PoliticsYahoo NewsBiden on GOP move to oust Liz Cheney: 'I don’t understand the Republicans'
President Biden said Wednesday that he didn't understand Republican efforts in the U.S. House of Representatives to replace Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., over her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump and refusal to promote the disproven notion that the 2020 election was marred by fraud. “I don't understand the Republicans,” Biden said when asked by a reporter to comment on the move to oust Cheney from her No. 3 leadership position in the GOP caucus. Later, when delivering a press briefing on the administration's plan to help restaurants that have suffered during the pandemic, Biden was asked about his comment.
WorldAssociated PressPalestinian teen killed in clash, wounded Israeli man dies
A 16-year-old Palestinian youth was killed Wednesday by Israeli gunfire in a clash in the northern West Bank, Palestinian health officials said, while Israel announced the death of a 19-year-old man who was wounded in a drive-by shooting earlier this week. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the teen as Saeed Yusuf Muhammad Oudeh and said he was killed in the village of Odla, near the city of Nablus. Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced the death of Yehuda Guetta, who was shot in the head on Sunday when a gunmen opened fire from a Palestinian vehicle at a busy intersection in the occupied West Bank.
PoliticsBBCChild migrants: Massive drop in children held by border officials
The number of unaccompanied migrant children being kept in cramped government-detention facilities on the US southern border with Mexico has fallen sharply, after a 20-year high influx of border crossings led to overcrowding. The massive influx of children left US immigration officials scrambling earlier this year for facilities to house the children. The number of children being held in by US Customs and Border Protection (CPB) has dropped 88% between late March and late April, according to government officials.
WorldAssociated PressAustralian COVID-19 travel restrictions challenged in court
Australia's drastic COVID-19 strategies of preventing its citizens leaving the country and returning from India were challenged in court Thursday. The government is resisting growing pressure to lift the Indian travel ban imposed last week until May 15 to reduce infections in Australian quarantine facilities. A challenge to the ban by Gary Newman, one of 9,000 Australians prevented from returning home from India, will be heard by a Federal Court judge on Monday, Chief Justice James Allsop said.
WorldReutersPhilippines tells fishermen to ignore Beijing's ban on fishing in South China Sea
The Philippines has rejected an annual summer fishing ban imposed by China in the disputed South China Sea and encouraged its boats to keep fishing in the country's territorial waters. The fishing moratorium imposed by China since 1999 runs from May 1 to Aug. 16 and covers areas of the South China Sea as well as other waters off China. "This fishing ban does not apply to our fishermen," the Philippines' South China Sea taskforce said in a statement late on Tuesday.
WorldAssociated PressTop court orders India's government to present oxygen plan
India's government, facing calls for a strict lockdown to slow a devastating surge in coronavirus infections, was ordered by the Supreme Court on Wednesday to submit a plan to meet New Delhi hospitals' oxygen needs within a day. The court decided against immediately punishing officials for failing to end a 2-week-old erratic supply of oxygen to overstretched hospitals. The court stayed a contempt notice earlier issued to the government by the New Delhi High Court for defying its order to supply adequate oxygen to more than 40 New Delhi hospitals.
WorldBBCCovid: US backs waiver on vaccine intellectual property
The US has thrown its support behind an initiative at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to waive intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines. India and South Africa proposed the move, which they said would increase vaccine production around the world. US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that "extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures".
U.S.The Daily BeastAmerican Duo Gets Life in Italian Prison for Killing Cop While on Summer Vacation
ROME—Two Americans have been sentenced to life in an Italian prison after a teenage vacation in Rome ended in a brutal fight that left a local police officer dead. Finnegan Elder, 21, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 20, from California, got themselves into trouble after trying to buy cocaine during their vacation in the summer of 2019. After a botched drug deal, they killed Carabinieri officer Mario Cerciello Rega, 35.
HealthReutersDenmark, Norway study finds slightly raised blood clot rates after Astra COVID shot
A study in Denmark and Norway has found slightly increased rates of vein blood clots among people who have had a first dose of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, including clots in the brain, compared with expected rates in the general population. "The absolute risks of venous thromboembolic events described in this study are small, and the findings should be interpreted in the context of the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination at both the societal and the individual level," they wrote in a summary of their findings published in the BMJ medical journal on Thursday. Norway suspended its rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 11 after a small number of cases of blood clots combined with bleeding and low platelet counts.
WorldAssociated PressFor first time in a long time, Netanyahu's rule threatened
Israel's president said on Wednesday that he has given opposition leader Yair Lapid the task of trying to form a new coalition government. President Reuven Rivlin made the announcement after Netanyahu failed to meet a midnight deadline for forming a government himself the previous day. Lapid, who was once Netanyahu's governing partner but has morphed into a formidable nemesis, now has 28 days to cobble together a majority coalition in parliament with a range of parties that have little in common.
WorldAssociated PressUkraine wants aid, NATO support from Blinken's visit
On the frontlines of the battle against Russia-backed separatists and in the halls of government in Kyiv, Ukrainians hold strong hopes for Thursday's visit of the U.S. secretary of state — increased military aid and strong support for NATO membership among them. Blinken said Monday in London that he would use the visit to show “our unwavering support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.” “Ukraine needs a clear signal about the European and Euro-Atlantic prospect,” Zelenskyy said Monday on Twitter, referring to Ukraine's aspirations to join NATO and the European Union.
