- U.S.Yahoo News
ICE to launch 'Citizens Academy' to teach civilians about 'targeted arrests'
A “Citizens Academy” planned by a branch of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which will include “scenario-based training and exercises,” is spreading alarm among civil liberties and immigration rights organizations — which question why the agency is devoting resources to providing civilians with “firearms familiarization” and instruction in “targeted arrests.” The program, set to begin in Chicago this fall as “a pilot for nationwide implementation,” will be run by ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations branch, which is responsible for detaining and deporting immigrants. A memo from Robert Guadian, the director of ICE ERO's Chicago field office, which was obtained by Yahoo News, describes a six-week program (four-hour sessions held once a week) during which “participants will gain insight into the many facets and responsibilities of ICE/ERO operations” through, among other things, “scenario-based training and exercises conducted in a safe and positive environment, including, but not limited to, defensive tactics, firearms familiarization, and targeted arrests.”
- U.S.Business Insider
US Postmaster General tells postal workers to leave mail behind if it slows down their route
Mario Tama/Getty Images The US Postal Service's new Postmaster General has established new cost-saving policies that could slow down mail service. Mail carriers are being told to leave mail behind at distribution centers rather than taking late trips, taking extra trips, or logging overtime, according to memos first reported on by The Washington Post and subsequently reviewed by Business Insider. The Postal Service is on financially shaky ground due to the coronavirus pandemic, with Business Insider previously reporting that it may run out of cash by the end of September.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump identifies another hoax: The coronavirus
President Trump has called many things hoaxes over the years — the investigation into his 2016 campaign's dealings with Russia, his impeachment, global warming — but on Monday he called into question the existence of an epidemic that has killed more than 135,000 Americans. During a flurry of activity on his Twitter account, Trump retweeted a message from game show host Chuck Woolery that claimed “everyone is lying” about the coronavirus as part of a plot to sabotage the economy and hurt Trump's reelection campaign. “The most outrageous lies are the ones about Covid 19,” wrote Woolery in the message promoted by Trump.
- U.S.INSIDER
A Black teen didn't do her online schoolwork during the pandemic. A judge sent her to juvenile detention.
Grace, 15, was sentenced to juvenile detention in May for not completing her school work, which was deemed a violation of her probation. The Michigan teenager was put on probation in November after stealing a cell phone and getting into an altercation with her mother. In March, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order discouraging the sentencing of young people unless they posed a "substantial and immediate safety risk."
- WorldAssociated Press
Seafarers group: Tanker off UAE sought by US was 'hijacked'
An oil tanker sought by the U.S. over allegedly circumventing sanctions on Iran was hijacked on July 5 off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, a seafarers organization said Wednesday. Satellite photos showed the vessel in Iranian waters on Tuesday and two of its sailors remained in the Iranian capital. It wasn't immediately clear what happened aboard the Dominica-flagged MT Gulf Sky, though its reported hijacking comes after months of tensions between Iran and the U.S. David Hammond, the CEO of the United Kingdom-based group Human Rights at Sea, said he took a witness statement from the captain of the MT Gulf Sky, confirming the ship had been hijacked.
- U.S.The Guardian
I'm from Florida. Our coronavirus crisis doesn't surprise me
This week began with the announcement that the state registered over 15,000 new infections in a single day, which was almost 3,000 more daily cases than any state previously had recorded since the pandemic began. If Florida was a country, according to Reuters, it would have the world's fourth-highest tally of new Covid-19 cases over that 24-hour span, trailing only the US, Brazil and India. Florida has a well-deserved reputation as America's weirdest state, so perhaps the pandemic punishment being meted out to us right now shouldn't come as a shock.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Ousted U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman: Deal Barr Offered ‘Could Be Seen as a Quid Pro Quo’
Geoffrey Berman, formerly the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, was brought in for a closed-door session of the Judiciary Committee on July 9 to talk about the events surrounding Barr's public announcement on June 19 that Berman had “stepped down” from his post, even though the U.S. attorney made clear to Barr multiple times that he was not stepping down. The next day, Berman said he would leave the job when Barr agreed to let his deputy take over as acting U.S. attorney, as opposed to Craig Carpenito, the U.S. attorney for the district of New Jersey, whom Barr wanted to install in the position until the Trump administration's pick, Securities and Exchange Commission chief Jay Clayton, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
- BusinessNational Review
U.S. Considers TikTok Ban as Chinese Threat to Global Internet Freedom Grows
The partnership between Chinese tech companies and the Chinese Communist Party is threatening global Internet freedom. But the U.S. has the chance to push back and safeguard online free speech and privacy worldwide. Last Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News's Laura Ingraham that the U.S. is “certainly looking at” banning TikTok, a video-sharing social-media platform owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, over its ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
U.S.FOX News VideosYoung conservative women stand up to liberal mob
Incoming Marquette freshman Samantha Pfefferle says she has been threatened over her pro-Trump TikTok post; political activist Savanah Hernandez targeted by Black Lives Matter protesters.
