PoliticsYahoo NewsRepublican operator founds organization to fight the left's 'cancel culture'
Some may find the nation's relentless culture wars exhausting, but self-described “right-wing ideologue” Mike Davis does not count himself among the battle-weary. The energetic conservative operative announced on Monday the creation of a new group, Unsilenced Majority, that seeks to “oppose cancel culture and fight back against the woke mob and their enablers,” as a press release put it. “Our goal is to organize a grassroots army of everyday American activists all over the country,” Davis told Yahoo News.
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverOn-duty police officer sexually assaulted by gas station manager, Georgia cops say
The manager of a Georgia gas station is accused of sexually assaulting a police officer who was on duty and in uniform. According to the Hogansville Police Department, Prilesh Navinchandra Thakkar “attempted to forcefully commit an indecent act on an on duty female police officer.” The officer was conducting a business check on May 11 at the Hop In service station along state Highway 54 when the 300-pound manager grabbed her and pulled her behind the counter, WAGA reported.
PoliticsThe WeekBiden, harboring low expectations, wants Israel and Gaza to give 'calm' a chance
President Biden is trying to tackle a number of big problems, and he pretty clearly was hoping Mideast peace wasn't going to be one of them. But the long-simmering conflict between Israel and Hamas erupted again last week, more than 200 Palestinians and 10 Israelis are dead, and the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and Hamas rockets for Israel show no sign of letting up. Biden said Monday that he had voiced support for a ceasefire in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but he isn't publicly pressuring Israel to accept a pause in fighting and Netanyahu has made clear he's not currently interested.
WorldAssociated PressItaly's Lampedusa island slammed again by migrant arrivals
The tiny Mediterranean island of Lampedusa is in the throes of yet another season of migrants arriving by sea, and Ibrahima Mbaye and Waly Sarr can only watch from shore as their fellow Africans risk their lives to get here via unsafe smugglers' boats. Mbaye and Sarr arrived in Italy legally years ago and found work as fishermen on a Lampedusa-based fishing boat, the Vincenzo Padre, which has a mixed Senegalese-Italian crew. They live in town and are part of the community, whereas most other newly arrived Africans pass through, heading to destinations further north after the perilous Mediterranean crossing.
WorldBBCAustralian businessman trapped in India dies from Covid
An Australian man has died of Covid in Delhi, after getting infected around the time Australia banned citizens in India from returning home. Govind Kant, a Sydney businessman, died on Sunday, his company said. Mr Kant is believed to be the second Australian to have died in India amid a temporary travel ban imposed after a devastating second wave.
WorldThe Telegraph'This is our land': Russia warns West against staking claims in Arctic
Russia has warned the West against staking claims in the Arctic ahead of an international meeting on the future of the region, where strategic competition has reached levels not seen since the end of the Cold War. Moscow has recently increased its military presence in the area while also seeking to exploit mineral resources and new shipping routes that have opened up as the ice melts. The US, several Nordic countries, and China have also made moves to protect their own interests in the High North.
WorldReutersHK suspends operations at representative office in Taiwan as tensions rise
HONG KONG/TAIPEI (Reuters) -Hong Kong government's suspended on Tuesday operations at its representative office in Taiwan in a sign of escalating diplomatic tension between the global financial hub and the democratically ruled island that Beijing claims. Tension between Hong Kong's Beijing-backed government and Taiwan have risen since pro-democracy protests erupted in Hong Kong in 2019 and China responded by imposing a sweeping national security law in the city that prompted many activists to leave, some for Taiwan. A Hong Kong government representative did not provide an explanation for the decision to halt operations at the Hong Kong Economic, Trade and Cultural Office, adding only that the decision was not related to the recent rise in coronavirus cases in Taiwan.
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Pakistan police foil mob attempt to lynch blasphemy suspect
Pakistani police said Tuesday they foiled an attempt by a mob to lynch a blasphemy suspect recently arrested on charges of insulting Islam. The mob stormed the Golra police station on the outskirts of Islamabad on Monday night, after police refused to hand over the suspect to the crowd outside for punishment, local police chief Asim Ghaffar said. The suspect, Shaukat Ali, was unharmed while six police officials were slightly injured in the attack, Ghaffar said.
