Coronavirus Briefing: What Happened Today

By BY JONATHAN WOLFE AND LARA TAKENAGA from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3gaVp9N

Pence Raised Nearly $500,000 From Donors to Pay Mueller Legal Defense

By BY KENNETH P. VOGEL AND BEN PROTESS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2YNWAGs

$1 Billion Is Shifted From N.Y.P.D. in a Budget That Pleases No One

By BY DANA RUBINSTEIN AND JEFFERY C. MAYS from NYT New York https://ift.tt/3gqe41B

As coronavirus spreads to people under 40, it's making them sicker — and for longer — than once thought

Once assumed to be safe from the dangers of COVID-19, younger adults share their prolonged struggles with the disease.

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McEnany on the PDB: ‘The president does read’

At a press briefing on Tuesday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said President Trump reads the President’s Daily Brief, and added that he is “the most informed person on planet earth when it comes to the threats that we face.”

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How Hickenlooper may side-step a challenge from the left

The national groups and pols with the most muscle declined to get involved in Colorado's Democratic Senate primary — or even endorsed the former governor.

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The 10 Best Dino-Killing, Ice Spewing, Earth-Destroying Asteroids

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Woman shot in back while trying to steal man's Nazi flag, authorities say

The victim had been with friends at a nearby party when she apparently snatched one of the swastika flags displayed outside the man's home.

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Xi Jinping’s Internal Great Wall

Like the Great Wall of generations past, Xi’s Internal Great Wall will continue to keep China behind the rest of the world because a nation that suppresses its own people is not a nation the world can trust to do business fairly.

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Pompeo warns Taliban against attacking Americans

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned Afghanistan's Taliban against attacks on Americans, the State Department said Tuesday, amid outrage over alleged Russian bounties to target US troops. In a telephone call Monday with Taliban negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Pompeo "made clear the expectation for the Taliban to live up to their commitments, which include not attacking Americans," a State Department statement said.

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The Texas Medical Center scrubbed data showing ICU beds at full capacity as the state's coronavirus cases spike

The medical center had no empty ICU beds by Thursday. Its ICU capacity is usually between 70% and 80% of its total stock.

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Germany to dissolve special forces unit over far-right links

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Coronavirus world round-up: new swine flu has 'potential' to be new global pandemic

Follow the latest coronavirus news in our daily live blog Read all our Covid-19 coverage here Subscribe to The Telegraph, free for one month New swine flu 'has pandemic potential' Researchers in China have discovered a new type of swine flu that is capable of triggering a pandemic, according to a study published in the US science journal PNAS. Named G4, it is genetically descended from the H1N1 strain that caused a pandemic in 2009. It possesses "all the essential hallmarks of being highly adapted to infect humans," say the authors, scientists at Chinese universities and China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention. From 2011 to 2018, researchers took 30,000 nasal swabs from pigs in slaughterhouses in 10 Chinese provinces and in a veterinary hospital, allowing them to isolate 179 swine flu viruses. The authors called for urgent measures to monitor people working with pigs. Read more: Chinese scientists discover a new swine flu capable of triggering a pandemic

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Twitter Accounts Deleted. Social Media Scrubbed. Spooked Hong Kong Braces for New Security Law

