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Elections are set for three U.S. states Tuesday, including a Senate Democratic primary contest in the mid-south state of Kentucky for a spot to face Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in November and a tough Democratic primary challenge longtime Congressman Eliot Engel is facing in New York.In the Kentucky race, polls indicate a tight race between former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath, who narrowly lost a 2018 bid for a seat in the House of Representatives, and Charles Booker, a 35-year-old state lawmaker.McGrath was the early favorite in the race and raised $41 million in campaign funds while earning the endorsements of key Democratic figures such as Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.  But Booker, who raised less than $4 million, has closed the gap, getting his own endorsements from key newspapers in the state as well as national progressive figures including Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill, in Washington, June 16, 2020.Tuesday’s winner faces a tough contest against the 78-year-old McConnell, a fixture in Kentucky and the Washington power structure. McConnell has been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump’s legislative proposals and his appointment of conservative judges. Moreover, the president is popular in Kentucky, which he won by about 30 percentage points in 2016. New York In Tuesday’s other key race, the 73-year-old Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is also facing a late challenge from Jamaal Bowman, a 44-year-old middle school principal who had never run for office before.  Much like Booker in Kentucky, Bowman is advancing more leftist policies than Engel, hoping to unseat the 16-term congressman. Engel has the endorsements of key Washington figures, including Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost the 2016 election to Trump.  FILE – House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., walks through the Hall of Columns at the Capitol.But New York progressives have lined up behind Bowman, including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who herself won an upset primary election victory against an entrenched New York congressman in 2018. In a normally solid Republican congressional district in western New York state, Democrat Nate McMurray and Republican Chris Jacobs are vying to finish the last half year of the two-year term vacated when Republican Chris Collins resigned as he pleaded guilty to federal insider stock trading charges. No matter who wins, McMurray and Jacobs are likely to face each other again in November for a full two-year House term. There also are party primaries for six congressional seats in Kentucky and another 26 House primaries in New York besides the Engel-Bowman race. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington.Virginia
In the mid-Atlantic state of Virginia, there are seven party primaries for House seats, along with a Republican party primary for the Senate nomination to face two-term incumbent Democratic Senator Mark Warner in the November election. The three Republicans vying to face Warner are civics teacher Alissa Baldwin, Army intelligence officer Thomas Speciale and Daniel Gade, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who lost his right leg in a 2004 firefight in Iraq and now is a professor at American University in Washington.President Donald Trump exits Air Force One as he arrives at Tulsa International Airport on his way to his first re-election campaign rally in several months in the midst of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Tulsa, Oklahoma, June 20, 2020Trump heads to Arizona
Trump is heading Tuesday to the southwestern state of Arizona where he is scheduled to inspect the under-construction border wall in Yuma, one of the nation’s hot spots for COVID-19. He is then scheduled to deliver a campaign speech to more than 3,000 people, most with the group “Students for Trump,” at a church in Phoenix.Arizona has seen its number of coronavirus cases double in the past two weeks.  Both Yuma County and the city of Phoenix have mandated the wearing of face masks in public.Trump’s reelection campaign faced criticism for holding a rally Saturday in the state of Oklahoma, another where the number of coronavirus cases has been surging.The political rally attracted far fewer supporters than the campaign had anticipated, filling only 6,200 out of the 19,199 seats in the Bank of Oklahoma Center, according to the Tulsa Fire Department.The Trump campaign had claimed it had received more than a million requests for tickets.
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Shopping malls in Peru are welcoming customers for the first time in just over three months. Stores reopened Monday to half their normal capacity and limitations on time allowed for shopping in each store.  Shoppers were only allowed inside after a temperature check, and their shoes and hands were sanitized. Until Monday, only supermarkets, pharmacies, and banks were allowed to open in shopping malls.  Street sellers, the so-called backbone of the informal economy in Peru, are upset they were not included in the arrangements to reopen business. Peru’s gradual reopening is taking place as the country remains one of the worst impacted nations by the coronavirus in Latin America, with just over 8,000 deaths and more than 254,000 infections. 
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French President Emmanuel Macron says he “won’t tolerate” the role that Turkey is playing in Libya, calling it an obstacle to peace. Turkey has been supplying arms to the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, which is fighting a rival administration headed by General Khalifa Haftar. At a news conference in Paris Monday with Tunisian President Kais Saied, Macron accused Turkey of ignoring a U.N. arms embargo against Libya and calls by the European Union for an end to all foreign intervention in Libya.  “I already had the opportunity to clearly say it to (Turkish) President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan: I consider today that Turkey plays in Libya a dangerous game and is in breach of all commitments it took during the Berlin conference,” Macron said. Relations between France and Turkey have become increasingly tense since an encounter between French and Turkish warships in the eastern Mediterranean two weeks ago.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan participates in a teleconference with European leaders, in Istanbul, Tuesday, March 17, 2020.France claims the Turkish ship flashed radar lights at a French vessel on a NATO mission to investigate whether the Turkish vessel was smuggling arms to Libya.  France accused Turkish sailors of taking up light weapons. Turkey called the French charges baseless. Libya has been in turmoil since longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi was toppled and killed in 2011.  The country is currently split between the government in Tripoli and Haftar’s eastern-based government, which is backed by Egypt, Russia and the United Arab Emirates. After more than a year of fierce fighting for control of the capital, which has been largely stalemated, the Tripoli-backed forces appear to have secured control of the city, observers say, but not before sending thousands of civilians fleeing for their lives from the fighting.   
