Teacher is fired
for reading book
on gender identity
in class
A teacher in an Atlanta suburb has been fired for reading a book to fifth grade students that explores gender roles and identity through the eyes of a child who describes their shadow as purple, her lawyer said Friday. The Cobb County Board of Education voted 4-3 on Thursday to approve the recommendation by the superintendent, Chris Ragsdale, to terminate the contract of the teacher, Katherine Rinderle, according to a recording of the meeting. “The district is pleased that this difficult issue has concluded; we are very serious about keeping our classrooms focused on teaching, learning, and opportunities for success for students,” the Cobb County School District said Friday.
Trump plans to
skip GOP debate for interview with
Tucker Carlson
Former President Donald Trump plans to upstage the first Republican primary debate Wednesday by sitting for an online interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, according to multiple people briefed on the matter. Trump has told people close to him that he will skip the debate in Milwaukee, according to two of the people. Trump left himself something of an out to change his mind with an ambiguous post on his website, Truth Social, on Thursday. He wrote he’s polling well ahead of his rivals, adding, “Reagan didn’t do it, and neither did others. People know my Record, one of the BEST EVER, so why would I Debate?”
Sexual abuse suits against Michael Jackson’s companies are revived
Two men who have accused Michael Jackson of sexually abusing them as children are able to resume their lawsuits against companies owned by the singer, who died in 2009, a California appeals court ruled Friday. The men, Wade Robson, 40, and James Safechuck, 45, have alleged that Jackson sexually abused them for years and that employees of the two companies — MJJ Productions Inc. and MJJ Ventures Inc. — were complicit, acting as his “co-conspirators, collaborators, facilitators and alter egos” for the abuse. The suits say that employees of the companies owed a “duty of care” to the boys and failed to take steps to prevent abuse.
Troop deaths and injuries in Ukraine war near 500,000, U.S. officials say
The total number of Ukrainian and Russian troops killed or wounded since the war in Ukraine began 18 months ago is nearing 500,000, U.S. officials said, a staggering toll as Russia assaults its next-door neighbor and tries to seize more territory. The officials cautioned that casualty figures remained difficult to estimate because Russia is believed to routinely undercount its war dead and injured, and Ukraine does not disclose official figures. But they said the slaughter intensified this year in eastern Ukraine and has continued at a steady clip as a nearly 3-month-old counteroffensive drags on.
Looming over a new security pact: China, North Korea and Donald Trump
The new three-way security pact sealed by President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea at Camp David on Friday was forged with threats by China and North Korea in mind. But there was one other possible factor driving the diplomatic breakthrough: Donald Trump. While the former president’s name appeared nowhere in the “Camp David Principles” that the leaders issued at the presidential retreat, one of the subtexts was the possibility that he could return to power in next year’s election and disrupt ties with America’s two closest allies in the Indo-Pacific region.
Anti-corruption crusader is on cusp of presidency in Guatemala
Bernardo Arévalo had been enjoying a quiet and predictable life for nearly a decade with his family in Geneva, working on pro-democracy issues for a nonprofit. That placid existence ended after he returned to his homeland, Guatemala, and got drawn into politics. Today, whenever Arévalo appears in public, he attracts throngs to hear him assail the government’s attacks on Guatemala’s democracy. Now, in what is building into a watershed moment for Central America’s most populous country, Arévalo is on the cusp of winning the presidency in a runoff Sunday — an implausible scenario just months ago.
Wildfires burning out of control widen Canada evacuations
Canada’s wildfire plague widened Friday, with most of Yellowknife’s 20,000 residents fleeing ahead of a deadline to evacuate, while blazes hundreds of miles away threatened Kelowna, a much larger city in British Columbia. The mass migration from Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, was the biggest mandatory evacuation so far in Canada’s summer of wildfire disasters. The fire is expected to reach the Yellowknife city limits by the weekend. About 370 acres of trees were felled to create a buffer zone between the fire and city. Sprinklers are dousing the area with 1,000 gallons of water an hour as planes unload more water and fire retardant chemicals.
Judge throws out confession of bombing suspect as derived from torture
The military judge in the USS Cole bombing case Friday threw out confessions the Saudi defendant had made to federal agents at Guantánamo Bay after years of secret imprisonment by the CIA, declaring the statements the product of torture. The decision deprives prosecutors of a key piece of evidence against Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri, 58, in the longest-running death-penalty case at Guantánamo Bay. He is accused of orchestrating al-Qaida’s suicide bombing of the warship on Oct. 12, 2000, in Yemen’s Aden Harbor that killed 17 U.S. sailors.
Private jet crashes on highway in Malaysia, killing 10
A private jet crashed onto a highway near an airport on the outskirts of Malaysia’s capital on Thursday, killing at least 10 people, authorities said. Video footage showed a plane appearing suddenly above the highway and crashing moments later, creating a fireball and a cloud of thick, black smoke outside Kuala Lumpur, the country’s capital and largest city. The victims included all eight people on board, a person on a motorcycle and another in a car, Razarudin Husain, the inspector general of Malaysian police, told reporters. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.
By wire sources
