Top Stories Today – May 28, 2019
Top Stories Today – May 28, 2019
Japan knife attack leaves 3 dead
An 11-year-old girl and a 39-year-old man died in a mass stabbing in Kawasaki on Tuesday morning, a rampage that injured an additional 17 people — including 15 elementary school girls and a boy — and saw the attacker turn the knife on himself, police said. Investigative sources said they had detained a suspect after the rampage, a man in his 50s, who later died of a self-inflicted stab wound to the neck area, they said.
The rampage was a rare attack in a country with one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the developed world. There was no immediate detail on the motive of the suspect. Schools in Japan have stepped up safety measures ever since a knife-wielding man, who sought to be sentenced to death, entered an elementary school in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, and killed eight students and wounded 15 others in 2001. US President Donald Trump, who was wrapping up a state visit to Japan, offered his “prayers and sympathy” to the victims as he met troops outside Tokyo on the final day of his trip. Japan Times
Trump administration launching new assault on climate science
In an effort to undermine the next National Climate Assessment, the Trump administration plans on curtailing the projections used in the evaluation, The New York Times reports. The National Climate Assessment is released every four years, with several agencies working together to produce it. The administration wants to only include computer-generated models that project the effects of climate change through 2040, rather than through 2100 as done previously, and no longer show worst-case scenarios.
Scientists argue this is misleading, as the major effects of current emissions won’t be felt until after 2040. “What we have here is a pretty blatant attempt to politicize the science — to push the science in a direction that’s consistent with their politics,” Philip B. Duffy, president of the Woods Hole Research Center, told the Times. “It reminds me of the Soviet Union.” The New York Times via The Week
7 jailed for comedy show in Myanmar
Seven young theatre performers in Myanmar are in prison after taking part in a traditional festival. The civilian government under the Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has made very few changes to the country’s draconian laws, which it inherited after five decades of military dictatorship.
Democracy activists say this is allowing the still-powerful Burmese army to silence a growing number of critics and to crack down on freedom of speech. BBC
Mt. Everest death toll rises to 11
Another mountaineer has died after summiting Mount Everest, bringing the death toll for the 2019 climbing season to 11 people. American attorney Christopher John Kulish, 62, who is from Colorado, died on Monday after reaching the top of Everest on the Nepalese side of the mountain in the morning, Meera Acharya, the Director of Nepal’s Tourism Department told CNN. While descending, he was strong and safely reached the South Col (situated at an altitude of around 7,900 meters, or 25,918 feet) late Monday evening before he suddenly passed away, she said.
Also on Monday, an Austrian family confirmed the death of one of their relatives. Sixty-four-year-old Ernst Landgraf died on Thursday, hours after fulfilling his dream of scaling Everest, according to his obituary and funeral announcement placed by his family. Landgraf lived for his family and climbing, and died fulfilling his dream, the obituary read in part. He is survived by his wife and children. His memorial service will be Wednesday in Ubelbach, Austria. CNN
Israel moves toward new elections
Israel moved closer to new parliamentary elections Tuesday as lawmakers voted in favor of the first of three procedural moves necessary to dissolve the current parliament. The 66 to 44 vote set a tentative date of September 17 for a new election, if the measure makes it through the final two rounds of voting. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been unable to form a new government since his party won the most seats in an election last month.
He has until Wednesday to reach a coalition deal with other parties or risk having Israel’s president give someone else a chance to form a coalition government. Netanyahu is unlikely to allow that to take place, preferring to take his chances in a new election. The Voice of America
Pulitzer board to honor Parkland journalists
The Pulitzer Prize Board is set to honor journalists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for their work memorializing 17 classmates and coaches killed in a shooting last year. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, eight students and the faculty adviser of The Eagle Eye newspaper traveled to New York for the honorary luncheon.
The Eagle Eye staff submitted their package of obituaries to the public service category of the annual Pulitzer Prize awards that recognize exceptional work by US newspapers, magazines and news sites. The student newspaper did not win, but during the April announcement of the awards, Pulitzer Prize Administrator Dana Canedy spoke of her “sincere admiration” for their entry and said they “give us all hope for the future of journalism.” The Voice of America
42 inmates found dead at 3 Brazil prisons
Forty-two inmates were killed at three different prisons in the capital of Brazil’s northern Amazonas state Monday, authorities reported, a day after 15 died during fighting among prisoners at a fourth prison in the same city. The killings across the city’s prisons recalled early 2017 when more than 120 inmates died at the hands of other prisoners during riots over several weeks at prisons in northern states. Many of those victims had their heads cut off or their hearts and intestines ripped out.
On Sunday, 15 inmates were killed during a riot at Manaus’ Anisio Jobim Prison Complex, where 56 prisoners died in the violence two years earlier. Local authorities said prisoners began fighting among themselves before noon Sunday, and security reinforcements were rushed in and managed to regain control within 45 minutes. Little information was released about Monday’s killings. The Voice of America