| 'Most believe that it was an accident': Pentagon chief contradicts Trump on Beirut explosion Posted: 05 Aug 2020 01:15 PM PDT  Less than 24 hours after President Trump said some "great generals" told him they thought that yesterday's massive explosion in Beirut was an "attack" involving "a bomb of some kind," Defense Secretary Mark Esper seemed less than convinced by that explanation.
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| Virginia mayor urged to resign after saying Biden picked ‘Aunt Jemima’ as his running mate Posted: 06 Aug 2020 09:36 AM PDT  A Virginia mayor has been urged to resign after he allegedly wrote that "Joe Biden has just announced Aunt Jemima as his VP pick," on his Facebook page.Barry Presgraves, the mayor of Luray, Virginia, posted the comment on his Facebook page over the weekend, but swiftly deleted it after backlash from residents and local officials.
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| The deadly explosion that devastated Beirut appears to have been far more powerful than the 'Mother of All Bombs' Posted: 05 Aug 2020 01:15 PM PDT  Weapons experts estimated that the explosion was many times stronger than the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in the US arsenal.
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| Portland's Black police chief says violent protesters have 'taken away from' the Black Lives Matter movement Posted: 06 Aug 2020 03:24 AM PDT  While the protests in downtown Portland have largely been peaceful, there have been violent offshoots in other parts of the city this week.
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| MS-13 gang members charged with sex trafficking, other charges in abuse of 13-year-old runaway Posted: 05 Aug 2020 05:19 PM PDT  Federal prosecutors allege that gang members beat the girl, raped her and prostituted her in Virginia and Maryland.
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| New York attorney general sues to dissolve NRA Posted: 06 Aug 2020 02:10 PM PDT  New York's attorney general announces a lawsuit aimed at dissolving the powerful gun lobbying group.
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| Tourist damages 200-year-old sculpture during photo op Posted: 05 Aug 2020 09:50 AM PDT  Surveillance footage shows the man sit on the sculpture for a photo op before noticing the damage and awkwardly leaving the scene.
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| CDC says some sickened after swallowing hand sanitizer Posted: 05 Aug 2020 12:38 PM PDT  Hand hygiene has been promoted as an important way to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the United States, and the CDC recommends using alcohol-based sanitizer products to clean hands if soap and water are not available. All alcohol-based hand sanitizers approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must contain only ethanol or isopropanol, but some products imported into the country have been found to contain methanol, the CDC said in a report.
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| New poll shows plummeting GOP satisfaction with direction of country Posted: 05 Aug 2020 12:20 PM PDT  Thanks to a marked shift among Republican voters since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, just 13 percent of Americans surveyed now say they are satisfied with "the way things are going in the United States."
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| Biden asks reporter if he's a 'junkie' in testy exchange over cognitive decline Posted: 05 Aug 2020 08:54 AM PDT  Joe Biden asked an African American reporter if he was a "junkie" for questioning whether the former vice president had taken a cognitive test in response to attacks targeting his mental health.At an event for black and Hispanic journalists, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee compared the question to asking CBS News correspondent Errol Barnett if he was using cocaine during the interview.
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| A Uighur man recorded life inside a high-security Chinese internment camp. Here's what he said it was like. Posted: 05 Aug 2020 02:45 AM PDT  Mergan Ghappar smuggled a cell phone into a detention camp, and was able to talk to his family and film footage inside. He has since disappeared.
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| Jason Riley on what's driving calls for Biden to skip debates and Obama's progressive pivot Posted: 05 Aug 2020 03:35 AM PDT  Wall Street Journal columnist and Fox News contributor Jason Riley breaks down the Democrat campaign on 'Fox & Friends.'
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| California prosecutors asked the NFL to remove its PSA about the police killing of Stephon Clark, arguing it 'misrepresents the facts' Posted: 05 Aug 2020 01:39 PM PDT  Stephon Clark, an unarmed 22-year-old Black man was shot eight times by two Sacramento police officers in March 2018.
