| Why a Black man from Louisiana is serving a life sentence for stealing hedge clippers Posted: 07 Aug 2020 04:42 PM PDT  Louisiana's highest court won't review a life sentence for Fair Wayne Bryant, who was convicted of attempting to steal a pair of hedge clippers in 1997.
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| Bars over schools: Why your kids will probably learn from home this fall Posted: 07 Aug 2020 02:43 PM PDT  Lawmakers and educators battle over how to reopen schools safely this fall amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
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| Out of work and with families to feed, some Americans are lining up at food banks for the first time in their lives Posted: 07 Aug 2020 02:00 AM PDT  Food assistance programs across the country are preparing for another spike in need with federal unemployment benefits ending.
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| Should Judge Sullivan Be Disqualified from Flynn Case? An Appeals Court Is Asking Posted: 08 Aug 2020 03:30 AM PDT  Maybe Judge Luttig was right all along.I had the misgivings you'd expect back in late May, when I disagreed with J. Michael Luttig, the stellar scholar and former federal appeals court judge, regarding how the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals should handle the Flynn case.At the time, that court's three-judge panel had not yet heard oral argument on Michael Flynn's mandamus petition — i.e., Flynn's request that the panel find that federal district judge Emmet Sullivan was acting lawlessly. Sullivan had not only failed to grant the Justice Department's motion to dismiss the criminal case against Flynn; he had appointed a former federal judge (the overtly anti-Trump John Gleeson) to posit the argument abandoned by DOJ — to wit, that Flynn should proceed to sentencing because he had pled guilty to a false-statements charge, waiving his right to contest the case any further in exchange for the government's agreement not to file any other charges. Basically, Flynn was asking the appellate court to order Judge Sullivan to dismiss the case.In a Washington Post op-ed, Luttig contended that "there are ample grounds in the actions the district court has already taken for the appeals court to order that the government's motion to dismiss be heard by a different judge, and it should so order."It is interesting to revisit this assessment in light of an order issued by the D.C. Circuit on Wednesday. The Circuit directed that the participants in the dispute over Judge Sullivan's actions, including Judge Sullivan himself, must address the question of whether Sullivan should either recuse himself or be disqualified by the Circuit. Arguments in the case will be heard this coming Tuesday, August 11, in a rare en banc review by the full Circuit (i.e., all active judges who have not taken senior status, minus one who has recused himself, so it will be a ten-judge panel).Let's back up for a moment.Back in May, I disagreed with Luttig because I thought the more important issue was prejudice to Flynn, not the harm Sullivan's apparent bias was causing to the court's integrity. At the time, the D.C. Circuit had given Sullivan ten days to respond to Flynn's mandamus petition. I argued that, rather than reassigning the case to another judge, the Circuit should give Sullivan a chance to explain himself. If he was unable to do that to the Circuit's satisfaction, I posited that the Circuit should then order him to dismiss the case.After Luttig and I, among other commentators, weighed in on what the appellate court should do, a three-judge panel heard argument. The panel granted Flynn's mandamus petition and ordered Sullivan to dismiss the case. The 2–1 majority reasoned that, with possible exceptions that do not apply in Flynn's case, the Justice Department's discretion to end a prosecution is unreviewable. A dissenting opinion countered that mandamus, which is an extraordinary remedy disfavored by courts absent truly egregious judicial lawlessness, was premature — i.e., that Sullivan should be permitted to conduct a hearing and, if he decided not to grant dismissal, Flynn could then appeal. That would be the normal route to appellate review in a criminal case.After the panel ruled for Flynn, Judge Sullivan asked the Circuit to rehear the case en banc. Sullivan's petition was remarkable because he is not a party in the case. The only parties in a criminal prosecution are the government and the accused. The judge is the arbiter, not a litigant. The court is not supposed to have a stake in the outcome. It is unseemly for a judge to act as if he has become invested in the outcome of a case the way a party is. It strongly suggests a loss of judicial perspective.Nevertheless, the D.C. Circuit granted Judge Sullivan's petition. It vacated the panel's ruling and agreed to full-court review.At first blush, this seemed like doom for Flynn. After all, the full court skews heavily Democratic: seven of the ten judges who will hear the case were appointed by Democratic presidents. There are only four Republican appointees, and as noted above, one (appointed by President Trump) has recused himself. In modern times, there are enough blatantly politicized judicial decisions that people can be forgiven for assuming that partisanship always trumps law. Indeed, in the three-judge panel decision, the two majority judges who ruled in Flynn's favor were Republican appointees, while the dissenter was a Democratic appointee.Nevertheless, the mandamus litigation in Flynn's case is not a brute political matter. Anyone who listened to the oral argument could tell how reluctant the judges seemed about issuing a mandamus writ against Judge Sullivan, even if they were