- U.S.Yahoo News
Protesters tear through D.C. after National Guard troops and Secret Service keep them from the White House
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. The protesters caused extensive damage to businesses in the blocks surrounding the White House after a large contingent of law enforcement — including National Guard troops, the U.S. Park Police and the Secret Service — kept the demonstrators back from the president's residence. Protesters lit fires at multiple locations around the city and clashed with law enforcement, hurling fireworks and other projectiles at the officers.
- U.S.INSIDER
The head of the Minneapolis police union called protests a 'terrorist movement' and blamed politicians for unrest in a leaked email
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images In a leaked email, the president of the Minneapolis Federation of Police said the ongoing protests over the death of George Floyd were a "terrorist movement" that has occurred following a "long time build up which dates back years." Lt. Bob Kroll blamed politicians for the ongoing tension, specifically targeting Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. The former police chief of Minneapolis called on Kroll to resign, and Frey said Kroll was "shockingly indifferent to his role in undermining that trust and support" of the police force.
- U.S.The Independent
White supremacists attending George Floyd protests, Minnesota officials believe
Officials in Minnesota believe that white supremacist “agitators” were inciting chaos at protests against police brutality and the killing of George Floyd. The Minnesota state corrections department said on Sunday that white supremacists were thought to be attending demonstrations in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and making chaos. “They're agitators,” said Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell on those who have caused destruction during demonstrations.
- U.S.NBC News
Wife of Derek Chauvin says in divorce filing she wants to change her name
The estranged wife of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin intends to change her name and doesn't want any spousal support, her divorce petition revealed on Monday. Kellie May Chauvin, 45, filed for divorce on Saturday, a day after her 44-year-old husband of nearly 10 years, was arrested and charged with third-degree murder in the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody last week. The eight-page divorce petition, which was made public on Monday, revealed few details of the union, beyond basic language that "there has been an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage relationship of the parties within the definition of" Minnesota statutes.
- WorldReuters
WHO pushes to keep ties with 'generous' U.S. despite Trump's exit move
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday praised the United States' "immense" and "generous" contribution to global health in a push to salvage relations after President Donald Trump said he was severing ties with the U.N. agency. Accusing it of pandering to China and overlooking an initially secretive response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Trump said on Friday he was ending Washington's relationship with the WHO. "The United States' contribution and generosity towards global health over many decades has been immense, and it has made a great difference in public health all around the world," he said.
- U.S.National Review
Biden Proposes Training Cops to Shoot Attackers in the Leg to Reduce Fatalities
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. 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.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Cities push back as airlines seek dozens of new service cuts. Is your airport on the list?
As cities reopen and air travel gradually picks up, the government is on the cusp of giving final approval to a lengthy list of cities that could lose some of their airline service. Airports on the list that could temporarily lose an airline or certain flights range from those in large cities like Albuquerque, New Mexico, and New Orleans, to towns like Platinum, Alaska, and Ogdensburg, New York. Most, however, fall somewhere in the middle when it comes to size, whether it's Columbus, Ohio, or Sacramento, California.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Hong Kong's Tiananmen commemoration banned by police for first time in three decades
Hong Kong police on Monday banned an upcoming vigil marking the Tiananmen crackdown anniversary citing the coronavirus pandemic, the first time the gathering has been halted in three decades. The candlelight June 4 vigil usually attracts huge crowds and is the only place on Chinese soil where such a major commemoration of the anniversary is still allowed. Last year's gathering was especially large and came just a week before seven months of pro-democracy protests and clashes exploded onto the city's streets, sparked initially by a plan to allow extraditions to the authoritarian mainland.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
Judge: Justice Department reversal in Flynn case 'unusual'
A federal judge on Monday defended his decision not to quickly approve the Justice Department's request to dismiss its own criminal case against former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn, saying that the department's reversal was unusual and he wanted to consider the request carefully before ruling on it. The brief from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan offers the most detailed explanation for his refusal to immediately sign off on the department's decision to drop its case against Flynn, who pleaded guilty as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. It raises the prospect of a drawn-out clash between two branches of government over whether a judge can be forced to unwind a guilty plea at the Justice Department's behest.
BusinessReuters VideosChina orders firms to stop buying U.S. farm goods
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.
- U.S.INSIDER
A New York police officer drew his gun on protesters. Mayor Bill de Blasio says he 'should have his gun and badge taken away.'
Seth Wenig/AP Photo A New York City police officer pointed his gun at peaceful protesters in Manhattan Sunday night. After a video of the incident trended on Twitter, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the officer's actions were "unacceptable" and he should "have his gun and badge taken away." On Saturday, de Blasio was widely criticized for defending police officers who drove into a protesting crowd, before backtracking on his comments Sunday.
- U.S.The National Interest
Why Did China and Iran Take Opposite Sides On America’s Protests?
Iran has voiced support for protesters against police brutality in the United States, while Chinese state-run media has used the protests to portray the American model as weak and lawless. Civil unrest has spread across several American cities in response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, at the hands of Minneapolis police. Iran and China both have a history of criticizing the United States over its treatment of ethnic minorities, but the two U.S. adversaries appeared to take opposite sides over the latest tensions.
- U.S.NBC News
Supreme Court upholds Puerto Rico's financial oversight board
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the oversight board established by Congress to help Puerto Rico out of a devastating financial crisis that has been exacerbated by the coronavirus outbreak, recent earthquakes and damage from Hurricane Maria in 2017. The justices reversed a lower court ruling that threatened to throw the island's recovery efforts into chaos. In a unanimous holding, the court will allow the oversight board's work to pull the island out of the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history to proceed.
