- U.S.Yahoo News
Oklahoma becomes latest red state to approve Obamacare's Medicaid expansion at the ballot box
Voters in Oklahoma narrowly approved an expansion of Medicaid on Tuesday night, making it the latest conservative-leaning state to approve of the Obamacare provision at the ballot box. The measure bypasses the Republican-controlled Legislature and governor's mansion to enshrine insurance coverage for low-income Oklahomans via the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) in the state's constitution. “In the middle of a pandemic, Oklahomans stepped up and delivered lifesaving care for nearly 200,000 of our neighbors, took action to keep our rural hospitals open, and brought our tax dollars home to protect jobs and boost our local economy,” Yes on 802 campaign manager Amber England said in a statement after the victory.
- U.S.Yahoo News
After a Black protester is killed in Omaha, witnesses claim a rushed investigation ignored signs of the shooter's allegedly racist past
More than 300 people have been arrested in Omaha since Friday, May 29, when the city of less than 500,000 was swept up in the tidal wave of protests against police brutality and systemic racism that had erupted in Minneapolis after the brutal killing by police of an unarmed Black man named George Floyd. Jake Gardner, the white bar owner who shot and killed James Scurlock, a 22-year-old Black protester, on the second night of unrest in Omaha — Saturday, May 30 — wasn't one of them. Within just 36 hours of the shooting, Douglas County prosecutor Don Kleine announced that criminal charges would not be filed, finding that Gardner — a 38-year-old ex-Marine with an expired concealed carry permit — had shot Scurlock in self-defense.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Fox’s Neil Cavuto Grills GOP Rep Who Wants to Disband Coronavirus Task Force
Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto had an intense confrontation with Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) on Thursday over his demand that the White House coronavirus task force disband, calling the Trumpian congressman out over his home state's exploding COVID-19 cases and his own lack of health expertise. Biggs recently called for the Trump administration to scrap its pandemic task force over his belief that its public health experts, namely Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, were undermining President Donald Trump as the president pushes for the economy to continue to reopen.
- U.S.Yahoo News
Arizona tells Pence it needs additional 500 health care workers as COVID-19 cases soar
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey told Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday that the state needed an additional 500 health care workers as the number of cases of COVID-19 continues to set records there. We did hear in the briefing today of the need for personnel,” Pence said at a news conference following his meeting with Ducey. We've already responded with 62 medical personnel arrived this week in Tucson, but the governor conveyed to us an additional request of another 500 personnel and I've instructed the acting secretary of homeland security to move out immediately on providing the additional nurses and doctors and technical personnel.
- U.S.National Review
Harvard Grad Says She Was Fired from Deloitte Job for Threatening ‘All Lives Matter’ Supporters
A recent Harvard graduate who threatened to “stab” anyone who told her “all lives matter” has been fired from her job, she announced in a tearful video. Claira Janover, who said in a viral but since-deleted TikTok post that she would “stab” those with “the nerve” to say “all lives matter,” posted several tearful videos explaining that her new employer, Deloitte, had fired her. “I know this is what Trump supporters wanted because standing up for Black Lives Matter put me in a place online to be seen by millions of people,” Janover explained.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Martin Gugino, the Buffalo protester pushed to the ground and injured by police, released after nearly a month in hospital
The 75-year-old man who fell to the ground after being pushed by Buffalo police officers in June was released Tuesday from a local hospital. Martin Gugino sustained a brain injury and a fractured skull related to the June 4 incident that prompted a national outcry, leading to the arrest of two officers on charges of assault and intentionally pushing him. His lawyer, Kelly Zarcone, said Gugino was released from Erie County Medical Center and is "recovering at an undisclosed location in order to ensure his privacy."
U.S.FOX News VideosSen. Scott on COVID-19 surge in Florida: We can beat this without the government taking away our rights
Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott says citizens can responsibly combat the virus by being given more information from the government instead of just being told what to do.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Nerve agent fear as hundreds of elephants perish mysteriously in Botswana
The mysterious death of hundreds of elephants in Botswana has left experts alarmed that there could be a dangerous neurotoxin spreading through one of Africa's largest conservationist areas. Around 400 African elephants have died since April in the Okavango Delta, a wetland area in the northwest of the country often referred to as 'Africa's Last Eden.' Powerful poaching syndicates from Zambia and South Africa regularly cross into Botswana to shoot the animals with high-calibre rifles before hacking their tusks off with axes.
