HealthAssociated PressDominant coronavirus mutant contains ghost of pandemic past
The coronavirus mutant that is now dominant in the United States is a member of the omicron family but scientists say it spreads faster than its omicron predecessors, is adept at escaping immunity and might possibly cause more serious disease. Because it combines properties of both omicron and delta, the nation's dominant variant in the middle of last year. A genetic trait that harkens back to the pandemic's past, known as a “delta mutation," appears to allow the virus "to escape pre-existing immunity from vaccination and prior infection, especially if you were infected in the omicron wave," said Dr. Wesley Long, a pathologist at Houston Methodist in Texas.
PoliticsMarketWatchMitt Romney, Elizabeth Warren, other senators send bipartisan letter to Biden urging him to keep Trump’s China tariffs, saying they’re ‘not a driver of today’s inflation’
Rolling back the tariffs on China would undermine the U.S. position in negotiations, expose many U.S. companies and workers to a sudden flood of imports, and signal to China that waiting out the United States is preferable to changing their non-market behavior or complying with the Phase One Agreement,” they also wrote in their missive, referring to a deal that Trump made with Beijing. Among the nine senators who signed the letter to Biden were three Democrats — Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts — and six Republicans: Mike Braun of Indiana, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Rob Portman of Ohio, Mitt Romney of Utah and R...
U.S.QuartzWe ordered the same gun used in Uvalde. Here’s how easy it was.
After Tuesday's school shooting in Uvalde, Texas left 19 children and two adults dead, we wondered how difficult it was to order a DDM4V7, one of the two rifles the gunman bought a few days after turning 18 years old, according to reports. The AR-15-style weapon, made by Georgia-based Daniel Defense, sells online for $1,870, plus tax. Shipping to a local gun shop is free.
- PoliticsThe El Paso Times
Beto O'Rourke confront Gov. Greg Abbott during Texas shooting update
Beto O'Rourke confront Gov. Greg Abbott during Uvalde, Texas shooting update.
U.S.Belleville News-DemocratMan points gun at TV reporter during live segment on gun violence, Illinois station says
Illinois police are looking for a man that was shown on video pointing what appears to be a gun at a news anchor and her crew while she was filming a live segment on gun violence. A FOX32 reporter and her crew on May 25 were filming a segment in Chicago on gun violence, FOX2 reported. While the reporter was speaking on camera, a man walked behind her and quickly pointed a gun in her direction, footage from FOX2 showed.
BusinessBusiness InsiderThe wild life of billionaire Twitter founder and 'Block Head' Jack Dorsey, who's officially left the social network's board, eats one meal a day, and takes ice baths
After cofounding Twitter on March 21 2006, he was booted as the company's CEO two years later, but returned in 2015 having set up his second company, Square — which he rebranded as Block in 2021. He led Twitter through the techlash that has engulfed social media companies, testifying before Congress multiple times. Related video: Elon Musk on Twitter fame, loneliness and the future of AI And Dorsey announced on November 29, 2021, he had stepped down as the CEO of Twitter.
U.S.Associated PressTrump loses appeal, must testify in New York civil probe
Former President Donald Trump must answer questions under oath in the New York attorney general's civil investigation into his business practices, a state appeals court ruled Thursday, rejecting his argument that he be excused from testifying because his answers could be used in a parallel criminal probe. A four-judge panel in the appellate division of the state's trial court upheld Judge Arthur Engoron's Feb. 17 ruling, which enforced subpoenas requiring that Trump and his two eldest children — Ivanka and Donald Jr. — give deposition testimony in Attorney General Letitia James' probe. “The existence of a criminal investigation does not preclude civil discovery of related facts, at which a party may exercise the privilege against self-incrimination," the appellate panel wrote, citing the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and other legal protections for witnesses.
U.S.INSIDERSwitzerland has a stunningly high rate of gun ownership — here's why it doesn't have mass shootings
In 2016, the NRA said on its blog that the European country had one of the lowest murder rates in the world while still having millions of privately owned guns and a few hunting weapons that don't even require a permit. Video: Inside a factory that makes untraceable 'ghost guns' But the Swiss have some specific rules and regulations for gun use. Insider took a look at the country's past with guns to see why it has lower rates of gun violence than the US, where gun death rates are now at their highest in more than 20 years, and the leading cause of death for children and adolescents.
