'Most believe that it was an accident': Pentagon chief contradicts Trump on Beirut explosion

Less than 24 hours after President Trump said some “great generals” told him they thought that Tuesday's massive explosion in Beirut was an “attack” involving “a bomb of some kind,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper seemed less than convinced by that explanation. Speaking to an online audience Wednesday as part of the Aspen Security Forum, Esper said he was “still getting information” on the blast in the Lebanese capital, but that “most believe that it was an accident, as reported.” Asked to explain the discrepancy between Trump's comments and Esper's explanation, and to identify which generals the president might have been referring to as the source of his information, a Pentagon spokesman replied via email: “We have nothing to offer at this time beyond the Secretary's comments.”

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  Beirut explosion: Eiffel Tower lights turned off in solidarity with victims of Lebanon blast

  The Independent
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  Amal and George Clooney Donate $100,000 to Lebanese Relief Charities After Beirut Explosion

  Variety

Black 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.

Mississippi: More than 100 children and teachers in quarantine due to coronavirus outbreak two weeks after schools reopened

More than 100 people in a Mississippi school district have been instructed to self-isolate, due to an outbreak of coronavirus less than two weeks after they reopened. At least 116 people in Corinth, a city in Mississippi, have been told to quarantine for two weeks, after six students and one staff member tested positive for Covid-19 over the past week. Taylor Coombs, spokeswoman for the Corinth School District, told NBC News that any person who was considered to have been in close contact with the people who tested positive for Covid-19, have been instructed to self-isolate.

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  Photos of mask-less students crammed into a Georgia school hallway show how difficult reopenings could be

  INSIDER
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  Debate continues as schools begin to reopen amid pandemic

  FOX News Videos

Portland's Black police chief says violent protesters have 'taken away from' the Black Lives Matter movement

Chuck Lovell, the police chief of Portland, Oregon, called for violent protesters to stop their actions at a Wednesday press conference. While protests in downtown Portland have been peaceful since the presence of federal agents was scaled back last week, there have been violent offshoot protests in other parts of the city. Wednesday marked the 70th consecutive day of demonstrations in the city, which started after George Floyd's death in late May.

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  Portland mayor decries violent protesters as props for Trump

  Associated Press
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  Portland Mayor Calls Protesters’ Attempt to Set Police Precinct Ablaze Attempted Murder

  Time Magazine

Man fights with bear after it enters home with 10 kids inside, Alaska officials say

An Alaska man went toe-to-toe with a home-intruding black bear, outlets report, putting himself between 10 children and the 300-pound predator that wandered into the living room. The fight was scary for Brandon McVey, but he survived, walking away with some nasty puncture wounds to his chest and scratches across his shoulders, the Anchorage Daily News reported. McVey was visiting his friend Norman Lott at his home around 11 p.m. July 31 in Juneau, Alaska, when the bear came in through an open door, the Daily News said.

Data shows Kansas counties with mask mandates have seen a decrease in COVID-19 cases

Counties in Kansas that adopted a mask mandate have seen a drop in COVID-19 cases, Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Dr. Lee Norman said. In late June, Gov. Laura Kelly (D) issued a statewide mask guidance, but because the Kansas legislature limited her emergency powers, each county was able to decide whether or not to enforce the order, KSHB reports. During a press conference on Wednesday, Norman said 15 counties went along with the order, while 90 decided to make wearing a mask a recommendation only. "What we've seen through this is that in the counties with no mask mandate, there's no decrease in the number of cases per capita," Norman said.

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  Coronavirus blog: Mask Mandate

  KGO – San Francisco
• The U.S. Needs an Airplane Mask Mandate

  Bloomberg

10 countries account for 80% of Africa COVID-19 testing: Africa CDC

Ten countries account for 80% of the new coronavirus testing taking place across Africa, a regional body said on Thursday, indicating that little testing is taking place in many countries around the vast continent. COVID-19 confirmed cases across Africa have accelerated and are close to hitting a million this week, and experts say low levels of testing in many countries means infection rates are likely to be higher than reported. Some governments across the continent are too poor or conflict-ridden to carry out widespread testing, while others are reluctant to share data or to expose their crumbling health systems to outside scrutiny.

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  The Latest: Alabama HS football team, band under quarantine

  Associated Press
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  Africa passes 1M confirmed virus cases; true number far more

  Associated Press

Satellite imagery shows scale of destruction after explosion at Beirut port

Satellite imagery obtained by NBC News' Social Newsgathering team from Planet Labs, Inc. and Maxar Technologies shows the damage sustained by yesterday's explosions at the Port of Beirut in Lebanon. The imagery shows nearby buildings that sustained significant damage or were destroyed by the explosion, which has killed more than 135 people and injured at least 5,000, Lebanon's Health Minister Hamad Hasan said Wednesday. About 200,000 people are now displaced in the city, according to Beirut's governor Marwan Abboud.

