The Guardian, US Edition
The House select committee investigating the US Capitol attack on Monday asked three Republican members of Congress to assist its inquiry, as it seeks to establish the extent of their roles in Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
Bennie Thompson, the Democratic committee chair, told the Guardian last week the panel wanted to conduct interviews with Republicans so it could consider their testimony for its report, due to be published in September.
The Guardian, UK Edition
Boris Johnson is facing calls to support the introduction of compulsory training for MPs after fresh revelations about sexism and harassment in Westminster.
Following Neil Parish becoming the latest MP to be embroiled in scandal after he admitted to deliberately watching pornography in the House of Commons, political parties and the Commons authorities have been accused of not doing enough to rid parliament of its “pestminster” image.
Although changes were promised in the wake of #MeToo – and with the Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, supporting MPs no longer directly employing staff – a government minister said it was “horrific and alarming” to see so many reports of unacceptable behaviour.
The Guardian, UK Edition
One of the UK’s most wanted men has been arrested after trying to fly to Portugal using a fraudulent passport.
Alex Male, 29, of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, is alleged to have been a regional distributor of class A drugs across the south-west of England, using an EncroChat encrypted communications network.
He was detained at Lisbon airport after arriving on a flight from Turkey where he had been refused entry, according to the National Crime Agency.
Male, who was added to the NCA’s most-wanted list in January, is accused of conspiracy to supply cocaine and ketamine, money laundering and conspiracy to acquire a firearm as part of his alleged drug-dealing activity between April and June 2020.
The Guardian, Australian Edition
Support for both the major parties has dropped since the start of the federal election campaign, but Labor is emerging as the party most trusted to manage the cost of living pressures facing Australians.
At the mid-point of the six-week election campaign, the Guardian Essential poll of 1,500 respondents finds the primary vote for both Labor and the Coalition largely unmoved, despite billions of dollars in election promisesbeing made as voters tune into the contest.
But while primary support is flatlining, Labor retains a lead over the Coalition of 49% to 45% on a two-party preferred “plus” measure.
The Guardian, Australian Edition
Extreme weather due to the climate crisis is expected to increasingly make some Australian homes “uninsurable”, with a new report suggesting up to one in 25 households will struggle to be covered by 2030.
The analysis by the Climate Council, using data from consultants Climate Valuation, mapped the 10 electorates across the country considered most at risk of becoming uninsurable due to flood, fire and other extreme weather risk.
The most at-risk areas were mostly found to be in flood and cyclone-prone areas of Queensland and in parts of Victoria built over flood plains near major rivers.
The Guardian, International Edition
Russia’s Bolshoi theatre has upset opera and ballet fans by abruptly cancelling shows this week by directors who have spoken out against the war in Ukraine.
The theatre gave no reason for dropping Timofey Kulyabin’s production of the opera Don Pasquale and Kirill Serebrennikov’s ballet Nureyev, which will be replaced by productions of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and Aram Khachaturian’s ballet Spartacus.
Serebrennikov, 52, was allowed in March to leave
Russia, where he was found guilty in 2020 of embezzling funds at Moscow’s Gogol Centre theatre.
His supporters say the conviction was revenge for his criticism of authoritarianism and homophobia under the country’s president, Vladimir Putin.
The Guardian, International Edition
Europe is facing a crunch point in mid-May when EU member states will have to reject Moscow’s demands for fuel payments to be made in roubles – despite being without alternative gas supply, Brussels has warned.
Kadri Simson, the European commissioner for energy, said on Monday that the Kremlin’s demands had to be rebuffed despite the risks of an interruption to supply at a time that the shortfall cannot be made good.
Last week, Gazprom suspended its gas flow to Poland and Bulgaria and threatened the supply of others if they should follow Warsaw and Sofia in failing to pay for fuel in the Russian currency.
After a meeting of EU energy ministers, Simson said that all the energy ministers had accepted that paying in roubles through the mechanism set out by Russia would breach sanctions imposed by the bloc after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Al Jazeera
Israel is holding around 600 Palestinian detainees without charge or trial, the highest number since 2016, an Israeli rights group said.
HaMoked, an Israeli rights group that regularly gathers figures from prison authorities, said on Monday that as of May there were 604 detainees held in administrative detention. Nearly all are Palestinians, as administrative detention is very rarely used against Jews.
So-called administrative detainees are arrested on “secret evidence”, unaware of the accusations against them, and are not allowed to defend themselves in court. They are usually held for renewable six-month periods that often lead to years in detention.
Al Jazeera
Thousands of people have fled a northern Iraqi town amid fierce clashes between the army and a militia linked to a Kurdish separatist group, the military and local Iraqi Kurdish officials said.