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| Sri Lankan PM claims landslide victory, strengthening Rajapaksa family's hand Posted: 06 Aug 2020 01:26 PM PDT  Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's party claimed a landslide victory as vote counting in the country's election came to a close on Thursday evening, prompting fears among minority groups. "Our biggest victory has been that people have trusted us and we are ready to uphold that trust," the Prime Minister told The Telegraph as the results came in. However, critics worry that it further strengthens the hand of the Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist Rajapaksa family, with fears they could rewrite the constitution and further target minorities. In November 2019, Mahinda's younger brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa was voted in as president. Mahinda himself has previously served as president, and Gotabaya as defence secretary. The brothers remain under scrutiny for alleged war crimes committed during the fight against the Tamil Tigers and the family has been accused of corruption and nepotism. At least four members ran in Wednesday's parliamentary elections. Still, the brothers' party - a new party called the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna - was expected to win by a large margin with about 80 percent of the votes counted, clinching the majority of the 225 seats in Parliament for Mahinda to return as prime minister. The Rajapaksas were hoping for a two-thirds majority that will allow them to make a much debated constitutional amendment, giving them the power to revert to an all powerful executive presidency system. Amid the coronavirus pandemic and political apathy created by a divided opposition, voter turnout was the lowest in decades. Nonetheless, more than 70 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. The snap election was called after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa dissolved Parliament in March, six months ahead of schedule, but was later delayed twice because of the pandemic. Since his election in November, Gotabaya has spearheaded a "campaign of fear", according to Human Rights Watch, targeting opposition lawyers, activists, and journalists, including earmarked arrests, intimidation, and threats. However, he has gained popularity with some for implementing a rapid lockdown and extended curfew to curb the coronavirus. With a population of 22 million, Sri Lanka has officially recorded only 11 COVID-19-related deaths, although critics dispute the figures. People in quarantine centres were not able to cast their votes on Wednesday. Although the election authorities set an advanced polling day for those under quarantine for July 31, it was later cancelled as there was no legal provision for advanced voting.
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| Joshua Wong and other Hong Kong activists charged over banned June 4 vigil Posted: 06 Aug 2020 06:02 AM PDT  Two dozen people in Hong Kong, including pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, have been charged with participating in an illegal assembly at a vigil on June 4 commemorating the crackdown on protesters in and around Beijing's Tiananmen square in 1989. It was the first time the vigil had been banned in semiautonomous Hong Kong, with police citing coronavirus restrictions on group gatherings in refusing permission for it to take place. The anniversary struck an especially sensitive nerve in the former British colony this year, falling just as China prepared to introduce national security legislation later that month in response to last year's often violent pro-democracy demonstrations.
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| Trump says his administration has 'redone 82 percent' of the 'Obama things' Posted: 05 Aug 2020 06:28 AM PDT  President Trump phoned into Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning and, as he's wont to do, took some shots at his predecessor, former President Barack Obama.Co-host Brian Kilmeade asked Trump to comment on Obama's eulogy at last week's funeral for the late civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis, which Kilmeade said reminded him of a "campaign speech" rather than a eulogy. Trump appeared to agree, adding that it was a "terrible speech" and a supposedly "angry" Obama "lost control" while speaking. The president also claimed Obama's words received criticism from "both sides."Trump then meandered away from the eulogy and began talking about how his administration has "redone" a very specific 82 percent of very unspecific "Obama things" seemingly related to environmental policy. Watch the clip below. > Donald Trump says Barack Obama's eulogy for John Lewis was "a terrible speech, it was an angry speech, it showed this anger there that people don't see. He lost control. ... That speech was ridiculous." pic.twitter.com/YMRqCZXNKn> > -- Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) August 5, 2020More stories from theweek.com New Lincoln Project ad crowns Jared Kushner 'Secretary of Failure' The Republican problem no one knows how to solve Pelosi doubts Republicans will pass generous coronavirus bill: 'Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn'
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| Lebanese officials unloaded a 'floating bomb' and apparently ignored warnings for years, according to reports Posted: 05 Aug 2020 07:41 PM PDT  Lebanese officials knew they were storing dangerous, explosive materials at the port in Beirut, but ignored years of warnings.
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| China sentences 3rd Canadian to death on drug charges Posted: 06 Aug 2020 01:27 AM PDT  China has sentenced a third Canadian citizen to death on drug charges amid a steep decline in relations between the two countries. The Guangzhou Municipal Intermediate Court announced Xu Weihong's penalty on Thursday and said an alleged accomplice, Wen Guanxiong, had been given a life sentence. Death sentences are automatically referred to China's highest court for review.
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| Here’s how you can apply for up to $2,000 in COVID relief Posted: 06 Aug 2020 10:29 AM PDT  Applications for the program, which kicked off Wednesday, are now available online in English, Creole and Spanish.
