<:strawman:372034857099984897> 🍁

🇵🇱 **Poland plans to double jail terms for paedophiles**
*BBC* - <http://archive.fo/mWhCI>

Convicted paedophiles could now face a maximum sentence of 30 years or, in the most serious cases, life in prison.

The documentary includes harrowing testimonies from victims and has been viewed more than 18 million times.

Correspondents say the conservative government, allied to the Catholic Church, is scrambling to react.

However the ruling Law and Justice party says the legal amendments have been in the works for months. The proposal will now go to the senate.

The announcement comes 10 days ahead of the European Parliament elections. Law and Justice is currently polling neck-and-neck with the European Coalition, a collective of opposition parties.
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🇺🇸 **Trump officials not sending migrants to Florida after backlash**
*The Hill* - <https://archive.fo/OPTtJ>

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) does not plan to send migrant families to Florida after reports about a Trump administration proposal resulted in backlash from local and state officials this week.

A CBP official told The Hill on Saturday that the administration is not looking at transporting family units to Florida "at this time" but said officials were looking at housing migrants in other areas across the country.

It was reported earlier this week that the administration planned to send hundreds of migrant families to Broward and Palm Beach counties, two Democratic strongholds in Florida that are among the state's most populous areas.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), an ally of President Trump, spoke Saturday with the president, who informed him that undocumented immigrants would not be sent to Florida, DeSantis spokeswoman Helen Ferre told The Hill in a statement Sunday.

"President Trump said he did not approve of such a plan and would not authorize it," she said. " Governor DeSantis was never notified by federal authorities that such a plan was in place."

"Because of everybody's efforts, we are able to stop what had appeared to be a crisis for our community," Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said in a statement Saturday, local TV station WPTV reported.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), an ally of President Trump, was among those who pushed back on the reported plans, saying Friday that the proposal was "not acceptable" and that it might not go into effect.

"I'm going to be addressing this," he said. "This is not something that came down from the White House. This was something that came out of the agencies."
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🇺🇸 **🦀 Dallas transgender woman who was assaulted on video found dead 🦀**
*Fox News* - <http://archive.is/bfEnvk>

A transgender woman whose brutal beating in Dallas was recorded on video last month was found fatally shot and lying face down in the road on Saturday, authorities said.

Police found Muhlaysia Booker, 23, with a gunshot wound around 6:40 a.m. and pronounced her dead at the scene, the Dallas Morning News reported. Her death was ruled a homicide, the report said.

Police said Muhlaysia Booker, a Dallas transgender woman, was found dead on Saturday.

Booker was severely beaten and hospitalized last month after a minor traffic accident in the parking lot of an apartment complex. A purported video that circulated online showed a man beating Booker while a crowd of onlookers shouted slurs.

Edward Thomas, 29, was arrested late month for his alleged role in an attack on a transgender woman.

Police arrested 29-year-old Edward Thomas two days later for his alleged role in the aggravated assault, the Dallas Morning News reported, citing police.

Police declined to say whether Booker had received death threats before she was found dead. Dallas civil rights attorney Lee Merritt said Booker’s death is concerning for minority communities who fear retaliation for reporting hate crimes.
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🇺🇸 **Michigan man charged with murder in fatal beating of 2 women**
*Fox News* - <http://archive.is/rWeyB>

A man has been charged in the killings of two women who were found fatally beaten after he showed cellphone photos of their bodies to sheriff's deputies during a traffic stop in central Michigan.

Kiernan Brown, of Delta Township, was arraigned Tuesday on two counts each of open murder and armed robbery. He entered not guilty pleas and was ordered held without bond.

The 27-year-old is accused in the deaths of 26-year-old Kaylee Ann Brock, of Holt, and 32-year-old Julie Ann Mooney, of Williamston. Police found their bodies Friday in Lansing-area communities.

Authorities say Brown was arrested early Friday on Interstate 69, after an ex-girlfriend reported that he had been violating a personal protection order by banging on her door and sending disturbing texts. She is not among the victims.
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🇵🇱 **Polish nationalists protest US over Holocaust claims**
*Fox News* - <http://archive.fo/MBGVl>

WARSAW, Poland – Thousands of Polish nationalists marched to the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw Saturday, protesting that the U.S. is putting pressure on Poland to compensate Jews whose families lost property during the Holocaust.

The protest took place amid a dramatic rise in anti-Semitic hate speech in public life in Poland and it appeared to be one of the largest anti-Jewish street demonstrations in recent times. It also comes as far-right groups are gaining in popularity, pressuring the conservative government to move further to the right.

Protesters, including far-right groups and their supporters, say the United States has no right to interfere in Polish affairs and that the U.S. government is putting "Jewish interests" over the interests of Poland.

Poland was a major victim of Nazi Germany during World War II and those protesting say it is not fair to ask Poland to compensate Jewish victims when Poland has never received adequate compensation from Germany.

"Why should we have to pay money today when nobody gives us anything?" said 22-year-old Kamil Wencwel. "Americans only think about Jewish and not Polish interests."
The protesters shouted "no to claims!" and "This is Poland, not Polin," using the Hebrew word for Poland.

Rafal Pankowski, a sociologist who heads the anti-extremist group Never Again, called the march "probably the biggest openly anti-Jewish street demonstration in Europe in recent years."

One couple wore matching T-shirts reading "death to the enemies of the fatherland," while another man wore a shirt saying: "I will not apologize for Jedwabne" — a massacre of Jews by their Polish neighbors in 1941 under the German occupation.
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🇺🇸 **Onetime Michelle Obama staffer evades subpoena in Smollett-Foxx case, process server says**
*Fox News* - <https://archive.fo/YoJQC>

Tina Tchen, the former chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama, declined Wednesday to be served with a subpoena by a retired Illinois judge seeking the appointment of a special prosecutor in the Jussie Smollett case, according to the process server.

