https://www.axios.com/judge-us-agents-portland-journalists-b4cb4741-8c0b-4604-917b-d8a5c471f6e0.html

U.S. District Judge Michael Simon issued a temporary restraining order on Thursday blocking federal agents in Portland, Oregon, from arresting or using physical force against journalists and legal observers amid ongoing protests unless a crime has been committed.

Why it matters: The order restricts law enforcement officers from the departments of Homeland Security and of Justice operating in Portland, who have been accused of unlawfully arresting protesters.

The restriction will be in effect for 14 days. Federal officers can arrest journalists or legal observers if there is probable cause they have committed a crime.

The ruling also allows journalists and legal observers to stay in public spaces even if federal agents issue a dispersal order.

Federal officers are prevented from seizing journalists' press passes and equipment unless they are being lawfully arrested

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8554795/Portland-Commissioner-apologizes-claiming-police-saboteurs-setting-fires.html

Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty apologized for claiming police are sending 'saboteurs' to infiltrate anti-racism demonstrations to start fires that have lit up the city on many of the 56 consecutive nights of protests.

Hardesty's apology came amid continued civil unrest in Oregon's largest city as protesters clash with both local police and federal agents, who've struggled to quell activists.

People be snapping

https://apnews.com/ae9a598ba5091072e83c27cbdcb20fa0

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Authorities on Thursday discovered the body of a white North Carolina professor who recently announced his retirement amid backlash over his comments on social media, in which called the state’s governor “Massa Cooper” and compared coronavirus restrictions to living in a “slave state.”

Lieutenant J.J. Brewer of the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office said deputies found the body of University of North Carolina-Wilmington professor Mike Adams, 55, while performing a wellness check at his home, according to The News & Observer of Raleigh.

Deputies were conducting a death investigation, but investigators did not release additional details about the circumstances of Adams’ death.

Mike Adams, a tenured sociology and criminology professor, was due to retire early on Aug. 1. He recently reached a $504,702 settlement with the university for lost salary and lost retirement benefits.

https://www.asiaone.com/china/chinas-sex-toy-makers-enjoy-boom-coronavirus-lockdowns-fuel-global-appetite

Overseas sales manager Violet Du said Shandong-based Libo Technology had increased its production line staff by around 25 per cent to close to 400 since they returned to work at the end of February.

France, the United States and Italy have been the most active export markets over the last four months, according to Du, although domestic sales slowed as China began to bring the coronavirus under control.

"Our production lines are running around the clock, and our workers are working in two shifts to meet the surging demand," Du said.

The surge in demand is largely due to lockdown measures, added Du, with exports to the US and some European countries expected to continue to rise as virus containment measures remain in place.