The noose found hanging in Bubba Wallace’s garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway had been there since at least last October, federal authorities said Tuesday in announcing there will be no charges filed in an incident that rocked NASCAR and its only fulltime Black driver.  U.S. Attorney Jay Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr. said an investigation determined “although the noose is now known to have been in garage number 4 in 2019, nobody could have known Mr. Wallace would be assigned to garage number 4 last week.” A crew member for Richard Petty Motorsports discovered the noose Sunday at the Alabama race track. NASCAR was alerted and contacted the FBI, which sent 15 agents to the track to investigate. They determined no federal crime was committed. The statement said the garage stall was assigned to Wallace last week in advance of the race scheduled for Sunday but held on Monday because of rain. Through video confirmed by NASCAR it was discovered the noose”was in that garage as early as October 2019.”  The agencies said the evidence did not support federal charges.  Wallace successfully pushed the stock car series to ban the Confederate flag at its venues less than two weeks ago. There has been criticism of the ban by some longtime fans and security had been stepped up for Wallace, a 26-year-old Alabama native who has worn in the last month a shirt over his firesuit that read “I Can’t Breathe.” His paint scheme for a race in Virginia was Black Lives Matter.  NASCAR said in a statement that “the FBI report concludes, and photographic evidence confirms, that the garage door pull rope fashioned like a noose had been positioned there since as early as last fall. This was obviously well before the 43 team’s arrival and garage assignment.” The Wood Brothers Racing team said one of its employees informed the team he recalled “seeing a tied handle in the garage pull down rope from last fall,” when NASCAR raced at Talladega in October. The team said it immediately alerted NASCAR and assisted the investigation.  The discovery of the noose stunned the stock car series as it is taking an active position in a push for inclusion while distancing itself from its rocky racial history. The series first tried to ban the Confederate flag five years ago but did nothing to enforce the order.  Wallace two weeks ago renewed the call for a ban and NASCAR answered but has yet to detail how it will stop the display. Talladega marked the first race since the coronavirus pandemic that fans were permitted — 5,000 were allowed to purchase tickets — and some upset with the flag ban paraded past the main entrance with the Southern symbol. A banner flew over the speedway Sunday of a Confederate flag that read “Defund NASCAR.”  NASCAR announced late Sunday the noose had been discovered and the industry rallied around Wallace. All 39 of his rival drivers and their crews helped push Wallace’s car to the front of pit road before the national anthem and stood behind him in solidarity.  Wallace was joined by his team owner, Hall of Famer Richard Petty, who gently placed a hand on Wallace’s shoulder as he sobbed. Wallace after the race went to the fencing along the grandstands and greeted supporters.  “The sport is changing,” he said.  
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A Trump administration order to suspend H-1B, J and other temporary work visas will further deter international students from seeking higher education in the United States, education experts say.The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) – an advocacy organization of public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems, and higher education organizations in all 50 states – said they are “deeply” concerned about Monday’s FILE – A sample of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is displayed at a laboratory in San Diego, California, March 17, 2020. H-1B visas cover highly skilled occupations that require at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent.“We also urge the administration to bolster efforts to keep foreign-born graduates in the United States. We draw the world’s brightest minds to our university campuses, and we should make every effort to ensure they make discoveries, start businesses and create jobs in the United States,” McPherson said.  President Donald Trump’s executive order is intended to protect U.S. workers, the White House said.    But Cato Institute immigration policy analyst David Bier said the order is economically baseless.  “It will hurt the recovery and U.S. workers,” Bier said. “Foreign workers create demand for other better jobs for U.S. workers elsewhere in the economy.  “Restricting migration will not lower unemployment, but it will harm American businesses — that are struggling to make it through this period — who employ both Americans and immigrants,” he said.  U.S. companies are allowed to employ foreign workers who hold H-1B non-immigrant visas. The holders are allowed to stay in the U.S. for only 60 days without being paid. As the COVID-19 pandemic has shuttered businesses, many H-1B visa holders have lost their jobs and, unlike American workers, don’t qualify for unemployment benefits. Experts say the U.S. technology industry will suffer drastically if H1-B visa holders lose their legal work status in the U.S. “If the U.S. government really bans H1-B, J-1, etc., the U.S. science will be dead soon, which means the U.S. industry and technology, too,” tweeted Yukiko Yamashita, a developmental biologist at the University of Michigan who will move to the Whitehead Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, this fall.If the US government really bans H1-B, J-1 etc., the US science will be dead soon, which means the US industry and technology, too (for those who don’t care about science but care about money). 1/
