| Bill to remove Confederate statues from Capitol stalled by Missouri's Blunt Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:59 AM PDT  The legislation proposed by Sen. Cory Booker would have removed 11 statues honoring men who voluntarily served in the Confederacy from the National Statuary Hall Collection.
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| WH press secretary says she'll attend Trump's Tulsa rally, but won't wear a mask Posted: 19 Jun 2020 12:06 PM PDT  Health experts warn that Trump's rally, which will pack nearly 20,000 attendees into Tulsa's Bank of Oklahoma Center, represents a perfect storm for the transmission of COVID-19.
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| China claims valley where Indian, Chinese soldiers brawled Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:57 PM PDT  China said the Galwan Valley high up in the Himalayan border region where Chinese and Indian troops engaged in a deadly brawl this week falls entirely within China, boldly renewing claims on the disputed area as the Asian giants continued using military and diplomatic channels to try to reduce tensions on Saturday. The confrontation in the Galwan Valley, part of the disputed Ladakh region along the Himalayan frontier, was the deadliest between the two countries in 45 years. India blames China for instigating the fight by developing infrastructure in the valley, which it said was a breach of the agreement of what area remained in dispute.
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| The Navy Is Blaming the Captain It Fired for Accurate COVID-19 Warning Posted: 19 Jun 2020 01:48 PM PDT  Navy Capt. Brett Crozier has been vindicated after warning of a dire coronavirus outbreak aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt—just not by the Navy, which on Friday announced that it will not reverse Crozier's firing for the infraction of trying to save his sailors' lives. Instead, the Navy leadership implied that Crozier was responsible for the outbreak that he loudly warned he needed urgent help from the Navy to redress."If Capt. Crozier was still in command today, I would be relieving him," the chief of naval operations, Adm. Mike Gilday, said on Friday. Less than two months ago, Gilday recommended reinstating Crozier. A final report into Crozier's firing, released Friday, accused the Roosevelt commander and his team of being "biased by groupthink, emotion and a loss of perspective as to the real risk at hand"—as well as an insufficient appreciation of how the fleet commander was working tirelessly to aid evacuation from the ship, something Crozier had challenged. The report, written by Gilday's second in command, Adm. Robert Burke, levied the extraordinary claim that Crozier's team "took little to no action within their own span of control to improve the crew's safety."The Navy fired Crozier after his Mar. 30 plea to the Navy to evacuate the aircraft carrier's crew for treatment became public. Crozier had implicitly challenged the Pentagon's approach to the pandemic, which had been to continue as much military activity as possible, under the rationale of maintaining readiness. "Sailors do not need to die," Crozier warned in a letter reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. Acting Navy Secretary Resigns After Calling Capt. Crozier 'Stupid'It was a debacle for the Navy. An initial outbreak afflicting around 100 sailors among the 4,000-strong crew ultimately swelled to 1,273 —including Crozier himself. Yet the acting Navy secretary, Thomas Modly, blamed Crozier for being "too naive or too stupid" to believe his letter wouldn't become public, even flying to Guam to admonish the cashiered captain to a disgusted crew. Within days, Modly quit in disgrace amid public outrage over his comments. One sailor aboard the Roosevelt, Aviation Ordnanceman Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr., died from COVID-19.An internal Navy investigation, completed in late April, recommended Crozier's reinstatement. Yet when Defense Secretary Mark Esper was briefed on it, Esper opted to wait until "receiv[ing] a written copy" before "meet[ing] again with Navy leadership to discuss next steps," Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Rath Hoffman said on Apr. 24. On Friday afternoon, following a broader investigation, Gilday and Modly's successor, Navy Secretary Kenneth J. Braithwaite, implied variously that Crozier was derelict in his own responsibilities to aid the crew—and even painted him as lethargic in his response. Citing a subsequent investigation, Gilday said that Crozier "should have been more decisive" when the afflicted Roosevelt pulled into Guam, particularly in evacuating