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.
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.
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.
PoliticsThe WeekRudy Giuliani's attorneys say prosecutors are treating their client like 'a terrorist'
Rudy Giuliani is arguably a lot of things, but he isn't the "head of a drug cartel" or "a terrorist," his lawyers say, and shouldn't be treated as such. In a redacted letter made public on Monday, Giuliani's attorneys asked a Manhattan federal judge to unseal the affidavits in support of a November 2019 search warrant that prosecutors used to secretly obtain files from Giuliani's Apple iCloud account. At the time, Giuliani was serving as the personal lawyer to former President Donald Trump, and his attorneys say the iCloud files collected likely included "material relating to the impending impeachment, the welfare of the country, and to national security."
PoliticsReutersBiden administration approved $735 million arms sale to Israel - sources
President Joe Biden's administration approved the potential sale of $735 million in precision-guided weapons to Israel, and congressional sources said on Monday that U.S. lawmakers were not expected to object to the deal despite violence between Israel and Palestinian militants. Three congressional aides said Congress was officially notified of the intended commercial sale on May 5, as part of the regular review process before major foreign weapons sales agreements can go ahead. Congress was informed of the planned sale in April, as part of the normal informal review process before of the formal notification on May 5.
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.
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Erdogan: High-ranking PKK militant killed in Iraq operation
Turkish security forces have killed an alleged high-ranking Kurdish militant in an operation in northern Iraq, Turkey's president said Monday. Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after a Cabinet meeting that the slain militant was allegedly responsible for the Syria operations of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. He identified him by his codename, Sofi Nurettin, and said he was a Syrian national.
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.
PoliticsReutersTrump, House Democrats near agreement on Deutsche Bank subpoenas
Former President Donald Trump and Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Monday they are near an agreement to resolve disputes concerning congressional subpoenas of his financial records from Deutsche Bank AG. In a filing in federal court in Manhattan, lawyers for Trump and the Democrats said they believed they were "close to an agreement" in talks concerning the scope of the subpoenas and a process for resolving privacy concerns. They asked a judge for another 30 days to continue talks. Deutsche Bank, Trump's main bank, said in the same filing that both sides would invite it to raise any concerns "at an appropriate time."
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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.
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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.
WorldBBCClimate change: Ban all gas boilers from 2025 to reach net-zero
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that no new fossil fuel boilers should be sold from 2025 if the world is to achieve net-zero emissions by the middle of this century. The IEA says that from now, there is no place for new coal, oil or gas exploration or supplies. The energy sector, according to the IEA, is the source of around 75% of the emissions of greenhouse gases that are driving up global temperatures.
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.
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.
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.
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.
WorldAssociated PressRussia's northernmost base projects its power across Arctic
During the Cold War, Russia's Nagurskoye airbase was little more than a runway, a weather station and a communications outpost in the Franz Josef Land archipelago. Now, Russia's northernmost military base is bristling with missiles and radar and its extended runway can handle all types of aircraft, including nuclear-capable strategic bombers, projecting Moscow's power and influence across the Arctic amid intensifying international competition for the region's vast resources. The shamrock-shaped facility — three large pods extending from a central atrium — is called the “Arctic Trefoil” and is painted in the white-red-and-blue of the national flag, brightening the otherwise stark vantage point on the 5,600-kilometer (3,470-mile) Northern Sea Route along Russia's Arctic coast.
HealthThe TelegraphPost-menopausal women report periods coming back after having Covid vaccine
Researchers are investigating the reports to see if the disruption to the menstrual cycle is caused by the jabs. No proof has yet been found linking the inoculations to the unusual reproductive symptoms, but a growing body of anecdotal evidence has led scientists to begin probing the reports. Professor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist at King's College London, said earlier this month that the symptom-tracker app ZOE was monitoring reports of period-related side-effects.
WorldReutersNATO attempts to appease Serbian concerns over Croatian troops in Kosovo
NATO sought on Monday to assuage Serbian concerns over the deployment of Croatian troops to Kosovo, stressing they were bound by exactly the same rules as all other troops of the alliance's KFOR peacekeeping force in the Balkan country. "All troops provided by NATO allies and partner countries to our operation in Kosovo operate under ... a well established framework, which is set out by the UN resolution 1244," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters after meeting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Brussels.
U.S.The IndependentFour-year-old found beaten to death on Dallas street was kidnapped and attacked by intruder through back door, mother reveals
The mother of a 4-year-old boy found murdered on a Dallas street says he was snatched from his bed by his killer in a random attack. Cash Gernon's family identified him as the victim in the horrifying attack which has rocked the suburban neighborhood where his body was found. Police said the boy suffered from wounds made by an “edged weapon” in a “violent” death before his body was found shoeless and partially clothed in the Mountain Creek neighborhood by a jogger around 6:45am on Saturday morning.
WorldUSA TODAYIsraeli government tweets rocket emojis amid Gaza conflict
In the midst of a conflict that has now seen hundreds of deaths across the Gaza Strip, the state of Israel sent a series of tweets from its official account Monday containing hundreds of rocket emojis, drawing ire from people who said the tweets were callous, misleading or incorrect. "Just to give you all some perspective, these are the total amount of rockets shot at Israeli civilians," read a tweet near the end of the thread. Palestinian militants in Gaza have fired more than 3,200 rockets into Israel since fighting began May 10, and the Israeli military has launched hundreds of airstrikes.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderWhite House issue subtle dig at Trump over unreleased tax returns, saying Biden and Harris releasing their 2020 tax returns is an 'almost uninterrupted' tradition
The first and second families released their 2020 tax returns on Monday. The press release accompanying the returns included a dig at former President Donald Trump. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris released their 2020 tax returns on Monday.
“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.”