In an email to former Illinois appellate judge Sheila O'Brien obtained by Fox News, the process server wrote that a security guard at the Chicago law firm where Tchen is a partner "called up to her and spoke with her and she said that she in [sic] never going to accept service and to not allow me up to their Law firm.

"She knows all about this Subpoena," the server added.

Edward Ryan, who runs the private investigation firm that employs the process server, spoke about the incident with The Chicago Sun-Times.

"I don’t know why she’d turn it [the subpoena] down, she’ll be served eventually," Ryan told the paper.

Tchen did not immediately respond to Fox News' requests for comment.

The subpoena would have required Tchen to appear at a May 31 hearing on O'Brien's request for a special prosecutor and provide "any and all documents, notes, phone records, texts, tape recordings made or received at any time, concerning your conversations with [Cook County State's Attorney] Kim Foxx in re: Jussie Smollett."

Tchen reached out to Foxx on behalf of Smollett's family during the investigation into whether the "Empire" actor faked a hate crime attack on the streets of Chicago earlier this year. Smollett was eventually charged with 16 felony counts of lying to authorities in February, but the charges were, to the astonishment of many, dropped on March 26.
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🇺🇸 **High school pulls 1,750 yearbooks because students flashed 'white power' symbol in photos**
*Yahoo!* - <https://archive.fo/mF52v>

A high school pulled 1,750 yearbooks because several students flashed a hand gesture popular among white supremacists in their photos.

According to CBS 2, students at Oak Park and River Forest High School in Illinois used the “OK” sign — in which three fingers form the letter “W” and the index finger and thumb a “P” to signify “White power” — in photos. On Friday, superintendent Dr. Joylynn Pruitt-Adams told families there would be a delay in distribution.

A spokesperson from the school sent Yahoo Lifestyle a copy of Pruitt-Adams’s letter, which reads, “We’ve been made aware that this year’s ‘Tabula’ yearbook, which has not yet been distributed, contains several photos of students making a hand gesture that has different meanings. In some cases it’s in what is known as the circle game. However, the gesture has more recently become associated with white nationalism. Regardless of intent, the potential negative impact of this gesture has led us to decide that we cannot distribute the yearbook as is. We are looking at alternative options, and in the coming days we will share further details about distribution plans. In the meantime, we appreciate your patience and support as we work through this situation.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center says the gesture was recently introduced as a white power symbol on the internet board 4Chan and by Neo-Nazis in “a deliberate attempt to ‘trigger liberals’ into overreacting to a gesture so widely used that virtually anyone has plausible deniability built into their use of it in the first place.”
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🇸🇪 **Swedes up in arms as govt mulls potential ban on ancient ‘Nazi’ runes**
*RT* - <https://archive.fo/Db1Vn>

The Swedish government is looking into the possibility of forbidding the use of Norse runes, local media has reported, amid concerns that the ancient symbols have been misappropriated by neo-Nazi groups.

Justice Minister Morgan Johansson is currently investigating whether or not runes should be banned in Sweden as a way to deter hate groups, a Swedish website Samhällsnytt reported. His is expected to make a recommendation on the matter by the end of May.

If Johannsson decides to move forward with legislation prohibiting the runes, the ban could potentially encompass all Norse symbols, imagery, and traditional jewelry.

The proposal has enraged many Swedes, who see Norse runes as part of their shared history. For those who identify as pagan or heathen, the potential ban has been interpreted as an assault on freedom of religion, which is guaranteed under the Swedish Constitution. The Nordic Asa-Community, the largest heathen religious group in Sweden, has spoken out against any government efforts to police Sweden’s ancient heritage, arguing that “prejudices and misunderstandings are best cured with knowledge and facts.”

The religious organization has warned that banning Norse runes in Sweden would “wipe out a part of own history, culture and beliefs – and our freedom of expression.”

Former parliamentarian and member of the right-wing Swedish Democrats, Jeff Ahl, expressed similar contempt at the idea of such a ban.

“Our government advocates multi-culturalism, but we must not have our own culture. What the government is doing now is trying to censor our own cultural heritage and blur our roots. Fifth column,” he tweeted.
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🇮🇳 **Indian forces kill leader of al Qaeda affiliate in Kashmir: police**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/JjC9c>

Indian forces have killed the leader of an al Qaeda affiliated militant group in Kashmir, police said on Friday, triggering protests in parts of the disputed region.

Zakir Rashid Bhat, 25, was trapped by security forces in a three-storey house in southern Kashmir late on Thursday, said a senior police officer, adding that the house was set ablaze during the operation.

“As we were clearing debris from the house, he tried to get up. Our troops fired at him and he was killed,” said the officer, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to media.

For decades, separatists have fought an armed conflict against Indian rule in Kashmir, with the majority of them wanting independence for the Himalayan region, or to join New Delhi’s arch rival Pakistan.

India has stepped up an offensive against militants in the Muslim-majority region since a suicide attack in February killed 40 Indian troopers in Kashmir and brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

Pakistan denies giving material support to militants in Kashmir but says it provides moral and diplomatic backing for the self-determination of Kashmiri people.

Protests by supporters of Bhat broke out in parts of Kashmir on Thursday and there were reports of demonstrations early on Friday, the police officer said.
----------------

🇺🇸 **DOJ accuses Assange of violating Espionage Act**
*Politico* - <https://archive.fo/4TiaH>

The Justice Department has hit WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with Espionage Act charges, significantly escalating a legal fight against the high-profile activist.

