USA - A Washington Post “On Parenting” article this week featured “experts” who advised parents it is never too early to start raising woke children. Natalie Jesionka at the Post shared some of the resources available to help parents raise children who will fit in with woke culture: You can enroll in a music class (virtually now) that develops understanding of gender and personhood. A drag queen story time will soon be a television show. And there are more and more children’s books that discuss intersectionality and broaden representation, plus flashcards and short videos that teach parent and toddler about anti-racism ideas.

UK - A project in Manchester is one of many across the UK aimed at elderly LGBTs. But with the world striving for an ever more inclusive society, is it wise to create communities hived off from everyone else? And is it even legal? Canal Street is the beating heart of Manchester’s gay scene, and has been for decades. Canal Street was probably the best place in the city for a night out, too, gay or straight. Live and let live, and all that. Not so today, it seems. Manchester city council has just backed “a first of a kind” £20-million development for older LGBT+ people to live in a“safe and vibrant” environment. Iain Scott, a 62 year-old gay man who lives in Manchester with his partner of some 40-years, runs an LGBT website in the city, focused on the Canal Street ‘gay village,’ and he is a supporter of the new initiative. “What we all know is that, politically and socially, the LGBT community has seen a major drive forward over the last 20 or 30 years,” he told RT.com. “And almost every week there’s evidence of some new initiative and I think housing fits in with that."

UK - Letting a Muslim mob dictate what’s taught in a UK school is a shocking capitulation that breeds intolerance and endangers teachers. Batley Grammar School’s decision to suspend a teacher who showed pupils an image of the Prophet Mohammed is an act of shameful cowardice. We cannot allow angry activists of any persuasion to determine the school curriculum.

USA - The current immigration surge along the US-Mexico border could be a whole lot worse — 42-times worse. That’s because a new survey of Latin American nations found that 42 million living in the 33 countries want in. Gallup said that 27% of all those living in Latin America and the Caribbean, 120 million people, want to leave. And, said the polling company, “Of those who want to leave their country permanently, 35% — or 42 million — said they want to go to the United States.” That would more than double the 40-million foreign-born immigrants in the US. In his “Chairman’s Blog,” Gallup chief Jim Clifton said, “In addition to finding a solution for the thousands of migrants currently at the border, let's include the bigger, harder question — what about all of those who would like to come? What is the message to them? What is the 10-year plan? 330 million US citizens are wondering. So are 42 million Latin Americans.”

ISRAEL - Already in trouble with Jordan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu escalated tensions with his country’s closest Arab ally on Friday by unilaterally rejecting its request to increase water supply to the drought-hit kingdom. Netanyahu’s decision – reportedly influenced by a souring of his personal relationship with Jordanian King Abdullah II – went against the security services recommendation to avoid risking historic water-sharing agreements critical to peace in the region. According to the Haaretz newspaper, Netanyahu did not “respond positively even though professionals in water matters and defense establishment officials recommended acceding to the request.” In accordance with the 1994 peace agreement between the two neighbours, Israel routinely supplies the kingdom with water it pumps out of the Jordan river. There has also been a tacit understanding between the countries that Amman could ask for – and would be granted – additional amounts during dry seasons.

GUATEMALA - Guatemalan volcano Pacaya, which has been active for two months, coated cars with ash in the nation’s capital and caused aircraft to be grounded at the main airport. The volcano, which lies 25 km (15.5 miles) from the capital, Guatemala City, has been active for more than 50 days, ejecting plumes of thick smoke and rocks. The eruption on Tuesday left ash on cars and sidewalks in the city, as authorities closed La Aurora International Airport, diverting a least one flight to neighboring El Salvador. Reuters reported that volcanic ash coated the entire surface of a plane on the tarmac. Guatemala’s national disaster management agency said that Pacaya was releasing ash up to 3,500 metres in the air. Officials said they were monitoring the lava flow and the ash fall above six villages.

EGYPT - The Ever Given cargo carrier which ran aground on the banks of the Suez Canal has moved for the first time in five days - as authorities today admitted 'human error' may be to blame for the blockage. Osama Rabie, Egypt's Suez Canal Authority chief, confirmed efforts to dislodge the container ship from the critical trade route had allowed for its stern and rudder to move, adding he could not predict when it would be refloated. Analysts say an estimated £290 million worth of trade is being held up every hour the ship remains wedged across the canal. The backlog of vessels could stress European ports and the international supply of containers, already strained by the coronavirus pandemic, according to IHS Markit, a business research group. It said 49 container ships were scheduled to pass through the canal in the week since the Ever Given became lodged. A prolonged closure of the crucial waterway would cause delays in the global shipment chain. It is particularly crucial for transporting oil. The closure could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Middle East.

