U.S.NBC NewsPlot thickens in Whitey Bulger murder case with transfer of 2 prisoners
Nearly three years later, no one has been charged with the crime and questions remain over how the notorious mobster and longtime FBI informant ended up in a prison unit with at least two other gangsters from Massachusetts, Geas and DeCologero. McKinnon, who hails from Vermont and was locked up for stealing guns from a firearms store, was Geas' roommate at the time of Bulger's killing. He was moved into a cell in a special housing unit, commonly known as solitary confinement, where inmates are segregated from the general population and denied privileges such as access to TV, regular phone calls and time in the yard.
HealthWashington ExaminerLink between cases and deaths greatly weakened in delta surge
The delta variant-driven summer COVID-19 surge in the United States has so far proved much less deadly than previous waves, thanks in large part to vaccinations. The number of cases is approaching the levels seen in previous surges. The seven-day average of daily cases has risen as high as 66,606, close to the peak of 68,622 seen during the summer surge of 2020.
PoliticsNational ReviewSusan Collins Criticizes Pelosi for Rejecting GOP Picks for January 6 Committee
During an appearance on CNN Sunday, moderate Republican senator Susan Collins (Maine) expressed disapproval with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to reject two of the GOP picks to join the “bipartisan” panel investigating the Capitol Riot. I fought very hard to have an independent, bipartisan, nonpartisan outside commission to look at all of the events of that day and I'm very disappointed that it was not approved. I think it would have had far more credibility than Speaker Pelosi's partisan committee that she has set up,” Collins commented.
U.S.TODAYAnthony Barajas, TikTok star, dies at 19
Police have confirmed that social media star, Anthony Barajas, has died after sustaining injuries at a shooting on Monday, July 26, at a Southern California movie theater. “The Corona Police Department has been notified that Anthony Barajas passed away early this morning,” a release from the police department read. Barajas and Rylee Goodrich, 18, attended a showing of “The Forever Purge” at 9:35 p.m. at the theater in The Crossings mall located in Corona, California, southeast of Los Angeles.
ScienceNBC NewsEarth's energy imbalance removes almost all doubt from human-made climate change
For decades, Earth's energy system has been out of whack. Stability in Earth's climate hinges on a delicate balance between the amount of energy the planet absorbs from the sun and the amount of energy Earth emits back into space. But that equilibrium has been thrown off in recent years — and the imbalance is growing, according to a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications.
PoliticsThe GuardianRepublicans will defend their Caesar but new revelations show Trump’s true threat
On Friday, Donald Trump received two more unwelcome reminders he is no longer president. The justice department is no longer an extension of Trump's West Wing. Next year, much as Trump helped deliver both Georgia Senate seats to the Democrats in January, on the eve of the insurrection, his antics may cost Republicans their chance to retake the Senate.
U.S.The ConversationWhy white supremacists and QAnon enthusiasts are obsessed – but very wrong – about the Byzantine Empire
In September 2017, Jason Kessler, an American neo-Nazi who helped organize the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, inaugurated a new supremacist group called “The New Byzantium” project. Described by Kessler as “a premier organization for pro-white advocacy in the 21st century,” The New Byzantium is based on the white supremacist leader's misrepresentation of history. His premise is that when Rome fell, the Byzantine Empire went on to preserve a white-European civilization.
U.S.Business InsiderA Trump supporter was arrested after a church prayer group member sent texts to the FBI that showed him inside the Capitol Building on Jan. 6
Glenn Allen Brooks was arrested Friday for his alleged involvement with the Capitol riot on January 6. One of the group members then tipped off the FBI. The FBI arrested a California man after receiving a tip of his involvement in the January 6 Capitol riot from a church prayer group member.
WorldNBC NewsA 70-story building swayed from side to side. Now China is enacting strict skyscraper laws.
