Blogs

• Oklahoma becomes latest red state to approve Obamacare's Medicaid expansion at the ballot box -

  Oklahoma follows Utah, Nebraska, Idaho and Maine in approving the Obamacare health insurance expansion for low-income residents.

  
  

• Amid surge in coronavirus cases and mounting criticism, GOP leaders do about-face on masks -

  As the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage large swaths of the U.S., leading Republicans and even some right-wing TV personalities have come out in favor of wearing masks to prevent the spread of the virus.

  
  

• 'We're not going anywhere': Seattle's Chop zone dismantled but cause lives on -

  The special police-free zone set up by protesters has now been cleared, but activists say they won?t stop the fight for justiceThe occupied protest zone near downtown Seattle known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, or ?Chop?, effectively came to a swift end early on Wednesday morning when officers largely cleared the area of people and encampments, despite some protests lingering overnight into Thursday.Now activists say the relationships built and lessons learned over the last three weeks in the self-proclaimed police-free zone have already had a lasting impact that will live on past the physical presence of Chop.?We won, we?re winning, we made history,? said Rick Hearns, who had become head of security at Chop. ?Look what we did here. The world saw it.?But the protest area also became the location of a series of night-time shootings, which left a 16-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man dead and several others seriously injured.In a series of tweets on Wednesday afternoon, Seattle?s mayor, Jenny Durkan, highlighted the violence in the zone, saying ?the recent public safety threats have been well documented? and ?this violence demanded action?.She said: ?Our conversations over the weekend made it clear that many individuals would not leave, and that we couldn?t address these critical public safety concerns until they did.?The autonomous zone emerged organically following a series of dangerous clashes between protesters and law enforcement during marches against police brutality sparked by the killing of George Floyd, and African American, by a white police officer, in Minneapolis in May.Officers in Seattle abandoned their east precinct building as demonstrations closed in, after which protesters camped out around it, with the intention of protecting the building from possible destruction that might be blamed on them.In the days that followed, hundreds more joined, and suddenly several blocks of the city?s streets were teeming with people of different ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds, focused on calling for the defunding the city?s police department ? echoing such protest cries emerging coast to coast, which can mean diverting money budgeted for police departments to social and education services, or even dismantling an entire department and restructuring the law enforcement system.And they wanted an end to police brutality against black people, explained Tarika Powell, an organizer with Seattle Black Collective Voice.> We?re going to organize sit-ins, we?re going to spam the city officials, we?re going to show up> > Jessie Livingston?It was a space where people came to learn. We screened documentaries, we put on people?s assemblies every day where people had the opportunity to speak and share their feelings and ideas ? we put on educational events every single day,? she told the Guardian.?We had a space called the conversation cafe where people could come to learn about racism and to talk about it in ways they don?t get to do in their daily lives.?It spurred not only important conversations and learning, but also lasting bonds, which have since resulted in the organizing of anti-racist protests and the creation of social justice groups.The Seattle Black Collective Voice, for example, was formed after a group of organizers and protesters met in the Chop, explained Powell.Today, there are about 40 people involved with the collective, and they hold weekly educational events, and organize neighborhood cleanups and mental health outreach for people in the African American community.?We would have not been able to come together and engage in the work that we?re doing if it had not been for Chop,? she said.Pay the Fee Tiny Library was launched in a tent at the Chop, and now organizers have set up the library, which includes black, indigenous and people of color and LGBTQ literature, around the city and held events. And a garden started in the Cal Anderson Park is now expected to become a permanent addition to the neighborhood.Protesters have repeatedly stressed that the shootings and violence was not directly connected with Chop, and may have happened anyway . But it resulted in a dramatic decline in occupiers, it concerned local businesses and residents, and amplified officials calling on occupants to disperse.By the time police cleared Chop on Wednesday, following Mayor Durkan?s emergency executive order, the area had largely been reduced to a small number of activists and many homeless people, explained Powell.The truth is they ?went in and did a violent sweep on homeless people, throwing away their tents and belongings?, she said.?Those homeless people had come into Chop to be safe from the sweeps. That is the vast majority of people that were in that space since the shooting started.?Officers reported on Twitter that they arrested 31 people during the sweep.Some activists have argued that the police precinct was needed as a bargaining chip in order to get their three main demands met, which involve defunding the police, using that money to invest in community health and services, and dropping criminal charges against protesters. Others say another occupation in the city could be a future possibility.Jessie Livingston, 36, a protester who has been camped at Chop almost every day since it was founded, said she didn?t know exactly the form the movement might take, but said: ?We?re going to organize sit-ins, we?re going to spam the city officials, we?re going to show up to city council meetings, we?re going to do everything we know how to do.?She added: ?We?re not going anywhere.?

