| New Yahoo News/YouGov July 4 poll: A staggering 62 percent of Americans no longer see America as Ronald Reagan's 'shining city on a hill' Posted: 02 Jul 2020 01:29 PM PDT  This Fourth of July, a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows that no matter how polarized they might be politically, Americans finally seem to agree on one thing: America itself is getting worse.
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| As coronavirus surges, Fox News shifts its message on masks Posted: 02 Jul 2020 01:08 PM PDT  However haltingly and incompletely, the president's favorite news outlet has started to acknowledge that the coronavirus is a far graver threat than even Trump will acknowledge.
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| Michael Cohen may have violated the terms of his prison release by eating out at a restaurant in Manhattan Posted: 04 Jul 2020 06:50 AM PDT  The New York Post obtained photos showing Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, eating out with his wife and another couple in Manhattan Thursday night.
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| Judge blocks Portland police from using physical force against journalists Posted: 03 Jul 2020 05:49 AM PDT  As protests originally sparked by the death of George Floyd continue in Portland, Oregon, a US District Court has issued a two-week restraining order barring the Portland Police Bureau from arresting journalists and legal observers or using force against them.The order comes after the police arrested journalists who were covering a protest on Tuesday. One of them, Lesley McLam, was taken into custody.
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| Why U.S. F-35s, Stealth Bombers and Attack Drones Could Fail in a War Posted: 04 Jul 2020 01:00 AM PDT  Fighter jets, stealth bombers, attack drones and air-traveling missiles all need to "operate at speed" in a fast-changing great power conflict era. What that means is that "sensor to shooter" time (how fast data can go from a sensor to a war-fighter) needs to be drastically sped up. Without that speed, warfighters won't be able to react as quickly to threats and it will be harder to win.
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| Concern over coronavirus mars Trump's Mount Rushmore trip Posted: 03 Jul 2020 08:23 AM PDT  President Trump will visit Mount Rushmore in South Dakota for a Fourth of July celebration, despite controversy about large crowd gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.
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| Families of Syria detainees hope for news amid US sanctions Posted: 03 Jul 2020 11:21 PM PDT  Alaa Arnous and his family found the photo of his father Mohammed online last week, the first proof of his fate since he was seized by Syrian government forces seven years ago. The elder Arnous was among thousands of Syrians who, since their country's civil war began in 2011, went missing into Syrian government prisons. Anguished relatives are poring over photos of torture victims from Syrian prisons, posted online by activists after the United States imposed heavy new sanctions on the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad last month.
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| Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina get best marks in Latin America for pandemic response - poll Posted: 03 Jul 2020 06:42 AM PDT  Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina are the Latin American countries that earned the best grades for their response to the coronavirus, according to a poll conducted in the region and released on Friday, while Brazil was tagged as the worst performer. The survey by the consulting firm Trespuntozero, to which Reuters had exclusive access, shows that in eight of the 10 countries in which the study was conducted, the respondents considered Uruguay one of the best controllers of the pandemic. According to the poll, the performance of Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou against the pandemic had 77.8% approval in his own country; that of Paraguayan Mario Abdo, 76.7%; and that of Argentina's Alberto Fernandez, 68%.
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| Tammy Duckworth is a war hero and the best vice president for Joe Biden in 2020 Posted: 03 Jul 2020 05:37 AM PDT  This combat pilot gave America the highest form of service and nearly the highest form of sacrifice. We need her grit to steer us safely through crisis.
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| Vanessa Guillen: Woman charged over missing soldier 'killed with hammer' Posted: 02 Jul 2020 10:15 PM PDT  Cecily Aguilar is accused of helping to dismember and bury the body of a missing Fort Hood soldier.
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| Chicago announced a mandatory 14-day quarantine for anyone traveling from 15 states with COVID-19 outbreaks Posted: 03 Jul 2020 09:21 AM PDT  Chicago is requiring individuals from 15 states experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks to quarantine for 14 days when traveling to the city.
