| Polls: Trump approval drops amid George Floyd protests, coronavirus Posted: 08 Jun 2020 08:27 AM PDT  The president's halting handling of the coronavirus and controversial response to protests over the death of George Floyd have caused his job approval rating to fall and former Vice President Joe Biden to surge in the 2020 presidential race, four new national polls show.
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| Dramatic details emerge in capture of man accused of killing deputy Posted: 09 Jun 2020 04:49 AM PDT  Northern California officials called U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Steven Carrillo "a dangerous man intent on bringing harm to police officers" during a weekend ambush.
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| Satellite images of packed Wuhan hospitals suggest coronavirus outbreak began earlier than thought Posted: 08 Jun 2020 09:07 AM PDT  Coronavirus may have broken out in the Chinese city of Wuhan much earlier than previously thought, according to a new US study looking at satellite imagery and internet searches. The Harvard Medical School research found that the number of cars parked at major Wuhan hospitals at points last autumn was much higher than the preceding year. It also found that searches from the Wuhan region for information on "cough" and "diarrhea", known Covid-19 symptoms, on the Chinese search engine Baidu spiked around the same time. It has led researchers to suggest that the outbreak began much earlier than December 31, the date the Chinese government notified the World Health Organisation of the outbreak. The findings add weight to US calls for Beijing to cooperate with investigators attempting to understand the origins of a virus which has now claimed more than 400,000 lives worldwide.
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| ‘No brainer’: Harry Dunn’s father reiterates call for Prince Andrew and Anne Sacoolas extradition exchange Posted: 08 Jun 2020 07:13 AM PDT  Harry Dunn's father has said the suggestion of a deal involving Prince Andrew being "handed over" to the US for questioning about Jeffrey Epstein in exchange for his son's alleged killer is a "no brainer".Tim Dunn said his family needed American suspect Anne Sacoolas, who fled to the US, extradited back to the UK "so that we can get justice and closure for the loss of our son".
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| North Korea expected to shut down all communications with the South Posted: 08 Jun 2020 05:53 PM PDT  Since 2018, the two countries have conducted two phone calls each day on 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. local time.
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| Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza dies of 'cardiac arrest' at 55 Posted: 09 Jun 2020 10:25 AM PDT  Pierre Nkurunziza was admitted to hospital on Saturday after feeling unwell, the government says.
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| Minneapolis Manufacturing Company Will Leave City after Plant Burned in Riots Posted: 09 Jun 2020 06:41 AM PDT  A Minneapolis manufacturing company whose plant was set on fire by rioters plans to leave the city, saying that city officials afforded them no assistance in handling the destruction."They don't care about my business," 7-Sigma Inc.'s president and owner, Kris Wyrobek, told The Star Tribune about Minneapolis public officials. "They didn't protect our people. We were all on our own."The 7-Sigma plant in south Minneapolis, which the company has maintained since 1987, shut down several hours early around 7 p.m. instead of 11 p.m. as a precautionary measure on the first night of rioting. The company manufactures several products, including rollers for high-speed printing presses and medical training mannequins.When a fire broke out in an apartment complex under construction that was next door to the manufacturing facility, "the fire engine was just sitting there, but they wouldn't do anything," Wyrobek said. The apartment complex was leveled by the fire, and several stores across the street including a Target store were looted during the first night of riots.Mayor Jacob Frey said the city's fire department was operating at full capacity in response to the riots, which he said required the state's National Guard to quell the violence. Governor Tim Walz, who excoriated the city's weak response, called in the state's National Guard to Minneapolis after the mayor requested it. The Minnesota National Guard said in a statement that "a key objective is to ensure fire departments are able to respond to calls.""This was a Guard-sized crisis and demanded a Guard-sized response," Frey said. "And once we had the full presence of the National Guard — which by the way hasn't been deployed since World War II — there was a significantly different result."The city will lose about 50 jobs when the company skips town, a move that Wyrobek said he had "not in my wildest nightmare" considered before the riots. Now, he is "cautiously optimistic" that he can rebuild his company elsewhere, "but we are certainly not able to do that in Minneapolis."Riots broke out in Minneapolis during the last week of May after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, including after Floyd passed out. Rioters set a police precinct ablaze as well as businesses across the city.Both peaceful protests and riots have occurred in metropolitan areas around the country in response to Floyd's death and have continued through both of the following weekends.
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| Philippine defense chief flies to disputed island amid feud Posted: 09 Jun 2020 03:14 AM PDT  The Philippine defense chief and top military officials flew to a disputed island in the South China Sea on Tuesday to inaugurate a beach ramp built to allow the "full-blast" development of the territory in a move likely to infuriate China. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana brought journalists to witness the ribbon-cutting ceremony on the island, internationally called Thitu, in what he said was a milestone in efforts to make the island, long occupied by Filipino forces and fishermen, more livable without militarizing it. Lorenzana said the Philippines has the right to develop its nine occupied islands as other claimants have done.