  
  

• Target customer confronts employee in Black Lives Matter mask -

  The customer said she asked the Target employee, "Don't you think all lives matter?" which started an argument. She was told to leave the store.

  
  

• Catholic priest suspended for comparing BLM to 'maggots' -
• Recent global warming has wiped out 6,500 years of cooling, study says -

  Over the past 150 years, human-caused global warming has erased the natural global cooling that occurred over the previous 6,500 years.

  
  

• Gun Sales Spike, FBI Background Checks Set New Record -

  Background checks for gun sales spiked again in June, setting a new record for the highest number of checks in one month as nationwide protests, riots and the coronavirus pandemic continued to increase safety concerns for many.The National Instant Criminal Background Check System conducted 3.9 million checks in June, an increase of 70 percent over June 2019. Last month?s numbers broke the previous record of 2.7 million checks set in March.Already this year, the FBI has recorded 19 million background checks in the system, more than were recorded during first 14 years of the system, which has been operating since 1998. Only six months into 2020, the surge in checks is already nearing last year?s record of 28 million background checks.The number is not a representation of gun sales, but is used to estimate the number of weapons that trade hands. Small Arms Analytics and Forecasting, a consulting firm that tracks the gun market, estimates that 2.3 million firearms were sold in June, a year-over-year increase of 145.3% from June 2019.Protests, riots and looting have raged across the country in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd?s death in Minneapolis police custody. Footage surfaced online of armed business owners and civilians in multiple cities protecting businesses from rioters and looters. Other sources of concern for gun buyers may include gun control advocate Joe Biden?s presidential candidacy, as well as concern that other states might follow Virginia?s suit in setting new gun limits. The Washington Examiner reported a backlog on weapons, ammunitions and parts.The marketing director for one of the biggest sellers in the nation, Hyatt Guns of Charlotte, North Carolina, told The Washington Examiner, ?I?ve been in this business going on 14 years, and I have never seen this much demand. There are shortages of nearly every single defensive firearm currently manufactured.?

  
  

• The Best Bike Lights to Illuminate Your Ride -
• California Gov. Enacts Further Reclosure of Some Businesses -

  Most counties are being ordered to immediately reclose indoor spaces, like restaurants and movie theaters, as the coronavirus spread grows.

  
  

• Biden pulls together hundreds of lawyers as a bulwark against election trickery -

  "We put together 600 lawyers and a group of people throughout the country who are going into every single state to try to figure out whether chicanery is likely to take place," Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, said on a video conference with donors to his campaign. Biden's remarks come as the candidate offers dire warnings about efforts by Republicans to cheat in the Nov. 3 election while also criticizing his election opponent, Republican President Donald Trump, for undermining confidence in the vote. A senior political adviser and top lawyer for Trump's campaign, Justin Clark, said Biden is lying and stoking fear while Democrats are trying to "fundamentally change" how elections are conducted, an apparent reference to their support for widespread mail-in voting.

  
  

• GOP candidates who embrace far-right QAnon conspiracy theory score primary wins -

  Lauren Boebert, who knocked off five-time incumbent Rep. Scott Tipton in Colorado Tuesday night, is the latest QAnon-friendly candidate to find success in a Republican primary.

  
  

• 8 Louisiana police officers have been charged after violently beating 2 men who prosecutors said tried to 'surrender without resistance' -

  Prosecutors said the officers broke one man's orbital bone and another man's nose in the beating, and punched, kicked, and tased the men.

  
  

• Black couple outraged after neighbor calls police on them -

  A Black couple from New Jersey is speaking out about a confrontation with their neighbor that led to police being called.

  
  

• See the yellow card Alaska Airlines will give to passengers who refuse to wear masks on its flights -

  Alaska says continued non-compliance won't result in a red card but a potential ban from future Alaska Airlines flights.

  
  

• Hasn?t 2020 had enough? July will be so hot, it is ?potentially historic,? experts say -

  July?s temperatures could be ?several degrees warmer than average.?

