Corax
Australian Christian couple refusing to pay income tax since 2011, saying it would violate first commandment to transfer allegiance from God to the Commonwealth, ordered to pay more than AUD 2 million to Taxation Office, their 2.44-hectare property was seized and sold in 2017, Associate Justice Stephen Holt rhetorically asks for Bible passage saying "thou shalt not pay tax"
World
Turkish diplomat among two shot dead in restaurant attack in Erbil, capital of Iraq's Kurdistan Region, victims thought to be Turkey deputy consul general and a civilian, no-one has so far claimed the attack, Turkey vows to retaliate
Senior Hamas leader Fathi Hamad calls on Palestinians to kill all Jews around the world, drawing outrage from both Israeli and Palestinian officials, PLO condemns the comments while Hamas distances itself from Hamad’s words, adding conflict is with Israeli occupation and not with Jews or Judaism
37 countries of which nearly half Muslim-majority sign letter praising China's human rights record and dismissing reported detention of Uyghur Muslims, follows 22 mostly Western countries' recent joint statement to UN challenging Beijing for "disturbing reports of large-scale arbitrary detentions" and "widespread surveillance and restrictions" – Pakistan, Qatar, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia among signatories, according to China
Nervous Colombian smuggler hides GBP 27,000-worth of cocaine under his hairpiece, caught by Spanish police with half a kilo of the powder after arriving at Barcelona airport from Bogotá
37 passengers injured as Air Canada flight traveling from Vancouver to Sydney hits clear air turbulence forcing emergency landing on Hawaii, nine people with severe injuries, unstrapped passengers seen rise in the air and hit their heads on the ceiling, Australian country band Hurricane Fall safe
Sir Kim Darroch resignes as UK ambassador to the US, saying he wants to put an end to speculation about his role and the leak had made it impossible to continue
Tommy Robinson begs Trump and American government to grant him asylum as he faces being jailed in UK, claims he would be killed in jail as British prisons are controlled by jihadi gangs, talking in InfoWars interview
Donald Trump says US will no longer deal with UK ambassador in Washington Sir Kim Darroch, follows leaked email wherein Sir Kim describes Trump's administration as "inept", Trump also calls Theresa May's handling of Brexit "a mess" and that it's wonderful UK soon will have a new PM
North Korean state media says Alek Sigley was caught committing spying acts which led to his expulsion, claiming he confessed and asked for a pardon – he often shared details about his life in Pyongyang through social media and frequently challenged negative outside perceptions about the country, reporting of the extraordinary freedom he had as a foreign student
Miscellaneous
Police inspector at Japanese police academy mistakenly stabs rookie officer during drill, takes out a survival knife to bring a sense of tension, planned to stop just before it reached the victim's body, but one stab reaches part of victim's lungs, is admonished by superior and fined USD 4,600, the young officer quits shortly after the incident
Black British woman Lashana Lynch next 007 as James Bond retires from MI6, at the same time the phrase Bond girls has been replaced by Bond women, spymaster M is played by Ralph Fiennes
US Food and Drug Administration warns dog owners not feeding their pets food containing xylitol, the sugar substitute causes a rapid release of insulin, causing dogs' blood sugar levels to plummet to life-threatening levels, in humans xylitol does not stimulate release of insulin
Pilot sets new world record for the fastest journey around the globe via North and South poles, covering 24,966 miles in 46 hours and 40 minutes, English pilot Hamish Harding and NASA astronaut Col Terry Virts stopped three times for pit stops in Chile, Mauritius and Kazakhstan
Ross Perot dead at 89, became billionaire as founder of IT company EDS and ran for US president 1992 and 1996
Johnny Kitagawa dies at 87 due to subarachnoid bleeding, over 50-plus years his talent agency Johnny & Associates produced a number of artists including SMAP, Arashi, Four Leaves, Shonentai and Tokio, was recognized in Guinness Book of World Records for most No. 1 singles produced by an individual
North Macedonia Prime Minister Zoran Zaev tricked by Russian hoax phone pranksters, agrees to pay a bribe of EUR 100,000 to ensure Macedonian Orthodox Church independence and accuses Russia of having many spies in the Balkans – the pranksters pretended to be Ukraine's former president Petro Poroshenko and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Boris Johnson and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko are among their previous victims
