- PoliticsYahoo News
Poll gives Democrats bad news in key Senate race
Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines, running for reelection, holds a 6-point lead against Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock in a race that will help decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate, according to a poll released Monday by Emerson College. Daines received 50 percent support in the poll, while 44 percent said they would vote for Bullock. Like other traditionally Republican strongholds, Montana is being looked at to see whether support for President Trump has softened, giving Democrats a better chance of retaking control of the Senate.
- U.S.Yahoo News
Gun sales spike among African-Americans: 'Our ancestors died for us to vote, they also died for us to be able to carry guns'
During the first six months of 2020, amid a global coronavirus pandemic, gun retailers have reported a record 10.3 million firearm transactions, according to a new survey by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Overall, gun sales in the U.S. have increased by 95 percent while ammunition sales have increased 139 percent compared to the same period last year. “The highest overall firearm sales increase comes from Black men and women, who show a 58.2% increase in purchases during the first six months of 2020 versus the same period last year,” Jim Curcuruto, NSSF director of research and market development, wrote in his report.
- U.S.The Telegraph
Governor Cuomo begs wealthy New Yorkers to come home to save ailing city
The governor of New York has begged the city's wealthy, who fled the coronavirus outbreak, to return and help it recover. Andrew Cuomo said he was extremely worried about New York City weathering the Covid-19 aftermath if too many of the well-heeled taxpayers who fled to second homes decide there is no need to move back. They are in their Hamptons homes, or Hudson Valley or Connecticut.
- U.S.CBS News Videos
Families mourn after deadly military training accident in California
Authorities have identified the eight Marines and one sailor who were killed in a military training accident off the coast of San Clemente Island last week in Southern California. A search for the missing military members was called off over the weekend. CBS Los Angeles' Rachel Kim reports.
- SportsArchitectural Digest
Direct-to-Consumer Furniture Brand Burrow Expands Its Offerings
The company is welcoming benches and credenzas to its product line starting today Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- U.S.The Independent
Court hears horrific details of how 'Doomsday Mom' Lori Vallow's children were discovered
Mr Daybell and the children's mother, Ms Vallow Daybell, face charges related to allegedly concealing the remains of 17-year-old Tylee Ryan and seven-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow. Both have pleaded not guilty. The “doomsday” beliefs of Mr Daybell and Ms Vallow Daybell and the suspicious deaths of their former spouses have drawn global attention to the tragic case.
- WorldBBC
Coronavirus: Melbourne lockdown to keep a million workers at home
Melbourne is shutting down shops, factories and other non-essential businesses as authorities fight a second wave of coronavirus. Other measures include a night-time curfew for the city's five million residents, after an earlier lockdown failed to contain the virus. About one million workers will soon be staying at home in the Australian city.
- U.S.INSIDER
Illinois officials call to abolish history classes in the state until an 'alternative' is set up to highlight underrepresented groups
Tim Boyle/Getty Images Community leaders in Illinois called for history classes in state schools to stop until a " suitable alternative" is established to represent minority groups in the curriculum. Democratic State Representative LaShawn K. Ford said "current history teachings lead to a racist society and overlook the contributions of women and minorities," according to NBC Chicago. The state representative is calling for schools to discard history books "that unfairly communicate our history."
U.S.AFPUS jails man who bought Lamborghini with government loan
Instead of speeding off in a $200,000 Lamborghini Urus, a Texas man got a slower ride to jail Tuesday after US authorities arrested him for using $1.6 million in government pandemic aid to go on a spending spree. Lee Price III, 29, was charged with fraud after he secured two government loans under the Paycheck Protection Program to pay employees he did not have, the Justice Department said in a statement. Price secured two loans: Price Enterprises Holdings allegedly received more than $900,000, while 713 Construction was approved for over $700,000, but neither has employees and "the individual listed as CEO on the 713 Construction loan application died in April 2020, a month before the application was submitted," according to the complaint.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
CNN Anchor Drags Trump Campaign Adviser: ‘You’re Just Saying a Bunch of Crap!’
CNN anchor Brianna Keilar on Tuesday got fed up with Trump campaign senior advisor Mercedes Schlapp during a heated exchange on mail-in voting, eventually telling the longtime lobbyist that their conversation was “pointless” because she was “just saying a bunch of crap.” Keilar, who in recent weeks has held various pro-Trump figures' feet to the fire in combative interviews, brought on Schlapp to talk about President Donald Trump's sudden pivot to encouraging Floridians to vote by mail after baselessly warning for months that mail-in ballots are rife with fraud. “Whether you call it Vote by Mail or Absentee Voting, in Florida the election system is Safe and Secure, Tried and True,” Trump tweeted on Tuesday.
- U.S.NBC News
Student wearing 'Black Lives Matter' mask at graduation told to remove it
A Black student in Pennsylvania was starting his graduation procession when he was told to remove his face mask displaying the words "Black Lives Matter." The student, Dean Holmes, 18, was allowed to continue in York Catholic High School's procession last week after complying. But his father contends in a lengthy Facebook post that the demand to remove the mask put his son at risk of the coronavirus and discriminated against him based on his race and prior civil rights activism at the school.
- 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.Reuters
California governor says COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations trending down
The rates of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions were all trending downward in California in the latest counts, the governor said on Monday. Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said that despite that good news, the state's Central Valley agricultural region was still being hit hard by the coronavirus. "This virus is not going away," Newsom said at a daily coronavirus briefing.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic is seeking Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the US while it scrambles to finalize a rescue plan
The airline, which flies only long-haul international routes, suspended passenger flights in April because of the coronavirus pandemic. The airline, 49% of which is owned by Delta, has cut more than 3,000 jobs, retired some planes, and closed bases to cut costs during the pandemic. Virgin Atlantic filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in New York on Tuesday, part of a process to protect its assets from US creditors as it scrambles to finalize a rescue plan with the aid of the UK court system.
