| Chicago violence sparks war of words between Trump, mayor Posted: 20 Jul 2020 12:02 PM PDT |
| Flynn urges appeals court to end the battle over dismissing his case Posted: 20 Jul 2020 10:03 AM PDT  The Justice Department also weighed in against Judge Emmet Sullivan's petition for full court review.
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| Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder Arrested in $60 Million Bribery Scheme Posted: 21 Jul 2020 08:47 AM PDT  Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder is among five local political insiders reportedly arrested Tuesday in connection with a $60 million bribery scheme related to the state's new nuclear bailout law.According to several media reports, FBI agents and local authorities stormed Householder's Glenford farm on Tuesday morning. Four other men were reportedly arrested alongside Householder, who has led the Republican-controlled Ohio House since last January: Neil Clark, a lobbyist and founder of Grant Street Consultants; former Ohio Republican Party chair Matthew Borges; Juan Cespedes, co-founder of The Oxley Group in Columbus; and one of Householder's advisers, Jeffrey Longstreth.Where Does a Pro-Nuke Group Begin and a GOP Politician End?A spokesperson for David DeVillers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, confirmed to The Daily Beast an Ohio official "and associates" were charged in a "public corruption racketeering conspiracy involving $60 million," but would not go into detail about the case ahead of a scheduled Tuesday afternoon press conference. The investigation into the Republican lawmaker centers on House Bill 6, a $1 billion bailout plan for two Ohio nuclear power plants—which Householder notably helped push through last year, according to Cleveland.com. The bill was signed by Gov. Mike DeWine in June and was immediately met with efforts to overturn the bailout.Those efforts have since failed after receiving fierce resistance from several well-funded groups, including Generation Now. The company is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit—meaning it can engage in political advocacy without disclosing its donors—but The Daily Beast has previously reported on its deep ties to Householder. Generation Now was one node of a Householder-linked Columbus political machine, which funneled money to statehouse allies using millions of dollars in untraceable political donations. The group pressed for state assistance for two nuclear power plants run by FirstEnergy, Ohio's struggling electric utility. It also ran polling for Householder and his allies during the 2018 election cycle, according to memos quietly posted to an otherwise-blank website affiliated with Generation Now. Some of those memos contained metadata indicating they were created by Longstreth, the longtime Householder adviser who was arrested on Tuesday, and another employee of his consulting firm.Generation Now provided more than $1 million during the 2018 cycle to a political group, Growth & Opportunity PAC, that spent the funds in support of a number of Householder allies. The PAC has received another $1.1 million since last year from a similarly named dark money group, the Coalition for Growth and Opportunity. The PAC has once again spent that money on ads backing Householder allies in Ohio.Ohio Governor Mandates Masks In COVID 'Red Alert' Counties When Growth & Opportunity PAC began running ads on a Cincinnati NBC affiliate this year, the station tried, unsuccessfully, to suss out information on the people running the group. "Asked buyer for additional names," the station wrote in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission. "None were provided."Householder is the first Ohio lawmaker in 60 years to win back the speakership after leaving due to term limitations, which he did in 2019 after serving from 2001 to 2004. Considered one of the three most powerful politicians in Ohio whose current influence dictates how the state spends more than $140 billion annually, Tuesday's investigation is not the first time Householder has been the subject of an FBI investigation.In 2004, the FBI launched an investigation into allegations that Householder and his aides took kickbacks from various vendors and traded political favors for campaign contributions. The investigation ended two years later and no charges were filed against the Republican. About 13 years later, in January 2017, Householder mounted a campaign to become the first lawmaker to recapture the speakership—a post dictated by term limits—in nearly six decades. 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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| PPE made in China and exported to countries like the US were made from oppressed Uighur Muslims, report says Posted: 21 Jul 2020 06:50 AM PDT  The New York Times identified companies across China that use Uighur labor to make PPE, like face masks, that were then exported around the world.