U.S.The Daily BeastTed Cruz Storms Out on British Interviewer When Asked Why School Shootings Only Happen in America
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) abruptly walked off from a British journalist's questions about gun violence in America two days after an elementary school massacre in his state left 19 children and two adults dead. Cruz, who is due to appear at a National Rifle Association convention this weekend, became incensed when pressed on gun laws and why mass shootings “only happen in America.”
WorldAssociated PressChina wants 10 Pacific nations to endorse sweeping agreement
China wants 10 small Pacific nations to endorse a sweeping agreement covering everything from security to fisheries in what one leader warns is a “game-changing” bid by Beijing to wrest control of the region. A draft of the agreement obtained by The Associated Press shows that China wants to train Pacific police officers, team up on “traditional and non-traditional security" and expand law enforcement cooperation. China also wants to jointly develop a marine plan for fisheries — which would include the Pacific's lucrative tuna catch — increase cooperation on running the region's internet networks, and set up cultural Confucius Institutes and classrooms.
ScienceBBCAncient DNA reveals secrets of Pompeii victims
Researchers studying human remains from Pompeii have extracted genetic secrets from the bones of a man and a woman who were buried when the Roman city was engulfed in volcanic ash. This first "Pompeian human genome" is an almost complete set of "genetic instructions" from the victims, encoded in DNA extracted from their bones. Ancient DNA was preserved in bodies that were encased in time-hardened ash.
BusinessFortuneBig oil consultant resigns with scathing email to 1,400 executives asking them all to ‘look in the mirror’
In her resignation email—which was sent to 1,400 employees and contractors at Shell—she said despite warnings from the U.N. and the International Energy Agency that there was no safe level of new oil and gas extraction, Shell was planning to explore and extract “much more. I can no longer work for a company that ignores all the alarms and dismisses the risks of climate change and ecological collapse,” Dennett said. I want Shell execs and management to look in the mirror and ask themselves if they really believe their vision for more oil and gas extraction secures a safe future for humanity.
WorldReutersTanks, but no ammo – Germany's Ukraine pledges show military muddle
Four weeks ago, Germany agreed to send dozens of anti-aircraft tanks to help defend Ukraine from Russia's invasion, part of what it called a turning-point after decades of military restraint. Berlin says it can deliver the first Gepard tanks in July. That's too slow, a Ukrainian parliamentarian said on Tuesday, as Russian forces launched an assault on the country's east.
U.S.QuartzBritain ended the horror of school shootings after one single massacre
His attack came before school shootings had become something schools prepared for with drills and plans—and before they were routinely carried out by other students. In that innocent time, when the Dunblane school principal heard loud bangs from another part of the school, he thought it was building work that he hadn't been told about. After a teacher burst into his office and told him what was happening, he he ran to the gym, where he witnessed “a scene of unimaginable carnage, one's worst nightmare,” he told the inquiry later.
U.S.HuffPostTucker Carlson Cooks Up Absurd New Scapegoat For Texas School Massacre
Australia hasn't had a mass shooting since 1996, when a gunman opened fire at a tourist resort in Port Arthur, killing 35 people. The government responded by enacting strict gun control legislation, including banning all semi-automatic rifles. In New Zealand, all semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles were banned after a gunman killed 51 people in Christchurch in 2019.
BusinessReuters'Pay more attention' Ethereum co-founder says of crypto crash
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Ethereum's co-founder Gavin Wood said cryptocurrency investors need to be more aware of what is backing their holdings after a market rout which wiped more than $800 billion off their value. "I would hope that people pay more attention to what is belying the currency name when they get involved in a community, ecosystem, economy," Wood told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos. Crypto and blockchain firms have been highly visible at this year's gathering of business and political leaders, despite the market plummeting in value in the weeks leading up to the event, with the eighth-largest coin Luna becoming virtually worthless.
U.S.Florida TodayFire breaks out on Carnival Freedom while Port Canaveral-based ship was in Grand Turk
A fire broke out Thursday morning in the funnel area of the Carnival Freedom cruise ship while it was docked in Grand Turk. The Port Canaveral-based Carnival Freedom was carrying about 2,500 passengers and a crew of about 1,100, according to Matt Lupoli, senior manager of public relations at Carnival Cruise Line. Carnival Freedom left Port Canaveral on Monday on a five-day cruise.
U.S.Milwaukee Journal SentinelWe may not want to admit it, but there’s truth in what the ESPN crew said about Milwaukee. So what are we going to do about it?
