World
Australian officials move to block Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney due to COVID-19 threat
Australian authorities are taking legal action to try stop a Black Lives Matter protest scheduled to take place in Sydney on Saturday, citing the risk of an outbreak of COVID-19 given the large numbers expected to attend. The last-minute move by the New South Wales state government on Friday came… Read
Fiji declares itself coronavirus free
Fiji announced it was COVID-19 free Friday after the island nation's last known infected patient was given the all-clear, continuing the Pacific's remarkable record of success against the virus. There was panic among Fiji's 930,000 population when the first coronavirus case was announced in mid-March, but strict isolation measures and… Read
England to make face coverings compulsory on public transport
Face coverings will be compulsory for passengers on buses, trains, aircraft and ferries in England from June 15, as public transport use rises following the relaxation of coronavirus restrictions, transport minister Grant Shapps said on Thursday. Britain's government has been reluctant to mandate the widespread use of face masks or… Read
Hong Kong marks Tiananmen anniversary, defying a police ban
Thousands of people in Hong Kong defied a police ban Thursday evening, breaking through barricades to hold a candlelight vigil on the 31st anniversary of China's crushing of a democracy movement centered on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. With democracy snuffed out in the mainland, the focus has shifted increasingly to semi-autonomous… Read
George Floyd remembered at memorial service
Hundreds of mourners in Minneapolis on Thursday remembered George Floyd, the black man whose death in police custody set off a wave of nationwide protests that reached the doors of the White House and ignited a debate about race and justice. Philonise Floyd, one of Floyd's brothers, told a memorial… Read
Barr: Divide between African Americans, police 'must change'
Attorney General William Barr sought on Thursday to quell tensions over the death of George Floyd in police custody, acknowledging a divide between many black Americans and the police and promising to spare no resource as the Justice Department investigates whether a federal civil rights crime was committed. “While the… Read
Raw feelings abound as Senate turns back to Russia probe
Two Republican-led Senate committees have launched election-year investigations into the Justice Department’s Russia probe, resurrecting the issue at the urging of President Donald Trump while reigniting the partisan hostility that comes along with it. In two committee rooms Thursday, tensions boiled as lawmakers considered a raft of subpoenas for current… Read
Google: State-based hackers targeted Trump, Biden campaigns
Google said state-based hackers have targeted the campaigns of both President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, although it saw no evidence that the phishing attempts were successful. The company confirmed the findings after the director of its Threat Analysis Group, Shane Huntley, disclosed the attempts Thursday on… Read
U.S. schools lay off hundreds of thousands, setting up lasting harm to kids
Late last month, San Diego high school teacher Jessica Macias put aside her worries about her future, psyched herself up and launched into an enthusiastic lesson via video feed to her class on the theory of knowledge. Macias, a 26-year-old English teacher, had attended Castle Park High School herself as… Read
Heat-trapping carbon dioxide in air hits new record high
The world hit another new record high for heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, despite reduced emissions because of the coronavirus pandemic, scientists announced Thursday. Measurements of carbon dioxide, the chief human-caused greenhouse gas, averaged 417.1 parts per million at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, for the month of May, when carbon… Read
