PoliticsWashington ExaminerNewsom allowed to blame recall on ‘Republicans and Trump supporters,' judge rules
Gov. Gavin Newsom is permitted to blame his recall election on "Republicans and Trump supporters" in a formal appeal to voters, a California judge ruled Thursday. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Laurie Earl declined to block Newsom from using that accusation and other characterizations in the state's voter guide that, along with recall ballots, will be sent to all registered voters this month ahead of his Sept. 14 recall election. Orrin Heatlie, one of the recall's leaders, filed a lawsuit seeking to stop Newsom from using words such as "power grab” to describe the recall and from casting it as an abuse of the state's recall laws in a 500-word statement for the voter guide.
PoliticsAssociated PressHouse lawmaker suing Pelosi over mask rule says he has COVID
Rep. Ralph Norman, one of the three congressional Republicans suing Speaker Nancy Pelosi over fines for not wearing masks during a vote on the U.S. House floor, has contracted a breakthrough case of COVID-19, the second member of South Carolina's delegation to do so. Representing South Carolina's 5th District since 2017, Norman is part of a federal lawsuit against Pelosi over a mandate earlier this year that members wear masks while on the House floor. Last week, Norman and U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky sued Pelosi, seeking a determination that their $500 fines — issued because they went maskless during a May vote — are unconstitutional and should be rescinded.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramRepublican official who mocked COVID in final Facebook post dies of virus in Texas
A Texas GOP official whose social media posts include anti-mask and anti-vaccine rhetoric has died from COVID-19. H. Scott Apley, who according to the Galveston News was a member of the Galveston County Republican Party and Dickinson City council, was 45 years old. In his last Facebook post July 30, Apley shared a Twitter post mocking COVID-19.
WorldReutersAustralia will not bow to Chinese demands to restart talks-foreign minister
Australia will not accept Chinese demands to change policy in order to restart bilateral talks, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said. Australia places no conditions on dialogue. Relations with China, already rocky after Australia banned Huawei from its nascent 5G broadband networking in 2018, cooled further after Canberra called last year for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, first reported in central China last year.
ScienceThe WeekScientists fear a critical Atlantic Ocean system might collapse, triggering 'extreme cold' and sea level rise
Scientists are worried the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a "critical aquatic conveyer belt" that drives currents in the Atlantic Ocean, is at risk of near-complete collapse due to climate change, The Washington Post reports. A shutdown of the crucial circulation system could "bring extreme cold to Europe and parts of North America, raise sea levels along the U.S. East Coast, and disrupt seasonal monsoons that provide water to much of the world," the Post reports. "The mere possibility that the AMOC tipping point is close should be enough for us to take countermeasures," warns Levke Caesar, a climate physicist at Maynooth University.
WorldWashington Examiner‘Don’t test us’: Iran threatens ‘decisive’ response to any Israeli strike
A prominent Iranian official warned Israel not to conduct a military operation against Iran, as the rival Middle Eastern powers trade threats following an attack on an Israeli-managed oil tanker. “We state this clearly: ANY foolish act against Iran will be met with a DECISIVE response,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh tweeted on Thursday. Khatibzadeh accused the Israeli government of violating international law by threatening “military action” against Iran.
U.S.Associated PressChicago police officer charged in downtown subway shooting
A Chicago police officer who shot an unarmed man in the back as he tried to escape capture by running up an escalator in a busy subway station has been charged with felony aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct, prosecutors said Thursday. The Cook County State's Attorney's office said in a news release that Melvina Bogard, 32, turned herself in to investigators on Thursday morning and at an afternoon bond hearing, Cook County Judge Susana Ortiz ordered that she be released on her written promise to appear in court. The shooting happened in February 2020 at a downtown station.
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New Hampshire man in jail after squatting for 30 years in woods
A New Hampshire man was arrested after being accused for squatting on private property for almost three decades.
