Why a Black man from Louisiana is serving a life sentence for stealing hedge clippers

According to Louisiana law, the crime of attempted simple burglary carries no more than 12 years behind bars, but because the 1997 offense was his fourth felony, Bryant, who is Black, received a life sentence in 2000. The justices declined to review the sentence, which was upheld by the state appeals court in 2019, according to the decision. One justice recused himself.

Trump calls audience at his Bedminster golf club a 'peaceful protest'

At a surprise press briefing Friday at his private golf club in Bedminster, N.J., President Trump said his audience of well-to-do supporters was involved in a “peaceful protest” and therefore did not need to adhere to state coronavirus guidelines prohibiting large gatherings. Trump was asked about his earlier assertion that the pandemic was “disappearing” by a reporter who noted that the crowd in attendance seemed to be violating New Jersey restrictions meant to slow the spread of the virus. “You're wrong on that because it's a political activity and they have exceptions, political activity and it's also a peaceful protest,” Trump responded.

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  Trump order could mean $400 in added unemployment benefits — but states would have to help

  Miami Herald
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  Trump signs executive actions on coronavirus economic relief

  NBC News

After fatal great white shark attack in Maine, debate intensifies over culling seals

Two weeks ago Maine recorded its first fatal great white shark attack. Julie Dimperio Holowach, 63, of New York City, was splashing with her daughter approximately 20 yards off the coast of Bailey Island when a large shark, likely mistaking Holowach for a seal, struck her with such force that she was launched out of the water, witnesses said. Beaches across the Northeast have closed repeatedly in recent days after great white sharks were spotted swimming close to shore, a worrying trend that has led some people to suggest that states thin the population of seals, the sharks' primary source of food.

A woman claiming to be from the 'Freedom To Breathe Agency' filmed telling a grocery employee that she could face legal action for making people wear face masks

In a viral TikTok video, a woman claiming to be from an anti-mask group told a grocery store supervisor in Orange County, California, that she could face legal action for asking people to wear face coverings. The mask-less woman, who claimed she was from the "Freedom to Breathe Agency", was filmed giving the employee a piece of paper that stated she could go to prison for up to three to five years for telling customers to wear a mask. The "Freedom To Breathe Agency" is not a real governmental agency and has previously received a warning from the Department of Justice after it distributed fake "face mask exempt" cards.

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  I went to the movies for the first time post-lockdown, and even though most people took their masks off in the theater, I'd go back

  INSIDER
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  50 Face Masks You Can Buy to Support Charities

  Men's Health

Niger attack: French aid workers among eight killed by gunmen

Gunmen have attacked a group of aid workers in Niger, killing six French citizens, their local guide and driver, officials say. The gunmen arrived on motorcycles and opened fire, the governor of Tillabéri region, Tidjani Ibrahim, told the French news agency AFP. They were in the Koure region, which attracts tourists who want to see the last herds of giraffe in West Africa.

• 6 French citizens, 2 guides killed by gunmen at giraffe park

  Associated Press
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  Gunmen kill six French aid workers, their driver and guide in Niger, minister says

  Reuters

Should Judge Sullivan Be Disqualified from Flynn Case? An Appeals Court Is Asking

At the time, that court's three-judge panel had not yet heard oral argument on Michael Flynn's mandamus petition — i.e., Flynn's request that the panel find that federal district judge Emmet Sullivan was acting lawlessly. Sullivan had not only failed to grant the Justice Department's motion to dismiss the criminal case against Flynn; he had appointed a former federal judge (the overtly anti-Trump John Gleeson) to posit the argument abandoned by DOJ — to wit, that Flynn should proceed to sentencing because he had pled guilty to a false-statements charge, waiving his right to contest the case any further in exchange for the government's agreement not to file any other charges.

250 students and staff asked to quarantine in Georgia district after one week of school

After only one week of school, more than 250 students and teachers from one Georgia school district will be asked to quarantine for two weeks after several teachers and students tested positive for COVID-19, according to the district's website. Cherokee County School District, which is just north of Atlanta, is sharing regular updates on coronavirus cases in its schools on its website. As of Friday, at least 11 students, ranging in age from first to 12th grade, and two staff members from various elementary, middle and high schools, have tested positive for the virus, prompting the school to send almost 250 students and staff home for 14 days because of possible exposure.

