| The Lincoln Project's 'Never Trump' ads expertly troll a president who never fails to take the bait Posted: 10 Jul 2020 03:04 PM PDT  The Lincoln Project, which was created by a group of anti-Trump Republican political operatives last December, believes there is a logic to being a metaphorical fly buzzing around the president's head.
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| Prosecutor whose star has risen under Trump named Brooklyn-based acting U.S. Attorney Posted: 10 Jul 2020 02:25 PM PDT  U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Friday named Seth DuCharme, a prosecutor who has risen rapidly in the Justice Department under the Trump administration, as acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. DuCharme, who for the last six months has been principal associate deputy attorney general in Washington, is swapping roles with Richard Donoghue, the current U.S. Attorney for the Brooklyn-based Eastern District. The Justice Department earlier this month announced shorturl.at/inqL3 Donoghue's move to Washington.
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| Linda Stoltzfoos: FBI offers $10,000 reward in search for missing Amish teenager in Pennsylvania Posted: 10 Jul 2020 01:42 PM PDT  The FBI is assisting local authorities in a search for a missing Amish teenager from Pennsylvania.The agency is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading regarding the location of Linda Stoltzfoos, an 18-year-old Amish teen who disappeared after a church service in East Lampeter Township, Pennsylvania on 21 June.
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| Virus cases up sharply in Africa, India as inequality stings Posted: 11 Jul 2020 03:57 AM PDT  South Africa's confirmed coronavirus cases have doubled in just two weeks to a quarter-million, and India on Saturday saw its biggest daily spike as its infections passed 800,000. The surging cases are raising sharp concerns about unequal treatment in the pandemic, as the wealthy hoard medical equipment and use private hospitals and the poor crowd into overwhelmed public facilities. Globally more than 12.5 million people have been infected by the virus and over 560,000 have died, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
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| Hamburg sex workers demand Germany's brothels reopen Posted: 12 Jul 2020 03:01 AM PDT  Prostitutes demonstrated in Hamburg's red light district late on Saturday evening demanding that Germany's brothels be allowed to reopen after months of closure to curb the spread of coronavirus. With shops, restaurants and bars all open again in Germany, where prostitution is legal, sex workers say they are being singled out and deprived of their livelihoods despite not posing a greater health risk. "The oldest profession needs your help," read a notice held up by one woman in a brothel window in the Herbertstrasse, which was flooded with red light after being dark since March.
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| Russia's journalists under increasing pressure from the secret services in wake of Putin's shaky referendum victory Posted: 11 Jul 2020 10:15 AM PDT  Russia's intelligence services have 'stepped up' their war on free media, carrying out a series of operations designed to intimidate journalists in the wake of Vladimir Putin's controversial referendum victory last week. In an unprecedented case for post-Soviet Russia, prominent defence reporter Ivan Safronov was seized outside his home on Tuesday morning by secret service agents and arrested on suspicion of treason. Citing the secret nature of the case, the investigators have not published any evidence to back up their claims but the reporter faces 20 years in prison. Last week's overwhelming approval of constitutional amendments allowing Vladimir Putin to stay in office at least until 2036 was hailed by the Kremlin as a "triumph." But results at the polling stations that were monitored by independent observers indicated something resembling a split vote. That was an apparent cue for Russia's FSB secret service to take action.
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| Fact Check: No, schools will not require a COVID-19 vaccine, with RFID chip, for students Posted: 10 Jul 2020 10:43 AM PDT  A viral meme claims schools will require students take a deadly COVID-19 vaccine before returning. That vaccine has not yet been approved.
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| Goya Foods: Hispanic brand faces boycott for praising Trump Posted: 10 Jul 2020 03:57 PM PDT  Democrats including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have urged customers to stop buying Goya Foods products.
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| Spectacular photos capture Neowise, one of the brightest comets in decades Posted: 11 Jul 2020 09:16 AM PDT  Astrophotographers around the world have captured incredible photos of the once-in-a-lifetime celestial event.
