| Ku Klux Klan leader drove truck into crowd of peaceful protesters, Virginia officials say Posted: 08 Jun 2020 01:35 PM PDT  "We lived through this in Charlottesville in 2017," Henrico Commonwealth Attorney Shannon Taylor said. "This egregious criminal act will not go unpunished."
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| N. Korea to cut communication lines to 'enemy' South: KCNA Posted: 08 Jun 2020 03:02 PM PDT  North Korea will cut military and political communication links to "enemy" South Korea on Tuesday, state media said, after threats over activists sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets over the border. The threats come with inter-Korean ties at a standstill, despite three summits between the North's Kim Jong Un and the South's President Moon Jae-in in 2018. Pyongyang "will completely cut off and shut down the liaison line between the authorities of the North and the South, which has been maintained through the North-South joint liaison office," as well as other communication links "from 12:00 on June 9, 2020," the Korean Central News Agency said.
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| Why Did Iran Want This Florida Man In Exchange For an American Veteran? (Think Herpes) Posted: 08 Jun 2020 11:29 AM PDT  U.S. officials say he was part of a "very large conspiracy" to help Iran research a herpes vaccine.
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| China demands proof from U.S. senator for COVID-19 accusation Posted: 08 Jun 2020 12:54 AM PDT  China on Monday challenged U.S. Senator Rick Scott to show evidence supporting his accusation that Beijing is trying to slow down or sabotage the development of a COVID-19 vaccine by Western countries. Scott declined to give details of the evidence when asked during the interview on Sunday but said it had come through the intelligence community.
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| Small business owner: The looters who broke into my store weren't protesting Floyd death Posted: 07 Jun 2020 04:28 AM PDT  My heart goes out to all those who haven't had a fair shake and are victims of violence. But I'm delighted the National Guard is in Washington.
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| 10-foot great white shark kills surfer in Australia Posted: 06 Jun 2020 08:24 PM PDT  A 60-year-old surfer was attacked and killed by a 3-meter (10-foot) great white shark off the coast of northern New South Wales state on Sunday, officials said. The man received a bite to the back of his thigh and was brought to the shore by other surfers who had fought off the shark, a surf rescue group, Surf Life Saving NSW, said in a statement. "A shark biologist assessed photographs and confirmed a white shark was responsible for the fatal attack," the state's Department of Primary Industries said.
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| A US Marine veteran stood outside the Utah Capitol with the words 'I can't breathe' taped over his mouth for so long that his shoes started melting into the ground Posted: 07 Jun 2020 10:31 PM PDT  Todd Winn, a two-time Purple Heart recipient, stood outside for three hours in complete silence as temperatures rose to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
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| Army Considering Renaming Bases Named After Confederate Leaders Posted: 08 Jun 2020 03:42 PM PDT  Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy on Monday reversed his stance on renaming U.S. Army bases currently named for Confederate leaders and is now reportedly "open" to renaming them."The Secretary of the Army is open to a bipartisan discussion on the topic," Army spokesperson Colonel Sunset Belinsky told Politico.The reversal comes on the heels of the U.S. Marines' decision to ban the display of the Confederate flag on its military bases, including on bumper stickers, clothing, and coffee mugs. The ban was made official on Friday."The Confederate battle flag has all too often been co-opted by violent extremist and racist groups whose divisive beliefs have no place in our Corps," the Marines said in a statement. "Our history as a nation, and events like the violence in Charlottesville in 2017, highlight the divisiveness the use of the Confederate battle flag has had on our society."Some of the white supremacist protesters who demonstrated in Charlottesville, Virginia during the summer of 2017 sported Confederate flag paraphernalia as they protested the removal of a statue of General Robert E. Lee. The protests turned violent, and one white supremacist protester purposefully rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing one woman.The Army previously said in February that it had no plans to rename the nearly dozen major bases and facilities named in honor of Confederate leaders. However, the service branch has faced pressure more recently to rename some of its military installations, including Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Hood in Texas, Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, and Fort Benning in Georgia.The reversal comes amid national protests and riots over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for close to nine minutes until after Floyd passed out. Both peaceful protests against police brutality as well as riots and looting have broken out in metropolitan areas around the country in the wake of Floyd's death.
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| Feds press criminal case against Flynn partner Posted: 07 Jun 2020 08:28 PM PDT  The move occurs even amid ongoing efforts to drop charges against Michael Flynn.
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| The Hmong American community, power, privilege and a place in Asian America Posted: 08 Jun 2020 09:39 AM PDT  Former policeman Tou Thao's role in George Floyd's death raises a discussion about the refugee community's place within the Asian model minority myth.
