| The 11-carrier US Navy is mocking Iran as 'experts' at making a dummy aircraft carrier to shoot at Posted: 29 Jul 2020 10:10 AM PDT  The US Navy posted a photo on social media ridiculing Iran after it fired missiles on a mock-up of a US flattop on Wednesday.
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| Man arrested on suspicion of setting fire to Democratic Party headquarters in Phoenix, police say Posted: 29 Jul 2020 02:15 PM PDT  Police have arrested a man in connection with a fire set at the Democratic Party Headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, last week.Officials announced on Wednesday that they had arrested 29-year-old Matthew Egler on arson charges that morning.
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| Jim Jordan explodes when asked to put on a mask, pivots to 'unmasking' of Michael Flynn Posted: 29 Jul 2020 01:49 PM PDT  Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has successfully twisted a public health concern into a conservative conspiracy theory -- but not the one of the dozens of COVID-19 conspiracies one might expect.During a Wednesday hearing with the country's four biggest technology companies, Jordan used his questioning time to claim Google tried to help Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Penn.) was up next, and started her questioning by saying she would pivot from "fringe conspiracy theories" to anti-trust questions. Chaos predictably ensued."We have the email, there is no fringe--" Jordan interrupted before committee chair Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) cut him off. "Put your mask on," Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) chimed in. Jordan then used Raskin's request to pivot to a favorite conspiracy: "You want to talk about masks? Why would the deputy secretary of the treasury unmask Michael Flynn's name?"> "Put your mask on!"> > Shouting breaks out among members of the House subcommittee during tech hearing, after Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon suggests Rep. Jim Jordan is pushing "fringe conspiracy theories" https://t.co/83sKht0bRx pic.twitter.com/E6fEZKT6tO> > -- CBS News (@CBSNews) July 29, 2020Jordan's outburst came just hours after Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) tested positive for COVID-19 and then walked around the House office building knowing he had it. Jordan was also reminded, albeit more gently, to put on his mask during a Tuesday hearing with Attorney General William Barr. Gohmert was also at that hearing, and one of his aides -- and other Republican staffers -- have since anonymously complained about the lack of mask compliance among their congressmembers. > Ever since PM came out, Ive gotten a flood of emails from republican staffers who say they too are being forced to come to the hill without a mask now. > > If you're one of those people, email me or dm me.> > -- Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) July 29, 2020More stories from theweek.com Pelosi to implement new order requiring all lawmakers wear masks on House floor Republicans' coronavirus aid bill is a joke. It might take a stock market crash to change their minds. The Pentagon wants a new nuke because it might fire off the old ones by mistake
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| Chicago Deputy Police Chief Shoots Himself, Latest in Long History of Suicides at the Department Posted: 29 Jul 2020 09:31 AM PDT  The Chicago Police Department's new deputy chief of criminal networks was found dead on Tuesday from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, the latest in a history of suicides at the department.Dion Boyd, 57, was sworn into his new post on July 15 after 30-years on the force. Superintendent David Brown urged officers to keep an eye out for colleagues who could be in distress."Let's always remember to take care of ourselves and each other," Brown said at a press conference.The national suicide rate among police officers is about 18 per 100,000 as of 2017, however the rate in Chicago is 60 percent higher."One of the shocking statistics for me was that cops kill themselves at a higher rate than bad guys kill the police. And when you put it in those numbers, you realize that there's a real problem," Phil Cline, executive director of the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, told WBBM radio. "And it's not something the just sprung up in the last year or so. It's been a problem for a while."Boyd's body was found at the department's Homan Square facility, a secretive site that houses the anti-gang and bomb and arson squads. Various abuses allegedly occurred at the site, including reports of excessive force used in interrogations uncovered by The Guardian in 2016.Chicago police are currently attempting to clamp down on shootings that have plagued the city since Memorial Day weekend.While shootings typically rise in the city throughout the summer months, this year has seen a particularly sharp uptick. Chicago has recorded about 2,000 shooting victims so far this year, compared to roughly 1,400 over the same period in 2019.The seasonal rise seems to have been exacerbated by the impact of coronavirus lockdowns on inner city neighborhoods, as well as anti-police sentiment stemming from the George Floyd protests roiling the U.S.
