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Thousands of people across Canada’s British Columbia were urged to evacuate as wildfires raged over the weekend. The resulting smog will last for the next two days – leading to poor air quality and reduced visibility in US states like Minnesota.
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Donald Trump’s former lawyer is expected to appear as a key witness today in the Manhattan district attorney’s case against the former president. Michael Cohen will testify about his role in negotiating $130,000 in hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election, and how he paid his retainer in 2017. Those allegations are at the heart of the impeachment against Trump. With Cohen’s testimony, however, comes all the baggage that comes with being a longtime fixer of the former president. Cohen himself has been indicted federally for campaign finance violations, tax crimes and lying to Congress in previous testimony. He has changed his narrative since pleading guilty to federal charges in 2018 as he went from being a loyal Trump defender to a chief opponent.
‘Setting the stage for Michael Cohen’: CNN legal analyst on phone records in Trump probe
Top US officials on Sunday issued stark warnings against an Israeli invasion of Rafah, predicting that a major ground offensive in southern Gaza City would lead to widespread civilian casualties, fuel a Hamas insurgency and create a power vacuum the terrorist group would later seek to fill. Alarm bells from Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and White House National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan followed President Joe Biden’s ultimatum last week that an Israeli invasion of Rafah would halt some arms transfers. Both Biden and Sullivan said Biden made the decision because he did not want to use American weapons in what he judged would be a bloody, ill-advised operation. The UN says at least 360,000 people have fled Rafah ahead of Israel’s planned invasion.
More than 300,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah
The situation in Ukraine’s northern Kharkiv region has “significantly worsened”, according to Ukraine’s top general, after Russia said it had captured additional villages – expanding its surprise cross-border offensive. The precise target of Russia’s new push, which began last weekend, remains unclear. Creating a buffer zone designed to minimize Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory or a possible re-attack on the city of Kharkiv, less than 20 miles to the south. Russia says it now controls nine Ukrainian border villages northeast of Kharkiv, according to the Defense Ministry in Moscow.
Russia is conducting a ground offensive in the northeastern part of Ukraine
Flash flooding could hit much of the southern United States this week as another round of heavy storms drenched already saturated ground — including parts of Texas where hundreds of people were rescued during last week’s downpours. More than 13 million people are under an extended flood watch today through Tuesday Stretches from central Texas to the Florida panhandle, including rain-weary areas north of Houston. The South has been battered by several rounds of rain in recent days, including heavy storms that moved toward Texas and Louisiana on Sunday, some with tennis ball-sized hail and prompting the National Weather Service to issue tornado watches and flash flood warnings.
South America is affected by storms, floods and hurricanes
Democratic Senate of New Jersey. Bob Menendez is facing his second, unique bribery and corruption trial in seven years — and jury selection is expected to begin today. Prosecutors say the investigation includes gold bars, cash envelopes, a Mercedes and more that Menendez received in exchange for giving favors to people from Egypt and Qatar and influencing the New Jersey prosecution. Menendez, a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will be tried along with two New Jersey businessmen who are co-defendants. His wife Nadine has also been charged but will be tried separately. All four pleaded not guilty.
How the allegations against US Senator Bob Menendez will affect US-Egypt relations
Maya Rudolph Is The Ultimate ‘Mom’ In Showstopping ‘SNL’ Opening Monologue
The “Saturday Night Live” alum came out to greet the audience after a cold opening, with the cast welcoming their real-life mothers to the stage to tell Mother’s Day jokes.
The iconic Porsche 911 is going hybrid
A hybrid model of Porsche’s signature model, whose gas engine is assisted by at least one battery-powered electric motor, has officially been announced. It will be revealed at an online event later this month.
Hear Jerry Seinfeld’s advice to 2024 graduates
The comedian was Duke University’s 2024 commencement speaker, offering some unconventional advice to the graduates.
Apple store workers in Maryland voted to authorize a strike
Workers at an Apple store in Towson, Maryland — the first union among the tech giant’s retail employees — made history again over the weekend by voting to authorize a strike.
Auroras light up the sky during rare solar storms
See dazzling auroras created around the world by solar arrays and coronal mass ejections emanating from the Sun.
Roger Corman, a colorful producer and director whose low-budget films — including the original “Little Shop of Horrors” — helped establish major Hollywood talent like Jack Nicholson and directors James Cameron and Martin Scorsese, has died. He was 98. Price’s exploits in the 1950s and ’60s included a series of film adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe starring Vincent Price, known as the King of the B Movies.
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That’s how many minutes it took Alejandro Tabilo to achieve what other tennis players have failed to do on countless occasions, defeating world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. The Chilean defeated the world No. 1 and top seed 6-2 6-3 in the third round of the Italian Open on Sunday, the first meeting between the pair.
“I think what you’re going to find, especially in Washington, [is] People pride themselves on being terrible.
— Supreme Court Justice Clarence ThomasIn addition to pushing back at his critics during a judicial conference in Alabama, he lamented the “nastiness” and “lies” directed at him and what he described as a “wonderful place” in Washington.
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Finally…
Why do so many cicadas spawn? Expert explains
Why do so many cicadas spawn? An expert explains
Saad Bamla, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, explains why billions of cicadas are expected to emerge in rare twin chicks, their loud chirps and why so much urine is in the air.
