| Portland police declare riot, use smoke to clear crowd Posted: 15 Aug 2020 09:35 PM PDT  A riot was declared in Oregon's biggest city as protesters demonstrated outside a law enforcement building early Sunday, continuing a nightly ritual in Portland. Officers used crowd control munitions to disperse the gathering outside the Penumbra Kelly building. Protesters had thrown "softball size" rocks, glass bottles and other objects at officers, police said on Twitter.
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| Poll: Biden remains ahead of Trump nationally before conventions begin Posted: 16 Aug 2020 06:00 AM PDT  Sixty-one percent say U.S. coronavirus response has been unsuccessful; Kamala Harris holds net-positive rating.
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| What is a fire tornado? 'Extreme fire activity' sparks rare weather warning at Loyalton Fire near Reno. Posted: 16 Aug 2020 05:03 PM PDT  Fire tornadoes are formed similarly to tornadoes caused by severe thunderstorms, except extreme heat from a wildfire is the cause.
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| Angola orders Brazil evangelical churches to close Posted: 15 Aug 2020 11:40 AM PDT  Prosecutors seize buildings run by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, alleging corruption.
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| Putin offered military assistance to Belarus, but analysts explain why he's unlikely to follow through Posted: 16 Aug 2020 07:51 AM PDT  Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to assist his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko militarily if necessary as the latter faces mounting anti-government protests, the Kremlin said Sunday. While the traditionally staunch allies are in a more precarious place than usual because of Lukashenko's recent aversion to deepening political and economic ties with Moscow, Putin reportedly is at least telling Lukashenko he's prepared to intervene on his behalf because he fears a revolution spilling over into Russia. Per BBC, Russian television broadcasts are drawing parallels between the Belarus demonstrations and Ukraine's Euromaidan protests in 2014, which preceded Russia's invasion of Crimea.But while some analysts have laid out possibilities for why Putin may follow through, others have pointed out that the situation in Belarus is not actually similar to Ukraine and Putin will most likely hold back. Indeed, even though Russian TV is backing Lukashenko publicly, news sites are reportedly criticizing the embattled Belarusian leader, who may be losing his grasp over the rest of the government.Back in 2014, Ukraine was choosing between East and West, and Russia was determined not to lose influence over the country. Russia also wants to keep Belarus in its orbit, but that's not really what these protests are about, BBC's Steve Rosenberg notes. While Lukashenko's ties to Russia have certainly played a role in his ability to maintain power for 26 years, the protests are specifically directed at Minsk, not Moscow, so Putin may decide he won't to risk an invasion for Lukashenko's sake. > 5\. The Belarusian opposition is against Lukashenko, not Russia. The Kremlin may be able to live with that. > 6\. Putin's regime is very able to infiltrate & manipulate, which costs much less than military intervention. Why be too blatant?> > -- Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) August 15, 2020More stories from theweek.com 5 achingly funny cartoons about Trump's post office upheaval Catholic voters' impossible choice Gretchen Whitmer is America's most incompetent politician
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| Prince Harry faces prospect of hefty tax bill in California, expert warns Posted: 16 Aug 2020 10:57 AM PDT  The Duke of Sussex faces a significant financial hit from the "zealous" US tax authorities, a royal financial expert has said, warning that the couple had not "thought through" the high cost of Californian life. The Duke and Duchess spent more than $14.6m on an impressive estate in Montecito, California, where they plan to live long-term and raise their son, Archie, in relative normality. But once Prince Harry has spent 183 days in the US over a three-year period, he will be considered a resident for tax purposes and liable for tax. David McClure, author of forthcoming book The Queen's True Worth, said: "California is a high tax state and he's likely to get a hit. "I don't think Harry and Meghan have totally thought through the financial consequences of their exit from the Royal Family. "The more their expenditure rises in California, the greater the pressure to generate their own income in more downmarket, commercial deals. That's always been the worry of the palace." Mr McClure said that the Duke would have to hand over much more detail about his personal finances and earnings than he would ever have had to do in the UK. "The US taxman is much more zealous than his UK counterpart and for that reason, Harry will have to watch his step on the income he generates," he added.
