| Trump snubs former EPA chief Pruitt in Tulsa visit Posted: 19 Jun 2020 07:58 AM PDT  When President Trump comes to Tulsa on Saturday for his first campaign event since the coronavirus shutdown, one person won't be there: Tulsa's own Scott Pruitt.
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| Bill to remove Confederate statues from Capitol stalled by Missouri's Blunt Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:59 AM PDT  The legislation proposed by Sen. Cory Booker would have removed 11 statues honoring men who voluntarily served in the Confederacy from the National Statuary Hall Collection.
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| 'At a loss about what they're supposed to do': Police take on their own kind of protest Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:17 AM PDT  As the national movement for police reform and racial justice grows, more police push back, saying the public has painted them with too broad a brush.
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| Klobuchar withdraws from veepstakes, says Biden should pick woman of color Posted: 19 Jun 2020 03:38 AM PDT  "I think this is a moment to put a woman of color on that ticket," she told MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell on Thursday night.
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| Turkish court rules Kurdish leader's jailing violated rights Posted: 18 Jun 2020 11:06 PM PDT  Turkey's Constitutional Court has ruled that the lengthy jailing of a former head of Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party violated his rights, a decision published on Friday showed, but he was not expected to be released due to a separate investigation. Selahattin Demirtas, one of Turkey's best known politicians, has been in jail since November 2016 on terrorism-related charges. Prosecutors then launched a new investigation into him and requested his arrest again after the lifting of the previous detention order.
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| Navy upholds firing of carrier captain in virus outbreak Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:36 PM PDT  The two senior commanders on a coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier didn't "do enough, soon enough," to stem the outbreak, the top U.S. Navy officer said Friday, a stunning reversal that upheld the firing of the ship's captain who had pleaded for faster action to protect the crew. Capt. Brett E. Crozier and Rear Adm. Stuart Baker, commander of the carrier strike group, made serious errors in judgment as they tried to work through an outbreak that sidelined the USS Theodore Roosevelt in Guam for 10 weeks, said Adm. Mike Gilday, the chief of naval operations. The Crozier decision was a surprise since Gilday had recommended that the captain be restored to his command less than two months ago after an initial inquiry.
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| Nebraska governor: Counties requiring masks ineligible for relief money Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:36 AM PDT  A spokesman for the governor said that if counties "want CARES Act money, they have to be fully open"
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| Police die enforcing Latin America's strictest lockdown as Peru's futile strategy unravels Posted: 19 Jun 2020 01:10 AM PDT  When Peru introduced one of Latin America's strictest lockdowns, national police brigadier David Rodriguez was sent to the streets of Lima to enforce the new guidelines. Just one month later the 55 year-old was struggling to breathe in the police clinic, pleading desperately on social media to be moved to an intensive care unit and for more oxygen. He died shortly after. "They're the ones sent out to protect others from the virus and they end up infected themselves," his daughter Krystell Rodriguez told The Telegraph. According to the country's interior minister, nearly 10,000 police officers have contracted Covid-19 on duty in the country and 170 have died. The numbers not only present a grim picture of Peru's futile fight against Covid-19, but also the tragedy at the heart of the surging crisis in Latin America, the global epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic.
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| WH press secretary says she'll attend Trump's Tulsa rally, but won't wear a mask Posted: 19 Jun 2020 12:06 PM PDT  Health experts warn that Trump's rally, which will pack nearly 20,000 attendees into Tulsa's Bank of Oklahoma Center, represents a perfect storm for the transmission of COVID-19.
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| John Bolton: Judge rejects Trump bid to ban ex-adviser's book Posted: 20 Jun 2020 10:19 AM PDT  A US judge denies the Trump administration's bid to halt publication of John Bolton's memoir.
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| Woman Charged With Burning Philadelphia Police Cars Must Remain In Jail Until Trial Posted: 19 Jun 2020 02:23 PM PDT  Lore Elisabeth Blumenthal is charged with arson.
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| Muhammad Ali's son said his dad wouldn't have supported Black Lives Matter movement or protests over George Floyd's death Posted: 20 Jun 2020 10:44 AM PDT  "It's not just black lives matter, white lives matter, Chinese lives matter, all lives matter, everybody's life matters," Ali Jr. said.
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| Mexican anti-discrimination agency chief resigns after censure by president Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:20 AM PDT  The head of the Mexican government's anti-discrimination agency quit after criticism by President Andres Lopez Manuel Obrador, who on Friday said he would likely appoint an indigenous person in her place. Lopez Obrador chastised National Council for Preventing Discrimination chief Monica Maccise because it organized a "classism and racism in Mexico" event on Wednesday and invited a comedian the president and his wife consider racist. "I think that this event should not have been convened and those who do not share the transformation policy that is being carried out (by the government), in complete freedom can decide not to work for this government," Lopez Obrador said in his morning press conference on Friday.
