welcome to martha igene blog: June 2020

Mississippi lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to remove a Confederate emblem from their state flag on Sunday, marking one of the most dramatic repudiations yet of white-supremacist imagery during a wave of protests against racism and police brutality in America.The bill passed 128 to 37 and is now awaiting signature by Gov. Tate Reeves. It requires the current state flag to be removed within 15 days of passage. A commission selected by the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the House will design a flag including the phrase “In God We Trust” to be completed by September 14. Mississippi voters will decide on the new flag during the November general election. If the new flag is not ratified by voters in November, a new design will be created and voted on the following year. "Today’s vote is not a vote to erase Mississippi’s history or its heritage," Sen. John Horhn said. "But it’s an affirmation of Mississippi’s future, and that we intend to move forward together."On Saturday, lawmakers in both houses cleared an initial measure paving the way for a bill to change the flag, and Republican Gov. Tate Reeves tweeted that he would sign a bill to that effect.The initial measure lifted restrictions in place that prohibited the state government from changing or removing the state flag, which is the last in the United States to include an explicit homage to pro-slavery rebels.“The argument over the 1894 flag has become as divisive as the flag itself and it’s time to end it,” Reeves tweeted.The governor went on to say that changing the flag was not enough to fight the systemic racism the Confederate symbol represents. “We should not be under any illusion that a vote in the Capitol is the end of what must be done,” he wrote. “It will be harder than recovering from tornadoes, harder than historic floods, harder than agency corruption, or prison riots or the coming hurricane season—even harder than battling the Coronavirus.”State Representative Jeramey Anderson (D-Miss), the youngest-ever Black legislator elected in Mississippi at 28, applauded the decision to pave the way for change on Saturday. “This is a unique opportunity, one we should not squander,” he said. Confederate leader Jefferson Davis’s great-great grandson Bertram Hayes-Davis backed the change, telling CNN that “the battle flag has been hijacked” and that it “does not represent the entire population of Mississippi.”Rising college basketball player Blake Hinson said the Confederate symbol played a role in his decision to transfer from the University of Mississippi to Iowa State earlier this month. “It was time to go and leave Ole Miss,” he told the Daytona Beach News Journal. “I’m proud not to represent that flag anymore and to not be associated with anything representing the Confederacy.”Sen. Chris McDaniel (R-Miss) opposed the change and called for a state referendum on the issue, warning that changing the American flag was next. “I don’t see how that makes me a racist.” he said. “I don’t see how that makes me a terrible human being.”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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Three men arrested for murder in case of missing California couple who vanished in 2017

Three men have been arrested for murder in the case of Audrey Moran and Jonathan Reynoso, who have been missing since 2017. Manuel Rios, of Coachella, Abraham Fregoso, of Indio, and Jesus Ruiz Jr., of Stockton, were taken into custody on Saturday, June 27, 2020, and booked in Riverside County Jail. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.

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Gilead prices COVID-19 drug remdesivir at $2,340 per patient in developed nations

The price tag is slightly below the range of $2,520 to $2,800 suggested last week by U.S. drug pricing research group the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) after British researchers said they found that the cheap, widely available steroid dexamethasone significantly reduced mortality among severely ill COVID-19 patients. Remdesivir is expected to be in high demand as one of the only treatments so far shown to alter the course of COVID-19. After the intravenously administered medicine helped shorten hospital recovery times in a clinical trial, it won emergency use authorization in the United States and full approval in Japan.

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China forces birth control on Uighurs to suppress population: AP

Beijing accused of forced sterilisation, abortions, and pregnancy checks on hundreds of thousands of minority women.

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Court says president can fire Consumer board head 'at will'

In a ruling underscoring the power of the president, the Supreme Court on Monday made it easier for the president to fire the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The justices struck down restrictions Congress had written on when the president can remove the bureau’s director. “The agency may ... continue to operate, but its Director, in light of our decision, must be removable by the President at will,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.

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New York City mayor plans to cut $1bn from police budget

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has proposed cutting $1bn (£814m) from the police force’s $6bn (£4.48bn) yearly budget, amid calls for reform.Mr de Blasio announced the plan during his daily City Hall press briefing on Monday, and said the proposed budget would help reform the New York City Police Department (NYPD).

