PoliticsThe WeekBiden reportedly has a 'short fuse'
President Biden has "a short fuse" at times, especially when aides and advisers are unable to answer his many hyper-detailed questions, current and former associates told The New York Times in a report published Friday. Driven by a strong "sense of urgency," the president is reportedly susceptible to "flares of impatience," and a tendency to "cut off conversations," per the Times. "He has a kind of mantra: 'You can never give me too much detail,'" National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told the Times.
U.S.NBC NewsMIT grad, suspected of killing Yale student, arrested in Alabama
U.S. marshals in Alabama on Friday captured an MIT graduate accused of gunning down a Yale University graduate student earlier this yearin Connecticut, officials said. The U.S. Marshals Service said its Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force, assisted by marshals from the Middle District of Alabama and police in Montgomery, arrested Qinxuan Pan on Friday morning. The 29-year-old resident of Malden, Massachusetts, had been on the lam since the Feb. 6 slaying of Kevin Jiang, a second-year grad student at the Yale School of the Environment.
U.S.NextSharkMan Arrested While Still Sexually Assaulting Elderly Asian Woman in Fremont
A man was arrested for sexually assaulting a 67-year-old Asian woman in Fremont, Calif. on Thursday. Caught in the act: Fremont police said the assault was still in progress when they responded to the problem call at approximately 11 a.m. “This was in an exterior portion of a residence, so it was obvious when the officers arrived on scene what was happening,” Sergeant Ricardo Tores said, according to KGO.
PoliticsAssociated PressConservative group boasts of secret role in voting laws
The head of a national conservative group that is spending $24 million to push new voting restrictions told supporters it secretly helped draft legislation in Republican-controlled statehouses across the country. Jessica Anderson, executive director of Heritage Action, made the claim during a recent meeting with supporters in Arizona. A recording of the event was released by the liberal investigative website Documented, which made a copy available for The Associated Press to review.
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Hearing for man last seen with missing tiger turns into a circus
Houston police believe India the tiger, who is still missing, has traded hands up to eight times this past week in the city's exotic animal trade.
WorldAxiosDarkSide claims it's shutting down after Colonial Pipeline hack
The hacker group DarkSide, which was responsible for a ransomware attack that shut down the Colonial Pipeline and led to fuel shortages in multiple states this week, claims to be shutting down, Krebs on Security and several cybersecurity firms report. Why it matters: In a message from a cybercrime forum, the group said it had lost access to the infrastructure needed to carry out its extortion operations and that a cryptocurrency account it uses to pay its affiliates had been drained. What they're saying: “Servers were seized (country not named), money of advertisers and founders was transferred to an unknown account,” reads the message, which was reviewed by Krebs.
WorldReutersScottish police free men held by UK immigration force
Scottish police ordered the release on Thursday of two Indian men who had been detained by British immigration officials, after hundreds of protesters in Glasgow blocked the path of a van carrying the detainees. Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who wants to wrest immigration powers from the United Kingdom government, welcomed the police force's actions and blamed the British government for what she called a "dangerous situation". Video footage showed the two men emerging from the back of a van belonging to Britain's interior ministry, which sets immigration rules for the whole United Kingdom.
U.S.Architectural Digest7 Upscale Homes For Sale in Austin, Texas
As the city's luxury real estate market reaches new heights, these high-end homes won't be around for long Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
HealthThe ConversationHerd immunity appears unlikely for COVID-19, but CDC says vaccinated people can ditch masks in most settings
When COVID-19 first began spreading, public health and medical experts began talking about the need for the U.S. to reach herd immunity to stop the coronavirus from spreading. Experts have estimated that between 60% and 90% of people in the U.S. would need to be vaccinated for that to happen. Only about 35% of the population has been fully vaccinated, and yet the CDC said on May 14, 2021 that fully vaccinated people can lose their masks in most indoor and outdoor settings.