DOJ had previously only indicted Assange on a single count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. Thursday's revelation of the additional 18 charges, filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, means Assange could face significantly more prison time if found guilty.

The alleged Espionage Act violations relate to Assange’s complicity with Chelsea Manning, a former U.S. Army soldier who was convicted in July 2013 of violating the Espionage Act after she shuttled troves of classified government information to WikiLeaks. Officials said Assange solicited the information from and then brazenly published details that put the government's human sources at risk, disregarding explicit warnings from the government.

Traditionally, the Espionage Act has been used against government officials, like Manning, who reveal such classified information, rather than the journalists or foreign nationals who publish the information.

As a result, the use of the Espionage Act against Assange set off alarm bells among press freedom activists on Thursday. While WikiLeaks isn’t a conventional news organization, press advocates have long feared that charging Assange for the publication of government secrets could open the door to prosecuting reporters for doing the same.

"Any government use of the Espionage Act to criminalize the receipt and publication of classified information poses a dire threat to journalists seeking to publish such information in the public interest, irrespective of the Justice Department’s assertion that Assange is not a journalist," said Bruce Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, in a statement.
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🇬🇧 **Brexit brings down May, Johnson stakes leadership claim**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/MHySN>

Fighting back tears, Theresa May said on Friday she would quit after failing to deliver Brexit, setting up a contest that will install a new British prime minister who could pursue a cleaner break with the European Union.

May’s departure deepens the Brexit crisis as a new leader, who should be in place by the end of July, is likely to want a more decisive split, raising the chances of a confrontation with the EU and potentially a snap parliamentary election.


Former foreign minister Boris Johnson, the favorite to replace May, was first out of the blocks, saying Britain should be prepared to leave the EU without a deal to force the bloc to offer a “good deal”.

Current foreign minister Jeremy Hunt also confirmed he would run for the leadership just hours after May, her voice cracking with emotion, said she would resign as Conservative Party leader on Friday, June 7, setting up a contest to succeed her.

“I will shortly leave the job that has been the honor of my life to hold,” May said outside her Downing Street official residence with her husband, Philip, looking on. “The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last.

“I do so with no ill will but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love,” said the usually reserved May.

May, once a reluctant supporter of EU membership who won the top job in the turmoil that followed the 2016 Brexit referendum, steps down with her central pledge - to lead the United Kingdom out of the bloc and heal its divisions - unfulfilled.
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🇮🇳 **India's Modi stuns opposition with huge election win**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/9tRRk>

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi scored a dramatic election victory on Thursday, putting his Hindu nationalist party on course to increase its majority on a mandate of business-friendly policies and a tough stand on national security.

His re-election reinforces a global trend of right-wing populists sweeping to victory, from the United States to Brazil and Italy, often after adopting harsh positions on protectionism, immigration and defense.

Official data from the Election Commission showed Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party ahead in 302 of the 542 seats up for grabs, up from the 282 it won in 2014 and more than the 272 seats needed for a majority in the lower house of parliament.

That would give his party the first back-to-back majority for a single party since 1984. Votes will be fully counted by Friday morning.

Modi was showered with rose petals by some of the thousands of cheering supporters who waited for hours in a thunderstorm for his arrival at party headquarters on Thursday evening.

“Whatever happened in these elections is in the past, we have to look ahead. We have to take everyone forward, including our staunchest opponents,” he said in a televised address.

He was critical of the many people that doubted the BJP could increase its majority.

“The political pundits of India have to leave behind their ideas of the past,” he added.
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🇺🇸 **Trump moves to escalate investigation of intel agencies**
*AP* - <https://archive.fo/jnYGZ>

Trump on Thursday granted Attorney General William Barr new powers to review and potentially release classified information related to the origins of the Russia investigation, a move aimed at accelerating Barr’s inquiry into whether U.S. officials improperly surveilled Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Trump directed the intelligence community to “quickly and fully cooperate” with Barr’s probe. The directive marked an escalation in Trump’s efforts to “investigate the investigators,” as he continues to try to undermine the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe amid mounting Democratic calls for impeachment proceedings.

Press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Trump is delegating to Barr the “full and complete authority” to declassify documents relating to the probe, which would ease his efforts to review the sensitive intelligence underpinnings of the investigation. Such an action could create fresh tensions within the FBI and other intelligence agencies, which have historically resisted such demands.

Barr has already asked John Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to examine the origins of the Russia investigation to determine whether intelligence and surveillance methods used during the probe were lawful and appropriate. Still, Barr has been directly involved, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly, and is also working with CIA Director Gina Haspel, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and FBI Director Christopher Wray.
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🇫🇷 **France: Package bomb explodes in Lyon 'attack'**
*DW* - <http://archive.is/i3vTm>

At least eight people have been injured in an explosion in the French city of Lyon, according to authorities. French President Emmanuel Macron has described it as an "attack."

Police in the French city of Lyon said on Friday there is an ongoing operation on the central street Rue Victor Hugo. They are searching for a man believed to be the perpetrator of what French President Emmanuel Macron called an "attack."

"It's not for me to give a toll but it appears there are no casualties," said Macron. "There have been injuries, so obviously I'm thinking of these injured and their families."
Police have urged people to avoid the area. Transport authorities said they closed the nearby Ampere — Victor Hugo station.

