PoliticsAssociated PressWisconsin GOP leader Vos fires 2020 election investigator
Wisconsin's Republican Assembly leader on Friday ended a 14-month, taxpayer-funded inquiry into the 2020 election by firing his hand-picked investigator. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos' firing of Michael Gableman came just three days after the lawmaker narrowly survived a primary challenge from an opponent endorsed by former President Donald Trump and Gableman. While Gableman found no evidence of widespread fraud during his inquiry, he had joined Trump in calling for lawmakers to consider decertifying the 2020 election — something Vos and legal experts say is unconstitutional and impossible.
PoliticsINSIDERSome Republicans express concern about Trump reportedly taking documents about nuclear weapons to Mar-a-Lago, even as they bash the FBI
The GOP largely continued to push the DOJ to disclose more about the FBI's Mar-a-Lago raid. Republicans continued on Friday continued to question why the FBI would raid the private home of a former president, despite new reports that Donald Trump took classified documents related to nuclear weapons from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago residence.
U.S.USA TODAYA disaster 'larger than any in world history' is coming for California. It's not an earthquake.
"Megadrought" may be the main weather concern across the West right now amid the constant threat of wildfires and earthquakes. Climate change is increasing the risk of future floods that could submerge multiple cities and displace millions of people across California, according to a new study released Friday. It says that an extreme month-long storm could bring feet of rain – in some places, more than 100 inches – to hundreds of miles of California.
U.S.AutoblogOregon cops make arrests in thefts of 44,000 catalytic converters
Police in suburban Portland, Oregon, said Thursday they arrested a crime ring leader responsible for trafficking more than 44,000 catalytic converters stolen from vehicles on the West Coast since 2021. Beaverton police say they busted a local organized crime ring, arresting two suspected ringleaders and 12 suspected associates. According to Oregon Live, authorities were alerted to the operations when one of the suspects was caught hauling 100 stolen catalytic converters during a traffic stop late in 2021.
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Disoriented bear cub rescued in Turkey after eating 'mad honey'
STORY: Footage showed the bear wobbling and whining as she sat belly-up in the back of a pick-up truck, after people rescued the visibly-debilitated animal from the forest. Mad honey, or "deli bal" in Turkish, is a type of rhododendron honey that can have hallucinogenic effects. The bear was brought to a vet, where she was receiving treatment and would likely be released into the wild in the coming days, local authorities said, adding that she was in good condition.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramAgent suspended after fight with woman yelling slurs at TX airport, Spirit Airlines says
Viral video of a fight at a Texas airport ended with an airline employee suspended, according to Spirit Airlines. The fight took place Thursday, Aug. 11, at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Spirit Airlines said in an Aug. 12 statement to McClatchy News. “Stay out of my personal space,” the agent says as the woman yells homophobic and racist slurs, pushing his chest.
BusinessTechCrunchMark Cuban, Mavericks in hot water over Voyager 'Ponzi scheme'
A group of Voyager Digital customers filed a class-action suit in Florida federal court against Cuban, as well as the basketball team he owns, the Dallas Mavericks, alleging their promotion of the crypto platform resulted in more than 3.5 million investors losing $5 billion collectively. Voyager Digital's CEO, Stephen Ehrlich, was also named as a defendant in the suit. Voyager, a New Jersey-based crypto firm, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July following a crash in crypto prices that instigated a liquidity crunch on the platform.
U.S.INSIDERA top LA County coroner described in graphic testimony what Kobe Bryant's body looked like to give the jury an idea of what the crash-site photos may have shown
Capt. Emily Tauscher gave graphic testimony about the post-crash condition of each victim's body. A top Los Angeles County coroner on Thursday testified in graphic detail about the state of Kobe Bryant's body following the 2020 helicopter crash that killed all nine passengers, including the basketball legend and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna Bryant.
U.S.TODAYNew video released of OnlyFans model Courtney Clenney, boyfriend she’s accused of murdering
Prosecutors in Miami released new video of an OnlyFans model in a violent altercation in an elevator with her boyfriend, who she is now accused of murdering. Courtney Clenney, 26, was charged with one count of second-degree murder in the April stabbing of her boyfriend, Christian “Toby” Obumseli, Miami-Dade County State Attorney Kathy Rundle said during a press conference Thursday. Rundle played a video of Clenney and Obumseli from February at their apartment building that appears to show Clenney hitting the elevator before she starts striking and shoving Obumseli.
