The National Park Service issued a warning that Alaska's Denali National Park has seen "troubling trends" with inexperienced climbers taking unnecessary risks while trying to scale the mountain's summit.
The big picture: May and June are the busiest months for climbing Denali, which is located in southern Alaska and is North America's highest mountain peak, at 20,310 feet above sea level, per AP.
Rev. William Barber II of the Poor People’s Campaign is joining a growing movement to press Walmart for employee representation on the company’s board, Axios reports.
Driving the news: Barber, a leading figure on the Christian left, tells Axios that in remarks to shareholders this week, he'll tie the fate of workers who fell ill or died from COVID-19 to the company's sick leave policies.
President Biden is considering the return of an immigration policy that allows the U.S. government to more quickly deport families who illegally cross the border from Mexico, people familiar with the internal discussions tell Axios' Stef Kight.
Why it matters: Resuming the practice of so-called expedited removals for families could be a divisive move among some Democrats. It would shift the administration toward a more deterrence-based approach, used to different degrees by the past four presidents and embraced especially by the Trump administration.
A handful of Donald Trump campaign alumni have formed a new group to try to unseat the 10 Republican House members who crossed party lines to vote to impeach the former president earlier this year, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Trump's faithful are starting to build the infrastructure to keep the GOP in thrall to the 45th president.
Ninety members of Congress have served in the military — 42 in the Army — and least 14 more have family members with military experience, Axios reports from an analysis of bios by Quorum.
President Biden is considering naming two Kennedys to represent him abroad: Caroline Kennedy is in line to be U.S. ambassador to Australia, and Vicki Kennedy is on his radar for Western Europe, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.
Why it matters: With JFK's daughter and the widow of Sen. Ted Kennedy, Biden would be reaching outside of his pool of core campaign donors. He'd also be putting a spotlight back on America's most famous political dynasty — and honoring a late friend and mentor.
Flashback: Biden, who shares the family's Irish Catholic heritage, delivered a eulogy in 2009 for Ted, with whom he served in the Senate for 36 years.
He has described Kennedy as a "big brother," and felt a debt of gratitude for Kennedy's defense of his honor amid the plagiarism controversy in Biden's 1988 presidential bid.
Details: Vicki, an attorney at Greenberg Traurig and a gun control advocate, got to know Biden through her husband.
Caroline served as President Obama’s second ambassador to Japan and is well versed in the issues in the Asia-Pacific region, where the AP first reported she could be heading.
The White House declined to comment. People close to the process stressed that nothing is final until the White House sends a formal announcement.
Driving the news: Biden was scheduled to make several formal offers to candidates over the holiday weekend, ahead of announcing his first slate of ambassadors as soon as this week.
On Friday, he announced Rufus Gifford as his choice to be chief of protocol at the State Department.
Administration officials have been vigorous in vetting the first group of political ambassadors, hoping to avoid negative headlines.
The intrigue: In addition to political allies like former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel and L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, Biden will likely reward longtime friends and aides, in lieu of several donors who raised millions of dollars over Zoom from his campaign.
Biden is planning to nominate Cindy McCain as his envoy to the World Food Program in Rome.
Michael Carpenter, managing director of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement and a former career foreign service officer, is being considered for a European position.
Some donors may make the cut:
Cynthia Telles, a clinical professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA, is being considered for Costa Rica. She and her husband, Joe Waz, hosted a fundraiser for Biden in 2019 along with Hollywood luminaries Jeffrey Katzenberg and Rob Reiner.
Scott Miller, a former UBS wealth manager and LGBTQ activist, has been discussed for Switzerland. He and his husband, Tim Gill, are prominent philanthropists for LGBTQ causes.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Sunday called for investigations into the deaths of anti-government protesters in Cali, Colombia, following violent clashes between protesters and the military.
The state of play: Colombia recently entered its second month of anti-government protests, which were sparked by proposed tax reform but then widened into a social movement focused on poverty and inequality in the country.
