WorldLA TimesNews Analysis: Biden struggles to respond to Israeli-Palestinian violence after Trump refused to criticize Israel
After four years of President Trump's refusal to condemn or even mildly critique any Israeli act, the Biden administration faces soaring Israeli-Palestinian violence equipped with fewer options to deescalate tensions than at any time in recent history. Trump gave carte blanche to the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and its right-wing nationalist supporters while sidelining and punishing the Palestinians. That policy has diminished Washington's ability to influence either side, at least for now, in part because the Palestinians are wary, and in part because after Trump, any pushback by President Biden will be seen in some circles as an attack on Israel.
U.S.Associated PressSuit: Workers lured from India paid $1.20 per hour for years
FBI agents were at a large Hindu temple in New Jersey on Tuesday as a new lawsuit claimed it was built by workers from marginalized communities in India who were lured to the U.S. and forced to work long hours for just a few dollars per day. The lawsuit accuses the leaders of the Hindu organization known as Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, or BAPS, of human trafficking and wage law violations. An FBI spokesperson confirmed that agents were at the temple on “court-authorized law enforcement activity,” but wouldn't elaborate.
WorldThe TelegraphYoung British woman 'savagely' murdered in front of baby daughter in Greece
A young British woman was strangled to death in front of her baby daughter while her husband was tied up in another room in their home in Athens. The horrific killing of 20-year-old Caroline Crouch in front of her 11-month-old daughter is highly unusual in Greece and has shocked the country. A special police task force has been ordered to investigate the murder, with a manhunt currently underway to identify the attackers.
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8 dead, dozens injured in school shooting in Russia
A gunman attacked a school Tuesday morning in the Russian city of Kazan, killing eight people — seven eighth grade students and a teacher — and leaving 21 others hospitalized with wounds, Russian officials said.
WorldReutersCourt orders Airbus, Air France to stand trial over 2009 crash
PARIS (Reuters) -Air France and Airbus should stand trial over a 2009 crash in the Atlantic that killed 228 people, a Paris appeal court ruled on Wednesday. The ruling overturns a 2019 decision not to press charges against either company over the accident, in which the pilots lost control of the Airbus A330 jet after ice blocked its airspeed sensors. Airbus and Air France both said on Wednesday they planned to file appeals against the ruling before a higher court.
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Iran attacked: Is Revolutionary Guard looking the wrong way?
A veteran of 5,000 hours behind bars, accumulated during repeated bouts in prison and months in solitary confinement, Iranian Mohammad Reza Jalaeipour is very familiar with the intelligence arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – and with its obsessions. So when the political activist was summoned for questioning in March – just days after being warned by the IRGC to stop helping reformists find a consensus candidate for June 18 presidential elections, or face jail – he expected arrest. He quickly posted a video on social media.
WorldBBCIndia Covid: Dozens of bodies wash up on banks of Ganges river
The bodies of at least 40 people have washed up on the banks of the Ganges river in northern India, officials say. The discovery, near the border between the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, was confirmed to the BBC on Monday. "There is a possibility that these bodies have come out of Uttar Pradesh," a local official, Ashok Kumar, told the BBC after questioning local residents.
HealthThe WeekWorld’s most vaccinated nation sees COVID-19 resurgence, raising questions over Chinese vaccine
Despite its standing as the world's most vaccinated country, the 115-island archipelago Seychelles is seeing a dramatic resurgence in COVID-19 transmission, bringing its daily case rate to "a higher number of infections per capita than India," The Wall Street Journal reports. To date, approximately 67 percent of Seychelles' population is vaccinated — the majority of those citizens received Chinese vaccine Sinopharm, while the remainder received Covishield, a derivative of AstraZeneca's shot manufactured in India. Authorities have not yet disclosed how many of the new cases are among Sinopharm recipients, but "the situation is being watched all over the world for what it says about the effectiveness of vaccines," writes the Journal.
PoliticsReutersWhite House condemns attacks on Israel, calls for co-existence in Jerusalem
The White House said on Tuesday that Israel has a legitimate right to defend itself from Hamas rocket attacks but applied pressure on Israel over the treatment of Palestinians, saying Jerusalem "must be a place of co-existence." Violence erupted last Friday at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque amid growing anger over the potential eviction of Palestinians from homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki opened her daily news briefing with a statement about the situation, saying that President Joe Biden had just received an update from his national security team and that his primary focus was on de-escalation.
PoliticsAssociated PressNumber of children traveling alone at border eases in April
The number of unaccompanied children encountered on the U.S. border with Mexico in April eased from an all-time high a month earlier, while more adults were found coming without families, authorities said Tuesday. Authorities encountered 17,171 children traveling alone, down 9% from 18,960 in March, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but still well above the previous high of 11,475 reported in May 2019 by the Border Patrol, which began publishing numbers in 2009. Overall, the Border Patrol's 173,460 encounters with migrants on the Mexican border in April were up 3% from 169,213 in March, the highest level since April 2000.
WorldBBCHong Kong: Top cop caught in unlicensed massage parlour raid
A top cop in Hong Kong police's National Security Department has been placed on leave after he was caught in a raid on an unlicensed massage parlour, say local media reports. Reports have named him as Director of National Security Frederic Choi. According to news site SCMP, visiting an unlicensed parlour is not an offence but could "damage the force's image".
