Fauci: US in ‘a different moment’ but pandemic not over
Dr. Anthony Fauci says the coronavirus is under better control in the United States, but the pandemic isn’t over. The nation’s top infectious disease expert told The Associated Press that the country is “in a different moment” of the pandemic. After what he calls a phase where COVID-19 cases were explosive, the U.S. is transitioning to better control. Cases are at a lower point than they’ve been in months but contagious variants are still spreading. Fauci says more work must be done. His comments came a day after he told the PBS “NewsHour” that the U.S. was “out of the pandemic phase.” They reflect how health officials are wrestling with keeping cases and hospitalizations manageable amid an unpredictable virus.
Minneapolis officers found to engage in racist policing
The Minneapolis Police Department routinely engages in racially discriminatory policing, fails to hold officers accountable and has used fake social media accounts to target Black people and organizations, according to an investigation released Wednesday by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. The Police Department has a “culture that is averse to oversight and accountability,” and city and department leaders have failed to act with “the necessary urgency, coordination, and intentionality required” to correct its extensive problems, the investigation concluded. The department has been under scrutiny since cellphone cameras captured the murder of George Floyd, a Black man.
Trump officials awarded $700 million pandemic loan despite objections
Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday released a report alleging that top Trump administration officials awarded a $700 million pandemic relief loan to a trucking company in 2020 over the objections of career Defense Department officials. The report, released by the Democratic staff of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, suggests senior officials such as Steven Mnuchin, a former Treasury secretary, and Mark Esper, a former defense secretary, intervened to ensure that Yellow Corp. received special treatment despite concerns about its eligibility to receive relief funds. Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, was a “key actor” coordinating with Yellow’s lobbyists, according to correspondence that the committee obtained.
Colombian general and 10 others admit to crimes against humanity
It was a moment many Colombians thought they would never see. A military general and 10 others acknowledged this week that they had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, testifying at an emotional two-day hearing that was the first of its kind in a special court set up to confront the legacy of Colombia’s crushing civil war. The killings, which were used to bolster the country’s argument that it was winning the war, has become one of the most emblematic of the conflict, which dates back to the 1960s. The relatives of the dead have long called for accountability; many sat on the stage, opposite the accused perpetrators as they spoke.
By wire sources