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| It Would Cost Trillions: The Day North Korea Collapses Posted: 03 Jul 2020 02:30 AM PDT  The prospect of a peaceful Korean Unification, however remote it seems, would be a historical event worth planning for. While preparing for the worst, we should hope for the best. Hoping for the best means there is a scenario where North Korea's collapse and regime change occur miraculously, opening doors to South Korea and the West to take over North Korea in what one hopes would be a peaceful absorption. As unlikely as this sounds, it is important to remember that it is not without historical precedent.
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| More bodies found at Myanmar jade mine disaster Posted: 03 Jul 2020 02:21 AM PDT  Rescuers Friday pulled several bodies from the scene of a landslide which killed over 160 jade miners in northern Myanmar, many of them migrant workers seeking their fortune in treacherous open-cast mines near the China border. The disaster -- the worst in memory to strike Myanmar's notoriously dangerous jade mines -- ocurred on Thursday when a hillside collapsed in heavy monsoon rains. "The search and rescue missions continued today and we now have 166 bodies," the Myanmar Fire Services Department said in a Facebook post, raising the overnight toll by four.
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| U.S. sends carriers to South China Sea during Chinese military drills Posted: 04 Jul 2020 05:40 AM PDT  Both countries have accused each other of stoking tensions in the strategic waterway, at a time of strained relations.
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| Copenhagen's Little Mermaid labelled 'racist fish' Posted: 03 Jul 2020 03:24 AM PDT  Denmark woke up on Friday to the words "racist fish" scrawled across the base of the "Little Mermaid", the bronze statue honouring Hans Christian Andersen's famous fairy tale that perches on a rock in the sea off a pier in Copenhagen. "We consider it vandalism and have started an investigation," a spokesman for the Copenhagen police said. Protesters of the Black Lives Matter movement around the world have in recent months rallied against statues of historical figures who played a role in racist oppression, such as slave traders and colonialists.
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| Biden builds lead as Trump goes from trailing to flailing Posted: 04 Jul 2020 04:00 AM PDT  Biden's polling lead over Trump is significant, though not unprecedented.
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| Russia Has a Nuclear Missile That Can Kill Nearly Anything on the Planet Posted: 04 Jul 2020 07:00 AM PDT  How? Think range.
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| Where Ghislaine Maxwell hid out in style Posted: 03 Jul 2020 01:02 AM PDT 
Ghislaine Maxwell's home sits at the end of a narrow, half-mile dirt driveway. It's lined with 'No Trespassing' signs and barred by a padlocked metal fence. A stone stands near the gate with the words 'Tucked Away.' On Tuesday (July 2), Maxwell was arrested on charges she lured girls as young as 14 years old for the late and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse. Maxwell had been hiding out in style since December. A listing of her Massachusetts home said it had cathedral ceilings, a floor-to-ceiling fieldstone fireplace, and a 'wall of glass' overlooking the 156 acre property. The FBI scorned her choice of getaway spot in the home that officials said she purchased for $1 million in cash. "We learned she had slithered away to a gorgeous property in New Hampshire, continuing to live a life of privilege while her victims live with the trauma inflicted upon them years ago. We moved when we were ready and Miss Maxwell was arrested without incident. Like Epstein, Miss Maxwell chose to blatantly disregard the law and her responsibilities as an adult, using whatever means she had at her disposal to lure vulnerable youth into behavior they should never have been exposed and which creates lasting harm." Maxwell's home seems to have been secluded enough to keep her out of sight in Bradford, a small town of less than 2,000 people. Locals told Reuters they had no idea Maxwell was holed up nearby, and some said they had never seen her in town. Maxwell's arrest is the latest twist in Epstein's saga. He went from a former math teacher to high-flying investor and was found hanged in a New York City jail last August in an apparent suicide while awaiting trial on federal charges of trafficking. Prosecutors on Thursday called Maxwell, an Epstein ex-girlfriend, one of his closest associates.
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| Over 200,000 evacuated as flooding, mudslides strike southwestern Japan Posted: 03 Jul 2020 09:11 PM PDT  Japan's Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued a dire warning for flooding and landslides for two prefectures in southwestern portions of Japan as an unprecedented deluge unfolded Friday into Saturday.Approximately 203,200 people in the hard-hit prefectures of Kumamoto and Kagoshima are under evacuation orders, with around 126,500 people being told to evacuate in Yatsushiro City alone, according to Kyodo News.The Kuma River, which flows through the Kumamoto prefecture has risen well above its banks, washing away at least one bridge and cutting off citizens from rescue crews.As of Saturday night, local time, at least one person was confirmed dead due to the floodwaters. Fifteen more are feared dead, while another nine are still missing. Of the 15 presumed dead, 14 were at a nursing home along the river that overflowed, reported Kyodo News.In response to the flooding, the JMA issued its highest grade of warning for flooding and landslides across the two prefectures. According to the agency, this is the first time these two areas have been placed under these warnings.The warnings that were issued cover the Kumamoto cities of Amakusa, Yatsushiro and Hitoyoshi, and parts of Kagoshima, including the cities of Isa and Akune.According to rain gauge data in the vicinity of the heaviest rainfall, reports of 16 to 18 inches (407 to 472 millimeters) of rain fell in the area between Friday afternoon and midday Saturday, local time.As a result, numerous accounts of landslides and major river flooding have been reported in these areas.Government officials have reported that some 10,000 members of the Self-Defense Force are being deployed to the area to assist with ongoing rescues and flood relief efforts.Unfortunately, the storm system responsible for the heavy rainfall will continue to bring a threat across many of the same areas across Japan throughout the weekend and into the day on Tuesday. "Moisture will continue to stream into southwestern Japan through at least early week, leading to daily rounds of rain and thunderstorms, some of which can be heavy. This can exacerbate any ongoing flooding problems and perhaps create new ones, while also severely slowing rescue and recovery efforts," AccuWeather Meteorologist Renee Duff explained.Citizens and those assisting with ongoing relief efforts will need to remain on alert as the threat of additional rainfall which could trigger flooding and landslide concerns persists.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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| 'King of the road' rules again as Philippines eases lockdown Posted: 03 Jul 2020 03:02 AM PDT  Thousands of jeepneys, flamboyantly decorated jeeps that serve as cheap public transport across the Philippines, were back on the streets of Manila on Friday, bringing relief to companies and commuters who have struggled with coronavirus curbs. Dubbed "the king of the road", an estimated 55,000 of these large, multi-coloured trucks, used to crawl through Manila's gridlocked roads on a typical day before being forced to a halt 15 weeks ago when the government imposed a coronavirus lockdown. In pre-pandemic times, jeepneys routinely carried up to 15 passengers who sat knee-to-knee on twin benches in the windowless vehicles, choked by exhaust fumes.
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| Trump news - live: US president struggles with series of words during Mount Rushmore speech as Pence calls him 'my father' in campaign ad Posted: 04 Jul 2020 12:49 AM PDT  Donald Trump accused "angry mobs" of trying to erase US history by removing statues in a dark and divisive Independence Day speech on Friday evening from Mount Rushmore.Painting himself as a bulwark against left-wing extremism, the US president barely mentioned the coronavirus pandemic, despite the country that setting a new record for confirmed new cases, as he struggled to correctly pronounce a series of words.
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| Here are all the countries considering citizenship or refugee status for Hong Kongers fleeing China's harsh new security law Posted: 03 Jul 2020 01:56 AM PDT  China passed the new national-security legislation in Hong Kong this week. It offers a maximum sentence of life in prison to dissenters.
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| A white woman who pointed her gun at a Black woman and her 15-year-old daughter outside a Chipotle has been arrested Posted: 02 Jul 2020 02:29 PM PDT  The charges, for felonious assault, come after video emerged of an incident in a Chipotle parking lot in Orion Township, Michigan, on Wednesday night.
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| 'They Have Lost Control': How Minneapolis Leaders Failed to Stop Their City From Burning Posted: 04 Jul 2020 07:14 AM PDT  Two days after George Floyd died, the police chief of Minneapolis called the mayor around dinnertime. He needed help. What had begun as peaceful protests outside the 3rd Police Precinct was turning into mayhem."He said, 'The Target is getting looted. We are not going to be able to handle this on our own,'" recalled Mayor Jacob Frey, who called Gov. Tim Walz, and asked for the National Guard.The governor said he would consider the request. Afterward, he expressed surprise that city leaders did not seem to have a plan for where they wanted the soldiers to go.As the night wore on, dozens of buildings burst into flames, without a fire crew in sight. A six-story apartment building that was still under construction collapsed into a ball of fire. A high-tech factory was set ablaze. Residents called 911 desperate for help, but dispatchers were overwhelmed.Over three nights, a 5-mile stretch of Minneapolis sustained extraordinary damage. The police precinct house itself was set on fire, after the mayor gave orders to evacuate the building. A month later, the city is still struggling to understand what happened and why: Not since the 1992 unrest in Los Angeles has an American city suffered such destructive riots.The vast majority of protesters in Minneapolis, like others around the country, marched peacefully, and some tried to intervene to stop the destruction. To many, the damage was an understandable response to years of injustice at the hands of Minneapolis police, an explosion of anger that activists had warned was coming if the city did not reform law enforcement.At the same time, it struck a close-knit, civic-minded community that was already struggling under the coronavirus pandemic. Fires and looting destroyed hundreds of businesses, among them a worker-owned bicycle co-op, a historic diner run by a husband and wife, and the new headquarters of a nonprofit organization that works with Native American teens.A close examination of the events, including interviews with more than two dozen elected officials, activists, business owners and residents, suggests at least some of the destruction resulted from a breakdown in governance. The mayor and other local leaders, many of them relatively new to their roles, failed to anticipate the intensity of the unrest or put together an effective plan to counter it.Frey has struggled to regain the confidence of Minneapolis residents. He has been slammed by business owners for not doing enough to protect their property. He has been pilloried by the police for ordering the abandonment of the precinct house. And he's been booed and heckled by activists because he doesn't support their demand to dismantle the police department.When asked about his handling of the looting and fires, Frey said that in the moment he was faced with a series of impossible choices, all of them bad."I hope that in years and decades from now, we can look back at this time of great trauma and turmoil and recognize it as the moment where we rose up, united in purpose and finally created the change that we all envision," Frey said.And he stressed the unprecedented nature of the crisis -- three nights of rioting in the midst of a pandemic. "There is no playbook for this," he said.A New FaceThe day after George Floyd died, Frey announced that all four officers involved had been fired. He also called for criminal charges to be filed."Whatever the investigation reveals, it does not change the simple truth that he should be with us this morning," Frey said of Floyd in emotional remarks early Tuesday morning, standing next to the police chief, Medaria Arradondo. "Being Black in America should not be a death sentence."His swift, unequivocal statement won praise from activists and even some seasoned politicians. But others said the move dangerously alienated rank-and-file officers."Once Frey comes out and basically sides with the protesters, he has sent the signal that the police are on their own," said Lawrence Jacobs, professor of public policy at the University of Minnesota. "If you are going to say something like that, you have to have a plan for what is going to happen, because you have now inflamed both sides of the issue."Elected 2 1/2 years earlier, at age 36, Frey had promised to remake the city's public image after years of negative news stories about high-profile police killings. His meteoric rise in Minnesota politics stemmed from his ability to talk the language of social justice while at the same time wooing the business community with his charisma."I'm disgusted that Minneapolis is in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons," he said in a campaign ad in 2017. "Police shootings. Intolerance and inequality."His victory over his predecessor, Betsy Hodges, was all the more extraordinary, given his relatively recent ties to the city. A Northern Virginia native who was a professional runner for years, Frey fell in love with Minneapolis after he ran a marathon there. He earned a law degree and took a job with a white-shoe law firm in the city in 2009. Four years later, he ran for City Council and won.Two years later, a 24-year-old Black man named Jamar Clark was shot in the head after police responded to a call about a domestic dispute. Activists camped out in the vestibule of the 4th Police Precinct for days. Mayor Hodges personally showed up there to broker a solution, and the 18-day occupation ended without a riot."All we kept saying is 'Our goal is to not have the city burn,'" said Carla Kjellberg, an informal adviser to Hodges at the time.Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney who helped organize that police protest as well as the one for George Floyd, said that she warned city leaders in 2015 that she had personally encountered people who were ready to burn down the police precinct house."If we do not rein in the police department and address the economic inequalities, we were poised to become the next Ferguson," Levy Armstrong said she told the City Council at the time, referring to the Missouri city that had been the site of riots. "This is a combustible situation."A Scuffle Breaks OutThe day after George Floyd died, protesters marched from the place where he gasped under a police officer's knee to the 3rd Precinct where they believed the officer worked.They rallied peacefully on the steps with a megaphone and signs. Then, as night closed in, they started wandering home. But a rowdy group peeled away, spray-painting graffiti on the police precinct wall. Someone smashed the window of an empty police cruiser. "This is not OK," a young female protester can be overheard saying on a video later posted to Facebook. A scuffle broke out. "Everybody go home," someone screamed.Three miles away, at City Hall, Frey, was receiving calls from worried local leaders. He assured them everything was under control."I'm hearing it's not that bad," he told a city councilor over the phone.Jeremiah Ellison, a newly elected city councilor who had participated in the 2015 protest against police, advised the mayor to leave the vandals alone."The focus of anger is the police and this building," Ellison reasoned. "If we let the crowd do its thing, we might spare neighborhood."But Frey did not intervene to stop police officers from moving in and firing tear gas and flash grenades.The next day, hundreds of angry protesters gathered once again outside the precinct house, facing off against lines of officers who occasionally fired tear gas and rubber bullets. Nearby, a white man, who wore a gas mask and carried an umbrella, began calmly breaking the windows at an AutoZone with a hammer. Within hours, the AutoZone went up in flames.That night, the mayor asked for the Minnesota National Guard to help the city. He left the police to handle the details of the deployment since he believed they had the right expertise.Assistant Chief Mike Kjos acknowledged "some confusion" over the level of detail required."It was a rapidly evolving situation," he said. "We thought we could put a request in and while the people are arriving, we could be formulating what to do."In addition, city leaders did not understand how much time it can take for the citizen soldiers of the National Guard to leave their normal jobs, report for duty, collect their gear, and travel to Minneapolis."We expected them to be on site right then and there," said Alondra Cano, a City Council member, who participated in a "prosecute the police" campaign in college and now heads the council's public safety committee. Like Frey, the vast majority of Minneapolis City Council members are relatively new to governing. Five took office in 2018; another five in 2014, including Cano.As Wednesday night wore on, buildings up and down Lake Street burst into flame."This whole neighborhood could burn down tonight," Jamie Schwesnedl, co-owner of Moon Palace Books, a bookstore near the police precinct house, remembered thinking as he spent the night on his roof watching buildings around him burn. "I just can't believe that the city hasn't anticipated this or responded to it in any kind of proactive way."Schwesnedl, who has long believed that the police caused more problems than they fixed, said city leaders should not have been caught off guard by the level of fury."It was clear to me on Tuesday morning that this was a big deal," he said. "This wasn't just people were going to come out and protest on Tuesday and go home. This is, people are furious and traumatized and unemployed and they have been inside for 2 1/2 months."Firefighters wanted police escorts to protect them from rioters as they battled the flames, and so they held back. Residents did what they could with garden hoses.'My District is Burning'As the sun came up on Thursday morning, many in the city hoped that the worst had passed. But later that day, as peaceful protests continued elsewhere, an angry crowd gathered once again outside the police precinct house.That afternoon the local district attorney said his office needed more time to investigate before charging officers for Floyd's death. Frey decided to pull officers off the street outside the 3rd Precinct building in a bid to de-escalate tension. But it had the opposite effect, according to Patricia Torres Ray, a