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  Georgia college students stage 'die-in' to protest school opening plans: 'We are not dispensable'

  Yahoo Life
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  97,000 kids test positive for COVID-19 in two weeks, report says

  CBS News

A 17-year-old high school student developed an app that records your interaction with police when you're pulled over and immediately shares it to Instagram and Facebook

Aaditya Agrawal told Business Insider that he was compelled to create the app in part after a close friend of his, who is Black, was pulled over without cause. "You see it in the news all the time, but when it happens to one of your close friends — and he tells you how it felt for that to happen to him — then you understand the significance," he said. Accountability in law enforcement has been thrust into the national discourse surrounding how Black Americans are treated by police even more so since the police killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd in May.

Georgia Police Officers Investigated After Shooting at Minors During Traffic Stop

A Georgia family is accusing police officers of shooting at five children between the ages of 9 and 16 during a traffic stop on Saturday morning, according to a local news report. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the incident, which took place in Waycross, Ga., at around 8 a.m. According to the bureau, the incident unfolded after a Waycross Police Department officer saw the car carrying the children allegedly make a traffic violation at an intersection. As the car was stopped, three of the children, ages 9, 12 and 14 jumped out and ran away, according to the bureau.

Conspiracy-mongering Republican seeking John Lewis seat gets social media boost from Trump

On Thursday evening, amid a fairly typical burst of presidential Twitter activity, President Trump retweeted two recent posts from the account of Angela Stanton-King, a Republican congressional candidate who has repeatedly used her social media feeds to promote content related to QAnon and other fringe conspiracy theories, including wildly implausible internet rumors about sex trafficking of children. Trump has also flirted with QAnon memes on social media, although his retweets of Stanton-King were not related to the loosely knit group whose followers have been described by the FBI as “conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists.” In the first tweet, which was originally posted last week, Stanton-King describes herself as “a proud Black woman who supports @realDonaldTrump” and is “done with the Democrat Party lying to my community.”

Woman confronting vandals covered in paint during renewed Portland protests

Protesters in Portland allegedly threw white paint over a woman, as demonstrators clashed with police for a third consecutive day. On Friday, following two days of protests marred by vandalism, more than 200 people clashed with police, as two other Black Lives Matter protests marched peacefully through the city. As the peaceful demonstrations took place, a separate group gathered at a park in east Portland and marched to the local precinct.

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  Woman attempted to protect Portland police station as protesters throw paint

  USA TODAY
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  Woman Tries to Block Portland Protesters Targeting Police Station With Paint

  Storyful

A stranded tanker carrying 4,000 tons of fuel has breached and is leaking oil into the pristine, azure waters of the Indian Ocean

A stranded Japanese-owned oil tanker, sailing under the Panamanian flag, has breached and is flooding waters of the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius with fuel. Mauritius is famous for its coral reefs and abundant marine wildlife. Authorities are racing against the clock to secure a stranded tanker carrying 4,000 tons of oil leaking fuel into waters near a tropical Indian Ocean island.

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  France deploys teams to Mauritius as oil spill disaster worsens

  AFP
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  Mauritius races to contain oil spill, protect coastline

  Associated Press

Nasa drops 'colonial' nicknames for cosmic objects like 'Eskimo Nebula' and 'Siamese Twins Galaxies'

Nasa is to drop "colonial" and "insensitive" nicknames for cosmic objects, including the "Eskimo Nebula" and the "Siamese Twins Galaxies". The space agency said it had taken the decision to address "systemic discrimination and inequality" in science. From now on it will use the official International Astronomical Union designations for planets, stars, galaxies and other stellar bodies "in cases where nicknames are inappropriate."

Venezuela: Former American soldiers jailed over failed coup

A Venezuelan court has sentenced two former American soldiers to 20 years in jail for trying to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro. Luke Denman and Airan Berry were found guilty of conspiracy, illicit trafficking of weapons and terrorism. The pair were among 13 people arrested in May as they attempted to enter Venezuela by sea from Colombia.

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  Venezuela jails two Americans over failed 'invasion'

  AFP
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  Venezuelan court sentences two former US Green Berets to 20 years in prison for failed coup

  The Independent

Haunting image of Beirut destruction shows clock frozen at 6:09

At 6:09 p.m. on Tuesday, disaster struck Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon. Lebanese photographer Aya Nehme shared a picture she took on her Instagram this week that features a car, completely destroyed by the explosions. "It stopped short, never to go again, when Beirut died," Nehme wrote.

