| Three arrested after paint thrown on NYC Black Lives Matter mural Posted: 17 Jul 2020 10:05 PM PDT  This time, blue paint was used to vandalize the city-approved mural on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue.
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| NYPD union chief appears on Fox News with far-right conspiracy theory QAnon symbol in background Posted: 18 Jul 2020 06:23 AM PDT  A New York Police Department union chief made an appearance on Fox News with a QAnon mug featured in the background.Ed Mullins, president of the NYPD's Sergeants Benevolent Association, appeared on Fox News to discuss the increased gun violence in New York City and other parts of the US.
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| China coronavirus: 'Wartime state' declared for Urumqi in Xinjiang Posted: 18 Jul 2020 08:44 AM PDT  Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, has a small number of infections but strict counter-measures.
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| A 10-year-old boy was dragged off a boat by a shark on the Australian coast Posted: 17 Jul 2020 02:03 PM PDT  The boy was left with arm, head, and chest injuries after the shark attack near Stanley, on northwest coast of Tasmania, Australia.
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| It's too late for masks alone to turn the tide on coronavirus. Why the U.S. needs to lock down hot spots right away. Posted: 17 Jul 2020 09:16 AM PDT  Masks are necessary to combat America's resurgent coronavirus pandemic. But they may no longer be enough. Patterns from countries that are faring much better than the U.S. suggest we won't bring the virus to heel until we start locking down hot spots as well.
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| Iran estimates up to 25 million virus cases since outbreak Posted: 18 Jul 2020 03:47 AM PDT  Iran's president Saturday estimated as many as 25 million Iranians could have been infected with the coronavirus since the outbreak's beginning, and urged the public to take the pandemic seriously, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. President Hassan Rouhani cited a new Iranian Health Ministry study in offering the unprecedentedly high number of infections. Rouhani also said he believes an additional 30-35 million people could be infected in coming months, again without citing the basis for his estimate.
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| SpaceX capsule carrying NASA astronauts slated for August 2 return Posted: 17 Jul 2020 09:38 AM PDT  The NASA astronauts who traveled to the International Space Station in SpaceX's first crewed flight in May are expected to return to Earth on Aug. 2 after spending two months in orbit, a NASA spokesman said on Friday. U.S. astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will gear up for the final benchmark test of SpaceX's so-called Demo-2 mission: a coordinated splashdown somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean that will cap NASA's first crewed mission from U.S. soil in nearly a decade. Since 2011, when the U.S. space shuttle program ended, NASA astronauts have had to hitch rides into orbit aboard Russia's Soyuz spacecraft.
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| Rep. Justin Amash confirms he won't seek re-election to Congress Posted: 17 Jul 2020 05:55 AM PDT  Amash, who has served in Congress since 2011, announced in July 2019 that he was leaving the Republican Party.
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| Prosecutor in Jodi Arias murder case agrees to be disbarred Posted: 18 Jul 2020 12:36 PM PDT  A former Arizona prosecutor known for winning a conviction in the Jodi Arias murder case agreed on Friday to be disbarred in an ethics case in which he was accused of sharing the identity of an Arias juror and sexually harassing female law clerks in his office.
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| Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Supreme court justice will not retire after cancer diagnosis Posted: 17 Jul 2020 03:14 PM PDT  The court's most senior liberal justice has a recurrence of cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.
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| National Museum of African American History apologizes for chart listing attributes of 'whiteness' after criticism from Donald Trump Jr and the conservative media Posted: 18 Jul 2020 04:39 AM PDT  The National Museum for African American History and Culture listed rational thought and hard work as traits of white culture.
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| Powerful House chair Eliot Engel defeated by progressive newcomer Jamaal Bowman in stunning upset Posted: 17 Jul 2020 11:39 AM PDT  Rep. Eliot Engel, who served decades in Congress, was defeated by a political newcomer in a stunning upset showing the power of the progressive wing.
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| Minister: Iraq to face severe shortages as river flows drop Posted: 17 Jul 2020 08:27 AM PDT  Iraq's minister of water resources says his country will face severe water shortages if agreements are not forged with neighboring Turkey over Ankara's irrigation and dam projects that have decreased river inflows to Iraq's parched plains. Descending from the mountains of southeast Turkey and coursing through Syria and then Iraq before emptying out in the Persian Gulf, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are Iraq's main water source and essential to for agriculture.
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| Three white men charged in killing of Black jogger in Georgia plead not guilty Posted: 17 Jul 2020 07:47 AM PDT  Ahmaud Arbery, 25, who was killed on Feb. 23 just outside the coastal town of Brunswick, became a touchstone in cross-country protests over racial and social justice in the United States. A former law enforcement officer, Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis, 34, are charged with murder and aggravated assault. Police say Gregory McMichael saw Arbery jogging through his neighborhood outside of Brunswick and believed he looked like a burglary suspect.
