| Former Justice Department official says Trump is 'basically calling for the shooting of protesters' Posted: 29 May 2020 01:43 PM PDT  Vanita Gupta, head of the department's Civil Rights Division in the Obama administration, said the Minneapolis Police Department was on her "radar" during her tenure.
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| Lessons from Japan on containing coronavirus could help U.S. reopen safely Posted: 29 May 2020 09:01 AM PDT  In many ways, Japan's experience of the coronavirus pandemic has paralleled America's, and yet Japan's outbreak has stalled — at much lower levels of infection and death.
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| How should the U.S. respond to China's Hong Kong power grab? Posted: 29 May 2020 12:46 PM PDT  The Chinese government passed a law giving it sweeping new powers to stamp out dissent on the semiautonomous island of Hong Kong. Should the U.S. and others nations push back?
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| Cuomo says N.Y. attorney general will review night of violent protests Posted: 30 May 2020 09:23 AM PDT  Violent clashes between police and civilians took place during protests in Brooklyn on Friday.
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| SpaceX's historic launch hurled a sequined plush dinosaur into space with NASA astronauts Posted: 30 May 2020 03:05 PM PDT  The plushie indicates when the Crew Dragon spaceship has reached a state of zero gravity, but neither NASA or SpaceX have explained how it was chosen.
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| 'The Five' react to fired Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd's death Posted: 29 May 2020 02:45 PM PDT  Derek Chauvin charged with third-degree murder, manslaughter in death of George Floyd; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'
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| India announces major easing of coronavirus lockdown Posted: 30 May 2020 08:04 AM PDT  India said Saturday it would begin a major relaxation of the world's biggest coronavirus lockdown from early June, even as the country saw another record rise in confirmed infections. Prime Minister Narenda Modi conceded that much of the country had since "undergone tremendous suffering" in an open letter to the public on Saturday. The end of the lockdown will be staged and for now will not include some "containment zones" where high infection rates have been detected, according to the home ministry.
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| George Floyd death puts spotlight on 'warrior training' for police Posted: 29 May 2020 12:56 PM PDT  After the killing of George Floyd, the controversial practice of imbuing police cadets with a readiness to kill, known as "warrior training," receives fresh scrutiny.
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| Exclusive: U.S. warns governments, firms against aiding Iran fuel shipments to Venezuela - envoy Posted: 29 May 2020 12:38 PM PDT  Seeking to deter further shipments of Iranian fuel to Venezuela, the Trump administration has quietly warned foreign governments, seaports, shipping companies and insurers that they could face stiff U.S. sanctions if they aid the tanker flotilla, the U.S. envoy on Venezuela told Reuters on Friday. Elliott Abrams, Washington's special representative on Venezuela, said the pressure campaign targeting heavily sanctioned U.S. foes Iran and Venezuela was being waged "to be sure everyone recognizes this would be a very dangerous transaction to assist."
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| Hong Kong: China fury amid global pressure over security law Posted: 29 May 2020 11:02 AM PDT  The UK and US condemn plans for a new security law at the UN Security Council, drawing Beijing's ire.
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| Trump’s campaign tries to recapture its magic on the virtual campaign trail. Will it succeed? Posted: 30 May 2020 02:00 AM PDT  Trump's virtual campaign rallies feature a 3D animated venue designed to make a big splash, in contrast to Biden's rec room. But Biden is still ahead in the polls.
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| Dragon-riding astronauts join exclusive inner circle at NASA Posted: 30 May 2020 01:06 PM PDT  Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken join NASA's exclusive inner circle by catching a ride on a SpaceX rocket and capsule. It's only the fifth time that NASA has put people aboard a brand new spacecraft line for liftoff. And it's the first time the spacecraft belongs to a for-profit company in charge of the launch. The retired Marine colonel and former fighter pilot flew on NASA's last space shuttle flight in 2011, closing out a 30-year era.
