitude balloons have illegally flown over China’s airspace more than 10 times without the approval of Chinese authorities.”

He said the United States should “first reflect on itself and change course rather than smear and instigate a confrontation.”

“Not true. Not doing it. Just absolutely not true,” Kirby told the U.S.-based cable news network MSNBC. “We’re not flying balloons over China.”

Both countries deploy spy satellites, but after Wang accused the United States of flying balloons over China, he offered no details about how they had been dealt with or whether they had alleged links to the U.S. government.

The United States said Monday it has also spotted Chinese balloons flying through the Middle East. But Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich, commander of the U.S. Air Forces Central Command, said, “They’ve not been a threat. They’ve flown through a few times since I’ve been in command but nothing that I would be concerned about in any way.”

Following the balloon incident, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a visit to Beijing that potentially could have eased relations between the two countries and disagreements over Taiwan, trade, human rights and Chinese actions in the disputed South China Sea.

VOA national security correspondent Jeff Seldin and Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb contributed to this report.
…

A series of shootings late Monday at Michigan State University left at least three people dead and five others injured.      

Chris Rozman, interim deputy chief of the campus police department, told reporters early Tuesday the injured were all hospitalized in critical condition.    

Rozman said the suspected shooter was a 43-year-old male who was later found dead outside of the campus with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and that he had been “confronted by law enforcement.” 

Rozman said the suspect was not affiliated in any way with the university. 

“We have no idea why he came to campus to do this tonight.  That is part of our ongoing investigation,” he said.    

The shootings began at an academic building and continued a short time later with more shots fired at the nearby student union, prompting authorities to order those on campus to shelter in place. 

“Our campus grieves,” Teresa Woodruff, the university’s interim president, told reporters. “We will all grieve, and we will change over time. We cannot allow this to continue to happen again.”    

The university canceled all campus activities for 48 hours.      

Michigan State has about 50,000 students at its campus in East Lansing, located 145 kilometers northwest of Detroit.       

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
…

Police at Michigan State University searched Monday for a suspect in a series of shootings at the school’s campus. 

University police tweeted that shots were fired near the Berkey Hall academic building and the IM East athletic facility. 

Authorities said there were multiple reported injuries and issued orders for people to shelter in place. 

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
…

Less than a week after the U.S. downed what officials say was a Chinese surveillance balloon, the U.S. military shot down three more flying objects of unknown origin. Chinese officials say they can’t say whether the newly downed objects are theirs but say the U.S. is overreacting. As Washington searches for answers, one thing is clear: China-U.S. relations have taken a hit. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House.
…

Report says Brett Blandon misused his government vehicle and misrepresented himself as a law enforcement official
…

A Georgia judge on Monday ordered the partial release later this week of a special grand jury report into efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn his 2020 election loss.

The report’s introduction and conclusion, as well as a section in which the grand jurors expressed concerns that some witnesses may have lied under oath, will be released on Thursday, said Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney.

Any recommendations on who should or should not be prosecuted will remain secret for now to protect their due process rights, McBurney wrote.

McBurney’s order came three weeks after hearing arguments from prosecutors, who urged the report be kept secret until they decide on charges, and a coalition of media organizations, which pressed for its release.

The release is a significant development in one of several cases that threaten legal jeopardy for the former president as he ramps up a 2024 White House campaign. The special grand jury spent about seven months hearing testimony from witnesses including high-profile Trump allies, such as attorney Rudy Giuliani and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and high-ranking Georgia officials, such as Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp.

McBurney wrote that the report includes recommendations for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, including “a roster of who should [or should not] be indicted, and for what, in relation to the conduct [and aftermath] of the 2020 general election in Georgia.” The special grand jury did not have the power to issue indictments, and it will ultimately be up to Willis to decide whether to seek indictments from a regular grand jury.

The special grand jury’s final report was requested by Willis and is meant to inform her investigative decision-making process, McBurney wrote, adding that the panel’s investigation was largely controlled by the district attorney and her team and was “a one-sided exploration.”

There was “very limited due process” for people for whom the grand jurors recommended charges, McBurney wrote. Some may not have had the opportunity to appear before the panel, and those who did appear did not have the right to have their lawyers present or to offer any rebuttal.

For that reason, the judge concluded, it is not appropriate to release the full report at this time.