WorldAssociated PressRussia struggles to replenish its troops in Ukraine
This also is happening amid reports that hundreds of Russian soldiers are refusing to fight and trying to quit the military. We're seeing a huge outflow of people who want to leave the war zone — those who have been serving for a long time and those who have signed a contract just recently,” said Alexei Tabalov, a lawyer who runs the Conscript's School legal aid group. The group has seen an influx of requests from men who want to terminate their contracts, “and I personally get the impression that everyone who can is ready to run away,” Tabalov said in an interview with The Associated Press.
U.S.Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg, Fla.Why is The Villages known as ‘the STD capital of America?’
Friends up north and across Tampa Bay snickered when Brian Lafferty revealed where he'd bought a new home. “Without exception, every person I've told I bought a house in The Villages has asked the same thing,” Lafferty said. The Villages, a mammoth retirement community that was the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the nation two years ago, is no stranger to folklore.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramInvasive critters that can lay 1,000 eggs at a time are found in Texas. What to know
Invasive critters were collected from a Texas apartment complex pond earlier this year — and wildlife experts say the females can lay up to 1,000 eggs at a time. University of Texas Rio Grande Valley researchers first collected three Australian redclaw crayfish in January and February, according to an Aug. 11 news release from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. They were found in a pond that connects to a Brownsville-area resaca, a type of oxbow lake.
U.S.Associated PressSouthern Baptists say denomination faces DOJ investigation
Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention said Friday that several of the denomination's major entities are under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice in the wake of its multiple problems related to clergy sex abuse. The SBC's Executive Committee has received a subpoena, but no individuals have been subpoenaed at this point, according to the committee's lawyers. “This is an ongoing investigation and we are not commenting on our discussions with DOJ,” they said.
U.S.INSIDERThe scientific theory of why some Americans don't want Brittney Griner to come home from a Russian prison
The WNBA superstar Brittney Griner has been sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison. A political scientist said two theories could explain why. Given the timing of her detainment, the nature of her alleged offense, and the reputation of Russian courts, Griner is widely considered to be a political pawn that Moscow is using as leverage against the United States.
PoliticsHuffPostMary Trump Explains How Her Uncle's Been 'Tripped Up' By Merrick Garland
Garland announced Thursday that he had personally approved the decision for the FBI to seek a warrant to search Trump's Palm Beach, Florida, home on Monday, adding that the Justice Department was moving to make the warrant public. In the days since the search, Trump has attacked the Justice Department and FBI and called the search a politically motivated “witch hunt. Trump received a copy of the warrant but has declined to release it himself, giving sparse details about the purpose of the search while pushing self-serving conspiracy theories that any damaging materials found at his residence were planted there by the FBI.
WorldReutersLatvia, Estonia withdraw from China cooperation group
VILNIUS (Reuters) -Latvia and Estonia withdrew from a cooperation group between China and over a dozen Central and Eastern European countries on Thursday, following in the footsteps of Baltic neighbour Lithuania which withdrew last year. The move comes amid Western criticism towards China over escalating military pressure on democratically ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, and Beijing's strengthening of ties with Russia during the invasion of Ukraine. Relations between Lithuania and China worsened after the former allowed Taiwan to open a de facto embassy late last year.
U.S.Miami HeraldSisters asleep in minivan burned alive in parking lot fire. Now mom is suing Walmart
A Minnesota mother is suing Walmart after a fire in a store parking lot burned her daughters alive, killing one and leaving the other “permanently disfigured,” according to a lawsuit. Essie McKenzie's daughters were sleeping soundly in the back of her minivan when she pulled up to the Walmart Supercenter in Fridley, Minnesota, on Aug. 6, 2019. The girls, ages 6 and 9, were tired after being woken early to go to the airport, where McKenzie dropped off her mother, she would later tell investigators, according to court documents.
U.S.Charlotte ObserverMega Millions mystery winner in NC shows up to claim her big jackpot
One of two ticket holders in North Carolina who scored a $1 million prize in the July 29 Mega Millions drawing has claimed her money at N.C. lottery headquarters in Raleigh, officials said Thursday. Marjorie Robert of Huntersville bought her $2 ticket at Shop N Save on Mecklenburg Highway in Mooresville, according to a lottery news release. She matched the five white balls, beating odds of 1 in 12.6 million, according to the lottery.
