Statues Toppled, Facial Recognition Pause & PGA Tour Returns

(+ New Era of Space Travel)

All the news you need in less than 10 min:

This episode is brought to you by Care.com. Go to  www.Care.com/newsworthy or use promo code 'newsworthy' 

Story Summaries

All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want perusing the latest happenings...

Statues Toppled
Protesters have started damaging or pulling down monuments they see as symbols of white supremacy. A crowd pulled down a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond, Virginia. 80 miles away in Portsmouth, protesters beheaded four statues that were part of a confederate monument, then pulled one of them down. Also, a statue of Christopher Columbus was toppled in St. Paul, Minnesota. In all three cities, law enforcement officials watched the crowds, but didn’t intervene.
Read More: AP, FOX News, NY Times, The Virginian-Pilot

Trump Won’t Rename Confederate Bases
10 military bases are named after confederate leaders. Top leaders had suggested they’d be open to renaming them, but President Trump squashed that idea. He said it wouldn’t happen as long as he’s in the White House. Trump tweeted that the bases have become part of American heritage and we shouldn’t tamper with history.
Read More: AP, Politico, Tweet

NASCAR Bans Confederate Flag
NASCAR announced the Confederate flag will no longer be allowed at any of its events or venues. It said it wants to provide a “welcoming and inclusive environment” for fans and competitors. Many applauded the decision, but plenty of fans criticized it too. Some commented on NASCAR’s Twitter post, saying things like, “you just lost a fan.”
Read More: NBC News, ABC News, NASCAR

George Floyd’s Brother Testifies
George Floyd’s brother made an emotional plea to Congress, begging them to pass widespread police reform. Philonise Floyd was the first witness at the hearing, where lawmakers considered the Justice in Policing Act. Democrats proposed the bill earlier this week. Republicans on the panel agreed the nation’s policing needs an overhaul, but they spent most of their time disagreeing with activist’s calls to defund the police. That is not part of Democrats’ proposal.
Read More: NBC News, AP, Reuters, Politico, NY Times

COVID-19 Cases Rise
More than two million people have now been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the U.S. In nearly half of all states, the number of new cases has been rising every day this week. One particular hot spot is Arizona, where the stay-at-home order was lifted three weeks ago. There are now concerns the state could run out of space in intensive care units. Arizona’s health director sent a letter to hospitals, urging them to “fully activate” their emergency plans.
U.S. Virus Cases Surpass 2 Million: Johns Hopkins
Coronavirus Comeback: NBC News, WaPo, USA Today, CNN

Trump to Resume Rallies
President Trump is going to be starting campaign rallies again next week. His first event since early March will happen in Tulsa, Oklahoma next Friday. Then, he plans to go to Florida, Arizona, and North Carolina. Trump’s rallies often include several thousand people, but it’s not clear if that will be allowed this time, or if there will be any new rules.
Read More: NY Times, FOX News, Tulsa World

Federal Reserve Outlines Recovery
For the first time this year, the Federal Reserve released its economic predictions. The Fed now says the U.S. economy will shrink 6.5% this year and the unemployment rate will stay high. However, the economy should rebound some next year by growing 5%. The central bank also signaled it will likely keep interest rates low, near-zero, through 2022. These announcements may have given investors a wake-up call that we still have a long road of recovery ahead. Stocks closed mostly lower yesterday.
Fed Economic Outlook: WSJ, Axios, Reuters, WaPo
Stock Market Impact: AP, Bloomberg

PGA Tour Starts
The PGA Tour is set to return today after a three-month hiatus. Some of the best golfers in the world will be back on the green at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas. It’ll be quiet at the four-day tournament since fans aren’t allowed to attend. Players already had to get tested for COVID-19 and they’ll undergo regular fever checks.
Read More: AP, CBS Sports, Golf Channel, AP

Protests in Sports
U.S. Soccer voted to get rid of its ban on kneeling during the national anthem. It was first passed in February 2017, five months after soccer star Megan Rapinoe first took a knee during the “Star-Spangled Banner” in solidarity with NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee is reportedly considering softening protest rules. The IOC hasn’t made any decisions yet, but it is asking athletes to weigh in now.
Soccer to Allow Kneeling: CBS Sports, NPR, U.S. Soccer
IOC Talks about Easing Protest Ban: ESPN, The Guardian

Facial Recognition in Law Enforcement
Amazon announced it will not let police use its facial recognition technology for at least the next year. It’s not clear how many law enforcement agencies were already using it for things like identifying suspects, but any who were using it will have to stop. Researchers and activists have criticized facial recognition software for racially-biased results. Meanwhile, IBM decided to get out of the facial recognition business altogether. It said there needs to be a “national dialogue” to decide how the tech should be used.
Amazon Suspends Facial Recognition Tech: WSJ, NPR, CNBC, Amazon, MIT Media Lab
IBM Quits Facial Recognition: Business Insider, TechCrunch, NBC News, AP

‘Gone with the Wind’ Pulled from HBO Max
HBO Max has pulled the movie Gone with the Wind from its streaming platform. The movie has long been criticized for romanticizing slavery during the Civil War. So the newly-launched streaming service says it has to go. However, this is only temporary. When it returns to HBO Max, the movie will include a message that denounces the movie’s racist depictions.
Read More: CNN, USA Today, NY Times

‘Live PD’ Canceled
The TV show Live PD is gone for good. A&E Network canceled the police reality series yesterday. The cable network announced the decision just one day after the similar show, Cops, was dropped by Paramount Network.
Read More: AP, NBC News, Deadline

Twitter’s New Retweet Notification
Twitter wants people to start reading articles before retweeting them. It’s introducing a new prompt that asks people if they want to retweet a link they haven’t clicked on or opened. Users can still ignore it, but Twitter says it hopes to promote more informed discussions and keep people from spreading misinformation. The prompt is still in the testing phase, but if it makes a difference, it could be rolled out to more users.
Read More: The Verge, Bloomberg

Thing to Know Thursday: New Era of Space Travel

Read more: NY Times, Quartz, Space.com, Forbes

LISTEN TO THE LATEST EPISODE OF

THE NEWSWORTHY: