More details expected after fugitive ex-corrections officer dies, inmate arrested
The corrections officer who escaped with an inmate from an Alabama prison and evaded authorities for over a week died Monday after the fugitives were taken into custody, officials said. Ex-corrections officer Vicky White, 56, and inmate Casey White, 38, were arrested after a police chase and subsequent car wreck in Evansville, Indiana, Lauderdale County, Alabama, Sheriff Rick Singleton said. Casey White was injured, and Vicky White later died at an Indiana hospital. The Vanderburgh County, Indiana, Coroner’s office didn’t release a cause of death, but police said Vicky White shot herself after U.S. Marshals stopped the Whites’ car after a short chase and suffered serious injuries. According to local reports, Indiana coroners will perform Vicky White’s autopsy Tuesday. Authorities also will provide more information at a Tuesday news conference. The Whites, who aren’t related, disappeared April 29 and authorities have since said the couple had a “jailhouse romance” and were planning their escape.
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US lawmakers take on Ukraine-related issues: Aid and Biden’s ambassador nominee
The House of Representatives will vote on sending billions more in aid to Ukraine Tuesday, the day after President Joe Biden conceded he would separate his $33 billion emergency request for Ukraine from the billions he’s seeking in pandemic funding. Congressional Democrats are pushing to boost Biden’s requested $33 billion in aid to almost $40 billion. There has been historic bipartisan support for helping Ukraine, but Republicans have complained Biden is seeking too much additional pandemic funding. In the other chamber, Bridget Brink is scheduled to go before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday for a confirmation hearing to be the next U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. Lawmakers are likely to use the session to grill Brink – not just about her credentials and plans for reopening the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv but also about the Biden administration’s broader effort to assist Ukraine. Senate Democrats are likely to push for her quick confirmation, saying she is highly qualified and desperately needed.
House primaries pit Trump clout against importance of infrastructure
In one of just five U.S. races pitting two incumbents against each other, a pair of Republican congressmen in West Virginia will face off in the same district Tuesday after population loss caused the state to lose one of its three House seats. How Reps. David McKinley and Alex Mooney voted on last year’s bipartisan infrastructure bill could keep one of them in Washington and send the other home. Infrastructure may not seem like a top issue when inflation is squeezing American families and a leaked Supreme Court opinion on abortion has inflamed public debate. But it matters in a state that ranks among the worst for its roads and bridges. It’s also the first real test of the infrastructure bill’s political weight, serving as a proxy fight to measure ex-President Donald Trump’s political power in a primary. In Nebraska, voters will pick nominees for the 2nd Congressional District. Rep. Don Bacon faces a long-shot challenge from Steve Kuehl, who got a shoutout from Trump when he visited earlier this month.
Queen Elizabeth II skips Parliament opening due to mobility issues
The opening of the United Kingdom’s Parliament will take place on Tuesday in London, but Queen Elizabeth II will not be in attendance due to ongoing mobility issues, Buckingham Palace said. The State Opening of Parliament marks the formal start of the parliamentary year, and it is the only regular occasion when the three constituent parts of Parliament – the Sovereign, the House of Lords and the House of Commons – meet. Presiding over the elaborate event and delivering the Queen’s Speech from The Sovereign’s Throne is one of the monarch’s most important roles as head of state. In the queen’s stead, her son Prince Charles will read her speech, which sets out the government’s agenda for the coming parliamentary session. Her grandson Prince William will also attend. In all the years of her reign, the queen missed participating in the ceremony only twice, both while she was pregnant with her two youngest children in the 1960s.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appears poised to win Philippines presidential election
The namesake son of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos appeared Tuesday to have been elected Philippine president by a landslide in an astonishing reversal of the 1986 “People Power” pro-democracy revolt that booted his father into global infamy. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had more than 30.5 million votes in the unofficial results with more than 96% of the votes tabulated overnight after Monday’s election. His nearest challenger, Vice President Leni Robredo, a champion of human rights and reforms, had 14.5 million, and boxing great Manny Pacquiao appeared to have the third highest total with 3.5 million. Marcos’ running mate, Sara Duterte, the daughter of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte and mayor of southern Davao city, had a formidable lead in the vice presidential race, which is separate from the presidential race. The alliance of the scions of two authoritarian leaders combined the voting power of their families’ political strongholds but compounded worries of human rights activists.
Contributing: The Associated Press