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| US Democrats introduce sweeping legislation to reform police Posted: 08 Jun 2020 10:44 AM PDT  The "martyrdom" of George Floyd will spark changes in policing, says Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
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| Saudi Arabia considers limiting haj pilgrims amid COVID-19 fears Posted: 08 Jun 2020 07:32 AM PDT  Saudi Arabia could drastically limit numbers at the annual haj pilgrimage to prevent a further outbreak of coronavirus after cases in the country topped 100,000, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. Official data show haj and the lesser, year-round umrah pilgrimage earn the kingdom about $12 billion a year. Saudi Arabia asked Muslims in March to put haj plans on hold and suspended umrah until further notice.
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| The UK steps up its fight with China by preparing tough new laws to prevent hostile takeovers of British firms Posted: 08 Jun 2020 02:57 AM PDT  New laws could make it compulsory for British firms to report attempted takeovers that could create risks to national security.
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| Satellite images of packed Wuhan hospitals suggest coronavirus outbreak began earlier than thought Posted: 08 Jun 2020 09:07 AM PDT  Coronavirus may have broken out in the Chinese city of Wuhan much earlier than previously thought, according to a new US study looking at satellite imagery and internet searches. The Harvard Medical School research found that the number of cars parked at major Wuhan hospitals at points last autumn was much higher than the preceding year. It also found that searches from the Wuhan region for information on "cough" and "diarrhea", known Covid-19 symptoms, on the Chinese search engine Baidu spiked around the same time. It has led researchers to suggest that the outbreak began much earlier than December 31, the date the Chinese government notified the World Health Organisation of the outbreak. The findings add weight to US calls for Beijing to cooperate with investigators attempting to understand the origins of a virus which has now claimed more than 400,000 lives worldwide.
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| AG Barr says pepper spray 'is not a chemical irritant.' But the company that makes pepper-spraying balls says otherwise. Posted: 07 Jun 2020 02:24 PM PDT  According to PepperBall company, their products contain "a proprietary chemical irritant that's proven more effective from even greater distances."
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| McEnany bashes Romney for supporting Black Lives Matter movement Posted: 08 Jun 2020 01:02 PM PDT  White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Monday criticized Sen. Mitt Romney for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement after he marched with demonstrators in Washington, D.C.
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| Prince Andrew ‘falsely portraying himself as eager to cooperate’ in Epstein investigation, US lawyer say Posted: 08 Jun 2020 02:11 PM PDT  Prince Andrew has tried to "falsely portray himself to the public as eager and willing to cooperate", according to a US lawyer involved in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.His comments came after the Duke of York's lawyers claimed the prince had offered to serve as a witness at least three times this year.
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| White suburbanites flocked to Detroit's protests. Black residents are divided on their role. Posted: 08 Jun 2020 01:59 PM PDT  As Detroit's black community copes with the death of George Floyd, residents are split over how to respond — and the role of white suburban protesters.
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| Colin Powell announces support for Biden, saying Trump "lies all the time" Posted: 07 Jun 2020 07:49 AM PDT  "I certainly cannot, in any way, support President Trump this year," Powell said on CNN.
