| One of Trump's favorite pollsters shows his approval plummeting Posted: 27 May 2020 11:39 AM PDT  President Trump's approval rating has plummeted since late February, according to the Rasmussen daily tracking poll, which the president frequently cited during his first three years in office.
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| ‘Burn It Down. Let Them Pay’: Deadly Chaos Erupts in Minneapolis as Fires Rage Over Police Violence Posted: 28 May 2020 03:25 AM PDT  MINNEAPOLIS—Flames and black smoke poured into the sky here early Thursday as protests over the death of George Floyd took a violent turn, with multiple local businesses and residential buildings near police headquarters set ablaze and at least one person fatally shot in the area. Minneapolis Police spokesman John Elder confirmed the shooting shortly before midnight local time, but did not say if it was connected to the protests, according to the Star Tribune. A video shared on Twitter and purportedly filmed at the scene showed medics frantically trying to save a man lying on the ground; at one point, one of the medics can be heard urging people to stay away, yelling, "There's somebody in there with a rifle, back up! Back up!"The shooting came amid major fires across the southern part of city, including an AutoZone that burned to the ground overnight, spewing toxic fumes across the entire neighborhood. Widespread looting included mobs—whose ties to organized protesters were vague at best—clearing out a Target across from the precinct house, and video emerged of heavily armed white men who said they were trying to keep people from damaging property.By 1 a.m., Mayor Jacob Frey, a first-term Democrat, said he was calling in the National Guard and state police to help get the scene under control. He pleaded for peace and urged people to go home.But for some protesters who'd faced down the threat of tear gas and rubber bullets, the fires were nothing compared to the death of Floyd, 46. The unarmed black man's last moments were captured on camera for the whole world to see as a white police officer knelt on his neck. "The whole city can burn down. They should all be out here protesting, not just people who care about black lives. Everybody. Burn it down. Make them pay. Maybe then they'll understand," one protester, Elicia S.—she declined to give her full last name—told The Daily Beast late Wednesday. "I read somewhere that you're never gonna care until it hits your front door. We are here now, knocking in the front door," demonstrator Becky Mathews added. The chaos came after police tried to fend off protesters surrounding Third Precinct headquarters by erecting barricades and firing projectiles at the crowd.One demonstrator, Jeremy Kocke, held up the back of his shirt to show a large bruise forming from a rubber bullet. "I turned around and was shot in the back," he said Wednesday evening. "I didn't do anything to get shot."The 32-year-old was one of several protesters struck by projectiles after activists surrounded the department's embattled precinct house. Some threw water bottles and rocks over a hastily constructed police barricade. From the roof, looming police brandished weapons at the crowd below.Earlier on Wednesday, Kocke and a roommate had listened to Minneapolis City Council members "talk about how the police need to be restrained and will show restraint," he told The Daily Beast. "They asked protesters to show restraint. But they [the police] aren't. This isn't restraint. There is no restraint. This is chaos."Like COVID-19 death rates and social-distancing arrests, a new wave of protests—and their police response—are highlighting racial disparities in the coronavirus era. Tuesday's initial demonstrations in Minneapolis, which protested the death of Floyd, likewise saw officers in riot gear crack down on demonstrators, striking at least one protester in the head with a rubber bullet and bloodying a reporter. Meanwhile, right-wing "reopen" protests in Minnesota and elsewhere have generally proceeded without police violence, even as mostly white demonstrators—some with extremist ties—occupied government buildings with semi-automatic rifles.Derek Chauvin, Minneapolis Cop Shown Kneeling on George Floyd's Neck, Hires Philando Castile Shooter's Lawyer Activists in Minneapolis say race is a motivating factor in police responses to the protests. It's why some say they're coming out to protest—even during a deadly pandemic—in the first place, and why an increasingly volatile landscape in a progressive city began to take on the feel of Ferguson-style unrest."Throwing tear gas at kids is not going to help," Leslie Redmon, president of the Minneapolis NAACP, told The Daily Beast. Redmon said she was among the demonstrators hit with tear gas on Tuesday and that the heavy-handed response would not improve the police's relationship with protesters.Nekima Levy-Armstrong, Minneapolis-based civil-rights attorney and founder of the Racial Justice Network, a racial equality group, described the police response as "excessive and militarized." Officers were filmed using tear gas, rubber bullets, and what appeared to be stun