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  Activists Hang Nooses in Beirut Square, Blame Politicians for Deadly Blast

  Storyful
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  Renewed Lebanon protests as pressure mounts on government

  AFP

Hong Kong hits back at 'shameless' U.S. sanctions on leader Carrie Lam

The Chinese and Hong Kong governments strongly criticized Washington Saturday after the United States imposed sanctions on the territory's leader Carrie Lam, and other officials, dismissing the move as "clowning actions" that would not intimidate Chinese people. Hong Kong's government said the sanctions were "shameless and despicable" and represented a "blatant and barbaric" interference in China's internal affairs, warning that Hong Kong was being used as a "pawn" in the U.S.-China relationship. The Trump administration announced Friday it would impose sanctions on Lam and Luo Huining, the head of China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong, along with nine other current and former officials that Washington accuses of curtailing political freedoms, following the imposition of a draconian new security law in June.

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  US imposes sanctions on Hong Kong chief exec Carrie Lam

  Yahoo Finance UK
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  Beijing's top HK office says U.S. sanctions are "clowning actions" and "ridiculous"

  Reuters

Police Officer Fired After Allegedly Mishandling Explicit Photos of Slain University of Utah Student

A police officer in Logan, Utah, was fired after a state investigation concluded he “mishandled” explicit photographs that were used to extort University of Utah student Lauren McCluskey, the Logan Police Department announced Friday. In October 2018, 21-year-old McCluskey told the University of Utah Police Department that her ex-boyfriend Melvin Rowland was extorting her for money by threatening to release explicit photographs of her. She then sent those photographs to Officer Miguel Deras, the on-duty campus police officer, according to a report summarizing the Utah Department of Public Safety's (UDPS) investigation into Deras' conduct.

Bars over schools: Why your kids will probably learn from home this fall

But he has not provided any federal guidance on how, exactly, schools can reopen safely and what the federal government will do in order to ensure that they are safely able to do so. Everyone is looking to our federal government to show some leadership here,” Duncan told lawmakers on Thursday, adding that it was unfair to ask school superintendents to make “life-or-death public health decisions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did issue a nine-page checklist for schools, but it contains broad, sometimes obvious recommendations, such as appointing a person to consult “local health officials about the school's approach to planning for COVID-19.

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  A Florida teacher wrote her own obituary, calling herself a 'human shield' as schools prepare to reopen

  INSIDER
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  Gov. Ricketts on educators protesting push to reopen schools amid COVID pandemic

  FOX News Videos

Sales of pricey New York City apartments plunge as the suburbs become cool again

For Connecticut — which has struggled to rebound even from the last recession — the migration could be a boon for its struggling finances. Only one Manhattan condo sold for more than $10 million in July, according to a new report, as many wealthy New Yorkers continue to flee the city for greener pastures. Overall apartment sales fell 57% in July compared to the same month in 2019 as for-sale listing soar, real estate firm Douglas Elliman said in its monthly report, a highly-watched data source for the nation's largest housing market.

A body was recovered from the wreckage of the New Orleans Hard Rock hotel 10 months after it collapsed

Barry Lewis/InPictures via Getty Images A man's body was recovered from a Hard Rock Hotel construction site that collapsed last October, Nola.com reported. Quinnyon Wimberly was one of three workers killed in the collapse. His body was removed from the site on Saturday, after his remains laid in the wreck for 10 months.

How Leander Perez’s Vicious Racism Backfired and Saved Jury Trials

Which is one reason why Duncan, despite his innocent gesture, was arrested on the charge of “Cruelty to Juveniles,” and why his case eventually culminated in Duncan v. Louisiana, a Supreme Court ruling that guaranteed the right to a jury trial for any and all serious crimes. The significance of Duncan v.

GOP appeals after Judge dismisses lawsuit over House's proxy voting system established due to COVID-19

WASHINGTON – A federal judge on Thursday tossed out a Republican-led lawsuit aiming to halt an unprecedented proxy voting system established by the House of Representatives due to the coronavirus pandemic, ruling that the House was immune from such a legal challenge. The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in the District of Columbia by nearly two dozen House Republicans – led by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. in May, argued the proxy voting rules violated the U.S. Constitution because under the Constitution, a majority of lawmakers must be present to take up business and vote on legislation.

Coronavirus: New Zealand marks 100 days without community spread

New Zealand has gone 100 days without recording a locally transmitted Covid-19 case, a milestone that has both been welcomed and brought warnings against complacency. The last case of community transmission was detected on 1 May, days after the country started easing its lockdown. New Zealand has fared better than other countries, recording 1,219 confirmed cases and 22 deaths since the virus arrived in late February.

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  New Zealand has now gone 100 days with no new local COVID-19 cases — and it hasn't been on lockdown since June

  Business Insider
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  New Zealand marks 100 days of virus elimination

  Associated Press