| Protesters tear through D.C. after National Guard troops and Secret Service keep them from the White House Posted: 31 May 2020 05:50 AM PDT  Downtown Washington, D.C., was filled with flames and broken glass in the early hours of Sunday morning as large groups of protesters moved through the city for the second straight night.
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| The trucker who drove through a crowd of protesters in Minneapolis was once arrested for domestic assault Posted: 01 Jun 2020 08:10 AM PDT  Bogdan Vechirko was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of assault after driving a truck through a crowd of George Floyd protesters in Minneapolis.
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| Biden Proposes Training Cops to Shoot Attackers in the Leg to Reduce Fatalities Posted: 01 Jun 2020 12:38 PM PDT  Joe Biden on Monday suggested that police forces could train officers to shoot attackers in the legs in order to reduce potential fatalities.There is "the idea that instead of standing there and teaching a cop when there's an unarmed person, coming at him with a knife or something, to shoot him in the leg instead of in the heart," Biden said. "There's a lot of different things [policies] that can change."Biden made his remarks while meeting with African American community leaders at the Bethel AME Church in Wilmington, Del. The former vice president was discussing the widespread protests touched off by the killing of George Floyd, an African American man, at the hands of white police officers in Minneapolis, Minn.Protests have spread from Minneapolis to major U.S. cities including New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles. The demonstrations have been widely varied in makeup, with some instances of peaceful protests and others that have devolved into riots with widespread looting.Members of Biden's staff have donated to groups attempting to free jailed rioters on bail. Campaign spokesman Andrew Bates told Reuters that Biden opposes cash bail as the equivalent of a "modern day debtors prison." It was not clear whether the donations were coordinated by the campaign or made individually.President Trump condemned the donations on Saturday, saying they "would financially support the mayhem that is hurting innocent people and destroying what good people spent their lives building."
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| Wife of Derek Chauvin says in divorce filing she wants to change her name Posted: 01 Jun 2020 01:47 PM PDT  Kellie Chauvin is not asking for any spousal support in divorce papers she filed.
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| Advice changes for shielding people 'not rushed', claims Matt Hancock Posted: 31 May 2020 10:42 PM PDT  Coronavirus latest news: Matt Hancock reveals lowest daily death toll since lockdown began Police cannot go into homes to check if lockdown rules are being breached Nicola Sturgeon threatens legal travel limit after thousands of Scots flout new lockdown rules UK to demand British judges have right to reject EU extradition requests in next round of Brexit talks Half a million children stuck at home as councils defy ministers Subscribe to The Telegraph, free for one month Advice for people who have spent the last 10 weeks shielding was not "rushed through", Matt Hancock has said today, fending off criticism from anxious patients. During the daily briefing the Health Secretary was twice asked about the changes, which were announced at the weekend and came into being today - including from a member of the public. Under the new guidelines, people shielding are now allowed to venture outdoors once per day, either with members of their household or one person from another household - as long as social distancing and strict hygiene is maintained. But responding to reports of GPs being inundated by calls from patients worried about the speed of changes, Hancock said: "It hasn't been rushed through, far from it. "We've worked for some time to make sure that any changes that we make and these are small, cautious changes, can benefit people in a safe way. "We announced it at the weekend and I think that being able to make changes like this is important for people. It's important for - especially for those who are shielded." He added: "Absolutely once we made the decision, including and in collaboration with all of the Government bodies, we then communicated that decision and this was the right time to be able to change that advice." Mr Hancock used the briefing to urge people who have symptoms to get tested, as he championed the initial success of the Government's Test & Trace programme, with people showing a "willingness" to isolate when asked. But neither he nor the testing tzar John Newton were able to confirm how many people have been asked so far. The Cabinet minister confirmed that 111 people have died with coronavirus in the last 24 hours - the lowest number since lockdown began on March 23.
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| Pakistan prime minister defends lifting lockdown, urges nation to 'live with the virus' Posted: 01 Jun 2020 11:53 AM PDT  Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday cited economic losses to justify his government's decision to lift a coronavirus lockdown despite rising infections and deaths, urging people to "live with the virus." Pakistan has rolled back almost all shutdown measures, primarily to avert an economic meltdown. Its economic losses included a decline in exports, a 30% shortfall in revenues and remittances were expected to fall in coming months, Khan said.
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| China orders firms to stop buying U.S. farm goods Posted: 01 Jun 2020 09:44 AM PDT 
China is striking back at the U.S. over Washington's punitive actions on Hong Kong. Sources tell Reuters Beijing has ordered state-owned firms to stop buying soybeans and pork from the U.S. Also put on hold: large volume purchases of U.S. corn and cotton. The sources said Beijing is ready to expand that list if Washington takes more action on Hong Kong. And under a worst case scenario, a source said Beijing will scrap the Phase 1 trade deal. Under that agreement signed in January, China had pledged to buy an additional $32 billion of U.S. agricultural products over two years. In the first quarter, China bought more than $1 billion worth of U.S. soybeans and nearly $700 million of pork. But tensions between the world's two largest trading partners have been escalating for months, with U.S. President Donald Trump accusing China of mismanaging the pandemic and threatening to hold Beijing to account. Then on Friday, Trump vowed to end the U.S.' preferential treatment for Hong Kong. That was in response to China's plans to impose a new national security law over the former British colony. The source said Chinese importers canceled up to 20,000 tons of American pork shipments after Trump's announcement Friday. That's equivalent to one week's worth of orders.
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| Pompeo: U.S. Could Make Moves Against International Criminal Court In “Coming Days” Posted: 01 Jun 2020 02:22 PM PDT  "I think that the ICC and the world will see that we are determined to prevent having Americans and our friends and allies in Israel and elsewhere hauled in by this corrupt ICC."
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| Who was David McAtee? Community praises Louisville business owner killed Monday by authorities Posted: 01 Jun 2020 01:05 PM PDT  Relatives say David McAtee, the owner of YaYa's BBQ in Louisville, was a community pillar who was known to give the police free meals.
