WorldBBCKabul attack: Blasts near school leave more than 50 dead
Blasts close to a secondary school in the Afghan capital Kabul have left at least 50 people dead and more than 100 injured, officials say. The explosions took place as students were leaving the building on Saturday, with pictures on social media showing abandoned school bags in the street. Most of the victims were girls, a ministry of education spokeswoman said.
U.S.The Daily BeastHorrific: D.C. Sniper Boasts of Post-Shooting Sex With Accomplice in New Doc
In I, Sniper, Lee Boyd Malvo speaks at length about the 2002 reign of terror he and partner John Allen Muhammad carried out in the Washington, D.C., area, resulting in ten deaths. Yet despite using audio clips from his phone calls as narration, Vice's eight-part docuseries (premiering May 10) is most notable for putting its prime emphasis on the pair's innocent victims, and the countless friends, family members and loved ones left to cope with unthinkable tragedy.
WorldAxiosU.S. tries to de-escalate crisis in Jerusalem
State Department officials spoke to their Israeli and Palestinian counterparts on Friday night and asked them to de-escalate the situation in Jerusalem and the West Bank, U.S. and Israeli officials said. Why it matters: This is the first crisis between Israel and the Palestinians the Biden administration faces as it reengages with the Palestinians after a long freeze in the relations during the Trump presidency. Driving the news: In recent days the tensions grew in Jerusalem over a possible eviction of 300 Palestinians from homes they lived in for more than 50 years in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
U.S.INSIDERDerek Chauvin was indicted in the arrest of a 14-year-old whom prosecutors say he knelt on for 17 minutes and hit with a flashlight
Chauvin is accused of using his authority as an officer to deprive the teen of his rights. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. A federal grand jury has indicted the former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on a civil-rights charge in the 2017 arrest of a 14-year-old boy.
WorldReutersSudanese officials meet with U.S. envoy over stalled dam talks
Sudanese officials held talks with a new U.S. envoy to the Horn of Africa on Saturday aimed at resolving a dispute over Ethiopia's giant hydropower dam on the Blue Nile. Talks between Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia over the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam fell apart in April, and an invitation by Sudan for a prime minister-level summit went unanswered. Ethiopia is pinning its hopes of economic development and power generation on the dam, which Egypt fears will imperil its water supply.
WorldAssociated PressPutin tells Red Square parade that Nazi ideas persist
Russian President Vladimir Putin marked the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe with a speech warning that Nazi beliefs remain strong. Speaking to the annual military parade on Moscow's Red Square, Putin on Sunday decried “attempts to rewrite history, to justify traitors and criminals, on whose hands lies the blood of hundreds of thousands of peaceful people. Unfortunately, many of the ideologies of the Nazis, those who were obsessed with the delusional theory of their exclusiveness, are again trying to be put into service,” he said, without citing specifics.
WorldThe TelegraphDominic Cummings lashes out in all directions, with campaign critiques for Starmer and Johnson
Dominic Cummings advised Sir Keir Starmer to campaign harder on crime as he launched a two-pronged Twitter attack on Labour and the Tories following Friday's election results. Mr Cummings, chief adviser to Boris Johnson until December last year, took Sir Keir to task over his focus on "media reality" and the "babble" of journalists. "We have a Number 10 and Opposition who see their job as Media Entertainment Service and neither knows how to do this better than TB/Mandy [Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson]," he wrote.
PoliticsThe IndependentSecret Russian assassination squad linked to claims of bounties on US troops in Afghanistan, report says
Claims of Russian bounties against US troops in Afghanistan were linked to a Kremlin-backed spy team known as Unit 29155, according to reports. The intelligence community released newly-declassified documents of its assessment to The New York Times after the Biden administration's review said they had "low to moderate" confidence in the intelligence. Claims that Donald Trump did nothing about Russian bounties on American soldiers were leveraged by Joe Biden as a major election issue during the presidential campaign and tied to accusations that the Republican had consistently shown a deferential attitude to Vladimir Putin.
