U.S. launches probe of Minneapolis police after Chauvin conviction

The probe is the first major action of Attorney General Merrick Garland, after President Joe Biden vowed to address systemic racism in the United States. It will consider whether the department engages “in a pattern or practice of using excessive force, including during protests,” he said.

He added it will also examine whether the department “engages in discriminatory conduct and whether its treatment of those with behavioral health disabilities is unlawful.”

Read more at: U.S. launches probe of Minneapolis police after Chauvin conviction | Reuters

USA: the so called Barr bogus Russia probe': I'll say it to his face': Trump ticked Barr's fake Russia report won't drop before the election

What a bunch of chumps. Republicans were apparently counting on Attorney General William Barr's bogus report into the origins of the Russia investigation to distract the American people from superspreader Donald Trump and a GOP Senate actively abandoning struggling Americans. 

But now that report isn’t coming out before the election, based on what Barr has told Republicans about the sweeping probe he tapped U.S. Attorney John Durham to conduct. Durham's is the latest in a long line of fruitless GOP ventures in search of dirt, and its delay almost certainly means he and Barr have found nothing useful to boost the GOP's upcoming electoral prospects. In fact, it suggests that whatever conclusions they have reached could potentially hurt Trump more than it helps him. Go figure.

Read more at:
'I'll say it to his face': Trump ticked Barr's bogus Russia report won't drop before the election

USA Trump Impeachment Probe: Trump denies sending Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to push Biden, election probes - by Christina Wilkie

President Trump tried to distance himself from his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani's efforts related to Ukraine on Tuesday in an interview with radio host Bill O'Reilly. In the interview for BillOReilly.com, O'Reilly asked the president what Giuliani was, "doing in Ukraine on your behalf."

"Well, you have to ask that to Rudy, but Rudy, I don't, I don't even know," said Mr. Trump. "I know he was going to go to Ukraine, and I think he canceled a trip," the president continued. "But, you know, Rudy has other clients, other than me. I'm one person."

Mr. Trump then denied that he had ever directed Giuliani to go to Ukraine on his behalf. However, in May the New York Times reported that Giuliani had planned to go to Ukraine that month, to urge the government there to open several investigations that could aid the president.

Read more:Trump denies sending Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to push Biden, election probes

ESA: European Space Exploration - Great success - Europe's comet-chasing Rosetta probe reaches target

The Rosetta probe drew close to its study subject, the prosaically-named 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet, closely monitored by European Space Agency officials at mission control in Darmstadt, Germany.

The orbital entry on Wednesday was triggered by a firing of thrusters to bring the craft into the first of a series of "pyramidal" paths around the comet's nucleus, which has been likened to a rubber duck because of its odd shape.

ESA's Twitter account for the mission tweeted a photo of the comet's nucleus, along with a succession of greetings in different European languages.

The arrival marked a key moment for the 1.3-billion-euro ($1.76-billion) project examining the formation of the solar system. If all goes according to plan, Rosetta will carry out its first landing on the comet in November, sending a robot chemistry laboratory named Philae to the comet's surface.

Rosetta took off from Earth aboard an Ariane 5 rocket on March 2, 2004, from ESA's launchpad in French Guiana. The space agency has likened its unprecedented journey to a game of "cosmic billiards."

To reach its present position, the craft had to make four flybys of Earth and Mars, using the gravitational force of each as a slingshot. Rosetta then entered a 31-month hibernation period as the sun became too weak for its solar panels, coming back to life in January this year.

The latest maneuvers, to bring the probe within about 100 kilometers (60 miles) of the comet, have involved the craft making a series of braking maneuvers. The probe will eventually be steered into position some 10 kilometers from the nucleus' surface.

Astrophysicists believe comets, icy clusters left over from the formation of the planets 4.6 billion years ago, could be the key to understanding how the planets coalesced and formed around the sun. It is also thought they might harbor clues as to the source of the water that formed the Earth's oceans, as well as the origins of life itself.

Read more: Europe's comet-chasing Rosetta probe reaches target | News | DW.DE | 06.08.2014

Britain: Corporate Bribery Probe: Glaxo link to probe

Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline publishes second quarter results on Wednesday as a tangled web of allegations linked to a bribery probe by Chinese authorities continues to hang over the UK-based company.

It comes shortly after a British investigator and his American wife who were hired by the company learned they were to face trial in the country charged with illegally obtaining and selling private information.

The arrest of Peter Humphrey and Yingzeng Yu last year coincided with a Chinese probe into allegations that Glaxo staff had funnelled hundreds of millions of pounds through travel agencies to bribe doctors and health officials.

The couple's firm ChinaWhys had been asked to look into the origin of a sex tape involving Glaxo's China manager Mark Reilly, who has himself been accused by Chinese authorities in relation to the bribery case.

Glaxo has said it asked the investigators to look into a "serious breach of privacy and security" relating to Mr Reilly but that the firm was not hired "to investigate the substance of allegations of misconduct" made by a whistleblower.

In May, the pharmaceuticals firm disclosed that its commercial practices had come under "formal criminal investigation" by Britain's Serious Fraud Office.

Sheridan Adams, investment research manager at The Share Centre, said: "Although Chinese revenues only account for less than 5% of the global total, negative press coverage will not be welcomed and investors may want to hear from management on the matter."

Glaxo's second quarter update is the first since the takeover frenzy over US rival Pfizer's ultimately unsuccessful bid to swallow up Britain's AstraZeneca for £69 million amid a public outcry.

The merger spotlight in the sector has since fallen on Hampshire-based Shire and its American suitor AbbVie.
Glaxo has kept out of any speculation around such deals, after unveiling a complex three-part transaction with Novartis in May.

It will see the two firms create a £6.5 billion consumer healthcare powerhouse from its Aquafresh and Beechams together with antiseptic range Savlon and cough and cold brand Tixylix from Novartis.

The deal also saw Glaxo sell its oncology portfolio from Novartis and buy the Swiss firm's vaccines business.

Read more: Glaxo link to probe | Herald Scotland