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| With cheap gasoline scarce, Venezuelans can buy at a premium Posted: 31 May 2020 12:09 PM PDT  President Nicolás Maduro said that starting Monday Venezuelans will be able to buy gasoline at international market prices, marking a historic break in the socialist country's practice of having the world's cheapest fuel. Across the nation, 200 filling stations will allow drivers to fuel up for the equivalent of 50 cents a liter, or $1.90 a gallon. Venezuelans will also be able to buy a limited amount of subsidized gasoline each month, paying 2.5 cents a liter, or 9 cents a gallon.
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| Minnesota National Guard Opened Fire on a Vehicle, Commander Says Posted: 01 Jun 2020 01:32 PM PDT  A soldier fired three rounds at a speeding vehicle deemed a threat, officials said.
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| Trump tweets do little to calm a nation on edge, as more violent protests rock cities Posted: 30 May 2020 09:02 PM PDT  President Trump's tweets over the past week have continued to raise questions about his leadership.
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| 2 Atlanta police officers were fired and 3 were placed on desk duty for their use of force in arresting 2 college students during a Saturday night protest Posted: 31 May 2020 07:56 PM PDT  Mark Gardner and Ivory Streeter, who were both members of the department's fugitive unit, were terminated from the Atlanta Police Department.
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| Britain and EU set to clash over new extradition treaty in crunch trade talks Posted: 01 Jun 2020 08:06 AM PDT  British and EU negotiators are set to clash over the terms of a new extradition treaty during a crunch round of trade talks with Brussels, which start on Tuesday. The UK will demand its judges have greater powers to refuse EU extradition requests than under the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) system it must leave at the end of the year. Warrants could be dismissed if there had not yet been a decision to charge or try the wanted suspect to prevent long periods of pre-trial detention, under the British plan, or if the UK courts think the cost of an arrest outweighs the seriousness of the offence. The European Commission wants EU courts to be able to refuse UK extradition requests for suspects facing whole life sentences unless Britain undertakes to review the penalty either on request or, at the latest, 20 years after the sentence. Whole life sentences have been subject to failed legal challenges on the basis they break the European Convention on Human Rights. The UK has refused to commit to never leaving the Convention during the negotiations, which is an EU condition for continued criminal database sharing, but insists it won't leave it. Brussels also wants judges to refuse extradition requests if they believe they are motivated by the suspect's "sex, race, religion, ethnic origin, nationality, language, political opinions or sexual orientation". The EAW replaced bilateral extradition agreements between countries with a much faster system that involved the judiciary directly rather than politicians. It was agreed, with British support, two months after 9/11. Brexiteers later argued that carrying out arrests on the orders of foreign magistrates was an affront to national sovereignty. The Government's refusal to allow any future role for the European Court of Justice in Britain after Brexit means a replacement extradition system must be agreed before the end of the transition period. If the deadline isn't met by January 1, the UK will fall back on 1956 rules for extradition which are far slower. The UK and EU must also finalise a free trade agreement by December 31, unless Downing Street caves on its repeated insistence it won't extend transition, or be forced to trade on less lucrative WTO terms.
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| Supreme Court upholds Puerto Rico's financial oversight board Posted: 01 Jun 2020 08:00 AM PDT  The decision comes in response to a legal challenge by hedge funds who questioned the composition of the board's members.
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| India Has Lots of Nuclear Weapons Posted: 31 May 2020 10:30 AM PDT  Here is what we know.
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| Journalists Under Attack Show How Trump’s Hate for the Press Has Spread Posted: 31 May 2020 06:39 AM PDT  Journalists have been attacked all over the world while on the job covering protests for years, but never like they were this week in the United States during the George Floyd protests.At least half a dozen incidences of arrests and attacks were reported in protests across the United States this weekend. Some were high profile, like the live-on-air arrest of CNN journalist Omar Jimenez and his crew Friday morning. Others got less attention, like Los Angeles Times reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske getting pelted with rubber bullets and tear gas or the two Los Angeles Times photographers who were briefly taken into custody. To All Black Journalists: We See You, We Support YouWAVE-TV reporter Kaitlin Rust, who was covering protests in Louisville Saturday night, was shot with pepper bullets while live on air. Video showed a police officer aiming directly at her and her crew. "I've been shot! I've been shot!" Rust, who was wearing a fluorescent vest, carrying a microphone, and standing in front of a camera, can be heard screaming. Police later apologized for the incident. The next day, MSNBC reporter Garrett Haake also appeared to be hit by a police projectile while reporting live from Washington D.C. "We're gonna make some moves here," he told the anchor, just moments before he was apparently hit. "We're gonna end up in a place we don't wanna be here if we're not careful." A crew in Denver tweeted after they were targeted by police there with paintballs and tear gas. "Luckily, I ducked," one of the journalists wrote. The video journalist who was shooting the protests wasn't so lucky and was struck.Andrea May Sahouri, a breaking news reporter for The Des Moines Register, said she was arrested Sunday while reporting on protests at a local mall. In a video posted to Twitter from the back of a police car, Sahouri said she was in a crowd of people running from police when she stopped to help her boyfriend, who was hit with tear gas. She said officers approached her, pepper sprayed her, and zip-tied her hands, even as she told them she was a reporter. "I'm just doing my job as a journalist, I'm just out here reporting," she said.Wall St. Journal reporter Tyler Blint-Welsh reported his ankle was in "searing pain" after NYPD officers allegedly hit him in the face with riot shields and pushed him to the ground. "I was backing away as request, with my hands up," he tweeted. "My NYPD-issued press badge was clearly visible. I'm just sitting here crying." Anti-Trump protesters in front of the White House turned their anger to Fox News journalist Leland Vittert who told the Associated Press, "We took a good thumping. The protesters stopped protesting whatever it was they were protesting and turned on us and that was a very different feeling."Briana Whitney, a reporter in Phoenix, was attacked on air and tweeted, "THIS IS NOT OKAY. This is the moment I was intentionally tackled by this man while I was on air trying to report what was happening during the protest at Phoenix PD headquarters. I feel violated, and this was terrifying. Let us do our jobs. We are trying our very best."In Chicago, freelance reporter and Daily Beast contributor Jonathan Ballew said he was pepper-sprayed even as he brandished his press credentials.KDKA TV journalist Ian Smith said he was attacked while covering protests in Pittsburgh. "They stomped and kicked me," he wrote under a photo of him in the back of an ambulance. "I'm bruised and bloody but alive. My camera was destroyed. Another group of protesters pulled me out and saved my life. Thank you!"Journalists have been attacked in the U.S. before, but not nearly as often or as brutal as this weekend. Speaking to The Washington Post, Suzanne Nossel, chief executive of PEN America, blamed animosity towards the press on Trump. "By denigrating journalists so often, he has degraded respect for what journalists do and the crucial role they play in a democracy," she said. "He's been remarkably effective in contributing to this topsy-turvy sense that journalists are the opposition."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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| Hong Kong blocks Tiananmen vigil; rush on for UK passports Posted: 01 Jun 2020 04:42 AM PDT  It would be the first time in 30 years that the vigil, which draws a huge crowd to an outdoor space, is not held in Hong Kong. The vigil commemorates China's deadly military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. The decision follows a vote by China's ceremonial parliament to bypass Hong Kong's legislature and enact national security legislation for the semi-autonomous territory.
