Friday,  June 26th, 2020

The government and the Taliban agree to start intra-Afghan talks by mid-July after the issue of releasing the “most dangerous” Taliban prisoners has been solved, according to a government spokesman. The group did not comment on the announcement. (Al Arabiya)

British-Dutch consumer company Unilever, owner of such brands as Lipton tea and Dove soap, announces that they will suspend advertising on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter for the rest of the year, saying that they have not been doing enough to counter “divisiveness and hate speech during this polarized election period in the U.S.” (Reuters)

A University of Barcelona-led investigation uncovers traces of SARS-CoV-2 in frozen Barcelona sewage samples drawn on 12 March 2019, more than half a year before the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in China.  (Reuters)

Six people are injured in a mass stabbing in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland. The attacker was shot dead by police. (BBC)

A court in Turkey sentences 121 people to life in prison for their role in the 2016 attempted coup. Eighty-six were sentenced to “aggravated” life imprisonment for “attempting to violate the constitution”. (Al Arabiya)

A court in the United Kingdom sentences an 18-year-old man to 15 years in prison for attempted murder for throwing a six-year-old French boy off the roof of the Tate Modern art gallery in London last December. He was 17 at the time of the crime, and said he “wanted to be on the television news”. The boy survived but suffered life-changing injuries. (Reuters)

The Chief of Police of Mexico City, Omar García Harfuch, is injured but “out of danger” in an assassination attempt upon him. Two of his bodyguards and a passerby were killed. García Harfuch blamed the attack on the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). (Reuters)

A Danish court sentences a Norwegian-Iranian man to seven years in prison for spying on behalf of Iranian intelligence and for conspiring to assassinate the leader of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz. He will be expelled permanently from the country upon the end of his sentence. (Reuters)

Employees at Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, working in multiple U.S. locations are being sent home for refusing to take off Black Lives Matter face masks. Workers are protesting these actions.  (Fox News)

The United States House of Representatives passes a bill that would make Washington, D.C. a U.S. state, with the exception of important government buildings. This legislation is unlikely to pass in the Republican-held United States Senate. (CNBC)

Coronavirus cases spike to new high for second consecutive day  Thursday’s number of new confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. surged to 40,000, the second consecutive day in which there was a new record high in new cases. The previous high was approximately 36,000 new cases on April 24. Cases are especially spiking in Southern and Western states like Texas, Florida, and Arizona. Additionally, Alabama, Alaska, Montana and Utah reported their highest-ever daily totals on Thursday. While case rates slowly decreased across the country in May, there has been a new resurgence as stay-at-home and social distancing orders have been relaxed. The White House coronavirus task force is meeting on Friday, for the first time since April, to address the new spike. Source: The New York Times

House Democrats pass bill to grant D.C. statehood  The House of Representatives passed a bill on Friday that would grant Washington, D.C. statehood. The bill, which will almost certainly die upon reaching the Republican-led Senate, was passed 232-180 on nearly exact party lines. Though Democrats say making D.C. a state would give much-needed representation to a district with more than 700,000 residents, Republicans say the bill could be a Democratic power-grab, since three-quarters of D.C. voters are registered Democrats. The bill would make much of D.C. its own state, but leave federal property like the White House and Capitol Hill under congressional jurisdiction. A similar bill was debated more than 25 years ago. Source: The New York Times

Texas, Florida roll back some business reopenings amid coronavirus spikes  On Friday, Texas became the first state to reimpose a lockdown as it faces what Gov. Greg Abbott described as a “massive outbreak” of COVID-19 cases following its attempted reopening. Abbott’s executive order will close bars that had previously been allowed to operate at 50 percent capacity, beginning at noon on Friday (bars may remain open for delivery and takeout). Restaurants are also being scaled back from being allowed to operate at 75 percent capacity for dine-in service to 50 percent capacity, and gatherings of more than 100 people are once again banned. In Florida, where a record 8,942 new coronavirus cases were reported Friday, on-site alcohol consumption at bars is now suspended. Source: The Week

Intel report: Russia offered militants bounties to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan  American intelligence officials have informed President Trump that they believe Russia’s military intelligence agency has secretly been offering bounties to Taliban or Taliban-linked militants for the killing of American troops in Afghanistan, according to an explosive Friday report in The New York Times. Trump was reportedly first briefed on the findings in late March, although he has not yet acted in response. Islamist militants are reportedly believed to have collected bounty money from Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, although it’s not clear which American deaths, or how many, are suspected to be linked. The involvement would be “a huge escalation of Russia’s so-called hybrid war” against the U.S., writes the Times, and would also be “the first time the Russian spy unit was known to have orchestrated attacks on Western troops.” Source: The New York Times

American Airlines to restart booking flights to full capacity  Beginning next week, American Airlines will resume fully booking flights after having reserved half its middle seats in economy since April to better enforce social distancing. “As more people continue to travel, customers may notice that flights are booked to capacity starting July 1,” the airline said in a Friday statement. “American will continue to notify customers and allow them to move to more open flights when available, all without incurring any cost.” The move comes after the United States experienced back-to-back record-high caseloads of coronavirus this week. American Airlines will join United and Spirit, which are already booking flights to capacity. Southwest, Delta, and JetBlue, meanwhile, are still restricting the number of seats for sale, and Southwest committed to do so through at least Sept. 30.  Source: USA Today

 

 

Thursday, June 25th, 2020

Iraqi security forces raid the headquarters of the Iranian-backed Kata’ib Hezbollah, detaining three high-ranking commanders of the group, and at least 20 other fighters. (Reuters)

At least 100 people are killed by lightning strikes as a monsoon storm batters India’s northeastern states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. (Reuters)

Health officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo say the number of cases reached 6,411 there with 198 new infections in the past 24 hours. (Anadolu Agency)

In the Central African Republic, the number of infections climbs by 88 in the past 24 hours to reach 3,051. (Anadolu Agency)

The U.S. reports 37,077 cases, the largest number of new cases in a single day. (CNN)

The Democratic Republic of the Congo announces the end of the second outbreak of Ebola in the country, which has killed more than 2,200 people. (Reuters)

Rasmus Paludan, leader of the far-right Danish political party Hard Line, is sentenced to prison for one month for a string of offences, including hate speech, defamation and dangerous driving. (BBC)

After having been postponed once due to the COVID-19 pandemic, voting about potential amendments to the Constitution of Russia kicks off. The result of the referendum might, amongst other changes, prolong the mandate of President Vladimir Putin. Voting continues until the 1st of July. (DW)

The Leader of the UK’s Labour Party, Keir Starmer, sacks his Shadow Secretary of State for Education Rebecca Long-Bailey for sharing an article on social media that says American police were trained by Mossad to use the knee-on-neck restraint that killed George Floyd, which Israeli police say is false. (BBC)

The End

Thursday, June 25th, 2020

CDC estimates U.S. number of COVID-19 cases may actually be 10 times higher  The United States has confirmed more than two million cases of COVID-19 — but the true number might be about ten times higher, the CDC says. “Our best estimate right now is that for every case that’s reported, there actually are 10 other infections,” said Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If this estimate is accurate, that would mean there have been more than 20 million cases of COVID-19 in the U.S, as about 2.3 million cases have been confirmed. Health officials have long said that the official number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is likely an undercount. Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has also said the COVID-19 death toll, which is currently more than 120,000, is “almost certainly” higher. Source:  Reuters

SCOTUS: Undocumented immigrants can’t challenge fast-track deportation  The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 on Thursday to bar undocumented immigrants from challenging their expedited deportation in federal court. The decision follows a Tuesday federal appeals court ruling the Trump administration could expand expedited removal, which allows for the fast-tracked deportation of undocumented immigrants without a lengthy court hearing. For the past 24 years, expedited removal has let immigration officials apprehend undocumented people found within 100 miles of a U.S. border, within 14 days of their arrival, and quickly deport them without a court proceeding or asylum hearing. People who arrived via air and are found within two years are also included. The case Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam concerned whether immigrants could challenge that removal in federal court to ensure their asylum claims weren’t rejected without reason.Source: Supreme Court

Texas pauses its reopening amid ‘massive outbreak’ of coronavirus  Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) on Thursday announced a “temporary pause” of the state’s reopening amid a “massive outbreak” of new COVID-19 cases. “As we experience an increase in both positive COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, we are focused on strategies that slow the spread of this virus while also allowing Texans to continue earning a paycheck to support their families,” Abbott said. Businesses that were previously allowed to resume operations as part of Texas’ reopenings can still do so, however. Abbott said “the last thing we want to do as a state is go backwards and close down businesses.” Texas on Wednesday reported more than 5,000 new coronavirus cases. Now, Abbott says pausing the reopening will “help our state corral the spread.” Source: The Associated Press

Poll: Biden leads Trump in 6 swing states  Former Vice President Joe Biden is leading among registered voters in six key battleground states Trump won in 2016: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, a poll from The New York Times and Siena College released Thursday shows. Biden is up by double digits in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and between six and nine percentage points in the other states. He was only leading by two percentage points across these states last October. If Biden were to carry these states, as well as those Hillary Clinton won in 2016, he would win the election with 333 electoral votes. A New York Times/Siena College poll released Wednesday showed Biden leading Trump by 14 percentage points nationally. Source: The New York Times