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Outdoor clothing giant Patagonia announced it would pause all advertisements on Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram for at least the month of July, joining a growing ad boycott led by civil rights organizations. “For too long, Facebook has failed to take sufficient steps to stop the spread of hateful lies and dangerous propaganda on its platform,” said a FILE – Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies at a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, October 23, 2019.While Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said that the posts did not violate the social media giant’s rules against inciting violence, civil rights activists say the controversy is emblematic of how Facebook provides a platform for racist rhetoric.  Now, the company is facing widespread backlash, including from its own employees. Some have spoken out against company policy online, staged a virtual walkout and even resigned.  Facebook has come under fire in the past for failing to curb online abuse and election disinformation, and to protect user data. Civil rights groups including Color of Change, the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League launched the “Stop hate for profit” campaign on June 17, asking advertisers to pause promotions on all Facebook-owned platforms through the month of July. The boycott stems from a worldwide movement against racism and police brutality, sparked by the death of George Floyd last month in Minneapolis while he was in police custody. Advertising accounted for more than 98% of Facebook’s $17.74 billion in global revenue in the first quarter of 2020. Ad revenue growth has slowed, however, in part because of the pandemic-inflicted cash crunch many advertisers have faced, and because of Facebook’s own attempts to increase user data privacy.  In a statement to CNN Business, Carolyn Everson, vice president of Facebook’s Global Business Group, said, “We deeply respect any brand’s decision and remain focused on the important work of removing hate speech and providing critical voting information. Our conversations with marketers and civil rights organizations are about how, together, we can be a force for good.” Freelancing platform Upwork also joined the boycott, and Hypebeast, a men’s fashion publication, reported Sunday that brands including Vans and Timberland are considering joining.   
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U.S. President Donald Trump suspended the entry of certain foreign workers on Monday until the end of the year, a move the White House said would help the coronavirus-battered economy, but which business groups strongly oppose. The effects of the proclamation may not be immediately felt as the issuance of work visas had already dramatically declined due to the coronavirus pandemic. The following visa categories are affected: H-1B The United States grants 85,000 H-1B visas every year to “high-skilled” workers, often in the technology industry. They are generally valid for up to six years. In fiscal year 2019, the Department of State issued 188,123 H-1B visas for both new applicants and renewals. Some 131,549 were for Indian citizens, followed by 28,483 for mainland Chinese citizens. Only 143 H-1B visas were issued in May 2020, compared with 13,678 in May 2019, according to Department data. H-2B H-2B visas are for seasonal non-agricultural labor. The United States issues 66,000 per year, although it sometimes grants additional visas based on demand. They are generally valid for up to three years and are popular in industries like food processing, hotel work, and landscaping. In fiscal year 2019, the Department of State issued 97,623 H-2B visas for both new applicants and renewals. Some 72,339 were for Mexican citizens. H-4 H-4 visas are for the spouses and children of H-1B and H-2B holders. The proclamation does not explicitly address them, but does restrict entry for “any alien accompanying or following to join” restricted categories. They are valid for the duration of the H-1B visa. In fiscal year 2019, the Department of State issued 125,999 H-4 visas. Some 106,162 were for Indian citizens, followed by 5,701 for mainland Chinese citizens. J-1 J-1 visas are for cultural and educational exchange. The order applies to J-1 holders “participating in an intern, trainee, teacher, camp counselor, au pair, or summer work travel program.” They are valid for up to seven years, depending on program type, and there is no annual cap. In fiscal year 2019, the Department of State issued 353,279 J-1 visas for both new applicants and renewals. Some 39,920 were for mainland Chinese citizens, followed by 18,349 for citizens of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and 17,591 for German citizens. J-2 J-2 visas are for the spouses and dependents of J-1 holders. It is valid for the duration of the J-1 visa. The Department of State issued 38,282 J-2 visas in fiscal year 2019, with 10,228 going to mainland Chinese citizens. L-1L-1 visas are for high-level and specialized company employees. They are generally valid for up to seven years and there is no annual cap. In fiscal year 2019, the Department of State issued 76,988 L-1 visas. Some 18,354 were for Indian citizens, followed by 5,902 for citizens of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and 5,295 for Brazilian citizens. L-2L-2 visas are for the dependents of L-1 holders. They are valid for the duration of the associated L-1 visa. In fiscal year 2019, the Department of State issued 80,720 L-2 visas. Some 23,169 went to Indian citizens, followed by 7,143 for Brazilian citizens.
 
