WorldAssociated PressUS Navy seizes weapons in Arabian Sea likely bound for Yemen
The U.S. Navy announced Sunday it seized an arms shipment of thousands of assault weapons, machines guns and sniper rifles hidden aboard a ship in the Arabian Sea, apparently bound for Yemen to support the country's Houthi rebels. An American defense official told The Associated Press that the Navy's initial investigation found the vessel came from Iran, again tying the Islamic Republic to arming the Houthis despite a United Nations arms embargo. Iran's mission to the U.N. did not immediately respond to a request for comment, though Tehran has denied in the past giving the rebels weapons.
U.S.The Daily BeastHorrific: D.C. Sniper Boasts of Post-Shooting Sex ‘High’ With Accomplice in New Doc
fexpIn I, Sniper, Lee Boyd Malvo speaks at length about the 2002 reign of terror he and partner John Allen Muhammad carried out in the Washington, D.C., area, resulting in ten deaths. Yet despite using audio clips from his phone calls as narration, Vice's eight-part docuseries (premiering May 10) is most notable for putting its prime emphasis on the pair's innocent victims, and the countless friends, family members and loved ones left to cope with unthinkable tragedy.
WorldAssociated PressEgypt executes defrocked monk convicted of abbot’s killing
Egyptian authorities on Sunday executed a defrocked monk convicted of killing an abbot in a desert monastery north of Cairo, officials said. The 2018 killing of Bishop Epiphanius, an abbot at St. Macarius Monastery, shocked Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, one of the oldest Christian communities in the world and the one that introduced monasticism to the faith. Two defrocked monks, identified as Isaiah and and Faltaous, were convicted of killing Epiphanius and sentenced to death by a criminal court in April 2019.
CelebrityBusiness InsiderMelinda Gates had been seeking a divorce from Bill since 2019 after his meetings with Jeffrey Epstein became public, the WSJ reports
Melinda Gates reportedly considered divorce for two years before officially filing for one. Melinda Gates has been meeting with divorce lawyers for years before deciding to split up from Bill Gates, the Wall Street Journal reported. The decision rocked the philanthropic and tech communities but was a long time coming, according to the Journal.
WorldReutersEthiopian Orthodox Church head says genocide is taking place in Tigray
The head of Ethiopia's Orthodox Church has said that atrocities amounting to genocide are being committed in Tigray, in his first comments on the conflict in the region that broke out in November and has killed thousands. Abune Mathias, who has been head of the church since 2013, did not say who was responsible for this. Dennis Wadley, who heads a U.S.-based church group called Bridge of Hope International, said Abune Mathias had asked him to post the video.
WorldAssociated PressBystanders stop man who stabbed 4 at New Zealand supermarket
Shoppers and staff at a New Zealand supermarket were being praised for their bravery Monday after authorities said they managed to stop a frenzied man from hurting others after he stabbed four people in a random attack, critically wounding three of them. New Zealand Police Superintendent Paul Basham said he'd watched CCTV footage of the attack at a Countdown supermarket in the city of Dunedin and the actions of the bystanders in detaining the man until police arrived was “nothing short of heroic. What I can say is that those that intervened, some of whom became injured themselves, I think have acted selflessly and with great courage to prevent this man from hurting anybody else,” Basham said.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderGov. Hogan rips GOP for devotion to Trump: It bothers me that you have to swear fealty to 'Dear Leader' or you get kicked out the party
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan criticized the GOP leadership for its devotion to Trump. Hogan, a Republican, said members of his party who don't love Trump get "kicked out." Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan criticized Sunday members of his own party as they work to strip Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney of her leadership position in the House of Representatives.
WorldReutersChinese rocket debris lands in Indian Ocean, draws criticism from NASA
Remnants of China's biggest rocket landed in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, with most of its components destroyed upon re-entry into the atmosphere, ending days of speculation over where the debris would hit but drawing U.S. criticism over lack of transparency. The coordinates given by Chinese state media, citing the China Manned Space Engineering Office, put the point of impact in the ocean, west of the Maldives archipelago. Debris from the Long March 5B has had some people looking warily skyward since it blasted off from China's Hainan island on April 29, but the China Manned Space Engineering Office said most of the debris was burnt up in the atmosphere.