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| Harvard professor accused of lying about China ties faces U.S. tax charges Posted: 28 Jul 2020 03:20 PM PDT  U.S. prosecutors brought tax charges on Tuesday against a Harvard University professor accused of lying to authorities about his ties to a China-run recruitment program and funding he allegedly received from the Chinese government for research. Charles Lieber, the former chair of Harvard's chemistry and chemical biology department, was charged in an indictment filed in federal court in Boston with failing to report income he received from Wuhan University of Technology in China. The four tax-related counts are in addition to two counts of making false statements to federal authorities that Lieber, 61, pleaded not guilty to in June.
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| Nadler to Barr: 'Shame on you' Posted: 28 Jul 2020 09:35 AM PDT 
"You really can't hide behind legal fictions this time," Nadler said. Half an hour before curfew on June 1, baton-swinging police fired smoke canisters, flashbang grenades and rubber bullets to drive protesters farther from the White House, enabling President Donald Trump to walk across Lafayette Park and hold up a Bible in front of St. John's Church, a house of worship visited by U.S. presidents for two centuries.
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| Most view kneeling during anthem as acceptable form of protest Posted: 29 Jul 2020 04:00 AM PDT  Views on this are divided by political party and race.
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| Russia and China Are Catching Up on Hypersonic Missiles Amid US Neglect, Expert Says Posted: 29 Jul 2020 10:22 AM PDT  The U.S. is at risk of falling behind Russia and China on "game changer" hypersonic missile development.
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| Two women arrested for attacking senator filming Wisconsin protests Posted: 28 Jul 2020 02:13 PM PDT  Two women have turned themselves in to police after allegedly assaulting a Wisconsin state representative at a protest on 23 June.Samantha Hamer, 26, and Kerida O'Reilly, 33, were arrested Monday in Madison after turning themselves in to authorities.
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| Inside a Park Avenue Co-Op That Playfully Breaks With Convention Posted: 29 Jul 2020 09:44 AM PDT |
| Georgia governor backs out of hearing on Atlanta mask order Posted: 27 Jul 2020 08:35 PM PDT  Georgia's governor said he's withdrawing a request for an emergency hearing in a lawsuit that aims to block the state's largest city from ordering people to wear masks in public or imposing other restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Brian Kemp earlier this month sued Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and the City Council, but a spokesman announced late Monday that the governor wanted "to continue productive, good faith negotiations." As a result, the governor decided to withdraw the request for a hearing that was scheduled for Tuesday morning, spokesman Cody Hall said.
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| 'Put your mask on!': Lawmakers erupt after Jim Jordan throws a temper tantrum during the big tech hearing Posted: 29 Jul 2020 12:36 PM PDT  Lawmakers slammed Rep. Jim Jordan at the antitrust hearing after he interrupted a colleague accusing him of raising "fringe conspiracy theories."
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| Kavanaugh reportedly tried to find middle ground in Louisiana abortion case, but other justices weren't having it Posted: 29 Jul 2020 07:58 AM PDT  Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh reportedly didn't want to be on the losing side of a major case.In late June, the court ruled 5-4 that a Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have "active admitting privileges" at a hospital within 30 miles was invalid. Chief Justice John Roberts joined with liberals to provide the pivotal vote in the case, but as people familiar with court discussions tell CNN, that's not how Kavanaugh wanted it to go down.Abortion rights were a big focus of Kavanaugh's 2018 confirmation hearing, with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) saying Kavanaugh's promise to uphold Roe v. Wade was a big reason the pro-choice Republican overlooked a sexual assault allegation and cast a deciding vote to confirm him. The Louisiana ruling in late June brought Kavanaugh's stance into question, as he joined conservatives to claim the law protected women's health.But as CNN reports, "Kavanaugh wanted the justices to sidestep any ruling on the merits" of the law and avoid having to "put their own views on the line." In an internal memo and in conversations, Kavanaugh tried to convince the justices to return the case to a trial court judge to gather more facts on just how burdensome the law would be on abortion doctors, sources say. That would stop the law from going into immediate effect, but also spare the justices from making a clear determination on abortion restrictions. But even Roberts, who upheld a Texas law just like Louisiana's 2015, didn't go for it.Kavanaugh also reportedly tried a similar strategy in cases regarding subpoenas for President Trump's financial records, but ultimately sided with the majority to declare Trump wasn't absolutely immune to those subpoenas. Read more about Kavanaugh's attempt to keep the middle ground at CNN.More stories from theweek.com Pelosi to implement new order requiring all lawmakers wear masks on House floor Republicans' coronavirus aid bill is a joke. It might take a stock market crash to change their minds. The Pentagon wants a new nuke because it might fire off the old ones by mistake
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| Colombia coronavirus quarantine to be extended until Aug 30 Posted: 28 Jul 2020 05:28 PM PDT  Colombia's national lockdown to curb infections of the new coronavirus will be extended by one month until the end of August, President Ivan Duque said on Tuesday. The Andean country has reported more than 267,300 coronavirus cases and 9,074 deaths. "Obligatory preventative isolation, as the general concept, will continue until August 30," Duque said in his nightly broadcast.
