WorldBusiness InsiderA Russian journalist who covered protests in support of the release of Putin critic Alexei Navalny is facing the possibility of detention
Daria Komarova, a Russian journalist, faces the possibility of detention for covering "unsanctioned" protests, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Komarova covered the demonstrations while on assignment for an outlet funded by the US Congress. A Russian journalist is facing three trials and the possibility of fines or detention after covering protests in support of Alexei Navalny earlier this year.
WorldAssociated PressIn tense Jerusalem, flag-waving Israeli march to go ahead
Police on Sunday gave the go-ahead to the annual Jerusalem Day parade, a flag-waving display of Israeli claims to all of the contested city, despite days of unrest and soaring Israeli-Palestinian tensions at a flashpoint holy site. Monday's parade will pass through Jerusalem's Old City, part of east Jerusalem, which was captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. The march was approved amid ongoing clashes between police and Palestinians in the Old City, the emotional epicenter of the long-running conflict.
WorldThe WeekCan the U.S. maintain leverage against the Taliban via Afghanistan's neighbors?
Annie Pforzheimer, a longtime diplomat who has extensive experience working in Afghanistan, is concerned about President Biden's plan to withdraw U.S. troops from the country without any conditions from the Taliban by or before Sept. 11, 2021. In a piece for Politico published Saturday, she shares her not uncommon view that the U.S. exit will allow the Taliban an opportunity to "increase their territorial control and dictatorial rule," depriving Afghanistan of much hope for a "normal future." Pforzheimer's ideas include remaining publicly committed to Afghan security forces, retaining old and imposing new sanctions on the Taliban until they're no longer a threat to Afghanistan's stability, and refusing to recognize a Taliban government if it "denies basic human rights to its citizens."
U.S.INSIDERAn inmate in a California jail could face hate crime charges for punching Asian American employee: report
A Los Angeles County jail inmate could be charged with a hate crime for attacking an Asian employee. Video shows the inmate identified as Arnulfo Meza strike the woman multiple times. An inmate at a California jail who was seen on video attacking a 54-year-old Asian American worker could be charged with a hate crime, according to the Associated Press.
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Fire at Syrian oil refinery extinguished after leakage
Firefighters extinguished a blaze Sunday in a distillation unit at one of Syria's two oil refineries, Syrian state TV reported. The TV named the cause of the fire as crude oil leakage from one of the pumping stations at the Homs Oil Refinery in the central province of Homs. The fire came amid a series of mysterious attacks on vessels and oil facilities in Syria over the past months.
WorldThe Telegraph'We will be the new Denmark': Swedish hard-Right leader vows to tighten immigration
Last Sunday, the Sweden Democrats and the three centre-Right parties announced a proposal that for the first time showed them negotiating and setting migration policy together, something Mr Åkesson described as "a very important symbol" of cooperation. The move mirrors a deal made in Denmark that gave the Danish People's Party a stranglehold on the right-wing government and dramatically shifted political debate in the country, with even the current Left-wing government driving through a string of controversial migration policies this year including plans to send Syrian refugees home and plans to open a migration processing centre in Rwanda.
WorldReutersAfghan school blast toll rises to 58, families bury victims
The death toll from an explosion outside a school in Afghanistan's capital Kabul has risen to 58, Afghan officials said on Sunday, with doctors struggling to provide medical care to at least 150 injured. The community, a religious minority in Afghanistan, has been targeted in the past by Islamic State militants, a Sunni militant group. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday blamed the attack on Taliban insurgents but a spokesman for the Taliban denied involvement, saying the group condemns any attacks on Afghan civilians.
U.S.The Daily BeastHe Legally Changed His Name to a Bond Villain. Then He Plotted Dad’s Death, Cops Say.
Last summer, former Colorado Springs attorney Jean-Joseph Danger Le Chiffre found out he hadn't been included in his father's will and was apparently furious. Le Chiffre would kill his father, Gilbert Sandoval, and his 78-year-old mother would then claim she did it in self defense. Marcella, who was estranged from Gilbert, would then become her husband's beneficiary and pledged to split the fortune with her son.
