CNN Business | Microsoft is closing all of its stores

New York (CNN Business) – Microsoft is getting out of the brick-and-mortar retail business.

The company announced Friday it will close down all of its 83 physical stores and switch to online only.

It will keep its London; New York City; Sydney, Australia and Redmond, Washington locations, but they will be reimagined as “experience centers,” the company stated. They will showcase Microsoft’s technology, such as Surface PCs, Xbox, “Minecraft,” Windows and Office, but they won’t necessarily sell anything.

The tech giant opened a bunch of locations in high-profile areas, such as Manhattan’s Fifth Ave. But during the pandemic, many of its stores have remained closed, and Microsoft (MSFT) is abandoning ship.  —more—

CNN Sports | Ex-F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone says Black people are often ‘more racist than White people,’ even as he praises Lewis Hamilton’s drive for diversity

(CNN) – Bernie Ecclestone is credited with transforming Formula One into a global, billion-dollar business with races in all corners of the world, but like many organizations, the sport he helped create has come under scrutiny following George Floyd’s death.

Notably from Lewis Hamilton, a six-time world champion and the first and only Black driver to compete in F1, who has been a powerful voice following Floyd’s death in Minneapolis last month.  —more—

CNN politics | Descendants of Tulsa’s 1921 race massacre seek justice as the nation confronts a racist past

Tulsa, Oklahoma (CNN) – The beating heart of Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Greenwood District is Vernon A.M.E. Church.

Vernon sits atop the only structure still standing after the 1921 race massacre left the once-prosperous black district burned to the ground and hundreds if not thousands of its residents homeless or dead.

The weight of that legacy weighs heavily on Vernon A.M.E. always — but especially in recent weeks, as the city marked 99 years since the massacre, an anniversary that came at a time of protests and upheaval nationwide over the killing of George Floyd in police custody.  —more—

CNN | Warrants issued in fatal police shooting of black man in Atlanta

(CNN) – The Atlanta Police officer who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks at a Wendy’s parking lot last week was charged with felony murder and other charges, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced Wednesday.

The other police officer on scene also faces three charges, including aggravated assault, Howard said.

The decision comes just five days after Brooks was shot twice in the back in Atlanta during an attempted arrest. Officer Garrett Rolfe, who fired the fatal shots, has already been fired, and officer Devin Brosnan, who was also on scene, has been put on administrative duty.  —more—

CNN Business | Nike joins the companies making Juneteenth an annual paid holiday

New York (CNN Business) – Nike is adding June 19, a holiday called Juneteenth, to its list of official, paid company holidays.

The sportswear giant joins a growing number of companies that announced this week they are making Juneteenth, the oldest known US celebration of the end of slavery, an annual company holiday. Twitter (TWTR), Square (SQ) and Vox Media also plan to do the same.

Nike (NKE) CEO John Donahoe made the announcement in a letter to employees Thursday, along with several other actions the company plans to take in light of nationwide demonstrations calling for racial justice.

The announcements came as President Donald Trump said Thursday he plans to return to the campaign trail on June 19. After intense criticism, he announced in a Friday night tweet that the rally would be rescheduled to June 20 “out of respect for this holiday.”  —more—