STUDENTS TAKEN TWO WEEKS AGO ARE RELEASED
L AGOS, NIGERI A » Students, teachers and relatives abducted two weeks ago from a school in northern Nigeria have been freed.
The students, teachers and family members were abducted Feb. 17 from the Government Science College Kagara by gunmen.
Niger State Gov. Abubakar
Sani Bello said he received 24 students, six staffers and eight relatives Saturday after they were released in the morning.
This number released differed from the 42 people that the governor had originally said were kidnapped by the attackers, indicating some may still be missing.
The release was announced a day after police said gunmen had abducted 317 girls from a boarding school elsewhere in northern Nigeria, in Zamfara state. One resident said the gunmen also attacked a nearby military camp and checkpoint, preventing soldiers from interfering with the mass abduction.
Second former aide accuses Cuomo of sexual harassment. NE WY ORK» A second former aide has come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who responded with a statement Saturday saying he never made advances toward her and never intended to be inappropriate.
Charlotte Bennett, a health policy adviser in the Democratic governor’s administration until November, told The New York Times that Cuomo asked her inappropriate questions about her sex life, including whether she had ever had sex with older men.
Another former aide, Lindsey Boylan, a deputy secretary for economic development and special adviser to the governor, recently accused Cuomo of subjecting her to an unwanted kiss and inappropriate comments. Cuomo denied the allegations.
Trooper kicked, dragged Black man who died in custody. A Louisiana state trooper has been suspended without pay for kicking and dragging a handcuffed Black man whose in-custody death remains unexplained and the subject of a federal civil rights investigation.
Body camera footage shows Master Trooper Kory York dragging Ronald Greene “on his stomach by the leg shackles” after a violent arrest and highspeed pursuit, according to internal State Police records.
The records are the first public acknowledgement by State Police that Greene was mistreated, and they confirm details provided last year by an attorney for Greene’s family who viewed graphic body camera footage of the May 2019 arrest and likened it the police killing of George Floyd. The video shows troopers choking and beating the man, repeatedly jolting him with stun guns and dragging him facedown across the pavement, the attorney said.
State Police repeatedly have refused to release the body camera footage. The agency has been tight-lipped about Greene’s death and blamed the man’s fatal injuries on a car crash outside Monroe.
Virginia lawmakers vote to legalize marijuana in 2024.
RI C HMOND, VA.» Lawmakers gave final approval Saturday to a bill that will legalize marijuana for adult recreational use, but not until 2024, when retail sales would begin.
With a compromise bill clearing the House and Senate, Virginia becomes the first Southern state to vote to legalize marijuana, joining 15 other states and the District of Columbia. The legislation now goes to Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who supports legalization.
The bill was a top priority for Democrats, who framed legalization as a necessary step to end the disparate treatment of people of color under current marijuana laws.
However, talks between Democrats in the state House and Senate grew tense in recent days, and a compromise version of the massive bill did not emerge publicly until late Saturday afternoon.