- PoliticsYahoo News
As COVID cases spike in Florida, Trump now says he's 'flexible' on convention format in Jacksonville
With coronavirus cases exploding in Florida, President Trump said he is “flexible” about the need for a traditional indoor Republican National Convention in Jacksonville next month. The Republican National Committee had scrapped plans to hold the party's convention in Charlotte, N.C., after Gov. Roy Cooper said he would only allow “a scaled-down convention with fewer people, social distancing and face coverings.” In a television interview with former Fox anchor Greta Van Susteren, Trump suggested the format for the Aug. 24-27 event would depend on the severity of the outbreak in the Sunshine State.
- BusinessYahoo News
As COVID-19 makes a comeback, so will lockdowns
At the outset, Fauci warned that America was still “knee-deep in the first wave” of the contagion, describing the country's new normal of more than 50,000 cases per day as “a serious situation that we have to address immediately. But how? asked Collins.
- U.S.NBC News
'I feel threatened': Unmasked Florida man's viral Costco outburst cost him his job
A man's outburst at a Costco in Florida that was caught on video has cost him his job. A video of the incident was posted to Twitter on Monday night by filmmaker Billy Corben. "Florida man at Fort Myers Costco in 'Running the World Since 1776' shirt flips out on elderly woman who asked him to wear a mask and man who defended her #BecauseFlorida," Corben tweeted.
- U.S.Associated Press
Black Lives Matter protesters face rare leak charge in Iowa
Prosecutors in Iowa have filed a rarely used leak charge against Black Lives Matter protesters accused of stealing a confidential police document and displaying it during a television news broadcast. Two protesters are charged with unauthorized dissemination of intelligence data, a felony that carries up to five years in prison. The Iowa Judicial Branch says it's only the second time that the charge has been filed since 2010.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
Texas Governor Is ‘Putting Lives at Risk,’ Local Officials Say
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo believes she knows what her county needs to fight back against COVID-19. “I'm at the mercy of what powers he positively gives us,” Hidalgo told The Daily Beast. As Texas faces a resurgent coronavirus and some officials have emphasized concerns about hospitals in the state becoming potentially overrun or overwhelmed, Hidalgo can find plenty of reasons to worry.
- U.S.USA TODAY
'I would be very careful in the middle of the street': Drivers have hit protesters 66 times since May 27
Amid thousands of protests nationwide against police brutality, dozens of drivers have plowed into crowds of protesters marching in roadways, raising questions about the drivers' motivations. While witnesses, law enforcement and terrorism experts say that some of the vehicle incidents appear to be targeted and politically motivated, others appear to be situations where the driver became frightened or enraged by protesters surrounding their vehicle. "I look at it as an anti-protester group of acts, some of which are white supremacist, some not."
- WorldThe Telegraph
Militants kill BJP politician Wasim Bari and his family in Kashmir
A Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party politician was killed along with his brother and father in Indian administered Kashmir, officials said on Thursday. Wasim Bari, 38, and his family were attacked by militants at his residence in north Kashmir's Bandipora district on Wednesday night. All three were shot at point-blank range and died on the way to hospital.
- U.S.Reuters
New York attorney general recommends reducing mayor's power over police
New York Attorney General Letitia James recommended that New York City's mayor give up sole control over the city police commissioner's hiring, in a preliminary report released on Wednesday on her investigation into the policing of recent protests. The commission would have final say on the department's budget and officer discipline. "There should be an entirely new accountability structure for NYPD," James said in her report, which also recommended giving more power to the Civilian Complaint Review Board, a city agency that reviews police misconduct.
- WorldNational Review
China’s Confucius Institutes Attempt to Rebrand Following Backlash
China is attempting to rebrand Confucius Institutes following a worldwide backlash against the centers. Confucius Institutes, which are present on dozens of U.S. college campuses and at other foreign universities, carry the stated purpose of promoting Chinese language and culture. The Confucius Institute Headquarters in Beijing has changed its name to the “Ministry of Education Centre for Language Education and Cooperation.”