- WorldReuters
Italian police seize record amount of amphetamines shipped from Syria
Italian police said on Wednesday they had seized about 14 tonnes of amphetamine pills worth around 1 billion euros ($1 billion) arriving from Syria, in what they described as the world's single largest operation of its kind. Used in the 1960s to treat narcolepsy and depression, Captagon is one of several brand names for fenethylline hydrochloride, a drug compound belonging to a family of amphetamines that can inhibit fear and ward off tiredness. Captagon is popular in the Middle East, and widespread in war-torn areas such as Syria, where conflict has fuelled demand and created opportunities for producers.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
Immigration judges in lawsuit say US government muzzles them
Immigration judges said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday against the U.S. Department of Justice that they are being muzzled by the Trump administration, marking the latest confrontation between the judges and the federal government. The judges under previous administrations were allowed to speak in their personal capacities on issues relating to immigration if they they made it clear that they were not speaking on behalf of the Justice Department or the court system, said Judge A. Ashley Tabaddor, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, which represents about 460 federal immigration judges.
- LifestylePopular Mechanics
The Best Bike Lights to Illuminate Your Ride
See what's coming and stay visible with these 11 bicycle lights. From Popular Mechanics
- U.S.Time
With 'Partial Human Remains' Found in Texas, Family of Missing Soldier Vanessa Guillen Say They Believe She Is Dead
The family attorney of solider Vanessa Guillen, who went missing months ago after last being seen at Fort Hood Army Base in central Texas, said during a Wednesday press conference that they “believe that her remains were found.” “I feel empty,” Mayra Guillen, Vanessa Guillen's sister, tells TIME. The press conference came after a June 30 statement from Fort Hood officials, which confirmed that “agents have discovered what has been described as partial human remains after analysis from a forensic anthropologist.”
- PoliticsCBS News
Democratic senator blocks 1,123 military promotions over impeachment witness
Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, a combat veteran from Illinois, announced Thursday she plans to block more than 1,100 military promotions until she receives confirmation from Defense Secretary Mark Esper that he will not block an expected promotion for the Army officer who was a key witness in President Trump's impeachment proceedings. Duckworth said she is seeking written confirmation from Esper that "he did not, or will not, block the expected and deserved promotion" of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who testified before House investigators during their impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump's dealings with Ukraine, to full colonel.
- U.S.WWD
California Gov. Enacts Further Reclosure of Some Businesses
California is moving quickly to reclose some sectors of its economy that have only been open for a few weeks as the coronavirus continues to spike in the state. Gov. Gavin Newsom during a daily tele-briefing ordered the immediate closure of certain businesses with indoor spaces, including dining in restaurants, movie theaters and museums, in 19 counties that have seen positive cases of the novel coronavirus rise in recent days. The counties account for more than 70 percent of the state's population and include Los Angeles and Orange counties, as well as Santa Clara County.
- WorldThe National Interest
Terrifying: Why France Once Pointed Its Nuclear Weapons at Germany
Key Point: During the Cold War, France had Germany zeroed in with tactical nuclear missiles—in case of a Soviet invasion. Today, France has the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world, behind the United States and Russia. Unlike the American or Russian nuclear triad, which is made up of air- land- and sea-based nuclear weapons, France maintains a nuclear dyad of air- and sea-based nuclear missiles.
WorldAFPEx-Canada PM Mulroney calls for revised relations with China
Canada must have an "urgent rethink" of its relationship with China, former prime minister Brian Mulroney said Wednesday as tensions build over the possible extradition to the United States of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Conservative Mulroney backed his Liberal successor Justin Trudeau's rejection of any exchange of Meng, who was arrested in Vancouver in December 2018, for two Canadians who were detained in China in apparent retaliation. Mulroney said Canada's hope that China would emerge as a constructive partner in international relations had been proven wrong, referring in particular to Beijing's militarization of the South China Sea.
- WorldThe Telegraph
'Resist until the end!' Crowds spill into streets of Hong Kong facing water cannon and arrest to protest new security law
Early on Wednesday, Zhang Xiaoming, executive deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, China's top executive body, said suspects arrested under the law would be tried in the mainland. The threat of being extradited and disappeared into China's opaque justice system is chilling to Hong Kong's protesters, but many remained undeterred, and vowed to carry on their fight for basic freedoms. I guess at this point, when Hong Kong people are crushed by hopelessness and helplessness, coming out to the streets is the simplest thing to do to stand and walk by each other in support, keeping our stance against oppressive rulers and their minions,” said Ms Tsang, 23,...