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| Kamala Harris Schools Meghan McCain on ‘Defund the Police’ Posted: 08 Jun 2020 09:32 AM PDT  Meghan McCain asked Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) what she may have thought was going to be a "gotcha" question Monday morning on The View. Harris wasn't having it. "Many activists right now are calling for a defunding of the police," McCain said when it was her turn to question the senator, citing the Minneapolis City Council vote that would go even further in dismantling that city's police department. "I want to know from you, do you support defunding and removing the police from American communities, and if not, why do you think there is such a hard time being differentiated right now between defunding and reforming police departments?" "So Meghan, I think that a big part of this conversation really is about reimagining how we do public safety in America," Harris began. "We have confused the idea that to achieve safety, you put more cops on the street instead of understanding to achieve safe and healthy communities, you put more resources into the public education system of those communities, into affordable housing, into home ownership, into access to capital for small businesses, access to health care regardless of how much money people have. That's how you achieve safe and healthy communities." Kamala Harris Shuts Down Meghan McCain for Siding With Joe BidenThe senator went on to explain that "in many cities in America, over one-third of their city budget goes to police." She asked, "What about the money going to social services? What about the money going to helping people with job training? What about helping with mental health issues that communities are being plagued with, for which we're putting no resources?" "Senator, I hear you loud and clear, and I don't think there's any rational American right now that doesn't think we need to take a cold, hard look at reforming our police," McCain replied. But she still wanted a yes or no answer on one question: "Are you for defunding the police?" "How are you defining 'defund the police?'" Harris shot back."Well, I'm not for anything remotely for that," McCain replied, seeming to jumble her words a bit. "I assume, and again, this is something that is new to me, I assume it's removing police." She went on to quote her nemesis Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and repeated a talking point about how it would be a "privilege" to call the police if someone broke into her home. After Harris once again explained that "defund the police" means a reimagining of "how we are achieving public safety in America," Sunny Hostin was forced to jump in to make it even simpler for her co-host."Just to add to the conversation, defunding the police doesn't mean abolishing the police," Hostin said plainly. "It means taking some of those funds that are typically one-third of the budget of a city and giving some of those funds to services like education and mental health resources." Hostin then moved on to one more yes-or-no question for Senator Harris: "Given the current climate," should Joe Biden commit to picking a black female running mate? "It's not that simple," Harris, who is considered a frontrunner for that position, replied. "I just want him to win. He has to win." Ricky Gervais on 'After Life,' Fox News, and Getting Called 'Alt-Right'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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| Air strikes break truce in rebel towns in Syria's northwest: witnesses Posted: 08 Jun 2020 10:28 AM PDT |
| India coronavirus: Patients stranded as Delhi struggles with Covid Posted: 08 Jun 2020 12:31 AM PDT  The Indian capital has seen a surge of infections and its healthcare system is struggling to cope.
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| U.S. military plane crashes into Iraqi base, no fatalities Posted: 08 Jun 2020 01:34 PM PDT |
| Prince Andrew: Lawyers lash out at US justice department in new Jeffrey Epstein statement Posted: 08 Jun 2020 08:02 AM PDT  Prince Andrew's lawyers have lashed out at the US justice department over how it has treated their client in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation."The Duke of York has on at least three occasions this year offered his assistance as a witness to the DOJ (Department of Justice)," their statement read.
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| Families of Trayvon Martin and Oscar Grant on protests: 'White supremacy is on its way out' Posted: 08 Jun 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Relatives of Tamir Rice, Alton Sterling and other black Americans killed by police describe a brutal road ahead – but some voice hope * George Floyd killing – latest US updates * See all our George Floyd coverage"I am enraged. I am on fire." Weeks before what would have been Tamir Rice's 18th birthday, his mother, Samaria Rice, is watching nationwide protests over the police killings of more unarmed black Americans. "I'm actually not thinking about any of these protests. I'm thinking about: how can the police departments be dismantled? How can their policies and laws be dismantled?" Rice said. "How are they able to kill black and brown people, senseless killings, with immunity?" It has been almost six years since her 12-year-old child was shot to death by a white police officer in a park in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2014. Tamir had been playing with a toy gun. The officers involved faced no criminal charges. One was suspended for 10 days; the officer who killed Tamir was fired for lying on his job application, but later rehired by another police department. "I don't understand how this is allowed to continue," Rice said. "There's a killer virus out there, and the police are still killing during a pandemic."rice family For family members of black Americans killed by police and white vigilantes – including Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin and Alton Sterling – much of what they have witnessed in the past week is painfully familiar.But they also see signs of change. "I think people have had enough," said Sybrina Fulton, whose unarmed 17-year-old son Trayvon was shot to death in 2012 by a neighborhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman, who was later acquitted of all charges.Fulton said the size and intensity of the protests was a result of Americans witnessing the "back-to-back" killings of three unarmed black people: George Floyd and Breonna Taylor killed by the police, and Ahmaud Arbery shot to death by white men who decided he was a threat. Part of what was so infuriating about the video of George Floyd was the police officer's attitude, several family members of black Americans killed by police said. "He sat there with his knee in his neck, with his hands in his pocket, with a smirk on his face, like it was funny, like that's a fun thing to do," Samaria Rice said. "That's