June 29, 2020 News Brief

n March, President Trump and the National Security Council were told that Russia had been paying bounties to Taliban-backed fighters for killing American troops. The Trump administration not only didn’t respond but engaged in several positive overtures towards Russia including advocating for Russia to be invited back into the G7 and withdrawing 9500 US troops from Germany where they support NATO and prevent Russian aggression. This is an incredible escalation in the conflict between Russian and US that began with Russia’s invasion of Crimea and their interference in our elections. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/us/politics/russia-afghanistan-bounties.html?smid=tw-share

America marked its largest weekly increase over the last week, reaching 2.5M total cases. The Coronavirus Task Force hosted its first press briefing in several weeks. The government’s health experts continue to warn we are in the middle of a dangerous surge and that everyone should be wearing a mask and social distancing. Vice President Mike Pence was seen wearing a mask during an event in Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott has reversed the reopening and closed down bars and restaurants. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-us-soars-past-25-million-coronavirus-cases-pence-urges-americans-to-wear-masks-social-distance/2020/06/28/c0006248-b962-11ea-bdaf-a129f921026f_story.html

The Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. The law would have left Louisiana with a single abortion provider for the whole state. The Supreme Court struck down an identical law from Texas in a previous term and Chief Justice Roberts joined the court’s liberal members on the basis of precedent. 

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/18-1323_c07d.pdf

Mississippi’s state legislature voted to remove the Confederate flag from their state flag and design a new flag over the weekend. The Governor has promised to sign the legislation. Mississippi has the largest percentage of black Americans of any state and also was the last state flag that contained the Confederate symbol. 

A growing advertising boycott by major cooperations such as Unilever, Coca Cola, and Starbucks is forcing Facebook to reexamine its policy towards political posts and hate speech. Mark Zuckerberg recently announce they would reverse a previous decision and begin to label misleading posts. 

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