- PoliticsYahoo News
Iowa congressman Steve King loses Republican primary
Rep. Steve King of Iowa, whose history of racist statements resulted in years of criticism and eventually discipline from Republican leadership, lost his primary Tuesday night. The winner of the five-way race was Randy Feenstra, a state senator who outraised King by several hundred thousand dollars and had won endorsements from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Right to Life Committee. Last year King was condemned or outright abandoned by a number of Republican allies who stood by him through his long history of racist rhetoric when he asked, speaking to the New York Times, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” Previously, King had attempted to defend his association with international far-right groups by saying, “If they were in America pushing the platform that they push, they would be Republicans.”
- U.S.Yahoo News
Trump tells NYC to activate National Guard: 'The lowlifes and losers are ripping you apart!'
After vowing Monday to deploy military force to restore order in states that fail to “dominate” unlawful demonstrations, President Trump on Tuesday all but ordered New York City to request help from the National Guard. “NYC, CALL UP THE NATIONAL GUARD,” Trump tweeted. Parts of New York City, including midtown Manhattan, were rocked by disorder Monday night, despite an 11 p.m. curfew.
- U.S.The Independent
‘Wanton thuggery’: Australian reporter knocked down by police live on air as she covered George Floyd protests in DC
US riot police were broadcast live on air using aggressive force to push and knock down an Australian reporter and her cameraman as they covered the Black Lives Matter protests in Washington DC, prompting an investigation by the Australian embassy. Amelia Brace, a reporter for Australian television network Channel 7, was broadcasting from the White House with cameraman Timothy Myers when police plouged into the crowd with riot shields, firing rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse them. Footage of the police barrelling at the camera and shoving the news team was viewed over a million times in a matter of hours.
- U.S.Associated Press
Confederate monuments coming down around South amid protests
Sarah Collins Rudolph thought she'd never see what happened in her hometown: Prompted by protests, the city removed a 115-year-old Confederate monument near where her sister and three other black girls died in a racist church bombing in 1963. A wave of Confederate memorial removals that began after a white supremacist killed nine black people at a Bible study in a church in South Carolina in 2015 is again rolling, with more relics of the Old South being removed from public view after the killing of George Floyd by police in Minnesota. In Birmingham, where Rudolph lives, the graffiti-covered, pocked base of a massive Confederate monument was all that remained Tuesday after crews dismantled the towering obelisk and trucked it away in pieces overnight.
- WorldNBC News
U.K. PM tells China that Britain will admit 3 Million from Hong Kong
The United Kingdom will not walk away from the people of Hong Kong if China imposes a national security law which conflicts with Beijing's international obligations under a 1984 accord, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday. "Hong Kong succeeds because its people are free," Johnson wrote in The Times of London. "If China proceeds, this would be in direct conflict with its obligations under the joint declaration, a legally binding treaty registered with the United Nations."
- U.S.INSIDER
'My face exploded': Police firing rubber bullets have wounded and permanently disabled protesters and journalists
Social media is filled with images of wounded protesters and journalists who have been struck by rubber bullets and tear gas canisters in the eyes and face. Some have even lost their sight. Experts policing, however, tell Insider that rubber bullets are considered "less lethal" weapons — and many police departments have considered them a "legitimate tool" for decades.
- U.S.Los Angeles Times Opinion
America is at its breaking point and white women still won't stop frivolously calling police on black people
Americans of all stripes are taking to the streets to protest the unjust killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police — and the larger issues of police brutality and institutional racism in our society. The vast majority of Americans support these protests. But even if you're white and among the paltry 14% of people who strongly disagree with the protests, one might think the recent international humiliation of Amy Cooper for her racist behavior would be enough to at least provoke some circumspection.
- U.S.Business Insider
An 'ANTIFA' Twitter account that called for looting 'white hoods' was actually run by white nationalist group Identity Evropa
A fake antifa Twitter account that called for violence was actually run by a white nationalist group, according to a Twitter spokesperson. The account, "@ANTIFA_US," pretended to align with the Black Lives Matter movement and ongoing nationwide protests, and called for protesters to "move into residential areas... the white hoods.... and we take what's ours." Twitter banned the account Monday for breaking its rules against platform manipulation, spam, and inciting violence.
