U.S.Associated Press‘So I raped you.’ Facebook message renews fight for justice
Shannon Keeler was enjoying a weekend getaway with her boyfriend last year when she checked her Facebook messages for the first time in ages. The messages rocketed Keeler back to the life-shattering night in December 2013 when an upperclassman at Gettysburg College stalked her at a party, snuck into her dorm and barged into her room while she pleaded with him and texted friends for help. Eight years later, she still hopes to persuade authorities in Pennsylvania to make an arrest, armed now with perhaps her strongest piece of evidence: his alleged confession, sent via social media.
WorldCBS NewsIsrael keeps pounding Gaza to stop rocket fire: "Whatever it takes"
Israeli missiles continued to slam into the Gaza Strip on Monday after the deadliest day yet in the current fighting between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. At least 42 people were killed in Gaza on Sunday, including children, and several large buildings were destroyed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he wanted to "levy a heavy price" against Hamas for launching thousands of rockets at Israel — a barrage that also continued Monday.
U.S.The WeekBill Gates admits affair with Microsoft employee, denies being forced off Microsoft's board over it
Melinda French Gates started talking with divorce lawyers in late 2019, not long after The New York Times reported that Bill Gates had more interactions with pedophile and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein that she had known about, the Times and The Wall Street Journal report. Microsoft board members hired a law firm to investigate the woman's allegations and deemed the relationship inappropriate, and by early 2020 "some board members decided it was no longer suitable for Mr. Gates to sit as a director at the software company he started and led for decades," the Journal reports.
U.S.AxiosS.C. governor signs bill requiring death row inmates to choose firing squad or electric chair
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill Monday to require death row inmates to choose between firing squad or the electric chair, as a lack of drugs for lethal injections has stalled executions, AP reports. The big picture: State executions have been steadily dropping for two decades, as the U.S. generally shifted away from the punishment. South Carolina is moving in the opposite direction.
U.S.Associated PressSupreme Court won't hear case involving the N-word
The Supreme Court is declining to hear a case that would have let the justices decide whether a single use of the N-word in the workplace can create a hostile work environment. The high court said Monday it would not take the case of a former Texas hospital employee who said he was subjected to a hostile work environment, including graffiti in one elevator that used the N-word. Robert Collier said that during the seven years he worked as an operating room aide at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, white nurses called him and other Black employees “boy.”
PoliticsThe WeekThe White House is apparently overrun with flies
The White House is abuzz, and not just with political gossip. In a recent call with President Biden's senior adviser Cedric Richmond, former Trump adviser Jared Kushner offered not only job advice, but also his condolences regarding the White House fly problem, sources told Politico. "Yeah man, they're like bats," Kushner said to Richmond in what Politico called a rare "point of agreement" between the two officials.
U.S.AxiosEx-Gaetz associate pleads guilty to sex trafficking a minor
Joel Greenberg, a former associate of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), pleaded guilty on Monday to six criminal charges, including sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl and wire fraud, the Washington Post reports. Why it matters: The Justice Department is investigating Gaetz "over whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old," per the New York Times. Greenberg, a former Florida county tax collector, could be a key witness as federal prosecutors decide whether to charge Gaetz.
WorldReutersIndia's Gujarat state evacuates over 200,000 people as cyclone approaches
Ahmedabad (Reuters) -Indian authorities on Monday moved over 200,000 people from their homes in the state of Gujarat to safety and shut ports and major airports as the most powerful cyclone in more than two decades roared up the west coast. Cyclone Tauktae killed at least 16 people and left a trail of destruction as it brushed past the coastal states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, the authorities said. It was set to make landfall in Gujarat late on Monday.
PoliticsThe WeekEvangelical leader Franklin Graham suggests Trump may be too out of shape to run in 2024
Rev. Franklin Graham, head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and one of former President Trump's earliest and most influential evangelical Christian backers, told Axios on HBO it would "be a very tough thing" for Trump to seek a second term in 2024. Trump, 74, "does not eat well, you know, and it's amazing the energy that he has," Graham added. Graham may be a Trump supporter, but he told Axios he would "absolutely" work with President Biden's administration, if asked, to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
WorldThe GuardianJoe Biden’s silence in the face of Israeli violence is a disgrace
Many more innocent Palestinians will be killed than Israelis. That fact, along with over 70 years of continued Palestinian dispossession (of which the Sheikh Jarrah evictions are a part), has galvanized global opposition to Israel's latest actions. Popular demonstrations have broken out around the world in support of Palestinian rights.
WorldReutersEU grants partial truce to U.S. over Trump tariffs
The European Union has agreed to a partial truce with the United States in a dispute over metal tariffs imposed by former president Donald Trump and to start discussions on global overcapacity and China's "trade-distorting" policies. The European Commission, which oversees EU trade policy, said on Monday it would suspend a planned hike of retaliatory tariffs for up to six months. These would have added U.S. products from lipstick to sports shoes and doubled to 50% duties on U.S. bourbon whiskey, motorbikes and motor boats on June 1.
WorldBusiness InsiderIsrael said it didn't mean to kill 42 civilians in Gaza on Sunday, saying it attacked a series of militant tunnels that caused people's homes to collapse
Israel struck a series of tunnels in Gaza on Sunday, saying Hamas used it as a secret transport link. civilians were killed. Israel said homes were accidentally destroyed in the assault.
BusinessMiami HeraldWhere’s your package? This winning app will show you a photo every step of the way
Laura Borland and Sean Hale are obsessed with making sure your package gets to you in one piece. It's a big industry problem, Borland says, because 11% of e-commerce packages are lost, stolen, damaged or misdelivered. It amounts to a $31 billion headache for the industry annually, her research shows.
