| Cyprus to launch SMS campaign to stem migrant arrivals Posted: 31 May 2020 04:22 PM PDT |
| Russia and Turkey risk turning Libya into another Syria Posted: 31 May 2020 04:16 PM PDT  Gen Haftar's forces have been beaten back from Tripoli but that does not mean peace is at hand.
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| Atlanta mayor: 2 officers fired in 'excessive force' arrests Posted: 31 May 2020 04:01 PM PDT  Two police officers have been fired and three others placed on desk duty over excessive use of force during a protest arrest incident involving two college students, Atlanta's mayor said Sunday. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said at a news conference that she and police Chief Erika Shields made the decision after reviewing body-camera footage of a Saturday night incident that first gained attention from video online and on local news. "Use of excessive force is never acceptable," Bottoms told reporters.
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| Trump Quits the World Health Organization. The Victim Is the United States. Posted: 31 May 2020 01:38 PM PDT  This article was published originally by PassBlue, a partner of The Daily Beast which provides independent coverage of the United Nations. It was written by Barbara Crossette.Two weeks after President Trump fired off a characteristically intemperate letter to the director-general of the World Health Organization, accusing him of incompetence in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, the reputation of the agency has been damaged far less than the image of the United States. That is, to judge by the reaction of global public health specialists.Billionaire Couple Showered GOP With Money. Now They Need a Coronavirus Lifeline.In the days that followed, the four-page, prosecutorial-sounding letter to Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus created shockwaves. The letter ended with the charge that WHO's "repeated missteps" in handling the response to the COVID-19 outbreak "have been extremely costly for the world." It gave Tedros 30 days to reform the body.Then Trump, increasingly cornered politically, didn't even get to halftime. On Friday, May 29, he did the unimaginable: withdraw the U.S. from the world's most important health organization.Why? It was a Friday afternoon, when Washington swamp creatures think no one is paying attention. Minneapolis was on fire after the murder of a black man by white police, and all Trump could do was fan the flames. Twitter had to moderate his rant—"when the looting starts, the shooting starts"—which so many people interpreted as racist.More than 102,000 Americans are now dead in a COVID-19 pandemic that history will record as the result of a lack of planning, denial and finally the "open up" America push. The U.S. now has the highest rate of unemployment in its history, and new COVID-19 cases are beginning to spike.A few of Trump's pals and his political advisers with their eye on the next presidential election are telling the media that they could see he will be in trouble, as polls were starting to show.Trump's big moment in space travel, the launching of the first "private enterprise" rocket to the intranational space station, was canceled by bad weather. What did he do next for a distraction?Trump had long been demeaning and threatening the WHO with the permanent loss of U.S. dues and donations. The U.S. total in dues and voluntary contributions would normally contribute about 22 percent to the entire WHO program budget (currently set at about $4 billion a year), but Trump withheld U.S. funds in 2019 and 2020.Until now, the U.S. government and its Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been leaders in global public health, and direct threats to the WHO, crowned by the precipitous withdrawal from the organization, were stunning and worrying.David Nabarro, a British health and development expert whom Tedros appointed as special envoy on COVID-19 in February, said last week, before Trump's impulsive action on Friday:"Suddenly, we're told, Sorry, we have to have a 20 percent cash cut," Nabarro said in a virtual conversation event for the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. "We're messing up. We haven't done anything good."Nabarro had been the most formidable opponent to Tedros in 2017, when the 194 governments represented in the World Health Organization elected Tedros director-general for a five-year term."You wonder," Nabarro said. "What could possibly lead a country which has been such an important leader in global health on so many issues to just say, We're out."I want to be told what we could have done better," Nabarro said, "but not right in the middle of this extraordinary, dangerous, damaging crisis."Fact-checkers have shredded Trump's letter, including in The Lancet, an international professional medical journal. By now, a widely accepted analysis of the missive and the action that followed is that it was intended as much to castigate China as attack the WHO under Tedros. He is a former Ethiopian health minister from a continent that the American president has dismissed in scatological terms.Tedros was caught in the crossfire as Trump moved targets, searching for scapegoats for a burgeoning American health catastrophe. Tedros, Trump said, was working too closely with the Chinese at the expense of transparency about the early progression of the disease, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.Forgotten was the praise Trump heaped on Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, for his managing of COVID-19 in those early days of the pandemic—or Trump's own negligence in preparing the U.S. for it. With his popularity slipping, Trump may think he can ride anti-Chinese attacks to re-election