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Israel orders evangelical Christian media network God TV to take channel off air

“The channel does not appeal to the Christian population in Israel, but rather to the Jews,” Israel's broadcasting regulator said in a statement.

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The coronavirus is devastating communities of color. The Trump administration's top doctor blames 'structural racism' and shares his plans to take action.

Dr. Jerome Adams is preparing two calls to action — one on high blood pressure, the other on maternal mortality — to address racial health inequality.

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Detroit police SUV drives through crowd after protesters climb on hood

The driver activated the overhead lights, then gunned the accelerator, sending two protesters flying onto the pavement as the vehicle sped off.

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Huntsman at risk of shocking defeat in Utah

After a decade away from Utah politics and a weeks-long fight with the coronavirus, the former governor is locked in a tight race for his old job.

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Greta Thunberg accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel of lining up to take a selfie with her just to 'look good'

Thunberg castigated Angela Merkel and other world leaders at the UN summit as stealing her dreams, but they still craved an Instagram moment with her.

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Robert Jenrick under fresh pressure after whistleblower claims he ignored pleas to block Westferry project

Robert Jenrick has found himself under fresh pressure, after a whistleblower claimed he ignored pleas from senior officials to block the controversial Westferry printworks project. The Housing Secretary reportedly overruled objections from civil servants and lawyers to greenlight Tory donor Richard Desmond’s £1 billion development in January, with one source saying he showed “total disregard” for the law. Mr Jenrick had weeks earlier watched a promotional video for the luxury East London project on the businessman’s mobile phone during a dinner at the Savoy hotel in London. Home Secretary Priti Patel insisted she would not “be watching videos” at Conservative fundraisers when quizzed on the matter on Sunday. Ms Patel also argued that going to Tory events would “absolutely not” help a person’s chances in securing planning permission as she described the matter as "closed". She told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "I haven't followed the details of every single decision on this but what I do know and what I can tell you is that the correspondence, the documentation is out in the public domain on this particular application - and rightly so. "The papers have been published, the Secretary of State has followed all issues around transparency. "It has been discussed in Parliament a number of times, questions have been answered on this and the matter is deemed to be closed."

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Jun 29, 2020

Trump Denies Briefing on Reported Russian Bounties Against US Troops

President Donald Trump on Sunday denied that he had been briefed on reported U.S. intelligence that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing American troops in Afghanistan, and he appeared to minimize the allegations against Moscow.

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Trump shares video of man chanting, 'White power' in Florida protest clash - AOL

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Trump Tweets Video with 'White Power' Chant, Then Deletes It - Snopes.com

Trump Tweets Video with 'White Power' Chant, Then Deletes It Snopes.comView Full Coverage on Google News

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Global COVID-19 Deaths Top 500,000 : Coronavirus Live Updates - NPR

Global COVID-19 Deaths Top 500,000 : Coronavirus Live Updates NPRView Full Coverage on Google News

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Apple is doing Google a huge favor with iOS 14 - Android Police

Apple is doing Google a huge favor with iOS 14 Android Police
First take: With iOS 14, Apple changes the very idea of an app CNET
The APP Show - June 28 - The Apple WWDC 2020 Deep Dive and More! GetConnected Media
Why Apple’s developers are cross The Economist
iPhone's radical iOS 14 home screen changes: What you need to know CNET
View Full Coverage on Google News

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Anthony Mackie Says Marvel Movies Need to Do Better About Diversity - Variety

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Cam Newton signs 1-year deal with New England Patriots, reports say - Fox News

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2020 Travelers Championship leaderboard, grades: Dustin Johnson takes interesting path to win No. 21 - CBSSports.com

2020 Travelers Championship leaderboard, grades: Dustin Johnson takes interesting path to win No. 21 CBSSports.com
Golfer Brendon Todd fell out of contention thanks to an extremely relatable meltdown For The Win
Phil Mickelson has big setback at Travelers as lead slips away New York Post
2020 Travelers Championship: Round 3 Recap | CBS Sports HQ CBS Sports HQ
Does Phil Mickelson still have a chance at the Travelers Championship? ESPN
View Full Coverage on Google News

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How the world celebrated 50 years of Pride - despite the pandemic

Most LGBT Pride events were cancelled or moved online because of coronavirus, but not all.