grenades on demonstrators on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. "There was no communication to protesters that police were going to start shooting projectiles and shooting rubber bullets and spraying tear gas," Levy-Armstrong told The Daily Beast, echoing activists and journalists who were caught in the crossfire. "They just started doing it. They didn't give people time to leave the area if they didn't want to engage with police on that level."Monique Cullars-Doty, an organizer with Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, said the police response hindered medical care for at least one person struck in the head with a rubber bullet. "They called 9-1-1 and the protesters were told that the police [on the scene] were the first responders and no medical attention was given. They were trying to get this person to ride to the hospital," said Cullars-Doty, whose own nephew was killed by police in nearby St. Paul in 2015.After witnessing one night of tear gas, Lisa Grimm brought water and milk to Wednesday night's protest. "I live less than a mile away from the murder. This is my home," she told The Daily Beast."How have the killers not been arrested and held like anyone else? This wouldn't be happening like this. We wouldn't have to risk our safety. We wouldn't be at risk for coronavirus. It's common logic." Some of the response might have stemmed from the police department's unprecedented decision to fire four officers involved in Floyd's death. A viral video showed Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for at least seven minutes after police apprehended him over an alleged forgery. In the harrowing video, captured by a bystander, Floyd repeatedly states that he cannot breathe and that he is dying. Bystanders plead with Chauvin to get off Floyd, noting that he appears to have died. Although police initially claimed Floyd later died in the hospital after a "medical incident," a Minneapolis Fire Department report found that he had no pulse when he was placed in an ambulance.The four officers' brisk firings were a first for the city and may have motivated police response to protesters, Levy-Armstrong argued. (The Minneapolis Police Department did not immediately return a request for comment.)"They want to retaliate," she told The Daily Beast earlier Wednesday. "They're angry, they're upset, and that's what we witnessed last night. Why did they need to wear riot gear and treat people like they were serious threats?"Images from reopen protests, including of white militia members lynching an effigy of Kentucky's governor, or armed protesters storming Michigan's statehouse, have led some protesters to question whether activists of color could get away with the same stunts."When I look and see the angry white protester with their guns and having the opportunity to celebrate their constitutional rights, then look at black protesters who are peaceful… getting tear gas and shot with rubber bullets," said Toya Woodland, a minister and Black Lives Matter activists. "We've never been looked at as whole people. We're still being looked at as animals, by the Three-Fifths Compromise," she said, referring to the part of the U.S. Constitution classifying enslaved people as less than fully human.Carmen Perez-Jordan, president of the nonprofit The Gathering for Justice, likewise tied the disparity in police response to America's centuries-long racial divides."How is it that an officer feels safe with an armed white person yelling and spitting in their face, but not with an unarmed black person?" she asked. Minneapolis, in particular, has struggled with those narratives. In 2015, Minneapolis police shot and killed Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old black man. When activists staged a days-long occupation outside the police station in protest, white supremacists fired on the crowd, seriously wounding five people.In 2016, a police officer in nearby Falcon Heights shot and killed Philando Castile, a black man during a traffic stop, while Castile's girlfriend and her young daughter looked on in horror. Chauvin, the officer who kneeled on Floyd's neck, has hired the lawyer who defended Castile's killer.Protests over Castile's killing were also marked by arrests."My friend had a bouquet of flowers in her hand, and there's a photo of her being arrested," Cullars-Doty said. "How much more peaceful can you be when you're just standing holding flowers?"She noted that the Castile protests had taken place at the state capitol in neighboring St. Paul, which has its own police force, where reopen protesters had demonstrated earlier this month, without incident.Reopen protesters don't deserve the crackdown Minneapolis protesters experienced, Perez-Jordan noted. But their demands differ. "Black and brown people are asking for their full humanity to be respected. They're asking for the right to live," she said, as opposed to reopen protesters who are demanding "a perceived right to access to privilege, like having a certain haircut or being able to go out to eat in public. That's very different from what we're seeing online every single day when it comes to police