Oklahoma City

'Boogaloo' arrests in Nevada portray extremists using protests to incite civil war 

Two men charged with conspiring to incite violence and civil unrest at protests over the killing of George Floyd previously sought to do the same thing at protests against coronavirus lockdowns, federal prosecutors say.

Tired of troops on the streets, Washington, D.C., names 'Black Lives Matter Plaza' outside the White House

Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the change Friday morning, but a local Black Lives Matter group called it "a performative distraction."

Buffalo police riot squad quit to back officers who shoved man

The police union says the two officers who pushed over an elderly man "were simply doing their job".

Tropical Storm Cristobal aims at Gulf Coast

Tropical Storm Cristobal in the southern Gulf of Mexico is beginning on a path expected to take it to the Gulf Coast along with the heavy rains that have caused flooding and mudslides in Mexico and Central America.

Tom Cotton’s Foes Are Embracing Authoritarianism

It was probably inevitable that, at some point, the New York Times would become engulfed in the national controversy over racism and everything that’s wrong with America.

Denver police fire pepper balls at man yelling that his pregnant fiancée is in car

“Honestly I thought I was going to die. I thought I was going to be the next black man shot by police,” the man said.

Bolsonaro threatens WHO exit as COVID-19 kills 'a Brazilian per minute'

President Jair Bolsonaro threatened on Friday to pull Brazil out of the World Health Organization after the U.N. agency warned Latin American governments about the risk of lifting lockdowns before slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus throughout the region. A new Brazilian record for daily COVID-19 fatalities pushed the county's death toll past that of Italy late on Thursday, but Bolsonaro continues to argue for quickly lifting state isolation orders, arguing that the economic costs outweigh public health risks. Latin America's most populous nations, Brazil and Mexico, are seeing the highest rates of new infections, though the pandemic is also gathering pace in countries such as Peru, Colombia, Chile and Bolivia.

'Kettling' of Peaceful Protesters Shows Aggressive Shift by New York Police

NEW YORK -- It was about 8:45 p.m. in Brooklyn on Wednesday, 45 minutes past the city's curfew, when a peaceful protest march encountered a line of riot police, near Cadman Plaza.Hundreds of demonstrators stood there for 10 minutes, chanting, arms raised, until their leaders decided to turn the group around and leave the area.What they had not seen was that riot police had flooded the plaza behind them, engaging in a law enforcement tactic called kettling, which involves encircling protesters so that they have no way to exit from a park, city block or other public space, and then charging them and making arrests.For the next 20 minutes in downtown Brooklyn, officers swinging batons turned a demonstration that had been largely peaceful into a scene of chaos.The kettling operations carried out by the city's police after curfew on recent nights have become among the most unsettling symbols of the department's use of force against peaceful protests, which has touched off a fierce backlash against Mayor Bill de Blasio and the police commissioner, Dermot F. Shea.In the past several days, New York Times journalists covering the protests have seen officers repeatedly charge at demonstrators after curfew with seemingly little provocation, shoving them onto sidewalks, striking them with batons and using other aggressive tactics.The escalation in the use of force in New York is part of a national trend. Across the country, local police have resorted to violent tactics to control the protest movement that was ignited by the death George Floyd, a black man, as he was being held down by a white officer in Minneapolis.The strategy has been broadly defended by both de Blasio and Shea, who said it was necessary escalation to deter looters who ransacked parts of Manhattan over the weekend."There comes a point where enough is enough," de Blasio said Thursday.But there have been few reports of looting in the last three days of unrest. Instead, police are deploying their aggressive tactics against protesters who have done little beyond violating the city's 8 p.m. curfew to march. About 270 people were arrested Thursday night.As images of police officers using force to arrest seemingly peaceful demonstrators circulated online, de Blasio, who ran on a platform to reform the police, came under fierce criticism from some elected officials, community leaders and even his former aides. He was jeered and booed at a memorial for Floyd on Thursday.By Friday, after more than a week of protests, the mayor had softened his tone, pledging to review reports of police officers behaving inappropriately and promising he would announce disciplinary measures against some officers shortly.Later, in an interview on WNYC, the mayor said the encircling of protesters was sometimes necessary for public safety."I don't want to see protesters hemmed in if they don't need to be," he said, but he added "that sometimes there's a legitimate problem and it's not visible to protesters."On Thursday, the police commissioner said some police officers could be suspended if their behavior is found to have violated department standards. But he also said the anti-police rhetoric of the protesters and some elected officials who support them was putting officers in danger and he pointed to numerous instances in which the police had been injured with flying debris."We need healing," Shea said. "We need dialogue. We need peace."For many protesters, however, the aggressive tactics of police to enforce the curfew have only worsened the crisis.Axel Hernandez, 30, was protesting at Cadman Plaza on Wednesday night when police rushed into the crowd. Hernandez, who had marched several times this week, said it was one of the most peaceful demonstrations he had attended until the police charged in."That was the most peaceful, no bottles thrown, no anything," he said. "The next thing I know, police rush in, with batons, and started moving people, and start hitting people."The kettle is a crowd control technique that has been used for decades. In theory, officers surround protesters and give them no exit, tire them out, then let them disperse in small groups.But in New York in recent days, the maneuver has often ended with a charge and mass arrests. Since the city put a curfew in place this week, police have used the technique in Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx.According to accounts from Times journalists, other witnesses, and protesters who were arrested, many demonstrators have been trapped in kettle formations by police and have had no way to disperse. In one instance, in Manhattan, police refused to let compliant protesters leave the area and comply with their orders."We were asking them, 'Where should we go?' Everyone's hands were in the air," said Lucas Zwirner, one of the protesters arrested Wednesday after being surrounded by police officers in Manhattan after curfew.Many demonstrators told police they would disperse and go home, Zwirner said, but officers would not let them through.Police officers have used the maneuver to end some marches but not others. In Brooklyn on Wednesday, the police waited until 9 p.m. -- an hour beyond the 8 p.m. curfew -- to surround protesters and charge.The day before, they allowed thousands to march peacefully across the Manhattan Bridge hours after curfew had ended and escorted a group of thousands back to Brooklyn to disperse. In the Bronx on Thursday, officers began surrounding a group of demonstrators before 8 p.m. and began making arrests by 8:02 p.m."We are continuing to exercise discretion," Shea said Thursday evening. "Where we have made arrests, we have made them strategically."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company

