| As COVID cases spike in Florida, Trump now says he's 'flexible' on convention format in Jacksonville Posted: 08 Jul 2020 08:46 AM PDT  With coronavirus cases exploding in Florida, the president now says he is "flexible" on plans to hold a large-scale, indoor Republican National Convention next month.
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| Universities scramble to protect students from deportation under new ICE policy requiring in-person classes Posted: 09 Jul 2020 09:12 AM PDT  The Trump administration has thrown colleges and universities across the country into confusion this week with the unexpected announcement that international students will have to leave the U.S. if their school does not offer in-person classes during the upcoming semester. In a press release Monday afternoon, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that, under a forthcoming temporary rule, foreign students currently attending a school that plans to operate entirely online during the fall semester will either have to transfer to a different school offering in-person classes, leave the country voluntarily or face possible deportation. In addition, ICE said the State Department "will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States."
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| Thomas Lane, former Minneapolis police officer who held George Floyd's legs, seeks dismissal of charges Posted: 08 Jul 2020 08:18 PM PDT  An attorney for former Minneapolis officer Thomas Lane said in a court filing that Lane twice asked if George Floyd should be rolled on his side.
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| As COVID-19 makes a comeback, so will lockdowns Posted: 07 Jul 2020 12:21 PM PDT  With more tests coming back positive now than ever before — and with infections currently rising in 39 states — lockdowns in some form may be the only way to regain control over the coronavirus.
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| 'I feel threatened': Unmasked Florida man's viral Costco outburst cost him his job Posted: 08 Jul 2020 02:33 PM PDT  "He absolutely does not represent our values and no longer works at our agency," the CEO of Ted Todd Insurance said Tuesday.
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| Texas Governor Is ‘Putting Lives at Risk,’ Local Officials Say Posted: 07 Jul 2020 05:56 PM PDT  Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo believes she knows what her county needs to fight back against COVID-19. But because of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, she says she isn't able to follow through. "I'm at the mercy of what powers he positively gives us," Hidalgo told The Daily Beast. "As opposed to being able to use my own tools." As Texas faces a resurgent coronavirus and some officials have emphasized concerns about hospitals in the state becoming potentially overrun or overwhelmed, Hidalgo can find plenty of reasons to worry. Hospitalizations started to increase in late May, she says, and haven't come down since. And recommending that people should stay home just isn't enough. "We need a stay at home order in Harris County," she said of her area that includes Houston. "And we need to be able to do that until the curve comes down on the other side." Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, is resisting calls to give local authorities more control to fight the coronavirus themselves after COVID-19 cases spiked in the state recently. Texas reported more than 10,000 new cases Tuesday, marking a new one day record for the state according to state health department data. Both Hidalgo and Steve Adler, the Democratic mayor of Austin, Texas made their case on national political shows Sunday that they wanted more local control. But at the moment, they're limited in what they can do locally and say they would need the governor's help to make aggressive moves, like a stay at home order. In interviews with The Daily Beast this week, the leaders of both areas feared for what harm could come to their communities without being given the ability to have more local control by the state's Republican governor. "He's putting at risk the ability for economies to stay open and he's putting lives at risk," said Adler. "I feel like we're responding with one hand tied behind our back," said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, also a Democrat. "We know what works. We ought to do that, and that's what the community deserves. I think anything short of a stay home order is a gamble, and we don't have time for that." Texas has become a major hotspot for the coronavirus in recent weeks, with the governor himself halting the state's reopening push over the mounting cases. Total current hospitalizations have risen sharply in the state, according to The Texas Tribune, with new cases also spiking according to the news site. But in an interview Monday night with local television station KFDM News at 6, Abbott responded to the push by instead chiding local officials, saying that the county judges or mayors that are looking to take more action have "absolutely refused to enforce the current executive orders that are already in place. What they need to show is action, not absenteeism." "They need to show up, enforce the law as it is, before they are given any further authority," Abbott said in the interview. "They ask for more and more, but they do absolutely nothing." Texas Gov. Moves to Stop COVID-19 but It's Already Out of ControlAbbott's approach was quickly mocked by Beto O'Rourke, a former presidential candidate and Texas congressman, on Twitter. He tweeted late Monday night: "Abbott opens Texas too soon, issues mask order too late, denies local leaders authority to contain the virus — causing uncontrolled covid spread, many hospitalized & soon dead