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| 'Boogaloo' on the loose: Experts warn Congress about extremism on the right Posted: 17 Jul 2020 12:53 PM PDT  Authorities on extremism told Congress Thursday that far-right groups, not the radicals of antifa, currently pose the most serious threat of political violence in the U.S. — including attacks on the police.
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| Goya boycott, say Latinos, is about Trump's 'hate,' not politics Posted: 18 Jul 2020 03:25 AM PDT  "Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Mexican Americans — we made that company," one former customer said. "It hurt me, coming from Goya."
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| Anthony Fauci said New York is an example of how to 'correctly' confront soaring coronavirus cases Posted: 18 Jul 2020 02:23 PM PDT  New York City is slated to enter Phase 4 of its reopening on July 20, three months after the city counted a peak of 10,000 new cases per day.
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| Nigeria's Zamfara state offers repentant bandits cows for AK-47s Posted: 17 Jul 2020 09:09 AM PDT  Zamfara state's governor uses an original ploy to deal with a recent wave of bandit attacks.
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| Pentagon to Consider Stripping Names, Gender Pronouns from Selection Boards Posted: 17 Jul 2020 01:25 PM PDT  Defense Secretary Mark Esper said personnel leaders are eyeing options to eliminate unconscious bias from promotion boards.
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| Mexican cartel shows its might as president visits its heartland Posted: 18 Jul 2020 08:36 AM PDT  A video depicting a military-style convoy of one of Mexico's most powerful drug cartels circulated on social media on Friday as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador visited the group's heartland.
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| Republican senator criticised for suggesting Hispanic people less likely to follow coronavirus guidance Posted: 18 Jul 2020 05:24 AM PDT  A Republican senator has come under fire for suggesting Hispanic people in his state are less likely to wear masks and follow social distancing rules during the coronavirus pandemic.Thom Tillis, the junior senator for North Carolina, said during a virtual town hall on Tuesday that he had concerns about "less consistent adherence" with public health guidelines among the Hispanic population.
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| India-Pakistan fighting in Kashmir kills 3, wounds 2 Posted: 18 Jul 2020 04:52 AM PDT |
| Portland Mayor Accuses Trump of ‘Absolute Abuse’ of Federal Law Enforcement, Demands Officers Leave as City’s Nightly Violence Continues Posted: 17 Jul 2020 03:52 PM PDT  Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler on Friday accused President Trump of abusing the use of federal law enforcement officers, whose presence he said has "ratcheted up the tension" rather than quelled the nightly violence taking place across the city."Last week, we were seeing the deescalation of the violence. We were seeing things calm down. But the intervention of federal officers reignited tensions," Wheeler said Friday afternoon during a joint online press conference with Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell. "I think we would have seen the end of this nightly engagement by now."Protests and rioting in Portland have been nearly constant since the May 25 death of George Floyd that sparked national outrage and demonstrations across the country. On Tuesday, more than 200 people marched downtown for a mostly peaceful protest against police brutality, but some demonstrators who remain on the streets after dark have engaged in property destruction, throwing rocks at police, marking buildings with graffiti, and earlier this month briefly set a courthouse on fire.As the violence continued, President Trump sent federal law enforcement agents to handle the situation, which he described as "out of control." One demonstrator was critically injured and underwent facial reconstructive surgery after a federal officer fired an impact munition at his head, an incident that the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General is investigating.Lovell appeared to suggest that city police officers are not coordinating with federal law enforcement as the local officers work to prevent crime and "establish order.""The federal officers have their objectives, and the Portland police has our objectives. We don't direct federal officers' actions, and they do not direct ours," Lovell said Friday.The president praised the work of federal authorities earlier this week at the White House, promising that the violence Portland would continue to be quelled."Portland was totally out of control, and they went in, and I guess we have many people right now in jail, and we very much quelled it, and if it starts again, we'll quell it again very easily," Trump said Monday. "It's not hard to do, if you know what you're doing."The city is now "demanding" that Trump remove the federal officers, Wheeler said."When we have Donald Trump sending troops into our streets who are not accountable to me or to the city council or to the public at large, we don't know what they are doing or why they are doing it," Wheeler said, calling the deployment of federal officers in Portland an "attack on our democracy."The mayor added that the president must be "held accountable," for using federal agencies as his "personal army" for political purposes to "bolster his sagging polling data.""Take your troops out of Portland," Wheeler said, directing his remarks to Trump. "We can handle better than they can what's going on in our streets."