WorldAssociated PressEU, India try again to clinch trade deal, sidelining China
The European Union and India agreed Saturday to restart negotiations on a bilateral free trade deal, eight years after their first attempt failed and as both sides seek alternatives to China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke via videoconference to EU leaders attending a summit in Portugal. The two sides announced what they called “a pivotal moment" in their relations by agreeing to resume talks they gave up on in 2013 and to collaborate on a wide range of other issues.
WorldThe TelegraphScottish Labour records worst result since devolution but Sarwar optimistic party has 'credibility again'
Scottish Labour has recorded its worst-ever election result north of the Border since devolution, with the party down two MSPs to 22 compared with 2016. The party continued its downward trend finishing third behind the Tories and SNP, despite new leader Anas Sarwar enjoying strong personal approval ratings among Scots since taking over the top job. Mr Sarwar, who has only been in the leadership role for ten weeks, insisted his party is “on a journey” to build “a credible alternative to the SNP” and “back on the pitch” after an “energetic and enthusiastic” campaign.
WorldBusiness InsiderA pilot recruit was blindfolded and strapped to a target as fighter jets fired on him in a brutal hazing ritual, says legal complaint
A French pilot was tied to a target on a live firing range as part of a brutal hazing ritual. A French fighter pilot has filed a legal complaint after a brutal hazing ritual in which he alleges he was kidnapped, tied up, and left on a live firing range by his colleagues in the French air force. The incident, which happened in March 2019, was first reported by the French newspaper La Provence on Friday.
WorldAssociated PressBeefed-up Israel police clash with Palestinians in Jerusalem
Israeli police on Saturday clashed with Palestinian protesters outside Jerusalem's Old City during the holiest night of Ramadan in a show of force that threatened to deepen the holy city's worst religious unrest in several years. Earlier, police blocked busloads of pilgrims headed to Jerusalem for prayer at Islam's third holiest site. Police defended their actions as security moves, but these were seen as provocations by Muslims who accuse Israel of threatening their freedom of worship.
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4 former Minneapolis police officers indicted on civil rights charges in Floyd death
A federal grand jury has indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd's arrest and death, accusing them of willfully violating the Black man's constitutional rights as he was restrained facedown on the ground and trying to breathe.
WorldAssociated PressUS Navy seizes arms shipment in Arabian Sea amid Yemen war
The U.S. Navy announced Sunday it seized an arms shipment hidden aboard a vessel in the Arabian Sea, the latest such interdiction by sailors amid the long-running war in Yemen. The guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey discovered the weapons aboard what the Navy described as a stateless dhow, a traditional Mideast sailing ship, in an operation that began Thursday in the northern reaches of the Arabian Sea. The weapons seized included Chinese-made, Kalashnikov-style assault rifles, sniper rifles, heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
WorldReutersEthiopian Orthodox Church head says genocide is taking place in Tigray
The head of Ethiopia's Orthodox Church has said that atrocities amounting to genocide are being committed in Tigray, in his first comments on the conflict in the region that broke out in November and has killed thousands. Abune Mathias, who has been head of the church since 2013, did not say who was responsible for this. Dennis Wadley, who heads a U.S.-based church group called Bridge of Hope International, said Abune Mathias had asked him to post the video.
U.S.Business InsiderIn a first, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan will posthumously pardon 34 victims of racial lynching who weren't given due process
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan posthumously pardoned 34 victims of racial lynching in the state, on Saturday, the Baltimore Sun reported. The victims were denied legal due process between 1854 and 1933. The pardons were partly due to a petition by students at Loch Raven Technical Academy that urged Hogan to pardon Howard Cooper, a 15-year-old Black boy who in 1885 was hanged outside the Towson jailhouse by a white mob, WJZ reported.
U.S.INSIDERAn Alaska father was sentenced to federal prison for kidnapping and 'hiding' his two children after a family trip to the Philippines, DOJ says
An Alaska man was sentenced to time in prison for abducting his own children, the DOJ said. Leo James Chaplin kidnapped his children during a family trip to the Philippines in 2014. An Alaska man was sentenced to over a year in prison for abducting his own children during a family trip in 2014, according to a press release from the Department of Justice Friday.