because of his negligence — and then blames local officials? Pathetic. Resign." Locally, the mayor of Austin said Abbott was wrong to not give him and other cities local control and is still pushing to have that ability. "It's the best way for the state to be able to ultimately tamp down this virus and to figure out what is the right balance in each community between keeping the economy open in a sustainable way and saving lives," Adler said. "...The governor's suggestion that he's not going to do it for those reasons because he thinks that cities and counties are not enforcing the existing rules is just not right." And while Adler said Tuesday he would not automatically make a stay at home order if he was given the power to do so today, he still wants to the right be able to use that tool. Elsewhere in the state, Harris County, which includes Houston, is now at a severe COVID-19 threat level according to the county's coronavirus website. And on Sunday, the mayor of Houston appeared on Face the Nation warning that "if we don't get our hands around this virus quickly in about two weeks our hospital system could be in serious, serious trouble."Abbott's resistance comes as the public health situation in Texas has taken a terrifying turn in recent weeks. Late last month, Abbott paused the state's reopening push, citing rises in hospitalizations from COVID-19 and new cases. Soon after, he rolled back even further by imposing an executive order for bars to close down. And before the fourth of July weekend, the governor signed an executive order that put in place a statewide mask requirement for public locations that applies to "counties with 20 or more positive COVID-19 cases," according to a statement from the governor's office. Battles between local officials wanting to be more aggressive and statewide officials emphasizing a more lax approach have become common during the pandemic. In late March, the governor of Mississippi quickly drew the ire of local officials over a confusing executive order that they said hampered their local power. A similar complaint later came from the Democratic mayor of Savannah, Georgia who said in May that the state's Republican governor had superseded his ability at the local level, creating a situation that meant his city essentially "could do absolutely nothing." That same month, as states moved into reopening, the attorney general of Texas sent letters to the mayors of Austin, San Antonio and a trio of counties chiding them over specific measures and the raising the potential of a legal battle. The issues targeted included local mask requirements, which went farther than what the state would allow, and shelter-in-place orders. In Dallas County, another area of the state hit hard by the virus, Judge Clay Jenkins is not calling for a local stay at home order this week. But in a letter to Abbott Sunday, he urged for the governor to close locations like gyms and inside restaurant dining after warning the GOP leader that "multiple hospital systems are reporting the largest volumes of COVID-19 patients since the beginning of the pandemic." After calling for Abbott to implement a variety of requirements across the state, or at least regionally, Jenkins implored the governor to roll back an earlier order "restricting local control" so that his county could make the moves to try and "slow the spread of the rampant and devastating COVID-19 virus." "Governor Abbott has stripped local officials of their authority that's worked well in past emergencies and made Texas a leader until he took over in this emergency," Jenkins, a Democrat, told The Daily Beast. "So it hasn't worked out well at all." 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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| Breonna Taylor's family argues police had no cause for raid Posted: 07 Jul 2020 11:48 AM PDT  Louisville police called off a warrant search of Breonna Taylor's apartment after a drug suspect was located elsewhere, but then went ahead with the deadly raid to look for other suspects with no connection to Taylor, her family says in a new court filing. Taylor, a emergency medical technician who had settled down for the night at her Louisville apartment, was fatally shot when officers burst into her apartment in the early morning hours of March 13. The shooting set off weeks of protests, policy changes and a call for the officers who shot Taylor to be criminally charged.
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| Evidence found of epic prehistoric Pacific voyages Posted: 09 Jul 2020 05:03 AM PDT  New evidence has been found for epic prehistoric voyages between the Americas and eastern Polynesia.
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| With a Senate majority in reach, Democratic candidates rake in massive donations Posted: 08 Jul 2020 10:54 AM PDT  Democratic Senate candidates in several key races announce huge fundraising totals that raise the party's hopes of retaking the chamber in November.
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| U.S. Supreme Court protects religious schools from employment bias suits Posted: 08 Jul 2020 07:12 AM PDT  The U.S. Supreme Court, siding with Catholic schools in a legal dispute with teachers who said they were unlawfully dismissed, ruled on Wednesday that religious institutions like churches and schools are shielded from employment discrimination lawsuits. The 7-2 decision embraced a broad interpretation of the "ministerial exception," a legal doctrine recognized by the Supreme Court in a 2012 case that bars ministers or people in similar roles from suing religious institutions for workplace bias. The court blocked two teachers from pursuing lawsuits accusing the two Catholic elementary schools in California of discrimination based upon age and disability.
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| China’s Confucius Institutes Attempt to Rebrand Following Backlash Posted: 08 Jul 2020 09:35 AM PDT  China is attempting to rebrand Confucius Institutes following a worldwide backlash against the centers.Confucius Institutes, which are present on dozens of U.S. college campuses and at other foreign universities, carry the stated purpose of promoting Chinese language and culture. However, U.S. officials have singled out the institutes as propaganda centers that serve as an extension of China's "soft power."The Confucius Institute Headquarters in Beijing has changed its name to the "Ministry of Education Centre for Language Education and Cooperation." Additionally, the organization changed the name of its account on Chinese social-media app WeChat, although it is not clear if Confucius Institutes in other countries will themselves be renamed.The name change is "related to various kinds of pressure, but it is by no means succumbing to them," Sun Yixue, a professor at the International School of Tongji University in Shanghai, told the South China Morning Post. "It is a timely adjustment made by China to adapt to the new situation of world language and cultural exchanges, but this does not mean that all overseas Confucius Institutes should be renamed accordingly."Several American universities have shut their Confucius Institutes in the past several months, after the coronavirus pandemic led to increased public scrutiny of the U.S.-China relationship and Chinese influence on American campuses. Republicans on the House Oversight Committee are currently in the midst of an investigation into the institutes."We cannot allow a dangerous Communist regime to buy access to our institutions of higher education, plain and simple," Representative Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) said in a statement upon announcing the investigation in May. "We owe it to the American people to hold China accountable and to prevent them from doing further harm to our country."
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| 'I would be very careful in the middle of the street': Drivers have hit protesters 66 times since May 27 Posted: 09 Jul 2020 08:17 AM PDT  There have been at least 66 incidents of cars driving into protesters between May 27 and July 6, according to Ari Weil, a terrorism researcher.
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| Body of missing Connecticut school teacher who thought he had coronavirus found in waters off Long Island Posted: 08 Jul 2020 09:01 AM PDT  Gil Cunha, a Connecticut school teacher who has been missing since May 7, 2020 from his parents' home in West Haven, was found dead in the water off Long Island near Fire Island, New York. For three weeks prior to his disappearance, Gil had been self-quarantining in his room with COVID-19 symptoms. The West Haven Police Department and the Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad are investigating.
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| Tucker Carlson Doubles Down on Duckworth Attacks, Calls Her a ‘Coward’ and ‘Fraud’ Posted: 07 Jul 2020 06:30 PM PDT  A night after saying Iraq War veteran Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) hates America, Fox News host Tucker Carlson doubled down on his attacks, describing the Purple Heart recipient who lost her legs in combat as a "coward" and "fraud."During his Monday night broadcast, the primetime conservative star played an abbreviated clip of Duckworth saying there should be a "national dialogue" over the possible removal of statues, touting it as proof that she supposedly wants to "get rid of George Washington" while questioning her patriotism."You're not supposed to criticize Tammy Duckworth in any way because she once served in the military," he added. "Most people just ignore her. But when Duckworth does speak in public, you're reminded what a deeply silly and unimpressive person she is."Duckworth would quickly respond via Twitter, wondering if the longtime TV personality would "want to walk a mile" in her legs and then tell her whether or not she loves America.On Tuesday night, with Duckworth's fiery response still gathering tons of attention, Carlson fired back by once again calling her love of country into question. "Senator Duckworth was asked if we should tear down statues of George Washington," the Fox host said. "We played that for you last night and we noted how grotesque it was. Only someone who hates the country would suggest ripping down monuments to its founder."Claiming that the Democratic lawmaker was unable to disagree with his argument, Carlson then added: "Instead she questioned our right to criticize her at all since she was once injured while serving in the Illinois National Guard. That's what passes for an argument in modern identity politics."Repeatedly asserting that Duckworth believes that Washington is a "dead traitor," he went on to say that she has "contempt" for him despite the fact that he "paid his dues" in the military and was a "combat veteran." "George Washington was a genuinely great man," he sneered. "But to morons like Tammy Duckworth, Washington was just some old white guy who needs to be erased."He would go on to note that he reached out to Duckworth's team to see if she would come on his show for a "vigorous reasonable exchange" of ideas, but they declined unless Carlson was willing to issue a public apology."Keep in mind, she is also described as a hero," Carlson scoffed, adding: "Yet Duckworth is too afraid to defend her own statements on a TV show, what a coward. Tammy Duckworth is also a fraud."Carlson wrapped up his segment by calling the Illinois senator a "callous hack," accusing her of mistreating veterans, and then comparing her to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)—a favorite target of Carlson's, who he regularly claims hates America.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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| 15 Platform Beds to Elevate Your Bedroom Style Posted: 08 Jul 2020 11:40 AM PDT |
| Joe Shapiro's widow says her late husband met Donald Trump in college Posted: 08 Jul 2020 07:40 PM PDT  Raw video: Pam Shriver says her late husband met Trump after he was already enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania.
