- 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.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.
- 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.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.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
Autopsy report shows Floyd had tested positive for COVID-19
A full autopsy of George Floyd, the handcuffed black man who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police, was released Wednesday and provides several clinical details, including that Floyd had previously tested positive for COVID-19. Bystander video showing Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee on Floyd's neck, ignoring Floyd's “I can't breathe” cries until he eventually stopped moving, has sparked nationwide protests, some violent. The report by Chief Medical Examiner Andrew Baker spelled out clinical details, including that Floyd had tested positive for COVID-19 on April 3 but appeared asymptomatic.
- BusinessReuters
What you need to know about the coronavirus right now
Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: A triple whammy of crises Battered by crisis after crisis, U.S. President Donald Trump appears to be in political peril as never before. Since taking office in 2017, Trump has weathered storm after storm, always emerging with a fighting chance at re-election. After he survived an impeachment trial that saw him acquitted by the Republican-led Senate on Feb. 5, things looked up.
BusinessAFPUS suspends flights by Chinese airlines in new spat with Beijing
Washington on Wednesday ordered the suspension of all flights by Chinese airlines into and out of the United States after Beijing failed to allow American carriers to resume services to China. The move adds to a growing friction between the world's two biggest economies amid the coronavirus crisis and in the wake of a two-year trade war that has not been fully resolved. The US action, which takes effect June 16 but could be implemented sooner if President Donald Trump orders it, applied to seven Chinese civilian carriers, although only four currently are running service to US cities including Air China and China Eastern Airlines, the Department of Transportation DOT said.
- 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
Joe Biden pulls Julián Castro into campaign, asks for help to 'tackle police reform'
Former Vice President Joe Biden followed a speech addressing the national protests over the death of George Floyd on Tuesday with a welcoming of Julián Castro to his campaign to help tackle police reform, an issue that was a cornerstone of Castro's failed presidential campaign. The welcome mat for Castro, who was the only major Latino candidate in the Democratic presidential nomination race, comes almost two months after Castro first expressed support for Biden and amid a national uprising in peaceful and violent protests following Floyd's death after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes. In his speech, Biden called for Congress to take immediate steps to reform police, including outlawing choke holds, ending the transfer of military weapons to police, improving oversight and accountability of police and creating a national model on use of force.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Gov. Cuomo apologizes to NYPD brass after critical 'do your job' comments, chief says
ALBANY, N.Y. – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo apologized privately to top New York City Police administrators Tuesday after earlier in the day ripping their response to rioters as a "disgrace." NYPD Chief Terence Monahan told NBC's "Today" show Wednesday that Cuomo's office called him, and the governor called commissioner Dermot Shea to apologize and clarify his remarks. Last night, his office called and apologized to me, and I know he called the commissioner directly to apologize,” Monahan said.
- WorldThe Guardian
Missing Mexican congresswoman's body found a month after abduction
The body of a missing Mexican congresswoman has been found in a shallow grave more than a month after she was abducted by armed men while raising awareness about the coronavirus pandemic. Anel Bueno, a 38-year-old lawmaker from the western state of Colima, was snatched on 29 April in Ixtlahuacán, a town on a stretch of Mexico's Pacific coast that the drug trade has made one of the country's most murderous regions. Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told reporters on Wednesday a suspect had been detained over the killing of Bueno, who was a member of his party, Morena.
- 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.
- U.S.INSIDER
Voices captured on an NYC police scanner can be heard saying protesters should be shot and run over
REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz A New York police scanner broadcast voices advocating violence against protesters. Audio clips of the communication have circulated on social media. In one clip, someone says: "Shoot those motherf---ers," referring to the protesters.
- 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.
- 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.
- U.S.BBC
George Floyd death: Trump denies protests forced him into bunker
US President Donald Trump has denied reports he was rushed to the White House bunker on Friday night during anti-racism protests. Mr Trump told Fox News radio he went down during the day for a "tiny period of time" for an "inspection". There have been protests near the White House, and across the US, for days over the death in custody of George Floyd.
- WorldBusiness Insider
Boris Johnson told Italy's prime minister the UK had been aiming for coronavirus herd immunity, new documentary reveals
Getty Boris Johnson reportedly told the Italian prime minister in March that the UK was aiming for herd immunity, according to a new documentary. Pierpaolo Sileri, a health minister in Giuseppe Conte's Italian government, told Channel 4's Dispatches that UK Prime Minister Johnson informed Conte of his plan during a phone call on March 13. Sileri said: "I remember he said, 'He told me that he wants herd immunity'."
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.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
NYPD Says Looters Are Stashing Bricks. Brooklyn Locals Say Otherwise
On Wednesday morning, New York Police Department Commissioner Dermot F. Shea tweeted a low-resolution video of an unidentified officer picking up blue plastic crates on a city street corner. The crates, which appeared to be filled with chunks of masonry, had apparently been left next to a garbage can near Avenue X and West 3rd Street in Gravesend, a neighborhood by the water on Brooklyn's south end that's been largely untouched by the protests elsewhere in the borough and the city. "This is what our cops are up against: Organized looters, strategically placing caches of bricks & rocks at locations throughout NYC," Shea wrote.
- U.S.The Guardian
Looting and violence continues in New York City despite unprecedented curfew
An unprecedented curfew in New York City on Monday night did little to prevent destruction, as people smashed their way into shops including Macy's flagship store, grabbed merchandise and fled. Police said more than 200 were arrested and several officers were injured, following another day of peaceful protests throughout the city over the death of George Floyd, an African American man who died on 25 May after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes. “Some people are out tonight not to protest but to destroy property and hurt others and those people are being arrested,” Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted.
- U.S.Associated Press
Washington man has some surprise guests: about 60 protesters
Rahul Dubey had some unexpected guests Monday night — about 60 in all — as a tense nation's capital continued to grapple with the fallout from the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Inside, pandemonium ensued as some of the screaming protesters hit by pepper spray sought relief for their eyes with milk and water. “The whole time he didn't think of himself,” said one of the protesters, a 22-year-old Virginia man named Meka who declined to give his last name.
- U.S.INSIDER
Minneapolis Police union president said he has been involved in three shootings, 'and not one of them has bothered' him
Photo by Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via Getty Images Lt. Bob Kroll, President of Minneapolis' police union, said he and a majority of the Minneapolis Police Officers' Federation's board have been involved in police shootings, during an April interview with STIM Radio host Maxwell Thomas Silverhammer reported on by The Intercept. Kroll said he himself has been involved in three, and while many police officers have experienced PTSD after shootings "not one of them has bothered me." These statements were made a mere month before the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died after Minneapolis police officers knelt on his neck and pinned him down during an arrest.
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.
- WorldReuters
Iran says coronavirus restrictions could return if second wave hits
Iran's president warned the public on Wednesday that restrictions may have to be reimposed to fight the coronavirus if the country is hit by a second wave of infections, after authorities announced the most new cases in a day since March. Iran has suffered the worst coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, forcing it to impose a lockdown that damaged an economy already reeling from the imposition of U.S. sanctions. Restrictions have been gradually lifted since April but have been reimposed in some areas after localised outbreaks.
