- U.S.The Independent
‘Let me borrow your bike’: Atlanta police officer takes passing man’s bicycle to chase fleeing murder suspect
Police in Atlanta were able to apprehend a murder suspect thanks to a passerby's bicycle. The Atlanta Police Department said in a statement that the suspect had been seen around the Old Fourth Ward area last Tuesday when one cop commandeered a bicycle to chase the man down. The department said on Twitter afterwards that a cyclist had assisted with 21-year-old Nicholas Fonseca's arrest, who was wanted in connection with a 28 June shooting.
- PoliticsThe National Interest
Coronavirus Relief Checks by Month’s End? Mitch McConnell Thinks So.
In backing up President Donald Trump's recent comments, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he expects Congress to pass one final coronavirus rescue package later this month. I think the country needs one last boost,” McConnell said during a recent press conference in Kentucky. McConnell added that he is “pretty sure” that a bill, which will be put together in his office with consultation from the Trump administration, should be ready to go within the next couple of weeks.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Sen. Chuck Grassley will skip the RNC for the first time in 40 years, citing coronavirus
Citing concerns about the coronavirus, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said he will not attend this year's Republican National Convention, marking the first time he has sat out a convention since he was elected to the U.S. Senate 40 years ago. Grassley, 86, said he has attended every RNC since he was elected to the Senate in 1980. This year, President Donald Trump will accept the party's nomination for reelection at a convention in Jacksonville, Florida, which is scheduled for Aug. 24-27.
- WorldReuters
FBI chief says China threatens families to coerce overseas critics to return to China
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday urged China-born people in the United States to contact the FBI if Chinese officials try to force them to return to China under a program of coercion that he said is led by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Wray issued the unusual appeal in an address to a think tank in which he reiterated U.S. charges that China is using espionage, cyber theft, blackmail and other means as part of a strategy to replace the United States as the world's dominant economic and technological power.
- U.S.Time
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Tests Positive for COVID-19
Keisha Lance Bottoms, the mayor of Atlanta, announced on Monday afternoon that she tested positive for COVID-19. In a tweet, Mayor Bottoms said that she has had no symptoms and that the virus had “literally hit home.” In recent weeks, the city of Atlanta and Mayor Bottoms has been in the spotlight as a result of the widespread protests over police brutality, racial discrimination and the killing of Rayshard Brooks, a Black man who was shot and killed by an Atlanta police officer in a Wendy's parking lot.
WorldAFPChina detains professor who criticised Xi over coronavirus
Chinese authorities on Monday detained a law professor who published essays criticising President Xi Jinping over the coronavirus pandemic and accusing him of ruling "tyrannically", according to friends of the man. Xu Zhangrun, a rare outspoken critic of the government in China's heavily censored academia, was taken from his home in suburban Beijing by more than 20 people, one of his friends said on condition of anonymity. Xu published an essay in February blaming the culture of deception and censorship fostered by Xi for the spread of the coronavirus in China.
- U.S.INSIDER
A rare case of brain-eating amoeba has been confirmed in Florida. Officials are telling residents to avoid tap water, and to swim with nose clips.
One Florida resident was infected with a rare and dangerous brain-eating amoeba. The Florida Department of Health warned residents to avoid nasal contact with tap water, and to avoid swimming in warm freshwater. The Florida Department of Health is warning residents of Hillsborough County to avoid nasal contact with tap water after confirming that someone in the region has been infected by a rare, brain-eating amoeba.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Kremlin vows to retaliate against fresh UK sanctions against Russians
The Kremlin spokesman says that Moscow will respond to new UK sanctions against Russian citizens including a senior investigator and prison officials. Britain on Monday used a new legislation drafted in the memory of a killed Russian tax adviser to sanction 25 Russian nationals linked to prosecution and mistreatment of tax adviser Sergei Magnitsky as well as 20 Saudis involved in the murder of a journalist in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, told reporters on Tuesday that Moscow “can only lament such hostile steps.”
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Trump Aide Peter Navarro’s Bonkers CNN Interview: ‘Give Peace a Chance, Give Hydroxy a Chance’
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro appeared on CNN on Tuesday morning for yet another off-the-rails interview, this time devoting much of his energy to promoting anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine following a disputed new study finding some efficacy in treating the coronavirus. Last week, in the wake of the Food and Drug Administration revoking the emergency use of hydroxychloroquine due to serious safety issues and lack of benefit for COVID-19 patients, a Michigan study found the Trump-touted drug helped patients survive from the virus. Appearing on CNN's New Day, Navarro quickly brushed off a series of questions from anchor John Berman about the rapid surge of new coronavirus cases in several states, immediately hyping hydroxychloroquine as a game-changer that can greatly reduce mortality rates.
- U.S.BBC
Charge filed against woman who called police on black birdwatcher
A white woman in New York is facing a criminal charge for calling 911 on a black man after he asked her to put her dog on a lead in Central Park. Amy Cooper, who was shown calling police in a viral video, is accused of filing a false report, punishable by up to one year in jail. Ms Cooper lost her job and dog after the incident, and publicly apologised.
- U.S.The Independent
Fox News apologises for ‘mistakenly’ cropping Trump out of photo with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
Fox News has apologised for “mistakenly” cropping Donald Trump out of a picture featuring Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell that it displayed during an item about Ms Maxwell's arrest. The full picture, which has been widely distributed before, features Epstein with his left arm around Ms Maxwell and Melania Trump (then Knauss) to his right, with Donald Trump holding her by the waist. As cropped by the network, the picture still features Ms Trump, albeit in a pose that makes her hard to recognise, but all that's visible of the president are his fingertips, just above Ms Trump's left hip.
PoliticsYahoo News VideoThe Lincoln Project continues anti-Trump ad campaign
On Tuesday, the Lincoln Project, a conservative political action committee formed in late 2019, released an ad titled “Whispers,” which suggests those in President Trump's inner circle are secretly mocking him. This is the latest in a series of attack ads produced and distributed by the committee, whose members include George Conway, Steve Schmidt and other prominent Republicans who oppose Trump. Yahoo News has assembled a compilation of some of the Lincoln Project's most controversial advertisements.
- EntertainmentArchitectural Digest
Olson Kundig’s Latest Design Embraces Its Hawaiian Habitat
On a stunning lava rock field site in Kona, this stunning home seems to hover over the landscape as a series of pavilions Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- WorldReuters
Gunmen kill prominent Iraqi analyst and advisor: officials
Gunmen in Baghdad shot dead a well-known former government advisor and political analyst near his home on Monday in a rare high-profile killing in the Iraqi capital, government officials, police sources and medics said. The government officials described the killing of Hisham al-Hashemi, who had written about politics, Islamic State and the role of Iran-backed militias in Iraq, as a targeted killing but did not point the finger at any particular group. It comes at a time of rising tension between the new government of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and powerful Iran-backed militias and political parties who oppose him and accuse him of siding with the United States.
WorldAFPAustralia warns of 'arbitrary detention' in China
Australia warned its citizens Tuesday they could face "arbitrary detention" if they travel to China, the latest sign of growing tensions between the two nations. The foreign ministry issued the warning in updated travel advice, which also noted that Chinese authorities had detained foreigners for allegedly "endangering national security". Australia has already told its citizens to avoid all international travel due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the updated advice did not raise the overall level of the warning against travel to China.
- WorldThe National Interest
Could 'Baby' Aircraft Carriers Be the Next U.S. Navy Super Weapon?
The Navy can buy smaller, cheaper carriers rather than the $13 billion Ford-class behemoths it is currently constructing, according to a new study by RAND Corporation. The RAND study is a public version of a classified study conducted in 2016 at the behest of the U.S. Navy, which was ordered by Congress to examine cheaper options than the Ford-class carriers. It would be powered by forty-year nuclear reactors that couldn't be replaced, rather than the current twenty-five-year reactors on the Fords that can replaced to extend the life of the ship.
