- 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.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
Bodies Strewn on the Ground After Apocalyptic Blast in Beirut
A huge explosion rocked Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday destroying entire blocks of high-rise buildings and leaving at least 73 people confirmed dead, more than 3,700 wounded, and scores more feared buried under rubble and ash. The country's interior minister said early indications were that highly explosive materials, seized and stored at Beirut's port, had detonated. Footage of the blast showed a large plume of dark red flames and smoke before a massive explosion threw up a mushroom cloud.
- U.S.FOX News Videos
Burger King employee reportedly murdered after a woman complained about the drive-thru wait time
Retired Dallas police officer C'mone Wingo reacts to the increase in crime and violence in major U.S. cities.
- 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.Associated Press
Vehicle malfunction sparked Southern California wildfire
A wildfire in mountains east of Los Angeles that has forced thousands of people from their homes was sparked by a malfunctioning diesel vehicle, fire officials said Monday. The vehicle spewed burning carbon from its exhaust system, igniting several fires Friday on Oak Glen Road in Cherry Valley, and authorities were asking anyone who may have seen such a vehicle at the time to contact investigators, according to a statement from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The blaze in Riverside County, among several wildfires across California, had consumed nearly 42 square miles (more than 108 square kilometers) of dry brush and chaparral since it broke out Friday evening, fire officials said.
BusinessAFPPompeo vows to protect Hong Kong activists sought abroad
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday vowed to protect Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners who have fled the city and denounced China after Beijing said that police had ordered the arrests of overseas activists. "The Chinese Communist Party cannot tolerate the free thinking of its own people, and increasingly is trying to extend its reach outside China's borders," Pompeo said in a statement. "The United States and other free nations will continue to protect our peoples from the long arm of Beijing's authoritarianism."
- 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?
- U.S.Business Insider
A woman allegedly smashed a police officer's head into concrete after being told to wear a mask
A woman in Melbourne, Australia, allegedly "smashed" a police officer's head into concrete "several times" after being told to wear a mask, the Evening Standard reported. A woman in Australia allegedly slammed a police officer's face into the concrete multiple times Monday after the officer asked her to wear a face mask, the Evening Standard reported. The 26-year-old officer and her colleague approached the mask-less 38-year-old woman while on patrol near a Melbourne shopping center.
- PoliticsNBC News
McConnell says he will likely rely on Democratic votes for coronavirus aid package
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded Tuesday that he will lack Republican support to pass further coronavirus aid and instead will rely on Democrats to fashion a deal with the White House. "It's not going to produce a kumbaya moment," McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters in the Capitol. Negotiations between congressional leaders and the White House over another round of aid that could top $1 trillion continue to crawl forward, with sticking points like whether to extend the expanded unemployment benefits that expired last month.
- U.S.National Review
Seattle Police Chief Urges City Council to Stop Protestors’ Intimidation Tactics after Group Visits Her Home
Seattle police chief Carmen Best is urging the city council to take a stand against protestors intimidating public officials and employees after “a large group of aggressive protestors” visited her home on Sunday night. “I urge both of you, and the entire council, to stand up for what is right,” Best wrote Monday in a letter addressed to the council's president Lorena González and public safety chair Lisa Herbold. “Before this devolves into the new way of doing business by mob rule here in Seattle, and across the nation, elected officials like you must forcefully call for the end of these tactics,” she added.
- BusinessCBS News
New York City health commissioner resigns
Dr. Oxiris Barbot helped lead the city's coronavirus response, sitting beside Mayor Bill de Blasio at numerous press conferences over the past several months. In a letter sent to staff on Tuesday, obtained by CBS News, Barbot did not provide a reason for her departure, but wrote that the department "must be better leveraged" as the city prepares for a likely second wave of the pandemic. "Your experience and guidance have been the beacon leading this city through this historic pandemic and that to successfully brace against the inevitable second wave, your talents must be better leveraged alongside that of our sister agencies," she wrote.
