Fake news about the coronavirus can do real harm. Polygraph.info is spotlighting fact-checks from other reliable sources here​. Daily DebunkClaim: “They’ve come out of this at a level that’s really inconceivable. By the way, the regular flu, other flus, other things, SARS or H1N1, any of them, if you look at the young people they were affected like everybody else, but for whatever reason with respect to COVID, the numbers are very, very low.” — President Donald Trump, June 15.Verdict: MisleadingRead the full story: 
We’re beginning to understand the mechanism behind this relatively common symptom.
— Scientific American, June 13
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Fake news about the coronavirus can do real harm. Polygraph.info is spotlighting fact-checks from other reliable sources here​. Daily DebunkClaim: Coronavirus patients without symptoms aren’t driving the spread of the virus.Verdict: MisleadingRead the full story at: 
Researchers fear that breakthroughs from abroad will be too slow or inequitably shared to benefit the global south.
— Nature, June 12
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На українському міжбанківському валютному ринку після кількох днів посилення американської валюти змінився тренд. Як свідчать дані Finance.ua, станом на 12:40 котирування становлять 26 гривень 73–75 копійок за долар.

Національний банк України встановив опівдні довідкове значення курсу 26 гривень 73 копійки за долар це на 11 копійок менше за офіційний курс на 16 червня.

За даними аналітиків сайту «Мінфін», на користь гривні грає проведення сьогодні аукціону з продажу ОВДП, наближення періоду виплат компаній до бюджету та потенційний продаж валюти «Нафтогазом». У разі надмірної пропозиції долара надлишок валюти викуповує Нацбанк, який уже забрав із ринку 20 мільйонів доларів за ціною 26,74 гривні.

У широкому коридорі 26,5–27 гривень за долар курс перебуває вже понад два з половиною місяці – від кінця квітня.
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During Europe’s migrant crisis of 2015, European Union member states promised to accept 160,000 asylum seekers in two years, of which the Spanish government pledged to receive nearly 18,000.  Five years later, Spain has given asylum to only two thousand people — held back in part by opposition from some Spaniards who say the kingdom already has too many migrants — many of them from Africa. Alfonso Beato filed this report from Barcelona, narrated by Jonathan Spier.Camera: Alfonso BeatoProduced by: Jon Spier 
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Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is getting some help from his “former boss,” Barack Obama, as he looks to fill his campaign coffers and unify the Democratic Party ahead of the November election. The former president and Biden will appear together next Tuesday for a “virtual grassroots fundraiser,” the former vice president announced on Twitter. It will be the first time the two have appeared together since Obama endorsed Biden in April. Biden’s tweet linked to a campaign fundraising page and to a form for those who want to ask a question of the two Democrats. The announcement Monday came hours after Biden said that his campaign and associated Democratic groups had raised $81 million in May — his strongest-ever fundraising haul.  President Donald Trump’s campaign has yet to release its fundraising total for the month. 
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North Korea has followed through on its threat to demolish the de facto inter-Korean embassy just north of the border, Pyongyang’s latest move to ratchet up tensions with Seoul.  South Korean media reported a loud explosion and smoke Tuesday near the Kaesong industrial complex, which houses the inter-Korean liaison office. A few minutes later, Seoul’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean relations, confirmed the building had been blown up.  North Korean state media also confirmed that the facility was destroyed by what it called a “terrific explosion.” Though the destruction of the liaison office is a blow to Seoul, the move was primarily symbolic, since the office had presumably been shuttered for months. South Korean staff left the facility in late January due to coronavirus concerns.  Over the past week, North Korean officials had repeatedly threatened to destroy what they called the “useless” office, which was set up in 2018 as part of a series of agreements meant to improve cooperation and dialogue between the two Koreas.  North Korea is ostensibly angry at South Korea for not doing more to stop defectors and other activists from floating anti-Pyongyang leaflets and other materials across the border. Pyongyang has dismissed Seoul’s aggressive steps to stop the leaflet launches and ban such activity. Instead, the North has threatened a series of retaliatory steps, including possible military action.FILE – Kim Yo Jong, right, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, helps Kim sign joint statement following the summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the Paekhwawon State Guesthouse in Pyongyang.“This is a staged provocation cycle rather than a one-off response to NGO leaflets,” says Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “The Kim regime is also signaling the United States won’t have the luxury of keeping North Korea on the back-burner for the remainder of the year.” North Korea has a long history of periodically ramping up tensions in order to extract economic and other concessions from the South. Currently, Pyongyang is frustrated that Seoul has been unwilling to push ahead with improving inter-Korean ties. In 2018, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in held three meetings, where they agreed to reduce tensions, expand dialogue, and interact economically.  But implementation of those deals has been complicated by international sanctions over North Korea’s nuclear program. The U.S. has been unwilling to relax the sanctions unless North Korea agrees to give up its entire nuclear program.  By threatening South Korea, the North appears to be using Seoul to pressure Washington over the stalled nuclear negotiations. The North Korean provocations may also be designed to increase tensions between the U.S. and South Korea.  South Korea’s left-leaning government, which is newly empowered following a sweeping legislative election win in April, has vowed to explore every avenue to improve ties with its northern neighbor.  But North Korea has for months rejected every South Korean offer. Instead, Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, this month has flung repeated insults and threats at Seoul.  “We should not lend an ear to and trust the trite language let out by them for only form’s sake as they always make a fuss belatedly, nor pardon the sins committed by the betrayers and human scum,” Ms. Kim said earlier this week.  North Korea has also hinted at unspecified military action against the South, but it’s not clear how far it is willing to go.  In a statement Tuesday, North Korea’s military suggested it was preparing to re-enter parts of the border area that had been disarmed under the inter-Korean agreements. “Our army is on high alert to ensure a military guarantee for any external measures to be taken by the Party and the government,” read the statement, published in the state-run Korean Central News Agency.   
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The news can be tough to absorb after awhile, even for a self-described “news junkie.” “News and current events are definitely something my life has always been centered around,” says Hannah Zeller, 21, who says while in grade school, she knew the names of the news anchors on her local evening news hour.  But even for someone like Zeller, “there is such a thing as too much news,” she says.  So, she turns to late-night programs to stay informed but also to find humor and solace. “The constant deluge of information can very rapidly shift you from the realm of ‘informed, proactive citizen’ to ‘on-fire garbage can crammed with so much content it ceases to do anything other than feed your anxiety,’” she says. “And once you get to that point, I think it can be really hard to do anything productive with the information you’re consuming.”  
 