officers who can kill an unarmed black person or an unarmed brown person with impunity."And while reopen protesters will theoretically go home when the lockdowns end, Minneapolis protesters said the demonstrations might continue. (If protests do go on, Floyd's family—through their attorney, Benjamin Crump—has asked that looting and violence be rejected.)Anika Bowie, an activist who attended the Minneapolis protests on Wednesday, said the demonstrations were building on momentum from the Black Lives Matter protests that touched off after the killing of black teenager Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri."Just since Ferguson, we've had this whole backlog of history of police brutality," she said. "Now, we have more networks to exchange this information and communication."As a press conference Thursday, Frey tried to make protesters feel seen even as Police Chief Medaria Arradondo decried a "core group of people who had really been focused on causing destruction.""What we've seen is the result of so much built up anger and sadness, anger and sadness that has been engrained in our black community—not just because of five minutes of horror but 400 years," Frey said. "If you're feeling that sadness, that anger, it's not only understandable, it's right."For her part, Cullars-Doty attributed the protest explosion to the nature of Floyd's death. It wasn't the first time a horrific video of a black man who died in police custody went viral. But the deaths are adding up."That video that we just have is gut-wrenching," she said. "I was getting messages from people who haven't been out protesting ever. They're saying now that they're either fed up; they sat on the sidelines too long and some people have had their eyes opened. So I think this really is a big one."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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| Iran Guards warn US after receiving new combat vessels Posted: 28 May 2020 06:15 AM PDT  Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Thursday warned the United States against its naval presence in the Gulf as they received 110 new combat vessels. "We announce today that wherever the Americans are, we are right next to them, and they will feel our presence even more in the near future," the Guards' navy chief Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri said during a ceremony in southern Iran. Iran and the United States have appeared to be on the brink of an all-out confrontation twice in the past year.
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| Meng Wanzhou: Huawei executive suffers US extradition blow Posted: 27 May 2020 01:59 PM PDT  A Canadian court has ruled that the extradition hearing of Meng Wanzhou can continue.
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| US indicts ex-Venezuelan lawmaker linked with Maduro Posted: 27 May 2020 02:25 PM PDT |
| Putin says worst-case coronavirus scenario in Moscow averted as lockdown unwinds Posted: 27 May 2020 12:44 AM PDT  President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Moscow, the epicentre of Russia's coronavirus outbreak, had succeeded in preventing what he called worst-case scenarios as the city announced it would ease tough lockdown measures within days. Speaking to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, an ally, by video conference, Putin said it was obvious the situation in the city of 12.7 million people had stabilised thanks to steps taken by the authorities. It was now time for Moscow to provide medical help to regions where the coronavirus remained rampant, said Putin, something Sobyanin said would be organised immediately.
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| The Chinese CDC now says the coronavirus didn't jump to people at the Wuhan wet market — instead, it was the site of a super-spreader event Posted: 28 May 2020 03:49 PM PDT  The origin of the new coronavirus still isn't known. But according to the Chinese CDC, it isn't the wet market in Wuhan.
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| Pelosi calls on Trump to 'take responsibility' for coronavirus response Posted: 27 May 2020 01:15 PM PDT  In a press conference Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on President Trump to "stop making excuses. Take responsibility" for his response to the coronavirus pandemic.
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| Coronavirus infections are rising as states reopen, potentially signaling a second wave Posted: 27 May 2020 08:48 AM PDT  Twenty states reported an increase in new infections during the week ending May 24, up from 13 states the week before.
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| George Floyd protests: Man calls police on black entrepreneurs for using same gym in Minneapolis in viral video Posted: 28 May 2020 04:39 AM PDT  A white man in Minneapolis asked whether black men were entitled to use the same gym and threatened to call the police on them, amid protests at George Floyd's death.The exchange between black gym users and a white man was posted online in an Instagram video on Tuesday before spreading on social media.
