“The four young men in the rebel camp hidden deep in jungle-covered mountains never wanted a part in Myanmar’s civil war. They didn’t choose to be soldiers for the military either. One had been a chef on his way home from work when he was grabbed off the street. His lack of ID was enough for the military to detain him and force him to sign up. Another was taken on his way back from a late-night karaoke session; a third had been working for the forestry department when he was arrested. The fourth man says on being arrested, drugs were slipped into his shoe, and he was framed and made to enlist. ‘Before we even understood what was happening, we were sent straight to the front lines,’ one of the men – all between the ages of 19 and 25 – tells the BBC. ‘They made us do all kinds of things we didn’t want to do,’ another adds.” (06/10/26)
“Annual inflation rose to a three-year-high of 4.2% in May, underscoring how elevated energy prices are rippling through the US economy, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Prices rose 0.5% on a monthly basis, driven higher by the US-Israeli war with Iran, the latest Consumer Price Index shows. The higher cost of energy accounted for 60% of the monthly increase. Overall food prices and grocery prices didn’t rise as fast as they did in April, increasing 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively, versus 0.5% and 0.7%. Economists were expecting prices to rise 0.5% from the month before and for the annual rate to accelerate to 4.2% from the 3.8% reported in April, according to FactSet estimates.” (06/10/26)
“Rep. Josh Gottheimer [D-NJ] predicted on Tuesday that Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner will be ‘off the ballot soon’ even if he wins the primary election. Gottheimer, who has criticized Platner for his scandals in the past, called support for far-left candidates like him a ‘major concern’ for the Democratic Party and encouraged people not to support him during the primaries. While he stopped short of supporting Platner’s presumptive Republican opponent, Sen. Susan Collins, Gottheimer told ‘CNN News Central’ that he would call for Platner to step down regardless of how the race goes. ‘What I would suggest is that Graham Platner get off if he wins today, which I assume he will, because there‘s no one actively campaigning against him, that he get off the ballot and let another Democrat step in, that the Maine Democratic Party puts somebody else in,’ Gottheimer said.” (06/09/26)
“Imprisoned rap mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has been accused of sexually assaulting a child actor in an explosive lawsuit filed in California that accuses him of acting ‘beyond the bound of decency.’ Combs, 56, is serving a 50-month prison sentence for prostitution-related offenses after a bombshell eight-week trial in New York City that laid bare his infamous ‘freak-offs’: twisted, multi-day parties rife with drugs, degrading sex acts and children’s swimming pools full of baby oil. In the new lawsuit, a child actor going by the pseudonym John Doe accuses the disgraced Bad Boy Entertainment founder of sexually assaulting him during a networking event in the Hollywood Hills in May 2007, according to ABC News. ‘Defendant Combs’[s] conduct … was outrageous, intended to terrorize and cause him emotional distress, and did in fact cause him emotional distress,’ the lawsuit viewed by the outlet reads in part.” (06/10/26)
“It was February in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Maria Gonzalez was leaving her hotel cleaning job. Thirty minutes later, a co-worker uploaded a video in their group chat that showed ICE agents storming the hotel and searching for Latino people as part of Operation Metro Surge. They eventually grabbed three of her colleagues and took them away; she believes that, had she still been at work, she likely would have been detained. … The hotel business tends to be weak in winter months, she said, but it nosedived starting in December as the surge began, which meant she was called in to work less. Then a week after the hotel incident, ICE showed up at her own door while she was at home with her husband and two teenage children, pounding and kicking it, demanding to be let in.” (06/10/26)
“A backlash is growing in Japan over US President Donald Trump’s use of popular anime and manga characters in his posts on social media. Upset has been brewing since March, when fans started noticing the president using images of – and in some cases depicting himself as – iconic Japanese animation characters like Pikachu, Naruto and Yu-Gi-Oh!. Almost 20,000 people have now signed an online petition, arguing he does not share the values of the characters, and that using them for political reasons could infringe the creators’ rights. Pokémon Company International has condemned Trump’s use of its imagery. The BBC has contacted other rights holders and the White House for comment. The petition calling for Trump and the White House to respect Japanese manga was first launched in March, when a couple of posts caught the attention of some fans.” (06/10/26)
“The Apostle Paul once wrote that leadership requires ‘a good conscience.’ Whether one approaches that idea through faith, philosophy, or simple common sense, the principle remains timeless: public officials carry a moral obligation to protect the people entrusted to their care. That responsibility should come before ideology, political image, or partisan loyalty. Too often in Illinois, it does not. My daughter, Katie Abraham, was killed in Urbana, Illinois, by an intoxicated illegal [sic] immigrant with a troubling background and serious health issues; circumstances that, in my view, were enabled by reckless sanctuary policies that lacked meaningful vetting and prioritized ideology over public safety. But what permanently divided me from many Illinois leaders was not only the policy failure itself. It was the response afterward.” (06/10/26)
“A Sudanese asylum seeker accused of blinding a Belfast man in one eye during a stabbing attack appeared in court Wednesday as anti-immigrant unrest spread across Northern Ireland. Hadi Alodid, 30, was ordered to be held in jail after appearing by video in Belfast Magistrates’ Court, where prosecutors accused him of blinding Stephen Ogilvie in his left eye during Monday’s attack. Alodid was charged with attempted murder, threatening to kill a radiographer and possessing a knife. He declined legal representation through an Arabic interpreter and did not enter a plea. The attack, which occurred shortly after 10:30 p.m. Monday in north Belfast and was captured in graphic video footage that quickly spread online, sparked outrage and fueled demonstrations that turned violent overnight. Police said Ogilvie, a man in his 40s, suffered serious injuries to his face, neck, back and eyes, and officers recovered what they believe was a kitchen knife from the scene.” (06/10/26)
“Police in South Africa have launched a manhunt after 12 people were killed in a mass shooting at an informal settlement in Johannesburg. At least 10 suspects, heavily armed with rifles, entered the Jumpers Informal Settlement in the suburb of Cleveland late on Tuesday night and opened fire before fleeing in a white vehicle, police said. The motive for what police called a ‘heartless’ and ‘barbaric’ attack, in which another nine people were injured, is still being investigated. Members of the Jumper’s community believe the shooting may be linked to a turf war between groups of illegal miners living in the area. Illegal mining has been on the increase in South Africa, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world.” (06/10/26)
“Bill de Blasio appeared on NewsNation on June 2 and was asked to comment on Spencer Pratt’s campaign. De Blasio smugly described Pratt’s ads as ‘inappropriate’ and wondered, ‘Who is behind them?’ If de Blasio hadn’t actively participated in the decline of New York City during his disastrous eight years as its mayor, his arrogance might just be dismissed as unwarranted and clueless. But de Blasio is part of a machine that profits from urban decline. Behind his arrogance is a grasping, cynical hypocrite delighted that the machine on the West Coast is as potent as the one that elevated his own mayoral tenure and now supports Zohran Mamdani. And so way out west, the machine has struck again.” (06/10/26)