sailors into spaces the Navy scrambled to secure ashore. Crozier had been alarmed at the insufficient distance between the beds and pressed for individual hotel rooms for the 4,000-strong crew. The report found that Crozier considered the temporary berthing on Guam "worse than the ship." Gilday said that Crozier was seemingly unaware that negotiations with the Guam authorities for the rooms were underway at the time of his letter. Yet Gilday also conceded that when Crozier's superior at the Navy's Pacific Fleet, Adm. John Aquilino, asked the captain what else he needed, Crozier's response was "to move faster on the hotels." Gilday, who insisted "those wheels were well in motion," said Crozier had not prioritized "safety over comfort," resulting in what he called an "almost paralysis" from Crozier – in short, the same infractions Crozier had levied at the Navy. "I was not impressed with the slow egress off the ship, the lack of a plan to do so, the Seventh Fleet commander's demand for a plan that he didn't receive until the day Crozier got relieved," Gilday said. That commander, Rear Adm. Stuart Baker, will not be promoted until a further investigation occurs. Asked how to reconcile the Navy's investigation with the urgency of Crozier's March 30 letter, Gilday said he didn't "have a good answer." Yet he dodged answering whether the new investigation included an interview with Crozier. Footnotes in the report reference a "statement" Crozier gave to the inquiry on May 15. But Gilday said that Crozier was not being punished for his email, the reason Modly had fired him. The Navy chief also said Crozier had done "a bunch of things right." In addition to Crozier and Baker, Gilday said the commander of the carrier's air wing and the Roosevelt's medical offer would receive administrative reprisal. The report even seems to chide the crew for its famous send-off to the fired Crozier: the sailors were "amassing and then cheering and chanting his name with only a small number wearing masks and with no social distancing." For all the Navy's investigations and re-investigations, Gilday also conceded that the Navy still does not know how the novel coronavirus made it to the ship. He said it's "likely" to have happened during an earlier port visit to Vietnam, though Gilday defended the port visit and said none of the officers responsible for that decision—all of whom, unlike Crozier, are admirals—would face reprimand. In a statement, Hoffman said that Esper "believes the investigation to have been thorough and fair and supports the Navy's decisions based on their findings. We are proud of the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt and am glad that they are back at sea in the western Pacific projecting American power."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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| New Zealand police shooting: Man charged with murder after hunt Posted: 19 Jun 2020 04:52 PM PDT  Fatal shooting marks the first time in 11 years a New Zealand officer is killed in the line of duty.
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| More than 2 weeks after start of nationwide protests, little sign of COVID spike, but officials remain cautious Posted: 19 Jun 2020 01:54 PM PDT  When protests started after the killing of George Floyd, health experts worried they could spark outbreaks of the coronavirus. There is little evidence that has happened, though officials caution it is far too early to draw conclusions.
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| Aaron Glee Jr. confesses in deaths of Oluwatoyin Salau and Victoria Sims, documents say Posted: 21 Jun 2020 06:27 AM PDT  Aaron Glee Jr. said he imprisoned one of the victims, Oluwatoyin Salau, for days in his home and sexually assaulted her, according to court documents.
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| U.S. rejects Chinese airlines' request for additional flights Posted: 19 Jun 2020 04:16 PM PDT |
| North Korean defectors sometimes struggle to adjust to new life Posted: 20 Jun 2020 10:53 AM PDT  More than 30,000 defectors have escaped through China, some paying thousands of dollars to brokers.
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| Trump to renew push to end DACA program Posted: 19 Jun 2020 02:41 PM PDT  Trump slams Supreme Court ruling; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'
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| Trump tells Tulsa crowd he wanted to "slow down" COVID-19 testing, White House says he was joking Posted: 20 Jun 2020 08:54 PM PDT  "When you do testing to that extent ... you're going to find more cases, so I said to my people, 'Slow the testing down, please.'"