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| Iran outraged by 'honour killing' of 14-year-old girl Romina Ashrafi Posted: 28 May 2020 03:36 AM PDT  The killing of an Iranian teen by her father after she eloped with an older man sparked outrage on Wednesday, with local media denouncing "institutionalised violence" in "patriarchal" Iran. Iranian media covered the apparent "honour" crime extensively, with Ebtekar newspaper leading its front page with the headline "Unsafe father's house". According to local media, Romina Ashrafi was killed in her sleep on May 21 by her father, who decapitated her in the family home in Talesh in northern Gilan province. The reports said her father had refused her permission to marry a man fifteen years her senior, spurring her to run away, but she was returned home after her father reported her. The legal marriage age in Iran is 13 for women. Iranian media reported that after authorities detained the teenager, she told a judge she feared for her life if she was returned to home. But what most outraged public opinion was the lenient punishment the father is likely to face, Ebtekar wrote. The newspaper notes that Iran's normal "eye for an eye" retributive justice does not apply to fathers who kill their children. Accordingly, he is likely to face three to 10 years in prison, a sentence that could be reduced further, the newspaper wrote, denouncing the "institutionalised violence" of Iran's "patriarchal culture". With the farsi hashtag Romina_Ashrafi focusing outrage on Twitter, President Hassan Rouhani "expressed his regrets" in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, pleading for the speedy passing of several anti-violence bills, his office said. On Twitter, Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar, said a bill on the protection of young people was in the "final phase" of validation by Iran's Guardian Council. The council, which vets legislation to ensure compliance with Iran's constitution and Islamic sharia law, has thrice previously called for changes to the law after it was passed by lawmakers, Ebtekar newspaper wrote. The publication fears that if the council sends back the bill, it will be buried by Iran's new parliament, which held its first session Wednesday and is dominated by conservatives and hardliners opposed to Rouhani.
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| Officials call for police probe of white woman's 911 call on black man in Central Park Posted: 28 May 2020 01:03 PM PDT  "Efforts to intimidate Black people by threatening to call law enforcement draw on a long, violent and painful history, and they are unacceptable," the city's Commission on Human Rights said.
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| Sen. Cortez Masto withdraws name from Biden VP consideration Posted: 28 May 2020 03:00 PM PDT  Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada said Thursday that she's not interested in serving as running mate to presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden. Cortez Masto, who in 2016 became the first Latina elected to the U.S. Senate, said in a statement that she supports the former vice president but does not want to join the Democratic presidential ticket.
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| Justice Department clears 3 senators in stock sales investigation, but Burr's case appears ongoing Posted: 27 May 2020 07:46 AM PDT  Investigations into Sens. Feinstein, Loeffler and Inhofe have been dropped. Sen. Richard Burr appears to still be under investigation.
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| Hong Kong 'no longer autonomous from China' - Pompeo Posted: 27 May 2020 01:34 PM PDT  The US secretary of state says the territory no longer merits special treatment under US laws.
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| Russia slams 'dangerous' US foreign policy moves Posted: 28 May 2020 03:00 PM PDT  Russia said on Thursday the United States was acting in a dngerous and unpredictable way, after Washington withdrew from a key military treaty and moved to ramp up pressure on Iran. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the comments after Washington announced it would end sanctions waivers for nations that remain in a nuclear accord signed with Iran.
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| One chart shows a noticeable correlation between how late a country started its coronavirus lockdown and the number of excess deaths Posted: 28 May 2020 06:30 AM PDT  Analysis from the Financial Times has shown that the number of excess deaths correlates to when a country decided to lock down.
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| A new 'parking lot Karen' is going viral on TikTok for physically blocking someone's car from an open parking spot Posted: 27 May 2020 08:21 AM PDT  A TikTok shows a "Karen" blocking TikTok user @savsoares and her friend from parking by leaning on their car as she directed another car to park.
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| So-called honor killing of teen girl sparks outcry in Iran Posted: 27 May 2020 02:53 PM PDT  The so-called honor killing of a 14-year-old Iranian girl by her dad, who reportedly beheaded her as she slept, has sparked a nationwide outcry.
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| Outrage in Iran over gruesome 'honour killing' of teenage girl Posted: 28 May 2020 05:03 AM PDT  Iran's president has called for so-called honour killings to be outlawed following the gruesome murder of a teenage girl, allegedly by her father, for running away from home with an older man. Romina Ashrafi, 14, was allegedly beheaded by her father as punishment for fleeing her home in Talesh, near Tehran, with a 29-year-old man. The couple were detained and Romina was handed back to her family as her father appeared to have forgiven her, according to the state news agency IRNA. But on May 21, the girl's father attacked her while she was sleeping and cut off her head with a sickle, according to a local news website called Gilkhabar. The father has since been arrested, as well as the man Romina eloped with according to local media reports. Under Iranian law, young girls can marry from 13 although most women get married in their early 20s according to the Associated Press. If convicted, the girl's father would face a prison sentence of ten years. Iran's penal code currently reduces the penalties for fathers, or other family members, who carry out honour killings on their relatives. Romina's death has shocked Iran and prompted Hassan Rouhani, the president, to order his Cabinet to speed up legislation against so-called honour killings.