PoliticsThe WeekConservative Texan Chip Roy slams Elise Stefanik in scathing memo ahead of leadership vote
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, considers Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) his friends, but he doesn't think either should be the GOP conference chair. Cheney, he said in a memo Tuesday, "forfeited her ability" to remain in the No. 3 leadership position by criticizing former President Donald Trump and "pulling us into distraction."
WorldArchitectural Digest31 Glass Coffee Tables for Any and Every Living Room
Could we be any clearer? Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldReutersMyanmar arrests 39 over blasts, seeking training with rebels - media
Myanmar security forces have arrested 39 people suspected of being behind explosions and arson attacks as well as trying to get military training with an ethnic minority rebel group, media controlled by the junta said on Wednesday. Since the military seized power on Feb. 1, Myanmar has seen a growing wave of small blasts in cities and towns, some targeting government offices and military facilities. No group has claimed responsibility but the military has blamed people bent on destabilising the country.
WorldAssociated PressIran's former firebrand president to run again for office
Iran's former firebrand president will run again for office in upcoming elections in June, raising the possibility of a bolstered hardline leadership at a time of tense negotiations with the West. Thronged by shouting supporters, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad marched to a registration center at the Interior Ministry where he filled out registration forms. “My presence today for registration was based on demand by millions for my participation in the election,” he said, adding that the move also came after “considering the situation of the country, and the necessity for a revolution in the management of the country.”
U.S.The StateFootage shows Andrew Brown was ‘ambushed’ by deputies firing repeatedly, lawyer says
Andrew Brown Jr. was “ambushed” in his Elizabeth City driveway with his hands on the wheel of his car, dying in a hail of bullets without threatening the sheriff's deputies who fired them, his attorney said Tuesday after viewing additional body camera footage. Attorney Chance Lynch watched 20 minutes of footage with Brown family members. He disputed the district attorney's prior account of Brown striking deputies with his vehicle.
U.S.The WeekAn anti-vax conspiracy theory is apparently making anti-maskers consider masking up, social distancing
"A conspiracy ripping through the anti-vax world may finally drive some anti-maskers to do the unthinkable: wear a mask and keep their distance," Vice News reports. The conspiracy theory claims, falsely, that vaccinated people "shed" certain proteins that can infect unvaccinated people and cause some sort of harm, usually tied to reproduction. For those who do believe that vaccinated people can somehow infect them with vaccine proteins — one private school in Miami barred vaccinated teachers from interacting with unvaccinated students — some "anti-vax influencers" are suggesting they protect themselves by "social distancing, the very strategy the have long decried," Vice reports.
PoliticsReuters'She's a hero': Liz Cheney down but not out in Wyoming after crossing Trump
When lifelong Wyoming Republican Tage Benson and Democrat Chamois Andersen met for the first time at the Owl in the Attic antiques store in Laramie this past weekend, they quickly put their political differences aside. Their home state's embattled Republican congresswoman, Liz Cheney, needed to be supported, they agreed, for standing up to former President Donald Trump and contesting his false stolen-election claims. “This is where Democrats and Republicans can come together,” said Anderson, 51, a wildlife advocate who often disagrees with Cheney on policy.
WorldAssociated PressPolice in Thailand arrest 3 journalists who fled Myanmar
Three senior journalists working for a news agency in Myanmar who fled after the military government ordered its operations to stop have been arrested by police in northern Thailand, their editor said Monday. The three work for DVB, also known as Democratic Voice of Burma, an online and broadcast news agency, its executive director and chief editor, Aye Chan Naing, said in an email. Burma is the former name for Myanmar and is still used by some opponents of military rule.
U.S.Architectural DigestHouse Call: This Is the Comfort You Need
In support of plump, fluffy, puffy furniture Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldBBCBrazil Amazon: Illegal miners fire on indigenous group
Illegal miners inside a protected area in the Brazilian Amazon opened fire on an indigenous community using automatic weapons, local leaders say. One indigenous person and four miners were injured. An estimated 20,000 illegal gold miners are in the Yanomami area, Brazil's largest protected indigenous reserve.
WorldReutersAustralia tracing source of COVID-19 case in Victoria state
Authorities in Australia's second most populous state warned on Wednesday the next few days would be critical to preventing a coronavirus outbreak after a man in his 30s tested positive a day earlier for COVID-19. The unidentified man was the first locally transmitted case in Victoria state in more than two months. Health officials said it was most likely he contracted the virus while serving his 14-day hotel quarantine in neighbouring South Australia state.
U.S.The StateHilton Head woman was bitten 3 times by copperhead snake. What she did to survive
Susan Conlin O'Neil was walking home from dinner to her Hilton Head Island condo Wednesday night when she took a step down on the sidewalk and felt a pang in her heel. O'Neil was bitten three times by a copperhead snake on the sidewalk outside her South Forest Beach home. “It felt like someone stuck an electric knife in my leg, like a volt of electricity,” she told The Island Packet.
PoliticsAssociated PressLouisiana Democrat sworn into Congress, replacing Biden aide
Democratic Rep. Troy Carter of Louisiana was sworn into the House on Tuesday, adding some breathing room to the party's tight majority. Carter, 57, represents a majority-Black district centered in New Orleans that extends up the Mississippi River into Baton Rouge. The seat opened after Democratic Rep. Cedric Richmond left the position to work as a special adviser to President Joe Biden.
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Cyclist killed in S.C. dispute, shooter dies after gun battle with police
Police officers fatally shot a man minutes after he killed a bicyclist during an argument near a Greenville, S.C., park Sunday morning, authorities said.
“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.”