- U.S.Yahoo News
Arizona tells Pence it needs additional 500 health care workers as COVID-19 cases soar
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey told Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday that the state needed an additional 500 health care workers as the number of cases of COVID-19 continues to set records there. We did hear in the briefing today of the need for personnel,” Pence said at a news conference following his meeting with Ducey. We've already responded with 62 medical personnel arrived this week in Tucson, but the governor conveyed to us an additional request of another 500 personnel and I've instructed the acting secretary of homeland security to move out immediately on providing the additional nurses and doctors and technical personnel.
- U.S.Yahoo News
After a Black protester is killed in Omaha, witnesses claim a rushed investigation ignored signs of the shooter's allegedly racist past
More than 300 people have been arrested in Omaha since Friday, May 29, when the city of less than 500,000 was swept up in the tidal wave of protests against police brutality and systemic racism that had erupted in Minneapolis after the brutal killing by police of an unarmed Black man named George Floyd. Jake Gardner, the white bar owner who shot and killed James Scurlock, a 22-year-old Black protester, on the second night of unrest in Omaha — Saturday, May 30 — wasn't one of them. Within just 36 hours of the shooting, Douglas County prosecutor Don Kleine announced that criminal charges would not be filed, finding that Gardner — a 38-year-old ex-Marine with an expired concealed carry permit — had shot Scurlock in self-defense.
- U.S.The Independent
Black Lives Matter: Florida police officers laugh and brag on video about shooting rubber bullets at protesters
Florida police officers responding to a George Floyd protest have been caught on camera laughing and bragging about shooting protesters with rubber bullets. The video shows police forming a line against a group of protesters in Fort Lauderdale on 31 May and eventually tossing tear gas to drive them away. When protesters began throwing the cannisters back at the police, they responded by shooting at demonstrators with rubber bullets.
- U.S.The National Interest
The Air Force's Masterplan to Make the F-15 Fighter Even More Deadly
Air-to-air missiles, ground-fired weapons such as air defenses and approaching enemy aircraft all contain an electronic signature. This is a modern warfare reality now inspiring a U.S. Air Force effort to upgrade its F-15s with new electronic warfare (EW) weapons. For the last several years, the service has been in the process of testing, engineering and integrating a new Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS) into its fleet of F-15s to, quite simply, keep pace with fast-changing threats.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Britain recognises Juan Guaido as president of Venezuela after dispute over gold
Britain has recognised Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's president, the English High Court has ruled, in a case over whether Mr Guaido or Nicolas Maduro should control $1 billion of its gold stored in London. The case was brought by the Banco Central de Venezuela to release $1 billion of gold reserves to help fund the cash-strapped country's response to the coronavirus outbreak. The Bank of England said it was unable to act on instructions because it was "caught in the middle" of competing claims for the presidency after disputed elections in 2018.
- PoliticsReuters
U.S. Senator to block military promotions until assurances on former White House aide
Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth said on Thursday that she would put a hold on the confirmation of over 1,000 military promotions until Defense Secretary Mark Esper provided assurances on the promotion of a former White House aide who testified in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who provided some of the most damaging testimony during an investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives into Trump's dealings with Ukraine, is up for a promotion to colonel. However, there is concern his promotion could be affected due to political reasons.
- U.S.National Review
Harvard Grad Says She Was Fired from Deloitte Job for Threatening ‘All Lives Matter’ Supporters
A recent Harvard graduate who threatened to “stab” anyone who told her “all lives matter” has been fired from her job, she announced in a tearful video. Claira Janover, who said in a viral but since-deleted TikTok post that she would “stab” those with “the nerve” to say “all lives matter,” posted several tearful videos explaining that her new employer, Deloitte, had fired her. “I know this is what Trump supporters wanted because standing up for Black Lives Matter put me in a place online to be seen by millions of people,” Janover explained.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
Neighbors From Hell? The Insane Drama Behind the Gun-Toting St. Louis Lawyer Couple
Before they were photographed brandishing guns during a Black Lives Matter protest, Mark and Patricia McCloskey had made a name for themselves in their St. Louis neighborhood, suing and writing angry letters to community groups, and even accusing a neighborhood association of trespassing for taking a picture of their house. The McCloskeys, a pair of lawyers, won internet fame this week after they were filmed pointing guns at racial justice protesters outside their mansion in a gated community. The McCloskeys said the protesters were trespassing on their private street, and that they feared for their lives.
