- PoliticsYahoo News
White House defends Trump's claim that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases are 'harmless' with chart showing 5 percent are fatal
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany came to her press briefing on Monday prepared to defend President Trump's claim over the weekend that “99 percent” of U.S. coronavirus cases are “totally harmless” with two charts illustrating the country's COVID-19 death rate. But McEnany's slides showed a case fatality rate — the percentage of confirmed cases that result in death — of 4.6 percent, not the 1 percent implied by Trump. During a July 4 “Salute to America” speech on the South Lawn of the White House, Trump boasted that the administration has conducted more than 40 million coronavirus tests.
- U.S.Yahoo News
Video shows Black man pinned to tree in what he calls 'attempted lynching' at Indiana lake
Indiana authorities are investigating a report by a Black man who said he was pinned to a tree by a group of white men, an attack he likened to an “attempted lynching.” Parts of the incident were captured on video by one of the man's friends. In a post to Facebook, Vauhxx Booker wrote, “I don't want to recount this, but I was almost the victim of an attempted lynching.”
- U.S.The Daily Beast
Texas Governor Is ‘Putting Lives at Risk,’ Local Officials Say
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo believes she knows what her county needs to fight back against COVID-19. “I'm at the mercy of what powers he positively gives us,” Hidalgo told The Daily Beast. As Texas faces a resurgent coronavirus and some officials have emphasized concerns about hospitals in the state becoming potentially overrun or overwhelmed, Hidalgo can find plenty of reasons to worry.
- WorldThe National Interest
$400,000: The Cost to Unclog a Toilet on a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier
The complaints regarding waste in the U.S. military took an interesting turn several months back when it was reported that the toilets on the U.S. Navy's USS George HW Bush (CVN 77), the newest Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, as well as the first-in-class USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) are clogging frequently – and unclogging the systems can cost upwards of $400,000. In the March report, Navy Shipbuilding: Increasing Focus on Sustainment Early in the Acquisition Process Could Save Billions, released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), 150 systemic maintenance problems were specifically called out. This included the toilets.
- PoliticsTime
The Supreme Court Just Pointed Out the Absurdity of the Electoral College. It's Up to Us to End It
Here's one nice thing we can now say about the Electoral College: it's slightly less harmful to our democracy than it was just days ago. In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that states have the right to “bind” their electors, requiring them to support whichever presidential candidate wins the popular vote in their state. Justice Elena Kagan's opinion was a blow to so-called “faithless electors,” but a win for self-government.
- U.S.Associated Press
Black Lives Matter protesters face rare leak charge in Iowa
Prosecutors in Iowa have filed a rarely used leak charge against Black Lives Matter protesters accused of stealing a confidential police document and displaying it during a television news broadcast. Two protesters are charged with unauthorized dissemination of intelligence data, a felony that carries up to five years in prison. The Iowa Judicial Branch says it's only the second time that the charge has been filed since 2010.
- U.S.Business Insider
Airlines saw a spike in passenger volume for the July 4th holiday weekend, but the numbers are still dismal for the industry
US airlines saw more than 700,000 passengers per day three times over the July 4 holiday weekend. Additionally, more than 700,000 people flew over three days of the long holiday weekend — July 2, 3, and 5, according to the US Transportation Security Administration — breaking that barrier for the first time since March 18, early into the pandemic quarantines. For instance, although the TSA saw 764,761 passengers on July 2, nearly 2.1 million people flew on the same day in 2019.
- BusinessNational Review
Whitmer Says She Won’t Be ‘Bullied’ into Reopening Michigan Too Soon, Could Reimpose Restrictions
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer said Tuesday that she could reimpose social-distancing restrictions if cases of the coronavirus continue to rise in the state, adding that she refuses to be “bullied” into reopening before it is safe to do so. “I want to re-engage this economy more than anyone, but I'm not going to do it if it is too risky to do so, and that's why we're staying focused on the epidemiology,” Whitmer said in a CNN interview. “If they keep moving up, we're going to dial back if we have to,” Whitmer continued.