convinced that he was wrong on the law. Furthermore, the main Circuit precedent, United States v. Fokker Services B.V. (2016), which clearly indicates that the Justice Department's dismissal motion should be granted, was written by Chief Circuit Judge Sri Srinivasan. He is often touted as a potential Supreme Court nominee in a future Democratic administration. For him, then, the case is a Catch-22: Walking away from his own reasoning in Fokker would be a bad look, while ruling in Flynn's favor would be very unpopular among Democrats. In addition, we should note that any of the Circuit's judges could have asked for en banc review by the full court. None did. The case is being heard because Sullivan himself pressed the issue.The complications presented by the mandamus dispute were evident in the Circuit's initial order scheduling the rehearing en banc, which added an intriguing directive: "The parties should be prepared to address whether there are 'no other adequate means to attain the relief' desired" (quoting from the Supreme Court's 2004 decision in Cheney v. U.S. District Court). I interpret this somewhat cryptic assertion to indicate that, while the Circuit judges have agreed to reconsider the panel's ruling because courts are generally hostile to mandamus, that hardly means the judges approve of the circus that Sullivan has made of the Flynn proceedings.The judges seemed to be signaling that they know the case should be dismissed, but they'd prefer not to slam a longtime district judge if there is some way to avoid doing so. Perhaps they could deny the writ, but couch the denial in a way that reminded Judge Sullivan that a court must neither take over the prosecutor's role nor probe the executive's decision-making in a matter that the Constitution commits to executive discretion.That is what makes Wednesday's subsequent order regarding the en banc proceeding so interesting. The Circuit instructs counsel for Flynn, the Justice Department, and Judge Sullivan to consider the effect of Congress's disqualification statute (Section 455 of Title 28, U.S. Code). Specifically, the participants in the mandamus dispute are told to address the law's mandate that a judge be disqualified "in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned," particularly if the judge "is a party to the proceeding."Manifestly, at least some of the Circuit's judges (I'd wager most of them) are disturbed by the degree to which Judge Sullivan has exhibited bias and become invested in Flynn's case. This is exactly the problem on which Judge Luttig focused back in May.It could thus turn out that Luttig presciently homed in on the dispositive issue. I believe, though, that it's more a matter of new developments breaking, perhaps inevitably, in favor of disqualification. At the time Luttig wrote his op-ed, I still think it would have been premature for an appeals court to jump in and disqualify Judge Sullivan. The parties were not pushing for Sullivan to be removed, just that he be directed to grant the dismissal motion. And even in making his disqualification argument, Luttig conveyed some hesitation. He said the Circuit panel should grant the mandamus but in a more limited way than Flynn was suggesting: Have Judge Sullivan pick a different adviser (someone other than the explicitly biased Gleeson), then promptly rule on the motion to dismiss, explaining his reasoning in full so the appellate court could review it.That is not consistent with Luttig's other suggestion of having the case reassigned to another judge. But it was right: As things stood back in May, Sullivan should have been given an opportunity to do the right thing. Most of us were hoping he'd correct himself, rather than need to be corrected by a higher court.Plus, let's put personalities aside, as well as the understandable distaste judges have for mandamus (which essentially asks them to dress down a colleague). A federal appeals court also has very practical reasons for discouraging mandamus. The regular appellate process calls for a criminal case to be appealed only at the end of the lower court proceeding. At that point, the trial or plea is over, sentence has been imposed, the judgment has been entered, and the appeals court can deal with all the claims of error at once, with finality. Courts do not want to encourage litigants to start viewing mandamus as a way to appeal to the higher court in the middle of the lower court proceedings, any time a party claims a judge has made an error. Chaos would reign and cases would never end.That said, things have significantly changed in the nearly three months since we analysts first opined on the mandamus dispute.For one thing, Judge Sullivan retained his own counsel to argue the case on his behalf before the panel, as if he were a party. Then, when the panel's decision did not go the way he wanted it to go, he took the highly unusual step of seeking en banc review. As the Justice Department pointed out, Sullivan did not have standing to seek reconsideration; he is not a party and did not comply with the rules government officials are supposed to follow before seeking a rehearing.More to the point, by seeking full-court reconsideration of the mandamus matter when both the Justice Department and Flynn are seeking dismissal of the case, Sullivan is both causing prejudice to the defendant and stoking suspicion about the executive branch's motives. How, then, could Sullivan continue to be considered a fair and impartial judge, fit to rule on the Justice Department's dismissal motion?That question may signal something about the wisdom of the D.C. Circuit judges that I previously failed to appreciate. The Justice Department's contention that Sullivan lacks standing seemed compelling to me. I was