  
  

• Fox News anchor Ed Henry fired after sexual misconduct investigation -

  Fox News has fired Ed Henry, a daytime anchor and former head of the White House Correspondents Assn., after an investigation into sexual misconduct.

  
  

• `You broke my wrist!' Police sued for taking down wrong man -

  Body camera video shows Antonio Arnelo Smith handing his driver's license to a Black police officer and answering questions cooperatively before a white officer walks up behind him, wraps him in a bear hug and slams him face-first to the ground. ?Oh my God, you broke my wrist!? the 46-year-old Black man screams as two more white Valdosta officers arrive, holding him down and handcuffing him following the takedown. One eventually tells Smith he's being arrested on an outstanding warrant, and is immediately corrected by the first officer: They've got the wrong man.

  
  

• Vice President Mike Pence discloses donors who helped pay nearly $500K in legal bills from Mueller investigation -

  Vice President Mike Pence received nearly $500,000 from a dozen contributors to help him pay his legal bills from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

  
  

• McConnell warns Democrats about changing Senate rules to kill the filibuster -

  The Senate GOP leader spoke as some experts believe there's a fair chance his party could lose control of the chamber in November.

  
  

• Lindsey Graham Uses Benghazi to Defend Trump on Russian Bounties -

  Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was among the loudest Republican voices in Congress screaming about the attack on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, Libya back in 2012. But he apparently has no problem with President Donald Trump?s decision to ignore intelligence about Russian bounties on American soldiers in Afghanistan. In fact, during a Thursday morning appearance on Fox & Friends, Graham actually used the Benghazi attack to defend Trump and accuse his Democratic colleagues of hypocrisy.After co-host Brian Kilmeade quoted Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), who accused Trump of committing ?treason,? Graham fired back by asking: ?Where were all these Democrats when Benghazi was on fire, when they were calling for help from the consulate? The president of the United States Obama was briefed and went to bed and never called anybody for a day and a half while our people were being slaughtered in Benghazi. Where was the outrage then?!? Graham went on to say that in his view the ?conflicting intelligence? in this case ?does not justify a nation stage conflict with Russia.? He also defended Trump?s apparent lack of knowledge about the bounties by saying, ?You don?t tell the president of the United States everything you would tell a second lieutenant!? Co-host Steve Doocy then gave Graham an assist by adding, ?It should surprise anybody that it?s a big story in The New York Times. I mean, that?s what they do! They come up with these big stories to make Donald Trump look bad.? ?And it?s all B.S.,? Graham replied. ?He wasn?t briefed. And there was no consensus.? While Trump may not have been verbally briefing about the bounties, the intelligence was reportedly in his Presidential Daily Briefing, which he apparently declined to read. Despite this, Graham said Trump has an ?unwavering desire and commitment to protecting our troops on the ground.? Fox & Friends ended its interview with Graham by asking about his recent golf outing with Trump. ?Who won?? Doocy inquired.?I?ve never seen him play this well,? Graham said with a straight face as the co-hosts giggled. ?I mean, he?s got more on his shoulders?I?m hoping, OK, he?s a little distracted. He beat me like a drum.? Jake Tapper Exposes Pompeo, Graham and Giuliani?s ?Stunning? HypocrisyRead 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.

  
  

• Hong Kong: Mike Pompeo threatens China with new measures after Beijing enacts draconian security law -

  The United States has threatened Beijing with new countermeasures after China imposed draconian national security laws on Hong Kong. Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State called the enactment of the sweeping measures a "sad day for Hong Kong, and for freedom-loving people across China" and reiterated the White House's commitment to abolishing the city's special status under US law. "Per President Trump's instruction, we will eliminate policy exemptions that give Hong Kong different and special treatment, with few exceptions," Mr Pompeo said. "The United States will not stand idly by while China swallows Hong Kong into its authoritarian maw," he warned. Read more: What does the new security law mean for Hong Kong?

  
  

• Military Mystery: What Happened to Russia's New T-14 Tank in Syria? -

  Last month multiple media reports suggested that the Russian military's new T-14 Armata tank had been "battle-tested" in Syria.

  
  

• Airbnb is banning some users under 25 from renting certain listings to help crack down on party houses -

  The changes to Airbnb's platform come after a mass shooting at an Airbnb house party last Halloween left five people dead.

  
  

• Texas Lt. Gov. blasts Fauci as state coronavirus cases rise: ?I don?t need his advice? -

  ?No thank you, Dr. Fauci.?

