| Leading 'defund the police' advocate says law enforcement needs to 'get out of our lives' Posted: 11 Jun 2020 10:14 AM PDT  "When push comes to shove, the police are showing us their true colors," said Alex Vitale on the Yahoo News podcast "Skullduggery." "They are violence workers who are often not really interested in the well-being of huge parts of the population."
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| US Air Force pilot becomes the first woman to fly the F-35A stealth fighter into combat Posted: 11 Jun 2020 03:02 PM PDT  "Being the first female, it's a pretty big honor," Capt. Emily Thompson, call sign "Banzai," said of the historic flight.
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| New virus cases raise fears in Chinese capital, markets closed Posted: 12 Jun 2020 06:10 AM PDT  Beijing closed two markets on Friday and delayed the return of primary school students after three fresh coronavirus cases emerged in the capital -- the first after two months of no infections in the city. The majority of cases in recent months have been overseas nationals tested as they return home. The two latest patients are employees of the China Meat Research Centre, city officials said at a daily press conference.
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| Amid pandemic, scores of US Catholic schools face closure Posted: 11 Jun 2020 07:01 AM PDT  Catholic schools have faced tough times for years, but the pace of closures is accelerating dramatically amid economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, sparking heartbreak and anger in scores of affected communities. "It's not a pretty picture right now," said Sister Dale McDonald, public policy director of the National Catholic Educational Association, which says about 100 schools have announced in recent weeks that they won't reopen this fall. Most of the closures are occurring at the elementary level, but also on the list are a number of venerable and beloved high schools including some that produced some famous alumni.
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| Stacey Abrams Repeatedly Shuts Down Meghan McCain on ‘The View’ Posted: 11 Jun 2020 09:35 AM PDT  On Monday, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) went on The View and promptly schooled Meghan McCain on the real meaning of "defund the police." This morning, it was Stacey Abrams' turn. Abrams, who was promoting her latest book Our Time Is Now, spoke out against the voting disaster this week in her home state of Georgia. After Abrams blamed the Republican secretary of state for showing a "deliberate indifference to the needs of Georgia voters," McCain tried to spin the situation on the ground in a different way."There's a lot of finger pointing going on, and you seem to be implying it was Georgia's secretary of state who was targeting communities of color," McCain said. "But most of the counties that had issues this week were run by Democrats. Do you think we should be quick to blame Republicans when most of the problems like consolidated polling locations and older poll workers canceling over health concerns were a result of the coronavirus?" "So I want to decouple a couple of things," Abrams began. She calmly explained to McCain that in the state of Georgia, the secretary of state is in charge of elections, something she knows well from running for governor against former secretary of state Brian Kemp, who refused to recuse himself during his own election. "We allow counties to do the direct implementation, but it's the responsibility of the secretary of state to make sure they know how to do it and that they have the resources to get it done." Abrams went on to call out the "false narrative that the secretary of state has pushed out this is only happening because of Democratic leadership," telling McCain, "This affected every single part of our state, and the reality is your access to democracy shouldn't depend on your county of residence." She added: "Fundamentally we deserve to have elections that work for everyone." Michael Moore Warns Trump Will Use Coronavirus to Try to Postpone 2020 ElectionLater in the show, when it was McCain's turn to ask Abrams another question, she brought up recent comments she made suggesting that the United States is in the "early stages" of an authoritarian regime and comparing the Trump administration to Erdoğan's Turkish regime—comments made on Marc Maron's WTF podcast, of all places.Given that Erdoğan is a "horrific, murderous dictator," McCain wanted to know, "Do you really think it's fair to call the United States no better than Turkey?""I didn't call it no better than Turkey," Abrams shot back. "I said that we're on the path to populist authoritarianism." After explaining that Erdoğan was a democratically elected president who "over time diminished the utility of the courts by packing it with people who supported him, he eliminated the voices of those who were supposed to be the independent guardrails on democracy and he used that power to call for militarization of their public institutions," Abrams said, "We are seeing evidence of that in the United States.""Now I'm not comparing apples to oranges, but I'm saying they are all fruit of the same poisonous tree," Abrams continued. "And we need to take steps now to ensure