- PoliticsYahoo News
Obama endorses challenger to Maine's Susan Collins, under fire for Kavanaugh confirmation vote
Former President Barack Obama released a list of endorsements for the 2020 elections on Monday that included Democratic Senate candidate Sara Gideon, who is trying to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. The race could help decide which party controls the Senate for at least the next two years. Gideon is the speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, and the two most recent polls (by Colby College and Public Policy Polling) of her race against Collins show her with a 5-point lead.
- HealthYahoo News
Most of the coronavirus tests the U.S. does are worthless. But there's a solution that could actually work — and stop the spread.
To stop its raging coronavirus outbreak, which is currently spreading at a rate of about 60,000 new cases per day, the United States can do one of two things. The good news is that there might be a simple solution: new tests that prioritize speed over sensitivity.
- WorldNational Review
Lebanon PM Blames Beirut Explosions on Shipment of Ammonium Nitrate Sitting in Port Since 2013
Massive explosions that rocked the city of Beirut on Tuesday were fueled by a 2,750-ton shipment of ammonium nitrate that had been stored in port since 2013, Lebanon's prime minister announced. “I will not rest until we find the person responsible for what happened, to hold him accountable and impose the most severe penalties,” Prime Minister Hassan Diab told reporters on Tuesday evening. It was not immediately clear why the ammonium nitrate was stored at that location, or how it ended up there.
- U.S.Business Insider
Nearly 100 people in Ohio got sick after one man infected with the coronavirus attended a church service
Ninety-one people caught COVID-19 after a man infected with the virus attended a church service in Ohio. Governor Mike DeWine tweeted a graphic from the Ohio Department of Health on Tuesday, which showed how the 56-year-old man was responsible for 91 infections. Close to 100 people contracted the coronavirus in Ohio after one person who had the virus attended a church service and spread it to dozens others.
- U.S.Associated Press
N Carolina county joins Asheville with vote for reparations
A county in western North Carolina has joined the neighboring city of Asheville to apologize for its role in slavery and take the rare step of supporting reparations for Black residents. Buncombe County officials passed the measure Tuesday night 4-3 along party lines, with Democrats being in favor, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported. Similar to the one passed in Asheville last month, the county's resolution does not call for direct payments.
- 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
- U.S.BBC
New York attorney general sues to dissolve NRA
New York's attorney general has announced a lawsuit aimed at dissolving the powerful National Rifle Association over alleged financial mismanagement. Letitia James said the NRA had diverted millions of dollars to leaders including its head, Wayne LaPierre, for their personal use. "For these years of misconduct we are seeking an order to dissolve the NRA in its entirety," she said.
- WorldUSA TODAY
The story of how Manhattan Project workers tried to stop the atomic bombs 75 years ago
One month before the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, killing an estimated 150,000 people in Hiroshima and 75,000 people in Nagasaki, some of the Manhattan Project's leading scientists tried to beseech President Harry S. Truman to call off the bombings. Ultimately an assistant stamped two petitions from scientists "secret" before they ever reached the president's desk, and they were stored away until they were declassified in 1958. The atomic bombs were dropped on Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945, flattening Hiroshima and Nagasaki and shocking the obstinate Japanese into submission.
- U.S.INSIDER
Portland's Black police chief says violent protesters have 'taken away from' the Black Lives Matter movement
Chuck Lovell, the police chief of Portland, Oregon, called for violent protesters to stop their actions at a Wednesday press conference. While protests in downtown Portland have been peaceful since the presence of federal agents was scaled back last week, there have been violent offshoot protests in other parts of the city. Wednesday marked the 70th consecutive day of demonstrations in the city, which started after George Floyd's death in late May.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Q's your daddy? Republican funders back conspiracy theorists running for Congress
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia businesswoman and mother of three, appears to be on her way to becoming the first elected member of the House of Representative who openly aligns with the online conspiracy theory known as QAnon. Greene, a Trump acolyte who is seeking the Republican nomination for an open House seat in Georgia's conservative 14th Congressional District, is among a growing field of 2020 candidates who have expressed some degree of support for, or promotion of, content related to QAnon, the pro-Trump fringe conspiracy theory whose network of adherents have been labeled by the FBI as “conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists” who pose a potential domestic terrorist threat. According to her campaign website, Greene and her husband, Perry, have owned a construction and renovation company called Taylor Commercial since 2002.
- U.S.Yahoo News
Marijuana sent him to prison for decades. Now he has COVID-19 and is seeking release
As an elderly Michigan inmate's bid for early release amid the coronavirus pandemic continues, garnering support from everyone from a local prosecutor to a reality star, his situation is becoming more dire. Michael Thompson, a 69-year-old former Flint resident, is serving a 40- to 60-year sentence for selling marijuana to an informant in 1994. Thompson, who lost his parents and son while incarcerated, isn't eligible for release until 2038.
- PoliticsReuters
McConnell says U.S. needs 'another boost' as coronavirus relief talks continue
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday said the U.S. economy needs an "additional boost" to cope with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, as his Democratic counterparts and White House officials try to hash out a next wave of relief. As talks neared the end of their second week, the four principal negotiators - a group that does not include McConnell - appeared to be near agreement on some topics, but still trillions of dollars apart on major issues including the size of a federal benefit for tens of millions of unemployed workers. McConnell said he agreed with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that agreement is needed on another aid package, even though some of his fellow Republicans in the Senate do not think so.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Pakistani court sparks outrage by ruling 14-year-old Christian girl must stay married to alleged abductor
A Pakistani court has sparked outrage by ruling a 14-year-old Christian girl was legally married to a Muslim man who allegedly abducted her at gunpoint. In a case that has renewed focus on the persecution of Pakistan's Christian minority, the Lahore High Court ruled on Tuesday that Maira Shahbaz had willingly converted to Islam and married Mohamad Nakash. The girl and her family claim that she was kidnapped in April by Mr Nakash and two accomplices from near her home in the city of Faisalabad.