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For Biden VP, Black Democrats are torn between Harris and Warren

The California senator represents the diversity and generational transition activists want, but polls suggest Black Democratic voters may prefer Warren.

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Coronavirus updates: New US cases hit single-day record; as heat rises in places like Florida and Mexico, so do infections

The U.S. hit a single-day record. Texas, Florida closing bars amid surge in cases. The Trump administration is considering new approach to testing.

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Satellite images show buildup on disputed India-China border

Construction activity appeared underway on both the Indian and Chinese sides of a contested border high in the Karakoram mountains a week after a deadly clash in the area left 20 Indian soldiers dead, satellite images showed. The images released this week by Maxar, a Colorado-based satellite imagery company, show new construction activity along the Galwan River Valley, even as Chinese and Indian diplomats said military commanders had agreed to disengage from a standoff there. China has said that India first changed the status quo last August when it split the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two federal territories — the territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the territory of Ladakh, parts of which are contested by China.

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Trump signs executive order to punish vandalism against federal monuments

Details of the executive order were not immediately released, but Trump said earlier this week that the order would "reinforce" existing federal law.

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'I pray it will finally be over': Golden State Killer survivors hope guilty plea brings justice

Forty years later, suspect Joseph DeAngelo is expected to take a deal that would see him sentenced to life in prisonJennifer Carole sleeps with a small baseball bat nearby, keeps bells on her door and has taken multiple self-defense classes.Gay Hardwick never feels safe alone, and can’t sleep with an open window.Both women’s lives were forever changed by the Golden State Killer, a rapist and murderer who haunted the state for more than 40 years. He murdered Carole’s father and stepmother in bed in their southern California home and sexually assaulted and terrorized Hardwick when she was 24.In 2018, California authorities said they had identified Joseph DeAngelo, a former police officer, as the suspect in at least 13 murders and more than 50 rapes attributed to the Golden State Killer between 1974 and 1986.Authorities have told some of the survivors that the 74-year-old DeAngelo will plead guilty on Monday – a deal that would see him sentenced to life in prison and would spare the state a costly trial. The Sacramento county district attorney’s office would confirm only that a hearing is scheduled.DeAngelo was arrested in 2018 after law enforcement compared DNA from the crimes committed in the 1970s and 80s to that of users on the open-source genealogy website GEDMatch.Law enforcement had spent decades trying to solve the crimes, which spanned 11 counties, but the case gained renewed attention in 2016 when the Sacramento DA announced the creation of a task force to identify the killer, who has also been called the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker, and the FBI put up a reward of $50,000 for information leading to his capture.The scope of the crimes, and long unidentified perpetrator, drew particular interest from the true crime community and spawned dedicated discussion boards. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, a bestselling book about the true crime writer Michelle McNamara’s search for the Golden State Killer, brought wide attention to the case when it was released months before DeAngelo’s arrest.DeAngelo is a US navy veteran of the Vietnam war and father of three and had worked as a police officer in communities near where the crimes took place. He was fired from his job at the Auburn police department in 1979 after being arrested for allegedly shoplifting dog repellant and a hammer from a Pay ’n Save store. DeAngelo worked at a Save Mart distribution center from 1989 until 2017, the Sacramento Bee reported, and in 2018 was reportedly living with his daughter and grandchild on a quiet street in a suburb of Sacramento.It was there he was arrested, in one of the communities the Golden State Killer had terrorized years earlier.For many survivors, DeAngelo’s plea comes with mixed emotions as well as a fear that he could opt out of the agreement at the last moment.“It’s a difficult place to be in, to know that at any time he could change his mind and that he is highly manipulative. I won’t believe anything until it is written in ink and approved,” Hardwick said.Hardwick was 24 in 1978 when a man broke into the home she shared with her now husband, woke the couple up at gunpoint and sexually assaulted her. They survived and did their best to move forward, selling the home they felt unable to live in. But Hardwick suffered for years from undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder and the attack had long-lasting impacts on her career and emotional state and took decades to work through.“I’m hoping and praying it is going to be finally over for all of us. Once and for all [I’ll] know that he is in a place where he is never going to leave.”The statute of limitations for rape convictions expired three years after the attack on the Hardwicks, but she said she considers the plea an opportunity for justice.Carole wanted DeAngelo “to have to face a courtroom and the evidence”, but she thinks the plea deal is the right thing to do as it will save the state millions of dollars and spare his daughters from further pain. That DeAngelo is pleading guilty as US police face a reckoning over systemic racism and violence is particularly salient for Carole.“We’ve got a dirty cop that had skills he acquired as a police officer and used to terrorize, rape and murder,” Carole said.Carole’s father, Lyman Smith, and his wife, Charlene, were bludgeoned to death in their Ventura home in 1980 when Carole was just 18. Her 12-year-old brother discovered the bodies. The family didn’t learn the crime was the work of a serial killer for 20 years, and it was only after DeAngelo’s capture that Carole realized the extent to which the murders had affected her life.“I’m going to be really happy to have this be done. I’m tired of him having any real estate in my head,” Carole said. But, she added, “you can’t get your people back. You can’t get your sense of safety back. He stole something from everyone in California that endured his terrorism.”As Monday’s hearing approaches, Kris Pedretti goes back and forth about attending. Pedretti became the Golden State Killer’s 10th victim when she was sexually assaulted in her home at the age of 15.“This is my one opportunity to hear this person who attacked me admit guilt,” she said.Pedretti’s attacker crept into her home days before Christmas in 1976, sneaking up on her as she played piano and threatening her with a knife before sexually assaulting her. It left Pedretti with post-traumatic stress, but in recent years she has found comfort through therapy and a Facebook group she created where sexual assault survivors can share their stories. Born out of a horrific crime she suffered at the hands of someone who sought to terrorize her community, Pedretti said the group has been healing.“We share our stories. We share what books have been helping us. I am finally at a place in this journey where I can see some sunlight because I can use what I learned.”

