HealthYahoo NewsThe COVID-19 Delta variant: What you need to know
The Delta variant, also referred to as B.1.6.1.7.2 [and] believed to have originated from India, is one of the most concerning variants … It is more likely to lead to disease, hospitalizations and possibly death. The Delta variant looks like it might be up to 60 percent more infectious, which is why the CDC really put a bold label forward in calling it a variant of concern. They only do that when they think a variant is concerning enough that it could change the course of a disease or potentially pose a threat to someone who gets it.
U.S.Kansas City StarTwo Kansas City police officers accused in three beatings also shot a man in 2019
Two Kansas City police officers accused in three police brutality claims were also responsible for shooting a man in 2019, a newly obtained police department report shows. In January 2019, Matthew G. Brummett and Charles W. Prichard shot a man while responding to a carjacking in Westport. In a use of force report created by the Kansas City Police Department after the incident and obtained last week, police said one of the officers shot the man during a struggle after he reached for one of the officer's gun.
- WorldThe Week
What Ebrahim Raisi's election means for Iran — and the U.S.
Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner favored by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, handily won Saturday's Iranian presidential election, which saw historically low turnout. Domestically, the Crisis Group's Ali Vaez explained to PBS NewsHour that the 82-year-old Khamenei appears to be preparing for his succession, which will be "a very pivotal moment" for Iran. Raisi's victory, meanwhile, may actually help solidify the re-establishment of a nuclear pact between the U.S. and Iran, despite Raisi harboring more hostility toward Washington than his predecessor.
WorldThe TelegraphFounding father of the EU Robert Schuman in line for sainthood from Catholic Church
One of the founding fathers of the European Union was put on the path to sainthood by Pope Francis. Robert Schuman, who called for a supranational community for coal and steel in 1950, was recognised by the Pope for his “heroic virtues”, the Vatican said. Mr Schuman said cooperation on coal and steel, especially involving France and Germany, would make future wars impossible.
WorldThe WeekThe future of drone warfare
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been in use for decades. Radio-controlled B-24s were sent on bombing missions over Germany in World War II, and American forces used remote-controlled surveillance aircraft to snap photos during the Vietnam War. But the real breakthrough in drone warfare came in 1995 with the development of the Gnat — later renamed the Predator — an American UAV with a 49-foot wingspan that could stay airborne over a target for up to 12 hours, transmitting a live-video feed to a pilot who could be stationed hundreds or even thousands of miles away.
PoliticsThe TelegraphBiden returns from world tour to find sinking popularity and spending plans in disarray
Joe Biden returned from his sojourn to the UK and Europe to face a growing list of domestic headaches as his big-spending policies stalled and were also blamed for rising inflation. While Mr Biden was meeting Vladimir Putin in Geneva a bipartisan group of 21 senators - 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats - came up with a compromise that would almost halve the amount to $1.2 trillion over eight years. The resulting gridlock explains why a Monmouth University poll this week made worrying reading for Mr Biden after Air Force One landed back in the US.
PoliticsThe WeekThe Biden administration is enabling a Trump comeback
Democrats have had what any sane political party would consider a remarkable stroke of luck: Donald Trump, the leader of their opposition has (allegedly) committed many, many crimes, both while serving as president and before, and Democrats now control the federal law enforcement apparatus. As Barbara McQuade and Joyce White Vance write in The Washington Post, Trump is almost certainly guilty of obstruction of justice during the Mueller investigation, of attempting to solicit bribes from Ukraine, and of multiple campaign finance violations (and likely much, much more).
WorldThe TelegraphRumours swirl that China’s top spycatcher has defected to the US
Rumours abounded on Friday night that China's top spycatcher had defected to the US, amid a growing focus in Washington on the theory that Covid-19 escaped from a Wuhan laboratory. Dong Jingwei, vice minister of state security, was reported to have flown from Hong Kong to the US in February with his daughter. There was no confirmation of the rumoured development from either the US or China.
U.S.INSIDERShocking footage shows a gunman repeatedly shoot at a man while two children frantically dodge his bullets on a New York City sidewalk
A video released by police shows a gunman shoot a man while two children were just a step away. The 24-year-old victim was shot multiple times after the incident in the Bronx, New York Thursday. The children were not injured, police said.
