| Trump news: President doubles down on possible election delay and threatens to send National Guard to Portland Posted: 30 Jul 2020 02:45 PM PDT  Donald Trump's tweet suggesting that the 2020 presidential election could be postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic set off a day of wild speculation as to whether he would, could, or how that would even look if he did.After saying that a mail-in ballot system would create the "most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history", the president double-downed during his White House press conference, saying he doesn't want to wait weeks, months or even years for the result of the election to be known.
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| Man fires 'warning shots' in Miami hotel lobby after telling guests 'you all aren't social distancing' Posted: 30 Jul 2020 11:20 AM PDT  A man was arrested in Florida after firing "four warning shots" and telling a mother and her son that they weren't social distancing in a hotel lobby.
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| Father, son with COVID-19 forced to quarantine in Hawaii Posted: 29 Jul 2020 08:20 PM PDT  Hawaii's public health director said a rarely used special health order was used to force them into isolation.
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| Portland has become the focal point of Black Lives Matter protests in America, but it has a tortured history when it comes to race Posted: 30 Jul 2020 07:10 AM PDT  For years in Oregon's early history, white locals barred Black people from living in its borders. It's now one of the least diverse states in America.
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| Police Find Child’s Toy Bucket in Secret Sealed Cellar Being Searched for Madeleine McCann Posted: 30 Jul 2020 02:30 AM PDT  Police and cadaver-hunting dogs are on the scene in a backyard in Hanover, Germany, where a secret sealed cellar has just been unearthed in the hunt for missing Briton Madeleine McCann. The cellar was once under a garden shed on property where German pedophile Christian Brueckner, the latest suspect in the missing-child case, once lived. The shed was torn down years ago, but neighbors said Brueckner once spent hours inside. German Police Dig Up a Backyard in Search of Madeleine McCannPolice were seen Thursday carrying out a number of items from the cellar, including blue bags of forensic evidence and a child's bucket. McCann was just shy of her fourth birthday when she was snatched from her bed while her twin siblings slept nearby at a holiday rental in Portugal in 2007. Her parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, were dining with friends a few hundred yards away when she disappeared.The case, which has been closed and reopened by Portuguese police several times, has now picked up steam after German authorities identified the convicted pedophile, who is also under investigation for raping a 72-year-old woman. British police have never lost faith in finding out what happened, spending millions of pounds over the last 13 years on an investigation called Operation Grange, through which they have translated the Portuguese dossier and interviewed many key witnesses.But it is German police who have so far advanced the search for the truth. Initially they said they were sure McCann was dead, but provided no clues to back up their line of thinking. McCann's parents have not commented on the latest development on the case, but are said to be watching closely in hopes of finally finding out what happened to their missing daughter. 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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| 260 Chinese boats fish near Galapagos; Ecuador on alert Posted: 30 Jul 2020 12:56 PM PDT  Some call it a floating city, a flotilla of 260 mostly Chinese fishing vessels near the Galapagos archipelago that is stirring diplomatic tension and raising worries about the threat to sharks, manta rays and other vulnerable species in waters around the UNESCO world heritage site. The Chinese fleet is "very close" to the edge of the exclusive economic zone around the Galapagos, which extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the archipelago, said its governor, Norman Wray.
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| Trump loyalist who tested positive for coronavirus is America’s ‘dumbest’ congressman, says Lincoln Project co-founder Posted: 30 Jul 2020 01:14 PM PDT  The co-founder of Republican anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project has called congressman Louie Gohmert "America's craziest and dumbest congressman", following confirmation he tested positive for coronavirus.Steve Schmidt co-founded the Republican political action committee that is aiming to prevent the reelection of Donald Trump, alongside George Conway, the husband of the president's adviser Kellyanne Conway.
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| Iran says fires missiles from underground in Gulf war games Posted: 29 Jul 2020 08:19 AM PDT  Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they launched ballistic missiles from "the depths of the Earth" on Wednesday during the last day of military exercises near sensitive Gulf waters. The launches came a day after the Guards struck a mock-up of a US aircraft carrier with volleys of missiles near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for a fifth of world oil output. The Iranian manoeuvres were staged amid heightened tensions between Iran and its decades-old arch enemy the United States.
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| MSNBC host angers Georgia Democrat with Trump support question Posted: 29 Jul 2020 11:45 AM PDT  Georgia Democrat angered by MSNBC host with Trump support question.
