Poll gives Democrats bad news in key Senate race

Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines, running for reelection, holds a 6-point lead against Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock in a race that will help decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate, according to a poll released Monday by Emerson College. Daines received 50 percent support in the poll, while 44 percent said they would vote for Bullock. Like other traditionally Republican strongholds, Montana is being looked at to see whether support for President Trump has softened, giving Democrats a better chance of retaking control of the Senate.

Gun sales spike among African-Americans: 'Our ancestors died for us to vote, they also died for us to be able to carry guns'

During the first six months of 2020, amid a global coronavirus pandemic, gun retailers have reported a record 10.3 million firearm transactions, according to a new survey by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Overall, gun sales in the U.S. have increased by 95 percent while ammunition sales have increased 139 percent compared to the same period last year. “The highest overall firearm sales increase comes from Black men and women, who show a 58.2% increase in purchases during the first six months of 2020 versus the same period last year,” Jim Curcuruto, NSSF director of research and market development, wrote in his report.

Illinois officials call to abolish history classes in the state until an 'alternative' is set up to highlight underrepresented groups

Tim Boyle/Getty Images Community leaders in Illinois called for history classes in state schools to stop until a " suitable alternative" is established to represent minority groups in the curriculum. Democratic State Representative LaShawn K. Ford said "current history teachings lead to a racist society and overlook the contributions of women and minorities," according to NBC Chicago. The state representative is calling for schools to discard history books "that unfairly communicate our history."

Mexico hails 'Sledgehammer' arrest but murder crisis still a tough nut to crack

Mexico's president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has hailed the capture of one of the country's most notorious gangsters as an important victory in his so far fruitless struggle to slash murder rates. In a Sunday night video message to the nation, López Obrador said security forces had seized “El Marro” or “the Sledgehammer” – the head of the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel – at about 6am that morning in the violence-stricken state of Guanajuato. How is it that this cartel was able to grow so much – to the extent that Guanajuato became our country's most violent state?

Australia: British-Australian woman in Iran prison 'is well'

Australia's ambassador to Iran has visited a British-Australian academic who was convicted of espionage before being moved recently to a notorious Iranian prison, and found that she “is well,” Australia's government said Tuesday. Kylie Moore-Gilbert was a Melbourne University lecturer on Middle Eastern studies when she was sent to Tehran's Evin Prison in September 2018 and sentenced to 10 years. Australia sought urgent consular access and its ambassador to Iran, Lyndall Sachs, visited Moore-Gilbert in Qarchak Prison on Sunday, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, or DFAT, said in a statement.

Marine AAV Hit Rough Seas, Rapidly Took on Water Before Sinking

Berger last week halted all water operations for AAVs until the Marine Corps determines what caused one to sink. The service's fleet of AAVs date back to the early 1970s, and have been involved in deadly accidents in the past. The Marine Corps is in the process of replacing those vehicles, but that's not set to begin for several more months.

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  Families mourn after deadly military training accident in California

  CBS News Videos
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  Marines find sunken AAV after deadly training accident

  CBS News

U.N. chief warns world facing 'generational catastrophe' on education

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Tuesday that the world faces a "generational catastrophe" because of school closures amid the coronavirus pandemic and said that getting students safely back to the classroom must be "a top priority." Guterres said that as of mid-July schools were closed in some 160 countries, affecting more than 1 billion students, while at least 40 million children have missed out on pre-school. This came on top of more than 250 million children already being out of school before the pandemic and only a quarter of secondary school students in developing countries leaving with basic skills, he said in a video statement.

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  U.N. Chief Calls for Students to Go Back to School Once Safe

  Newsy
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  How Can Students Make Up for Lost Time This Fall?