U.S.AxiosMassive California blaze levels town, threatens others as it burns out of control
The small Sierra town of Greenville, California, was heavily damaged on Wednesday night into Thursday as the Dixie Fire surged northward amid high winds, extremely dry air and hot temperatures. The latest: The Dixie Fire, California's biggest blaze, continued to threaten communities in Plumas County into Thursday night, as more mandatory evacuation orders were issued in the region. The Plumas County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post to residents of the towns of Chester, Lake Almanor Peninsula and Hamilton Branch on Thursday afternoon: If you are still in the area, you are in danger and you MUST leave now!!
WorldAssociated PressBelarus runner used quick thinking to avoid being sent home
A Belarusian Olympic sprinter who feared reprisals back home after publicly criticizing her coaches at the Tokyo Games used quick thinking to get help, using her phone to translate a plea and show it to Japanese police as she tried to avoid being forced onto a plane. Krystsina Tsimanouskaya described on Thursday a dramatic series of events at the Olympics that led her to decide not to return to Belarus, where an authoritarian government has relentlessly pursued its critics. After posting a message on social media that criticized the way her team was being managed, Tsimanouskaya said she was told to pack her bags.
U.S.Miami HeraldWhat happens when you allow hundreds of snake hunters in the Everglades? You get a winner
Gov. Ron DeSantis, in between battling with President Joe Biden about mask mandates, announced that the 2021 Florida Python Challenge has a new king. The 10-day event, from July 9-18, resulted in the removal of a record 223 invasive pythons from South Florida, DeSantis said.
U.S.TheGrioSecurity guard breaks silence about escaping Surfside condo collapse
Shamoka Furman had been working at the Champlain Towers South building for five months when it collapsed. A young security guard who worked at the Champlain Towers South building, the Surfside, Florida structure that collapsed on the terrifying night of June 24, is speaking out for the first time about the harrowing experience. Shamoka Furman told Florida's Local10 News that she had been working at the building for five months when it collapsed, killing 98 people.
WorldAFPTigray rebels take control of UNESCO site Lalibela: residents
Rebels from Ethiopia's war-hit Tigray region on Thursday seized Lalibela, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the neighbouring Amhara region famed for its 12th-century rock-hewn churches, residents told AFP. Tigray has been wracked by fighting since last November, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to topple the TPLF, the regional ruling party which dominated national politics before Abiy took office in 2018.
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'Miami Vice' star Don Johnson shares pinup picture of wife Kelley Phleger during Greece getaway: 'Excuse me'
Don Johnson can't get enough of his wife, Kelley Phleger, and shared the loving photos to prove it. The "Miami Vice" star, 71, and Phleger, 52 – a teacher – have been married for 22 years and the couple hit Greece to celebrate their union of more than two decades. In one image shared to Instagram on Thursday, Johnson shows Phleger in a poolside pinup pose as she dons a stylish black swimsuit and white shades.
U.S.Miami HeraldFlorida’s $1,000 pandemic checks won’t have governor’s logo or take out taxes
The $1,000 pandemic bonuses going out to Florida's teachers, principals and first responders won't include a governor's logo, the state says. Although the state's contract with a private vendor says the bonuses must bear an “office of the governor graphic design” approved by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, a spokesperson for the department said the checks will bear the state seal instead. Whether the checks will bear the signature or name of Gov. Ron DeSantis is unclear, however.
U.S.TheGrioSon of comedian Tony Baker, 21, killed in Los Angeles car crash
Comedian Tony Baker is mourning the loss of his 21-year-old son who tragically died in a car crash on Tuesday. Cerain Anthony Raekwon Baker and two others were killed in a three-vehicle car crash in Burbank, California, NBC4 reported. Police arrived on the scene of the wreck which occurred around 11:30 p.m. on North Glenoaks Boulevard at Andover Drive to find Baker and the other victims ejected from a silver Volkswagen.