— Yamashita Lab (@yamashitaflylab) June 14, 2020Around “50 percent of my lab members have been immigrants throughout my time as a professor (and if you include second generation of immigrants, number goes up),” wrote Yamashita in an email to VOA. “Many other labs are that way. And professors in my current institute are also 40-50 percent foreign born.  “This country is ‘importing’ highly educated people to support their science/ technology, and this is not something one can replace by hiring domestic people only. (not enough qualified people),” wrote Yamashita, a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grantee. “This is yet another example of the unwelcoming message the United States continues to send to prospective students and immigrants around the world,” Jill Allen Murray, deputy executive director for public policy of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, wrote to VOA. “While the administration claims that the purpose behind this proclamation is to address the needed economic recovery post-COVID-19 pandemic, these restrictions will have the opposite effect.“Immigrants in this country create jobs, not take them,” Murray wrote. She added that if the country continues to be unwelcoming, foreign workers “will take their talent, jobs and economic contributions elsewhere.” H-1B workers who are already in the U.S. were not part of this week’s proclamation. Foreign students in the U.S. on F-1 visas or arriving in the fall, or students on Optional Practical Training (OPT) visas, were also not included. But OPT, the program that allows foreign students an extended visa to stay in the U.S. for up to three years after graduation, is also under review. OPT is popular among science, technology, engineering and math students who hope to remain in the country on H-1B visas. According to a NAFSA: Association of International Educators study, international students at U.S. colleges contribute nearly $41 billion to the country’s economy and support 458,290 jobs. FWD.us, a political organization founded by tech and business leaders, said on its blog that OPT suspension will force highly educated workers to leave the country. “This would be a significant mistake that will hurt our economy long term while providing no substantial impact on job or wage growth in the short term,” the organization wrote. Sarmat Misikov contributed to this report.  
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U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday he and other members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force have not been instructed to slow down testing for the virus as President Donald Trump says he has done. “As a member of the task force, and my colleagues on the task force, to my knowledge, I know for sure, that to my knowledge, none of us have ever been told to slow down on testing. That is just a fact. In fact, we will be doing more testing,” Fauci said at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Fauci’s comments came just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump maintained he was serious about remarks he made at a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday, when he said he asked his administration to slow down testing because more testing would reveal more cases. White House officials have since tried walk back his comments, maintaining they were not meant to be taken seriously. But when asked Tuesday if comments at the rally were made in jest as he spoke with reporters in Washington, Trump said, “I don’t kid. Let me just tell you. Let me make it clear.” U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield, when asked if more people should be tested in the U.S., responded, “All of us have been and continue to be committed to increasing readily timely access to testing. We’ve made a marked improvement and we still have a ways to go.” Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies before a House Committee on Energy and Commerce on the Trump administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 23, 2020.The U.S. leads the world in coronavirus infections, with over 2.3 million of the more than 9.1 million cases worldwide, according to statistics compiled by the Johns Hopkins University FILE – Visitors to Six Flag Fiesta Texas pass through a thermal screening area as they enter the park as a precaution against the coronavirus, June 19, 2020, in San Antonio.Many states are in the process of loosening restrictions put in place to stop the spread of the virus, despite infection spikes in about half of the 50 U.S. states. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Monday that reimposing restrictions would be a last resort, while saying the virus was spreading at an “unacceptable rate” and declining to impose an order to mandate the use of masks in public. Texas has set daily records for new infections for nearly two weeks as its hospitalization rates climbed. Neighboring Louisiana surpassed 3,000 deaths due to COVID-19, and with a rise in cases there as well Governor John Bel Edwards said he would keep in place the current limitations that were set to expire Friday. Hospitalization rates have also surged in Georgia, while the number of confirmed cases is rising in more than a dozen states. 
