| Obama to George Floyd protesters: Channel 'justifiable anger' into action Posted: 01 Jun 2020 09:28 AM PDT  Former President Barack Obama addressed nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, condemning the violence brought on by a "small minority."
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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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| New Yahoo News/YouGov poll: Most Americans say Trump is a 'racist' and want him to stop tweeting Posted: 01 Jun 2020 09:08 AM PDT  By a bare majority, Americans think President Trump is a racist, and want him to stop tweeting, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll. The public's response to Trump's tweets and racial attitudes is predictably divided along party lines.
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| Amsterdam anti-racism rally criticised for lack of social distancing Posted: 02 Jun 2020 12:40 AM PDT  Amsterdam's mayor faced criticism from politicians and health experts on Tuesday after thousands of demonstrators packed the city centre for an anti-racism rally in violation of social distancing rules put in place to ward off the coronavirus. The protesters rallied in support of George Floyd, a black American who died in police custody in the United States last week, their number swelling from an expected 200-300 to several thousands on Monday. Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, of the Green Left party, said city authorities were caught off guard by the huge turnout and could not have intervened peacefully.
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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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| 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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| The Iranians and Americans behind each other's bars Posted: 02 Jun 2020 01:21 AM PDT  Sworn enemies Iran and the United States still hold a number of each other's nationals behind bars, despite the apparent release of an Iranian academic from a US prison overnight. In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said a plane carrying scientist Sirous Asgari had left America. - US Navy veteran Michael R. White was arrested in July 2018 and sentenced the following year to 10 years in prison after being convicted of insulting Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and posting on social media under a pseudonym.
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| Leaked documents reveal China withheld crucial information about the coronavirus at the start of the outbreak Posted: 02 Jun 2020 05:45 AM PDT  China didn't publish the coronavirus genome until over a week after its scientists decoded it, according to a new investigation.
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| ‘Wanton thuggery’: Australian reporter knocked down by police live on air as she covered George Floyd protests in DC Posted: 02 Jun 2020 04:56 AM PDT  US riot police were broadcast live on air using aggressive force to push and knock down an Australian reporter and her cameraman as they covered the Black Lives Matter protests in Washington DC, prompting an investigation by the Australian embassy.Amelia Brace, a reporter for Australian television network Channel 7, was broadcasting from the White House with cameraman Timothy Myers when police plouged into the crowd with riot shields, firing rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse them.
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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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| Trump, Biden strike different tones on calls with local, state leaders amid nationwide protests Posted: 01 Jun 2020 02:09 PM PDT  A global pandemic that has killed more than 100,000 Americans and now recent nationwide unrest after a brutal police killing of a black man have challenged both President Trump and his presumed Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, while also highlighting their different leadership styles.
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| One officer at George Floyd's fatal arrest spotlights another racial divide Posted: 01 Jun 2020 03:43 PM PDT  "People don't have a baseline of an understanding of what anti-blackness even is," a Hmong American organizer told NBC Asian America.
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| Gilead's next step on coronavirus: inhaled remdesivir, other easier-to-use versions Posted: 02 Jun 2020 04:04 AM PDT  Remdesivir is the only drug so far that has been shown to help patients with COVID-19, but Gilead and other companies are looking for ways to make it work better. For critically ill patients, Roche and Eli Lilly and Co are testing drugs in combination with remdesivir. Gilead is also seeking to treat the virus earlier.
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| D.C. police officer to protesters: 'If I didn't think change was possible, I would just give up' Posted: 02 Jun 2020 06:35 AM PDT  Hours into the mandatory curfew in Washington, D.C., several police officers were recorded engaging in peaceful dialogue with protesters. While remaining in opposition to the extended protests over George Floyd's death, one officer appeared to commiserate with protesters' desire to seek change.
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| The head of the Minneapolis police union called protests a 'terrorist movement' and blamed politicians for unrest in a leaked email Posted: 01 Jun 2020 03:29 PM PDT  Bob Kroll called Black Lives Matter a "terrorist organization" in 2016. In a new email, he said current protests were part of a "terrorist movement."
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| Mexican president defies leftist label in virus response Posted: 01 Jun 2020 09:04 PM PDT  When Andrés Manuel López Obrador won Mexico's presidency after years of agitating for change, many expected a transformative leader who would take the country to the left even as much of Latin America moved right. Instead, López Obrador is leading like a conservative in many ways — cutting spending, investing heavily in fossil fuel development and helping the U.S. crack down on the northbound flow of migrants. As coronavirus spreads through Mexico, the president known as AMLO has rejected widespread shutdowns and pressed to keep the economy going.