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| Fire destroys much of 249-year-old church in California Posted: 11 Jul 2020 11:30 AM PDT  A fire early Saturday destroyed the rooftop and most of the interior of a Catholic church in California that was undergoing renovation to mark its upcoming 250th anniversary celebration. Fire alarms at the San Gabriel Mission rang around 4 a.m. When firefighters arrived, they saw smoke rising from the wooden rooftop in one corner of the historic structure, San Gabriel Fire Capt. Paul Negrete said. Firefighters entered the church and tried to beat back the flames, but they had to retreat when roofing and other structural materials began to fall, Negrete said.
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| Shooting of man by Baltimore police highlights 'total failure' of city's behavioral health response, agency says Posted: 11 Jul 2020 03:04 PM PDT  BALTIMORE - After Baltimore police officers shot a man who pulled a firearm while undergoing a behavioral health crisis last week, the organization that oversees the city's behavioral health services called the current system "a total failure" that needs better integration of mental health professionals with the police. There is no indication that police dispatchers attempted to connect ...
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| US gives the green light to Japan’s $23B F-35 buy Posted: 10 Jul 2020 11:01 AM PDT  Japan is set to become the fourth operator of the F-35B short takeoff and landing variant.
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| 'This is not the summer for a spontaneous road trip': The case for canceling your vacation Posted: 10 Jul 2020 02:18 PM PDT  Vacationing during a pandemic is an act of pure selfishness. It doesn't just endanger your life. It could spread COVID-19 and prolong the situation.
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| Xu Zhangrun: Outspoken professor freed after six days Posted: 12 Jul 2020 09:49 AM PDT  A friend said constitutional law professor Xu Zhangrun was in good health.
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| UN approves aid to Syria's rebel area through 1 crossing Posted: 11 Jul 2020 12:13 PM PDT  Russia scored a victory for its ally Syria on Saturday by forcing the Security Council to limit humanitarian aid deliveries to the country's mainly rebel-held northwest to just one crossing point from Turkey, a move that Western nations say will cut a lifeline for 1.3 million people. Russia argues that aid should be delivered from within the country across conflict lines, and says only one crossing point is needed. U.N. officials and humanitarian groups argued unsuccessfully — along with the vast majority of the U.N. Security Council — that the two crossing points in operation until their mandate expired Friday were essential for getting help to millions of needy people in Syria's northwest, especially with the first case of COVID-19 recently reported in the region.
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| Inventor of Israel's Iron Dome seeks coronavirus 'game-changer' Posted: 11 Jul 2020 07:17 PM PDT  Daniel Gold, who led the team that invented Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system, has a history of safeguarding the country against what he identifies as existential threats. With the nation facing surging coronavirus cases amid a pandemic that has triggered unprecedented economic hardship, Gold is trying to replicate his Iron Dome breakthrough in protecting Israel against the virus. Gold, who heads Israel's Defence Research and Development Directorate and holds PhDs in electronic engineering and business management, has become a celebrated figure in the Jewish state.
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| Court's religious employer ruling could weaken LGBTQ protections Posted: 10 Jul 2020 12:07 PM PDT  Critics say the ruling, which broadens the "ministerial exception" in employment nondiscrimination law, could open a Pandora's box of workplace discrimination.
