Former CIA Director Michael Hayden endorses Joe Biden: 'Biden is a good man. Donald Trump is not.'

Associated Press
Target sales decline to start the year, but it sees improvement
Target on posted a decline in quarterly revenue as higher prices cut into shopper spending. The Minneapolis retailer also delivered a muted profit outlook Wednesday, but it said it expects that it will get back to quarterly sales growth this quarter. Target announced a new paid membership program in April called Target Circle 360 which comes with unlimited free same-day delivery for orders over $35 and free two-day shipping for all orders.
Reuters
Indonesia mulls ban on investigative journalism, LGBT content
Indonesia's parliament is proposing changes to its broadcast law that would ban investigative journalism and LGBT content, sparking criticism from civil society groups and filmmakers over restrictions to press freedom and creative expression. Changes to the 2002 broadcast law were first discussed in 2020 but the details in the latest revisions have spurred concern, with Indonesia's Press Council saying it would undermine media independence.
Yahoo Finance
Target earnings miss the mark as inflation-battered shoppers avoid buying things they don't really need
Target comes up short after having shown signs of improvement in its business to cap off 2023.
Reuters
Summit host South Korea says world must cooperate on AI technology
South Korea's science and information technology minister said on Wednesday the world must cooperate to ensure the successful development of AI, as a global summit on the rapidly evolving technology hosted by his country wrapped up. The AI summit in Seoul, which is being co-hosted with Britain, discussed concerns such as job security, copyright and inequality on Wednesday, after 16 tech companies signed a voluntary agreement to develop AI safely a day earlier. A separate pledge was signed on Wednesday by 14 companies including Alphabet's Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and six Korean companies to use methods such as watermarking to help identify AI-generated content, as well as ensure job creation and help for socially vulnerable groups.
AFP
Ex-UK Post Office boss 'sorry' over convictions scandal
The former boss of Britain's Post Office on Wednesday apologised to the hundreds of staff who were wrongly prosecuted because of faulty computer software, in one of the country's worst miscarriages of justice.More than 700 subpostmasters running small local post offices received criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015 after the faulty Horizon accounting software made it appear that money had gone missing from their branches.
Reuters
Factbox-Who will lead South Africa after the May 29 election?
South Africa's May 29 election looks set to be the most tightly contested since the end of apartheid, with opinion polls suggesting that the governing African National Congress may lose its majority for the first time after 30 years in power. The ANC is still expected to win the largest share of the vote, so its leader President Cyril Ramaphosa is likely to remain in office, unless he faces an internal challenge if the party is perceived to have performed badly. Below are key facts about Ramaphosa and the main opposition leaders: John Steenhuisen of the Democratic Alliance (DA), Julius Malema of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Jacob Zuma of uMkhonto we Sizwe.
Reuters
Biden to secure 200th judicial confirmation as election looms
President Joe Biden is set to secure U.S. Senate confirmation of his 200th appointment to the federal judiciary on Wednesday, surpassing his Republican predecessor Donald Trump's pace even as the clock ticks toward their Nov. 5 election rematch. Reaching this milestone at this point in his presidency is evidence, according to Biden's allies, that he may achieve a goal his fellow Democrats not long ago fretted could be out of reach - matching Trump's tally of 234 judges appointed to life-tenured positions on the federal bench in four years in office. Challenges in confirming judicial nominees in the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim 51-49 majority, had left Biden behind Trump's pace at the start of this year.
Reuters
Iran Supreme Leader leads prayers at Raisi funeral as election looms
Iran's Supreme Leader led prayers in Tehran on Wednesday at the funeral of the late President Ebrahim Raisi, as the clerical establishment hurried to organise an early election that could further erode its legitimacy amid growing public discontent. The June 28 vote to replace Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday, will need to galvanise a population that showed little interest in the 2021 ballot that gave the hardline cleric the presidency, a role that oversees day-to-day government. Raisi died at a time of worsening strains between the clerical leadership and wider society, aggravated by tightening political and social controls and a worsening economy.
