| Dr Fauci last briefed Trump two months ago, as the top expert admits he has reputation to not ‘sugar-coat’ information Posted: 10 Jul 2020 12:33 PM PDT  Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, has not briefed President Donald Trump in the past two months about the coronavirus pandemic, as cases surge in parts of the US.Early on in the pandemic, the president would meet with Dr Fauci and the White House Coronavirus Task Force multiple times per week.
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| New Flynn Notes: ‘FBI Leadership’ Decided Not to Provide Russian Call Transcripts to Flynn in Interview Posted: 10 Jul 2020 03:30 PM PDT  Newly released documents in the Michael Flynn case include a January 2017 DOJ draft memo that states "FBI leadership" decided against showing Flynn transcripts of his calls with the Russian ambassador in the White House interview that led to his guilty plea.The DOJ document, dated January 30, 2017, along with a batch of handwritten notes from DOJ and FBI officials describing Flynn's White House interview with former FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI agent Joseph Pientka on January 24, 2017, shed further light on the FBI's spontaneous interview with Flynn, who had just begun his role as national security adviser for President Trump."FBI advised that based on this interview, they did not believe General Flynn was acting as an age of Russia," the DOJ draft document, which is heavily redacted, states. "FBI also advised that although they recognized the statements were inconsistent with the FISA collection, they believed that Flynn believed what he was telling them. FBI did not confront Flynn with the communications during the interview."The document explains that while the Bureau "prompted Flynn with language used during the call," Flynn was not shown his actual words because of a decision "made by FBI leadership not to confront Flynn with the actual tech cuts."The mentioning of "tech cuts" about the interview's subject matter — Flynn's December 2016 conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak — adds further context to the questions over how Flynn's calls were monitored in the first place. "Tech cuts" are commonly referred to as internal FBI documents that contain and describe FISA intelligence, suggesting that the FBI picked up Flynn's calls through FISA surveillance. DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz has said his office found no evidence of a FISA application on Flynn, raising the possibility that Flynn's calls with Kislyak were picked up through FISA surveillance of the Russians.In texts between Strzok and then-DOJ lawyer Lisa Page, with whom he was having an affair, Strzok references the cuts that the Bureau had obtained of Flynn's calls, saying that then-FBI Assistant Director Bill Priestap was concerned with "sharing" information on Flynn — dubbed Crossfire Razor, or "CR" for short — with the Obama White House."He, like us, is concerned with over sharing," Strzok texted Page on January 3, 2017, according to a transcript obtained by John Solomon. "Doesn't want Clapper giving CR cuts to WH. All political, just shows our hand and potentially makes enemies."In April, unsealed documents from the Flynn investigation showed that Flynn was investigated in a case predicated by the FBI's "Crossfire Hurricane" probe of the 2016 Trump campaign, but the Bureau moved to close the investigation on January 4, 2017 after an "absence of any derogatory information" about Flynn's Russian contacts. Strzok then intervened to keep the case open, explaining that "7th floor involved" — referencing the floor in Bureau headquarters that houses senior FBI leadership.Transcripts of Flynn's calls with Kislyak were released in May, showing that Flynn never mentioned "sanctions" and asked Russia not to "escalate" after the Obama administration sanctioned the Kremlin for election interference.Flynn released the documents in a Friday court filing after they were handed over to his defense team by the Justice Department this week. Flynn is currently locked in a battle with U.S. District Court judge Emmet Sullivan, who has so far refused to drop Flynn's guilty plea despite the DOJ's move to withdraw its case, citing previously undisclosed exculpatory information."In short, there was no crime for many reasons," Flynn's lawyer Sidney Powell wrote of the new information. "These documents were known to exist at the highest levels of the Justice Department and by Special Counsel, yet they were hidden from the defense for three years."On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered Powell and the DOJ to respond within 10 days to Judge Sullivan's Thursday "en banc" petition for Flynn's case to be heard by the full appeals court. A panel for the D.C. Circuit has already ruled that Sullivan must dismiss the case.