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| 'Not a Welcoming Name': Calls to Drop 'Plantation' Gain Steam Nationwide Posted: 12 Jul 2020 08:28 AM PDT  When Dharyl Auguste was 3 years old, he and his parents packed all of their belongings and left their home in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to immigrate to the United States.The family settled initially in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, before moving to nearby Sunrise. When it was time for Auguste to attend middle school, he and his parents relocated again, this time to Plantation, Florida. Auguste welcomed the move, he said, because it was easier for him to see his friends and access public transportation.But something was not right in Plantation."It often came up as a topic between me and friends, and we all had the same feeling that it's not a welcoming name," Auguste, 27, said.In the weeks since the George Floyd protests began, neighborhoods and subdivisions across the country have removed the word "plantation" from their names. In June, Rhode Island -- known formally as the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations -- announced that it would drop the second half of its official name from state documents and websites. (State lawmakers have introduced legislation that would put a name-change referendum on the ballot in November.)Inspired by the social unrest spurred by the death of Floyd, a Black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground by the neck for more than eight minutes, Auguste started a petition to change the name of Plantation."I was at home sitting in awe as our nation was going through a social awakening," he said in an interview this past week. According to Auguste, images of toppled monuments to slaveholders and Confederate generals fueled him to take action. The petition he created June 7 has been signed more than 11,000 times.Strictly speaking, the word "plantation" refers to a large group of plants or trees in a settlement. But the association with slavery is inescapable."We can't ignore the image conjured by the word 'plantation,'" Gov. Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island said last month. "We can't ignore how painful that is for Black Rhode Islanders to see that and have to see that as part of their state's name. It's demoralizing. It's a slap in the face. It's painful."Gabriela Koster, who moved to Plantation, Florida, in 2006, agrees."I have been saying for 15 years that I do not think it's an appropriate name for our city," Koster said. "I don't think it serves us well."Koster, 42, who raised her three children in Plantation, described the city as vibrant but said its name dulled some of the city's luster.But Lynn Stoner, the mayor of Plantation, does not necessarily share this opinion."If we change the name, it doesn't change the mindset of what people indicate the problem is," Stoner said. "I think it is just the optics."Stoner has lived in Plantation for 50 years, and she proposed instead that residents be educated on the "racial components and diversity in the community.""I'm more about the education piece," Stoner said at a City Council meeting July 1, during which she also suggested that residents be taught about what should be considered offensive and why. "I feel like changing the name doesn't change the philosophies -- I think that's where the bigger issue is."At the meeting, Stoner criticized an interview that Auguste had recently given on CNN, saying that "he didn't do real well." (She later apologized.) She also asked Auguste during the meeting whether she should use the term "African Americans" or "Blacks"; claimed that the first time she "ever really saw" Black people was when she moved to Plantation; and said that the last three people she had hired were not white.She added that she was taught to treat everyone equally.In response to Stoner's comments, Auguste told the mayor that just because the city's name represented the status quo it did not mean it should stay that way."I'm sure that was the same mentality when slavery was ended," Auguste said. "We have to be more than not racist -- we have to be anti-racist."Because the city of Plantation wasn't incorporated until 1953, many -- including Stoner -- believe that its name is exempt from the correlation with slavery."This isn't just about Black people," the mayor said in an interview Tuesday. "It is about how Black people and people from other countries all relate to each other."Across the country, people are working to change the names of neighborhoods, developments and subdivisions that include the word "plantation." In Hilton Head, South Carolina, efforts to change the names of gated communities and resorts are unequivocally about Black people. Beaufort County, which includes the island of Hilton Head, was founded in 1711. Before the Civil War, there were more than 20 plantations on the island where slave labor produced cotton, indigo, sugar cane, rice and other crops, according to the local government.Today, Hilton Head is a resort town with developments and gated communities whose names often have the word "plantation" in them."It has been co-opted to mean a gated community in the area," said Marisa Wojcikiewicz, who started a petition last month to change the names of the resorts and gated communities. "It is very strange, to say the least, considering that the island is inextricably linked to the plantation economy."According to Wojcikiewicz, whose petition has over 8,000 signatures, a manager of the Hilton Head Plantation development had not entirely shot down the idea of changing the name of the development. Wojcikiewicz said she was surprised to find that some residents of the developments, who are mostly white, older and affluent, supported changing the name.Peter Kristian, general manager of the Hilton Head Plantation property owners association, did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.In Plantation, Florida, Auguste has two options to get the city to change its name. The City Council can vote to have a referendum added to the November ballot for the name change or Auguste can go door to door to collect signatures from at least 10% of the city's 94,000 residents, which would compel a City Council review. In Hilton Head, because the developments and resorts are privately owned, the onus is on the owners and investors to make any name changes.Most people don't want to be told that something they are doing is wrong, according to Wojcikiewicz, particularly when they have never given any thought to how it might be hurtful."Many people are afraid to admit that they were blind to the fact that it is racist," she said. "They think a plantation is this beautiful, expansive, green, calm, Southern idyllic life that everyone wishes they could have. We have deluded ourselves."