Corax
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya flees to Lithuania after two nights of clashes following contested re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years
World
Russia and China speed up de-dollarization as share of the dollar in trade between the countries fell to 46% during first quarter of 2020 from 90% four years ago, the remaining 54% made up of 17% Chinese yuan, 30% euro, and 7% Russian ruble
China orders US to close its consulate in Chengdu in Sichuan Province after Beijing had promised to retaliate for Houston shutdown order, says it’s a legitimate and necessary response to the unjustified act by the US
US tells Chinese consulate in Houston to shut down in three days citing a need to protect American intellectual property and information, after which staff are seen burning documents in a container within the courtyard of the consulate facility
Red Bull fires two US top executives for leaking letter critical of public silence on Black Lives Matter signed by more than 300 employees and pushing for more diversity and inclusion, a third executive, Florian Klaass, also terminated for using a slide featuring supposedly racist stereotypes, billionaire owner and CEO Dietrich Mateschitz has previously spoken out against political correctness
EU Court of Justice rules EU-US Privacy Shield user data exchange agreement as invalid due to GDPR since the US law enforcement and national security issues have primacy meaning it does not afford an adequate level of protection of personal data
Senior officials in the Trump administration are said to discuss banning travel to the US by all members of the Chinese Communist Party and their families which would affect more than 90 million Chinese
Boris Johnson's government bans Huawei from Britain's 5G network by ordering telecoms companies to remove its equipment by 2027 after a significantly changed security assessment of Huawei by the National Cyber Security Centre
Christchurch shooter Brenton Tarrant decides to represent himself at sentencing hearing set to begin August 24, the Australian pleaded guilty earlier this year to 51 charges of murder, 40 charges of attempted murder and one charge of committing a terrorist act
Miscellaneous
Yvel is creating the world’s most expensive coronavirus mask with a price tag of USD 1.5 million, the 18-karat white gold mask will be decorated with 3,600 white and black diamonds, the buyer specifically requested it would be the priciest in the world, designer Isaac Levy said he would not wear it himself but he was happy the work was able to provide for his employees during very challenging times
George W. Bush publishes book with portrait paintings of 43 immigrants as well as biographical essays he has written about them, purpose is to campaign for liberal immigration laws but publication has been intentionally delayed to after the 2020 presidential election
Movement of "sovereign citizens" grows world-wide according to BBC, consists of individuals who do not see themselves as obligated to follow laws or pay taxes after using legal means to exist contract relationships with states, habit of challenging laws and regulations in court described as paper terrorism
Poppy Lekner wins the 2020 Parkin Drawing Prize of 25 000 NZD, her winning piece of art featuring thousands of forward-slash characters on an A4 piece of paper was created the day before entries closed using a typewriter, Charlotte Davy, head of art at New Zealand's national museum explained the reasoning for the decision, "It's such a beautiful... minimal work where she's really exploring a kind of meditation of process, literally just repeating forward-slash over and over again ... creating a beautiful woven pattern,"
Terunofuji wins historic summer basho in Tokyo after major injury problems, first wrestler ever to have fallen as far down the divisions and then climb back up to lift the Emperor's Cup, won his first tournament as an Ozeki in 2015 before dropping out of the Makuuchi division in 2018
Afrofuturist pioneer Sun Ra articulated negative theology pointing to vacuum at core of African American experience, challenged black people to turn marginalized position into creative opportunities, portrayed by Ming Smith in photographs featured in upcoming book
Arbiom trials a new plant-based protein based on fermented and broken down wood claiming a very easily digestible, high protein content, antibiotics free, environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative made from dead trees and wood manufacturing scraps for both humans and livestock, the larger food manufacturing community has reacted mostly positive to the new ingredient