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White House does not commit to temperature checks in meeting with U.S. airlines

Top U.S. airline executives met on Friday with Vice President Mike Pence and other senior administration officials but did not come away with any commitments from the White House on mandating temperature checks for airline passengers. Airlines want the U.S. government to administer temperature checks to all passengers in a bid to reassure the public.

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Pakistan army says Indian spy drone shot down in Kashmir

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Trump visits private golf course as US battles rapid surge in coronavirus cases

US president heads to Virginia a day after saying he’d stay in Washington DC to ‘make sure law and order is enforced’ amid ongoing anti-racism protests * Coronavirus in the US – follow live updatesDonald Trump visited one of his own private golf courses in Virginia on Saturday as America continued to see fallout from a rapid surge in coronavirus cases. The trip came a day after the US president said he would stay in Washington DC to “make sure law and order is enforced” amid ongoing anti-racism protests.The president has been frequently criticized for the scale of his golfing habit while in office. CNN – which tallies his golfing activities – said the visit to the Trump National course in Loudon county, just outside Washington DC, was the 271st of his presidency – putting him at an average of golfing once every 4.6 days since he’s been in office. His predecessor, Barack Obama, golfed 333 rounds over the two terms of his presidency, according to NBC.The visit comes as the number of confirmed new coronavirus cases per day in the US hit an all-time high of 40,000, according to figures released by Johns Hopkins on Friday. Many states are now seeing spikes in the virus with Texas, Florida and Arizona especially badly hit after they reopened their economies – a policy they are now pausing or reversing.Trump has been roundly criticized for a failure to lead during the coronavirus that has seen America become by far the worst hit country in the world. Critics in particular point to his failure to wear a mask, holding campaign rallies in coronavirus hot spots and touting baseless conspiracy theories about cures, such as using bleach.On Friday night Trump tweeted that he was cancelling a weekend trip to his Bedminster, New Jersey golf course because of the protests which have rocked the capital, including taking down statues of confederate figures.“I was going to go to Bedminster, New Jersey, this weekend, but wanted to stay in Washington, D.C. to make sure LAW & ORDER is enforced. The arsonists, anarchists, looters, and agitators have been largely stopped,” he tweeted.Trump’s latest visit to the golf course put him in the way of some opposition. According to a White House pool media report: “A small group of protesters at the entrance to the club held signs that included, ‘Trump Makes Me Sick’ and ‘Dump Trump’. A woman walking a small white dog nearby also gave the motorcade a middle finger salute.”It is not yet known if Trump actually played a round of golf. But a photographer captured the president wearing a white polo shirt and a red cap, which is among his common golfing attire.