victory in November, and Republican politicians are falling into line, as Dana Milbank reported recently in The Washington Post.A lot has happened since Trump blasted Tedros, and the story is not ending well for Washington. On May 19, a day after the letter was dispatched, the World Health Assembly, the governing body of member nations that decides the rules for the WHO officials, adopted as part of its final agreement a long list of actions that member governments could take in dealing with the COVID-19 case.The agreement also said "to initiate, at the earliest appropriate moment, and in consultation with Member States . . . a stepwise process of impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation" of the organization's handling of the crisis. (Trump said he would have an independent American "review.")The U.S. delegation to the assembly, led by Alex Azar, the secretary of health and human services, did not oppose the conclusions of the Assembly, apart from deleting two items that Trump's anti-abortion advocates considered Trojan horses.On May 26, the WHO halted trials of hydroxychloroquine, a drug touted and claimed to be taken by Trump against the virus that some studies have found to be potentially dangerous.Michael Ryan, the organization's chief of emergency responses, said in a briefing at the headquarters in Geneva that there was no indication of safety problems so far with hydroxychloroquine in trials being done for the WHO. He added, however, "We're just acting on an abundance of caution based on the recent results of all the studies to ensure that we can continue safely."The next day, May 27, Thomas Zeltner, a former secretary of health of Switzerland and the director-general of the Swiss National Health Authority, announced the formation of an independent WHO Foundation, which will raise funds for the agency from the public.Private sector and philanthropic foundations have been major supporters of United Nations work in many areas, so much that critics fear that these outsiders are holding certain positions to set agendas. Business Insider reported in 2018 that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has been a leading backer of global health projects, spent $4.78 billion on charity in 2017—the year Tedros became head of the WHO—and that most of the money went to projects run by the Gates.Around the world, this is not just a story about Trump and Tedros.In Singapore, Noeleen Heyzer, a former United Nations under secretary-general and the first woman to lead the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific as its executive secretary, said in a memo to PassBlue that broader issues are at stake. The UN Security Council is failing in its duties, she said."Leaders in South East Asia," she wrote,"were hoping for stronger U.S. leadership in global health security at this historical moment, as they had seen in prior epidemics discussed by the Security Council like Ebola and HIV/AIDS."Instead, the Trump administration blocked a Security Council draft resolution calling for "an end to hostilities worldwide so that there could be a full focus on fighting COVID-19, a once -in-a-century pandemic," Heyzer wrote. "Agreement could not be reached because of President Trump's . . . objecting to the reference to 'the urgent need to support . . . all relevant entities of the United Nations system, including specialized health agencies' in the fight against the pandemic."The U.S. also wanted China named as the source of the virus."The failure to reach agreement undermines the urgent need for a coordinated global response at a time our world faces an unprecedented crisis and is entering an extremely dangerous period," Heyzer added. "This is the time for responsible multilateral leadership. The Security Council should be able to do its job and not be hampered by big-power rivalry and politics."In the U.S., numerous nongovernmental organizations have challenged assertions and data used by Trump in his letter to Tedros. A concise fact sheet, titled "Coronavirus Disinformation to Defund the World Health Organization," has just been published jointly by Ipas and the International Women's Health Coalition. It covers the mandate and scope of the WHO and its role in emergencies as well as Trump's history of complaints about its work.In London, the Science Media Center, which collects and disseminates relevant expert quotes, analyses and fact sheets on topical issues, recently published references to the COVID-19 crisis and the Trump letter to Tedros at the WHO.Some recent postings on the site from specialists in public health and infectious diseases, often from researchers at leading British universities, illustrate that that there is scant credence given to key points in Trump's letter to Tedros. Experts also explain rules imposed on the WHO officials by governments, including limits on access to national research facilities—and sometimes on country visits without invitations.Almost universally, contributors to the site, while acknowledging criticisms that can be made about the WHO, see Trump's actions as political and not in the interest of public health.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Unrest devastates a city's landmark street of diversity Posted: 31 May 2020 01:00 PM PDT  Along the miles-long Minneapolis street where more than a century of migrants have found their American footholds -- Germans, Swedes, Vietnamese, Somalis, Mexicans -- a new history can be traced. There's the smoldering police station torched early Thursday morning by protesters enraged by the death of George Floyd while in custody. There's the Wells Fargo bank branch a couple of blocks away that mobs stormed through the next night, leaving behind a carpet of shattered glass and strewn paperwork.