- 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
- PoliticsThe Week
Progressive activist Cori Bush defeats 20-year incumbent Rep. William Lacy Clay
Clay has represented the district for the last 20 years, and before that, his father, William Lacy Clay Sr., held the seat for three decades. Bush ran against the incumbent in 2018, but lost by a 20-point margin. On Tuesday, with 100 percent of precincts reporting, Bush has 48.6 percent of the vote, compared to Clay with 45.5 percent.
- WorldAssociated Press
Australia: British-Australian woman in Iran prison 'is well'
Australia's ambassador to Iran has visited a British-Australian academic who was convicted of espionage before being moved recently to a notorious Iranian prison, and found that she “is well,” Australia's government said Tuesday. Kylie Moore-Gilbert was a Melbourne University lecturer on Middle Eastern studies when she was sent to Tehran's Evin Prison in September 2018 and sentenced to 10 years. Australia sought urgent consular access and its ambassador to Iran, Lyndall Sachs, visited Moore-Gilbert in Qarchak Prison on Sunday, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, or DFAT, said in a statement.
- WorldReuters
Russia says suspected mercenaries detained by Belarus were going to Latin America
A Russian diplomat said on Monday a group of more than 30 suspected Russian mercenaries detained in Belarus last week were only passing through Minsk and were on their way to an unnamed Latin American state. Belarusian authorities have said they suspect the men entered their country to plot "acts of terrorism" and destabilise it before an Aug. 9 presidential election. Russian officials have dismissed the accusation and described the men as employees of a private security firm.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
‘I’m Not Supposed to Be Talking to You’: Doomsday Mom Called Hubby From Jail as FBI Searched His Home
The day her two children's remains were found gruesomely buried in her new husband's Idaho backyard, Lori Vallow called her spouse from jail. “Are they seizing stuff again?” Vallow asked several times during the June 9, 2020 call from Madison County Jail, after Chad Daybell told her police were at his property. Daybell, an author of apocalyptic novels for a Mormon audience, somberly told his incarcerated wife—who was being held on charges related to the disappearance of her kids J.J Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17—that although police were at his home, he was “glad” that she called.
- 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.
- PoliticsThe Guardian
'They're dying … it is what it is': key takeaways from Trump's shocking interview
Donald Trump stumbled through his second damaging interview in as many weeks, floundering in a conversation with the news website Axios over key issues he is tasked with responding to as president. Here are the eight most glaring things Trump said to reporter Jonathan Swan. In a lengthy discussion about the US's poor response to coronavirus, Trump described the pandemic as “under control”.
- U.S.NBC News
She got the virus. Then she was fired. Some sick workers left in cold by employers.
As of June 12, nearly 700 companies had violated the law's paid-leave provisions and owed back wages to hundreds of employees, according to Labor Department records. Violators include six McDonald's franchises and the franchise owners of a Comfort Suites, Courtyard by Marriott and Red Roof Inn. In all, the businesses owe $690,000 in unpaid wages to 527 employees, who are not identified in the documents.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Beirut explosions: Blast detonated 2,750 tons of chemicals - latest news and video
At least 100 dead and more than 4,000 injured, officials say Thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate detonated Everything we know so far 'It was like a nuclear explosion': How terrified residents fled the fireball Explained: What is ammonium nitrate? In pictures: Ancient city ripped apart The president of Lebanon has said that 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate were detonated in massive blasts in Beirut that have killed at least 100 people and injured more than 4,000. Explosions shook Lebanon's capital on Tuesday and the death toll is expected to rise.
- 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.
- 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.Associated Press
Virginia gov faces new hurdle in bid to remove Lee statue
A judge dismissed a legal challenge Monday that had been blocking Virginia officials from removing a towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from the state's capital city, but he immediately imposed another injunction against dismantling the figure. The new 90-day injunction bars Gov. Ralph Northam's administration from “removing, altering, or dismantling, in any way” the larger-than-life statue of Lee on a prominent Richmond avenue while claims in a lawsuit filed by local property owners are litigated. Now covered in graffiti, the Lee monument has become a focal point and gathering spot amid Richmond's sustained anti-racist protests since the police custody death in Minnesota of a Black man, George Floyd.
- EntertainmentArchitectural Digest
Bower Studios and West Elm Reprise a Partnership With This New Collection
The release includes seven designs to bring harmony home Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
“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.”