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AIDS activist Larry Kramer used to wear an oversized rectangular turquoise ring on his left finger, tinged with variations of green.  A turquoise band circled a second finger.  Two large turquoise rings decorated his other hand.When Kramer first moved to New York in the 1970s, a fortune teller told him he “must always wear something turquoise to look after your health.”  He trusted the superstition, surviving hepatitis B and a liver transplant — and battling an HIV infection for more than 30 years.”God knows how,” Kramer told VOA in his final interview before he died of pneumonia on May 27, less than a month before his 85th birthday.Turquoise’s health benefits are unproven, but a revolutionary generation of antiviral drugs, the first of which was studied and approved 25 years ago, kept Kramer and millions of other HIV-positive people alive for decades.Before that success though, the search for an effective treatment took well over a decade and triggered some of the fiercest confrontations between Americans and their government during that period.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
FILE – Demonstrators from the organization ACT UP, angry with the federal government’s response to the AIDS crisis, protest in front of the headquarters of the Food and Drug Administration in Rockville, Md., Oct. 11, 1988.Silence = DeathWhat would prove to be ACT UP’s most consequential clash came on October 11, 1988, when the group shut down the headquarters of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the agency that approves and regulates medications in America.  ACT UP blocked roads to the complex outside Washington, as participants lay on the ground in front of the building with mock tombstones, some reading, “RIP Killed by the FDA.” Activists hung a banner above the entranceway with ACT UP’s motto: Silence = Death.Richard Klein, who served as the FDA’s liaison with the AIDS community at the time, called ACT UP’s protest “a great wake-up call for the FDA.”In a recent VOA interview, Klein recalled “very heady days” as tensions boiled over between AIDS activists and federal officials. And he notes that changes did come about. Activists were added to FDA advisory committees as patient representatives.  Patient access was expanded for experimental drug studies, many of which were fast-tracked and revamped. Trial subjects in placebo groups whose health deteriorated were reassigned to groups receiving the drug or drugs being tested.”It took people who were dying to really make the point of ‘We don’t want to die in these clinical trials,'” Klein said.Yet AIDS patients continued to die — 300,000 in the United States by 1995. Ending the plague was by no means a given.The most commonly prescribed drug at the time, azidothymidine or AZT, was developed in the 1960s and approved for AIDS treatment in 1987. AZT did initially slow the deterioration of patients’ immune systems. Inevitably, however, the HIV virus became resistant to the medication and the deadly progression of AIDS would resume.New class of drugsFourteen years into the epidemic, 1995 saw a breakthrough. In June of that year, the FDA authorized a study of saquinavir, the first of a new category of drugs called protease inhibitors designed to prevent the HIV virus from replicating,”This new class was seen as a way to possibly overcome the virus resistance issues,” Klein said. Saquinavir proved ineffective by itself. But, when combined with AZT and another anti-viral medication, the resulting “drug cocktail” brought about an increase in AIDS patients’ white blood cell counts, a clear indication that their immune systems had begun to recover. Critically, the HIV virus did not develop resistance to the cocktail.Fewer than four months after receiving the heartening results, the Richard Klein, who worked for more than 41 years with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said activists who served on FDA advisory committees, as seen here, forced the agency to change policies that laid the groundwork for future epidemics.Ending a feud Beyond physical healing, the advent of life-saving drugs allowed for the eventual transformation of a stormy public feud into a friendship.  At the height of the AIDS epidemic, Larry Kramer branded Fauci, who was the face of the government’s efforts to combat HIV, an “incompetent idiot” and a “murderer.” Over time, the two men grew to respect and appreciate each other. Kramer called Fauci a “friend” in his interview with VOA. Writing for Time magazine after Kramer’s death, Fauci lauded his activism, adding, “I will miss a lot about Larry, but I think his warmth most of all.” Protease inhibitor drugs saved countless people after 1995, including Kevin Taylor, who shared his story with VOA. The 57-year-old Richmond, Virginia, man is still living with HIV, 35 years after he tested positive for the virus and doctors told him to get his affairs in order in anticipation of an early death. Taylor says HIV medications gave him a new lease on life: “Not necessarily to be cured, but to least have some kind of life as opposed to just living in the shadows waiting for your end to come.”  Drugs keep HIV at bay, reducing viral loads to undetectable levels for many. In recent years, the same drugs have proven effective in preventing HIV infections when taken prophylactically by those at high risk for contracting the virus. Despite these advances, there is no cure and no effective vaccine for HIV/AIDS.
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Increasing numbers of cases of COVID-19 have forced the Australian state of Victoria to bring back tougher restrictions beginning Monday.  New infections over the past two days have been at their highest for two months.  A state of emergency has also been extended.                  Most of Victoria’s new coronavirus cases are linked to clusters, often within extended families.  Other larger groups of infections have been detected at two hotels in the city of Melbourne.  Community transmission of the virus, rather than those infections acquired overseas by citizens who then returned home, is of great concern to health officials.   They are advising Australians to stay away from six COVID-19 hotspots in the Victorian state capital, while residents are being urged to remain at home.   Authorities want to set up so-called ‘rings of containment’ around localized outbreaks.   In neighboring New South Wales, officials are recommending citizens reconsider travel to Melbourne.   Various lockdown measures have gradually been eased across Australia in recent weeks, but officials in Victoria are blaming complacency for a spike in cases.   Limits on indoor and outdoor gatherings have now been reintroduced.   Victoria state premier Daniel Andrews says the community still needs to be vigilant.     “It is unacceptable that families anywhere in our state can just because they want this to be over pretend that it is.  It is not over,” he said.  “We have even had people who have tested positive and have been told to go home and isolate, and instead they have gone to work.”   Police officers are to step up their enforcement of the restrictions on group gatherings, particularly in Melbourne.  Checks will also increase on people who have been told to self-isolate because they had tested positive for the disease or were a close contact of someone who had.   A positive test also prompted the cancellation of an Australian Rules Football match in Melbourne following the recent resumption of games.   Australia has recorded just over 7,400 coronavirus cases.  Most patients have recovered, but 102 people have died.   The country’s international borders were closed to foreign nationals in March.  Widespread testing and contact tracing have helped Australia mostly contain the virus, but strict lockdown measures have inflicted great damage to the economy. 