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| Philippine exit from key US military pact 'suspended' Posted: 02 Jun 2020 08:10 AM PDT  The Philippines has told the United States it is suspending its bid to break off a key military pact, the two allies said Tuesday in a sharp turnaround of President Rodrigo Duterte's foreign policy. Duterte in February gave notice to Washington he was axing the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) after accusing the US of interference in his internationally condemned narcotics crackdown. Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin said Tuesday the plan has been put on hold for at least six months.
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| Sweden is rushing to launch a formal inquiry into its no-lockdown coronavirus strategy, as its death rate remains among the world's highest Posted: 02 Jun 2020 05:24 AM PDT  Stefan Löfven, Sweden's prime minister, told the Aftonbladet newspaper that the government will appoint a commission before the summer.
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| Climate change: May was sunniest calendar month on record in UK Posted: 01 Jun 2020 08:46 AM PDT  Meteorologists say the switch from an extremely wet winter to an extremely dry spring is not "British".
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| Biden suggests police could shoot assailants 'in the leg instead of the heart' Posted: 01 Jun 2020 01:17 PM PDT  Joe Biden said Monday that police under attack should shoot their assailants "in the leg instead of the heart" as a way to avert the killings of civilians.
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| New Russian policy allows use of atomic weapons against non-nuclear strike Posted: 02 Jun 2020 08:53 AM PDT  President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday endorsed Russia's nuclear deterrent policy, which allows him to use atomic weapons in response to a conventional strike targeting the nation's critical government and military infrastructure.
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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 also said on Monday he hoped the Trump administration would soon identify specific ways to "impose costs on Beijing" for curbing freedoms in Hong Kong. McConnell said the United States should mirror the response of other democracies and open its doors to people from the territory.
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| Trump praises National Guard and blames violence on anarchists Posted: 31 May 2020 03:47 PM PDT  President Trump on Sunday praised the National Guard for their response to protests nationwide, while blaming violence on anarchists. He said he wanted to declared Antifa a domestic terrorism organization, although it's unclear how this designation could work since there are no domestic terrorism statues under federal law. Nikole Killion reports.
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| 'Hunt them down': Twitter adds warning label to Gaetz's tweet, saying it glorifies violence Posted: 01 Jun 2020 06:08 PM PDT  Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-FL., tweeted "Now that we clearly see Antifa as terrorists, can we hunt them down like we do those in the Middle East?"
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| Hitler Was a Real-Life Monster: What the Nazis Did to Germany Posted: 01 Jun 2020 06:00 PM PDT  A terrible, terrible group of people.
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| Wuhan tests nearly 10 million people, finds only 300 infections Posted: 02 Jun 2020 03:44 AM PDT  China tested almost 10 million people for coronavirus in just over two weeks in Wuhan, the city where the pandemic began, officials said Tuesday, reporting only a few hundred positive cases. Chinese authorities claim to have largely brought the virus under control but Wuhan officials -- wary of a second wave -- launched the programme after new infections emerged for the first time since the city re-opened in April following more than two months in lockdown. More than 9.8 million people were tested in the city of 11 million people between May 14 and June 1, officials said at a press conference.
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| Ohio woman still missing months after mysterious disappearance from grandparents' house on Christmas Day Posted: 01 Jun 2020 04:17 PM PDT  Parris Hopson, 26, of Columbus, Ohio, was visiting her grandparents in Massillon, Ohio for a family gathering on Christmas Day, December 25, 2020. She left the house saying she needed to go on a walk to clear her head. Relatives say she left her cell phone, debit card and ID behind in her car. The Massillon Police Department is investigating.
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| Brazil's Supreme Court judge shelves request to seize Bolsonaro's cellphone Posted: 02 Jun 2020 04:56 AM PDT  Brazil's Supreme Court Judge Celso de Mello shelved on Monday night a request made by political parties to seize President Jair Bolsonaro's cellphone as part of an investigation on whether or not he tried to meddle with law enforcement for personal reasons. De Mello agreed with a statement made by the government's Attorney General Augusto Aras that it is up to public prosecutors to request due diligence within a probe, adding that political parties have no legitimacy to do so.
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| Cuomo: Don't "blur the lines" between looters and protesters Posted: 02 Jun 2020 09:45 AM PDT  "COVID-19 is one issue, the outrage over Mr. Floyd is another issue, looters are another issue," he said.
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| Pakistan 'blasphemy' death row couple's plea for freedom Posted: 02 Jun 2020 03:26 AM PDT  Shagufta Kausar and Shafqat Emmanuel hope judges in Pakistan will overthrow their 2014 conviction.
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| DOJ urges appeals court to force dismissal of Flynn case Posted: 01 Jun 2020 01:20 PM PDT  A lower-court judge has held up the dismissal, citing Justice Department's 'unusual' reversal.
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| Nuclear Weapons: The Reason Why Even Iran Fears Israel Posted: 31 May 2020 12:00 PM PDT  They've got the bomb.
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| 17 incredible photos from SpaceX's historic mission to send NASA astronauts to the space station Posted: 01 Jun 2020 05:47 PM PDT  SpaceX sent two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station on Saturday — the first crewed commercial spaceflight ever.
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| A black congresswoman was pepper-sprayed by police while marching with George Floyd protesters in Ohio Posted: 31 May 2020 12:36 PM PDT  "While it was peaceful, there were times when people got off the curb, into the streets, but too much force is not the answer to this," she said.
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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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| Michigan governor largely rescinds lockdown, retailers to reopen Posted: 01 Jun 2020 11:09 AM PDT  Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Monday moved to further reopen the Midwest state's economy, largely rescinding a stay-at-home order in place since March and allowing retailers and restaurants to open back up over the next week. Whitmer's new executive order will allow retailers to reopen on Thursday and restaurants and bars on June 8, both subject to capacity limits. Until now, only essential retailers like groceries had remained open, while restaurants had closed dining areas while offering pickup and delivery services.
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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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| Indonesia pulls out of annual Mecca pilgrimage over virus fears Posted: 02 Jun 2020 01:12 AM PDT  Indonesia is pulling out of the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca over coronavirus fears, the religious affairs ministry said Tuesday, removing the largest contingent of worshippers. More than 220,000 people from the world's biggest Muslim-majority country were set to take part in this year's hajj, which all Muslims must perform at least once in their lives if able. On Tuesday, Indonesia said it was pulling out of the pilgrimage, which last year drew about 2.5 million Muslims to Saudi Arabia from across the globe.
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| Trump's Divisive Instincts Helped Him Win the White House. Where Will They Take America Now? Posted: 31 May 2020 01:29 PM PDT  Aides are debating how far Trump should follow his decades-old instinct to back the police and minimize claims of racial bias
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| Thanks To Coronavirus, Tensions Are Rising In The South China Sea Posted: 31 May 2020 10:45 PM PDT  Japan and Taiwan could be at risk.
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| The Air Force's Goal: Turn Cargo Planes into Makeshift Bombers Posted: 01 Jun 2020 06:17 AM PDT  The jets would carry cruise missiles to bombard enemy forces from the outside.
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| The New Top Prosecutor in Ukraine Has Joe Biden in Her Sights Posted: 01 Jun 2020 01:00 AM PDT  Ukraine's recently appointed prosecutor general, 41-year-old Iryna Venediktova, is a woman to watch. The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, expects her to investigate and prosecute his predecessor. She seems more than enthusiastic about that, and it's a process that's been set up from the start to (once again) try to smear Donald Trump's leading challenger for the presidency of the United States, Joe Biden.On the night of May 19, Venediktova personally approved the beginning of criminal proceedings against former President Petro Poroshenko for high treason and abuse of office. The move was triggered by leaked recordings of confidential conversations that allegedly took place in 2015-2016 between Poroshenko and then Vice President Biden, as well as John Kerry, who was the U.S. secretary of state at the time.Before her appointment as prosecutor general in March, Venediktova—a graduate of Ukraine's police academy who holds the rank of captain—had served Zelensky as acting chief of the State Bureau of Investigations (DBR). She reportedly launched investigations into Poroshenko while in that position, and is said to have clashed with the well-respected prosecutor general at the time, Ruslan Ryaboshapka, because of the way she conducted them. Ryaboshapka was dismissed in March, clearing the way for her to take his position.The nature of the private Biden-Poroshenko recordings and the way they were leaked is reminiscent of the way the Soviet KGB exploited wiretaps and disinformation, but that has not prevented Zelensky and Venediktova from sensationalizing what's now been put on the record.Who Leaked Biden's Calls to Ukraine?It