- U.S.The Guardian
Bolton: Trump claim he wasn’t told of Russia bounty report is 'not how system works’
Donald Trump's claim not to have been briefed about intelligence suggesting Russia paid Taliban-linked militants to kill US soldiers is “just not the way the system works”, former national security adviser John Bolton said on Sunday. Elsewhere, former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice said Bolton would have known about the bounties intelligence while he was in the role, which he left in September 2019, and would therefore have briefed Trump himself. I don't buy this story that he was never briefed,” Rice told NBC's Meet The Press.
- U.S.BBC
Brain-eating amoeba: Warning issued in Florida after rare infection case
A case of a rare brain-eating amoeba has been confirmed in Florida, according to health officials in the US state. The Florida Department of Health (DOH) said one person in Hillsborough County had contracted Naegleria fowleri. The microscopic, single-celled amoeba can cause an infection of the brain, and is usually fatal.
- BusinessThe National Interest
Why U.S. F-35s, Stealth Bombers and Attack Drones Could Fail in a War
Fighter jets, stealth bombers, attack drones and air-traveling missiles all need to “operate at speed” in a fast-changing great power conflict era. When faced with fast, multi-frequency, long-range precision fire from enemy air defenses, air attackers simply must “operate at speed,” according to U.S. Air Forces, Europe Commander General Jeffrey Harrigian, who used the phrase in a discussion with The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. Harrigian, who is also now the Commander of U.S. Air Forces Africa, ran much of the air campaign during Operation Inherent Resolve against ISIS; he offered a first-hand war perspective in a conversation with retired Lieutenant General David Deptula, Dean of the Mitchell Institute.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Judge grants bond to ex-Atlanta cop charged with murder in Rayshard Brooks shooting
ATLANTA – The former Atlanta police officer charged with fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks can be released on bond, a judge ruled Tuesday. Fulton County Judge Jane Barwick said she does not believe Garrett Rolfe is a flight risk or would intimidate witnesses. Barwick set Rolfe's bond at $500,000.
- U.S.Reuters
Soaring U.S. coronavirus cases, hospitalizations overshadow July 4 celebrations
In the first four days of July alone, 15 states have reported record increases in new cases of COVID-19, which has infected nearly 3 million Americans and killed about 130,000, according to a Reuters tally. Florida's cases have risen by over 10,000 for three out of the last four days, including climbing by 10,059 on Sunday, surpassing the highest daily tally reported by any European country during the height of the coronavirus outbreak there. Cases are also soaring in Arizona, California and Texas and trending upwards in Midwest states that once had infections declining such as Iowa, Ohio and Michigan, according to a Reuters analysis of how much cases rose in the past two weeks compared with the prior two weeks.
- U.S.The Independent
Christopher Columbus statue toppled and thrown into water in Baltimore
The statue of Christopher Columbus in Baltimore's Inner Harbour has been pulled from its pedestal and thrown into the water, according to video posted on social media. One video shows the statue being pulled down after a loop has been draped around its chest. Another shows it being rolled off an embankment and into the water, where it causes a big splash.
- WorldBusiness Insider
Alan Dershowitz wrote a Spectator column about Ghislaine Maxwell in which he says 'everyone should keep an open mind'
Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images In a column for The Spectator US edition, Alan Dershowitz poured scorn on the evidence of two women featured in the hit Netflix documentary about disgraced financier, Jeffrey Epstein, "Filthy Rich." Maxwell, a British heiress and longtime girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, has been arrested by the FBI. The grand jury indictment accuses Maxwell of grooming young girls, engaging in sexual acts with them, and lying about her involvement with Epstein in sworn statements.
- U.S.Associated Press
Protester killed on Seattle freeway was dedicated to cause
A person killed Saturday when a man who drove his car onto a closed Seattle freeway and into a crowd protesting police brutality was remembered Sunday as someone who was dedicated to the cause. The other person hit in the incident, meanwhile, remained in serious condition Sunday at a Seattle hospital. The deceased, Summer Taylor, 24, spent the last six weeks “tirelessly standing up for others while working full time and supporting everyone around them," wrote Urban Animal on Instagram, the veterinarian clinic where Taylor worked in Portland, Oregon.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoPredominantly Black armed protesters march through Confederate memorial park in Georgia
A predominantly Black group of heavily armed protesters marched through Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta on Saturday, calling for removal of the giant Confederate rock carving at the site that civil rights activists consider a monument to racism.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY Opinion
Trump and Barr are making false claims about mail-in ballots to scare us out of voting
Nevertheless, last month, when he wasn't busy ineffectually trying to replace the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan with a Trump loyalist, Attorney General William Barr took out after voting by mail as rife with fraud. In this, he was echoing his master, President Trump. In an interview he gave to Fox News, the attorney general said voting by mail “opens the floodgates to fraud.
- U.S.The Guardian
‘They feel invincible’: how California’s coronavirus plan went wrong
People began to fixate on individual liberties without understanding that one of the most fundamental civil liberties in the US is the right to health Lee Riley In Orange county, where more than 15,000 people have been infected, health director Nichole Quick resigned in mid-June after being confronted with a banner depicting her as a Nazi, protests outside her house and personal threats. Quick had issued an order requiring residents to wear masks in public, which the county sheriff insisted he wouldn't enforce. After she became the third high-level health official in Orange county to quit, the county quickly reversed Quick's order – recommending, but not insisting that residents wear masks.
- U.S.BBC
Gettysburg 'flag-burning hoax' sees armed far-right groups assemble
Rumours that anti-fascist protesters planned to burn American flags on the Gettysburg Civil War battleground site led to armed far-right groups turning up in numbers on US Independence Day. In response, far-right groups assembled on the historic grounds on Saturday - but no adversaries showed up. The posts that appeared on social media ahead of the Independence Day celebrations reportedly called for people to flock to the site in face paint.
