| People of color account for majority of coronavirus infections, new CDC study says Posted: 16 Jun 2020 02:48 PM PDT  African-Americans and Latinos are vastly overrepresented when it comes to coronavirus infections, according to an analysis released by the Centers for Disease Control on Monday morning.
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| Trump on coronavirus: 'If we stop testing right now, we'd have very few cases, if any.' Why he's dangerously wrong. Posted: 16 Jun 2020 06:06 AM PDT  Florida has certainly been finding more cases. On June 1, Florida's seven-day average stood at 726 cases per day. As of June 15, it had more than doubled to 1,775. However, Florida has been conducting roughly the same average number of COVID-19 tests every day for the last month.
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| China and India Just Fought a Weird, Bloody Battle at 14,000 Feet. Why? Posted: 17 Jun 2020 11:27 AM PDT  KARACHI—The battle raged for hours between two nuclear powers on Monday, fought in a contested valley high in the legendary Karakoram mountain range. But the weapons used were as primitive as they were brutal: iron rods wrapped in barbed wire, bare fists, and anything that came to hand. When it was over, India counted 20 of its soldiers dead, some of them forced into a river. China acknowledged the clash, but gave no casualty count or details.JFK Stopped a China-India War. Can Trump? The Nuclear Stakes Are Much Higher NowThe incident marked a grave escalation in a decades-old high-altitude stand-off that had been intensifying in recent weeks, and suggests a Chinese strategy for which neither India nor the United States have a good answer: one of provocation, and incremental pushes, constantly testing resolve.India at first said three of its troops were killed, but in a statement issued later on Tuesday the Indian Army said that 17 more critically injured succumbed to their injuries. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Indian troops "crossed the border line twice... provoking and attacking Chinese personnel, resulting in serious physical confrontation between border forces on the two sides."As the BBC reported, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said China tried to erect a structure inside Indian territory, while China's Wang Yi said Indian troops attacked first. But in a phone call both men promised not to escalate the situation. It was the first deadly clash at the disputed border for at least 45 years.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared his soldiers' deaths "will not be in vain.""India wants peace but when provoked, India is capable of giving a fitting reply, be it any kind of situation," Modi said in a televised address on Wednesday.U.S. President Donald Trump offered to mediate, but both Beijing and New Delhi quickly rejected that possibility, as diplomats knew they would. And the American position—or lack of it—suggests just how weak the Trump administration's position really is in this part of the world. THE BUILD-UPTensions along the China-India border started escalating early last month when Chinese soldiers, ignoring verbal warnings from India, entered the disputed territory of Ladakh and erected tents and guard posts. Since then, thousands of soldiers from the two countries have been facing off just a few hundred meters from each other in the valley of the Galwan River more than two miles above sea level. The proximate cause of the flare-up is believed by observers to be New Delhi's plan to build infrastructure projects along the edge of Chinese-claimed territory. India's construction of roads and air strips along the 4,056 kilometer poorly demarcated Line of Actual Control (LAC) eventually established decades after the 1962 Sino-Indian War raised eyebrows, and ire, in Beijing.While China claims some 90,000 square kilometers of territory in India's northeast, including the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh with its traditionally Buddhist population, India blames China for occupying 38,000 square kilometers of its territory in the Aksai Chin Plateau in the western Himalayas, including part of the Ladakh region. A major reason behind strained Sino-India relations has been the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama, who fled his homeland in 1959 during an aborted uprising against Chinese rule. India hosted the Dalai Lama, who established a self-declared government-in-exile in the northern Indian town of Dharmsala, where thousands of Tibetans have settled.The blame game over trespassing along the disputed border is played out through media on both sides. At present the most contentious issue is the strategic bridge being built by India near Daulat Beg Oldi, the last military post south of the Karakoram Pass. The bridge is the part of Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldi road, which will enhance India's strategic advance and access in the disputed region bordering China. Beijing's rapid military mobilization is aimed at deterring India's planned strategic access along LAC in Ladakh region.In the current Sino-India border standoff, Beijing looks offensive and aggressive; New Delhi seems defensive and restrained, and the