- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump says he is holding up coronavirus aid to block Postal Service funds for voting by mail
President Trump on Thursday said he is withholding approval for a coronavirus relief package because Democrats want to include funds for mail-in voting. The president said Democrats want $25 billion for the U.S. Postal Service, $3.5 billion of which would be used to shore up infrastructure amid logistical challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is predicted to keep some voters from going to the polls in November. “They want $3.5 billion for something that will turn out to be fraudulent, that's election money basically,” Trump said in an interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.
- U.S.USA TODAY
43 felony charges, new task forces: Here's what Chicago is doing to combat potential looting
Prosecutors approved 43 felony charges in connection with looting across Chicago earlier this week, and city officials laid out a series of plans Friday that they say would prevent future incidents. "What happened Sunday night into Monday morning should never have happened," Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a press conference Friday afternoon. "There can never be any place in Chicago where businesses are afraid to open, where residents and visitors are afraid to travel and shop, or where employees are afraid to go to work."
- PoliticsThe Independent
Fox Host makes ominous prediction about Joe Biden then immediately tries to walk it back
Fox News host Jeanine Pirro suggested Wednesday night that "something" was going to happen to presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden that would keep him from appearing on the ballot come November. Her comment during an appearance on "The Five" as she was answering a question about a recent poll from right-wing outlet Rasmussen that claimed more than half of its respondents didn't believe Mr Biden would survive his first term in office. "For some reason, I just have this feeling that Joe Biden isn't going to be on the ticket," Ms Pirro said.
- U.S.NBC News
Scorching temperatures in Death Valley will shatter records in West, southwest
You know it's hot when Death Valley, California, breaks high temperature records. More than 34 million people are under excessive heat watches and warnings across California and the Southwest. This heat event will be especially dangerous due to higher than normal humidity due to tropical moisture streaming into the region from what was Hurricane Elida, which has since dissipated.
- U.S.Yahoo News Video
Bison violently attacks motorcyclist in South Dakota
A motorcyclist has survived a violent attack by a bison in the Black Hills of South Dakota, sheriff's officials said.
- U.S.Reuters
U.S. judge dismisses NRA lawsuit challenging gun shop closures in New York state
A federal judge on Friday dismissed the National Rifle Association's lawsuit challenging New York's decision to close gun stores in the state in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. The decision came eight days after New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit seeking to dissolve the gun rights group, accusing senior leaders of corruption including the improper diversion of millions of dollars. U.S. District Judge Mae D'Agostino said the NRA lacked standing to challenge on behalf of its members a March 20 executive order by Governor Andrew Cuomo requiring gun stores to close in the state because they were "non-essential" businesses.
- U.S.NY Daily News
More than 50 Confederate symbols moved, taken down in wake of George Floyd's death, study says
In the months since George Floyd died in Minneapolis while in police custody, protests have rippled across the United States, with hundreds of demonstrators rallying against systemic racism and calling for justice. Among some of the more prominent changes sparked by Floyd's death is the speedy removal and renaming of landmarks and monuments representing the Confederacy. The tally does not include Mississippi voting to remove the Confederate flag from its state flag nor toppled monuments that have racist connotations but no ties to the Confederacy.
- U.S.Business Insider
The US said federal agents have seized millions of dollars in bitcoin from terrorist groups al-Qaeda and Hamas
Federal agents have seized millions of dollars worth of bitcoin that terrorist organizations were using to carry out their violent campaigns, the US Department of Justice said Thursday. As part of the operation, officials also seized a website and four Facebook pages that ISIS was using to sell fake personal protective equipment. The seizure was just one part of a broader crackdown on the financial operations behind terrorist groups.
- WorldLA Times
The Beirut blast leveled historic neighborhoods. Some fear developers may finish the job
That one second equaled more than 15 years of war,” Dagher said, referring to the 1975-1990 civil war that made the Lebanese capital a byword for destruction. Dagher, a 60-year-old architect, had spent decades restoring his family's elegant two-story, 4,800-square-foot house that his great-grandfather had first completed in 1875. In the eastern Beirut neighborhood of Gemmayzeh, it stood as a jewel-like example of the late Ottoman and French Mandate houses of fin-de-siecle Lebanon, with its facade of three arches and wide balconies.
- U.S.Associated Press
9th Circuit ends California ban on high-capacity magazines
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday threw out California's ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines, saying the law violates the U.S. Constitution's protection of the right to bear firearms. “Even well-intentioned laws must pass constitutional muster,” appellate Judge Kenneth Lee wrote for the panel's majority. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra's office said it is reviewing the decision and he "remains committed to using every tool possible to defend California's gun safety laws and keep our communities safe.”
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
You Need These High-Design Lawn Games to Maximize Summer Fun
Classic lawn games are perfect for enjoying what's left of summer 2020, plus they'll look great in your yard Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- PoliticsThe Independent
Antifa website redirected to Biden’s campaign site causes right-wing conspiracy meltdown
The website for anti-facist group Antifa redirected to Joe Biden's campaign website on Wednesday, which led some people to claim that the Democrats are connected to the organisation. For a few hours on Wednesday, Antifa.com redirected to JoeBiden.com, the campaign website of the presumptive Democratic candidate for president, before it returned back to the original page of the group Donald Trump has described as being run by “anarchists.” The president has attempted to categorise Antifa as a domestic terrorist organisation in recent months, following claims that some of its members engaged in violence at Black Lives Matter protests, but he is unable to do so as it is an umbrella term for various anti-facist groups.