that our presidency is not a gateway to the types of authoritarian regimes we've seen in Turkey, that we've seen pop up in Hungary, what we're seeing in India, and what Jair Bolsonaro is trying to do in Brazil.""We have to acknowledge the authoritarian nature of Donald Trump," Abrams concluded. "And we've got to nip it in the bud if we want democracy to continue here and if we want to continue to be the moral leader abroad." There wasn't much McCain could say to that. Kamala Harris Schools Meghan McCain on 'Defund the Police'Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Seattle protesters take over city blocks to create police-free 'autonomous zone' Posted: 11 Jun 2020 05:25 PM PDT  For three days, the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or Chaz, has offered 'a snippet of a reality the people can have'Hundreds of protesters have taken over several blocks of Seattle and transformed it into the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or "Chaz", helping to amplify nationwide protests while offering a real-world example of what a community can look like without police.For three days, protesters have filled several blocks and at least part of a park in the artsy Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, after police abandoned their east precinct, following dangerous clashes between protesters and law enforcement."I think what we're seeing in Chaz is just a snippet of a reality that the people can have," said Dae Shik Kim Jr, 28, one of the many organizers at the site. "I think what it's doing is exposing the unnecessary need of an over-policed state."The space has both a protest and street fair vibe, with a small garden, medic station, smoking area, and a "No Cop Co-op", where people can get supplies and food at no cost. There's also a trio of shrine-like areas filled with candles, flowers and images of George Floyd and many others who have been killed by police.But in a tweet, Donald Trump described the protesters as "Domestic Terrorists" who "have taken over Seattle, run by Radical Left Democrats, of course. LAW & ORDER!"In another tweet addressing the Seattle mayor, Jenny Durkan, and the Washington governor, Jay Inslee, he told them to "take back your city NOW… If you don't do it, I will. This is not a game," adding: "These ugly Anarchists must be stopped IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!"Inslee responded with his own tweet: "A man who is totally incapable of governing should stay out of Washington state's business."Durkan pushed back against Trump's tweets during a press conference on Thursday, saying the story he is trying to tell about domestic terrorists and a radical agenda was "simply not true". "The threat to invade Seattle, to divide and incite violence in our city, is not only unwelcome, it would be illegal," she said.Kim said he saw a silver lining to the president's tweets, as they could force Seattle leaders to decide whether they are going to side with Trump or with the community."In a lot of ways they have been trying to pacify the movement, and undercut the efforts of the organizers, but they've been unsuccessfully doing that," he said.For days the area has been filled with all manner of speeches, concerts and movie nights, including 13th, the Ava DuVernay documentary about racial inequality and the criminal justice system.Throughout the space are images and signs claiming this space for the people. "You are now entering free Cap Hill," reads one sign at the edge of the zone in Capitol Hill, which has long had a leading role in the city's political and social movements. Across the main road in the encampment are three words written in large white block letters: "Black Lives Matter."Protesters have described the site as a safe and peaceful place, where the vast majority of people wear masks to protect each other against coronavirus and offer whatever skills or supplies they have. On Wednesday, people could be seen handing out masks, hand sanitizers, snacks and water.A variety of demands have been raised during the course of the occupation, but the main three involve defunding the police, using that money to invest in community health and services, and dropping criminal charges against protesters.Shaun Scott, a Seattle writer and activist, said he saw some parallels between what was happening in Seattle and the Occupy movement, calling them "kindred spirits in a lot of ways"."But the movement for police abolition in Seattle right now has differentiated itself by presenting three very clear and actionable demands that the city can take action on in a pretty short period of time," he said.Lisa McCallister, 30, a case worker in Seattle who has attended the protests, described Chaz as "amazing"."It's the retaking of a space that was covered in violence for no reason," she said. "They were teargassing and flash-banging at 12.30 at night for hours. And then to kind of completely retake this space with peace and love."
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| Even if Derek Chauvin is found guilty of murdering George Floyd, he's still eligible to receive a $1.5 million pension Posted: 12 Jun 2020 07:21 AM PDT  Laws in 22 states prevent police officers from receiving pensions if they commit any felony related to their work. Minnesota has no such law.