When ESPN's "First Take" discussed the possibility of traveling to Milwaukee for the NBA Finals on Tuesday, Stephen A. Smith, Max Kellerman, Molly Qerim Rose and Damien Woody quickly dissed the city. Woody, a former NFL player, asked Smith if he really wanted to travel to Milwaukee and Smith responded with “hell no.”
U.S.Associated PressAttorney paying ex-casino mogul Steve Wynn defamation claim
Former Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn has accepted an undisclosed financial settlement to end his federal defamation lawsuit against a well-known attorney who represented a dancer who she said accused Wynn of sexual harassment and retaliation. Los Angeles attorney Lisa Bloom retracted and withdrew claims she made in a news release in March 2018 announcing she represented a woman making claims of inappropriate behavior against Wynn, according to a statement included in a settlement document provided Tuesday to The Associated Press by Wynn's lawyers.
U.S.INSIDERElon Musk says he 'strongly' believes in the Second Amendment the day after Robb Elementary shooting but said there should be 'tight background checks'
Elon Musk says that the Second Amendment is necessary in case of government tyranny. The day after the deadliest elementary school shooting since Sandy Hook, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated that he believes in the Second Amendment right to bear arms, but argues that individuals should undergo "tight background checks" before purchasing a gun, CNBC reported. On top of "tight background checks," Musk told the outlet that gun sales of assault rifles should be limited to gun range owners and those that reside in a "high-risk location, like gang warfare."
U.S.The Daily BeastDaniel Defense, the Maker of the Uvalde Shooter’s ‘Perfect Rifle,’ Abruptly Exits the NRA Convention
On a Memorial Day weekend when we honor those who died in service to our country, the company that manufactured a weapon of war used to kill 19 children and two adults in a Texas elementary school had planned to hawk its wares at the gun industry's annual collective disgrace. But in the aftermath of Tuesday's slaughter in Uvalde, Daniel Defense, is no longer slated to join all the other profiteers of violent death at this weekend's NRA convention in Houston. Up until Wednesday afternoon,the company was to have occupied Booth 4839, conveniently close to the cafe at the George R. Brown Convention Center, amid what the NRA terms “14 acres of guns and gear.
- WorldAssociated Press
Albania offers ex-Soviet built naval base to NATO
Albania has offered NATO a naval base in an effort as a way to highlight the small country's value in the alliance “in these difficult times,” the prime minister's office said Thursday. Prime Minister Edi Rama said Pashaliman naval base, 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of the capital Tirana, could be “an added value” to the alliance and they had prepared a project on its renovation. “In these dangerous times I believe the general may consider having a NATO's naval base in Albania,” Rama said in a speech Wednesday.
U.S.Miami HeraldDid Florida Rep. Randy Fine just threaten the president’s life? Secret Service better find out | Editorial
Here's what Fine said on Twitter: “I have news for the embarrassment that claims to be our president — try to take our guns and you'll learn why the Second Amendment was written in the first place. He made this wretched comment after President Biden responded to the horrific massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday, in which 19 children and two adults died. The president said, in part: “When we passed the assault weapons ban, mass shootings went down.
- BusinessReuters Videos
Russia prepares to seize exiting Western firms
STORY: The golden arches are coming down in Russia as McDonald's heads for the exit. It's just one of countless western firms that have decided to quit the country. That's angered Moscow, which now has a response in the works.
U.S.Associated PressFirefighters rescue 'Cinder' the elk calf from fire's ashes
Firefighters have rescued an abandoned newborn elk calf found amid the ashes of the nation's largest wildfire as calving season approaches its peak in New Mexico and fires rage across the American West. Missoula, Montana-based firefighter Nate Sink said Tuesday that he happened upon the motionless elk calf on the ground of a fire-blackened New Mexico forest as he patrolled and extinguished lingering hot spots. It's is one of five major uncontained fires burning in New Mexico amid extremely dry and windy conditions.
“It could give millions a chance to finally buy a house or start their business or help their kids get an education, too.”
“You signed a contract…If you don’t want to deal with the financial pressure of debt, don’t take out the loan.”
“Without action from Biden, Black student debt will hinder his agenda with respect to eliminating racial inequities.”
“Blanket relief could end up routing too much relief to those who do not need it and too little to those who do.”
“Unlike a number of other policy issues, student debt relief doesn’t need to be pushed through a narrowly controlled Congress.”