First Thing: Two charged with murder over Super Bowl parade shooting

Police blamed a ‘verbal altercation’ between two men carrying firearms for leaving one person dead and 22 injured at the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory parade. Plus, Trump launches ‘Never Surrender’ gold sneaker

Good morning.

Two men were charged with murder yesterday afternoon in connection with a mass shooting in Kansas City on 14 February that killed one person and wounded 22 others at a rally for the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs, according to prosecutors.

As celebrations were winding up for the Chiefs and thousands of fans, after they returned triumphantly having won the Super Bowl in Las Vegas the previous weekend, gunfire erupted among the crowd.

Two armed people were arrested on the day. Last Friday, two individuals described as juveniles were charged with crimes but no specific indictments were released publicly.

The two suspects, identified as Dominic Miller of Kansas City and Lyndell Mays of nearby Raytown, each face charges of second-degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon, according to a statement from the Jackson county prosecutor’s office.

• What happened? “According to court records, the defendants attended a Super Bowl parade and rally on February 14, 2024, and were armed with firearms,” the statement said. It added: “A verbal altercation occurred and gunfire broke out with no regard for thousands of other individuals in the area.”

• Who was the victim? The woman who died in the shooting, Elizabeth Lopez-Galvan, 43, was a popular radio disc jockey, her station and friends said. Twenty-two other people, including at least nine children, were wounded by gunfire, authorities said.

Trump compares his legal troubles to the persecution of Alexei Navalny

Donald Trump has used an interview with Fox News to compare his own legal troubles to the persecution of the Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who died in prison last week.

In the interview yesterday, the former US president said Navalny was “a very brave man” who probably should not have returned to Russia, but did not assign any blame for the Russian opposition leader’s unexpected death.

President Joe Biden and other western leaders have blamed the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, for Navalny’s death, as has Nikki Haley, who trails far behind Trump as his sole remaining rival for the Republican presidential nomination.

In the hour-long appearance broadcast on Fox News, Trump railed against the $355m fine meted out to him in a New York fraud trial, saying “it’s a form of Navalny”.

• Did Trump mention Putin? Despite prompts from host Laura Ingraham, Trump did not mention Putin when asked about Navalny. The Kremlin has denied involvement in Navalny’s death and said western claims that Putin was responsible were unacceptable.

Taiwan chases Chinese coastguard boat away from frontline islands amid heightened tensions

Taiwan drove away a Chinese coastguard boat yesterday that entered waters near its sensitive frontline islands, one day after China’s coastguard boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat amid an escalating dispute sparked by a fatal capsizing last week.

A Chinese coastguard boat, numbered 8029, entered Taiwan’s waters near Kinmen on Tuesday morning, Taiwan’s coastguard said, adding that it dispatched a boat and used radio and broadcast to drive away its Chinese counterpart, which left the area an hour later.

Taiwan’s coastguard said it would continue to use radar, surveillance and patrols to ensure the “harmony and safety” in the area around the Kinmen archipelago, which is Taiwanese territory but sits just a few kilometres from the Chinese mainland. It came less than a day after China’s coastguard stopped a Taiwan tour boat for inspection, after it appeared to stray into Chinese waters while avoiding shoals.

• Why is China increasing patrols in the area? The inspection was the first since Chinese authorities announced they would increase patrols in the area, in response to the fatal capsizing a week ago. Two Chinese people died after their boat capsized inside Taiwan’s restricted waters last Wednesday. Taiwan’s coastguard said the boat fled after being told to stop for inspection.

• What did China say about the incident? Chinese authorities condemned the deaths and called for a full investigation, saying the “vicious” incident had hurt people on both sides of the Strait and worsened relations. Taiwan’s early inquiries defended the actions of its coastguard.

In other news …

• Syria’s state TV says an Israeli strike that hit a residential area in the country’s capital of Damascus has killed two people. AP reports the strike damaged the fourth floor of a 10-story building, shattered window glass on nearby buildings and also damaged dozens of cars parked in the area.

• Senator Elizabeth Warren has urged regulators to block Capital One’s $35bn takeover of Discover Financial, arguing that combining two of the US’s largest credit card companies would harm consumers and challenge financial stability. The blockbuster deal would inevitably lead to higher costs and fees for cardholders, according to the leftwing senator.

• Sean Combs, the rapper and mogul known as Diddy, has filed a defence against allegations that he and two others sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl at a recording studio in 2003. New paperwork filed on Tuesday, reported by Rolling Stone, denied the allegations from the unnamed plaintiff.

• A former FBI informant charged with making up a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company had contacts with officials affiliated with Russian intelligence, prosecutors said in a court paper yesterday.

Stat of the day: Barely 10% of Europeans believe Ukraine can still defeat Russia, finds poll

Support for Ukraine among Europeans remains broad, but nearly two years after the full-scale invasion barely 10% believe it can defeat Russia, according to an EU-wide survey – with some form of “compromise settlement” seen as the most likely end point.

The shift in sentiment – this time last year, more Europeans than not said Ukraine must regain all its lost territory – will demand that politicians take a more “realistic” approach that focuses on defining what an acceptable peace must actually mean, the report’s authors argue.

Don’t miss this: Is going to bed at 9pm the secret to happiness? My week of sleeping like a gen Zer

According to the Wall Street Journal, 9pm is the hot new bedtime – not for middle-aged tired people, but for twentysomethings. The young people of today, it seems, are taking control over their sleep routines and prioritising shuteye over fun. A 2022 analysis found that Americans in their 20s were getting, on average, nine hours and 28 minutes of sleep a night, up from eight hours and 47 minutes in 2010. The WSJ quoted one 19-year old as saying: “For me, nothing good happens after 9pm.”

But how do they nod off – and are they missing out on anything? Tim Dowling gives it a go.

Climate check: Redwoods make amazing recovery after California wildfire

In August 2020, wildfire burned almost the entire Big Basin Redwoods state park in California, scorching ancient redwood trees, some dating back more than 1,500 years and among the tallest living things on Earth. Redwoods are naturally fire-resistant thanks to their thick bark, but the wildfire was so intense and flames so high the trees’ foliage was destroyed, even in tree canopies more than 300ft high. It was feared the redwoods would never recover, but a few months later something incredible happened – many of the trees began sprouting tiny leaf needles from blackened trunks and branches, and two years later the forest had turned green.

Last Thing: Sneakerheads decry Trump’s ‘Never Surrender’ gold shoe as ‘tacky and very, very dumb’

Trump Steaks, Trump University, Trump Vodka – and now, Trump Sneakers. The former president is no stranger to frenzied licensing and intense self-promotion, and the grift continued this weekend, even after a judge ordered him to pay more than $350m in his civil trial ruling. His next move? Debuting the $399 “Never-Surrender High-Top Sneaker”, branded as “the official” Trump shoe. The 2024 contender stopped at Sneaker Con Philadelphia, a traveling event for sneakerheads, to reveal the shoe on Saturday. But Trump wasn’t a popular – or welcome – Sneaker Con guest. Attendees booed loudly during his speech, and many spoke out on social media against his appearance.

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