PRITI PATEL CLASHES WITH LABOUR MPs OVER EXPERIENCES OF RACISM

Home Secretary Priti Patel has clashed with a group of Labour MPs who have

accused her of "gaslighting" black people's experience of racism.

On Monday, Ms Patel told MPs, during a statement on anti-racism protests, of

discriminaton she had previously faced.

More than 30 black and minority ethnic Labour MPs have written to the home

secretary, asking her to "reflect" on her words.

Ms Patel responded on Twitter, saying she would "not be silenced".

She accused the Labour MPs of dismissing those who "don't conform to their

view of how ethnic minorities should behave".

Gaslighting refers to the act of psychologically manipulating someone, so

that they doubt their own experiences.

In Monday's statement, Ms Patel told how she had suffered racial slurs in

the playground and had been "racially abused in the street".

The home secretary was updating MPs on the anti-racism protests at the

weekend triggered by the death in the US of African-American man George

Floyd.

She said the majority of demonstrators "were peaceful" and told them: "I

hear you", while in response to some of the violent episodes seen during the

protests, Ms Patel said "justice will follow".

Ms Patel published the letter from the Labour MPs on Twitter and said she

was "sad" to receive it.

The letter, sent with a letterhead from Labour MP Naz Shah, calls on Ms

Patel to "reflect" on her words, and says opposition MPs will "not use their

experiences to silence our black colleagues".

Signatories include former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, Florence

Eshalomi, Tan Dhesi and Rosena Allin-Khan.

"We write to you as black, Asian and ethnic minority Labour MPs to highlight

our dismay at the way you used your heritage and experiences of racism to

gaslight the very real racism faced by black people and communities across

the UK," it reads.

ANTI-RACISM PROTESTS HAVE BEEN HIJACKED BY EXTREMISTS: JOHNSON

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday said a wave of anti-racism protests

across Britain had been "hijacked by extremists", as fears mounted about

clashes between activists and far-right groups.

In London, authorities boarded up several statues, including one of Second

World War leader Winston Churchill, after previous damage and with further

demonstrations planned.

Mayor Sadiq Khan said the monuments, as well as the Cenotaph war memorial,

were being protected against the risk of "disorder, vandalism and violence".

Statues and monuments to figures involved in Britain's colonial past and the

international slave trade have become increasing targets for activists over

the last week. That has prompted calls for a re-examination of how the

country's historical legacy is marked in public spaces, and for many

monuments to be torn down or relocated to museums.

On Sunday, crowds in Bristol, southwest England, toppled a statue to a 17th

century slave trader and philanthropist, Edward Colston, and threw it into

the harbour. But while recognising the "legitimate desire to protest against

discrimination", Mr. Johnson said: "We cannot now try to edit or censor our

past. "We cannot pretend to have a different history. The statues in our

cities and towns were put up by previous generations," he wrote on Twitter.

Mr. Johnson acknowledged the anger of black and minority ethnic communities

and said there had been "huge" strides in tackling discrimination in

Britain. But after clashes marred largely peaceful demonstrations in London,

he added: "It is clear that the protests have been sadly hijacked by

extremists intent on violence. "The attacks on the police and indiscriminate

acts of violence which we have witnessed over the last week are intolerable

and they are abhorrent."

TWITTER REMOVES ACCOUNTS LINKED TO CHINA'S CAMPAIGN

Twitter on Thursday said it removed more than 170,000 accounts tied to a

Beijing-backed influence operation that deceptively spread messages

favourable to the Chinese government, including about the coronavirus.

The company suspended a core network of 23,750 highly active accounts, as

well as a larger network of about 150,000 "amplifier" accounts used to boost

the core accounts' content.

Twitter, along with researchers who analysed the accounts, said the network

was largely an echo chamber of fake accounts without much further traction.

Twitter, along with other American social media companies such as Facebook

and Instagram, is blocked in China.

The company also removed two smaller state-backed operations which it

attributed to Russia and Turkey, both focused on domestic audiences.

Twitter said the Chinese network had links to an earlier state-backed

operation dismantled last year by Twitter, Facebook and Google's YouTube

that had been pushing misleading narratives about political dynamics in Hong

Kong.

The new operation likewise focused heavily on Hong Kong, but also promoted

messages about the coronavirus pandemic, exiled Chinese billionaire Guo

Wengui and Taiwan, the researchers said.

'THERE ARE NO RACES, THERE ARE HUMAN BEINGS'

A row has broken out in Germany over the term "race" in the country's

Constitution. Paragraph three in Germany's Basic Law states that "no person

shall be favoured or disfavoured because of sex, parentage, race, language,

homeland and origin, faith or religious or political opinions."

