Poll gives Democrats bad news in key Senate race

Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines, running for reelection, holds a 6-point lead against Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock in a race that will help decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate, according to a poll released Monday by Emerson College. Daines received 50 percent support in the poll, while 44 percent said they would vote for Bullock. Like other traditionally Republican strongholds, Montana is being looked at to see whether support for President Trump has softened, giving Democrats a better chance of retaking control of the Senate.

Gun sales spike among African-Americans: 'Our ancestors died for us to vote, they also died for us to be able to carry guns'

During the first six months of 2020, amid a global coronavirus pandemic, gun retailers have reported a record 10.3 million firearm transactions, according to a new survey by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Overall, gun sales in the U.S. have increased by 95 percent while ammunition sales have increased 139 percent compared to the same period last year. “The highest overall firearm sales increase comes from Black men and women, who show a 58.2% increase in purchases during the first six months of 2020 versus the same period last year,” Jim Curcuruto, NSSF director of research and market development, wrote in his report.

Beirut Ignored Public Warning There Was a Russian ‘Bomb’ at the Port

Years before a devastating blast killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000 in Beirut Tuesday, a maritime analyst issued a public warning that a Russian “floating bomb” was languishing in the city's docks. Maritime monitoring systems tracked the Rhosus into port in Beirut in September 2013. The 2,750 metric ton cargo of ammonium nitrate would primarily be used for fertilizers or high power explosives.

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  Helicopters put out fire at the scene of Beirut port explosion

  Newsflare
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  Aerial footage shows the full scale of Beirut's devastating explosion, which killed 100 and reduced buildings into rubble

  Business Insider

Biden VP prospect Karen Bass claims Scientology hadn't been 'exposed' before her 2010 praise of it, despite several high-profile media probes in the 1990s and 2000s

YouTube (Scientology) Rep. Karen Bass defended decade-old comments she made praising the Church of Scientology by implying that not much was known about the Church's alleged abuses at the time. Bass, who is a top candidate to be Joe Biden's running mate, spoke positively of the group and its founder during a 2010 appearance at a Los Angeles Church of Scientology. Bass on Friday said she was attempting to find common ground with people who had "very different" beliefs and said the Church's alleged abuses were "exposed" in subsequent years.

Student wearing 'Black Lives Matter' mask at graduation told to remove it

A Black student in Pennsylvania was starting his graduation procession when he was told to remove his face mask displaying the words "Black Lives Matter." The student, Dean Holmes, 18, was allowed to continue in York Catholic High School's procession last week after complying. But his father contends in a lengthy Facebook post that the demand to remove the mask put his son at risk of the coronavirus and discriminated against him based on his race and prior civil rights activism at the school.

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  Ohio joins New Jersey in ordering most students to wear masks at public schools

  Reuters
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  Should you be wearing a mask at home? Experts weigh in

  Yahoo Life

California governor says COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations trending down

The rates of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions were all trending downward in California in the latest counts, the governor said on Monday. Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said that despite that good news, the state's Central Valley agricultural region was still being hit hard by the coronavirus. "This virus is not going away," Newsom said at a daily coronavirus briefing.

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  California virus cases underreported, health official says

  Associated Press
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  California governor encouraged by slight improvement in coronavirus numbers

  The Week

Illinois officials call to abolish history classes in the state until an 'alternative' is set up to highlight underrepresented groups

Tim Boyle/Getty Images Community leaders in Illinois called for history classes in state schools to stop until a " suitable alternative" is established to represent minority groups in the curriculum. Democratic State Representative LaShawn K. Ford said "current history teachings lead to a racist society and overlook the contributions of women and minorities," according to NBC Chicago. The state representative is calling for schools to discard history books "that unfairly communicate our history."

