On This Day, March 3: Georges Bizet's 'Carmen' debuts
In 1845, Florida was admitted to the United States as the 27th state.
In 1875, "Carmen" by Georges Bizet premiered in Paris.
In 1879, attorney Belva Ann Lockwood became the first woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1923, Time magazine published its first issue. The magazine was published weekly until March 2020, when it began publishing every other week.
In 1931, an act of Congress designated "The Star-Spangled Banner" the national anthem of the United States.
In 1938, the last of three of Stalin's public show trials, the Trial of the Twenty-One, began, with the defendants being charged in a plot to murder Josef Stalin as well as some of the highest officials of the Soviet regime.
In 1974, a Turkish jetliner crashed near Paris, killing 345 people. Investigators initially suspected a bomb aboard the DC-10 aircraft, but they later determined a cargo door was incorrectly closed and burst open once in the air. It was the deadliest air disaster at the time.
In 1982, the Argentine government threatened to break off diplomatic relations with Britain if the Falkland Islands were not handed back by the following year's 150th anniversary of the British presence on the islands. A month later, the Falklands War broke out between the two countries, resulting in a British victory. To this day, the South American archipelago remains a British territory.
In 1985, coal miners in Britain ended a yearlong strike, the longest and costliest labor dispute in British history.
In 1986, the U.S. President's Commission on Organized Crime, ending a 32-month investigation, called for drug testing of most working Americans, including all federal employees.
In 1991, home video captured a Los Angeles police beating of motorist Rodney King that triggered a national debate on police brutality. Acquittal of the LAPD officers in 1992 led to deadly riots during which King asked at a news conference, "Can we all get along?" King died at the age of 47 in 2012.
In 2006, former U.S. Rep. Randy Cunningham, R-Calif., was sentenced to eight years in prison for taking $2.4 million in bribes from military contractors. Cunningham was released from prison in 2013.
In 2015, the State Department confirmed that Hillary Clinton exclusively used a personal email server to conduct official business while serving as U.S. secretary of state.
In 2019, SpaceX's unmanned Crew Dragon docked with the International Space Station, the company's first ISS docking.
In 2020, for the first time in the Pritzker Architecture Prize's four-decade history, the organization handed out the industry's most prestigious award to two women -- Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara.
In 2024, Iowa Hawkeye basketball star Caitlin Clark set the all-time NCAA scoring record, passing "Pistol" Pete Maravich with 3,685 points. She finished her college career with 3951 points.
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Time Magazine
13 minutes ago
- Time Magazine
Is the Trump Admin Considering Softening Laws on Cannabis?
President Donald Trump is considering softening federal laws on cannabis, potentially following through on his campaign promise to reclassify the drug and increase access to medical marijuana. 'We're looking at reclassification, and we'll make a determination over, I'd say, the next few weeks,' the President said at a Monday press conference. His remarks follow a report in the Wall Street Journal that Trump told donors he is weighing reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. The possession and use of marijuana is illegal at the federal level. The substance is classified as a Schedule I drug, meaning it has a 'high potential for abuse' and can cause serious psychological or physical dependence. Possession of the drug can result in up to one year in prison and a fine of at least $1,000 under federal law, though penalties vary. The Biden Administration moved to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III drug—a ranking that would lower criminal penalties for it—though officials did not finalize their plans before leaving office. The change in status would also allow marijuana companies to benefit from some tax breaks. Around 40 states have legalized medical marijuana, though far fewer allow for its recreational use. Trump's position is a departure from the view of traditional conservative politicians, but he expressed curiosity in the idea of decriminalization and has shown support for medical marijuana, in particular. 'As President, we will continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug, and work with Congress to pass common sense laws, including safe banking for state-authorized companies, and supporting states' rights to pass marijuana laws,' Trump wrote on Truth Social last September. The move could prove popular: Nearly nine in ten adults believe that marijuana should be legal for either medical or recreational use, according to a 2025 Pew Research Center report. But the President has been somewhat inconsistent in his stance. Earlier this year, the Administration included a budget bill provision that would repeal existing protections for medical cannabis patients. Here's what Trump has said regarding cannabis legalization. Ahead of the 2016 presidential election Before the launch of his political career, Trump signaled his support for the legalization of drugs to better combat the ongoing drug crisis in the country. "We're losing badly the war on drugs," Trump said in an April 1990 article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. 