PoliticsYahoo News 360Pot legalization in the U.S. seems both inevitable and impossible
He said during the 2020 campaign that he supports decriminalizing pot — a change that would remove criminal penalties for possession while keeping the federal ban in place — but opposes outright legalization. When asked this month whether the president would back Schumer's proposal, press secretary Jen Psaki said that “nothing has changed” about Biden's views on marijuana. Why there's debate The disconnect in the pace of change for marijuana laws, with legalization spreading at breakneck speed in the states and all but stalled at the federal level, has raised debate over when — if ever — marijuana might become legal nationwide.
PoliticsReutersExclusive-Democrats may scrap matching funds from infrastructure bill over wage issue
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Democrats are threatening to scrap plans to create an infrastructure bank in the $1.2 trillion bipartisan spending bill after Republicans opposed a provision intended to lift workers' wages, according to three people familiar with the discussions. A decision to remove funding for the bank would be aimed at resolving a logjam over U.S. President Joe Biden's top legislative initiative, as lawmakers scramble to finalize key details of the plan ahead of the Senate's typical August recess. The group of bipartisan lawmakers seeking to hammer out Biden's infrastructure bill want to include $20 billion for a newly created infrastructure bank that would attract investment through private-public partnerships.
PoliticsAssociated PressEXPLAINER: Does suspension end Giuliani's career in law?
The days of practicing law for the mob-busting prosecutor turned point man for pushing Donald Trump's false claims about the 2020 election may be over. Rudy Giuliani's law license has already been suspended in his home state. A New York appeals court took the action in June, saying Giuliani's bid to discredit the election was so egregious that he poses “an immediate threat” to the public.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramHusky seen running after car when he’s abandoned is saved – and Texas man is arrested
A husky abandoned along a road in a viral video has found a new family — and now there's been an arrest. The heartbreaking video posted this week captures a Jeep passenger leaving the husky by the side of road in Horizon City, Texas, and riding away as the animal chases after the vehicle. It's been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on social media as law enforcement searched for the suspects.
- WorldChristian Science Monitor
Meet the young mom who became the face of Belarus’ democracy movement
Until last year, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was a stay-at-home mom with two young children, one with a disability. Within weeks, she became the face of Belarus' pro-democracy movement, picking up his fight to take down what's been called “Europe's last dictatorship.” It may appear to be a quixotic effort, leading some to dub her the “Joan of Arc” of Belarus.
WorldReutersIndonesia's Bali running out of oxygen as government ponders curbs
The Indonesian island of Bali is running out of oxygen for its COVID-19 patients as infections surge, the chief of its health agency said, as Southeast Asia's biggest country struggles with the region's worst COVID epidemic. Bali, famous for its tourist beaches and temples, along with the main island of Java and 15 other regions are under tight coronavirus restrictions, due to expire on Sunday. The government is debating whether to extend them or not.
WorldAssociated PressVietnam locks down capital Hanoi for 15 days as cases rise
Vietnam announced a 15-day lockdown in the capital Hanoi starting Saturday as a coronavirus surge spread from the southern Mekong Delta region. Earlier in the week, the city had suspended all outdoor activities and ordered non-essential businesses to close following an increase in cases. On Friday, Hanoi reported 70 confirmed infections, the city's highest, part of a record 7,295 cases in the country in the last 24 hours.
U.S.Fort Worth Star-TelegramBody of Arlington firefighter was found in bathroom window, Mexican authorities say
An investigation is underway into how Arlington firefighter Elijah Snow died Monday while vacationing in Cancun, according to Mexican authorities. On Twitter, Mexican authorities said an “investigation folder” has been started in the death of a man from Texas in the municipality of Benito Juárez in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. “The circumstances in which the events occurred are being investigated,” according to the social media post from Fiscalía General Quintana Roo, which is the State Attorney General's Office for Quintana Roo.
