Top Stories This Week
Irving tweaks Duke with Blazers jersey reveal
Thursday, May 12th, 2022
Senator Jasper Irving (IL), the only remaining opponent for Republican presumptive nominee Alan Duke (OK) had some fun at his opponent's expense today, revealing a Portland Trail Blazers jersey underneath his suitcoat in a speech in Portland today. Irving, speaking to a gathering of mixed College and Young Republicans at Portland State University, said that unlike Duke, whose remarks about Portland women (characterizing them as having "bad manners" and dressing like "trollops") have resulted in several of his rallies in the city being protested, he liked Portland.
"In fact, I even decided to pick up a souvenir while I'm out here." he said, unbuttoning his jacket to reveal a Blazers jersey underneath. The stunt was met with receptive laughter and applause by the audience. Irving continued the rest of his speech with the jersey visible, and took selfies with several students where the jersey was clearly visible. Duke's campaign did not respond when asked to comment on this story.
John Boyega announced as next Doctor Who
Sunday, May 8th, 2022
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) announced on Monday that John Boyega had been cast as the next actor to play the titular character on the long-running sci-fi series
Doctor Who. Boyega, who is most well-known for playing the former stormtrooper Finn in the
Star Wars sequel trilogy, will be the first black actor to portray the series' lead in its 59 year-history.
"I'm incredibly excited to take the T.A.R.D.I.S. out for a spin," Boyega said, speaking of the Doctor's iconic spaceship, shaped like a 1960s British police box, "I hope I can do the fans proud."
Boyega will take over the role from current series lead Hayley Atwell, who will helm the role for one last television special airing in October. At 30, Boyega will be the youngest series lead since Russell Tovey, who portrayed the Doctor's eleventh incarnation from 2010 to 2013.
Son of military coup leader wins Philippines presidential election
Monday, May 9th, 2022
Senator Paulo Zumel, whose father Gregorio Zumel served as head of the military junta that briefly overthrew the country's civilian government in 1998, was elected President of the Philippines on Monday. While the official results have not yet been certified, projections indicate that Zumel won with roughly 50 percent of the vote in a field of eight candidates. Zumel's campaign was noted for its revisionist interpretations both of the military junta that his father participated in as well as the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, who was overthrown in a nonviolent revolution in 1986. Members of his campaign also were accused of spreading misinformation over the junta's human rights abuses and role in the death of President Joseph Barrica (whose daughter Renata now serves as Secretary-General of the United Nations). The elder Zumel died shortly after being granted compassionate release from prison in 2005 following a terminal cancer diagnosis.
Presidents in the Philippines serve a six-year, non-renewable term. Zumel is expected to take over from outgoing president James Cayetano on June 30th.
Report recommends new police force for Jerusalem
Wednesday, May 11th, 2022
A report requested by the United Nations (UN) special rapporteur for the Holy City of Jerusalem has recommended the creation of a new police force responsible for enforcing the city-state's laws in most of Jerusalem. A panel, made up of several former jurists and recognized experts on policing reported to Pieter Joost, the UN special rapporteur for the Holy City, that the Swiss Guards, who currently are responsible for security in Jerusalem, retain responsibility for maintaining the safety of "sites of religious and/or political significance" while the rest of their policing duties be turned over to a force comprised of Jerusalem residents.
The report was compiled after several high-profile incidents involving the Guards, with the report saying the Swiss unit's "lack of fluency in the most-commonly spoken languages [Arabic and Hebrew] in the city-state" and "training as a military and protective service...with very little emphasis put on skills or tactics required of a policing body" for the incidents. The report recommends that officers for this new police force be "required to be domiciled in Jerusalem...not under military obligation to either the State of Israel or State of Palestine" and fluent in Arabic or Hebrew (preferably both). The report also recommends that policing power remain a shared responsibility between the Swiss Guards, law enforcement in Israel and Palestine and the proposed new agency, with both Israel and Palestine naming joint commissioners to oversee the agency.