| Top Trump aide says president is 'eager to return to the campaign trail' amid reports a planned rally was scrapped Posted: 30 Jun 2020 01:59 PM PDT  Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh held a press conference call with reporters on Tuesday where he said the president is "eager to return to the campaign trail and to keep campaigning and keep connecting with Americans."
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| With a pen stroke, Mississippi drops Confederate-themed flag Posted: 30 Jun 2020 09:22 AM PDT  With a stroke of the governor's pen, Mississippi is retiring the last state flag in the U.S. with the Confederate battle emblem — a symbol that's widely condemned as racist. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed the historic bill Tuesday at the Governor's Mansion, immediately removing official status for the 126-year-old banner that has been a source of division for generations. "This is not a political moment to me but a solemn occasion to lead our Mississippi family to come together, to be reconciled and to move on," Reeves said on live TV just before the signing.
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| Italian police seize record amount of amphetamines shipped from Syria Posted: 01 Jul 2020 03:32 AM PDT  Italian police said on Wednesday they had seized about 14 tonnes of amphetamine pills worth around 1 billion euros ($1 billion) arriving from Syria, in what they described as the world's single largest operation of its kind. The shipment was hidden among counterfeit clothing items.
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| Target customer confronts employee in Black Lives Matter mask Posted: 01 Jul 2020 10:01 AM PDT  The customer said she asked the Target employee, "Don't you think all lives matter?" which started an argument. She was told to leave the store.
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| Hong Kong: Mike Pompeo threatens China with new measures after Beijing enacts draconian security law Posted: 30 Jun 2020 07:29 PM PDT  The United States has threatened Beijing with new countermeasures after China imposed draconian national security laws on Hong Kong. Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State called the enactment of the sweeping measures a "sad day for Hong Kong, and for freedom-loving people across China" and reiterated the White House's commitment to abolishing the city's special status under US law. "Per President Trump's instruction, we will eliminate policy exemptions that give Hong Kong different and special treatment, with few exceptions," Mr Pompeo said. "The United States will not stand idly by while China swallows Hong Kong into its authoritarian maw," he warned. Read more: What does the new security law mean for Hong Kong?
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| Study finds asteroid impact, not volcanoes, made the Earth uninhabitable for dinosaurs: 'Only plausible explanation' Posted: 30 Jun 2020 12:09 PM PDT  A new study found what happened to the Earth's dinosaurs. An asteroid strike blocking out the sun for years and causing permanent winters was cause.
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| Trump defense on Russian bounty story falls flat, even with Republicans Posted: 30 Jun 2020 04:42 PM PDT  White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has defended the president over reports that Russia offered Taliban fighters a bounty on U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
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| Seattle police clear out protester-occupied zone Posted: 01 Jul 2020 04:54 PM PDT  More than 30 people are arrested as officers disperse demonstrators from the "lawless" area.
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| U.S. tech chief executives expected to testify before House panel in late July Posted: 01 Jul 2020 03:12 PM PDT  The chief executives of the four U.S. tech giants -- Amazon.com, Facebook, Alphabet's Google and Apple -- will testify before the U.S. Congress in late July as part of an ongoing antitrust probe into the companies, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai of Google and Apple's Tim Cook will appear as part of the probe by the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel, the sources said.
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| `You broke my wrist!' Police sued for taking down wrong man Posted: 30 Jun 2020 10:12 PM PDT  Body camera video shows Antonio Arnelo Smith handing his driver's license to a Black police officer and answering questions cooperatively before a white officer walks up behind him, wraps him in a bear hug and slams him face-first to the ground. "Oh my God, you broke my wrist!" the 46-year-old Black man screams as two more white Valdosta officers arrive, holding him down and handcuffing him following the takedown. One eventually tells Smith he's being arrested on an outstanding warrant, and is immediately corrected by the first officer: They've got the wrong man.
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| Beijing asks some U.S. media to submit information about their China operations Posted: 01 Jul 2020 12:32 AM PDT  China's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the Chinese government has asked some U.S. media outlets present in the country to submit information about their China operations. Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian named the Associated Press, National Public Radio, CBS and United Press International news agency as companies asked to submit the requested information in writing within seven days. The AP has requested more information about the Chinese government's requirements and "will review them carefully," a spokeswoman for the outlet said.
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| F-16 Fighter Pilot Dies After Crash in South Carolina Posted: 01 Jul 2020 02:47 PM PDT  The incident is the fifth fighter jet crash—and the second fatal one—in six weeks.
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| We found the best deals to shop during Home Depot's massive 4th of July sale Posted: 30 Jun 2020 01:38 PM PDT  Retailers such as Wayfair and Walmart are also offering major savings.
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| Couple recorded pulling weapons on protesters outside their St. Louis home Posted: 30 Jun 2020 03:47 AM PDT  Sunday night's demonstration was sparked by mayor releasing names and addresses of "defund police" advocates.
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| Martin Gugino, the Buffalo protester pushed to the ground and injured by police, released after nearly a month in hospital Posted: 30 Jun 2020 05:38 PM PDT  The 75-year-old man who fell to the ground after being pushed by Buffalo police officers in a viral video was released from the hospital Tuesday.
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| Amid surge in coronavirus cases and mounting criticism, GOP leaders do about-face on masks Posted: 30 Jun 2020 12:14 PM PDT  As the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage large swaths of the U.S., leading Republicans and even some right-wing TV personalities have come out in favor of wearing masks to prevent the spread of the virus.
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| See How One Modern Family Restored Its Ancestral Family Estate in England Posted: 30 Jun 2020 11:23 AM PDT |
| John Hickenlooper wins Colorado's Democratic Senate primary Posted: 30 Jun 2020 06:26 PM PDT |
| Iran sentences former journalist to death for fuelling unrest Posted: 30 Jun 2020 04:24 AM PDT |
| The New York City Council passed a budget to defund the NYPD by $1 billion — but nobody seems to like it Posted: 01 Jul 2020 02:16 AM PDT  The $1 billion cancels the incoming class of officers, and will be reallocated to services like summer youth programs and broadband in public housing.
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| Dr. Fauci says drinking inside bars is one of the most dangerous things you can do right now Posted: 30 Jun 2020 10:44 AM PDT  "I think we need to emphasize the responsibility that we have both as individuals, and as part of a societal effort to end the epidemic," Fauci said.
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| Rayshard Brooks: Accused officer bailed despite widow's plea Posted: 30 Jun 2020 05:16 PM PDT  Rayshard Brooks' widow said the ex-officer was dangerous and asked the judge to deny bail.
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| Fact check: Picture of a massive dust cloud is over Phoenix, not Puerto Rico Posted: 01 Jul 2020 10:37 AM PDT  A post incorrectly attributes a 2018 photo to the recent Sahara dust storm and misstates that Puerto Rico was damaged by the storm.
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| Ex-Canada PM Mulroney calls for revised relations with China Posted: 01 Jul 2020 08:43 AM PDT  Canada must have an "urgent rethink" of its relationship with China, former prime minister Brian Mulroney said Wednesday as tensions build over the possible extradition to the United States of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Conservative Mulroney backed his Liberal successor Justin Trudeau's rejection of any exchange of Meng, who was arrested in Vancouver in December 2018, for two Canadians who were detained in China in apparent retaliation. Mulroney said Canada's hope that China would emerge as a constructive partner in international relations had been proven wrong, referring in particular to Beijing's militarization of the South China Sea.
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| McConnell warns Democrats about changing Senate rules to kill the filibuster Posted: 01 Jul 2020 02:36 PM PDT  The Senate GOP leader spoke as some experts believe there's a fair chance his party could lose control of the chamber in November.
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| Arizona Is in COVID Hell—and Forced to Go After Rogue Gyms Posted: 01 Jul 2020 03:01 PM PDT  Arizona set a record Wednesday for new coronavirus cases, and 90 percent of the state's ICU beds are filled. But that's not stopping some gym owners from ignoring new lockdown rules and opening for business—prompting Gov. Doug Ducey to launch a crackdown on rogue fitness fanatics.Ducey released an executive order Monday shutting down all bars, gyms, theaters, water parks, and inner tubing locations until at least July 27, calling the latest COVID-19 case numbers "brutal." It was a swift turnaround from his declaration earlier this month that he would not impose new restrictions despite the growing case numbers—and many gym owners weren't happy about it."If this is truly as bad as we are being told, I don't think health clubs closing tomorrow is going to solve the problem," Mountainside Fitness owner Tom Hatten said in a press conference, as the number of COVID-19 deaths in the state topped 1,600. "I don't think [ending] tubing is going to solve the problem. I don't think closing a movie theater that hasn't been open is going to solve the problem."Hatten has filed a lawsuit against the governor, claiming the order is a violation of his due process and equal protection rights. In the suit, he claimed to have purchased "state of the art sanitation equipment" and rearranged the gym facilities in order to keep customers safe, and said the governor's office had not provided a promised reauthorization form that would have let him reopen. At the press conference, Hatten called the order "arbitrary" and said businesses needed "clarity" from the government. On Tuesday, police hit a Scottsdale Mountainside Fitness location with a citation that could result in a fine of up to $2,500. A spokesperson for the governor's office told ABC15 that Ducey had spoken with police chiefs that day and told them to be more aggressive in enforcing the order.On Wednesday, the Arizona Liquor Department reportedly suspended two liquor licenses for the Biltmore location of Life Time Fitness, another gym franchise that refused to follow the governor's order. (In a statement, Life Time Fitness said it is "incredibly committed to our members, who have clearly indicated their desire to have uninterrupted access to the expansive array of health and entertainment services, amenities and programs we provide.")Reopening Gyms Early Is Tearing a South Florida City ApartThe ramped-up enforcement seemed to be having an effect on at least a few franchises. An employee at Desert Fitness, which posted on Facebook Tuesday that it would remain open, said the gym had decided to cease operations as of Wednesday morning. "It's either stay open and take the fines that they issue or go to court over it, and we are not willing to do either of those things," said the employee, Hunter, who declined to give his last name.Megan Burrola, the assistant manager at CycleBar in McCormick, said her studio had also decided to shut down as of Wednesday morning, after speaking with government and police officials. The cycling studio had initially tried to claim that its smaller size exempted it from the shutdown order, and Burrola said management was still pursuing that avenue."We're working with our legal team because we do believe we qualify as a more private boutique, not a fitness center," she said. A spokesperson for the governor said in a statement that the order was clear: "Gyms and other indoor fitness clubs or centers, regardless of size, shall pause operations until at least July 27." But a number of fitness destinations seemed set on staying open because of their smaller size. A PureBarre studio in North Scottsdale kept its doors open Wednesday, writing on Instagram that the studio's "small, 'boutique' setting" made the owners "confident in our ability to safely operate and remain open." (In a response to a comment from someone calling the decision "very disappointing," owner Marirose Weyand wrote that she would "like the negative comments and energy dismissed from this page." She did not respond to The Daily Beast's request for comment.)BodyVision Fitness, a gym in Glendale, also wrote on Facebook that it would stay open due to its classification as a "micro-gym." The company did not respond to calls and emails about who, exactly, had classified them as such.And an employee at the YogaSix studio in Scottsdale told The Daily Beast that her location had also resumed classes as of Wednesday morning. Five people showed up to that morning's class, where participants are not required to wear masks."We actually feel strongly that our boutique fitness studio concept doesn't fall under the category of a gym," said the employee, Heather, who declined to give her last name. "It's just such a safe space compared to restaurants that are still open and grocery stores and so many places that are still open," she continued, adding, "We're here for the wellness of our members."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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| Stonewall Jackson removed from Richmond's Monument Avenue Posted: 01 Jul 2020 11:45 AM PDT  Work crews wielding a giant crane, harnesses and power tools wrested an imposing statue of Gen. Stonewall Jackson from its concrete pedestal along Richmond, Virginia's famed Monument Avenue on Wednesday, just hours after the mayor ordered the removal of all Confederate statues from city land. Mayor Levar Stoney's decree came weeks after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered the removal of the most prominent and imposing statue along the avenue: that of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which sits on state land.
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| Russia investigates after journalist says police broke his arm at polling station during Putin vote Posted: 30 Jun 2020 12:31 PM PDT |
| Donald Trump should stay away from Mount Rushmore, Sioux leader says Posted: 01 Jul 2020 01:00 AM PDT  The president's planned visit to the monument on 'stolen' Native land risks spreading coronavirus, tribal president warnsDonald Trump should not carry out his planned 3 July visit to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota because it represents a safety risk in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and is an insult to Native Americans on whose stolen land it was built, the president of the Oglala Sioux tribal council has said.Several Native American groups are planning protests for Trump's controversial trip to the 79-year-old stone monument carved into the Black Hills that is set to include the first fireworks display at the site since 2009 and an air force flypast."Trump coming here is a safety concern not just for my people inside and outside the reservation, but for people in the Great Plains. We have such limited resources in Black Hills, and we're already seeing infections rising," the Oglala Sioux president, Julian Bear Runner, in an interview with the Guardian."It's going to cause an uproar if he comes here. People are going to want to exercise their first amendment rights to protest and we do not want to see anyone get hurt or the lands be destroyed," Bear Runner said.Trump's visit to the huge site that commemorates four US presidents was a violation of the historic treaties that the US government had signed with Native Americans that were meant to govern the sacred Black Hills, the Oglala tribal president said, adding that Trump should have asked permission for the trip from the seven Sioux tribal governments."The lands on which that mountain is carved and the lands he's about to visit belong to the Great Sioux nation under a treaty signed in 1851 and the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 and I have to tell him he doesn't have permission from its original sovereign owners to enter the territory at this time," Bear Runner said.The 1868 treaty acknowledged Sioux sovereignty over the Black Hills in perpetuity but after gold was discovered in the area the federal government forced the Sioux to relinquish this part of their reservation. In 1980, the US supreme court ruled that tribal lands covered by the treaty had been taken from the Sioux illegally.Bear Runner added that Trump's visit could only be approved if the US president sat down with the leaders of the seven tribal councils in a government-to-government consultation."As leader of the United States he has obligation to … honor the treaties that are the supreme law of the land," the 34-year-old president said.Trump's visit comes after months of escalating tensions between Native Americans and South Dakota state and federal authorities over jurisdictional power to isolate reservation lands from the spread of Covid-19 that has devastated many Native communities elsewhere.In early May, leaders of the Oglala and Cheyenne River Sioux refused a request from South Dakota's Republican governor, Kristi Noem, to remove checkpoints leading to their reservation that they say have helped protect the tribe from all but a handful of coronavirus cases.Last week, the Cheyenne Sioux accused Trump administration officials of a sustained and unlawful campaign of threats against the tribe aimed at taking control of tribal land policing after the Cheyenne and Oglala Sioux rejected Noem's demands.Trump's planned visit also comes amid a reckoning over racism and a reconsideration of provocative representations of colonial power across the US.In New Mexico, home to more than a dozen Pueblo Indian reservations as well as part of the Navajo Nation, a movement is under way to the remove monuments to the Spanish conquistadors Juan de Oñate and Diego de Vargas.Native American activists have argued for years that the memorial to US presidents carved into Mount Rushmore is equally offensive as monuments to Confederate leaders or Spanish conquistadors.The monument was, they argue, carved into a mountain with its own spiritual meaning, sits on stolen land, was designed and executed by a sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, who had ties to white supremacists, and represents presidents each of whom had dirty hands in terms of slavery and racial oppression."The rocks already had spiritual meaning before westerners came to squat our territory," Bear Runner said. "The land is rightfully ours, and we didn't give the Black Hills over. It would be wrong for me as a tribal leader to remain diplomatic. We consider the carvings a symbol of trying to wipe us away and to say they had conquered us."For years there have been calls by activists to remove the four presidents – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt – from the mountain. Each either owned slaves, made racist remarks or initiated actions that contributed harm to Native peoples.Of the four, Lincoln gives the greatest offense to Native Americans for ordering the largest mass execution in American history when 38 Sioux were hanged in Minnesota during the Dakota war of 1862."They don't tell the true story and it's wrong. We hear only the highlighted story of the good things these men have done for this country but they don't tell that this land belongs to Native Americans, that the Black Hills belong to the Sioux nations, or the hanging of these Dakota men," Bear Runner said.The social and cultural desecration the monument represents, has led many Native activists to call for the removal of the monument. But Governor Noem tweeted last week: "Not on my watch."
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| More than 400 US Army paratroopers flew almost 5,000 miles to practice a long-range Pacific island invasion Posted: 01 Jul 2020 02:23 PM PDT  The drill "demonstrated that we are capable of deploying anywhere in the US Indo-Pacific Command area at a moment's notice," a commander said.
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| Nicola Sturgeon and her husband will have to give evidence under oath to Alex Salmond inquiry Posted: 01 Jul 2020 07:00 AM PDT  Nicola Sturgeon and her husband will be forced to give evidence under oath to a Scottish Parliament inquiry into the mishandling of misconduct claims against Alex Salmond, it has been announced. The specially-convened Holyrood committee tasked with examining the Scottish Government's handling of harassment complaints made against the former First Minister confirmed it will take the unusual step when questioning witnesses. Some MSPs on the committee argued taking sworn evidence under oath was necessary given the seriousness of its inquiry and to maximise the accuracy of witness evidence amid "conflicting" claims. Refusing to take an oath is an offence punishable by up to three months in jail or a £5,000 fine. Giving false evidence could attract a five-year prison sentence.
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| Australia seeks long-range missiles in Indo-Pacific defence shift Posted: 30 Jun 2020 11:59 PM PDT  The country is to significantly lift military spending amid rising US-China instability, its PM says.
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| Iran police question four after deadly Tehran blast Posted: 01 Jul 2020 06:53 AM PDT  Iranian police on Wednesday questioned four people as part of investigations into a powerful explosion that killed 19 people at a Tehran clinic the night before, state media reported. The blast at the Sina At'har health centre in the upmarket northern neighbourhood of Tajrish caused damage to nearby buildings and sent a plume of thick black smoke into the sky. It was the second such incident to hit Tehran within days, after a gas tank explosion near a military complex east of the capital late last Thursday that authorities said caused no casualties.
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| 'It is historic': Women of color dominate Joe Biden's list for vice president Posted: 01 Jul 2020 05:00 AM PDT  Joe Biden is coy about his vice president list, but his consideration of women of color is a milestone. Experts say it shows progress and the need for more representation.
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| How the explosive YouTube war between James Charles and Tati Westbrook brought the value of vitamin supplements into question Posted: 30 Jun 2020 02:52 PM PDT  Westbrook and Charles' falling out and Westbrook's apology video raised questions about the value of supplements.
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| Pakistani PM says 'no doubt' that India was behind stock exchange attack Posted: 30 Jun 2020 04:37 AM PDT  Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan told parliament on Tuesday he had no doubt that India was behind an attack on the stock exchange building in the southern city of Karachi. Four gunmen armed with grenades attacked the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday, killing two guards and a policeman before security forces killed the attackers. "There is no doubt that India is behind the attack," Khan said in his address to parliament - a charge that India had denied a day earlier.
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| Trump: I'll veto defense bill to keep Confederate base names Posted: 01 Jul 2020 07:12 AM PDT  President Donald Trump is vowing to veto a massive defense bill to keep military bases such as Fort Bragg named after Confederate officers, swimming against sentiment in his own party and imperiling a 3% pay raise for the troops. Trump took to Twitter late Tuesday to threaten a veto of a $741 billion annual Pentagon authorization bill because it would require a host of military bases named after Confederate figures to be renamed within three years.
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| If Americans keep ignoring COVID-19 safety precautions, we'll have to shut down. Again. Posted: 30 Jun 2020 07:16 AM PDT  A contagious virus is not a subject for a debate over personal choice. The only thing to discuss is what public health measures we need to control it.
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| America's M2 Carbine: The Rifle That Made the U.S. Military Great on the Battlefield Posted: 30 Jun 2020 09:30 AM PDT  Small numbers of M2s made their way to the troops in the closing engagement of World War II in the Pacific, particularly in the brutal Battle for Okinawa. However, they saw wider-scale action five years later in the Korean War.
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| Fire kills 1, ruins 40 homes in Calif. desert town Posted: 29 Jun 2020 10:13 PM PDT  A brush fire killed one person and destroyed about 40 homes in a remote desert town near the shrinking Salton Sea, California's largest lake, authorities said Monday. (June 30)
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| Indian groom's wedding, funeral leave over 100 infected with coronavirus Posted: 01 Jul 2020 06:11 AM PDT  More than 100 people have tested positive for coronavirus in India after attending the wedding -- and then funeral -- of the groom, who reportedly tied the knot while ill with the disease. Officials in Bihar state said Wednesday the 26-year-old groom had symptoms of the deadly virus when he got married on June 15. "So far 111 people who either attended the wedding or the funeral have tested positive," said Raj Kishor Chaudhary, chief medical officer in Patna, the state capital.
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| U.S. urges companies to steer clear of Chinese forced labor Posted: 01 Jul 2020 09:22 AM PDT  The advisory comes as relations between the United States and China continue to deteriorate over a range of issues.
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| Hong Kong security law: Minutes after new law, pro-democracy voices quit Posted: 30 Jun 2020 12:33 AM PDT  "The law marks the end of Hong Kong that the world knew before," one activist said as he quit.
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| North Korean defectors arrivals in South plummets amid virus lockdowns Posted: 30 Jun 2020 11:43 PM PDT |