WorldAssociated PressMan in central China survives 3 days in flooded garage
A man in central China was rescued after spending three days trapped in a flooded underground garage following torrential rains, while at least four bodies were found after a traffic tunnel was drained, a news report said Saturday. The death toll rose to 58 after record rains hit the major city of Zhengzhou on Tuesday, state TV reported, citing Li Changxun, deputy director of Henan Provincial Emergency Management Department. The rains flooded a Zhengzhou subway tunnel where at least 12 people died, knocked out power to a hospital and other buildings and left streets filled with mud.
- HealthThe Week
What does the Delta variant mean for the fully vaccinated?
What is the Delta variant? The Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 — the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 — was first identified in India in December 2020. After ravaging India and sweeping through Great Britain, the Delta variant is now the dominant strain in the U.S., accounting for more than 83 percent of COVID-19 infections.
PoliticsMiami HeraldRecords show web of payments involving players in probe into sham Senate candidate
A young Republican political operative who is also the subject of a public corruption investigation into former Republican state Sen. Frank Artiles made an offer to a recent college graduate last September: He would pay her $1,500 to chair a political committee and in exchange, she would have to do nothing. At the time, 25-year-old Hailey DeFilippis, of Palm Harbor, had just found out she was pregnant and was “freaking out about money.”
WorldThe TelegraphTokyo 2020 'axed opening ceremony musician for being black'
A musician claims he was cut from the Olympic opening ceremony because he was black, as organisers face a third staffing row in a week. Latyr Sy, a Senagalese percussionist based in Japan for 20 years, accused organisers of racism after he was booked and then cancelled for inclusion at the curtain-raiser. Tokyo 2020 failed to respond to requests for comment from the Telegraph on the allegations on Friday.
SportsAssociated PressBauer appears in court to fight sexual assault allegations
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer appeared in court Friday to fight the extension of a protective order sought by a woman who says he choked her to the point where she lost consciousness and punched her during two sexual encounters earlier this year. Attorneys for Bauer and for the woman revealed during a short court session that they intend to call several witnesses, including Bauer, and argue over the order in what amounts to a trial that is expected to last three days. Judge Dianna Gould-Saltman delayed the beginning of that hearing until Aug. 2 because Bauer's attorney, Shawn Holley, said she was given the woman's witness list late and had insufficient time to prepare.
CelebrityReutersDutch teen on space flight told Bezos he had never ordered from Amazon
The Dutch teenager who became the world's youngest space traveller this week surprised billionaire Jeff Bezos on the flight by telling him he'd never ordered anything on Amazon.com. Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old physics student, accompanied Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos and 82-year-old female aviator Wally Funk - the oldest person to go to space - on a 10-minute trip beyond Earth's atmosphere. Bezos funded exploration company Blue Origin by selling billions of dollars' worth of stock in his online delivery business Amazon.
- NewsYahoo News Video
Report: 'QAnon Shaman' in plea negotiations after mental illness diagnosis
The participant in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots nicknamed the "QAnon Shaman" is negotiating a possible plea deal with prosecutors, after prison psychologists found he has a variety of mental illnesses, his attorney said.
WorldBusiness InsiderGunfire prompts Biden's UN ambassador to abruptly leave Haitian president's funeral
Biden's UN ambassador abruptly left the funeral for Haiti's president amid unrest surrounding the ceremony. The assassination of Jovenel Moïse has pushed Haiti into a deeper crisis after years of struggles. The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, abruptly departed a funeral for Haitian President Jovenel Moïse on Friday after gunfire was reportedly heard.
HealthKansas City Star‘Mask up’: COVID patient load is ‘way too big,’ KU health official sounds the alarm
On Thursday Stites reported that local hospital leaders are prepared to call for mask mandates and social distancing to be reinstated across the region because the hospitals are filing up. He described the situation as “being under siege. You heard us say yesterday that it may be time to think about masking up again,” Stites said.
U.S.INSIDERAn off-duty Customs and Border Protection officer admitted to threatening 3 tribal employees with a rifle, telling them he 'shoots first, asks questions later'
The employees were on the officer's property to test creek water and said they got permission from his wife. The officer pointed his rifle at the employees and told them he "shoots first, asks questions later." An off-duty US Customs and Border Protection officer has admitted to pointing his rifle at three tribal employees who were collecting water samples on his property, telling them he "shoots first, asks questions later," according to court documents.