But the Green party this week took aim at the word "race", pushing for a

change to the Constitution in place since 1949 as a bulwark against

dictatorships like the Nazi regime. "There are no 'races'. There are human

beings," said Green party co-leader Robert Habeck, noting that a "strong

sign" against racism would be to remove the term.

Backing the call, Germany's commissioner for combatting anti-Semitism Felix

Klein said: "The term race is a social construct that is designed to devalue

and to discriminate against people."

The far-left Linke party and the business-friendly FDP have all lined up

behind the push, with some critics of the term calling for it to be replaced

with words like "ethnic origin".

Even Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives have broken a silence on the

subject to voice openness to look at the issue.

US MAY SUSPEND H-1B VISA

US President Donald Trump is considering suspending a number of employment

visas, including the H-1B, most sought-after among Indian IT professionals,

in view of the massive unemployment in America due to the coronavirus

pandemic, according to a media report.

The proposed suspension could extend into the government's new fiscal year

beginning October 1, when many new visas are issued, The Wall Street Journal

reported on Thursday, quoting unnamed administration officials.

"That could bar any new H-1B holder outside the country from coming to work

until the suspension is lifted, though visa holders already in the country

are unlikely to be affected," the daily reported.

Such a decision by the Trump administration is likely to have an adverse

impact on thousands of Indian IT professionals. Already a large number of

Indians on the H-1B visas have lost their jobs and are headed back home

during the coronavirus pandemic.

The White House, however, said that no final decision has been made and the

administration is considering various proposals.

TRUMP TO ACCEPT NOMINATION IN FLORIDA

Donald Trump will accept the Republican Party's presidential nomination in

Florida, organisers announced on Thursday, following a row over COVID-19

restrictions with the Governor of North Carolina, where the event was

originally scheduled.

The most visible portions of the Republican National Convention, a

traditional election-year gathering that is a staple of American political

theatre, will be moved to the city of Jacksonville, Republican Party

chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced.

"Not only does Florida hold a special place in President Trump's heart as

his home State, but it is crucial in the path to victory in 2020," Ms.

McDaniel said, adding that "we are thrilled to celebrate this momentous

occasion in the great city of Jacksonville."

WOMAN'S SEARCH FOR BIRTH PARENTS LEADS TO LANDMARK S.KOREA ADOPTION RULING

Decades after she was sent for adoption in the United States, Kara Bos'

quest to find her birth parents in South Korea moved a step closer on Friday

when a Seoul court ruled that a South Korean man was her biological father.

The ruling is the first of its kind in South Korea, which Amnesty

International once dubbed the "longest and largest supplier of international

adoptees".

It sets the stage for potentially thousands of other adoptees to be

officially registered as children of their birth parents, with implications

for inheritance and citizenship laws.

While laws vary widely from country to country, many jurisdictions are

providing more information to adopted children about their biological

parents. Advocates say South Korea's policies remain relatively restrictive.

Bos is one of more than 200,000 Korean children adopted overseas in the past

60 years, and her struggle to identify her parents highlights the challenges

for many adoptees, said Rev. Do-hyun Kim, who heads KoRoot, a charity that

works with adoptees.

The ruling officially registers Bos as the child of a man who, according to

a DNA test ordered by the court earlier this year, is 99.9981% likely her

biological father.

That designation could entitle Bos to inheritance. The ruling could also

lead to more adoptees with limited or no records to apply for South Korea

citizenship, according to the Justice Ministry.

BRAZIL'S CORONAVIRUS DEATHS SURGE PAST U.K., WHO SAYS HOSPITAL SYSTEM COPING

Brazil's COVID-19 death toll overtook Britain's on June 12 to become the

second highest in the world with 41,828 dead, but the World Health

Organization said the nation's health system was standing up to the

pressure.

"The system as such from the data we see is not overwhelmed," the WHO's top

emergencies expert Dr. Mike Ryan said, with few areas of Brazil using more

than 80% of their hospitals' intensive care bed capacity.

Brazil clearly has hotspots in heavily-populated cities, he said, but

overall its health system is coping with the world's second worst number of

infections.

The Ministry of Health reported on June 12 a cumulative total of 828,810

confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 25,982 new infections in the last 24

hours, and another 909 deaths, numbers second only to the United States.

"The data we have at the moment supports (the vision of) a system under

pressure but a system still coping with the number of severe cases," Mr.

Ryan said at a briefing in Geneva.

Brazil's Health Ministry has reported more than 1,200 deaths a day since

June 9, a mounting toll as the country moves to ease quarantine restrictions

and reopen businesses, a move called for by President Jair Bolsonaro.