Trump says the economy will cure the 'very sad problem' of police killing blacks

Over the past two days, President Trump has twice been asked how he plans to try to fix the daunting problem of systemic racism in police departments across America and both times he has made clear that he believes a healthy economy will do the trick.

One of the officers charged in George Floyd's killing was hired despite having a criminal record and slew of traffic violations

Lane, who was charged this week with aiding George Floyd's killing, had been charged with damaging property, disobeying police, and other offenses.

Elon Musk called for the breakup of Amazon, escalating his fight with Jeff Bezos. Here's a history of the Tesla billionaire's weirdest beefs.

Musk has got into spats and even long-running feuds with an eclectic bunch of people, often over his preferred medium of Twitter.

MSC Cruises extends sailing suspension amid coronavirus pandemic, cancels several 2021 sailings

MSC Cruises is adjusting future plans amid the coronavirus pandemic — including the extension of its fleet-wide halt of cruise operations.

Corrupt Cop Linked to Trump Tower Lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya Exposes Russian Ops

LONDON—A corrupt former police officer who was caught working with Trump Tower lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya has revealed in a Swiss court how Russia’s complex foreign influence campaign targets justice systems in Western countries. The former consultant to the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office was sacked and convicted after his entanglement with Veselnitskaya and the Russian prosecutor general’s office was exposed. He reportedly told a court in Switzerland this week that he discussed a high-profile corruption case against Russia with Russian officials during an all-expenses-paid hunting trip to Siberia. On the visit to the spectacular Kamchatka Peninsula and Lake Baikal, the official, who is identified only as Victor K., reportedly admitted that he spent a week fishing, enjoying the rugged countryside, and hunting for bear, including from a helicopter, with officials from the Russian prosecutor general’s office. Victor K. told the appeals court Tuesday that he had conferred with the Russian officials on the trip about the high-profile Magnitsky case, which he was supposed to be investigating. The $230 million fraud against the Russian people was uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky, who was subsequently detained and beaten by Russian officials, who left him to die in a prison cell. The case led to American sanctions against Russia, which were signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2012, after a campaign by U.S.-born financier Bill Browder. While the Swiss authorities originally froze millions connected to the Magnitsky case that flowed through Switzerland nine years ago, the case has stalled.The appeals court ruled Friday that Victor K. was guilty of improperly accepting the hunting trip, but it dismissed the fine that had been imposed by a lower court. “The decision holds; he received undue benefit from the Russians, but it’s just a slap on the wrist for a serious crime,” Browder told The Daily Beast. “The fact that the Swiss discovered a Russian mole and he bears effectively no consequence is pretty alarming, and makes Switzerland look like a banana republic.”According to a lawyer who attended the hearing, Victor K. told the court that he had spent three or four hours discussing the Magnitsky case with the Russian officials. The lawyer’s transcript also said he told his bosses in the Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office that they should drop the case, because they would never be able to follow the money trail, which he likened to finding the source of several bottles of wine once they had all been poured into the same barrel.On a previous trip to Moscow, Swiss court papers revealed that Victor K. met Veselnitskaya, the lawyer responsible for the notorious Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner.Victor K., who was responsible for working on investigations into the Swiss financial dealing of the Russian mafia and oligarchs for decades, had met Veselnitskaya’s collaborator, Russian Deputy Attorney General Saak Albertovich Karapetyan, in Geneva, Zurich, and Moscow “without the knowledge of his superiors,” according to Swiss court papers. Karapetyan was one of the members of the delegation on the Siberian hunting retreat.Novaya Gazeta reported last month that Victor K. mysteriously continued to take trips to Russia after he stopped working for the Swiss authorities.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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.

US Marines order Confederate flag to be removed from public display

The US Marine Corps has officially ordered the removal of the Confederate battle flag from public display on its bases and offices, citing the flag's use by racist groups as a "threat to our core values".In a statement on 5 June, the service branch said: "The Confederate battle flag has all too often been co-opted by violent extremist and racist groups whose divisive beliefs have no place in our Corps."

Mexico alleges some doctors sold false death certificates

Mexico City officials said Friday that prosecutors are investigating several doctors who allegedly issued false death certificates for people who may have died of the coronavirus. As deaths mount in Mexico, the need to quickly dispose of corpses has apparently led to a black market in death certificates. Mexico reported 625 newly confirmed COVID-19 deaths Friday, down from a peak of 1,092 on Wednesday and 816 on Thursday.

France tells China it still backs 'one country, two systems' for Hong Kong

French President Emmanuel Macron has told Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping he is following events in Hong Kong closely and continues to back the "one country, two systems" principle for Beijing's rule over the city, an Elysee official said. "The President said he was monitoring the (Hong Kong) situation closely and reiterated France's support for the principle of 'one country, two systems'," the official told Reuters on Saturday. China has approved security legislation for Hong Kong that democracy activists, diplomats and some in business fear will jeopardise its semi-autonomous status and its role as a global financial hub.

How the Coronavirus Crisis Exposed the False Promise of Iran-China Partnership

An alliance that will never occur?

Trump praises success against coronavirus in states that are seeing cases spike

“Look at what’s going in Florida, it’s incredible,” Trump said at one point. “The job the governor of Florida’s done, it’s incredible. The numbers they’re doing ... you gotta open it up.” Much like Florida, Georgia has had the integrity of its coronavirus numbers questioned.

Study: Blood pressure drug could lower virus deaths

A new study has found drugs that are widely used to control high blood pressure may help protect against severe COVID-19 infections.

'They pepper-sprayed him to death': Mom of dead prisoner speaks out

The incident began when inmate Jamel Floyd barricaded himself inside his cell and used a metal object to break the cell-door window, authorities said.

Fact check: Huntington Beach photos comparing coronavirus protest, BLM protest are real

A recent Facebook post compares two photos from protests at Huntington Beach, California.

