Authorities now believe the death of the young black girl was a case of mistaken identity.

By Amanda Sukuma @ Vox.com, Jan. 6

Police in Texas have arrested a man in the death of Jazmine Barnes, a 7-year-old girl who was brutally shot dead while riding in a car with family last week — a major shift in a high-profile case that was once viewed by some as a racially motivated attack, but now appears more a case of mistaken identity.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office filed capital murder charges late Saturday against a black man named Eric Black Jr., 20, who became a suspect this week based on a tip. Black admitted to taking part in the shooting, but police say other suspects could be involved [....]

For much of the last week, the prime suspect was believed to be white [....]

By Faith Karimi @ CNN.com, Jan. 6

Kevin Sweeney has resigned as Pentagon chief of staff after serving the defense secretary for two years.

"I've decided the time is right to return to the private sector. It has been an honor to serve again alongside the men and women of the Department of Defense," Sweeney said in a short statement posted on the Department of Defense website late Saturday night.

A knowledgeable source told CNN's Jake Tapper that the White House forced Sweeney out. The source did not provide further information about the reason [....]

In conservative Kansas, newly elected gay legislators try to make history. By Annie Gowen @ WashingtonPost.com, Dec. 26, 2018

Advocates say that they expect the number of elected LGBTQ politicians to grow and that it could have a significant impact on the 2020 race, particularly in suburban battlegrounds with college-educated voters in states like Kansas

Caption: Luc Bensimon, a 47-year-old transgender activist, is optimistic about the future for LGBT people in Kansas. (Christopher Smith/Post.)

By Joe Parkin Daniels from Bogota for TheGuardian.com, Jan. 4

Amid Venezuela’s collapse, Nicolás Maduro has locked up those accused of criticizing his regime – often without due process

By Caroline Kelly @ CNN.com, Jan. 3

A Senate Judiciary Committee investigation found that the US Marshals Service has a "culture of misconduct" that includes misused funds for expensive office furniture along with hiring and accountability violations, according to a report released by the committee Thursday.

The committee found "a culture of mismanagement, reckless spending, favoritism, and a general lack of accountability at the USMS," the 430-page report reads. "In what has been described by whistleblowers as a 'frat' style of management, senior officials appear to act with impunity while lower level employees are held to a stringent standard."

The committee found several instances of what it characterized as inappropriate hiring and human resources practices, such as preferential treatment and the hiring of friends or relatives [....] the Marshals Service was also plagued by financial mismanagement [....]

Emma Torres, an undocumented immigrant from Ecuador, said she told human resources at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., that she did not have legal status. She said that she was told: “It’s O.K. No problem.”

By Miriam Jordan @ NYTimes.com, Jan. 3

A former employee of the Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey said that her name was removed from a list of workers to be vetted by the Secret Service after she reminded management that she was unlawfully in the United States, the latest worker to assert that supervisors at the elite resort were aware that some members of their work force were undocumented.

The Bedminster golf club has recently terminated several workers who were determined to be ineligible to work in the country, according to several people familiar with the matter, following a New York Times report that revealed that immigrants who presented false documents were knowingly kept on the payroll, sometimes for years.

A lawyer representing the women has met with investigators from the New Jersey attorney general’s office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, presenting what he said was evidence that managers at the golf club knew that some workers were in the country illegally, and that at least one supervisor helped an employee obtain forged working documents [....] 

The plot thickens: Paul Whelan revealed to be dual national after being arrested in Moscow for ‘act of espionage’

By Kevin Rawlinson @ TheGuardian.com, Jan. 3

The former US marine who is being held in Moscow on charges of spying is a British citizen, it has emerged.

Paul Whelan, who is thought to be facing 20 years in a Russian prison if convicted, was initially thought to be American, but was revealed to be a dual national on Thursday evening. The UK Foreign Office said: “Our staff have requested consular access to a British man detained in Russia after receiving a request for assistance from him.” [....]