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| The Latest: Cory Booker wins N.J. Democratic Senate primary Posted: 07 Jul 2020 05:36 PM PDT  Cory Booker has won New Jersey's Democratic Senate primary. The incumbent Booker had faced Lawrence Hamm, who was running on Bernie Sanders' "Not Me. Us." Booker arrived in the Senate in 2013 after serving as mayor of Newark.
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| Vikas Dubey: On-the-run gangster arrested in India Posted: 08 Jul 2020 11:27 PM PDT  Vikas Dubey was wanted in connection with the killings of eight policemen in a shootout last week.
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| New York attorney general recommends reducing mayor's power over police Posted: 08 Jul 2020 12:52 PM PDT  New York Attorney General Letitia James recommended that New York City's mayor give up sole control over the city police commissioner's hiring, in a preliminary report released on Wednesday on her investigation into the policing of recent protests. "There should be an entirely new accountability structure for NYPD," James said in her report, which also recommended giving more power to the Civilian Complaint Review Board, a city agency that reviews police misconduct.
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| Two disinfectants proved lethal against COVID-19 for first time, lab testing shows Posted: 07 Jul 2020 12:11 PM PDT  Hundreds of other products meet criteria for use against the virus.
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| Maxine Waters Foe Omar Navarro Gets Out of Jail And Attempts to Destroy Fellow Republican Posted: 09 Jul 2020 01:55 AM PDT  Pro-Trump internet personality Omar Navarro emerged from a six-month stint in jail on a stalking charge last month, and immediately registered to run for Congress. Navarro, a perennial challenger to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), has registered to run for her seat again in 2022—assuming, perhaps logically, that Waters will once again prevail in her re-election request this November. But Navarro, who had nearly $50,000 in his campaign bank account as of March 31 even while he served his jail term, is not going to wait for those results before getting involved. He told The Daily Beast that he's going to send out mailers this election cycle denouncing Joe Collins, the Republican nominee currently running against Waters."Hey, I don't agree with him," Navarro told The Daily Beast. "I believe Maxine Waters is better than him."Asked for comment on Navarro's sour-grapes scheme to ruin Collins's already slim chances of winning this fall, Collins responded by accusing Navarro of having "daddy issues" without elaborating. "Omar Navarro is a joke," Collins told The Daily Beast. "He has the mentality of a four year old child throwing a temper tantrum and the testicular fortitude of a mouse." A Perennial Congressional Candidate Beloved by Trump World Was Just Arrested on Stalking ChargesThe scrapping between Collins and Navarro for the chance to lose to Waters highlights the odd incentives facing Republican challengers taking on famous incumbents in heavily Democratic districts. Running against Waters as a Republican would be a poor choice for anyone who actually wants to win. Indeed, Navarro has tried twice already, losing by more than 50 percentage points in 2016 and 2018. But for a GOPer interested in raising millions off of Waters's notoriety as a devoted Trump foe, and increasing his profile in the pro-Trump mediasphere, it works out great. Navarro raked in donations from low-dollar contributors and saw his stature on the online Trump right explode thanks to his quixotic earlier campaigns. Even the candidates themselves acknowledge the money that's at stake for whoever wins the right to face off against Waters. "The main reason Navarro is upset is because he's used to living off of his campaign donations and now he's facing the realization that, after being beaten by a real candidate with a shot at winning, he has to find a real job," Collins said in his email. For Navarro, that time in the bright lights of online Trumpy fame came to a halt when he was arrested in December in San Francisco after stalking ex-girlfriend and fellow Republican personality DeAnna Lorraine Tesoriero, who herself was running a doomed campaign against Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Navarro eventually pleaded guilty to a stalking charge, and was sentenced to six months in San Francisco's jail, where he claims to have lost 30 pounds. Even while imprisoned in San Francisco, Navarro kept up his political profile. And he stayed on the ballot, losing the March Republican primary to Collins by a mere 250 votes—a 0.3 percent difference in the vote total. Undeterred by that loss, Navarro has tried to recast himself since being released from jail as the latest victim of deep-state prosecutors. While other Trump supporters who faced criminal charges were involved in international intrigue, however, Navarro has been faced with claiming that he was arrested on a local stalking charge because of some secret government scheme. "Full disclosure with you guys: in the past six months, yes, I have been in a county jail," Navarro told his more than 250,000 Twitter followers after being released from jail. Despite overwhelming evidence that Navarro violated Tesoriero's restraining order against him, including the fact that Navarro bashed Tesoriero to The Daily Beast in apparent violation of the order, Navarro claims that he only pleaded guilty because he would have become a "political prisoner" if he hadn't."I wouldn't have been judged by a jury of my peers, I would've been judged by a bunch of liberals, and they would have kept me locked up in there as a political prisoner," Navarro said in his Twitter video. "And that's not OK." While it might seem strange for the recently imprisoned Navarro to be confident he can win the 2022 primary to challenge Waters, he is aided by the fact that Collins has a bizarre history of his own.A Navy veteran, Collins has continuously switched parties since 2016, cycling between being a Democrat, a Republican, a member of the Green Party, and a member of the "Millennial Political Party." Collins has also filed a lawsuit over child support payments that is riddled with language echoing the nonsense legal language used by members of the far-right sovereign citizen movement. At one point in his lawsuit, in an apparent attempt to deploy a fringe legal theory, Collins claimed that his bodily fluids were worth $15 million—a bizarre detail Navarro has seized on in his campaign to bring down his rival. "You're the guy that's gonna take down Maxine Waters?" Navarro said in a video taunting Collins that he released in late June. "I'm sorry, but you're not gonna do that. And by the way, your bodily fluids are not worth $15 million." 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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| Rare gorillas in Nigeria captured on camera with babies Posted: 08 Jul 2020 12:05 AM PDT  Conservationists have captured the first images of a group of rare Cross River gorillas with multiple babies in Nigeria's Mbe mountains, proof that the subspecies once feared to be extinct is reproducing amid protection efforts. Only around 300 Cross River gorillas were known to be alive at one point in the isolated mountainous region in Nigeria and Cameroon, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which captured the camera trap images in May. More color images were recovered last month. John Oates, professor emeritus at the City University of New York and a primatologist who helped establish conservation efforts for the gorillas more than two decades ago, was excited about the new images.
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| Why Iranians, rattled by suicides, point a finger at leaders Posted: 08 Jul 2020 11:11 AM PDT |
| Trump has 91% chance of winning second term, professor’s model predicts Posted: 08 Jul 2020 02:39 PM PDT  President Donald Trump has a 91 per cent chance of winning the November 2020 election, according to a political science professor who has correctly predicted five out of six elections since 1996."The Primary Model gives Trump a 91 percent chance of winning in November," Stony Brook professor Helmut Norpoth told Mediaite on Tuesday.
