Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Iraq sees slight drop in new COVID-19 cases after days with more than 1,000

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Iraq sees slight drop in new COVID-19 cases after days with more than 1,000

Jun 9, 2020

The Iraqi Health Ministry reported 787 new COVID-19 cases today after days of recording more 1,000 infections daily. Still, the virus continues to spread rapidly in the country, prompting fears the situation will spiral out of control.

There were 1,115 cases Monday, 1,268 Sunday and 1,252 Saturday. On Friday, authorities registered more than 1,000 cases for the first time with 1,006 cases, making Friday, Saturday and Sunday all record-breaking days.

For comparison, Iraq reimposed a lockdown in the country late last month following days of registering only around 400 cases daily.

One reason for the jump in cases could be increased testing. The ministry said there were more than 10,000 samples collected today. There were some days last month where only around 2,500 samples were collected.

It is also possible that behavior by some among the public is responsible for the rise. The World Health Organization’s Iraq branch has noted a lack of adherence to health guidelines. also, protests are continuing in the country, as they are throughout the region, despite the virus.

Ali al-Bayati, a medical doctor and member of the quasi-governmental Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights, said there are several reasons for the increase in cases, including testing and economic reasons.

“The number of cases is increasing now, of course, because there is more testing,” Bayati told Al-Monitor.

Bayati also said some people are not following health guidelines. He said this is due to the poor economic situation in Iraq, where many have lost their income during the closures.

“It is characterized by economic status. There is a difficulty involved in staying home and leaving the main source of livelihood,” said Bayati. “There is a failure of the government to support those families.”

Bayati added that medical workers who show symptoms are not being given adequate opportunities to isolate and he criticized a prohibition by the Health Ministry on medical personnel talking to the media.

People are worried throughout the country, including in hot spots such as the capital, Baghdad, and Sulaimaniyah in the Kurdistan Region. The health minister for the Kurdistan Region has warned of a “catastrophe” amid the rising cases.

Iraq’s health care system has been hurt by years of sectarian violence following the US invasion in 2003 as well as the subsequent war with the Islamic State and its aftermath.



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Mekong Power Grab: Laos Beggars Downriver Neighbors

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Mekong Power Grab: Laos Beggars Downriver Neighbors

Laos has ambitious plans to become the “Battery of Southeast Asia” by building seven hydro-power dams on the Mekong River, and damming its tributaries, to generate and export electricity to its neighbors. But the mega-projects have displaced thousands of Lao citizens without bringing cheaper power. And dams are adding to the problems of farmers downstream in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos itself, who are suffering drought, a reduction in fish stocks, and from other environmental damage to the vital ecosystem.



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‘Cops’ Canceled Amid Nationwide Reckoning Over Police Violence

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‘Cops’ Canceled Amid Nationwide Reckoning Over Police Violence

Paramount Network has canceled “Cops,” the long-running show that followed real police officers on the job, amid nationwide protests over racism, police brutality and general alarm over systemic law enforcement abuses in the U.S.

The cinéma vérité-style show has been on the air since 1989, making it one of the longest-airing television shows outside broadcast news. 

″‘Cops’ is not on the Paramount Network and we don’t have any current or future plans for it to return,” a Paramount Network spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday. The controversial show had been on the Paramount Network (then known as Spike TV) since 2013, after a 25-season run on Fox.

Last week, the network said it was temporarily pulling “Cops” from its lineup, delaying this week’s start of the show’s 33rd season “out of respect for the families of George Floyd and others who have lost their lives,” a spokesperson said, citing the police killing of Floyd in Minneapolis last month. 

Now they’re pulling the plug altogether. The unscripted show has repeatedly come under fire for the one-sided perspective it offers on policing by embedding camera crews with cops as they pursue and arrest suspects, sometimes in humiliating fashion.

In 2004, a study of the show concluded it was racially skewed because it featured cops arresting Black and Latinx suspects for violent crimes at rates disproportionately higher than in reality. Last year, the podcast “Running From the Cops” came to similar conclusions.

The TV show that turned policing into entertainment would go on to face other serious criticisms. “Running From the Cops” also found that officers followed on the show would sometimes coerce subjects into signing filming releases and that the show’s producers let police departments have the final say on what aired, thus letting the police dictate how they were portrayed on screen. In some cases, the show found, police used aggressive tactics condemned by the Justice Department, protected under the premise of a show that shines a positive light on cops. 

