San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors has voted to allow police to use robots that can kill.

The measure will let SFPD law enforcement deploy robots equipped with explosives in extreme situations.

While the city’s police told the BBC they don’t currently operate robots equipped with lethal force, they acknowledge there could be a future in which lethal force can be used in this way.

A spokesperson said: “Robots could potentially be equipped with explosive charges to breach fortified structures containing violent, armed, or dangerous subjects.”

They added robots could also be used to “incapacitate, or disorient violent, armed, or dangerous suspects who pose a risk of loss of life”.

Although advocates have insisted the measure would only be used in extreme circumstances, critics have blasted the idea.

Stop Killing Robots’ Dr. Catherine Connolly described the move as a “slippery slope” which would “make humans more and more distant from the use of force and the consequences of the use of force”.

She added that the measure could also make it “easier to make decisions to use lethal force in the first place”.

The measure passed with an amendment ruling that robots wielding deadly force could only be used after alternative de-escalation tactics had been attempted.

Meanwhile, only a small number of high ranking officers would be able to authorise the move.

Other parts of the United States – including Dallas, Texas – have already started to use this kind of lethal robot.

An SFPD spokesperson added: “No policy can anticipate every conceivable situation or exceptional circumstance which officers may face. The SFPD must be prepared, and have the ability, to respond proportionally.”

Willie Garson’s son has urged people to donate to a fund set up to honour his late father.

The ‘Sex and the City’ actor died of pancreatic cancer last September and 21-year-old Nathen Garson has shared a photo from his adoption proceedings in 2010 along with a link to a charitable initiative created by Discovery Inc. and You Gotta Believe! in his beloved dad’s name shortly after his death.

Nathen wrote: “https://www.pledge.to/willie-garson-fund?pledge=_K1b982DD3LK6jbt7lWs4g

“Go Check Out The Willie Garson Fund! Check Out The Link In My Bio About What He Thinks About Adoption And Donate! All Money Goes To A Non-Profit Toward Helping A Child Get Adopted!(sic)”

He also reposted words from the charity explaining the work of the fund.

The post continued: “Whenever asked what he considers his most important accomplishment, Willie always responded with, “being a father.” Willie’s love story with his son, Nathen, inspired him. He was a fierce and constant advocate for finding parents for every child in foster care. We were privileged to have him on our Board of Advisors.

“To honor his legacy, Discovery Inc. established The Willie Garson Fund at You Gotta Believe! to support our work of connecting every child in foster care to a loving family that commits to them for life. We thank everyone who joins us in honoring Willie’s dream and legacy.

We love and miss you, Willie. You will always be in our hearts.(sic)”

The image accompanying the post saw a young Nathen taking an oath in court alongside Willie.

The ‘And Just Like That…’ actor had previously shared the same picture in 2019 to mark the ninth anniversary of Nathen’s adoption.

He wrote at the time: “January 27, 2010. Adoption Day. Happy Anniversary, my son. We’ll celebrate when Dad comes home from work. You’re buying.”

London (AFP) – The timing could not have been worse for Britain’s royal family, not long after one racial reckoning involving Prince Harry and ahead of a new publicity blitz from the maverick “spare heir”.

Harry’s elder brother Prince William — the heir to the throne — has been forced to part ways with one of his godmothers after she used racially charged language to a black British woman at a palace reception on Tuesday.

King Charles III moved rapidly to evict Lady Susan Hussey from the royal household after the hurtful exchange was revealed on Twitter by Ngozi Fulani — while William and his wife Kate were flying to Boston.

When Hussey started to quiz her about her origins, the UK-born Fulani said she tried to give the 83-year-old courtier the benefit of the doubt.

“But it soon dawned on me very quickly that this was nothing to do with her capacity to understand,” the charity campaigner, who works with survivors of domestic abuse, told BBC radio on Thursday.

Hussey repeatedly asked Fulani where she was “really” from, refusing to accept her explanation that she was British.

