International Politics

Overall

– The United Nations passed a resolution condemning attacks against journalists

– Fourteen people, including nine FIFA executives, were arrested by authorities in Switzerland after an indictment by the U.S.; Dave Zirin writes more here

– Sepp Blatter: We welcome an investigation by U.S. officials into FIFA

– UEFA, the European section of soccer, said FIFA elections should be postponed 

– Talks between P5+1 and Iran may go beyond the June 30 deadline, an Iranian official said

– One French official said, if Iran refused to open its military sites, the deal should be called off

Middle East

– Islamic State militants launched suicide attacks against Iraqi forces in the Anbar province and 17 soldiers died

– At least 80 people were killed in Yemen due to Saudi-led airstrikes

– A United Nations official said the rise of executions in Saudi Arabia was troubling

– Tony Blair will no longer be an envoy for peace in the Middle East; A position he relinquished after supporting the Iraq War

– At a trial of a Washington Post journalist in Iraq, a letter sent by Jason Rezaian to President Barack Obama was referred to in court

Africa

– What do John Kerry, Tony Blair, Francois Hollande and David Cameron all share in common? They support the Egyptian military government

Europe 

– The European Commission said member states should accept more than 40,000 refugees from Syria and Eritrea for the next two years

– Refugees in Germany are mobilizing together to ensure they are not kicked out or ostracized

– Academics studying Syrian refugees in Turkey must get government approval first

Latin America, Caribbean and Canada

– Lawmakers in Peru voted against legislation allowing abortion for women raped

– A journalist in Brazil who denounced drug dealers and traffickers was murdered 

– The opposition in Venezuela is divided on what to do going forward

Surveillance Planet

– Officials at the Internal Revenue Service believe Russian hackers to be the ones who took personal information from taxpayers

– Very strange the government is struggling to deal with breaches

– Attorney General Loretta Lynch: I am worried about encryption as it hurts law enforcement investigations

– The FBI is very worried about losing its surveillance tools

Financial Matters

– A new survey found the higher one’s income is, the more likely they say trade agreements benefit them and the country

– Do banks worry about felonies? Short answer: No. Long answer: Nope.

– Former State Department officials support passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Definitely not because they work at companies set to benefit.

Labor’s a-Brewing

– Behind the creation of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream are stories of worker exploitation and abuse 

Politics US

Washington USA

– Jason Leopold: “The State Department Will Start Releasing Hillary Clinton’s Emails June 30”

– U.S. officials say sympathizers for the Islamic State are threatening airlines

– Oops. The Pentagon accidentally shipped anthrax to laboratories in the U.S.

– A lobbyist pushing for TSA body scanners is now in control of what the TSA spends on; My guess is less body scanners

– Lawrence Wilkerson: “The Taliban in Our Midst”

– Lots of money by corporations went to Senators to support TPP; I wonder why…

– Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT): Hillary Clinton needs to take a stand on TPP now

– U.S. customs is sure interested in learning whether any Muslim-American coming to the U.S. is connected to any martyrs

– Chelsea Manning: “The years since I was jailed for releasing the ‘war diaries’ have been a rollercoaster”

– Rick Santorum joins the fun as he announced his candidacy for the 2016 presidential election

– Hillary Clinton said the middle class must mean something again

– Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY): Republican hawks led to the rise of ISIS

Anytown USA

– In 2011, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) created an agency to make jobs for state residents. Recently, he was removed from his position due to corruption

– Nebraska abolished the death penalty after lawmakers voted to do so

– The creation of ghettos were no accident. Rather, it was deliberate decision to create them

– Police departments across the U.S. obtain their funding from different resources. For example, debtor prisons

– Two former Chicago Police Department officers took a photo with a black man as if they just hunted him like deer. More can be found here

– We can take a page out of Malcolm X’s book in terms of activism when dealing with the issue of affordable and fair housing

We Don’t Need No Education

– Penn State University suspended a fraternity after the release of photos featuring naked, unconscious women

Health, Hunger and Homelessness

– A new study warned more than five espressos worth of caffeine may damage one’s health

– Gallup: While the lowest obesity rate can be found in Hawaii, the highest can be found in Mississippi

– A top psychiatrist exposed for his faulty research is now waging a personal campaign against the journalist who reported on such research

– There is a major health crisis in China threatening the entire population: mental illness

– The Food and Agricultural Organization believe it is possible to eradicate world hunger in a generation

– A Government Accountability Office report warned the federal government is ill-equipped to deal with a contagious outbreak on poultry and livestock farms

– A new study found it is definitely helpful to get tested for HIV early

The Second Sex

– Jessica Valenti: “Sexists are scared of Mad Max because it is a call to dismantle patriarchies”

Planet Earth

– There might be new explosions in the future at Fukushima and that is definitely not good

– Actually, the drought affecting those out west is more man-made than of nature

– Lawmakers in charge of environmental issues in Congress do not think more anti-pollution laws are necessary

– Desalination might be the way to deal with the world’s growing demand for fresh water

– Shareholders of ExxonMobil and Chevron rejected resolutions regarding reducing carbon emissions and climate change

Mixed Bag

– The Onion: “FIFA Frantically Announces 2015 Summer World Cup In United States”

– Josh Duggar, a child molester currently in the news, sued the Arkansas Department of Human Services in 2007 after the latter discovered the former was a child molester

– Breeding dogs is not only wrong, but hurts the dog population in general

Break Time

– Superhero [Faith No More]