In CA: ‘Politics is killing our country,’ Riverside County sheriff says in opposing review of department policies

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In CA: ‘Politics is killing our country,’ Riverside County sheriff says in opposing review of department policies

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Riverside County’s sheriff directs people to its web site to look at its department policies themselves — the board overseeing the agency agrees. And children who had been spared the worst of the coronavirus are now being diagnosed with a related disease. Plus: Art in a time of upheaval.

It’s Arlene with Tuesday’s top news.

But first, a school named for a man who advocated separating white and Mexican students has been renamed the Dr. Manuel Lopez Academy of Arts and Sciences, after the city’s first elected Latino mayor.

In California brings you top stories and commentary from across the USA TODAY Network and beyond. Get it free, straight to your inbox.  

Riverside County leaders, siding with the police union, won’t revisit policies

Riverside County supervisors voted Tuesday to condemn the actions of the Minneapolis police officers that led to George Floyd’s death. But when it came to reviewing the county sheriff’s department policies … a majority gave it a hard pass. The motion, made by Supervisor V. Manuel Perez, failed to even get a second.

Perez made the motion in light of the death of Floyd, who was killed May 25 when then-Minneapolis Police Officer Derick Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Chauvin has since been fired and charged with second-degree murder.

Perez motion’s called for a review of policies regulating the use of force, mass demonstrations, consent before searches, racial profiling, gender identification, community policing and crime reduction.

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“This is not about our sheriff, quite frankly, or pointing fingers at him,” Perez said at the meeting. “This is not about our deputies and them not doing their job.”

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco took issue with not getting a heads up about the possible review and directed the public to the web site to look at the department’s policies.

“Politics is killing our country, and this is an example,” he said.

In related news: 

U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock, one of Congress’ most conservative members, is on the same page as many of his Democrat colleagues when it comes to getting rid of “qualified immunity,” which gives officers sweeping protections against lawsuits from work-related conduct.

Said McClintock about Chauvin: “Whatever his motive, the killer of George Floyd had 18 complaints for misconduct, and one of his accomplices had six. Why is such misconduct tolerated by big city police departments?” 

A council member who brought a shotgun and joined several other armed men outside businesses and on rooftops during a June 1 protest in Yucaipa said he would “do it again in a heartbeat.” Some in the community want him to resign.

Residents of a southeastern San Diego community share experiences of growing up in a place where constant contact with police is an uneasy part of life. 

A black man was sucker-punched from behind during a protest Sunday in Imperial Valley; at least two elected officials want the assault investigated as a hate crime.

Union leaders representing L.A. Unified School District say they support getting rid of the 400-member Los Angeles School Police Department. 

A Simi Valley LAPD veteran and elected official apologized again for a post that called on connecting septic tanks to hoses to use on rioters but said he had no plans to resign.

Here are five concrete steps law enforcement agencies can taketo reduce use of force incidents and racial profiling, write a pair of military veterans and former federal prosecutors who are now criminal defense attorneys (Opinion).

Social D posters cause stir; group protests deportation; overwhelmed border hospitals

The posters in English used skis as a way to show six-feet distancing. The ones in Spanish used three crates of produce. Criticism was fierce. But the former poster was designed for farmworkers, by former farmworkers. 

Some 70 people gathered to protest the deportation, scheduled for Thursday, of an essential worker and Mexico native who arrived in the U.S. as a teen. 

As Mexico’s border town medical clinics and hospitals get overwhelmed, Americans and green-card holders head to California for coronavirus treatment.

Unemployment questions, office life and how to help

Why aren’t I getting the full $600 in weekly federal unemployment benefits? Also, why haven’t I gotten my stimulus check? That and related questions, answered.

Your office is reopening and bosses are promising it’ll be deep cleaned. You’re suspicious. Here’s what that process may entail. 

I feel helpless and overwhelmed. What can I do to help? Senior advocate Martha Shapiro has suggestions.

Kids aren’t getting coronavirus often, but a related illness is causing concern

Kids have largely been spared from the worst effects of the coronavirus. But a new related illness is causing concern and hospitalizations across a growing number of children and young people.