Director Joel Schumacher dead at 80 from cancer, got famous for directing the successful movies St. Elmo's Fire, The Lost Boys and Flatliners, also directed Falling Down, A Time to Kill, Phone Booth, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin
Media
Twitter deletes Breitbart video of press conference held by America’s Frontline Doctors sharing their views on Covid-19 and the medical community’s treatment of the virus for violating social media's Covid-19 misinformation policy, also removes posts by President Trump and suspends Donald Trump Jr. for sharing video footage
John Malkovich blames social media idiocy for the death of comedy with its toxic outrage culture, says what is considered funny one day could well end an entertainer’s career the next, the ire of a generation a few clicks away from being sparked
Social media to be regulated through executive order by Donald Trump, could change interpretation of 1996 law which shields platforms from legal liability for content published by users
Dutch grandmother ordered to delete photos of grandchildren which she uploaded to social media against the wishes of parents, court finds GDPR applies despite exception for personal processing of data since pictures where made available to wider audience
New York Times develops own ad system and phases out third-party data collected on other sites, part of industry trend where publishers move toward more privacy-friendly solutions
Joe Rogan quits YouTube and joins Spotify, has one of world's largest podcasts with 190 million downloads per month, reportedly gets more than 100 million USD for five year exclusive deal
23-year-old Iraqi-born Tishko Ahmed Shabaz charged with murdering Swedish 17-year-old girl Wilma Andersson and keeping her head in his closet, claims innocence
YouTube bans all videos linking covid-19 to 5G networks, decision follows live-streamed interview with David Icke where he says that 5G is linked to today's health crisis and that human life as we know it is over if 5G networks are allowed to spread according to plan, YouTube spokeswoman says all content that disputes WHO and local health authorities is now in violation of its policies
Politics
Orthodox Church locks horns with Montenegrin government over new anti-ecclesiastical legislation, law gives state leave to seize ecclesiastical property from churches who cannot produce ownership titles notarised before 1918, thousands march through streets of Podgorica amid clerical hymn chants decrying "[the State] ... snatching people's souls", gloves come off as President Milo Djukanovic attacks the Orthodox Church for undermining Montenegrin independence, The Church has 12 million followers in Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro
Greta Thunberg throws down the gauntlet at Bristol climate rally, rain-soused teenagers bellow "The ocean is rising and so are we" and other equally stirring slogans, Greta—donning her iconic yellow mac—attacks political complacency in face of impending climate apocalypse
Sweden's foreign ministry summons Chinese ambassador with the intention of demanding immediate release and consular access to Gui Minhai, apprehended and detained by Chinese authorities in 2018 for sale of literature vilifying the Chinese state apparatus
Donald Trump's adviser and confidant Roger Stone sentenced to 40 months' imprisonment, found guilty on five counts of obstructing House Intelligence Committee investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, Trump retweets Tucker Carlson segment calling for pardon, request for retrial filed by Stone's legal team
Arts Council England (ACE) threaten to withold public funding for museums and arts organisations who don't implement diversity quotas, appalled ethnic non-whites should be so woefully underrepresented in arts, report unearths a number of unnerving statistics - only 6% of workforce disabled as opposed to 21% in the national labour force
EU arch-bureaucrat Josep Borrell tells Munich Security Conference the European Union must learn to embrace its oft-derided hegemonic structure by "developing an appetite for power", the EU must throw equivocation, dawdling and prudence to the winds and learn to act, a conciliatory EU won't be able to challenge U.S. dominance in global politics