Other investigations have found that officers on the show sometimes took direction from camera crews regarding how to handle arrests. 



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Steve Wyche discusses NFL’s response to ongoing protests I Tim and Sid – Sportsnet.ca

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Steve Wyche discusses NFL’s response to ongoing protests I Tim and Sid – Sportsnet.ca

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Actors offer action plan over drama school racism

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Actors offer action plan over drama school racism

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionShaniqua Okwok: “I really felt this weight on my shoulders”

A group of young BAME actors who have spoken out about racial discrimination they endured at a leading drama school have proposed their own action plan.

The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London has admitted it has been complicit in systemic racism.

Now, 240 former students have signed a blueprint letter which they hope could be a model for other drama schools.

They say “racism is real at Central and it scars the lives of its students [and] staff” as well as many alumni.

The group formed after being dismayed when the institution posted a message supporting Black Lives Matter last week.

‘Consistent and regular’ racism

Their letter says: “Words and actions of open and overt racism – primarily by staff towards students – have taken place on a consistent and regular basis without respite or consequence.”

Big names from theatre and TV, including Young Vic artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah and writer Russell T Davies have added their names to it.

Former students of other drama schools, including Rada, the Oxford School of Drama, Alra and Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, have also spoken out in recent days after similar messages.

Central’s acting principals have said they “personally commit to bringing about lasting and wide-ranging change”.

Slave comments

One former student has spoken about how she was told to accept she would play a slave in her career because she had “inherited this trauma”, and was silenced when she complained.

Others have said the school failed to take action about racism by directors and other students; that teachers regularly called black students by the wrong names; that they were stereotyped in the roles and comments they were given; and that there was a lack of diversity among staff and in the plays they studied.

Anna Crichlow, who graduated in 2016, said she didn’t work on a play by a black playwright until her second year, and none at all by a black British playwright over three years.

“I was told by a teacher that I would never work classically,” she told BBC News. “When I graduated, my first job was in a production of Pride & Prejudice. So it’s just simply not true.”

She added: “People are not getting the breadth of training that prepares them for this really quite diverse industry now. They’re not getting training that’s inclusive to them and their experiences.

“Everyone wants to help the school move on because there is great teaching going on, but it’s being detracted from because of this systemic issue and this racism which is running through the school’s centre.”

‘Very stupid’

Another black former student said Central is not racist, “just very stupid”.

The action plan calls for: A system to report racism and prejudice, and to investigate all complaints; more staff training; to restructure the curriculum; a more diverse workforce; and more people of colour on the board.

“We hope this is taken with the intention in which it’s being given,” said Chi-San Howard, who studied movement directing and teaching until 2016.

“We are never going to not read Shakespeare. We are never going to not enjoy the work of Pinter. They are brilliant. It’s just that there are other brilliant people as well who deserve to be heard and deserve to be seen.”

‘Positive step’

Crichlow added that the past week had revealed that people in other drama schools had been through similar experiences.

“These places are historical and we’re very lucky to have them here, but it does mean they’ve been operating in a similar way for a very long time,” she said.

“I certainly think the blueprint letter that we’ve been working on could be applied to lots of different schools and institutions. All of our hopes are for it to be a really positive step for everyone.”

The school’s principal Prof Gavin Henderson, who was due to retire at the end of term, has brought forward his retirement by three weeks to deal with a “personal, family matter”.

His acting replacements, Debbie Scully and Prof Ross Brown, said: “We have no way to fully understand the pain that many people will have gone through over the last week, and in the past.

“We are committed to forging a transparent course of action, and we will be reaching out to many of the people who have posted online, as well as meeting with current staff and students.

“We will learn from shared experiences and act upon them to effect transformational change.”

Follow us on Facebook or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. If you have a story suggestion email .



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AP Source: MLBPA counters MLB with proposal for 89-game season – Sportsnet.ca

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AP Source: MLBPA counters MLB with proposal for 89-game season – Sportsnet.ca

NEW YORK — Baseball players moved toward teams but remained far apart economically in their latest proposal for starting the pandemic-delayed season, adamant they receive full prorated salaries while offering to cut the regular season to 89 games.

The proposal by the players’ association, given to Major League Baseball electronically Tuesday evening without a negotiating session, was detailed to The Associated Press by a pair of people familiar with the negotiations. They spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcements were authorized.