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Black Roman Catholics are hearing their church’s leaders calling for racial justice once again after the killing of George Floyd, but this time they’re demanding not just words but action.  As protests against racism and police brutality continue nationwide, there are rising calls for huge new investment in Catholic schools serving Black communities; a commitment to teach the complex history of Black Catholics; and a mobilization to combat racism with the same zeal the church shows in opposing abortion.  “As a church, we’re very good with words. The church has made clear it stands against racism,” said the Rev. Mario Powell, a Black priest who heads a Jesuit middle school in Brooklyn.  “What’s profoundly different this time is folks aren’t looking for more words — they’re looking for actual change,” he said. Noting that hundreds of Catholic inner-city schools have closed in recent decades, he’s among those urging church leaders to make the necessary spending to reverse that. He also said all Catholic schools should teach the history of Black Catholics in America.         “It’s a history of discrimination and oppression,” said Powell, 38. “It’s also a very rich history that should be celebrated, of a population that has overcome a lot.” In 2018, after what it called an accumulation of “episodes of violence and animosity with racial and xenophobic overtones,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a pastoral letter condemning racism and vowing to combat it. Numerous bishops issued similar statements following Floyd’s death under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer.  Professor Shannen Dee Williams, a Black Catholic who teaches history at Villanova University, argued in a June 15 article in the National Catholic Reporter that such responses are insufficient.  The recent statements “fall way short when it comes to acknowledging the church’s role in the contemporary crisis and direct complicity in the sins of anti-Black racism, slavery and segregation,” she wrote, noting that the church was a major slaveholder in several states and engaged in segregation of parishes, schools, hospitals, convents and seminaries for decades after emancipation.  In an interview, Williams said the U.S. church hierarchy should formally apologize.  “We want them to own up to that history, and then atone for it,” she said.  The same day her article appeared, Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Washington, D.C., the highest-ranking Black leader in the U.S. church, joined eight fellow bishops from his region in acknowledging the church’s “sins and failings” on racial justice. “Prayer and dialogue, alone, are not enough. We must act to bring about true change,” their statement said, calling for greater equality in health care, education, housing and criminal justice.  Black Catholics’ somewhat marginal place in the U.S. church is illustrated by statistics compiled by the national bishops’ conference.  According to the conference, there are about 3 million African American Catholics, roughly 4% of the nation’s 69 million Catholics. But there are just 250 Black priests, or less than 1% of the total of 36,500, along with eight active Black bishops out of more than 250, or about 3.2%.          Some are calling on church leaders to engage more energetically with youth at the forefront of the protest movement.     Earlier this month scores of young Black Catholics staged a march in Louisville, Kentucky, to protest racial injustice and also signaling they want their local church leadership to do more.         One of the speakers, retired priest John Judie, included the church in a list of institutions that have favored white people over Black people.      In an interview, Judie said some young people in the archdiocese are uncertain about their place.          “When is the leadership going to sit down with the young adults who organized that protest and listen to what drove them to do this?” Judie said. “So far, I’m not seeing it happen.”       That’s a notion shared by Ansel Augustine, who as a young priest in New Orleans in 2005 worked in the youth ministry of his parish on rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina.       “We see our youth and young adults leading these movements, putting their faith into action,” said Augustine, now executive director of cultural diversity for the Washington archdiocese. “Now is the time to empower them, to listen to what these young prophets are saying.”       Ralph McCloud, who directs the anti-poverty program of the national bishops’ conference, said such steps are under way.  “We’ve begun with the listening sessions, hearing the very painful stories of people who’ve been victims of racism within the church and without,” McCloud said.          “We need to broaden the conversation and see who’s missing at the table,” he added. “With African American Catholics, our numbers are so low that we get overlooked, sometimes inadvertently, sometimes intentionally.”         Back in 2014, Augustine wrote an article for the Catholic media outlet Busted Halo asking why the fight against racism seemed to be a lesser priority for the U.S. Catholic leadership than the anti-abortion cause. Augustine took note when those remarks were echoed by Pope Francis earlier this month.     “We cannot close our eyes to any form of racism or exclusion, while pretending to defend the sacredness of every human life,” the pontiff said.          Gregory, the Washington archbishop, echoed the idea that racial justice should be part of pro-life advocacy.        “Birth is only the first moment of a person’s human dignity, which is never lost throughout the journey of life,” he said via email. That message heartens people like Loralean Jordan, a parishioner of the predominantly Black congregation of the Church of Saint Peter Claver in St. Paul, Minnesota.  “Black Lives Matter should be a pro-life issue, getting the same amount of resources and same amount of zeal as the pro-life movement,” she said. She would like to see the church help coordinate a national anti-racism march and direct all U.S. priests to mark the feast day of Peter Claver, the 17th-century patron saint of enslaved people, by preaching about racial injustice. 
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The popular U.S. race car series NASCAR is investigating what it called Sunday a “heinous act” after a noose was found in the team garage of Bubba Wallace, its only top-level Black driver. Wallace said he was “incredibly saddened” and added that the act is “a painful reminder of how much further we have to go as a society and how persistent we must be in the fight against racism.” He stressed the need to advocate for a community that is welcoming to everyone, and said those involved in the sport “will not be deterred by the reprehensible actions of those who seek to spread hate.” Wallace drew widespread support from other drivers for his push two weeks ago to get NASCAR to ban the presence of the confederate flag at its races. NASCAR said in a statement it will do everything it can to identify who was responsible for the noose “and eliminate them from our sport.” The incident happened at Talladega Superspeedway in the southern state of Alabama, which was scheduled to host a race Sunday before it was interrupted by rain. Protesters on Saturday and Sunday drove cars and trucks flying the confederate flag on roads near the track. 
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North Korea said on Monday it has readied thousands of balloons and millions of leaflets in preparation for “retaliatory punishment” against South Korea.
 