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Among safety measures the U.S. National Basketball Association plans to offer players when the league attempts to resume play next month is a “smart ring,” which its makers claim can detect COVID-19 symptoms before they appear. The technology behind the ring was developed by the University of West Virginia’s Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI) and is being marketed by a company named Oura Health.  Researchers at RNI say the platform they developed tracks a variety of health indicators — including body temperature, heart rate variability, resting heart rate, respiratory rate, and sleep and activity patterns — which are monitored through a ring worn on a person’s finger.  Researchers say their testing shows the ring can predict the onset of COVID-19-related symptoms – including fever, coughing and breathing issues – up to three days in advance, with 90 percent accuracy. However, their results have not yet been published in a professional journal or peer reviewed. Without scientific verification, doctors told the CNN there is not enough data to know how well the ring works. Emergency room physician and University of Tennessee Assistant Professor Dr. Darria Long told CNN that NBA players and others who wear the rings should not abandon masks or other safety precautions simply because their rings tell them they are OK. The Oura rings retail for about $299 to $399. Research is also being conducted regarding the possible uses for other wearable devices, such as Fitbits or Apple watches, in monitoring health in an effort to ward off the coronavirus. 
 
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In the weeks since George Floyd’s death while in police custody in the state of Minnesota set off protests over the treatment of African Americans, several Confederate monuments in the United States have been damaged or toppled by demonstrators. VOA’s Mariama Diallo explains why.
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Demonstrators in Virginia’s capital formed an unlawful assembly at Richmond City Hall early Tuesday morning, police said, prompting warnings that people would be arrested if they didn’t leave the area.The gathering started forming Monday evening after city and state leaders said the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee miles away on Monument Avenue would be indefinitely closed from sunset until sunrise every night, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.Police Halt Attempt to Topple Andrew Jackson Statue Near White House Police carrying shields confronted protesters with batons, pepper spray and pepper bullets Several demonstrators rode bikes or pitched tents in front of city hall, which was dubbed “Reclamation Square.” The protesters were demanding police reforms from city leaders, the newspaper reported.Protests have taken place across the country and worldwide following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.Richmond police tweeted the warnings just after midnight, adding that the demonstration at city hall was unlawful, “due to conditions of activity such as sit-ins, sit-downs, blocking traffic, blocking entrances or exits of buildings that impact public safety or infrastructure.”At the Lee statue, protesters had remained after sunset, and the Times-Dispatch reported that police late Monday stood nearby but were not closing in on the people.Officials said earlier Monday in a statement that the statue would be closed from sunset to sunrise each night for safety reasons, citing an increase in vandalism, trespassing, excessive noise and more. 