It is not clear if or when Willis will present the case to a regular grand jury with the purpose of getting one or more indictments. At a Jan. 24 hearing, she said decisions are “imminent” but did not elaborate.

Trump told The Associated Press last month that he did “absolutely nothing wrong.” He said he felt “very confident” that he wouldn’t be indicted.

At the January hearing, Willis had argued against the immediate release of the report, saying it could violate the rights of potential defendants and negatively affect the ability to prosecute those who may be charged with crimes.

“We want to make sure that everyone is treated fairly and we think for future defendants to be treated fairly, it is not appropriate at this time to have this report released,” Willis said during the hearing.

A group of news organizations, including the AP, argued in favor of releasing the report immediately in full, saying that public interest in the report is “extraordinary.”

“The discomfort of the prosecuting authority in disclosing court records isn’t enough to make them sealed,” said attorney Tom Clyde, representing the media. “It has to be significant, identifiable evidence that’s going to cause a problem.”

Willis said in an emailed statement Monday that she believes McBurney’s order is “legally sound and consistent with my request” and that she has no plans to appeal. Clyde declined to comment.

Willis and her team began investigating two years ago, shortly after the release of a recording of a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. In that conversation, the then-president suggested that Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, could “find” the votes needed to overturn Trump’s narrow election loss in the state to Biden, a Democrat.

“All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Trump said on the call.

Since then, the investigation’s scope has broadened considerably. The special grand jury operated behind closed doors, as required by law, but public court filings and hearings related to its work provided a window into some of the topics Willis was exploring. Those included:

— Phone calls by Trump and others to Georgia officials in the wake of the 2020 election.

— A group of 16 Georgia Republicans who signed a certificate in December 2020 falsely stating that Trump had won the state and that they were the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors.

— False allegations of election fraud made during meetings of state legislators at the Georgia Capitol in December 2020.

— The copying of data and software from election equipment in rural Coffee County by a computer forensics team hired by Trump allies.

— Alleged attempts to pressure Fulton County elections worker Ruby Freeman into falsely confessing to election fraud.

— The abrupt resignation of the U.S. attorney in Atlanta in January 2021.
…

Police in New York said Monday a man drove a small U-Haul rental truck onto a sidewalk in Brooklyn, striking multiple people before he was taken into custody.

A police official told The Associated Press that at least eight pedestrians were injured, and two are in critical condition.

Police pursued the truck on a chase through the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, stopping it 5 kilometers away before the vehicle entered a tunnel to Manhattan. Video from news helicopters over the scene showed the truck pinned next to a building, its path blocked by a police cruiser.

New York City councilmember Justin Brannan tweeted, “We have no idea of motives at this time, but this wasn’t an accident.”

He told WABC-TV in New York that “police approached this driver and tried to get him to pull over, and at that time, he said something to the effect of, ‘I want to die,’ and then proceeded to start driving on the sidewalks in Bay Ridge.”

The station reported that police called in a bomb squad to search for explosives in the vehicle but found nothing suspicious.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
…

The Biden administration says it’s working with the governments of Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador to combat a documented rise in the availability and lethality of illegal drugs containing fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can be up to 100 times stronger than morphine.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the potency of pills is rising — in 2022, six out of 10 pills contained a potentially lethal dose of the narcotic.

President Joe Biden mentioned the deadly drug in his recent State of the Union address, in which he spoke of “a record number of personnel working to secure the border, arresting 8,000 human smugglers, seizing over 23,000 pounds of fentanyl in just the last several months.”

And Biden outlined his administration’s plan to tackle the epidemic in different ways, including funding screening measures, checking packages and “expanding access to evidence-based prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery.”

VOA’s Jorge Agobian spoke to Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, to find out how the U.S. is battling the overdose epidemic both inside and beyond its borders.

“The problem of fentanyl and synthetic drugs is not limited exclusively to the United States or Mexico,” Gupta said. “It’s a global problem. And secondly, the supply chain is also global. So whether it’s precursor chemicals that are converted into fentanyl, coming from China into Mexico or North America, or the synthesis of these drugs, we need to be making sure that we’re monitoring all of it, and we’re addressing specific choke points in this supply chain.”

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: A key component of President Biden’s State of the Union address was the fentanyl crisis. What next steps will the administration take on this issue?

