- PoliticsThe Independent
Biden asks reporter if he's a 'junkie' in testy exchange over cognitive decline
Joe Biden asked an African American reporter if he was a "junkie" for questioning whether the former vice president had taken a cognitive test in response to attacks targeting his mental health. When asked for a response to Donald Trump, who has bragged about passing a cognitive test and made Mr Biden's mental state an issue for voters, the former vice president dismissed the question as trying to provoke a reaction. While the Biden campaign did not respond to CBS's request for additional context comparing a cognitive test to a test for cocaine, they told Politico that Mr Biden gave a deserving response to a preposterous question.
- PoliticsThe Week
Pence calls Chief Justice John Roberts 'a disappointment to conservatives'
Vice President Mike Pence isn't happy that Chief Justice John Roberts played a role in upholding the Affordable Care Act and rejecting a Nevada church's challenge to coronavirus restrictions, calling him a "disappointment to conservatives." In an interview with the Christian Broadcast Network on Wednesday, Pence said such cases "are a reminder of just how important this election is for the future of the Supreme Court." Roberts also sided with the court's liberal wing in June to strike down a Louisiana abortion law, and Pence said that ruling should be "a wake up call for pro-life voters around the country who understand in a very real sense that the destiny of the Supreme Court is on the ballot in 2020."
- WorldBusiness Insider
2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate was impounded in Beirut's port after it was seized from an abandoned ship in 2014, years before the explosion
Lebanon's Supreme Defense Council said on Tuesday that 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate from an abandoned ship had been left in storage at Beirut's port, state media reported. Lebanese officials believe it was behind the explosion at Beirut's port on Tuesday, according to state media. A Beirut law firm said in a legal summary in 2015 that the ship, the MV Rhosus, had technical difficulties while sailing in September 2013, was forced into Beirut's port, and was banned from continuing.
- U.S.USA TODAY
MS-13 gang members charged with sex trafficking, other charges in abuse of 13-year-old runaway
Federal prosecutors have charged 11 alleged members and associates of the MS-13 street gang with sex trafficking and other charges after they say a 13-year-old runaway was repeatedly beaten with a baseball bat and forced into prostitution in northern Virginia. A child trafficking task force found the 13-year-old girl nearly two months later at an apartment in Mount Rainier, Maryland. The girl, initially reluctant to talk to police, eventually told authorities she was twice beaten on her backside and legs 26 times on two separate occasions with a baseball bat – once as an initiation to the gang, and once as a punishment for talking to rival gang members and allegedly stealing from fellow gang members.
- U.S.Reuters
Four killed as Tropical Storm Isaias pounds U.S. Northeast
Tropical Storm Isaias killed at least four people on Tuesday as it made its way up the U.S. Atlantic Coast, including two deaths at a North Carolina trailer park that was struck by a tornado spun off by hurricane-force winds. The storm knocked out power to more than 2.8 million homes and businesses from New York to North Carolina, according to electric companies. Isaias, which was briefly a Category 1 hurricane when it made landfall in North Carolina late on Monday, reduced the mobile home park in the north of the state to rubble hours later, leaving two people dead.
WorldAFPUS announces 'highest level' visit in decades to Taiwan
The United States on Wednesday announced its "highest level" visit in decades to Taiwan, a move sure to infuriate China at a time when relations between Washington and Beijing are at historic lows. Washington's trade office in Taipei confirmed that health chief Alex Azar would lead an upcoming delegation to the self-ruled island, which China's communist leaders claim and have vowed to one day seize. "This marks... the first Cabinet member to visit in six years, and the highest level visit by a US Cabinet official since 1979," the American Institute in Taiwan said.
- WorldLos Angeles Times Opinion
Op-Ed: U.S. leaders knew we didn't have to drop atomic bombs on Japan to win the war. We did it anyway
At a time when Americans are reassessing so many painful aspects of our nation's past, it is an opportune moment to have an honest national conversation about our use of nuclear weapons on Japanese cities in August 1945. The accepted wisdom in the United States for the last 75 years has been that dropping the bombs on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and on Nagasaki three days later was the only way to end the World War II without an invasion that would have cost hundreds of thousands of American and perhaps millions of Japanese lives. The allied demand for unconditional surrender led the Japanese to fear that the emperor, who many considered a deity, would be tried as a war criminal and executed.