Ben Gainsboro, 22, agrees. He and Zeller are not alone in feeling overwhelmed at times. A 2017 study from the American Psychological Association states that respondents “indicated that they feel conflicted between their desire to stay informed about the news and their view of the media as a source of stress.” APA’s study indicated that while 95% of those surveyed said “they follow the news regularly,” 56% of the same group said that “doing so causes them stress.” Although watching television programs such as the “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah” may cover similar topics to traditional news outlets, they “certainly make the news of the day seem a little less intimidating,” Zeller says.  A study by the Pew Research Center stated that “61 percent of young people reported regularly or sometimes learning campaign information from comedy television,” according to the book “Laughing Matters: Humor and American Politics in the Media Age,” edited by Jody C. Baumgartner.  This is likely because hosts of late-night comedy shows make their news material more “digestible,” Zeller says. Nevertheless, she recognizes that what she is viewing is not without bias. “I think people often watch late-night shows and forget that what they’re seeing isn’t fact free from significant bias,” she says. “Not only are stories skewed for entertainment’s sake, but they’re also targeted towards certain audiences with certain beliefs or opinions, and I think this can sometimes negatively impact a person’s understanding of the facts of a news story.”  Gainsboro, a Massachusetts native, says though he watches “usually around an hour a day” of late-night television, he also recognizes that “comedy news” has risks.  “Comedy news is a dangerous game,” he says, “as people will seemingly believe anything nowadays. Same thing could be said for exaggerated news. I think we need to be better at sorting out the difference, as a society. They are too blurred.” Yet simultaneously, hosts like Fallon, Colbert and Noah can help younger people feel like the world is a little less grim.  “Watching the news can sometimes make me feel so helpless, like the world is falling apart and there’s little I can do to address it but watch it burn around me,” Zeller says. “Hearing those same events be made into a punchline for the monologue on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ makes them seem less dire, and also like I’m not alone in tackling those events.  “The comedy of late-night TV makes the news consumable and like there’s a community of people out there who are dealing with it right alongside me,” she says. 
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Voice of America’s leader for four years, Amanda Bennett, resigned Monday after defending the U.S. taxpayer-funded news organization’s journalistic independence against attacks from the White House that VOA spread Chinese propaganda. In a farewell message to staff, Bennett and her deputy, Sandy Sugawara, who also resigned, avoided the issue of tensions with the Trump administration. Instead, the two wrote that Michael Pack, a Trump appointee recently confirmed to lead VOA’s parent agency, has “the right to replace us” and that it was now time to leave. “Nothing about you, your passion, your mission or your integrity changes,” they wrote.  “Michael Pack swore before Congress to respect and honor the firewall that guarantees V.O.A.’s independence, which in turn plays the single most important role in the stunning trust our audiences around the world have in us.” The question of VOA’s independence – and worries that the administration might reshape government news agencies into a public relations tool ­– rose to the forefront in recent months as the president pushed for action on Pack’s stalled Senate confirmation. The VOA charter requires the agency’s reports, which are aimed at foreign audiences in Russia, Iran, China and other countries where there is censorship and repression, to be “accurate, objective and comprehensive” and to “represent America, not any single segment of American society.” White House offensive In April, the White House website accused VOA of regurgitating Chinese propaganda by posting a video about the reopening of Wuhan after the coronavirus epidemic subsided there. “V.O.A. too often speaks for America’s adversaries — not its citizens,” it said.  The president’s social media manager, Dan Scavino, promoted the idea on Twitter, saying, “American taxpayers — paying for China’s very own propaganda, via the U.S. Government funded Voice of America! DISGRACE!!”  