- PoliticsNBC News
'Difficult to attack vanilla': Trump's throwing everything at Biden, but nothing is sticking
President Donald Trump and his campaign have spent months deploying a series of attacks depicting Joe Biden as weak, unfit and a tool of leftists. On Tuesday, Trump stood in the Rose Garden and went on a non-stop nearly hour-long anti-Biden rant, spraying a variety of broadsides at the former vice president, on everything from China policy to immigration to policing and much more. In what may have been his wildest attack, Trump claimed Biden's housing policy would "abolish the suburbs."
- U.S.USA TODAY
In historic move, North Carolina city approves reparations for Black residents
In an extraordinary move, the Asheville City Council has apologized for the North Carolina city's historic role in slavery, discrimination and denial of basic liberties to Black residents and voted to provide reparations to them and their descendants. "Hundreds of years of Black blood spilled that basically fills the cup we drink from today," said Councilman Keith Young, one of two African American members of the body and the measure's chief proponent. Instead, it will make investments in areas where Black residents face disparities.
- PoliticsNational Review
Lindsey Graham Attempting to Declassify FBI Memo on Steele Source Who Undermined Dossier
Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) revealed on Tuesday that he is attempting to declassify an FBI memo describing an interview with a crucial source for the Steele dossier, whose comments undermined the dossier's assertions. The source was dossier author Christopher Steele's only direct source inside Russia for many of the allegations included in the dossier. The Justice Department Inspector General report released in December 2019 noted that the individual, referred to as the “Primary Sub-Source,” has since disputed various claims in the dossier, including that Trump-campaign officials colluded with Russian operatives during the 2016 election.
EntertainmentKABC – Los Angeles'Ink Master's' Daniel Silva charged with murder of Corey La Barrie
Tattoo artist Daniel Joseph Silva has been charged with the murder of Corey La Barrie, the 25-year-old YouTube star who was killed in a car crash in Valley Village.
- WorldAssociated Press
Tanker off UAE sought by US over Iran sanctions 'hijacked'
An oil tanker sought by the U.S. over allegedly circumventing sanctions on Iran was hijacked on July 5 off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, a seafarers welfare organization said Wednesday. Satellite photos showed the vessel in Iranian waters on Tuesday and two of its sailors remained in the Iranian capital. It wasn't immediately clear what happened aboard the Dominica-flagged MT Gulf Sky, though its reported hijacking comes after months of tensions between Iran and the U.S. David Hammond, the CEO of the United Kingdom-based group Human Rights at Sea, said he took a witness statement from the captain of the MT Gulf Sky, confirming the ship had been hijacked.
- U.S.Time
Mississippi Is Replacing Its State Flag, But a Confederate Emblem Still Flies Over Georgia
In June, as many people across the United States took a renewed look at the nation's history of racism, legislators in Mississippi voted yea on House Bill 1796, replacing the state flag. With that, theirs became the last state to remove a flying Confederate battle emblem from above their statehouse. The landslide vote, with 92 of 115 Representatives and 37 of 51 Senators opting for removal, was resoundingly heralded as a massive step forward for American equality.
- U.S.INSIDER
The California woman who refused to wear a face mask in Starbucks is considering suing to get half of the barista's $100,000 in GoFundMe tips
Last month, a San Diego woman named Amber Gilles publicly shamed a Starbucks barista for refusing to serve her because she wasn't wearing a face mask. A GoFundMe campaign raised more than $100,000 in tips for the barista, Lenin Gutierrez. Now Gilles says she wants half of the money, telling KGTV she was the one who was "discriminated against."
- U.S.Yahoo News
CDC urges masks for everyone as coronavirus surges
Confronting a drastic rise in coronavirus cases across the United States, the nation's top public health officials urged all Americans to wear masks in order to prevent the spread of the disease. “At this critical juncture when COVID-19 is resurging,” wrote Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Robert Redfield in a Journal of the American Medical Association editorial published on Tuesday, “broad adoption of cloth face coverings is a civic duty, a small sacrifice reliant on a highly effective low-tech solution that can help turn the tide favorably in national and global efforts against COVID-19.” In recent weeks, the coronavirus has swept across the Sun Belt, where states like Florida, Arizona and Texas disregarded the warnings of public health officials and reopened early, without strict mask mandates in place.