United States appears to be eyeing the developing situation as a silent spectator. A FULL-BLOWN WAR?India wants to complete the infrastructure projects for its rapid military mobilization and strategic advance in the Ladakh region. China is increasing maximum pressure to force India to stop the construction activity. China has proved itself a dominant power by intruding several kilometers into the territory claimed by India along the LAC in the Ladakh region and by building bunkers there. Could the first clash lead to a full-fledged war between China and India?Experts believe that with the Monday clash a crisis that was well on its way to de-escalating did an abrupt about face and brought China and India closer to war than at any other time in quite a few years. But, the experts do not see the skirmish leading to a full-scale conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, and reports that despite the carnage no shots were fired suggests just how careful both sides are to avoid such a conflagration."A conflict is highly unlikely," Michael Kugelman, the deputy director and senior associate for South Asia at the Wilson Center in Washington told The Daily Beast."Neither side wants or can afford a war, and especially amid the coronavirus pandemic," Kugelman said. "India, in particular, as the less powerful state won't want to risk a conflict. Eventually the two sides will deescalate. Still, there's no way that they will quickly climb down the ladder after a high-fatality incident like this one. Both sides will feel pressure to escalate, but both, and especially India, will need to be careful not to take measures that increase the possibility of miscalculation." THE COUNTERWEIGHT?Under President Barack Obama, the U.S projected India as a counterweight to China. But under the Trump administration, U.S policy witnessed a major shift vis-a-vis India. Last year, Donald Trump pushed New Delhi to the sidelines and initiated a peace process with the Afghan Taliban assigning Pakistan—India's arch rival—the key role facilitating U.S.-Taliban peace talks. And finally, Washington signed an exit deal with the Taliban on February 29. India was shut out of the whole two-year-long peace negotiations.Now Trump has eschewed what India might have expected to be his role as a strong ally."Typically in these crises the U.S. stays quiet," says Kugelman. "I would imagine that we could see the U.S. scale up its intelligence support to India to better enable New Delhi to know the troop positions of Chinese soldiers along the border," but "the U.S. lacks the bandwidth to do anything else. The Trump administration is completely consumed by the coronavirus and its reelection campaign."Even so, says Kugelman, "I don't think we should underplay how significant this crisis is for Washington," adding, "This is a case of Washington's top rival sparring with one of the biggest U.S. partners in the Indo-Pacific. The U.S. government is sure to be paying close attention, and it can't afford to look away."Beijing has warned New Delhi to stay away from the U.S.-China rivalry. Beijing asked India to be careful not to include the U.S. factor in its handling of any problem in its relations with China, "otherwise it will only complicate the issue," China said in an article in the state-owned Global Times. "The offer of U.S. mediation is unnecessary and the last thing both sides could use. China and India have the ability to resolve their problems, and there is no need for any third-party intervention," said the article. "If in a new Cold War, India leans toward the U.S. or becomes a U.S. pawn attacking China, the economic and trade ties between the two Asian neighbors will suffer a devastating blow. And it would be too much for the Indian economy to take such a hit at the current stage."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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| US fighters have rushed to intercept 8 Russian bombers approaching Alaska in the past week Posted: 17 Jun 2020 09:37 AM PDT  Russian military aircraft have penetrated NORAD air defense identification zones eight times this year, the commander said.
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| He was fired for being gay. Seven years later, his Supreme Court win sent a 'clear message.' Posted: 16 Jun 2020 12:35 PM PDT  When history is written, Gerald Bostock's name will grace the landmark case that won LGBTQ people nationwide protection from workplace discrimination.
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| NYPD walks back claims Shake Shack employees 'intentionally poisoned' police officers' milkshakes Posted: 16 Jun 2020 06:39 AM PDT  The New York Police Department has walked back claims tweeted on Monday by a labour union representing 20,000 NYC detectives that employees at a Shake Shack in Manhattan "intentionally poisoned" three police officers' milkshakes.An ongoing investigation has found "no criminality" on the part of any Shake Shack employee, according to an NYPD statement released a day after the Detectives' Endowment Association wrote on Twitter: "Tonight, three of our fellow officers were intentionally poisoned by one or more workers at the Shake Shack at 200 Broadway in Manhattan."
