- PoliticsYahoo News
Conspiracy-mongering Republican seeking John Lewis seat gets social media boost from Trump
On Thursday evening, amid a fairly typical burst of presidential Twitter activity, President Trump retweeted two recent posts from the account of Angela Stanton-King, a Republican congressional candidate who has repeatedly used her social media feeds to promote content related to QAnon and other fringe conspiracy theories, including wildly implausible internet rumors about sex trafficking of children. Trump has also flirted with QAnon memes on social media, although his retweets of Stanton-King were not related to the loosely knit group whose followers have been described by the FBI as “conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists.” In the first tweet, which was originally posted last week, Stanton-King describes herself as “a proud Black woman who supports @realDonaldTrump” and is “done with the Democrat Party lying to my community.”
- U.S.Yahoo News
Out of work and with families to feed, some Americans are lining up at food banks for the first time in their lives
As tens of millions of Americans have lost jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic, food banks across the country say they are facing an unprecedented surge in demand, comparable to a hurricane hitting the entire country at the same time. “I've been in food banking for 24 years, and in my tenure I've never seen such a dramatic increase in need literally overnight,” said Lisa Scales of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, referring to the initial spike in distribution in March, when the shutdowns started. Across the country, Americans who've never had to rely on food assistance before are turning to local organizations for aid.
- U.S.USA TODAY Opinion
The National Rifle Association faces its worst nightmare: accountability
On Thursday, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the National Rifle Association for breaking New York charities law — the result of an investigation into the NRA's finances that began in April 2019. The complaint seeks dissolution, meaning that if the NRA is found guilty, it could be disbanded by the state of New York. You don't have to be a lawyer to see how the NRA got into this mess.
- U.S.FOX News Videos
Robber snatches California man's life savings in front of bank
Francisco Cornejo walking to his car after making a hefty withdrawal from his account. He was carrying 200-thousand dollars when a robber attacked him and ripped away Conejo's bag of money. The thief escaped with the money and has yet to be arrested.
- WorldBusiness Insider
The Russian owner who abandoned the ship full of ammonium nitrate that caused the Beirut explosion has been questioned by police in Cyprus, reports say
Hasenpusch/picture alliance via Getty Images/Business Insider Igor Grechushkin, the Russian owner of the ship that carried a huge cargo of explosives to Beirut, which exploded years later, was questioned by Cypriot police on Thursday, reports say. Grechushkin abandoned the MV Rhosus and its cargo of 2,750 tons of explosive ammonium nitrate in 2014. Lebanese authorities impounded the cargo until Tuesday's catastrophic explosion.
U.S.USA TODAYBlack man's life sentence in stolen hedge clippers case is 'cruel and unusual,' Louisiana judge says
The Louisiana's Supreme Court has denied a request to review the case of a Black man who received a life sentence following an attempted burglary conviction, a punishment one dissenting judge called "cruel and unusual" given the object he allegedly stole was a set of hedge clippers. Bernette J. Johnson, the state's first African-American Chief Justice, wrote a scathing dissent published last week. Johnson said the conviction stemmed from the defendant's repeated petty crimes and the state's strict habitual offender laws, which she said have historical ties to slavery and racism.
- U.S.Miami Herald
‘I can’t teach when I’m dead.’ UGA staff, students hold die-in over reopening plans
Dozens of students, faculty and staff sprawled out across the University of Georgia campus Thursday afternoon, playing dead to protest the university's reopening plans as the threat of COVID-19 still looms large -- larger than it did when schools first closed during the spring semester. In-person classes are scheduled to resume Aug. 20 at the Athens, Georgia university, but many staff and students are at odds with the school, and the University System of Georgia, according to an open letter. “Leaders across the University System of Georgia are showing callous disregard for health and safety and workers' rights in their plans to reopen campuses for in-person teaching in the fall,” the group said in a July petition.