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| Minnesota Riots Hurt Klobuchar’s VP Nomination Prospects, According to Biden Ally Posted: 29 May 2020 03:06 PM PDT  The ongoing riots in Minnesota hurt Senator Amy Klobuchar's prospects for Democratic nomination as vice president, House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D., S.C.) said on Friday.Klobuchar declined to bring charges against multiple Minneapolis police officers involved in shootings over the course of her seven-year tenure as attorney for Hennepin County. Minneapolis has seen four days of riots after resident George Floyd, an African-American man, died following his arrest at the hands of white officers."We are all victims sometimes of timing….This is very tough timing for Amy Klobuchar, who I respect so much," Clyburn told reporters. When asked directly if Klobuchar's chances at the nomination were diminished, Clyburn said, "that is the implication, yes," although he added that Klobuchar "absolutely is qualified" to be vice president.Clyburn is the highest-ranking African American member of Congress, and was instrumental in Biden's victory over Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) in the Democratic primaries. Following Clyburn's endorsement of Biden, the former vice president received overwhelming support from African American primary voters.Biden on Friday denied that his campaign's vice presidential nomination process was affected by the Minnesota riots."What we are talking about today has nothing to do with my running for president or who I pick as a vice president," Biden told MSNBC. "It has to do with an injustice that we all saw take place."Klobuchar has expressed regret for not prosecuting police officers accused of offenses, instead opting to send the cases to grand juries."I think that was wrong now," Klobuchar said in a Friday interview on MSNBC. "I think it would have been much better if I took the responsibility and looked at the cases and made the decision myself."
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| Airlines schedule major increase in flights in July as pressure mounts on ministers to ease quarantine Posted: 30 May 2020 11:44 AM PDT  Airlines have scheduled a dramatic increase in flights in July in anticipation that Governments will lift travel restrictions for holidaymakers and save the industry from potential collapse, according to data seen by The Sunday Telegraph. The companies which have already laid off tens of thousands of workers are banking on a "V-shaped" recovery by scheduling 161,200 passenger flights and 29.5 million seats for July, just eight per cent down on last year's July timetables. The strategy to open up business travel and holiday routes to hotspot favourites like Greece, Italy, France and Spain comes as most European countries are preparing to lift their quarantines or open their borders in mid June or at least by July 1. It will increase pressure on Boris Johnson to make good his suggestion last week that the UK's quarantine - to be introduced on June 8 - could be replaced with "air bridges" to low-risk holiday destinations when it is reviewed on June 29. One senior industry source claimed: "The sense is that they might quietly do a U-turn after the first review period. Grant Shapps [the Transport Secretary] is against quarantine, the Treasury are against it, Beis is against it and DCMS hate it." The exclusive data, from Cirium, a travel analytics firm, shows how the coronavirus pandemic devastated the aviation industry as it tore across the world. Scheduled passengers were 22.5 million in February, 10 per cent up on last year before it slumped by 93 per cent in April and May. It has risen in June to 38.5 per cent down on last year, as the Far East has opened up, and rises to just minus eight per cent in July as airlines anticipate Europe unlocking. June and July are "scheduled" rather than actual flights, which will depend on quarantines easing in June and July. Germany has lifted restrictions, Italy wants to resume travel on June 15, and Spain and Portugal are aiming for July 1. France hopes to drop border controls to and from EU countries after June 15 except with countries that impose quarantine on a "reciprocal" basis, namely the UK. Greece has excluded the UK from a "white list" of 29 countries it judges are low-risk enough from which to accept tourists from June 15 without quarantine although it will open up to more countries after it reviews their infection rates at the end of June. British Airways says it is aiming for a "meaningful return" to flying in July, RyanAir plans to ramp up flights to at least 40 per cent of its normal July schedule and EasyJet, which has laid off one in three staff, hopes to operate 30 per cent of its pre-crisis timetable from July to September. Paul Charles, chief executive of PC Consultancy, which advises the tourist industry, said Britain's quarantine risked "killing" the economy. "Travel companies have not had any bookings for April or May. They are worried that if they don't get them in June, they will go under," he said. The Airport Operators' Association (AOA) has urged