U.S.TechCrunchIt might be time for companies in San Francisco to call employees' bluff
The question, and one asked this week by the San Francisco Chronicle, is why San Francisco isn't bouncing back in the same way. As reporter Roland Li writes: "There's always been a disparity -- New York has 10 times the population of San Francisco -- but the coastal tourism and economic hubs have diverged in striking ways as they recover from the pandemic." Consider, writes Li, that while the construction of major commercial property projects in Manhattan were completed during the pandemic -- and while much of that new office space is almost fully leased -- over in San Francisco, projects have stalled and existing buildings struggle to find tenants because of work-from-home policies.
U.S.NBC NewsTexas man convicted of child sexual assault dies after chugging from bottle as verdict is read
A Texas man charged with five counts of child sexual assault died after a jury convicted him and he chugged a bottle of liquid in the courtroom, his lawyer said Friday. After the first count was read on Thursday afternoon and the Denton County jury returned a guilty verdict, Edward Leclair, 57, started drinking from a plastic water bottle filled with what appeared to be clear liquid, lawyer Mike Howard said. “I looked over and noticed him drinking,” Howard said.
U.S.Business InsiderGunman who was killed after trying to enter the Cincinnati FBI office was a Navy veteran with top secret clearance. He was also at the Capitol riot.
Ricky Shiffer was shot and killed after he tried to breach the FBI's Cincinnati field office. NBC reported that Shiffer had top-secret clearance when he was in the Navy. The Ohio gunman who was killed after trying to enter a Cincinnati FBI office was a Navy vet who was known to the government.
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.
PoliticsINSIDERTrump's latest defense for Mar-a-Lago documents is everyone 'brings home their work from time to time' and the files were automatically declassified
Trump's new explanation for Mar-a-Lago documents is that "everyone ends up having to bring home their work from time to time." Trump claimed he had a "standing order" to declassify documents "the moment" they left the Oval Office. The DOJ is investigating whether Trump broke three laws when he took government records to Mar-a-Lago.
U.S.INSIDERGang of female shoplifters stole thousands of dollars worth of men's Nike boxer shorts from Kohl's stores, investigators say
Police say three women stole about $1,800 worth of men's underwear from a Kohl's store in Newnan, Georgia. Kohl's says they stole Nike men's boxer shorts, which cost between $26 and $40, per Fox 5 Atlanta. More than $6,000 worth of high-end men's underwear has been stolen from Kohl's stores in the area, say police.
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.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.
PoliticsHuffPostKevin McCarthy Mocked After Asking If Americans Are Better Off Than 2 Years Ago
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) tried to stop passage of the Inflation Reduction Act on Friday by using a rhetorical question made famous by former President Ronald Reagan. In a speech on the House floor, McCarthy asked, “Is America better off today than they were two years ago?” which referenced a question Reagan asked during a 1980 presidential debate with then-President Jimmy Carter. Although McCarthy's question was strictly a rhetorical device that he probably assumed would agitate Democrats, he probably wouldn't like the answers Twitter users gave to his inquiry.
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.
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.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.Yahoo CelebrityAnne Heche crash: Drugs found in her system as she's investigated for felony DUI
It's believed Anne Heche was under the influence when she crashed her car into a home in Los Angeles last Friday. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department confirms to Yahoo Entertainment that Heche, 53, is being investigated for a felony DUI traffic collision. Blood draw results showed the presence of narcotics; however additional testing is required to rule out what was given to her medically.
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.
- ScienceReuters Videos
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.
- WorldReuters
Moscow warns of end to Russia-U.S. relations if assets seized - TASS
Any possible seizure of Russian assets by the United States will completely destroy Moscow's bilateral relations with Washington, TASS quoted the head of the North American Department at the Russian foreign ministry as saying on Saturday. "We warn the Americans of the detrimental consequences of such actions that will permanently damage bilateral relations, which is neither in their nor in our interests," Alexander Darchiev told TASS. It was not immediately clear which assets he was referring to.
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.
WorldThe Daily BeastRussia Vows Revenge at the Latest Country to Cross Putin
Latvia's parliament has moved to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism over Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine—and the Kremlin does not appear to be taking it well. Russia is committing a “genocide against the Ukrainian people,” Latvian MPs said in a statement Thursday, according to AFP. Russia “uses suffering and intimidation as tools in its attempts to weaken the morale of the Ukrainian people and armed forces, and to paralyze the functioning of the state in order to occupy Ukraine.”
WorldReutersAnalysis-China's Taiwan military drills offer spying opportunity for U.S
While China's expanded drills surrounding Taiwan have marked an unprecedented military and political warning against outside interference over the island, they opened a window to gather intelligence for the United States and its allies. The four days of intense drills last week - and extended manoeuvres this week - provide an opportunity to scrutinise the missiles China would use to drive off foreign militaries intervening in any future invasion as well as its command, control and communications systems, regional diplomats and security analysts say. And on the strategic intelligence front, the exercises have given a clue to China's ability to blockade the island as a prelude or alternative to any invasion, showcasing the firing of ballistic missiles over Taiwan for the first time as well as simulated air and sea attacks on ships on its east coast.
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.
PoliticsHuffPostFormer Presidents Don't Accidentally Have Top Secret Docs Stashed At Home: Columnist
Former President Donald Trump had to be determined to grab top secret files to hide them away in his Florida home, said a Washington Post columnist and associate editor who has covered the White House for decades. Presidents don't accidentally end up with such sensitive files among boxes and boxes of documents hauled out of the White House at the end of their term, Eugene Robinson told MSNBC's Ari Melber on Friday. The fact that agents carried out 11 sets of classified documents after their search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago home Monday, according to the warrant and property receipt used by the FBI to conduct the search, is “unprecedented, unthought of,” Robinson said.
WorldReutersSource of Britain's River Thames driest ever as drought nears
The source of the River Thames has dried up further downstream than ever before, as England looks set to enter a drought that some experts say the country is unprepared for. Britain's Met Office said this July was the driest for England since 1935 with average rainfall, at 23.1 millimetres (0.9 inches), just 35% of the average for the month. "The Thames would normally be at its source - and there's a nice pub next to it - would be about 15 kilometres back upstream," Alisdair Naulls, an engagement officer at the Rivers Trust, told Reuters while standing in a small section of the Thames in Cricklade, about 80 km west of London.
U.S.TODAYParents Arrested, Tased During Arizona School Lockdown
Three parents were arrested, two of whom were tased, during a confrontation outside an Arizona elementary school that had been locked down over a report of someone with a gun Friday, El Mirage police said. Thompson Ranch Elementary School was locked down after a report around 10:30 a.m. that someone who appeared to have a handgun had tried to open a locked door and ran off, El Mirage police Lt. Jimmy Chavez said. The security scare in El Mirage occurred a little more than two months after a mass shooting and botched police response at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead.
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 PressRuling clouds future of southeast Alaska king salmon fishery
A federal court ruling this week has thrown into doubt the future of a valuable commercial king salmon fishery in Southeast Alaska, after a conservation group challenged the government's approval of the harvest as a threat to protected fish and the endangered killer whales that eat them. The ruling, issued Monday by U.S. District Judge Richard Jones in Seattle, said NOAA Fisheries violated the Endangered Species Act and other environmental law when it approved the troll fishery. The ruling means the federal agency will have to consider anew the effects of the fishery on orcas and on protected Puget Sound and Columbia River salmon stocks and whether a plan to offset the harvest by releasing more king salmon from hatcheries is sound.
“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.”