A black congresswoman was pepper-sprayed by police while marching with George Floyd protesters in Ohio

"While it was peaceful, there were times when people got off the curb, into the streets, but too much force is not the answer to this," she said.

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Fire and Fury: Crowd Attacks CNN Center in Atlanta

CNN Center, the cable network’s Atlanta headquarters, came under attack Friday night during protests over police brutality sparked by the death of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis.A largely peaceful demonstration erupted first in vandalism, then in violence. Cops used pepper spray, and then some in the crowd were seen smashing windows and defacing the giant CNN sign with spray-paint. Down the street, a police car was set ablaze.CNN correspondent Nick Valencia began reporting on the frightening scene from a stairway inside the building, behind a phalanx of SWAT officers in the lobby, with an angry mob standing on the other side of the broken and missing plate glass.“I have a daughter and wife I want to get home to tonight,” Valencia told anchor Chris Cuomo.Protesters lobbed objects at the windows and into the lobby, and at least one officer was struck. What appeared to be a flash-bang device landed in front of police and large gusts of smoke went up into the air.One protester breached the building and was immediately arrested by cops as Valencia shouted questions at him, asking why he was there. “Change,” he replied.As the violence flared and the situation in the lobby became more precarious, cops began firing tear gas and the crowd quickly began to thin out. Live footage showed over a dozen police officers holding the line with shields, barricades, and armored vehicles pushing protesters away from the building as objects continued to be hurled. The tense scene unfolded just hours after CNN found itself at the center of the story about protests in Minneapolis, where George Floyd died, pleading “I can’t breathe” while a police officer kneeled on his neck.Reporter Omar Jimenez and members of his crew were arrested by state police while covering fiery demonstrations in the city—prompting the governor of Minnesota to issue a public apology.“There is absolutely no reason something like this should happen. Calls were made immediately. This is a very public apology to that team. It should not happen,” Gov. Tim Walz said in a Friday news conference, adding that he took “full responsibility” for the early-morning incident. “I failed you last night in that.”President Trump, on the other hand, appeared to gloat, retweeting a message that read, “In an ironic twist of fate, CNN HQ is being attacked by the very riots they promoted as noble & just.”In a Friday evening press conference, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was visibly angry as she told protesters to “go home” after thousands marched from the Georgia capitol to the Centennial Olympic Park before gathering outside CNN. “What I see happening on the streets of Atlanta is not Atlanta. This is not a protest, This is not in the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. This is chaos. A protest has a purpose,” Bottoms said, stating that the protests are “disgracing the life of George Floyd.”“When Dr. King was assassinated, we didn't do this to our city. If you want to change in America, go and register to vote...that is the change we need in this country.”Rapper T.I. also spoke at the mayor’s press conference, stating that Atlanta “has already been here for us” and does not deserve to be burnt down. “This is a moment where people are fed up. I have to make an appeal to my brothers and sisters because I realize the only way to get constructive change is through nonviolent means,” Bernice King, the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., added. Their pleading did not not sway everyone. As midnight neared, looters descended on upscale malls in Buckhead, and firefighters were blocked from reaching a blaze at Del Frisco’s Grille.“There have been multiple instances of shots being fired in close proximity to our officers and shots were fired at an officer in a patrol vehicle on Peachtree Road at Lenox Road. We continue our efforts at restoring peace in our city,” Sgt. John Chafee said in a statement.Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency and activated 500 National Guard members in an attempt to restore order.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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China says 2 new coronavirus cases, asymptomatic case on German charter

China announced on Sunday two new confirmed cases of coronavirus and four new asymptomatic cases, including one person without symptoms of COVID-19 on a chartered flight from Germany. The two confirmed cases in Shandong province on Saturday compared with four cases the day before, data from the country's health authority showed. The National Health Commission (NHC) confirmed three new asymptomatic cases on Saturday.

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#JusticeForUwa trends in Nigeria after student murdered in church

The hashtag JusticeForUwa is trending after the killing of the 22-year-old woman.

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A Tennessee police chief had a message for fellow law enforcement: turn in your badge if 'you don't have an issue' with George Floyd's death

David Roddy's tweet about police brutality has garnered over 159,000 retweets. He has been part of the Chattanooga Police Department for 24 years.