Bernie Sanders says Bloomberg doesn't have enough clout with younger generations to defeat Trump, history of 'racist' policies, minimum wage law criticisms and cautious skepticism towards taxes on the wealthy tantamount to political suicide among younger voters, according to Sanders
Emmanuel Macron sets out 10-year EU vision – says the union needs larger budget, integrated capital markets and abolished vetoes, argues that moving faster on issues of European level sovereignty is key, seeks strategic dialogue with Russia as well as with UK and US as being defiant and weak is an inefficient system
Opinion
Ricardo Duchesne: White men are the most resented group because they are responsible for almost 100% of the greatest achievements in all fields of human endeavor in all of history, created all fields of academic study, were the foremost thinkers, artists, statesmen and explorers
Peter Hitchens: The lockdown and destruction of statues show the pillars of freedom and civilization are rotten as police chiefs and political leaders kneel like conquered slaves to the new gods of woke, and while the Left controls every lever of power, ignorant armies seek the final abolition of Britain as we face nothing less than a regime change
Europe
Orthodox Church locks horns with Montenegrin government over new anti-ecclesiastical legislation, law gives state leave to seize ecclesiastical property from churches who cannot produce ownership titles notarised before 1918, thousands march through streets of Podgorica amid clerical hymn chants decrying "[the State] ... snatching people's souls", gloves come off as President Milo Djukanovic attacks the Orthodox Church for undermining Montenegrin independence, The Church has 12 million followers in Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro
Greta Thunberg throws down the gauntlet at Bristol climate rally, rain-soused teenagers bellow "The ocean is rising and so are we" and other equally stirring slogans, Greta—donning her iconic yellow mac—attacks political complacency in face of impending climate apocalypse
Sweden's foreign ministry summons Chinese ambassador with the intention of demanding immediate release and consular access to Gui Minhai, apprehended and detained by Chinese authorities in 2018 for sale of literature vilifying the Chinese state apparatus
Donald Trump's adviser and confidant Roger Stone sentenced to 40 months' imprisonment, found guilty on five counts of obstructing House Intelligence Committee investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, Trump retweets Tucker Carlson segment calling for pardon, request for retrial filed by Stone's legal team
Arts Council England (ACE) threaten to withold public funding for museums and arts organisations who don't implement diversity quotas, appalled ethnic non-whites should be so woefully underrepresented in arts, report unearths a number of unnerving statistics - only 6% of workforce disabled as opposed to 21% in the national labour force
EU arch-bureaucrat Josep Borrell tells Munich Security Conference the European Union must learn to embrace its oft-derided hegemonic structure by "developing an appetite for power", the EU must throw equivocation, dawdling and prudence to the winds and learn to act, a conciliatory EU won't be able to challenge U.S. dominance in global politics
Bernie Sanders says Bloomberg doesn't have enough clout with younger generations to defeat Trump, history of 'racist' policies, minimum wage law criticisms and cautious skepticism towards taxes on the wealthy tantamount to political suicide among younger voters, according to Sanders
Emmanuel Macron sets out 10-year EU vision – says the union needs larger budget, integrated capital markets and abolished vetoes, argues that moving faster on issues of European level sovereignty is key, seeks strategic dialogue with Russia as well as with UK and US as being defiant and weak is an inefficient system
North America
Joe Biden says unlike the African American community the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community, during interview aired at the NAHJ and NABJ convention, sparking controversy across social media
Andrew Cuomo has begged New York’s wealthy to return from their second homes and help it recover from the coronvavirus outbreak, lawmakers have proposed a wealth tax targeting the city's 100 billionaires to help fill a USD 30 billion budget shortfall, Mr Cuomo has said he would not support greater taxes on the ultra-wealthy as he fears they will leave for good if their taxes go up, “A single per cent of New York’s population pays half of the state’s taxes, and they’re the most mobile people on the globe.”
