- U.S.Yahoo News
Oklahoma becomes latest red state to approve Obamacare's Medicaid expansion at the ballot box
Voters in Oklahoma narrowly approved an expansion of Medicaid on Tuesday night, making it the latest conservative-leaning state to approve of the Obamacare provision at the ballot box. The measure bypasses the Republican-controlled Legislature and governor's mansion to enshrine insurance coverage for low-income Oklahomans via the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) in the state's constitution. “In the middle of a pandemic, Oklahomans stepped up and delivered lifesaving care for nearly 200,000 of our neighbors, took action to keep our rural hospitals open, and brought our tax dollars home to protect jobs and boost our local economy,” Yes on 802 campaign manager Amber England said in a statement after the victory.
- U.S.Yahoo News
After a Black protester is killed in Omaha, witnesses claim a rushed investigation ignored signs of the shooter's allegedly racist past
More than 300 people have been arrested in Omaha since Friday, May 29, when the city of less than 500,000 was swept up in the tidal wave of protests against police brutality and systemic racism that had erupted in Minneapolis after the brutal killing by police of an unarmed Black man named George Floyd. Jake Gardner, the white bar owner who shot and killed James Scurlock, a 22-year-old Black protester, on the second night of unrest in Omaha — Saturday, May 30 — wasn't one of them. Within just 36 hours of the shooting, Douglas County prosecutor Don Kleine announced that criminal charges would not be filed, finding that Gardner — a 38-year-old ex-Marine with an expired concealed carry permit — had shot Scurlock in self-defense.
- U.S.Miami Herald
Pence: Florida can thank President Trump for being prepared to handle COVID cases
The coronavirus case numbers are worse than ever in Florida. “I want the people of Florida to know we're in a much better place thanks to the leadership of President [Donald] Trump, the innovation of American industry and to the partnership that we've forged, not just in testing, but in personal protective equipment,” Pence said in an event with Gov. Ron DeSantis at the University of South Florida Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation. Pence and DeSantis, along with several federal health officials, noted a handful of differences between the current outbreak in Florida and the earlier ones in New York and Seattle this spring.
- WorldAssociated Press
US tries to seize Iranian gas heading toward Venezuela
U.S. federal prosecutors are seeking to seize four tankers sailing toward Venezuela with gasoline supplied by Iran, the latest attempt to disrupt ever-closer trade ties between the two heavily sanctioned anti-American allies. The civil-forfeiture complaint filed late Wednesday in the District of Columbia federal court alleges that the sale was arranged by a businessman, Mahmoud Madanipour, with ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. “The profits from these activities support the IRGC's full range of nefarious activities, including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, support for terrorism, and a variety of human rights abuses, at home and abroad,” prosecutor Zia Faruqui alleges in the complaint.
- U.S.National Review
Harvard Grad Says She Was Fired from Deloitte Job for Threatening ‘All Lives Matter’ Supporters
A recent Harvard graduate who threatened to “stab” anyone who told her “all lives matter” has been fired from her job, she announced in a tearful video. Claira Janover, who said in a viral but since-deleted TikTok post that she would “stab” those with “the nerve” to say “all lives matter,” posted several tearful videos explaining that her new employer, Deloitte, had fired her. “I know this is what Trump supporters wanted because standing up for Black Lives Matter put me in a place online to be seen by millions of people,” Janover explained.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Martin Gugino, the Buffalo protester pushed to the ground and injured by police, released after nearly a month in hospital
The 75-year-old man who fell to the ground after being pushed by Buffalo police officers in June was released Tuesday from a local hospital. Martin Gugino sustained a brain injury and a fractured skull related to the June 4 incident that prompted a national outcry, leading to the arrest of two officers on charges of assault and intentionally pushing him. His lawyer, Kelly Zarcone, said Gugino was released from Erie County Medical Center and is "recovering at an undisclosed location in order to ensure his privacy."
- WorldThe Telegraph
Nerve agent fear as hundreds of elephants perish mysteriously in Botswana
The mysterious death of hundreds of elephants in Botswana has left experts alarmed that there could be a dangerous neurotoxin spreading through one of Africa's largest conservationist areas. Around 400 African elephants have died since April in the Okavango Delta, a wetland area in the northwest of the country often referred to as 'Africa's Last Eden.' Powerful poaching syndicates from Zambia and South Africa regularly cross into Botswana to shoot the animals with high-calibre rifles before hacking their tusks off with axes.
- LifestylePopular Mechanics
The Best Bike Lights to Illuminate Your Ride
See what's coming and stay visible with these 11 bicycle lights. From Popular Mechanics
- WorldReuters
Italian police seize record amount of amphetamines shipped from Syria
Italian police said on Wednesday they had seized about 14 tonnes of amphetamine pills worth around 1 billion euros ($1 billion) arriving from Syria, in what they described as the world's single largest operation of its kind. Used in the 1960s to treat narcolepsy and depression, Captagon is one of several brand names for fenethylline hydrochloride, a drug compound belonging to a family of amphetamines that can inhibit fear and ward off tiredness. Captagon is popular in the Middle East, and widespread in war-torn areas such as Syria, where conflict has fuelled demand and created opportunities for producers.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Kentucky election: Democrats flip state Senate seat held by Republicans for 25 years
Democrats have flipped a state Senate seat previously held by Republicans for the last 25 years. Dr Karen Berg won the special election for Kentucky's 26th Senate District after Republican Senator Ernie Harris announced he was retiring following 25 years in office. During the 2018 general election, Dr Berg narrowly lost to Mr Harris when attempting to unseat him for the state Senate.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
Dead Suspect in Disappearance of Fort Hood Soldier Sexually Harassed Her: Lawyer
A military officer who died by suicide after being confronted about his involvement in Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen's disappearance allegedly walked in on her showering, her family's lawyer said Wednesday. The incident is one of two alleged instances of sexual harassment Guillen, a 20-year-old Private First Class stationed in Fort Hood, Texas, experienced at the hands of her superiors before she went missing from the base's parking lot in April, Natalie Khawam, an attorney for the Guillen family, said at a Wednesday press conference. Now her family is demanding a congressional investigation into the military's handling of Guillen's case, alleging the probe has been riddled with “lies.”
- U.S.Yahoo News
Arizona tells Pence it needs additional 500 health care workers as COVID-19 cases soar
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey told Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday that the state needed an additional 500 health care workers as the number of cases of COVID-19 continues to set records there. We did hear in the briefing today of the need for personnel,” Pence said at a news conference following his meeting with Ducey. We've already responded with 62 medical personnel arrived this week in Tucson, but the governor conveyed to us an additional request of another 500 personnel and I've instructed the acting secretary of homeland security to move out immediately on providing the additional nurses and doctors and technical personnel.
- U.S.Miami Herald
Texas Lt. Gov. blasts Fauci as state coronavirus cases rise: ‘I don’t need his advice’
During a major surge in coronavirus cases in Texas, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blasted the nation's top infectious disease expert for his response. Speaking as a guest on Fox News' “The Ingraham Angle,” Patrick said Anthony Fauci “has been wrong every time on every issue.” Fauci's comments came during a Senate hearing Tuesday when he also said the daily count of new COVID-19 cases in the United States could rise to 100,000 a day if current trends persist, CNN reported.
- WorldAssociated Press
Death toll rises to 26 in Mexican drug rehab center attack
The killing of 26 people in an unregistered drug rehabilitation center in central Mexico is the deadliest such attack in a decade and has led to calls for change in a prosperous state that has become a cartel battleground. Authorities in the city of Irapuato in Guanajuato state on Thursday raised the death toll from 24 after two of the seven people injured in the attack died. Police in Guanajuato state said Wednesday's attack occurred at a modest two-story house on the outskirts of Irapuato.
- U.S.National Review
Feds Arrest ‘Ringleader’ in Attempt to Topple Andrew Jackson Statue Near White House
Federal authorities on Thursday reportedly arrested a male suspect they say was the “ringleader” of an effort to destroy a statue of Andrew Jackson near the White House. Jason Carter, whom authorities said is connected to the loose knit anarchist group Antifa, was arrested Thursday morning at his home and charged with destruction of federal property, Fox News first reported. Carter allegedly led the June 22 effort to topple the statue in Washington D.C.'s Lafayette Square near the White House, which protesters said they attacked because Jackson owned slaves and because of his treatment of Native Americans.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
Airbnb is banning some users under 25 from renting certain listings to help crack down on party houses
Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Airbnb is cracking down on unauthorized house parties by banning some users under 25 from renting entire homes in their area. The new rule, which applies only to those users who have fewer than three positive reviews, has been in place in Canada since earlier this year. The changes come after a shooting at a California Airbnb party left five people dead last year.