- WorldReuters
Hong Kong Tiananmen museum turns to digitalisation after new law
A Hong Kong museum chronicling the crackdown by Chinese troops on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square is raising funds to digitalise its collection as concerns over a new national security law create uncertainty over its future. The sweeping legislation, which came into force in the Chinese-ruled city last week, punishes crimes related to secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, with punishments of up to life in prison. Lee Cheuk-yan, chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, who manages the museum, said it was not clear whether the museum would be treated as subversive or undermining the Chinese government.
- U.S.Yahoo News
Don't count on ever seeing Trump's 'Garden of American Heroes'
Call me cynical, but I have a feeling the National Garden of American Heroes announced by President Trump on Friday will never get off — or into — the ground, even if he doesn't put his son-in-law in charge of it. That is partly, of course, a recognition of the incompetence of Trump's administration, which has presided over an epic public health disaster and whose signature border wall initiative, guided by Jared Kushner, is proceeding at the rate of approximately 1 mile per year of new construction, not counting upgrades to existing barriers.
- U.S.Yahoo News
DeSantis cuts $28 million from disease treatment at Florida prisons as pandemic's toll worsens
Nevertheless, Gov. Ron DeSantis used his veto powers last month to excise from the state budget a $28 million initiative to treat prisoners for hepatitis C and the coronavirus. The veto was one of many DeSantis made in the proposed $93.2 billion state budget. Among the dozens of other rejected funding items were a $530,000 security grant for a synagogue in Tallahassee and $500,000 to support babies born with visual impairments, not to mention a host of remote-learning and physical infrastructure programs.
- EntertainmentArchitectural Digest
Olson Kundig’s Latest Design Embraces Its Hawaiian Habitat
On a stunning lava rock field site in Kona, this stunning home seems to hover over the landscape as a series of pavilions Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Tucker Carlson Doubles Down on Duckworth Attacks, Calls Her a ‘Coward’ and ‘Fraud’
A night after saying Iraq War veteran Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) hates America, Fox News host Tucker Carlson doubled down on his attacks, describing the Purple Heart recipient who lost her legs in combat as a “coward” and “fraud.” During his Monday night broadcast, the primetime conservative star played an abbreviated clip of Duckworth saying there should be a “national dialogue” over the possible removal of statues, touting it as proof that she supposedly wants to “get rid of George Washington” while questioning her patriotism. “You're not supposed to criticize Tammy Duckworth in any way because she once served in the military,” he added.
PoliticsYahoo News VideoThe Lincoln Project continues anti-Trump ad campaign
On Tuesday, the Lincoln Project, a conservative political action committee formed in late 2019, released an ad titled “Whispers,” which suggests those in President Trump's inner circle are secretly mocking him. This is the latest in a series of attack ads produced and distributed by the committee, whose members include George Conway, Steve Schmidt and other prominent Republicans who oppose Trump. Yahoo News has assembled a compilation of some of the Lincoln Project's most controversial advertisements.
- U.S.Yahoo News
Exonerated Central Park Five members speak out: ‘Not too many things have changed since 30 years ago’
In 1989, five Black and Hispanic teens were falsely accused of raping and nearly killing Trisha Meili, a white woman jogging in Central Park. Known collectively as the Central Park Five, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise were convicted in two trials despite a lack of eyewitness testimony or DNA evidence and spent between six and 13 years in prison. Exonerated in 2002 after an investigation confirmed that a convicted murderer and rapist had committed the crime, the Central Park Five sued the city and state of New York, settling for millions.
- ScienceBusiness Insider
NASA's powerful Hubble space telescope has beamed back a striking photo of a 'fluffy' galaxy with a ghostly, empty center
By contrast, other spiral galaxies — including the Milky Way — have more distinct arms where stars and gas are compressed. Hubble is NASA's strongest telescope — but not for long NASA launched Hubble into Earth's orbit in April 1990. Since then, the telescope has discovered new planets, revealed strange galaxies, and provided new insights into the nature of black holes.