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| American views on race relations have changed dramatically, NBC News/WSJ poll finds Posted: 21 Jul 2020 03:21 AM PDT  Support grows for national anthem protests and removal of Confederate statues in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
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| Anti-feminist lawyer, suspect in killing of judge's son, dead Posted: 20 Jul 2020 07:57 AM PDT  The FBI's Newark office said in a statement that attorney Roy Den Hollander was the sole suspect in the attack on the North Brunswick, New Jersey, home of Esther Salas that killed her 20-year old son and left her husband with gunshot wounds. Hollander was found earlier on Monday in an apparent suicide about 90 miles (145 km) north of New York City, the Daily Beast and other media reported, citing law enforcement sources. Investigators say a man dressed in a FedEx uniform approached the home and opened fire, killing the son, Daniel Anderl, and injuring her husband, 63-year-old defense attorney Mark Anderl.
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| Forecasters monitoring weak tropical systems in Gulf, Caribbean and Atlantic Posted: 20 Jul 2020 10:02 AM PDT  Forecasters Monday were monitoring a trio of weak tropical systems in the Gulf, Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean.
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| NYPD scraps traffic and homeless units and reassigns officers to fight rising gun crime Posted: 20 Jul 2020 03:06 PM PDT  The NYPD has cut traffic and homeless units to focus on rising gun violence following mayor Bill DeBlasio's move to defund police, according to reports.Senior police leadership transferred 114 members of the traffic congestion mitigation and 85 members of the homeless outreach units, according to official documents seen by The New York Post.
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| Disney theme park staff worry about Covid-19: 'I can't bring it back home' Posted: 21 Jul 2020 01:25 AM PDT  Disney's parks in Florida and California are reopening and tens of thousands of workers returning as cases in the states surge Disney World fully reopened all four of its theme parks within its Florida resort last week, even as cases of coronavirus surged, making it one of the world's hotspots for daily increases.Undaunted guests who choose to visit Disney are greeted with a disclaimer on its website: "By visiting Walt Disney World Resort you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to Covid-19."For Disney's workers, many may feel little choice but to assume the risks of returning to the world's most visited theme park, with some expressing fears of the Covid-19 risk, and for their livelihoods.There are about 75,000 employees at Disney World in Florida, and about 30,000 at Disneyland in California, and they are returning as cases are increasing in both states."The imminent danger of loss of health and financial security is a concern that most of us are sharing about reopening, and about fear of closing again," said Dan Rey, a server for 25 years at Disney and a union shop steward with Unite Here.Rey has not been called back to work yet, but is one of thousands of Disney employees who went several weeks before receiving unemployment benefits. Many workers in Florida still have not had their applications processed and paid out. On 26 July, federal unemployment benefits expire, leaving workers in Florida to survive on just the $275 maximum weekly benefit from the state."People are afraid of going back to work because of the imminent threat of contracting Covid, since we, Florida, are now the epicenter of the world for this pandemic, and they are also afraid of not going back to work because we have no financial support," said Rey. "The real problem is that we cannot afford not to work. Our governor here in Florida is still making excuses rather than plans. There are still people who have not received financial support because the unemployment system is so broken."Mike Beaver, an attractions employee at Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom for about 20 years, returned to work on 29 June."When it was announced Disney World would reopen parks, I thought it was too soon, even though some other parks had reopened before Disney," said Beaver. He said during a temperature check he was sent to work, despite receiving a reading that would not register on the thermometer.Bryan Amstutz, a vacation planner at Walt Disney World, said only a third of his department has returned to work so far, and he did not expect to be recalled until January 2021 or later. "I don't get paid enough to police Covid-19," said Amstutz.Parts of Disneyland in Anaheim, California, have begun a phased reopening, while awaiting approval from local and state officials to reopen the parks and hotels."My main concern going back to work is: I have young children and my mom is elderly. I can't bring coronavirus home. It's not really safe to go back to work. The cases are rising in California," said Inez Guzman, who has worked in housekeeping at the Disneyland Hotel for five years.Glynndana Shevlin, a food and beverage worker at Disneyland for 32 years, wants to return to work out of concern she could lose her current apartment, which she's lived in the past two years after experiencing homelessness. But she is also concerned for her safety and that of co-workers and guests. One of her friends and co-workers is currently hospitalized with