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| Congressman: Remove Confederate traces from West Point Posted: 19 Jun 2020 11:40 AM PDT  The U.S. Military Academy has been asked again to rename buildings honoring Confederate officers like Robert E. Lee by the Democratic congressman who represents the area. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney sent a letter co-signed by 21 other members of Congress to the secretaries of the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense on Thursday saying there shouldn't be facilities at West Point named for those who "betrayed their Country during the Civil War."
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| Poland accuses Putin of re-writing history over WWII surrender jibe Posted: 19 Jun 2020 12:09 PM PDT  Poland has accused Vladimir Putin of manipulating history after he wrote an article claiming the pre-war Polish government threw "its own people under Hitler's machine of destruction". The article comes out just a week before Mr Putin is to host the annual Victory Day parade previously cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak, and ahead of a nationwide vote that could allow him to stay in power until 2036. Mr Putin has used the Soviet Union's decisive contribution to defeating Nazi Germany in 1945 as an argument to justify Russia's special place in the world. Dwelling on the events of 1939 Mr Putin writes that Poland only has itself to blame for the Nazi invasion of September. "The blame for the tragedy that Poland then suffered lies entirely with the Polish leadership, which had impeded the formation of a military alliance between Britain, France and the Soviet Union and relied on the help from its Western partners, throwing its own people under the steamroller of Hitler's machine of destruction," he states. Later, he says Red Army units were sent into "the so-called Eastern Borderlines" instead of writing that the Soviet Union invaded Poland under the terms of Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Poland reacted furiously. Stanislaw Zaryn, director of the National Security Department of the Polish prime minister's office, said: "It is not the first time the Russian president has manipulated history with the goal to present a false picture of WWII. "Russia's continued 'memory war' aims to whitewash the disgraceful Soviet past, erase from collective memory the fact that during the war Stalin and Hitler colluded with each other, and underpin the myth of the Soviet Union as a sole conqueror of Nazi Germany." While Russian authorities in the 1990s publicly condemned and apologised for multiple crimes committed by the Soviet regime, the Kremlin in recent years has sought to defend its wartime record, arguing among other things that a 1939 non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Germany, carving up Europe into spheres of influence, was a necessary evil.
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| Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor: Canada renews calls for China to release charged pair Posted: 19 Jun 2020 11:23 AM PDT  Their arrests are seen as retaliation for the detention of a Huawei boss - something China denies.
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| Muhammad Ali's son said his dad wouldn't have supported Black Lives Matter movement or protests over George Floyd's death Posted: 20 Jun 2020 10:44 AM PDT  "It's not just black lives matter, white lives matter, Chinese lives matter, all lives matter, everybody's life matters," Ali Jr. said.
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| What's next for Louisville police officer Brett Hankison after Breonna Taylor's death? Posted: 21 Jun 2020 09:23 AM PDT  Louisville's interim police chief took a first step toward firing officer Brett Hankison on Friday, but that doesn't mean it's guaranteed to happen.
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| Mexican anti-discrimination agency chief resigns after censure by president Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:20 AM PDT  The head of the Mexican government's anti-discrimination agency quit after criticism by President Andres Lopez Manuel Obrador, who on Friday said he would likely appoint an indigenous person in her place. Lopez Obrador chastised National Council for Preventing Discrimination chief Monica Maccise because it organized a "classism and racism in Mexico" event on Wednesday and invited a comedian the president and his wife consider racist. "I think that this event should not have been convened and those who do not share the transformation policy that is being carried out (by the government), in complete freedom can decide not to work for this government," Lopez Obrador said in his morning press conference on Friday.
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| Meet All the Weapons Kim Jong-Un Wishes He Could Get His Hands On Posted: 19 Jun 2020 12:09 PM PDT  Thankfully sanctions will make it harder for him.
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| Letters to the Editor: Immigrant children living in fear is a disgrace. So is Congress' failure to help Posted: 21 Jun 2020 03:00 AM PDT  That Congress has been unable to help the children of immigrants brought here illegally shows its glaring inability to solve major problems.