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| EU finally accepts there will be no extension to Brexit transition period Posted: 12 Jun 2020 07:00 AM PDT  There will not be an extension to the Brexit transition period, the European Commission said on Friday, before warning Britain it must now get ready to police the border in the Irish Sea. Michael Gove told Maros Sefcovic, a commission vice-president, that Britain would not ask for a delay to the period beyond the end of the year in a meeting of the joint committee on the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster "couldn't be clearer" in his formal notice to the commission, Mr Sefcovic told reporters in Brussels, "he explained this was the promise that was given to the British citizens in the electoral campaign". "[He] was very clear, unequivocal on the fact that the UK is not going to seek the extension and because this was the last joint committee before the deadline expires we take this decision as a definitive one," said Mr Sefcovic. "Therefore, we are pleading for acceleration of work on all fronts." "We have informed the EU [on Friday] that we will not extend the Transition Period. The moment for extension has now passed," Mr Gove said. The EU has always said it is open to negotiating an extension, especially because of the impact of coronavirus on the already tight deadline, despite Downing Street's repeated vow it would never ask for a delay. "We must now progress on substance," tweeted Michel Barnier as it was confirmed the end of June deadline for extension would expire without a request. The UK and EU agreed a programme of intensified negotiations in July before Monday's meeting of Boris Johnson and three presidents of the major EU institutions. Failure to strike a trade deal by the end of the year will mean the UK and EU trading on less lucrative WTO terms and with tariffs on goods, which experts warn will compound the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Mr Sefcovic demanded more details from the UK Government over how it planned to enforce the new customs arrangements in Northern Ireland after the end of the transition period at the end of the year. A UK command paper was long on aspiration but short on detail, he said.
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| Zoom discloses it took down US-based activists' accounts at China's behest, says it won't enforce similar censorship requests going forward Posted: 12 Jun 2020 03:42 AM PDT  Zoom said from now on it would "not allow requests from the Chinese government to impact anyone outside of mainland China."
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| Nation’s top military officer says he regrets walking with Trump across Lafayette Square Posted: 11 Jun 2020 07:18 AM PDT  The nation's top military officer said Thursday he was wrong to have walked with President Trump across Lafayette Square amid ongoing protests.
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| Australian PM draws criticism for 'no slavery in Australia' comment Posted: 10 Jun 2020 06:33 PM PDT  Australian officials warned Black Lives Matter supporters they could be arrested if they breach coronavirus restrictions to take part in public protests, as debate erupted over the country's own indigenous history. Prime Minister Scott Morrison drew strong criticism on Thursday after he said "there was no slavery in Australia" during a discussion of the early days of British settlement, which he acknowledged was "pretty brutal." "Slavery of indigenous, men, women and children is well documented," said Sharman Stone, a former federal lawmaker and now politics professor at Monash University.
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| One killed in blast in Pakistan's Rawalpindi Posted: 12 Jun 2020 01:38 PM PDT  At least one person was killed and a dozen others wounded in a rare bomb blast in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi on Friday, officials said. Rawalpindi, Pakistan's fourth-largest city, is known for its military garrison and adjoins the capital Islamabad. The explosion took place Friday evening at a popular market, a stone's throw from Pakistan's heavily guarded military headquarters.
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| 'Ticking time bomb:' Lack of beds slows Delhi's virus fight Posted: 11 Jun 2020 12:48 AM PDT  In New Delhi, a sprawling capital region of 46 million and home to some of India's highest concentration of hospitals, a pregnant woman's death after a frantic hunt for a sickbed was a worrying sign about the country's ability to cope with a wave of new coronavirus cases. "She kept begging us to save her life, but we couldn't do anything," Shailendra Kumar said, after driving his sister-in-law, Neelam, and her husband for hours, only to be turned away at eight public and private hospitals. Two and a half months of nationwide lockdown kept numbers of infections relatively low in India.
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| Russia Has a Stealth Fighter Problem Posted: 12 Jun 2020 03:00 PM PDT  Russian airpower is inferior to U.S. airpower, according to one Russian news site.
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| Trump news – live: Administration rolls back LGBT+ health protections as president demands end to Seattle 'autonomous zone' Posted: 12 Jun 2020 01:30 PM PDT  Donald Trump has blamed the scenes of police brutality recorded at George Floyd protests across the US on "bad apples", claiming to have "dominated the streets with compassion" to maintain law and order and pledging an executive order to establish a use-of-force standard, stopping short of broader reforms.Speaking at a roundtable event in Dallas, Texas, the president sought to allay ongoing frustrations by commenting: "We have to work together to confront bigotry and prejudice wherever they appear, but we will make no progress and heal no wounds by falsely labelling tens of millions of decent Americans as racist or bigots."