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| The White House Made a List of All the Times Fauci ‘Has Been Wrong’ on the Coronavirus Posted: 11 Jul 2020 06:32 PM PDT  The White House has undertaken behind-the-scenes efforts in recent months to undercut and sideline Dr. Anthony Fauci—even going so far as to compile a list of all the times he "has been wrong on things," according to The Washington Post. After canceling some of his planned TV appearances and keeping him away from the Oval Office, White House officials and President Trump have taken to publicly expressing a loss of confidence in the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and face of the administration's coronavirus task force. The apparent attempts to undermine Fauci come as he continues to counter the president's overly optimistic narrative on the state of the pandemic. Against this backdrop, an unnamed White House official told the Post: "Several White House officials are concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things." The official attached a list of incorrect predictions Fauci had made, including his doubts early on that asymptomatic spread would play a large role in transmission and a February assurance that Americans did not need to change their behavior. Like many other public health officials, Fauci said at first that masks were not necessary but recently recommended that they be mandated nationwide. "Dr. Fauci has a good bedside manner with the public but he has been wrong about everything I have ever interacted with him on," Peter Navarro, the president's trade adviser, told the Post in a separate statement. "Now Fauci is saying that a falling mortality rate doesn't matter when it is the single most important statistic to help guide the pace of our economic reopening. So when you ask me if I listen to Dr. Fauci's advice, my answer is only with caution."In recent days, the 79-year-old doctor has offered unsparing assessments of the United States' current situation. In an interview with 538 published Thursday, he was perhaps at his most blunt: "As a country, when you compare us to other countries, I don't think you can say we're doing great. I mean, we're just not." The same day, the commander-in-chief told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview that Fauci was "a nice man, but he's made a lot of mistakes." The two haven't spoken in months, but Fauci has reportedly not complained about that. David Barr, an AIDS activist who knows Fauci, told the Post the doctor has become exasperated that state and local officials aren't listening to experts."Our bigger issue with Fauci is stop critiquing the task force...and try to fix it," another White House official told the Post. The official said Fauci's high approval and trustworthiness ratings have upset the president as his own deteriorate. The White House has also reportedly sought to keep Fauci out of the the public eye. A CBS anchor said last week that the White House has ignored requests to interview Fauci on air since early April, though he has spoken to print and podcast outlets. The White House maintains the authority to approve or deny interview requests for high-profile public officials and granted requests from PBS, CNN, and NBC to speak with the doctor only to cancel them after Fauci disagreed with Trump in a conversation with Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL), according to the Post. The epidemiologist said that Trump's contention of a lower death rate indicating success in tamping down the virus was "a false narrative." He warned against "false complacency." Fauci has also said he'd like to go on Rachel Maddow's show, which routinely critiques the president, a request that was rejected.Trump himself has been wrong on the coronavirus in a laundry list of ways as he's pushed to reopen the country, and going after Fauci is not the only time he has attempted to contravene public health guidelines. He famously told Dr. Deborah Birx, the chief medical adviser on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, to "look into" the injection of bleach and the ingestion of sunlight as possible COVID-19 curatives. He's also pressured the Food and Drug Administration to reinstate its emergency authorization for the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment, as has his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who said doctors "don't know what they're talking about." Trump himself has said he took the drug despite FDA advisories warning it is unsafe to do so and unlikely to prevent or treat the coronavirus.The president donned a face mask for a Saturday visit to Walter Reed Hospital, one of the first and only times he has done so in public after repeatedly shrugging off their importance in recent weeks and even mocking Joe Biden for wearing one. In Dr. Fauci We TrustRead 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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| WHO reports record daily increase in global coronavirus cases, up over 230,000 Posted: 12 Jul 2020 09:19 AM PDT  The biggest increases were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report. Global coronavirus cases were approaching 13 million on Sunday, according to a Reuters tally, marking another milestone in the spread of the disease that has killed more than 565,000 people in seven months.
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| Texas gov. warns of potential lockdown if Texans don't wear masks Posted: 10 Jul 2020 06:44 PM PDT  "The worst is yet to come," Governor Greg Abbott warned.
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| U.S. records more than 66,000 new coronavirus cases in record spike Posted: 11 Jul 2020 10:48 AM PDT  California, Florida and Texas all saw record surges in the last week.
