- WorldBBC
Mauritius oil spill: Fears vessel may 'break in two' as cracks appear
Large cracks have reportedly appeared in the hull of a cargo ship leaking oil in Mauritius, prompting the prime minister to warn it may "break in two". The MV Wakashio, believed to have been carrying 4,000 tonnes of fuel oil, ran aground on a coral reef off the Indian Ocean island on 25 July. Despite bad weather, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said 500 tonnes had been safely pumped out on Monday.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
It's decision time for Joe Biden: His VP pick could make history, with Harris, Rice among top contenders
Either one would make history as the first Black woman to be a running mate. Biden, who has made it clear earlier he'll choose a woman as his running mate, is also considering Rep. Karen Bass of California, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Rep. Val Demings of Florida, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois. Political experts often debate the extent to which a vice presidential nominee can have an impact on the ticket but the stakes are especially high for Biden, who is 77.
- U.S.The Independent
Philadelphia shooting: Six people including pregnant woman shot during barbecue
Six people, including a pregnant woman, were shot Saturday night in Philadelphia after men clad in black stormed a barbecue. The victims are in stable condition. The wounded include three women – a 59-year-old woman, an 18-year-old woman, and a 24-year-old pregnant woman who was shot in her right thigh – and three young men between the ages of 17 and 18.
- WorldBusiness Insider
Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai predicted that he would be arrested under China's new national security law, but said he would still stay and fight
VERNON YUEN/AFP via Getty Images Jimmy Lai, one of Hong Kong's most prominent pro-democracy voices, arrested under China's new national security law on Monday. Lai, who partly owns the publisher of the critical Apple Daily newspaper, had predicted his arrest under the new law months before it came into effect, but vowed to stay and fight. "I have feared that one day the Chinese Communist Party would grow tired not only of Hong Kong's free press but also of its free people.
- U.S.INSIDER
Louisville police said protesters, who have been marching against Breonna Taylor's death for more than 70 days, can no longer use public roads
The Louisville Metro Police Department said Sunday that protesters would no longer be allowed to march on public streets, and must stick to the sidewalks. A police spokesperson said the restrictions were in response to increasingly "aggressive behavior" by protesters over the past week. Protests have taken place in the Kentucky city every night for more than 70 days, in response to the police killing of Breonna Taylor in her home.
- U.S.Associated Press
Appeals of Nazi camp guard conviction in Germany dropped
All appeals against the conviction of a 93-year-old Nazi concentration camp guard have been dropped, a Hamburg court said Monday, making the decision legally binding and easing the way for possible future prosecutions. Bruno Dey was convicted last month of 5,232 counts of accessory to murder in Hamburg state court — equal to the number of people believed to have been killed at Stutthof during his service there in 1944 and 1945. Because he was 17 and 18 at the time of his alleged crimes, Dey's case was heard in juvenile court and he was given a two-year suspended sentence.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
Putin Announces Russia Has Approved a Coronavirus Vaccine and That His Daughter Has Been Given a Shot
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday that his country has become the first to approve a coronavirus vaccine, and that his own daughter has received the shot. The vaccine is in production and millions of people, including teachers and front line health-care workers, will be given the shot beginning this month, he claimed. China has already authorized one vaccine for use in its military, ahead of definitive data that it is safe and effective.
- U.S.NBC News
Top Navy official: Sailor burnout a concern amid COVID-19 crisis
Four months after more than 1,000 sailors were infected with the coronavirus aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, the Navy has managed to keep its case count low but concerns about sailor burnout are high as they spend longer periods at sea. “I think we're likely going to have to adjust our operating schedules,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday said in an exclusive interview with NBC News. Gilday said the Navy has been able to maintain carrier deployments so far, but the service will have to prioritize where to send available forces if the pandemic continues to stress the force.
- CelebrityThe Week
Texas doctor delivers baby boy of woman he delivered 25 years ago
When Lauren Cortez found out she was pregnant, there was one person she wanted to deliver her baby: Dr. Bryan Cox, the same OB/GYN who helped welcome her to the world 25 years ago. Cox has been an OB/GYN at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, for 33 years. Cortez's mother, Isabel Luna, has been one of his patients for decades, and spoke highly of him.
