PoliticsSalonDemocrats alert inspector general that GOP's Biden probe “directly implicated” Perry in corruption
U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry Alex Wong/Getty Images The Republican report aimed at raising questions about the dealings of Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden in Ukraine appears to have accidentally implicated former Energy Secretary Rick Perry in an energy scheme in the foreign nation, according to the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. Republicans led by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. released their much-hyped report on Hunter Biden's role at the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma on Wednesday.
WorldThe TelegraphEuropean Union refuses to recognise Belarusian president following dubious vote and police violence
The European Union in a rare show of unity on Thursday said that it won't recognise Alexander Lukashenko as the legitimate leader of Belarus. Mr Lukashenko's landslide victory in August's rigged vote sparked protests that were reignited on Wednesday after Mr Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 26 years, held a clandestine swearing-in ceremony. Mr Lukashenko's security forces led a ferocious crackdown on opposition protests in the days following the elections.
U.S.BBCBreonna Taylor: Kentucky city on edge ahead of prosecutor decision
Louisville, Kentucky, is under a state of emergency as prosecutors are expected to announce if police officers who killed a black woman in her home during a drug raid will be charged. Mayor Greg Fischer said he had declared the measure "due to the potential for civil unrest". Breonna Taylor, 26, a hospital emergency room technician, was shot multiple times on 13 March.
PoliticsSalonTed Cruz blocks resolution honoring Ginsburg after Tucker Carlson pushes conspiracy theory about her
Tucker Carlson, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Ted Cruz Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images The Republican conspiracy theory that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg did not actually have a dying wish to have the winner of the 2020 election choose her replacement on the U.S. Supreme Court was on display on the Senate floor on Tuesday. "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed," Ginsburg dictated in a statement released by her granddaughter, Clara Spera. Related video: Trump reveals list of potential SCOTUS picks, including Ted Cruz But there's a right-wing conspiracy theory that the quote is not accurate, thus giving Republicans freedom to ignore her wish.
PoliticsThe Independent'In the US, we count ballots': Trump slapped down by Electoral Commission chief over call to dump mail votes
A US Electoral Commission chief issued a sharp rebuke against Donald Trump on Wednesday after the president called for mail ballots to be dumped, as he refused to say whether he would leave office in the event of an election defeat to Democrat rival Joe Biden. Ellen Weintraub, Federal Commission Commissioner (FEC), warned the president that America does not simply "get rid" of ballots. In case anyone is unclear on the concept, in the United States of America, we do not 'get rid of' ballots.
U.S.INSIDERInvestigators say they found thousands of child porn images in the home of a popular kids' YouTuber
A science educator whose YouTube channel "The Happy Scientist" taught children about science has been indicted on federal child pornography charges. Investigators allege that John Robert Krampf, 64, knowingly received and possessed pornographic content "involving a minor who had not attained 12 years of age," court documents show. Dixie State University Police Chief Blair Barfuss, involved in the case in his capacity as a special agent on the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force, told Insider that Krampf admitted to "downloading multiple files of child abuse material."
BusinessBusiness InsiderNY transit workers created an underground 'man cave' in Grand Central to 'get drunk and party,' MTA says
Three New York transit employees converted a Grand Central Terminal storage room into a secret lounge, according to a Thursday report from the Office of the MTA Inspector General. The Metro-North Railroad suspended all three without pay, but they deny the allegations. Three New York transit workers built a secret underground 'man cave' where they would 'hang out and get drunk,' according to a report issued Thursday by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Office of the Inspector General.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump’s potential Supreme Court nominee slammed Obama for trying to ‘dramatically flip the balance of power’
President Donald Trump's potential nominee to the Supreme Court previously rejecting the idea of former President Barack Obama filling a vacancy during an election year that she said could “dramatically flip the balance of power” in a recently-resurfaced interview. The interview shows Amy Coney Barrett, a federal judge who sits on the Seventh Circuit, discussing the former president's nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court in 2016 following the death of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative stalwart. Ms Barrett suggested in the interview with CBS News that she was against the idea of Mr Obama selecting Mr Garland, often considered an apolitical nominee and centrist judge, because he was not a conservative like justice Scalia.