WorldAssociated PressAfghanistan Taliban plan 3-day cease-fire for Eid holiday
Afghanistan's Taliban Monday announced a three-day cease-fire for the Eid-al-Fitr holiday this week marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Muslim calendar follows lunar cycles and the Eid holiday depends on the sighting of the new moon. Just hours after the pending cease-fire was announced, a bus in southern Zabul province struck a roadside mine killing 11 people, said Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian.
U.S.Associated PressMan shot to death at Vancouver's airport in gang incident
A 28-year-old man was fatally shot Sunday at the Vancouver International Airport in what Canadian authorities said was a gang-related slaying. The man was shot near the departure terminal at the airport, which is in neighboring Richmond, British Columbia. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Frank Jang said the victim was known to police and the incident was related to a gang conflict the region has seen lately.
- PoliticsReuters Videos
S.Korean president: 'Time to take action' on N.Korea
Moon's comments, in a speech marking the fourth year of his presidency, come ahead of his first summit with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington on May 21. The South Korean president is expected to push the United States to seek engagement with North Korea, though Biden has shown little interest in making North Korea a top priority.
ScienceBusiness InsiderPacks of hyenas hunted Neantherthal man as prey and devoured their corpses in caves, a new find has revealed
Archaeologists have found the fossilized remains of nine Neanderthals in a cave near Rome, Italy. The Neanderthals were allegedly hunted and mauled to death by hyenas, experts say. Archaeologists have discovered the fossilized remains of nine Neanderthals who were hunted and mauled to death by a pack of hyenas in a cave just outside Rome, the Italian Culture Ministry announced Saturday.
PoliticsUSA TODAY OpinionRepublicans are counting on lies and brute force to win elections. Just like in 2020.
The path from Donald Trump's “Stop the Steal” rally to the Capitol was paved with lies about the 2020 election. Now, lies about what happened on Jan. 6 are becoming the Republican Party's only strategy to regain power – and it's working. The Republican Party doesn't have a governing agenda.
WorldAssociated PressChina to draw 'separation line' on peak of Mount Everest
China will draw a “separation line” atop Mount Everest to prevent the coronavirus from being spread by climbers ascending Nepal's side of the mountain, Chinese state media reported Monday. A team of Tibetan mountaineering guides will set up the separation line at the peak before climbers attempt to reach the summit from the Chinese side, state-owned Xinhua News Agency said. It is not clear what the separation line will be made of.
U.S.INSIDERA 34-year-old Rhode Island man died after he was handcuffed by police officers and laid on his stomach for about 90 seconds, reports say
A 34-year-old Rhode Island man died after being handcuffed by police on Friday morning. Police said officers responded at around 12:30 a.m. to a report of a man, identified as Joseph Ventre, yelling in the street under the influence, the Associated Press and Providence Journal reported.
BusinessBusiness InsiderI flew on United's new ultra-premium transcontinental flight from New York to California and it's now my least favorite way to cross the US in economy
United just began flying between New York City and California again for the first time since 2015. Flights use John F. Kennedy International Airport and are flown by a premium-configured Boeing 767-300ER offering 46 business class seats, 22 premium economy seats, and 99 economy seats. In economy, however, many of the most desirable seats are dubbed "Economy Plus" and come at a premium, with few options to get a good seat for those that don't want to pay up.
PoliticsThe IndependentWhite House chief of staff says he won’t ‘underestimate’ Donald Trump if he chooses to run again
White House chief of staff Ron Klain has said he will not “estimate or underestimate” Donald Trump as an opponent to Joe Biden in 2024, if both of them are again going head-to-head for the presidency. Mr Klain said in an interview during Axios on HBO that President Biden would probably stand for a second term in the 2024 election and that he is working towards having an edge compared to Mr Trump's “bad record” as president. "I wouldn't want to estimate or underestimate Donald Trump as an opponent if he chooses to run," Mr Klain told the programme, according to CNN.
