Biden aims to unveil China investment curbs with G-7 backing
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden aims to sign an executive order in the coming weeks that will limit investment in key parts of China’s economy by American businesses, people familiar with the internal deliberations said.
The administration, which has been debating the measure for almost two years, plans to take action around the time of a summit of the Group of Seven advanced economies that’s due to start on May 19 in Japan.
The U.S. has been briefing its G-7 partners on the investment curbs for high-tech industries, and hopes to get an endorsement at next month’s meeting, even though the other countries aren’t expected to announce similar restrictions at the same time, the people said. The likeliest sequence is for the executive order to be signed soon after that expression of international support, one of the people said.
The move marks a new phase in the years-long economic campaign against China that’s already seen the U.S. impose tariffs on Chinese imports under ex-President Donald Trump, and more recently seek to restrict exports of key American technologies. Now, capital flows between the world’s two biggest economies are in the crosshairs.
—Bloomberg News
DeSantis signs bill giving Florida lowest death penalty threshold in US
TAMPA, Fla. — People in Florida can now be sent to death row with an 8-4 jury vote, instead of a unanimous requirement, after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law Thursday morning.
DeSantis pushed to reduce Florida’s death penalty threshold, citing the outcome of the Parkland school shooting case — the gunman who killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High was given a life sentence after only nine of the 12 jurors voted for death.
DeSantis signed the bill in a private ceremony in the Capitol alongside some of the family members of children killed in that shooting. “Once a defendant in a capital case is found guilty by a unanimous jury, one juror should not be able to veto a capital sentence,” DeSantis said in a statement.
“Today’s change in Florida law will hopefully save other families from the injustices we have suffered,” Ryan Petty, the father of murdered Parkland student Alaina Petty, said in a statement released by the governor’s office. Florida will now have the lowest death penalty threshold in the nation. It will join Alabama as the only other state that doesn’t require a unanimous jury vote. Alabama’s threshold is 10-2.
—Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times
West Hollywood is first American city to ban rodent glue traps
LOS ANGELES — In a first-of-its-kind anti-cruelty measure, the city of West Hollywood this week banned the sale and use of rodent glue traps.
The City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Monday that gets rid of the traps, which are supposed to attract vermin, but sometimes catch larger mammals like dogs and cats.
"The City of West Hollywood has always been a leader on issues related to animal welfare," Councilmember Lauren Meister said in a press release. "My council colleagues and I enthusiastically adopted this ordinance to prohibit the use and sale of glue traps within the city because these devices are sadistic and cruel. As a compassionate and progressive city, it is incumbent on us to find more humane alternatives to rodent and pest control."
Glue traps capture rodents with adhesive that sticks to their feet and bodies. Unable to escape, the animals often die from starvation, dehydration or other causes. In some cases it can take days or even weeks for the animals to die.
—Los Angeles Times
Sudan’s growing conflict sparks race to evacuate foreigners
Japan, Germany and other nations are struggling to evacuate their citizens from Sudan amid fighting between the army and a paramilitary group, while water, health care and other services are becoming increasingly hard to access.
The conflict between the military and the Rapid Support Forces that erupted over the weekend has engulfed the capital, Khartoum, and several other towns, and rendered parts of the country a no-fly zone.
The World Health Organization estimates that more than 270 people have died and at least 2,600 have been injured, tallies that are set to rise as fighting continued for a sixth day on Thursday.
International efforts to broker a cease-fire have stalled, with mediators unable to access the North African country. United Nations staff within Sudan have been attacked and their homes and offices have been looted, internal U.N. reports seen by Bloomberg show.
—Bloomberg News