WorldReutersRussia says Swiss 'no longer neutral', can't act as go-between with Ukraine
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Thursday it had turned down a Swiss offer to represent Ukrainian interests in Russia and Moscow's interests in Ukraine because it no longer considers Switzerland a neutral country. Switzerland has a long diplomatic tradition of acting as an intermediary between countries whose relations have broken down, but Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ivan Nechayev said this was not possible in the current situation. "The Swiss were indeed interested in our opinion on the possible representation of Ukraine's interests in Russia and Russia's in Ukraine," Nechayev told reporters.
BusinessFortune‘One of the most dangerous and irresponsible actions by a car company in decades’: Activist Ralph Nader urges regulators to recall Tesla’s self-driving technology
The man who forever changed vehicle safety standards in the U.S. has a scathing new message for Elon Musk and Tesla's self-driving car technology: He thinks it's dangerous, and regulators should get involved. Musk has been touting self-driving cars as the next big thing for years, saying in 2015 that autonomous vehicles would be on the road within two years. While that timeline hasn't come to fruition, Musk has not yet given up on his dream, nor has he tempered his ambitions.
U.S.FTW OutdoorsWatch: ‘Idiot’ nearly takes fatal leap in Bryce Canyon National Park
In Yellowstone National Park, for instance, tourons are constantly getting too close to bison, some with disastrous results. Well, stupidity isn't solely reserved for Yellowstone, as one touron in Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah proved. TouronsOfYellowstone's Instagram page posted video of a tourist leaping over a lookout railing and falling backwards upon landing, and sliding to the edge of a cliff.
U.S.Associated PressCancellation of Atlanta festival sparks new fight over guns
Tens of thousands of Music Midtown festivalgoers are no longer going to descend on Atlanta's massive Piedmont Park next month to cheer on hip-hop star Future or watch beloved rock band My Chemical Romance take the stage. In fact, some people are convinced Atlanta — center of the nation's hip-hop music scene — will lose more music festivals and performances on public land as organizers and artists learn that state law makes it nearly impossible for them to stop people from carrying guns among the alcohol-fueled crowds. Live Nation has refused to say why it recently called off September's Music Midtown, a longtime fixture for pop music lovers.
PoliticsAZCentral | The Arizona RepublicTrump, not Merrick Garland, is playing a dangerous game with the FBI raid
Trump and his supporters are up in arms, accusing the FBI of targeting him just because the agency doesn't like him. How quickly they've forgotten – or rather, how conveniently they keep ignoring – that Trump fired his own FBI chief, James Comey, who refused to pledge loyalty to him and wouldn't let Trump use the agency to go after his political rivals. Have they forgotten how Trump agreed with “lock her up” chants, referring to jailing his 2016 presidential opponent Hillary Clinton?
U.S.Miami HeraldShe was already in a Florida jail. Then came a ‘horrific’ video and a sheriff’s warning
A woman has been accused of drowning her Chihuahua in her pool and later posting video of the act for her followers to see. Erica Black, 32, was already incarcerated on an aggravated assault charge on $150,000 bond, and got an additional $15K bond tacked on for animal abuse and cruelty. The “graphic and disgusting” video of her drowning the dog last October recently came to light as Black's roommate brought the home security footage to authorities, said Brevard Sheriff Wayne Ivey in a Facebook post on Thursday.
WorldReutersWRAPUP 7-Satellite pictures show devastation at Russian air base in Crimea
Satellite pictures released on Thursday showed devastation at a Russian air base in Crimea, hit in an attack that suggested Kyiv may have obtained new long-range strike capability with potential to change the course of the war. Pictures released by independent satellite firm Planet Labs showed three near-identical craters where buildings at Russia's Saki air base had been struck with apparent precision. The base, on the southwest coast of Crimea, had suffered extensive fire damage with the burnt-out husks of at least eight destroyed warplanes clearly visible.
“The media has anointed men who have sex with men as the biggest threat to our survival from monkeypox.”
“Rich countries have ignored endemic monkeypox in West and Central Africa for far too long, despite having effective vaccines.”
“The biggest worry for Americans is not the disease: It’s that our response to it shows how little we have learned from COVID-19.”
“Monkeypox should be a relatively easier virus to control, but only if the United States takes the needed steps now.”
“Global health officials must advocate for and enact a unified, coherent approach to fighting the monkeypox pandemic.”