Feb 25, 2018

Florida House Speaker and 73 Republicans want sheriff to step down

Scott Israel, Sheriff of Broward County, and Florida Governor Rick Scott. Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Speaker of the Florida House Richard Corcoran and 73 other state Republicans are asking Gov. Rick Scott to suspend Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel for “his incompetence and neglect of duty” leading up to the recent Parkland school shooting that left 17 dead.

The backdrop: Their request, sent in a letter to Scott on Sunday, comes as Israel faces mounting backlash over his office's handling of the warning signs brought to their attention before the massacre. Scott, who said on Fox News Sunday that the local Sheriff's Department needs to be held accountable, declined the request from Republicans. But he did ask the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to probe the office's response to the Feb. 14 mass shooting, Politico reports.

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Barak Ravid, author of from Tel Aviv
20 mins ago - World

Scoop: Secret Israel-Sudan contacts paved the way for deal sealed by Trump

Trump on the phone with the leaders of Sudan and Israel. Photo: Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty

While the U.S. officially brokered the Israel-Sudan normalization deal, it was Israel that facilitated talks between the U.S. and Sudan on the broader deal that included Sudan’s removal from America’s state sponsors of terrorism list.

Why it matters: Israel’s secret contacts with Sudanese officials paved the way for a deal that was nearly a year in the making.

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Axios
Updated 21 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Politics: Biden ahead in Wisconsin, Michigan as cases surge in the Midwest.
  2. Health: Surge "is real" and not just caused by more tests, Trump's testing czar says — Mask mandates help control the rise in hospitalizations.
  3. Business: Surge is sinking consumer confidence — Testing is a windfall.
  4. Media: Pandemic causes TV providers to lose the most subscribers ever.
  5. World: Putin mandates face masks.
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Orion Rummler
44 mins ago - Health

Trump's testing czar: COVID surge "is real" and not just caused by more tests

Assistant Secretary of Health Adm. Brett Giroir, who leads the federal government's coronavirus testing response, pushed back on Wednesday against President Trump's continued claims that rising coronavirus cases are a product of increased testing.

The big picture: Every available piece of data shows that the pandemic is getting worse again across the country. Hospitalizations are on the rise — and some hospitals are warning that they could soon be overwhelmed — while 13 states set new highs last week for coronavirus infections recorded in a single day.

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow