| '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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| 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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| Mississippi: More than 100 children and teachers in quarantine due to coronavirus outbreak two weeks after schools reopened Posted: 06 Aug 2020 11:46 AM PDT  More than 100 people in a Mississippi school district have been instructed to self-isolate, due to an outbreak of coronavirus less than two weeks after they reopened.At least 116 people in Corinth, a city in Mississippi, have been told to quarantine for two weeks, after six students and one staff member tested positive for Covid-19 over the past week.
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| Quinnipiac polls: Gideon leads Collins in Maine; South Carolina Senate race tied Posted: 06 Aug 2020 12:02 PM PDT  Gideon leads Collins, 47 percent to 43 percent, with 6 percent of voters undecided, according to the survey.
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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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| 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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| How Rice’s response to Benghazi could hurt her chances as Biden’s VP pick Posted: 06 Aug 2020 11:58 AM PDT  Former national security adviser Susan Rice is reportedly on the list for Biden's vice presidential contenders; Douglas Kennedy reports on the latest.
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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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| Fox News Host Sandra Smith Grills Kellyanne Conway on Trump’s COVID ‘Misinformation’ Posted: 06 Aug 2020 08:33 AM PDT  On Wednesday, Facebook finally took the long overdue step of removing a piece of Trump campaign content from its platform that pushed misinformation about COVID-19. That didn't stop Kellyanne Conway from trying to defend it Thursday morning on Fox News. The claim in question came during the president's appearance on Fox & Friends that morning, where he falsely stated, "If you look at children, children are almost—and I would almost say definitely—but almost immune from this disease." "Of course there is a debate happening about whether Facebook and Twitter should be arbiters of truth and decide what is fact and fiction," Fox host Sandra Smith began, before sharing the actual facts about confirmed coronavirus cases in children. According to the CDC, she told Conway, children under the age of 18 now make up 7.4% of total cases in the United States. "So kids are getting this disease, Kellyanne," she said. "Yes, they are and thankfully most never make it to a hospital and very few have died," Conway replied, hastening to add, "and every death is a tragedy." As she tried to pivot to glimmers of good news about the spread of the virus overall, Smith brought her back to the issue at hand."I want to stick to children though," the host said. "Because the debate right now is over the spread of misinformation by the president about children being 'nearly immune.'" Smith cited remarks from the Republican governor of Mississippi, who has just instituted a state-wide mask mandate, as further evidence that kids are transmitting the virus in large numbers before asking, "Is it helpful for the president to tell parents that children are 'nearly immune' from this and then have it factually spreading from child to child in places like Mississippi where they've opened the doors to their schools?" Seth Meyers Brutally Mocks Trump's Kindergarten Coronavirus Death ChartInstead of defending Trump's claim, all Conway could do in response was try to highlight other instances when the president didn't spread misinformation about children's susceptibility. "So I think the president is making clear that overall the average age of those who pass away from coronavirus is still about 78," she said, a separate fact that does not mean children are "nearly immune." After Conway attempted yet another pivot to attack Joe Biden, Smith again brought her back to Trump and his lies about the virus. "I get that Kellyanne and that's another conversation," the host said. "But the point is that the president said in that interview on Fox & Friends yesterday morning said it's going to 'go away, like things go away' and that is something many people are taking issue with." She quoted the White House's own health expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, who said, "I do not believe that it will disappear because it's such a highly transmissible virus." "So is the president listening to the advice of the health experts that he has at his side?" Smith asked."Yes he is, and they should be listening to him as well," Conway replied ominously before accusing those experts of saying things on TV that they didn't express in classified task force meetings.Conway had plenty to say after that about Twitter and Facebook, but she could not defend Trump's claim that COVID-19 will magically disappear. Kellyanne Conway Loses It Over Mary Trump Book on Fox NewsRead 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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| Commission rejects Trump push to add debate against Biden Posted: 06 Aug 2020 11:58 AM PDT  The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates has rejected a request from the Trump campaign to either add an additional general election debate or move up the calendar for the contests. In a letter to Trump private attorney Rudy Giuliani, his liaison to the commission, the commission wrote that it is committed to its existing schedule of three debates between Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, saying it would consider adding a fourth debate only if both sides agree to it. Both major party nominees have agreed to participate in the three scheduled debates, the commission said.