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| Official: Police justified in killing armed, fleeing man Posted: 09 Jul 2020 11:30 AM PDT  Two police officers in Utah were cleared Thursday in the death of an armed man shot at more than 30 times as he ran from police, a decision that prompted his grieving family to heighten their calls for systematic changes to law enforcement. The killing of Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal, 22, has become a rallying point for protesters in the state amid a national wave of dissent against police brutality. District Attorney Sim Gill said Palacios-Carbajal was struck 13 to 15 times as he ran away from Salt Lake City police officers who were investigating a gun-threat call and had yelled for him to drop a gun.
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| Letters to the Editor: Joe Biden is probably picking the 2024 Democratic nominee. Choose wisely Posted: 10 Jul 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Biden's pick for vice president could be the Democratic nominee in four years. That person must be able to win then.
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| Six U.S. states see record surges in COVID-19 cases, Florida becomes epicenter Posted: 10 Jul 2020 11:26 AM PDT  The surges in Georgia, Louisiana, Montana, Ohio, Utah and Wisconsin put the United States on a pace to once again set a single-day record for new coronavirus cases as Walt Disney World became the latest flash point in a national debate over access to public spaces. The Walt Disney Co. said the theme parks in Orlando would open on Saturday to a limited number of guests, requiring all visitors and employees to undergo temperature checks and wear face masks and cancelling parades, firework displays and other crow-drawing events.
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| Outdoor Dinging Decor That's Sure to Bring Joy to Any Table Posted: 10 Jul 2020 05:00 AM PDT |
| The Lincoln Project targets Senate Republicans in latest ad Posted: 09 Jul 2020 09:54 AM PDT  On Thursday, the Lincoln Project, a conservative political action committee formed in late 2019, released an ad titled "Names," which attacks several high-ranking Senate Republicans, including Mitch McConnel and Ted Cruz, for their complicity in alleged wrongdoing by the Trump administration. This is the latest in a series of attack ads produced and distributed by the committee, whose members include George Conway, Steve Schmidt and other prominent Republicans who oppose Trump. Yahoo News has assembled a compilation of some of the Lincoln Project's most controversial advertisements.
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| ‘People can’t ignore it anymore’: Across the country, minorities hit hardest by pandemic Posted: 08 Jul 2020 05:44 PM PDT  No matter where the virus strikes, communities of color bear the brunt.
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| United and American Airlines are cancelling flights to Hong Kong over a requirement that crew members get tested for COVID-19 on arrival Posted: 09 Jul 2020 09:22 AM PDT  American and United Airlines were both set to resume limited flying to Hong Kong this week, but postponed it due to COVID-19 test requirements.
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| Police identify bodies found in suitcases on Seattle beach by teens recording TikTok Posted: 10 Jul 2020 01:26 PM PDT  The bodies were found by a group of teenagers who were led to the beach by the Randonautic app.
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| 'Not enough teachers to reopen': School districts expect booming demand for substitutes Posted: 10 Jul 2020 08:39 AM PDT  Schools anticipate higher than normal teacher absences in the fall because of COVID-19.
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| Venezuelan socialist party leader Diosdado Cabello tests positive for COVID-19 Posted: 09 Jul 2020 03:49 PM PDT  Venezuelan socialist party leader Diosdado Cabello has tested positive for COVID-19, the official wrote on Twitter Thursday. Shortly after his announcement, President Nicolas Maduro said on state television Cabello would need several days of treatment and recovery, but that "he is already resting, he is fine." Cabello wrote on Twitter that he is in isolation and receiving treatment.
