South Africa’s highest court has ruled that former president is not allowed to run for Parliament in a national election next week because of a previous criminal conviction.

Jim Otto, the Pro Football Hall of Famer center known as "Mr. Raider" and who played his entire career with the organization, has died, the Las Vegas Raiders said Sunday. He was 86.

Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for an attack in central Afghanistan that resulted in the deaths of three Spanish citizens and three Afghans, authorities say.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked some enforcement of a new Biden administration rule that would force more gun sellers to run background checks.

Mainstream media figures across CNN, MSNBC, and ABC trashed former Trump fixer Michael Cohen's testimony against his old boss during Trump's ongoing hush money trial.

Crowds on Demand, based in California, turned down over 100 requests to send people to Gaza-related protests after Oct. 7, 2023, and turned them all down.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. threw a punch at Kyle Busch after the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway following an on-track incident between the two.

Taiwan's new president, Lai Ching-te, has called for peace with China in his inauguration speech, urging an end to Beijing's military threats against the island.

Federal wildlife officials have declared the dunes sagebrush lizard an endangered species due to threats from energy development, sand mining and climate change.

A columnist in the Kansas City Star wrote the Kansas City Chiefs should dump their three-time Super Bowl kicker for a woman because of his commencement speech.

President Biden’s was accused of pushing a racially divisive message and demeaning Black students during his Morehouse College commencement speech on Sunday.

Ed Dwight, who was America's first Black astronaut candidate in the 1960s, finally experienced space travel at the age of 90. Dwight was part of a Blue Origin flight.

Foster debuted her baby bump in November 2023, writing, "It feels like we need something positive right now, so I’d like to offer something."

Plus, Baltimore bridge ship to be moved.

© Vahid Salemi/Associated Press

Biden will be remembered as a president who could have restrained Israel but instead made the US complicit in this war

With great fanfare, Joe Biden confirmed on 8 May that his administration had suspended one weapons shipment to Israel, delaying the delivery of 3,500 bombs that can cause devastating casualties when dropped on population centers. Biden said he warned Israeli leaders that he would also block artillery shells and other munitions if Israel went ahead with a ground invasion of Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, where 1.4 million Palestinians have taken shelter.

It seemed Biden had finally decided to use the most effective leverage he has over Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and his extremist government to force an end to Israel’s devastating war in Gaza. But less than a week later, it became clear that Biden had backtracked and he will continue sending Israel far more weapons than the one shipment he held back. Last Tuesday, the Biden administration notified Congress that it would move ahead with more than $1bn in new arms deals for Israel.

Mohamad Bazzi is director of the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, and a journalism professor at New York University

Continue reading...

💾

© Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP

💾

© Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP

The prospect of a high school or college reunion elicits shame, dread and regret. What if going could actually be good for your mental health?

Both of us have 25th college reunions fast approaching. And as we write this, neither of us has registered. The emotions that these events tend to inspire – most notably shame, dread and regret – loom so large in our psyches that we spent the pandemic co-writing a novel that hinges on reunion-phobia.

Apparently we’re not the only ones. A friend of ours, Rebecca, hasn’t mustered the courage to RSVP to her 20-year-college reunion in June. “I am terrified,” she said. “I both really want to go and I really don’t want to go.”

Rachel Dodes and Lauren Mechling co-wrote The Memo: A Novel, out from Harper Perennial on 18 June

Continue reading...

💾

© Photograph: Tristar/Sportsphoto/Allstar

💾

© Photograph: Tristar/Sportsphoto/Allstar

As we enter another wildfire season, Environment and Climate Change Canada is advising people to pay attention to air pollution levels and check the Air Quality Health Index -- especially on smoky days. Read More

CHARLOTTETOWN -- Federal scientists in Atlantic Canada are trying to develop a new breed of potato that is better adapted to growing conditions brought on by climate change. Read More

The report also found that Jaguar Land Rover and Volkswagen bought parts from a supplier the U.S. government had singled out for its practices in Xinjiang.

© Valerie Plesch for The New York Times

Exclusive: Ads containing AI-manipulated images were submitted to Facebook by civil and corporate accountability groups

The Facebook and Instagram owner Meta approved a series of AI-manipulated political adverts during India’s election that spread disinformation and incited religious violence, according to a report shared exclusively with the Guardian.

Facebook approved adverts containing known slurs towards Muslims in India, such as “let’s burn this vermin” and “Hindu blood is spilling, these invaders must be burned”, as well as Hindu supremacist language and disinformation about political leaders.

Continue reading...

💾

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

💾

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images