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| 'Stay away': Black Tulsans urge Pence not to visit historic Greenwood neighborhood Posted: 20 Jun 2020 02:29 PM PDT  "They're using this to promote a message that they just don't believe," said one Greenwood resident.
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| Rayshard Brooks' Final Hour Was a Jarring Panorama of Policing Posted: 19 Jun 2020 05:13 AM PDT  ATLANTA -- From beginning to end, the encounter between Rayshard Brooks and two Atlanta police officers lasted 41 minutes and 17 seconds. For the first 40 minutes, it looked like a textbook example of policing.The officers treated Brooks, 27, with respect. They were cordial as they asked about his night and how much he had had to drink. They calmly guided him through a series of sobriety tests.Then things went dangerously awry, and Brooks became yet another African American man to die at the hands of police.The encounter -- veering from calm to fatal and captured on video from multiple angles -- has become the subject of intense scrutiny. There is vigorous debate over a host of decisions, big and small, that the two officers made last Friday night in a Wendy's parking lot, where Brooks had fallen asleep in the driver's seat in the drive-thru lane."It's at the point where the officer places his hands on him that things go south in a fraction of a second," said Kalfani Ture, an assistant professor of criminal justice at Quinnipiac University who said he had viewed the video footage more than three dozen times. "So you have to pay attention to the minutiae of details -- you have to try to understand decision-making, but you also have to pick out best practices."Understanding what went wrong, he said, is a crucial step in helping police do their jobs better and ease tensions with communities of color.As the officers moved to arrest Brooks, whose Breathalyzer test registered a .108, above the legal limit to drive in Georgia, he bolted from their grasp, hit an officer, grabbed the other's Taser, fired it and took off running.Officer Garrett Rolfe discharged his own Taser and reached for his 9-millimeter Glock handgun as Brooks turned and discharged the stolen Taser again. Rolfe fired, striking Brooks twice in the back.Brooks was 18 feet and 3 inches away when the first shot was fired. Prosecutors said that as Brooks lay dying, Rolfe kicked his bleeding body, and the other officer, Devin Brosnan, stood on his shoulder. Neither offered medical assistance for more than two minutes, prosecutors said.On Wednesday, the Fulton County district attorney, Paul L. Howard Jr., charged Rolfe, who had been fired from the Atlanta Police Department, with 11 criminal counts, including murder and aggravated assault. Brosnan, who is on administrative duty, was charged with three counts, including aggravated assault and violations of oath.The decision to file charges came five days after the fatal encounter, which has led to the resignation of the city's police chief and the mayor's announcement of a series of measures to overhaul how and when police officers use force. The shooting came amid nationwide protests over police brutality and systemic racism that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.President Donald Trump weighed in briefly this week, telling Sean Hannity of Fox News that people should not resist police officers. He also said he hoped Rolfe "gets a fair shake because police have not been treated fairly in our country."Some observers have said the shooting death of Brooks could have been avoided if the two officers, who are white, had declined to arrest him. According to the footage from Brosnan's body camera, Brooks maintained that he had not had more than two drinks that night.But he also made a suggestion: "I can just go home."It seemed like a simple request. "Why didn't they just let him go home?" Brooks' father, Larry Barbine, asked in an interview with The Toledo Blade.Ture, a former law enforcement officer, said he likely would have written a citation but not taken Brooks to jail, particularly given the presence of the coronavirus in many detention facilities."I'd have said, 'Mr. Brooks, I'll offer you a ride wherever you want to go, however, I'm going to take your vehicle keys,' " Ture said. "If I was so concerned I might even tow the vehicle. But I might not even take Mr. Brooks to jail."But other experts said that for decades, police have been told that society wants law enforcement to take a zero-tolerance approach to drunken driving, the No. 1 cause of death on U.S. roadways."Like with so many other social problems, we put officers at the forefront of dealing with DUI," said Seth Stoughton, a former police officer who teaches law at the University of South Carolina. "So it should be no surprise that officers arrest someone for DUI. That's what we've been telling them to do for a long time."Vince Champion, southeast regional director for the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the Atlanta police union, said there were limits to an officer's discretion.Champion said he once let an inebriated driver walk home a short distance and the man was struck and killed. His supervisor, who had approved the move, was demoted, he said. Such episodes can lead to lawsuits."We've had to go away from trying to be nice," he said.After Brooks went through a field sobriety test and the Breathalyzer test -- both of which came after he was unable to identify which county he was in and gave a seemingly implausible explanation about how he had arrived at the Wendy's -- Rolfe decided to arrest him."All right, I think you've had too much to drink," he said, moving to cuff Brooks, according to the video footage. "Put your hands behind your back for me."In his news conference announcing the criminal charges against the officers, Howard said they had violated the Police Department's policy because Brooks "was never informed he was under arrest for driving under the influence."Verbally notifying people that they are about to be arrested accomplishes multiple goals, experts say. It is a way to show respect and courtesy, which increases public confidence in