Minneapolis Neighborhood Patrols Fear White Supremacists Are Infiltrating to Derail Protests

MINNEAPOLIS—Edward walked up to an SUV full of four armed white men on Monday night, pumped his shotgun, and told them to get out of his neighborhood.The men—who he said were armed with hunting knives and wearing tactical vests—told him they were from a suburb south of the city. After repeatedly asking them what they were doing and why they were in the Field neighborhood of South Minneapolis, Edward signaled to his wife, who retrieved the weapon and gave it to her husband.“I just figured I’d respond using the language and methods that they use, and it worked,” Edward, who requested to use a pseudonym out of concern for his safety, told The Daily Beast.The incident speaks to the fear that has descended on Minneapolis in the week since George Floyd was killed by a local police officer, and protests—including occasional bursts of violence, looting, and arson— consumed the city. Across the city and its surrounding suburbs, residents who sympathize with anti-police protesters are creating small, independent groups of citizens—or else arming themselves individually—to look out for their own neighborhoods. ‘Your Home Will Burn’: Minnesota Homes With BLM Signs Are Receiving Death ThreatsArmed Counterprotesters Are Menacing BLM Rallies Across AmericaIn other words, with police—and a bevy of state and National Guard reinforcements—focused on monitoring protests, the people of Minneapolis are in some cases policing themselves.KB Brown, who owns a printing shop in north Minneapolis, said he coordinated community patrols two days after Floyd’s death, when protests began to roil the city. These volunteers included rival gang members, now reportedly united to protect the area, a contingent of biker clubs, and even “white people with hockey sticks.” “We were abandoned by law enforcement so I figured the quote-unquote thugs were the best ones to patrol the streets, and they were more than willing to do it,” Brown, 45, told The Daily Beast. “I agree with you protesting over Floyd,” the business owner said, adding that one of his printing machines was damaged in the riots. “I don’t agree with you tearing up my stuff. I worked too hard for it. A lot of people in the neighborhood felt the same way.”Brown’s nighttime network of about 60 people has covered a large swath of north Minneapolis, which is predominantly black, to fend off outsiders and looters. At one point, he says, his group faced off with armed white men firing shots, and thieves trying to break into a single mother’s house. Using patrols by foot and by car, Brown says, he provided intel to the mayor’s office and police. One night he stationed himself outside a mosque on Lyndale Avenue N.“The first night I was out with my German Shepherd, I gathered up the gang members and said, ‘This is your hood. Now you have fighters and they’re threatening your neighborhood. What you gonna do? They stepped up to the plate—big time,” said Brown, who also spoke to the Minneapolis Star Tribune of his effort.While the riots have quieted down, Brown says, he wants his group to “keep intact in case something happens again.” On Thursday, Brown said he and his dog—named Akasha, after R&B; singer Aaliyah’s character in The Queen of the Damned movie—would take the night off and “pray that nothing happens tonight.”“I have never been more proud of my community—that’s been outside of race,” Brown said. “There’s whites, Mexicans, blacks, Somalians, Africans, everybody’s out and everybody’s doing their part. The rest of the community that are not on the front lines are leaving sandwiches and cookies and coffee. They’re coming out saying thank you for keeping us safe.”In the south of the city, the specter of violence was keeping residents alert, too. Some of them, per this NPR report, took posts on the roofs of apartments and Latino businesses, armed with semi-automatic weapons in absence of a law enforcement presence.  While black residents have been patrolling the predominately African-American north side, white residents are working their mostly-white neighborhoods south of downtown as well, in addition to Somalis patrolling their own pockets of Minneapolis. “We don’t know how preoccupied the cops are or even if they’re around and patrolling, so it’s a lot of fear and anxiety and paranoia around these people who might mess with personal property,” said Justin Bruhn, a white man who lives in the city’s Longfellow neighborhood, where much of the destruction, burning and looting took place last week. “We’re literally and figuratively in the dark about what is happening in the neighborhoods at any given moment.”All of the residents who spoke to The Daily Beast said they support the protests, with Edward adding that he “absolutely” supports “complete police reform and criminal justice reform.” Mohamed Salad, a 20-year-old who came to Minneapolis as a child after his family fled Somalia, said violence, looting and vandalism “diverts from the cause and the message we’re trying to put across, which isn’t justice for George Floyd, but justice for everyone who has been wronged in America.”Edward, Brown, Bruhn, Salad and others are dealing with wildly-spreading rumors about alleged incidents and nefarious plots across the city. The chatter includes talk of white supremacists, the KKK and white “militia” men with guns, intent on sowing chaos and terrorizing neighborhoods at night. Antifa members are rumored—as in other cities, from Idaho to New York—to be coming to the city to do the same. Vehicles without license plates are often thought to be an indicator that havoc is imminent. Piles of wood and accelerants are being found in alleys and behind people’s homes. Pallets of bricks have been inexplicably left around the city, supposedly to provide vandals and looters with the tools they need. (In other cities, locals have said bricks and concrete might just be regular construction debris.)Rumors this week of antifa (or antifascist) militants plotting massive attacks on white people were revealed to be a hoax—propagated by a white supremacist group.  In recent days, even the mayor of Minneapolis and governor of Minnesota publicly warned of white supremacists—and even drug cartels—fanning the flames of violence. State Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington clarified on Saturday: “But I cannot say that we have confirmed observations of local law enforcement to say that we’ve seen cells of white supremacists in the area.”“I’m tired of this overload of information every five minutes and 80 percent of it being hearsay, or like the game of telephone,” Edward said. “But then, this happened to me.” Edward didn’t get many answers to his questions when he confronted the armed men, just that they were from the suburb of Burnsville and were in south Minneapolis to join “peaceful protests.” But the main gathering sites for protesters and mourners—the fifth and third police precinct and the Cup Foods where Floyd was killed—are miles from his home. He also pointed out that the men were armed and wearing tactical vests. One of the men wore white laces in his boots, a common practice among skinheads.For his part, Salad believes the rumors that white supremacists are roaming the city and looking to do damage that will only come back to hurt peaceful protesters, who he says make up 90 percent of those on the streets on any given night. When authorities announced that they believed white supremacists were targeting the city, Salad and his fellow residents of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood took action.Salad and his neighbors now go on nightly patrols, armed with flashlights, fire extinguishers and walkie-talkies for communication. “This is a community that’s not only one of the largest black communities but it’s one of the largest immigrant and Muslim communities so it’s a considerably large target,” Salad told The Daily Beast. “Even before the protests and the riots people were coming after us, but so far we haven’t had one incident of looting, which is a blessing.”Doug Mack, 39, also of Longfellow—a largely white neighborhood that also has black, Somali, Mexican and Asian residents—said neighbors on his street were taking shifts to make sure no one invades the area and destroys homes or businesses. Residents are taking posts up and down the block and in back alleyways, he said, “because there’s been some paranoia about opportunists looking to set garbage cans on fire.”Mack said there was a community meeting at Longfellow Park on Saturday in which local leaders encouraged the organizing of block-based clubs to be vigilant. “There are definitely a lot of rumors going around all kinds of things,” he said. “People in South Minneapolis are on edge.” His block searched parked cars and in alleys and bushes in case incendiaries were left about—which residents have been finding in their yards and alleys.“That being said, there’s just genuinely weird stuff going on around here.”On Sunday night, Mack’s group spotted people in a gray Honda, without license plates, cruising slowly down an alleyway which runs behind houses on the block, he recalled.  “It’s weird to see a vehicle with no plates, let alone with a curfew, going down an alley,” Mack said.The neighborhood sentinels also spotted a red vehicle with Wisconsin plates occupied by young white men “who were pretty evasive when we were trying to say, ‘Hi, how’s it going? Do you need any help?’”“They seemed pretty jumpy. I don’t want to make any assumptions but we are on a random quiet residential street,” Mack said, adding that the men claimed they were trying to get back to Wisconsin. Later on, neighbors spotted a strikingly similar vehicle at the other end of the block, but it had Minnesota plates, he continued.On Thursday, Mack said the block’s official night shifts had ended as violence throughout the city appeared to diminish. Residents continue, however, to perch on their stoops and stay alert. The group’s discussion has switched from the neighborhood watch to “long-term equity” and using resources to volunteer and stay engaged “beyond the patrols,” Mack said.Mack’s block leader sent out a group text Thursday, inviting neighbors to stand on Lake Street in solidarity with Floyd’s family for Floyd’s memorial service later that night.Meanwhile, Edward didn’t get many answers from the armed strangers, but he did get some insight into their ideology: “Aren’t you tired of having your liberties taken from you?” one of the men asked him, he recalled.Eventually, he had his wife grab his 12-gauge shotgun. He took the weapon from her, walked toward the men and pumped the shotgun, holding it in the air. The men sped away. “We are on our own in some of these neighborhoods,” he added.” We are defending ourselves as a community.”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.

