CelebrityINSIDERDouble tragedy for Larry King as his son and daughter die in the space of 3 weeks
Famed TV interviewer Larry King is mourning the loss of two children, who died in the space of three weeks, according to Page Six. Daughter Chaia, 52, died on Thursday after battling lung cancer, following the sudden death of his son, Andy, 65. Larry and his remaining three children were said to be "distraught."
PoliticsThe IndependentTrump news: Americans told to prepare for unprecedented dual hurricane threat as president rages against 'deep state' in baseless Covid vaccine conspiracy
Two tropical storms advanced across the Caribbean Saturday as potentially historic threats to the US Gulf Coast, one dumping rain on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands while the other was pushing through the gap between Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba. Tropical Storms Laura and Marco were both projected to approach the US Gulf Coast at or close to hurricane force, representing a very unusual threat to Americans in their paths. Devastating wildfires in California have torched nearly 1m acres, in areas totalling more than the size of the state of Rhode Island, with 100,000 residents under evacuation orders.
U.S.INSIDERA Georgia police officer was fired after a viral TikTok showed him tasing a Black woman outside her home
A police officer from the Gwinnett County Police Department in Georgia was fired after a viral video on TikTok showed he used a Taser on an unarmed woman outside her mother's home. Former officer Michael Oxford had been placed on desk duty following the Tuesday incident but was later fired, the Gwinnett County Police Department announced on Friday, citing inappropriate conduct in the field. "The investigation in this case has shown that Officer Oxford violated our policy and did not meet our core values," the department said in a statement.
U.S.NBC NewsU.S. could see two tropical systems make landfall on same day
As we enter the heart of hurricane season, twin tropical cyclones are aimed at the U.S. mainland, with both poised to make landfall early next week — possibly on the same day. This would be the first time two hurricanes occur in the Gulf of Mexico at the same time, which could happen Monday or Tuesday as the storms intensify. The first of the two storms is Tropical Storm Laura.
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.
U.S.National ReviewSuspect in Portland Beating Turns Himself in
The suspect in the beating of a truck driver in downtown Portland turned himself in Friday morning, police said. “I am pleased the suspect in this case turned himself in and appreciate all of the efforts to facilitate this safe resolution,” Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell said in a statement on Friday. A crowd of rioters in downtown Portland beat a man unconscious Sunday night after dragging him from his truck, video footage of the incident shows.
PoliticsThe Daily BeastRush Limbaugh: Biden’s ‘Flawless’ DNC Speech ‘Had to Be Taped’
On Thursday night, a series of Fox News hosts and commentators readily acknowledged that Joe Biden “blew a hole” in President Donald Trump's depiction of him as a demented old man by delivering a highly effective speech at the Democratic National Convention. Rush Limbaugh has a different theory. The conservative radio host who not so long ago received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump during a State of the Union address, spent his show Friday pushing the notion that Biden did not, in fact, deliver his speech live.
PoliticsSalonFour years later, Republican senators admit, "yes, Trump conspired with the Russians"
It's a red-letter, if sad, day on the hypocrisy beat when after three years a Republican-majority Senate Intelligence Committee comes out with a 1,000-page report finding there was a whole lot of direct contact between the Trump 2016 campaign with Russian intelligence operators. You know, the opposite of what Donald Trump has argued forcefully over and over again is a hoax. Of course, Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III also would not put the "collusion" label on myriad interactions with Russians, for different reasons, to avoid a political conclusion.
U.S.Business InsiderLeaked USPS email tells postal workers not to reconnect or reinstall sorting machines 'that have been previously disconnected'
A leaked email to United States Postal Service employees instructed them to not reassemble mail sorting machines that have been dismantled, CNN first reported. The note, written by Kevin Couch, a maintenance operations director, said that workers were "not to reconnect/reinstall machines that have been previously disconnected without approval from HQ Maintenance." Just hours before, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said that all service changes will be paused until after Election Day.
U.S.The Daily Beast‘I’m Not Worried’: Gamblers Pack Casino Surrounded by Raging Wildfires and COVID-19
BROOKS, CA—By Friday evening, northern California's LNU Lightning Complex fire had become the second-largest wildfire in state history, killing at least five people, destroying 500 structures, and forcing evacuations in two cities and an Air Force base. “These fires are going to continue to go up every year,” said Jose Perez, 44, drinking a beer at the casino bar with his mask covering around his neck. Yolo County—yes, that is the name of the jurisdiction in question—years ago divided Capay Valley into two distinct evacuation zones, separated down the center by Highway 16, which runs north and south through the valley and is the only road one can take out.
U.S.USA TODAYLouisiana officers fire 11 rounds, fatally shooting Black man; state police investigate
A Black Lafayette man, shot Friday night by police in a flurry of 11 gunshots while surrounded by a half dozen officers, died following an incident some community leaders argue should not have ended in the fatal shooting. Louisiana State Police identified the man killed as 31-year-old Trayford Pellerin and said he was carrying a knife when police first fired a stun weapon at him and later shot and killed him. Rickasha Montgomery, a witness who filmed a video of the police shooting of the suspect, said she saw what appeared to be a knife in the man's hand.
PoliticsThe Independent‘He took all that money from Build the Wall’: Bannon jokes about financial fraud in resurfaced video
Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Steve Bannon joked about fraud at a We Build the Wall fundraising event, in a clip that has resurfaced the day after his arrest. Mr Bannon was indicted on Thursday, alongside three others, for allegedly funnelling “hundreds of thousands of dollars” from the We Build the Wall online fundraising campaign to the founder of the organisation, Brian Kolfage, who was among those charged. We Build the Wall started as a GoFundMe campaign in 2018, and was created to help raise money from public funding to go directly towards building the the US-Mexico border wall at a time when the president was struggling with Congress.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderGOP Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona suggests supporters should 'fast a meal' and donate money saved to her campaign as she lags in fundraising
Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona suggested her supporters should "fast a meal" and donate the money saved to her campaign as she falls behind in the polls to keep her Senate seat, according to audio obtained by a local news outlet. McSally reportedly made the suggestion at an event in northern Arizona, according to the audio obtained by Arizona Family. "There's an air war going on on television right now, right, you see it," McSally said in the audio.