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| Hong Kong students arrested on suspicion of inciting secession Posted: 29 Jul 2020 02:02 PM PDT  China's new "national security" legislation, which came into force in Hong Kong on July 1, outlaws a variety of vaguely defined offenses like "sedition" that can carry sentences of life in prison.
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| Chicago Deputy Police Chief Shoots Himself, Latest in Long History of Suicides at the Department Posted: 29 Jul 2020 09:31 AM PDT  The Chicago Police Department's new deputy chief of criminal networks was found dead on Tuesday from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, the latest in a history of suicides at the department.Dion Boyd, 57, was sworn into his new post on July 15 after 30-years on the force. Superintendent David Brown urged officers to keep an eye out for colleagues who could be in distress."Let's always remember to take care of ourselves and each other," Brown said at a press conference.The national suicide rate among police officers is about 18 per 100,000 as of 2017, however the rate in Chicago is 60 percent higher."One of the shocking statistics for me was that cops kill themselves at a higher rate than bad guys kill the police. And when you put it in those numbers, you realize that there's a real problem," Phil Cline, executive director of the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, told WBBM radio. "And it's not something the just sprung up in the last year or so. It's been a problem for a while."Boyd's body was found at the department's Homan Square facility, a secretive site that houses the anti-gang and bomb and arson squads. Various abuses allegedly occurred at the site, including reports of excessive force used in interrogations uncovered by The Guardian in 2016.Chicago police are currently attempting to clamp down on shootings that have plagued the city since Memorial Day weekend.While shootings typically rise in the city throughout the summer months, this year has seen a particularly sharp uptick. Chicago has recorded about 2,000 shooting victims so far this year, compared to roughly 1,400 over the same period in 2019.The seasonal rise seems to have been exacerbated by the impact of coronavirus lockdowns on inner city neighborhoods, as well as anti-police sentiment stemming from the George Floyd protests roiling the U.S.
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| Tennessee state senator charged with stealing federal funds Posted: 29 Jul 2020 02:01 PM PDT  A Tennessee state senator has been charged with stealing more than $600,000 in federal funds received by a health care company she directed and using the money to pay for her wedding and other personal expenses, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. A criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday charges state Sen. Katrina Robinson with theft and embezzlement involving government programs and wire fraud, U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said in a news release. Robinson, a Democrat elected to the General Assembly in 2018 from a Memphis district, is also the director of The Healthcare Institute, which provides training for jobs in the health care field, prosecutors said.
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| Former U.S. Marine sentenced to 9 years in Russian prison for assaulting police officer Posted: 30 Jul 2020 07:23 AM PDT  The U.S. ambassador to Moscow has called the evidence against Reed "flimsy," and the latest example of Russia treating American citizens unfairly.
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| Trump attended a fundraiser in Texas without a mask on the day the US hit 150,000 coronavirus deaths Posted: 29 Jul 2020 08:52 PM PDT  Trump was expected to attend the fundraiser with GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert, but the congressman tested positive for the coronavirus.
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| A Black videographer got stabbed at the Portland protests, and he says it is because he is pro-Trump Posted: 30 Jul 2020 03:13 AM PDT  The video was released on Wednesday as Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced that federal agents would withdraw from Portland.
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| FBI says errors uncovered in wiretap applications were mostly 'non-material' Posted: 30 Jul 2020 08:20 AM PDT  The FBI said on Thursday that the errors and sloppy record-keeping identified in connection with 29 of its applications submitted to a federal court to obtain wiretaps to monitor U.S. citizens were "non-material" and did not undermine their legal validity. The FBI's statement on Thursday came several months after Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz released an audit faulting the FBI for failing to follow procedures designed to minimize factual inaccuracies in applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
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| New research suggests COVID-19 can spread via aerosol transmission -- and might affect tall people more Posted: 29 Jul 2020 06:40 AM PDT  A new survey has found more evidence to suggest that people can become infected with COVID-19 through aerosol transmission, which could be prevented by wearing a mask. Carried out by data scientists in the UK, Norway, and the US, the study is one of the first to investigate which personal and work-related factors can lead to COVID-19 transmission. After surveying 2,000 people in the UK and US, the researchers found that the data from both countries suggests that aerosol transmission of the virus -- via microdroplets which are so small that they remain suspended in the air for several hours -- is very likely.
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| Barbie shuts down Donald Trump Jr.'s snide tweet about new campaign dolls Posted: 30 Jul 2020 07:57 AM PDT  Donald Trump Jr. has a theory about the new Barbie doll collection, featuring a Black female presidential candidate and her all-woman campaign team.
