IMPORTANT
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No more misery from Mariupol
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UN plans third evacuation from Ukraine’s ‘hellscapes’
The United Nations and the Red Cross yesterday completed two evacuations from besieged Mariupol, including the Azovstal steelworks, saving nearly 500 people. Today they will embark a third, said Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who pledged to “do everything in our power to get people out of these hells”. The evacuations were complicated by Russian pressure for victory at Azovstal – supposedly to give them something to celebrate on Monday’s National Day. The remaining 2,000 Ukrainian fighters “will hold out until the end”, said Kateryna Prokopenko, wife of one of the defenders. “I’m going crazy over this. It felt like parting words. (Source: AlJazeera)
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Beyond Roe
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Will the Supreme Court leak open the floodgates?
The warnings that the removal of Roe v. Wade would lead to other attacks on civil liberties already happening. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Thursday he would try overturn a 1982 court decision compel schools to educate undocumented immigrants. A Louisiana legislative committee has approved a proposal that would classify abortion as homicide. The bill, if implemented, would open the door to criminal prosecution of people who have abortions. And the well-funded anti-abortion movement is not limited to the United States: it has already invested millions in the fight against abortion in Latin America and Africa and it is coming to Europe next. (Source: The Guardian, NYT)
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After the party
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Labor rise in UK local elections after Johnson misdemeanors
For a time Russia’s invasion of Ukraine appeased beleaguered Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but yesterday’s election results suggest voters have not forgotten he has repeatedly attended illegal parties during COVID-19 shutdowns – and later denied it. Early results showed that Johnson’s conservatives had lost 131 council seats while Labor and the Liberal Democrats won 87 and 42 respectively, claiming key London councils like Westminster, which had been under Conservative control for 50 years. Labor leader Keir Starmer hailed it as a “big turning point”, but Tory co-chairman Oliver Dowden defended his leader, saying “Labour is definitely not on the road to power”. (Source: The Guardian, BBC)
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Swing Margery Daw
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Asian markets continue to slide after Wall Street losses on Thursday
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq recorded their biggest single-day wins since 2020. On Thursday, both indexes shed those gains and then some – the Dow Jones losing 3.1% and the Nasdaq 4.9%. The trend continued into early trading on Friday, with Asian stocks falling and the Chinese yuan plunging to an 18-month low. The falls could be attributed to losses on Wall Street and China’s economy struggling with a surge of COVID-19, according to Dickie Wong of Hong Kong brokerage Kingston Securities. “The silver lining is the expectation that new Chinese tax measures may come out over the weekend,” he added. (Source: Reuters, MarketWatch)
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Briefly
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Right here are some things you should know today:
Skip the sugar. Swiss police have seized 1,100 pounds of cocaine from a Nespresso factory after workers found a strange white substance in bags of coffee beans. (Source: The Guardian) A king without a crown. A day after suspected Colombian drug trafficker Dairo Antonio Úsuga, better known as Otoniel, was extradited to the United States, New York District Attorney Breon Peace celebrated that “one of the world’s most dangerous and wanted drug lords” would “finally face Justice.” (Source AlJazeera) Mea culpa. King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium will visit the Democratic Republic of Congo in June. Millions of Congolese died during Belgium’s bloody rule. (Source: AFP)
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INTRIGUING
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cut the bull
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Eating 20% less beef could halve deforestation
Meatless Mondays for Victory. A modeling study published in Nature this week showed that replacing one-fifth of global beef consumption with a meat substitute by 2050 could halve deforestation and associated carbon emissions. Methane emissions would be reduced by 11%. Halving beef consumption would reduce deforestation and associated emissions by 80%. While eating less beef can only be a good thing for the planet, lead author Florian Humpenöder of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany has warned that it won’t solve the climate crisis. . “It shouldn’t be seen as a silver bullet,” he said. (Source: Nature)
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Glass ceiling
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Ms. Pac-Man, Video Game Pioneer, Hall of Fame Inductee
The 1981 sequel to the runaway success of Pac-Man gave the world its “first widely recognized female video game character,” said Julia Novakovic, archivist at the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Ms. Pac-Man was inducted alongside iconic games Dance Dance Revolution, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Sid Meier’s Civilization. “Ms. Pac-Man represented a turning point in the cultural conversation about women’s place in the arcade, as well as in society at large,” Novakovic said. But 41 years later, there’s still a long way to go. : professional women players earn millions less than menand misogyny is prevalent in game cats. (Source: PA)
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Splat Survey
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Flying insect numbers plunge in UK
A survey of car number plate splatter showed that the number of flying insects in Britain fell by nearly 60% between 2004 and 2021. The decline was greatest in England (65% ) and Wales (55%). The smaller drop of 28% in Scotland could be because habitat fragmentation, climate change and pesticides are less intense there. With only two major splash surveys so far, there’s a chance that 2004 was a good year for bugs and 2021 a bad one. But the 60% drop corresponds to figures from elsewhere. Healthy environments depend on insects to recycle organic matter, pollinate plants and control pests. (Source: The Guardian)
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Beep!
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Maine moves closer to banning license plate obscenities
Settle in now. Yesterday Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows released draft rules banning references to sex acts, genitalia and profanity on state license plates. Since easing language restrictions on vanity license plates in 2015, the Mainers had been unable to keep their minds out of the gutter, leading to a steady stream of motorist complaints over prudes. “Incitement to violence, profanity, ethnic, racial, religious or other slurs, or reference to illegal or criminal activity – all of which unfortunately can be seen on Maine license plates today – are all directly contrary to the public interest,” Bellows said. . (Source: PA)
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bet the farm
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Excerpt from book reveals extent of Phil Mickelson’s gambling losses
Citing a source with access to Securities and Exchange Commission documents, golf writer Alan Shipnuck’s upcoming biography reveals that between 2010 and 2014, Mickelson’s losses totaled more than $40 million. Mickelson’s propensity for “action” has long been known in golf circles, but episodes like winning a 22-1 bet that the Baltimore Ravens would win Super Bowl XXXV were generally categorized under “folk charm”. The new revelations hint at a much larger problem. In 2016, Mickelson lost nearly $1 million, which the SEC said “was not his to do” when he acted on a stock market tip based on insider trading. (Source: Golf)
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COMMUNITY
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