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| Israeli police probe false claims in case against PM's wife Posted: 31 May 2020 11:59 AM PDT  Israeli police on Sunday said they were investigating whether two employees at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's official residence gave false testimony in a civil case against his wife, Sara Netanyahu — reportedly in order to help her fend off accusations of mistreating a housekeeper. Sara Netanyahu faces a civil lawsuit from former employee Shira Raban, who claims the premier's wife mistreated her during a brief stint working at the residence. Israeli police confirmed an investigation "is being conducted with the approval of the Attorney General and the supervision of the State Attorney's Office."
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| Iran says virus cases surpass 150,000 Posted: 31 May 2020 11:49 AM PDT  Iran said its caseload of novel coronavirus infections passed the grim milestone of 150,000 on Sunday, as the country struggles to contain a recent upward trend. The government has largely lifted the restrictions it imposed in order to halt a COVID-19 outbreak that first emerged in mid-February. Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 2,516 new cases were confirmed across the country in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 151,466.
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| Quarantine plan faces Tory revolt when they reach Commons this week - as senior backbencher brands it unworkable Posted: 31 May 2020 11:10 AM PDT  The Government's quarantine plans face a Tory revolt when they reach the Commons this week, as a senior MP warned it was the "wrong policy" that will damage the economy. Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, will on Tuesday lay the regulations in Parliament enacting the quarantine under which all international arrivals, including returning Britons, will be required to self-isolate for 14 days. However, more than 20 Tory MPs including at least seven former ministers are demanding a rethink of the plans that are scheduled to come into force on June 8 and the introduction of "air bridges" with low-risk countries. Huw Merriman, Conservative chair of the transport select committee, said: "Personally, I think it's the wrong policy at this time and disproportionately impacts the economy. "We should ditch blanket quarantine and self-distancing on planes and have different measures such as air bridges, compulsory PPE and temperature testing at airports." Henry Smith, the Conservative MP who has formed a cross-party aviation group to campaign on the issue, said: "I would respectfully ask the Government to think again and listen to the growing groundswell of opinion against quarantine measures." About 50 MPs now back the group including former Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, former aviation minister Paul Maynard, former immigration minister Caroline Nokes, ex-transport and health minister Stephen Hammond and former Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers. Former Brexit minister Steve Baker, the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, ex-transport minister Nus Ghani, ex-health minister Philip Dunne and Andrew Griffiths – Boris Johnson's chief business advisor until December - are also understood to be opposed. The quarantine plan will be laid before Parliament as a statutory instrument which does not automatically go to a vote. Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle will have to decide whether the scale of opposition merits a debate although MPs fear it could be caught in the row over electronic voting. It comes as 217 tourism and travel businesses, including leading hotels, restaurateurs and travel firms have also now endorsed a letter to Ms Patel saying the quarantine plans are unworkable and economically damaging. According to the campaigners, they account for more than £5 billion sales. The Home Office, however, has defended the plans and warned that "air bridges" could themselves be unworkable. "There's no point having an air bridge to the south of France if someone could then cross to the north of Italy and be in a virus hotspot," said one source. "It gets very, very complicated very quickly. "Down the line, when it is reviewed three weeks on, any changes can be considered but it's got to be led by the science. Everyone wants to come out of this as soon as possible but we can only do it when it is safe. "The last thing we want is a second wave [of the disease]. It would be horrendous for the economy to go back into lockdown now." Britain's higher infection rate could also threaten the air bridge plan. Yesterday Spain joined Greece in excluding British tourists from a list of countries allowed to fly in when they start to lift travel restrictions this month (June) because of the UK's high infection rate. Spain's tourist minister Maria Reyes Maroto said: "There the health situation still has to improve. For us it is important to guarantee that people arrive healthy and leave healthy."
