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HeadlinesMay 19, 2016

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EgyptAir Plane Crashed After Disappearing Between Paris and Cairo

May 19, 2016

French President François Hollande and Greek officials have said the EgyptAir passenger jet that disappeared this morning en route from Paris to Cairo has crashed at sea. Egyptian and Greek authorities are searching for the jet, which had 66 people aboard. There is no information yet about what caused the crash. Last November, a Russian airliner was brought down over Egypt, killing all 224 people on board. The self-proclaimed Islamic State claimed responsibility for taking down the plane. Meanwhile, an Azerbaijani plane has crashed in southern Afghanistan, killing seven of the nine people on board. The Pentagon says the plane crashed during takeoff when one of the plane’s wings clipped the runway.

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3 Countries Recall Ambassadors to Brazil over Rousseff’s Ouster

May 19, 2016

Ecuador, Venezuela and El Salvador have announced they are recalling their ambassadors from Brazil over the suspension of democratically elected President Dilma Rousseff. Rousseff faces impeachment proceedings over accusations of tampering with government accounts to hide a budget deficit. But she has accused her right-wing opponents of fomenting a coup. Salvadoran President Sánchez Cerén said he would not recognize the government of interim President Michel Temer, who himself faces corruption charges. Cerén said, “We respect democracy and the people’s will. In Brazil an act was done that was once done through military coups.” Meanwhile, President Dilma Rousseff has criticized Michel Temer’s decision to install an all-white male Cabinet, during an interview with journalist Glenn Greenwald.

Glenn Greenwald: “How did you react when you saw his team?”

Dilma Rousseff: “Look, I think that—it seems to me that this interim and illegitimate government will be very conservative in every aspect, one of which is the fact that it is a government of white men, without blacks, in a country that in the last census in 2010—and I think this is very important—more than 50 percent of the population self-identified as being of African origin. So I think that not having any women or black people in the government shows certain lack of care for the country you are governing.”

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Senate Dems Hold Mock Confirmation Hearing for Merrick Garland

May 19, 2016

In Washington, D.C., Senate Democrats held a mock confirmation hearing Wednesday for Judge Merrick Garland, President Obama’s nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. No Republican senators showed up to the mock hearing.

Trump’s 11 SCOTUS Picks: White, Male and Conservative

May 19, 2016

Meanwhile, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has unveiled a list of 11 candidates he would consider to fill Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court, if he is elected president. The 11 judges are overwhelmingly conservative, and the majority are white men. The list includes Judge William Pryor, who has argued for the criminalization of consensual sex between gay and lesbian partners, and who opposes abortions, including in cases of rape and incest. During law school, Pryor said his inspiration for becoming a lawyer was “because I wanted to fight the ACLU.” The list also includes Judge Thomas Hardiman, who has supported strengthening mandatory minimum sentences, and Judge Raymond Gruender, who ruled a 1978 pregnancy law does not give female employees the right to contraceptive coverage. Curiously, the list also includes Judge Don Willett, who is known for his extensive commentary on Twitter, where he has mocked Donald Trump multiple times, including in a “Donald Trump haiku” that read: “Who would the Donald / Name to #SCOTUS? The mind reels. / weeps—can’t finish tweet.”

Trump Meets with Henry Kissinger to Discuss Foreign Policy

May 19, 2016

Meanwhile, Donald Trump met with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in New York to discuss foreign policy on Wednesday. During his time in office, Henry Kissinger oversaw a massive expansion of the war in Vietnam and the secret bombings of Laos and Cambodia. He also orchestrated secret U.S. military interventions across Latin America, from Bolivia to Uruguay to Chile to Argentina.

Nigeria: One of the Missing Chibok Schoolgirls Returns Home

May 19, 2016

In Nigeria, family members say one of 219 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram from their dormitory in Chibok two years ago has returned home. Nineteen-year-old Amina Ali Darsha Nkeki is the first of the group to be rescued. Fifty-seven other girls managed to escape soon after the 2014 attack. Her return sparked renewed hope for the family members of other girls who are still missing. This is Nkeki Mutah.

Nkeki Mutah: “You can imagine, since this abduction, we have been here every day. Unless if I am not in Abuja, every day I’ve been here, because of the hope. And our hope now has been rekindled because of the rescue of this very one that I got the news today.”

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Afghan Officials: 5 Killed in U.S. Drone Strike

May 19, 2016

Afghan officials say five people were killed in a U.S. drone strike in Zabul province on Tuesday. The officials say the victims were al-Qaeda militants, including one commander. The Pentagon confirmed the strike but refused to say whether anyone was killed.

Seychelles Decriminalizes Sex for LGBT People

May 19, 2016

The Parliament of the Seychelles has voted to decriminalize sex between consensual gay and lesbian partners. Before Wednesday’s vote, homosexuality was a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison in the Seychelles.

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Canada: Trudeau Apologizes for 1914 Komagata Maru Incident

May 19, 2016

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has formally apologized for the 1914 Komagata Maru incident in which Canada turned away a Japanese steamship in order to prevent more than 300 Sikhs from immigrating to the country. The move was widely acknowledged to be aimed at keeping Sikhs out of Canada. Then premier of British Columbia, Sir Richard McBride, said at the time, “We always have in mind the necessity of keeping this a white man’s country.” On Wednesday, more than 100 years after the boat was turned away, Prime Minister Trudeau apologized.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: “No words can erase the pain and suffering they experienced. Regrettably, the passage of time means that none are alive to hear our apology today. Still, we offer it fully and sincerely, for our indifference to your plight, for our failure to recognize all that you had to offer, for the laws that discriminated against you so senselessly, and for not apologizing sooner. For all these things, we are truly sorry.”

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KY Elects First African American Woman to State Legislature in 20 Years

May 19, 2016

Kentucky has elected the first African American woman to the state Legislature in 20 years. On Tuesday, Attica Scott won the Democratic primary for state representative of the 41st District. She has no Republican challenger for the fall’s general election. During the primary, Scott overwhelmingly defeated longtime incumbent Tom Riner, best known for his support of Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis, who was briefly jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples following the Supreme Court decision legalizing marriage equality nationwide. Attica Scott, in contrast, has been a longtime social justice activist and a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement.

South Carolina Passes Bill Banning Abortion After 20 Weeks

May 19, 2016

In South Carolina, the Legislature has passed a bill banning abortion after 20 weeks, even in the case of rape and incest. Governor Nikki Haley has said she will sign the bill.

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U. of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate Student Union Votes for BDS

May 19, 2016

Here in Madison, the graduate student union at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has voted to join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The 9,000-member union is the oldest graduate student union in the United States. It becomes the third student union in about a month to vote to divest from Israeli state institutions and corporations who do business in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.

Today is 95th Birthday of Late Civil Rights Activist Yuri Kochiyama

May 19, 2016

And today would have been the 95th birthday of civil rights activist Yuri Kochiyama. Until her death in 2014, Kochiyama championed civil rights, protested racial inequality and fought for causes of social justice. Her activism began after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when she and her family were held in a Japanese-American internment camp. She was with Malcolm X the day he was gunned down in Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom, cradling his head as he lay dying on the stage. Today, Google marked her birthday with an illustration of the civil rights activist on its homepage.

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