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The Black Officer Who Detained George Floyd Had Pledged to Fix the Police

MINNEAPOLIS -- There were two Black men at the scene of the police killing in Minneapolis last month that roiled the nation. One, George Floyd, was sprawled on the asphalt, with a white officer's knee on his neck. The other Black man, Alex Kueng, was a rookie police officer who held his back as Floyd struggled to breathe.Floyd, whose name has been painted on murals and scrawled on protest signs, has been laid to rest. Kueng, who faces charges of aiding and abetting in Floyd's death, is out on bail, hounded at the supermarket by strangers and denounced by some family members.Long before Kueng was arrested, he had wrestled with the issue of police abuse of Black people, joining the force in part to help protect people close to him from police aggression. He argued that diversity could force change in a Police Department long accused of racism.He had seen one sibling arrested and treated poorly, in his view, by sheriff's deputies. He had found himself defending his decision to join the police force, saying he thought it was the best way to fix a broken system. He had clashed with friends over whether public demonstrations could actually make things better."He said, 'Don't you think that that needs to be done from the inside?'" his mother, Joni Kueng, recalled him saying after he watched protesters block a highway years ago. "That's part of the reason why he wanted to become a police officer -- and a Black police officer on top of it -- is to bridge that gap in the community, change the narrative between the officers and the Black community."As hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated against the police after Floyd's killing on May 25, Kueng became part of a national debate over police violence toward Black people, a symbol of the very sort of policing he had long said he wanted to stop.Derek Chauvin, the officer who placed his knee on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes, has been most widely associated with the case. He faces charges of second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter; Kueng and two other former officers were charged with aiding and abetting the killing. At 26, Kueng was the youngest and least experienced officer at the scene, on only his third shift as a full officer.The arrest of Kueng, whose mother is white and whose father was from Nigeria, has brought anguish to his friends and family. "It's a gut punch," Joni Kueng said. "Here you are, you've raised this child, you know who he is inside and out. We're such a racially diverse family. To be wrapped up in a racially motivated incident like this is just unfathomable."Two of Alex Kueng's siblings, Taylor and Radiance, both of whom are African American, called for the arrests of all four officers, including their brother. They joined protests in Minneapolis.In a Facebook Live video, Taylor Kueng, 21, appeared with the head of the local NAACP to speak of the injustice that befell Floyd, acknowledging being related to Alex Kueng but never mentioning his name.Alex Kueng's sister Radiance posted a video of Floyd's final minutes on Facebook. "Just broke my heart," she wrote. In an interview, she said that as a Black man, her brother should have intervened. She said she planned to change her last name in part because she did not want to be associated with her brother's actions."I don't care if it was his third day at work or not," she said. "He knows right from wrong."A Full HouseThrough his life, Alex Kueng straddled two worlds, Black and white.Kueng, whose full name is J. Alexander Kueng (pronounced "king"), was raised by his mother, whom he lived with until last year. His father was absent.As a child, Kueng sometimes asked for siblings. Joni Kueng, who lived in the Shingle Creek neighborhood in north Minneapolis, signed up with an African American adoption agency.When Alex was 5, Joni Kueng brought home a baby boy who had been abandoned at a hospital. Alex soon asked for a sister; Radiance arrived when he was 11. Taylor and a younger brother came in 2009, when Alex was about 16.Radiance Kueng, 21, said their adoptive mother did not talk about race. "Race was not