President Trumps suggests delaying November presidential election is a better way to deal with Covid-19 pandemic than mail-in ballots suggested by the Democrats, which he warns would result in most inaccurate and fraudulent election in history
Brian Kidder makes two attempts to make a citizen's arrests on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, both attempts are stopped by attending officers, Kidder, a member of the Canadian Revolution, who in part are members of the larger anti-government element the Canadian Patriot movement
Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity face allegations of sexual harassment by former Fox News contributor Cathy Areu who alleges they tried to get her to go to their hotel rooms in 2018 and 2019 respectively, Fox says a comprehensive, independent investigation found all of Areu's claims were false, patently frivolous and utterly devoid of any merit
Son of US District Judge Esther Salas killed and her husband injured when lone gunman in a FedEx uniform knocks on the door to their home and fires when it's opened, Salas herself was unharmed
Despite reports Kanye West suspended his presidential bid Oklahoma State Election Board tweets he has qualified to be on the ballot and West files a Statement of Candidacy document with the Federal Election Commission seemingly confirming he is moving forward with his 2020 bid
Latin America
The Cuban government has turned 72 state-run shops into "dollar stores", shelves, unlike many regular supermarkets dealing in local currency, are well stocked with basic food and hygiene products but must be paid for in USD, the government denies the new stores are part of a "dollarisation" process turning the USD into the official currency as has happened in Panama, Ecuador and El Salvador
Jair Bolsonaro tests positive for covid-19, is said to have mild fever and receiving treatment including hydroxychloroquine and azitromycin
London court rules British government recognizes Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s president in case to decide which leader controls USD 2 billion worth of Venezuelan central bank gold stored in Bank of England, Nicolas Maduro’s lawyers say they will appeal judgement
Argentina miss already delayed bond payments after missing payments on USD 503 million on Friday in country’s ninth sovereign default, source says ongoing talks between Argentina and its creditors are making substantial progress
Jair Bolsonaro takes to streets and joins protesters who demand end to pandemic lockdowns and return to military rule, gives speech from truck where he declares the people are in power and all must yield to its will, rejects accusations of attacking democracy and proclaims that he is the constitution
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro posts on Facebook that he tested negative for Covid-19 after rumours that he tested positive, dined with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last Saturday along with his press secretary who was diagnosed with the disease following the trip
President Nicolás Maduro wants Venezuelan women to have six children each as part of governmental birth method program, initiative critiziced as the country already lacks food access and health care, 4.5 million Venezuelans have emigrated since 2015 and one-third of the population is unable to meet basic dietary needs according to UN
Asia
Singapore makes incoming travellers wear electronic monitoring device to ensure they comply with Covid-19 quarantines, similar to wristbands used in Hong Kong and South Korea, travellers will be allowed to isolate at home rather than at state-appointed facility
Russia is holding military exercises amid clashes between its ally Azerbaijan and Armenian forces, more than a dozen Armenian and Azeri soldiers have been killed in recent days, the countries at odds over Azerbaijan’s breakaway, mainly ethnic Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh
Taiwan officials in Hong Kong told they must sign document supporting Beijing's claim to Taiwan under its one-China policy before their visas are renewed, after Taipei opened an office to help people who want to leave Hong Kong due to the new security law imposed
Three Indian soldiers die after Indian and Chinese troops fight each other with metal rods and stones for a couple of hours at their disputed border in the Galwan Valley, the first deaths since the last major border clash in 1967
Pangolin scales removed from official 2020 Chinese listing of ingredients approved for use in traditional Chinese medicine, the move follows the country's State Forestry and Grassland Administration's decision to raise the protected status of pangolins to the highest level
29% rise in Asiatic lion population in Indian state of Gujarat last five years, the lion population has doubled to 674 lions since 2001 while its footprints have expanded 400%
Covid-19 may have hit China as early as late summer 2019 satellite images showing dramatic spikes in traffic around major hospitals in Wuhan and elevated searches on Chinese internet for symptoms associated Covid-19 suggests, according to Harvard Medical School study
MIDDLE EAST
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab set to announce the resignation of his government after the explosion in Beirut which killed at least 163 people and has stirred public outrage and spurred a string of ministers to step down
At least 10 dead and hundreds wounded in a massive explosion at Beirut's port, General Abbas Ibrahim said it appears the explosion was caused by highly explosive material confiscated years ago stored in a warehouse