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| 23 Affordable Indoor Planters We Love Posted: 17 Jun 2020 11:27 AM PDT |
| Mexico president: Killing of federal judge will be punished Posted: 17 Jun 2020 07:34 AM PDT  Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday that those responsible for the murders of a federal judge and his wife in the western state of Colima will be punished, and a senior official said the judge was apparently killed because of his work. López Obrador said there will not be impunity for the killings of District Court Judge Uriel Villegas Ortiz and his wife, Verónica Barajas. Interior Secretary Olga Sánchez Cordero said that she knew Villegas personally and that his murder was particularly difficult for her.
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| 'Inaccurate and harmful': Texas Senators Cruz, Cornyn dismiss notions of systemic racism in police and society Posted: 16 Jun 2020 07:22 PM PDT  Speaking during a Senate Judiciary hearing about police violence, both the Senators dismissed the idea of systemic racism.
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| Taiwan jets 'drive away' intruding Chinese fighter plane, third intrusion in days Posted: 16 Jun 2020 01:23 AM PDT  Taiwan air force jets "drove away" a Chinese fighter plane that briefly entered Taiwan's air defence identification zone on Tuesday, the defence ministry said, reporting the third intrusion in a week. The single J-10 fighter was given radio warnings to leave before the Taiwanese air force jets ushered the intruder out of the airspace southwest of the island, the ministry said. On Tuesday last week, the ministry said several Su-30 fighters, some of China's most advanced jets, crossed into the same airspace and were also warned to leave.
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| Moon Jae-in Is Getting Tired of North Korea's Growing Aggression Posted: 17 Jun 2020 11:38 AM PDT  President Moon Jae-in is tired of taking abuse from the North—and he's starting to lose his patience.
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| 'Unorthodox,' 'abuse of power': ICE is hitting lawful asylum-seekers with a new obstacle Posted: 16 Jun 2020 08:32 AM PDT  "Now that they're granting some paroles, they're placing as many hurdles as possible," said a staff attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center.
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| Florida health care worker and 15 of her friends contract coronavirus on first night out at a bar after months of lockdown Posted: 17 Jun 2020 06:17 AM PDT  A healthcare worker and all 15 of her friends reportedly contracted Covid-19 after spending a night out together at a bar in Jacksonville, Florida as the state moved to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic.Erika Crisp, 40, told local news outlets she and her friends had been staying at home and social distancing because of the novel coronavirus — until they decided to go out earlier this month for drinks.
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| Family of Dreasjon Reed, Black Man Killed by Indianapolis Police Officer, File Lawsuit Against City's Police Department Posted: 16 Jun 2020 02:45 PM PDT  The lawsuit says that the Indianapolis police department did not correctly train officers on how to engage with civilians
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| Pence says another venue is being considered for Trump’s Tulsa rally because of many requests to attend Posted: 16 Jun 2020 09:48 AM PDT  On "Fox & Friends" Tuesday morning, Vice President Mike Pence said another venue is being considered for President Trump's campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla., because of the overwhelming response to the event. After the interview, Ali Pardo, deputy communications director for the Trump campaign, clarified Pence's remarks, saying the rally will remain at the BOK Center in Tulsa, but that the campaign is "also considering other areas adjacent to the arena to allow the president to address even more people."
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| A Black pastor was arrested after pulling out a gun while under attack. The sheriff apologized, and now 5 alleged assailants face hate crimes charges. Posted: 16 Jun 2020 05:19 PM PDT  "How dehumanizing … to look at this mob of individuals cheering on the sidelines waving as I was carted off to go to jail," Leon McCray said.
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| Rayshard Brooks was kicked, denied medical care: The stunning allegations against ex-Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe Posted: 17 Jun 2020 04:01 PM PDT  In a detailed press conference Wednesday, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard presented his account of the death of Rayshard Brooks.
