How much have you missed?

Here’s a recap of this week. Just click the story to read on!

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Politics

• Trump said that he does not believe that white supremacism is a growing issue after a white nationalist carried out the mass shooting at a New Zealand mosque.
• Trump is being criticized for bashing the late Senator John McCain and complaining that he was not thanked for granting Senator McCain a state funeral.
• The Trump administration is expanding the “Migration Protection Protocols” policy, which will send asylum-seekers back to Mexico while their asylum cases are processed in the US.
• A new report by the ACLU alleges that ICE has been wrongly detainining hundreds of U.S. citizens whom they have misidentified as undocumented immigrants.
• A judge has ruled that the Trump administration’s transgender military ban cannot go into effect yet, which contradicts a memo that the administration previously released saying that they had the all-clear.
• A Kentucky judge has blocked a fetal heartbeat bill, that would ban abortions when a heartbeat is detected in the fetus. This action will (temporarily) keep the state’s one abortion clinic open.
• Bernie Sanders has become the first 2020 presidential campaign to promise to offset its carbon emissions from traveling across the country.

Pop culture

• Sam Smith came out as nonbinary, saying, “I am not male or female.”
• Instagram has launched in-app checkout on shoppable posts from over 20 brands.
• Apple has announced their new AirPods, which come with a wireless charging case, will accommodate longer talk time, and are Siri compatible.
• YouTube star Lilly Singh is going to replace Carson Daly to become the only woman (and first Indian-Canadian) late-night host on broadcast TV.
• The first full trailer for Toy Story 4 was (finally) released.
• As a result of the college admissions scandal, Lori Laughlin has been dropped by Hallmark ( as well as Fuller House)and her daughter, influencer Olivia Jade, has been dropped by Sephora.
• Stranger Things released the season 3 trailer and revealed that season 3 is set to premiere on July 4th.
• After audio from 2015 surfaced of YouTuber Shane Dawson describing a sexual encounter with his cat, Cheeto, Shane released statements saying that it was taken out of context and had been a fake sketch idea. Days later, Shane revealed he had gotten engaged to longtime boyfriend Ryland Adams, which is being criticized online as a PR stunt to distract from the cat fiasco.

Humanity

• After a tragic shooting in a New Zealand mosque killed 49 people and injured even more, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that military-style semi-automatic weapons will be banned nationally and a buyback scheme will be introduced.
• Teens around the world walked out of class to protest lack of action on climate change last week.
• The “bomb cyclone” that hit the midwest has caused at least three deaths in Nebraska and Iowa from flooding, and has caused over $1 billion in flood damage.
• Mozambique is facing severe flooding from Tropical Cyclone Idai. At least 300 people have been declared dead as a result.
• The US has denied visas to dozens of women from Africa and the Middle East who were trying to attend the UN Women’s Conference. Worth noting: The US is not supposed to restrict people or non-government organizations from visiting the UN, per a treaty from 1946.

Science says...

• Recent iceberg breaks at the Grey Glacier in Chile’s Patagonia are causing scientists to worry that climate change is causing ruptures like these to increase in frequency.
• A new drug has been approved by the FDA for use in postpartum depression, although the drug is currently set to be over $30,000.
• As global warming causes glaciers to melt from Mount Everest, the bodies of mountaineers who died while scaling the mountain are being uncovered.
• A whale that washed up dead in the Philippines had eaten 88 pounds of plastic and was vomiting up blood just before dying.
• Scientists have figured out how to make objects levitate using light.

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