was first presented at a press conference given on May 19 by Andriy Derkach, a member of Ukraine's parliament who has a very pro-Moscow past. Derkach, like Russian President Vladimir Putin, is a graduate of the former Soviet Union's Higher School of KGB, the foreign intelligence training facility now known as the FSB Academy. In recent years Derkach has worked closely with Trump's personal attorney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, to promote accusations that Biden as vice president strong-armed the Ukrainian government to try to protect the interests of his son, Hunter Biden, who was serving in a lucrative position on the board of a Ukrainian gas company called Burisma. Anyone familiar with the history of Ukrainian corruption knows that Biden's pressure on the government in 2015 and 2016 was part of a major campaign by the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, as well as the Obama administration, to get Poroshenko to clean up his act. Hanging in the balance were $40 billion in IMF loan guarantees, with a $1 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. opening the way.At the time, one key symbol of reform was the replacement of Poroshenko's long-time crony, Chief Prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was notorious for not convicting any major oligarchs or public officials known for corruption—even those from the infamous regime ousted by the Maidan Revolution in 2014. Starting in the mid-1990s, general prosecutors in Ukraine acquired reputations for exploiting corruption rather than fighting it. Often, prosecutions in Ukraine have been launched to shake down the targets rather than put them in prison.According to an extensive report in the British newspaper The Independent based on multiple interviews with lower level prosecutors, an investigation of the owner of Burisma, the company with Hunter Biden on the board, fit that shakedown scenario precisely. "Neither Shokin nor Poroshenko wanted to investigate [Burisma owner Mykola] Zlochevsky," former deputy prosecutor David Sakvarelidze told The Independent. "They simply began a criminal case, arrested a few assets, and began negotiating with the corruptioneer for a bribe."So, there are no real revelations in the Biden-Poroshenko conversations. What's revealing is the use that Venediktova, Derkach, and Zelensky are making of them."The leaked recordings are a nothingburger," says Poroshenko's defense lawyer, Ilya Novikov, borrowing a term from Biden's spokesman. "But Venediktova rushed to open the case late in the evening after Derkach had published the leaks," Novikov told The Daily Beast. "That to us indicates that President Zelensky personally expected his prosecutor to begin the process before his own press conference [the next day]." In fact, there is no mention of Burisma on the Derkach recordings. But the tough talk does force Ukrainian listeners to realize once again, as they did when they read the transcript of the Trump-Zelensky phone call last year, just how dependent on Washington Kyiv has become.Poroshenko clearly was reluctant to dismiss Shokin, who had been "his" prosecutor on and off for a dozen years, well before Poroshenko (an oligarch who made his fortune selling chocolate candy) moved up the political ladder to the presidency. Poroshenko can be heard on the recording telling Biden he's willing to ditch Shokin even though, according to Poroshenko, Shokin had done nothing wrong. In a subsequent call, Biden congratulates Poroshenko on appointing a new general prosecutor."I know there's a lot more of that that has to be done," says Biden. "But I really, I really think that's good, and I understand you're working with the Rada [Ukraine's parliament] in the coming days on a number of additional laws to secure the IMF [loan guarantees], but congratulations on installing the new prosecutor general. It's going to be critical for him to work quickly to repair the damage Shokin did, and I'm a man of my word, and now that the new prosecutor general is in place we're ready to move forward in signing that new $1 billion loan guarantee."When Derkach presented these recordings to the press in May, he publicly accused Biden of offering Poroshenko $1 billion of U.S. taxpayers' money "in exchange for maintaining Burisma schemes and international corruption." As Derkach described his version of the events, "Biden leaves for Kyiv to put pressure on Petro Oleksiyovych [Poroshenko] regarding Shokin. There's a powerful argument… in Biden's pocket... a $1 billion loan guarantee... such was a price to save [Hunter] Biden from prison." Then Derkach took the recordings to Venediktova. If charged, Poroshenko could face up to 15 years in prison.When President Zelensky marked the end of his first year in power the day after Venediktova drew up the treason charges against Poroshenko, he left no room to doubt he supported them and found the recordings incriminating. "I think it's not the last sign that Ukrainians will see. The prosecutors, law enforcement bodies should react," said Zelensky. "The prosecutor general of Ukraine registered criminal proceedings at the request of deputy [Andriy] Derkach yesterday. They will investigate."During the impeachment proceedings that grew out of the U.S. President Trump's notorious July 25, 2019, phone call pressuring Zelensky for dirt on Biden, Zelensky did his best to avoid taking sides. That will be harder to do if Venediktova continues