U.S.Associated PressJury selection in school shooter's trial upended by T-shirt
The already slow slog of picking jurors in the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz hit a new stumbling block Monday when a potential juror's T-shirt honoring those killed and traumatized in the 2018 massacre resulted in the dismissal of her entire group of 10. The woman, a 58-year-old high school teacher, was wearing a T-shirt in the burgundy and silver colors of Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that read “Teacher Strong. Below that were two hashtags that were commonly found on T-shirts and bumper stickers throughout South Florida long after the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting: #msdstrong and #NeverAgain.
U.S.QuartzBritain ended the horror of school shootings after one single massacre
His attack came before school shootings had become something schools prepared for with drills and plans—and before they were routinely carried out by other students. In that innocent time, when the Dunblane school principal heard loud bangs from another part of the school, he thought it was building work that he hadn't been told about. After a teacher burst into his office and told him what was happening, he he ran to the gym, where he witnessed “a scene of unimaginable carnage, one's worst nightmare,” he told the inquiry later.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-Telegram‘How do you even sleep at night?’ Texas Sen. Ted Cruz faces backlash after Uvalde shooting
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is taking heat to his response to the shooting in Uvalde that left more than 20 dead, including at least 18 elementary school students. Uvalde is a town of 15,000 about 80 miles west of San Antonio. “Heidi & I are fervently lifting up in prayer the children and families in the horrific shooting in Uvalde,” Cruz said in a post on Twitter.
WorldReutersTanks, but no ammo – Germany's Ukraine pledges show military muddle
Four weeks ago, Germany agreed to send dozens of anti-aircraft tanks to help defend Ukraine from Russia's invasion, part of what it called a turning-point after decades of military restraint. Berlin says it can deliver the first Gepard tanks in July. That's too slow, a Ukrainian parliamentarian said on Tuesday, as Russian forces launched an assault on the country's east.
PoliticsHuffPostMajorie Taylor Greene Wins GOP Primary, Goes Off On Texas School Shooting
Greene called Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell one of Congress' “failed leaders” and said to loud applause that she's part of a “majority who even now wants to see Hillary Clinton in jail. Sending me back to Washington will send a message to the bloodsucking establishment: It is we who will set the policy agenda for the next decade and not them,” Greene said. She added: “We're going to start speaking the truth more forcefully and more loudly than ever before.
U.S.Kansas City StarWhat killed ‘big frigging snake’ in Indiana? The answer may be stuck in its throat
Big snakes have even bigger appetites, but one large, swimming serpent in Indiana was recently found dead with a “huge” fish lodged in its throat, photos show. Amber Conley and Brad Walton were fueling up at Brookville Lake, about 76 miles southeast of downtown Indianapolis, when they spotted the snake, Conley said in a May 22 Facebook post. “While fueling up today, we came across a dead snake that had choked on a huge fish,” Conley said.
U.S.Associated PressSearch for Supreme Court leaker falls to former Army colonel
When Gail Curley began her job as Marshal of the U.S. Supreme Court less than a year ago, she would have expected to work mostly behind the scenes: overseeing the court's police force and the operations of the marble-columned building where the justices work. Earlier this month, however, Curley was handed a bombshell of an assignment, overseeing an unprecedented breach of Supreme Court secrecy, the leak of a draft opinion and apparent votes in a major abortion case. People who know Curley, 53, described the former Army colonel and military lawyer as possessing the right temperament for a highly charged leak investigation: smart, private, apolitical and unlikely to be intimidated.
U.S.Miami HeraldPassenger’s punch knocks United Airlines worker through the counter, NJ video shows
A passenger's powerful punch knocked a United Airlines worker through the ticket counter and bloodied his face at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey during a dispute, video shows. The ticketed passenger, identified as Brendan Langley, 27, of Georgia, was arrested after the May 19 incident resulted in the United Airlines customer service representative getting sent to the hospital, a Port Authority media representative confirmed to McClatchy News in a statement. Port Authority oversees transportation in New Jersey and New York.
U.S.Business InsiderOne place you won't find guns in the wake of the Texas school massacre? The NRA's upcoming leadership conference in Houston this week.
One place you won't be able to find firearms in Texas is at the NRA's Houston conference this week. Attendees aren't allowed to bring their firearms into the event, per Secret Service guidelines. One place you won't be able to find firearms in Texas after the Robb Elementary School massacre is, surprisingly, the National Rifle Association's upcoming forum in Houston on May 27.
PoliticsAssociated PressPelosi pushes back on archbishop who denies her Communion
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed back Tuesday on the decision by San Francisco's conservative Catholic archbishop to deny her Communion over her support of abortion rights, saying she respects that people have opposing views but not when they impose them on others. Pelosi made her comments on MSNBC's “Morning Joe.” In a letter last week to Pelosi, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said he would refuse her Communion after she vowed to codify into law the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion.
- ScienceShreveport Times | The Times
Two houses tested in a wind tunnel
IBHS wind test demonstration of two houses in thunderstorm and straight-line wind conditions. The on on the right was built to Fortified standards.
U.S.DeadlineMatthew McConaughey Addresses School Shooting In His Texas Hometown: “This Is An Epidemic We Can Control”
As you are all aware, there was another mass shooting today, this time in my hometown of Uvalde, Texas,” Matthew McConaughey wrote in a message posted to social media tonight. The Oscar winner spent the first 12 years of his life in Uvalde, which is about 80 miles west of San Antonio and where today 19 students and 2 adults were massacred in a school shooting. More from Deadline In his missive, McConaughey asked Americans to find common ground, to “renegotiate our wants from our needs.
U.S.Associated PressMcCormick sues over counting mail ballots in Pa. Senate race
The campaign of David McCormick, who is in a neck-and-neck Republican primary contest for the U.S. Senate against celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, sued in a Pennsylvania court Monday to try to ensure counties obey a brand-new federal appeals court decision that could help him make up ground. McCormick's lawsuit, filed after hours, asks the state's Commonwealth Court to require counties to promptly count mail-in ballots that lack a required handwritten date on the return envelope. It is the first — but likely not the last — lawsuit in the contest between Oz and McCormick, a former hedge fund CEO.
U.S.HuffPostRep. Paul Gosar Spreads Lie About Texas Shooter In Hateful Since-Deleted Tweet
Extremist Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) deleted a disturbing and offensive tweet Tuesday that falsely claimed the gunman who killed more than 20 people at a Texas school was a “transsexual leftist illegal alien.” The lawmaker wrote the message in response to a Twitter user who wondered if the shooter was a member of the far-right, “the kind of trash that” Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Gosar “travel to speak to?” before deleting their tweet. Paul Gosar deleted a tweet containing racist, transphobic and false claims about a mass shooting at an elementary school.
GOP Rep. Paul Gosar spread a baseless transphobic rumor that the Uvalde school shooting suspect was a 'transsexual leftist illegal alien'Business Insider
Marjorie Taylor Greene takes pro-gun stance following Texas school shooting: 'We don't need more gun control. We need to return to God.'Business Insider
PoliticsThe GuardianThe ‘straight, white, Christian, suburban mom’ taking on Republicans at their own game
Mallory McMorrow remembers the sting of being slandered by a colleague for wanting to “groom” and “sexualize” young children. In just four minutes and 40 seconds, McMorrow delivered a fierce, impassioned floor speech at the state capitol that went viral on social media and earned a laudatory phone call from the US president. McMorrow, who previously worked as a car designer and branding and design consultant, is among a generation galvanised by resistance to Donald Trump and his red meat populism.
- ScienceReuters
Ancient massive 'Dragon of Death' flying reptile dug up in Argentina
Argentine scientists discovered a new species of a huge flying reptile dubbed "The Dragon of Death" that lived 86 millions of years ago alongside dinosaurs, in a find shedding fresh insight on a predator whose body was as long as a yellow school bus. The new specimen of ancient flying reptile, or pterosaur, measured around 30 feet (9 meters) long and researchers say it predated birds as among the first creatures on Earth to use wings to hunt its prey from prehistoric skies. The team of paleontologists discovered the fossils of the newly coined Thanatosdrakon amaru in the Andes mountains in Argentina's western Mendoza province.
U.S.The Daily Beast‘I Was Just 16’: Pastor’s ‘Adultery’ Confession in Church Goes Off the Rails
A church pastor in Indiana publicly confessed to his congregation this week that he'd committed “adultery” two decades ago—but he was quickly called out by a woman who took the stage to say she had only been 16 when he preyed on her. The public confrontation that played out Sunday at the New Life Christian Church and World Outreach in Warsaw has now sparked an investigation by local prosecutors in Kosciusko County, according to local reports. The footage shows the pastor, John Lowe II, announce his resignation from the stage after he revealed that he had “committed adultery.”
U.S.INSIDERA man who told the FBI he committed fraud on Todd Chrisley's behalf testified that they had an 'intimate' relationship
A man who said he'd committed fraud for Todd Chrisley described their relationship as intimate. Mark Braddock said he became close with Chrisley in the early 2000s and began working for him. A former employee of Todd and Julie Chrisley's who told the FBI he committed bank fraud on their behalf testified in court on Monday that he and Todd Chrisley had an "intimate" relationship.
WorldAssociated PressChina wants 10 Pacific nations to endorse sweeping agreement
China wants 10 small Pacific nations to endorse a sweeping agreement covering everything from security to fisheries in what one leader warns is a “game-changing” bid by Beijing to wrest control of the region. A draft of the agreement obtained by The Associated Press shows that China wants to train Pacific police officers, team up on “traditional and non-traditional security" and expand law enforcement cooperation. China also wants to jointly develop a marine plan for fisheries — which would include the Pacific's lucrative tuna catch — increase cooperation on running the region's internet networks, and set up cultural Confucius Institutes and classrooms.
U.S.Miami HeraldMan caught lifting weights after $730K disability payout now going to prison, feds say
A former postal worker received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of disability payments for about a decade after he reported a work-related back injury, prosecutors said. Between January 2009 and March 2019, the 56-year-old Army veteran received over $732,000 worth of benefit payments by reporting false statements about his medical condition and other sources of income, prosecutors said.
PoliticsLexington Herald-Leader‘Nobody saw it coming.’ How 3 influential Northern Ky. Republicans lost on primary day.
Hopefully, this is a wake up call for the people in Frankfort – who are just voting with the agenda of the lobbyists – that that's not going to get it done anymore,” Massie said. But some in the Republican party say the results are a little more muted than 'a wakeup call. Tres Watson, a former spokesman for the Republican Party of Kentucky who launched his own moderate conservative Super PAC this election cycle, was quick to point out that House GOP incumbents' losses came mostly at the hands of Boone County voters, though Koenig's district is split between Boone and Kenton counties.
- U.S.Associated Press
Indiana pastor admits 'adultery'; woman says she was a teen
A church pastor told his Indiana congregation that he had committed “adultery” about 20 years ago, a disclosure that was followed moments later by a woman who stepped forward and said she was victimized by him when she was 16 years old. The remarks were recorded on video Sunday at New Life Christian Church and World Outreach in Warsaw and posted on Facebook. The Kosciusko County prosecutor's office is investigating, WANE-TV reported.
WorldBusiness InsiderUkrainian Special Operations Forces release video said to show a kamikaze drone taking out a Russian tank
Ukraine's Special Operations Forces published a video showing a kamikaze drone attack. It said in a Tuesday Facebook post that the attack destroyed a Russian tank and its operators. Ukraine said the footage was captured by a camera on the drone.
U.S.INSIDER'The agonized screams of family members are audible from the parking lot' as parents of the Texas school shooting victims discovered their children had been killed: report
"The agonized screams of family members are audible from the parking lot." That's how a reporter covering the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, described the scene on Tuesday night. In a series of tweets, Niki Griswold, a journalist with Austin-American Statesman, described the anguish at the Uvalde Civic Center, which is serving as a reunification site for families impacted by the shooting.
U.S.Associated PressLone survivor of 2009 plane crash testifies in Paris court
The lone survivor of a 2009 plane crash in the Indian Ocean took the stand Monday in a Paris courtroom, recounting her ordeal as a 12-year-old girl hearing screams, clinging to floating debris and desperately hoping that her mother was still alive. Bahia Bakari's mother was among 152 people who died on the flight operated by Yemen Airways, which is now known as Yemenia. Composed throughout her testimony, Bakari cried as she mourned her mother's loss.
“It could give millions a chance to finally buy a house or start their business or help their kids get an education, too.”
“You signed a contract…If you don’t want to deal with the financial pressure of debt, don’t take out the loan.”
“Without action from Biden, Black student debt will hinder his agenda with respect to eliminating racial inequities.”
“Blanket relief could end up routing too much relief to those who do not need it and too little to those who do.”
“Unlike a number of other policy issues, student debt relief doesn’t need to be pushed through a narrowly controlled Congress.”