- WorldReuters
Putin declines British invitation to take part in coronavirus summit: Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin does not plan to take part in an online summit on a possible coronavirus vaccine being organised by the British government this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. Putin received an invitation to take part in the summit from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week, the Kremlin had said. Scheduled to take place on June 4, the Global Vaccine Summit 2020 is designed to mobilise resources needed to ensure universal availability of the vaccine against the novel coronavirus.
- WorldThe Independent
Powerful video from 1986 resurfaces showing Biden’s passionate speech against apartheid
A powerful video of then-Senator Joe Biden speaking about apartheid South Africa has resurfaced. The clip, taken from C-Span coverage of a Senate committee in 1986, shows Mr Biden passionately speaking out in support of the majority black population of South Africa, and against the oppressive apartheid regime. Challenging Reagan administration secretary of state George Schultz on government policy towards South Africa, Senator Biden says he is disturbed by the rationale behind it, arguing that it amounts to doing nothing.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoD.C. police officer to protesters: 'If I didn't think change was possible, I would just give up'
Hours into the mandatory curfew in Washington, D.C., several police officers were recorded engaging in peaceful dialogue with protesters. While remaining in opposition to the extended protests over George Floyd's death, one officer appeared to commiserate with protesters' desire to seek change.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Gov. Cuomo apologizes to NYPD brass after critical 'do your job' comments, chief says
ALBANY, N.Y. – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo apologized privately to top New York City Police administrators Tuesday after earlier in the day ripping their response to rioters as a "disgrace." NYPD Chief Terence Monahan told NBC's "Today" show Wednesday that Cuomo's office called him, and the governor called commissioner Dermot Shea to apologize and clarify his remarks. Last night, his office called and apologized to me, and I know he called the commissioner directly to apologize,” Monahan said.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
Police Identify German Man as Main Suspect in Madeleine McCann Disappearance
Police in the U.K. have asked the public for help in tracking the movements of a 43-year-old German man identified as the main suspect in the mysterious disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Madeleine vanished from a hotel apartment in Praia da Luz on Portugal's Algarve coast in May 2007, while on holiday with her parents and twin siblings. It is the first time British police have identified a key suspect, and senior police officers described the breakthrough to the U.K.'s Telegraph as “significant.”
WorldAFPHong Kong marks Tiananmen crackdown despite virus vigil ban
Hong Kong marked China's deadly Tiananmen crackdown on Thursday, with candle-light ceremonies set for the evening across the city after authorities banned a mass vigil at a time of seething anger over a planned new security law. Open discussion of the brutal suppression is forbidden in mainland China, where hundreds -- by some estimates more than a thousand -- died when the Communist Party sent tanks on June 4, 1989 to crush a student-led demonstration in Beijing calling for democratic reforms. With Beijing planning to impose a new national security law on the finance hub that many believe will end the city's unique freedoms, some residents on Thursday said they feared future memorials would also be blocked.
- U.S.INSIDER
A Florida 'Karen' called the police on a solo Black Lives Matter protester standing completely alone on a street corner
On Sunday, Shane Meyers protested alone in the affluent white suburb of Wellington, Florida. While on the street corner, Meyers was reported to the authorities by a "Karen," what's become common internet slang for an entitled white woman, who took issue with his sign. Meyers filmed his encounter with local law enforcement and later shared it in a viral TikTok, leading many to praise his activism on social media.
- U.S.The Independent
George Floyd protests: All four former police officers face new charges as demonstrations continue nationwide
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has announced new charges against all four former officers involved in the death of George Floyd. The attorney general announced charges against Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J Alexander Kueng, the three officers seen alongside Derek Chauvin, an officer who kneeled on Mr Floyd's neck for over eight minutes before his death, according to charging documents. Active-duty troops were meanwhile sent home from the nation's capitol on Wednesday after Defence Secretary Mark Esper said the Insurrection Act should be used "only in the most urgent and dire of situations".
- WorldAssociated Press
Syria activists: After 3 months, Russian strikes hit Idlib
Russian warplanes carried out early Wednesday the first airstrikes in three months on the last remaining rebel stronghold in northwestern Syria, opposition activists said. There was no immediate word on any casualties. The strikes on and near Idlib province were the first to be conducted by Russian planes since a truce brought relative calm to the volatile region in early March, they said.
