U.S. and world news for April 10

Shooting in Louisville: At least six people are dead and another six wounded and hospitalized in a mass shooting this morning at a branch of the Old National Bank in downtown Louisville, KY. One of the wounded was a police officer. The shooter was one of the six fatalities, according to police.

Tennessee expulsions: Nashville’s Metro Council meets today to vote on appointing Justin Jones to the seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives from which he was expelled by the Republican leadership. Jones and Representative Justin Pearson were removed from their seats in the legislature after having protested its failure to take action on gun control after the recent mass shooting in a Nashville school. A third legislator who demonstrated was not expelled. She is White while Jones and Pearson are Black. Pearson could be reappointed to his seat when the Shelby County Commission meets on Wednesday. Tennessee’s Speaker of the House, Republican Cameron Sexton, says if the Black men are reappointed the Republicans will expel them again. Singer Joan Baez joined with demonstrators in Nashville yesterday to protest what the Republicans did.

China ready to fight: China’s military said this morning that it is ready to fight to smash any move for the independence of Taiwan. China completed three days of military maneuvers in which its forces practiced isolating the island nation. China takes the position that Taiwan is part of China and someday will be under its control.

Feds appeal mifepristone decision: U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland says that the Department of Justice strongly disagrees with the decision of far-right Federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas that overturns Food and Drug Administration approval and makes the abortion drug mifepristone illegal. The Department of Justice has filed an appeal of the ruling in Federal Appeals Court for the 5th District in Texas.

Document leak: Both the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice are investigating the leak of classified documents dealing with the Ukraine war. The classified documents were posted on the internet. Intelligence officials are reported to be concerned that information in the documents could help Russia to uncover spies working for the U.S.

Tesla’s massive batteries: Tesla says it is going to build a factory in China to manufacture very large batteries, called Megapacks. The announcement was made by company head Elon Musk. The Megapacks are intended to store electricity for long periods until needed to stabilize the supply of electricity in a distribution system. Each Megapack to be built by Tesla could store enough electricity to power 3,600 homes for one hour.

Rahm wins Masters: Spanish golfer Jon Rahm won the Masters Tournament, finishing ahead of Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson. Over the weekend, Tiger Woods dropped out of the tournament because of a problem with one of his feet.