No matter that the video was not by VOA but by the Associated Press, or that statistics VOA cited — and the White House criticized — about China’s coronavirus deaths were reported from Johns Hopkins University & Medicine and widely considered the most reliable tallies available. Bennett vigorously disputed the propaganda accusation and provided a list of VOA stories that challenged China, but Trump weighed in at a White House news conference. “If you hear what’s coming out of the Voice of America, it’s disgusting,” he said. “The things they say are disgusting toward our country. And Michael Pack would get in and do a great job.” CDC blacklist On Sunday, VOA reported that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had effectively blacklisted its journalists, according to an internal CDC memorandum that became public. As its rationale for the decision not to accept interview requests from VOA journalists, the CDC memo cited the White House website’s accusations about China. reported.’We don’t do propaganda’Bennett was appointed by President Barack Obama and started in the spring of 2016. She is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, investigative journalist and editor who has worked for a number of leading new organizations, including Bloomberg News, as editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and as a reporter and editor at the Wall Street Journal. She was lauded for career achievement last year by the National Press Club. In her remarks at the event, she reflected on the importance of press freedom and the challenge of VOA’s mission to model journalistic independence for countries it serves. “Think of a world where you can believe nothing of what you see or read. A world where there is no free press is where I and my colleagues work every day,” Bennett said. “No, we don’t do propaganda. … Never will.” Bennett’s top deputy Sugawara has also spent decades in journalism as a UPI reporter and with The Washington Post. Pack was confirmed June 4 over the objections of most Senate Democrats. Responding to the resignations, his office issued a statement saying, “The U.S. Agency for Global Media appreciates the service of VOA Director Amanda Bennett and VOA Deputy Director Sandy Sugawara and wishes them both the best in their future endeavors.” Test of independence The news that the CDC has adopted a blanket refusal to advance VOA interview requests presents an early test of Pack’s commitment to journalistic independence.   The CDC policy was revealed in a document retrieved under the Freedom of Information Act made by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. “As a rule, do not set up interview requests for Greta Van Sustren [sic] or anyone else affiliated with Voice of America because of this,” the document states, referring to the White House critical posting about Wuhan. Van Susteren, a lawyer and veteran broadcaster for Fox News and now Gray Television, hosts the weekly “Plugged In” news show for VOA audiences. “The thing that’s stunning to me is that it’s VOA and I’m specifically named and nobody at the CDC, or the White House, or anyplace else has ever said that my reporting on the coronavirus or anything else has been unfair or inaccurate,” Van Susteren told VOA. Van Susteren said it was “absurd to blackball a person.” In a statement Monday praising Bennett and Sugawara for their service, Democratic Congressman Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, called the CDC policy “outrageous” and said it “should be reversed at once.” “I would expect Mr. Pack, USAGM’s new CEO, to stand up for VOA’s journalists and independence. His failure to do so, so soon after being confirmed for this position, raises questions about whether he’s focused on advancing USAGM’s independent journalistic mission,” Engel said. Pack’s office did not provide a comment when asked Monday evening. Al Tomkins, who teaches journalism ethics at The Poynter Institute, called the CDC’s policy toward VOA “harmful” and said it could potentially prevent the vital information about the pandemic from reaching countries “where there’s so much misinformation.” During her tenure, Bennett was confronted by two significant scandals. In 2018, she fired or disciplined 15 journalists from the Hausa language service for accepting bribes from a visiting Nigerian official. That same year, she also discharged the chief of VOA’s Mandarin language service for allowing a billionaire Chinese in exile to make unsubstantiated charges against officials in Beijing during an extended live broadcast. 