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| Body cameras weren't activated when authorities fatally shot Louisville man, mayor says Posted: 01 Jun 2020 02:22 PM PDT  Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer also said that Police Chief Steve Conrad, who had already announced his resignation in May, has been fired
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| Defying Trump's Landmark Peace Deal, Taliban Continues to Back Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, UN Report Says Posted: 01 Jun 2020 05:58 AM PDT  A U.N. report shows the Taliban has failed to fulfill it's pledge in this year's landmark peace deal to break ties with al-Qaeda.
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| George Floyd: What does the data show about race and policing? Posted: 01 Jun 2020 01:00 PM PDT  We've looked at some of the data around ethnicity and the US crime and justice system.
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| The coronavirus is disappearing in Italy, according to Italian doctors Posted: 01 Jun 2020 05:08 AM PDT  Italian doctors said the coronavirus was not as potent now as it was at the beginning of the pandemic.
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| Bangladesh lifts virus lockdown, logs record deaths on same day Posted: 31 May 2020 08:24 AM PDT  Bangladesh lifted its coronavirus lockdown Sunday, with millions heading back to work in densely populated cities and towns even as the country logged a record spike in deaths and new infections. "The lockdown has been lifted and we are heading almost towards our regular life," health department spokeswoman Nasima Sultana said, calling on those returning to work to wear masks and observe social distancing. The lifting comes as Bangladesh -- which on Friday took an emergency pandemic loan from the International Monetary Fund -- reported its biggest daily jump in infections Sunday, with 2,545 new cases and a record 40 deaths.
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| I considered 'rehoming' my child with autism like a famous YouTube family did, but could never go through with it Posted: 01 Jun 2020 10:40 AM PDT  My daughter has autism and epilepsy. Her brain isn't fully formed, and has heart issues. As much as I've struggled, I couldn't give her up.
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| Palestinians Deserve Better Leaders Than Mahmoud Abbas Posted: 31 May 2020 08:00 PM PDT  Abbas has used his long tenure to exert a vice-like grip on Palestinian institutions.
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| Pompeo says U.S. considers welcoming Hong Kong people, entrepreneurs Posted: 01 Jun 2020 09:40 AM PDT  The United States is considering the option of welcoming people from Hong Kong in response to China's push to impose national security legislation in the former British colony, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in remarks released on Monday. Influential Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell told that chamber on Monday he hoped the Trump administration would soon identify specific ways to "impose costs on Beijing" for curbing freedoms in Hong Kong, and said the United States should mirror the response of other democracies and open its doors to people from the territory. Speaking to the American Enterprise Institute on Friday, Pompeo gave no details about immigration quotas or visas when asked about Hong Kong, and merely said: "We are taking a look at it."
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| Cities push back as airlines seek dozens of new service cuts. Is your airport on the list? Posted: 01 Jun 2020 09:23 AM PDT  The proposed flight cuts come as there are signs that airline demand may finally pick up after the coronavirus sent the travel industry into a spiral.
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| Illinois governor butts heads with Trump on conference call Posted: 01 Jun 2020 12:11 PM PDT |
| George Floyd: 'Unacceptable' attacks on reporters at protests Posted: 01 Jun 2020 02:14 PM PDT  More than 100 incidents are being investigated by press groups, including apparently deliberate targeting.