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| Ghislaine Maxwell files 'extraordinary' last-minute appeal to stop release of 'embarrassing' confidential documents Posted: 29 Jul 2020 12:59 PM PDT  Ghislaine Maxwell has filed a desperate last-minute appeal to stop "embarrassing" confidential documents from being released, claiming the government wrongfully used them to bring criminal charges. US District Judge Loretta Preska had ruled that the files must be unsealed and released to the public by Thursday, but Ms Maxwell's lawyers launched what they conceded was an "extraordinary request" for her to reconsider. The British socialite, 58, is currently answering a number of civil lawsuits brought by victims of associate Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier found dead in his prison cell last year. Her lawyers charged on Wednesday that prosecutors in a separate criminal case used confidential depositions she made in 2016 in the civil case that is now being consideration by Judge Preska. The defamation suit was filed in 2015 by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who alleges she was abused by Epstein and pimped out to powerful figures including Prince Andrew, and confidentially settled in 2017. The Duke of York has denied all allegations.
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| National Guard major tells lawmakers he saw 'excessive' force used on protesters near the White House Posted: 28 Jul 2020 12:31 PM PDT  Major Adam DeMarco told lawmakers actions against peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square were 'deeply disturbing.'
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| China's Mars probe photographs Earth en route to Red Planet Posted: 28 Jul 2020 08:00 PM PDT  China's first Mars probe has beamed back a photo of the Earth and the Moon as it heads toward its destination, the country's space agency said Tuesday. The image, which shows the two celestial bodies as small crescents in the empty darkness of space, was taken 1.2 million kilometres (746,000 miles) away from Earth three days after the Tianwen-1 mission was launched on Thursday, the China National Space Administration said. China joined the United States and United Arab Emirates this month in launching a mission to Mars, taking advantage of a period when Mars and Earth are favourably aligned.
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| Jeff Bezos' ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, gave 8-figure donations to 6 different HBCUs for their 'transformative' work against inequality Posted: 29 Jul 2020 01:18 PM PDT  Four of the presidents of these institutions highlighted that Scott's donations were the largest from a single individual in the schools' history.
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| Great white shark kills woman in rare attack in Maine, authorities say Posted: 28 Jul 2020 10:52 AM PDT  Maine has recorded only one shark attack since 1837, researchers say.
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| A journalist who's worked with PBS and National Geographic tells us what it was like being shot in the eye by law enforcement in Portland Posted: 28 Jul 2020 12:01 AM PDT  Trip Jennings talked to Business Insider about being shot in the face with a less-lethal round while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon.
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| Dreamworld deaths: Theme park owner pleads guilty to safety breaches Posted: 28 Jul 2020 08:55 PM PDT  Dreamworld's owner pleads guilty to safety breaches, after a malfunctioning water ride killed four people.
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| Oregon says federal agents to withdraw from Portland Posted: 29 Jul 2020 05:29 AM PDT  Oregon's governor on Wednesday said the federal government agreed to withdraw agents from Portland but the Department of Homeland Security said it would keep officers there until it was certain federal properties would not be attacked. Governor Kate Brown said the government agreed to a phased withdrawal of federal officers deployed at Portland's Mark Hatfield United States Courthouse after weeks of clashes between activists and agents.
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| Sen. Cruz: Local officials should be held accountable for 'letting their cities burn' Posted: 28 Jul 2020 07:11 AM PDT  Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz introduces legislation to allow cities to be sued and federal funds to be denied over the riots.