  
  

• Ex-Canada PM Mulroney calls for revised relations with China -

  Canada must have an "urgent rethink" of its relationship with China, former prime minister Brian Mulroney said Wednesday as tensions build over the possible extradition to the United States of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Conservative Mulroney backed his Liberal successor Justin Trudeau's rejection of any exchange of Meng, who was arrested in Vancouver in December 2018, for two Canadians who were detained in China in apparent retaliation. Mulroney said Canada's hope that China would emerge as a constructive partner in international relations had been proven wrong, referring in particular to Beijing's militarization of the South China Sea.

  
  

• DHS deploys special federal unit to protect statues and monuments over July 4th weekend -

  Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) weighs in on attacks on statues.

  
  

• Deputy: White woman lied about assault by Black couple -
• Memphis police clear downtown plaza, detain protesters who camped out for two weeks -

  Protesters have camped outside the Memphis City Hall since June 16. The city said the move was necessary to allow for construction.

  
  

• President Trump shows up at news conference without a face mask after saying he'd wear one in 'tight' crowd -

  Donald Trump has resisted wearing a face mask in public but told a television reporter on Wednesday he's open to wearing one in "a tight situation."

  
  

• Terry Crews and the Toxic ?Black Supremacy? Myth -

  Actor Terry Crews fears an imaginary future where reverse racism?to date, a fiction?reigns supreme. The Brooklyn Nine-Nine cast member recently tweeted, ?If you are a child of God, you are my brother and sister. I have family of every race, creed and ideology. We must ensure blacklivesmatter doesn?t morph into blacklivesbetter.? And early last month, he offered a version of the same: ?Defeating White supremacy without White people creates Black supremacy. Equality is the truth. Like it or not, we are all in this together.? With these tweets, Crews seemed to be pointing to the increasing prevalence of pro-Black stances within Black communities, especially Black-activist circles and saying that they?re too much?dangerous, even. Many popular Black pundits, actors, and commentators moved to call him in and out online, expressing outrage that a prominent Black figure like Crews is using his platform to espouse ?all lives matter? talking points. But the expectation that Crews employ a competent anti-racist framework misses that?in a reversal of the actor?s own hackneyed statement?plenty of Black people still need to unlearn anti-blackness, too. Jada Pinkett Smith Denies Wild Allegation That Will Smith Gave Blessing for Alleged AffairIce Cube?s Long, Disturbing History of Anti-SemitismTo Crews, affirming blackness without centering or requiring white allyship is a step toward supremacy. His is a basic misunderstanding of how race science was formed and functions, and how it resulted in systemic racism. I won?t go into that history lesson here, since I and several other writers, thinkers, activists, academics, and regular people have already done so time and time again. But what?s worth underlining is that not all or even many Black people are anti-racist experts, and there are plenty of Black people who still view their own experiences?as well as broader systemic racism?through a white lens. That?s how a white supremacist capitalist society succeeds: not simply by grooming white racists, but making it such that even the victims of racism must internalize racist ideas in order to gain status and security in major institutions. So Crews, who has become somewhat of a MeToo hero after coming forward about a Hollywood agent sexually assaulting him, is not aberrant in his desire that those fighting for Black liberation be careful to not injure white egos. Plenty of Black people?in trying to climb the corporate ladder or make it in an exceptionally difficult line of work like acting?have learned to accommodate whiteness at every step. This doesn?t mean treating their coworkers with compassion and care no matter their racial identity, but instead to specifically coddle white coworkers by taking pains to never speak up about racism in the workplace. (Non-Black people, if you?ve ever wondered why some of your Black coworkers aren?t chatty in Slack or seem formal in day-to-day communications, this could be why.) As former Cards Against Humanity staff writer Nico Carter wrote in a harrowing Medium blog post, pointing out societal and workplace racism directly led his white bosses to send him, a Black man who grew up in poverty, to a mental hospital where a white psychiatrist insisted that an anti-racist education would teach a person ?that race didn?t matter at all? (according to Carter, those bosses ended up settling a harassment lawsuit with him). Crews? perspective is the safe one, the one that will make his white colleagues feel comfortable and white producers more likely to hire him for projects. And it?s likely that even some of the Black people expressing outrage over Crews? obtuse tweets actively accommodate whiteness in other, perhaps more subtle ways. Capitalism makes it not only advantageous but justifiable to do this to some degree?for most of us, paying the bills is largely dependent on keeping any number of white people perfectly content. Terry Crews? anti-blackness comes as no surprise. Anti-racism work is urgent work for all of us, work that will require significant mutual aid and cooperation as we challenge the systems that dole out our checks?no matter how fat or measly?while they enact violence, often directly against us. When we say Black Lives Matter, it is in fact an invocation of Black liberation as a mission that liberates everyone, since affirming blackness, specifically and without qualification, is a vital step toward undermining the centuries-old oppressive systems that weigh so heavily on our societies. 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.

