Today's news round-up

Good News

• Blind high school pole vaulter wins medal in Texas
• US commandos kill senior IS leader in Syria raid
• 2 Women Moved to Write Stories Uncover a Surprisingly Personal One
• Baltimore officer who beat suspect during arrest gets jail sentence: newspaper

Bad News

• IS group enters Syrian town of Palmyra, nears ancient ruins
• Neil LaBute’s Anti-Censorship Play Is Censored, With Chilling ‘Charlie Hebdo’ Echoes

Animal headline of the day

Beaver takes shopping trip inside Alaska hardware store

Recent news round-up

Good News

• Texas bill to hinder gay marriage dies in statehouse
• Laramie City Council passes state's first LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance
• Luxembourg PM first EU leader to marry same-sex partner
• Morocco to allow abortion in certain cases A first step.
• Wisconsin's Feingold to run for US Senate
• Principal Fired After Racist Comments at Graduation Caught on Video
• Missouri House speaker resigning after intern text messages
• Bullying in U.S. schools falls to record low, report says It's still horribly high. And they should be tracking kids below 12 also. Bullying starts much younger.

Bad News

• Official: Boko Haram retakes Nigerian border town
• IS seizes government HQ in Iraq's Ramadi
• IS kills Syria civilians in advance on ancient Palmyra
• Russia targets 'undesirable' foreign organisations
• Toys R Us says it will close FAO Schwarz store in July
• Eloping Indian couple beaten to death, cremated in "honor killing"
• Four Pakistani Trans Women 'Mysteriously' Murdered in One Week

Animal headline of the day

Skunk, groundhog blamed for vandalism at Maine cemetery

Today's news round-up

Good News

• Vienna traffic signals go red and green, gay and straight
• Virginia School District Bans Discrimination Against Transgender Students

Bad News

• U.S. Has No Process For Accepting Transgender Passports, State Department Confirms
• Third secular blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh

Living with wild hogs X

Consumer culture gone wild: Boar visits Hong Kong mall

Recent news round-up

Good News

• West Point to Posthumously Honor Black Cadet Who Was Ostracized
• Sweden rejects Assange appeal to drop arrest warrant
• U.S. supporter of Islamic State gets four-and-a-half-years in prison
• Oregon governor signs bill expanding gun background checks
• Intersex people must choose own gender: European rights watchdog

Bad News

• Trauma, stigma, face girls, women rescued from Boko Haram
• Blogger, 16, exposes limits on free speech in Singapore Avoid Singapore.