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| The once humble pickup has gone full-on luxury — here are my favorite swanky features Posted: 18 Jul 2020 08:30 AM PDT  Today's full-size pickups can easily hang with Audi, BMW, and Mercedes when it comes to luxury appointments.
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| 2 men charged in July 4 'attempted lynching' at Indiana lake Posted: 17 Jul 2020 09:17 AM PDT  Two men were charged Friday in an alleged assault against a Black man who was seen in a viral video being held against his will in the woods near an Indiana lake on the Fourth of July.
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| U.S. aircraft carriers return to South China Sea amid rising tensions Posted: 17 Jul 2020 03:27 AM PDT  For the second time in two weeks, the United States has deployed two aircraft carriers to the South China Sea, the U.S. Navy said on Friday, as China and the United States accuse each other of stoking tensions in the region. The USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan carried out operations and military exercises in the contested waterway between July 4 and July 6, and returned to the region on Friday, according to a U.S. Navy statement. "Nimitz and Reagan Carrier Strike Groups are operating in the South China Sea, wherever international law allows, to reinforce our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, a rules based international order, and to our allies and partners in the region," Rear Admiral Jim Kirk, commander of the Nimitz, said in the statement.
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| MAP: Breaking down which states require — or don't require — face masks in public Posted: 17 Jul 2020 10:27 AM PDT  A growing number of states — including some led by Republican governors — are now mandating face coverings in public.
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| 'My Nigerian great-grandfather sold slaves' Posted: 18 Jul 2020 04:36 PM PDT  Colonial slave-traders are seeing their legacies reassessed, but what about the Africans who profited?
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| New York City enters final reopening phase as California, Florida, and Texas cases surge Posted: 17 Jul 2020 02:43 PM PDT  New York City has reached a major milestone in its COVID-19 fight.Once the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City will move to its final phase of reopening on Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced Friday. Malls, gyms, and cultural institutions will remain closed, as will indoor dining, but most other businesses can reopen with appropriate social distancing measures.At the peak of its pandemic, New York state often saw hundreds of COVID-19 deaths per day, but reported 10 deaths on Friday. Coronavirus hospitalization totals in the state dropped to 765, the lowest they've been since mid-March, and less than one percent of COVID-19 tests came back positive in the last 24 hours, Cuomo also said Friday.Meanwhile across the south and west of the U.S., things are going the other direction. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Friday most schools will not reopen in the state, a decision Los Angeles and San Diego public schools made earlier this week. Newsom has also scaled back reopenings and closed bars and other businesses in surging counties.Florida recorded 128 new deaths from COVID-19 in the past day on Friday afternoon, its fourth day of death tolls over 100. And in Texas, FEMA sent in extra body bags and refrigerated trucks to prepare for a surging death toll. Still, governors in both states have resisted shutting down businesses again.More stories from theweek.com What Americans are finally learning about freedom Has Trump incidentally squashed his own argument about the Supreme Court? Marco Rubio mistakenly tweets a picture of Elijah Cummings alongside tribute to John Lewis
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| The city where George Floyd was killed has declared racism a public health emergency Posted: 18 Jul 2020 10:55 AM PDT  Minneapolis City Council approved a resolution Friday to help end racism and build "an active, anti-racist culture."
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| Floods kill 14 in China as water peaks at Three Gorges Dam Posted: 18 Jul 2020 01:55 AM PDT  At least 14 people have died in the latest round of seasonal rains and flooding in southern China, as soldiers and workers built makeshift barriers with sandbags and rocks Saturday to keep the Yangtze River and its tributaries at bay. Three floodgates of the Three Gorges Dam that spans the Yangtze were opened as the water level behind the massive dam rose more than 15 meters (50 feet) above flood level, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The dam was holding back about 45% of the water, Xinhua said, citing China Three Gorges Corp.