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China's 'nervous' Xi risks new Cold War, last Hong Kong governor says

Chinese President Xi Jinping is so nervous about the position of the Communist Party that he is risking a new Cold War and imperilling Hong Kong's position as Asia's pre-eminent financial hub, the last British governor of the territory told Reuters. Chris Patten said Xi's 'thuggish' crackdown in Hong Kong risked triggering an outflow of capital and people from the city which funnels the bulk of foreign investment into mainland China. The West, he said, should stop being naive about Xi, who has served as General Secretary of the Communist Party since 2012.

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George Floyd protests: Woman who ‘lost eye’ tells people to keep demonstrating

A woman who says she lost an eye during a protest over George Floyd’s death has urged people to keep demonstrating.Linda Tirado, a journalist and photographer covering the protests in Minneapolis, the city where Floyd died after a police officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes, told people to “stay in the streets” for her.

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Russia and Turkey risk turning Libya into another Syria

Gen Haftar's forces have been beaten back from Tripoli but that does not mean peace is at hand.

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Derek Chauvin, officer arrested in George Floyd's death, has a record of shootings and complaints

The Minneapolis officer fired after George Floyd's death was involved in police shootings during his 19-year career.

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Police disperse anti-Bolsonaro protesters in Brazil

Police say they used tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators in Brazil's largest city on Sunday as groups protesting and supporting President Jair Bolsonaro neared a clash. The demonstration by several hundred black-clad members of football fan groups in Sao Paulo appeared to be the largest anti-Bolsonaro street march in months in a country that has become an epicenter of the spreading COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the protesters chanted “Democracy!” as they marched.

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India coronavirus: Why is India reopening amid a spike in cases?

India's caseload continues to rise even as restrictions ease across the country.

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Journalists Under Attack Show How Trump’s Hate for the Press Has Spread

Journalists have been attacked all over the world while on the job covering protests for years, but never like they were this week in the United States during the George Floyd protests.At least half a dozen incidences of arrests and attacks were reported in protests across the United States this weekend. Some were high profile, like the live-on-air arrest of CNN journalist Omar Jimenez and his crew Friday morning. Others got less attention, like Los Angeles Times reporter Molly Hennessy-Fiske getting pelted with rubber bullets and tear gas or the two Los Angeles Times photographers who were briefly taken into custody. To All Black Journalists: We See You, We Support YouWAVE-TV reporter Kaitlin Rust, who was covering protests in Louisville Saturday night, was shot with pepper bullets while live on air. Video showed a police officer aiming directly at her and her crew. “I’ve been shot! I’ve been shot!” Rust, who was wearing a fluorescent vest, carrying a microphone, and standing in front of a camera, can be heard screaming. Police later apologized for the incident. A crew in Denver tweeted after they were targeted by police there with paintballs and tear gas. “Luckily, I ducked,” one of the journalists wrote. The video journalist who was shooting the protests wasn’t so lucky and was struck.Anti-Trump protesters in front of the White House turned their anger to Fox News journalist Leland Vittert who told the Associated Press, “We took a good thumping. The protesters stopped protesting whatever it was they were protesting and turned on us and that was a very different feeling.”Briana Whitney, a reporter in Phoenix, was attacked on air and tweeted, “THIS IS NOT OKAY. This is the moment I was intentionally tackled by this man while I was on air trying to report what was happening during the protest at Phoenix PD headquarters. I feel violated, and this was terrifying. Let us do our jobs. We are trying our very best.”In Chicago, freelance reporter and Daily Beast contributor Jonathan Ballew said he was pepper-sprayed even as he brandished his press credentials.KDKA TV journalist Ian Smith said he was attacked while covering protests in Pittsburgh. “They stomped and kicked me,” he wrote under a photo of him in the back of an ambulance. “I’m bruised and bloody but alive. My camera was destroyed. Another group of protesters pulled me out and saved my life. Thank you!”Journalists have been attacked in the U.S. before, but not nearly as often or as brutal as this weekend. Speaking to The Washington Post, Suzanne Nossel, chief executive of PEN America, blamed animosity towards the press on Trump. “By denigrating journalists so often, he has degraded respect for what journalists do and the crucial role they play in a democracy,” she said. “He’s been remarkably effective in contributing to this topsy-turvy sense that journalists are the opposition.”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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Trump justice department forces out top FBI lawyer in Flynn case – report

