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In our article on Friday, a trial is being held in Istanbul for 20 Saudis charged in the October 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. None of the deffinishants made the impression in court, as Saudi Arabia rejected extradition requests. In addition, the Ethiopian prime minister called on protesters to refuse to end a week of violent riots following the shooting death of singer Hachalu Hundessa.
Judy Woodruff:
COVID-19 infections are happening lately in 40 states as Americans prepare for a Fourth of July weekend that threatens to provoke even more.
Arizona reported that the capacity of its hospital intensive care unit is already at a record point of 91%. Despite the rise in the country, President Trump traveled to South Dakota for a fireworks demonstration at Mount Rushmore. They are expected to reach up to 7,500, however, participants will not be required to wear a mask or distance the property socially.
We will contact local leaders in Texas and Florida about how to stop their communities after the news summary.
Also today, the head of internal security warned protesters who oppose vandalism or the removal of statues and monuments over the weekend. In an opinion piece, Chad Wolf said his branch “will take credit from all the equipment and the authorities” to those benchmarks. This occurs two days after the announcement of a new organization to coordinate that response.
Last night, the Supreme Court blocked a declining court decision that would have allowed street voting in Alabama during the pandemic. Local officials plan to offer that option and ease mail voting restrictions on 3 of the state’s largest counties before the second round this month. The Superior Court will now make a decision on whether to hear Alabama’s appeal.
Police officers in Aurora, Colorado, who had a smile while reesclosing a strangulation at a memorial site for Elijah McClain, have now been fired. One of the four officials had already resigned.
Last August, authorities arrested McClain, a 23-year-old unarmed black man, on the street for his suspicious behavior. They put him in a strangleman, put him to sleep and then he died.
In Turkey, an absentee trial filed in Istanbul by the 20 Saudis accused of killing Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Khashoggi killed at the Saudi consulate in 2018 while seeking to download marriage documents.
Today, his fiancée expressed his hope that justice will be done.
Hatice Cengiz (via translator):
He has a responsibility, emotionally and spiritually, placed on our shoulders at the Saudi consulate on October 2, 2018.
Thank you all on Jamal’s behalf. He can rest in peace. We accept as true with the Turkish justice system. The judicial proceedings have begun.
Judy Woodruff:
None of the defendants made the impression in court, as Saudi Arabia rejected extradition requests. In the past, a Saudi court sentenced five other people and three to criminals to death for last December’s murder. But Khashoggi’s circle of relatives later forgave his killers, granting them clemency under Saudi law.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed today called on protesters to refuse to end a week of fatal unrest. More than 80 people were outraged by the shooting death of a popular singer, Hachalu Hundessa. He was a prominent anti-government activist whose music gave voice to Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group. The government also shut down the Internet service for the protests.
And Botswana officials have introduced an investigation into the mysterious deaths of some 275 elephants in recent weeks. Their bodies were first discovered in the northern Okavango Panhandle region, where the government is investigating what killed them. They ruled out poaching, as the corpses were intact, and are now focusing on other possibilities.
Kate Evans:
If it were a disease, a virus or a bacterial epidemic that spread, as I mentioned earlier, if a smaller, less genetically diverse population were affected, it could have devastating consequences for the elephant population.
Judy Woodruff:
Botswana is home to the world’s elephant population, more than 156,000.
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