MLB did not appear to view the proposal as productive but made no comment. MLB has said that absent an agreement it could go ahead with a shorter schedule of perhaps 50 games.

Players made their move one day after management cut its proposed schedule from 82 games to 76. The union proposed the regular season start July 10 and end Oct. 11 — the day before a possible Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

The union accepted MLB’s plan to expand the post-season from 10 teams to as many as 16. However, if management announces a schedule without an agreement, it would not be able to alter the established post-season format.

The players’ plan would have the World Series end in mid-to-late November, and players said they would accept MLB’s proposal to have the ability to shift post-season games to neutral sites.

Teams say they fear a second wave of the coronavirus and do not want to extend the World Series past October. Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem told the union a 76-game schedule could not be staged unless players agreed to a deal by Wednesday.

Players continue to insist on full prorated salaries as specified in the March 26 agreement between the perpetually feuding sides. The deal gave players service time in the event no games are played this year along with a $170 million salary advance.

MLB says that because the season likely would be played in empty ballparks without fans, the absence of gate-related revenue would lead to a loss of $640,000 for each additional game played, a figure the union questions. MLB’s proposal would guarantee players 50% of prorated salaries and another 20% if the post-season is completed, and teams would fund a $50 million pool for players’ post-season shares even if no or few tickets or sold. MLB also would forgive 20% of the salary advance.

Players had been set to earn about $4 billion in salaries this year before opening day was pushed back from March 26 due to the new coronavirus, and the union’s initial economic proposal on May 31 called for a 114-game schedule running through October and salaries totalling $2.8 billion. The shorter schedule in the new plan lowered the amount to about $2.2 billion.

MLB’s offer Monday was for just under $1.3 billion in salaries, but only about $1 billion would be guaranteed. The rest is contingent on the post-season’s completion.

Mike Trout and Gerrit Cole, the highest-paid players with $36 million salaries, would get $19,777,778 each under the union’s plan. MLB’s offer would guarantee each $8,723,967 with the chance to increase to $12,190,633 apiece if the post-season is completed.

A player at the $563,500 minimum would earn $309,577 under the union plan and up to $244,492 from MLB’s offer. Those at $1 million — about half those on current active rosters — would get $549,383 under the union proposal and up to $389,496 in the MLB formula.

A 50-game schedule with prorated salaries would total just over $1.2 billion and leave Cole and Trout at $11,111,111 each.

Players proposed that $5 million from joint management-union funds be marked toward supporting non-union minor leaguers and social causes. Players would agree to participate in events such as an off-season All-Star Game and/or Home Run Derby and to broadcast enhancements such as wearing microphones during games.

The union did not accept management’s offer to suspend free-agent compensation this off-season, which would eliminate the qualifying offers that cause some teams to decline to pursue players.

Players accepted MLB’s proposal that high-risk players could opt out of this season while receiving salary and service time, but that other players who opt out would not receive salary or service time.



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Gigi Hadid and More Models Auction Their Clothes to Benefit NAACP

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Gigi Hadid and More Models Auction Their Clothes to Benefit NAACP


Gigi Hadid, Irina Shayk and More Models Auction Their Clothes for ‘British Vogue’ to Benefit NAACP | Entertainment Tonight


































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Matt Dumba on forming Hockey Diversity Alliance I Tim and Sid – Sportsnet.ca

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Matt Dumba on forming Hockey Diversity Alliance I Tim and Sid – Sportsnet.ca

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Vietnam Arrests Khmer Krom Family Over Land Dispute Clash

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Vietnam Arrests Khmer Krom Family Over Land Dispute Clash

Vietnamese authorities in Kien Giang province have arrested a Khmer Krom minority family of six for their involvement in a violent confrontation during a forced eviction last month, relatives told RFA Tuesday.

After their arrest on Sunday, the six were questioned for several hours before five of them were released, while the last member of the family remains in custody.

Witnesses told RFA’s Vietnamese Service on May 11 that 10 farmers were injured May 5, as the police in Kien Giang province’s Phu My district confiscated digging vehicles, with police using batons and tear gas, and the Khmer Krom farmers hitting back with rods and throwing mud.

Video posted on Facebook documented the violence at Giang Thanh commune, which broke out when the police attempted to remove the digger belonging to the family of local Khmer Krom farmer Huynh Van Dat as he and other farmers were planting crops.