surprised when the Circuit appeared to ignore it in granting Sullivan's request for full-court review; I thought they'd deny it and let the panel's ruling stand. But is it possible that the Circuit saw this as a graceful off-ramp? When none of the Circuit's judges asked for full-court reconsideration, that signaled to Sullivan that if he wanted it, he would have to ask for it himself. The Circuit judges probably calculated that if the irascible Sullivan made a formal application for rehearing en banc, it would be manifest that he had transformed himself into a party in the Flynn case. Then the Circuit could use the disqualification rule to nudge him aside for the sake of maintaining the judiciary's reputation for objectivity. That would avoid all the downsides of issuing a mandamus writ while gently reminding lower court judges that they are supposed to remain umpires in these contests, not become one of the players.To sum up, whatever one may have thought about the gravity of Sullivan's irregular behavior back in May, he has now clearly crossed the Rubicon. It is incumbent on him to recuse himself. If he can't bring himself to do that — a failure that would further demonstrate a lack of judicial detachment — the D.C. Circuit should disqualify him. Either way, the case should be reassigned to a new judge, who should promptly grant the Justice Department's motion to dismiss.I'll conclude with a verity that seems sadly lost on Judge Sullivan: Granting the Justice Department's dismissal motion would not be a judicial endorsement of the motion, much less a court ruling that Flynn is not guilty. Judge Sullivan is absolutely entitled to believe the Justice Department is wrong to dismiss the case, and that Flynn is as guilty as the day is long. What a judge is not entitled to do, however, is substitute his view for the prosecutor's on the question of whether a prosecution should continue. In our system, separation of powers principles make that the Justice Department's call.
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| Woman confronting vandals covered in paint during renewed Portland protests Posted: 07 Aug 2020 02:21 PM PDT  Protesters in Portland allegedly threw white paint over a woman, as demonstrators clashed with police for a third consecutive day.On Friday, following two days of protests marred by vandalism, more than 200 people clashed with police, as two other Black Lives Matter protests marched peacefully through the city.
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| Robber snatches California man's life savings in front of bank Posted: 07 Aug 2020 11:23 AM PDT  Francisco Cornejo walking to his car after making a hefty withdrawal from his account. He was carrying 200-thousand dollars when a robber attacked him and ripped away Conejo's bag of money. The thief escaped with the money and has yet to be arrested.
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| Fact check: Sex crimes by public officials not connected to Ghislaine Maxwell Posted: 07 Aug 2020 10:23 AM PDT  Posts say sex crimes by dozens of public officials are connected to Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of Jeffrey Epstein. But they're not.
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| County official uses racial slur, blames Black people for COVID-19 spread in Michigan Posted: 07 Aug 2020 09:23 AM PDT  Locals are now calling for his resignation.
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| Fort Hood commander's transfer on hold amid investigations Posted: 07 Aug 2020 02:37 PM PDT  Army leaders have delayed the planned transfer of the Fort Hood commander, as a team of independent investigators heads to the base to determine whether leadership failures contributed to the murder of a soldier earlier this year, and several other deaths. Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt, commander of Fort Hood, Texas, was slated to go to Fort Bliss, which is near El Paso, and take over leadership of the 1st Armored Division. Command of a division is a key step in an Army officer's career.
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| The US pledged over $17 million in initial disaster aid for Lebanon after an explosion devastated Beirut Posted: 08 Aug 2020 06:40 AM PDT  Lebanese authorities are investigating the explosion that left more than 150 dead, thousands injured, and leveled a large portion of the city.
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| UN set for showdown over US Iran arms embargo push Posted: 07 Aug 2020 11:22 PM PDT  The UN Security Council is set next week to roundly reject a US resolution to extend an Iranian arms embargo, diplomats say, setting up a lengthy showdown with repercussions for the Iran nuclear deal. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Wednesday that the United States would put forward its long-awaited resolution despite ardent opposition from Russia and China. "The resolution takes a maximalist position on Iran," one diplomat told AFP.
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| Explosives expert: It's only a matter of time before human error leads to another Beirut blast Posted: 08 Aug 2020 10:57 AM PDT  One of the world's leading experts on ammonium nitrate told The Daily Telegraph: "It's only a matter of time before something similar happens again." Vyto Babrauskas, a fires and explosives forensics expert based in New York, said that there were tens of thousands sites around the world where the chemical was stored unsafely. He carried out an investigation into a disaster seven years ago in West, Texas where 15 died. About 2,750 tonnes ignited to devastate Beirut on Tuesday. In the UK, it is legal to store up to 1,250 tonnes. In the Texas disaster, only 30 tonnes went up.
