5 things to know for June 4: COVID-19, Capitol riots, White House, cyberattacks, Belarus

By AJ Willingham, CNN

1. Coronavirus

President Joe Biden announced a plan yesterday to immediately share 25 million COVID-19 vaccines with countries around the world, but progressives are pushing him to do more. A group of more than 30 Democratic House members have signed a letter to the White House urging Biden to get more aggressive in distributing vaccines to help countries like India, South Africa and Brazil, where the coronavirus crisis is particularly dire. In the US, COVID-19 cases among children have fallen to levels not seen since October, but experts are still urging parents to vaccinate their children if they can. One reason? States that don’t reach high vaccination thresholds may be “sitting ducks” for another outbreak, according to the director of the National Institutes of Health.

2. Capitol riots

Two Senate committees are expected to release a 100-page-plus report next week on the security failures that led to the January’s Capitol riots. The findings from the Senate Rules and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees will likely provide the basis of a new funding package to beef up Capitol security. However, the report will stop short of examining former President Donald Trump’s role in the run-up to the attack. That’s likely to fuel partisan fighting about whether further investigation into the attack is necessary. Two Capitol Police officers shared their experiences for the first time with CNN, saying rioters beat them, threatened to shoot them, and called them traitors.

3. White House

President Biden will be heading out on his first international trip since taking office next week. His first stop will be the UK, where he’ll meet with Prime Minister Boris Johnson ahead of the G7 summit in southwestern England. Biden is set to hold meetings with the other leaders of G7 countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan — during the visit. He’ll also meet with Queen Elizabeth II before heading to Brussels to participate in a NATO summit. There, he’ll meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “to discuss the full range of bilateral and regional issues,” the White House says. Finally, it’s off to Geneva, Switzerland, where Biden will hold a bilateral summit with Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin on June 16. Several other meetings with other world leaders are planned throughout.

4. Cyberattacks

The Justice Department is showing signs that it plans to coordinate its anti-ransomware efforts with the same protocols as it does for terrorism. US prosecutors are now being asked to report all ransomware investigations they may be working on, to better coordinate the US government’s tracking of online criminals. The White House has also issued a rare open letter to companies, calling on them to treat the threat of ransomware attacks with greater urgency. These moves to tackle the growing threat of cyberattacks come on the heels of several attacks that have disrupted key infrastructure sectors including gas pipelines and meatpacking plants.

5. Belarus

Detained Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich has appeared on Belarus state TV again, as critics continue to decry his detainment. Protasevich was arrested last month by Belarusian authorities after his Ryanair flight was unexpectedly diverted and grounded in the country’s capital of Minsk. Family and supporters believe that his recorded admissions to organizing mass protests have been forced. Critics fear the latest video shows Protasevich, again, under duress. An adviser to an exiled Belarusian opposition candidate labeled Protasevich as a “hostage of the regime.” Protasevich’s treatment in Belarus has sparked international outrage, especially toward President Alexander Lukashenko, and the US recently imposed sanctions on some of Belarus’ state-owned enterprises in the country. Belarus responded by slashing staff numbers at the US embassy in Minsk.

THIS JUST IN

The head of Germany’s Catholic Church offers his resignation

Cardinal Reinhard Marx has written to Pope Francis to offer his resignation over what he described as his shared “responsibility for the catastrophe of sexual abuse” by church officials

BREAKFAST BROWSE

Kim Kardashian has a role in the new ‘PAW Patrol: The Movie.’

She plays a poodle name Delores, and we love that for her.

United plans supersonic flights by 2029

We’re still waiting on the “flying cars” part of the future, but this will definitely suffice.

Peloton’s app is getting cheaper for millions of people

For when you want to exercise like the fancy bike people, without the fancy bike price.

Twitter will help you undo a tweet — for a fee

If you tweet a bad take and no one gets to read it, did it really happen?

Truck carrying tomato puree crashes, turning road red

Spare a thought to the unsuspecting passersby, who were probably HORRIFIED.

TODAY’S NUMBER

7,500 to 10,600

That’s about how many giant sequoia trees were destroyed by a single wildfire that swept through California’s Sequoia National Forest last summer, according to a new draft report from the National Park Service. The number represents between 10% and 14% of the world’s giant sequoias.

TODAY’S QUOTE

“We’re working for the richest man on Earth, we’re doing all the work that makes his company run and all we’re asking for is a reasonable, livable wage.”

Anthony, an Amazon delivery service partner driver. Some Amazon workers like Anthony say they have to endure poor pay, dangerous conditions and demanding bosses even as Amazon’s delivery business has flourished — aided by their labor — during the pandemic.

TODAY’S WEATHER

Check your local forecast here>>>

AND FINALLY

Bless you 

Just a lil’ seal sneeze. That’s all. Enjoy your weekend! (Click here to view.)