WorldThe TelegraphIran agrees inspection deal with UN nuclear watchdog at two nuclear sites
Iran has offered to allow UN nuclear inspectors to visit two controversial nuclear sites as part of its diplomatic charm offensive to have the international arms embargo against Tehran lifted, The Daily Telegraph can reveal. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN-sponsored body responsible for monitoring Iran's nuclear activities, has been highly critical of the Iranian regime over its refusal to cooperate with inspectors over claims that it has undertaken illicit activities at two nuclear facilities. The IAEA took the unprecedented step earlier this year of issuing a special report publicly rebuking Iran for its non-cooperation on a number of key nuclear issues, and denying inspectors access to two key Iranian nuclear installations at Marivan and Amad, which inspectors believe have been used for developing and storing nuclear material and form part of Iran's clandestine nuclear weapons programme.
PoliticsThe WeekIt turns out Mitch McConnell will appear at the RNC after all
After some back and forth, it's been confirmed that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will make an appearance at next week's Republican National Convention. McConnell is up for re-election in November, and his campaign spokeswoman, Katharine Cooksey, said in a statement on Thursday that he would not be part of the convention. A few hours later, Cooksey changed course, saying there was a "miscommunication" and McConnell will be recording a message for the convention, The Hill reports.
CelebrityThe Daily Beast‘Charmed Life’: Judge Rips Into Lori Loughlin Before Sentencing Her to 2 Months Behind Bars
Lori Loughlin, the actress at the center of the nation-wide college admissions scandal, was sentenced Friday to two months in prison after admitting to paying thousands of dollars to get her two daughters into top colleges. The sentencing over video-conference in Boston federal court came hours after her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, was sentenced to five months in prison for his role in getting the couple's daughters admitted to the University of Southern California by falsely portraying them as elite athletes. The actress's defense attorney, however, argued that Loughlin is “profoundly sorry for the role that she played” in the scheme and that of all the parents charged in the nationwide scandal, “not a single one had less participation than Lori.”
WorldINSIDERThe $15 billion hit from the devastating Beirut explosion will be a gut-punch to Lebanon's hobbled economy
Officials in Lebanon estimated it would cost $15 billion to fix the damage from the Beirut explosion on August 4, The Washington Post reported. The explosion killed more than 180 people and wounded over 6,000 people. The damage from the explosion comes as Lebanon is reeling from a terrible economic crisis that has significantly devalued its currency.
PoliticsBusiness Insider'Is this a joke?' North Carolina voters are being mailed absentee ballot request forms with Trump's face on them
The mailout by the North Carolina Republican Party asks for "immediate action" to "ensure your right to securely vote Absentee." Trump has previously also said that using mail-in voting is less secure than absentee voting, even though the two terms refer to the same method of using the mail to deliver ballots. Voters in North Carolina are receiving absentee ballot request forms that feature President Trump's face on them even though the president has continuously criticized mail-in voting in the run-up to the November election.
PoliticsThe IndependentQAnon: Senior Republican says there is 'no place' for right-wing conspiracy theory in GOP
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy has condemned the QAnon, saying there is “no room” for the conspiracy theory in the Republican party. In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Mr McCarthy, Republican representative for California's 23rd district, was asked whether he was worried about candidates who have won primaries who were affiliated with groups like QAnon. “Let me be very clear,” Mr McCarthy said.
PoliticsPopular MechanicsAir Force Accidentally Reveals It Wants a Hypersonic Nuke
The Air Force has requested a list of future upgrades for America's next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fleet. One technology is the ability to use an ICBM to launch a hypersonic glide weapon. Such a weapon would have a range of thousands of miles, reach its target in minutes, and likely carry a nuclear warhead.
U.S.INSIDERA mother and her 6 children were forced to get off a Jet Blue flight after her 2-year-old couldn't keep her face mask on
A mother and six children were kicked off a Jet Blue flight on Wednesday after her 2-year-old child could not keep their face mask on, NBC New York reported. The mother, Chaya Bruck, was asked to exit the plane by a flight attendant after Bruck's daughter kept pulling off her face covering. A mother and her family were removed from a Jet Blue flight after one of her children did not wear a face mask, NBC New York reported.