U.S.FOX News VideosSen. Scott on COVID-19 surge in Florida: We can beat this without the government taking away our rights
Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott says citizens can responsibly combat the virus by being given more information from the government instead of just being told what to do.
- BusinessThe National Interest
America's New B-21 Stealth Bomber Is Just Two-Years Away
The much anticipated, high-tech B-21 bomber will “come on in two years,” bringing new dimensions of stealth, software, attack possibilities and nuclear deterrence to the U.S. Air Force. It would even possibly usher in new tactical approaches to how modern operations may move forward in the years ahead. In a conversation with The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies regarding the importance of modernizing the nuclear triad, Air Force Chief of Staff General Stephen Wilson confirmed that the stealthy new aircraft will “come on in two years.
- U.S.The Independent
'It’s going to cause an uproar': Sioux president says Trump not welcome to visit Mount Rushmore
The president of the Oglala Sioux tribal council has said that Donald Trump should not attend Mount Rushmore's fourth of July fireworks celebration in South Dakota on Friday. President Julian Bear Runner cited health fears over the coronavirus and also said that Mr Trump's attendance is an insult to Native Americans on whose stolen land it was built. Trump coming here is a safety concern not just for my people inside and outside the reservation, but for people in the Great Plains.
- U.S.INSIDER
More than 100 armed police officers are clearing away Seattle's CHOP 'autonomous zone,' overturning toilets as they go
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan issued an executive order Wednesday morning declaring that gathering in the zone is considered unlawful assembly that requires city and police action, The Seattle Times reported. Over 100 heavily equipped police officers swept through the protest zone to clear it, overturning toilets as they went. More than 100 heavily armed police officers swept through the Seattle CHOP "autonomous zone" early Wednesday morning carrying out a city order to clear the area, the Seattle Times first reported.
- WorldBBC
Hong Kong: First arrests under 'anti-protest' law as handover marked
Why people are scared of Hong Kong's new law UK makes citizenship offer to Hong Kong residents UK asylum for ex-consulate worker 'tortured in China' On Wednesday, thousands gathered for the annual pro-democracy rally to mark the handover anniversary, defying a ban by authorities who cited restrictions on gatherings of more than 50 people because of Covid-19. Police used water cannon, tear gas and pepper spray on demonstrators. Seven officers were injured, including one officer who was stabbed in the arm by "rioters holding sharp objects", police said.
- WorldReuters
One sole Russian region says 'nyet' to Putin, defying the Kremlin
Only one of Russia's 85 regions, a sparsely-populated patch of the Arctic known for reindeer herders, defied the Kremlin and voted against changes granting President Vladimir Putin the right to stay in power until 2036, results on Thursday showed. Discontent there has been brewing for some time and its rejection appeared to be a protest vote designed to signal anger over a local issue. "People voted (against the constitutional reforms) as a sign of protest ... They wanted to use this to get the attention of authorities in Moscow and to tell them that we live here too, that we have an opinion," Tatyana Antipina, a local businesswoman, said by telephone.
- WorldAssociated Press
Retired pope's elder brother, Georg Ratzinger, dies at 96
The Rev. Georg Ratzinger, the older brother of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI who earned renown in his own right as a director of an acclaimed German boys' choir, has died. The Regensburg diocese in Bavaria, where Ratzinger lived, said that he died Wednesday. Ordained on the same day as his brother, Ratzinger proved to be a talented musician and went on oversee the recording of numerous masterpieces and concert tours around the world by the Regensburger Domspatzen, a storied choir that traces its history back to the 10th century.
WorldAFPEx-Canada PM Mulroney calls for revised relations with China
Canada must have an "urgent rethink" of its relationship with China, former prime minister Brian Mulroney said Wednesday as tensions build over the possible extradition to the United States of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Conservative Mulroney backed his Liberal successor Justin Trudeau's rejection of any exchange of Meng, who was arrested in Vancouver in December 2018, for two Canadians who were detained in China in apparent retaliation. Mulroney said Canada's hope that China would emerge as a constructive partner in international relations had been proven wrong, referring in particular to Beijing's militarization of the South China Sea.
U.S.CBS Dallas - KTVTWoman In Fort Worth 7-Eleven Spits On Counter After Being Told She Had To Wear A Face Mask
A woman in North Texas became verbally abusive and even spit on a convenience store counter after being told she would have to wear a face mask in order to make a purchase. Katie Johnston reports.
