U.S.TechCrunchIt might be time for companies in San Francisco to call employees' bluff
The question, and one asked this week by the San Francisco Chronicle, is why San Francisco isn't bouncing back in the same way. As reporter Roland Li writes: "There's always been a disparity -- New York has 10 times the population of San Francisco -- but the coastal tourism and economic hubs have diverged in striking ways as they recover from the pandemic." Consider, writes Li, that while the construction of major commercial property projects in Manhattan were completed during the pandemic -- and while much of that new office space is almost fully leased -- over in San Francisco, projects have stalled and existing buildings struggle to find tenants because of work-from-home policies.
U.S.NBC NewsTexas man convicted of child sexual assault dies after chugging from bottle as verdict is read
A Texas man charged with five counts of child sexual assault died after a jury convicted him and he chugged a bottle of liquid in the courtroom, his lawyer said Friday. After the first count was read on Thursday afternoon and the Denton County jury returned a guilty verdict, Edward Leclair, 57, started drinking from a plastic water bottle filled with what appeared to be clear liquid, lawyer Mike Howard said. Assistant District Attorney Jamie Beck told the Denton Record-Chronicle the liquid appeared "cloudy."
PoliticsINSIDERThough Trump had a reputation for avoiding briefings and flushing meeting notes, he would ask officials for documents: 'Can I keep this?'
From time to time the president would say 'Can I keep this? Trump's former Chief of Staff told CNN. During his presidency, Donald Trump developed a reputation for being difficult to brief and may have destroyed meeting notes by flushing them down the toilet but would ask officials to keep documents he received, according to members of his staff.
PoliticsAssociated PressWisconsin GOP leader Vos fires 2020 election investigator
Wisconsin's Republican Assembly leader on Friday ended a 14-month, taxpayer-funded inquiry into the 2020 election by firing his hand-picked investigator. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos' firing of Michael Gableman came just three days after the lawmaker narrowly survived a primary challenge from an opponent endorsed by former President Donald Trump and Gableman. While Gableman found no evidence of widespread fraud during his inquiry, he had joined Trump in calling for lawmakers to consider decertifying the 2020 election — something Vos and legal experts say is unconstitutional and impossible.
U.S.Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg, Fla.Why is The Villages known as ‘the STD capital of America?’
Friends up north and across Tampa Bay snickered when Brian Lafferty revealed where he'd bought a new home. “Without exception, every person I've told I bought a house in The Villages has asked the same thing,” Lafferty said. The Villages, a mammoth retirement community that was the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the nation two years ago, is no stranger to folklore.
U.S.INSIDERA top LA County coroner described in graphic testimony what Kobe Bryant's body looked like to give the jury an idea of what the crash-site photos may have shown
Capt. Emily Tauscher gave graphic testimony about the post-crash condition of each victim's body. A top Los Angeles County coroner on Thursday testified in graphic detail about the state of Kobe Bryant's body following the 2020 helicopter crash that killed all nine passengers, including the basketball legend and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna Bryant.
Vanessa Bryant Broke Down In Court While The Jury Were Told How A Sheriff's Deputy Circulated Graphic Images Of Kobe Bryant’s Body Two Days After His Fatal Helicopter CrashBuzzFeed News
An LA Sheriff's Deputy who photographed Kobe Bryant's body after the 2020 helicopter crash has no regrets over the way the pictures were handledINSIDER
BusinessTechCrunchMark Cuban, Mavericks in hot water over Voyager 'Ponzi scheme'
A group of Voyager Digital customers filed a class-action suit in Florida federal court against Cuban, as well as the basketball team he owns, the Dallas Mavericks, alleging their promotion of the crypto platform resulted in more than 3.5 million investors losing $5 billion collectively. Voyager Digital's CEO, Stephen Ehrlich, was also named as a defendant in the suit. Voyager, a New Jersey-based crypto firm, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July following a crash in crypto prices that instigated a liquidity crunch on the platform.
U.S.USA TODAYExperts warn California of a disaster 'larger than any in world history.' It's not an earthquake.
"Megadrought" may be the main weather concern across the West right now amid the constant threat of wildfires and earthquakes. Climate change is increasing the risk of future floods that could submerge multiple cities and displace millions of people across California, according to a new study released Friday. It says that an extreme month-long storm could bring feet of rain – in some places, more than 100 inches – to hundreds of miles of California.
