| Trump tweets do little to calm a nation on edge, as more violent protests rock cities Posted: 30 May 2020 09:02 PM PDT  President Trump's tweets over the past week have continued to raise questions about his leadership.
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| Minnesota National Guard Opened Fire on a Vehicle, Commander Says Posted: 01 Jun 2020 01:32 PM PDT  A soldier fired three rounds at a speeding vehicle deemed a threat, officials said.
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| A New York police officer drew his gun on protesters. Mayor Bill de Blasio says he 'should have his gun and badge taken away.' Posted: 01 Jun 2020 10:01 AM PDT  The mayor appears to have taken a stricter tone with police violence, some of which has trended on social media.
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| Hong Kong police ban Tiananmen vigil for first time in 30 years Posted: 01 Jun 2020 02:55 AM PDT  Hong Kong police on Monday banned an upcoming vigil marking the Tiananmen crackdown anniversary citing the coronavirus pandemic, the first time the gathering has been halted in three decades. The candlelight June 4 vigil usually attracts huge crowds and is the only place on Chinese soil where such a major commemoration of the anniversary is still allowed. Hong Kong has managed to keep the virus mostly in check, with just over 1,000 infections and four deaths.
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| Cities push back as airlines seek dozens of new service cuts. Is your airport on the list? Posted: 01 Jun 2020 09:23 AM PDT  The proposed flight cuts come as there are signs that airline demand may finally pick up after the coronavirus sent the travel industry into a spiral.
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| Thousands of Complaints Do Little to Change Police Ways Posted: 31 May 2020 09:27 AM PDT  In nearly two decades with the Minneapolis Police Department, Derek Chauvin faced at least 17 misconduct complaints, none of which derailed his career.Over the years, civilian review boards came and went, and a federal review recommended that the troubled department improve its system for flagging problematic officers.All the while, Chauvin tussled with a man before firing two shots, critically wounding him. He was admonished for using derogatory language and a demeaning tone with the public. He was named in a brutality lawsuit. But he received no discipline other than two letters of reprimand.It was not until Chauvin, 44, was seen in a video with his left knee pinned to the neck of a black man, prone for nearly nine minutes and pleading for relief, that the officer, who is white, was suspended, fired and then, on Friday, charged with murder.His case is not unusual. Critics say the department, despite its long history of accusations of abuse, never fully put in place federal recommendations to overhaul the way in which it tracks complaints and punishes officers -- with just a handful over the years facing termination or severe punishment.Even as outrage has mounted over deaths at the hands of the police, it remains notoriously difficult in the United States to hold officers accountable, in part because of the political clout of police unions, the reluctance of investigators, prosecutors and juries to second-guess an officer's split-second decision and the wide latitude the law gives police officers to use force.Police departments themselves have often resisted civilian review or dragged their feet when it comes to overhauling officer disciplinary practices. And even change-oriented police chiefs in cities like Baltimore and Philadelphia -- which over the last few years have been the sites of high-profile deaths of black men by white officers -- have struggled to punish or remove bad actors.The challenge has played out against and reinforced racial divisions in America, with largely white police forces accused of bias and brutality in black, Latino and other minority communities. Floyd's death came just weeks after Ahmaud Arbery, a black man in southeast Georgia, was pursued by three white men and killed, and after Breonna Taylor, a black woman, was fatally shot by police in Kentucky.Their deaths have unleashed a wave of tremendous protests across the country, extending far beyond Minneapolis on Friday, with protesters destroying police vehicles in Atlanta and New York, and blocking major streets in San Jose, California, and Detroit -- all cities that have wrestled with accusations of police misconduct.In Minneapolis, authorities took quick action against Chauvin and three other officers involved in Floyd's death, firing them one day after a graphic video emerged of the encounter. But that does not mean the officers are gone for good. Public employees can appeal their dismissals -- and in scores of cases across the country, the officers often win.The St. Paul Pioneer Press analyzed five years' worth of such appeals and found that between 2014 and 2019, Minnesota arbitrators -- a group that hears a range of public service complaints -- ruled in favor of terminated law enforcement and correction officers 46% of the time, reinstating them.In three terminations involving law enforcement officers that were reviewed this year, two were overturned.Dave Bicking, a board member of Communities United Against Police Brutality, a Twin Cities advocacy group, said many disciplinary actions are overturned because they are compared to previous cases, making it hard for departments to reverse a history of leniency or respond to changing community expectations."Because the department has never disciplined anybody, for anything, when they try to do it now, it's considered arbitrary and capricious," he said.Bicking described a history of attempts to clean up the Minneapolis police force, which is overwhelmingly white and for decades has faced accusations of excessive force, especially by African American residents.In Minneapolis, a city heralded for its progressive politics, pretty parks and robust employment, the racial divide runs deep. From education to wages, African Americans are at a disadvantage, graduating at much lower rates and earning about one-third less than white residents.And while black residents account for about 20% of the city's population, police department data shows they are more likely to be pulled over, arrested and have force used against them than white residents. And black people accounted for more than 60% of the victims in Minneapolis police shootings from late 2009 through May 2019, data shows.When there was a civilian review board to field the complaints, it would recommend discipline, but the police chief at the time would often refuse to impose it, said Bicking, who served on the board.Across the country, civilian review boards -- generally composed of members of the public -- have been notoriously weak. They gather accounts, but cannot enforce any recommendations.In 2008, the Police Executive Research Forum issued a report on disciplinary procedures in