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| Number 10 warns EU they must 'kick things into gear' over trade talks or risk no deal Posted: 31 May 2020 10:35 AM PDT  The European Union needs to "kick things into gear much faster", government sources warned on as they said foot dragging over negotiations would leave it "too late" to agree a deal. On Tuesday, the UK will enter into its fourth round of trade talks with Brussels and continue until Friday. Speaking ahead of the talks, Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, accused Britain of not keeping its commitments and said: "The UK has been taking a step back - two steps back, three steps back - from the original commitments." However a senior British government source said: "It is the UK that is driving any progress being made in this negotiation. The Commission are either not ready or not willing to inject momentum. "They need to put some political reality into their approach, and appreciate that they cannot use their usual tactic of delay to drag the talks into the Autumn. By then it will be too late, as businesses need to know what to prepare for with as much time as is practicable." The last round of talks ended in mutual recrimination, with the EU and the UK deeply divided over fishing. Britain's chief negotiator ruled out giving European boats access to UK waters in return for better conditions for British financial services in the EU's Single Market. The Political Declaration, a joint document for the trade talks, said a deal on fishing and financial services should be completed by July, ahead of the end of year deadline for a trade deal to be finalised. The formal deadline for any extension to the transition period is next month, with Downing Street repeatedly saying it will not extend the transition period.
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| Faith leaders in dual roles guiding congregations and police Posted: 31 May 2020 10:33 AM PDT  As an African American pastor who serves as a chaplain in the Minneapolis police precinct where the white officer charged with murdering George Floyd worked, the Rev. Charles Graham believes he is exactly where God intended. "God is putting us where he wants us to be," said Graham, pastor emeritus at Macedonia Baptist Church in Minneapolis and chaplain at the 3rd Precinct for six years.
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| Iran suggests up to 225 killed in November protests Posted: 31 May 2020 09:46 AM PDT  Iran's interior minister has suggested that up to 225 people were killed in November protests sparked by a petrol price hike, ISNA news agency reported on Sunday. Officials in Iran have yet to issue an overall death toll for the unrest, while London-based human rights group Amnesty International has put the number at more than 300. The protests erupted on November 15 in several cities and rapidly spread to at least 100 cities and towns, with petrol pumps torched, police stations attacked and shops looted, before being put down by security forces amid a near-total internet blackout.
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| #JusticeForUwa trends in Nigeria after student murdered in church Posted: 31 May 2020 08:42 AM PDT  The hashtag JusticeForUwa is trending after the killing of the 22-year-old woman.
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| Burkina Faso gunmen 'kill dozens' at cattle market in Kompienga Posted: 31 May 2020 08:22 AM PDT  The gunmen arrived on motorbikes, shooting into the crowded market, reports say.
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| SpaceX's historic encore: Astronauts arrive at space station Posted: 31 May 2020 06:02 AM PDT  SpaceX delivered two astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Sunday, following up a historic liftoff with an equally smooth docking in yet another first for Elon Musk's company. With test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken poised to take over manual control if necessary, the SpaceX Dragon capsule pulled up to the station and docked automatically, no assistance needed. The hatches swung open a few hours later, and the two Dragon riders floated into the orbiting lab and embraced the three station residents.
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| World alarmed by violence in US; thousands march in London Posted: 31 May 2020 06:00 AM PDT  Nations around the world have watched in horror at the civil unrest in the United States following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer pressed his knee on his neck until he stopped breathing. Racism-tinged events no longer startle even America's closest allies, though many have watched coverage of the often-violent protests with growing unease. Floyd's death on May 25 in Minneapolis was the latest in a series of deaths of black men and women at the hands of police in the U.S.
