Link Roundup May 2021

Oklahoma passes a law that can protect drivers who run over protesters

The state Senate passed the Republican-sponsored legislation 38-10 last week. The bill makes it a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and a $5,000 fine for anyone who obstructs a public street during the course of a protest, according to the legislation. House Bill 1674 also states that drivers cannot be held criminally or civilly liable for killing or injuring a protestor if they are "fleeing from a riot," and there is "reasonable belief" that they are in danger.

DisneyMustPay: authors form task force to fight for missing payments

But despite the books still being in print, Foster claimed that Disney was not paying him royalties for them and that he’d had to go public after the company ignored multiple queries from his agents, legal representatives and the SFWA. The latter claimed that Disney had argued that it had purchased the rights, but not the obligations of the contract.

Union's evidence in Amazon vote 'could be grounds for overturning election', U.S. Labor Board says

The RWDSU alleged that Amazon's agents unlawfully threatened employees with closure of the warehouse if they joined the union and that the company emailed a warning it would lay off 75% of the proposed bargaining unit because of the union.

Concerned father arrested while peacefully testifying against Arkansas trans health care ban

The father of a transgender teen was arrested while testifying against an anti-trans bill in the Arkansas House because their speech went 30 seconds over their allotted time, even though they said that far-right representatives of hate groups were allowed to talk for nearly an hour over their allotted times.

West Virginia transgender athlete bill signed by governor

Justice said earlier this week that he would “proudly” sign the bill despite warnings from some lawmakers that the NCAA could retaliate and decide not to hold college tournaments in the state.

Erdogan threatens to recognise killings of Native Americans as genocide in response to Armenia resolution

However, with the bill now passed, Mr Erdogan has threatened to respond by recognising US killings of Native Americans – saying the deaths of millions of indigenous people at the hands of European settlers should also be viewed as a genocide.

Apple is using Itch.io’s ‘offensive and sexualized’ games as a cudgel against Epic

Shortly before the Epic v. Apple trial, Epic Games made an interesting announcement: it would offer the indie game storefront Itch.io as an app on its own Epic Games Store. The Fortnite publisher was going to trial with the aim of making Apple offer competing app stores on its iPhone and iPad, so the move showed that Epic was willing to open up its own store in the same way.

After Last Year's Catastrophic Wildfire Season, California Braces for One Possibly Worse

Fuel moisture — the amount of water inside a living plant — "is the lowest that we've recorded at these sites since 2013," says Craig Clements, director of the Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center at San Jose State University. "It's indicative of very dangerous conditions coming into this summer."

Survivors Stuck in Limbo as PG&E Fire Victim Trust Pays Out $50 Million in Fees

A KQED investigation found that while they waited, a special Fire Victim Trust in charge of compensating survivors racked up $51 million in overhead costs last year. During that same period, the Trust disbursed just $7 million to fire victims – less than 0.1% of the $13.5 billion promised – according to an analysis of federal bankruptcy court filings, court transcripts and correspondence between staff of the Fire Victim Trust and the victims themselves.

Twitter censored tweets critical of India’s handling of the pandemic at its government’s request

he censored accounts include a sitting member of India’s Parliament, two filmmakers, an actor, and a West Bengal state minister.

Global Covid Cases Hit Weekly Record Despite Vaccinations

The global death toll is also resuming momentum. Fatalities have increased for the past month and were about 82,000 the week ended April 18, an average of almost 12,000 a day. That’s up from just over 60,000 in the week ended March 14, or about 8,600 a day, the most recent nadir.

India coronavirus: Can all adults get vaccinated in 2021?

Last year, the SII agreed to supply an initial 200 million doses to Covax - the WHO-backed vaccine sharing programme to ensure availability to low and middle income countries - 100 million each of the AstraZeneca and Novavax vaccines. The SII was expected to deliver the first 100 million doses between February and May - but Indian government data shows that it has so far delivered only 30 million (this includes 10 million set aside for India itself under Covax). The SII has also made bilateral commercial deals to supply more than 900 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, and 145 million doses of Novavax, according to UN data.

Global rights group accuses Israel of apartheid, persecution

In a sweeping, 213-page report, the New York-based Human Rights Watch joins a growing number of commentators and rights groups who view the conflict not primarily as a land dispute but as a single regime in which Palestinians — who make up roughly half the population of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza — are systematically denied basic rights granted to Jews.

Andrew Brown Jr. shot five times, once in back of head, according to family-backed autopsy

The Black man who died during an attempted arrest in North Carolina last week was shot five times, once in the back of the head, his family said Tuesday. Less than hour after an independent autopsy concluded that the man, Andrew Brown Jr., 42, was killed by a bullet in the back of his head, the FBI announced that it was opening a federal civil rights investigation.

Israeli strike destroys Gaza building with AP, other media

The building that was targeted also housed the offices of Qatari-run Al-Jazeera TV, as well as residential apartments. The Israeli military said Hamas was operating inside it, a standard explanation, and it accused the militant group of using journalists as human shields. But it provided no evidence to back up the claims. It also was not clear why the military took down an entire building filled with media offices and residential apartments. The military has carried out scores of pinpoint airstrikes, including in the current round of fighting, that targeted single floors and even single apartments.

McConnell privately assures GOP that Kyrsten Sinema will kill Biden’s tax hike: report

Biden has introduced a $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan that would be paid for with tax increases on corporations and a $1.8 trillion "American Families Plan" that would be funded with higher taxes on the wealthy and investors and increased IRS enforcement. Republicans are pushing a much smaller infrastructure counterproposal that would shift the tax burden from corporations to workers, and have loudly objected to the proposed tax increases. McConnell, however, does not seem worried about the hikes clearing the 50-50 Senate where a single Democrat can block any party-line vote.

Hundreds of Epidemiologists Expected Mask-Wearing in Public for at Least a Year

Just one-fifth of epidemiologists said it was safe for fully vaccinated people to socialize indoors without masks in a group of unlimited size. A majority said indoor gatherings should be limited to five or fewer households.