Prosecutors said they believe a "parcel bomb" was likely the cause of the explosion that injured at least eight people. However, police said they have not yet determined the source. Local media reports said the package was filled with screws, citing police sources.
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🇺🇸 **Video: Jerry Nadler Appears to Nearly Pass out at Press Conference**
*Breitbart* - <https://http://archive.is/ZvUhr>

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, appeared to nearly pass out during a press conference organized by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday morning. The House Judiciary panel chair began slumping in his seat shortly after concluding his remarks at P.S. 199 in the Upper West Side of Manhattan about speed enforcement cameras in school zones. At one point, de Blasio asks Nadler if he is okay, to which Nalder replied “no.”

A spokesperson for Nadler said in a statement: “He is okay. Seems to have been dehydrated and it was very warm in the room. He is now responsive and receiving a check-up.”
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🇺🇸 **Trenton Shooting: 9 People Hit by Gunfire Outside Bar**
*New York Times* - <http://archive.fo/yirt2>

Nine people were injured early Saturday morning in a drive-by shooting in front of a bar in Trenton, city officials said.

People were gathered in front of the bar, Ramoneros Liquor and Bar on Brunswick Avenue, enjoying a seasonable beginning to Memorial Day weekend when a car pulled up and at least one gunman began firing.

The crowd scattered. Some people took cover behind parked cars until the car sped away.

“Why is it that these shootings keep going on and on and on?” asked Lisa Austin-Granville, a local pastor who prayed amid blood stains and broken glass on the sidewalk.

Ms. Austin-Granville accused the city authorities of failing to prevent shootings, saying, “I should not know so many parents that have lost children.”

The wounded were taken to local hospitals and two required emergency surgery, but all were expected to survive, said Mayor Reed Gusciora of Trenton.

Multiple weapons were involved and possibly multiple gunmen, he said. The shooting “could very well be” related to gang rivalries, he said.

This was the second major mass shooting in the last year in Trenton, New Jersey’s capital city, which has a population of 80,000.

In June, 22 people were injured after a gunman opened fire during an art festival, striking 17, with the others hurt by being trampled. One person died.
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🇯🇵 **"I love him and I couldn't help it" 21 Year Old Woman Arrested After Stabbing Male Friend**
*Asahi News* - <http://archive.is/htVdV>

*(translated from jap-speak so writing will be kinda scuffed, I'll try to clean it up)*

On the 23rd, a woman was arrested for having stabbed her boyfriend in the belly in an apartment in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo. She stated that "I love him and I couldn't help it"

Yutaka Takaoka (21) had suspicion of stabbing and killing the belly of an acquaintance man in her twenties and thirties in a room in an apartment in Shinjuku on the 23rd It is done. The victim is in critical condition and is still being treated in the intensive care unit. In a subsequent interview with the investigators, Takaoka was found to have stated that "I love him and I couldn't help it" and "I would've killed him and then myself."

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is examining the details of the incident in detail, considering that maybe there was trouble between men and women beforehand.
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🇪🇺 **Nationalists surge in EU Parliament, but pro-EU parties remain dominant**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/yPEUR>

Pro-European parties kept a firm grip on the EU parliament on Monday as liberal and green parties matched a surge by eurosceptic parties, who won control of a quarter of seats in European elections for the first time.

The far-right and nationalists in Italy, Britain, France and Poland came out on top in their national votes on Sunday, shaking up politics at home but failing to dramatically alter the balance of pro-European power in EU assembly.

Facing a more hostile Russia, China’s growing economic might and an unpredictable U.S. President Donald Trump, many Europeans appeared to heed a message that the EU needed to stick together to protect workers’ rights, free speech and democracy.

“We are going to build a social Europe, a Europe that protects,” Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose revival among Spanish voters offset a fall in center-left support in Germany, told a news conference late on Sunday night.

Investor sentiment was bolstered by the smaller than expected gains by populist parties. However, the drop in support for the main center-right and center-left blocs could complicate policymaking and require broader cross-party agreements and discipline, market analysts said.

Provisional results published at 08:18 GMT on Monday showed the Socialists, Greens, liberals and conservatives with 507 of the 751 seats in the EU Parliament, which helps pass laws for more than 500 million Europeans.
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🇩🇪 **Jews warned against wearing kippah in Germany**
*Yahoo/AFP* - <https://archive.fo/zwhrJ>

Germany's government commissioner on anti-Semitism has warned Jews about the potential dangers of wearing the traditional kippah cap in the face of rising anti-Jewish attacks.

"I cannot advise Jews to wear the Kippah everywhere all the time in Germany," Felix Klein said in an interview published Saturday by the Funke regional press group.

In issuing the warning, he said he had "alas, changed my mind (on the subject) compared to previously."

Klein, whose post was created last year, cited "the lifting of inhibitions and the uncouthness which is on the rise in society" as factors behind a rising incidence of anti-Semitism.

"The internet and social media have largely contributed to this -- but so have constant attacks against our culture of remembrance."

And he suggested police, teachers and lawyers should be better trained to recognise what constitutes "clearly defined" unacceptable behaviour and "what is authorised and what is not".

His comments came just weeks after Berlin's top legal expert on anti-semitism said the issue remains entrenched in German society.

"Anti-Semitism has always been here. But I think that recently, it has again become louder, more aggressive and flagrant," Claudia Vanoni told AFP in an interview, adding the problem was "deeply rooted" in German society.

Anti-Semitic crimes rose 20 percent in Germany last year, according to interior ministry data which blamed nine out of ten cases on the extreme right.
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🇨🇦 **Microsoft, Facebook to help tame internet ahead of Canada's election, official says**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/DWGo7>

Microsoft Corp and Facebook Inc have agreed to help boost the security of Canada’s October election by removing fake accounts and cracking down on bots, a top government official said on Monday.

Last month the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau complained that the world’s major social media companies were not doing enough to help combat potential foreign meddling in the vote
and said Ottawa might have to regulate them.

Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould told legislators that the two companies had made commitments in a voluntary declaration on electoral integrity.

“The Wild West online era cannot continue - inaction is not an option. Disinformation must not stand,” said Gould, repeating the threat to crack down on the firms if necessary.

Government officials say they fear bad actors - some linked to Russia - will try to interfere in the vote.

“The malicious, multi-faceted and ever-evolving tactics constitute a serious strategic threat,” said Gould.

Microsoft and Facebook had also agreed to intensify efforts to combat disinformation, promote safeguards to address cyber security incidents and explain their rules about accepting political advertising, Gould said.

“I urge other platforms to follow suit in the coming days,” she added in a clear reference to Twitter Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google.

Asked how she could ensure compliance given that the declaration is non-binding, Gould said the keen interest of the public, media and political parties would hold these platforms to account in the short term.

“I think they have an absolute interest to be good actors in the Canadian democratic space, and if that is not the case then we will be coming back with stronger regulatory reforms,” she told reporters, without
giving further details.
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🇦🇹 **Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz ousted in no-confidence vote**
*The Guardian* - <https://archive.fo/Z5mKl>

Austria’s chancellor has been ousted in a no-confidence vote just a day after his centre-right party enjoyed a triumphant night in the European elections, as opposition politicians said they had lost faith in his handling of a corruption scandal that has engulfed his former far-right coalition partner.

With fresh elections scheduled for early September, Austria will in the interim period be governed by a technocratic government of experts and senior civil servants.

During a debate in which the delegates of the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) resolutely refused to lend Sebastian Kurz the customary applause, rightwing populist politicians accused the centre-right chancellor of having tried to use the so-called “Ibiza” scandal to consolidate his power at the top of government.

Opposition delegates said that Kurz, leader of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), had not shown enough willingness to enter into a dialogue with parliament during his time as chancellor: “You only showed contempt for parliament and Austrian democracy”, said Jörg Leichtfried, an SPÖ deputy.

The vote makes Austria’s youthful chancellor the final figure to be swept away by a political avalanche unleashed in the Alpine state by the so-called “Ibiza scandal”.
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🇮🇹 **Italy STUNNED as Salvini's League win HUGE majority and pledge a 'NEW Europe is born'**
*Express* - <https://archive.fo/wUwGy>

MATTEO SALVINI's Lega Nord (League) Party has claimed a convincing European Parliament victory, in a shock result in Italy.

The group has around 32 percent of the vote so far on the night, way ahead of the Democratic Party. Interior minister Matteo Salvini leads League, which came third in the 2018 general election. Following his victory, Mr Salvini said in Milan: “A new Europe is born.

“I am proud that the League is participating in this new European renaissance.”

He said previously: “As far as I'm concerned, if the League wins nothing changes in Italy, everything will change in Europe, starting from tomorrow.”

The head of the party’s Senate Riccardo Molinari added: “The League has probably become the top party in Italy.”

The exit poll suggests that League will claim between 27 and 31 percent of the vote.

The group’s coalition partner, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) was beaten by the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) which came second with 21-25 percent, exit polls showed after voting ended.

Mr Salvini had hoped to gain significant ground in the EU.

He stepped up intensive campaigns to attempt to claim a majority in Italy.

The surprising result comes on a night of high drama.

In France, Marine Le Pen’s right-wing group National Rally secured victory against Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche.
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🇻🇦 **Pope Francis sounds racism alarm as EU nationalists win big**
*The Straits Times/AFP* - <https://archive.fo/qsEPR>

Pope Francis warned on Monday (May 27) against a rise of intolerance and racism as far-right nationalists and eurosceptic parties made historic gains in European elections.

"The signs of meanness we see around us heighten our fear of 'the other', the unknown, the marginalised, the foreigner," he said in a message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

"It is not just about them, but about all of us, and about the present and future of the human family.

"Migrants, especially those who are most vulnerable, help us to read the 'signs of the times'," he said.

Nationalist forces from Marine Le Pen in France to Matteo Salvini in Italy and Nigel Farage in Britain boasted significant gains in the EU Parliament elections which wound up on Sunday.

Salvini's far-right League party did particularly well in Italy in centres seen as migrant "hot spots", including a town held up by the left as a model of tolerance and integration.

Pope Francis acknowledged the "fear" in many societies towards migrants and refugees arriving in search of protection or a better future.

"To some extent, the fear is legitimate, also because the preparation for this encounter is lacking," he said, alluding to often piecemeal and inadequate approaches to refugee integration.

"But the problem is not that we have doubts and fears. The problem is when they condition our way of thinking and acting to the point of making us intolerant, closed and perhaps even - without realising it - racist," he added.

"Today's world is increasingly becoming more elitist and cruel towards the excluded," the Argentinian said in his message titled "It is not just about migrants".
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🇺🇸 **Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs bill outlawing child sex dolls**
*Orlando Weekly* - <https://archive.fo/J9l7E>

On Thursday Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law legislation that bans the sale or possession of child-like sex dolls after it unanimously passed the Florida Legislature.

SB 160, sponsored by state Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, "prohibits a person from knowingly having in his or her possession, custody, or control an obscene, child-like sex doll." State Rep. Michael Gottlieb, D-Plantation, filed a companion measure in the Florida House.

“These are anatomically correct, lifelike silicone dolls that are eerily similar to real human children made for the sole purpose of sexual gratification,” Book said in a statement from her office following the bill's approval. “Just as viewing child pornography lowers the inhibitions of child predators, so do these childlike sex dolls that have no place in the state of Florida.”

A legislative analysis found that many child-like sex dolls are imported from China, Japan and Hong Kong, the Associated Press reports.