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| Omaha Bar Owner Will Not Be Charged in Killing of Black Protester Posted: 01 Jun 2020 09:45 AM PDT  OMAHA—Prosecutors said Monday they will not charge the white Omaha bar owner who fatally shot a black protester this weekend after reviewing video of the incident and deeming it an act of self-defense."The actions of the shooter, the bar owner, were justified," Douglas County Attorney Donald Kleine said at a press conference."This decision may not be popular," he said, referring to calls for the bar owner, Jake Gardner, to be charged with murder in the death of James Scurlock, 22.In fact, Omaha officials, apparently fearing the decision would fuel further unrest, counseled businesses to close up early. And protesters began gravitating to the Old Market area where Scurlock had been killed."We will not let others antagonize us or scare us. We're also not going to accept people who degrade us as a people," Tyreese Johnson, 20, told The Daily Beast.At the press conference, Kleine played several video clips of a minute-long confrontation that unfolded Saturday night between Gardner, the owner of The Hive and The Gatsby nightspots, and a small group of young people.Black Protester Shot to Death Outside Omaha BarThe footage showed Gardner, a 38-year-old ex-Marine, and his 68-year-old father standing outside The Gatsby, where windows had been broken as protests stemming from the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis devolved into vandalism.The father walked down the street to confront the young black men, shoved one of them, and then got "decked" and pushed back about 10 feet, Kleine said, in narrating the video.The younger Gardner then confronted the group and showed that he was carrying a gun, Kleine said. Suddenly, the video shows, two of the young people charged at Gardner and knocked him into a puddle on the street—at which point he fired two shots he claimed were warnings.The duo ran off, and then "James Scurlock jumps on top on him," Kleine said. Gardner "fired over his back" and hit Scurlock in the clavicle, killing him.Kleine said Gardner gave police and prosecutors his version of events: "He begged and pleaded for this person to get off. This person was trying to get at his gun.""He says, I was in fear for my life so I fired the shot," the prosecutor added.Curfews and Soldiers Can't Contain the Nation's ChaosState Sen. Justin Wayne, speaking for the Scurlock family, said a grand jury and not the county attorney should be deciding if Gardner committed a crime."In this community, we prosecute black and brown individuals a lot more for things like we just watched," he said—noting that Kleine acknowledged Gardner's permit for a concealed weapon was expired but that he would not be charged in connection with that."We watched a video where anybody else would have gotten charged with something," he said.Even before showing the videos, Kleine had castigated local politicians for calling it a "cold-blooded murder" and said reports on social media that racial slurs were used were not supported by the video or by testimony from Scurlock's friend and a protester.He also said that a few minutes before the killing, Scurlock was caught on video vandalizing the lobby of a building down the street, "but I don't think that's relevant at this time."Scurlock had a criminal record—but that almost certainly would not have been known to Gardner. It included a one-day jail sentence for misdemeanor assault in 2019 and 90-day sentence for misdemeanor domestic assault in in February. A 2014 armed robbery charge was downgraded to burglary, public records show.And Gardner has been arrested on criminal charges at least four times, public records show.In 2013, police picked him up on assault and battery charges, and also hit him with a count of failing to tell an officer he had a concealed handgun. The gun charge was dismissed in a plea deal that saw him pay $200 in fines.In 2011, after being nabbed for alleged reckless driving, he was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon, which was downgraded to disturbing the peace in a plea deal that resulted in a $200 fine.Gardner's record also includes two arrests from 1998 and 1999, one for reckless driving and one for third-degree assault, and a number of traffic offenses.Court records that would provide details of each arrest were not available. Gardner's family has declined to comment, and refused to provide The Daily Beast with the name of his attorney.Gardner is a self-described Libertarian who had been a source controversy in Omaha before last weekend.In 2016, he caused a furor when he wrote on Facebook that transgender women should have had their "appendage" removed if they want to use female bathrooms."I'm asking transgender folk to use the unisex... bathroom," he told the World-Herald at the time. "I don't think it's a big ask."The Hive had also been the target of several complaints on social media that it discriminated against black patrons, with one person tweeting that Gardner personally refused entry to her black husband while letting her white brother go in.Last year, the State Liquor Authority issued a warning to Gardner for failing to cooperate with police who were investigating a possible assault on site. He was up front about his political and philosophical views. In 2017, while in Washington to attend President Trump's inauguration, he was interviewed about the Women's March then underway."Everyone has a right to speak their mind," he said, wearing a Trump sweatshirt, with his dog Bron in a MAGA vest. "Everyone loves the dog until they see the vest," he said of the marchers. He posted a photo in 2017 of himself and Bron posing with Donald Trump Jr. with the caption: "Here's a guy who returns my emails 100 percent of the time, every time. FAKENEWS BRONANDDON."With reporting by William BreddermanRead 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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| Biden: ‘I know I’ve made mistakes’ Posted: 01 Jun 2020 09:39 AM PDT  Former Vice President Joe Biden on Monday attended a campaign event in Delaware and addressed criticism by saying, "I know I've made mistakes."
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| UK taxpayers may be funding research for China’s defence project Posted: 31 May 2020 04:05 PM PDT  Experts fear British taxpayers could inadvertently be contributing to funding the Chinese defence programme, after millions of pounds of public funds were poured into technology research undertaken in collaboration with controversial Chinese universities known for their military links. The UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council distributed more than £6.5 million to British universities including Manchester for technology studies that were undertaken with these controversial Chinese institutions, according to disclosures on academic papers. While the research programmes focused on technologies that could be used for civilian purposes, experts have warned that they also have the potential to be used for military applications, prompting fears that taxpayer-funded research by British universities could be exploited by Beijing. In two cases, researchers even stated on their grant application forms that the technologies they were looking at could have "both civilian and military applications" or be used for "military controlling". The disclosure comes days after The Telegraph revealed that Huawei has also backed a string of research projects linking British universities with Chinese defence institutions, which focused on these so-called "dual use" technologies. Huawei denies any wrongdoing. Experts have now warned that the studies funded by the EPSRC may be part of a worrying pattern of partnerships between British universities and Chinese universities that are known for their strong military ties – and that they could be used to fuel both China's controversial surveillance regime and its declared ambition to become the world's most powerful military force by 2049. On Sunday night, Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith said the collaborations were "tantamount to transfer of technologies to the Chinese government" and accused the EPSRC and British universities of "living in a naïve world". "You cannot say that there is any [Chinese] institution that is safe from the reach of that government… If they take technology as part of a market position, they can use it for other things." His warning comes as Beijing faces growing international hostility over its handling of the coronavirus crisis and attempts to crush dissent in Hong Kong. The EPSRC defended the payments. Executive chairwoman Professor Dame Lynn Gladden said: "These grants were fully consistent with government policy. All UK funding was directed to fund research by UK universities." A spokesman added that it allocates funding to research projects rather than individual papers "through the lens of the quality of academic research", and that it is for individual universities to decide who they work with as long as there is no legal breach and the other universities cover their own costs. A Telegraph investigation identified seven papers that were undertaken by British institutions in partnership with Chinese universities, as part of research programmes that accessed EPSRC grants totalling £6,637,875. The funding body is one of nine organisations that make up UK Research and Innovation, which states on its website that it is "principally funded" by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Two of the papers were co-authored by researchers at China's so-called "Seven Sons of National Defence", universities tasked with developing China's defence programme, and six were undertaken with the in-house academy for the People's Liberation Army. Of the money dished out by the EPSRC, £305,891 went to the University of Manchester for research it undertook with Beihang University – an institution sanctioned by America for its work on rockets and drones. The grant application to EPSRC boasted that it would could be used for "environmental monitoring or military controlling". A spokesman for the University of Manchester said: "We carry out due diligence on all research collaborations and we have clear ethical and intellectual property polices and guidelines which all our researchers, overseas and domestic, must adhere to as part of their professional contracts." Six of the papers were also funded by Huawei, and the remaining one was worked on by its researchers. The company has insisted that they all focused on "common areas of research for telecoms equipment suppliers", and that it has strict rules to ensure the research it backs is not used for military purposes. "We do not conduct military research either directly, or indirectly, nor do we work on military or intelligence projects for the Chinese government or any other government," a spokesman said.
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| Native American tribes' pandemic response is hamstrung by many inequities Posted: 01 Jun 2020 05:47 AM PDT  The SARS-CoV-2 virus is novel, but pandemic threats to indigenous peoples are anything but new. Diseases like measles, smallpox and the Spanish flu have decimated Native American communities ever since the arrival of the first European colonizers. Now COVID-19 is having similarly devastating impacts in Indian country. Some reservations are reporting infection rates many times higher than those observed in the general U.S. population.We are social scientists who study many aspects of environmental justice, including the politics of food access and food sovereignty, the impacts of extractive resource industries like uranium and fossil fuels, and how Indigenous communities navigate relationships with state and federal governments to maintain their traditional practices. As we see it, Native American communities face structural and historical obstacles related to settler colonial legacies that make it hard for them to counter the pandemic, even by drawing on innovative indigenous survival strategies. History reverberates on Native landsNative communities in North America have been disrupted and displaced for centuries. Many face long-standing food and water inequities that are further complicated by this pandemic. On the Navajo reservation, which covers more than 27,000 square miles in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, 76% of households already have trouble affording enough healthy food, and the nearest grocery store is often hours away. COVID-related restrictions have further curtailed access to food supplies. Clean water for basic sanitary measures like hand-washing is also scarce. Native Americans are 19 times more likely to lack indoor plumbing than whites in the U.S. Nearly one-third of Navajo households lack access to running water. Many health issues that can increase COVID-19 mortality rates occur at high levels among Native Americans. These underlying and preexisting conditions – things like hypertension, diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease – are linked to diet and stem from disruption and replacement of Indigenous food systems.Meanwhile, housing shortages on reservations and homelessness in urban Native communities make social distancing to reduce COVID-19 transmission impossible. High exposure ratesThese factors have clear health impacts. On the Navajo reservation, for instance, through May 27, 2020, 4,944 people out of a population of 173,000 had tested positive for COVID-19, and 159 had died. This infection rate per capita exceeds those in hot spots such as New York and New Jersey. Importantly, however, it may also reflect a much more proactive approach to testing on reservations than in many other jurisdictions.The fact that elderly people are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 could worsen the pandemic's effects in Indian Country. Elders are the keepers of traditional knowledge, tribal languages and culture – legacies whose loss already threatens the persistence of indigenous communities. Elders also play key roles in preserving traditional plant and medicine knowledge. In the absence of COVID-19 interventions from Western medicine, many elders have been called on to perform healing practices, which increases their exposure risk. Little help from federal and state governmentsMany tribal members rely on the federal government's Indian Health Service for health care. But lack of capacity at the agency has hampered its response. Budget shortfalls, inaccurate data, the challenges of providing rural health care and ongoing personnel shortages in IHS clinics are compounded by staff being pulled away to fight the virus in large cities. And while many states have raised frustrations with the Trump administration's unwillingness to distribute protective supplies from the dwindling national stockpile, IHS and tribal health care authorities never had access to the stockpile at all. Although the federal government has begun distributing relief funds to IHS agencies, there have been serious problems with the accompanying supplies. The Navajo Nation has received faulty masks, and a Seattle Native health center asked for tests but received body bags instead.Meanwhile, federally imposed limits on tribal sovereignty have obstructed tribal governments' efforts to deal with the pandemic themselves. Federal and state governments are challenging tribes' jurisdictional authority to close borders to tourists who may carry the virus. South Dakota's governor has threatened legal action against two tribes who set up checkpoints to monitor incoming traffic on their reservations. Environmental injustices on Native landEnergy development and resource extraction have had disproportionate impacts on tribes for many years. Today, many Native American leaders worry that ongoing energy production – an "essential" activity under federal guidelines will bring outsiders into close contact with reservation communities, worsening COVID risks.The owners of the Keystone XL oil pipeline have announced that they intend to continue construction, which will bring an influx of workers along the proposed route through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota and Fort Belknap Indian community in Montana have filed for a temporary restraining order, and a key permit for the pipeline was revoked in April 2020, but work continues at the U.S.-Canada border.Construction is accelerating on the southern border wall, which bisects the Tohono O'odham reservation in Arizona and Mexico. The Trump administration has increased patrols at the border, despite the tribe's concern that the patrols' presence is spreading coronavirus on the reservation. And in Bristol Bay, Alaska, a salmon fishing season that brings in thousands of temporary workers is set to open in June because the federal government has also deemed commercial fishing "essential critical infrastructure." Many local Native villages depend on the fishery for income, but have nonetheless pleaded with state regulators to cancel the season. The regional hospital has just four beds for possible COVID-19 patients. Bold action in Native communitiesNative communities are taking decisive action to reduce the spread of COVID-19. They're imposing aggressive quarantine measures like lockdowns, curfews and border closures. Communities are ramping up health care capacity and elder support services, and banishing nontribal members who violate travel restrictions.Other strategies include helping hunters provide traditional foods to their communities, mobilizing to support tribal health care workers, and linking the pandemic and the climate crisis. Looking ahead to a post-COVID future, we believe one priority should be attending to front-line environmental justice struggles that center tribes' sovereignty to act on their own behalf at all times, not just during national crises.[Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * Indian Country leaders urge Native people to be counted in 2020 Census * Before the US approves new uranium mining, consider its toxic legacyStephanie Malin receives or has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Colorado Water Center, the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, the Rural Sociological Society, and CSU School of Global Environmental Sustainability.Joshua Sbicca and Lindsey Schneider do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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| Tear gas, fires outside White House Posted: 31 May 2020 11:16 PM PDT 
Video obtained by Reuters showed clouds of tear gas being deployed just outside the White House as protesters gathered ahead of a curfew in the city, which was set to begin at 11pm local time (0300 GMT). "Most (of the protesters) dispersed as the police started using flashbangs and pushed protesters back due to several buildings on fire," said Kyle McFadden, who was at the scene close to Lafayette Park. The police deployed tear gas several times during the protests, according to McFadden. Widespread protests have occurred across major U.S. cities over the death of Floyd, which has sparked outrage that has swept a politically and racially divided nation.