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| ‘Parents understand risks’: 15 staffers, 3 kid campers catch COVID-19 in Miami-Dade Posted: 11 Jul 2020 03:00 AM PDT  As parents across Miami-Dade County wonder how schools will safely bring students back next month, they can look to local summer camps for an idea of how in-person learning during a pandemic may go.
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| Is the US supreme court having a liberal moment? Not on one crucial issue Posted: 11 Jul 2020 03:00 AM PDT  John Roberts sided with the court's liberal bloc in two notable recent cases, but critics say he's no swing voter on voting rightsTo an outside observer, it might seem like the US supreme court is having a liberal moment, mostly thanks to one justice.Chief Justice John Roberts – the court's swing vote – surprised many this term by siding with the court's left-leaning bloc and casting the deciding vote in two of the most high-stakes cases, with rulings that ensured abortion access in Louisiana and rejected Donald Trump's bid to end protections for young undocumented immigrants. He also sided with the liberal justices, and Neil Gorsuch, to expand LGBTQ rights in the workplace and ruled against Trump in a closely watched case over his tax returns.But many court watchers doubt that Roberts, a reliable conservative voice on the supreme court since he joined in 2005, is really moving in the direction of colleagues like Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Sonia Sotomayor."There's absolutely no indication John Roberts has become a moderate or even a liberal," said Jessica Levinson, a constitutional law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.In fact, Roberts has been a critical justice in dismantling fundamental democratic protections in the US around access to the voting booth, which could have profound implications for the 2020 election. Several disputes about voting restrictions amid the Covid-19 pandemic have already reached the supreme court, and many more are expected to in the coming months.One closely watched case, for example, will decide whether nearly three-quarters of a million Floridians with felony convictions can vote in the election. The case is already pending before the court.Richard Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine who specializes in elections, has described Roberts as a "solid fifth vote" against expanding voting rights, along with the four other conservatives on the court."He's no swing voter in these cases, for sure," Hasen wrote in an email.The supreme court is expected to weigh in on voting cases as the United States still struggles with significant inequities in access to the ballot box. Many policies in place today can make it more difficult for young people and minority voters to cast a vote.Over the last decade, Roberts has authored what many understand to be two of the most damaging rulings to voting rights in a generation. In 2013, he wrote the majority opinion in Shelby County v Holder, a decision that gutted a law mean to prevent voting discrimination against minorities. Roberts opined that the kind of racism and voting discrimination that existed in 1965, when the law was originally enacted, has been curbed.> Because of Roberts' ruling, many fear that the next round of redistricting in 2021 will be more extremeLast year, Roberts wrote the majority opinion in another 5-4 case, Rucho v Common Cause, saying that federal courts could do nothing to stop extreme partisan gerrymandering – the practice of grouping voters in certain electoral districts to give one party an advantage over the other in elections.Because of Roberts' ruling, many fear that the next round of redistricting in 2021 will be more extreme, as lawmakers now know they can gerrymander for partisan gain without being sued in federal court. Justice Elena Kagan issued a scathing dissent to the ruling, saying gerrymandering could "irreparably damage our system of government".A handful of voting rights cases that have reached the supreme court this year related to whether limitations on voting should be eased owing to the dislocations of Covid-19, but Roberts has sided in favor of keeping restrictions in place in all of them.Earlier this month, he sided with the court's conservative bloc in a 5-4 decision to allow three counties in Alabama to continue to require voters to provide copies of their voter ID, and to have witnesses or notaries, in order to vote by mail. The supreme court also blocked a lower court's ruling that would have allowed local officials to offer curbside voting, something that could have helped facilitate social distancing at the polls.And in April, hours before the polls opened for a Wisconsin's spring election, Roberts again sided with the court's four conservative justices to uphold several key voting restrictions in the state. The court shortened the deadline by which voters had to put their ballots in the mail to have them counted, even though a surge of mail-in voting was expected owing to the Covid-19 pandemic."The majority resolved the dispute as if we are not living through a once in a lifetime global pandemic and voters are not facing unprecedented challenges in casting ballots," Franita Tolson, a law professor at the University of Southern California who studies elections, wrote in an email. "If that was their posture in April, it is unlikely to change by November."Many of the upcoming cases are likely to deal with restrictions around absentee voting, and on seemingly technical disputes that could have huge practical implications, such as over prepaid postage, ballot receipt deadlines, and signature matching practices. Roberts is unlikely to side with liberal colleagues in such disputes, said Leah Litman, a law professor at the University of Michigan."I see absolutely no chance of that, given his votes in the Wisconsin and Alabama cases, as well as his history in voting rights disputes," she said.Despite Roberts' record on the issue, Deuel Ross, an attorney at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said he was still hopeful the court would recognize the need to expand voting rights owing to the unique obstacles posed by Covid-19."Justice Roberts has not shown himself in the past to be particularly sympathetic to voting rights claims," he said. "My hope is the court will be more sympathetic to those voters who are put it in a really impossible choice between choosing to go to a crowded polling place and having the option to vote at home without having to jump through additional hurdles."
