- U.S.Yahoo News
'Boogaloo' arrests in Nevada portray extremists using protests to incite civil war
Two men charged with conspiring to incite violence and civil unrest at protests over the killing of George Floyd previously sought to do the same thing at protests against coronavirus lockdowns, in both instances seeking to promote their extremist agenda, federal prosecutors say. Federal agents arrested the men, Stephen Parshall and Andrew Lynam, along with a third man, William Loomis, before they allegedly planned to disrupt a Black Lives Matter protest in Las Vegas. According to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Nevada, all three, who are white and have U.S. military experience, “self-identified as part of the 'boogaloo' movement,” a disparate yet growing collection of extremists, including far-right militias, radical gun rights activists, white supremacists and neo-Nazis.
- U.S.Yahoo News
Trump says the economy will cure the 'very sad problem' of police killing blacks
Over the past two days, President Trump has twice been asked how he plans to address the systemic racism in U.S. police departments spotlighted by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and both times he has made clear that he believes the solution is a healthy economy. In a Thursday radio interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, Trump was asked about his reaction to the fact that just 36 percent of African-Americans say they trust local police, compared with 70 percent of whites. “Well, I think it's a very sad problem,” Trump replied.
- U.S.The Independent
Buffalo mayor says elderly protester pushed to ground by police was an 'agitator'
The mayor of Buffalo has said that the elderly protester filmed being knocked to the ground by police in a now viral video was an “agitator” who has been asked to leave the area “numerous” times. Byron Brown said that the 75-year-old man, Martin Gugino, was trying to “spark up the crowd of people”. Two officers appeared to push Mr Gugino, who hit his head on the pavement and was seen to be bleeding from a head wound after the incident near Niagara Square in Buffalo, New York.
- U.S.NBC News
'They pepper-sprayed him to death': Mom of dead prisoner speaks out
The Justice Department inspector general has launched an investigation into the death of a federal inmate who lost consciousness after corrections officers pepper-sprayed him at a New York detention center. Jamel Floyd, 35, died Wednesday after a fracas at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, the federal Bureau of Prisons said. Floyd “became increasingly disruptive and potentially harmful to himself and others," the bureau said, prompting officers to deploy pepper spray to subdue him.
- EntertainmentPopular Mechanics
The 20 Best Podcasts About All Things Tech
From the sounds behind the Star Wars franchise, to the history of the worst video game ever invented, these tech podcasts are must-listens for the 21st century. From Popular Mechanics
- WorldReuters
Bolsonaro threatens WHO exit as COVID-19 kills 'a Brazilian per minute'
President Jair Bolsonaro threatened on Friday to pull Brazil out of the World Health Organization after the U.N. agency warned Latin American governments about the risk of lifting lockdowns before slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus throughout the region. A new Brazilian record for daily COVID-19 fatalities pushed the county's death toll past that of Italy late on Thursday, but Bolsonaro continues to argue for quickly lifting state isolation orders, arguing that the economic costs outweigh public health risks. Latin America's most populous nations, Brazil and Mexico, are seeing the highest rates of new infections, though the pandemic is also gathering pace in countries such as Peru, Colombia, Chile and Bolivia.
WorldAFPVenezuela's Guaido reappears after claim he hid in French embassy
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido reappeared in the street in videos distributed Saturday by his team and parliamentary allies, after foreign minister Jorge Arreaza claimed he had taken refuge in the French embassy in Caracas. Guaido, the parliamentary speaker who is recognized as interim president of Venezuela by 50 countries, was referring to the accusation by the United States of "narcoterrorism" against the socialist government of Nicolas Maduro. The videos -- which did not specify the date or location they were filmed -- were released after Arreaza on Thursday said Guaido was hiding in the French embassy, and demanded he be handed over to "Venezuelan justice."
- U.S.The Daily Beast
Cops Are Finally Being Disciplined—but Is Anybody Buying It?
Nearly two weeks into protests against the killing of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis police custody, a slew of different cities across the country have been forced to confront the brutal methods used by their own police officers as videos emerged of harrowing incident after harrowing incident. In New York City, where earlier this week authorities had praised the police department's “restraint” amid protests despite video evidence to the contrary, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea announced that two officers involved in violent encounters with protesters—including one woman who was violently pushed to the ground and a man who was pepper sprayed after his mask was pulled down—have been suspended without pay.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoTropical Storm Cristobal aims at Gulf Coast
Tropical Storm Cristobal in the southern Gulf of Mexico is beginning on a path expected to take it to the Gulf Coast along with the heavy rains that have caused flooding and mudslides in Mexico and Central America.
