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The top American diplomat in Hong Kong said Monday that it is a “tragedy” to use the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s new national security law to chip away at “fundamental freedoms” in the Asian financial hub and create an “atmosphere of coercion and self-censorship.” “Using the national security law to erode fundamental freedoms and to create an atmosphere of coercion and self-censorship is a tragedy for Hong Kong,” Hanscom Smith, U.S. consul general to Hong Kong and Macau, told reporters. “Hong Kong has been successful precisely because of its openness and we’ll do everything we can to maintain that.”         The law, imposed last week following anti-government protests in Hong Kong last year, makes secessionist, subversive, or terrorist activities illegal, as well as foreign intervention in the city’s internal affairs. Any person taking part in activities such as shouting slogans or holding up banners and flags calling for the city’s independence is violating the law regardless of whether violence is used.         Critics see it as Beijing’s boldest step yet to erase the legal firewall between the former British colony and the mainland’s authoritarian Communist Party system.         Since the law went into effect, the government has also specified that popular protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time” has separatist connotations and is thus criminalized.         In Hong Kong’s public libraries, books by pro-democracy figures have been pulled from the shelves, including those authored by prominent pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong and politician Tanya Chan. The authority that runs the libraries said it was reviewing the books in light of the new legislation. Many pro-democracy shops that publicly stood in solidarity with protesters have moved to remove pro-democracy sticky notes and artwork that adorned the walls of their stores, fearful that the content might violate the new law.         A 23-year-old man, Tong Ying-kit, has become the first person in Hong Kong to be charged under the new law, for allegedly driving into a group of policemen while bearing a flag with the “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time” slogan. 
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Britain will invest nearly $2 billion in cultural institutions and the arts to help a sector that has been crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday.
 
Theaters, opera houses and ballet companies have been left without a live audience for months.
 
Though English museums and cinemas can reopen with strict social distancing in the latest easing of the lockdown that began Saturday, guidelines still dictate no live performances at theaters or concert halls.
 
That has created an existential crisis for much of the sector, which has been vocal in calling on the government for support.
 
“This money will help safeguard the sector for future generations, ensuring arts groups and venues across the UK can stay afloat and support their staff whilst their doors remain closed and curtains remain down,” Johnson said in a statement.
 
The government said the 1.57 billion pound ($1.96 billion) investment was the biggest ever in Britain’s culture sector.
 
It said that Britain’s museums, art galleries, theaters, independent cinemas, heritage sites and music venues would be protected through emergency grants and loans.
 
The government will consult with figures from Arts Council England, the British Film Institute and other specialist bodies on awarding grants, while it said repayable finance would be issued on affordable terms.
 
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An entire county in northwestern Spain is on lockdown all week because authorities fear a new COVID-19 outbreak even after the federal government ended a nationwide lockdown.
 
Officials in La Marina in the Galicia region placed all 70,000 residents in a countywide quarantine after several bars in the area reported new cases.  
 
Only essential travel in and out of the county is allowed and gatherings of more than 10 people are forbidden. The lockdown will be in place through Friday.  
 
The La Marina lockdown comes a day after authorities in Lleida in Catalonia reimposed a lockdown, affecting more than 200,000 people. Jesus Vazquez Almuina, Catalonia’s health minister, said he wants to avoid what he calls “an exponential growth” of COVID-19 in the popular tourist destination since more than 100 cases have been confirmed in the last two weeks.
 
Spain has been one of Europe’s COVID-19 hotspots with more than 250,000 cases and 28,000 deaths. But the central government has begun easing travel restrictions and other measures.
 
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has put the next phase of his country’s reopening on hold for two weeks because of a 50% jump in the number of coronavirus cases in the last several days. Buses were to have started running and some businesses and factories were to have started to reopen Tuesday.
 
Indian authorities have extended their lockdown on businesses, monuments and other attractions in Agra, including the Taj Mahal, as the number of coronavirus cases in that country continues to jump.
 
“In the interest of the public, it has been decided that opening monuments in Agra will not be advisable as of now,” the district authorities said in a notice published in Hindi.
The Taj Mahal and other tourist sites in Agra have been closed since March. Agra is most affected city in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state.FILE – A security officer stands guard on the empty grounds of the historic Taj Mahal during a coronavirus lockdown, in Agra, India, April 2, 2020.Nearly 25,000 new cases and more than 600 deaths were reported in India Sunday.  
 
India is still closed to international travel, but New Delhi has gradually been lifting restrictions on local tourism to try to boost India’s COVID-devastated economy.
 
An easing of coronavirus restrictions appears to be a success in England after trademark British pubs reopened for the first time in almost four months Saturday.
 
“Overall, I’m pleased with what happened yesterday. It was really good to see people out and about, and largely socially distancing,” British Health Minister Matt Hancock told Sky News Sunday. “From what I’ve seen, although there’s some pictures to the contrary, very, very largely people have acted responsibly.”
 
Drinkers and diners are told to practice social distancing with Prime Minister Boris Johnson telling Britons to “enjoy summer safely.”
 
But police say some pub goers who celebrated a bit too much had troubled keeping two meters apart from one another.
 
“The foolish few, but the sensible majority, I think is the story across the country, and long may that continue,” the head of Britain’s National Health Service, Simon Stevens, told the BBC.  
 
In Tokyo, exit polls show voters Sunday reelected Yuriko Koike governor because of what observers say was her straightforward handling of the coronavirus outbreak.  
 
