Tens of thousands of workers in the Los Angeles Unified School District are participating in a three-day strike over stalled contract talks, led by members of Service Employees International Union Local 99. The strike, which began Tuesday morning, has caused all schools in the district to be closed and is demanding better wages and increased staffing. The union is hoping that the strike will put pressure on the district to reach a resolution that meets the needs of its members, though it is unclear when an agreement will be reached.
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A federal judge has ruled that misogynistic remarks made by former President Donald Trump in 2005 can be used as evidence in a civil rape trial next month. The trial will hear quarter-century-old rape allegations made by a former magazine columnist, E. Jean Carroll, who said Trump raped her in the mid-1990s. Trump has denied the allegations and argued that the 2005 remarks were irrelevant to the case. The trial is scheduled to begin on June 16th and is expected to last three days.
Abby Grossberg, a former producer for Fox News, is suing the network for allegedly coercing her into providing false testimony in a $1.6 billion defamation case against Dominion Voting Systems. Grossberg claims that Fox's legal team misled her and pressured her to provide false testimony in a pre-trial deposition. The lawsuits come as former President Donald Trump continues to push conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, furthering the ongoing controversy surrounding the network's role in the election.
Surveillance video of Irvo Otieno's death in police custody has been released, showing him being dragged into an upright seated position and held down by at least two officers. Seven sheriff's deputies and three hospital employees have been charged with second-degree murder, and the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
President Joe Biden has designated the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Southern Nevada as a national monument, protecting 506,000 acres of Nevada's Spirit Mountain and the surrounding desert. This is a major victory for the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, who have been advocating for the site for three decades, and is part of Biden's larger effort to protect the environment. The monument is one of the largest tracts of land to come under federal protection so far during Biden's presidency.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testified before the American Bankers Association on Tuesday, discussing the government's response to the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. She highlighted the Federal Reserve's new lending facility and existing discount window as effective tools for providing liquidity to the banking system, and praised the government's "decisive and forceful actions" for calming the banking crisis. Yellen also noted that the US banking system remains sound, but warned that similar action could be warranted if deposit outflows from regional banks pose the risk of contagion.
Abigail Zwerner, a first-grade teacher in Newport News, Virginia, has spoken out for the first time since she was allegedly shot by a 6-year-old student in her classroom in January. Zwerner has tried to stay positive despite the traumatic incident and hopes it will lead to more conversations about gun safety and the need for more resources to help children in need. The student and his parents have been charged with various offenses related to the incident.
Saad Ibrahim Almadi, a 72-year-old dual US-Saudi citizen, has been released from prison in Saudi Arabia after being detained for over a year for tweets critical of the government. He is currently in Riyadh under a travel ban, and it is unclear if he will be able to return to the US. Neither Saudi nor US officials have yet to confirm Almadi's release.