- WorldAssociated Press
Rocket fired toward US Embassy in Iraq injures child
The Iraqi military said Sunday that a rocket aimed at Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, home of the U.S. Embassy, struck a residential house and injured a child. Iraqi officials said the embassy's recently installed C-RAM air defense system may have attempted to intercept the rocket as the system was operational late Saturday. A recent spate of rocket attacks have struck close to the U.S. Embassy and targeted American troops in Iraqi bases.
WorldAFPChina detains professor who criticised Xi over coronavirus
Chinese authorities on Monday detained a law professor who published essays criticising President Xi Jinping over the coronavirus pandemic and accusing him of ruling "tyrannically", according to friends of the man. Xu Zhangrun, a rare outspoken critic of the government in China's heavily censored academia, was taken from his home in suburban Beijing by more than 20 people, one of his friends said on condition of anonymity. Xu published an essay in February blaming the culture of deception and censorship fostered by Xi for the spread of the coronavirus in China.
- U.S.INSIDER
New York officials say a perfect storm of problems has made it an especially deadly summer in the city: 'It's guns. It's the gangs. It's the lack of jobs.'
Reuters Shootings in New York City claimed the lives of at least 11 people over the weekend, police say. The weekend follows an especially violent June: 250 people were shot in the first 28 days of the month, according to NYPD stats. On Monday morning, Mayor Bill De Blasio attributed the spike in violence to what might be the "single worst combination of crises New York City has ever faced," including the court closure and coronavirus.
- WorldBusiness Insider
The WHO changed its coronavirus timeline to say it got its first report about the virus on the internet, not from Chinese authorities
reported last month that China delayed the release of critical information about the outbreak to the public and the WHO for several days, and waited more than a week to release the virus' genome — actions that likely delayed the development of vaccines, drugs, and diagnostic tests. The AP also reported in April that top Chinese leaders had known for six days in January that the coronavirus could become a deadly pandemic, but told the world the virus posed a low risk to people and could not be transmitted between humans. At the same time, the WHO, which relies on countries to provide their own data, took China at its word and offered the same advice — which has since proven to be wrong.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Deadly 'brain-eating' amoeba infects person in Florida
An amoeba that destroys brain tissue has been confirmed in an unidentified person in Florida, health officials say. The Hillsborough County Department of Health announced the infection Friday. The infection caused by Naegleria fowleri, commonly referred to as the "brain-eating amoeba," is a microscopic single-celled living amoeba.
- WorldThe National Interest
We Fought a U.S.-China War in the South China Sea. The U.S. Navy Lost.
The U.S. Navy is backing up its Philippine allies — two LCSs, USS Freedom and USS Fort Worth, are both about 30 miles south of the Emilio Jacinto and Artemio Ricarde. The USS Halsey, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, is behind them at an equal distance. Shots fired The ships of the Philippine navy have comparatively crude sensors — basically amounting to eyeballs and navigational radars — and are having a difficult time identifying all of the ship traffic in and around the shoal.
- PoliticsTime
FDA Head Declines to Defend or Deny Trump Claim That 99% of COVID-19 Cases Are 'Totally Harmless'
On Sunday, the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declined to criticize President Donald Trump's unfounded claim that 99% of COVID-19 cases are “totally harmless.” As the United States neared 130,000 deaths from COVID-19 this Independence Day weekend, Trump asserted at a speech yesterday that the U.S. has tested 40 million people and that 99% of cases are “harmless.” The President's claim contradicts the existing data, including estimates by the Centers for Disease Control of the number of asymptomatic patients and evidence that this group can actively transmit the disease. CNN's Dana Bash urged Hahn to address the President's statement, expressing concern that the President's claim could lead people to underestimate the dangers of the virus.
- U.S.National Review
Portland Police See 240 Percent Yearly Increase in July Shootings
Portland police have responded to 17 shootings so far this month, a 240 percent increase when the city saw five in the same timeframe last year, the department announced Monday. In a statement, Portland police chief Chuck Lovell called the spike “alarming.” Portland has faced weeks of unrest following the death of George Floyd in May. Over the weekend, police declared a riot after a bronze sculpture honoring Oregon's pioneers was set ablaze outside the city's justice center.
