Every 19 June for more than 150 years African Americans across the US have celebrated freedom from slavery. Guardian US reporter Kenya Evelyn explores the significance of Juneteenth, how celebrations have evolved over the years and looks at whether it is time for the holiday to receive federal recognition
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Coronavirus live news: New Zealand reports another new case as Brazil nears 1m infections
Deaths worldwide near 500,000; US health expert says country is ‘still in first wave’; Argentinian president enters voluntary isolation amid coronavirus surge. Follow the latest updates
- Beijing coronavirus outbreak: city raises emergency level and grounds hundreds of flights
- Brazil cases near 1m
- New Zealand confirms one new case
- Spanish opera house reopens with concert for plants
- See all our coronavirus coverage
The hospitalisation of Honduras president with Covid-19 and pneumonia Wednesday has drawn attention to another country struggling under the pandemics strain as cases rise sharply in the capital, AP reports.
President Juan Orlando Hernández announced late Tuesday that he and his wife had tested positive for the virus. Just hours later he was hospitalised after doctors determined he had pneumonia.
From March to 7 June, Honduras confirmed 6,327 coronavirus infections. In the 10 days since, it added 3,329 more, a surge that has come after the government began a gradual reactivation of the economy.
The full story on Australia’s unemployment rate now:
Australia lost a further 227,000 jobs between April and May, resulting in a total loss of 835,000 jobs in seasonally adjusted terms since March and a 0.7% jump in unemployment to 7.1%.
Related: Australia loses 227,000 more jobs, taking unemployment to 7.1%
Continue reading...Trump administration seeks emergency order to block Bolton’s memoir
Last-ditch attempt to quash release comes as copies have already been shipped and news outlets report on startling details
- Full report: Trump offered ‘favors’ to dictators, book says
- Bolton’s book: the eight most stunning claims
The Trump administration has made an aggressive last-ditch attempt to block the release of John Bolton’s bombshell book, in which the former national security adviser writes that the US president offered favors to dictators and asked China to help him with his 2020 re-election.
On Wednesday night, the justice department sought an emergency order from a judge to block the publication of Bolton’s memoir, after explosive excerpts were printed by various news organizations.
Continue reading...Pacific data cable not safe from China if Hong Kong included, says US
Justice department says ‘recent actions’ by China towards its territory indicate landing station could expose US communications to spying
The US government wants a high-capacity undersea data cable system proposed by Google and Facebook to bypass Hong Kong, citing potential national security concerns following China’s moves to exert greater control in the territory.
The Pacific Light Cable Network, pending approval by the federal communications commission (FCC), should connect the US, Taiwan and the Philippines but not go through Hong Kong as planned, a US Justice Department committee has recommended.
Continue reading...Danny Masterson: That ’70s Show actor charged with rapes of three women
Charges come after a three-year investigation of the actor, who is being held on $3.3m bail
Danny Masterson, the actor known for That ‘70s Show, has been charged with the rapes of three women in the early 2000s, Los Angeles prosecutors said Wednesday.
The three counts of rape by force or fear come after a three-year investigation of the 44-year-old Masterson. The charges were filed Tuesday and Masterson was arrested late Wednesday morning, jail records showed. He was released a few hours later after posting bond and is scheduled to be arraigned 18 September.
Continue reading...Pilot in Kobe Bryant crash thought he was climbing rather than descending
- Documents say Ara Zobayan was trying to climb out of clouds
- Crash killed NBA legend, his daughter and seven others
The pilot of the helicopter that crashed in thick fog, killing Kobe Bryant and seven other passengers, reported he was climbing when he was actually descending, federal investigators said in documents released on Wednesday.
Ara Zobayan radioed to air traffic controllers that he was climbing to 4,000 feet to get above clouds when, in fact, the helicopter was plunging toward a hillside where it crashed northwest of Los Angeles. The report by the National Transportation Safety Board said Zobayan may have “misperceived” the pitch of the aircraft, which can happen when a pilot becomes disoriented in low visibility. Experts said shortly after the crash that the path of the flight indicated Zobayan had lost his bearing.
Continue reading...US imposes sanctions on Syrian president’s wife under Caesar Act
Asma al-Assad among dozens targeted in campaign to deny regime revenue and support
The Syrian first lady, Asma al-Assad, has been named in the first round of new US sanctions that are certain to intensify pressure on the embattled regime and its backers as the country’s crippled economy continues to wither.
