UNITED STATES
Teachers remain on strike
Thousands of Oklahoma teachers, students and their supporters for the fourth straight day on Thursday staged massive demonstrations at the state Capitol, while Republican lawmakers struggled to find a way to placate the chanting masses and bring an end to a walkout at some of the state’s largest school districts. State House and Senate leaders announced that they would yesterday take up money-raising bills — a rarity for Oklahoma lawmakers who typically do not go to the Capitol on the final day of the workweek. Senate Floor Leader Greg Treat, a key negotiator on the budget, said he had not met with education union leaders and did not know what it would take to resolve the situation.
UNITED STATES
Trump denies payoff knowledge
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he did not know about the US$130,000 payment that his personal attorney made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who alleges that she and the president had an affair. Asked aboard Air Force One whether he knew about the payment, Trump responded, “No.” Trump also said he did not know why his longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, had made the payment, or where he got the money. “You’ll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney. You’ll have to ask Michael,” he said. Daniels says she had a sexual encounter with the president in 2006 and was paid as part of a non-disclosure agreement that she is seeking to invalidate. Her attorney, Michael Avenatti, tweeted in response: “We very much look forward to testing the truthfulness of Mr Trump’s feigned lack of knowledge concerning the US$130,000 payment as stated on Air Force One.”
UNITED STATES
State Nassar probe ended
Michigan lawmakers on Thursday said they would introduce more proposals stemming from the fallout of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal that they say has highlighted failures by his former employer, Michigan State University. House members, who announced that they have finished their investigation into the Nassar case, said bipartisan legislation would be introduced in the coming days that would build on measures already passed by the state Senate. They said that more changes are needed to protect other sexual abuse victims and “prevent such a tragedy from happening again.” Nassar, a former sports doctor who also worked for USA Gymnastics, the Indiana-based organization responsible for training Olympians, was this year sentenced to decades in prison. He has admitted molesting women and girls with his ungloved hand under the guise of medical treatment. The House members who investigated are recommending that the state place limits on any medical treatments that involve penetrating minors.
UNITED STATES
Tainted court cases tossed
A judge on Massachusetts’ highest court has ordered the dismissal of thousands of cases tainted by a former chemist who authorities say was high almost every day that she worked at a state drug lab for eight years. The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and the state’s public defender agency say that more than 11,000 convictions in nearly 7,700 cases are being tossed. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss the cases tainted by Sonja Farak, who pleaded guilty in 2014 to stealing drugs from the lab. The ACLU and Committee for Public Counsel Services are also asking the court to throw out thousands of other cases potentially affected by the rogue chemist.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia