2020.06.28

U.S. Used Missile With Long Blades to Kill Qaeda Leader in Syria

‘…The modified Hellfire missile carried an inert warhead. Instead of exploding, it hurled about 100 pounds of metal through the top of Mr. al-Aruri’s car. If the high-velocity projectile did not kill him, the missile’s other feature almost certainly did: six long blades tucked inside, which deployed seconds before impact to slice up anything in its path…

New York Times: https://archive.vn/3oAJx


June 28, 1914; 106 years ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand


Donald Trump knows he’s losing.

‘…“Under the current trajectory, President Trump is on the precipice of one of the worst electoral defeats in modern presidential elections and the worst historically for an incumbent president,” said former Trump political adviser Sam Nunberg, who remains a supporter.

Nunberg pointed to national polls released by CNBC and New York Times/Siena over the past week showing Trump receiving below 40 percent against Biden.

If Trump’s numbers erode to 35 percentage points over the next two weeks, Nunberg added, “He’s going to be facing realistically a 400-plus electoral vote loss and the president would need to strongly reconsider whether he wants to continue to run as the Republican presidential nominee.”…’

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/27/trump-losing-2020-election-342326


Black Americans head overseas

‘…Baggette lives in Germany, Drayton in Trinidad and Tobago, Kambon in Ghana.

All three are part of a small cultural cohort: Black emigres who, feeling cornered and powerless in the face of persistent racism, police brutality and economic struggles in the USA, have chosen to settle and pursue their American-born dreams abroad.

No official statistics cover these international transplants.

In Ghana, where Kambon is involved in a program that encourages descendants of the African diaspora to return to a nation where centuries earlier their ancestors were forced onto slave ships, he says he is one of “several thousand.” Kambon rejects descriptors such as “Black American” or “African American” that identify him with the USA…’

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/06/26/blaxit-black-americans-leave-us-escape-racism-build-lives-abroad/3234129001/


Carl Sagan explains how the ancient Greeks knew the Earth was round and calculated its circumference over 2,000 years ago.


British firms fulfilling fighter jet contracts which enable kingdom to wage war in Yemen, despite the trade being ruled unlawful

‘…The government stands accused of ignoring a landmark court ruling restricting UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia. In a judgment handed down a year ago, the court of appeal ruled it was “unlawful” for the government to have allowed the sale of arms to the kingdom for use in Yemen, where independent estimates suggest a Saudi-led coalition has been responsible for the deaths of more than 8,000 civilians since 2015…’

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/21/uk-accused-of-selling-arms-to-saudi-arabia-a-year-after-court-ban


https://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1277057770408329217