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| Karl Rove reacts to Biden saying Trump will try to ‘steal this election’ Posted: 11 Jun 2020 12:05 PM PDT  Fox News contributor Karl Rove joins Dana Perino on 'The Daily Briefing.'
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| Riot Games executive resigns after 'abhorrent' George Floyd post Posted: 12 Jun 2020 07:07 AM PDT  Ron Johnson posted a meme about George Floyd's criminal record on Facebook.
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| US to withdraw troops from Iraq over coming months despite Islamic State surge Posted: 12 Jun 2020 08:52 AM PDT  The US said it will withdraw troops from Iraq in the coming months, six months after the assassination of an Iranian general in Baghdad threatened to see them expelled from the country. The announcement comes amid a spike of Islamic State activity in the country, and as Baghdad and Washington began long-anticipated talks over the future of the presence of the US in the country. A joint statement read: "In light of significant progress towards eliminating the Isis threat, over the coming months the U.S. would continue reducing forces from Iraq." Relations between the two plummeted to an all-time low this year after the US killed Iranian spy chief Qassim Soleimani in an airstrike near Baghdad airport in January. Iranian-backed militias have since launched repeated rocket attacks on the US Embassy in Baghdad, and on military bases housing US troops. At the time, Iraqi officials were publicly furious, with President Barham Salih, describing the airstrike as a breach of sovereignty. The Iraqi parliament passed a non-binding resolution to expel American troops immediately. Yet, US officials insisted both publicly and privately that they would leave on their timetable, and only when Iraq was capable of handling its own security affairs. US-led efforts against Isil n Syria are heavily reliant on Washington's presence in Iraq. The October 2019 raid that killed Isil-chief Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi was conducted by forces flown in from bases in Iraq. The withdrawal announcement comes as attacks by Isil surge in the country. A recent study by the Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point notes that Isil claimed 566 attacks in Iraq in the first quarter of 2020 - a notable increase on previous months. The study described Isil as showing "very significant resilience", adding that "the movement has undertaken an agile, fluid, and pragmatic shift back to insurgency in every area of Iraq where the group has lost physical control of populations and resources." At 5,200, the current contingent of US troops in Iraq is already considerably reduced compared to the peak in 2007, when numbers topped 160,000 under President George W. Bush. The Trump administration has attempted to balance its desire to bring as many troops as possible home before the presidential election later this year, and a "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran – Iraq is seen as a key battleground in the rivalry. Though no exact figures were given, western officials believe the reduction will halve the number of US troops remaining in Iraq, with further reductions possible before the end of the year.
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| French nuclear submarine on fire at Toulon harbour: prefecture Posted: 12 Jun 2020 07:50 AM PDT |
| Bolsonaro supporter desecrates Brazil beach memorial for 40,000 coronavirus victims Posted: 11 Jun 2020 11:11 AM PDT  A man vandalized a mock cemetery of 100 graves and crosses representing people who have died from Covid-19A supporter of Brazil's far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has desecrated a beachside memorial to Covid-19 victims as the country's coronavirus death toll rose above 40,000.Activists from civil society group Rio de Paz dug 100 symbolic shallow graves on Copacabana beach before dawn on Thursday to represent the Brazilian lives lost.At least 40,276 people have now died, according to a coalition of news outlets which has been compiling an independent tally since Brazil's health ministry was accused of seeking to conceal the full figures last week.But the NGO's founder, Antônio Carlos Costa, said Bolsonaristas began haranging activists as they stood beside the mock cemetery.Soon after a man was filmed knocking down the wooden crosses protesters had placed in the sand near a banner reading: "Brazil, land of graves"."They feel such rage – and I think they're reproducing the behaviour of the person occupying the highest position in the land," Costa said of his group's assailants.Among those watching the vandalism was a grieving father who campaigners said had lost his 25-year-old son to Covid-19. The man re-erected the crosses and shouted: "Respect the pain of others."Costa said he felt anger at the profoundly disrespectful act – the first such attack he had experienced in 13 years protesting against politicians from across the political spectrum.But he said that most of all he felt pity for the man, and other hardcore Bolsonaristas, who were "so blinded by ideological passion that they had closed their eyes to reality".Polls show millions have turned on Bolsonaro over his internationally condemned handling of coronavirus, which he has dismissed as "a little flu". But the rightwing populist maintains a solid support base of about 30%."Bolsonaro's mistakes are not so subtle that only the most perceptive people are able to detect them. It's all so clear," said Costa, a Presbyterian church leader. "So how is it that some people cannot see this?"Costa said Brazil was experiencing "the worst crisis in its history"."Thousands have died. Families are in mourning. People are unemployed. At a moment like this you might expect the president of the republic to offer words of hope, to show compassion, to behave soberly and signal a way forwards. Instead, we see him joining anti-democratic protests, telling journalists to shut up, riding horses, driving jet-skis [and] organizing barbecues."As he smashed the symbolic cemetery, the Bolsonarista branded activists leftist terrorists.Costa said the memorial had nothing to do with left or right. "What moves us is a commitment to life. They use this discourse to delegitimize anti-Bolsonaro protesters – as if only those on the left were capable of noticing this government's insane and anti-democratic acts."