PoliticsUSA TODAYFact check: DNC didn't leave out 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance
The claim: The phrase 'Under God' was skipped during the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democratic National Convention Following the four-day virtual convention, social media posts emerged claiming that Democrats abstained from saying "under God" during the Pledge of Allegiance. The claim was initially shared on Facebook by former U.S. Republican senatorial candidate Peggy Hubbard. "The DNC omitted, One Nation Under God.
PoliticsBusiness Insider'They're not needed, sir': Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says USPS won't replace removed mail-sorting machines
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in a testimony to the Senate on Friday that these machines will not be replaced. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Related video: The rise and fall of USPS The US Postal Service will not replace the mail-sorting machines it has removed, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told the Senate's Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Friday.
WorldAssociated PressPolitical parties vow to fight removal of Kashmir's autonomy
Half a dozen political parties vowed Saturday to fight for restoration of the special status that was stripped last year from Indian-administered Kashmir, setting off widespread anger and economic ruin amid a harsh security clampdown. Four pro-India Kashmiri political parties and two Indian political parties, including the main opposition Congress Party, said in a joint statement that India's move “unrecognizably changed the relationship” between the region and New Delhi. “We want to assure the people that all our political activities will be subservient to the sacred goal of reverting to the status of J&K as it existed on 4th August 2019,” the statement said.
WorldReutersSouth Africa's COVID-19 infections breach 600,000 mark
South Africa's confirmed COVID-19 cases have surpassed 600,000, the health ministry said on Friday, although the number of new cases has been declining since a peak in July. Despite imposing one of the world's toughest lockdowns at the end of March when the country had only a few hundred cases, South Africa saw a surge in coronavirus infections that has left it the hardest hit on the continent. The ministry said in a statement South Africa now had a total of 603,338 cases and 12,843 deaths - accounting for more than half of the continent's cases and around 47% of its deaths, according to a Reuters tally of government and World Health Organization data.
BusinessBusiness InsiderTikTok employees have started referring to Trump's deadline to ban the app as 'D-Day' over fears of catastrophic job losses
TikTok's future in the US is unclear as it faces off against the Trump administration's executive orders attempting to ban the app nationwide. Bloomberg reports that TikTok employees are scared about the status of their employment, and are regularly asking executives about layoffs and job security. Employees are reportedly referring the deadline Trump has set for a TikTok ban as "D-Day" in preparation of job losses.
WorldAssociated PressGaza militants fire 12 rockets, Israel strikes Hamas targets
Palestinian militants fired 12 rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip overnight, nine of which were intercepted, and Israel responded with three airstrikes on targets linked to the territory's militant Hamas rulers, the Israeli military said early Friday. It was the most serious exchange of fire along the Gaza frontier in months, but there were no reports of casualties. Police said buildings and vehicles in Israel were damaged, and that bomb-disposal units had been dispatched to pick up shrapnel and rocket parts.
WorldReutersPhilippines protests China's 'illicit' warnings, coast guard conduct
The Philippines has lodged a diplomatic protest over what it said was China's illegal confiscation of fish aggregating devices from Filipino fisherman in a disputed lagoon held by Beijing in the South China Sea. The Philippine foreign ministry said the incident happened three months ago at the Scarborough Shoal, a prime fishing site seized by Beijing in 2012 after a standoff that prompted an unprecedented international legal challenge by Manila. In a statement late on Thursday, it gave no other details about that incident, but it also protested China's "continuing illicit issuances of radio challenges (to) Philippine aircraft conducting legitimate regular maritime patrols."
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Reps. Scalise, Biggs reject Joe Biden's call for COVID mask mandate, willingness to lock down nation
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs join Tammy Bruce on 'Hannity.
BusinessBusiness InsiderA Trump win in November helps Tesla's competitors — but it doesn't make life any easier for Big Auto in the long run
The major automakers have benefitted from Trump's policies and tax cuts. But Big Auto has also had to deal with Trump's constant provocations and chaotic approach to global business and trade. A Biden win in November could restore policies that support Tesla.
WorldThe TelegraphBoris Johnson: failure to reopen schools is not an option
Boris Johnson has told allies that “failure to reopen schools is not an option” as the UK's four chief medical officers issue a joint endorsement of the Government's drive to get every pupil back into the classroom next week. Prof Chris Whitty and his Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts will state that children are at far less risk of becoming seriously ill with Covid-19 and have an “exceptionally small risk of dying”. In an interview due to be broadcast on Sunday, Prof Whitty says the threat posed by coronavirus to children pales in comparison with the “disparities” and “deep-rooted problems” that come with continuing to keep them at home.