- U.S.INSIDER
Nearly 1,000 inmates will be removed from San Quentin prison after its infection rate has gotten so bad it's been dubbed 'the Chernobyl of COVID'
REUTERS/Stephen Lam On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a COVID-19 outbreak in San Quentin State Prison was his "top focus and priority," and that nearly 1,000 inmates would be released early or relocated. The announcement came after more than one third of the inmates had been confirmed having COVID-19. Last week, University of California San Francisco infectious disease specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong told NBC Bay Area the prison had become "the Chernobyl of COVID."
- ScienceBusiness Insider
NASA's powerful Hubble space telescope has beamed back a striking photo of a 'fluffy' galaxy with a ghostly, empty center
By contrast, other spiral galaxies — including the Milky Way — have more distinct arms where stars and gas are compressed. Hubble is NASA's strongest telescope — but not for long NASA launched Hubble into Earth's orbit in April 1990. Since then, the telescope has discovered new planets, revealed strange galaxies, and provided new insights into the nature of black holes.
- U.S.The Daily Beast
Did Doxxing of an Oklahoma Councilwoman Lead to a Neighbor Being Raped?
A city council member in Norman, Oklahoma, proposed a police budget cut. Alexandra Scott, a Norman council member who won the Democratic nomination for her state Senate seat last month, is an outspoken critic of her city's police force. When racial justice protests swept the nation in June, Scott proposed slashing the Norman Police budget by $4.5 million.
- U.S.The Guardian
Gun violence kills 160 as holiday weekend exposes tale of 'two Americas'
He authorized 1,000 national guard troops to “protect state property and patrol our streets”. Despite an effort that included an additional 1,200 officers on the streets and pleas from the city's mayor, Lori Lightfoot, for residents not to reverse limited progress that had been made against the epidemic of gun violence, Lightfoot lamented the children whose “hopes and dreams were ended by the barrel of a gun”. The city's south and west sides have seen worse weekends this year, however, and a one-year-old and a three-year-old were killed during recent shootings.
- U.S.BBC
US to withdraw visas for foreign students if classes moved fully online
Foreign students will not be allowed to stay in the US this autumn if their universities have moved classes fully online, unless they switch to a course with in-person tuition. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency said people could face deportation if they do not comply with the rules. Many universities are moving classes online due to the coronavirus pandemic.
- U.S.Associated Press
Frederick Douglass statue vandalized in Rochester park
A statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass was ripped from its base in Rochester on the anniversary of one of his most famous speeches, delivered in that city in 1852. Police said the statue of Douglass was taken on Sunday from Maplewood Park, a site along the Underground Railroad where Douglass and Harriet Tubman helped shuttle slaves to freedom. In Rochester on July 5, 1852, Douglass gave the speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July,” in which he called the celebration of liberty a sham in a nation that enslaves and oppresses its Black citizens.
- PoliticsReuters
Democratic challengers in two tight U.S. Senate races step up fundraising
Democratic contenders for two Republican-held U.S. Senate seats on Monday said they accelerated fundraising in the second quarter, pointing to their momentum in what were already seen as competitive races. To win the Senate, Democrats need to pick up three seats if the party wins the White House and four if not.
U.S.WABC – NYDe Blasio says outdoor dining on hold for 'a substantial amount of time'
New York City entered Phase 3 Monday, but without indoor dining, as Mayor Bill de Blasio said it would be on hold for "a substantial amount of time."
WorldAFPFormer Nazi camp guard, 93, faces German court reckoning
The prosecution's closing arguments will be heard on Monday in the trial of a 93-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard for complicity in the murder of more than 5,000 people during World War II. In what could be one of the last such cases of surviving Nazi guards, Bruno Dey stands accused of complicity in the murder of 5,230 people when he worked at the Stutthof camp near what was then Danzig, now Gdansk in Poland. Dey, who has appeared in court in a wheelchair, denies bearing any guilt for what happened at the camp.