The detail, in a state media report, came a day after the North said it was preparing to begin an anti-South leaflet campaign following a series of vitriolic condemnations of Seoul because of anti-North leaflets floated over the border.
 
Defectors in the South send such leaflets, which criticize the North’s leader Kim Jong Un over human rights abuses and his nuclear ambitions. The messages are usually attached to balloons or floated in bottles.
 
Analysts have said North Korea has been conducting a series of staged provocations aimed at forcing concessions from Seoul and Washington.
 
“The preparations for the largest-ever distribution of leaflets against the enemy are almost complete,” a report by the Korean Central News Agency said.
 
“Publishing and printing institutions at all levels in the capital city have turned out 12 million leaflets of all kinds reflective of the wrath and hatred of the people from all walks of life,” it said.
 
More than “3,000 balloons of various types capable of scattering leaflets deep inside south Korea, have been prepared,” along with other means of distribution, KCNA added.
 
Inter-Korean relations have been frozen for months, following the collapse of a summit in Hanoi between Kim and US President Donald Trump early last year.
 
That meeting foundered on what the North would be willing to give up in exchange for a loosening of sanctions.
 
The nuclear-armed and impoverished North is subject to multiple United Nations Security Council sanctions over its banned weapons programs.
 
The South’s President Moon Jae-in initially brokered a dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington, but the North now blames him for not persuading the United States to relax sanctions.  
 
“South Korea has to face the music. Only when it experiences how painful and how irritating it is to dispose of leaflets and waste, it will shake off its bad habit,” KCNA said.
 
“The time for retaliatory punishment is drawing near.”  
 
As part of what analysts saw as staged provocations, the North last Tuesday blew up an inter-Korean liaison office on its side of the border, triggering broad international condemnation.
 
It has also threatened to bolster its military presence in and around the Demilitarized Zone.  
 
The North’s actions appear to be carefully calibrated, with Pyongyang drawing out the process by issuing multiple incremental warnings from different official sources — leadership, government departments and the military — ahead of each step it takes.
 
The North’s two consecutive days of comment about its leaflet campaign came after Kim Yeon-chul, South Korea’s point man for relations with the North, resigned over the heightened tensions. He expressed hope that his departure “will be a chance to pause for a bit”.
 
Photos carried by the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Saturday showed North Koreans preparing the leaflets.
 