ministers to aim for the first "air bridges" to "low risk" destinations by June 8 so that holidaymakers can sidestep quarantine and the requirement to self-isolate for 14 days on their return to the UK. The Department for Transport will shortly publish new guidelines for "safe" travel which will include face coverings or masks throughout the journey, temperature checks, social distancing in airports and contactless travel including for check-ins and payments. An AOA spokesman said: "Once these guidelines are agreed and given that they are based on a common European baseline, this puts in place the right conditions for opening up air bridges to low-risk countries." The Home Office which has led the moves to introduce quarantine has, however, warned that it will block attempts to lift the quarantine unless it is safe and there is no risk of it sparking a second wave of coronavirus. A Department for Transport source said: "There is certainly a willingness in Government to do as much for this Summer as is safe." Post-coronavirus air travel: No travel if you have symptoms If ill, no cost re-booking or refunds up to six hours before flying Face masks or coverings from arrival at airport to leaving terminal at destination Only passengers in the terminal, no tearful goodbyes at departure gates Contact-less electronic check-in and boarding Social distancing and one-way systems for waiting and queuing passengers Airports' association pressing for temperature checks Exemption from two-metre rule on plane No on-board duty free, reduced food and drink service, pre-packaged food and cashless payments
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| Israel police kill Palestinian they mistakenly thought was armed Posted: 30 May 2020 12:53 PM PDT  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.
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| 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 Posted: 30 May 2020 10:18 AM PDT  David Roddy's tweet about police brutality has garnered over 159,000 retweets. He has been part of the Chattanooga Police Department for 24 years.
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| As Minneapolis rioters set buildings ablaze, grocer pleads to save his stores Posted: 30 May 2020 05:26 PM PDT |
| The U.S. Might Revoke Hong Kong's 'Special Status.' Here's What That Means for Business in the Global Financial Hub Posted: 28 May 2020 11:44 PM PDT  Hong Kong risks becoming a casualty in the emerging cold war between Washington and Beijing
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| Trump says U.S. will be 'terminating' relationship with WHO Posted: 29 May 2020 01:14 PM PDT  The president criticized the World Health Organization for their response to the pandemic and said U.S. funds would be redirected to other public health needs.
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| SpaceX’s Successful Blast-Off Signals New Era of Human Space Exploration Posted: 30 May 2020 12:25 PM PDT  With a flash of light, billowing smoke, and a thunderous roar, American astronauts on Saturday afternoon blasted into space aboard an American spacecraft for the first time since NASA decommissioned the aging, unsafe Space Shuttle fleet in 2011. The first manned flight of SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft not only restores the United States' ability to launch people into orbit, it also signals a possible new era of space exploration. Thousands of people tuned into livestreams of the historic launch from NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center near Orlando. SpaceX founder Elon Musk, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine and President Donald Trump flew in to see off astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley and observe the launch. "This is going to be like the World Series, the Super Bowl and the Stanley Cup all rolled into one," Zeb Scoville, NASA's flight director, told reporters in the weeks leading up to the launch.Mission-controllers canceled a previous launch attempt on Wednesday owing to bad weather. As late as Saturday morning, SpaceX tweeted that there was a 50 percent chance of a storm interfering with the day's lift-off. But the weather remained clear and the spacecraft lifted off just before 3:25 p.m. ET. In a sharp break from the old way of launching into space, California rocket company SpaceX owns the Crew Dragon and its self-landing, reusable Falcon 9 rocket. NASA just rents the spacecraft and the rocket at a cost of around $55 million per passenger."We're doing it differently than we've ever done it before," Bridenstine told reporters. "NASA is not going to purchase, own and operate hardware the way we used to purchase, own and operate hardware."The space agency hopes that this new arrangement will fuel a whole industry of private companies offering ever-cheaper rides into space for science, mining, manufacturing, and even tourism. Aerospace firms Boeing and Lockheed Martin are also developing manned capsules. A self-sustaining space economy could take years to evolve. First, SpaceX and NASA must deliver Behnken and Hurley to the