The condition is called multisystem inflammatory syndrome, and it’s marked by inflammation throughout the body, affecting blood vessels and organs including the heart and kidneys. 

Most of the children affected have tested positive for coronavirus, have the antibodies or been in close proximity to an adult who has it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fewer than 50 cases so far have been confirmed in California, but there are concerns that could grow.

“It’s one of the many things that is going to have to be taken into account,” said Angela Rothermel, director of early childhood policy at Children Now, a public policy advocacy organization focused on kids. “How do we set up policies around early care and education to keep providers safe and keep kids safe?”

What else we’re talking about

400 artists and volunteers came together to paint a Black Lives Matter mural across three blocks in Oakland.

In Los Angeles, fabric woven in a 2.2-mile fence circling the Silver Lake Reservoir spells out the names of unarmed African American people killed by police.

Movie theaters can reopen so long as they limited attendance to 25% of capacity and keep it to fewer than 100 attendees. 

A mountain lion was spotted near a Ventura County golf course. Here’s what to do if you run into one while you’re out and about. 

In California is a roundup of news from across USA TODAY Network newsrooms. Also contributing: Voice of San Diego, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, SF Gate, CBS 8.

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Jon Ossoff Holds Strong Lead as Georgia Waits for Senate Primary Results

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Jon Ossoff Holds Strong Lead as Georgia Waits for Senate Primary Results

ATLANTA — Georgia was waiting early Wednesday for the results of primary elections riddled with serious problems, as voting machines all over the state malfunctioned and frustrated voters waited in long lines for hours.

Much of the attention was on whether Jon Ossoff, the 33-year-old Democrat who earned national headlines in 2017 with a spirited but unsuccessful congressional race in the Atlanta suburbs, would capture his party’s nomination in a race for a Senate seat.

Early Wednesday, he was well ahead of Sarah Riggs Amico, a former candidate for lieutenant governor, but still short of the 50 percent vote threshold needed to avoid a runoff. They are facing off for the opportunity to challenge Senator David Perdue, an incumbent Republican and ally of President Trump’s.

The general election in November, one of two Senate races in the state that are expected to be competitive and could help tip the balance of power in Congress, will almost certainly be viewed as a referendum on Trumpism. Mr. Perdue, a business executive who is seeking a second term, has highlighted his close relationship with the president, arguing that it has helped Georgia’s business climate.

The state’s elections Tuesday were a chaotic affair, with a new state-mandated voting system plagued by serious problems. Many computerized voting machines malfunctioned early in the morning, and poll workers struggled to get them back online, resulting in hourslong waits at polling places, particularly in the heavily populated precincts in and around Atlanta.

The glitchy system reignited long-simmering concerns among Democrats that the Republican Party is intent on making voting as difficult as possible for some Georgians, particularly black voters. Gov. Brian Kemp, a former secretary of state, and the current holder of that office, Brad Raffensperger, both Republicans, supported the adoption of the new voting system, despite warnings from elections experts that it was being instituted too hastily and without due consideration to potential hacking.

Stacey Abrams, the Democrats’ 2018 nominee in the governor’s race, has accused Mr. Kemp of creating numerous impediments to voters of color, and argued long after that election that she actually won. On Tuesday, Ms. Abrams, who is African-American, called the problems at the polls “a disaster that was preventable.”

Since 2018, Democrats have hoped that Georgia might become a true swing state in the 2020 elections as frustration mounts over Mr. Trump’s first-term performance.

Though Mr. Ossoff lost the 2017 special election to Karen Handel, a Republican, Ms. Handel then lost the next year to Lucy McBath, a Democrat. Ms. Handel was the favorite in Tuesday’s Republican primary to try to win back that seat, facing four opponents in a district that was represented by Newt Gingrich for 20 years.

In Georgia’s Seventh District, which was once reliably Republican territory but includes an increasingly diverse section of metro Atlanta, there were contested primaries on both sides for the seat held by Representative Rob Woodall, a Republican who is not running for re-election.