“But this is her trying to make me really denounce my British citizenship,” Fulani said, as many other Britons of colour shared similarly demeaning experiences on social and traditional media.

It is the most serious controversy yet since Charles succeeded his mother in September. Hussey was not just any courtier — she was at Queen Elizabeth II’s side for six decades.

But she was unceremoniously dumped as Charles and William moved rapidly to draw a line under the row, earning plaudits from some black commentators.

‘Shocking’

Labour MP Diane Abbott, the first black woman to sit in the House of Commons when she was elected in the 1980s, said it was “really shocking” that a black Briton’s identity could be interrogated in this way.

But she told Times Radio that Buckingham Palace had made “progress” on race issues in the past 10 years.

Back then, “they would have said she (Fulani) was oversensitive and just dismissed it”, said Abbott.

The palace appears to have taken lessons on board particularly since last year, when Harry and his mixed-race wife Meghan accused an unidentified royal of racism with regard to their unborn baby.

Then, William retorted: “We are very much not a racist family.” But the family said the matter would be dealt with “privately”.

The royal household has also begun publishing data on the ethnic breakdown of its staff, admitting it has more to do to ensure due representation. 

Yet from their new lives in California, the duke and duchess of Sussex have been portraying themselves as modernising outsiders who tried to take on a reactionary establishment.

Ironies abound as the feuding brothers both find themselves on the US East Coast — with no plans to meet. 

William is set to award an environmental prize in Boston inspired by former president John F. Kennedy’s “Moonshot” ambition in the 1960s.

Next week, Harry and Meghan are due to attend an awards gala in New York held by the human rights foundation of Kennedy’s brother Robert. 

Meghan vindicated?

His daughter Kerry Kennedy says the couple will be recognised for taking a “heroic stand” against “structural racism” within the British monarchy.

But for their critics, Harry and Meghan are cashing in after quitting royal duties. A new Netflix documentary is imminent, and the prince’s autobiography “Spare” is due out in January.

UK public opinion had been turning against them, at least until the row over Hussey erupted. 

When Meghan entered the family, the lady-in-waiting was assigned to educate her in royal protocol, a role that Hussey also served for William and Harry’s mother Diana. 

Meghan rejected the offer, according to one biographer.

“The stifled horse laugh you can hear emanating from California is the noise of a duchess trying not to guffaw ‘I told you so’,” commentator Trevor Phillips — a former head of the Commission for Racial Equality — wrote in The Times.

There is further irony in the row erupting in the week that saw new data from the 2021 census confirm that Britain is more racially diverse — and less Christian — than ever before.

Charles himself has a lifelong commitment to multi-culturalism and religious diversity while the government is led by the country’s first prime minister of colour, Rishi Sunak.

Phillips added: “A mindset that colour codes British identity is not just distasteful and anachronistic, it is unambiguously racist.” 

Netflix has taken to Twitter to tease the launch of a high-profile documentary about Harry and Meghan, hinting at fresh revelations about the couple’s dramatic exit from the British royal family.

“When the stakes are this high, doesn’t it make sense to hear the story from us?” Meghan asks the audience in a half-minute teaser trailer shared by Netflix on social media on Thursday.

Harry meanwhile describes himself as a caring family man: “No one sees what’s happening behind closed doors,” he says. “I had to do everything I could to protect my family.”

Meghan can be seen several times wiping tears from her face and throwing her head into her hands. The Netflix docuseries, which also features the couple kissing and laughing), is set to be released on December 8.

The show is also set to be the most significant PR milestone for the couple since their sensational TV sit-down with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey last year.

During that tell-all interview, the couple accused the palace of racism and a lack of support. Harry is also preparing for the publication of his autobiography in January.

The documentary also comes as the British royal family is grappling with renewed accusations of racism, after an aide to the late queen was accused of asking a black charity boss in Britain where she was “really from”.