- U.S.Business Insider
Police searched a United Airlines jet after a reportedly hallucinating passenger claimed there was a bomb on board
Police met a United Airlines flight landing at Newark on Sunday after a passenger said that she thought there was a bomb on board. Police did not find a bomb, and believe that the passenger was hallucinating while under the influence of marijuana and Adderall. A United flight from Los Angeles to Newark was forced to stop short of the gate when it landed on Sunday, after a woman on the flight stood up and said that she thought there was a bomb on board.
- PoliticsPolitico
‘He better pick a Black woman’: Biden faces Whitmer backlash
Anticipation has been growing for weeks that Joe Biden will make history by choosing the first Black woman as a running mate on a major party's presidential ticket. But after news broke over the weekend that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a white woman, had flown to meet with Biden to discuss the vice presidency, frustration and disappointment boiled over among Black female Democrats — including some in her own state. He better pick a black woman.
- U.S.The Independent
Seattle agrees to America’s ‘most comprehensive protection’ for media and legal observers covering protests against police
Seattle authorities have agreed to what campaigners say is the nation's “most comprehensive protection” for reporters and legal observers covering protests against the actions of police. Following a number of incidents in which reporters and other observers covering Black Lives Matter protests were arrested or else subjected to crowd control weapons such as pepper spray, the city agreed its police force should not target such individuals. Given a nurse was sprayed in the face with pepper spray after she went to help someone pushed to the group by police, medical personnel were also included in the agreement.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
Where to Buy Wallpaper Online: 23 Stores With Unique Designs
Bring new life to your old walls Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- WorldAFP
Defying China, Hong Kongers rush to buy pro-democracy newspaper
Hong Kongers rushed to buy pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily on Tuesday in a show of support for its owner, who was arrested a day earlier as police rounded up critics of China. A crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong has gathered pace since China imposed a sweeping security law in June, with opposition politicians disqualified and activists arrested for social media posts. The moves have provoked outrage in the West and fear for millions who last year took to the streets to protest communist China's tightening grip on the semi-autonomous city.
- WorldUSA TODAY
These states require travelers to self-quarantine or present negative COVID-19 test
USA TODAY has an update on the states that are discouraging interstate travel by requiring or recommending that visitors and residents returning from other states quarantine. Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced that beginning August 11, non-Alaska residents need a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours before arrival in the state or proof they are waiting on results from a test taken in that 72-hour period. Testing is free for Alaska residents.
- U.S.INSIDER
'It's literally impossible to stop': Sturgis, South Dakota, braces as hundreds of thousands of bikers arrived in the middle of a pandemic
Jim Urquhart/Insider The sleepy town of Sturgis, South Dakota, draws nearly one million people for its 10-day motorcycle rally each year. There were calls to cancel the event this year as the US is gripped by a still-raging coronavirus pandemic, but officials knew bikers would show up in their community, and those surrounding it, no matter what. The local hospital, public safety entities, and the city are bracing for massive crowds, and the possibility of a surge in coronavirus cases to follow.
- U.S.Associated Press
Protesters met with jeers by crowd with guns in Nevada city
Several dozen Black Lives Matter demonstrators at a weekend protest in rural Nevada were greeted by a far larger group of counter-demonstrators, including some bearing military-style weapons and tactical gear, but a sheriff who had made controversial remarks earlier about the racial injustice movement reported no arrests or serious incidents. The clash of rallies Saturday came days after Douglas County Sheriff Dan Coverley attracted national attention for telling the local library not to bother calling 911 for help after board members publicly considered a statement opposing “all forms of racism, hatred, inequality and injustice” and the line “We support #Black Lives Matter.” Plans to organize a demonstration against racial injustice that spread on social media spawned competing campaigns supporting Coverley and inviting supporters to back sheriff's deputies.
