- PoliticsThe Independent
Ilhan Omar says she believes woman who claims Joe Biden sexually assaulted her
Democrat "squad" member Ilhan Omar says she believes sexual assault allegations against Joe Biden but would vote for him anyway to defeat Donald Trump. In a Tweet defending her support of accuser Tara Reade, the Minnesota congresswoman said that "believing survivors is consistent with my values". "This is the most important election cycle of our lifetimes and we aren't going to have a chance if we don't spend our energy in mobilising and building enthusiasm against Trump."
- U.S.The Guardian
Michigan governor’s husband under fire for asking to take his boat out during lockdown
Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, has come under fire this weekend as allegations have arisen that her own husband has been trying to flout her strict shutdown rules – in what she says was a “failed attempt at humor”. Affectionately nicknamed “Big Gretch”, Whitmer was thrust into the spotlight this year as her state battled one of the highest Covid-19 rates with one of the strictest lockdown policies in the country. But while Whitmer's strict stay-at-home order has been effective at flattening the curve in Michigan, it has also drawn strong criticism from conservatives and progressives.
- WorldAssociated Press
Rights group: Satellite images show Myanmar village burning
Satellite imagery that shows a village burning in a conflict zone in western Myanmar lends credence to reports that houses were set ablaze there by government soldiers, a major human rights group said Tuesday. Human Rights Watch said in a statement that an investigation is necessary to determine who was responsible for setting at least 200 buildings on fire on May 16 in the village of Let Kar in Rakhine state's Mrauk-U township. The burning of villages was a tactic used on a large scale by the military in Rakhine in 2017, according to investigations carried out separately by the United Nations and human rights groups.
- U.S.INSIDER
The white woman who called 911 after a black bird-watcher asked her to leash her dog has 'voluntarily surrendered' her pet to an animal rescue
More than 22.8 million people have watched a video of Amy Cooper, a white woman, calling 911 and alleging that there was an "African-American man threatening" her. In reality, Christian Cooper, who is black and enjoys bird watching, asked Amy Cooper to put her dog on its leash while they were in Central Park in Manhattan. The Abandoned Angels Cocker Spaniel Rescue, Inc. has since announced that the woman has "voluntarily surrendered" her dog, confirming that "he is safe and in good health."
- WorldReuters
Brazil police raid Rio governor's residences amid COVID-19 probe
Brazilian federal police on Tuesday raided the residences of Rio de Janeiro Governor Wilson Witzel as part of a COVID-19 corruption probe, targeting one of President Jair Bolsonaro's political foes as the pandemic sweeps the nation. Two sources and a statement from the federal police said the search warrants were part of an investigation into alleged corruption involving the use of public money destined to fight the coronavirus pandemic in Rio de Janeiro state. No arrest warrants were issued, a source said.
WorldAFPCorruption prosecutions nearly double in China over last year
The number of prosecutions related to corruption in China nearly doubled last year, according to a report by Beijing's top prosecutor, as President Xi Jinping ramped up his crackdown on graft. According to the annual report from the Supreme People's Procuratorate submitted to the national parliament, 18,585 people were prosecuted for crimes related to corruption in 2019, a 90 percent year-on-year increase. Sixteen cases involved former provincial or ministerial-level Communist Party cadres, including former Yunnan party chief Qin Guangrong, who was accused of taking bribes.