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Closing arguments are set to begin on Thursday in the criminal tax fraud trial of Donald Trump’s real estate company on charges of scheming to defraud tax authorities for 15 years, as the former U.S. president’s legal woes mount.

Here are answers to questions about the accusations the Trump Organization faces.

WHAT IS THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION ACCUSED OF DOING?

The Manhattan district attorney’s office in July 2021 charged two Trump Organization units and the company’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, with paying the personal expenses of some executives without reporting the income, and falsely reporting bonuses as non-employee compensation.

Trump Payroll Corp and the Trump Corporation have been charged with nine counts of scheme to defraud, conspiracy, tax fraud and other crimes. They have pleaded not guilty.

Weisselberg in August pleaded guilty and agreed to testify at trial in exchange for a five-month prison term.

He admitted to concealing $1.76 million of income from the company, including rent for a Manhattan apartment, lease payments for two Mercedes-Benz vehicles and private school tuition for his grandchildren. He also received some of his bonuses as non-employee compensation from other Trump entities such as Trump’s Florida club Mar-a-Lago and Trump International Golf Club.

WHAT MAKES THOSE PAYMENTS ILLEGAL?

Making bonus payments to executives as if they were independent contractors makes it possible for them to report the compensation as self-employment income, which comes with tax benefits.

It is not illegal for companies to pay employees through benefits instead of salaries, but those benefits must still be reported to tax authorities as income – with the exception of minor perks like free coffee at the office, said Jay Soled, a lawyer and accounting professor at Rutgers Business School in New Jersey.

The companies are also charged with falsifying business records. Weisselberg testified that he asked the company’s controller, Jeffrey McConney, to subtract the payments for his personal expenses from his salary in tax forms. As a result, those forms falsely underreported his income from 2005-2017, he admitted.

McConney, who testified at the trial as a prosecution witness, has not been charged. He was granted immunity to testify before a grand jury.

WHAT IS THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION’S DEFENSE?

Lawyers for the Trump Organization have sought to shift the blame to Weisselberg, saying he cheated on his personal tax returns to benefit himself, not the company. They said Weisselberg was under pressure to satisfy prosecutors.

Weisselberg appeared to provide some support for that argument when he testified that he was motivated to cheat on taxes by his own greed.

The company also has said Donald Bender, an outside accountant with the Mazars firm who handled the company’s tax returns, should have caught the scheme and blown the whistle, though Justice Juan Merchan, the judge in the case, has said the company cannot make that argument to the jury.

“The highly paid accounting firm should have routinely picked these things up – we relied on them,” Trump wrote on social media. “VERY UNFAIR!”

Bender was granted immunity from prosecution. Mazars cut ties with the Trump Organization this year.

WHAT COULD THE COMPANY’S PUNISHMENT BE?

Each of the tax fraud counts are punishable by up to $250,000 in fines, while the other counts each have maximum fines of $10,000. Together, the company’s two units could be liable for $1.6 million in fines if convicted.

HAS TRUMP HIMSELF BEEN ACCUSED OF WRONGDOING?

Trump has not been charged with a crime.

Two prosecutors who had led the investigation resigned in February, and one, Mark Pomerantz, has said he believed felony charges should be brought against Trump but that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicated he had doubts.

Trump, a Republican who is again seeking the presidency in 2024, has called the prosecution politically motivated. Both Bragg and Cyrus Vance, his predecessor who began the investigation, are Democrats.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Will Dunham and Noeleen Walder)

Todd and Julie Chrisley are living “every day as if it is their last” before they go to prison.

The ‘Chrisley Knows Best’ stars were found guilty of 12 counts of tax evasion, bank and wire fraud and conspiracy last month and sentenced to 12 and seven years in jail respectively and they are leaning on their faith for support and guidance ahead of leaving their home and family to start their sentences.