- U.S.BBC
César Duarte: Fugitive Mexican ex-governor arrested in Miami
César Duarte, a former Mexican state governor who became a fugitive, has been arrested in Miami after more than three years on the run. Mr Duarte, governor of Chihuahua until 2016, fled after he was accused of embezzling public funds. The arrest came as Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador paid an official visit to the US for talks with President Trump.
- PoliticsLA Times
With a Senate majority in reach, Democratic candidates rake in massive donations
A group of Democratic challengers to incumbent Republican U.S. senators has once again posted massive fundraising numbers, raising the party's hopes of reclaiming the Senate from the GOP in the November election. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, challenging Republican Sen. Steve Daines, reported raising $7.7 million in the year's second quarter. The fundraising spree has extended into typically deep-red South Carolina, where former state Democratic Party Chair Jaime Harrison amassed $13.9 million over the quarter in a showdown with prominent Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
- U.S.NBC News
Body of missing Connecticut school teacher who thought he had coronavirus found in waters off Long Island
A beloved Connecticut school teacher who disappeared in the early morning hours of his 50th birthday while quarantining over COVID-19 fears, has been found dead, according to the Suffolk County Police Department. The body of Gil Cunha was found in the waters off the coast of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, near Fire Island, according to a release emailed to Dateline by the Suffolk County Police. “Detectives determined the remains were from a body that had been discovered after being struck by the propeller of a tugboat on May 27 at 6:50 a.m.,” Suffolk County Police said in a statement.
- WorldAssociated Press
Chechen leader blames foreign spies for slaying his critics
The regional strongman leader of Russia's province of Chechnya on Thursday blamed unidentified foreign spy agencies for the recent killing in Austria of a Chechen man who criticized him. Ramzan Kadyrov claimed on his blog that the ethnic Chechen who was shot dead in a Vienna suburb over the weekend fell victim to “special services working against Russia and myself.” The 43-year-old Chechen leader rejected allegations of his involvement in the slaying, saying that the killing in Vienna and earlier slayings of ethnic Chechens in Europe were performed by foreign spies to compromise him and tarnish Russia's image.
- U.S.The New York Times
Case Against Amy Cooper Lacks Key Element: Victim's Cooperation
The Manhattan district attorney's decision to charge a white woman with filing a false police report against a Black man in Central Park does not have the support of one key person: the victim himself. The man, Christian Cooper, has not cooperated with the prosecution's investigation. The woman, Amy Cooper, lost her job and was publicly shamed after a video Christian Cooper made on May 25 was posted online; it showed her calling 911 to claim an “African American man” was threatening her.
SportsKABC – Los Angeles2 men arrested for looting stores in Santa Monica during protests
Santa Monica Police arrested two suspects wanted for looting the REI and VANS stores during the protests against police brutality.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Amid Black Lives Matter protests, more school districts are pushing to address racism. Is it enough?
To create an environment in schools where students hopefully will not feel these pressures, the administration has asked the school board to come up with a plan to make equity a key focus by creating a dedicated position to provide “leadership and oversight in equity and excellence,” officials said. You need to look at policies, you need to look at curriculum, you need to look at disciplinary practices, you need to look at simply educating everyone on what's going on,” Kannan said. You need to look at hiring.
- WorldThe Guardian
Brazil: Bolsonaro reportedly uses homophobic slur to mock masks
One day after announcing he had tested positive for coronavirus Jair Bolsonaro has come under fire for allegedly using homophobic language to mock the use of face masks. The Folha de São Paulo, a leading broadsheet, claimed Brazil's far-right leader had baited presidential staff who were using protective masks, claiming such equipment was “coisa de viado” (a homophobic slur that roughly translates as “for fairies”). Bolsonaro is a longstanding enemy of Brazil's LGBTQ+ community and during three decades in politics has made no secret of his homophobia.