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  The world rallies around Beirut after devastating explosion

  Yahoo Finance Video
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  Trump on Beirut explosion, coronavirus relief negotiations. mail-in voting

  CBS News Videos

Germany floats a new NATO spending yardstick: 10 percent

COLOGNE, Germany – German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is pushing for a new yardstick to measure Berlin's contributions to NATO, suggesting the country could shoulder 10 percent of alliance requirements. The figure is meant to reflect the share of NATO's total “planning targets,” which are tabulated periodically, a defense ministry spokesman told Defense News. Such math would be able to more accurately capture Germany's efforts across the categories “cash, capabilities and commitments” than the current defense-spending objective of 2 percent of GDP, according to the spokesman.

Exclusive: Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Dak Prescott Calls for Release of Black Death Row Inmate Julius Jones

The letter, which was sent to the governor's office and parole board on August 6 and obtained exclusively by TIME, advocates for the release of Julius Jones, a Black death row inmate in Oklahoma who was sentenced to death for the 1999 murder of Paul Howell, a white businessman from Edmond, an Oklahoma City suburb, during a carjacking. “Current events are shining a much-needed light on deep-seated prejudices and systemic mistreatment of black people, and it is my sincere hope that the cultural movements of today will lead to significant social changes that will create a better tomorrow,” writes Prescott, 27, who is entering his fifth NFL season.

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  Will Daniel Jones be better than Dak Prescott in 2020?

  NFL Highlights
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  Dak Prescott writes letter to Oklahoma governor asking for release of Black death row inmate Julius Jones

  Yahoo Sports

Trump banned Jeffrey Epstein from Mar-a-Lago after he hit on teenage girl, book claims

Donald Trump banned Jeffrey Epstein from Mar-a-Lago after the disgraced financier hit on another member's teenage daughter, a new book has claimed. Epstein was a member of the now-president's Palm Beach, Florida, club until 2007, according to The Grifter's Club, a detail that has contradicted what Mr Trump's company previously said about the president's relationship with the convicted sex predator. The book stated that Epstein's account with Mar-a-Lago was closed in October 2007 after an incident with another member's daughter.

Former Saudi official accuses Mohammad bin Salman of 'sending hit squad' to kill him

A former senior Saudi intelligence official has claimed that Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman sent a hit squad to Canada in an attempt to kill him. In a 107-page complaint, filed in a Washington DC court, Saad Aljabri claimed the assassins were intercepted by Canadian authorities. The incident was alleged to have happened less than two weeks after Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist and Saudi dissident, was killed in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.

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  Ex-Saudi spy accuses crown prince of trying to assassinate him

  AFP
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  Saudi Arabia seeks to tame powerful cyber armies

  AFP

I tried making Guy Fieri's signature recipes for a week, and I didn't love my whole trip to Flavortown

For one week, I recreated seven of Guy Fieri's signature recipes and favorite go-to meals to see if they lived up to their hype. Food Network personality and restaurateur Guy Fieri has established himself as the "Mayor of Flavortown" with his unique brand of down-to-earth humor and non-pretentious, yet elevated, American cuisine. Fieri's eccentric style has become iconic, and his twists on classic recipes like mac and cheese and chili are well-known among fans.

Trump’s Debate Moderator Wish List Is Stacked With Fox News Stars and Pushovers

The Trump campaign released a list of suggested moderators for this year's presidential debates and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it is loaded with many of the president's favorite right-wing pundits and Fox News personalities. As the president pushes for more debates against former Vice President Joe Biden, his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday sent the presiding commission a letter requesting a fourth debate and an early September start to the events due to early mail-in voting. Calling the current timetable “an outdated dinosaur,” Giuliani wrote that by the time the first debate—currently scheduled for Sept. 29—occurs, “as many as eight million Americans in 16 states will have already started voting.”

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  Donald Trump’s Campaign Seeks Earlier Date For First Debate, Gives Suggestions For Potential Moderators

  Deadline
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  Trump Says He Wants Debates To Start Early Because Of Mail-In Voting

  HuffPost

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

Students at viral Georgia high school say they face expulsion for remaining home amid pandemic

Students at a Georgia high school that went viral this week after a photo of its crowded, mostly mask-less hallways on the first day of school surfaced online told BuzzFeed News they had little choice to attend class in person despite the coronavirus pandemic. One North Paulding High School student's parents were prepared to keep him home after seeing the photo, but when his mother spoke to the school she learned students who chose to stay home because of concerns over the virus could face expulsion or suspension, BuzzFeed reports. A parent of a student at a nearby school said she tried to enroll her daughter in the Paulding County School District's virtual learning option, but wound up on the waiting list after it filled up and was told her daughter "would be withdrawn" from the school if she didn't show up in person.