While supporters of the bill say owning the dolls should be treated like possession of child pornography, others claim the dolls could prevent pedophiles from acting on their impulses with real children.

Violation of the law is a third-degree felony. Subsequent violations are being deemed second-degree felonies.

The law goes into effect Oct. 1.
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🇺🇸 **First-ever private border wall built in New Mexico**
*The Washington Times* - <https://archive.fo/UVe5d>

A private group announced Monday that it has constructed a half-mile wall along a section of the U.S.-Mexico border in New Mexico, in what it said was a first in the border debate.

The 18-foot steel bollard wall is similar to the designs used by the Border Patrol, sealing off a part of the border that had been a striking gap in existing fencing, according to We Build the Wall, the group behind the new section.

The section was also built faster and, organizers say, likely more cheaply than the government has been able to manage in recent years.

Kris Kobach, a former secretary of state in Kansas and an informal immigration adviser to President Trump, says the New Mexico project has the president’s blessing and says local Border Patrol agents are eager to have the assistance.

“We’re closing a gap that’s been a big headache for them,” said Mr. Kobach, who is general counsel for We Build the Wall.

The announcement comes at a critical time for the border.

Mr. Trump’s plans to build hundreds of miles of new and replacement wall took a hit late last week when a federal judge ordered a halt to part of his emergency declaration and shifting of money within the Pentagon to make up for Congress’s refusal to grant him the money he wanted.
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🇩🇪 **Germany changes course on warning against wearing kippa**
*Thelocal.de/AFP* - <https://archive.fo/FSdEV>

Following protest, the government has withdrew an earlier warning against wearing the traditional skullcap.

At the weekend, Felix Klein, the country's commissioner on anti-Semitism sparked uproar when he said in an interview with the Funke regional press group that he could not "advise Jews to wear the kippa everywhere all the time in Germany."

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin voiced shock at Klein's warning and said it was a "capitulation to anti-Semitism" and evidence that Jews are unsafe in Germany.

Late Monday, Klein reversed course after Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman intervened.

"The state must see to it that the free exercise of religion is possible for all... and that anyone can go anywhere in our country in full security wearing a kippa," Steffen Seibert told a press conference.

In his latest statement to Funke, Klein said: "I call on all citizens of Berlin and across Germany to wear the kippa next Saturday if there are new, intolerable attacks targeting Israel and Jews on the occasion of al-Quds day in Berlin."

Al-Quds is an annual event against Israeli control of Jerusalem and will take place on Saturday.

Klein also addressed his earlier statements, saying that he "could no longer recommend that Jews wear the kippa everywhere in Germany should be taken as an alarm signal."
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🇦🇹 **'Shocking' defacements of outdoor Holocaust art: Austrian president**
*France24/AFP* - <https://archive.fo/Km0Hi>

Vandals have attacked portraits of Holocaust victims in the streets of central Vienna, President Alexander Van der Bellen said Monday, adding that he was "deeply worried" over the assaults.

The attack overnight Sunday was the third since the show by Italian-German photographer Luigi Toscano was installed in early May.

Faces were cut out of around 80 portraits, an AFP photographer said. Over the past two weeks, others have been daubed with swastikas or slashed with knives.

Bellen said he was "deeply worried" over the assaults on the show honouring victims of Nazism.

"I know that the overwhelming majority of Austrian society totally rejects the atrocities committed by the Nazis," Bellen said in a statement. "That some cannot see the truth and solemn reminder shown by these photos is crushing," he said.

Toscano said he was "devastated" by the attack, the first on 13 such installations around the world.

"There's been vandalism which hasn't been politically motivated, but nothing of this proportion," Toscano told AFP. "This is right-wing radicalism."

Austria's Forum Against Anti-Semitism tallied 503 anti-Semitic acts in the country in 2017, twice the figure from 2014.
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🇫🇷 ◻ **French Senate says Notre-Dame must be restored exactly how it was**
*The Local* - <http://archive.is/y4JpK>

French Senate approved the government's Notre-Dame restoration bill - but added a clause that it must be restored to the state it was before the blaze, striking a blow to the government which had launched an international architecture competition to debate ideas on the restoration.

The Senate has now approved the restoration bill already passed by the French parliament to allow work on the structure to be completed in time for the Paris Olympics in 2024 - but requires that the restoration be faithful to the “last known visual state” of the cathedral, in an attempt to check the government, which has launched an international architectural competition soliciting designs for renovation.
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🇺🇸 **Trump Goes After John Kerry, Says He Should Be Prosecuted**
*Trending Politics* - <http://archive.is/H6qvr>

The Trump War Room on Twitter shared the following video and wrote: "John Kerry, America’s second worst Secretary of State in history behind Hillary, is violating the Logan Act by colluding with Iran. Shameful!"
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🇮🇱 **Netanyahu hours away from deadline for forming coalition govt**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/98042>

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had until late Wednesday to form a new ruling coalition with a recalcitrant ally or
face the possible end of a decade of combative leadership of Israel.

As the hours ticked by, there was no sign of a breakthrough in talks with far-right former defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman.
Parliament began a full-day debate on a motion to dissolve itself and call a new election if no deal is struck.

Political sources said Netanyahu was seeking agreement with the leaders of parties in the legislature for a mid-September election day.

Netanyahu had declared himself the winner of a national ballot last month, but he now has until midnight (2100 GMT) to tell President
Reuven Rivlin whether he has put together an administration, and his political future hangs in the balance.

Failure to forge a coalition would take the task out of the 69-year-old Netanyahu’s hands, with Rivlin asking another legislator, either
from the prime minister’s right-wing Likud party or from the opposition, to try.

