U.S.Kansas City StarFamily has baby shower for pregnant 12-year-old, her accused rapist, Oklahoma cops say
The family of a 12-year-old girl impregnated by a man twice her age “permitted” the relationship and even celebrated her pregnancy with a baby shower, according to Oklahoma police. Police arrested 24-year-old Juan Miranda-Jara on a charge of first degree rape of a minor earlier this month, according to the Tulsa Police Department Shortly after the young girl showed up to an area hospital pregnant, police said they were told she had possibly been raped. Investigators took Miranda-Jara into questioning and, as the girl was in labor, he admitted that the child was his, police say, and that he had been “in a relationship” with the girl since October 2020.
U.S.Washington ExaminerRepublicans challenge Pelosi after Capitol Police are ordered to arrest those not complying with mask mandate
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, said Thursday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi might as well come to his office and arrest his entire staff for not wearing masks. U.S. Capitol Police officers were directed to arrest staff members or visitors who refuse either to comply or leave the premises after being asked, according to a bulletin from Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger. "This is INSANE," Massie tweeted.
PoliticsReutersU.S. refusal to defend lawmaker in Capitol riot a signal to Trump -experts
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department's refusal to defend a Republican congressman accused in a civil lawsuit of helping to incite the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol could hamper former President Donald Trump's legal defense in the same case, experts said. The department late Tuesday told a federal judge it had declined https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-justice-dept-wont-defend-republican-lawmaker-capitol-riot-lawsuit-2021-07-28 a request by Representative Morris "Mo" Brooks to grant him immunity by covering him under the Westfall Act, which shields federal employees from being sued for their words or actions in the course of their employment. Experts said the move appeared to send a message to Trump, a co-defendant in the case, ruling out immunity when it warned that inciting an attack on Congress "is not within the scope of employment of a Representative - or any federal employee."
LifestyleArchitectural Digest23 Home Decor Items We’re Shopping at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale
Including savings on cookware, bath essentials, and rarely discounted candles Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
WorldBBCChina warns UK as carrier strike group approaches
China has warned the UK's Carrier Strike Group, led by the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth not to carry out any "improper acts" as it enters the contested South China Sea. 'The People's Liberation Army Navy is at a high state of combat readiness' says the pro-government Global Times, seen as a mouthpiece for the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). China has been closely monitoring the progress eastward of the Carrier Strike Group, which is currently sailing through the South China Sea en route to Japan, while accusing Britain of "still living in its colonial days".
U.S.TheGrioColorado police officers charged after Black man pistol-whipped in bloody assault
Body camera footage showed Officer John Haubert striking a compliant Kyle Vinson, a man he was trying to arrest. Two police officers have been arrested after one beat someone with his service-issued weapon, and the second is accused of failing to intervene. The incident, captured on a body camera, happened Friday in Aurora, Colorado when Officer John Haubert pistol-whipped Kyle Vinson, a 29-year-old man he was trying to take into custody.
CelebrityWashington ExaminerSteven Crowder hospitalized, has message for his fans: Death, 'he's a d***'
Conservative pundit Steven Crowder posted a photo of himself Tuesday in a hospital bed, telling his audience he'd been close to death. "Last night took a turn for the worse," Crowder tweeted. Crowder posted in late June that he was having surgery to fix a "genetic defect," later elaborating that he had a "connective tissue disorder" causing his "chest caving in on [his] heart."
PoliticsAxiosAG urges Texas governor to rescind restrictions on undocumented migrant travel
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday urged Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to immediately rescind restrictions on undocumented migrant travel. Why it matters: Abbott's order, which bars people from providing ground transportation to migrants detained for illegally crossing the border, gives the state's Department of Public Safety authority to stop and reroute "any vehicle upon reasonable suspicion" of violating the order. Abbott claimed the decision, announced on Wednesday, is aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus, but the governor has made no move to mandate masks amid the new surge in cases.
U.S.Washington ExaminerFlorida school board to require masks in fall, defying DeSantis's stance
A Florida school board voted Wednesday to require all students and faculty to wear masks inside schools for the fall semester, a policy at odds with Gov. Ron DeSantis's stance against making face covers compulsory. Broward County Public Schools decided to require masks during the fall semester following updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance recommending that fully vaccinated people wear masks inside in regions where the virus is proliferating. School board member Lori Alhadeff said she wanted to make the semester "as normal as possible" and originally supported making masks optional, but she changed her mind due to the rising cases of COVID-19 resulting from the highly transmissible delta variant, according to WLRN-TV.
- ScienceYahoo News Video
Huge quake of magnitude 8.2 triggers tsunami alert in Alaska
A strong and shallow earthquake of magnitude 8.2 struck the Alaskan peninsula late on Wednesday, prompting tsunami warnings in the U.S. state and heightened surveillance across the pacific.
WorldAssociated PressPhilippine leader recalls decision to void US security pact
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte reversed his termination of a key defense pact with the United States that allows large-scale combat exercises between U.S. and Philippine forces. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana announced Duterte's decision at a joint meeting with reporters Friday with his visiting U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, in Manila. Another Philippine official earlier told The Associated Press that Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. would hand over a document to Austin about Duterte's decision to keep the Visiting Forces Agreement in a separate meeting later Friday.
U.S.AxiosMidwest under threat from hurricane-force winds as severe storm system strikes
Organizers in Wisconsin postponed the biggest air show in the U.S. as a severe storm system threatened the Midwest with potentially hurricane-force winds, tornados, hail and thunderstorms overnight. Threat level: More than 5.9 million people could be affected by the storm system — which saw the EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, postpone events due to be held Wednesday until the following evening amid the threat of 90 mph winds. Storms moving through southern Wisconsin were bringing "damaging winds along the line" and the threat of tornadoes in the southeast of the state on Thursday morning, according to the NWS.
U.S.TheGrioCapitol officer Harry Dunn responds to right-wing attacks: ‘Can’t put Band-Aid on my emotions’
“If I came here with my arm in a sling or bandage around my head, would that give me more credibility?” Dunn asked CNN. A Black Capitol Police officer who testified on Tuesday before the House select committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill is responding to right-wing critics questioning his integrity. The 13-year veteran officer's character has been assailed by pundits on Fox News, including Tucker Carlson, who called him “an angry, left-wing political activist.”
U.S.Miami HeraldGreen Beret dies at special forces dive school in Key West
A U.S. Army Special Forces soldier died earlier this week while training at the Special Forces Underwater Operations School in Key West. Staff Sgt. Micah E. Walker, 31, of Peyton, Colorado, died on Tuesday. The U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center at Fort Rucker in Alabama said it will lead the investigation and initially called the death a “drowning mishap” at Naval Air Station Key West.
WorldWashington ExaminerTaliban could force 'existential crisis’ in Afghanistan, US watchdog says
The Taliban's surge in Afghanistan as the United States completes its withdrawal could lead to an "existential crisis," a U.S. oversight report said. The situation in Afghanistan is "bleak," and the "overall trend is clearly unfavorable to the Afghan government," a letter from the Special Inspector General John Sopko that accompanied Wednesday's quarterly report to Congress read. The number of enemy-initiated attacks has increased since the U.S.-Taliban agreement of February 2020, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction's report to Congress.
HealthAxiosArkansas governor asks legislature to reconsider ban on mask mandates
Gov. Asa Hutchinson reinstated Arkansas' public health emergency Thursday, and announced he is calling a special session of the legislature to amend the law banning mask mandates to allow more flexibility for schools. Hutchinson stressed school districts need to be allowed to require masks, in particular to protect kids under 12 who cannot get vaccinated. Threat level: Four COVID-19 patients were forced to wait in ambulances Thursday until EMTs could find open hospital beds, Hutchinson said.
U.S.Washington ExaminerArizona auditors complete third ballot recount and ship materials back to Maricopa County
Auditors working on the Arizona Senate-led Maricopa County 2020 general election review completed a third and final ballot recount late on Wednesday and prepared materials to return to county custody on Thursday. The monthslong audit conducted at the Phoenix state fairgrounds since late April will now shift its focus to drafting a comprehensive report based on the results of the election machines and other voting material analyzed during the review. The Maricopa County Elections Department arrived with trucks at the audit site Thursday morning to retrieve the materials.