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| At least 12 COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania have been tied to Jersey Shore house parties, officials say Posted: 08 Jun 2020 02:47 PM PDT  Pennsylvania's Bucks County Department of Health said on Saturday that at least 12 new cases in the state can be tied to one New Jersey resident.
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| Cuomo: Trump should apologize for "reprehensible" tweet Posted: 09 Jun 2020 10:16 AM PDT  New York's governor spoke about protests and New York City beginning Phase 1 of reopening after an 80-day lockdown.
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| McEnany bashes Romney for supporting Black Lives Matter movement Posted: 08 Jun 2020 01:02 PM PDT  White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Monday criticized Sen. Mitt Romney for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement after he marched with demonstrators in Washington, D.C.
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| Protesters across US attacked by cars driven into crowds and men with guns Posted: 09 Jun 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Protesters confronted by armed men – including members of the so-called 'boogaloo movement' – in different parts of AmericaAnti police-brutality protesters have been confronted by armed men in cities around America in recent days, with some brandishing firearms or other weapons, some driving vehicles at crowds, and others – including members of the so-called "boogaloo movement" – claiming they have come to help anti-racism demonstrations.On Sunday, in Seattle, a man drove at speed towards protesters, while several protesters tried to slow or stop the vehicle.One who reached through the car window was shot in the arm by the driver. The driver then exited the vehicle carrying a handgun, which appeared in photographs to have a modified, extra-long magazine. He moved into the crowd, and later surrendered to police.But this was not even the first such incident that day. In Lakeside, Virginia, an armed man named Harry "Skip" Rogers, was arrested on charges of assault and battery after he allegedly drove his truck at protesters, hitting a cyclist.Rogers, reportedly an organizer for the National Association for Awakening Confederate Patriots, carried out a one-man protest in 2016 wearing Ku Klux Klan robes, and was also part of the Unite the Right demonstration in Charlottesville in 2017, where protester Heather Heyer was murdered in a vehicular homicide. Two days days after Unite the Right, according to photographs and accounts of activists, Rogers was bloodied in an altercation that took place when he attempted to disrupt a memorial rally for Heyer, while wearing a shirt with KKK and Confederate flag patches.Other vehicular attacks have also occurred, among other places, on 29 May in Bakersfield, California, and day before in Denver. On 30 May an armed man pulled a gun before driving through a crowd in Gainesville, Florida. In Minneapolis, a man in a semi-trailer truck parted the crowd on an overpass when he drove towards them. Further incidents involving firearms and other weapons have also occurred. In McAllen, Texas, last Friday, a lone man threatened Black Lives Matter protesters with a running chainsaw, first screaming "go home" before shouting racial slurs. In Upland, California, on 1 June, a man pulled an AR-15 from his truck and brandished it at protesters, and was subsequently arrested.In Chicago on 31 May, a lone man armed with a semi-automatic rifle and a sidearm pistol was led away from the scene of a protest by police. Earlier, protesters say, he had brandished the weapon at them.In Boise, Idaho, on 1 June, two armed men disguised with skull masks similar to those favored by some neo-Nazi groups counter-protested a local Black Lives Matter march. One, Michael Wallace, 19, was later arrested after what police were investigating as an accidental discharge of his weapon. In Salt Lake City on 31 May, a man was arrested after threatening a crowd of protesters with a hunting bow. But some armed individuals attending protests, identified as members of the "boogaloo movement", have presented protesters with a troubling ambiguity. So-called "boogaloo bois" are members of a loose-knit, pro-gun, anti-government movement, which is preoccupied with what they believe to be a looming second American civil war. Last week, three former armed servicemen associated with the movement were arrested and charged over an alleged plot aimed at vital national infrastructure.In general, the subculture resents the police and government agencies who would restrict their access to firearms. But they are divided within themselves on several questions, including racial politics. While some ardent white supremacists use the vocabulary and imagery of the movement – including donning Hawaiian shirts – others express strong sympathy for black victims of police violence. At protests around the country, some members of the boogaloo movement have shown up armed to protect stores from protesters, and others are implicitly hostile. But others claim to support the protests. Social media material obtained by the Guardian shows some in smaller communities in the Pacific north-west marching alongside Black Lives Matter protesters. On social media, some of the most popular Facebook pages and groups associated with the movement have celebrated the protests against the killing of George Floyd. One viral social video shows a "boogaloo boi" vocally criticizing police brutality and sympathizing with the protesters.But worries about infiltration and uncertainty about the true motivations of boogaloo sympathizers have led many protesters to keep their distance. The Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club is a leftist "community defense organization", which itself frequently openly carries firearms in defense of leftwing protests, and is known for attempting dialogue with members of rightwing militia groups. Via a messaging app, its spokesman reflected the ambivalence with which many protesters regard boogaloo bois. "The 'boog movement' has many bad actors within its ranks proliferating antisemitic, racist and QAnon dog whistles, either deliberately or inadvertently, but the movement has also scooped up legitimately disillusioned people," the spokesperson said.Asked how the group and other leftists should respond to "boogaloo bois" seeking to join or assist protests, the spokesperson said: "We've had boogaloo types show up at events. Usually we watch from a distance because of the risk and unpredictability."