WorldReutersItaly may adopt targeted closures against coronavirus: PM to paper
Italy may apply well-targeted closures where necessary to contain the spread of the new coronavirus while another general lockdown is unlikely, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told la Stampa daily in an interview. "Today the situation in Italy is certainly better than in other European countries, and we are better prepared - even as a health system - to face a possible resurgence of the spread of the virus," Conte told the paper. "At present I exclude the possibility of a general lockdown; there could be - if necessary - well-targeted closures."
U.S.NBC News'Ashamed of this decision': Backlash toward Kentucky AG piles on after no charges are filed in Breonna Taylor's death
The death of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman fatally shot by Louisville police in March, thrust Kentucky's top prosecutor, Attorney General Daniel Cameron, onto a national stage just a few months after he took office. In May, when the Louisville Metro Police Department turned over its files to Cameron as independent special prosecutor, scrutiny immediately began over how the untested attorney general would handle such a high-profile incident after months of public outcry to "arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor" and whether he could satisfy a community cleaved by racial unrest and accusations of police brutality. He ultimately brought the criminal case before a grand jury this week.
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Arizona border patrol agent recovering after being stabbed
Mark Morgan, acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner, joins 'Fox and Friends' to discuss the stabbing of an Arizona border patrol agent during an arrest attempt.
PoliticsSalonMitch McConnell’s re-election campaign slapped with FEC flag over suspected accounting errors
Worthington also pointed out that there were contributions received after the 2020 primary election that are designated for the 2020 primary. "These contributions may only be accepted to the extent that the committee has net debts outstanding from the 2020 primary election," Worthington wrote. Related video: McConnell says Senate to vote this year on court pick Worthington also pointed out that there were contributions received after the 2020 primary election that are designated for the 2020 primary.
WorldReutersBrexit positivity returns: UK 'confident' of a deal, EU 'determined' for one
Britain's Brexit supremo Michael Gove said on Wednesday that he was confident of securing a trade deal with the European Union, while the bloc's chief negotiator said he was determined to clinch an agreement. Prime Minister Boris Johnson plunged Brexit into chaos earlier this month by unveiling, and then pressing ahead with, draft legislation that would undercut parts of the 2020 EU divorce treaty. The EU said it could not trust Britain if it broke international law, explored what legal action it could take and demanded London pull back from the brink.
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Thieves steal business jet in Mexico, crash in Guatemala
Thieves stole a business jet from an airport in central Mexico, flew it to Venezuela, apparently loaded it with drugs and then flew to Guatemala where the plane crashed, authorities said Thursday. Prosecutors in Guatemala said a total of four bodies were found around the site where the BAE 125 jet crashed and burned Wednesday. The dead could not be immediately identified, but drugs and weapons were found in the burned wreckage of the craft, which authorities referred to as a Hawker 800.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderA voting advocacy group recorded over 40,000 new voter registrations in the 2 days after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Voter registration spiked following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Vote.org, a nonprofit that allows people to register through its website, told Business Insider that they had 40,771 new voter registrations on the Saturday and Sunday following Ginsburg's death. After the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week, voter registration surged according to voting advocacy groups.
SportsThe IndependentESPN cuts off analyst Jalen Rose as he calls for arrest of cops in Breonna Taylor case
Basketball analyst Jalen Rose got cut off by ESPN on a live broadcast as he called for the arrest of the police officers in the Breonna Taylor case. The former NBA star weighed in after the announcement that none of the three officers would be charged with her killing. “It'd also be a great day to arrest the cops that murdered Breonna Taylor,” shouted Rose as he discussed the fourth game of the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals.
PoliticsNBC NewsIt's Trump's one clear advantage. To erase it, Biden's taking a page from Obama's playbook.
WASHINGTON — "Scranton" Joe Biden versus "Park Avenue" Donald Trump is the Democratic nominee's frame in the final stretch of a chaotic presidential campaign as early voting begins. In campaign speeches, in interviews and on social media, Biden is increasingly evoking an age-old narrative pitting regular Americans against wealthy elites in the hope of connecting with economically anxious voters in battleground states. "I've dealt with guys like Donald Trump my whole life, who would look down on us because we didn't have a lot of money or your parents didn't go to college," Biden said Monday in a campaign speech in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, a city of 33,000 people north of Milwaukee.
BusinessAssociated PressChina auto show forging ahead under anti-virus controls
The first event for the CEO of Swedish electric car brand Polestar at this month's Beijing auto show: A two-week quarantine in a hotel. The auto show, the first major in-person sales event for any industry since the coronavirus pandemic began, opens Saturday in a sign the ruling Communist Party is confident China has contained the disease. Still, automakers face intensive anti-virus controls including quarantines for visitors from abroad and curbs on crowd sizes at an event that usually is packed shoulder-to-shoulder with spectators.
WorldReutersNew York stays ahead of London in top financial centres survey
New York retained the top spot in a survey of global financial centres on Friday, with London strengthening its position in second place just over three months before Britain's full departure from the European Union. The Global Financial Centres Index (GCFI) is based on a survey by the Z/Yen Group in partnership with the China Development Institute of more than 54,500 assessments collected from 8,549 professionals working in the sector. The assessments look at political stability, regulatory environment, availability of skilled staff, quality of life, infrastructure, availability of capital, market liquidity, reputation and cultural diversity.
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump news: President claims he could hardly hear the ‘vote him out’ chant at Supreme Court
Donald Trump claimed he could hardly hear the "vote him out chant" at the Supreme Court as he visited the late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Thursday, a scene the White House called "appalling". The president earlier told Fox News Radio that only a ruling by the court that Joe Biden has won November's election will convince him of his defeat, predicting once again that ballot fraud will result in “a horror show”. Bernie Sanders said the president's refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power was a "threat to democracy", saying the election wasn't a choice of Trump versus Biden but Trump versus Democracy.
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Hunter Biden allegations display media double standard: Sen. Lindsey Graham
Sen. Lindsey Graham on Trump's potential Supreme Court pick and new allegations on Hunter Biden.
U.S.Associated PressBank manager finds 9.07-carat diamond in Arkansas state park
A bank manager discovered a 9.07-carat diamond at a state park in southwestern Arkansas after thinking the precious gem was a piece of glass. Kevin Kinard of Maumelle found the second-largest diamond in the 48-year history of Crater of Diamonds State Park on Labor Day, according to a news release from Arkansas State Parks. Kinard said he and his friends hauled sifting equipment to the state park in Murfreesboro.
BusinessReutersChina's slow consumption recovery upset by wary low-income households
Months after China brought its coronavirus epidemic under control, its consumers are slowly opening their wallets again - but the hard days of lockdowns still weigh on many shellshocked lower-income households, who prefer to hold on to their cash. While China's recovery from a record first quarter contraction is well ahead of most other countries, it has been uneven. Lingering weakness in consumption could complicate President Xi Jinping's push to curb the country's dependence on volatile overseas markets.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderThe USPS claimed it can't restore some mail sorting machines because it 'dismantled' them
The US Postal Service claimed in a court filing Wednesday that it has already taken apart high-speed mail sorting machines and therefore can't put them back into service. The USPS claimed it was "not possible" to restore machines it had "dismantled" for parts, only those that had merely been "disconnected." A federal judge issued an injunction last week requiring the USPS to reverse those and other changes made by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, calling them an "an intentional effort" by Trump and DeJoy "to disrupt and challenge the legitimacy of upcoming local, state, and federal elections."
WorldAssociated PressIMF endorses Sudan's reform plan for battered economy
The International Monetary Fund has signed off on Sudan's economic reform program, a move that can eventually allow the highly-indebted African country to get debt relief and move ahead with rebuilding its battered economy as it transitions to democratic rule. Until the end of June 2021, IMF staff will be monitoring the implementation of a “home-grown” economic restructuring program that aims at “stabilizing the economy, removing distortions, improving competitiveness, and strengthening governance,” according to an IMF statement released Wednesday. Sudan has been ruled by a transitional military-civilian government following last year's pro-democracy uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
“Enfranchising 16-year-olds would be good for them and good for our democracy.”
“At 16, most kids have little awareness of politics, civics, or American history.”
“Voting is habit forming...which underscores the importance of having as stable an environment as possible for the youngest voters.”
“Keeping the voting age at 18 is not a slap at 16-year-olds. It is recognition that an informed electorate is the best kind.”
“When young people’s participation lags badly, issues important to them receive short shrift in the public discourse.”