  
  

• Europe Portrays Both America and Iran As Rogue States At the UN -

  Pompeo finally had his chance to face off with Iran, Russia, and China. He may have gotten more than he bargained for.

  
  

• Weibo deletes Indian Prime Minister's social media account -

  Sina Weibo, China's answer to Twitter, said it had deleted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's account at the request of the Indian embassy, as tensions between the two countries continue to simmer over a border skirmish. Since posting on Sina Weibo the first time in 2015 during a visit to China, Mr Modi has been an infrequent user of the Chinese social media platform. He had more than 200,000 followers and 100 posts before the account was shut. Sina Weibo announced the closure of the account late on Wednesday and the removal comes a few days after India banned dozens of Chinese apps, including Sina Weibo and ByteDance's TikTok, following the border clash between the two nations. The Indian embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment. Mr Modi was among a handful of foreign leaders with a Weibo account. Others include Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Justin Trudeau of Canada, and Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela. Notably, Mr Modi revealed the birth dates of both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang by wishing them "Happy Birthday" on Weibo. The discussion of senior leaders' private lives is extremely rare in China and the exact birth dates of most of them are not revealed publicly. In contrast, Chinese leaders are rarely active on social media. Foreign social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are blocked in China. READ MORE: China annexes 60sqkm of India in Ladakh as simmering tensions erupt between two superpowers

  
  

• Feud ends in gunfire as pastor kills two in front of his daughter, Las Vegas cops say -

  The man, a pastor at a Las Vegas church, killed his 71-year-old neighbor and her friend with a shotgun, police say.

  
  

• More than 400 US Army paratroopers flew almost 5,000 miles to practice a long-range Pacific island invasion -

  The drill "demonstrated that we are capable of deploying anywhere in the US Indo-Pacific Command area at a moment's notice," a commander said.

  
  

• Australia seeks long-range missiles in Indo-Pacific defence shift -

  The country is to significantly lift military spending amid rising US-China instability, its PM says.

  
  

• Ex-Atlanta policeman charged in Brooks' death freed from jail, official says -

  The former Atlanta police officer charged in last month's death of Rayshard Brooks, which touched off days of anti-racism protests, has been released from jail on bail, an official said on Wednesday. A Georgia County judge on Tuesday set bond for Garrett Rolfe, 27, at $500,000, and added numerous conditions, including that he wears an ankle monitor and obeys a curfew. Rolfe left Gwinnett County Jail at 12:27 a.m. EDT (0337 GMT) on Wednesday, according to county Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Shannon Volkodav.

  
  

• Harvard Grad Says She Was Fired from Deloitte Job for Threatening ?All Lives Matter? Supporters -

  A recent Harvard graduate who threatened to ?stab? anyone who told her ?all lives matter? has been fired from her job, she announced in a tearful video.Claira Janover, who said in a viral but since-deleted TikTok post that she would ?stab? those with ?the nerve? to say ?all lives matter,? posted several tearful videos explaining that her new employer, Deloitte, had fired her.?I know this is what Trump supporters wanted because standing up for Black Lives Matter put me in a place online to be seen by millions of people,? Janover explained. ?The job that I worked really hard to get and meant a lot to me just called me and fired me because of everything.?In a second video, Janover claimed that ?Trump supporters took my job away from me.??I have gotten death threats, rape threats, violent threats and it's okay ? but now it's just like my future is entirely compromised because Trump supporters have decided to come for my life,? she stated. ?I'm too strong for you. I am too strong for any of you, ?all lives matter? racist Trump supporters. It sucks but it doesn't suck as much as systemic racism.?Janover also criticized Deloitte, calling out the company for ?cowardice.? The firm has not publicly commented on the situation.In the video that led to her firing, Janover warned ?all lives matter? supporter that she would stab them. ?While you?re struggling and bleeding out, I?ma show you my paper cut and say, ?My cut matters too,'? she stated. After the video was picked up and circulated on Twitter, Janover posted a message on the video stating that ?For legal reasons this is a joke.? She also explained in subsequent videos that her threat was ?clearly? an ?analogous joke.??Apparently I?m threatening the lives of people ? unlike cops, obviously,? she added.?Anyway, so If I get an email from the Department of Homeland Security or I get kicked out of Harvard or I get arrested or whatever ? or I get murdered, according to the many death threats that I?m receiving right now ? know that I appreciate you guys standing up for me,? she said.

