Thursday Briefing: Death threats and the KKK - Inside a Black Alabaman’s fight to remove a Confederate statue

Thursday, May 27, 2021

by Linda Noakes

Hello

Here's what you need to know.

Biden wants answers on COVID, Macron seeks forgiveness, and big defeats for Big Oil

Today's biggest stories

FILE PHOTO: Camille Bennett poses for a photo in front of the confederate statue that she is trying to have moved to the confederate cemetery in Florence, Alabama, May 19, 2021. REUTERS/Lawrence Bryant

U.S.

Ever since Camille Bennett started her campaign to relocate a Confederate statue from outside the county courthouse in her hometown, she has seen it all: threats, violent online messages and intimidation attempts. But those aren't the only obstacles for activists committed to removing Confederate symbols.

U.S. Senate Republicans, hoping to strike a deal with President Joe Biden on infrastructure, are expected to unveil a new offer today that would spend about $1 trillion to revitalize America's roads, bridges and broadband systems.

Biden has ordered aides to find answers to the origin of the virus that causes COVID-19, saying that U.S. intelligence agencies are pursuing rival theories potentially including the possibility of a laboratory accident in China.

U.S. motorists will see the highest gasoline prices in seven years when they hit the roads this Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of the summer driving season, as fuel demand surges alongside coronavirus vaccination rates.

Women's health provider Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union have filed a lawsuit challenging Arkansas' ban on all abortions except in medical emergencies, one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the United States.

French President Emmanuel Macron lays a wreath on a mass grave containing the remains the victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide at the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center in Rwanda, May 27, 2021. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana

WORLD

French President Emmanuel Macron said he recognised his country's role in Rwanda's genocide and hoped for forgiveness at a memorial in Kigali, seeking to reset relations after years of Rwandan accusations that France was complicit in the 1994 atrocities.

Thousands of people scrambled to flee the Congolese city of Goma, some picking their way across landscapes scarred with lava, after officials said a second volcanic eruption could happen any time.

Hong Kong's legislature approved the biggest overhaul of its political system in the quarter century since British rule on Thursday, in a decisive step to assert Beijing's authority over the autonomous city. Hong Kong has banned the annual Tiananmen Square vigil for a second year running, citing coronavirus risks.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said that Israel's deadly strikes on Gaza may constitute war crimes, and that the Hamas Islamist group also violated international humanitarian law by firing rockets into Israel. Read our story on how organ donations have brought a rare ray of hope after the Jewish-Arab strife.

BUSINESS

CLIMATE FIGHT
Shareholders rebuked the top two U.S. oil companies for dragging their feet on fighting climate change, while a Dutch court ruled that Royal Dutch Shell needs to accelerate cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.

Exxon Mobil lost at least two board seats to tiny activist hedge fund Engine No.1, shareholders at Chevron endorsed a call to further reduce its emissions and a court deemed Royal Dutch Shell's emissions targets insufficient.

"Today was a stark warning for Big Oil," said Bess Joffe, which manages the Church of England's investment fund, with executives "being held to account by investors and lawmakers."

Meanwhile, several Total shareholders plan to demonstrate their concern that the French firm is not doing enough to curb carbon emissions at its shareholder meeting today.

After the stunning blow to top management at Exxon, we tell the story of the little engine that could - and the oil giant that couldn’t. And we explain what the Dutch court carbon emissions ruling means for Shell.

MARKETS
World stocks will continue to rise this year on robust economic and earnings recoveries but any quickening of inflation would temper that enthusiasm, according to Reuters polls of analysts, a majority of whom said a near-term correction was unlikely.

Shares of GameStop and cinema operator AMC Entertainment have rallied to their highest levels in months, with some market-watchers saying the recent surge is forcing bearish investors to unwind their bets against the video game retailer.

A crackdown by Beijing is rapidly accelerating a shift in focus by makers of machines that 'mine' cryptocurrencies like bitcoin from China to North America and Central Asia as Chinese clients face an uncertain future.

And we explain what to watch as the Federal Reserve ramps up its exploration of a digital dollar.

Quote of the day

"What the hell is going on in the United States of America? What the hell is wrong with us and when are we going to come to grips with this?"

Gavin Newsom

California governor

Police and FBI seek motive in California shooting rampage

Video of the day

Could 'wobbly' wind turbines power future homes?

These bladeless wind turbines convert wind into electricity at around 30% the cost of conventional wind energy sources.

And finally…

Pope kisses tattoo number on Auschwitz survivor's arm

Lidia Maksymowicz and her family were taken from their home in Belarus to the Nazi death camp in German-occupied Poland in December 1943, shortly before her third birthday.

More from Reuters

COVID-19 Investigations Breakingviews Legal News

Thanks for spending part of your day with us.

Share your thoughts

You are receiving this email because you signed up for newsletters from Reuters. No longer want to hear from us? Unsubscribe from The Reuters Daily Briefing.

Terms, conditions, and privacy statement

© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.
3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036