- PoliticsYahoo News
One of Trump's favorite pollsters shows his approval plummeting
President Trump's approval rating has plummeted since late February, according to the Rasmussen daily tracking poll, which the president frequently cited during his first three years in office. As of Wednesday, 42 percent of Americans told Rasmussen that they approved of the job Trump was doing as president, while 57 percent disapproved. While 42 percent approval is in line with the overall aggregation of polls tracking Trump's approval rating, it is notable from Rasmussen, which tends to show more favorable numbers for Republicans and the president.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
‘400 Years of Anger’: Minneapolis Police Station Set Ablaze as Trump Threatens to ‘Start Shooting’
MINNEAPOLIS—Protesters demanding action over the death of 46-year-old George Floyd took over the Minneapolis Police Department's Third Precinct late Thursday and set the building ablaze. Video from the scene showed demonstrators chanting “I can't breathe” and cheering as the building was breached, with alarms blaring in the background. “This is 400 years of anger,” one protester, Justin Galbraith, told The Daily Beast as the flames sent smoke up into the sky.
WorldAFPIran Guards warn US after receiving new combat vessels
Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Thursday warned the United States against its naval presence in the Gulf as they received 110 new combat vessels. The vessels included Ashura-class speedboats, Zolfaghar coastal patrol boats and Taregh submarines, state television reported. "We announce today that wherever the Americans are, we are right next to them, and they will feel our presence even more in the near future," the Guards' navy chief Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri said during a ceremony in southern Iran.
- U.S.USA TODAY
The next 100 days: How the coronavirus will continue to change your life at home, at work, at school and beyond
It didn't take much longer than 100 days for the coronavirus to claim the lives of 100,000 Americans, an unimaginable toll when the first person in the U.S. died of COVID-19, believed to have happened Feb. 6 in California. The social distancing measures widely adopted throughout the country succeeded in slowing down the virus' spread, as borne out by the diminished rates of new infections and deaths in May – but not enough to keep the U.S. from reaching the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths Wednesday, according to the Johns Hopkins University data dashboard. USA TODAY consulted experts in a variety of fields, including public health, business, history, social sciences and the hospitality industry, to get an assessment of what the new normal may look like in the next 100 days.
- WorldAssociated Press
US indicts ex-Venezuelan lawmaker linked with Maduro
U.S. authorities filed charges Wednesday against a former Venezuelan lawmaker linked with President Nicolás Maduro accusing him of narco-terrorism and weapons crimes. Federal prosecutors in New York alleged Adel El Zabayar participated with Maduro and other top Venezuelan officials as a key player in a scheme to flood the United States with tons of cocaine. It follows a similar indictment of Maduro two months ago that U.S. authorities used to announce a $15 million reward for the socialist leader's arrest.
- WorldReuters
Moscow's new coronavirus cases fall to lowest in more than a month
The Kremlin on Thursday praised Moscow's authorities after the city reported its lowest daily increase in coronavirus infections since April 23, but some critics raised questions over some of Russia's reported data. Officials say Russia's outbreak is stabilising and President Vladimir Putin this week rescheduled Moscow's postponed May 9 Victory Day military parade for June 24. Moscow will begin easing its lockdown on Monday.
- ScienceBBC
Nasa SpaceX launch: Evolution of the spacesuit
The suit also has touchscreen-sensitive gloves - so astronauts can work with tablets in the spacecraft. The soft, hood-like helmet features a wide polycarbonate visor to give Starliner passengers better peripheral vision throughout their ride to and from space. Zips in the torso area will make it easier for astronauts to comfortably transition from sitting to standing.
WorldYahoo News VideoSo-called honor killing of teen girl sparks outcry in Iran
The so-called honor killing of a 14-year-old Iranian girl by her dad, who reportedly beheaded her as she slept, has sparked a nationwide outcry.
- U.S.NBC News
Minneapolis police precinct burns as George Floyd protests rage; CNN crew arrested
A police precinct was burned in Minneapolis as protests over the death of George Floyd raged for a third straight day. The blaze at the police department's 3rd Precinct, the base of four officers who were fired after Floyd's death in their custody Monday, was one among many fast-moving developments: President Donald Trump responded to the unrest, calling unruly demonstrators "thugs," and threatening, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." Twitter placed a warning on the president's post, saying it glorifies violence.
