US president Donald Trump has authorised the use of "heavily armed soldiers" to "dominate the streets" in a press conference held in the White House Rose Garden. A few hundred metres away on the streets of Washington DC, police used teargas to disperse crowds of protesters.
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Trump threatens to deploy military against protesters as teargas fired outside White House – live
- George Floyd’s death a homicide, county medical examiner says
- Family autopsy points to homicide by asphyxiation
- Curfew to go into effect for New York City from 11pm to 5am
- Floyd’s family calls for peaceful protests
- Pressure grows for other three officers to face charges
- Minneapolis police chief: all four officers ‘complicit’ in death
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Bobby Rush, an Illinois congressman and a Civil Rights era leader who co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers in 1967, responded to Trump’s Rose Garden address with this:
We are living in a police state. https://t.co/YjO8x7QZjt
The Episcopal bishop of DC told The Washington Post that she was “outraged” after the officers cleared peaceful protestors gathered near the White House with tear gas and rubber bullets, to clear the way for Donald Trump to take photos outside St. John’s Church.
The Episcopal bishop of DC – who oversees the DC church Trump just stopped at – tells the @washingtonpost she is "outraged" and that neither she nor the rector was asked or told… “that they would be clearing with tear gas so they could use one of our churches as a prop.." 1/3
"We so disassociate ourselves from the messages of this president. We hold the teachings of our sacred texts to be so so grounding to our lives and everything we do and it is about love of neighbor and sacrificial love and justice." @Mebudde Bishop Mariann Budde 3/3
Continue reading...Facebook employees hold virtual walkout over Mark Zuckerberg’s refusal to act against Trump
- Workers dissatisfied with decision to not remove the president’s post
- An oversight board member is involved in a racist speech controversy
Facebook employees are staging a rebellion over Mark Zuckerberg’s refusal to act against Donald Trump, expressing their dissatisfaction with their boss on social media in a rare public display of dissent and, in some cases, staging a “virtual” walkout.
Disagreement came from employees at all levels of the company, including some senior staff. Particular criticism was levelled at Zuckerberg’s personal decision to leave up the Facebook version of a tweet sent by Trump in which the president appeared to encourage police to shoot rioters. By contrast, Twitter hid the message behind a warning.
Continue reading...SpaceX Dragon crew capsule docks at International Space Station
- A milestone for two Nasa astronauts in historic mission
- First such rendezvous by US spacecraft since 2011
A mere 19 hours after blasting off from Florida, and with a short break for some Black Sabbath music in between, two Nasa astronauts docked the SpaceX Dragon crew capsule to the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday in another milestone moment for their historic mission.
Related: Trump wants America looking at the stars as he drags it through the gutter
Continue reading...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 Russian
A 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.
Related: What is 'Obamagate' and why is Trump so worked up about it?
Continue reading...SpaceX successfully launches Nasa astronauts into orbit
- Donald Trump and Mike Pence witness launch in Florida
- First attempt was cancelled minutes from blast-off
A rocketship named Dragon breathed new fire into America’s human spaceflight programme on Saturday, carrying two astronauts on a much-anticipated adventure.
Related: Trump wants America looking at the stars as he drags it through the gutter
Continue reading...‘Gross incompetence at highest levels’: ex-Obama adviser blasts Trump’s Covid response
Samantha Power also tells online Hay festival that former US administration underestimated how ‘ripped off’ Americans felt, and discounts possibility of Michelle Obama as vice-president
The US has shown “gross incompetence … at the highest levels” in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Samantha Power, who served as US ambassador to the United Nations under Barack Obama.
Speaking to Philippe Sands for the online version of the Hay festival, Power said that Donald Trump’s administration had failed to learn from the countries hit by the coronavirus before the US.
Continue reading...Trump signs executive order to narrow protections for social media platforms
Move comes amid president’s feud with Twitter after it fact-checked him for the first time
Donald Trump has fired a shot across the bows of “big tech” companies by signing an executive order that aims to narrow their protections from liability over the content posted on their services.
The move came as the US president stepped up his attacks against social media giants after Twitter fact-checked him for the first time over a false assertion that mail-in voting leads to widespread voter fraud.
Continue reading...Trump expected to sign executive order in bid to target Twitter and Facebook
- Move could erode legal protections for social media platforms
- Twitter placed warning on Trump tweets that spread falsehoods
Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order that could erode legal protections for social media companies for content posted on their platforms, potentially opening them to liability claims over controversial content.
Continue reading...Trump’s devoted new press secretary is no different from her predecessors | David Smith
Kayleigh McEnany offered a straight-faced defence of Trump’s wildest conspiracy theories during a Tuesday briefing
“I will never lie to you,” declared Kayleigh McEnany on her debut as the White House press secretary at the start of the month. “You have my word on that.”
That would be a welcome change, reasoned critics of Donald Trump, but their hopes of a change in the way his administration communicates have been dashed.
Continue reading...‘We’re expendable’: black Americans pay the price as states lift lockdowns
Experts warn reopening states could have dire consequences on public health, and black Americans already face greater risk
Donald Trump recently shared a doctored video of his head superimposed on to actor Bill Pullman’s character in the 1996 film Independence Day’s crowd-rallying scene, likening frontline workers to warriors.