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| New fence around the White House becomes a canvas for protesters Posted: 08 Jun 2020 09:40 AM PDT  George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, racial injustice and police reform are all prominent messages.
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| DOJ Claims Flynn Was Involved in Conspiracy to Target Turkish Exile Posted: 08 Jun 2020 07:12 AM PDT  The Justice Department said in a new court filing that it is "unsustainable" to suggest that Michael Flynn "was not a part of any conspiracy" with members of the Turkish government.The filing was drafted as part of the government's case against Bijan Rafiekian, a former business partner of Flynn who was prosecuted by Robert Mueller on charges of conspiracy and acting as a foreign agent. The development marks a departure from the DOJ's decision last month to drop charges against Flynn.Rafiekian's defense recently wrote to Jeff Jensen — the U.S. Attorney that Attorney General Bill Barr appointed to review the Flynn case — to request that Rafiekian's case get a similar review, but the DOJ is pressing ahead with a request to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals to move forward with its case."Defendant argues that the district court should have instructed the jury not on law but on a specific fact: that Michael Flynn was not a part of any conspiracy. That argument is unsustainable," the DOJ says in its brief, which was filed on Sunday."Wrongful and wasteful use of scarce taxpayer resources," Flynn's lead attorney Sidney Powell told Politico on the decision to include Flynn in the case against Rafiekian. Flynn's case has yet to be dropped, with the D.C. Circuit hearing oral arguments this week after the judge overseeing Flynn's case refused to comply with the DOJ's request.Rafiekian was found guilty by a jury — only for a judge to later overturn the conviction — after Flynn said in his initial 2017 guilty plea that he had made "materially false statements and omissions" related to Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filings for his Flynn Intel Group.Prosecutors used Flynn's admission to say Rafiekian, a former Trump transition team adviser, had secretly worked as a Turkish agent to hide the fact that Flynn signed a contract in 2016 for $530,000 to investigate Fethullah Gulen, an exiled cleric and critic of the Turkish government who lives in the U.S.Flynn wrote an op-ed for The Hill on Election Day 2016 that said Gulen was the "primary bone of contention" between Turkey and the U.S., calling him a "radical Islamist" and a "shady Islamic mullah." Prosecutors also looked into reports that Flynn had been involved in trying to kidnap Gulen to return him to Turkey, but Flynn denied any such plot.Flynn initially agreed to serve as the government's star witness against Rafiekian, but later backed out after dropping his initial defense team, which also had handled FARA filings on behalf of Flynn Intel Group.
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| Fired Atlanta officers file suit against mayor, police chief Posted: 09 Jun 2020 02:12 AM PDT  Two police officers who were fired after video showed them using stun guns on a couple of college students during a large protest in Atlanta are looking to get their jobs back. Former Investigators Mark Gardner and Ivory Streeter filed a court order through their attorney Monday against Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Police Chief Erika Shields. The lawsuit alleges that the officers were fired in violation of the city's code; without investigation, proper notice or a pre-disciplinary hearing.
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| Tyson reverts to its pre-pandemic absentee policy. More than 7,100 workers have tested positive for COVID-19, including hundreds in recent weeks Posted: 08 Jun 2020 08:32 AM PDT  Tyson returned to its pre-coronavirus pandemic absentee policy last week, after relaxing its policy to avoid punishing sick workers who stay home.
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| George Floyd: Minneapolis council pledges to dismantle police department Posted: 08 Jun 2020 04:38 AM PDT  The move comes amid protests against racism and police brutality sparked by George Floyd's death.
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| U.N. expert says some are 'starving' in North Korea Posted: 09 Jun 2020 02:49 AM PDT  A United Nations human rights expert voiced alarm on Tuesday at "widespread food shortages and malnutrition" in North Korea, made worse by a nearly five-month border closure with China and strict quarantine measures against COVID-19. Tomas Ojea Quintana, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, urged the U.N. Security Council to reconsider sanctions imposed on the isolated country over its nuclear and missile programmes, so as to ensure food supplies. The pandemic has brought "drastic economic hardship" to North Korea, Ojea Quintana said, with a 90% fall in trade with China in March and April leading to lost incomes.