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| Iran to send black boxes from downed Ukrainian airliner to Ukraine: minister Posted: 17 Jun 2020 02:44 PM PDT  The Ukraine International Airlines flight was shot down on Jan. 8 by an Iranian ground-to-air missile, killing 176 people in what Tehran termed a "disastrous mistake" at a time of heightened tensions with the United States. Ukraine initially lacked the technical capability to read the boxes but now says it has that ability, Eslami said.
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| By 2030, The World's Naval Power Will Have Shifted East Posted: 16 Jun 2020 11:00 PM PDT  China, India, Japan, and South KOrea
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| Kim Jong Un has quietly built a 7,000-man cyber army that gives North Korea an edge nuclear weapons don't Posted: 17 Jun 2020 06:05 AM PDT  North Korea's cyber army is trained to find secrets, disrupt critical infrastructure, and steal money to help the isolated country avoid sanctions.
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| Fists, stones and clubs: China and India's brutal high altitude, low-tech battle Posted: 17 Jun 2020 07:35 AM PDT  India and China's militaries have some of the world's most sophisticated modern weaponry, but their deadliest scrap in over 50 years was fought using fists, rocks wrapped in barbed wire and clubs studded with nails. Colonel Babu was seriously injured.
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| Former Head of Diversity: ‘Black Lives Did Not Matter at Morgan Stanley’ Posted: 17 Jun 2020 05:13 AM PDT  The investment bank Morgan Stanley is being sued by its former head of diversity, who claims its senior, "white male-centric leadership" refused to adopt her plan to address racial bias at the firm, and instead fired her in December.Marilyn Booker headed diversity at Morgan Stanley from 1994 to 2010 before taking on a project known as the Urban Markets Group, which sought to promote money management in inner cities by connecting minority financial advisers to minority communities.However the program was rendered ineffective after it was steadily stripped of its budget, with 71 per cent of its budget being removed by 2019, Booker said in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday and reported by the Financial Times, Fortune and other outlets. Booker said in her 47-page complaint that "her budget would not amount to a drop in the bucket for Morgan Stanley when compared to the money it threw at other initiatives and the massive revenue the firm generated."Booker argued in court documents that the initiative was needed because only about 100 of Morgan Stanley's 16,000 financial advisers are Black.Morgan Stanley's latest published disclosures on diversity show that 2.2 per cent of its most senior executives in the U.S. were Black or African-American, the second lowest representation recorded by any of the big five U.S. banks.Booker's complaint firmly painted the alleged discrimination as hypocritical in the context of Morgan Stanley's response to George Floyd's death, in the he wake of which the bank made a large contribution to the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund and promoted two Black women to senior leadership committees. Booker noted that CEO James Gorman had described the present moment as a "turning point in race relations."However Booker said the bank's actions told a different story, saying: "Clearly, Black lives did not matter at Morgan Stanley."Morgan Stanley told the FT it strongly rejected the allegations and intended to vigorously defend itself, adding that Booker was let go as part of a round of 1,500 lay-offs late last year.It said: "We are steadfast in our commitment to improve the diversity of our employees and have made steady progress — while recognizing that we have further progress to make. We will continue to advance our high-priority efforts to achieve a more diverse and inclusive firm."Booker is seeking unspecified financial damages.Booker also claims Morgan Stanley nixed her efforts to recruit a Black National Basketball Association player as a spokesperson and later signed up white golfer Justin Rose instead."It goes without saying that Mr Rose was believed to be better recognized among the community of White male affluent golf aficionados, and not most members of the Black and minority communities," she added."Morgan Stanley has had decades to get its house in order and improve its record on diversity and inclusion," Booker's lawyer Jeanne M Christensen, a partner at Wigdortod the FT. "No more excuses. The numbers speak for themselves and Morgan Stanley must be held accountable for looking the other way."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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| Munster hospital security guard killed by friendly fire during patient attack; patient also killed Posted: 16 Jun 2020 08:35 PM PDT  Ryan Askew was a retired Lake County (Ind.) Sheriff's Police Officer. He was shot while trying to break up a physical altercation between a psychiatric patient and a nurse, authorities said.