- HealthINSIDER
The CDC expects to see clusters of a rare polio-like illness among children this fall
elkor/Getty Images Acute flaccid myelitis is a rare but serious neurologic syndrome that can cause paralysis in children. Reported cases of AFM peak every other year, and an outbreak may be coming in 2020. The CDC warns doctors and parents to look out for sudden limb weakness in children.
- PoliticsYahoo News Video
White House responds to Trump encouraging voting by mail in Florida after criticizing it for months
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany responded Tuesday to President Trump's encouraging of voting by mail in Florida after criticizing it for months.
- SportsArchitectural Digest
Direct-to-Consumer Furniture Brand Burrow Expands Its Offerings
The company is welcoming benches and credenzas to its product line starting today Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- PoliticsThe Week
Biden may have narrowed his VP list down to Kamala Harris and Susan Rice
Former Vice President Joe Biden could be down to two contenders in his search for a running mate. A new report from Axios details how Biden confidants believe he has narrowed his list down to Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and former National Security Adviser Susan Rice. As far as Harris goes, Axios writes that Biden's brain trust has "deep and trusting relationships" with those who are pushing for the California senator while touting her skills as a prosecutor.
- U.S.Business Insider
An emergency medicine physician projects that if schools open up in the fall, they'll be closed by the end of October due to COVID-19 outbreaks
As the fall semester quickly approaches for a number of school districts across the US, lawmakers, school boards members, and parents have been debating whether or not schools should reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic. Matt Lambert, an emergency medicine physician and former chief medical information officer for New York City Health and Hospitals, told Business Insider that schools could reopen with strict health safety precautions, but the prevalence of the virus could challenge if they are able to stay open. Lambert said it could be difficult identifying and separating potential coronavirus cases and flu cases due to the similarity between symptoms and increased exposure to others.
- U.S.National Review
Poll: Most Black Americans Want Police to Remain in Their Areas
Most black Americans say they want police to continue their current presence in local areas, even as protests against racism and police brutality sweep the nation, and calls to reform and even defund police departments persist. Close to two-thirds, 61 percent, of black Americans said they want the police presence in their area to remain the same, while 20 percent said they would like to see police spend more time in their neighborhood, according to a new Gallup poll. Another 19 percent said they would like to see the police presence in their area decrease.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Good boy! UK police dog helps find missing woman, 1-year-old baby on first day after searching 'vast area'
A police dog working his first shift in the United Kingdom successfully located a missing woman and her child over the weekend, according to police in Wales. The dog, a 2-year-old German Shepherd mix named Max, helped locate the woman and her 1-year-old child on the edge of a ravine after a search of a "vast area" covering a "significant distance," Dyfed-Powys Police said in a press release. Police had a starting point when the woman's car was found on a mountain road, Inspector Jonathan Rees-Jones said.
WorldAFPBroke and helpless: Philippines virus lockdown maroons dozens at airport
Broke and jobless, Ruel Damaso is sleeping on cardboard and surviving on food handouts at Manila airport where dozens were left stranded after a partial coronavirus lockdown was reimposed Tuesday. More than 27 million people in the capital and four surrounding provinces were given 24-hours notice of the new restrictions that have shut many businesses, halted public transport and grounded flights as the government struggled against a COVID-19 surge. Struggling to survive on part-time factory work after the first lockdown in March crippled the economy and stripped millions of their jobs, Damaso had decided to leave Manila.
- WorldBBC
Kashmir: 'I could land up in jail if I express myself freely'
On 5 August last year India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, split it into two federally-run territories and imposed an unprecedented lockdown. Jehangir Ali reports from Srinagar on why the move has come as a blow to freedom of expression in the valley. Months after Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stripped the region of its autonomy, a homemaker in the Muslim-dominated valley told a friend of her son to be careful.
- PoliticsReuters
McConnell says will support any coronavirus aid deal worked out by White House and Democrats
U.S. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday he would support any coronavirus aid deal worked out between the Trump administration and Democrats in Congress, adding no agreement this close to November elections would win unanimous support. "Wherever this thing settles between the president of the United States and his team that have to sign it into law, and the Democrat -- not insignificant minority in the Senate and the majority in the House -- is something I'm prepared to support, even if I have some problems with certain parts of it," Republican McConnell told reporters on Capitol Hill.
