- U.S.Yahoo News
Former Justice Department official says Trump is 'basically calling for the shooting of protesters'
The former head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division told Yahoo News she feels “absolute and total disgust” over President Trump's tweet Friday morning that seemed to imply protesters demonstrating against police brutality in Minneapolis should be shot. “Here we have a situation where we should have the Justice Department on the ground in Minneapolis, working with community leaders, activists, [and] local officials showing real leadership in this moment, the president should be showing leadership, and instead he's basically calling for the shooting of protesters,” said Vanita Gupta, who served as acting assistant attorney general and head of the Civil Rights Division in the Obama administration.
- WorldYahoo News 360
How should the U.S. respond to China's Hong Kong power grab?
China's legislature on Thursday approved a controversial national security law that gives the mainland government new powers to police subversion and foreign intervention in Hong Kong. Critics of the new law say it's a violation of the “one country, two systems” agreement that has granted Hong Kong certain levels of autonomy — like its own police force and judicial system — since the island became part of China in 1997 after more than a century of British rule. Similar laws have been pursued by pro-Beijing members of Hong Kong's legislature several times in recent years, but none were passed.
- U.S.Yahoo News
Lessons from Japan on containing coronavirus could help U.S. reopen safely
In Japan, seven people have died for every 1 million residents — a death rate about 45 times lower than America's. The number of daily new cases peaked at 743 on April 12, but has varied between 90 and 14 for the past week, according to the World Health Organization; the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has dropped from 10,000 about a month ago to 2,000 today. On Monday, the Japanese government lifted the state of emergency over greater Tokyo, effectively ending the country's version of a lockdown.
- U.S.The Guardian
Trudeau: Canadians watching US unrest and police violence in ‘shock and horror’
Canadians are watching unrest and police violence in the United States in “shock and horror”, Justin Trudeau said on Friday – but the prime minister cautioned that his country also has entrenched problems with racism. The city of Minneapolis has been rocked by a third night of violent protests over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, after a white police officer knelt on his neck as he lay on the ground following arrest. “Many Canadians of diverse backgrounds are watching, like all Canadians are, the news out of the United States with shock and with horror,” Trudeau told reporters at a daily briefing.
- HealthYahoo News
Can you contract coronavirus from a surface or object?
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says contaminated surfaces are not the main way the virus is transmitted, the agency hasn't ruled surfaces out as a possible mode of infection. “If you want a reliable way to prevent yourself from getting the coronavirus, worry less about the surfaces you touch, and worry more about how frequently you wash your hands,” says Dr. Dara Kass, a Yahoo News Medical Contributor and associate professor of emergency medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. Confusion over how the virus is transmitted was reignited last week when the CDC edited the “How COVID-19 Spreads” page on their COVID-19 website to mention contaminated surfaces and objects under a new heading entitled, “The virus does not spread easily in other ways.”
WorldAFPIsrael police kill Palestinian they mistakenly thought was armed
Israeli police in annexed east Jerusalem on Saturday shot dead a disabled Palestinian they mistakenly thought was armed with a pistol, prompting furious condemnation from the Palestinians. The incident happened in the alleys of the walled Old City near Lions' Gate, an access point mainly used by Palestinians. "Police units on patrol there spotted a suspect with a suspicious object that looked like a pistol," an Israeli police statement said.
- BusinessNBC News
Coronavirus quietly started spreading as early as January, CDC says
The coronavirus began quietly spreading in the U.S. as early as late January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday — before President Donald Trump blocked air travel from China and a full month before community spread was first detected in the country. It was also the first media briefing from the CDC in more than two months. "As America begins to reopen, looking back at how COVID-19 made its way to the United States will contribute to a better understanding to prepare for the future," Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, said Friday during a call with reporters.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Denmark and Norway cut coronavirus-hit Sweden out of free travel deal
The governments of Denmark and Norway have cut Sweden out of a deal allowing each other's tourists to travel freely between the two countries — citing their Nordic neighbour's higher levels of coronavirus infection. The deal, announced at parallel press conferences in Oslo and Copenhagen on Friday afternoon, showed Sweden has failed in its diplomatic efforts to be included in the first stage of a Nordic travel bubble. Under the deal, people from Denmark will from June 15 be allowed to enter Norway without needing to quarantine, while tourists from Norway will be able to enter Denmark, so long as they have booked accommodation for at least six days.