But Koike predicted a second wave of COVID-19 and said this is a critical time to prepare. The number of new cases in Tokyo exceeded 100 for the fourth day in a row Sunday.A woman walks past a banner for the gubernatorial election, displayed on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, in Tokyo, Japan, July 5, 2020.Japan was to have been hosting the Summer Olympics this month, but the coronavirus pandemic has forced a one-year postponement.  
 
“The event represents a big hope for athletes as well as children. Municipalities are waiting in earnest for torch relays,” Koike told reporters even if a recent Japanese newspaper poll shows more than half in Japan want the games to be postponed further or canceled outright.
 
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has announced some harsh measures against individuals and businesses who he says aren’t doing their part to fight COVID-19.  
State services will be cut off to people who won’t wear a mask, and businesses and offices that do not comply with social distancing and other measures will be shut for a week.  
 
Iranian authorities reported a new record number of deaths Sunday, 163, bringing the total number of reported coronavirus deaths in the Islamic Republic to more than 11,000.  
 
More than 1,000 people held a mass prayer Sunday on the Indonesian island of Bali, where the resort haven gets ready to welcome domestic tourists again.  
 
Prayer leaders sought blessings for what they say is the “new normal” in a world hammered by a pandemic.
 
Bali’s economy has been in shambles since the outbreak. Officials on the island say they hope to be able to welcome foreign visitors again starting in September.   
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A fire that broke out at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility Thursday has caused significant damage that could slow the development of advanced centrifuges, an Iranian nuclear official said Sunday.Iran’s top security body said on Friday that the cause of an incident and fire at Natanz had been determined and would be announced later. Some Iranian officials have said it may have been caused by cyber sabotage and one warned that Tehran would retaliate against any country carrying out such attacks.FILE – Atomic Energy Organization of Iran spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi speaks during a news briefing with advanced centrifuges displayed in front of him, in Tehran, Sept. 7, 2019.”The incident could slow down the development and production of advanced centrifuges in the medium term … Iran will replace the damaged building with a bigger one that has more advanced equipment,” state news agency IRNA quoted the spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Behrouz Kamalvandi, as saying.”The incident has caused significant damage but there were no casualties.”Three Iranian officials who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity Friday said they believed the fire was the result of a cyberattack but did not cite any evidence.On Thursday, an article by Iran’s state news agency IRNA addressed what it called the possibility of sabotage by enemies such as Israel and the United States, although it stopped short of accusing either directly.Israel’s defense minister said on Sunday it was not necessarily behind every mysterious incident in Iran.In 2010, the Stuxnet computer virus, widely believed to have been developed by the United States and Israel, was discovered after it was used to attack Natanz.The Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP), Iran’s main uranium enrichment site, is mostly underground and one of several Iranian facilities monitored by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog.The IAEA said Friday the location of the fire did not contain nuclear materials and that none of its inspectors was present at the time.Natanz is the centerpiece of Iran’s enrichment program, which Tehran says is only for peaceful purposes. Western intelligence agencies and the IAEA believe it had a coordinated, clandestine nuclear arms program that it halted in 2003.Tehran denies ever seeking nuclear weapons.Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of most international sanctions in a deal reached between Tehran and six world powers in 2015.But Iran has gradually reduced its commitments to the accord since U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reimposed and intensified sanctions that have battered Iran’s economy.The deal only allows Iran to enrich uranium at its Natanz facility with just over 5,000 first-generation IR-1 centrifuges, but Iran has installed new cascades of advanced centrifuges.Israel has backed Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy on Tehran aimed at forcing it to agree a new deal that puts stricter limits on its nuclear work, curbs its ballistic missile program and ends its regional proxy wars.Iran says it will not negotiate as long as sanctions remain in place. 
 
