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We don’t need no education We don’t need no thought control No dark sarcasm in the classroom Teacher, leave them kids alone Hey! Teacher! Leave them kids alone!    – Pink FloydAnd so it appears the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (see here) was never properly rescinded. The US State Department released the following statement on May 28th:Under President Trump’s leadership, the US State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields. We will also revise visa criteria to…

CNN  —  First, these parrots learned to open trash cans to forage for food. Now, they’ve taken it a step further – and have figured out how to turn on water fountains for a sip along with their meal. These are Australia’s iconic sulphur-crested cockatoos – white birds with a yellow tuft on their heads, known for their loud, grating screech. But they’re also incredibly intelligent, with large brains and nimble feet that have allowed them to pick up new habits in urban environments. The cockatoos in western Sydney, in particular, caught scientists’ attention with their latest trick of drinking…

OMAHA BEACH, France (AP) — The D-Day generation, smaller in number than ever, is back on the beaches of France where so much blood was spilled 81 years ago. World War II veterans, now mostly centenarians, have returned with the same message they fought for then: Freedom is worth defending.In what they acknowledge may be one of their last hurrahs, a group of nearly two dozen veterans who served in Europe and the Pacific is commemorating the fallen and getting rock-star treatment this week in Normandy — the first patch of mainland France that Allied forces liberated with the June…

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Hajj is the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca that is required once in a lifetime of every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able to do it. It is a spiritual highlight for those fortunate enough to go, but it is also grueling and stressful.Pilgrims conduct their rituals outdoors, among huge crowds, walking up to 25 kilometers (15 miles) a day. There is often no privacy or personal space. Languages, routines and surroundings can feel unfamiliar, and the emotional impact of doing the Hajj can also take its toll.Here are some ways to be well…

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — As I prepared to take a photograph of an anti-American mural outside of the former U.S. Embassy in Iran’s capital recently, a passerby called out to me. “Take any picture you like, they’ll remove all of them later,” the man said. It was a telling moment as the murals have long been a feature of the U.S. Embassy compound, which has been held and run by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a cultural center since the 1979 student-led hostage crisis there destroyed ties between Iran and the United States. Today, Iran is talking to America about…

Berlin CNN  —  Friedrich Merz, the newly inaugurated German chancellor, will take a seat in the Oval Office on Thursday for his first in-person meeting with US President Donald Trump. The meeting comes as a series of high-stakes international issues once again come to the fore. Trump has issued another round of warnings to the European Union on tariffs; the war in Ukraine appears no closer to ending; and pressure is mounting on Israel over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza. Since taking office, Merz has been on a tour of European capitals, meeting with France’s Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s Keir…

Hong Kong CNN  —  Dangling from a tree for nearly seven hours, 11-year-old Prajesh Dhimant Patel was barely conscious — only the faint, slow movement of his feet, clad in bright orange shoes, hinted at a trace of life. Amid the debris of crushed boulders unleashed by a devastating earthquake, a tour guide was descending the mountain when, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of those bright shoes. It was that flash of orange that led the guide to Patel, and ultimately, saved the schoolboy’s life. It’s been 10 years since the tragic morning of June 5,…

CNN  —  For months, President Donald Trump has suggested his personal relationship with China’s Xi Jinping will be what unlocks the world’s most consequential trade dispute. Yet he couldn’t get Xi on the telephone for weeks. The long period of silence between the leaders will — at least in the White House’s telling — come to an end this week. A string of US officials have all but confirmed a call between Trump and Xi is imminent and could occur as early as Thursday, even though Beijing remains tight-lipped. “I am afraid we don’t have comments for you right now,”…

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — As Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, approaches, cattle markets across Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, are experiencing peak trading activity.Just outside the capital, Jakarta, the Jonggol Cattle Market is bustling with hundreds of cattle traders serving buyers looking for sacrificial animals. Sales at this market have increased since last month as the Muslim community prepares for the celebration. This year, Eid al-Adha will fall on Friday.Nina Herlina, 54, was a rarity among male cattle traders in a market known for its dirt, dust and animal waste. Nina Herlina pets a goat at…

MEXICO CITY (AP) — In his campaign for Mexico’s Supreme Court, Hugo Aguilar sent a simple message: He would be the one to finally give Indigenous Mexicans a voice at one of the highest levels of government.“It’s our turn as Indigenous people … to make decisions in this country,” he said in the lead up to Sunday’s first judicial elections in Mexican history.Now, the 52-year-old Aguilar, a lawyer from the Mixtec people in Mexico’s southern Oaxaca state, will be the first Indigenous Supreme Court justice in nearly 170 years in the Latin American nation, according to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.…