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| Black Portland reflects on role of white allies in movement Posted: 16 Aug 2020 08:30 AM PDT  More than two months of intense protests in Portland, Oregon — one of America's whitest major cities — have captured the world's attention and put a place that's less than 6% Black at the heart of the conversation about police brutality and systemic racism. Since May, nightly demonstrations in Oregon's largest city have featured overwhelmingly white crowds — from middle-aged mothers marching arm in arm to the mayor getting tear-gassed by federal agents to teenagers dressed in black smashing police precinct windows and tossing fireworks at authorities. The weeks of often-chaotic protests have transformed Portland into a microcosm of the national debate on race and police brutality.
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| Far-Right Militia, Pro-Confederacy Groups, Anti-Facists Face Off in Tense Stone Mountain Protest Posted: 15 Aug 2020 10:15 AM PDT  Far-right militia, pro-Confederacy groups and anti-fascist counter-protestors faced off on Saturday in tense scenes at Stone Mountain, Georgia, home of the largest monument to the Confederacy. To prepare for the confrontation, park officials closed off entry to the giant rock carving of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson. The city suspended bus services and urged residents to avoid the city center entirely "out of an abundance of caution."Nevertheless, a small number of armed protesters from all sides descended on the city from 9 a.m. local time. Videos on social media showed far-right protestors attacking anti-facism protesters with pepper spray, and anti-facism protesters grabbing Confederate flags and setting them alight. Police presence was initially minimal outside a church where protesters converged, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. Some fist fights broke out in the crowd.According to the AJR, a man with a "Don't Tread on Me" flag and an assault weapon pointed his gun on the crowd, though he was "charged down" by his opposition.Around 11:30 am, a message from counter-protesters came over a loudspeaker, warning them to be prepared for tear gas, the newspaper reported.The protest dispersed when police in riot gear moved in on the crowd at around 1 p.m., and ordered demonstrators to leave or be arrested. Photos from the scene showed the National Guard moving in as well.> "Go home, racists, go home!" Members of BLM, Antifa and independents chant during protest in the town of Stone Mountain @11AliveNews pic.twitter.com/Rr75W36hrv> > — Maura Sirianni 11Alive (@MauraSirianni) August 15, 2020> Today right-wing activists and militias are converging on Stone Mountain Park in Georgia to hold a "Defend Stone Mountain" Confederate rally. > > Antifascists are gathering to oppose them. > > Here, III% activists gather about a block East from Antifa, loading and prepping guns. pic.twitter.com/DjmVwBLBtc> > — Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) August 15, 2020A Georgia chapter of the Three Percenters militia, a far-right paramilitary group, initially applied to hold a 2,000-person rally at the Stone Mountain monument on Saturday but they were denied by police, in part because a 2016 Stone Mountain "pro-white" demonstration resulted in nine arrests. But some online groups vowed to turn up anyway, including a group of Confederate-loving protesters calling themselves "Defending Stone Mountain" and a rival group called Atlanta Antifascists.A protest in Kalamazoo, Michigan also turned violent on Saturday when the far-right, white nationalist group Proud Boys attempted to march but were overrun by counter-protesters. After the two groups fought in the street, police arrived and made "a few" arrests, according to local affiliate WOOD-TV. > Fights broke out between protesters and the Proud Boys group when they arrived in Kalamazoo. @wwmtnews pic.twitter.com/bgk0LGa6j7> > — Trisha McCauley (@TrishaWWMT) August 15, 2020Stone Mountain is the largest bas-relief statue in the world, completed in 1925 by Augustus Lukeman, with original work by Gutzon Borglum (who would go on to sculpt Mt. Rushmore). The Ku Klux Klan was a major donor to the project. Since the Charleston church shooting of 2015, many have called for the removal of the monument. The movement has grown urgency over the past few months, as more protestors take down Confederate monuments following the death of George Floyd. Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has called the carving "a blight on our state."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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| Can Trump do the impossible? He thinks so Posted: 15 Aug 2020 10:17 AM PDT  Maybe it was the beautiful sunset, or the crowd of tough-looking men cheering his name, or even some reassurance from secret polling, but Donald Trump did not sound like a president who risks humiliation in less than 80 days.