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On an average day, President Donald Trump sends about 14 posts to the 28 million Facebook followers of his campaign account. His Democratic rival, Joe Biden, delivers about half that many posts to an audience of just 2 million.The numbers are similarly skewed in other spheres of the social media landscape.On Twitter, Trump’s 82.4 million followers dwarf Biden’s 6.4 million. The president has spent years cultivating a ragtag digital “army” of meme makers and political influencers who retweet campaign messages hundreds of times daily. Trump is outspending Biden on Google and YouTube advertising by nearly 3 to 1.  As his reelection bid faces growing obstacles, his primacy in the dizzying digital world is one of his top advantages, giving him a massive platform to connect with supporters and push a message that ignores his vulnerabilities related to the pandemic, unemployment and race relations. Biden and his allies are now working feverishly to establish a social media force of their own.  For the first time, Biden outspent Trump on Facebook advertising in June, pouring twice as much money into the platform as the president. His campaign is recruiting Instagram supporters to hold virtual fundraisers. And it’s plotting ways to mobilize the power of hundreds of teens on TikTok who reserved tickets for Trump’s recent Oklahoma campaign rally and took credit for sinking the event by artificially inflating the crowd count before it began.  But Trump’s head start may be tough to overcome.”Vice President Biden and Trump have very different challenges right now,” said Tara McGowan, the founder of liberal digital firm Acronym and former digital director for the Democratic super PAC Priorities USA during the 2016 campaign. “Trump needs to hold his base … and Vice President Biden needs to define and in a lot of ways introduce himself to you new voters, and potential supporters.”But Trump’s unimpeded access to the digital microphone is facing its limits.Twitter is beginning to fact check Trump’s posts, including one that made unfounded claims that mail-in voting would lead to fraud. The company also alerted users when the president posted a manipulated video, and it hid his Twitter threat about shooting looters in Minneapolis.Under pressure in June as major companies yanked advertising from its site, Facebook promised it would label Trump posts when they break rules around voting or hate speech. Video messaging platform Snapchat last month also said it would keep the president’s account active and searchable but would stop showcasing his profile on the platform. And in a move to clamp down on hate and violent speech, the online comment forum Reddit decided to ban one of the president’s most prolific fan forums, The_Donald.FILE – Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally at Renaissance High School in Detroit, Michigan, March 9, 2020.Trump and Biden have strikingly divergent tactics on social media.A centerpiece of Trump’s digital efforts is the Team Trump Online! nightly live broadcasts streamed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Twitch, an online streaming platform. The broadcasts feature top Trump surrogates including daughter-in-law Lara Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.Trump also tweets with far greater velocity, sending more than 160 Twitter messages during a seven-day period starting June 14, an Associated Press analysis of Trump and Biden’s accounts reveals. More than 50 of Trump’s posts were retweets from an assortment of users that included the U.S. Army, far-right meme makers, conservative news outlets, little-known congressional candidates and anonymous accounts that in some cases promoted conspiracy theories.  The president’s steady retweets of everyday users helps fans feel connected to him, said Logan Cook, a Kansas internet meme maker whose work Trump has regularly promoted on his social media accounts.  “President Trump’s team, they’re blending in with social media culture, which is also why they’re getting into so much trouble,” said Cook, whose Twitter account @CarpeDonktum was permanently suspended last week for copyright violations. His memes are controversial because he alters videos to mock Trump’s political rivals, including Biden.  Twitter users celebrate being retweeted by the president, or his inner circle, like the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., who has more than 5 million followers.  Trump’s followers see producing sardonic memes or videos as a game where the ultimate prize is a retweet from the president, said Misha Leybovich, a tech entrepreneur who produces social media engagement products that support Democratic candidates and causes.  “The fan base is having a blast,” Leybovich said. “If they never gave the fans the ability to be amplified by the president, the stakes would be lower.”Biden has stuck to a more conventional approach, tweeting nearly 60 messages during that same time, only a handful of which were retweets from verified accounts, like former President Barack Obama, or established news outlets. Every video Biden tweeted out over that week in June was produced by his own campaign.But the effectiveness of campaign messaging isn’t just about numbers, said Jennifer Mercieca, a political rhetoric professor at Texas A&M University.  “If you want to compare the attention and engagement metrics, it might look like Trump is way ahead, but that attention and outrage isn’t always good,” Mercieca said. “When a child is throwing a tantrum, you’re giving them attention, but it’s not because you approve of their behavior.”Indeed, the Biden campaign argues that despite being outmatched on social media, their engagement is strong.”The way that they treat their supporters, it’s about distraction. It’s about keeping them angry,” said Rob Friedlander, Biden campaign digital director. “For us it’s about, how do we make you feel like you’re brought into the campaign.”The campaign is creating Facebook groups, holding virtual events on Instagram and partnering with social media influencers who create posts in support of the campaign.  One such group is an Instagram account called Bake for Biden, which bakes bread and ships sourdough starters across the country in exchange for donations to Biden. The group was born out of what Brooklyn marketing executive Domenic Venuto first saw as an inadequate response from Biden’s campaign to Trump’s taunts and conspiracy theories.  Venuto said he’s come to understand the campaign’s digital strategy of ignoring Trump’s attacks.  “They’ve been very good at promoting values and shying away from being baited into the same tactics (as the Trump campaign),” Venuto said. 
 