This is what it looked like after the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima 75 years ago

The most powerful weapon to ever be used against other humans was detonated by the United States in Japan 75 years ago. On August 6, 1945, a B-29 bomber famously known as the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, marking the first of two times the bomb has ever been used in warfare. The city was leveled – less than 10 percent of the buildings in Hiroshima were left undamaged by the bomb, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

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  Hiroshima survivor recalls working on tram after A-bomb

  Associated Press
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  Survivors Feel Greater Urgency to Bear Witness 75 Years After Hiroshima Atomic Bombing

  Time Magazine

Trump dismisses legacy of civil rights hero John Lewis: ‘He didn’t come to my inauguration’

In an interview released on Monday night, Donald Trump said he had never met legendary civil rights leader John Lewis and complained that the congressman had declined to attend many of his presidency's major events. During the wide-ranging conversation, which also saw the president dispute reliable coronavirus data and struggle to answer some questions coherently, Axios interviewer Jonathan Swan asked Mr Trump how history would remember Lewis, who at the time was lying in state at the US Capitol. “I don't know,” replied Mr Trump.

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  Trump avoids praising deceased civil rights hero John Lewis

  AFP
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  'There's anger there that people don't see': Rattled Trump launches attack on Obama after former president's critical John Lewis eulogy

  The Independent

Rare disease causing paralysis in children likely to return in US: experts

A rare neurological condition that mostly affects children and mysteriously returns every two years is likely to flare up in the coming weeks and months, US health authorities warned Tuesday. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that it "anticipates that 2020 will be another peak year for cases of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM)." The disease, which is likely caused by a virus, can lead to permanent paralysis and life-threatening complications from respiratory failure, the CDC said.

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.

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  Helicopters put out fire at the scene of Beirut port explosion

  Newsflare
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  Aerial footage shows the full scale of Beirut's devastating explosion, which killed 100 and reduced buildings into rubble

  Business Insider

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

Aerial footage shows the full scale of Beirut's devastating explosion, which killed 100 and reduced buildings into rubble

Aerial footage broadcast by Sky News show the full scale of the explosion that rocked Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday. The government said the blast was caused by a stockpile of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been kept at the port for years. Numerous hospitals were damaged in the explosion, meaning they could not treat many of those injured who needed medical care.

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  Beirut explosion: How chemicals abandoned by a Russian businessman triggered a devastating blast felt in Cyprus

  The Telegraph
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  Fireworks, ammonium nitrate likely fueled Beirut explosion

  Associated Press

Mexico hails 'Sledgehammer' arrest but murder crisis still a tough nut to crack

Mexico's president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has hailed the capture of one of the country's most notorious gangsters as an important victory in his so far fruitless struggle to slash murder rates. In a Sunday night video message to the nation, López Obrador said security forces had seized “El Marro” or “the Sledgehammer” – the head of the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel – at about 6am that morning in the violence-stricken state of Guanajuato. How is it that this cartel was able to grow so much – to the extent that Guanajuato became our country's most violent state?

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.

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  Celebrate the VP nominee, not Biden's decision to pick a woman. It's the least he can do.

  USA TODAY Opinion
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  RBC: These 3 Stocks Are Poised to Benefit If Biden Wins Election

  TipRanks

Apple Fire: Massive California wildfire forces evacuations

Fire crews in California are battling a massive wildfire that has forced thousands of people from their homes east of Los Angeles. More than 1,300 firefighters, backed by helicopters and water-dumping planes, have been tackling the blaze dubbed the Apple Fire which started on Friday. Parts of the fire are on steep, rugged hillsides, making it hard for fire engines to reach.

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  Diesel soot is behind the giant Apple wildfire in California, officials say

  NBC News
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  Some evacuation orders have been lifted as California's Apple Fire keeps burning across more than 26,000 acres. A 'vehicle malfunction' caused the blaze.

  INSIDER

Splash Mountain log flume ride sinks at Disney World's Magic Kingdom

Walt Disney World's Splash Mountain hit rough waters Sunday as Twitter users posted video of a submerged log flume ride they were in only moments earlier. The riders tweeted that the ride began taking on water, and they decided to evacuate even though a Disney employee told them they should have stayed in the boat. In a video that's been viewed nearly 200,000 times, a Twitter user named Sky shared footage of the boat after it sank.

Trump says he will 'probably' give Republican nomination speech from White House

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he will probably give his Republican presidential nomination speech live from the White House, although the plans have not been confirmed yet. Trump cited the security costs of his travel and a convention speech and said holding it at the White House "would be by far the least expensive from the country's standpoint." "I'll probably do mine live from the White House."

