The Daily Populous

Friday October 1st, 2021 evening edition

image for Infowars host Alex Jones is responsible for damages triggered by his false claims on the Sandy Hook shooting, judge rules

(CNN) Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist who hosts the right-wing commentary website Infowars, was found legally responsible in two lawsuits for damages caused by his claims surrounding the 2012 Sandy Hook school mass shooting, according to court documents released Thursday.

Judge Maya Guerra Gamble issued default judgments on Monday against Jones and his outlet for not complying with court orders to provide information for the lawsuits brought against him by the parents of two children killed in the shooting.

The rulings, which were first reported by the Huffington Post, effectively mean that Jones lost the cases by default.

A jury will convene to ascertain how much he will owe the plaintiffs, the report said.

An attorney for the parents, Mark Bankston, told CNN in a written statement that the rulings offers his clients "the closure they deserve.".

He added: "Mr. Jones was given ample opportunity to take these lawsuits seriously and obey the rule of law.

He chose not to do so, and now he will face the consequences for that decision. »

California enacts law to strip badges from bad officers

Authored by apnews.com

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California has joined the vast majority of states in setting up a way to strip the badges of police officers who act criminally or with bias, a change that was among several criminal justice reforms signed into law Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The law allowing the decertification of poor officers comes 18 years after lawmakers stripped away that power from a state police standards commission.

“We cannot allow officers who demonstrate gross misconduct to continue to be members of the law enforcement profession; their licenses must be revoked,” Marvel said. »

Lithuania vs. China: A Baltic Minnow Defies a Rising Superpower

Authored by nytimes.com
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VILNIUS, Lithuania — It was never a secret that China tightly controls what its people can read and write on their cellphones.

Chinese state media has assailed Lithuania, mocked its diminutive size and accused it of being the “anti-China vanguard” in Europe.

In the battlefield of geopolitics, Lithuania versus China is hardly a fair fight — a tiny Baltic nation with fewer than 3 million people against a rising superpower with 1.4 billion. »

Top US general says Afghan collapse can be traced to Trump-Taliban deal

Authored by theguardian.com

The stated objective was to promote a peace negotiation between the Taliban and the Afghan government, but that diplomatic effort never gained traction before Biden took office in January.

That triggered a frantic US effort to evacuate American civilians, Afghan allies and others from Kabul airport.

“The Republicans’ sudden interest in Afghanistan is plain old politics,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, who supported Biden’s decision to end US involvement there. »