coronavirus."I live alone and I'm in my 60s. I'm really concerned about going back to work in the sense of safety. We want on-site testing for coronavirus to be available if we need it, and all kinds of safety procedures in place," said Shevlin. "When I come home at night, I don't want to worry if I'm going to be sick and if I am sick, if I'm going to be able to have the correct medicine, healthcare, if I'm going to have enough pay." Union pushing for on-site testingUnite Here local 11 is currently in negotiations with Disney on safety protocols and protections for workers when the parks reopen.Austin Lynch, an organizer involved in negotiating with Disney, said the union had pushed Disney to agree to perform daily temperature checks for workers before they start shifts, and agreed on providing as much personal protective equipment to workers as they need.But the union is still pressuring Disney to provide on-site coronavirus testing for workers, commit to ensuring staffing levels will be provided to conduct extra cleaning and disinfecting, and to extend temperature checks to guests staying at Disney hotels."They haven't covered some of the critical safety areas. Until they do, we don't think it's safe to reopen," said Lynch. "You have to either cover all the bases and go all out to prevent transmission or operate unsafely. Operating and only covering some of the bases just means people are going to get coronavirus."A representative for Disney told the Guardian the opening of Disneyland was pending guidance from state officials, while worker training, a range of health and safety measures, cleaning, disinfecting and technological solutions have been implemented ahead of Disney World's reopening."As we continue the phased reopening of our parks and resorts across the world, promoting health and safety for our guests, cast members and the larger community is a responsibility we take seriously. From increased cleaning and disinfecting across our parks and resorts, to updated health and safety policies, we have reimagined the Disney experience so we can all enjoy the magic responsibly," said the representative in an email.
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| McFarland on possible indictments in Durham probe Posted: 20 Jul 2020 08:13 AM PDT  K.T. McFarland, former Trump administration deputy national security adviser, weighs in on 'America's Newsroom.'
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| Trump says he will bring back daily coronavirus briefings Posted: 20 Jul 2020 09:17 AM PDT  With coronavirus cases continuing to climb in the United States and the death toll mounting, the president said on Monday that he will resume holding daily briefings on the crisis.
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| Iran executes man convicted of spying on US-slain general Posted: 19 Jul 2020 09:09 PM PDT |
| The Uighurs and the Chinese state: A long history of discord Posted: 20 Jul 2020 04:25 AM PDT  China has been accused by the UK of "gross" human rights abuses against the Muslim minority group.
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| Ky. couple on house arrest after wife tests positive for coronavirus but refuses to sign quarantine order Posted: 20 Jul 2020 12:45 PM PDT  The ankle monitors the couple was ordered to wear will alert law enforcement if they travel more than 200 feet from their house.
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| U.S. accuses Chinese nationals of hacking spree targeting COVID data, defense secrets Posted: 21 Jul 2020 08:31 AM PDT  The U.S. Justice Department indicted two Chinese nationals for hacking defense contractors, COVID researchers and hundreds of other victims worldwide, according to a court filing published on Tuesday. U.S. authorities said the Chinese nationals, Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi, participated in a multiyear cyber espionage campaign that stole weapons designs, drug information, software source code as well as targeting dissidents and Chinese opposition figures.
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| Report: Joe Biden may end up giving the only major Democratic convention speech from Milwaukee Posted: 20 Jul 2020 06:45 PM PDT  Joe Biden may be the only one at next month's convention who ends up giving a major speech from the host city of Milwaukee, the Daily Beast reported Monday.
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| Italian officials found cocaine hidden in hollowed out coffee beans, sealed with brown tape, and addressed to the same name as a fictional 'John Wick' character Posted: 20 Jul 2020 06:26 PM PDT  More than 500 beans were "completely emptied and 'stuffed' with pure white cocaine," a statement from Italian officials said.
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| Hair salons, barbershops get new guidance for outdoor services in California Posted: 20 Jul 2020 07:58 PM PDT  Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday during his coronavirus briefing that new guidance is being released that clarifies how hair salons and barbershops may be able to operate outdoors. Many California businesses in counties on the state's coronavirus watchlist had to close their indoor operations for the second time since the pandemic began. For restaurants, that meant moving tables outside. Hair salons, barbershops and nail salons have not been able to do that. However, the new guidelines allow for services to be conducted outside. Get the full story in the video above.