* NBC News: general counsel Dana Boente forced out on Friday * Fox News host Lou Dobbs slammed lawyer in April * Flynn transcripts show he discussed sanctions with RussianA top FBI lawyer who was criticised on Fox News for his role in the investigation of Michael Flynn has resigned after being asked to do so by senior figures at the Department of Justice, NBC News reported on Saturday.The FBI confirmed to NBC that Dana Boente, its general counsel and a former acting attorney general, announced his resignation on Friday after a near-40-year career. NBC cited two sources anonymous sources as saying the decision came from “Attorney General William Barr’s justice department”.Boente joined the DoJ in 1984 and in 2015 became the US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, after being nominated by Barack Obama.In January 2017, he briefly served as acting attorney general, after Trump fired Sally Yates, an Obama-era deputy, for refusing to defend an executive order on immigration.Temporarily overseeing the investigation of Russian election interference, Boente signed a warrant authorising FBI surveillance of Flynn.The retired general, Donald Trump’s first national security adviser, was fired for lying to the vice-president about contacts with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition.Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the conversations and cooperated with the special counsel Robert Mueller as he took over the investigation of Russian election interference and links between Trump and Moscow.Flynn sought to withdraw his guilty plea before sentencing. Earlier this month, Barr said the justice department would drop the case, although a federal judge put that decision on hold.On Friday, the same day Boente was forced out of the FBI, Trump’s new director of intelligence and Senate Republicans released transcripts of the calls in question, between Flynn and the then Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak.Opponents of the president said the transcripts proved that Flynn had been treated fairly. Supporters of Trump said they showed Flynn had been treated unfairly.As Trump attempts to construct a scandal called “Obamagate”, with the surveillance of Flynn at its centre, his administration is releasing material it hopes will put Obama officials in a bad light.Boente also wrote a leaked memo concerning material put into the public domain about Flynn, which he said was not exculpatory.Trump is notoriously open to the views of key Fox News contributors.On 27 April, the Fox News host Lou Dobbs told viewers: “Shocking new reports suggest FBI general counsel Dana Boente was acting in coordination with FBI director Christopher Wray to block the release of that evidence that would have cleared General Flynn.”Trump has reportedly been urged to fire Wray, whom he appointed to replace James Comey, the man he fired in May 2017 in an attempt to close the Russia investigation.Comey’s firing led to the appointment of Mueller, who concluded a near-two-year investigation without proving criminal conspiracy between Trump and Russia.Mueller did, however, obtain convictions of Trump aides and says in his report the campaign was receptive to Russian help. He also laid out extensive evidence of attempts by the president to obstruct his investigation.Trump has fired or forced out FBI and DoJ figures including Andrew McCabe, Comey’s deputy, lawyer Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, an FBI agent who worked on the case.On Friday, Wray issued a statement about Boente.“Few people have served so well in so many critical, high-level roles at the department,” he said. “Throughout his long and distinguished career as a public servant, Dana has demonstrated a selfless determination to ensure that justice is always served on behalf of our citizens.”

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As Minneapolis rioters set buildings ablaze, grocer pleads to save his stores

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SpaceX Nasa Mission: Astronauts on historic mission enter space station

Nasa's Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken complete their 19-hour flight to the orbiting laboratory.

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How Germany tackled the coronavirus: 9 people tell us they are thankful for good leadership and a robust health system

Germany's Chancellor Merkel, a former scientist, instilled confidence. A national tendency to follow rules also helped mute the effects of COVID-19.

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Iowa Rep. Steve King's many outrageous comments may finally catch up with him

The longtime lawmaker faces several challengers in the upcoming Republican primary.

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'You're not going to out-concern me and out-care me': Atlanta's mayor makes a powerful plea against violence and destruction in George Floyd protests

"This is not a protest," Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said. "This is chaos. A protest has purpose."

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'Outside agitators' blamed for violent protest wave

With Saturday's light of day, the true damage from overnight protests and riots in Minneapolis was beginning to be made clear.

But officials from Minnesota on Saturday said the protests have taken on a more destructive tone due to an infiltration by extremists and outside agitators.

Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington:

"We have began analyzing the data of who we have arrested and begun doing what you might think is similar to doing what we are doing with COVID. It's contact tracing. Who are they associated with? What platforms are they advocated for? And we have seen things like White Supremacist organizers who have posted things on platforms about coming to Minnesota. We have seen flyers about protests where folks have talked about 'we're going to get our loot on."