Minneapolis, at the department's behest. It recommended resetting expectations with a new, matrix specifying violations and consequences. But Bicking said the department soon fell back to old ways.In 2012, the civilian board in Minneapolis was replaced by an agency called the Office of Police Conduct Review. Since then, more than 2,600 misconduct complaints have been filed by members of the public, but only 12 have resulted in an officer being disciplined, Bicking said. The most severe censure has been a 40-hour suspension, he said."When we say there's a failure of accountability and discipline in this city, it is extreme," he said, adding that the City Council had promised to review the board, but has yet to do so.Any member of the public may file a complaint, and experts say that the volume of complaints may reflect a host of issues other than actual misconduct, such as the level of trust the community has in its department.Maria Haberfeld, an expert on police training and discipline at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said Chauvin's complaint tally averaged to less than one a year, not unusual for a street officer, and probably not high enough to trigger an early warning system.But the patchwork nature of the city's disciplinary tracking was clear in Chauvin's case. The city released an Internal Affairs summary with 17 complaints. The city's police conduct database listed only 12, some of which did not appear to be included in the summary, and Communities United Against Police Brutality, which also maintains a database, had yet more complaint numbers not included in the first two sources.The nature of the complaints was not disclosed.Chauvin was one of four officers who responded to a call on Memorial Day that a man had tried buying cigarettes with a fake $20 bill. The other officers, identified by authorities as Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng, also were fired and remain under investigation. The county attorney said he expected to bring charges, but offered no further details.Neither Lane nor Kueng had misconduct complaints filed against them, according to the department. But Thao faced six in his career and also was the subject of a lawsuit that claimed he and another officer punched, kicked and kneed an African American man, leaving the man with broken teeth and bruises.According to the lawsuit, the incident occurred in early October 2014, when the man, Lamar Ferguson, then 26, was walking home with his girlfriend. A police car approached and Ferguson's girlfriend kept walking.The lawsuit states that Thao asked Ferguson to put his hands on the roof of the car and then handcuffed him. The complaint said that the other officer then "falsely stated there was a warrant out" for Ferguson's arrest regarding an incident involving family members. Ferguson told the officers he had no information to tell them.During the encounter, "Officer Thao then threw" Ferguson, "handcuffed, to the ground and began hitting him."Patrick R. Burns, one of the lawyers who represented Ferguson, said in an interview Friday that the city settled the case for $25,000."What I learned from that case and several others I have handled against the department is that some of the officers think they don't have to abide by their own training and rules when dealing with the public," he said.The head of the police union, Lt. Bob Kroll, is himself the subject of at least 29 complaints. Three resulted in discipline, The Star Tribune reported in 2015. Kroll was accused of using excessive force and racial slurs, in a case that was dismissed, and was named in a racial discrimination lawsuit brought in 2007 by several officers, including the man who is now the police chief.Teresa Nelson, legal director for the ACLU of Minnesota, said attempts by the city's police leaders to reform the department's culture have been undermined by Kroll, who she said downplays complaints and works to reinstate officers who are fired, no matter the reason.She said that in a 2015 meeting after a fatal police shooting, Kroll told her that he views community complaints like fouls in basketball. "He told me, 'If you're not getting any fouls, you're not working hard enough,'" she said.Kroll did not return several messages seeking comment this week.Changing department policies and culture can take years, even when there is a will to do so.In 2009, the Minneapolis department instituted an Early Intervention System to track red flags such as misconduct allegations, vehicle pursuits, use of force and discharge of weapons. Such systems are supposed to identify "potential personnel problems" before they become threats to public trust or generate costly civil rights lawsuits.In a case similar to the death of Floyd, David Cornelius Smith, a black man with mental illness, died in 2010 after two officers trying to subdue him held him prone for nearly four minutes. The chief at the time defended the officers, and they were never disciplined, said Robert Bennett, a lawyer who represented Smith's family.In 2013, the police chief at the time, Janee Harteau, asked the Department of Justice to review the department's warning system. A federal report found that it had "systemic challenges" and questioned its ability to "create sustainable behavior change."Early warning systems are considered a key part of righting troubled departments, criminologists say. Most cities that have been found to have a pattern of civil rights violations and placed under a federal consent decree, or improvement plan, are required to have one.Harteau, who left the top post in the wake of a 2017 fatal police shooting, said she took many steps to reform the department, including training officers on implicit bias and mandating the use of body cameras. But the police union, she said, fought her at every turn.In 2016, the department updated its use of force policy to hold officers accountable for intervening if they see their fellow officers using excessive force, Nelson said.The new policy, made in the wake of previous fatal shootings, was part of an effort to reform police culture in the city."It's why you saw four officers fired," in Floyd's case, she said.It's not clear whether an improved early warning system would have flagged Chauvin, who also had been involved in at least three shootings in his career, or the other officers involved in Floyd's death. Departments choose from a number of bench marks, and from a range of responses when they are exceeded.Haberfeld, the training expert, said police departments will not change until they invest significantly more in recruitment and training, areas where the U.S. lags far behind other democracies.Otherwise, she said, "There is a scandal, there is a call for reform -- committees and commissions and nothing happens. Nothing."