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| US naval buildup in Indo-Pacific seen as warning to China Posted: 11 Jun 2020 09:13 PM PDT  For the first time in nearly three years, three American aircraft carriers are patrolling the Indo-Pacific waters, a massive show of naval force in a region roiled by spiking tensions between the U.S. and China and a sign that the Navy has bounced back from the worst days of the coronavirus outbreak. The unusual simultaneous appearance of the three warships, accompanied by Navy cruisers, destroyers, fighter jets and other aircraft, comes as the U.S. escalates criticism of Beijing's response to the coronavirus outbreak, its moves to impose greater control over Hong Kong and its campaign to militarize human-made islands in the South China Sea. "There have been some indications in Chinese writings that the United States was hit hard by COVID-19, that military preparedness was low, so perhaps there is an effort by the United States to signal China that it should not miscalculate," said Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
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| Seattle's mayor and police chief diverge on autonomous zone Posted: 12 Jun 2020 08:26 AM PDT  The mixed messages from Mayor Jenny Durkan and Police Chief Carmen Best come amid a barrage of tweets from President Donald Trump blasting the city's response to what he says is an "anarchist takeover."
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| Kelly Loeffler’s Fundraising Committee Takes the Prize for Tone Deafness Posted: 11 Jun 2020 05:00 PM PDT  As Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) proclaims her exoneration from allegations of insider trading, she's simultaneously building a campaign fundraising system that imagines her campaign as a Wall Street-style investment opportunity.The Georgia Republican is offering donors and fundraisers benefit packages to support her re-election bid. Those packages come in three tiers: investor, shareholder, and board member.That's according to a fundraising brochure obtained by The Daily Beast, which also details each of the benefits that donors can expect from membership in what Loeffler's campaign refers to as a "co-investor program" and has dubbed its "executive council."Loeffler Turns Over Coronavirus Stock Sale Docs to FedsIt's common for campaigns to award such honorifics to their top donors and fundraisers. But the terms that the Loeffler campaign has chosen for its tiered donor honorees now carry some additional political baggage. Though the Justice Department chose to drop its investigation into Loeffler over her and her husband's stock trades before the coronavirus pandemic caused the market to crash this year, the timing and size of her trades has been an albatross around the neck of her re-election effort According to the brochure laying out the various levels of "executive council" membership, an individual must donate $1,500 and a political action committee $5,000 if they are to qualify for the "investors" title. Alternatively they can raise $15,000 for the campaign. To achieve "shareholders" status, an individual must give $2,800 and a PAC $7,500, or raise $30,000 for the campaign. The top tier, "board member" is reserved for max-out donors—$5,600 for individuals and $10,000 for PACs—or those who raise $50,000 for the campaign.The donations come with access. All executive council members get access to quarterly breakfasts and monthly conference calls with the campaign, according to the brochure, as well as a thank-you event for donors. Shareholders and board members also get invites to a PAC retreat and a more exclusive quarterly reception. And board members alone get to go to the campaign's holiday party in December and "other special events throughout the year."One of those other events is scheduled for this September and will feature Loeffler and a to-be-announced "special guest." The event will take place after 18 holes of golf at a donor retreat at the tiny Sea Island Beach Club on the Georgia coast, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by The Daily Beast.That retreat will cost individual donors $2,800 and PACs $5,000 to attend, with contributions benefiting the Loeffler Victory Committee, a joint fundraising account benefiting Loeffler's campaign and her leadership PAC. But only executive council board members get access to that exclusive "19th hole" event.Kelly Loeffler Tries to Turn Coronavirus Into a Political AssetLoeffler is doling out these donor perks despite having already loaned $10 million to her own campaign. The Senate's wealthiest member, she has said she'll personally spend twice that to win re-election in November.The task became significantly more difficult in March, when The Daily Beast reported that Loeffler and her husband, New York Stock Exchange chairman Jeff Sprecher, had sold millions of dollars in stock in the weeks after Loeffler attended