The report came less than two weeks after China began to enforce new rules on the construction of skyscrapers, which banned new buildings above 1,640 feet. Proposals for buildings above 820 feet will also be “strictly limited,” and will require a specific reason for topping that height, they said. Guidelines on the changes were issued by the country's National Development and Reform Commission to architects, property developers and urban planners last year, allowing them to alter designs if necessary.
PoliticsAssociated Press'Vote them out': Willie Nelson headlines Texas protest rally
Country music legend Willie Nelson led more than a thousand spectators in singing “vote them out” Saturday from the steps of the Texas Capitol during a rally wrapping up a four-day march in support of Democratic state legislators who bolted for Washington two weeks ago to block GOP-backed voting restrictions. Families with lawn chairs spread out across the sprawling Capitol greens in Austin. Clergy, politicians, constituents and musicians all spoke out about the proposals to impose voter ID requirements, limit ballot drop boxes and mail voting, and strip local officials of their election authority.
HealthMiami Herald‘Fully Moderna vaccinated’: Miami businesswoman diagnosed with breakthrough COVID
I was fully Moderna vaccinated and was told I have COVID yesterday. I have been incredibly safe, always mask but yet still exposed and got COVID four months after my vaccine. It is unclear if the Miami Beach resident, who has appeared on “Keeping up with the Kardashians,” has the Delta variant, which is currently on the rise.
- U.S.AccuWeather
Frenzy of tropical activity in Pacific could create rare weather phenomenon
A cluster of tropical activity has developed across the Pacific Ocean, as three features battle for dominance and hold the potential for a phenomenon called the Fujiwhara Effect to occur. "Tropical activity has picked up across the eastern Pacific," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex DaSilva. The three main areas of interest are Tropical Rainstorm 9-E, Hurricane Hilda and an area of low pressure to their east.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderRepublicans have been hammering Democrats with 'socialism' smears for years. Now Democrats have a chance to turn these ridiculous claims into an advantage.
Republicans have called the broadly popular infrastructure plan a five-lane highway to socialism. They're gearing up for a midterm message that will label every Democratic policy, no matter how common sense, as part of the so-called "socialist agenda." Perhaps they think that because their congressional candidates did better than expected in 2020 (Kevin McCarthy called the results a "mandate against socialism"), this messaging will continue to work.
U.S.INSIDERA woman caught on video being charged by a grizzly bear at Yellowstone faces criminal charges after officials used social media to identify her
A woman is facing criminal charges related to an incident with a grizzly bear in Yellowstone in May. Investigators used social media to identify the woman. A woman has been charged in an incident captured on video that showed her taking photos within 15 feet of a grizzly bear and two cubs at Yellowstone National Park in May.
- PoliticsYahoo News Video
Trump urged Justice Department officials to declare election 'corrupt'
President Trump urged senior Justice Department officials to declare the 2020 election results “corrupt” in a December phone call, according to handwritten notes from one of the participants in the conversation.
U.S.The New York TimesHe Hired 2 Men to Kidnap His Wife. They Ended Up Drowning.
Schanda Handley was at home with her daughter and a neighbor when two men showed up at the door, dressed in what looked like blue uniforms from an appliance store. Then they pushed Handley into a van and drove off, leaving Handley's 14-year-old daughter and the neighbor behind. The kidnappers had been hired by Handley's estranged husband, Lawrence Michael Handley, who was planning to have Schanda Handley driven to his camp near Woodville, Mississippi, from her home in Lafayette, Louisiana, prosecutors said.
WorldBusiness InsiderSuspected 'kamikaze drone' attack on an Israeli-linked tanker that killed 2 was retaliation for Israel's bombing of Syria, says Iranian TV
A British and Romanian were killed in an attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker in the Gulf. Israel has accused Iran of carrying out the attack and said a strong response is needed. An Iran TV station, linked to the government, said the attack was retaliation for Israeli raids in Syria.
