- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump says fear of 'low income housing' will bring 'the suburban housewife' to his side
President Trump turned again to racist attacks on Joe Biden's housing policy Wednesday, with an appeal to “the suburban housewife” that sounds a jarringly out-of-touch note in 2020. Last month Trump announced he was repealing the Obama-era Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, which was intended to fight housing discrimination by strengthening implementation of the 1968 Fair Housing Act.
- U.S.Miami Herald
Cops’ helicopter got too close — so Georgia man shot it, feds say. He’s going to prison
A 56-year-old man in Georgia will spend more than a decade behind bars after he pleaded guilty to shooting at a police helicopter, federal prosecutors announced Thursday. Terry Kielisch was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay $54,960 in restitution to cover the repair costs on a Georgia State Patrol helicopter that was searching for fugitives when Kielisch aimed his rifle at it in 2019, prosecutors said in a news release. Kielisch wasn't a target in that search — but he reportedly told law enforcement “he fired at the helicopter because he didn't like it flying near his home,” the release says.
- WorldReuters
North Korea nuclear reactor site threatened by recent flooding, U.S. think-tank says
Satellite imagery suggests recent flooding in North Korea may have damaged pump houses connected to the country's main nuclear facility, a U.S.-based think-tank said on Thursday. Analysts at 38 North, a website that monitors North Korea, said commercial satellite imagery from August 6-11 showed how vulnerable the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center's nuclear reactor cooling systems are to extreme weather events. The Korean peninsula has been hammered by one of the longest rainy spells in recent history, with floods and landslides causing damage and deaths in both North and South Korea.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
Ammonium Nitrate Blew Up Beirut. It Also Fuels Africa’s Most Dangerous Illegal Mines.
ABUJA, Nigeria—The ammonium nitrate that exploded last week in Beirut—killing 154 people, injuring more than 5,000 and causing widespread destruction—was destined for Mozambique, a transit point for raw materials in the explosives trade, where shipments often end up in the hands of illegal Chinese-owned mining companies with dubious human rights records. Almost seven years ago, Fábrica de Explosivos de Moçambique (FEM), a Mozambican firm that produces explosives, ordered 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate from a Georgian company known as Savaro for the purpose of manufacturing explosives for mining companies.
- WorldBBC
US labels Confucius Institute a Chinese 'foreign mission'
The US has designated the Confucius Institute (CI), the Chinese government-run global education programme, as a foreign propaganda mission. It comes amid worsening relations between China and the US. In a statement announcing the move, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the Confucius Institute "an entity advancing Beijing's global propaganda and malign influence campaign" on American classrooms and campuses.
- U.S.Yahoo News Video
South Dakota Governor to get $400,000 security wall around residence
South Dakota officials said Wednesday they plan to build a security fence budgeted for $400,000 around the official governor's residence to protect Gov. Kristi Noem.
- U.S.CBS News
Florida sheriff bans deputies and visitors from wearing face masks
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods has instructed employees of his office, in Florida, not to wear masks when they are on duty, barring some exceptions. "This is no longer a debate nor is it up for discussion," he said in an email to employees. Woods noted the mayor of Ocala, which is the largest city in Florida's Marion County, vetoed a mask mandate that was recently passed by the city council.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
In These Uncertain Hours, the Classic Cool of a Gentleman’s Watch Endures
Shop watches for every occasion Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- WorldDefense News
Army missile defense battle command system takes out cruise missile threats in major test
The Army's once-problem-plagued air-and-missile defense battle command system took out two cruise missile threat targets nearly simultaneously using Patriot missiles in a major live fire event Aug. 13, according to service officials in charge of the effort. The cruise missiles flew at a low-altitude, maneuvering through a mountain range. The Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) took real-time data from Patriot and Sentinel radars and tracked the threat.
- PoliticsYahoo News
'Antifa' website cited in conservative media attack on Biden is linked to — wait for it — Russia
At his press briefing Wednesday, President Trump, as he usually does, called for a question from Chanel Rion, the chief White House correspondent for the conservative One America News network, which has at times replaced Fox News as the president's favorite news outlet. Rion's question had nothing to do with COVID-19 or the economic recovery Trump had been boasting about, but instead brought up an obscure website, antifa.com. I wanted to highlight a kind of odd situation.
- U.S.USA TODAY
A beloved lesbian baker in Detroit got a homophobic cake order. Here's why she made it anyway.
As a Black, openly gay woman, April Anderson said she is no stranger to discrimination. It was a disturbing slap in the face to Anderson and her wife and business partner, Michelle. “We are so used to being Black lesbian women,” Anderson said.
- U.S.Miami Herald
Air Force helicopter shot at from ground while flying over Virginia, crew injured
An Air Force helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing at a Virginia airport Monday after someone shot at it, injuring a member of the crew, local and military officials told McClatchy. The UH-1N Huey helicopter is assigned to the 1st Helicopter Squadron at Joint Base Andrews. It was flying about 1,000 feet off the ground, about 10 miles northwest of Manassas Regional Airport when the incident occurred, the Air Force said in a statement.
- BusinessAssociated Press
What No Student Loan Payments Until 2021 Means for You
You don't have to make another federal student loan payment in 2020. Federal student loan borrowers were already in an automatic interest-free pause on payments as part of the original coronavirus relief bill, known as the CARES Act. This pause was expected to expire Sept. 30, but an extension of the forbearance through Dec. 31 was directed in a memorandum signed by President Donald Trump on Aug. 8.
- CelebrityINSIDER
Drake Bell has denied allegations of abuse made by his ex-girlfriend on TikTok
Drake Bell has denied accusations of abuse from his ex-girlfriend Melissa Lingafelt. Lingafelt posted a series of TikToks on Wednesday night that detailed alleged emotional and physical abuse from Bell 10 years ago. Lingafelt claimed in her first video that Bell would verbally abuse her when they lived together, and that he then turned violent.
- HealthBusiness Insider
'Patients are suffering across the board': A Texas ER doctor said hospitals are getting overwhelmed with patients of varying causes as the state gets battered by coronavirus outbreaks
Dr. Natasha Kathuria, an emergency medicine physician with expertise in public health and epidemiology, has been treating patients at the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. Based in Austin, Texas, she described how doctors in the six different ERs where she works have become overrun with both coronavirus and non-coronavirus patients. The ER doctor said the record-high coronavirus case counts don't portray "an accurate picture" of the situation in the state, as families and hospital staff feel not only the devastating impact of COVID-19 outbreaks but also patients who die of other causes.
U.S.ReutersOregon State Police leaving Portland over lack of prosecutions
Oregon State Police on Thursday said they were withdrawing protection from Portland's federal courthouse over frustration at a prosecutor's decision not to indict many people arrested in protests there. The state police were deployed to Portland two weeks ago under an agreement between Oregon Governor Kate Brown and Vice President Mike Pence to withdraw federal agents after weeks of clashes with protesters. President Donald Trump threatened to send National Guard troops to Portland, if requested by Oregon authorities, if local law enforcement was unable to protect the federal courthouse.
- U.S.National Review
Judge Allows DeVos’s Due Process Rules for Campus Sexual Assault Cases to Take Effect
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos's controversial campus sexual assault rule will take effect on Friday after a federal judge dismissed an attempt from several state attorneys general to block it. A District of Columbia circuit court judge on Wednesday denied a preliminary injunction to delay implementation of the Title IX rule, the Trump administration's attempt to enhance due process for sexual assault cases in K-12 schools and on college campuses. Attorneys general in 17 states and the District of Columbia sued over the rule, arguing that it would prevent schools from probing some sexual assault complaints and would have a chilling effect on students who want to report sexual abuse.
- PoliticsThe Independent
AOC responds to apparent Democratic party convention speech snub: 'Eternity is in it'
Firebrand lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has hit back at an alleged snub by the Democratic party after being given just 60 seconds to deliver a speech a next week's convention. AOC responded on Twitter by posting the poem 'I have only just a minute', written by the late Dr Benjamin E. Mays, an American Baptist minister and civil rights leader. AOC's message appears to be that she intends to make full use of her convention speech – regardless of long she has been given.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Fox News Insists That Joe Biden Didn’t Really Pick Kamala Harris
It took Fox News no more than an hour after Joe Biden selected Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate to start dabbling in wild speculation and conspiracy theories about the hidden, nefarious reasons behind the pick. In the day after the ex-veep and presumptive Democratic nominee announced his running mate, Fox News hosts pushed a number of unsupported theories largely centered around two themes: Harris forced her way onto the ticket and intends to usurp or overtake Biden; and/or Biden is not mentally capable of selecting his own running mate, and so Harris was installed by a shadowy, unseen puppeteer.