U.S.The IndependentAtlanta reinstates officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks, Black man who was running away from police
Garrett Rolfe, the white former Atlanta police officer charged with murdering Rayshard Brooks, a Black man, may be put back onto the force. On Wednesday, the Atlanta Civil Service Board, which evaluates city government firing decisions, held that the police department hadn't followed proper procedure when it swiftly fired Mr Rolfe after the shooting last June. Mr Rolfe fired upon Mr Brooks as he ran away on foot from a drunk driving arrest.
HealthBBCCovid vaccine: Biden aims to expand vaccines for adults and children
President Joe Biden has laid out plans to vaccinate 70% of US adults by 4 July and roll out the shots for 12- to 15-year-olds as soon as possible. Mr Biden's new goal includes having 160 million adults fully vaccinated by Independence Day. The target is well within reach as 105 million have already had the required jabs, and the US is vaccinating nearly a million adults per day.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramGreat-grandson of televangelist Kenneth Copeland drowns in swimming pool accident
The great-grandson of televangelist Kenneth Copeland died Tuesday at a Fort Worth children's hospital after being pulled out of swimming pool at a Tarrant County home, according to officials and his father. Clark David Mayer, 2, was pronounced dead at 11:05 a.m. Tuesday at Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office website on Wednesday.
PoliticsArchitectural DigestHouse Call: What Do Your Water Glasses Say About You?
A selection of drinkware to make the best first impression Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsBusiness InsiderRudy Giuliani allies are pressuring Trump to help pay his former attorney's growing legal bills, report says
Allies of Rudy Giuliani are pressing Trump to give financial help to his former lawyer, NYT reports. Giuliani faces a federal investigation and two huge lawsuits over his work as Trump's attorney. Trump has reportedly still not paid Giuliani for his work seeking to overturn last year's election.
- U.S.Associated Press
Iowa pushes pop-up vaccination as demand for shots wanes
As interest in the coronavirus vaccine continues to lag, Iowa public health officials are trying to make it easier to get a shot. Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday that a bus will be set up this week in the parking lot of the Iowa Cubs baseball park in Des Moines for the first two days of games this season, and a similar pop-up vaccination station is planned at the Des Moines Farmers Market this weekend. The state also now allows people who have had their first shot to take their vaccination card to any pharmacy or health care provider to get the second dose.
- NewsYahoo News Video
What will a partially vaccinated America look like? Yahoo News Explains
On Tuesday, President Biden set a new vaccination goal of administering at least one shot to 70 percent of Americans adults by July 4. Even if that goal is reached, experts say the U.S. has a long way to go in achieving herd immunity, or when the virus is out of hosts to spread to. Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and a public health professor at George Washington University, explains instances of what a partially vaccinated America will look like.
BusinessBBCGoldman Sachs tells bankers to return to office in June
While for many working from home has become normal, Goldman boss David Solomon previously described it as "an aberration". But rival investment bank JP Morgan is planning for "significantly" less office space, it said in April. Goldman bankers have in large part already returned to the office in parts of the Asia-Pacific region.
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverNC GOP lawmakers want to require schools to post online what they’re teaching
It would require school districts and charter schools with 400 or more students to list online what instructional materials they used in the past school year. “This will help the parents going to the next grade be able to look and see what that teacher taught the year before, and hopefully we're just going to teach the kids,” Rep. Jeff McNeely, an Iredell County Republican, said at Tuesday's House Education Committee meeting. House Bill 755 was passed on a 66-50 vote, with Republicans in support and Democrats in opposition.
U.S.The IndependentMaryland woman accused of setting home on fire and watching it burn from a lawn chair
Police in Elkton, Maryland, have accused a woman of setting her house on fire while someone was still inside and sitting in a deckchair to watch it burn. Witnesses said Gail Metwally, 47, of Elkton in Cecil County allegedly set “multiple” fires in a home last month and then sat on a chair on the front lawn and “watched the fire engulf the home”, the Office of the State Fire Marshal said. As the house was enveloped in flames local residents heard a woman in the basement shouting for help and managed to help her from the blaze through the house's window, officials said.
ScienceBBCJeff Bezos sets date for space sightseeing flight
Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos is now ready to take people into space. The US entrepreneur's Blue Origin company says it will launch a crew aboard its New Shepard rocket and capsule system on 20 July. The astronauts are likely to include company personnel, but one seat is being auctioned online.
PoliticsUSA TODAYGov. Ron DeSantis to sign controversial voter bill Thursday
Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected Thursday in West Palm Beach to sign into law the controversial election reform legislation SB 90 — one in a series of nationwide measures opponents say are aimed at suppressing voting. “We have multiple grounds to challenge this, especially attacks on vote-by-mail,” said Jorge Vasquez, an attorney for the Advancement Project's Power and Democracy Program. “When we're talking about more voters casting absentee ballots, and when you need to restore faith and confidence in elections, steps like bringing voter ID to absentee ballots and banning ballot harvesting and trafficking makes a lot of sense,” said Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project.
U.S.INSIDERSouth Carolina House votes to bring back firing squad in order to jump-start executions
The bill already passed the Senate earlier this year and the state's GOP governor has said he will sign it. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Nearly ten years to the day since South Carolina's last execution, the state's House of Representatives voted Wednesday to bring back the firing squad as a method of state execution when lethal injections are unavailable.
WorldThe IndependentCorpse believed to belong to controversial cult leader found in a Colorado shrine covered in glitter with no eyes
A corpse believed to be of a leader of a controversial Colorado religious group was found mummified in a sleeping bag, wrapped in Christmas lights and with glitter around its missing eyes. The remains are believed to be of Amy Carlson, 45, known to her followers as “Mother God”, who was a self-proclaimed “divine being” from the group Love Has Won. The group had been branded by law enforcement and followers as a “cult,” reported The Daily Beast.
“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.”