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| Lawyer: Over 150 Minneapolis officers seeking disability Posted: 10 Jul 2020 12:11 PM PDT  More than 150 Minneapolis police officers are filing work-related disability claims after the death of George Floyd and ensuing unrest, with about three-quarters citing post-traumatic stress disorder as the reason for their planned departures, according to an attorney representing the officers. While Floyd's death in May and the unrest that followed are not the direct cause of many of the disability requests, attorney Ron Meuser said, those events and what Meuser called a lack of support from city leadership were a breaking point for many who had been struggling with PTSD from years on the job. "Following the George Floyd incident, unfortunately it became too much and as a result they were unable to, and are unable to, continue on and move forward," Meuser said.
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| De Blasio: Black Lives Matter Protests Exempt from Large-Event Ban Posted: 10 Jul 2020 04:55 AM PDT  Mayor Bill de Blasio has canceled all large events in New York City through September, but will continue to allow Black Lives Matter protests in the city, he said."This is a historic moment of change. We have to respect that but also say to people the kinds of gatherings we're used to, the parades, the fairs — we just can't have that while we're focusing on health right now," de Blasio said during a CNN appearance Thursday night.While other areas, including Los Angeles, Seattle, and Miami-Dade County, Fla., have said protests in their cities may have contributed to the spread of the virus, New York has denied experiencing any surge in cases after weeks of protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. "Based on our health indicators, which measure hospital admissions, number of people in ICU and percentage of New Yorkers testing positive, we have seen no indication of an uptick in cases," Avery Cohen, de Blasio's deputy press secretary, told Fox News.Coronavirus cases in the city have been declining for weeks after spiking in mid-April. There have been 32,283 deaths in New York, more than any other state. The rule cancels street fairs, outdoor concerts, parades, and other big events, including the West Indian American Day Carnival in Brooklyn Labor Day weekend, the Dominican Day Parade in midtown Manhattan, and the San Gennaro festival in Little Italy.While religious events and press conferences will also be exempt from the ban, the city will deny all permits for street fairs, events stretching larger than one block or requiring a sound system and events in parks it believes will "unreasonably diminish public use.""As New York has begun its reopening process, accessible open spaces are more important than ever," said de Blasio in a statement. "While it pains me to call off some of the city's beloved events, our focus now must be the prioritization of city space for public use and the continuation of social distancing."
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| Trump abruptly postpones weekend campaign rally in New Hampshire Posted: 10 Jul 2020 10:25 AM PDT  His campaign, already wary of another low turnout, blamed the decision on an impending tropical storm.
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| This aviator just became the US Navy's first Black female fighter pilot Posted: 10 Jul 2020 08:54 AM PDT  "Very proud of LTJG [Madeline] Swegle," a senior Navy official wrote. "Go forth and kick butt."
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| 1986 cold case on ‘Dateline’ now has arrest in teen’s disappearance, Indiana cops say Posted: 09 Jul 2020 11:33 AM PDT  The missing teen mystery was featured by "Dateline" in March.
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| Death of Black man found hanging from tree ruled a suicide Posted: 09 Jul 2020 04:16 PM PDT  Robert Fuller had prior reports of suicidal idealization and he had disclosed that "he did have a plan to kill himself," according to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.
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| India raises concerns with U.S. over new rules for foreign students Posted: 09 Jul 2020 06:12 AM PDT  India has conveyed its concerns to the United States about a new immigration order that could force a large number of Indian students to return home, the foreign ministry said on Thursday. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration issued a new rule this week that would bar foreign students from remaining in the United States if their universities are not holding in-person classes during the upcoming fall semester because of coronavirus. "We have urged the U.S. side that we need to keep in mind the role that educational exchanges and people to people relations have played in the development of our relations," Anurag Srivastava, spokesman at India's foreign ministry told a news conference.
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| The Best Smart Technology for Your Socially Distanced Summer Posted: 10 Jul 2020 10:04 AM PDT |
| Florida Democrats return PPP money amid scandal Posted: 08 Jul 2020 08:06 PM PDT  The party's own lawmakers criticized the acceptance of at least $780,000 as highly questionable if not illegal and unethical.