Mr. Woodall won by fewer than 500 votes in 2018, and his opponent in that race, Carolyn Bourdeaux, was again seeking the Democratic nomination. Another Democrat in the race, Nabilah Islam, was endorsed by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

In South Carolina, Nancy Mace, the first woman to graduate from the Citadel, won the Republican congressional primary in the First District and will now face Representative Joe Cunningham, who flipped the Charleston-based seat in 2018 in a long-shot Democratic victory. Ms. Mace was far ahead of her top Republican opponent, Kathy Landing, who had been endorsed by the conservative insurgents in the House Freedom Caucus.

West Virginia voters choosing a governor had competitive primaries in both parties. Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican who was elected in 2016 as a Democrat and switched parties at the behest of President Trump, handily beat back a primary challenge from Woody Thrasher, a former member of his cabinet.

Mr. Justice, the state’s richest man and the owner of the Greenbrier Resort, has faced calls to resign from fellow Republicans, federal investigations and lawsuits against his companies.

He will face Ben Salango, a county commissioner from Charleston, who was the establishment favorite endorsed by the state’s major labor unions and Senator Joe Manchin III.

Mr. Salango defeated Stephen Smith, a nonprofit director, who ran as a progressive in the mold of Senator Bernie Sanders; Ron Stollings, a conservative Democrat who serves in the State Senate; and two other candidates.

West Virginia voters skew conservative and the state has not backed a Democrat for president since 1996, which was also the last time the state elected a Republican governor, Cecil H. Underwood.

In Nevada, Republicans were choosing challengers to Representative Susie Lee in the Third District, which Mr. Trump won by one percentage point in 2016, and Representative Steven Horsford in the Fourth District, which Hillary Clinton won by four points. Mr. Horsford was first elected in 2012, then lost re-election in 2014 before reclaiming the seat in 2018. Both could be competitive swing districts in the fall, though the Democratic incumbents start with significant advantages. Voting was to take place almost entirely by mail, but there were reports of long lines at some polling places.

“As predicted, despite the secretary of state moving Nevada’s primary to an all-mail election, many Nevada voters still participated in person,” William McCurdy II, the chairman of the Nevada Democratic Party, said in a statement. “It is imperative the state offer an adequate amount of hygienic, well-organized polling locations and we will continue fighting for these improvements to prevent a repeat in November.”

Richard Fausset reported from Atlanta, and Reid J. Epstein from Washington.

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‘A proper funeral’: families try to claim Covid-19 victims from Milan cemetery

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‘A proper funeral’: families try to claim Covid-19 victims from Milan cemetery

The graves of 128 victims are marked with a simple white plastic cross, bearing only their names and a plot number.

Those buried in Campo 87, a section of the Maggiore cemetery in Milan designated for coronavirus victims whose bodies went unclaimed, came from overwhelmed hospitals and morgues during the peak of Italy’s pandemic. Some had died while in residential care; others at home alone. 

Milan’s mayor, Beppe Sala, filmed a tribute from the site in April. “We have lost so many,” he said in a video posted to Facebook. “In some cases, moving forward has been even more tragic as some died without anybody … in this space there are those whose remains were not claimed by a family member.”

However, it has emerged more recently that Campo 87 also contains the graves of people who did have family and who were buried there by mistake.

Their relatives face a battle to retrieve the bodies due to a law preventing the remains of people who die of an infectious disease being exhumed for two years. 



A person prays where a relative has been buried in Campo 87. Photograph: Paolo Salmoirago/EPA

Milan and the surrounding Lombardy region have been at the centre of the pandemic, accounting for almost half of Italy’s 33,964 coronavirus deaths and over 90,000 infections.

“During the emergency it was very intense and chaotic, and certainly errors would have been made,” said Walter Marini, a lawyer representing the family of Vittorio Domeniconi, who died aged 90. “But now that the situation has improved, families should be able to reclaim the bodies and give their loved ones a proper funeral.”

Domeniconi, a former policeman and bus driver, was among Milan’s first Covid-19 victims when he died in hospital on 5 March, days before the entire country went into lockdown. Ordinarily, his family would have had 30 days to claim his body and confirm funeral arrangements. But on 13 March, Sala introduced a measure reducing the timeframe to five days, owing to the escalation in deaths, overburdened morgues and requirement to bury victims of infectious disease quickly. 