- WorldBusiness Insider
US Navy warship challenges China in South China Sea as US blasts Beijing's 'unlawful' claims and 'gangster tactics'
US Navy A US Navy destroyer challenged China in the South China Sea with a freedom-of-navigation operation on Tuesday. The USS Ralph Johnson sailed near the disputed Spratly Islands, the Navy said, adding in a statement that "unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas." The operation, one of at least six such operations this year, comes after the US State Department officially rejected most of China's sea claims, declaring its maritime efforts to assert sovereignty unlawful.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
NY Judge in Trump’s Tax Return Fight: Why Are We Still Here?
A week after the Supreme Court ruled President Donald Trump is not immune from turning over his tax returns and other financial records to the Manhattan district attorney, the president's legal team said in a Thursday hearing they intended to keep fighting the “wildly over-broad subpoena”—an argument slammed by prosecutors as a back-door attempt to create temporary “absolute immunity.” Federal Judge Victor Marrero—who originally presided over the case and denied the president's efforts to block Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance from subpoenaing eight years of Trump's tax returns last year—questioned both sides in a Thursday hearing about what has changed since his previous ruling.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Florida reported 100% positive COVID-19 tests from some labs. That's wrong, hospital system says.
FORT MYERS, Fla. The Florida Department of Health in its daily report lists multiple laboratories throughout the state – many of them small testing sites – with 100% positivity rates, but Southwest Florida's dominant hospital system said Wednesday it is incorrect to say 100% of their labs are positive. The Lee Health hospital system is reporting that its laboratory testing of potential COVID-19 cases has shown an overall positivity rate of about 18%, despite the state report showing that all people coming in for testing at some of its labs have the novel coronavirus.
- U.S.Reuters
U.S. steps up crackdown on MS-13 gang, to seek death penalty of accused leader
The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday said it was stepping up a crackdown on the international criminal gang MS-13 and would seek the death penalty against an alleged New York gang leader facing murder charges. The department also said it was bringing terrorism-related charges against a MS-13 member for the first time, as well as charges against alleged leaders of gang cells known as the "Hollywood Locos" and "Los Angeles Program." The Trump administration's Justice Department has vowed to "go to war against MS-13," also known as Mara Salvatrucha, which started in the 1980s as a Salvadoran street gang in Los Angeles.
- PoliticsLA Times
Kamala Harris made her mark confronting Joe Biden. Could they end up as running mates?
Others were more critical, saying Harris' genuine anguish over Biden's remarks on working with Southern senators was overshadowed when she raised another issue, school busing, and then muddled their differences and undercut her attack. Some Biden backers, meantime, continue to nurse hard feelings, believing Harris — who was good friends with Biden's late son, Beau — unfairly blindsided him. They have lobbied against selection of California's junior senator, one of half a dozen or so women floated as potential running mates.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
McGrath outpaces McConnell in fundraising for Senate seat
Democratic challenger Amy McGrath continued her blistering fundraising pace in the spring, outdistancing Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for another quarter in their bruising, free-spending campaign in Kentucky. Despite her prodigious pace, McGrath ended the quarter with slightly less money in the bank after spending heavily at the end of her bumpier-than-expected primary battle against state Rep. Charles Booker. The bonanza partly reflects McConnell's close ties to President Donald Trump, which has made him a lightning rod for Democrats across the nation.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
21 Best Wall-Mounted Planters to Infuse Your Space With Greenery
Create living wall art that will freshen up any space Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
- U.S.INSIDER
An international student said the Trump administration rescinding its deportation threat is a relief, but the whiplash is unsettling
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced on July 6 that international students who were taking courses entirely online would not be allowed to remain in the US. The new policy was met with immediate backlash as 17 states and Washington, DC, filed a lawsuit to block the motion while Harvard and MIT led a similar suit that quickly garnered the support of 200 more universities. An international student told Insider that while she is happy about the rollback, she is still unsettled by the inconsistency of the Trump administration on potentially life-altering issues for students like her.