- U.S.NBC News
Oklahoma woman missing since April following Facebook post that indicated she believed she had coronavirus
Nearly two months have passed since 53-year-old Talina Galloway vanished from her home in Wagoner, Oklahoma, leaving behind her purse and vehicle. “We're really worried about her,” Talina's niece, Chantel Jones, told Dateline. Chantel told Dateline she spent most of her summers living with her Aunt Talina in Indiana.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
Trump's senior economic adviser referred to Americans returning to work as 'human capital stock'
Alex Wong/Getty Images Senior White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that America's "human capital stock" is ready to get back work as the country moves toward reopening its economy. "Our capital stock hasn't been destroyed, our human capital stock is ready to get back to work, and so there are lots of reasons to believe that we can get going way faster than we have in previous crises," Hassett said. Hassett's statements come as the number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits continues to grow.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
Minister Quits as Britain Boils Over With Rage Against Boris Johnson and His Lockdown-Breaking Aide
The most serious political crisis that Boris Johnson has faced as British prime minister is getting worse. After days of Johnson trying to excuse the actions of Dominic Cummings, as well as an extraordinary televised press conference where Cummings emerged from the shadows in an unsuccessful attempt to draw a line under the crisis, a government minister has now resigned with a furious letter which condemns both the prime minister and his mastermind. The furious row began on Friday when two newspapers—the Daily Mirror and The Guardian—reported that Cummings drove 264 miles from London to his parents' estate in Durham, even though he feared that he and his wife had the coronavirus.
- PoliticsThe Week
Joe Biden wears mask in 1st public appearance since March
Former Vice President Joe Biden on Monday made his first public appearance since mid-March as he visited a veterans memorial in Delaware, notably clad in a mask. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee laid a wreath in honor of Memorial Day, alongside his wife, Jill Biden, who also wore a mask. Biden's choice to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation to wear a mask during the coronavirus pandemic is in stark contrast to President Donald Trump, who often refuses to wear masks in public, fearful that he'd look ridiculous.
PoliticsYahoo News VideoHHS principal deputy inspector general is asked about $3M contract awarded to company 11 days after it was created by former WH aide
At a House Oversight Committee briefing on the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus, Rep. Gerry Connolly asked Department of Health and Human Services Principal Deputy Inspector General Christi Grimm if she will be looking into a report that a former White House aide, Zach Fuentes, won a contract to provide respirator masks to the Navajo Nation only 11 days after his company was formed.
- WorldBBC
US says Russia sent jets to Libya 'mercenaries'
The US military has accused Russia of sending fighter jets to Libya to support Russian mercenaries there. There was no immediate response from the Russian Defence Ministry to the US Africa command (Africom) allegation. Earlier this month a leaked UN report spoke of hundreds of mercenaries from the shadowy Wagner Group operating in Libya.
- U.S.Associated Press
In his final days, Ahmaud Arbery's life was at a crossroads
College could wait until the fall. About a mile and a half into his usual route, Ahmaud Arbery would cross the four lanes of Jekyll Island Causeway into the subdivision of Satilla Shores. Three months ago, at the age of 25, he ran through Satilla Shores for the final time.
- WorldReuters
Death of 'Mr Big' stirs memories of Singapore's gangland past
Early one October morning in 1969, Singapore police officers found the body of a man dumped in a storm drain. After more than 50 years on the run, one of the men wanted for the murder, Tan Tong Meng, died of a heart attack in Denmark last month, according to former police detectives, online tributes and media reports. The death of one of Singapore's most high-profile gangsters, and memories of the brazen 1969 mob hit, have revived interest in the city-state's history as a wellspring for organised crime - and surprised younger residents with no knowledge of that past in what is now regarded as one of the world's safest cities.
WorldAFPVirus traps poor foreign workers in deserted Maldives
Tens of thousands of impoverished foreign labourers have been left stranded and ostracised in one of the world's most densely packed cities as the tourist paradise of the Maldives battles coronavirus. Like Singapore, which recorded a large number of coronavirus cases among migrants living in tightly-packed dorms, the Maldives is heavily dependent on foreign labour. About half of the 150,000 people in the two square kilometres that make up the capital, Male, are workers from Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka living in teeming alleys that are a haven for the virus.