International Space Station, circling Earth at an altitude of 250 miles. SpaceX Turns Back the Clock to Return Americans to Orbit"The stakes are clearly high," Eric Stallmer, president of the Washington, D.C., Commercial Spaceflight Federation, told The Daily Beast. "This shows how far industry has advanced and is ready to support America in space—at greater levels of safety, faster development and far lower costs than traditional-owned government systems."For Musk, Saturday's launch was the culmination of nearly two decades of work. Musk, one of the founders of PayPal, started SpaceX in 2002 with the goal of driving down the cost of rocket launches. SpaceX's earliest launches in 2008 and 2009 were failures. Musk and SpaceX kept at it. By 2010 more of the company's launches were succeeding than failing. NASA pumped some money into the company. The U.S. Air Force hired it to launch satellites and robotic space planes. But a manned spacecraft was one of Musk and SpaceX's ultimate goals.Barring any malfunctions, the journey to the space station will take just short of a day. Steered by a sophisticated artificial-intelligence autopilot, the cone-shaped, roughly dumpster-sized Crew Dragon will maneuver to within 60 feet of the space station. That's when the Behnken and Hurley will take over, tapping touch-screen controls to activate thrusters that will gently nudge the capsule toward one of the station's airlocks. "Growing up as a pilot my whole career and having a certain way to control a vehicle, this is certainly different," Hurley told reporters.The capsule and the station will combine their atmospheres, allowing the newly-arrived astronauts to safely board the orbital facility.NASA and SpaceX haven't decided yet how long Behnekn, Hurley, and their capsule will stay with the space station. Their visit could end in a month or three months, at which point the astronauts will ride the Crew Dragon back down to Earth, streaking through the atmosphere then deploying a parachute before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Navy will steam in to recover the crew and capsule.With its conical shape and parachute-recovery method, the Crew Dragon has a lot in common with the Apollo capsules that carried astronauts to the moon in 1969. "But don't let looks deceive you," space historian Roger Launius told The Daily Beast. "The technology of Apollo and technology of today are strikingly different."The Crew Dragon boasts the latest computers, controls and amenities, including a high-tech space toilet. Its crew and passengers wear sleek new spacesuits. NASA plans to pack no more than four astronauts at a time into the Crew Dragon's uncluttered interior, but in its most capacious configuration it can carry up to seven people. "It's an outstanding flying machine," Behnken said.It took years of research and development costing $3 billion to ready the Crew Dragon for its first manned mission. NASA and the U.S. space industry haven't designed a spacecraft from scratch since the Space Shuttle. SpaceX Rockets Were Endangered by Forged Inspection Reports: DOJThat was 40 years ago. Without the benefit of recent experience, the Crew Dragon's developers had to relearn old lessons. "It was a little Wild West early on," SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell told reporters.Minor miscalculations, a single line of bad code, a tiny hole in the spacecraft's structure—any of these could have doomed Crew Dragon. Boeing learned that the hard way during an unmanned test mission involving its own Starliner capsule back in December. The Starliner's autopilot mistimed a thruster blast, burning up its fuel supply and making it impossible for the craft to reach the International Space Station. Boeing plans to repeat the test sometime this year.SpaceX experienced a test-failure of its own on Friday, when the fourth prototype of the company's new Starship rocket exploded following a test in Texas. Musk was well aware of the risk involved in the Crew Dragon launch. "If it goes wrong, it's my fault," he told CBS This Morning on Wednesday.Anticipating all the possible ways space travel can go wrong is one of the keys to doing it safely. That's what worried James Oberg, a former NASA mission controller. "The degree to which the SpaceX team has absorbed this insight and developed and applied this wisdom remains undemonstrated," Oberg told The Daily Beast a few days before the launch. "Their track record to date, including vigorous and on-target responses to setbacks, is encouraging," Oberg said. "I'll still be holding my breath."As the Crew Dragon climbed high over Florida, accelerating to 33 times the speed of sound—fast enough to escape Earth's gravity—Musk and Oberg finally could breathe easy. After a nine-year gap, Americans were safely on their way into space aboard an American craft. Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| China home-built aircraft carrier conducting sea trials Posted: 29 May 2020 08:56 PM PDT  China's Defense Ministry said the navy's only entirely home-built aircraft is carrying out sea trials to test weapons and equipment and enhance training of the crew.