- U.S.Business Insider
Michael Cohen may have violated the terms of his prison release by eating out at a restaurant in Manhattan
The New York Post obtained photos showing Michael Cohen eating out at a Manhattan restaurant Thursday night. Cohen is currently serving a three-year sentence under home confinement, and eating out appears to be a violation of the conditions of his release from a federal prison camp. Business Insider reached out to the Bureau of Prisons for comment but did not immediately receive a response Saturday morning.
- U.S.NBC News
Florida surpasses 200,000 coronavirus cases
Florida surpassed 200,000 coronavirus cases as the state reported another 10,059 new positives on Sunday. The state has reported more than 10,000 new cases for a fourth straight day as the country sees another surge in the pandemic. Florida is among 11 states where numbers have spiked, at least doubling over the past two weeks.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Kanye West announces he is running for president in 2020
Kanye West has declared he will run for US president in 2020, a stranger-than-fiction move backed by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The rapper made his announcement on Twitter on 4 July, as millions of Americans were celebrating Independence Day. Musk replied to West's tweet and said: “You have my full support!” Earlier this week, West posted a photo of both men posing in similar outfits the Tesla founder's home.
- HealthMiami Herald
COVID-19 could lead to increase in tick-borne illness, experts say. Here’s why
As if you needed anything else to worry about in 2020, summer is here — which means tick season is, too. While experts say ticks are expected to be about average this year, they say the U.S. may see an uptick in Lyme disease cases due to the coronavirus pandemic. While experts don't expect to see more ticks than usual this year, 2021 could be a different story, Richard Ostfeld, a distinguished senior scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, told The New York Times.
- WorldReuters
Constitutional changes are the 'right thing' for Russia: Putin
President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday constitutional amendments approved in a nationwide vote created the conditions for Russia's "progressive development" for decades to come. One of the changes approved in the week-long vote that ended on July 1 makes it possible for Putin to seek two more terms as president and, if re-elected, to stay in power until 2036. Other changes grant former presidents immunity from prosecution, enshrine a reference in the constitution to God, offer pensions protection and define marriage as a union of a man and a woman.
- WorldThe National Interest
This Chinese Submarine Could Drop a Nuclear Weapon on America
Here's What You Need To Remember: The nuclear submarine club is indeed a highly exclusive club—and those with nuclear ballistic missiles even more so. China's Type 094, or Jin-class nuclear submarines are capable, but they may be tools for promoting national prestige rather than true nuclear deterrence. The Type 094, or Jin-class as it is also known, is operated by the People's Liberation Army Submarine Force.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Billy Graham, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass: Who Trump wants in the 'National Garden of American Heroes'
President Donald Trump announced during a speech in front of Mount Rushmore on Friday an executive order to establish a "National Garden of American Heroes" featuring statues of "historically significant Americans." The executive order includes a list of former American presidents and historical figures to feature – with Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, and Billy Graham among them. Trump's effort to build more statues comes as protesters across the U.S. have torn down statues in protest of police violence against Black people in the wake of George Floyd's death in May.
WorldAFPUS aircraft carriers conduct drills in South China Sea
Two US aircraft carriers have carried out drills in the South China Sea, a US Navy spokesman said Saturday, after the Pentagon expressed concerns over Chinese military exercises around a disputed archipelago. The USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan conducted dual carrier operations in the waterway to "support a free and open Indo-Pacific," the spokesman said. The drills came as the Pentagon said it was "concerned" about Chinese military exercises in the South China Sea, warning the manoeuvres will "further destabilise" the region.
- WorldBBC
The Grand Old Man of India who became Britain's first Asian MP
How was an Indian elected to the British Parliament in 1892? What relevance could this historical event have for us today? Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917) is an unfamiliar name these days.
- U.S.Business Insider
An asymptomatic coronavirus carrier infected an apartment neighbor without sharing the same space. A study blames the building's elevator buttons.
According to a new study, transmission likely occurred in the elevator, when the neighbor touched the same buttons that the quarantined traveler had. The neighbor was later linked to 70 other coronavirus infections in the local community. Coronavirus particles can live on surfaces like plastic and stainless steel, which are common in elevators, for up to seven days.
- WorldNBC News
'That didn't last long': Arrests as revelers defy distancing rules after pubs reopen in England
Lockdown restrictions were eased, the pubs opened and crowds flocked onto the streets of English cities Saturday, many ignoring social distancing rules and prompting complaints from the police. John Apter, chair of the Police Federation for England and Wales, warned that it was "crystal clear" that drunk people cannot observe social distancing. Apter, who was on patrol in Southampton, a city on England's south coast, wrote on Twitter that officers dealt with "anti-social behavior, naked men, possession of class 'A' drugs, happy drunks, angry drunks, fights, more angry drunks."
- SportsThe Independent
Bellagio error leads to one of biggest sports betting losses in Las Vegas history
Almost a quarter of a million dollars in winning wagers reportedly placed at MGM Resorts last Sunday may have been the largest sportsbook loss in the history of Las Vegas. Seven longtime Las Vegas bookmakers can't recall a larger loss, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. Almost all of the approximately 50 bets were placed using self-serve kiosks at the Bellagio resort between 1.30am and 3am West Coast time.
- U.S.Miami Herald
Florida breaks record with 11,458 new virus cases. Miami-Dade and Broward hit highs, too
Saturday's update on new confirmed COVID-19 cases from the Florida Department of Health reflected the state, Miami-Dade and Broward record new single-day highs, rocketing past previous peaks. Florida added 11,458 cases, beating the previous record of 10,109 by 13%. Of Florida's total, Miami-Dade County accounted for 2,418, and 1,348 came from Broward County.