Protests turned violent in many cities across America Friday, like in Atlanta where police cars were damaged and the headquarters of CNN was attacked.

There have been several nights of demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died Monday after being pinned down by the neck by a white Minneapolis police officer.

Local police forces were overwhelmed Friday by crowds that were 80 percent non-Minnesotans, according to that state's governor Tim Walz, who says there are forces looking to use the protests as a cover for violence.

He's called up the full power of the National Guard to restore order.

"This is the challenge they were looking for. The call will go out to join and the call will be there to try and break the back of civil society and the people putting it forward."

There are more peaceful protests planned before another night of curfew goes into effect.

For those out after that, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey had this message.

"By being out tonight you are most definitely helping those to wrong our city."

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter wants to put the focus back on the original source of earlier demonstrations: the death of George Floyd.

"Those folks who are agitating and inciting are taking advantage of the pain, of the hurt, of the anger, of the frustration of the very real and legitimate sadness that so many of our community members feel.

Police officer Derek Chauvin, was fired from the force and arrested on charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter after he was seen in footage pinning Floyd to the street with his knee.

But the arrest has not stopped protesters from taking to the streets.

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Saudi Arabia reopens mosques with strict regulations for worshippers

Saudi Arabia's mosques opened their doors to worshippers on Sunday for the first time in more than two months as the kingdom, the birthplace of Islam, eased restrictions imposed to combat the coronavirus. "It is great to feel the mercy of God and once again call people for prayers at mosques instead of at their homes," said Abdulmajeed Al Mohaisen, who issues the call to prayer at Al Rajhi Mosque, one of the largest in the capital Riyadh.

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India announces major easing of coronavirus lockdown

India said Saturday it would begin a major relaxation of the world's biggest coronavirus lockdown from early June, even as the country saw another record rise in confirmed infections. Prime Minister Narenda Modi conceded that much of the country had since "undergone tremendous suffering" in an open letter to the public on Saturday. The end of the lockdown will be staged and for now will not include some "containment zones" where high infection rates have been detected, according to the home ministry.

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'They didn't start the situation': NYC mayor defends police after NYPD trucks drive into protesters

“If a police officer is in that situation, they have to get out of that situation,” di Blasio said.

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Burkina Faso gunmen 'kill dozens' at cattle market in Kompienga

The gunmen arrived on motorbikes, shooting into the crowded market, reports say.

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As Minneapolis rioters set buildings ablaze, grocer pleads to save his stores

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Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket launches into space

A Falcon 9 rocket with two U.S. astronauts aboard lifted off Saturday en route to the International Space Station. It had been nine years since NASA astronauts had been sent into space.

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Hong Kong: China fury amid global pressure over security law

The UK and US condemn plans for a new security law at the UN Security Council, drawing Beijing's ire.

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Airlines schedule major increase in flights in July as pressure mounts on ministers to ease quarantine