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Advice changes for shielding people 'not rushed', claims Matt Hancock Posted: 31 May 2020 10:42 PM PDT  Coronavirus latest news: Matt Hancock reveals lowest daily death toll since lockdown began Police cannot go into homes to check if lockdown rules are being breached Nicola Sturgeon threatens legal travel limit after thousands of Scots flout new lockdown rules UK to demand British judges have right to reject EU extradition requests in next round of Brexit talks Half a million children stuck at home as councils defy ministers Subscribe to The Telegraph, free for one month Advice for people who have spent the last 10 weeks shielding was not "rushed through", Matt Hancock has said today, fending off criticism from anxious patients. During the daily briefing the Health Secretary was twice asked about the changes, which were announced at the weekend and came into being today - including from a member of the public. Under the new guidelines, people shielding are now allowed to venture outdoors once per day, either with members of their household or one person from another household - as long as social distancing and strict hygiene is maintained. But responding to reports of GPs being inundated by calls from patients worried about the speed of changes, Hancock said: "It hasn't been rushed through, far from it. "We've worked for some time to make sure that any changes that we make and these are small, cautious changes, can benefit people in a safe way. "We announced it at the weekend and I think that being able to make changes like this is important for people. It's important for - especially for those who are shielded." He added: "Absolutely once we made the decision, including and in collaboration with all of the Government bodies, we then communicated that decision and this was the right time to be able to change that advice." Mr Hancock used the briefing to urge people who have symptoms to get tested, as he championed the initial success of the Government's Test & Trace programme, with people showing a "willingness" to isolate when asked. But neither he nor the testing tzar John Newton were able to confirm how many people have been asked so far. The Cabinet minister confirmed that 111 people have died with coronavirus in the last 24 hours - the lowest number since lockdown began on March 23.
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| FBI's top lawyer, Dana Boente, ousted amid Fox News criticism for role in Flynn investigation Posted: 30 May 2020 07:23 PM PDT  Boente was asked to resign on Friday and two sources familiar with the decision to dismiss him said it came from high levels of the Justice Department rather than directly from FBI Director Christopher Wray.
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| With cheap gasoline scarce, Venezuelans can buy at a premium Posted: 31 May 2020 12:09 PM PDT  President Nicolás Maduro said that starting Monday Venezuelans will be able to buy gasoline at international market prices, marking a historic break in the socialist country's practice of having the world's cheapest fuel. Across the nation, 200 filling stations will allow drivers to fuel up for the equivalent of 50 cents a liter, or $1.90 a gallon. Venezuelans will also be able to buy a limited amount of subsidized gasoline each month, paying 2.5 cents a liter, or 9 cents a gallon.
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| Biden: ‘I know I’ve made mistakes’ Posted: 01 Jun 2020 09:39 AM PDT  Former Vice President Joe Biden on Monday attended a campaign event in Delaware and addressed criticism by saying, "I know I've made mistakes."
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| Protesters tear through D.C. after National Guard troops and Secret Service keep them from the White House Posted: 31 May 2020 05:50 AM PDT  Downtown Washington, D.C., was filled with flames and broken glass in the early hours of Sunday morning as large groups of protesters moved through the city for the second straight night.
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| WHO pushes to keep ties with 'generous' U.S. despite Trump's exit move Posted: 01 Jun 2020 08:51 AM PDT  The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday praised the United States' "immense" and "generous" contribution to global health in a push to salvage relations after President Donald Trump said he was severing ties with the U.N. agency. Accusing it of pandering to China and overlooking an initially secretive response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Trump said on Friday he was ending Washington's relationship with the WHO. "The United States' contribution and generosity towards global health over many decades has been immense, and it has made a great difference in public health all around the world," he said.
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| India Has Lots of Nuclear Weapons Posted: 31 May 2020 10:30 AM PDT  Here is what we know.
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| NYC Imposes Curfew, Doubles Police Presence in Face of Expected Riots Posted: 01 Jun 2020 01:49 PM PDT  New York governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday that New York City would implement a mandatory curfew and increase its police presence to 800 officers in preparation for another night of violence in the wake of protests surrounding George Floyd's death.In a joint statement, Cuomo and de Blasio said the curfew would last from 11 tonight to 5 AM Tuesday, and the decision was made in consultation with the New York Police Department "to help prevent violence and property damage." The additional police forces will be concentrated "in lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn," where rioting and looting have been the most volatile."I stand behind the protestors and their message, but unfortunately there are people who are looking to take advantage of and discredit this moment for their own personal gain," Cuomo said in a statement. "The violence and the looting that has gone on in New York City has been bad for the city, the state, and this entire national movement . . . while we encourage people to protest peacefully and make their voices heard, safety of the general public is paramount and cannot be compromised."De Blasio added that "we can't let violence undermine the message of this moment. It is too important and the message must be heard." He also said he had spoken with NYPD commissioner Dermot Shea "at length" over incidents "where officers didn't uphold the values of this city or the NYPD.""We agree on the need for swift action," de Blasio, whose daughter was arrested for protesting, stated. Commissioner Shea "will speak later today on how officers will be held accountable," de Blasio added.On Sunday, the NYPD's counterterrorism head said that looters had operated in a "systematic" way and "developed a complex network of bicycle scouts" to determine police locations ahead of the destruction."They prepared to commit property damage and directed people who were following them that this should be done selectively and only in wealthier areas or at high-end stores run by corporate entities," he told reporters.