President Biden on Sunday said that he plans to make human rights abuses a priority in his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva next month, CNN reports.
Why it matters: Biden, who said in March that he believes Vladimir Putin is a "killer," has pledged to take a hard-line approach against the Kremlin.
Key Senate Republicans in talks with the White House to negotiate down the administration's trillion-dollar infrastructure package indicated this weekend that they are still looking for a deal.
Why it matters: The White House recently proposed a $1.7 trillion counteroffer to GOP calls to cut spending — below the original $2 trillion price tag, but still too high for Republican negotiators.
President Biden on Sunday remembered his oldest son, Beau, who died from brain cancer six years ago.
The big picture: In remarks at Veterans Memorial Park in Delaware to commemorate Memorial Day, the president reflected on his son's service, saying that "if he were here, he would be here as well paying his respects to all those who gave so much for our country."
More than 10,000 Ethiopians rallied on Sunday to protest U.S. interference in Ethiopia's domestic affairs, after the U.S. imposed aid restrictions on the country due to the continued conflict in the Tigray, Reuters reports.
Why it matters: The rally was organized by the authorities and proved larger than most pro-government rallies. It was also a rare display of public criticism of the U.S., Reuters writes.
A year ago, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was struggling to contain COVID, the state's economy was in tatters, and cases and deaths were rising.
Now his stature has risen as he heads into his reelection race next year — and he's a top-tier Republican for 2024 if former President Trump doesn't run, AP's Bobby Caina Calvan writes.
Pope Francis plans to meet with leaders of Lebanon's Christian community on Tuesday for a "day of reflection on the worrying situation in the country," Reuters reports.
The state of play: Lebanon is still reeling from the massive explosion that shook Beirut last year, deepening the country's economic crisis and sparking a political shakeup.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) used the Memorial Day weekend to again call on her Senate colleagues to bring her military sexual assault bill to a vote.
Why it matters: The bipartisan legislation — which would reform the procedural process for how the military handles sexual assaults and other crimes — has yet to receive a vote despite having enough co-sponsors to defeat a filibuster, the Hill reports.
At least two were killed, and 20 to 25 others injured, when three people got out of an SUV carrying assault rifles and handguns and started "shooting indiscriminately into the crowd" outside a concert in Miami early Sunday, according to a police statement and the Miami Herald.
Why it matters: It's the second shooting during Memorial Day Weekend in Miami this year — seven people were shot, with one of them dying, in the city on Friday night. The killings come as the country has experienced a spate of mass gun violence during 2021.
Tens of thousands of people rallied in over 200 cities and towns across Brazil Saturday to protest President Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed some 460,000 people in the country, per the Guardian.
The big picture: Bolsonaro has frequently downplayed the pandemic despite soaring cases, with hospitals overstretched. Saturday's protests, organized by leftist groups, remained peaceful in most cities, but police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators in Recife, northeast Brazil, Reuters notes.
Manufacturer Stetson announced Saturday it's pulling its products from a store in Nashville, Tennessee, which advertised the sale of "not vaccinated" Star of David patches for $5.
Driving the news: Protesters rallied outside Hatwrks Saturday, displaying signs with messages including "The Holocaust is not a marketing op."
Houston Methodist Hospital is being sued by 117 employees who allege its policy requiring all staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 is unlawful, the Washington Post reported Saturday.
Why it matters: The lawsuit and similar legal challenges "could test whether employers can require employee vaccinations as the country navigates out of a pandemic that has killed nearly 600,000 Americans," WashPost notes.
An Indigenous Canadian group announced plans Saturday to identify the remains of 215 children, some as young as three, found buried at the site of a former residential school, per CBC News.
The big picture: The discovery of the Tk’emlups te Secwépemc First Nation children's remains has renewed calls for the Roman Catholic Church to apologize for its role in Canada's policy of the 19th and 20th centuries that saw Indigenous children removed from families to attend state-funded residential schools.