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U.S. President Donald Trump spent the 4th of July weekend at Independence Day celebrations in South Dakota and Washington. He used both events to deliver a strong message on law and order, the platform that his campaign is focusing on ahead of the November election. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara traveled with Trump to South Dakota and brings us the story. 
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The British government is set to end the participation of Chinese telecom giant Huawei in the building of Britain’s 5G phone network — a policy about-turn that will further deteriorate London’s strained relations with Beijing, but will please Washington, according to British media reports. The major policy change follows a fresh reassessment by Britain’s National Cyber Security Center, or NCSC, on the eavesdropping risks posed by the Chinese company, according to Britain’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper. British officials have confirmed to VOA the newspaper report is accurate. Previously the NCSC, a department within Britain’s intelligence agency GCHQ, said the security risks posed by Huawei could be safely managed and mitigated, a view not shared by U.S. intelligence agencies. But the imposition last month of new U.S. restrictions on Huawei has altered the picture, the NCSC warns. Britain’s cybersecurity chiefs now conclude the sanctions, which block Huawei from using components and semi-conductors based on any American intellectual property, will mean the telecom giant will have to use “untrusted” parts, increasing security risks. British officials are drawing up a timetable for the removal of Huawei equipment already installed in the 5G network. British telecom firms BT and Vodafone have asked the government to give them until 2030 to strip Huawei components from the existing 5G infrastructure, but officials say Downing Street wants much speedier action, even if it means slowing down the roll-out of the new network. Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, welcomed the reports, saying, “The government’s change of heart is very welcome.” The planned policy reversal comes amid a mounting diplomatic dispute between Britain and Beijing over the introduction by the Chinese government of a new draconian security law that allows Chinese security agencies to arrest pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong, a former British enclave. To Beijing’s anger, Britain announced Hong Kong residents would be allowed to move to Britain. A sign reading “Boris Stop Huawei” is seen next to the M40 motorway, Tetsworth, Britain, May 1, 2020.In January, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson decided to allow Huawei a limited role in building the less critical parts of the country’s next-generation cellular network, dealing a blow to a U.S. campaign urging allies to boycott the telecom giant. For more than a year, the Trump administration has urged Britain and other allies to ban Huawei from participating in the development of fifth-generation wireless networks. U.S. officials say there’s a significant risk that the company, which has close ties to Chinese intelligence services, will act as a Trojan horse for Beijing’s espionage agencies, allowing them to sweep data up and gather intelligence. FILE – A pedestrian walks past a Huawei product stand at an EE telecommunications shop in central London, Britain, April 29, 2019.Ahead of Johnson’s go-ahead, U.S. officials warned London that giving Huawei the green-light could jeopardize intelligence-sharing between Britain and the United States. The British prime minister sought to mollify Washington — and critics within his own ruling Conservative party — by allowing Huawei to build only 35 percent of Britain’s 5G infrastructure and to exclude it from critical networks and from locations near nuclear plants and military bases. Pressure has been mounting on Johnson to reverse his decision from within his own party, pressure that has been fueled by the coronavirus pandemic and accusations that Beijing downplayed the danger of the novel virus. A newly-formed Conservative group in the House of Commons called the China Research Group has been urging Johnson to take a robust line with China’s communist leaders on a range of issues, from Beijing’s security crackdown in Hong Kong to Huawei. The group has attracted the support of dozens of Conservative lawmakers and around 60 had warned Johnson that they would mount a backbench rebellion, if he did not block Huawei. Johnson recently instructed officials to draft plans to limit Britain’s reliance on China for vital medical supplies and other strategic imports in light of the coronavirus crisis. Britain is strategically dependent on China for 71 critical goods categories, including pharmaceutical ingredients and consumer electronics, according to trade data analyzed by the Henry Jackson Society, a foreign policy think tank based in London. Last month, Christopher Patten, a former Conservative minister and Britain’s last Hong Kong governor, warned Johnson publicly about Huawei, saying, “If people argue we should deal with Huawei because they’re just like any other multinational company, that is for the birds: if they come under pressure from the Communist government to do things which are thought to be in Beijing’s interest they will do it.” With Britain poised to block Huawei, it would leave Canada as the only member of the so-called ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence-sharing partnership, which includes the U.S., Britain Australia and New Zealand, not yet to have excluded Huawei from involvement in 5G development. Huawei issued a statement Sunday saying it remains “open to discussions with the British government” and accused the U.S. of seeking to boost the market position of American companies. Company officials say an any decision to reverse its role in Britain’s 5G network is based is based on “mistaken assumptions.” A Huawei spokesman said: “Huawei is the most scrutinized vendor in the world and we firmly believe our unrivaled transparency in the UK means we can continue to be trusted to play a part in Britain’s gigabit upgrade. It’s important to focus on facts and not to speculate at this time.”  
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It seems to have been more like a typical Saturday night than a drunken New Year’s Eve.The reopening of pubs in England does not seem to have overwhelmed emergency services as many had feared ahead of the biggest easing of Britain’s lockdown. But one senior police officer said Sunday it was “crystal clear” that drunk people struggled, or ignored, social distancing rules.For the most part, people appeared to abide by the rules and rejoiced at the chance Saturday to lift a pint in the company of their mates, but in some places large crowds raised concerns that the deadliest outbreak in Europe may find fresh legs.Chris Newell, a 33-year-old courier, traveled to trendy Shoreditch in east London to see friends.”As long as everyone’s keeping their distance, we’re going to have a few drinks and just enjoy it and try and get back to a bit of normality,” he said. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the vast majority of people did “the right thing” and abided by social distancing rules to stay at least one meter (over 3 feet) apart from members of another household and use hand sanitizers.“It was really good to see people out and about and largely, very largely social distancing,” he said on Sky News.John Apter, chair of the Police Federation, who was on patrol in the southern England city of Southampton, said it was a “busy” shift, one that saw officers having to deal with naked men, “happy” drunks as well as “angry” drunks.He said the shift “managed to cope” but it was “crystal clear” that those who have imbibed one too many cannot, or won’t, socially distance.Pubs and restaurants worked hard to get ready for the moment, spacing tables, putting some staff behind plastic counters and registering customers upon arrival. The wearing of masks is optional though, even for staff.Rafal Liszewski, a store manager in the central London district of Soho, voiced concerns about the swelling crowds on Saturday.