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| Why Did Iran Want This Florida Man In Exchange For an American Veteran? (Think Herpes) Posted: 08 Jun 2020 11:29 AM PDT  U.S. officials say he was part of a "very large conspiracy" to help Iran research a herpes vaccine.
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| Naval Academy alumni board member resigns after accidentally broadcasting racial slurs Posted: 07 Jun 2020 01:31 PM PDT  Scott Bethmann resigned from his position Saturday after a video broadcast him and his wife speaking about the Black Lives Matter movement with racist comments and racial slurs.
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| Kamala Harris Schools Meghan McCain on ‘Defund the Police’ Posted: 08 Jun 2020 09:32 AM PDT  Meghan McCain asked Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) what she may have thought was going to be a "gotcha" question Monday morning on The View. Harris wasn't having it. "Many activists right now are calling for a defunding of the police," McCain said when it was her turn to question the senator, citing the Minneapolis City Council vote that would go even further in dismantling that city's police department. "I want to know from you, do you support defunding and removing the police from American communities, and if not, why do you think there is such a hard time being differentiated right now between defunding and reforming police departments?" "So Meghan, I think that a big part of this conversation really is about reimagining how we do public safety in America," Harris began. "We have confused the idea that to achieve safety, you put more cops on the street instead of understanding to achieve safe and healthy communities, you put more resources into the public education system of those communities, into affordable housing, into home ownership, into access to capital for small businesses, access to health care regardless of how much money people have. That's how you achieve safe and healthy communities." Kamala Harris Shuts Down Meghan McCain for Siding With Joe BidenThe senator went on to explain that "in many cities in America, over one-third of their city budget goes to police." She asked, "What about the money going to social services? What about the money going to helping people with job training? What about helping with mental health issues that communities are being plagued with, for which we're putting no resources?" "Senator, I hear you loud and clear, and I don't think there's any rational American right now that doesn't think we need to take a cold, hard look at reforming our police," McCain replied. But she still wanted a yes or no answer on one question: "Are you for defunding the police?" "How are you defining 'defund the police?'" Harris shot back."Well, I'm not for anything remotely for that," McCain replied, seeming to jumble her words a bit. "I assume, and again, this is something that is new to me, I assume it's removing police." She went on to quote her nemesis Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and repeated a talking point about how it would be a "privilege" to call the police if someone broke into her home. After Harris once again explained that "defund the police" means a reimagining of "how we are achieving public safety in America," Sunny Hostin was forced to jump in to make it even simpler for her co-host."Just to add to the conversation, defunding the police doesn't mean abolishing the police," Hostin said plainly. "It means taking some of those funds that are typically one-third of the budget of a city and giving some of those funds to services like education and mental health resources." Hostin then moved on to one more yes-or-no question for Senator Harris: "Given the current climate," should Joe Biden commit to picking a black female running mate? "It's not that simple," Harris, who is considered a frontrunner for that position, replied. "I just want him to win. He has to win." Ricky Gervais on 'After Life,' Fox News, and Getting Called 'Alt-Right'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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| Trump news – live: President claims campaign rallies could resume next week, after pushing ‘unbelievably sick’ smear against victim of police brutality Posted: 09 Jun 2020 09:31 AM PDT  Donald Trump has taken to Twitter to suggest a 75-year-old Black Lives Matter protester knocked to the ground and injured in Buffalo, New York, during the George Floyd protests could be "an ANTIFA provocateur" and the incident, which was filmed and went viral, "a set up" during a barrage of tweets onTuesday.The president has also claimed his re-election rallies could begin "next week" while dismissing calls for local authorities to "defund the police" and redistribute resources towards social services in the wake of Floyd's killing. "There won't be defunding. There won't be dismantling of our police. And there is not going to be any disbanding of our police," he said on Monday.
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| So, we're officially in a recession. Market response? Dow rises, S&P erases losses, Nasdaq hits record high Posted: 08 Jun 2020 03:29 PM PDT  Investors are firmly optimistic that recovery is within spitting distance — despite metrics that indicate economic pain across the nation.
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| US police have fatally shot nearly 1,000 people a year since police-brutality protests erupted, Washington Post finds Posted: 08 Jun 2020 11:21 PM PDT  "When we talk about defunding the police, what we're saying is 'invest in the resources that our communities need,'" a protest organizer has said.
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| Czech Senate speaker plans to visit Taiwan, angering China Posted: 09 Jun 2020 04:09 AM PDT  The speaker of the Czech Republic's Senate announced Tuesday he will visit Taiwan despite warnings from China and a recommendation from his own government that he not take the trip. Milos Vystrcil said he would be accompanied by a business delegation on his visit, which is tentatively scheduled to begin Aug. 30. Vystrcil said he was also planning to meet Taiwan's leaders, but didn't immediately give details.