Reuters
How Trump's hush money trial verdict could affect the 2024 election
Jurors hearing the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president could render their verdict in Donald Trump's hush money case as soon as next week, with potentially big implications for the 2024 White House race. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a payment that bought the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election. Daniels had threatened to go public with her account of an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, a liaison he denies.
Reuters
Exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui goes on trial for fraud
Jury selection begins on Wednesday in the criminal trial of exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui, who U.S. prosecutors have accused of defrauding thousands of investors and supporters out of more than $1 billion. It is expected to touch on sensitive areas, with prosecutors seeking to keep Guo, a fierce critic of China's Communist Party, from eliciting classified information during witness testimony. Guo, who has several aliases including Miles Guo, Miles Kwok and Ho Wan Kwok, has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges including securities fraud, wire fraud, unlawful monetary transactions and conspiracy, including for money laundering.
Yahoo Finance
Crypto just became a political football, and ether is the early winner
The government had cooled on approving a suite of spot ether ETFs, but news of a potential 180 has completely changed the current atmosphere and given ether its best two-day run in years.
Reuters
China takes measures against 12 U.S. military-linked firms
China said on Wednesday it had taken measures against 12 companies involved in the U.S. military-industrial complex and their senior executives, in response to the U.S. arming of Taiwan and sanctions on Chinese companies. The U.S. companies included units of Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and General Dynamics, China's Foreign Ministry said. The measures, which include freezing assets in China and banning senior executives from entering the country, took effect from Wednesday, it added.
AFP
Germany's AfD bans scandal-hit lead candidate from EU election events
Germany's far-right AfD party on Wednesday banned its leading candidate from EU election campaign events, as it battled to draw a line under a series of scandals that has sparked a break with its French allies.Krah and another AfD candidate for the EU elections, Petr Bystron, have also been forced to deny allegations they accepted money to spread pro-Russian positions on a Moscow-financed news website.
Time
STIs Are Increasing In Many Regions, New WHO Report Finds
HIV, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections collectively cause about 2.5 million deaths each year.
AFP
ECB can start cuts before Fed, says Finnish bank governor
The European Central Bank did not have to take its cues from the US Federal Reserve and could start to lower rates as soon as June, Bank of Finland governor Olli Rehn told AFP. "While we don't make policy in a vacuum, the ECB is not the 13th Federal district of the US Federal Reserve," which is split into 12 zones, said Rehn."What the Fed does will not determine the case for a rate cut by the ECB," said Rehn.
Reuters
Congo lawyers say received new evidence on Apple's minerals supply chain
PARIS (Reuters) -International lawyers representing the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo said on Wednesday new evidence gathered from whistleblowers indicates that Apple is sourcing minerals from conflict areas in the east of the country. In a statement, the lawyers urged Apple to answer questions about its supply chain in the country, and said they were evaluating legal options. Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.
AFP
Huge crowds in Iran capital for president's funeral
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers for late president Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday as huge crowds thronged the capital Tehran for his funeral procession.- 'Martyr of service' - In the capital, huge banners have gone up hailing the late president as "the martyr of service", while others bade "farewell to the servant of the disadvantaged".
USA TODAY
Amid campus protests, organizers with past ties to Hamas support also emerge
Most student protesters have sought to distance themselves from Hamas. But an activist group has ties to old groups that funded the organization.
AFP
Death penalty sought again for 88-year-old in Japan murder saga
Japanese prosecutors again sought the death penalty in the retrial on Wednesday of an ex-boxer who was the world's longest-serving death row prisoner until his release in 2014.As of December, there were 107 prisoners on death row in Japan, where the sentences are always carried out by hanging.
CNN
This ultra-lux, ultra-exclusive community in the desert is selling plots for up $50 million
Real estate developer Discovery Land Company has launched a multi-million-dollar, ultra-luxury residential community south of Dubai. Here’s what membership will get you.

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