New York Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman, for instance, sternly warned us that “standardized testing is a pillar of systemic racism.” Advocates for student debt relief like the ACLU want us to know that “student debt is a racial justice issue.” Climate activists, who historically have talked about their issues in universal terms, have increasingly described their movement through anti-racist language, arguing that it benefits minorities most to battle climate change....

Approximately 10 people were taken into custody Monday evening over a protest against the city’s coronavirus vaccine mandate, according to the New York Post. The situation began as a protest but later escalated after members of the group bought tickets and then went into the AMC Empire 25 theater located in Times Square. The group objected to a New York City rule in which children between the ages of 5 and 11 are required to present proof of having had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to attend indoor public events, per the New York Health website....

The organization is being sued by current and former mixed martial arts fighters , according to ESPN. MORE: Astonishing UFC photos | CM Punk admits he may fall flat on face in UFC The suit alleges the UFC is forcing out rivals and limiting fighter earnings. Middleweight Cung Le and former fighters Jon Fitch and Nathan Quarry are named as plaintiffs. “They (the UFC) control our likeness,” Le, the only fighter currently under contract with the UFC to be listed as a plaintiff, told ESPN....

Gates, coming off a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances, caught three passes for 34 yards on San Diego’s opening drive Monday night against the Steelers. MORE: Best photos from NFL Week 5 | Gates could tip scales for Chargers against Steelers With his third catch of the game, a 12-yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers, Gates joined Tony Gonzalez as the only tight ends in NFL history with 100 touchdown receptions....

I asked my mother about her everyday life-what was her school day like, who were her friends, was there enough to eat during World War I? I asked how she met my dad and about their difficult early years as immigrants in New York City. My mother’s memories tumbled out and the tape rolled on. Encouraged by this quest, I invited my mother and her cousin Trude, who grew up with her in Germany, to tea on a Sunday afternoon....

During a CNN town hall on Tuesday night, when asked his view on favoring student loan forgiveness of $50,000 per borrower which progressives have been calling for, he replied: “I will not make that happen.” Instead, he reiterated his support for forgiving $10,000 of debt, a figure which he had touted on the campaign trail. He said that money would be better spent on early childhood education and free community colleges....

“It took us 50 years to overturn Roe vs Wade,” Graham tweeted. “We worked hard, won elections, and put conservatives on the court. 5 days after losing at Supreme Court, Democrats want to blow up the Senate!” The senator was referring to Donald Trump’s three successful justice nominations that expanded the Court’s conservative majority. His multiple tweets on Thursday also alluded to President Joe Biden’s willingness to get an exception to the Senate filibuster rule in an effort to preserve abortion rights after Roe was overturned by the Supreme Court last week....

No kidding, blacks will say. Whites, too, may think this sounds vaguely familiar–and it made them uncomfortable the last time they heard it, too. America, Hacker argues, is still a segregated nation, as it was in 1944, when Swedish scholar Gunnar Myrdal’s classic “An American Dilemma” argued that blacks could not escape the caste condition into which they were born. And as it was in 1835, when French visitor Alexis de Tocqueville observed that whites and blacks were “two foreign communities....

Suq al-Shuyukh is not much of a haven. As loyalist tanks and artillery pressed toward the town last week, the hospital ran out of medicine, and its filthy corridors were littered with bloodstained sheets and gurneys. About 20 patients were suffering from cholera - the victims of impure water supplies. “When serious battle injuries come in, we send them to the Americans,” said Dr. Anwar al-Hadawi, member of a resistance group known as the Young Democratic Organization....

Good? Now watch the viral video become a song thanks to AutoTune the News on YouTube. This is the internet at its finest. I expect this will become part of pregame hype music everywhere. Or at least at his school.

DANIELLE SCHOOVAERTS BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

Former Rams quarterback Vince Ferragamo, former Cowboys tight end Billy Joe Dupree and former Buccaneers running back Tony Davis are leading a class-action group of about 6,000 retired players. The “Madden” games included classic teams from the past, but the players’ names weren’t used, part of a strategy by the company to avoid paying the retired players a licensing fee. It wasn’t hard to figure out that a jersey number and a profile of a certain player (position, skill set, skin tone, height, years in the league) represented a specific person who played on a paricular team....

A stunning 2016-17 campaign sees Jazira end a six-year wait for the league title. Ten Cate can be proud of his work for The Pride of Abu Dhabi having taken over in December 2015 with the club battling to avoid relegation. Benzema must be sold this summer as Real Madrid get out of jail again In what’s been a miraculous revolution, the Dutchman, who recently turned down the opportunity to coach the Netherlands national team, has now delivered a second trophy during his spell....

The crash is the best thing that has happened to Arafat so far this year. Before the accident, he was beginning to seem irrelevant. The Mideast peace talks were going on without his direct participation. Compared with the polished, media-wise Palestinian delegates at the talks, Arafat looked like a man from another age-“a talkative, old-style freedom fighter from sometime in the ’60s,” says a diplomat in Tunis, where the Palestine Liberation Organization is based....

Areas across Western Siberia, such as Novosibirsk—Russia’s third most populous city—have seen temperatures in the range of 30-35C, The Siberian Times reported last week. Regions in the Arctic Circle have recorded temperatures in the mid-20s during what experts have described as a remarkable May heatwave. These temperatures stand in stark contrast to what locals might expect on a typical May day. According to Climate-Data.org, the average monthly temperatures are 10....

Kevin Flannery, the director of Oceanworld Aquarium in Dingle, Co. Kerry, told the Irish Independent the animal may have been carried across the Atlantic Ocean before reaching the rocks on Valentia Island. “I’d say what happened is he fell asleep on an iceberg and drifted off and then he was gone too far, out into the mid-Atlantic or somewhere like that down off Greenland possibly,” he said. “That is usually what happens… they fall asleep on an iceberg and get carried off from the Arctic....

Thanks to Jeff Gordon, he never won another one. Gordon is 43 now and has been chasing a fifth championship for 13 years. Will he ever get it? Statically, the odds are against him. Gordon, who turns 44 in August, likely will end his illustrious career still chasing that elusive fifth title. Why? Because it is rare for a driver to win a championship past age 40. Gordon is NASCAR’s third-oldest NASCAR star....

Cook’s brother, James Cook, was drafted by the Bills during the 2022 NFL offseason. Like his older brother, James was a second-round pick and is hoping to become a weapon for Buffalo in the same manner that Dalvin is for Minnesota. The younger Cook feels that he is well-prepared to enter the NFL. That is thanks in part to his strong relationship with Dalvin, who has helped him prepare to make the leap from college football to the NFL....

Fast food restaurants open on New Year’s Eve 2019 include: Arby’sBaskin-RobbinsBen & Jerry’sBlimpieBurger KingCarl’s Jr. ChipotleDairy QueenDomino’s PizzaJack in the BoxJimmy John’sLittle CeasarsMcDonald’sPanda ExpressPapa John’s PizzaPizza HutPopeye’sRed RobinSubwayTaco BellWendy’sWhite Castle Baskin-Robbins New Year’s Eve Hours and Deal Baskin-Robbins is giving away single scoops of ice cream for $1.70 or two pre-packaged quarts for $7.99-$9.99, depending on location, on December 31. Baskin-Robbins may close early on New Year’s Eve so check your local store’s holiday hours....