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| 'Enough is enough': South African opposition leads protests outside U.S. missions Posted: 08 Jun 2020 06:43 AM PDT  Demonstrators gathered outside U.S. missions in South African cities on Monday to condemn the killing of George Floyd, the black man whose death in police custody has set off a wave of protests worldwide and ignited a debate about race and justice. Protesters led by opposition party the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) carried placards saying "Black Lives Matter" and "Black people are not slaves" outside the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria and consulates in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
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| Prince Philip to mark 99th birthday amid coronavirus crisis Posted: 09 Jun 2020 06:05 AM PDT  Britain's Prince Philip will celebrate his 99th birthday on Wednesday, spending it quietly with his wife, Queen Elizabeth II.
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| Internet sleuths name wrong man in police appeal Posted: 09 Jun 2020 07:20 AM PDT  The man's home address was shared online after a video showed a cyclist hurting a child in the US.
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| Letters to the Editor: Worry about police spreading COVID-19, not the protesters demanding justice Posted: 09 Jun 2020 03:00 AM PDT  If we're going to express concern about the coronavirus after these protests, call out the police for not wearing masks and using tear gas.
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| Team Trump ‘Desperately’ Wants Bush to Endorse Biden. Some Dems Love the Idea, Too. Posted: 09 Jun 2020 01:25 AM PDT  President Donald Trump and his political lieutenants are privately hoping that former President George W. Bush will endorse Joe Biden this cycle, creating a bizarre confluence of interests with an increasing number of Democrats who are hoping for the same.To Team Trump, a Bush endorsement of Biden would allow them to hitch a formerly unpopular GOP president and the personification of dynastic politics to the Democratic Party's 2020 ticket. They believe that Bush's backing would drive the progressive wing of the party into a tizzy, especially if the Democratic nominee were to accept and promote it, creating internal strife for Biden at a time when he needs unity. According to two people familiar with his private remarks on the matter, Trump has said it would be "fun" if he could effectively run against both Bush and Biden. These sources with knowledge of the president's thinking say he views both Biden and Bush as emblematic of the political establishment that he successfully ran against in the last election, and that Trump continues to harbor a visceral distaste for members of the Bush family and administration."We would LOVE him to officially endorse Biden," messaged a source close to the White House adding it "would be such a gift to us" citing the 43rd president's legacy on trade, big government policies, and "constant war."One senior Trump campaign official even said that some on the team "desperately" wanted the 43rd president of the United States to come out for Biden 2020, as it would make for easy messaging fodder. "I imagine we want it about as much as a lot of Biden people would not want it," the official said.The New York Times reported Saturday that, among other Republicans struggling with an endorsement decision, the former president would not support Trump's re-election efforts, citing people familiar with the situation. A spokesman for Bush told The Texas Tribune that the Times' assertion was "false."Bush certainly left the White House as a deeply unpopular figure, under the cloud of disastrous wars, various scandals, and a cratered economy. But his standing has improved in his years away from the political scene, including among Democratic voters. And on the few occasions he has waded back into public life, he has conveyed a more socially conscious approach to national affairs, including offering his recent support for ending systemic racism in police forces. Over time, the previously unthinkable has begun to happen, with prominent Democrats warming up to him and—now—the idea that an endorsement from him could provide an assist to the Democrats' White House chances. "Our task is to build the broadest coalition possible," Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), a leading House progressive and former co-chair of Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-VT) presidential campaign, told The Daily Beast about a hypothetical endorsement. "I began my career in public service running against Bush's war in Iraq in 2004. But no one doubts his commitment to tolerance and inclusiveness."Khanna argued that Bush is in a "different moral league" than Trump, particularly in regard to the latter's fondness for promoting "divisiveness" and "fearmongering." "His endorsement would help to highlight the enormous stakes in 2020 for our democracy," he said. Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a top Biden booster, said he would "welcome" the endorsement, arguing that the public embracing of a high-profile Republican could have an electoral upside in critical swing states. "Ninety percent of Trump's vote is the base. And the base isn't going to care what George Bush says," Rendell said. "Then there's the 10 percent of Independents, suburban Republicans that stuck with him. … The question is: what effect does a George Bush endorsement have with them? I'd say, it adds weight to the entire picture that's growing. I don't think there's any blowback on our side."Ellen Defends Laughing It Up With George W. Bush at Cowboys GameIt is unclear if Bush will end up endorsing anyone for president this year, and he could very well sit on the sidelines and merely refuse to publicly support Trump's reelection. According to a New York Times story published this weekend, Bush "won't support the re-election of Mr. Trump." But a Bush spokesperson told The Texas Tribune that the detail in the Times' piece was "false."Bush is hardly a Republican turncoat, having fundraised for conservative House and Senate candidates in the 2018 