WorldAssociated PressThailand wants to buy more vaccines as surge worsens
Thailand's prime minister said he wants to secure more vaccines for his country and give as many first doses as possible, as it battles a surge of the pandemic with Bangkok reporting a record number of cases. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration announced Friday night it will extend restrictions that were due to end this weekend until May 17. Bangkok has recorded more than 500 new cases every day since the beginning of this month, with no sign of decline, said Taweesilp Visanuyothin, a spokesman for the government's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration.
WorldBBCIndia's Covid crisis delivers a blow to brand Modi
"Modi leads India out of a lockdown and into a Covid apocalypse," declared a recent headline in the UK Sunday Times. The Australian newspaper re-published the story with a scathing summary: "Arrogance, hyper-nationalism and bureaucratic incompetence have combined to create a crisis of epic proportions, critics say, as India's crowd-loving PM basks while citizens literally suffocate." It earned a rebuke from India, but there's no denying the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cherished image has taken a bad hit.
ScienceBusiness InsiderThe Chinese rocket speeding back to Earth is so unpredictable it could land almost anywhere. One guess is around Turkmenistan late on May 8.
The US military and others are tracking a Chinese rocket piece due to re-enter the atmosphere soon. Experts are tracking a large section of a Chinese rocket which is due to re-enter the atmosphere in the next two days or so. Space-Track, a website run by the 18th Space Control Squadron, a branch of the US military that tracks space debris, said in a tweet on Friday that the rocket will reenter around 11:13 PM UTC, or 7:13 PM ET, on Saturday.
WorldThe TelegraphLibyan coastguard opens fire on Italian fishermen — from patrol boat donated by Rome
The Libyan coastguard has prompted uproar after it opened fire on Italian fishermen, wounding a skipper, from a patrol vessel donated by the Italian government. Italian MPs condemned the attack on Thursday and reacted with fury to the revelation that the vessel had been donated by Rome to Libya to help intercept migrants trying to reach southern Europe from the Libyan coast. Italy is one of several EU countries that have given the Libyans training and equipment in efforts to staunch the flow of thousands of asylum seekers and economic migrants crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa.
WorldAssociated PressEyeing reelection bid, Macron looks to repair French economy
A year before the next presidential election, Macron is focusing on saving jobs and reviving the pandemic-battered French economy as his country inches out of its third partial lockdown. The centrist president's ability to meet the challenge will be significant for his political future and for France — which is among the world's worst-hit nations with the fourth-highest number of reported COVID-19 cases and the eighth-highest death toll at more than 106,000. While he has not officially declared his candidacy, Macron has made comments suggesting he intends to seek reelection.
CelebrityBBCObamas' dog Bo dies: 'We said goodbye to our best friend'
The family of former US President Barack Obama have paid tribute to "our best friend", after their beloved pet dog Bo died on Saturday. Bo, Michelle Obama wrote in a social media post, had been a "constant, comforting presence" since his arrival in the White House in 2009. The black and white Portuguese water dog was a gift for their daughters as they settled into their new home.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderWhite House press secretary Jen Psaki says she advises Biden not to take spontaneous questions from reporters
Jen Psaki says she doesn't advise President Biden to take impromptu questions from reporters. "That is not something we recommend," she said during an interview with David Axelrod. Psaki said that she aims to keep Biden on message and free of "distractions."
PoliticsThe IndependentStacey Abrams says she ‘absolutely’ plans to run for president
Many Democrats have already credited voting rights activist Stacey Abrams for helping the party get a landmark win in Georgia during the 2020 election, and now Ms Abrams has her sights on an even bigger victory than flipping a reliably red state: she says she “absolutely” wants to run for president one day. "Do I hold it as an ambition? Absolutely," she told CBS Sunday Morning, in an interview airing tomorrow.
“Every college has a public health responsibility to require its students to be vaccinated.”
“While the vast majority of students will likely get the vaccine, schools should honor the decisions of the few who object.”
“A vaccinated campus could be the step toward normality that college leaders are seeking.”
“College students are mobile and spread COVID-19 with them whenever they travel.”
“There almost certainly are going to be legal challenges because the anti-vaccine movement is already preparing for them.”