- 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.”
- WorldBusiness Insider
Leaked documents reveal China withheld crucial information about the coronavirus at the start of the outbreak
Xinhua via REUTERS China delayed the release of information about the coronavirus, according to a new investigation. Its health officials did not share the coronavirus genome until over a week after scientists in Chinese laboratories decoded it at the beginning of January. Beijing did not warn the World Health Organization that the virus passed between people until two weeks later.
- 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.
- U.S.Associated Press
Tensions mar Paris protest as Floyd outrage goes global
Tear gas choked Paris streets as riot police faced off with protesters setting fires Tuesday amid growing global outrage over George Floyd's death in the United States, racial injustice and heavy-handed police tactics around the world. French protesters took a knee and raised their fists while firefighters struggled to extinguish multiple blazes as a largely peaceful, multiracial demonstration degenerated into scattered tensions. Several thousand people defied a virus-related ban on protests to pay homage to Floyd and Adama Traore, a French black man who died in police custody.
- 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.
- WorldBBC
Pakistan 'blasphemy' death row couple's plea for freedom
Their lawyer, Saif ul Malook, who also represented Asia Bibi, another Christian woman who had a death sentence for blasphemy successfully overturned, told the BBC the evidence used to convict the couple was deeply flawed. But, he warned, that judges can be "fearful" of acquitting suspects, in case they are targeted themselves by extremists. Court proceedings have also slowed in recent weeks as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
- HealthThe Mighty
New Evidence Suggests COVID-19 May Actually Be a Blood Vessel Disease
What's new: While early on COVID-19 was branded as a respiratory illness, its wide array of symptoms — from the toes to the brain — baffled experts. According to experts interviewed in an Elemental article, it's unprecedented that a respiratory illness could migrate outside the lungs. But new research suggests COVID-19 may actually be a blood vessel disease, which would explain all of the virus' symptoms.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Iranian 'spy' scientist flies home after release from US prison, raising hopes of prisoner swap
The families of British dual nationals imprisoned by Iran today criticised the Foreign Office for “complete inaction” in trying to secure their release, as an Iranian scientist previously jailed by the US was allowed to fly home. A plane carrying Sirous Asgari took off early this morning and was on its way back to Tehran to bring him home, Iran's foreign minister announced, raising hopes of a potential prisoner swap for Western dual nationals in Iran. Mr Asgari was accused by a US court in 2016 of stealing trade secrets while on an academic visit to Ohio, where he visited a university working on projects for the US Navy.
- U.S.The Independent
George Floyd protests: British photographer arrested and charged in 'affront to press freedom'
A British photographer has become one of the first members of the media to be arrested and charged for “unlawful assembly” while working at the George Floyd protests. Adam Gray, 33, said he had been taking photos of demonstrators near Union Square in New York City on Saturday evening when he was thrown to the ground by one police officer before several other officers climbed on top of him and forced him into handcuffs. Despite telling the New York Police Department (NYPD) officers he had a foreign press card issued by the US State Department, Mr Gray was arrested and put into a police vehicle.
- PoliticsReuters
U.S. judge no 'mere rubber stamp' in case of ex-Trump aide Flynn, lawyers say
The U.S. judge in the criminal case against President Donald Trump's former adviser Michael Flynn defended himself on Monday, saying it was proper to seek outside views on the Justice Department's request to drop a charge to which Flynn has pleaded guilty. Lawyers representing U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said in a court filing that he is not a "mere rubber stamp" and needed to carefully consider the department's "unprecedented" request. Democrats and former federal prosecutors have accused Attorney General William Barr of politicizing the criminal justice system to go light on Trump associates in key cases.
- 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.
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.NBC News
New York mayor Bill de Blasio defends daughter after protest arrest
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio defended his daughter on Monday following her arrest during weekend protests and insisted she didn't "commit any violence." Chiara de Blasio, 25, was taken into custody late Saturday night at East 12th Street and Broadway in Manhattan for alleged unlawful assembly during protests against police brutality. De Blasio said he didn't know his own daughter got arrested until a reporter called City Hall.