WorldLA TimesJohn Oliver condemns Israeli attacks on Gaza Strip: 'One side is suffering much more'
During Sunday's episode of "Last Week Tonight," John Oliver addressed the ongoing violence in the Gaza Strip and discouraged the tendency to take "both sides" when discussing Israelis and Palestinians because "one side is suffering much more." "If I may quote the riskiest thing you could possibly say on a first date, let's talk about Israel, because the biggest news of the week has obviously been this," Oliver began his late-night program, where he joined the ranks of other celebrities — including the Hadid sisters and actor Riz Ahmed — in supporting the Palestinians. Shortly before Sunday's installment of "Last Week Tonight" aired, Israeli airstrikes killed 10 family members in a refugee camp and, after giving occupants an hour's notice, destroyed the Jalaa building in Gaza, which housed media outlets the Associated Press and Al Jazeera, as well as apartment residents.
PoliticsReutersBipartisan pair of U.S. senators call for reauthorization of Voting Rights Act
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Two U.S. senators, a Republican and a Democrat, asked Congress on Monday to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act, as Republican-controlled state legislatures pass measures imposing new curbs on voting. Democrat Joe Manchin and Republican Lisa Murkowski noted in a letter that the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed discriminatory voting practices, was last reauthorized in 2006 with a bipartisan Senate vote of 98-0. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key portion of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, saying that Section 4, the formula used to determine which states and localities were subject to additional federal scrutiny, was outdated.
WorldAssociated PressHong Kong's new bishop wants differing views respected
Hong Kong's incoming Roman Catholic bishop Stephen Chow called for respect for different views as he prepares to lead a diocese that has been polarized by the city's deteriorating political situation. Chow said while he had “no big plan” on how to unify a Catholic community divided since months of anti-government protests in 2019, he believed that God wanted them to be united. “Unity is not the same as uniformity,” Chow said at a news conference Tuesday, one day after Pope Francis named him to head the Hong Kong diocese.
WorldThe TelegraphPrincess Diana gave me information in faked bank statements, claims Martin Bashir
Martin Bashir told a BBC inquiry that information contained in faked bank statements came from Princess Diana, The Telegraph can disclose. The mocked-up bank statements are at the heart of an inquiry led by Lord Dyson, the Master of the Rolls, into the conduct of Bashir in securing his world exclusive interview with the princess in 1995. Lord Dyson has completed his detailed report, due to be published this week and expected to contain damning criticism of Bashir, 58, who resigned as the BBC's religion editor on grounds of ill-health ahead of its publication.
WorldBBCJust 20 firms behind more than half of single-use plastic waste - study
Plastic bottles, food packages and bags are among billions of items that are used once and then thrown away, often ending up in the oceans. The research - carried out by a consortium including the London School of Economics - looked at which companies are at the base of the plastic supply chain and make polymers, the building blocks of all plastics. It names 20 petrochemical companies which it says are the source of 55 per cent of the world's single-use plastic waste.
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Woman accused of killing her 2 kids with meat cleaver after argument with husband
A woman threatened to stab her husband over an argument about money to move to Japan before she allegedly killed their two children with a meat cleaver in a suburban Phoenix apartment, police said Sunday.
WorldAssociated PressIsrael, Hamas trade fire in Gaza as war rages on
Israel carried out a wave of airstrikes on what it said were militant targets in Gaza, leveling a six-story building, and militants fired dozens of rockets into Israel on Tuesday. Palestinians across the region observed a general strike as the war, now in its second week, showed no signs of abating. Heavy fighting broke out May 10 when Gaza's militant Hamas rulers fired long-range rockets toward Jerusalem in support of Palestinian protests there against Israel's heavy-handed policing of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a flashpoint holy site sacred to Jews and Muslims, and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers.
WorldReutersTaiwan president says to scrutinise electricity management after outages
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen pledged on Tuesday to look into the tech powerhouse's electricity management after two major blackouts hit homes and businesses in less than a week, triggering criticism of the government's power policy. Taiwan, which hosts major chip makers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd, imposed power cuts on Monday evening following a spike in demand amid a heatwave and drought and failure at a power plant, in the second such outage in a week. In a live broadcast online, Tsai offered her apology for the two outages and promised to reexamine the island's power management amid heated debate over the her electricity policy.