USA - A few days ago a Muslim Syrian immigrant to the United States walked into a Jewish Kosher grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, and shot up the place. Ten people are dead. The shooter is in custody. Per Pete Williams of MSNBC, federal sources recently told him they see no evidence that the mass shooting was a terror attack or terrorism-related. The list of such statements is virtually endless. To the Times and most other corporate media outlets, it seems this is a mystery without any clues.

EGYPT - A giant container ship the length of four football pitches has become wedged across Egypt's Suez Canal, blocking one of the world's busiest trade routes. Dozens of vessels are stuck, waiting for rescue boats to free the 400m-long (1,312ft) ship, which was knocked off course by strong winds. Egypt has reopened the canal's older channel to divert some traffic until the grounded ship can move again. The blockage sent oil prices climbing on international markets. About 12% of global trade passes through the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea and provides the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe. Reuters, quoting local sources, says there are at least 30 ships blocked to the north of the Ever Given, and three to the south.

EGYPT - The stranded Ever Given mega-container ship in the Suez Canal is holding up an estimated $9.6 billion (£7 billion) of goods each day, according to shipping data. This works out at $400 million an hour in trade along the waterway which is a vital passageway between east and west. Data from shipping expert Lloyd's List values the canal's westbound traffic at roughly $5.1 billion a day, and eastbound daily traffic at around $4.5 billion. Despite efforts to free the ship, it could take weeks to remove experts say. According to Lloyd's List tracking data there are more than 160 vessels waiting at either end of the canal. These include 41 bulk carriers and 24 crude tankers. Along with oil, the sea traffic is largely consumer products such as clothing, furniture, manufacturing components and car parts.

USA - “I’m proposing $2,000 monthly payments throughout the pandemic and for 3 months after, because rent and bills are still due during this crisis and people are going hungry. It’s that basic.” — Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) May 11, 2020. Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat for Michigan, a member of the progressive “Squad,” is pushing a bill that would give everyone in the US, including undocumented immigrants, $2,000 a month during the coronavirus crisis followed by $1,000 a month until a year after the coronavirus pandemic ends.

USA - Voting mostly along party lines, the US Senate on Wednesday confirmed former Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be the nation’s assistant secretary of health. She is the first openly transgender federal official to win Senate confirmation. The final vote was 52-48. Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine joined all Democrats in supporting Levine. Levine had been serving as Pennsylvania’s top health official since 2017, and emerged as the public face of the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. She is expected to oversee Health and Human Services offices and programs across the US.

USA - At least five people have been killed in Alabama, as tornadoes continue to batter the southern US state. The deaths were in the small town of Oatchee in Calhoun County, the local emergency agency said, as the storm damaged houses and uprooted trees. The tornadoes later hit Chilton County and were nearing Shelby Country. "I urge all folks in the path of these tornadoes and storm systems to remain on high alert," Governor Kay Ivey said. "The day is not over yet." "DO NOT WAIT TO SEE THE TORNADO! If you are in its path, TAKE SHELTER NOW!" the National Weather Service tweeted. Social media users posted dramatic footage of the fast-moving tornadoes wreaking havoc in Alabama. In 2019, more than 20 people - including three children - died after two tornadoes caused extensive damage to buildings and roads in eastern Alabama.

USA - The Department of Education in California – where else? – has approved a 900-page Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum designed to “decolonize” America. The program aims to right the supposed wrongs of the imperial Christianity that swept the Americas clean of their indigenous religions. The curriculum’s core promise is that it will help root out Christianity, and the capitalism and racism that apparently came with it. To empower children as forces for ending such white colonialist hangovers, pupils are being instructed to pray in chants each day to Aztec gods that formerly sacrificed (and sometimes ate parts of) children and their parents. The curriculum instructs the pupils to invoke these gods to empower themselves as “social warriors”.

RUSSIA - Russia has threatened to block Twitter within 30 days unless the site acts to remove what the government refers to as 'banned content'. Vadim Subbotin, deputy head of watchdog Roskomnadzor, said on Tuesday that the ban would come into effect unless Twitter removed the content, which he said includes child porn and information on child suicide and drugs. 'Twitter is not reacting to our requests as they should. If the situation carries on then it will be blocked in a month without a court order,' Subbotin said. It comes a week after Subbotin announced that Twitter's internet speed would be slowed down unless it removed the offending content. Russia has also railed against social media sites for censoring state-controlled media such as RT, which have been branded propaganda sites by foreign governments. Back in January, Putin personally accused social media giants in January of 'controlling society' and 'restricting the right to freely express viewpoints.' The move against Twitter is part of ongoing efforts by the government to tighten control over social platforms.