Watch Lightning Strike the Washington Monument, Then Watch It Again

How big of a bolt would it take to actually damage the structure?

U.S. envoy to U.N. pushes back against criticism over protests

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft on Friday pushed back against criticism from China and Iran over the protests across the United States about racial inequality and excessive police force, challenging them to compare records. China and Iran, described respectively in the past as authoritarian and a mafia-like state by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, both urged the United States in recent days to tackle racism and protect minorities' rights.

Why Some Democrats Worry About the Whiteness of Biden's Inner Circle

Nearly five years ago, Joe Biden gathered his closest advisers to decide whether he would run for president in 2016. This was a "final judgment" meeting, as he would later describe it in his memoir, and around the room were Biden's family and more than a half-dozen of his most trusted confidants.It was his innermost circle. Everyone was white.Biden won the 2020 Democratic primary on the strength of a multiracial political coalition anchored by black voters who overwhelmingly rallied behind him, and he has pledged to build a diverse administration as president. But while some black advisers have cracked Biden's upper echelon and his team is racing to expand, the people setting strategy still skew heavily white, with limited Latino and even less Asian American representation.In recent days, as protests erupted over the death of George Floyd after being pinned down by Minneapolis police officers, Biden has moved to forge even stronger ties to black Americans, presenting himself as a healing force in the country's searing debate over race. He has delivered two addresses acknowledging the pain and suffering of African Americans, drawing a sharp contrast with President Donald Trump's belligerent response.But the fear is that a lack of diverse viewpoints in Biden's brain trust could come with a long-term cost: a misinterpretation that boiling anger at Trump equates to excitement for Biden; insufficient outreach to minority groups; and -- perhaps most worrisome of all -- the possibility that Biden's team would take for granted that his strength with black voters in the primaries would repeat itself in November, a complaint lodged against Hillary Clinton four years ago."It matters who is doing the shaping of the campaign," said LaTosha Brown, a co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund. She was one of a dozen black female leaders invited to a recent private call with Biden, during which she said representation came up.But for Biden, demonstrating differences with the president is not enough to drive minority voters to the polls, or a substitute for delivering an inspiring message to people of color, some activists argue. Black voters are a critical constituency for Biden and could make the difference in a razor-thin election.So far, the strongest public pressure on Biden has been to select a woman of color as his running mate. But interviews with more than three dozen donors, activists and Democratic officials inside and out of the campaign found that many viewed the racial composition of the Biden brain trust as just as significant in terms of how he can unite the broad spectrum of the Democratic Party in 2020 and, if elected, govern in 2021.Privately, the Biden campaign leadership has emphasized to Democratic leaders that it is broadening its upper ranks, including two new senior advisers who are people of color and the formation of a new coalitions department.More hires are coming: The campaign is sifting through a list of 100 Latinos recommended for jobs, and has been pinging black leaders for suggestions, according to people familiar with the plans. Biden officials have emphasized that the campaign was severely limited by its budget in the primary."The team is not built out yet. We won the primary with a skeleton crew," said Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, Biden's first national co-chairman.Some nonwhite advisers have certainly advanced to the inner sanctum of the Biden campaign. Richmond has a standing invitation to strategy sessions, and Symone Sanders is an influential senior adviser with a wide-ranging portfolio, from progressive outreach to overall messaging; both are black. Outside the campaign, Biden deeply values the counsel of Rep. James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the highest-ranking African American in Congress, and, of course, former President Barack Obama."People of color have power here," Sanders said. "When it comes to the purse strings, when it comes to access, when it comes to strategy, when it comes to messaging."As the Biden campaign