U.S.AxiosJudge to Capitol rioter: Insurrection is "not patriotism"
A federal judge sentencing a Michigan man in D.C. Wednesday over his role in the U.S. Capitol riot dismissed any notion that he's a political prisoner. Driving the news: U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson said that she wasn't sentencing Karl Dresch, of Calumet, "because he is a supporter" of former President Trump, noting that "millions of people" had voted for him "and did not heed his call to descend on the nation's Capitol," per the Detroit News. "You called yourself and everyone else patriots, but that's not patriotism," Judge Amy Berman Jackson said to Dresch, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of entering the Capitol, according to CNN.
PoliticsWashington ExaminerMark Levin says Biden should be removed from office
Mark Levin says it is time to start talking about using impeachment or the 25th Amendment against President Joe Biden to remove the "most disastrous president in modern American history" from office. The conservative commentator, who commands a large following on the Right, took aim at Biden's handling of the border situation and the coronavirus pandemic, making the case to fellow Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday that the Democratic commander in chief violated the Constitution. After a series of insults, Levin said Biden has "the border wide open in violation of our immigration laws" and invoked the administration's eviction moratorium, which came this week despite a Supreme Court decision in June ruling an earlier eviction moratorium could only be extended by Congress.
U.S.ReutersThousands evacuate fast-moving California wildfire; homes burn
COLFAX, California (Reuters) -A rapidly spreading wildfire burned homes and forced thousands to evacuate in two heavily wooded counties northeast of Sacramento in Northern California on Wednesday, generating a towering plume of smoke visible from at least 70 miles (110 km) away. The so-called River Fire scorched 1,400 acres (566 hectares) in Placer and Nevada counties, with 1,000 acres burnt within the first two hours, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said. The River Fire was less than 100 miles (160 km) south of the enduring Dixie Fire, which according to Cal Fire has consumed 278,000 acres and was only 35% contained three weeks after it started.
WorldAssociated PressIsrael launches airstrikes on Lebanon in response to rockets
Israel on Thursday escalated its response to rocket attacks this week by launching rare airstrikes on Lebanon, the army said. The army said in a statement that jets struck the launch sites from which rockets had been fired over the previous day, as well as an additional target used to attack Israel in the past. The IDF blamed the state of Lebanon for the shelling and warned “against further attempts to harm Israeli civilians and Israel's sovereignty.”
U.S.The WeekOver Gov. Ron DeSantis' objections, Florida school districts are imposing mask mandates
Several school districts in Florida are pushing back against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and his executive order prohibiting schools from imposing mask requirements for students. On Tuesday night, the School Board of Alachua County voted in favor of requiring all students to wear masks during the first two weeks of school. In the last few days, two janitors in the district have died of COVID-19, and board member Robert Hyatt told Politico he doesn't think "that we need to get in any kind of match with the governor.
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John Kerry says Donald Trump destroyed the U.S.'s credibility on climate change
Special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry explained in an interview that former President Donald Trump's actions caused other countries to be wary of trusting America on climate change.
PoliticsAxiosLandlords mount legal challenge to Biden administration's new eviction moratorium
A group of landlords and real-estate companies issued a legal challenge on Wednesday night in a D.C. district court to the Biden administration's new national eviction moratorium. Driving the news: The Alabama and Georgia Associations of Realtors' emergency motion argues that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's order Tuesday barring evictions for most of the U.S. through Oct. 3 exceeds the CDC's powers, according to a statement from the National Association of Realtors. The groups cited a June Supreme Court decision that declined to override the previous extension through July 31.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestMore Inside a Fantastical Amsterdam Penthouse Full of Whimsy
Thanks to the avant-garde antics of design wonder Job Smeets, the home of Viktor & Rolf's Rolf Snoeren puts a smile on his face from morning to night Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
U.S.Washington ExaminerCNN airs hot pursuit for Florida doctor accused of spreading COVID-19 misinformation
A CNN team did not let the hot summer weather in Florida get in its way of tracking down a doctor accused of spreading misinformation about COVID-19. A segment that aired Wednesday night showed all the steps taken to secure an interview with Joseph Mercola, who the New York Times identified as being among a group of "superspreaders of anti-vaccine content" with his online posts, citing researchers and regulators who have scrutinized the information the doctor has shared with his followers. CNN reporter Randi Kaye showed her journey in seeking out Mercola to "ask him about the misinformation" related to the coronavirus, which included stops at his office in Cape Coral and his gated home.