GEORGE FLOYD: TRUMP 'GENERALLY' SUPPORTS ENDING CHOKEHOLDS FOR POLICE

US President Donald Trump has said the controversial chokehold method for

restraining some suspects should "generally speaking" be ended.

Some US police forces have moved to ban chokeholds since the outbreak of

anti-racism protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, an African

American.

Mr Floyd died after a white officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes.

Mr Trump said it would be a "very good thing" to ban chokeholds but they may

still be needed in some situations.

The president's comments come with Democrats and Republicans in the US

Congress trying to hammer out the details of a police reform bill - the

proposed Justice in Policing Act of 2020.

Mr Trump told Fox News that the concept of stopping police forces using

chokeholds sounded "so innocent, so perfect".

But he continued: "If a police officer is in a bad scuffle and he's got

somebody... you have to be careful.

"With that being said, it would be, I think, a very good thing that

generally speaking it should be ended," he said, adding that he might make

"very strong recommendations" to local authorities.

SYRIA'S ASSAD FIRES HIS PM AMID WORSENING ECONOMIC CRISIS

Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday fired his prime minister, a month

ahead of elections and as the economic crisis worsens and public anger rises

in the territory under his control.

Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday fired his prime minister, Imad

Khamis, a month ahead of elections and as the economic crisis worsens and

public anger rises in the territory under his control.

Assad appointed public works and housing minister Hussein Arnous to replace

Khamis, who had been premier since 2016.

Arnous will act as interim premier until parliament elections are held in

July and a new government comes in.

The deepening economic crisis has sparked public anger that has spilled over

to the streets in scenes not seen in government-held areas since the early

days of the civil war.

The national currency, the Syrian pound, has tumbled in recent weeks,

reaching a record low to the dollar.

DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE BIDEN'S VP LIST NARROWS

Joe Biden's search for a running mate is entering a second round of vetting

for a dwindling list of potential vice presidential nominees, with several

black women in strong contention.

Democrats with knowledge of the process said Biden's search committee has

narrowed the choices to as few as six serious contenders after initial

interviews. Among the group still in contention: Sens. Elizabeth Warren of

Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California, as well as Susan Rice, who

served as President Barack Obama's national security adviser.

Those with knowledge declined to name other contenders and said the process

remains somewhat fluid. Additional candidates may still be asked to submit

to the extensive document review process now underway for some top

contenders.

The campaign dismissed the idea of a shortened list as early speculation.

"Those who talk don't know and those who know don't talk," said Andrew

Bates, a Biden spokesperson.

Biden, who has already said he will pick a woman as his running mate, is

facing increased calls from Democrats to put a woman of color on the ticket

- both because of the outsize role that black voters played in Biden's road

to the nomination and because of the reckoning over racism and inequality

roiling the nation following the death of George Floyd.

CANADA SPY AGENCY WARNED OF 'SHOCK WAVES' FROM ARREST OF HUAWEI FOUNDER'S

DAUGHTER

Canada's intelligence agency warned that arresting the daughter of

billionaire Huawei founder Ren Zheng would set off global "shock waves" and

seriously affect ties with China, just before her detention in Vancouver on

a US extradition request, new court documents show.

Released on Friday, the documents show the involvement of the Canadian

Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in the December 2018 arrest of Meng

Wanzhou, which soured diplomatic ties between Ottawa and Beijing.

Meng is chief financial officer of China tech giant Huawei Technologies Co

Ltd, the company at the center of next generation 5G wireless technology and

a long-running dispute the administration of US President Donald Trump.

A CSIS report was disclosed in the court documents as part of Meng's

extradition proceedings. In a redacted Dec. 1, 2018 memo, CSIS said it was

advised by the US FBI of plans to arrest Meng when she arrived on a flight

to Vancouver International Airport later that same day.

"The arrest is likely to send shockwaves around the world," CSIS said. "The

planned event will be of great consequence internationally and bilaterally,"

the report said.

Huawei lawyers called the documents proof that authorities had conspired

against Meng.

Meng is accused by US authorities of bank fraud for misleading HSBC about

Huawei's relationship with a company operating in Iran, putting HSBC at risk

of fines and penalties for breaking US sanctions on Tehran.

TROOP CUTS TO TO CONTINUE IN IRAQ, SAYS U.S.

Iraq and the United States affirmed their commitment to the reduction of

U.S. troops in Iraq, a statement from the two countries said.

"Over the coming months the U.S. would continue reducing forces from Iraq

and discuss with the Government of Iraq the status of remaining forces," the

statement, published on Thursday, said.

Iraq's Parliament had voted earlier this year for the departure of foreign

troops from Iraq, and United States and other coalition troops have been

leaving as part of a drawdown.