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| Oklahoma State sorority house reports 23 positive coronavirus cases Posted: 16 Aug 2020 07:54 AM PDT  Greek life has been a source of numerous coronavirus cases in the last few weeks as the nation debates the reopening of schools for in-person learning.
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| Trump makes call for new White House doctor's virus advice Posted: 16 Aug 2020 08:35 AM PDT  President Trump announced a new doctor — Dr. Scott Atlas, a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel — has joined the coronavirus task force as a pandemic adviser.
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| USPS says it will freeze collection box removal until after election following backlash Posted: 15 Aug 2020 05:04 AM PDT  As the controversy over the state of the United States Postal Service grows, the agency on Friday night said it will stop removing letter collection boxes in at least several states after facing backlash from lawmakers.Photos of the removal of collection boxes began circulating online Friday, prompting critics of the Trump administration to add the action to their list of examples, which include potential mailing delays and reduced post office operating hours, of why they believe the president may be trying to manipulate the 2020 election by making mail-in voting more difficult. Kim Frum, a spokeswoman for USPS, said the removals were routine and that the agency was moving "low-use boxes to high traffic areas."Nevertheless, USPS spokesman Rod Spurgeon told CNN in a statement that the service would stop removing the boxes in 16 states — mostly in the West and Midwest — and in parts of two others until after the election. It wasn't clear if the moratorium would go into effect nationally, per CNN, although Spurgeon did tell NBC News that "we are not going to be removing any boxes." Read more at CNN.More stories from theweek.com 5 achingly funny cartoons about Trump's post office upheaval Catholic voters' impossible choice Gretchen Whitmer is America's most incompetent politician
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| Islamic State has gained its first outpost in southern Africa after the capture of strategic port in Mozambique Posted: 16 Aug 2020 08:54 AM PDT  Government troops abandoned Mocimboa da Praia last week but reinforcements have been rushed to the area to recapture the city from the insurgents.
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| He calls himself a ‘witch’ and a ‘god.’ He’s been arrested in the missing mother case Posted: 16 Aug 2020 02:53 PM PDT  An Alabama resident who claims to be a witch, a god and the last person to see missing mother Leila Cavett alive now sits in Broward County Main Jail.
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| Far-right demonstrators, counter-protesters and police clash in multiple states Posted: 15 Aug 2020 06:50 PM PDT  Fights broke out at demonstrations in Michigan and Georgia Saturday. Among those involved: far-right Proud Boys, counter-protesters and police.
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| Eight killed in armed group attack in southern Colombia Posted: 16 Aug 2020 09:23 AM PDT |
| Donald Trump vows to push through 'snapback' sanctions on Iran Posted: 16 Aug 2020 04:26 AM PDT  U.S. President Donald Trump said that he intended to push through a "snapback" of sanctions on Iran, a day after the UN Security Council rejected a U.S. effort to extend a UN arms embargo on Tehran. "We'll be doing a snapback," Trump said during a news conference at his New Jersey golf club on Saturday. "You'll be watching it next week." The U.S. president was apparently referring to the contentious argument that the U.S. remains a "participant" in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal - despite having withdrawn from it in 2018 - and can therefore unilaterally force a return to sanctions if Washington considers that Iran has violated the terms of the deal. The nuclear deal, which was signed in July 2015, has been under massive pressure since the U.S. withdrawal, although major signatories including the UK, France and Germany remain committed.
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| Thousands of volunteers neck-deep in oil battle noxious fumes amid cleanup efforts Posted: 15 Aug 2020 09:47 AM PDT  "It's a people's factory, a mobilization zone for Mauritians," said environmental activist David Sauvage.
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| New Zealand: Jacinda Ardern delays election over coronavirus fears Posted: 16 Aug 2020 04:07 PM PDT  Jacinda Ardern has postponed September's election until October following new coronavirus cases.
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| Iran threatens 'dangerous future' for UAE after Israel deal Posted: 15 Aug 2020 01:20 AM PDT  Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard vowed Saturday there would be dangerous consequences for the United Arab Emirates after it announced a historic deal with Israel to open up diplomatic relations. The UAE is the first Gulf Arab state to do so and only the third Arab nation to establish normalized relations with Israel, Iran's regional archenemy.