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| Marauding monkeys attack lab technician and steal Covid-19 tests Posted: 29 May 2020 05:00 AM PDT  A band of marauding monkeys has attacked a laboratory technician and stolen three Covid-19 test samples, raising fears they will infect themselves and then spread the deadly disease to humans. The worker was attacked outside a medical college in Meerut, northern India, while transporting samples from patients suspected of having coronavirus. The monkeys ran off into a residential area. The employee is said to have been unharmed, but has angered officials after filming the aftermath of the attack, rather than attempting to retrieve the samples from the fleeing monkeys. Monkeys can contract Covid-19 and then infect humans, according to scientists. Some Indians have been worried about catching the deadly virus from animals and it led to pet dogs being released onto the streets during the start of the pandemic. Others saw the funny side of the monkey attack, with the incident coming days after the Indian authorities detained a pigeon in Jammu & Kashmir on suspicion of spying for Pakistan. "The nation wants to know if Pakistan has sent those monkeys to steal coronavirus samples," joked one user on Twitter. "These are highly trained monkeys and very intelligent monkeys." In India, groups of monkeys are attacking people with increasing regularity as they are displaced from their natural habitats by urban sprawl. Their attacks can prove deadly - particularly for young children who are vulnerable to their powerful bites. In 2018, a 12-day-old baby boy died after he was bitten by a monkey in the city of Agra, home of the Taj Mahal.
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| Pompeo demands Russia free ill American accused of spying Posted: 30 May 2020 11:16 AM PDT  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.
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| GOP eyes flipping Michigan senate seat Posted: 29 May 2020 10:27 PM PDT  As Republicans work to maintain their control of the Senate in November, they're looking to flip seats in some key battleground states. That includes Michigan, where two challengers are looking to unseat incumbent Democratic Senator Gary Peters. Riley Beggin, a political reporter for Bridge Magazine, spoke with CBS News about the contest.
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| ‘If you can say you can’t breathe, you’re breathing’: Mississippi mayor faces backlash over George Floyd comments Posted: 29 May 2020 04:14 PM PDT  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.
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| U.S. high court rejects church challenges to state pandemic rules Posted: 29 May 2020 04:22 PM PDT  The U.S. Supreme Court rejected challenges on Friday to curbs on religious services in California and Illinois during the coronavirus pandemic. In the California dispute, the nine justices split 5-4 in rejecting a bid by South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista to block the rules issued by Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat. Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court's four liberal justices in the majority.
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| Back off, Trump. Germany wants to Make Europe Strong Again. Posted: 30 May 2020 05:57 AM PDT  Berlin's EU presidency motto has echoes of MAGA.