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Federal authorities will review local investigations into the hanging deaths of two black men in Southern California to determine whether federal law was violated, officials said Monday. Local authorities have said there is no evidence of foul play in the deaths of Robert Fuller in Palmdale and Malcolm Harsch in Victorville and early indications point both to suicide, but sheriffs have pledged to continue to investigate the cases. Monday’s announcement follows weekend protests, which were prompted by the initial determination of suicide as the likely cause of death for Fuller. People who participated in a town hall hosted by Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva on Monday also voiced concerns that Fuller and Harsch may have been lynched. The callers denounced what they described as a rush to judgment and urged investigators to look into the possibility that hate crimes were committed.  The FBI, U.S. attorney’s office in the Central District of California and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division are monitoring the investigations of the Los Angeles County and San Bernardino County sheriffs, authorities said in a statement. The city of Palmdale issued a statement supporting an independent inquiry, and three elected officials urged California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the probe. Becerra said for now his investigators will just support the sheriff’s department, “though we also have the ability to do it on our own if necessary.”  Fuller’s body was discovered around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday in a park near City Hall. An autopsy was conducted Friday and the Los Angeles County medical examiner-coroner’s office said the 24-year-old man appeared to have died by suicide. The finding prompted outcry by his family, who believed he wasn’t suicidal, and community members who called for an independent investigation and autopsy. More than 1,000 people turned out for a protest and memorial Saturday around the tree where Fuller’s body was found about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Los Angeles.Activist Najee Ali speaks as he was calling for an independent investigation in the deaths of both Robert Fuller and Malcolm Harsch, at a news conference outside the Ronald Reagan State building in Los Angeles on Monday, June 15, 2020.Dr. Jonathan Lucas, the chief medical examiner-coroner, said the initial finding was the result of nothing at the scene indicating foul play. Investigators only found rope and a backpack in the park. “The initial report appeared to be consistent with a suicide but we felt it prudent to roll that back and continue to look deeper,” Lucas said Monday at a news conference. The coroner’s office is awaiting toxicology results, Lucas said. Investigators are also looking at Fuller’s medical history.  Homicide detectives plan to analyze the rope and its knot, canvass the area for video footage, interview Fuller’s social services case worker and speak to anyone who had recently interacted with him. They are also seeking to meet with Fuller’s family, authorities said. Fuller’s family and friends described him as a peacemaker who was street-smart, loved music and video games, and mostly stayed to himself. Days before he died, he attended a Black Lives Matter protest, the Los Angeles Times reported.  Fuller’s sister, Diamond Alexander said her brother was not suicidal. “My brother was a survivor,” she said.  The state Senate began its session Monday with a moment of silence for Fuller and Harsch, a 38-year-old homeless black man who was found hanging from a tree on May 31 in Victorville, a desert city about 45 miles (72 kilometers) east of Palmdale. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said foul play was not suspected in the death of Harsch, but his family said in a statement issued Saturday that they were concerned it will be ruled a suicide to avoid further attention. San Bernardino authorities provided a fuller accounting Monday of the circumstances surrounding Harsch’s death. In a statement, the department said his girlfriend called 911 and told a dispatcher that he had hanged himself in a homeless encampment. The woman said they had been together earlier in the morning but separated for a brief time when she returned to her tent.  Others in the encampment had cut him down and tried to revive him, the sheriff’s department said. Detectives have interviewed several people who were nearby at the time. The department said there was no evidence of foul play found at the scene or discovered during Harsch’s autopsy. Toxicology results are still pending so the official cause and manner of Harsch’s death has not been determined.  Villanueva said his investigators will consult with San Bernardino detectives to see if there are any commonalities between the deaths of the two men. On Saturday, hundreds of protesters marched from the Palmdale park near City Hall to the sheriff’s station. Many carried signs that read, “Justice for Robert Fuller.” Meanwhile, an online petition demanding an investigation collected more than 200,000 signatures. 
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Державний концерн «Укроборонпром» заявив, що, як і було ухвалено раніше, він припиняє повноваження президента державного підприємства «Антонов» Олександра Донця після повідомлення, що суд поновив того на посаді.