- U.S.Yahoo News
Coronavirus infections are rising as states reopen, potentially signaling a second wave
Two days later, both Reuters and the New York Times reported that new daily cases of COVID-19 — which have been falling for weeks, both nationally and in the hardest-hit metropolitan areas — suddenly and simultaneously started to rise in more than a dozen states. The Times counted 14 states where the rolling seven-day average of new infections has climbed over the last two weeks. Narrowing the timeframe and focusing on the total weekly case count, Reuters found that 20 states reported an increase in new infections during the week ending May 24, up from 13 states the week before.
- U.S.INSIDER
The man who filmed his encounter with a woman in Central Park says her actions were 'definitely racist,' but he's asking people to stop making death threats against her
Christian Cooper, who recorded a white woman in Central Park calling the police on him after he asked her to put a leash on her dog, says that the woman's actions were "definitely racist." The woman, Amy Cooper, who has no relation to Christian Cooper, has issued several apologies after video of the incident circulated on Twitter. Christian Cooper told CNN that he thinks Amy Cooper's apology is sincere, and he has asked people to stop making death threats toward her.
- ScienceThe Week
NASA and SpaceX's launch was postponed, but at least we got to see their wildly corny spacesuits
The much-heralded joint launch between NASA and Elon Musk's SpaceX was postponed on Wednesday due to light rain in Florida. It was a disappointing anticlimax for the first manned space launch from American soil since 2011 — all systems were "go" just an hour before astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley were scheduled for 4:33 p.m. liftoff — but there was a silver lining to the clouds above Cape Canaveral: the world got to see, for the first time, NASA and SpaceX's alarmingly cheesy spacesuits, which looked something like man-sized Mentos dispensers topped off with garden galoshes. Whether or not Behnken and Hurley find themselves menaced by rubbery Venus ghouls in some misbegotten Roger Corman epic, the suits might lead to an even graver danger: not being able to extract their heads from the two-sizes-too small helmets that Musk looks to have grabbed from his local Spirit Halloween.
- HealthUSA TODAY
CDC changes its 'confusing' guidelines on coronavirus and surfaces. Here's what we know.
Though the coronavirus could be transmitted by touching a surface – and then your nose, mouth or eyes – the likelihood of that is lower than person-to-person contact, which is believed to be the primary way the coronavirus is transmitted. "This is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads, but we are still learning more about how this virus spreads," the CDC's recently updated guidelines say. Dr. Manisha Juthani, an infectious disease doctor and associate professor of medicine at Yale University, told USA TODAY that the newly issued guidelines were "trying to reduce fear and paranoia about methods of transmission."
- WorldAssociated Press
Failed Maduro coup leader flew on pro-govt magnate's plane
It was mid-January and Jordan Goudreau was itching to get going on a secret plan to raid Venezuela and arrest President Nicolás Maduro when the former special forces commando flew to the city of Barranquilla in Colombia to meet with his would-be partner in arms. To get there, Goudreau and two former Green Beret buddies relied on some unusual help: a chartered flight out of Miami's Opa Locka executive airport on a plane owned by a Venezuelan businessman so close to the government of Hugo Chávez that he spent almost 4 years in a U.S. prison for trying to cover up clandestine cash payments to its allies. The owner of the Venezuela-registered Cessna Citation II with yellow and blue lines, identified with the tail number YV-3231, was Franklin Durán, according to three people familiar with the businessman's movements who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
- WorldReuters
Fourth Iranian tanker docks at Venezuelan port, U.S. slams 'distraction'
The Venezuelan navy said it escorted a fourth tanker bringing Iranian fuel through its waters on Thursday, while the United States called the shipments to the gasoline-starved country a distraction from problems facing President Nicolas Maduro. The oil industries of Iran and Venezuela are both under U.S. sanctions. Iran is providing its fellow OPEC member up to 1.53 million barrels of gasoline and refining components to help ease an acute shortage, the result of the near-complete breakdown in its refining network as well as the sanctions.
- BusinessPopular Mechanics
Levi’s Is Taking 50% off These Best-Selling Jeans Right Now
It's a great time to stock up on the classic 501s. From Popular Mechanics
WorldAFPCanadian court rules against Huawei exec fighting extradition
Chinese Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was dealt a legal setback Wednesday when a Canadian judge ruled that proceedings to extradite her to the United States will go ahead. The decision on so-called double criminality, a key test for extradition, found that bank fraud accusations against Meng would stand up in Canada. The interim ruling denying Meng's attempt to gain her freedom means she will continue to live in Vancouver under strict bail conditions while her case plays out.
