PoliticsWashington ExaminerHot mic: Biden suggests Maxine Waters run for Senate and encourages Nancy Pelosi to 'keep it up'
President Joe Biden encouraged California Rep. Maxine Waters to run for Senate during a bill signing event at the White House, which produced a series of hot microphone moments for the president. Biden signed three bills during the Wednesday ceremony also attended by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, another favorite target of the Right. After brief remarks describing the soon-to-be laws, Biden welcomed Pelosi to the stage after the pair publicly clashed over how to pass the $1.2 trillion bipartisan "hard" infrastructure deal and a possible $6 trillion "soft" infrastructure reconciliation framework.
U.S.The StateDeadly shootout after motorcycle club members go to punish imposter, Indiana cops say
Angry that a non-member bore the tattoos and wore the patches of their two motorcycle clubs, six bikers armed themselves and headed to the perceived imposter's Indiana home to punish him. One of the group, 35-year-old Dustin Lindner, of Georgetown, Kentucky was hit during the shootout, investigators said. Indiana State Police soon took on the investigation.
WorldReutersTwitter faces three police cases amid growing challenges in India
LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) -Police in India have registered three new cases against Twitter Inc for allegedly hurting sentiments and promoting child pornography, marking an escalation in the row between the U.S. firm and Indian authorities. Police in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have named Twitter India chief Manish Maheshwari in complaints after the politically sensitive regions were depicted outside a map of India on its careers website. Late on Tuesday, police in the capital New Delhi said in a statement they have registered a case against Twitter for "availability of child sexual abuse and child pornographic material" on its platform.
LifestyleArchitectural Digest15 Best Tiny House Rentals on Airbnb and Beyond (2021)
Make major memories with a tiny house vacation Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
PoliticsAssociated PressCensus on track for August data release after court ruling
The U.S. Census Bureau said Wednesday that it's on schedule to deliver the numbers used for redrawing congressional and legislative districts by mid-August after federal judges rejected a challenge that could have delayed the data release even further. The panel of three federal judges on Tuesday denied the state of Alabama's request for a preliminary injunction to halt the Census Bureau from using a statistical method aimed at keeping people's data private in the redistricting numbers. The decision in federal court in Opelika, Alabama, allows the Census Bureau, for now, to proceed toward its goal of releasing the redistricting data by Aug. 16.
WorldWashington ExaminerJapanese official warns US of potential surprise attack on Hawaii — from Russia and China
Russia and China are coordinating military exercises to threaten not only Taiwan but also Hawaii, according to a senior Japanese defense official who warned the United States to beware of a Pearl Harbor-style surprise attack. “We have to show the deterrence towards China, and not just China but also the Russians, because, as I told you, that they are doing their exercises together,” Japanese deputy Yasuhide Nakayama told the Hudson Institute this week. Taiwan's vulnerability to an invasion from mainland China has become a preoccupation of Indo-Pacific strategists in recent months, as Chinese Communist forces escalate their military drills around the island.
U.S.Washington ExaminerMatt Gaetz calls for inspector general investigation into Tucker Carlson NSA allegations
Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz called for an independent inspector general investigation into allegations that the National Security Agency monitored Fox News host Tucker Carlson in any way. A House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday on legislative possibilities to deter “prosecutorial abuse of power” when prosecuting leaks provided a timely and topical forum for lawmakers to address Carlson's allegations. “Join me in calling for an inspector general investigation into any monitoring that the NSA or any other element of the intelligence community has engaged in, relative to Tucker Carlson,” Gaetz said to Democratic Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler of New York.
- WorldAssociated Press
9 mutilated bodies found on Mexican road near U.S. border
The area has been fought over by rival cartels for more than a decade, usually by the Gulf cartel and the old Zetas cartel, and later a remnant of that group, the Northeast Cartel. While some of the corpses had military-style clothing, there was no immediate confirmation on which gang they may have belonged to. Most had bullet wounds, but some also appear to have been hacked into or shot so many times their organs spilled onto the roadway, authorities said..