  Entercom Communications

Seattle Police Chief Urges City Council to Stop Protestors’ Intimidation Tactics after Group Visits Her Home

Seattle police chief Carmen Best is urging the city council to take a stand against protestors intimidating public officials and employees after “a large group of aggressive protestors” visited her home on Sunday night. “I urge both of you, and the entire council, to stand up for what is right,” Best wrote Monday in a letter addressed to the council's president Lorena González and public safety chair Lisa Herbold. “Before this devolves into the new way of doing business by mob rule here in Seattle, and across the nation, elected officials like you must forcefully call for the end of these tactics,” she added.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden says Trump deployed 'secret police' in Portland to provoke violence for campaign ads

SUSAN WALSH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images US Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, said Tuesday that President Trump's deployment of federal agents in Portland was intended "to create images of chaos for his own political gain — to air in campaign ads." Last month, Wyden told Business Insider that "what is happening in my hometown won't stop at my hometown." President Trump then announced deployments in cities such as Chicago and Albuquerque.

She got the virus. Then she was fired. Some sick workers left in cold by employers.

As of June 12, nearly 700 companies had violated the law's paid-leave provisions and owed back wages to hundreds of employees, according to Labor Department records. Violators include six McDonald's franchises and the franchise owners of a Comfort Suites, Courtyard by Marriott and Red Roof Inn. In all, the businesses owe $690,000 in unpaid wages to 527 employees, who are not identified in the documents.

Apple Fire: Massive California wildfire forces evacuations

Fire crews in California are battling a massive wildfire that has forced thousands of people from their homes east of Los Angeles. More than 1,300 firefighters, backed by helicopters and water-dumping planes, have been tackling the blaze dubbed the Apple Fire which started on Friday. Parts of the fire are on steep, rugged hillsides, making it hard for fire engines to reach.

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  'Hot objects' from vehicle tailpipe caused 26,850-acre Apple Fire in California, authorities say

  USA TODAY
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  'Apple' fire explodes east of Los Angeles

  FOX News Videos

Drug-Smuggling Cat Escapes High-Security Sri Lankan Prison

A cat that was detained at Sri Lanka's high-security Welikada Prison on suspicion of smuggling drugs to inmates has escaped, according to local media reports in Aruna. The feline delinquent was detained last week with two grams of heroin, two SIM cards and a memory chip hidden in a plastic bag tied to its collar on the prison grounds. Police suspect that the drug traffickers who trained the cat are part of the same cartel that was caught using an eagle to smuggle drugs in a suburb of Colombo.

Progressive activist Cori Bush defeats 20-year incumbent Rep. William Lacy Clay

Clay has represented the district for the last 20 years, and before that, his father, William Lacy Clay Sr., held the seat for three decades. Bush ran against the incumbent in 2018, but lost by a 20-point margin. On Tuesday, with 100 percent of precincts reporting, Bush has 48.6 percent of the vote, compared to Clay with 45.5 percent.

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  Progressive challenger Cori Bush defeats 10-term incumbent Lacy Clay and voters approve Medicaid expansion in Missouri

  Business Insider
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  Cori Bush beats Lacy Clay in Missouri primary, ousting incumbent after 20 years in Congress

  NBC News

AP PHOTOS: Terror, death, devastation in Lebanon explosion

As they watched a huge mushroom cloud rise over the seaport capital, many who felt the massive explosion in Beirut on Tuesday thought it was a nuclear detonation. Others described the popping and bursting of fireworks and a raging fire that spread to another building, triggering the blast felt kilometers (miles) away. The explosion collapsed balconies, shattered windows and ripped bricks from buildings, killing more than 70 people and injuring more than 3,000.

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  Beirut explosions: Everything we know so far about massive blasts as death toll rises to 100

  The Independent
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  'It hurts': Beirut resident on blast aftermath

  Reuters Videos

From Manhattan to Hiroshima: the race for the atom bomb

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki capped six years of top-secret work by scientists from Europe and North America. In 1939, Albert Einstein signs a letter warning US president Franklin D. Roosevelt of the destructive potential of nuclear fission, which was discovered by the German chemist Otto Hahn. Roosevelt creates the Advisory Body on Uranium.