Southern Yemen separatists Southern Transitional Council announces having seized government facilities and military bases on the main island of Socotra, Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi condemns the action as a full-fledged coup, Socotra governor Ramzi Mahroos accuses coalition leaders Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of turning a blind eye
Egyptian military in North Sinai kills 21 jihadi terrorists planning attacks later in May, the Armed Forces says 126 terrorists have been killed earlier this month in 22 raids and 12 operations in Central and North Sinai
19 Iranian sailors killed and 15 wounded when Iranian frigate Jamaran accidentally strikes support ship Konarak with a missile during an exercise in the Gulf of Oman
UAE-backed Yemeni separatists Southern Transitional Council declare state of emergency and say they will self-govern southern provinces, the Saudi-backed government says the move violates the November Riyadh agreement where the respective sides were to join a new national cabinet and place all forces under governmental control
Afghanistan to release 1,500 Taliban prisoners in coming days to pave way for peace talks, plans releasing additional 5,000 prisoners over 20 weeks if the talks make progress, demands written guarantee from all released Jihadists that they not return to the battlefield, according to Reuters
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan files 164,000 USD lawsuit against opposition MP Engin Özkoç (CHP) for "impudent remarks", Özkoç called Erdoğan dishonorable and a traitor for referring to a dead Turkish soldier as a "head" and accused the president of being responsible for the massacre of millions of Muslims in Syria, investigation regarding insulting the president also launched by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office where Özkoç risks four years in prison
Africa
More than 270 elephants have mysteriously collapsed and died in Botswana since early May, poaching has been ruled out while Covid-19 has not, the country is home to around 130,000 elephants which is a third of Africa’s total
Opposition activists in Zimbabwe say torture and sexual abuse is used by state security services to discourage protests, MDC members claim to have been arrested at roadblock and subjected to humiliating treatment for two days before being released
Libyan government forces retake eight cities west of Tripoli from militias loyal to warlord Khalifa Haftar, secure the road from the Tunisian border to the Abu Grein area, more than 1,000 government soldiers killed by Haftar's forces since last April
Democratic Republic of Congo records second Ebola death in days following seven weeks without a new case, WHO reports, had been due on Sunday to mark end to outbreak, a group of angry men threw stones at team attempting to decontaminate first victim's home and trace his contacts
Zimbabwe’s police use water cannon to disinfect markets and exterior of a block of residential flats in highly populated areas of Harare, the country has recorded one death from nine cases of Covid-19 and went into a 21-day lockdown on Monday
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni proclaims Ugandans and other Africans will stay poor if they keep splitting their time between sleeping and doing "things without mathematics", says he's very happy that Archbishop John Baptist Odama together with other church leaders have joined his campaign against sleeping
Dozens of Chinese factories produce thousands of tonnes of zombiefying metarhizium fungus to help fight locust swarms in East Africa, UN warns of worst situation in decades and that the swarms might result in famine affecting 13 million people, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization also works with the Somalian government to prepare a custom metarhizium species in what is described as the largest ever use of biopesticides against the insects
Economy
Scandinavian airline SAS signs SEK 3.3 billion three-year revolving credit facility agreement where 90% is guaranteed by the Swedish and Danish states approved by the European Commission, the company says it will further its dialogue with the Norwegian government regarding NOK 1.7 billion state guaranteed funding and that it will seek additional governmental support to ensure its providing of critical Scandinavian airline infrastructure
Japan decides on USD 930 cash handout for every citizen to lessen the economic Covid-19 blow, originally planned on giving 300,000 yen to qualified households that had lost income but changed that as the payments were seen as too complicated and too small
Bill Gates resigns from boards of Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway, states intention to focus more on philantropic efforts, remains involved in Microsoft which he founded 45 years ago and where he remains a top shareholder with 1.36% of shares
Bank of England bid to thwart Covid-19 recession drives Euro Zone banks index .SX7E 1.5% higher by kindling hope of ECB following suit, precarious 6% gain dashed as U.S. stock market opens sharply lower, British minister of finance say he will do "whatever it takes" to protect the UK economy, BoE gives UK banks provisional leave to tap capital reserves
Federal Reserve takes flak from President Trump for not cranking out the stimulus necessary to thwart looming Coronavirus downturn, insists the US take a leaf out of Europe's playbook and set the "lowest rates in the world"