Reading a quote from author Priscilla Shirer, Julie said on their ‘Chrisley Confessions’ podcast: “Age is just a number, and since we don’t know our death date, we have to live every day as if it’s our last.”

Todd added: “Yesterday doesn’t matter. Today is what we have. Tomorrow belongs to God, because we’re not promised tomorrow….

“What God calls us through, he will walk us through.”

Julie added: “God will call you to do something, and he’ll equip you to do it. He’ll give you what you need to do it.”

Todd is dad to Lindsie, 32, and Kyle, 30, from his first marriage, and he and Julie also have Chase, 26, Savannah 24, and 16-year-old Grayson, and are raising his 10-year-old granddaughter Chloe, and the patriarch noted he and his wife have”fallen short” at times when it comes to setting a good example to their brood.

He reflected: “So where I could’ve listened and let them explain their position, as dumb as it was going to be, it wasn’t going to change what I was going to say, but I could have given them more of a voice to explain their position in.”

And Julie admitted she always has the children in her mind while she awaits being taken to prison because she knows they will be looking to their parents to see how they are handling the situation.

She said: “The difficulties I’m going through, how I handle it — they’re watching that as well.

“If I handle it right, they’re watching, if I screw it up, they’re watching, and so, for me as a parent, I want to try to make sure that I do it right more than I do it wrong, because I know they’re watching, and I know it will prepare them for difficulties, unfortunately, that they will have later in life.”

By Chris Prentice

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department is considering new guidance for corporations on employees’ use of messaging applications and personal devices, as widespread use can thwart compliance and investigations.

The agency’s criminal division is contemplating taking action on the issue given rapidly changing technology, differing industry expectations about retaining work documents and privacy implications, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the agency’s criminal division Nicole Argentieri said at an industry event on Thursday.

Currently, the Justice Department considers whether companies that allow use of disappearing messaging apps are regularly examining their compliance on records retention. But scrutiny over the use of such apps and personal devices has been on the rise, as they can complicate corporate efforts to comply with laws as well as any potential investigations into wrongdoing.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) separately has been scrutinizing how Wall Street firms are handling work-related communications on personal devices and apps such as WhatsApp.

The Justice Department is also considering whether it needs to offer more guidance on how prosecutors weigh a company’s executive clawback policies in investigations into corporate misconduct, Argentieri said.

Justice Department officials are meeting with counterparts at the Securities and Exchange Commission, defense attorneys, executive compensation experts and other regulators to look at ways prosecutors may potentially reward companies for such policies, she said.

The Justice Department under President Joe Biden has already detailed a number of policy changes aimed at more aggressive policing of corporate wrongdoing. The moves have been praised progressive watchdog groups and criticized by some attorneys who argue they may prevent companies from coming forward when they uncover wrongdoing.

Argentieri emphasized benefits to self-reporting, including that prosecutors may not require a third-party monitor for companies that cooperate and prove they have tested a compliance program.

“Do not wait for us to call you. By then, it’s too late,” she said.

(Reporting by Chris Prentice; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Anna Driver)

By Ross Kerber

(Reuters) – Florida’s Chief Financial Officer said on Thursday his department would pull $2 billion worth of its assets managed by BlackRock Inc, the biggest such divestment by a state opposed to the asset manager’s environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) policies.

The move will hardly dent BlackRock’s $8 trillion in assets and drew a strong response from the company, which said the action put politics over investor interests. Nonetheless it underscores how a backlash among many Republican leaders, such as those in Florida, against ESG investing, which they see as promoting a “woke agenda” is gathering steam.

Republicans are set to assume control of the U.S. House of Representatives in January. This will allow them to hold hearings on ESG and grill the chief executives of BlackRock and other major assets managers about their ESG policies, and also pressure regulators to scrutinize them.

In a statement, Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis said the state’s Treasury, which he oversees, would remove BlackRock as manager of about $600 million of short-term investments and have its custodian freeze $1.43 billion of long-term securities now with BlackRock, with an eye on reallocating the money to other money managers by the start of 2023.