- PoliticsNBC News
Senate Democrats take on GOP court-packing in blistering new report
Senate Democrats on Wednesday unveiled a new report on Republican efforts to pack the courts with conservative-leaning judges and the outsized influence of one conservative activist. "Our report exposes a twisted web of dark money, and special interest groups who behind the scenes are investing millions and millions to plant ideological activist judges completely remake the courts, and ultimately rewrite the Constitution," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. As part of their report, the senators pointed to activist Leonard Leo, the former head of the conservative Federalist Society, as the driving force behind the many of the president's appointments, including Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump's draft executive order targeting social media companies sparks battle inside the White House
The Trump White House has been embroiled in a vigorous internal debate over whether to issue an executive order aimed at punishing social media companies for perceived political bias, with opposition to the order coming from some of the most conservative parts of the administration. White House sources tell Yahoo News that the office of Vice President Mike Pence, National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow and others are making the argument that it will set a bad precedent to signal that the federal government can go after private companies and seek to penalize them for purely political reasons. “There is pushback from a lot of people” inside the White House, an administration official told Yahoo News, saying there is “a lot of frustration” among advisers who are often some of the president's most loyal backers.
- U.S.The Independent
‘A murderer lives here': Grafitti scrawled outside home of white police officer who knelt on neck of George Floyd
Angry Minneapolis residents protesting the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis Police Officer scrawled the phrase "A murderer lives here" on the road outside the officer's house Wednesday night. Mr Floyd was killed when Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for eight minutes, despite Mr Floyd crying out that he couldn't breathe. Officers claimed Mr Floyd was resisting arrest, but security footage from a nearby restaurant that captured the arrest shows Mr Floyd cooperating with the police before his death.
- HealthThe New York Times
What's the Risk of Catching Coronavirus From a Surface?
Fears about catching the coronavirus from contaminated surfaces have prompted many of us to spend the past few months wiping down groceries, leaving packages unopened and stressing about touching elevator buttons. The question has been on people's minds lately, and there was some confusion after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made some edits to its website last week. The CDC subsequently issued a news release to clarify that indirect contact from a contaminated surface — what scientists call fomite transmission — remains a potential risk for catching COVID-19.
- WorldBBC
Why India must battle the shame of period stain
Coronavirus sparks a sanitary pad crisis in India Stripped for standing up to 'period-phobic' college Of course, period poverty does not only affect women in India. According to Plan International UK, an international development charity, one in 10 disadvantaged girls below the age of 21 cannot afford sanitary products and uses unhygienic substitutes such as newspaper, toilet paper and socks. From an early age, girls learn to live with the pain and fear and seldom do we see a girl seek help when in physical or mental discomfort due to periods.
- WorldThe Week
Archaeologists discover pristine ancient Roman mosaic floor buried under piles of vines
Archaeologists have revisited an ancient Roman dig site that hasn't been touched in a century — and found something incredible underneath. In a vineyard outside the Italian city of Verona, under several feet of vines and dirt, researchers have uncovered what appears to be a perfectly preserved mosaic floor and pieces of a villa foundation dating back to the third century A.D. Surveyors in the commune of Negrar di Valpolicella north of Verona shared images of the site, providing a glimpse at a discovery that's largely still hidden beneath the dirt, BBC reports. Archaeologists first mapped out what appeared to be the remains of an ancient Roman villa outside Verona back in 1922 before the site was abandoned.
- WorldReuters
Total number of coronavirus cases in Gulf Arab states surpasses 200,000: Reuters tally
The number of coronavirus cases in the six Gulf Arab states doubled in less than a month to surpass 200,000 on Wednesday, according to a Reuters' tally, at a time the region's two biggest economies move to resume activity. Coronavirus infections in the energy producing region, which crossed the 100,000 mark on May 11, had initially been linked to travel but then spread among low-income migrant workers in overcrowded quarters, prompting authorities to increase testing. Saudi Arabia, which has the most infections, said restrictions would be lifted in three phases, culminating in a curfew completely ending from June 21, with the exception of the holy city of Mecca.
- U.S.INSIDER
A new 'parking lot Karen' is going viral on TikTok for physically blocking someone's car from an open parking spot
The TikTok video shows a woman blocking a car from taking an open parking spot. A viral video from TikTok user @savsoares shows a woman physically blocking a car from moving in a parking lot while directing another car to take an open parking spot. The video has amassed over 4 million likes and 18 million views in the four days since it was posted, with both @savsoares and people in the comments calling the woman a "Karen."