Another 1.48 million Americans file jobless claims  The Labor Department on Thursday said 1.48 million Americans filed initial unemployment claims last week, which is down 60,000 claims from the week before. This was the second week in a row that the number of new claims came in higher than expected, as economists had been forecasting 1.35 million claims. It’s also the 14th week that the number of new jobless claims surpassed one million, a level that hadn’t been reached before the coronavirus pandemic. Continuing claims declined to 19.5 million, though, the first time in two months this number has been below 20 million. Source: CNBC

 

 

Wednesday,  June 24th, 2020

The speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh Issa, asks Egypt to intervene in Libya if the armed forces of the Government of National Accord attempt to capture the city of Sirte. (Al Jazeera)

Bayer AG announces it has agreed to pay US$10 billion to resolve thousands of lawsuits regarding claims that the Monsanto herbicide Roundup causes cancer. Court-appointed mediator Kenneth Feinberg says the deal is a “constructive and reasonable” resolution. (NBC News)

Japanese manufacturing company Olympus announces it is exiting the camera business after 84 years, stating its financial losses caused by their inability to compete with smartphone cameras was a major factor in the decision. (BBC)

The Specialist Prosecutor’s Office announces that it has submitted for court approval an indictment against President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci and nine other former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters alleging that they committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Kosovo War. Following the announcement, President Thaci cancels his upcoming trip to the United States. (Sydney Morning Herald)

The U.S. Senate fails to invoke cloture on a 55–45 vote effectively tabling a police misconduct bill introduced by the Republicans, after the Democrats complained that it did not do enough to incentivize change. (Reuters)

English football club Leeds United F.C. issue an apology after a cardboard cutout of former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was displayed in the stands at their Elland Road stadium. (BBC)

The End 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-24/sweden-s-epidemiologist-says-world-went-mad-imposing-lockdowns

 

Thursday,  June 25th, 2020

Segway Inc. announces that production of its personal transporter will end on July 15. Production began in 2001. (BBC)

Ambassadors for EU member states meet today to develop criteria for reopening external borders to travelers on July 1. European Commission guidance is that non-EU countries whose COVID-19 status, e.g., the number of new infections, the trend in new infections, and testing and tracing, are comparable or better than the EU average will make the safe list. Other factors, such as reciprocity and links to the EU, will also be considered. Travelers from countries such as Brazil, Russia, and the United States may be barred based on these rules. (BBC)

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred unilaterally implements a 60-game season. Players will report to training camps on July 1 in order to resume spring training and prepare for a July 23 or 24 Opening Day. (ESPN)

7 states report new highs in COVID-19 hospitalizations Data tracked by The Washington Post shows that seven states — Arizona, Arkansas, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas — are reporting record highs for current coronavirus hospitalizations. As of Tuesday, there are 3,868 people in California hospitalized with coronavirus, a 5.9 percent increase over the previous peak bed usage on April 29. Of those patients, nearly 1,200 are in intensive care units. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said the state is not facing a hospital bed shortage. On Tuesday, California and Texas each reported more than 5,000 new coronavirus cases over a 24-hour period, records for both states. More than 800 COVID-19 deaths were also reported in the United States on Tuesday, the first time the number of fatalities has gone up since June 7. The U.S. has more than 2.3 million confirmed coronavirus cases, with at least 119,000 deaths. Source: KCRA

Democrats block GOP Senate’s police reform bill Senate Democrats followed through on their threat to block the advancement of the GOP’s police reform bill Wednesday, and the legislation fell five votes short of the 60 required to move forward. “The harsh fact of the matter is, the bill is so deeply, fundamentally and irrevocably flawed, it cannot serve as a useful starting point for meaningful reform,” said Senate Minority Leader (D-N.Y.). Democrats believe the bill, which was championed by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), was particularly lacking in terms of holding law enforcement accountable for misconduct. For example, it didn’t seek to change qualified immunity standards. Three members of the Democratic caucus — Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), and Angus King (I-Maine) — voted in favor of the bill. Source: The Washington Post

IMF predicts 2-year recovery for world economy amid pandemic The International Monetary Fund updated its World Economic Outlook on Wednesday, and predicted that — largely due to the coronavirus pandemic — the world’s economy would contract not by three percent, as previously estimated in April, but by 4.9 percent, leading to a $12 trillion hit. Gita Gopinath, the IMF’s chief economist, said there would be a fall of living standards in 95 percent of the world’s countries this year. The IMF does see growth going forward, although it now expects it’ll be slightly slower than initially thought in April. Ultimately, the IMF believes it will take two years until world economic output returns to the levels seen at the end of 2019 before the pandemic truly took hold. Source: The Guardian

Fulton County authorities charge a woman with arson in relation to an Atlanta Wendy’s restaurant being burnt down the day after police killed Rayshard Brooks there after he fled when they tried to arrest him for DUI. The woman’s lawyer said she was Brooks’ girlfriend. (The New York Post)

The End

841 – In the Battle of Fontenay-en-Puisaye, forces led by Charles the Bald and Louis the German defeat the armies of Lothair I of Italy and Pepin II of Aquitaine.