- U.S.The Independent
AOC suggests NYC crime spike linked to unemployment and parents shoplifting to feed children
New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has insisted that spikes in New York crime are not related to police budget cuts but people needing to pay rent and feed their children. In a virtual town hall meeting on Thursday, reported by The Hill, AOC was questioned about the significant rise in crime in the city. “Do we think this has to do with the fact that there's record unemployment in the United States right now?” she said.
- U.S.Business Insider
Earthquakes in Southern California last year increased the chances of 'the big one' on the San Andreas fault, research suggests
The Ridgecrest earthquakes that struck Southern California last July may have increased the chances of a large quake along the San Andreas fault, new research shows. This time last year, a series of powerful earthquakes struck Southern California, culminating in a magnitude 7.1 temblor and a set of aftershocks. Within a week, scientists recorded more than 3,000 quakes in the area around California's Searles Valley.
- PoliticsReuters
Judge seeks clarity on the scope of Trump's clemency order for Roger Stone
A U.S. judge on Monday asked the Justice Department to explain whether President Donald Trump's order commuting Roger Stone's prison term means the veteran Republican operative does not need to be supervised by probation officers as many convicted felons are after being freed. Congressional Democrats and other critics accused Trump of abuse of power and an assault on the rule of law after the Republican president on Friday gave executive clemency to Stone, his longtime friend and adviser. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who presided over Stone's trial, set a July 14 deadline to receive a copy of Trump's clemency order along with an explanation about whether it also commutes the period that Stone was meant to be supervised after leaving prison.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
64 Stunning Kitchen Island Ideas
Bring on the prep space Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- U.S.INSIDER
The St. Louis couple that aimed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters received dozens of offers to replace a firearm that was seized by police, their attorney says
A lawyer representing Mark and Patricia McCloskey told Forbes that the St. Louis couple has received more than 50 offers to replace a rifle that was taken by local authorities under a search warrant. The McCloskeys went viral last month after they were caught on video pointing what appeared to be a semiautomatic rifle with an extended magazine at Black Lives Matter protestors who were marching to a demonstration outside the St. Louis mayor's house. The married St. Louis couple, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who went viral for pointing guns at protesters marching past their home, have received 50 or more offers to replace their AR-15 rifle which local authorities seized, Forbes reported.
- WorldAssociated Press
Over 1 million marooned in Bangladesh as floods worsen
Heavy flooding is worsening in parts of Bangladesh, with over 1 million villagers marooned or leaving their homes for higher ground along with their cattle and other belongings, officials and volunteers said Tuesday. Water levels at major rivers were rising Tuesday at around two dozen points in 20 districts. Many new areas in northern, northeastern and central Bangladesh have been affected over last 24 hours, Arifuzzman Bhuiyan, an executive engineer with the Water Development Board, said by phone.
- HealthUSA TODAY
This Tennessee doctor caught coronavirus at a meeting about coronavirus. He nearly died.
At the time Lewis tested positive, he was already isolating from his family, as do many medical professionals who know they face a high likelihood of infection. Lewis moved into the basement to keep a distance from his wife and five children. He chatted with his wife by standing in the driveway and shouting to her through a window.
- U.S.Yahoo News
Tucker Carlson says his former head writer 'paid a heavy price' for racist internet posts
On Monday's edition of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” the popular Fox News host addressed the resignation of his show's head writer, who was identified on Friday as the author of a years-long series of racist, sexist and homophobic internet posts under a pseudonym. Carlson acknowledged the posts were “wrong,” but did not offer an apology on behalf of the show or the network, saying his longtime associate had “paid a very heavy price” in losing his job. Over the weekend you may have seen stories about a writer on this show called Blake Neff,” Carlson told his audience.