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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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| No more medical exemptions: Alaska Airlines says anyone who can't or won't wear a mask won't be allowed to fly Posted: 05 Aug 2020 12:58 PM PDT  Alaska Airlines said Wednesday that it will no longer allow medical exemptions from its mask requirement, part of an effort to slow the coronavirus.
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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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| Tensions flare, trucks burn in Chile´s Araucania region Posted: 06 Aug 2020 01:06 PM PDT |
| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| 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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| Crystal Rogers disappearance: FBI takes over case of missing Bardstown, Kentucky mom, 5 years later Posted: 06 Aug 2020 12:59 PM PDT  Five years after the disappearance of Bardstown, Kentucky, mom Crystal Rogers, the FBI has taken over the investigation and is launching a new search.
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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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| 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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| Court reverses order to shut down Dakota Access pipeline Posted: 05 Aug 2020 02:17 PM PDT  A federal appeals court on Wednesday reversed a judge's order that shut down the Dakota Access pipeline pending a full environmental review. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with pipeline owner Energy Transfer to keep the oil flowing, saying a lower-court judge "did not make the findings necessary for injunctive relief." The appeals court said it expects the parties to "clarify their positions" in the lower court.
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| Coronavirus: Los Angeles to shut off water and power to party houses Posted: 06 Aug 2020 06:31 AM PDT  Houses have become nightclubs despite coronavirus-linked restrictions, Los Angeles mayor says.
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| Sarah Sanders: If Biden can't handle basic questions, how can he handle being president? Posted: 06 Aug 2020 04:02 AM PDT  2020 hopeful Joe Biden snaps at a reporter who asked him if he took a cognitive test; former White House press secretary and Fox News contributor Sarah Sanders reacts.
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| Fox’s Chris Wallace: Trump Only Wants More Debates Because He’s Losing Posted: 06 Aug 2020 01:48 PM PDT  Fox News host Chris Wallace has no illusions about why the Trump campaign is suddenly demanding a fourth debate against former Vice President Joe Biden. After Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade echoed the president's stated concerns about the debates happening after early voting starts in some states, his radio show guest shot down the idea of either moving the schedule up and adding a fourth debate earlier in September. "If they were to open it up and say, no, let's set another debate, I just think that it would jeopardize a lot of things," Wallace, who moderated the third and final debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016. "If Donald Trump were leading, instead of trailing in the polls, my guess is he wouldn't want it, so they'll have the debates."When Kilmeade suggested that Wallace should "get in the face" of the Commission on Presidential Debates and threaten to walk as a potential moderator if they don't change the schedule, Wallace just laughed and said sarcastically, "Yeah, they're really dependent on me." Earlier in the week, the Trump campaign put out its wishlist of moderators for the debates. There were a number of Fox News personalities on it, but Chris Wallace's name was conspicuously missing. That is likely due to Wallace's tough grilling of the president late last month. Kilmeade tried to get Wallace to criticize Biden's most recent gaffe, but he wouldn't take the bait, instead saying, "This is why the debates are going to be must-see TV" and adding, "Donald Trump has some pretty interesting things that he says every once in a while, too."Chris Wallace Confronts Trump Campaign Spox Jason Miller: Admit 'You're Losing'Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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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| 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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| 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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| Black man's life sentence in stolen hedge clippers case is 'cruel and unusual,' Louisiana judge says Posted: 06 Aug 2020 12:04 PM PDT  Repeat offender laws sent Fair Wayne Bryant to prison for life after trying to steal hedge clippers. Louisiana's Supreme Court won't review the case.
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