A look at some of today’s top stories from around the world.
Police unions dig in as calls for reform grow
A crowd of police officers in Philadelphia gathered outside their local union headquarters on Monday to show their support for one of their own — a staff inspector facing assault charges after allegedly beating a college student at an anti-racism protest last week.
Daniel Radcliffe responds to J.K. Rowling’s tweets about gender identity
The boy who lived is speaking out.
Another mysterious radio burst in space is repeating a pattern. This one occurs every 157 days
For the second time, astronomers have detected a pattern in a mysterious fast radio burst coming from space. It repeats every 157 days and originates in a dwarf galaxy over 3 billion light-years away. FRBs are millisecond-long bursts of radio waves in space.
Airbnb is making a huge comeback
Here’s another sign that summer travel is rebounding: Airbnb said it’s experiencing a surge in bookings as customers emerge from several months of being cooped up in their homes because of Covid-19.
BTS and its ‘Army’ donates more than $2 million to Black Lives Matter
The BTS fan-based charity fundraising group “One In An ARMY” has launched a campaign to raise funds in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the K-pop group donated $1 million.
Rare letter detailing Van Gogh and Gauguin’s brothel visits could sell for $282K at auction
Written by Oscar Holland, CNN The only known letter to have been jointly written by Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, in which the former details the pair’s visits to French brothels, is headed to auction. The item is expected to sell for 180,000 to 250,000 euros ($203,000-$282,000) when it goes under the hammer in Paris next week.
US demands UK hand over Prince Andrew to be quizzed over Epstein link, as he says he offered help three times
The US Department of Justice has requested an interview with Prince Andrew as part of its criminal investigation into the alleged sex trafficking ring once operated by Jeffrey Epstein, according to a person familiar with the matter.
India and China’s border spat is turning into an all-out media war
China and India’s latest border dispute may have mainly involved scuffles and troop maneuvers on the ground, but it has been all-out war in the respective countries’ media.
North Korea halts all communications with South
North Korea has said it will cut off all inter-Korean communication lines with the South, including a hotline between the two nations’ leaders. The North said this was the first in a series of actions, describing South Korea as “the enemy”.
How coronavirus has fuelled China-US rivalry in Africa
As Africa braces itself for a surge of coronavirus infections, both China and the US are claiming to be Africa’s greatest supporter, but there is more at stake in this escalating rivalry than simply tackling the virus, writes BBC Africa correspondent Andrew Harding.
George Floyd murder suspect granted bail at $1.25m
The Minneapolis ex-policeman accused of killing unarmed black man George Floyd has made his first court appearance, where his bail was set at $1.25m (£1m). Prosecutors cited the “severity of the charges” and public outrage as the reason for upping his bail from $1m. Derek Chauvin faces charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter.
Africa live: South Africans protest against US police brutality – BBC News
Ghanaian police have charged an activist with failure to notify the police and violating the ban on public gatherings following a Black Lives Matter protest on Saturday in the capital, Accra. The leader of the pressure group Economic Fighters League, Ernesto Yeboah, was arrested at the demonstration on Saturday night.
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BP to cut 10,000 jobs as virus hits demand for oil
BP has announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs following a global slump in demand for oil because of the coronavirus crisis. The oil giant had paused redundancies during the peak of the pandemic but told staff on Monday that around 15% will leave by the end of the year.
‘The stock market is actually bulls**t’: Seth Meyers tears into Trump congratulating himself amidst crisis
As of Monday, 109,746 people in the U.S. have died due to COVID-19. Nearly 40 percent of America’s poorest households have lost jobs during the pandemic, while at the same time billionaires gained over half a trillion dollars. Meanwhile, police have been responding to protests against police brutality with even more brutality, attacking peaceful civilians with batons and tear gas.
Apple’s ‘synthetic’ group selfie patent could be perfect for social distancing
A freshly unearthed Apple patent might enable users to do group selfies without actually being physically close to each other. Found by Patently Apple, the patent describes computer-generated “synthetic group selfies,” which can be “an arrangement or composition of individual selfies obtained from a plurality of computing devices into a single group image.”
Twitter is working on a way for people to request a blue checkmark, again
One of Twitter’s most inconsistently applied features will hopefully make more sense in the near future. Jane Manchun Wong, who frequently reverse-engineers apps to discover upcoming new features, figured out that Twitter is planning to give users a way to request verification. The social network then confirmed the development to TechCrunch.
AOC drags White House press secretary for calling her ‘Biden advisor’
Do not come for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and expect to walk away unscathed, or at the very least, without getting dragged on Twitter. On Monday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany experienced the Twitter wrath of Ocasio-Cortez firsthand. And as usual, AOC proved she’s not here to play.
Elon Musk tells employees the next-gen Starship rocket is a ‘top SpaceX priority’
Now that SpaceX has successfully launched NASA astronauts into space, Elon Musk wants the company to put the pedal to the metal on developing its large capacity Starship rocket. Musk sent a company-wide email Saturday in which he told employees that accelerating progress “dramatically and immediately” on Starship should be their “top priority,” according to CNBC.
Facebook removes 190 white supremacist accounts trying to incite anti-protest violence
Facebook’s hate group whack-a-mole continues. The social network removed 190 accounts tied to white supremacist groups Proud Boys and American Guard, the Associated Press first reported, and Facebook confirmed to Mashable. The company said that those accounts were planning to incite violence at George Floyd protests against police brutality, in some cases urging members to attend the protests with weapons.