- WorldAssociated Press
Greek officials say UAE warplanes to arrive for joint drills
The United Arab Emirates is sending warplanes to the southern Greek island of Crete for joint training with Greece's air force, officials in Athens said Friday as military tensions continued to simmer between Greece and neighboring Turkey over offshore energy rights. The officials said between two and four UAE fighters were expected to reach Souda Naval Base during the weekend and would hold joint training and exercises with the Hellenic Air Force next week. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the matter with journalists.
WorldReutersCoronavirus spread largely among under 40-year-olds in France, minister says
The new coronavirus is circulating four times more among people under 40 in France than over among 65-year-olds, France's health minister said, though he warned that contamination was on the rise among the elderly and more vulnerable too. "We're in a risky situation," Olivier Veran said in an interview with France's Journal Du Dimanche (JDD) published on Sunday, adding that the higher number of cases being detected was not solely down to more testing. Like President Emmanuel Macron, Veran ruled out the need for another total lockdown to combat the spread of the disease.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderAll the top Republicans who say they won't vote for Trump in 2020
Several Republican leaders have publicly voiced their opposition to Trump and signaled they will not support his 2020 reelection. The list includes ex-officials and those currently in office, such as former President George W. Bush and Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, the GOP presidential nominee in 2012. Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump has stoked tensions within the Republican Party he leads, bashing party loyalists and even previous presidential nominees who dared to defy him with names like "loser" and "RINO," for Republican in name only.
WorldThe TelegraphSweden stands firm on face masks as Anders Tegnell refuses to copy other countries' strategy
With face masks mandatory on public transport in Denmark from Saturday morning, Sweden is now in the position it has been in so often during the coronavirus pandemic - alone. The country, which chose not to close lower secondary schools, pubs, restaurants, and sports facilities at the peak in April, is again an outlier in not recommending the general public wear face masks. Dr Anders Tegnell, the country's state epidemiologist, told the Daily Telegraph that he did not expect the Public Health Agency of Sweden to follow Norway, Finland and Denmark and drop its opposition to masks when it recommends new measures to Sweden's government at the start of next month.
U.S.Associated PressCalifornia 'dream house,' decades in the making, is in ashes
When he closes his eyes at night, Hank Hanson hears sirens in his dreams -- a byproduct of living nearly 30 years in the wildfire-prone wilderness of Northern California between San Francisco and Sacramento. “It started pouring toward us like a waterfall,” Hanson said. The fire was one of the more than 500 wildfires ignited across California this week from what state firefighting officials are calling a “lightning siege” — summer thunderstorms that produce little or no rain but have prompted nearly 12,000 lightening strikes across sun-scorched terrain.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastCNN Corners Mike Pence on QAnon: ‘Do You Believe They Love America?’
As the Democratic National Convention came to a rousing close and the Republicans geared up to start their four-day affair next week, Vice President Mike Pence went on a whopping five morning shows on Friday to help make the case for another four years of Trump. On Fox & Friends, Pence fielded softball questions about Goodyear tires and Star Wars metaphors. The vice president dramatically shook his head as CNN's John Berman reported the fact that the FBI has labeled that conspiracy-theory cult a domestic terror threat.
PoliticsThe Independent‘The worst president’: 95-year-old Republican World War II veteran says he regrets voting for Trump and now backs Biden
A 95-year-old World War II veteran and longtime Republican, called Donald Trump the “worst” president the US has ever had and praised Democratic candidate Joe Biden, ahead of November's presidential election. On Thursday, Edward Good spoke at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and praised Mr Biden, after multiple other Republicans endorsed the Democratic presidential candidate earlier in the week. Mr Good revealed that he voted for Mr Trump in 2016, but told those watching the virtual convention that he regretted voting for the president and revealed that he is now backing Mr Biden, according to the Daily Mail.
“Harris brings an unusual blend of social justice progressiveness and law-and-order conservatism.”
“It's hard to imagine Trump-skeptical independents now aching to pull the trigger for Biden with Kamala on the ticket.”
“If Biden wishes, he can delegate the daily barrage of rebukes against his opponent to her. Biden now can rise above the fray.”
“Voters viewed her as among the most qualified to be president on Day 1 — a key positive.”
“Here’s a reality check: Running mates have very little direct effect on voters.”