really a topic in our household, unfortunately," she said. "For her adopting as many Black kids as she did -- I didn't get that conversation from her. I feel like that should have been a conversation that was had."Growing up, Alex Kueng and his family made repeated trips to Haiti, helping at an orphanage. Alex Kueng and his siblings took a break from school to volunteer there after the earthquake in 2010.Joni Kueng, 56, likes to say that the Kuengs are a family of doers, not talkers."I had to stay out of the race conversations because I was the minority in the household," Joni Kueng said in her first interview since her son's arrest. She said that race was not an issue with her, but that she was conflicted. "It didn't really matter, but it does matter to them because they are African American. And so they had to be able to have an outlet to tell their stories and their experience as well, especially having a white mom."Joni Kueng taught math at the schools her children went to, where the student body was often mostly Hmong, African American and Latino. Classmates described Alex Kueng as friends with everyone, a master of juggling a soccer ball and a defender against bullies. Photos portray him with a sly smile.Darrow Jones said he first met Alex Kueng on the playground when he was 6. Jones was trying to finish his multiplication homework. Alex Kueng helped Jones and then invited him into a game of tag.When Jones' mother died in 2008, Joni Kueng took him in for as long as a month at a time.By high school, Alex Kueng had found soccer, and soon that was all he wanted to do. He became captain of the soccer team; he wanted to turn pro. The quote next to his senior yearbook picture proclaimed, "We ignore failures and strive for success."Alex Kueng went to Monroe College in New Rochelle, New York, to play soccer and study business. But after surgery on both knees, soccer proved impossible. Alex Kueng quit. Back in Minneapolis, he enrolled in technical college and supported himself catching shoplifters at Macy's.About that time, he started talking about joining the police, Joni Kueng recalled. She said she was nervous, for his safety and also because of the troubled relationship between the Minneapolis police and residents.Given his background, Alex Kueng thought he had the ability to bridge the gap between white and Black worlds, Jones said. He often did not see the same level of racism that friends felt. Jones, who is Black, recalled a road trip a few years ago to Utah with Alex Kueng, a white friend and Alex Kueng's girlfriend, who is Hmong. Jones said he had to explain to Alex Kueng why people were staring at the group."Once we got to Utah, we walked into a store, and literally everybody's eyes were on us," recalled Jones, whose skin is darker than Alex Kueng's. "I said, 'Alex, that's because you're walking in here with a Black person. The reason they're staring at us is because you're here with me.'"By February 2019, Alex Kueng had made up his mind: He signed up as a police cadet.Only a few months later, his sibling Taylor, a longtime supporter of Black Lives Matter who had volunteered as a counselor at a Black heritage camp and as a mentor to at-risk Black youths, had a confrontation with law enforcement.Taylor Kueng and a friend saw local sheriff's deputies questioning two men in a downtown Minneapolis shopping district about drinking in public. They intervened. Taylor Kueng used a cellphone to record video of the deputies putting the friend, in a striped summer dress, on the ground. "You're hurting me!" the friend shouted.As the confrontation continued, a deputy turned to Taylor Kueng and said, "Put your hands behind your back." "For what?" Taylor Kueng asked several times. "Because," said the deputy, threatening to use his Taser.Taylor Kueng called home. Alex Kueng and their mother rushed to get bail and then to the jail. "Don't worry, I got you," Alex Kueng told his sibling, hugging Taylor, their mother recalled.Alex Kueng reminded his sibling that those were sheriff's deputies, not the city force he was joining, and criticized their behavior, his mother recalled.After Taylor Kueng's video went public, the city dropped the misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and obstructing the legal