Domeniconi’s wife and two children were told about his death, and had left their contact details with the hospital’s mortuary. All three then became ill with the virus. It wasn’t until 20 March, when they called Milan’s civic morgue, where Domeniconi’s body had been moved, to make arrangements for his cremation and ashes to be taken to the family chapel in another Lombardy town, that they discovered he was about to be buried in Campo 87.

“They called several public offices to try and stop it but were told it was not possible as the process was already advanced,” said Marini. “I’ve written several emails to Milan’s council to at least try to resolve the two-year situation, but was denied an appointment.”

Three other families are so far known to be in a similar situation. Gianni Fossati, a well-known businessman, died in hospital on 24 March and was buried at Campo 87 despite leaving a wife, who was recovering from the virus in the same hospital at the time of his death, and a brother, Vando, who also lives in Milan.

Vando learned of his brother’s death through acquaintances, and like many other families who lost loved ones amid the chaos of the emergency, he had to go in search of his brother’s body. With the help of a Milan councillor, Lorenzo Lipparini, also a family friend, he eventually discovered that Fossati had been buried in Campo 87 on 4 April.

“I can only imagine what was happening at the time in the hospitals. They were overwhelmed, with insufficient staff, and may have only done a cursory search for family,” said Lipparini. “The council did the burials based on information that the bodies were unclaimed.”

A combination of the pressure in hospitals and relatives either falling ill or in lockdown outside Milan contributed to the erroneous burials.

“Hospitals did try to trace relatives, but maybe staff didn’t have time to make 100 calls,” said Roberta Cocco, Milan’s councillor for civic services. “In many cases, the five-day rule was surpassed to give more time for families to come forward.”





Local police at the Campo 87 section



Local police at the Campo 87 section. Photograph: Paolo Salmoirago/EPA

The cost of the burials at Campo 87, which has enough space for 680 graves, was paid for by Milan authorities and, in the event of an exhumation, Cocco said the council would also pay the bill.

An office has been set up to help deal with families with relatives at Campo 87, but the possibility of retrieving the remains before two years is slim.

“It is very difficult and we don’t have a magic wand,” said Cocco. “The law says that in the situation of an epidemic exhumations can’t be done as there is the possibility of infection. All we can do is be close to families and guarantee their relatives a dignified burial.”

The council plans for the area to eventually be covered with grass and for each grave to have a marble tombstone.

“We are thinking about how this space could become a memorial site for this terrible tragedy,” said Cocco. “This isn’t a graveyard for the abandoned – it is a graveyard for those who in that moment didn’t have family or close people who could take care of the burial.”

But the tribute is unlikely to bring comfort to grieving families wanting to give their loved ones a funeral.

“My clients do not want to make a lawsuit against the council – that is not the point – they just want to be able to retrieve the body. They want to move forward, like we all do, but they can’t without being able to give their loved one a proper funeral.”

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Florida Police Group President Suspended Over ‘Despicable’ Facebook Posts

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Florida Police Group President Suspended Over ‘Despicable’ Facebook Posts

The president of a Fraternal Order of Police chapter in Florida was suspended from his position at a sheriff’s office after he sent a Facebook post encouraging cops accused of misconduct in other cities to apply for jobs in Florida.

In a news conference Tuesday, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said Bert Gamin, a lieutenant at the agency and president of the Brevard County FOP, was suspended with pay while an internal investigation is conducted. Ivey called the posts “disgusting” and distanced his department from the FOP, a national organization representing about 330,000 law enforcement officers in more than 2,000 local lodges.

Gamin ignited an outcry over the weekend after posting several now-deleted messages on the Brevard County FOP Facebook page, including one that said: “Hey Buffalo 57 … and Atlanta 6 … we are hiring in Florida. Lower taxes, no spineless leadership or dumb mayors rambling on at press conferences … Plus … we got your back! #lawandorderFlorida.” 

In another deleted post captured in a screengrab by CNN, a similar offer was extended to Minneapolis police.

In Buffalo, New York, 57 members of the police department’s Emergency Response Team resigned from the unit last week in a show of solidarity with two officers who were suspended without pay after they were filmed shoving an unarmed 75-year-old protester to the pavement during demonstrations against police brutality sparked by the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd. The man, who bled on the ground as officers marched past him, remained hospitalized Tuesday.

And in Atlanta, two officers were fired and face criminal charges after they violently pulled two Black college students from a car during protests last month. Four other officers were also charged and have been placed on desk duty pending further investigation.

Ivey said the local FOP chapter “does not represent our agency and certainly does not reflect our views.”



Lt. Bert Gamin was suspended by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Officer over Facebook posts that appeared to welcome violent police officers.

“What was put into that post was disgusting, despicable and, quite frankly, not in the consideration of all that has happened in our country right now,” Ivey said at Tuesday’s news conference. “I can’t even use the term disappointment because that does not qualify enough to say how I felt.”

Local law enforcement agencies, officials and lawmakers condemned the post. Florida state Rep. Randy Fine (R) called the comments “inflammatory, divisive and repugnant” and urged that Gamin be held accountable.

Gamin had initially defended his comments but apologized Monday, acknowledging that his post was “insensitive and wrong.”

Ivey said Gamin could not be suspended without pay because he hadn’t been charged with a crime. Further action will depend on the findings of an internal investigation into his conduct, he said.



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Rapper Wretch 32’s father Tasered by London police

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Rapper Wretch 32’s father Tasered by London police

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Rapper Wretch 32 has spoken about the lack of progression on “police brutality” in the UK as he shared footage of his father being Tasered.

The 35-year-old posted a video on Twitter of Millard Scott falling downstairs after being Tasered by officers in north London, in April.

Speaking to ITV News, Mr Scott, 62, said he believed he would not have been Tasered if he were white.

The Met Police said a review had found “no indication of misconduct”.

A spokesman for the force said officers went to the property as part of “a long-running operation to tackle drugs supply linked to serious violence”.

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has called for an urgent investigation by the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Describing the incident as “distressing”, Mr Khan said: “It is absolutely vital that our police service retains the trust of the communities it serves.”

It comes amid global protests against racism, inequality and police brutality, following the death of George Floyd, 46, in Minneapolis, in the US, after a white police officer was filmed kneeling on his neck.

Thousands of people have attended largely peaceful demonstrations across the UK in recent days to mark Mr Floyd’s death, and highlight racial inequality in Britain.

Wretch 32, whose real name is Jermaine Scott, shared the 36-second clip on his Twitter account with the caption: “This is how the police think they can treat a 62 year old black man in Tottenham but this 1 happens to be my dad.”

It shows Mr Scott falling down the stairs after an officer is heard to warn: “Police officer with a Taser. Stay where you are.”

As officers ask if he is OK and tell him to keep still, a distressed woman can be heard saying: “They’ve Tasered him.”

Mr Scott told ITV News he was “lucky to be alive”.

He said: “The only people who have invaded our space are the Metropolitan Police. The only people who seem to ignore the guidelines put out there are the Metropolitan Police.

“It seems at this moment in time we are being singled out and targeted.”

Wretch 32 told the broadcaster that there has been “no progression” and he now warns his own children to be wary of the police.

He said: “I’ve grown up in a household with a dad and uncle and I’ve watched them fight against police brutality.

“I’m 35 now and I have to have the same conversation with my children that my father and grandfather had with me.

“That means there’s no progression.”

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “As officers entered the premises, a man came downstairs and started moving towards an officer suddenly.

“He was ordered to remain where he was but continued towards officers who, after several warnings, deployed a Taser.

“The man was not arrested, but was assessed by the London Ambulance Service at the scene. He did not require further medical treatment.

“Officers from the North Area Command Unit have liaised with the family to discuss any concerns they have about the incident.

“The incident, including body worn footage, has been reviewed by the Met’s directorate of professional standards and no indication of misconduct has been identified.”

Police said a 22-year-old man found in the house was arrested and charged with encouraging another to commit an offence, while a 52-year-old woman was charged with obstructing police after being interviewed under caution at a later date.