Media
Tommy Robinson found guilty of breaching contempt law by Old Bailey judge after filming suspects outside sex abuse trial, awaits sentence which could see him back in prison or keep his freedom having already served two months
Satire magazine Mad ceases publication after 67 years, has struggled to find niche in new media landscape competition with internet cartoons and late night shows, after next two issues with original content, remaining subscription responsibilities will be fulfilled using reprinted material
German authorities fines Facebook EUR 2 million for under-reporting complaints about illegal content, Facebook says it received 1,048 complaints during second half of 2018 compared to Twitter and Youtube who reported more than quarter of a million complaints each for the whole year, Facebook says it complies with the law and reserves the right to appeal
Mark Zuckerberg admits mistake taking too long to flag doctored video of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that had been slowed and made her appear incoherent, describing it as an execution mistake, addresses firm's struggle with "deepfake" videos
Reddit quarantines subforum The_Donald, says users have promoted violence against politicians and police officers, group has 754,000 followers and is thought to have significant political impact, seen by critics as bridge between radicals and mainstream where content flows from 4chan and Gab to mainstream politicians and Trump supporters, quarantine makes forum harder to find, imposes warnings and in some cases complete blocking
Jordan Peterson to launch pro free speech platform Thinkspot, will according to Peterson not yield in to online de-platforming campaigns
Infowars and Pepe the Frog creator Matt Furie reach settlement over company's use of the frog on posters, Infowars will pay USD 15,000, stop using the frog and destroy all posters in stock
Donald Trump calls on Twitter to restore accounts of conservatives banned from platform, citing freedom of expression and saying the social media platform is making a giant mistake – CEO Jack Dorsey last year said majority of company's employees share left-leaning editorial bias but are trying to operate with impartiality
Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Ngoc Anh sentenced to six years in prison for Facebook posts allegedly urging for peaceful protests, government crackdown on social media has been escalating since 2017
Youtube bans thousands of channels not in line with company's guidelines on harmful content, including channels they claim promotes Nazi ideology or denies well-documented violent events such as the Holocaust or the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary took place, also removes videos promoting phony miracle cure for serious illness or claiming earth is flat
Politics
Sweden extends smoking ban to public places including outdoor restaurants, train stations and playgrounds, extends 2005 law which banned smoking inside bars and restaurants, PM Stefan Löfven wants country to be smoke-free by 2025
Liberalism has outlived its purpose and come in conflict with interests of majority of people by promoting immigration, open borders and multiculturalism, says Vladimir Putin in interview with Financial Times
Boris Johnson and foreign minister Jeremy Hunt only two candidates left in race to become British prime minister after a fifth and final ballot of Conservative lawmakers, with Johnson earning 160 votes versus Hunt's 77
President Trump reveals 2020 re-election campaign slogan "Keep America Great", says if he loses, people will criticize the new slogan, but doesn't consider a loss to be within realm of possibility
Old power blocs losers in EU elections, nationalist parties big winners: Brexit Party gets 32% in UK, Lega 30% in Italy, RN 24% in France, PiS 45% in Poland, Fidesz 52% in Hungary, AfD 10% in Germany and SD 15% in Sweden
Brexit Party and CDU tied largest individual party in EU parliament, claiming 28 seats each, according to preliminary numbers
Theresa May will quit as Conservative leader on 7 June, expresses deep regret that she has been unable to deliver Brexit, leadership contest to begin next week
Nigel Farage hit by milkshake during visit to Newcastle, several pro-Brexit politicians subjected to same treatment in recent weeks
Opinion
Charles Day: Article in EU 31 October Brexit extension law in effect means Britain already left EU on June 1, as UK has not ratified Withdrawal Agreement, but EU makes bad law all the time which no one seems to read, UK does not need guiding beneficence of people who can not even do the simplest, yet important, tasks properly