adds new senior-level hires, the question is how much the new voices will be incorporated at the highest levels.The previous highest-ranking Latina on the Biden campaign, Vanessa Cardenas, left as national coalitions director last fall. "They didn't expand the circle of voices that are truly making decisions," Cardenas said in her first public comments since her departure.Those who have worked with Biden over the years describe him as solicitous of an array of different perspectives. "Otherwise," said Valerie Jarrett, a top White House adviser to Obama, "he wouldn't have been the vice president for Barack Obama for two terms."At the same time, Biden has often retreated to a familiar set of faces for counsel at critical junctures. His operation is known for its fierce mutual loyalty, and many of his advisers of all backgrounds have remained close for years.Don Graves, who was Biden's counselor as vice president and one of his highest-ranking black aides, said valuing diversity was "fundamental to who Joe Biden is."Jennifer O'Malley Dillon, who took over as campaign manager in March, is said to be keenly focused on diversity, and the campaign recently hired two veteran strategists and Obama veterans, Julie Chavez Rodriguez and Karine Jean-Pierre, as senior advisers.Black and Latino donors and strategists have said diversity concerns are not just about having people in the room, but making sure that those who are there are not expected to speak exclusively about race, or on behalf of black or Latino voters everywhere.In an introductory call with her staff, O'Malley Dillon was frustrated with the public perception that the new hires were chiefly representatives of minority groups and explicitly pushed back on the idea that Rodriguez, who is Latino, and Jean-Pierre, who is black, were hired to focus on black and brown voters, according to two people on the call.While she was announced as a senior adviser and the most senior Latina on the Biden team, Rodriguez will not actually be working full time for Biden; she is a consultant and keeping one other client.One of the other three people of color initially announced as a senior adviser in 2019, Brandon English, has been largely disempowered.Concern is more acute among some Latino leaders. Polls showed that Biden began the 2020 primary as the leading choice of Latinos, who will make up a pivotal bloc of voters in November, but he ended up losing Hispanic voters badly in early states to Sen. Bernie Sanders, who invested heavily in outreach."He's surrounding himself by an almost all-white inner circle of high-level staff that don't reflect the diversity of America," said Domingo Garcia, the president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, who spoke recently with Biden. "Our voices are just kind of muffled in the whole campaign structure."Cristobal Alex, for instance, is regarded as the campaign's top Latino strategist, a senior adviser with a portfolio beyond Latino outreach. But he is not seen as a member of the inner circle."I believe Cristobal is trusted," said Rep. Tony Cardenas of California, the chairman of the political arm of the Hispanic Caucus. "But I have yet to see he is empowered" to the same extent that Sanders granted authority to his top Latino adviser, Cardenas said.Cardenas, who has helped arrange recent weekly calls between Biden's wife, Jill Biden, and Hispanic lawmakers, said the Biden campaign was now "saying they understand what it's going to take" to win those voters in November.The Biden team has also had to field some disenchantment from Asian American leaders. Some were upset when the campaign, in one of its first moves after Biden became the presumptive nominee, replaced Seema Nanda, the Democratic National Committee's top Asian American official, as chief executive officer.Varun Nikore, president of the Asian-American and Pacific Islander Victory Fund, which recently hosted an event with Biden, said he "couldn't point to one" Asian American with significant political sway inside the Biden hierarchy.While the campaign's chief operating officer and the newly announced chief financial officer are Asian American, lack of representation has been a concern.Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, who became the highest-ranking Latino in the Biden campaign as national co-chairman in January, rejected the notion that Biden does not seek diverse counsel. Citing the campaign's lack of cash, Garcetti said he was surprised at the slimness of the operation when he joined."It's not like, 'Oh there's no Latinos here,'" he said. "I looked at the campaign and said, 'Oh there's nobody here.' Because we didn't have the resources. It wasn't like the closet was filled with a bunch of nondiverse faces. It wasn't filled yet."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company