But it rang hollow for Denita Jones, a Dallas-area call center worker. For many black, essential workers like her, the message is about reopening the economy, but the real meaning is more subtle.
Continue reading...Trump: Sessions was not ‘mentally qualified’ to be attorney general
- Sessions protests loyalty to Trump despite fierce abuse
- President endorses opponent in Alabama Senate election
Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions’ playground fight continued into Sunday. In an interview with Sinclair TV, Trump said Sessions had not been “mentally qualified” to be his first attorney general.
Related: Jeff Sessions snaps back after Trump tells Alabama not to trust him
Continue reading...Fumbling the nuclear football: is Trump blundering to arms control chaos?
The president believes he alone can negotiate away nuclear weapons and win a Nobel prize – but he has quit three treaties and gutted his administration of experts
The Trump administration signaled this week that it was ready to get back in the business of nuclear arms control. A newly appointed envoy, Marshall Billingslea, made his first public remarks to announce talks with Russia are about to resume.
“We have concrete ideas for our next interaction, and we’re finalizing the details as we speak,” Billingslea said.
Continue reading...CDC reports more than 1.5 million cases – as it happened
- President is at his golf club in Virginia
- Trump urges governors to open places of worship
- Summer is here – but are we inviting a disastrous second wave?
- Hydroxychloroquine: Trump ‘cure’ increases deaths, global study finds
- Coronavirus – latest global updates
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Here’s a look at today’s main stories:
After Donald Trump said on Friday that he believes places of worship should be deemed as essential services, Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, issued an executive order addressing the issue. Places of worship in the state will now be able to open at 25% of capacity. Individuals or households in the buildings must maintain six feet distance.
Walz said he still encouraged citizens to worship remotely. “I am under no illusion whatsoever: Every move we make that loosens up increases the risk,” Walz said.
Continue reading...Trump press secretary appears to show president’s bank details – video
Kayleigh McEnany appeared to accidentally reveal Donald Trump's private bank details while displaying evidence of the president's $100,000 donation to efforts to rein in the coronavirus. McEnany announced Trump would donate his quarterly pay cheque, and when she held up the cheque for White House reporters, Trump’s banking details were not obscured
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: South America is now pandemic’s epicentre, says WHO
Madrid and Barcelona to ease lockdown as Spain’s death toll stays under 100 again; 660,000 people forced to flee homes during crisis despite UN global ceasefire call
- Hydroxychloroquine: Trump’s ‘cure’ increases deaths, global study finds
- Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov ‘hospitalised with suspected Covid-19’
- US coronavirus updates – live
- Coronavirus latest: at a glance
Peru has extended its state of emergency until the end of June with only a very partial lifting of its lockdown as infections continue to climb despite more than two months of confinement.
Peru is the second-worst affected Latin American country, with more than 111,000 cases and a death toll of 3,148, according to official figures.
It’s not just an extension ... there is a strategy to combat the virus. This disease will not beaten in a short time. It’s not a 100m sprint, it’s a marathon.
Over the course of the last 60 days we have made great efforts but we have to make another qualitative jump in the health sector.
France regrets a British decision to impose a quarantine on people arriving from mainland Europe and stands ready to impose reciprocal measures, the Agence France-Presse news agency has quoted the country’s interior ministry as saying.
The UK’s home secretary Priti Patel announced earlier on Friday that travellers arriving in the UK from 8 June will have to tell the authorities where they will be staying and face spot checks to ensure they quarantine themselves for 14 days.
Continue reading...Trump to pull US out of third arms control deal
The Open Skies Treaty allows Russia and western nations to conduct observation flights
The US has declared its intention to leave the Open Skies Treaty, which is intended to reduce the risk of war by allowing Russia and western nations to conduct observation flights over each other’s territory.
Washington informed the other 33 parties to the treaty of its intention to deliver a formal six-month notice of withdrawal on Friday, accusing Russia of violations.
Continue reading...Mike Pompeo attacks China and says ‘we stand with Australia’ – video
The US secretary of state criticises China's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, while backing Australia's push for an investigation into the origins of Covid-19. In a media address, Mike Pompeo attacks the Chinese Communist party, declaring it 'ideologically and politically hostile to free nations'. His comments come after China slapped 80% tariffs on Australian barley exports and continue similar rhetoric from the Trump administration that is increasingly critical of Beijing
Continue reading...Trump considers an in-person G7 meeting despite coronavirus pandemic
After first moving the talks to a teleconference, the US president, this year’s summit head, is now suggesting a Camp David meeting
Donald Trump has said he may seek to revive a face-to-face meeting of Group of Seven leaders near Washington, after earlier canceling the gathering due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I am considering rescheduling the G-7, on the same or similar date, in Washington, D.C., at the legendary Camp David,” the US president tweeted on Wednesday. “The other members are also beginning their COMEBACK. It would be a great sign to all – normalization!”
Continue reading...‘If it was me, they would do it’: Trump reacts to dismissed ‘Obamagate’ investigation – video
After US attorney general William Barr dismissed the possibility of investigating 'Obamagate', president Donald Trump responded 'If it was me, they would do it'. The president has called 'Obamagate': "The biggest political crime in American history, by far!" However Trump has failed to detail his exact accusations
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