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| Thousands of bikers heading to South Dakota rally to be blocked at tribal land checkpoints Posted: 08 Aug 2020 09:13 AM PDT  Clampdown comes as fears mount that mask-free bikers headed to large gathering could spread coronavirus to tribal groupsThousands of bikers heading to South Dakota's 10-day Sturgis Motorcycle Rally will not be allowed through Cheyenne River Sioux checkpoints, a spokesman for the Native American group said on Saturday.The decision to prevent access across tribal lands to the annual rally, which could attract as many as 250,000 bikers amid fears it could lead to a massive, regional coronavirus outbreak, comes as part of larger Covid-19 prevention policy. The policy has pitted seven tribes that make up the Great Sioux Nation against federal and state authorities, which both claim the checkpoints are illegal.A duty officer for the Cheyenne River Sioux told the Guardian on Saturday that only commercial and emergency vehicles will be let through the checkpoints onto reservation land.A number of bikers had tried to enter but had been turned back, they said. Other reservations in the region, including the Oglala Sioux, were also turning away bikers that had attempted routes to Sturgis that pass through sovereign land.Under Cheyenne River tribal guidelines non-residents driving non-commercial out-of-state vehicles are never allowed through the reservation. During the rally, non-commercial vehicles with South Dakota plates are also not allowed through.The clampdown comes as fears mount that mask-free bikers visiting Sturgis for the largest gathering of people since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic could spread the virus to tribal groups that are already experiencing a rise in cases.Oglala Sioux recorded 163 cases last week, while the Cheyenne River Sioux has seen cases rise to 79, according to the tribe's website.The restrictions come as local law enforcement reported a convergence of bikers from all directions. According to reports, many bikers heading for Sturgis expressed defiance at rules and restrictions that have marked life during the coronavirus pandemic.While South Dakota has fared better than most states – it ranks 38th in Covid deaths per capita, according to a Reuters tally – cases have risen in recent weeks as hotspots move into the midwest.During the rally, people are expected to cram bars and pack concerts with at least 34 acts playing. "Screw COVID," read the design on one T-shirt on sale. "I went to Sturgis."> I trusted my people, they trusted me, and South Dakota is in a good spot in our fight against COVID-19. > > The Sturgis motorcycle rally starts this weekend, and we're excited for visitors to see what our great state has to offer! https://t.co/UiHvaYviqa> > — Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) August 6, 2020Stephen Sample, who rode his Harley-Davidson from Arizona, told the Associated Press that the event was a break from the routine of the last several months."I don't want to die, but I don't want to be cooped up all my life either," Sample, 66, said, adding that he had weighed the risks of navigating the crowds, but the same thrill-seeking that attracted him to riding motorcycles seemed to win out."I think we're all willing to take a chance," he said, but acknowledged the trip "could be a major mistake."South Dakota's Republican governor, Kristi Noem, has supported holding the Sturgis rally, pointing out that no virus outbreak was documented from the several thousand people who turned out to see Donald Trump at Mount Rushmore last month.The rally is marking its 80th anniversary and typically injects $800m into South Dakota's economy. Meade county sheriff, Rob Merwin, said: "It's going to be a lot of people and a lot of motorcycles all over the place. People are tired of being penned up by this pandemic."On Friday, a worker at the event told the Guardian crowds seemed larger than in previous years and warned that Sturgis attendees were paying little heed to medical advice."I've not seen one single person wearing a mask," said bartender Jessica Christian, 29. "It's just pretty much the mentality that, 'If I get it, I get it.'""In downtown Sturgis it's just madness," Christian added. "People not socially distancing, everybody touching each other. It'll be interesting to see how that turns out."Over 60% of Sturgis 6,900 residents who responded to a city council survey in May said they wanted the rally canceled.A month later, the council voted to move ahead, although it canceled all city-sponsored events associated with the rally and included measures such as hand-sanitizing stations. Sturgis mayor Mark Carstensen said throughout the pandemic, "the state of South Dakota has been the freedom state and the city of Sturgis has stayed true to that".
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| US: Border tunnel appears to be 'most sophisticated' Posted: 06 Aug 2020 10:07 PM PDT  An incomplete tunnel found stretching from Mexico to Arizona appears to be "the most sophisticated tunnel in U.S. history," authorities said. The tunnel intended for smuggling ran from a neighborhood in San Luis Río Colorado, Mexico, to San Luis, Arizona, where it stopped short of reaching the surface. It was built in an area that's not conducive to tunnels because of the terrain, and it had a ventilation system, water lines, electrical wiring, a rail system and extensive reinforcement, federal officials say.
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| France and Germany pulled out of talks to reform the WHO because the US was trying to take control, according to a report Posted: 08 Aug 2020 04:58 AM PDT  The US, who said last month that they will leave the WHO in July 2021, is trying to dictate the terms, according to several European officials.
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| France deploys teams to Mauritius as oil spill disaster worsens Posted: 08 Aug 2020 04:23 AM PDT  France on Saturday dispatched aircraft and technical advisers from Reunion to Mauritius after the prime minister appealed for urgent assistance to contain a worsening oil spill polluting the island nation's famed reefs, lagoons and oceans. Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth declared "a state of environmental emergency" late Friday as oil spilled unabated into the coral reefs, lagoons and white-sand shores upon which Mauritius has built its reputation as a green tourism destination.
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| Haunting image of Beirut destruction shows clock frozen at 6:09 Posted: 08 Aug 2020 07:19 AM PDT  "It stopped short, never to go again, when Beirut died," the photographer said.
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| Hillary Clinton says NYT writer had 'too much pot brownie' after forgetting her 2016 White House run Posted: 08 Aug 2020 09:56 AM PDT  Hillary Clinton roasted The New York Times and their columnist Maureen Dowd - for apparently forgetting that she ran on a mixed-gender presidential ticket in 2016.She joined a chorus of Twitter mockery after the paper's Opinion Twitter account posted a now-deleted message promoting Ms Dowd's latest column, which looked back at the Walter Mondale–Geraldine Ferraro ticket of 1984.
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| Police Officer Fired After Allegedly Mishandling Explicit Photos of Slain University of Utah Student Posted: 08 Aug 2020 10:22 AM PDT  The Salt Lake Tribune had reported that the officer had downloaded, shared and bragged about the photos
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| Missing Georgia mom may have met man she was speaking to online before disappearance Posted: 07 Aug 2020 07:19 AM PDT  A Georgia mother missing for nearly two weeks after her son was found in a Florida parking lot may have met a man she was speaking to online, according to her father.
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| Appeals court rules for U.S. House over subpoena for ex-White House lawyer Posted: 07 Aug 2020 07:39 AM PDT  A U.S. appeals court on Friday dealt the administration of President Donald Trump a major legal setback, ruling against its bid to block a Democratic-led congressional panel's subpoena for testimony from former White House Counsel Donald McGahn. The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on a 7-2 vote said the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee had legal standing to seek to enforce the subpoena. "Today's decision is a profound victory for the rule of law and our constitutional system of government," said Representative Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the committee.
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| New 'threat' against former Saudi spy in Canada: media Posted: 08 Aug 2020 01:53 PM PDT  A former senior Saudi intelligence official who has accused Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of trying to have him assassinated in 2018 has been placed under heightened security after a new threat on his life, a Canadian newspaper reported. The Globe and Mail said Canadian security services had been informed of a new attempted attack on Saad Aljabri, who lives at an undisclosed location in the Toronto region. Aljabri served as a counterespionage chief under a rival prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, who was ousted in 2017 by Prince Mohammed.
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| Schools will be last to close if second wave strikes, Johnson vows Posted: 08 Aug 2020 10:16 AM PDT  Schools will be the last to shut in the event of a second wave of Covid-19, Boris Johnson has told officials as it emerged there is "little evidence" of virus transmission in them. Ensuring that all children return to school next month is now the "country's top priority", the prime minister said, because of the greater risk to them from the shutdown than coronavirus. He stressed the urgency of getting all children in England back into class next month and after telling officials that schools will be the last to close if a nationwide lockdown is reimposed. The coronavirus pandemic resulted in schools closing on March 20, ahead of many businesses. They will have been closed for more than five months by the start of the new academic year next month. Mr Johnson is planning to visit a school on Monday to see first-hand how schools are preparing for all children to return and the "Covid-secure" measures they have in place. The remarks came after unions suggested they could tell heads to keep schools shut if they did not consider them to be safe for teachers and students from the threat of coronavirus. Last week Anne Longfield, the Children's Commissioner, told ministers that pubs and shops should be shut to reopen schools if a trade-off needs to be made because of a rise in coronavirus infections. In meetings last week, according to Downing Street, the PM "stressed that the harm done to children's education prospects by not attending school as well as to their mental health is far more damaging than the low risk posed" by the virus. He told officials that there can be "no excuses" for children not returning to school this September and tasked ministers and government departments to continue working around the clock to ensure all children are able to smoothly return next month.
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| New York is moving homeless people into luxury hotels to protect them against coronavirus and wealthy neighbourhoods aren't happy Posted: 07 Aug 2020 01:29 PM PDT  New York was in the midst of a record homelessness crisis even before the coronavirus hit. Some 60,000 people were filling municipal shelters across the city every night. Nearly a third of that number was living in dorm-style facilities for single adults, sharing bathrooms, dining areas and sleeping facilities."When Covid struck, we recognised very quickly this was a recipe for disaster," said Jacqueline Simone, of Coalition for the Homeless, a New York charity. The problem was only going to get worse, they warned, as the economic crisis caused by the pandemic deepened.