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| Rich Americans like me should use our money and influence to end systemic racism Posted: 20 Jun 2020 03:00 AM PDT  If wealthy Americans cared as much about equity for people of color as they did about tax cuts, this would be fixed. And it's in our interest to care.
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| Trump: Mail-in voting presents 'biggest risk' to reelection Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:19 AM PDT  President Donald Trump on Friday said the growing use of mail-in ballots is the "biggest risk" to his reelection, and his chances may hinge on whether he can successfully block efforts to make voting by mail easier during the pandemic. Trump's comments were his first casting such high stakes for his multimillion-dollar legal campaign to fight mail-in voting. It comes as several battleground states are engaged in heated fights over plans for November's general election, and courts are settling partisan disputes over how easy it should be to vote by mail.
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| Britons in Dubai sell possessions and return home as coronavirus ends expat dream Posted: 20 Jun 2020 05:24 AM PDT  Dubai's expat community groups are full of bargains; everything from cars to gym subscriptions. The fire sales are a result of expats left jobless by the UAE's coronavirus lock-down. Among them, thousands of British expats are trying to scrape back the pennies before they are forced to leave a place many call home. The coronavirus lockdown has upended the lives of thousands of expats, turning their dream of a life abroad into a nightmare of uncertainty. Thousands have been made redundant, with strict visa regulations forcing them to return to the UK, with little time to catch their breath. It's almost 11 years since Selina Dixon traded her claustrophobic commute from Surrey into Central London for her expat dreams of Dubai. "I was spending four hours a day on the train," she tells The Telegraph. The fashion marketer left behind the early morning drizzle and commuter grind, for a new life in the UAE. One which promised year-round sun, tax-free salaries, and the opportunity of adventure. "It's not about the glitz and glamour, whoever has been fortunate enough to live here know there is much more behind the façade," she says. An estimated 240,000 Britons call the UAE home, working as everything from air hostesses to teachers. Dixon was made redundant a few weeks ago, now she is living off her meagre savings. In weeks her visa will expire, and she wont be able to renew it unless she finds a new job. "Every day you wake up, you're looking on LinkedIn. Speaking to contacts and your network, but then you have to be mindful there are so many people going through this." With thousands of people flying in and out of the UAE every day in normal times, the country was always vulnerable to Covid-19. A stringent lockdown saw swathes of the economy shut. Though some 40,000 cases of the virus have been registered, Dubai is slowly beginning to open up, yet the economic recovery will likely take many years. Ninety per cent of the UAE's population are expats, and a study out this month by Oxford Economics, a quantitative analysis firm, estimates that the country of nine million could lose up to 900,000 jobs, and some 10 per cent of its population – British expats are likely to be among the worst affected. At least part of the difficulty lies in the UAE's Kafala – or sponsorship - system. A visa scheme wherein residency is tied to your job. Companies may sponsor a foreigner for residency as long as they employ them, but the moment someone becomes unemployed, a count-down begins on the expiry of their visa. As Dixon says, "Dubai is a place that without a visa - it's difficult." Though the government has announced some visa waivers, those who have lost their jobs since March 1st have thirty days to find a new job, or their visas become invalid, and they will be hit with daily fines. It means that those like Dixon may be forced to return to the UK for the first time in years. "It was not a choice that I was ready to make, but one that I may have to make." "I've been away [from the UK] for ten years, I'm going to have to start from scratch. Whilst I have the experience, it's the network in the UK I'll struggle with."
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| Coronavirus: Zimbabwe health minister in court on corruption charges Posted: 20 Jun 2020 07:57 AM PDT  The charges against health minister Obadiah Moyo relate to alleged procurement irregularities.