- U.S.USA TODAY
New Jersey's Atilis Gym, which reopened against COVID-19 emergency orders, loses business license
A New Jersey gym that reopened against statewide pandemic orders has lost its business license. The 5-1 vote by the Bellmawr Borough Council on Tuesday night came nine days after the owners of Atilis Gym kicked in a plywood barrier installed by authorities after a state judge found the gym in contempt for violating court-ordered limits on indoor operations. Related video: Tips to stay fit from your own living room The gym's owners, Frank Trumbetti and Ian Smith, have also defied COVID-19 emergency orders imposed by Gov. Phil Murphy and New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli.
- U.S.Miami Herald
A Florida homeless man found luxury. He moved into a stadium luxury suite, police say
A homeless man somehow got into Al Lang Stadium and lived in a luxury suite for nearly two weeks, police said. Daniel Albert Neja, 39, was arrested Sunday after a cleaning crew entered the room where he was staying and found razors, opened shaving cream containers and blankets, St. Petersburg police spokeswoman Yolanda Fernandez said. Fernandez said the cleaning crew had not been in the room for some time because the space was supposed to be empty and cleaning activity was limited due to COVID-19.
- PoliticsThe Week
Trump and his aides reportedly think they have Democrats in a 'real pickle' with the COVID-19 aid stalemate
The Democratic-led House passed a huge COVID-19 aid package in May, the Republican-led Senate began discussing its more modest alternative in July, but after talks between congressional Democrats and the White House negotiating team broke down last Friday, it may well be September before any relief package reaches President Trump's desk. "The impasse leaves millions of jobless people without a $600-per-week pandemic bonus jobless benefit that has helped families stay afloat, leaves state and local governments seeking fiscal relief high and dry, and holds back a more than $100 billion school aid package," The Associated Press reports. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are all in Washington, though rank-and-file members of Congress have returned to their districts and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, the other key member of Trump's negotiating team, "left Washington this week for an unspecified amount of time," The Washington Post reports.
- U.S.INSIDER
Protesters in Minneapolis say they won't clear barricades around the George Floyd Memorial until the city leaders meet their 24 demands
Protesters in Minneapolis say they won't allow the city to remove the cement barricades around the George Floyd memorial until the city meets 24 demands, WCCO reported. The demands include recalling Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, firing four employees of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and ending qualified immunity. George Floyd died on May 25 after a police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes until he became unresponsive.
- HealthBusiness Insider
Americans could be staring down the worst public health crisis in recent history if COVID-19 rages on into the flu season, CDC warns
If the coronavirus continues to rage on, the US could experience the worst public health crisis in modern history, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Robert Redfield warned, saying that the mixture of coronavirus with the annual flu season could lead to a public health crisis. He advised people to not only "wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands, and be smart about crowds," but to also get a flu shot. The flu killed 80,000 Americans in the 2017-2018 season.
- U.S.Associated Press
Cook County prosecutors announce charges in week's looting
Cook County's state's attorney's office on Thursday announced 42 people have been charged with felonies in connection with the looting of stores along the city's premier retail street that occurred earlier this week. Prosecutors said among the charges filed include one for attempted murder and 28 for burglary and looting, in addition to aggravated battery, resisting a police officer, theft and criminal damage to property. “I am committed to keeping our communities safe and continuing to collaborate with our law enforcement partners to demand accountability and seek justice for the people of Cook County,” State's Attorney Kim Foxx said in a statement.
“It may be a campaign tactic, but older workers, be forewarned. Ageism runs deep in our culture.”
“Genuine concerns about the capacities of people who want the world’s most powerful job mingle bizarrely with insults.”
“Joe Biden and Donald Trump are both old. But the media should not be making mental illness a campaign issue, on either side.”
“The Trump campaign is now betting his reelection’s already slim chances on Biden proving Trump’s diagnosis is right.”
“The nightmare scenario for Democrats is that, at a pivotal moment, Biden will struggle to put together a coherent thought.”