U.S.Associated PressNebraska death sentences continue despite no execution drugs
But as the state adds to its death row population, the lawyers, judges and prison officials who oversee Nebraska's system of capital punishment largely ignore the fact that the state has no lethal injection drugs and very likely won't get any for years, if ever. Those sentenced to death have a better chance of dying of natural causes than being executed. While the nation remains divided over capital punishment, Nebraska stands out for its peculiar version of the institution: it's still wedded to the idea of executing prisoners, just not the practical part of doing it.
U.S.Associated PressLong suspected of murder, she confessed but avoided prison
There was no shortage of tips about who killed Pamela Pitts, a rowdy but compassionate 19-year-old whose body was found burned beyond recognition in a pile of trash in 1988. In it, Harmon's father said she never told him what actually happened.
WorldBusiness InsiderChina's 'social credit' system ranks citizens and punishes them with throttled internet speeds and flight bans if the Communist Party deems them untrustworthy
China has been rolling out a system that ranks its citizens based on their "social credit." The Chinese Communist Party has been constructing a moral ranking system for years that will monitor the behavior of its enormous population - and rank them all based on their "social credit." The "social credit system," first announced in 2014, is "an important component part of the Socialist market economy system and the social governance system" and aims to reinforce the idea that "keeping trust is glorious and breaking trust is disgraceful," according to a 2015 government document.
PoliticsUSA TODAY'Don't take questions': White House press secretary frowns on Biden's media interaction
President Joe Biden was fielding his fourth question from a reporter after delivering remarks on the pandemic last week when he apologized to the press corps. In fact, yes, White House press secretary Jen Psaki divulged in a podcast interview this week. Psaki told CNN's David Axelrod that the communications shop frowns on Biden's willingness to engage with reporters who shout questions during Biden's public appearances.
WorldBBCIndia's Covid crisis delivers a blow to brand Modi
"Modi leads India out of a lockdown and into a Covid apocalypse," declared a recent headline in the UK Sunday Times. The Australian newspaper re-published the story with a scathing summary: "Arrogance, hyper-nationalism and bureaucratic incompetence have combined to create a crisis of epic proportions, critics say, as India's crowd-loving PM basks while citizens literally suffocate." It earned a rebuke from India, but there's no denying the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cherished image has taken a bad hit.
WorldReutersGermany to make J&J's COVID-19 vaccine available to all adults
Germany is to make Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine available to all adults, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Monday, adding that they will be able to receive the shot on the advice of a doctor. Europe's drug regulator backed J&J's vaccine last month after examining cases of a rare blood clotting issue in U.S. adults who received a dose. Germany's move to offer the J&J single-dose vaccine widely follows the lifting of restrictions last week on the AstraZeneca vaccine.
WorldBusiness InsiderA pilot recruit was blindfolded and strapped to a target as fighter jets fired on him in a brutal hazing ritual, says legal complaint
A French pilot was tied to a target on a live firing range as part of a brutal hazing ritual. A French fighter pilot has filed a legal complaint after a brutal hazing ritual in which he alleges he was kidnapped, tied up, and left on a live firing range by his colleagues in the French air force. The incident, which happened in March 2019, was first reported by the French newspaper La Provence on Friday.
WorldAssociated PressUS trashes unwanted gear in Afghanistan, sells as scrap
The twisted remains of several all-terrain vehicles leaned precariously inside Baba Mir's sprawling scrapyard, alongside smashed shards that were once generators, tank tracks that have been dismantled into chunks of metal, and mountains of tents reduced to sliced up fabric. The Americans are dismantling their portion of nearby Bagram Air Base, their largest remaining outpost in Afghanistan, and anything that they are not taking home or giving to the Afghan military, they destroy as completely as possible. As the last few thousand U.S. and NATO troops head out the door, ending their own 20-year war in Afghanistan, they are deep into a massive logistical undertaking, packing up bases around the country.
“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.”