Sunday, June 7th, 2020

Global coronavirus deaths surpass 400,000  The confirmed global coronavirus death toll has surpassed 400,000, per data collected by Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed infections worldwide is approaching 7 million. The United States, which is nearing 2 million infections, accounts for more than a quarter of the global death total, as the country nears 110,000 since the outbreak began. The United Kingdom has the second highest fatality count at 40,548, followed by Brazil, Italy, and France. Brazil on Saturday stopped publishing a running total of coronavirus infections and deaths, though it will reportedly shows the figures from the previous 24 hours. Cases continue to grow in several other countries, including Russia, Indonesia, and Iran. Source: Al Jazeera

OPEC, allies agree to extend oil production cuts  OPEC and its allies agreed Saturday to extend their record oil production cuts until the end of July, while Iraq and Nigeria agreed to extra cuts from July to September after exceeding production quotas in May and June. In April negotiations led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, OPEC agreed to slash oil production by 9.7 million barrels per day between May and June to prop up prices that collapsed as a result of the coronavirus crisis. While the limits were expected to loosen at the end of June, the group decided it was best to remain cautious amid an uncertain global demand. U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette praised the agreement. Source:  The Guardian

The total tally of cases in Saudi Arabia exceeds 100,000. (Reuters)

Trump says he’s ordering National Guard troops to withdraw from D.C.  President Trump on Sunday said in a Tweet that he has ordered the National Guard to begin withdrawing from Washington, D.C., where they had been deployed to aid local police over the past several days as protesters took to the streets. Trump, who had threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to curtail the protests earlier in the week, said he was sending the Guard home “now that everything is under perfect control.” The president added that “far fewer protesters showed up last night than anticipated,” which contradicts reports suggesting Saturday’s crowds were the biggest in the nation capital since the demonstrations against police brutality began Source: The Hill, President Donald Trump

 

Saturday,  June 6th, 2020

Tens of thousands of people demonstrate against racism in the United Kingdom. A protest on Whitehall in London turns violent and a mounted officer falls from her horse, which then bolts. (BBC)

Two Buffalo police officers are charged with assault after they were recorded on video violently shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground and causing him to be hospitalized with a head injury. (The Washington Post)

57 members of the Buffalo Police Department’s Emergency Response Team resign in protest of the city’s decision to suspend two officers after injuring a 75-year-old on Thursday. (ABC News)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/

The End Sunday

Saturday,  June 6th, 2020

Crowd gathers at Lincoln Memorial for protest  A quickly-growing, peaceful crowd of more than a thousand has reportedly gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, as the city prepares for a full day of large demonstrations in response to the death of George Floyd, who was killed by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May. D.C. police were planning to prohibit vehicle traffic in much of Washington’s downtown area. Meanwhile, the Pentagon this week reportedly told the small group of National Guardsmen deployed to the capital who had been carrying guns to disarm, and the department also announced that all active-duty military forces on standby would be sent to their home bases. Defense Secretary Mark Esper made the decision to disarm the Guard without consulting the White House, The Washington Post reports.Source: Reuters

2 Buffalo police officers charged with assault  Two Buffalo police officers, Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski, were both charged with one count of second-degree assault Saturday, prosecutors said, after they were seen on video Thursday shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground during protests against police brutality. The officers have pleaded not guilty and were released without bail. The video sparked outrage across the country, which intensified when the Buffalo Police Department said the protester, Martin Gugino, tripped and fell. Gugion was hospitalized with a head injury resulting from the fall. He is now in “serious, but stable condition” and is “progressing in his recovery.” McCabe and Torgalski were suspended without pay Friday, prompting the 57 of their colleagues on the Buffalo Police Department’s emergency response team to resign from the unit — but not the police force altogether — in their defense. Source: NPR

 Trump to withdraw 9,500 troops stationed in Germany President Trump on Friday directed the Pentagon to permanently remove 9,500 of the 34,500 American troops stationed in Germany, The Wall Street Journal reports. A senior U.S. official said the move had been in the works since last September and was not related to recent disagreements between Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But the official did say the decision is consistent with Trump’s frustration over the fact that Germany, a key member of NATO, doesn’t meet the alliance’s goal of spending 2 percent of its GDP on defense. A senior German defense official said Berlin hasn’t been formally notified of the decision. Source:  The New York Times