- BusinessReuters
Asian stocks reach two-month high on economic recovery hopes
Asian shares rose to a two-month high on Thursday as expectations of further government stimulus supported investor confidence in an economic recovery from the global coronavirus pandemic. Chinese shares were little changed due to lingering worries about diplomatic tension between the United States and China, while U.S. stock futures fell 0.15%. The euro held onto gains before a European Central Bank meeting later on Thursday, where policymakers are expected to increase debt purchases to support the bloc's weakest economies.
- U.S.NBC News
Joe Biden pulls Julián Castro into campaign, asks for help to 'tackle police reform'
Former Vice President Joe Biden followed a speech addressing the national protests over the death of George Floyd on Tuesday with a welcoming of Julián Castro to his campaign to help tackle police reform, an issue that was a cornerstone of Castro's failed presidential campaign. The welcome mat for Castro, who was the only major Latino candidate in the Democratic presidential nomination race, comes almost two months after Castro first expressed support for Biden and amid a national uprising in peaceful and violent protests following Floyd's death after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes. In his speech, Biden called for Congress to take immediate steps to reform police, including outlawing choke holds, ending the transfer of military weapons to police, improving oversight and accountability of police and creating a national model on use of force.
- U.S.Business Insider
'You will move, or you will die': A frightened truck driver's widely shared Facebook post says truckers will 'defend themselves' by running over protesters
Stephen Maturen/Getty Images A truck driver named Bogdan Vechirko on Sunday was jailed on assault charges after he nearly drove an 18-wheeler into a large group of protesters in Minneapolis, but he was released without charges on Tuesday. A Facebook post originally from a trucking-education page said truck drivers who are facing protesters have the right to drive into them. However, the burden is ultimately on trucking companies to ensure drivers do not end up in dangerous situations.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Las Vegas reopening starts tonight despite George Floyd protests. Here's what's on tap
Las Vegas is going ahead with its heralded reopening plans despite George Floyd protests that turned deadly earlier this week. An armed protester was killed and a police officer was critically injured in separate shooting incidents overnight Monday during protests prompted by the death of George Floyd last week after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes. Tuesday night's protests were more peaceful. No curfews have been announced, but Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak on Tuesday activated additional members of the Nevada National Guard to support state and local law enforcement.
- WorldThe Guardian
Missing Mexican congresswoman's body found a month after abduction
The body of a missing Mexican congresswoman has been found in a shallow grave more than a month after she was abducted by armed men while raising awareness about the coronavirus pandemic. Anel Bueno, a 38-year-old lawmaker from the western state of Colima, was snatched on 29 April in Ixtlahuacán, a town on a stretch of Mexico's Pacific coast that the drug trade has made one of the country's most murderous regions. Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told reporters on Wednesday a suspect had been detained over the killing of Bueno, who was a member of his party, Morena.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
NYPD Says Looters Are Stashing Bricks. Brooklyn Locals Say Otherwise
On Wednesday morning, New York Police Department Commissioner Dermot F. Shea tweeted a low-resolution video of an unidentified officer picking up blue plastic crates on a city street corner. The crates, which appeared to be filled with chunks of masonry, had apparently been left next to a garbage can near Avenue X and West 3rd Street in Gravesend, a neighborhood by the water on Brooklyn's south end that's been largely untouched by the protests elsewhere in the borough and the city. "This is what our cops are up against: Organized looters, strategically placing caches of bricks & rocks at locations throughout NYC," Shea wrote.
- U.S.INSIDER
One of America's most popular police trainers is teaching officers how to kill with fear-based warrior tactics
Dave Grossman's "Bulletproof Mind" is teaching law enforcement agencies across the United States militarized tactics in which officers are told to see themselves as "at war" on the streets. Agencies have started turning away from the courses in recent years, after it was discovered the Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile had taken one of Grossman's courses. If you're prepared to kill, Dave Grossman, says, it's "just not that big of a deal."
- WorldThe Independent
Chechen leader accused of mass torture and murder offers Donald Trump human rights advice: ‘End the mayhem’
Chechnya's gay-purging strongman Ramzan Kadyrov has made an unexpected foray into US politics by suggesting Donald Trump might have a thing or two to learn from him about human rights. In a social media post published early on Tuesday morning, the controversial leader demanded American authorities “put an end” to “mayhem” and “illegal actions against citizens.” “Police are lynching people right on the streets of American cities,” he wrote.