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| No regrets: wounded Hong Kong police vow to keep enforcing law Posted: 09 Jul 2020 10:02 PM PDT  Nine months ago he was burned by corrosive liquid hurled during anti-government protests, but Hong Kong police officer Ling says he has no regrets and remains devoted to being a law enforcer. Officers like Ling have formed the spear tip of Beijing's pushback against huge and often violent pro-democracy protests in the restless finance hub. Now the police have been given expanded powers under a sweeping new national security law imposed by Beijing that aims to crush the democracy movement once and for all.
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| 4 Flight Attendants Evaluated At BWI After Spirit Airlines Flight Reports Medical Emergency Posted: 10 Jul 2020 08:33 AM PDT  Four flight attendants were evaluated at Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshal Airport Friday morning after a Spirit Airlines flight reported a medical emergency. Katie Johnston reports.
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| Trump scrubs New Hampshire rally as campaign struggles to reboot Posted: 10 Jul 2020 12:17 PM PDT  Trump's reelection campaign, once expected to be a juggernaut, is adrift as it faces unexpected challenges unique to this extraordinary election year.
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| Heat advisory issued as South Florida prepares to break temperature records Posted: 09 Jul 2020 05:21 PM PDT  If Thursday felt unbearably hot in South Florida, Friday has turned the broiler up a notch.
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| Gun violence disproportionately affects minorities. Data shows it's getting worse. Posted: 09 Jul 2020 06:51 AM PDT  Communities of color have endured the weight of COVID-19, the recession and social unrest. They're also bearing the brunt of a surge in gun violence.
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| Jared Kushner said the US would be 'really rocking again' by July. 7 states are shutting back down, and new COVID-19 cases have set records 6 times in July's first 10 days. Posted: 10 Jul 2020 01:59 PM PDT  In Kushner's confident Fox & Friends appearance back in April, he also proclaimed the US was "on the other side of the medical aspect" of the virus.
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| U.S. has not yet decided how it will retaliate to France digital tax: Mnuchin Posted: 09 Jul 2020 07:42 AM PDT  The United States has not yet finalized a decision on how it will respond to France's digital tax, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday. Washington had been in talks with the European Union over the taxes on digital giants like Alphabet's Google, Amazon and Facebook, but Mnuchin called for a break in the negotiations in June.
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| 'I would be very careful in the middle of the street': Drivers have hit protesters 66 times since May 27 Posted: 09 Jul 2020 11:56 AM PDT  There have been at least 66 incidents of cars driving into protesters from May 27 to July 6, according to Ari Weil, a terrorism researcher.
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| Netherlands takes Russia to European Court of Human Rights over MH17 downing in Ukraine Posted: 10 Jul 2020 07:03 AM PDT  The Dutch government will sue Russia in the European Court of Human Rights for its role in the crash of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, shot down over eastern Ukraine in 2014. "Achieving justice for 298 victims of the downing of Flight MH17 is and will remain the government's highest priority," Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said in a statement. "By taking this step today – bringing a case before the ECHR and thus supporting the applications of the next of kin as much as we can – we are moving closer to this goal." Russian officials had no immediate reaction to the announcement. Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down by a missile on July 17, 2014, over rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine, in what came to be one of the most tragic episodes in the bloody separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. Russia has stubbornly denied any role in supporting the rebels with troops or weapons. The Dutch-led joint investigative team has insisted that it was the Russian military that deployed a Buk missile launcher to eastern Ukraine that shot down the plane, a claim that the Kremlin has denied. The case is separate to the ongoing trial that opened in the Netherlands in March after Ukraine's Leonid Kharchenko and Russian separatist commanders, Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy and Oleg Pulatov, were charged with destroying the aircraft and murdering all people on board. None of the men, who are in Russia or separatist-held eastern Ukraine, are attending the trial, and only Mr Pulatov has appointed counsel to defend him in court. Lawsuits by one country against another are extremely rare for the European Court of Human Rights, which typically deals with claims lodged by individuals against their country, and Friday's announcement highlights the Netherlands' frustration with Russia which has refused to cooperate with the Dutch investigation.