state senator from Minneapolis who represents the district, a racially diverse area that has seen increased development in recent years. Looters broke into the liquor store across the street from the police precinct house and handed out bottles to the crowd."People were getting drunk," she recalled. "The mayor told me that he had this under control," she said of her brief phone conversation earlier in the day with Frey, who had yet to visit the embattled police precinct. As night fell, smoke began to billow from more buildings. Torres Ray panicked. She called the governor and begged him to intervene."I need help. My district is burning," she said she told Walz. "I do not see the plan of the city to address it. His answer was 'Senator, I am on my way.'"Walz was surprised that the city had still not given state officials details on what the National Guard should do."I don't know what the plan is and absolutely I'm not going to wait for the city to tell me what the plan was." he said. "I thought, 'They have lost control.'"A few hundred soldiers with the National Guard, along with members of the state patrol, arrived in Minneapolis late Thursday night. But they didn't go to the police precinct. Instead, the Minneapolis Police Department had asked them to escort firetrucks, and to protect the Federal Reserve and Nicollet Mall, an upscale mall.But things were spinning out of control in the neighborhood around the precinct house. Nearly every building around it had been vandalized, looted or set on fire. Neighbors banded together to protect their own property, since 911 dispatchers were overwhelmed. "Do not put yourself at risk to protect our store," Schwesnedl posted on the Facebook page of Moon Palace Books. "Your life is priceless, just like George Floyd's."At about 10 that evening, a few hours after Frey appealed for calm on Rachel Maddow's show on MSNBC, the crowd outside the police precinct house breached the doors. Faced with the possibility of hand-to-hand combat, the mayor gave orders to evacuate the building."We were faced with these fail fail fail options," Frey said. "We were literally having to choose between preventing additional looting, protecting a precinct and providing escorts to firefighters to put out fires. There was no way we could do all three."Officers left the compound in a phalanx of police vehicles. The crowd cheered and set the building on fire. A horrified Walz took charge of the effort to restore order in the city. Hours later, the National Guard arrived.The AftermathIn the weeks since the police precinct burned down, at least three men, aged 22, 23 and 26, who were unfamiliar to protest organizers have been arrested and charged with aiding and abetting arson.Frey, who once campaigned on the idea of putting the city in the news for the right reasons, is vowing to rebuild what was destroyed and put something better -- and more equitable -- in its place."I think we are turning a page," he said.Those affected by the fires are tallying what was lost and trying to move forward. Town Talk Diner, which had fed the neighborhood since 1946, so long that its iconic teal sign had been added to the list of historic landmarks, was first looted that Wednesday night, then burned to the ground Thursday night."Unthinkable and surreal," Kacey White and Charles Stotts, the husband-and-wife team who own the restaurant wrote on Facebook. "Brought down by a mighty blaze, the old bright sign illuminated for the final time, in the wee hours, from the flames that surrounded her."The headquarters of Migizi, a nonprofit that runs programs for Native American teens, was destroyed by fire just one year after the group raised $1.6 million to purchase and renovate it. "It hurts to see hard work, dreams and spirit -- yes spirit -- go up in flames," the staff wrote in a statement. "We will rebuild!"But the owner of the factory, 7-Sigma, which employed 50 people, announced that the company was moving away because city leaders failed to protect the plant. The company's Facebook page has been inundated with offers from around the country to welcome the new factory. "Rebuild in Dickinson ND," one wrote, promising that businesses there were protected, not burned down.Schwesnedl, of Moon Palace Books, intends to keep his business in the neighborhood, although he admits that area looks "a little bit like Dresden," the German city flattened during World War II.Of the mayor, Schwesnedl said he keeps hearing him talk about feelings. "I think it's really good to have someone in public leadership talk about feelings, but we also need him to talk about policy," he said. "I wouldn't want to have his job right now."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Boeing communications chief resigns over article from 30 years ago Posted: 02 Jul 2020 03:58 PM PDT  Boeing's communications chief resigned Thursday following a complaint over an article he wrote more than 30 years ago contending that women should not serve in combat. Niel Golightly leaves his post at Boeing after just months on the job. In a press statement, he said that the article "was a 29-year-old Cold War navy pilot's misguided contribution to a debate that was live at the time."