police. And it is also tactical -- it helps slow the interaction down to eliminate surprises.When people are not told what to expect -- particularly intoxicated people -- they can react in ways that an officer might misinterpret as resisting, when in fact the person is simply startled."In many situations, officers should tell someone what is happening because you don't want the person to react in surprise and the officers to take that surprise as resistance," Stoughton said.When Brooks lurched away from the two officers as they moved to cuff him, they hung on, and the three fell into a heap on the pavement, fighting and struggling.Video footage shows Brooks seizing a Taser from Brosnan and striking Rolfe. In a statement this week, the lawyers representing Brosnan said Brooks used the Taser on their client around this point.After a few moments, Brooks broke free of the officers. As Brooks ran away, Rolfe fired a Taser at him, a violation of department rules that prohibit firing at a fleeing suspect, prosecutors said.Seconds later, mid-stride, Brooks turned and fired the Taser at Rolfe, who was close on his heels.Three gunshots can be heard, and Brooks falls.Howard said that Rolfe, before opening fire, must have known that the Taser that Brooks had taken had already been fired twice -- and that this model of Taser was only capable of two shots.Several policing experts agreed that Rolfe should have known that Brooks was not a deadly threat, but for other reasons.Brooks was running, and it seemed like escaping the situation was his only goal, some experts said. And although Georgia officers are taught that Tasers are a deadly threat because they can disable officers long enough for their guns to be seized, that threat is diminished when a second officer is present as backup.Use of force should be proportional to the threat, the experts said.But whether the officer should have known how many times the Taser had been fired -- or could have reacted quickly enough to that knowledge -- was a separate question."That's a high expectation in the middle of a fight, that an officer is going to know every single fact that we get to see after the fact with an analysis of the video," said Roberto Villaseñor, a former police chief in Tucson, Arizona, and a member of former President Barack Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing."There's a lot of things that occur in a dramatic, volatile situation that you might not be aware of," he continued. "You have adrenaline pumping; you've got fear working; you've got the fight-or-flight syndrome going on -- you've got a lot of things that are affecting your perceptions."Noah H. Pines, a lawyer for Rolfe, said in a statement this week that the shooting was justified and that the responsibility was squarely at Brooks' feet."When Mr. Brooks chose to attack two officers, to disarm one of them," Pines said in the statement, "he took their lives, and his own, into his hands. He took the risk that their justified response might be a deadly one."But on CNN on Monday, Stacey Abrams, Georgia's former Democratic candidate for governor, called it "murder.""At no point did he present a danger that warranted his death," she said of Brooks. "And that's what we're talking about. A murder because a man made a mistake, not a mistake that would have cost the police officer his life but a mistake that was caused out of some form of dehumanization of Rayshard Brooks."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| India-China Himalayan standoff deadly for cashmere herds Posted: 18 Jun 2020 11:15 PM PDT  Antagonisms between Indian and Chinese troops high in the Himalayas are taking a dire toll on traditional goat herds that supply the world's finest, most expensive cashmere. This week, a deadly brawl between Indian and Chinese soldiers caused the deaths of at least 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley, an achingly beautiful landscape that is part of a border region that has been disputed for decades because of its strategic importance as the world's highest landing ground. The months-long military standoff between the Asian giants is hurting local communities due to the loss of tens of thousands of Himalayan goat kids died because they couldn't reach traditional winter grazing lands, officials and residents said.
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| Meet All the Weapons Kim Jong-Un Wishes He Could Get His Hands On Posted: 19 Jun 2020 12:09 PM PDT  Thankfully sanctions will make it harder for him.
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| Citing 'problems' receiving a ballot, Trump campaign manager acknowledges he didn't vote in '16 Posted: 19 Jun 2020 11:05 PM PDT  Parscale, then a Texas resident, oversaw Trump's digital operation in 2016 and became the campaign manager in 2018.
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| U.S. protests inspire calls to "defund the police" in the U.K. Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:48 AM PDT  "It's really powerful that this discourse has entered the mainstream conversation here in the U.K., and it's inherently connected to the conversations that are happening across America," activist says.
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| North Carolina protesters tear down Confederate statue and hang it by the neck from a post Posted: 19 Jun 2020 07:54 PM PDT  Protesters in North Carolina's capital pulled down parts of a Confederate monument Friday on night and hanged one of the toppled statues from a light post. Demonstrators used a strap to pull down two statues of Confederate soldiers that were part of a larger obelisk near the state capitol in downtown Raleigh, news outlets reported. Police officers earlier in the evening had foiled the protesters' previous attempt to use ropes to topple the statues. But after the officers cleared the area, protesters mounted the obelisk and were able to take down the statues. They then dragged the statues down a street and used a rope to hang one of the figures by its neck from a light post. The other statue was dragged to the Wake County courthouse, according to the News & Observer.