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CrossFit CEO steps down after inflammatory George Floyd comments

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CrossFit CEO steps down after inflammatory George Floyd comments

The founder and CEO of CrossFit, who has come under fire for tweets about the death of George Floyd and public health orders surrounding the coronavirus, announced his retirement Tuesday.

“On Saturday I created a rift in the CrossFit community and unintentionally hurt many of its members,” Greg Glassman, who started the fitness company, said in a statement announcing his retirement.

Glassman responded to a tweet Saturday by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, that called racism and discrimination “critical public health issues that demand an urgent response.”

Glassman responded: “It’s FLOYD-19.”

“Your failed model quarantined us and now you’re going to model a solution to racism?” he tweeted in a follow-up. “George Floyd’s brutal murder sparked riots nationally. Quarantine alone is ‘accompanied in every age and under all political regimes by an undercurrent of suspicion, distrust, and riots.’ Thanks!”

Reebok, a major sponsor, and affiliated gyms dropped their partnerships with CrossFit after the tweets.

Gyms across the United States, as well as places like malls and theaters, were ordered closed amid the coronavirus epidemic and public health warnings being in close quarters can spread the disease.

Floyd, who is black, died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes as Floyd said he could not breathe. That officer and three others have been fired and criminally charged.

Floyd’s death and video of the deadly encounter have sparked protests and calls for police reform across the U.S.

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CrossFit on Sunday evening tweeted what it said was a statement from its CEO that read: “I, CrossFit HQ, and the CrossFit community will not stand for racism. I made a mistake by the words I chose yesterday.”

“My heart is deeply saddened by the pain it has caused. It was a mistake, not racist but a mistake,” the tweet read.

“I was trying to stick it to the @IHME_UW for their invalidated models resulting in needless, economy-wrecking, life-wrecking lockdown, and when I saw they were announcing modeling a solution to our racial crisis, I was incredulous, angry, and overly emotional. Involving George Floyd’s name in that effort was wrong,” another tweet read.

CrossFit Headquarters also apologized in a letter Tuesday for failing to publicly address issues raised by Floyd’s death.

“We pride ourselves on authenticity and truth, but we got it wrong by failing to tell you we really care about black people and support the need for real change,” the company said in that statement.

“We weren’t sure how to get the message right, and as a result, we failed catastrophically by not effectively communicating care for the Black community, all as the online world was watching and experiencing extreme pain,” CrossFit Headquarters said, adding it “failed to meet a moment when the community wanted to hear from us most.”

BuzzFeed News reported earlier Tuesday that hours before Glassman sent out the tweets about Floyd and the pandemic Saturday, Glassman made comments to gym owners in a private Zoom call in which he seemed to push back on the expectation that he should mourn Floyd’s death or that the brand should issue a statement about it.

CrossFit advertises itself as a lifestyle combining exercise and nutrition and says it has more than 15,000 affiliates around the world. CrossFit said in Tuesday’s statement that Dave Castro will take over as CEO.

Phil Helsel

Phil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.



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Kiwis celebrate restrictions lift at the pub

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Kiwis celebrate restrictions lift at the pub

It may have been a Monday night, but for these Wellington bar hoppers, reaching Alert Level 1 was a good enough reason for a night on the tiles.

Punters at Wellington’s Danger Danger pub on Courtenay Place celebrated the major milestone the best way they know how – shaking it on the dance floor.
Security footage showing the moment the clock switched over to Tuesday, ushering in the start of near-normality for New Zealanders after weeks of COVID-19-related disruption was provided to Stuff NZ.
Security footage showing the moment the clock switched over to Tuesday, ushering in the start of near-normality for New Zealanders after weeks of Covid-19-related disruption was provided to Stuff NZ. (Danger Danger / Stuff NZ)
Danger Danger owner Matt McLaughlin said the video showed that Kiwis were welcoming the loosening of restrictions with open arms.

“It’s a great video of midnight hitting and everyone jumping off their chairs and jumping on the dance floor. It’s quite hard case,” Mr McLaughlin said.