- U.S.Yahoo News
How a leading left-wing academic and activist wound up in the middle of a free speech debate
A once obscure internet debate over the limits of free speech and the rise of what critics call “cancel culture” has, somewhat improbably, become a significant 2020 campaign issue. President Trump tapped into conservative worries about cancel culture — the notion that everyone from intellectuals to everyday citizens can be “canceled” and see their lives upended if they become the target of an online “mob” — in a July 3 speech at Mount Rushmore. Cancel culture, the president insisted, is “the very definition of totalitarianism.”
- WorldBBC
River Nile dam: Sudan blasts 'unilateral' move as Ethiopia dam fills
Sudan says River Nile water levels have dropped as a reservoir behind Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance dam has filled up, hitting out at "any unilateral actions taken by any party". Egypt has also demanded "quick official clarification" from Ethiopia. Both Sudan and Egypt are downstream, and fear the large dam will greatly reduce their access to water.
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
Mary Trump slams Ivanka in new interview: 'She doesn't do anything'
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images When it comes to any notion of Ivanka Trump as a "moderating influence" on her father, Mary Trump just isn't having it. "I think she's the one who disproves that on an almost-daily basis," Mary, President Trump's niece, told The Washington Post in a new interview. "She doesn't do anything," Mary said.
- EntertainmentPopular Mechanics
'MythBusters' Host Grant Imahara, Dead at 49, Embodied the Pop Mech Spirit
The brilliant roboticist and master tinkerer inspired a generation of makers. From Popular Mechanics
- WorldThe Daily Beast
Ghislaine Maxwell Pleads Not Guilty in Epstein Sex Trafficking Ring Charges
A federal judge denied bail to Jeffrey Epstein's accused madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is accused of recruiting and grooming underage girls in the financier's sex-trafficking scheme. On Tuesday afternoon, Maxwell appeared at the arraignment, initial scheduling conference, and bail hearing remotely via video conference from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Assistant U.S. prosecutor Alison Moe argued the 58-year-old British socialite has “the ability and willingness to live off the grid indefinitely” and wasn't candid with the court or a pretrial services officer about her financial means, listing less than $1 million in her accounts and zero monthly income.
- U.S.USA TODAY
A Michigan jeweler is retiring and burying $1 million worth of treasure for a 'quest'
A Michigan jeweler is calling it quits after 23 years and taking prospective adventurers on a treasure hunt. Johnny Perri, who owns J&M Jewelers in Washington Township, Michigan, had an "epiphany" after being forced to shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. "Although I enjoyed being in business for myself and have been blessed serving our wonderful customers, I've discovered that I was never truly happy," Perri writes on the website set up for his "Treasure Quest."
- WorldAssociated Press
Analysis: Risks grow after blast hits Iran's nuclear program
A mysterious explosion and fire at Iran's main nuclear facility may have stopped Tehran from building advanced centrifuges, but it likely has not slowed the Islamic Republic in growing its ever-increasing stockpile of low-enriched uranium. Limiting that stockpile represented one of the main tenets of the nuclear deal that world powers reached with Iran five years ago this week — an accord which now lies in tatters after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from it two years ago. The larger that stockpile grows, the shorter the so-called “breakout time” becomes — time that Iran would need to build a nuclear weapon if it chooses to do so.
- WorldReuters
Turkish court sentences Germany-based journalist to jail on terrorism charges
A Turkish court sentenced German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel in absentia on Thursday to jail for 2 years and 9 months for terrorism propaganda, his lawyer said, in a case that has strained ties between Ankara and Berlin. Yucel, who denied the charges against him, returned to Berlin in February 2018 when he was released from custody after being kept in jail for a year without indictment. The court convicted Yucel on Thursday for spreading propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, lawyer Veysel Ok said.
U.S.KFSN – Fresno20-year-old Clovis man dies after losing control of motorcycle while on Highway 168
Dale and Donna Letson were waiting for their only child to return home from an early morning ride last Saturday when they got the worst news imaginable.