PoliticsBusiness Insider6 million renters face eviction in 8 days when a Trump-era ban expires. Biden is poised to let it happen.
Both a federal eviction ban and a moratorium on foreclosures expire in eight days. The Biden administration is poised to allow both relief programs to expire on July 31. On July 31, a set of pandemic-relief measures for renters and homeowners enacted under President Trump will end - and the Biden administration doesn't appear interested in renewing them.
PoliticsUSA TODAYA third of states have passed more restrictive voting laws. Here's what you should know
For some states considered battlegrounds during the 2020 presidential cycle, like Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Texas, voting rights advocates fear the impact of such laws could be seismic. "We view these laws as a very serious threat to American democracy," said Steven Lance, policy counsel at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Legal Defense Fund. They're really a threat that is specifically targeting, in many of these cases, a means of voting that proved to be lifelines for Black and Latino voters in the 2020 election and other provisions that were necessary during a global pandemic,” Lance said, citing NAACP Legal Defense Fund data.
CelebrityThe Daily BeastThe Tokyo Olympian Who Ran a Man Over and Left Him for Dead
While world-class Canadian weightlifter Boady Santavy basks in the glory of his first Olympic run in Tokyo, the man he ran over—left for dead and impaired for life—struggles to even get out of bed in the morning. At around 2 in the morning on March 18, 2018, 33-year-old Nicolas Emmerson Andali was struck by the star athlete's car in a hit-and-run in the small Canadian city of Sarnia. Among other injuries, Andali suffered “a broken shoulder blade, clavicle, lacerated spleen, and brain bleed” after the crash, according to a statement read by Andali's mother, Linda Hachey, in court.
U.S.INSIDERVideo shows the site of the Surfside building collapse cleared of all debris as rescue crews conclude search efforts nearly a month after the tragedy
Rescue crews ended their search efforts at the site of the Surfside building collapse on Friday. New video from Miami Fire Rescue shows the site of the apartment building cleared of all debris. Miami-Dade County officials announced earlier this week that 97 victims had been identified.
WorldBusiness InsiderThe US launched strikes to destroy military equipment the Taliban captured from Afghan security forces
The US carried out multiple airstrikes on the Taliban recently in support of Afghan forces. The strikes targeted enemy personnel, as well as captured military equipment. The US is withdrawing its forces from Afghanistan, where it has waged war for nearly two decades.
PoliticsUSA TODAYBiden, Congress and student loan forgiveness: What is the federal government doing to address the issue?
Secret meetings and phone trees: The story behind Texas Democrats' exodus from Austin Here is what Congress has done — and wants done — on the issue, what the White House has achieved so far: Biden 'has the power': Democrats push issue to White House's court Democrats have remained clear in their message: Biden has the power to forgive student loans through executive order. That's part of the reason they didn't include student loan relief in a $3.5 trillion budget bill filled with other Democratic aims like expanding Medicare and fighting climate change – legislation Democrats say they can pass without Republican support using a legislative maneuver called reconciliation.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderJanet Yellen says Treasury is prepared to pay the US's bills to prevent 'irreparable harm' to the economy as the GOP balks at raising the debt ceiling
Janet Yellen said Treasury was prepared to pay off the country's bills starting on August 2. Mitch McConnell has opposed raising the debt ceiling without political concessions. Yellen said that even the threat of a default risked major damage to the US economy.
“Thankfully, children are at lower risk for complications from COVID-19, but low risk is not no risk.”
“Guidelines that mandate the masking of children are based on an assessment of risk that is not justified.”
“Masks are easy to use, inexpensive and effective.”
“We’re now 16 months into the pandemic and children remain victims of the Covid political theater.”
“If a community or school isn’t sufficiently vaccinated, it remains at risk of the coronavirus coming back.”