That presidential move, which would sideline Netanyahu, can be avoided with a coalition agreement deal or if parliament approves an election.

Political commentator Chemi Shalev, writing in the left-wing Haaretz daily, said a last-minute agreement was still possible and Netanyahu would
still be the favorite to win a new poll.

But he said Netanyahu’s critics now find themselves fantasizing about a world without him.

“It’s not an easy task, given his decade in power and the four more years he supposedly had coming. Young Israelis can’t even begin to imagine an
Israel without him: Netanyahu as prime minister is all they’ve ever known,” Shalev wrote.
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🇺🇸 **Special Counsel Robert Mueller Announces Resignation, Suggests Testifying to Congress Would Be Pointless**
*Breitbart* - <http://archive.is/U9s7i>

On the subject of whether the Trump campaign conspired with Russia during the 2016 election, Mueller said, “There was insufficient evidence to charge a broader conspiracy.” On the subject of whether President Trump ever criminally obstructed his investigation, Mueller was more vague — saying his team was not confident the president did not commit a crime. However, he did not say his team was confident the president did commit a crime either.

Mueller said he appreciated Barr making his final report “largely public” and suggested that it would be a waste of time if he testified to Congress. He said he would not go beyond the report in testimony. “The report is my testimony,” he said.
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🌎 **ProtonMail filters this into its junk folder: New claim it goes out of its way to help cops spy**
*The Register* - <https://archive.fo/887Lc>

Earlier this month, Martin Steiger, a lawyer based in Zurich, Switzerland, attended a presentation in which public prosecutor Stephan Walder, who heads the Cybercrime Competence Center in Zurich, mentioned the company. In a live-tweeted account of the event, subsequently written up on German and recently translated into English, Steiger said he learned that ProtonMail "voluntarily offers assistance for real-time surveillance."

But Walder, the source of the revelation, subsequently contacted Steiger to clarify that he had been misquoted and had only described ProtonMail as a potential provider of assistance.

Steiger maintains that he accurately reported what he heard and points to ProtonMail's own Transparency Report, which describes enabling IP logging in April in a case of clear criminal misconduct under Swiss law.

The key word here is "voluntary." ProtonMail says that it is obligated to assist authorities, like every other company in Switzerland and elsewhere. "All Swiss service providers are obligated by law to assist law enforcement in criminal cases, and the law requires us to enable IP logging in criminal cases," the company said via Twitter.

In an email to The Register, a company spokesperson dismissed Steiger's claims.

"ProtonMail does not voluntarily offer assistance," the company spokesperson said. "We only do so when ordered by a Swiss court or prosecutor, as we are obligated to follow the law in all criminal cases. Furthermore, end-to-end encryption means we cannot be forced by a court to provide message contents."
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🇳🇱 **Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker Wilders says Twitter blocks his account**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/GM75n>

Dutch far-right politician and anti-Islam campaigner Geert Wilders said on Friday that Twitter had temporarily blocked his account following remarks he made about a political rival.

Wilders, who cannot easily appear in public due to threats against him by Islamists, relies heavily on Twitter to communicate with his supporters. He has 811,000 followers, second only to Prime Minister Mark Rutte among Dutch politicians.

“Twitter often tolerates death threats against me, but not a factual tweet by me about a colleague. Madness!,” he said in a statement.

Twitter could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokesman for Wilders’ Freedom Party sent a screenshot of his account showing the ban, which was due to expire in around eight hours.

The tweet that led to Wilders’ block referred to D-66, a progressive center-left party as “suckers ...who import ever more Islam and then weep crocodile tears over the consequences, such as honor killings.”

Wilders is currently appealing a 2016 conviction for inciting discrimination for an incident in which he led followers in chanting they wanted “fewer! fewer! fewer” Moroccans in the Netherlands.
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🇺🇸 **Assange suffering psychological torture, would face "show trial" in U.S.: U.N. expert**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/TSKTj>

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has suffered psychological torture from a defamation campaign and should not be extradited to the United States where he would face a “politicized show trial”, a U.N. human rights investigator said on Friday.

Nils Melzer, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture who visited Assange in a high-security London prison on May 9 along with two medical experts, said that he found him agitated, under severe stress and unable to cope with his complex legal case.

“Our finding was that Mr. Assange shows all the symptoms of a person who has been exposed to psychological torture for a prolonged period of time. The psychiatrist who accompanied my mission said that his state of health was critical,” Melzer told Reuters in an interview in Geneva.

“But my understanding is that he has now been hospitalized and that he is not able to stand trial,” he said.

Assange was too ill on Thursday to appear via video link from a British prison in a hearing on an extradition request from the United States, his lawyer Gareth Peirce told Reuters. He is in a health ward.

“Mr. Assange has been deliberately exposed, for a period of several years, to progressively severe forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the cumulative effects of which can only be described as psychological torture,” Melzer said in a statement.

The Swiss law professor declined to identify judges or senior politicians whom he accused of defaming Assange, saying “dozens if not hundreds of individuals” had expressed themselves inappropriately.
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🇺🇸🇩🇪 **Pompeo to Germany: Use Huawei and lose access to our data**
*Reuters* - <https://archive.fo/x7lsn>

The United States may no longer share sensitive security information with nations that install next-generation networks, like those made by China’s Huawei, that it regards as insecure, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday.

Pompeo issued the warning after meeting his German counterpart Heiko Maas in Berlin, which has so far stood with European partners in resisting U.S. calls to ban the state-owned manufacturer from 5G mobile networks now being built.

While he said all countries would take their own sovereign decisions on which manufacturers to use, the United States would continue to warn them of the risks, including the possibility that Washington would have to withold information.