to pursue the treason case based on Biden conversations. The Ukrainian president still enjoys rare popularity with an approval rating of more than 60 percent, but that is a steep decline from nearly 80 percent last year and Zelensky is the target of increased criticism. Marking the first anniversary of his presidency by threatening his predecessor with accusations of high treason does not look good. "I do not believe Zelensky," Kristina Berdyskykh, a leading Ukrainian political journalist, said on Ukraina 24 television. "All young and progressive members have left Zelensky's team."As these controversies develop, Zelensky's prosecutor will be at the center of them. Less than two years ago, Iryna Venediktova was teaching law at a university in the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine. "She specialized in theory of civil and corporate law at a not very significant faculty, not on criminal justice," a civil society activist in Kharkiv, Volodymir Rysenko, told The Daily Beast. But in a matter of months, Venediktova's career jumped from a university teacher to a seat at the Rada. She is a member of Zelensky's Servant of the People party, and she was made number 3 on its electoral list last year, virtually guaranteeing she would get a seat. Then she was given another head spinning job when Zelensky appointed her to be the acting director of the State Bureau of Investigation.Finally, in March, Venediktova was appointed to be Ukraine's prosecutor general, the first woman to hold that position."When we look at Venediktova from Kharkiv, we see nothing to be proud of," says Rysenko. "We hear Venediktova accusing people in her interviews without any understanding of what presumption of innocence really means." "She has little experience for such a huge job and was appointed on the basis of being a political buddy of Mr. Zelensky," says global affairs analyst Michael Bociurkiw. "She's reversing the reforms of her predecessor which were lauded by civil society, diplomats and the international community. She has already made several controversial appointments, reinstated incompetent or politically tainted prosecutors rightfully sacked by her predecessor, and blocked civil society and foreign partners from vetting some appointments." The executive director of the non-governmental Anticorruption Action Center, Daria Kaleniuk, does not see any legitimate grounds for triggering a criminal case of high treason based on the recordings. "In my opinion Derkach deserves to be investigated for treason for his long-term work with people like Giuliani, for spreading disinformation and conspiracies, which undermine U.S.-Ukraine strategic relationships," Kaleniuk told The Daily Beast. "I think Zelensky still clearly indicates that he doesn't want to interfere in the American elections and to support any side there; but I am concerned he has appointed Venediktova, who among other strange things—like blocking prosecution reform—makes this nonsense case based on Derkach audio. It shows the lack of professionalism of both the prosecutor general and the president."For progressives in Ukraine, a huge question looming over the treason case is how the Biden-Poroshenko recordings were obtained in the first place, and who passed them on to Derkach. He claims he got them from some "investigative journalists," but nobody knows the journalists' names.Kyiv-based experts following the Bidens, Burisma and Trump ordeal in detail want prosecutor Venediktova to pay serious attention to the source of the leaked recordings."I personally know Derkach," says Yevgeny Kiselev of the TV show Real Politics. "He sounds like he is the bridge between the Ukrainian and Russian special services. In our conversations he bragged about his meetings and connections in Moscow; his father, former head of the Security Service of Ukraine, was involved in publishing compromising recordings to discredit President [Leonid] Kuchma and now Derkach junior is leaking very dubious recordings." "The former foreign minister, Pavel Kilimkin, told me that Poroshenko, Biden and Kerry had lots and lots of conversations about financial aid and about the Congress approving money," Kiselev told The Daily Beast. "He also said that Poroshenko used to invite all sorts of people to those virtual conversations, mostly to show how important he was; one of them must have recorded the conversations—that is a matter for an investigation."The Daily Beast asked Prosecutor General Venediktova if her office has also been investigating the source of the recordings but did not receive any answer.—Christopher Dickey also contributed to this article.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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| Afghan testing lapse suggests growing and hidden coronavirus crisis Posted: 02 Jun 2020 06:40 AM PDT  Fewer than one in 10 of coronavirus test samples collected daily in Afghanistan are being processed, officials said on Tuesday, and of those more than 30% are consistently testing positive, suggesting a high and hidden number of infections. The official number of COVID-19 cases in Afghanistan is relatively low, with 16,509 confirmed infections and 270 deaths. Deputy Health Minister Feda Mohammad Paikan told Reuters the ministry can process only 1,300 to 1,500 of around 20,000 samples each day, due to limited equipment and processing facilities.
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