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| University professors fear returning to campus as coronavirus cases surge Posted: 11 Jul 2020 01:49 AM PDT  "I am anticipating this semester with a good bit of dread," one professor said.
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| Key parts of Boris Johnson's Withdrawal Agreement amount to 'poison pill', senior Brexiteers warn Posted: 11 Jul 2020 08:28 AM PDT  Senior Brexiteers have warned Boris Johnson that key parts of his Withdrawal Agreement with the EU amount to a "poison pill" that should be replaced as part of post-Brexit trade negotiations. A 120-page report compiled by pro-Leave MPs and lawyers states that exiting the transition period with the current provisions of the agreement in place would have "crippling" consequences for the UK and prevent the country from becoming a "fully sovereign state". The document, which is published as the UK and EU carry out intensive trade negotiations, has been endorsed by a series of senior backbenchers, suggesting Mr Johnson could face resistance in the Commons if he fails to tackle some of their concerns. On Saturday, Mark Francois, the chairman of the influential European Research Group (ERG) of Eurosceptic Tory MPs, said: "The report argues that the remaining elements of the Withdrawal Agreement after we leave the transition period cannot be allowed to stand as they are, and particularly that there must be no remaining role for the European Court of Justice over any aspect of our national life. That is something that I and my colleagues in the ERG would very much support." The report, published by the new Centre for Brexit Policy, includes contributions from Lord Trimble, the former first minister of Northern Ireland, Martin Howe, the Brexiteer QC, and Owen Paterson, the former cabinet minister who chairs the think tank. The key elements it says make up the "poison pill" include the UK having to remain bound to some state aid laws, the creation of "burdensome EU customs mechanisms" at a border in the Irish Sea, a role for the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for another eight years, and the vast divorce payments, for amounts the report states are "not owing under international law" and are "subject to the determination of the ECJ". The report states: "Although the Government sees the revised Withdrawal Agreement (WA) as only transitional until the end of the transition period in December, there remain serious threats to UK sovereignty that will have crippling economic and strategic consequences for years to come if they are not dealt with now. "Exiting the TP with these threats still in place will not return the UK to a fully sovereign state and is unacceptable." The report urges Mr Johnson to replace the Withdrawal Agreement with a "sovereignty compliant" agreement. A chapter by Lord Trimble states that the current deal "rips the Good Friday Agreement apart" by handing law-making power over Northern Ireland to the EU.
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| Surgeon charged in scheme to pay addicts to receive experimental implant Posted: 11 Jul 2020 08:27 AM PDT  Dr. Randy Rosen is facing 88 felony charges from the Los Angeles Orange County district attorney, who called him "a real life" Frankenstein.
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| Majority of Filipinos support license renewal for embattled ABS-CBN: poll Posted: 12 Jul 2020 05:42 AM PDT  Three out of four Filipinos wanted Philippine lawmakers to renew a 25-year license for the country's top broadcaster, a survey by a private pollster showed late on Saturday, a day after Congress rejected ABS-CBN Corp's bid to have it renewed. Critics saw the rejection as part of a political vendetta by President Rodrigo Duterte's allies in Congress after the media conglomerate angered him for its failure to air some of his paid 2016 election campaign commercials. A legislative committee overwhelmingly agreed with a working group's assessment that ABS-CBN, which employs 11,000 people and has an audience of tens of millions of Filipinos, was "undeserving of the grant of legislative franchise".