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| Will Trump dispute the 2020 election results? His tweets this week suggest so Posted: 29 May 2020 03:34 AM PDT  Trump's attack on mail-in ballots raise the possibility that, if he loses in November, he would reject the validity of the voteUnhinged as it may be for the president to accuse, without a scintilla of evidence, a morning television host of murder, that particular conspiracy theory was not the most disturbing accusation to issue from Trump's Twitter feed this week. No, that prize goes to his tweet from 26 May, claiming:> There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent. Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed … This will be a Rigged Election. No way!The president's defamation of Joe Scarborough is no more than an extreme version of something we have seen throughout Trump's tenure in office: his ability to deflect attention from one colossal misstep by simply committing a fresh outrage. The fact that even a handful of Republicans have expressed mild regret at Trump's bizarre accusation only underscores that it has served its instrumental purpose. For the moment, the news cycle is consumed not with the fact that 100,000 Americans have died in a pandemic that the White House recklessly insisted posed no threat; instead, all attention is riveted on the spectacle of a sitting president accusing an opponent in the "lame stream media" of homicide. Trump's attack on mail-in ballots, by contrast, is far more ominous. Here, the president is defaming not an individual but the integrity of our electoral process, confidence in which is a key to a stable democratic order. And the purpose of this attack is not distraction but pointedly political. The politics of disenfranchisement has emerged as a staple of Republican electoral strategy, and the reasons for targeting mail-in ballots are not hard to divine. The bulk of such ballots are cast in urban areas, where Democratic voters predominate, and as the nation continues to grapple with the Covid-19 outbreak, we can expect millions of urban voters to cast mail-in ballots in November as a hedge against the obvious health risks that come with in-person voting. Trump's tweets serve, then, the politics of voter suppression. But that is only one aspect of the dark logic behind the tweets. Far more alarmingly, Trump's attack on the reliability of mail-in votes establishes the groundwork for a radical refusal to acknowledge electoral defeat. In contrast to ballots cast in-person on 3 November, mail-in ballots often cannot be fully counted until several days after the election. This means that in a very tight race, the results announced on election day may be no more than provisional; and second, because of the demographic patterns I mentioned above, the full counting of ballots may well swing the outcome in the favor of Democratic candidates. The 2018 Arizona senatorial race witnessed a particularly dramatic case of this effect, dubbed the "blue shift" by election law expert Ned Foley. On election day, Martha McSally, the Republican candidate, enjoyed a 15,000-vote lead over her Democratic rival, Kyrsten Sinema. By the time the state's canvassing had ended, however, McSally found herself defeated by Sinema by some 56,000 votes – a swing of 71,000 thousand votes. Trump is more than familiar with the phenomenon of blue shift. Also in 2018, when the senatorial race in Florida saw Republican Rick Scott's lead over Bill Nelson shrink from over 56,000 on election day to an uncomfortable 10,000 by the time the state completed its canvass, Trump had urgently tweeted:> The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott…in that large numbers of ballots showed up from nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible—ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night! Recall that in 2016, Trump's margin of victory over Hillary Clinton was a combined 70,000 votes in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. It is more than possible that Trump could narrowly capture these states on 3 November, only to see his victory vanish as mail-in ballots are tallied in the days following the election. His tweet from Tuesday tells us how he would respond to such a loss. He will reject it as a product of fraud. That is an eventuality – or even a certainty – that the nation must prepare itself for. * Lawrence Douglas is the author, most recently, of Will He Go? Trump and the Looming Electoral Meltdown in 2020, published by Twelve/Hachette on 19 May. Douglas holds the James J Grosfeld chair in law, jurisprudence and social thought, at Amherst College, Massachusetts, and is also a contributing opinion writer for the Guardian US.
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| Coronavirus began spreading in the US in January — predating President Trump's travel restrictions and the detection of community transmission, CDC says Posted: 30 May 2020 11:55 AM PDT  CDC Director Robert Redfield said that the virus first circulated at low levels in the US so diagnostic tests would've missed it.
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| New report alleges killings, mass detentions in Ethiopia Posted: 29 May 2020 01:32 AM PDT  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. The government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who was awarded the peace prize in December for sweeping political reforms and restoring ties with neighboring Eritrea after two decades of hostilities, acknowledged that "the reform process has at times experienced bumps" but called the report "a one-sided snapshot security analysis that fails to appropriately capture the broader political trajectory and security developments."
