Why Pope Francis probably isn't worried about U.S. bishops' vote on Communion guidance

Despite opposition from the Vatican, which has cautioned Catholic leaders against politicizing the Eucharist, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on Friday voted 168-55 to advance draft guidance that could call into question whether Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, including President Biden, are eligible to receive Communion. Pope Francis has remained silent about the vote so far, which Vatican officials told The New York Times is a sign he's not concerned that the final version of the guidance will actually pass. Under church law, the Times reports, the final document would require either unanimous support, or two-thirds support and Vatican approval.

Sweden's government topples as prime minister loses historic no-confidence vote

Sweden's prime minister, Stefan Lofven, on Monday morning became the first leader in Sweden's history to lose a no-confidence vote in parliament, leaving him just one week to decide whether to hold snap elections or resign. Of the parliament's 349 members, 181 supported the vote, 109 opposed it and 51 abstained, with Lofven's red-green coalition voted down by an unusual combination of the former Communist Left Party, the far-Right Sweden Democrats, and the right-wing Moderate and Christian Democrat parties. "The Left Party has linked up arms with the right-wing conservative bloc and used that to create an unholy alliance to fell the government," Annelie Karlsson, the Social Democrat's parliamentary leader, told parliament before the vote.

Pakistani lawyer who represented Asia Bibi says he faces threats to his life

A Pakistani lawyer who has successfully overturned a number of convictions for "blasphemy" has said he believes his life is in danger from extremists. Saif ul Malook most recently oversaw the acquittal of a Christian couple who had been sentenced to death. Mr Malook shared social media posts with the BBC which called for him to be "executed" for securing the acquittal.

Fewer than a third of Iowans would vote for GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley if he seeks an 8th term, poll finds

The survey, conducted by widely respected Iowa pollster J. Ann Seltzer, found that only 27 percent of likely voters would re-elect Grassley if the election were today; 64 percent said they think it's time for someone else to occupy the seat Grassley has occupied since 1981. Iowans generally have a positive opinion of their senior senator — his favorability rating is 50 percent, with 37 percent having an unfavorable view — but Grassley's job approval rating has slid to 45 percent, his lowest approval number since 1982, the Register reports. "Grassley's approval rating has occasionally hit the 80 percent threshold during that time."

Imran Khan: Pakistan PM causes stir with remarks on Afghanistan and Xinjiang

Pakistan's prime minister has created a stir over comments he made about US operations in Afghanistan and China's treatment of Uyghur Muslims. In an interview with Axios HBO, Imran Khan categorically stated that he would not allow the US to use Pakistan as a base for its Afghan operations. The interview with Mr Khan was aired early on Monday morning and immediately started gaining traction as people began discussing his comments.

‘Come here boy.’ Man tries to kidnap 12-year-old mowing his lawn, Tennessee police say

A 12-year-old Tennessee boy escaped an attempted kidnapping at his home, police say. The boy was mowing his lawn in Kingsport on Thursday morning when he saw a maroon car pass by the house, according to a news release from the Kingsport Police Department. Police say they arrested the suspect Saturday afternoon and obtained a warrant charging him with “attempted especially aggravated kidnapping,” “aggravated burglary” and “simple assault.”

Birtukan Mideksa: Ethiopia's electoral board chairperson

A former political prisoner who went into exile in the US, Birtukan Mideksa is now centre-stage in Ethiopia as she oversees the country's first parliamentary election since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018 on a pledge to end decades of authoritarian rule. Recommending Ms Birtukan, 47, to the all-important post of chairperson of the electoral board, the new premier described her as someone who would "never surrender, even to the government". Ms Birtukan contested the 2001 parliamentary election as an independent, but lost to the candidate of the ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), conceding that her defeat was due to her "limited popularity" rather than rigging.

Royal Caribbean sails first ‘simulator’ cruise ship from Miami, as industry set to restart

A Royal Caribbean International cruise ship left from PortMiami with 600 passengers on board Sunday evening — part of a test sail trip as the cruise industry gears up for a grand restart later this summer. The two-day trip on the Freedom of the Seas is a simulation with volunteer passengers, many of whom are Royal Caribbean employees, set to test whether cruise ships are safe. It's a major milestone for the cruising industry after it came to a sudden halt last year during the COVID-19 pandemic and has not sailed with passengers for 15 months.

Clean Up With the Best Vacuum Deals Prime Day Has to Offer

Roomba, Dyson, Bissell, and Shark are on sale across the internet Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

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  The slim, cordless Dyson V8 Absolute vac has some seriously savage suction — and it’s $100 off!

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  The Best Prime Day Dyson Deals: Vacuums, Fans, & More

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Liz Cheney spent at least $58,000 on bodyguards after Jan. 6, wants to teach GOP basic civics

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) has no regrets about opposing former President Donald Trump and his lies about the 2020 election, even though it cost her her position in House Republican leadership and earned her death threats, she tells The New York Times. "We've got people we've entrusted with the perpetuation of the Republic who don't know what the rule of law is," Cheney said. There has been a cost to Cheney's crusade.

Grizzlies are roaming farther and wider. What does that mean for species recovery efforts?