- WorldReuters
Constitutional changes are the 'right thing' for Russia: Putin
President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday constitutional amendments approved in a nationwide vote created the conditions for Russia's "progressive development" for decades to come. One of the changes approved in the week-long vote that ended on July 1 makes it possible for Putin to seek two more terms as president and, if re-elected, to stay in power until 2036. Other changes grant former presidents immunity from prosecution, enshrine a reference in the constitution to God, offer pensions protection and define marriage as a union of a man and a woman.
- EntertainmentArchitectural Digest
Olson Kundig’s Latest Design Embraces Its Hawaiian Habitat
On a stunning lava rock field site in Kona, this stunning home seems to hover over the landscape as a series of pavilions Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- U.S.Associated Press
Newspaper owner: Sorry for equating mask rule to Holocaust
A Kansas county Republican Party chairman who owns a weekly newspaper apologized Sunday for a cartoon posted on the paper's Facebook page that equated the Democratic governor's coronavirus-inspired order for people to wear masks in public with the mass murder of Jews by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Dane Hicks, owner and publisher of The Anderson County Review, said in a statement on Facebook that he was removing the cartoon after “some heartfelt and educational conversations with Jewish leaders in the U.S. and abroad.” The newspaper posted the cartoon Friday, and it drew dozens of critical responses and international attention.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoPredominantly Black armed protesters march through Confederate memorial park in Georgia
A predominantly Black group of heavily armed protesters marched through Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta on Saturday, calling for removal of the giant Confederate rock carving at the site that civil rights activists consider a monument to racism.
- ScienceBusiness Insider
NASA's powerful Hubble space telescope has beamed back a striking photo of a 'fluffy' galaxy with a ghostly, empty center
By contrast, other spiral galaxies — including the Milky Way — have more distinct arms where stars and gas are compressed. Hubble is NASA's strongest telescope — but not for long NASA launched Hubble into Earth's orbit in April 1990. Since then, the telescope has discovered new planets, revealed strange galaxies, and provided new insights into the nature of black holes.
WorldUSA TODAYDr. Anthony Fauci warns US is 'knee-deep' in first wave of coronavirus cases and prognosis is 'really not good'
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Monday that the United States' handle on the coronavirus outbreak is “really not good” and that action is needed to curb the spread. New cases in the U.S. have reached record highs, climbing to around 50,000 a day. Nearly 3 million Americans have contracted the virus, with more than 130,000 deaths, according to data from John Hopkins University.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Ofcom's verdict on China is historic - and personal, says British investigator forced into TV confession
Ofcom's damning judgment on Monday against Chinese state television outfit CGTN for helping China's police extract and broadcast forced and false confessions from untried prisoners is an important victory against the human rights abuses of the Chinese Communist Party dictatorship. During a two-year captivity ordeal in 2013-2015 on manufactured charges, I was twice submitted to this abusive practice, once while locked in a cage with steel bars. I and my wife were accused of illegal information gathering on behalf of our due diligence firm, ChinaWhys, after being engaged by GlaxoSmithKline to profile a former Chinese GSK executive who turned out to be a whistle-blower informing Chinese police ...
- WorldThe National Interest
This Chinese Submarine Could Drop a Nuclear Weapon on America
Here's What You Need To Remember: The nuclear submarine club is indeed a highly exclusive club—and those with nuclear ballistic missiles even more so. China's Type 094, or Jin-class nuclear submarines are capable, but they may be tools for promoting national prestige rather than true nuclear deterrence. The Type 094, or Jin-class as it is also known, is operated by the People's Liberation Army Submarine Force.