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| Leader of London BLM protests demands meeting with Johnson Posted: 20 Jun 2020 07:05 AM PDT  A leader of Black Lives Matter protests in London demanded a meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday and called on him to replace a political adviser chosen to lead a new commission on racial inequality. "I have been here every day, I am the person that leads 20,000 people every protest," Imarn Ayton, a 29-year-old actress, told Reuters as BLM demonstrators gathered in Hyde Park before their latest march.
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| Mexican president says he ordered last year's release of 'El Chapo's' son Posted: 19 Jun 2020 05:24 PM PDT  The bungled operation was seen as indisputable evidence that criminal gangs hold the upper hand in Culiacán and across broad swaths of Mexico.
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| Matt Gaetz Appears Alongside His Newly Revealed ‘Son’ on Tucker Carlson’s Show Posted: 18 Jun 2020 07:16 PM PDT  Hours after announcing that he has a 19-year-old Cuban "son," Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) appeared alongside the teen, Nestor Galban, on Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight to prove to a Democratic colleague with whom he's been feuding that he has a "non-white" child.Gaetz's revelation about Galban came on the heels of his extremely heated altercation with Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) during a congressional hearing on police reform, which flew off the rails when Gaetz exploded at Richmond for suggesting he didn't know what it's like to fear for a Black son."For all those wondering, this is my son Nestor. We share no blood but he is my life. He came from Cuba (legally, of course) six years ago and lives with me in Florida," Gaetz tweeted on Thursday morning. "I am so proud of him and raising him has been the best, most rewarding thing I've done in my life."The pro-Trump congressman also wrote that Nestor had just turned 19 and arrived when he was 12, adding that he was "triggered" by Richmond's remarks because he knows what it's like to "raise non-white kids." Gaetz's sudden announcement that he had a grown son, meanwhile, raised quite a few questions, especially considering he had never publicly disclosed this before Thursday.At the same time he appeared on Carlson's show, People published a report providing details on Gaetz's relationship to Galban. Gaetz admitted to People that he "did not formally adopt" Galban, stating that Galban moved in with him when he was 12 because Gaetz—then a state legislator—was dating Galban's older sister. "He is a part of my family story," Gaetz told People, adding that Nestor "is my son in every conceivable way, and I can't imagine loving him any more if he was my own flesh and blood." He declined to tell the magazine what Nestor's relationship was with his biological family at this time.Carlson, meanwhile, introduced the pro-Trump congressman on his program by asking him how he feels about Richmond telling him "you are not allowed to participate in the conversation because of your skin color."Saying his Democratic colleague's remarks were "offensive" because Richmond didn't know anything about his experience, Gaetz went on to say that "Nestor is the light of my life" and that he "couldn't imagine loving him anymore if he was my own flesh and blood.""I've raised him for the last six years, and he is the most remarkable young man," he added. "I am proud of him, and I am honestly embarrassed of the United States Congress that we have resorted to criticizing each other based on our race and the race of our children and I wish that we could be more productive going forward."After Gaetz said Galban had been raised to "treat everyone equally," Carlson wondered aloud if Galban had also learned those lessons in school, prompting Gaetz to reveal that Nestor was already mic'd up and ready to appear on-screen."What do you make of Cedric Richmond's attacks? Did you see all of this?" Carlson asked Galban."I did not see it because I was sleeping from my workout the night before," Nestor replied, adding that he woke up to the tweets on the altercation and Gaetz calling him about it."I think it's unfair to tell someone that they don't understand because they don't have—because of their racial color," he added. "While he is fighting for equality but if you tell someone to not get involved—he doesn't understand because of the color—you are being a hypocrite there."The Fox host applauded Galban's answer before snarkily noting that this is now something "you would be censured for," something Gaetz agreed with."I cannot believe that it's acceptable in the United States Congress for someone to tell someone else that they are fighting for their children more than they are. You have a son," Gaetz said. "How would you feel if someone said to you that they were fighting for your own family more than you were? That's why I got very upset."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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| Hungry neighbors cook together as virus roils Latin America Posted: 19 Jun 2020 06:04 AM PDT  An hour later, Arango, 43, is using a shovel to stir 30 gallons of sweet oatmeal in a stainless-steel pot over a fire of wood scraps alongside a cinder-block community center in the hills overlooking Peru's capital. Often operating with help from the Catholic Church and private charities, soup kitchens and community pots have become a symbol of the conundrum facing a region where most of the working population labors outside the formal economy. Economic shutdowns have forced poor Peruvians, Argentines and tens of millions of others to fall back on community-based efforts unseen in large numbers since crises like Peru's 1990s civil war or Argentina's financial crash two decades ago.