a closed-door Senate briefing on the novel coronavirus.Loeffler has vehemently and consistently denied that she used any information gleaned through her official duties to inform her stock trades, which she says are handled entirely by a third-party investment adviser. Loeffler and Sprecher nevertheless agreed in April to liquidate their individual stock holdings in order to head off the controversy. They also turned over documents related to those stock sales to the Federal Bureau of Investigation as it probed insider trading allegations against multiple Senators. The Justice Department announced last month that it was dropping its investigation into Loeffler while continuing to look into similar allegations leveled at Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.)Since then, Loeffler has triumphantly declared total vindication, attacking critics and media outlets—including The Daily Beast—in statements to the press and in a barrage of television ads attempting to shore up her political standing.Loeffler is facing off in a special election in November against 20 opponents of both parties, with her most formidable challenge coming from Republican Rep. Doug Collins. The most recent poll, conducted last month, showed Loeffler trailing not just Collins but also two Democrats in that "jungle-style" race.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| African Americans 'probably ought to be' shot more by police, a top Tulsa officer said Posted: 12 Jun 2020 07:02 AM PDT  The comments of Maj. Travis Yates were denounced by the mayor, the chief of police and a leading black officer.
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| Will the Black Lives Matter movement finally put an end to Confederate flags and statues? Posted: 12 Jun 2020 10:25 AM PDT  In the past week, public officials, military leaders and sports executives have made moves to take down Confederate symbols.
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| 'They are blatantly snubbing us': Protesters feel at risk as some NYPD officers don't follow guidelines to wear masks Posted: 12 Jun 2020 12:37 AM PDT  "We have no masks and you police officers have no masks on, and we do not want to get infected," Ibrahima Mbaye said.
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| Turkish court jails U.S. consulate worker on terrorism charges Posted: 11 Jun 2020 04:34 AM PDT  A Turkish court jailed a local employee of a U.S. consulate for nearly nine years on Thursday for aiding a terrorist organisation, a ruling the United States said would undermine the trust underpinning bilateral relations. Metin Topuz's trial has been a major source of tension between the two NATO allies, which are also at odds over Ankara's purchase of Russian missile defence systems and U.S. support for Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria. Topuz, a translator for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) at the consulate in Istanbul, was sentenced to eight years and nine months for aiding a network Turkey blames for a 2016 coup attempt, state-owned Anadolu agency said.
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| UAE warns annexation would upend any normalisation with Israel Posted: 12 Jun 2020 10:54 AM PDT  The Emirati ambassador to Washington warned Friday that annexation by the Jewish state of parts of the West Bank would jeopardise any warming of Arab-Israeli ties. "Annexation will certainly and immediately upend Israeli aspirations for improved security, economic and cultural ties with the Arab world and with the UAE," Yousef al-Otaiba wrote in a rare op-ed by an Emirati official in Israel's top-selling daily Yediot Aharonot.
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| Widow of Chinese doctor who sounded coronavirus alarm gives birth to son Posted: 12 Jun 2020 07:21 AM PDT  The widow of Li Wenliang, the Chinese doctor who first sounded the alarm about a potential Covid-19 outbreak, has given birth to a son four months after her husband's death. Doctor Li died aged 33 after contracting the novel coronavirus in February but first alerted the Chinese authorities to the dangers of the disease back in December 2019. He was initially ignored by the Chinese government, which played down the threat of the virus after it was first detected in Wuhan. Dr Li was the first person to link the outbreak of the disease to the Huanan Seafood market. Doctor Li's wife, Fu Xuejie, shared an image of her new son on the Chinese social media site WeChat, describing him as a final gift from her late husband. "Husband, can you see this from heaven? You have given me your final gift today. I will of course love and protect them," Mrs Fu told local news outlet Litchi News. Dr Li, an eye doctor, first noticed the virus in seven patients and sent a note to fellow doctors alerting them that the virus he had found closely resembled that of Sars. The Sars outbreak in 2003 claimed 774 lives around the world.
