Weekly Review
Mississippi authorities began investigating a suspicious car accident that resulted in the death of a black man who was an advocate for the Confederate flag. A former Baltimore police officer was told by a venue owner in Glen Burnie, Maryland, that he couldn’t perform in blackface at a fundraiser for the officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died in police custody. Police in Texas released a video of the arrest of Sandra Bland, a black woman who later hanged herself in jail, showing an officer pointing a stun gun at Bland and saying, “I will light you up.” Read more...
A FAMOUS PLAY ILLUSTRATED – “THE LYON’S MAIL.”
Mississippi authorities began investigating a suspicious car accident that resulted in the death of a black man who was an advocate for the Confederate flag.[1] A former Baltimore police officer was told by a venue owner in Glen Burnie, Maryland, that he couldn’t perform in blackface at a fundraiser for the officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died in police custody.[2] Police in Texas released a video of the arrest of Sandra Bland, a black woman who later hanged herself in jail, showing an officer pointing a stun gun at Bland and saying, “I will light you up.”[3] Protesters were pepper-sprayed by police at the Black Lives Matter conference in Cleveland, and a new poll suggested that race relations in the United States are at their worst since the early 1990s.[4][5] The FAA announced it would investigate an 18-year-old Connecticut man who posted a YouTube video showing a homemade drone firing a handgun.[6] NORAD revealed that four Russian Tu-95 bombers intercepted 40 miles off the California coast on the Fourth of July had delivered a message reading, “Good morning, American pilots. We are here to greet you on your Fourth of July Independence Day.”[7][8] A Russian businessman pledged $100 million over the next ten years to the search for extraterrestrial life, and NASA announced the discovery of an exoplanet dubbed “Earth 2.0,” which is 60 percent larger than Earth.[9][10] European drug regulators approved the world’s first malaria vaccine; researchers revealed that a French teenager’s HIV infection has remained in remission since she stopped taking medication 11 years ago; and the Electronic Sports League, the world’s largest e-sports league, announced they would begin randomly drug-testing their players. “The integrity of our sport,” said the ESL’s head of communications, “always will be our biggest concern.” [11][12][13][14]
Boko Haram militants bombed two bus stations in Gombe, Nigeria, killing 29 people. [15] Female suicide bombers disguised as beggars killed at least 20 people at a market in Maroua, Cameroon.[16] A suicide bomber in Turkey killed 32 youth activists who were planning on building a library and playground in a Syrian town damaged by the Islamic State, and it was reported that Islamic State militants were strapping remote-controlled explosives to chickens in Fallujah, Iraq. “Twisted minds,” said one anti-Islamic State fighter, “enjoy dreaming up bizarre ways to kill people.”[17][18][19] A delivery driver in Luton, England, was charged with plotting to run over a U.S. serviceman and then stab him to death in the street.[20] An Alabama man opened fire during an evening showing of the film Trainwreck in Lafayette, Louisiana, killing two people and injured nine others before committing suicide. “You could talk with him a few minutes, and you would know he had a high IQ,” said an acquaintance, “but there was a lot missing.”[21][22][23] In the United Kingdom, two pages of the oldest Koran ever discovered were found inside a more recent copy of the book.[24]
A leopard gained access to a private school in India, a baby seal was found in an English field surrounded by 30 cows, and a pit bull was shot in Milwaukee after being mistaken for a lion.[25][26][27] Two animal-rights activists were arrested for releasing about 5,740 mink from farms across the country, and a U.K.-based company announced plans to fight poaching by attaching body cameras to rhinos.[28][29] Hackers breached Ashley Madison, a website that facilitates extramarital relationships, compromising the private information of millions of users. “This could be a boon,” said one lawyer, “for divorce attorneys.”[30][31] Microsoft announced new plans to fight the spread of so-called revenge porn, and a Twitter spokesperson conceded that a “Frat House”–themed office party “was in poor taste at best.”[32][33] San Francisco’s department of public works painted walls with urine-repellent paint, the Bureau of Land Management alleged that a recent 73-acre Idaho wildfire was caused by a cyclist burning his toilet paper, and a Norwegian golf course struggled to discover the identity of a “mystery pooper” who targets the course by night. “He has,” said the groundskeeper, “a couple of favorite holes.”[34][35][36]
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