Moment bar patrons in Wellington celebrate restrictions lift in New Zealand. (Danger Danger / Stuff NZ)
It may have been a Monday night, but for these Wellington bar hoppers, reaching Alert Level 1 was a good enough reason for a night on the tiles.
It may have been a Monday night, but for these Wellington bar hoppers, reaching Alert Level 1 was a good enough reason for a night on the tiles. (Danger Danger / Stuff NZ)

The Hospitality New Zealand branch president hoped the excellent turn out on Monday would mark the beginning of a resurgence for the hospitality sector which has been heavily impacted by COVID-19.

“People want to socialise. They’ve been cooped up for three months, and they want to get out and see their friends.”

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The first glimpse of Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt starrer Brahmastra is expected to be out in August : Bollywood News – Bollywood Hungama

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The first glimpse of Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt starrer Brahmastra is expected to be out in August : Bollywood News – Bollywood Hungama

Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt starrer Brahmastra has got to be one of the most delayed projects and now, while it was supposed to release in December 2020, the makers had to postpone it yet again. The film was to release in December 2019, however, as announced by director Ayan Mukerji, the work on visual effects will take longer than expected. Brahmastra also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Nagarjuna, and Mouni Roy in pivotal roles with Shah Rukh Khan playing a cameo in this sci-fi drama. With close to two weeks of shoot left for the film, the makers had to push the release date to 2021, unwillingly.

However, it looks like Ayan Mukerji has been working on the post-production of the first part along with his team from different parts of the world including London and Mumbai. Along with that, he has been polishing the screenplay and dialogues for Part 2. Since it is a trilogy, Ayan does not wish to have a long gap between the first two parts at least, with the blueprints ready for all three. A source close to the project confirmed with a leading tabloid that the next two parts will not take as long since the post-production team is well-versed with this world and basic visual effects set-pieces are already in place.

As the team works to complete the project, they are also prepping for a special look or a video teaser for the audiences. Since it’s a scaled-up film and they are planning a prolonged campaign with a series of videos leading to the release like we usually see in the West, the first of its lot can be expected to be out in August – only after the visuals are polished.

How excited are you to see the first look of this Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt starrer? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.

Also Read: Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor get together a fun night with both their families

More Pages: Brahmastra Box Office Collection

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Adidas says at least 30% of new US positions will be filled by black or Latinx people

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Adidas says at least 30% of new US positions will be filled by black or Latinx people

The company plans to fill a minimum of 30% of new positions with black or Latinx people, Adidas announced Tuesday, along with several other actions it is taking in response to recent protests over the death of George Floyd and calls for racial justice.
In recent days, hundreds of Adidas employees have walked out of work to demonstrate outside of the company’s North American headquarters in Portland, Oregon, asking Adidas to better support black employees, according to a report from the Portland Business Journal. Adidas, like other sportswear companies, has profited off of sponsorship deals with black athletes and celebrities, and by using black culture as inspiration for designs and marketing schemes.

“The events of the past two weeks have caused all of us to reflect on what we can do to confront the cultural and systemic forces that sustain racism,” Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted said in Tuesday’s statement.

“We have had to look inward to ourselves as individuals and our organization and reflect on systems that disadvantage and silence Black individuals and communities,” he said. “While we have talked about the importance of inclusion, we must do more to create an environment in which all of our employees feel safe, heard and have equal opportunity to advance their careers.”

On top of the 30% new hiring minimum, Adidas said it plans to announce an additional “target aimed at increasing representation of Black and Latinx people within our workforce in North America.” Adidas declined to say what percentage of its workforce in the US or North America is currently composed of black employees.

Adidas will also donate $20 million over the next four years in three initiatives it says support black communities: Adidas Legacy, the company’s grassroots basketball platform for underserved communities; the Adidas School for Experiential Education in Design, which helps people create careers in footwear design; and Honoring Black Excellence, which the company describes as “an initiative honoring and supporting the Black community through sport.”

Adidas said it also plans to finance 50 scholarships per year for black employees at “partner” universities, but didn’t provide further details.