PoliticsAxiosMcConnell urges public support for Sinema in private conversations
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is urging his fellow Republicans to buck up Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona — a Democrat, sources familiar with the conversations tell Axios. Why it matters: Republicans view Sinema and her moderate Democratic colleague Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia as their last line of defense against sweeping progressive laws — ranging from a $3.5 trillion social welfare bill to potentially irreversible structural changes like eliminating the filibuster and adding new states to the union. Between the lines: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) published an uncommon opinion piece Wednesday on the NBC News website thanking and crediting Sinema.
HealthRaleigh News and Observer‘The war has changed’: Internal CDC document warns delta infections likely more severe
The delta variant of the coronavirus appears to cause more severe illness than earlier variants and spreads as easily as chickenpox, according to an internal federal health document that argues officials must “acknowledge the war has changed.” The document is an internal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention slide presentation, shared within the CDC and obtained by The Washington Post. It cites a combination of recently obtained, still-unpublished data from outbreak investigations and outside studies showing that vaccinated individuals infected with delta may be able to transmit the virus as easily as those who are unvaccinated.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderNearly half of Republicans say 'a time will come when patriotic Americans have to take the law into their own hands,' new poll shows
Less than a year after a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol, nearly half of Republican voters (47%) say that "a time will come when patriotic Americans have to take the law into their own hands," per a new nationwide survey by George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs. Only about 29% of Americans agreed with this statement on some level, the poll found, including just 9% of Democrats. And 49% said they disagree or strongly disagree.
CelebrityTheGrioAtlanta news anchor Jovita Moore reveals brain cancer diagnosis
Jovita Moore underwent surgery in April and has now been diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. Atlanta news anchor Jovita Moore has revealed that she has an aggressive form of brain cancer months after she tearfully revealed doctors found tumors in her brain. WSB-TV shared on Thursday that the veteran anchor, who has been with the station since 1998, asked them to relay that she was diagnosed with glioblastoma.
BusinessThe Daily Beast‘Shame on Fox News!’: MyPillow Pulling Ads From Network Over Rejected Election Fraud Commercial
Trump-boosting pillow magnate Mike Lindell, whose company MyPillow is one of Fox News' largest advertisers, said on Thursday night that he is pulling his commercials from the network because they won't run a commercial pushing baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election. “When I was told they wouldn't run the ad, I said to cut off advertising on Fox immediately and indefinitely.”
SportsNextShark'I'm multicultural, queer, a lot of minorities': Erica Sullivan wins silver at first-ever women’s 1500m freestyle
Japanese American swimmer Erica Sullivan has made history after winning second place in the first-ever women's 1,500-meter freestyle on Tuesday at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Big win: Sullivan, 20, finished the 1,500-meter freestyle in 15:41.41, 4.07 seconds behind gold medal winner and fellow Team USA member, Katie Ledecky, according to USA Today. Sullivan, whose mother is a Japanese citizen living in the U.S., said it's “so cool” and “awesome” to go on the podium and receive the silver medal in Japan "as an Asian American" and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, TODAY reported.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderNearly 230 Republican lawmakers, including McConnell and McCarthy, urge the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and 'release its vise grip on abortion politics'
Nearly 230 Republican members of Congress called on the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. Lawyers for the lawmakers said the court should "release its vise grip on abortion politics." In its next term, the court will review a Mississippi ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
PoliticsPoliticoGOP lawmaker challenges McCarthy over 'bulls---' mask mandate enforcement
Rep. Chip Roy confronted House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Thursday about a new Capitol Police bulletin that suggests congressional staffers and visitors could be arrested if they fail to heed the chamber's new mask mandate. McCarthy replied to a frustrated Roy that his plan is to win back the majority in 2022 and become speaker, the sources said.
“[The program] stands likely to leave millions of families — disproportionately the poorest and most fragile ones — behind.”
“[Paying] families monthly, instead of one lump sum ... will provide parents with more stability knowing when cash is coming.”
“More parents will disappear from the workforce, and more children will be locked into dependency.”
“Poverty is a political choice, not an inevitability.”
“Time is running out. There are only six months until monthly payments of the credit cease."