WorldBBCAntony Blinken: US tells Russia to cease 'reckless and aggressive actions'
What Biden's foreign policy 'reset' really means America is back, says Blinken He did not provide further details of any additional security support the US was considering. Barbara Plett Usher, the BBC's State Department correspondent, says the visit was intended to signal that Ukraine is a high foreign policy priority for President Joe Biden's administration. Irresponsible and destabilising' Mr Blinken travelled to Ukraine following a meeting of foreign ministers of the G7 group of industrialised nations in London earlier this week.
WorldReutersBrazil judge sees signs of 'arbitrary execution' in Rio police raid
A Supreme Court justice called on Friday for Brazil's top prosecutor to investigate Rio de Janeiro's deadliest police raid in over a decade, which has drawn condemnation from the United Nations, human rights groups and local activists. The shootout killed a police officer and 24 others in Rio's Jacarezinho neighborhood on Thursday. Police said it was the deadliest operation in Rio state since a 2005 raid on the city's northern outskirts.
PoliticsThe GuardianThe sleazy, sordid Matt Gaetz scandal: are the walls now closing in on him?
There could have been no more fitting venue for the bellicose US congressman Matt Gaetz to launch his nationwide “America first” speaking tour than The Villages. The Republican loyalists who filled the ballroom of the Brownwood hotel and spa on Friday night didn't come to hear whether the embattled Gaetz ever paid a 17-year-old minor for sex, took sleazy sex-trafficking trips to the Bahamas or assisted in his disgraced former “wingman” Joel Greenberg's efforts to install cronies in well-paid positions of political power. Away from all the Donald Trump cheerleading by Gaetz and his fellow rightwing fire-starter Marjorie Taylor Greene during their national tour of distraction, it is hard to escape the notion that the walls are closing in.
WorldThe TelegraphSir Keir Starmer faces onslaught from both sides of Labour after Hartlepool defeat
Sir Keir Starmer is facing an onslaught from both sides of Labour over its devastating by-election defeat in Hartlepool, as the Left mocked his "flag-waving and suit-wearing" and moderates demanded he talk more about aspiration. Heavy criticism was heaped on leader on Friday morning after the party lost Hartlepool to the Conservatives for the first time since the seat's creation in 1974. Disappointment over the 16 per cent swing to the Tories in the constituency was compounded by a series of council seats flipping from red to blue across Labour's former heartlands in the Midlands and the North.
U.S.Miami HeraldAnother brawl breaks out at Miami International Airport. It’s part of a national trend
Just mere days after a huge brawl at Miami International Airport, another massive fight broke out in the terminal Tuesday night. The mayhem was captured in cellphone footage taken by multiple onlookers at Gate G-15 by the Southwest Airlines counter. The fight is part of a troubling trend airports across the nation are seeing, now that many people have resumed traveling.
PoliticsThe IndependentSecret Russian assassination squad linked to claims of bounties on US troops in Afghanistan, report says
Claims of Russian bounties against US troops in Afghanistan were linked to a Kremlin-backed spy team known as Unit 29155, according to reports. The intelligence community released newly-declassified documents of its assessment to The New York Times after the Biden administration's review said they had "low to moderate" confidence in the intelligence. Claims that Donald Trump did nothing about Russian bounties on American soldiers were leveraged by Joe Biden as a major election issue during the presidential campaign and tied to accusations that the Republican had consistently shown a deferential attitude to Vladimir Putin.
WorldBBCBritish Airways owner IAG calls for action to restart flights
British Airways owner IAG has said it is "ready to fly" and has called for government action to restart international travel. Details of a "green list" of countries with the fewest travel rules are expected soon. The airline group has been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis, with revenue plunging as many of its planes have been grounded.
WorldINSIDERThe driver of a cash truck who dodged armed robbers' bullets was a cool professional. But his partner was a 'rookie,' says security expert.
A video out of South Africa showed the moment armed robbers attempted a cash-in-transit heist. The video has since gone viral, garnering more than 10 million views on YouTube. Insider spoke to a security expert to analyze the video and assess how the men reacted to the ambush.