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| Police chief explains decision to back out of Democrat convention security Posted: 30 Jul 2020 04:42 AM PDT  West Allis Police Department Chief Patrick Mitchell joins 'Fox & Friends' after backing out of a DNC security agreement over a ban on law enforcement's use of chemical irritants during protests.
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| Chinese long-range bombers join drills over South China Sea Posted: 30 Jul 2020 04:27 AM PDT  China said Thursday that long-range bombers were among the aircraft that took part in recent aerial drills over the South China Sea amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over the strategic waterway. The exercises included nighttime takeoffs and landings and simulated long-range attacks, Defense Ministry spokesperson Ren Guoqiang said. Ren's statement appeared to distance the drills from recent accusations exchanged between the sides over China's claim to virtually all of the South China Sea, which it has buttressed in recent years by building man-made islands equipped with runways.
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| Protester arrested while opposing removal of Confederate statue in Georgia Posted: 29 Jul 2020 10:04 AM PDT  A protester was arrested and charged with obstruction for refusing to leave as a Confederate statue was removed a public square in the city of McDonagh, Georgia.The monument was taken down overnight on Wednesday by workers who used a crane to winch it from its pedestal in McDonagh Square.
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| Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has died after being hospitalized with the coronavirus Posted: 30 Jul 2020 07:30 AM PDT  Cain tested positive for the novel coronavirus 11 days after attending President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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| Detained Portland protesters have to promise to stop going to rallies if they want to get out of jail, reports say Posted: 30 Jul 2020 04:50 AM PDT  "Defendant may not attend any other protests, rallies, assemblies or public gathering in the state of Oregon," said one order, per ProPublica.
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| Three decades on, Iraq and Kuwait haunted by Saddam's invasion Posted: 29 Jul 2020 09:37 PM PDT  Thirty years have passed since Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein invaded neighbouring Kuwait, but despite hints of a diplomatic rapprochement, people in both countries say the wounds have yet to heal. On August 2, 1990, Saddam sent his military, already exhausted by an eight-year conflict with Iran, into Kuwait to seize what he dubbed "Iraq's 19th province." From Baghdad to Basra, Kirkuk to Babylon, Iraqis agree that the incursion "marked the beginning of the end."
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| Exclusive: Chinese-backed hackers targeted COVID-19 vaccine firm Moderna Posted: 30 Jul 2020 10:47 AM PDT  Chinese government-linked hackers targeted biotech company Moderna Inc, a leading U.S.-based coronavirus vaccine research developer, earlier this year in a bid to steal valuable data, according to a U.S. security official tracking Chinese hacking activity. Last week, the U.S. Justice Department made public an indictment of two Chinese nationals accused of spying on the United States, including three unnamed U.S.-based targets involved in medical research to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The indictment states the Chinese hackers "conducted reconnaissance" against the computer network of a Massachusetts biotech firm known to be working on a coronavirus vaccine in January.
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| Japanese court recognises ‘black rain’ victims of Hiroshima atomic bomb Posted: 30 Jul 2020 08:30 AM PDT  Nearly 75 years after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a Japanese court has ordered that 84 people who were exposed to radioactive "black rain" be made eligible for the same medical benefits as other survivors of the attack. The plaintiffs, the youngest of whom is in their late 70s, were exposed to radioactive rain immediately after the "Little Boy" uranium bomb exploded above the city on August 6, 1945, but were excluded from financial support for medical treatment because they were just outside the zone set by the government in 1976 for victims of the attack. For a few hours after the attack, rain that fell in the city and surrounding areas was black due to debris from the 15 kiloton blast and contaminated with fallout. The plaintiffs argued in court that they developed a range of illnesses, including different types of cancer and cataracts, as a result of their exposure to radiation and from food and water that had been contaminated. Ten of the people who originally filed the suit in 2015 died before Wednesday's ruling.
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| Killer of Rafiki, Uganda's rare silverback mountain gorilla, jailed Posted: 30 Jul 2020 03:27 AM PDT  The Ugandan hunter said that he had killed the animal in self defence when he was attacked.
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| Israel says it arrested Hamas militant who fled strip by sea Posted: 30 Jul 2020 07:44 AM PDT |
| Hypersonic Weapons Testing Faces a Big Problem: Killer Whales Posted: 30 Jul 2020 02:30 PM PDT  Washington State officials say that planned firings of the new Hyper Velocity Projectile will harass killer whales, a federally protected marine mammal.