U.S.The StateFort Bragg soldier charged with murder of fellow soldier in Fayetteville, police say
Fayetteville police have arrested a soldier stationed at Fort Bragg and charged her with murder in the shooting death of another soldier. Detectives with the Fayetteville Police Department identified the victim as Kelia Horton, a 22-year-old woman and resident of Spring Lake, according to a news release issued Saturday afternoon. The suspect, who was arrested Friday, has been identified as Tiara Vinson, a 26-year-old woman and Fayetteville resident, police said.
WorldReutersSpain's regions at odds over keeping COVID curfew
The Basque Country's top court on Friday ruled that the region must stop its current COVID-19 curfew, while a court in Valencia approved continuing the measure, in a sign of the confusion that could be in store when Spain ends its national state of emergency this weekend. Imposed last October to curb a rampant second wave of infections, the state of emergency allowed the central government to temporarily enforce a nationwide 11 p.m. curfew as well as local travel bans and lockdowns. When it ends, each of Spain's 17 regions must individually seek approval from local courts to continue such measures, likely creating a kaleidoscope of diverging restrictions and legal battles.
U.S.INSIDERTexas cops respond to 911 report of gunshots and 'fighting,' only to find children playing with toy guns at a family birthday party
The caller warned of gunshots and fighting, but police found children playing with toy guns. One of the officers gave the children more toys to alleviate their fears of law enforcement. Police in Texas received an anonymous report about a shooting and fighting at a Texas home, and arrived at the scene only to discover children playing with toy guns, according to local media reports.
- NewsKTRK – Houston
Woman choked by ex-boyfriend shoots him to death in N. Harris Co.
The woman claims the man got aggressive when he went over to pick up his belongings. Deputies were still at the scene investigating.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis' former aides say he treated them 'like a disposable piece of garbage'
Many of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' former staffers told Politico they felt abused by the politician. A group of the ex-staffers have formed a "support group" to discuss their experiences DeSantis is closely aligned with former president Donald Trump, who recently said he'd consider the governor as a potential running mate. See more stories on Insider's business page.
BusinessReutersExclusive: U.S. Justice Department probing Kabbage, fintechs over PPP loan calculations - sources
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether financial technology companies including Atlanta-based Kabbage Inc may have erred while distributing billions of dollars in pandemic aid to struggling small businesses, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The investigation, led by the Justice Department's civil division, is examining whether Kabbage and other fintech companies miscalculated how much aid borrowers were entitled to from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) due to confusion over how to account for payroll taxes, the three people said. A fourth person with direct knowledge of the matter said a number of fintechs were being probed over the PPP tax issues but declined to provide names.
HealthAxiosCDC acknowledges "repeatedly documented" threat of airborne transmission of COVID-19
The CDC acknowledged Friday that airborne spread of COVID-19 among people more than 6 feet apart "has been repeatedly documented." "These transmission events have involved the presence of an infectious person exhaling virus indoors for an extended time (more than 15 minutes and in some cases hours) leading to virus concentrations in the air space sufficient to transmit infections to people more than 6 feet away, and in some cases to people who have passed through that space soon after the infectious person left." The bottom line: Aerosol expert Linsey Marr "pointed out that one updated page on the C.D.C. website, entitled 'How Covid-19 Spreads,' says that inhaling the virus when people are far apart is 'uncommon,'" the Times noted.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderArizona's top election official details 'a constant barrage of harassment' during unprecedented GOP-backed ballot recounting
Arizona's top election official is receiving harassment during continued election controversy. Secretary of State Katie Hobbs told Insider that it's making it harder for her office to do its job. More than six months and two audits after the 2020 presidential election, Arizona Republicans are still legitimizing election conspiracies by paying a private contractor to conduct what they describe as an audit and recount of all the votes cast in Maricopa County.
PoliticsThe IndependentMatt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene in conspiracy laden double act designed to delight Florida’s most famous retiree – Donald Trump
The Villages in Florida – one of the biggest retirement communities in the world – is known as a place for fresh starts and new beginnings. There was lots of shouting and lots of applause, and lots of cheering of Donald Trump. Greene, who was stripped of her position on a congressional committee for her promotion of QAnon and other conspiracy theories, was quick to boast about her outsider status.