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| Illinois House speaker drawn closer to federal corruption probe, but many Democrats take wait-and-see approach Posted: 19 Jul 2020 06:19 PM PDT |
| Top Democrats ask FBI to brief Congress on disinformation threats Posted: 20 Jul 2020 02:12 PM PDT  Democratic leaders on Monday made public a letter they sent a week ago to the FBI requesting the agency brief all members of Congress about efforts by foreign governments to spread disinformation ahead of the 2020 election.
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| Couple with coronavirus placed under house arrest after refusing to commit to staying home Posted: 21 Jul 2020 02:34 AM PDT  A Kentucky couple who declined to sign health department documents on self-isolation were put under house arrest because one tested positive with Covid-19.Elizabeth Linscott and her husband, Isaiah, told a local news station that Hardin County authorities arrived at their home last week to install ankle monitors.
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| People are more likely to contract COVID-19 at home, study finds Posted: 21 Jul 2020 05:26 AM PDT  South Korean epidemiologists have found that people were more likely to contract the new coronavirus from members of their own households than from contacts outside the home. A study published in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on July 16 looked in detail at 5,706 "index patients" who had tested positive for the coronavirus and more than 59,000 people who came into contact with them. The findings showed just two out of 100 infected people had caught the virus from non-household contacts, while one in 10 had contracted the disease from their own families.
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| Former Obama adviser lays out why Biden's VP would likely be the 'most powerful in history' Posted: 20 Jul 2020 01:30 PM PDT  You're probably well aware of the fact that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, needs to pick a running mate. As always, voters are watching the process closely, but there's reason to believe his choice could mean even more than usual, The Atlantic reports.That's because some people believe Biden's No. 2 will have more power than any vice president in history should the pair defeat President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in November. Dan Pfeiffer, a former senior Obama adviser who worked in the administration when Biden himself served as vice president, explained why to The Atlantic."Joe Biden's vice president will most likely be the most powerful vice president in history because the trend is toward more powerful vice presidents, Joe Biden knows the value of having a vice president with lots of responsibility, and Joe Biden is going to inherit an epic disaster," Pfeiffer said.What Pfeiffer didn't mention, but would seemingly add to his argument, is that Biden views himself as a "transition candidate" who wants to help usher in a new era of Democratic political leaders, likely starting with his vice president. Read more at The Atlantic.More stories from theweek.com The GOP's rising tide of unpopularity DHS official promotes Tucker Carlson's unverified claim that The New York Times is trying to publish his address Why parents should think twice about tickling their kids
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| The assistant charged with murdering Fahim Saleh used the tech CEO's credit card to buy balloons 2 days later, report says Posted: 20 Jul 2020 09:23 AM PDT  In security footage shared by the New York Post, Tyrese Haspil was seen buying birthday balloons from a store in Manhattan, the paper said.
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| CBS New York reporter Nina Kapur dead at 26 after moped accident Posted: 20 Jul 2020 09:47 AM PDT  Fellow journalists expressed their grief following the young and promising reporter's death.
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| As Eastern Europe shrinks, rural Bulgaria is becoming a ghostland Posted: 21 Jul 2020 05:00 AM PDT  Since the fall of the Eastern Bloc, Bulgaria has lost more than one-fifth of its population — from nearly 9 million to about 7 million.
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| Indonesia says it wants to buy Austria’s entire Typhoon fighter fleet Posted: 20 Jul 2020 11:05 AM PDT |
| More than 300,000 immigrants may not become citizens in time to vote as COVID-19 stalls process Posted: 21 Jul 2020 02:00 AM PDT  The federal agency in charge of processing naturalization applications suspended in-person interviews and oath ceremonies this spring.
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| Letters to the Editor: From dozens of Latinos to thousands: Finally, a UC student body like California Posted: 21 Jul 2020 03:00 AM PDT  A UCLA alumnus contrasts the paltry number of Latinos on campus in the 1960s to the thousands there today.
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| China vows 'forceful counter-attack' in escalating row with Britain over Hong Kong Posted: 21 Jul 2020 02:33 AM PDT  China threatened a "forceful counter-attack" on Tuesday in response to Britain's announcement that it would suspend its extradition treaty with Hong Kong following Beijing's introduction of a national security law for the former British colony. On Monday, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told parliament the extradition treaty would be suspended immediately and an arms embargo would be extended to Hong Kong.