Seoul’s unification ministry urged Pyongyang to withdraw the plan “immediately”, calling it “very regrettable”.
 
South Korea has also warned of a “thorough crackdown” against activists sending anti-North leaflets. It filed a police complaint against two defector groups over the messages that have offended Pyongyang.
 
The two Koreas remain technically at war after Korean War hostilities ended with an armistice in 1953 that was never replaced by a peace treaty. 
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President Donald Trump held off on imposing tougher sanctions on Chinese officials blamed for a crackdown on China’s Uighur Muslim minority because of concern such measures would have interfered with trade negotiations with Beijing, he said in an interview published on Sunday.
 
“Well, we were in the middle of a major trade deal. And I made a great deal, $250 billion potentially worth of purchases,” Trump was quoted as telling Axios Friday when asked why he had not enacted Treasury sanctions against Communist Party officials linked to repression in the Xinjiang region.
 
The United Nations estimates that more than a million Muslims have been detained in camps there. The State Department has accused China of subjecting Muslims to torture and abuse.
 
China has denied mistreatment and says the camps provide vocational training and help fight extremism.
 
U.S. officials previously told Reuters that since late 2018 they had weighed sanctions against Chinese officials over Xinjiang but refrained because of trade and diplomatic considerations.
 
Under a Phase 1 trade deal negotiated in 2019 that took effect in February, China agreed to buy at least $200 billion in additional U.S. goods and services over two years.
Former national security adviser John Bolton alleges in a new book that Trump sought Chinese President Xi Jinping’s help to win reelection during a 2019 meeting by making agricultural purchases, and Trump also encouraged Xi to go ahead with building camps in Xinjiang. Trump has denied the accusations. The United States since last year has placed import restrictions on some Chinese companies and visa bans on unnamed Chinese officials linked to Xinjiang but has not imposed harsher Treasury sanctions.
 
Trump signed legislation last Wednesday calling for sanctions over Xinjiang, drawing threats of retaliation from China. He insisted, however, he had discretion to decide any application of the measures.  
 
Elsewhere in the interview, Trump said he would consider meeting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and also suggested he has had second thoughts about his decision to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s legitimate leader.
 
“I would maybe think about that. … Maduro would like to meet. And I’m never opposed to meetings,” Trump told online news site Axios on Friday, a move that would upend his “maximum pressure” campaign aimed at ousting the Socialist president. He added, however, “but at this moment, I’ve turned them down.” 
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The family of late rock musician Tom Petty has filed a cease and desist motion after President Trump’s campaign played a song by Petty at a campaign rally.
 
Trump played the song “I won’t back down” at his campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday. Hours later, Petty’s family posted a statement condemning the use of the song on social media.
 
“Trump was in no way authorized to use this song to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind,” the statement said.
 
The family said Petty wrote the 1989 song “for the underdog, for the common man and for EVERYONE.”
 
“We want to make it clear that we believe everyone is free to vote as they like, think as they like, but the Petty family doesn’t stand for this,” the statement went on.
 
The statement, signed by Petty’s daughters, ex-wife, and wife, said they had issued an official cease and desist notice to what they called a “campaign of hate”.pic.twitter.com/mxToRoHWNn— Tom Petty (@tompetty) June 21, 2020Neil Young, R.E.M., and Rihanna are among a growing list of musicians who have objected to Trump’s use of their music in his political campaigns.
 
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Father’s Day, a holiday typically celebrated with neighborhood barbecues, fun and family, could be limited this year as states hesitantly ease COVID-19 lockdown orders and cities cautiously reopen.  
 
The United States has been combatting the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 since March, bringing everyday life to a halt for most Americans. But cities and states have begun to reopen restaurants and stores over the past few weeks as well as allow larger social gatherings to occur.  
 
The progression of these phases, however, has not allowed normality to resume entirely as many find their Father’s Day traditions, much like Mother’s Day, limited.
 
Jennifer Smith, 51, spoke with VOA about celebrating Father’s Day away from her family in her hometown of Long Island, New York, for the first time since her move to Ooltewah, Tennessee.  
 
“I mean, we’re down here by ourselves,” Smith said about herself and her husband of 25 years, Mike. “In New York, it would have been my sister, my father, my nieces and nephews, Mike and the kids. Anyone who’s home in New York.”
 
Not being able to visit their family is the Smiths’ biggest disappointment about trying to celebrate this weekend. Similarly, lockdown measures got in the way when Jennifer Smith’s father flew to Tennessee to visit for an early Father’s Day.
 
“He got a flight, but it was not as easily available as normal,” she said. “Restaurants were open, and we had no trouble getting reservations, but most of the tourist attractions [in Chattanooga, Tennessee] that we would have liked to have taken him to were closed.”  
 
Luckily the Smiths’ plans for their first Tennessee Father’s Day weekend include outings that social-distancing regulations won’t impede.
 
“We’ll probably go out for lunch or dinner, depending on what Mike wants to do. Maybe take a ride, do something outside. Or Mike would like to just sit at home,” Smith said, laughing.  
 
There are some pandemic regulations still in place in her area, she said.  
 
Most establishments may fill their dining areas to half capacity and ensure social distancing by taping off every other barstool, using fewer tables and enforcing wearing mask for employees. Some restaurants even go so far as to limit the waitstaff coming in contact with food, and using disposable, paper menus.
 
Tennessee is split, with multiple counties seeing COVID-19 cases rising and other counties seeing case numbers falling. A few have no cases, according to an interactive map published by The New York Times.  
 
California appears similar to Tennessee in this respect, but the Ray family of Seal Beach, California, is celebrating differently from the Smith family.  
 
“We’re not big on Mother’s and Father’s Day celebrations. It’s not a tradition we celebrate; it’s more a whatever’s going on that weekend,” Pauline Ray told VOA about past Father’s Days with her husband, Adam.  
 
California’s initial statewide shutdown in response to COVID-19 went into effect mid-March. But Ray, 42, described counties around her and throughout the state as taking it upon themselves to decide when to lift stay-at-home orders.  
 
“The state is open. So we can pretty much do whatever we want to do,” she said. “So this year it’s just going to be my family, the Rays, with my mom and dad in their Mexico house in Baja California, south of the border.”  
 
The Rays’ plans for the holiday weekend did not change because of any COVID-19 regulations or fears, but traveling out of the country is something many are either not allowed to do or are too fearful to do.  
 
The Gilbert family’s Father’s Day plans have remained intact and most likely would have even if their Midwestern state of Wisconsin had not started reopening.
 
“Usually we do some outdoor activity, so we’ll go hiking at a park or go down to the lakefront. Just enjoy the outdoors,” Sophie Gilbert, 20, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, said, reflecting on a typical Father’s Day weekend. “And usually for dinner, we’ll do a cookout. My dad likes to cook meats on his smoker, so we all enjoy the fruits of his labor. Or my mom will cook him his favorite dinner.  
 
“I think we’re planning on going for a hike, which we’re still allowed to do,” Gilbert said about Sunday’s plans. “And then we’ll probably grill out, which we always do.”
 
The Gilberts have begun inviting over close family friends since their city began to ease restrictions, but they have yet to eat at a dine-in restaurant. They also have not attended any large social events.
 
But none of these safety precautions affect their annual Father’s Day weekend, because they traditionally celebrate as a family.
 
“It’ll just be the four of us,” Gilbert said, “doing what we usually do for Father’s Day.”
 