- WorldThe National Interest
How the Coronavirus Crisis Exposed the False Promise of Iran-China Partnership
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani recently warned that coronavirus-related restrictions that were recently loosened on economic grounds might be reimposed if a second wave of the virus erupts across the country. Iranian health officials reported 3,134 new coronavirus infections on June 3, which marks the highest contagion rate since March 30 and brings the total number of cases to 160,696. Fears of economic instability and public unrest as a potential consequence also affected the Islamic Republic's permissive early response to the outbreak originating from China, with ultimately cataclysmic ramifications.
- BusinessYahoo News
Trump praises success against coronavirus in states that are seeing cases spike
In a White House Rose Garden press conference meant to highlight the gain of 2.5 million jobs in May after two months of devastating job losses, President Trump lamented that “many of our states are closed or almost closed” because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed nearly 110,000 Americans. “I hope that the lockdown governors — I don't know why they continue to lock down,” Trump said, presumably referring to states like New York and New Jersey that have taken a more cautious approach to lifting restrictions on large social gatherings and some forms of commercial activity.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
Buffalo Cops Who Shoved Elderly Man Charged With Second-Degree Assault
Two Buffalo cops were arraigned on Saturday on one count each of assault in the second degree, after they allegedly shoved a 75-year-old demonstrator during anti-police brutality protests. Martin Gugino, a longtime peace activist in the upstate New York city, hit his head on the pavement and was left on the ground as blood pooled around his head on Thursday evening. Initially, city officials claimed Gugino had tripped and fell.
- WorldAssociated Press
10-foot great white shark kills surfer in Australia
A 60-year-old surfer was attacked and killed by a 3-meter (10-foot) great white shark off the coast of northern New South Wales state on Sunday, officials said. The man received a bite to the back of his thigh and was brought to the shore by other surfers who had fought off the shark, a surf rescue group, Surf Life Saving NSW, said in a statement. “A shark biologist assessed photographs and confirmed a white shark was responsible for the fatal attack,” the state's Department of Primary Industries said.
- U.S.NBC News
Denver police fire pepper balls at man yelling that his pregnant fiancée is in car
The Denver Police Department is investigating an incident from last week that was caught on video and has gone viral showing officers spraying pepper balls at a man who is screaming that he has a pregnant woman in his car. Videos of the incident, which happened early Saturday morning, shared on Twitter and YouTube shows the man getting out of his stopped car to yell at officers: "You shot up a car with a pregnant woman in it, with f--king tear gas." The man is outside of the car on the driver's side, and the passenger's side, where a woman is sitting, is closest to the officers.
- WorldReuters
Ten shot dead in attack on Mexican drug rehab center
Ten men were killed on Saturday when gunmen opened fire on a drugs rehabilitation center in the Mexican city of Irapuato, the government of Guanajuato state said. Guanajuato, a region in central Mexico, has become one of the principal flashpoints of surging gang violence which President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has promised to quell. The state government said in a late Saturday statement that according to preliminary findings, three unidentified assailants shot up the rehab center in Irapuato, an industrial hub south of the state capital, also named Guanajuato.
- U.S.The Independent
'Are you serious? I'm working!': Cops arrest essential workers alongside protestors as calls grow to end NYC curfew
Calls have grown in recent days for New York City officials to end a curfew amid protests against police brutality and the death of George Floyd, as reports show police arresting essential workers alongside demonstrators. The 8pm curfew has caused confusion and further disruption in the city, despite Mayor Bill de Blasio designating on-demand food delivery workers essential — as some workers and industries have been labelled throughout the coronavirus pandemic. In one incident captured on camera Thursday night, New York City police officers appeared to detain a food delivery worker shortly after 8pm.
- U.S.The New York Times
'Kettling' of Peaceful Protesters Shows Aggressive Shift by New York Police
It was about 8:45 p.m. in Brooklyn on Wednesday, 45 minutes past the city's curfew, when a peaceful protest march encountered a line of riot police, near Cadman Plaza. Hundreds of demonstrators stood there for 10 minutes, chanting, arms raised, until their leaders decided to turn the group around and leave the area. What they had not seen was that riot police had flooded the plaza behind them, engaging in a law enforcement tactic called kettling, which involves encircling protesters so that they have no way to exit from a park, city block or other public space, and then charging them and making arrests.