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| 2 Atlanta police officers were fired and 3 were placed on desk duty for their use of force in arresting 2 college students during a Saturday night protest Posted: 31 May 2020 07:56 PM PDT  Mark Gardner and Ivory Streeter, who were both members of the department's fugitive unit, were terminated from the Atlanta Police Department.
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| 8 Minutes and 46 Seconds: How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody Posted: 01 Jun 2020 01:33 PM PDT  On May 25, Minneapolis police officers arrested George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, after a deli employee called 911, accusing him of buying cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. Seventeen minutes after the first squad car arrived at the scene, Floyd was unconscious and pinned beneath three police officers, showing no signs of life.By combining videos from bystanders and security cameras, reviewing official documents and consulting experts, The New York Times reconstructed in detail the minutes leading to Floyd's death. The Times' video shows officers taking a series of actions that violated the policies of the Minneapolis Police Department and turned fatal, leaving Floyd unable to breathe, even as he and onlookers called out for help.The day after Floyd's death, the Police Department fired all four of the officers involved in the episode, and on Friday the Hennepin County attorney, Mike Freeman, announced murder and manslaughter charges against Derek Chauvin, the officer who can be seen most clearly in witness videos pinning Floyd to the ground. Chauvin, who is white, kept his knee on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, according to the criminal complaint against him. The Times' video shows that Chauvin did not remove his knee even after Floyd lost consciousness, and for a full minute after paramedics arrived at the scene.The three other former officers, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao -- all of whom can be seen in The Times' video participating in Floyd's arrest -- remain under investigation.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Wife of Derek Chauvin says in divorce filing she wants to change her name Posted: 01 Jun 2020 01:47 PM PDT  Kellie Chauvin is not asking for any spousal support in divorce papers she filed.
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| Britain and EU set to clash over new extradition treaty in crunch trade talks Posted: 01 Jun 2020 08:06 AM PDT  British and EU negotiators are set to clash over the terms of a new extradition treaty during a crunch round of trade talks with Brussels, which start on Tuesday. The UK will demand its judges have greater powers to refuse EU extradition requests than under the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) system it must leave at the end of the year. Warrants could be dismissed if there had not yet been a decision to charge or try the wanted suspect to prevent long periods of pre-trial detention, under the British plan, or if the UK courts think the cost of an arrest outweighs the seriousness of the offence. The European Commission wants EU courts to be able to refuse UK extradition requests for suspects facing whole life sentences unless Britain undertakes to review the penalty either on request or, at the latest, 20 years after the sentence. Whole life sentences have been subject to failed legal challenges on the basis they break the European Convention on Human Rights. The UK has refused to commit to never leaving the Convention during the negotiations, which is an EU condition for continued criminal database sharing, but insists it won't leave it. Brussels also wants judges to refuse extradition requests if they believe they are motivated by the suspect's "sex, race, religion, ethnic origin, nationality, language, political opinions or sexual orientation". The EAW replaced bilateral extradition agreements between countries with a much faster system that involved the judiciary directly rather than politicians. It was agreed, with British support, two months after 9/11. Brexiteers later argued that carrying out arrests on the orders of foreign magistrates was an affront to national sovereignty. The Government's refusal to allow any future role for the European Court of Justice in Britain after Brexit means a replacement extradition system must be agreed before the end of the transition period. If the deadline isn't met by January 1, the UK will fall back on 1956 rules for extradition which are far slower. The UK and EU must also finalise a free trade agreement by December 31, unless Downing Street caves on its repeated insistence it won't extend transition, or be forced to trade on less lucrative WTO terms.
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| Minnesota Guard Carrying Guns and Ammo in Response to 'Credible Threat,' General Says Posted: 01 Jun 2020 06:11 AM PDT  The FBI is reporting the threat, the Minnesota Guard adjutant general said.
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| Officers kneel in solidarity with protesters in several cities Posted: 01 Jun 2020 01:32 PM PDT  Officers in other cities also knelt in solidarity — including in New York, where a demonstrator hugged an officer after he took a knee.
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| China orders firms to stop buying U.S. farm goods Posted: 01 Jun 2020 09:44 AM PDT 
China is striking back at the U.S. over Washington's punitive actions on Hong Kong. Sources tell Reuters Beijing has ordered state-owned firms to stop buying soybeans and pork from the U.S. Also put on hold: large volume purchases of U.S. corn and cotton. The sources said Beijing is ready to expand that list if Washington takes more action on Hong Kong. And under a worst case scenario, a source said Beijing will scrap the Phase 1 trade deal. Under that agreement signed in January, China had pledged to buy an additional $32 billion of U.S. agricultural products over two years. In the first quarter, China bought more than $1 billion worth of U.S. soybeans and nearly $700 million of pork. But tensions between the world's two largest trading partners have been escalating for months, with U.S. President Donald Trump accusing China of mismanaging the pandemic and threatening to hold Beijing to account. Then on Friday, Trump vowed to end the U.S.' preferential treatment for Hong Kong. That was in response to China's plans to impose a new national security law over the former British colony. The source said Chinese importers canceled up to 20,000 tons of American pork shipments after Trump's announcement Friday. That's equivalent to one week's worth of orders.