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| Sen. Tim Scott Declares ‘We Are Not a Racist Country,’ Argues Dems’ Focus on Race Obstructs Police Reform Posted: 17 Jun 2020 11:13 AM PDT  While unveiling the Republican police reform bill on Wednesday, Senator Tim Scott said that the U.S. is "not a racist country" and criticized Democrats for what he saw as their relentless focus on race, advocating a discrete approach to policy solutions designed to address police brutality.Scott, the Senate's only black Republican, remarked in a press conference held to unveil the legislation that "some people enjoy talking about systemic racism" and "want to define everything from a racist perspective.""We don't spend time on the definition of a word, but we spend time on the definition of the problem and the definition of the solution," the South Carolina senator said, adding that Americans are often given the "false, binary choice" of backing either black Americans or law enforcement."I don't know how to tell people the nation is not racist. I'll try again: we are not a racist country," Scott said. "We deal with racism because there is racism in the country. Both are true, not mutually exclusive."The GOP police-reform bill, dubbed the Justice Act, would provide incentives for police departments to ban choke holds, strengthen reporting requirements for departments to disclose when an officer's use of force results in death or serious injury, fund more police body cameras, and mandate that the Justice Department come up with guidelines for deescalating police encounters, among other reforms. The bill also makes lynching a federal hate crime and establishes a commission to examine the social situation of black men and boys in the country."I don't worry about the definitions that people want to use, it's good for headlines, but it's really bad for policy. We're going to focus on getting something done," Scott concluded at the press conference.President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday encouraging police officers to limit the use of deadly force in the line of duty. The order detailed the administration's initiatives to encourage high standards for use of force, track officer misconduct, and bring in social workers and mental health professionals when responding to certain emergency calls.Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell promised Wednesday to take up the Republican bill quickly and encouraged Democrats to lend it their support. Democrats in both legislative chambers have meanwhile criticized the GOP bill, saying it does not include enough reforms for them to back it. House Democrats have introduced a separate police reform bill that McConnell said he will not bring to the floor should it reach the Senate.
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| Man charged with murder after shooting woman and her boyfriend over dog poo dispute Posted: 17 Jun 2020 12:04 PM PDT  A man has been charged with murder and attempted murder over the shooting of a couple walking their dog to the bathroom outside his Colorado home.Michael R Close, 36, is alleged to have fatally shot Isabella Thallas, 21, and critically injured her boyfriend Darian Simon on 10 June after what prosecutors said was a verbal exchange over their dog defecating.
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| Azeris stuck at Russian border clash with riot police, witnesses say Posted: 17 Jun 2020 11:08 AM PDT |
| 'He was trying to breathe': Mom of Oklahoma man who died in cop custody finds new footage hard to watch Posted: 17 Jun 2020 11:34 AM PDT  Derrick Elliott Olie Scott died in police custody in May, 2019. Scott's mother wants charges to be brought against officers.
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| British Airways is reportedly selling lounge artwork for cash, and some pieces are valued at more than a $1 million Posted: 16 Jun 2020 09:53 AM PDT  British Airways once flew the Concorde, but is now resorting to selling its valuable artwork as a new form of cash flow during the pandemic.
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| Concrete barriers installed around Lee statue in Virginia Posted: 16 Jun 2020 11:45 PM PDT  Concrete barriers were installed Wednesday morning around the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that has been ordered to be removed from a prominent avenue in Virginia's capital city, hours after demonstrators tore down a different Confederate monument. Crews in Richmond began installing what appeared to be about 3-foot-tall (1-meter-tall) cement blocks along the sidewalk surrounding the statue on Monument Avenue, according to video obtained by news outlets. Gov. Ralph Northam announced earlier this month that the statue would be removed and placed in storage while its future was determined.
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| Deceased in Lejeune Shooting-Stabbing Incident Was Marine Spouse, Officials Say Posted: 16 Jun 2020 09:14 AM PDT  A Marine official confirmed to Military.com that the two people involved were not married to each other.