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| Philippine security forces 'alert' for reprisals after militant held Posted: 14 Aug 2020 10:05 PM PDT  Philippine security forces were on alert Saturday for possible reprisal attacks after arresting a key leader of an Islamic State-linked militant group accused of kidnapping and beheading several foreigners.
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| Saudi-led coalition downs ballistic missile aimed at kingdom: SPA Posted: 16 Aug 2020 06:47 AM PDT |
| Potential Biden voters are becoming more committed to their choice, poll shows Posted: 16 Aug 2020 08:18 AM PDT  As President Trump and his likely challenger and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, gear up to accept their party nominations in the next two weeks, polling has remained steady in favor of Biden.CBS News' Battleground Tracker, as of Sunday, shows 52 percent of Americans backing Biden compared to 42 who support Trump. That would give him 279 electoral college votes, slightly more than the 270 required to win, thanks to states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin flipping blue again after Trump won them in 2016. Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, and Iowa, all appear to be in play for both candidates.What seems to be key for Biden, though, is a consistently increasing number of voters who say they're "very strong in their support" of the former vice president, despite less-than-universal enthusiasm for the candidate. At the end of June, Trump led Biden 78 percent to 72 percent in the category, indicating more people were on the fence about the latter, but the two are now even at 82 percent.> Ahead of @DNC convention, we estimate Biden leading in states worth 279 electoral votes> > Multiple paths for him to hit 270, w/ widespread shifts relative to 2016> > Doesn't mean he *will* win — this is now> > More @CBSNews/@YouGov Battleground Tracker results: https://t.co/Semy1vXlgO pic.twitter.com/ulOdOwkGut> > — Kabir K. (@kabir_here) August 16, 2020The CBS News survey was conducted in partnership with YouGov between Aug. 12-14 when 2,210 U.S. registered voters were interviewed. The margin of error is 2.4 percentage points. Read the full results here.More stories from theweek.com 5 achingly funny cartoons about Trump's post office upheaval Catholic voters' impossible choice Gretchen Whitmer is America's most incompetent politician
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| Wildfires in Northern California led to a rare 'firenado' — a fire and tornado combination — that tore through the region Posted: 16 Aug 2020 10:57 AM PDT  The National Weather Service issued a fire tornado warning as wildfires raged in Loyalton, California, near the Nevada border.
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| Australia surfer saves wife by punching shark Posted: 15 Aug 2020 04:38 AM PDT  A husband leapt on to the shark as it attacked his wife off Port Macquarie, New South Wales.
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| Two brothers in Alabama, ages 3 and 1, die in 'tragic accident' after getting into a hot car on their own Posted: 16 Aug 2020 01:31 PM PDT  The parents told authorities they thought the two boys had been playing in their rooms but discovered them unresponsive inside the vehicle.
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| Gunmen kill son of legendary Mexican drug capo Amado Carrillo Posted: 15 Aug 2020 11:26 AM PDT  Prosecutors in northern Mexico say that gunmen have killed Julio César Carrillo — a son of legendary drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes.
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| Jared Kushner said he and Ivanka Trump are 'absolutely' sending their children back to school for in-person classes Posted: 16 Aug 2020 09:14 AM PDT  The school attended by Kushner's kids will use online and distance learning but also offer in-person opportunities for outdoor education.