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| Ex-police officer in George Floyd death asks for charges to be dropped Posted: 30 Jul 2020 05:24 AM PDT  A police officer charged in connection with the death of George Floyd has applied to have his charges dropped, court documents show.Lawyers for Tou Thao, 34, have put forward a motion stating that the former Minneapolis police officer could not have known that Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes, was about to commit a crime.
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| GM will unveil the revived, electric Hummer pickup this fall — and promises the world's first 'super truck' Posted: 29 Jul 2020 09:30 AM PDT  The all-electric pickup will have 1,000 horsepower and be able to sprint from 0-60 mph in 3 seconds. GMC also teased the Hummer SUV.
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| Dahleen Glanton: When it comes to honoring John Lewis, Donald Trump was no hypocrite Posted: 29 Jul 2020 08:16 AM PDT  We should thank Donald Trump for skipping Congressman John Lewis' farewell ceremony. While his absence from the memorial in the Capitol rotunda on Monday was glaring, Trump did us all a favor by leaving town. To pay respects to a man for whom he showed so little regard in life would be disingenuous. Trump might be a liar, but at least he is no hypocrite. Unlike Senate Majority Leader Mitch ...
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| Former Chinese top banker pleads guilty to massive graft Posted: 30 Jul 2020 03:02 AM PDT  A former top banker in China pleaded guilty Thursday to illegally receiving over $12 million after being caught last year in President Xi Jinping's sweeping campaign against corruption. Hu Huaibang, former party secretary and chairman of the China Development Bank, had taken advantage of his positions to illegally receive money and goods worth a total of 85.5 million yuan ($12.2 million) between 2009 and 2019, heard a court in northern Chengde city. Hu pleaded guilty at the hearing attended by more than 30 people including national, provincial and municipal people's congress representatives, the report added.
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| Ohio House picks GOP ex-justice to replace its ousted leader Posted: 29 Jul 2020 10:02 PM PDT  Republican lawmakers on Thursday chose former state Supreme Court justice and current Rep. Bob Cupp to lead the Ohio House, replacing the speaker ousted hours earlier amid a scandal. It followed a historic, unanimous House vote earlier in the day to remove Rep. Larry Householder as speaker because he was indicted in an alleged $60 million bribery scheme. Cupp was elevated in a more divided vote and then was immediately sworn in by Ohio Supreme Court Justice Judith French.
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| Parents with children forced to do school at home are drinking more Posted: 29 Jul 2020 12:11 PM PDT  The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big ideaWe found that parents who are stressed by having to help their children with distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic drink seven more drinks per month than parents who do not report feeling stressed by distance learning. These stressed parents are also twice as likely to report binge drinking at least once over the prior month than parents who are not stressed, according to our results. Binge drinking, which varies by gender, is when women consume at least four, or men have at least five alcoholic beverages (which includes beer, wine, or liquor) within a couple hours of each other. We learned this from our online survey, which 361 parents with children under 18 years old currently living with them completed in May 2020. Seventy-eight percent of the parents had children who did distance learning in the Spring of 2020. Of those, 66% reported that the experience caused them stress because they were not sure how to help. We sent the survey out through social media sites and listservs to people throughout the U.S. However, this is not a nationally representative sample. As is common with such surveys, most of the parents who responded were middle-income or higher. The results of the study have not yet been published. Why it mattersWhile many people joke about how booze is getting them through the COVID-19 pandemic, drinking can be harmful. More people die each year from drinking alcohol than from motor vehicle crashes, guns or illegal drugs. Increased drinking is also related to many public health problems, such as violence, crime, poverty and sexually transmitted diseases.Drinking alcohol is especially dangerous during COVID-19 because alcohol use weakens your immune system. Drinking increases your likelihood of getting COVID-19 and, if you do get it, of having worse outcomes.People increase their alcohol consumption after stressful times, such as tsunamis and hurricanes. Research has shown that this pattern has held before during disease outbreaks, including SARS in 2003, and following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.COVID-19 is another stressful situation. One study in Poland with over 1,000 participants found that people are currently drinking more wine, beer and liquor than before the pandemic. Given that distance learning is going to continue for the near future, we believe it is warranted to decrease stressors that lead to parents' drinking. What other research is being doneParents are drinking more during the COVID-19 pandemic than people without children. Our survey is the first one to look at the relationship between alcohol use and the stress caused by distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. What still isn't knownSchool systems throughout the U.S. currently are planning for the upcoming year. In many cases, that will require more distance learning. For distance learning to be successful for children and parents, more needs to be known about what makes it stressful.[Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research. Sign up for The Conversation's newsletter.]Another study of ours, currently underway, suggests that one reason that parents are stressed is that they are not getting enough guidance from teachers or schools. This is a particular concern for low-income families whose children, in general, already fare worse in school than more affluent children.It is important to realize that teachers and other school staff are also experiencing stress and not getting enough guidance on how to do distance learning. Our results were collected in May 2020. As distance learning becomes the new normal, at least for now, it is important to see what, if anything, changes in how well schools provide distance learning and how it affects parents.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * America is drinking its way through the coronavirus crisis – that means more health woes ahead * Alcoholism research: A virus could manipulate neurons to reduce the desire to drinkSusan Sonnenschein received funding from the Montgomery County, Maryland Alcohol Beverage Services for this study. However, it should be noted that the content of this study is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Montgomery County, Maryland Alcohol Beverage Services. The funders had no role in the design of the study, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Elyse R. Grossman received funding from the Montgomery County, Maryland Alcohol Beverage Services for this study. However, it should be noted that the content of this study is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Montgomery County, Maryland Alcohol Beverage Services. The funders had no role in the design of the study, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
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| Minnesota police make arrest in 34-year cold case using DNA, genetic testing Posted: 30 Jul 2020 01:29 PM PDT  "My mom loved to help people," her daughter Gina Haggard wrote in a statement read by police.
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| Colorado restaurant owners who defied COVID lockdown orders and reopened forced to close business for good Posted: 29 Jul 2020 05:55 PM PDT  Jesse and April Arellano, co-owners of the C&C Breakfast and Korean Kitchen in Castle Rock, join Tucker Carlson with insight on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'
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| Millions of people undertake the Hajj every year. These photos show how different the yearly Muslim pilgrimage is this year because of the pandemic. Posted: 30 Jul 2020 11:02 AM PDT  This year's Hajj pilgrimage looks a little different, with holy water in pre-packaged water bottles and socially distanced prayer lines.
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| Trump ally who skipped mask tests positive for coronavirus Posted: 29 Jul 2020 04:31 PM PDT  A Republican lawmaker who made a habit of walking around Congress without a mask tested positive for the novel coronavirus Wednesday as he prepared to leave for his native Texas with President Donald Trump. Louie Gohmert announced his diagnosis a day after attending a major hearing featuring testimony from Attorney General Bill Barr, with whom he was seen walking and chatting at a close distance while neither wore a mask. The news angered House Democrats and prompted Speaker Nancy Pelosi to order the wearing of masks on the chamber floor -- with punishment of removal for anyone disobeying.
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| Police agencies are withdrawing from security at Democratic Convention after a ban was imposed on pepper spray and tear gas Posted: 29 Jul 2020 03:33 PM PDT  Over 100 police agencies dropped out as security for the Democratic National Convention set to take place in Milwaukee next month, WTMJ-TV reported.
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| Illegal immigration sparks fears of Covid outbreaks in Asia Posted: 30 Jul 2020 04:10 AM PDT  Fears are rising in Southeast Asia that people smuggling across porous borders could open the door to sudden local outbreaks of the Covid-19 virus that spread unseen and spiral out of control. Over 30 Chinese illegal Chinese migrants were deported from Laos last week, sparking fears about lax border controls as new cases of the virus start to appear in the tiny impoverished country, reported Radio Free Asia. A district health worker told the news agency that none of the Chinese detainees showed signs of fever after they crossed from the southern Chinese province of Yunnan, but a resident of a Laos border village said that locals were afraid of being exposed to the virus due to unrestricted travel from China. "We're afraid that the Chinese will bring the virus to us," he said. Laos, which has a population of about 7 million and a 250-mile border with China, has so far remained relatively unscathed by the virus, with only 20 cases and no deaths. But the problem of unregulated border crossings was recently highlighted in nearby Vietnam, where an outbreak of the virus in the coastal tourist resort of Da Nang stunned the country after 99 days of no recorded local transmissions and one of the best global records in tackling Covid-19. The country still has only 459 cases, but 42 have been reported since July 25, with new infections now reported in six cities and provinces and authorities in the communist-ruled country warning that the whole country is at risk. Illegal immigration from China is suspected to have been the source of the current wave of the virus although no proof of this has been established. However, the government appears to be taking no chances. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the prime minister, ordered a crackdown on illegal border crossings and the police on Sunday arrested a 42-year old Chinese man accused of leading a people smuggling gang.
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