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| India's coronavirus infections overtake France amid criticism of lockdown Posted: 01 Jun 2020 04:18 AM PDT  India's cases of coronavirus crossed 190,000, the health ministry said on Monday, overtaking France to become seventh highest in the world, as the government eases back on most curbs after a two-month-long lockdown that left millions without work. With a record 8,392 new cases over the previous day, India is now behind the United States, Brazil, Russia, Britain, Spain and Italy, according to a Reuters tally. Criticism has grown in recent days that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's sudden lockdown of 1.3 billion Indians in March has failed to halt the spread of the disease while destroying the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on daily wages.
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| The YouTuber who received backlash for 'rehoming' her adoptive son with autism said he 'wanted this decision 100%' Posted: 31 May 2020 05:37 AM PDT  Myka Stauffer and her husband, James, recently told viewers they placed their son Huxley in a new home, and received intense criticism as a result.
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| DOJ urges appeals court to force dismissal of Flynn case Posted: 01 Jun 2020 01:20 PM PDT  A lower-court judge has held up the dismissal, citing DOJ's 'unusual' reversal.
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| Susan Rice Blames ‘Foreign Actors’ for Stirring George Floyd Protests: ‘Right Out of the Russian Playbook’ Posted: 01 Jun 2020 05:00 AM PDT  Former Obama adviser Susan Rice has blamed the violent protests that rocked major American cities over the weekend on "foreign actors," and even suggested that Russia could be involved in stirring them up."I'm not reading the intelligence today, or these days — but based on my experience, this is right out of the Russian playbook," Rice, who served as national-security adviser to president Obama, said in a CNN interview on Sunday. "But we cannot allow the extremists, the foreign actors, to distract from the real problems we have in this country that are longstanding, centuries old, and need to be addressed responsibly."Anchor Wolf Blitzer responded, "you're absolutely right on the foreign interference." Blitzer then asked Rice if she thought the Russians were attempting to "embarrass" the U.S. by "promoting the racial divide in our country.""Well we see it all the time, we've seen it for years, including on social media where they take any divisive, painful issue . . . and they play on both sides," Rice said. "I would not be surprised to learn that they have fomented some of these extremists on both sides on social media . . . [or] that they're funding it in some way, shape, or form."Meanwhile, current national-security adviser Robert O'Brien on Sunday pointed to a number of countries that were attempting to foment unrest via social media. Chief among those countries is China, however O'Brien also mentioned Iran, Russia, and Zimbabwe as possibly using social media to enflame tensions in the U.S.> Pressed by @GStephanopoulos on evidence that foreign adversaries are exploiting U.S. unrest, O'Brien points to social media activity from China "coming straight from the government."> > He also names Zimbabwe, Iran and says "there may be Russian activists." https://t.co/8NuFvYRECl pic.twitter.com/nApMWEuMfs> > -- ABC News (@ABC) May 31, 2020The protests were sparked by the death of Minneapolis, Minn., resident George Floyd during his arrest on May 25 by former officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin, who is white, has since been charged with third-degree murder in the death of Floyd, who is African American.
