PoliticsYahoo NewsRep. Ronny Jackson — Trump's controversial ex-doctor — calls for Biden cognitive test
Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas — former President Donald Trump's controversial ex-doctor — sent a letter to President Biden on Thursday demanding that he take a cognitive test and make the results public. To achieve this, we urge you to submit to a cognitive test immediately. In 2018, Jackson, the attending White House physician at the time, announced that Trump had requested and aced a cognitive test during a physical examination to disprove claims that his mental health was deteriorating.
WorldAssociated PressAfghanistan running out of oxygen as COVID surge worsens
Afghanistan's is racing to ramp up supplies of oxygen as a deadly third surge of COVID-19 worsens, a senior health official told The Associated Press in an interview Saturday. The government is installing oxygen supply plants in 10 provinces where up to 65% of those tested in some areas are COVID positive, health ministry spokesman Ghulam Dastigir Nazari said. Afghanistan's 24-hour infection count has also continued its upward climb from 1,500 at the end of May when the health ministry was already calling the surge “a crisis,” to more than 2,300 this week.
WorldBBCAlieu Kosiah: Liberian convicted of war crimes in Swiss court
Alieu Kosiah has been found guilty of war crimes in a Swiss court, becoming the first Liberian to be convicted over the country's civil war. Around 250,000 people were killed in Liberia's two conflicts between 1989 and 2003, and many thousands more fled. The trial was the first under a 2011 Swiss law that allows prosecution for war crimes committed anywhere in the world.
WorldThe TelegraphRumours swirl that China’s top spycatcher has defected to the US
Rumours abounded on Friday night that China's top spycatcher had defected to the US, amid a growing focus in Washington on the theory that Covid-19 escaped from a Wuhan laboratory. Dong Jingwei, vice minister of state security, was reported to have flown from Hong Kong to the US in February with his daughter. There was no confirmation of the rumoured development from either the US or China.
U.S.Raleigh News and ObserverPolice investigating after 17-year-old shot, killed at graduation party in Garner
Garner police are investigating the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old at a graduation party early Saturday morning. The Garner Police Department said that Messiah Pitt was shot and killed some time after midnight as a graduation party on Claymore Drive in Garner was ending. Pitt is the only known injury, according to Capt. Lorie Smith.
- PoliticsThe Week
Russian media apparently sees Biden as a shrewd statesman, not a bumbling dotard, after Putin meeting
We probably won't know for a while whether President Biden's sit-down with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva this week produced any tangible benefits for the U.S. But Biden did accomplish one thing, at least: Russia's pro-Kremlin media no longer views him as a dotard. For months, Russian state media ridiculed Biden "as bumbling, confused, and well past his prime," The New York Times reports. "But by Thursday, the mood had shifted: Here was a man in the White House, some said, who understands us, whom we can do business with."
WorldThe TelegraphKim Jong-un says ready for negotiations with US as food shortages bite
Kim Jong-un has declared that North Korea should be ready for negotiations with the United States, striking an unusually conciliatory note amid a growing economic crisis that has led to dire shortages of fuel and food. The dictator's comments come just days after the United States and others urged the totalitarian regime to abandon its nuclear program and return to talks. Speaking at a meeting on the ruling Workers' Party on Friday, the North Korean leader “stressed the need to get prepared for both dialogue and confrontation,” according to the state-run KCNA news agency.
WorldBBCApple Daily: Hong Kong police raid sparks rush on newspapers
People in Hong Kong have queued up to buy copies of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily a day after its newsroom was raided by police. The raid on the newspaper came as two of its executives were charged under Hong Kong's controversial new national security law. Editor-in-chief Ryan Law and chief executive officer Cheung Kim-hung were the two charged.
PoliticsThe TelegraphBiden returns from world tour to find sinking popularity and spending plans in disarray
Joe Biden returned from his sojourn to the UK and Europe to face a growing list of domestic headaches as his big-spending policies stalled and were also blamed for rising inflation. While Mr Biden was meeting Vladimir Putin in Geneva a bipartisan group of 21 senators - 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats - came up with a compromise that would almost halve the amount to $1.2 trillion over eight years. The resulting gridlock explains why a Monmouth University poll this week made worrying reading for Mr Biden after Air Force One landed back in the US.