WorldReutersInaugurating embassy in UAE, Israel tells region: 'We're here to stay'
DUBAI (Reuters) -Israel's new foreign minister inaugurated its embassy in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday and offered an olive branch to other former adversaries, saying: "We're here to stay." Yair Lapid's two-day visit, in which he will open an Israeli consulate in Dubai on Wednesday, is the first to the Gulf state by an Israeli cabinet minister since the countries established ties last year. The trip is also an opportunity for the two-week-old Israeli government of Naftali Bennett, a nationalist who heads an improbable cross-partisan coalition, to make diplomatic inroads despite long-stymied talks with the Palestinians.
U.S.Associated PressWitness: Dad didn't seem interested in missing son search
A man charged in the death of his 13-year-old son in Colorado nearly a decade ago seemed uninterested in the search for the boy after he disappeared, a witness testified Monday. Mark Redwine, 59, is on trial on charges of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in the death of Dylan Redwine, who was reported missing on Nov. 19, 2012 while on a court-ordered Thanksgiving visit to his home outside the small city of Durango. The boy's body was found in 2013 a few miles from his father's home.
U.S.Miami HeraldDeSantis’ veto stuns Republican sponsors of bill promoting civic literacy in students
But this week, DeSantis vetoed a bill centered on civic literacy education that would have developed a civic literacy practicum and established the existing program at USF St. Petersburg as the Citizen Scholars Program, providing high school students with college credit for their participation. While the governor signed a series of bills last week intended to improve civic literacy in the education system, Tuesday night he vetoed SB 146 — a bill that had unanimously passed in both the House and Senate.
BusinessLA TimesWhat could happen to Donald Trump's company if it's indicted?
But an indictment by a grand jury, legal experts said, would cloud Trump's financial future, and could potentially cripple his company. Under New York state law, a corporation convicted of the financial charges being mulled in the Trump Organization case would face at most a $10,000 per count penalty and an order to pay restitution. New York state prosecutors do not have the power, unlike those in some other states, to ask a judge to dissolve a company.
- WorldAssociated Press
Taiwan boy dies after being repeatedly slammed in judo class
A 7-year-old Taiwanese boy has died after being repeatedly slammed by his coach and others at a judo class. The boy, identified only by his surname, Huang, was taken off life support on Tuesday night after being in a coma since the April 21 incident. The coach, identified in reports by his surname, Ho, has been indicted on charges of causing bodily injury and using children to commit a crime.
U.S.The StateDad, kids found shot dead in blazing home after missing custody hearing, PA cops say
A 13-year-old girl and 10-year-old boy were found dead in a burning home Tuesday after their dad fired his shotgun at them, according to Pennsylvania State Police. The father, identified as 48-year-old Richard Zimmer, also fatally shot himself at the home in Erie County, state police said. The incident happened overnight from Monday to Tuesday, a Pennsylvania State Police trooper told WJET.
U.S.Miami HeraldTropical Storm Elsa could form soon. Watches issued for eastern Caribbean islands
The Lesser Antilles are under tropical storm watches as a disturbance with a high probability of strengthening into the fifth named storm of the season, Elsa, heads their way. It's far too soon to tell if the disturbance poses a threat to Florida, but authorities are already working to split resources away from the search-and-rescue effort at the Surfside condo collapse to prepare for a future storm. The National Hurricane Center began issuing advisories for potential tropical cyclone five Wednesday evening.
- NewsYahoo News Video
Putin says U.S. aircraft involved in Black Sea incident
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft was operating in sync with a British destroyer during an incident last week in the Black Sea that he described as a “provocation to test Moscow's response.
WorldThe Daily BeastDonald Rumsfeld, Killer of 400,000 People, Dies Peacefully
The only thing tragic about the death of Donald Rumsfeld is that it didn't occur in an Iraqi prison. An actuarial table of the deaths for which Donald Rumsfeld is responsible is difficult to assemble. According to Neda C. Crawford, Brown's political-science department chair, the Afghanistan war to that point claimed about 147,000 lives, to include 38,480 civilians; 58,596 Afghan soldiers and police (about as many American troops as died in Vietnam); and 2,401 U.S. servicemembers.
HealthLexington Herald-LeaderTemporary Medicaid filled the COVID coverage gap, saved Kentucky lives.