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| Trump COVID Task Force to Guvs: Make Masks Mandatory Before You Fall Into Red Zone Posted: 28 Jul 2020 04:36 PM PDT  As states in the South and Southwest grapple with how to control the spread of the coronavirus, officials on President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force cautioned the nation's governors Tuesday that a new set of states is beginning to experience an uptick in positive cases and recommended that local leaders implement mask mandates and close bars to contain the outbreaks.Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator for the task force, said the positivity rate in states such as Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Colorado was increasing and warned they should quickly take action before they fall into what she described as the "red COVID zones" category. Birx defined the red zones as those states with more than 100 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people and more than a 10 percent test positivity rate."By the time you see hospitalizations, your community spread is so wide that you've flipped into a red state incredibly quickly," Birx said, according to a recording of the call obtained by The Daily Beast. "By the time you see it, up to 80 or 90 percent of your county already has more than 10 percent positivity rate."The warnings from Birx and other task force officials come as the administration is pushing states across the country to reopen schools, a point Vice President Mike Pence reiterated on the call. Pence said the task force would support whatever decision state leaders make but that the team was beginning to see evidence that "encouraging masks," closing bars, and limiting indoor gatherings were slowing the spread in some of the hot spot states. Birx was more explicit with her advice, saying that the "100 percent mask mandates" played a significant role in containing the virus in those states.Trump in the past has resisted mask wearing and said in a Fox News interview this month that he would not impose a national mask mandate. On Monday, Trump retweeted a video shared by his son Donald Trump Jr. that featured a doctor saying masks were unnecessary. Twitter restricted Donald Trump Jr.'s account and removed the video from the platform.Trump Pushes Fake COVID Cure From Fringe Doctors, Banned by FacebookDr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top vaccine official, was also on the call with governors and said states should adhere to Birx's recommendations even if it wasn't politically expedient to do so. "You may be reluctant to do that because the general population is saying, 'Wait a minute, we're not that bad,'" Fauci said, referring to the advice of implementing mask mandates and restricting large gatherings of people. "You are worse than you think you are because where you are now is going to be reflected and what you are going to see… weeks from now. I know it may sound intrusive but it really isn't."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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| Pakistani Muslim accused of insulting Islam killed in court Posted: 29 Jul 2020 02:14 AM PDT |
| Alabama Republican celebrates KKK member's birthday as state remembers civil rights hero John Lewis Posted: 29 Jul 2020 12:17 AM PDT  A Republican senator in Alabama celebrated a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) member's birthday at the same time hundreds were honouring the life of civil rights hero John Lewis.State Representative Will Dismukes took part in an event marking the KKK grand wizard and former Confederate Army General, Nathan Bedford Forrest, as Alabama honoured the late Georgia Democrat this weekend.
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| SpaceX crew prepares for splashdown Posted: 29 Jul 2020 03:58 PM PDT  The Crew Dragon capsule carrying two NASA astronauts is headed for the agency's first ocean splashdown in 45 years.
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| Tesla quietly revealed it got a government coronavirus bailout after Elon Musk opposed another stimulus package Posted: 28 Jul 2020 08:32 AM PDT  Earlier this month, the billionaire said the government should only do direct stimulus payments to citizens because of "special interests."
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| India and China race to build along a disputed frontier Posted: 29 Jul 2020 04:05 PM PDT  The rival nuclear powers are trying to out-build each other along their disputed Himalayan border.
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| Escape to North Korea: Defector at heart of COVID-19 case fled sex abuse investigation Posted: 27 Jul 2020 10:23 PM PDT  Last week, a 24-year-old defector returned to North Korea the way he left in 2017, authorities say, but with a coronavirus pandemic raging in the background this time, his illicit trip drew far more attention. Facing a sexual assault investigation, Kim evaded high-tech South Korean border control systems by crawling through a drain pipe and swimming across the Han River to the North on July 19, the South Korean military has said. Kim's story as a defector begins and, so far, ends in the city of Kaesong, a North Korean border town that hosted a now-shuttered inter-Korean factory park and liaison office.
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| Fact check: Expanded COVID-19 testing shows more cases, doesn't cause high positivity rate Posted: 29 Jul 2020 08:59 AM PDT  A spike in testing leads to a spike in cases isn't entirely true. More testing does not cause higher positivity rates; that is caused by viral spread.
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| Carbon monoxide fumes from a generator killed 4 family members in Texas after Hurricane Hanna knocked out power Posted: 29 Jul 2020 09:36 AM PDT  Neighbors realized they had not seen the family in some time and could not spot their generator outside, so they grew alarmed and called police.