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| Adviser: China will honor trade deal, wants better US ties Posted: 11 Jun 2020 06:25 AM PDT  Beijing will honor its trade deal with the U.S. and wants to see better ties with Washington, senior Chinese officials said Thursday. Zhu Guangyao, a former finance minister and Cabinet adviser, said the two countries should "waste no time" in improving relations to help better coordinate a response to the coronavirus pandemic. "The close connection between the Chinese and U.S. economies is the result of four decades of hard work on both sides, and that is also the reflection of the wishes of consumers in China and the United States," Zhu said.
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| Trump news – live: President uses racial slur to condemn renaming of military bases while threatening to ‘take back’ Seattle Posted: 11 Jun 2020 06:53 AM PDT  Donald Trump called Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas" when condemning her involvement in attempting to pass an amendment to rename the military bases originally named after Confederate generals.The nickname he often uses for the Massachusetts senator has been called a divisive slur among critics. Mr Trump's choice of wording comes as a larger conversation has grown across the country about systematic racism and racist rhetoric.
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| The U.S. Air Force Deployed Spy Drones in the South China Sea Posted: 11 Jun 2020 12:55 PM PDT  The Air Force is flying the B-1B bombers and the Global Hawk drones in the South China Sea and other areas within the Pacific theater as part of a broad strategy to sustain surveillance in the region.
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| "We've got to be bold": Chicago mayor on reforming the police Posted: 10 Jun 2020 07:09 PM PDT  "This is our moment to make sure that state legislators and local officials really rise to the occasion — not just with record rhetoric, but with actions," Lightfoot said on the CBSN special, "Red & Blue: State of Our Union."
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| Ohio health director Amy Acton surprisingly resigns amid coronavirus pandemic Posted: 11 Jun 2020 01:13 PM PDT  Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Dr. Amy Acton will become his chief health adviser, expressing how grateful he is for her service to the state.
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| Biden on COVID-19 recovery plan: 'There's no guidance' Posted: 11 Jun 2020 12:44 PM PDT 
"Trump has basically had a one-point plan, open businesses. Just open. But it does nothing to keep workers safe and keep businesses able to stay open," Biden said. Biden rolled out a plan on Thursday to reopen the economy, calling for expanded coronavirus testing and protective equipment for people who go back to work, paid sick leave, small-business grants, fines for businesses that do not abide by safety standards, and hiring a workforce to test the spread of the disease.
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| Protesters tear down Christopher Columbus statue in Saint Paul, Minnesota Posted: 10 Jun 2020 06:42 PM PDT  A group of protesters pulled down a statue of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on Thursday, the latest U.S. monument to be torn down amid nationwide demonstrations against police brutality and racial inequalities. The 10-foot bronze statue was pulled from its granite base by several dozen people led by a Minnesota-based Native American activist outside the state Capitol, documented by news photographers and television camera operators. "It was the right thing to do and it was the right time to do it," the activist, Mike Forcia, told Reuters in apparent reference to more than two weeks of protests over the May 25 death of a 46-year-old black man, George Floyd, under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer.
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| NYC First Lady: Police-Free City Would Be ‘Nirvana,’ But Goal is Unreachable Posted: 11 Jun 2020 10:26 AM PDT  New York City first lady Chirlane McCray speculated that an NYPD-free city would be "Nirvana," in a Tuesday interview with Time magazine."That would be like a nirvana, a utopia that we are nowhere close to getting to," McCray said. When asked whether New York would follow Minneapolis in attempting to disband its police department, McCray responded, "They can do things that would not be possible in a large city like New York."Mayor Bill de Blasio said in the same interview, "Could the human race evolve to a point where no guardians, no structures are needed? I guess in theory, but I don't see that in the future we're going to live the next few generations."De Blasio on Sunday told reporters that an unspecified amount of funds will be redirected from the NYPD to youth and social services, and credited McCray with the idea behind the initiative.The NYPD had a budget of $6 billion in 2019, while City Comptroller Scott Stringer has recommended diverting $1 billion from the police to other programs.Calls to "defund the police" have grown in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an African American man killed during his arrest by Minneapolis police officers. At the same time, massive demonstrations sparked by Floyd's death have led to instances of rioting and looting.The NYPD has been called out in force to quell rioting throughout New York City, with looters targeting wealthy neighborhoods in lower and midtown Manhattan as well as sections of Brooklyn and the Bronx. De Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo have criticized the department's performance in handling the demonstrations."The legislators, the press, everybody's trying to shame us into being embarrassed about our profession," shot back Mike O'Meara, head of the New York Association of Police Benevolent Associations. "Stop treating us like animals and thugs, and start treating us with some respect….We've been left out of the conversation, we've been vilified — it's disgusting."De Blasio has also appointed McCray to co-chair the city's coronavirus racial inequality task force.