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| Israel launches new air strikes on Hamas positions in Gaza, closes fishing zone Posted: 15 Aug 2020 11:48 PM PDT  Israel's army launched new air strikes on Sunday against Hamas positions in Gaza and closed the fishing zone around the Palestinian enclave in response to rockets and firebombs sent into Israeli territory. The measures came after a week of heightened tensions, including clashes on Saturday evening along the Gaza-Israeli border, the army said. Dozens of Palestinian rioters burned tyres, hurled explosive devices and grenades towards the security fence and attempted to approach it," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement. Long-simmering Palestinian anger has flared further since Israel and the UAE on Thursday agreed to normalise relations, a move Palestinians saw as a betrayal of their cause by the Gulf country. Over the past week Israeli forces have carried out repeated night-time strikes on targets linked to the Islamist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. The army says they were carried out in response to makeshift firebombs attached to balloons and kites which have been sent into southern Israel, causing thousands of fires on Israeli farms and communities. There were 19 such Palestinian attacks on Saturday alone, according to Israeli rescue services. In response, "IDF fighter jets and aircraft struck a number of Hamas military targets in the Gaza Strip," the army said, adding that among the targets hit were a Hamas "military compound and underground infrastructure". Early on Sunday the IDF said two more rockets had been fired into Israel from Gaza and intercepted by its Iron Dome defence system. "In response, our Air Force just struck Hamas terror targets in Gaza, including a military compound used to store rocket ammunition," it said.
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| 3 men beat security guard who told them to wear masks at gas station, MO cops say Posted: 16 Aug 2020 08:07 AM PDT  The guard shot one suspect who is in critical but stable condition, police say.
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| Lebanon faces 'biggest danger', needs elections, says patriarch Posted: 16 Aug 2020 03:18 AM PDT  Lebanon's top Christian cleric called on Sunday for early parliamentary elections and a government formed to rescue the country rather than the ruling "political class" after the vast explosion in Beirut's port threw the nation into turmoil. Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, who holds sway in Lebanon as head of the Maronite church from which the head of state must be drawn under sectarian power-sharing, warned that Lebanon was today facing "its biggest danger". "We will not allow for Lebanon to become a compromise card between nations that want to rebuild ties amongst themselves," Al-Rai said in a Sunday sermon, without naming any countries.
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| Rep. Nunes on ex-FBI lawyer expected to plead guilty for falsifying documents against Trump campaign Posted: 16 Aug 2020 07:09 AM PDT  California Congressman Devin Nunes weighs in on former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith expecting to plead guilty to making a false statement in U.S. Attorney John Durham's review of the Russia investigation.
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| Germans are 'waking up' to anti-Black racism after George Floyd protest Posted: 16 Aug 2020 01:30 AM PDT  "Policing starts with stops and ID'ing but can also end in death," said activist Tahir Della.
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| First major Mediterranean cruise liner sets sail since pandemic Posted: 16 Aug 2020 11:24 AM PDT  The first major cruise ship to resume tours of the Mediterranean since the coronavirus pandemic hit Europe set sail from the Italian city of Genoa on Sunday, as the industry tries to regain ground after a bruising hiatus.
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| A parasite feasts on a fish's tongue until it's gone. Don't worry, humans can't get it. Posted: 15 Aug 2020 08:37 AM PDT  When it latches itself onto the fish's tongue, it feeds on the tongue's blood vessels until it replaces the tongue. But it's nothing to worry about.
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| An 'irate' woman struck an American Airlines employee after she was barred from boarding her flight without a face mask, police said Posted: 15 Aug 2020 04:53 PM PDT  Yolanda Yarbrough was arrested and charged with assault after she struck the American Airlines employee in the face, police said.