insulting. That's a slap in the face. That's why this protest is lasting." Black Americans also know that white perpetrators of heinous acts of violence – such as Dylann Roof, the young white man who murdered black parishioners during a Bible study meeting in Charleston – have been taken into custody and are still alive today, Fulton said, while Floyd was killed after being accused of buying cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. "It's a cycle. It just keeps going and going and going," said Quinyetta McMillon, the mother of Alton Sterling's eldest son. Sterling was 37 when a white police officer shot him six times as he was selling CDs outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 2016. Video of the incident showed the officer shouting profanities at Sterling and threatening him. "Just like George Floyd pled for his life, Alton pleaded for his life, as well," McMillon said. "I couldn't see it as a racial profiling in the beginning, but as time goes on, now, I see, it's all a racist issue," she said. "The way they talked to him as if he was a dog in the streets, as if he was not a human being." The officers involved were never criminally charged. After widespread public protests, the officer who killed Sterling was fired, but he appealed against the decision, and his firing was retracted and he was allowed to resign. One thing that is different now, McMillon said, is the behavior of the American president. The day after Sterling's killing, during a protest in Dallas over his death, five police officers were ambushed and shot. quinyetta mcmillon and alton sterlingThe then president, Barack Obama, hosted a joint event that brought together McMillon and other family members of those lost to police shootings together with police and families of officers who had been killed, she said. "We welcomed each other with open arms, all of us," McMillion said. The families cried together. Later, backstage, "we hugged each other and we prayed. Everyone was on the same page. Everyone felt the same pain. "Trump's doing nothing," she said. "Trump's throwing a rock and hiding behind it. He's sending out the troops to do his dirty work." Some family members of people killed by police said they agreed with the protesters across the country who are pushing not just for procedural or training reforms, but to "defund the police". Samaria Rice said she was sympathetic to that demand. "I've seen the body-cams be upgraded. I've seen the police policies as far as training be replaced. But that's not enough for me, to do a dibble and a dabble," Rice said. "If they can't do their job correctly, what do they need the money for?" she said. "I definitely think the police don't need more money. They need to be defunded." Other family members still believe that their focus should be on reforming the practices of police departments. "I don't agree with that," Fulton, Trayvon Martin's mother, said of the "defund the police" slogan. "I think we need more police. We need police with better standards, and police with better ethics and better work habits." Fulton is running for county commissioner in Florida. "I want residents to feel safe," she said. "I want to bridge the gap between the law enforcement and the community." What's new about the current protests, several family members said, is how many white Americans are showing up to demonstrate. "I see people of all colors that are there, and that are standing with African Americans," Fulton said. "They really saw what happened. They're compassionate, and they feel the pain that we have been feeling for so many years."Black Americans have been protesting about police brutality for decades, but now cellphone video means that other Americans can watch exactly what their treatment by the police looks like, Fulton said."Now they see it, and it hits you right in your face," she said. For anyone who watched the video of George Floyd, "if you had a heart beating in your chest, you knew it was wrong".When 22-year-old Oscar Grant was shot to death by a transit police officer in Oakland, California, in 2009, while lying restrained on the ground, there were widespread protests, said his uncle, Cephus X Johnson, known as "Uncle Bobby". But there was also a tense counter-protest in support of the transit officer in nearly Walnut Creek, a wealthy suburb, Johnson said. Last year, Johnson, said, he watched as hundreds of white residents protested again in Walnut Creek. This time, he said, the protesters were demonstrating on the side of a black man killed by the police. "We have white allies today that are no longer just turning a blind eye," Johnson said. "To see the power of our unity fighting this issue together has become critical." With broader public support for protests against police brutality, Johnson said, he is also seeing more police violence targeting white protesters, something he said marks a change from the way police treated white people during the Oscar Grant movement. "They would be more gentle with them," he said. "Now this viciousness is coming out ... They're willing to put down a white boy, or an older white woman." That escalating police violence is a sign "that change has come", Johnson said. "White supremacy is on its way out," he said, and "anything that really wants to survive will fight like hell to survive." What's coming in the next days and weeks is not going to be easy, Johnson said: "The true color of various legislators is coming out. The criminalization of the movement is going to pick up." The point of criminalizing protesters is to "divide and conquer" and undermine their support. White supremacy "is not going to win, but the sad part is, it's going to get even more vicious".But progress for black civil rights in America has always come at a cost, he said: protesters brutalized, protesters murdered. "Some of us are going to die in the process of bringing real freedom, justice and equality," he said.sybrina fulton and trayvon martinFulton, Trayvon Martin's mother, said she was keeping her faith in young protesters. It was young people, she said, who brought the story of Trayvon's killing to the forefront, by protesting and posting photographs of themselves in hoodies. "It wasn't the news outlets," she said. "They picked it up because of the young people." "They're already passionate. They're already fearless. I would just tell them to keep moving forward," she said. Rice, who is still grieving that she will never know what her 12-year-old son Tamir would have looked like as a young man, said the current climate was like nothing she had ever experienced. "The country is in an uproar and we're living on edge," Samaria Rice said. "We don't know what is going to happen next." "God bless this country, that's all I can say. I have never seen nothing like this, such a rage like this before," she said. "This is the straw that broke the camel's back. You cannot keep doing stuff to oppress people and think nothing is going to happen."
