IMPORTANT
| | | Evacuations Paused | Thousands of Mariupol Residents Wait to Flee City A long-awaited evacuation of the besieged Ukrainian city has been put on hold for a day amid heightened “security risks,” the Mariupol City Council said in its official Telegram channel. Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said over 100 women and children had been removed from the Azovstal steel plant before Russian shelling began again. Officials believe hundreds of civilians are holed up in the steel plant with little access to food, water or health care. The evacuation, administered by the Red Cross and the United Nations, is hoped to resume today, with Mariupol residents arriving in the city of Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine. (Sources: CNN, France 24, NYT) |
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| | | Primaries in Play | Ohio, Indiana Launch Midterms With Tuesday Polls The two states are kicking off a contentious primary season ahead of November’s midterm elections. The Ohio vote especially is seen as a test for the staying power of MAGA Nation with former President Donald Trump and his allies deeply involved. Hillbilly Elegy author JD Vance has secured Trump’s endorsement for the open Senate seat, but other hopefuls are spending big hoping to make up the difference. In Indiana, the race hits closer to home with a state race pushing further to the right, putting everything from the pandemic response to abortion on the table. (Source: AP) |
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| | | Backslide | China’s ‘COVID Zero’ Policy Is Becoming Zero Growth The Chinese economy is shuddering under the weight of continued lockdowns across the country and President Xi Jinping is feeling the heat. Government data released at the end of April shows how deeply the lockdowns have cut: Manufacturing and services productivity dropped all the way to levels not seen since the very start of the pandemic in February 2020, leaving many in China wondering just what the government’s plan is. Focusing on economic growth and maintaining the COVID Zero policy are at odds, economists say, and until that is resolved they expect to see growth slide further. (Sources: Bloomberg) |
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| | | | | Not Safe For Work | British MP Resigns After Watching Porn in Parliament It began with a tractor. That’s what MP Neil Parish told voters after resigning from his Tiverton and Honiton seat over the weekend following revelations that he’d viewed pornography twice in the House of Commons chamber. Parish, who was suspended from the Conservative Party on Friday, said he first came across the material accidentally when perusing tractors — but he confessed he visited the adult site with “a very similar name” once again deliberately. Two female colleagues made complaints after spotting Parish’s phone. “I made a huge terrible mistake and I'm here to tell the world,” he said. (Sources: BBC, FT) |
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| | | Briefly | Here are some things you should know about today: When Nancy met Kyiv. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a secret trip to the Ukrainian capital over the weekend, meeting with President Zelenskyy and recommitting American support. (Source: The Hill) A day on a plane. Australian carrier Qantas is banking on demand for a Sydney to London direct flight — a record 20 hours in the air — with the order of a dozen specially designed Airbus aircraft. (Source: Reuters) And stay out. British royals have had a string of disastrous visits to Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean in recent weeks, prompting a review of future visits for the Brits and popular support for reparations and republicanism for the Caribbeans. (Source: The Guardian) |
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INTRIGUING
| | | Eid Mubarak | Large Scale Eid Celebrations Return for Much of Muslim World Eid has arrived for the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims, the first large celebration of the end of Ramadan since 2019. In Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, authorities have warned that remaining COVID-19 restrictions, such as social distancing, must still be maintained, but it’s much looser than the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. In Afghanistan it’s a different story: Increased poverty and food shortages since the return of the Taliban have muted the feasts typically enjoyed in the country at the end of the fasting month. (Sources: Al Jazeera, Jakarta Post) |
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| | | | | Nightmare Fodder | Dozens of Creepy Dolls Wash Up Along Texas Coastline Marine researchers who regularly comb a 40-mile stretch of Gulf Coast beaches have gone viral for sharing the treasures that wash ashore — in particular the dolls: Dozens of them over the last year, transformed by barnacles and algae. “There’s a lot of nightmares out there,” said Jace Tunnell, director of the Mission Aransas Reserve. He noted that a “loop current” in the Gulf of Mexico delivers 10 times more flotsam to that area than anywhere else along the coast. But the discarded dollies aren’t going to waste. Tunnell and his team are planning to auction them to fund their research. (Photo: Mission-Aransas Reserve, Sources: UPI, Fort Worth Star-Telegram) |
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| | | Art on Trial | Japanese Immersive Art Collective Sues for Copyright Infringement While Instagram-friendly immersive exhibits featuring artists like Vincent Van Gogh and Gustav Klimt have drawn massive crowds around the world, Tokyo’s TeamLab, an interdisciplinary collective of “ultra-technologists” founded in 2001, is staking its claim on its own immersive experiences. The group sued the Museum of Dream Space, arguing that the California company copied its shows and even used TeamLab images for its promotional materials. MODS responded that many artists use projections and hanging LEDs in installations, so TeamLab’s content is “not original.” The court’s judgment, which could come as soon as June, could determine whether immersive installations are copyrightable. (Source: ArtNews) |
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| | | Love Can Build a Bridge | Country Music Celebrates, Mourns Naomi Judd Just one day after the sudden death of the 76-year-old country legend, the Judds were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame Sunday night, along with Ray Charles, pedal steel drummer Pete Drake and drummer Eddie Bayers. The Nashville event was unusually bittersweet as Wynonna Judd, daughter of Naomi and one half of the iconic duo, told the audience she was unprepared to speak: “I knew mom would probably talk the most.” The Judds were honored with performances from Carly Pearce, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. “It’s a very strange dynamic,” Wynonna noted, “to be this broken and this blessed.” (Sources: Variety, Billboard) |
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| | | A League of Their Own | Women Take the Field in Baseball Firsts Welcome to the Staten Island FerryHawks, Kelsie Whitmore. On Sunday the 23-year-old pitcher/outfielder became the first woman to start in the Atlantic League and one of just a handful to play in a league affiliated with Major League Baseball. Whitmore, who played softball for Cal State Fullerton, hopes this is the first step in a long pro career. It’s been a big few weeks for women in baseball. Last month, San Francisco Giants coach Alyssa Nakken became the first female on-field coach in an MLB game, and Rachel Balkovec entered the history books managing the Yankees-affiliated Low-A Tampa Tarpons. (Sources: AP, Bleacher Report) |
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