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| Now Is Not the Time to Silence America’s Best Global Press Ambassadors Posted: 16 Aug 2020 03:30 AM PDT  At a time when access to accurate information is more critical than ever, leadership at Voice of America (VOA), the government-funded international news broadcaster, is actively undermining America's ability to reach those around the globe who need it most.VOA produces journalism in 46 languages around the globe, providing news through an American lens about the critical issues of the day. VOA frequently hires international journalists because they not only have a mastery of critical languages but also are knowledgeable of the journalistic landscape and have sources in the countries VOA serves. Often, their reporting is among the only news that reaches beyond the iron curtain of propaganda in despotic strongholds such as Russia or Venezuela, providing impartial news about the world and their home countries that is untainted by local regimes.But the new head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, Michael Pack, who oversees VOA, has quietly refused to sign international journalists' contract renewals, forcing the impacted journalists to leave the country within 30 days unless they have already found a new job that provides a visa.Dozens of VOA employees now find themselves in limbo. Already, many have found their contracts have not been renewed, with no explanation given, often with only a few days' notice that they will soon need to leave the country. Journalists from places such as Iran face severe persecution for their work for the American government; sending them back puts their lives at great risk because of their commitment to our values.In a press release last month, CEO Pack has couched his non-decision in a broad accusation against VOA, citing "systemic, severe, and fundamental security failures" within the agency. But if this is the cause for Pack's decision to allow the contracts to expire, he should say so; instead, not only the press and the American people but also his employees are met with silence. The lack of specificity and evidence to support his claims make the accusations seem illegitimate.The organization has faced criticism, most recently over its reporting related to coronavirus that was perceived by many conservatives and the Trump administration as too soft on China for refusing to interrogate China's falsified coronavirus death count. But this concern has also been applied, with no less egregious examples, to many news organizations at home and abroad. The answer shouldn't be to strip bare the department in the dead of night.The White House's concerns about VOA -- real as they are -- are endemic to the current media environment, not a foreign influence threat metastasizing within the agency. The growth of and threat from foreign propaganda within American media is a topic that VOA covered in detail not even two months ago. What the concerns demand is reform -- thoughtful leadership that can reinvigorate an organization that has been broadcasting an American viewpoint to those suffering under the yoke of repressive governments dating back to Nazi Germany.In a moment where America is pulling back from its global leadership mantle, VOA serves as an indispensable communication outlet charged with "telling America's story." This is particularly true in places where hostile foreign governments actively spread disinformation about the United States. Reducing the international staff of VOA will undermine America's ability to broadcast our values and promote freedom as autocratic and anti-democratic forces gather steam around the globe.The urgency to act is critical. The loss felt by a gutting of our international journalistic capabilities will surely be felt in the years and decades to come -- but the window to act to address it is quickly shrinking. With foreign journalists already in limbo, and with only a 30 days before deportations can begin, Congress must act immediately.Leaders from Capitol Hill have come to the aid of the embattled agency in recent months. In defending the agency, they not only pointed out the bravery of journalists who face down dictators within their home countries but also called on the guiding principles set forth for VOA to "act as a bulwark against disinformation through credible journalism."Four Republicans signed on to this letter: Senators Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, Jerry Moran, and Susan Collins. They urged CEO Pack to not "invest in an enterprise that denigrates its own journalists and staff to the satisfaction of dictators and despots, nor can it be one that fails to live up to its promise of providing access to a free and independent press."Achieving these goals -- to the frustration of dictators and America's adversaries around the globe -- requires the aid of VOA's indispensable foreign journalists, a point the staff at VOA have made repeatedly. Particularly when those who want to create false, negative perceptions of America have spared no expense to co-opt, bribe, and otherwise entice journalists, now is no time for America to voluntarily surrender the moral high ground that our democratic press freedoms afford.The most compelling advantages America has in the global war against disinformation and propaganda is the freedom of our voices and the righteousness of our cause. These exist in spite of the problems we have domestically and within our own journalistic ranks. What sets us apart is our capacity to improve, to better live up to our ideals. This differentiator is no less accurate in describing what currently ails VOA.Senators Rubio, Graham, Moran, and Collins should take a stand for these ideals, and actively push back against Pack's irresponsible approach. As members of the president's party, they are the only ones in a position to apply the kind of pressure that could avoid hamstringing America's international legacy and global reception. Never has it been more important to tell America's story, and do it in a way that reflects the truth to a world desperately in need of it.
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| Mogadishu attack: Somali troops end deadly siege at Elite Hotel Posted: 16 Aug 2020 12:39 PM PDT  At least 10 people are dead after al-Shabab militants stormed the Elite Hotel in the capital.
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| Forecasters watching two new tropical waves that have formed in the Atlantic Posted: 16 Aug 2020 07:26 AM PDT  Forecasters are monitoring two new tropical waves in the Atlantic Ocean, the National Hurricane Center said Sunday morning as two other systems, what was left of previous Tropical Depression Josephine and Post-Tropical Cyclone Kyle, lost steam.
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| Barack Obama has privately voiced concerns that Joe Biden could 'f--- things up,' according to a report Posted: 16 Aug 2020 04:50 AM PDT  There are tensions between the Biden and Obama camps over the former President's perceived lack of support for his 2020 White House bid.