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| Treasure chest worth millions found in the Rocky Mountains after deadly decade-long search Posted: 08 Jun 2020 05:35 AM PDT  Multiple people died searching for the treasure hidden 10 years ago in the Rocky Mountains by Forrest Fenn.
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| 'This is not a dictatorship': Democratic congressman accuses Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of trying to 'anoint' his successor because she backed his primary opponent Posted: 08 Jun 2020 09:05 AM PDT  Ocasio-Cortez has long argued that robust primaries strengthen democracy and she's has endorsed a slate of progressive challengers this cycle.
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| Over half of people tested in Italy's Bergamo have COVID-19 antibodies Posted: 08 Jun 2020 11:44 AM PDT  More than half the residents tested in Italy's northern province of Bergamo have COVID-19 antibodies, health authorities said on Monday, citing a sample survey. Of 9,965 residents who had blood tests between April 23 and June 3, 57% had antibodies indicating they had come into contact with the coronavirus, the survey showed. Health authorities in Bergamo said the results were based on a "random" sample which was "sufficiently broad" to be a reliable indicator of how many people had been infected in the province, which became the epicentre of Italy's outbreak.
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| Mulberry Harbors: The Crazy D-Day Tech That Helped Crush Hitler for Good Posted: 08 Jun 2020 05:16 AM PDT  Instead of capturing a harbor, the Allies opted to bring it with them.
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| Embattled NY Times Opinion Editor James Bennet Resigns After Staff Revolt Posted: 07 Jun 2020 01:21 PM PDT  New York Times opinion editor James Bennet on Sunday announced that he has resigned, effectively immediately, following an internal revolt over Republican Sen. Tom Cotton's "Send in the Troops" column published last week.The newspaper announced that Katie Kingsbury will step in as an interim opinion page editor through the election; and that Bennet's deputy editor Jim Dao is being reassigned back to the newsroom.In a statement, Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger said: "James is a journalist of enormous talent and integrity who believes deeply in the mission of The Times. He oversaw a significant transformation of the Opinion department, which broadened the range of voices we publish and pushed us into new formats like video, graphics and audio. I'm grateful for his many contributions."Bennet came under intense scrutiny late last week after publishing a column from pro-Trump Sen. Cotton calling upon President Donald Trump to send in the military as a response to nationwide protests against police brutality.The Wednesday afternoon column, which Bennet did not read before its publication, caused an open revolt at the paper as dozens of employees from across various departments all tweeted its headline along with the caption: "Running this puts Black @NYTimes staff in danger."Bennet initially defended the decision to run the opinion piece, but on Friday, during a tense company-wide meeting, he and the paper's bosses issued a mea culpa, lamenting that he allowed the opinion page to be "stampeded by the news cycle," and that it would be necessary to rethink the section altogether. He additionally admitted that the Times did "invite" Cotton to submit the piece."I just want to begin by saying I'm very sorry, I'm sorry for the pain that this particular piece has caused," Bennet said. "I do think this is a moment for me and for us to interrogate everything we do in opinion."Bennet also took several questions from the paper's staff, including why he did not personally read Cotton's column before it was published. That failure, Bennet said, was "another part of the process that broke down." He added: "I should have been involved in signing off on the piece... I should have read it and signed off."In a memo sent to staff following news of Bennet's departure, Sulzberger emphasized that "None of these changes mark a retreat from The Times's responsibility to help people understand a range of voices across the breadth of public debate. That role is as important as it's ever been."He added: "Because we have faced questions in recent days about our core values, I want to say this plainly: As an institution we are opposed to racism in every corner of society. We are opposed to injustice. We believe deeply in principles of fairness, equality and human rights. Those values animate both our news report and our opinion report."Seth Meyers Demolishes New York Times for Running 'Fascist' Tom Cotton Op-EdRead 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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| Deputy killed in California ambush by Air Force sergeant Posted: 07 Jun 2020 09:39 AM PDT  A Northern California sheriff's deputy was killed and two law enforcement officers wounded Saturday when they were ambushed with gunfire and explosives while pursuing a suspect, authorities said. The U.S. Air Force confirmed Sunday that the suspect was an active duty sergeant stationed at Travis Air Force Base. Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, 38, was shot and killed in Ben Lomond, an unincorporated area near Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart said.