Scheming bureaucrats flock to G20 to hatch new strategy for mulcting Big Tech, issued communique projects proposed legislation will yield governments worldwide an additional $100 billion dollars in tax revenue, rules will prohibit tech companies from secreting revenue in tax-havens, taxes must be paid locally and not where subsidiaries are registered, "There is no time to wait for elections" intones German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz
Wuhan disease primary uncertainty for world economy according to IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva, companies including Apple has warned investors about reduced demand and supply chain interruptions, comparisons with SARS must take into account that China's share of world economy is now twice as large
General Motors clubs egress from Thai, New Zealand and Australian markets, GM scrambles to cut losses to recoup 200 million USD shortfall in all Australasian branches, board plans sale of Thai Rayong factory to Chinese Great Wall Motors by end of 2020, spokesman for Thailand's Ministry of Industry Krichanont Iyapunya says the "Detroit of Asia" will take sale in its stride since plant openings and closures are part and parcel of an "adaptive automobile industry", Australia's minister for Industry Karen Andrews grieves expected job losses
Technology
Segway ends production of iconic self-balancing transportation device which was hailed as revolutionary but remained a curiosity, brand name lives on as well as thousands of patents used in e-scooters, hoverboards and other successor technologies
Texas Instruments removes support for C-based and assembly-based programs on the TI-84 Plus CE and the TI-83 Premium CE to minimize security risks and impede cheating, the development community views the decision as the end of an era
Linus Torvalds switches from Intel processors after 15 years and upgrades his main computer with a 32-core AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970x, writes that while he has not yet switched to ARM, the allmodconfig test builds are now three times faster
Elon Musk tweets Tesla will move to Texas and Nevada from California as home of Fremont plant, Alameda County says lockdown will remain while rest of state will allow manufacturers to reopen, Musk has criticized the lockdown and stay-at-home orders calling them fascist
Drones capable of measuring body temperature from 58 meters away as well as detecting sneezing, coughing, heart and breathing rates to be tested by the police in Westport, Connecticut, to provide better support for at-risk groups, police says that the drones will only be used outside individual private yards and will not use facial recognition technology
Google and Apple announce joint effort to create tracing tool in order to assist governments and health agencies in managing Covid-19 pandemic, Bluetooth-based platform is said to be opt-in with user privacy and security central to the design, the project also involves releasing APIs enabling interoperability between Android and iOS devices using public health authority apps
Dyson designs and builds entirely new ventilator in 10 days and plans selling 10,000 units to the UK government as well as donating 5,000 units to international efforts, UK firm Gtech is also working to produce ventilators and has submitted two examples to the government for assessment, in the US Ford has announced working together with 3M and GE Healthcare to produce medical equipment and GM as well as Tesla have pledged to make ventilators
Science
Hundreds died or developed heart failure in Britain as result of not seeking treatment for their heart attack due to Covid-19 fears, with 5,000 fewer admissions with heart attack than expected by the end of May, according to University study published in The Lancet
22-year-old Grey parrot outperforms 21 Harvard students and 21 6- to 8-year-old children in complex version of shell game where participants needed to track locations of fluffy pom-poms hidden under cups that swapped places an increasing number of times
Magnetic north pole shifting with increasing speed from Canada toward Siberia due to changes in underground blobs of molten iron, blob under Canada split in two about 20 years ago and largest part is now shifting toward corresponding blob under Siberia
Female mosquitoes carrying the microbe Microsporidia MB are protected from being infected with malaria, 295 out of 4270 mosquitoes in Kenya tested postitive for the microbe while none were of these were infected with malaria study published in Nature Communications says, seen as potential for controlling spread of disease to humans
Stephen Wolfram announces new framework for creating fundamental theory of physics, claims to be able to derive general relativity and quantum mechanics among others from set of basic premises, launches research program to be conducted with maximum transparency online
[email protected] shuts down after 20 years of enabling volunteers to contribute computing power to the search for extraterrestial life, reasons include diminishing returns and need to focus more on analyzing the results already achieved
Largest explosion ever observed came from supermassive black hole in galaxy cluster Ophiuchus 390 million lightyears from Earth, according to researches who studied it using four radio telescopes including two in orbit, one i Australia and one in India
Two distinct forms of schizophrenia exists and are associated with different changes in brain structure, one with lower volume of grey matter and the other with increased volumes in some structure but normal volume overall, according to researches who studied 307 schizophrenics and 364 healthy subjects with magnetic resonance imaging
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