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  Report: Possible spots for Trump's convention speech include Gettysburg, Mount Rushmore

  The Week
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  Trump considers nomination speech from White House; Biden fires back at cognitive test question

  FOX News Videos

Panama proposes flying Haitian migrants home after clash

The government of Panama said Monday it has proposed giving some Haitian migrants flights back to their homeland after frustrations boiled over at the remote camps where they are stuck. The camps in Panama's southern Darien province also house some Cuban and African migrants, but about 80% of the 2,000 migrants there are from Haiti. Public Safety Minister Juan Pino said Monday he offered improved medical services or repatriation flights to the migrants, who want to travel overland to the U.S. border but cannot do so because of coronavirus restrictions.

An Arkansas Black Lives Matter group was confronted by an armed militia. One protester carried a flamethrower as a 'deterrent.'

Johannes Schmitt-Tegge/picture alliance via Getty Images An Arkansas Black Lives Matter group was confronted by an armed militia as they protested white supremacy on Sunday. According to the New York Post, the group congregated in Harrison, Arkansas, and landed near the compound of Ku Klux Klan leader, Thomas Robb. One protester, Quinn Foster, told Insider he carried a flamethrower as a "deterrent" during the demonstration after receiving over 100 deaths threats leading up to the protest.

Republicans fear Kobach primary win in Kansas could jeopardize Senate GOP control

Kris Kobach, the former Republican secretary of state of Kansas who lost his bid for governor in 2018, is now trying to claim a Senate seat there with the help of a Democrat-linked group and without the blessing of GOP party leaders. Voters head to the polls on Tuesday in Kansas and four other states — Arizona, Michigan, Missouri and Washington — in some of the last primaries left on the year's election calendar. Two main combatants have emerged in the 11-candidate Kansas contest — Kobach, the immigration hawk and voter fraud crusader, and Rep. Roger Marshall, a mainstream GOP candidate.

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  Kris Kobach Loses Kansas GOP Senate Race, To Republican Relief

  HuffPost
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  Kris Kobach Is an Incompetent Loser Who Loses, and That Is Why Democrats Want Him

  National Review

A woman allegedly smashed a police officer's head into concrete after being told to wear a mask

A woman in Melbourne, Australia, allegedly "smashed" a police officer's head into concrete "several times" after being told to wear a mask, the Evening Standard reported. A woman in Australia allegedly slammed a police officer's face into the concrete multiple times Monday after the officer asked her to wear a face mask, the Evening Standard reported. The 26-year-old officer and her colleague approached the mask-less 38-year-old woman while on patrol near a Melbourne shopping center.

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  Student wearing 'Black Lives Matter' mask at graduation told to remove it

  NBC News
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  Should you be wearing a mask at home? Experts weigh in

  Yahoo Life

Ed Buck: Top Democrat donor who allegedly injected men with methamphetamine faces new prostitution charges

A former candidate for a city council seat in West Hollywood, Mr Buck has donated well over $300,000 to Democratic candidates and Super PACs. The original indictment related to the deaths of two men, Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean, who died separately in Mr Buck's apartment after suffering fatal overdoses. According to that indictment, Mr Buck allegedly solicited the men to come to his apartment as part of a pattern in which he would inject them with methamphetamine himself, with or without their consent and sometimes while they were unconscious.

Mississippi governor relents, ordering statewide mask mandate for 2 weeks

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) on Tuesday ordered a statewide mask mandate, requiring all residents to don a face covering while shopping or attending a public gathering during the next two weeks. Mississippi is seeing a surge in new coronavirus cases and deaths, with more than 1 in 5 COVID-19 tests conducted in the state coming back positive, the Clarion Ledger reports. Previously, Reeves issued three separate executive orders requiring mask mandates in 37 of the state's 82 counties, but balked at issuing a statewide order because he said it was too hard to enforce and he trusted Mississippians to wear face coverings on their own.

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  These Face Mask Accessories Make Wearing a Mask a Little More Pleasant

  Country Living
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  Ohio joins New Jersey in ordering most students to wear masks at public schools

  Reuters