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| Many states scrambling to update hurricane plans for virus Posted: 31 May 2020 04:21 AM PDT  Officials across the U.S. South are still scrambling to adjust their hurricane plans to the coronavirus. The Associated Press surveyed more than 70 counties and states from Texas to Virginia, with more than 60% of coastal counties saying as of late May that they're still solidifying plans for public hurricane shelters. In Georgia's McIntosh County, south of Savannah, Emergency Management Agency Director Ty Poppell said evacuations during the pandemic would be a "nightmare."
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| Protesters in some cities target Confederate monuments Posted: 31 May 2020 03:46 AM PDT  Protesters demonstrating against the death of George Floyd, a black man who pleaded for air as a white police officer pressed his knee on his neck, targeted Confederate monuments in multiple cities. As tense protests swelled across the country Saturday into Sunday morning, monuments in Virginia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Mississippi were defaced. The presence of Confederate monuments across the South — and elsewhere in the United States — has been challenged for years, and some of the monuments targeted were already under consideration for removal.
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| Iran says US talks 'futile', denounces black American's death Posted: 31 May 2020 03:34 AM PDT  Iran's new parliament speaker said Sunday any negotiations with Washington would be "futile" as he denounced the death of a black American that has led to violent protests across the US. Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards' air force, was elected speaker on Thursday of a chamber dominated by ultra-conservatives following February elections. The newly formed parliament "considers negotiations with and appeasement of America, as the axis of global arrogance, to be futile and harmful," he said in his first major speech to the chamber.
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| Pope: Pull together, avoid pessimism in this coronavirus era Posted: 31 May 2020 02:47 AM PDT  Pope Francis is cautioning against pessimism as many people emerge from coronavirus lockdowns to lament that nothing will ever be the same. During Mass in St. Peter's Basilica to mark Pentecost Sunday, Francis noted a tendency to say "nothing will return as before." "In this pandemic, how wrong narcissism is," Francis said, lamenting "the tendency to think only of our needs, to be indifferent to those of others, and to not admit our own frailties and mistakes."
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| Israeli defense minister apologizes for Palestinian's death Posted: 31 May 2020 02:36 AM PDT  The shooting of Iyad Halak, 32, in Jerusalem's Old City on Saturday, drew broad condemnations and revived complaints alleging excessive force by Israeli security forces. Benny Gantz, who is also Israel's "alternate" prime minister under a power-sharing deal, made the remarks at the weekly meeting of the Israeli Cabinet.
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| Egypt officials say 19 militants, 5 troops killed in Sinai Posted: 31 May 2020 02:19 AM PDT |
| Protests flare again in US amid calls to end police violence Posted: 31 May 2020 02:03 AM PDT  Protesters took to the streets across America again Sunday, with violence flaring in pockets of largely peaceful demonstrations fueled by the killings of black people at the hands of police. A truck driver — apparently deliberately — drove into demonstrators in Minneapolis nearly a week after George Floyd pleaded with an officer pressing a knee into his neck that he could not breathe. Protests sprang up from Boston to San Francisco, with people robbing stores in broad daylight in Philadelphia and Santa Monica, California.
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| Iran's new parliament speaker says talks with US 'futile' Posted: 31 May 2020 12:08 AM PDT  Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said any negotiations with the United States would be "futile" as he delivered his first major speech to the conservative-dominated chamber on Sunday. Ghalibaf, a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards' air force, was elected speaker on Thursday after February elections that swung the balance in the legislature towards ultra-conservatives. The newly formed parliament "considers negotiations with and appeasement of America, as the axis of global arrogance, to be futile and harmful," said Ghalibaf.
