Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann was acquitted of lying to the FBI, in the first trial of special counsel John Durham's investigation. The verdict is a major defeat for Durham and his Justice Department prosecutors, who have spent three years looking for wrongdoing in the Trump-Russia probe.

The Ukrainian prosecutor's office said it has uncovered a "few thousand" cases of war crimes in the eastern Donbas region. Kyiv's top prosecutor also said it has identified over 600 Russian war suspects and started prosecuting around 80 of them. During a news conference in The Hague, Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said the list of war crimes suspects "includes top military, politicians and propaganda agents of Russia." Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia have joined an international investigation team in Ukraine dedicated to finding information related to war crimes. The International Criminal Court has deployed dozens of investigators, forensic experts and support personnel to Ukraine to aid in these efforts. "We should collect and protect everything in the right way. It should be acceptable evidence in any court," Venediktova said.

Two Russian soldiers have been sentenced to 11 years and six months in jail for shelling Ukrainian villages, a court in central Ukraine has ruled. Russians Alexander Bobykin and Alexander Ivanov pleaded guilty to the war crimes last week. The two men acknowledged that they had fired at positions in the Kharkiv region from Russia. According to prosecutors, the shelling destroyed an educational facility in Derhachi, but left no casualties. "The guilt of Bobykin and Ivanov has been proven in full," Judge Evhen Bolybok said. Bobykin and Ivanov were described as an artillery driver and gunner respectively. They were detained after crossing the Russian-Ukrainian border.

Russian troops now control "around half" of the critical city of Sievierodonetsk, according to Oleksander Stryuk, the head of the city's military administration. "Half of the city has been captured by the Russians and fierce street fighting is under way," Stryuk told the AP news agency. "The situation is very serious and the city is essentially being destroyed ruthlessly block by block." Stryuk said Ukrainian forces are still defending the city, which is key for Russia's ambitions in the eastern Donbas region. "The Ukrainian military continues to resist this frenzied push and aggression by Russian forces," he said.

Literally a clickbait, guys, don't worry, it was just an exhibition of the destroyed remains of the "world's second army" that opened in Kyiv and a bunch of other cities in Ukraine. So I decided to make a small tour for you.

New poll spells trouble for Michigan Republicans peddling conspiracy theories and opposing abortion rights


Republicans could be in trouble in Michigan because they are out of step with voters on abortion, former President Donald Trump, and conspiracy theories about the election, according to a recent poll on statewide races and Roe v. Wade.

In an EPIC-MRA poll of 600 likely voters between May 11 and 17, 63% of voters said they disagree with the Supreme Court’s draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that legalized abortion.

Only 26% of voters said they support the draft decision.

Many Republican candidates, including virtually all of those running for governor, are running on a platform of opposing all forms of abortion, a position that is very unpopular in Michigan.

Of those surveyed, 57% identify as pro-choice, and 33% are opposed to abortion rights. An additional 10% are undecided.

Read more: https://www.metrotimes.com/news/new-poll-spells-trouble-for-michigan-republicans-peddling-conspiracy-theories-and-opposing-abortion-rights-30141712

Warren Mayor Jim Fouts mimicked a person with disabilities in a phone call with a telemarketer, according to the source of a newly released audio recording.

“I want trip now,” Fouts allegedly tells the telemarketer, speaking in a stilted voice. “I got letter. It say I get trip now.”

The source of the audio recording said Fouts made the prank phone call during a staff meeting in a conference room at city hall sometime between 2013 and 2015. By mocking a person with disabilities, Fouts was trying to get his staff to laugh, the source said.

“How much are taxes gonna be? I got no money,” says the voice in the recording, purported to be Fouts.

In the phone call, he claimed his wife is a retired janitor and their home is in foreclosure.

Read more: https://www.metrotimes.com/news/audio-mayor-fouts-allegedly-mocks-person-with-disabilities-in-latest-leaked-recording-30158418

Taiwan’s defence ministry said that 30 Chinese military aircraft, two-thirds of them fighter jets, entered the southwestern part of its air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday and that it had scrambled its own air force and deployed air defence missile systems in response.

The incursion was the biggest since January when Beijing sent 39 aircraft into the ADIZ. Earlier this month, it sent 18 warplanes into the area.

Beijing claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to take control of the island.

In recent months, the US has accused China of ratcheting up tensions across the Taiwan Strait, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken singling out aircraft incursions as an example of “increasingly provocative rhetoric and activity”.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-sends-30-planes-into-taiwan-air-defence-zone/ar-AAXUqYi

Russia and China are ahead of the US in developing and testing hypersonic missile technology, especially when it comes to building wind tunnels. CNN's Kristin Fisher has the details.