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| New York City institutes curfew, Governor Cuomo calls for police reforms Posted: 01 Jun 2020 09:12 AM PDT  New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday called for a national ban on excessive force by police and announced a curfew for New York City following violent protests triggered by the death in Minneapolis of an unarmed black man in police custody. In a joint statement, Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city of 8 million people would be under curfew from 11 p.m. Monday night until 5 a.m. the next morning. At an earlier briefing, Cuomo said he worried that demonstrations in the most populous U.S. city in response to George Floyd's death could cause a spike in coronavirus infections.
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| 'Nowhere to be found': Governors blast Trump after he tells them they are 'weak' on phone call Posted: 01 Jun 2020 03:04 PM PDT  After a weekend of nationwide protests and riots, Trump went on an extended rant Monday morning in a conference call with governors of both parties.
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| A Reporter's Cry on Live TV: 'I'm Getting Shot! I'm Getting Shot!' Posted: 31 May 2020 09:30 AM PDT  Linda Tirado, a freelance photographer, activist and author, was shot in the left eye Friday while covering the street protests in Minneapolis.Tirado is one of a number of journalists around the country who were attacked, arrested or otherwise harassed -- sometimes by police and sometimes by protesters -- during their coverage of the uprisings that have erupted nationwide after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.With trust in the news media lagging, journalists have found themselves targeted.A television reporter in Louisville, Kentucky, was hit by a pepper ball on live television by an officer who appeared to be aiming at her, causing her to exclaim on the air: "I'm getting shot! I'm getting shot!"Outside the White House, protesters attacked a Fox News correspondent and his crew, taking the journalist's microphone and striking him with it.In Atlanta, masses of protesters Friday night converged on CNN headquarters, where they broke through the front door, lobbed fireworks and vandalized the building. Earlier in the day, Omar Jimenez, a reporter for the network, was detained as he reported live, despite calmly offering to move to the location of the police officer's liking. On Saturday, he reported that his crew's cameraman and producer were hit by rubber bullets.Tirado, 37, drove to Minneapolis from Nashville to photograph the protests and donned goggles to protect her eyes. In the commotion of running from tear gas, they slipped off her face."I was aiming my next shot, put my camera down for a second, and then my face exploded," she said in a telephone interview after being released from the hospital. "I immediately felt blood and was screaming, 'I'm press! I'm press!'"Tirado said the shot, which she thought was a rubber bullet, came from the direction of the police. Protesters carried her out, and she had surgery within the hour. Although doctors told her that she is not likely to recover her vision, she is grateful for one thing: She shoots with her right eye."I would say there is no way that anyone had looked at me and not known that I am a working journalist," she said. "That said, police have been pretty clear that they don't care if you are working journalist."John Elder, a spokesman for the Minneapolis Police, said he was unaware of the incident. He said the department had not used rubber bullets for decades."If someone believes that we have injured them, we encourage people to contact our Internal Affairs Unit or the Office of Police Conduct Review," he said in an email.In Louisville, police are investigating the circumstances behind the WAVE-3 reporter who was struck."We will identify the officer involved and review the video to determine what was going on at the time and if further action is needed," Sgt. Lamont Washington, a spokesman, said.The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press logged about 10 different incidents that ranged from assaults to menacing in Phoenix, Indianapolis, Atlanta and Minneapolis."With the unraveling of civil peace around the country, reporters are perceived as a target by both the police and the protesters," said Bruce Brown, the executive director of the Reporters Committee, "and that is an extremely frightening place to be."Leland Vittert, the Fox News journalist who was attacked near the White House, said a man in a hoodie and black bandanna kept hovering around his live shots asking: "Who are you with? Who do you work for?"When the man found a photo online that identified Vittert as an employee of Fox News, the heckler gathered other demonstrators around him.As the journalists and their security guards tried to flee, they were pummeled with objects. The security guard was punched in the jaw, and Vittert was struck with his own microphone."My role as a journalist is to report and show what's going on," Vittert said in an interview. "If there's some kind of thought that the reason I was targeted is because I work for Fox News, I would like to show them tweets where President Trump has gone after me personally."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Masks and no ablution: Saudis flock to reopened mosques Posted: 31 May 2020 06:09 AM PDT  Mask-clad worshippers flocked to Saudi mosques that reopened nationwide Sunday -- except in the holy city of Mecca –- over two months after congregational prayers were halted under a coronavirus-triggered lockdown. Complying with stringent social distancing rules, worshippers kept a minimum of two metres apart. "Worshippers rushed to the home of God to perform their obligatory duty (prayers) after the reopening of mosques," the ministry of Islamic affairs said on Twitter.
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| The YouTuber who received backlash for 'rehoming' her adoptive son with autism said he 'wanted this decision 100%' Posted: 31 May 2020 05:37 AM PDT  Myka Stauffer and her husband, James, recently told viewers they placed their son Huxley in a new home, and received intense criticism as a result.