- U.S.Associated Press
Fort Hood commander's transfer on hold amid investigations
Army leaders have delayed the planned transfer of the Fort Hood commander, as a team of independent investigators heads to the base to determine whether leadership failures contributed to the murder of a soldier earlier this year, and several other deaths. Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt, commander of Fort Hood, Texas, was slated to go to Fort Bliss, which is near El Paso, and take over leadership of the 1st Armored Division. Command of a division is a key step in an Army officer's career.
- WorldSouth Florida Sun Sentinel
Tropical wave on track to approach the mid-Atlantic
The National Hurricane Center is monitoring an area of low pressure as it continues make its way across the Atlantic. The weak system is expected to continue traveling in a westward motion toward the Caribbean Sea over the next several days. As of 8 a.m.
- PoliticsReuters
Biden will soon pick a running mate. Here are the front-runners
Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden is expected to announce his running mate ahead of his party's national convention that kicks off on Aug. 17. Biden has vowed to choose a woman as his potential vice president. Here are the contenders likely under consideration, according to people familiar with the process.
- WorldINSIDER
The US pledged over $17 million in initial disaster aid for Lebanon after an explosion devastated Beirut
The United States has pledged over $17 million in initial disaster aid for Lebanon following the massive explosion at a Beirut port on Tuesday. The explosion left more than 150 dead, thousands injured, and leveled a large portion of the city. President Donald Trump raised eyebrows hours after the explosion when he said it was an "attack," but his administration has since walked back that comment.
- U.S.The Independent
Woman confronting vandals covered in paint during renewed Portland protests
Protesters in Portland allegedly threw white paint over a woman, as demonstrators clashed with police for a third consecutive day. On Friday, following two days of protests marred by vandalism, more than 200 people clashed with police, as two other Black Lives Matter protests marched peacefully through the city. As the peaceful demonstrations took place, a separate group gathered at a park in east Portland and marched to the local precinct.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
How Is New York Having Crazy Parties With No COVID Surge?
Spectacular scenes of COVID-19 recklessness have emerged from New Jersey in recent weeks, alarming state leaders into implementing new restrictions to curb the tide of rising coronavirus cases and prompting plenty of snickering about the Jersey Shore. New Jersey and New York have had similar regulations, travel restrictions, and contact tracing efforts. Giant, raucous boat parties in New York are making headlines, too.
- U.S.National Review
The New George Floyd Video Should Not Surprise You
The officer repeatedly instructs Floyd to show his hands, but Floyd delays and argues instead, prompting the cop to draw his pistol and point it at Floyd. If an officer asks to see your hands, he wants to make sure there isn't a gun in them, so show him your hands. Floyd then becomes even more agitated, and a long scene follows in which the police get Floyd out of the car, handcuff him, try to put him in a police vehicle while he resists, and then — after he says he wants to lie down — apparently start to put him on the ground.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Former US soldiers sentenced to 20 years for bungled Venezuelan coup plot
A Venezuelan court sentenced two former US special forces soldiers to 20 years in prison for their part in a failed beach attack aimed at overthrowing President Nicolas Maduro, prosecutors announced late on Friday. Former Green Berets Luke Denman and Airan Berry admitted to taking part in the May 4 operation orchestrated by a third ex-US soldier who remains in the United States, Venezuelan's chief prosecutor Tarek William Saab announced on Twitter. "THEY ADMITTED THEIR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE FACTS," Saab wrote, adding that the case will continue for dozens of other defendants.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
GOP appeals after Judge dismisses lawsuit over House's proxy voting system established due to COVID-19
WASHINGTON – A federal judge on Thursday tossed out a Republican-led lawsuit aiming to halt an unprecedented proxy voting system established by the House of Representatives due to the coronavirus pandemic, ruling that the House was immune from such a legal challenge. The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in the District of Columbia by nearly two dozen House Republicans – led by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. in May, argued the proxy voting rules violated the U.S. Constitution because under the Constitution, a majority of lawmakers must be present to take up business and vote on legislation.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
A Sampling of Work From Mexico City’s Top Talents
A look at some of the design coming out of the cultural capital Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- U.S.Associated Press
US: Border tunnel appears to be 'most sophisticated'
An incomplete tunnel found stretching from Mexico to Arizona appears to be “the most sophisticated tunnel in U.S. history," authorities said. The tunnel intended for smuggling ran from a neighborhood in San Luis Río Colorado, Mexico, to San Luis, Arizona, where it stopped short of reaching the surface. It was built in an area that's not conducive to tunnels because of the terrain, and it had a ventilation system, water lines, electrical wiring, a rail system and extensive reinforcement, federal officials say.
- U.S.Miami Herald
DeSantis doesn’t want lucrative deal going to company that botched unemployment system
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday slammed a potential new nine-figure contract between the state and the firm that built Florida's dysfunctional unemployment system. Deloitte Consulting was announced earlier this week as the state's preferred vendor for a potential $135 million contract to beef up Florida's Medicaid data infrastructure. This happened despite an ongoing state investigation into how Florida paid the firm more than $40 million starting in 2011 to build what turned out to be a frequently non-functional CONNECT unemployment site.
- U.S.INSIDER
Oklahoma won't require masks in schools, so a teacher who's a 72-year-old cancer survivor is offering students extra credit to wear them
Octavio Jones/Getty Images A teacher in Oklahoma plans to offer extra credit to encourage students to wear masks, NBC News reported. The teacher, who is a 72-year-old prostate cancer survivor, told NBC News that he will wear a plastic face shield in addition to a face mask while teaching in class. In July, Oklahoma's State Board of Education voted against mask mandates in schools, making it a 'recommendation' but not a requirement.
- WorldBusiness Insider
France and Germany pulled out of talks to reform the WHO because the US was trying to take control, according to a report
JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images France and Germany are out of talks to reform the World Health Organization because the US is trying to dictate terms, Reuters reported. The G7 alliance is currently drafting a reform document that will ultimately be voted on by the G20 and UN. The US is set to leave the WHO in July 2021, after Donald Trump slammed the WHO for pandering to China during the pandemic.
- U.S.WABC – NY
List of COVID checkpoints in NYC
Mayor Bill de Blasio says the COVID-19 traveler registration checkpoints are located at key entry points into New York City to ensure compliance with New York State quarantine requirements and further the containment of COVID-19.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
Ship Called ‘Trump D’ Moored in Ukraine Brought Triple the Explosives of ‘Floating Bomb’ That Blew Up Beirut
An American-owned cargo ship named after the president of the United States docked in a Ukrainian port has just offloaded 10,000 metric tons of the same chemical substance that nearly leveled the city of Beirut this week, according to the Liveuamap news source. The hangar in Lebanon only had 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate, which caused catastrophic damage to the Lebanese capital. The ship docked in Ukraine, which was previously named Seabreeze before a Florida company registered as Pilin Fleet Management LLC purchased it in 2018, and renamed it Trump D, was registered by Marine Traffic tracking website in the Yuzhi port near Odessa on Friday.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
Christiane Lemieux and Anthropologie Team Up for the Launch of Her Newest Collection
Lemieux Et Cie's Artisanal Modernism is now available through Anthropologie Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- U.S.BBC
George Floyd: US protesters charged as 'gang' face life sentence
Protesters in Utah who splashed paint on a prosecutor's office could be given life sentences after they were accused of acting as a "gang". Salt Lake City District Attorney Sim Gill, whose office was targeted by Black Lives Matter marchers issued the charges. Critics, including the city's mayor, have called the felony charges excessive.
“He’s not a radical. But he is running on the most liberal policy platform of any Democratic candidate in modern history.”
“Public opinion has been shifting leftward, and Biden’s thinking has shifted with it.”
“Biden shows that he’s more moderate than some in his party.”
“Biden has always been a creature of his time, and the COVID-19 crisis could force him to veer further left.”
“Liberal activists have lauded the campaign’s outreach to progressives.”