PoliticsBBCMike Pence: Hecklers brand ex-VP 'traitor' at conservative conference
Former US Vice-President Mike Pence has been heckled during a speech at a conference for religious conservatives. The taunts were an apparent reaction to Mr Pence's role in validating Joe Biden's presidential election win. During his address, Mr Pence criticised the policies of Democratic US President Joe Biden and defended those of his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.
WorldThe Telegraph'Nobody is scared of us anymore': Why Marine Le Pen is on the cusp of first major victory
Until now, mainstream parties have kept the far-Right out through a “republican front”, namely tactical voting which often sees the Left pull out to help the mainstream Right win. That strategy may fail for the first time thanks to Mr Mariani, who jumped ship to be elected to the European parliament with Ms Le Pen's group in 2019. Nobody sincerely believes the French republic would be in danger if the National Rally and people like me clinched this region,” he claimed.
- NewsYahoo News Video
Biden's lack of action on executions adds to death penalty disarray
Activists widely expected Joe Biden to take swift action against the death penalty as the first sitting president to oppose capital punishment, especially since an unprecedented spate of executions by his predecessor ended just days before Biden took office. That has not happened.
WorldThe TelegraphCoronavirus latest news: Further lockdowns possible during 'miserable winter', scientists warn
Dr Susan Hopkins, strategic director for Covid-19 at PHE, said getting as many people as possible jabbed by July 19 should mean the latest wave in Covid-19 cases caused by the Delta variant will not be as deadly as previous waves. Last week, the Government was forced to delay so-called Freedom Day, when all restrictions will be lifted, by four weeks due to a worrying rise in positive tests. Speaking to the BBC's The Andrew Marr Show, Dr Hopkins said: "The extra time to vaccinate more people, get two doses of vaccination in as many people as possible, will hopefully mean that what we're seeing with this wave won't look the same as the previous waves that we've seen in this country."
U.S.INSIDERAn American student and former Marine was found dead in Russia days after texting her mom: 'I hope I'm not being abducted'
An American student and former Marine was found dead in Russia on Saturday, days after she went missing. Catherine Serou had texted her mom Tuesday saying, "I hope I'm not being abducted," NPR reported. A suspect with prior convictions is in custody, though he has not been named.
PoliticsThe WeekMcCarthy spox clarifies Trump-speaker comments
A spokesperson for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said while it wasn't "crystal clear," the congressman meant to say during a Fox News interview on Friday that former President Donald Trump wants him to be House speaker if Republicans take the lower chamber back in 2022. In the clip, it appears McCarthy says Trump himself wants to be speaker, but McCarthy's camp is clarifying what would have been a surprising admission for someone who has his own eyes on the gavel. CNN's Chris Cillizza predicted McCarthy would backtrack, and argues it's "virtually impossible" to take him at his word because of what he described as "rampant dishonesty in the GOP over the last five years."
ScienceBBCNasa's giant SLS rocket: a guide
Nasa has been developing a huge rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS) to launch astronauts to the Moon - and eventually Mars. Set to make its debut in late 2021, the SLS is the most powerful launch vehicle built since the 1960s. Nasa has plans to send a man and woman to the lunar surface this decade, in what will be the first landing with humans since Apollo 17 in 1972.
PoliticsUSA TODAY‘Time is running out’: President Joe Biden wants to go big like FDR but window may close
The descendants of the men and women who designed and implemented President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal gather regularly on Zoom to strategize how to keep the pressure on President Joe Biden to likewise go big and bold. “We would love to think that we have captured his attention and stirred the pot with some FDR seasoning,” said Scott Wallace, the grandson of one of Roosevelt's vice presidents and one of five descendants who has been urging Biden for the past year to pass a “21st Century New Deal.” “There's a new bargain,” Biden said during a May trip to Cleveland to push for the trillions of dollars he wants to spend on infrastructure, education, health care, child care and more.
PoliticsBusiness InsiderSen. Ron Johnson, who stalled the passing of Juneteenth as a federal holiday, was booed at an event commemorating the day
GOP Sen. Ron Johnson stalled the passing of making Juneteenth a holiday. On Saturday, June 19, he was booed at an event commemorating the holiday in Wisconsin. Sen. Ron Johnson was booed at an event celebrating Juneteenth in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Saturday, WDJT reported.