PoliticsLos Angeles Times OpinionHeffernan: The GOP hivemind keeps it doubling down on its biggest loser
On Wednesday, House Republicans voted to strip Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo. of her role as chair of the House Republican Conference, the third-highest position in party leadership in the House. Much hay has been made of the Republicans' reasons for doing this.
HealthReutersDelayed second Pfizer COVID-19 shot produces more antibodies - study
LONDON (Reuters) - Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine generates antibody responses three-and-a-half times larger in older people when a second dose is delayed to 12 weeks after the first, a British study said. The study released on Friday is the first to directly compare immune responses of the Pfizer shot from the three-week dosing interval tested in clinical trials, and the extended 12-week interval that British officials recommend in order to give more vulnerable people at least some protection quickly. After Britain moved to extend the interval between doses, Pfizer and vaccine partner BioNTech said there was no data to back up the move.
WorldThe TelegraphA child for a tarpaulin: Aid workers’ price list as they ‘exchange food and shelter for sex’
Charity aid workers have a price list of sex acts to exchange for food and shelter, experts have warned. Sexual abuse by humanitarian workers is “systemic” and discussed so openly that translators are even used to negotiate deals, a conference at King's College heard on Friday. Sarah Champion, who chairs the international development select committee, said there is evidence of a “known exchange rate” for aid such as making a child “available” in return for tarpaulins for shelter or women having to exchange sex for employment.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramWater district board that runs Panther Island can’t ignore voters’ demand for openness
Voters should be relieved, we suppose, that the Tarrant Regional Water District's governing board has so far stopped short of fulfilling the wish of the defenestrated board president, Jack Stevens, to hire a new general manager before swearing in new board members. The board met in a closed session to discuss personnel, led by a lame-duck president, and received information about a candidate for the job. A replacement for longtime leader Jim Oliver is the most important decision the board will make for years.
BusinessReutersExclusive-Tesla in talks with China's EVE for low-cost battery supply deal - sources
Tesla Inc is in talks with Chinese battery maker EVE Energy Co to add the firm to its Shanghai factory supply chain, four people familiar with the matter said, as it seeks to boost procurement of lower cost batteries. EVE makes lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are cheaper to produce because they use iron instead of more expensive nickel and cobalt. But LFP batteries generally offer a shorter range on a single charge than the more popular nickel/cobalt alternative.
U.S.The Daily Beast‘I Wanted Trump to Win’: Husband Charged in Wife’s Murder Also Used Her Name to Vote
Five months after Suzanne Morphew vanished without a trace while out on a bike ride last Mother's Day, the Chaffee County Clerk's Office in Colorado received a bizarre notification: a mail-in ballot for the 2020 election had been submitted under her name. When a Chaffee County sergeant went to the clerk's office to check out the ballot, he saw that it had been handwritten and dated Oct. 15, 2020—and included the signature of her husband, Barry Lee Morphew, on the witness line. “I wanted Trump… to win,” Morphew told FBI agents when questioned about submitting his wife's voting ballot.
WorldINSIDERIsraeli ground forces are attacking Gaza, Israel says
Israeli ground forces attacked Gaza early Friday morning, according to a tweet by the IDF. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation will continue "as long as necessary" soon after the assualt began. More than 100 people in Gaza have been killed since Monday, according to the BBC.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderGOP Rep. Doug Lamborn let his son live in a storage unit in the US Capitol basement for weeks, lawsuit claims
A lawsuit claims a GOP congressman's son lived in a basement storage space in the Capitol. An ex-staffer is suing Rep. Doug Lamborn's office, alleging retaliation over his December firing. The lawsuit also accuses the Colorado lawmaker of dangerously flouting COVID-19 safety protocols.
WorldBBCSydney casinos to ban cash after money laundering scandal
Sydney's only two casinos will make their gaming operations cashless in a bid to stamp out money laundering. Regulators said The Star and Crown Sydney, which is yet to be opened, agreed to the unusual move on Thursday. It comes after an inquiry earlier this year found it was likely criminal activity had occurred at Crown Resorts' casinos in other Australian cities.
