- U.S.Yahoo News
Tired of troops on the streets, Washington, D.C., names 'Black Lives Matter Plaza' outside the White House
After another night of protests — relatively peaceful compared with those earlier in the week — in Washington, D.C., the city's mayor has escalated her efforts to extricate the city from the presence of troops and law enforcement officers who had been ordered there by federal officials. “The very first thing is we want the military — we want troops from out of state out of Washington, D.C.,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said Thursday. Because the District of Columbia is not a state, the federal government has different powers in the nation's capital than it does in other cities.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
Cops Are Finally Being Disciplined—but Is Anybody Buying It?
Nearly two weeks into protests against the killing of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis police custody, a slew of different cities across the country have been forced to confront the brutal methods used by their own police officers as videos emerged of harrowing incident after harrowing incident. In New York City, where earlier this week authorities had praised the police department's “restraint” amid protests despite video evidence to the contrary, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea announced that two officers involved in violent encounters with protesters—including one woman who was violently pushed to the ground and a man who was pepper sprayed after his mask was pulled down—have been suspended without pay.
- U.S.NBC News
Denver police fire pepper balls at man yelling that his pregnant fiancée is in car
The Denver Police Department is investigating an incident from last week that was caught on video and has gone viral showing officers spraying pepper balls at a man who is screaming that he has a pregnant woman in his car. Videos of the incident, which happened early Saturday morning, shared on Twitter and YouTube shows the man getting out of his stopped car to yell at officers: "You shot up a car with a pregnant woman in it, with f--king tear gas." The man is outside of the car on the driver's side, and the passenger's side, where a woman is sitting, is closest to the officers.
- WorldAssociated Press
News agency: Iranian ship sinks in Iraqi waters, 1 dead
The head of Iran's maritime and ports association said Friday an Iranian cargo ship sank in Iraqi waters, and at least one crew member was dead and two others missing, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported. Nader Pasandeh told IRNA the cargo ship Behbahan embarked Tuesday for Umm Qasr Port in Iraq from the southwest Iranian port city of Khorramshahr. He said it sank Thursday night in Khor Abdullah, a narrow channel that separates Iraq from Kuwait.
- WorldReuters
Iranian wedding party fuelled new COVID-19 surge, President Rouhani says
DUBAI (Reuters)- - A wedding party contributed to a new surge in coronavirus infections in Iran, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday but insisted the country had no option but to keep its economy open despite warnings of a second wave of the epidemic. Iran, which has been gradually relaxing its lockdown since mid-April, has reported a sharp rise of new daily infections in recent days. "At one location, we witnessed a peak in this epidemic, the source of which was a wedding that caused problems for the people, health workers and losses to the economy and the country's health system," Rouhani said on state TV.
- U.S.BBC
Robert E Lee statue: Virginia governor announces removal of monument
Virginia's Governor Ralph Northam has announced that a statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee will be removed from the state capital. The monument has been vandalised during recent protests over the killing of African American George Floyd. At a news conference, a round of applause erupted when Governor Northam said the 12-ton statue would be removed.
- U.S.The Independent
'Are you serious? I'm working!': Cops arrest essential workers alongside protestors as calls grow to end NYC curfew
Calls have grown in recent days for New York City officials to end a curfew amid protests against police brutality and the death of George Floyd, as reports show police arresting essential workers alongside demonstrators. The 8pm curfew has caused confusion and further disruption in the city, despite Mayor Bill de Blasio designating on-demand food delivery workers essential — as some workers and industries have been labelled throughout the coronavirus pandemic. In one incident captured on camera Thursday night, New York City police officers appeared to detain a food delivery worker shortly after 8pm.
LifestyleYahoo News VideoNew arms race taking shape amid a pandemic and economic crisis
Three decades after the Cold War ended without a feared nuclear cataclysm, arms control experts are starting to think the sigh of relief heard around the world then might have been premature.