U.S.The Daily BeastShe Went on a PR Tour for Her Sick, Adopted African Child. Was It All a Lie?
Last summer, Sophie Hartman was fixated on her 6-year-old adopted daughter Carmel possibly showing signs of early puberty. The 31-year-old single mom from Renton, Washington, scheduled an appointment at Seattle Children's Hospital with a pediatric endocrinologist, a doctor specializing in glands and the hormones they produce, according to a Renton Police probable-cause affidavit. Hartman, a white, Jesus-loving former missionary, strapped Carmel—a little Black girl born in Zambia—into a wheelchair and rolled her into a medical room, where they met with the endocrinologist.
U.S.Lexington Herald-Leader‘You go from having 2 parents to having none.’ For Kelly Wells, 2021 has been tragic.
Long before Kelly Wells became one of Kentucky's most successful 21st century basketball coaches — winning a boys' high school state championship at Mason County in 2003 and a men's college NAIA national title for UPike in 2011 — his dad had been a pioneering women's hoops coach at Morehead State (1975-84). In recent years, however, Mickey Wells, 79, had faced an unending series of medical trials — esophageal cancer, lupus, diabetes — which made him acutely vulnerable to COVID-19. Doris Wells, 78, however, “was an ace.
PoliticsLA TimesMcManus : Why Republicans are suddenly reluctant to condemn political violence
The Republican Party has a problem with political violence: It's not sure whether it's for it or against it. In the first days after a mob loyal to former President Trump stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 to try to block Congress from certifying President Biden's election, GOP leaders delivered a sensible, unified response: There's no place in our constitutional system for that kind of violence. Since January, though, some leading Republicans have been backsliding — offering excuses for the insurgents who sought to overturn the election through extralegal means.
WorldUSA TODAYHardline judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi wins Iran presidency: 3 ways it matters
Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline legal official sanctioned by the U.S. government, won Iran's presidential election after his main rivals conceded defeat Saturday, state media reported. Raisi is the chief of Iran's judiciary and was the runner-up in Iran's last presidential election in 2017. Incumbent Hassan Rouhani, a moderate, is stepping down because he has reached his term limit.
HealthBusiness InsiderA man who boosted his Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine with a shot from Moderna said his side effects were a 'little more severe' the third time round
Participants are given a booster shot of the Moderna vaccine - whether they previously got 2 shots of an mRNA vaccine (from Pfizer or Moderna) or 1 adenovirus (J&J) shot. One participant told Insider his booster dose of Moderna gave him similar side effects to his second Pfizer shot, but the third was "a little bit more severe." Virus expert Joseph Hyser has been fully vaccinated since the end of January, and he's not really worried that his COVID-19 protection from the Pfizer vaccine has waned much since then.
U.S.INSIDERA black bear was shot and killed after it attacked a 16-year-old girl who was asleep on a hammock during a camping trip with her family
A Tennessee teen was attacked by a bear during a camping trip at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A Tennessee teen was attacked by a bear early Friday morning while she was sleeping in a hammock during a backpacking trip. The unnamed 16-year-old and her family were on campgrounds in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park when the black bear attacked shortly after midnight, WBIR-TV and Knoxville News Sentinel reported.
U.S.USA TODAYThere was a $500K reward in alleged road rage shooting of Aiden Leos in California. Will it be paid?
Eriz is being held without bail, while the precise amount of Lee's bail is pending an evaluation. Aiden Leos case: Suspects face murder and accessory charges in killing of 6-year-old boy on California freeway 'My heart melted every time he laughed': Mother eulogizes 6-year-old boy killed in suspected road rage shooting Orange County supervisor Don Wagner, one of the people who donated to the reward, told USA TODAY in a statement that "claims on the reward money will be considered later as to not jeopardize the investigation."
“It may seem desperate at this point, but I can’t be mad at any and all efforts to get people vaccinated.”
“I won’t get rich, but I will get to live my life. That seems like reward enough.”
“Offering incentives may encourage people who are not actively opposed to vaccination but may have put it off.”
“At some point, the government is simply rewarding irresponsible behavior.”
“Sure, people should do it without needing an incentive. But what’s the alternative? Not enough people get vaccinated.”