- U.S.Politico
Roger Stone asks appeals court to keep him from prison
President Donald Trump's longtime political adviser Roger Stone is mounting a last-ditch bid to get a federal appeals court to put off the 40-month prison sentence he is facing after being convicted of trying to thwart a congressional investigation into alleged ties between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. Attorneys for Stone asked the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday for an emergency stay of U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson's ruling last week putting Stone, 67, under house arrest at his Fort Lauderdale home and directing him to report to a federal prison camp by July 14. Stone's lawyers say an undisclosed medical condition he suffers from leaves him at greater risk of death if he catches coronavirus, that his chances of being infected behind bars are high, and that the prison complex in Jesup, Ga., where he is supposed to serve his term is now reporting a half-dozen cases of the virus among inmates and three among staff.
- WorldBBC
South Korea rejects US extradition request over child abuse website
A South Korean court has denied a US extradition request for the man behind one of the world's largest child sexual abuse websites. Son Jong-woo, who ran the site Welcome to Video, served 18 months in South Korea for producing and distributing indecent images of children. Following his initial release in April, Son was taken back into custody after a warrant was issued for US extradition.
- LifestyleNBC News
Despite precautions, summer camps have failed to keep out the coronavirus
As summer camps debated whether and how to operate during the coronavirus pandemic this spring, Kanakuk Kamps, a prominent network of Christian sports camps in Missouri, announced that its five overnight camps would open to over 20,000 kids starting May 30. By Monday the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services told the St. Louis Post Dispatch that the number had jumped to 76.
- U.S.The Independent
Outrage as Mississippi election commissioner complains 'the Blacks' are registering to vote in high numbers
A Mississippi elections official became the subject of social media fury over the weekend when she tweeted that she was "concerned" about an increase in black voters. "I'm concerned about voter registration in Mississippi," Gail Welch, an elections commissioner in Jones County, Mississippi wrote. The Clarion Ledger reported that Ms Welch wrote the comment on Sunday on Facebook.
- HealthAssociated Press
Scientists urge WHO to acknowledge virus can spread in air
More than 200 scientists have called for the World Health Organization and others to acknowledge that the coronavirus can spread in the air — a change that could alter some of the current measures being taken to stop the pandemic. In a letter published this week in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, two scientists from Australia and the U.S. wrote that studies have shown “beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are released during exhalation, talking and coughing in microdroplets small enough to remain aloft in the air. That means people in certain indoor conditions could be at greater risk of being infected than was previously thought.
- U.S.Business Insider
What the top 25 colleges and universities in the US have said about their plans to reopen in fall 2020, from postponing the semester to offering more remote coursework
US universities began shifting to remote learning in light of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. Here's what the top 25 US colleges and universities have discussed for fall 2020 reopening plans so far. To inform our list, Business Insider used education research firm Quacquarelli Symonds' first-ever US specific ranking of the best colleges and universities in 2020.
- U.S.INSIDER
A rare case of brain-eating amoeba has been confirmed in Florida. Officials are telling residents to avoid tap water, and to swim with nose clips.
One Florida resident was infected with a rare and dangerous brain-eating amoeba. The Florida Department of Health warned residents to avoid nasal contact with tap water, and to avoid swimming in warm freshwater. The Florida Department of Health is warning residents of Hillsborough County to avoid nasal contact with tap water after confirming that someone in the region has been infected by a rare, brain-eating amoeba.
- U.S.USA TODAY Opinion
As divisions threaten America, the pressure to cancel presidents is dangerous
Princeton University has decided to remove former President Woodrow Wilson's name from its school of Public and International Affairs, citing his “racist thinking and policies.” Looking solely through the lens of race relations, the case against Wilson is clear. In his 1912 run for the White House, Wilson would warm up the crowds with racial jokes that today would be unprintable. Gazing back across the long century since Wilson was in office shows the progress we have made as a country.
- U.S.Miami Herald
Applebee’s employee dies in parking lot while celebrating July 4, Texas police say
A Fourth of July celebration in Texas came to a tragic end when a woman fell from a moving vehicle in an Applebee's parking lot and died early Sunday, officials say. Around 12:30 a.m., police said a 24-year-old Applebee's employee and some of her coworkers decided to set off fireworks in the Houston restaurant's parking lot after closing for the night, KHOU reported. The 24-year-old woman and an 18-year-old friend stood on the rear bumper, KPRC reported.