“Quickly everything got out of control and by 8-9 p.m. it was a proper street party with people dancing and drinking,” he said. “Barely anyone was wearing masks and nobody respected social distancing …. to be honest with that many people on one street it was physically impossible.”Some fear the British government is being overly hasty, even reckless, in sanctioning the changes. The U.K.’s confirmed virus death toll of 44,198 is the third-highest in the world, behind the United States and Brazil.Critics note that the reopening of bars and restaurants in the United States and South Korea has been blamed for a spike in new infectionsThe four nations of the U.K. — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — are moving at different speeds out of the coronavirus lockdown. The restrictions in England, with a population of around 56 million, or 85% or the U.K.’s, have been lifted the most, triggering concerns that Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson is being unduly influenced by a desire to kickstart Britain’s ailing economy.Johnson’s office at 10. Downing Street, among many other places across the U.K., was lit up blue overnight to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the formation of the country’s beloved National Health Service, which gives free health care to residents.A number of events are planned Sunday to celebrate its birthday. People are being encouraged to clap at 5 p.m. to say “Thank you” to the hundreds of thousands of NHS staff who have worked selflessly throughout the coronavirus pandemic.After coming down with coronavirus himself, Johnson credited NHS workers with saving his life. 
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A regional Somali lawmaker has been abducted and killed by al-Shabab militants near the town of Bal’ad, 30 kilometers north of Mogadishu.Mohamed Mohamud Siyad was travelling in a vehicle from Jowhar town to the capital Mogadishu when he was abducted on Sunday, a security source told VOA Somali.The vehicle Siyad was travelling in was stopped near the village of Gololey, north of Bal’ad. The militants drove the vehicle off the road.Officials say they believe the lawmaker was killed soon after he was removed from the vehicle.The militant group claimed responsibility for the abduction and killing of the lawmaker.Al-Shabab has been attacking the road between Jowhar and Mogadishu frequently over the last three years. In September last year, five regional officials including a former trade minister, a finance official and a humanitarian worker were killed in an explosion from an improvised explosive device.In June of 2018, two regional lawmakers were among 11 people killed in an al-Shabab ambush while traveling on the same road. 
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Baltimore protesters pulled down a statue of Christopher Columbus and threw it into the city’s Inner Harbor on Saturday night.Demonstrators used ropes to topple the monument near the Little Italy neighborhood, news outlets reported.Protesters mobilized by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police have called for the removal of statues of Columbus, Confederate figures and others. They say the Italian explorer is responsible for the genocide and exploitation of native peoples in the Americas.According to The Baltimore Sun, the statue was owned by the city and dedicated in 1984 by former Mayor William Donald Schaefer and President Ronald Reagan.A spokesman for Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young told the Sun the toppling of the statue is a part of a national and global reexamination over monuments “that may represent different things to different people.”“We understand the dynamics that are playing out in Baltimore are part of a national narrative,” Lester Davis said.Statues of Columbus have also been toppled or vandalized in cities such as Miami; Richmond, Virginia; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Boston, where one was decapitated. 
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A 24-year-old woman died Saturday of her injuries after she and another woman were hit by a car on a closed highway in Seattle while protesting police brutality, authorities said.Summer Taylor of Seattle died in the evening at Harborview Medical Center, spokeswoman Susan Gregg said.Taylor and Diaz Love, 32, of Portland, Oregon, were hit by the car that barreled through a panicked crowd of protesters on Interstate 5 early Saturday morning, officials said.Dawit Kelete of Seattle drove the car around vehicles that were blocking I-5 and sped into the crowd about 1:40 a.m., according to a police report released by the Washington State Patrol. Video taken at the scene by protesters showed people shouting “Car! Car!” before fleeing the roadway.Love is in serious condition in the intensive care unit at Harborview, Gregg said.Love was filming the protest in a nearly two-hour-long Facebook livestream captioned “Black Femme March takes I-5″ when the video ended abruptly; with about 15 seconds left, shouts of “Car!” can be heard as the camera starts to shake before screeching tires and the sound of impact are heard.A graphic video posted on social media showed the white Jaguar racing toward a group of protesters who are standing behind several parked cars set up for protection. The car swerves around the other vehicles and slams into the two women, sending them flying.The driver, who was alone, fled the scene after hitting the protesters, Trooper Chase Van Cleave told The Associated Press. One of the protesters got in a car and chased the driver for about a mile. He was able to stop him by pulling his car in front of the Jaguar, Van Cleave said.Troopers arrived, and the driver was put in custody, Washington State Patrol Capt. Ron Mead said.Kelete was described by offices as reserved and sullen when he was arrested, according to court documents. He also asked if the pedestrians were OK, the documents say.Kelete was booked into the King County Correctional Facility on Saturday morning on two counts of vehicular assault. Bail was denied.A judge found probable cause to hold Kelete on an investigation of vehicular assault. He faces a second court hearing on Monday at which the judge will determine if he can be released on bail, according to court documents.A protest sticker is posted on a handrail above Interstate 5 on July 4, 2020, in Seattle, where two protesters on the highway were injured after a car barreled into them earlier in the day. One of the victims died.It was not immediately clear if Kelete had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.Officials were trying to determine the motive, as well as where he got onto the interstate, which had been closed by the state patrol for more than an hour before the women were hit. Mead said they suspect Kelete drove the wrong way on a ramp. Trooper Rick Johnson said the driver went through a barrier that closed the freeway before striking the women.Troopers did not know whether it was a targeted attack, but impairment was not considered a factor, Mead said.Kelete has a Seattle address. He is listed in public records as a student who attended Washington State University between 2011 and 2017, majoring in business and commerce. His enrollment status could not be confirmed because the university was closed Saturday.The Washington State Patrol said Saturday evening that going forward it won’t allow protesters to enter I-5 and would arrest pedestrians on the freeway.Seattle has been the site of prolonged unrest following the May 25 death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis. The incident sparked nationwide protests. Dozens of people were arrested this past week in connection with protests as demonstrations continue after authorities cleared the “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” zone Wednesday morning.Protesters had shut down the interstate for 19 days in a row, Mead said at a news conference.The State Patrol responded by closing sections of the interstate to keep drivers and protesters safe.“In a time that requires care and flexibility, we are exercising the safest means possible to avoid injuries or worse to motorists, protesters, WSDOT personnel and our troopers by closing the roadway and separating protesters from vehicular traffic,” Chief John Batiste said in a statement on June 27, responding to complaints about the road closures.Mead emphasized that the freeway is “simply not a safe place” for pedestrians and said he hoped protesters would cease what he termed “unlawful behavior” in blocking the interstate.“My hope is, as a result of this tragedy, protesters will reconsider their desire to be on the interstate because I cannot guarantee their safety, plain and simple,” Mead said.Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said the city stands beside the friends and family of the victims.“No one should risk their life for demanding better from our city, state and country,” Durkan said on Twitter.Protesters were on the freeway for more than an hour before the car drove around the blockade around 1:36 a.m., Mead said.The state patrol tweeted out two pictures of the driver’s car with significant damage to its bumper and windshield.                  
