- U.S.Yahoo News
Oklahoma becomes latest red state to approve Obamacare's Medicaid expansion at the ballot box
Voters in Oklahoma narrowly approved an expansion of Medicaid on Tuesday night, making it the latest conservative-leaning state to approve of the Obamacare provision at the ballot box. The measure bypasses the Republican-controlled Legislature and governor's mansion to enshrine insurance coverage for low-income Oklahomans via the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) in the state's constitution. “In the middle of a pandemic, Oklahomans stepped up and delivered lifesaving care for nearly 200,000 of our neighbors, took action to keep our rural hospitals open, and brought our tax dollars home to protect jobs and boost our local economy,” Yes on 802 campaign manager Amber England said in a statement after the victory.
- U.S.Yahoo News
After a Black protester is killed in Omaha, witnesses claim a rushed investigation ignored signs of the shooter's allegedly racist past
More than 300 people have been arrested in Omaha since Friday, May 29, when the city of less than 500,000 was swept up in the tidal wave of protests against police brutality and systemic racism that had erupted in Minneapolis after the brutal killing by police of an unarmed Black man named George Floyd. Jake Gardner, the white bar owner who shot and killed James Scurlock, a 22-year-old Black protester, on the second night of unrest in Omaha — Saturday, May 30 — wasn't one of them. Within just 36 hours of the shooting, Douglas County prosecutor Don Kleine announced that criminal charges would not be filed, finding that Gardner — a 38-year-old ex-Marine with an expired concealed carry permit — had shot Scurlock in self-defense.
- U.S.National Review
Harvard Grad Says She Was Fired from Deloitte Job for Threatening ‘All Lives Matter’ Supporters
A recent Harvard graduate who threatened to “stab” anyone who told her “all lives matter” has been fired from her job, she announced in a tearful video. Claira Janover, who said in a viral but since-deleted TikTok post that she would “stab” those with “the nerve” to say “all lives matter,” posted several tearful videos explaining that her new employer, Deloitte, had fired her. “I know this is what Trump supporters wanted because standing up for Black Lives Matter put me in a place online to be seen by millions of people,” Janover explained.
U.S.FOX News VideosSen. Scott on COVID-19 surge in Florida: We can beat this without the government taking away our rights
Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott says citizens can responsibly combat the virus by being given more information from the government instead of just being told what to do.
- WorldReuters
Italian police seize record amount of amphetamines shipped from Syria
Italian police said on Wednesday they had seized about 14 tonnes of amphetamine pills worth around 1 billion euros ($1 billion) arriving from Syria, in what they described as the world's single largest operation of its kind. Used in the 1960s to treat narcolepsy and depression, Captagon is one of several brand names for fenethylline hydrochloride, a drug compound belonging to a family of amphetamines that can inhibit fear and ward off tiredness. Captagon is popular in the Middle East, and widespread in war-torn areas such as Syria, where conflict has fuelled demand and created opportunities for producers.
- PoliticsPolitico
Duckworth threatens to block military nominees unless impeachment witness Vindman gets promotion
Sen. Tammy Duckworth on Thursday announced she'll hold up the confirmation of more than 1,000 military promotions until Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirms that the promotion of impeachment witness Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman will move forward. Duckworth, a retired Army officer who lost both legs because of wounds sustained in the Iraq War, said she intends to block 1,123 promotions until Esper "confirms in writing that he did not, or will not, block the expected and deserved promotion" of Vindman to colonel. The move by the Illinois Democrat raises the stakes amid reports that the White House could nix Vindman's promotion from a list of officers set to move up the ranks.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Nerve agent fear as hundreds of elephants perish mysteriously in Botswana
The mysterious death of hundreds of elephants in Botswana has left experts alarmed that there could be a dangerous neurotoxin spreading through one of Africa's largest conservationist areas. Around 400 African elephants have died since April in the Okavango Delta, a wetland area in the northwest of the country often referred to as 'Africa's Last Eden.' Powerful poaching syndicates from Zambia and South Africa regularly cross into Botswana to shoot the animals with high-calibre rifles before hacking their tusks off with axes.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Texas lieutenant governor says he's done listening to Dr. Fauci: 'I don’t need his advice'
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he will no longer listen to Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nation's top infectious disease experts, as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations surge in Texas. “Fauci said today that he's concerned about states like Texas that skipped over certain things,” Patrick told Fox News' Laura Ingraham on Tuesday. Hours before Patrick's remarks, state health officials reported unprecedented numbers: more than 6,500 new cases of COVID-19 and more than 6,000 hospitalizations.