Dr. Rahul Gupta: Fentanyl is killing 70,000 Americans a year overall as part of the overdose crisis. It is a top priority for President Biden to address that. It’s important for us to make sure we have an education campaign, especially for children, to be aware and understand that they have the power to not only be aware about this deadly threat, but also maybe carry Naloxone, the antidote for it so they can help their friends and others.

Also, what we can do is to ensure that we have the treatment available to everybody who needs it. We know that far too many Americans today aren’t able to get the treatment. So along with the antidote, we’ve got to get more people into treatment, and he talked about how he had challenged Congress the year before about removing barriers to doctors to prescribing, and he worked in a bipartisan manner with both sides of Congress to get that to happen. And he signed that into law.

He also talked about how there’s controlling of the fentanyl-related substances already, but it’s temporary we need to make that permanent.

President Biden highlighted how we have through the highest levels of fentanyl seizures at the border — twice as much as 2020 and four times as much in 2019. Why? Because we’ve implemented technology to be able to detect more, but the problem doesn’t begin or end at the border. We have to work with Mexico.

VOA: What in this strategy is the role of Mexico cooperating with the United States? And how much does the United States rely on Mexico to prosecute?

Gupta: People in Mexico are dying from overdoses and poisoning from fentanyl just like in America. So it’s very important that we work with a shared sense of responsibility, to make sure that we’re working to secure our country to make sure that we’re going after the bad guys who are intending harming Americans as well as Mexicans at the same time, we’re working on enhancing public health treatment, and the antidote Naloxone or Narcan and make it available to anyone who needs it.

We have made sure that we’re providing as much assistance to Mexico in partnership as a key player in helping us, but we also want to make sure that we’re holding traffickers, manufacturers and others accountable for their actions by preying on vulnerable people. It’s important because we want to make sure that they’re not making profits off the back of unsuspecting people who are dying and being poisoned. So it’s important whether it is in the United States or across the border, that our governments hold bad actors accountable in a forceful way.

VOA: Does the White House believe that the war on drugs is ‘a failed campaign,’ as the president of Colombia has called it?

Gupta: When President (Gustavo) Petro was inaugurated in Colombia early last year, I went, as the first delegation from the United States. We had a long and good conversation, and I said to him, “Look, we recognize that not all policies have been proven to be successful of the United States. But the important part is that we have a problem where an American is dying every 5 minutes around the clock. You have a problem where the economy is dependent, a lot, on cocaine production. We need to work with our 200-year relationship productively to see how we can secure a future both for the American people and the Colombian people.’”

And we need to see the way forward which is humane, which is protective of the environment.

And we need to figure out how to get people gainful employment, give hope, and the ability to have economic development as a way to address this. And that’s exactly some of the things that we’re going to be working with countries like Colombia.

VOA: What about the other countries in the Western Hemisphere?

Gupta: We know that these profits and the drugs don’t only kill Americans, but the profits go back to cause more destabilization, more crime and corruption and violence. It’s very important for us as a global leader to continue to work as good partners with other countries across Latin America. And there’s a history of us working with them, but to make sure that we’re doing in a way that yields us results, mutual respect and mutual cooperation. So we can hold the bad actors accountable, while ensuring that people everywhere have a chance to live safely, securely and healthy.

VOA: And finally, what about Venezuela? There is no cooperation between the two governments, of course, but Venezuela is still a key player in all these industries.

Gupta: We’re going to continue to focus with our partners in Colombia, and as well as Ecuador, to make sure that people there are getting the support when it comes to both the people coming in from Venezuela as well as resources. And then that work will continue, you know, as far as so I don’t have anything new to report on that at this point, from a policy perspective.

Anita Powell contributed to this report.

FOR HELP:

The World Health Organization says there are three common signs and symptoms of an overdose: pinpoint pupils, unconsciousness and difficulties with breathing.

Learn more about overdoses in the WHO’s fact sheet.

For the unfamiliar, fentanyl goes by several nicknames. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration lists several commonly used in the U.S.: Apache, China Girl, China Town, Dance Fever, Friend, Goodfellas, Great Bear, He-Man, Jackpot, King Ivory, Murder 8, and Tango & Cash.