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| Hong Kong blocks Tiananmen vigil; rush on for UK passports Posted: 01 Jun 2020 04:42 AM PDT  It would be the first time in 30 years that the vigil, which draws a huge crowd to an outdoor space, is not held in Hong Kong. The vigil commemorates China's deadly military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. The decision follows a vote by China's ceremonial parliament to bypass Hong Kong's legislature and enact national security legislation for the semi-autonomous territory.
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| Palestinians Deserve Better Leaders Than Mahmoud Abbas Posted: 31 May 2020 08:00 PM PDT  Abbas has used his long tenure to exert a vice-like grip on Palestinian institutions.
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| UK taxpayers may be funding research for China’s defence project Posted: 31 May 2020 04:05 PM PDT  Experts fear British taxpayers could inadvertently be contributing to funding the Chinese defence programme, after millions of pounds of public funds were poured into technology research undertaken in collaboration with controversial Chinese universities known for their military links. The UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council distributed more than £6.5 million to British universities including Manchester for technology studies that were undertaken with these controversial Chinese institutions, according to disclosures on academic papers. While the research programmes focused on technologies that could be used for civilian purposes, experts have warned that they also have the potential to be used for military applications, prompting fears that taxpayer-funded research by British universities could be exploited by Beijing. In two cases, researchers even stated on their grant application forms that the technologies they were looking at could have "both civilian and military applications" or be used for "military controlling". The disclosure comes days after The Telegraph revealed that Huawei has also backed a string of research projects linking British universities with Chinese defence institutions, which focused on these so-called "dual use" technologies. Huawei denies any wrongdoing. Experts have now warned that the studies funded by the EPSRC may be part of a worrying pattern of partnerships between British universities and Chinese universities that are known for their strong military ties – and that they could be used to fuel both China's controversial surveillance regime and its declared ambition to become the world's most powerful military force by 2049. On Sunday night, Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith said the collaborations were "tantamount to transfer of technologies to the Chinese government" and accused the EPSRC and British universities of "living in a naïve world". "You cannot say that there is any [Chinese] institution that is safe from the reach of that government… If they take technology as part of a market position, they can use it for other things." His warning comes as Beijing faces growing international hostility over its handling of the coronavirus crisis and attempts to crush dissent in Hong Kong. The EPSRC defended the payments. Executive chairwoman Professor Dame Lynn Gladden said: "These grants were fully consistent with government policy. All UK funding was directed to fund research by UK universities." A spokesman added that it allocates funding to research projects rather than individual papers "through the lens of the quality of academic research", and that it is for individual universities to decide who they work with as long as there is no legal breach and the other universities cover their own costs. A Telegraph investigation identified seven papers that were undertaken by British institutions in partnership with Chinese universities, as part of research programmes that accessed EPSRC grants totalling £6,637,875. The funding body is one of nine organisations that make up UK Research and Innovation, which states on its website that it is "principally funded" by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Two of the papers were co-authored by researchers at China's so-called "Seven Sons of National Defence", universities tasked with developing China's defence programme, and six were undertaken with the in-house academy for the People's Liberation Army. Of the money dished out by the EPSRC, £305,891 went to the University of Manchester for research it undertook with Beihang University – an institution sanctioned by America for its work on rockets and drones. The grant application to EPSRC boasted that it would could be used for "environmental monitoring or military controlling". A spokesman for the University of Manchester said: "We carry out due diligence on all research collaborations and we have clear ethical and intellectual property polices and guidelines which all our researchers, overseas and domestic, must adhere to as part of their professional contracts." Six of the papers were also funded by Huawei, and the remaining one was worked on by its researchers. The company has insisted that they all focused on "common areas of research for telecoms equipment suppliers", and that it has strict rules to ensure the research it backs is not used for military purposes. "We do not conduct military research either directly, or indirectly, nor do we work on military or intelligence projects for the Chinese government or any other government," a spokesman said.
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| Police act like laws don't apply to them because of 'qualified immunity.' They're right. Posted: 31 May 2020 02:14 PM PDT  There's a legal obstacle that's nearly impossible to overcome when police officers and government officials violate our constitutional and civil rights.
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| Defying Trump's Landmark Peace Deal, Taliban Continues to Back Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, UN Report Says Posted: 01 Jun 2020 05:58 AM PDT  A U.N. report shows the Taliban has failed to fulfill it's pledge in this year's landmark peace deal to break ties with al-Qaeda.
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| Saudi Arabia reopens mosques with strict regulations for worshippers Posted: 31 May 2020 02:26 AM PDT  Saudi Arabia's mosques opened their doors to worshippers on Sunday for the first time in more than two months as the kingdom, the birthplace of Islam, eased restrictions imposed to combat the coronavirus. "It is great to feel the mercy of God and once again call people for prayers at mosques instead of at their homes," said Abdulmajeed Al Mohaisen, who issues the call to prayer at Al Rajhi Mosque, one of the largest in the capital Riyadh.