  
  

• Trump: I'll veto defense bill to keep Confederate base names -

  President Donald Trump is vowing to veto a massive defense bill to keep military bases such as Fort Bragg named after Confederate officers, swimming against sentiment in his own party and imperiling a 3% pay raise for the troops. Trump took to Twitter late Tuesday to threaten a veto of a $741 billion annual Pentagon authorization bill because it would require a host of military bases named after Confederate figures to be renamed within three years.

  
  

• 'You?ve been warned': Florida sheriff says he may deputize gun owners against protesters -

  Critics have likened Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels' actions to "a call for vigilantism" after his comments about protesters.

  
  

• China orders four US media outlets to disclose finances, staff -

  China on Wednesday ordered four US news outlets to disclose details of their staff and financial operations in the country within seven days, as a media row escalates between Washington and Beijing. The Associated Press, United Press International, CBS and NPR must report the information -- as well as details of any real estate they hold in China -- in retaliation for Washington's crackdown on four Chinese state media outlets, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said. China's actions are "entirely necessary countermeasures against the United States' unreasonable oppression of Chinese media organisations in the US", Zhao said at a regular press briefing.

  
  

• How America Bombed Nazi Germany Back into the Stone Age (And Won World War II) -

  By the time the invasion of France began, American bomber losses had dropped to negligible proportions, and the Luftwaffe had been virtually driven from the skies over its own homeland.

  
  

• Alabama college students are throwing 'COVID parties' where they invite infected people and gamble on who gets sick first, officials say -

  As of Thursday, Alabama reported more than 38,000 coronavirus cases. State health authorities have warned intensive-care-unit beds might run out.

  
  

• 21 states, DC require masks indoors and in public spaces -

  U.S. attorney Brett Tolman weighs in on mask mandates amid coronavirus pandemic.

  
  

• Sweden's prime minister orders an inquiry into the failure of the country's no-lockdown coronavirus strategy -

  The number of new COVID-19 cases in Sweden, where the government opted against a strict lockdown, has increased significantly in recent weeks.

  
  

• Vietnam, Philippines denounce China military drills in disputed waters -

  Vietnam and the Philippines on Thursday criticised China's holding of military drills in a disputed part of the South China, warning it could create tension in the region and impact Beijing's relationship with its neighbours. Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said China's exercises in the waters near the Paracel Islands were "highly provocative", while Vietnam's Foreign Ministry called them a violation of sovereignty that could be "detrimental" to Beijing's relationship with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

  
  

• With 'Partial Human Remains' Found in Texas, Family of Missing Soldier Vanessa Guillen Say They Believe She Is Dead -

  An attorney for the family missing solider Vanessa Guillen said during a press conference that they "believe that her remains were found"

  
  

• Judge deals setback to key Trump policy limiting asylum -

  A federal judge has knocked down a cornerstone border policy of the Trump administration that denies asylum to people who travel through other countries to reach the U.S.-Mexico border without first seeking protection in those countries. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled that authorities violated federal rule-making procedures by not seeking public feedback before putting the policy into effect in July 2019. The impact of Kelly's ruling is diminished by a coronavirus pandemic-related measure that was imposed in March to quickly expel people who cross the border illegally and block asylum-seekers at official crossings.

  
  

• Trump calls Black Lives Matter street mural "symbol of hate" -

  New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he would have "Black Lives Matter" painted on Fifth Avenue, near Trump Tower.

  
  

• Martin Gugino, the Buffalo protester pushed to the ground and injured by police, released after nearly a month in hospital -

  The 75-year-old man who fell to the ground after being pushed by Buffalo police officers in a viral video was released from the hospital Tuesday.

  
  

• Meet the Douglas B-66 Destroyer: A Tactical Light Bomber and Recon Aircraft -

  How well did it perform?