The government claims the land is part of a conservation area, but the Khmer Krom, ethnic Khmer native to what is now southern Vietnam, say they have been farming the paddies since the 1970s.

RFA could not reach the Vietnamese Embassy in Phnom Penh for comment Tuesday. There has been no comment on the case from the government in Hanoi.

Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Kuy Kuong also could not be reached for comment but he previously said that Cambodia can not interfere into Vietnamese affairs.

Huynh Thi Hau, one of the six Khmer Krom who were arrested on June 7, told RFA’s Khmer service that she and four others were released after being questioned about their involvement in the land dispute last month. She said that 50 riot police came to her house armed with electric batons, handcuffing her family and taking them to the police station.

Huynh was at the time carrying her baby, she said, but despite her pleas she too was handcuffed.

“They handcuffed my husband while he was lying on the ground. I was holding a baby only 1 ½ months old, but they pushed me to the ground and handcuffed me,” she said.

She said that her brother Huynh Dang Diep is still being detained.

According to Huynh Thi Hau, authorities accused them of revolting and encroaching on a government tract of land of about 3,000 hectares (11.6 square miles).

She said that police have not informed the family of her brother’s whereabouts. She said that her brother did not encroach on the land, but was hired to prepare rice paddies for cultivation by the other villagers.

Sonn Chang, a villager who hired Huynh Dang Diep, told RFA that the Huynh family was poor and did not have a claim on the land.

“[Huynh Dang Diep,] the villager who was arrested, did not have land. We hired him. The government should resolve the case with us instead,” he said.

Following the arrests, many villagers went to the police station to demand the release of the family, but authorities did not confirm their whereabouts.

Cambodian Rights groups respond

Several rights groups outside of Vietnam are engaging Vietnamese authorities to petition for Huynh’s release.

“We are planning to release petitions to the Vietnamese government to release the villager,” Son Chhum Chuon, secretary general of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom for Human Rights and Development Association, told RFA.

The Khmer Kampuchea Krom Federation, which is based in California, also called on the Vietnamese government to release Huynh.

The Federation’s Information Department Director Son Yoeng Ratana said he is shocked the Vietnamese government has failed to resolve land issue for the villagers and instead arrested them.

“[The situation] is very unjust for the Khmer Krom people,” he said.

“They are suffering because they lost their land and now Vietnamese authorities arrested them,” he said.

He said that the arrest is a tactic to scare other villagers from demanding the land back.

The Khmer Krom face serious restrictions of freedom of expression, assembly, association, information, and movement in Vietnam, according to U.S.-based Human Rights Watch.

The Vietnamese government has banned Khmer Krom human rights publications and tightly controls the practice of Theravada Buddhism by the minority group, which sees the religion as a foundation of their distinct culture and ethnic identity.

Reported by RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.



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COAS Gen Bajwa meets Ashraf Ghani, Abdullah Abdullah to discuss Afghan peace process

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COAS Gen Bajwa meets Ashraf Ghani, Abdullah Abdullah to discuss Afghan peace process

‘Both sides discussed current developments in Afghan Peace Process and necessary steps to be undertaken to facilitate an Afghan led and Afghan owned peace process,’ DG ISPR said in a statement. ISPR/Handout via Geo.tv

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa discussed the Afghan peace process in a meeting with President Ashraf Ghani and High Council for National Reconciliation Chairperson Dr Abdullah Abdullah during his trip to Kabul, the military’s media wing said Tuesday.

In the statement, Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar said the army chief held one-on-one meetings with Ghani and Abdullah.

Gen Bajwa was accompanied by Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Affairs, Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq, Maj Gen Iftikhar added.

“Both sides discussed current developments in Afghan Peace Process and necessary steps to be undertaken to facilitate an Afghan led and Afghan owned peace process.

“Issues related to facilitation of trade and connectivity also came under discussion. Both sides agreed that a dignified and time-bound return of Afghan Refugees from Pakistan is key towards normalcy,” the statement added.

The Afghan president expressed his appreciation for PM Imran for opening the Torkham and Chaman borders and “allowing Afghan transit goods and facilitating stranded Afghans to return to Afghanistan by land and air routes”.

“The President was also appreciative of the role being played by Pakistan for Afghan Peace Process,” the statement noted.



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