- U.S.INSIDER
Alabama college students are throwing 'COVID parties' where they invite infected people and gamble on who gets sick first, officials say
A city-council member in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, told ABC News on Wednesday that students in the college town had been throwing "COVID parties." People infected with the coronavirus are invited to the parties, and attendees take bets on who will get sick first. College students in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, have been throwing parties in which they invite people infected with the coronavirus and gamble on who comes down with the illness first, city officials say.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
Immigration judges in lawsuit say US government muzzles them
Immigration judges said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday against the U.S. Department of Justice that they are being muzzled by the Trump administration, marking the latest confrontation between the judges and the federal government. The judges under previous administrations were allowed to speak in their personal capacities on issues relating to immigration if they they made it clear that they were not speaking on behalf of the Justice Department or the court system, said Judge A. Ashley Tabaddor, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, which represents about 460 federal immigration judges.
- U.S.BBC
Vanessa Guillen: Woman charged over missing soldier 'killed with hammer'
Fort Hood officials named 20-year-old Aaron David Robinson as the main suspect in Ms Guillen's disappearance on Thursday. Investigators said the suspect, a junior soldier at Fort Hood, killed himself as police closed in on him after fleeing his post on Tuesday. Suspect in US missing soldier case took own life "While law enforcement agencies attempted to make contact with the suspect in Killeen, Texas, Specialist Robinson displayed a weapon and took his own life," Damon Phelps, of the US Army's Criminal Investigation Division, said at a news conference on Thursday.
- LifestylePopular Mechanics
The Best Bike Lights to Illuminate Your Ride
See what's coming and stay visible with these 11 bicycle lights. From Popular Mechanics
- WorldThe National Interest
Terrifying: Why France Once Pointed Its Nuclear Weapons at Germany
Key Point: During the Cold War, France had Germany zeroed in with tactical nuclear missiles—in case of a Soviet invasion. Today, France has the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world, behind the United States and Russia. Unlike the American or Russian nuclear triad, which is made up of air- land- and sea-based nuclear weapons, France maintains a nuclear dyad of air- and sea-based nuclear missiles.
- WorldThe Telegraph
'Resist until the end!' Crowds spill into streets of Hong Kong facing water cannon and arrest to protest new security law
Early on Wednesday, Zhang Xiaoming, executive deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, China's top executive body, said suspects arrested under the law would be tried in the mainland. The threat of being extradited and disappeared into China's opaque justice system is chilling to Hong Kong's protesters, but many remained undeterred, and vowed to carry on their fight for basic freedoms. I guess at this point, when Hong Kong people are crushed by hopelessness and helplessness, coming out to the streets is the simplest thing to do to stand and walk by each other in support, keeping our stance against oppressive rulers and their minions,” said Ms Tsang, 23,...
- WorldBusiness Insider
An Iranian nuclear facility was apparently sabotaged, and a mysterious dissident group called the Homeland Cheetahs claimed responsibility
Reuters An important Iranian nuclear facility was damaged in a fire on Thursday that appears to have been the result of sabotage. A previously unknown group calling itself the Homeland Cheetahs, apparently a dissident group, claimed responsibility for the incident. The incident, which happened at Iran's largest uranium-enrichment facility, occurred amid historic tensions between Washington and Tehran over Iran's nuclear program.
- U.S.National Review
Feds Arrest ‘Ringleader’ in Attempt to Topple Andrew Jackson Statue Near White House
Federal authorities on Thursday reportedly arrested a male suspect they say was the “ringleader” of an effort to destroy a statue of Andrew Jackson near the White House. Jason Carter, whom authorities said is connected to the loose knit anarchist group Antifa, was arrested Thursday morning at his home and charged with destruction of federal property, Fox News first reported. Carter allegedly led the June 22 effort to topple the statue in Washington D.C.'s Lafayette Square near the White House, which protesters said they attacked because Jackson owned slaves and because of his treatment of Native Americans.
- PoliticsYahoo News Video
Court lifts restriction on Mary Trump's tell-all book
A restriction placed on a tell-all book by President Trump's niece was lifted by a New York appeals court on Wednesday, clearing the way for its distribution.