One of Apple's suppliers just dropped a big hint that the iPhone 12 will probably be delayed

It's looking increasingly likely that the launch of Apple's anticipated iPhone 12 will be pushed back this year.

Coronavirus: Madagascar minister fired over $2m lollipop order

Rijasoa Andriamanana said pupils would be given lollipops to mask the taste of a coronavirus "cure".

United Airlines restores flights at 150 U.S., Canadian destinations in July, add nonstops

The airline said destinations will include both business and leisure favorites as rebound from the coronavirus continues.

Police arrested in Mexico after riots over man's death

Three police officers have been arrested in the Mexican state of Jalisco over the death of a man taken into custody for allegedly breaking coronavirus restrictions, authorities said Friday. Among those placed under arrest over the death of 30-year-old Giovanni Lopez last month is a municipal police chief in Guadalajara and another middle-ranking officer, state prosecutor Gerardo Solis told reporters. The arrests follow riots in the state capital Guadalajara after protesters had gathered to demand justice over Lopez's death.

Trump nixes golf club visit over potential for 'bad optics' amid nationwide protests

The president ultimately agreed with advisers that the trip could be problematic as thousands of protesters descended on the White House on Saturday to protest the killing of George Floyd

Aerial footage shows colossal crowds gathered in Philadelphia to protest against police brutality

A video of a massive protest in Philadelphia began trending on Saturday as demonstrators took over the city.

