- NewsYahoo News
How Kamala Harris was shaped by 'the People's Republic of Berkeley'
If you have any sense of who my family is, you will know that at best they found it a curious decision — and with some of them, I had to defend this decision like one would a thesis,” Harris said onstage. But what I said is, 'Look, do we always and only have to be on the outside, trying to change it from the outside, banging down the door on bended knee? Can't we always also be thinking about how we can be on the inside, where the decisions are being made?
NewsAssociated Press'A heavy lift': Religious black voters weigh Buttigieg's bid
In South Carolina, the first state with a predominantly African American electorate, part of the dialogue focuses on a conflict between a cultural openness for same-sex marriage and the deeply held religious convictions that could impede support for the 2020 race's only gay candidate — Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana. The historically diverse field of Democratic presidential hopefuls is overflowing with options. But it is also forcing conversations about the roles — if any — that gender, race and, for the first time, sexuality should play in voters' decisions.
- NewsCharlotte Observer
Florida man uses front-end loader to dump dirt on car his girlfriend drove, cops say
Beware boyfriends in front-end loaders. A 20-year-old man from Crestview, Florida, was arrested this week after he dumped a load of dirt on his girlfriend and the car she was driving, the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post that has been shared more than 3,000 times in less than 24 hours. Deputies said Hunter Mills was charged with criminal mischief Thursday following the incident off Phil-Dirt Drive in the Florida Panhandle city.
- NewsINSIDER
A couple in Australia and their pet dog were attacked by a giant carnivorous lizard
A 72-year-old man was seriously injured after attempting to break up a fight between his pet dog and a giant Goanna lizard, the Australian Broadcasting Company reported. Attempting to save his pup, a long-haired Jack Russell named Lilly, the man sustained a laceration and possible fracture on his right arm. Goannas are a carnivorous monitor lizard found in Australia.
- WorldReuters
Mexico to deport U.S. citizen suspected of supporting 'violent jihad'
Mexican authorities arrested a U.S. citizen suspected of supporting militant Islamists in an example of Mexico's security cooperation with the United States even as the two neighbors grapple with sharp disagreements over trade and migration. The unidentified American man sought by Interpol was under investigation for supporting terrorist groups and will be deported to the United States later on Friday, the Mexico's attorney general's office said in a statement. The man was detained at a migrants office near Mexico's border with Guatemala in the town of Huehuetan with the help of officials from Mexico's National Migration Institute.
WorldAFPKazakhstan court frees anti-Beijing activist
A rights activist in Kazakhstan who faced seven years imprisonment over his outspoken opposition to neighbouring China was unexpectedly freed Friday as public and international pressure over his case mounted. Serikjan Bilash, whose activism in defence of Muslim and Turkic minorities in Xinjiang earned him global media attention, told AFP he struck a plea bargain with the court that allowed him freedom but will end his activism. "I had to end my activism against China.
- NewsThe Independent
Jeffrey Epstein investigators remain puzzled by his apparent suicide days later
Jeffrey Epstein's apparent suicide in a New York City jail cell has left federal investigators with more questions than answers about how the accused child sex trafficker managed to seemingly escape facing justice one final time. The federal Bureau of Prisons has attempted to understand in recent days how Epstein managed to take his own life at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre, despite guards being assigned to check his cell every 30 minutes. Officials are also working to learn why Epstein's cellmate was moved out of their cell the day before the disgraced financier was found unresponsive on Saturday morning and later pronounced dead.
- SciencePopular Mechanics
X-Ray Scans Uncover da Vinci's Hidden Painting in All Its Glory
While studying a Leonardo da Vinci painting in 2005, researchers found a hidden painting underneath. Researchers are still unsure why Da Vinci originally covered it up. Thanks to books and movies like The da Vinci Code, the name Leonardo da Vinci isn't just associated with being a polymath and a historically important genius, but also a mystery.
- NewsMiami Herald
Greyhound riders are being asked for immigration papers at South Florida bus terminals
In the past few weeks, Customs and Border Patrol officials have been spotted by commuters at Greyhound bus stations across Miami-Dade and Broward counties, asking riders on board, or in the process of boarding a bus, for proof of legal status. The U.S. Border Patrol confirmed the sightings in an email to the Miami Herald: “U.S. Border Patrol has been performing enforcement actions away from the immediate border in direct support of border enforcement efforts and as a means of preventing trafficking, smuggling and other criminal organizations from exploiting our public and private transportation infrastructure to travel to the interior of the United States.
