The CIA sent a team of 4 operators on a spy mission targeting China. None came back.

The company is, in fact, a commercial cover for the CIA's Maritime Branch, according to a former CIA employee. We build these companies from whole cloth, from the ground up,” the former CIA employee told Yahoo News, which is not identifying its name, since it is still used in ongoing covert operations. Maritime Branch is one of the CIA's paramilitary components.

As Trump courts Black voters, critics see a 'depression strategy'

President Trump wants to Make America #Woke Again. Viewers who watch the Trump campaign's online programming aimed at Black audiences are encouraged to tweet the hashtag #Woke when announcing their support for the president. This subversion of the term, which originated in the Black community as slang for becoming attuned to the injustice and systemic racism prevalent in American society, is part of a larger effort by the Trump campaign to erode Democrats' longtime advantage with African-American voters.

Mass suspension of German police officers who shared pictures of Hitler and doctored images of refugees in gas chambers

The widespread sharing neo-Nazi imagery and pictures of Adolf Hitler on far-right chatrooms by German police has led to the suspension of 29 officers. The officers shared extremist content, including Swastikas and doctored images of refugees in gas chambers, according to officials in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). Some face charges of spreading Nazi propaganda and hate speech while others are accused of not reporting the actions of their colleagues.

Sources: Russian aggression against U.S. intelligence satellites sparks congressional briefing

Over recent days, officials from the newly minted U.S. Space Force and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence briefed multiple congressional committees on an “uptick” in Russian military activity in space targeting U.S. defense and intelligence satellites, according to two sources familiar with the matter. While the sources declined to comment on the specifics of recent incidents, which follow general increases in Chinese and Russian aggression in space, these recent actions were deemed “serious enough” to merit briefings on Capitol Hill, said one of the sources. Officials also briefed committees on plans to counter the Russian aggression, the source said.

Pakistan outcry over police victim-blaming of gang-raped mother

She called her relatives in Gujranwala who advised her to call the motorway emergency numbers and also set off to help her. According to the complaint registered with the police by one of the woman's relatives, the car was broken into by two men in their early- to mid-30s who stole money and jewellery she had on her. They raped her in front of her two children in a nearby field, and then escaped.

Who might succeed Justice Ginsburg? Trump's short list begins with these five women (and one man)

A finalist for Trump's second high court nomination, which ultimately went to Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, Barrett, 48, is a favorite of religious conservatives. Barrett rocketed to the top of Trump's list of potential nominees after her 2017 confirmation hearing for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, when Democrats cited her deep Catholic faith not as an advantage but an obstacle.

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  Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies at 87

  Associated Press
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  Ted Cruz: Senate should confirm Trump Supreme Court nomination before election

  FOX News Videos

Tesla driver charged for appearing to be asleep with the seat fully reclined while traveling at over 86 mph

Canadian authorities said they charged a driver for dangerous driving after they appeared to be sleeping while his Tesla Model S drove on Autopilot. Tesla maintains the software is not misleading. "The people who misuse Autopilot, it's not because they're new to it and don't understand it," Elon Musk told Automotive News in July in response to criticism of the feature's name.

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  Canadian Police Arrested a Man for Sleeping While His ‘Self-Driving’ Tesla Sped Down the Highway

  Robb Report
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  Man 'asleep' in speeding self-driving car charged in Canada

  AFP

US carrier transits Strait of Hormuz amid tensions with Iran

The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier safely transited on Friday through the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important chokepoint for oil shipments, the U.S. Navy said, as tensions with Iran continue to simmer. In a “scheduled” maneuver, the U.S. sent the carrier and several other warships through the strait, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, according to the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th fleet. The Nimitz, America's oldest carrier in active service, carries some 5,000 sailors and Marines.

Twins abduct, beat man for ransom while on house arrest for murder, authorities say

Twin brothers under house arrest on murder charges duct-taped a man and cut his face and toes demanding a ransom payment, authorities said. On Friday, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida announced 23-year-old twin brothers Devon Cooke and Donavan Cooke, of Miami Gardens, were charged with carjacking and kidnapping after they allegedly abducted and assaulted a man in an attempt to collect ransom money. The brothers were under house house arrest on murder and attempted murder charges when the incident happened.

The Department of the Treasury is reportedly looking into the American companies behind 'Fortnite' and 'League of Legends' over their ties to Chinese tech titan Tencent

The wildly popular smartphone apps TikTok and WeChat will be banned in the US starting on September 20, the US government announced on Friday morning. CFIUS, the same Treasury group that initated those investigations, is now looking into "Fortnite" maker Epic Games and "League of Legends" maker Riot Games due to their associations with the Chinese conglomerate Tencent, Bloomberg reported. Tencent, which owns WeChat, wholly owns Riot Games and owns a 40% stake in Epic Games.

Court weighs allowing courtroom cameras in George Floyd case

The trial of four former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd's death will generate massive public interest when it begins in March, but as it stands, most people who want to watch the proceedings will be out of luck. Supporters of audio and visual coverage say the high-profile nature of Floyd's death, the outrage that led to worldwide protests, and courtroom restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic make this the right time and case to allow cameras in court. “I just can't think of a situation where it's more important than a case like this for the public to see what's actually transpiring in the courtroom,” said Jane Kirtley, director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law.

In California: Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies; Snow Fire threatens Palm Springs area

Snow Fire near Palm Springs grows to 2,500 acres Fire crews worked through the night Thursday to defend the small, unincorporated community of Snow Creek, northwest of Palm Springs, from the Snow Fire, which authorities were alerted to earlier that afternoon in the 15900 block of Snow Creek Road. The blaze is burning between Cabazon and Whitewater in the San Jacinto Wilderness and so far has destroyed 2,500 acres. The blaze was 0% contained as of this morning, according to a Cal Fire official, and had crept over peaks close to a mobile home community in the Windy Point area, called Santiago Sun Canyon Estates.