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| Seattle sued by family of man killed in autonomous protest zone Posted: 21 Jul 2020 08:58 AM PDT  The man, who was shot in the city's autonomous zone, allegedly was not provided medical treatment.
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| Cigarette butt helps solve 35-year-old murder cold case Posted: 21 Jul 2020 05:02 AM PDT  A man has been charged with murder in a case spanning more than three decades thanks to the DNA on a cigarette butt.Prosecutors on Monday submitted a first-degree murder charge against Oklahoma inmate Earl Wilson for the 1985 death of Paul Aikman.
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| 6 million people enrolled for food stamps in the first 3 months of the US coronavirus outbreak as America's superrich kept getting wealthier Posted: 20 Jul 2020 05:19 AM PDT  That figure could rise even further if the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act expires as planned by the end of July.
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| Putin attends keel-laying of new warships in annexed Crimea Posted: 20 Jul 2020 10:03 AM PDT  Russia's President Vladimir Putin pledged Monday to continue an ambitious program of building new warships on a trip to Crimea, which Russia has annexed from Ukraine. Speaking during the keel-laying of two landing vessels at a shipyard in Kerch, Putin said that Russia needs a strong navy to defend its interests and "help maintain a strategic balance and global stability." The Kremlin has made military modernization its top priority amid tensions with the West that followed Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea.
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| Manhunt in Florida after three friends are 'massacred' on fishing trip Posted: 20 Jul 2020 03:32 AM PDT  Polk County, Florida Sheriff Grady Judd gives an update on the murder investigation.
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| Mawla the 'Destroyer', brutal new head of IS group Posted: 20 Jul 2020 07:59 PM PDT  With monikers as divergent as the "Professor" and the "Destroyer", the Islamic State group's new head has a reputation for brutality, but otherwise remains largely an enigma. Amir Mohammed Said Abd al-Rahman al-Mawla replaced Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi after his death in a raid by US special forces last October. Mawla was initially presented to the world by the Islamic State (IS) as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi -- a man about whom America and Iraq had little intelligence.
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| Poland to propose limits on foreign media soon, Kaczynski says Posted: 19 Jul 2020 10:50 AM PDT  Poland will seek to craft rules limiting the concentration of foreign-owned media outlets well before the ruling nationalists finish their term in power, Poland's de facto leader said on Sunday, with parliamentary elections expected in 2023. Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has long said foreign-owned media outlets have meddled in Poland's affairs and that Polish-owned media should have a stronger place.
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| A California city removed its Black Lives Matter mural in the middle of the night after a Trump supporter asked to paint 'MAGA 2020' on the same street Posted: 20 Jul 2020 09:15 AM PDT  Officials scrubbed the mural late on Thursday after a local lawyer asked whether she could paint "MAGA 2020" on the street, CBS San Francisco said.
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| Guess What? We Need More Police in Urban Neighborhoods, Arresting More People Posted: 19 Jul 2020 07:55 PM PDT  New York City needs more arrests. More arrests in the subways. More arrests in housing projects. More drug arrests. More arrests of gang members.And it isn't alone.If there's one lesson from the unrest and anti-police agitation in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, it's that poor minorities living in distressed neighborhoods pay the highest price — in fear and in blood — when the cops retreat and the worst elements feel emboldened.The spikes in shootings in cities around the country haven't taken place in high-end neighborhoods, not in Billionaire's Row in Manhattan, not in Buckhead in Atlanta, not in Forest Glen in Chicago.No, they blight the most marginal neighborhoods and make everyday life a hazard for people who have no option but to live in a tough place. The last couple of months should have made it obvious that what these people have to fear most is not the cops or white supremacy but the violent, vengeful, and heedless young men in their midst.Stopping or discouraging the cops from disproportionately policing these neighborhoods isn't a blow for justice. It's an obstacle for upstanding, low-income citizens who are trying to lead decent lives and shouldn't have to routinely hear gunshots or worry every day about their kids getting shot.Consider New York City. The New York Times ran an extensive piece the other day on the spike in shootings in the city. Clearly, a driver of the violence is a marked reduction in arrests:> Arrests have declined drastically this summer, falling 62 percent across the board for the last four weeks compared with the same period last year, police data show. Narcotics arrests fell 85 percent. Detectives in the gang unit made 90 percent fewer arrests. There were similarly steep drops in the number of arrests by officers that patrol the subways and housing projects.> > Gun arrests have dropped 67 percent during the same four weeks compared with last year, even as shootings have continued to spiral upward.So what we've seen is a crude version of Black Lives Matter policing -- a "defund the police" approach, in which many fewer African-American males are arrested. Has this made heavily African-American communities better or safer? Emphatically not.The story is the same in cities around the country. The equation is simple: A less robust police presence equals more shootings.According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Ninety-three people were shot in Atlanta during the four-week period of May 31 to June 27, up drastically from 46 in the same period last year, the latest complete data available. And fourteen people died of homicide in that span, compared to six during the same time frame in 2019."Why? "'There seems to be withdrawal by police,' said Russell Covey, Georgia State University criminal law professor. 'The lack of a police presence may create something of a vacuum of authority.'" The president of the local chapter of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers agreed that there's been a pullback. "Officers are afraid to do their job," he said.The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported late last month, "So far this year, ShotSpotter activations and 911 calls about gunshots in Minneapolis have more than doubled from a year ago, according to a Star Tribune analysis of police data. Out of 3,218 such shots-fired calls this year, nearly half have been filed since George Floyd was killed on May 25."Amazingly enough according to the paper, "Some council members and activists see the focus on crime stats as a way to stoke public fears and distract from the issue of police reform." In other words, don't let the number of people getting shot distract you from the need to kneecap the peace officers necessary to keep people from getting shot.We don't need to settle here the dispute over why there is now a less robust police presence in urban neighborhoods. Is it a function of the cops being overwhelmed by work related to the protests on top of their ordinary duties? Are cops overly cautious because of the anti-cop hostility of elected officials? Are they engaging in a deliberate work-slowdown? All of the above?What matters at the most basic level is that if there are fewer cops arresting fewer dangerous people, shootings go up.This dynamic should put paid to the lazy analysis that says that disproportionate police interactions with minorities must be a result of racist policing. It's the opposite: Only people who have no regard for the welfare of poor communities would want fewer, less active cops patrolling them.An expression of this simplistic way of thinking, by the way, was New York City's decision to disband a plainclothes anti-crime unit that was involved in controversial shootings. Maybe this was because the unit was out of control. But maybe it was because it was engaged in the hard work of keeping communities from being overrun by gangs and illegal guns.Indeed, the unit was reportedly responsible for 50 percent of gun arrests in 2019, and some community leaders are now calling for its reinstatement.(In response to the spate of violence, New York City has launched a new initiative that, in part, puts more cops on the streets of violence-plagued areas of Brooklyn.)Of course, it's true that bad cops should be held to account, and the police should have the best relationship possible with the communities they serve. This can and should happen without exposing vulnerable people to the depredations of dangerous malefactors the way we've seen in recent weeks.People who live in the affected communities know this and, to their credit, often say it. But their voices don't get the megaphone of anti-police agitators. The cultural gatekeepers in our country could elevate them and highlight the rise in shootings as a direct threat to black lives.The media could drive home their concerns, not simply in straight news accounts, but with the sympathetic wall-to-wall coverage of the protestors. Celebrities could take up their cause. Corporations could shower little-known activists desperately trying to improve the lot of their neighborhoods with resources.But, no, this isn't the narrative these gatekeepers are interested in — for them, black lives can only be put at risk by the cops, never made more secure and safe.
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| India coronavirus: Nearly one in four in Delhi had Covid-19, study says Posted: 21 Jul 2020 04:32 AM PDT  Confirmed cases are under 1% of the population, suggesting much more widespread infection.
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| China warns the UK it will 'bear the consequences' of defying them on Hong Kong, as Mike Pompeo arrives in London Posted: 21 Jul 2020 05:19 AM PDT  China's UK ambassador said Boris Johnson's government had 'blatantly interfered in China's internal affairs and contravened international law.'
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| 'The timing is right for reparations': Cities propose reparations amid nationwide unrest Posted: 21 Jul 2020 04:00 AM PDT  Providence and Asheville, N.C., are addressing the role of slavery by considering reparations. Congress is also considering a reparations bill.