Airlines have scheduled a dramatic increase in flights in July in anticipation that Governments will lift travel restrictions for holidaymakers and save the industry from potential collapse, according to data seen by The Sunday Telegraph. The companies which have already laid off tens of thousands of workers are banking on a “V-shaped” recovery by scheduling 161,200 passenger flights and 29.5 million seats for July, just eight per cent down on last year’s July timetables. The strategy to open up business travel and holiday routes to hotspot favourites like Greece, Italy, France and Spain comes as most European countries are preparing to lift their quarantines or open their borders in mid June or at least by July 1. It will increase pressure on Boris Johnson to make good his suggestion last week that the UK’s quarantine - to be introduced on June 8 - could be replaced with “air bridges” to low-risk holiday destinations when it is reviewed on June 29. One senior industry source claimed: “The sense is that they might quietly do a U-turn after the first review period. Grant Shapps [the Transport Secretary] is against quarantine, the Treasury are against it, Beis is against it and DCMS hate it.” The exclusive data, from Cirium, a travel analytics firm, shows how the coronavirus pandemic devastated the aviation industry as it tore across the world. Scheduled passengers were 22.5 million in February, 10 per cent up on last year before it slumped by 93 per cent in April and May. It has risen in June to 38.5 per cent down on last year, as the Far East has opened up, and rises to just minus eight per cent in July as airlines anticipate Europe unlocking. June and July are “scheduled” rather than actual flights, which will depend on quarantines easing in June and July. Germany has lifted restrictions, Italy wants to resume travel on June 15, and Spain and Portugal are aiming for July 1. France hopes to drop border controls to and from EU countries after June 15 except with countries that impose quarantine on a “reciprocal” basis, namely the UK. Greece has excluded the UK from a “white list” of 29 countries it judges are low-risk enough from which to accept tourists from June 15 without quarantine although it will open up to more countries after it reviews their infection rates at the end of June. British Airways says it is aiming for a “meaningful return” to flying in July, RyanAir plans to ramp up flights to at least 40 per cent of its normal July schedule and EasyJet, which has laid off one in three staff, hopes to operate 30 per cent of its pre-crisis timetable from July to September. Paul Charles, chief executive of PC Consultancy, which advises the tourist industry, said Britain’s quarantine risked “killing” the economy. “Travel companies have not had any bookings for April or May. They are worried that if they don’t get them in June, they will go under,” he said. The Airport Operators’ Association (AOA) has urged ministers to aim for the first “air bridges” to “low risk” destinations by June 8 so that holidaymakers can sidestep quarantine and the requirement to self-isolate for 14 days on their return to the UK. The Department for Transport will shortly publish new guidelines for “safe” travel which will include face coverings or masks throughout the journey, temperature checks, social distancing in airports and contactless travel including for check-ins and payments. An AOA spokesman said: “Once these guidelines are agreed and given that they are based on a common European baseline, this puts in place the right conditions for opening up air bridges to low-risk countries.” The Home Office which has led the moves to introduce quarantine has, however, warned that it will block attempts to lift the quarantine unless it is safe and there is no risk of it sparking a second wave of coronavirus. A Department for Transport source said: “There is certainly a willingness in Government to do as much for this Summer as is safe.” Post-coronavirus air travel: No travel if you have symptoms If ill, no cost re-booking or refunds up to six hours before flying Face masks or coverings from arrival at airport to leaving terminal at destination Only passengers in the terminal, no tearful goodbyes at departure gates Contact-less electronic check-in and boarding Social distancing and one-way systems for waiting and queuing passengers Airports' association pressing for temperature checks Exemption from two-metre rule on plane No on-board duty free, reduced food and drink service, pre-packaged food and cashless payments

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Grimes shares nickname for son with Elon Musk X Æ A-Xii

Grimes has revealed what she calls her son, X Æ A-Xii.The singer gave birth to her first child with Tesla billionaire Elon Musk earlier this month.

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5 ways to watch SpaceX's historic first rocket launch of NASA astronauts live online

SpaceX will broadcast live video of its first human mission, called Demo-2, but so will NASA, National Geographic, the Discovery Channel, and more.

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The U.S. Might Revoke Hong Kong's 'Special Status.' Here's What That Means for Business in the Global Financial Hub

Hong Kong risks becoming a casualty in the emerging cold war between Washington and Beijing

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New report alleges killings, mass detentions in Ethiopia

A new report by the rights group Amnesty International accuses Ethiopia’s security forces of extrajudicial killings and mass detentions even as the country’s reformist prime minister was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The report issued Friday says security forces killed at least 25 people in 2019 in the East Guji and West Guji zones of the restive Oromia region amid suspicions of supporting a rebel group, the Oromo Liberation Army, and a once-exiled opposition group. The government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who was awarded the peace prize in December for sweeping political reforms and restoring ties with neighboring Eritrea after two decades of hostilities, acknowledged that “the reform process has at times experienced bumps” but called the report “a one-sided snapshot security analysis that fails to appropriately capture the broader political trajectory and security developments."

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Back off, Trump. Germany wants to Make Europe Strong Again.

Berlin’s EU presidency motto has echoes of MAGA.

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Powell: Fed to soon begin 'challenging' Main Street lending

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged Friday that the Fed faces a major challenge with the launch in the coming days of a program that will lend to companies other than banks for the first time since the Great Depression. The Fed's Main Street Lending is geared toward medium-sized companies that are too large for the government's small business lending program and too small to sell bonds or stock to the public. Powell said that Main Street will make its first loans in a “few days.”

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Biden demands justice in George Floyd death

Former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday called for justice in the death of a black man in Minneapolis police custody that has inspired days-long, citywide protests.