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| Assad sacks prime minister as economic crisis worsens and protesters demand fall of regime Posted: 11 Jun 2020 07:40 AM PDT  Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian dictator, sacked his prime minister on Thursday amid a spiralling economic crisis and a series of rare protests against his regime. In a statement, the office of the Syrian president announced that Imad Khamis, who had served as prime minister since 2016, had been dismissed "President Assad issues decree number 143 for year 2020 which relieves the prime minister Imad Muhammad Dib Khamis of his position," it said. The dismissal came as a highly unusual mass protest against Assad continued for its fifth consecutive day in the Druze-majority town of Suweida in southwestern Syria. Dozens marched through the town calling for the "fall of the regime" as well as revolution and justice. Similar protests were held this week in the southern town of Tafas, in the Daraa region. "Protesters called for freedom and toppling of the regime as a result of popular anger over the deteriorating economic, social, security and political situation," one protester in Suweida, Noura al Basha, told Reuters news agency. Most of Syria's Arab Druze community has stayed loyal to the Assad regime for fear of religious persecution, while Suweida has largely avoided the bloodshed of the civil war. Public protests against Assad's rule since the civil war began are almost unheard of due to the risk of being "disappeared" into the country's prisons and torture chambers by security forces.
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| Protester hit in face by police rubber bullet wants answers Posted: 12 Jun 2020 02:21 PM PDT  LaToya Ratlieff remembers the blood spilling from her head, covering her clothes, the car ride from a stranger to the hospital and the 20 stitches sewn into her head after being shot in the face by a police officer with a rubber bullet during a Fort Lauderdale protest. The 34-year-old was getting ready to leave on May 31 after several hours at a peaceful protest sparked by the death of George Floyd. Further away, she could hear a group of angry protesters becoming more agitated.
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| 'Everybody I've talked to feels significantly safer': A protester living near Seattle's 'autonomous zone' explains why the neighborhood is better without cops Posted: 12 Jun 2020 02:06 PM PDT  Protesters have established their own cop-free neighborhood in Seattle, Washington amid the Black Lives Matter protests.
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| Mike Pence deleted a tweet showing dozens of Trump campaign staffers packed together without masks on, in clear violation of social-distancing orders Posted: 11 Jun 2020 07:54 AM PDT  The photo appeared to have been taken in the Trump campaign's Alexandria headquarters. But Pence didn't have any travel on his schedule on Wednesday.
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| Protesters face life in prison over police car attacks in NY Posted: 12 Jun 2020 04:36 PM PDT  US prosecutors on Friday filed multiple charges against three protesters accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at police cars during anti-racism demonstrations in New York -- charges that could lead to life sentences. The indictments, filed by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, accuse Samantha Shader, Colinford Mattis and Urooj Rahman of throwing explosive devices at police cars in two separate incidents in late May. The three are facing seven charges including arson, possession and use of explosives and destructive devices, and public disorder.
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| Fortress China: What Could Happen if Beijing Goes Bust Posted: 11 Jun 2020 06:44 AM PDT  The China wave is receding fast, and what will remain is a smaller, more compact, less permeable country that neither welcomes the world in nor is eager to go abroad. Individual Chinese people, of course, will continue to be among the most mobile in the world, just as they were during the high Ming-era of the long sixteenth century. But the country will turn inward, seek to exclude foreign influences, and focus on stability overgrowth. Not for nothing is Xi Jinping called the Good Emperor: he is returning the country to its neo-Confucian, Han Chinese, Ming Dynasty roots. Welcome to Fortress China.
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| Sony gives first look at games for PlayStation 5 Posted: 11 Jun 2020 03:09 PM PDT  Sony's PlayStation division showed players what to expect when its next-gen gaming console will be released next year.
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