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| Pelosi calls Barr 'despicable' after contentious appearance before House panel Posted: 28 Jul 2020 06:42 PM PDT  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) believes Attorney General William Barr accomplished one thing during his appearance before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.Barr "demonstrated to the American people the contempt that he has for our democracy," Pelosi told MSNBC's Ari Melber. Throughout the hearing, Barr was on the defensive, as Democrats accused him of intervening in the criminal cases of people close to President Trump and questioned him about his role in sending federal agents to cities where anti-racism and anti-police brutality protests are taking place.Pelosi was not impressed by anything Barr had to say, telling Melber, "I just thought he was despicable and so beneath the dignity of the attorney general." Pelosi called Barr out for his "inconsistencies" in "not sending law enforcement in when people invaded the legislature in Michigan" while carrying guns, but saying that in cities where "demonstrators are out on the streets, that's violent."She also said Barr should be "answering for what he did at Lafayette Square," when he ordered that peaceful protesters be pushed out of the Washington, D.C., park ahead of a Trump photo op at St. John's Episcopal Church. Barr denied that tear gas was used against the protesters, and Pelosi called the entire incident "a disgrace. He was like a blob, just a henchman for the president of the United States, instead of the attorney general of the United States of America."Pelosi told Melber she paid particular attention to questions "related to upholding the Constitution of the United States," and felt Barr "fell very short in that regard. He is there to support the president of the United States, Donald Trump, no matter what. He's not the president's lawyer, that was Michael Cohen, and you know what happened to him." > WATCH: @SpeakerPelosi hits back at AG Barr for criticizing her "stormtrooper" comment. pic.twitter.com/iYQ0y6OyD5> > -- The Beat with Ari Melber on MSNBC (@TheBeatWithAri) July 29, 2020More stories from theweek.com Pelosi to implement new order requiring all lawmakers wear masks on House floor Republicans' coronavirus aid bill is a joke. It might take a stock market crash to change their minds. The Pentagon wants a new nuke because it might fire off the old ones by mistake
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| Execution set for sole Native American on federal death row Posted: 29 Jul 2020 03:50 PM PDT |
| US imposes sanctions on teenage son of Syrian leader Assad Posted: 29 Jul 2020 10:49 AM PDT  The United States on Wednesday slapped sanctions on the 18-year-old son of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, vowing never to let the war-torn nation's regime enrich itself. Hafez al-Assad -- named after his grandfather, who ruled Syria with an iron fist for three decades -- will not be allowed to travel or maintain assets in the United States, the State Department said. The designation was part of a second set of sanctions under the Caesar Act, a US law that took effect in June and aims to prevent any normalization of Assad even as he wins back most of Syrian territory after a brutal nine-year war.
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| Meat banned by council as part of 'climate change action plan', as critics say it shows no understanding of British farming Posted: 29 Jul 2020 08:30 AM PDT  Meat is to be banned by a local council as part of its 'climate change action plan', as critics say it has 'no understanding of British farming'. Enfield council will not be serving meat at any of its catered events from Christmas 2020 as it hopes to "influence the behaviour" of local businesses and suppliers. The local authority is understood to be the first in the UK to announce such a move. Ian Barnes, the deputy leader of the council, said it had already announced a climate emergency and this is one of the steps being taken to make sure the local authority is carbon neutral by 2030. Ensuring Enfield is carbon neutral in 10 years means "taking bold and sometimes unpopular action", he wrote in the council's climate report. The report added: "All events held by Enfield Council where catering is provided to offer only vegan or vegetarian options." The Labour controlled authority uploaded the extensive 'Enfield climate action plan 2020' online after holding a month-long consultation during the coronavirus lockdown. Countryside campaigners have said this ignores the ambitious efforts being put in by UK farmers to achieve net zero emissions by 2040. This is the target set by the National Farmers' Union. Farmers argue that banning meat in this way makes no differentiation between the industrial farming systems in countries like the US and Brazil and the mainly grass-fed systems in Britain. The ban follows similar moves taken at both Goldsmiths and Cambridge University, which saw red meat removed from campus menus. Commenting on the proposal, Mo Metcalf-Fisher of the Countryside Alliance said: "Banning meat is completely the wrong approach and demonstrates no understanding of how meat in this country is produced, which thanks to UK farming practices, is among the most sustainable in the world. That this ban has gone through with what appears to be very limited public consultation, is damning. Enfield Borough Council would do well to actually liaise with the farming community, properly consult their local residents and drop this proposed ban immediately."
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| Feds and Oregon's Gov reach deal on state and Local authorites watching federal property Posted: 29 Jul 2020 11:53 AM PDT  Over 24 hours of negotiating between Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf and Gov. Kate Brown has led to a joint plan that is aimed at ending the violent activity in Portland, Oregon directed at federal properties and law enforcement officers."
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| Archaeologists have solved a longstanding mystery about Stonehenge: the origin of the monument's iconic sandstone boulders Posted: 29 Jul 2020 12:47 PM PDT  The origin of the 25-ton boulders that make up most of Stonehenge once baffled experts. A new study shows they came from a woodland 15 miles away.
