- U.S.Business Insider
An impassioned obituary for a 79-year-old coronavirus victim blames Trump for his death, then calls out Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and people who refused to wear masks
Screenshot Facebook The widow of a coronavirus patient in Texas is blaming President Donald Trump, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and anti-maskers for her husband's death. Stacey Nagy published an impassioned obituary which ran in the Jefferson Jimplecute, according to a note that Nagy wrote on Twitter. "The blame for his death and the deaths of all the other innocent people, falls on Trump, Abbott and all the other politicians who did not take this pandemic seriously and were more concerned with their popularity and votes than lives," Nagy wrote.
- U.S.The Independent
New York City has already had more shootings in 2020 than in the whole of 2019
New York City has recorded more shootings so far in 2020 than the whole of last year, authorities have confirmed. There were 777 shootings between January and 2 August 2020, compared with 776 in 2019, according to figures compiled by the New York Post, and later confirmed by New York Police department (NYPD). The milestone was reached when a man presented to Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, north New York, with gunshot wounds on Saturday evening.
- U.S.National Review
Homicides Spike in 50 Largest Cities across Nation
Homicides and gun violence have spiked in major cities around the country since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, spurred by an economic recession and unrest that arose from protests against police brutality. Chicago saw the largest jump in homicides, reporting more than 400 more homicides than last year, an increase of more than 50 percent. Philadelphia and New York City came in just behind the country's third-largest city, both tallying more than 200 more homicides this year.
- U.S.Associated Press
Seattle police chief upset after protesters visit her home
Seattle's police chief urged the City Council to tell protesters to stop visiting the homes of elected officials and others during emotional debates over reducing funding for police. Chief Carmen Best wrote a letter to the council after protesters showed up at her home Saturday night. Protesters recently appeared outside the homes of Mayor Jenny Durkan and some people on the City Council as demonstrations continue following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
- U.S.INSIDER
A California couple were arrested on hate-crime charges after they yelled 'white power' during an episode of road rage, police say
Torrance Police Department/ Facebook A California couple was arrested on hate-crime and vandalism charges on Friday, the Torrance Police Department said. Gregory and Rachel Howell are accused of yelling "white power" and "only white lives matter" at a Black man and his girlfriend in July. "Never in my life did I think I was gonna experience this," the girlfriend, Itzel Lopez, told KTLA.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Emeritus Pope Benedict, 93, 'extremely frail' after visiting dying brother
Former Pope Benedict XVI became seriously ill after visiting his sick brother in Germany in June and is "extremely frail", according to a report in the German Passauer Neue Presse newspaper on Monday. Benedict, 93, is suffering from erysipelas of the face, a virus that causes a rash and episodes of severe pain, the newspaper reported, citing the former pontiff's biographer, Peter Seewald. "According to Seewald, the Pope emeritus is now extremely frail," the report said.
U.S.USA TODAYSplash 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.
- WorldBusiness Insider
Iran has been covering up its coronavirus death toll, according to BBC investigation which says the true figure is almost 3 times higher
The number of people who have died with COVID-19 in Iran is far higher than the government has publicly admitted, according to figures leaked to BBC Persian. Iran, the worst-hit country in the Middle East, has been accused of covering up its coronavirus cases since early in the pandemic. The number of people who have died with COVID-19 in Iran is nearly three times the official figure, according to an investigation by the BBC.
- WorldReuters
Russia says suspected mercenaries detained by Belarus were going to Latin America
A Russian diplomat said on Monday a group of more than 30 suspected Russian mercenaries detained in Belarus last week were only passing through Minsk and were on their way to an unnamed Latin American state. Belarusian authorities have said they suspect the men entered their country to plot "acts of terrorism" and destabilise it before an Aug. 9 presidential election. Russian officials have dismissed the accusation and described the men as employees of a private security firm.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Nancy Pelosi Tears Into Dr. Birx: ‘I Don’t Have Confidence’ in Her
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) didn't mince words on Sunday morning, declaring that she has no “confidence” in White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, whom she blamed for President Donald Trump peddling coronavirus disinformation. Last week, during a closed-door meeting with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Politico reported that the speaker tore into Birx. Deborah Birx is the worst.
- U.S.The Independent
‘Murder hornets’ trapped in US for first time as officials race to eradicate colonies before breeding season
As the US grapples with the world's worst coronavirus outbreak, a new threat is emerging as Asian giant hornets – known as “murder hornets” due to their lethal sting to humans – are gaining a foothold in the country. After they were first found in Washington State in May this year, the 2-inch (5cm)-long hornets have now been trapped for the first time – giving officials an indication – firstly that their traps work, and secondly of where nests could be situated. Now authorities in Washington State have until mid-September to try and eradicate the invasive species before the breeding season begins.
- PoliticsThe Week
Obama targets Texas in first round of 2020 endorsements
Former President Barack Obama unveiled his first round of 2020 endorsements on Monday, and he's got his eyes on Texas, at least at the local level. Obama is endorsing 27 Democratic candidates in Texas, including 19 for the state House, where Democrats need to win nine seats to grab the majority. The focus seems to make sense for Obama, The New York Times notes, because Texas districts will be redrawn after the 2020 census, and Democrats want to gain a foothold before that happens.
- U.S.Associated Press
Virginia gov faces new hurdle in bid to remove Lee statue
A judge dismissed a legal challenge Monday that had been blocking Virginia officials from removing a towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from the state's capital city, but he immediately imposed another injunction against dismantling the figure. The new 90-day injunction bars Gov. Ralph Northam's administration from “removing, altering, or dismantling, in any way” the larger-than-life statue of Lee on a prominent Richmond avenue while claims in a lawsuit filed by local property owners are litigated. Now covered in graffiti, the Lee monument has become a focal point and gathering spot amid Richmond's sustained anti-racist protests since the police custody death in Minnesota of a Black man, George Floyd.
BusinessYahoo News VideoWho is Karen Bass?
Karen Bass, D-Calif. has been mentioned as a potential running mate for former VP Joe Biden, who has vowed to pick a woman as his vice president.
- WorldBBC
Mexico crime: Mexican police seize alleged oil theft crime boss The Sledgehammer
Mexican security forces have seized the head of a criminal gang specialising in stealing fuel from pipelines in the central state of Guanajuato. José Antonio Yépez, better-known as El Marro - or The Sledgehammer - was one of the most wanted men in the country. Mexican police had been closing in on him in recent months and had taken his mother and sister into custody.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Gym owners defy pandemic orders, break into own business closed by state and reopen it
The defiant owners of Atilis Gym kicked in plywood panels that had sealed the entrance to their business since July 27, drawing cheers from a group of flag-waving supporters. "What really upsets me is it had to come to this," said Ian Smith, a partner in the gym who said a long-running dispute with the state over pandemic restrictions had become "personal." The state Attorney General's Office, which has repeatedly obtained court orders for the gym's closing, could not be reached for immediate comment.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
These 43-square-foot pods were originally for travelers to take a nap at the airport, but now the company is selling them for $50,000 each
NapCity started out smalling private pods travelers could rent to take a rest in airports. NapCity makes tiny pods mostly used in airports, where travelers can take a quick nap on a layover. The COVID-19 pandemic completely upended the travel industry, and the company has pivoted to selling what president Stephen Rosenfeld calls "private space as a service."
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
See Inside Zaha Hadid’s Revolutionary Oeuvre
A new book by Taschen surveys the Pritzker Prize–winning architect's process, including her paintings and drawings—which are works of art in their own right Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- U.S.NBC News
She got the virus. Then she was fired. Some sick workers left in cold by employers.
As of June 12, nearly 700 companies had violated the law's paid-leave provisions and owed back wages to hundreds of employees, according to Labor Department records. Violators include six McDonald's franchises and the franchise owners of a Comfort Suites, Courtyard by Marriott and Red Roof Inn. In all, the businesses owe $690,000 in unpaid wages to 527 employees, who are not identified in the documents.
- U.S.The Independent
Homeland Security official reassigned after intelligence reports on journalists covering protests
A US intelligence official with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been reassigned following revelations that his office compiled "intelligence reports" on journalists and analysed communications between protesters amid ongoing demonstrations in Portland, Oregon. Brian Murphy was removed from his post following a report in The Washington Post revealing that the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis sent open source intelligence reports to federal law enforcement agencies containing information from two reporters who had published leaked unclassified government documents while covering Black Lives Matter protests.
- PoliticsThe Week
Trump under investigation for bank and insurance fraud in New York, new court filing suggests
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance's recent court filing suggests President Trump and his company, The Trump Organization, may be under investigation for possible bank and insurance fraud, The New York Times reports. The filing was made in response to a lawsuit by Trump's attorneys who have argued prosecutors were acting in "bad faith" by issuing a "wildly overbroad" subpoena seeking Trump's personal and corporate tax returns. Vance didn't disclose anything specific about what compelled him to go after the records, but the filing argued the subpoena wasn't too broad, since that notion is based on the "false premise" that the probe is limited to "hush-money" payments made by the president's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, in 2016.
- U.S.Associated Press
Annual Sturgis rally expecting 250K, stirring virus concerns
Sturgis is on. The message has been broadcast across social media as South Dakota, which has seen an uptick in coronavirus infections in recent weeks, braces to host hundreds of thousands of bikers for the 80th edition of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. More than 250,000 people are expected to rumble through western South Dakota, seeking the freedom of cruising the boundless landscapes in a state that has skipped lockdowns.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Navarro Throws Another White House Health Expert Under Bus Over Hydroxy
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro publicly bashed yet another White House public health expert on Monday while touting an unproven anti-malarial drug, saying he took “exception” to coronavirus testing czar Brett Giroir dismissing hydroxychloroquine as an effective coronavirus treatment. Days after CNN cut short a Navarro interview after he kept repeating the racist phrase “China virus,” the network invited him on for yet another contentious segment that featured the combative Trump aide disseminating coronavirus disinformation.
WorldAFPVerdict looms in killing of Lebanon ex-PM Hariri
A UN-backed tribunal will give its verdict Friday on the 2005 murder of former Lebanese premier Rafic Hariri, but questions will remain over a long and costly trial whose suspects remain at large. Four alleged members of the Shiite Muslim fundamentalist group Hezbollah are on trial in absentia at the court in the Netherlands over the huge Beirut suicide bombing that killed Sunni billionaire Hariri and 21 other people. The judgment harks back to an event that changed the face of the Middle East, with Hariri's assassination triggering a wave of demonstrations that pushed Syrian forces out of Lebanon after 30 years.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Thousands evacuate as Apple Fire grows in Southern California
Firefighters continued Sunday to battle the Apple Fire, a wildfire northwest of Palm Springs which began Friday as smaller fires that merged in Cherry Valley, an unincorporated area in Riverside County. The fire has since destroyed three structures, prompted thousands to evacuate about 2,600 residences and scorched about 15,000 acres in Cherry Valley, located in Riverside County. About 7,800 people have been ordered to leave their homes as of Saturday afternoon, as 375 firefighters with five air tankers, four helicopters and three bulldozers continued to fight to control the wildfire, which had grown to more than 18 square miles, authorities said.