Elephant dies in India after eating explosive-stuffed fruit

Indian police on Friday arrested a man accused of causing the death of a pregnant elephant that died after biting a pineapple stuffed with firecrackers that exploded in its mouth. The 15-year-old elephant was unable to eat after the injury and died in a river in Pallakad in southern Kerala state on May 27, state forest officer Surendra Kumar said. The state forest department announced the arrest and said it is investigating whether he was a poacher or a farmer who wanted to kill the elephant to prevent it from damaging crops.

Populist Taiwanese mayor faces recall as public attitudes harden towards Beijing

The potential ousting of a high-profile mayor in a recall vote on Saturday has cast a spotlight on Taiwan’s hardening views towards China under increasing threats and intimidation from Beijing during the global pandemic. Han Kuo-yu, 62, a charismatic but polarising figure in the opposition Kuomintang party, considered by critics to be too close to Beijing, fell out of favour with many of his constituents after deciding to run for president less than a year after his surprise election as mayor of Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s third largest city. He was defeated by incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen in January, whose record-breaking win reaffirmed the island’s rejection of closer ties with Beijing in favour of a stronger assertion of Taiwanese identity. In a double whammy for Mr Han, the wheels were already in motion to try to push him out of office in Kaohsiung after the city’s aggrieved residents gathered enough support to force a recall vote. If their attempt succeeds, Mr Han would be the most senior Taiwanese politician ever to be expelled from office by constituents. A majority of 25% of eligible voters would be needed to do so. Lev Nachman, a Fulbright research fellow specialising in party politics in Taiwan, said the recall would likely pass if the voter threshold was met. “It’s a very popular idea,” he said.

COVID-19 Is a Symptom of a Bigger Problem: Our Planet’s Ailing Health

On World Environment Day, Inger Andersen and Johan Rockström explain how the COVID-19 pandemic is a sign of bigger problems with the Earth.

America's Stealthy F-35 Needs A Stealth Tanker To Truly Dominate

It's only as good as far as it can fly.

Soldiers Pull BLM Signs, Confederate Flag from Vehicles After Viral Confrontation

In the video, a soldier demands that another, out of frame, remove "Black Lives Matter" decals from his personal vehicle.

Alabama shooting: Seven people found dead in ‘horrific’ scene at home

Seven people have been found shot dead in an Alabama home in what police described as a “horrific” scene.Police were responding to an emergency call reporting gunshots on Sunday evening when they arrived to find the house on fire.

Two major COVID-19 studies retracted after data inconsistencies

The authors of two major medical studies on coronavirus patients— including one that raised global concerns about the use of the hydroxychloroquine — retracted their papers on Thursday. Dr. Bob Lahita, chairman of medicine at St. Joseph University Hospital, joined CBSN to discuss the retractions.

Young white men with long guns at George Floyd protests likely affiliated with far-right group Boogaloo

Some gun-toting men affiliated with far-right group Boogaloo offer protection. Others seek to incite violence between police and demonstrators.

'It's complicated', German minister says of ties with U.S.

Germany's relationship with the United States is "complicated", Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a newspaper interview, regretting the planned withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Germany. President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. military to remove 9,500 troops from Germany, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.

Venezuela's Guaido reappears after claim he hid in French embassy

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido reappeared in the street in videos distributed Saturday by his team and parliamentary allies, after foreign minister Jorge Arreaza claimed he had taken refuge in the French embassy in Caracas. Guaido, the parliamentary speaker who is recognized as interim president of Venezuela by 50 countries, was referring to the accusation by the United States of "narcoterrorism" against the socialist government of Nicolas Maduro. The videos -- which did not specify the date or location they were filmed -- were released after Arreaza on Thursday said Guaido was hiding in the French embassy, and demanded he be handed over to "Venezuelan justice."

In a war with China, the US Navy's warships might not be the first target

The US Navy's fighting ships can't fight without food, fuel, and weapons, and China's military knows that.

Minneapolis businesswoman stands with protesters, even after her store burned down

“This hurts, but watching him lose his life like that, it hurts more, it hurts more than losing my business,” she said.

Texas sees a record spike in coronavirus cases amid protests

Harris County and Dallas County have the largest amounts of reported cases in Texas. Phase three of the state's reopening recently began.