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| Double murder suspect arrested after multistate manhunt Posted: 28 May 2020 10:45 AM PDT  The manhunt for the 23-year-old college senior had spanned Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
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| Turkey's Erdogan says many facilities to reopen on June 1 Posted: 28 May 2020 10:20 AM PDT  Turkey will lift restrictions on intercity travel and allow restaurants, cafes, parks and sports facilities to reopen from June 1 as it eases restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus outbreak, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday. Restrictions will remain in place on the movements of those aged over 65 and under 18. The virus has killed nearly 4,500 people in Turkey, with more than 160,000 infections.
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| 'No mask — no entry': New York Gov. Cuomo says he'll sign an executive order allowing businesses to refuse service to people who won't wear masks Posted: 28 May 2020 09:56 AM PDT  "No mask — no entry," said New York's governor. The executive order will give businesses the power to keep people without masks from entering.
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| Philippines eases capital's strict virus lockdown Posted: 28 May 2020 08:51 AM PDT  The Philippines will lift key coronavirus lockdown measures in the nation's capital, President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday, aiming to resuscitate a faltering economy after nearly three months of strict home quarantine. Manila has endured one of the world's longest lockdowns, which has hit the livelihoods of millions of workers but not halted a steady stream of new infections. "Remember that the entire nation is under quarantine," Duterte said in a late-night speech.
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| The police officer who knelt on George Floyd's neck has been involved in shootings and was the subject of 10 complaints Posted: 27 May 2020 01:50 PM PDT  Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been involved in deaths, three police shootings, and was the subject of 10 internal reviews.
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| 'Orwell is rolling in his grave': Anger and disbelief at strict new lockdown rules in Moscow Posted: 28 May 2020 04:15 AM PDT  The Moscow City Hall on Wednesday promised to re-open parks and finally allow walks after nine weeks of coronavirus lockdown but the incredibly strict rules regulating outdoor activities have been met with universal derision. Sergei Sobyanin, the Moscow mayor, announced something that could be a cause for celebration on Wednesday, telling Vladimir Putin, the president, in a televised conference call that the Russian capital was poised to begin lifting some of the lockdown restrictions. The number of new Covid-19 cases recorded in Moscow on Thursday, was just over 2,000, the lowest in five weeks, and the number of hospitalisations dropped by 40 per cent in a fortnight, according to the mayor. Most of Moscow's shops and parks will re-open on Monday, and walks and outdoor exercises will finally be allowed but with a caveat. The details of what the City Hall dubbed an "experiment" have angered even the mayor's supporters who have credited him for stemming the outbreak. Each apartment building will be assigned three days a week when residents will be allowed to venture outside but only between 9 am and 9 pm, exercising will be permitted only before 9 am, and face masks will be mandatory.
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| Israeli president calls Australian PM after teacher's ruling Posted: 27 May 2020 02:29 AM PDT  Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said he spoke Wednesday with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, following an Israeli court ruling that a former teacher accused of sexually abusing her students in Australia was fit to stand trial and be extradited. Rivlin noted that the matter was central to his state visit to Australia in February and that he had promised Morrison and Australia's pro-Israel Jewish community he would monitor the case closely.