midterm elections in an effort to help preserve GOP congressional majorities—which, had it been successful in the House, would have preserved Trump's sway on Capitol Hill. But his distaste for Trump has been evident for some time. And, in this case, the animus goes both ways. Two White House officials said they simply couldn't care what Bush did or didn't do ahead of this election, casting him as a trivial media obsession. "Elections are about the future, not the past," said Ed Brookover, a former senior Trump adviser during the 2016 race. "President Bush performed well during his two terms, but people judge today's candidates in today's world. President Trump receives support from many voters who supported President Bush, as well as voters he pulled into his own orbit. President Trump's policies and actions represent a new brand of leadership, which America has been needing for quite a while."Dubya Was Bad, but the Donald Might Be Worse: Richard ClarkeFor Biden, the risks of accepting a Bush endorsement are fairly clear. The association with the Iraq War (which Biden supported), the use of torture, and the handling of Hurricane Katrina, alone, represents a heaping of political baggage that could outweigh any benefit. And some progressives were clear that they would struggle with having a president they had deeply reviled in their proverbial corner. "George W. Bush is a war criminal who lied to the American people in order to illegally invade a country. If nothing else, for that reason alone, I would never support accepting his endorsement," said Charlotte Clymer, a LGBTQ activist who previously backed Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and has since thrown her weight behind Biden. But even Clymer found a bigger upside to the idea of an endorsement for party purposes, saying she wouldn't be surprised to see Biden accept it "in order to remove our greatest national security threat in modern history: Donald Trump."And among more establishment Democrats, the choice to welcome a potential boost from Bush now was seen as a no-brainer. "No one can ever accuse me of being a fan of former President George W. Bush," said Jim Manley, a longtime senior Democratic Senate aide who served as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's spokesman during the latter Bush years. "But as far as I'm concerned, it would be fantastic if he were to come out and support the vice president. It would serve as a powerful rebuke to the current president."James Carville, a former top adviser to President Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign who is now advising the pro-Biden Democratic group American Bridge, responded enthusiastically about the prospect of a Bush endorsement for the presumptive Democratic nominee."I fought with these guys during impeachment, I fought with these guys on the Iraq War, I fought with these guys left and right," Carville said. "We're in a different situation now. We have a deadly pathogen that's infected this country and we got to get rid of it."Put another way, Carville said: "What did Churchill say? 'If Hitler invaded hell, I would side with the devil.'" 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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| Canada border opens to foreign families of Canadians Posted: 08 Jun 2020 12:57 PM PDT  Thousands of foreign nationals will be able to reunite with their families in Canada after the government in Ottawa moved Monday to exempt them from its travel ban. In late May, a deal was reached with the United States to extend the closure of their shared border but still allow a select few, including health care workers, to cross back and forth until at least June 21. "This is an incredibly difficult time to be apart from a spouse or a child or mom and dad," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters.
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| Researchers discover 'cataclysmic' ancient supereruptions in Yellowstone hot spot track Posted: 08 Jun 2020 05:30 PM PDT |
| Fears huge Russian diesel spill could reach ocean Posted: 09 Jun 2020 09:46 AM PDT 
The major diesel fuel spill that hit the Russian Arctic last month has had a concerning development: It's reached a pristine lake which serves as the basin for a river flowing into the Arctic Ocean. That's according to the regional governor, who says it needs to be stopped before it gets any further. A fuel tank at a power station in the city of Norilsk lost pressure in late May, leaking 21,000 tonnes of diesel into rivers and subsoil. Greenpeace says the scale of the disaster is comparable to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. The lake that it's now reached, called Lake Pyasino, about is about 20 kilometers north of Norilsk. Lake Pyasino is about 70km long. The city of Norilsk is built around a major mining company, Norilsk Nickel. The governor says the catastrophe was the worst of its kind in the Arctic in modern Russian history - and that questions need to be answered about why it took the company two days to inform authorities. Last week, President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency in the region. And he criticized authorities for what he said was a bungled response to the incident.
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| Iran says it will execute man convicted of spying on Soleimani for CIA Posted: 09 Jun 2020 12:40 AM PDT  An Iranian who spied for U.S. and Israeli intelligence on slain Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Soleimani has been sentenced to death, Iran said on Tuesday, adding the case was not linked to Soleimani's killing earlier this year. On Jan. 3, a U.S. drone strike in Iraq killed Soleimani, leader of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force. Washington blamed Soleimani for masterminding attacks by Iran-aligned militias on U.S. forces in the region.
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| U.S. military plane crashes into Iraqi base, no fatalities Posted: 08 Jun 2020 01:34 PM PDT |
| Outcry in South Africa after woman found stabbed and hanging from tree Posted: 09 Jun 2020 05:48 AM PDT  Tshegofatso Pule had been missing for four days before her body was discovered.