- U.S.LA Times
COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. may be 28% higher than official count, study estimates
As if the death toll of COVID-19 weren't bad enough, a new study estimates that the true number of U.S. fatalities linked to the pandemic is up to 28% higher than the official tally. Between March 1 and May 31, the number of COVID-19 deaths reported to the National Center for Health Statistics was 95,235. The country didn't have enough coronavirus test kits to make a definitive diagnosis for everyone suspected of having COVID-19, especially in the early days of the pandemic, they wrote.
- PoliticsYahoo News
GOP candidates who embrace far-right QAnon conspiracy theory score primary wins
A candidate who has expressed enthusiasm for QAnon knocked off a Trump-endorsed Republican incumbent in Colorado's House primary Tuesday night, becoming the latest in a string of victorious GOP candidates who have embraced the conspiracy theory. Bar owner and gun rights activist Lauren Boebert, 33, defeated five-time incumbent Rep. Scott Tipton in Colorado's Third Congressional District, which encompasses the mostly rural western half of the state. Boebert ran to Tipton's right, saying he wasn't supportive enough of President Trump.
- U.S.The Guardian
'We're not going anywhere': Seattle's Chop zone dismantled but cause lives on
The occupied protest zone near downtown Seattle known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, or “Chop”, effectively came to a swift end early on Wednesday morning when officers largely cleared the area of people and encampments, despite some protests lingering overnight into Thursday. “We had a space called the conversation cafe where people could come to learn about racism and to talk about it in ways they don't get to do in their daily lives.”
- U.S.Business Insider
St. Louis home owner says he's a victim of 'terrorism' and his 'life has been ruined' after his picture goes viral
Mark McCloskey, who along with his wife was pictured brandishing firearms in front of their home in St. Louis over the weekend, gave a new interview in which he said his "life has been ruined" after he fell victim to what he described as "terrorism." In a separate interview on Fox News, McCloskey disputed the claims that he was opposed to the Black Lives Matter movement and added that "my Black clients love us." A St. Louis man who was pictured alongside his wife showing off weapons Sunday as protesters marched through their neighborhood has given an interview to CNN's Chris Cuomo in which he discussed the fallout.
- WorldAssociated Press
US tries to seize Iranian gas heading toward Venezuela
U.S. federal prosecutors are seeking to seize four tankers sailing toward Venezuela with gasoline supplied by Iran, the latest attempt to disrupt ever-closer trade ties between the two heavily sanctioned anti-American allies. The civil-forfeiture complaint filed late Wednesday in the District of Columbia federal court alleges that the sale was arranged by a businessman, Mahmoud Madanipour, with ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. “The profits from these activities support the IRGC's full range of nefarious activities, including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, support for terrorism, and a variety of human rights abuses, at home and abroad,” prosecutor Zia Faruqui alleges in the complaint.
- BusinessThe National Interest
America's New B-21 Stealth Bomber Is Just Two-Years Away
The much anticipated, high-tech B-21 bomber will “come on in two years,” bringing new dimensions of stealth, software, attack possibilities and nuclear deterrence to the U.S. Air Force. It would even possibly usher in new tactical approaches to how modern operations may move forward in the years ahead. In a conversation with The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies regarding the importance of modernizing the nuclear triad, Air Force Chief of Staff General Stephen Wilson confirmed that the stealthy new aircraft will “come on in two years.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
Terry Crews and the Toxic ‘Black Supremacy’ Myth
Actor Terry Crews fears an imaginary future where reverse racism—to date, a fiction—reigns supreme. With these tweets, Crews seemed to be pointing to the increasing prevalence of pro-Black stances within Black communities, especially Black-activist circles and saying that they're too much—dangerous, even. Many popular Black pundits, actors, and commentators moved to call him in and out online, expressing outrage that a prominent Black figure like Crews is using his platform to espouse “all lives matter” talking points.
- PoliticsNational Review
Judge Blocks Trump Admin. Rule on Third-Country Asylum Seekers
A federal judge has overturned a Trump administration policy mandating that asylum seekers first apply for asylum in countries they pass through on their way to the U.S.-Mexico border. The policy was aimed at deterring illegal immigration from Central American countries including Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly of Washington, D.C., a Trump appointee, said that the administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act when adopting the policy.