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| Thirteen years later, mother of Fort Drum soldier found dead after disappearing from bar seeks answers Posted: 30 May 2020 08:09 AM PDT  Patrick Rust, 24, was last seen on March 16, 2007, at a bar in Watertown, New York, called "Clueless." The soldier had just finished two tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was stationed in New York at Fort Drum and had just received news he was being assigned to Fort Lewis, Washington, where he'd be trained to become a staff sergeant. Six months later, a farmer found Patrick's skeletal remains in a field about five miles from the bar. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is inves
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| Revealed: the worrying links between Huawei, our universities and China Posted: 29 May 2020 11:20 AM PDT  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. It is a benign – if eccentric – tribute. But other attempts to forge close ties to the Western culture have much more serious implications. 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. All of them involve collaborations between British universities, including at Edinburgh and Exeter, and Chinese universities heavily involved in military research and named as "high risk" by an Australian think tank.
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| Los Angeles restaurants reopen as virus lockdown eases Posted: 29 May 2020 03:40 PM PDT  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.
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| Wife of officer charged with murder in George Floyd's death files for divorce Posted: 30 May 2020 07:15 AM PDT  Kellie Chauvin's lawyer said she is "devastated" over Floyd's death.
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| Grimes shares nickname for son with Elon Musk X Æ A-Xii Posted: 30 May 2020 01:49 AM PDT  Grimes has revealed what she calls her son, X Æ A-Xii.The singer gave birth to her first child with Tesla billionaire Elon Musk earlier this month.
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| France, Britain, Germany 'regret' U.S. end to Iran nuclear waivers Posted: 30 May 2020 01:46 AM PDT  France, Germany and Britain on Saturday criticised a U.S. decision to end sanctions waivers allowing work on Iranian nuclear sites designed to prevent weapons development. "We deeply regret the U.S. decision to end the three waivers," the three European countries said in a joint statement. "These projects, endorsed by U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, serve the non-proliferation interests of all and provide the international community with assurances of the exclusively peaceful and safe nature of Iranian nuclear activities."
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| Mississippi mayor refuses to resign after facing backlash for George Floyd comments: 'I didn't see anything unreasonable' Posted: 28 May 2020 07:22 PM PDT  A Mississippi mayor sparked controversy with his comments about George Floyd's death, but Hal Marx is rejecting calls for his resignation.
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| 'A lot of nurses don't have a work ethic': An Atlanta drug rehab clinic is accused of firing its nursing staff during the pandemic Posted: 29 May 2020 08:12 AM PDT  The clinic's director described the staff as lazy and questioned why nurses were being hailed as heroes.
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| Trump, N.C. governor speak about GOP convention details Posted: 29 May 2020 10:45 AM PDT  President Donald Trump and North Carolina's governor disagreed on Friday over the viability of a full-fledged Republican National Convention, the governor's office said, as Trump does not want to see signs of the pandemic in his renomination audience. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Trump spoke by phone, during which they discussed the scheduled August convention in Charlotte, a Cooper spokeswoman confirmed Friday night to the The Associated Press. The convention set to begin Aug. 24 is supposed to have events in Charlotte's downtown sports arena, capped by Trump's nomination speech on the 27th.
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| China-India border: Why tensions are rising between the neighbours Posted: 29 May 2020 09:33 PM PDT  Tensions in the Himalaya have the potential to escalate as they pursue their strategic goals.
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| Editorial: Stop focusing on looting in Minneapolis. Be outraged that police keep killing black men Posted: 29 May 2020 01:22 PM PDT  There is anger on the streets in Minneapolis. It is understandable given the killing of yet another unarmed black man as he was arrested.
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| Historic SpaceX launch set for Saturday, weather permitting Posted: 30 May 2020 04:45 AM PDT  SpaceX and NASA's joint effort to fly U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station is expected to happen Saturday, weather permitting. The initial launch date, Wednesday, was scrubbed due to poor outside conditions. Mark Strassmann takes a look at Saturday's outlook, and the work leading up to the historic moment.
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| EU urges U.S. to reconsider decision to cut ties with WHO Posted: 30 May 2020 06:20 AM PDT  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.
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