- ScienceReuters Videos
Disoriented bear cub rescued in Turkey after eating 'mad honey'
STORY: Footage showed the bear wobbling and whining as she sat belly-up in the back of a pick-up truck, after people rescued the visibly-debilitated animal from the forest. Mad honey, or "deli bal" in Turkish, is a type of rhododendron honey that can have hallucinogenic effects. The bear was brought to a vet, where she was receiving treatment and would likely be released into the wild in the coming days, local authorities said, adding that she was in good condition.
WorldReutersLatvia, Estonia withdraw from China cooperation group
VILNIUS (Reuters) -Latvia and Estonia withdrew from a cooperation group between China and over a dozen Central and Eastern European countries on Thursday, following in the footsteps of Baltic neighbour Lithuania which withdrew last year. The move comes amid Western criticism towards China over escalating military pressure on democratically ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, and Beijing's strengthening of ties with Russia during the invasion of Ukraine. Relations between Lithuania and China worsened after the former allowed Taiwan to open a de facto embassy late last year.
PoliticsThe HillMarjorie Taylor Greene files articles of impeachment against Garland
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) announced on Friday that she had filed articles of impeachment against Attorney General Merrick Garland as the FBI's search of the former president's Florida residence roils Republicans. Greene's resolution claims that the attorney general's “personal approval to seek a search warrant for the raid on the home of the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, constitutes a blatant attempt to persecute a political opponent.” The search warrant was approved by a federal judge and was unsealed on Friday after the Justice Department and Trump's attorneys agreed.
U.S.TODAYNew video released of OnlyFans model Courtney Clenney, boyfriend she’s accused of murdering
Prosecutors in Miami released new video of an OnlyFans model in a violent altercation in an elevator with her boyfriend, who she is now accused of murdering. Courtney Clenney, 26, was charged with one count of second-degree murder in the April stabbing of her boyfriend, Christian “Toby” Obumseli, Miami-Dade County State Attorney Kathy Rundle said during a press conference Thursday. Rundle played a video of Clenney and Obumseli from February at their apartment building that appears to show Clenney hitting the elevator before she starts striking and shoving Obumseli.
U.S.In The Know by YahooBabbling 1-year-old takes nonsensical phone call very seriously
Watch this hilarious toddler have a very serious, but totally nonsensical, phone call! The toddler stares down at the phone screen with a serious expression on his face, then looks up at his mom as the phone begins to ring. Then, the toddler continues talking, still without saying a single recognizable word.
U.S.Miami HeraldSisters asleep in minivan burned alive in parking lot fire. Now mom is suing Walmart
A Minnesota mother is suing Walmart after a fire in a store parking lot burned her daughters alive, killing one and leaving the other “permanently disfigured,” according to a lawsuit. Essie McKenzie's daughters were sleeping soundly in the back of her minivan when she pulled up to the Walmart Supercenter in Fridley, Minnesota, on Aug. 6, 2019. The girls, ages 6 and 9, were tired after being woken early to go to the airport, where McKenzie dropped off her mother, she would later tell investigators, according to court documents.
U.S.INSIDERThe scientific theory of why some Americans don't want Brittney Griner to come home from a Russian prison
The WNBA superstar Brittney Griner has been sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison. A political scientist said two theories could explain why. Given the timing of her detainment, the nature of her alleged offense, and the reputation of Russian courts, Griner is widely considered to be a political pawn that Moscow is using as leverage against the United States.
WorldReutersRussia says Swiss 'no longer neutral', can't act as go-between with Ukraine
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Thursday it had turned down a Swiss offer to represent Ukrainian interests in Russia and Moscow's interests in Ukraine because it no longer considers Switzerland a neutral country. Switzerland has a long diplomatic tradition of acting as an intermediary between countries whose relations have broken down, but Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ivan Nechayev said this was not possible in the current situation. "The Swiss were indeed interested in our opinion on the possible representation of Ukraine's interests in Russia and Russia's in Ukraine," Nechayev told reporters.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastStephen Colbert Embarrasses Fox News’ Ainsley Earhardt Over ‘Stupid’ FBI Trump Raid Theory
It started as 'nothing to see here' and quickly became 'anything you see was put here by the FBI,'” he said. And all the former president's hench-folk have gobbled up the bait. After playing a montage of Trump allies spreading that conspiracy on conservative media, Colbert said, “You know that when you accuse someone of planting evidence before they say that they've even found anything?