- WorldThe Guardian
Mexico hails 'Sledgehammer' arrest but murder crisis still a tough nut to crack
Mexico's president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has hailed the capture of one of the country's most notorious gangsters as an important victory in his so far fruitless struggle to slash murder rates. In a Sunday night video message to the nation, López Obrador said security forces had seized “El Marro” or “the Sledgehammer” – the head of the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel – at about 6am that morning in the violence-stricken state of Guanajuato. How is it that this cartel was able to grow so much – to the extent that Guanajuato became our country's most violent state?
- WorldPopular Mechanics
Massive Beirut Explosion Shows Mushroom Clouds Aren't Just for Nukes
An explosion in Beirut injured at least 2,500 people and killed 30 on Tuesday. The cause of the blast remains unknown, but some reports say it started with a fire at a warehouse that contained highly explosive materials. Despite the mushroom cloud shape that appeared after the blast, this was not the result of a nuclear weapon detonating.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
House committees subpoena top Pompeo aides over IG firing
House Democrats have subpoenaed four top aides to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, saying that the Trump administration is stonewalling their investigation into the firing of the State Department's top independent watchdog earlier this year. Former State Department Inspector General Steve Linick appeared for a closed-door interview in the probe in June and told investigators that top department officials tried to bully him and dissuade his office from conducting a review of a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia before he was fired. Linick also said he was looking into previously reported allegations that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife may have misused government staff to run personal errands and several other matters.
- WorldUSA TODAY
Miner who discovered the largest tanzanite gems ever has now found a third - and it's worth millions
A Tanzanian miner made another discovery of one of the rarest gemstones on Earth, possibly earning the small-scale miner millions of dollars — again. Saniniu Laizer, 52, recently discovered the rare, dark violet-blue tanzanite gem, weighing 14 pounds. Tanzanite is only found in northern Tanzania and is valued based on its rarity, color and clarity.
- PoliticsLos Angeles Times Opinion
Op-Ed: Trump has pulled out of the global battle for hearts and minds
Today a global battle of ideas is raging between representative democracy and authoritarianism. The last time the West faced a comparable threat, during the Cold War, the United States and its allies mustered the resources required to engage in and ultimately win the ideological competition. Especially troubling are the recent moves to gut the independence of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which manages the country's international broadcasting — including Voice of America, Radio/TV Marti, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, and Radio Free Asia.
- U.S.INSIDER
An Arkansas Black Lives Matter group was confronted by an armed militia. One protester carried a flamethrower as a 'deterrent.'
Johannes Schmitt-Tegge/picture alliance via Getty Images An Arkansas Black Lives Matter group was confronted by an armed militia as they protested white supremacy on Sunday. According to the New York Post, the group congregated in Harrison, Arkansas, and landed near the compound of Ku Klux Klan leader, Thomas Robb. One protester, Quinn Foster, told Insider he carried a flamethrower as a "deterrent" during the demonstration after receiving over 100 deaths threats leading up to the protest.
- U.S.Reuters
New York's Cuomo calls federal COVID-19 response 'worst government blunder in modern history'
New York Governor Cuomo on Monday criticized the federal government and other states for failing to take the COVID-19 crisis seriously after seeing the devastation it caused his state in the spring. Cuomo said that states where cases are currently spiking, including Texas and Florida, followed the federal government's lead in playing down the epidemic, which led them to reopen their economies too soon. "This was the worst government blunder in modern history," Cuomo said of the federal government's response to the pandemic.
- U.S.The Independent
Mysterious seeds sent from China to the US identified by the USDA
The mysterious seed packs from China that hundreds of Americans received in the mail have been identified, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Federal officials warned those who received the seeds not to plant them over fears that some may be invasive species and could destroy native plants and insects. Osama El-Lissy, a member of the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said officials had identified more than a dozen plant species included in the seed packets.
- LifestyleBusiness Insider
REVIEW: The Jeep Gladiator pickup truck is a monster off road, but might be too beastly for its own good on the highway
The Jeep Gladiator is a Wrangler-based pickup truck, which starts at $33,545 and has seven trim options. When the nice media fleet people kindly dropped the 2020 Jeep Gladiator off in front of my Brooklyn apartment, I had to laugh. Contrasted sharply against the gray concrete and the similarly gray cars typically parked here, the orange Jeep was garish, lurid, and rude.
- WorldBBC
Ayodhya Ram Mandir: Indian PM Modi to lead temple construction ceremony
India's leader Narendra Modi will later lay the foundation stone of a new Hindu temple in the northern city of Ayodhya. The site has been a source of tension between Hindus and Muslims, both of whom claimed ownership over it. Hindu mobs demolished a 16th Century mosque there in 1992, saying it was originally a temple for one of their most revered deities, Lord Ram.
- BusinessThe Daily Beast
Trump Adm Bails Out Charter Jet Firm That Helps Deport Migrants
The Trump administration's efforts to deport undocumented immigrants en masse just got more expensive. In April, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, increased its payments under a contract awarded in 2017 to Classic Air Charter, a company that subcontracts chartered deportation flights out of the country, primarily to Mexico and Central and South America, but also, more recently to other regions. The increase swells the already high cost that the federal government pays to fly undocumented immigrants out of the country.
“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.”