Check the DEA’s website for details.
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The Kansas City Chiefs kicked a field goal with eight seconds remaining to claim a 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in the National Football League’s Super Bowl. 

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for three touchdowns in the game to earn the Most Valuable Player award. 

Two of those touchdowns came in the fourth quarter as Kansas City rallied from a 24-14 halftime deficit by scoring on all of their second-half possessions. 

The Eagles managed to tie the game 35-35 with just over five minutes remaining as their quarterback, Jalen Hurts, ran in both a touchdown and a two-point conversion. 

But Kansas City was able to use nearly all of the game’s remaining time as it drove 66 yards down the field to set up for the winning field goal. Philadelphia was left with only enough time for one desperate pass attempt that fell short. 

For the Chiefs, the Super Bowl win was their second in four years, following a victory in 2020. 

Hurts finished the game with 304 passing yards and one passing touchdown in addition to his three rushing touchdowns. 
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Rihanna made her long-awaited return to the stage at the Super Bowl with a career-spanning medley of pop bangers, but it was her baby bump that dominated the conversation.   

The megastar appeared in the stadium midair on a floating stage, donning a clingy, all-red ensemble featuring a molded bustier — and a belt below what many viewers deduced was another mini RiRi in the making.   

Representatives for the singer confirmed the speculation to trade magazines Rolling Stone and The Hollywood Reporter: Rihanna is pregnant with her second child.   

The 34-year-old welcomed her first child, a son, with rapper A$AP Rocky in May.   

Musically speaking, fans who hoped for some fresh tracks were disappointed: Rihanna’s night on the world’s biggest stage offered a nostalgia tour of hits from the past. 

She delivered her club smashes including “Where Have You Been” to “Only Girl (In the World)” and the time-tested “We Found Love.”   

“Rude Boy,” “Work” and “All of the Lights” were also on the setlist, as a sea of dancers performed stunning acrobatics.   

“Wild Thoughts,” “Run This Town” and, of course, “Umbrella” and “Diamonds” rounded out the show.   

She did not, as many stars do, bring out any guest artists, commanding the stage all on her own.   

The evening marked a reversal after Rihanna had previously turned down the gig in protest of the National Football League’s handling of race issues.   

But in accepting the coveted slot this time around, the Barbados-born singer said it was “important for representation.”   

“It’s important for my son to see this,” she said.   

Since releasing “Anti” in early 2016, Robyn Rihanna Fenty has taken a break from recording but has by no means taken it easy: she’s become a billionaire, parlaying her music achievements into successful makeup, lingerie and high-fashion brands.   

Since her last album Rihanna has performed occasional features and more recently recorded music for the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” soundtrack. 
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U.S. fighter jets shot downed two more objects flying over the United States and Canadian territories over the weekend. Although a comprehensive analysis of the debris will be needed, a top Democratic senator said they are now believed to be balloons similar to a Chinese one downed a week ago. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports.
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The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are holding joint exercises in the South China Sea at a time of heightened tensions with Beijing over the shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon.  

The 7th Fleet based in Japan said Sunday that the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit have been conducting “integrated expeditionary strike force operations” in the South China Sea.

It said exercises involving ships, ground forces and aircraft took place Saturday but gave no details on when they began or whether they had ended.

China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and strongly objects to military activity by other nations in the contested waterway through which $5 trillion in goods are shipped every year.

The U.S. takes no official position on sovereignty in the South China Sea but maintains that freedom of navigation and overflight must be preserved. Several times a year, it sends ships sailing past fortified Chinese outposts in the Spratly Islands, prompting furious protests from Beijing.

The U.S. has also been strengthening its defense alliance with the Philippines, which has faced encroachment on islands and fisheries by the Chinese coast guard and nominally civilian but government-backed fleets.

The U.S. military exercises were planned in advance. They come as already tense relations between Washington and Beijing have been exacerbated by a diplomatic row sparked by the balloon, which was shot down last weekend in U.S. airspace off the coast of South Carolina.

The U.S. said the unmanned balloon was equipped to detect and collect intelligence signals, but Beijing insists it was a weather research airship that had accidently blown off course.

The incident prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to abruptly cancel a high-stakes trip to Beijing last weekend aimed at easing tensions.

After first issuing a highly rare expression of regret over the incident, China has toughened its rhetoric, calling the U.S. move an overreaction and a violation of international norms. China’s defense minister refused to take a phone call from U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss the matter.