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| A tale of two mothers: How Texas couple claimed their baby from Ukraine despite lockdown Posted: 09 Jun 2020 02:47 AM PDT  One cannot bear children, another needs money for her own family. A look at the joy and heartbreak of surrogate motherhood.
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| F-35s And Supersonic Missiles: This Is Japan's Strategy To Beat China's Navy Posted: 09 Jun 2020 06:30 AM PDT  Japan is extending the range of its weapons.
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| Supreme Court could soon announce whether it will reexamine policing Posted: 07 Jun 2020 07:04 PM PDT  The justices could announce as soon as Monday whether they will rethink qualified immunity, a legal doctrine created by the court that has turned into a powerful shield for police officers.
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| Analysis: Why the Government introduced quarantine despite their own scientists' doubts Posted: 08 Jun 2020 12:46 PM PDT  It was in late March that it first emerged Priti Patel was pressing for quarantine to restrict arrivals coming to the UK from high-risk countries like Iran, the US and China but it was not until late last month that it was officially announced. Home Office figures show 18.1 million people entered the UK between January 1 and end of March without any health checks, including people from coronavirus hotspot countries. Of these, just 273 were quarantined and as many as 20,000 infected people may have entered the UK in that time. The question this data begs is why quarantine is being introduced now when the Government's own chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance says it is most effective if the infection rate in the receiving country is lower than those from which they are arriving. Imposing quarantine made sense when at the start of the pandemic Britain lagged behind Italy, Spain, France and China but now our rate is higher than theirs. Professor Robert Dingwall, a member of the SAGE advisory group, summed it up: "We would really need to get the level [of infection] significantly further down before quarantine started to become a useful tool." This has led Michael O'Leary, the boss of Ryanair which is taking joint legal action against quarantine, to claim it is a "political stunt" especially when our half-hearted approach is compared with other countries' quarantines. Unlike New Zealand, which yesterday declared itself coronavirus-free and quarantined people in Government-paid-for hotels, international arrivals to the UK are largely being trusted to self-isolate for 14 days, with minimal checks on their movements. Ministers maintain it is necessary to prevent a second wave of coronavirus which would not only be economically damaging if lockdown had to be re-imposed but also politically devastating for trust in the Government's ability to manage a major crisis. But Henry Smith, the Tory MP who chairs the new cross-party Future of Aviation group, believes it is more a case of Government stubbornness and a desire to provide a fearful public psychological reassurance "rather than hard public health evidence." This is supported by ministers and officials frequently citing polls showing as many as 73 per cent of the public say fear of coronavirus will stop them flying this summer. "A feature of most Governments in my experience is that once they have announced something publicly even if it subsequently emerges that it is not such a great idea, they don't back down for a period. It's almost a matter of face-saving," he said. Which comes to the theory that quarantine will help fuel a surge in staycations to help revive the ailing UK tourist industry. Announcing an investment package to support UK holidays, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden declared: "I much prefer British holidays to holidays overseas." Others suspect a more machiavellian reasoning that to adopt a more scientifically valid approach by barring visitors from high-risk countries while allowing in those from low-risk states would anger the US and Donald Trump at a key moment in trade talks. What most agree is that Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson's senior adviser, has been a key driver of the quarantine policy. Paul Charles, one of the organisers behind the Quash Quarantine campaign chief executive of PC Consultancy, said: "This comes from Dominic Cummings fighting a pro Brexit policy. There is no doubt that is what is behind this. There is no scientific evidence. "Dominic Cummings and Priti Patel are using this as a tactic within the EU negotiations to be able to prove to the EU how powerful the British consumer is to the European countries. "By stopping them from going abroad this summer, they are hurting European economies because the British are the number one tourists market in Spain and Italy." With the Tory MPs, airports, airlines and more than 500 of the biggest names in the travel industry now ranged against the "economically-damaging" quarantine, there is a growing expectation it will be watered down, if not scrapped, to salvage at least some of the remaining summer holiday season.
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| Graham Says FBI ‘Denying’ Requests to Interview Agents Who Talked to Steele’s Subsource Posted: 08 Jun 2020 09:55 AM PDT  Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) revealed Sunday that the FBI has denied his requests to interview the two officials who interviewed Christopher Steele's primary subsource."I made a request to interview the case agent and the intel analyst . . . and they're denying me the ability to do that," Graham said in an interview on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures.The two FBI agents, a case agent and an intelligence agent, interviewed Steele's primary subsource three times in 2017. In the course of those interviews, the unidentified person "revealed potentially serious problems with Steele's descriptions of information in his reports," according to Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report on the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.Graham explained that he wanted to know "did the case agent and the intel agent refuse to tell the system about exculpatory information? Does the fault lie with two or three people? Or was it a system out of control?"Horowitz's December report on the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation found that the Bureau knew in January 2017 that Steele's allegations relating to the Trump campaign relied in part on disinformation produced by Russian intelligence, according to recently declassified footnotes.One of the agents who took part in the initial interviews with Steele's source is Stephen Somma, a counterintelligence investigator in the FBI's New York field office. Horowitz said in his report that Somma — identified as "Case Agent 1" — was "primarily responsible for some of the most significant errors and omissions" in FISA applications to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.In April, Graham asked the DOJ for records that "question the accuracy and reliability" of former British spy Christopher Steele's sourcing, before announcing a number of hearings "regarding all things Crossfire Hurricane and the Mueller investigation" that began with the testimony of former acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein last week.Rosenstein told Graham that he would not have signed off on the warrant to spy on Page, had he known the issues with the underlying evidence at the time, and blamed the FBI for failing to follow protocols "to ensure that every fact was verified."