HONG KONG—On Tuesday morning, Beijing’s top legislative body unanimously passed a secretive national security law that specifically applies to Hong Kong, a special autonomous region that until now has enjoyed freedoms that do not exist in most of China.The new law will go into effect as soon as Wednesday, and targets persons in Hong Kong involved in what the Chinese government calls “secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces”—charges often slapped on Chinese nationals who express dissent publicly within mainland China.The secretive security law has Hongkongers spooked. The Chinese Communist Party’s effectiveness controlling its population on the mainland is in setting up situations where people self-censor, and already there are signs that’s happening here. Many signs.Some people have deleted their Twitter accounts. Others are wiping their Facebook and Instagram feeds of digital protest art that was disseminated widely through AirDrop and social networks. Protest art that adorns storefronts is being removed. Local writers who were outspoken against the Chinese government are asking publications to take down their articles. FBI: China’s Top Diplomat in America Covertly Recruits ScientistsThe Hong Kong National Front, a group that advocates for the city’s independence from China, disbanded on Tuesday afternoon, passing all work to its overseas branches in Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Well-known figures like Joshua Wong, who had his start as a student activist and years later became the secretary-general of pro-democracy group Demosistō, stepped down from his position in the organization. Other leaders of the same group did the same, and then Demosistō disbanded too. More political groups may do the same in the next few days.Friends have lamented that this is “the final nail in the coffin,” and that it’s all downhill from here. One chief worry is that China’s Great Firewall may also surround Hong Kong, and online surveillance tools will be deployed to identify people who have made posts or sent out tweets related to the anti-government protests that rocked the city last year, or even advocated for Hong Kong’s independence from the Chinese Communist Party.Among the 7.5 million people in Hong Kong, around a dozen have seen the draft of the security law because they are representatives of the city in the National People’s Congress. But few details have been shared with the public. On Tuesday morning, when Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam appeared for a press briefing, she dodged all questions related to the matter and she actually said, “It is inappropriate for me to comment on the Hong Kong National Security Law.”Officials who have seen the law’s draft told Chinese state media that it includes the penalty of life imprisonment, although it remains unclear under what circumstances this punitive measure may be applied. Chinese state-run media outlet Xinhua reported that Chinese intelligence and security organs will establish a formal presence in Hong Kong, but their roles in the city and how they will fit into the existing security apparatus have not been explicitly defined. The Hong Kong Police Force will also likely set up a new secret police unit that will have up to 200 officers handling matters related to intelligence gathering and national security.On Tuesday, one of Hong Kong’s National People’s Congress delegates, Stanley Ng, uploaded a video to Facebook, which is banned within the Great Firewall, and said the provisions are being kept under wraps because Beijing “wants the real impact of intimidation and deterrence.” Ng then justified the law’s effect by referring to the resignations of leading figures in the pro-democracy movement.RTHK, Hong Kong’s public broadcasting service, reported that any people who breach the (vague, secretive) security law will see their activities from the past two years reviewed and possibly admitted as evidence against them in trial, and that some extreme cases may be handled by mainland Chinese courts.There’s already a minor witch hunt taking place. Former Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying, who was seated as head of the city’s government during the Umbrella Movement in 2014, is offering up to HKD 1 million, or $129,000, to anyone who provides actionable information about individuals in Hong Kong or abroad who breach the security law.The law’s passage comes one day before the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s change in status from British colony to a territory that is under Chinese sovereignty. Even before the handover in 1997, Beijing offered reassurances that matters in the port city would “remain unchanged for 50 years,” and that Hong Kong would operate under the principle of “one country, two systems,” meaning that its governance would be separate from mainland China’s with much higher degrees of freedoms of expression, the press, religion, and more in place for half a century.But Hongkongers have for years been cautious about the promise, and many have expected those freedoms to be gradually shaved away by Beijing. They just expected it to happen later, closer to 2047 rather than in the summer of 2020.The people of Hong Kong are particularly worried about being left in the dark when it comes to the security law. The Chinese government’s legislation is notoriously vague, giving officials much leeway to disappear critics and stamp out dissent. Two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, have been in detention in China since December 2018 in retaliation for the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who is also the daughter of the company’s founder, Ren Zhengfei.And on Sunday, the extremist Chinese state media outlet Global Times reported that clusters of Australian “spies” were uncovered and “caught red-handed” by Chinese law enforcement agencies. The proof? They were carrying cash, a compass, metro maps, a pocket notebook, a USB drive, gloves, and a face mask—the sort that is worn to prevent transmission of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.So—“subversion” and “terrorism”? Unlikely.Hong Kong’s new security law is one of many points of contention between Beijing and Washington. The Trump administration has placed export restrictions on some high-tech products, banning their sale to entities in Hong Kong in response to Beijing’s increasingly constricting control over the city. And last week, Trump announced new visa restrictions on Chinese officials who are “smothering” Hong Kong’s freedom.On Monday, in return, Beijing slapped visa restrictions on U.S. officials who have “behaved extremely badly” by “meddling” in Hong Kong’s affairs.Since May, Hong Kong has been blanketed with ads about the secretive law. Over a gradient background that shifted from baby blue to seafoam green to dusk orange, the posters, billboards, and subway public address announcements read: “National Security Law. Preserve one country, two systems. Restore stability.”Many have been defaced.Every year, on July 1, a major public holiday, Hongkongers march to speak out against the CCP,  at times reaching seven-figure attendance. This year’s rally was banned by the police, but the organizers said they will proceed anyway, prohibition be damned.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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‘Amulet’ Trailer: You Might Want to Think Twice Before Moving Into This House

If you badly needed a place to stay, and someone offered you refuge in their crumbling, spooky home, would you say yes? I would, because I love spooky, crumbling stuff, but the idea might send up more than a few red flags for others. But that’s just the situation that the main character of Amulet finds himself in, and since this is a horror movie, things don’t go so well. Watch the Amulet trailer below.

Amulet Trailer 

Amulet was one of the films I caught at Sundance, and…I didn’t love it. I appreciated the movie’s atmosphere and its production design, but that was about it. As I wrote in my review: ” A painfully slow slog, this horror film from Romola Garai has plenty of good ideas and a few neat creature effects, but that’s not enough to salvage things. Some may come away thrilled with Amulet‘s big finish, which sends a message folks can get behind…But that doesn’t excuse the rest of the movie.”

That doesn’t mean I’m discouraging you from checking it out. I know several people who also saw the film at Sundance and enjoyed it. It just wasn’t for me. But if you think it might be for you, here’s the synopsis:

Following an accident that leaves him homeless in London, former soldier Tomaz is brought to the rotting home of Magda, a lonely woman in desperate need of help as she looks after her dying mother. Though at first resistant, Magda eventually welcomes him into their lives and allows him to help her care for them. But as he worms his way into their routine and begins to fall for Magda, Tomaz starts to notice strange, unexplainable, and ugly phenomena. Something seems very wrong with the mysterious old woman who never leaves the top floor, and Magda may in fact be enslaved to do her otherworldly bidding.

Amulet hails from writer-director Romola Garai, and stars Carla Juri, Alec Secareanu, Imelda Staunton, and Angeliki Papoulia. Magnet Releasing will release Amulet in theaters and on demand July 24, 2020.

The post ‘Amulet’ Trailer: You Might Want to Think Twice Before Moving Into This House appeared first on /Film.

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‘Room 104’ Season 4 Trailer: Dave Bautista and Jillian Bell Check in for the Final Season of This Wild Anthology Stories

HBO and the Duplass Brothers have been delivering some wild, trippy, hilarious, scary, and weird stories in the late night half-hour anthology series Room 104. Each season features new episodes which all take place in the same titular room of a typical American chain motel, but they’re all remarkably different, each with a different plot, tone, and even time period, featuring various characters having all sorts of experiences. Now the anthology series is coming to an end, and if the Room 104 season 4 trailer is any indicator, we’re in for some crazy shit.

Room 104 Season 4 Trailer

Don’t worry if you’re confused by the spectacle of swirling imagery that feels reminiscent of an acid trip. That’s just how the promo brings together all the different stories into one crazy trailer.

Even though the series has been produced by the Duplass Brothers this whole time, the final season will be the first time that Mark Duplass actually appears in an episode. He’s also writing and directing the episode he appears in, which will be the season premiere, and he even wrote the original music that his character plays.

In addition to Mark Duplass’ episode about a strange performer giving a one-night-only performance, there are also stories about a woman battling her dark past with addiction, a pro wrestler dealing with trauma, a dollhouse, a family stuck in a sitcom, time travel, and more.

The cast for the final season also includes the likes of Dave Bautista, Jillian Bell, Jon Bass, Melissa Fumero, Ron Funches, Kevin Nealon, Gary Cole, Natasha Perez, Shannon Purser, and many more. Episodes are directed by Karan Soni, Ross Partridge, Jenée LaMarque, Mel Eslyn, Lauren Budd, Natalie Morales, Patrick Brice, Julian Wass, and Sydney Fleischmann, with scripts from Jenée LaMarque, Lauren Parks, Mel Eslyn, Lauren Budd, Bryan Poyser, and Julian Wass.