SportsAFPPhilippine police deployed as virus cases forced into quarantine
Philippine police are being deployed to ensure people who test positive for the coronavirus and cannot self-isolate at home are taken to state-run quarantine centres, sparking warnings Wednesday of potential rights violations. The move comes as authorities step up efforts to slow the rapid spread of the disease by increasing testing, reimposing lockdowns, and building dozens of quarantine centres to isolate patients with mild symptoms. To clamp down on local transmission, police are accompanying health workers to the homes of people who have tested positive and taking them to government facilities if their homes are considered inadequate for self-isolation or if they live with "vulnerable" p...
- WorldThe Telegraph
Authorities in Belarus to charge anti-government protesters with rioting for clashing with police
Authorities in Belarus are threatening to charge anti-government protesters with rioting after hundreds of people took to the streets of the capital Minsk to protest a decision to block two main rivals of President Alexander Lukashenko from running in the upcoming presidential election. The Belarusian Interior Ministry said on Wednesday that about 250 were detained at the impromptu protest on Tuesday after the country's Central Election Commission rejected main opposition candidates, citing alleged violations including incorrect income declarations and a failure to gather required signatures. Hundreds of people took to the streets of Minsk on Tuesday evening, walking peacefully and clapping as passing drivers honked their horns in support.
- WorldBusiness Insider
US Navy warship challenges China in South China Sea as US blasts Beijing's 'unlawful' claims and 'gangster tactics'
US Navy A US Navy destroyer challenged China in the South China Sea with a freedom-of-navigation operation on Tuesday. The USS Ralph Johnson sailed near the disputed Spratly Islands, the Navy said, adding in a statement that "unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas." The operation, one of at least six such operations this year, comes after the US State Department officially rejected most of China's sea claims, declaring its maritime efforts to assert sovereignty unlawful.
- PoliticsNY Daily News
Editorial: Buying Biden's America: The Democratic nominee offers an economic message where Trump fell down on the job(s)
Seeking to evict Donald Trump from the White House at a time of sudden mass unemployment, former Vice President Joe Biden last week offered a vision that echoes some of Trump's own economic populism — while addressing the incompetence exposed during the pandemic. Biden promises to spend $400 billion on materials and services made in the U.S., plus another $300 billion on U.S.-based research and development involving electric cars, artificial intelligence, clean-energy initiatives and similar technologies. We second such a push; federal dollars will pay major economic dividends down the road.
- U.S.The Independent
Javonni Carson: Nine-year-old shot four times while filming TikTok videos
A fourth-grade boy shot four times in Atlanta was filming TikTok videos with his two siblings when an unknown gunman fired into a crowd during a drive-by shooting, his mother said. Javonni Carson, 9, who was one of three people injured in the attack, has undergone surgery and is expected to recover, mother Keyona Carson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "My other two kids were there, too, and they saw everything," Ms Carson, 35, told the outlet.
- U.S.INSIDER
Despite physically distancing and wearing masks, 3 Arizona teachers who shared a classroom to online teach caught the coronavirus and one died
An Arizona teacher died from the coronavirus in late June. Kimberley Chavez Lopez Byrd was sharing a classroom with two other teachers for two hours a day to online teach, and despite following safety protocols all three caught the virus. The two other teachers Jena Martinez and Angela Skillings are arguing that their circumstances show why schools should not reopen in the fall.
- U.S.NBC News
Black Lives Matter mural outside Trump Tower defaced; mayor says 'nice try'
The Black Lives Matter mural on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue in front of Trump Tower was defaced Monday but quickly fixed, authorities said. The Black Lives Matter "movement is more than words, and it can't be undone," de Blasio said. The New York City Police Department said they received a call at around 12:15 p.m. Monday about criminal mischief at 725 Fifth Avenue.
WorldAssociated PressIran executes defense ministry staffer as alleged CIA spy
Iran has executed a former employee of the defense ministry who was convicted of spying on behalf of the Central Intelligence Agency, the country's judiciary said Tuesday. The report said Reza Asgari was executed last week. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said Asgari had worked in the airspace department of the ministry and retired in 2016.