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| DeSantis doesn’t want lucrative deal going to company that botched unemployment system Posted: 07 Aug 2020 10:05 AM PDT  Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday slammed a potential new nine-figure contract between the state and the firm that built Florida's dysfunctional unemployment system.
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| The former Dallas police officer who killed Botham Jean in his own apartment is appealing her murder conviction Posted: 08 Aug 2020 09:28 AM PDT  Lawyers for Amber Guyger, who is serving 10 years for Jean's murder, argue in the appeal she had the "right to act in deadly force in self-defense."
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| Unknown gunman kills 2 Lebanese in Iranian capital Posted: 08 Aug 2020 03:49 AM PDT |
| Sales of pricey New York City apartments plunge as the suburbs become cool again Posted: 08 Aug 2020 04:55 AM PDT  Homes in Connecticut and Westchester's suburbs are flying off the market as wealthy New Yorkers flee to greener pastures.
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| Protesters and S.African police clash at Zimbabwe embassy Posted: 07 Aug 2020 09:19 AM PDT  Close to 100 mainly Zimbabwean migrants in South Africa gathered to protest economic hardship and a recent crackdown on dissent and political opposition back home. Earlier this week Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa vowed to "flush out" critics who he described as "dark forces" and "terrorists" after the authorities thwarted anti-government protests. On Friday police were seen pushing and shoving the protesters from the front of the Zimbabwean embassy building, situated in a leafy Pretoria suburb not far from the Union Buildings, the seat of South Africa's government.
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| How Nicola Sturgeon has secretly massaged Scotland’s coronavirus record Posted: 08 Aug 2020 03:48 AM PDT  Nicola Sturgeon spent much of July telling anyone who would listen that the prevalence of coronavirus in England was "five times" higher than in Scotland. The figure was deployed to justify her refusal to rule out effectively closing the border by imposing quarantine on travellers from England, and her highly controversial move to set her a Scotland-only policy on air bridges, which airports warned put livelihoods at risk. The day after she first made the claim, masked nationalists in hazmat suits descended on the border near Berwick-upon-Tweed, shouting abuse at English "plague carriers".
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| How Is New York Having Crazy Parties With No COVID Surge? Posted: 07 Aug 2020 01:36 AM PDT  Bikini-packed pool parties. Insane backyard blowouts. Unhinged prom bashes.Spectacular scenes of COVID-19 recklessness have emerged from New Jersey in recent weeks, alarming state leaders into implementing new restrictions to curb the tide of rising coronavirus cases and prompting plenty of snickering about the Jersey Shore. But a looming question has plagued experts as similar signs of non-compliance have been witnessed across the Hudson River in New York—without the same upticks.New Jersey and New York have had similar regulations, travel restrictions, and contact tracing efforts. Giant, raucous boat parties in New York are making headlines, too. So why aren't infection rates following suit the same way? Why are two states that were both early coronavirus hot spots on seemingly divergent courses all these months later?As of Thursday, New Jersey's case rate per 100,000 people was 30 over the past seven days, according to The New York Times. The state had a positivity rate of 1.77 percent on its tests over the past week, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. For the past month, that number was 1.52 percent. The state was testing 2.3 people per 1,000, a rate that was trending downward according to Johns Hopkins.Those figures might seem perfectly fine in the abstract, but they amounted to an ominous trend."The numbers are setting off alarms," New Jersey Gov. Philip Murphy said last Friday. "We are standing in a very dangerous place."Meanwhile, New York's case rate per 100,000 was 24 over the past seven days, according to the Times. This week, the state had a positivity rate of 0.97 percent on its tests, according to Johns Hopkins. For the past month, that number was 1.06 percent. The state was testing 3.5 people per 1,000, a rate that was trending upward according to Johns Hopkins.Conversations with a wide array of public health experts, local health officials, and disease modelers suggested the reasons for the split were still very much out of focus. But hypotheses ranged from subtle differences in pandemic restrictions to the perception of New York as being more inclined toward aggressive enforcement, deterring non-compliance and would-be spreaders from traveling there.'Worse Than New York': How Coronavirus Exploded in South Carolina"Up until this week the restrictions on indoor gatherings were way too high" in New Jersey, said Dr. David Rubin, the director of PolicyLab at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, which has modeled the pandemic in collaboration with the White House Coronavirus Task Force. "That was really problematic, particularly with people gathering on the Jersey Shore, which also has a long coastline and is a big vacation destination."Of course, New Jersey's cases and test positivity rates were nowhere near as concerning as those in hot zones like Texas or Florida. And New York is still finding more COVID-19-positive people on any given day than its neighbor, thanks to its much larger population. But the trendlines in Jersey have concerned state authorities, and last Friday, Murphy squarely placed the blame for new cases on residents not following the rules."Everyone who walks around refusing to wear a