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Rudy Giuliani calls for resignations of mayor of Minneapolis, governor of Minnesota

Don't elect progressive Democrats if you want to be safe, says former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani on 'Hannity.'

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SpaceX rocket lifts off on historic private crewed flight

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying two veteran NASA astronauts lifted off on Saturday on an historic first private crewed flight into space. The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket with astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley aboard blasted off smoothly in a cloud of orange flames and smoke from Launch Pad 39A at Florida's Kennedy Space Center for the 19-hour voyage to the International Space Station.

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Will Trump dispute the 2020 election results? His tweets this week suggest so

Trump’s attack on mail-in ballots raise the possibility that, if he loses in November, he would reject the validity of the voteUnhinged as it may be for the president to accuse, without a scintilla of evidence, a morning television host of murder, that particular conspiracy theory was not the most disturbing accusation to issue from Trump’s Twitter feed this week. No, that prize goes to his tweet from 26 May, claiming:> There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent. Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed … This will be a Rigged Election. No way!The president’s defamation of Joe Scarborough is no more than an extreme version of something we have seen throughout Trump’s tenure in office: his ability to deflect attention from one colossal misstep by simply committing a fresh outrage. The fact that even a handful of Republicans have expressed mild regret at Trump’s bizarre accusation only underscores that it has served its instrumental purpose. For the moment, the news cycle is consumed not with the fact that 100,000 Americans have died in a pandemic that the White House recklessly insisted posed no threat; instead, all attention is riveted on the spectacle of a sitting president accusing an opponent in the “lame stream media” of homicide. Trump’s attack on mail-in ballots, by contrast, is far more ominous. Here, the president is defaming not an individual but the integrity of our electoral process, confidence in which is a key to a stable democratic order. And the purpose of this attack is not distraction but pointedly political. The politics of disenfranchisement has emerged as a staple of Republican electoral strategy, and the reasons for targeting mail-in ballots are not hard to divine. The bulk of such ballots are cast in urban areas, where Democratic voters predominate, and as the nation continues to grapple with the Covid-19 outbreak, we can expect millions of urban voters to cast mail-in ballots in November as a hedge against the obvious health risks that come with in-person voting. Trump’s tweets serve, then, the politics of voter suppression. But that is only one aspect of the dark logic behind the tweets. Far more alarmingly, Trump’s attack on the reliability of mail-in votes establishes the groundwork for a radical refusal to acknowledge electoral defeat. In contrast to ballots cast in-person on 3 November, mail-in ballots often cannot be fully counted until several days after the election. This means that in a very tight race, the results announced on election day may be no more than provisional; and second, because of the demographic patterns I mentioned above, the full counting of ballots may well swing the outcome in the favor of Democratic candidates. The 2018 Arizona senatorial race witnessed a particularly dramatic case of this effect, dubbed the “blue shift” by election law expert Ned Foley. On election day, Martha McSally, the Republican candidate, enjoyed a 15,000-vote lead over her Democratic rival, Kyrsten Sinema. By the time the state’s canvassing had ended, however, McSally found herself defeated by Sinema by some 56,000 votes – a swing of 71,000 thousand votes. Trump is more than familiar with the phenomenon of blue shift. Also in 2018, when the senatorial race in Florida saw Republican Rick Scott’s lead over Bill Nelson shrink from over 56,000 on election day to an uncomfortable 10,000 by the time the state completed its canvass, Trump had urgently tweeted:> The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott…in that large numbers of ballots showed up from nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible—ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night! Recall that in 2016, Trump’s margin of victory over Hillary Clinton was a combined 70,000 votes in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. It is more than possible that Trump could narrowly capture these states on 3 November, only to see his victory vanish as mail-in ballots are tallied in the days following the election. His tweet from Tuesday tells us how he would respond to such a loss. He will reject it as a product of fraud. That is an eventuality – or even a certainty – that the nation must prepare itself for.  * Lawrence Douglas is the author, most recently, of Will He Go? Trump and the Looming Electoral Meltdown in 2020, published by Twelve/Hachette on 19 May. Douglas holds the James J Grosfeld chair in law, jurisprudence and social thought, at Amherst College, Massachusetts, and is also a contributing opinion writer for the Guardian US.