- 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.Associated Press
Black Liberty U. alums rebuke Falwell after blackface tweet
Nearly three dozen black alumni of Liberty University denounced school President Jerry Falwell Jr. on Monday, suggesting he step down after he mocked Virginia's mask-wearing requirement by invoking the blackface scandal that engulfed the state's governor last year. In a letter to Falwell, shared with The Associated Press, 35 faith leaders and former student-athletes told Falwell that his past comments “have repeatedly violated and misrepresented" Christian principles. “You have belittled staff, students and parents, you have defended inappropriate behaviors of politicians, encouraged violence, and disrespected people of other faiths,” they wrote, advising Falwell that “your heart is in politics more than Christian academia or ministry.”
- U.S.USA TODAY
Medical examiner and family-commissioned autopsy agree: George Floyd's death was a homicide
MINNEAPOLIS Both the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office and an autopsy commissioned by George Floyd's family have ruled that the death of Floyd – in an incident that has triggered nationwide unrest – was a homicide and the 46-year-old's heart stopped beating while police restrained him and compressed his neck. The medical examiner's report released Monday listed "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint and neck compression" as the cause of death. It came hours after Floyd family attorney Benjamin Crump held a press conference to announce the findings of a family-commissioned autopsy.
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.BBC
George Floyd: Anonymous hackers re-emerge amid US unrest
As the United States deals with widespread civil unrest across dozens of cities, "hacktivist" group Anonymous has returned from the shadows. The hacker collective was once a regular fixture in the news, targeting those it accused of injustice with cyber-attacks. After years of relative quiet, it appears to have re-emerged in the wake of violent protests in Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd, promising to expose the "many crimes" of the city's police to the world.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
Kellyanne Conway Lashes Out at Bishop Who Condemned Trump’s Church Photo-Op
Kellyanne Conway defended President Donald Trump's decision to tear-gas protesters for a photo-op in front of St. John's Episcopal Church Monday night by going after the bishop who presides over that congregation. The White House counselor was confronted with the criticism from Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde during an appearance on Fox News early Tuesday afternoon. After listing various actions Trump has taken in the name of “religious liberty”—implying that all clergy should be grateful for his help—Conway addressed Budde directly.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
Fauci just criticized Moderna for touting preliminary data on its coronavirus vaccine, but said the results look 'very promising'
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images Several companies have been racing to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, and research efforts are moving faster than ever before. Moderna, which just entered its phase two trial for its coronavirus vaccine, is one of the companies on the forefront of developing such a vaccine. On May 18, Moderna released preliminary data on phase I trials of its coronavirus vaccine, putting the company on headlines and skyrocketing its stock prices.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Hong Kong leader accuses international community of double standards over US riots
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam accused foreign governments for having “double standards,” criticising the US for condemning Beijing's move to impose national security laws to quell protests, while taking its own severe steps to curb unrest at home. “They are very concerned about their own national security, but on our national security...they look through coloured glasses,” said Ms Lam in a weekly press conference. Last week, the US declared that it would axe preferential treatment over worries the global financial hub no longer remained sufficiently autonomous from mainland China, ruled by the Communist Party, with the onset of the national security law.
- U.S.NBC News
One dead in Louisville after police and National Guard 'return fire' on crowd
A man was shot dead in Louisville after police officers and the Kentucky National Guard “returned fire” while clearing a large crowd early Monday. Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad said in a statement that at around 12:15 a.m. his officers and the National Guard were sent to a parking lot to break up a crowd. “Officers and soldiers began to clear the lot and at some point were shot at,” Conrad said in a statement.
- 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.Reuters
Amsterdam anti-racism rally criticised for lack of social distancing
Amsterdam's mayor faced criticism from politicians and health experts on Tuesday after thousands of demonstrators packed the city centre for an anti-racism rally in violation of social distancing rules put in place to ward off the coronavirus. The protesters rallied in support of George Floyd, a black American who died in police custody in the United States last week, their number swelling from an expected 200-300 to several thousands on Monday. Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, of the Green Left party, said city authorities were caught off guard by the huge turnout and could not have intervened peacefully.