The United States has since blacklisted six Chinese entities it said were linked to Beijing’s aerospace programs as part of its response to the incident. The House of Representatives also voted unanimously to condemn China for a “brazen violation” of U.S. sovereignty and efforts to “deceive the international community through false claims about its intelligence collection campaigns.”

The balloon was part of a large surveillance program that China has been conducting for several years, the Pentagon said. The U.S. says Chinese balloons have flown over dozens of countries across five continents in recent years, and it learned more about the balloon program after closely monitoring the one shot down near South Carolina.

In its news release, the 7th Fleet said the joint operation had “established a powerful presence in the region, which supports peace and stability.”

“As a ready response force, we underpin a broad spectrum of missions including landing Marines ashore, humanitarian disaster relief, and deterring potential adversaries through visible and present combat power,” the release said.
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U.S. national security officials say they believe the latest two high-altitude objects shot down over the northern reaches of the United States and Canada were balloons, but much smaller than a Chinese spy balloon shot down over the Atlantic Ocean more than a week ago, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday.

Schumer told ABC’s “This Week” show that he had been briefed Saturday night by President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, about the initial findings about the objects, one shot down over frozen waters near the state of Alaska on Friday and a second one Saturday over Canada’s Yukon region.

Schumer did not say where the balloons originated. But he said both were shot down by U.S. fighter jets, the second on authorization from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, after both were spotted on radar at about 12,000 meters (40,000 feet) above the Earth and were considered a threat to commercial aircraft that fly at a similar altitude.

“You can be sure that if any American interests where people are at risk, they’ll take appropriate action,” he said.

With the three balloon shootdowns in an eight-day period, U.S. authorities are trying to learn how they, until now, missed at least three balloon sightings during the White House tenure of former President Donald Trump and another earlier in Biden’s presidency, all believed to be part of a Chinese spy program conducted by Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army.

“I think our military, our intelligence are doing a great job, present and future,” Schumer said. “I feel a lot of confidence in what they’re doing. But why — why as far back as the Trump administration did no one know about this?”

“It is wild that we didn’t know,” Schumer said. “Now they are learning a lot more. And the military and the intelligence are focused like a laser on, first, gathering and accumulating the information, then coming up with a comprehensive analysis of what went on before, what’s going on now, and what could go on in the future.”

China has acknowledged launching the first balloon, the one shot down February 4 off the coast of the southern state of South Carolina, but claimed it was a weather balloon that drifted off course, a contention that the U.S. has rejected. The U.S. concluded the balloon was a surveillance aircraft that could be maneuvered over key military installations as it drifted across the U.S. mainland.

Schumer said, “We got enormous intelligence information from surveilling the balloon as it went over the United States,” although both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have questioned why the U.S. did not shoot it down sooner than it did before the Chinese flew it over military bases. Biden ordered the U.S. military to shoot it down as soon as it was safe to do so without endangering Americans on the ground, which the military decided was only after it moved offshore.  

The U.S. said this past week it had taken steps to jam information being sent from the balloon.

Now, Schumer said that with Navy divers collecting parts of the balloon’s payload from the seabed for forensic analysis by FBI experts at a laboratory outside Washington, “We’re going to probably be able to piece together this whole … surveillance balloon and know exactly what’s going on. So that’s a huge coup for the United States.”

“I think the Chinese were humiliated,” Schumer said. “I think the Chinese were caught lying. And I think it’s a real — it’s a real step back for them.”

He predicted that Beijing is “probably going to have to get rid of [the balloon surveillance program] or do something, because they look really bad. And they’re not just doing [it over] the United States. This is a crew of balloons; we saw one in South America. They’ve probably been all over the world.”

Despite the U.S. conclusion about China’s balloon spying, Schumer said, “We can’t just have a Cold War with them. We have to have a relationship with them. But China has taken advantage of us over and over and over again.”
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A halftime show that Rihanna promises will be “jam-packed” will sit at the center of the celebrity supplements to Super Bowl 57. 

But the 13-minute mini-extravaganza, her first live event in seven years, is only one part of the entertainment sideshow surrounding Sunday’s big game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. 

Chris Stapleton, who has dominated country music awards in recent years, will take on the challenge, and scrutiny, of singing the national anthem. 

