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UNDATED (AP) — South Korea has reported 51 more confirmed coronavirus cases as new clusters emerge in the densely populated Seoul area where people have been increasingly venturing out despite government warnings against complacency. Thirty-five of the new cases are in the capital region, which is at the center of a COVID-19 resurgence threatening to erase earlier gains against the virus. Authorities are struggling to trace contacts and predict infection routes as new clusters pop up. Hundreds of infections have been linked to nightspots, church gatherings, restaurants and low-income workers who couldn’t afford to stay home. Officials are resisting calls to reimpose stronger social distancing guidelines, concerned about hurting the economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald has signed an executive order to protect monuments, memorials and statues. Trump had promised the order earlier this week after police thwarted an attempt by protesters to pull down a statue of Andrew Jackson in a park across from the White House. The order calls on the attorney general to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law any person or group that destroys or vandalizes a monument, memorial or statue. Federal law calls for punishment of up to 10 years in prison. Earlier Friday, Trump called for the arrest of protesters involved in the attempt to pull down the statue of Jackson.
HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the release of children held with their parents in U.S. immigration jails and denounced the Trump administration’s prolonged detention of families during the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee’s order Friday applies to children at three family detention centers in Texas and Pennsylvania operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some have been detained since last year. Citing the recent spread of the virus in two of the three facilities, Gee set a deadline of July 17 for children to either be released with their parents or sent to family sponsors.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minneapolis City Council has unanimously advanced a plan that could one day do away with the city’s police department, following unrest over the killing of George Floyd. The council voted Friday in favor of amending the city charter to replace the current department with a “Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention” that would prioritize a “holistic” and “public-health oriented” approach. Several obstacles remain for the proposal to make it onto the November ballot. Critics of the plan, including Mayor Jacob Frey and the officers' union, say it's short on specifics for what would replace the police department.
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona’s chief attorney has issued a cease-and-desist letter to a company touted by a church where President Donald Trump held a rally and where leaders say they use an air filtration system that neutralizes the coronavirus. Attorney General Mark Brnovich also sent a warning letter to Dream City Church, which posted a widely circulated video claiming the technology by Clean Air EXP “kills 99 percent of COVID within 10 minutes.” Brnovich said the company tested a virus that causes the common cold, not the coronavirus. Both the church and company have walked back the claims.
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