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| Australia offers safe haven to Hong Kongers, sparking China fury Posted: 09 Jul 2020 04:42 AM PDT  Australia offered pathways to permanent residency for thousands of people from Hong Kong on Thursday in response to China's crackdown on dissent, drawing a furious reply from Beijing. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his government was suspending its extradition agreement with the city and, in addition to extending the visas of 10,000 Hong Kongers already in the country, threw open the door to thousands more wanting to start a new life Down Under. Morrison said the decisions were taken in response to China's imposition last week of a tough new security law in Hong Kong, which he said "constitutes a fundamental change of circumstances" for the semi-autonomous territory.
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| Trump attacks Lindsey Graham after SCOTUS rulings Posted: 09 Jul 2020 08:48 AM PDT  "No Republican Senate Judiciary response," the president tweeted.
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| Bear Opens Front Door, Attacks Homeowner In Aspen Posted: 10 Jul 2020 09:11 AM PDT  A black bear entered an Aspen home through the front door early Friday and severely injured the homeowner, officials with Colorado Parks and Wildlife said.
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| Twitter billionaire Jack Dorsey just announced he will be funding a universal basic income experiment that could affect up to 7 million people Posted: 09 Jul 2020 02:58 PM PDT  Jack Dorsey's fellow Silicon Valley billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg think a universal basic income could help poor Americans, too.
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| Hundreds gather for funeral of Palestinian shot by Israeli troops Posted: 10 Jul 2020 05:29 AM PDT  Hundreds of people gathered in the occupied West Bank on Friday for the funeral of a Palestinian man shot by Israeli soldiers a day earlier. Israel's army said troops opened fire after the Palestinian and another man started throwing fire bombs at a guard post near the town of Nablus. Palestinian officials dismissed the report and said the man had been walking with friends when he was shot dead.
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| Protester: Man pulls gun on anniversary of flag’s removal Posted: 10 Jul 2020 09:58 AM PDT  Counterprotesters said a passing driver pointed a gun at them Friday and said "All Lives Matter," as competing groups gathered in front of South Carolina's capitol building to mark the five-year anniversary of the state's removal of the Confederate battle flag from Statehouse grounds. The driver stopped in the middle of the road and stuck his middle finger out at several demonstrators who were on a road median shortly before noon, protester Kamison Burgess told The State newspaper.
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| Environmental Injustice Is Another Form of 'Assault on Black Bodies,' Says Sen. Cory Booker Posted: 09 Jul 2020 11:29 AM PDT  'The biggest determining factor of whether you live around toxicity is the color of your skin'
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| Trump: Doctors Were ‘Very Surprised’ I ‘Aced’ Cognitive Test Posted: 09 Jul 2020 08:20 PM PDT  President Donald Trump boasted on Thursday night about a cognitive test he took during a Walter Reed physical, telling Fox News host Sean Hannity that doctors were "very surprised" that he "aced" it while calling on former Vice President Joe Biden to take the same test.Calling in to close confidant Hannity's primetime program, both the president and the Fox News star began openly questioning Biden's mental fitness and suggesting he is suffering from cognitive decline.After Hannity aired a montage of selectively edited clips to characterize Biden as senile, and Trump described the former vice president as "brainwashed," the conservative host brought up Biden's recent claim that he "can hardly wait" to test his cognitive capability against Trump's."Now he apparently says that he has many cognitive tests," Hannity said. "He's tested all the time, cognitively. Maybe he'll release those records and maybe he'll release his medical records."