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| L.A. Protests Draw Thousands Hours after Gov. Newsom Prohibited Fourth of July Gatherings Posted: 02 Jul 2020 10:22 AM PDT  A protest in Los Angeles on July 1 drew thousands of people hours after California governor Gavin Newsom discouraged residents from holding Independence Day gatherings with anyone outside an immediate household.A photo published by the LAPD showed protesters standing shoulder to shoulder, with many wearing masks. Los Angeles has seen a resurgence of coronavirus cases over the past week, leading some businesses to reduce or shut operations.> LAPD is monitoring a peaceful protest between City Hall and the Hall of Justice. Please adhere to social distancing protocols. pic.twitter.com/nIRZl92Sek> > -- Rick Stabile ���� (@LAPDRickStabile) July 2, 2020Los Angeles police have not issued permits for mass gatherings since March 3, when Mayor Eric Garcetti issued an executive order forbidding such gatherings because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, police have not intervened to break up the gatherings. The protests are part of a wave of demonstrations in response to the death of George Floyd, an African American man killed during arrest by Minneapolis police officers, has sparked waves of massive demonstrations in major cities across the U.S.Newsom's executive order on Wednesday required restaurants and museums to shift to outdoor operations in 19 counties, with bars closing entirely. While large family gatherings are technically forbidden, the governor acknowledged that enforcing that rule would be impossible."You have 40 million people in the state of California, and if 40 million people turn their back on these guidelines and common sense, that is not something we can enforce," Newsom said at a press conference. "No one is naive about that."Los Angeles County public health director Dr. Barbara Ferrer urged residents during a Wednesday press briefing to avoid crowded situations. When asked if county officials had downplayed the risk of contracting coronavirus at mass protests, Dr. Ferrer said that health workers' recommendations for avoiding crowds applied to any mass gathering."In situations where people are close together for longer periods of time, and it's very crowded, we are certain that there is going to be spread," Dr. Ferrer said. "We have never said that there's no spread from people who are protesting, and we have, in fact, said that those very same conditions that allow for spread among people who may be protesting apply in all kinds of other situations as well."Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said last week that she believed the current spike in coronavirus cases in the area were connected to increased protests."I definitely think there's a direct correlation between the protesters and the spike," Barger told the local CBS affiliate. "I mean, obviously, the opening up probably threw something into it." Barger added that the size of the crowds made contact tracing for coronavirus almost impossible.Los Angeles beaches will be closed and the city will feature no fireworks or block parties for Independence Day."Yes, this weekend is a holiday weekend. As much as we all want to celebrate with friends and family, gathering with people outside of our households is not permitted and puts everyone at risk of COVID-19," the Los Angeles County administration warned residents on Twitter earlier this week. "Protect yourself and others by avoiding gatherings this July 4th."
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| Indigenous leaders angry about coronavirus risk from Brazilian military visit Posted: 02 Jul 2020 09:23 PM PDT  Leaders of an isolated indigenous Yanomami community in Brazil have complained that a military mission to protect them from the coronavirus brought greater risk of infection to their people through contact with outsiders including journalists. Federal prosecutors said they were investigating the visit for ignoring the wishes of Yanomami communities to remain isolated from society, violating rules of social distancing and distributing chloroquine to indigenous people. On Tuesday and Wednesday, soldiers brought medical supplies by helicopter to outposts on the border with Venezuela and assembled Yanomami families to be tested for the novel coronavirus, an outreach effort recorded by a contingent of journalists.