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| Chris Wallace Schools Trump on Masks, Biden in Heated Fox News Interview Posted: 17 Jul 2020 05:00 PM PDT  "We talked about everything," Chris Wallace told Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer on Friday afternoon, previewing his first sit-down with President Donald Trump in nearly two years. The full interview will air on Fox News Sunday this weekend, but two short clips released in advance demonstrate how contentious it promises to be. Seated what appeared to be less than six feet apart, Wallace asked Trump if he regrets not wearing a mask in public earlier than this past weekend. "The CDC says if everyone wore a mask for four-to-six weeks, we could get this under control," the host said of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has now claimed more than 135,000 American lives. "Will you consider a national mandate that people will need to wear masks?""No, I want people to have a certain freedom," Trump replied. "And I don't believe in that, no. I don't believe in the statement that if everyone wore a mask, everything disappears." "Hey, Dr. Fauci said don't wear a mask. Our Surgeon General, terrific guy, said don't wear a mask," the president continued, citing months-old guidance that has been updated now that more is known about how the virus spreads. "Everybody was saying don't wear a mask and all of a sudden everybody's got to wear a mask." Without explanation, he added, "As you know, masks cause problems too." "That being said, I'm a believer in masks," Trump said, seeming to contradict himself. "I think masks are good." Seth Meyers, Trevor Noah and Stephen Colbert Roast Trump for Wearing a Face Mask '4 Months Late'In another portion of the interview, Trump became visibly upset when Wallace fact-checked him about his opponent Joe Biden's policy prescriptions on police. When Trump said that Biden "wants to defund the police," Wallace interrupted him to say, "Sir, he does not." "Let's go!" Trump said, looking around for help from his staff. "Get me the charter, please." Speaking to Hemmer about the interview, Wallace explained that what followed was a "very interesting exchange" where Trump had his staff go find highlights from the compact between Biden and Bernie Sanders. "And he went through it and he found a lot of things that he objected to, that Biden has agreed to," Wallace said, "but couldn't find any indication—because there isn't any—that Joe Biden has sought to defund and abolish the police."Stephen Colbert Confronts Fox News' Chris Wallace for Defending Trump Tear-Gassing ProtestersRead 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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| Iran's plan to execute 3 protesters sparks huge backlash Posted: 17 Jul 2020 02:18 AM PDT  The young men are just a few of the recently convicted criminals to face the death sentence, as Iran seemingly tries to scare dissidents into silence.
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| Turkish defence industry says it can support Azerbaijan Posted: 17 Jul 2020 04:49 AM PDT |
| Portland protesters hit with tear gas and snatched into unmarked vans as federal officers crack down Posted: 17 Jul 2020 06:14 AM PDT  Federal law enforcement officers sent to quell demonstrations in Portland, Oregon last night used tear gas on hundreds of protesters at the city's federal courthouse.It comes amid an escalating row with the federal government over the need to impose "law and order" on the streets, with the city's mayor at odds with the Department of Homeland Security.
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| Experts say this 'bridge to a vaccine' may be a reason for optimism. Here's how it works. Posted: 17 Jul 2020 02:26 PM PDT  They've been promoted as a "bridge to a vaccine." But what are monoclonal antibodies?
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| FDA approves pooled coronavirus testing in hopes of boosting testing capacity Posted: 18 Jul 2020 11:28 AM PDT  In an effort to ease the diagnostic logjam the United States is facing with the coronavirus surging in various parts of the country, the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday granted an emergency use authorization for pooled COVID-19 testing.Quest Diagnostics will now be able to group up to four samples together and will only test them individually if the batch comes back positive. This approach — which has been used in Germany, China, Israel, and South Africa, among other countries — can help save valuable time and resources during the pandemic.> Sample pooling allows labs to combine & test samples in a batch. Ultimately, pooling is expected to require fewer tests, meaning fewer test supplies are used & more tests can be run at the same time so patients can get results faster in most cases.> > — U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) July 18, 2020Politico notes, however, that this strategy applies to places where prevalence of the virus is low, and the chances of having a batch where nothing is detected are higher. Places experiencing more severe outbreaks, on the other hand, are still better off with individual testing.FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said in a statement that "sample pooling becomes especially important as infection rates decline and we begin testing larger portions of the population," while the Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Brett Giroir said it could help increase the U.S.'s testing capacity to 100 million per month by September. Read more at Politico.More stories from theweek.com What Americans are finally learning about freedom Has Trump incidentally squashed his own argument about the Supreme Court? Marco Rubio mistakenly tweets a picture of Elijah Cummings alongside tribute to John Lewis
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| Details released about plane crash involving Earnhardt Jr. Posted: 18 Jul 2020 10:29 AM PDT  Dale Earnhardt Jr. and a pilot struggled to open a crashed airplane's wing emergency exit as the aircraft started to burn before the race car driver and his family managed to escape from the main door, according to new details about the 2019 accident.
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| Trump said he will not order people to wear face masks because he believes they should have a 'certain freedom' Posted: 18 Jul 2020 05:32 AM PDT  Trump said he wouldn't issue a national mandate on wearing face masks in public in a clip from an interview with Fox News due to be broadcast Sunday.
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| 11 major US airlines have new pandemic rules for keeping passengers safe, but some are doing more than others. Here's how they compare. Posted: 17 Jul 2020 07:42 AM PDT  Flyers must now consider additional health and safety when choosing an airline to fly with, and each US airline has a different policy.
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| Pakistan validates most licenses of pilots working abroad Posted: 17 Jul 2020 02:37 AM PDT |