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| Mosques reopen in Saudi Arabia and Jerusalem amid virus woes Posted: 30 May 2020 11:48 PM PDT  Tens of thousands of mosques across Saudi Arabia reopened Sunday for the first time in more than two months, with worshipers ordered to follow strict guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as Islam's holiest site in Mecca remained closed to the public. The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Islam's holiest site outside of Saudi Arabia, also reopened for prayers for the first time since it was closed in mid-March. With little regard for social distancing, throngs waited outside the holy site's gates before it opened early Sunday, with many wearing surgical masks.
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| The Latest: Tanker drives into crowd; no apparent injuries Posted: 30 May 2020 11:05 PM PDT  Officials in Minnesota say no protesters appear to have been hit after a semitrailer drove into a crowd demonstrating on a freeway near downtown Minneapolis. The Minnesota State Patrol says in a tweet that the action appeared deliberate. TV footage showed protesters swarming the truck, and then law enforcement quickly moving in.
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| DC mayor: We have to be concerned about virus rebound Posted: 30 May 2020 10:56 PM PDT  In hindsight, Rosa Jimenez Cano realizes that attending a protest against police brutality was risky — and not just for the usual reasons. "This can be kind of a tinderbox for COVID," the 39-year-old venture capitalist said after attending a demonstration in Florida, one of many around the country sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after he was pinned at the neck by a white Minneapolis police officer. As more beaches, churches, mosques, schools and businesses reopened worldwide, the sudden and mass civil unrest in the United States is raising fears of new virus outbreaks in a country that has more confirmed infections and deaths than any other.
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| The Hawaii navy base fueling Trump's quest for 'super duper' missiles Posted: 30 May 2020 10:00 PM PDT  Kauai has one of the Pentagon's most valued testing sites. It's an economic driver, but some residents say the military shouldn't be on the islands at allHawaii's "garden island", Kauai, is known for its breathtaking scenery and laid-back vibe, a place of plunging waterfalls and cliffs cloaked in green tropical forests. But beyond its beauty it is one of the Pentagon's most valued testing and training sites in the Pacific.In Hawaii, where the military is the second-largest economic driver, after tourism, weapons testing and training enjoy widespread support, but some residents view the islands' highly militarized state as misguided or even illegal.In missile defense circles, Kauai is known for its outsized role in weapons testing at the navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands (PMRF), which its commanding officer, Capt Timothy Young, likens to a sports stadium that provides a venue for customers (weapons manufacturers, government agencies and military branches) to train people or test new technology.That technology includes ballistic missiles, rockets, drones and hypersonic weapons. In March at PMRF, the US navy and army collaborated in the test launch of a common-hypersonic glide body, which the Pentagon described as a major milestone in its goal to enhance its "hypersonic warfighting capabilities in the early- to mid-2020s". Donald Trump said China and Russia had left the US no choice but to develop hypersonic weapons, which he described as "super duper" missiles. Hypersonic weapons fly faster than five times the speed of sound, making it possible to hit targets thousands of miles away in minutes. The US, Russia and China are all investing heavily in them.Young declined an in-person interview but in an email said: "We test systems and facilitate the fleet's training that ultimately enable our safety and security."As the island's third-largest employer, PMRF also provides jobs that are attractive in a community where the tourism and service sector often pay less and are vulnerable during disruptions like the coronavirus pandemic and associated mandatory 14-day quarantine for all visitors from outside the islands.Young said he appreciated the relationship the base has with multi-generational Hawaiian families. He added that PMRF partnered with local businesses to encourage science, technology, reading and math education. "It's not only the right thing to do when helping to educate our young people, but it also makes good business sense to develop a local workforce." Space force comes to HawaiiPMRF will soon be offering even more jobs on the island as Hawaii's air national guard stands up the 293rd offensive space control squadron using existing infrastructure on the base.The squadron will be one of four units administered by the national guard in California, Colorado, Florida and Hawaii. Tasked with space electronic warfare, the squadron's primary mission will be "to protect and defend satellite communications systems", said Ryan Okahara, the Hawaii air national guard brigadier general.Kauai's mayor, Derek SK Kawakami, welcomes the military presence, saying PMRF sets a good example of how a military base can be embraced by the community through its volunteer efforts, emergency relief contributions, public outreach and openness to civilians."Whether we have a military here or not, if we're making enemies out there, we're a target and so it's best to have at least a shield of defense to protect our people," Kawakami said. "Because we have a presence here, it makes us less vulnerable than not having a presence."Historically, Hawaii has been a strategic location for national and international defense," the mayor continued. "I understand many people may have mixed feelings about that. For myself, I understand the importance of keeping our nation protected and our state protected."Critics of Hawaii's large military presence are less sanguine.Kyle Kajihiro, an instructor with the department of geography and environment at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said: "The technologies involved in these space programs are not only for defense; they can also enhance offensive capabilities. The expansion of these programs in Hawaii would cause countries who may be in the crosshairs of US war plans to perceive us as a threat."History teaches us what happens when other powerful countries weaponize our islands … If the 2018 false missile alert did anything positive, it forced a conversation about how the massive military presence puts a big target over these islands."Sparky Rodrigues, a Native Hawaiian activist opposed to the military in Hawaii, called the US military presence, which dates back to the 1893 overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, an illegal occupation. The bombing of Pearl Harbor, Rodrigues said, wasn't an attack on Hawaii but on the US military."They have basically occupied the space, taken the land, denied access to our resources from long ago, and we are now stuck with them holding the checkbook that supports our families."That sentiment has caused a rift in the Hawaiian community. "We are being poisoned and fed at the same time," Rodrigues said. "The military has poisoned our economy, they've poisoned our land, they've poisoned the air. Every time they do training and missile firing, there's contamination that goes into the environment … I don't want Hawaii to be known as the purveyor of death." Rockets and missilesBase proponents value PMRF as a facility that can accommodate testing and training below the sea, on land, in the sky and in space. In 2018, Japan's ground self-defense forces achieved a first when they launched Type 12 surface-to-surface missiles and Himars rockets at PMRF during the huge Rim of the Pacific maritime exercises.PMRF also hosts the Kauai test facility, operated by Sandia, one of the department of energy's national nuclear laboratories. KTF, which has operated on Kauai since 1962, has supported more than 450 launches, including a series of experimental rocket tests in 2019 to test new technologies being considered for future nuclear weapons life-extension programs.Two of PMRF's most important functions have been for testing Lockheed Martin's Aegis Ashore and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems.> They have occupied the space, taken the land … and we are now stuck with them holding the checkbook that supports our families> > Sparky RodriguesThaad, which is intended to neutralize short-, medium- and limited intermediate-range ballistic missiles, is deployed in Guam, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel and South Korea.Aegis Ashore, a land adaptation of a ship-based BMD system, was introduced to a US naval base in Romania in 2016 and will deployed at a missile defense facility in Poland where it is years behind schedule and $96m over budget.Japan also plans to deploy Aegis Ashore in two locations by 2025. In 2019 and earlier this year, Japan's defense minister traveled to PMRF to inspect the system. And while Tokyo and Washington insist Aegis Ashore is meant to defend against North Korea and Iran, both Moscow and Beijing see the system as an offensive threat.Patrick Shanahan, the former acting secretary of defense, may have stoked those fears when he announced US policy would "shift towards greater integration of offensive and defensive capabilities because missile defense necessarily includes missile offense".PMRF's expanding role comes at a time of heightened tensions between the US and Russia, China, North Korea and Iran. What's more, countries around the world are facing the coronavirus pandemic and an economic freefall, with markets plunging, businesses collapsing and the world driven into crisis.The US Congress has already passed nearly $3tn in emergency response packages to the Covid-19 pandemic, as the Trump administration's 2021 budget sharply increases spending on nuclear weapons, including a new low-yield submarine-launched nuclear weapon and a spending surge on intercontinental ballistic missiles.With the 2019 demise of the INF treaty, the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, growing worries that the US appears poised to abandon the bilateral New Start treaty, which might not be renewed in 2021, and the US Missile Defense Agency seeking new ways to use BMD systems, PMRF's role appears likely to grow.William Hartung, the director of the arms and security project at the Center for International Policy, worries about the lack of public awareness of dramatic policy shifts or scrutiny of emerging technologies, such as hypersonic weapons, that reduce an already short response time to missile launches, as well as the further weaponization of space."I think the economic impact of these military facilities all over the country is a big obstacle to changing how we spend our money, what kind of weapons are pursued, what nuclear policy we have, how we approach space," Hartung said."Because these places become entrenched, local communities depend on them economically and then there's less inclination to question the value or the danger of the activities that are going on."In the face of institutionalized military opacity, Hartung said there was an incentive for the military to avoid openness because "transparency can lead to criticism, criticism can lead to changes in policy, and so if they can stick to generic language and general boilerplate it may serve their interests. But they're sort of short-term interests, they're parochial interests."