- EntertainmentPopular Mechanics
The 20 Best Podcasts About All Things Tech
From the sounds behind the Star Wars franchise, to the history of the worst video game ever invented, these tech podcasts are must-listens for the 21st century. From Popular Mechanics
- U.S.Yahoo News
Trump praises success against coronavirus in states that are seeing cases spike
In a White House Rose Garden press conference meant to highlight the gain of 2.5 million jobs in May after two months of devastating job losses, President Trump lamented that “many of our states are closed or almost closed” because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed nearly 110,000 Americans. “I hope that the lockdown governors — I don't know why they continue to lock down,” Trump said, presumably referring to states like New York and New Jersey that have taken a more cautious approach to lifting restrictions on large social gatherings and some forms of commercial activity.
- U.S.USA TODAY
2 Buffalo cops charged with assault after video shows officers shoving 75-year-old man to the ground
Two suspended Buffalo police officers were charged with second-degree assault Saturday amid outcry over video showing officers shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground at a demonstration over the death of George Floyd, prosecutors said. Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski pleaded not guilty to the charges and were released without bail, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said in a news conference. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday applauded the work of Buffalo Mayor Bryon Brown and the district attorney after saying Friday that the officers should be fired.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
Corrupt Cop Linked to Trump Tower Lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya Exposes Russian Ops
LONDON—A corrupt former police officer who was caught working with Trump Tower lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya has revealed in a Swiss court how Russia's complex foreign influence campaign targets justice systems in Western countries. The former consultant to the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office was sacked and convicted after his entanglement with Veselnitskaya and the Russian prosecutor general's office was exposed. On the visit to the spectacular Kamchatka Peninsula and Lake Baikal, the official, who is identified only as Victor K., reportedly admitted that he spent a week fishing, enjoying the rugged countryside, and hunting for bear, including from a helicopter, with officials from the Russian prosecutor general's office.
- WorldAssociated Press
China urges citizens to shun Australia as dispute simmers
China is advising its citizens not to visit Australia, citing racial discrimination and violence against Asians, in what appears to be Beijing's latest attempt to punish the country for advocating an investigation into the coronavirus pandemic. A notice issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism late Friday said there has “been an increase in words and deeds of racial discrimination and acts of violence against Chinese and Asians in Australia, due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.” “The ministry advises Chinese tourists to raise their safety awareness and avoid travelling to Australia,” the notice said.
WorldAFP Relax NewsSaudi reimposes virus lockdown on Jeddah
Saudi Arabia on Friday announced a renewed lockdown in the city of Jeddah, gateway to the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, to counter a new spike in coronavirus cases. "After reviewing the epidemiological situation and the high occupancy rates of intensive care departments, it was decided to take strict health precautions in the city of Jeddah for two weeks," starting from Saturday, the health ministry said. After an easing of precautions in the kingdom in late May, the ministry said that strict measures could also soon return to Riyadh, which was "witnessing a continuous increase during the last days" of critical cases of the pandemic.
- CelebrityNBC News
Bollywood actors called out for protesting racism while promoting skin whitening creams
Bollywood actors posting against racism in the wake of George Floyd's death and worldwide demonstrations have been called out on social media this week for their promotions of Indian skin lightening creams like “Fair and Lovely. When the actress Disha Patani tweeted a graphic last week reading “ALL COLOURS ARE BEAUTIFUL,” Twitter users were quick to call her out for her promotion of a Pond's “Fairness” BB cream, advertised as a face product to whiten skin. YOU LITERALLY WORK FOR FAIRNESS CREAM COMMERCIALS THAT SAY "zyada gorapan …," one person tweeted.
- U.S.INSIDER
Justin Trudeau took the knee 3 times at an anti-racism protest, but he's being called on to do more to address Canada's racism and indigenous deaths
DAVE CHAN/AFP via Getty Images Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau kneeled three times during an anti-racism protest in Canada on Friday, in solidarity with those protesting police violence. Trudeau, wearing a mask, turned up at the protest, part of worldwide response sparked by the death of unarmed black man George Floyd in US police custody. The global protests condemn US police brutality while also highlighting racism in each country, and Trudeau is under pressure to address racial and police violence in Canada.
- WorldBBC
Coronavirus: Madagascar minister fired over $2m lollipop order
Madagascar's education minister has been fired over plans to order more than $2m (£1.6m) worth of sweets for schoolchildren. Rijasoa Andriamanana said pupils would be given three lollipops each to mask the "bitter" aftertaste of an untested herbal remedy for coronavirus. The plan was called off after objections from Madagascar's president.
