ECM WORLD WATCH: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NEWS

June 6, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) - East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen on important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

• ‘Strategic’ well-orchestrated heists seen amid protest chaos (AP)
• Gun-toting members of the Boogaloo movement are showing up at protests (CNN)
• People are accidentally throwing out their stimulus check — because it looks like junk mail (NBC)
• Former Joint Chiefs Chairman Condemns Trump's Threat To Use Military At Protests  (NPR)
• Pandemic Puts A Crimp On Voter Registration, Potentially Altering Electorate (NPR)
• All four officers involved in George Floyd’s killing now face charges (CNN)
• George Floyd and Derek Chauvin Were Once Co-Workers, Ex-Club Owner Tells TV Station (NPR)
• Military leaders condemn Trump over protest response (CNN)
• FL Commissioner Says 'We Were Wrong' to Ban On-Field Protests (Newsweek)
• Democrats blast CDC report on minorities and COVID-19 (The Hill)

WORLD

• 'Your Pain Is My Pain': global anti-racism protests rage  (Reuters)
• Confirmed coronavirus cases are rising faster than ever worldwide (CNN)
• Bolsonaro threatens WHO exit as COVID-19 kills 'a Brazilian per minute'  (Reuters)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

U.S.

‘Strategic’ well-orchestrated heists seen amid protest chaos (AP)

 Caravans of burglars have capitalized on chaos, communicating with each other via messaging apps during heists and using both the protests and other tactics to throw police off their trail. While opportunists have sometimes joined the frenzy, police and experts say there is a sophistication that suggests a level of planning that goes beyond spontaneous acts.

Gun-toting members of the Boogaloo movement are showing up at protests (CNN)

Benjamin Ryan Teeter was at his home in Hampstead, N.C., when the call to action came. It was an alert from the heart of the raging protests in Minneapolis, posted on an online forum by a fellow member of the Boogaloo movement, a loosely knit group of heavily armed, anti-government extremists… Boogaloo members appear to hold conflicting ideological views with some identifying as anarchists … Some pockets of the group have espoused white supremacy…But they have at least two things in common: an affinity for toting around guns in public and a "boogaloo" rallying cry, which is commonly viewed as code for another US civil war.

People are accidentally throwing out their stimulus check — because it looks like junk mail (NBC)

The latest round of stimulus checks were issued in the form of prepaid debit cards — in a plain white envelope that does not bear any federal markings.

Former Joint Chiefs Chairman Condemns Trump's Threat To Use Military At Protests  (NPR)

In rare public comments, the former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Ret. Gen. Martin Dempsey condemned Trump's threat to use military force to suppress nationwide protests as "dangerous" and "very troubling," in an interview with NPR on Thursday.

Pandemic Puts A Crimp On Voter Registration, Potentially Altering Electorate (NPR)

No door-to-door canvassing. Public gatherings are canceled. Motor vehicle offices are closed. Naturalization ceremonies are on hiatus. Almost every place where Americans usually register to vote has been out of reach since March and it's led to a big drop in new registrations right before a presidential election that was expected to see record turnout.

All four officers involved in George Floyd’s killing now face charges (CNN)

The former Minneapolis Police officer who pressed his knee into George Floyd's neck was charged on Wednesday with a new, more serious count of second-degree murder, and the three other officers on scene during his killing were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.

George Floyd and Derek Chauvin Were Once Co-Workers, Ex-Club Owner Tells TV Station (NPR)

George Floyd and Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd's death, worked together at a Minneapolis club as recently as last year, according to a report from local television station KSTP.

Military leaders condemn Trump over protest response (CNN)

President Donald Trump is facing an unprecedented revolt from the elite corps of ex-military leaders and presidents over his brazen response to mass protests and inflaming of racial divides. In a true Washington bombshell on Wednesday evening, former Defense Secretary James Mattis, a warrior revered by his troops, told Americans they must come together without the President.

FL Commissioner Says 'We Were Wrong' to Ban On-Field Protests (Newsweek)

"We, the National Football League, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest," the commissioner said.

Democrats blast CDC report on minorities and COVID-19 (The Hill)

The leaders of the House minority caucuses Wednesday slammed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over the breadth of information provided in a report submitted to Congress on the effects of COVID-19 on minority communities. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) said the report signed by CDC Director Robert Redfield was "unacceptable and pitiful," adding she's "embarrassed for the director that that type of report was submitted to us."

WORLD

'Your Pain Is My Pain': global anti-racism protests rage  (Reuters)

Protesters around the world took to the streets again on Friday, despite coronavirus warnings, in a wave of outrage at the death of African American George Floyd in the United States and racism against minorities in their own nations.

Confirmed coronavirus cases are rising faster than ever worldwide (CNN)

New cases of the novel coronavirus are rising faster than ever worldwide, at a rate of more than 100,000 a day over a seven-day average. ..The increase in case rates may be partially explained by increases in testing capacity, but there's still not enough testing to capture an accurate picture in many countries.

Bolsonaro threatens WHO exit as COVID-19 kills 'a Brazilian per minute'  (Reuters)

President Jair Bolsonaro threatened on Friday to pull Brazil out of the World Health Organization after the U.N. agency warned Latin American governments about the risk of lifting lockdowns before slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus throughout the region.