Last year when COVID-19 cases were escalating and the bottom fell out of the economy, hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians lost work. For many, this meant losing their health insurance right when they needed it the most. Between March and August last year, the number of uninsured Kentuckians more than doubled.
U.S.Idaho StatesmanBoyfriend accused of killing Texas woman on her birthday as mom listened is sentenced
Joshua Garcia of San Antonio was sentenced Wednesday — his 23rd birthday — to 35 years in prison in the death of Erin Castro, according to the Bexar County District Attorney's Office. In September 2018, the couple went out to celebrate Erin's 19th birthday and they began arguing, authorities say. Castro's mom, Rena Castro, said she received frightening texts and phone calls from her daughter as the night progressed.
HealthFort Worth Star-TelegramModerna COVID vaccine appears effective against contagious Delta variant, company says
New results from a laboratory study showed the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine appears effective against the more contagious Delta coronavirus variant first discovered in India, as well as other variants tested, with just a “modest reduction” in antibody levels compared to the original strain. The Tuesday announcement offers the first evidence that the Moderna shot can offer protection against emerging variants that appear to have increased transmissibility and risk of hospitalization in countries around the globe. The new analysis of blood samples from eight people collected one week after their second dose in the Phase 1 clinical trial found antibody levels were about two-fold lower when put against the Delta variant compared to the original coronavirus strain.
BusinessBBCTim Berners-Lee sells web source code NFT for $5.4m
The original source code for the world wide web has been sold as a non-fungible token, making $5.4m (£3.9m). NFTs are certificates of ownership for digital assets, which often do not have a physical representation. They do not necessarily include copyright control - and critics say they are get-rich-quick schemes that are bad for the environment.
U.S.Lexington Herald-LeaderA black goldendoodle named Delta is lost somewhere in Yellowstone National Park
There's a pet dog on the loose in Yellowstone National Park, and her name is Delta. Mike Matsis' 70-pound black goldendoodle ran off June 22 in Yellowstone National Park, he said in a Facebook post. “She can be skittish and scaredy-cat (around) strangers, but she should be very hungry by now,” Matsis said in a June 24 Facebook post.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderBill Cosby was set free because of a deal he'd made with a district attorney who later represented Trump in his 2nd impeachment trial
Pennsylvania's top court overturned Bill Cosby's conviction because of a 2005 deal he made with a prosecutor. A Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice suggested Castor's deal with Cosby was ethically questionable. Bill Cosby's 2018 sexual-assault conviction was thrown out by Pennsylvania's highest court on Wednesday, and Cosby was released from prison shortly after.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramKennedale man who stabbed wife to death, killed father-in-law with bat to be executed
After a 15-month stay because of the coronavirus pandemic, the execution of a former Kennedale man who was convicted of capital murder is scheduled for Wednesday. John Hummel, 45, stabbed to death wife and beat to death his father-in-law with a baseball bat before he burned down the family home in 2009. He also was accused in the death of his 5-year-old daughter, but was convicted in the killings of his wife and father-in-law.
U.S.The IndependentAnniversaries of white supremacist attacks and lifting of Covid restrictions could inspire violence, DHS warns
A pair of intelligence bulletins from the US Department of Homeland Security have pointed to the upcoming anniversaries of two domestic attacks – the killing of 23 people in El Paso, Texas in 2019 and the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017 – as well as the nation's emergence from Covid-19-related restrictions as potential flashpoints for violence. Federal authorities did not list any specific threats but warned that “violent extremists might seek to exploit” the easing of pandemic restrictions as well as “increased access to mass gatherings” and possible spikes in violence during the summer months “to conduct attacks against a range of potential targets with little or no warning,” according to ABC News. Another bulletin said that law enforcement “continues to review publicly available social media for explicit threats of violence” as the anniversaries of large-scale domestic violence attacks near, according to Politico.
“Obamacare is getting stronger every time the Republicans try to kill it.”
“It is far from certain the Supreme Court will safeguard the Affordable Care Act the next time the law reaches the court’s chambers.”
“Although ACA cost Obama an enormous amount, it’s become clear that he will have the last laugh.”
“Even the feistiest Republicans have given up talking seriously about repeal.”
“Current and future cases will largely concern the administration and enforcement of the ACA, not its underlying architecture.”