“The national anthem’s not an easy song for singers. It’s one that can go horribly wrong as we’ve seen many times in the past,” Stapleton said at a media event during the leadup to the game. “But if you’re gonna do it, this is the place to do it. I’m gonna go out there and play. And play it like I play it.” 

The length of the anthem has become one of the countless game elements up for betting. Oddsmakers have put the over-under on Stapleton’s “Star Spangled Banner” at 2 minutes, 5 seconds. 

This being the Super Bowl, one anthem is not enough. R&B legend Babyface will perform “America the Beautiful.” 

And “Abbot Elementary” star Sheryl Lee Ralph will sing what’s been dubbed the Black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” 

Famous faces are bound to be seen throughout the stands. Some will care more about the outcome than others. The Eagles count Kevin Hart and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star Rob McElhenney among their biggest fans. Paul Rudd and Jason Sudeikis pull hard for the Chiefs. 

Many stars have made the scene at Super Bowl week parties. 

And many others, including John Travolta and Alicia Silverstone, will show up in the big game’s big commercials. 
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U.S. President Joe Biden has called for wide agreement to be reached in Israel on sweeping changes to the judiciary pushed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government which have sparked nationwide protests.

Israel’s parliament may on Monday begin the legislation process of the judicial overhaul, which would increase the government’s sway in selecting judges while weakening Supreme Court power to strike down laws or rule against the executive. 

The push has prompted nationwide protests and calls on the government to slow down and reach a broad agreement on its judicial plan, which polls have shown has relatively little support as it presently stands.

In a response to a query by The New York Times, published on Sunday, Biden said: 

“The genius of American democracy and Israeli democracy is that they are both built on strong institutions, on checks and balances, on an independent judiciary. Building consensus for fundamental changes is really important to ensure that the people buy into them so they can be sustained.”

Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption that he denies, has said the changes are needed in order to restore balance between the government, the Knesset and the judiciary, which some in his coalition accuse of elitism and overreaching its powers to interfere in the political sphere.

Critics say the changes would deal a fatal blow to Israel’s democracy because they would politicize the bench and undermine judicial independence, which could make corruption easier and endanger human rights and civil liberties.

Aggravating the already fiery debate on Sunday, one of the main players pushing for the changes, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, said a judiciary coup by leftists who refuse to accept the right-wing’s Nov. 1 election victory was underway, with help from Supreme Court judges and civil servants.

He was referring to a Supreme Court ruling on Friday instructing Netanyahu and his government to submit a response to a petition demanding the premier be declared incapacitated over his legal situation.

Many legal experts, economists and former security and economic officials, who include Netanyahu confidants and appointments, have come out against the government’s judicial plans.

Israel’s central bank chief has urged lawmakers to safeguard the independence of Israel’s institutions and the opposition is calling on Israelis to join a general strike on Monday. 
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As legal sports gambling proliferates, the number of Americans betting on the Super Bowl and the total amount they’re wagering is surging — although most of the action is still off the books. 

An estimated 1 in 5 American adults will make some sort of bet, laying out a whopping $16 billion, or twice as much as last year, according to an industry trade group. 

Even as legal gambling has spread to two-thirds of U.S. states, independent analysts say only about $1 billion of the total being wagered on Sunday’s game will happen through casinos, racetracks or companies such as FanDuel and DraftKings, whose ads have become ubiquitous during sporting events. 

The vast majority of people, in other words, are still betting with friends and family, participating in office pools or taking their chances with a bookie. 

More than 50 million American adults are expected to bet on the national championship game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, according to the American Gaming Association, whose estimates are based on a nationwide online survey of 2,199 adults. That’s an increase of 61% from last year. 

Experts in addiction say aggressive advertising is contributing to a rise in problem gambling. 

“As sports betting expands, the risk of gambling problems expands,” said Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling. 

Thirty-three states, plus Washington, D.C., now offer legal sports betting, and more than half of all American adults live in one of those markets. 

“Every year, the Super Bowl serves to highlight the benefits of legal sports betting,” said Bill Miller, the gambling association’s president and CEO. “Bettors are transitioning to the protections of the regulated market … and legal operators are driving needed tax revenue to states across the country.” 

But legal sports betting still represents just a small piece of the pie. 