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| New tropical hotspot may emerge in Atlantic amid busy start to hurricane season Posted: 28 May 2020 01:21 PM PDT  Two tropical storms have already formed prior to the official start of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, which begins on June 1- and AccuWeather meteorologists say there are two factors behind the unusual occurrence. These weather factors could soon cause more storms to brew, but this time, forecasters are watching a new tropical hotspot of the basin.Tropical Storm Arthur, the first storm of the season, was named by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) on May 16, the earliest-named tropical system to form in the Atlantic since Tropical Storm Arlene in April 2017. The system first developed into a tropical depression about 125 miles off Melbourne, Florida. As the disturbance gained strength and moved northward over warm waters in the western Atlantic, Arthur avoided landfall in North Carolina. But, the system still unleashed wind gusts of up to 49 mph in the state. Fortunately, no major impacts were reported, and Arthur went out to sea before it could directly strike land.Less than two weeks later, Tropical Storm Bertha became the second-named storm of the season on May 27 in a similar area to where Arthur had developed. Bertha will also go down as the first-named storm to make landfall in the U.S. this year. Bertha struck about 20 miles south of Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday, and unleashed flooding rainfall across the Carolinas and portions of the mid-Atlantic. Before officially being named the system drenched South Florida with flooding rainfall, which pushed monthly rain totals to more than two times the normal amount for May in places like Miami.The last time two named storms preceded the official start of hurricane season in the Atlantic was in 2016, when Hurricane Alex and Tropical Storm Bonnie both formed before June 1. This GOES-16 satellite image taken Wednesday, May 27, 2020, at 11:40 UTC and provided by THE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), shows Tropical Storm Bertha approaching the South Carolina coast. (NOAA via AP) "You get early season development when you get an interaction between the jet stream and the tropics," AccuWeather Chief Broadcast Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said. "It's still early enough in the year that, at times, the jet stream can take pronounced dips into the south."A southward plunge in the jet stream causes weather systems to interact with the warm water of the Atlantic, explained Rayno."The jet stream brings down frontal boundaries that stall, frontal boundaries are locations where showers and thunderstorms could form, and in time, if you can get that area to sit, you start to get lower pressure to form, and in time this could turn into a tropical system," said Rayno.Arthur and Bertha both formed from a similar set of weather factors, and a third-named tropical storm could form as early as next week, fueled by another big dive of the jet stream."On Monday, this dip in the jet stream [is] gonna push a frontal boundary into the northwest Caribbean. That frontal boundary will stall as we get into Monday. [On] Tuesday, showers and thunderstorms start to form and by mid- to- late-next week, I think we are going to get an area of low pressure to form," said Rayno. The Miami skyline is shrouded in clouds as a cyclist rides along Biscayne Bay at Matheson Hammock Park, Friday, May 15, 2020, in Miami. A trough of low pressure moved through the Florida Straits and organized over the northwest Bahamas to become Tropical Storm Arthur. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Rayno said that he believes there is a 50/50 chance that the third named storm, which would be called Cristobal, could be the result of this setup.AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist David Samuhel said tropical trouble could first brew in the East Pacific before emerging into the Atlantic. Forecasters have been monitoring an area of disturbed weather in the East Pacific this week that could soon churn out a tropical entity, which could take an unusual track into Central America."We are watching an area south of Mexico and Central America. It is expected to become a tropical depression or even a named storm as it approaches the coast of El Salvador, Guatemala and southern Mexico," Samuhel said.Even though the storm that is being monitored will likely dissipate over land, Samuhel said that, "There will be abundant moisture associated with the system and when that moisture moves northward into the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, it could reform into a new tropical system."The last three tropical cyclones to make landfall in the U.S. during the month of June were all Gulf of Mexico storms, similar to the hotspot currently being monitored. The most recent Gulf of Mexico storm to result in a June landfall was Tropical Storm Cindy, which came ashore in western Louisiana in 2017.Samuhel advised that while the reformation of the storm would not happen until several days into June, the conditions could be favorable for development as water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico are above normal and upper-level conditions in the atmosphere could remain favorable.It has been a few years since the third-named storm of the season formed as early in the season as June and made landfall in the U.S., with the last occurrence being Tropical Storm Cindy in 2017 and then again in 2016 when Tropical Storm Colin developed and slammed into the Gulf Coast of Florida, north of Tampa.Before that, it had been several decades since this happened with the last time prior to 2016 being back in 1968, when Tropical Storm Candy formed in late June.Having