Як заявили в «Укроборонпромі», там станом на вечір 15 червня не отримували ні позову Донця, ні рішення суду з цього приводу, також запису про це не було в Єдиному державному реєстрі судових рішень.

Водночас, заявили в концерні викликає здивування звернення Донця з позовом до адміністративного суду: «адже концерн не є органом влади, а керівник підприємства не є посадою державної служби, а отже – не існує юридичних підстав для звернення до адміністративного суду».

При цьому через те, що з’ясувалося, що на час видачі первісного наказу про звільнення Донця 9 червня той перебував на лікарняному, той наказ скасували і 15 червня вирішили припинити повноваження Донця на посаді президента «Антонова» з нинішнього дня, 15 червня, мовиться в повідомленні.

Концерн при цьому цитує слова свого генерального директора Айвараса Абромавичуса, який заявив: «На жаль, ми є свідками використання недоліків судової системи та недосконалостей правового поля. Саме це змушувало роками терпіти неефективних управлінців на чолі державних підприємств. Я не бачу пана Донця керівником ДП «Антонов». У нас різні цінності, різний погляд на майбутнє компанії і різне ставлення до численних порушень та зловживань, ознаки яких ми виявили під час перевірки за дорученням прем’єр-міністра та Служби безпеки України. Олександр Донець обрав шлях війни з підприємством та колективом, яким він керував майже два роки. Це його право, так само як звертатися до суду. Ми впевнені у своїй правоті і будемо далі піднімати з колін легенду вітчизняного авіапрому».

Раніше 15 червня юридична фірма «Ілляшев та партнери» повідомляла, що цього ж дня Окружний адміністративний суд міста Києва зупинив дію рішення генерального директора «Укроборонпрому» Айвараса Абромавичуса від 9 червня 2020 року про звільнення президента держпідприємства «Антонов» Олександра Донця, задовольнивши його клопотання за позовом щодо незаконності наказу Абромавичуса. За словами юристів, таким чином Донець знову став «єдиним законним керівником ДП «Антонов».

Як видно з повідомлення, йдеться про той первісний наказ про звільнення, який «Укроборонпром» скасував сам через перебування Донця на лікарняному.

Наразі не відомо, чи оскаржував і чи буде оскаржувати Донець новий наказ про його звільнення.

Тоді, 9 червня, в «Укроборонпромі» заявляли, що звільнення відбулося після перевірки, під час якої «були виявлені численні факти, що можуть свідчити про неефективне управління державним підприємством; нецільове використання об’єктів державної власності; зловживання та порушення з боку керівництва, що могли призвести до значних збитків державі та нанести істотну шкоду репутації найбільшого авіаційного підприємства України». Тимчасовим виконувачем обов’язків призначили Олександра Лося, віцепрезидента з проєктування ДП «Антонов».

У відповідь на підприємстві звинуватили «Укроборонпром» в «агресивній політиці». Того ж дня, 9 червня, на сайті і в фейсбуці підприємства з’явилася «резолюція відкритих зборів трудового колективу ДП «Антонов», у якій стверджувалося про «неправомірні дії керуючої структури – ДК «Укроборонпром», – спрямовані на припинення діяльності підприємства». Результати перевірки «є недостовірними, а в більшості питань – відверто маніпулятивними і не відображають реальних результатів господарської діяльності підприємства», – стверджувалося в заяві з закликом залишити Олександра Донця на посаді і вивести ДП «Антонов» із-під управління ДК «Укроборонпром». На цей час публікації заяви і на сайті, і в фейсбуці вже відсутні.

ДП «Антонов» було засноване 31 травня 1946 року під керівництвом авіаконструктора Олега Антонова. За цей час, як мовиться в повідомленні на сайті компанії, колективом підприємства створено понад сто типів і модифікацій пасажирських, транспортних і спеціалізованих літаків, виготовлених у кількості більш ніж 22 тисячі екземплярів.

