Geoff Bennett:
Homendy also said investigators believe the crew were wearing night-vision goggles, and they’re looking into whether altitude readings inside the helicopter’s cockpit were inaccurate at the time of the collision.
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to lift its funding freeze on foreign aid and has given officials a five-day deadline to prove they are doing so. The order late last night was the first to challenge the freeze. It cited the financial impact that the cutoff of payments is having worldwide.
President Trump ordered the 90-day freeze last month to allow officials time to determine which groups would keep getting federal funds. The judge in his ruling said officials have not offered any explanation for why a blanket suspension was a rational precursor to reviewing programs.
In the Middle East, Hamas announced the names of the three Israeli hostages it intends to release tomorrow in the latest exchange of the fragile cease-fire. They are Israeli-American Sagui Dekel-Chen, Israeli-Argentinean Iair Horn, and Israeli-Russian Alexander Sasha Troufanov. They are expected to be exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas threatened earlier this week to delay the hostage release, saying that Israel had violated some of the terms of the cease-fire, but the group later agreed to move forward as planned.
California’s strongest storm system this season dropped up to six inches of rain and sent flash floods and mud down the burned hillsides of Los Angeles. Cascades of muddy water rushed across roads, leaving behind debris and sludge. The floods even swept an L.A. Fire Department vehicle into the ocean. One person was in the car, who escaped with only minor injuries.
Further north, the same system caused whiteout conditions in Oregon. At least 10 people there were injured in a 100-car pile-up, and forecasters say another polar vortex will send temperatures plummeting across huge parts of the nation next week.
In Missouri, an 86-year-old white man pleaded guilty today in the nonfatal shooting of a young Black man who had rung his doorbell by mistake. Andrew Lester had been due to stand trial next week on charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action. Instead, he pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and faces up to seven years in prison.
Ralph Yarl was in court today to hear the plea. He was 16 years old when he mistakenly ended up at Lester’s house after mixing up the streets where he was due to pick up his twin siblings. The shooting renewed questions about America’s relationship with guns and race. Yarl has since graduated from high school, earning a National Merit Award for Academics.
On Wall Street today, stocks ended mixed after an otherwise strong week. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 165 points, or about a third of 1 percent. The Nasdaq posted a decent gain, adding roughly 80 points. The S&P 500 ended virtually flat.
And it was a day of brotherly love on this Valentine’s Day for the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Tens of thousands of fans lined the streets to cheer on their beloved birds as they paraded across downtown, hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
