- U.S.Yahoo News
Downtown D.C. burns after another night of protests and provocation near the White House
The capital was awash with anger and pain as tear gas blew along the streets and rubber bullets flew Sunday night and into the early hours of Monday morning. Protesters clashed with law enforcement for the third straight evening outside the White House, and numerous businesses were vandalized by rioters defying a citywide curfew. Protesters gathered throughout Sunday in Lafayette Park, which is across the street from the White House and has been a focal point of the demonstrations that began here Friday evening.
- U.S.Yahoo News
New Yahoo News/YouGov poll: Most Americans say Trump is a 'racist' and want him to stop tweeting
The survey, conducted on May 29 and 30, found that 52 percent of Americans answered yes when asked whether they “think that President Trump is a racist.” Only 37 percent said no. Just 33 percent said the president should continue “posting messages on Twitter.”
- BusinessReuters
Reasonable to expect some coronavirus vaccine by year-end, Pentagon researcher says
A senior U.S. Army vaccine researcher said on Tuesday it was reasonable to expect that some sort of coronavirus vaccine could be available to part of the U.S. population by the end of the year. Defense Secretary Mark Esper vowed on May 15 that the U.S. military and other parts of the government would, in collaboration with the private sector, produce a vaccine at scale to treat the American people and partners abroad by year-end. Colonel Wendy Sammons-Jackson, director of the U.S. Military Infectious Disease Research Program, told a Pentagon news briefing it was "reasonable to expect that there will be some form of a vaccine that could be available at some level, to a certain population, by the end of the year."
- 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.
- 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.
- U.S.Business Insider
'You will move, or you will die': A frightened truck driver's viral Facebook post says truckers will 'defend themselves' by running over protesters
A truck driver named Bogdan Vechirko is in jail for assault charges after he nearly drove an 18-wheeler into a large group of protesters in Minneapolis on Sunday. Minnesota state officials said on Monday that his truck was not loaded and that, because he slammed the brakes before getting too close to the crowd, he did not intend to injure any protesters. A Facebook post from originally from a trucking education page asserts that truck drivers who are facing protesters have the right to drive into them.
- PoliticsPolitico
North Carolina governor rejects GOP's demand for full-fledged convention
North Carolina's Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, on Tuesday rejected the GOP's plans for a full-fledged convention in Charlotte, telling Republican officials the only way the event would move forward is with proper health protocols in place. The people of North Carolina do not know what the status of COVID-19 will be in August, so planning for a scaled-down convention with fewer people, social distancing and face coverings is a necessity, Cooper wrote in a letter to the Republican National Committee. The letter is a rebuke of the fully-attended convention that the RNC and President Trump have been pushing for despite concerns about spread of the coronavirus.
- U.S.Military.com
Minnesota National Guard Opened Fire on a Vehicle, Commander Says
A soldier in Minneapolis opened fire on a speeding vehicle that posed a threat Sunday night -- the second known instance of a National Guard member discharging a weapon during the nationwide mass protests, the Minnesota National Guard commander said Monday. "Our soldier fired three rounds from his rifle in response to a direct threat" from a vehicle that drove at a position held by local law enforcement supported by the Guard, said Army Maj. Gen. Jon Jensen, adjutant general of the Minnesota National Guard. Read Next: Army Vet Lawmaker: Invoke Insurrection Act, Deploy Active-Duty Troops to Riots The driver ignored warnings to stop or turn away before the soldier opened fire, Jensen added.
- 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.Yahoo News
Obama to George Floyd protesters: Channel 'justifiable anger' into action
Former President Barack Obama on Monday addressed the nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, praising the “overwhelming majority” of peaceful demonstrators, condemning the violence brought on by a “small minority” and calling on a “new generation of activists” to “bring about real change.” “The waves of protests across the country represent a genuine and legitimate frustration over a decades-long failure to reform police practices and the broader criminal justice system in the United States,” Obama wrote in an essay published on Medium.com. The former president then lauded police in Camden, N.J., and Flint, Mich., for publicly supporting peaceful protests before he criticized demonstrators who have been acting violently.
- TechnologyThe National Interest
Northrop Grumman's New B-21 Stealth Bomber: A Technological Powerhouse?
The new stealth U.S. Air Force B-21 bomber has taken yet another key technological step toward being ready for war, through integrated computer automation designed to streamline information, improve targeting and offer pilots organized warzone information in real-time. Air Force and Northrop Grumman developers recently completed an essential software-empowered process intended to bring greater levels of information processing, data management and new measures of computerized autonomy, according to published statements from Air Force Acquisition Executive Dr. William Roper. Through virtualization and software-hardware synergy, B-21 sensors, computers, and electronics can better scale, deploy and streamline procedural functions such as checking avionics specifics, measuring altitude and speed and integrating otherwise disparate pools sensor information.