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| Reporter reflects on Beirut explosion, burying a dog who made 'dystopia more bearable' Posted: 05 Aug 2020 12:23 PM PDT  Journalist Nadia al-Faour was at the vet when the Beirut explosion struck: "I will miss Loulou as I walk the streets of a broken city."
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| Chicago rapper FBG Duck killed in brazen daytime shopping attack Posted: 05 Aug 2020 12:35 PM PDT  The attack was committed in the Gold Coast luxury shopping district by four gunmen in two vehicles.
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| Seattle City Council Won’t Slash Police Budget, but OKs Cop Layoffs Posted: 05 Aug 2020 03:28 PM PDT  A majority of Seattle's City Council on Wednesday voted down a proposal to slash the police department's remaining 2020 budget by 50 percent. But the council did pass a slew of other defunding efforts, including ones that would cut 100 officers from the agency this year through layoffs and attrition.The vote by the budget committee—which came one day after the city's mayor and police chief held a press conference to criticize the proposal—signaled some progress for Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality advocates who've pushed to defund departments across the U.S. and reallocate funds to community services, including housing and youth programs.The budget-cut plan, proposed by council member Kshama Sawant, would have cut $54 million from the Seattle PD immediately through layoffs and reallocated it to programs, including $34 million for affordable housing. Sawant was the only member to vote in favor of the proposal, while another council member abstained and the remaining seven voted against it.While the council's budget committee voted on a variety of amendments related to police funding, activists marched from a King County juvenile detention facility to City Hall. One reporter on scene captured demonstrators chanting, "Bad boys. Bad boys. Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when we defund you?"Shootings Rise in Big Cities Along With Calls to Defund the PoliceSeattle's vote comes on the heels of other local governments, including the Washington D.C. Council, passing legislation to dismantle or cut the budgets of police departments. In late June, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved a proposal to disband the city's police department—and replace it with a new Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention—following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who was killed May 25 by a Minneapolis cop who kneeled on his neck during an arrest.Minneapolis' charter commission voted 10-5 against the city council's proposal on Wednesday, saying they needed more time to review it. The decision meant voters won't get to decide on the amendment on a November ballot. The Seattle council's budget committee unanimously passed a series of amendments, including adding $4 million to the Human Services Department for a community safety initiative which would be an "alternative to traditional policing." The funding for that effort would come from a loan authorized by separate legislation.They also voted to cut $886,000 from the Seattle PD and reallocate it to a proposal that would add $10 million for community-led organizations "to increase public safety." (The remaining $9.1 million would come from interfund loan to be addressed in separate legislation.) The cuts approved included $36,000 from the police department's remaining 2020 budget for implicit bias training; $50,000 from SPD's 2020 travel budget; and $800,000 from the department's recruitment and retention activities. > Protesters gathering near the youth jail for today's march to City Hall. Saw a handful of bike cops on my way over, though they seem to be around the block now. pic.twitter.com/8vf6r3EW9W> > — Heidi Groover (@heidigroover) August 5, 2020The committee also unanimously approved a "consent package" which includes ordering the police chief to eliminate the mounted unit and public affairs unit, each of which has four officers; lay off five members of the community outreach unit; lay off two members of the 29-officer SWAT team; and let go of 30 officers through attrition. All told, the council approved a reduction of 54 officers from the department.This package also included $50,000 in funding to contract with a community-based organization to create a non-police 911 response system.On Monday, KOMO News revealed the proposal to slash the Seattle Police Department's budget by 50 percent appeared to be "losing steam" among the nine council members. The remainder of the Seattle PD's unspent budget is an estimated $188 million, the outlet reported.Council member Sawant slammed her colleagues in an interview with the TV outlet and on Twitter, where she claimed Democrats on the budget committee "ganged up against our movement's proposals to Defund the police..."> To see Democratic Party politicians in their real role, watch today's Seattle City Council Budget Committe, where they ganged up against our movement's proposals to Defund the police by at least 50%, fund community programs, and increase significant funds for affordable housing.> > — Kshama Sawant (@cmkshama) August 4, 2020"I'm not surprised," Sawant told KOMO News, "but it's quite interesting to see how council members are now displaying how they actually stand and I hope members of the public are watching."Last month, protesters targeted the homes of two council members who supported reducing the police budget but wouldn't commit to slashing it by 50 percent, the Seattle Times reported. The demonstrations allegedly included making noise outside one councilor's home at night and leaving notes on his door warning, "Don't be racist trash."In June, another group visited Mayor Jenny Durkan's residence, which was tagged with spray paint, according to the Times. Durkan asked the council to probe Sawant for taking part in that protest but council president Lorena González declined. Meanwhile, Police Chief Carmen Best said her neighbors had to stop a "large group of aggressive protestors" from trespassing at her home on Saturday. One of the demonstrators, Nicole Gitaka, told King 5, a local news station: "All we were doing was walking and they met us with guns, I don't know who the aggressor is at that point, but I don't think it's us."> Crowd gathers across from the site for the new youth jail for a march and rally pertaining to the city council's vote today on defunding the SPD seattleprotest seattleprotests pic.twitter.com/MuTzTIU74h> > — Elizabeth Turnbull (@LizTurnbull5) August 5, 2020This summer, Seattle police swept through an autonomous protest zone known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest Area (CHOP) with blast balls and pepper spray, arresting at least two dozen people after Durkan issued an executive order to clear the area.Previously called the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), the six-block stretch near downtown was occupied by demonstrators in the wake of Floyd's death and Black Lives Matter protests. But the site also brought multiple shootings, including the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy, and injuries to both cops and protesters. One Tacoma man was charged with arson for torching the police department's East Precinct building during the CHOP protest.Last week, the head of Seattle's police union warned defunding cops would bring higher crime rates and make CHOP or CHAZ "look like child's play."Was Seattle's Notorious Protest Zone Doomed by Recent Shootings?On Tuesday, Durkan and Best held a press conference to ask council members to hold off on deep cuts to the police budget until 2021.Durkan said the city shouldn't make "hasty decisions" when it comes to defunding the police department. "We should make right decisions," Durkan told reporters. "That doesn't mean slow; it just means thoughtful.""The chief and I, again, we are absolutely committed, committed to reimagining how policing works in the city, to having a better community-based response, to have a public health and harm reduction based response," Durkan added. "But we also know that policing is complicated and that sometimes you do need a police officer to respond."For her part, Best said "there are some good approaches" in the council's proposals and that "some of the ideas SPD already had and has raised before.""But what is problematic is these are approaches without any clarity on how they will become reality. What is the plan? " Best asked. "The push from Council and some of our community is to do these large-scale changes in 2020 with no practical plan for community safety. And I believe wholeheartedly that is completely reckless."Council has directed me to lay off 70 or more officers basically overnight," the chief added. "And I cannot do that in good faith knowing there are no systems in place to bridge the gap."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Tensions flare, trucks burn in Chile´s Araucania region Posted: 06 Aug 2020 01:06 PM PDT |
| Trump banned Jeffrey Epstein from Mar-a-Lago after he hit on teenage girl, book claims Posted: 05 Aug 2020 07:54 AM PDT  Donald Trump banned Jeffrey Epstein from Mar-a-Lago after the disgraced financier hit on another member's teenage daughter, a new book has claimed.Epstein was a member of the now-president's Palm Beach, Florida, club until 2007, according to The Grifter's Club, a detail that has contradicted what Mr Trump's company previously said about the president's relationship with the convicted sex predator.
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| Letters to the Editor: Heads up, Joe Biden — Kamala Harris has always been campaigning for her next job Posted: 06 Aug 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Kamala Harris is the junior senator from California, so what has she done for our state?
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| An emergency medicine physician projects that if schools open in the fall, they'll close by the end of October with COVID-19 outbreaks Posted: 05 Aug 2020 09:20 PM PDT  One doctor said reopened schools could shut down again by the end of October, citing the "confluence" of the flu season and increased exposure.
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| Germany floats a new NATO spending yardstick: 10 percent Posted: 06 Aug 2020 10:39 AM PDT  Officials are pushing for a new yardstick to measure Berlin's contributions to NATO, suggesting the country could shoulder 10 percent of alliance requirements.
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| Virginia business owner reacts to employee's house arrest for defending shop from robber Posted: 05 Aug 2020 05:56 PM PDT  Worker arrested after defending himself from armed robbery; Arlington Smoke Shop owner Jowan Zuber speaks out.
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| Fact check: Nancy Pelosi is not related to KKK grand wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest Posted: 06 Aug 2020 01:52 PM PDT  Claims that Nancy Pelosi is the great-granddaughter of Nathan Bedford Forrest have their origin in a satirical news article and are false.