“(There is) a risk we will have to change our behavior in light of the fact that we can’t permit data on private citizens or data on national security to go across networks in that we don’t have confidence (in),” he told a news conference.

Pompeo is expected to continue pressing the issue in a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel on his delayed trip to Berlin, the first stop in a five-day European trip that will also take him to Switzerland, the Netherlands and Britain.

Pompeo urged close ally Britain this month not to use Huawei’s technology to build new 5G networks because of concerns it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying.

The United States is at odds with its German allies on a host of issues, from trade to military spending and nuclear non-proliferation.
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🇺🇸 **'It can't be them, they're black as sin': What Jussie Smollett told cops once Nigerian brothers were in custody as newly released police files reveal how he changed his story and asked them about 'good pills and molly' months before staged attack**
*Daily Mail* - <https://archive.fo/CMnLt>

(this is just a quick summary of what was detailed - spicy)

The Chicago Police Department released 470 pages of files on Thursday

Much of it was already known to the public including Smollett's initial police report of the attack and how police used Uber receipts to find the brothers

Some remains secret, including exactly what the brothers said in their interviews

They repeatedly turned down food in custody, claiming to be fasting

When police raided the home where the brothers lived, they found a black safe in a bedroom that was filled a pistol and multiple rounds of ammunition

Smollett, 36, changed his story between police interviews and complained about the media coverage of the case

Months before the incident, he text the brothers asking for a 'molly connect' and 'good pills'

The police files say he was never even trained by the pair but always masqueraded the payments which were for drugs

He sent one money on Venmo though it is not clear what the payment was for

He also agreed to sign documents to press charges against them when he learned they had been arrested for the incident but his lawyer stopped him
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🇺🇸 **The average millennial has an average net worth of $8,000. That's far less than previous generations.**
*SF Gate/Washington Post* - <https://archive.fo/I6W9d>

Millennials are doing far worse financially than generations before them, with student loans, rising rents and higher health care costs pushing the average net worth below $8,000, a new study shows.

The net worth of Americans aged 18 to 35 has dropped 34 percent since 1996, according to research released Thursday by Deloitte, the accounting and professional services giant. This demographic is paying more for education and such basics as food and transportation while incomes have largely flatlined.

"The vast majority of consumers are under tremendous financial pressure," said Kasey Lobaugh, Deloitte's chief retail innovation officer and lead author of the study. "That is particularly true for low-income Americans and millennials."

The growing gap between the nation's wealthiest residents and everybody else, he said, is affecting the way consumers spend.

Education expenses have climbed 65 percent in the past decade. Food costs have jumped 26 percent, health care is up 21 percent, housing jumped 16 percent and transportation rose 11 percent. And there are now expenses that most consumers didn't have to account for 20 years ago, including smartphones and data plans.

Today's 20- and 30-somethings spend about 17 percent of their incomes on education, health care and rent, compared with 12 percent a decade ago, the study found. Discretionary spending, which includes dining out, alcohol and furniture, has remained largely flat, at about 11 percent of total income.

"Only 20 percent of consumers were meaningfully better off in 2017 than they were in 2007, with precious little income left to spend on discretionary retail," the study found.

.
The findings, researchers say, "debunk many conventional wisdoms about the new-age consumer." Millennials, they contend, are putting off home-buying and marriage not because they want to, but because rising costs are making it difficult for them to afford down payments and weddings.
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🇺🇸 **New York Times bans reporters from CNN's Don Lemon, MSNBC's Maddow shows for being 'too partisan:' report**
*Fox News* - <https://archive.fo/TAh9l>

The New York Times is cracking down on its own reporters, stopping them from appearing on certain primetime cable news shows seen as being "too partisan," according to a new report.

Vanity Fair published the explosive report, which alleged MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell, as well as CNN anchor Don Lemon, made the newspaper's no-go list.

The magazine began its report by alleging the Times' financial editor David Enrich had initially accepted an invitation to appear on "The Rachel Maddow Show" May 20 to discuss a report involving President Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner's transactions with Deutsche Bank, but had to ultimately turn down the appearance after he informed the communications department.

Vanity Fair's report is based on information from sources inside the "Gray Lady," according to the magazine.

"The Times was wary of how viewers might perceive a down-the-middle journalist like Enrich talking politics with a mega-ideological host like Maddow," Vanity Fair's media correspondent Joe Pompeo wrote.
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🇺🇸 **11 dead, 6 injured after shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center**
*The Virginian-Pilot* - <https://archive.fo/snZCM>

Eleven people were killed and six people injured by a shooter at the city's Municipal Center in Princess Anne on Friday afternoon, Virginia Beach police Chief Jim Cervera said.

The shooter was killed by police after firing at officers, he said. One officer was shot but his bullet-proof vest saved his life, Cervera said.

"This is the most devastating day in the history of Virginia Beach," Mayor Bobby Dwyer said. "The people involved are our friends, coworkers, neighbors and colleagues."

The shooter was a current and long-time employee who had worked for the city in the public utilities department, Cervera said in a press conference Friday night.

The shooting started shortly after 4 p.m., just as workers were wrapping up their day and preparing to leave for the weekend.

Dale Gauding, a Sentara spokesman, said in an email that five patients went to Virginia Beach General, and one person arrived at the Level I Trauma Center at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in a Nightingale helicopter shortly after 6 p.m.

Master Police Officer Allen Perry confirmed there was a shooter in the Operations building next door to City Hall, which is near the intersection of Princess Anne Road and Nimmo Parkway. The Operations building houses the planning, public utilities, public works departments, among others.
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