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| 'Scurrilous arguments': Michael Flynn's lawyer tells judge he must dismiss criminal case Posted: 17 Jun 2020 10:50 AM PDT  Trump's former national security adviser is the victim of "assassination by political prosecution," the attorney said.
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| Revealed: officer who killed Rayshard Brooks accused of covering up 2015 shooting Posted: 17 Jun 2020 08:55 AM PDT  * Garrett Rolfe involved in shooting of black man Jackie Harris * Court documents show police officers did not report incidentThe Atlanta police officer who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks was accused of covering up an earlier shooting he and other officers participated in, according to a judge who reviewed the case.Garrett Rolfe was fired by the Atlanta police department following what officials called the "unjustified" killing of Brooks on Friday. Rolfe shot Brooks twice in the back as Brooks ran away after a scuffle with officers when they attempted to arrest him. It was among a recent spate of killings of black men by white police officers, which have ignited a national uprising against police brutality and racism.In August 2015, Rolfe and two other officers opened fire on Jackie Jermaine Harris, who they chased after he was caught driving a stolen truck, the Guardian can reveal after reviewing court documents on the incident.However, the shooting was not reported by the police involved. Harris, like Brooks, is African American.Harris rammed a police vehicle and officers shot at him several times inside the truck, striking Harris once and collapsing his lung. Harris survived and later pleaded guilty to charges including theft, property damage, fleeing arrest and damaging a police vehicle.Judge Doris L Downs, during a 2016 court hearing, called the case a "disaster" and said "it's the wildest case I've seen in my 34 years here."Downs said she was so troubled by officers failing to report the shooting that she wanted the matter investigated."None of the police put in the report that they shot the man – none of them. And they sent him to Grady [Memorial Hospital] with collapsed lungs and everything, and the report doesn't mention it," Downs said."I am ethically going to be required to turn all of them in."Downs even suggested state and federal authorities get involved.She said: "What the police did was wrong, and they will have to answer for what they did."It is unclear if any action was taken. Downs could not be reached for comment.The Atlanta police department and Fulton county district attorney's office did not respond to requests for comment.The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said it did not investigate the shooting, according to a spokesperson.Harris echoed the judge's concern about the officers' conduct at his court hearing."I just don't want them to get away with what they did to me," said Harris, who was sentenced to time served and one year's probation.Rolfe was apparently not disciplined, according to a personnel file released by Atlanta police on Tuesday, which listed the 2015 incident only as a "firearm discharge" but did not say how the department addressed the incident. Rolfe could not be reached for comment.Harris's attorney Serena Nunn said police admitted in their report that Harris had been injured during the incident – but not that police shot him.She said: "Being shot in the back and ultimately having your lung collapse is something more than an injury that was caused during the incident.""We do expect officers to uphold the law. I cannot think of a plausible reason as to why they would have omitted that information [about the shooting]," Nunn told the judge.The prosecutor could not say why the shooting was not in the report.Han Chung, who was then a Fulton county assistant district attorney, said: "I've heard some plausible reasons why this may have occurred. Now, I don't know how credible those plausible reasons may be, and I haven't heard it from those officers first-hand."Rolfe was the subject of four citizen's complaints during his six years on the force, none of which were sustained by police. The department disciplined him for three other incidents, including once for "use of force" involving a firearm, a year after the Harris shooting.In a letter to Downs sent from an Atlanta jail, Harris said the public would not be safe as long as Rolfe and the other officers who shot him continued to patrol the city."Not only have I been wronged, but society as well [has been wronged] by allowing this officer to continue to patrol our streets of Metro Atlanta," Harris wrote.
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| France says working with partners to pressure Iran at IAEA on inspector access Posted: 16 Jun 2020 11:08 AM PDT  France said it was working with Britain and Germany to see the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog board of governors push Iran this week to cooperate fully and immediately to grant its inspectors access to sites Tehran has so far refused them to visit. "This is essential for preserving the authority of the IAEA and the strength of its verification regime."