Below you can find the line up for the first half of Room 104 season four, and there are six more episodes coming to HBO and HBO Max after this.

Season 4, Episode 1: “The Murderer” – Friday, July 24 (11:00 P.M. ET/PT)
Twentysomething Logan (Logan Miller) gathers four friends for an intimate performance by the enigmatic, long-lost musician Graham Husker (Mark Duplass), per Graham’s very specific instructions.
Written by Mark Duplass; directed by Mark Duplass

Season 4, Episode 2: “Star Time” – Friday, July 31 (11:00 P.M. ET/PT)
An unlikely source spurs Sam (Jillian Bell) to confront her history of addiction.
Written by Mark Duplass; directed by Karan Soni

Season 4, Episode 3: “Avalanche” – Friday, August 7 (11:00 P.M. ET/PT)
With the help of therapeutic dolls, retired pro wrestler Raw Dog Avalanche (Dave Bautista) taps into his memory of an epic bout gone wrong – along with other traumatic, repressed experiences.
Written by Mark Duplass; directed by Ross Partridge

Season 4, Episode 4: “Bangs” – Friday, August 14 (11:00 P.M. ET/PT)
At her divorce party, Eva (Melissa Fumero) overhauls her potentially life-changing decision to get bangs.
Written by Jenée LaMarque & Lauren Parks; directed by Jenée LaMarque

Season 4, Episode 5: “Oh, Harry!” – Friday, August 21 (11:00 P.M. ET/PT)
A ‘90s family is unwittingly stuck living in Room 104 until dad Harry (Kevin Nealon) tries to alter the script on their current reality.
Written by Mel Eslyn; directed by Mel Eslyn

Season 4, Episode 6: “The Hikers” – Friday, August 28 (11:00 P.M. ET/PT)
Megan (Shannon Purser) and Casey (Kendra Carelli), two college grads embarking on a three-month hike, confront irrevocable truths about their friendship.
Written by Lauren Budd; directed by Lauren Budd

The post ‘Room 104’ Season 4 Trailer: Dave Bautista and Jillian Bell Check in for the Final Season of This Wild Anthology Stories appeared first on /Film.

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Metroid Prime 4 Studio Hires Long-Time Call Of Duty: Black Ops Dev

Retro Studios, the team behind Metroid Prime and the two Donkey Kong Country Returns games, has made a big hire as it works on Metroid Prime 4. VGC has announced that the studio has brought on Bharathwaj Nandakumar, a long-time Activision veteran who has worked on the Call of Duty: Black Ops series.

According to VGC, Nandakumar was most recently credited as lead engineer on Black Ops 4. Across the past decade, he has worked on the whole series. He was reportedly brought into the Nintendo-owned studio back in April, but it's only being reported on now.

Retro Studios is working on Metroid Prime 4, but this was not always the case. In fact, the game was being worked on by another team until early 2019, when development was restarted with the original trilogy developer at the helm.

Since then, it's been reported that about half the Metroid Prime 3 team is still at the studio, and that the director of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was also working there again after a stint at Super Lucky's Tale developer Playful Corp.

It is not actually clear whether Nandakumar is working on Metroid Prime 4, as we're not sure if Retro Studios is working on another game. The new Metroid Prime was announced at E3 2017, but no gameplay footage has been shown from any iteration of the game as of yet.

Hopefully we'll see something of the game soon--the last Metroid Prime game was the underwhelming Metroid Prime: Federation Force for the 3DS in 2016.

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Halo: MCC Is Adding More Microtransactions

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is expanding its microtransaction offerings. Developer 343 Industries announced that it will soon begin to allow people to purchase "seasonal items."

MCC currently has a battle pass-style progression system that players grind through gameplay to unlock new stuff. However, the upcoming Season 2 update will let people buy these items with real money.

Vehicle skins are coming to Halo: CE

"We also heard feedback that players want more choice in the order they unlock items, so we are adding the ability to purchase seasonal items in a given tier in any order that players want," design director Max Szlagor said on the Halo website.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

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Sunny tomorrow!