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  Mississippi: More than 100 children and teachers in quarantine due to coronavirus outbreak two weeks after schools reopened

  The Independent
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  Photos of mask-less students crammed into a Georgia school hallway show how difficult reopenings could be

  INSIDER

Pelosi says Congress will resolve COVID-19 aid but must help needy: CNBC

U.S. lawmakers will resolve their differences over the next batch of COVID-19 aid and reach a deal, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday, but assistance must go to those who need it the most amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. "If we're going to juggle some of this money, let's focus it where it's going to do the most good," she added, saying aid must help people who are the most needy.

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  Pelosi says GOP doesn't give a 'damn' about aid

  Reuters Videos
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  'Optimistic' Democrats vow to stay in D.C. until coronavirus deal reached

  Reuters

California hotel brawl near Disneyland involves about 100 people, police say

A brawl at a hotel near Disneyland on Wednesday involved as many as 100 people and two people were hospitalized, police said. The fight involved hotel guests and grew to include between 60 and 100 people, Sgt. Shane Carringer of the Anaheim Police Department confirmed to USA TODAY. Broomsticks and bottles were used as weapons during the fight at the Cambria Hotel & Suites, witnesses and police said.

Utah protesters face charges with potential life sentence

Some Black Lives Matter protesters in Salt Lake City could face up to life in prison if they're convicted of splashing red paint and smashing windows during a protest, a potential punishment that stands out among demonstrators arrested around the country and one that critics say doesn't fit the alleged crime. Prosecutors said Wednesday that's justified because the protesters worked together to cause thousands of dollars in damage, but watchdogs called the use of the 1990s-era law troubling, especially in the context of criminal justice reform and minority communities. “This is so far beyond just the enforcement of the law, it feels retaliatory,” said Madalena McNeil, who is facing a potential life sentence over felony criminal mischief and riot charges.

One American is dying every 80 seconds from coronavirus as Trump shrugs off death toll: ‘It is what it is’

At least one person in the United States has died every 80 seconds on average over the last seven days, according to new research, as President Donald Trump said the nation's soaring death toll “is what it is” in a recent interview. The grim figures were first reported by NBC News on Wednesday, which noted its own tally revealed 7,486 people died in the last seven days due to Covid-19. Whereas the rate of deaths was somewhat slower in July, with one American dying every 102 seconds on average throughout the month, the latest figures appeared to show an acceleration in pace, as NBC News reported.

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  US COVID-19 death toll could reach 300,000 by December

  ABC News Videos
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  US death toll soars as global virus cases top 19 mn

  AFP

China accused of deploying more amphibious weapons to eastern coast as tensions with Taiwan rise

China has deployed more amphibious weapons in coastal cities across the 110-mile wide strait that separates China from Taiwan, according to reports of recent satellite images. The images published in Canadian military magazine Kanwa Asian Defence show that more Type 05 vehicles had been deployed to China's Eastern Theatre Command, according to the South China Morning Post. The Type 05 is a family of amphibious tracked armoured fighting vehicles developed for the navy marine corps of the People's Liberation Army.

Uber and Lyft just got hit with another lawsuit in California over claims the companies are skirting the state's gig worker law

California's labor commissioner announced Wednesday that her office is suing Uber and Lyft, claiming the companies are stealing wages from drivers by "willfully misclassifying" them as contractors instead of employees. The suit alleges that Uber and Lyft have failed to pay drivers minimum wage, sick pay, unemployment, and other benefits guaranteed to employees under state law. AB-5, California's hotly debated gig economy law, created stricter requirements for companies seeking to designate workers as independent contractors.

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  Judge appears receptive to Uber, Lyft warnings in California driver case

  Reuters
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  ÜBER - Launches the UBER Application With UBER BNB and UBER REAL ESTATE

  ACCESSWIRE

Putin’s Got Big Problems in Russia’s Provinces

MOSCOW—The city of Khabarovsk, a sprawling, industrial metropolis about 5,000 miles east of the capital—founded by the Bolsheviks as a hub for serving Siberian prison camps, in the middle of nowhere by design—is about as far from the seat of Russian power as geographically possible. Despite the Kremlin's best efforts to hide them, problems have been bubbling up in Russia's provinces, transforming local issues into the most dynamic arena for dissent, protest, and opposition in the country's political system and fueling Russia's version of post-lockdown unrest. The arrest of Khabarovsk's popular regional governor sparked the anti-Putin uprising that has drawn up to 60,000 people into the streets in this usually sleepy backwater.