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| Nine People Shot in Minneapolis Amid Spate of Violence following George Floyd Killing Posted: 17 Jun 2020 04:35 PM PDT  Nine people were shot in Minneapolis on Tuesday evening amid a spate of violence following the death of George Floyd during arrest, the Star Tribune reported.Shootings have risen sharply in the city over three weeks of unrest after Floyd, an African American man, was killed during arrest by Minneapolis police officers. Since May 26, 66 people have been shot in the city, comprising 45 percent of all shooting victims in Minneapolis for this year.The Tuesday shootings follow an incident on Sunday in which seven people were shot during a bar fight. One of the victims of the bar shooting has since died. No arrests have been made in any of the recent shootings.It does not appear that the shootings are connected to protests over Floyd's death. Those protests turned violent in some instances, with rioters setting fire to Minneapolis's third police precinct building as well as numerous businesses.The Minneapolis City Council has estimated that damages to buildings from the riots amount to at least $55 million. However, the council warned that the damages could be much higher, and Mayor Jacob Frey has said damages could reach "hundreds of millions of dollars."Floyd's death has driven calls by Black Lives Matter activists to defund police departments. Representative Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), whose district encompasses Minneapolis, has supported calls to defund the Minneapolis police, calling the department "beyond repair." Mayor Frey has resisted the push to dismantle the city's police department, although the Minneapolis City Council has signed a pledge to dismantle the department.
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| Sorry, China: U.S. Aircraft Carriers Are Far From Obsolete Posted: 16 Jun 2020 04:00 AM PDT  The U.S. Navy is now operating three aircraft carriers in the Pacific in what appears to be a strong show of force following Chinese movements and comments regarding Taiwan and the South China Sea.
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| ‘History in the making’? Seattle protest zone prompts rethink on policing. Posted: 16 Jun 2020 02:34 PM PDT  Seattle's "Capitol Hill Occupy Protest," originally called the "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone," has become a focal point amid nationwide protests.
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| India coronavirus toll sees record jump of 2,000 dead Posted: 17 Jun 2020 08:21 AM PDT  India's official coronavirus death toll leapt by more than 2,000 on Wednesday as the hard-hit country struggles to contain a ballooning health crisis that has overwhelmed hospitals. The news came as Germany urged its nationals in India to consider leaving for their own safety, while France warned its citizens in New Delhi to stay home unless going to an airport to return to Europe. Authorities said the sharp increase in fatalities to 11,903 was mainly due to Mumbai and Delhi updating their figures.
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| Top coronavirus expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says he hasn't talked to Trump in two weeks Posted: 16 Jun 2020 12:52 PM PDT  Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Fauci said attending a protest would be "putting you and others at risk"
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| Texas death row inmate granted last minute reprieve by US Supreme Court after chaplain barred from execution chamber Posted: 17 Jun 2020 07:24 AM PDT  A Texas death row inmate was granted a last minute reprieve by the US Supreme Court following a new state policy preventing clergy members from entering the execution chambers.The order from the highest court in the country came about one hour before Ruben Gutierrez, 42, was scheduled for execution by lethal injection at Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville on Tuesday.
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| Arizona wildfire now largest burning in US Posted: 17 Jun 2020 04:27 AM PDT  A fast-moving wildfire in Arizona explodes in size, forcing evacuations near Phoenix.
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| U.S. to impose sanctions aimed at blocking Syria military victory Posted: 16 Jun 2020 10:52 AM PDT  The United States will impose sanctions on Wednesday aimed at cutting off revenue for Syrian President Bashar al Assad's government in a bid to push it back into United Nations-led negotiations and broker an end to the country's nearly decade-long war. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Kelly Craft told the Security Council on Tuesday that Washington would implement the measures to "prevent the Assad regime from securing a military victory." "Our aim is to deprive the Assad regime of the revenue and the support it has used to commit the large-scale atrocities and human rights violations that prevent a political resolution and severely diminish the prospects for peace," Craft said.
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| Beijing closes all schools, bracing for a 2nd wave of the coronavirus Posted: 16 Jun 2020 09:58 AM PDT  The capital city of 20 million people had gone 50 days without a new recorded case. But last weekend, a cluster of 87 new cases was reported.
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