U.S.Miami HeraldCongress can now control more money, and two South Florida Reps. will play a big role
Project Name: Dania Beach Water Utility Upgrade and Improvement Project Request Amount: $1,500,000 Intended Recipient: City of Dania Beach Explanation of the request: “The funding for this project would be used for the construction of new water transmission lines that serve residential neighborhoods. The City's utilities are some of the oldest in Broward County, with some of its highest rates. The water utility's capital improvement plan identified four water lines that serve residential neighborhoods that require replacement to maintain water quality to those residents.
U.S.USA TODAYMan who took 5 hostages at a Minnesota bank threw cash, made threats and wanted to be a 'martyr,' court docs say
A man who took five hostages at a Minnesota Wells Fargo bank on Thursday wasn't armed with a gun but held scissors to a person's neck, destroyed hostages' phones and threw cash around the bank during a eight-hour standoff Thursday, according to police and court documents. Ray Reco McNeary, 35, told both hostages and law enforcement he intended to kill the employees, according to court documents. He said he wanted to “go viral” and to be a “martyr and also threatened to kill himself or put law enforcement in a position to kill him.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderArizona election auditors 'indefinitely defer' voter canvassing following DOJ letter expressing concerns about voter intimidation
Arizona election auditors say the Senate decided to "indefinitely defer" voter canvassing weeks ago. The Justice Department raised concerns earlier this week about Maricopa County's election audit. Republican-led election auditors in Maricopa County, Arizona, have "indefinitely deferred" the door-to-door voter canvassing aspect of the audit, two days after the US Justice Department sent a letter to the president of Arizona's state senate expressing various legal concerns about the November 2020 election inspection.
- WorldWLS – Chicago
3 killed after blast near Starved Rock State Park in LaSalle County
Officials believe the men were fatally injured after igniting a type of black powder substance along an area near the river bank.
U.S.INSIDERDerek Chauvin was indicted in the arrest of a 14-year-old whom prosecutors say he knelt on for 17 minutes and hit with a flashlight
Chauvin is accused of using his authority as an officer to deprive the teen of his rights. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. A federal grand jury has indicted the former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on a civil-rights charge in the 2017 arrest of a 14-year-old boy.
U.S.The Daily BeastMelinda Gates Warned Bill About Jeffrey Epstein
Melinda Gates met with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein alongside her husband, Bill, in New York City and soon after said she was furious at the relationship between the two men, according to people familiar with the situation. The previously unreported meeting occurred at Epstein's Upper East Side mansion in September 2013, on the same day the couple accepted the Lasker-Bloomberg Public Service Award at The Pierre hotel and were photographed alongside then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg. The meeting would prove a turning point for Gates' relationship with Epstein, the people familiar with the matter say, as Melinda told friends after the encounter how uncomfortable she was in the company of the wealthy sex offender and how she wanted nothing to do with him.
WorldThe IndependentIran shouldn't expect any more US concessions in nuclear talks, White House says
President Joe Biden's government is hinting that Iran should keep their expectations low for new offers following a new series of discussions between the two nations over the nuclear deal. A senior source told reporters on Thursday that the U.S had outlined all their terms and conditions for rejoining their 2015 nuclear deal, which was heralded as a major success of diplomacy, that President Donald Trump removed the US from. The source, an official within Mr Biden's government, said that continuing was up to Iran, as they were not going to budge from their position.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderTrump DOJ secretly pulled Washington Post reporter phone records, and tried to score email records
In the early days of the Trump administration, the Justice Department covertly pulled phone records from several Washington Post journalists and also tried to source their email records, according to government letters sent to the reporters and reviewed by The Post. The reporters were looking into Russia's influence in the 2016 elections. The Post reported that in three separate letters dated May 3 and addressed to reporters Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller, and former reporter Adam Entous, the DOJ told the reporters, they were, "hereby notified that pursuant to legal process the United States Department of Justice received toll records associated with the following telephone numbers for the per...
EntertainmentBBCTurner Prize honours art collectives who 'inspire change'
The 2021 Turner Prize nominees are, for the first time, made up of collectives who have helped to "inspire social change through art", organisers say. With that in mind, Friday's shortlist contained the names of five groups who continued to work in the community. Prize chair and Tate Britain director Alex Farquharson said it is intended to capture and reflect the mood of the moment in contemporary British art.