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| EU extends Russian sanctions over Ukraine: Merkel Posted: 19 Jun 2020 06:34 AM PDT  The European Union has agreed to extend punishing sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine by six months, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday. The measures over Russia's role in the conflict were first imposed after Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine in 2014 and have been renewed every six months ever since. Germany and France have repeatedly sought to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine.
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| Trump Jr tells his father that Bin Laden endorsed Biden because it ‘would lead to the destruction of America’ Posted: 19 Jun 2020 07:13 AM PDT  Donald Trump claimed Osama Bin Laden backed Joe Biden's presidential bid and said he was withholding "very interesting" information about aliens in a recorded interview with his eldest son.The president's comments came in a Father's Day-themed interview streamed on the president's election campaign website, with Don Trump Jr, who hosts the podcast, 'Triggered'.
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| Breonna Taylor: Louisville officer to be fired for deadly force use Posted: 19 Jun 2020 05:47 PM PDT  The police chief accused the officer of "blindly" firing into Breonna Taylor's apartment.
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| Atlanta Cop Denies Serving as ‘State’s Witness’ against Former Partner in Shooting Case Posted: 19 Jun 2020 05:49 AM PDT  Atlanta police officer Devin Brosnan, charged with aggravated assault in the death of Rayshard Brooks, called the shooting a "tragic event," but denied claims from Fulton County district attorney Paul Howard that he was testifying against his former partner Garrett Rolfe."I have full faith in the criminal justice system," Brosnan said in a Thursday appearance on MSNBC with his attorney Don Samuel. "I'm looking forward to cooperating with any investigators who are interested in having a conversation about what happened that night."In a Wednesday press conference, Howard claimed that Brosnan would testify as a "state's witness" against Rolfe, who had been charged with felony murder for shooting Brooks in the back as he attempted to escape arrest while brandishing a taser.But Samuel denied Howard's claim. "There seems to be some misunderstanding on the prosecutor's part . . . he's not a 'state's witness,' he's not a defense witness, he's a witness," Samuel said. "He's not cooperating against anybody. He's going to provide accurate information about what happened." Samuel added that Brosnan "certainly rendered aid as fast as he could" to Brooks, despite Howard saying the police did not "provide timely medical attention to Mr. Brooks."Brosnan also challenged a claim made by Howard that, after Brooks had been shot, Rolfe kicked him, saying he never saw such a moment. In a message to Brooks's family, he stated that it was a "total tragedy that a man had to lose his life that night.""For my initial encounter with him, I felt he was friendly. He was respectful. I was respectful to him and I felt that this seemed like someone who potentially needed my help," Brosnan said. "I was really just there to see what I could do for him and make sure he was safe."Brosnan and Rolfe were called to the scene of an Atlanta Wendy's last week and found Brooks asleep in his car, which was blocking the drive-thru. The officers attempted to arrest Brooks following a sobriety test that showed Brooks was drunk, but Brooks tried to escape.Atlanta police officers have protested the charges against Brosnan and Rolfe — who faces life in prison or the death penalty if convicted. On Wednesday, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms admitted that police morale "is down ten-fold.""There's a lot happening in our city, and the police officers are receiving the brunt of it quite frankly," she told CNN.
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| Media lauds Biden's 'fiery' message to Trump Posted: 19 Jun 2020 08:03 PM PDT  Raymond Arroyo breaks down Joe Biden's confusing campaign messaging during Friday Follies on 'The Ingraham Angle.'
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| North Korea prepares anti-South leaflets amid heightened tensions Posted: 19 Jun 2020 06:27 PM PDT  North Korea is gearing up to send propaganda leaflets over its southern border, denouncing North Korean defectors and South Korea, its state media said on Saturday, the latest retaliation for leaflets from the South as bilateral tensions rise. Enraged North Korean people across the country "are actively pushing forward with the preparations for launching a large-scale distribution of leaflets," which are piled as high as a mountain, said state news agency KCNA.
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| McEnany won't wear mask at Tulsa Trump rally Posted: 19 Jun 2020 12:05 PM PDT  The Centers for Disease Control recommends that Americans wear masks in public.
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| Maryland police chief latest to face reckoning amid protests Posted: 19 Jun 2020 01:06 PM PDT  A Maryland police chief resigned this week within hours of a court filing that portrayed his department, one of the state's largest, as an agency poisoned by a racist culture. A complaint cited by the filing said a Prince George's County police sergeant had a personalized license plate with an acronym for a vulgarity directed at President Barack Obama. A lieutenant derided Black Lives Matter protesters in comments quoted in a New York Times article.
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| In Cuba, families fear shortages will worsen as coronavirus affects the economy Posted: 19 Jun 2020 12:11 PM PDT  "We cannot choose. We buy whatever appears in the stores," said one Havana resident.
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| Melania Trump commemorates the end of slavery from a gilded White House room while the president tweets threats at protesters Posted: 19 Jun 2020 08:44 AM PDT  First Lady Melania Trump released a video about Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the US, as her husband ignored it on social media.
