- 99 people have died as a result of a volcanic eruption in Guatemala, and 200 others remain missing in the wake of rain showers and mudslides following the eruption. Volcán de Fuego is one of Central America’s most active volcanoes. [NPR]
- Baltimore ex-police sergeant Wayne Earl Jenkins was sentenced to 25 years in prison this week for committing a number of crimes while heading the city’s Gun Trace Task Force. Among Jenkins’s crimes are at least ten robberies of Baltimore citizens, planting drugs on innocent individuals, and re-selling confiscated narcotics stolen from suspects on a daily basis. All but one of the eight officers on the Task Force were also indicted, with four pleading guilty. [BBC]
- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced a temporary ceasefire with the Taliban on Thursday, set to last until June 20. The ceasefire coincides with the holy month of Ramadan, and the holiday Eid al-Fitr. [Al Jazeera]
- Following a meeting with Kim Kardashian West, President Trump this week commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, a first-time, nonviolent drug offender who had been sentenced to life in prison 21 years ago on charges of conspiracy to possess cocaine and attempted possession of cocaine. Johnson was released from prison on Wednesday. This is the sixth act of clemency by the Trump administration since the President took office. [CNN]
- A South Carolina buffet manager, Bobby Paul Edwards, pleaded guilty this week to enslaving a mentally disabled black man for five years. From 2009 to 2014, Edwards forced the victim to work over 100 hours a week without pay, using intimidation, isolation, and physical abuse to ensure compliance with his demands. Edwards beat the victim with pots and pans as well as a belt and burned him with hot tongs until authorities removed the individual from the premises following reports of abuse. Edwards faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and additional restitution to the victim. [New York Times; DOJ]
- A group of diplomats in China returned to the United States this week after falling ill with an unexplained malady that resembles a traumatic brain injury. U.S. personnel in Cuba have previously fallen prey to the same illness, and there is some suspicion that the issue is related to a sonic weapon, as all the individuals so far affected have reported hearing strange noises before the onset of their symptoms. [Reuters]
FACT OF THE WEEK: Between 2006 and 2017, the Library of Congress archived every single public tweet. Starting in 2018, the Library decided to archive tweets on a “very selective basis” instead. [Library of Congress]
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