(For the record, Biden said he's "been tested and I'm constantly tested," and that all anyone has to do is "watch me," suggesting he means that the real world tests him.)Hannity wondered aloud if Biden has been trying to figure out a way to avoid debating the president, a recent right-wing talking point that has gained steam recently, prompting Trump to say "yes" before going on a tangent."But he meant the COVID tests. He didn't mean cognitive. He meant COVID," Trump declared.After Hannity insisted Biden said "cognitive," Trump continued to argue that the ex-veep meant coronavirus tests—Biden has said he hadn't taken a COVID-19 test yet—but that Biden was "confused by the question and the words and everything else but he didn't take a cognitive test because he couldn't pass one."The president went on to say that he took a cognitive test "very recently" in order to prove to those questioning his mental acuity that he was "all there." (It appears Trump is talking about the Montreal Cognitive Assessment he took during his 2018 physical exam, which he passed.)"I proved I was all there because I aced it," Trump bellowed. "I aced the test and he should take the same exact test. A very standard test.""I took it at Walter Reed, a medical center, in front of doctors, and they were very surprised," he continued. "They said, that's an unbelievable thing. Rarely does anybody do what you just did. But he should take that same test."The president would go on to say that Biden "has been totally taken over" and it's "because he doesn't understand what's going on" before once again claiming that Biden "wants to get out of the debates."Last month, the Biden campaign announced that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee would be participating in the three scheduled presidential debates this fall.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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| Iranian official issues denial after another mysterious blast reported in Tehran Posted: 10 Jul 2020 06:59 AM PDT  Iranian state media reported a blast in western Tehran early Friday, the latest in a string of mysterious incidents to shake the country in recent weeks. However, a senior official in that part of the city later denied there had been an explosion. State broadcaster IRIB said power was cut in several western suburbs near where online reports said an explosion occurred. It gave no further information about the cause of the blast or whether there were casualties. The governor of Qod city, Leila Vaseghi, told semi-official Fars news agency there had been no explosion but acknowledged a power cut that lasted about five minutes. It was not immediately clear if the reported incident had taken place in Qod or in a different area of western Tehran, and residents contacted by Reuters in other parts of the city said they had heard no explosion. There are reportedly several military facilities in the area which could have been the target of sabotage. A series of fires and blasts have been reported near Iranian military, nuclear and industrial facilities in recent weeks. Iranian officials have said many were caused by industrial accidents. A bright flash lit up the night sky over Tehran early on June 26, apparently coming from near the near Parchin military site. Fars news agency later said the fire was caused by "an industrial gas tank explosion" near a facility belonging to the defence ministry. A defence ministry spokesman told state TV that the fire was quickly controlled and there were no casualties. But after a similar unexplained fire at the Natanz nuclear plant in central Isfahan province on July 2, officials were forced to admit there had been significant damage to the country's primary uranium enrichment facility. A spokesman for the Supreme National Security Council of Iran said the "cause of the accident" at the centrifuge assembly plant had been identified, saying more information would be released at a later date "due to security considerations". The New York Times reported a Middle Eastern intelligence official and an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander saying the Natanz incident was caused by an explosive. The head of Israeli intelligence, Yossi Cohen, was later accused of leaking information that Mossad planted a bomb that caused the damage. On Friday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi said Iran would retaliate if it were shown an international sabotage operation had caused the explosion in Natanz. "It is still too early to make any judgment on the main cause of the blast [in Natanz], and relevant security bodies are probing into every detail of the incident," Fars reported him as saying.
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| Syrians alarmed at Russia push to limit cross-border aid Posted: 09 Jul 2020 01:02 PM PDT  Displaced Syrians relying on humanitarian assistance voiced alarm Thursday after regime ally Russia tried to reduce cross-border aid to millions in the northwest of the war-torn country. The Russian motion at the UN Security Council was voted down, but a council resolution authorising aid deliveries through the Turkish border expires Friday.
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| The Best Beach Towels That Aren’t Totally Boring Posted: 10 Jul 2020 07:58 AM PDT |