На літаках «Антонов» встановлено більше ніж 500 світових рекордів. Зокрема, 240 рекордів належить найбільшому і найпотужнішому в світі транспортному літаку Ан-225 «Мрія».
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A bronze statue of a lone Confederate soldier had stood watch over a main street in Alexandria, Virginia, outside Washington, for 131 years. The controversial figure was suddenly taken down, following protests in the United States after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis.  The protests over police brutality have provoked debate over the removal of Confederate statues, monuments and memorials — symbols of hate and slavery to some people, and a revered southern cultural heritage to others.    From 1861 to 1865, the southern Confederacy and northern Union were pitted against each other during the U.S. Civil War, after the south seceded from the rest of the country over states’ rights, including owning slaves.  Several years after the Confederacy lost the War, Confederate statues and monuments began appearing in the South.  Two of the most popular statues are Robert E. Lee, the Confederate Army commander, and Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy. “They started to be put up around 1890, during the rise of Jim Crow laws,” said Carol Anderson, a professor of African American studies at Emory University in Atlanta. FILE – This April 23, 2003 file photo shows a statue of a Confederate soldier at an intersection in Alexandria, Va.Those laws enforced racial segregation and discriminated against black people in the South, including their voting rights.  Now, protesters shouting “Black Lives Matter” across the United States are demanding that Confederate statues and monuments be removed.  At the state capitol in Kentucky, a statue of Davis was taken down and is to be moved to a site where he was born.  Another Davis statue was pulled down by protesters in Richmond, Virginia.  In Montgomery, Alabama, a statue of Lee was knocked down by demonstrators at a high school. “I think part of what we’re seeing with people yanking statues down is when the traditional institutions are not responsible to the will of the people, then the people will act,” Anderson told VOA. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, more than 1,700 symbols of the Confederacy are on public land. The largest number are in Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina — three of the 11 states that had been part of the Confederacy. “These are massive emblems of white supremacy,” Anderson asserted, “in public squares, parks, on the lawns of courthouses, state legislatures and governors’ mansions to put black people back in their place.” “The point is that they were erected several decades after the war as part of the reassertion of white supremacy, said Michael Jeffries, an American studies professor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.  But others disagree and contend that the Confederacy’s principles were just and heroic.    Ben Jones, a former congressman from Georgia who was an actor on the TV comedy “The Dukes of Hazzard,” is an outspoken proponent of keeping Confederate statues, monuments and flags on public lands. “These statues honor men who served their country in the military and politics,” he said. “To me, it’s a recognition of the past,” which also included slavery “as their way of life at that time.” In a VOA interview, Jones said some of his ancestors fought on the Confederate side. This is an effort to destroy our past with “cultural cleansing,” he said. Calling that a myth that has been perpetuated, Jim Grossman, executive director of the American History Association, said, “These statues are there to honor southern cultural heritage, but the cultural heritage they’re honoring is the era of slavery.” Jones, who says he is not a racist and took part in the 1960s U.S. civil rights movement, calls removing the statues an “insanity” that is dividing America. “This isn’t a worship of racism,” he said. The statues should be “put in a historical context” and remain where they are. “There are lessons to be learned by keeping them,” Jeffries said, but somewhere else, “such as museums and libraries, rather than being placed outside in a celebratory manner.” Grossman agreed.  “We can’t erase history. We don’t want to forget our history includes erecting statues to commemorate and celebrate white supremacy.”  
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FILE – Police detain an activist during a protest demanding the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah following clashes between people demonstrating for and against a new citizenship law in New Delhi, India, March 2, 2020.Though protests were broken up after the government imposed a lockdown in response to the coronavirus outbreak, authorities have subsequently begun arresting protesters and filing charges of sedition, murder and terrorism under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), HRW said.  In March, Union Home Minister Amit Shah denied allegations of bias, arguing that critics were trying to politicize the riots and assured the public that the authorities would be fair in their prosecution of those responsible for the violence. “It is the opposition’s right to question. But when the police were trying to control the riots, struggling with violence, we should understand,” Shah said. “We are using face identification to find the accused. It is a software so it does not differentiate on the basis of religion.”  Despite Shah’s claims, critics maintain that authorities’ actions are unjust and that CAA protesters are being unfairly targeted. “Instead of locking up people who dare to speak out against discriminatory government policies, the authorities should listen to their legitimate fears and grievances,” Ganguly said. “The government has repeatedly said that minorities in India have nothing to fear, and the authorities should put actions to those words.”  