- U.S.Yahoo News Video
Georgia school moves online after COVID-19 infections reported
A Georgia high school plans to start the week with all classes moving online after nine students and staff tested positive for the coronavirus when the school year opened last week with most students attending classes in-person.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says gig economy companies should be required to establish 'benefits funds' for workers instead of treating them as full-time employees
Carlo Allegri/Reuters Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said companies like Uber should be required by law to provide "benefits funds" to gig workers in a New York Times op-ed published Monday. Khosrowshahi said the gig-work employment system is "outdated and unfair," and called for laws that would require companies to provide gig workers more benefits without classifying them as full-time employees. Gig workers have called on companies like Uber to give gig workers more benefits that full-time employees receive, like health insurance.
- U.S.NBC News
Top California health official resigns amid revelation of giant coronavirus record backlog
California's public health chief resigned Sunday, days after officials revealed a backlog of hundreds of thousands of coronavirus records that Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday were never reported to his administration. Pressed during a news conference about the abrupt resignation of Dr. Sonia Angell, the former director of the state Department of Public Health, Newsom declined to say if he asked her to quit. We're all accountable in our respective roles for what happens underneath us,” he said.
- U.S.The Independent
Mother shares video of armed police surrounding black son after they assumed he was attacker when teen called 911
Multiple California police officers were filmed pointing guns at three African American teenagers who were were allegedly being threatened by a homeless man. The mother of one of the teenagers in the video, Tammi Collins, shared an 11-minute clip to her Instagram page, showing officers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department aiming guns at them in Santa Clarita, California, on 7 August. Ms Collins wrote in the caption of her video: “I wanted to share what happened to my son yesterday in SCV when he was with a couple of friends sitting at a bus stop headed home.”
- U.S.The Week
Mississippi's new flag won't have Elvis on it, but it could feature a mosquito
Despite the best efforts of some creative residents, Mississippi's new flag will not feature Elvis Presley, Kermit the Frog, or beer cans. Mississippi's old flag — the last one in the U.S. to feature a Confederate battle emblem — was retired in June amid public outcry and anti-racism protests sparked by the death of George Floyd. A nine-member commission appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor, and state House speaker was tasked with selecting a design for a new flag.
- WorldReuters
Iran closes down newspaper after expert doubts official coronavirus tolls
Iran shut down a newspaper on Monday after it quoted a former member of the national coronavirus taskforce as saying the country's tolls from the epidemic could be 20 times higher than official figures, state news agency IRNA reported. "The Jahan-e Sanat newspaper was shut down today for publishing an interview on Sunday," the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Mohammadreza Saadi, told IRNA. On Sunday, the newspaper published an interview with Mohammadreza Mahboubfar, in which he said: "The figures announced by the officials on coronavirus cases and deaths account for only 5% of the country's real tolls".
- U.S.BBC
Wild bear that sniffed woman's hair is caught and castrated
There is outrage in Mexico after a black bear seen on video approaching a visitor in a nature park and sniffing her hair was caught and castrated. The animal, a juvenile male black bear weighing 96kg (212lb), was caught because it was considered to pose a risk to visitors of Chipinque Ecological Park. Although attacks are rare, one person a year is killed on average by a black bear in North America, bear research scientist Dave Garshelis told ABC News last year.
- HealthINSIDER
Women who use marijuana during pregnancy are 1.5 times more likely to have a child with autism, according to the largest study of its kind
Women who use marijuana during pregnancy are one and half times more likely to have a child with autism than those who don't. While the study had flaws like being unable to show cause-and-effect, the authors say it suggests pot use should be recommended against during pregnancy, just like alcohol is. Using marijuana during pregnancy is linked to 50% greater chance of having a child with autism, according to the largest study of its kind.
“It may be a campaign tactic, but older workers, be forewarned. Ageism runs deep in our culture.”
“Genuine concerns about the capacities of people who want the world’s most powerful job mingle bizarrely with insults.”
“Joe Biden and Donald Trump are both old. But the media should not be making mental illness a campaign issue, on either side.”
“The Trump campaign is now betting his reelection’s already slim chances on Biden proving Trump’s diagnosis is right.”
“The nightmare scenario for Democrats is that, at a pivotal moment, Biden will struggle to put together a coherent thought.”