'You have to legalize drugs to win that war. You have to take the profit away from these drug czars.' His stance, however, has slightly shifted as he has grown more prominent in the national eye. Trump told Nevada rallygoers in November 2015 that he believed marijuana legalization should be left to the states, while also calling for greater research into areas that do allow for its recreational use, such as Colorado. The state legalized the drug recreationally via a 2012 state constitutional amendment, becoming the second state to do so at the time. In a February 2016 interview with Fox News, the President cited some concerns about marijuana dealers and the industry as a whole while simultaneously stating his support. 'In some ways I think it's good and in other ways it's bad. I do want to see what the medical effects are. I have to see what the medical effects are and, by the way — medical marijuana, medical? I'm in favor of it a hundred percent,' Trump said at the time. During his first presidential term Still, the President failed to take action on the matter during his first term. In 2018, the Trump Administration lifted a policy enacted under the Obama Administration that directed federal authorities not to pursue marijuana prosecutions in states where the drug is legal. The President also proposed terminating a policy that bars the Justice Department from using funds to stop state-level medical marijuana programs numerous times under his first term, but legislators kept such protections in the spending bills. 2024 presidential election Trump has been more pointed in his promises to voters regarding the reclassification of marijuana as a Schedule III drug. The President revealed in September 2024 that he would be voting in favor of Florida's Amendment 3, a constitutional amendment that would have legalized the possession, sale, and recreational use of marijuana. 'As I have previously stated, I believe it is time to end needless arrests and incarcerations of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use. We must also implement smart regulations, while providing access for adults to safe, tested product[s],' Trump said on Truth Social at the time. Although a majority of voters were in favor of the amendment, the measure was ultimately defeated as it failed to reach the 60% threshold necessary to pass. 2025 second presidential term The President has recently signaled that changes regarding the federal restrictions on marijuana could be reduced. Trulieve, a marijuana dispensary company, and the U.S. Cannabis Council gave a combined $1 million to Trump's presidential inauguration in 2024. A chief executive of the cannabis company was reportedly present at the New Jersey fundraiser where Trump reportedly said that he was considering revisiting existing federal marijuana policies. Scotts Miracle-Gro CEO James Hagedorn told Fox News that Trump had informed him and others that he would follow through on his statement. 'This is a promise he made during the campaign and promises made are promises kept,' Hagedorn said.
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
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Clarence Thomas's Wish for Same-Sex Marriage Is About to Come True
Same-sex marriage could soon be back on the Supreme Court docket. Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who was jailed in 2015 for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses, is appealing her case. Davis is appealing a $100,000 jury verdict for emotional damages plus $260,000 for attorneys' fees, reported ABC News Monday. In a petition filed last month, Davis claimed that her First Amendment rights protecting her religious freedom effectively immunized her from repercussions for denying the licenses. 'The mistake must be corrected,' Davis's attorney Mathew Staver argued in the petition, further condemning Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges as 'legal fiction.' 'This court should revisit and reverse Obergefell for the same reasons articulated in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Center,' reads one titled portion, under which Staver claims that 'Obergefell was wrong when it was decided and it is wrong today because it was grounded entirely on the legal fiction of substantive due process.' Staver's argument alluded to Justice Clarence Thomas's concurring opinion in Dobbs, which overturned the nationwide right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade. In his 2022 opinion, Thomas argued that the court 'should reconsider' its substantive due process precedents, including contraception, same-sex marriage, and even same-sex relationships. Davis served six days in jail for refusing to issue the licenses. Her appeal marks the first time that the nation's highest judiciary has been formally asked to reconsider the landmark decision. 'If there ever was a case of exceptional importance,' Staver wrote, 'the first individual in the Republic's history who was jailed for following her religious convictions regarding the historic definition of marriage, this should be it.' Gay marriage was effectively legalized in 2015, when the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell that keeping marriage licenses from same-sex couples was discriminatory. The decision mandated that all states issue licenses to gay and lesbian couples, and required states to recognize marriages performed in other jurisdictions, as well. Marriage equality was further protected at the federal level in 2022, when the Respect for Marriage Act became law, requiring all 50 states to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. It did not, however, formally legalize gay marriage, so if the Supreme Court were to take up Davis's case and overturn Obergefell, gay marriage rights would fall with it. Roughly 69 percent of Americans support same-sex marriages, according to a 2024 Gallup poll. Republican support for gay couples' equal rights has dipped in recent years, however, from a record high of 55 percent in favor of it in 2021 to 46 percent in 2024. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