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| Man shouts 'All Lives Matter' at Brooklyn barista in one man 'protest' over poster Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:25 AM PDT  A man was caught on camera staging a one man All Lives Matter "protest" outside a coffee shop on Friday over a Black Lives Matter sign displayed in their window.Abraham "Avrumy" Knofler was filmed by a bystander outside Burly Coffee in the Bed-Stuy neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York City, on Thursday where he can be heard telling a barista that he was offended by the sign and chanting "All Lives Matter".
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| Imran Farooq: Three convicted for London murder of Pakistan exile Posted: 18 Jun 2020 10:59 PM PDT  A Pakistani court hands down life sentences to three men accused of killing Imran Farooq
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| The U.S. Army's New Marksman Rifle Is One Tough Gun. Here's Why. Posted: 19 Jun 2020 05:30 AM PDT  This month soldiers from the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division became the first combat soldiers to receive the new M110A1 Squad Designated Marksman Rifle (SDMR). The semi-automatic 7.62x51mm weapon was fielded to soldiers in the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team at Fort Stewart, Georgia.
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| 'Into the Wild' bus removed from Alaska trail for safety concerns Posted: 18 Jun 2020 07:20 PM PDT  Alaska officials on Thursday airlifted from a remote trail outside Denali National Park the wrecked bus made famous by the 1996 book and 2007 movie "Into the Wild," removing an object that drew hundreds of fans and sightseers. "We encourage people to enjoy Alaska's wild areas safely, and we understand the hold this bus has had on the popular imagination," Alaska Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige said in a statement. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources and Alaska Army National Guard worked jointly to remove the 1940s-era bus.
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| Pelosi orders removal of portraits of Confederate predecessors Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:00 AM PDT  The House will remove the portraits from the Capitol on Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S.
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| Britons in Dubai sell possessions and return home as coronavirus ends expat dream Posted: 20 Jun 2020 05:24 AM PDT  Dubai's expat community groups are full of bargains; everything from cars to gym subscriptions. The fire sales are a result of expats left jobless by the UAE's coronavirus lock-down. Among them, thousands of British expats are trying to scrape back the pennies before they are forced to leave a place many call home. The coronavirus lockdown has upended the lives of thousands of expats, turning their dream of a life abroad into a nightmare of uncertainty. Thousands have been made redundant, with strict visa regulations forcing them to return to the UK, with little time to catch their breath. It's almost 11 years since Selina Dixon traded her claustrophobic commute from Surrey into Central London for her expat dreams of Dubai. "I was spending four hours a day on the train," she tells The Telegraph. The fashion marketer left behind the early morning drizzle and commuter grind, for a new life in the UAE. One which promised year-round sun, tax-free salaries, and the opportunity of adventure. "It's not about the glitz and glamour, whoever has been fortunate enough to live here know there is much more behind the façade," she says. An estimated 240,000 Britons call the UAE home, working as everything from air hostesses to teachers. Dixon was made redundant a few weeks ago, now she is living off her meagre savings. In weeks her visa will expire, and she wont be able to renew it unless she finds a new job. "Every day you wake up, you're looking on LinkedIn. Speaking to contacts and your network, but then you have to be mindful there are so many people going through this." With thousands of people flying in and out of the UAE every day in normal times, the country was always vulnerable to Covid-19. A stringent lockdown saw swathes of the economy shut. Though some 40,000 cases of the virus have been registered, Dubai is slowly beginning to open up, yet the economic recovery will likely take many years. Ninety per cent of the UAE's population are expats, and a study out this month by Oxford Economics, a quantitative analysis firm, estimates that the country of nine million could lose up to 900,000 jobs, and some 10 per cent of its population – British expats are likely to be among the worst affected. At least part of the difficulty lies in the UAE's Kafala – or sponsorship - system. A visa scheme wherein residency is tied to your job. Companies may sponsor a foreigner for residency as long as they employ them, but the moment someone becomes unemployed, a count-down begins on the expiry of their visa. As Dixon says, "Dubai is a place that without a visa - it's difficult." Though the government has announced some visa waivers, those who have lost their jobs since March 1st have thirty days to find a new job, or their visas become invalid, and they will be hit with daily fines. It means that those like Dixon may be forced to return to the UK for the first time in years. "It was not a choice that I was ready to make, but one that I may have to make." "I've been away [from the UK] for ten years, I'm going to have to start from scratch. Whilst I have the experience, it's the network in the UK I'll struggle with."
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| Denver man accused of killing neighbor after argument involving racial slurs Posted: 19 Jun 2020 06:48 AM PDT  A Denver man is in jail after allegedly shooting his neighbor in the chest during an argument about where he parked his car.
