- 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 Daily Beast
Journalists Under Attack Show How Trump’s Hate for the Press Has Spread
Journalists have been attacked all over the world while on the job covering protests for years, but never like they were this week in the United States during the George Floyd protests. At least half a dozen incidences of arrests and attacks were reported in protests across the United States this weekend. Others got less attention, like Los Angeles Times reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske getting pelted with rubber bullets and tear gas or the two Los Angeles Times photographers who were briefly taken into custody.
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.
- 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.
- U.S.Associated Press
Louisville PD apologizes for targeting news crew at protest
Kentucky's governor on Saturday called in the National Guard to “help keep the peace” in Louisville after a second night of protests sparked by the police shooting of a black woman led to widespread damage. Gov. Andy Beshear said he didn't want to silence protesters but decided to activate the Guard to quell the actions of “outside groups” that are “trying to create violence. His action came after the unrest Friday night spread through parts of downtown Louisville, resulting in windows being shattered and small fires being set.
- WorldReuters
EU urges U.S. to reconsider decision to cut ties with WHO
The European Union urged the United States on Saturday to reconsider its decision to cut ties with the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. "In this context, we urge the U.S. to reconsider its announced decision," they said a day after President Donald Trump announced the move, accusing the U.N. agency of becoming a puppet of China. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also condemned the move and pledged intensive talks with Washington on the issue.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoObama on George Floyd’s death: ’This shouldn’t be ‘normal’ in 2020 America’
Former President Barack Obama on Friday weighed in on the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was seen on video gasping for breath as a white officer held him down with a knee on his neck for close to eight minutes in Minneapolis, Minn. on Memorial Day.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Former top Justice Department official warns Trump may 'not cede power'
A former top Justice Department official told Yahoo News she is deeply worried that President Trump could “delegitimize a lawful election” this November “and not cede power.” Vanita Gupta ran the civil rights division at the Department of Justice from 2014 to 2017 and is now part of an informal, bipartisan group that has spent the past year preparing for Trump to potentially contest the results of the election. “He's already talking about how this will be a rigged election and saying if more and more people are voting using these so called mail-in ballots, that the election will be rigged,” Gupta told Yahoo News' “Skullduggery” podcast.
- 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.
- 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.”
- U.S.BBC
George Floyd death: Ex-officer charged with murder in Minneapolis
A former Minneapolis police officer has been arrested and charged with murder following the death of an unarmed black man in custody. Derek Chauvin, who is white, was shown in footage kneeling on 46-year-old George Floyd's neck on Monday. Hennepin County Prosecutor Mike Freeman said Mr Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
- ScienceBusiness Insider
NASA is broadcasting live radio chatter from the astronauts on Saturday's historic SpaceX launch. Here's how to listen.
SpaceX is set to send two NASA astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, into orbit. It will be Elon Musk's company's first crewed launch and the first time American astronauts have launched on a US spacecraft since 2011. You can listen to live audio from the astronauts on the Crew Dragon spaceship via NASA TV on YouTube — the stream is embedded below.
- U.S.NBC News
Coronavirus' latest target? Rural counties.
Comparing the new cases of the virus and the deaths associated with it from the week that ended this Friday to the previous Friday, there were declines. There were about 22,000 fewer new COVID-19 cases this past week than there were the week before according to an NBC News tally of the data. And the number of new deaths was also down this week, by about 1,900.
U.S.AFPLos Angeles restaurants reopen as virus lockdown eases
Los Angeles restaurants and hair salons were granted permission to reopen immediately Friday, as restrictions were eased despite fears the city has become a coronavirus hotspot. Restaurants in Los Angeles county -- which has suffered more than half of California's virus deaths -- will be allowed to offer dine-in services with capacity limited to 60 per cent. "This further brings our communities together and resumes a sense of normalcy, representing monumental progress for Los Angeles County on the path toward recovery," Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Kathryn Barger said.
- PoliticsReuters
Iran berates U.S. over police killing, slams racism
Iran took Washington to task on Saturday over the alleged killing of an unarmed black man by a white police officer that sparked protests in the United States over racial injustice. "Some don't think #BlackLivesMatter," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter. "The U.S. government is squandering its citizens' resources," Zarif said in a tweet echoing a 2018 statement from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
- U.S.Associated Press
Warrant: Police find remains of second child in yard
The remains of a second child that belonged to a Tennessee couple facing abuse charges have been found buried in a yard, court records said. A search warrant affidavit says police recovered the remains of a boy from a Knox County property where Michael and Shirley Gray lived until about 2016, news outlets reported on Friday. Police began searching the property after finding the body of a girl buried under a barn at the Gray's current home in nearby Roane County.
- 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.”
- U.S.INSIDER
Police across the country draw outrage for excessive force against protesters and media
Police across America drew outrage amid protests and riots on Saturday, the fifth night in a row of unrest in the wake of George Floyd's death. In a number of different cities, police officers were seen on cellphone videos mowing down protesters with their cruisers, shoving people, pepper spraying protesters who were not resisting, and arresting or using force against journalists. One incident in New York City was filmed from various angles, when two police cruisers surrounded by protesters hurling water bottles and pylons suddenly lurched into the crowd, mowing down a metal barricade and sending bodies flying.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
Florida’s Seen a ‘Statistically Significant’ Uptick in Pneumonia Deaths. The CDC Says It’s Likely COVID.
Since the beginning of this year, Florida has experienced an uptick in the number of pneumonia and influenza deaths, according to data from the Centers for Disease and Control. Experts and Trump administration officials responsible for keeping tabs on mortality rates across the country believe that many of those individuals had likely contracted and died from COVID-19. According to the data from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, since the beginning of the year there has been a total of 1,519 deaths in Florida where pneumonia and influenza were listed as the underlying cause.
- WorldBBC
Coronavirus: Brazil now fourth-highest nation in Covid-19 deaths
The number of coronavirus fatalities in Brazil has risen by almost 1,000 in a day, making the country's overall death toll the world's fourth highest. Its figure of 28,834 has now surpassed France, and only the US, the UK and Italy have recorded more deaths. President Jair Bolsonaro has consistently played down the outbreak, although the country has the world's second-highest number of cases.
- U.S.CBS News
Cuomo says N.Y. attorney general will review night of violent protests
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo addressed the protests that roiled the nation overnight in response to the death of George Floyd during his daily briefing about the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic. Cuomo noted the virus was ravaging predominantly minority communities, and connected health inequities to the nationwide protests. Cuomo commented on the death of Floyd, an unarmed black man killed in police company, as well as other black Americans killed by police officers.
- 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.
WorldAFPCaution on China from EU, West's 'soft underbelly'
The European Union's cautious response to China's clampdown on Hong Kong on Friday will not much trouble Beijing and underscores Brussels' dilemma when dealing with the increasingly confident great power. After a video conference with 27 foreign ministers, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed "grave concern" but he could threaten no sanctions and said planning for an EU-China summit would continue. In fact, Borrell said, only one of the European countries even raised the possibly of sanctions -- a diplomatic source told AFP this was Sweden -- and he said European investment in China was not in question.