Costas Lapavitsas: New EU appointments still more evidence it is impossible to reform the transnational juggernaut of Brussels, were supposed to reflect results in EU elections, Britain confronted by an EU that is not the confident giant some imagine it to be, as new deadline for Brexit approaches
Caitlin Johnstone: Julian Assange's lawyer says Assange's health situation makes it impossible to conduct a normal conversation with him, has been transferred to hospital wing of Belmarsh prison, met with silence by mainstream media
76 retired generals, admirals and ambassadors urge Trump to de-escalate conflict with Iran to avoid dragging US into a war at immense financial, human and geopolitical cost
Trent England: The Electoral College is a check on government power, a restraint on the majority and requires geographic balance, rural Americans would be serfs if we abolished it
Sky Views: Government is quietly creating digital passport without us noticing, porn block a testing ground, government's Robust age verification introduces inescapable ID checks built into the foundation of browsing, home office also explores age verification technology, public debate silenced by warnings of the "monsters" of the internet
Brendan O’Neill: Anyone who doubts the green movement is morphing into millenarian cult should take a look at Greta Thunberg, the monotone voice, look of apocalyptic dread in her eyes and talk of coming great fire that will punish us, echoes 1600s preachers warning parishioners of the coming hellfire if they fail to give up their witches, Extinction Rebellion a public manifestation of millenarian fear, bourgeois depression and contempt for ordinary people
Barry Brownstein: Today's students on American college campuses advocate the same prohibitions on freedom as is stipulated in communist China’s Constitution, I imagine my 1999 student from Shanghai – seeing that individuals are the source of a nation’s greatness, not government – shouting "Do you have the slightest idea of the hard-won freedoms you are clamoring to surrender?"
Europe
Sweden extends smoking ban to public places including outdoor restaurants, train stations and playgrounds, extends 2005 law which banned smoking inside bars and restaurants, PM Stefan Löfven wants country to be smoke-free by 2025
Liberalism has outlived its purpose and come in conflict with interests of majority of people by promoting immigration, open borders and multiculturalism, says Vladimir Putin in interview with Financial Times
Boris Johnson and foreign minister Jeremy Hunt only two candidates left in race to become British prime minister after a fifth and final ballot of Conservative lawmakers, with Johnson earning 160 votes versus Hunt's 77
President Trump reveals 2020 re-election campaign slogan "Keep America Great", says if he loses, people will criticize the new slogan, but doesn't consider a loss to be within realm of possibility
Old power blocs losers in EU elections, nationalist parties big winners: Brexit Party gets 32% in UK, Lega 30% in Italy, RN 24% in France, PiS 45% in Poland, Fidesz 52% in Hungary, AfD 10% in Germany and SD 15% in Sweden
Brexit Party and CDU tied largest individual party in EU parliament, claiming 28 seats each, according to preliminary numbers
Theresa May will quit as Conservative leader on 7 June, expresses deep regret that she has been unable to deliver Brexit, leadership contest to begin next week
Nigel Farage hit by milkshake during visit to Newcastle, several pro-Brexit politicians subjected to same treatment in recent weeks
North America
Joke to storm area 51 goes viral, more than a million people have said they will participate, US Air Force discourage anyone from trying to come into the area
Man shoots and kills two intruders with his AR-15 as four armed men attempts home invasion robbery in Florida, the disabled 61-year-old homeowner is in stable condition at hospital with gunshot wound to the stomach, two other culprits arrested, no charges against homeowner
Nova Scotians can now choose "X" or not to display a gender on provincial identity cards, minister of internal services Patricia Arab says it reflect Nova Scotia’s diverse population and makes all residents feel safe, adds province may ultimately remove gender markers from identification cards altogether
Barry Lee Hastings Jr arrested in Florida for impersonating a police officer after pulling over an off-duty sheriff's deputy, asked for his ID Hastings says he's left his credentials at the station, deputy calls 911 after tiring of the back-and-forth
Jeffrey Epstein arrested and charged with sex trafficking underage girls and sexually abusing them, the billionaire and close friend of the Clinton family was sentenced to a short prison term for similar charges in 2008 after much-criticized deal