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| Fact check: Cruise ships are registered abroad but they didn't seek a US bailout Posted: 20 Jun 2020 12:35 PM PDT  The claim that cruise ship companies register in foreign countries to avoid US taxes is true. But it's not true that they asked for COVID-19 bailout.
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| Tulsa Can’t Opt Out of Trump’s Massive Coronavirus Gamble Posted: 19 Jun 2020 01:24 AM PDT  Amid weeks of civil unrest following the police killing of George Floyd, Oklahoma state Representative Regina Goodwin witnessed a disturbing sight on Wednesday: masses of Donald Trump supporters—some in Confederate gear—lining up blocks from the site of the 1921 race massacre on "Black Wall Street" in Tulsa.Some of the assembled fans, determined to attend the president's first campaign rally in months, sang pro-Trump anthems and told local reporters they set up tents in order to ensure they got good seats inside the nearly 20,000-person arena. After all, it promised to be the largest indoor public gathering in the country since COVID-19 sent a shockwave of lockdowns and quarantines throughout the world."The point is to rally his base, and they are out there on this sidewalk wanting to be the first in line," Goodwin, who serves as chair of the Oklahoma Legislative Black Caucus, told The Daily Beast. "I've seen people out there sleeping with the Confederate flag symbol. Because of the racist elements that he attracts, you're adding fuel to the fire of the racial tensions in Tulsa."But that's not the only problem facing Goodwin's constituents. The state's COVID-19 numbers are "continuing to climb and climb and climb," as she put it, and the rally is likely to be populated by uniquely COVID-19-skeptical hordes amid a surging pandemic that has hit communities of color with horrific force.The Race Massacre Trump Ignored Because America Tries to Hide Its SinsAs of Thursday, Oklahoma had 8,904 cumulative cases of the virus, which had caused 364 deaths. Compared to other states, those numbers were relatively low. But compared to Oklahoma's previous numbers, they amounted to an ominous trend. Authorities reported new record-high case counts in the state at large—and in Tulsa specifically—in recent days. In fact, at least one recent cluster made national news when it forced a 1,600-employee factory for home appliances manufacturer Whirlpool to temporarily shutter. Adding to the concern on Thursday, local authorities reported that a technical error would delay its COVID-19 reporting numbers.Gov. Kevin Stitt reopened Oklahoma's economy on June 1, and Dr. Bruce Dart, the executive director of the Tulsa County Health Department, told The Daily Beast last week that an increasing number of residents have stopped wearing masks or staying home due to "quarantine fatigue." "The state was open too soon and this was predicted, and that's what we're getting," said Goodwin. A plethora of scientific studies and media reports have shown the Black community is being hit disproportionately hard by COVID-19. Meanwhile, many Black Tulsans work in Greenwood, the setting of the 1921 massacre where roughly 300 people were killed, 35 city blocks were burned, more than 800 people injured, and 10,000 Black Tulsans were left without homes. The fact that the neighborhood is mere blocks away from the setting of the rally, which was initially scheduled on Juneteenth—the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the end of slavery in the country—has not escaped anyone's attention. Nor have the epidemiological risks.Local public health authorities all the way up to the top infectious disease experts in the country have sounded the alarm in recent weeks over the risks of Trump's rally. Even the typically party-line hosts of Fox and Friends appeared nervous about it on Thursday morning.Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the public face of the nation's coronavirus response, told The Daily Beast earlier this week that he would not personally be willing to attend the event since he's "in a high-risk category.""Of course not," Fauci said, noting that a good rule of thumb is that "outside is better than inside, no crowd is better than crowd" and "crowd is better than big crowd."Days earlier, Dart, the executive director of the Tulsa County Health Department, urged people not to attend and told The Daily Beast he asked Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum to "postpone the event until it's safe for large crowds to gather indoors." Mayor Bynum's office only responded to a request for comment this week from The Daily Beast by noting that he was "not available," though the event appears to be within the city's control. The arena hosting the rally, the BOK Center, has been closed since March "out of an abundance of caution," according to its official website. And the City of Tulsa website declares that it must grant a permit for any event at the facility, though Bynum has said he did not know about it until after a permit was already given."I'm not positive that everything is safe," Bynum said on Wednesday.Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University and an expert on U.S. readiness for pandemics, called the rally "unconscionable"—especially in a state where he described the COVID-19 situation as "not exactly stable.""It's likely that an event like this, at this particular moment, is going to be a super-spreader event," said Redlener, painting a portrait where even one infected attendee could transmit the virus to dozens, who could in turn infect their friends, families, and coworkers. Deadly clusters started by just one asymptomatic or presymptomatic person have been documented all over the country in recent months, in Arkansas, in Chicago, in Washington state, and in New York. In many of those cases, all appropriate precautions were followed, and people still died.To that end, the BOK Center, which is hosting the event, has reportedly hired a private firm to conduct temperature tests, while event staff will pass out masks and hand sanitizer. But attendees will not be required to wear masks—and given the president's own behavior and the cascading culture wars over mask use, it's fair to