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Some statues of figures from America’s slave-owning past have been yanked down by protesters, others dismantled by order of governors or city leaders. But the largest Confederate monument ever crafted — colossal figures carved into the solid rock of a Georgia mountainside — may outlast them all.Stone Mountain’s supersized sculpture depicting General Robert E. Lee, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson mounted on horseback has special protection enshrined in Georgia law.  Even if its demolition were sanctioned, the monument’s sheer size poses serious challenges. The carving measures 190 feet (58 meters) across and 90 feet (27 meters) tall. An old photo shows a worker on scaffolding just below Lee’s chin barely reaching his nose.Numerous Confederate statues and monuments to American slave owners have come down across the South amid recent protests against racial injustice. Stone Mountain hasn’t escaped notice.  After organizing a protest where thousands marched in neighboring Atlanta,  Zoe Bambara, 19, held a demonstration June 4 with a much smaller group — her permit allowed no more than 25 — inside the state park where the sculpture has drawn millions of tourists for decades.FILE – In this Aug. 1, 2015, photo, Confederate flag supporters climb Stone Mountain to protest what they believe is an attack on their Southern heritage, during a rally at Stone Mountain Park in Stone Mountain, Ga.”The Confederacy doesn’t celebrate the South; it celebrates white supremacy,” said Bambara, who is Black. “The people on that mountain, they hated me. They didn’t know me, but they hated me and my ancestors. It hurts to see those people celebrated and a memorial dedicated to them.”Still, Bambara admits she’s at a loss for what should be done with the massive monument, conceived some 50 years after the Civil War ended but not finished until 1972.The sculpture’s creators used dynamite to blast huge chunks of granite away from the mountain, then spent years carving the detailed figures with hand-held cutting torches.  Dicey, priceyErasing the carving would be dangerous, time-consuming and expensive.The stone is likely too durable for sandblasting, said Ben Bentkowski, president of the Atlanta Geological Society. Controlled explosions using TNT packed into holes drilled in the mountainside would work, he said.”With the logistics, the safety aspect of it, you’d have a budget certainly north of $1 million, I suspect,” Bentkowski said. “You’ll need insurance for the project, you’ll need hazard pay for people working on the surface of it. It could easily take a year or more.”There’s also a sizable legal obstacle.When Georgia lawmakers voted in 2001 to change the state flag that had been dominated by the Confederate battle emblem since 1956, language to guarantee the preservation of the Stone Mountain sculpture was included as a bargaining chip.  The law states that “the memorial to the heroes of the Confederate States of America graven upon the face of Stone Mountain shall never be altered, removed, concealed, or obscured in any fashion.”Ryan Gravel, an Atlanta-based urban designer, noted the law doesn’t mandate maintenance. He suggested allowing nature to take its course, letting vegetation grow over the sculpture from its nooks and crannies.”I think we’re in a moment where pushing the limits of that law is possible,” Gravel said. “And certainly the scale of the challenge at Stone Mountain warrants that.”Other ideas — such as adding a bell tower atop the mountain in honor of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. — have failed to take hold. And Democratic proposals to strip the protective language from Georgia law have fallen flat with the Republican-controlled Legislature.Governor’s remarksAsked whether Stone Mountain still deserves special protection, GOP Governor Brian Kemp didn’t give a direct answer when speaking to reporters June 26.  “As I’ve said many times, we can’t hide from our history,” Kemp said, while citing the new hate crimes law he signed the same day as a significant step in fighting racial injustice.Stone Mountain wasn’t a battle site and had little historical significance to the Civil War. But 50 years after the war ended, the exposed surface of the mountain’s northern face sparked an idea among the United Daughters of the Confederacy.  “It looked like a giant billboard,” said Stan Deaton, senior historian for the Georgia Historical Society.The group hired sculptor Gutzon Borglum — who later would carve Mount Rushmore — to design a massive Confederate monument in 1915.That same year, the movie “The Birth of a Nation” glorified the Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan and Stone Mountain played a key role in its resurgence, marking its comeback with a cross burning atop the mountain on Thanksgiving night.Budget problems plagued the Stone Mountain project and work on the sculpture languished until the state bought the mountain and surrounding land in 1958 for a public park. Finishing the monument gained renewed urgency as the civil rights movement brought unwanted change to defiant Southern states.  “It became the centerpiece of the park,” Deaton said. “There was never any doubt that the state’s intention of finishing this was of a piece with massive resistance.”An estimated 10,000 people attended the monument’s dedication in 1970. Another two years passed before its official completion.Family theme parkFive decades later, the park at Stone Mountain markets itself as a family theme park rather than a shrine to the “Lost Cause” mythology that romanticizes the Confederacy as chivalrous defenders of states’ rights. Its website highlights miniature golf and a dinosaur-themed attraction while downplaying the Confederate carving, Confederate flags and brick terraces dedicated to each Confederate state.FILE – Paula and Michael Smith pose for a photo with their grandson, Evan, 10, in front of a giant carving of Confederate figures during a visit to Stone Mountain Park, June 29, 2020.Paula and Michael Smith of Monticello, Georgia, visited Stone Mountain on Monday so their 10-year-old grandson could see the monument for the first time.”The mountain itself is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful and the carving is an engineering marvel,” said Paula Smith, a 70-year-old white woman who dismissed talk of removing or altering the carving as an attempt to “steal American history.”Jarvis Jones climbs the steep hiking trail on the back side of Stone Mountain several times a week. The 29-year-old Black man said he tries to avoid seeing the carving.”I definitely understand everyone wants their history to be represented,” Jones said. “But when it comes to the oppression of other people, I think it needs to change.”
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President Donald Trump kicked off a “Salute to America” Saturday night on the grounds of the White House with a speech that revisited the language and themes of the one he delivered a night earlier at Mount Rushmore.In his speech, the president vowed to “safeguard our values” from enemies within, including leftists, looters, and agitators.He went on to say the United States would “never allow an angry mob to tear down our statues, erase our history.”The president also suggested a coronavirus vaccine could come “long before the end of the year.”Earlier Saturday, Democrat Joe Biden, Trump’s presumptive opponent in the November election, used a different tone, tweeting: “Our nation was founded on a simple idea: We’re all created equal. We’ve never lived up to it — but we’ve never stopped trying. This Independence Day, let’s not just celebrate those words, let’s commit to finally fulfill them.”Crowds of spectators turned out along the National Mall for the event, including a large Independence Day fireworks display, despite the city’s concerns about the coronavirus. Crowds started to form Saturday morning along the mall but were smaller than a year ago and many wore masks, according to the Associated Press.Among them was nurse Zippy Watt from Riverside, California, who came to see the military flyover and fireworks with her husband and their two daughters. They wore matching American flag face masks even when seated together on a park bench.”We chose to wear a mask to protect ourselves and others,” Watt told the AP. She said she is “more of a Trump supporter” because of what she sees as socialist tendencies and high taxes in her state.Streets were blocked off around D.C. as the district saw a number of protests for racial equality and police reform.Earlier at the White House, several hundred invited guests gathered, most not wearing masks, on the South Lawn around tables decorated with flowers and small U.S. flags.Trump’s guests were doctors, nurses, law enforcement officers and military members as well as officials from the administration, said Judd Deere, deputy White House press secretary. He said the event was a tribute to the “tremendous courage and spirit” of front-line workers and the public in the pandemic.Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said plans for the July Fourth celebrations include a milelong firing of 10,000 fireworks that he called “the largest in recent memory.”Interior Department officials said they would have 300,000 face masks to give to spectators who came to the National Mall for the festivities, although there was no indication that people would be required to wear them.Bernhardt said visitors would be encouraged to wear masks and keep a 2-meter distance from one another.D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has criticized the plans, saying they go against established health guidelines.“We know this is a special event for the Department of Interior. We’ve communicated to them that we do not think this is in keeping with the best CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and Department of Health guidance,” she said.She noted the event would take place entirely on federal property, which means she does not have the right to shut down the holiday festivities.Bowser has asked city residents to avoid large crowds and to celebrate July Fourth near their homes.Many other U.S. cities have canceled or scaled back their firework displays this year because of the pandemic and concerns of large groups of people gathering.However, sales of fireworks have been strong, indicating that many Americans are planning to celebrate the holiday in their backyard, according to the Associated Press.   
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The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday that it was discontinuing its trials of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and combination HIV drug lopinavir/ritonavir in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 after they failed to reduce mortality.The setback came as the WHO also reported more than 200,000 new cases globally of the disease for the first time in a single day. The United States accounted for more than one-fourth of the total 212,326 new cases recorded on Friday, the WHO said.”These interim trial results show that hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir produce little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients when compared to standard of care. Solidarity trial investigators will interrupt the trials with immediate effect,” the WHO said in a statement, referring to large multicountry trials that the agency is leading.The U.N. agency said the decision, taken on the recommendation of the trial’s international steering committee, does not affect other studies where those drugs are used for nonhospitalized patients or as a prophylaxis.Another branch of the WHO-led trial is looking at the potential effect of Gilead’s antiviral drug remdesivir on COVID-19. The European Commission on Friday conditionally approved remdesivir for use after it was shown to shorten hospital recovery times.The solidarity trial started out with five branches looking at possible treatment approaches to COVID-19: standard care; remdesivir; hydroxychloroquine; lopinavir/ritonavir; and lopanivir/ritonavir combined with interferon.WHO Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Friday that nearly 5,500 patients in 39 countries had been recruited so far into its clinical trials and that interim results were expected within two weeks.Eighteen experimental COVID-19 vaccines are being tested on humans among nearly 150 treatments under development.Mike Ryan, WHO’s top emergencies expert, said on Friday that it would be unwise to predict when a vaccine could be ready. While a vaccine candidate might show its effectiveness by year’s end, the question was how soon it could then be mass-produced, he said.
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The world saw a record 24-hour increase in the number of coronavirus cases Saturday — 212,326, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported.The United States, Brazil and India led with the largest increases, the A tour group riding Segways rides down Miami Beach’s famed Ocean Drive on South Beach, July 4, 2020. The Fourth of July holiday weekend began Saturday with Florida logging a record number of people testing positive for the coronavirus.While the number of coronavirus infections has risen drastically recently, the nation’s average daily death toll has gradually declined because more of the recent positive cases are younger people who are less likely to have severe outcomes.However, the percentage of positive tests is rising in places. In Florida, for example, the percentage of positive tests rose to 14.8% compared with 8.3% two weeks ago, according to a Reuters analysis. The WHO says a rate of more than 5% is concerning.’Let’s not blow it’Elsewhere around the world, England took its biggest step toward a return to normal Saturday when it allowed pubs, barbers and movie theaters to reopen.”Let’s not blow it now,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged fellow Brits as they headed out for a pint or a haircut.As other countries have emerged from lockdown, authorities have been working to quash virus clusters as they have popped up.Police officers enforce a lockdown at public housing towers in response to an outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Melbourne, Australia, July 4, 2020.Some examples:— Australia’s Victoria state locked down nine public housing towers and three more Melbourne suburbs after 108 new cases. Premier Daniel Andrews said 3,000 people lived in the towers and “there will be no one allowed in … and no one allowed out.”— Authorities in northeast Spain ordered a lockdown of El Segriá County around the city of Lleida, home to more than 200,000 people, after health officials recorded a jump of 60 cases in 24 hours. The outbreaks were linked to agricultural workers in the rural area.— And Tokyo confirmed 131 new cases, exceeding 100 for the third day in a row and hitting a new two-month high, prompting Governor Yuriko Koike to ask residents to avoid nonessential out-of-town visits.People wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk through a shopping area in Tokyo, July 3, 2020. Japan lifted a seven-week pandemic state of emergency in late May.Concerns are rising about a resurgence of infections as Japan is now nearly back to business as usual after its state of emergency was lifted in May.— France said it was sending medics to its South American territory of French Guiana, where infections have surged as the virus swept neighboring Brazil.Over the past week, 1,400 new COVID cases were confirmed in French Guiana, with a population of just 300,000, according to French health officials. The military is flying patients from saturated facilities to the French Caribbean island of Martinique for treatment.— Finally, in South Africa, a growing hot spot as the pandemic picks up speed in parts of Africa, confirmed cases have climbed to more than 177,000, with a record 9,063 reported in the most recent 24-hour period.If Africa’s most developed country is struggling to manage the pandemic, that’s ominous for less-prepared African nations. Confirmed cases across the 54-nation continent are now above 433,000.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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NATO’s non-combatant military alliance in Afghanistan said Saturday it has arranged its “largest supply ever” of personal protective medical equipment to help Afghan security forces fight the coronavirus. 
The announcement by the 38-nation Resolute Support mission came just days after news reports said the pandemic was sweeping through Afghan security forces, undermining their ability to counter increased battlefield attacks by Taliban insurgents.
 