- BusinessAssociated Press
Powell: Fed to soon begin 'challenging' Main Street lending
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged Friday that the Fed faces a major challenge with the launch in the coming days of a program that will lend to companies other than banks for the first time since the Great Depression. The Fed's Main Street Lending is geared toward medium-sized companies that are too large for the government's small business lending program and too small to sell bonds or stock to the public. The individual loans, which could reach $600 billion, will technically be made by banks.
- U.S.INSIDER
A Tennessee police chief had a message for fellow law enforcement: turn in your badge if 'you don't have an issue' with George Floyd's death
After the video of George Floyd's arrest and his subsequent death went viral on Monday, a Tennessee police chief tweeted his thoughts on Wednesday. David Roddy said that officers who don't have an issue with Floyd's arrest should turn in their badges. A Tennessee police chief by the name of David Roddy sent a message to his fellow officers on Twitter in response to the death of George Floyd.
- PoliticsCBS News
Flynn and Russian ambassador transcripts released
In the exchanges, which cover the transition period between President Trump's election and his inauguration in January 2017, Flynn and Kislyak discuss policy, and the transition from the Obama administration to the Trump administration. The transcripts detail exchanges over four phone calls – held on December 23, 29, 31 and January 12 – and one voicemail left on January 19 by Kislyak for Flynn. In one exchange, Flynn urged Kislyak to ensure Russia took only "reciprocal" actions in response to the Obama administration's sanctions over election interference.
- WorldReuters
Taiwan president visits bookshop to show solidarity with Hong Kongers
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday visited a bookshop that has become a symbol of resistance to perceived Chinese encroachments on Hong Kong's liberties, vowing to give help to the city's citizens fleeing to the democratic island. Tsai this week became the first world leader to pledge specific measures to help people from Hong Kong who may leave the former British colony because of new national security legislation that has triggered fresh anti-government protests. Hong Kong's demonstrators have won widespread sympathy in democratic Taiwan, which China considers as its territory to be taken by force, if necessary.
- WorldBBC
Ethiopian army ‘shot man dead because phone rang’ - Amnesty
An Ethiopian soldier shot a man dead in front of several people after his phone rang during a public meeting, Amnesty International says. It is one of many incidents the rights watchdog recorded from a security crackdown in Oromia regional state at the end of 2018 and 2019. This was the year that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize.
- U.S.Business Insider
Nurses who have the coronavirus are fighting their employers to get paid time off: 'Nobody really cares about my safety'
Nurses are on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, and many have contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, as a result. Nurses across the country told Business Insider that they have struggled to get paid time off, workers' compensation, and protective equipment from their employers. For weeks, the only contact Ana, a nurse in California, had with her 4- and 1-year old children was watching them play outside from her bedroom window.
WorldAFPBritain pushing US to form 5G club of nations to cut out Huawei
Britain said Friday it was pushing the United States to form a club of 10 nations that could develop its own 5G technology and reduce dependence on China's controversial telecoms giant Huawei. The issue is expected to feature at a G7 summit that US President Donald Trump will host next month against the backdrop of a fierce confrontation with China that has been exacerbated by a global blame game over the spread of the novel coronavirus. Britain has allowed the Chinese global leader in 5G technology to build up to 35 percent of the infrastructure necessary to roll out its new speedy data network.