wonder how many people would willingly oblige.Redlener noted attendance at all is still a gamble, even with protections, and a significant number of people will likely be forced to work at Trump's event."What if just one person dies who had nothing to do with the rally?" asked Redlener. "Is that worth it? It's a very cold calculus that they are taking, and I would do everything in my power if I was a public official to put an end to it."To be clear, like Fauci, the Republican mayor has said he would not be willing to personally attend the rally—but would greet the president beforehand. But in addition to the nearly 20,000 people who can fit inside the BOK Center, an overflow audience is reportedly set to be held in the nearby Cox Business Convention Center, according to The Tulsa World. Trump said this week that more than one million people had requested tickets, though that had not been verified. While at least 100,000 people were expected to attend the related events, it was not yet clear on Thursday how many people would be attending the overflow rally.The Tulsa County Public Health Department declined a request for an interview with The Daily Beast this week but provided the agency's public health recommendations, which note that "any large gathering of people in enclosed spaces where social distancing is difficult to maintain" is cause for concern, and urge residents to avoid such events and to continue to wear masks and practice diligent hand hygiene.Despite the apparent consensus from bipartisan lawmakers, doctors, and public health experts—and an unwillingness from even the city's mayor to attend the dangerous event—the community's best shot at preventing the rally was, for better or worse, in court.Lawyers Clark Brewster and Paul DeMuro filed a writ on Wednesday morning on behalf of four plaintiffs—Greenwood District Limited, the general partners of the neighborhood's Chamber of Commerce, in addition to the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation and two immune-compromised Tulsans—to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, seeking an injunction against the companies holding the rally.The BOK Center is owned by the city and managed by a firm called ASM Global. Doug Thornton, executive vice president for Arena, Stadia and Theaters at ASM Global, said during a Thursday special meeting of the Tulsa Public Facilities Authority that the company was "told at the time by city officials there were no concerns from a public safety standpoint," according to The Tulsa World. A spokesman for the company did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast last week, and voicemails left on Thursday were not immediately returned.The underlying lawsuit was initially filed in Tulsa County District Court, where the petition was denied after a set of COVID-19 cases among workers at the courthouse led to new protective measures, Brewster told The Daily Beast. The suit seeks to force BOK Center management to abide by safety protocols amid the pandemic, including temperature screenings, social distancing, limited seating capacity, and attorneys' fees and costs, The World first reported.Brewster said that he and his co-counsel were set for a Thursday afternoon hearing and were told to expect a ruling on Friday."As a lawyer I would strongly defend [Trump's] right to have that assemblage and the right of free speech for his supporters," Brewster told The Daily Beast on Wednesday. "The problem is that Tulsa has had a sharp escalation in infections. It looks like a hockey stick.""You can't even have a jury trial right now, and this event is going to pack in up to 20,000 people inside the convention center," said Brewster.In an apparent acknowledgement of the rally's danger, the Trump campaign made national headlines in recent weeks after it required people to sign a waiver assuming "all risks related to exposure to COVID-19" and agreeing not to hold the president or the arena responsible for any "illness or injury" before entering the BOK Center. "Nothing prevents them from infecting the rest of us," as Goodwin pointed out. "That doesn't protect those of us who don't want to be infected." "We don't have any waivers that we're obliged to sign," she added.As Brewster put it: "Even if you wanted to attend it and signed a release, that doesn't mean you aren't going to take it to the nursing home where you work.""They're going to hand out masks and hand sanitizer, but we have a reasonable expectation that people in attendance will not be wearing masks," he added. "This isn't about politics. It wouldn't make a difference if this was a Garth Brooks concert. I'd be filing the same injunction."What does make a difference is the cultural moment in which this potentially deadly experiment is taking place.As Goodwin put it, "You've got the COVID-19 virus and the virus of racism, and somehow there seems to be a collision of the two in Tulsa."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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| Minnesota activists hold Juneteenth rally for reparations Posted: 19 Jun 2020 04:18 PM PDT  Minnesota's Black Lives Matter chapter took to the state Capitol on Friday to mark Juneteenth with a demand for reparations and real police reform in a continued push for racial justice following the death of George Floyd. Juneteenth, the traditional commemoration date of the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, has taken on new resonance this year. There have been protests around the U.S. and beyond stemming from Floyd's death after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers.
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| Iran slams U.N. nuclear watchdog resolution, says it worked with body Posted: 19 Jun 2020 11:32 AM PDT  Iran's Foreign Ministry on Friday blasted a resolution by the U.N. nuclear watchdog IAEA, saying Tehran has cooperated with the body, in a statement by state media. "While Iran has the highest level of cooperation with the IAEA, the issuance of a resolution by the Board of Governors is a completely unconstructive and disappointing step," ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in the statement.
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