WorldAssociated PressAirstrikes pummel Taliban positions in southern Afghanistan
U.S. and Afghan airstrikes hit Taliban targets overnight in southern Helmand province in an effort to dislodge the insurgents after they captured much of the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, officials said Wednesday. The Taliban have waged a fierce push over the past months as U.S. and NATO forces complete their pullout from the war-torn country. Ghulam Wali Afghan, a lawmaker from Helmand, told The Associated Press that his relatives and constituents in Lashkar Gah have told him of bodies in the streets and residents hiding inside their homes, too afraid to venture out and collect the dead.
WorldReutersSydney suffers worst day of pandemic, Victoria state to enter sixth lockdown
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Sydney reported a record daily number of new coronavirus infections on Thursday, as Victoria state said it will enter a snap one-week lockdown as Australia struggles to contain an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant. Sydney, Australia's largest city and the capital of New South Wales state, is nearing the seventh week of its own nine-week lockdown. Victoria state said it has detected eight new cases, the bulk of which could not be traced back to a known infection, triggering a one-week lockdown for the state's more than 6 million people from later on Thursday evening.
HealthThe WeekShould vaccinated Americans panic about the Delta variant? 'Maybe panic a bit.'
The COVID-19 pandemic has now officially resulted in 200 million cases and 4.25 million deaths worldwide, and the extremely virulent Delta variant is erasing many of the gains achieved through time and remarkably effective vaccines. "For public health officials and the Biden administration, the Delta variant is the biggest communication conundrum we've seen in a while," Politico health care editor Joanne Kenen writes in Wednesday's Nightly newsletter. This "'panic/don't panic' conundrum," she writes, is exacerbated by the many, many things we still don't know about the Delta strain.
PoliticsWashington ExaminerWhite House says Biden sexual assault allegation 'heavily litigated during the campaign'
The White House dismissed a sexual assault allegation against President Joe Biden as “heavily litigated during the campaign” when asked if he should face the same kind of sexual harassment investigation as embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. At Wednesday's White House briefing, reporters asked press secretary Jen Psaki whether the assault accusation leveled by former Biden Senate aide Tara Reade and complaints of inappropriate touching and behavior, such as allegedly skinny dipping in front of female Secret Service agents, would merit an “independent investigation.” “I would say the president has been clear and outspoken about the importance of women being respected and having their voices heard and being allowed to tell their stories and people treating them with respect,” Psaki replied.
U.S.Kansas City Star428 students and staff in quarantine after first week of school in Arkansas district
Over 400 students and staff are quarantining for COVID-19 in an Arkansas school district as the superintendent pleads with state lawmakers to reverse a ban on mask mandates. The Marion School District said 18 students and staff tested positive for the coronavirus Monday, a week after returning to classes, bringing the total in quarantine to 428. “Again, if all students and teachers had been wearing a mask appropriately — then today's 18 positive cases would be isolated,” the school district said Tuesday.
U.S.Associated PressFire engulfs Northern California town, leveling businesses
A wind-driven wildfire tore through a Northern California mountain town, leaving much of the downtown in ashes and crews braced for another explosive run of flames in the midst of dangerous weather. The town, which dates to California's Gold Rush era, has some buildings more than a century old. The three-week-old blaze was the state's largest wildfire and had blackened well over 435 square miles (1,126 square kilometers) and had already burned dozens of homes before making its new run.
U.S.AxiosFauci says he fears a COVID variant worse than Delta could be coming
If America's current COVID-19 surge continues unabated into the fall and winter, the country will likely face an even more deadly strain of the virus that could evade the current coronavirus vaccines, NIAID director Anthony Fauci told McClatchy Wednesday. Why it matters: Fauci's comments underscore the importance of acting quickly to vaccinate the tens of millions of Americans who have not been inoculated against the virus. The current surge in coronavirus cases nationwide is being driven by the Delta variant, which is already more contagious than the original strain of the virus.
PoliticsThe GuardianTop Republicans move to protect Trump from Capitol attack fallout
Top Republicans in Congress are embarking on a new campaign of revisionism seven months after the attack on the Capitol, absolving Donald Trump of responsibility and blaming the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, for the 6 January insurrection perpetrated by a mob of Trump supporters. And it should shock us all | Robert Reich Some House and Senate Republican leaders stated in the charged moments immediately following the attack that Trump was squarely to blame, and amid blood and shattered glass at the US Capitol, some even considered his removal.