Goodell says NFL was ‘wrong,’ encourages players to ‘peacefully protest’ In response to demands from players this week, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday the league now encourages players to “speak out and peacefully protest.” The statement comes several years after former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick launched a movement to kneel during the national anthem before games. The protest against police brutality deeply divided the league at the time, and Kaepernick has remained unsigned since the 2016 season. But Goodell now says the league was “wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier.” The reversal comes amid a wave of protests across the country, sparked by George Floyd’s death while in police custody. Goodell said he is also personally protesting and wants “to be part of the much-needed change in this country.” Source: ESPN

A three-alarm fire causes major damage to Amazon’s distribution center in Redlands, California. Despite the extent of the damage and the collapse of the roof, no injuries are reported as the staff was safely evacuated. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation. (CNN)

Former Vice President Joe Biden surpasses the required 1,991 delegates to win the Democratic nomination. He will face off against incumbent President Donald Trump in the general election in November. (NPR)

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Friday,  June 5th, 2020

Riots break out and the governor’s palace is attacked in Guadalajara, Mexico, after police officers in Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos beat a young worker to death for not wearing a medical mask. (Puerto Vallarta Daily News)

New York City reports its first day without COVID-19 deaths since March 11. (CNBC)

The COVID-19 death toll in the United Kingdom passes over 40,000. (The Independent)

The mass annual vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests at Victoria Park, Hong Kong, is banned by the city police for the first time, citing concerns of local COVID-19 transmissions. Local commemorations are held across the city. (Hong Kong Free Press)

Tens of thousands of people, in multiple locations across Hong Kong, defy the ban against gatherings to observe the anniversary, carrying lit candles and chanting democracy slogans. The largest group, in Victoria Park, heard Lee Cheuk-yan, former Chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, read the Alliance’s manifesto and vow to return next year.  (International Business Times)

Unemployment rate surprisingly declines to 13.3 percent  The Labor Department on Friday unexpectedly said the U.S. unemployment rate declined to 13.3 percent in May after rising to 14.7 percent in April. The report surprised experts, as economists had been forecasting that the unemployment rate would increase to around 20 percent. The report showed that 2.5 million jobs were added in May after in April, 20.7 million jobs were lost. All 50 states have started reopening their economies after shutting down during the coronavirus pandemic, and the Labor Department said “these improvements in the labor market reflected a limited resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed in March and April.” The report pointed to “leisure and hospitality, construction, education and health services, and retail trade” as areas where employment “rose sharply.” Source:  The New York Times

Minneapolis agrees to outlaw police chokeholds  Minneapolis agreed Friday to ban police chokeholds after negotiations with Minnesota’s Department of Human Rights. The decision comes after a police officer kneeled on George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes last week; two autopsies found Floyd died from asphyxia “due to neck and back compression” by the officer. In the new agreement, chokeholds will be illegal and any police officer who witnesses an illegal use of force must intervene verbally or physically and immediately report the incident, or face disciplinary action. Three ex-police officers witnessed Floyd’s death and have since been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. The agreement to update chokehold policies in Minneapolis will require court approval. Source: The Associated Press

Dow climbs more than 800 points after May’s better-than-expected jobs report  The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed more than 829 points on Friday following a jobs report that showed the unemployment rate surprisingly decline. The S&P 500 also jumped 2.6 percent. The Labor Department said the unemployment rate declined to 13.3 percent in May as the economy added 2.5 million jobs. While the unemployment rate remains high, it wasn’t expected to decline at all in May, and economists were predicting around 20 percent unemployment. Friday marked the first time the Dow closed above 27,000 in three months, and Wall Street is close to January numbers recorded before the coronavirus pandemic affected the economy. The S&P 500 is reportedly close to recouping all of its 2020 losses. Source: CNBC

 

Thursday, June 4th, 2020

Los Angeles officials announce an end to the county-wide curfew amid continuing protests. (Los Angeles Times)

Two Buffalo police officers are suspended without pay after shoving a 75-year-old protestor to the ground. He has been hospitalized from the resulting head injury. (The New York Times)

Brazil surpasses Italy with the third high COVID-19 death toll. (The Guardian)

 

 

The End