Top Stories
TOP STORY
TOP STORY
Far-right advances in EU election
Far-right gains in the European Parliament election prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to call a national election.
While the center, liberal and Socialist parties were set to retain a majority in the 720-seat parliament, the vote dealt a domestic blow to the leaders of France and Germany.
Macron called a parliamentary election, making a risky gamble to try to reestablish his authority, with the first round on June 30.
Like Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz endured a painful night where his Social Democrats scored their worst result, losing support to the mainstream conservatives and hard right.
Political observers attribute the shift to the right to the rising cost of living, concerns about migration, the cost of the green transition, and the war in Ukraine.
How much clout the euro-skeptic nationalist parties will wield will depend on their ability to overcome their differences and work together.
Running Stories
WORLD
WORLD
Iran promotes hardliners as candidates
Iranian authorities have disqualified prominent moderates as candidates in the snap presidential election scheduled this month.
Five hardline candidates and one mid-ranking reformist look set to contest the election following the helicopter crash that claimed the life of Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s president.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (pictured), the current parliamentary Speaker, is seen by analysts as the leading hardline candidate.
The council disqualified Ali Larijani, Ghalibaf’s predecessor and Es’haq Jahangiri, a former reformist vice-president. Both were moderates who said they would seek to ease US sanctions.
Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator known for his opposition to engaging with Western powers, was approved. A staunch hardliner, he is expected to be a strong rival to Ghalibaf.
The economy remains the foremost challenge for the next president, with high inflation and a dramatically weakened national currency straining the nation.
Bubbling Under
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SOCIETY
SOCIETY
Law eyes deliveries and dangerous driving
A demand for fast food and package delivery has led to more motorcycle and moped drivers zipping in and out of traffic.
Officials in Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., are cracking down by issuing warning letters, seizing illegally registered or driven vehicles, and launching special street patrols.
Delivery companies have pledged to work with city officials to ensure all their drivers operate legally and safely.
Writing to DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber, Boston officials said an “alarming increase in the unlawful and dangerous operation of motorcycles, mopeds and motorized scooters” put drivers, other motorists and pedestrians in “imminent danger.”
Fourteen illegal mopeds and scooters were seized on one day last week in one Boston neighborhood alone. In New York City, authorities have seized 13,000 scooters and mopeds this year.
EDUCATION
EDUCATION
Concerns over Christian school-hours offer
Nonprofit organizations providing off-site Bible lessons to public school students during classroom hours have raised concerns.
Critics in Indiana worry the programs spend public school resources on religion, proselytize to students of other faiths and remove children from classes generally struggling with literacy.
Nondenominational LifeWise Academy programs supplement religious instruction. LifeWise said many parents want religious instruction to be part of their children’s education.
Public schools cannot promote religion under the First Amendment, but a 1952 Supreme Court ruling centered on New York schools cleared the way for programs like LifeWise.
Schools are seen to use public resources to schedule and get children to and from the programs. LifeWise said its staff and volunteers bus or drive students to program locations or supervise children walking to nearby sites.
LAW
LAW
Promise to remove bad reviews goes to court
Yelp can now sue ReviewVio for fraudulently advertising its ability to remove “bad" reviews from the business review website.
US District Judge William Alsup said Yelp could pursue trademark infringement and unfair competition claims against the reputation management company, which operates as Dandy.
Yelp said ReviewVio's ads, which include the Yelp logo, harmed its reputation by suggesting that businesses could pay for artificially inflated star ratings.
This allegedly undercut honest businesses that will not pay to remove negative reviews and undermined the usefulness of Yelp's website to consumers.
Yelp also said it lost ad revenue from businesses that paid for “review gating,” which the company prohibits, or incorrectly believed that Yelp endorsed the practice.
SCIENCE
SCIENCE
Why haven't aliens contacted us?
Questions have been raised about the absence of contact with extraterrestrials despite billions of galaxies.
One 2016 study estimates that humans are only likely to be alone in the Universe if the odds of civilization developing on a habitable planet are less than one in 10 billion trillion.
In the 1950s, physicist Enrico Fermi asked how humanity could balance the likelihood of life's existence with our lack of evidence. “Don't you ever wonder where everybody is?” he asked.
One research paper argues humanity might not be attractive enough for aliens, who are more likely to look for signs of greater technology and intelligence.
Dr. Gordon Gallup, a biopsychologist, argued aliens might be scared of visiting humans because of our endless wars, habitat destruction and desire for conquest.
The 'Great Filter' theory suggests we might have already missed them. Civilizations might have emerged in the past but didn’t survive.
Professor Walter said that even if there is intelligent life, it doesn't mean we can communicate. “Dolphins might be more intelligent than we are, but they live underwater. You're not going to communicate with a creature that's on a water world.”
OFFBEAT
OFFBEAT
Teacher’s part-liver donation life-saver
One Western New York family is celebrating after hearing their son has a perfect organ donor match.
Five-year-old Ezra Toczek suffered liver damage at birth. The boy has since dealt with ongoing health challenges. Doctors say he suffers from end-stage liver disease, meaning his liver is failing.
In January, Ezra and his mom, Karen, traveled to New York City, where doctors said he needed a liver transplant. He was placed on a transplant list. But the family went weeks without an update.
Carissa Fisher, Ezra's former preschool teacher, learned of his condition. She put in an application to become a living donor. After the required testing, she was told she was approved.
Fisher headed to Ezra's home with a stuffed animal, balloons and a special sign. Karen and Ezra were taken by surprise, particularly as Fisher hadn’t mentioned her donor application.
Both were overwhelmed with emotion. “It made me very happy to see them happy,” said Fisher. All are hoping the liver transplant will be scheduled for later this summer.
Otherweb Editorial Staff
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Angela PalmerContent Manager
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