- U.S.Associated Press
California virus cases underreported, health official says
Figures showing California has slowed the rate of coronavirus infections may be in doubt because a technical problem has delayed reporting of test results, the state's top health official said. For days, California hasn't received full counts on the number of tests conducted nor the number that come back positive for COVID-19, Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said Tuesday. Ghaly said it's unclear when the issue would be fixed, adding that the state is relaying information manually to county health officials.
- PoliticsAssociated Press Videos
Milwaukee mayor: Biden won't accept nomination here
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has confirmed that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden will not travel to the Wisconsin city to accept his party's White House nomination because of concerns over the coronavirus. Aug.
- LifestyleBusiness Insider
The man behind one of history's most iconic supercars just debuted its $3 million successor — check out the Gordon Murray T.50
Gordon Murray designed the McLaren F1, which debuted in the 1990s with a driver's seat in the center of the car. Like the McLaren F1, Gordon Murray's new car, the T.50, has a naturally aspirated V12 and three seats. The legendary McLaren F1 supercar, despite being nearly 30 years old, still leaves big shoes to fill.
- WorldPopular Mechanics
Massive Beirut Explosion Shows Mushroom Clouds Aren't Just for Nukes
An explosion in Beirut injured at least 4,500 people and killed 100 on Tuesday. Reports say the blast started with a fire at a warehouse that contained highly explosive materials. Despite the mushroom cloud shape that appeared after the blast, this was not the result of a nuclear weapon detonating.
- U.S.INSIDER
A Florida woman was kicked off an American Airlines flight for wearing a 'F--- 12' face mask
Joe Raedle/Getty Images A South Florida woman was kicked off an American Airlines flight last week for wearing a face mask the airline said was "offensive," the Miami news outlet WPLG reported. Arlinda Johns told the outlet that she complied when she was asked to cover her face mask — which said "F--- 12," an anti-police slogan — but was later escorted off the plane. The airline told Insider in a statement that Johns "refused to follow crew member instructions to remove or cover a face mask with offensive language."
- U.S.The Independent
Three teenagers with AK-47 arrested for trespassing at Trump's Mar-a-Lago
Three teenagers fleeing police while carrying a semiautomatic weapon in a backpack jumped a wall at Mar-a-Lago on Friday. President Donald Trump was not in residence at the time, and authorities say that the teens probably didn't know that's where they were. Palm Beach Police spokesman Michael Ogrodnick said the 15-year-old boys were arrested shortly after they entered the grounds of the Florida resort on 31 July.
- 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.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Dems, White House inch closer on coronavirus relief deal, hoping for agreement by end of week
Congressional Democrats and the White House again met Wednesday, hoping to hash out their differences on another coronavirus relief package and come to an agreement by the end of the week to quickly rush funds to millions of unemployed Americans stuck in financial limbo after a $600 weekly enhanced unemployment benefit expired Friday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., met with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to find a compromise between Democrats' $3 trillion proposal and a $1 trillion Republican package.
- U.S.Reuters
Georgia prosecutor asks court to revoke bond for former Atlanta policeman charged with murder
A Georgia prosecutor has asked a judge to revoke the bond for the former Atlanta policeman charged with murder in the shooting of Rayshard Brooks, saying in court papers that he had violated its terms by taking an out-of-state vacation. Brooks, a Black man, was fatally shot in June in the parking lot of a Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta, an incident that was caught on video and set off days of protests over racial inequality and social injustice. District Attorney Paul Howard asked the court late on Tuesday to send former officer Garrett Rolfe, 27, back to jail for violating the terms of his bond, which include a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and an order that he stays within the court's jurisdiction.
- SportsBBC
BBC receives 18,600 complaints over use of racial slur in news report
The BBC has received more than 18,600 complaints about the use of a racial slur in a TV news report. The N-word was used in a report about a racially-aggravated attack in Bristol, broadcast by Points West and the BBC News Channel last week. The corporation has since defended the use of the word, but accepted it caused offence.
- PoliticsPolitico
Biden says Harris is 'very much in contention' to be his running mate
Joe Biden said Sen. Kamala Harris is “very much in contention” to be his running mate on the 2020 Democratic ticket, clarifying that he doesn't hold a grudge against the California lawmaker for attacking him in an early primary debate. The presumptive Democratic nominee's conciliatory tone toward Harris comes after senior members of Biden's vetting team had thrown cold water on her vice presidential bid in the final stretch of Biden's search. In late July, POLITICO reported that former Sen. Chris Dodd, who is part of Biden's vice presidential search committee, told a longtime Biden supporter that Harris had “no remorse” when asked about her confrontation with Biden at the first Democratic primary debate.
- U.S.Business Insider
An emergency medicine physician projects that if schools open in the fall, they'll close by the end of October with COVID-19 outbreaks
The fall semester is quickly approaching for numerous US school districts, but lawmakers, school board members, and parents are still debating how and whether schools should reopen during 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 that the prevalence of the virus could challenge their ability to stay open. Lambert said it could be difficult identifying and separating coronavirus cases and flu cases because of the similarity between symptoms and increased exposure to others.
“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.”