5 Things for Monday, June 5: London Attacks, Manchester Concert, Portland Protests
CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 6/5/2017, 8:19 a.m.
By Doug Criss
CNN
(CNN) -- There are fast-moving developments coming out of London on Monday morning, so let's get right to what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
1. London terror attacks
London's trying to return to some sense of normalcy after the United Kingdom suffered its third terror attack in as many months. Seven people were killed Saturday night when three men in a van deliberately ran over pedestrians on London Bridge, then jumped out of the vehicle and stabbed people at random at nearby Borough Market. They were shot dead by police. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack but offered no evidence to back up the claim.
Police have ID'd the three attackers and are expected to name them soon. Police also conducted raids and arrested 11 people. London Mayor Sadiq Khan vowed his city wouldn't be cowed by terrorism, while British Prime Minister Theresa May promised a tougher attitude to fighting homegrown extremism.
Survivors and witnesses described scenes of the horror: the van knocking people "nearly 20 feet in the air" on the bridge. One person jumped into the River Thames to escape. In a diner, terrified patrons hid in the back of a restaurant from a man who ran in with a "massive knife."
President Donald Trump stirred controversy with his tweets after the attack. He blasted Khan's response to the attacks and renewed the call for his travel ban before offering more traditional words of support to the people of London. CNN's Chris Cillizza says the tweets show Trump is sort of the "anti-President."
2. Gulf states shakeup
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have all suddenly severed diplomatic ties with Qatar. Egypt has broken off diplomatic relations with Qatar, too. This is big deal for the Mideast and has a global impact as well. So what's going on? Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE are in a regional alliance called the Gulf Cooperation Council -- which has been around for almost four decades -- so they've obviously all had pretty good relations until now. The countries say they're isolating Qatar over concerns about terrorism. It may partially be a reaction to a Qatari emir's reported praise of Iran. As you probably remember, Saudia Arabia has long been at odds with Iran, which is a strong backer of Qatar.
Some observers think the Saudis and the other countries are flexing a little muscle after President Trump urged the Gulf nations to do more against terrorism during his visit to the region last month.
There are some immediate, real consequences to all of this: The UAE is kicking out Qatari residents and barring Qatari nationals from entering the country; Bahrain is expelling Qatari diplomats and closing up airspace and ports between the two countries. Qatar calls the severing of diplomatic ties "unjustified."
3. Portland protests
Portland, Oregon -- still reeling from last month's deadly stabbings on a commuter train -- had to deal with more unrest over the weekend, this time in the form of protests. At least 14 people were arrested when hundreds of Trump supporters faced off against a slightly larger group of counterprotesters. The President's supporters were holding a "Trump Free Speech" rally. The counterprotesters viewed it as an endorsement of racism and hate since the rally came so close after two men were stabbed to death while coming to the defense of teens facing anti-Muslim slurs. Police separated the two groups, so the counterprotesters took out their frustrations by hurling bottles, bricks and balloons with a "foul-smelling liquid."
4. Manchester concert
With the tragedy of the weekend London attacks looming large, singer Ariana Grande held a benefit concert in Manchester, England, to help the victims of the terror attack that took place after her performance there almost two weeks ago. The "One Love Manchester" concert featured an emotional Grande, along with performances by Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and others. On Friday, Grande visited some of her injured fans at a children's hospital.
5. Shopping malls
If it seems more and more malls are closing, it isn't your imagination. And it's about to get worse, according to a new report. Roughly a quarter of American shopping malls will be gone within the next five years, says Credit Suisse, a global financial services company based in Switzerland. And you probably have already guessed why such doom and gloom is predicted -- online shopping. Right now online sales are 17% of retail sales, but by 2030 they're expected be about 35%.
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