process. The sheriff's office announced an official review of the arrests, which resulted in no discipline.Diverging PathsAlex Kueng's choice to become a police officer caused a rift in his friendship with Jones."It was very clear where we stood on that," said Jones, a Black Lives Matter supporter who protested on the streets after the deaths of Jamar Clark and Philando Castile at the hands of Minneapolis-area police. "Our fundamental disagreement around law enforcement is not that I believe cops are bad people. I just believe that the system needs to be completely wiped out and replaced. It's the difference between reform and rebuilding."After Alex Kueng became a cadet, Jones went from seeing Alex Kueng twice a month to maybe three times a year. He said he did not even tell Alex Kueng when the police pursued him for nothing and then let him go.In December, Alex Kueng graduated from the police academy. For most of his field training, Chauvin, with 19 years on the job, was his training officer.At one point, Alex Kueng, upset, called his mother. He said he had done something during training that bothered a supervising officer, who reamed him out. Joni Kueng did not know if that supervisor was Chauvin.Chauvin also extended Alex Kueng's training period. He felt Alex Kueng was meeting too often with a fellow police trainee, Thomas Lane, when responding to calls, rather than handling the calls on his own, Joni Kueng said.But on May 22, Alex Kueng officially became one of about 80 Black officers on a police force of almost 900. In recent years, the department, not as racially diverse as the city's population, has tried to increase the number of officers of color, with limited success.That evening, other officers held a small party at the Third Precinct station to celebrate Alex Kueng's promotion. The next evening, he worked his first full shift as an officer, inside the station. On that Sunday, he worked the 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. patrol shift, his first on the streets.On May 25, Alex Kueng's third day on the job, Alex Kueng and Lane, now partnered up despite both being freshly minted rookies, were the first officers to answer a call of a counterfeit $20 bill being passed at a corner store. They found Floyd in a car outside.After they failed to get Floyd into the back of a squad car, Chauvin and Tou Thao, another officer, showed up.As Chauvin jammed his knee into the back of Floyd's neck, Alex Kueng held down Floyd's back, according to a probable cause statement filed by prosecutors.Chauvin kept his knee there as Floyd repeated "I can't breathe" and "mama" and "please." Through the passing minutes, Alex Kueng did nothing to intervene, prosecutors say. After Floyd stopped moving, Alex Kueng checked Floyd's pulse. "I couldn't find one," Alex Kueng told the other officers.Critics of the police said the fact that none of the junior officers stopped Chauvin showed that the system itself needed to be overhauled."How do you as an individual think that you're going to be able to change that system, especially when you're going in at a low level?" said Michelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality in Minneapolis. "You're not going to feel OK to say, 'Stop, senior officer.' The culture is such, that that kind of intervening would be greatly discouraged."All four officers have been fired. All four face 40 years in prison. Alex Kueng, who was released on bail on June 19, declined through his lawyer to be interviewed. He is set to appear in court Monday.A day after Floyd's death, Jones learned that Alex Kueng was one of the officers who had been present. Around midnight, Jones called Alex Kueng. They talked for 40 minutes -- about what, Jones would not say -- and they cried."I'm feeling a lot of sadness and a lot of disappointment," Jones said. "A lot of us believe he should have stepped in and should have done something."He added: "It's really hard. Because I do have those feelings and I won't say I don't. But though I feel sad about what's occurred, he still has my unwavering support. Because we grew up together, and I love him."Jones said he had gone to the protests but could not bring himself to join in.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company