“More than 1.4 million masks, 500,000 gloves, 460,000 gowns & surgical supplies are on their way to ANA (Afghan National Army) and ANP (Afghan National Police) across Afghanistan,” the alliance tweeted.
 
It reiterated NATO’s commitment to support the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in their efforts to secure peace in the country.
 
A recent Washington Post article quoted unnamed Afghan security officials in four provinces as reporting suspected infection rates of 60 to 90 percent among personnel.
 
The outbreak has reportedly reduced the number of Afghan forces available to conduct counter-Taliban operations and other vital tasks, including taking up duty at security outposts.
 
The Afghan Defense Ministry rejected reports of large-scale infections among security forces, saying all necessary measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the virus at military bases and outposts.
 
As of Saturday, the public health ministry said that confirmed COVID-19 infections in Afghanistan, a country of 37 million, have risen to nearly 33,000. It noted that 826 patients have died. COVID-19 is caused by the coronavirus.
 Public health officials have warned that the actual numbers are much higher, citing limited testing capacity, among other challenges facing the war-hit health care system, and that up to 26 million people in the country could become infected in the coming months.
 
There are also reports the outbreak is circulating among top Taliban commanders and fighters, although insurgent officials have denied them.
 
Afghan authorities acknowledge stepped up insurgent attacks in recent weeks have killed and injured hundreds of security forces. The fighting has also killed scores of civilians.
 
The violence comes as Afghan rivals prepare to hold peace talks to negotiate a cease-fire and a power-sharing arrangement.
 
The proposed dialogue is stipulated in a landmark pact the United States signed with the Islamist Taliban in February to end nearly two decades of hostilities in Afghanistan.The commencement of long-awaited intra-Afghan peace talks, however, is tied to the conclusion of an ongoing prisoner swap between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
 
Kabul still has to free about 1,000 Taliban prisoners out of 5,000 it is required to release. The insurgents have released about 740 Afghan out of a promised 1,000.
 
The U.S.-Taliban deal requires all American and allied troops to leave Afghanistan by July 2021, subject to assurances the insurgent group will prevent transnational terrorists from using the country for international attacks and engage in a political reconciliation process to end violence.
 
Meanwhile, the NATO senior civilian representative to Afghanistan, Stefano Pontecorvo, has cautioned Taliban violence is hampering efforts to jumpstart intra-Afghan peace talks.
 
Pontecorvo released the statement via Twitter after updating NATO members in Brussels on the situation in Afghanistan.
 
“We also discussed the situation on the ground — Taliban violence has to go down, it is simply unacceptable and it is creating an issue, a problem for getting to the peace talks,” he said.
 
 
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A statue of Christopher Columbus in Waterbury has been decapitated amid protests over racial injustice and the legacy of the 15th-century navigator.Columbus Statue Vndalized: ‘Stop Celebrating Genocide’A statue of Christopher Columbus in Rhode Island has been vandalized on the US holiday named for himThe Republican-American reports  that photos shot Saturday show the headless statue outside Waterbury’s City Hall.The statue had been the focus of a standoff earlier in the week between its supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters who wanted it removed.Changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day Gains National ApprovalFor many Americans, the annual Columbus Day holiday honors the heritage and contributions of the 17 million-plus Italian Americans living in the United States. But honoring navigator Christopher Columbus has long been considered by many as an affront to Native Americans who were in the so-called New World long before Columbus arrived in 1492. Several Columbus statues in Connecticut have been removed in recent weeks as anti-racism protesters have argued that the renowned explorer was responsible for the exploitation and genocide of Indigenous people.Crews removed a Columbus statue from its pedestal in Hartford on Monday, and city leaders said it would be placed in storage until a decision is made on what to do with it.  The Waterbury statue was donated to the city in the 1980s by UNICO, an Italian American organization. 
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