1741 – Maria Theresa is crowned Queen of Hungary.

1848 – A photograph of the June Days uprising becomes the first known instance of photojournalism.

1876 – Battle of the Little Bighorn and the death of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.

1910 – The United States Congress passes the Mann Act, which prohibits interstate transport of women or girls for “immoral purposes”; the ambiguous language would be used to selectively prosecute people for years to come.

1943 – The Holocaust: Jews in the Częstochowa Ghetto in Poland stage an uprising against the Nazis.

1948 – Cold War: The Berlin airlift begins.

1950 – The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea.

1960 – Cold War: Two cryptographers working for the United States National Security Agency left for vacation to Mexico, and from there defected to the Soviet Union.

1976 – Missouri Governor Kit Bond issues an executive order rescinding the Extermination Order, formally apologizing on behalf of the state of Missouri for the suffering it had caused to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

1996 – The Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia kills 19 U.S. servicemen.

1997 – An unmanned Progress spacecraft collides with the Russian space station Mir.

2017 – The World Health Organization estimates that Yemen has over 200,000 cases of cholera.

 

 

Wednesday,  June 24th, 2020

Fauci ‘really quite concerned’ about ‘disturbing surge’ of coronavirus cases  Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is “quite concerned” as numerous states experience a “disturbing” surge in COVID-19 cases. Fauci testified before the House of Representatives on Tuesday as in recent days states like Arizona, Texas, and Florida have reported a record number of new coronavirus cases. Fauci said “an increase in community spread” seems to explain some spikes, and “that’s something that I’m really quite concerned about.” Fauci also reiterated that he believes there’s a “reasonably good chance” of having a COVID-19 vaccine by early 2021, and he denied that the White House coronavirus task force has been told to slow down testing, despite President Trump recently saying that he told “my people” to do so. Source: NBC News

Fulton County authorities charge a woman with arson after she set fire to a Wendy’s restaurant the day after police killed Rayshard Brooks following a DUI investigation. (The New York Post)

American porn star Ron Jeremy is charged with rape and sexual assault of four women. (The Guardian)

President Halimah Yacob dissolves Parliament and polling day is set on 10 July. (CNA)

NASCAR and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conclude their investigation of the noose found in the garage area of Bubba Wallace, the lone African-American driver in the series, at Talladega Superspeedway. The investigation concluded the “noose” was in fact the garage door pull, and had not been touched or moved since early last fall. (ABC)

 The End

217 BC – The Romans, led by Gaius Flaminius, are ambushed and defeated by Hannibal at the Battle of Lake Trasimene.

109 – Roman emperor Trajan inaugurates the Aqua Traiana, an aqueduct that channels water from Lake Bracciano, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Rome.

1314 – First War of Scottish Independence: The Battle of Bannockburn concludes with a decisive victory by Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce.^[5]

1374 – A sudden outbreak of St. John’s Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion.

1497 – John Cabot lands in North America at Newfoundland leading the first European exploration of the region since the Vikings.

1762 – Battle of Wilhelmsthal: The British-Hanoverian army of Ferdinand of Brunswick defeats French forces in Westphalia.

1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Great Siege of Gibraltar begins.

1812 – Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon’s Grande Armée crosses the Neman river beginning the invasion of Russia.

1813 – Battle of Beaver Dams: A British and Indian combined force defeats the United States Army.

1866 – Battle of Custoza: An Austrian army defeats the Italian army during the Austro-Prussian War.

1916 – Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to sign a million-dollar contract.

1943 – US military police attempt to arrest a black soldier in Bamber Bridge, England, sparking the Battle of Bamber Bridge mutiny that leaves one dead and seven wounded.

1947 – Kenneth Arnold makes the first widely reported UFO sighting near Mount Rainier, Washington, leading to the coining of the phrase “flying saucer”.^[7]

1975 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 encounters severe wind shear and crashes on final approach to New York’s JFK Airport killing 113 of the 124 passengers on board, making it the deadliest U.S. plane crash at the time. This accident led to decades of research into downburst and microburst phenomena and their effects on aircraft.^[9]

1982 – British Airways Flight 9 flies into a cloud of volcanic ash thrown up by the eruption of Mount Galunggung, resulting in the failure of all four engines.^[10]

1989 – Jiang Zemin succeeds Zhao Ziyang to become the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

2002 – The Igandu train disaster in Tanzania kills 281, the worst train accident in African history.

2012 – Death of Lonesome George, the last known individual of Chelonoidis nigra abingdonii, a subspecies of the Galápagos tortoise.

2013 – Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is found guilty of abusing his power and engaging in sex with an underage prostitute, and is sentenced to seven years in prison.