- StyleArchitectural Digest
15 Platform Beds to Elevate Your Bedroom Style
You'll love these contemporary styles and budget-friendly price points Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
Fauci says the emphasis on a lower coronavirus death rate, often touted by Trump, promotes a 'false narrative'
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious-disease expert, says taking "comfort" in the recent lower coronavirus death rate is a "false narrative" of the COVID-19 pandemic. "There's so many other things that are very dangerous and very bad about this virus," Fauci said Tuesday. Fauci, one of the health experts serving on the White House coronavirus task force, appeared on a livestreamed press conference about the coronavirus with Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama on Tuesday.
- U.S.The Independent
New York mayor blames 'dislocation' caused by coronavirus for wave of shootings that left 10 dead and 54 injured over weekend
At least 10 people were killed among 64 shootings reported in New York City over the Fourth of July weekend, which saw a violent spree in several major cities still reeling from coronavirus infections and widespread protests against police violence. For the first time since 2016, the city surpassed 400 shootings by mid-year. The New York Police Department reported that the city saw 528 shootings by the end of June, one of the most violent halves of the year in more than 20 years.
- PoliticsNBC News
Trump admin plans to block asylum seekers from U.S. by citing risk of COVID-19
The Trump administration has proposed a new rule that would allow it to deny asylum to immigrants who are deemed a public health risk. The soon-to-be published rule would let the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice to block immigrants from seeking asylum in the U.S. based on "potential international threats from the spread of pandemics," according to a notice announcing it Wednesday. The rule would apply to immigrants seeking asylum and those seeking "withholding of removal" — a protected immigration status for those who have shown they more likely than not would face danger if returned to their home countries.
- U.S.Associated Press
US seizes 81 vehicles in Venezuela smuggling ring
Federal investigators said Wednesday they have seized 81 vehicles worth an estimated $3.2 million that were bound for Venezuela as part of a smuggling ring operated for wealthy and politically connected people. Anthony Salisbury, chief of the Miami Homeland Security Investigations office, said the vehicles were to be smuggled in violation of U.S. export laws and sanctions against the socialist Venezuelan government, “This is all part of an ongoing effort to combat foreign public corruption and in particular for public corruption in Venezuela and the laundering and the fleecing of the Venezuelan people's wealth and the stealing of the Venezuelan wealth from the national treasury for the gain ...
- U.S.Miami Herald
Mom kidnaps daughter and flies to Mexico to give Russia US defense secrets, feds say
A 47-year-old woman is accused of taking her 6-year-old daughter and top secret government documents to Mexico to try to broker a deal with Russian officials. She didn't have custody of the girl — or permission to take the classified documents, according to Justice Department officials. Elizabeth Jo Shirley, of West Virginia, pleaded guilty on Monday to charges of “international parental kidnapping” and taking national defense information, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.
- WorldBBC
Park Won-soon: Mayor of Seoul found dead after going missing
Police in the South Korea's capital Seoul have found the body of the city's mayor after he went missing on Thursday. Park Won-soon's daughter reportedly told police he had left a message before leaving the house, leading her to raise the alarm. It has emerged that a female employee had filed a sexual harassment claim against Mr Park in the hours before he went missing, but there has been no confirmation that this was a factor.
- WorldReuters
Senior China diplomat urges "positive energy" in ties with United States
Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi said on Thursday that China and U.S. relations face the most serious challenges since diplomatic ties were established in 1979 but the two countries can return to the right track. China and the United States should jointly explore ways for peaceful coexistence and release more "positive energy," State Councilor Wang, who is also foreign minister, said in a speech posted on his ministry's website. Washington and Beijing have been at loggerheads over the handling of the coronavirus outbreak, China's actions in the former British colony of Hong Kong, a long-running trade dispute, and frictions over Taiwan and the South China Sea.
