‘Poor Planning First and Foremost.’ Poll Workers Describe Chaos During Georgia Primaries

(ATLANTA) — First-time poll worker Kirubel Behailu thought he’d become more familiar with Georgia’s new voting machines at a quiet election site during Tuesday’s primary. Instead, he found himself scrambling to sanitize equipment, clear jams in a ballot scanner and run back voter cards during a 15-hour marathon at an Atlanta church inundated with frustrated…

Looming U.S. Sanctions Shake Syria, Hasten Economic Meltdown

(BEIRUT) — In scenes not witnessed for years in government-controlled parts of Syria, dozens of men and women marched through the streets this week, protesting a sharp increase in prices and collapse of the currency, some even calling for the downfall of President Bashar Assad and his ruling Baath party. “He who starves his people…

Trump to Give Republican Convention Speech in Jacksonville, Florida

(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — Jacksonville, Florida, has been selected to host the celebration marking President Donald Trump’s acceptance of his party’s nomination for reelection, the Republican National Committee chairwoman said Thursday. Ronna McDaniel made the announcement a day after saying that Jacksonville was a front-runner to hold the event. The governor of North Carolina, the official…

White House Balks Again at John Bolton’s Plan to Publish His Memoirs

WASHINGTON — The White House has told former national security adviser John Bolton that the manuscript of his forthcoming memoir still contains classified material and could present a national security threat. But Bolton’s lawyer said Wednesday that publication will go ahead as planned on June 23 and he accused the White House of unfairly trying…

Prison Guard Suspended After Video Appears to Reenact George Floyd’s Killing

(FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J.) — A corrections officer who participated in a counterprotest to a Black Lives Matter demonstration in New Jersey in which people reenacted the death of George Floyd was suspended after the video was widely shared on social media. In the video, protesters march along a street Monday in Franklin Township, Gloucester County,…

New York Moves Swiftly Toward Eliminating Police Secrecy Law

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York state lawmakers on Monday repealed a decades-old law that has kept law enforcement officers’ disciplinary records secret, spurred by the national uproar over the death of George Floyd. The measure to make officers’ records and misconduct complaints public is among several police accountability bills racing through the state legislature. Others…

New York City Officials Urge Protesters to Get Tested for the Coronavirus

(NEW YORK) — With New York City poised to reopen after a more than two-month coronavirus shutdown, officials on Sunday lifted a curfew that was in place amid protests of police brutality and racial injustice. But they also urged that demonstrators be tested for COVID-19. “Get a test. Get a test,” New York Gov. Andrew…

House Democrats to Propose Legislation on Police Reform and Accountability

(WASHINGTON) — Democrats are proposing to overhaul legal protections for police, create a national database of excessive-force episodes and ban police choke holds in legislation coming Monday in response to the deaths of black Americans at the hands of law enforcement, according to a draft outline obtained by The Associated Press. “We’re in a real…

Local Officials and Trump Were Quick to Blame Out-of-State Agitators for Minneapolis’ Violent Protests. Arrest Records Suggest Otherwise

Government authorities, including President Trump, suggested Saturday that out-of-state agitators brought violence to this week’s tense protests over George Floyd’s death. However, a few officials have backed off of those early assertions and some of the arrest data suggest that might not be the case. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died in Minneapolis, Minn., while…