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| Russia’s new nuclear policy could be a path to arms control treaties Posted: 08 Jun 2020 08:18 AM PDT  The document offers a valuable window into Russia's strengths and vulnerabilities as they appear from Moscow.
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| ‘They set us up’: US police arrested over 10,000 protesters, many non-violent Posted: 08 Jun 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Over 10,000 people have been arrested around the US, as police regularly use pepper spray, rubber bullets, teargas and batons * George Floyd killing – latest US updates * See all our George Floyd coverageSince George Floyd's death at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 25 May, about 140 cities in all 50 states throughout the US have seen protests and demonstrations in response to the killing. More than 10,000 people have been arrested around the US during the protests, as police forces regularly use pepper spray, rubber bullets, teargas and batons on protesters, media and bystanders. Several major US cities have enacted curfews in an attempt to stop demonstrations and curb unrest. Jarah Gibson was arrested while non-violently protesting in Atlanta, Georgia, on 1 June. "The police were there from the jump and literally escorted us the whole march," said Gibson. She said around 7.30pm, ahead of Atlanta's 9pm city-wide curfew, police began boxing in protesters. While protesters were attempting to leave, Gibson tried to video-record a person on a bicycle who appeared to be hit by a police car and was arrested by police. She was given a citation for "pedestrian in a roadway," and "refusing to comply when asked to leave"."The police are instigating everything and they are criminalizing us. Now I have my mugshot taken, my fingerprints taken and my eyes scanned. Now I'm a criminal over an illegal arrest," added Gibson. "I want to be heard and I want the police to just abide by basic human decency."Ruby Anderson was arrested while non-violently protesting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 31 May. The police refused to provide a reason for her detention until they were placed in a police van, where they were told the charge was loitering. They were given a wristband that stated "unlawful assembly" and ultimately charged with disorderly conduct. "While I was arrested, I was standing next to two white people who were doing the same thing as me, standing between a group of officers and a group of black teenagers. I was the only one arrested in my group of three, I was the only black person," Anderson said.Reports of excessive police force throughout the protests have emerged around the US. More than 130 reports of journalists being attacked by police have been recorded since 28 May.On 2 June, six police officers in Atlanta, Georgia, were charged with excessive force during an arrest of two college students on 30 May. A staggering 12,000 complaints against police in Seattle, Washington, were made over the weekend of 30 May in response to excessive force at protests.A Denver, Colorado, police officer was fired for posting on Instagram "let's start a riot". In New York City, videos surfaced of NYPD officers pointing a gun at protesters, driving an SUV into a crowd of protesters, swiping a protester with a car door, an officer flashing a white supremacy symbol, and another officer shoving a woman to the ground, which left her hospitalized.Several protesters and bystanders around the US have been left hospitalized from rubber bullet wounds, bean bags, teargas canisters and batons, while police have reportedly torn down medical tents and destroyed water bottles meant for protesters. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Dan Rojas was arrested on the morning of 27 May. Though there were no protests occurring at the time, Rojas had decided to clean up fragments of rubber bullets, teargas and frag canisters on the public sidewalk in his neighborhood when six police officers confronted him and arrested him. "They put me in handcuffs, took my property off of me, and they shoved a local reporter out of the way. They put me in a squad car and arrested me for rioting at 10.30 in the morning, the day after a peaceful protest," said Rojas, who was not released until over 48 hours later. "At the end of it no charges were filed, everything was dropped and I was never told the probable cause they had to arrest me." Several non-violent protesters arrested during demonstrations requested to remain anonymous for fear of police retaliation as they still face citations and pending charges. The protesters described police tactics of "kettling", where protesters were surrounded and blocked by police forces from leaving, often until curfews took effect or arrests were made for obstructing a roadway. "The curfews are a way to give police more power, exactly the opposite of what protesters want. These curfews, like most other 'law and order' tactics, will disproportionately impact the very same communities that are protesting against state-sponsored violence and brutality," said Dr LaToya Baldwin Clark, assistant professor of law at UCLA.One protester in Los Angeles, California, told how she was returning to her apartment before the city's 6pm curfew, while police were blocking protesters and obstructing exits. "I was arrested two streets away from my apartment, it had just turned 6pm," said the protester. She noted during the arrests, bystanders were protesting against the arrests from their apartment balconies, while police were aiming rubber bullets, teargas and pepper spray at them."They handcuffed us all with zip tie handcuffs and left us in a police bus for about five hours … I asked for medical assistance and they denied it to me, I was handcuffed for over five hours with a bleeding hand that eventually turned purple until I was finally released." She was eventually released at 1am on 2 June, with a citation for being out past curfew. "The police set us up to get arrested. They shut off the streets forcing us on to Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. Once we were on the bridge, the police blocked both exits in front and behind us," said a protester in Dallas, Texas, who was arrested on 1 June and later released without charges.She added: "They shot teargas at us and shot a protester with a rubber bullet and it injured her hand. The police made us all get on the ground, proceeded to zip tie our hands together, lined us up on the side of the highway and left us there for hours."In Cincinnati, Ohio, a resident in a neighborhood where protests were occurring on 31 May saw several protesters were at risk of being caught outside past the city's curfew at 8pm. "It felt like a trap to me. I felt if I could pick some people up and take them to their cars, I could stop people from getting arrested, so I jumped in my car, drove down the street, saw a group of people hiding, they had their hands up, and they climbed into the car, and shut the doors. We tried to drive, but were stopped," said the resident. "We were asked to leave the car, zip-tied on the side of the road, loaded on to a bus, and they detained us for a few hours doing paperwork." A protester in Houston, Texas, described police kettling her and other protesters before getting arrested on 31 May for obstructing a roadway. "We weren't allowed to go home," she said. "We tried our best to go home and were told 'no, you're not leaving.' From then on, the cops said anyone outside their circle is going to jail and they would push us further from the sidewalk. They had us closed in."
