| 1.Sepp Blatter resigns |
| FIFA President Sepp Blatter announced his resignation Tuesday shortly after reports surfaced suggesting his top lieutenant made a bank transfer linked to an alleged $10 million bribe. The announcement came just days after Blatter was reelected despite calls for him to step down as head of soccer’s global governing body over the eruption of a corruption scandal. Blatter denies involvement. On Wednesday, Interpol issued wanted-person alerts for two ex-FIFA officials and four sports marketing executives as the scandal grew.
Source: The Washington Post, The New York Times |
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| 2.Obama signs law reforming NSA surveillance |
| President Obama late Tuesday signed the USA Freedom Act, which cuts back on the National Security Agency’s surveillance powers. The Senate passed the bill hours earlier to restore parts of the Patriot Act, which expired June 1, but it still effectively ended the NSA’s authority to collect bulk phone data. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tried unsuccessfully to water down the reforms, saying, “Nobody’s civil liberties are being violated here.” Supporters said the bill restored freedoms lost in the security frenzy after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Source: National Journal |
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| 3.Police kill Boston man under anti-terrorism surveillance |
| An FBI agent and a police officer shot and killed a Boston man on Tuesday when he came at them with a military-style knife. Anti-terrorism authorities had been keeping the man, identified as Usaama Rahim, 26, under 24-hour surveillance for suspected involvement with Islamist terrorists. They believed he and two other suspects had been radicalized by ISIS. Rahim’s brother, California imam Ibrahim Rahim, said his brother was on the phone with his father at a bus stop when he was shot.
Source: CNN |
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| 4.Divers search for hundreds missing after ship capsizes in China |
| Scores of divers scoured the Yangtze River on Wednesday in search of more than 400 people still missing a day after a passenger ship sank in a storm. Most of the passengers were elderly tourists. The confirmed death toll climbed to 18. Some rescuers stood on the hull of the capsized ship, the Eastern Star, trying to locate trapped survivors. Fourteen people, including the ship’s captain, were rescued. Searchers extended the search 135 miles downstream in the rain-swollen river.
Source: The New York Times, Reuters |
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| 5.Walmart hikes wages for 100,000 employees |
| Walmart announced Tuesday that it would start raising wages for more than 100,000 of its U.S. workers next month. The raises will go to department managers and workers in specialized divisions. Wages for workers in Walmart’s deli and wireless product divisions, for example, will increase to between $9.90 and $18.81 an hour, up from a range of $9.20 to $18.53 an hour. Walmart announced in February that it would hike its minimum wage for all workers to $9 an hour in April, and to $10 next February.
Source: The Associated Press |
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| 6.Bobby Jindal prepares announcement on plans for presidential race |
| Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) reportedly plans to make a “major announcement” on June 24 regarding his plans for the 2016 presidential race. Jindal is expected to announce that he will join the already crowded field of candidates for the GOP nomination. He launched an exploratory committee in May, and has been visiting key primary states since then. He has said previously that he would announce his intentions after the end of the state’s legislative session on June 11.
Source: USA Today, Politico |
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| 7.10,000 ISIS militants killed since nine-month coalition campaign began |
| More than 10,000 Islamic State fighters have been killed since a U.S.-led campaign began nine months ago against the militants in Iraq and Syria, a State Department official said Wednesday. ISIS has remained resilient, but U.S. and coalition airstrikes and coordinated offensives by allies on the ground have taken a toll. “It will end up having an impact,” said Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken after a coalition meeting in Paris.
Source: Reuters |
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| 8.Dollar General stock surges on strong quarterly profits |
| Dollar General shares climbed by 3 percent on Tuesday after the discount retailer reported first-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates. The Tennessee-based company’s earnings rose to 84 cents per share. Analysts had predicted 81 cents, on average. Dollar General’s saw sales growth for everything from snacks and cigarettes to clothing and house wares. The good news came as Dollar General braced for increased competition as its two biggest rivals — Family Dollar and Dollar Tree — prepare to merge.
Source: Bloomberg |
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| 9. South Korea tests ballistic missile that can reach any target in North Korea |
| South Korea on Wednesday test-fired missiles capable of hitting anywhere in North Korea. Seoul said the ballistic missile launch was a response to recent provocations by the North. Seoul developed the weapon, which has a range of more than 300 miles, after a 2012 agreement with the U.S. that allowed it to extend the range of its missiles. South Korea has expanded its arsenal of missiles to counter the threat of North Korea’s controversial missile and nuclear programs.
Source: Voice of America |
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| 10.Second Yellowstone tourist in three weeks attacked by bison |
| A bison charged and injured an Australian tourist in Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday after the 62-year-old man tried to snap photos of the massive animal from less than five feet away. The incident occurred near the famous Old Faithful Geyser. The man suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries, and was airlifted to a hospital. It was the second bison attack in the storied park since the summer tourist began in early May. A bison gored a tourist who got close to pose for a picture on May 16.
Source: The Associated Press
Harold Maass |
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