Eilers & Krejcik Gaming Research, an independent analytics firm in California, estimates that just over $1 billion of this year’s Super Bowl bets will be made legally. The leading states are: Nevada ($155 million); New York ($111 million); Pennsylvania ($91 million); Ohio ($85 million) and New Jersey ($84 million). 

The research firm estimates 10% to 15% of that total would be wagered live after the game begins. Another 15% to 20% would come in the form of same-game parlays, or a combination of bets involving the same game, such as betting on the winner, the total points scored and how many passing yards Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts will accumulate. 

As legal sports betting grows, so too has concern about its effect on people with gambling problems.

The National Council on Problem Gambling has conducted nationwide surveys since 2018, when New Jersey won a U.S. Supreme Court case clearing the way for all 50 states to offer legal sports betting. They ask questions like, “Do you ever borrow money to gamble?”

Between 2018 and 2021, the number of people whose answers indicated they were at risk of a gambling problem increased by 30%, said Whyte, the council’s executive director. 

He added that the Super Bowl presents an opportunity to see how well responsible gambling messaging and campaigns by sports books and professional sports leagues are working. 

On Tuesday, New Jersey gambling regulators unveiled new requirements for sports books to analyze the data they collect about their customers to look for evidence of problem gambling, and to take various steps to intervene with these customers when warranted. 

“It is no coincidence that our announcement comes just a week ahead of one of the biggest days in sports wagering, serving as a reminder of how devastating a gambling addiction can be,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said.
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A relative of Emmett Till is suing to try to make a Mississippi sheriff serve a 1955 arrest warrant on a white woman in the kidnapping that led to the Black teenager’s brutal lynching.

The torture and killing of Till in the Mississippi Delta became a catalyst for the civil rights movement after his mother insisted on an open-casket funeral in Chicago and Jet magazine published photos of his mutilated body.

In June, a team doing research at the courthouse in Leflore County, Mississippi, found an unserved 1955 arrest warrant for Carolyn Bryant, listed on that document as “Mrs. Roy Bryant.”

Till’s cousin Patricia Sterling of Jackson, Mississippi, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the current Leflore County sheriff, Ricky Banks. The suit seeks to compel Banks to serve the warrant on Carolyn Bryant, who has since remarried and is named Carolyn Bryant Donham.

“We are using the available means at our disposal to try to achieve justice on behalf of the Till family,” Sterling’s attorney Trent Walker told The Associated Press on Friday.

The AP left a phone message for Banks on Friday, seeking comment. The sheriff did not immediately respond. Court records showed that the lawsuit had not been served on him by Friday.

Till, who was 14, had traveled south from Chicago to visit relatives in Mississippi in August 1955. Donham accused him of making improper advances on her at a grocery store in the small community of Money. A cousin of Till’s who was there has said Till whistled at the woman, an act that flew in the face of Mississippi’s racist social codes of the era.

Evidence indicates a woman, possibly Donham, identified Till to the men who later killed him. The arrest warrant against Donham was publicized in 1955, but the Leflore County sheriff at the time told reporters that he did not want to “bother” the woman since she was raising two young children.

Weeks after Till’s body was found in a river, her husband Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam were tried for murder and acquitted by an all-white jury. Months later, the men confessed in a paid interview with Look magazine.

Now in her late 80s, Donham has lived in North Carolina and Kentucky in recent years. She has not commented publicly on calls for her prosecution.

The U.S. Justice Department announced in December 2021 that it had ended its latest investigation into the lynching of Till, without bringing charges against anyone.

After researchers found the arrest warrant last June, the office of Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch said in July there was no new evidence to try to pursue a criminal case against Donham. In August, a district attorney said a Leflore County grand jury had declined to indict Donham.

Walker, the attorney for Till’s cousin, said Friday that the South has a history of cases of violence that were not brought to justice until decades later — including the 1963 assassination of Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers, for which white supremacist Byron de la Beckwith was convicted of murder in 1994.

“But for Carolyn Bryant falsely claiming to her husband that Emmett Till assaulted her, Emmett would not have been murdered,” Sterling’s lawsuit says. “It was Carolyn Bryant’s lie that sent Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam into a rage, which resulted in the mutilation of Emmett Till’s body into (an) unrecognizable condition.”
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