U.S.USA TODAY6 dead after floatplane crashes in southeast Alaska, Coast Guard says
A sightseeing plane crashed Thursday in southeast Alaska, killing all six people on board, including the plane's pilot, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The five passengers were Holland America Line cruise passengers, the cruise line said on Twitter. "An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka located the wreckage at 2:37 p.m. and lowered two rescue swimmers who reported no survivors," the Coast Guard said in a statement.
LifestyleArchitectural DigestMore Inside a Fantastical Amsterdam Penthouse Full of Whimsy
Thanks to the avant-garde antics of design wonder Job Smeets, the home of Viktor & Rolf's Rolf Snoeren puts a smile on his face from morning to night Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
CelebrityNextSharkSuni Lee dedicates her gold medal to her father who 'deserves it as much as I do'
Suni Lee was reunited with her family for the first time since she left for the Olympics and she draped her gold medal around her father's neck. The dedication: The young Olympian made history as the first Asian American to win the all-around gymnastics event and said she won the gold for her dad, according to her interview with Access. I have to do this for him because I'm able to walk and I want to live out my dreams because the Olympics has been both of our dreams.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderFederal judge sanctions lawyers who brought conspiracy theory-filled lawsuit trying to overturn the 2020 election, reap $160 billion in damages
A federal judge in Colorado sanctioned two lawyers who challenged the 2020 election results. The lawyers had asked for $160 billion in damages because Joe Biden won the presidential election. A federal judge in Colorado has sanctioned attorneys who brought a lawsuit that challenged the results of the 2020 presidential election and sought $160 billion in damages, calling their conspiratorial claims "the stuff of which violent insurrections are made."
U.S.The Daily BeastHillsong Megachurch Founder Charged With Hiding Dad’s Child Sex Abuse
The co-founder of Australia-based Christian megachurch Hillsong has been charged with covering up his late father's historic child sex abuse. Brian Houston, 67, has denied for years that he held back information relating to his dad's offenses. He's faced scrutiny over the case since 2014, when Australia's royal commission into child sexual abuse heard that pastor Frank Houston—who died in 2004, before the shocking allegations against him were made public—abused multiple boys in the 1970s.
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2 charged in teacher's murder among 28 arrested in NYC gang bust
More than two dozen reputed gang members have been charged in a 141 count indictment in Queens, including two who were allegedly responsible for the stray bullet death of a 53-year-old school teacher walking his dog.
BusinessUSA TODAY'No turning back:' Biden signs order targeting half of all vehicles sold in US to be zero-emissions by 2030
President Joe Biden said "there's no turning back" on the future of an electric auto industry Thursday as he signed an executive order setting a target for zero-emissions vehicles to account for half of all automobiles sold in the USA by 2030. It's part a series of actions Biden announced aimed at jump-starting a dramatic shift toward electric vehicles as part of the administration's broader agenda to tackle climate change and compete with China, a leader in the electric vehicle market. The president, zero-emissions vehicles staged behind him on the White House South Lawn, was joined by executives from Ford, GM and Stellantis, as well as leaders from the United Auto Workers union and members of Congress.
U.S.Kansas City Star‘A straight up monster.’ World record 125-pound bighead carp caught by Missouri man
A Missouri man is a new world-record holder after a behemoth fish he caught last month — but not without a little help. The Missouri Department of Conservation confirmed Thursday the 125-pound, 5-ounce bighead carp shot by Matt Neuling shattered the previous record of 104 pounds, 15 ounces. Neuling said he and his friend initially thought it was a 30-pound grass carp they both shot.
WorldArchitectural DigestShop the Look of Meghan Markle’s Clean and Cozy Workspace
Here's how to channel the Duchess of Sussex in your own home Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
“If nothing else, Tokyo 2020 may end up being remembered as the wake-up call everyone needed.”
“Cancel the Olympics—for good.”
“Olympians haven’t really changed. These athletes still showcase extraordinary human achievement from around the world.”
“Delivering more excellence and less sideshow will probably require giving athletes a bigger voice in how the Olympics are run.”
“The Olympics were conceived in 1896 as a sporting event, and they’ve become a construction event.”