U.S.The IndependentArmed school bus hijacker let children go after they pestered him by ‘asking lots of questions’
An armed military trainee accused of hijacking a school bus let the children off after they frustrated him by asking too many questions, authorities have revealed. Jovan Collazo, 23, a trainee at Fort Jackson in South Carolina, got on the bus at an interstate highway on Thursday before demanding the driver divert to a nearby town. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, in a press conference, told reporters that Mr Collazo "told the bus driver that he didn't want to hurt him,” but to drive to a town with the children on board.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis' former aides say he treated them 'like a disposable piece of garbage'
Many of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' former staffers told Politico they felt abused by the politician. A group of the ex-staffers have formed a "support group" to discuss their experiences DeSantis is closely aligned with former president Donald Trump, who recently said he'd consider the governor as a potential running mate. See more stories on Insider's business page.
WorldINSIDERA prince from Liechtenstein was accused of poaching one of Europe's largest brown bears during a hunting trip in Romania
A prince from Liechtenstein has been accused of poaching a large brown bear in Romania. Environmental agencies have said the prince was supposed to kill a bear that was harming villages instead. Romanian authorities are investigating the incident.
WorldAssociated PressSouth Africa's royal scandal: New Zulu king's claim disputed
A new Zulu king in South Africa was named amid scenes of chaos Friday night as other members of the royal family questioned Prince Misuzulu Zulu's claim to the title and bodyguards suddenly whisked him away from the public announcement at a palace. The controversy over the next king, a largely ceremonial role but one with great significance for South Africa and its 12 million Zulu people, has arisen after the death in March of King Goodwill Zwelithini, who had reigned since 1968. Zwelithini apparently named one of his six wives, Queen Mantfombi Shiyiwe Dlamini Zulu, as the “regent of the Zulu kingdom” in his will, but her death just over a week ago after holding the title for only a month has thrown the royal succession into turmoil.
PoliticsThe IndependentWisconsin wants $106k from lawyer Sidney Powell over ‘bad faith’ lawsuit backing Trump’s election lies
Former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell was blasted in a court filing by the state of Wisconsin as it attempts to make her pay $106,000 in legal fees for her flunked lawsuit to reverse the results of the 2020 election based on conspiracy theories lacking any foundation in fact. Democratic governor Tony Evers pushed a Milwaukee federal judge to repudiate Ms Powell's defence of her “bad faith” lawsuit, which claimed that some competitive states worked with Dominion Voting Systems and foreign hackers to steal the election. Dominion filed a $1.3bn lawsuit against Ms Powell in January because of her false claims about the company.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderWhite House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says she'll resign next year when it's 'time for somebody else to have this job'
Jen Psaki, the face of Biden's administration, says she will step down in around a year. "I think it's going to be time for somebody else to have this job in a year from now, or about a year from now," she told CNN. Psaki says she accepted the job after agreeing with President Biden's transition team that she would serve in the role for about a year.
U.S.Business InsiderA man was arrested after allegedly spending $5 million in stolen COVID-19 relief on Ferrari, Bentley, and Lamborghini sports cars
A man was arrested Friday on charges related to fraudulently obtaining and spending $5 million in PPP loans. A man from Irvine, California, was arrested on Friday over charges that include illegally obtaining $5 million in COVID-19 relief and spending it on sports cars, according to the Department of Justice. Mustafa Qadiri, 38, is accused of fraudulently receiving money through the Payment Protection Program by applying for the loan under the guise of "sham businesses."
CelebrityINSIDERAnti-vaxxer records himself stealing a vial of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to 'investigate' in a laboratory
A man shared a video of himself appearing to steal a COVID-19 vaccine from a CVS pharmacy. Instagram videos of the man, identified as Thomas Humphrey, reveal that he is vehemently opposed to vaccines. A Minnesota man filmed and shared a video of himself that appears to show him stealing a vial of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine from a CVS pharmacy, Newsweek reported.
“Every college has a public health responsibility to require its students to be vaccinated.”
“While the vast majority of students will likely get the vaccine, schools should honor the decisions of the few who object.”
“A vaccinated campus could be the step toward normality that college leaders are seeking.”
“College students are mobile and spread COVID-19 with them whenever they travel.”
“There almost certainly are going to be legal challenges because the anti-vaccine movement is already preparing for them.”