- PoliticsYahoo News
2020 Vision: Trump gets surprise Log Cabin Republicans endorsement
Click here for Yahoo News' 2020 tracker] Log Cabin Republicans back Trump During the 2016 election, Log Cabin Republicans, the conservative LGBT organization, declined to endorse Donald Trump for president, even after Trump's vow, at the Republican convention, to “do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from violence and oppression. Since taking office, Trump and his administration have effectively rolled back rights for the LGBT community, reinstating a ban on transgender troops from serving in the U.S. military; reversing departmental protections against discrimination against transgender people; banning the flying of pride flags at U.S. embassies; and siding with a Colorad...
- NewsAssociated Press
Mormon church warning: Beware of those fancy coffee drinks
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has issued a warning to members that coffee is prohibited no matter how fancy the name, that vaping is banned despite the alluring flavors and that marijuana is outlawed unless prescribed by "competent" doctors. The new guidance in the August issue of a church youth magazine does not include fundamental changes to the religion's strict health code, but the clarifications are significant and seem to reflect growing concern about young Latter-day Saints' adherence to the rules. The article says it aims to clear up issues that could be confusing for young people within the religion's "Word of Wisdom," a set of rules about what foods and drinks are good for members and what substances they should avoid.
- NewsTime
Rhode Island Prison Officer Resigns After ICE Protesters Allege He Drove a Truck Into Them
A Rhode Island correctional officer has resigned on Friday after a truck he was allegedly driving rammed into peaceful protesters on Wednesday night outside the Wyatt Detention Center, a Rhode Island prison that contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Jewish activists, who were rallying outside the center as part of a larger effort to shut down immigrant detention centers nationwide, say an employee at the facility intentionally drove into them while they were blocking the entrance to a parking lot. The Wyatt Detention Facility had previously confirmed to TIME that a Captain Thomas Woodworth had been placed on administrative leave “pending the results of an independent investigation being conducted by the Rhode Island State Police,” as well as an internal investigation.
- NewsCharlotte Observer
GPS monitoring violates some sex offenders’ rights, NC Supreme Court rules
Sex offenders have rights, too, and in some cases the state has been violating those rights, the NC Supreme Court ruled on Friday. The ruling concerns people who have been ordered to submit to satellite-based monitoring for the rest of their lives, which forces them to wear a tracking device so law enforcement can track their location via GPS using an ankle bracelet. Nearly 500 North Carolina sex offenders could now be freed from lifetime surveillance by the GPS monitoring program.
- WorldReuters
Vietnam demands Chinese ship leaves its exclusive economic zone
Vietnam has demanded that China remove an oil survey vessel and its escorts from the Southeast Asian country's exclusive economic zone, amid a month-long standoff in waters seen as a potential global flashpoint as the United States challenges Beijing's maritime claims. Reuters first reported on Tuesday that the Haiyang Dizhi 8, conducted by the China Geological Survey, had returned to the area escorted by at least two Chinese coast guard vessels. "Vietnam has made contact with China to protest its repeated violations and demanded that China withdraw the vessel group from Vietnamese waters," Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a statement.
WorldAFPHong Kong's Li Ka-shing weighs in on crisis with poetic adverts
Hong Kong's wealthiest man Li Ka-shing took out a series of enigmatic newspaper adverts on Friday calling for an end to the political violence plaguing the financial hub. The 91-year-old billionaire's adverts -- published in seven newspapers including two staunchly pro-Beijing publications -- used poetry and layered language to deliver a nuanced message promoting peace. But his subtle phrasing contrasted starkly with many fellow tycoons who have published full-throated support for the city's embattled pro-Beijing leaders in recent days and echoed government rhetoric in denouncing violent protests.
- U.S.WABC – NY
Sister of officer who died by suicide Wednesday says NYPD is 'broken'
The NYPD is well aware of this mental health emergency, as nine of its officers have died by suicide since January. But Eileen Echeverria, whose brother's was the most recent death, said something is "broken" inside the department.