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| Exclusive: China continues to harass exiles on British soil, claim victims Posted: 15 Aug 2020 10:09 AM PDT  China is suspected of orchestrating a sinister campaign to suppress prominent critics living in Britain from speaking out against the ruling Communist Party by harassing, intimidating, and surveilling them while they are in the UK, the Telegraph can reveal. Simon Cheng Man-kit, a former British consulate employee in Hong Kong who was tortured by Chinese secret police, said he had been followed at least three times in the last two weeks. Mr Cheng, who has been granted asylum in the UK, has been vocal about eroding freedoms in Hong Kong. A threatening email also arrived in Mr Cheng's inbox this week. "Chinese agents will find you and bring you back," read the subject line. In the body, the message said: "Only a matter of time." The email alias was 'CY Leung', the name of Hong Kong's former chief executive who pro-democracy protesters accused of cosying up to Beijing. Azis Isa Elkun, a British Uighur who has campaigned from the UK about China's internment camps for Muslim minorities, revealed he had been sent messages from his mother, apparently under duress. He believes it is a warning to remain silent. Frances Eve, deputy director of research for Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a network of advocacy groups, said: "These kinds of threats are definitely to try to silence them from using their voices outside of China to raise awareness of these human rights violations. It's intimidation. It can take different forms, but the purpose is to silence them."
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| Oklahoma high school student knowingly went to class with coronavirus, officials say Posted: 16 Aug 2020 10:46 AM PDT  The school district said the Westmoore High School student was asymptomatic and believed it was safe to attend the first day of classes.
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| 'I knew the victims' pain': the pioneering detective who took on the Golden State Killer Posted: 15 Aug 2020 10:00 PM PDT  Forty years ago, Carol Daly was the only female detective investigating the attacks. This week, she will attend his sentencingShe had waited decades for the call.There had been a time when chasing the trail of the Golden State Killer had dominated Carol Daly's life. But by April 2018, Daly, a 79-year-old former detective with the Sacramento county sheriff's department, had long ago forced herself to step away, determined to spend time with her husband and grandchildren instead.She had kept in touch with old colleagues, of course, and was in regular contact with some of the serial killer's survivors. Over the years, she had spoken to dozens of them, first in hospitals, then in their homes and at gatherings across the Sacramento region.When the Sacramento county sheriff on the other end of the line told her authorities believed they had finally identified a suspect, a 72-year-old former police officer named Joseph James DeAngelo, in the string of rapes and murders, Daly thought of those victims first."You have got to contact them right away," she told the sheriff, "before they hear it in the media.""Start making calls," he responded.•••Forty years earlier, Daly was the only female detective on a team investigating a series of attacks in Sacramento by an assailant dubbed the East Area Rapist. From 1976 to 1979, families reported the man entering their homes at night, holding couples at gunpoint, raping teenage girls and women whose children slept nearby. The attacks transformed the region. Lock, alarm and gun sales surged, the San Francisco Examiner reported. The burglary rate even dropped as people were too afraid to break into homes, Daly recalled.> Nobody wanted to share information because they all wanted to be the one that solved the case> > Carol Daly, retired detectiveDaly, who was one of the first women to join the department in 1968 when female officers wore skirts and high heels and carried their guns in their purses, worked the case from the beginning.She interviewed the victims about the attacks and their lives in often lengthy conversations, looking for a common thread and uncovering what the perpetrator did and said in the time he spent in their homes. They told her how he'd stay in their homes for hours, assaulting them repeatedly and pretending to leave before startling them again. In some cases he left plates stacked on the backs of bound boyfriends or husbands, threatening to kill them if he heard a sound."He was a horrendous, awful, awful man," Daly said. "It was very, very difficult interviewing victims, taking down all of the details."Daly joined a taskforce that would work to solve the case for several years. But progress in the investigation was slow, hindered by the wide geographic spread of the crimes and jurisdictions' unwillingness to work together. "Nobody wanted to share information because they all wanted to be the one that solved the case," Daly recalled.The culture of the time slowed the investigation, too. Rape was still classified as a misdemeanor and perpetrators typically spent just a few months in jail, which Daly believes could have deterred some victims of the East Area Rapist