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| Bangladesh lifts virus lockdown, logs record deaths on same day Posted: 31 May 2020 08:24 AM PDT  Bangladesh lifted its coronavirus lockdown Sunday, with millions heading back to work in densely populated cities and towns even as the country logged a record spike in deaths and new infections. "The lockdown has been lifted and we are heading almost towards our regular life," health department spokeswoman Nasima Sultana said, calling on those returning to work to wear masks and observe social distancing. The lifting comes as Bangladesh -- which on Friday took an emergency pandemic loan from the International Monetary Fund -- reported its biggest daily jump in infections Sunday, with 2,545 new cases and a record 40 deaths.
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| I considered 'rehoming' my child with autism like a famous YouTube family did, but could never go through with it Posted: 01 Jun 2020 10:40 AM PDT  My daughter has autism and epilepsy. Her brain isn't fully formed, and has heart issues. As much as I've struggled, I couldn't give her up.
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| Biden Staff Donates to Group Paying Bail for Minneapolis Rioters Posted: 01 Jun 2020 03:16 PM PDT  Staffers for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden announced that they have donated to a group that pays bail fees in Minneapolis as riots over the death of George Floyd consume the city.At least 13 Biden campaign staffers wrote on Twitter on Friday and Saturday that they have donated to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, which says it supports the protesters.The group opposes cash bail and says it "pays criminal bail and immigration bond for those who cannot afford to as we seek to end discriminatory, coercive, and oppressive jailing," according to its website."We are in awe of the support coming through right now," the group stated.Biden opposes cash bail as a "modern day debtors prison," the presumptive Democratic nominee's campaign spokesman Andrew Bates told Reuters.Riots broke out in Minneapolis and other cities across the country last week and continued through the weekend over the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody after a since-fired police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck for several minutes during an arrest.Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said officials believe "white supremacists" and "out-of-state instigators" were involved in the protests. Governor Tim Walz also said over the weekend that the majority of the protestors arrested were from outside Minneapolis.Rioters in Minneapolis burned police cars and buildings — including a police precinct building — smashed storefronts, and looted merchandise last week. Many did not wear face masks intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus."The situation in Minneapolis is no longer in any way about the murder of George Floyd,"Walz said Sunday. "It is about attacking civil society, instilling fear and disrupting our great cities."The riots spread to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. over the weekend.In a statement, the Trump campaign called it "disturbing" that the Biden campaign "would financially support the mayhem that is hurting innocent people and destroying what good people spent their lives building.""It's also troubling that Biden himself has failed to condemn the rioting in his public remarks," the statement said.
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| Cuomo: "Don't snatch defeat from the jaws of victory" in virus fight Posted: 01 Jun 2020 12:37 PM PDT  Cuomo warned New Yorkers gathering in ongoing protests that "we don't know the consequences of the COVID virus in mass gatherings."
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| Japanese Nukes? Here's How It Could Happen Posted: 30 May 2020 09:00 PM PDT  Don't underestimate a country's desire to protect itself.
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| Black Liberty U. alums rebuke Falwell after blackface tweet Posted: 01 Jun 2020 10:11 AM PDT  Nearly three dozen black alumni of Liberty University denounced school President Jerry Falwell Jr. on Monday, suggesting he step down after he mocked Virginia's mask-wearing requirement by invoking the blackface scandal that engulfed the state's governor last year. In a letter to Falwell, shared with The Associated Press, 35 faith leaders and former student-athletes told Falwell that his past comments "have repeatedly violated and misrepresented" Christian principles. "You have belittled staff, students and parents, you have defended inappropriate behaviors of politicians, encouraged violence, and disrespected people of other faiths," they wrote, advising Falwell that "your heart is in politics more than Christian academia or ministry."
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| Journalists blinded, injured, arrested covering George Floyd protests nationwide Posted: 01 Jun 2020 09:05 AM PDT  Journalists covering the George Floyd protests across the country reported being detained and hit by rubber bullets and tear gas.
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| Pompeo says U.S. considers welcoming Hong Kong people, entrepreneurs Posted: 01 Jun 2020 09:40 AM PDT  The United States is considering the option of welcoming people from Hong Kong in response to China's push to impose national security legislation in the former British colony, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in remarks released on Monday. Influential Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell told that chamber on Monday he hoped the Trump administration would soon identify specific ways to "impose costs on Beijing" for curbing freedoms in Hong Kong, and said the United States should mirror the response of other democracies and open its doors to people from the territory. Speaking to the American Enterprise Institute on Friday, Pompeo gave no details about immigration quotas or visas when asked about Hong Kong, and merely said: "We are taking a look at it."