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Sen. Ernst proposes bill to end lawless zones

Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst explains bill to combat autonomous zones.

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The H-20 Stealth Bomber: China's Biggest Threat to the U.S.?

The bomber, which has yet to be revealed, is expected to enter service in the mid-2020s.

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17 Rikers Island officers face discipline in transgender woman's death

Layleen Polanco, 27, died of an epileptic seizure while in solitary confinement on June 7 of last year.

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'We opened too quickly': Texas becomes a model for inadequate Covid-19 response

State shuts down again after seven weeks with coronavirus cases soaring, after ignoring inconvenient data and fighting party-political turf warsWhen Donald Trump welcomed Texas governor Greg Abbott to the White House in May, the US president hailed his fellow Republican as “one of the great governors” and lauded the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and predicted boom times ahead.“When you look at the job he’s done in Texas, I rely on his judgment,” Trump said.Seven weeks later, as the state once again closes businesses with virus cases skyrocketing and hospitals running out of intensive-care beds, Texas indeed appears to be a model: for how to squander a hopeful position through premature reopening, ignoring inconvenient data and fighting party-political turf wars.On 7 May, the day of Abbott’s visit to Washington, the state reported 968 new cases among its 29 million residents. Daily numbers have soared this week – to 5,996 on 25 June – prompting doctors in Houston to sound the alarm.On Friday, Abbott ordered a halt to Texan experiences such as bar-hopping along Austin’s raucous Sixth Street and floating lazily on an inner tube along a tree-lined river. Bars – which were open at up to 50% capacity – must close again, restaurants must reduce from 75% to 50% capacity and rafting operations must close.Harris County, which includes Houston, moved to its highest Covid-19 threat level, signalling a “severe and uncontrolled” outbreak.“The harsh truth is that our current infection rate is on pace to overwhelm our hospitals in the very near future,” Lina Hidalgo, the county judge, said at a press conference on Friday. “We opened too quickly.”It was not her choice. Hidalgo, a Democrat, issued a mandatory mask order in April that was swiftly rendered toothless by Abbott, who said masks were strongly recommended but local authorities could not impose penalties for non-compliance.Abbott said in the Oval Office that Texas’ phased reopening was based on data-driven strategies that would reduce the spread of the virus and enable the economy to recover. But he was cherry-picking numbers; the statistics did not meet federal criteria for relaxing a lockdown and Texas’ per-capita testing rate is among the worst in the nation.That same day, Abbott diluted his own authority in order to mollify his conservative base. He eliminated jail as a punishment for violating his coronavirus restrictions, in a response to right-wing outrage over the imprisonment of a Dallas hair salon owner who had illegally reopened, refused to close again and was sentenced to seven days behind bars for contempt of court.“Abbott tries to play the moderate but in reality he’s almost on a leash with the extreme right,” said Mustafa Tameez, a Houston-based Democratic strategist.Tameez said that Abbott and Trump have sown confusion through mixed messages. “We’re not going to be able to make policy unless we root it in facts and science,” he said. “We’re not going to be able to make it through this on soundbites and political positioning.”Republicans control Texas politics at state level largely thanks to support from white rural and suburban voters. But Democrats dominate in the biggest cities, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin. This has long led to policy conflicts, with the state overriding municipalities on issues from banning plastic bags to immigration enforcement. Greg Casar, an Austin city council member, said that Abbott placed appeasing his core voters ahead of the health of urban communities of color.“The governor at the very beginning of this chose to prioritize politics over public health,” Casar said, noting the state’s attempt to suspend abortions. He added that if cases continue to spike, Austin would probably pass laws that go beyond Abbott’s limits, risking a court fight.“The overwhelming majority of our hospitalizations are Latino and of course black Austinites are being hospitalized at a disproportionate rate as well,” Casar said. “Generations of racist practice and policies are really exposing those communities at the moment no matter how much we try to mitigate it.” Austin was blocked earlier this month from implementing mandatory paid sick leave after a long-running legal challenge backed by leading Texas Republicans.“Hopefully the leadership of this state now knows that they’ve got to put public health first, we’ve got to flatten the curve all the way,” said Royce West, a state senator in Dallas and Democratic US senate primary candidate. “Leaders in this state have got to look at whether or not what the model was in New York should be replicated here.” That would underline the dramatic reversal in fortunes from the spring, when New York was the national epicentre – but severe actions seem unlikely.Dan Patrick, the 70-year-old Texas lieutenant governor, declared in March that he was willing to risk death to help the economy.On Friday, Patrick dismissed the idea of a fresh lockdown and accused hospitals of providing misleading information. “Yes, positive rates are up, mostly young people, they’re not dying,” he told Fox News. “We’re still moving forward, with a slight pause.”Nor is the pandemic causing state leaders to reconsider their most cherished policy goals. As hospitals scramble to find more ICU beds, Texas, the state with the highest number of uninsured people, filed a brief on Thursday urging the US supreme court to scrap the Affordable Care Act, which would threaten access to healthcare for millions.

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Spanish village makes its own rainbow after council's gay pride flag banned

When police ordered a local mayor in southern Spain to take down a rainbow flag put up to celebrate gay pride on Friday because it was illegal, more than 300 households in the village rallied to the cause and flew their own flags. By the time gay pride celebrations took place in Spain on Sunday, the Andalusian village of Villanueva de Algaidas near Malaga was awash with flags hanging from balconies, windows and even a bar in solidarity. Juan Civico, Socialist mayor of the village of 4,000 inhabitants, only found out it was illegal for authorities to fly the flag after three residents complained about the one he had put up.