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| Thousands of Complaints Do Little to Change Police Ways Posted: 31 May 2020 09:27 AM PDT  In nearly two decades with the Minneapolis Police Department, Derek Chauvin faced at least 17 misconduct complaints, none of which derailed his career.Over the years, civilian review boards came and went, and a federal review recommended that the troubled department improve its system for flagging problematic officers.All the while, Chauvin tussled with a man before firing two shots, critically wounding him. He was admonished for using derogatory language and a demeaning tone with the public. He was named in a brutality lawsuit. But he received no discipline other than two letters of reprimand.It was not until Chauvin, 44, was seen in a video with his left knee pinned to the neck of a black man, prone for nearly nine minutes and pleading for relief, that the officer, who is white, was suspended, fired and then, on Friday, charged with murder.His case is not unusual. Critics say the department, despite its long history of accusations of abuse, never fully put in place federal recommendations to overhaul the way in which it tracks complaints and punishes officers -- with just a handful over the years facing termination or severe punishment.Even as outrage has mounted over deaths at the hands of the police, it remains notoriously difficult in the United States to hold officers accountable, in part because of the political clout of police unions, the reluctance of investigators, prosecutors and juries to second-guess an officer's split-second decision and the wide latitude the law gives police officers to use force.Police departments themselves have often resisted civilian review or dragged their feet when it comes to overhauling officer disciplinary practices. And even change-oriented police chiefs in cities like Baltimore and Philadelphia -- which over the last few years have been the sites of high-profile deaths of black men by white officers -- have struggled to punish or remove bad actors.The challenge has played out against and reinforced racial divisions in America, with largely white police forces accused of bias and brutality in black, Latino and other minority communities. Floyd's death came just weeks after Ahmaud Arbery, a black man in southeast Georgia, was pursued by three white men and killed, and after Breonna Taylor, a black woman, was fatally shot by police in Kentucky.Their deaths have unleashed a wave of tremendous protests across the country, extending far beyond Minneapolis on Friday, with protesters destroying police vehicles in Atlanta and New York, and blocking major streets in San Jose, California, and Detroit -- all cities that have wrestled with accusations of police misconduct.In Minneapolis, authorities took quick action against Chauvin and three other officers involved in Floyd's death, firing them one day after a graphic video emerged of the encounter. But that does not mean the officers are gone for good. Public employees can appeal their dismissals -- and in scores of cases across the country, the officers often win.The St. Paul Pioneer Press analyzed five years' worth of such appeals and found that between 2014 and 2019, Minnesota arbitrators -- a group that hears a range of public service complaints -- ruled in favor of terminated law enforcement and correction officers 46% of the time, reinstating them.In three terminations involving law enforcement officers that were reviewed this year, two were overturned.Dave Bicking, a board member of Communities United Against Police Brutality, a Twin Cities advocacy group, said many disciplinary actions are overturned because they are compared to previous cases, making it hard for departments to reverse a history of leniency or respond to changing community expectations."Because the department has never disciplined anybody, for anything, when they try to do it now, it's considered arbitrary and capricious," he said.Bicking described a history of attempts to clean up the Minneapolis police force, which is overwhelmingly white and for decades has faced accusations of excessive force, especially by African American residents.In Minneapolis, a city heralded for its progressive politics, pretty parks and robust employment, the racial divide runs deep. From education to wages, African Americans are at a disadvantage, graduating at much lower rates and earning about one-third less than white residents.And while black residents account for about 20% of the city's population, police department data shows they are more likely to be pulled over, arrested and have force used against them than white residents. And black people accounted for more than 60% of the victims in Minneapolis police shootings from late 2009 through May 2019, data shows.When there was a civilian review board to field the complaints, it would recommend discipline, but the police chief at the time would often refuse to impose it, said Bicking, who served on the board.Across the country, civilian review boards -- generally composed of members of the public -- have been notoriously weak. They gather accounts, but cannot enforce any recommendations.In 2008, the Police Executive Research Forum issued a report on disciplinary procedures in Minneapolis, at the department's behest. It recommended resetting expectations with a new, matrix specifying violations and consequences. But Bicking said the department soon fell back to old ways.In 2012, the civilian board in Minneapolis was replaced by an agency called the Office of Police Conduct Review. Since then, more than 2,600 misconduct complaints have been filed by members of the public, but only 12 have resulted in an officer being disciplined, Bicking said. The most severe censure has been a 40-hour suspension, he said."When we say there's a failure of accountability and discipline in this city, it is extreme," he said, adding that the City Council had promised to review the board, but has yet to do so.Any member of the public may file a complaint, and experts say that the volume of complaints may reflect a host of issues other than actual misconduct, such as the level of trust the community has in its department.Maria Haberfeld, an expert on police training and discipline at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said Chauvin's complaint tally averaged to less than one a year, not unusual for a street officer, and probably not high enough to trigger an early warning system.But the patchwork nature of the city's disciplinary tracking was clear in Chauvin's case. The city released an Internal Affairs summary with 17 complaints. The city's police conduct database listed only 12, some of which did not appear to be included in the summary, and Communities United Against Police Brutality, which also maintains a database, had yet more complaint numbers not included in the first two sources.The nature of the complaints was not disclosed.Chauvin was one of four officers who responded to a call on Memorial Day that a man had tried buying cigarettes with a fake $20 bill. The other officers, identified by authorities as Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng, also were fired and remain under investigation. The county attorney said he expected to bring charges, but offered no further details.Neither Lane nor Kueng had misconduct complaints filed against them, according to the department. But Thao faced six in his career and also was the subject of a lawsuit that claimed he and another officer punched, kicked and kneed an African American man, leaving the man with broken teeth and bruises.According to the lawsuit, the incident occurred in early October 2014, when the man, Lamar Ferguson, then 26, was walking home with his girlfriend. A police car approached and Ferguson's girlfriend kept walking.The lawsuit states that Thao asked Ferguson to put his hands on the roof of the car and then handcuffed him. The complaint said that the other officer then "falsely stated there was a warrant out" for Ferguson's arrest regarding an incident involving family members. Ferguson told the officers he had no information to tell them.During the encounter, "Officer Thao then threw" Ferguson, "handcuffed, to the ground and began hitting him."Patrick R. Burns, one of the lawyers who represented Ferguson, said in an interview Friday that the city settled the case for $25,000."What I learned from that case and several others I have handled against the department is that some of the officers think they don't have to abide by their own training and rules when dealing