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| 'Act now and act fast': Vietnam says every city at risk of coronavirus Posted: 28 Jul 2020 09:11 PM PDT  Vietnam, virus-free for months, is bracing for another wave of COVID-19 infections after state media reported new cases in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and the Central Highlands linked to a recent outbreak in the central city of Danang. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the current wave of infections was different to a second wave Vietnam fought in March, and every province and city in the country was at risk, state broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV) reported.
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| Tropical Storm Isaias likely to form in Atlantic; warnings issued for Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands Posted: 28 Jul 2020 01:50 PM PDT  A tropical cyclone brewing in the Atlantic is likely to become Tropical Storm Isaias this week and it would affect Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
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| A bridge over an Arizona lake was engulfed in flames and partially collapsed after a train derailment Posted: 29 Jul 2020 08:10 AM PDT  Footage from the scene showed mangled train cars, some of which were engulfed in flames while others had plummeted onto the street below.
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| Ex-FBI agent regularly targeted by Trump bringing out book about president's links to Russia Posted: 28 Jul 2020 09:13 AM PDT  An ex-FBI agent whose part in the investigations into Donald Trump administration's ties to Russia angered the president, will soon claim he was compromised in a tell-all book.In a statement to the Associated Press on Tuesday, publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media said Peter Strzok's book would outline claims that the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to sway the 2016 presidential election.
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| Prosecutors: 'Alarming' that Maxwell may publicize victims Posted: 28 Jul 2020 04:33 PM PDT  Some witnesses in the criminal case against Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend may face harassment and intimidation and could be reluctant to cooperate with the government if defense attorneys are allowed to discuss them publicly, prosecutors said Tuesday. Prosecutors asked a Manhattan federal court judge to block lawyers for British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell from publicly identifying women who have already spoken about the financier or Maxwell on a public forum. "The victims of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein have suffered enough," prosecutors said, urging privacy for accusers except for anyone who acknowledges publicly they are part of the criminal case against Maxwell.
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| Anger grows over Hong Kong university sacking of activist Posted: 29 Jul 2020 03:02 AM PDT  A prominent Hong Kong democracy activist vowed Wednesday to appeal his sacking by a top university as city leaders and education chiefs were accused of failing to defend academic freedoms under Beijing's tightening grip. Law professor Benny Tai, 56, said he was fired on Tuesday by a disciplinary committee at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) because of being jailed last year for taking part in pro-democracy protests. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Tai said he would appeal against the university's decision and consider launching a judicial review.
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| Review: The lies and mistakes that led us into Iraq, laid out in a new book Posted: 28 Jul 2020 12:20 PM PDT  Robert Draper has written an authoritative account of the deceit and misjudgments that the George W. Bush administration used to lead America to a ruinous war.
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| South Korean statue showing Japan PM Abe bowing to 'comfort woman' draws Tokyo's ire Posted: 28 Jul 2020 01:05 AM PDT  The Japanese government reacted angrily on Tuesday to a statue in South Korea that appears to depict Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe kneeling and bowing to a "comfort woman", a euphemism for women forced to work in Japan's wartime brothels. Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said if reports of the statue on display at a rural botanic garden were true, it would be an "unforgivable" breach of international protocol. "If the reports are accurate, then there would be a decisive impact on Japan-Korea relations," Suga told a news conference in Tokyo. The issue of comfort women, mostly Koreans forced to work in Japan's brothels before and during World War Two, and whether the surviving victims were adequately compensated, have long been a thorn in the two countries' ties. Japan regards the matter as "finally and irreversibly resolved" by a 2015 agreement reached by Abe and then South Korean President Park Geun-hye under which Abe apologised and pledged a fund to support the survivors.
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| A San Francisco couple held a secret wedding against city rules. Then they tested positive for the coronavirus. Posted: 28 Jul 2020 03:26 PM PDT  At least 10 attendees, including the newlywed couple, tested positive for the coronavirus, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
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| Florida, Texas report record increases in COVID-19 deaths for second day in a row Posted: 29 Jul 2020 07:43 AM PDT  Florida had 217 fatalities in the last 24 hours and Texas had at least 302 with some counties yet to report. Florida also reported 9,446 new cases, bringing its total infections to over 451,000, the second highest in the country behind California. Florida's total death toll rose to 6,457, eighth highest in the nation, according to a Reuters tally.
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