- WorldReuters
French health ministry says COVID-19 cases in hospitals slips
The French health ministry said on Monday that people should continue taking protective measures against the coronavirus even as cases in hospitals and intensive care continue to fall. As France readies for a second phase of easing restrictions from Tuesday, with parks, bars, restaurants and beaches expected to reopen, the ministry said "good news should not make us forget the danger of the virus". The ministry said in a daily update that 31 coronavirus deaths were recorded in hospitals in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 18,506 since March 1.
- WorldBusiness Insider
The coronavirus is disappearing in Italy, according to Italian doctors
PIERO CRUCIATTI/AFP via Getty Images Italy has been one of the worst-affected countries in the global coronavirus pandemic. However, the COVID-19 virus is now disappearing in the country according to Italian doctors Alberto Zangrillo, who heads a hospital in Milan, said that "in reality, the virus clinically no longer exists in Italy." A leading doctor in Genoa said that "the strength the virus had two months ago is not the same strength it has today."
- U.S.USA TODAY
'Nowhere to be found': Governors blast Trump after he tells them they are 'weak' on phone call
Governors including one Republican pushed back at President Donald Trump Monday after he told them on a phone call they are "weak" and need to use force to "dominate" riots that have erupted during protests over the death of George Floyd. Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a frequent target of Trump, called the phone call deeply disturbing, adding that instead of offering support or leadership to bring down the temperature at protests, Trump told governors to 'put it down' or we would be 'overridden.
WorldAFPHong Kong police ban Tiananmen vigil for first time in 30 years
Hong Kong police on Monday banned an upcoming vigil marking the Tiananmen crackdown anniversary citing the coronavirus pandemic, the first time the gathering has been halted in three decades. The candlelight June 4 vigil usually attracts huge crowds and is the only place on Chinese soil where such a major commemoration of the anniversary is still allowed. Last year's gathering was especially large and came just a week before seven months of pro-democracy protests and clashes exploded onto the city's streets, sparked initially by a plan to allow extraditions to the authoritarian mainland.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
Tension Runs High in Omaha After Black Protester Is Killed
Protesters came out by the hundreds on Monday evening after prosecutors in this Nebraska city decided not to charge a white bar owner who shot a young black man to death during unrest two nights earlier. 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.
- LifestyleAssociated Press
Mexico president kicks off 'new normal' phase amid pandemic
Amid a pandemic and a brewing tropical storm, Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador kicked off Mexico's return to a “new normal” Monday with his first road trip in two months as the nation began to gradually ease some virus-inspired restrictions. López Obrador said he's taking all necessary precautions — he drove the 1,000 miles from Mexico City over the weekend rather than flying — on a trip to promote construction of one of his signature infrastructure projects the Mayan Train. While the federal government's nationwide social distancing rule formally ended Monday, it is urging people in so-called “red” zones to maintain most of those measures — and so many people are falling ill and dying each day that those zones cover nearly the whole country.
- U.S.CBS News
Officers kneel in solidarity with protesters in several cities
Protesters have been taking to the streets of several U.S. cities for nearly a week in response to the death of George Floyd. There have been a number of violent clashes between law enforcement and demonstrators across the country — but in some cities, officers have knelt in solidarity with demonstrators. In Coral Gables, a city near Miami, a peaceful protest attended by hundreds on Saturday included a moment of prayer with police officers, CBS Miami reported.
- U.S.BBC
George Floyd: Anonymous hackers re-emerge amid US unrest
As the United States deals with widespread civil unrest across dozens of cities, "hacktivist" group Anonymous has returned from the shadows. The hacker collective was once a regular fixture in the news, targeting those it accused of injustice with cyber-attacks. After years of relative quiet, it appears to have re-emerged in the wake of violent protests in Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd, promising to expose the "many crimes" of the city's police to the world.
- U.S.INSIDER
George Floyd was killed in a homicide caused by asphyxia due to neck and back compression, an independent autopsy found
George Floyd died on May 25 of asphyxia due to compression of the neck and back, an independent autopsy found. A video that has sparked outrage across the nation showed a white Minneapolis police officer pinning the handcuffed 46-year-old black man's neck on the ground beneath his knee. The way he was restrained restricted not only "blood flow into his brain, but also airflow into his lungs," said Antonio Romanucci, an attorney working with the Floyd family.
- WorldReuters
Congo hit by a second, simultaneous Ebola outbreak
Authorities in Congo announced a new Ebola outbreak in the western city of Mbandaka on Monday, adding to another epidemic of the virus that has raged in the east since 2018. Six cases have been detected, four of which have died in the city, a trading hub of 1.5 million people on the Congo River with regular transport links to the capital Kinshasa. Mbandaka is 1,000 km (620 miles) from an ongoing outbreak that has killed over 2,200 people in North Kivu province by the Uganda border, where containment efforts have been hampered by armed conflict.
- WorldThe National Interest
India Has Lots of Nuclear Weapons
India is estimated to have produced enough military plutonium for 150 to 200 nuclear warheads, but has likely produced only 130 to 140,” according to Hans Kristensen and Matt Korda of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists. Nonetheless, additional plutonium will be required to produce warheads for missiles now under development, and India is reportedly building several new plutonium production facilities. In addition, “India continues to modernize its nuclear arsenal, with at least five new weapon systems now under development to complement or replace existing nuclear-capable aircraft, land-based delivery systems, and sea-based systems.
- U.S.Business Insider
'Exactly what President Trump wants': Democratic governors are shunning Trump's calls to 'dominate' protests using military forces
Rich Pedroncelli/AP Democratic governors widely shunned President Donald Trump's request to "dominate" the protests across the country by using National Guard troops. "Society that's about dominance and agression, this is what you get," Gov. Gavin Newsom of California said. "Not because of the protesters, but the conditions that led to this moment where protests was inevitable."
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