World news in brief
BLM mural outside Trump Tower defaced
A Black Lives Matter mural painted outside of Trump Tower in Manhattan that has faced significant vandalism since it was unveiled earlier this month was defaced for the fourth time in weeks, according to police. Mark David Hutt was charged with criminal mischief after officials said he threw white paint over a section of the mural on Sunday morning. The suspect began using his hands to smear the paint across the mural shortly after 10am, NYPD detective Carrie Reilly told CNN. The mayor condemned the vandalism in a statement that said the Black Lives Matter movement “is more than words, and it can’t be undone”.
Google staff will work from home until at least July 2021
Google is the first technology company to publicly commit to keeping its remote working policies in place into 2021, in an attempt to give staff more clarity on how long they would be working from home. Other tech companies, including Facebook and Twitter, have committed to allow most employees to work remotely indefinitely, even after shutdowns lift. But no other company of Google’s scale has given such a
long-term commitment that its offices would stay largely shut. Google’s decision will affect “nearly all” of the roughly 200,000 full-time, contracted employees, the WSJ said. Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, took the decision after a call with executives last week, the paper claimed.
Turkey withdrawing from disputed Med zone, Greece says
Turkey has reduced the number of navy vessels in an eastern Mediterranean area where it disputes Greek jurisdiction over oil and gas drilling rights, Greek authorities said. Tensions in the long-standing dispute flared last week between the two Nato allies when Turkey announced it planned to send a research vessel south of the Greek islands of Rhodes, Karpathos, and Kastellorizo. The initiative was publicly criticised by the US, France, and other European countries. The Turkish research vessel, Oruc Reis, has remained anchored off the port of Antalya. Turkey accuses Greece of trying to exclude it from fair mineral exploitation in the eastern Mediterranean, arguing that Greek islands should not be included calculating exclusive economic zones. Athens counters that Turkey’s position is a violation of international law.
Man arrested in Florida after trying to kidnap child
A man has been arrested in Florida after he reportedly walked into a hotel room and attempted to kidnap a child in front of the mother. The suspect, 24-year-old Gabriel Martin, was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of kidnapping, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office said that Martin, from Bradenton, Florida, entered the Tampa Bay hotel room on Sunday morning and picked up the child before attempting to leave the room. The mother fought back and was able to take her child from Martin before he fled on foot. The mother called 911 and police were able to locate the suspect hiding in bushes in a nearby business park, according to ABC News.