Can someone read this for R. Kelly?
Bella Thorne is no longer bisexual. Up to $700 million could be up for grabs. And R. Kelly, if you're reading this, then the claims that you can't read are false. More on that later. It's Ashley. Here's Monday's news.
But first, when chihuahuas fly: A family says their pet chihuahua is missing after a seagull picked it up and flew away with it. And yes, that's apparently possible.
R. Kelly ‘is a mess’ in jail
Darrell Johnson, a member of jailed singer R. Kelly's inner circle, told Gayle King on Monday's "CBS This Morning" that Kelly “is a mess” in police custody. Kelly has been locked up in a federal jail in Chicago after being arrested July 11 on indictments accusing him of multiple sex crimes, including child porn and sex-trafficking. Johnson, billed as Kelly's "crisis manager" during the interview, said Kelly can't busy himself by reading books in his cell because he can't read or write. Johnson said he would "assume at this point" that Kelly is under suicide watch. When King asked him if he was worried about Kelly harming himself, he replied, "I am, absolutely." King asked Johnson whether he'd leave his own daughter with Kelly. "Absolutely not," he said. Several of Kelly's attorneys told USA TODAY that Johnson is neither a lawyer nor a member of Kelly's defense operation.
Get hacked? You could get a slice of $700 million
One of the biggest data security failures ever could result in compensation for about 147 million people. Credit-reporting company Equifax agreed to pick up the tab in a proposed deal settling allegations that it failed to fix a security flaw that let hackers swipe loads of information from its network in 2017. Hackers snagged about 147 million names and dates of birth, 145.5 million Social Security numbers and 209,000 payment card numbers. The deal calls for Equifax to pay up to $700 million to cover consumers' losses, provide credit monitoring services and resolve the case with states. Depending on how you were affected by the breach, you could be eligible for several types of compensation under the proposed settlement.
Equifax data settlement: Here's how to unfreeze your credit report
Police officer said Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should be shot
A Louisiana police officer said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a "vile idiot" who should be shot. Charlie Rispoli, a veteran officer in the city of Gretna, shared a blog post on Facebook last week that falsely claims the New York Democrat said, “We pay soldiers too much." Rispoli wrote, “This vile idiot needs a round” above Ocasio-Cortez's image. He added, "And I don't mean the kind she used to serve," referring to her prior job as a bartender. Gretna Police Chief Arthur Lawson said the post was "disturbing," but he did not believe Rispoli, who has been with the department since 2005, intended it as a genuine threat. "I’m not going to take this lightly,” Lawson said, according to The Times-Picayune.
What everyone’s talking about
Costa Rica confiscated 30,000 bottles of liquor after 19 people died. Here's how you can identify counterfeit booze overseas.
This tiny shark shoots glow-in-the-dark fluid from pouches near its gills.
Browser extensions are great until you find out they track your every move.
President Donald Trump on racism and the Squad: "It's not me, it's you."
A boy stole two planes for a joyride. Now pilots want to teach him to fly.
'He must resign': Thousands shut down Puerto Rico streets to protest governor
Thousands of Americans took to streets in Puerto Rico on Monday in protests aimed at forcing Gov. Ricardo Rosselló to step down. Rosselló refused to resign, clinging to his job amid a deepening scandal involving profanity-laced, misogynistic conversations that leaked involving male members of his administration. Hundreds of thousands of protesters overwhelmed the expressway into San Juan a day after Rosselló said he would not seek reelection. President Donald Trump joined the chorus, calling the U.S. territory's leadership "corrupt and incompetent.” Rosselló's boyish charm helped him survive controversies surrounding Hurricane Maria in 2017 and a series of corruption scandals. "Chatgate" is proving his most difficult hurdle.
Brooklyn in the dark. In the heat. Without power.
Thousands were without power in parts of Brooklyn on Monday as New York dealt with another blackout amid intense summer weather. Electric company Con Edison said about half of the 33,000 customers in Brooklyn saw power restored Monday morning, and the remainder should have it back by afternoon. Scattered outages kept 50,000-plus New Yorkers in the dark Sunday. "This was not a natural disaster; there is no excuse for what has happened in Brooklyn," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. Cuomo, who ordered an investigation into an earlier Manhattan blackout this month, said he would widen the inquiry to include Brooklyn's outage. Mayor Bill de Blasio blasted Con Edison, too: "This should not have happened."
But the East's heat wave is over. Now it's the West's turn to bake.
Real quick
One giant leap for India: The country launched a "historic" flight heading for the moon.
Elizabeth Warren: "Warning lights are flashing” for a serious economic downturn.
2019 NFL record predictions: Will the Patriots return to the Super Bowl?
Speaking of the Patriots: Tom Brady's getting dragged for cliff diving with his daughter.
Trump paid homage to the late John Paul Stevens, the third-longest-serving Supreme Court justice in history.
Actress Bella Thorne: 'I'm actually pansexual'
Before the release of her latest book this week, actress Bella Thorne opened up about her sexuality: "I'm actually pansexual, and I didn't know that," Thorne said in an interview with “Good Morning America” that aired Monday. The 21-year-old, who came out as bisexual on Twitter in 2016, said she recently realized her sexuality doesn't fit that label. Thorne described her sexuality as favoring someone's personality more than their body. "You like beings," she said. "Doesn't have to be a girl or a guy or a he or she or they or this or that. It's literally you like personality. You just like a being." Last month, Thorne posted topless photos of herself online, saying she did so to thwart a hacker.
Bella Thorne said she's pansexual: Here's more on what the term means
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: R. Kelly, Puerto Rico, Equifax, Tom Brady, Bella Thorne: Monday’s news
