Big Time News Blog: 06/10/20

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

When It Works to ‘Defund the Police’

By BY NICHOLAS KRISTOF from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/3dMTpDP

Trump Rejects Renaming Military Bases Named After Confederate Generals

By BY PETER BAKER AND HELENE COOPER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/30u5oCl

Corrections: June 11, 2020

By Unknown Author from NYT Corrections https://ift.tt/2ATYPhU

Senator Grassley, Don’t Back Down

By BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2YtX7Mm

Kamala Harris Is Done Explaining Racism

By BY LISA LERER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/30tCToj

PG&E Appoints a New Board as It Eyes Its Bankruptcy Exit

By BY IVAN PENN from NYT Business https://ift.tt/2BYpOJL

Over 60 New York Times Graphs for Students to Analyze

By BY THE LEARNING NETWORK from NYT The Learning Network https://ift.tt/2XRjCvj

Museums Collect Protest Signs to Preserve History in Real Time

By BY GRAHAM BOWLEY from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/3ffB8Q2

Former Athletes File Sex Abuse Lawsuits Against U.S.A. Swimming

By BY JULIET MACUR from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2ArAf87

Dr. Birx Says George Floyd Protests Have Resulted in the Destruction of 70 Covid-19 Testing Sites

Dr. Deborah Birx, President Trump’s coronavirus response coordinator, warned the nation’s governors on a conference call that 70 coronavirus testing sites had been destroyed amid widespread protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd.During the Monday call, a recording of which was obtained by the Daily Beast, Birx said governors should “scramble now to make sure there is testing available in urban areas.” Vice President Mike Pence, the head of the White House coronavirus task force, said that spikes in cases stemming from the unrest are “an issue our team is following and there is a concern.”Birx’s comments mirror those of Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has raised concerns that the protests could lead to a spike in cases. “It’s a perfect set up for further spread of the virus in the sense of creating these blips which might turn into some surges,” Fauci admitted on local D.C. radio station WTOP last week.Members of the Washington, D.C., National Guard have already tested positive for coronavirus since being deployed on May 31 to help deal with mass demonstrations and rioting in the nation’s capitol.Data shows that Texas, California, Oregon, North and South Carolina, Mississippi, Utah, Arkansas, and Arizona have all seen sharp increases in coronavirus hospitalizations since Memorial Day weekend, as states have begun to open up following months of lockdowns.“There is active community spread in California, North Carolina, Utah, and Arizona,” Birx said on the call, adding that her team had seen evidence of community spread in “metro Hispanic neighborhoods.”

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Virginia judge blocks governor's demand to pull down Confederate statue

The injunction was issued by a Richmond City Circuit Court judge on Monday, the Post reported. A lawyer for the man who sought the injunction - William C. Gregory - did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Northam's office.

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Israel's Supreme Court strikes down law legalizing settlements on private Palestinian land

Court votes to repeal 2017 measure that said settlers could stay on land if they built there without knowing of Palestinian ownership.

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Swedes await answer to riddle of Prime Minister Olof Palme's 1986 murder

Swedes may get an answer on Wednesday to the mystery of who shot Social Democrat Prime Minister Olof Palme when the Swedish prosecutor in charge of the case presents his conclusions to an investigation that has lasted 34 years. Palme was shot dead in central Stockholm in 1986 after a visit to the cinema with his wife and son. The murder sparked a massive manhunt and a plethora of conspiracy theories involving shadowy forces ranging from the CIA and Kurdish separatists to the South African security services.

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Is international travel allowed yet? See when Jamaica, Bahamas, Austria plan to reopen borders

Jamaica is preparing to welcome back international tourists June 15, while Austria requires negative coronavirus tests and won't allow direct flights.

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Hong Kong leader says financial hub cannot afford more 'chaos'

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam warned on Tuesday the city could not afford further "chaos" as it marked the first anniversary of the start of rolling mass pro-democracy protests. More than a million people flooded the streets a year ago to protest a bill by Ms Lam's government that would have allowed people to be extradited to mainland China, where courts are controlled by the Communist Party, for trial. Ms Lam later withdrew the bill but the legislation triggered widespread concern that the central government in Beijing was stifling freedoms in the global financial hub, sparking months of anti-government protests. "All of us can see the difficulty we have been through in the past year, and due to such serious situations we have more problems to deal with," Ms Lam said during her weekly media conference, which coincided with the anniversary. "We need to learn from mistakes, I wish all lawmakers can learn from mistakes - that Hong Kong cannot bear such chaos."

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An electric pickup truck with a longer range than Tesla's Cybertruck will soon be up for preorder — check out the Nikola Badger

Nikola's Badger pickup truck has an estimated range of up to 600 miles and can hit 60 mph in 2.9 seconds.

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Sweden says 34 year mystery of Palme assassination is solved

Closing a chapter on Sweden's most notorious unsolved crime: the assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme.

[Head of investigation, Hans Melander, spoke via a translator on Wednesday:] "Well we can say that this is one of the biggest police investigations in the world. It is often compared to the assassination of JFK and also with the Lockerbie bombing and if we look to Sweden then of course it is by far Sweden's biggest criminal investigation ever.''

Palme, the leader of Sweden's Social Democrats, was shot dead in central Stockholm in 1986 after a visit to the cinema.

A Swedish prosecutor closed the case on Wednesday (June 10).

Krister Petersson, who has led an investigation into the case since 2017, said the killer was Stig Engstrom, a suspect long known to Swedes as "Skandia man" after the company where he worked, with offices near the scene of the shooting.

Engstrom, known to have been at the scene, was repeatedly questioned in early investigations but dismissed as a serious suspect at the time.

He died in the year 2000.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said on Wednesday (June 10) that he hoped the findings could begin healing the wounds left by the national trauma of the assassination 34 years ago.

Lofven said that while a conviction and more definitive evidence would have been desirable, the current investigation had gone further than previous inquiries.

Palme's son, Marten, told public service radio he also believed Engstrom was the killer, but said, quote, "unfortunately there is no real conclusive evidence."

Conspiracy theories around the assassination blamed a range of forces, from the CIA and Kurdish separatists to the South African security services.

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Minneapolis police chief ends negotiations with police union in a bid for reform

The move comes amid heightened awareness of the role police unions sometimes play in stifling reform efforts that aim to combat police brutality.

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Family of black Frenchman who died in police custody call for protests

The family of a black Frenchman who died in police custody in circumstances similar to the killing of George Floyd in the United States spurned talks with the justice minister and called on Tuesday for more street protests instead. Adama Traore was celebrating his 24th birthday on July 19, 2016, when three police officers used their weight to restrain him. "We're demanding acts of justice, not discussions" Assa Traore, Adama's sister, told a press conference."We'll protest in the streets, every week, if necessary."

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