WorldNBC NewsShort on friends and fearing the end, Belarus' leader cracks down at home — and in Tokyo
When Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, 24, criticized her country's sporting officials this week for entering her in an unfamiliar race, she said she was told to return home immediately and face the consequences of questioning the wishes of President Alexander Lukashenko's regime. Experts say that the sports-loving Lukashenko, whose son runs the national Olympic committee and who inherited the role from his father, could not allow the sprinter's criticism to go unpunished. Lukashenko “is really very sensitive in terms of sports and even more so when there's criticism — he likes to act as if he is a sports man, in such good physical shape, who takes care of sports people,” said Veronica Laputska, co-founder of the Eurasian States in Transition Research Center, a think tank based in Warsaw.
U.S.Associated PressFire destroys cabin of New Hampshire man forced out of woods
But his off-the-grid existence has been challenged in court by a property owner who says he's been squatting for all those years. And to make Lidstone's matters worse, his cabin was burned to the ground Wednesday afternoon in a blaze that is being investigated by local authorities. Lidstone, or “River Dave” as he's known by boaters and kayakers, was jailed July 15 on a civil contempt sanction.
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WH to DeSantis and Abbott: Handle the COVID spike or 'get out of the way'
During Tuesday's White House press briefing, Yahoo News National Correspondent Alexander Nazaryan asked if Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have any personal responsibility for the spike in COVID cases in their states. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said if they are not going to be part of the solution, then they should “get out of the way and let other people do the job.
U.S.LA Times'Running out of options': California resorts to water cutoffs as drought worsens
California water regulators took unprecedented action this week, passing an emergency regulation that will bar thousands of Californians from diverting stream and river water as the drought worsens. The watershed encompasses a wide swath of the state, from the Oregon border in northeastern California down into the Central Valley. The regulation — which gives the state water board the authority to issue emergency curtailments and require reporting on water use — will go into effect about two weeks from now, subject to approval by the state Office of Administrative Law, with the issuing of formal curtailment orders to follow.
PoliticsTheGrioWhy Nina Turner, the real ‘establishment,’ lost Ohio Democratic primary race
It doesn't get more Establishment than that, which is ultimately why Turner lost the election. These were the kinds of conversations and messages I was getting from people in Cleveland during the campaign: “My sister went to school with Shontel, and I just don't like that “Hello Somebody” thing, [From Turner] it sounds forced! Nina Turner had burned a lot of bridges in local Cleveland politics years ago, and voters have long memories.
U.S.Miami HeraldCarnival Cruise Line will issue new mask and COVID-19 testing mandates for passengers
The resurgence of COVID-19 won't alter the return of Carnival Cruise Line's voyages, but the Doral-based cruise line plans to issue mask and testing mandates for its passengers, Carnival announced Wednesday. “These new requirements are being implemented to protect our guests and crew while on board, and to continue to provide confidence to our homeports and destinations that we are doing our part to support their efforts to protect public health and safety,” a statement from Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy read in part. With the usual “abundance of caution” softener and noting that other entertainment venues, including Disney parks, have going the same thing, Carnival said, “all guests will be asked to wear masks in certain indoor areas of Carnival's ships.”
U.S.INSIDERChicago police officers raiding the wrong house pointed guns at two young girls, then tried to cover it up, lawsuit alleges
A Black family is suing the Chicago Police Department for what they say was a botched raid on their home. The lawsuit alleges officers pointed guns at two young girls, making them wet the bed. Several family members are showing PTSD symptoms after the botched raid, according to the lawsuit.
CelebrityThe WeekObama's star-studded 60th birthday party pared back to 'family and close friends' amid Delta surge
It's former President Barack Obama's party, and he can cancel if he wants to. Of course Obama, having planned his 60th birthday party for months, almost certainly did not want to significantly scale back Saturday's big celebration on Martha's Vineyard, but spokeswoman Hannah Hankins said Wednesday morning that "due to the new spread of the Delta variant over the past week," the Obamas "have decided to significantly scale back the event to include only family and close friends." Obama is "appreciative of others sending their birthday wishes from afar and looks forward to seeing people soon," Hankins added.
“If nothing else, Tokyo 2020 may end up being remembered as the wake-up call everyone needed.”
“Cancel the Olympics—for good.”
“Olympians haven’t really changed. These athletes still showcase extraordinary human achievement from around the world.”
“Delivering more excellence and less sideshow will probably require giving athletes a bigger voice in how the Olympics are run.”
“The Olympics were conceived in 1896 as a sporting event, and they’ve become a construction event.”