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| It’s official: US Air Force to buy Turkish F-35s Posted: 20 Jul 2020 03:27 PM PDT  A $862 million contract modification gives another 14 F-35As to the U.S. Air Force...including some Turkish jets.
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| Pence Tells Governors Masks Are Helping Turn the Tide on Coronavirus in Arizona Posted: 20 Jul 2020 03:49 PM PDT  During a meeting with governors on Monday, the White House Coronavirus Task Force trotted out decreased COVID-19 case counts in Arizona as proof that masks and social distancing work, encouraging other states to impose similar measures as a way to contain and prevent surges."Masks, closing indoor bars, decreasing indoor dining capacity to 25 percent, continued social distancing and personal hygiene messaging, according to the model, dramatically decrease the rate of community spread," Vice President Mike Pence, chair of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said in the meeting, according to a recording obtained by The Daily Beast. Pence said that evidence of the effectiveness of widespread mask use in particular was visible "today" in Arizona. The Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center on Monday put the state—which recently had one of the worst case trends on the planet and saw a testing "shitshow"—with the steepest current decline in the nation."The modeling suggested to us that Phoenix was supposed to be at more than 5,000 cases daily and rising, and instead I was informed by our health experts this morning that they are [at] less than 2,300 cases," Pence said on Monday. "Again, we believe that the three actions I just described that are being implemented by Gov. [Doug] Ducey are having a dramatic impact on community spread, and it's a clear example of transmitting science into action and proving this works."Trump's Surgeon General Literally Begs Fox News Viewers to Wear MasksThe call put a stark positive spin on a situation that was, as recently as a few days ago, being panned by local doctors on the front lines who told The Daily Beast they felt abandoned by state leaders. Ducey was one of the first governors to lift lockdown restrictions after a nationwide response to the pandemic caused unprecedented closures and shelter-in-place orders.And though Pence and Dr. Deborah Birx, the task force's response coordinator, thanked Ducey and others for their "leadership," the governor has come under harsh criticism for refusing to issue a mask mandate or reinstitute a lockdown order. Ducey did eventually allow cities to pass their own mask ordinances, and as The Daily Beast reported last week, nearly 90 percent of the state is under some kind of local mask mandate.Birx emphasized that models showed those measures, including 100 percent mask use, "came very close to the impact of sheltering-in-place, and it was theoretic, but it was implemented in Phoenix and in the Tucson area, and we can see now the impact."As of Monday, Arizona had hit 143,624 cumulative coronavirus cases, and 2,761 had died, according to Johns Hopkins data."I think this is a very exciting moment for all of us to really see that translation of a model into recommendations that were then executed on the ground and are now having a positive impact," said Birx. "Hospitalizations and mortality are lagging indicators, but we are seeing a decline in test positivity and new cases." Meanwhile, despite his opposition to a national mask mandate, President Donald Trump on Monday tweeted a photo of himself with a face mask, calling it "patriotic" to wear one. Despite widespread science on the effectiveness of masks, Trump had refused to publicly wear one for the first nearly six months of the pandemic's presence in the U.S.On the call, when he reported from the ground, Ducey profusely thanked Pence and Birx for visiting his state, reinforcing that state leaders "continue to encourage and support and advocate and resource for masks," as well as closures and capacity reductions at establishments."We're instructing people they're safer at home," said Ducey, adding, "There's really no victory lap at all. We're going to stay the course."Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, emphasized that these "fundamentals" have the power to turn around surges, as Arizona's turnaround has proved. "This is something everyone should be seriously considering," said Fauci. "If we all do that, not only will we contain the surges, but we will prevent surges."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| N. Korea's Kim berates officials over troubled flagship hospital Posted: 19 Jul 2020 08:29 PM PDT  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un berated officials for their "careless" construction of a flagship hospital in Pyongyang and ordered those responsible to be sacked, state media reported Monday. The North has long used giant infrastructure projects to try to burnish the government's credibility, including housing developments in Pyongyang and the continuing Wonsan-Kalma tourism development, but critics say speed is often prioritised over quality. The latest scheme is the Pyongyang General Hospital, in a prime location across the Taedong river from Mansu hill, where giant statues of the North's founder Kim Il Sung and his son and successor Kim Jong Il -- father of the current leader -- look out over the capital.
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