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  To Honor the Victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 75 Years on, We Must Lay Down Our Nuclear Weapons

  Time
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  Survivors Feel Greater Urgency to Bear Witness 75 Years After Hiroshima Atomic Bombing

  Meredith Videos

Direct-to-Consumer Furniture Brand Burrow Expands Its Offerings

The company is welcoming benches and credenzas to its product line starting today Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

Russia says suspected mercenaries detained by Belarus were going to Latin America

A Russian diplomat said on Monday a group of more than 30 suspected Russian mercenaries detained in Belarus last week were only passing through Minsk and were on their way to an unnamed Latin American state. Belarusian authorities have said they suspect the men entered their country to plot "acts of terrorism" and destabilise it before an Aug. 9 presidential election. Russian officials have dismissed the accusation and described the men as employees of a private security firm.

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  Russian mercs were plotting revolution: Belarus

  Reuters Videos
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  Ex-teacher hopes to free Belarus from president's iron fist

  Associated Press

'It is what it is,' Trump says of rising coronavirus death toll as he insists outbreak is 'under control'

President Donald Trump said his administration has done an "incredible" job handling the coronavirus pandemic, and despite rising deaths, the outbreak is "under control" in a wide-ranging and contentious interview that aired on HBO Monday night. Axios national political correspondent Jonathan Swan began the interview by asking Trump if his sometimes "wishful thinking" and "salesmanship" were suitable during a crisis that has killed more than 155,000 people in the USA. "I think you have to have a positive outlook; otherwise, you would have nothing," Trump said.

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  Why The ‘Axios On HBO’ Interview With Donald Trump Worked: A Real-Time Fact Check Of The President’s Fusillade Of Claims

  Deadline
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  'It is what it is': Trump in interview on COVID-19 death toll in U.S.

  NBC News

Bower Studios and West Elm Reprise a Partnership With This New Collection

The release includes seven designs to bring harmony home Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

Mounting research paints a bleak picture for schools trying to reopen. Most large schools can expect coronavirus cases within 1 week.

Schools aren't low-risk when it comes to coronavirus transmission. Studies have also shown that school closures significantly reduced infections and deaths. New research suggests that children under age 5 have particularly high amounts of virus in their respiratory tracts.

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  Schools reopening in autumn 'not up for debate' insists government, despite second wave warnings

  Yahoo News UK
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  Fauci thinks schools should reopen only if rules followed

  WABC – NY

Governor Cuomo begs wealthy New Yorkers to come home to save ailing city

The governor of New York has begged the city's wealthy, who fled the coronavirus outbreak, to return and help it recover. Andrew Cuomo said he was extremely worried about New York City weathering the Covid-19 aftermath if too many of the well-heeled taxpayers who fled to second homes decide there is no need to move back. They are in their Hamptons homes, or Hudson Valley or Connecticut.

Panama proposes flying Haitian migrants home after clash

The government of Panama said Monday it has proposed giving some Haitian migrants flights back to their homeland after frustrations boiled over at the remote camps where they are stuck. The camps in Panama's southern Darien province also house some Cuban and African migrants, but about 80% of the 2,000 migrants there are from Haiti. Public Safety Minister Juan Pino said Monday he offered improved medical services or repatriation flights to the migrants, who want to travel overland to the U.S. border but cannot do so because of coronavirus restrictions.

Argentina secures deal on 'impossible' debt

Recession-hit Argentina announced on Tuesday it has reached an agreement with three major creditors over the restructuring of a $66 billion debt, which the IMF described as a "very significant step" to solving its latest sovereign default crisis. The government of President Alberto Fernandez had set an August 4 deadline to complete a deal but it has now pushed the date to August 24 "to give effect to the agreement," which came after months of wrangling and extensions. "We resolved an impossible debt in the biggest economic crisis in memory and in the midst of the pandemic," said a delighted Fernandez.

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  Argentina breaks deadlock to restructure $65bn of debt

  The Telegraph
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  Argentina's $65 billion debt deal draws near on eve of deadline

  Reuters