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Ai Weiwei says new security law is the end of Hong Kong

Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei believes the newly passed national security law for Hong Kong augurs the end for the semi-autonomous city. Ai was arrested at Beijing's airport in April 2011 and held for 81 days without explanation during a wider crackdown on dissent that coincided with the international ferment of the Arab Spring. In an interview with The Associated Press, Ai said he identifies with Hong Kong’s democracy movement and has been working on a documentary about protests that began a year ago, at times erupting into tear gas-shrouded combat between police and demonstrators.

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Letters to the Editor: People who insist on going to church should quarantine themselves

One's right to attend church ends at the tip of another person's nose. People who flout social distancing rules by going to church should quarantine.

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Trump's 'looting' and 'shooting' remark draws outrage from all sides

Trump attempted to walk back his comments on Friday afternoon but not before receiving condemnation from a far-right group and a pop star.

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U.S. CDC reports total of 1,737,950 coronavirus cases, 102,785 deaths

The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by the new coronavirus, as of 4 p.m. EDT on May 29 versus its previous report released on Friday. The CDC figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.

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SpaceX heading for ISS on historic private crewed flight

A SpaceX rocket carrying two veteran NASA astronauts was headed for the International Space Station on Saturday on the first ever crewed flight by a private company, ushering in a new era in space travel. The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket with astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley aboard blasted off flawlessly in a cloud of bright orange flame and smoke from Florida's Kennedy Space Center for the 19-hour voyage to the orbiting space station. "Let's light this candle," Hurley, the spacecraft mission commander, told SpaceX mission control in Hawthorne, California, before liftoff at 3:22 pm (1922 GMT) from NASA's fabled Launch Pad 39A.

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China-India border: Why tensions are rising between the neighbours

Tensions in the Himalaya have the potential to escalate as they pursue their strategic goals.

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Cuomo says N.Y. attorney general will review night of violent protests

Violent clashes between police and civilians took place during protests in Brooklyn on Friday.

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'If you say you can't breathe, you're breathing': A Mississippi mayor defended the officer who stood on George Floyd's neck

Petal, Mississippi, Mayor Hal Marx tweeted Floyd likely "died of overdose or heart attack" and that Minneapolis police are being "crucified."

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Show HN: A community for sharing healthy lifestyle goals https://ift.tt/2AmmXcz

Show HN: A community for sharing healthy lifestyle goals https://ift.tt/36JgNzk May 31, 2020 at 03:06AM

Will Trump be 'played for a sucker' by the Taliban?

President Donald Trump wants to get out of Afghanistan, but whether or not that happens should depend on whether the Taliban negotiates in good faith.

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The Latest: US agency calls back drone it sent to Minnesota

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol says it dispatched a drone to Minneapolis following three nights of violent protests there but ended up sending it back to its base because the unmanned aerial vehicle wasn’t needed. The agency, which typically patrols the nation’s border and ports of entry, said the drone was going to provide live video to assist law enforcement in Minneapolis as they responded to protests that have left dozens of stores burned and looted. President Donald Trump says he talked to members of George Floyd’s family on Friday and “expressed my sorrow.”

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The Bird Watcher, That Incident and His Conflicted Feelings on Her Fate