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| Hong Kong seethes one year on, but protesters on the back foot Posted: 08 Jun 2020 02:00 PM PDT  Hong Kong on Tuesday marks a year since pro-democracy protests erupted, but a resumption of city-wide unrest is unlikely as activists reel from mass arrests, coronavirus bans on public gatherings and a looming national security law. Seven months of massive and often violent rallies kicked off on June 9 last year when huge crowds took to the streets to oppose a bill allowing extraditions to mainland China. Student groups and unions have also announced plans to canvas members over possible strike action in coming days, but Hong Kong's labour movement has limited influence.
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| Madera County Sheriff's Deputy fired after using racial slur on social media Posted: 06 Jun 2020 06:59 PM PDT  Madera County Sheriff's Deputy Damian Tabatabai has been fired from his position due to racially insensitive comments on social media accounts.
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| U.S. sanctions imposed on Iranian shipping network over proliferation take effect Posted: 08 Jun 2020 01:10 PM PDT  U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran's shipping network took effect on Monday, months after they were announced in December following accusations of supporting proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a statement on Monday warned commercial and maritime industries, governments and others that they risked U.S. sanctions if they did business with the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and its Shanghai-based subsidiary, E-Sail Shipping Company. The State Department had announced the designations in December but allowed a delay for them to take effect, giving time for exporters of humanitarian goods to Iran to find different shipping methods, according to the statement.
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| North Korea: Call from South to North goes unanswered for first time Posted: 08 Jun 2020 12:01 AM PDT  Break comes after the North threatened to shut down the inter-Korean liaison office at the border.
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| Furious relatives of Italy's coronavirus dead launch legal action calling for full inquiry Posted: 08 Jun 2020 02:44 AM PDT  Grieving relatives of people who died from Covid-19 in the worst-hit parts of Italy are to launch legal action against the authorities this week, accusing them of making a series of catastrophic errors that led to a needlessly high death toll. The families come from Bergamo, Brescia and surrounding towns in the northern region of Lombardy, which accounts for around half of Italy's 33,800 coronavirus fatalities. Experts have said Lombardy was badly hit in part because of its population density – it is home to around 10 million of Italy's total population of 60 million. They also point to the fact that, as Italy's economic engine, the wealthy region has extensive trading links with China, where the virus was first detected. As a manufacturing hub, it also has high levels of atmospheric pollution, with some studies suggesting that may have made people more susceptible to the virus.
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| Coronavirus: Far-right president Jair Bolsonaro forced into U-turn on releasing death figures following national uproar Posted: 08 Jun 2020 04:59 AM PDT  Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has been forced into a U-turn on releasing data showing Brazil's total number of Covid-19 cases and deaths following a national uproar.In a move officials said was personally ordered by the president, months' worth of coronavirus data vanished from Brazil's health ministry website overnight on Friday, with a supreme court judge describing the manoeuvre as "totalitarian".
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| Police show less force as peaceful protests push reform Posted: 06 Jun 2020 10:11 PM PDT  Police around the U.S. took a less aggressive stance and even sometimes joined protesters demanding a reckoning with institutional racism, as leaders in the city at the center of the latest call for police reforms pushed Sunday to dismantle its department. Two weeks after George Floyd, a black unemployed bouncer, died in Minneapolis after a white officer pressed a knee on his neck for several minutes, a majority of the City Council vowed to dismantle the 800-member agency. It's not the first time an American city has wrestled with how to deal with a police department accused of being overly aggressive or having bias in its ranks.
