- 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.INSIDER
The trucker who drove through a crowd of protesters in Minneapolis was once arrested for domestic assault
Bogdan Vechirko, 35, was arrested on suspicion of assault after driving a semi-truck through a George Floyd march in Minneapolis on Sunday. Public records show that Vechirko has was convicted for disorderly conduct in late 2012. Donation records also show three contributions of around $100 since 2018: one to President Donald Trump's re-election campaign, and two more to the Republican Party.
- WorldAssociated Press
Acquitted Iranian scientist, deported from US, returns home
An Iranian scientist imprisoned in the U.S. and acquitted in a federal trade secrets case returned to his homeland on Wednesday morning, a semiofficial Iranian news agency reported. The report by the ISNA news agency included an image of Sirous Asgari, wearing a face mask and being welcomed by relatives. A professor at Iran's Sharif University of Technology, Asgari was indicted in April 2016, accused by U.S. federal prosecutors of trying to steal secret research from Case Western Reserve University.
- BusinessReuters
OPEC+ keen to keep U.S. shale in check as oil prices rally
When OPEC, Russia and their allies agreed in April to slash oil production, little did they expect that their initiative to prop up collapsing prices would be helped by a swift drop in U.S. output. Now that crude has rallied on the back of those cuts from below $20 a barrel to $40 or more, the group known as OPEC+ faces a fresh challenge: stopping U.S. shale production delivering another surprise by recovering equally quickly. "The plan is to stick to prices of $40-$50 per barrel because as soon as they rise any further to say $70 per barrel it encourages too much oil production, including U.S. shale," said a Russian source familiar with OPEC+ talks on the issue.
- U.S.USA TODAY
In aftermath of George Floyd's death, San Diego police will 'immediately' end use of carotid restraint
At least three major police departments have banned similar neck holds or chokeholds amid increasing attention on policing maneuvers that cut off oxygen to people under arrest or restraint. Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin used a similarly controversial knee-to-neck restraint, pressing his knee into Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, which resulted in his death. In San Diego, Police Chief David Nisleit and local elected officials announced Monday that officers would immediately stop using the carotid restraint as a use-of-force procedure amid nationwide protests against police brutality.
- BusinessNBC News
PPP loan program accidentally paid some small-business owners twice
Senior banking executives told NBC News the Small Business Administration's system caught most of these duplicates, rejecting borrowers who already had a loan number. However, a few did get through — especially if, for instance, borrowers used their Social Security number to apply to one bank and their Employer Identification Number for another. The news that some borrowers are getting paid more than once is galling, but not surprising, to small business owners such as Pittsburgh drywall contractor Bill Martin, who has yet to receive a PPP loan he applied for in April, even after resubmitting his application form multiple times and exchanging dozens of emails with a senior vice president at ...
- WorldBusiness Insider
The architect of Sweden's no-lockdown plan suggested the strategy was a mistake based on what we now know about the coronavirus
JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images The scientist behind Sweden's no-lockdown coronavirus strategy has suggested for the first time that the approach may have been a mistake. Anders Tegnell told Swedish radio if the country had more knowledge about the coronavirus earlier in its outbreak, its reponse would likely have been "somewhere in between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world has done." Sweden has repeatedly defended its plan while saying it was constantly monitoring to see if it needed to change its strategy.
WorldAFPChina sea security issues pushed Philippine U-turn on US troop pact
Security issues in the disputed South China Sea helped convince the Philippines to delay quitting a key US military pact, the nation's envoy to Washington said Wednesday. The government of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced Tuesday it had suspended plans to cancel the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), a deal that is important to Washington's moves to counter Beijing's rising regional power. Duterte has cosied up to China in search of trade and investment, sparking US concern that its long-time ally and former colony would change sides in a strategic boost to Beijing.
- WorldThe National Interest
Why The Middle East Fears Russia's Alpha Group Commandos
Russia and the Lebanese Islamic militia Hezbollah have become close allies in the civil war in Syria, with both of them supporting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad in the conflict. When members of Hezbollah kidnapped four Russian diplomats in 1985, killing one of them, Russia dispatched the KGB's Alpha Group to deal with the situation. Alpha Group is part spy network, part counterterrorism team, part general-purpose commando squad — and entirely terrifying.
- PoliticsCBS News
Joe Biden inches ever-so-close to clinching Democratic nomination
As of early Wednesday, CBS News projected Joe Biden had 1,912 delegates, just shy of the 1,991 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination. With results still coming in from Tuesday primaries, Biden could clinch the nomination soon. Biden picked up wins Tuesday in Indiana, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Dakota, CBS New projected.
- 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.”
- U.S.LA Times
Minneapolis woman recalls run-in with officer charged in George Floyd killing: 'I lived to complain'
In August 2007, Melissa Borton was returning to her Minneapolis home to unpack groceries after a trip to Rainbow Foods with her 2-month-old child and 5-year-old German shepherd. Borton stopped her van and rolled down her window in anticipation of interacting with the two approaching policemen. One was Derek Chauvin, the officer who would be charged this month with manslaughter and second-degree murder for the killing of George Floyd, which sparked national outrage and protests against systemic racism.
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.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".