With a high of 104F and a low of 79F.
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Russia's Putin appeals to patriotism as key vote reaches climax

Russians have one more day to decide on key reforms, but opponents say the vote is a farce.

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'My business will close if I can't reopen soon'

Spas and complementary therapists say they will not survive the pandemic if they cannot reopen.

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‘Room 104’ Season 4 Trailer: Dave Bautista and Jillian Bell Check in for the Final Season of This Wild Anthology Stories

HBO and the Duplass Brothers have been delivering some wild, trippy, hilarious, scary, and weird stories in the late night half-hour anthology series Room 104. Each season features new episodes which all take place in the same titular room of a typical American chain motel, but they’re all remarkably different, each with a different plot, tone, and even time period, featuring various characters having all sorts of experiences. Now the anthology series is coming to an end, and if the Room 104 season 4 trailer is any indicator, we’re in for some crazy shit.

Room 104 Season 4 Trailer

Don’t worry if you’re confused by the spectacle of swirling imagery that feels reminiscent of an acid trip. That’s just how the promo brings together all the different stories into one crazy trailer.

Even though the series has been produced by the Duplass Brothers this whole time, the final season will be the first time that Mark Duplass actually appears in an episode. He’s also writing and directing the episode he appears in, which will be the season premiere, and he even wrote the original music that his character plays.

In addition to Mark Duplass’ episode about a strange performer giving a one-night-only performance, there are also stories about a woman battling her dark past with addiction, a pro wrestler dealing with trauma, a dollhouse, a family stuck in a sitcom, time travel, and more.

The cast for the final season also includes the likes of Dave Bautista, Jillian Bell, Jon Bass, Melissa Fumero, Ron Funches, Kevin Nealon, Gary Cole, Natasha Perez, Shannon Purser, and many more. Episodes are directed by Karan Soni, Ross Partridge, Jenée LaMarque, Mel Eslyn, Lauren Budd, Natalie Morales, Patrick Brice, Julian Wass, and Sydney Fleischmann, with scripts from Jenée LaMarque, Lauren Parks, Mel Eslyn, Lauren Budd, Bryan Poyser, and Julian Wass.

Below you can find the line up for the first half of Room 104 season four, and there are six more episodes coming to HBO and HBO Max after this.

Season 4, Episode 1: “The Murderer” – Friday, July 24 (11:00 P.M. ET/PT)
Twentysomething Logan (Logan Miller) gathers four friends for an intimate performance by the enigmatic, long-lost musician Graham Husker (Mark Duplass), per Graham’s very specific instructions.
Written by Mark Duplass; directed by Mark Duplass

Season 4, Episode 2: “Star Time” – Friday, July 31 (11:00 P.M. ET/PT)
An unlikely source spurs Sam (Jillian Bell) to confront her history of addiction.
Written by Mark Duplass; directed by Karan Soni

Season 4, Episode 3: “Avalanche” – Friday, August 7 (11:00 P.M. ET/PT)
With the help of therapeutic dolls, retired pro wrestler Raw Dog Avalanche (Dave Bautista) taps into his memory of an epic bout gone wrong – along with other traumatic, repressed experiences.
Written by Mark Duplass; directed by Ross Partridge

Season 4, Episode 4: “Bangs” – Friday, August 14 (11:00 P.M. ET/PT)
At her divorce party, Eva (Melissa Fumero) overhauls her potentially life-changing decision to get bangs.
Written by Jenée LaMarque & Lauren Parks; directed by Jenée LaMarque

Season 4, Episode 5: “Oh, Harry!” – Friday, August 21 (11:00 P.M. ET/PT)
A ‘90s family is unwittingly stuck living in Room 104 until dad Harry (Kevin Nealon) tries to alter the script on their current reality.
Written by Mel Eslyn; directed by Mel Eslyn

Season 4, Episode 6: “The Hikers” – Friday, August 28 (11:00 P.M. ET/PT)
Megan (Shannon Purser) and Casey (Kendra Carelli), two college grads embarking on a three-month hike, confront irrevocable truths about their friendship.
Written by Lauren Budd; directed by Lauren Budd

The post ‘Room 104’ Season 4 Trailer: Dave Bautista and Jillian Bell Check in for the Final Season of This Wild Anthology Stories appeared first on /Film.