Five police officers asked to leave Starbucks coffee shop in Tempe, AZ, on Fourth of July because customer did not feel safe with them present, police union tweets parody of Starbucks logo with the words "Dump Starbucks", its president saying people feeling unsafe with police around is perplexing to him
Two earthquakes in less than 24 hours in Southern California, magnitudes 6.4 and 7.1 respectively makes quakes region's largest in 20 years
Latin America
88% deforestation increase in Brazilian Amazon in June compared with same month last year, 920 square kilometres in total deforested according to national space research agency preliminary figures, follows calls from Jair Bolsonaro to develop region
Mexico City decriminalizes sex work in push to combat trafficking, local congress votes 38-0 to pass proposal
Venezuela's economic crisis now so bad criminals can't afford to buy bullets, costing USD 1 a piece while the average Venezuelan only earns USD 6.50 a month, same time most people barely use cash anymore, gang leader El Negrito is considering trying his luck abroad
Mexicans buy fake cell phones to hand over in muggings, originally used by shops in exhibition cases to protect against burglaries, armed robberies increasingly common aboard buses in Mexico City
Nicolás Maduro was ready to flee Venezuela amid protest violence and calls for his ouster on April 30, before Russia convinced him to stay, according to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Juan Guaidó issues video message accompanied by opposition figure Leopoldo López and well-armed soldiers, declares final phase of ousting Maduro, López says he was liberated from under house arrest by military, reports of clashes in Caracas, government sources claim all military garrisons support current regime
Legislation that would ban sale of cold beer in stores in Mexico City cause public backlash, residents launching hashtag #ConLasCervezasNo and saying politicians should worry about insecurity of the country instead
Asia
Australian Christian couple refusing to pay income tax since 2011, saying it would violate first commandment to transfer allegiance from God to the Commonwealth, ordered to pay more than AUD 2 million to Taxation Office, their 2.44-hectare property was seized and sold in 2017, Associate Justice Stephen Holt rhetorically asks for Bible passage saying "thou shalt not pay tax"
Clashes break out between protesters and police in Hong Kong suburb, driven by fears of China tightening grip over former British colony, Christian hymn "Sing Hallelujah to the Lord" has emerged as anthem of protests, some demonstrators appealing to Donald Trump to liberate Hong Kong and defend its Constitution
South Koreans eat boiled dog meat in counter-rally on dog meat day, defending their right to consume the traditional delicacy in response to protest by animal rights activists, killing of dogs for meat is illegal, but consumption of dog meat is not
Turquoise lake in Siberia popular resort, nicknamed "Novosibirsk Maldives" by Instagram users, is actually a power plant's ash dump, Russian power company that runs the plant urges people on VKontakte not to go near the water, but it seems to have only made people even more determined to visit
16 women and children killed in tribal massacre in Papua New Guinea, two of the victims pregnant, motive not known but could be in retaliation for earlier incident, the Prime Minister warns he is coming for killers
India hikes income tax on high earners, top effective rate 42.7% for individuals making more than USD 730,000 per year
Two dozen countries formally calls for UN Human Rights Council investigation into extrajudicial executions in Philippine, Manila-based activist group iDefend says 27,000 killed in Duterte’s war on drugs
Australian student Alek Sigley, who was detained by North Korean authorities, is released and flies to Tokyo to join his wife, declines to comment on why he was held in custody saying he intends to return to normal life, senior Australian minister warns him to steer clear of North Korea in future
MIDDLE EAST
Israel Education Minister Rabbi Rafi Peretz calls massive scale of assimilation among world Jews "a second Holocaust", in US before 1970 only 17% of Jews married a non-Jewish person, in 2005 the figure was 58%, Jewish state does not allow intermarriage between religious communities, but recognizes civic marriage between Jews and non-Jews if performed in other countries
Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party AKP concede the re-run of Istanbul mayoral election, opposition party candidate Ekrem Imamoglu wins 54% of the vote after his surprise victory in March was annulled following AK party's complaint of irregularities
Benjamin Netanyahu unveils new settlement Trump Heights in Golan Heights, honours Trump as US is first country to recognise Israeli sovereignty over territory annexed in 1981
Three French citizens sentenced to death in Iraq for joining ISIS terrorists, they were captured in Syria by US-backed force and transferred to Iraq in February
17 injured in explosion targeting tourist bus carrying 25 South Africans near Giza pyramids in Egypt, perpetrators not yet known but Islamist militants have attacked tourists in Egypt in the past
Exxon Mobil evacuates all foreign staff from Iraqi oilfield, evacuation is precautionary and temporary measure and there is no indication of any danger, says chief of Iraq’s state-owned South Oil Company Ihsan Abdul Jabbar
Africa
Ebola confirmed in city of Goma, on eastern border of Democratic Republic of Congo, with a population of over two million, 1,600 have died by the disease since last year's outbreak, Rwanda on high alert
At least 26 people killed in attack on Asasey hotel in southern Somalia, suicide bomber rammed car containing explosives into hotel and followed by gunmen, Islamist terror group al-Shabab claims attack, local politician, three Kenyans, three Tanzanians, two Americans, one Briton and a journalist among dead
Tunisia bans wearing of the niqab in government buildings, citing security reasons, comes after three suicide bombings in Tunis in the space of a week
Two suicide bombers blows themselves up in two separate attacks in Tunisian capital Tunis, killing one police officer and wounding eight other people, as reports came in, President Beji Caid Essebsi was rushed to hospital after suffering "severe health crisis"
More than 100 dead after Sudanese military attacks protestors in capital Khartoum, demonstrators demand military council, which ousted president Omar al-Bashir in April, make way for a civilian-led interim body
Four shot dead in Burkina Faso church, islamist militants believed to be responsible, fourth deadly attack on Christians in the country since April
Economy
Donald Trump orders investigation into France's planned tax targeting companies based abroad offering digital services in the country, US say the 3% tax based on revenue generated in the country is clearly protectionist and unfairly targets American companies, effects companies with revenue over EUR 750 million of which EUR 25 million generated in France
Democracies on track to lose global economic dominance, within five years autocratic countries will account for more than half of global income after learning to combine autocratic rule with market-friendly institutions, according to political scientists Roberto Stefan Foa and Yascha Mounk
Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Dell and HP plan moving production from China to other Asian countries, according to Nikkei Asian Review sources, follows US-China trade war with increased tariffs on Chinese imports to US
Adidas unable to trademark three parallel equidistant stripes of identical width according to ruling in the General Court of the EU, the company could only prove the symbol's distinctive character in five EU countries [pdf]
Cars with advanced driver-assistance systems which reduce risk of crashes does not reduce cost of car insurance, instead it often drives premiums up as repairs are more expensive, this could change in the future when insurers have collected more data
Families in Japan needs savings of JPY 20 million (USD 184,000) in addition to pension benefits to cover living expenses after retirement, government agency FSA report says, Finance Minister Taro Aso says he won't accept the report as it differs from LDP policy position and could cause trouble to party candidates in upcoming elections
AT&T to accept online payments in cryptocurrency using the BitPay service, not immediately clear which cryptocurrencies are accepted
Softbank reportedly planning IPO for its USD 100 billion investment fund, is also said to be mulling launching second fund of at least same size, aims to further increase investment in startups developing cutting-edge technologies
Investors Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger says partnership between Coca-Cola Opens and the legal cannabis industry would be a serious problem, as Coca-Cola has a wholesome image and cannabis doesn’t, the soft drink manuafacturer says it has no plans partnering with cannabis companies although its competitors explore drinks infused with cannabidiol