- WorldThe Independent
One American is dying every 80 seconds from coronavirus as Trump shrugs off death toll: ‘It is what it is’
At least one person in the United States has died every 80 seconds on average over the last seven days, according to new research, as President Donald Trump said the nation's soaring death toll “is what it is” in a recent interview. The grim figures were first reported by NBC News on Wednesday, which noted its own tally revealed 7,486 people died in the last seven days due to Covid-19. Whereas the rate of deaths was somewhat slower in July, with one American dying every 102 seconds on average throughout the month, the latest figures appeared to show an acceleration in pace, as NBC News reported.
- WorldNBC News
Latin America now has world's highest coronavirus death toll
Latin America surpassed Europe on Tuesday to become the region with the highest coronavirus death toll worldwide, according to a Reuters tally. The region has now recorded more than 206,000 deaths, approximately 30% of the global total. Brazil, the Latin American country most affected by the novel coronavirus, has now recorded a total of 95,819 deaths as of Tuesday.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
'Blatant disrespect of Black women': Women leaders criticize treatment of Black women being considered as Biden VP pick
WASHINGTON – Over 100 Black women leaders and activists slammed comments made of Black women being considered to be Joe Biden's running mate as racist and sexist in an open letter published Wednesday. Sen. Kamala Harris, Rep. Karen Bass, former US Ambassador Susan Rice, Rep. Val Demings and former Georgia Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams have all been floated as possible vice presidential contenders for Biden. The letter comes as Biden is nearing an announcement on his vice presidential pick.
- WorldBusiness Insider
Lebanese officials unloaded a 'floating bomb' and apparently ignored warnings for years, according to reports
Haytham El Achkar/Getty Images An expert said back in 2014 that Lebanese authorities had a "floating bomb" on their hands, The Daily Beast reported Wednesday. "There are a lot of restrictions, regulations and rules to stick to when talking about storing explosives like ammonium," Voytenko told The Daily Beast, "but they just stored it in a warehouse and forgot about it." Customs officials wrote several letters to Lebanese judges asking for a solution to the dangers cargo but apparently received no response, Al Jazeera reported.
- U.S.Associated Press
Husband of DA charged with pulling gun on protesters in LA
The husband of Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey has been charged with pointing a gun at Black Lives Matter members who demonstrated outside the couple's home the day before she faced a primary election in March. The state attorney general filed three misdemeanor charges Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court against David Lacey for assault with a firearm for the March 2 incident. Lacey, 66, pointed a gun at demonstrators who protested outside the couple's home before dawn on March 2 and said “I will shoot you," according to video of the incident.
- U.S.Military Times
Esper says he underestimated how much racial injustice affects service members
In the wake of the late May killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man prosecutors say was murdered by a white Minneapolis police officer, nationwide protests and demonstrations stirred up feelings across the military services, up to and including the Pentagon's boss. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday that the moment was a wake-up call not only for America, but for himself, and has shaped his recent efforts around diversity and inclusion in the Defense Department. “I don't think what everybody appreciated — at least me, personally — is the depth of sentiment out there among our service members of color, particularly Black Americans, about how much the killing of George Floyd — and the other incidents that preceded it and succeeded it — had on them and what they were experiencing in the ranks as well,” Esper said during a virtual appearance at the Aspen Security Forum.
- U.S.The Telegraph
Syrian refugee hailed as hero in Germany after saving woman from rapist
A Syrian refugee has been hailed as a hero in Germany after he stopped a man raping a woman. The 30-year-old Syrian, named only as Faner O under German privacy laws, intervened after he saw a woman being attacked by a man in the early hours of Sunday morning. With the help of another passerby, he overpowered the rapist and held him until police could reach the scene.
- LifestyleINSIDER
I tried making Guy Fieri's signature recipes for a week, and I didn't love my whole trip to Flavortown
For one week, I recreated seven of Guy Fieri's signature recipes and favorite go-to meals to see if they lived up to their hype. Food Network personality and restaurateur Guy Fieri has established himself as the "Mayor of Flavortown" with his unique brand of down-to-earth humor and non-pretentious, yet elevated, American cuisine. Fieri's eccentric style has become iconic, and his twists on classic recipes like mac and cheese and chili are well-known among fans.
“He’s not a radical. But he is running on the most liberal policy platform of any Democratic candidate in modern history.”
“Public opinion has been shifting leftward, and Biden’s thinking has shifted with it.”
“Biden shows that he’s more moderate than some in his party.”
“Biden has always been a creature of his time, and the COVID-19 crisis could force him to veer further left.”
“Liberal activists have lauded the campaign’s outreach to progressives.”