- U.S.Time
Cyclist Who Allegedly Assaulted a Group of Teens Posting Protest Flyers in a Viral Video Has Been Arrested
A cyclist seen in a viral video trying to forcibly take flyers from a group of teenagers commemorating George Floyd has been arrested and charged with three counts of second-degree assault. On June 1, three teens were walking the Capital Crescent Trail near Washington D.C., posting flyers to commemorate the death of George Floyd and call for an end to police brutality. Anthony Brennan III, 60, who was riding his bike, began arguing with the teenagers about the flyers and forcibly grabbed the flyers from one of the victims, park police said in a public statement.
- WorldThe Independent
Tropical storm Cristobal nears US forcing evacuations of coastal island and oil platforms
Tropical Storm Cristobal moved through the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, with strong winds and heavy rains forcing the evacuation of part of coastal Louisiana and more than 170 offshore oil platforms. Cristobal is expected to strengthen before making landfall late on Sunday on the Louisiana coast but is unlikely to reach hurricane strength according to the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC). The agency warns of a life-threatening storm surge, and tropical storm force winds are expected by Saturday from central Louisiana, including New Orleans, to the western part of the Florida panhandle.
WorldAFPTaiwan populist mayor recalled in historic vote
A populist Taiwanese mayor was recalled by voters on Saturday, abruptly ending the rise of a politician whose failed presidential bid had favoured closer ties with China. The historic recall by citizens in the democratic island that Beijing regards as part of its own territory -- vowing to one day seize it, by force if necessary -- comes as tensions with China surge. Han Kuo-yu was ousted by more than 40 percent of eligible voters in the southern city of Kaohsiung, with 97 percent of the ballots cast calling for the recall, according to the city's elections commission.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
Corrupt Cop Linked to Trump Tower Lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya Exposes Russian Ops
LONDON—A corrupt former police officer who was caught working with Trump Tower lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya has revealed in a Swiss court how Russia's complex foreign influence campaign targets justice systems in Western countries. The former consultant to the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office was sacked and convicted after his entanglement with Veselnitskaya and the Russian prosecutor general's office was exposed. On the visit to the spectacular Kamchatka Peninsula and Lake Baikal, the official, who is identified only as Victor K., reportedly admitted that he spent a week fishing, enjoying the rugged countryside, and hunting for bear, including from a helicopter, with officials from the Russian prosecutor general's office.
- U.S.Associated Press
Scores of retired military leaders publicly denounce Trump
Scores of retired military and defense leaders are denouncing President Donald Trump and accusing him of using the U.S. Armed Forces to undermine the rights of Americans protesting police brutality and the killing of George Floyd. The condemnation Friday came in an op-ed in The Washington Post, signed by 89 former defense officials, and in a letter in support of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, signed by 55 retired military leaders. It comes days after law enforcement officers used tear gas and deployed flash bangs to disperse a peaceful protest near White House shortly before Trump walked to the area to pose with a Bible in front of a damaged church.
- WorldDefense News
China could lose 95% of ballistic, cruise missiles under strategic arms control pact, says new analysis
China could stand to lose almost all of its ballistic and cruise missiles if it were to sign a new strategic arms control treaty, according to a new regional security assessment. The analysis, titled “The End of the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty: Implications for Asia,” is one of the chapters of the annual Asia-Pacific regional security assessment published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank. IISS' report was released June 5 and covered regional security topics such as Sino-U.S. relations, North Korea and Japanese policy.
- WorldReuters
Brazil takes down COVID-19 data, hiding soaring death toll
Brazil removed from public view months of data on its COVID-19 epidemic on Saturday, as President Jair Bolsonaro defended delays and changes to official record-keeping of the world's second-largest coronavirus outbreak. Brazil's Health Ministry removed the data from a website that had documented the epidemic over time and by state and municipality. The ministry also stopped giving a total count of confirmed cases, which have shot past 672,000 – more than anywhere outside the United States – or a total death toll, which passed Italy this week, nearing 36,000 by Saturday.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Fact check: Huntington Beach photos comparing coronavirus protest, BLM protest are real
The claim: A Black Lives Matter protest at Huntington Beach had heavy police presence with smaller crowds while a coronavirus protest in the same area had a larger crowd with light police presence A recent Facebook post compares two photos allegedly from recent protests in Huntington Beach, California. The first photo that claims to come from a beach closure protest appears to have larger crowds with no police, while a Black Lives Matter protest in the same area is shown to have a smaller crowd with police blocking off a main intersection. The bottom of the photo is captioned, “1.