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| 'Clinics will be forced to close': Abortion rights backers fearful of upcoming Supreme Court ruling Posted: 07 Jun 2020 03:55 PM PDT  A Louisiana law in question requires clinic doctors to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles.
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| Sandinista leaders fall victim to coronavirus outbreak they downplayed Posted: 08 Jun 2020 02:15 AM PDT  Nicaragua's government denies community spread in the country but an independent tally says deaths are 20 times the official figureEarlier this year, as countries enforced strict social-distancing rules to slow the spread of coronavirus, Nicaragua's Sandinista rulers organized a string of pro-government rallies and marches under the banner "Love Walk in the Time of Covid-19".Among those who joined one of those crowds in Managua was Dr Félix Bravo, a doctor in the country's public health system, whose loyalty to the Nicaraguan government apparently outweighed the World Health Organization's warnings against large gatherings.A month and a half later, Bravo was dead.Officially, his death was caused by "atypical pneumonia" – a diagnosis which Nicaraguan doctors and epidemiologists say is routinely used by the country's authorities to hide the country's Covid-19 death toll.President Daniel Ortega and his wife and vice-president, Rosario Murillo, insist that Nicaragua has so far avoided community spread of the virus, and seen just a handful of deaths from the pandemic.But in the past month the virus appears to have reached the inner circle of the country's political elite: at least 20 prominent Sandinistas – including ministers, members of the national assembly, senior advisers and a police commander – have died after displaying symptoms typical of Covid-19.Several of the dead stand accused of playing a key role in the repression of a popular uprising against the Sandinista government in 2018, in which more than 300 people were killed.Some had openly dismissed the threat posed by the pandemic. In March, Edwin Castro and Wilfredo Navarro, two Sandinista deputies in the national assembly, were caught on camera, mocking other legislators who entered the chamber wearing face masks.Not longer after, Castro was taken to hospital for two weeks with coronavirus symptoms, and has not been seen in public since. Meanwhile Navarro's cousin and parliamentary aide, Roberto Moreira, has died of Covid-19. Nicaragua's health ministry says the country has 1,118 confirmed coronavirus cases and 46 deaths, but independent estimates say the figure is closer to 4,000 cases, with at least 980 deaths.Last Monday, more than 30 local medical associations called for a "national lockdown" of three or four weeks, warning in an open letter that: "The exponential increase of Covid-19 cases has caused the collapse of the public and private health systems."The next day, Murillo named seven officials and senior Sandinistas who had died – or as she put it, "journeyed to another plane of life"."What remains is their legacy, their bravery and above all, the love with which they served the Nicaraguan people at every moment," she said.Among the dead were two senior Sandinista figures The telecoms minister, Orlando Castillo, was sanctioned by the US last year for "silencing independent media" after journalists were beaten, harassed and arrested in the wake of the civil revolt.Also on the list was Orlando Noguero, mayor of Masaya, who led troops and hooded paramilitaries in a brutal counter-attack against mortar-wielding rebels who held the city for months during the uprising.Murillo did not mention any cause of death in her eulogy for the dead officials, but medical sources told the Guardian that Castillo and Noguera both died in hospital wards which have been dedicated to patients with Covid-19 symptoms.Noguera was swiftly buried in Masaya at private ceremony in which the gravediggers wore PPE – following a pattern of "express burials" in which coronavirus victims are interred behind closed doors.The deaths of senior Sandinista figures are personal tragedies for their families, but some opposition activists see them as a kind of "divine justice".Other victims named by Murillo were Olivio Hernández Salguera, the national police's public security chief who helped lead the crackdown on opposition protesters, and the union boss and deputy Rita Fletes, who once described herself as "Daniel Ortega's daughter".As Noguera was laid to rest, opposition activists in Masaya lit rockets and firecrackers to celebrate the death of a man they accused of masterminding the crackdown on their city. "Covid-19 delivered the justice that all my brothers who were murdered in 2018 never saw," said one local.
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| Florida chapter of Fraternal Order of Police tells disciplined, jailed cops 'we are hiring' Posted: 08 Jun 2020 05:18 PM PDT  A Fraternal Order of Police chapter is being criticized for a Facebook post telling the "Buffalo 57" and "Atlanta 6" to join local police departments.
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