U.S.INSIDERA former US Navy pilot said he saw UFOs off the Atlantic Coast every day, moving in a way that was impossible for scientists to explain
US military pilots on 60 Minutes described a series of encounters with UFOs. Former US Navy pilot Ryan Graves told CBS's 60 Minutes that pilots training off the US coast sighted UFOs nearly every day. The show on Sunday explored a series of alleged recent encounters between US military pilots and UFOs, some of which were caught on film and have been released by the Pentagon.
- PoliticsReuters Videos
Drone shows damage of Gaza rockets fired toward Israel
The Israeli military says Hamas and other armed groups have fired more than 2,800 rockets from Gaza in six days. Many of the rockets have been intercepted by Israeli anti-missile systems, while some have fallen short of the border. Israeli air strikes on Sunday killed 33 Palestinians, including eight children, Gaza health officials said, as militants fired an early morning barrage of rockets into Israel.
HealthCBS NewsFauci says new mask guidance is "based on the evolution of the science"
While the new guidance from the CDC was largely celebrated, it did bring some confusion, as the agency said last month Americans who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus were still safer wearing masks in crowded outdoors settings and inside. Fauci said three factors drove the change from health officials: an accumulation of data showing the "real-world effectiveness" of the vaccines, which are more than 90% effective in protecting against disease; new studies showing the vaccines protect against the new coronavirus variants; and information showing it's unlikely a vaccinated person who becomes infected witch the coronavirus transmits it to someone else.
PoliticsUSA TODAYPaul Ryan excoriates planned GOP effort to challenge Biden's Electoral College win as 'anti-democratic and anti-conservative'
WASHINGTON – Former House Speaker Paul Ryan excoriated fellow Republicans Sunday in a rare statement that called planned GOP efforts to challenge President-elect Joe Biden's win "anti-democratic and anti-conservative." Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin who served as House Speaker from 2015 to 2019, has seldom weighed in on events since leaving office, but issued a lengthy statement decrying Republican plans to object to certifying the Electoral College results in a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. Twelve incoming and sitting Republican senators and dozens of GOP House members plan to object to the count over President Donald Trump's baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderA Republican congressman who denied there was an insurrection and likened Capitol rioters to tourists was photographed barricading the chamber doors against them
A GOP lawmaker who has said there was no insurrection was seen barricading the House on January 6. Rep. Andrew Clyde said last week that the riot resembled a "normal tourist visit." A photo emerged of a GOP lawmaker who last week downplayed the Capitol siege and compared the rioters to tourists barricading the House doors with furniture on January 6.
U.S.The IndependentBrooklyn Center in Minneapolis votes through sweeping police reform after fatal shootings of Black men
A Minneapolis suburb, the scene of fatal police shootings of Black men, has voted through a police reform bill to overhaul public safety. The city council of Brooklyn Center voted 4-1 on Saturday to pass the resolution which would reduce police powers as well as create an unarmed unit to respond to incidents involving medical, mental health, disability, social and behavioural issues. The bill will be named after two men, Daunte Wright and Kobe Dimock-Heisler, who were killed during encounters with city law enforcement officers.
SportsLA TimesKenny Mayne: I'm leaving ESPN. You know that, but here's the story in my own words
Look," I told him, "I still don't know who the fifth pitcher on the Cubs is, but if you tell me to do a story on the sonofabitch, it'll be the best story in the building. Doria seemed to appreciate my candor. On April 1, 1994 — after five years of pestering ESPN with my ideas and pitches, less than a month after my Hail Mary to Walsh — Jaffe interrupted an MCI sales call I was on to offer me a contract, potentially the cruelest April Fools joke in history.
WorldUSA TODAYFact check: Netanyahu did not give a speech thanking Hamas for uniting Israel
The claim: Netanyahu gave a "last chance" speech to leaders of Hamas As unrest and violencecontinue to escalate in Israel and the Gaza Strip, a fictional speech that has been attributed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is spreading on social media. According to a May 11 Facebook post, Netanyahu gave a speech in front of the Israeli parliament and addressed his comments to the "leaders and operatives" of Hamas. "Whatever disputes we Jews may have with each other, we now know that we have one common goal: we will defeat you," the post reads.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastTrump Has Blown Off Rudy Giuliani’s Pleas for Help as Feds Circle
In the weeks since the feds raided Rudy Giuliani's apartment and office in April, close allies have tried to ferry a slew of emergency requests to former President Donald Trump and his advisers. But according to three people familiar with the matter, Trump, as well as several of his legal advisers and longtime confidants, have been hesitant about swooping in to help the embattled Giuliani, who for years worked as Trump's personal lawyer, a political adviser, and attack dog. Giuliani also served as a major player in the Trump-Ukraine scandal and as a key driver in the former president's efforts to nullify Joe Biden's clear victory in the 2020 election.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderBiden administration to kick-start $300 monthly child-tax-credit checks to parents on July 15
The Biden administration said it would start issuing advance child-tax-credit payments on July 15. The Biden administration announced Monday that it would kick-start advance payments of the child tax credit on July 15. Democrats have touted the provision as a key part of President Joe Biden's stimulus law that's poised to benefit the vast majority of American children.
U.S.The Independent‘Monster’ nursing assistant gets seven life sentences for murdering elderly veterans with insulin
A nursing assistant in West Virginia was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences plus 20 years for killing seven elderly veterans and trying to kill an eighth. Reta Mays, 46, was sentenced on Tuesday for the murders at Clarksburg Veterans Affairs hospital. The sentencing means she will spend the rest of her life behind bars as there's no parole in the federal prison system.
CelebrityLA TimesKobe Bryant induction: Best photos from Hall of Fame ceremony
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
“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.”