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Israel strike kills Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -A prominent Al Jazeera journalist, who had previously been threatened by Israel, was killed along with four colleagues in an Israeli airstrike on Sunday in an attack condemned by journalists and rights groups. Israel's military said it targeted and killed Anas Al Sharif, alleging he had headed a Hamas militant cell and was involved in rocket attacks on Israel. Al Jazeera, which is funded by the Qatari government, rejected the assertion, and before his death Al Sharif had also denied such claims by Israel. "Anas Al Sharif and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices in Gaza conveying the tragic reality to the world," Al Jazeera said. Al Sharif, 28, was among a group of four Al Jazeera journalists and an assistant who died in an airstrike on a tent near Al Shifa Hospital in eastern Gaza City, Gaza officials and Al Jazeera said. A hospital official said two other people died. A sixth journalist, local freelance reporter Mohammad Al-Khaldi, was also killed in the strike, medics at Al Shifa Hospital said on Monday. Calling Al Sharif "one of Gaza's bravest journalists", Al Jazeera said the attack was a "desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza". The other journalists killed were Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal, Al Jazeera said. "The deliberate targeting of journalists by Israel in the Gaza Strip reveals how these crimes are beyond imagination," Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, said on X. The U.N. human rights office condemned the killings, saying the actions by Israel's military represented a "grave breach of international humanitarian law" as Palestinians reported the heaviest bombardments in weeks. Its post on social media platform X was accompanied by a photograph of flattened blue tents next to a bullet-ridden wall in Gaza City. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is "gravely concerned" about the repeated targeting of journalists in Gaza, his spokesperson said. The Israeli military said in a statement that Al Sharif led a Hamas cell and "was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians" and Israeli troops, citing intelligence and documents it said were discovered in Gaza as evidence but which it did not disclose. Israel denies deliberately targeting journalists, saying many of those killed in Israeli airstrikes were members of Islamist militant groups, working under the guise of the press. Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted undated photos on X that appeared to show Al Sharif with Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the Hamas October 2023 attack on Israel, and other Hamas officials. Reuters could not verify their authenticity. It was not clear when the purported images were taken nor how the military acquired them. Adraee wrote that only a "terrorist" would be seen with Hamas officials, without providing any context as to why Al Sharif, a journalist, had allegedly met them. People gathered at Sheikh Radwan Cemetery in the heart of the Gaza Strip on Monday to mourn the journalists. Friends, colleagues and relatives consoled each another, many wiping away tears as they bid farewell. Al Sharif was previously part of a Reuters team which in 2024 won a Pulitzer Prize in the category of Breaking News Photography for coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is the deadliest on record for journalists, according to the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs' Costs of War project. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said 238 journalists have been killed since the war started on October 7, 2023. The Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 186 journalists have been killed in the Gaza conflict. A press freedom group and a United Nations expert previously warned that Al Sharif's life was in danger due to his reporting from Gaza. U.N. Special Rapporteur Irene Khan said last month that Israel's claims against him were unsubstantiated. PRE-RECORDED MESSAGE Al Jazeera said Al Sharif had left a social media message to be posted in the event of his death that read, "...I never hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or misrepresentation, hoping that God would witness those who remained silent". Israel's military had named Al Sharif in October as one of six Gaza journalists it alleged were members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, citing documents it said showed lists of people who completed training courses and salaries. 'Al Jazeera categorically rejects the Israeli occupation forces' portrayal of our journalists as terrorists and denounces their use of fabricated evidence,' the network said in a statement at the time. The Committee to Protect Journalists, which in July urged the international community to protect Al Sharif, said in a statement that Israel had failed to provide any evidence to back up its allegations against him. Al Sharif, whose X account showed more than 500,000 followers, posted on the platform minutes before his death that Israel had been intensely bombarding Gaza City for more than two hours. Palestinian militant group Hamas, which runs Gaza, said the killing may signal the start of an Israeli offensive. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will launch a new offensive to dismantle Hamas strongholds in Gaza, where a hunger crisis is escalating after 22 months of war. "The assassination of journalists and the intimidation of those who remain pave the way for a major crime that the occupation is planning to commit in Gaza City," Hamas said in a statement.