The law, known as the Caesar Act, came into effect on Wednesday, placing anyone who does business with 39 named individuals and regime entities in the cross hairs of the US Treasury. The sanctions are the toughest yet imposed on Bashar al-Assad and are set to be the centrepiece of a pressure campaign that also targets his government’s two major backers, Iran and Hezbollah.
Continue reading...Trump was willing to halt criminal investigations as ‘favor’ to dictators, Bolton book says
- Trump pleaded with China’s Xi to help re-election effort
- President urged Xi to build concentration camps for Muslims
- White House has fought to stop book’s release
- Bolton’s book: the eight most stunning claims
Donald Trump was willing to halt criminal investigations to “give personal favors to dictators he liked”, according to a new book written by his former national security adviser John Bolton.
Related: How Trump's missteps undermined the US's recovery from pandemic
Continue reading...Americans reportedly find ‘loophole’ to violate Canada’s Covid-19 border closure
Officials investigating reports that US citizens are crossing border on pretext of visiting Alaska, only to stay in Canada
For some Americans, the prospect of visiting the Rocky Mountains without hordes of visitors cramming its picturesque trails and alpine towns, is so tempting that they’re prepared to risk arrest.
Canadian officials are investigating reports that American tourists are making covert forays into the country, violating a border closure imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: New Zealand to trace 320 ‘close contacts’ of virus pair who stopped to meet friends
Beijing raises alert level and grounds hundreds of flights; India’s official death toll leaps by more than 2,000 to reach 11,903; Brazil suffers record case increase
- Germany to ban large events until at least October - reports
- New Zealand traces 320 ‘close contacts’ of two new cases
- Six US states see record new cases
- Covid-19 outbreaks in New Zealand and China highlight stark choices
- See all our coronavirus coverage
Around 11,000 mink at a farm in Denmark will have to be culled after they were found to be infected with the coronavirus, the country’s authorities have said.
The outbreak is the first in Denmark, the world’s biggest producer of mink skins, but comes shortly after the virus was found at 13 mink farms in the Netherlands, where about 570,000 mink have been ordered culled.
If you’re planning to meet Vladimir Putin in the next few weeks, be warned: you will have to pass through a special disinfectant tunnel to get to the Russian president.
Putin’s official spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has confirmed a report by Russian state television that three airport-style tunnels have been built for the president: one at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, where he has reputedly being doing much of his work during the pandemic, and two at the Kremlin.
В резиденции Путина для защиты от коронавируса установили специальный туннель. Он предназначен для дезинфекцииhttps://t.co/jjwWbuZ2EX pic.twitter.com/h62KWARvsr
Continue reading...Black Lives Matter protests: Republicans to unveil police reform plan – live updates
- Trump’s executive order on policing described as ‘woeful’
- Administration sues to stop John Bolton’s book
- Manuel Ellis: video appears to show chokehold
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Another statue went down in Richmond, Virginia last night - this time from the Howitzers Monument which was erected in 1892 to commemorate a Richmond Civil War artillery unit.
Activists have been demanding not just reforms to policing in the US, but a deep-seated change in police culture. A report this morning by Jesselyn Cook and Nick Robins-Early for the Huffington Post website illustrates exactly why some people see this as a necessary goal. They’ve been studying the places they describe as “the dangerous online fever swamps of American police”:
This police media ecosystem is not necessarily a broad representation of what most cops believe. But inside this echo chamber, which has thousands of users and readers, extremist views dictate the narrative. Wild misinformation and bigotry are rampant, with people who claim to be current and former officers posting debunked falsehoods and racist stereotypes about protesters.
Continue reading...German ministers hit back at Trump plan to withdraw US troops
Foreign secretary says cutting troop numbers will weaken security of both Europe and US
German ministers have criticised Donald Trump’s plans to withdraw about 9,500 US troops from German soil, saying the move is likely to weaken America’s own security architecture as well as European security.
“We think that the US presence in Germany is important for the security not just of Germany but also for the security of the United States and especially for the security of Europe,” Heiko Maas, the foreign minister, said during a state visit to Poland on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Facebook unveils plans to boost voter turnout in US elections
Firm aims to double number of registered voters of previous drives and prevent ‘malicious’ interference
Facebook will launch “the largest voting information effort in US history” in the run-up to November’s general election, the company has said, aiming to help 4 million Americans register to vote with a new voting information centre.