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‘Metamorphosis’ Trailer: A Fresh Take on Demonic Possession

The latest Shudder original looks like a fresh twist on the somewhat played-out demonic possession story. Ever since The Exorcist became a blockbuster in 1973, movies about demonic possession have been a dime a dozen, and more often than not, they’re all borrowing heavily from William Friedkin’s horror masterpiece. So whenever something in the same sub-genre that looks different comes along, it’s worth taking note. And that brings us to Metamorphosis.

Metamorphosis Trailer 

In Metamorphosis, “Joong-Su, an exorcist, must face a demon he tragically failed to defeat in the past when it targets his brother’s family next. The demon assumes the form of different family members to sow confusion and distrust, destroying the unit from within. With his loved ones in peril, Joong-Su must face the demon again, at the risk of his own life.”

I like what I’m seeing here. For one thing, there’s a surprising amount of action (although that may be due to deceptive trailer editing). For another, Metamorphosis doesn’t seem entirely dependent on falling back on the same old tropes. Perhaps that’s because this is a South Korean film trying to do its own thing rather than adhere to tired Western tropes. I know that I’ll be thrilled if there are no scenes here where the possessed person starts shouting curse words. That’s a hoary cliche that’s pulled out again and again but it never works. The only reason it made an impact in The Exorcist was because the possessed person was a child, and thus not someone you’d expect to be saying such nasty stuff. The minute you try the same thing with an older character it fails.

Metamorphosis stars Bae Sung-Woo, Sung Dong-Il, and Jang Young-Nam, and was directed by Hong-Seon Kim. You can find it on Shudder July 2, which gives me yet another excuse to tell you how great Shudder is. If you’re a horror fan, this is a must-have service. Not only do they provide subscribers with classic horror titles, they also unleash plenty of newer films and original content as well. You really can’t go wrong. Unless you just flat-out hate the horror genre. In which case, uh…I guess we have nothing more to talk about.

The post ‘Metamorphosis’ Trailer: A Fresh Take on Demonic Possession appeared first on /Film.

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Huntsman at risk of shocking defeat in Utah

After a decade away from Utah politics and a weeks-long fight with the coronavirus, the former governor is locked in a tight race for his old job.

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Chinese coronavirus vaccine approved for use in country's military after clinical trials

China's military has approved a coronavirus vaccine developed by its own research staff and a Chinese biotech firm, it was announced on Monday. The vaccine was given the green light for use by troops after trials proved it was both safe and effective, said CanSino Biologics, the biotech firm involved. However, its use for the time being will be restricted to military personnel, who offer a tighter medical control group than the general public. The vaccine candidate, named Ad5-nCoV, was developed jointly by CanSino and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology in the Academy of Military Medical Sciences. It has been in development since March. CanSino said the results showed the vaccine candidate has potential to prevent diseases caused by the coronavirus, which has killed half a million people globally. The company added that it was not yet possible to say if it could be a commercial success, which would depend on being able to produce the vaccine cheaply as well as safely.

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Three men arrested for murder in case of missing California couple who vanished in 2017

Three men have been arrested for murder in the case of Audrey Moran and Jonathan Reynoso, who have been missing since 2017. Manuel Rios, of Coachella, Abraham Fregoso, of Indio, and Jesus Ruiz Jr., of Stockton, were taken into custody on Saturday, June 27, 2020, and booked in Riverside County Jail. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.

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Mississippi votes to strip Confederate emblem from state flag

The southern state of Mississippi is the last in the US to feature the emblem on its flag.

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The coronavirus is devastating communities of color. The Trump administration's top doctor blames 'structural racism' and shares his plans to take action.

Dr. Jerome Adams is preparing two calls to action — one on high blood pressure, the other on maternal mortality — to address racial health inequality.

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Is international travel allowed yet? See when Singapore, Jamaica, other countries plan to reopen borders

Jamaica is preparing to welcome back international tourists June 15, while Austria requires negative coronavirus tests and won't allow direct flights.