- U.S.NBC News
U.S. says foreign students may have to leave if their school goes online-only
The government announced Monday that international students will not be allowed to stay in the country if the institution in which they're enrolled is holding online-only courses this fall, and those failing to comply with the rules will risk deportation. Students on F-1 and M-1 visas who face such a situation "must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status," the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said in a news release. The news comes as some colleges and universities, including Harvard, have announced they plan to hold online-only courses this fall as the United States struggles to get the coronavirus pandemic under control.
- WorldThe National Interest
Could 'Baby' Aircraft Carriers Be the Next U.S. Navy Super Weapon?
The Navy can buy smaller, cheaper carriers rather than the $13 billion Ford-class behemoths it is currently constructing, according to a new study by RAND Corporation. The RAND study is a public version of a classified study conducted in 2016 at the behest of the U.S. Navy, which was ordered by Congress to examine cheaper options than the Ford-class carriers. It would be powered by forty-year nuclear reactors that couldn't be replaced, rather than the current twenty-five-year reactors on the Fords that can replaced to extend the life of the ship.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Michigan drivers met with startling billboard message: 'Driving while Black? Racial profiling just ahead'
Motorists in Michigan were met with a startling message Monday on an electronic billboard in Redford Township. The organizer behind the billboard lives in Livonia and said it is an effort to awaken the city to problems that continue to exist with profiling and other forms of racism. The mayor called the billboard counterproductive.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
15 Air-Purifying Plants to Cleanse Your Space of Chemicals and Toxins
Breathe easy with these powerhouse plants that purify the air Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- U.S.The Independent
New law would require NYPD police to take out individual insurance to cover misconduct claims
A new bill introduced by a US lawmaker would require police officers to take out personal liability insurance to cover civil lawsuits filed against them for misconduct, reports have said. The new law, introduced by Senator Alessandra Biaggi, would mean that police are no longer represented by the city law department, according to a report by The New York Post. “While taxpayers bailout law enforcement who engage in misconduct, those same officers too often evade meaningful accountability,” Senator Biaggi told the newspaper.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
Mary Kay Letourneau, Teacher Who Abused and Then Married Student, Dies of Cancer
Mary Kay Letourneau—who gained tabloid infamy for raping her 12-year-old former student, having children with him, and later marrying him—has died of cancer, her attorneys said. “Expected but sad anyway,” her attorney David Gehrke, told TV station KOMO. Letourneau was a married mom of four working as a sixth-grade teacher in Washington state in 1997 when she was arrested for sexual contact with Fualaau.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Kremlin vows to retaliate against fresh UK sanctions against Russians
The Kremlin spokesman says that Moscow will respond to new UK sanctions against Russian citizens including a senior investigator and prison officials. Britain on Monday used a new legislation drafted in the memory of a killed Russian tax adviser to sanction 25 Russian nationals linked to prosecution and mistreatment of tax adviser Sergei Magnitsky as well as 20 Saudis involved in the murder of a journalist in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, told reporters on Tuesday that Moscow “can only lament such hostile steps.”
- U.S.Miami Herald
Mom kidnaps daughter and flies to Mexico to give Russia US defense secrets, feds say
A 47-year-old woman is accused of taking her 6-year-old daughter and top secret government documents to Mexico to try to broker a deal with Russian officials. She didn't have custody of the girl — or permission to take the classified documents, according to Justice Department officials. Elizabeth Jo Shirley, of West Virginia, pleaded guilty on Monday to charges of “international parental kidnapping” and taking national defense information, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.
BusinessAFPTrump: 'I disagree' with Fauci on COVID-19 in the US
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he disagrees with the assessment of the country's top immunologist, Anthony Fauci, on the dire situation the United States faces as cases of the novel coronavirus continue to spread. "The current state is really not good," the highly respected Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a Facebook and Twitter livestream on Monday. "Dr. Fauci said don't wear masks, now he says wear them," he continued, adding that the immunologist has "said numerous things" that according to Trump were bad advice.