three named storms this early in the season is a rare occurrence, and only twice in the last decade has a fourth-named storm formed in June with Tropical Storm Danielle in 2017 and Tropical Storm Debby in 2012. Tommy and Dorothy McIntosh walk away from their daughters flooded home in Live Oak Fla., Wednesday, June 27, 2012. Dozens of homes and businesses were flooded by torrential rains from Tropical Storm Debby. (AP Photo/Dave Martin) Landfalling hurricanes are even more rare during the month of June. Hurricane Bonnie in 1986 was the last hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. during the month. The Category 1 storm generated peak winds of 85 mph before rolling into High Island, Texas. Bonnie claimed five lives in the U.S. and it triggered more than a foot of rainfall in parts of Texas, including 13 inches in Ace, Texas."Only one major hurricane has made landfall in June anywhere in the U.S.," Samuhel said, adding that Hurricane Audrey dealt a devastating blow to southwestern Louisiana when it crashed onshore as a Category 3 storm, packing 125-mph winds, in 1957, and killed more than 400 in the U.S. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), Bonnie ranks as the seventh deadliest storm to make landfall in the U.S. and the third deadliest in Louisiana history.Dan Kottlowski, AccuWeather's top hurricane expert, and his team of long-range meteorologists, have been hard at work analyzing weather patterns for the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season since late in winter. Kottlowski warned about early season risks in the Gulf of Mexico in his initial forecast for the season, which was released on March 25.Kottlowski upped the numbers projected for the 2020 season in an early May forecast update. He expressed "growing concern" for an active season due to a La Niña pattern that is expected to develop during the season. La Niña is the cool phase and counterpoint to El Niño -- and it is characterized by three consecutive months of below-normal temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific, near the equator. The team is now predicting 14 to 20 tropical storms and seven to 11 hurricanes, since La Niña patterns can limit episodes of high winds that can disrupt tropical development in the Atlantic.Four to six of the storms could strengthen into major hurricanes - Category 3 or higher. And Kottlowski warned that four to six named tropical systems could make direct impacts on the U.S mainland, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.The AccuWeather TV Network on Thursday night will host its first-ever hurricane town hall. The exclusive one-hour event will be moderated by AccuWeather Broadcast Meteorologist Brittany Boyer who will lead a roundtable discussion with several of the top minds in hurricane forecasting and weather preparedness.Among those joining the discussion will be National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham, AccuWeather's own hurricane expert Dan Kottlowksi and Trevor Riggen of the American Red Cross, along with several others. Chief among the topics being discussed will be the impact the coronavirus pandemic will have on preparing for hurricanes this season, which AccuWeather forecasters believe will be very active. Tune in to the AccuWeather TV Network at 9 p.m. EDT Thursday evening and check AccuWeather.com for highlights and a recap.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios
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| China and U.S. should respect each other's core interests - Premier Li Posted: 28 May 2020 03:26 AM PDT  China and United States should respect each other's core interests and manage their differences, Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday, adding that a decoupling of their economies is not good for the world. "I believe both countries should respect each other and develop a relationship on the basis of equality, respect each other's core interests and major concerns and embrace cooperation," Li said in his annual news conference after the close of the annual meeting of parliament.
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| House passes PPP bill giving small businesses more time, flexibility to access small business loans Posted: 28 May 2020 10:17 AM PDT  The Paycheck Protection Program already has provided more than 4.4 million small businesses with an infusion of cash to keep their workers employed.
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| This 'bread omelet' is the most genius way of making an egg sandwich Posted: 27 May 2020 01:34 PM PDT  This technique changes the game because everything happens in one skillet and it eliminates the worry of burning your toast.
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| Pharma chiefs see coronavirus vaccine by year-end, but challenges 'daunting' Posted: 28 May 2020 12:34 PM PDT  Pharmaceutical company executives said Thursday that one or several COVID-19 vaccines could begin rolling out before 2021, but warned the challenges would be "daunting" as it was estimated that 15 billion doses would be needed to halt the pandemic. Well over 100 labs around the world are scrambling to come up with a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, including 10 that have made it to the clinical trial stage. "The hope of many people is that we will have a vaccine, hopefully several, by the end of this year," Pascal Soriot, head of AstraZeneca, told a virtual briefing.
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| Trump is attacking a Twitter employee over the company's decision to fact-check him because the employee criticized Trump in past tweets Posted: 28 May 2020 10:29 AM PDT  Twitter's head of site integrity previously tweeted that Trump was a "racist tangerine" and decried "ACTUAL NAZIS IN THE WHITE HOUSE."