with the public," he said.The head of the police union, Lt. Bob Kroll, is himself the subject of at least 29 complaints. Three resulted in discipline, The Star Tribune reported in 2015. Kroll was accused of using excessive force and racial slurs, in a case that was dismissed, and was named in a racial discrimination lawsuit brought in 2007 by several officers, including the man who is now the police chief.Teresa Nelson, legal director for the ACLU of Minnesota, said attempts by the city's police leaders to reform the department's culture have been undermined by Kroll, who she said downplays complaints and works to reinstate officers who are fired, no matter the reason.She said that in a 2015 meeting after a fatal police shooting, Kroll told her that he views community complaints like fouls in basketball. "He told me, 'If you're not getting any fouls, you're not working hard enough,'" she said.Kroll did not return several messages seeking comment this week.Changing department policies and culture can take years, even when there is a will to do so.In 2009, the Minneapolis department instituted an Early Intervention System to track red flags such as misconduct allegations, vehicle pursuits, use of force and discharge of weapons. Such systems are supposed to identify "potential personnel problems" before they become threats to public trust or generate costly civil rights lawsuits.In a case similar to the death of Floyd, David Cornelius Smith, a black man with mental illness, died in 2010 after two officers trying to subdue him held him prone for nearly four minutes. The chief at the time defended the officers, and they were never disciplined, said Robert Bennett, a lawyer who represented Smith's family.In 2013, the police chief at the time, Janee Harteau, asked the Department of Justice to review the department's warning system. A federal report found that it had "systemic challenges" and questioned its ability to "create sustainable behavior change."Early warning systems are considered a key part of righting troubled departments, criminologists say. Most cities that have been found to have a pattern of civil rights violations and placed under a federal consent decree, or improvement plan, are required to have one.Harteau, who left the top post in the wake of a 2017 fatal police shooting, said she took many steps to reform the department, including training officers on implicit bias and mandating the use of body cameras. But the police union, she said, fought her at every turn.In 2016, the department updated its use of force policy to hold officers accountable for intervening if they see their fellow officers using excessive force, Nelson said.The new policy, made in the wake of previous fatal shootings, was part of an effort to reform police culture in the city."It's why you saw four officers fired," in Floyd's case, she said.It's not clear whether an improved early warning system would have flagged Chauvin, who also had been involved in at least three shootings in his career, or the other officers involved in Floyd's death. Departments choose from a number of bench marks, and from a range of responses when they are exceeded.Haberfeld, the training expert, said police departments will not change until they invest significantly more in recruitment and training, areas where the U.S. lags far behind other democracies.Otherwise, she said, "There is a scandal, there is a call for reform -- committees and commissions and nothing happens. Nothing."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| 'They didn't start the situation': NYC mayor defends police after NYPD trucks drive into protesters Posted: 31 May 2020 09:43 AM PDT  "If a police officer is in that situation, they have to get out of that situation," di Blasio said.
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| Japanese Nukes? Here's How It Could Happen Posted: 30 May 2020 09:00 PM PDT  Don't underestimate a country's desire to protect itself.
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| SpaceX's historic encore: Astronauts arrive at space station Posted: 31 May 2020 06:02 AM PDT  SpaceX delivered two astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Sunday, following up a historic liftoff with an equally smooth docking in yet another first for Elon Musk's company. With test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken poised to take over manual control if necessary, the SpaceX Dragon capsule pulled up to the station and docked automatically, no assistance needed. The hatches swung open a few hours later, and the two Dragon riders floated into the orbiting lab and embraced the three station residents.
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| BAE successfully tests ground-launched APKWS rockets for first time Posted: 01 Jun 2020 07:00 AM PDT  A ground-to-ground test of the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System was successfully conducted at Yuma Proving Ground.
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| Michigan governor largely rescinds lockdown, retailers to reopen Posted: 01 Jun 2020 11:09 AM PDT  Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Monday moved to further reopen the Midwest state's economy, largely rescinding a stay-at-home order in place since March and allowing retailers and restaurants to open back up over the next week. Whitmer's new executive order will allow retailers to reopen on Thursday and restaurants and bars on June 8, both subject to capacity limits. Until now, only essential retailers like groceries had remained open, while restaurants had closed dining areas while offering pickup and delivery services.
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| Labour whip resigns after breaking lockdown rules to meet married boyfriend Posted: 31 May 2020 06:58 AM PDT  A Labour MP has stepped down from her front bench position as whip after admitting she broke lockdown rules to meet her married lover. Rosie Duffield met her boyfriend for a long walk in April, while it was still against the lockdown rules to meet people from different households, the Mail on Sunday reported. She resigned as a whip on Saturday night and said she was "attempting to navigate a difficult personal situation". Ms Duffield, 48, was living separately from married father-of-three James Routh, pictured below, a TV director, when they went for a long walk in her constituency and he visited her home, it was reported. The MP for Canterbury told the Mail on Sunday the pair observed the two-metre social distancing rules, but these incidents were before meetings between people from different households were allowed.
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| Kayleigh McEnany Insists Trump’s Not ‘Hiding’ While Speaking for Him Posted: 01 Jun 2020 12:32 PM PDT  White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany pushed back on Monday against the notion that President Donald Trump is "hiding" from the American people as protests against police brutality continue to sweep the nation."He was literally put in a bunker Friday night by the Secret Service," one member of the press corps said, citing reports that emerged over the weekend. "Would you agree that he is hiding out on this issue and is that a good posture to be in?" the reporters asked. "I would not agree with that at all," McEnany replied, without denying that Trump had been rushed to an underground bunker typically reserved for terrorist attacks. She said she had been on the phone with the president "at least half a dozen times" on Sunday and touted all of the "action" he has taken amidst the unrest. "Where the governors have failed, he's stepped in," she said.'Fox & Friends' Confronts Kayleigh McEnany With Chris Wallace CriticismPressed to explain why Trump has not delivered a national address as past presidents have done in similarly tense moments in American history, McEnany attacked the media for supposedly ignoring the "myriad times the president has spoken on this issue." She pointed only to his remarks at the SpaceX launch event over the weekend in which he called the killing of George Floyd a "grave tragedy" that "should never have happened." "Make no mistake, this president has not been silent," she insisted, "and at this moment he is acting to protect this country from the lawlessness we saw just out here in Lafayette Park last night." Earlier in her press conference, McEnany unironically praised Trump's "long history of condemning white supremacy and racism." 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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