- 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.The Daily Beast
Cuomo Hypothesizes About Overthrowing de Blasio After NYC Riots: ‘Police Did Not Do Their Job Last Night’
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo openly hypothesized on Tuesday about overthrowing NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio after rampant looting and destruction swept across Manhattan on Monday night, overwhelming the NYPD and leaving the city looking like a war zone. De Blasio had doubled NYPD officers out on the streets to 8,000 on Monday night and imposed an 11 p.m. curfew after three nights of protests against police brutality were overshadowed by violence.
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.
- WorldBusiness Insider
China's state media says US can now 'enjoy' protests after criticizing China's handling of unrest in Hong Kong
China has been furious at the US government for criticizing its handling of protests in Hong Kong and for backing pro-democracy demonstrators. Over the weekend, state-run media made the most of the current protests in America, sparked by the police-related death of George Floyd. "US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi once called the violent protests in Hong Kong 'a beautiful sight to behold,'" he wrote.
- U.S.NBC News
Cop in Las Vegas critically wounded, others elsewhere injured in protests
A police officer in Las Vegas was critically wounded as others in New York and St. Louis were also injured during ongoing civil unrest sparked by last week's death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, officials said Tuesday. "This has been a long night for your police department ... and a tragic night for our community," Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters Tuesday. "With these protests, which are leading to riots, one tragedy is only leading to another."
- WorldAssociated Press
Tropical Storm Cristobal forms, flood threat for Mexico
Tropical Storm Cristobal formed in the southern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, threatening to bring deadly flooding in parts of southern Mexico and Central America. Cristobal was the earliest third named storm of an Atlantic hurricane season on record; in 2016, Tropical Storm Colin formed in the Gulf on June 5. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Cristobal was centered about 125 miles (200 kilometers) east-northeast of the oil city of Coatzacoalcos and was heading to the southwest at 3 mph (6 kph).
- WorldBBC
Senator tells MPs Huawei puts US troops at risk
One of Huawei's leading critics, US Senator Tom Cotton, has told UK MPs that he fears China is trying to use the telecoms equipment-maker to "drive a hi-tech wedge between us". The Republican politician was giving evidence to an inquiry by the House of Commons' Defence Select Committee into the security of 5G. Mr Cotton added that the US, UK and other allies could team up to develop superior 5G technologies of their own. Huawei said the claims lacked evidence.
WorldAFPPhilippine exit from key US military pact 'suspended'
The Philippines has told the United States it is suspending its bid to break off a key military pact, the two allies said Tuesday in a sharp turnaround of President Rodrigo Duterte's foreign policy. Duterte in February gave notice to Washington he was axing the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) after accusing the US of interference in his internationally condemned narcotics crackdown. That began a 180-day countdown to ending the deal central to hundreds of joint military exercises with the US per year and a major component of their nearly 70-year-old alliance.
- 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.
- WorldReuters
Iranian professor acquitted of sanctions busting leaves U.S., Zarif says
An Iranian professor imprisoned in the United States after being acquitted of stealing trade secrets has left the country and is on his way back to Iran, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an Instagram post on Tuesday. Dr. Sirous Asgari is in the air on a flight back to Iran. In April 2016, the materials science professor was indicted as U.S. federal prosecutors accused him of stealing trade secrets in violation of U.S. sanctions on Iran.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
'Hunt them down': Twitter adds warning label to Gaetz's tweet, saying it glorifies violence
Trump announced on Sunday he'd be designating Antifa as a terror organization, and blamed them for the violence at protests against police brutality following the death of George Floyd. Gaetz is one of President Donald Trump's staunchest supports on Capitol Hill. Hours after it was posted, Twitter determined Gaetz's tweet violated its policies against glorifying violence.
- U.S.The Independent
George Floyd protests: BBC cameraman attacked by police at demonstration outside White House
Police stationed outside the White House attacked a BBC cameraman on purpose as protests against police brutality and the death of George Floyd continued overnight. Peter Murtaugh, who was with the BBC on Sunday night, caught the moment he was pushed on camera in a video that has now had more than one million views. The 10-second video shows police lined-up about a block away from the White House, before at least a dozen officers charge without warning.
- U.S.Business Insider
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accuses New York police union of threatening Mayor Bill de Blasio's daughter after her arrest at Saturday's protests
REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York progressive, slammed a New York City Police Department union for tweeting confidential information about Mayor Bill de Blasio's daughter's arrest on Saturday during a protest against racism. The Sergeants Benevolent Association tweeted a screenshot of Chiara de Blasio's arrest record and attacked the mayor over his daughter's participation in the protests. Ocasio-Cortez urged the NYPD to de-escalate with protesters rather than respond with violent force, and she told the union to "apologize and own this egregious behavior."
- U.S.The Daily Beast
Cops Beaten, Shot, Rammed by SUVs as George Floyd Protests Boil Over
Violent factions attacked police officers across the U.S. over the last 24 hours as demonstrations against the death of an unarmed black man in police custody have spiraled out of control. George Floyd, 46, died after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was caught on video kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes while he was handcuffed on Memorial Day. County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told the Las Vegas Review Journal that the officer survived.