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Vietnam has received favorable recognition worldwide for containing the spread of the novel coronavirus and reopening the nation’s economy, but that good news is small comfort for Tran Thi Hien, who collects scrap metal she can resell for cash. After the government announced a pandemic relief fund, she applied two times but says she has yet to hear back. Some suggested the reason for the delay is because she had to apply in her hometown. Others surmise that she was not in the eligible age range. Hien, 43, said the process was “too complicated” but held out hope. “The government’s support package is really a savior for independent workers like me,” she said. Even for a place like Vietnam, which reported zero coronavirus deaths and 349 cases, the pandemic hit the economy hard, with the impact falling hardest on laborers who live on meager subsistence wages. While white-collar employees could work at home or take paid days off in lockdown, those in the informal sector, such as Hien, must show up and do physical work if they’re going to afford food and housing. Supporters of the pandemic relief fund want to prevent a disconnect between the lofty goals of the aid package and the impact on citizens, particularly those in most need. Organizations, from Oxfam in Vietnam to the Pioneer Network for Ethnic Minority Voices, have stepped up with what they call “hotlines.” They compile feedback from people such as Hien and send it to labor and provincial agencies distributing the aid, as authorized in the state regulation, Decision 15/2020-TTg. Nguyen Thu Giang, executive director of Migrant Labor Action Network, or M.net, said she wants to help government agencies so they “can promptly compare, check and respond to people’s opinions, and at the same time make adjustments to policies or implementation methods, ensuring that Decision 15/2020-TTg is implemented, in a transparent and effective way.” The relief fund is worth close to $2.7 billion, though the ruling Communist Party has also tapped sister organizations to mobilize donations and volunteers, from the Youth Union to the Vietnamese Fatherland Front. Authors of a study of Vietnam’s COVID-19 response in Sustainability, a science journal, noted that the prime minister called on citizens to help “combat” the disease. “Responding to this call, one can easily see many images of bank transfer to the Vietnamese Fatherland Front on social media of Vietnamese people to support the government in the combat,” the study said. “On a larger scale, many enterprises, regardless of their size, also contributed to the national combat by donating their products such as masks, rice or milk, by donating their hotels for isolation wards—or most popularly—by donating cash.” Anti-poverty advocates are working to get as much of the aid money as possible to the most vulnerable in society. Oxfam in Vietnam said it is focused on the unemployed and the working poor, such as those who worked without contracts or were put on leave without pay during the pandemic. It also targets migrant workers such as Hien, who moved to the capital, Hanoi, from the nearby province of Nam Dinh. Many rural dwellers relocate to cities for better work opportunities but can’t access social services because they are not registered with local authorities.  Oxfam in Vietnam said it set up a hotline for the relief fund so that “no one is left behind.” “This initiative will create more opportunities for people to conveniently and confidently send feedback, from which the local government will have accurate, timely and quality information to provide better services,” Babeth Ngoc Han Lefur, Oxfam in Vietnam director, said.  
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A day after a noose was found in the team garage of African-American race car driver Bubba Wallace, his fellow drivers staged a moving show of support for him Monday. Shortly before the start of a NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) race at Talladega Superspeedway in the southern state of Alabama, several drivers pushed Wallace’s number 43 car to the front of pit row, followed by a long procession of other drivers and members of their pit crews.  The procession moved past an area on the infield grass with the phrase “#IStandWithBubba” painted on it.   An emotional Wallace partially emerged from the car after it came to a stop and broke down in tears. Legendary NASCAR driver Richard Petty, who made the number 43 car a cultural icon and is co-owner of Wallace’s team, walked up to Wallace and put his hands on his shoulders.   Wallace is the lone African American driver in NASCAR’s top-level Cup Series.  He drew widespread support earlier this month when he successfully urged NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag at its races in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, a black man who died while in police custody in Minneapolis last month. The flag, which represented the slave-owning southern U.S. states that split from the North during the 1861-65 Civil War, remains a prominent symbol of southern culture, but many African Americans consider the flag a lasting symbol of slavery, racism and white supremacy.Driver Bubba Wallace, left, is overcome with emotion as team owner Richard Petty, comforts him as he arrives at his car in the pits of the Talladega Superspeedway prior to the start of the NASCAR Cup Series, June 22, 2020.Floyd’s death has sparked a backlash against other perceived symbols of white supremacy, including statues of Confederate generals and other historical figures.  Some statues have either been defaced or torn down by protesters, or removed by local officials.   NASCAR, which also has its roots in southern U.S. culture, said in a statement it will do everything it can to identify who was responsible for the noose “and eliminate them from our sport.” The FBI is also investigating the incident.   Wallace finished 14th in the race, which was scheduled to run Sunday but postponed because of rain. Protesters on Saturday and Sunday drove cars and trucks flying the Confederate flag on roads near the track.   Wallace said after the race that the incident “was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to witness in my life,” but called the support he received afterwards as “incredible.” 
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