That goal, spread across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, is double the number of voters registered as a result of its previous drives, in the 2016 and 2018 elections. The company is also hoping it can prevent a repeat of the foreign interference that plagued the last US presidential election.
Continue reading...Global report: six US states report most ever new coronavirus cases
More cases in Beijing outbreak; Brazil suffers worst ever day; New Zealand prime minister voices anger over quarantine fiasco
New coronavirus infections have soared to record highs in six American states, marking a rising tide of cases for a second consecutive week as authorities in Beijing said another 31 people had been infected in a fresh outbreak in China.
Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas all reported their most ever new cases on Tuesday after all-time highs last week and as they continued to reopen their economies. Nevada also reported its highest single-day tally of new cases on Tuesday, up from a previous high on 23 May.
Continue reading...Trump administration sues to block publication of John Bolton’s book
Officials claim book, which is critical of administration, contains classified information and would compromise national security
The Trump administration has sued to block the publication of a forthcoming book by John Bolton, the US president’s former security adviser, about his time in the White House, arguing that it contained classified information and would compromise national security.
The civil lawsuit came one day after Trump said Bolton would be breaking the law if the book were published. Trump fired Bolton last September after roughly 17 months as national security adviser.
Continue reading...Trump administration sues former adviser John Bolton to block his book – live
- Administration argues Bolton breached contract and risks exposing classified information
- Trump signs order discouraging chokeholds, with exceptions
- Riots helped elect Nixon in 1968. Can Trump benefit from fear too?
- Rayshard Brooks’ death prompts calls for overhaul of police department
- How US police reforms have failed to stop violence
- Man shot as New Mexico protesters try to remove conquistador statue
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The lawsuit filed by the US against John Bolton aims to stop the former administration official “ from compromising national security by publishing a book containing classified information.”
But it states that “on or around” 27 April, Ellen Knight, who was reviewing Bolton’s manuscript, “had completed her review and was of the judgment that the manuscript draft did not contain classified information”.
Bolton’s book The Room Where It Happened will be a critical account of the Trump administration, according to the publisher.
Bolton “shows a president addicted to chaos, who embraced our enemies and spurned our friends, and was deeply suspicious of his own government”, according to Simon and Schuster.
Continue reading...Medellín cartel co-founder transferred to Germany after prison sentence
Carlos Lehder Rivas ran Medellín cartel alongside Pablo Escobar that smuggled cocaine worth billions to the US in 1970s and 80s
The man who co-founded the notorious Colombian Medellín drug cartel alongside Pablo Escobar has been transferred to Germany from the United States, according to Spiegel Online.
Carlos Lehder Rivas, who has both German and Colombian citizenship, was escorted to Germany by two US officials on a regular passenger flight from New York to Frankfurt and handed over to German authorities, the report said.
Continue reading...Gunshots heard after demonstrators try to topple conquistador statue in New Mexico – video
A man was shot after a scuffle broke out when demonstrators tried to remove a bronze sculpture of a Spanish conquistador outside a museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A group of armed men had tried to protect the statue of Juan de Oñate. The injured man was in a critical but stable condition, police said.
Authorities later announced the monument would be removed until the next step could be determined
Continue reading...Trump niece’s bombshell book to detail family ‘trauma, neglect and abuse’
Publisher says Mary L Trump, a trained psychologist, describes ‘a nightmare of traumas and destructive relationships’
New details have emerged about a book by Donald Trump’s niece, which its publisher says will “explain how her uncle became the man who now threatens the world’s health, economic security, and social fabric”.
Related: Trump reportedly to take legal action to block John Bolton's tell-all book
Continue reading...Deadly heat is killing Americans: climate death toll rises after a decade of federal inaction
Heat now causes more deaths than hurricanes, tornadoes or floods in most years, creating a new public health threat. An investigation reveals why the CDC’s prevention efforts have faltered
This story is co-published with Columbia Journalism Investigations, the Center for Public Integrity and Covering Climate Now. Read the full investigation here.
Charlie Rhodes lived alone on a tree-sparse street with sunburned lawns just outside Phoenix, Arizona. At 61, the army veteran’s main connection to the world was Facebook; often, he posted several times a day. But as a heatwave blanketed the region in June 2016 – leading to temperatures among the highest ever recorded – his posts stopped. Three weeks later, a pile of unopened mail outside his door prompted a call to police.
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