Grizzly bears haven't yet patronized the fast-food joints of central Idaho. But they have started wandering so far from the recovery areas set up for them 30 years ago that the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee may need to rethink the way it works. The bears of the Selkirks and Cabinet-Yaak (recovery areas) are expanding into the Kootenai Valley and beyond,” Idaho Department of Fish and Game IGBC representative Toby Boudreau said last Thursday.

Joe Biden: My surprise claim to be the US president's English cousin

Last week the BBC investigated the recent discovery of an English link in US President Joe Biden's ancestry. Since then a family from England has claimed a connection to the president through the same forebears. For 20 years, Paul Harris has made a hobby of dwelling on the past.

Coronavirus latest news: Booster vaccine rollout in autumn needs to be planned now, warn senior NHS leaders

AM Clinical data for booster jabs should be available in next few weeks, says Matt Hancock Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the Government is working on the booster jab programme and should have clinical data in the next few weeks. He told BBC Breakfast that second jabs offer very strong protection "but there is more protection still that we think that you can get from a booster jab and we're currently trialling which combinations of jabs are the most effective". "When we know the results of that, then we will set out the full plans for the booster programme over the autumn," he said.

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  What is the UK’s Covid vaccine booster plan?

  The Independent
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  More than one million Covid jabs booked over weekend as rollout opened to all adults in England

  The Independent

A Florida man pulled out a gun on a Starbucks employee who turned out to be the local police chief's daughter

A Florida man pulled out a gun on a Starbucks employee for getting his order wrong earlier this week. The employee was the daughter of Miami Gardens Police Chief Noel-Pratt. The man identified as Omar Wright was arrested and charged.

'Living fossil' fish may live for up to a century

The coelacanth was thought to have a life span of around 20 years, but new estimates suggest it is a centenarian of the ocean, alongside sharks. French researchers studied marks on the scales of museum specimens - much like tree rings tell the age of trees. Slow-growing fish that produce few young are particularly vulnerable to extinction pressures, such as climate change and overfishing.

Fact check: Image claiming to show Joe Biden sleeping at G-7 Summit is altered

Some social media users are now using a manipulated photo of Biden resting his head on a desk with his eyes closed to claim he was asleep while meeting with world leaders. "Summary of G7 and the Biden/Putin Summit," reads the caption of a June 16 Facebook image with more than 1,000 reactions. While the image appears to have been satirically altered, the comments indicate some users took the post seriously.

No, COVID shots won’t give you shingles. Here’s what causes it, what you need to know

Most people who develop shingles have only one bout in their life, but you can have shingles more than once. The rash usually shows up as a single stripe on just one side of the body or face, says the CDC. Forbes developed blisters on her legs, an ankle, on top of her hand, “in really weird places.

Post Office scandal: 'I just forgot how to laugh'

The Sethis are a Post Office family. Anjana and Baljit Sethi used to run two branches near Romford in Essex where they raised their three children. It was all Anjana had known, she grew up in a Post Office as her dad was a sub-postmaster too.

Joe Biden is better on the world stage than any president since George H.W. Bush

Joe Biden has had more foreign policy experience than any other president in U.S. history. When he entered the Senate and began dealing with global issues, it was 1973 and Leonid Brezhnev was chairman of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The previous most experienced among our presidents when it came to foreign policy was George H.W. Bush.

A gay couple faced harassment for 5 years. Handwriting analysis led to a suspect: A neighbor.

For five years, we were living here and wondering which of our neighbors, who were all being kind and neighborly to us, is actually harassing us,” McLean said. Then the perpetrator made a mistake. The suspect, who has not been publicly identified, signed the couple up for a Boston Globe subscription, but McLean and Furze already had a subscription.

Photo shows a Dubai princess who claims she's being held hostage by her family on a 'European holiday' in Spain

Princess Latifa tried to flee Dubai in 2018 but was caught and subsequently vanished. A video of her emerged in February in which she said she was being held hostage by her family. A photo posted to Instagram Monday by a Dubai teacher showed Latifa at an airport in Madrid, Spain.

Parul Khakhar: The Indian stay-at-home mum trolled for poem on Covid dead

She posted the mournful 14-line dirge called Shabvahini Ganga (A hearse called Ganga - the Indian name for river Ganges) on her Facebook page, where she has more than 15,000 followers. The Gujarati-language poem speaks about the wrath of the virus, leaving a trail of death and devastation in its wake. Khakhar writes about floating corpses, funeral pyres and the crematoria chimneys melting under the load of the burning dead.

Subway was sued over claims it mislabeled its tuna as tuna. The New York Times tried to get to the bottom of the mystery.

After a lawsuit alleged Subway tuna wasn't actually tuna, The New York Times did its own analysis. The newspaper used a commercial lab to analyze tuna samples bought in Los Angeles. The sandwich chain has dismissed claims about its tuna and has called the lawsuit meritless.

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  The Big Tuna Sandwich Mystery

  The New York Times
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  I'm a Dietitian, Here Are 6 Healthy Groceries I'll Be Buying This Prime Day

  Eating Well