“We recognize the immense contribution of the Black community to our success and that of others,” the company said. “We promise to improve our company culture to ensure equity, diversity and opportunity. We understand that the fight against racism is one that must be fought continually and actively. We must and will do better.”

Adidas’ commitment followed an announcement by its competitor, Nike (NKE), which said it will donate $40 million over four years to “organizations that put social justice, education and addressing racial inequality in America at the center of their work,” in addition to a previously announced $100 million over 10 years to similar groups, though it did not name any specific organizations.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the timeline for which Nike plans to donate funds.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the amount Nike intends to donate over four years.

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Wall Street Journal Staff Faults Column on Race by Former Top Editor

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Wall Street Journal Staff Faults Column on Race by Former Top Editor

Staff members of The Wall Street Journal sent a letter to newsroom leaders on Monday accusing the paper’s former editor in chief, Gerard Baker, who has been an editor at large at the Journal since leaving the top job in 2018, of violating rules that apply to those who work on the news side.

The letter, from the board of the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees, the union that represents Journal staff members, criticized a column by Mr. Baker on race and accused him of tweeting in a way that went against the paper’s social media policy.

While Mr. Baker expresses opinions in a weekly column, called Editor at Large, The Journal had classified him as a member of the news division, just as it had during his five-and-a-half-year run as the editor in chief.

On Tuesday, The Journal reassigned Mr. Baker, formally making him a member of the opinion staff, which is led by the editorial page editor, Paul A. Gigot, and is run separately from the news department. Those who work on the opinion side do not have to abide by the rules that apply to the paper’s news reporters and editors. They have more leeway in The Journal’s pages and on social media.

The Journal said the move had been in the works before the I.A.P.E. union sent the letter. “Conversations about Gerry’s move to Opinion have been underway for some time,” a spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. “His new, expanded role will include podcasts and other projects.” Mr. Baker did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The I.A.P.E.’s letter was addressed to Matt Murray, Mr. Baker’s successor as editor in chief, and Almar Latour, who last month was named publisher of The Journal and the chief executive of its parent company, Dow Jones, which is part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.

The letter singled out a May 15 column by Mr. Baker headlined “The Often Distorted Reality of Hate Crime in America.” He led it with a description of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man who was shot while jogging in Georgia after he was pursued by white men, a killing that was captured on video.

The I.A.P.E. criticized the column, saying it “posits the highly controversial argument that black people commit more hate crimes than white people” and adding that to “‘prove’ that he uses only his own single weighted statistical calculation, with no attribution or context from experts either to support the idea or provide contrary views.” The letter also flagged several posts from Mr. Baker’s Twitter account that, it said, violated the paper’s social media policy.

The British-born, Oxford-educated Mr. Baker led The Journal at a time when its staff produced an award-winning investigation that exposed fraudulent claims by the health care tech company Theranos. On his watch, the paper was also at the forefront of reporting on payments involving President Trump and women who said they had once had sexual relationships with him.

His tenure was also marked by unrest. In late-night emails, Mr. Baker accused reporters and editors of adding commentary to their coverage of Mr. Trump, and the staff pushed back, accusing him in an all-hands meeting of going easy on the president. More than a dozen journalists left the paper for The Washington Post and The New York Times.

The Journal staff members’ criticism of their former boss came in the wake of the resignations of high-ranking editors at The Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer. James Bennet, the former editorial page editor at The Times, and Stan Wischnowski, the former executive editor of The Inquirer, stepped down after large numbers of staff members complained about their leadership at a time of worldwide protests against racism and police violence prompted by the killing in Minneapolis last month of George Floyd, a black man who died after he was pinned to the ground by a white police officer.

The letter from the Journal union also included complaints about Mr. Baker’s opinion columns for The Times of London, noting that news-side staff members are barred from contributing opinion essays to other publications. Recent headlines on those columns, the letter noted, included “Big Tech Is Blatantly Biased Against Trump” and “The Obama Halo Is in Danger of Slipping.”

In closing, the letter said the paper should hold Mr. Baker to the standards that apply to everyone else on the news side. Now that The Journal has put him in the opinion department, he can follow a different rule book.

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