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| Police Discover 'Underworld Prison With Torture Chamber' in Dutch Town Posted: 08 Jul 2020 02:51 AM PDT 
Six men were arrested after police discovered what they described as an “underworld prison and torture chamber” in a warehouse in Wouwse Plantage in Noord-Brabant on June 22. Dutch Police said they found “seven shipping containers converted into cells and torture chambers.” Inside were a dentist chair and handcuffs, as well as a chemical toilet, police clothing, and bags of items “believed to be used to torture or at least pressure victims.” Police also said cells had a camera mounted in the corner to “keep a clear view of the situation.” This video released by Politie Landelijke Eenheid shows the police operation as they enter the building in Wouwse Plantage and make the discovery of the chairs, chemical toilet and police clothing, opening the containers one-by-one. It also shows the arrests of some men in Rotterdam. The suspects were arrested following a Franco-Dutch operation, which allowed police to read "more than 20 million chat messages from criminals." The police also found a second building in Rotterdam, which they believe was intended as a base for criminal activity. Credit: Politie Landelijke Eenheid via Storyful
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| National security law: Australia suspends Hong Kong extradition treaty Posted: 09 Jul 2020 01:11 AM PDT  China's new national security law "undermines" Hong Kong's current freedoms says Canberra.
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| Senior China diplomat urges "positive energy" in ties with United States Posted: 08 Jul 2020 08:53 PM PDT  Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi said on Thursday that China and U.S. relations face the most serious challenges since diplomatic ties were established in 1979 but the two countries can return to the right track. China and the United States should jointly explore ways for peaceful coexistence and release more "positive energy," State Councilor Wang, who is also foreign minister, said in a speech posted on his ministry's website. Washington and Beijing have been at loggerheads over the handling of the coronavirus outbreak, China's actions in the former British colony of Hong Kong, a long-running trade dispute, and frictions over Taiwan and the South China Sea.
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| Navy SEAL who oversaw bin Laden raid says America's biggest national security issue is the K-12 education system Posted: 08 Jul 2020 02:41 PM PDT  The US needs an education system that informs students about the world around them, retired Navy Adm. William McRaven said.
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| As coronavirus surges, more Houston residents are dying suddenly at home Posted: 09 Jul 2020 04:55 AM PDT  Houston is seeing a spike in residents dying at home, before paramedics can reach them. A growing number are testing positive for COVID-19.
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| Texas overpaid unemployed workers by the millions — and now wants the money back Posted: 07 Jul 2020 11:23 AM PDT  The Texas Workforce Commission says "there's no exception for hardship."
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| US seizes 81 vehicles in Venezuela smuggling ring Posted: 08 Jul 2020 08:29 AM PDT  Federal investigators said Wednesday they have seized 81 vehicles worth an estimated $3.2 million that were bound for Venezuela as part of a smuggling ring operated for wealthy and politically connected people. "This is all part of an ongoing effort to combat foreign public corruption and in particular for public corruption in Venezuela and the laundering and the fleecing of the Venezuelan people's wealth and the stealing of the Venezuelan wealth from the national treasury for the gain of a few politically exploited, exposed people, kleptocrats and their associates," Salisbury said.
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| Chances of global warming to 1.5C within five years doubles under new modelling Posted: 08 Jul 2020 01:07 PM PDT  Global temperatures have a 20 per cent change of reaching 1.5C above pre-industrial levels in the next five years, according to new analysis from the World Meteorological Organisation which doubles the likelihood from an earlier assessment. Analysis last year from the Met Office, which led on the new report, put the likelihood at 10 per cent. The Met Office said the higher figure was produced by using models from ten different climate centres around the world for the first time. The Paris Agreement, which governments signed up to in 2015, aims to limit global warming to 1.5C and at least 2C, based on averages over a 30-year period. Current warming is at 1C, which the WMO said would continue over the next five years, with a one in five chance that one year would hit 1.5C and a 70 per cent chance that one month would. "This study shows – with a high level of scientific skill – the enormous challenge ahead in meeting the Paris Agreement on Climate Change target of keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. The predictions take into account natural variations, such as the El Nino climate cycle, as well as human impact. They do not take into account changes in greenhouse gas emissions from the coronavirus lockdown. The models also suggest that almost all areas are likely to be warmer than the recent past, with the Sahel and high latitude regions wetter. Professor Adam Scaife, the head of long range prediction at the Met Office, said: "This is an exciting new scientific capability. As human-induced climate change grows, it is becoming even more important for governments and decision makers to understand the current climate risks on an annually-updated basis."
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| 'You are not allowed here ever again': Waitress kicks out Trump supporter who racially abused diners Posted: 07 Jul 2020 10:12 AM PDT  A white man was filmed racially abusing diners at the Bernardus Lodge & Spa, in Carmel Valley, California, before being kicked out by the waitress.The man, who social media users and Heavy identified as Michael Lofthouse, was filmed on Saturday evening telling an Asian American family that "Trump is gonna f*** you," while they dined at the Lucia Restaurant & Bar, situated at the spa.