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| ‘Unhinged’ Trump Demands Mass Arrests, Flag-Burning Laws Posted: 01 Jun 2020 09:57 AM PDT  President Trump lashed out at state governors Monday, saying that those who did not mass arrest protesters "for long periods of time" would end up looking like "a bunch of jerks." "You have to dominate. If you don't dominate... you're wasting your time," Trump said on a private conference call with governors and national security officials. "They're going to run over you, you're going to look like a bunch of jerks."The president, who is hunkered down in the White House, added during the call that local officials have to put protestors and looters in prison "for long periods of time" in order to assert control amid nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd. Curfews and Soldiers Can't Contain the Nation's Chaos"It's a movement, if you don't put it down it will get worse and worse," Trump said. "The only time it's successful is when you're weak and most of you are weak." A source on the call, who shared it with The Daily Beast, called Trump's talk "unhinged," noting that it often veered off in various directions. At one point, the source said, the president brought up flag burning and encouraged states to pass laws banning it. "Flag burning is a disgrace... We have a different court. And I think that It's time to review that again," he said. "They wanted to climb up flag polls in Washington in order to burn flags, but we stopped them... If you wanted to try and pass a very powerful flag burning statute, anti-flag burning, I hope you do it because we will back you 100 percent, all the way. I hope some of you do it."At another, he blurred legal lines when discussing the needs for prosecution. "When someone is throwing a rock, that's like shooting a gun. What's the difference?" Trump said. "You have to do retribution in my opinion."Some of the call was constructive. The president expressed support for governors who had not seen violence in their states, signaling out Gov. Phil Murphy (D-N.J.), saying he had done a "very good job" in responding to the protests. Trump has previously praised Murphy publicly for his efforts containing the coronavirus.The call came days after the Hennepin County Attorney's Office charged Derek Chauvin, who held his knee on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes during a violent May 25 arrest, was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Chauvin—along with Thomas Lane, Tou Thao, and Alexander Kueng—were fired from the Minneapolis Police Department on May 26, one day after an explosive footage incident spurred a national outcry and demands for a federal investigation.Over the last six days, residents in over 40 cities took to the streets and engaged in chaotic and destructive protests, in which demonstrators were seen burning police cars, looting, and clashing with authorities in the fight against police brutality. The National Guard was deployed in almost half the states in the nation, plus Washington, D.C., after officials found local cops were insufficient to contain the outrage alone.Emphasizing his belief that the "radical left" is the cause of the riots and violence across the country, Trump warned that the law enforcement presence in Washington D.C. is set to intensify on Monday. Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday she is instituting a city-wide 7 p.m. curfew until Wednesday."Washington was under good control, but we're going to have it under much more control," the president said. "We're going to pull in thousands." Later he added, "We're going to clamp down very, very strong."At one point in the call, Trump focused his critiques on Minneapolis, stating that "the whole world is laughing" at the city where the "police state is getting burned." On Monday, Minnesota Gov. Tom Walz announced he will extended the curfew in the city and St. Paul until Wednesday, after the state's Department of Public Safety announced nearly 500 protesters were arrested over the weekend. Praising the National Guard, which stepped in to help local Minnesota law enforcement over the weekend and shot teargas, flash bangs, and rubber bullets at protesters and journalists alike who broke curfew, Trump said, "They went in and dominated.""Those guys walked through that stuff like it was butter," Trump said. "The big numbers knock them out so fast it was like bowling pins." About halfway through the call, Gov. Janet Mills of Maine, a Democrat, told President Trump that she was concerned about his possible trip to the state later in the week."Mr. President I am very concerned quite frankly that… we understand you might be coming to the state of Maine later this week. I am very concerned that your presence may cause security problems for our state," she said. Trump said he would look into the issue. "We have a tremendous crowd of people showing up as you know," the president said. "And I think most of them are very favorable. They like their president."During the call, Trump urged governors to use their "greatest resource"—the National Guard—to help local law enforcement quell the ongoing violence. "You have every one of these guys on tape," Trump said. "Why aren't you prosecuting them? Now, the harder you are, the tougher you are, the less likely you're going to be hit."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get 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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| Philippine capital reopens despite jump in virus cases Posted: 01 Jun 2020 03:32 AM PDT  Manila emerged on Monday from one of the world's longest coronavirus lockdowns as the Philippines seeks to repair its badly damaged economy even as the number of new infections surges. "The virus is frightening but it's either you die from the virus or you die from hunger," salesman Himmler Gaston, 59, told AFP as he entered the train station where commuters had their temperatures checked. The Philippines has so far reported 18,638 cases and 960 deaths, but experts fear limited testing means the true figures are likely much higher.
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| Brit Hume: President Trump has aligned himself with those who feel the restoration of law and order is job one Posted: 01 Jun 2020 04:09 PM PDT  Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume joins Bret Baier on 'Special Report.'
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| 'You Can Only Demean People So Much.' Minneapolis Activists Aren't Surprised a National Movement Started There Posted: 01 Jun 2020 02:34 PM PDT  Activists say the city has a long record of police brutality that is symptomatic of broader racial injustice issues that go back generations.
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| Cuomo Cooks Coronavirus Numbers to Defend Controversial Nursing Home Policy Posted: 31 May 2020 05:00 PM PDT  A nursing home resident who becomes sick at their nursing home and then dies five minutes after arriving at a hospital is not counted in the state's tally of nursing home deaths.
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| UN forced to cut aid to Yemen, even as virus increases need Posted: 31 May 2020 11:30 PM PDT  Aid organizations are making an urgent plea for funding to shore up their operations in war-torn Yemen, saying they have already been forced to stop some of their work even as the coronavirus rips through the country. "It's almost impossible to look a family in the face, to look them in the eyes and say, 'I'm sorry but the food that you need in order to survive we have to cut in half,'" Lise Grande, resident U.N. coordinator for Yemen, told The Associated Press. The dwindling funds are the result of several factors, but among the top reasons is obstruction by Yemen's Houthi rebels, who control the capital, Sanaa, and other territories.
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