Clashes first erupted late on Sunday when the Iraqi military launched an operation to clear the area of YBS forces, a militia group with ties to the Turkish Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and mostly comprised of members from the Yazidi religious minority.
At least 3,000 people left Sinjar and its surrounding areas on Monday and headed north towards the semi-autonomous Kurdish region to seek safety.
Deutsche Welle
The oil embargo could be upheld for years, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said. Her Green ally Robert Habeck said complete independence from Russian oil was possible by late summer.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said Berlin was ready to support a gradual, EU-wide embargo on Russian oil imports.
"And we are preparing this in such a way, that we could if necessary keep it up over the coming years," Baerbock told Germany's ARD television on Sunday.
Her statement comes after Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck said Sunday that he expects Germany could be fully independent of Russian crude oil imports by the end of summer.
The Economy and Climate Ministry said the goal was "realistic" in a tweet.
Duetsche Welle
Switzerland, Sweden and Finland are just some of the European states that currently maintain a neutral status. But Russia's attack on Ukraine has forced them to reconsider their stance.
"It's their decision," said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg late last week. "But if they decide to apply, Finland and Sweden will be warmly welcomed, and I expect that process to go quickly."
Both countries have long considered themselves neutral, but the war in Ukraine could push them into the arms of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization military alliance. And they aren't the only European countries questioning their status in view of the current threat from Russia. DW has an overview.
Reuters
May 2 (Reuters) - Elon Musk is in talks with large investment firms and high net-worth individuals about taking on more financing for his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Inc (TWTR.N)and tying up less of his wealth in the deal, people familiar with the matter said.
Musk is the world's richest person, with Forbes estimating his net worth at about $245 billion. Yet most of his wealth is tied up in the shares of Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), the electric car maker he leads. Last week, Musk disclosed he sold $8.5 billion worth of Tesla stock following his agreement to buy Twitter.
Bangkok Post
The leaders of Thailand and Japan announced a new defence agreement on Monday as well as plans to upgrade their economic relations, as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wrapped up the last leg of a three-nation tour of Southeast Asia.
The agreement would facilitate the transfer of defence hardware and technology from Japan to Thailand, which has one of the region's biggest and most equipped armies and a long history of ties with the United States military. Further details of the deal were not disclosed.
NPR
Former Philadelphia police officer Edsaul Mendoza knew Thomas "T.J." Siderio, 12, was unarmed when he shot him in the back and killed him, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said as he announced murder charges against Mendoza on Monday.
Police said Siderio had fired at a car carrying four officers before running away on March 1 — but Krasner said Mendoza, who chased Siderio on foot, knew the boy had thrown his weapon away before he shot him. Siderio was on the ground at the time, Krasner said.
"It is certain that Thomas Siderio, at the time he was shot, had stopped running and that he was possibly surrendering," Krasner said.
NPR
Kaia Rolle was 6 years old when police arrested her at a Florida school in 2019. The then first-grader was accused of kicking and punching staff members while throwing a tantrum.
A police officer used zip ties to handcuff her. The video of her crying and pleading with a school resource officer not to handcuff her sparked widespread outrage at the time. It also led to changes in state law.
But Kaia is still feeling the effects of that day more than two years later, her grandmother, Meralyn Kirkland, tells NPR. Kaia's in therapy for PTSD, she says. "She also still suffers from separation anxiety."
Kaia's ordeal prompted Florida to set a minimum age for a juvenile's arrest. It was part of a wider police reform bill and says no one under 7 years of age can be arrested, charged or adjudicated unless they've committed a forcible felony. Those felonies are defined by the state.
Washington Post
Leading antiabortion groups and their allies in Congress have been meeting behind the scenes to plan a national strategy that would kick in if the Supreme Court rolls back abortion rights this summer, including a push for a strict nationwide ban on the procedure if Republicans retake power in Washington.
The effort, activists say, is designed to bring a fight that has been playing out largely in the courts and state legislatures to the national political stage — rallying conservatives around the issue in the midterms and pressuring potential 2024 GOP presidential candidates to take a stand.
The discussions reflect what activists describe as an emerging consensus in some corners of the antiabortion movement to push for hard-line measures that will truly end a practice they see as murder while rejecting any proposals seen as half-measures.
The Guardian, US Edition
The largest active wildfire in the US has forced thousands from their homes in New Mexico, as unusually fast-spreading blazes dot the drought-stricken south-west.
Fierce winds have blown embers beyond the fire, allowing it to breach containment lines set by about 1,000 firefighters backed by aircraft and bulldozers.
Officials in northern New Mexico urged people to flee.
The crew of the Overnight News Digest consists of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Rise above the swamp, Besame and jck. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Interceptor 7, Man Oh Man, wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck (RIP), rfall, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.