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| Warrants describe nightmarish child abuse case in Tennessee Posted: 27 May 2020 11:19 AM PDT  Arrest warrants in a Tennessee couple's abuse case describe a hellish existence for four children in their legal custody, a nightmare that finally ended after a little boy was spotted walking alone along a Roane County road. Michael Anthony Gray Sr., 63, and his wife, Shirley Ann Gray, 60, were arrested Monday on charges of aggravated child abuse, especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated child neglect and abuse of a corpse, authorities said. The oldest had been locked in the partially flooded, unfinished basement for stealing food shortly after the family moved to the home in June 2016, authorities said, "and had no contact with anyone outside the basement, only given small amounts of food, being white bread and some water," the warrants state.
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| Archaeologists discover pristine ancient Roman mosaic floor buried under piles of vines Posted: 27 May 2020 12:17 PM PDT  Archaeologists have revisited an ancient Roman dig site that hasn't been touched in a century — and found something incredible underneath.In a vineyard outside the Italian city of Verona, under several feet of vines and dirt, researchers have uncovered what appears to be a perfectly preserved mosaic floor and pieces of a villa foundation dating back to the third century A.D. Surveyors in the commune of Negrar di Valpolicella north of Verona shared images of the site, providing a glimpse at a discovery that's largely still hidden beneath the dirt, BBC reports.Archaeologists first mapped out what appeared to be the remains of an ancient Roman villa outside Verona back in 1922 before the site was abandoned. The Superintendent of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Verona decided to revisit the site last October and again in February, but their efforts to unearth the site were cut short when COVID-19 arrived in Italy, the Guardian reports. Excavation resumed last week and, by Monday, there was something incredible to show for their efforts. There's still a lot of careful work to be done before the whole floor and foundation can be revealed — along with some careful negotiation with the owners of the vineyard now growing on top of this ancient discovery.More stories from theweek.com Amy Klobuchar declined to prosecute officer at center of George Floyd's death after previous conduct complaints Trump signs executive order seeking regulations on social media Trump retweets video declaring 'the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat'
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| Russian village building LNG supply plant to get new hospital after COVID-19 outbreak Posted: 28 May 2020 04:37 AM PDT  Russia's Arctic region of Murmansk plans to build a new temporary hospital in a village where a vital liquefied natural gas supply plant is being built after an outbreak of the new coronavirus. Murmansk governor Andrey Chibis said the authorities had contained the outbreak in Belokamenka, where Russian gas producer Novatek is building the plant, and construction of the plant had not been suspended. The hospital is expected to cost around 1 billion roubles ($14 million) to build in Belokamenka, officials said, and will be funded by an emergency transfer from the federal budget.
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| Bills You Don't Have to Pay During the Coronavirus Pandemic Posted: 28 May 2020 09:06 AM PDT |
| Why India must battle the shame of period stain Posted: 28 May 2020 10:38 AM PDT  Award-winning photographer Niraj Gera takes on stigma surrounding menstruation in India.
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| Study: Death Rates for Drivers Vary by Car Size Posted: 27 May 2020 09:01 PM PDT  When it comes to vehicle crashes, size and weight matter a great deal. That's the conclusion of a comprehensive, three-year study into how drivers fared in their vehicles over time by the Insuran...
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| Britain shuts embassy in North Korea after extreme lockdown Posted: 27 May 2020 08:22 AM PDT  Britain has closed its embassy in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang and ordered its staff to leave the country. The surprise closure is linked to coronavirus-related restrictions in place since earlier this year, which the Foreign Office said had left it unable to "rotate our staff and sustain the operation of the Embassy". It follows a similar evacuation of a number of other diplomats and foreign residents from the North Korean capital in March. A number of sources told the US news website NK News on Wednesday that the British diplomats left North Korea by land, crossing the DPRK's border with China earlier on Wednesday. Flights out of the country remain grounded. Hundreds of foreign residents remain in Pyongyang, including diplomats from the Swedish and Russian embassies and a small number of aid workers, though absent representatives from Germany, Switzerland, France, and Italy. There are currently no British residents in the country. Resident diplomats had previously raised their concerns about the severity of the DPRK authorities' coronavirus-prevention rules, which saw the country close its borders and place them under effective house arrest for over a month earlier in the year.
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| Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley: Trump has failed to justify ouster of watchdogs, fueling political speculation Posted: 27 May 2020 03:16 PM PDT  The unusual rebuke from Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley comes amid scrutiny of Trump's decision to fire the State Department's inspector general.
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