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| Esper says he underestimated how much racial injustice affects service members Posted: 05 Aug 2020 03:31 PM PDT  Defense Secretary Mark Esper called George Floyd's death a wake-up call for military leadership.
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| President Trump flips on his longstanding attitude toward mail-in ballots Posted: 05 Aug 2020 05:45 AM PDT  President Trump has repeatedly denounced mail-in ballots, but he is changing his tune for Florida. Weijia Jiang reports.
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| Trump was ‘stating a fact’ when he said children are less susceptible to coronavirus, White House insists Posted: 06 Aug 2020 02:32 AM PDT  Donald Trump was "stating a fact" when he said that children are less susceptible to Covid-19, a White House official has said after Facebook removed a post in which the president made false claims about the virus.Courtney Parella, deputy national press secretary, accused Facebook and Twitter of "flagrant bias" after the tech giants penalised Trump and his campaign team for promoting a video in which the president claimed children are "almost immune" from the disease.
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| Children rapidly deported from the United States strain Guatemalan shelters Posted: 06 Aug 2020 06:07 AM PDT  Hundreds of migrant children rapidly expelled from the United States under a coronavirus immigration policy are returning to shelters in Guatemala where virus testing and bed capacity are regularly stretched to their limits. Shelter operators, government officials in the Central American nation and international organizations said they are seeing rising numbers of children being sent back to Guatemala alone, with some unable to return to their homes because of domestic abuse or gang violence. "Child protection services, which were already overstretched and under-resourced have now been further compromised by COVID-19," said United Nations children's agency UNICEF spokesman Christopher Tidey.
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| The man behind one of history's most iconic supercars just debuted its $3 million successor — check out the Gordon Murray T.50 Posted: 05 Aug 2020 08:19 AM PDT  This may become the greatest modern supercar, thanks to a six-speed manual transmission, a naturally aspirated V12, and and a central driver's seat.
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| Biden: Latino community is diverse, ‘unlike the African American community’ Posted: 06 Aug 2020 12:11 PM PDT  President Donald Trump quickly attacked Biden over the remark.
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| I tried making Guy Fieri's signature recipes for a week, and I didn't love my whole trip to Flavortown Posted: 05 Aug 2020 11:18 AM PDT  The Food Network star's known for eating comfort food on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives," and I tried some of his favorite recipes and meals for a week.
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| Pope Francis appoints 6 women to senior roles Posted: 06 Aug 2020 08:16 AM PDT  Pope Francis has ensured there are more women officials at the Vatican than ever before.
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| Ayodhya temple: Misleading social media posts have widely shared in India Posted: 05 Aug 2020 02:54 AM PDT  As the Ram temple construction is set to begin, fake and misleading videos about it have been shared online.
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| Pelosi rips Trump for 'degrading' plan to give nomination acceptance speech from the White House Posted: 06 Aug 2020 08:59 AM PDT  Speaker Nancy Pelosi has sharply criticised Donald Trump for suggesting he will "probably" accept the Republican presidential nomination in a speech at the White House, an unprecedented move that could open Trump administration aides up to an array of federal ethics crimes."You don't have political events at the White House," Ms Pelosi, the longtime California Democrat, said in an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday. "You can't do it."
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| Federal judge rules the government owns an undeveloped island off Key West — not a developer Posted: 06 Aug 2020 01:15 PM PDT  Government, not developer, owns undeveloped Island off Key West: judge
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| There Are No Women Leading Marine Infantry Platoons. The Corps Wants to Change That Posted: 05 Aug 2020 02:57 PM PDT  Nearly 300 female Marines have moved into combat-arms jobs that were previously open only to men.
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| Chief: Violent Portland protests detract from message Posted: 05 Aug 2020 08:15 AM PDT  Clashes outside a U.S. courthouse in Portland, Oregon, have largely stopped since Democratic Gov. Kate Brown reached a deal that called for the draw down of federal agents sent by the Trump administration to protect the building — but the turmoil is far from over. For the past several nights, Portland police have skirmished with protesters in other parts of city, far from the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse, as residents rally around a call to defund the police force. Demonstrators are also mad at the use of tear gas by police multiple times over the summer to tamp down unrest.
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| Michelle Obama as Joe Biden's vice president? Fans just keep lobbying her Posted: 05 Aug 2020 02:19 PM PDT  Joe Biden will soon pick a running mate, and some Michelle Obama fans want her considered. But the former first lady has said she's not interested.
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