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Dozens arrested as Hong Kongers protest planned national security laws

Hong Kong police arrested at least 53 people on Sunday after scuffles erupted during a relatively peaceful protest against planned national security legislation to be implemented by the mainland Chinese government. Armed riot police were present as a crowd of several hundred moved from Jordan to Mong Kok in the Kowloon district, staging what was intended as a "silent protest" against the planned law. Hong Kong Police said on Facebook that 53 people had been arrested and charged with unlawful assembly, adding that earlier some protesters tried to blockade roads in the area.

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‘First Cow’, One of 2020’s Most Acclaimed Movies, is Getting a Digital Release Next Week

Before the coronavirus changed everything, Kelly Reichardt‘s First Cow was generating great buzz from film fans. After a successful festival run, A24 released the movie to theaters March 6, 2020. But by the end of March,  movie theaters were shutting down, and A24 pulled First Cow, with promises to re-release it theatrically when things were back to normal. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like things will be back to normal anytime soon, and as a result, A24 will now release First Cow on digital next week.

First Cow

Everyone lucky enough to see Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow so far has had nothing but glowing things to say. Reviewing for /Film, Marshall Shaffer wrote:

In her own intricate, earnest way, Reichardt gives us a version of There Will Be Blood for her chosen swath of the country. The unhurried, gentle pace of First Cow might lend the deceptive impression that the film is somehow simple. It is not. Reichardt has plenty on her mind about the region’s foundational economic conditions and how they continue to cast a shadow over Oregon, and the country, today. She’s also keenly aware of how many dilemmas from the time period still apply today, particularly the tradeoff between emotional self-sacrifice and rational self-interest.

I missed the movie during the festival circuit, and I missed it yet again when it was briefly in theaters in March. As the coronavirus shut down movie theaters across the country, A24 pulled the movie and announced: “We are going to relaunch Kelly Reichardt’s highly acclaimed western First Cow later this year, once the marketplace has rebounded from the limitations presented by COVID-19.”

But of course, as we know now, “the marketplace” doesn’t show any signs of rebounding anytime soon. With that in mind, A24 is now “relaunching” the movie on July 10 across all digital platforms. A24 says they still hope to bring the film back to arthouse theaters for a special run later this year, but in the meantime, anyone who has been waiting to see this thing (like me!) will have the chance next week.

In First Cow, “Two travelers, on the run from a band of vengeful hunters in the 1820s Northwest, dream of striking it rich – but their tenuous plan to make their fortune on the frontier comes to rely on the secret use of a landowner’s prized dairy cow.”

The post ‘First Cow’, One of 2020’s Most Acclaimed Movies, is Getting a Digital Release Next Week appeared first on /Film.

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‘Gamemaster’ Trailer: A Documentary Love Letter to Tabletop Games

It’s never been a better time to be a tabletop game nerd. Attractive celebrities are obsessed with Dungeons & Dragons, Kickstarters for quirky board games raise millions of dollars, and documentaries are being made about the passionate community behind the board game industry. Concourse Media is making a board game documentary called Gamemaster, and they have released a trailer for the documentary directed by Charles Mruz. Watch the Gamemaster trailer below.

Gamemaster Trailer

From the team behind Barista and Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show, comes a documentary love letter to board games in Gamemaster, a documentary produced by Jimmy Nguyen, Jason Rose, Wally Schrass, Kristopher Wile, and Jennifer Tocquigny. The documentary offers a deep dive into the board game business, which is seeing a renaissance as of late thanks to the arrival of crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter, and the prominence of nerd culture allowing people to love what they love.

And everyone in this documentary certainly loves board games. The documentary spotlights five board game designers who have found success or are trying to break into the industry, while established creators such as Klaus Teuber (The Settlers of Catan), Matt Leacock (Pandemic,) and Elan Lee (Exploding Kittens) share their stories.

“Our main cast of first-time designers created games that were very personal to them, specific to who they were as people and artists,” director Charles Mruz said in a statement to Deadline back in October 2019. “From escaping arranged marriages or surviving near-death experiences, the sheer act of making board games helped them reconcile with their world. Gamemaster isn’t just about board games, but how creation can unite and save us all.”

Gamemaster will be released direct to VOD starting July 7, 2020.

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