Patronis accused BlackRock of focusing on ESG rather than higher returns for investors.

“Florida’s Treasury Division is divesting from BlackRock because they have openly stated they’ve got other goals than producing returns,” Patronis said in the statement provided by his office.

Asked about the move, BlackRock said in a statement that “We are disturbed by the emerging trend of political initiatives like this that sacrifice access to high-quality investments and thereby jeopardize returns, which will ultimately hurt Florida’s citizens. Fiduciaries should always value performance over politics.”

Neither Patronis nor his office had raised any performance concerns, BlackRock said, adding it has invested more than $65 billion in Florida-based companies, municipal bonds and other securities.

While BlackRock has encouraged portfolio companies to take steps like disclosing more data about their carbon emissions or adding more diverse board members, it has said its efforts are aimed at improving company performance and resisted calls for steps like divesting from oil companies. U.S. Democratic officials have argued BlackRock doesn’t press ESG concerns enough.[L4N30T3PB]

So far, only Republican-controlled states have made major reallocations away from BlackRock, including $794 million pulled by Louisiana’s treasurer [L4N3162LQ] and $500 million by Missouri’s treasurer, both in October.

Other companies also face Republican scrutiny. Earlier this week, Republican attorneys general from various states asked a federal regulator to limit Vanguard Group Inc’s activities over ESG concerns, and asked United Parcel Service Inc and FedEx Corp to clarify their policies on tracking firearms shipments.

(Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

A man showed little remorse when detectives questioned him about the alleged killing of his mother in Florida, Radar has learned.

“Do you regret doing it,” a detective with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office asked Matthew Sisley, authorities detailed.

“No. I would do it again,” Sisley responded.

The exchange was detailed in a report by the sheriff’s department about Sisley’s arrest. He is accused of killing his mother and accidentally stabbing his sister. A motive has not been released in the case.

Deputies responded to the family’s Kissimmee, Florida, home around 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday for a reported stabbing. When police arrived, they found the mom dead and the sister had cuts to her hands.

Sisley was found a short distance away and taken into custody. He confessed to intentionally stabbing his mom.

In announcing the arrest, officials detailed questioning with Sisley.

“Do you think your mom deserved to get stabbed?” one detective asked. Sisley then responded, “yes.”

The detective then asked why, and Sisley told them, “Because she never pushed me to be a man.”

Police charged Sisley with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, though they say more charges are pending. He is being held in a Florida jail without bond in the case.

By Trevor Hunnicutt and Jarrett Renshaw

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden may be a man of tradition, but the Democratic Party he leads is poised to get rid of one of its oldest political rituals.

A closed group of Democrats will meet Friday to reshape the party’s presidential nomination process. They plan to bump Iowa as the state where White House runs kick off every four years, hoping to usher in a more diverse, early nominating calendar, according eight senior Democratic officials.

Which state takes Iowa’s place and which come next in line in the primaries remain unclear, amid a hard-fought battle among Democratic officials who each want their home state to move up the calendar.

Biden has not weighed in on the matter, sources say, and many members of the party’s rules committee await word from the White House.

“The one thing I know for certain is Iowa won’t be leading the nominating contest. Everything else is up in the air and will certainly be fiercely debated,” said a senior official with the National Democratic Committee.

The committee is expected to decide at a meeting on Friday and Saturday in a Washington hotel. The DNC and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.

IOWA’S OUTSIZED POWER

Because it comes first in the process, Iowa, the country’s 31st largest state by both population and gross domestic product, has for nearly 50 years had an outsized role for both parties in identifying viable candidates to become president.

Presidential hopefuls blanket Iowa’s airwaves with ads and hopscotch the state to talk to voters at state fairs, town halls and school gymnasiums. They take crash courses in agricultural issues that dominate Iowa’s economy.

Months of activity culminate in a series of caucuses where locals gather to make the case for their favored candidate to other Iowa voters, often wooing their support through multiple rounds of voting until a winner is declared.

After Iowa, both Democrats and Republicans hold state primaries that narrow down presidential candidates even further. Republicans have not announced plans to strip Iowa of its first-in-the-nation status.

The U.S. voting population has morphed from about 85% white in 1996 to 69% in 2020, Pew Research shows, with the newest generation able to vote, ‘Gen Z’ just 55% white. Iowa, with an approximately 90% white population, is no longer an accurate predictor of which candidate will do well on the national stage, Democrats say.

Their push to change the primary calendar picked up momentum after 2020 when the Democrats’ Iowa caucuses were plagued by technical and communication issues that delayed the announcement of a winner.

The rules governing the party primaries could be particularly important in 2024. Some White House officials think Biden could face a primary challenge within his own party, and new rules could subtly shift the odds.

Biden has no love lost for Iowa after disappointing results there in 2008 and 2020. His 2020 campaign was only secure after the fourth nominating contest that year, in South Carolina, where a heavily Black electorate helped lift him to victory.

MICHIGAN, NEVADA, SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE MIX

Twenty states and territories applied for a 2024 early primary spot and 17 were invited make their pitch to DNC officials over the summer, including the four early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

Officials in Michigan and Minnesota are fighting hard to take Iowa’s place. Democrats in both states took control of the governors’ mansions and the state legislatures during the midterm elections, giving them the power to shift the schedule if needed.

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz told the DNC in November that Minnesota is ready to pass legislation necessary to move up the primary calendar.

“Minnesota offers a reflective snapshot of America and serves as the most suitable landscape for presidential candidates to compete,” he said.

Some Democrats believe Michigan is too big to be an early state, because it will cost candidates dearly to campaign there and also allow some to bypass earlier, smaller states and only concentrate on Michigan. But supporters say a key swing state that offers candidates a true test of viability.

The committee may also consider adding another state to the early nominating calendar, such as Washington or Maryland, source say.

One of the biggest questions heading into the meeting is what to do about New Hampshire. The state has traditionally held the first primary, right after Iowa’s caucuses, but some Democrats would like more-diverse Nevada to get that spot.

But New Hampshire state law requires its secretary of state to set the primary date seven days before any other, providing state officials a firewall against any efforts to boot them as the first primary state.

(Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Heather Timmons and Alistair Bell)

Dua Lipa thinks the World Cup offers a “really unique opportunity to hold Qatar to account”.

The ‘Cold Heart’ hitmaker was unhappy when rumours spread she was set to perform at the opening ceremony for the soccer tournament because the event “really goes against [her] beliefs” due to the Gulf state’s human rights policies.

She told Variety: “The World Cup is a really unique opportunity to hold Qatar to account.

“They made pledges on human rights when they signed the deal for the World Cup that have not been satisfactorily met on migrant workers’ rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights and freedom of expression — what kind of message does it send if these pledges mean nothing?

“I really have nothing against Qatar, and I hope one day I will get the chance to go there.

“But I didn’t like being amongst speculation that I was going to perform for something that really goes against my beliefs.”

This isn’t the first time the ‘Levitating’ singer has explained why she wouldn’t want to be associated with this year’s tournament.

She wrote on Instagram: “There is currently a lot of speculation that I will be performing at the opening ceremony of the world cup in Qatar. I will not be performing and nor have I ever been involved in any negotiation to perform.

“I will be cheering England on from afar and I look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host the World Cup.”

Sir Rod Stewart previously admitted he had rejected a huge pay-day to perform in the country, insisting it “wasn’t right” to go.

He said: “I was actually offered a lot of money, over $1 million, to play there 15 months ago. I turned it down. It’s not right to go. And the Iranians should be out too for supplying arms. Tell you what, supporters have got to watch out, haven’t they?”