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| Coronavirus: Kazakhstan denies 'unknown pneumonia' outbreak Posted: 10 Jul 2020 10:49 AM PDT  The country faces accusations Covid-19 is being diagnosed as pneumonia to lower rates.
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| Florida reports largest, single-day increase in COVID cases Posted: 12 Jul 2020 08:31 AM PDT  Florida shattered the national record Sunday for the largest single-day increase in positive coronavirus cases in any state since the beginning of the pandemic, adding more than 15,000 cases as its daily average death toll continued to also rise. According to state Department of Health statistics, 15,299 people tested positive, for a total of 269,811 cases, and 45 deaths were recorded. California had the previous record of daily positive cases — 11,694, set on Wednesday.
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| Egypt grounds kites for 'safety', 'national security' Posted: 11 Jul 2020 09:07 AM PDT  Egyptian police have seized kites from people flying them after a ban by a northern governorate for "safety" reasons and a lawmaker's warning they posed a "national security threat". Police seized 369 kites in Cairo on Friday, Al-Ahram reported, while Akhbar Al-Youm, another state newspaper, said police confiscated 99 kites and fined five people in the northern region of Alexandria. Fines imposed for kite-flying in the Mediterranean city can reach up to 1,000 pounds (about $60).
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| Five Guys workers ‘turned their backs’ on cops, Alabama police say. Now some are fired Posted: 10 Jul 2020 03:54 PM PDT  The company said the employees' actions "do not represent Five Guys or the local franchisee."
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| Column: Does Trump deserve a second term? Posted: 12 Jul 2020 04:00 AM PDT  Why is Trump seeking a second term? The fact that he has come up empty not once, but three times, suggests that he really doesn't know. He's out of ideas. But so was Ronald Reagan, and he won in a landslide.
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| Man saves cop from burning vehicle despite his history with police Posted: 10 Jul 2020 04:24 PM PDT  "It's amazing when there's true love in people and they can get you out of something like that — no matter who you are or where you come from," Jay Hanley said.
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| Britain to spend 705 million pounds on EU border infrastructure Posted: 12 Jul 2020 03:34 AM PDT  Britain will spend 705 million pounds ($890 million) on border infrastructure to help keep trade flowing after its transition deal with the European Union expires at the end of the year, Cabinet Secretary Michael Gove said on Sunday. The funding includes 470 million pounds to build port and inland infrastructure, including in the south-east of England to serve major freight crossings to France. "There will be specific pieces of infrastructure that we put in place in order to smooth the flow of traffic," Gove told the BBC's Andrew Marr.
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| United or Divided States of America? 6 ways to think about removing Confederate statues Posted: 12 Jul 2020 02:00 AM PDT  The more difficult work will be to dismantle the byproducts of slavery, such as mass incarceration and educational inequalities for children of color.
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| Q&A: US government not as prolific an executioner as states Posted: 11 Jul 2020 07:27 AM PDT |
| On to Mars Posted: 10 Jul 2020 11:25 AM PDT |
| Portuguese police interview former neighbours of German paedophile after launching new searches for Madeleine McCann's body Posted: 11 Jul 2020 09:26 AM PDT  Portuguese police have started interviewing former neighbours of the German paedophile suspected of abducting Madeleine McCann after launching new searches of nearby wells for her body. In a stepping up of the investigation specialist firefighters and divers were brought in to comb three isolated wells in Vila do Bispo, a town just ten miles from Praia da Luz, where the young girl went missing 13 years ago. The Telegraph understands the searches took place on Thursday morning and centred on three disused wells over a 100m stretch of remote farmland between Budens and Boca do Rio beach. National broadcaster RTP said that detectives have discovered "fundamental evidence" relating to prime suspect, Christian Brückner, but these claims have not been verified by police. Brückner is known to be familiar with the area, and it is where his distinctive yellow and white VW Westfalia campervan was photographed. The images were later released by German police.
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