ScienceUSA TODAY'Really unpredictable': Chinese rocket hurtling back to Earth; possible debris zone spans huge swath of globe
A huge section of a Chinese Long March 5B rocket is falling back to Earth and debris may land sometime Saturday evening or later — if the rocket doesn't burn up on the way down. The rocket could hit Earth around 11:30 p.m. EST Saturday, according to calculations by Aerospace Corporation, a California-based non-profit group that operates a space research and development center. As of Saturday morning, Aerospace Corporation's projections put a large swath of the U.S. near projected paths of the rocket after the predicted reentry time.
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.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump’s Justice Department slammed for obtaining Washington Post journalists’ phone records
Journalists and civil rights groups were outraged this week after The Washington Post revealed that, while Donald Trump was president, the Department of Justice obtained the phone records of its journalists from their time covering allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election. “We are deeply troubled by this use of government power to seek access to the communications of journalists,” Cameron Barr, thePost's acting executive director, said in a statement. “The Department of Justice should immediately make clear its reasons for this intrusion into the activities of reporters doing their jobs, an activity protected under the First Amendment.”
BusinessNational ReviewFrom a Shot in the Arm to a Shot in the Foot — Biden’s Vaccine Blunder
Just in case its tax plans were not evidence enough that the Biden administration has little understanding of the value of incentives, its proposal that intellectual-property protections should be waived in the case of COVID-19 vaccines bolstered the message that no economically productive deed should go unpunished. The United States had been a major holdout at the World Trade Organization over a proposal to suspend some of the world economic body's intellectual property protections, which could allow drugmakers across the globe access to the closely guarded trade secrets of how the viable vaccines have been made. The European Union has also been standing in the way, and changes to international intellectual property rules require unanimous agreement.
PoliticsThe IndependentWisconsin wants $106k from lawyer Sidney Powell over ‘bad faith’ lawsuit backing Trump’s election lies
Former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell was blasted in a court filing by the state of Wisconsin as it attempts to make her pay $106,000 in legal fees for her flunked lawsuit to reverse the results of the 2020 election based on conspiracy theories lacking any foundation in fact. Democratic governor Tony Evers pushed a Milwaukee federal judge to repudiate Ms Powell's defence of her “bad faith” lawsuit, which claimed that some competitive states worked with Dominion Voting Systems and foreign hackers to steal the election. Dominion filed a $1.3bn lawsuit against Ms Powell in January because of her false claims about the company.
LifestyleINSIDERBill Gates spent one weekend a year with his ex-girlfriend under an agreement with his wife. Here's how to know if that would help your marriage, according to a therapist.
An interview from 1997 revealed Bill and Melinda Gates had an agreement that allowed Bill to spend one weekend a year with his ex. Monogamy exceptions can be worked into an otherwise closed relationship, according to therapist Jennifer Mann. Clear guidelines for a monogamy exception are crucial to make it work.
WorldThe IndependentIran shouldn't expect any more US concessions in nuclear talks, White House says
President Joe Biden's government is hinting that Iran should keep their expectations low for new offers following a new series of discussions between the two nations over the nuclear deal. A senior source told reporters on Thursday that the U.S had outlined all their terms and conditions for rejoining their 2015 nuclear deal, which was heralded as a major success of diplomacy, that President Donald Trump removed the US from. The source, an official within Mr Biden's government, said that continuing was up to Iran, as they were not going to budge from their position.
U.S.The GuardianBeware the deadly new disease spreading across America: ‘Foxitis’
The disease is called “Foxitis” and a lawyer called Joseph Hurley, who is representing alleged US Capitol rioter Anthony Antonio, wants us to believe his client is suffering from it. Antonio lost his job at the beginning of the pandemic and spent the next six months sitting at home watching Fox, Hurley told a DC court on Thursday. He became hooked with what I call 'Foxitis' or 'Foxmania' and … started believing what was being fed to him.
“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.”