SportsAssociated PressAmerican beach 'knuckleheads' flirted with playing for Qatar
Americans Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena got knocked out of the Olympic beach volleyball tournament on Sunday by Cherif Samba and Ahmed Tijan of Qatar. If things had gone a little differently, it could have been Dalhausser and Lucena wearing the Qatari flag instead of the Stars and Stripes. In 2005, when they were self-described knuckleheads working as substitute teachers in South Carolina, the Americans were offered airline tickets to Qatar and a chance to become citizens.
WorldINSIDERTrapped tourists are being evacuated from holiday beaches by private boats and yachts as Turkey's wildfires rage
Turkey is battling raging wildfires that are destroying homes and forcing people to flee. Tourists in Turkey are being evacuated from beaches due to raging wildfires amid a severe heatwave with temperatures rising above 40C. Around 100 fires broke out this week across southern and western Turkey, Reuters reported, and at least six people, including two firefighters, have died.
PoliticsSouth Florida Sun SentinelWealthy candidate pumps staggering $2.3 million of her own money into Florida special election
Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a candidate who has never held elected office, so badly wants a South Florida congressional seat that she's pumped more than $2.3 million of her own money into the campaign. It's $1 million more than seven other Democratic candidates combined have raised — and more than any other congressional candidate in the country has put into their own campaign in the first six months of 2021. The Miramar resident is CEO of Trinity Health Care Services, a home health agency also based in Miramar.
U.S.Business InsiderMatt Gaetz says he has the 'freedom variant' as he mocks experts who warn about worsening COVID-19 mutations
Rep. Matt Gaetz mocked COVID-19 experts who've been warning about mutations and variants. Gaetz's mocking remarks came as Florida broke its record for daily COVID-19 cases. Rep. Matt Gaetz on Saturday night mocked health officials who've been sounding the alarms about COVID-19 mutations.
SportsAssociated PressAmericans ousted by Canada in Olympic beach volleyball
“I think they're just sort of working out some kinks,” said Bansley, a two-time Olympian who is paired with Brandie Wilkerson in Tokyo. The close-up, slow motion replay on the stadium video board showed the ball had clearly missed the blue tape that signifies the court boundary.
U.S.INSIDERA killer whale stranded on rocks in Alaska was saved after a group of people spotted it and kept it wet until the tide rose
A killer whale got stranded on rocks above the shoreline in Alaska on Thursday. A group of people helped save the whale by spraying it with water until wildlife officials arrived. Six hours after the orca was spotted ashore, the tide rose and it was able to swim out to sea.
U.S.The Daily BeastBaltimore Aunt Drove Car for a Year With Kids Stuffed in Trunk: Cops
For about a year, a Baltimore woman allegedly drove a car with a gruesome secret: the dead body of her 7-year-old niece stashed in a suitcase in the trunk. It wasn't until months later that police discovered the decomposing bodies of siblings Joshlyn Marie James Johnson and Larry Darnell O'Neal. Baltimore County Police said in a statement Thursday night that they were grieving over the “unspeakable deaths” after discovering the kids' bodies when they pulled 33-year-old Nicole Johnson over in a traffic stop late Wednesday.
WorldBusiness InsiderIran spied on her for months and plotted to kidnap her from her Brooklyn home, but a defiant Masih Alinejad says she refuses to be intimidated by the Islamic Republic
The FBI foiled an alleged Iranian plot to kidnap Masih Alinejad - a human rights activist who lives in exile in the US. Speaking to Insider, Alinejad said she is "not scared" but now wants Biden to take a tougher line on Iran. Masih Alinejad, an exiled Iranian journalist and human rights activist in the US, was the target of an alleged kidnapping plot that could have been the plot of a Hollywood spy thriller.
“[The program] stands likely to leave millions of families — disproportionately the poorest and most fragile ones — behind.”
“[Paying] families monthly, instead of one lump sum ... will provide parents with more stability knowing when cash is coming.”
“More parents will disappear from the workforce, and more children will be locked into dependency.”
“Poverty is a political choice, not an inevitability.”
“Time is running out. There are only six months until monthly payments of the credit cease."