LifestyleTODAYAldi fans are making 'adult Capri Suns' with frozen fruit bags
Aldi shoppers have found an ingenious way to cool off (and keep their cool) this summer. In The Aldi Nerd Facebook group, which has nearly 1.5 million members, fans of the grocery chain are posting photos of their latest innovation: Adult juice pouches, or Capri Suns, made from 32-ounce bags of frozen fruit and bottles of Aldi's fruity Pacific Fruit Vineyards wines. One group member, Mandy Allen, and her sister, Melissa Mills, created the boozy concoctions recently for a backyard cookout, and Allen said she used a bottle of peach wine, a bottle of pineapple wine and two bags of frozen fruit to make them matching giant drinks to sip while socializing.
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Suspect allegedly shot, killed Indianapolis man because he thought victim had been following him for days
An Indianapolis man is behind bars accused of murder following a deadly shooting outside a downtown hotel.
WorldThe Independent‘Do Palestinians have a right to survive?’ AOC makes impassioned speech against Biden policy on Israel crisis
Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has slammed President Joe Biden's response to escalating tensions in Gaza, asking if “Palestinians have a right to survive? Speaking on the House floor on Thursday, she said: “The president and many other figures this week stated that Israel has a right to defend itself, and this is a sentiment that's echoed across this body. But do Palestinians have a right to survive?
U.S.Business InsiderA man accused of storming the Capitol with a giant Confederate flag will get to go on a family road trip while awaiting trial
A judge has allowed two prominent Capitol riot defendants to go on a family road trip. Both men were seen in pictures and videos at the Capitol insurrection, one of them holding a Confederate flag. The man pictured walking through the US Capitol holding a massive Confederate flag during the January 6 insurrection is about to head on a family road trip after a judge approved the vacation earlier this month.
U.S.Idaho StatesmanWashington mayor seen in profane shirt at Costco reacts to criticism: ‘I had no idea’
The mayor of a small town in Washington is getting a lot of reaction from the community after photos of him wearing a controversial T-shirt circulated online. Sequim Mayor William Armacost was seen in the photo wearing a black T-shirt with a skull, two guns and the words, “This is the USA – We Eat Meat – We Drink Beer – We Own Guns – We Speak English – We Love Freedom – If you do not like that get the ---- out.” The photo, taken in Costco May 2, appears in a May 3 Facebook post from Laurey Hansen-Carl.
WorldThe IndependentHavana syndrome: Over 130 US personnel victims of suspected ‘energy attacks’ with some suffering brain damage
It has been revealed that a mysterious condition called Havana syndrome has affected more than 130 US personnel as Joe Biden's administration steps up its response to the unusual incidents, a report has said. The New York Times reports that current and former officials say that more employees than previously thought have been affected by the condition. While there were around 60 initial publicly confirmed cases, not including those of CIA officers whose total was undisclosed, the new total adds cases in Europe and elsewhere in Asia, The Times reports.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderMarjorie Taylor Greene vandalized Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's guest book and taunted her in a deleted 2019 video
One of Greene's associates, Anthony Aguero, entered the Capitol with pro-Trump rioters in January. See more stories on Insider's business page. Before Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene ran for office, she and a few associates traveled to the US Capitol and taunted Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez outside her office in the Capitol, showed a since deleted video unearthed by CNN's KFile on Friday.
“If Facebook lets Trump back on Facebook and Instagram, he'll assuredly restart his assault on democracy.”
“Facebook should have known better than to believe that it could limit speech on its platform without setting a terrible precedent.”
“Providing a microphone and an amplifier for deceit isn't fighting the good fight for free speech.”
“It’s no defense of Mr. Trump’s conduct to say that the digital public square shouldn’t suppress speech by political leaders.”
“The former president no longer gets the ‘head of state’ exception to terms of service.”