mask, or who hosts an indoor house party, or who overstuffs a boat, is directly contributing to these increases," Murphy told reporters. "This has to stop."It didn't.Just one day later, about 300 bikini-clad and maskless guests spilled out of a massive pool party in Alpine, New Jersey, when police showed up to break up the crowd, NBC New York reported. The party was advertised on social media and by DJs as "The Lavish Experience Pool Party," and the unidentified host told local reporters that "it got out of control."Promoters had posted about the party, and party buses pulled up outside. "It's been happening all summer," one neighbor told The New York Post. "The owner of the house doesn't care, the mayor doesn't care. There's cursing, loud music, drugs."Alpine Mayor Paul Tomasko, for what it's worth, told the local NBC station that such parties were under investigation by local police, state officials, and the county prosecutor's office.A few weeks earlier, a "BikiniPalooza" event was held at the same mansion, with some neighbors calling it "a night club." It received the same promotional treatment, according to posts on Instagram.Murphy has said the event involved "close congregation and not a lot of face covering, if any."In the aftermath, the governor announced on Monday that he would reduce the limit on indoor gatherings to 25 percent capacity, capped at 25 people total. Until this week, it had been capped at 100. By contrast, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's executive order on COVID-19 has for some time prohibited crowds of non-essential workers over 50 people indoors. The rate of transmission in New Jersey jumped from 0.87 a month ago to 1.48 on Monday, Murphy said, meaning that people were spreading the virus more readily."This is no time for complacency, for selfishness, or for thinking that someone else can wear a mask but not you," Murphy tweeted on Wednesday. "Do your part."Carrie Nawrocki, executive director at the Hudson Regional Health Commission, which oversees a population of about 675,000 and includes Jersey City, said her area has seen "extensive delays with testing turnaround time," making it "difficult to get an accurate picture of the daily cases we have."Nawrocki said that there has not been a significant increase in case numbers among the 18-29 age group, but that she doesn't "think that's necessarily the age group that's going to get tested as often, especially if they are not adhering to social distancing.""We have enough contact tracers and disease investigators for every new case that comes in, so we are reaching out to everyone and we haven't identified one specific reason why people are getting COVID," said Nawrocki. "My guess would be that they have to do with travel."That being said, NJ.com reported that state officials warned in recent weeks that the 18-29 age group was the fastest-growing in the state to test positive for COVID-19, and Murphy has certainly pointed the finger at large indoor parties hosted by younger people. Dozens of new cases have been traced to house parties in towns like Westfield and Middletown.Still, the same recklessness—yelling, cheering, drinking and singing without masks—has been reported in New York City. On bistro patios, on crowded boats, and in the middle of crowded streets."We're drinking to everyone's health," a 31-year-old consultant who was drinking a beer with running buddies at a sports bar told Bloomberg News last month. "We could've stopped the virus a long time ago if they gave us clear directions. Now, they want to blame it on us."Last weekend, officials in New York City broke up an alleged sex party of about 30 people in Midtown on Friday and then, a day later, busted a party boat filled with 170 revelers. Authorities arrested the owners of the ship, the Liberty Belle, for allegedly violating the state's ban on large crowds and for running a bar without a license.On Sunday, the New York State Liquor Authority issued violations for 24 city establishments that violated social distancing guidelines, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office. The state has also reportedly opened an investigation into a July 25 outdoor charity concert in the Hamptons that was attended by more than 2,000 people. As of this weekend, the total number of pandemic-related charges in the state had hit 503, according to ABC News."It's disrespectful," Cuomo said Monday. "It's illegal. It violates public health. It violates public decency. What if one of the people on that cruise gets sick and dies?"Rubin posited that the main difference between both states could be a matter of enforcement. Or, just as important when it comes to deterrence in the context of disease containment, the perception of enforcement."My impression of Gov. Cuomo is that kind of tough stance with anyone who might try to defy the rules," said Rubin. At the very least, the two states' travel advisory websites show a tonal difference on that score. That matters because, according to Dr. Brittany Kmush, an assistant professor at Syracuse University and expert on epidemiology and infectious diseases, "the biggest risk in both states is importation from higher risk areas.""The self-quarantine is voluntary, but compliance is expected," according to the New Jersey public health department website's travel advisory page. The New York health department meanwhile, "expects all travelers to comply and protect public health by adhering to the quarantine.' But, significantly, it also stipulates that it reserves "the right to issue a mandatory quarantine order" on any given individual, for which a violation is subject to a penalty of up to $10,000 or imprisonment up to 15 days, according to the state's website. New York City also made a show of announcing checkpoints to enforce a quarantine on out-of-state travelers this week."If people don't believe there's any penalty, they're just going to defy