- NewsBusiness Insider
Epstein died by suicide using his jail bed sheet while his guards slept, according to report
The New York Times reports that accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein tied his jail bed sheet around his neck and used it to hang himself, breaking several bones in the process, while in federal custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. Initial autopsy reports that revealed Epstein broke several bones in his neck, including his hyoid, a U-shaped bone in the front and middle of the neck, led conspiracists to suspect foul play. The bone can be broken during suicide by hanging, but is more commonly associated with strangulation, although medical experts and the coroner who oversaw Epstein's autopsy say he died by suicide.
- LifestylePopular Mechanics
Air Purifiers That Will Actually Help You Breathe Better
Clean and maintain your indoor air with these popular air purifiers. From Popular Mechanics
- NewsMiami Herald
Here’s what the NRA’s Marion Hammer says about Florida’s proposed assault weapons ban
Florida National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer warned state economists Friday that a proposed assault rifle ban would be devastating to gun manufacturers lured to the state over the last eight years. “Gov. Rick Scott and Enterprise Florida solicited and offered significant financial incentives to gun manufacturers to come to Florida to bring more jobs,” she said, speaking to economists who must analyze the impact of a constitutional amendment proposed for the 2020 ballot that would ban assault weapons.
- NewsAssociated Press
Arrests precede major demonstrations in Portland, Oregon
Authorities arrested the leader of a right-wing group on the eve of a rally that's expected to draw people from around the U.S. to Portland, Oregon, on Saturday, prompting Patriot Prayer's Joey Gibson to urge his followers to "show up one hundred-fold" in response. Self-described anti-fascists have vowed to confront the right-wing groups at the downtown rally and the arrests of Gibson and five other right-wing supporters appeared to be intended to send a signal from police to organizers to remain peaceful or stay away. In a video he livestreamed on Facebook, Gibson accused the police of playing politics by arresting him and other right-wing members but not the masked demonstrators who beat up conservative blogger Andy Ngo at a June 29 rally.
- WorldNational Review
Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib Partnered with Vicious Anti-Semites to Plan Their Trip to Israel
To the extent that I care at all about Israel blocking entry to two U.S. congresswomen who partner with anti-Semites who seek its destruction, I agree with critics who argue that Bibi Netanyahu should not appear to bow to Donald Trump's tweeted demands and that blocking Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar from visiting Israel handed them a short-term propaganda victory. The most important element of the story is the fact that two American congresswomen shunned a bipartisan congressional delegation to Israel to go on an independent trip to Israel sponsored by vicious anti-Semites. Another important element of the story is that, as of today, the mainstream media have whitewashed Omar and Tlaib's vile associations.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Frustrated Philadelphia mayor calls for gun control. Here's why it hasn't happened in his city.
As the standoff between a man wielding an assault-style rifle and Philadelphia officers unfolded Wednesday night, Mayor Jim Kenney huddled at police headquarters and listened to round after round of gunfire crackle over the radios. “Our officers deserve to be protected and they don't deserve to be shot at by a guy, for hours, with an unlimited supply of weapons and an unlimited supply of bullets,” Kenney said to reporters, frustration building in his voice. A Pennsylvania law bans local municipalities from enacting gun control measures that are more strict than those adopted by the state.
- WorldReuters
EXCLUSIVE-China-owned oil tanker changes name in apparent effort to evade U.S. sanctions
On July 18, the transponder of the VLCC Latin Venture was activated offshore Port Dickson, Malaysia, in the Strait of Malacca, about 1,500 km (940 miles) from where the Pacific Bravo had last been signalling its position. But both the Latin Venture and the Pacific Bravo transmitted the same unique identification number, IMO9206035, issued by the International Maritime Organization IMO , according to data from information provider Refinitiv and VesselsValue, a company that tracks ships and vessel transactions. Thomson Reuters has a minority stake in Refinitiv.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
View Photos of the Bentley EXP 100 GT at Pebble Beach
View Photos of the Bentley EXP 100 GT From Car and Driver
WorldAFPTears and shouting as Australia dilutes Pacific climate warning
A Pacific summit has descended into tears, recriminations and shouting between pro-coal Australia and low-lying island nations facing an existential threat from climate change. The annual Pacific Island Forum wrapped up in Tuvalu late Thursday with Australia and the group's 17 other members sharply at odds, potentially undermining Canberra's efforts to curb China's growing influence in the region. "There were serious arguments and even shouting, crying, people, leaders were shedding tears," Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga told Australia's national broadcaster ABC after the summit broke up with a communique with "watered down" language on global warming.