from reporting attacks. Women, overwhelmed with shame, struggled to verbalize what had happened to them – even while talking to her.When Kris Pedretti was sexually assaulted in her home days before Christmas 1976, at age 15, her parents told her not to tell anyone what happened, and she felt great shame about her attack for most of her life. With the statute of limitations passing on some of the attacks, Sacramento officials disposed of some of the rape kits, a move Pedretti describes as akin to a "second assault".When, by the late 70s, it became clear the East Area Rapist had moved on to other jurisdictions, Daly asked to be moved back to homicide. "The sheriff put a sharp team together, and he had his most experienced investigators working on the case, and we didn't solve it," she said.She went on to have a three-decade career with the department, retiring as the undersheriff of the county, the only woman to hold that position. Over the course of her time with the sheriff's department she worked difficult homicide cases, but none touched her like the crimes of the East Area Rapist. "We couldn't bring closure, and I knew the pain the victims lived with."•••It would take decades for law enforcement to connect the rapes of the East Area Rapist in central and northern California with murders that took place in southern California later on and were attributed to a perpetrator called the Original Night Stalker.Victims waited almost another 20 years for a suspect to land behind bars. Investigators eventually used DNA from the attacks and the open-source genealogy website GEDMatch to connect DeAngelo to the crimes.DeAngelo, a US navy veteran of the Vietnam war and father of three, had worked as a police officer in communities near where the crimes occurred. He pleaded guilty to 13 murders and 13 kidnapping-related charges and admitted to dozens of sexual assaults that he couldn't be charged with in June 2020, in a plea deal that spares him from the death penalty. He will be sentenced this week in a Sacramento court.DeAngelo's victims are expected to speak out in three days of testimony, revealing in intimate details how he affected their lives and the lives of their families.Daly will attend this week's hearings, which are mostly restricted to the victims and their supporters. Six have asked Daly to sit in the courtroom while they speak, and one has asked Daly to speak on her behalf. She has become close with some of those affected, hosting and attending gatherings on important milestones and after hearings, and watching what she describes as their transition from victims to survivors."The best thing for me out of all of this is getting to know these beautiful women and hearing their stories over the last years and seeing how they've conquered [this] and what they've done with it," Daly said.•••Pedretti got to know Daly in 2018, after reading an article about the East Area Rapist in the Sacramento Bee. Pedretti had stayed silent about what had happened to her for years, but when she and Daly first met in Pedretti's home, Daly brought the police report. Pedretti read it to her sister and husband that night, finally talking about the subject she had avoided for so long. From there she developed the courage to talk about the attack with her children. DeAngelo was arrested weeks later.Though she had finally opened up, the arrest triggered her. She bought an alarm system that she couldn't bring herself to turn on because she didn't know what she would do if it went off. Sometimes a noise in the house would send her fleeing outside. The fear led her to get a dog, named Cello, a chocolate brown lab who is her shadow, following her around the home she shares with her husband and into their beloved garden. Therapy helped her to start telling her story and use her experiences to help others. She started a Facebook group where survivors can share their experiences and takes several calls a week from people who just need someone to talk to."I realize how widespread this 'don't say' is, and it's gonna continue to be that way until enough women talk about it and put the blame where it belongs," Pedretti said.She intends to tell that part of her story in court this week."Everything and everyone he touched paid for it," Pedretti said of DeAngelo. "Family, friends, anyone, everyone. That's a lot of power he had over so many, but we get to take that power back."> That's a lot of power he had over so many, but we get to take that power back> > Kris Pedretti, survivorDaly thinks the East Area rapes helped police departments take sexual assault cases more seriously. "When these rape cases started, they were just a misdemeanor, you only went to jail for a few months," she said. "[They] really propelled investigation of rape cases into modern era, as far as them being considered a felony now."Forty-four years after Daly first interviewed a victim of the East Area Rapist, she will stand alongside the survivors of his crimes to see him sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She will avoid looking at his face."He will never be Joe DeAngelo. He will always be the rapist. That's his moniker," Daly said. "Did he ever stop and think about what he did to people's lives? I doubt it."
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