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| Black Americans report hate crimes, violence in wake of George Floyd protests and Black Lives Matter gains Posted: 08 Jul 2020 11:20 AM PDT  Across the U.S., Black people have reported incidents of alleged hate crimes and violent backlash as Black Lives Matter has gained broad support.
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| Eric Trump: Biden doesn’t have the aptitude to debate my father Posted: 09 Jul 2020 06:06 AM PDT  A New York Times columnist urges Joe Biden not to participate in the three upcoming debates with Trump unless the president agrees to 'two conditions'; reaction and analysis from Trump Organization Executive Vice President, Eric Trump.
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| University of California names first Black president Posted: 09 Jul 2020 12:11 AM PDT  Michael Drake will be the first black president in the university system's 152-year history.
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| FBI head calls China 'the greatest long-term threat' to the US and alleges Chinese plots to steal US data and forcibly repatriate its citizens Posted: 07 Jul 2020 10:35 PM PDT  In remarks Tuesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray said China was threatening Chinese nationals abroad through a program called "Fox Hunt."
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| Severe bread shortages loom for Syria as fresh U.S. sanctions grip Posted: 09 Jul 2020 04:13 AM PDT  Syria could face severe bread shortages for the first time since the start of the war, another challenge for President Bashar al-Assad as he grapples with an economic meltdown and fresh U.S. sanctions, a U.N. official, activists and farmers said. Any major disruptions to Syria's bread subsidy system could undermine the government and threaten a population highly dependent on wheat as rampant inflation drives up food prices. "There is already some evidence of people cutting out meals," said Mike Robson, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's Syria representative.
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| Chechen leader blames foreign spies for slaying his critics Posted: 09 Jul 2020 05:04 AM PDT  The regional strongman leader of Russia's province of Chechnya on Thursday blamed unidentified foreign spy agencies for the recent killing in Austria of a Chechen man who criticized him. Ramzan Kadyrov claimed on his blog that the ethnic Chechen who was shot dead in a Vienna suburb over the weekend fell victim to "special services working against Russia and myself." The 43-year-old Chechen leader rejected allegations of his involvement in the slaying, saying that the killing in Vienna and earlier slayings of ethnic Chechens in Europe were performed by foreign spies to compromise him and tarnish Russia's image.
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| Headless sea lions have been washing up on Canadian beaches, and some experts think the black market is to blame Posted: 09 Jul 2020 12:16 AM PDT  Marine mammal zoologist Anna Hall told Vice that unless a new shark species has entered local waters then "something unusual is going on."
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| 'How Do You Do a Lockdown Backwards?' Two Months After Reopening, Florida Tries to Clamp Back Down Posted: 08 Jul 2020 10:09 AM PDT  Florida is struggling to balance its fresh spike of COVID-19 cases with the cost of reversing its early reopening in May.
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| China executes man in coronavirus-rage killing case Posted: 09 Jul 2020 01:02 AM PDT  A Chinese man who stabbed to death two people at a coronavirus travel checkpoint was executed Thursday, the Supreme People's Court said. Ma Jianguo was driving with friends to a village in rural Yunnan for a karaoke party when he came to a barricade blocking his path. Ma, aged 24, then stabbed two checkpoint volunteers several times in the abdomen, killing them, the court said in a posting on its official social media account.
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| 'UK faces mobile blackouts if Huawei 5G ban imposed by 2023' Posted: 09 Jul 2020 05:47 AM PDT  BT and Vodafone warn that users will face days without a mobile signal if a 2023 ban is imposed.
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| New York mayor blames 'dislocation' caused by coronavirus for wave of shootings that left 10 dead and 54 injured over weekend Posted: 07 Jul 2020 03:52 PM PDT  At least 10 people were killed among 64 shootings reported in New York City over the Fourth of July weekend, which saw a violent spree in several major cities still reeling from coronavirus infections and widespread protests against police violence.For the first time since 2016, the city surpassed 400 shootings by mid-year. The New York Police Department reported that the city saw 528 shootings by the end of June, one of the most violent halves of the year in more than 20 years.
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