U.S.Idaho StatesmanHome where Manson murders took place sells in California – after price reduction
The Los Feliz home where Charles Manson's followers savagely killed the LaBiancas has finally sold after spending months on the California real estate market. The house, which was owned by paranormal investigator Zak Bagans according to the New York Post, sold for a discounted $1.875 million. The two-bedroom home was the famous site where Manson instructed his “family” — a group of individuals radicalized by Manson's teachings – to murder Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, one night after they killed actor Sharon Tate and four others in August 1969.
WorldBBCAustralia takes wine dispute with China to WTO
Australia will file a formal complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) after China imposed up to 218% tariffs on its wine last year. China says the tariffs were increased because of trading malpractice, which Australia denies. Australia says it remains open to engaging directly with China to resolve the issue.
U.S.Miami HeraldA swimmer in the Gulf was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then came the shark
A state park in northwest Florida on the Gulf was on high alert Thursday after a swimmer was bitten by a shark. According to a Tweet from South Walton Fire District, an emergency crew was summoned to Grayton Beach State Park in Seaside sometime in the afternoon after calls came in about the attack. SWFD responded to a report of a shark attack off the coast of Grayton Beach State Park Thursday afternoon.
WorldThe TelegraphFounding father of the EU Robert Schuman in line for sainthood from Catholic Church
One of the founding fathers of the European Union was put on the path to sainthood by Pope Francis. Robert Schuman, who called for a supranational community for coal and steel in 1950, was recognised by the Pope for his “heroic virtues”, the Vatican said. Mr Schuman said cooperation on coal and steel, especially involving France and Germany, would make future wars impossible.
PoliticsThe WeekMcCarthy spox clarifies Trump-speaker comments
A spokesperson for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said while it wasn't "crystal clear," the congressman meant to say during a Fox News interview on Friday that former President Donald Trump wants him to be House speaker if Republicans take the lower chamber back in 2022. In the clip, it appears McCarthy says Trump himself wants to be speaker, but McCarthy's camp is clarifying what would have been a surprising admission for someone who has his own eyes on the gavel. CNN's Chris Cilizza predicted McCarthy would backtrack, and argues it's "virtually impossible" to take him at his word because of what he described as "rampant dishonesty in the GOP over the last five years."
U.S.BBCPornhub videos: Women sue, alleging lack of consent
More than 30 women are suing the company which owns the streaming site Pornhub, alleging exploitation over the use of explicit videos of them. The women say the videos were uploaded to Pornhub without their consent and have lodged a civil suit in California. The California lawsuit accuses Mindgeek of running a "criminal enterprise".
U.S.The New York TimesMan Pleads Guilty to Threatening to Lynch 2 Members of Congress
A Missouri man pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that he had threatened to lynch a Black congressman the day after the Jan. 6 siege at the U.S. Capitol and a Jewish congressman in 2019, court records show. The man, Kenneth Hubert, 63, of Marionville, Missouri, was arrested in March after, prosecutors said, he had directed the threats at U.S. Reps. Emanuel Cleaver II, D-Mo., and Steve Cohen, D-Tenn. According to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Hubert pleaded guilty to two counts of threatening to assault a U.S. official.
- PoliticsYahoo News Video
Ohio House expels former GOP speaker in historic vote
Members of the Ohio House expelled Rep. Larry Householder, the federally indicted Republican ex-speaker, Wednesday in a bipartisan vote that invoked their powers to remove a member for the first time in 150 years.
U.S.LA TimesHere are some things to know about the extreme drought in the Western U.S.
The prolonged dryness means low water levels are endangering fish species in Oregon and Colorado, 30% of California's population is in a drought emergency, and the nation's two biggest reservoirs on the Colorado River — Lake Powell and Lake Mead — are two-thirds empty. "What we see in our major reservoirs on the Colorado River really give us a good indication of water and drought in the West, and whether we're in a good or a tough spot," said John Berggren, a water policy analyst at Western Resource Advocates, a nonprofit organization. And right now, we're definitely in the latter category.