orders," said Rubin. "These are very important differences.""Even though both states have the same travel restrictions, the perception of the consequences differ by the states," Kmush added.New Jersey has made its own show of enforcement, too—or, at least, it did in the past.N.J. Gym Owners Drop F-Bombs in Off the Rails CNN InterviewFrom April through June, State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and State Police Superintendent Patrick Callahan released regular round-ups of enforcement actions against violators of Murphy's executive orders. Just in the first weekend, they reported that officers had issued more than 200 summonses in Newark alone, each carrying a sentence of up to six months and a fine as large as $1,000. Local police also famously busted a party of 30 people at a house in the town of Rumson and arrested the homeowner and an allegedly unruly guest. Cops cuffed a Toms River man after crashing another party of 20 at his abode. Authorities in West Windsor took a 16-year-old year into custody who they accused of hacking on a 52-year-old in a Wegmans supermarket. And 13 people were charged with second-degree terroristic threats during an emergency in as many incidents in just the first half the month, after they reportedly coughed or spit on police and claimed to be carrying the virus. The round-ups went from daily to weekly in May, to ending entirely after June 5 as the state moved forward with reopening.Asked for comment, Murphy's office deferred to Grewal's team, who did not provide a response by press time. The New Jersey Department of Health did not respond to a request for comment for this story."I got the sense that New Jersey was not enforcing things as strongly as New York is, where Cuomo has cracked down on bars and is wielding more penalties than other governors are, and that's keeping people in line," said Rubin. For guidelines and restrictions in other states, what will matter in case counts, he said, is: "Are these just empty threats? Or is there just more teeth to them?"In any case, Rubin said, "Our models are seeing sea levels rise everywhere around New York, but we don't know exactly why New York has been insulated from the resurgences we're seeing in New Jersey and Pennsylvania." Or, as Kmush put it: "I really don't think we'll know the answer to this for years."—With additional reporting by William BreddermanRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. 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| New 2020 election map predicts resounding victory for Biden against Trump Posted: 07 Aug 2020 08:04 AM PDT  With months to go until one of the most unprecedented elections in American history, anything can happen — but at least one new prediction has forecasted a resounding victory for Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee.The first 2020 battleground electoral map by NBC News was released on Friday, showing the former vice president with a lead of 334 electoral votes.
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| More Protests Erupt in Portland Outside a Police Precinct After Mayor Decries Violence Posted: 07 Aug 2020 03:06 AM PDT  Violent clashes between protesters and police in Portland, Oregon, this week have ratcheted up tensions in the city days after an agreement between state and federal officials appeared to bring calm.
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| There are more problems with onions. Another brand pulls products at Walmart and Kroger Posted: 07 Aug 2020 05:41 AM PDT  A nationwide onion recall has grown to include products from Taylor Farms Texas, a Dallas company that is voluntarily recalling products containing onions from its supplier. An onion recall was initiated by Thomson International last week.
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| George Floyd: US protesters charged as 'gang' face life sentence Posted: 07 Aug 2020 07:57 AM PDT  Black Lives Matter protesters in Utah were accused of acting as a gang to vandalise a building.
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| A man in his 20s died of the plague in New Mexico's first reported death from the infection in years Posted: 08 Aug 2020 01:17 PM PDT  The New Mexico Department of Health said it was the first plague-related death in New Mexico since 2015.
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| The US Space Force is getting an official second in command Posted: 07 Aug 2020 02:31 PM PDT  A familiar face is set to become the service's first vice chief of space operations.
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| India moves Kashmiri village leaders to safety after wave of attacks Posted: 07 Aug 2020 04:34 AM PDT  India has shifted scores of village and municipality leaders, mostly from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party, to secure locations in Kashmir after a spate of militant attacks, police and two security officials said on Friday. Separatists fighting Indian rule in the disputed region have stepped up attacks on lower level politicians, many of whom do not have personal security guards, in recent weeks. "It is a temporary arrangement," Kashmir valley's police chief Vijay Kumar told Reuters.
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| Migrants adrift after camp at France-Italy border shut Posted: 07 Aug 2020 09:45 AM PDT  Sudanese migrant Soulaimen has been sleeping on the beach in the Italian border town of Ventimiglia for 10 days now. With his only shelter a sleeping bag and pasta meals donated by a charity, the 20-year-old is getting by as best he can after a transit camp run by the Italian Red Cross was ordered to stop welcoming new arrivals and cease operations. Now, the migrants who continue to flock to this town hoping to cross into France are on their own, faced with strengthened border police and an uncertain future.
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