- U.S.The National Interest
Tom Cotton’s Foes Are Embracing Authoritarianism
It was probably inevitable that, at some point, the New York Times would become engulfed in the national controversy over racism and everything else about America that liberals find dismaying. The proximate cause of the uproar at the Times is an op-ed called “Send In the Troops” by Senator Tom Cotton. In it Cotton announced—what else?—that it's time to send in the military to clean out America's cities of “nihilist protesters.”
- U.S.Yahoo News
Trump says the economy will cure the 'very sad problem' of police killing blacks
Over the past two days, President Trump has twice been asked how he plans to address the systemic racism in U.S. police departments spotlighted by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and both times he has made clear that he believes the solution is a healthy economy. In a Thursday radio interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, Trump was asked about his reaction to the fact that just 36 percent of African-Americans say they trust local police, compared with 70 percent of whites. “Well, I think it's a very sad problem,” Trump replied.
U.S.AFPPolice arrested in Mexico after riots over man's death
Three police officers have been arrested in the Mexican state of Jalisco over the death of a man taken into custody for allegedly breaking coronavirus restrictions, authorities said Friday. Among those placed under arrest over the death of 30-year-old Giovanni Lopez last month is a municipal police chief in Guadalajara and another middle-ranking officer, state prosecutor Gerardo Solis told reporters. The arrests follow riots in the state capital Guadalajara after protesters had gathered to demand justice over Lopez's death.
- U.S.The Independent
US Marines order Confederate flag to be removed from public display
The US Marine Corps has officially ordered the removal of the Confederate battle flag from public display on its bases and offices, citing the flag's use by racist groups as a "threat to our core values". In a statement on 5 June, the service branch said: "The Confederate battle flag has all too often been co-opted by violent extremist and racist groups whose divisive beliefs have no place in our Corps." "Our history as a nation, and events like the violence in Charlottesville in 2017, highlight the divisiveness the use of the Confederate battle flag," waved by branches of the secessionist Confederate States Army during the US Civil War.
- WorldDefense News
China could lose 95% of ballistic, cruise missiles under strategic arms control pact, says new analysis
China could stand to lose almost all of its ballistic and cruise missiles if it were to sign a new strategic arms control treaty, according to a new regional security assessment. The analysis, titled “The End of the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty: Implications for Asia,” is one of the chapters of the annual Asia-Pacific regional security assessment published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank. IISS' report was released June 5 and covered regional security topics such as Sino-U.S. relations, North Korea and Japanese policy.
- WorldAssociated Press
On sad anniversary, few to mourn the D-Day dead in Normandy
SAINT-LAURENT-SUR-MER, France (AP) — At least the dead will always be there. All too many have been, for 76 years since that fateful June 6 on France's Normandy beaches, when allied troops in 1944 turned the course of World War II and went on to defeat fascism in Europe in one of the most remarkable feats in military history. “I miss the others," said Charles Shay, who as a U.S. Army medic was in the first wave of soldiers to wade ashore at Omaha Beach under relentless fire on D-Day.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Fact check: Huntington Beach photos comparing coronavirus protest, BLM protest are real
The claim: A Black Lives Matter protest at Huntington Beach had heavy police presence with smaller crowds while a coronavirus protest in the same area had a larger crowd with light police presence A recent Facebook post compares two photos allegedly from recent protests in Huntington Beach, California. The first photo that claims to come from a beach closure protest appears to have larger crowds with no police, while a Black Lives Matter protest in the same area is shown to have a smaller crowd with police blocking off a main intersection. The bottom of the photo is captioned, “1.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Czech Republic expels two Russian diplomats over 'made-up information' about attacks
The Czech Republic on Friday accused a Russian embassy employee of spreading false information about a planned poison attack and expelled two Russian diplomats, prompting an angry reaction from Moscow. The Russian foreign ministry slammed the expulsion in a statement as a "hostile measure" and said it would deal a "serious blow to Russian-Czech relations." In April, Respekt newspaper cited security sources as saying that a Russian national using a diplomatic passport had arrived in Prague carrying ricin, a toxic poison that can be used as a biological weapon.