U.S.Associated PressMan cuts own throat, dies after verdict in federal courtroom
Federal authorities say a man on trial in Fargo, North Dakota, slashed his own throat in the courtroom Monday and died. North Dakota U.S. Marshal Dallas Carlson said the incident happened after a jury returned a partial guilty verdict against the man, who had faced terrorizing-related charges. Carlson said the man had a sharp instrument that might have been made of plastic.
WorldAssociated PressEXPLAINER: Are Israel, Hamas committing war crimes in Gaza?
More than a week into their fourth war, Israel and the Hamas militant group already face allegations of possible war crimes in Gaza. Israel says Hamas is using Palestinian civilians as human shields, while critics say Israel is using disproportionate force. The firing of hundreds of imprecise rockets into Israel by Hamas and other Palestinian groups is fairly clear-cut.
BusinessReutersJapan's economy slumps back into decline as COVID-19 hits spending
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan's economy shrank more than expected in the first quarter as a slow vaccine rollout and new COVID-19 infections hit spending on items such as dining out and clothes, raising concerns the country will lag others emerging from the pandemic. Capital expenditure also fell unexpectedly and export growth slowed sharply, a sign the world's third-largest economy is struggling for drivers to pull it out of the doldrums. The dismal reading and extended state of emergency curbs have heightened the risk Japan may shrink again in the current quarter and slide back to recession, defined as two straight quarters of recession, some analysts say.
PoliticsThe IndependentRudy Giuliani complains he’s being treated like drug cartel head amid reports Trump has abandoned him
Rudy Giuliani has complained he is being treated like the head of a drug cartel head amid reports that Donald Trump has abandoned him. Lawyers for Mr Giuliani have condemned prosecutors for the 28 April raid by FBI agents on his New York home and criticised them for gaining electronic access to his accounts. “Unfortunately for Giuliani, and even more unfortunately for the attorney-client privilege and executive deliberation privilege, and the public's perception that those privileges are real, the SDNY simply chose to treat a distinguished lawyer as if he was the head of a drug cartel or a terrorist, in order to create maximum prejudicial coverage of both Giuliani, and his most well-known client – the former President of the United States,” it stated.
WorldBusiness InsiderIsrael's 'shocking disregard' for Palestinian civilians may be a war crime, human rights group says
Israel has bombed residential homes in Gaza without warning, killing civilians, Amnesty International said. The human rights group documented four such attacks, which it said "may amount to war crimes." At least 200 Palestinians have died, per authorities in Gaza.
WorldBBCIndia coronavirus: Tracing a family’s journey to save a life
Anoop Saxena, 59, was one of hundreds of thousands Indians who fell sick with Covid at the end of April. What followed over the next few days was just one example of a family's desperate search for help, wherever they could find it. There are many thousands more across India, just like this.
CelebrityLA TimesVanessa Bryant didn't want daughter Natalia to miss prom because of Kobe, like she did
Vanessa Bryant missed her senior prom because of her future husband, Kobe Bryant. She wasn't about to let the same thing happen to their oldest daughter, Natalia Bryant. Natalia's senior prom was Saturday night (in California), which also was the same night her late father was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (in Connecticut).
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WH won't comment on Supreme Court hearing case that could ban abortion after 15 weeks
During the White House briefing on Monday, press secretary Jen Psaki wouldn't comment on the Supreme Court agreeing to hear a Mississippi case that could ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Psaki did, however, say President Biden is committed to codifying Roe v. Wade.
PoliticsThe Independent‘A grandpa sending money’: Security questions raised after reporters find Biden’s Venmo account
Venmo accounts for both Joe Biden and Dr Jill Biden were discovered within minutes — and deleted within hours — of reporters from Buzzfeed finding the US president on the payment app, on Friday. Although Mr Biden and Dr Biden's contacts on Venmo were not publicly viewable on the app, according to Buzzfeed, it raised issues of national security. Reporters were able to find the US president and first lady on the app after an account from a Biden adviser in The New York Times about Mr Biden sending money to his grandchildren on Venmo.
“We are a nation bobbing in multiple crises. Not one of them involves people taking COVID-19 too seriously.”
“The threat is increasingly concentrated among people who are vulnerable by choice.”
“This announcement would be very welcome if not for one big problem: There is no requirement for proof of vaccination.”
“Joining the protected vaccinated minority, which we hope will rapidly become the majority, is simple.”
“Instead of taking giant steps. I think we should be taking small steps toward the same goal.”