- CelebrityINSIDER
A plastic surgeon points out the 3 changes on Khloe Kardashian's face after she shared a new look on Instagram
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for UCLA People were quick to respond to Khloe Kardashian's recent selfie, saying it appears she had plastic surgery and that her face looks much different than previous photos she's posted. A plastic surgeon told Insider it appears she had a nose job or rhinoplasty, filler injections, and fat removal in her face. It's impossible to say the exact procedures she had done and when, though, because of photo filters.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
'Our product is used on occasion to kill people': Palantir's CEO claims its tech is used to target and kill terrorists
Chesnot/Getty Images Palantir CEO Alex Karp told Axios there are times when he's questioned the ethics of the company's business. Palantir is a Silicon Valley-based data firm which has been protested in the past for its work with US Immigration and Custom's Enforcement (ICE). Karp also said the company's product is used to target and kill terrorists, although he wasn't specific about what product he meant.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
‘Fox & Friends’ Confronts Kayleigh McEnany With Chris Wallace Criticism
Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace didn't get the chance to confront White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany directly this weekend. About halfway through her appearance on that show Tuesday morning, Kilmeade brought up a comment McEnany made during her Friday press conference. As Kilmeade put it, “Some of the press got insulted,” before reading McEnany part of what Wallace said about her comments on his Sunday show.
- U.S.The Telegraph
Trump defends his golf playing as tens of thousands of Americans head to beach for long weekend
Donald Trump has defended his decision to flout official social distancing guidelines to play golf during a long weekend to remember America's war dead, saying his "little exercise" had been portrayed as "a mortal sin". Mr Trump drew criticism after he was pictured without a mask and shaking hands while playing golf in Virginia on Memorial Day weekend as the US coronavirus death toll approached 100,000. Meanwhile Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, made his first in-person appearance in more than two months on Monday as he marked Memorial Day by laying a wreath at a veterans park near his Delaware home.
- BusinessNBC News
Traders sign death waivers as Wall Street reopens, with a few differences
After being shut down for more than two months, the New York Stock Exchange's trading floor partially reopened on Tuesday. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo rang the opening bell, alongside NYSE President Stacey Cunningham. The trading floor had been closed since March 23.
- U.S.The Independent
Husband of ‘Reopen North Carolina’ leader says he is ‘willing to kill’ in fight against lockdown
The husband of a leading protester campaigning to “reopen” North Carolina has said he and his fellow protesters are “willing to kill people” as they fight to overturn their state's lockdown order. Adam Smith, whose wife Ashley was arrested at a recent protest in the state capital of Raleigh, said in his video that the only just response to the lockdown was to treat it as a fight against tyrannical government domination. It comes as Donald Trump threatens to move this summer's Republican National Convention away from North Carolina unless Governor Roy Cooper makes moves to reopen the state in time.
- WorldAssociated Press
Airbus experts probe plane crash that killed 97 in Pakistan
Pakistan announced Tuesday that Airbus experts have opened a probe into last week's plane crash that killed 97 people when an Airbus A320 went down in a crowded neighborhood near the airport in the port city of Karachi. Initial reports have said the Pakistan International Airlines jet crashed after an apparent engine failure. Pakistani aviation authorities said Tuesday they have shared their initial findings with the visiting 11-member team from the European plane maker.
- WorldReuters
Brazil surpasses U.S. in daily coronavirus death toll
Brazil daily coronavirus deaths were higher than fatalities in the United States for the first time over the last 24 hours, according to the country's Health Ministry. Brazil registered 807 deaths over the last 24 hours, whereas 620 died in the United States. Brazil has the second worst outbreak in the world, with 374,898 cases, behind the U.S. with 1.637 million cases.
- U.S.The Guardian
Tow truck turf wars: Toronto sees rise in violence likened to organised crime
Two boys, aged 15 and 17, were charged on Thursday with first-degree and attempted murder, and Toronto police told the Guardian they do not believe Kinani's murder was related to an ongoing turf war. But he was the fourth Toronto tow-truck driver to be murdered in less than two years. Several others have been shot – or shot at – including one who was targeted just hours after Kinani's death.
BusinessYahoo News VideoChinese media says Wuhan had live virus
The Chinese virology institute at the centre of US allegations it may have been the source of the COVID-19 pandemic has three live strains of bat coronavirus on-site, but none match the new global contagion, its director has said.