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| Police make nearly 1,400 arrests as protests continue Posted: 30 May 2020 07:59 PM PDT  Police have arrested nearly 1,400 people in 17 U.S. cities since Thursday as protests continue over the death of George Floyd. Floyd died Monday in Minneapolis after a police officer put his knee on Floyd's neck for more than 8 minutes. The officer, Derrick Chauvin, was arrested on Friday and charged with third-degree murder.
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| Trump says he is postponing G7 summit Posted: 30 May 2020 07:01 PM PDT  The move comes after German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly declined to participate in an in-person summit in June.
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| Trump delays G7 until fall Posted: 30 May 2020 06:24 PM PDT  Earlier Saturday, Angela Merkel said she "cannot confirm" she would be attending amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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| Officials blame differing groups of 'outsiders' for violence Posted: 30 May 2020 06:17 PM PDT  As protests over the death of George Floyd grow in cities across the U.S., government officials have been warning of the "outsiders" -- groups of organized rioters they say are flooding into major cities not to call for justice but to cause destruction. Police officers across the country were gearing up Saturday for another night of potentially violent clashes in major cities. The finger pointing on both sides of the political spectrum is likely to deepen the political divide in the U.S., allowing politicians to advance the theory that aligns with their political view and distract from the underlying frustrations that triggered the protests.
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| President Trump postpones G7 summit one day after Angela Merkel refuses invitation Posted: 30 May 2020 04:33 PM PDT  One day after Angela Merkel politely rebuffed President Trump's Group of 7 summit June invitation, President Trump has postponed the event, CNN reported late Saturday. The annual summit of the world's top economic powers had been scheduled for June 10-12 at Camp David but ongoing worldwide coronavirus concerns made it likely there would be a postponement. Most of the seven G7 nations: America, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan and Italy have been walloped by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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| Squad cars damaged, protesters struck with batons in Chicago Posted: 30 May 2020 02:57 PM PDT  Several police cars were damaged, including at least one set on fire, as protests continued Saturday over the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes. Officers struck multiple demonstrators with batons amid the protest near the Trump Tower on the city's Near North Side, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a 9 p.m curfew that runs until 6 a.m. Sunday.
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| National Guard called in to quell violence in Los Angeles Posted: 30 May 2020 12:46 PM PDT  A fourth day of violence in Los Angeles prompted the mayor to impose a rare citywide curfew and call in the National Guard after demonstrators clashed repeatedly with officers, torched police vehicles and pillaged businesses in a popular shopping district. Mayor Eric Garcetti said Saturday he asked Gov. Gavin Newsom for 500 to 700 members of the Guard to assist the 10,000 Los Angeles Police Department officers. Garcetti said the soldiers would be deployed "to support our local response to maintain peace and safety on the streets of our city."
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| Police cars burn, windows shatter as protests roil New York Posted: 30 May 2020 08:52 AM PDT  Street protests spiraled into New York City's worst day of unrest in decades Saturday, as fires burned, windows got smashed and dangerous confrontations between demonstrators and officers flared amid crowds of thousands decrying police killings. A day that began with mostly peaceful marches through Harlem and neighborhoods in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens descended into chaos as night fell. Demonstrators smashed windows, hurled objects at officers, torched and battered police vehicles and blocked roads with garbage and wreckage.
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