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| George Soros conspiracy theories surge as protests sweep US Posted: 21 Jun 2020 05:34 AM PDT  George Soros, the billionaire investor and philanthropist who has long been a target of conspiracy theories, is now being falsely accused of orchestrating and funding the protests over police killings of Black people that have roiled the United States. Amplified by a growing number of people on the far right, including some Republican leaders, online posts about Soros have skyrocketed in recent weeks. The Hungarian-American, who is Jewish, has also been the subject of anti-Semitic attacks and conspiracy theories for decades.
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| Harboring Hong Kong 'rioters' will harm Taiwan, China says Posted: 19 Jun 2020 08:08 PM PDT  Offering protection to "rioters" from Hong Kong will only harm Taiwan's people and is an interference in the Chinese-ruled city's affairs, China's government said, denouncing plans by Taiwan to help Hong Kongers who decide to flee to the island. Taiwan said on Thursday it will set up a dedicated office to help those thinking of leaving Hong Kong as Beijing tightens its grip on the former British colony, including planned new national security legislation. The new office begins operations on the sensitive date of July 1, the day Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule from Britain in 1997 with the promise of continued, wide-ranging freedoms under China's "one country, two systems" formula.
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| The bus from 'Into the Wild' was airlifted out of the Alaskan wilderness after some tourists died making pilgrimage to it Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:51 AM PDT  Alaska's Department of Natural Resources and Army National Guard decided to remove the bus for public safety. Some people have died trying to find it.
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| North Korea prepares anti-South leaflets Posted: 20 Jun 2020 06:08 AM PDT 
North Korea is gearing up to send propaganda leaflets over its southern border. Its state media said on Saturday (June 20) that enraged North Koreans are preparing to launch a quote "large-scale distribution of leaflets." This came as a retaliation after defectors in the South sent anti-Pyongyang propaganda, food and medicine across the border. On Tuesday (June 16), Pyongyang blew up an inter-Korean liaison office to show its displeasure against the defectors and South Korea for not stopping them launching leaflets. It has also threatened military action. South Korea's unification ministry, which is responsible for inter-Korean dialogue, said on Saturday that North Korea's plan to send leaflets was "extremely regrettable," and urged it to scrap the plan immediately. A North Korean defector-led group said it had scrapped a plan to send hundreds of plastic bottles stuffed with rice, medicine and face masks to North Korea by throwing them into the sea near the border on Sunday (June 21). The two Koreas, which are still technically at war as their 1950-53 conflict ended without a peace treaty, have waged leaflet campaigns for decades.
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| Air Force Probing Use of RC-26 Spy Plane in US Cities Posted: 19 Jun 2020 12:14 PM PDT  The investigation was prompted by lawmakers' concern over use of military equipment during protests across the country.
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| Fact check: Cruise ships are registered abroad but they didn't seek a US bailout Posted: 20 Jun 2020 12:35 PM PDT  The claim that cruise ship companies register in foreign countries to avoid US taxes is true. But it's not true that they asked for COVID-19 bailout.
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| Coronavirus: Is the pandemic getting worse in the US? Posted: 20 Jun 2020 03:16 AM PDT  Some states are seeing a spike in cases, but the White House says not to worry. So what's going on?
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| Zimbabwe health minister arrested over $60 million COVID-19 equipment contract: media reports Posted: 19 Jun 2020 11:42 AM PDT |
| Chile reports more than 7,000 virus deaths under new counting method Posted: 20 Jun 2020 10:54 AM PDT  Santiago (AFP) - Chile nearly doubled its coronavirus death toll Saturday to more than 7,000 under a new tallying method that includes probable fatalities from COVID-19.
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| With low turnout, Trump delivers routine, rambling speech in Tulsa as nation grapples with race Posted: 20 Jun 2020 08:00 PM PDT  Crowds of Trump supporters gathered inside Tulsa's 19,000-seat Bank of Oklahoma Center, many of whom were not wearing masks, but many seats remained empty.
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| How Israel Became a World Leader in ‘Special Mission’ Intelligence Aircraft Posted: 20 Jun 2020 08:30 AM PDT  And why it matters.