- WorldReuters
Explainer: Are asymptomatic COVID-19 patients safe or silent carriers?
China said 300 symptomless carriers of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, the epicentre of the pandemic, had not been found to be infectious, in a bid to reassure people as countries ease restrictions. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200402-sitrep-73-covid-19.pdf asymptomatic cases as those who don't show symptoms but have been confirmed infected through a lab test. The incubation period, or the time a person takes to show symptoms after getting infected, is the pre-symptomatic phase, the WHO says.
- WorldAssociated Press
India, Australia sign defense, trade deals to bolster ties
India and Australia upgraded their relationship with a raft of agreements Thursday, including strengthening defense ties and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific maritime issues. The agreements were signed during a virtual summit between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison. India and Australia see defense as a key pillar of the bilateral engagement and have recently conducted several military exercises.
- U.S.INSIDER
Seattle protesters are using umbrellas to block pepper spray and tear gas, mirroring tactics used by the Hong Kong pro-democracy demonstrations
REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson Seattle protesters are using umbrellas to shield themselves from substances like tear gas as they take part in the anti police-brutality protests that are sweeping the country. CNN reported that dozens of people opened umbrellas in front of a police barrier to protect themselves on Tuesday. Umbrellas may also be becoming a wider symbol of the protests in the city, after footage circulated of a police taking an umbrella off a woman before firing gas into a crowd on Monday.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore apologizes after saying George Floyd's death is on the 'hands' of looters
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Tuesday faced calls to fire Police Chief Michel Moore after Moore said the death of George Floyd was on the "hands" of those inciting criminal acts at protests as much as the officers involved in Minneapolis. While providing an update on Monday, alongside Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Ralph Terrazas, Moore reported the LAPD had made 700 arrests on Sunday night — 70 of those arrests, he said, were people "who were either burglarizing or looting, victimizing, businesses further." "We didn't have protests last night.
- WorldBBC
Philippines drugs war: UN report criticises 'permission to kill'
Thousands of people have been killed amid "near impunity" for offenders in the war the Philippines has waged on illegal drugs since 2016, the UN says. Its report levelled heavy criticism at President Rodrigo Duterte's government. His drugs crackdown has been marked by high-level rhetoric that can be seen as "permission to kill", the report said, urging an independent investigation.
U.S.Yahoo News Video2 dead after shooting at North Dakota air base
A shooting on Monday left two airmen dead at the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota, the military said. The base's emergency services members responded to the shooting, which occurred at 4:30 a.m. Officials said there is no risk to other personnel, and the shooting remains under investigation.
- U.S.Business Insider
This chart shows fewer than half of Black Americans were employed in April, highlighting how coronavirus layoffs have disproportionately affected Black communities
Andy Kiersz / Business Insider Unemployment rates for Black Americans had just fallen to record lows amid a booming economy before the coronavirus pandemic, but the resulting layoffs hit them harder than other demographic groups. Fewer than half of Black people included in the labor force were employed in April, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, further illustrating their greater risk for job losses amid economic upheaval on top of higher rates of COVID-19, which has now killed more than 100,000 people in the US. Employment data only includes the number of people employed and unemployed.
- U.S.NBC News
They wanted to protest peacefully. Police responded with force. On the ground in Minneapolis.
Ashley Phelps and Ahmad Eltawely developed a fast bond on Saturday, the night they fled tear gas and ran from advancing police who were pepper-spraying protesters. They had met for the first time earlier in the day at a peaceful protest and sit-in with thousands of demonstrators who were not involved in the burning of businesses and a police station on previous nights, said Eltawely, who had a microphone and passed it around for people to speak. That's not a demonstration, he said of the violence.
- U.S.The National Interest
Turkey Accuses Syrian Kurds of Fomenting Antifa Attacks on U.S. Soil
The Turkish government attempted to tie Kurdish militants to recent unrest in the United States over the killing of unarmed African-American citizen George Floyd. U.S. President Donald Trump has blamed a loose network of left-wing activists called Anti-Fascist Action for violent clashes at U.S. protests in the wake of Floyd's death. Turkey seized on his comments to claim that the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led militias in Syria were training terrorists to attack U.S. soil, an allegation the Kurds deny.
- BusinessReuters
Confidence in Swedish authorities dips amid mounting pandemic death toll, polls show
Swedes' confidence in the ability of the government and the health agency to handle the outbreak of the novel coronavirus is falling amid growing worries about the high mortality rate, polls published on Thursday showed. Sweden's decision not to adopt a lockdown as in many other European countries was widely supported by the population, but criticism has been growing in recent weeks over the country's high death rate from COVID-19 when compared to its Nordic neighbours, especially among the elderly. The proportion of those with high or reasonably high trust in the government's ability to deal with the virus outbreak dipped to 45% in June, compared to 63% in April, a Novus survey for SVT public service television showed.
- WorldAssociated Press
At least 39 injured in knife attack at China kindergarten
A school security guard injured at least 39 people in a knife attack at a kindergarten in southern China on Thursday morning, state media reported. The motive remains unknown. The attack was an eerie throwback to deadly attacks at schools in China over past years that prompted security upgrades and that authorities have blamed largely on people bearing grudges or who had unidentified mental illnesses.