Amazon's automated tracking and termination process fired hundreds of employees at single facility between August of 2017 and September 2018 for failing to meet productivity quotas, leaked documents suggest, assuming a steady rate, Amazon fires 10 percent of its staff annually, solely for productivity reasons
Technology
Elon Musk's Neuralink develops robot-assisted method for implanting flexible electrode threads with a total of 3072 electrodes into rat brains and register data from all of them, the company sees potential to implant several units into human brains
Peter Thiel says FBI and CIA should investigate if Google has been infiltrated by Chinese intelligence, as Alphabet chooses to work with Chinese and not US military, comparing Google's AI program to the Manhattan Project
Instagram uses AI to curb bullying, asks users to think again before posting unkind comments, first introduced to English-speaking Instagram users, company also tests feature allowing users to control who sees their comments without them knowing
30% of world's VPN services secretly owned by six Chinese companies, according to study by cyber security group VPNpro
Two pistols made from 4.5 billion-year-old Muonionalusta Meteorite auctioned, could fetch USD 1.5 million, modeled after famous Colt 1911 they have been test-fired to make sure they actually work
Jony Ive leaves Apple to start own firm, has been Apple's design chief for more than 20 years and designed all its major products including the iPod, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch as well as Mac and MacBook computers
Hackers have stolen call records from over 10 cell providers worldwide as part of espionage attempt, believed to be state-backed, attacks were first discovered a year ago, but go back seven years and are still operational
Apple patents Apple Watch camera integrated into part of the band, can have cameras on both sides and be angled by pulling out the band, could replace the smartphone in some situations
Hypersonic missiles United States' new arms race with Russia and China, unstoppable with current technology and could upend the psychology of Mutual Assured Destruction, US prototype meant to fly at speeds between Mach 15 and Mach 20, challenges include protecting missiles from intense heating and accumulating test data given the speed
Science
Russian space mission carrying the Spektr-RG telescope launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, joint venture with Germany aims to map X-rays across entire sky, trace the large-scale structure of Universe, provide insights on accelerating behaviour of cosmic expansion and identify a large number of new X-ray sources, including large black holes
New research on hominin skull fossil Apidima 1 suggests Homo Sapiens were in Europe more than 200,000 years ago, 150,000 years earlier than modern humans were believed to have spread to the continent, fossil was found in Greece in the 1970s
Researchers find correlation between amount of money in a lost wallet and return rate, the more money the bigger likelihood to report a lost wallet, contrary to predictions made by top-performing academic economists
Ionizing radiation not as dangerous to astronauts as previously believed, study of 418 spacefaring individuals finds no increased risk of death from cancer or heart disease
Planting trees most effective method of countering climate change, say researchers at ETH Zürich, planet has room for 500 billion more trees which would bind 200 billion tonnes of carbon and reduce atmospheric carbon by 25%
13-year-old Canadian Nora Keegan publishes research paper examining loudness of automated hand dryers on children's heights, assessing 44 different models, some operating at 110 decibels, also developed a synthetic air filter reduces noise by 11 decibels
Swedish and British scientists show individual’s genetic make-up has great influence on whether they choose to acquire a dog, concordance rates of dog ownership much larger in identical twins than in non-identical ones, next step to identify which genetic variants affect this choice using data from Swedish Twin Registry
Parents who raise their children as vegans should face prosecution, according to Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium, comes after a number of deaths related to the diet, an estimated 3% of Belgian children forced to eat vegan
32-year-old Greek woman gives birth to boy with DNA from three people, using experimental form of IVF using an egg from the mother, sperm from the father and another egg from a donor woman, some say procedure raises ethical questions, Dr Panagiotis Psathas, president of Institute of Life in Athens, says every woman's inalienable right to become a mother with her own genetic material has become a reality
DO YOU WANT MORE?
Join Corax Premium and get full access to the archive with 58645 links!