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Comedian DL Hughley COVID-19 Positive after Fainting Onstage Comedian D.L. Hughley announced he tested positive for COVID-19 after collapsing onstage during a performance in Nashville, Tennessee. The stand-up comedian, 57, lost consciousness while performing at the Zanies comedy nightclub on Friday night and was hospitalized, news outlets reported. On Saturday, Hughley posted a video on Twitter in which he said he was treated for exhaustion and dehydration afterward. “I also tested positive for COVID-19, which blew me away,” he says in the video. “I was what they call asymptomatic. I didn’t have any symptoms, the classic symptoms.” Hughley plans to quarantine in his Nashville hotel room for 14 days. The remaining two nights of his four-night engagement at Zanies were canceled, according to the club’s online calendar. “Our friend D.L. Hughley had a medical emergency while performing on Friday and was hospitalized overnight. According to his publicist, he was suffering from exhaustion after working & traveling this week,” the club posted on Facebook. “Love ya, D.L. and we’ll look forward to seeing this King of Comedy back in Nashville soon!” Hughley said he still hasn’t exhibited any of the typical symptoms associated with the coronavirus, including shortness of breath and fever. “So, in addition to all the other stuff you have to look out for,” Hughley advises in the video, if you “pass out in the middle of a show, onstage, you probably need to get tested.” In addition to stand-up comedy, Hughley is also an actor, author and radio and television host. He starred in Spike Lee’s 2000 concert film, “The Original Kings of Comedy,” alongside Steve Harvey, Bernie Mac and Cedric the Entertainer. Hughley also produced and starred in “The Hughleys,” which aired on ABC and UPN from 1998 to 2002 and hosted a CNN talk show. He currently hosts the radio show “The D.L. Hughley Show,” which is syndicated in dozens of markets. “Thank you for your prayers and your well wishes — and a few more of them wouldn’t hurt,” Hughley says in the video. 
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TikTok users and Korean pop music fans are being partly credited for inflating attendance expectations at a less-than-full arena at President Donald Trump’s first political rally in months, held in Tulsa on Saturday. Social media users on different platforms, including the popular video-sharing app TikTok, have claimed in posts and videos that they registered for free tickets to the rally as a prank, with no intention of going. President Donald Trump supporters listen to Trump speak during a campaign rally at the BOK Center, June 20, 2020, in Tulsa, Okla.Prior to the event, Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale said there had been more than one million ticket requests for the event. However, the 19,000-seat BOK Center arena had many empty seats and Trump and Vice President Mike Pence canceled speeches to an expected “overflow” crowd. The Trump campaign said that the entry was “first-come-first-served” and that no one was issued an actual ticket. “Leftists always fool themselves into thinking they’re being clever. Registering for a rally only means you’ve RSVPed with a cell phone number,” said Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh in a statement to Reuters. “But we thank them for their contact information.” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat, responded to a tweet by Parscale blaming the media for discouraging attendees and cited bad behavior by demonstrators outside. “Actually you just got ROCKED by teens on TikTok who flooded the Trump campaign w/ fake ticket reservations & tricked you into believing a million people wanted your white supremacist open mic enough to pack an arena during COVID,” she tweeted on Saturday. “KPop allies, we see and appreciate your contributions in the fight for justice too,” she added. “My 16 year old daughter and her friends in Park City Utah have hundreds of tickets. You have been rolled by America’s teens,” tweeted former Republican strategist Steve Schmidt. CNN reported on Tuesday that a TikTok video posted by Mary Jo Laupp, a user who uses the hashtag #TikTokGrandma, was helping lead the charge. The video now has more than 700,000 likes. Demonstrators marching near the BOK Center where President Trump was holding a campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla., June 20, 2020.There were some shouting matches and scuffles outside the event between around 30 Black Lives Matter demonstrators and some Trump supporters waiting to enter. A Reuters reporter saw no sign any Trump supporters were prevented from entering the arena or overflow area. Trump had brushed aside criticism for his decision to hold the in Tulsa, the site of the country’s bloodiest outbreaks of racist violence against Black Americans some 100 years ago.  
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British police said Sunday they are treating a stabbing rampage in a park that killed three people as a terrorist attack. Dean Haydon, the U.K.’s coordinator of counterterrorism policing, said counterterror detectives were taking over the investigation into the attack in the town of Reading, west of London. Police had earlier said they were keeping an open mind about the motive. Three people were killed and three others seriously wounded in the stabbing attack in Reading’s Forbury Gardens Park on Saturday evening. The Thames Valley Police force said officers arrested a 25-year-old local man at the scene and they were not looking for anyone else. “There is no intelligence to suggest that there is any further danger to the public,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Ian Hunter. The attack came out of the blue on a sunny summer evening in Forbury Gardens park in Reading, a town of 200,000 residents 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of London. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was being briefed on developments. His office said Johnson had met security officials, police and senior ministers on Sunday morning for an update on the investigation. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government was “closely monitoring the situation.” Police officers patrolled cordons on the roads leading to the park on Sunday, and blue-and-white tents were erected near the site of the attack. Overnight, heavily armed officers entered an apartment about a mile away, and a loud bang was heard. Personal trainer Lawrence Wort said the park in Reading was full of groups socializing on the grass Saturday when “one lone person walked through, suddenly shouted some unintelligible words and went around a large group of around 10, trying to stab them.” “He stabbed three of them severely in the neck and under the arms, and then turned and started running towards me, and we turned and started running,” Wort said. The incident came hours after a Black Lives Matter demonstration at Forbury Gardens, but police said there was no connection between the attack and the protest. Britain has been hit by several terror attacks in recent years, including a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester in 2017 that killed 22 people and two deadly vehicle and knife attacks in London the same year. Britain’s official terrorism threat level stands at “substantial,” the middle level on a five-rung scale, meaning an attack is likely.  
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Ivory Coast’s octogenarian former President Henri Konan Bedie will run for office again in presidential elections in October, he said in a statement on Saturday.Bedie’s candidacy is the latest twist in a turbulent build-up to a vote that is wide open after current President Alassane Ouattara said he would not run again after 10 years in power.”I am both surprised and happy with the content of your messages asking me to be a candidate in the election,” Bedie told members of his PDCI-RDA coalition. “I feel honored.”Bedie, 86, was president from 1993-1999. The coalition between his PDCI party and that of Ouattara’s RDR, forged in 2005, was meant to dominate for generations and help heal the political rifts that led to civil war three years earlier.The pact propelled Ouattara to presidential election victories in 2010 and 2015 but collapsed in September 2018 when the parties bickered over whose candidate should be in pole position in 2020.The race will be hard to call, say political analysts. Guillaume Soro, the former rebel leader and presidential candidate, was convicted in absentia of embezzlement and sentenced to 20 years in prison in April, a verdict likely to exclude him from the election.Ouattara said last year that he would run for a third term if his predecessors Bedie and Laurent Gbagbo decided to run, raising concerns of a constitutional crisis given that Ivory Coast has a two-term mandate limit.He backed down in March saying he wanted to hand over power to a new generation. 
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