- U.S.Miami Herald
He used social media to pimp a 14-year-old in Miami airport hotels, cops say. He’s 17
A 14-year-old runaway told cops she got sold for sex at hotels across the street from Miami International Airport up to five times a day, according to a police report. The girl said she turned all proceeds of that and future encounters over to her pimp, 17-year-old Miami resident Javier Quintero.
- U.S.NBC News
Bald eagle takes down government drone
A bald eagle took down a government drone in Michigan, state officials said Thursday. The bird of prey attacked the Phantom 4 Pro Advanced quadcopter drone about 162 feet in the sky on July 21, "tearing off a propeller and sending the aircraft to the bottom of Lake Michigan," according to the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. An environmental quality analyst and drone pilot, Hunter King, was mapping shoreline erosion on Lake Michigan with the device, which was flying at 22 mph, when it began twirling out of control and he spotted an eagle flying away, it said.
- WorldReuters
Mexican government forces out over 1,000 immigration officials accused of corruption
The Mexican government has forced the resignation or sidelined more than 1,000 immigration officials over allegations of corruption and other irregularities, a senior official said on Friday. As part of an administrative modernization plan, the National Migration Institute (INM) installed video surveillance systems at its offices that have since detected irregularities that ranged from immigration officials extorting migrants, to workers sleeping on the job. INM chief Francisco Garduno said "more than 1,040 INM public servants have had to resign or have been subject to an internal review.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
New Jeffrey Epstein Victims, Including 11-Year-Old Girl, Come Forward in Lawsuit
A Florida woman who alleges Jeffrey Epstein sexually assaulted her when she was 11-years-old is among nine accusers who have filed a new lawsuit against the millionaire pedophile's estate. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court, alleges Epstein sexually abused them from as early as 1978—far earlier than Epstein's previously known instances of abuse—and continued until 2004. Five of the women in the lawsuit claim they were underage when they were abused, including a Tennessee woman who says she was 13 when the financier raped her multiple times.
- U.S.CBS News
White House report recommends Georgia issue statewide mask mandate
As Georgia Governor Brian Kemp renews his efforts to keep localities from issuing mask mandates, a White House report that has not been made public "strongly" recommends a statewide mask mandate. "Current mitigation efforts are not having a sufficient impact and would strongly recommend a statewide mask mandate," reads a White House report dated August 9, informing Georgia that it is in the "red zone" for both cases and rate of positive tests. The White House has been creating such assessment reports on individual states, but not releasing them to the public.
- U.S.The Independent
Chainsaw-wielding men covered in blood arrested on Toronto beach
Witnesses alleged that they menaced and “charged” at various people gathered at Toronto's Cherry Beach on Sunday morning, before police quickly intervened, responding to reports of a large fight. The gatherings have become weekly occurrences during the coronavirus pandemic and are thought to be frequented by protestors against face coverings and lockdown measures. Footage showed the two men covered in blood from apparent head wounds, wielding the running saws and shouting “who hit me”.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Fact check: Obama did not resettle 70,000 Somali immigrants in Minnesota
The claim: President Barack Obama resettled 70,000 Somali immigrants in Minnesota, specifically the state's 5th Congressional District. Since her election to the United States Congress, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., has been a lightning rod for various attacks and conspiracy theories, especially those relating to her faith and race. One especially viral graphic on Facebook — from 2019 but gaining attention recently on the social network — falsely claims that President Barack Obama “imports 70,000 Somali immigrants and parks them in Minnesota … specifically in the fifth congressional district.”
- 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.
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
TikTok's US employees are scared they won't get paid if the app is banned, and now they're planning to sue the Trump administration
A US TikTok employee, Patrick Ryan, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to sue the Trump administration over President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to ban TikTok. Ryan believes the executive order will mean TikTok can't pay its 1,500 US employees, and he says his lawyer plans to file a suit next week. Trump last week signed the executive order, which bars US individuals and businesses from doing business with TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, starting September 20.
- U.S.Miami Herald
Commissioner says local Democrats won’t stop him from tweeting about hydroxychloroquine
Even as a local Democratic Party official threatens to call for his removal from public office, Miami Beach Commissioner Ricky Arriola said he will not delete his Twitter account or stop sharing articles promoting the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. Arriola, a Democrat serving on a nonpartisan city commission, was criticized on social media last Friday for using his public Twitter page to share an opinion article, which called for jailing of White House adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci for calling the antimalarial medication ineffective against the virus.
- LifestyleDelish
How To Make Mrs. Fields Famous Cookies, Plus 28 More Copycat Dessert Recipes
Knowing how to make these sweets at home is seriously dangerous. Proceed at your own risk. From Delish
- U.S.National Review
Oregon State Police Withdraws from Portland Courthouse after D.A. Announces He Won’t Prosecute Most Rioters
Oregon state police are backing out of an agreement to protect the Portland federal courthouse from rioters, after the Multnomah County district attorney announced he will not prosecute most rioters who are arrested. Portland has seen riots almost every night since the May death of George Floyd, an African American man killed during his arrest by Minneapolis police officers. Rioters initially targeted the federal courthouse in the city, but after federal and state law enforcement came to an agreement to jointly protect the courthouse, rioters moved on to attack city police.
- U.S.Los Angeles Times Opinion
Letters to the Editor: Defunding police isn't about money; it's about dismantling a racist system
To the editor: Defunding the Los Angeles Police Department is not just about budgets. All too often, district attorneys shield police officers who are sworn to protect and to serve, even as the death toll from police abuse rises. District attorneys declining to prosecute officers, police departments declining to fire bad officers, jurors taking the word of officers over Black and Latino witnesses and qualified immunity are all failures of a system that has protected law enforcement from being held accountable in criminal cases and civil cases.
“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.”