Upside-down American flag reappears as a right-wing protest symbol after Trump’s guilty verdict
CHICAGO (AP) — Right-wing commentators and supporters of former President Donald Trump have flooded social media with images of upside-down American flags in protest of his historic guilty verdict. At least one such flag was spotted Friday outside Trump Tower in New York City as the Republican ex-president spoke about the trial. Some elected officials including Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia have been sharing images of inverted flags online. The inverted American flag gained wide attention recently after revelations it was flown outside the Alexandria, Virginia, home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters.
Federal officials are investigating another close call between planes at Reagan National Airport
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials are looking into yet another close call between planes, this one at Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. An American Airlines plane had to cancel its takeoff to avoid colliding with another plane that was landing on an intersecting runway. The Federal Aviation Administration says it’s investigating the incident Wednesday. An air traffic controller cancelled the takeoff clearance for the American Airlines plane after a smaller plane was cleared to land on the intersecting runway. It’s the second close call at Reagan National Airport in the past six weeks.
Elon Musk sees another big advisory firm come out against his multibillion dollar pay package
DETROIT (AP) — A second shareholder advisory firm has come out against reinstating a pay package for Tesla CEO Elon Musk that was voided earlier this year by a Delaware judge. ISS is joining Glass Lewis in recommending against the package, recently valued at $44.9 billion. Shareholders of the electric vehicle company are voting on the package, with the results tabulated at Tesla’s June 13 annual meeting. ISS said Musk’s stock-based package was outsized when approved by shareholders in 2018, and it failed to accomplish board objectives. Last week the other prominent proxy advisory firm, Glass Lewis, also recommended against the package.
Nicole Brown Simpson’s sisters want you to remember how she lived, not how she died
The sisters of Nicole Brown Simpson hope a new documentary on her life will explore how she lived, and not just how she died. The documentary comes 30 years after Nicole and friend Ron Goldman were killed outside her Los Angeles home and weeks after the death of ex-husband O.J. Simpson. The Brown sisters fear that Nicole’s life has gotten lost in the chaos of Simpson’s 1995 murder trial. They remember her as a warm, quirky, vibrant sister who dreamed of being a loving wife and mother. “The Life & Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson” airs this weekend.
Tesla recalling more than 125,000 vehicles to fix seat belt warning system
Tesla is recalling more than 125,000 vehicles to fix a seat belt warning system that may increase the risk of an injury in a collision. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that the recall includes certain 2012-2024 Model S, 2015-2024 Model X, 2017-2023 Model 3, and 2020-2023 Model Y vehicles. Tesla plans to start deploying an over-the-air software update to the affected vehicles free of charge in June.
Google makes fixes to AI-generated search summaries after outlandish answers went viral
Google said Friday it has made “more than a dozen technical improvements” to its artificial intelligence systems after its retooled search engine was found spitting out erroneous information. The tech company unleashed a makeover of its search engine in mid-May that frequently provides AI-generated summaries on top of search results. Soon after, social media users began sharing screenshots of its most outlandish answers. Google has largely defended its AI overviews feature, saying it is typically accurate and was tested extensively beforehand. But the head of Google’s search business acknowledged in a blog post Friday that there were some odd, inaccurate or unhelpful responses.
Doomsday plot: Idaho jury convicts Chad Daybell of killing wife and girlfriend’s 2 children
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho jury has convicted Chad Daybell of murder in the 2019 deaths of his wife and his girlfriend’s two youngest children. Thursday’s verdict marks the end of a yearslong investigation that included bizarre claims of zombie children, apocalyptic prophesies and illicit affairs. Now the jury will be tasked with deciding if Daybell should be sentenced to death for the crimes. Prosecutors claimed that Daybell and his girlfriend, Lori Vallow Daybell, conspired to kill Tammy Daybell and the children because they wanted to obtain money from survivor benefits and life insurance. Lori Vallow Daybell was convicted in the killings last year and received a life sentence.
Doncic’s 36 points spur Mavericks to NBA Finals with 124-103 toppling of Timberwolves in Game 5
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Luka Doncic had a 20-point first quarter on his way to 36 points for his high this postseason, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-103 to breeze through the Western Conference finals in five games. Kyrie Irving also scored 36 points for the Mavericks. They built a 29-point halftime lead on 61% shooting to deflate the once-energized crowd and went up by 36 in the third quarter. The Mavs have a week to rest before the NBA Finals begin in Boston. Anthony Edwards scored 28 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 12 rebounds for the Wolves.
Bruhat Soma wins the National Spelling Bee after a slow night concludes with a sudden tiebreaker
OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Bruhat Soma was unbeatable before he arrived at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and neither the dictionary, nor his competitors, nor a lightning-round tiebreaker challenged him on the way to victory. Bruhat spelled 29 words correctly in the tiebreaker, beating Faizan Zaki by nine, to win the title on Thursday night. He receives a trophy and more than $50,000 in cash and prizes. The 12-year-old seventh-grader from Tampa, Florida, had won three consecutive bees before arriving at a convention center outside Washington for the most prestigious spelling competition in the English language.
ABBA get a prestigious Swedish knighthood for their pop career that started at Eurovision
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Members of ABBA, the Swedish pop quartet that triumphed at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, have received one of the most prestigious knighthoods in Sweden. It will be handed out by King Carl XVI Gustaf for the first time in almost 50 years. On Friday, they were made Commander of the First Class of the Order of the Vasa for outstanding efforts in Swedish and international music. The Eurovision contest turned ABBA into a pop juggernaut, by far the most successful band to win the pan-continental music contest. Their melodic disco pop has sold hundreds of millions of records worldwide. The Swedish monarch also will hand out orders to two 2023 Nobel Prize winners.
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