- WorldReuters
Palestinians slash public wages in tax dispute with Israel over annexation
The Palestinian Authority (PA) said on Thursday it will slash the wages of tens of thousands of its employees after its protest action against Israel's annexation plans in the occupied West Bank deepened a cash crisis. Its economy already battered by the coronavirus pandemic, the PA, which has limited self-rule in the West Bank under interim peace deals, last month rejected handovers of taxes that Israel collects on its behalf. The transfers, about $190 million a month, make up more than half of the PA's budget and stem from duties on imports that reach the West Bank and Gaza via Israeli ports.
- PoliticsNBC News
McConnell warns Democrats about changing Senate rules to kill the filibuster
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has a message for Democrats: Don't end the legislative filibuster if you win control, or you'll regret it. McConnell called on "responsible Democratic senators" not to be "stampeded by the hard left" and preserve "the one institution that guaranteed that America stayed in the middle of the road." McConnell's remarks come as Democrats debate among themselves whether to preserve the super-majority requirement to pass legislation if they win control of the White House and Congress this fall and their agenda is obstructed.
- U.S.INSIDER
More than 100 armed police officers are clearing away Seattle's CHOP 'autonomous zone,' overturning toilets as they go
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan issued an executive order Wednesday morning declaring that gathering in the zone is considered unlawful assembly that requires city and police action, The Seattle Times reported. Over 100 heavily equipped police officers swept through the protest zone to clear it, overturning toilets as they went. More than 100 heavily armed police officers swept through the Seattle CHOP "autonomous zone" early Wednesday morning carrying out a city order to clear the area, the Seattle Times first reported.
WorldAFPEx-Canada PM Mulroney calls for revised relations with China
Canada must have an "urgent rethink" of its relationship with China, former prime minister Brian Mulroney said Wednesday as tensions build over the possible extradition to the United States of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Conservative Mulroney backed his Liberal successor Justin Trudeau's rejection of any exchange of Meng, who was arrested in Vancouver in December 2018, for two Canadians who were detained in China in apparent retaliation. Mulroney said Canada's hope that China would emerge as a constructive partner in international relations had been proven wrong, referring in particular to Beijing's militarization of the South China Sea.
- WorldThe National Interest
Military Mystery: What Happened to Russia's New T-14 Tank in Syria?
Here's What You Need To Remember: If the T-14 Armata was indeed taken out by insurgents – whether they simply "got lucky" or not – might not bode well for the advanced tank, especially given its costs. Last month multiple media reports suggested that the Russian military's new T-14 Armata tank had been "battle-tested" in Syria. Russia Beyond cited Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov, who had reportedly said in a mid-April TV interview on Rossiya-1, "Yes, that's correct.
- U.S.The Telegraph
Finland's air force drops swastika emblem after century in use
Finland's air force has quietly removed the last swastikas from unit emblems after over a century in use. Until recently the country's Air Force Command emblem depicted a pair of wings around a swastika, a symbol which pre-dates its associations with Nazism. The change was first observed by Teivo Teivainen, a politics professor at the University of Helsinki, who argued its negative associations made the swastika's ongoing use politically fraught.
- WorldAssociated Press
US tries to seize Iranian gas heading toward Venezuela
U.S. federal prosecutors are seeking to seize four tankers sailing toward Venezuela with gasoline supplied by Iran, the latest attempt to disrupt ever-closer trade ties between the two heavily sanctioned anti-American allies. The civil-forfeiture complaint filed late Wednesday in the District of Columbia federal court alleges that the sale was arranged by a businessman, Mahmoud Madanipour, with ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. “The profits from these activities support the IRGC's full range of nefarious activities, including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, support for terrorism, and a variety of human rights abuses, at home and abroad,” prosecutor Zia Faruqui alleges in the complaint.
- U.S.National Review
Gun Sales Spike, FBI Background Checks Set New Record
Background checks for gun sales spiked again in June, setting a new record for the highest number of checks in one month as nationwide protests, riots and the coronavirus pandemic continued to increase safety concerns for many. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System conducted 3.9 million checks in June, an increase of 70 percent over June 2019. Already this year, the FBI has recorded 19 million background checks in the system, more than were recorded during first 14 years of the system, which has been operating since 1998.
“If Trump wants to end DACA, he can still do so — but the fallout and political consequences will be all on him.”
“This is undoubtedly a victory, and yet we know it’s not permanent.”
“Until Congress acts, Dreamers will continue to be used as bargaining chips, no matter who occupies the White House.”
“Democrats now have little incentive to negotiate a compromise. They’ll hold out until they control the White House.”
“Despite protections afforded to DREAMers, immigrants continue to disappear into prisons and detention centers.”