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| We’re so damaged that even if it ends well in November, all will not be well | Opinion Posted: 03 Jul 2020 11:00 AM PDT  Even if this ends well, it will not end well.
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| Anger as US's largest Confederate memorial to reopen on Independence Day Posted: 03 Jul 2020 12:11 PM PDT  Atlanta, Georgia is facing renewed calls for the removal of the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial after activists expressed outrage over the monument's planned reopening on Independence Day weekend.The nine-storey-high bas-relief sculpture was temporarily closed after the ongoing coronavirus pandemic hit the US, but many activists have long demanded its permanent removal due to its controversial history.
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| FBI tracked Ghislaine Maxwell as she ‘slithered away’ to luxury New Hampshire property Posted: 02 Jul 2020 10:00 AM PDT  Ghislaine Maxwell was being "discreetly" tracked by federal law enforcement as they collected the evidence needed to finally bring charges against her, it has been revealed.Maxwell, the 58-year-old former girlfriend of late accused sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was arrested on Thursday and charged with multiple crimes in relation to the investigation into Epstein's alleged abuse of minors.
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| Did Russia Give Us a Sneak Peak of Its New Nuclear Hunter-Killer Attack Submarine? Posted: 03 Jul 2020 01:00 PM PDT  Russia has one of the largest submarine fleets in the world, but it is aging.
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| Carlos Ghosn: Japan ask US to extradite ex-Green Beret and son over Japan escape Posted: 02 Jul 2020 04:21 PM PDT  The ex-soldier and his son are held in the US for allegedly helping the ex-Nissan boss flee Japan.
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| American pride falls to record low, poll shows Posted: 04 Jul 2020 08:25 AM PDT  American patriotism has fallen to its lowest point in nearly 20 years.
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| Coronavirus outbreak among students at University of Washington's frat houses Posted: 03 Jul 2020 01:28 PM PDT  The school said Friday that it confirmed that at least 89 fraternity house residents, along with four other students, have tested positive for COVID-19.
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| 'How the hell are we going to do this?' The panic over reopening schools Posted: 04 Jul 2020 04:00 AM PDT  The CDC issued additional guidance this week on safely reopening schools, with infections spiking in the South and West.
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| The surgeon general refused to give a yes or no answer when asked if he would advise people to attend large gatherings for the 4th of July Posted: 03 Jul 2020 10:37 AM PDT  During an appearance on the "Today" show, US Surgeon General Jerome Adams didn't advise people not to attend large gatherings for the 4th of July.
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| Republican who came out as gay in Utah ousted in primary Posted: 03 Jul 2020 11:59 AM PDT  A Republican voted out of office in a primary after coming out as gay in conservative Utah says a backlash during the campaign has him questioning whether his party has a place for him. Rancher Nathan Ivie announced his orientation last year while serving as a county commissioner in deep-red Utah County. Since coming out, Ivie has sponsored a successful resolution making Utah County a Second Amendment sanctuary to block gun restrictions.
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| Epstein confidant Ghislaine Maxwell will reportedly give names Posted: 03 Jul 2020 07:12 PM PDT  Ghislaine Maxwell faces decades behind bars following her arrest by the FBI; reaction from Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce and Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett.
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| Woman calls police on black couple building patio at their own home Posted: 03 Jul 2020 11:37 AM PDT  A video of a New Jersey woman calling the police on her black neighbours went viral and eventually spawned a protest outside the woman's home.The incident occurred on Monday when Fareed Nassor Hayat, an attorney and a professor of law at City University of New York, and his wife, Norrinda, were in the backyard building a stone patio.
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