Huge protests are tearing Hong Kong — and this family — apart
This weekend saw a stunning show of resistance in the streets of Hong Kong. According to protest organizers, around two million people took to the streets Sunday to demonstrate against a controversial extradition bill. For reference, that’s more than a quarter of the city’s population.
The proposed bill would allow extraditions from Hong Kong to mainland China, which lacks human rights protections. Hong Kong’s leader, handpicked by Beijing, says that the law is necessary to close loopholes in its legal system.
But here’s the thing: the bill has largely been viewed as an end to the “one country, two systems” principle that has allowed the city to maintain a separate legal system from China.
Au, a 21-year-old student, wants to protest the bill. Au’s father wants police to shoot the protesters. Read Rosalind Adams’ excellent report on the biggest protests in the history of Hong Kong, and how they’re tearing a family apart.
An Instagram post that promised to give food to Sudanese children got over a million likes. It’s fake.
As the crisis in Sudan intensifies, you may have seen people talking about the country’s protests on social media. One Instagram account, called the “Sudanese Meal Project,” promised to donate a meal to Sudanese children for every share of its posts.
The account’s stories went viral and got thousands of shares — and the page quickly grew to hundreds of thousands of followers. The problem is: the whole page is fake.
A spokesperson for Instagram told us the page has since been removed.
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Egypt’s first democratically elected president has died after fainting in a courtroom. Mohamed Morsi, 67, was elected in 2012 in the aftermath of the Arab Spring and was ousted during a coup a year later. Egyptian state media said Morsi fainted during a session of an ongoing trial, in which he was a defendant.
Two trans women were killed in the same Maryland neighborhood. Zoe Spears, 23, was declared dead at the scene by police in Fairmount Heights, Maryland. She had been shot several times, just blocks from where another trans woman was killed in March.
Alex Jones handed over thousands of emails to Sandy Hook parents. Some of them contained child porn. Jones gave several emails to the families of Sandy Hook school shooting victims who have filed a lawsuit against the conspiracy theorist. When consultants began to review the files, they found 12 emails that contained child porn.
Taylor Swift dropped the video for her new single, “You Need to Calm Down,” and it is packed end to end with celebrity cameos. We listed all the cameos for you right here. Also, we went through and collected all the Easter eggs and hidden details for you. You’re welcome.
“Amazon’s Choice” does not necessarily mean a product is good
If you’re scrolling through pages and pages of similar products on Amazon, trying to find the right one, the “Amazon’s Choice” label may give you a sense of relief.
The label seems to imply that listings with the designation — even more authoritative than a simple “Best-Selling” badge — are a curated selection highlighted for shoppers looking for similar products.
Here’s some disappointing news: “Amazon’s Choice” is a label automatically awarded to listings by an algorithm based on customer reviews, price, and whether the product is in stock. And as a BuzzFeed News review of dozens of products shows, those choices Amazon’s software makes aren’t always reliable.
Diplo wants everyone to stop calling him “Daddy”
Medium–famous DJ and noted nuisance Diplo shared a sweet Father’s Day message about his children and becoming a dad.
Then, in true internet form, Diplo made a special request for those who come at him with their thirst all day:
I won’t tell you what happened next, but I’ll tell you it’s proof that we stray further from God’s light every day.