WorldThe New Voice of UkrainePutin is running out of excuses as Ukraine expands the war to Crimea
This dubious claim is entirely in line with a number of equally implausible excuses presented by Russia over the past six months as the Kremlin has sought to explain away a series of similarly embarrassing setbacks in the country's faltering invasion of Ukraine. Moscow's record of absurd excuses began in March, when Kremlin officials attempted to rebrand the Russian retreat from northern Ukraine as a “goodwill gesture” despite the fact that it came in the immediate wake of the country's defeat in the Battle of Kyiv. Russia employed the same “goodwill gesture” terminology once again at the end of June to describe the equally ignominious Russian retreat from Snake Island.
U.S.Associated PressPanthers propose to pay $82M over failed practice facility
Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper's real estate company has proposed to pay more than $82 million to creditors over an abandoned practice facility project in Rock Hill under a new plan proposed Thursday. The plan would require approval from courts and creditors. The development of the Panthers' state-of-the-art $800 million practice facility — which would have served as the team's new headquarters — fell apart after highly-publicized disputes between Tepper and the City of Rock Hill and York County.
U.S.HuffPostJudge Investigates Alex Jones' Legal Team After Sandy Hook Medical Records Are Leaked
It appears that the medical and or psychiatric records of the plaintiffs in the underlying lawsuits were recently provided to unauthorized individuals” by one of Jones' attorneys, Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis said at a hearing from her Waterbury courtroom on Wednesday, The Hartford Courant reported. I am very concerned that there was improper release of highly confidential psychiatric, psychological or counseling records protected by court order and state and federal law,” she added. Bellis complained that she's hearing more about the case on the news than in her courtroom.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramInvasive critters that can lay 1,000 eggs at a time are found in Texas. What to know
Invasive critters were collected from a Texas apartment complex pond earlier this year — and wildlife experts say the females can lay up to 1,000 eggs at a time. University of Texas Rio Grande Valley researchers first collected three Australian redclaw crayfish in January and February, according to an Aug. 11 news release from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. They were found in a pond that connects to a Brownsville-area resaca, a type of oxbow lake.
WorldYahoo News UKRoyal staff and the British government need to make sure Harry and his family get the security they need - before it's too late
For members of the monarchy, including those who have chosen to step away like Prince Harry, this high level of security is essential. Alongside the Prime Minister, Royal Family members are some of the most targeted individuals in the country. Given this fact, it's hard to then understand why Prince Harry is still locked in a lengthy High Court battle with the British Home Office over the protection privileges he lost in early 2020.
U.S.Charlotte ObserverMega Millions mystery winner in NC shows up to claim her big jackpot
One of two ticket holders in North Carolina who scored a $1 million prize in the July 29 Mega Millions drawing has claimed her money at N.C. lottery headquarters in Raleigh, officials said Thursday. Marjorie Robert of Huntersville bought her $2 ticket at Shop N Save on Mecklenburg Highway in Mooresville, according to a lottery news release. She matched the five white balls, beating odds of 1 in 12.6 million, according to the lottery.
PoliticsSheKnowsIvanka & Melania Are Reportedly Trying to Talk Donald Trump Out of Presidential Run Because They Miss Their 'Fabulous Lives'
Donald Trump has been boldly hinting at a 2024 presidential run for quite some time now, but there are reportedly a few family members who are not too keen on his White House ambitions the second time around. It seems that daughter Ivanka Trump and wife Melania Trump are on the same page about this, which is a rare feat given their notoriously chilly relationship. Donald Trump reportedly tried to get rid of important documents by flushing them down the toilet.
WorldAssociated PressChina renews Taiwan threats, island cites 'wishful thinking'
In a lengthy policy statement on Taiwan issued Wednesday, China distorted the historical record, including the United Nations' 1972 resolution that transferred the China seat on the Security Council from Taipei to Beijing, Taiwan's Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council said. The Chinese statement also discarded a pledge not to send troops or government officials to Taiwan that was contained in previous statements. The U.N. resolution makes no mention of Taiwan's status, although China regards it as a foundational document proclaiming the Communist Party's right to control over the island.
“The media has anointed men who have sex with men as the biggest threat to our survival from monkeypox.”
“Rich countries have ignored endemic monkeypox in West and Central Africa for far too long, despite having effective vaccines.”
“The biggest worry for Americans is not the disease: It’s that our response to it shows how little we have learned from COVID-19.”
“Monkeypox should be a relatively easier virus to control, but only if the United States takes the needed steps now.”
“Global health officials must advocate for and enact a unified, coherent approach to fighting the monkeypox pandemic.”