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  Firefighter battling blaze in California found dead

  CBS News
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  Raging wildfires ignite new round of evacuations

  ABC News Videos

Fears of a brain drain in Belarus as IT workers prepare to flee brutal crackdown

On the night of the Belarusian presidential elections, Andrey Fedorovich, a 27-year-old web developer with an enviable job and a big flat in Minsk, found himself lying on the ground underneath an abandoned van, hiding from riot police rampaging across the city. I first thought about leaving when I was lying underneath that van, when I saw what kind of people live in my country,” Mr Fedorovich says. He and his wife have now decided to flee for Kyiv in Ukraine.

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  Belarus tries to muzzle opposition leader at UN

  AFP
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  Belarus opposition leader demands end to violence, seeks free and fair elections

  Reuters

Outrage after billionaire Trump donor allowed to avoid Canadian quarantine rules

A billionaire megadonor to Donald Trump, who has publicly criticised coronavirus restrictions, was granted an exemption from Canada's mandatory 14 day quarantine for foreign travellers when she visited the country by private jet. Liz Uihlein, the president of US packaging company Uline, visited Canada through the Pearson airport in Toronto on 25 August to visit one of her company's warehouses, according to CBC News. A company spokesperson told CBC that the three of them were granted a formal exemption from the quarantine rule, which has been active in Canada since March, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

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  Travel latest news: British travellers can now visit just 12 destinations without restrictions

  The Telegraph
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  How to Navigate Covid Travel Restrictions

  The Wall Street Journal

US borders with Canada, Mexico to remain closed through Oct. 21 to 'slow spread of COVID-19'

The land borders are closed but that doesn't mean U.S. citizens can't travel by air. Americans seeking sun and surf south of the border are still welcome in Mexican resort areas such as Cancun, Cozumel and Cabo San Lucas, where they are not required to present a negative COVID-19 test or quarantine for 14 days. Travelers need only undergo temperature screenings and fill out a traveler risk factor questionnaire upon arrival and departure.

The NRA and the Trump Campaign Appear to Be Flouting Election Laws. Again.

The NRA and the Trump campaign placed those ads through two companies that appear separate on paper, but reporting by The Trace indicates they are affiliates of National Media Research, Planning and Placement, an influential conservative firm in Alexandria, Virginia. We identified four National Media employees whose names or signatures also appear on recent documents related to the shell companies. In fact, the three firms are so closely linked that they share a phone number.

Bill Gates says Elon Musk couldn't be confused with Steve Jobs and that electric cars are 'far easier' than other climate change technology

Bill Gates doesn't think it's fair to call Elon Musk "the next Steve Jobs," the billionaire philanthropist said during an interview on Bloomberg TV Thursday. When asked by Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker if Musk was indeed the next Jobs, Gates replied: "If you know people personally, that kind of gross oversimplification seems strange. Elon's more of a hands-on engineer; Steve was a genius at design and picking people and marketing.

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  Tesla’s Big Battery Day Event: What to Expect

  TipRanks
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  Amazon Invests In Former Tesla CTO's Battery Recycling Startup

  Benzinga

Thousands of migratory birds are 'falling out of the sky' in a mass die-off that could be linked to the West Coast wildfires

"Hundreds of thousands" of migratory birds are dropping dead across the Southwest in what scientists are calling the largest mass die-off in recent history. Scientists first began investigating the phenomenon in late August after numerous reports of clusters of dead birds found in states including New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Nebraska. Scientists are unsure why this mass die-off is happening, but have addressed several factors including climate change and the ongoing wildfires as possible reasons for the deaths.

Philippines' Duterte keeps one meter social distancing rule

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to retain the 1 meter (three feet) social distance requirement on public transport to reduce coronavirus infections, rejecting moves to reduce it to 30 centimetres (12 inches), his spokesman said on Saturday. Health experts have warned that reducing gaps between passengers in trains, buses and jeepneys could result in a surge of infections in the Philippines, which has the most confirmed COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia. Duterte studied recommendations and decided to retain the 1 meter distancing requirement, including a ban on eating and speaking in public transport, presidential spokesman Harry Roque told state-run PTV4 network.

Ohio limit of 1 ballot drop box per county blocked, appealed

An Ohio judge has temporarily blocked the Republican secretary of state's order limiting counties in the critical presidential battleground to one ballot drop box, and the state and Republicans have appealed. A judge in Franklin County, home to the state capital, blocked the directive Wednesday after Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who oversees Ohio elections, failed to voluntarily respond to his declaration that the order was arbitrary and unreasonable. The state immediately appealed, and the Ohio Republican Party followed suit late Thursday, placing the fate of the order on hold.

Republican Congressman Doug Collins attacks Ruth Bader Ginsburg on abortion just hours after her death

Just hours after the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, US Rep. Doug Collins attacked the late justice's position on abortion on Twitter. Collins tweeted Friday, "RIP to the more than 30 million innocent babies that have been murdered during the decades that Ruth Bader Ginsburg defended pro-abortion laws." During President Trump's impeachment hearings earlier this year, Collins was a staunch defender of the president, delivering impassioned speeches and jousting with House Democrats throughout the proceedings.

Almost one third of Covid deaths in July and August 'primarily caused by other conditions'

Coronavirus was not the main cause of death for nearly one third of recorded Covid-19 victims in July and August, research by Oxford University has found. Analysis shows that around 30 percent of people included in the coronavirus death toll by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) over the summer months had died primarily from other conditions. It means someone who suffered a heart attack, or even died in a road traffic accident, may have been included in the figures if they had also tested positive for coronavirus at some point, or if doctors believed the virus may have exacerbated their condition.