WorldAFPEx-Canada PM Mulroney calls for revised relations with China
Canada must have an "urgent rethink" of its relationship with China, former prime minister Brian Mulroney said Wednesday as tensions build over the possible extradition to the United States of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Conservative Mulroney backed his Liberal successor Justin Trudeau's rejection of any exchange of Meng, who was arrested in Vancouver in December 2018, for two Canadians who were detained in China in apparent retaliation. Mulroney said Canada's hope that China would emerge as a constructive partner in international relations had been proven wrong, referring in particular to Beijing's militarization of the South China Sea.
- LifestylePopular Mechanics
The Best Bike Lights to Illuminate Your Ride
See what's coming and stay visible with these 11 bicycle lights. From Popular Mechanics
- PoliticsReuters
Biden pulls together hundreds of lawyers as a bulwark against election trickery
"We put together 600 lawyers and a group of people throughout the country who are going into every single state to try to figure out whether chicanery is likely to take place," Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, said on a video conference with donors to his campaign. Biden's remarks come as the candidate offers dire warnings about efforts by Republicans to cheat in the Nov. 3 election while also criticizing his election opponent, Republican President Donald Trump, for undermining confidence in the vote. A senior political adviser and top lawyer for Trump's campaign, Justin Clark, said Biden is lying and stoking fear while Democrats are trying to "fundamentally change" how elections are conducted, an apparent reference to their support for widespread mail-in voting.
- U.S.Miami Herald
Homeowner shoots woman trying to steal his Nazi flag, Oklahoma cops say
An Oklahoma man is behind bars after shooting a woman who allegedly tried to steal one of two Nazi flags flying outside his Garfield County home over the weekend, authorities said. Garfield County sheriff's deputies arrested Alexander John Feaster, 44, on charges of shooting with intent to kill and assault and battery with a deadly weapon in the incident, according to KFOR. Sheriff Jody Helm said deputies responded to reports of a shooting around 3 a.m. Sunday and arrived to find an injured woman laying in a ditch, the news station reported.
- U.S.LA Times
Fox News anchor Ed Henry fired after sexual misconduct investigation
Fox News anchor Ed Henry has been fired following an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations. Fox News Media Chief Executive Suzanne Scott announced Henry's dismissal in an internal memo sent to employees Wednesday. The memo said the company received a complaint on June 25 from the attorney of a former employee that described "willful sexual misconduct in the workplace years ago."
- U.S.Associated Press
Catholic priest suspended for comparing BLM to 'maggots'
A bishop suspended a suburban Indianapolis Catholic priest from public ministry on Wednesday for comparing the Black Lives Matter movement and its organizers to “maggots and parasites” in a recent church bulletin. Bishop Timothy Doherty, of the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana, took the action against the Rev. Theodore Rothrock, of St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Carmel, for comments that the pastor wrote Sunday in the weekly bulletin. “The only lives that matter are their own and the only power they seek is their own,” Rothrock wrote.
- WorldThe National Interest
Military Mystery: What Happened to Russia's New T-14 Tank in Syria?
Here's What You Need To Remember: If the T-14 Armata was indeed taken out by insurgents – whether they simply "got lucky" or not – might not bode well for the advanced tank, especially given its costs. Last month multiple media reports suggested that the Russian military's new T-14 Armata tank had been "battle-tested" in Syria. Russia Beyond cited Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov, who had reportedly said in a mid-April TV interview on Rossiya-1, "Yes, that's correct.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Hong Kong: Mike Pompeo threatens China with new measures after Beijing enacts draconian security law
The United States has threatened Beijing with new countermeasures after China imposed draconian national security laws on Hong Kong. Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State called the enactment of the sweeping measures a "sad day for Hong Kong, and for freedom-loving people across China" and reiterated the White House's commitment to abolishing the city's special status under US law. "Per President Trump's instruction, we will eliminate policy exemptions that give Hong Kong different and special treatment, with few exceptions," Mr Pompeo said.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Lindsey Graham Uses Benghazi to Defend Trump on Russian Bounties
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was among the loudest Republican voices in Congress screaming about the attack on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, Libya back in 2012. In fact, during a Thursday morning appearance on Fox & Friends, Graham actually used the Benghazi attack to defend Trump and accuse his Democratic colleagues of hypocrisy. After co-host Brian Kilmeade quoted Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), who accused Trump of committing “treason,” Graham fired back by asking: “Where were all these Democrats when Benghazi was on fire, when they were calling for help from the consulate?