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The South Sudan army says it has killed Kerbino Wol, leader of a new rebel movement, a few weeks after Wol said he intended to overthrow the government of President Salva Kiir. “Kerbino Wol Agok, the leader of October 7th movement, was killed [Sunday] at 8 pm at a village called Ayen Mayar of Rumbek East County in Lakes State,” South Sudan army spokesman Major General Lul Ruai Koang told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus. The army had been battling Wol’s rebel fighters for days, according to Koang. “He was with some of his small force, and we have been engaging them in the last four days. Our forces from 16 Infantry Brigade of the 6th Infantry Division have been pursuing them from one location to another,” Koang told VOA. Five others were killed during the clashes: three of Wol’s fighters and two civilians, said Koang. He said other 7th October Movement fighters were captured alive but did not say how many or provide details about the size of Wol’s rebel group. Wol announced his rebellion nearly two weeks ago, telling South Sudan in Focus his movement would fight President Kiir’s government and remove it from power. Koang said the government launched military operations against Wol’s forces to halt any rebellion. “You remember he had made an announcement that he had founded a new rebel movement … and we as the army have a constitutional mandate to protect this democratically elected government,” Koang said. Wol told South Sudan in Focus he was fighting for the country’s young people.  “They have taken the lead to liberate themselves from the oppression and failed leadership in the country,” Wol said. Wol was freed from prison in January following a pardon by President Kiir. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail for allegedly leading a riot at the National Security headquarters, also known as Blue House, in Juba on October 7, 2018.  
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Drake is the leading nominee at the 2020 BET Awards, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary later this month.BET announced Monday that Drake is nominated for six honors, including video of the year and best male hip-hop artist. For both best collaboration and the viewer’s choice award, Drake is nominated twice thanks to the hits “No Guidance” with Chris Brown and “Life Is Good” with Future.
The 2020 BET Awards will air live on June 28 across ViacomCBS networks, including CBS for the first time. The show, which will be a virtual celebration because of the coronavirus pandemic, will also air on BET and BET HER.FILE – This Nov. 20, 2019, file photo shows Megan Thee Stallion during a portrait session in New York. The singer says she works extremely hard in the studio when it comes to writing music.Breakthrough rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Roddy Ricch follow Drake with five nominations each. Megan Thee Stallion, who recently topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart with her Beyoncé-assisted “Savage” remix, is nominated for video of the year, best female hip-hop artist, best collaboration, the viewer’s choice award and album of the year for “Fever.”
Ricch, who won his first Grammy Award earlier this year, also topped the pop charts with his upbeat hit “The Box.” The video for that song is nominated for video of the year alongside DaBaby’s “Bop,” DJ Khaled, Nipsey Hussle and John Legend’s “Higher,” Doja Cat’s “Say So,” Megan The Stallion’s “Hot Girl Summer” and Chris Brown and Drake’s “No Guidance.”
Beyoncé, Minaj, Brown, Lizzo and DaBaby earned four nominations each.
Kanye West, who released a gospel album last year, is nominated for the Dr. Bobby Jones best gospel/inspirational award. He will compete with Kirk Franklin, the Clark Sisters, Fred Hammond, John P. Kee and PJ Morton. 
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Національний банк України встановив на 16 червня курс 26 гривень 84 копійки за долар, це на 11 копійок більше за офіційний курс, встановлений на понеділок, 15 червня.

На українському міжбанківському валютному ринку в першій половині сесії 15 червня попит переважав пропозицію валюти, але в останні кілька годин торгів тренд дещо змінився, і торги завершилися на рівні 26 гривень 78–81 копійка за долар, свідчать дані Finance.ua.

Важливим чинником, який вплива’ на перебіг торгів, є призначений на вівторок, 16 червня, аукціон із продажу ОВДП.

«Після зниження облікової ставки до 6% тепер розгорнеться нова битва за прибутковість за новими облігаціями. На минулому аукціоні 9 червня інвестори поспішали зафіксувати ще стару прибутковість (при обліковій НБУ на рівні 8%) і змогли купити папери з рівнем прибутковості від 9% до 10,80% річних. Тому зараз різко її опустити чиновники навряд чи зможуть, але прагнення у них до цього будуть. Підготовка, проведення та результати аукціону будуть впливати як на ресурсний, так і опосередковано на валютний ринки, починаючи з понеділка по середу», – вказують аналітики сайту «Мінфін».

У широкому коридорі 26,5–27 гривень за долар курс тримається вже понад два з половиною місяці, від кінця квітня.
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