U.S.The Daily BeastEmails Show Georgia School District Asked Students to Disinfect Classrooms for Volunteer Hours
The email from the principal had a lighthearted, friendly tone, but the news she delivered was alarming: Three more students at Creekview High School in Canton, Georgia, had tested positive for the coronavirus—the fourth such letter sent to parents that week. “Come to CVHS to see our lady Grizzlies play at 9:00 10:00 or 12:30,” she wrote. Two days later, after 25 students tested positive and more than a quarter of the student body was placed in quarantine, the entire school was shut down.
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 InsiderRats reported feeding on packages of rotted fruit and meat as postmaster general's cutbacks unleash chaos at California's mail centers
Chaos has ensued at mail sorting facilities across California as employees struggle with the recent cutbacks in staffing and equipment. At one mail-sorting facility in South Los Angeles, employees reported seeing gnats and rodents picking apart containers of fruit and meat that had been left to rot, according to the Los Angeles Times. The reports come after recently-appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy made a series of sweeping changes to the postal service.
- WorldAssociated Press
Canada government appeals ruling on asylum seekers
Canadian Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said Friday the government is appealing a court ruling that struck down the Safe Third Country Agreement on refugees between Canada and the United States. The Federal Court of Canada ruled last month that elements of the law underpinning the pact violate the constitutional guarantee of life, liberty and security. Under the agreement, which took effect in 2004, Canada and the U.S. recognize each other as safe places to seek protection.
- PoliticsFOX News Videos
Kayleigh McEnany on DNC rhetoric, mail-in voting, leaked audio of Trump on Black voter turnout in 2016
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany joins 'The Story' to react to attacks made on the president at the Democratic National Convention and more.
U.S.The IndependentMinneapolis police officer Thomas Lane didn’t check George Floyd’s ‘counterfeit’ $20 note
The alleged counterfeit $20 bill used by George Floyd wasn't inspected or collected before his fatal arrest in Minneapolis, according to one of the first officers at the scene. Former police officer Thomas Lane said in newly-released audio that he didn't obtain the bill before, during or after the incident that led to Mr Floyd's death on 25 May. In response to questioning by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Mr Lane said that he didn't look at the alleged $20 forgery being held by the Cup Foods worker identifying Mr Floyd.
PoliticsSalonA judge asked Trump's lawyers to prove his claims about mail-in voting "fraud" — it did not go well
Donald Trump | Mail in Ballots Getty Images/Salon President Donald Trump has been obsessed with the idea that mail-in voting encourages voter fraud, and his campaign has filed lawsuits against Pennsylvania and other states because of their plans to encourage voters to use mail-in ballots in November's election. Journalist Richard Salame, in The Intercept, reports that in response to the Pennsylvania lawsuit, Trump's campaign was asked to show proof that voting by mail encourages voter fraud — and it was unable to.
TechnologyBusiness InsiderA US Air Force F-16 pilot just battled AI in 5 simulated dogfights, and the machine emerged victorious every time
An artificial intelligence program developed by Heron Systems went head-to-head against a seasoned Air Force F-16 pilot in a simulated dogfight Thursday. Heron's AI achieved a flawless victory with five straight wins. The "WWII-style" dogfight was part of DARPA's AlphaDogfight competition, which is designed to advance the agency's efforts to build trust in AI and develop manned-unmanned teaming capabilities.
BusinessReutersModerna says more than 40% of participants enrolled for COVID-19 vaccine trial
In a tweet, the company also said that 18% of the participants currently enrolled are Black, Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, groups among the hardest hit by the coronavirus virus pandemic. Moderna began the study of its vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, in July and expects to complete enrollment in September. Moderna, which has never brought a vaccine to market, had earlier received nearly $1 billion from the U.S. government, which is helping bankroll several vaccine candidates under its Operation Warp Speed program.
U.S.Business InsiderHealth officials in 3 states have traced new COVID-19 cases to the Sturgis motorcycle rally where hundreds of thousands of bikers gathered
Health officials in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Minnesota have now traced multiple new COVID-19 cases back to a motorcycle rally held in Sturgis, South Dakota between August 7 and 16. The rally, which drew hundreds of thousands of bikers to the 6,900-person city, has been tied to 15 new coronavirus cases in Nebraska, seven in Minnesota, and multiple incidences in South Dakota, according to CNN. The event was one of the largest public gatherings in the US since the coronavirus pandemic began.
U.S.INSIDERWhy Lori Loughlin will spend 2 months in prison for the college admissions scandal while Felicity Huffman was sentenced to 14 days
Lori Loughlin Loughlin was sentenced to two months in prison Friday for her role in the college admissions scandal. Felicity Huffman, meanwhile, was sentenced to just 14 days in prison in September for her role in the scheme. Huffman paid $15,000 to the scheme's ringleader, Rick Singer, to have someone cheat on a college-entrance exam for her eldest daughter.
U.S.Miami HeraldTrump threatens to withhold California wildfire funds. ‘You gotta clean your forests’
President Donald Trump blamed California for the wildfires ravaging the state's northern and central regions and threatened to withhold federal funds. “I see again the forest fires are starting,” he said at a Pennsylvania rally on Thursday, according to Politico. The LNU Lightning Complex, one of the wildfires caused by lightning strikes, has killed at least four people and destroyed around 500 structures, The Sacramento Bee reported.
“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.”