- WorldBusiness Insider
More than 400 US Army paratroopers flew almost 5,000 miles to practice a long-range Pacific island invasion
US Army airborne troops flew nearly 5,000 miles to execute a mock invasion of Guam. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Richard Ebensberger Over 400 paratroopers flew from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, where the soldiers jumped and practiced seizing an airfield, which would clear the way for follow-on forces in a real combat situation. US Army Alaska called it the exercise, which appears to be part of the Department of Defense's ongoing efforts to master modern expeditionary warfare tactics for possible combat in the Pacific theater, the "largest airborne operation here in recent memory."
- WorldAssociated Press
US tries to seize Iranian gas heading toward Venezuela
U.S. federal prosecutors are seeking to seize four tankers sailing toward Venezuela with gasoline supplied by Iran, the latest attempt to disrupt ever-closer trade ties between the two heavily sanctioned anti-American allies. The civil-forfeiture complaint filed late Wednesday in the District of Columbia federal court alleges that the sale was arranged by a businessman, Mahmoud Madanipour, with ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. “The profits from these activities support the IRGC's full range of nefarious activities, including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, support for terrorism, and a variety of human rights abuses, at home and abroad,” prosecutor Zia Faruqui alleges in the complaint.
- U.S.LA Times
Column: Pete Buttigieg on running as a gay man and his struggles with Black voters
Pride 2020 is officially in the books and man, it was complicated: The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizers to cancel parades; the horrific deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery sparked a month-long Black Lives Matter protests, many joined by the LGBTQ community in a show of solidarity; marriage equality turned 5; and the Supreme Court ruled it was illegal to fire someone for their sexual orientation or gender identity. The former mayor of South Bend, Ind., joined the ranks of groundbreaking LGBTQ politicos such as Harvey Milk, Barbara Jordan and Barney Frank when he announced his candidacy for President in April 2019.
- U.S.USA TODAY
'You’ve been warned': Florida sheriff says he may deputize gun owners against protesters
Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels, no stranger to making viral videos appealing to tough-on-crime politics, released a video Tuesday that said he will make “special deputies of every lawful gun owner in this county” if he feels the county is overwhelmed by protesters. The three-minute video shows Daniels standing in front of 18 deputies as he derides civil rights protesters as godless disruptors and tells them to stay out of Clay County, a suburb of Jacksonville. "If we can't handle you, I'll exercise the power and authority as the sheriff, and I'll make special deputies of every lawful gun owner in this county and I'll deputize them for this one purpose to stand in the gap between lawlessness and civility," he said.
- PoliticsThe Independent
McConnell splits with Trump on defence bill veto and bases named for Confederate generals
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has split with Donald Trump over the president's threat to veto the annual defence spending bill if it includes a provision to rename military bases named for Confederate figureheads. Well, I would hope the president really wouldn't veto the bill over this issue. I hope the president will reconsider vetoing the entire defence bill, which includes pay raises for our troops, over a provision in there that could lead to changing the names,” Mr McConnell said in an interview on Fox News on Wednesday.
- PoliticsReuters
Biden pulls together hundreds of lawyers as a bulwark against election trickery
"We put together 600 lawyers and a group of people throughout the country who are going into every single state to try to figure out whether chicanery is likely to take place," Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, said on a video conference with donors to his campaign. Biden's remarks come as the candidate offers dire warnings about efforts by Republicans to cheat in the Nov. 3 election while also criticizing his election opponent, Republican President Donald Trump, for undermining confidence in the vote. A senior political adviser and top lawyer for Trump's campaign, Justin Clark, said Biden is lying and stoking fear while Democrats are trying to "fundamentally change" how elections are conducted, an apparent reference to their support for widespread mail-in voting.
- WorldThe National Interest
Military Mystery: What Happened to Russia's New T-14 Tank in Syria?
Here's What You Need To Remember: If the T-14 Armata was indeed taken out by insurgents – whether they simply "got lucky" or not – might not bode well for the advanced tank, especially given its costs. Last month multiple media reports suggested that the Russian military's new T-14 Armata tank had been "battle-tested" in Syria. Russia Beyond cited Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov, who had reportedly said in a mid-April TV interview on Rossiya-1, "Yes, that's correct.
- U.S.INSIDER
Alabama college students are throwing 'COVID parties' where they invite infected people and gamble on who gets sick first, officials say
A city-council member in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, told ABC News on Wednesday that students in the college town had been throwing "COVID parties." People infected with the coronavirus are invited to the parties, and attendees take bets on who will get sick first. College students in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, have been throwing parties in which they invite people infected with the coronavirus and gamble on who comes down with the illness first, city officials say.