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| Virginia judge blocks governor's demand to pull down Confederate statue Posted: 08 Jun 2020 10:14 PM PDT  The injunction was issued by a Richmond City Circuit Court judge on Monday, the Post reported. A lawyer for the man who sought the injunction - William C. Gregory - did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Northam's office.
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| Fact check: No, Donald Trump church photo op was not the same as Bill Clinton church photo Posted: 09 Jun 2020 08:32 AM PDT  An image of Clinton holding a Bible was not at the same church, and came amid vastly different circumstances than Trump's June 1 photo op.
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| Feds Charge Branden Wolfe, 23, in Connection With Minneapolis Police Station Fire Posted: 08 Jun 2020 02:45 PM PDT  Federal authorities on announced Monday that a 23-year-old man has been charged in connection to to the May 28 fire set to the Minneapolis Police Department's Third Precinct station during protests over the police killing of George Floyd. Branden Wolfe, of St. Paul, was charged with aiding and abetting arson at the police station after admitting the authorities he had been in the building, took property, and pushed a wooden barrel into the fire, the U.S. Attorney's Office District of Minnesota announced Monday. The fire was set to the Minneapolis Police Department's Third Precinct—where the four officers involved in Floyd's death were stationed—three days after Floyd, 46, died during a violent arrest. "In his statement to law enforcement, Wolfe confirmed that he pushed a wooden barrel into the fire, knowing that it would help keep the fire burning," prosecutors alleged while announcing the charges. "Investigators recovered from the scene charred metal barrel rings."Ex-Cop Derek Chauvin Appears in Court, Gets $1.25 Million Bail in George Floyd Murder CaseThe incident, which left the precinct "overrun and heavily damaged due to vandalism and arson," was viewed as the start of nationwide chaos amid demonstrations against police brutality and racial inequality. Prosecutors alleged that on June 3, St. Paul officers were called to a home-improvement store about an individual carrying a baton and wearing body armor and a law-enforcement duty belt, trying to get into the store. Store employees later told authorities Wolfe had been working as a security guard at the store—but was fired earlier that day after he referred to social-media posts about stealing from the damaged precinct. When officers located the 23-year-old, prosecutors alleged he was wearing "multiple items stolen from the Third Precinct, including body armor, a police-issue duty belt with handcuffs, an earphone piece, baton, and knife.""Wolfe's name was handwritten in duct tape on the back of the body armor," prosecutors alleged. "Law enforcement later recovered from Wolfe's apartment additional items belonging to the Minneapolis Police Department, including a riot helmet, 9mm pistol magazine, police radio, and police issue overdose kit."During a police interview, Wolfe admitted to being inside the Third Precinct on May 28, taking property from inside, and even pushed a wooden barrel into the fire. Wolfe also identified himself in photos that showed him holding a police baton in front of the police station, as smoke and flames are visible behind him. Last week, Minneapolis Attorney General Keith Ellison charged the three other former Minneapolis cops—Thomas Lane, Tou Thao, and J. Alexander Kueng—involved in Floyd's death with aiding and abetting second-degree murder while committing a felony and with aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter with culpable negligence.Ellison also upgraded the charges against ex-officer Derek Chauvin, who held his knee on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes after the 46-year-old was arrested on May 25 for allegedly using counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store. Chauvin, 44, now faces second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter charges alleging he caused Floyd's death through "culpable negligence," including using a restraint that police are taught is "inherently dangerous."All four cops were fired May 26, as explosive footage of the botched arrest led to an international outcry and calls for a federal investigation into an incident some called a "legalized lynching." On Sunday, nine Minneapolis City Council members announced they intend to defund and dismantle the city's police department amid reporting by the Star Tribune on how the city's Third Precinct allegedly served as a "playground" for rogue cops like Chauvin.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Forrest Fenn: Collector says his $1m Rocky Mountain treasure hunt has been won Posted: 08 Jun 2020 10:46 AM PDT  Antiquities collector Forrest Fenn says a treasure chest he hid a decade ago has finally been found.
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