PoliticsBBCMike Pence: Hecklers brand ex-VP 'traitor' at conservative conference
Former US Vice-President Mike Pence has been branded a "traitor" by hecklers during a speech at a conference for religious conservatives. Mr Pence faced jeers as he addressed the Faith and Freedom Coalition in Orlando, Florida on Friday. In the speech, he criticised the policies of Democratic US President Joe Biden and defended those of his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.
U.S.The StateAre Americans worried about COVID spreading to their family? What new poll finds
An all-time low percentage of people said they're very concerned about COVID spreading to them or their family, according to a recent poll. The survey, done by the Associated Press and the National Opinion Research Center for Public Affairs Research, found 21% of respondents said they're “very worried” or “extremely worried” about the virus reaching them or their family — a record low since the pandemic began. Americans also said they're more likely to resume pre-pandemic activities, including visiting friends and family, shopping in-person, going to a restaurant or bar, traveling, exercising at a gym, attending a sports event and going to a movie, theater or concert compared to when they were asked the same question in May 2020.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderGOP congressman lashes out at Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday: 'Are we going to do one for the Native American Indians?'
GOP Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, one of 14 Republicans who voted against the legislation, took to Fox News Radio on Thursday to explain his opposition, saying that the vote "was an easy no vote" and questioned if a holiday would now have to be established for Native Americans as well. During the program "Fox Across America with Jimmy Failla," Norman also cited the number of existing holidays in detailing his rejection of a federal holiday for Juneteenth, while alleging that supporters were using "race" as an issue. "There's one Fourth of July.
HealthLexington Herald-LeaderIs it better to get immunity from catching COVID — or vaccines? What science shows
Research shows both coronavirus infection and vaccination offers immunity that can protect people from getting sick again. Regardless of how immunity is acquired, there's no telling whose bodies will or won't create effective antibodies, and why they last longer for some than others; doctors speculate age or certain medical conditions might play a role. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that between February 2020 and March 2021, there were about 114.6 million total coronavirus infections in the U.S.. That's about 81.1 million more cases than are confirmed as of June 17.
U.S.LA TimesAfghanistan's air force is a rare U.S.-backed success story. It may soon fail.
But there is a deeper problem: Over the last two decades the U.S. has built an army in its own image, with Afghan security forces relying on some 18,000 contractors for everything from buying fuel and bullets to doing payroll to the critical tasks of maintaining the 162 aircraft used by the AAF and training the pilots who fly them. Since late 2019, 94% of U.S. forces involved in training and advising the air force have left, so contractors have taken on almost all roles. Without continued contractor support, according to a Defense Department inspector general's report earlier this year, those warplanes would be combat effective for only a few months.
PoliticsINSIDERThe accused Capitol rioter who took photos at Nancy Pelosi's desk had his request to attend a car show denied by a judge
On Friday, a federal judge denied a Capitol riot suspect's request to go to a car show. Richard Barnett was photographed putting his feet on Nancy Pelosi's desk during the insurrection. A federal judge ruled Friday that the accused Capitol rioter who was photographed with his feet up on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's desk is not allowed to go to a car show, The Associated Press reported.
U.S.Business InsiderTake a look at some of the lakes in California that have been swallowed up by the 'megadrought'
California has been hit by a "megadrought" that has dried up key reservoirs in the state. Entire lakes have shrunk exponentially, leaving yachts and docks beached on dry land. Nearly 95% of the state is experiencing "severe drought" and is susceptible to wild fires.
“It may seem desperate at this point, but I can’t be mad at any and all efforts to get people vaccinated.”
“I won’t get rich, but I will get to live my life. That seems like reward enough.”
“Offering incentives may encourage people who are not actively opposed to vaccination but may have put it off.”
“At some point, the government is simply rewarding irresponsible behavior.”
“Sure, people should do it without needing an incentive. But what’s the alternative? Not enough people get vaccinated.”