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| Woman Charged With Burning Philadelphia Police Cars Must Remain In Jail Until Trial Posted: 19 Jun 2020 02:23 PM PDT  Lore Elisabeth Blumenthal is charged with arson.
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| Navy upholds firing of carrier captain in virus outbreak Posted: 19 Jun 2020 11:24 AM PDT  The two senior commanders on a coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier didn't "do enough, soon enough," to stem the outbreak, the top U.S. Navy officer said Friday, a stunning reversal that upheld the firing of the ship's captain who had pleaded for faster action to protect the crew. Capt. Brett E. Crozier and Rear Adm. Stuart Baker, commander of the carrier strike group, made serious errors in judgment as they tried to work through an outbreak that sidelined the USS Theodore Roosevelt in Guam for 10 weeks, said Adm. Mike Gilday, the chief of naval operations. The Crozier decision was a surprise since Gilday had recommended that the captain be restored to his command less than two months ago after an initial inquiry.
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| Iran slams U.N. nuclear watchdog resolution, says it worked with body Posted: 19 Jun 2020 11:32 AM PDT  Iran's Foreign Ministry on Friday blasted a resolution by the U.N. nuclear watchdog IAEA, saying Tehran has cooperated with the body, in a statement by state media. "While Iran has the highest level of cooperation with the IAEA, the issuance of a resolution by the Board of Governors is a completely unconstructive and disappointing step," ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in the statement.
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| 'Feels very unfair': Families say cruise lines are using a 'technicality' to refuse refunds Posted: 21 Jun 2020 09:24 AM PDT  One cruiser reported canceling less than an hour before refund eligibility, but Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and others aren't budging on refunds.
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| Egypt's Sisi warns of 'direct intervention' in Libya Posted: 20 Jun 2020 05:24 PM PDT  Egypt's president warned Saturday that advances by Turkey-backed Libyan forces on the Libyan city of Sirte could prompt an Egyptian military intervention in the neighbouring country in support of Cairo's ally Khalifa Haftar. Meanwhile, Ankara has urged forces led by the eastern-based Haftar to withdraw from the strategic city for a ceasefire agreement to be reached. The UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli has made major military gains against Haftar's forces recently thanks to increased support from its backer Turkey.
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| China to Increase U.S. Agricultural Imports after Secret Trade Talks: Report Posted: 19 Jun 2020 02:42 PM PDT  China will increase its purchases of U.S. agricultural products following secret talks between the two nations held in Hawaii, Bloomberg reported on Friday.China is a vital market for American soybeans, corn, ethanol, meat, and other agricultural products. But Beijing, which committed to buying $36.5 billion in American agricultural goods under the terms of a phase-one trade deal signed by President Trump and Chinese premier Xi Jinping, had only purchased $4.65 billion worth through the first four months of 2020.The talks on Wednesday, attended by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Chinese foreign-policy chief Yang Jiechi, were intended to smooth conflicts over the trade deal."During my meeting with CCP Politburo Member Yang Jiechi, he recommitted to completing and honoring all of the obligations of Phase 1 of the trade deal between our two countries," Pompeo wrote on Twitter following the meeting.The Chinese commerce ministry did not respond to Bloomberg's request for comment.Phase one of the trade deal went into effect just before the coronavirus outbreak that started in Wuhan, China ballooned into a global pandemic. Relations between the U.S. and China have soured considerably since then, with American officials blaming China for not preventing the spread of the virus. The two nations were already in the midst of a trade war, with each imposing tariffs on exports from the other.
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| One of the nation's largest conversion therapy networks is disbanding Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:15 AM PDT  Hope for Wholeness, an "ex-gay" ministry with a presence in at least 15 states, advocated "freedom from homosexuality through Jesus Christ."
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| Galwan Valley: India PM Modi says military will keep borders secure Posted: 19 Jun 2020 01:32 PM PDT  Narendra Modi says no foreign troops are on Indian territory, following deadly border violence.
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