- U.S.NBC News
Thirteen years later, mother of Fort Drum soldier found dead after disappearing from bar seeks answers
Army Sergeant Patrick Rust survived two tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and the 24-year-old was back on post at Fort Drum in New York for only about 30 days when he disappeared from a bar in Watertown, N.Y. in March 2007. Thirteen years have passed and his mother, Judy Rust, is still fighting to find out what happened to her son. “I just want to know what happened to him,” Judy told Dateline.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Revealed: the worrying links between Huawei, our universities and China
With its cast iron replica of Budapest's Liberty Bridge and its pale-stoned version of Versailles, visitors to Huawei's research centre in Dongguan could be forgiven for thinking they were in Europe. The Telegraph can disclose today that the controversial Chinese telecoms giant backed 17 scientific papers with UK universities, about cutting-edge “dual use” technologies – which can have civilian applications but can also be used in military technology. At least 15 of the papers focused on technology that experts claim could be used to communicate with swarms of drones or on highly advanced image recognition software that experts claim could be used for extreme levels of surveillance.
BusinessWPVI – PhiladelphiaGov. Wolf to lift more pandemic restrictions in Pennsylvania
Gov. Tom Wolf will lift most of his pandemic restrictions in an additional 16 counties home to nearly 3 million people, his office said Friday as afflicted Philadelphia also began mapping its way out of the crisis.
- U.S.The Independent
‘If you can say you can’t breathe, you’re breathing’: Mississippi mayor faces backlash over George Floyd comments
A mayor in Mississippi is facing fierce backlash and calls to resign after saying that he “didn't see anything unreasonable” about the death of George Floyd. Mr Floyd, who was black, died while in police custody in Minneapolis after a white officer was filmed pinned him to the ground by his neck for a prolonged period of time. In the footage, Floyd can be heard saying “I can't breathe” to officers multiple times.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump’s campaign tries to recapture its magic on the virtual campaign trail. Will it succeed?
There are backlit billboards announcing the upcoming campaign event for President Trump. Outside a large arena footage of Trump plays on giant screens as supporters chant “Four more years!” Inside the arena, Trump's surrogates appear on a large Jumbotron as the crowd roars. While rallies had been Trump's trademark prior to the public health crisis, his reelection team has embraced virtual events and believes they provide a major advantage over his Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, on the “digital campaign trail.”
- WorldReuters
Turkey says may begin oil exploration under Libya deal in three-four months
Turkey may begin oil exploration in the eastern Mediterranean within three or four months under a deal it signed with Libya that was condemned by others in the region including Greece, Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Friday. Libya's internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) signed the maritime delimitation deal last year. Turkey says it creates an exclusive economic zone from its southern coast to Libya's northeast coast, and protects rights to resources.
- WorldAssociated Press
New report alleges killings, mass detentions in Ethiopia
A new report by the rights group Amnesty International accuses Ethiopia's security forces of extrajudicial killings and mass detentions even as the country's reformist prime minister was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The report issued Friday says security forces killed at least 25 people in 2019 in the East Guji and West Guji zones of the restive Oromia region amid suspicions of supporting a rebel group, the Oromo Liberation Army, and a once-exiled opposition group. And at least 10,000 people under suspicion were detained between January and September, with most “subjected to brutal beatings."
- U.S.Business Insider
NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo says New York City is on track to begin reopening the week of June 8
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that New York City would begin reopening the week of June 8. "We will stay on track by focusing on the hotspots," Cuomo said in a tweet. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Friday that New York City would begin reopening the week of June 8.
WorldAFPPompeo demands Russia free ill American accused of spying
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday demanded that Russia free a former US marine accused of spying in Russia after the man underwent urgent surgery in a Moscow hospital. Fifty-year-old Paul Whelan had emergency hernia surgery late Thursday after suffering "severe abdominal pain," his brother David Whelan said in a statement Friday. Paul Whelan, who also holds Canadian, Irish and British citizenship, was detained in Moscow in December 2018 for allegedly receiving state secrets.
- U.S.NBC News
One of the coldest places on Earth is experiencing a record-breaking heat wave
One of the coldest regions on Earth has been experiencing a record-breaking heat wave in recent weeks amid growing fears about devastating wildfires and melting permafrost. Khatanga, a town in Siberia's Arctic Circle, registered highs of over 80 degrees Fahrenheit this week, according to Accuweather, far above the 59 degrees F historical average, as the whole of western Siberia basked in unseasonable warmth. While locals flocked to popular spots to sunbathe, experts sounded alarms about the possible implications for the region's wildfire season this summer, with some blazes already breaking out in recent months.