NEW YORK -- His binoculars around his neck, Christian Cooper, an avid birder, was back in his happy place on Wednesday: Central Park during migration season. He was trying to focus on the olive-sided flycatchers and red-bellied woodpeckers -- not on what had happened there two days earlier.That was when Cooper, who is black, asked a white woman to put her dog on a leash. When she did not, he began filming. In response, the woman said she would tell the police that "an African American man is threatening my life" before dialing 911.On Tuesday, the video went viral on Twitter and garnered more than 40 million views, setting off a painful discourse about the history of dangerous false accusations against black people made to police.The birds were a welcome distraction from thinking about what had happened next: By that day's end, the woman, Amy Cooper (no relation) had surrendered her dog and had been fired from her high-level finance job. As he wandered the park's North Woods on Wednesday shortly after dawn, Christian Cooper said he felt exhausted, exposed and profoundly conflicted, particularly about her fate."Any of us can make -- not necessarily a racist mistake, but a mistake," he said, "And to get that kind of tidal wave in such a compressed period of time, it's got to hurt. It's got to hurt."A gray catbird darted around his hiking boots."I'm not excusing the racism," he said. "But I don't know if her life needed to be torn apart."He opened his mouth to speak further and then stopped himself. He had been about to say the phrase, "that poor woman," he later acknowledged, but he could not bring himself to complete the thought."She went racial. There are certain dark societal impulses that she, as a white woman facing in a conflict with a black man, that she thought she could marshal to her advantage," he said."I don't know if it was a conscious thing or not," he added. "But she did it, and she went there."Cooper's love of birding began at age 10, he said, when his parents, two Long Island schoolteachers, enrolled him in a 4-H program. There, in a woodworking class, he crafted a bird feeder that he set in his lawn.The creatures that flocked to it set off a fascination that has endured for four decades, through his time at Harvard, where he graduated with a degree in political science, and into his years as an editor for Marvel Comics, where he is credited with creating one of the first gay characters in the Star Trek comic universe.A northern rough-winged swallow alighted on a branch and Cooper, 57, trained his lenses on it for a while.Then he resumed. "If we are going to make progress, we've got to address these things, and if this painful process is going to help us address this -- there's the yellow warbler!" Cooper said, cutting himself off to peer around with his binoculars.At length, he turned his eyes away from the tops of the London plane trees and continued where he had left off:"If this painful process -- oh, a Baltimore oriole just flew across!-- helps to correct, or takes us a step further toward addressing the underlying racial, horrible assumptions that we African Americans have to deal with, and have dealt with for centuries, that this woman tapped into, then it's worth it," he said, setting his binoculars down on his chest."Sadly, it has to come at her expense," he added.On Tuesday, Amy Cooper was fired by her employer, Franklin Templeton, where she had been a head of insurance portfolio management, according to her LinkedIn page.Cooper, who graduated from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, also surrendered her dog, Henry, to the rescue organization she had adopted him from, the same day, according to a Facebook post by the group.She issued a public apology to Christian Cooper, whom she had encountered in a semi-wild part of the park called The Ramble, where dogs must be leashed.After she refused to tether her dog on Memorial Day, Christian Cooper said, he attempted to lure the dog with treats, to induce her to restrain her pet. In a statement, Amy Cooper said she had misread his intent."I reacted emotionally and made false assumptions about his intentions when, in fact, I was the one who was acting inappropriately by not having my dog on a leash," she said in the statement.She did not respond to multiple requests for comment.On Wednesday, New York City's Commission on Human Rights began an investigation into Amy Cooper's actions.On his birding walk Wednesday, Christian Cooper said he had read her apology.He called it "a start." He said he was not interested in meeting her or in any face-to-face reconciliation.What he was interested in were birds, like the sighting in 2018 of a rare Kirtland's warbler that led him to sprint from his office in Midtown Manhattan to the park to catch a glimpse.Cooper, who now works in communications and lives on the Lower East Side, has fed his passion with birding trips to Central Park and around the world, and he is on the board of the New York City Audubon Society.He has developed a virtuoso's ear for their birdsong, and can identify them by chirp. ("There's a myth that I have the best ears in the park," he said. "It's a myth.")As he has pursued his passion, he has been keenly aware of the fact that there appear to be few other African American men invested in the hobby, excluded by the same subtle messaging he gets when he is followed around in shops, he said.And he is aware that the image he cuts -- as a man often shuffling the undergrowth after a rare bird, with a metal object, the binoculars, in his hand -- can read differently for a black person than for a white person.It doesn't stop him."We should be out here. The birds belong to all of us," he said. "The birds don't care what color you are."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company

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China and U.S. should respect each other's core interests - Premier Li

China and United States should respect each other's core interests and manage their differences, Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday, adding that a decoupling of their economies is not good for the world. "I believe both countries should respect each other and develop a relationship on the basis of equality, respect each other's core interests and major concerns and embrace cooperation," Li said in his annual news conference after the close of the annual meeting of parliament.

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Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto withdraws from Biden VP consideration

"I support Joe Biden 100% and will work tirelessly to help get him elected this November,” Cortez Masto said in a statement.

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White House encourages hydroxychloroquine use for coronavirus again

Speaking during a press briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany strongly endorsed the “prophylactic” use of hydroxychloroquine: that is, to prevent contracting the coronavirus.

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One chart shows a noticeable correlation between how late a country started its coronavirus lockdown and the number of excess deaths

Analysis from the Financial Times has shown that the number of excess deaths correlates to when a country decided to lock down.

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